Chapter Thirty Six - The Quest

Jason and Stella appeared at the Castle of Flowers and were shocked to see the destruction. They had left early in the morning with Bronson. They arrived in the afternoon.

Jason had picked up his flame-sword, it failed to ignite anytime he’d picked it up. He’d also taken his hammer of healing, although he had no idea he’d enchanted anything.

They were hungry, and Jason rode his horse to his father’s house. He knocked on the door but it was locked. Jason tied Bentley to a post in the yard and the two of them walked to the main city square, where a large number of people had assembled.

Lord Redran was sitting next to the king on a newly built stage. There was a table with a few pieces of armour on it. There was also a wooden longbow and a basic sword.

The stage was surrounded by guards. Jason saw Freya in the crowd, her familiar armour stood out to Jason. He was glad she survived, and wondered what made her so panicked last time they had spoken.

Nathaniel was in the crowd, sitting on some hay at the back of the group.

The king stood up to speak to the crowd.

“Our kingdom has been broken. I have a plan to fix this. In the temples far north the wizards and mages are incredibly powerful frost sorcerers. With enough wizards, the dragon would not be a match. I am not asking for men to fight a dragon, I need men to travel the roads to the North. It will likely be dangerous. I cannot send any men to patrol the roads. Our losses have been massive. I need more knights. This is an opportunity for you, the farmers, the scholars, the old and the young. If you return alive, having succeeded, you will be given knighthood, lordship and generational lands inside the castle walls.” The king paused.

“If you leave tomorrow, you will be given a sharpened sword, armour, and a longbow. You will be given the title of Ranger. I am also recruiting new squires to stay here at the castle. The squires will be in charge of protecting the castle and rebuilding our great city.” He said clearly, and with a lot of bravado. He’d practised the speech for hours.

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“If you would like to participate, please. Come and meet me after Lord Redran gives a short speech. The king sat back down and Lord Redran got up to speak.

“This dragon is straight from hell. Please, sign up and I will write your name in my next saga.” Redran said. “You will be heroes of Arcadia for all of time. We are not saving the Castle of Flowers. We will save the world. Ride with me tomorrow morning for the north. That is all.” Lord Redran looked angry as he walked off stage.

The crowd bustled as people excitedly decided whether to risk the journey. It would be a massive trip. It would take a few months by foot. The new armour, sword and bow was an expensive gift. Most knights would have to train for years to earn armour, but the king had excess in storage and needed the men as soon as possible. It seemed to be a good trade.

Jason and Stella looked at each other. Jason kissed Stella slowly on the lips, held her kiss for a long time, and then he walked through the crowd towards the sign up sheet. Jason couldn’t explain why, maybe it was his house getting flattened, or his town being destroyed, the death of Tenzen and all of his other friends. He was burning inside. He arrived next to the stage and waited in a short line of ten other men. Freya appeared beside him.

“Hey magic boy,” She said, winking at him.

“Hey Freya.” He said back. “Good to see you.”

“I went home and saw my family, I told them about the dragon. They’re bringing the elf army out of the homelands.” She said nervously.

“That’s great. We’re going to need all of the help we can get.” Jason said. “Do you think it will work?” Freya thought about the ice spell. It was a very powerful spell. It could definitely work, in theory.

Nathaniel appeared behind Freya. He didn’t say anything to anyone.

Jason arrived at the front of the line and the guard standing there took down his name. The guard recognised Jason, noticing how much he looked like Rodrick. Eventually the crowds dispersed. The king had gained twenty five new soldiers for his quest to the north, and sixty new squires to serve as new guards and builders at the castle.

Jason and Stella went to sleep with strange sensations floating in the air.