A Note from the Real Author
John is the fictional father of two kids that would rather play video games than read the Bible. They think it’s boring, so John wrote them a story to convince them otherwise. The said they wanted a story of dragons, swords, magic, adventure, romance, and more. So, John sat down to write . . .
Jared Dees
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The Adventurer: Part 7
Chapter 14
The Adventurer led his knights and the thousands of refugees along the road to the capital city of the empire.
The boy couldn’t help but be nervous. His parents had only told him awful things about the emperor. They hated him and often talked about what it would take to overthrow him. He supposed many of the people in the crowd that followed them felt that way, too.
The Adventurer taught the knights many things along the road. Some of the people in the crowds listened, too, and were moved by his words. His message was so different from the way the boy was raised. He was taught to seek glory and greatness through the accomplishment of quests. The Adventurer taught them to be humble servants instead.
The boy worked up the courage to question the Adventurer. “But why? Why should we serve others rather than earn personal glory and admiration?”
The Adventurer stopped and turned to the boy. The others stopped, too.
“Who do the people say that I am?” he asked the boy.
The boy thought for a moment about the rumors he had heard during their journeys. “Some say you are one of the legendary heroes. Some say you are a great hero of the day in disguise,” he said.
“And you do you say that I am?” he asked.
“You are no mere hero. You are an Adventurer like us. You are THE Adventurer, yet more than that. You are . . . you are . . .” The boy paused to think if he was really ready to admit this to the people listening to them speak.
“You are the Son of the One on High. You are the Chosen One sent by the Father, but I don’t know where we are going,” said the boy.
“Where I am going, you cannot follow–at least not yet,” said the Adventurer.
The knights were puzzled by this. They knew they were on a quest, but they still did not know what it was.
“We go to the capital where I will be taken and arrested. I will suffer greatly for your sake. Anyone who wishes to follow me must give up glory for the glory of my Father. Anyone who wishes to save his life must lose it. This is the will of the one who sent me.”
The Adventurer said no more. He turned along the road and looked out over a hill that showed the capital city of the empire in the distance.
The knights and many others followed him along the way.
Chapter 15
As they moved closer to the city, a sudden realization came over them. The Dragon had been here. Even the emperor’s city could not avoid his wrath.
The fear in the crowds gave way to hope in the Adventurer. They started to sing songs of praise to him. They called him “King.”
They arrived at the gates of the city, but the guards were not there. The gates were torn down. The doors were opened.
“Should we go in?” asked the boy.
“Go on ahead,” he said to the boy.
“Me?” the boy asked pointing to himself.
The Adventurer nodded and the boy obeyed. He pushed aside some debris from the gate with his staff and climbed over the rubble.
“Who goes there!” shouted a voice. It sounded strangely familiar. He knew that voice very well.
“Brother? Is that you?” the boy shouted.
To his surprise, his heavily-armed brother emerged into the gateway. Behind him stood his parents and many other adventurers with great weapons and armor.
“What are you all doing here?” asked the boy.
“We should ask the same of you,” said his mother.
“What are you wielding?” asked the boy’s brother with a laugh.
The boy looked at his staff and then down at his clothes. He was embarrassed to be seen with so little to fight and defend himself. He looked like a poor peasant next to all of these heroes with great weapons and armor.
“Where is he?” asked the boy’s father.
“Where is who?” he replied.
“The king who comes to overthrow the emperor. Where is he?” said his father.
“That’s not why we are here, dad,” said the boy.
“Then why did he come with the army of thousands of warriors?” he said.
“They are refugees. The Dragon destroyed their homes. They followed us here,” explained the boy.
“Or maybe the would-be king sent the Dragon ahead of him. We know of this man and the things he has done. Don’t be fooled. He has come to take what he believes to be his right,” said the boy’s mother.
“No, mom, you don’t understand. The Adventurer is not a warrior. He is no king. He is a healer,” said the boy.
The family each drew their swords. They looked up past the boy. The boy turned and saw the Adventurer standing behind him staff in hand. The knights were close behind.
The boy saw his family inch closer to the Adventurer, swords ready.
“No, stop. Stop, please,” said the boy. Then he put down his staff. He saw a sword on the ground next to one of the fallen guards. It felt heavy in his hand compared to the staff. He rushed ahead and stood between the Adventurer and his family.
“I won’t let you do it. I won’t let you fight him,” he said. He swung the sword through the air and nearly fell to the ground.
“Son, this kind of thing isn’t for you. Put the sword down,” said his father.
“Yeah, you don’t know what you are doing. Go back to the farm,” said his brother.
The boy couldn’t stand to hear this. He charged at his brother ready to strike. The older boy, now a man, knocked back the sword with his shield and out of the boy’s hand. The boy fell to the ground.
“Enough!” shouted the Adventurer. He set down his staff and set out his arms for the mob to tie him up.
“Take him,” said the boys father and his older son went and tied him up.
The knights tried to stop them, but the Adventurer called them off. They held their ground.
“Let’s take him in,” said the boy’s father.
The boy was down on the ground in tears as he watched his master be taken away by his family.
It didn’t make sense. His parents hated the emperor. Why were they helping him?
Chapter 16
The boy had never felt so alone in his life.
One of the knights helped him to his feet. The boy looked down at the sword. “I couldn’t even defend him. I couldn’t fight.”
“That’s not what we were taught to do,” said Theodore. “That is not why we are here.”
“Why are we here?” asked the boy. “Where are the emperor’s guards? What is going on?”
“Let’s go find out,” said the knight Ivan heading into the city.
“Where are you going?” asked the boy.
“The palace, of course. We have to find out what is happening,” he said.
“What about the crowds?” asked the boy.
“The Adventurer sent them away. A lot of them were pretty angry. He tried to warn them that it wasn’t safe. Some left. Some went to the other entrances in the city. Most are making camp outside of the gates,” said a knight.
“Let’s go,” said Ivan. We need to arrive at the palace before nightfall.
They made their way through the streets of the city. It was eerily abandoned. Hardly anyone walked along the usually busy roads. This made it much easier to make their way to the center of the city.
They arrived to find a crowded square in front of the palace. The entire city seemed to be gathered there. Around the outside of the crowds, the boy could see many of the refugees that accompanied them along the journey to the city.
The boy surveyed the crowd. He was shocked by the sight on the palace steps. It was his family and their company of warriors. They were leading the Adventurer up the steps of the palace. The crowds shouted insults at him from all over the square.
The warriors threw him to the ground at the top of the steps.
The doors of the palace opened.
A company of palace guards marched out with spears in hand. Then slowly walking behind came a man in great shining armor. It was the greatest set up of equipment the boy had ever seen. It looked like gold shining in the son.
“The emperor,” said Theodore. “It’s really him.”
“What are they going to do?” asked the boy.
“They are putting him on trial,” he replied.
“They are going to kill him.”
A Conversation about Part 7 of The Adventurer
John finished reading.
“You are stopping there?” asked his son.
“Yes, for now. The next section of the story will be very hard to tell,” said the father.
“C’mon, Dad, we know what happens. We know he dies in the end,” said the daughter.
“Yes, but do you know why?” he asked.
“Because they falsely accused him of doing something wrong,” said the son.
“And it wasn’t Jesus that did anything wrong, but the people who killed him,” said the daughter.
“Right and what do you think the warriors in this story are doing wrong?” asked the father.
“They sought their own glory, right?” said the daughter.
“That’s right. The boy’s parents in the story are great examples. They spent their whole lives seeking glory and good weapons. They were the ones who had the Adventurer arrested,” explained the father.
“Like the chief priests in the Bible?” asked the son.
“Yes. I hope you are catching on to the theme here. The adventures. The glory. It all leads in the wrong direction,” said the father.
“How will the Adventurer’s death make a difference?” asked the daughter.
“Let’s find out next time,” said the father with a smile.
To Be Continued . . .
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