When Aralt found the Emerald Dragon Stone and learned that it allowed him to listen to the mind-speaking of Dragons, she was the first to realize he could hear them. “Aralt, the Dragon Herald,” she named him one day. The title amused Aralt at first, for he soon found that the stone made it even easier for the Dragons to agree with him. Afterall, he was their speaker to the other fae and ‘outies’. Shortly afterwards he and Siate' formed a lose bond to help her establish her reign over the others. She needed a tool and he thought he was manipulating the powerful Wish Dragon to his plans. Now, Dragons normally are independent and don’t believe in royalty or governments for themselves, but they do respect power and ability.
She remembered the day she gifted it to Aralt as a special reward for his help in convincing the other Dragons to have her as the leader of the Wish Dragon clan. “If only I knew of it’s true power, I would never have given it to him.” The ‘true power’ of the golden corolla was that by itself it was merely a slightly magical crown as it was part of the Wish Dragon’s golden horde. Gold is like a sponge in water. It absorbs and stores loose magic just waiting for anything/or person that knows how to use the magic to release it. Siate’ was not worried about the Herald being able to use the slight magic the corolla held as it would never be powerful enough to endanger her. What the Dragon still did not understand how the Emerald Heart Stone would change of all that! “Him and that damnable crown,” grumbled Siate’ under her breathe as Aralt kept talking about his adventures. He did not even notice that she was not really paying attention to him and his tales… she was thinking back to a long time ago when her plans started to unravel once the Herald placed her ‘gift’ onto his head. She had given him the corolla just before they were to meet the Old One in open council. The Old One was the oldest Dragon who the others naturally deferred to as their elder. Respected and venerated she was. If Siate’ could get her blessings, she would have no challengers to be the Old One's replacement when she faded away. Siate’ could remember clearly as if it was only yesterday. Aralt, wanting to display his new gift from her, had placed the corolla on his brow as they walked in to the open council area with his green stone that looked like an heart hanging around his waist. The plan was for Aralt to announce Siate’ as if she was a queen so that the other Dragons would believe she had the right of rulership. If things went well and the Old One did not deny this entrance, then she would win. If not, then the Herald could be chastised for his error.
His method of entrancing the other Dragons only improved with time and still today she did not know how he did it. “New plan,” she decided. “This time I will find out his method so I use him and his ability for me!"
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Aralt, already forgetting about the Wysp, continued down the tunnel leaving the barrier and the Wysp behind. Far up ahead he could see a familiar glow… it was the glow of a Dragon breathing fire! “I’m finally in the right place,” he told himself as he continued towards the light.
“Aralt walked through, so either he was invited or he has his own stone,” thought Nemmer. “Either way, it can’t be good.” The archer watched the blue Wysp for a little while making sure that it could not get through. When he was sure the Wysp was not going to get in, Nemmer decided his next stop would be the Baron’s Mansion. He needed to tell the Dowager Griselda what was happening. “She will be able to tell the others faster than I can. I hate running but for this I think speed is needed right now,” he mumbled to himself as he took off in a hunter’s run. As Aralt turned the corner, the first thing he saw was a Dragon’s head. It was ‘Her’… how could he have been so lucky to find her first? Her eyes were closed and it looked like ‘She’ was sound asleep, but Aralt knew better. She was a tricky Dragon… that is how she had managed to be the ‘unofficial’ leader of the Dragons for many, many, many years. Without even thinking about it, Aralt touched first the golden corolla on his brow and then the locket holding the emerald Dragon heart stone making sure they were both still there. That is when the Dragon smiled. A very large toothy smile… a smile with a lot of very large and sharp teeth. Opening her eyes, she just looked at the Herald and waited for him to speak first. Aralt knew what ‘She’ wanted. It was the recognition of an underling. “She is waiting for me to address her first as her inferior,” he remembered. Rankled at the thought that he was subservient to her but realizing that she would not speak until he started, Aralt spoke. “Greetings your Most Worthy. It has been a long time.”
“How dare she mind-speak to me!” he thought as he realized she was still smiling her toothy smile but her lips were not moving. “I am not one of your underlings” he wanted to reply, but he knew that would not get him what he wanted. In the long run it only would start another of those many arguments they had before he and the Dragons had parted ways. One thing Aralt had learned over the many years of being with Dragons though was the technique of manipulation. Smiling, the Herald replied, “Oh, I am sorry. You must be weak from your travels as you are only able to mind speak. You are old after all and not in your prime anymore. I will depart and return when you are feeling better,” and he turned as if to leave the cave. “Where do you think you are going?” demanded the Dragon. This time she did not mind-speak but spoke it aloud causing the stalactites in the cave to sway slightly and a few of the loose stones on the floor to tremble. With his back to the Dragon, Aralt took a second to remove his smile, and then turned around to face the mighty Dragon. “Ah, I was mistaken. Now you sound like your old self. My pardon. How are things in your domain and will you still need the services of a herald?” he asked.
Aralt did not disappoint her. Soon he was telling her of his many journeys after the Dragons had left this Realm. As she listened, she also started to consider ways to include him in her plans, or maybe not... that was for her to ponder.
The sad part of this craving is that he hadn't had his favorite food for quite a while. Where he hailed from no longer carried his quick and easy way of making it and to make it from scratch took FOREVER! Which in a magical land can be quite a very long time indeed. Plus with the ever demanding need for Ambrosia, he was more often too busy making that - leaving no time for other delicious treats to devour.
"Alas!" Allspice thought to himself. "I'll be on a good diet since I can't find the time to make my favorite treat." After a moment more of thought, he chuckled ruefully to himself. "I never did admit that they were healthy for my diet. But, oh, one bite of those tasty morsels is certainly good for the soul."
Allspice rushed into the store, bought the ingredients, and then faster than a Twitterbird can deliver a message, Allspice was back in his cave firing up the oven.
Chopping up the apples with a knife inside the can, he then proceeded to place a very small amount in the center of each pastry square.
A couple scoops of the sugar with just a dab of the margarine, add a dash of vanilla extract, and stir," Allspice said the recipe over to himself. "I'll add a small splash of milk to thin this mixture into a glaze. Then dribble it over the golden pastries after they have cooled when I pull them out of the oven." After the pastries cooked in the oven (at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes), Allspice in his excitement almost dropped the pan when he removed them. But he quickly recovered himself, dribbled the glaze over the turnovers and then proceeded to sit down and eat his first bite. "Oh yes! Yummmm," Allspice thought to himself. Then he chuckled. "I can now have my treat in this new land! What a nice boon for moving, but I will certainly have to limit myself or I will be gaining way too much to my waistline. So just like the Dragons in trying to limit themselves on our Ambrosia, I now have my 'own' ambrosia." 
This was not just any cave, Snoop was off to visit. It was the home of Dewin the Wizard. Since the "news" Sprigg'n shared with Snoop was astronomical, it seem a good idea to check another source. "I hope this isn't a wild duck chase," pondered the newsman. "I have a paper to get out, but if it is something, I will be delighted with this big scoop!" Deciding that the hike to the cave would still be worth the story, he continued on until he was almost to the entrance. Snoop didn't even have to knock since Dewin was already outside setting up some strange contraption on some sticks. From a distance it looked like three sticks tied together at one end creating a tripod and he had some long tube attached to the top. "I wonder what he is doing," mumbled Snoop to himself. It was while Snoop was approaching the wizard that without looking up from what he was doing that Dewin called out to him. "Hello, Augustus. I take it that the Spite... oops, I mean Sprigg'n... told you about what was coming?" Surprised, Snoop stopped near the contraption while noticing that Dewin was now busy turning dials and looking through a small hole in the side of the tube that was indeed mounted to three sticks. "Not really," answered Snoop. "All Sprigg'n told me was that some strange and powerful magic was coming and that you were trying to capture it since it will only be here once every 1000 years." "Well, Sprigg'n is partially right. A solar eclipse happens much more frequently than that, but it won't be for another 1000 years before we are in the path of a total eclipse, especially during a new moon" answered the wizard. Seeing Snoop's look of confusion, he continued explaining. "A total solar eclipse is when the sun is fully blocked by the moon and the land will turn dark for about 10 minutes. The animals that normally come out only in the dark will be confused and those expecting sunlight will wonder what is happening. I have seen it long ago from where I came from and there the eclipse even drove normal people crazy with fear." "Now this is a story indeed," realized Snoop. "Tell me more and what is that thing you have there?" he asked Dewin.
"But why would you want to?" asked Snoop. "I will be able to see the sun go out. Couldn't I look at it then?" Dewin thought about this question and told Snoop that even when the sun is totally blocked out, it is always good to use eye protection. Especially because Dewin wanted to watch the entire process from start to finish. "It is something that rarely happens and I want to see it all so that I can study it. It is something rare and the magical energy that will be produced will be very powerful. I am hoping to capture some of that magic and bottle it!"
He had been working on getting his kitchen setup so he could mix his first batch of ambrosia for the Dragons here in this new realm. "First batch indeed," he thought. "It will take many more batches just to feed all of them even once. It's a good thing that there are only a few Wish Dragons around otherwise I would need an army of SPICE bakers to get the mis-enchanted back." After finding his bellows and the other items needed, Al decided to get some fresh air before having to stand over the cooking pot. "It will do me some good to step outside for a bit," he decided as he realized that being bent over rummaging through storage boxes had created a kink in his back. Before stepping out of the cave, he took a quick look around to make sure that it was safe. He had almost stepped out once before in his travels with the Dragons and a giant bird had almost eaten him. Thinking about it made him shiver slightly and for a moment stopped whistling to mutter "Darn Rocs". Spying a giant frog and a Pyksee hopping around, Allspice decided it was still safe enough to step out of the cave for a little while. "But not too far from the entrance. Don't want the Dragons to see me. They will be nagging me soon enough to be brewing up more Ambrosia. After taking several deep breaths and a long stretch to straighten out the kinks in his back, Allspice turned around and went back into the cave. "I better get busy as I do have a lot of Ambrosia to still brew," he thought. Even though this part of the cave was still dark, he had walked in and out so many times bringing in his boxes of cooking supplies that he did not need to cast a light spell to see. Soon he was back to whistling and brewing. "That tune just won't go away. It's a good thing I like it," he smiled.
It was here that Meen (spying) realized that she needed to tell the Queen of the Shadows' what she had seen and heard, but another also was affected by what had just happened... Not too far away, a Dragon and a rat were discussing the finer parts of humor when the Dragon suddenly stopped talking and started turning his head this way and that! "Do you smell that?" Dree asked Drat. The rat stopped and sniffed the air. Being a rat he had a very sensitive nose but evidently it was nothing compared to the Dragon's. "I don't smell anything unusual other than your feet," he joked.
Soon Dree figured out the direction of the smell and made the decision that he would check out what it was that somebody was cooking. But before he could act on that thought, Drat distracted him with a new joke. "Did you hear the one about the rock and the troll? Well this troll was lonely and one day while out walking he saw this big rock in the trail..."
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GreetingsWelcome to my blog. This is where I will reveal the magic of my Fae and their stories and share with you some of the success and pitfalls through the journey of doll making, sculpting, and other crafts that all come back to my dolls in many ways. Archives
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