This is a short story I wrote called Serpent's Scale. Nobody may use/take/save it without my permission. LOL I don't think anyone would wanna anyway, but still... anything is possible.
Okay, here it is:
Serpent's Scale
It was a sunny summer afternoon in the kingdom of WindWillow. John Dinkko, King Bartholomew's son, was with his two friends, Lily Rosebush and Andrew Morrison, in the royal courtyard. They were discussing how exciting it would be to complete a dangerous task. "It would be so overwhelming and exciting!" Said Lily, who was quite fearless and extremly adventurous. She was tall and she had beautiful, long brown hair. Her eyes were equally brown and beautiful. "Oh no," said Andrew, who was always so reluctant and cautious, "It would be far too dangerous!" Andrew was blond, handsome, very slim and quite tall. "I agree with Lily, adventures are exciting and danger is thrilling!" said John, who was very much like Lily. John had brown hair, was of average height, and was very handsome. The three of them were very close friends. John was thirteen, Andrew was also thirteen and Lily was fifteen. All of a sudden, as the three children began discussing plants with magical properties, they heard a noise like lightning coming from the throne room. Wondering what was going on, John and his friends rushed to the throne room to investigate.
When they got there, they couldn't believe what they saw. A purple-eyed man wearing a cape with black hair and a sceptor in his hand was hovering over King Bartholomew, lightning flying out of the sceptor and hitting the king. Bartholomew was immobilized, and the stranger was wearing an evil smile on his lips. "Stay away from my father!" yelled John, scared, sad, and furious. The odd man simply left, laughing. The king began to move. The three children ran over to him. John looked sad. Andrew looked petrified. Lily looked angry. "Father, what happened?" asked John. "I feel very weak," said the king, "This strange man came hovering into the room. Then, with his sceptor, he sent green lightning towards me... then... I couldn't move. "You will grow sick and die, and I will take over the kingdom!" the stranger shouted. Then you three got here, and he left. That man is up to something, and he must be extremly powerful if he can penetrate this castle's defences and get into the throne room. Oh my, I feel weak... he must have made me sick, like he said... oh no, he wants the throne once this magical illness he must have cast upon me in lightning form kills me! I'll send my spies to figure out who this man is, and exactly what he's up to!"
John was very upset. He kneeled beside his father and wept. His two friends stood next to him with sad and sympathetic looks on their faces. The king sent his best spies at once, and in a week they returned with much to say. "What have you found out?" asked the king. "The strange man's name is Ragen Darkstone," said one of the spies, "He is a very strong and very evil wizard. He has indeed made you sick with an illness that will surely kill you, and his plan is to take over the kingdom once it does. This is quite discouraging, but we have found out that there is a cure for your sickness: you must eat a white serpent scale. Unfortunately, there is only one white serpent in the world, and Ragen owns it. He is hiding in a cave in the far-off kingdom of DarkBramble. The only way to remove a serpent's scale is to slay it."
"I'll go to DarkBramble, find Ragen's cave, slay the serpent, and return to WindWillow with one of it's scales, father." said John. Earlier he had spoken about how exciting it would be to go off on a dangerous adventure, but now that one came along, he realized how frightening it really was. How on earth was he going to make it to DarkBramble, much less slay a serpent. Still, his father's life and the future of the kingdom were at stake. He decided that he was going, despite his doubts and fears. "I'll be with you every step of the way!" said Lily. She was extremly confident and only a little frightened. "Me, too!" said Andrew. He was frightened, but he wanted to help his friend save the king even so. He may have been cautious, but was no coward. "No, children," said the king, "I simply will not allow it!"
He would never let his son attempt something so dangerous, and he loved Andrew and Lily as if they were his own children, therefore he would not allow them to do it either. "I'm sorry, father, but we leave tomorrow morning. You can't stop us. I know it's dangerous, but we can do this." said John. The king knew that his son was right. "Very well." he said. That night, the children were packing. Andrew noticed that John seemed worried. "Don't worry, we WILL succeed." said Andrew. "Andrew's right!" said Lily, as she packed rations into a large bag. "Well," said John, "it's hard to accept that we may not live through this." "Don't say that, we'll survive, no doubt about it." said Lily. John smiled. He had always admired Lily's confidence. "Yeah. Thanks for the encouragement, guys, and thanks for deciding to come with me." said John. The next morning, the children met at the beginning of a path they were going to take. "Well, I suppose we should start, then." said John. The trio began walking on the path, and they did so for the rest of the day, stopping only to eat.
At sundown, they halted. John sat down on a tree stump. He looked through the supplies bags and saw the three large, two-handed swords he had packed. He wasn't looking foward to the day that he and his friends were going to use them. Andrew and Lily were standing up and gazing at the stars. John just continued to stare at the swords. "Well, I think we should get some rest." said Andrew, setting down three blankets. "Goodnight!" said Lily. "Goodnight!" said John. "If you're not up early enough tomorrow, I'll throw water on you!" said Andrew, who knew how late John usually woke up. The three children laughed. Andrew was the last to fall asleep. The next morning, John woke up. He noticed that Lily was already up, but Andrew was still sleeping. John stood up, grabbed his water bottle, and splashed Andrew right on the face. Lily and John laughed as Andrew stood up.
Soon all three of them were laughing. After having a quick bite, the trio put the three blankets with the supplies and began walking on the path. That afternoon, as the children were entering a forest which the path went through, someone jumped out of the forest and onto the path. He landed straight in front of the children. It was an interesting character; he had leaves growing out of his hands and vines crawling up his legs. He had green hair and green eyes. He was very tall. "Hello. Sorry if I startled you. My name is Sunbranch, and I am a forest-person." said the stranger. John, Andrew and Lily had all read about forest-people, and they knew he could be trusted. Forest people were a kind and peaceful race. So, each child introduced themselves and told Sunbranch their ages. Then John told him all about where they were going and why. Sunbranch, Lily, Andrew and John sat down and spoke all day. The trio grew very fond of Sunbranch, and by sundown they were all his friend. It turned out that he was a lone adventurer with no true home. His parents died when he was very young, and since he had no friends, he had to take care of himself.
When he found the trio he was in the process of exploring the woods. They also found out that he was fifteen years of age, just like Lily. "Well, since we're friends with you now, and since you're an adventurer, would you like to come along with us on our quest?" asked John. "I'd love to!" said Sunbranch. So, since it was already sundown, the four children each grabbed a blanket (Lily, John and Andrew had only brought three, but Sunbranch had one attached to his belt) and went to sleep. The next morning, Lily woke up first. She glanced at the bags of supplies, where she saw a small fox pawing at one of them. Lily smiled as she stood up and quietly began moving towards the fox. She had always been so fond of animals. As she began opening a bag to give the fox a little something, Sunbranch woke up. He quietly chuckled as he saw Lily giving the fox leftover meat from yesterday's breakfast.
He shared her passion for animals. He stood up very quietly and began walking towards Lily and the fox. "He's so cute!" said Sunbranch. "Oh, I didn't know you were awake." said Lily. She turned around and got a good look at him. She thought he was very handsome. She was sort of glad that only her and him were awake, but she didn't quite now why. "Yes, he's quite precious. How I love animals." said Lily. "As do I. Until know, animals were my only friends, and I adore them." said Sunbranch. Lily was glad that he was so kind and gentle. "I'm glad we met you!" said Lily. "So am I." answered Sunbranch as he began petting the fox. At that moment John got up. The fox heard the noise and ran away. "Good morning, John! I see Andrew's still sleeping." said Lily. "I have an idea." said Sunbranch. He walked over to a large tree and picked up a wad of tree sap. Then he sat down near Andrew and began spreading it all over the boy's face. John, Lily and Sunbranch laughed so hard that the noise woke poor Andrew up. He noticed the sap right away, and got quite angry, but once he was washed up he laughed about it.
After breakfast they all began walking on the path. In the afternoon, they reached the exit of the forest. Shortly after the end of the forest, the path disapeared. The land in front of the children for as far as they could see was made of dirt. "Where did the path go?" asked Andrew. "I've traveled to DarkBramble before," said Sunbranch, "and the path stops here for about two miles. All we must do is travel in a straight line, stay very close together, and not make any stops until we see the path again. There are mud monsters that live in the path's gap, and they will attempt to kill any living thing they see. Mud monsters are vile carnivors made entirely of mud." Indeed this news frightened Andrew, John, and even Lily, but they had an experienced adventurer as a friend. After a few minutes of walking, grey clouds started covering the sky and it began to rain.
All of a sudden, groans could be heard all around them. "Grab your swords, and stay close to me!" said Sunbranch as he picked up a one-handed sword he kept on his belt. Large, angry-looking creatures made of mud were closing in on the children. Sunbranch was the only one of the four children who had ever actually used a sword. Andrew and John sliced through all of the mud monsters in front of them. Sunbranch destroyed all of the mud monsters on their left and on their right. Lily hadn't noticed the mud monsters behind them, and one of them picked her up. She screamed loudly. "Run! I'll take care of these ones!" yelled Sunbranch. Then he jumped up on the monster who had Lily and stabbed it in the arm. It dropped her. Afterwards he killed the remaining mud monsters and rushed over to Lily's side. "Are you alright?" he asked. "I'm fine, but I'm a little dirty." said Lily. She smiled and looked up at him. He was smiling, too. She gave him a brief but passionate kiss, and then the two of them ran to catch up with the others who were watching the whole thing with smiles on their faces. Andrew, Lily and John praised Sunbranch continuously, but he kept pleading them to stop. Lily admired how humble he was. She was falling in love with him. The four children walked for a while and they, eventually, found the path. For the next three days they followed the path without running into any trouble. Their luck was about to change.
On the night of their third lucky day, they all slept well. In the morning, John was the first to wake up. He noticed that the supplies were gone. He stood up and looked all around him. He heard a snicker. "Look up, you fool!" said a sly-sounding voice. Whoever had spoken was a male. John looked up. There in a tree was a gargantuan blue crow. The supplies were beside him. "Throw those bags down to me NOW!" said John. "I have this friend, see? He's a big wolf and he doesn't like people who bother me. He comes everytime I call him." said the crow. John didn't believe him, and he would have climbed up the tree to get the bags, but it was the tallest tree he had ever seen, and he knew he wouldn't be able to climb it. So he woke up his friends. "That crow way up there," he told them as he pointed to the crow, "has stolen our supplies. It's much too high for me to climb. Would anyone like to try?" "I'd love to!" said Lily, who was the only one of the four children who was a good climber. Even Sunbranch, who was an adventurer, wasn't fond of climbing. Lily began making her way up the tree.
After a few minutes, she was almost at the top. "Wow, Lily, you're amazing!" yelled Sunbranch. "Yeah, wow!" said John and Andrew together. "Thanks guys!" said Lily as she reached the branch where the crow was. "Killer, buddy," screeched the crow, "come get rid of these brats!" All of a sudden, a large wolf ran in front of the children. "I'll throw down the bags!" yelled Lily. She didn't manage to throw them down before the crow pecked her fingers, causing her to let go of the branch, but she did manage to grab Andrew's sword. She, luckily, landed on her feet. As a climber, she had fallen from taller trees in the past. The wolf was snarling. He seemed just about ready to jump on the children when Lily handed Andrew his sword. John, Sunbranch and Lily slowly backed away. It was all up to Andrew. Sunbranch probably would have handled the wolf himself, but his belt was with the supplies, and his sword was on his belt. Andrew was afraid, but he was ready. The wolf pounced right on him, causing him to drop his sword. His friends gasped. He gathered up all of his strength and threw the wolf off of him. His friends were amazed. He was astonished.
He then picked up his sword and walked towards the wolf. It ran away. The crow flew after it. "Wow, wow, wow!" said John to Lily and Andrew, "You were so strong when you fell from that tree, Lily, I'm surprised that you didn't even get hurt! Oh, and you Andrew, you were so brave the way you threw that wolf right off of you!" "Yeah, great job, guys!!!" said Sunbranch. "Thanks!" said Lily. "Yeah, thanks guys!" said Andrew. "Well, I'd better go get the supplies." said Lily as she began climbing the tree. Once she got down with the bags they all began walking on the path. For the rest of the day they walked at quite a fast pace, and when they stopped that night they were all tired. They were just putting down their blankets when they heard splashing water. They looked around, and there, drinking at a nearby stream, was a winged unicorn. "It's beautiful!" said Lily, "I'll try to get closer." She slowly stepped towards the unicorn. "Hello." said the unicorn, softly. It was a female. "Hi!" answered Lily. At that moment, she got an idea. Maybe she could convince the unicorn to fly them to DarkBramble. So, she told the beautiful creature everything about her, her friends, and their quest. "I've been all around the world, and I know exactly where DarkBramble is. I'll take you and your friends there. My name is Eterna, by the way." said the unicorn. She was so friendly. Lily's friends had heard the whole conversation. They were glad, and they went to go see Eterna up close. "Thank you so much, Eterna!" said Lily. The children got some sleep, and in the morning they all climbed on Eterna's back. John was holding the supplies.
She spread her wings, kicked herself off the ground and began to fly. The children thought that it was frightening at first, when Eterna was getting higher and higher off the ground, but it became a joyful ride. By nightfall they were already in DarkBramble. Eterna easily found Ragen's cave, and she landed near the entrance. "Tonight, you may rest here, children," she said, "and tomorrow morning you will have to enter the cave. I will wait for you to return, and when you do I will fly you home as fast as I can." "Thank you, Eterna," said John, "you have done so much for us." The children then put their blankets down. John and Andrew fell asleep first. Lily walked over to where Sunbranch had put his blanket. "I love you!" she whispered to him. "I love you, too." he answered. They began to kiss. Then they looked up at the stars for a while. Afterwards, Lily went back to her blanket and fell asleep. Shortly after, Sunbranch fell asleep. The next morning, John woke up first. He grabbed his sword and woke up the others, who grabbed their swords. "Good luck!" cried Eterna as the children entered the cave. The white serpent slithered in front of the children. It was amazing; it was huge, and it had magnificent teeth. It saw the swords.
"So, I suppose you want to kill me. Well, that's not going to happen unless you answer my question," said the serpent, "This question of mine is one that will test your wits. If you answer correctly, I will allow you to slay me. If you do not answer correctly, you must allow me to slay you. Here is the question: All of my horses except for two are brown. All of my horses except for two are white. All of my horses except for two are black. How many horses do I have?" The children were confused. Several minutes of intense thinking went by. Then, John figured it out. "Three. The answer is three." he said. "You are correct." said the serpent as it darted towards the children. They jumped out of the way. "You lied!" yelled Lily, angrily. The serpent laughed. Ragen came hovering beside the serpent. The beast whipped it's deadly tail in John's direction, but in the process it hit Ragen and destroyed him. John then got bitten on the arm by the serpent's large teeth, and it caused him a lot of pain, but luckily white serpents aren't poisonous.
Andrew jumped up and swung his sword, which cut through the serpent's neck and killed it. The children had won the battle. John was bleeding hard. Lily ran over to the supplies outside the cave and took her blanket. She ran back into the cave and tied it around John's arm. Sunbranch then grabbed one of the serpent's scales, and the children ran over to Eterna. Andrew helped John mount her, and then the others got up on her. She turned her head around and saw the scale. "Good job!" she said. Then she began to fly as fast as she could. She got to the king's castle in WindWillow during the evening. John ran into the castle followed by his friends. They then ran to the throne room, went to the king's side and fed him the scale. He sure looked weak. "You did it! Thank you SO MUCH! I feel better already!" said King Bartholomew.The king did get better. The children told him the whole story, and they got rewarded with a large sum of gold. Eterna and Sunbranch now lived at the castle.
THE END
ALL comments are welcome!
