12: Energized!

Methuselah disparately gasped for air as blood poured out of his chest. He felt death take hold and his face turned pail. With his last gasp he cried out, "Atra Jard Waíse Sköliro! Atra Jard Waíse Sköliro!" A faint smile hovered across Methuselahs face as his body disappeared and the hut collapsed.


Jard woke with an unusual amount of energy. All the sudden, he felt strong and capable. He hurried to the kitchen to eat his breakfast. Jard quickly finished his food, and headed headed towards the lavatory to get ready. Today was a big day for him. He had decided to delay his quest and enter the annual Jousting and fencing tournament. It was the only tournament that was open all citizens. Edith was going to be there and this was he chance to prove his worth. Even better, the King would probably grant him knighthood if he won. He washed himself and went to his mirror to comb his hair. It was hard to grasp, but there was something about his reflection that was different. He looked...Good! Really good.
"Well, its alright with me, Edith is going to love this." Said Jard, still admiring his face. Jard smiled as he readied his horse for the tournament. He saddled his belongings, including a rose he hoped to give to Edith, and trotted towards the arena. He was about half way when he noticed an old house; it had burned to the ground.
"Oh great, probably the result of one of the Kings failed pranks." Thought Jard, "But why would the King play a prank on that old guy? Hmm, very strange," he mused. Eventually, his curiosity took over and he stopped to get a better look. To his surprise, there was a knight there. He was forging through the rubbish as if he was looking for something.
"gahhh! Where is it?" Shouted the knight.
Sensing the knights frustration Jard replied, "Would you like any help?"
"Does it look like I need help?! Now shut up and leave me alone!" Said the knight "Edward?" Jard paused for awhile, "are you ok?"
"I'm fine, now get out of here!" Said Edward. "Ok, as you wish. I just wanted to help." "Leave!" screamed Edward with a strangely evil glare in his eyes. Jard obeyed, still shaken by Edwards behavior. "Since when does Edward act like that? He was always a little rude, but never like this. And why wasn't he away on his quest? Was this his quest? Perhaps that old man had something Edward needed." Thought Jard as he tried to make sense of the incident. He strolled through tournament grounds to meet his friend, Peter. Peter was Jard's esquire, a humorous boy with enormous dreams but, unfortunately, no skills to back them up. Jard was committed to teaching him though, and they practiced nearly every night. Nothing could separate Peter and Jard, they were best of friends. "And here he comes, ten minutes late, and...Looking good! Whoof, what happened to you? Hail Sir Jard the beautiful!" Said Peter, obviously in a good mood. "Aww, thank you Peter. Yea, I don't know, I just drank this green liquid last night, and this is what happened." Jard replied jokingly.
"Oh, right, of course, I should have known." said Peter, playing along, "Um, you didn't happen to save a shot for me, did you?"
"Not a drop." Said Jard as they started to laugh.
"Well, I'm affrayed I'm going to have to hurt you for that!" Said Peter as he jumped on Jard, knocking him to the flour.
"Oh, were playing dirty now, I see." Said Jard playfully. "Well, take this!" Jard grabbed Peter and prepared to lift him off his chest. To their surprise, Peter wasn't just lifted to the side, but in fact, throne half way across the room! They both froze before Peter finally spoke. "Alright Jard, what happened to you?" He sat up gingerly, suddenly realizing another change in Jard, "Why, even you're accent is gone!" He exclaimed.
Jard was equally surprised, "I..I don't know. But I'm not complaining, with this strength and a new tongue there's no way I'll loose the tournament." he said, right before he was interrupted by the tournament official. "Attention, attention one and all! We are sorry to announce that for reasons confidential the tournament will be postponed to a later date. We are sorry for your trouble and hope to have the tournament as soon as possible." Jard sighed at the news. Something wasn't right. The King wasn't even there to rally off one of his hideous jokes. He resolved to at least go to Edith and offer her the rose he brought. "Well Peter, go ahead and go home, I'll be leaving soon." Said Jard.
"Yea, guess there's no sense staying here now. See you soon." Peter replied. Jard waited for Peter was out of sight before heading towards the Castle. He silently went though everything was going to say to Edith. He didn't even bother with knocking on the door because he new they wouldn't except any visitors. He went straight for the Castle wall with Edith's window. With his new strength, Jard scaled the wall with ease. Peaking over the widow, he look into Edith's room: it was empty. He climbed inside to get a better look, but Edith was nowhere to be found. He was just about to leave when he heard footsteps approaching the room. Jard jumped in Edith's enormous closet just before the door opened. "This is ridiculous, why do we have to clean this room five times a day, even though no ones even here anymore." Said a lady.
"I'm afraid we will never understand that King." Said another lady.
"Indeed, I'm not surprised Edith ran away after the way he had treated her. But we better not talk anymore, never know when one of his men might over hear us." Fortunately for Jard, the ladies were lazy and didn't clean the closet. He slowly and quietly left his hiding place And headed out the window. He couldn't help but think of the pain she must have felt in order to run away. "Shes probably alone right now, with no one to comfort her." thought Jard, "I must find her; and the King, the King must be stopped. This strength was given to me for a reason."


Edward lied alone in his bed, dreading the night that would follow. It had been a day since his agent killed Methuselah, and he still had not found his body. "Surely he could not have survived?" Eward thought. "No, he must be dead, no man could survive that." But there was another problem Edward had. He also couldn't find the dagger he was supposed to steal. The night before, Kelthisad had given him specific instructions to take the dagger, but no matter how hard Edward looked, the blade could not be found. Edward knew Kelthisad would not be happy with the news. He desperately tried not to sleep, but eventually his body gave in and Kelthisad gained control. "I see you failed me gain, you good-for-nothing whelp!" Said Kelthisad in total frustration. "I give you two simple tasks, and you fail them both miserably."
"I tried, but the body was not there! And the sword was gone. I...I searched for hours." Said Edward, begging for sympathy.
"Oh, so the body just disappeared, along with sword?" Edward didn't reply. "You're even dumber then I thought! I'm giving you three days to find that sword, or you will learn to dread the night!" Said Kelthisad.
"I will not fail you...My master." Kelthisad smiled as Edward bowed. "The throne will soon be ours." Kelthisad laughed wickedly as Edwards dream faded.

--JBC