Chapter 8

These are the Chronicle of The Great Quest of Prince Orin, the Soon to Be Great transcribed here by the Humble and Dutiful Scribe, Hricks, Brother of Tamarin.
Here begineth Part One.
It was a beautiful sunny day in early fall as Prince Orin prepared himself to depart on his glorious quest to retrieve the seeds of the Alban tree. After a judicious decision, based upon intuition and great inference, His Highness chose the general direction of East. So excited was he to begin his journey, that he mounted his horse with the grace of a thousand butterflies, and quickly departed. Unfortunately the rest of the party was unprepared.
Some simply stared at his backside as it crossed the bridge. Others began to madly stuff their belongings onto their horse. Several noblemen mounted and rode quickly, yelling to their squires to retrieve the rest of the luggage.
I personally was trampled by no less than two horses as they rushed to catch up with the wayward prince. After carefully navigating around Demon, the noble steed, and his flashing white teeth, I obtained my own sturdy mount, Elly. Steady in temperament, if not a little on the slow side, Elly dutifully trotted after the group.
The citizens of Capital City flooded the streets to wish us well as we paraded past. Several young ladies stood weeping buckets as they waved their kerchiefs and threw flowers. The noblemen and their squires simply laughed and waved back, calling out words of comfort and impending victory.
As we continued past the city walls, several of the courtiers struck up a lively tune upon their lutes. They called back verses and somewhat raucous jokes, as now there were no ladies present. All the travelers were light of foot and heart.
I caught up with Prince Orin, just as we reached the last fields on the outskirts of Capital City. I jostled a bit with the other horses, as other wished to also ride near him, but good old Elly pushed her way to the front. As the trees of Argon Forest came slowly into view, the hearts of the men grew darker, and their voices softer.
“Are we to take the road through the forest? Or are we going to take the more southern road east,” I asked, wishing to record this decision for posterity.
Prince Orin showed no indecision. He nodded once and pointed directly into the forest.
“Anyone who does not wish to enter the forest should return to Capital City.” His Highness turned back to look at the group behind him. Several eyed the forest nervously, but, as a compliment to their breeding and births, they all stood their ground.
Prince Orin bravely led his men into the forest, and majestically onward with his noble quest to save all the People of Galidin from Certain Ruin and Destruction.