The Root Connection ran deep and far. The only problem was that it was slow. Most messages sent via the Root Connection were answered by some other service like the Flutterbys or the Bee-Gs since this connection was even slower than Snailmail. The only reason anyone used this approach was that the Root Connection's knowledge ran very very deep. The ancient Yew was thousands of years old and had heard lots of gossip (news) in it's many years. This is what Efem needed. "Knowledge from the past," she mumbled to herself as she walked to the stone platform in the center of the grove and stood, waiting for the trees to acknowledge her. Sometimes she had to wait days for the trees to notice her as their world ran a little slower than hers. "At least I am not trying to talk to rocks," thought Efem. "I am sure I would be waiting longer," she figured, "but then again, I wonder what we would talk about? Would I take what they say for 'granite'?" snickered Efem as she thought about how many other puns that would fit in the conversation. "I wonder if the rocks would even notice the puns?" It was as she was thinking about rock puns, that the Willow spoke to her. Surprised because they have never noticed her this quickly before, she bowed her head and waited. "Efem, we knew you would not be late... Your coming here, was it just desperation or fate?" The question caught her by surprise making her forget the questions she had made up on her way to the Grove. "Desperation or Fate? What did the Willow mean and how should she answer?" Efem wondered. It seemed like a long time that she thought about the question, and maybe it was, but the Willow did not seem to notice. Finally, Efem knew what she had to answer. "Great Elder..." she started but stopped when the leaves of the Willow started shaking and a giggle could be heard on the wind.
"Great Willow maybe it is both fate or desperation... but with the Grove's help and ancient knowledge, maybe you will be able to give me the much needed information," answered Efem. With this answer the ancient Yew spoke, surprising Efem as she had never heard it talk before. Usually it would sit and listen and in the many years she had been a Tree Mother visiting the Grove, this was the first time it ever spoke. "The time is coming that a great change may occur. We do not know if the return of the Dragons is what starts the change, but they are players in the game." It took Efem a minute to realize that the Yew had spoken plainly and not in rhyme or verse. "You spoke plainly. Why have none of you done this before?" she asked. "We did it because we thought that is what you wanted. It's a nuance to have to make everything rhyme like the Wishing Well," answered the ancient Yew. "Do you want us to go back to rhyming?" "No... uhm... no thank you. I would prefer this way. Now, can you tell me more about this game that is being started and how the Dragons may be part of it?" as Efem sat down on the stone platform figuring this was going to be a long visit and happy that she remembered to pack a few things in her satchel.
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Now she could focus on the real problem. She realized what she needed to do. "I should have thought of this earlier," she mumbled to herself. "Maybe it's time to talk to the trees. After all they were here when the Dragons were plentiful. As a Tree Mother, I should have thought of this before now," Efem continued to herself. " I will make time now to go to the Sacred Grove." Earlier, before Nemmer delivered his good news, Efem had received a Flutterby from the Dowager. Griselda told her about the scroll and how she had seen the Herald named Aralt in her vision. "I'm old, but even I don't remember anyone named Aralt," Efem thought. "Maybe this Herald can help us when the Dragons arrive." Now that she had a plan, Efem started her preparations. "One doesn't just walk into the Sacred Grove and ask questions." she mumbled to herself as she started looking for some necessary items. "First I need a small satchel bag to carry everything."
Off to one side was Hewy, the Troll, who was busy giving the Gooblin King, Hir'aeth, the evil eye as the Gooblin King wondered to himself where had Druzzy, the Troll King, snuck off too? Efem, the Tree Mother, was huddled with Dewin by a small bench and waving her hands in the air trying to make a point as she tried to get his complete attention. While Dewin was trying also to see where the Troll King had wondered off as well as try to keep one ear open to listen to Efem. Things were certainly tense and confusing. It was then, as Goodiegood was looking around at everyone, that she noticed the large crystal-like egg in the the middle of the garden. "I doubt that has been here very long," she asked without expecting much of an answer. She realized what it was as she looked closer seeing something blue swirling around inside of it. Turning to her sisters she said, "It looks like what we feared has happened. The Prophesy has begun with the Last Wish Dragon being lost. Now we must find out who sacrificed their magic for this to have happened." As the three sisters started looking around the garden to see who might be missing from the vision they had earlier, Goodie2shues finally hollered to the crowd, "Everyone! We don't have much time so listen up! We need to talk to Ffion or the Shadows' King. Does anyone know where they are?"
When the Dowager finished, Goodie4u mumbled loud enough for only her sisters to hear, "Now we know who sacrificed their power, as the King and Ffion being Nyte Shades are the only two beings strong enough to give up their power and not be swayed by the Darkness or Greed." Realizing that speed was now needed, Goodie2shues spoke again to the crowd. "We need to speak to Ffion immediately! The Realm depends on it!"
As her sisters disappeared, Goodiegood quietly mumbled to herself, "The best thing we can do now is get Ffion back to our place so we can whip up our 'Surrogare' recipe before this egg fully hatches. The Ntyemares are the best choice to fly us home in time." As the other two sisters flew off to do her bidding, Goodiegood thought about trying to explain to Awena and the Dowager what was happening, but there just wasn't enough time. All she could do was shout out "Trust ME!" as she ran to follow her sisters.
The first to arrive was Awena which the Dowager was very glad to see. Griselda had quickly grabbed her and took her down into the depths of the library where the Shadows' King had been holed up for the past several days.
As they approached their destination, a green glow was emanating from under the door to room 101. When they knocked they had already decided not to wait for an answer and rushed in before the King could refuse seeing them. What they saw was a surprise! Both spied the King sitting on a low stool with his head in his hands. His clothes, normally clean and spotless, were rumpled and dirty. His hair stuck out in all directions, no longer combed and braided, but the part that shocked them the most was the defeated look in his eyes. As they rushed to his side to find out what ailed him, the Dowager was first to speak. "What is it King Hunter?" she asked as Awena placed her hands on his slumped shoulders. Awena could feel the tension and frustration that was floating around the King but also something she thought she would never see in him. She could feel his despair! Slowly the King looked up at them and in a weary voice asked, "What do you know about the Dragon tablet?" "Very little," the Dowager replied. "Other than what the flutterby just shared with me a little while ago. It has been located and coming here by way of a Borrower as well as with your faithful Scribe, Dulbbe." "Then there is hope!" murmured the King. Slowly he stood up with a little wobble since he truly hadn't eaten much in days. He placed the silk cover over the green glowing crystal ball that had been beside him. While he was doing this, the Dowager was sharing that she had felt the need to assemble everyone in the King's garden, while she was apologizing that she had used his personal messengers the Nytemares. The King nodded to her as he picked up the crystal ball and proceeded to leave the library room. "I agree," answered the King. Appearing to gain strength from all that he was hearing from the Griselda, he continued, "We will all assemble in the garden as soon as everyone is here, especially Hungry. He is the key element and now it seems is his time. I had hoped to give him more time by sending him to his teachers when he first arrived in the Shadows' Realm. When the tablet had been taken, it started the process and whether or not he is ready, it seems that Hungry will now be coming into his power."
King Hunter, the Shadows' King, lead everyone out into his garden and then down a trail and through a veil of hanging vines that parted as the participants approached. Hidden inside was a secluded garden of Moonflowers which surrounded a small stone bench in the center. The night was black with the new moon and only a handful of dimly shining stars were in the sky but everyone could see the white trail of stones that lead through the Moonflowers and surrounded it. "Hungry, would you please sit yourself on the stone bench in the center of the garden?" asked King Hunter while directing the others to stand in a circle around the bench and the now seated Dragon. "Arnie, as I understand it, you have my tablet?" asked Hunter to the Borrower who was trying to hide behind some of the others in the circle. With a bowed head, Arnie approached the King while offering the tablet in her hands. "It is the one time I am sorry that I 'borrowed' something Sire Sir," Arnie meekly replied. Hunter gently took the tablet from her hands. "You are forgiven, for it was all part of the prophecy and you were just the element that sparked the beginning of it," the King told her. He then turned to Awena of the Sleeping Sisters and asked, "Did you bring the Blue Rose with the Tear that your Order has been watching over for eons?"
"No, Awena, Please hand it to me," the king replied. With the Dragon tablet and now the rose in his hand, King Hunter approached Hungry. "Do you trust me?" asked the King to the lil' Dragon. As Hungry looked up into his eyes he could see a great sadness in them but he could also feel an over whelming sense of peace and love. "I don't know you well Sir, but I do trust you," Hungry replied. "Then eat the rose," the King commanded as he handed it to the Wish Dragon. Hungry replied, "That should not be a problem for I am forever hungry and sure could use a little snack right now. Is it sweet? I do love sweet things, especially from the Sugar Plum factory." The King nodded his head and told Hungry that he wouldn't be hungry afterwards. Hungry ate the rose. As he started chewing, he closed his eyes savoring the sweet taste and the lovely smell of the magic ambrosia. Then he burped. It had come from his tummy where a little spark had arisen while he chewed the flower. It had floated up his throat and out his mouth as he burped. The spark continued to rise and was quickly hovering over his head where it grew bigger and brighter. Larger and brighter it grew like a shining star in the sky. The light was almost turning this dark night into day with it's glow and then all of a sudden it burst! Sparks flew everywhere causing those standing around the Wish Dragon to shield their eyes and turn their heads away. When they turned back to look at Hungry, the Dragon tablet laid on the ground, the Shadows' King was gone, and a huge crystal orb was in the middle of the garden where the Wish Dragon had been sitting. As everyone was examining the crystal orb, the others did not notice as the Troll King quickly picked up the tablet and slide it under his crown. 
"Is everyone okay? Where's the water buckets and I will start trying to put the fire out!" asked Hewy as he started towards the well. "Hewy, It's fine. The fire is out," Efem was finally able to tell him after she had stopped coughing. Cornelia grumbled, since Efem was coughing again, "We have found out that when Hungry gets excited, he spits a little fire and a lot, and I do mean a lot, of smoke." It took Hewy a minute before he realized what was happening, then since everyone was okay, he started laughing. This is when The CAT joined in as he also thought it was funny. Knowing that he was Hungry's Spite, The CAT was enjoying both being fed by Cornelia and Efem as well as the entertainment of these Wish Dragon's lessons. Hewy, soon realizing that both of the Dryads were not as amused as him, quickly stopped laughing but still could not take the smile from his lips. "And to what do we owe this visit from you today?" growled Efem as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "You are not scheduled to be Hungry's teacher for another couple of weeks." Having almost forgotten his reason for the visit, Hewy quickly told them of his meeting with the King of the Trolls and his concerns. "I agree Hewy, he is up to no good," answered Efem. "The question is, what do we do?" "I have been thinking about that and the best I can come up with is to send Hungry somewhere for a while so Druzzy won't be able to find him until we find out what he is wanting," answered Hewy. "The problem is that I can't think of anyplace safe and where he won't be seen."
Now Dewin, being a wizard, had given the others each a crystal to communicate with him over long distances so they could keep in touch. They decided that would be the best for Hungry and after the smoke cleared, went back inside of the cottage where they told Dewin about their concerns and request. Shortly Sprigg'n, the Spite that had attached herself to the wizard upon his arrival to the Realm, arrived and they (Hungry, The CAT, and Sprigg'n) were off to the safety of Dewin's cave. As they left and Hewy watched them crest the first hill and disappear from sight, Hewy finally felt that Hungry would soon be safe... ahhh, but will he? There seems to be others who also wish to see the Wish Dragon and not all of them from just curiosity. "Now," wondered Hewy, "in the meantime where I am going to disappear until this blows over?"
Later, as Efem and the Dowager were walking around the tournament field admiring the beautiful Nytemares competing against each other, the Dowager asked Efem "Have you heard anything in the Mushroom line about Hewy's new commission to the Troll King and what the King is like? I have been gone quite a while and maybe the Baron has met the Troll King, but I have never been introduced to him myself."  "I had not heard about a commission and I don't know anything about the King of the Trolls personally, only gossip of what the Twitter Birds retweet about him. They say that he can be a devil," Efem answered. "Oh No!" Griselda exclaimed. "Do you mean he is evil? We don't need that here!" "No... No..." smiled Efem. "He not the blackhearted, world destroying evil type. The buzzing I have been hearing is that he is more the minor, mischievous imp, wicked-fun type than dark evil. Just not someone you would trust your family fortune too! Eventually he would find a way to keep it and have you working for him too." "Oh" the Dowager sighed. "Then he could still be dangerous in his own way," dreamily smiling as she gazed at a knight riding a Nytemare in the jousting arena... "We will have to keep an eye on him - for Hewy's sake of course." Efem, realizing that Griselda was staring at the knight and not the horse, turned startled eyes to the Dowager and smiled, "Griselda, aren't you too old for such nonsense?"  The Dowager, turning her big innocent eyes towards her answered with a laugh, "I'm not dead yet!"
"Now wait a minute. Sorry to interrupt but I am trying to figure this out," cut in The CAT. "If Hungry is the last of the Wish Dragons and he has been lost for this whole time... sounds like to me that he would certainly be starving. Also sounds like he might be in need of a teacher too. Okay, please continue." Hewy then continued his song.
"Whoooh!" said The CAT. "That sure sounds like the wizard here. He almost prevailed with trying to get his wish. Not that I am saying you are evil, mister wizard, as I don't know you that well. But it sounded like to me that the wish you were asking for could have changed things not only here in this Realm but where you were from too."
"As they both must gain the Dragyn 's token."
Silently everyone gathered around the little Wish Dragon. Dewin was the first to speak. "I am sorry for misleading you Hungry. I just wanted to go home, not realizing that maybe I am already there." After that, everyone agreed that Hungry needed to learn more about the powers of the Wish Dragon. It was decided that Hewy and Parsley, having gained the Dragon's trust, would be responsible for starting those lessons. The CAT was happy he was also going to be returning to familiar surroundings, as he now had to have lessons too apparently as the Dragon's Spite. Sprout was thrilled to hear that Hungry was going to be heading home with him as her heard his mother tell the Wish Dragon that she would be his teacher. Until Parsley added, “and you will not be alone for Sprout will take classes with you.” “WHAT?” exclaimed the startled Dryad.
It was only The Wishing Well who noticed after everyone had left Snoop rushing from the bushes he had been hiding in to hurry back to the Bellwether to get out the scoop of his career. A Dragon had returned to the Realms!!!
“I am afraid it doesn't work that way. I have tried but no matter how much I try to do something, it somehow always seems to not come out the exact way I pictured it to be,” answered The CAT. “Look Hungry, bad things can happen even when trying to do good.” Dewin had his own plan here and being interrupted by this CAT wasn't helping it, but before he could stop The CAT, another spoke first. “You're his Spite!” Sprigg’n exclaimed excitedly at The CAT. “I wasn’t sure at first, but after listening to you speak, the feelings we experienced when we first met, and now meeting Hungry, I realize that you ARE his Spite. That is Good... I think." “What do you mean 'his Spite'?” Hungry and The CAT, both being surprised and confused, replied together. Now everyone was listening for Sprigg'n's answer, even the Wizard. Since Sprigg'n still hadn't answered, Dewin asked again, "What do you mean? How is The CAT the Wish Dragon's Spite? You told me before that Spites only appear with a Wish Dragon and a wish." Shaking her head at the wizard, Sprigg’n finally answered. “Hungry and The CAT were both born at the same time. Hungry must have been from a wish that was answered, and don’t ask me how it was answered or by whom cause I don’t know. But, The CAT is Hungry’s Spite, take it from me.” “But what does that mean?” pleaded the Dragon. “Will he help me make the right choices so that evil won't reign?”
Before Hungry could grant the wish though, Hewy jumping in with a loud "NO!" which distracted everyone. "Is that why you have been looking for this Dragon, Wizard?" Hewy stared at Dewin. But before he could answer, Hewy turned to the little Dragon and said "Hungry, before returning Dewin to his own land think about what could be the downside of his wish. It could just as easily be that he will loose all the magic he has accumulated while here or that his life may end. The magic here has kept him alive for far longer than he normally would have lived in his own realm.”
“What things, Mom?” asked the young Dryad. “Hewy is well known in the Realms as a master musician. He has already played out the first part by singing us the prophecy. Though I don’t know for sure about the Dryad who has forsaken its way, and I am also not sure about what Hewy has to mend let alone what the Dragon’s token is,” she told Sprout. “Maybe the others might have figured it out as I haven’t,” she said as she looked at the others to see if anyone did have the answers. “But Mom, what happens if the rest of the prophecy doesn't happen? Does it mean that Hungry is not the Dragon?” Now that question took Parsley by surprise. “Does it?” she thought. Before the others could say anything, Hewy again spoke. “I have been thinking about that too and it sounds like Hungry is more than just hungry for food but also for knowledge. Maybe it is who will teach him the power of the Wishing that will cause the evil?”
“No! No, I love it here. I don’t want anything to happen to anyone here. I don’t wish harm to Scarlet nor the Nytemares, or Acorn, or Meen, or any of the others I have made friends with. What should I do?” Hungry inquired – now not really asking just Cornelia but the entire group.
Which way will it sway and who will triumph none yet can foretell but for good to win the evil must not prevail; for if evil wins forever magic will be changed or lost and the Realms will suffer at the cost. For in the telling of this tale a musician must play as the dryad who has forsaken it's way; the troll will mend what was once broken as they both must gain the Dragyn 's token.
When Hewy was finished and the others silently trying to figure out the song, he spoke. "Hungry, I am glad to meet you. What you just heard was a prophecy from long ago told to me by Awena of the Sleeping Sisters. We think it is about you and the choices you must make for the Realms."
"What are you doing interrupting me like that?" growled the angry wizard glaring at the Spite. Sprigg'n wasn't backing down and said, "You will not hinder the Dragon's decision. This day has been foretold since the day you came to the Realms and why I was born. You will have your chance to convince Hungry of your desires, but not with the magic you seek to change." Surprised to hear such determination from the Spite, the spell vanished from his mind. "Since the Spite has gotten her own name, she should have added "pain" to the middle of it," thought the Wizard. He continued to mutter, "Now I am going to have to convince the Dragon to grant my wish by using my other plan." Turning back to the others, Dewin realized that Hewy was just finishing repeating the prophecy and was starting to answer Hungry's questions. No one had noticed. "So you think that I am the Wish Dragon in the story, err... I mean prophecy? But how can that be if this was written long before I was born?" asked the confused Dragon. "If I am, what am I supposed to do and who are the others mentioned? Don't they have to be here also?"
Efem, noticing his snacking, smiled as she continued, "and the hungry part, besides being also your name, may also apply to you as I watch you eating every morsel left in your take-away bag from the Sugar Plum Bakery." "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed a Dragon could blush," thought Hewy as he watched Hungry quickly put the last remaining cookie back into the bag he had been carrying.
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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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