Erwin and the Hidden Artifact

The three of us sat on the edge of the dungeon, exhausted. I was certain my friends were about to give up and leave me behind, for surely I had almost ruined it all. The bone-headed guard I'd just hit with a big rock was probably going to go tell his boss that a young boy from the small settlement was sneaking around the dungeon, and if he found out what we were doing here . . .

"Erwin!" Justine snapped at me, "Stop daydreaming! This is serious!"

I looked down at my hands and wiggled my fingers. They felt numb. I didn't think I could lift another rock if - no, when - that huge guard came back. He would kill us all. We had to hurry this up.

"How can we get past him?" I asked. "If we run back into the corridors he'll catch us."

"We need a diversion," said Justine, her voice still sharp despite having been drained by running here and back once already without stopping. "You have to distract him."

"What?" I said in disbelief, still thinking about the rock; would I ever be able to raise it again? "You want me to attack him? He's twice my size! He'll break my head open before I even get close enough to spit on him!"

Justine groaned in frustration as she got up from the ground and started pacing around in circles. She was thin, but her long legs gave her so much speed that she could sprint for hours without getting tired. That's how we managed to escape our village in the first place, but now . . .

"Justine," said Alfred slowly, scratching his black hair nervously, "Erwin might be right."

Justine stopped in her tracks and glared at Alfred like he was the stupidest man on earth. "Are you kidding me? You're siding with Erwin now?"

Alfred shrugged helplessly. "I'm just saying that even though you're fast," he said after a moment's hesitation, "you're always getting caught by guards while Erwin manages to run past them all unnoticed."

Alfred has a point there, I thought. Maybe they really did think of me as stupid because of how quiet and shy I am - but then again, who wouldn't be quiet when someone yells at them all day long? What sane person wouldn't run away when they met those eyes? But maybe Alfred meant something different than just being quiet and shy; maybe he meant stupid because all of a sudden my brain started working again, and suddenly it all made sense why Justine has been so mean to me all this time: she wanted me to get close enough to distract one of those guards so she could sneak pass them undetected! My heart started beating faster as the pieces fell into place: she never yelled at me when she needed help doing something dangerous! If only I hadn't been such an idiot . . . . And now it was too late; one of those evil guards had seen us. We had no other choice but to split up. Which meant Justine would have to face that guard alone while Alfred and I tried to distract another one far away so Justine could get away! If only we hadn't been so stupid! If only we hadn't trusted each other so blindly! If only - !

"Ahhh!" A loud yell broke through my thoughts as Alfred suddenly leaped off the ground and ran towards a large boulder just next to us without looking where he was going. By luck he didn't smash his head against the rock and kept on running straight up the slope behind it while cursing loudly until he reached its top where he jumped off it unexpectedly (or perhaps intentionally) towards a second boulder further away from us with his arms stretched out wide as if trying to fly like a bird or something silly like that. The jump took Alfred directly over two smaller boulders between which our guard stood firmly planted in front of us with his arms crossed over his chest as if daring anyone foolish enough to try anything against him right now. It seemed as if only my eyes were wide open with surprise while most of my body tensed up with fear before automatically raising itself off the ground with every muscle tensed up while screaming internally: *No way! No way! He's going die.* Alfred's jump took him directly above the guard's head; there wasn't enough time for him to stop himself from falling down towards the man's skull at such high speed! Then - miraculously - out of nowhere an arrow flew out of nowhere and pierced his leg clean through so suddenly that Alfred screamed louder than any banshee ever heard before as he crashed against a boulder behind our guard who stumbled backwards under the weight and fell flat on his back before quickly scrambling up onto his feet with both hands held high towards heaven as if shouting a prayer for mercy or something similar: "Unholy mother of God!" he shouted before taking off into an almost inhuman sprint towards some nearby bushes where Alfred had fallen down behind them earlier while gripping his bleeding leg tightly with both hands and cursing loudly whenever he moved it even slightly in pain ("Fuckin' shit! Fuckin' shit! Fuckin' shit!"). Meanwhile another arrow whizzed past my ear moments after hitting another boulder behind me closely enough for me not being able to hear myself think anymore while another arrow struck one of Justine's feet just slightly below her ankle which caused her immediately fall forward onto her knees before pushing herself up onto her feet again ("Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow" Justine chanted quietly). Moments later two guards appeared from behind their hiding places among some bushes just ten meters away from us - both pointing their swords at our throats ready to kill us instantly if we made any kind of suspicious movement - while two more followed suit moments later from behind some bushes thirty meters away from us along with a fifth one who cautiously approached us from behind a very large boulder five meters away from me who apparently had been watching everything silently through a crack in its side this entire time ("Guards!" shouted Alfred somewhere behind those bushes). Two more appeared moments later hidden among some bushes opposite them twenty meters further away from us ("The arrows are poisoned!" shouted Justine before reaching into her pocket). Suddenly she pulled out an odd looking stone between two fingers and threw it hard towards one of those guards closest to us causing him suddenly scream loudly while dropping both sword and shield before collapsing onto his side before rolling onto his face almost instantly where he stopped moving entirely ("Stone of Agony," whispered Justine seemingly impressed). Another stone flew towards one more guard standing opposite of us causing him start screaming loudly seconds later before quickly taking off into an inhuman sprint towards those bushes where Alfred had fallen down earlier which caused three more guards surrounding him there just moments later ("Stone of Vulnerability," whispered Justine proudly). One more stone flew towards one more guard standing far above everybody else thirty meters away from us causing him start screaming loudly seconds later before quickly taking off into an inhuman sprint towards those bushes where Alfred had fallen down earlier which caused three more guards surrounding him there just moments later ("Stone of Anger," whispered Justine happily). Another stone flew towards one more guard standing opposite of us causing him start screaming loudly seconds later before quickly taking off into an inhuman sprint towards those bushes where Alfred had fallen down earlier which caused three more guards surrounding him there just moments later ("Stone of Fear," whispered Justine curiously). One more stone flew towards one more guard standing far above everybody else thirty meters away from us causing him start screaming loudly seconds later before quickly taking off into an inhuman sprint towards those bushes where Alfred had fallen down earlier which caused three more guards surrounding him there just moments later ("Stone of Sadness," whispered Justine sorrowfully). Meanwhile another stone flew towards one more guard standing far above everybody else thirty meters away from us causing him start screaming loudly seconds later before quickly taking off into an inhuman sprint towards those bushes where Alfred had fallen down earlier which caused three more guards surrounding him there just moments later ("Stone of Hope," whispered Justine happily). What was going on? Why weren't they attacking yet? Where were they going? Oh God! They were circling around from behind our backs! If only we hadn't been so stupid! If only we hadn't trusted each other so blindly! If only - !