The Unnecessary Quest

“Squelch.” “Eeewww,” I say, making the last vowel last a good 5 seconds.
“Wow, that’s annoying. And on my sword too!? Really?” I exclaim. I am going to
the Dragon Temple, and there are no monsters in my way, but mud. “Take this!” I
slash my black adamant sword at the sludge I am standing on. My quick revenge
fights back, covering me in a new layer of brown, sticky muck. “Oh,” I meekly
mutter, “Maybe trying to kill a non-living sludgy stuff won’t work. Duh.” I
continue to walk through this muddy part of the forest. “Why,” I think, looking at
myself made map, which is about as good as a kindergartener’s version, (Trust me,
I checked.), “Why do I have to go through mud. It couldn’t be a horde of monsters,
maybe even a Drakon. But no, it had to be mud.” I sigh.

A couple of hours later, I made it out of the mud, and next to a crystal-clear
stream. I take all my armor off and listen as it clanks against the ground. My sword
falls next to it. I wash myself in the stream, thankful for the water, and mock the
sludge as it gets helplessly washed downstream. Now it’s time for my armor. I
repeat this process, with less mocking and more smirking. My sword is the final
thing I wash. I take great care with this. Soon I finished, and I don my armor and
sword. I continued my journey through the Temchao woods, and a couple hours
later I reached a clearing. At this time, it is almost night, so I set up my tent. As I
walk inside, I see a small dent in my wall, and a refreshing memory comes to
though. That mark was from when I was first experimenting with my black
adamant armor, and using my small blacksmith set up I tried to alter the form of
my black adamant sword. I had no idea of its power then, and on the strike of the
hammer, it blasted me to the back of my tent. I never tried that again, but I did
notice that the sword didn’t move during the blast. I tried this during my next
combat, making my surprisingly formidable opponent strike my sword with much
force. When he did this, I was not pushed back, but he was. He fell off the cliff we
were battling on, and I never saw him again. But I had forgotten that trick I used.

Remembering this, I went outside. I saw the glow of a pair of a mokaboblins

eyes. I challenged him to a battle buy staring at him for a considerable amount of
time. He charged me. I held up my sword in a defensive stance. He struck, and I
repelled. He flew back into the woods. He slowly picked himself up. He had a look
in his eyes that struck my memory. Those weren’t the eyes of a mokaboblin. But
they were close to it, that’s why I had been confused. As he started to charge for
the second time, the memory solidified. But before I had time to react to it, he
attacked. I tried to parry him, but he could see right through me. He backflipped
right over me, striking me in the back. Had it not been for my armor, I would have
died. I was thrown forward, landing awkwardly on my face. I rolled over, just in
time to see him strike.

Then I knew. He was an Elder Quester. That’s how he knew my attacks. He

purposefully makes his first attack weak, to study his opponent. Then he records
their moves and uses them against them. I knew I would not win this fight. But I
had something he did not have. I had a sword that repelled back. If I could lead the
fight towards the cliff I saw, then I could repel him off the cliff. I raised a feeble
block to repel him. It was poor but worked. It gave me enough time to get up and
run. Thank goodness in my past life in Temchao village I had practiced stamina. I
used it now. When I got to the cliff, I quickly turned around. The Elder Quester
was right behind me. He raised his club as he ran. A split second before he hit me,
I crouched down and blocked. When he hit, I pushed up into a back flip. He went
tumbling off the cliff. I heard his jumbled cry for help, then a thump. I knew he
was dead. I walked back to my camp and immediately flopped on my bed. I looked
at my wounds. Only a bruised back and scratched hands. “Not bad.” I thought. I
took care of them and fell straight asleep. I woke up at 9:30 am, which was later
than I would have preferred. I packed up, which took about 2 seconds, and went on
my way.

As I walked, I thought about the Elder Quester attack last night. “That must
mean I am close to the temple.” I mutter aloud. After a couple more hours, and a
quick snack break consisting of some stale potato chips, I looked at my map. The
map said I was there. I looked up and saw nothing. Only trees, some birds, and a
vine covered ground. After a quick annoyed scream, which scared those birds, I
looked again. There was something I hadn’t noticed before. I was below ground. I
checked again, and still nothing. Then I noticed another detail. The temple had
some clumps of vines growing on it. “Hmmm…” I say aloud. I take some cautious
steps forward. With my last step, I fell through the vines. I landed hard, but
thankfully didn’t break anything. “Wow. So, this is where it had been hiding for all
those years.” I think of all the scientists and historians that would love to see this.
“But after I’m done with it.” I walk in, and yelp as I walk through a cobweb. I
ventured deeper into the temple, avoiding traps and spiderwebs.

Soon, I see a dim glow. And I hear a deafening roar. A loud, deep voice
yells out, “Who dares try and steal the treasure of the dragon temple! My name is
Kahoan, and I am here to protect the treasure, so go through me first!” I walk into
the room, astonished as I see a dragon. The rarest kind too. An old Yetao. The
guardian species. The Yetao dragon sees me and says, “You dare do this alone!
You shall perish, young man!” She breathes fire on me, and I curl up into a
defensive ball. My armor protects me. A small patch of my brown hair caught on
fire, but I put it out. I rush the dragon, sheathing my sword and bringing out my
specialized crossbow. It was equipped with sleep bolts. It was designed to subdue
dragons peacefully. I shoot. Kahoan melts it with fire. “Tough girl, I see.” I
exclaim. I rapid fire some more bolts. She only manages to block some of them,
but the others just bounce off her plated chest. “Goodbye, Koal. If you survive this,
bring a friend next time!” She stomps the ground. I am thrown back, again, into a
wall. I struggle to get up. “Goodbye.” She kicks me, literally, out of the temple.

I fly through the air and black out. Sometime later, I woke up. I am mad at
myself. I thought I could do this alone. I wanted to do this alone. But now I must
get help. “Uugghh.” I have never been good at getting help. I look down and see
the ground rapidly approaching. “Uh oh,” I think. I recognize this place. But before
I could think again, I curled up into a ball and hit the ground. Next thing I know, I
steadily wake. I have a massive headache, no doubt from the crash. I look around. I
see an abundance of people staring at me. “Creepy.” I walk out of the crater,
limping. “I must have broken a bone,” I think. “Why aren’t these people helping
me?” I ponder. “I fell out of the sky, and they just stand there.” Then I remember
my banishment. “Oh dear,” I mutter. A voice next to me says, “Oh dear indeed.”
Then he knocks me out.

Later, I woke up. I am tied to a chair, and all my armor is gone, along with
my sword. The mayor is pacing around the room. “Let me go.” I strain out. I am
very weak. I fell from the sky and got knocked out twice. “I thought you wouldn’t
come back,” mutters the mayor. “And we even agreed on a punishment if you did.”
“Oh man,” I forgot about that. The punishment for coming back was death by
fight. And even if I win, I am killed. “Hey,” I say, desperate for an escape, “Just let
me stay here until I heal. Then I will leave you. Please. Just let me heal and leave.”
He thinks for some time, and finally says, “Sure. I will put you in the hands of our
best healer. But if you’re here for more than a week, I will kill you.” “Deal!” I
exclaim. “Thank you so much!” The mayor unties me and leads me to the healer. I
am led to the healer, who reluctantly heals me.

Later in the day, I walked around the village. I try and locate people that
might be able to help me. “Him?,” I think. Nope, he just tripped over a rock.
Imagine if a cliff was on the other side. “Her?” Nope. After 30 more minutes of
looking for candidates, I start to walk back to the Medic Center. Just as I enter the
center, I see someone. I backed up a couple of paces and looked again. “Hmmm.,”
I think, “Well, he’s strong, he looks brave, and he isn’t clumsy. I’ll ask him.” I
walked over to him. “Hey man, what’s your name?” He looks at me like I’m crazy.
“Ummm, Drake. Why?”

“Well… I was wondering. Do you want to help me defeat the dragon temple?”

“Oh, you’re a treasure hunter. Well, sorry, but…”

“Wait!” I noticed a badge on his brown coat. It is a historian badge. Now I know
how to get him. “There will be historic treasure there…”

“Hmmm. I’ll think about it.,” he says.

“Well, I kind of need an answer now. So, what will it be?”

“Well, I guess I could come.”

“Yes! Thank you, Blake.”

“It’s Drake.”

“Oh, right.”

I walk into the Medic center. After the rest of the week has passed, I go and meet
up with Drake. “Ya ready?,” I say.

“Yep, ready as I’ll ever be.”

We started walking into the forest. Soon, it turns night. As I am about to set up
camp, Drake says, “Hey, I’ve got this.” For a couple of minutes, I watched Drake
try, and fail, to set up a tent. Finally, I say, “Here, watch.” He tries to hand me the
mallet and pins for his tent. I push them away. He mutters, “How are you going to
set up a tent without…” I set down the pack and step on it. Drake is saying
something, but I don’t hear him. Within seconds my tent is set up, complete with a
small fire. This has the desired effect. Drake’s mouth drops to the floor. He also
drops the mallet and pins. I say, “Come on it, there is plenty of room.” He looks
confused for a moment, then comes right in. “Wow.,” he says. “Why didn’t you
tell me this earlier?”

“Well, you told me you had it.”

“Oh, right. Any way’s, what’s the plan.”

“We are close to the temple. We should get there tomorrow. When we get in, hide,
and let me do the work. Kahoan will only let me in if I have 2 people, so we will
go in and I will defeat, I mean, subdue, the dragon. They we shall loot the
treasure.”

“Wait, there is a dragon?! I wasn’t told that!”

“Well, there is. Build yourself a bridge, cry yourself a river, and get over it.”

He stared at me. I set up a cot for him and we went to sleep. In the morning, I wake
up to the smell of bacon. Ah, this reminds me of my childhood. I used to wake up
to the smell of bacon in my old house with my mom, before the accident. My dad
was already gone. She would make me tons of bacon, and we would eat it all for
breakfast. I walk over to the kitchen, near the bacon. “Hey sleepy pants.,” Drake
blurts out.

“Hey, not fair man. Your making bacon.”

“Yep. Want some?”

“Sure. Yoink!,” I say as take a piece of bacon and snarf it down.

“Really dude? You couldn’t have waited 3 minutes until it was done?” Drake slaps
my hand as I go for another piece.

“Fine. Let’s eat and pack up.”

After breakfast we leave the tent. Drake asks, “Well, I guess that your tent packs
itself up too.”

“You guessed correctly.”

I tap the tent on the tip, and, like Drake guessed, it packed itself up in 3 seconds
flat. I put it on my back, folded into a diamond on top of my sheath. We walked
through the forest, soon coming to the place where I fell through the vines. I got a
brilliant idea. I will become a temporary magician. I take Drake and make him stop
3 yards from the hole. I stand 1/3 of a yard away from the hole. I tell Drake, “Hey,
I’m going to do magic. I will make myself disappear.”

“Really man? This is no time to mess around.”

“But wait Drake, just let me try.”

“Fine dude. Go.”

“Watch me. Annnnddd… Poof!,” I say as I jump backwards into the vines. I
disappeared into the hole. This time I know it is a pit and I roll as I fall, landing
silently. I hear Drake up on the surface saying, “Ok Drake, very funny. Come back
now.” I have a brilliant plan. I slowly climbed to the surface. “Drake, come back
now. Not funny.”

“Ok. Poof!”

Right then I pop my head out. Once again, this has a desired effect. Drake screams
like a girl. “Nooooooo! Not Koal. Why did he have to die due to a magic trick?”
While he is crying his face off, I think two things. One; he is not as brave as I
thought, and two; while he is crying, I am going to pop up. I do this silently. “Hi
Drake.”

“Ahhhh! He’s alive!”

“Ya, um about that.” I told him what I did.

“What!,” he yells, “You did that on purpose!” He slaps me across the face.

“Let’s continue, shall we?” I jumped into the pit.

“Um, do I have to jump in?,” asks Drake, sounding unsure.

“No, you don’t. You can just fly down. Of course, you have to Drake. Come on.,” I
say, pestered. “Fine, I’ll catch you.”

“Ok!,” happily exclaims Drake. He jumps in. I want to catch him, but I’m not that
nice. I hold out my arms. Drake comes down flat, face down. I real in my hands at
the last second. Drake hits the floor with a SMACK! He looks unconscious. “Uh
oh.,” I think, “This wasn’t supposed to happen.” I shake him away. Luckily, he
wakes up. “Ugh. Koal. Why did you have to let me fall?”

“I thought it would be funny. And it was.”

“Ow. I think my foot is broken.”

“Oh dear. Why did I have to drop him?,” I shouted to myself in my head.
I look and Drake and he are sitting up. He has both hands around his foot, and he
sounds like he is speaking German.

“Kräfte gehen, heilen schnell, machen es dauern, bis in die Vergangenheit.”

“Um, Drake? Are you ok? Do you speak German?”

“Yes, I am fine now, and no, I do not speak German.”

“Then what were you doing?”

“I was healing myself. I have some powers like that. Nothing serious like death or
illness, but broken bones, no problem.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this! You should have put it on your resume!”

He smiles. “There was no time.”

“But it is good to know. Come on, let’s go.”

I lead him through the temple. I want to get to the dragon. He wants to stop at
every rune and decipher it.

“Dude! Stop deciphering and come on. We haven’t got all day!”

Drake mutters and continues to follow me, this time without looking at the runes.
Soon enough, we reach the dragon. But before we came into sight, I hid Drake.
“Don’t come out. If I die, run. Don’t sacrifice yourself for me.”

I walked into the room. “Your back, young man. I’m glad. I finally get to defeat
you.” She breathed fire at me. “Naturally.,” I think. I roll to the side, avoiding the
fire. I rush forward, slashing with my sword. I roll and dodge every attack she
makes. I rush towards her. I slash at her claws, which real out in pain. I make it up
to her neck. She guards that the most, using her fire breath to try and roast me. I
use my armor to block that, putting out a small fire in my hair while I’m at it. As I
am about to slash her neck, she flings me away with her claws. I hit the wall hard,
and I almost passed out cold. “I am about to die.,” I think. “I hope Drake gets away
safely.” Next thing I see is Drake running. But not out, towards me. “What are you
doing Drake! Get out of here. She will kill you!”
“No, I’m not leaving you Koal. I came with you all this way. I’m not about to let
you die now.”

Drake starts to heal me. Kahoan gets closer. This is like a dance with death. Every
word Drake says, Kahoan gets closer. Drake signals he is almost done. As soon as
he leaps back, I roll, leaving the spot where the dragon just pounced. I toss my
crossbow to Drake. We work in sync. Dodging, rolling, hitting whenever we can.
Soon enough, it is working. Kahoan is tiring. We continue our strategy, which is
also tiring. After more time Kahoan can barely stand. We walk together around
her. She says her final words, “Good job young men. You defeated me and learned
the power of a team. Now, take all the treasure before treasure hunters do. Hurry.”
I sink my sword into her heart to end the misery of the pain we caused her.

We continued to search the temple, looking for treasure. All we find are
traps. Some of them are funny, little rubber snakes in a pit, some cause us misery,
and swinging axe trap that almost lobbed my head off. We spend days looking,
eating food whenever we are hungry, sleeping 2-3 hours a day. We are tired and
exhausted. Food is running low. Finally, we come across something we haven’t
seen. A straight hall. Filled with traps. “Do you really want to do this Drake?”

“Yes, I do”

“On the count of 3 runs. 1…”

“2…”

“3!”

We ran as fast as we could to the end of the hall. Arrows wizzes by. Another
(really?) giant axe swings down. We dodged all we could while running towards
the exit. Finally, we reached it. A dead end. A blank wall. “Well Drake, I’m sorry.
We came all this way for nothing.”

“No, we didn’t.,” says Drake as he taps a button on the wall I hadn’t noticed
before. I became Drake when he saw the tent. Eyes wide open, jaw to the floor.
The before empty wall swings open, revealing a giant room. That room is very
dark. Drake takes a match, lights it, and holds it to something. “Really dude?,” I
think, “A match? What is that going to…” Again, I become Drake as the room fills
with light. “He must have lit up the basin of oil for light. Smart.,” I think. We
explore the room, looking at giant piles of gold, silver, and even adamant in all
colors. As I approach the middle of the room, I gasp and shriek like a little girl who
just got what she wanted for Christmas. In the middle is a full set of gold adamant
armor, with the dragon sword. The only left set of gold adamant armor, with the
dragon sword, a rare relic that can light fire while fighting and can slice through
anything. Even gold adamant armor will protect you from anything. Drake is
interested in Dragon’s hide leather armor, and a black adamant sword. I put up my
tent and put my old armor and sword in for later, pack up my tent, and put on my
new stuff. It even feels lighter. When we are all suited up, we leave the temple. I
take Drake back to Temchao village, where he tells the story of our adventure. I
leave on another treasure hunch. Maybe we will see each other soon.