The Gauntlet ( A Fantasy Novella) Read online

  Ash stood still and attempted to regain his composure. He looked up at one of the caves above to settle on a focus point but the dizziness overwhelmed him and he collapsed to his knees. Then he heard it: a deep grunting noise behind him. Ash turned around to see a wild boar with two white tusks charging at him and, with no time to react, the boar struck him firmly in his chest plate. The tusks didn’t penetrate the armour but the force knocked the wind out of Ash’s lungs and expelled him backwards onto a cluster of giant white mushrooms. The mushrooms exploded, releasing more spores in every direction and further intoxicating the knight. Ash sneezed multiple times before the boar charged again. Ash resorted to basic defensive manoeuvres: pointing his sword out in front of him and hoping for the best. It worked. The boar impaled itself and died instantly. The sword had at last drawn blood.

  “Enough of this! Get a grip!” shouted an angry Ash, before pulling out his water flask and splashing his face with it.

  The cool water helped Ash to regain some of his senses. He looked at the boar, it was big but nothing too fierce and hardly worth killing. After a short rest, the knight set off but not before tearing a piece of his clothing off and tying it over his mouth and nose to act as a mask. It would help to block out the toxic air. However, it wasn’t long until Ash came across another gruesome scene. In front of him was a small, deep pit and inside lay the skeleton of a knight. Slithering through the skeleton were countless snakes, hissing and spitting at one another and exposing their sharp fangs.

  “Poor bugger.”

  Ash checked carefully for more pits as he continued through the meadow. There was no doubt in his mind that the knights before him had also been intoxicated and, in their unfit states, had succumbed to the dangers of the valley. It wasn’t long before he saw another pit, with another dead knight inside it; this time filled with scorpions. The whole area was studded with deep potholes, but the thick vegetation had grown over it leaving a minefield of deadly traps.

  Ash proceeded and used his sword to test if it was solid ground before him, or overgrown vegetation that hid a death pit beneath it. The others must surely have tried this too, he thought. I need to do something different.

  Ash assessed the sides of the valley, but they were too steep and dotted with caves that contained any number of mysteries inside. He decided against that route. Instead Ash made for the nearest tree and climbed it, hacking in half the many snakes coiled around it. With the advantage of height, it was easier to see the safest path ahead: obvious changes in colour suggested where the countless holes were located. Ash wondered how many of them contained a dead knight. Ash surveyed the ground ahead and picked his route, even marking out a distant tree from which he would plan the next leg. Each step would be slow, cautious and, he hoped, safe. It appeared that there would, eventually, be some respite as the valley’s pits didn’t continue forever. Ash could see that it instead narrowed and seemed to form its previous ‘V’ shape again. There was an end. There was hope.

  Ash climbed down and began carefully navigating his way through the minefield. He peered into the first five potholes and saw a body in each. Not all of them were full of venomous creatures, yet in all cases, Ash could clearly see the broken legs of the skeleton caused by the fall. Ash shook his head in pity at the dead knights. Already it was obvious that there would be too many bones for him to bring back to Harwell. So much suffering. So much death.

  “A slow death alone in a deep, dark pit…” Ash contemplated which terrible fate might befell him. It was then Ash noticed the dead knight’s sword impaled through its own ribcage. Ash nodded: “I’d have done the same, buddy. This is a cruel place and yours was a lonely, terrible way to die.”

  Ash continued his cautious journey and he could finally see the finishing line not far away – the valley did indeed narrow once again into a jagged, tight chasm between the two mountain sides. Ash stepped forward but the treacherous ground suddenly collapsed, feeding into a deep sinkhole. Ash’s legs gave way but, with an outstretched arm, he clutched onto the vegetation and was left dangling precariously at the edge of the hole. The thorny stems bit deep into the exposed skin between his hand guards but Ash tolerated the pain. He had to: it was either that or death. Mustering all of his strength Ash pulled his body up and onto solid ground, but as he did a snake suddenly lunged at his right arm. Shocked, the knight was almost startled backwards and into the hole but his silver armour resisted the fangs. Ash quickly stood up and kicked the snake away.

  “Geez,” he muttered. “Too close.”

  Ash peered over the edge of the sinkhole and into the darkness, unable to tell how deep it was. Beads of sweat dripped down off his forehead and into the hole. Ash walked away from the hole and, as his adrenaline levels reduced, he noticed how bloody and raw his hands were. They were throbbing from the injuries sustained from the thorns.

  “What a mess,” he said.

  Suddenly there was a loud screech. A giant bird of prey was swooping down from the air towards Ash. The bird had curved golden talons nearly a foot long and a wingspan reaching five metres. Its feathers were a shimmering array of silver, gold, blue and green. It was a wondrous yet dangerous monster and it hurtled into Ash before the knight had time to defend himself. The armour protected Ash well but the bird’s claws still lacerated part of his exposed neckline. Ash was knocked over narrowly avoiding a lethal pit and, as he quickly stood up, he could feel his warm blood trickling down his body. For a moment Ash thought his time was finally up. The bird swooped down for another attack but Ash was strong and delivered a lethal blow with his sword, slicing the beast in half with a decisive upstroke. Blood splattered everywhere and feathers filled the air. Part of the carcass fell into a pit, which was promptly followed by the chilling sound of dozens of snakes hissing.

  “Where did that come from?” wondered Ash, getting his breath back. The knight didn’t have to wonder for long, out of the caves high up on either side of the valley poured dozens more of the giant birds.

  Ash had to make a quick decision: fight or flight? He immediately chose flight, the birds would quickly overwhelm him even if he managed to take a few of them down.

  “Where do I go?” he panicked.

  He contemplated entering the caves at ground level, but what if the witch was in there? He couldn’t take that risk. The V-shaped valley ahead was his only hope, at least there the birds couldn’t swarm and attack him on mass. The birds would be upon him in less than a minute, there was no time for cautious steps and so Ash sprinted over the vegetation, trusting his memory of the route he had scouted from the last tree. Ash could feel his heart pounding in his chest and the fresh rush of adrenaline subdued the pain from his injuries. Fortunately his neck wound wasn’t too deep.

  Ash reached the end of the meadow safely and entered the narrow chasm, which immediately twisted left and, to his absolute horror, straight into a dead end.

  “No! It cannot be!” he shouted out.

  A sheer vertical wall of dark grey rock greeted him and, at its base, was a pool of clear water. However, there was no time to think. The flock of birds were instantly upon Ash and the knight ferociously swung his sword to fend off the creatures. But there were too many and Ash’s sword was knocked from his hand and it disappeared into the deep pool of water. Ash was pinned face down on the ground by the weight of a huge bird landing on his back. He curled up into a ball next to the water, a last desperate act to protect himself from death.

  This is it, he conceded. The Gauntlet is impossible. I’m sorry, my son. I have failed you.

  At that moment he noticed a light! A faint blue dim emanated from the bottom of the water pool and illuminated his sword which rested at the bottom. Without hesitation and summoning all of his strength and will to live, Ash rolled into the water and under the weight of his armour, quickly sank to the bottom. The birds screeched with frustration but didn’t go into the water. At the bottom of the pool Ash struggled to release his armour, but he finally managed to remove his heavy
breastplate. Ash looked up, the birds were still there waiting for him to resurface for air. Ash looked to the left and to his relief there was another route!

  Picking up his sword, Ash swam through the narrow underwater tunnel at the bottom of the pool. The tunnel went on for several metres and it was a tight squeeze but Ash made it through. He swam the short distance upwards and emerged to the glorious fresh air on the other side of the rock-face. Ash wearily pulled himself out of the water and rested on his knees, catching his breath and feeling relieved to be alive. But the strenuous effort, plus the loss of blood, had exhausted the knight and he passed out, collapsing forward with a dull thud on the soft, muddy ground.

  Chapter Three – The Valley of Peace

  Ash regained consciousness to the sound of voices talking around him – human voices!

  “His wounds will heal, they are not deep,” said a female voice.

  “He’s a big guy, I’m surprised he got through the tunnel,” said a deep, husky voice.

  “Well, you made it through!”

  “Yeah true, guess I’ve lost weight since then!”

  Ash quickly sought to protect himself: first he used his legs to trip up the woman before standing firm and pointing his sword at the man.

  “Nice reflexes. Now, take it easy…we’re on your side,” said the man. “I’m Ugg, this is Janna.”

  “How can I believe you? Since I entered The Gauntlet everything has wanted to kill me, I need proof,” said Ash.

  “Surely you must have a few brain cells to make it this far? If we wanted you dead we would have killed you whilst you slept. Passing out like that is not a smart thing to do in this valley. We’re knights, just like you. We made it this far through The Gauntlet but we can’t go any further. And we sure can’t go back. Not with those birds, traps and other beasts,” said Ugg.

  Ash carefully considered Ugg’s words. In truth, he was greatly relieved to have encountered fellow knights, yet he had not forgotten how the shape-shifting witch had nearly fooled him before.

  “Wait…yes, I remember your names on The Gauntlet Wall of Honour back in Harwell. But you both entered a long time ago, far too long to still be alive?”

  “Do we look dead to you? We have food and water here, what more do we need to survive? I entered The Gauntlet close to six hundred sun cycles ago,” said Janna. “I made it this far and assumed I’d never see another person again, not after the trail of corpses I passed getting here. Then Ugg came up through the water two hundred days later, making the same racket you did when you broke the water gasping for air.”

  Ash had heard enough. Unlike his encounter with the witch, there was not a single notch of doubt in the pit of his stomach. Trusting his instincts, he lowered his sword and helped pull Janna up off the ground. Janna was tall and lean, with long brown hair, green eyes and a natural beauty the likes of which Ash had never seen before.

  “I’m sorry, I just can’t believe this. It’s incredible. I lost all hope when I saw the witch and all the bodies in the pits. Then the birds came and I thought I was done for.”

  “The witch didn’t fool me either,” laughed Ugg. “That temptress made a serious mistake by talking to me first: women have never done that. My looks were never my strong point.”

  Ash found it hard to disagree, Ugg was no looker: a flat face dotted with warts and dishevelled, grey hair with a crooked nose and teeth as yellow as the sun in the sky. But Ash liked Ugg immediately, there was an honesty in his voice which Ash had sorely missed amongst the majority of residents back in Harwell.

  “What about you? Did she try to lure you into the cave?” asked Ash to Janna.

  “Yes, but not with the allure of sex. She shifted into a child, giving me a sob story about how she ran away from an abusive father. I admit I was intrigued at first and did feel sorry for the child, but my gut said otherwise and I walked away. Then she shifted to her true form. All those men that fell for her though, they deserve it for being idiots. This valley is no place for the weak of mind.”

  “Come on, they don’t deserve a lifetime of being skewered to feed a monster,” said Ash.

  “No, you’re right. But still, only three of us have made it this far out of what, close to a hundred? We’re survivors, the true champions and the strongest of anyone to ever enter this wicked place.”

  “Why haven’t I seen your faces before? Where were you assigned?”

  “I was a new recruit. If you haven’t noticed I’m slightly younger than you two. The first thing I asked for was to take on The Gauntlet. I was laughed at but they cannot deny my right as a knight to challenge it,” said Janna. “It was my only reason for becoming a knight in the first place. The rest of the knights loved me, by volunteering I delayed the next draw by another thirty sun cycles.”

  Ash sensed there was a lot more to Janna’s story but he didn’t press the matter.

  “I’m a bit older than you,” said Ugg. “After I enlisted I was deemed too aesthetically unpleasant to be granted duty within the citadel, so I was assigned the task of protecting the food convoy from the borderlands. I made a lot of good money before my name was finally drawn. And you? You must have been granted permission within the citadel, what with that chiselled chin of yours and those baby blue eyes.”

  “I was. I guarded the throne, up until a few days ago. And so, here we are. Three excellent knights. Let’s push on and clear the rest of The Gauntlet! We can think about how to get back safely afterwards. With the three of us fighting side by side we’ll be better equipped to defeat the birds.”

  Ugg and Janna looked at each other and laughed.

  “You have such a steely determination to succeed,” said Ugg. “Let’s just slow everything down, believe me, there is no rush. Tell me, though, what did Harwell ever do for you? You spent your whole life guarding her royal laziness, while she stuffed her mouth with the food I protected from the field. Do you know how many people are starving inside Harwell while the priests and royalty gorge themselves and hoard the wealth?”

  “I don’t like the injustice either but that’s beside the point. We’re not here for that. We took an oath and we have a duty to make The Gauntlet safe or to die trying.”

  “Is that really what you want? To die here after all the bodies you just walked past? They don’t care about us back in Harwell, they simply put your name on some wall in a room of a temple - which hardly anyone goes in - and that’s it!”

  “I have a son,” declared Ash. “I left him behind in the care of my mother. Saying goodbye to my son was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, yet it is the desire to see him again which is keeping me strong, keeping me alive.”

  Ugg nodded. “Now I understand. A knight with a family. I don’t have any family but if I did I’d do all I could to get back to them. Say no more. Come, let us show you what we have here.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Ugg and Janna led Ash away from the water pool and around a bend. They immediately came to the base camp that the two knights had built for themselves. The valley had widened out again but this time it was a safe, flat expanse with trees, no caves or potholes, and fresh water streams coming down the mountain sides.

  “As you can see we have fresh water, fruit trees and berry bushes as well as hares living in the burrows. We stay here mostly, one person on watch by the water pool while the other hunts. It’s peaceful, idyllic actually. Almost like a reward for getting through the first part of the valley,” said Janna.

  “So you two have decided to stay here until you die of old age? What’s the fun in that? Where’s your honour?” asked Ash.

  “I’m happy here, we both are. Our relationship is purely platonic, of course, Janna is like my little sister. I’m proud of her for making it this far and for being here all alone before I came, that took great courage and mental strength. Plus I owe her my life in a way, she could have mistaken me for a monster when she saw me crawling out of the water pool, all bloody and exhausted.”

  “I won’t lie, my
bow was drawn when I first saw Ugg but then I was relieved. It would have been tough staying here alone.”

  Ash looked around the valley. It certainly seemed a pleasant, benevolent environment but he was still bemused by Ugg and Janna’s unwillingness to continue with their mission.

  “So that’s it? This is your life now? You might as well have deserted the service to live in the borderlands.”

  “Yes, this is our life. Maybe more knights will join us in the future, or perhaps not, but we are free and this is a damn sight better than Harwell. We are liberated from the burden of duty and the repression of class and wealth,” said Ugg.

  “You said you couldn’t go any further, why not?”

  “We’d die. As you walk down the valley all these streams running down off the mountain eventually converge together and guess what’s at the end?” said Janna.

  “A huge river? No problem, I assume we can all swim,” replied Ash.

  “A river that flows through an archway and falls over the edge of a huge drop. I don’t know how big it is, but The Gauntlet continues in the distance at a much lower elevation, twisting and turning, with no end in sight,” said Ugg. “I had the same reaction as you when Janna first told me, so I checked it out but one glimpse was more than enough to convince me this was the end of the line. I don’t mind fighting monsters and dying with honour, but a suicidal drop at least as high as the valley is long… no way! I’m staying here.”

  Ash shook his head, incredulous to what he was hearing.

  “It can’t be that damn big, I’m going to have a look myself.”

  “We’ll go together. We need to hunt food for tonight, seeing as there are three of us now that need feeding,” said Janna.