I have put up the rating for this story to M. There is a fair bit of violence in this chapter.
As Dragon snarled and jeered at her, the evil being in the trees was closing in. She reached for her sword but yet again it was not there. Just the clown doll. She held it in her hands and stared at it. The silly blue clown. It seemed so familiar somehow, as though it had been with her for years. And now it was the only thing that could protect her.
Jane awoke with a start. It was still dark out, but there were only a few hours before she and Gunther were due to leave for the quest. Unable to go back to sleep, Jane lit a candle and for the umpteenth time began to study the old map that Dragon had given her. Despite her nightmares, there was no avoiding it, she would have to travel deep into the forest.
...
Jester's path was blocked by a three headed horror beast. The creature was similar to a panther but where there should have been fur, it was covered instead by scales as black as death. One of its heads lunged at him, its snakelike fangs dripping with poison. Jester jumped out of the way, his sword lashing out and severing the head. The beast was enraged, its other two heads flailing and diving maniacally. Another of the heads attacked, but Jester was not fast enough and it bit down onto his ribs, severely damaging his shining steel breastplate. As the beast's jaws locked onto him, throwing his sword aside and pulling out a jewelled dagger, he grabbed it around the neck and stabbed it in the eye. The head writhed into the air, taking Jester with it. Jester swung himself on top on it and positioned himself just below its ears, stabbing his dagger through the back of its skull and into its brain. The creature shrieked, the tortured sound like fingernails down a chalkboard. Jester slid down the writhing neck of the beast, slippery now with blood. The remaining head craned its neck to see the gleaming silver knight perched on its back like a man on a horse. In a final effort to kill the man on its back, it pounced at Jester with its fangs fully extended. Jester waited until the last second and jumped from the beast and it fangs tore into its own flesh like daggers through butter.
Jester stood triumphantly over the dying monster and picked up his sword, before disappearing down the dark tunnel that it had been guarding. When Jester reached the end of the tunnel, he saw the familiar mop of fiery red hair and was swamped by relief. She was alive!
Jane was locked in a tiny, filthy dungeon cell, surrounded by men in dark cloaks. Each man had a wolf at his side and a short sword in his hand. Jane's beautiful face was contorted with terror, her green eyes wide and staring. She had not seen Jester yet. That was good. It gave him a chance to figure out a plan. Suddenly, one of the men shouted an order to the others. The other three began to grumble and hesitantly left the room through an iron door next to Jane's cell. Jester now only had one man and four wolves to deal with. The first man took a key from his belt and began to unlock Jane's cell, staring at her with lust in his eyes. There was no time for a plan now, decided Jester. He raised his sword and let loose a battle cry, charging into the midst of the wolves. They bit down on his already damaged armour, tearing at it, trying to rip it from his body. Jester hacked his sword into the pack, tearing the head from one wolf's shoulders and gutting another. Hearing the wolves' howls of pain, the cloaked men who had left the room stampeded back through the iron door just as Jester was killing a third wolf. Jester turned to face the dungeon master who sliced his sword across Jester's exposed face. Blood spurted from the wound below his eye, obscuring his vision. The dungeon master was fast, but Jester was faster, and despite his impaired eyesight, in a few short moments the dungeon master's head bounced to the floor and his body crumpled beneath him. Taking out the last wolf, Jester turned to face the three remaining men. Jester's sword came up, severing the arm of one of the men. He screamed and ran for the exit. Jester let him go. The two remaining men, their boss dead and no hope of defeat, surrendered, dropping their weapons to the floor.
Taking a rope from the corner of the dungeon, Jester bound the two men, searched the master's body for the key, and unlocked the cell door. Jane fell into his arms with tears in her eyes.
'You're hurt,' she said, her fingers reaching gently towards the wound below his eye. Jester took her hand and held it against his face. Jane's eyes closed and pulled her face towards his...
A loud rapping at the door awoke Jester. It was Pepper. Jane was leaving for her quest and she was reminding him to come and see her off. Jester got dressed, put on his jingly blue hat and sighed. Who was he kidding. Jane didn't need him, she could look after herself. He could never be her knight in shining armour.