Sir Jeffrey Trailson, Knight Errant, steered his steed Swift behind Narlissa as she guided him towards the location of the axe according to the map that Breanne had given him. They had been riding all day, and it was started to turn into evening. He hoped that they found the cave soon or he would lose another day trying to locate it.
"How far are we?" he said, riding alongside his half-elf companion.
"Not far at all," she smiled. "It is just over this hill, apparently."
He nodded, excited at being so close to his target, and they carried on. Unsurprisingly, Narlissa was right, and as they reached the bottom of the hill he spotted a cave, with a mouth partially hidden by fallen rocks but unmistakeably deep and dark.
"I think that is it," she said. "Shall we go in?"
Sir Jeffrey quickly climbed from Swift and entered the cave, Narlissa not far behind. It was dark and musty and he could hear water dripping from further in. He wished he had a torch. Running his hands along the walls he soon found himself in total darkness and had to feel his way along. He really hoped this was the right cave.
"And that I don't get lost in here!" he said out loud to himself, then regretted it as the sound bounced back from the walls. He also hoped there was no one to fight. He disliked fighting. He heard Narlissa giggle from behind him. Clearly, she was more comfortable here.
As he rounded a corner his eyes widened. He could suddenly see, a glowing light seeming to fill the room in front of him. The room was more of a cavern, really, with small waterfalls falling into springs around the edges. It was then that he realised the glowing light was coming from the centre of the room, where an axe floated in midair.
"There it is!" he gasped, and he heard Narlissa's breath catch behind him as she saw it too.
"Go and get it, Sir Knight!" she said happily.
He stepped forwards. He was so close now, and he reached out to grasp the hilt of the axe...
"Stop!" shouted a voice, and Sir Jeffrey froze. He did not expect to find anyone else here.
He slowly turned, and his jaw dropped. A woman stood at the entrance to the cavern in shining silver armour. Long blonde hair fell from her head and piercing blue eyes shone back at him. She was glaring at him, and her hand moved to the sword at her waist.
"You are not to take that, thieves. It is mine."
"Yours?" Sir Jeffrey said, surprised. "If it is yours then why have you not taken it?"
She strode towards him then, anger in her eyes. "Because I had not found it. But it belongs in my family line, and as such I claim it."
Narlissa stood there, clearly scared by the woman, and Sir Jeffrey did not blame her. Narlissa could look after herself, but she was not a fighter, and this woman was fully armoured and clearly not wary about using her sword. Even Sir Jeffrey, who should have been ready to defend himself, found himself moving out of the woman's way as she pushed past him.
He could only stare aghast as the woman grabbed the axe and began to march from the cave.
"Wait!" he shouted after a moment. The woman did not turn back. He hurried after her, Narlissa on his heels.
Soon he found himself back outside again. The woman was climbing onto her horse, and he noticed that three other people were mounted around her, all men. They glared at him and moved for their weapons, but she waved them calm.
"He means no harm, I believe. He is merely trying to find a legendary weapon for the benefit of his Queen, are you not, Sir Knight?"
Jeffrey nodded, and stepped towards her. "I am indeed, m'lady. I need to do something of the sort to earn my rank as full Knight. I had hoped to take the axe, but you have taken it from me."
The woman's eyes narrowed, but despite that she did seem to be warming to Jeffrey. "It is my axe, Sir Knight. It is unfortunate you have come all this way, but that is the way these things happen. But now, I must go to have my rank confirmed by the Queen."
"You are a Knight Errant too?" Sir Jeffrey asked.
The woman nodded in response, before waving her companions to follow her. She rode from sight.
"Fuck," Sir Jeffrey said as she disappeared. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Narlissa looking at him with sad eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I know what it's like to see something you want taken when you've almost got it."