Chapter 20: Talon Performs Magic

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Talon was in his study when they came in.  There was a big glowing ball in the center of his room.  “What are you working on Talon?” asked King Carlyle.

“I’ve been in contact with the sorcerer's guild.  We’re working on ways to contain the monsters.  What are you doing?”

“Oh, you know, the usual stuff,” said King Carlyle.  “Goblins again.  And dragons.  I’m really sorry to bother you with this when you’re so busy, but we could use your help on this, and it shouldn’t be too difficult.  I was thinking some bitter spray.”

“Bitter spray?”

“Yes, I think that should do it.  I’ve made a bargain with the dragons that they could eat the goblin army.  Then I released Grinthal the goblin king, and told him to get his army out of my kingdom before the dragons come back tomorrow.  Of course, Grinthal’s not going to do it.  So I’m fairly sure Grinthal and his army will attack the castle at about midday tomorrow, which is just when the dragons will come back.”

“So the dragons will eat the goblin army, and then be satisfied and go away.  Perfect.  You’ve solved both of your problems.  You don’t need me after all.”

“Yes, except you know me.  I hate to be the cause of anyone getting eaten if I can avoid it.  Even a goblin.  So I was thinking that we could get some of that nasty bitter spray you make, and you could cast a spell so that it would cover all of the goblins.  And then, when the dragons tried to eat the goblins, they’d spit them out because they tasted so bitter.”

“How will that solve anything?”

“Well, with any luck, the goblin army will be so traumatized that they’ll still flee the kingdom.  And as for the dragons, they’ll fly away as fast as they can to try to find a river or something and get that awful bitter taste out of their mouths.”

“You know I’m very busy at the moment?” said Talon.  “You know what will happen if the monsters get out?”

“Believe me, I do not want to distract you from your important work for a moment longer than necessary,” said King Carlyle.  “I’m thinking it will only take you a few minutes to caste the bitter spell over the goblin army when they attack tomorrow.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” said Talon, returning his focus to the glowing ball.  “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m trying to contact the guild.”

******************************************************************

The next day, the goblin army attacked right at midday.  “Good old Grinthal,” said King Carlyle “He’s as predictable as ever.”

Kin Carlyle was on the castle tower, watching the attack below.  With him were his sons George and Rufus, and Robert, Henry, Grace and Thomas.

“Run and fetch Talon,” King Carlyle said to Thomas.  “He won’t be happy, but this should only disturb him for a minute.”

Thomas ran down the steps.  

“I think I see the dragons coming,” said Henry.  “They’re still pretty far off in the distance.”

“They’ll be here soon enough,” said King Carlyle.  “Dragons make very good time.”

Indeed, by the time Thomas came up the stairs with Talon, the dragons were almost upon them.  “Ah, there you are, Talon,” said King Carlyle.  “I promise, this will only take a minute of your time.  We’re almost ready.”

The goblin hordes were meanwhile attacking the castle walls.  They were attempting to scale the stone walls, using their long fingers and claw-like hands to find places to grab between the stones, and pulling themselves up bit by bit.

“Ah, there you are, friend Grinthal,” King Carlyle called down.  “Remember now, I did try and warn you!”

“Warn me! You lied to me!” screamed Grinthal, who was leading his army up the castle wall.  The goblins could not see the dragons, because the dragons were approaching from the opposite end of the castle, and the huge castle walls obscured the vision of the goblins.  But then, just at that minute, the dragons passed over the castle, and as he saw the huge winged beasts flying directly above him, Grinthal screamed with fright and lost his grip on the castle walls.  He fell down, and as he fell he bumped against several other goblins who were lower on the wall than he was.  A few of them fell as well.  Once Grinthal hit the ground, he screamed again and started running away.  His army, seeing their king flee, and also simultaneously seeing the dragons, also began running.  The dragons swooped down with open mouths.

“Perfect,” said King Carlyle.  “Now, Talon, the bitter spell!”

Talon pointed his staff at the dragons and uttered a gutteral incantation, and a spark of light flew from his staff and hit the dragons.  They both turned into rabbits, and fell to the ground.  The goblin army by this point was too terrified to turn back and look, so they kept running and running, and never seemed to notice that the dragons were no more.

King Carlyle was in shock.  “What did you just do?” he asked.

“I do humbly apologize, sire.  I would never have ventured to disobey you, except time is so precious now.  I couldn’t afford to waste time messing about with a bitter spell.  Besides, I’m not even sure it would have gotten rid of the dragons like you think it would have.  It may have just made them angrier.”

“You have the power to transform dragons?” King Caryle asked.

“Yes my king.  It is one of the oldest principles of sorcery.  We cannot create something out of nothing, but we can transform matter.

“But…But... ” King Carlyle sputtered for words before he finally exclaimed.  “But then why have you never told me this before?  What about all the times I’ve had to fight dragons over the years?  Why did you let me fight those dragons when you could have transformed them instead?”

“My King, I beg you to recall that in all those previous incidences, I did exactly as you ordered me to.”

“Yes, but you never told me you had the power to transform the dragons.”

“You never asked.”

King Carlyle stood speechless.

“My King, is there anything else?” Talon asked at last.  “I am very busy consulting with  the sorcerer's guild, and trying to contain the monsters.”

“No, that is all Talon.  You may go,” said King Carlyle.  

Still silent, King Carlyle led George, Rufus, Robert, Henry, Grace and Thomas outside the castle wall.  The two rabbits were hopping about in a confused way.

“It was particularly cruel of Talon to make them into such cute rabbits,” said King Carlyle to George.  “If they were some tough looking jackrabbits, then at least they would have their dignity with them.  But as such cute looking little fluffy white bunny rabbits, it’s going to be difficult to take them seriously.”

“I have no doubt you’ll handle the situation with the appropriate decorum, as always, father,” said George, but he couldn’t resist smiling as he said it. 

“Ah, there you are King Carlyle,” one of the rabbits said as King Carlyle approached.  “We demand you change us back.”  Strangely enough, even though it was now a small cute little fluffy bunny rabbit, it still maintained some of the dragon’s deep thundering voice.  Although the volume of the voice was at a much more tolerable level now.

“I’m sorry Klangor,” said King Carlyle.  “I couldn’t change you back even if I wanted to.  My sorcerer changed you, not me.”

“But this is treachery!” boomed the rabbit in an outraged voice.

“Come now, do not consider yourselves unfairly used by me,” said King Carlyle.  “I have always maintained my agreements with you.  It was you who came back too soon and demanded too much.  I can’t have you coming back every season and demanding to eat everything in my kingdom.”

“We will take this all the way to the dragon’s council,” said the other rabbit, in a similar deep booming voice.  “We will have our revenge.”

“In those tiny bodies?” said King Carlyle.  “I beg you to reconsider.  You’d never make it all those miles.  Rabbits can hop fast at times, it’s true, but you would also tire easily.”

“If it takes us a thousand years, we will make the journey back!”

“Yes, yes, it’s your decision after all.  But it’s far too late in the day to start now.  Stay the night at my castle, feast at my table, sleep in warm beds, and you can begin your journey in the morning.”

The rabbits paused.  “We are hungry,” Starrof admitted.  “What kind of meat can you serve us?”

“You know that no animals in the forest eat meat anymore,” said King Carlyle.  “Especially rabbits.  Your stomach couldn’t handle it even if I gave it to you.  You eat grass now.”

“A dragon does not eat grass!” yelled Starrof, outraged.

“Starrof, my dear friend, you are now in a rabbit body, and must eat as a rabbit does.”

The rabbit gave out a howl of rage, followed by a self-pitying sob.  “I know, I know,” said King Carlyle.  “When this is all over, I’ll try to talk to my sorcerer about getting you changed back.  At the moment, though, we need to deal with the monsters underground.  It’s a long story, I’ll explain later.  But I promise you, you’ll both be safe in my castle as long as you like.”

And so, with their ears drooping sadly, the rabbits hopped into the castle.

“Thomas, Robert, Henry, Grace, could you show our new visitors around the castle?” said King Carlyle as they all entered together.  “Make sure they have access to whatever refreshment they desire, but they may require advising on what is suitable in their bodies.”

King Carlyle then took George and Rufus into a separate room, and closed the door.  “This situation with Talon disturbs me more and more,” said King Carlyle.  “He has not been honest with us all these years.”

“We should get rid of him at once,” said Rufus.  “How can we possibly trust him?”

“Get rid of him?” said George.  “Rufus, have you no heart?  We grew up with the man.  He played with us when we were children.”

“Yes, and now he’s endangering my own children.  He attacked my son, Thomas, in the underground chamber that night.”

“Rufus is right, George,” said King Carlyle.  “We can’t become too attached to our past.  An overly sentimental heart is dangerous for a king.  I am also affectionate for the old man, but we need to think clearly.  We can’t trust him, and now we know he’s more powerful than we had ever imagined.  That’s a dangerous combination.  But, we need to move carefully.  If he’s as powerful as he appears to be, we can’t just get rid of him.  He’ll turn the whole lot of us into field mice or bunny rabbits.”

“Well, he obviously doesn’t want us dead,” said George.  “Or if he does, he’s in no hurry.  He’s been living with us for years.  If he had wanted to kill us, he’d have done it already.”

“Well said, George,” said King Carlyle.  “It’s important to keep perspective.  But it’s also apparent that we can no longer leave him entirely to his own devices.  As Rufus already mentioned, he endangered the life of Thomas, and also another of my grandchildren, Robert, that night in the underground chamber.

“So what do you propose,” asked Rufus.

“We need someone to watch him, closely,” said King Carlyle.  “Someone who can be with him all the time without arousing his suspicion.”

“You mean one of the children,” said George.

“It would have to be,” said King Carlyle. 

“We can’t put the children in danger,” said George.

“We would only be putting the child in danger if the child knew they were spying on Talon,” said King Carlyle.  “If the child knows what they are doing, then they might let something slip accidentally.  But what if the child didn’t know they were a spy.  What if they just happened to start spending more time with Talon, and then every night one of us would casually ask the child what they had seen that day.”

“Who did you have in mind?” asked Rufus.

“Thomas used to spend a lot of time with Talon, but after the incident in the underground chamber, I’m not sure they trust each other anymore,” said King Carlyle.  “But what about Susan?  She’s only 12.  She’s young enough to still be innocent, but old enough to pick up on things.”

“I don’t like it,” said George.  “If Talon finds out, what will he do to my Susan?  Will he change her into a rabbit?”

“But there’s nothing for him to find out,” said King Carlyle.  “If Susan doesn’t know she’s a spy, then how can Talon possibly find out she’s a spy? All we’ll do is try to make sure they spend a bit more time with each other.  By coincidence.  Besides, I don’t believe Talon would harm the children.  At least not just out of spite.  As you said yourself, if Talon had wanted to harm us, he could have done so a long time ago.”

George thought for a moment, and then slowly nodded.  “Alright, let’s give it a try.”

Chapter 19: The Dragons

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When they got back to the castle, King Grinthal was put into one of the prison cells in the basement.  “Usually I like to let my guests have free run of the castle,” King Carlyle explained to Robert, Henry and Grace.  “But you can never trust a goblin, and we don’t really have a lot of time to waste nowadays.”

John, who had been up in the library reading with Jason, came down to talk about what he had found out.  “I was just reading about the great goblin wars,” he said.  “It sounds pretty ferocious.  Are you guys okay?”

“Those goblins aren’t nearly as bad as they’re built up to be,” said Grace.

“Really?  Because they sound pretty dangerous from the books,” said John.

“The key to any goblin attack is to nip it in the bud very early on,” said King Carlyle.  “John’s right.  There are examples in the history books of when they got out of control and did some real damage.  We can’t get complacent.  The goblin army is still out there wandering around.  If they regroup, and choose a new leader, they could still cause us some trouble.  And it’s the last thing we want to be dealing with while we’re worried about those monsters getting out of that portal.  Has anyone seen Talon today?”

“He’s been in his room all day,” said Jason.

“Ask him to come down here.  I want to know if he’s heard anything from the sorcerer's guild,” King Carlyle said.

Talon was brought down, but he said he had nothing to report from the sorcerer's guild.  He was still waiting for the reply on the last message he sent them.

While they were talking, messengers ran in.  “The dragons are flying in,” he said.  “Why do all the problems always have to happen at once,” said King Carlyle.  “How far away are they?”

“They’ve been spotted way off in the distance,” said the messenger.  “We think it will take them about one hour to get here.”

“Okay, well at least we have time to prepare,” said King Carlyle.  “John, this will be a test for you.  Have you and Jason had time to study the dragon campaigns yet?”

“Not in detail,” said John.

“Okay, well, you may find this interesting,” said King Carlyle.  “I’ve had to deal with dragons before.  They’re a bit harder to deal with than goblins.  You have to take them seriously.  But at least they’re not duplicioutus.  They’ll tell you exactly what they want.   If you can give them what they want, then they’ll be happy and go away.  If you can’t give them what they want, then you need to get ready for a fight.”

“Have you had to fight dragons before?” asked Robert.

“Many times,” said King Carlyle.  “I think the last time was before you were born.  But you can ask your mother.  She should remember.”  [Is this consistent with what Thomas said earlier?  Check?]

King Carlyle started putting on his armour.  “I don’t plan on fighting today,” he said.  “But you should always put on a full show of force when dealing with dragons.  Dragons don’t usually break their word once they’ve given it, but that’s assuming you can get them to negotiate in the first place.  If they think you’re in a weak position, they’ll just eat you up without even bothering to negotiate.  Robert, why don’t you come with me.  You’ll find this quite educational.  And someday, when I’m gone, you’ll be negotiating with dragons yourself.”

“My King,” said Henry.  “If there’s any fighting with dragons to be done--”

“Henry, I want you to stay behind on this one,” King Carlyle said.  “Robert is coming to watch my negotiating.  Our plan is not to start fighting yet.”  

Henry bowed his head, and did not argue.

“I think I’d prefer to stay behind as well,” said John.  “I’d much rather read about the dragons than see one.”

“As you wish,” said King Carlyle.  “You go back into the library and read all about the dragon campaigns.  I’ll have Jason quiz you on it later.  Robert, come with me.  I think we have some armor your size somewhere.” 

Robert put on the full armour, and King Carlyle also gave him a huge shield and a large lance to carry.  King Carlyle was similarly dressed, and also had a big lance and shield.  Robert  followed King Carlyle up the many stairs to the top of the castle tower, where they once again had a view of the entire forest canopy.  They could see two winged dragons flying in the sky.  Even though they were still a ways off in the distance at this point, Robert could see that they looked huge.

“Don’t worry,” said King Carlyle to Robert.  “I know they look huge, but we’ve dealt with them before.”

Robert and King Carlyle stood mostly in silence as they watched the dragons approach.  Finally, the two dragons flew in, and landed on the top of the castle tower.  It seemed to Robert that the castle tower wobbled slightly under their weight.

“Klangor, Starrof, welcome,” said King Carlyle.  “You’ve come back sooner than I expected. I thought we had made an agreement last time.”

“We did,” said the dragon known as Klangor in a booming voice, small flames jumping from his mouth.  “But you know well that your agreements with us are only for one season.”

“Yes, but the last time you stayed away for ten seasons after our agreement.”

“That was because we wished to,” boomed Starrof.  “But now we wish differently.”

“Yes,” said Klangor.  “We have heard rumours of how much your kingdom has grown, and how many new humans have come into your kingdom.  You must have ways to feed them that you have not told us about before.  Wherever you’re hiding this food, we want it.”

“We want to eat some of the humans as well.”

King Carlyle turned to Robert.  “Dragons,” he said by way of explanation, “are one of the few creatures still left who still eat meat.  They never agreed to turn to vegetarianism when the rest of the world did.”

“And why shouldn’t we?” boomed Klangor.  “Meat is so delicious.”

“But back to your point,” said King Carlyle, “You know that I cannot allow you to eat any of my subjects.  We discussed this the last time you were here.”

“But you cannot stop us,” said Starrof.  “If you do not bring us meat to eat, we will burn this forest down, and then eat who we choose.”

“Possibly I can get you some goblins,” said King Carlyle.  “Do you like goblins?”

“No! They are so small and stringy.  And their meat is not delicious.”

“Yes, I understand,” said King Carlyle.  “But if you had a whole army of them to eat, would you feel differently?”

The dragons looked at each other.  “Possibly, if there was a whole army, we might feel differently,” said Klangor.  “But how can you deliver a whole army to us.”

“Give me just one day,” said King Carlyle.  “Then come back here at midday tomorrow exactly, and I can give you a whole army.”

“If you don’t,” said Starrof, “we will burn down this castle.”  And then the dragons flew off.

Once the dragons flew away, King Carlyle turned to Robert.  “They could never burn down this castle.  It’s made of stone, and furthermore protected by Talon’s magic spells.  But there’s no point in getting into that argument with them.”

“So, get the dragons to eat the goblins,” said Robert.  “Clever.  You solve both of your problems at once.  Only it does seem a little bit cruel to dispose of all the goblins that way.”

“Yes, I agree,” said King Carlyle.  “Nasty creatures, the goblins, but I’d never have the heart to feed them all to the dragons.  Don’t worry, we’re not going to let the dragons eat them.  I’ve got a plan.  Maybe.  Actually I’m still thinking about some of the minor details, but I think I can make it work.”

Robert followed King Carlyle down all the steps, down from the tower, all the way down to the dungeon, where they found the goblin king Grinthal in one of the dungeons.  King Carlyle unlocked the dungeon door.  “My dear Grinthal, I came as fast as I could.  I fear you are in great danger,” said King Carlyle.

“What tricks are you up to this time?” asked Grinthal.

“No tricks, I assure you.  I’ve only just found out that two dragons are in the forest, and that they intend to devour your army.  Is that not true, Robert?”  Robert nodded to support his grandfather’s story.  “You must get your army out of here as soon as possible, before the dragons find you,” said King Carlyle.  “I am letting you out of the dungeon so that you can lead your army away.”

“Dragons are out to devour my army?  How stupid do you think I am?  That’s the oldest trick in the book!”

“My dear Grinthal, please be sensible for once.  I already have you locked up in my dungeon.  What benefit is it to me to let you out again?  What advantage over you could I possibly hope to gain that I do not already possess?”

“I don’t know, but I do not believe you nonetheless,” said Grinthal.  “I’ll believe the dragons are real when I see them.” 

“Grinthal, I am pleading with you to take my counsel for once.  I shall never forgive myself if your army is eaten by dragons because I did not sufficiently warn you.  I am begging you to withdraw your army and run to the far reaches of the forest as fast as you can.  But if you will only believe me once you see the dragons attacking, then at the very least, do me this favor.  When you see the dragons attack you, and you finally realize that I have been your faithful and honest friend this whole time, will you then at least take my advice?”

“I will never take your advice!” Grinthal yelled.

“My dear Grinthal, you are making this so difficult for me.  I want to release you from this dungeon, and let you go on your way, but I insist that you talk sense first of all.  What will it take to convince you that these dragons are real and that they want to eat your army?”

“I’ll never believe it until I see the dragons myself.”

“Fine, fine.  And if you do see the dragons, then what will you think?

“Then I shall believe you.”

“Okay, good.  And then you will have realized I was telling you the truth.  And at that point, if you want to save yourself and your army, please ask for my advice, and I will give it to you.” Before Grinthal had a chance to respond to this, King Carlyle said, “I’m so glad we understand each other at last now.  You are free to go now Grinthal.”

And so, Grinthal the Goblin King was let out of the dungeon, and he ran out of the castle and into the forest as fast as his little legs could carry him.

“It is always a struggle getting goblins to see reason,” King Carlyle said to Robert.  “But the fact that he is so stubborn at least makes him predictable.  We know that he is going to run back to his goblin army and organize an attack on the castle.  And then he should arrive sometime tomorrow midday, right in time for the dragons.”

“And then what?” asked Robert.

“Next we need to talk to Talon,” said King Carlyle.  “And see if he can help us with some spells.”

“Are we sure Talon won’t side with the dragons and use the spell against us instead?” asked Robert.

King Carlyle paused, and his face looked serious.  “My opinion of Talon has changed drastically in the past few days,” he said.  “But we need him.  When this is all over, there will be some changes around here, I promise you.  But right now, we need his help if we have any hope of containing those monsters.  Not to mention, the dragons and the goblin army.”

And they ran off to fetch Talon.

Chapter 18: The Goblin Army

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As the Goblin army got closer to the castle, King Carlyle decided to go over and see if they couldn’t be reasoned with.  As always, he took his two sons George and Rufus with him.  But once Henry found out they were going, Henry grabbed his sword and asked to come as well.  King Carlyle agreed, and then Grace asked to come.  And when King Carlyle agreed to that, Robert said he would like to come with his friends as well.  Thomas, when he heard Grace was going, pleaded with his grandfather to be allowed to go as well, and King Carlyle also allowed it.

They geared up for battle.  Henry, Grace and Robert were given some of the armor from the castle.  Henry still had his sword, but he was given a shield.  Robert took a sword from the castle.  Grace was given a bow and a quiver full of arrows from the castle.  

They walked through the forest until they got to a big river that the Goblin army was busy crossing.  The goblins were preparing to chop down trees to make a bridge.

“Careful Grinthal,” King Carlyle called across the river to the Goblin King.  “You know the trees in this part of the forest are under our protection.”

“Come and stop us then,” howled the Goblin King back, and then he laughed maliciously.  “If you can.”  Then he called out to his soldiers.  “Hurry up, lads.  Chop these trees down quickly.”

One of the goblins took an axe and swung it at the tree.  But no sooner had the axe blade touched the tree, then the tree screamed out in pain.  The tree then bent down and picked up the goblin with its branches, raised the goblin high in the air, and then quickly brought the goblin back down, whacking its poor little goblin body against the ground.  The other trees, when they heard their friend cry out, quickly woke up, and began picking up goblins with their branches and throwing them into the air.  The goblins tried to defend themselves with their axes, but the trees were everywhere, and they were soon overwhelmed.  

“Hurry, into the river!” yelled Grinthal, the Goblin King.  And the goblins jumped in and began swimming across.

From across the river, King Carlyle, George and Rufus watched.  “If we had brought more men, we could have stopped them right here,” said George.  “We could have easily stopped them from climbing up the river bank when they are disorganized and swimming one by one like this.”

“Ah, alas, how right you are George,” said King Carlyle.  “With just the sevenof us here, we can’t very well stop an army of goblins, even if they are disorganized. But let’s not beat ourselves up about it too much.  We didn’t have time to organize a larger force.  We had to come out quickly to see what they were up to.  Nevertheless, maybe we can talk some sense into them.”

As Grinthal the Goblin King neared the river bank, King Carlyle reached his arm out and plucked him out from the water.  Grinthal was only about the size of a small child, so King Carlyle was able to pick him out of the water quite easily.  He lifted him up by the back of his shirt, and held him up in the air.

“My dear King Grinthal, do you see how all my advice to you is always only out of affection and concern for your well-being.  For it was as much for your sake as for my own that I warned you the trees were under my protection.  If only you would listen to me on all matters, and you would avoid such catastrophes as have now befallen your army.”

“You didn’t tell me the trees here were alive and awake,” said Grinthal angrily.

“But what else could I have meant?” said King Carlyle.  “Surely by telling you these trees were under my protection, I was trying to communicate to you that they were more than just sleeping trees.”

“I’ll flay your skin for this!  You never told me that the trees would attack!” yelled King Grinthal.  (Goblins, although they are small in stature, can be horribly vicious and vindictive.)

“Come, come, you know I’ve nothing but your best interests at heart in all the advice I give.  And your army is still alright.  Some of them are a bit bruised, it looks like.  A few broken bones I’d wager.  But they have all survived.  Now, King Grinthal, what is it that you want?  Why did you bring your army this way?”

“We’ve come to plunder,” said Grinthal.  “We want gold, and silver, and cloth and wine, and whatever else you forest people keep in your houses.”

“Well, you’ve come at a bad time just now for wine,” said King Carlyle.  “We just had a human army come through, and they’ve cleaned us out of it.  Otherwise I’d be sure to treat you and all your army to the finest Elvish wine, just like I did the last time you were here.”

Grinthal screamed with outrage.  “No wine? You’re lying!  We’ll skin you alive for this.”  Grinthal was still being held in the air by King Carlyle, but he twisted his body back and forth in the air, trying to free himself.

“Yes, I’m terribly sorry.  But the good news, Grinthal, at least good as far as I’m concerned, is that we now have plenty of human soldiers in the forest to contain you and your army, should you try to start any trouble.  Now, we can’t give you anything just now.  We’re using all our resources at the moment.  But we can give you safe passage through our kingdom, if there’s somewhere else you want to go.”

“We don’t need your permission to go anywhere!” said Grinthal.

“As you like.  But if you give me your word you won’t harm any of the creatures in my kingdom, I’ll not hinder you either.”

“You are our prisoner now,” said Grinthal.  Then he yelled out to his army, “seize him.”

The goblins had been coming across the river and climbing up the river bank all this time, and there were now a large number of them assembled on the river bank.  There was now quite a large force assembled, and they looked like they could quite easily overwhelm the small group of humans.

“Now, King Grinthal, you remember what happened to your army when you tried to fight us two years ago.  I’d hate for that to happen to you again,” said King Carlyle.

“We outnumber you!” screamed Grinthal.  “You cannot defeat us all.”

The goblins were beginning to run towards them.  King Carlyle nodded to the rest of them.  “Try not to kill them,” he said. “I don’t want to spill any more blood than necessary.”

The goblins swarmed forward holding little goblin swords and axes.  The humans did their best to hold them at bay without killing them.  They circled together so that they could protect each other’s backs.  King Carlyle put Grinthal up in the branches of a tree, and left him there while he turned to deal with the advancing goblin soldiers.  George and Rufus looked like they had experience with dealing with the goblins before.  They were very good at deflecting the goblin sword thrusts, and they used the flat of their blades so that they could hit the goblins with their swords, but not cut them.  Robert tried to follow his uncles’ lead, and was attempting to only parry the goblin’s swords, but he was having difficulty with so many goblins.  Henry swung his sword wildly, and didn’t seem to be paying attention to King Carlyle’s order not to kill.  But once they saw how ferociously Henry was swinging his sword, the goblin’s decided to attack the others, and stay clear of Henry.  Grace took out her bow and began fitting it with arrows.  She aimed the arrows to injure the goblins, hitting them in the arms or legs, or pinning their clothes to the ground.  Thomas, who was carrying a huge shield, blocked most of the goblin swords with his shield, and also tried to parry their thrusts with his sword.

They spent some time engaged in the fight like this.  They kept pushing the goblins back, but the goblins kept swarming forward.  It looked like they might soon exhaust themselves except, in the confusion, one of the goblins swung his axe at Rufus, and when Rufus dodged the blow, the axe accidentally hit a tree instead.  The tree howled with pain, and bent down and picked the goblin up by his feet, before throwing him across the forest.  The other trees then also came alive, and started attacking the goblins. 

The trees in their outrage were attacking everything, but King Carlyle quickly cried out.  “It’s us.  It’s King Carlyle.  We are not part of the attack against you,” and the trees then left them alone.

The trees beat the goblins with their branches, and picked goblins up and threw them across the forest.  Many of the goblins jumped back into the river, and tried to swim back across to the opposite river bank.

As the goblin army fled in disorder, Thomas turned to Henry and Grace and Robert.  “What did I tell you?” he said triumphantly.  “The goblin army is never a real threat.  Grandfather knows how to handle them.”  Although Henry and Grace and Robert noticed that Thomas did have a rather painful sword gash on his arm.  It appeared that even if the goblins themselves were not particularly smart, their swords were real enough.

Grinthal was still stuck on the tree branches even after his army had retreated.  “No sense allowing the army to re-group around their king,” said King Carlyle, as he plucked Grinthal down from the tree.  “Let’s take this one back to the castle with us.  If the goblin army wants to re-organize, they’ll have to fight about who their leader is first.”

“Put me down!” demanded Grinthal, and he tried to scratch and bite, but King Carlyle held him by the back of his neck so that he couldn’t harm anyone.  George had a big black sack with him, and King Grinthal was dropped into the sack, and then they tied the sack closed.

“Has he got enough air in there?” asked King Carlyle.

George made a couple of small slits in the sack with his sword.  “He should be fine,” said George.

They walked back to the castle with the sack slung over George’s shoulder.  Occasionally Grinthal would thrash about and try to free himself from the sack, but then he would tire himself out after a while, and he was silent for most of the walk back. 

Chapter 17: Preparing

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“Why did you leave?”

“I had to.  You know that.  Oh, Midor, we’ve been through all this before.  Why do you bring it up again?”

“I kept coming back.  Every year, I came back to the castle.  I kept asking to see you, but the guards kept turning me away.”

Vivian paused.  “I didn’t know that,” she said.  “I didn’t know you kept coming back.”

“What did you think I did?”

“I don’t know.  I guess I just assumed you went on with your life, and I went on with mine.”

“Your father never told you I kept returning?  No, of course he didn’t.”

“But you never told Robert?”

“I told him I was going to visit the elves every year.  I left him in the care of the nymphs.  He never knew about you or the castle.”

“Why didn’t you tell him?”

“What was there to tell?  That he had a mother who was refusing to see him?”

“I never…  I never refused to see him.”

“Your father would never have let him and I in.”

“My father would never have let you in.”

“Your father still won’t let me in.  He just told me to get out of here before the monsters come.”

“So what will you do?”

“This is my forest.  If those monsters do get loose, you’re going to need all the help you can get.”

“You were always the noble one.  But where will you sleep?  The spirits are out, you know.  You can’t sleep on the ground like you usually do.  And the people won’t let you in their house.”

“I’ll sleep in an animal den then.  There are some wolves behind that hill who have a place just large enough for me to crawl into.”

“So undignified.  Sleeping in holes like an animal.”

“Undignified for you.  But I was never of royal blood, remember?  I was always a low-born ranger.  I live with the animals.”

She laughed.  “All the creatures in this forest respect you as if you were a king.”

“If they do,  it’s not because I live in a castle,” Midor answered.

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General Graten returned with hundreds of his soldiers, who helped Talon fill in the chamber.  They filled it all up, and then placed rocks and big boulders on top of it.  It took a lot of big strong men working for days, but they managed to first fill in the chamber completely with dirt, and then put rocks and stones on top of it.

Midor watched them from a distance.  (King Carlyle had forbidden him to interfere).  Robert and Henry came over to talk to Midor.  “That won’t hold them,” Midor said to Robert and Henry.  “The things I saw in there, those rocks won’t hold them.”  Midor turned to look at Henry.  “You are a prince of Mora, aren’t you?  This forest isn’t your fight.  You may want to get out of here while you can?”

Robert laughed.  “Dad, you don’t know Henry at all.  He’s been waiting for a moment to show himself a hero his whole life.”

Henry blushed.  “I do not seek glory,” he said.  “But I will never run from a fight.  My sword is ready to serve you and your King.”

“My King,” said Midor sarcastically.  “He won’t even let me in his forest.  I’m not even supposed to be here right now.”

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Every day, the royal family practiced their training.  They practiced their aim with arrows, they practiced throwing spears, and lunging with swords.  Henry and Grace joined in the training.  

The howling of the ghosts at night grew less and less.  Talon was spending more of his time actively controlling them now.  And Midor was no longer calling out from the other realm, which had accounted for much of the noise before.

Then, within a couple days, scouts brought in reports that an army of goblins was approaching.

“This happens sometimes,” Thomas explained to Henry, Grace and John.  “Grandfather’s quite good at dealing with them usually.  Sometimes they can be reasoned with, and sometimes they can be bargained with, and sometimes we have to fight them.  But Grandfather’s always dealt with them in the past.  The problem now is the timing.  We can’t focus on preparing for the monsters if we have to deal with the goblins.”

“What do they want?” asked Henry.

“They like to travel through the forest, terrorizing folks, and trying to get gold.  Goblin’s love gold.  But they’re quite small.  They only come up to my knees.  They’re only usually a problem for small woodland creatures.  Or for children who wander alone in the woods.  Or sometimes if they catch you alone and outnumber you, they can gang up on you.  But whenever we get all of our people together and go out and fight the goblins, they don’t stand a chance.  They’re mostly just an annoyance.  Or they would be.  The problem is, we don’t have the time to deal with them now.  The last thing we want is to be dealing with the goblins while the ancient monsters emerge.”