Chapter 120: Catherine Joins the Quest

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After several days of walking, they got to the swamp lands.  

“I’ll put you down here,” Midor said to Jacob the frog, taking him out of his pocket and putting him in the water.  “You can swim around just as easily as I can carry you.  Careful though.  There are plenty of monsters in the water.”

“Well don’t put him down then,” said Aiden.  “Pick him up and help carry him.  Don’t leave him as bait for the monsters.”

“When the monsters attack,” said Midor, “They could swallow me whole just as easily as they could swallow Jacob here.  So I don’t think he would be any safer in my pocket.  In fact, it’s probably better for him to not be in my pocket, so that the monsters can’t devour both of us at once. This way, if the monsters get me, at least Jacob still has a chance to escape.  That, plus another pair of eyes in the water will help us.  Jacob can help alert us to what’s in the water.”

“I will strive to do my best,” said Jacob.

“I’ve explored the outer-reaches of this bog a little bit,” said Midor.  “But I’ve never gone deep into it before.  So as we get deep into the bog, we’ll be going into areas I have no direct knowledge of.”

They trudged through the swamp.  The muddy ground made a sucking sound as they pulled their feet up.

“I’ve just lost one of my boots,” Aefar exclaimed.

“We can wait for you to find it,” said Midor.

“I can’t find it,” said Aefar.  “It’s disappeared deep into the mud.”

“Let me help you find it,” said Henry.

“Yes, we should all help find it,” said Carlyle.  “We don’t want to be losing our footwear now.  We’ve got a lot of walking to do.”

“Yes,” said Midor.  “Although I’m not sure what use the boots are going to be through the mud.”

“You know,” said Carlyle thoughtfully, “I’ve never thought to ask before, but when you transform into a bat, what happens to your clothes.”

“This isn’t the time for stupid questions,” snapped Aefar.  “Can you help me find my boot?”

“What I mean is,” continued Carlyle, “is that when you transform into a bat, the clothes seem to transform with you.  Are the clothes like a part of you?  If you lose your boot--.”

“The Clothes are not a part of me, you idiot!” snapped Aefar.  “Clearly you don’t understand how magic works.”

“No, of course I don’t,” said Carlyle.  “But it occurs to me that if the clothes aren’t a part of you, then they must disappear every time you turn into a bat.  And if that’s the case, then they must be recreated every time you resume your human shape.  And if that’s the case, then maybe--.”

“Shut up you idiot!” screamed Aefar.  

“Hey now!” said Conn.  “Don’t talk to Carlyle that way.  He’s our friend.”

“Besides which,” said Brenna.  “We’ve already got your boot.  We pixies are quite good at finding things in the mud.”

The pixies were holding up the boot, and showed it to Aefar.  He snatched it from them angrily.

“Leaving aside the question of where your clothes go,” Midor said cautiously, “I do wonder if you’d be happier flying through this mud instead of walking through it.  If the mud sucked up your boots one time, they could likely do so again.”

Aefar didn’t respond, but flung his cape around him, and transformed into a bat.  

There was a bellowing sound off in the distance.  “That sounds like one of the ancient monsters,” Midor said.

“Well of course!” snapped Aefar.  “What else could it be?”

“Shhh!” Midor chastened them.  “If it doesn’t know we’re here, we won’t have to fight it.  Everyone get low.”  Midor immediately lay down in the mud.  Henry followed his example.

“I’m not getting into the mud!” snapped Aefar.

“Get high then!” Midor said in a loud whisper.

Aefar the bat and Carlyle the winged lion flew into the air.  The rest of them lay low.

There was another bellowing sound, this time much closer.

“It’s Rogbel!” said Midor.  “One of the flying monsters.  Carlyle!  Aefar! Get down!”

It was only a few seconds later that in the dim light they could see the outline of a monster flying through the sky on gigantic leathery wings.

Carlyle immediately dropped down to the mud.

Aefar was slightly slower, and the monster opened his jaws, and gulped down the bat as it flew by.

And then, the monster was gone before the rest had time to react.

“Did we just lose one of our companions?” asked Conn.

“He was a bit of a jerk anyway,” said Brenna.  “I can’t say I’m too sorry to see him go.”

“Well, he’s definitely been swallowed whole,” said Midor.  “But the question is, what does that mean to a vampire?  Vampire’s can usually only be killed by a stake through the heart, or so Aefar has always claimed.  So what happens when he’s swallowed whole by a monster?”

“Probably one of two things,” said Carlyle.  “Either he’ll be digested in the stomach, or else he’ll come out the other end.”

“Either way, I guess we can count him out of the rest of our adventure,”  said Midor.  “I’m really not sure what to think.  I suppose it’s for the best.  He could be difficult.”

“It is most assuredly for the best,” said Carlyle.  “He was Catherine’s creature, after all.”

“At any rate, he is no longer necessary,” said a voice.  “Catherine herself is here now.”

They all turned around when they saw the voice, and saw Catherine and Alfred approaching.  “We got a bit of a late start,” said Catherine.  “But we were able to catch up quickly.  After all, I do possess some remarkable abilities.”

“Catherine, what are you doing here?” asked Carlyle.

“Carlyle, my brother, you know it pains me to say this.  But I have thought everything over, and I’ve decided that you are correct.  Ambrosia is my old enemy, more so than she is yours.  She is mine to meet in combat, and she is mine to defeat.”

“So you have come to help us?” asked Midor.

“I have,” answered Catherine.  

“Great,” said Midor.

“I had a feeling you might change your mind on this,” said Carlyle.  “Your hatred of Ambrosia must be greater than your hatred of me.”

“Let’s not get carried away just yet,” said Catherine.  “There’s plenty of room in my heart to hate the both of you.  I shall never forgive you, Carlyle, for what you did to me.  No matter what happens.  But I have come to fight against Ambrosia.  It’s rather dark in here, don’t you think?  Shall we have a little illumination?” Catherine waved her wand, and a flame of light appeared at the top of it.

“Catherine, put that out!” said Midor.  His voice wasn’t quite a yell, but it was frantic.  “You’ll attract every monster in this place.”

“Good,” said Catherine.  “I’d prefer to just face them head on.  I don’t like to crawl around in the swamp like you are doing.”

“But some of these monsters are resistant to magic.  Some of them can 

Chapter 119: Catherine Gets Her Affairs in Order

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King Grinthal was very glad to be released from his bottle.  He did look slightly emaciated from his captivity.  (It was unclear how much Catherine had been feeding him when he was trapped in the glass bottle.)  

“So, King Grinthal,” said Catherine.  “I will no longer be needing your services, as it turns out.  I request that you take your army out of Castle Tauna.”

“At once, my Queen,” Grinthal answered.

“You and your army are, of course, still welcome in my forest, if you wish to stay.”

“We will be leaving the forest at once,” said Grinthal.

“A pity,” said Catherine.  “I had been looking forward to being neighbors.   Where is your army going, Grinthal?”

“Back into the mountains,” Grinthal replied.

“Well, at least I know where to find you,” said Catherine.  “Take care, Grinthal.”

And with that, Grinthal scattered out of the throne room.

Catherine turned to Vivian.  “Well, Vivian, with both me and your father in the other realm, you are next in line to inherit the throne.  You  will rule in my absence as regent.”

“I do not wish to undermine your rule,” Vivian responded.

“You will not.  I am appointing you regent in my stead.  Protect the castle while I am gone.  There is still a possibility that the monsters could arise out of the ground while we are gone.”

“I will be on my guard,” said Vivian.

“Very well then.  Alfred, are you ready?”

“I am, Catherine.”

“Let us go,” said Catherine.

Chapter 118: Return to the Mountains

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“Over there,” said Alfred.  “That’s the place.”

Vivian gently landed the table down on the mountainside.  “So this is where you and my father grew up,” she said.

“It is,” said Alfred.

“Have you been back since then?” asked Vivian.

“I’ve never been back since we left,” said Alfred.  “Of course, the same has not been true for Catherine.”

“Yes, this is where my father sent you to exile, isn’t it?” said Vivian.

“This is the place,” said Catherine.

“There’s a lot fewer trees than I remember,” said Alfred.

“The woodsmen have been cutting them down,” said Catherine.

“I wonder if my old house is still around here,” Alfred mused.

“Where are the witches?” asked Vivian.

“If I remember, they’re in the cave over that hill,” said Alfred.  “Now, Vivian, I should warn you that you have to be on your guard up here in the mountains.  There’s always danger everywhere.”

“It’s not as bad as it used to be,” said Catherine.  “We did a good job of making it safe.”

“Yes, that’s true,” said Alfred.

They walked over the hill to the witch’s cave.  Catherine, although her arms were still bound, walked with them.

There was a witch standing by the cave when they arrived.  “Hello Catherine.  Welcome back,” said the witch, smiling.

Catherine simply scowled.

The witch looked at Alfred.  “Do I know you?” she asked.

“I grew up in these mountains,” Alfred said.

“Ah, yes.  I thought you looked familiar.”  The witch turned to Vivian.  “And who is this?” she asked.

“This is Catherine’s niece,” said Alfred.

“Ah, another member of the cursed family.  Does she have the magical powers?” 

“I do,” said Vivian.

“Yes, I thought I saw you levitating in here on the table.  Well, what do you want?”

“The magic,” said Alfred.  “It’s destroyed Catherine’s soul.  She has no compassion left.  No humanity.”

“Yes,” said the witch.  “That is the price that you pay for using magic.”

“Is there no cure?” asked Alfred.  “Is there no way to bring her back to the woman she once was?”

“There is,” said the witch.  “She has to give up magic completely.”

Catherine laughed when she heard this.  “Give up magic?  I couldn’t give it up if I wanted to.  I never wanted it in the first place, but I was born with it.  You remember, Alfred.”

“All to well,” said Alfred.  “I still have the scars on my arms to prove it.”

“There is a way to purge yourself of magic,” said the witch.  “You have to go to the middle of the sacred lake, in the northern part of the forest.  The nymphs who live in that lake can wash the magic away from you in the sacred waters, if you allow them to.”

“And will it restore Catherine to what she used to be?” asked Alfred.

“The madness will wash away,” said the witch.  “And she will be restored as she was before the magic destroyed her.  But she has to do it willingly.  And she is so far gone with her lust for power that I doubt she would ever do it willingly.”

“Catherine, listen to me,” said Alfred.  “I love you.  You know that.  I love you in spite of everything.  I need you to come back to me.  Just heal yourself--get rid of all your evil magic, and become my darling once more.”

Tears rolled down Catherine’s face.  

“Please, Aunt Catherine,” pleaded Vivian.  “You used to be my favorite Aunt when I was young.  You can go back to being that Aunt again.”

Catherine took a deep breath.  “I can’t,” she said.  “I can’t do it until I’ve defeated Ambrosia.”

It took Vivian and Alfred a moment to process what she was saying.  “Do you mean,” asked Alfred at last, “that you are going to help your brother Carlyle?”

“I mean,” said Catherine, “that I am going to defeat Ambrosia.  If Carlyle happens to be there as well, then perhaps he can help me.”

“I’m going with you,” said Alfred.

“Oh, Alfred,” Catherine laughed.  “What good are you in a magic battle?”

“I fought Ambrosia with you the first time,” said Alfred.  “I can fight her again the second time.  I’ve always been by your side in all your battles.  You know that.”

“Very well,” said Catherine.

“Let me come as well,” said Vivian.  “I’m strong with magic.  Stronger even than you. You said it yourself.  With two magic users attacking her at once, Ambrosia doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Ambrosia’s not your fight, Vivian,” said Catherine, with a smile.  “She belongs to the older generation.  But even more importantly than that, I need you to stay behind and guard Castle Tauna.  What if one of the monsters were to get out through the portal while we were battling Ambrosia?”

“She’s right, Vivian,” said Alfred.  “You have family to protect in that castle.”

“You’re right,” said Vivian.  “So I do.  Very well.  I’ll stay behind.  But Catherine, I have one favor to ask.  Can you remove all the goblins from the castle before you go to the land of the monsters?”

“Yes, of course,” said Catherine.  “King Grinthal.  I almost forgot about him.  He is still imprisoned in the bottle.”

“What’s this?” said Alfred.

“I’ll explain everything when we get back,” said Catherine.

Chapter 117: Vivian and Alfred Attempt to Negotiate With Catherine

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When Catherine woke up, she was tied up and seated on a chair.  Alfred and Vivian were both there.  The other family members have been removed.

Catherine’s mouth was gagged, so she could only move her eyes to see both of them.

“Catherine, we’re sorry.  There was no other way,” said Vivian.

“Catherine, we don’t want to keep you tied up like this,” said Alfred.  “We wish we could release you.  But we can’t release you if you are going to harm the people in this castle.”

“If only you would promise not to hurt my family,” said Vivian.  “Then maybe we could release you. But…”  Vivian suddenly stopped speaking.  She turned to Alfred.  “If there was a magically binding oath, we could get Catherine to take it.”

“Possibly,” said Alfred.  “If there was such an oath.”

“Aunt Catherine,” said Vivian, “Would you be willing to swear an oath in exchange for being set free?  Blink once for yes, and twice for no.”

Catherine blinked no.

“Catherine, be reasonable,” said Alfred.  “We want to set you free.  We don’t enjoy keeping you like this.”

“We’re not going to ask you to give up your throne,” said Vivian.  “This isn’t like last time when my father deposed you.  You can keep your throne.  You just have to swear not to harm our family.”

Catherine thought, then blinked yes.

“Now, we need to check and see if there is an oath.”

“We need to check the library,” said Alfred.  “That’s where Catherine herself learned most of her magic.”

“I wish we could just ask her,” said Vivian.

“It’s too dangerous,” said Alfred.  “If we were to loosen her gag, she could curse us with the magic just as well as help us.”

“Yes, you’re right, of course,” said Vivian.  “Of course, all spells require hand gestures as well, and we have her hands tied up. Although she can still wiggle her fingers. There are some spells that she could perform just with her fingertips, but not very many. I don’t think she could do any major spells with just her fingers free.”  Vivian thought some more.  “I suppose,” she said, “that I could use one of the immobilizing spells to freeze up her hands and fingers.  Then it would probably be safe to ungag her.”

“You know more about this stuff than I do,” said Alfred.  “But be careful.  If we mess this up and she gets loose, we’ll not going to have a second chance.”

“I think I know what I’m doing,” said Vivian.  “Forgive me Aunt Catherine.”  Vivian then chanted the spell, and froze up Catherine’s hands.  Then, she took off the gag.

Catherine glared at them even after the gag was removed.

Alfred spoke first.  “Catherine, please find it in your heart to forgive us.  We don’t want to harm you.  We simply wish to protect everyone from you.”  

“If everyone would simply obey me, we would have no problem,” said Catherine.  “I am the rightful queen of this castle.”

“What’s happened to you?” said Alfred.  “You never used to be this unreasonable.  Has the magic really eroded your mind that much?  Is there no way to cure you, and bring you back to the way you were before?”

“I do not wish to be brought back to the way I was before,” Catherine responded.

Alfred looked at Vivian.  “I don’t know the answer to that,” answered Vivian.  “I am still  new to all this magic myself.”

“Who would know, then?” Alfred asked.  And then he seemed to have found the answer.  “The witches!” he exclaimed.  “The witches up on the mountain.”

“Do you mean the mountain top that you and my father grew up on?” asked Vivian.

“Yes,” said Alfred.  “It is many days’ journey from here.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Vivian.  “I can fly us there with the magic spells.”

“I’m not sure if they will be willing to help us,” Alfred said.  “But it’s worth a try.”

“What shall we do with Catherine, then?  Shall we leave her here to be guarded in this castle?”

“We should get rid of all the goblins first,” said Alfred.  “Catherine still has too many 

helpers in this castle.  Could we take her with us?”

Vivian thought for a minute.  “I think I can,” she said.  “I can only work one spell at a time.  But I should be able to levitate something.  If there is some sort of rock or other surface that we could all stand on, then I could levitate that.”

“Well done,” said Catherine bitterly.  “I see you figured it out without my assistance.”

“Okay,” said Alfred.  “Then what kind of surface should we stand on?”

“Perhaps we can borrow one of the kitchen tables,” said Vivian.

Chapter 116: The Big Fight Against Catherine and Her Creatures

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Despite General Graten’s and Charle’s attempts to coordinate things, the fight, when it happened, happened without anyone planning it.

On the whole, Catherine had been doing a much better job of keeping the goblins contained.  They were certainly much less troublesome than they had been in the past.  But ever since John had returned with Kolet and Aurora, the goblins had started harassing the mushrooms.  They thought it was the oddest thing that there were now two human sized mushrooms in the castle, and they continually laughed at them or yelled at them as they passed.  But even worse than that, goblins love the taste of mushrooms, and they began planning to attack and eat Kolet and Aurora.  They were relatively sure they could get away with this.  Catherine had given them commands not to harm the humans in the castle, but they didn’t think that this protection extended to mushrooms, and they wanted to try to eat the mushroom princess and her handmaiden.

They waited one afternoon until John left Kolet and Aurora alone briefly, and then they attacked.  

John, who had only gone down the hall to get a drink of water, heard their screams and came running back.  When he saw the gang of goblins attacking the two mushrooms, he immediately ran to help.  John didn’t have any weapons on him, so he just started grabbing goblins and trying to throw them aside.  But he made so much commotion that pretty soon Grace and Robert came running out of their rooms to see what was going on.

Grace realized the danger that John and the mushrooms were in, and she ran back into her room to get her bow and arrows.  When she came back, she started taking aim.  At first she shot only to wound the goblins, hoping to scare them away.  But the goblins did not get scared away.  In fact, the more the fight grew, the more noise it made, the more goblins started pouring into the hallway.

Robert had a sword with him, and he tried to use the flat end of the sword to knock the goblins away as he and Grace tried to make their way over to John to help him defend himself.  

The commotion was attracting more and more people.  General Graten was one of the first ones on the scene, and Charles was close behind him.  “Well Charles, it looks like the fight has begun without our permission,” said General Graten.

“I guess it has,” said Charles.  

“I’ll help out these children, you go alert the others,” said General Graten.

“Agreed,” said Charles, and he ran off.

Up until this time, Grace and Robert had still been trying their best not to seriously hurt any of the goblins.  But General Graten had no such qualms about these kinds of things.  He unsheathed his sword and strode right into the fight, swinging in every direction.  He didn’t really kill any of the goblins, but he certainly slashed and cut them and sent them screaming.

It was then that the Minotaur arrived on the scene.  General Graten eyed him.  “I’ve been waiting for this,” he said.

The minotaur threw his head back and yelled.  It was a deep bellowing sound.  General Graten raised his sword in the air, and also yelled.  Then the minotaur lowered his horns and charged at General Graten.

General Graten ran forward as if he would take the minotaur head on, but then when he neared the Minotaur he slipped into a slide, and slid under the minotaur.  General Graten was smart enough not to try to attack the minotaur head on.  As General Graten slid under the minotaur, he swung his sword and cut the minotaur’s legs.

The minotaur yelled with outrage, but although General Graten had cut his skin, General Graten had not managed to do any serious damage.  The minotaur then lowered its horns again, and charged General Graten once more.  General Graten raised his sword up, but the minotaur caught General Graten’s sword with its horns, and flicked its horns so that General Gratens sword went flying away.

“No you will fight me without any weapons,” bellowed the minotaur.  “Just you against me.”

“Don’t those horns count as weapons?” asked General Graten.

“We minotaurs only fight with what we are born with,” said the minotaur, and he bared his mouth to show his sharp teeth.  

“Come on then,” said General Graten, who swung his fist at the minotaur.

The minotaur lowered his horns and charged into Graten.  Graten was hoisted up on one of the horns, and thrown against the wall.

“General, here!” called Jason, who had entered into the hallway, and threw a mace to General Graten.  Jason then began to try to help John, Robert and Grace fight the Goblins with his sword.

The minotaur charged General Graten again, but General Graten swung his mace and hit the minotaur in the head, knocking the minotaur back.  But the minotaur soon recovered and attacked again.

George and Rufus had entered by this time with shields and swords drawn.  They initially advanced toward the minotaur to help General Graten, but the General growled, “Don’t be stupid.  Help the others.  I’ll keep the minotaur occupied.”

The minotaur bellowed and charged forward once again.  And General Graten swung his mace and hit it once again, once again knocking it backwards.

Penelope and Helen showed up to the fight next.  They were wearing full armor--helmet, breastplates, greaves, and they carried shields and spears.  They charged forward with their spears.  

Charles came back and re-entered the fight.  General Graten turned his attention away from the Minotaur long enough to acknowledge Charles.  “You’ve got everyone here,” he said.

“Just about,” said Charles.  

Alfred now appeared with Charles.  “Oh no!” said Alfred.  “The fighting’s finally started, has it?”

“Too late to stop it now,” said General Graten, hitting the minotaur with his mace again.

“I must get Catherine,” said Alfred.  “Maybe I can still talk some sense into her.”

“Good luck,” said Charles, and Alfred ran off.

There was a cry, and the Bugbear entered the battle.  Charles took out his sword and charged at the Bugbear.  The bugbear swung his hand and knocked Charles to the ground.  His sword went flying.

“Hold on, Charles,” yelled Jason, who also rushed at the Bugbear.  The Bugbear turned on Jason and growled.  It attacked.  Jason tried to fight it off, bugbear knocked his sword to the ground.

Helen saw the trouble that Jason was in, and threw her spear.  It hit the bugbear in the back, and pierced its thick hide, but did not penetrate deep enough to kill the creature.  Instead the creature roared, and charged towards her.  Penelope came to Helen’s side, and threw her spear, which hit the bugbear in the chest.  It faltered.  It was George who dealt the killing blow with his sword.  The Bugbear was dead.

Meanwhile, General Graten continued to battle the minotaur.  The minotaur managed to knock General Graten’s mace out of his hand.  Then the minotaur opened up his mouth and tried to bite General Graten, but General Graten hit the minotaur in the jaw as hard as he could with his fist.  The minotaur had a huge frame, so the blow did not stun him as much as it would an ordinary man, but it did temporarily set him back.  Then the minotaur hit General Graten with his hand and knocked him to the ground.

Charles picked up the mace that General Graten had dropped, and hit the minotaur with it.  The minotaur next turned its wrath on Charles, and charged into him.  The Minotaur slammed Charles against the wall.  The whole castle seemed to shake, and some of the stones in the wall wobbled as if they would fall loose.  Charles groaned, but mustered his energy to hit the minotaur back with the mace.

It was then that Catherine’s giant serpent creature entered into the fight.  It barred its gigantic fangs, and attacked.  George and Rufus attacked it with their swords, but it flicked its tail and knocked both of them to the ground.  Then, it swung back and opened its mouth wide as if it was going to devour them.  Helen and Penelope managed to pull George and Rufus free, and then they attacked the beast with their spears.

While this was going on, the minotaur was still battling Charles.  Charles would hit the minotaur with his mace, the minotaur would bellow and hit back, and the fight kept continuing.

And while that was going on, the goblins continued to swarm, amassing in greater and greater numbers.

Grace had by this point given up on not using lethal force, and she aimed her arrows with deadly shot at the goblins.  She killed several of them, but she was running out of arrows quickly.  

John was still trying to protect Princess Kolet and Aurora from the goblins.

It was at this point that Amanda, Alicia, Thomas and Marcia showed up to join the feet.  They all came in with various weapons--swords, spears, longstaffs.  They fought back against the goblins ferociously.

Charles called out to Alicia.  “Someone needs to protect the younger children!” he said.  “Go and help them.”

“It’s okay,” said Alicia.  “Sarah and Charlotte have locked Susan, Connor and Eric in a room.”

“Go with them where it’s safe,” Charles ordered.

“We can help,” said Alicia.  “We’re princes and princesses of Castle Tauna.  We’ve been trained to fight.”

Charles didn’t have time to argue as the minotaur charged into him again.  Alicia used her longstaff to knock goblins down, and also occasionally she would thrust the longstaff at a goblin, hook his armor onto the staff, and then lift him up with the staff and throw him at the other goblins.

Amanda waded into the goblin horde with an iron mace, swinging and knocking goblins down left and right.

Thomas attacked the goblins with his sword and shield, while Marcia attacked the goblin horde with a spear.

Meanwhile, George, Rufus, Helen and Penelope were still fighting the serpent.  It flailed widely about as they struck it with their swords and spears.  It darted forwards and backwards, trying to bite them with its fangs.  They weren’t quite sure whether it was poisonous or not.  (Catherine had never actually told them.)  But they took care not to get bitten nonetheless.

Eventually, Jason ran over with an axe, and managed to chop the head off of the serpent.

Now, the bugbear and the serpent were dead.  But they had hardly made a dent in the goblin army.  And the minotaur was still raging.

It was at this point that Alfred came running back.  “Did you find Catherine?” asked General Graten.

“She won’t help us,” said Alfred.  “I tried to talk to her, but she refuses to help.”

“That sounds like her,” said General Graten.  

At that moment, Vivian came rushing in.  “I’ve just heard what has happened,” she said.

“Can you help us?” asked General Graten.

“I can,” Vivian confirmed.  

“Careful Vivian,” came a voice.  Everyone looked.  It was Catherine.  Catherine had decided to join them after all.  “What spell are you going to use?”

“I don’t know,” Vivian said.  “I want to stop the goblins, so--.”

“Well, the easiest way to do that would be to use a kill spell,” said Catherine.  “Of course, kill spells are black magic.  But Midor’s not here, so you don’t have to worry about his usual tut-tutting about the whole affair.”

“You don’t have to use a kill spell,” said Penelope, who was joining her sister.  “Just turn the goblins into little white mice.”

Catherine rolled her eyes as if this discussion was becoming boring.  “If you like.  But you’re wasting a perfect opportunity to learn some really interesting magic.”

“I’ll use the transformation spell,” said Vivian.

“Well, you don’t need my help for that one,” said Catherine.  “But just be careful.  The humans and the goblins are fighting amongst each other, so if you use a blanket spell, you’ll turn everyone into mice.  You’ll need to target each goblin individually.  Just point with your wand when you make the transformation.  And make sure you don’t miss and point at the wrong one, or you’ll turn one of your own family into a mouse.”

“Catherine,” said Alfred, “You have to help her.  Don’t let these monsters overwhelm your family.”

“I don’t have to do anything,” said Catherine.

“Catherine, I know there’s still good in you,” said Alfred.

While Alfred was arguing with Catherine, Vivian turned and started chanting spells, pointing her wand, and turning goblins into mice one by one.  The goblins, although they were busy fighting the other humans, quickly realized what Vivian was doing, and started to charge her.  Their numbers were too great for Vivian to get them all with her spells.

“Put up your forcefield, Vivian dear,” said Catherine.

Vivian did as Catherine advised.  Of course, now that she was busy chanting the spell to keep her forcefield up, she couldn’t use any of her other spells, and she couldn’t help her family in the fight.

“Catherine, this is ridiculous,” said Alfred.  “You could call off these goblins at any minute.  Why are you allowing this fight to continue?”

“Because it's not me who started this fight,” said Catherine.  “They’re the ones who keep trying to provoke a fight in my castle.  Well, now they’ve got one.  Let’s see if they can win it.  If they can’t win it, then maybe they’ll learn their lesson.  If they can win it, then I need to know because I’ll need to recruit some new bodyguards.”

But it was during the chaos of all this fighting that Benevois thought she saw her chance.  She charged into Catherine, who never even saw her coming in all the chaos.  Benevois slapped Catherine across the face.  Before Catherine could react, Benevois’s hand was covering up her mouth.  Without being able to utter anything, Catherine was unable to say spells.  Catherine’s eyes flashed outrage, and she tried to push Benevois away.  But Benevois pushed back, and kept her hand over Catherine’s mouth to prevent the utterance of a spell.

“Benevois, what are you doing?” shouted Alfred.  “Let her go.”

Benevois, however, was too busy struggling with Catherine to respond.

While Alfred stood frozen, not really sure who to help,  George and Rufus ran over to help their mother.  “Quick,” said Benevois.  “Now’s our chance.  Gag her!”

They searched for something to use.  Rufus tore a bit off of his shirt, and they stuffed it into Catherine’s mouth.

The goblins saw that Catherine was in trouble, and they started swarming over.  But George, Rufus and Benevois all knew that whatever happens next, they could absolutely not let Catherine get free.  There was no telling what she would do to them now that they had started the attack on her.

Helen and Penelope ran over to help their brothers and mother.  

Vivian let drop her forcefield so that she could run over and join them.  She started trying to turn as many goblins into mice as she could, while George , Rufus, Helen and Penelope fought off the others.  Meanwhile, Catherine was still trying to free herself, so Benevois struggled with Catherine to keep the gag in her mouth.

Vivian wanted to tell her mother not to hurt Catherine, but she couldn’t afford to take the time to say the words. The goblins were threatening to overwhelm them, and so she needed to continually be turning as many into mice as she could.

“Don’t hurt her,” pleaded Alfred.

“Alfred, you need to help us,” said Benevois.  “I know you love Catherine, but she can’t continue like this.  She needs to be stopped.”

“I swore to protect her,” said Alfred.

“I don’t want to kill her, I just want to stop her,” said Benevois.  “Help me hold her down.  If she breaks free, then it’s either her or us.”

Alfred nodded, and knelt down.  He gently tried to restrain Catherine.  “Catherine, this is for your own good,” he said, as he tried to hold her down.

Meanwhile, the battle continued.  Charles continued to fight the minotaur.  General Graten, Jason, Robert, Grace, John, Amanda, Alicia, Marcia and Thomas all continued to fight the goblins at the other end of the hall.  Everyone was getting tired.

Grace had run out of arrows a long time ago, so she was using a sword now.  

Grace, Robert and John were still forming a protective circle around Kolet and Aurora.

It was at this point that George said to Vivian, “Do you still have the magic sword?” 

“I do,” said Vivian.

“Run and get it,” said George.  “Use your super speed.”  Vivian ran off and got the sword, and came back with her super speed. 

[This is a plot flaw.  I forgot about the super speed and the magic sword at the beginning of this chapter.  Probably need to re-write parts--although it is also conceivable that the battle started so suddenly that Vivian just reacted, and didn’t have her sword with her… Or, possibly have Vivian arrive to the battle late?]

Vivian came back with her sword.  And then, using her super speed, she quickly cut through the goblin army.  Vivian was reluctant to kill them, so at first she simply used her super speed to demonstrate what she could do.  She ran through their ranks, taking weapons out of their hands, and throwing them to the ground.  

But before Vivian could put the entire goblin army to flight, it was at this point that Catherine broke free.

Despite all the people who were trying to pin Catherine down, she managed to mouth a few words, and was able to move her fingers just enough to conjure a spell.  And soon she summoned a burst of energy that flung Alfred, Benevois, George and the rest away from her.

Catherine quickly stood to her feet.  “So,” she said angrily, “this is how you repay my moderation?  Well, I will moderate no more.  Alfred, you have betrayed me for the last time.  Benevois, I was a fool to leave you alive after I got rid of your husband.  George and Rufus, you children of vipers, I’ll burn you alive for this!”

Catherine began chanting spells and waving her hands.

“Aunt Catherine, no!” yelled Vivian.  “No, you mustn’t hurt them!”  Knowing that she needed to stop Catherine’s spells immediately, Vivian quickly chanted a spell of her own, and pointed it at Catherine.  It knocked Catherine off of her feet.

“So, Vivian, it’s come to this,” said Catherine, as she stood up. “I knew one of these days you would have to choose your loyalty.  But I thought I trained you better than this.”

“Catherine, I don’t want to fight you,” said Vivian.  “Just leave my family alone.”

Catherine scoffed.  “Your family attacked me,” she said.  “You saw what happened.”

“I know.  But whatever they did, I can’t let you hurt them.”

“Alright,” said Catherine.  “So here we are.  You against me.  You have more raw power than I do, but I know more spells than you do.  What do you think will happen, Vivian?  Do you think you can beat me?”

“I don’t know,” said Vivian.  “But I have to try.”

Catherine began chanting spells quickly and flinging them at Vivian.  Vivian tried to shield herself by yelling counter-curses and putting up mini-force fields.  it was clear Vivian was on the defensive.

While Vivian was fighting Catherine, George tried to rally the rest of the family.  “Come on,” he said.  “We have to help Vivian.  While Catherine’s distracted by aiming spells at Vivian, we can attack.”

George ran in first with his sword drawn.  The sword, of course, represented a mortal threat that Catherine could not ignore.  It was not clear if George was going to use lethal force or not, but Catherine immediately turned to blast George with a spell.  Catherine uttered a spell and started to wave her wand, but George cut the wand in half.  And then, just at that moment, Catherine was hit by Vivian’s spell, and she fell to the ground.  

Everyone ran around her.  “Is she alright?” Alfred asked.

But before Vivian could answer, the minotaur, who saw what had happened to Catherine and was sworn to protect her, charged.  George, who had his sword drawn, and had been trained as a prince of Castle Tauna to battle monsters, leaped up into the air, and then swung his sword down hard, cutting the minotaur across its chest.  The beast was stung, but then George swung his sword again, and cut off the minotaur’s head.

“I could have done that,” General Graten grumbled.  “If I had had a chance to fight that beast with a proper sword.”

There was, as always, little time to talk.  The goblins were still amassing and still attacking.

“She’ll be okay,” Vivian managed to say to Alfred through all the chaos.  “Catherine never taught me a kill spell.  And even if she had, I would never have used it on my own aunt.  It’s only a stun spell.  But we have to get her restrained before she wakes up.  Alfred, I know you love her, but it’s for her own good.  Otherwise we would have to fight her.”

“I understand,” said Alfred.  “It’s difficult to worry about restraining Catherine with those goblins running everywhere, though.”

“My magic sword and my super speed,” said Vivian to herself.  “Now is the time.”

Vivian grabbed the magic sword that could cut through anything, and using her superspeed, she fought the goblins.  Once the goblin army realized how ferocious she was in battle, they began to flee.  The goblins didn’t leave castle Tauna, unfortunately  (They were still waiting for orders from their leader, King Grinthal, who Catherine still had imprisoned in the glass bottle.)  But they did turn and flee to various parts of the castle.  Some of them fled to hide in the cellars, some of them hid under stairways, some of them hid in cupboards.

Once the area had been cleared of goblins, they set about trying up Catherine so that she was bound and gagged and couldn’t move.  “I’m so sorry, Aunt Catherine,” Vivian said to her unconscious aunt.  “There was no other way.”

Chapter 115: Walking Through the Land of Monsters

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After a full day’s walk, they reached the edge of the light.  They could see the darkness.  “Don’t worry,” said Midor.  “It is not complete darkness.  It’s more like twilight.  Once our eyes adjust to the difference, you’ll be able to see just as well in there as you out there.”

“A vampire can see perfectly well in the dark,” said Aefar.

“So can pixies,” chimed in Arlene.

“So much the better for you,” said Midor.  “The one thing we will have to be careful of, though, is the ancient monsters.  But I’ll try to help you avoid them.

And with that, Midor stepped into the darkness.  The others followed him.

They immediately realized Midor was right.  It was a sort of twilight.  It took some time for their eyes to adjust, but after a while they were able to see once again.

“So which way?” said King Carlyle.

“I don’t know,” said Midor.  “We need to find the witch Ambrosia right?”

“You lived here for two years,” said Henry.  “Do you have any idea where the witch might be?”

“I never saw her in all the time I was living here,” said Midor.  “Not that I would know what Ambrosia looked like anyway.  I’ve only ever heard stories about her.”

“Yes, she was gone long before you entered the forest,” said King Carlyle.

“But there was a big congregation of the monsters in the swamps.  I never explored that part of the land.  I was always seeking the spots where the monsters weren’t.”

“Well, it looks like that’s the place to go,” said King Carlyle.  “Let’s go and see what we can find.”

So they began to walk in that direction.

“How did you manage to survive in this land for two years?” asked Aefar. 

“It wasn’t easy,” said Midor.  “I learned to survive by first finding all the hiding places I could, and memorizing them.  The good news is, I think I still remember them.  But the second thing I did to survive was that any time I heard even the slightest bit of noise, I ran and hid.”

“Ah,” said King Carlyle.  “That second one is going to be more difficult with all of us around making noise.”

“That’s what I’m thinking,” said Midor.  “So we need to keep as quiet as possible.”

“Pity,” said King Carlyle.  “A group outing like this without any chance for banter is hardly a real group outing.  We should be chatting with each other, telling stories to pass the time…”

“I agree, My King,” said Midor.  “It is a real pity, but I think we need to be as quiet as possible if we are to survive.  I promise you we will try to make it all up once we are back in the Castle Tauna.  We’ll have lots and lots of time to talk all we want to.”

They continued walking in silence for a while.  Although everyone was doing a good job at keeping quiet, Midor mentally noted that even this was not ideal.  When he had survived in the land of the monsters by himself, there had been only him.  It was only his footsteps that he had had to listen to, and it was very easy to tell when another set of footsteps was approaching.  But now, there were several of them, and if they were being stalked by a monster, Midor wasn’t sure he would hear it in time.  Fortunately, Midor noted to himself, the monsters here didn’t do much stalking.  They were big stomping beasts who usually just ran through the grass.

The land of the monsters was mostly a grassland, although it was dotted with trees.  (And Midor had taken shelter in these trees before when he had needed to hide.)  The ground was still dry at this stage, although Midor knew it would get more and more swampy the further they journeyed.

“I don’t see why I should have to be quiet,” Aefar said suddenly.  “A vampire has nothing to fear from these monsters.”

“Fine,” answered Midor.  “Talk as much as you like.” 

Aefar, who had been hoping to provoke more of an argument, just scowled and kept walking.

Midor knew that Aefar was at least partially right.  Vampires are usually hard to kill.  You usually need a wooden stake through the heart.  But he wasn’t sure whether or not Aefar was completely right.  Could the monsters harm a vampire?  Would they know how?

There was a crackling noise.  A monster was approaching.  “Quick,” said Midor.  “Hide!”

Midor guided Henry, and helped him climb up a nearby tree.  (Midor knew where all the trees were.)  The pixies also jumped up the tree.  Jacob the frog was still in Midor’s pocket.  King Carlyle, still in the form of a winged lion, flew up into the air.  Aefar turned himself into a bat and also flew up into the air.  They all waited, but the monster passed by them without even seeming to notice them.  “Safe,” said Carlyle, returning to the ground.

“For now,” said Midor. 

Chapter 114: General Graten Approaches Charles

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General Graten sat down next to Charles.  “I understand you’re a fighting man,” he said in a low voice.

“I was the captain of the guard,” Charles answered.

“So you know how to fight?”

“I do.”

“And you have a taste for it?”

“I don’t like unnecessary violence,” said Charles, wary about where this conversation was going.

General Graten pretended to be appalled.  “Unnecessary violence? I abhor it myself.  But,” added the General, slipping back to his normal voice, “you wouldn’t shrink away from a fight if one arrived.”

“I would not.”

“So, I’ve been doing some calculations,” said General Graten.  “With Carlyle and Midor and the rest on that quest, it means that Catherine has lost her vampire.”

“Aefar has gone with them, yes.”

“Okay, so that’s one less on Catherine’s side.  If it was to come to a fight.”

“And three less on our side,” Charles pointed out.  

“Yes, well Midor’s no good in a fight.  I’ve seen him before. And as for Henry, Henry’s  worse than no good.  Henry’s a liability.  If Henry’s trying to fight with us, then I’m going to be distracted trying to stop him from killing himself.  As for King Carlyle…” General Graten shrugged, “...I guess as a Winged Lion he could potentially be useful to us.  If he’s figured out how to use his new body, that is.  I’m told it takes some adjustment to get used to a new transformed body like that.”

“Okay, I’ll grant those points,” said Charles. 

“So what fighting men do we have?” asked Graten.

“Well, all the princes and princesses of Tauna are trained in fighting,” said Charles.  “It’s all they do really is just train themselves.  So Vivian, George, Rufus, Penelope, Helen--they’re all trained warriors.  The same is not true about their wives and husbands though.  Sarah and Charlotte are simply housewives.  They’ve never held a sword in their lives.  As for Jason, he  can fight, if he has to, but he’s not a true warrior.  He’s more bookish really.”

“He is more bookish than he is a fighter, I agree,” said General Graten.  “But I’ve seen him in action.  He can fight well enough.  What about your children?  They’re also princesses of Castle Tauna.  They’ve been trained as well.”

“If there is a fight, I don’t want to involve the children,” said Charles.  “They handled themselves well enough before, but before was unplanned and spontaneous.  If you’re talking about planning something, I’d like to get all the children out of the castle and to a safe place.”

“If that’s what you want,” said General Graten. 

“It’s what I want,” said Charles.  “But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here, General.  We still have the same obstacle we’ve always had.  We can’t fight against Catherine.  She’s too powerful.”

“The next time the monsters emerge,” said General Graten.  “She’ll be distracted.”

“The next time the monsters emerge, she and Vivian will cut the monsters down right outside the castle walls,” said Charles.  “The monsters don’t pose the same threat to them that they used to.”

“Very well,” said General Graten.  “What if we were to surprise Catherine?”

“Good luck with those creatures guarding her all the time,” said Charles.

“Yes, I see what you mean,” said General Graten.  “It is quite difficult.”

“If you can come up with a plan to attack, General, then we may have something to talk about,” said Charles.  “Equally, we could just as easily wait until Carlyle and Midor and Henry come back.  I’m in no hurry to start a battle we can’t win.”

Chapter 113: Entering the Realm of the Monsters

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They descended again down the stairs beneath the hollow tree. The floor was covered with dirt, but it was easy enough to walk through.  

Once they got into the chamber, it was fully lit by the light from the grove.  “Once we go into this thing, how do we get back?” asked Midor.  “I was stuck in there for 2 years once.”  [This is actually a big plot point.  I should have set it up before.]

“We’ll pull you out the same way we did before,” said Vivian.  “I’ll make sure someone is always standing  guard.”

“We have people standing guard around this spot to watch out for the monsters anyway,” said Charles.

“Alright, then,” said Midor.  “I suppose I should lead the way.  I’ve been here before.”  So Midor walked forward and disappeared into the grove.

Henry followed Midor.  And then Carlyle and the pixies walked through next.  Aefar came last of all.  (Jacob the frog was still in Midor’s pocket.)

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

When they entered the grove, the chamber disappeared, and all they could see was the horizon.  It was a bright light.

Aefar instinctively pulled his cloak up over his face to shield himself from the light, but then slowly lowered it once he noticed that the light did not harm him.  “Catherine was right,” he muttered to himself.  “It’s not sunlight.”

“What is the light source?” asked Carlyle.

“Obviously some sort of magic,” Midor answered.  “That’s all I can tell you.”

“I thought this place was supposed to be dark,” said Carlyle.

“It is,” said Midor.  “We need to walk towards that light on the horizon.  It’s actually not the same as the sun--it’s a fixed point that it’s possible to walk up to, and then past.  Once we walk past the light on that horizon.  As long as we stay in the light, there are very few monsters.  But when we go into the darkness, we have to be much more careful.”

“How long will it take us to walk into the darkness,” said Henry.

“About a day,” said Midor.

“Well, I suppose we should start walking,” said Carlyle.

“Possibly,” said Midor.  “An important thing to remember is that there is no day or night in this land.  It’s light all the time here, and then when we reach the end of the horizon, then it will be dark.  So we’re going to have to decide when we want to sleep.  I know it looks like daytime to us now, but remember it was dusk when we left.  We’ll be sleepy in a few hours.”

“Not I,” said Aefar.

“Yes, apologies,” said Midor.  “Everyone else I mean.

“Well, shall we walk for a few hours and see how we feel?” suggested Henry.

“Yes, let’s do that,” Midor agreed.

Chapter 112: Catherine and Vivian Open Up the Underground Chamber

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They assembled at dusk.  

“I did a lot of work filling up this chamber with dirt,” General Graten said.  “Me and my soldiers.  The dirt in this forest is tough, you know.  It’s been well trodden by everyone.  It’s got lots of plants and roots in it.  It was difficult work to dig it all up.  But we did it.  And now you’re going to undo that work?”

“Ah, General, my apologies,” said Catherine.  “It’s a pity you didn’t have someone with magic abilities to help you.”

“It’s a pity Talon never told me half the things he could do with his magic,” Carlyle muttered.

“Yes, strange that you didn’t inspire more confidence,” said Catherine sarcastically.  She turned back to General Graten.  “I’m sorry you feel your efforts have been wasted, General, but you can hardly blame me for that.”  Then Catherine turned to Vivian.  “This will be good practice for you,” Catherine said.  “You haven’t had to transport dirt like this before, have you?”

“I don’t think so,” said Vivian.

“Okay, good, this will be a challenge, but I think you’re ready for it.  Underneath all of this dirt is a stone chamber underground.”

“Yes, I remember,” said Vivian.  “I was there when we pulled my son and Midor out from it.  And I was there when they filled it up with dirt.”

“Okay, so you know what you have to do now.  You have to remove the dirt, but leave the stone chamber standing.  So it will be a simple transportation spell, but dirt can be a difficult thing to focus on.  There are so many dirt particles, so it’ll never do any good to focus on the individual items.”

“I’ll want to use a spell for moving a whole mass of things,” said Vivian.

“Yes, but, remember, you don’t want to move the stone walls, just the dirt, so be careful how you focus the spell.”

“But the stones are all underground.  How can I focus the spell when I can’t even see the stones?

“Yes,” said Catherine with a smile.  “That is the problem, isn’t it?  What are your options?”

“I could move the dirt little by little,” said Catherine.  “As if I’m taking small shovel-fulls of dirt out each time.”

“We’ll be here all night,” growled General Graten.  “It might be easier just to shovel it out ourselves.”

“Careful what you volunteer for, General,” said Catherine.  “If Vivian can’t figure this out, it may come to that.”  Catherine turned back to Vivian.  “But come now, Vivian dear.  You’ve solved harder puzzles than this before.  Moving the dirt bit by bit is one option.  What are your other options?” Vivian appeared stumped, so Catherine helped her.  “Think about what your problem is,” Catherine said gently.  “And then think about what spell would solve that problem.”

“The problem is that I can’t see the stones.”

“Yes, good.”

“So I’d need a spell that would show them to me.  But I can’t use a finder spell if I don’t have a sample of the stones.”

“You don’t need a finder spell,” said Catherine.  “A finder spell would be for if the stone was lost somewhere in the forest, and you hadn’t a clue about where in the forest it was.  But here you know the stones are directly under us.  You just need to separate what are stones and what is dirt.”

“I can’t get a sample of the stones, but I can get a sample of the dirt,” said Vivian.  “I could use the spell to tell me what the outline of the dirt is.”

“Yes, that would work,” said Catherine.  “But you could also just use a revealing spell to see through the dirt.”

“I don’t think I’ve learned that yet.”

“Oh, sure you have.  It’s the same spell we used to practice seeing through walls.”

“Oh, of course,” Vivian said.  “How silly of me.”

“It’s okay,” said Catherine.  “It’s quite normal for beginning witches.  You have all these thousands of spells, it’s easy to only think of the spell in the context in which you learned it, and forget that they can be used in diverse situations.”

“This is taking forever,” General Graten said.  “Enough with the magic lesson.  Can we just get started please?”

“However long you think this may take, General,” said Catherine, “I assure you it is still quicker than digging through the dirt.  Which is what you would have to do if Vivian and I weren’t here.  So you’ll allow me some time to train her.”  Catherine turned back to Vivian.  “Use the revealing spell to see exactly where the stones are.  Then, while you’re focused on the stones, use the removing spell to remove the mass of dirt between those stones.  Do you think you can do it?”

“I think so.”

“Okay, give it a try.  If in doubt, estimate conservatively on the dirt.  If you don’t remove all the dirt the first time, we can always use other spells.  But you don’t want to collapse the whole building.”

Vivian started chanting and pointing her hands, and pretty soon dirt was flying up everywhere.  Catherine used her own spell to protect her from the dirt, but the rest of the people assembled just had to run for cover.

It was most of the royal family that was assembled to see Carlyle, Midor and Henry off.  Plus the castle guests like General Graten, Grace, John, and Kolet and Aurora.  (By now, most people in the castle had heard some version of the story behind Kolet and Aurora, even though not everyone wanted to ask John about it directly.)

Eventually, Vivian cleared the chamber of dirt.

While Vivian was performing her magic, Aefar came up behind Catherine.  “They have increased their number,” he said.  “They have the boy Henry with them, as well as the pixies.”

“Your instructions remain unchanged,” Catherine whispered back.  “I don’t know what you’re so upset about.  The addition of more food should make you happy.  Henry is not kin to me, so he’s not under my protection any more than Midor is.”

“I didn’t agree to fight pixies,” Aefar said.

Catherine actually turned around to look at Aefar at this point.  She had a very quizical look on her face.   “What a peculiar vampire you are, Aefar.  Imagine a vampire being afraid of a 6 inch pixie.”

“They have magic.”

“They have barely anything,” said Catherine.  “Nobody in the magic community ever worries about a pixie.”

“It’s said that they have mysterious powers that no one knows about.  Even the witches couldn’t tell you exactly what a pixies powers are,” said Aefar.

“Aefar, you are journeying into the land of monsters, where you are going to encounter several creatures who have mysterious powers that no one clearly knows about.  And then, if Carlyle succeeds in his mission, you’ll help him fight yet another creature with mysterious powers, Ambrosia.  I fail to see how the addition of the pixies changes anything.  Now step back.  Vivian’s almost done with her spell, and I don’t want anyone to overhear us.”

Vivian had indeed finished with the spell.  Most of the dirt had been removed from the underground cavern.  It had been piled up all around the forest floor, and most of those who were gathered around had been covered with dust.

Catherine walked over.  “Well done, Vivian,” she said.  

“I’ve made quite a mess of things, haven’t I?” said Vivian, looking around at the dirt everywhere.

“It’s the forest.  Once it rains, the dirt will get cleaned up,” said Catherine.  “There are more sophisticated spells you could have used which would have placed the dirt neatly somewhere else, but, we’ll worry about those for another day.  So, you’ve definitely got the majority of the dirt out.  But the chamber is not as clean as it could be, is it?”

“I followed your advice and was conservative with the spell,” said Vivian.  

“Yes, and that was smart.  But we can go in now and clean up the remaining dirt.”

“I think this little magic lesson has gone on long enough,” said General Graten.  “The chamber doesn’t need to be spotless.”

“For once, I agree with General Graten,” said Midor.

Catherine smiled at them, but it was not altogether a friendly smile.  “Very well,” said Catherine.  “If that’s how you gentleman feel about it.  Let the expedition begin, then.”

Midor and Carlyle stepped forward.  Jacob the frog was in Midor’s shirt pocket.  The pixies hopped along the floor.

Henry stepped forward as well.  General Graten grabbed him briefly by the arm.  “You know you’re making a mistake,” said General Graten.  “You don’t need to go with them.  And you’re not ready to go with them.  I have so much more to teach you first.”

“I knew you would say that to me, General” said Henry.

“And I knew you wouldn’t listen to me.  Why I ever wasted my time trying to train you is a mystery for the ages.  You never listen to me, and you’re determined to get yourself killed.  Well, I won’t waste any more time trying to talk you out of it.”

General Graten released Henry’s arm.

Henry paused before continuing.  “General,” he said, “Your sword fighting skills are far superior than mine.  As are your skills in hand to hand combat.  I have much still to learn from you.  When I come back, I hope you will take me under your tutelage once again.”

“Did you just admit your inferiority?” asked General Graten.

“I did,” said Henry.

“Well, maybe there’s hope for you yet,” said General Graten.  “If you value my skills at fighting, perhaps you will value my judgment.”

“I value very much your judgment, and your skills at prediction,” said Henry.  “If you were to tell me that I had very little chance of returning alive from this expedition, I would take your prediction as superior to my own.”

General Graten sighed.  “Okay, go on.  What’s the next part?”

“The only thing I do not value is your sense of honor.  You have none.”

“A sense of honor serves no purpose to a man other than to get him killed,” General Graten said.

“So I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” continued Henry.  “But it is my sense of honor that compels me to share the danger with my comrades.”

“Fine,” said General Graten.  “Fine, go ahead and get yourself killed. I make it a point never to argue with stupid people.”

And so, Henry, Carlyle, Midor, Jacob the Frog, and the six pixies entered the realm of the Monsters.

Chapter 111: Carlyle Asks for Midor’s Help… Again

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Catherine was sitting on the throne.  If ever someone could be described as gloating, it would have been her.  She was smiling from ear to ear.

“So, Midor, I’ve asked you here because Carlyle has something he wants to ask of you.  I’m not sure you will recognize Carlyle in his present form.  I believe the last time you saw him he was a frog.”

Midor bowed his head.  “Indeed, I did not recognize him at first,” he acknowledged.  “This was not the form I was expecting the fairies to change you to,” Midor said, looking at Carlyle.

“Ah, yes, Midor, for all your knowledge about the forest, you know precious little about magic,” said Catherine.  “I could have predicted this result, if anyone would have but asked me.  I knew the fairies would never risk trying to undo a spell whose origins they do not know.  And as I warned Carlyle, and as I’ll warn you all, my spells are always obscure.  I often add little twists in them myself to prevent them from being reversed.”

“The Winged Lion suits you, my king,” said Midor to Carlyle.

“Silence!” yelled Catherine.  “You are not to address him by that name.  He is not the king, nor was he ever the rightful king.  He is a usurper.”

“I acknowledge that by the ancient laws of primogeniture, you have the most claim to the throne,” said Midor to Catherine.  “But by every other metric that is used to measure kingship, Carlyle has fulfilled his duty as a King, and you have not.”

“Careful Midor,” said Catherine.  “You’re going to make me angry.  Firstly, I have protected this forest far better than Carlyle has ever done or ever could do.  As you well know, Midor, the crisis of the ancient monsters returning was not a crisis of my making.  That crisis began during Carlyle’s so-called reign.  But I defy you, Midor, to tell me that the ancient monsters are not now contained, and currently being contained far better than Carlyle could ever do.”

“There are more powerful monsters who are coming,” said Midor.  “Monsters who themselves can do magic.”

Catherine smiled.  “When they come, I will deal with them as well.  We shall see whether their magic is strong enough to stand up to mine.  But enough of this.  This is not why I have called you here.  I have called you here because Carlyle has something he wishes to ask you.”

Midor turned and faced Carlyle again.  Carlyle spoke, “First of all, I know the only reason we are meeting in the throne room is because Catherine wishes me to humiliate myself in front of her.  So I see no reason not to give her what I want.  The last time we met, Midor, I attacked you in anger, and drove you away from my presence.  I wish to apologize now for that action.  I wish to tell you that I was in the wrong in that encounter, and regret my actions.  Furthermore, Midor, I need to tell you that I am now planning on embarking on a campaign in which your aid will be essential to me, and that I can not accomplish this task without you.  So I now humbly supplicate myself before you, and beg you to forgive my past actions, and agree to accompany me.”

“All is forgiven, my King,” said Midor.  “All was forgiven a long time ago.”

“Do not use that title again in my presence,” Catherine called out.

“You are very kind,” said Carlyle.  “But I had to ask your forgiveness nonetheless.  This is a quest of great danger that I am going to ask you to join me on, and it is essential that there be no lingering ill will between us.”

“I can assure you, my King, there is none on my side.”

“Midor, I am warning you, there are certain things I will not tolerate,” said Catherine.  “Test me one more time, and you will end up with your form altered like Carlyle here.”

“For goodness sake’s man, do as she says,” said Carlyle, suddenly breaking from a supplicating tone to an exasperated tone.  “Just call me Carlyle.  The last thing I need is for you to be crippled by her magic before we even begin.”

Midor nodded.  “As you wish, Carlyle.”

King Carlyle switched back into his supplicating tone.  “I need you to accompany me back into the monster dimension,” he said.  “Ambrosia is there.”

“Ambrosia.  But how?”

“I don’t know how she got there.  But she’s in that dimension.  And she’s the one who’s been sending the monsters out.”

“But why are you going to fight Ambrosia.  Surely Catherine--”

“Catherine refuses to do it,” said Carlyle.  “So it’s up to me to save the forest.  It’s up to us.”

“What’s the matter, Midor?” said Catherine tauntingly.  “Have you found a use for my magic after all?”

“Catherine, I’ve already conceded this point to you,” said Midor patiently.  “I’ve already conceded that magic is necessary to fight the monsters.”

“My presence is needed here in Castle Tauna,” said Catherine.  “Vivian and I are needed to guard the castle against monsters.”

“I’ll go with you!” said Vivian, stepping forward.

“Vivian, no, it’s too dangerous,” said Carlyle.

“I’ve acquired new powers since you were last in this castle, father,” said Vivian.  “I can take care of myself.”

“She’s right,” said Midor, smiling affectionately at Vivian, and then turning back to Carlyle.  “You should see her with her new superspeed and her magic sword.  She’s defeated all the monsters who have emerged so far.”

“I forbid Vivian to go,” said Catherine.  “She is needed here to guard Castle Tauna.”

“I hate to say it,” said Midor, “But Catherine’s probably right on this one.  Vivian is now the forest’s defense against any new monsters that emerge.  But I will go with you, my K--, I mean Carlyle.  I spent two years in that realm.  I know how to find my way around in it.”

“Excellent,” said King Carlyle.  “I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

“Now, Carlyle,” said Catherine, “as we discussed, there is one other who is to accompany you.”

“Yes, Catherine, who is the man you have chosen?”

Aefar stepped forward.  “Hello, Carlyle,” he said.  “Remember me?”

“Aefar?  Of course.  I remember you from the mountains.”  Carlyle turned to Catherine.  “You’ve brought vampires into Castle Tauna now, have you?”

“Not anymore.  Aefar will be going with you.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever be able to trust your man,” said Carlyle, “but I never imagined that it would be a vampire that you would set on me.”

“Carlyle, don’t be silly,” said Catherine.  “You have nothing to fear from a vampire.   They don’t like lion blood.  You know that.  Why, the only one who has any reason to be worried would be Midor.”  Catherine smiled viciously at this last part.

Carlyle nodded slowly.  “Yes, I suppose you have a point.”  Carlyle turned to Midor.  “Don’t worry Midor, I’m the one Catherine wants dead, not you.  I’m sure the vampire has been instructed to leave you alone.”

“I’m supplying Aefar with two weeks worth of blood potion,” said Catherine, holding up the sacks.  “It’s a little concoction of my own design.  He’ll not harm you, Midor, while there’s blood potion left.  But I wouldn’t linger on your little journey any more than two weeks, if I were you.”  Catherine’s smile grew even bigger. 

“Fine,” snapped Carlyle.  “The deal was that your man would accompany us in exchange for you opening up the entranceway again.”

“It’s getting late,” said Catherine.  “I’ll open up the entrance way tomorrow.  In order for Aefar to accompany you, we’ll have to do it at sundown tomorrow.  He dislikes the daylight so.  You both have one day to say your goodbyes.  But Carlyle, I’ll not have you sleeping in this castle.  I want you out in the forest floor in one hour.”

“It’s okay,” said Midor.  “I know a family of wolves nearby who will let you sleep in their den.  I’ll go out with you.”

As Midor and Carlyle walked out, they encountered all of Carlyle’s friends in the hallway.  “How did it go?” asked Jacob the frog.  “Is that Midor with you?”

“It is indeed,” said Midor.  “Hello Jacob.  I hope you are well.”

“Midor, do you remember me?” asked Benjamin.  “You helped my family escape the Bear King’s Kingdom years ago.”

“Benjamin!” cried Midor, scooping up the little mouse in his hands.  “Do you know I carried both your parents across the forest in my pockets?”

“Yes they’ve told me the story many times,” said Benjamin.

“And how are they now?” asked Midor.

“Still as healthy as ever,” answered Benjamin.  [This section needs to be double checked and possibly deleted.  I think Midor already met Benjamin and Jacob when he was travelling with Carlyle, right?]

“Is that Leo?” said Midor, spying the hedgehog.  “Carlyle, I see you have gone on quite a journey, haven’t you?”

“And don’t forget us,” said Aiden, bouncing forward.  

Midor saw the pixies jumping forward, and was temporarily speechless.  So Brenna spoke.  “Hello Midor,” she said.

Midor turned to Carlyle.  “Pixies?  You’re friends with pixies now?”

“I admit it’s a bit unusual,” said Carlyle.  “But it’s a long story.”

“But pixies never help anyone else,” said Midor.

“Like I said, it’s a long story,” replied Carlyle.

“So how did it go?” asked Brenna.  “Did Midor agree?”

“He did,” said Carlyle.  “We set off at sunset tomorrow.”

“Do you remember us, Midor?” asked Conn.

Midor groaned.  “How could I forget?  The last time I ran into you lot was when you stole a baby from one of the forest folk.”

“Ah, he remembers well,” said Adair.  “You drove a hard bargain that day, Midor.  We don’t usually like giving babies up once we’ve got them, but you bargained hard.”

Midor turned to Carlyle.  “I’m happy you’ve done well for yourself in your travels,” Midor said.  “Really, I’m pleased with how much you’ve learned.  But you need to be careful about associating with pixies.  You can’t trust them.”

There was a general groaning and a lot of shouting from the six assembled pixies.

“It’s okay,” said King Carlyle gently. “They’re not just pixies.  They’re friends.”

“And we’ll be coming with you tomorrow,” shouted Alrene.

Carlyle shook his head.  “I can’t ask that of you.”

“You didn’t ask that of us, you big lug,” yelled Aiden.  “We just volunteered.

“Do you think,” said Arlina, “that after all we’ve been through together that we have any intention of letting you go without us?  We have to hear the end of this story.”

“It’s a dark and terrible place, the land of the monsters,” Carlyle said.  “Midor can tell you.”

“It is,” said Midor.  “Very dangerous, even for magical pixies like yourself.”

“You’re not the king of the forest, Midor,” shouted Brenna.  “When we make our mind up about something, then you can’t stop us from coming.”

Midor bit his lip in thought, and turned to Carlyle.  “I’ve never travelled with pixies as companions before,” he said.  “They don’t have a reputation as being trustworthy.”

“You can trust these six,” said Carlyle.  “I will vouch for them.”

Midor shrugged.  “Very well,” he said.  “You can come if you wish.”

“And don’t forget about me,” said Jacob the frog.  “I’ve been travelling with you all through the forest.  I’m not going to stop now.”

“Jacob, you have proven yourself one of my most trusted friends,” said King Carlyle.  “But where we are going is no place for frogs.  You would be no help in the battle against monsters.”

Midor coughed softly.  “Well, if it comes to that, my king, I would be no help in a fight against monsters either.  Surely our goal is to avoid the monsters at all costs, I presume, and to only seek out Ambrosia.”

“Your point is well taken, Midor, but surely…”

“The land is not unsuitable for a frog,” said Midor.  “Much of it is wet and swampy.  Jacob could travel in it just as well as we could.  I don’t think he would slow us down any.”

“Perhaps not,” said King Carlyle.  “But why ask him to risk his life unnecessarily?  The pixies at least could be useful.  They have their magic.”

“Surely that is my decision to make, though,” insisted Jacob.  “I’ve accompanied you so far, let me help you see your journey to the end.”

“I suppose it is your decision,” said King Carlyle.  “Very well.  You can travel with us.”

“Well, if Jacob is going with you, then one of us needs to stay behind to keep an eye on John,” said Benjamin the Mouse.  “I will stay behind in the castle.”

“As will I,” said Leo.  “A hedgehog is of very little use in these matters.”

“Alright then,” said Midor.  “It looks like we have our crew for this expedition.  One man, one Winged Lion, 6 pixies, and a frog.”

“I would be very much obliged if you could make that 2 men,” said a voice, and they turned to see Henry walking towards them.  “John told me what is happening,” Henry said as he approached them.  “And I want to join you.”

“Henry, you have recently caused much distress to Alicia and her parents,” said Midor.  “Think what distress you would cause them by running off with us so soon after we’ve freed you from your enchantment.”

“What is all this?” asked King Carlyle.

“I’ll explain later,” said Midor.

“You speak, Midor, as if you were not also leaving behind many who love you,” said Henry.  “I could not live with myself if I allowed you to face danger alone, and did not offer to help you.  You will need a warrior with you.  You, Midor, by your own admission, are not a fighter.  But I can travel with you and offer my sword.”

Midor was secretly thinking to himself that he would much rather have General Graten accompanying him than Henry.  Not because he valued General Graten’s company, but he had learned to value General Graten’s skill with a sword.  And he had also learned from General Graten that Henry wasn’t nearly as good with a sword as he thought he was.  But it seemed impolite to say all that, so Midor simply nodded.  “We could always use a good man like yourself.”

“Well then,” said King Carlyle.  “It is agreed.  Now, let us all try and get some sleep.  Midor, if you can show me to the wolf den that you know of.”

“I’m afraid it hardly compares to what you’re used to at the palace,” Midor said.

“Don’t forget,” said King Carlyle.  “I haven’t slept at the palace in many weeks now.”