James Blackburn And The Cursed Blade

• Sebastian Budde, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2017

Quickly running James darted into the graveyard with nothing but a mysterious sword, clothes and a heart pounding faster than a hummingbird could flap its wings. He leapt behind the closest gravestone and waited. He’d been running from a fearsome creature for days and had sliced off its head twice, but it had not perished. The only thing it had done was vanish, then reappear a few metres away. But possibly worse, he’d been chased into the graveyard. Rumour said Evil Spirits lived in it and could drive any man crazy. But it was the only way to run, the monster had cornered him.
‘Where is it?’ James thought. But his question was answered before he could think anything else. A rasped voice was coming from the gates to the graveyard. “James, give me that sword and I’ll give you something that no man, woman or child can resist.”
‘Never,’ thought James. ‘This is probably just a bribe.’ “Do it, do it,” a chorus of moaning voices called out to him. ‘I’m going crazy!’ James thought. “Come out, come out,” the monster cooed. It was getting closer by the second.
Desperate to escape, James silently scraped at the gravestone he was hiding behind. Centuries of dust that coated the stone gave way to his calloused hands. Surprisingly there was a red ruby embedded into the stone. It glowed magnificently in the dark night, like a candle, a sign of hope. “I see you,” rasped the monster.
James could hear it slithering quickly towards him, like a snake going for its prey. In seconds, a clawed, withered hand reached over the grave.
Carelessly James twisted and turned the jewel, desperate for anything to happen. It glowed brighter and warmed beneath his hands, suddenly the ground beneath his feet disappeared. The last thing James saw was a demented, dragon-like face looking down at him, as he fell towards an unknown fate.