Warlock's Lair
(C) 2002 Gren Remoz Drake


Updated Novemeber 23rd, 2004:
Thanks to everyone (especially Alice 'Muffin Girl' Smith for that long
critique).  I've done another pass at editing this; hopefully it reads better
now.  I've also handled a few things that I disliked the most.

----

Josh pulled his sword from where it had landed in the chest of the evil
warlock. The blade had become stained with the warlock's red blood showing
that, in the end, even such as he was still mortal.

"I have, upon this day, slain you! The evils that you have perpetrated on the
people, and on my beloved, have been avenged!" Josh brandishing his sword as he
spoke.

"I shall have the final word!" The warlock choked on his own blood between the
words. He held his hand before him, and started chanting:

"Earth that surrounds,
And holds all life near,
Ever flowing, changing,
Waters of life,
Your power to my hand,
My curse to this one,"

The warlock gestured towards Julie, who was standing away from the battle.
While the warlock had been distracted by Josh's blade, she had slipped from the
chains that had bound her and now stood free.

"Torn from her own,
As fitting should be,
To avenge a death,
Ere right or wrong,
Do as I intend,
And do it now!"

With the final word spoken, a ball of light appeared in the warlock's hand then
vanished. He collapsed as though the spell had taken the last of his strength.

"Why must you who be so villainous speak at such length when at last I slay
you?" Josh asked the warlock's corpse. He looked up to his beloved Julie, but
found her missing from where she had stood!

His gaze drifted around the room, wondering where she might have gone, until at
long last it found her body upon the floor beneath where she had stood.

Josh dropped the still bloody sword and ran towards his betrothed.

"Are you hurt?" He asked as he ran. Reaching her body, he knelt and took her
hand. It had become as cold as the stone. He brought the hand to his lips and
gently kissed it.

"Three more days. Three more days and we would have been together. To have you
torn from me now..." Josh left the sentence hanging, staring at the cold body
of his beloved.

As he watched, it convulsed. There was a flash of warmth through the hand he
still held. Looking up from his sorrow, he watched as the now animate body
convulsed. Julie's knee jerked into Josh's leg, causing him to fall on her
writhing body.

"Rargh!" She screamed. It was a sound that nearly tore Josh's soul in two.

"I am sorry for the fall, my beloved," He said, "But your knee-"

He was interrupted by Julie as she screamed once more. Josh held her hand
tighter, "Hold on, my beloved, think of all the wonderful times we've had
together. Think of all the caves we've explored." Josh paused, thinking about
that for a moment. He looked around at the earthen walls around them, "Um,
something else maybe. Think of all the wonderful meals we've eaten in the
king's hall."

There was no sign that she understood his words, or even heard him at all.

Suddenly Julie grabbed his hand and held it tight. Her grip was stronger than
he remembered it having ever been before. She screamed again and he heard the
sound of bones breaking. Julie coughed and some blood dribbled from her mouth.
Still, her grip tightened and Josh was afraid that if she didn't let up his
hand would break.

Just as suddenly as the convulsions had started, they stopped and her body
became limp. Her grip lost all its pressure and her hands fell to the ground.

Had she died, after so much pain and torture? How could this be? What was he to
tell his lord, the King?

As he stared at her corpse, he noticed that her limbs where growing. Not
longer, but thicker, as though gaining muscle mass as quickly as anyone could
desire. Within a couple minutes, she appeared to have even more than himself,
and he had spent a lifetime training with his sword (which was by no means
light).

He continued to watch, trying to keep the feelings of horror back, as her skin
seemed to liquify. Her very bones seemed to shift position. Her breasts
collapsed, becoming smaller (though he was thankful they didn't disappear). She
was pushed onto her side as a pair of limbs thrust out of her back and through
her shirt. Long finger-like extensions unfolded, showing that these new limbs
were wings. Her ears changed only slightly, becoming pointed. Her head trembled
and a snout thrust itself out of her face. The hair on her head grew longer and
thicker. It extended further down, the roots of her hair going so far as her
neck. Josh reached out to touch her hand, but froze when he saw that even her
fingers were changed.  Her ring and little finger had started to join together
and short claws grew from where there had once been fingernails. The light
shoes she wore burst apart as her feet shifted. They now had only three toes on
the end, each with a sharp looking claw.

There was the sound of tearing cloth, and Josh looked to see that the crotch of
her loose pants had been torn apart by a growing tail. That seemed to be the
end of the changes, however, as her body stopped changing, Her skin solidified
into a coat of short, tawny fur that completely covered her body.

If it had been anyone else, Josh might have been able to see the body in a more
positive light. It did have good built in weaponry, and more muscle than he'd
seen on any living creature. Admittedly, if it had been someone else, he
probably would have fled in terror of the deadly-looking monster, but this was
his beautiful, beloved Julie that had undergone this horrifying transformation.
Nothing could change his everlasting love for her. All the loves he had had
before were nothing next to her radiant beauty (former radiant beauty, he
thought glumly), or her seemingly endless knowledge and wisdom. He had met no
one that brought him so much pleasure in the night, even though they were still
dressed. As it was, he was horrified at the change that had stolen her beauty.
The warlock's final strike had indeed been a potent one.

When Julie moaned the darkness seemed to fade away. Despite the horror and the
pain, she lived! She opened her eyes to reveal narrow, cat-like pupils.

"What happened?" She asked, speaking slowly as though having trouble with the
words. Indeed, she seemed to have gained an accent, "Everything looks so
strange. What did that bastard do to me?"

"We're still in the warlock's lair, my love. As he died, he cast a foul curse
upon you to avenge his death. Do you feel alright?"

"I don't feel any different. Rather sore, nothing more."

"That is good at least." Josh said. He held one of her hands and moved it to
where she could see it.

Julie gasped. "By the seventy and one gods! This is a horrendous curse! We must
get to the Court Wizard immediately." She was on her feet in an instant,
grabbing Josh's arm and starting for the door.

"We might want to delay that slightly," He said.

"Why?"

"The curse has ruined your clothes."

Julie looked down at herself and sighed. She looked around the room, eyes
falling on the Warlock's corpse.  "Get me his clothes."

"But, but they are a man's clothing. An evil man, at that."

"Would you rather that every monster we pass in these halls gets a chance to
ogle me?"

"You are, as usual, right. You make the hidden seem obvious." Josh brought the
corpse to where Julie stood.

Julie sat next to it and pulled off the vest. Despite the bloodstain and the
hole in the back, it was in surprisingly good shape. The warlock had managed to
avoid being hit through most of the fight.

Setting the vest to the side, she started to remove the warlock's shirt.

"Wait!" Josh cried, "You can't do that!"

"Why not?" Julie asked.

"How could I let you see something as awful as the naked body of an evil man
who was run through with my sword?"

"You could try counting the bricks on the wall behind you. That could probably
do it."

"Pardon?"

"I've seen much worse before. Trust me; a naked corpse isn't something I'm
worried about."

"But this stranger has, well, had a soul darker than the darkest night! He did
things that would make strong men quake in their boots. Only because of my love
for you could I brave the horrible dangers in these caverns."

"Actually, it probably had more to do with how much you know about what the
warlock did."

"Oh?"

"Yes." Julie tried to put the warlock's shirt on, but it got caught behind her.
She looked over her shoulder and gasped.

"I have wings!" She extended her wings, then pulled them tight against her
back.   Then she extended them once again. "Amazing." Pulling them against her
back, she put the shirt over them, making them seem to disappear.

"You also have a tail." Josh added, trying to be helpful.

Julie looked behind herself, "I'm going to need to use a mirror when we get
back to the castle." She ran her fingers over the her newfound fur. "And an
awful lot of shampoo."

There was silence for a moment, then Julie stood up, wearing the warlock's
clothing. With the warlock's overly decorous clothing, with its bright colors
and many dangly bits, she looked more like a nobleman than the common woman
Josh knew her to be. In fact, she looked rather like a warlock.

"Let's go. Lead the way."

Josh looked at his feet, "I have failed," he said weakly.

"What's wrong?"

"For all my haste, I have forgotten the way out!"

"You didn't mark it as you came down?"

"Such details were far from my mind. My only thought was for your safety."

"Touching. You should start paying attention to the little details. Mind the
small things, and the big ones take care of themselves." Julie put her hands in
the pockets of the vest she wore. Josh heard her say something quietly, but was
unable to make it out. She pulled one of her hands back out of the vest holding
a set of keys. "Well, these should make things easier," she said, "I would
think that there should be a door around here somewhere. It simply wouldn't be
practical for the warlock to have gone through all those traps, after all."

"Why didn't we look for it before?"

"I would have thought you'd have marked your trail. The warlock's exit will
probably have one or two really big traps instead of the hundreds of little
traps in that labyrinth.  Besides, we didn't have the keys." She dangled the
keys from one of her fingers.

"Wouldn't we be further off to go for the little traps? They won't hurt so much
if we set them off."

"We're far more likely to set off one out of a hundred traps than one out of
two."

"Oh." Josh said.

Julie looked around for a moment. "Since I don't see a door, it will probably
be hidden. Look around for a keyhole, or something of that nature."

Josh walked to the nearest wall and started examining it in detail. He looked
over ever stone, every grain of dirt composing that segment of wall, looking at
every speck of dust as though it held the answers to all life's questions.

"Josh," Julie said from somewhere behind him, "Could you search faster? The
keyhole is going to be fairly large, after all."

"You mean like that?" Josh said, pointing at a largish hole in the wall.

"Why didn't you mention it earlier?"

"I hadn't got that far."

Julie sighed, then inserted one of the warlock's keys. She turned it slowly and
a door-sized piece of the earthen wall swung out, revealing a rectangle of
absolute darkness.

"Is it a magic portal?" Josh asked. He reached out towards it, pushing his hand
into it.  His hand vanished in the absolute dark within.

"You shouldn't do that. You have no idea what's in there."

Josh pulled his hand back holding an object from the other side of the wall of
darkness. It was a broom.

"I didn't know that warlock's rode brooms." Josh said.

"That's because they don't. He probably used it to sweep the floor. That is
what they are normally used for, after all."

"Oh. I guess this is the wrong door."

"Since this is, or rather was, a warlock's lair, I have a feeling that its a
magic keyhole. The effects are probably different depending on the key used."

"How is it," Josh asked, "that you know so much?"

"I spent a lot of time in the library, reading."

"Oh."

Julie put the next key in the lock and turned it. Another door, next to the
first, swung open. Once again Josh reached into the darkness. This time he
jumped backwards, grabbing his sword. Not being able to find it in its sheath,
Josh remembered that he had dropped it before he ran to Julie. He dived for it,
then quickly stood, holding the blade steadily before him. He crouched
slightly, ready for whatever manner of monster might step from the darkness.

"I felt the hide of a ferocious, vicious, bloodthirsty monster in there!"

A moment passed.

Then another.

"Why hasn't the monster attacked yet?" Julie asked, sounding rather cynical
about it. Stepping in front of the darkness, she reached inside and pulled out
a long fur coat. She threw it at Josh, where it landed on his sword and weighed
it down. "Sure don't make ferocious, vicious, bloodthirsty monsters like they
used to, eh?"

Josh relaxed his muscles, allowing the point of the sword to droop to the
floor. The fur coat slid off onto the floor.

Julie put the next key in the lock and turn it. From the far wall, a flight of
arrows flew across the middle of the room, passing out the main entrance.  At
no point did it come close to either Josh or Julie.

"Was that one of the traps?" Josh asked.

"I doubt it. If it was a trap the arrows would probably have been aimed over
here."

Josh decided that there was no more danger for the moment and slid the sword
into its sheathe.

He watched as Julie put the next key in the lock and turned it. This action was
followed by a deep rumbling far below them.

"That does not sound good." Josh said.

The floor shook and some of the stones lifted upwards slightly, as though
something were pressing against the bottom. Some of them exploded outwards,
throwing pieces of rock around the room. Josh once more drew his sword and held
it securely before him.

"By the greatest of gods," Josh shouted, "what force could cause such a thing!"

Only moments later a large segment of the floor exploded and threw Josh and
Julie away from each other. A large serpent-like monster rose from the newly
formed pit and gazed at each in turn.

"At long last," it said with slow, measured words, "that godless bastard has
provided what he promised for my service; a female. But first," The serpent
turned to where Josh was picking himself back up off the ground. He reached for
his sword as the serpent pulled itself further from the ground, revealing a
pair of large, taloned hands. It picked Josh hold and held him close to its
mouth.

"You would be a nuisance." It said, "So I shall end your pitiful life now. In
years to come, the tattered remains of your soul shall be thankful for this."
With that, the serpent dropped Josh into the pit.

He grasped at the edges as he fell, but was unable to get a grip. His clothes
were torn as he slid down the edge, his sleeves suffering especially as he
clutched at the walls.  Eventually he managed to grasp an outcropping of rock,
warpping his arms around it and pulling himself close to it.   Now, to get back
up to where Julie remained.

He looked upwards, but the area above was only a tiny circle of light far above
him.  It was going to take a lot of effort, but nothing would be too much.  His
only worry was that he would not be in time, and it was that thought that gave
him the energy to climb, using one tenuous handhold at a time.

***

Julie watched, horrified, as Josh was dropped into the pit. Once it had dropped
Josh, the large serpent turned and gazed lewdly at Julie.

"What shall we do?" It said.

Julie stood and started running for the door. The creature slowly reached out
towards her. It moved so slowly, however, that Julie had no difficulty avoiding
its grasp. The door was small enough that the monster would be unable to reach
her once she got through it. It reached for her again. She dodged this
encroaching hand and ran unseeing into the creature's other hand. It didn't try
to hold on to her, instead it seemed satisfied just to scrap its claws against
her. After that it released her. She ran over to the wall. Leaning against it,
she tried to catch her breath.

Surely she wasn't exhausted already? She hadn't run that much. She looked at
the serpent-creature which was looming over her, seeming content to simply
watch her.

Was her exhumation perhaps caused by the creature's claws? She wondered what
other effects the claws would have (if, indeed, that was what was causing her
exhaustion).

While she was leaning against the wall, she could feel her joints start to
stiffen. Once she noticed this, she pushed herself from the wall, toward Josh's
sword, which was still upon the ground. The creature grabbed her before she was
even halfway. It held her before one of its eyes. It seemed to be evaluating
her for something.

"You will do." It said. Then it dropped her on the stone floor and turned away.
Julie forced her joints, which seemed almost solid now, to move and she reached
for the sword. She managed to grab it just before she collapsed to the ground.
She had drawn the blade next to her before her arms froze totally.

Julie noticed something out of the corner of her eye. With any luck, it would
be Josh. She tried to turn her head to see what was. This proved unneedful, as
it simply walked into her view.

Seeing it stand before her, looking at her as though evaluating a side of meat,
made Julie strain against her frozen joints even more.

Standing before her, leaving a wake of darkness behind it wherever it walked,
was a creature mentioned only in the oldest of the ancient books. Scholars had
thought them totally destroyed thousands upon thousands of years ago. The
creature before her was a demon, capable of such destruction and torment as no
sane, nondemonic mind could comprehend.

"And what do we have here?" Although the demon's word were spoken quickly,
harshly and quietly, it still seemed that they would carry to the ends of the
earth itself.

"A female, as the warlock did promise." The serpent replied.

"Fool!" The demon snorted, "The warlock had no intention of ending your
service. He would then need nothing female." The demon walked over to Julie and
looked down at her. It seemed to take in her form, indeed, her very essence
with its empty eyes.

"A constructed monster?" It muttered, "Why would the warlock do this?" The
demon turned to the serpent, "How long has she been paralyzed?"

"You should know by now that I have no time."

The demon shook its head and walked over to the warlock's body. He looked down
on it.

"You were a fool," the demon told the corpse. "Why would you bring someone
here? Now of all times?" The demon pressed his fingers against the side of the
corpse's neck. "He's definitely dead." The demon took the fur coat that had
still been laying on the floor and placed it over the warlock's body.

During this, the stiffness in Julie's joints had started dissipating. She was
able sit up, though it was still difficult.

The demon turned sharply towards Julie, "I thought I heard something! The
paralyzation is wearing off. And here I was hoping we could have some fun
before we killed her."

"I could reinject her." The serpent offered.

"As a constructed monster she'll quickly become immune to any toxin. One chance
is all you get. I'm going to have to kill her, there is no other way about it.
I can animate her corpse afterwards, if you like, and it will seem quite alive
for hours before any decay sets in."

"If you must."

"Hey!" Julie said, struggling to stand.

The demon turned to face her and a look of concentration came over his
features. He pointed towards Julie with one hand, and he cupped the other as
though holding something. He began to chant, and as he did a ball of light
started to appear in his cupped hand.

"Fires that bind,
Flames that burn all eternal,
Earth that waits,
And outlasts all of time,
Your powers I do call,
And by the power that binds,
And through all of time,
Claim the one-!"

The demon stopped speaking and choked for a moment. Then he fell forward. The
light that had been forming in his hand burst outwards, incinerating his hand
and part of his arm. As the demon fell, Julie could see a knife in the back of
its neck.

"Are you alright?" Julie heard Josh call.

"Yes, but not for much longer."

Josh stepped into Julie's sight, "Could I have my sword back?"

"You'll have to get it yourself, I can't move much at the moment."

"You're paralyzed?"

"Why else would I lay here with a weapon and allow some demon to kill me.

"I had thought you had a plan."

"Would you hurry up and kill the other monster?" Julie said, and indeed, the
large serpent had moved during their conversation and was posed just over Josh.
As it readied itself to strike, its jaws parted slightly, drool leaking between
six inch teeth.

"That thing? I don't think I've met anything less intelligent in my life." Josh
raised his sword, point to the ceiling, just as the serpent struck, and it
impaled itself on his sword. The end of its snout stopped only inches from
Josh's hand.

"I think you might be right." Julie said as the serpent pulled itself off
Josh's sword and reared back. After pausing a moment, as though to think, the
serpent attacked Josh from the side. Josh stepped out of its path and brought
the sword down on the serpent's neck, completely severing it. This resulted in
a flash flood of blood, completely soaking both him and Julie.

"No vile fiend will I allow to harm my beloved Julie!" Josh declared, holding
his sword high, "I shall vanquish all that tries to do so with this, my sword!"

"Don't boast too much." Julie said, "It wasn't exactly difficult or anything."

"You have no idea how difficult and exhausting that battle was."

"I'm not surprised you defeated the rataen." A voice said. Julie looked towards
where it was coming from and was surprised to see the demon standing once more,
holding the bloodied knife in its remaining hand. "One such as myself cannot be
killed so easily! No matter what wound you cause, I will continue. The touch of
blood revives me!"

"I have killed the serpent!" Josh said boldly to the demon, "And next I shall
defeat you who would have slain my beloved with your foul magics. First, I
shall remove your head!"

"No mere mortal shall stand before me without bowing down," the demon said,
"And no human shall escape my wrath. I shall avenge your callus slaying of
myself!"

"With this sword, passed down from my ancestors a thousand years ago, I shall
take the hide from your body. With that I shall make a coat, and I shall wear
it to show my dominance of you!" Josh shouted at the demon.

"You'll be sorry you ever heard of me," the demon unsheathed a slender blade,
"I shall make you suffer before I allow you to die!"

"Prepare yourself!"

"Die, mortal!"

Josh and the demon rushed towards each other and their blades clashed noisily.
Julie watched the battle silently for a few minutes, thinking. How could you
kill something that could apparently recover from any wound? If Josh could deal
it an incapacitating wound, they might be able to escape. But that was
presuming he was able to and the demon would probably come after them when it
recovered. It would be better to deal with it now, but how? How does one kill
the unkillable?

Julie thought back about the demon's actions. It seemed to know a considerable
amount about what the warlock had turned her into. It was probably pretty
intelligent, then, considering she hadn't even heard of a, what was it? It took
her a moment to recall what the demon had called her. Of a constructed monster.
Then it had spoken of, what? Reanimating her corpse, wasn't it? That would
probably be with magic, so the creature could probably do that as well. Later
on it had started to cast a spell. Julie suspected that there were only a few
words left for it when Josh had slain the demon.

"Rrrraaaggghh!" The demon cried, interrupting Julie's thoughts, "You, you've
impaled me!" It looked down at the sword in its chest. "You bastard. You've
ruined my best clothing. And you've slain me twice! I shall not let this go
unavenged." It pulled the sword out of its chest and tossed it to the side. It
swung at Josh, but he had already dived for his sword and the swing missed.

"I shall kill you yet, demon!" Josh shouted as he rejoined the demon in combat.

Julie shook her head. It did seem that the paralyzation she had suffered was
gone now, so she could move now. Still, she wasn't sure what she could do.
Julie sat up and returned to recalling the demon's actions.

It had stopped casting the spell before it was complete because Josh had thrown
a knife into its throat. The energy in its hand had exploded then, destroying
the demon's hand with it. Looking at the demon, Julie could see that it still
didn't have a hand. How much more of the spell was there? While she knew almost
nothing about magic, she wondered if she could just put a few more words on the
end of the spell to complete it. If nothing else was needed to cast the spell,
and it had an effect like the energy had on its hand, it would work as an ideal
weapon against the demon. If not, she'd loose nothing.

She stood and faced the demon, assuming the pose it'd had as best she could.
Concentrating on the demon and on the words as much as she could, she began
chanting the words of the spell.

"Fires that bind,
Flames that burn all eternal,
Earth that waits,
And outlasts all of time,"

"No! Stop!" The demon screamed as it turned to face Julie. In its momentary
distraction, Josh cut off its handless arm. The demon spun around and defended
itself against Josh's onslaught while trying to work closer to Julie.

"Your powers I do call,
And by the power that binds,
And through all of time,
Claim the one before me"

As Julie finished saying the words, a ball of energy that had appeared in her
hand raised slightly then shot towards the demon. The demon dived to the floor,
but the energy altered its course and hit the demon in the middle of its back.
The demon screamed horribly as it turned to ash.

"Great." Josh said, setting the point of his sword on the ground, "Now how am I
supposed to know which of us is better?"

"You couldn't of killed it." Julie said. "It would have taken any wound and
just stood back up. We should get out of here as soon as possible as it is. I
have no idea whether it will survive that."

"I still would have liked to try to kill it." Josh said.

"You couldn't have." Julie told him as she walked towards the doorway, "I'm
going to try to find a way out of here, so if you don't want left behind I'd
recommend you follow."

***

Julie stopped walking and leaned against the wall of the cavern.

"We're going to have to stop for a while," she said, "I don't think I can keep
awake much longer."

"This cavern is, admittedly, larger than one would expect," Josh said, "I,
myself, spent six hours reaching the villainous warlock."

"And you knew the way through, then." Julie looked at Josh through narrow eyes,
"Next time you rescue someone, mark your path. And bring some food, as well.
I'm not sure if the creatures in here are edible."

"I shall remember what you say. I think we're near the exit now, so just keep
going a little longer."

"You've said that several times now, starting several hours ago."

"I was wrong then, but now I am sure!"

"You were sure last time. You can continue wandering around, but I need to get
some sleep." Julie laid down on the cold stone floor, and despite the
discomfort was immediately asleep.

When she woke some time later, she could see that Josh was slumped against the
wall on the other side of the corridor, snoring. Julie shook his body, but he
didn't wake. He'd probably stayed up as long as he could manage to protect her
from any threats. Nevermind that those monsters they'd constructed had been
pretty weak; most were more scared of her then she of them!  The labyrinth was
enough to keep sensible people out!

She unbuckled Josh's sword belt and put it on. It had been many years since
she'd worn a sword. That was something that had bothered Josh, as well as
almost everyone else in this part of the world. Women were not supposed to
carry swords, let alone know how to use them.

Putting her arms around Josh's waist, she lifted him up and set him over her
shoulder. His weight pressed uncomfortably against her wings, but it was
something she could bear to get out. Looking forward, she began walking.

About an hour later the air started to smell fresher. She could smell flowers
blooming. If she could smell the flowers, it must not be far to the exit.

Another couple hours later the smell had grown steadily stronger, but there was
no sign of an exit. It seemed that whatever the warlock had done to her had
increased her sense of smell manyfold.

Following the odor for another half an hour, she came to where light was
streaming down from a hole in the ceiling. It was just out of her reach. Once
Josh woke up, however, they would be able to get out.

How long had he managed to stay awake?

"Wake up Josh. We can get out now." She dropped him on the ground and he
groaned. A few moments later his eyes opened slightly.

"Its bright." He said.

"Its an exit."

"That isn't how I got in, though."

"It's still an exit. We can work our way home from outside."

Josh stood, keeping his hand against the wall to help his balance. "I feel
sore. How'd we get here, anyway?"

"You think you're sore? You've been flattening my wings for the past several
hours. It's the first time in my life that I've had sore wings, and its not
something I'd recommend to anyone."

Josh looked up, "How we going to get out?"

"I can hold you up high enough to climb out. Then you can reach down and help
me get far enough up to get out myself."

"Do you know wgere we are?"

"No. It shouldn't be hard to get directions, though. We're going to the only
castle for quite some distance." Julie grabbed Josh and lifted him towards the
exit. He quickly scrambled up, then reached down to help Julie get out herself.
Before he had a chance to actually pull her up, however, she had climbed up his
arms and was sitting on the grass outside. Josh watched as she leaned back into
the grass, breathing in the fresh air.

"What are you doing with my sword?" He asked.

"You hardly needed it while you were sleeping."

"Could I have it back?"

"You can have it back as soon as we get going."