There were so many footprints that Aralt soon realized that he would have just about as much luck in the middle of the busiest street in the village trying to find his own footprints. "Dragonsbreathe!" he muttered disgruntled. "I don't have time to check out all of these caves." But soon it was evident that he wasn't going to be able to do this the easy way and resigned himself to start exploring each cave with every twist and turn. After several hours of searching and just before he was ready to give up thinking that maybe he did have the wrong caves after all-- he heard it. At first he wasn't sure what the noise was, but as he approached the direction it was coming from, he realized that what he was hearing was laughter. The laughter of a Dragon! "I knew I was right," he silently congratulated himself.
As he was listening, the rat started to read the Dragon another joke... "Okay Dree. I have a good one for you. What did the left eye tell the right eye?" The Dragon shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "I don't know, what?" he asked. Snickering Drat answered, "Something between us smells." It took Dree a few seconds before he figured out the punchline and started to laugh.
Drat and Dree both looked at each other before Dree answered. "My name is Drai'ochtluan but you may call me Dree for short. This is my friend and aid to King Dulbbe, Drat. What is a Dragon Herald might I ask?" Aralt wasn't ready for that question. He had been the Dragon Herald for so long that all of the Dragons knew him and what he did. Why didn't this one? "Why, I announce the Dragons arrival and help to keep the understanding that has long been in place between Dragons and all of the other fae to also include the 'Outies'," answered Aralt. "How is it that you have never heard of me? Where are the other Dragons so that I may talk to them instead?" Aralt asked while thinking that this young Dragon must not be very bright.
Quickly offended Aralt replied, "I need no help finding my way rat" as he turned around and stormed from the caves. Drat followed him to make sure that as he left the caves and he was indeed headed south. As Drat watched, Dree had quietly followed. "He is going to be mad when he finds out there aren't any Dragons in the caves to the south, isn't he?" asked Dree. "Yuppers," replied Drat. "But that should give us plenty of time to tell the others that he has seen you and what happened. We should head to the council hall." "Great and on our way there I heard a new joke," snickered Dree as they started towards the village. "First I say... Knock, Knock... and you say 'who's there'..."
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Even for important events (such as the weekly meetings) individual Wsyps have been known to be late or even sometimes sleep through the meeting. Resulting in one of their favorite pranks which is leaving behind the sleeper who fell asleep during the important meeting. It usually requires everyone sneaking out quietly at the end of the meeting so the sleeper is not awakened - again why the Wysps enjoy doing it. As a matter of fact, this happened the night of the "strange occurrence" that made the Wsyps leave the cave and hold their meeting in a bush where Aralt stumbled in to them. Later, when the Wsyp (who had been left behind) found the others to complain about being left behind, he mentioned that when he woke up, his stomach was rumbling because of the cooking smells he thought he had dreamt. Ah, but was it a dream? Is there someone (or something) behind that portal that is blocking the rest of the cave? Allspice (or Al to his friends ) loves to cook. Little do others know about the magic he puts into his cooking which involves him getting up real close and personal with everything he bakes. One of Allspice's favorite things he loves to do is to bring out the music hidden in the cooking.
BUBBLE..BUBBLE...POP...gurgle...Bubble...BUBBLE...POP... When he felt the rhythm, he would begin to bang on the pot with his wooden stirring spoon. Slowly the drum-like noise, drifting up the chimney, would grow louder and louder. Then he would start to blow on a kitchen funnel hanging by the cooking pot, adding the music of a horn to the simmering beat. Gradually, as the melody of the brew continued, he would step on the bellows he had handy to keep the fire glowing to add a whish of steam to the sounds his cooking was creating.
Allspice knows what ingredients that one element of magic requires and how rare they were to find. But ohhhhh, the sweetness that one addition makes to anything he cooks always makes his meals be the best and hardest to resist in his kitchen.
The council meeting broke up as soon as everyone learned that Aralt had managed to leave Meen behind. With him disappearing the Dowager immediately sent Meen to warn Drat that the Herald may be heading towards the caves where Drat and Dree were supposed to be hiding out. Awena also wasted no time and went directly to her library to find the Dragon's Return prophecy to see if there might be a clue to reveal what Aralt's power over the Dragons might be. As she sorted through the many prophecy scrolls, more than once she thought that they should have some sort of index to be able to find the one she was looking for faster. "Once this is over, I will have to meet with the staff to figure something out," she told herself as she put another scroll aside in her search for the right one.
Normally Efem would almost dread having to enter the Sacred Grove to talk to the ancient trees but not this trip. Since learning they could speed talk, she hoped they would respond quickly to her requests for knowledge that only they knew from the roots of the Realm's past. "I hope that the Ol' Yew is not asleep," she thought as she approached the mighty tree. As she stood next to it and looked upon it's shiny green foliage, Efem was awed by a random thought of how much it must have seen during its life cycle. "I remember my mother bringing me here to see the Yew when I was a young sapling and the Yew was ancient even then." As she silently waited for the tree to notice her so she could ask her questions about Aralt the Herald, Efem was contently lost in her own memories of the past. "One of the stories of the ages and I don't know where to start," thought Snoop as he sat at his desk in the Bellwether and tried to put quill to parchment. "I promised the Dowager that I would not print anything that would give Aralt a clue as to Dree, but I have to print something!"
It was his pile of the Herald newspapers that came crashing down from a shelf and just missing hitting him on the head that made him think... "Herald! That's it! I need to write about what we know about Aralt the Dragon Herald. That way I won't give away what we know about Dree. Plus I can get the word out that he has returned. This will be a terrific article!" Right away Snoop was lost in his writing and not even wondering any longer if Aralt might have found the caves where Dree was hiding.
"The council members truly do not understand what is returning and the power I hope to re-claim when "She" returns," thought Aralt to himself. Now Aralt was familiar with the many caves in and around his own home and on the out-skirts of the Village but he wasn't aware of any caves located under the so called Baron's mansion. Maybe he shouldn't have gotten rid of that Pkysee just yet he thought as he continued walking down the path leading out of town and hopefully in the direction of where he figured the Baron's home would be. Since Aralt lived in the opposite direction and had no previous reason to explore this part of the countryside before, it made sense to him that this should be the way to go. "It can't be much further down the road surely?" grumbled Aralt as he pulled out a small rock that had worked it's way into his shoe and was rubbing his toes the wrong way. He had been walking (which wasn't his favorite way to travel) for quite a distance and was getting hot and miserable when he spied something blue flashing ahead. "There! It flashed again!" he said to himself turning his head slightly to catch the glimpse of blue in some nearby bushes.
"We can't drop the stick while standing in some bushes to decide who has to be the leader at the next meeting," one of the Wysps was complaining. "It's got to be in a cave where it's harder to not get hit when it falls. Besides, if we are all in the bushes and the stick hits the bush which hits some of us, then who has to be leader? We should just go back to the meeting cave instead of being here!" Aralt just could not figure out what the problem was. "I would think one of them would want to be the leader and tell the others what to do," he thought. "Wysps are so strange." It was also surprising to Aralt to see so many Wysps together at one time like this. They were usually solitary in planning their next bout of mischief. "It's unusual that they seem more concerned about what they were talking about instead of finding me as a lone walker on a path," he wondered confused. "I can't believe that things have changed that much since I have been gone. Their favorite choice of things to do has always been to prank someone out alone." Aralt wished he could get closer to hear more as his curiosity was now tweaked but he was afraid of making them scatter and disappear. As they continued arguing, all he could hear was a few scattered words but what he heard had his attention. When they complained about a "portal" and "blinding light in their cave" it made Aralt wonder. "Were these the same caves that are under the Baron's house?" he asked himself. After all, that seems the direction they were coming from if he was heading in the right direction to get there. Backing up slowly as to not startle the Wysps while they kept arguing the fine points of dropping a stick, Aralt found new energy and resolve to find those caves hidden below this Baron's house. Once he was far enough away from the Wysps, Aralt quickly turned around and immediately began his trek up the path and to where he hoped were the caves.
“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.
Turning around he started addressing the entire group again. "It has been a very long time since I have seen the village and met with the people," Aral said trying to gentle his voice. Looking at the Dowager, since he realized that most of the council deferred to her, he continued, "Is there someone who could show me around?" Both surprise and relief filled Griselda with this request. "This would be a perfect way to get the Herald out of the council chamber so that I can talk with the others," she thought to herself. "But who should go with him?" She would have had Fiddlefaddle as her man servant do it but he was back at the mansion and she did not want to wait for him to arrive if she summoned him. Drat was with Dree and most of the other minions were off or busy. It was Aralt who solved the problem by asking if the pyksee was available. Not having a better choice, and with Ffion’s approval, soon Aralt and Meen were walking down the streets of the village.
“We haven’t been able to play leap the frog lately because my toad friend can’t hop until his leg heals. Do you want to play?” Meen asked. “Not at the moment but I might. I was thinking about a game I used to play as a child but it would take more than just a couple of us and we need someone taller than you or me,” answered Aralt. “As a matter of fact, they would have to be really tall. How about your friend Hungry?” Not realizing what Aralt was doing, Meen answered maybe a little more truthfully than she should have… “You mean Dree? I don’t think he can, the council has him staying in his room in the caves under the Baron’s mansion.” Before the pyksee realized the importance of what she had said, Aralt quickly asked Meen to pick up something to drink for him at the tea shop he had visited earlier that day. As she bounded off, the Herald watched her go and smiled. “Now to get rid of her while I check out the caves,” he said to himself.
"I was wondering when you were going to come in," said the Dragon when Drat finally entered. "I heard you when you first entered the cave but thought you already knew the way here or I would have come to meet you," Dree told him as he put down the book he had been reading. Noticing that Drat was trying to see the book's cover, Dree turned the book so that it would be easier for the Troll King's minion to see. "I am almost done with it if you would like to borrow it," said Dree. "You will have to get it back to Granny Flare since she borrowed it from the library and loaned it to me." It was then that Dree's sensitive nose caught the smells from the bag that Drat was carrying. "Did you bring something from the Goodie's? It smells like something they cooked for me once before on my birthday. I won't take any, I swear, but they do smell good!"
Dree politely took the bag and started eating one morsel at a time - savoring each one before starting on the next. Soon the bag was empty and Drat realized that now was a perfect time to start his mission. "You must be bored being down here by yourself," started Drat. "Do you mind if I stay for a while and keep you company? We could tell stories, play some games, even read a book or two together. Whatcha think?" Smiling, Dree folded the bag up so it could be returned to the Goodie's (hopefully for more treats) and placed it neatly on a rock by where he had set down his book. Still smiling, he stared at Drat as if searching for something hidden on the minion. As Drat started to get nervous and was just about ready to bolt out of the cave, especially from a Dragon smiling at you for too long, Dree spoke. "Drat, I appreciate you bringing the sweets and everything, but I already figured out why you are here. The others want to keep me away from the Dragon Herald until they can talk to him and find out what he is really doing here." This admission caught Drat completely by surprise! "How did you know?" stammered Drat as he kept one eye on the way out of the cave and thinking "I wonder how fast he is..." "You don't have to stay," said Dree, no longer smiling. "I understand the seriousness of the situation and promise I will not leave the caves until either Granny Flare or Griselda tell me it's time to come out. I too want to know what the Herald really wants and if he won't tell the others, then I doubt he will honestly tell me either." Dree's admission made Drat realize that this errand might have not been so bad after all and to the minion's credit, he decided to make the most of it - I mean it isn't everyday you get to sit and be friends with a Dragon. "So Dree, what do you do for entertainment? The council isn't expecting me to come back for quite some time and if you don't mind, I would like to sit and talk to you some more." That made the Dragon smile again as he dug out a board game that the Baron had left him. "It's called Dragons and Dungeons, but since I live in a cave, let's call it Caves and Dragons..."
"But what can we whip up that will be different? We have to show everyone that we still have that special touch and are the best bakers in the realms!" Goodie2shues and Goodie4U just looked at each other and tried to think up something unique. "I remember a few years ago when Granny came up with a gluten free pumpkin pie recipe that everyone tried just to see what it tasted like," said Goodie2shues. "Hardly anyone ate what we brought that year," added Goodie4U remembering all of the leftovers they had from that Harvest Festival. "We don't want that again," added Goodiegood. As the three sisters stewed over what special recipe they would pull together, they sat and sipped their pumpkin spice tea. Suddenly Goodiegood smiled. The others could just picture her mind churning up something. "I know what we can create and we won't even have to use the oven!" she snickered. "No one else would ever think of it..." she continued almost to herself.
"This will be fun and we didn't even have to ask the Magical Cooking Spoon for an idea," Goodie2shues thought as she started her part of the recipe. The recipe:
First she melted the butter and mixed it with the sugar and graham cracker crumbs in a large bowl. Next she pressed the mix across the bottom of a cake pan and then put the pan into a cooler to chill it until it was cold. As Goodie2shues was making the crust, Goodie4U was starting the filling. In a large bowl she mixed:
After mixing the ingredients, she folded in 1 quart of softened vanilla ice cream. Next she spooned everything into the chilled crust made by Goodie2shues and they put the treat into a freezer for about 30 minutes. When this was done, it was Goodiegood who figured out that a double batch of the mixture would fill a 9 inch by 13 inch cake pan. "If we are going to have enough for everyone, we will need to get some more supplies before the Festival," she told her sisters as they were looking over the finished treat after it had chilled sufficiently. "I wonder how much ice cream we can get this time of year?" "No one will think of this," said Goodie2shues as the others nodded their heads in agreement. "But what do you call it?" she asked Goodiegood who had thought up the recipe.
The others nodded their head in agreement as Goodiegood made a note on the shopping list to not forget the two in the cave.
"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.
"Returning back here is certainly opening up the memories," he thought as he slightly shook his head from side to side. "Also who would have thought what this stone could do?" His first memory was when he had just put the stone in a locket and was admiring how it looked when he was summoned to a Dragon Clan meeting. "Forming the clan was one of my better plans," he smiled as he congratulated himself. "Having the Dragons actually listen to the clan helped make them so much more controllable." Picking up the locket once again he decided, "Maybe I'll just wear the locket to the meeting. What's the worst that can happen?"
As he was waiting, the talking he heard earlier started again but no one was there - except for the Dragons! It was then that he remembered the voices sounded like the golden Dragon who took his friend, the Dragonet, away when he was first learning about Runes. As he continued to sip his tea, Aralt's memory was coming back to him just like it happened that day. "They are mind talking with each other!" realized Aralt. "How can I hear them when I couldn't before? I have been with the Dragons for years now and this is first time I can hear them talking to each other with just their thoughts." Aralt thought about it for a minute and then realized the only thing different about him was the locket he carried. "I've got to find out." Taking the locket and laying it on the rock where he had been sitting, he draped his cloak over it and then walked over to stand near the Dragons. "Nothing. Not a word," he muttered to himself. "Now back to the locket and we will see." Casually he strolled back to the locket and touched it. Clearly he heard the Dragons still talking to each other. It had to be the power of the stone in the locket. The Dragon Heart stone! It did not take long before Aralt realized the possibilities of the stone. He could hear what the Dragons were saying to each other and they didn't seem to know he could hear them... but it wasn't until he was gifted the corolla that his real power was to be reached.
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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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