The Jeremy Curst Story Part 4

The strange man mumbles and mutters as he leads Jeremy Curst into a grand entryway that is open and full of dark statues and gargoyles. The place looks as if it has possibly been cleaned once in several years and dust now clings to the cobwebs in every crevice and corner. The door creaks shut on its own as the man ushers Jeremy onward and inward. The last glint of sunlight is sealed out as the latch clunks into place. "Now then, we must get going before the king realizes how late it really is. You brought the papers did you not? I am sure you did. Let us get on with this. Come, let me see them."
"What papers? What are you talking about?" This time Jeremy Curst speaks up loud enough for the man to hear over his own mumbling. "I am not even sure where I am, let alone why I am here."
"Here for the tournament, aren't you? The tournament and quest. You are the hero the birds spoke of. You are the one that came from the Upper Land, are you not? Now come along. The papers will not matter. You only need be present at the time it begins. The others are already here awaiting their quest from the king. You are late. Late. Late. Hurry. Hurry, I said," The man mutters on and struts quickly down the hallway. Jeremy Curst can only follow and wonder at how peculiar this man is.
A few moments later the man stands beside a large heavy door. Jeremy comes beside him and lifts the latch. The man swings the door wide and in the pale light of the room Jeremy Curst sees a handful of men standing in a row, each one appearing braver and stronger then the last. All their eyes rest on a crumpled up man who sits on a throne in the center of the room. As the seated man's eyes turn to Jeremy and the door so do all the eyes in the room. Jeremy Curst feels very small as he stands silent and still.
"Hero from the Upper Land is here, if it pleases the King. He is heralded by the birds of the Ever Woods and will be entered into the tournament and quest." The man beside Jeremy speaks suddenly in a loud and clear voice for the men to all hear.Suddenly surprised by the man's change from the mumbling of before, Jeremy is now ready to turn and hide away as the man pushes him forward towards the line of polished men.
"What are you doing to me? I don't belong here! Please stop!" Jeremy Curst hisses at the man, but of course he is not heard over the man's own muttering and sputtering thoughts, as he has changed back to his old demeanor. And he finds himself, too quickly, beside the largest of the men wondering what he is now into.
The crumpled king looks the men over and sighs a very heavy sigh. "You have your work cut out for you. I am investing my trust, my kingdom, my life into your hands. I pray you are prepared for this task. I know some of you may leave here today without accepting the quest I am handing you. I know many of you will not return once you begin the journey. I fear that none of you will make it back to me in one piece, however I have hope and I am grasping that hope with what strength I have left, that one of you will complete this quest and return glory to my kingdom and power to my reign. What I am asking is very difficult, therefore I am granting an equal prize to the one who returns to me first upon completion of the tasks. I do not have long left before my weakness overcomes me and therefore the instructions will be past down to my faithful servants on how to bestow the prize should one of you return to rightly claim it." The king continues and tells of the three tasks that must be completed in the tournament and quest. He tells of the feather of the black fairy in the Ever Wood, of the tooth of the Blanched Beast in the belly of Iron Mountain, and finally of the keeper of the keys of Elder Gardens. Each task seems a fable to Jeremy Curst. It sounds like the imaginings of a crazy old man, but than so does this whole dream, or day-dream or whatever this is. He listens and tries to file away the information in his head but his mind is swimming with all the impossibilities that consumes the stories: a flying fairy who can see the future, a mountain that changes constantly causing those who dare travel on it to get lost and never find their way home, a key that will transport the holder to wherever he chooses at only a thought and a word. It all is so far fetched but as Jeremy Curst looks around the throne room of this king he realizes that most of what he has done today is impossible and insane.
As it turns out impossible and insane is only in the mind of the beholder. Those who call something ridiculous are those who have never dreamed, never imagined and never created. People who have never seen a miracle, who don't believe in impossible things happening, are the ones who call those who do day-dreamers and crazy. It only takes faith, hope and a creative spirit to believe that some ridiculous things aren't so crazy or insane after all.