Horse Treats are the Best Treats!

It tried to withstand the wrath of Spark, and turn the other way, but when it tried, Alpha gave such a threatening growl that it thought him the dragon alpha male.

It barely took them five minutes to get to the campsite. When they did, Mavis jumped off the dragon’s back and yanked Spark out of its mouth.

The dragon was caught off guard, and could hardly attempt to hold it tighter. It looked irritated. Mavis looked around nervously. Their tents were still out and looked undisturbed. But what Mavis saw next made her heart stop for a second.

There were footprints all over the ground. Normally, Mavis would have assumed them to be Walter’s, but these looked a lot smaller. They seemed to come from the undergrowth and then go back.

She saw Walter’s footprints too, but they were all over the campsite and seemed to suddenly disappear. The horses’ footprints were there too. Like, Walter’s, they were all over the campsite, only, they went into the undergrowth.

From this, Mavis knew that the tiny-footed men had led the horses away, and dragged Walter into the hedge. They had probably poisoned him. And from the direction the footprints went, they were travelling to the Kingdom of the Olves, for some reason.

Mavis suddenly jumped up. The tiny-footed men were the Olves! How could she be so silly? Panic-stricken, she dashed into the undergrowth to see the footprints, but the ground was so covered in grass and weeds, that she could barely see the ground. She came running out of the hedge.

She ran over to the sacks of food and their belongings, lying forgotten in the corner of the clearing. She frantically rummaged through, in hope of finding the map. No such luck: Walter still had it. She wondered what to do now. She could, of course, fly around till she found it; it was pretty close by. But then, she didn’t have the horses.

She glanced around at the cloud dragon. She could fly it. She nervously approached it. ‘Easy, now, Snowdrop.’ That, she decided would be the dragon’s name. She walked close to her, trying to get behind her.

Snowdrop tilted her head inquiringly, before snatching Spark out of Mavis’ hands.

Mavis grabbed it back quickly, but in her haste, accidentally blasted the poor dragon away. The dragon bumped her head on a tree, then suddenly jumped to her feet. This time she looked strange. Instead of violet, her eyes were black, and she didn’t look so threatening.

Mavis was surprised. Then, she assumed the dragon wasn’t under Godge’s control anymore.

To test, she nervously held Spark in front of its face. It looked curiously at it but didn’t grab.

Mavis gave a sigh of relief. ‘Great, now I don’t need to worry about you spying on me! Err . . . you don’t mind if I rode you, would you?’

The dragon blinked, then suddenly jumped up and flew away. She had decided that she had already been brave enough, standing in front of that human. She had not the slightest clue how she had gotten there in the first place.

Mavis gave a panicked yelp, then scooped Alpha up and leapt into the air. She grabbed the dragon’s tail and held on for dear life. The dragon struggled to get her off and bellowed. She gripped the tail tightly and climbed up to the dragon’s back.

The dragon was now high up in the air, just below the clouds. She was shaking vigorously to get Mavis off.

She shoved Spark into her mouth and pulled hard at the staff. The dragon stopped suddenly. She attempted to get Spark out of her mouth, but it was of no use.

Mavis couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for the dragon. ‘Listen, I’ll set you free later. But now you’ll have to do as I say, or the giants will conquer Mrindawa.’ She stroked her furry neck, and the dragon relaxed.

The cloud dragon allowed Mavis to fly her for a couple of hours and didn’t attempt to get her off, which Mavis took as a good sign. But after a few hours, the dragon began to whine in hunger.

Mavis wanted to land, of course, but if she did, what if the dragon flew away? Then she decided she was being selfish. If the dragon flew away, it was because she wanted to, and Mavis couldn’t keep her against her will. She could always continue the rest of the journey on foot, couldn’t she?

So, she scanned the forest below her for a clearing. After five minutes, she found one, and steered the dragon down and landed her down.

Once she and Alpha had gotten off, the dragon didn’t fly away, much to her surprise. She decided she was hungry and was asking her for food.

Then, Mavis realised with dismay, that she’d left all her and Walter’s belongings in the campsite.

The dragon started sniffing at her pockets, and Mavis wondered what was in them. She fished about them and found Star’s horse treats. They had somehow survived this far.

The dragon was looking at them fixedly, but did nothing, probably because she was too scared to move close to Mavis.

Mavis hesitated, then stepped close to the dragon and held out the horse treats. She sniffed at them warily, then backed away.

‘It’s okay, they taste good,’ said Mavis, tossing one to Alpha for proof. To her surprise, he crunched it up.

After watching Alpha eat the treats, the dragon hesitated for a moment, before gobbling up the treats right off Mavis’ palm.

This was the start of their friendship.

Walter woke up, shivering with fear and cold. He tried to see where he was, but it was too dark. His glasses were broken, and his nose was bleeding. Breathing heavily, he sat up and crawled across the stone ground. He suddenly felt a wall and propped himself against it. He wiped the blood off his face and began to gasp for breath.

‘Hello, are you new?’ a voice came from the depth of the darkness.

Walter didn’t reply, but sat up erect and tried to figure out where it had come from.

‘Why were you caught?’ he heard the voice again.

Walter was frightened but thankful that he was not alone. ‘They–they said I was in their land,’ he said uncertainty.

He heard a chuckle. ‘I don’t even remember why I was caught. I can’t even remember how old I am! When I was caught, I think I was about your age. I did try and count the years as they went by, but then I accidentally skipped a few and muddled it all up.’

Walter suddenly thought he enjoyed the company of this voice. But then, he felt suspicious that he couldn’t see whoever was speaking. ‘Who are you,’ he demanded.

There was a chuckle. ‘Me? Oh, I’m just John. Or, wait–it was Jack! I keep forgetting.’

Walter saw a hunchback draped in a dark blue cloak, with a wrinkly face appear in front of him. He had a long snowy white beard that swept up to his feet, and in his hands, clutched a long staff that supported him up. It looked a bit like Mavis’.

Walter was so surprised that he gave a small whimper.

‘No need to be so scared,’ said Jack calmly. ‘I’m just a wizard.’

Walter swallowed hard, wondering when wizards had become so normal. ‘Where are we?’

Jack smiled calmly. ‘The Kingdom of the Olves. We’ve been captured by them and put in a cell. They’re always capturing people. But see, we can escape! Maybe even before the war!’

Walter jumped to his feet. ‘What war?’

Jack shrugged. ‘The war the giants are going to wage on the Olves? I guess that’s pretty obvious, though. Because, not to be rude, but the Olves are weak and can be defeated with ease. I’ve tried to tell them to be ready for the war, but they think I’m bluffing. I’ve pretty much given up hope now. At least we’ll escape, eh?’

Much as Walter hated the Olves, he didn’t feel they should put them in danger. ‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘We’ll force them to prepare. Now how do we get outta this cell?’

Jack shrugged. ‘They open our cell for meals. That’s once a day.’

Walter was determined. ‘Exact time, please.’

Jack shook his head. ‘You’re forgetting that clocks don’t exist yet. I know about them because I was from the year 1941. My best friend Silvia and I had entered Mrindawa through some kind of portal and used the time machine to get back. When we were burying it, I got sucked into it since it malfunctioned. Silvia must have come looking for me, only she wouldn’t have known the time I was in.’

Walter choked. ‘Whaat? Silvia is my grandma!’

Jack looked at him, surprised. ‘What? How–?’ He paused. ‘So, you are human?’

‘Yes, my friend Mavis and I accidentally time-travelled here.’

Walter watched Jack’s face turn pale. ‘Your time machine–was it sliver?’

‘It was. We found it in someone’s house. Come to think of it, he had probably taken it from our school. Mavis and I found a hole in the grounds.’

‘Did Silvia assign this task?’ interrupted Jack.

‘Yes, she made us rescue a dog from the cottage.’

‘The dog was a distraction!’ said Jack. ‘Her goal wasn’t to rescue it–it was to make you time-travel to Mrindawa. She must have heard of the prophecy. She may have tried to save the time machine, but of course, it had to be you and Mavis.’ He stopped. ‘Do you know about the prophecy?’

‘Yes,’ said Walter. ‘Mavis told me.’ He paused. ‘Who was the man at Corn-Cob Cottage?’

‘I do not know. But many people outside Mrindawa know about us. They may have wanted the time machine for power and wealth. You must protect it, all right?’

Walter wondered how to reveal the news that they had destroyed it.

Just then, they heard a loud clank. An Olf came walking into the cell through a small wooden door. He carried two grey, dry rolls in his hands. They seemed to be stuffed with raw diced onions. He tossed them on the floor at Walter and Jack’s feet.

‘Your lunch,’ he said gruffly.

Jack bent down and picked up his. But Walter pulled out The Bow of Fire and aimed at the Olf.

‘I need to see your king,’ he ordered.

King Rinta nervously fingered the diamond ring on his middle finger. It wasn’t actually a diamond ring, but a white stone soaked in oil so that it glistened in the sun.

The King had just received news that one of his prisoners was demanding to see him. To him this was pretty normal: all his prisoners had gone mad in their dark cells at least once in their life, and most of the time, they ordered to meet him. When he finally gave in and went to their cell, they’d not even remember calling him.

So, he wouldn’t have even attempted to see Walter if it weren’t for that strange rumour that he had The Bow of Fire. It was, after all, one of the two of the most powerful weapons in all of history.

His minister was shuffling uneasily at the corner of the room. The mere thought of that weapon destroying his village made a chill run down his spine. ‘Yanka,’ said the King sternly, making him jump out of his unpleasant thoughts, ‘I would like to see the prisoner.’

Yanka thought the King was making a grave mistake. All the prisoner had to do was shoot his bow around, then the city would crumble. Still, he knew better than to argue, and scuttled out of the room.

In five minutes, he returned with Walter and Jack. He didn’t have them tied: Walter had probably threatened him with The Bow of Fire.

The King sighed. ‘Yanka, I told you to bring only the prisoner.’

Yanka nodded. ‘Yes, but he threatened me with that bow and said that he needed Jack too!’ He shuddered at the thought.

The King looked curtly at Walter. ‘You wanted to see me?’

Walter shook his head. ‘No, but I’d like Jack to.’

The King glanced up at the wizard.

‘Err . . .,’ said Jack nervously. ‘Well, the giants are going to wage war here–’

The King laughed. ‘Ha! The same one again! Oh, I’m bored of it. Can’t you think of something new?’

Walter flushed red with anger. ‘This is not fake! War is coming. And you’re a terrible king if you put your people in danger. You need to prepare for the war!’

The King scoffed. ‘And why would I believe that war is coming? How do I know you’re not just trying to escape?’

‘You don’t need to,’ said Walter calmly. ‘Just go with the fact that if you don’t do as I say, your head will be shot off.’ He fingered The Bow of Fire.

Walter carefully surveyed the army the King had brought for him. The two were standing in the palace gardens. The horses had been released too, taken to the royal stables.

‘We need more warriors,’ declared Walter finally.

The King looked at him in disbelief. ‘But there are so many of them! How are they not enough?’

Walter sighed and looked at the army. It consisted of only two cooks. The King chose them because they were the only ones who could lift a knife. He thought they were about the same as swords.

Walter rubbed his temples to get rid of the throbbing pain.

‘Err . . . Can we go now?’ asked one of the cooks nervously.

Walter sighed and nodded and they thankfully scuttled away.

King Rinta looked horrified. ‘I spend a whole day to get this army, and you just . . .’

Walter raised an eyebrow. ‘You realise an army consists of more than two people, right?’

King Rinta looked confused, then suddenly laughed. ‘Ah, it consists of three people, doesn’t it?’

Walter shook his head in disbelief. ‘Have you ever been to war?’

‘Not since we separated from the Villagers, no.’

Walter groaned. ‘You really shouldn’t have! Now your population is very small. And no one will help you either. You have a really bad name among them. And your less population makes you vulnerable too. That’s why the giants think it’s easy to conquer your land!’

The King looked hurt. ‘We realise that now. But when we were with the Villagers and our land was attacked, the trolls took over it, and we were left homeless. Some of us, now the Olves, were upset and thought there was a fault with the Villagers. They were the builders who had made the weak walls of our kingdom, after all. So, we decided to build our own kingdom, but with strong walls. But we were wrong. Our kingdom was very weak and vulnerable.’

Walter looked troubled. ‘Oh. I had no idea that was the real reason. But no one else knows either.’

The King nodded sadly. ‘We’ve always had a bad name ever since that Godge existed.’

Walter looked surprised. ‘Godge?’

‘He betrayed you too?’ asked the King, sounding upset. ‘You see, Godge was once part of this kingdom. He was kind and friendly, and everyone liked him. After a while, he began disappearing into the forest and returning hours later. One day, he went in and returned with a sack full of gold coins. We were all troubled by his strange behaviour. So, a few of us were sent to his cottage to speak with him. But he got so angry that he collected up all his belongings and left.

‘Later, we found out that he had been serving the giants, and spying on us. What he had received in return was a sack of gold coins.’

‘I hate him more than ever now,’ said Walter, annoyed.

The King nodded in agreement. ‘There were many rumours about his misdeeds. And they all turned out to be true. To make things worse, he told everyone that he was an Olf. Then we got a terrible name amongst everyone. We’ve tried to get our fame back by capturing people who cared to wander near our land. We thought people would think we were so rich that others actually broke in. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.’

‘The fault never was with you,’ said Walter softly.

There was a long pause.

The King finally broke the frosty silence. ‘Now, where on earth is Jack?’

Walter rolled his eyes. ‘You know where . . .’

The moment Jack had been left out of his cell, he had been dazed by the outside world, having been inside for decades together. He had rushed to the palace gardens and started to do some gardening–something he had loved to do before being captured.

The King sighed. ‘Someone needs to get him. Yanka! Go fetch him!’

‘Go fetch who?’

‘You should understand from the context. Go fetch Jack, of course!’

Yanka dashed off to find him.

The King turned to Walter. ‘Do you have any suggestions of what we can do for the war? You say you want a few thousand people for the army, but our population is only about 750.’

Walter shrugged. ‘We’ll need to get everyone out and running. They’ll all have to play a part. Give them each a sword (but take them back after the war, because you seem to be tight on funds) so that they can fight. And I don’t think even that would be enough: The giants are much too powerful. I think, though, we could ask for help. Do you know any nearby kingdoms?’

‘There is the Village of the Villagers,’ the King suggested. Just then Jack came limping up, followed by Yanka.

‘This better be important,’ he snapped. ‘This guy,’ he pointed to Yanka, ‘made me get away from my roses. Poor things . . .’

Yanka rolled his eyes. ‘I was just following my orders.’

King Rinta turned to Jack. ‘I and Walter think we can call the Villagers for help. What about you?’

Jack scratched his head. ‘I dunno. According to my calculations, war will be coming in two days. I doubt the Villagers would make it because you see, their kingdom has just shifted far from here.’

‘Oh,’ said Walter, disappointed.

‘We still have backup, though,’ said Jack brightly. Everyone (including a little field mouse) looked up with bated breath. Jack grinned at the suspense, then continued, ‘Why, the Woodland Elves, of course!’

Walter slapped his head. ‘Oh, how come I’ve forgotten? Yes, their kingdom is not far from here!’ He pulled out his Map of Mrindawa.

‘You’re right,’ observed the King. ‘It isn’t far. It would take them, say, a day to get here? But . . .’

‘What is it?’ asked Walter.

The Woodland Elves were the most affected by Godge. He brainwashed many of their people to serve the giants. They may not help us.’

‘It’s still worth a try,’ pointed out Walter

Jack nodded in agreement. ‘We should send them a message.’

‘I cannot send one of my people,’ said the king. ‘It’s too risky.’

‘But–'

‘It’s final,’ said King Rinta. ‘I must protect my people. I can go, but not one of my people.’

‘No!’ cried Jack. ‘We need you for the war.’

‘I can go,’ offered Walter.

‘You must train the army,’ said Jack, ‘but I cannot go either. I am old, and it would take me days to reach the Kingdom of the Woodland Elves.’

‘Then what?’ cried Walter in deep anguish. ‘What will we do? This is just impossible. There has to be a way!’

‘We could always send a letter,’ pointed out Jack. ‘Ya know, through birds?’

‘But that wouldn’t work,’ protested King Rinta; ‘the Woodland Elves are very cautious creatures. They accept no letters in case it could be a trap. Only if it is from a real person.’

‘I may know one,’ said Yanka suddenly. Everyone had forgotten all about him and were quite startled. Oblivious to the sudden silence, he continued: ‘If there were people outside the Kingdom, we could write a letter to them and get them to go to the Kingdom of The Woodland Elves.’

Jack looked thoughtful. ‘Mmmmm . . . yes, that would work, but there is no one outside our kingdom.’

Everyone looked disappointed.

‘Wait–there is!’ cried Walter. ‘My friend Mavis Woods – she can help!’

‘Your friend–' said Jack slowly, ‘do you know where she is?’

Walter swallowed hard. ‘Oh . . . I never thought of that.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ snapped the King. ‘We don’t need to know where your friend is! We’re giving the message to her by bird, right? And birds can find anyone.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ shrugged Walter as the King whistled loudly.

A little robin fluttered onto his shoulder from out of nowhere.

‘He’s pretty tame,’ remarked Walter.

‘It’s a she,’ sighed the King; ‘her name’s Ruby.’

‘And why do you have a robin?’ Walter wanted to know. ‘Don’t you use pigeons?’

‘We do use pigeons,’ answered the King, ‘but the red stomachs of robins mark a code-red. So, well, we use them for emergencies.’

‘Well, now, write a letter,’ said Jack impatiently. Walter pulled out the pocket diary from his pocket and ripped a page out. He took his black pen out.

‘What’s that?’ asked the King curiously.

‘Never mind that,’ snapped Jack. ‘You’re not supposed to know too much about the future.’

The King glared at him.

‘Oh, and I forgot to mention,’ added Jack, ‘but try to make your letter as short as possible. And if possible, in code. And don’t add Mavis’ name either. Put something else in case the message is read by giants on the way.’

‘What can I do?’ asked Walter. ‘It’s not like Mavis has another name.’

‘Give her another fake name that she’d recognize, then.’

‘When we went to the Village of The Villagers, Godge gave us fake names because he didn’t trust the King. Hers was Siara, and mine was Kiwu. I could use that name for myself,’ said Walter.

‘That should work,’ said Jack, scratching his beard.

Walter quickly scribbled down a note onto his bit of paper. He handed it to the King.

He looked at it. ‘It’s a bit hard to understand, but I have a feeling the giants could read it if they tried.

‘Nothing can be done about that,’ said Jack. ‘But why risk it?’

The King tied the letter to Ruby’s leg. ‘Deliver this to Mavis Woods,’ he ordered.

Ruby squawked in reply, then beat her jet-black wings and fluttered away, over the wall of the Kingdom.