“Francis!”, I called peering into the dark cobbler shop. “Where are you? Today’s the day.”
           It's my 16th birthday, the day I've waited for my entire life when father will finally give me the scroll. Every warrior in our village receives a copy of the scroll on their 16th birthday. It has the map to the gold which no one has been able to find. For the quest, each warrior can chose three friends to accompany him. As I waited for Francis, I glanced in a mirror in the cobbler shop. I was too slim, with my dull green eyes and plain brown hair. My father always said that I should've trained more to make up for my disappointing appearance. Now I understood why.
“Liam, Happy Birthday. Why aren't you on your quest yet?” Francis questioned as he walked out of the shop looking at the ground.
“Well I can't leave without my three companions,” I smirked as he registered what I had said and slowly looked up at me.
    His excitement was obvious on his face as he thanked me for choosing him. I told him to start packing and left to go get the twins, Damon and Bash. They were just as excited when I showed up at their father’s carpenter shop and told them the good news. There was no one else that I would've chosen for the journey as I had grown up with only Bash, Francis, and Damon. I dreaded telling my father who I chose because he believed that I shouldn't associate with commoners. He chased away all my other friends but these guys had always stood by me.
    “Why aren't you training?” boomed my father the minute I stepped through the doorway.
    “I just got my friends for the quest.”
    “Those common peasants that you call friends? I'd rather you go on this quest alone boy. Come back with the gold or don't come back at all.”
My mother stood quietly in the corner as my father handed me the scroll and ranted on and on about how I was a disappointment. I quickly left the room without looking at him and walked to my room to pack. At noon, we all met in the town square to begin our journey. My father nodded at me as we left and my mother handed me a bag of food. The mood was light as Francis told bad jokes and we all laughed at him.
We stopped joking as we approached the Middle Forest. As legend says, there is a witch guarding the forest. To pass her, she requests something valuable and you must give it up. It is a test of sacrifice and bravery. In the distance I could see the dark and gloomy forest. There was a sense of dread as we silently hiked on toward it. The forest entrance was as dark as night and the fog around us was as thick as syrup. There were unknown whispers echoing throughout the forest and the leafless trees blocked out all the light. The ground, full of entwining roots, looked completely barren. Suddenly she appeared. We all stumbled back in shock as she appeared to be around our age. She had long black hair and wicked green eyes, and was wearing a dark hooded cape.
“More naïve boys on a futile quest for wealth again. When will you understand?” she sighed as she stared deep into our souls.
I shivered, “We are here to request passage through your forest.”
She smirked and walked around us mockingly. Bash pulled his sword out, but with a swipe of her hand it became a stick.
“What would you like as payment?” Damon asked confidently.
Laughing loudly and pointing at Damon she mused, “How about you?”
“What?”
“I want you to stay with me for one year and do my chores, gathering my supplies.”
He looked at me hesitantly, shaking his head. I nodded at Damon to go. This quest was too important. If I returned without the gold my father wouldn't accept me. It was only one year. Damon looked at me sadly for a minute before nodding at the witch. He was always my most loyal friend and he always protected me.When we came home late from exploring the forest, he always took beatings from my father for me.
“Excellent. You three may now pass, don't get lost,” she teased and disappeared with Damon.
Shoving me back, Bash continued walking through the forest. “I'm sorry, it's only a year,” I apologized. He ignored me and kept walking. Francis shook his head at me, but patted my back in understanding. I didn't want to lose Damon but it was a necessary sacrifice. If I didn't get the gold in the well, my father would disown me. When I was seven years old, father and I were sparring in the courtyard and I told him that I was tired. He beat me until I was black and blue and made me train for two days straight. Maybe what I did was wrong, but it is too late to go back now. We trudged through the gloomy forest in silence. It felt like hours as we made our way to  the mountain on the never ending path. 
As we reached the end of the forest, we finally saw the sky. The sun was smiling down at us and the fog had lifted. The rugged mountain looked very steep and according to the map, we would have to climb it. It was rocky with many ledges and reached as high as the heavens. The next obstacle on our path, according to myths, would be an old hermit. We would have to solve a riddle by an old hermit in order to pass by. Francis and Bash had started climbing ahead of me, and I followed in suit.
As we reached another ledge we saw wispy smoke rising from a campfire. As I pulled myself onto the ledge, I saw him. It was a fragile old man, with a beard as grey as the smoke from his fire. He was sitting by the fire, eyes closed, mumbling something under his breath. We all looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
The hermit whispered, “If you try to run, I will catch up. You cannot escape me. I heal, yet I lead you to death. What am I?”
“I know this.” Bash exclaimed. “It's time. Time catches up with everyone, no one can escape time, time heals all, and death is because of time.”
“Hmm, you are correct. Beware of the time, you may go.” the hermit advised.
As Damon was loyal, Bash was intelligent. Bash was always studying the ancient writings and the many history books that the scholars had. We had all swore to always protect each other, and we would all die for each other. Although Bash was angry at me, he would get over it once he looked at the bigger picture.
As we climbed down the mountain, the terrain became more difficult to navigate.The rocks became sharper and the ledges became more narrow. As we rested on a wide ledge, Francis began dancing around to entertain us. We all sipped at some water and laughed loudly at Francis’s moves. Suddenly, he fell. He didn’t get up, but we assumed he was playing dead like many times before. After Bash and I had stopped laughing, we checked on Francis to see that he had actually passed out. Several unsuccessful attempts to wake him up began to worry us.
“What do we do? He’s not waking up!” yelled Bash.
“It’s okay. We need to make it back home by nightfall and if we leave now we can come back for him,” I reasoned.
“No! We can’t just leave him. No amount of gold is worth his life.”
“We need to go. He’ll be fine but we won’t be if we don’t get that gold.”
Finally Bash relented and we continued on our journey. As we reached the edge of the mountain, it was like we had walked into a different world. The sky was a sapphire and the grass was as green as an emerald. I felt compelled to touch the beautiful rainbow of flowers in the aroma-filled meadow.
“WAIT!” screamed Bash.”Don’t touch anything! It’s the Meadow of Illusions, I read about it in a book. All the amazing things are all poisonous and deadly.”
“That’s not true. The flowers are calling out to me. Here I’ll show you.”
As I reached out to pick the flower, Bash grabbed it from my reach. Nothing happened.
“See? You were just being paranoid,” I said to Bash.
“Liam, I’m stuck to the ground. I physically cannot move my legs.”
“What? No way. Here let me help,” I muttered as I struggled to pull him from his spot.
“It's not working. I’ll come back for you after I get the gold. I don’t have time for this.”
“Glad to know you value my safety,” stated Bash bitterly.
I couldn’t wait for him. I was so close now. On the map it said I just had to walk into the cave where the well was. I could still faintly see Bash from the mouth of the cave. The cave was dark and I could hear the faint sound of water dripping. It had an earthy smell and was filled with shining gems embedded into the stone walls. I continued walking. Suddenly, I was blinded by the light. In front of me on a smooth slab of stone was the gold. There was a pile of gold bars, illuminated by sunlight slipping through a slight crack in the cave’s ceiling. In front of me was my future. With all this gold I could make my whole village rich. I approached the pile, opening my rucksack, and began to grab some gold.
“Ahhh! Help me!” Bash screamed.
He sounded very frightened. I needed to help him but I also needed all this gold. I decided to help my friend, and I grabbed 3 gold bars and put them in my rucksack. I sprinted through the glistening cave and through the inviting meadow. As I approached I saw a man robbing Bash, holding him at knife point.
“Please, let him go,” I asked calmly.
“I will after I get my money. Put all your money on the ground,” growled the man.
“I’ll give you a gold bar sir if you let my friend go.”
I saw the greed in his eyes as I threw him the gold bar and watched him sprint away. I saw the thankfulness in Bash’s eyes as he hugged me. We walked back through the mountain and found Francis, groggily walking up. We helped him recover and climbed down the mountain. Then, we approached the dreaded path through the forest. The wind howled as we walked through the fog-covered, mysterious woods. The witch appeared in front of us.
“I see you’re back. The boy, Damon, is very good at running my errands and finding my supplies. If you have something more valuable, maybe that gold in your pocket, you can have your friend back.”
The gold! It was all I had left. The two gold bars determined my life from now on. I would get honor, glory, fame, and wealth. If I gave it up, I would have Damon back. He had always had my back and supported me. It was time I returned the favor for all his loyalty to me.
“Take them,” I declared as I threw the bars to her. She disappeared into the fog as Damon appeared in her place.
“Why did you do that?” he questioned.
“You guys, my best friends, are worth more than any fame or fortune.”
As we walked merrily back home, I was finally happy with my life. It didn’t matter what my father was going to do or say when I arrived home. I finally realized that the real gold was my loyal friends all along. Although I didn’t get the wealth, I got the only wealth one needs in life: friendship.