The King's Highway.

Way back in the yester years. There was a highway. The might highway created by the king himself. But since the death of the king, the highway had become such a dangerous place that only the brave traveled it. That brings us to our heroes, The mage,The Brave Knight, And the wize old man.

The men had to get to the village 40 leagues away. There was news of a new bandit rise. But it was no fear for them. The mightiest night in all the land was with them. Sir Charles of Riverdale. So the journey starts. The wise man was dragging something on a cart. It was well covered. But it was enough to attract the attention of any bandit. The Knight and the mage had no clue what it was. They just knew they were paid enough gold to get the old man to the temple in the village. So that they were going to do.

They get out on the highway. It is gloomy, Shrouded in woods and the edges were covered in brush. It was enough for the knight to keep his blade drawn at all times. For the first day anyway. He was a proud knight, and it got to his head at times. Up ahead they see a sign it reads, Milford village 15 Leagues ahead. That was their goal for the day. So they road on. A bit down the road, they see a man on the side of the road broken and bleeding. He is crying out to them. HELP ME HELP ME. to the knight being the kind soul he is gets off his horse and goes to the aid. Then from out of the bush and behind the knight jumps another man who puts a dagger to the knights throat. "Give me thy purse! or give me thy life!" said the bandit. The mage turned around and chuckled. He waved his hand and from out of the sky a creature comes. It was nothing any of them had ever seen. The bandit and his faux companion ran off in tears. The knight stood there dumbfounded, and the mage walked on chuckling. The knight jumped onto his horse, rode up to the mage,"What the hell was that?!? " he asked. "HAHaHA only a fool falls for a simple illusion." replied the mage. The knight sighed in relief but still looked as though he just saw the devil himself dancing with his mother.
Anyway they strode on until they reached the village. By that time, it was night. They rode on till they reached the in and requested a spot in the stable. On account that they have to guard the valuable luggage that the old man had. So they were granted their wishes for the stable. And the old man got a room.
           
        The night was rather uneventful. The knight passed out,however the mage stood at attention the entire night.He seemed to be enjoying watching the knight twist and turn and flop all about on the ground.He found it even more amusing when the knight rolled over into some horse droppings.But the knight was having a more eventful knight inside his head. He was having flashbacks of horrible things he had done. You see the knight wasnt as valiant as we think. He once ruled a castle in the northern lands where blood was spilt daily in his word. All the horrible things he had done all the people he had ended. He saw their faces every night. He knew that on the other side they were waiting for him. They wanted a rematch to defend their names. And they were expecting him this time. There are no surprises there. Eventually he snapped out of it and awoke.

     The morning had come by this time. They had a long journey ahead of them. The old man came out to them with some food, and a bit of wine. They drank and ate and they were on their way. They got back out onto the highway and decided, NO MORE HELPING PEOPLE. And once they got that out of the way, they rode on. The old man was telling them about the stories he heard in the sitting room that morning about the bandit on the road. The people were calling him the ghost. Because it seems arrows and swords go right through him. The mage found this amusing and wishing to meet this man. Eventually he did. It was at sunset when they encountered The Ghost. He was standing in the middle of the road with his hands out signaling them to stop. So like fools they did. He said "what have you in the cart?" The old man replied "nothing for thy eyes heathen!" Then the Ghost lashed out at the man cutting him open in the belly. "I'll be taking this!" he said. Then the knight charged at the ghost, swung his sword taking the throat as his prize. The man remained unharmed. He actually burst into laughter. "There is nothing you can do old man there's nothing you can do!"  The fact that the knight had just been called old angered him. He lashed out at the man again. And then a arrow caught him by the neck. He seemed to go easily. It seemed to be the end of a beautiful thing, but it went quick. The mage remained alone. He busted into laughter, and he raised his hand and motioned towards the brush on the side of the road. And the brush moved with the cool Arctic breeze. And behind, there was a man with a bow. the mage knew what it was. It was another mage. He knew the arrow and the blade that got the old man came from that direction. He summoned fire to come down upon the other mage. But it didn't work. The other one seemed to avoid it, In fact when the fire came smoke shot up off the man and he ran away. The mage decided that he must deliver the old mans artifact to the temple anyway. So he continued on till he reached the village. Then he handed the cart over to the monks there. They removed the tarp. And it was a large crate full of golden objects. The monk felt absolutely sick that he gave that to them. He was no follower of the church. What did he care if they had that. He continued on into the wilderness and legends were made about him and his attacks for gold. The mage that has a increasingly love for gold. Thats what the legends call him.
the end