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As Arnie and the others followed the Gooblin King to his treasure room, others in the Realms were busy following their own plans…
Meanwhile, The Baron waited for his mother, the Dowager Griselda, to finish listening to the Flutterby’s message from Queen Ffion before asking her if she wanted more tea. Before he could speak, she picked up her empty teacup and told her son as he filled her cup and that she had a message for him.
“That means that not only Siate’ has arrived, but the other Dragons must be hiding somewhere in the realm. Why don’t they show themselves?” This was the same question Griselda was pondering… And deep within the cave, Aralt knew not to say anything when Siate’ was in a snit as she was now.
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Even Griselda had not thought out this possibility of being known. "I don't think I even showed my tattoo yet either", thought Griselda as she brought her hand to her lips in surprise. “Greetings oh mighty one. Yes, it has been a long time and your presence greatly enhances our Realm,” Griselda replied receiving a smile from the Wish Dragon. It was then that Siate’ decided to address the young Dragon standing with the villagers. “And who are you and from which clan are you from?” she asked Dree. After a pause while he thought about his answer, Dree replied. “I am Drai’ochtluan and was of the Wish Dragon clan.” Siate’ waited for further explanation but when Dree did not continue, she thought that maybe Aralt was correct and this young Dragon was a little stupid. “What do you mean ‘was’ of the Wish Dragon clan?” she asked him. “As I was the only Wish Dragon before your arrival, I did not see myself as part of a clan,” he answered. With this answer Aralt smirked. He noticed the look that had appeared on Siate’s face. "Yes. I had already warned her that this Dragon was not the brightest," as he let his lips slightly curl up into a small smile.
“That is true,” Dree solemnly answered with a slight bow. When he did not explain himself further, it was Aralt who asked “Where?” After appearing to be thinking about his answer, finally Dree replied. “I am pretty sure that I said Where could be in the caves south of here.” After another pause he continued, “Yup. Possibly in the caves south of here. You might want to talk to Who as well.” “Who do I talk to?” Aralt asked. “Yes,” answered Dree. “I talk to Who?” again Aralt asked. “That’s right,” agreed Dree. It was then that Drat realized the game the young Dragon was playing. “That’s right,” said Drat as he smirked a smile to Aralt. “You should talk to Who. If you can’t find Who, then I suggest you go to the second cave and ask to see What. If you don’t get an answer from them then you then try the third cave. I Don’t Know Who is at the third cave." At this point Aralt, shaking his head, replied, " If you don't know who is at the third cave why are you sending me there? "No, no," replied Drat. "Why isn't sending you anywhere. I realize that this is all probably very confusing to you as an elder, so I will take you there if you need me to,” smiled Drat to the Herald. Again, feeling his intelligence insulted, Aralt puffed up his head and told the rat to mind his manners and that he would be just fine without his unneeded assistance. “Indeed,” the Herald replied as he marched up to Siate’ and offered to lead her to the other Dragons that must be in the southern caves. As they prepared to begin their quest, something still nagged at the mighty She-Dragon. “I don’t think this young Dragon is quite as stupid as Aralt thinks he is…” she murmured to herself as she turned to leave.
As everyone was listening to Griselda (aka the Dowager), it was Snoop who was writing down everything and recording those he saw at this eventful gathering. “Darn quill. Good thing I brought along some charcoal. Don’t want to miss a thing. This will be the biggest scoop in the history of the Bellwether,” he told himself. Taking out the charcoal and a piece of parchment, he began to write down those he recognized for sure. There was the Tree mother, Efem, with her sister Cornelia and Cornelia’s husband Nemmer. Standing near them was Parsley, the herbalist, and her son, Sprout. "Of course," Snoop thought to himself as he observed Granny Flare handing out dragon berry cookies with the three Goodie sisters serving tea. "Glad one can always rely on the Sisters and Granny for making sure we all stay alert and remain calm by feeding us," Snoop thankfully sighed rubbing his tummy. The Baron was seen helping his mother, the Dowager, while Awena of the Sleeping Sisters and the new King of the Trolls, Dulbbe, were quietly whispering to each other. Meanwhile, as the Shadows’ Queen Ffion was seen nodding her head in acknowledgement to the Gooblin King, Hir’aeth, as she entered, Hewy, the troll, was keeping an eye on the Borrower, Arnie. Even the minions were present Snoop noticed. “I saw Scarlet taking care of one of the Nytemares just before I entered. That must have been how Queen Ffion arrived and I see her chief minion Meen is by her side too. Even Drat is here,” he realized. As most everyone was still listening to Griselda speak, Snoop noticed one individual that seemed to be only interested in the portal. Standing near it, Dree was looking at the portal entrance as if something dreadful was going to be stepping out of it. Deciding this would be the perfect time to get to talk to the Dragon (personal interviews always were well received by the Bellwether readers), Snoop stealthily moved over to stand next to the distracted Dragon.
Before Snoop could reply Dree continued, "That is one of my problems as is how does one respect their elders if they have not earned the respect? If the Dragons come through this portal, I am wondering how I will react. I have never met another Dragon. You are all my friends. Even though the Dragons may be part of my heritage, they are still strangers to me. You are my family now…” Snoop was surprised on how much Dree had matured since he had first found out that Granny Flare was caring for a Dragon baby. Now that baby was making the decision of who was is his relatives or his friends. “Dree, you may never have to make that choice. As you said, you have not met any other Dragons before. Give it a chance. You might be surprised and find out that they are more like you than you may think. The Dowager is from the Dragon Clan of old and she doesn’t act anything like Aralt does. Dragons are probably as different from each other as people are.” Dree turned his head to look at Snoop and finally smiled. “You are right. Everything should have it’s chance. Thanks Snoop… oops… Augustus,” blushed the Dragon. Snoop smiled at Dree and then started to laugh. Soon both of them were laughing and it did not take long for everyone else to notice. As Dree was wiping away a tear, it was then he realized that everyone had quit talking and they were all watching him and Snoop. In less than a couple of minutes the Dragon blushed again. “Sorry everyone. I was getting some good advice on what to do if Dragons come through the portal.” Griselda smiled at the two and then asked, “Should we all know what the advice is?” Again, Dree paused before answering. “Yes. I was told that everyone should be given a chance to be trusted. I will stay here until the Dragons come through the portal to ask my questions and see how we are treated because I believe in my friends already, now I will learn if I can I trust my relatives?” That made some of the more nervous in the group a little more confident having a Dragon on their side. Soon everyone was sitting around the Dragon and watching the portal.
What had just happened with Aralt was something that wasn't following true as he tried to put together the pieces of what he had just seen. Aralt walking through a portal and disappearing was not that unusual in the Realm of Wymsy. Granny Flare did it all of the time... and blue Wysps were as annoying and as numerous as mosquitos in a swamp... but something that he saw was still nagging at him. "What is it that keeps bugging me," the hunter thought. Then it struck him and he almost stopped running! It was the way Aralt had entered the portal! "The portal was already there and he did not cast the spell to open it," realized Nemmer. "It's as if he knew what was on the other side." Nemmer now knew he had to get to the Baron's Mansion as fast as he could. "The Dowager was right," he thought. "Aralt may be a bigger danger than even the Dragons returning." It did not seem soon enough for Nemmer, but shortly he was standing at the doors of the Mansion knocking and waiting for someone to let him in. After only a few seconds, Nemmer got impatient and started banging on them. "Come on... Open up already!" he growled.
His choice was rewarded as both the Baron and Griselda were there drinking tea as he entered unannounced. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to both of you," he said as they saw him. It was then that Nemmer saw that one other was in the room also. It was Dree who was sitting on the floor with a pillow that he was adjusting to get more comfortable as he leaned against a wall. "Should I leave?" asked the Dragon to his hosts. "I think you should hear this Dree," answered Griselda as she stared at Nemmer, "as I have a feeling that what Nemmer has to say will probably involve you also." Nemmer nodded his head affirmatively and then began telling the three what he had seen and his concerns. When he had finished, both the Baron and Griselda gave each other a concerned look before saying anything. "I agree with your assessment and what you have told us makes it even more clear to me," replied Griselda. "The Herald has an agenda that I don't think is in our or Dree's best interest. My guess is that the portal goes to where ever the Dragons currently are and he will shortly be bringing them through. We must be ready." With that, the Dowager took charge of the campaign soon to come. Quickly she sent Sneefle, Fiddlefaddle, and Nemmer off to start alerting the others. Everyone needed to meet at this mysterious new portal for they needed to all be there when the Dragons came through if it wasn't already too late.
Griselda sent them back to the cave and told them to stay there until she could send messages to the other council members to decide what they would do next. "What are you laughing at?" asked Griselda to her son as the rat and Dragon started back to the caves. "Dree told me a new joke. It goes something like this... Knock... Knock... and you are supposed to say 'Who's there?'" The Dowager just shook her head and smiled thinking about how much of a kid her son still was.
"One would think that a coach or something would travel these roads a little more often," he again grumbled. After walking a little more, Aralt decided to sit down on a log near the trail by where he had first overheard the Wysps. "I wonder if those Wysps are still here?" he asked himself. "It would make it easier if I knew which cave they were talking about that had the portal in it." As if by magic, a Wysp did appear! "Ah, stranger. Are you lost?" it asked Aralt. Before thinking, Aralt growled, "That's twice in one day someone has implied that I am lost and don't know where I am going. I will have you know that I have walked these hills long before your kind even turned blue."
"Only if you know where the portal is," Aralt told him while digging another rock out of his shoe that was rubbing his little toe raw. "Ah, that's too easy. How about a nicer cave that has a waterfall in the back of it?" answered the Wysp. It took a minute before Aralt realized what the Wysp had just told him. It knew where the cave was! This time thinking before he answered, the Herald decided that he would trick the Wysp into taking him to the portal. "I don't think you even know what a portal is," he replied. "So, I best be going on my way alone."
Smiling, Aralt soon had the Wysp mad enough that it would show Aralt where the portal and cave were 'just to prove I know what I am talking about'. Shortly, they were entering the cave with Aralt following the glowing blue Wysp. "It's right here. See," as the Wysp hit the portal wall with a stick it had picked up off of the floor which bounced back from the invisible wall. "Nothing can get through it and we tried." Ignoring the Wysp, Aralt started walking towards the invisible barrier. Now it was the Wysp's turn to smile as he expected the stranger to bounce off of the wall just like the Wysps did. The surprise on the Wysp's face would have made Aralt laugh if he had been watching it as the Herald walked right through the barrier and disappeared.
“Just like the old days,” Griselda thought as she listened to the others for the moment. But shortly she got everyone’s attention just by not saying anything. Soon the entire council stood silently and waited for Griselda to tell them her thoughts. When she did not immediately say anything, her son decided to start the conversation. “Mother,” asked the Baron. “What do you think about the Herald?” All of the others saw her quickly snort as if she was about to laugh, but instead she just shook her head from side to side and looked down. After another moment she finally looked up at everyone and spoke. “I have told you all about what I saw from the magical scroll. Seeing how the Herald spoke long ago when the Dragons first received their magical powers and the trouble it was causing that this is definitely the same Fae. But maybe now even more dangerous. At that meeting long ago, he asked the others for their help to control the Dragons. Today he tried to tell us what we will do under his orders. When he saw that maybe he overstepped, he then tried to persuade us through deception. I had my doubts when I saw him at the magical meeting then, but now I have no doubts. He is a bigger threat than the Dragons returning.”
As Ffion stopped, it was Awena who continued the thought. “We must keep Dree and Aralt apart until we know what that Power is. I will return to my library to see if we have anything about this. At the moment, I know of no prophecy that fits this situation other than a general one that when the Dragons return there will be many changes. We are not even sure that this return of the Dragons is that prophecy.” It was then that Meen returned to the chamber... alone and bewildered. “Where is the Herald?” asked the Dowager when she realized that he was not following behind the pyksee. Without answering Griselda, Meen ran to Queen Ffion and kneeled in front of her wailing. “My Queen, please forgive me. I lost the Herald. He sent me for tea and when I returned he was gone. I tried to check his home but the doors were barred to me and I could find no trace of him other than one of the townspeople thought they saw him heading to the caves."
"I should have made that connection to the Dragon’s lair,” she mumbled to herself as she pulled out her portal stone and disappeared.
"Hhhmm, the Sleeping Sisters are also involved," Aralt realized when he recognized the bird as a magpie sitting in a tree behind the other minion. "I do wonder what this council has been up to in my absence." As Meen caught sight of the Herald coming out of his home, she quickly jumped the last log as she tried to get back to the council chamber to alert the others of his approach. "This spying stuff is fun," Meen thought to herself. "I can actually play my favorite game of Leap without even getting into trouble." But she apparently did not need to worry too much of Aralt beating her to the council chamber. "He seems to be stopping at several of the local shops and apparently taking his own sweet time to arrive at the chamber. I wonder if he is part Pkysee like me since he seems to be playing instead of worrying about getting to the meeting," Meen pondered for a moment. Aralt even stopped by the local brewer to place an order of Dragon's Brew to be delivered to his home later today. It wasn't until he finished his tea and biscuit at the teashop that he finally started towards the chambers. "That should have given those silly council members plenty of time to arrive," he smiled, knowing that he was subtlety letting them know who will be in charge of this meeting.
"But I would have to surmise with this mix of citizens here, the Troll and the young Nyte Shade must be important as well as the older couple in the corner." As if they heard his unspoken thoughts, the older couple both turned their attention to him.
"This is Queen Ffion of the Shadows' Realm, King Dulbbe of the Trolls, Awena of the Sleeping Sisters, and Efem the Tree Mother. The others are citizens of the Realms who are here to witness this historic occasion. We also have Augustus, The Earl of Grey, who is also the editor of the local newspaper, The Bellwether, to record this news worthy event." Aralt let the silence last a little longer when the introductions were completed. "I must show them I am in charge here," he thought as he silently walked to a corner of the room so all had to turn to see him. "I am Aralt the Herald. I speak to and for the Dragons and the Clans and will prepare the way for the return of the Dragons. Soon they will return and we must be prepared to make sure they cause no chaos nor reek havoc among the fae folk or the Outies. I will meet with their leader, the most powerful of their kind - a Wish Dragon. Upon her return I will re-establish the rules of order laid down by me in the past for their conduct. If I need your assistance, I will ask for it then. I expect you will all be available and require each of you to have a runner or setup a message system so that I may contact you when I need your assistance. If there are no questions, then we are adjourned," he finished as he started towards the chamber doors. "But what about Hungry?" Meen uttered to Queen Ffion. "I mean Dre..." she started to add before she saw the look she was getting from all of the others. "Opps..." she muttered as she tried to find someplace to to look other than at everyone who was glaring at her.
Deciding on a new tact, he stopped just short of the doorway and turned back towards the council. "I am sorry. Being alone for so many years has made me a little brusque in my ways. I am concerned for the safety of everyone in the Realms and sometimes I do not present myself as cordial as I should. I have been gone for so long and so many things have changed, I would like to meet with all of you to see what I should know that will help me prepare for the Dragon's return," he finished as he sat down in one of the nearby chairs and awaited their response. It was slow in coming. Actually it was none as no one wanted to be the first to speak back. "I came on too strong," Aralt realized as he waited. "I will have to start this." "Dowager Griselda, I am honored to be met by a member of the Dragon Clan. I will rely on your assistance upon the Dragons return as you are one of the few who really understand the importance of what I need to do. We must keep the Dragons under our control if we are to maintain the peace and harmony of our way of life." As the Dowager remembered the incident with the scroll showing her past and why the Dragon clan was formed, she knew that their decision not to tell the Herald about Dree, the Moon Dragon, had been for the best.
Not everyone else was smiling though. Especially not the town council members who had glanced at each other when Aralt had disappeared behind his doors and now started back to the council chambers. They definitely needed to talk. Shortly all of them were sitting around the conference table thinking about what to say at the meeting. Each of the councilors had their chief minion there in case an errand or message needed to be delivered awaiting in the chairs spaced against the wall of the chamber. Even if they were longingly gazing at the buffet table that Granny Flare and Cornelia had setup for everyone to snack on, they understood the importance of the events of day. Finally it was the Dowager who started the conversation. "Well, that went well." Those four words were all it took to get everyone talking at the same time. "Who would have thought he would be so short and I don't just mean in stature," snapped one member. "How can he think I will let him stay on the grounds of my castle," growled Queen Ffion. "What are we going to do now?" both Awena and Dulbbe silently thought to themselves as they listened to the others talk.
Each of the council members sat quietly, thinking about the Baron's question. Indeed, what do we do now? It was a quandary. "There is one thing we probably should do," grumbled Nemmer as he watched the others staring at each other around the table. "Maybe we need to hide Dree until we know more about this Herald business." It took a minute, as the others were heavy in thought about the situation, before they realized what Nemmer had just muttered. "Nemmer is right," smiled the Dowager. "Dree should be hidden until we know enough about Aralt before they meet. We don't want the two of them to get off on the wrong foot. But I also don't think they should meet until we find out what the Herald's plans are first." After a short discussion, the rest of the council agreed with the Dowager, but who to send? For they needed to distract Dree and to keep him away until the council had their chance to find out Aralt's plan and that wouldn't be easy. "I could send Meen," volunteered Queen Ffion as Meen jumped from her chair when she heard her name. "No disrespect to you or your minion, Queen Ffion," answered Awena, " But we need someone who might be able to distract Dree as to the arrival of the Herald but not spill the beans about him. Meen would get so caught up playing and probably tell Dree everything since she is a twiddletop when it comes to keeping secrets." The conversation continued for some time, going back and forth on who would be best to inform the Dragon, but it wasn't until Dulbbe, the Troll King, made his offer before they selected the messenger.
Realizing that his boss was both correct and actually giving him a compliment, Drat blushed slightly and bowed his head. "As you command Sire," he replied as he departed on his errand. "Well, it got me out of what looked like a long and boring meeting," thought Drat as he darted down the street to the caves under the Baron's mansion all the time working up a plan to keep the Dragon busy without letting him know he was being hidden away again for now. "I wonder if I can get him into a game of Tic Tac Toe? That could take a while if he doesn't know that secret. But I will definitely need to let him know that it doesn't require body parts or eating."
"We have also heard from King Dulbbe and Queen Ffion about the potential dangers of a ruling Wish Dragon according to the past stories of the She-Dragon," finished Griselda. Everyone looked at each other, waiting to see if someone would start the conversation they all knew had to happen. It was Awena who began. "We need to create a plan to minimize the chaos of the arrival of the Herald and the Dragon's return. I have searched the records of the Sleeping Sisters and have found nothing that will aid us in this problem. The only ancient text or prophesy that was discovered is extremely vague. The most we can confirm is that all realms are in danger if the Dragon's are no more and the game is lost. We have not found out what is meant by 'this game of power' nor what would make all of the Dragons disappear," she said and sat down on one of the many chairs in the audience chamber. "You have all heard what we have found out about the returning Dragons. Do you have any further questions of the Dragon orb?" Griselda asked the others. "If not - then now is the time we must decide what we can do. The one major question we cannot answer is does Aralt know we now have a Moon Dragon here in the Realms?" What do you think of this Dree?" finished Griselda as all turned to look at the young Moon Dragon. Dree was totally caught off guard. He had been listening to everyone's discoveries and was picturing in his mind what the other Dragons would look like and how they would act, but he had not been following the Dowager's final comments. So with a startled look he realized everyone was staring at him and waiting for his comments. After a few gulps, he finally started to speak. "Excuse me for not paying attention at everything that has been said here, but I have been listening and thinking. I understand both from your discoveries of the Orb and from the reading I have been doing from some books that Granny Flare gave to me what it meant to be a Wish Dragon. I am just now getting my wings under me in trying to find out what a Moon Dragon may be. I am hoping this Herald can help me discover what it is that I am supposed to do," he said. Taking a slow breath Dree continued, "But, I also know that he is a stranger to me while all of you are my family. I may be a Dragon, and formerly of the Wish Dragon Clan, but you have all raised me and have helped me become what I am now so you are my clan too. I do not know if there is anything I can do to prepare for the coming of my kin, but I do feel that I should learn all that I can to be prepared for their arrival," Dree told the others.
Everyone in the room stood and bowed to the young Moon Dragon to show him their support. It was almost too much for the Dragon, but he finally did look back at them all and said a simple "Thank you." It was then that the Goodie Sisters and Parsley entered the chamber and announced that the meal they had been preparing was ready... was anyone hungry? Dree started laughing and said "No, I'm Dree now - but I am still Hungry!"
Standing up and walking around the library she slowly made her way over to the wall that held ancient scrolls. The very old ones were stacked on the shelves, written down before Snoop brought in his magical machines that made printing possible into the now familiar book format. "Maybe I can find one about who this herald is that calls himself Aralt," mused Griselda. She started scanning and looking through several of the old scrolls until she found one that was still rolled up and sealed with an unbroken golden seal. She could feel the magic within the scroll as she touched it and especially behind the seal when she ran her fingers over it. "I have heard about these types of seals," whispered Griselda in awe for actually seeing one herself as she was unaware her son had one in the library. "It's to keep the scroll in mint condition for future generations so as to not lose the knowledge within." Deciding that it was time the scroll be read, the Dowager broke the seal. As she did, she felt the powerful magic released seeping into the room. Time started to fade away and she was transported back to where the scroll began.  |
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