King Carlyle swam out of the hole, and hit the pike on the nose with his frog arms. The pike opened his mouth and let out a howl of anger. (As King Carlyle had been discovering, now that he was an aquatic animal himself, he could hear the sounds of the aquatic animals underwater.) The howl of anger seemed less because of the force of the blow (the frog arms could barely touch the pike with any force) and more from the anger the pike felt at being defied.
“Foolish frog,” it said, “I will eat you whole. This will teach you not to defy me.”
“I’ve dealt with plenty of bullies like you in the past,” said King Carlyle. “You never stop until someone stands up to you.”
“You can not hurt me,” said the pike.
“No, not by myself,” admitted King Carlyle. “But I have many friends in this river. If you hurt me, Midor will hear about it.”
“Midor?” The pike spat out the word. “I hate Midor. He acts like he is king of the forest.”
“He had better not,” said King Carlyle. “I am King of this forest, and if I hear of Midor conducting himself in any imperial way, I am going to have words with him. No, Midor is not the king. But what he is, is extremely well-known among all the animals and fish. And I am under his protection.”
“You lie,” said the pike.
“He does not,” said Jacob the frog, who had ventured to swim out of the Water Sprites hole himself in order to help King Carlyle. “Midor is in love with his daughter.”
“Now I know you are lying,” said the pike. “A human could never fall in love with a frog.”
“This is the King Carlyle,” said Jacob, “transformed into a frog by the treachery of a witch’s magic.”
“King Carlyle?” the pike was obviously confused now.
“King Carlyle!” said the frog king indignantly. “You must have heard of me. I am king of this forest.”
“Your majesty, the water creatures do not concern themselves with the surface…” Jacob began.
“I know no King,” said the pike.
“He’s a friend of Midor,” said Jacob. “If you eat him, then you better make sure you eat all of us. Because the Water Sprites and I will go straight to Midor, to tell him what you did. And once Midor decides he wants to find you, then you know as well as I do that there’s nowhere you can hide. Every animal in the forest, every fish in the water, will help Midor track you down if he asks for it.”
“And you can not possibly eat all of them,” said King Carlyle. “There are two many Water Sprites for you to catch them all, even if you could fit into their hole. Which you can’t.”
“Then what do you want, Frog King,” said the pike irritably. “Did you come out here just to tell me that I couldn’t eat you?”
“I want you to stop terrorizing this river,” said King Carlyle. “I want you to stop eating the Water Sprites, and the other creatures who live here.”
“And if I don’t?” asked the Pike. “Are you going to tell Midor?”
“I will,” said King Carlyle. “But also once I’m back in human form, I’ll come back to this river myself and make sure to catch you with my bare hands.”
The pike laughed. “I don’t fear you, either as frog or as human. You could never find me when I choose to hide myself in this river. But Midor I fear. Very well, I will trouble the Water Sprites no further.”
“And the other animals as well,” King Carlyle insisted.
“I will bother no animal that does not bother me,” said the pike. “If all talk respectfully to me, I shall eat none of them.”
“You must pledge yourself never to eat other animals,” King Carlyle insisted. “That is the law of the forest.”
“That is not the law of the river,” the pike insisted. “Down here, power is the only law.”
“As long as the river flows through my forest, you must obey,” said King Carlyle. “If I hear of you eating any other animals, for whatever reason, I will tell Midor. I will speak no more on the subject. Do we understand each other?”
“You are very bold, for a frog,” said the pike, “even if you are a king. But I understand you perfectly.”
“Good, you will find you can eat the seaweed on the riverbed floor, and it will provide you with all the nutrients you need, just like the other fish and creatures of the river,” said King Carlyle.
“You can thank the Water Sprites,” said Jacob the frog. “For it is their magic that makes the seaweed and other plants of the river so nutritious.”
“I thank no one,” said the pike. “The Water Sprites can be thankful that I do not eat them. That is how they shall be repaid for growing the water nutrients. I shall wish you now good-day.”
And the pike swam off.
A great cheer arose from inside the Water Sprites hole, and once the pike was gone, the Water Sprites rushed out and embraced King Carlyle eagerly. They cheered him, and kissed him, and hugged him, and shook his little frog hands.
King Carlyle, who over his long career had been used to saving the forest from threats like these, took the gratitude in good stride. He thanked the Water Sprites for their show of affection, and calmly reminded them that he was only doing his duty as the king of the forest.
They wanted to show him their gardens as part of their gratitude, and so King Carlyle and Jacob the Frog graciously agreed to be taken down to the garden at the bottom of the river bed. Here, they walked through swaying green seaweed, and so many beautiful flowers (flowers that the Water Sprites had created) on the bottom of the river floor. They saw little underwater trees that the Water Sprites had also helped bring to life along the river floor. It all looked so beautiful, and the sunlight, although it was dispersed by the water, shone down in watery shards among the greenness of the garden. Both King Carlyle and Jacob both agreed that it was one of the most beautiful things that they had ever seen.
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