Chapter 34

      Clarence clung onto the roof of the coach as it rolled down the road, and thought to himself, Today really is not a typical day! What am I doing here?

      The coach rolled over a large rock in the road, which jolted him and he nearly slipped off! That sure brought him out of his daydream!  I suppose I had better do something now, seeing as how I am on a rescue mission and all! Well here goes nothing!

      Clarence did not even think, he just grabbed onto the edge of the carriage and did some crazy somersault, half twist in midair, that seemed like a good idea at the time --until he was actually in it-- and then it seemed like a very bad idea!  But then, somehow, through sheer dumb luck, he managed to swing feet first in through the side of the carriage and landed neatly on a spare seat! If he had been in a gymnastics competition he would have been give a score of 10 by all judges and a standing ovation! But seeing as how he was not in a gymnastics competition, he was simply met by stunned looks on the faces of the three girls who were sitting in the coach.

      "Hello, ladies," said Clarence, "I hope you don't mind me dropping in."

      One of the girls chuckled.

      Yes! thought Clarence, rather pleased with himself.  Having made his big entrance, and also taken the opportunity to make a joke, the next thing on Clarence's agenda was to quickly scout out the situation. He saw three young ladies and being the knowledgeable guy he was, instantly knew them to be the infamous ‘Three Sisters’. They sure were beautiful girls!  The next thing he noticed was that his feet were not resting on the floor of the carriage, but on someone!  He looked down and saw the unconscious body of his old friend, Anton DiManlen!  He suddenly a mixture of many different emotions, all at once.

      "Pardon me, my three lovely ladies, but this is my best friend, Anton DiManlen, who I have not seen in an age. Would it be alright with you if I take him off your hands? He is heavy and quite smelly and I am sure that you do not want him."

      "You..." said the blonde girl (who was Arisa), "Are Clarence Straud!"

      "Indeed I am!" said Clarence, "You've heard of me?"

      "Have I heard of you?" said Arisa, "I'm your biggest fan!"

      "No way," said the brunette, Gwendolyn, "I am his biggest fan! I'm a way bigger fan than you are!"

Clarence turned to the third sister with the red hair.

"Don't look at me," said Abigail, "I just like fighting."

Just then, another person appeared!  It was Lena!  She swung in with the grace of a ballerina, but because there were no seats left, she ended up sitting on Arisa's lap, which was a little awkward.

"Not as cool as my entrance," said Clarence.

The sisters nodded in agreement.

"The atmosphere in this carriage is not what I was expecting," said Lena, lowering her sword, "Why are you guys just sitting and chatting?"

"It turns out they know who I am!" said Clarence.

"We are big fans!" said Arisa.

"Not me," added Abigail, "To me he's just another charming guy."

      "I see," said Lena. She wasn't quite sure what to do next.

"Mr Straud! Tell me," said Arisa, "Do you know what you'll be sculpting the Obelisk into? I'm busting to find that out!"

Clarence's face lit up!  "Funny you should ask that! I just got the idea for it today! It's going to be so cool.  I can't wait to get started on it!  Which reminds me, the sooner you let me rescue my friend here, the sooner I can get back to sculpting."

      "Let him take, Anton!" said Arisa and Gwendolyn at the same time. Then everyone turned to Abigail.

      "I don't care, do whatever you want," said the third sister.

      "Great!" said Clarence, he reached down to pick up Anton.

      "Oh wait," said Arisa, "Let me give him some of the fast recovery antidote.  She whipped out a needle and stuck it into Anton's neck.  "That should help him wake up sooner."

      "Thank you very much," said Clarence. He reached down again to pick up Anton, when the carriage suddenly screeched to a halt.

      A voice came from the front of the coach.

      "Err... guys. We have a problem.”

      It was Four-tooth.

      Clarence wondered what it could be.  He climbed out of the carriage to take a look.  The sight that he was met with stunned him like getting slapped in the face by a dolphin.  A blanket of dread draped over him.  The blood seem to drain out of his body.

      Standing before him was the possibly the most fearsome warrior he had ever laid eyes upon.

      “My name is Cronax.  I am here to take Anton DiManlen to the King.”