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.
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