On A Quest

"What is next, Sir Laniel?" Sir Bradley was breathing heavily as he takes a seat on a flat rock nearby.

He takes off his helmet, revealing a young middle age, Asian man. He has silky black hair with a perfect crew cut.

"That's a very good question," Sir Laniel, also breathing heavily, takes out a map while glancing around their surroundings, "Let us see. We are here, we came from here." He mumbles to himself.

Sir Laniel is a tall handsome man. His hair is a light brown that waves pass his eyes.

"Not too long, brother. We're almost there. Only a couple of miles away and we're at this infamous beast our Lord speaks of."

Bradley gives a grin as he stands up, "Excellent, brother."

As they continue on their way, on their trail, they pass a stream where a deer and its fawn were playing in the water. There were birds out and about chirping lively. The sky was clear and the sun was out. It was a perfect day for a grand quest.

Later on the way, they turn the corner to face the bottom of a 50 to 100 feet tall mountain. And it looked to be a direct vertical climb.

Sir Laniel approaches the wall with a curious look as he begins to look around.

"What's on your mind?" Sir Bradley noticed Laniel's mind spinning.

"It's a lot steeper than what I had imagined." Sir Laniel looked troubled.

Sir Bradley looks up but then puts a grin on his face. "Nonsense, brother." He claps Laniel on the back, "We've got this. We've faced far worst before."

Sir Laniel grins back, "Of course. You're very right."

He turns to face his partner and extends a hand. "If we don't make it back, Sir Bradley, I just want to say that it has been the deepest honor to have serve beside you through all these years."

Sir Bradley turns to face him and firmly takes his hand. "Ey. The honor is mine, Laniel. We've traveled far and wide. If this does become our last adventure together, let it be a good one."

They both smile at each other and shake one last time before turning back to face their obstacle.

The bottom half wasn't as steep as the top half. After a good while with a few stumbles back, they were both able to reach the top of the mountain.

Sir Bradley rolled onto the ledge, gasping for breaths before he stood himself up to help Sir Laniel onto the ledge. They both let out a few grunts here and there as they work to get them both onto their feet.

"Oh, brother." Sir Laniel gasps through breaths, "Look at the view."

Sir Bradley turns around to see the sun was starting to set, lighting the sky with a warm golden color. He stands next to Sir Laniel as he takes in this breath-taking view. They could see the path that they took to get here. Miles and miles of the valley with mountains faded in the background. They could see their palace far in the distance, sitting there in peace. The air was cool but the sun still layered the atmosphere with a warm blanket.

"It's magnificent." Sir Bradley says in awe.

Sir Laniel was about to say open his mouth when they both hear a loud cry coming from behind. As they spun around they could feel the ground begin to shake. And from the depth of the cave, they heard to loud cry again. The ground shook more violently as the beast grew closer. Standing before their eyes was a chimera beast. The tail of this beast was the tail of a dragon. The body was the body of a lion and wings of an eagle. And sharing this terrifying beast was the three heads of a lion, a tiger, and a bear.

"Oh my." Sir Bradley mumbles to himself in seeing this chimera.

"It's our beast." Sir Laniel growls.

The chimera lets out another cry before lunging towards the knights. They both were able to dive out of the way in time as the chimera dives off the cliff. They both look at each other with wide eyes, not knowing what had just happened. After a second of processing, they both let out a laugh as they stood up.

They make their way into the cave where it was noticeably warmer. As they wandered further in, the cave started to slope downhill slightly. It went on for what felt like 15 - 20 minutes. They finally reached the end of the tunnel where they found themselves in a lit large dome. In the center of the dome laid piles and piles of gold and silver and all sorts of jewelry pieces.

"Brother! We have found our treasure!"

"Careful, Bradley. It could be a trap." Sir Laniel cautions.

Sir Bradley jumps down and approaches the treasure. He reaches down to grab some of the coin but immediately drops it.

"I told you something might happen." A girl with long light brown hair that flows pass her shoulder was looking towards an Asian girl with a short crew cut hairstyle.

Haley bends over to pick up her hot pocket, "Aw man. I dropped my food."

Christa smiles, "Not to worry, Sir Bradley. You can share my treasure."

Haley smiles, "You're too kind, brother."

Suddenly there was barking coming from outside as a dog comes running into the kitchen.

They both look at each other. "Oh no. The chimera is back!" Christa says.

"We got our treasure, now let's go!" Haley claps Christa on the back as she darts through the hallway towards the back deck. Christa follows closely behind.

They dash to the deck and down the stairs to the yard with their hot pockets still in hand and Dexter still barking and chasing them.

"We have to get him off our tail," Sir Bradley calls out.

"I have a plan." Sir Laniel stops on his track and turns around.

Sir Bradley stops on his track in seeing Laniel stop, "Wait. What are you doing?"

Laniel takes off his bag filled with the gold they took and hands it to Sir Bradley. "Go."

"What?"

"Go. Get out of here. Save yourself and get the treasure back to the palace."

"You're insane."

"It was an honor knowing you, brother."

And with that Sir Laniel starts charging towards the chimera with a battle cry.

"Come and get me!"

Laniel swings his sword forward slashing it towards the chimera. He ducks in seeing the chimera's tail swinging wildly in the air. Laniel gets a stab into the chimera's side but it didn't seem to effect the creature. The chimera lets out a loud roar and pounces onto Laniel pinning him flat on his back. Laniel tries to squirm and twist his way out, but the chimera was too strong. All three heads open their giant mouth and is about to strike when Sir Bradley comes tackling the chimera to the ground with full force. Sir Laniel immediately sits up surprised.

"Christa, your mother is here to pick you up." Haley's mom call from the deck, "Haley, leave Dexter alone."

Christa and Haley both sit up looking at each other. They both have that look where they know it's time to stop, but they really don't want too.

"I guess this is the end." Christa sighs.

"I guess so." Haley stands up and extends a hand to help Christa up. "But this won't be our last, Sir Laniel. For we will have many adventures ahead of us." Haley grins.

"Ey." Christa extends a hand, "Until then, brother."

Haley takes her hand. "Until then, brother."