The next chapter of the story!
The Chapter in Which Sir Norlan Invades the Dragon’s Lair
Now, you would think Sir Norlan would have to be more concerned about locating
Lady Eleanor- after all, no one knew where the dragon had taken her. Sir Norlan
understood, however, that it was always quite easy to locate fair damsels in distress.
All a knight must do is to follow a path- the spookiest one that heads into a thick,
dark woods is best. The path should lead him to some sort of dark and foreboding lair,
such as a cave or gigantic dark tower. If it does not, than a knight knows to turn back
and head on another foreboding path. Once he has followed these steps, anyone may
find all sorts of lovely damsels in distress quite easily. Sir Norlan’s journey was made
even easier by the fact that dragons live in places that
Have abandoned castles, fortresses and the like on the premises
Contain massive quantities of dragon’s breath, (smoke and sometimes fire),
billowing from the abandoned structures.
It was no surprise, then, when Sir Norlan found this gigantic tower with smoke pouring
from the windows in the middle of the forest. This place had been rumored to house
dragons for centuries, and now it was up to him to vanquish the one who resided here-
freeing the Lady Eleanor- but more importantly finding those massive piles of gold.
Thinking of the riches that were soon to be his, Sir Norlan mounted three flights of stone
stairs until he came to the massive entrance of the tower. The door was huge, more than
twelve feet high, and made of what looked like solid brass. It was barred with massive bolts,
and a giant padlock sealed the entrance.
The knight looked at the doors for a moment, contemplating ways to get in. He then
looked above him and saw a slit in the wall, sighing in resignation. Sir Norlan could find
no other way- he would have to climb the stones of the tower all the way up to the window.
He made his way up the door first, hoisting himself onto the bars that held it in place. Then
he inched sideways towards the edge of the door, finding a foothold in a crack of the
rough stone. Sir Norlan then reached his hand up to a stone that jutted obstinately out
from the rest, then found another foothold, higher up this time. He continued laboriously
in this fashion until he had reached the window.
The knight excitedly grabbed the sill of the window, trying to pull himself up, but then his
foot slipped! Sir Norlan was left hanging from one hand, thirty feet above the ground. He
gasped for air, trying to gain back his composure. He tried to pull himself up to the window,
grasping for another foothold, but without his legs to help pull him up, his armour was too
heavy. Finally he was able to support himself with another hand on the windowsill, and
soon he had pulled himself to the top.
The knight toppled from the window to a room where he lay for a while, catching his breath.
A knight like me, he thought, should not have to go through such exertions to get the gold
he deserves. Soon he brought himself to get up and look around at the room.
It was a grand chamber, with a painted ceiling and fine draperies on the walls. The floors
were white marble, and there was a massive, empty fireplace near one wall. Many golden
objects were displayed around the room, and it was to these that Sir Norlan ran to first.
He found a large gold vase near a couch, and another on the mantel. There was also a pile
of gold coins atop a table at one side of the room. Though the vases were too heavy to carry
with him, Sir Norlan stuffed many small gold coins in his bag.
The knight would have stayed there, reveling in the golden treasure around him for much
longer if he had not needed to rescue a damsel in distress. And when I rescue her, he
thought to himself, I will have so much gold that these coins will seem like trifles. So he
pressed on to find Lady Eleanor.
Comments
Post a Comment