Here's the fourth chapter of my story! Sorry it took so long to update.
I wanna thank to those who point out some mistakes in my story, you're all great!
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Chapter Four: The Witch
Meanwhile in the castle of Sirelot, King Wizengarde is having a meeting with his knights in the throne room.
"You must go and find my daughter and rescue her," he told them.
"But Your Highness," a knight gulped, "what about the dragon?"
"I do not care for Malevont! I only care for the safety of my daughter. I just want you to find my daughter and destroy that monster once and for all."
"But we don't know where he is!" another knight said.
"I doubt Malevont would be in the same location where his wife is killed," Bratticus commented in a bored voice. "He is not stupid."
"We have no time for this!" Wizengarde suddenly got on his feet. "What if Malevont is hurting Amarelle right now? We are wasting valuable time here! If none of you are going to save my daughter right now, I'll have your heads off!"
"I'll go," said a voice behind the knights. All heads turned to see Ellyn standing alone with a determined look on his face. Bratticus laughed.
"You?! You're just a lowly squire!" he shouted. "You don't even have what it takes it be a knight. And you are… how old are you again?"
"Sixteen," Ellyn gritted through his teeth.
"Sixteen! You also don't have experience for battle and you're too naïve and obstinate."
"I don't care!" Ellyn said hotly. "I just want to join the quest to save Princess Amarelle."
"I am afraid Sir Bratticus is right, Ellyn," the old king said. "You have not been trained to fight…"
Bratticus sneered at Ellyn with triumph. The squire became horrified. "But…"
"… However, I give you my special permission to become a squire despite how you act and fight. You will have a hard training but you won't go on the quest until you become a knight. As from today, your mentor will be Sir Galaworn."
An old knight stood forward, and said, "I will train him well, Your Majesty."
Bratticus's sneer sags and Ellyn's face brightens up.
"I will not let you down! I promise!" Ellyn thanked the king
Ellyn runs out the room with joy and as soon as he is alone…
"Yes, I will become a knight!" he cheered quietly. "Now, after several years I think, I can go after Amarelle and save her! I'll show her that I'm worthy of her!"
He did not realize that he walked right into the princess' bedroom door. He noticed this and a sudden heavy feeling weighed his heart. As he rubbed his throbbing forehead, he looks to sideways to see if anybody is watching. Then he enters the room and closes the door behind him.
He looks around Amarelle's room and he realized the room seemed empty without her cheerful spirit lingering in the air. He goes to look at himself on her mirror. As he stares at his own reflection, he imagines it was Amarelle's face he is staring at.
"I miss you, my Princess," he sighed sadly. "I miss your smile… more than anything else in the world."
--
Dusk is beginning to arrive in Sirelot. The huge doors to the castle creaked open and a mysterious cloaked, hooded figure glances around to see if there is anyone watching him. Then, with cautiousness, he swiftly scurries out the castle, out the from the village's boundaries and into the nearby forest.
As soon as he entered the dark woods, he heard a low hooting sound and he looks up to see a grey owl staring at him. Then the cloaked stranger heard a sharp screech and he turns to see an old black cat, coming out from behind a tree, hissing at him. The cat has a skeletal body and she has only one eye.
His hand reaches under his cloak and threw a raw steak at the cat's direction. The cat's claws grab the steak and began to munching it. After she finished with her meal, she licked her paws and motions the stranger to follow her. He obeyed without hesitation. The cat began leading him into the deepest and darkest part of the forest.
Hours later, night has fallen when they reached their destination. The old cat led him into an old hut, the roof thatched with straw. As soon as the mysterious cloaked figure locks the door behind him, the cat transformed into an old woman wearing a black dress. The old wart-faced woman has a patch covering her right eye. The old woman is a witch named Grimalkin Blunt.
Grimalkin hissed, "That steak has been expired for two weeks."
The stranger removes the hood: it is Bratticus. His vain facade turns that into fury.
"Blunt!" he growled. "What is the meaning of your treachery?! I thought your magic would help me kill Malevont."
"You said you want to kill a dragon, and I helped you," Grimalkin reminded him.
"I wasted that magic net of yours by capturing a different one and I killed that blasted dragon's spouse! Do you realize how humiliating that was?! You told me Malevont would be drinking by the lake but it was Maran! Why did you trick me for?"
"You promised to pay me 500 gold coins to help you kill Malevont. I counted 400," Grimalkin said acidly. "I have never been so cheated before, Bratticus."
Bratticus grabs her dress and pulls her face towards his until her hooked nose almost touching his own.
"Don't forget we made a deal, witch," Bratticus whispered deadly. "I could take your life right away with this..." he removes the glove from his left hand to reveal a dark ring in his finger, "but that would be a waste of power. You will obey me whether you like it or not. Unless you don't wish to be exposed and die at the hands of those you call 'inferior'."
Grimalkin glared at him venomously and she spoke, "What do you want?"
"I need to find the princess Amarelle," the tall, burly man stated, releasing her. "And you are going to help me."
"Why should I help you?" the witch asked, her large eye examining him. "I did not realize you care for her."
"I… cared for her?" the knight laughed. "I only care one thing: power. She is the only one who can make me a king and rule Sirelot. But I don't mind having someone to take out my frustrations on. She has such magnificent beauty; she would make a lovely bride for me. And nobody can have her."
Grimalkin scoffed. "I require an excellent payment for my assistance."
Bratticus thrusts a bag of gold coins into her hands.
"Here," he said. "There are more than 500 gold coins in there. Count them if you want. But what I want in return is to find the location of the princess so I can be king."
"You are always a despicable man, Bratticus." Grimalkin turns away and privately looks inside the bag. After a few minutes, she looks at him, a huge grin plastered across her wart-covered face.
"Finding the princess will not be easy," she told him. "Malevont will not keep her in the same place where he kept Maran. No, he is not stupid. In fact, he would hide her somewhere very far away in the most hidden location in this land, where no one will ever find them. Isn't that clever of him?"
"Just tell me where I can find him!" he snarled impatiently.
"Like I said, it will not be easy. It will take old Grimalkin Blunt weeks, months, or even years to find Malevont and the princess. But all good things will come to those who wait…"
--
Malevont waited.
The cows were sleeping peacefully on the grassy fields. He pounced and the cows woke up and the bellowed in fear. He snatches two and flies off to his mountain home.
Inside his cave, the serpentine monster feasted on the cows. He tears the meat off, laps their blood down his long tongue, and crunched their bones.
As he feasted, he began to think of Amarelle. That silly girl should know by now that she is not capable of fighting back. His thoughts drifted to her appearnce. She has such graceful curves unlike that of Maran, her emerald eyes beckons him, and her lips are craving to be tasted…
He shook these lustful thoughts out his head.
"She is just a weakling and human," he reminded himself.
But a sly voice broke into his mind, Ah, but doesn't her beautiful image stiffen you, Malevont?
An image of Amarelle appears in his mind's eye and yes, his lower areas seemed to stiffen a bit. He knew what he is feeling now, he had experienced this before and how much it consumes him like wildfire. The image of Amarelle began to dance, enticing him on. His breath quickens and sparks of flames erupted from throat.
You want topple over her, do you not? The sly voice continues. Go ahead. Take her while she is still fresh…
"NO!!!" he screamed and large flames burnt the cave walls. He gasped as he tries to controls himself. "I will not lust for some human. Her beauty may captivate me, but she is inferior to me…"
Then he paused and looked outside the cave.
"I think it is time for a visit to my dear wife."
End of Chapter 4
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