Edric had travelled a long distance through the lush fragrant forest. The sound of birds tweeting and monkeys chattering away had made him forget about what he had to do. It was pleasantly warm and the sun caressed Edric’s skin. Beautiful butterflies fluttered gracefully among the colourful woodland flowers.

It was four weeks since Edric had set off on his quest, to seek the precious diamond that the evil dark lord had stolen from the town museum. The evil lord had taken the diamond to his lair in the darkest side of the world.

As soon as Edric stepped out of the forest he saw a giant bridge. He wondered where it would lead to. Crossing the bridge, he knew immediately that he had arrived on the darkest side of the world. There was no light, save for the pale glow of the crescent moon. Thunder boomed, bats screeched and lightning revealed a white dilapidated castle silhouetted against the dark grey sky, with a dark, cave-like entrance embedded in the jagged limestone cliff beneath it. Silently, courageously, carefully, Edric entered. The walls felt slimy and cold. The floor of the passageway was damp, rocky and uneven. He felt shivers down his spine. Edric’s heart was pounding. Seeing where he was, Edric thought “Why did I forget about the dangers that lie ahead.”
Edric and sneaked along the rocky passageway. Outside, he heard the thunder bellow as the furious sky growled and erupted, sending bolts of angry lightning down. The wind screamed and whistled through the jagged passageway.
He heard a noise from deep within the tunnel, like the sound of an animal gnawing. Edric tensed his muscles and he froze.

Edric boldly unsheathed his trusty gold encrusted sword, ready for any sign of danger. Out of the corner of his eye, Edric saw the precious diamond that had been stolen from his town; it glinted every time there was a lightning strike.

Slowly Edric approached the precious gem. Suddenly, Edric saw a figure running towards him. He pointed the tip of his sword towards the figure. When the person was close enough, Edric saw who it was. It was the evil lord who had stolen the diamond from Edric’s village.

Edric demanded “Give me the diamond back or else you will die!”

“Why should I?” replied the figure, “It’s mine now!”

“No it is not!” Edric shouted.

“Yes it is,” said the evil lord “If you want your diamond back then fight me!”

“I will!” bellowed Edric.

The two enemies fought each other with their swords and cried war cries. Finally Edric saw his chance and stabbed the evil figure deep into his heart. The dark lord dropped like a stone and his sword landed with a clatter in front of Edric. Edric picked it up and untied his enemy’s scabbard from the figures belt and tied it to his own. Then he sheathed both of the swords and advanced towards the shiny precious diamond. This time he was not approached by anything so he picked up the diamond and carefully put it into his sack. Edric ran like the wind back to the safety of the forest and onwards to his town.

As soon as Edric arrived at his own town with the diamond in his bag everybody cheered and congratulated him. When he knocked on the door of the mayor’s house, four servants came to the door to see who it was.

At the sight of Edric one of them asked, “What is your name sir?”

Edric replied, “I am Edric and I have successfully beaten the enemy and retrieved the diamond, it is safely in my bag.”

“Come in come in!” They all said at once. Edric followed them around the long corridors until all five of them came to a huge, grand looking door.

“This door leads into the mayor’s hall,” said one of the servants.

“You will find the mayor sitting in his chair at the end of the hall,” they said to Edric.

“We’ll go first and then you will follow us,” said the biggest servant. One of the servants knocked on the grand door loudly and the door opened automatically.

When the servants and Edric approached the mayor, the mayor asked “Why have you come to me?”

The tallest servant, who was wearing a top hat, replied “We have brought Edric with us and he has got something to show you.”

The mayor said “Come forward young man,” so Edric stepped forward excitedly.

“What have you got to show me Edric?” He asked.
Edric answered “I have retrieved the precious diamond and also slaughtered the evil lord. I have come back with two swords. One is mine and the other belonged to the evil lord.”

The mayor was delighted and said “At eight pm tomorrow I will hold a medal ceremony to celebrate your triumphant victory and after that I will invite you to a feast with sumptuous venison, roasted vegetables and wine. Edric, you will be the honourable guest.”