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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?”
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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?" 
Neither Drat nor Dree knew it would be the last time they were to see her again. "The Queen is sending me on an important mission that is going to take me into places unknown," Meen realized as she listened to the flutterby message again. "She even told me to pick someone to serve in my place as her chief, but who should I pick that will do as good as a job as I do?" With that thought, Meen continued hopping towards the Shadows' Queen's castle to pack for her journey. Meanwhile, Meen was not the only one packing... "Don't forget the spoon and my favorite shoes," Goodie2shues told her sisters.
"Hurry sisters. My vision told me that we must catch this next transport if we are to be timely. If you don't have time to pack it, we will just have to find another when we get there," Goodiegood told the others. "What about the stuff we have to leave behind? What's going to happen to that?" asked Goodie4u as she finished filling her traveling case. "I have taken care of that. Someone who the door guardian knows well will be in charge of the cottage for us," answered Goodiegood. It was then that the knock sounded at the door and the door opened wide letting in the Borrower. "Hi Arnie. Take a seat and we will be finished shortly. I already poured you a cup of that pumpkin spice tea you like so much," Goodiegood said as she resumed packing. As Arnie sat down, Goodiegood and her sisters started for the door with their traveling bags. "Sorry, we don't have time to chat, replied Goodie2shues. "And we can't tell you why but please consider this cottage your home," Goodie4u told her as they all left. "I can only tell you that what we have to do is important and it is taking us to a unknown place," and closed the door leaving Arnie by herself in the quiet cottage.
"This is a strange place," thought Arnie as she looked at the circular tangle of sticks that was slightly moving (as if breathing) hanging over the entrance door. She then pulled out her favorite keys and locks as she thought of new places to hide her treasures in this cool looking cottage.
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.
He had been working on getting his kitchen setup so he could mix his first batch of ambrosia for the Dragons here in this new realm. "First batch indeed," he thought. "It will take many more batches just to feed all of them even once. It's a good thing that there are only a few Wish Dragons around otherwise I would need an army of SPICE bakers to get the mis-enchanted back." After finding his bellows and the other items needed, Al decided to get some fresh air before having to stand over the cooking pot. "It will do me some good to step outside for a bit," he decided as he realized that being bent over rummaging through storage boxes had created a kink in his back. Before stepping out of the cave, he took a quick look around to make sure that it was safe. He had almost stepped out once before in his travels with the Dragons and a giant bird had almost eaten him. Thinking about it made him shiver slightly and for a moment stopped whistling to mutter "Darn Rocs". Spying a giant frog and a Pyksee hopping around, Allspice decided it was still safe enough to step out of the cave for a little while. "But not too far from the entrance. Don't want the Dragons to see me. They will be nagging me soon enough to be brewing up more Ambrosia. After taking several deep breaths and a long stretch to straighten out the kinks in his back, Allspice turned around and went back into the cave. "I better get busy as I do have a lot of Ambrosia to still brew," he thought. Even though this part of the cave was still dark, he had walked in and out so many times bringing in his boxes of cooking supplies that he did not need to cast a light spell to see. Soon he was back to whistling and brewing. "That tune just won't go away. It's a good thing I like it," he smiled.
It was here that Meen (spying) realized that she needed to tell the Queen of the Shadows' what she had seen and heard, but another also was affected by what had just happened... Not too far away, a Dragon and a rat were discussing the finer parts of humor when the Dragon suddenly stopped talking and started turning his head this way and that! "Do you smell that?" Dree asked Drat. The rat stopped and sniffed the air. Being a rat he had a very sensitive nose but evidently it was nothing compared to the Dragon's. "I don't smell anything unusual other than your feet," he joked.
Soon Dree figured out the direction of the smell and made the decision that he would check out what it was that somebody was cooking. But before he could act on that thought, Drat distracted him with a new joke. "Did you hear the one about the rock and the troll? Well this troll was lonely and one day while out walking he saw this big rock in the trail..."
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.
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