Part 5 : MOONBLADE AND RUGORAX

Lifting the magic torch aloft, Hiriki exited the creatures cave but what he reentered was not the desert of Ryell but a very different place.

Looking around, Hiriki saw that this land was dark and gloomy. Grey clouds above him spat lightning and bellowed thunder, “What terrible,dark place have I stepped into, Goddess”.

“This is the lair of the ferocious Rugorax, in the cold northern land of Kengolan.
The Rugorax is sleeping now, in a nearby cave, dreaming of its former life as a gentle beast of the forest, before an evil conjuror called Simbalin placed a magic chain around the creatures broad neck which makes it constantly angry and ferocious in order to guard Simbalin’s magical sword, the crescent moonblade. Very soon the Rugorax will awake from its slumber and try to devour you unless you can remove Simbalins chain of ferocity and only the magic sword can sever its links”, said the Goddess.

“Remove a necklace from a sleeping neck”, smirked Hiriki, “That is easy for an experienced thief like me”.

“Not from the neck of a razorbacked, 30ft tall, fire breathing grizzly bear”, replied the Goddess.

“30ft?!”, said Hiriki, gasping and gulping at the same time, “How can you expect me to face such a Titan?”.

The goddess directed Hiriki towards a large pile of curved swords, “One of the swords in that pile is the great crescent moonblade, made from an indestructible metal found only upon your moon, able to slice through steel as easily as a fin through water and if you can find it quickly then you can use it to cut through the monsters necklace while it still slumbers. Once the chain is removed the monster will become docile and harmless”.

Hiriki stared at the huge pile of curved swords infront of him and groaned, “But how can I possibly find the right one in time; there are so many swords and they all look the same and if I disturb the pile they will all come crashing down and wake the monster”.

But then he remembered the magic torch that he had taken from the cave of the Siklarix and its amazing destructive power, “If I use my torch to melt the pile of swords then the one that does not melt must be the moonblade because only it is indestructible”, he thought.

And so he commanded the flying fire of his magical torch, “Burn hotter than white hot, burn like the heart of the sun and melt this pile of swords down and do it quickly because I haven’t much time”, and, as he watched in amazement, flames leapt from his magic torch and went to work consuming the pile of swords with an immense heat so that within 5 seconds the pile was glowing red hot and, within 10 seconds it was a puddle of steaming molten metal all except for one sword, the crescent moonblade which, to Hiriki’s surprise, was still cool to the touch, even though it had been bathed in an inferno.

Seizing the hilt of the magical sword in his hand, Hiriki went searching for the cave of the Rugorax which was not hard to find because the Rugorax was snoring more loudly than the thunder outside.

“Do I really need to cut the chain of this horrid behemoth?”, asked Hiriki, “I have the sword. Why cant I just run away?”.

“Because the beast must be released from its cursed chain before you can leave its lair, besides which, a fully roused Rugorax can move much faster than you think, Hiriki”, said the Goddess.

Creeping up close to the furry neck of the Rugorax which looked as broad as a cartwheel, Hiriki bravely raised the magic moonblade over his head and with only one swift swing he hacked through the links of the evil magic chain as easily as cutting through water and though the clang of the chain being cut woke the sleeping Rugorax and though the beast immediately rose up upon its hindlegs like a roaring mountain
of muscle and bristling fur, the moment that it did so, the wicked chain of ferocity fell from its neck and when the chain fell away so did the creatures anger.