The Bracelet Quest

The Quest

         "You want me to go to the Coal Dark Forest!" Sir Albert looked into the King's eyes for any sign that he was joking. "You can't be serious. That place is, you know, dark."

         "I have searched the countryside for my missing daughter," said the King, "and the Coal Dark Forest is the only place left to check. You are one of my best Knights. I'm sure you will be able to find my daughter with little difficulty."

         "I heard that a powerful dragon lives in the forest," Albert said. "What if the dragon has found the princess and is holding her prisoner?"

         "Just kill the dragon and bring the princess back." The knuckles of the King's right hand became white as he gripped his scepter. "Now go!"

         "By myself?" Albert ducked in time to avoid the scepter. Thinking that the king wasn't too happy with his questions, he decided it was time to go.

         Outside the throne room, Sir Albert's squire, Marquinious, was waiting. The squire was wearing his best tunic. It was yellow, with the blood red swords crossed in front. Sir Albert had the same design on his own shirt. This heraldic symbol was passed down from Albert's grandfather, to his father, and onto him. Each generation wore the symbol with pride in battle. They had also all died in battle.

         "Prepare the horses, Mark," said Albert, "we ride first thing tomorrow."

         "We're not really going to the Coal Dark Forest, are we?" Mark walked with Albert toward their chambers.

         What choice do I have? --- I can think of no other alternative.”

         "What if we pretend to go to the forest," suggested the squire, "We could disappear for a few days, come back later, and say we didn't find the princess."

         "It wouldn't work," said the knight, "What if the princess shows up and says she was in the forest waiting to be rescued. How would that look?"

         "You're right, as always." Mark stopped to open the door for his master. "I'll head to the stable and make sure everything is ready for tomorrow."

         "Don't forget to wake me." Albert moved through the doorway and turned toward his squire. "I want to search the forest before it becomes dark."

         "I often awaken at sunrise," said Mark, "is that early enough?"

         "What! Sunrise?" The knight looked straight at his squire, "I was thinking sometime around noon."

* * * * * * * *

         Sometime around noon the next day, the pair rode out. It was a beautiful day. The sun's heat bore down on the riders. To avoid the heat, they kept close to the trees. First they passed the Bright Forest, the Not So Bright Forest, the Dim Forest, the Sort of Dark Forest, the Not As Dark As the Coal Dark Forest, and before long they reached their destination.

         "Well, I guess we should have lunch before we head in," suggested Albert. "An hour riding in the hot sun can make a man hungry."

         "I don't know why we didn't eat lunch at the castle." Mark got out the cooking equipment and prepared to make a fire.

         "The sooner we arrive here," said the knight, "the sooner we can leave."

         "But sir," said Mark, as he attempted to light the fire, "cooking a meal on the road will take a while. What are you going to do while you're waiting?"

         "I'm going to plan," Albert said, "that is what I'm going to do." He removed his acorn- shaped shield, his belt, which contained his scabbard and sword, and his visored helmet. He adjusted his chain mail, and sat beside a nearby rock.

         While Mark was heating the stew, he heard a loud crash behind him. "Sir, are you all right?" Looking around, he saw his master lying in a heap on the ground.

         "What?" Albert sat up and looked around, "I must have fallen asleep."

         "Maybe I should have let you sleep longer," Mark said under his breath.

         "What did you say?" Albert stood up and moved closer to the fire.

         "Only saying that lunch is ready." The squire gave a bowl to his master.

         "Great, I was getting hungry."

         After lunch, the two proceeded into the forest. The squire stopped and waited for Sir Albert to go back and pick up his helmet, sword, and shield. Soon, they were deep into the Coal Dark Forest, which wasn't dark at all. The sun's rays penetrated the trees and patches of grass and small bushes grew in many places. A path worked its way through the trees and made the task of traveling through the forest quite pleasant.

         After walking for several minutes, the squire asked the question that must be asked, "Why do they call this the Coal Dark Forest?"

         "I don't know," said Sir Albert. He placed his hand on his bearded chin and thought a minute. "I guess that's its name."

         "Very enlightening, Sir." Mark continued down the path.

         Before long, a small brown bird began circling the travelers. It landed on Sir Albert's helmet and pecked at the bright colored chicken feathers that were stuck into the top of it. The knight waved his arms around, trying to scare the bird off. Eventually, it flew off, only to return later with a few twigs and some moss.

         "I think it's building a nest," said Mark. "Maybe you should leave it alone."

         Sir Albert tried to scare it off once more but was having no luck. "Maybe you're right. A real bird on my helmet might be the thing to make people talk about me."

         "Oh, they will talk all right."

         The knight held his head straight, threw his shoulders back, and marched down the trail.

         The two companions walked in silence until a scream came blasting down the trail ahead. Mark started to run down the trail, but stopped when he realized the sound of clanging armor was moving farther away behind him.

         Mark called up the trail, "Sir, it might be the princess."

         "Right," said Albert, "This way, then." He turned around and came back to where Mark was standing, "After you."

         "Sir, you have the sword."

         "Perhaps I should go first." Sir Albert headed down the trail and Mark followed.

         Soon the path opened into a clearing with a brook running through it. The edges of the brook were muddy and contained the tracks of many animals. Looking around the clearing, a young woman, dressed in a muddy pink dress, could be seen sitting on the ground.

         As the two travelers were deciding what to do, a long green lizard with bat-like wings flew down from the trees and landed next to the woman. The creature must have been at least three feet long, from the nose to the tip of the tail, and a wing span of five or six feet. Its short back legs touched the ground before its front legs. The creature's small head moved around like it was loose before focusing its attention on the blonde beauty sitting on the ground.

         "Die, fowl creature!" Sir Albert charged at the beast and attempted to pull his sword out of its scabbard. "Ah, could you wait a second." Albert pulled on his sword a few more times with no success.

         "Sir, your sword is still peace-bound." Mark pointed to the leather strap that was tied to the hilt of the sword. This was meant to keep soldiers from using their swords during times of peace. The strap is removed when a soldier goes out on the battle field or on a quest.

         Sir Albert turned to face the creature, "I hope you weren't offended by that fowl creature comment."

         The young woman started laughing. "Who are you?" she said, after she regained her composure.

         "I am the great Sir Albert Fuzzybeard, at your service, My Lady, and this is my squire, Marquinious Quintius the third."

         "You may call me Mark, Your Highness."

         "I am Princess Pear and this is my companion, Greenback the Dragon."

         "A pleasure to meet all of you," said the Dragon.

         Sir Albert took a couple of steps backward, bumped his head on a low branch, and fell to the ground. He was not so surprised that the dragon could talk (he'd heard stories) but that the small dragon spoke in a very deep bass.

         "Are you the Powerful Dragon of Coal Dark Forest?" asked Mark.

         "I'm the dragon who lives in these woods," said Greenback, "but I call it Dancing in the Light Forest."

         "That is a much nicer sounding name." Mark turned toward the princess. "We have come to take you back to your father, the King."

         Albert stood up from where he was lying. "Right, come with us, Princess Pear, and we will take you home."

         "I can't go home now," said Pear, "I lost my magical cloth bracelet and I have looked everywhere for it. Wait a minute, if you are a knight of my father, I can order you to go on a quest for my bracelet."

         "Right, a new quest." Albert started back up the path. "Let's go, Squire."

         "Shouldn't we find out where she lost it and what it looks like first," said Mark?

         "Right, what he said."

         "The magical cloth bracelet is golden brown and about this thick (Pear held her index finger and thumb about an inch apart) and I lost it while playing hide and seek in these trees."

         The two travelers joined the princess and the dragon in the search for the magic bracelet. They searched the leaves in the trees, the leaves under the trees, and even the leaves in the princess's hair.

         "I'll look behind this rock," said Albert after searching for a while. He went behind a large boulder and removed his belt and helmet (he left his shield in the clearing when he began the search). As he was closing his eyes, his squire came around the boulder.

         "What are you doing?" asked Mark. "This is no time to sleep."

         "I wasn't sleeping," replied the Knight, "I was thinking about where I should look next."

         The squire looked down at his master's helmet. "Is that bird still there?"

         Albert looked at his helmet and saw the bird curled up in a little nest. "I forgot all about that little bird. Quite a nice nest it built."

         "What is that?" Mark reached into the nest and pulled out a round piece of cloth. "Don't tell me the bracelet was here the whole time."

         On hearing the word bracelet, the princess hurried over. "You found it! Oh, thank you so much."

         "So, if you don't mind my asking," asked Mark, "what is magical about this piece of cloth?"

         "It stretches." Pear took the cloth bracelet from Mark and pulled it with her fingers, "see."

         "Most amazing, Princess," said Albert, "Maybe you should put it on so you don't lose it again."

         "Watch this." Pear pulled her long blond hair through the cloth ring until the bracelet was against the back of her head. "When I put my hair like this, it looks like a horse's tail."

         "Stupendous, My Lady," said Albert, "Well, my quest is done, time to go home."

         "Yes," said the princess, "I suppose it is getting late."

         The three humans said goodbye to the dragon and headed home. The sun was setting as they entered the gates of the castle. That night, Sir Albert had quite the tale to tell, but he exaggerated his role in the story to the point where there was very little truth left in it.