The Meeting
It took two days for the flying
horses to travel from Argentum Island all the way back to Elfalore; they had to
take a rest when it was night time to recover from the journey. “We’re getting
near to Elfalore now” said Kirk. “Thank goodness” said Kira. She couldn’t wait
to get back to Anakin; she had been feeling anxious about him ever since she
left even though the fairies and brownies and Princess Elasha had been looking
after him. Shaula was eager to get to Elfalore too because she wanted to see
Anakin. Soon Elfalore was in sight and the flying horses landed on the ground.
“We must hurry and report to the king at once” said Erestor, while dismounting
from his Pegasus. He thanked the flying horses again and they flew off again to
rest. “Are they okay?” asked Kira “I mean they had flown many hours to get us
from Elfalore to Ogreme Swamp and to Argentum Island, and then all the way back
here to Elfalore, even though we stopped for them to rest along the way. I hate
to overwork an animal”. Kira had seen overworked ponies at the Dwarf village in
the past, and she hated seeing them like that. “You don’t have to worry about
the flying horses Kira,” said Kirk “they are strong spirited creatures, and
once they get plenty of rest today they will be fully back on their feet”. Kira
felt better.
There was a surprise waiting for Erestor,
Kirk, Kira and Shaula once they reached the entrance to Elfalore; the gate was
already open. “That’s odd,” said Kirk “I haven’t blown my shofar horn yet”. They
entered the gate, but what they saw next was not a nice surprise. The gate
keeper and some other elves were lying unconscious on the ground. “What on
earth?” gasped Kira. Kirk ran over to the gate keeper to see if he was okay and
Erestor checked the other elves. Kirk held up the gate keeper and asked him to
wake up. He managed to open his eyes and was happy to see Kirk. He explained to
Kirk that the treacherous elf Ethan had returned to Elfalore and used magic to
forcefully open the gate. “I tried to fight back but his magic is strong and
dangerous”. Kirk and Erestor were not happy to hear that Ethan had returned.
One of the other elves told Erestor that he saw Ethan heading towards the
castle. “Oh no,” said Erestor “we must get to the castle fast”. They left the
gate keeper with the other elves to look after him and ran to the castle.
Princess Elasha was anxiously waiting
outside the castle for Kira, Kirk and Erestor. Once she saw them heading her
way, she ran up to Kira. “I’m glad you’re back now,” she said, panicky, “Ethan
attacked the castle and he took Anakin with him!” “What?!” gasped Kira. Kira
was not happy to hear that Anakin had been taken. “This means that elf Ethan is
working with Queen Morticia, which would explain why he has powerful magic”
said Shaula. Princess Elasha was surprised to see a talking crane. “Take us to
the king at once your highness” said Erestor. Princess Elasha led them to the
throne room where the king and queen were.
King Finwë and his queen were in the
throne room and they had not been hurt by Ethan. Once their daughter entered
the room with Kira, Kirk, Erestor and Shaula, King Finwë greeted them at once.
Shaula introduced herself to the king and explained about living in Ogreme
Swamp ever since Queen Morticia turned her into a crane when she discovered the
queen processing dark magic. The fairies and brownies, which were also in the
throne room, went up to Kira and apologized to her for not being able to
protect Anakin from Ethan. Kira didn’t blame them since no one had any idea
that Ethan would come back to Elfalore to take Anakin. “The fault is mine,” said
King Finwë “if I had known that Ethan had gone to Queen Morticia’s side, I
wouldn’t have let him off with a light sentence of banishment”. “Now is not the
time for you to blame yourself your majesty,” said Shaula “we must act fast for
planning to save the baby before Queen Morticia destroys him”. “My friends from
the other kingdoms got my message while all of you were away,” said King Finwë
“and once they get here we will discuss together on what to do to save the
child from Queen Morticia”. “Before they do get here, we have some work to do”
said Shaula.
Shaula told Kira to take the fifty small
bags of silver out of her bag and to say the words ‘Colossalus, Magnumus,
Giganticus’. When Kira said the spell the small bags of silver grew back into
their original sizes. “Kirk take all of this silver to a blacksmith and tell
him to turn the silver into a sword” said Shaula. “Have him make a dagger out
of the silver too,” said Kira “we better have a dagger on hand just in case the
sword might not be enough when we face Queen Morticia”. Kirk agreed to the idea
and he and some elf guards took the fifty sacks of silver to a blacksmith in
the village. Shaula then asked Erestor to write some messages for her. “We have
to warn the villagers in Ranbaraz about our wish to fight the queen; we cannot
let them get involved with it”. “I understand,” said Erestor “I’ll go and write
them at once, and then I will have our homing pigeons send them to the village
of Ranbaraz”. He left the room to get started. “As for you Kira you have the
most important job to do” Shaula said to Kira.
The job that Shaula wanted Kira to do
was turn her back into a human. They went into an empty chamber of the castle,
where Kira could use her magic. “Once I become human again I will be able to
defeat Queen Morticia for good this time” said Shaula. “But I don’t think I can
do it Shaula,” said Kira, nervously, “I’ve never done any spells that turns
animals or objects back into humans. I’ve never even cast any spells that turn
humans into something else”. “Don’t be afraid Kira,” said Shaula “believe in
your magic and yourself. If you concentrate hard you can achieve anything. Now
say Transfigurus, Converto, Metamorphus, Transformo!” Kira took a deep breath
and said the spell. But instead of turning Shaula back into a human, Kira
turned her into a ferret. Kira tried multiple times to turn Shaula back into a
human. At first Shaula was changed from a ferret into a rat, then into a snake,
then into a toad, then into a carp, then into a swan, then into a beaver, then
into a sheep, then into a pony and then at last Kira turned Shaula back into a
human. Shaula was an old woman, with long grey-white hair and she wore a white
robe. She got up off the floor, stared at her hands and touched her face. “You
did it Kira,” she said “I am finally a human again”. “I’m sorry it took me ten
times to turn you back into a human Shaula” said Kira. “It’s all right,” said
Shaula “what’s important is that you didn’t give up, and that determination of
yours is what helped break the spell”. Kira smiled, and she felt proud of
herself for performing a spell she had never casted before.
Suddenly there was a knock at the
door, and Princess Elasha and the brownies and fairies entered the room. They
were surprised when they saw another woman in the room. “Are you Shaula the
sorceress?” asked Princess Elasha. “I am,” answered Shaula “and I am no longer
a crane thanks to Kira breaking the spell”. “Crikey,” said Klunk “it’s a pity that
we missed it. It would have been great to have seen that”. Kira thought Klunk
probably wouldn’t have found it great if he saw her trying ten times to break
the spell. “Kira broke the spell just in time,” said Princess Elasha “I came to
tell you that my father’s friends from the other kingdoms have arrived, and they
are gathering in the great hall now for a meeting”. “Lead the way Princess
Elasha,” said Shaula “we are going to attend the meeting too. But I do fear
that everyone in that meeting may not agree to fight Queen Morticia”. “Well she
is undefeatable thanks to that dark magic of hers” Skylar pointed out. “Yes but
if they don’t fight with us we won’t be able to save Anakin” said Flora. “We
can only hope they will agree to fight with us” said Shaula.
Princess Elasha led the way to the
great hall. Kirk was at the door waiting for them; he had delivered the bags of
silver to the blacksmith and the blacksmith had said he would deliver the sword
and dagger to the castle when they were ready. “Here we go” said Princess
Elasha, and she opened the door. In the great hall, where King Finwë and his
queen were sitting, there was a huge gathering of people. There were kings and
princes from their own kingdoms, soldiers and generals and to Kira’s surprise
there were even some witches and wizards. This was the first time Kira was
seeing another witch and wizard. The witches and wizards were surprised to see
Shaula because they hadn’t seen her for years and they greeted Kira. Kira was
nervous, but she greeted the witches and wizards back. Princess Elasha joined
her parents on the thrones and Kirk stood next to them. King Finwë stood up
from his throne to get ready to speak, and everyone went silent to hear what he
had to say.
“Friends and strangers from other
lands,” said King Finwë “I had summoned you here because of Queen Morticia”.
Everyone murmured quietly after hearing that fearful name. “We have not fought
Queen Morticia ever since the last army of soldiers was defeated by her and her
magic. But now we have an excuse to fight Queen Morticia again. The child of
the prophecy, who was destined to defeat Queen Morticia, had been born, but
Queen Morticia now has him in her hands thanks to that treacherous elf Ethan. I
admit that this is my fault because it didn’t occur to me that Ethan would team
up with Queen Morticia after I banished him when he tried to steal my throne.
That is why I am going to make up for my mistake by fighting Ethan and Queen
Morticia. We must save the baby boy Anakin before the queen can kill him and we
will defeat Queen Morticia once and for all. If we don’t all hope for peace shall
be lost until the day Queen Morticia dies of old age, which won’t be for a very
long time. I ask that we all unite to bring down Queen Morticia together”.
After King Finwë finished his speech,
everyone started murmuring about what they should do. Truthfully they all
thought it was impossible to defeat Queen Morticia because of her magic. A
prince, whose name was Prince Théoden and was from a kingdom called Tagamiz,
spoke up. “It cannot be done,” he said “people have tried to bring down Queen
Morticia ever since she became queen but they all failed because she is too
powerful. And since she is too powerful we will all die if we fight her. The
child of the prophecy has already been captured and is most likely dead by now,
so the queen has won again. We can’t do anything about it”. Some princes
started to agree with Prince Théoden’s words. Kira didn’t like Prince Théoden’s
attitude and what he had just said. She walked up to him and spoke to him.
“Listen to me you!” she said, angrily and pointing her finger at him. She
didn’t care if she was talking back to a prince. “Anakin’s parents didn’t
sacrifice their own lives so that Queen Morticia could succeed by killing their
son. And I didn’t leave my home and go on some dangerous adventures just to be
beaten by Queen Morticia. I don’t know anything about all of you cowards, but I
am not letting Queen Morticia get away with her evil deeds anymore. I am going
to fight and save Anakin; I promised myself that I will protect Anakin and I
will keep that promise, even if I am going against that evil queen!” Everyone
was surprised by Kira’s little outburst, especially the wizards and witches. “I
am going to fight too,” spoke up Kirk “I am not letting that elf Ethan get away
with his treachery ever again”. “I too am going to fight,” said Shaula “I
failed to stop Queen Morticia thirty years ago, I am not going to fail this
time”.
There was silence at the moment,
because everyone was hesitating about fighting Queen Morticia. But then a general
stood up and said he was going to fight. “My father and three uncles were
killed, when I was a boy, fighting against Queen Morticia,” he said “this is my
chance to avenge them”. The other generals and soldiers then said they had
loved ones and friends killed by Queen Morticia in the past and they wished to
avenge their deaths. Then the witches and wizards started to speak. “Us witches
and wizards had our lives ruined thanks to that queen” said a witch. “I ended
up banished from the village I used to live in and have lived in a forest alone
ever since” said another witch. “People have refused to seek and accept my help
when they are in trouble because they don’t trust me” said a wizard. “I was
forcibly separated from my husband and step children, who I loved so much,
because I was a witch and they were non-magical people” said another witch.
“People have always looked suspiciously at me and my whole family for years”
said a wizard. All the witches and wizards in the great hall agreed to fight
and restore their lives again. The kings and princes agreed to fight too
because they had enough of their kingdoms being terrorized by Queen Morticia.
Even Prince Théoden agreed to fight since he was outnumbered by refusing to
fight.
Shaula was happy to know that
everyone was going to help fight against Queen Morticia and so was King Finwë.
But then a soldier spoke up. “What will we do when we arrive at the castle of
Ranbaraz?” he asked “Queen Morticia may use her magic on us as soon as we get
there”. The soldier had a point; the story was that Queen Morticia casted
spells on her past enemies first before she killed them. “She won’t be able to
do that this time,” said Shaula “my magic isn’t enough to defeat her, but it is
strong enough to prevent her from casting magic on you”. “But if your magic
isn’t strong enough to defeat Queen Morticia, how are we supposed to defeat
her?” asked Prince Théoden. Kirk spoke up to answer the question. “We have two
special weapons being created by our blacksmith right now,” he said “and these
two special weapons will help defeat Queen Morticia”.
Before anyone could ask Kirk what the special
weapons were, there was a knock at the door. “Come in” said King Finwë. An elf,
dressed in a black-grey apron entered the great hall. This elf was named Silvyr and he was the blacksmith of Elfalore. “I
have brought the sword and dagger Kirk asked me to make out of the bags of
silver he gave me” he said. He presented a sword and dagger, all made entirely
out of silver and they were beautiful. Shaula took the sword and Kira took the
dagger. Then Shaula magically made a bag of gold appear and gave it to Silvyr.
“I thank you for creating these weapons for us” she said. “Just doing my job
ma’am” said Silvyr, accepting the bag of gold. Silvyr thanked Shaula for the
bag of gold and then left to get back to his shop. Shaula explained to everyone
that the sword and dagger were made from special silver from Argentum Island. “A
sword made from the same Argentum Island silver helped the last king of
Ranbaraz defeat an evil sorcerer, who processed the same dark magic as Morticia,
years ago. This sword and dagger will help us defeat Queen Morticia”. King
Finwë got up from his throne again. “Everyone it is time now to prepare for
battle against Queen Morticia” he said.
The
meeting was now over and the agreement of fighting Queen Morticia and saving
Anakin was now official. All the kings, princes, generals, soldiers, witches
and wizards went back to their homes to prepare themselves for battle. King
Finwë ordered his soldiers to get ready to fight too and he had his armour and
sword set out for him. Queen Galadriel and Princess Elasha felt worried about
this and feared for Finwë’s safety. “Please do not fret my queen and princess,”
King Finwë said to his wife and daughter “I will return home alive after this
war is over”. Even though King Finwë said that, Queen Galadriel still couldn’t
stop worrying about him.
Princess Elasha was not only worried
for her father; she was also worried for her fiancé Kirk. At that time Kirk was
getting his armour and sword ready in his room, when there was a knock at the
door. “Come in” said Kirk. Princess Elasha entered the room. “What brings you
here princess?” asked Kirk. “I’m worried Kirk,” said Princess Elasha “I’m
worried about this war with Queen Morticia because of how powerful and
dangerous she is, and I’m worried that my father and you might not come back
home alive”. Kirk saw the worried look on her face and took her hands. “Elasha
you always worry about me whenever I’ve gone off to see the world outside
Elfalore” he said. “But this time you’re not going off on one of your journeys;
you’re going off to war, which is more dangerous than a journey” said Princess
Elasha. Kirk pulled her into a hug. “I have been on many dangerous adventures,
but I always come back home alive,” he said, rubbing her back, “and I can
assure you that I will come back home alive from this war”. Princess Elasha
looked into Kirk’s eyes. “Will you also make my father come back home alive?”
she asked. “I promise you princess; the only ones who will die in this war are
Queen Morticia and Ethan” said Kirk. Princess Elasha hugged Kirk again, happy
that she had a kind and honest man for a fiancé. “I trust you Kirk my love” she
said. Kirk broke the hug and he and Princess Elasha kissed. They were truly in
love with each other.
Meanwhile in another room, Kira was
talking to the brownies and fairies who wanted to join her. “You four should
stay here,” Kira said to the brownies and fairies “as you four are so small you
will get squashed and killed easily in this war”. “We might be small Kira, but
we are not going to let our size stop us from helping you save Anakin” said Benny.
“That’s right” agreed Klunk. “We promised Queen Faylinn we would help you on
this quest to protect Anakin from Queen Morticia and we will keep this promise”
said Skylar. “No matter what dangers we have to face” finished Flora. Kira
looked at her little friends; she could see that nothing would make them stay
in Elfalore or stop them from wanting to help. The fairies and brownies were
small but they knew no fear. “Okay you four may come with me,” she said “but
you are to do what I say to you and not do anything reckless”. The fairies and
brownies agreed to be obedient. Just then there was a knock on the door and
Shaula entered the room. “It’s time to go Kira, the king and his army are
waiting for us” she said. “Okay” said Kira. Shaula presented a baldric to Kira
and it was holding the silver sword and dagger. “I’m leaving you to hold and
guard the silver sword and dagger Kira”. Kira took the baldric from Shaula and
placed it on herself at once. Just then there was a knock at the door and
Erestor entered the room. “I have sent the homing pigeons with messages to the
people of Ranbaraz” he said. “Good, we cannot let the villagers get into any
harm’s way,” said Shaula “now it is time for us to go”. The fairies and
brownies climbed onto Kira’s shoulders and they left the room with Shaula.
King Finwë and Kirk were outside
Elfalore with hundreds of soldiers and all of them were on flying horses. King
Finwë spoke to the soldiers. “Soldiers the time has come for us to fight
against the queen of the kingdom Ranbaraz. I understand this war will not be
easy to win, especially since all those who fought against her in the past have
died. But as the witch Kira said ‘we cannot let that evil queen get away with
her evil deeds anymore’, I agree with Kira’s words; she has done evil things
long enough. I also agree with Kirk’s words about not letting that traitor
Ethan get away with his treachery anymore. I wish to amend my mistake of
letting him off with the sentence of banishment and bring him down this time. Therefore
we must not only save the child of the prophecy from the queen, we must also
protect our kingdom”. The soldiers agreed. “Therefore men we must all stay
strong together and fight for our freedom and peace” finished King Finwë. The
soldiers cheered in agreement.
At that moment Kira, Shaula, Erestor
and the fairies and brownies arrived; Erestor was joining in this battle too.
“We are ready now your majesty” said Shaula. Kirk and Kira and Shaula mounted their
flying horses right away. The fairies and brownies held on tight to Kira’s
baldric. “It is time now your majesty” said Shaula, and King Finwë agreed. He
nodded at Kirk and Kirk ordered “Let’s Ride!” and they all took off into the
sky for Ranbaraz. ‘Hang on Anakin, I’m coming to save you now’ thought Kira,
who was thinking about Anakin and hoping he was still alright. Shaula was
thinking of Queen Morticia. ‘I’m coming for you Morticia, and this time you
will be defeated’ she thought.
The battle against Queen Morticia was
soon to come.
