Forbidden Quest (12 page)

             
“Todd! No!  There’s too many!”  Sarah screamed as he disappeared.

             
Without
hesitation
Nicole drew
her
short sword and quickly followed.  Hearing the battle cries of the warriors Jack hesitated for only an instant as his mind flashed back to the waterfall and the darkness
of
the cave.  Pushing the reality of the adventure out of his mind Jack surged toward the trees as Sarah struggled to free the spell book from her
saddlebag
.  Drawing his sword as he reached the small clearing where they had left the warriors, Jack found Hopper swinging madly at three large elves
attempting to slip past him.  Nicole sprang from her horse
onto
the back of another warrior and drove her short sword through his chest. Then sprang from the horse and sprinted toward a small cluster of warriors heading toward her.

             
A movement to his right and caught Jack’s attention as the dark warrior charged him.  Meeting the assault, Jack managed to deflect the first blow with his sword
,  nearly
thrown from his saddle by its force.  As the elf commander swung his horse around to face him, Jack surged forward yanking hard on the reins.  His house screamed, rearing into the dark warrior’s horse.  The large elf dove from the saddle as the tan mare’s  hooves struck in his wake
.
Not waiting for the warrior to recover, Jack spun and charged into the last group of elves that had managed to surround Hopper.

             
Swinging his sword in a broad arc,  Jack issued an impressive war cry as he severed the head of the nearest elf
.
A young female warrior turned and met Jack's attack carrying only a large staff. Rendering it useless with one blow, Jack raised his sword to strike and hesitated as his eyes focused on the body of the headless elf sprawled out on the ground behind her. Screaming in a rage of an unknown source, Jack turned to face another, leaving the small elf stunned. Slowly, Jack disabled another warrior, leaving him helpless and unarmed, but still alive.

Suddenly the sky darkened, turning the clearing as dark as a moonless night. The large trees surrounding the clearing dipped and swayed in the fierce wind that arose, sending a giant evergreen crashing into the center of the clearing. A loud roar came from the tangled brush before them, halting the battle in an instant as all eyes turned to face its source.  A piercing scream shook the earth as the creature moved forward trampling the giant trees with massive clawed feet as if they were a patch of tall grass. It stood nearly 20 feet, as it rose to its full height. The beast's long snout swayed from side to side between two large menacing horns as it screamed its challenge through needle-like teeth that stretched the full length of a human arm. Covered with long dark brown fur, it was difficult to discern where the creature ended in the darkness.

The warriors moved quickly away from the adventurers, as their leader fearlessly rushed to meet their new foe.  Hopper snatched Nicole from the midst of the elves and tossed her on her horse.

"Where did that come from?" He asked breathlessly.

“I don't know." Nicole answered, swinging her leg over the speckled gray's back.

Sarah appeared at the edge of the clearing as the warriors charged the monster. Galloping to them, she motioned toward the far end of the glen. Moving quickly past the battle, the small group raced into the trees

"Wait!" Jack yelled, slowing their escape. "That thing . . . we can't just leave

them
to its mercy."

"They were trying to kill us, Jack!" Nicole challenged, sheathing her sword.

"If aliens attacked Eastern Europe, don’t you think China and Russia would unite

against
them?"

"What?" All three stared at him.

"Forget it Jack. If we came to their
rescue
they'd turn on us when that thing was

dead, if we could kill it
. Let's
get as far away from that creature as possible before it

decides we are its next snack.
"
Nicole snapped and turned her horse back toward the

trail
.

"No," Jack reached out and took hold of her arm.
"I’m not going to let them die."

"It's all right, Jack" Sarah smiled, moving toward him. "It won't hurt them."

"How can you say that? It's huge!" Jack growled and spun his horse back in the

direction
of the battle.

"It's
mine "
Sarah added calmly.

“Yours?
"
Jack turned back to her.

"Conjuration, she's my baby." Sarah beamed, triumphantly. "It's a mixture of a Mammoth, gorilla and a saber tooth tiger.
"
Her delighted laughter lightened
Jack's

mood
.
"She thinks we're her young she's just keeping them busy until we get away."

"That was fantastic!" Hopper's deep voice penetrated the darkness. "But can you

bring back the sunlight
?
It'd be easier to travel if we could see where we're going."

"Of course," Sarah answered, still smiling at Jack. "It won't hurt them, I made

sure of that
.
But it should keep them occupied for a few hours."

Looking toward the canopy of trees Sarah spoke a few short phrases. A soft

breeze
began to blow, flowing through her long amber hair as a soft yellow glow

enveloped her
.
A trickle of light drifted downward through the thick canopy.  Hopper's breath quickened at the sight of Sarah, consumed by her magic. Never before had Sarah looked so elegant, so beautiful. He felt stirrings build up inside him he had so carefully kept under control for the last two years. Then Hopper glanced down at his clawed hands and hairy body. His eyes darkened and the stirrings vanished.

             
"We don't have much light left." Jack observed quietly.
“Let's put some distance

between
us and our friends."

Crickets filled the cool night air with a beckoning song Nicole couldn’t resist
.
Hopper and Sarah fell asleep nestled together under a large fir tree
as
the elf silently disappeared into the forest. Nicole wandered effortlessly through the darkness. The sound of a small gurgling brook

drew
her to its sandy banks.  Sitting on the edge of a fallen tree she pulled her boots off and thrust her tired feet into the stream
.
The cold water numbed her aching arches, sending a

shivering
pulse of relief through her small form.

             
A
shift in the shadows and Nicole became part of the forest, silent and watching. Her dark green eyes focused on the same small red fox that had warned her of the warriors’ attack earlier that same evening.  Smiling, she reached out and waited for it to join her.

             
Tired of sitting quietly
,  waiting
for some large creature to descend on them from the darkness, Jack rose from his perch at the edge of the small camp.  His thoughts went to Nicole, where had she
gone?
  What did she think she was doing? 
Hadn’t
they had enough excitement for one day?  Snatching up his sword, Jack headed in the direction he had seen her disappear.  One glance at Hopper and Sarah and he vanished into the shadows.

             
Jack was determined to find the voluptuous imp and return her to camp, over his shoulder if necessary. 
She’d
been gone for nearly an hour.  “Dr. Strong said to stay together.”  Jack mumbled under his breath as his foot struck a small rock.  It was impossible to predict what could be lurking in the darkness surrounding the camp, just waiting to
be discovered
.  Nicole was foolish to assume their 
adventure would only take place during
the daylight hours
.  
Anyone of them could be easily taken in the
darkness and spirited away to lead the others on a chase far from their goal.
Jack smiled wickedly as a vision came to him of Nicole’s shapely legs sticking out of the jaws
of  some
hideous creature.

His smile vanished as he realized if there
was
a monster it would more than likely spit out her dead body and challenge him to a fight to the death.  Another death, another notch on his bloody sword
,  If
he had to kill, then so be it.  Still,
he’d
much rather slay a dragon than another elf.  Their deaths had seemed too real. 

“I won’t kill another elf.”  Jack announced to the darkness. 
It was only a game, an illusion. The whole idea of this hypnotic adventure was to insure the experience felt as real as possible
. But
the way those elves died was too real, too harsh.  It took the fun out of the game.  He'd never been one to revel in the blood and guts  of horror movies
.
He enjoyed the suspense or action
,  and
a shapely female always helped the lack of a plot.

Jack forced himself to slow his pace. His eyes searched the darkness spotting a white-faced owl as it took flight
deep
into the woods.  Jack gave
in to
the sudden urge to follow the creature and moved silently through the trees after it.  Hearing the sound of rushing water Jack hesitated, listening for any sign of activity.  After all he was a barbarian, it seemed fitting
.
Jack moved slowly toward the water.  It was a small brook, nothing like the pounding falls that had nearly ended his part in this adventure
.  
How had the good doctor managed to give him such a complete sensation of diving?  The feeling of cool water on his skin, the sound of the falls from beneath the surface were just too real
.  
He'd even felt the pressure change
as
he swam to the base of the pond
.
There must be a pool somewhere in the complex.
Stong
must have led them to it and allowed Jack to dive into the water.

The panic and pain when his lungs drew in the water came back to Jack
as
he breathed in the moist air surrounding the brook. Dr. Strong was no fool.  He wouldn't risk being sued by the family of a drowned patient
.    
Jack doubted that Dr. Strong could have described the feeling of drowning to someone unless he had experienced it himself.  It was highly unlikely that two out of the seven people
involved in this adventure would have experienced the terror of drowning and lived to tell about it.  Although it
wasn’t
something that would come up in ordinary conversation, Jack knew, he knew how it felt.

He’d
nearly died with his father.  Yanked off his feet by the steep beaches
undertow  he’d
been taken swiftly away from the shore.  Away from the
people
he loved.  His father had found him, deep beneath the salty water and pushed him to the surface, away from the pull of the ocean. 
But
his father never made it to the surface.  Jack had lost him forever.

Jack's father was the hero that convinced him to make the most of his life before it slipped from  his grasp
.
Perhaps Strong somehow managed to tap into that memory and used it.  Was he at this very moment exploring their memories for parallels in which to heighten their adventure?

When the game was over, Jack was going to find out what really happened. If Dr. Strong was taking liberties with his psyche, the prestigious psychologist would be the first to find out
if  hypnotically
   induced battle skills carried over to the real world. 
Shaking off the barbarian persona that sought to overwhelm him, Jack adjusted the sword in his belt and continued toward the brook.
 
He
spotted

movement
near a fallen log.  His hand went to the hilt of his sword only to relax when he realized it was Nicole.

Sitting quietly, stroking the soft fur on the back of a small fox the dark elf turned slowly and smiled up at Jack.  Entranced by her sparkling smile and deep green eyes, Jack sat down in the tall grass at her feet.  He followed her gaze toward the
treetops
.  A small break in the canopy allowed them a breathtaking view of the star-filled sky.  A sense of calm came over
Jack
as he relaxed on the bank beside her.  Following her
lead ,
he removed his boots and sank his feet into the icy water.