It all had started because Aralt was getting frustrated. He had walked all over and just could not find anyone who was by themself. Someone that he could take back to Siate' for questioning. "Doesn't any just go for a walk alone anymore?" he had grumbled. Then he passed the cave were he had seen Nutmegg and Allspice. "Is that laughter inside? Maybe I can nab someone here," he decided as he quietly snuck into the entrance of the cave. What he saw was something he had not expected!
The Wysps had found the Ambrosia that Nutmegg had left out when they departed to the meeting with the Baron and Dowager. Leave it to a Wysp to get into something they shouldn't. It did not take much for Aralt to capture all three Wysps and put them into an empty bottle that he found in Allspice's kitchen. "This should keep Siate' busy for a while talking to them if not make her crazier," he snickered as he left the cave with the three little troublemakers trapped in the bottle. It wasn't very long before the intoxicated blue Wysps started to get bored. Bored Wysps do what they like to do most - irritate anyone they find. With Aralt telling them to be quiet all of the time as he headed to the cave that Siate' was in, they decided to start singing. Actually, instead of calling it singing, it sounded more like cat-or-wailing (something that house cats do very well). Every time they would start, Aralt would violently shake the bottle to try and get them to stop.
There are a lot of cures out there for sobering up quickly but one the Wysps had never before experienced was being set before a large irritated and upset Wish Dragon...
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"Sire, Dree is gone. I went to his cave and he is not there. I checked the area and finally found tracks in one of the side caves leading to the area of The Wishing Well." It only took a second before Dulbbe calculated (being a bookkeeper before becoming the Troll King) what Dree may be up to and decided to send his chief minion out to find the missing Dragon. "I will let the others know, but do what you can to bring him back. We don't want Siate' or Aralt to find him first," he told Drat. Again Drat silently slipped out of the tea room as Dulbbe started to make his announcement about Dree's absence. Soon he was out of the Mansion and traveling towards The Wishing Well. "I should get there first with this shortcut," Drat thought to himself. "What is that Dragon up to?"
As Aralt walked to the well, it was Drat who saw him first. The rat was very good at not being seen when he did not want to be and quickly hid behind one of the giant mushrooms that grew in the area. As he watched Aralt draw up a bucket of water from the well and then take off his shoes and put his feet into it, Drat turned slightly green. "I must remember not to drink from that bucket ever again," he grumbled. "Augh!" A Dragon's sense of smell is better than any other animal and Dree was a Dragon. He too could smell something that was not pleasant as he was nearing The Wishing Well and decided to approach with caution. As Aralt was facing the other direction, the Herald did not see the Dragon and was unaware that he was now hiding behind the bushes behind him.
When he could no longer be seen, Dree left his hiding place and walked up to The Wishing Well. Picking up the bucket, he then proceeded to slosh the remaining water around in it and then poured it out on the grass. As he started to lower the bucket back into the well, he heard a voice behind him. "I don't know if you want to put that bucket back into the clean water of the well," said Drat. Smiling to himself before turning around, Dree looked at his friend and asked, "What took you so long to get here?"
He knew that somehow he would be the one having to make the final decisions about his kin, the Dragons. "To save us all," he murmurs again. As he continued thinking about what the Oracle had said, he almost opened the bag IT was carried in to ask more questions. "No. I need to think this more on my own," he decided trying to wrap his Dragon brain about all that he had just learned. "We must first keep Siate' and Aralt from discovering the Wishing Well's importance," Dree knew. But there was something else in what the Oracle had said that made him uncomfortable. Something that was hanging just out of reach as he still had not quite grasped it fully yet. "It's tickling my brain so what am I missing?" he said out loud.
After only a short delay, the Oracle telepathically responded. "Master, the Guardian of the Sacred Tree was perishing. You went there to help defend the tree. You must have been successful as we are all still here and you have returned." Dree thought about the response for a while. "Thank you. I will not be asking any more questions for now. Please disregard me unless I addresses you directly," Dree told the Oracle. "Very good Master," was IT's reply. Dree now knew what had eluded him before. "To save us all," he muttered again as he started down the caves and back to the Mansion. "Since the Moon Dragon did not return, I must assume that something happened to him.
Dree knew that to the Oracle when he asked his questions he had to act as if he were Tun'Gul, it's creator and the only other Moon Dragon to have ever existed. The Oracle still was insisting that there was only one Moon Dragon and since there could only be one, Dree must really be Tun'Gul. "Greeting Oracle. I would like to ask you some questions to confirm events before we were separated and to test your recollections," said Dree. "As you have instructed, I have maintained the information. Inquire," answered the Oracle. "Why did the Dragon's leave this Realm?" was Dree's first question. The Oracle spun on the table as it answered. "The Dragons did not like the restrictions that were being placed on them by Villagers. Their egg nests were being raided for the crystals created by the dragnets' hatchings. The Wish Dragons especially did not like their wishes being regulated by the Wish Dragon Clan. Since the Dragons are each independent and they do not have a ruler, they did not like being told what they could and could not do. The most powerful Wish Dragon who was left after the Moon Dragon disappeared attempted to become Queen of all Dragons. Your disappearance, Master Moon Dragon, was the final act that made the other Dragons seek a new home."
As the Dowager was thinking on how some of the puzzle pieces were starting to fit together, it was Dree's next question and the Oracle's answer that took her completely by surprise! "When the Dragon's left, did they take the Nyte Shade's heart in the golden cage?" asked Dree. The Oracle paused for a second before answering. "As you hid the heart and cage in the cavern behind the waterfall, that is where it has stayed since your departure, Oh Wise One," replied the Oracle. Before anyone else could say a word, Dree quickly asked his next question. "Do you know where that cage could be found now?"
"Why did I leave you?" the Dragon asked. The Oracle did not delay this time in answering. "To save us all," was it's response. "As the only Moon Dragon, you went to the sacred tree to protect the Realms and did not return until now. I am glad you have found me and we are reunited again," said the Oracle.
"We have discovered that a Nyte Shade, one of Queen Ffion's ancestors, gave her magic to a dragon and that is how Dragon's became magical." Now it was Nutmegg and Allspice's turn to be surprised as this was not known to them. "That might explain why Siate' came back and why Aralt was here," Nutmegg murmured to Allspice.
"I am glad that you all are here," Griselda realized. "For it must mean something. We certainly would have never gone down this path without what Allspice and Nutmegg had told us. Apparently there is something in this realm that affects the Dragon's magic making it more stable. What that something may be is still an assumption. But if the stone in the cage was not taken by the Dragon's when they left, then that could be a good reason why some of their mis-enchantments happen elsewhere as anything else. What we have to do is figure a way to find out more about the mis-enchantment issue. It might just be the key to both why the Dragons have returned and how to stop Aralt and Siate' from whatever their plan could be."
When he was finished, Allspice turned to the rest of the group and started to relay about Lil' Boots overhearing a conversation and how he rushed over to warn everyone about what Aralt was told to do. Finding out that Aralt was planning on abducting someone and take them back to Siate' for questioning did not make the others very happy. "Thank you for the warning Lil' Boots and welcome back from the World of Whispers," King Dulbbe told him. "When this situation is over with the Dragons, we will do everything we can to help get you back to your home." Lil' Boots was so surprised that as he stood there blushing all he could say was "Ahhh, shucks. Twasn't nothing. Glad to help."
The Bakery was always short of help and when Lil’ Boots offered to help out in return for meals, they quickly accepted. “What do I need sheckles for anyway?” Lil’ Boots thought. “I would only spend it here on food.”
“He would leave just as I was starting to eat,” grumbled Lil’ Boots as he stuffed most of his meal into his satchel. “No sense wasting it,” he reasoned as he started munching on one of the sweets that he normally saved for dessert. Staying far behind the Herald, Lil’ Boots watched him walk through the Village, stop at a few of the shops, and then begin walking towards an area that Lil’ Boots knew had a lot of caves. It took all of his skills, but he did not think that Aralt had noticed him as the Herald entered one of the caves. “Do I or don’t I?” thought Lil’ Boots. Deciding that he had already come this far, he was going to at least try to see further into the cave before leaving. As he snuck closer to the entrance, he could see a bright glow just inside. It was a huge Dragon and she was blowing flames! “What do you mean that you haven’t found that little welp?” screamed Siate’ at the Herald. Lil’ Boots was impressed that Aralt didn’t even flinch as the Dragon spouted flames from her mouth and turned a large rock into a red-hot glowing crystal! When she finished, Aralt said, “I have searched the entire village, checked with the Wysps, and even had to endure pranks from the Pyksees, but no one has seen him.” “He is the key! I feel it. He must know something about taking away a Wish Dragon’s magic and I must know what it is before I establish myself as the Queen of Dragons,” growled Siate’ as she stared at the Herald for a time as neither said anything. “You will bring one of his friends here so that I may talk to them,” she finally decided. “Don’t take the Dowager or her son, the Baron, but someone that the villagers won’t notice is missing for a while.”
“As you wish,” was all he said as he left the cave not noticing that Lil’ Boots had seen and overheard all of the conversation and what now knew what Aralt was going to do.
While as Lil' Boots walked this dirt path he had not traveled before, he saw two bobbing lights in the forest. "Someone out here?" he asked as the lights traveled closer. Hiding behind a large tree trunk, he waited to see who it might be. Soon two little fae could be seen carrying glowing lanterns and scanning the trail as if they were looking for something. Deciding they were probably not a threat, Lil' Boots moved out into the middle of the trail knowing that they should discover him soon. As the first lantern light touched him, the two fae stopped and the lights went instantly out leaving everyone in the dark. "Hello," said Lil' Boots. "I don't mean any harm. I am out looking for daisy petals for a friend. My name is Lil' Boots." As he heard some whispered conversation somewhere ahead of him, it wasn't long before the fae must have made a decision as the lanterns both came back on.
"We are Light Faeries," answered Hope. "It is what we do. We shine our lanterns to help shine out the light of hope." "Don't forget to mention the ray of Love too," butted in Graw. Looking at Lil' Boots, Graw continued, "Graw means love in the language of the faeries. I prefer to be called that instead of 'LOVE'," Graw nodded to Lil' Boots.
"Tell me more," replied Lil' Boots as it wasn't too long ago when he was in a place that he felt was without hope. Being held in the World of Whispers, he certainly could have use Hope's lantern then. It was then that Lil' Boots thought to share his tale with them. Several hours later (because time flies when faeries get together), and when the Light Faeries had heard Lil' Boots tale, Graw told him that he should follow his heart for this was that adventure that he had always wished for. "You will need a crystal to help light your way and to see the truth in what is before you," Graw told him as they gave Lil' Boots a crystal. It wasn't until Lil' Boots was almost back to the cave before he realized that he still had not picked the daisies that Allspice requested. "That's all right," he thought as he turned around to head back to the wild flower patch. "But this time I will use my compass to get me there and back faster so I can crawl into my cozy bed," he told himself. "From what the Light Fairies said, it sounds like this adventure has more to reveal and I'll be needing to get some sleep to be refreshed for it!" as he pulled the crystal from his satchel to light his way to the daisy patch.
Again, Lil' Boots could not answer. The whole problem started with Allspice making some comment about losing an hour now that it was spring time. "Maybe that's it!" thought Nutmegg as he remembered that Allspice had also said something about 'springing forward an hour'. "I got it," Nutmegg told Lil' Boots. "Spring took it!" It took a while before Lil' Boots answered because he tried and tried to see how Spring could just take an hour but none of his thoughts added up. "I don't see how Spring can just take an hour," he told Nutmegg. " I mean, why would it only take an hour when it could take a whole day? Spring already takes away the snow and starts turning some of the plants green, so why only take an hour?" Nutmegg, being the detective he liked to think of himself as being, decided that this mystery must have an answer somewhere. "We need to question others to see what they know," he told Lil' Boots as he started off to see if they could find someone else who may know the answer to the missing hour.
The frog took one long hop and landed just in front of them. "Hi. My name is Tad. How can I help? By the way, that's a nice compass. My friend Acorn has one just like it," said the frog. "Thanks," answered Lil' Boots. "We have a question and are wondering if you can help us. Just the other day we were told that everyone here lost an hour of time and we were wondering how that happens. Is it a one-time thing or does something like it happen often here in this realm?" Of all the things really hysterical, one of them is watching a frog laugh! Especially if they are trying not to because their eyes bulge out a little bit more... When he was able to, Tad finally caught a short breathe and told them about how the realm had a way of saving daylight to use later. "Some call it daylite savuns," Tad told them when he was finished with how the hour was not really taken, just sprung forward from the beginning of the day to the end of the day. "It's like magic that only happens from spring until winter so we can have more light in the evening instead of while we are asleep in the morning. We frogs know all about it. We call it 'springing forward'."
It was the sweet taste of honey and cinnamon that made him realize what he was doing. Taking only one bite and then re-wrapping the stick, he put the remainder back into his pocket. "Don't know where I will get anything like it again for a while," he reminded himself. Oh, but boy did that one bite taste good. Next he took out his compass. "I should throw this thing away or trade it since it doesn't work anymore," remembering that it just went in circles while he was in the World of Whispers. As he opened the lid and looked, he was surprised to see that the needle was no longer just spinning around and was now pointed to what it indicated was North. Taking it outside of the cave he decided to check it again just to make sure. "It is working," he told himself as he started to make plans. "I don't need to wait for those other two. I can get home myself. I can't be very far if my compass is working again and I don't even have to wait until morning. The moon is bright and I'm not afraid of the dark."
Sitting down on an old tree stump, he again reached for his Tinselly Zooty stick and this time stuffed the entire thing into his mouth. As he sat chewing, he heard a strange noise in one of the trees next to him. Looking around he did not see anything until he looked up and on one of the branches sat a large owl. "Are you lost?" Lil' Boots asked the owl. "Who" was the answer he got. "Well, I am if you aren't. My name is Lil' Boots and I come from a place far away and want to go home. Do you happen to know my friend Swifty the snail?" Again the response, "Who?" Lil' Boots just shook his head realizing that this bird might be just like the ones he knew. "You don't understand a word I am saying do you. Just like those dumb owls back home," he grumbled.
"And I sing and dance too," answered the owl, "but now I was going to get something to eat and if you can be civil, I will take you to the Sugar Plum Bakery where you can find something sweeter than that little stick you put in your mouth earlier." Feeling the hunger pains returning, Lil' Boots did his best bow to the owl and humbly said, "Please, oh Wise One, forgive an ignorant adventurer and lead the way!"
"As a Borrower, I would never had been invited into such a grand place like this," she knew. "As a Finder, the others actually want me around." It was a good feeling but with that feeling came a responsibility. Now others relied on her and asked her opinions and thoughts. "That is better and I like this feeling of being needed," she finally decided as her attention returned to what the others were talking about. "... and then Nutmegg told us that he would try to bring his leader, named Allspice, here to meet with you," Dree finished telling the Dowager and Baron. "That would be very good," Griselda answered. "Hopefully King Dulbbe and Queen Ffion will arrive before they do." Nodding his head, the Baron agreed with his mother. "Maybe this will give us another advantage over the Dragons," he said. "With Dree's Oracle and the help from SPICE, we might just be able to outmaneuver Siate' and her herald."
The others were looking over the Oracle and discussing what questions to ask it and what more could they learn from the Moon Dragon who created it. "I feel that we don't have much time before Siate' and Aralt do whatever they are planning," Dree told the others, "So I think we need to decide what questions to ask the Oracle otherwise we might end wasting a lot of time. As much as I would like to know my kin's past, we need to focus on what is happening now." The others agreed and as they continued their discussion, Fiddlefaddle entered the tea room with King Dulbbe and Queen Ffion. Shortly they were brought up to date on what was found in the Gooblin King's treasures and the meeting with Nutmegg. As Fiddlefaddle was refreshing the tea, the other guests arrived and were shown into the tea room.
"I am not sure I understand what might cause mis-enchantments as we did not have that problem when the Wish Dragon's were here before. We just had to watch how literal they could be was our problem with the Wish Dragons," the Dowager said. "If someone asked for a gold mine, they might find themselves in the middle of a mountain somewhere surrounded by gold but not able to return with it. What is a mis-enchantment?" she asked. "That is a good question, madam. Let me see if I can explain," answered Allspice. "With a mis-enchantment, a wish granted by the Wish Dragon may be successful but sometimes others in the area of where the wish was granted just up and disappear. We just recently recovered one of these victims who described the place he was transported to as the World of Whispers. Apparently it is a white glistening world that time does not hold. As Lil' Boots was there for a long time and never had to sleep or eat. Those trapped there could be heard but only as a whisper on the wind. We don't know why there are mis-enchantments, but we have found a way to bring them back. Sometimes when they return they are changed in some way but after visiting one of our Fae healers, they usually return to how they were before."
After the silence that followed the explanation, it was Drat and Dree who started laughing first. Soon the laughter was infectious and everyone was snickering. "Imagine, a burping Dragon," laughed Drat. "Now I know what to get you to drink the next time you start those bad knock, knock jokes," the rat said to Dree. When the laughter was contained, Dree spoke. "I think it is time to ask the Oracle our questions and now I think I know what to ask it," he said as he started to open the bag that held the magical trinket.
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