The Gauntlet ( A Fantasy Novella) Read Free

but he stood still. It was dangerous to get any closer and he decided to leave his knife where it lay on the ground: it was too risky to retrieve it.
    “I’ll come back for you. And I will kill you. It was lucky for me that the woman you transformed into was a blonde, I prefer brunettes.”
    “I hope you do come back, you have such lovely eyes. I always eat them first, they’re so juicy. And then my baby shall feed on your blood for eternity, just like the rest of your kin.”
    The lights inside the cave extinguished and the witch faded into the darkness. Ash thought back to the knight crushed by the rock: perhaps it wasn’t such a stupid death after all. It was certainly better than being tortured for the rest of time.
     

Chapter Two – The Traps
    Rage was consuming Ash as he walked away from the witch’s cave and towards the lush, flower-filled valley. He had passed the first test The Gauntlet had thrown at him, although the danger of the witch and her beast remained. Ash knew his mission was to completely cleanse the valley, surviving inside it wouldn’t suffice. The knight was on full alert to everything around him and there was an abundance of caves on either side of the valley; he was aware that any one of them could contain his doom.
    The vegetation was now up to Ash’s knees, a mixture of green grass shoots and fluorescent flowers. In the trees sat small birds who curiously eyed the wandering man dressed in silver, yet they remained motionless and silent. Long, brown snakes slithered through the grass but did not approach the knight and they skirted round the heavy vibrations emanating from his footsteps. Everything was very serene and apparently benign, yet Ash had his sword out ready to swing it. In fact he was looking forward to using it: the blade was thirsty for action and the knight thirstier. He would not, however, mindlessly spill blood unless attacked first.
    A sudden gust of wind blew through the valley, picking up thousands of spores from the flowers and hurtling them towards Ash. The knight closed his eyes but couldn’t avoid breathing in some of the tiny spores. Their effect hit him immediately, inducing a state of psychosis in Ash and sending his head spinning in every direction. The fluorescent colours of the flowers were now bedazzling and blindingly vivid; while the snakes seemingly became hundreds of metres long. The pristine valley had transformed into a nightmare.
    Ash stood still and attempted to regain his composure. He looked up at one of the caves above to settle on a focus point but the dizziness overwhelmed him and he collapsed to his knees. Then he heard it: a deep grunting noise behind him. Ash turned around to see a wild boar with two white tusks charging at him and, with no time to react, the boar struck him firmly in his chest plate. The tusks didn’t penetrate the armour but the force knocked the wind out of Ash’s lungs and expelled him backwards onto a cluster of giant white mushrooms. The mushrooms exploded, releasing more spores in every direction and further intoxicating the knight. Ash sneezed multiple times before the boar charged again. Ash resorted to basic defensive manoeuvres: pointing his sword out in front of him and hoping for the best. It worked. The boar impaled itself and died instantly. The sword had at last drawn blood.
    “Enough of this! Get a grip!” shouted an angry Ash, before pulling out his water flask and splashing his face with it.
    The cool water helped Ash to regain some of his senses. He looked at the boar, it was big but nothing too fierce and hardly worth killing. After a short rest, the knight set off but not before tearing a piece of his clothing off and tying it over his mouth and nose to act as a mask. It would help to block out the toxic air. However, it wasn’t long until Ash came across another gruesome scene. In front of him was a small, deep pit and inside lay the skeleton of a knight. Slithering through the skeleton were