"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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"Very good sir," Fiddlefaddle answered as he left the room while the others looked around the room to figure out where to sit. Dree went straight to the pile of pillows that the Dowager now left out for him when he visited, Drat sat in a chair closest to the doorway (as was his habit since he always was watching for escape routes), as Arnie nervously stood not knowing where she should sit as rarely was a 'Borrower' invited into such an elegant room. The Dowager had been watching her since they had entered the room and had quickly realized the situation. "Sit down here besides me dear," she told Arnie. "You are welcome in our home for you are one of our friends now." As Arnie warily moved to the indicated chair and began to sit, the Dowagers question really surprised her. Enough to make her stand back up!
When word gets out, I think you will be very busy." As Drat had been listening to the conversation (as again was his habit of eavesdropping which was one of the requirements of his job for the Troll King), he noticed a couple of small tears forming in the former Borrower's eyes before she sat down near the Dowager. The Dowager's question did not get an answer, but Arnie did say 'thank you' very quietly. "As we wait for the tea and snacks, who wants to tell us what happened with Hir'aeth?" asked the Baron as he looked over to address Drat. "By the way Drat, King Dulbbe has already told us about your mission and is on his way here to meet with you." Nodding his head in acknowledgement, the rat (as well as Arnie) both looked over at Dree to see if he would start. Feeling their gaze, the dragon smiled to himself and began the tale of their adventure. "Drat and I asked Arnie to join us as we figured having a professional 'finder' would improve our chances. It did and without her we may never have had an audience with the Gooblin King." As the tea and cookies arrived, Dree went on to tell of how they met with the King, was granted a favor by him for a favor to be repaid later, and the discovery of the 'scroll'. "Have you read the scroll?" asked the Baron when Dree was finished. "That is the problem," the Dragon replied. "It is not a scroll but a device that only I can hear when I ask it questions." Now that did surprise everyone since Dree had not told his traveling companions either. "You mean you have been talking to it since we found it," asked Drat. "Well... Yes and no. It talked to me when we entered the last treasure room with the Gooblin King. It was a voice that came to me telling me what to say to Hir'aeth. It wasn't until later that I realized that only I could hear it," answered the Wish Dragon. "I did not want you both to think I was going loony and talking to myself until I got the chance to figure what was going on." "And what have you figured out," asked the Dowager. It took a minute before Dree responded since he wanted to be precise but was still slightly reluctant to tell everyone everything since he was not sure about some of it himself. "It appears the device was made by the only other Moon Dragon to have existed. It was told to remember everything it had seen or heard from when it was with the Moon Dragon and after they were separated. I still don't know what happened to the other Moon Dragon and I have not had a chance to ask IT about by my kin who departed this realm," answered Dree.
"I cannot hear your random thoughts Master unless you focus them towards me like you have just done. But why do you ask these odd questions as you are the one who made me as I am?" the voice answered in the Dragon's head. With this answer, Dree almost stumbled over a tree root. He realized that it was extremely difficult to have this conversation, walk on an uneven trail, and also keep an eye on his two friends ahead of him so they did not think he was "loony-tune" (as the 'Outies' would say) talking to himself. Then the whisper of the smell of bakery ovens invaded his sensitive nose as he quickly formed a plan.
"Sure Dree. Take a seat," said Drat as he pointed to a large boulder, "and we will be back shortly with something to munch on." Soon Arnie and Drat were down the trail and out of the Dragon's sight. Quickly Dree opened the bag and looked inside. "It looks like a large coin," thought Dree as he pulled it from the bag. "Are you there?" asked Dree out loud to the trinket. "I am," the voice replied in Dree's mind. "I think we need to talk," started the Dragon. "I did not make you and I do not know your name."
For several minutes Dree just sat and stared at the trinket before swallowing and asking what he thought was the most important question of the thousand bouncing around in his mind. "Can you tell me more about your master, the Moon Dragon?" "Ah, a test," responded the trinket. "As it has been so long since you have used me, you want to see if I still remember. Very good. You are Tun'Gul, the only Dragon to become a Moon Dragon. You conquered the Ogers (relatives to what the 'Outies' call Ogres who are just as large and smelly as their cousins) when others could not. You are the discoverer of the portals between realms and have created objects that can see through time." After a short pause, the voice said one more thing and then stopped. "You are the Dragon Supreme." Working hard not to direct his thoughts towards the trinket, Dree made a decision as he heard his friends returning. "Thank you," he told the trinket. "As we have not talked in a long time and I feel like I am meeting an old friend after so many changes, I think it is best to reacquaint ourselves. I am now known as Dree. How would you like to be addressed?" "Welcome back Master Dree," the voice answered. "I would like you to continue to call me Oracle." 
"After all, a secret is no longer a secret if everyone knows about it," Dree reminded his friends. "And each of us should be allowed our personal secrets when they hurt no others." Arnie did not have a problem with this as she kept many secrets herself, especially as a 'Borrower' of somebody else's stuff. Drat, on the other hand, being the chief minion for the Troll King, had a few misgivings about keeping secrets from his boss. "Think of this way," Dree had told him, "Once we help the Gooblin King obtain his secret desire, then it won't be a secret anymore and you can tell King Dulbbe all about it." Finally Drat agreed. The real surprise about the secret to Dree was that even though Hir'aeth thought Dree knew all along what it was because of his one word answer, Dree was just as in the dark about what was the secret as his friends. "If whatever is in the bag hadn't told me what to say, we would all probably be sitting in a deep dark dungeon by now," thought Dree. He knew that it would have been a short stay since the Gooblin King didn't keep prisoners for very long. But still sitting in any dank, dark, musty, spider covered cell would not have been fun no matter how long one was in it. "I wonder what is in this bag?" Dree pondered while Arnie and Drat were heavily discussing any ideas they could come up with on how to fulfill Hir'aeth's desire. "I am in the bag Master," came a voice that only Dree could hear. "I have waited long for you to find me. How may I serve you?"
"I understand," the voice replied in the Dragon's head. "I will only hear the thoughts you send when you first speak my name or hold me close as you are doing so now." "But I don't know your name," realized Dree. "I don't even know what you are!" "But Master, you are the one who made me... How could you not know my name?" the voice asked sounding very confused. It was then that the others interrupted Dree's silent conversation with the trinket in the bag. "I was just telling Arnie that I explained to the Gooblin King about the current Dragon issue and their return to the Realm of Wymsy. I am glad he agreed that his desire can wait until we have taken care of that situation. Are you ready to go?" Drat asked Dree. Dree glanced once more at the bag in his claw and decided this was not the best place to continue his 'private' conversation with the trinket. "Yes, we need to tell the others what we have discovered." When Hir'aeth returned to the throne room, Dree approached the king as Gooblin King sat on his throne and requested permission for them to depart.
The Gooblin King Hir’aeth had left his three ‘guests’ in the throne room while he contemplated this surprising offer.
Meanwhile, as Dree was waiting for the King’s answer, Drat and Arnie were still looking at him to try and figure out what he was doing. As soon as the guards looked too bored to care about them, Drat slid up to the Dragon and whispered, “Do you have a plan or are you just winging it?” Dree smiled as Drat said ‘winging it’ as their friendship was at the point that they could make subtle jokes about each other without the other being offended. “Don’t get your tail into a trap” he whispered back as he winked at the rat.
“I have decided,” began the King looking directly at Dree, “but you must tell me how your favor would help me?” The Dragon did not even blink before responding. “I will help you obtain your greatest desire.” That answer did surprise the King and even his guards were taken aback as they rarely saw their king surprised and now it had been twice in one day!
“How…” started the Gooblin King as he backed away from the Dragon to lower himself down in his throne. Looking like all of the air had been knocked out of him, the Gooblin King took a couple of minutes just staring at Dree before he waived all of his personal guards away and told them not to let anyone into the room until he summoned them. Quickly the only ones left were the King and his three guests. “Do you all know my secret desire?” he asked them. Drat and Arnie just looked at Dree to answer. “No, your highness. I have not told them nor anyone else. It is a secret that currently only the two of us share, but their help will be needed in obtaining it. They will have to know what it is if you agree to the trade,” replied Dree. The King was going to trade the Dragon the strange bauble anyway, but now he was not concerned about the consequences of giving it to Dree. “My greatest desire,” mumbled the King to himself as he tossed the object still wrapped in the rag to the Dragon and asked “I have hoped for so long. When can we start?”
Drat and Dree were bored out of their minds...
It probably was because Arnie being a Borrower where sparkly things caught her attention was why her and the Gooblin King were getting along so well. After Hir'aeth showed them the first treasure room with Arnie bouncing around with excitement the Gooblin king had started to soften up. He even actually enjoyed telling the Borrower about how he had retrieved each piece of treasure. This had gone on for six more rooms of stuff!
By the time he was in the treasure room, Arnie and Hir'aeth were already opening a chest and the Gooblin King was pulling out what was inside. "This one I got when that old troll Druzzy got turned around in a cave somewhere in the Dragon Mountains a long time ago. I had changed one of the rock signs that had him going in the wrong direction long enough for me to find this trunk and get it away." Turning his head and looking at Drat, he continued, "You were with him, Drat, on that hunt. I made sure that you had found the wrong map so I would have the time to find the treasure first," he snickered as he went back to showing the contents of the trunk off to Arnie. Drat, peering over the trunk lid, saw the real map had now been placed into the trunk after the treasure had been found. "This is IT!" thought Dree as Hir'aeth kept pulling things out of the battered looking trunk. Finally, when a bundled cloth rag came out of the trunk did the Moon Dragon feel the "knowing" that they had found what they were searching for.
"Since he cannot hear me, he will think the trade is well worth it as he is giving you a trinket for a much greater prize. Tell him that you will help him on his greatest hunt. It is a search for his secret most desired item that he has never told anyone about. Just say 'stone' when he asked what do you know about what he desires most," the voice whispered. As the bundled rag with the item in it was going back into the chest, Dree realized that he needed to act now. "Ahem. Great King, are you willing to make a trade for something here in your treasure room that I have found interesting? Whatever that bauble is that you are putting back into the chest for a Dragon's favor?" asked Dree. Both Drat and Arnie were now interested more in what Dree was doing than what they had been just looking at. Dree did not look at either of them but instead kept his gaze on Hir'aeth. Now a favor from a Dragon was a powerful thing and the Gooblin King knew this, but what could be in this bundled rag that the Dragon would want that badly. "Let's go back to my throne room and discuss this offer of yours young Dragon. I am interested to hear your proposal," the Gooblin King said as he put the wrapped treasure into his pocket and closed the lid. As soon as the trunk was secured, he started out of the treasure room and they all started the trek back to the throne room with the guards following. "I wonder what is wrapped up in that rag," was the thought running through all four of their minds.
"Your Majesty. I have come to help you with your problem of a missing object from your treasure room," Arnie started in a weak voice. The King instantly stood up and pointed a finger at her. "Being a 'Borrower' I assume that you have taken it? What did you take!" As the King was rising from his throne, several of his guards had surrounded Arnie and her friends as they lowered their spears. This was not how Arnie had seen the conversation working out when she had decided her course, but if nothing, a 'Borrower' was steadfast and knew how to adjust to changes. "When a lock jams, you find another way in," was Arnie's motto. Speaking quickly, Arnie continued, "Your Majesty. I have recently heard that you possess a thing of knowledge but are unable to find it since it requires a special being to unlock the key to its discovery. I have brought him to assist you. Did I do wrong?" Few had ever seen the Gooblin King confused and this answer added a few more to that spectacle. "What are you talking about? I know nothing of this. Tell me more," Hir'aeth said to Arnie as he motioned for his guards to move back to their posts. "Tell me what you have heard."
"I have been told that this information could save the entire Realms, to include your Kingdom, and I then knew that I must help in finding it. My companions, Drat as a representative from Dulbbe the Troll King and Dree of the Dragons are here to assist in finding the item," continued Arnie. The Gooblin King sat on his throne and did not say anything for several minutes as Arnie and the others waited patiently to see if they were going to be welcomed or if the spiders in the dungeon were going to get some company. Finally, Hir'aeth spoke.
The thought of being responsible for what you did both bothered her and excited her. "Leaving that beautiful purple feather behind for the book was worth it," she had thought at the time. But now, she was wondering if she would have been better off not knowing any of this. She didn't want her fellow adventurers to know, but she was having doubts of what she was doing here on this quest. "Is just looking at something that is not mine a good enough reason to just 'borrow it'?" she pondered. "I know that Drat and Dree are counting on me, but I just don't know. If I do this, am I still doing something bad though I am being told it is for a good cause? Doesn't that make it still a bad thing?" Her mind kept going around in circles as they grew nearer to their destination. As Drat was telling Dree that he knew of several ways to sneak into the Gooblin King's cavern, Dree glanced over at Arnie and realized that she was deep into her own thoughts. He had noticed that Arnie had been quiet during the trek. "I know she was at first reluctant to agree to help but what could she be thinking about so hard?" Dree thought to himself. It did not take much for Drat to also notice that neither one of his traveling companions were now listening to his plans. He too stopped talking and started to watch Arnie also. Arnie was so caught up in her thoughts that she actually walked right into Dree before realizing they had stopped and were staring at her.
"Yes, we are finding a book and you did say that we were not borrowing it, but at the same time aren't we finding something that belongs to someone else? Especially because we aren't asking them if we can look at it... is that the right thing to do?" In Drat's mind, the answer was instantly 'YES' but Dree's answer to Arnie's question even surprised him. "Arnie, I am still learning myself and I agree that it is not completely right, but it is necessary. It is up to you to decide if it is right for you so we are going to let you decide how we should to this. Do we continue or do we go back and find another way?" A tear came to Arnie's eye. Never had she felt like she had others who would follow her. It was a new sense of responsibility that she had not experienced before and it was because they trusted her. No one trusted a Borrower! "Thank you both. I have been thinking about it much and we must do this... but I think we need to do it a different way than sneaking into the Gooblin King's caverns and sulking around until we find it. I have a different plan." As Drat and Dree waited to hear her plan, Arnie looked at Drat and with a smile and a gleam in her eyes, "Can you get us an audience with the Gooblin King?" 
"I've got to send a message," she decided as she finished her packing and started to put her traveling bag over her shoulders. "Perfect for the job," she mutters as she adjusts the straps to her pack but then begins to lean backward a little too much. "Maybe I should take a few things out," she realizes as she finds out that the pack is so heavy that she cannot stand up straight... Meanwhile, Drat and Dree are sitting at a table outside of the Sugar Plum Bakery waiting for Arnie to arrive. "I heard a new one the other day," began Drat. "It goes like this... How may leprechauns does it take to empty a pot of gold?" Shaking his head from side to side, Dree answers, "I don't know. How many does it take?"
It was then that Arnie arrived with her friend Squirrel. Squirrel didn't stay long after Arnie ordered their snacks and everyone was told about the trip to the Outie world and the squirrel there. "If you only could see the look of frustration on that Outie's face when the other squirrel dived from the top of the tree and landed on the feeder... it was priceless!" laughed Arnie. "I could not have done better myself." When Squirrel left, Drat decided it was time to get back to business. "Arnie, we need your help. The Gooblin King has a scroll that we need to read. He doesn't know he has it and it can hide itself from anyone who wants to harm Dragons. We also know that it will take a Dragon to help find it otherwise it hides from anyone seeking its power."
"Arnie, this is important to all in the Realms. We must know what the other Dragons, and most especially Siate', are going to do now that they have returned. We are only going to read the scroll - we are not going to take it. The hard part here will be just to find it..." "Finding stuff is my specialty," Arnie mused to herself. It sounded like fun to her and in the back of Arnie's thoughts, it also may be a way to get others to accept her as she was beginning to enjoy being included by others and not always having to be a loner. "Everyone looses things," she thought. "Maybe I need to become a finder of lost things instead of a 'Borrower' of others things." "When do we start?" was her answer to her new adventure companions.
Usually the passageways between the two worlds were secured, but every now and then someone leaves a door open or forgets to move a rock back in place. Though for Squirrel to have traveled this far, there really must have been a huge temptation for him on the other side. Wandering around in the Outie world was so strange especially when trying to ask for directions and not letting any know that you are from another realm. Arnie was used to finding her way around by just following the light or the bling of something sparkly in the distance. Squirrel must have done the same thing Arnie realized, "though with his nose and tummy instead."
Though this "discussion" seemed to include a bit more as they kept gesturing to something over their head and waving their paws. Then after saying something, the Outie squirrel would break out in this infectious laughter. Hearing a squirrel laugh is quite hilarious.
"He's muttering to himself," whispered Arnie. "He is a strange one as I certainly didn't see any other Outies around him." From what Arnie could hear it sounded like "That Darn Squirrel! We'll see what he think of my new PVC protection?" "PVC??? What could that mean?" thought Arnie. "Is my friend even in more danger from this odd looking Outie?" The Outie then approached the "treasure" that my friend Squirrel and the other squirrel had been talking about earlier. He pulled on a rope and lowered this strange looking contraption that I could see why my friend had been so excited about it. It was pure candy on a stick! "Look at all those delightful seeds, nuts, and delicious goodies all wrapped up together to look like one BIG scrumptious banquet," Arnie thought to herself. "No wonder Squirrel left the safety of the Realm for this!"
Realizing that they had been exposed too long and could be seen by the Outies, Arnie leaned over and whispered to her squirrel friend, "We need to be going before they discover us... Now!" Tugging on her friend's tail, Arnie started back to the magical doorway dragging her friend behind her. "Quit struggling. We have got to get out of here." "But I want to see how my new friend gets past this 'PVC' trap," answered Squirrel sullenly.
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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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