2024 NanoWrimo Story

3rd locket piece

They set out riding around an hour after sun rise. Jacob had to admit to himself that it felt good to be free again, but he knew from that point on that his life would never be the same again. They had no idea what the next guardian would be and now they had the added risk of being wanted men. It would be hard to lay low and not draw attention now. It wouldn't be long before the news of what they had done and who he was would be in all the newspapers across the kingdom. No one talked as they road along. They all had a mission and knew what they were to do at least until they made it to the mountain.

They were going to have to make camp a little bit before they got to the mountain. They needed to rest before they began to climb. Were were 21 people going to sleep and remain hidden. He knew they wouldn't be able to kindle a fire as it could be seen. They found a small wooded area on the outskirts of Stone City. They determined they could take cover here but would have to be careful and quiet as possible. They all had biscuits that had been made at the cabin they stayed at the night before. The group made their beds close together to take up the least space as possible and to be as warm as possible overnight.

The next morning, they all found what they could to eat and decided to break up into smaller groups of 10 and 9 until they got to a certain point on the mountain. They agreed that Judith and her father would stay with the horses at the base of the mountain. This way if danger was on the way, maybe one of them could break away and warn the others. They hoped they could complete this mission before the word got out everywhere that they were wanted and they would be notorious. Jacob knew the newspapers would make them out to be dangerous outlaws and enemies of the king.

The first group, Jacob would take. James and 8 other men would go with him. Mike would lead the second group. Francis and Ocean and 6 other men would go with him. They would travel about 30 minutes behind the first group.

Jacob and his group began the assent. Once they had been climbing about 1 and 1/2 hours, the sky began to turn dark. It appeared a storm would be coming. However, they would need to press on. This would however make the rocks on the mountain slippery and the dirt would turn into mud.

They proceeded and sure enough it began to rain and storm. Jacob hoped the second group would be able to keep up. They would stop at the first flat place available large enough to hold them all. This way they could regroup after the storm hopefully. The rain continued for some time.

It became more challenging to get up the side of the mountain. They had all hoped for a flat place soon as they were all soaked, cold, and tired. At this point, they had climbed a good distance. No one would servive if they were to fall at that point all the way back down the mountain. It was a place of no return. They had come too far to turn back safely now, but they needed to find the next plateau as soon as they could.

After a while, the rain began to let up. Jacob and Mike stepped out of the tent to assess the situation. Did they stay there until the rain let up or did they continue to climb?

Jacob spoke first. "What do you think, Mike? I think we should press on. The same rain that is slowing us up is also slowing up anyone who may be after us."

"I admire your drive, but it makes climbing the mountain more dangerous. I think we should ask the men what they think. I know we don't have enough room in that tent for everyone to sleep overnight. I f we stay and it continues to rain, not all of us will be able to take cover. Maybe if we continue to the next plateau at least, there may be some trees or a cave or something we can use for added shelter. I don't think we will make it all the way to the top tonight. There is too much climbing left to do and the rain seems to be too heavy."

Jacob agreed with his friend. They went back to the tent and talked with the men. They decided to continue moving forward, but this time they would stay in one group. The rain had let up for now. Jacob took the lead and they continued to climb the mountain. A few 100 feet later, the group came to a very rocky and steep portion of the trail they had been following. They worked together to help each other up it. As the last 2 men were coming up the slippery rocks, a boulder came loose underneath them and they began to fall. The person just ahead of them was able to grab one of them, but they all watched in horror as the last man fell to his death. A couple of the men puked at the sight of his crumpled body on the rocks beneath. Now there were 18 of them. They had no choice but to keep climbing.

The men stopped for a moment on the ledge they were on, praying it did not give way also. Jacob yelled back at them. "Be careful now. We must keep going. I don't want to lose anymore of you."


The rain kept falling and they kept climbing. Soon there was what appeared to be a plateau just above them. Slowly, they made their way up to it. All of them lay down on the ground in the rain as it was a place to rest and they felt exhausted. The mountain seemed to go up for ever. They could not see the top of it beyond the clouds. One man had brought a tent on his back. They set it up just in time for the other group to also arrive at the plateau. They all took shelter in the tent barely squeezing in. Thankfully it was just big enough.

After a while, the rain began to let up. Jacob and Mike stepped out of the tent to assess the situation. Did they stay there until the rain let up or did they continue to climb?

Jacob spoke first. "What do you think, Mike? I think we should press on. The same rain that is slowing us up is also slowing up anyone who may be after us."

"I admire your drive, but it makes climbing the mountain more dangerous. I think we should ask the men what they think. I know we don't have enough room in that tent for everyone to sleep overnight. I f we stay and it continues to rain, not all of us will be able to take cover. Maybe if we continue to the next plateau at least, there may be some trees or a cave or something we can use for added shelter. I don't think we will make it all the way to the top tonight. There is too much climbing left to do and the rain seems to be too heavy."

Jacob agreed with his friend. They went back to the tent and talked with the men. They decided to continue moving forward, but this time they would stay in one group. The rain had let up for now. Jacob took the lead and they continued to climb the mountain. A few 100 feet later, the group came to a very rocky and steep portion of the trail they had been following. They worked together to help each other up it. As the last 2 men were coming up the slippery rocks, a boulder came loose underneath them and they began to fall. The person just ahead of them was able to grab one of them, but they all watched in horror as the last man fell to his death. A couple of the men puked at the sight of his crumpled body on the rocks beneath. Now there were 18 of them. They had no choice but to keep climbing.

The men stopped for a moment on the ledge they were on, praying it did not give way also. Jacob yelled back at them. "Be careful now. We must keep going. I don't want to lose anymore of you."

All the men made a point to step a little more carefully as they continued climbing. After another hour of climbing, they finally made it to another plateau. They decided to break for the night here. They set up their tent and a couple other makeshift shelters, they had a quick dinner of bread and potatoes they had brought with them. They all were so tired from climbing s that they fell asleep rather quickly The next morning t appeared the rain had stopped.

They all had a quick breakfast of jerky and had began to climb again. It was still cloudy and a bit chilly. They could not see how much further they had to climb. Soon in the ledge above, they could see something that looked like flames they all wandered what was causing it and what it was. As the got closer they began to hear a growling noise. They began to be afraid. What was just above them? They climbed a little farther and then they all saw it. What stood above them was a fire breathing drago.. n every one froze in their tracks no one moved again until the beast could no longer be seen. Jacob whispered ann order and they passed it down the line of men. “Be quiet now. This must be the next guardian we must defeat. Has anyone ever faced a dragon before? Please carefully come up here with me.

A couple of the men made their way up to where he was and Ocean also joined them. Jacob and the 3 other men made their way cautiously to the top of the ledge where they were met by the dragon’s fiery gaze. The four men looked at one another. Jacob said, Quick! We”ve got to get behind that rock over there! All of them quickly made a mad dash behind the rock. They barely made it behind the rock when they felt the heat from the dragon’s breath. Jacob cried out as his shoulder got slightly singed. Ocean, do you have any ideas of how we can defeat this thing?

Not really, but I suggest we come up with something fast.

The only thing I know is that the dragon should have a weak spot in its chest somewhere, but how do we get past its fiery breath.

You have a shied there that will provide some protection but it isn’t foolproof. If one of us can draw the dragon’s attention with the shield, the rest of us can aim our arrows at that weak spot.

Does anyone else have a better plan? Jacob asked. They all shook their heads no. “I hope you guys are a very good shot because I just got a small taste of what happens if you miss. Ok, I will draw the dragon’s attention to myself. Get ready to shoot.

The other three men took aim from behind the rock as Jacob got the dragon’s attention. He ran with his shield towards a group of trees. As the dragon turned towards him to let out another breath of fire, the archers took aim and shot at the dragon. As arrows began to hit the dragon,it turned its head towards the archers and let out its final breath which caught Ocean directly and he let out a horrific scream as all of his body was burned. The other 2 men were able to duck back behind the rock in time. They ran to his burnt body in shock of what just happened here.

Jacob ran over to check the body of the dragon to ensure it had killed its last man. He fan back over to the other men just in time to see the life drain out of his eyes and he drew his final breath. They all three puked at the sight and smell of the burnt human flesh.

Jacob and the other 2 men motioned for the rest of the men to come on up to where the were. They warned the others about what had happened and they burned the remains of the corpse. The group then continued walking on the plateau for about a half mile when they came upon another peak to climb. At least this one was not as steep as the last one and the clouds had begun to disperse. They could see they were getting close to the top now. In another 2 hours, they had finally made it to the top. They still had to go around one more narrow ledge and then they could see over to the other side of the mountain.

Carefully they made there way up this ledge which went as narrow as 2 inches at times. Fortunately there were areas of rock where they could get a good grip with their hands in these areas. As they made their way past the ledge, there was a very large boulder at the very top. This had been a very tall mountain. At the edge of the boulder, there appear to be something medal. Jacob went over to examine it. There it was, the third piece of locket and the next clue.

The clue read:
The third locket piece you have found
Now I am hearing a nice ocean sound.
Look for number four with a set of oars
Isle set shore to make some s’mores

The third piece of locket was the back of it. He assumed the other parts would be the pictures that went inside. He felt a short moment of relief that they had got to the locket piece first. Now they needed to get back down the mountain and on towards the next piece. He felt nervous and uneasy, like something was wrong. His shoulder was still burning from being singed. He told the men to get back down the mountain because it wasn’t safe for them to be there long. The men obeyed.

It seemed to be easier going down than climbing up. It wasn’t long until they were where they had slain the dragon. Then they were back down to the second plateau where they had spent the night before in hardly any time at all it seemed.

They decided to spend the night here again as the mountain would be very dangerous to descend in the dark. Jacob still couldn’t help but feel the uneasy feeling in his gut. He hoped they would all be able to make it out of there. He was disturbed at losing the 2 men, especially Ocean and the way he had died. As tired as he was, sleep did not come easily. It seemed he had barely gone to sleep when it was time to move again.

The group gathered their things and descended quickly to the first plateau they had come upon. At the edge of the mountain, he looked down to see the nearby town crawling with soldiers. He ordered the men to stay back and out of sight as they went down. They didn’t bother to split up this time. They all headed to the base of the mountain and cautiously made their way to where the horses had been left, careful to let no one see them. They were met by Fred who had sent Judith out with half the horses to safety a little ways from town. They would all quietly sneak out in small groups with the remaining horses.

Only Jacob and 2 other men remained They each had a horse to ride. Jacob had decided to go with the last group to make sure no one was left behind. A group had headed out every 5 minutes. So far, they had gotten out without being detected.

As Jacob and the other two men were getting ready leave the cover, 2 soldiers spotted them. Hault! Identify yourself!

Jacob ordered the other 2 men to go as he drew his sword. He knew they would draw more attention and more soldiers if they didn’t get stopped now. One of the other men threw a knife, hitting one of them in the chest. “You can thank me later.” Then rode away.

Thankfully the soldiers were out of sight of the towns people or other soldiers. The two men eyed each other carefully with their swords ready for action. The soldier spoke first, “Jacob Townsend, I would presume? Let’s see how well you were trained as a soldier.” He said as he lunged at Jacob with his weapon.

Jacob countered and blocked the attack. “The one and only! Irecievedd exelent training!”

Again the soldier swung his sword to the right. Jacob blocked again. The soldier said, “Not too bad!” Jacob knew he was testing him and it would soon become a battle for life or death. He slashed his opponents shirt.

The soldier countered and they ended up with swords locked. As they pushed apart, “oh? We are getting serious now! I’ll have to be more careful.” The soldier said with a twisted grin.

Again they locked swords. They each made a series of moves and blocked or deflected each one. Cling cling. Cling cling. Cling cling. The soldier jabbed at Jacob and he dodged behind a tree. As the soldier followed through, Jacob swung his sword towards him. The soldier rolled out of the way just in time. The battle was a tense one. Cling cling. Cling cling. Cling cling. Each swordsman moved in presision. The soldier slashed his sword towards Jacob’s face. It sliced a small cut in his cheek. Jacob slashed back and cut the soldier’s shoulder. The both instinctively grabbed their wounds with their free hands as they locked swords again with the other. They both knew they were pretty evenly matched. As they held the move, the soldier said with clenched teeth, Its time to end this thing!

Jacob responded, “I agree” with a grunt as he shoved the soldier back and they were again in a ready stance.

Cling cling cling cling. Cling cling. Another series of lunges, jabs, blocks, and deflection. Blood was dripping down Jacob’s face and the soldiers shoulder wound. Both men’s hearts were racing as they knew they had to win the battle. The soldiers sword scratched Jacob’s outer thigh, but the fighting was so intense he hardly reacted. The soldiers foot lost its grip in the dirt and he stumbled to the side. Jacob brought his sword down towards him. The soldier rolled out of the way again but Jacob’s sword opened up the soldiers side.

James was the first one too him. “He unconscious and has some wounds. They seem superficial, but we should probably get him into a tent and check him out! “ He yelled at the other men.

The men carried him to the nearest tent. Mike was there. “Get me some water and bandages quickly. I know what to do!” He had been trained in first aide as a soldier. The men complied.

Mike got him undressed, bathed him, and assessed his wounds. “I think he is just fatigued and his burn on the shoulder is infected. I think he will be better once he gets some rest.” He redressed him and tried to make him as comfortable as he could. Harold came into the tent to sit with him. They all agreed to stay the night here if possible.

Jacob remained unconscious for the rest of the night and into the next day. When he awoke, Judith was dabbing his face with a wet rag. He looked up at her and said, “Hi”

“Hey, you’ve had us all worried. How are you feeling?” Judith asked.

“Like I barely came out on the winning end of a fight.” He said sarcastically.

“Well, you look like it too.” Judith replied. She was checking his wounds and couldn’t help but notice the muscles on his body. She liked what she saw. “It appears you will live for now. Now, if you are done resting, we probably shouldn’t stay here much longer. Francis went back to check what had happened. Apparently the notorious Jacob Townsend has killed 2 soldiers and they have sent search parties out looking for him and his band of outlaws.”

“How long have I been asleep?” Jacob asked.

“Ever since you came back to camp, you’ve been passed out cold. It is almost noon the next day.”

“I am sorry. You are right. We should get going.” Jacob started to get up quickly and winced as he was sore.

Harold said, “You may want to take it easy for a couple days, Son. That burn on your shoulder got infected and you lost some blood from the sword wounds. You should be able to ride, but I wouldn’t do a lot more than that if I were you. You have been through a lot in the last couple of days.”

“Well, can you help me then so we can ride out?”

James came in with some soup, “Not before you eat a little of this. You will need it for your strength. We have a couple of days of hard rides ahead of us. You are not well.”

Jacob agreed. They got him ready and everything packed up when the man on lookout came riding up fast. “We’ve got to get out of hear quick. It looks like a band of soldiers coming about a half mile back!” The rider said. Quickly they all mounted their horses and road away.