The Quake Chronicles
By: Mitchell Almonte
A warm, salty sea breeze gusted into the face of Quake Pindragon. He was tired and cold from his long trek around White Wolf Mountain. But he had finally arrived to one of the most beautiful cities he had ever seen, Catherby.
He padded down the worn path to the soft, white sand. His eyes wandered towards the sea. People we're fishing snd on unlucky adventurer was getting attack by a chicken like creature. Then he noticed some of the fishers pulling fish out of the water with their bare hands. "Well, I can do that," he thought to himself. He loved how the clear, crisp water caressed his arm as he stuck it into the water. He sat there with his arm in the water while he watched others pull tuna, swordfish, and shark out of the sea and store them in their bulging packs. He sighed and stood up, wiping his wet hand on his torn pants as he did so.
Bwuk! Bwuk! He quickly glanced over to see the chicken like creature kill the poor adventurer. With a groan, he fell to his knees and disappeared a long with the chicken. Quake wandered over to the area where the adventurer had previously been. He picked his way through the piles of raw shrimp and old shoes. "Worthless," he muttered.
A searing pain went through his right hand. He quickly pulled his hand out of the pile. There was a long, oozing on the side of his right hand He quickly ran and dunked his hand in the sea in an attempt to ease the pain. Bad idea. The salt stung the wound, bringing tears to his eyes. He ran to the nearby bank and withdrew some herring. "Much better," he said as he devoured the fish. Kicking shells as he went, he returned to the pile of shrimp Carefully he picked his way through the pile until his hand came to rest on a hard object. He pulled it out quickly. It was a red, wicked looking dagger with lethal green poison dripping from it's tip.
He couldn't believe his great luck. This weapon look a lot more powerful than his Rune Scimitar. He grasped it's hilt. "Argh,' he screamed. The hilt of the dagger had burned his hand raw. "What's wrong with it,' he thought,'I always see other people fighting with them, why can't I?" He pondered it for a while, then decided to go to the castle of Camelot. "Maybe one of the knights there can help me solve this problem, he thought as he ran down the stone pathway that lead to the great castle.
Before entering the castle, he cooled his raw hand in one of the great fountains near the wrought iron gates. He looked down to see that his hand was as good as new. Overjoyed at this discovery, he skipped merrily into the bright courtyard.
Sir Lancelot was the first knight he spotted, so he ran up to him and bowed. "Greetings Sir Lancelot. I am Quake Pindragon. I was wondering if a swordsman of your stature could help me. You see, for some reason, this dagger burns my hand when I grasp it,' he said as he carefully pulled the red dagger out of his pack. "Ha," laughed Sir Lancelot,'my boy, this is a Dragon Dagger! I think I may know what the problem is,' he finished. The old knight was silent for a moment, then asked,"Have you not been to the city of Zanaris?" Quake quickly answered,"No sir, how can I get there?" Sir Lancelot walked over to a long chest and opened it. After the dust settled, he took out what looked like a regular wooden staff. "Here, you will need this to enter," Lancelot said. "A wooden staff? Is that all I need? I have one of those in my bank," replied the confused Quake. "Ha ha. No. This here is a Dramen Staff, cut from the sacred tree in the Entrana dungeon. It took me many adventures to finally cut a branch from that tree," said the old knight with tears in his eyes. But he quickly wiped his eyes and said,"But that was back when I was young and adventurous. Here," he continued," I would like for you to have it," he said as he handed the worn and gnarled staff to Quake."Thank you sir," said Quake,"but how do I get to this Zanaris place?" The old warrior pulled a tablet from one of the many pouches that hung on his belt. "Here. When you break this you will be teleported to Lumbridge. From there you will head into the swamp. From there you will walk until you find a wooden shack. When you reach the shack just hold the staff in your had and you will be taken to Zanaris," finished Sir Lancelot. "Thank you so much," replied Quake.
He bowed quickly and ran into the courtyard. He could see the faint outline of an L on the tablet that Sir Lancelot had handed him. He broke the tab in half, and was quickly whisked away. Old memories flooded his mind as he stood in the quiet courtyard of Lumbridge castle.
He walked through the silent graveyard, passed through the gate, and found himself in the Lumbridge Swamp. The smell of rotting vegetation assaulted his nostrils. Avoiding the many frogs that hopped a long on the ground, he made his way through the thick fog. It seemed like forever, but he finally located the wooden shack through the thick fog. It then took him a while to find the door, seeing as he could barely even see. He finally opened the door, and the staff glowed blue. For the second time that day, he was whisked away.
Quake nearly blinded himself when he opened his eyes. The brightness of Zanaris was too much for his human eyes to handle. After a time, he was finally able to open his eyes. He looked in awe at the magnificent sight around him. Blue, exotic plants grew in every direction accompanied by tall, majestic trees.
He felt something tap his shoulder. He turned around. No one was there. "Up here," squeaked a small voice. Quake looked up, and to his suprise saw a smalled, winged...thing fluttering above him. "Um, who are you...and what are you," questioned Quake. "Silly human. My name is April Blossom. I'm a fairy," said the creature. Quake was shocked. He had only heard of fairies existing in the stories of old men. "Well hello, April. I am Quake Pindragon," said Quake. "What brings you here tall one," asked April. "Oh, right. You see, I found this dagger," he pulled out the Dragon Dagger,"and Sir Lancelot said that this was the place to come," finished Quake. "Well what's the problem then," asked April. "Well, the thing is when I grab it, it burns me," replied Quake. "Oh! come with me then!" Quake followed the fairy to a small pool.
"Heres what you need to do. Just stick your hands into this pool. The magic in the water will make your hands impervious to the burn of Dragon weapons. We fairies are the only beings that forge them," finished April. Quake did as he was told and stuck his hands in to the clear as glass pool of liquid.
After a time, April returned. "You may now take your hands out," she said,"and try out the dagger." Quake looked at the dagger sitting on a nearby stump. He cautiously reached for it, the grasped it's hilt. A sigh of relief passed his lips. The dagger had not burned him. "Thank you so much April. Is there anything I can do to help you," asked the grateful Quake. "No, not re-." The earth shook.
Quake turned around. A section of the wall was shaking and trembling, knocking pieces of stone loose. He made sure that his Obsidian Shield, which he was proud of seeing as it had taken him two weeks to get it at the TzHaar Fight Pit, and raised his dagger. An arrow flew out of a small dark whole in the trembling wall and embedded itself in the wall next to Quake's head. Growls were now audible over the rumble.
"I'll go get help," squeaked April as she darted away. The wall then collapsed. After the dust settled, Quake looked into the new hole of darkness. A sick, low growl came from it.
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