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The Well Behind the Town; Daventry; Tuesday Afternoon [05/07].
After a bit of exploring and asking around, Graham had discovered a rumor about that well back behind the town and some strange sounds and activities. It definitely seemed to be enough to check out, and, once he'd used a helpful tool from Amaya to clear the way, he discovered he wasn't the only Knight Hopeful who had the same idea. The strong silent archer from a far-away land, the one known only as the word he repeated often when addressed, Achaka, was there at the well when Graham arrived, preparing to decend into it.
It caused him, for a moment, to pause, uncertain. Should he find another path? Where else would he find a hideous beast eye? The dark forest, where the snarling snarlaxes were said to dwell? The dark caverns east of town? What if there were several hideous beasts down below that well? Perhaps they could help each other? Graham was already here. No turning back! And as Amaya would say, fortune did favor the bold, right?
Right! Graham hurried forward and Achaka, for his part, lifted a hand and wiggled his fingers at Graham in a wave as he slowly lowered himself down the rope to descend into the well. He would be a few steps behind, but he was really hoping there would be a beast down there, especially if Achaka was already headed that way, and he wanted the sort of eye that would really impress everyone.
There was a small opening in rocks at the bottom of the well, Graham's boots splashing into the water collected there, and he hurried through it, into a shockingly and stunning vast cavern down below. Just how deep had that well gone? This place was incredible, the cliff on which he stood looking out over a massive waterfall as if all of Daventry's many rivers had collected and pooled into this underground space. The rushing waters roared in his ears and took his breath away, but he had to focus on the task at hand. Hopping over a gap in the cliff, Achaka swung by on a rope expertly shot into the stone. Graham was incredibly out of his league, it was easy to see with the ease and assurance his fellow Knight Hopeful moved through this impressive space, but he had something to prove. He couldn't return to the surface empty handed. Not with everyone here to cheer him on and support him through all of this...
"Uh, hey!" Graham called after Achaka, as he dropped down from the ceiling and hurried toward a small hole in the next rock face, and he went jogging after him. "Whatever's down here? It's mine!"
Never hurt, after all, to call dibs, right? That could totally be how this worked?
Either way, when he emerged through the passage, he found Achaka perched on a tall pillar of rock in front of a gaping chasm. He turned around to look at Graham, immediately waving his arms in a gesture of holding him back....and then pointing out the elaborate, albeit it shoddily constructed trap, looming above their heads. But, before Graham could thank him for the warning, Achaka hopped down from the side of the cliff, leaping once again out of view, and leaving Graham to continue his much more pedestrain progress along the edge of the cliff.
He caught up with Achaka not too long after, hopping down from the cliff to a lower level of the cave and yet another chasm spread before them. Achaka crouched, turning to Graham to put a finger to his mouth in a call for quiet, but the gesture was fairly unnecessary, because it would take an awful lot of inattention for someone to not notice the large, slumbering, snoring dragon on the otherside of the chasm. Graham's heart leapt in his chest. A dragon! The ultimate beast! The rumors were true, and he was right there, with just a chasm between himself and the creature.
Well, a chasm, and Achaka. But, as he stepped up beside Achaka to gaze across the way at the slumbering beast, he couldn't help but realize that the dragon did have two eyes...
Achaka moved first, swiftly hopping over to the series of pillars conveniently sticking out at leaping distance across the chasm. He seemed to be judicious in his choices, and, when he reached the other side, he turned to Graham and gestured him to follow suit. Graham put out a foot to hop to one of the pillars; Achaka shook his head. "Stalama," he said, adding a gesture. Graham, frowning at the unfamiliar word, shifted his foot toward another. "Affa mata!" Achaka said, more encouragingly, gesturing Graham forward, and Graham grinned, understanding now that Stalama was negative, affa mata positive, and with those words and Achaka to guide him, he finally made it across the gruelling gauntlet of pillars.
And he was so overcome with relief and the thrill of this new budding partnership that, as soon as his foot touched the otherside, Graham couldn't help the burst of excitement that came rushing out of him, fist pumping in the air as he celebrated their victorious crossing with a mighty cheer. "Affa nada!" he cried out joyously, forgetting until it was much too late that the sleeping dragon was right there...and absolutely waking up to this raucous alarm.
Slowly, thankfully, the snoring halting as it stirred into awareness, giving the Knight Hopefuls enough time to duck behind the rocks. Cautiously, the dragon began to sniff the air, as if to suss out where the disturbance had come from, yawning slightly with a gathering of fire in its mouth. Even with that little bit, Graham could feel the heat radiating off of that fire (and you thought your morning breath was bad!) and a tight knot formed in his throat that he failed to choke down. This was the real deal. If not for those rocks, the dragons would be right there.
Feeling somewhat desperate, definitely feeling like he'd bitten off more than he could chew, he gave a worried look across the way at Achaka, but, of course, the other knight was prepared with a plan. Graham felt his knees go weak with envy; he really did have a lot to learn, and Achaka was clearly the better knight for the job, he wouldn't feel the least bit surprised losing to him, and Daventry would be much better off for it, and he could take a few years for more training, more striving toward excellent, and try again some other time....but none of that would matter, anyway, if they didn't get out of here, so he focused in on Achaka as his hands went flying into a flurry to gesture out his plan.
At first, Graham wasn't sure he got it, but when Achaka repeated it, he nodded, gestured back, and recieved a confirmation that he'd understood it correctly. Or correctly enough, anyway, and now it was time for action. Achaka shot his roped bow yet again, creating another source from which to swing from and went flying out....to catch the dragon's attention and create a diversion so that Graham could move on into safety. And Graham was going to do just that, as soon as his heart stopped racing so much and he could catch his breath and he could remember how to move his feet.
Hurrying forward, Graham scrambled and climbed, while Achaka swung and jumped, the dragon in hot pursuit, stomping after him with plumes of fire and mighty roars. Graham had to be deft and quick, especially as some of that fire went spiraling his way, ducking clevery between rocks, over obstacles, and up the sides of the cliffs. He took the long way, Achaka took the astounding way. No matter. One of those eyes would be his!
Somehow.
Eventually.
Danging as he reached from one handhold of the rockface to another, the dragon noticed Graham enough to narrowly miss snapping off his legs; it then turned to go stomping after Achaka in a burst of more flames. It staggered after Graham, smashing into the side of the rocks he clung to, just as he and Achaka came together again on a landing. Graham jumped, stumbling into Achaka as he tried to regain his bearings, but there was only a second before the dragon had both its targets in sight and came tearing after them. The rocks beneath their feet trembled and threatened to fall away as, in a flurry of legs, Graham ran after Achaka as they desperately tried to find their way to relative safety again.
There was a moment, at the end of the line, at the edge of a cliff, where the dragon raised its head to face them. Achaka had his bow drawn, ready to aim....and Graham, spurned by his momentum, failed to stop in time and went careening into Achaka again. The stone underneath them began to crumble, and, before they knew it, they were both falling through the air.
Well, Achaka was falling. Incredibly gracefully, too, his limbs spread in a way that made it seem like he was just lazily coasting on an air drift. Graham, meanwhile, tumbled, and he was pretty sure he managed to hit every jutting rock on the way down, and he was almost glad for it. It was karma, really; he deserved each and every blow for having haphazardly caused all of this trouble. If it weren't for him stumbling into depths much too deep for him, Achaka would have already had his eye and been on the way to the theater by now...
Instead, they were falling, potentially to their death. He wanted to get a truly magnificent eye to impress everyone, but how horrible would it be, if the only thing impressed was himself, like a pancake, at the very bottom of this chasm?
Graham wasn't even going to pretend that the tears in his eyes were just from the pain.
But, shockingly, when he landed, it wasn't on the hard surface of the rocky bottom, but, instead, he practicall clotheslined himself on a strange device, an arm holding out a cage suspended over the pit. After that initial gut-punch, he tumbled, limply, barely managing it land inside the cage as he did. It was a close call; an inch to either side and he wouldn't have made it. He was a little stunned by it all, and, as he started to come to again, he could see Achaka heading toward a set of doors off to the side. Graham's heart sunk, but also, he couldn't blame Achaka for wanting to leave him there. It was much safer for him, really, if Graham was captive in this cave. Maybe, when all this was over, someone would come back for him? He sighed, settling into his fate in the cage, thinking to himself he had a long, long way to go before he could ever truly be a knight...
However, when Achaka tried the doors, they wouldn't budge, no matter how hard he pushed or pulled. He noticed, however, a smaller door inside the door, and that swung open. On his knees to crawl through, he realized that he was much too tall, broad, and muscular to fit through, but, he realized, turning back to the cage to consider the thin, wiry Graham with in, someone else would fit through it easily. And then Graham could get to the other side, lift the bar, and let Achaka through as well.
It took a bit of doing, but, after sharing a moment with a nod of solidarity, Achaka was able to swing the cage away from the pit and get Graham out. "Hey," he said, with a shy, awkward, wholly humbled smile, "good looking out."
But Achaka, with a wave of his hand and a dismissive, "Achaka," just nodded. Graham nodded back, and went to go crawl through the trap door to get to the other side. Try as he might, though, he couldn't get the door to budge from here, either, and he had to be careful, he had to be quiet, because, just ahead, he realized, was the dragon.
But brilliant Achaka had another plan, tying his rope around the bar and preparing his bow, and then gesturing toward the dragon and toward Graham. It took him having to get on his knees and point to his bottom before Graham could pick up on what the next goal was: if Graham went and tied the end of the rope to the dragon's tail, then Achaka would shoot at the dragon to get him moving, and the dragon would open the door for them! Of course, that meant Graham would have to go tie a rope to a dragon's tail, but, let's be honest, it was the least he could do to make up for all this trouble he'd caused that put them in this position in the first place.
Just tying a rope to a viscious dragon's tail! This was the real knight stuff, and, determined to be the knight he so loftily dreamed of being, Graham was more than up to the task, approaching with caution, determination, and surprisingly deft hands. Distracted as he was by something in the river down below, the dragon didn't even notice anything as Graham slipped back to the door and nodded to Achaka, who then shot off another arrow to clatter against something on the far side of the cavern to distract the dragon, who went lumbering toward the sound, pulling the door unwittingly attached to its tail with him and freeing Achaka from the other side.
It also, conveniently, put the dragon nice and far away from them, although it would only be a matter of time before it realized there was nothing over there. Graham and Achaka looked at each other for a moment, Achaka nodded and hitched his thumb toward what was hopefully the way out of here, and, together, they started forward again, neither of them terribly concerned about the dragon's eyes anymore and just wanting to get out of there.
Thankfully, they didn't have to go far until they saw the light of day bursting through a crack in rocks. One more chasm remained between them and freedom, and Graham's heart lept in his chest as he waited for Achaka to shoot another arrow and swing them to safety. But Achaka didn't notch his arrow; instead, he handed the rope to Graham.
At first, Graham was surprised; it was clear to anyone who the better archer was, and Graham gawked at him, but Achaka nodded encouragingly. Grinning at this vote of confidence, Graham pulled out his own bow, tied the rope, took aim and....
The arrow pathetically fell short. It didn't even make it halfway. Zounds, he was going to be the worst knight ever...
But suddently, Achaka was there, behind him, carefully setting a hand on his elbow to lift his bow back up again. His hand landed on Graham's head, to adjust his aim. A little bit of work, and he nodded, stepping back so Graham could try again and....with this guidance, Graham's arrow struck true, wrapped around the nearest stalagtite, and secured their passage across. And when they got to the other side, Achaka looked at Graham for a moment before giving his a lighthearted punch on the shoulder. Pride and happiness rushed through Graham at this gesture of camaradie and respect, filling his face with a pleased blush, and he then hurried after Achaka toward the cave's entrance.
Only to find one last obstacle still in their way:
The dragon. Who had since decided, exhausted, to fall asleep right in front of the opening to lead outside the cave. A tight feeling of tension passed between them again, but, before anything, Achaka raised his bow, ready and prepared and aimed for one of the dragon's eyes. He looked toward Graham for confirmation, and realizing that this was it, this was the moment, Graham pointed eagerly to one of them.
"Affa mata!" he declared.
The call stirred the dragon, lifting its head, already starting to gather fire in its mouth, but Achaka didn't hesitate, and his arrow went soaring through the air, striking its target true. Attached to a rope as it was, all he had to do was give a mighty tug and the eye came popping right out, into his hands. By the time the fire reached the spot where Achaka and Graham had been standing, they were already gone, rushing together toward their freedom, once and for all, and with an eye in hand.
Well, an eye for Achaka, even though he'd shoved it into Graham's hands for safe keeping so that he could keep both of his on his bow as they dashed forward. Graham realized, shoving the eye into his pockets, that perhaps he'd best foreit his position to a knight who truly deserved the title. While he went and had some more training to do, and a new goal of excellence to aspire to. It would be an honor to serve beside Achaka. One day.
Granted, none of these thoughts were really that present in Graham's mind as they tried to run away, and then, suddenly, came to an abrupt halt as they realized that this chasm-filled cave still had one more chasm to cross. Panic swelled in Graham yet again and Achaka was shoving something else itno his hand: a rope. Before he could say anything, Achaka was shooting another arrow and shoving Graham forward, just as the dragon lunged for them. Graham went swinging away, his back hitting the wall of the cave, and he held on tightly as he waited for Achaka to follow, but...
Achaka didn't follow.
And the dragon had its head tilted back, biting and gnawing on what looked like a body, covered in sleek armor with bold purple accents.
The desperate cry ripped out of Graham like a howl. "Nooooooooooooooooo!"
The dragon dropped Achaka's body from its maw as its attention shifted toward Graham, and the other half of the duo that had left him with but one eye. This dragon was not in it for hunger, anymore, but a sense of revenge, and Graham realized that he was next. As that instinct for flight finally kicked in, Graham started pulling himself up the rope as the dragon rushed forward, jaw open wide and ready to bite down on him, and he kept climbing and climbing and climbing until he reached that opening in the rock's face, that burst of sunlight in an outside world that suddenly seemed impossible in that moment, and he pulled himself out onto the surface world until he couldn't move anymore.
Safe now, outside the cave, Graham just sat there, trying to catch his breath, staring at the opening from which he'd just emerged. Realizing that he hadn't gone in there alone, but he had, undeniably, emerged entirely solo. And then all hopes of catching his breath were lost as he tears started to fall, and the tears turned into sobs, and the sobs turned into the anger and the pain of the harsh reality of what had just occured. He reached up to snatch the adventure's cap from his head, scrambled to his feet, and threw it down, the emotions rolling through him almost impossible to contain, and feeling as though his entire perspective, his entire world, has completely and irrevocably changed forever.
[[ NFB, NFI, OOC welcome, we'll continue things in the post proper; heavily lifted from a good portion of King's Quest: A Knight to Remember ]]
It caused him, for a moment, to pause, uncertain. Should he find another path? Where else would he find a hideous beast eye? The dark forest, where the snarling snarlaxes were said to dwell? The dark caverns east of town? What if there were several hideous beasts down below that well? Perhaps they could help each other? Graham was already here. No turning back! And as Amaya would say, fortune did favor the bold, right?
Right! Graham hurried forward and Achaka, for his part, lifted a hand and wiggled his fingers at Graham in a wave as he slowly lowered himself down the rope to descend into the well. He would be a few steps behind, but he was really hoping there would be a beast down there, especially if Achaka was already headed that way, and he wanted the sort of eye that would really impress everyone.
There was a small opening in rocks at the bottom of the well, Graham's boots splashing into the water collected there, and he hurried through it, into a shockingly and stunning vast cavern down below. Just how deep had that well gone? This place was incredible, the cliff on which he stood looking out over a massive waterfall as if all of Daventry's many rivers had collected and pooled into this underground space. The rushing waters roared in his ears and took his breath away, but he had to focus on the task at hand. Hopping over a gap in the cliff, Achaka swung by on a rope expertly shot into the stone. Graham was incredibly out of his league, it was easy to see with the ease and assurance his fellow Knight Hopeful moved through this impressive space, but he had something to prove. He couldn't return to the surface empty handed. Not with everyone here to cheer him on and support him through all of this...
"Uh, hey!" Graham called after Achaka, as he dropped down from the ceiling and hurried toward a small hole in the next rock face, and he went jogging after him. "Whatever's down here? It's mine!"
Never hurt, after all, to call dibs, right? That could totally be how this worked?
Either way, when he emerged through the passage, he found Achaka perched on a tall pillar of rock in front of a gaping chasm. He turned around to look at Graham, immediately waving his arms in a gesture of holding him back....and then pointing out the elaborate, albeit it shoddily constructed trap, looming above their heads. But, before Graham could thank him for the warning, Achaka hopped down from the side of the cliff, leaping once again out of view, and leaving Graham to continue his much more pedestrain progress along the edge of the cliff.
He caught up with Achaka not too long after, hopping down from the cliff to a lower level of the cave and yet another chasm spread before them. Achaka crouched, turning to Graham to put a finger to his mouth in a call for quiet, but the gesture was fairly unnecessary, because it would take an awful lot of inattention for someone to not notice the large, slumbering, snoring dragon on the otherside of the chasm. Graham's heart leapt in his chest. A dragon! The ultimate beast! The rumors were true, and he was right there, with just a chasm between himself and the creature.
Well, a chasm, and Achaka. But, as he stepped up beside Achaka to gaze across the way at the slumbering beast, he couldn't help but realize that the dragon did have two eyes...
Achaka moved first, swiftly hopping over to the series of pillars conveniently sticking out at leaping distance across the chasm. He seemed to be judicious in his choices, and, when he reached the other side, he turned to Graham and gestured him to follow suit. Graham put out a foot to hop to one of the pillars; Achaka shook his head. "Stalama," he said, adding a gesture. Graham, frowning at the unfamiliar word, shifted his foot toward another. "Affa mata!" Achaka said, more encouragingly, gesturing Graham forward, and Graham grinned, understanding now that Stalama was negative, affa mata positive, and with those words and Achaka to guide him, he finally made it across the gruelling gauntlet of pillars.
And he was so overcome with relief and the thrill of this new budding partnership that, as soon as his foot touched the otherside, Graham couldn't help the burst of excitement that came rushing out of him, fist pumping in the air as he celebrated their victorious crossing with a mighty cheer. "Affa nada!" he cried out joyously, forgetting until it was much too late that the sleeping dragon was right there...and absolutely waking up to this raucous alarm.
Slowly, thankfully, the snoring halting as it stirred into awareness, giving the Knight Hopefuls enough time to duck behind the rocks. Cautiously, the dragon began to sniff the air, as if to suss out where the disturbance had come from, yawning slightly with a gathering of fire in its mouth. Even with that little bit, Graham could feel the heat radiating off of that fire (and you thought your morning breath was bad!) and a tight knot formed in his throat that he failed to choke down. This was the real deal. If not for those rocks, the dragons would be right there.
Feeling somewhat desperate, definitely feeling like he'd bitten off more than he could chew, he gave a worried look across the way at Achaka, but, of course, the other knight was prepared with a plan. Graham felt his knees go weak with envy; he really did have a lot to learn, and Achaka was clearly the better knight for the job, he wouldn't feel the least bit surprised losing to him, and Daventry would be much better off for it, and he could take a few years for more training, more striving toward excellent, and try again some other time....but none of that would matter, anyway, if they didn't get out of here, so he focused in on Achaka as his hands went flying into a flurry to gesture out his plan.
At first, Graham wasn't sure he got it, but when Achaka repeated it, he nodded, gestured back, and recieved a confirmation that he'd understood it correctly. Or correctly enough, anyway, and now it was time for action. Achaka shot his roped bow yet again, creating another source from which to swing from and went flying out....to catch the dragon's attention and create a diversion so that Graham could move on into safety. And Graham was going to do just that, as soon as his heart stopped racing so much and he could catch his breath and he could remember how to move his feet.
Hurrying forward, Graham scrambled and climbed, while Achaka swung and jumped, the dragon in hot pursuit, stomping after him with plumes of fire and mighty roars. Graham had to be deft and quick, especially as some of that fire went spiraling his way, ducking clevery between rocks, over obstacles, and up the sides of the cliffs. He took the long way, Achaka took the astounding way. No matter. One of those eyes would be his!
Somehow.
Eventually.
Danging as he reached from one handhold of the rockface to another, the dragon noticed Graham enough to narrowly miss snapping off his legs; it then turned to go stomping after Achaka in a burst of more flames. It staggered after Graham, smashing into the side of the rocks he clung to, just as he and Achaka came together again on a landing. Graham jumped, stumbling into Achaka as he tried to regain his bearings, but there was only a second before the dragon had both its targets in sight and came tearing after them. The rocks beneath their feet trembled and threatened to fall away as, in a flurry of legs, Graham ran after Achaka as they desperately tried to find their way to relative safety again.
There was a moment, at the end of the line, at the edge of a cliff, where the dragon raised its head to face them. Achaka had his bow drawn, ready to aim....and Graham, spurned by his momentum, failed to stop in time and went careening into Achaka again. The stone underneath them began to crumble, and, before they knew it, they were both falling through the air.
Well, Achaka was falling. Incredibly gracefully, too, his limbs spread in a way that made it seem like he was just lazily coasting on an air drift. Graham, meanwhile, tumbled, and he was pretty sure he managed to hit every jutting rock on the way down, and he was almost glad for it. It was karma, really; he deserved each and every blow for having haphazardly caused all of this trouble. If it weren't for him stumbling into depths much too deep for him, Achaka would have already had his eye and been on the way to the theater by now...
Instead, they were falling, potentially to their death. He wanted to get a truly magnificent eye to impress everyone, but how horrible would it be, if the only thing impressed was himself, like a pancake, at the very bottom of this chasm?
Graham wasn't even going to pretend that the tears in his eyes were just from the pain.
But, shockingly, when he landed, it wasn't on the hard surface of the rocky bottom, but, instead, he practicall clotheslined himself on a strange device, an arm holding out a cage suspended over the pit. After that initial gut-punch, he tumbled, limply, barely managing it land inside the cage as he did. It was a close call; an inch to either side and he wouldn't have made it. He was a little stunned by it all, and, as he started to come to again, he could see Achaka heading toward a set of doors off to the side. Graham's heart sunk, but also, he couldn't blame Achaka for wanting to leave him there. It was much safer for him, really, if Graham was captive in this cave. Maybe, when all this was over, someone would come back for him? He sighed, settling into his fate in the cage, thinking to himself he had a long, long way to go before he could ever truly be a knight...
However, when Achaka tried the doors, they wouldn't budge, no matter how hard he pushed or pulled. He noticed, however, a smaller door inside the door, and that swung open. On his knees to crawl through, he realized that he was much too tall, broad, and muscular to fit through, but, he realized, turning back to the cage to consider the thin, wiry Graham with in, someone else would fit through it easily. And then Graham could get to the other side, lift the bar, and let Achaka through as well.
It took a bit of doing, but, after sharing a moment with a nod of solidarity, Achaka was able to swing the cage away from the pit and get Graham out. "Hey," he said, with a shy, awkward, wholly humbled smile, "good looking out."
But Achaka, with a wave of his hand and a dismissive, "Achaka," just nodded. Graham nodded back, and went to go crawl through the trap door to get to the other side. Try as he might, though, he couldn't get the door to budge from here, either, and he had to be careful, he had to be quiet, because, just ahead, he realized, was the dragon.
But brilliant Achaka had another plan, tying his rope around the bar and preparing his bow, and then gesturing toward the dragon and toward Graham. It took him having to get on his knees and point to his bottom before Graham could pick up on what the next goal was: if Graham went and tied the end of the rope to the dragon's tail, then Achaka would shoot at the dragon to get him moving, and the dragon would open the door for them! Of course, that meant Graham would have to go tie a rope to a dragon's tail, but, let's be honest, it was the least he could do to make up for all this trouble he'd caused that put them in this position in the first place.
Just tying a rope to a viscious dragon's tail! This was the real knight stuff, and, determined to be the knight he so loftily dreamed of being, Graham was more than up to the task, approaching with caution, determination, and surprisingly deft hands. Distracted as he was by something in the river down below, the dragon didn't even notice anything as Graham slipped back to the door and nodded to Achaka, who then shot off another arrow to clatter against something on the far side of the cavern to distract the dragon, who went lumbering toward the sound, pulling the door unwittingly attached to its tail with him and freeing Achaka from the other side.
It also, conveniently, put the dragon nice and far away from them, although it would only be a matter of time before it realized there was nothing over there. Graham and Achaka looked at each other for a moment, Achaka nodded and hitched his thumb toward what was hopefully the way out of here, and, together, they started forward again, neither of them terribly concerned about the dragon's eyes anymore and just wanting to get out of there.
Thankfully, they didn't have to go far until they saw the light of day bursting through a crack in rocks. One more chasm remained between them and freedom, and Graham's heart lept in his chest as he waited for Achaka to shoot another arrow and swing them to safety. But Achaka didn't notch his arrow; instead, he handed the rope to Graham.
At first, Graham was surprised; it was clear to anyone who the better archer was, and Graham gawked at him, but Achaka nodded encouragingly. Grinning at this vote of confidence, Graham pulled out his own bow, tied the rope, took aim and....
The arrow pathetically fell short. It didn't even make it halfway. Zounds, he was going to be the worst knight ever...
But suddently, Achaka was there, behind him, carefully setting a hand on his elbow to lift his bow back up again. His hand landed on Graham's head, to adjust his aim. A little bit of work, and he nodded, stepping back so Graham could try again and....with this guidance, Graham's arrow struck true, wrapped around the nearest stalagtite, and secured their passage across. And when they got to the other side, Achaka looked at Graham for a moment before giving his a lighthearted punch on the shoulder. Pride and happiness rushed through Graham at this gesture of camaradie and respect, filling his face with a pleased blush, and he then hurried after Achaka toward the cave's entrance.
Only to find one last obstacle still in their way:
The dragon. Who had since decided, exhausted, to fall asleep right in front of the opening to lead outside the cave. A tight feeling of tension passed between them again, but, before anything, Achaka raised his bow, ready and prepared and aimed for one of the dragon's eyes. He looked toward Graham for confirmation, and realizing that this was it, this was the moment, Graham pointed eagerly to one of them.
"Affa mata!" he declared.
The call stirred the dragon, lifting its head, already starting to gather fire in its mouth, but Achaka didn't hesitate, and his arrow went soaring through the air, striking its target true. Attached to a rope as it was, all he had to do was give a mighty tug and the eye came popping right out, into his hands. By the time the fire reached the spot where Achaka and Graham had been standing, they were already gone, rushing together toward their freedom, once and for all, and with an eye in hand.
Well, an eye for Achaka, even though he'd shoved it into Graham's hands for safe keeping so that he could keep both of his on his bow as they dashed forward. Graham realized, shoving the eye into his pockets, that perhaps he'd best foreit his position to a knight who truly deserved the title. While he went and had some more training to do, and a new goal of excellence to aspire to. It would be an honor to serve beside Achaka. One day.
Granted, none of these thoughts were really that present in Graham's mind as they tried to run away, and then, suddenly, came to an abrupt halt as they realized that this chasm-filled cave still had one more chasm to cross. Panic swelled in Graham yet again and Achaka was shoving something else itno his hand: a rope. Before he could say anything, Achaka was shooting another arrow and shoving Graham forward, just as the dragon lunged for them. Graham went swinging away, his back hitting the wall of the cave, and he held on tightly as he waited for Achaka to follow, but...
Achaka didn't follow.
And the dragon had its head tilted back, biting and gnawing on what looked like a body, covered in sleek armor with bold purple accents.
The desperate cry ripped out of Graham like a howl. "Nooooooooooooooooo!"
The dragon dropped Achaka's body from its maw as its attention shifted toward Graham, and the other half of the duo that had left him with but one eye. This dragon was not in it for hunger, anymore, but a sense of revenge, and Graham realized that he was next. As that instinct for flight finally kicked in, Graham started pulling himself up the rope as the dragon rushed forward, jaw open wide and ready to bite down on him, and he kept climbing and climbing and climbing until he reached that opening in the rock's face, that burst of sunlight in an outside world that suddenly seemed impossible in that moment, and he pulled himself out onto the surface world until he couldn't move anymore.
Safe now, outside the cave, Graham just sat there, trying to catch his breath, staring at the opening from which he'd just emerged. Realizing that he hadn't gone in there alone, but he had, undeniably, emerged entirely solo. And then all hopes of catching his breath were lost as he tears started to fall, and the tears turned into sobs, and the sobs turned into the anger and the pain of the harsh reality of what had just occured. He reached up to snatch the adventure's cap from his head, scrambled to his feet, and threw it down, the emotions rolling through him almost impossible to contain, and feeling as though his entire perspective, his entire world, has completely and irrevocably changed forever.
[[ NFB, NFI, OOC welcome, we'll continue things in the post proper; heavily lifted from a good portion of King's Quest: A Knight to Remember ]]
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