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‘Get me out of here!’ called Eric the Cavalier, as loudly as he could.
How did he get himself into these situations? Why did he keep getting himself into these situations? He was in an awkward position on his hands and knees, crouched down close to the ground, his Shield raised above his head. Above him were at least a hundred tons of good solid Realm rocks. Real rock. Real proper rock. And all that stood between Eric becoming a Cavalier-pancake was a thin, steel Shield, a little magic and his own right arm, which was aching with the strain.
Saving them all from Kelek's magic had been the only option. After all, with a hundred tons of rock falling from the sky, he wasn't going stand around and get squished, not with a nice magic Shield to take cover under. He had thought that once Kelek had gone, their trouble would be over. But he had been wrong. One by one, the others had manoeuvred themselves out of the cave by squeezing through the gap between two of the rocks. He could see them standing beside the entrance, huddled together in a group. Behind them was the beautiful Valley of the Unicorns, with the soft rolling hills, the edge of the cliffs and the clear, blue skies above.
Dungeonmaster had been and gone; some help he had been...
'Guess who saved us... Eric!' said Bobby incredulously.
Stuck under the rock fall, Eric heard what Bobby said, and was formulating the perfect put-down, when Dungeonmaster had spoken instead:
'Why do you find that difficult to believe?'
At the sound of Dungeonsmaster's voice, Eric's heart leaped. If there was anyone who could get him out safely, it was Dungeonmaster.
'You know Eric,' said Sheila as if he wasn't there. 'He doesn't do anything but complain.'
'Yeah. Who knew he could be brave?' chimed in Bobby.
The flecks of rock were still falling around the Cavalier. He hadn't been brave, he'd been dumb. And now he was stuck too.
'People can be many things,' continued Dungeonmaster sagely. 'Sometimes your worst enemy can be your strongest ally.'
Eric wasn't really listening to the words, but was trying to find a good way of asking for Dungeonmaster's help, without sounding as desperate and scared as he actually was. But his thoughts were interrupted by Diana.
'You writing all this down, Cavalier?'
'I'll give something to write down,' snapped Eric. 'Get me outta here!'
'And what about Uni?' whined Bobby.
Eric saw Diana turn to look at the others, then she said the words that he knew she was going to say: 'Dungeonmaster's gone!'
Eric scowled at the memory. It had only been about fifteen minutes before, but all Dungeonmaster had done was leave them with more cryptic clues and vanished. He'd been no help at all, which was just typical of the crazy old man.
The others had been no help either. And from the looks of things they were sniggering. He was damn sure they were sniggering about him behind his back. How could they snigger at a time like this, especially after he had saved their skins? It was bad enough having to be stuck under here, and put up with dumb comments from Bobby and Sheila. The least they could do was help and not make fun of him.
‘I said, get me out of here, will you!’ he shouted.
'We're working on it,' Hank called, kneeling down by the entrance, and Eric could just about make out what he supposed to be a reassuring smile on the other boy's face. For a few moments Eric felt a little better, then the ache in his arm reminded him of the difficult position he was in.
'Work faster,' Eric muttered. 'I can't stay like this for ever.'
'Hey, Cavalier,' It was Diana, peering into the dark of the cave. ‘How you holding up?’
‘Very. Funny.’ Eric gasped back, rolling his eyes. 'Why don't you try it for a while?'
She gave him a smug little smile, but didn't reply.
‘What are we gonna do?’ asked Sheila. She looked to Hank for an answer, but he shrugged, and glanced at Presto.
‘How about trying the Hat?’ Hank suggested.
‘Um,’ started the Magician, fidgeting with the edge of the Hat as he spoke. ‘I’m not so sure…’
‘C’mon Presto,’ said Sheila.
'Sheila, I'm really not sure...'
'C'mon, Presto,' echoed Diana, peering back into the cavern briefly to look at the Cavalier as if he were a zoo exhibit. Eric scowled, the specks of dust from the rocks above still trickling past him. Was it his imagination, or was it getting more dusty?
‘C’mon you guys, we’re running outta time,’ complained Bobby. For once, Eric agreed with the Barbarian. This was taking far too long.
‘We've gotta help the unicorns,' Bobby continued. 'We've gotta help Uni. Let’s just leave him here ‘til later.’
‘WHAT?’ bellowed Eric in a panic. ‘Don’t you dare! Don’t you DARE!’
Bobby had turned around to look pleadingly at Hank and for a few moments Eric thought that that was that. They really were going to leave him.
'You can't possibly...' started Eric
‘Just let it go,’ said Hank. It was said in such a reasonable tone that for a moment Eric actually thought it was a good idea. Then reality snapped back.
‘Are you totally NUTS!’ he huffed, as loudly as he could. ‘Let it go? So it falls on me?’ Wasn't Hank supposed to be on his side?
‘It won’t, it’s stabilised. I bet if you lowered the Shield the rock would stay put where it is.’
'You are joking?'
Eric looked on with his mouth open as the Ranger shook his head.
'It's clear to see from out here,' Hank continued, as Eric continued to stare. 'The rocks aren't moving any more.' Hank gave him an encouraging smile. 'It'll be okay.'
‘That's... that's easy for you to say!’ Eric replied.
‘It’s easy for you to do,’ added Diana.
'No!'
‘Well, if you’re not going to help yourself, Eric, then there’s not much we can do!’ replied Diana coldly.
'Or we could let Presto try the Hat,' said Hank. 'Maybe get it to lift the rocks off, one by one.'
Eric could see the terrified expression on Presto's face as Hank spoke.
'No way!' said the Cavalier.
'I... I agree,' said Presto. 'The Hat's never gonna do that. More like turn it all lead. Or gold.'
'Or Jello?' suggested Diana.
Eric closed his eyes for a few moments. Maybe next time there’s a rock fall, I just won’t bother with my Shield at all, he thought angrily.
'What do you suggest I do, lower my Shield and hope for the best?'
Diana opened her mouth to say something, probably something annoying, but Hank cut in.
'Stop it!' He looked at Eric earnestly. 'Eric, we've gotta help the unicorns, and we have to be quick, it won't take long for Kelek to get those other horns and then, well, who knows what will happen.'
The exit was only a metre away, and Eric shifted his weight forward, hoping to get closer to the way out before he had to let go. Outside Hank was still kneeling, looking in, and smiling encouragingly at him.
Slowly, very slowly, Eric began to relax his arm, letting the Shield inch away from the rocks above. There were no creaks or groans, just the hiss of the dust that trickled through the gaps above him. He lowered it a little more, feeling the buzz of the magic it contained draining slowly away.
The rocks held.
Eric started to inch towards the exit, constantly moving, constantly looking between the rocks above him and the exit ahead. Just as he reached the last rocks, his Shield brushed slightly against the rocks, causing more dust to fall. Eric frowned. The exit was narrower than he'd thought. With the Shield vertical on his arm, he wouldn't be able to crawl out, so he slowly slipped the straps off his arm. Flakes of dust kept falling and Eric hardly dared to breathe. The moment the Shield was off his arm he moved forward again, moving faster, even though it only took a few seconds to get free.
He breathed out as Hank looped a hand under his arm and pulled him upright.
'Right, now we go after Kelek,' said Hank, throwing a big grin at Bobby. 'We'll get to the unicorns before anything bad happens. I promise.' As Hank spoke, Eric knelt back down, and reached in to the cave to pull the Shield out.
'Um, guys,' said Eric quietly.
No one responded, they were too busy talking about how to defeat Kelek, what Dungeonmaster's riddle could have meant and...
'Guys!' Eric said much more loudly.
'What?!' demanded Hank and Diana together.
There was a moments silence as Eric gave them an embarrassed smile.
'I can't get my Shield out.'