Chapter 5 - Chasing Downstream

Chapter 4 - Chasing Downstream

After leaving Albert Cornelius' secluded home, Chris continued to walk through the magical Forest of Fairies. It wasn't until about twenty minutes later that he finally emerged from the realm of the fairies.

Chris pushed aside a thick bush of hanging branches, and daylight welcomed him once again. He could see far into the distance from this rather high up position. To the north he could see a vast mountain range, with snowy peaks rising high up into the blue sky, beyond the floating clouds. Further down and to the northeast, the great city known simply as Galatea Capital rose up, surrounded by a great grassy plain. It was a shining symbol of peace for the kingdom.

"It's about time I got back out in the open...." mused the knight, turning back to face the forest. "It sure is larger than it looks...."
He took the magic map that Cornelius had given him, and looked at his and Michelle's dots. Michelle was still somewhere around Lake Angelis, which was about 5 miles northeast from Chris' position.
"I'll never catch up if I'm on foot....." Chris rubbed his chin, trying to think. "At this rate, they'll be at Avalon before I get anywhere close...."

"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed. He glanced again at the map. "Every lake must have a river!"
On the map, a long and curvy blue line led from Lake Angelis towards the mountain range in the north. The map labelled it as Burgeld River, and Chris was only a kilometre or so from it.
"That's it!" he grinned. "I can use the river to get to the lake in double quick time!"
With no time to waste, Chris ran towards the part of the river closest to him. He spied a shallow valley in the distance; that had to be it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Worthless animal....." Michelle's captor was looking at his white coloured steed, which had dropped dead of exhaustion. He'd pushed it too far, but he didn't care.
"We'll be walking the rest of the way, Princess." he spoke quickly.
Michelle was looking at the dead horse, and she felt sorry for the poor animal. "How could you do that....?" she spoke angrily. "You ran that poor horse into the ground. Don't you care about anyone or anything?!"
"Shut...UP!" Michelle's kidnapper grabbed her roughly by her wrist, and started pulling her along with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So this is Burgeld River."
Chris was looking down at the fast flowing river, which cut through the high area of land he was currently at. The Burgeld River had been discovered by an explorer named Burgeld, and was very peculiar. It always flowed at a fast speed, despite the weather. Of course, even this river would freeze over in the winter. At any other time, however, it was the fastest river in the world, and the most dangerous. Wading in the river was suicide, and even on a boat safety could not be guaranteed.
The river was also what had created Lake Angelis, and as such was the fastest way to get there.
"I don't like the looks of this......I hate water...." Chris sighed as he headed down to the river bank. The current looked furious, and even his armour wouldn't prevent him from being swept away.
The young knight saw some thick trees next to him. If he was going to get down the river, he needed a boat, and he knew what the next best thing was.

"GRAND MEMORIA!!!!!!"

One of the trees came crashing down, and the earth seemed to shake it as it smashed into the ground. Chris wasted no time, and cut at the trees, getting rid of the leaves and cutting the tree down to size, leaving just a small but thick log.
A couple more Grand Memorias and yet more cutting later, and Chris had the four logs he needed. "I sure hope those trees grow back fast." he thought, hoping he hadn't damaged the environment too much.

He created six long and sturdy beams of wood with deft cuts of his sword. He then attached the beams to the four logs, connecting them all together by hammering in some wooden pegs that he'd also made. Finally, he made a long pole, for steering his craft in the water.

Chris stood back and admired his work. He never thought his days of woodcutting as a kid would amount to anything, but they had helped him greatly here.

Chris' own personal river raft was now ready to disembark!

He pushed the raft down to the river bank, and slid it slightly into the river. The water lapped at the bow of the craft, wanting to push it down the huge river.
He pushed the steering pole against the grassy bank, and the raft was pushed into the water. The current began to take the craft along with it, and soon Chris was heading downstream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wooden rowing boat sailed down the river, its occupants scanning the surroundings for any unsuspecting river travellers.
These men were not nice and friendly people out for a little day trip. They were the River Pirates.
The River Pirates were simply that; a group of men who robbed anyone who travelled down 'their' rivers. They had no qualms about killing anyone either, and they were led only by their greed and desire for riches.
Their leader, a grizzled old seadog going by the moniker of Skullbeard, was the most fearsome of the bunch. He wore a black bandanna with a skull and crossbones design on it, and a black tunic with golden edges as well as matching black trousers. Obviously, he'd stolen this uniform from some unfortunate soul. Skullbeard didn't care much for his victims, however. His aged green eyes kept watch for victims, while his men rowed his small but mighty boat through the treacherous waters.
The old pirate was slightly off his rocker, which meant he could be as much of a danger to those around him as well as any poor souls who crossed his path. He had delusions that he was a grand pirate on the open seas.
"The tides ride with us, me hearties!" he declared with glee. His men simply ignored him, grumbled a little and continued to row, but they didn't consider mutiny. The last man who'd tried that had had his body rearranged by Skullbeard's cutlass.
The boat sped on, leaving a trail of waves down the river. Eventually, they rounded a steep corner, past a low embankment with overhanging bushes. Skullbeard suddenly sighted a potential victim.
"To the east, lads!" he bellowed, squinting to try and make out his quarry. "There be a man of armour before us! He'll have plenty of worth on him, I'm sure!" He stroked his white beard, thinking. It didn't take long for the maddened old man to reach a decision.

"Make haste, lads! Let's waylay this iron clad landlubber!"

The River Pirates' boat began to move faster through the medium deep water, closing in on their target.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris was no expert at seamanship, but he'd been taught the basics in Knights of the Crown training. He'd never actually thought he'd end up making use of that training.
At least it was a pleasant ride. His ramshackle raft was holding up well, and the ride was rather smooth. The sheer speed of the river alarmed him somewhat, but he felt sure he could navigate through any hazards he could come across.
He sighed a little and sat down. The hard wood underneath him wasn't very comfortable, but it was better than nothing. He took out the map and checked his location.
There was about a mile left to go to Lake Angelis. Michelle was still somewhere close by, and hadn't moved very far from when Chris last checked the map. "They're moving a lot slower now.....they must be on foot!" deduced the river-bound knight.
This was good news! Chris knew that Michelle and her captor couldn't move as fast on foot, as the kidnapper would have to wait for Michelle to keep up. Chris however had no such problem, and could move much faster. In a couple of hours, he would finally reach them!
"Hang on, Michelle....." He said, looking at Michelle's pink dot. "I'm nearly there!"

Suddenly, he heard shouts from behind him. He got to his feet, steadying himself on the raft, and looked into the distance.
Behind him was a small wooden boat, with several rough looking types on board. At the front of the craft was an aged and demented looking man. Chris could only guess that these guys were not looking for a nice friendly chat.
The shouting was being done by Skullbeard. As the boat came close to Chris' raft, the knight was finally able to hear the old man's threats.

"Ahoy there, landlubber! This river be the domain of the River Pirates, and ye must pay a toll! Hand over all yer goods and yer vessel, and we might let ye crawl back to whatever place ye came from!"

Chris eyed the pirates. "I am a Knight of the Crown, in service of the Kingdom of Galatea! I hereby order you to drop your weapons at once!"
The pirates laughed, and Skullbeard laughed the hardest. "Har har! A Knight of the Crown, ye say? Ye be just a young cabin boy!"
Chris ignored the mocking laughter of the river bandits. "I'm on an important mission, and I don't have time to play around with a bunch of washed up seaman."
The group stopped laughing, and Skullbeard looked at Chris with his best menacing face. "Ye dare make a mockery of I, the great Skullbeard?!" he growled, pointing his cutlass at Chris. "I'll keelhaul ye, you little swine!"
The boat began to move to the right of Chris' raft. Chris did his best to speed his ship up, but the boat was better designed for the water; its sleek bow swept through the water like it wasn't even there, while the simple straight front of the raft met more resistance from the river.
Soon enough, the pirates were right alongside the knight's raft. They glared at him and drew their weapons. Some held knives and swords, while two of them had crossbows.
"When I'm done with ye, there won't be a hair on yer head left, sunshine!" Skullbeard grinned evilly. "FIRE A BROADSIDE!!!!!"
"Aye aye, Captain!!!!" shouted the two crossbowmen. They let loose their arrows, which shot towards Chris.
Chris quickly ducked and covered his head, making sure his arms were angled towards the incoming missiles. The arrows bounced off his arm plates, and dropped onto the deck of his raft.
"Curses!" hissed Skullbeard, witnessing the failure of the attack. "Can't you poltroons hit anything?!"
"He....he's wearing armour, Captain!" stammered one of the crossbowmen, fearful of a reprisal.
"Excuses, excuses!" roared the irate pirate captain. "Turn him into a pincushion before I turn ye into fish food!!!"
The two scared crossbowmen jumped at the thought and quickly tried to reload their weapons.
However, Chris was one step ahead. "Call that a broadside, Skullbeard?" he taunted, grinning and raising Michelle Memoria. "THIS is a broadside!" He pointed the divine sword at his men huddled at the side of the boat.

"GRAND MEMORIA!!!!!"

The powerful pink light sent a bright reflection across the blue rushing water as it streaked across the river. It blasted into the pirates, knocking all but two of them and Skullbeard overboard. The thugs yelled in pain as they were flung aside like toys, and there was an accompanying splash for each one that ended up in the drink.
Skullbeard's temper was now flaring at maximum. He totally flipped! "Ram that little whelp!!!!" he ordered loudly. The remaining two of his cohorts immediately steered the boat hard left, making it head quickly towards Chris' craft. Chris tried to steer away from the incoming pirates, but he was one man versus two, and their rowing was stronger than his.
The boat lurched violently into Chris' raft, and both craft shook with the force of the impact. Chris nearly lost his footing, but managed to keep steady, unlike one of the rowing pirates, who lost his balance and fell on to the raft.
"Kill that scurvy scum, ye pockmarked buffoon!" shouted Skullbeard with fury, waving his arms around.
"Yes Cap'n!" The dislodged pirate got to his feet and faced Chris, wielding a scimitar, a curved blade. He swiped at Chris, grinning nastily.
However, he wasn't much of a swordfighter, unlike the well-trained Chris. The agile knight easily dodged the attack and slashed upwards with Michelle Memoria, striking very close to the hilt. The sword was knocked out of the pirate's hand, and dropped into the unforgiving current of the river.
"Uh-oh....." said the pirate, fearing for his life.
He expected Chris to finish him off, but the knight would only kill people if absolutely necessary.
"My advice, find a better and more friendly career." said Chris, before winding up and punching the bandit square in the face. The thug was knocked off the raft and into the water.
However, he couldn't relax just yet. The second pirate was about to jump onto the raft.
Chris quickly pushed away from the boat with his pole, just as the dim-witted thug jumped.
"Yaaahhhh!!!!!" he shouted as he fell into the river, and was lost from sight.
Skullbeard thumped the deck furiously. "Useless incompetents! I'll deal with ye meself, ye scurvy brat!" The deranged seadog jumped from his boat onto the raft. Moments later, his boat crashed into the river bank, breaking into pieces.
Skullbeard's eyes were firmly locked onto the little whelp that dared to make a mockery of him, and he thrust out dangerously with his silver cutlass. The weapon was designed for quick and precise slashes, and its length allowed for some good defence, too.
Chris narrowly evaded the long tip of the cutlass, and delivered a powerful 360 degree back-swing which crashed into the delicate weapon. It was easily knocked away by the thicker and stronger Michelle Memoria.
However, Skullbeard was no amateur. He swept his weapon back upwards, and it sliced up Chris' right leg and blocked the next blow from the knight. Luckily for Chris, his leg armour prevented the cutlass from inflicting a nasty wound.
"I be tired of playing games, lad!" hissed the old pirate, swishing the cutlass around wildly. The lightweight weapon was so quick that Chris could barely get an attack in.
Suddenly, Skullbeard locked his cutlass with Chris' divine greatsword. The two fighters pushed against each other furiously, each trying to break the lock. However, though Chris had youthfulness on his side, Skullbeard was a much more muscular man, and slowly began to push Chris towards the edge of the raft.
"'Tis the end for you, me hearty!" laughed Skullbeard, grimacing a bit under the strain of pushing Chris. "Take a good look at yer grave!"
Chris looked down, and saw he was on the very edge of the raft, about to fall into the frighteningly fast river. He struggled against the mighty muscles of Skullbeard, and knew he had to do something fast.
"Sorry, but it's not my time to die yet!" he retorted.

Suddenly, Chris broke the lock. He quickly slid his sword free of Skullbeard's cutlass, ducking down as quick as a flash. Before the senile old pirate could react, Chris pushed him.
"Yaarrrgghh!!!" The old seadog fell backwards onto the raft, dropping his cutlass. He struggled to get to his feet, his old age slowing him down.
Chris stood, ready to run the old man through, but that wasn't his plan.
"You're a pretty poor excuse for a pirate. You can't even beat a kid like me!" he taunted, laughing a little.
His words had just the reaction he wanted. "I'll crucify ye, scoundrel!!!!!"
The now enraged Skullbeard ran straight at Chris, hoping to tackle him and knock the living daylights out of him.
The youthful knight was ready for him, however. He expertly jumped out of the way as Skullbeard charged.
The leader of the River Pirates' eyes widened in surprise, as he missed Chris and fell straight off the raft into the river. "Aaarggghhhh!!!!!"
Chris watched as he left Skullbeard behind. The old pirate floundered in the river, trying to reach land. It looked like he couldn't swim!
"Bon voyage!" grinned Chris, waving as his raft left the defeated pirate behind.

His ears then picked up a sound. It sounded like a massive torrent of water pouring down something.
Ahead of him, the river abruptly ended, and went over a steep cliff. Chris' heart stopped as he saw a......

"Waterfall!!!!" he gasped.

Chris' raft was hurtling on towards the waterfall at full speed. There were no rocks for him to jump to, and no way he could fight back against a current this powerful.
"Damn! What am I going to do????" he thought out loud. The cliff loomed ahead of him, the sound of the rushing water growing louder.....

Then he remembered something from his childhood. Something that someone close to him had once told him.
"If in doubt, take a leap of faith. Sometimes it's all you can do.....always remember that...."
Chris smiled, the memory of a voice he hadn't heard for a long time coming back to him. "Thanks, Father......"

The raft reached the edge of the sheer drop, and Chris closed his eyes. As the raft began to disappear under his feet, he took his leap of faith.
The knight jumped from the craft, and down into the dangerous waters below.
Chris gasped as he realised two things. First, he was diving into a massive lake...it had to be Lake Angelis!
Second, he remembered he was afraid of heights, and went into slight shock upon seeing how far he was falling.
Suddenly there was a sound of metal, like a sword being drawn. A white object then fell past him into the plunge pool below. Chris cursed himself when he realised his armour sheath was empty!
"Damn it! Michelle Memoria!!!"
He stared down at the waterfall's plunge pool. The current was fast and furious, and was coming towards him very fast. There was no sign of his lost sword.
The young knight took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Seconds later, he plunged deep into the base of the waterfall.......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Underneath a rock outcrop, Michelle and her captor rested. Even the twisted warrior was in need of a rest. He was annoyed at himself for showing such weakness, and had a bad feeling that they were being followed.
He looked back down the shallow rocky cliff they'd climbed. The splendour of Lake Angelis still showed, even a mile away, and even thought he cared not for such things, he had to admit it would be a nice place to live.
"I think I'll have my castle built here once I take power." he said out loud towards Michelle. "What do you think, your Highness?" He gave her a dirty look.
"If you ever built a castle there, I'd make sure it got turned into ruins...." she replied, with poison in her voice.
"Ha!" snorted her kidnapper, who still hadn't revealed his identity to her. "The only castle in ruins will be yours. No-one will be able to stand against me, and besides, you wouldn't. You're going to be my bride, after all!"
Michelle felt and looked sick. "I'd rather die than be the wife of such a wretched man as you!"
The black hooded man didn't take the comment nicely. He leaned over and roughly grabbed Michelle by her jaw. "You won't have a choice, my DEAR...," he pulled her head sharply as he said 'Dear', hurting her neck, "...Princess! And I'd watch your tongue if I were you, because trust me, if death is what you wish for, I can give you a very slow and painful one!"
He let go of her roughly, and stood up. The frightened but defiant Princess glared at him, nursing her aching jaw and neck.
"We move now, Princess!" he spoke, taking her wrist in the same rough manner he always did, and pulling her along with him, further up the cliff.
She could do nothing but comply, and her hope was beginning to fade fast.....even though she felt an odd flutter in her heart. By some strange instinct, she looked back towards the lake, as if she realised someone was following them.
"If anyone is there......please, save me......."

[/i][/b]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment