Chapter 27: John Gets Shrunk

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John was out walking in the forest one day when he came upon an old woman.  Assuming that she was one of the forest people, he politely nodded his head to her.  “Hello Ma’am,” he said.  “A pleasant day today, isn’t it?”

“And what brings you out on this lovely day?” the woman asked him.

“I’ve come to take some fresh air,” said John.  “I’ve been in the castle library all morning.  Well, if I’m being honest, actually, I’ve been in the library all week.”

“I see,” said the old woman.  She was dressed all in black.  Her face looked wrinkled, although her voice was smooth and beautiful.  “So you belong to Castle Tauna, then?  But whose child would you be?”

“Oh no, I’m not part of the royal family,” said John.  “I am a prince, technically, but I’m from a different land.  The Kingdom of Mora.  I don’t suppose you’ve heard of it?”

“Mora…” the woman had a far-away look in her eyes.  “Where have I heard that name before?  That’s where the forest ranger is from, isn’t it?  Midor, his name was.”

“Yes, his son Robert guided us through the forest.”

The woman chuckled.  “So Midor has a son now. And is Vivian the mother?”

“Yes.”

The woman chuckled again.  “Well, at least there’s some justice in the world,” she said.  “That must have made Carlyle angry.”

“King Carlyle?  But why would--.”

“Don’t call him king!” the woman cut John off angrily.  “He is not the rightful king of this land.”

The woman was upset that it shocked John into silence.  “I’m sorry to have offended you,” he said after a pause.  “He’s been very kind to us, however.”

“So you are a guest at Castle Tauna, staying with Carlyle, and friends with Vivian’s son?” said the old woman, gazing at John thoughtfully.

John was beginning to feel worried.  He was beginning to think that maybe it hadn’t been so wise to give a stranger so much information.  But as she was simply asking him to confirm information he had already given, he nodded.  “Yes, that’s right.” 

“Possibly you may be useful to me,” she said.  “I’m not sure.  But it never hurts to keep an extra option in your pocket.”   She took out a wand, and waved it around white chanting something, and John was suddenly shrunk down to the size of a man’s thumb.  The old woman picked up John and put him in her pocket, and continued walking down the path.

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

It was dark in the old woman’s pocket.  That was the first thing John thought.  He tried to stand up, but it was difficult to get any footing on the soft fabric.  The whole thing had a feeling of weightlessness, like the feeling you get when you’re tangled in a hammock.

He felt around in the pocket for something he could use, but there was nothing around.  At the moment, he was the only thing in the pocket.

But, John did notice that the end of  the thread on one of the seams of the pocket was sticking out just a little bit.  He grabbed on to this, and was able to keep pulling to get the whole pocket to come undone.  Before he knew it, he had created a gap that he could crawl out of.

He pushed his way through, and found himself tumbling out of the old woman’s pocket and landing on the ground.  She didn’t even notice that he had fallen out as she kept walking down the path.  

John dusted himself off and looked around.  He had escaped, but he was now tiny and the  forest was huge.  How would he ever get back to the castle?

Well, there was nothing to do now but to start walking.  His tiny legs made the journey very slow, but he kept going nonetheless.

As he was walking, various animals in the forest began to take an interest in him.  A mouse walked alongside him.  “Pardon me,” said the mouse, “but what manner of creature are you?  You look like a human, and yet I’ve never seen a human so small.”

“I am a human,” said John.  “But I was shrunk down from my normal size by magic, and am now trying to get back to the castle.  Do you know anyone who can help me?”

“Help you?” asked the mouse.

“Help carry me back to the castle.”

“Oh, well maybe an animal might offer to do that if you’re lucky.  Especially if you met one of the bigger ones, like a deer.  That is, if you can get their attention.  The bigger animals tend to ignore those of us who are near to the ground.  But if you yell loud enough, they may take notice.  But may I give you one piece of advice?”

“By all means,” said John.

“You shouldn’t travel on the main path like this.  Haven’t you ever noticed that us small animals never walk along the main forest paths?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it before,” said John.  “But now that you mention it, I guess I’ve rarely seen mice or rats along the main path.”

“And for good reason,” said the mouse.  “For one thing, we could be easily stepped on by accident when a big animal comes through.  Quite often they don’t look where they’re going.  More often than not, they actually come running down these paths, and if there were a bunch of small animals using the path, we’d all get trampled before the big animal even knew we were there.  But also, if we’re out in the open on this path, we can be easy prey for anyone who wants to eat us.”

“But no one will eat you,” said John.  “All the animals are vegetarian these days.  They have been for centuries.  I mean, except for some areas like the Bear King’s Kingdom.”

“Ah, how little you humans know,” said the mouse.  “Maybe in the human cities that’s true.  But so much goes on down on the forest floor that you are never aware of.  Why, even in this modern age, a mouse would not approach a snake without caution.  And with good reason.  For many snakes have not gone entirely vegetarian, despite what they may say in public.  And there are many animals that a mouse must be careful of--the owls, the foxes, the wolves, the cats--why they could gobble up a mouse so quickly that no one would ever even know, and consequently they would never face any penalty for having broken the forest law.  And even the large spiders may sometimes try to nibble on a mouse.  But even if the bigger animals don’t want to eat you, you can never be too careful.  There are thieves and criminals in the forest just like there are anywhere else.  They might kidnap you, hold you for ransom or sell you into slavery in the goblin mines, you never know.”

“What good is a mouse in the goblin mines?” asked John.

“Mice are extremely sought after by the goblins,” said the mouse.  “We can get into all the tiny places that bigger animals can not.  We’re perfect for finding all the hidden diamonds in the cave.”

“What do you suggest?” asked John.

“Get off the path, and go along the forest floor with the rest of the small animals.  Stay under plants and bushes whenever possible, or travel through the fallen leaves to help hide yourself.  You can follow me if you want.”

“Okay,” said John.  “By the way, my name is John.  What is your name?”

“My name is Benjamin.  Benjamin the mouse.  You can call me Ben for short.”

“How long do you think it will take to walk back to the castle?”

“At the size you’re at now? A day, at the very least.  Longer if you take my advice and stick to the sheltered areas though.  And you should take my advice.”

And so John followed Benjamin off of the main path, and they walked through the forest floor, under the fallen leaves, and under the mushrooms, climbing over the roots of trees, and going around the bushes.  It was very difficult to make fast time--John realized this immediately.  But he kept following Benjamin nonetheless.

A frog hopped by.  “Hello Benjamin,” said the frog.  “Who is travelling with you today?  Is he one of the gnomes?”

“Hello Jacob.  No, he’s a human.  He’s been shrunk by magic,” answered Benjamin.  But then the mouse turned to John.  “Actually that reminds me,” he said.  “We should introduce you to the gnomes.  They may be able to help you.”

“Gnomes? I’ve read about them in books, but never seen them,” said John.  “Are they in this forest?  I’ve never heard anyone mention them before.”

“The gnomes are mostly in their underground holes,” said Jacob the frog.  “They only come out when they want to, and they mostly avoid the humans.  I would be surprised if the forest humans even knew they existed.  But if you know where to look, they’re all over this forest floor.  They’re just a little bit taller than you, I think.”

“The gnomes are about 6 inches tall,” said Benjamin the mouse.  “It looks like you’ve been shrunk down to about 3 inches.”

“Great,” said John.  “Show me where to find them.”

“The entrance to their tunnels is usually hidden by a clump of mushrooms,” said Jacob the frog.  “Let’s see if we can find any.”

So they wandered through the forest floor, looking for a hole down to the gnome tunnels by a bunch of mushrooms.

Chapter 26: Grace Versus Henry

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Grace walked into Henry’s room, and shut the door behind her.  “Henry, what are you doing with Alicia?”

“What do you mean?” Henry asked.

“I mean the two of you are always together.”

Henry straightened his back.  “I find the young lady’s company to be quite agreeable, Grace, if it’s any of your business.”

“It is my business because we are guests in this castle,” said Grace.  “And I don’t want to have to sleep outside with the monsters and the ghosts because you were out there breaking hearts.”

“I haven’t--”

“Why just last week, you were always hanging out with her sister Amanda.  Now suddenly it’s Alicia.  Are you trying to get the sisters to fight with each other? Because the last thing we need is more drama in our lives.”

“Grace, I resent your tone,” Henry said.  “As it happens, Alicia and I are now formally courting each other.  We’re quite serious.”

“How serious?  Have you spoken to her parents?”

Henry was silent for a moment.  “We’ve barely just begun to…”

Grace slammed her fist down on the dresser.  “Talk to her parents.  Make it official.  Or if you’re not ready for that, then stop going out on walks with her all alone.  Invite her parents along to chaperone.”

“What about you and Robert?” Henry retorted.  “You think I haven’t noticed the way you look at him?  You’re going to make Thomas awfully jealous.”

“That’s not the same,” said Grace.

“Isn’t it though?  Robert’s the heir to the castle.  If you break his heart, then we’re really in trouble.”

“I have not broken his heart.”

“Yet,” said Henry.  “But you will.  Just like you did to all those young admirers of yours when we were back in Mora.”

Grace reddened with fury.  “You know, you can be a real pig sometimes,” she said.  “Do you really want to drag all that up again?”

“You started this conversation,” Henry said.

“Fine,” said Grace. “Fine. I’m sorry I brought anything up.  You do what you want Henry.  Hopefully it will be just you that King Carlyle kicks out of the castle anyway.”  With that Grace turned around and stalked out of Henry’s room, slamming the door behind her.

Chapter 25: Talon Knows

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Talon was in his room, studying over some spells as usual.  There was a knock on his door.  “Come in Susan,” said Talon, who already guessed who it must be.

The door opened.  “Hello,” Susan said.

“Yes, yes, come in.  Have a seat.  Have you come to visit me again?”

“Do you have any more of that special tea?  Or the snacks?”

“Yes, yes, I thought that’s probably what you were after.  You’re so predictable Susan.  No ‘How are you’.  No ‘Nice to see you again Talon’.  Just after the tea and sweets.  Where is Conor today?”  Talon began putting the tea kettle on the fire as he talked.

“I don’t know.”

“No Conor.  Well, that’s just as well.  It gives us a chance to talk.”

“Talon, how come your tea and snacks are so delicious.”

“It’s magic, my dear.”

“But you told me that magic can’t make something out of nothing.”

“So I did.  You’ve got a very good memory.  But magic can change things around.  I can use magic to take the sweetest part of the forest fruits, and condense it, and make it into a fine powder that I use to make my sweets with.  The humans haven’t figured out how to do that yet, but I can do it.”

“And your tea?”

“With a wave of my wand, I have all the finest spices from the forest brought to my windows.  Sometimes, some of the other sorcerers even send me exotic spices from faraway lands.”

“I never knew your food was so delicious,” said Susan smacking her lips.

“Well, this will be just our little secret then.”

“But why?  Why don’t you cook for everyone?  You should be the chef of the castle.”

“I am the sorcerer of the castle.  I have far more important things to do than to cook for everyone.  Besides, I don’t want to waste all my exotic herbs and spices on everyone in the dining hall.  They’re my little treat.  They’re our little treat now--just for you and me Susan.”

Susan smiled.  “I like visiting,” she said.

“And I like having you.  Sit down, sit down.  Put your feet up.  Your tea’s almost ready.  Tell me, Susan, what has your dad been up to lately?”

“What do you mean?”

“Has he been doing anything different?”

“No.  He just does everything the same as usual.”  Susan thought for a moment.  “Only he’s been meeting with Grandfather a lot more,” she said.

“Just the two of them?”

“No, Grandfather, father, and Uncle Rufus.”

“Of course.  The three of them.  As usual.  What do you think they talk about all the time?”

“Oh, they don’t tell me,” said Susan.  

“Well, how do they seem?  Do they seem worried? Relaxed? Happy?”

“Worried, mostly, I think.  Dad tries to hide it, but I can tell.”

“More worried than usual?  Here, your tea’s ready.  Careful now, it’s hot.  Sip it slowly.  And here are some of those sweet snacks you like.  More worried than usual, would you say?”

“I think so, yes.  He’s more worried than he was before.”

“Well, I suppose it’s understandable.  Everyone’s worried about those monsters getting out.”

“I guess.”

“Or is it anything else, do you think?”

“Like what?” 

“Oh, I don’t know.  I’m just wondering.”

“I don’t know.  But if I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”

“Oh, thank you Susan, but there’s no need for that.  I was just curious, that’s all.”

“What have you been up to Talon?  Are you still trying to communicate with the other sorcerers?”

“Yes, I am.  I’ve also been working on some special spells, just for defense. Just in case.”

“From the monsters?”

“Well, from anything really.”

“People say you turned the dragons into rabbits.”

“I did, yes.”

“But why have you never done anything like that before? We've had lots of bad creatures attack this castle before, but you never used your magic before.”

“Well, no one ever needed me to before,” said Talon.  “But I’ve got lots of magic spells, if I need them.  I can turn people into frogs.  I can shrink them down to the size of the thumb.  Why, I’m even working on a spell right now that could stop a man’s heart.”

“But that would kill someone!” said Susan, alarmed.

“Oh, don’t worry.  I would never use it unless I needed to.  It’s a very powerful spell.  Why, this one, I wouldn’t even need to be in the same room as someone in order to use it.  I could stop his heart from 3 rooms down.  I might even be able to stop his heart from outside the castle.”

Susan looked at Talon quizzically.  “Who is he?”

“Pardon?”

“You keep saying stop his heart.  Who is he?”

“Oh, it’s just an expression.  You know, someone.  I don’t have anyone in mind right now, but…” Talon shrugged his shoulders, “...I might need to use it someday. You never know.  Things are getting more and more dangerous all the time around here.”

“You mean with the monsters.”

“With the monsters, yes, but there are also all kinds of strange people in our kingdom now.  All those soldiers who came from the land of Mora, for example.  Why even right here in this castle, we have a lot of people that I don’t hardly know.”

“You mean Robert and his friends.”

“Well, yes.  And that General.  I can’t be too careful, you know.  Oh, I see your tea is gone.  Would you like some more?”

“No, that’s okay.”

“Well, okay, thanks for dropping by.  Be sure to tell your dad you saw me.”

“Why?”

“Oh, you know, he’s probably curious about me.  I sit alone all day here in this room, he must be just as curious as you as to what I’m doing.  You’ll tell him we talked, won’t you?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, see you later Susan.  Drop by tomorrow, and I’ll give you some more sweets and snacks.”

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

“He knows,” said George.  “He knows about our plan to get information about him.”

“I thought he didn’t suspect anything,” said Rufus.

“I thought so too.  It seemed to be going so well at first.  But somehow he figured out that we were intentionally sending Susan over to him.”

“How do you know?” asked King Carlyle.

“Susan was over visiting him yesterday, and he dropped all sorts of hints that he knew she was reporting to us.  He wants us to know that he knows.  He also dropped all kinds of hints about spells he has that he can use against us.”

“What’s he playing at?” asked Rufus.

“Probably some mind games,” King Carlyle said.  “He doesn’t actually want to kill us.  If he did, we’d be dead already.”

“True,” said George.

“He probably just wants to make sure his place in the castle is safe,” said King Carlyle.  “Old and ancient as he is, this is the only sorcerer post that he has ever had.  If we were to turn him out, he would have nowhere to go.”

“So he makes sure that we know he can kill us at any time,” said Rufus.  “Just in case we ever get tempted to get rid of him.”

“What do we do now?” asked George.

“Well, if the ruse with Susan is up, then I suppose it’s high time I talk with him directly,” said King Carlyle.  “If there’s anything he wants to say to me,  he can say it to my face.”

“But what will we do about him?” asked George.

“There’s nothing to do,” said King Carlyle.  “We need him.  We’ve always needed him to protect us against the spirits in this forest.  But we need him more than ever now to help us contain the monsters.  We can’t get rid of him even if we wanted to.  We’ll just have to try to keep a close eye on him.”

Chapter 24: Standing Guard

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Midor, General Graten and Jason were sitting outside standing guard together.  Ever since the underground chamber had been collapsed, someone was supposed to stand guard at all times to make sure that no monsters emerged from it.

Technically Midor was not supposed to have a shift guarding the chamber, since King Carlyle had still not acknowledged that Midor was in the forest.  But informally, he usually helped to stand guard.  General Graten had volunteered to help stand guard, but as he was not fully trusted yet in the castle, King Carlyle thought it would be best to have Jason stand with them.

“So,” said General Graten casually to Jason, “How did a nice boy like you end up married to one of the princesses of the castle?”

“Although I was not a member of the royal family, I was always of noble blood,” said Jason.  “I grew up playing with the princes and princesses of the castle as a boy.”

“Noble blood?” said General Graten.  “Do you mean to say that there’s a whole nobility in this forest?”

“Does anything surprise you now, General?” asked Midor.

“In spite of everything, I’m still a man who looks for sanity in the world,” said General Graten.  “I was shocked when I discovered there was a whole castle in the middle of the forest, but it would be something else entirely to make me believe that there are noble estates out here.”

“No, we don’t have estates,” said Jason.  “But there are plenty of nobles.  As there must be.  Think about how many families must spin out from the king.  Why even in our own generation, King Carlyle’s family is much bigger than can possibly be sustained in the castle.  Vivian is the eldest born, so someday she will take the throne.  And then after her, Robert.  And then Robert will have his own family, with many children and grandchildren, just like King Carlyle.  And then what will happen to my children?  Their families couldn’t all possibly be housed in the castle as well

“So where do the nobles live?” asked Graten.

“In little houses, just like the rest of the forest people.  We don’t all need our own castles.  But we do keep in close contact with the royal family.  I visited the castle often.”

“So was your wife one of your cousins then?” asked Graten, with a slight sneer in his voice.

“Our parents were second cousins,” said Jason.  

“Do not sneer, General Graten,” said Midor.  “Such things are not so unusual in the cities either.  The royal family of Mora is made up of many such alliances and intermarriage among the nobles.”

“True enough,” said General Graten.  “And I suppose, Midor, that this is the reason you were exiled from the castle?  You were just a humble ranger, and not part of the forest nobility?”

“It is one of the reasons,” Midor said.  “Although I think King Carlyle might have eventually forgiven that if I had agreed to stay at the castle with Vivian.  But I thought my work in the forest was too important to give up.  I was young then, and I had dreams of roaming the forest and being my own man.  The idea of becoming a mere courtier at King Carlyle’s castle horrified me.”  Midor suddenly stopped, and turned to Jason.  “Ah, sir Jason, you must forgive me.  I spoke without thinking.”

Jason only laughed.  “No offense taken, Midor.  I know my life would never suit you, just as your life would never suit me.”

Midor turned back to General Graten.  “I was young then,” he continued.  “Now that I’m older, I find I would trade all of my freedom to have a family--Vivian at my side, together with our son Robert.”

“You did raise Robert,” said Jason.  “You didn’t miss out on having a family altogether.”

“Yes, but I’ve missed Vivian terribly,” said Midor.  “And it hasn’t been fair on Robert.  The boy needed his mother.”

“It’s a bit late now,” said General Graten.  “Your boy is practically a grown man already.”

“We’ve missed a lot of time,” said Midor.  “But I want what time we have left.  I want it badly.  What about you, General?  Do you have any family?”

General Graten spit on the ground.  “I was never much for the family life,” he said.  “I have plenty of women all over Mora, but no one I miss much.  And who knows how many bastard children I might have running over the city.”

“I could never do that,” said Midor.  “Once I gave my heart to Vivian, there could never have been another one.”

“And it’s made you miserable ever since,” said Graten.  “You see, the key is never let them get their claws into you.  If you find yourself starting to care for one of them, then it’s time to get out of there.  That’s what I’ve always said, anyway.”

Jason decided to change the subject.  “Midor, tell us about the time you spent in the realm of the monsters,” he said.  “I’ve never quite heard the whole story.  They say something about a young bear who had disappeared.”

“He was a full grown bear,” said Midor, “but he was newly full grown, so he was young in that sense.  He was the Bear King’s son.”

“I’ve never travelled outside of the kingdom,” said Jason, “but I’ve heard stories of this Bear King.  He lies in the land to the East of here, right?”

“I remember the Bear King,” laughed General Graten.  “He was very gracious to us.  After Henry tried to kill him, he allowed us full use of his land in our pursuit of Henry and your son.”

“Was my son with Henry then?” asked Midor.  “Oh no!  That’s years of my diplomacy undone by that impetuous boy.  As soon as this is all over, I’ll need to go back and beg the Bear King’s forgiveness.”

“But what’s this about his son?” persisted Jason.

“His son had disappeared about a year ago, a little bit longer,” said Midor.  “The Bear King asked me if I could find him.  I regularly do him favors.  This was the biggest one though.  This was his son.  The Bear King was very fond of his son.  I knew that if I could track the young bear down, it would get me a lot of influence with the Bear King--influence I could use to help control him.  The forest counted on me to keep the peace between the Bear King and the outside animals.  And moreover, if you’ll believe me, I was also concerned about the young bear.  He was still young and good, not like his father, and it worried me that he had been lost in the forest.

“I have, as you know, a network of communication all throughout the forest.  Virtually every creature in the forest owes me a favor of some sort, so it was easy to get information on the Bear Prince.  I was able to track down where he had wandered.  At first it appeared he had simply gone exploring.  But then at some point, I began to get reports that he was fleeing something.  He appears to have gotten into some sort of trouble, but no animal could give me definite reports of what trouble it was, or with who.  Some people had seen him running, but nobody had seen what was chasing him.

“And then, the trail eventually led me here, where the nocturnal birds all told me he had gone down the stairway by the hollow tree.  And when I came to the hollow tree, I discovered the stairway as well.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t know it before,” said Jason.  “You normally know all the places in the forest.”

“I was surprised myself,” said Midor.  “But here it was.  I went down to investigate, and there was Talon waiting for me.  Somehow he knew I’d be along investigating.  And then he banished me to the land of the monsters.”

“I still can’t believe Talon would do that,” said Jason.  “He’s been the castle sorcerer ever since I was a kid.  He’s always been a bit grumpy, sure, but he’s always been loyal.”

“He must have been worried that the secret would get out,” said Midor.  “That’s the only thing I can think of.”

“But then how did the Bear Prince find out about it?” asked General Graten.

“Yes, that’s the real mystery,” said Midor.  “That, and the mystery of whatever became of him.”

“You never found him?” Jason asked.

“I’m fairly sure Talon banished him to the realm, just like he did me.  Probably for the same reason he banished me-- he was worried the secret would get out.”

“It can’t be much of a secret,” General Graten said, “If some random young bear could just stumble upon it.”

“Yes, that’s also strange,” said Midor.  “But a secret it had been.   I had never known the underground chamber before.  And I’d been in this part of the forest many times before.  And before me, it had been a secret for centuries.  It had been well hidden at one time.  But something must have happened.”

“What about in the realm of the monsters,” said Jason.  “Didn’t you search for the Bear Prince there?”

“I did.  It was difficult to search there, because it was always dark once I left the grove.  And I’ll be honest, I was afraid to leave the groove once I discovered what creatures lurked in the darkness.  But I eventually did leave the grove, and I spent many trips searching in the darkness, trying to find the Bear Prince.”

“Could you see anything in the dark?”

“Yes, it wasn’t pitch black.  It was more like a perpetual twilight.  And my eyes adjusted soon enough after leaving the grove and stepping into the darkness.  I occasionally saw bear tracks, but I could never find the bear prince himself.”

“I thought you were the greatest ranger in the forest,” said Jason. 

“It was difficult.  One minute I would be trying to track the Bear Prince’s footprints, the next minute I would hear a monster approaching and I would have to scramble to hide myself in the bushes or in a tree.”

“So you saw the monsters then,” asked General Graten.

“Yes, those monsters are fearsome beasts, straight out of a nightmare.  I pray they never find their way out of the realm.  Just one of those beasts could cause terror in this whole forest.  And there are legions of them buried in that cavern.”