Matt Daniels and the Sword of Diamonds

Chapter I

He was lost. He was in a forest, but it was dark out, and he had no sense of direction. He turned slowly a circle, his heart thumping in his chest.

Suddenly, his foot hit something hard, and he fell to the ground. He bit his tongue on the way down, and now he tasted blood. He spat and cursed under his breath. He scrambled back up, although somewhat unsteadily.

Woosh.

He picked his head up, frozen in place, his eyes darting around. What was that?

'It was just the wind, right?' he thought. Yes, that was it, he tried to assure himself, it was just the wind, that's all.

But he knew in his heart that that was a lie. There had been no breeze, so it couldn't have been the wind.

He went warily, his heart missing a beat each time he stepped on a fallen twig.

Something abruptly tackled him to the ground. He cried out, sprawled uncomfortably on the rough terrain.

A darkness spread over him, close to his face. A voice seemed to emanate from it, saying,

"Matthew Daniels... I will come for you..."

♤♡♢♧

Matt Daniels bolted upright, his body covered in sweat. When he realized he that it was just a dream, he fell back into his pile of hay, panting heavily.

Matt Daniels was a 15-year-old boy, living in the Kingdom of Palasia, which was ruled by the mighty King Andrew. He ran errands for the local townspeople to make money, and he had trained himself to be quite good with anything that could be used for stabbing and slashing.

He was also an orphan.

His house had been burned down when he was seven, killing his parents in the process. The local knights had not been able to find who had started the fire. Fortunately for Matt, the people of the town felt pity for him, so he wasn't sent off to an orphanage. Instead, he helped them with their daily chores.

Matt got up, groaning. He stretched and got ready for his day, getting dressed and washing up. After he fed all of the animals, he walked past Farmer Mack's chickens and cows and into the bright morning sun.

Farmer Mack and his wife, Debbie had been Matt's surrogate parents since the fire. They took him in and raised him the best they could. Years of helping Mack on the farm had made Matt muscular and lean and both Mack and Debbie made sure Matt was a polite and courteous young man. Matt had a lot to thank both of them for.

Matt went into the small house and grinned, smelling the frying of bacon and eggs. He loved bacon. He walked into the kitchen, where Debbie was cooking the eggs and bacon and Mack was reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of black coffee.

"Good morning, dear," Debbie said cheerfully as she ruffled Matt's shaggy, black hair. Debbie was a petite woman with an always smiling face. She loved to cook and bake, and spent most of her time doing just that. Matt knew he could usually find a piece of her homemade coffee cake waiting for him after a long day on the farm.

"Good morning, everyone," Matt said, sitting down at the table. He poured himself a cup of coffee, added milk and sugar, and took a long drink.

"Is there anything I can do for you before I go to town?" Matt asked as Debbie brought him his breakfast.

"I'm so glad you asked," Debbie replied. She went over to the kitchen and brought back a list and some money. "Can you go to the market and come back with these?" she asked him. "I need them for my new special coffee cake recipe."

"What's so special about it?" Mack asked, looking up. He loved Debbie's coffee cake almost as much as Matt did.

Debbie smiled. "It's a secret. I'll give you a hint: it has chocolate chips in it."

"CHOCOLATE CHIPS!" Mack and Matt yelled at the same time, standing up suddenly. "YES!!" they shouted, standing up and high-fiving each other.

Mack shouted at Matt, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get the woman what she needs so she can bake her damn cake!!"

Matt ran out the door, letting out a joyous whoop. Debbie shook her head. Men will be men, she thought as she started to clean up.

♤♡♢♧

Matt strolled through the market, whistling as he picked up them ingredients Debbie had asked him to get. He paid when he was done, and started his way home.

As he walked on the main road, he was abruptly pushed from the side. All thoughts of coffee cake disappeared from his mind and he looked for who had pushed him. He rolled his eyes when he saw who it was.

It was Manuel. The Town Ass, as Matt called him. Manuel was an all-around jerk, who did what he wanted and not caring who he hurt. He was also very lazy and what some adults called 'husky'. (Matt just called him fat.) Today he was with a bunch of his wannabes, who were following him like ducks in a row.

"Well well well, if it isn't the little errand boy," Manuel sneered. His cronies laughed behind him. "Are you going to pick some weeds and garden later, like a little girl?" he asked.

"So what if I am?" Matt said in a plain, dull tone. "At least I don't sit on my ass all day and grow fat." He turned and walked away as Manuel's face grew red as a tomato.

"Yuh-yuh-you'll pay for that!" he spluttered. "I'll get you back, I swear!"

Matt snorted and rolled his eyes again. He continued to walk away from the market. He could deal with people like Manuel. Yes, people like him were pains in the ass, but they were bearable.

Snap!

A loud cracking noise disturbed Matt from his thoughts. He jumped up, his breath caught. He looked down and saw that he had stepped on a twig.

The dream that he had had the night before came back to him. He shuddered and began to walk again. It was just a dream, Matt thought. It was just a dream.

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~sjd_write