Sir Hjalmar's Forbidden Quest

There was a time when I would have been terrified of going into the woods. I admit, the stories are terrifying. The things they say live in there, hiding in the shadows... waiting to jump out at you and drag you into their lairs. That's what they say.

But I'm not afraid anymore, not now that I'm a knight. Before then, it was just my father telling me scary stories to keep me in my room at night and make sure I didn't run off to play outside. But now that I am a knight I no longer believe those stories. Or rather, I don't believe them enough to be afraid of the woods any more.

I'm still scared of wolves and bears though. There is nothing wrong with being reasonable about these things.

But for this task? This is why I became a knight! This is what all the training was for! To slay beasts and demons! To rescue damsels in distress! After all this time of seeing other knights get called on for these kinds of quests, here I am finally on one myself! This is so exciting!

*sigh* But also... kind of boring. The damn woods don't seem as dangerous as I'd heard them to be, after all. Sure there are some weird looking trees and scary looking bushes along the way, but they're just trees and bushes are they not? It's not like they're going to jump out at you and try to kill you or anything like that; who knows what those stories were even about? Probably just bards trying to make themselves more interesting by making up these weird tales about lone travelers going into the woods, never to return again.

Well, okay that last part of course may have been true. Some people really do get lost in these woods, or even worse they wander too far off the roads and end up getting eaten by wolves or something like that... But who knows how many of those stories were exaggerated too? It's not like anyone goes around doing an actual count of how many people actually do go missing every year in these woods, right?

*Sigh* What am I thinking? Of course nobody does that. Who cares anyway?

There are still some creepy parts of course; there always is with nature. It can be difficult to get used to at first, but there's nothing wrong with appreciating nature for its beauty... even if it does occasionally need some improvements made upon it from time to time if you ask me. Anyway, daydreaming won't get me anywhere; this prince needs saving! And he needs it fast too before he dies or whatever else happens when someone gets stuck inside the belly of a monster... Though really shouldn't this forest have been cleared out centuries ago if that's how it usually works? Oh well, better safe than sorry right? Better safe than dead? No... wait, yes! That's it exactly Sir Hjalmar! *sigh*

"Hello?" I call out loudly into the forest ahead of me again as I walk through it towards where my map tells me Prince Baldur is supposed to be held captive by whatever evil beasts decided to take him prisoner in the first place. "Is anyone there?"

"Yes." A soft feminine voice calls from somewhere behind me suddenly causing me to jump forwards in surprise and turn around quickly drawing my sword from its sheath as I do so instinctively whilst shouting loudly "Who goes there?!"

"Ah!" The voice exclaims loudly back at me sounding slightly surprised as well before continuing gently "It's alright Sir Hjalmar."

I glance back over my shoulder quickly only able to see something moving out of the corner of my eye between two trees before swiftly turning back around resheathing my sword once again as I realize who had startled me so much "Oh thank goodness it was only you Lady Elsa!"

The mysterious young lady makes her appearance from behind one of the trees having apparently made herself invisible somehow before walking forward until she can come alongside me whilst explaining "Please forgive me Sir Hjalmar... Though honestly you should know better than to shout out like that in such an unsettling place as this."

After pausing for a moment Lady Elsa continues softly "In fact you should know better than to shout out like that period." She adds lightly chuckling afterwards before continuing on more seriously "This isn't your little village Sir Hjalmar."

Sir Hjalmar sighs quietly before admitting reluctantly "You're right Lady Elsa." He admits softly before explaining more confidently "But this isn't a normal situation either though; we're here rescuing your brother Prince Baldur after all!" He adds cheerfully sounding proud of himself for remembering her brothers name correctly too despite hearing it only once earlier today when he met with his father King Balder who sent him on this quest in the first place along with Lady Elsa who has thankfully chosen to join him on his journey apparently instead of staying behind at her father's castle waiting for news of her brother instead like most women would have done instead according Sir Hjalmar's mother anyway who he overheard talking about him and Lady Elsa in hushed voices over breakfast one morning which is why he remembered her name so perfectly now; because his mother mentioned it once when she was discussing rumors about him with some women over tea one day which is very important information for a good memory like mine Sir Hjalmar has decided which is why he remembers things very well indeed especially names which helps on days like today when he has been given such an important task by his king who sent him on this quest after all along with Lady Elsa today who has chosen to join him despite being told otherwise by her father King Balder instead which means she must really care about her brother Prince Baldur after all which will hopefully prove useful during this quest which Sir Hjalmar has been sent on by his king which means he must succeed at it no matter what else happens because if he doesn't then everyone will be disappointed in him including his mother who raised him all by herself while his father went off adventuring without her but eventually came back home when she needed help taking care of him after she became ill one day which was years ago now but Sir Hjalmar still remembers everything about that day perfectly including how sad everybody was because his mother got sick but still managed to smile at him when she saw him standing next to her bed before whispering quietly (because she did not want anyone else overhearing their conversation) into his ear "My brave little boy... Don't ever forget: life can change in an instant sometimes..." Which hurt Sir Hjalmar deeply because he loved his mother very much but despite his tears felt proud because she knew he would grow up strong enough to protect himself whenever anything bad happened (which thankfully hasn't happened often since luckily nothing bad ever happened again after that day) but most importantly she knew he could protect others too which helped give him confidence whenever he had trouble sleeping afterwards because thinking about protecting people helped him sleep better at night more often than not which meant he could focus more during battle training later on instead worrying so much about whether or not he would be killed during training sessions which made him feel stronger mentally whenever a new challenge arose thanks partially to his mothers advice and partially because he grew up strong enough physically thanks partly due to training and partly thanks partly due to eating lots of food whenever someone gave it too him whenever they felt generous enough afterwards so long as they weren't giving away rotten food obviously because then it would end up making Sir Hjalmar sick instead which no one wants so therefore nobody ever gives away rotten food unless someone dies accidentally or something like that because otherwise there wouldn't be any way for them too give away their food afterwards obviously since nobody wants anything bad happening... Which reminds Sir Hjalmar suddenly realizing sadly that there might already be something bad happening right now since Prince Baldur might already be dead inside one of those stomachs belonging to whatever monster has taken him prisoner inside these cursed woods which means everyone will be sad no matter how much good work Sir Hjalmar manages too accomplish during this quest especially if Prince Baldur ends up dying inside whichever monster ends up killing him instead even if it wasn't their fault none-the-less (but still hopefully they'll realize their mistake someday...) otherwise everyone will think poorly of them and everyone will start hating them too especially if it turns out this monster was once somebody's friend until they became angry and made a very big mistake one day forever cursing themselves forever after losing their minds (and probably friends too) due their anger becoming uncontrollable resulting in them eventually deciding maybe helping kill other people might help them feel better again (maybe?) but unfortunately only ended up making things worse instead because feeling guilty afterwards ended up making them realize killing other people didn't fix anything at all either but unfortunately by then they were past the point where they could help themselves anymore leaving them trapped forever inside their own minds without any hope left until eventually everyone else started hating them right back leading finally towards an inevitable showdown between both sides as both parties slowly warred against each other until finally deciding maybe finding some common ground might help solve whichever problem caused everyone so much grief originally (if such a solution even exists) allowing both sides eventually agreeing