Early one morning, Jason, Midor and General Graten left Castle Tauna. General Graten walked through the woods unarmed. His sword was in its sheath, and the sheath and sword together were carried by Midor. General Graten felt a little naked without his sword, but he tried not to show that it was bothering him, and walked with a swagger as he drank wine from his sack.
“So, just the three of us walking through these woods,” he said with a sneer. “We’re going to have lots of time to get to know each other I’m sure.”
There was a twinge of sarcasm to his words that Midor couldn’t help responding to. “You make it sound as if you despise our company, General,” he said. “Or perhaps you make it sound as if getting to know us would be beneath you in some way.”
General Graten just snorted, but the snort seemed to confirm Midor’s assessment of his words.
“General, we don’t have to spend any time talking to each other if you do not wish it. I’ve spent my whole adult life wandering through these woods on my own. I’m very capable of walking in silence. Or, should I desire conversation, there are many other creatures for me to talk to. In this part of the forest, even the trees talk.”
“Of course,” observed Jason, “The trees don’t usually bother to talk to people.”
“We will talk to Midor,” boomed the voice of an oak tree.
“Midor is respected in this forest,” said an elm. “Even by us trees.”
General Graten just laughed in response.
“Midor,” said Jason, “Is it true that you came from the land of men?”
“It’s true,” Midor replied. “I was born there and grew up there. I didn’t enter the forest until I was 17.”
“What is it like?” asked Jason.
“You’ll find out for yourself soon enough,” Midor said.
“Yes,” said General Graten sarcastically. “If by ‘soon enough’, you mean several weeks’ journey.”
Midor realized that General Graten was right, and decided that Jason’s curiosity probably deserved an answer now. “It’s hard to describe exactly,” Midor said to Jason. “You know how this forest has many different areas--some swamp areas, some rivers, some lakes, some rocky areas, some hill areas, and some valleys.”
“Yes, and many more different areas besides those,” Jason helpfully volunteered.
“Yes, well the land of men also has a great diversity. It has farmlands, and villages, towns and ports. But the thing everyone talks about are the cities. The cities can be a wonder to behold, especially if you’re in a nice one. There are buildings everywhere, and lots of people. But not only people, lots of animals as well.”
“There are animals living in the land of men?” said Jason, amazed.
General Graten laughed at Jason’s ignorance, but Midor tried to explain it to him. “Yes. but it’s not as strange as you would think. You see, the people and animals in the city don’t call it the Land of Men. It’s only the creatures in the forest who call it the Land of Men. But there are humans, animals, and even several other creatures in the city--dwarves and elves, for example. So it’s not only humans. But, it is true that the cities are built by humans. And they are generally ruled by human kings. And the thing you’ll notice most of all once you leave the forest is the lack of trees. In some of the cities, there is hardly a tree to be seen. But even outside of the cities, in the villages or in the farmlands, the trees are always kept under control. And,” Midor lowered his voice slightly, “humans chop down trees to use the wood.”
“It’s okay, Midor,” said one of the oak trees standing nearby. “You don’t have to lower your voice. We have heard the rumors.”
“We know that you would never do such a thing,” said another tree.
“How could they chop down the trees?” asked Jason. “Don’t the trees fight back?”
“Trees only really come to life when there are a big group of them together,” said Midor. “They need constant communication with each other, or they fall asleep. Or, if they are grown outside of the forest, most of them never even wake up in the first place. In fact, even on the outskirts of this forest, the trees are asleep. You will see that after we pass the Land of the Fairies--all the trees on the other side are still asleep.”
“It’s amazing how ignorant you are,” said General Graten to Jason. “I keep forgetting your people have never left the center of the forest. You are going to be in for a big surprise when we get out of the forest.”
“Well, if I get into any trouble, I’ll try to get word back to you,” Jason said to Midor.
General Graten laughed again. Midor had to explain. “Once you get out of the forest,” said Midor, “No one will know who I am. I am only famous inside the forest.”
“But what about the animals?” said Jason. “You said there were animals living in the land of men.”
“Not even the animals will know who I am,” said Midor. “I am only famous among the animals that live inside the forest. I’m afraid you’re on your own once you get outside of the forest. Well, you’ll have General Graten here with you, but who knows how long General Graten will stay by you until he gets a better offer.”
“I’m not denying it,” said General Graten. “It’s possible that I may find better things to do with my time than wander into some barren mountains looking for a guild of sorcerers. But, if we do part company, I’ll try not to leave you completely high and dry. I’ll make sure you’re well provisioned, and that you’re on the right path before I abandon you. That much, at least, I can promise.”
“That’s not much,” said Midor. “But it’s what we would expect from a man like you.”
“Well, I at least thank you for that, General,” said Jason. “I am not your family, nor do you owe any debt to me that I should expect you to do any more. If you help me even for a portion of my journey in the land of men, you will have my gratitude.”
As they were talking in this manner, they came across a dwarf, who came running up to them. “Oh Midor, thank goodness I found you,” exclaimed the dwarf. “I’ve been sent to bring you as quickly as possible.”
Midor recognized the face of the dwarf. “Garth! What’s wrong?” he asked.
“A terrible monster has entered into our mines,” said the dwarf. “It’s been eating all of the dwarves trapped in the caves!”
“A terrible monster, huh?” said General Graten. “It’s a pity I don’t have my sword. If only I weren’t bound by my oath never to fight any creature for as long as you were serving as our guide! Then, I could easily slay this monster that you speak of.”
“You may find, General,” said Midor, “that negotiating is often more useful than violence. Even with these monsters.”
General Graten laughed in a derisive way. “That has not been my experience!” he said.
“Yes, well the ancient monsters are different,” said Midor. “But that’s why the sorcerers imprisoned them in the other dimension long ago--because they couldn’t be reasoned with. But there’s a reason why they didn’t imprison all the hostile creatures of the forest.”
“Please Midor,” pleaded Garth. “The beast is attacking and eating my people as we speak.”
“Okay, we will come at once,” said Midor. “We’ll run as fast as we can. We won’t be able to hold much of a conversation while we run, so is there anything you want to tell me about this beast now, or shall you fill us in when we get there?”
“It’s best to just run there now,” said Garth. “I wouldn’t even know how to try to describe it anyway.”
Midor looked at Jason and General Graten, and they nodded back at him. “Okay,” said Midor. “Let’s go.”
Midor and Garth both knew where the mines were located, so they ran through the forest as fast as they could. Garth, although his legs were little, had no problem keeping up. In fact, it has often been observed that in spite of their size, dwarves are notoriously fast runners. Jason and General Graten ran behind and did their best to keep up. Jason had always been more bookish than athletic, and he wasn’t in quite as good of shape as Midor. General Graten also struggled a little bit. Although he kept up his daily fencing training, he had not kept up his running training at Castle Tauna, and in fact had been drinking more than was healthy for an athletic body. So General Graten also lagged behind slightly. But both General Graten and Jason were able to keep up well enough.
They ran through the forest for several hours. Even Midor and Garth grew tired eventually, and needed to relax their pace, but they never slowed to a walk. Eventually they came to the entrance of the cave. There were several dwarves standing around.
“I found him!” Garth said triumphantly. “I found Midor!”
“Garth told me about the monster,” said Midor. “Can you give me any information?”
“It looks like a dragon,” said one of the dwarves. “It’s head resembles a dragon, but it’s mouth is much bigger. It swallows up our people whole. It has scales like a dragon, but it’s body is long and shaped like a tube--like a giant worm, or a snake. It has no wings, but burrows through the ground. And it’s managed to find the tunnels in our mines. We all got out in time, but many others are still trapped inside the mines.”
“I see,” said Midor. “Well, I’d like to go in and take a look at it. Only my eyes can’t see in the dark as well as a dwarf’s can. Do you have any sources of light?”
Midor knew that anywhere there was a mine, the dwarves usually kept some light source nearby. Burning wooden torches was difficult to do in a forest where the trees were alive and could defend themselves. (Although wooden torches weren’t completely unheard of. This being an old forest, there was often plenty of dead wood around from fallen trees, or fallen branches, and sometimes this was usable for burning.) But Midor also knew that the dwarves usually prized magic rocks that had illuminating qualities. There were some magic glowing rocks that could sometimes be found inside the caves. The dwarves searched about through their sacks, until someone produced a glowing rock. “We found it deep in the caves,” he said. “It’s a moonstone. It captures the light of the moon in it. It was out in the moonlight last night, and it is all full of the moon’s rays.”
Midor took the rock. “Great,” he said. “Now, who will guide me to the monster?”
“I will,” said Garth. “I was inside the mine when it first attacked.”
“Okay,” Midor said. He then turned to Jason and General Graten. “You two wait outside for me. I don’t know how long I’ll be in the cave. It could be a few hours. But I’ll be back, don’t go anywhere without me.”
“We’re coming with you,” said Jason. “If there’s a monster to fight, we’ll do it together.”
Midor smiled. “Calm down Jason. We might not even need to fight him. We’re not sure.”
“Midor,” General Graten began slowly, “I promised not to use violence as long as you were my guide. But since that promise was made to you, at your request, you may release me from that promise at any moment you choose. Just give me back my sword, and I will fight the dragon for you.”
“General, you are not released from your promise,” Midor said emphatically. “It was precisely because I anticipated there would be moments like this that I extracted that promise from you in the first place.”
But on this point, even the dwarves seemed to doubt Midor. There was a lot of mumbling. “Midor, if he is a warrior, give him his sword,” said Garth. “I doubt that this creature can be reasoned with. And we have nothing to bargain with.”
“You have summoned me here,” said Midor. “Let me deal with the problem as best I can.”
“Midor, if you are eaten by the dragon,” said General Graten, “I will consider myself released from my promise, since my promise was only to refrain from violence for as long as you were my guide through the forest.”
“Yes, General, that is fair. Once I am dead, you may handle matters as you see fit.”
“Fine,” said General Graten. “Then, I ask as a favor that you let Jason hold my sword for you when we enter into the mines. You will go first through the mines, and attempt to negotiate with the creature if you see fit. I will follow you into the caves, but only follow you at a distance. Jason will stay close to me, and together the two of us will observe you being eaten by the dragon. Once the dragon has eaten you, then Jason will give me my sword. I think that is fair.”
“It is fair, as far as fair goes,” said Midor cautiously. “But General, I repeat, you and Jason are under no obligation to follow me into the cave. I do not need your assistance in this matter, and you will be needlessly putting yourself in harm’s way.”
“Are you kidding?” said General Graten. “Do you think I would miss a chance to see this? I can’t wait to see that dragon eat you.”
“Midor, we have entered this journey together as a team,” said Jason. “I will not sit on the sidelines while you alone put yourself in danger.”
“Very well,” said Midor. “You may come along.”
“The only request I would make,” said General Graten, “is that, if at all possible, you try to make an acknowledgement of your error as the dragon eats you. I mean, if it suddenly rips off your head, fine, I understand you won’t have time to make any such pronouncements. But if it grabs your torso in its jaws first before it swallows you whole, I would like to hear you say something like, ‘General, I acknowledge that my methods have failed, and that my own arrogance has been my undoing.’ Something like that. That would increase my enjoyment of seeing you eaten.”
“Very well,” said Midor. “I will do my best. And, if, for some reason, my final moments prevent me from the articulation of speech, then you may take it as understood that I would have said those words, had I been able to. Would that also bring you satisfaction?”
“There are certain things,” said General Graten, “that are pleasing to hear said aloud, even if the sentiment behind them is already understood. If at all possible, Midor, that’s all I ask.”
Midor nodded. “Very well. And General, you are reminded that up until the moment of my death, you are to still consider yourself bound by your promise to me. Stay behind me, and let me handle things.”
General Graten nodded, and smiled.
“Okay, let’s go,” said Midor to Garth.
Garth led them into the tunnels, holding the glowing moonstone before him. While they walked, Midor tried to get as many details from Garth about the creature. Where did it come from? When did it arrive? Who saw it first? How many dwarves has it eaten so far?
In response to Midor’s questioning, Garth explained that the creature came out of one of the mine shafts earlier today. No one knows where it came from. It appears that this creature has the power to burrow through the soil and rock, so it could very well have just burrowed its way into the cave.
“But how does it burrow through rock?” Midor asked.
Garth didn’t know, but he suspected the creature might be able to eat its way through rock. It had huge teeth and it appeared that it could chomp through anything.
Since it emerged in the mines, it had managed to trap several dwarves in the shaft. No one knows how many dwarves are still running through the mines, and how many of them have been eaten by the creature, but it is certain that at least 10 dwarves were eaten by it.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier,” said Midor somberly. “But I’ll do what I can now.”
“This doesn’t sound like an ordinary creature of the forest,” said Jason. “This sounds like one of the ancient monsters--the ones that have been escaping from the portal.”
General Graten laughed. “I’ve noticed,” he said. “that you’ve never had much luck negotiating with the ancient monsters, Midor. Are they beyond your negotiation tactics?”
“The short answer, General,” said Midor, “is: Yes. I have spent enough time with the ancient monsters to know that negotiation with them is not beneficial.”
“Aha,” said General Graten. “So you admit that you can’t talk your way out of everything.”
“The ancient monsters are different than the creatures of the forest,” said Midor. “Most creatures in the forest have something that they want, and if you can negotiate with them to get them what they want, then you don’t need to fight them. But the ancient monsters have spent centuries in exile doing nothing but planning their revenge on the creatures of the forest. What they want is to kill as many of us as possible. In addition, because they have been exiled to the other dimension, they have no social ties to anything in the forest. They don’t have family members that can be appealed to. There are no sibling rivalries that can be exploited. There are no clans that can be played off each other. They are simply bent on destruction.”
“That’s what makes me worried about this monster,” said Jason. “He seems like something from the other dimension.”
“Possibly,” said Midor. “But we’ve had that portal under guard ever since I came through it.”
“Did we,” asked Jason. “Or is it possible we may have missed something? How much time passed before you got out and a guard got posted? Are we sure that there was never a moment of inattention when there was a changing of the guard?”
“In my experience,” said General Graten, “most of those monsters aren’t quiet or subtle.”
“Well of course,” said Jason. “Because if any of them were quiet or subtle, they would never have come to your attention. So of course you’d only notice the loud ones.”
General Graten chuckled. “Well argued,” he said.
“But there’s another thing as well,” said Jason. “The portal to that dimension is buried underneath the ground, right? So in order to get to us, the monsters have to break through the ground after they emerge from their dimension. But, what if one of the monsters didn’t break through to the surface. What if one of the monsters tunneled underground instead?”
Midor stopped walking abruptly. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, it could be.”
“Or,” said Jason, “here’s another thought. All the ancient monsters were put into that other dimension centuries ago by the sorcerers, right? But what if the sorcerers missed some of them. Perhaps there were monsters hidden underground that the sorcerors couldn’t find.”
“Well, I…” Midor began, but stopped. “I have no idea,” he said. “No one really knows how the sorcerers banished those monsters centuries ago. Except, I suspect that if any monsters had been left in the forest, either above ground or underground, we’d have heard about it before now. They’re not exactly quiet creatures.” As soon as the words were out of Midor’s mouth, he realized his mistake. “I’ve just made the same mistake as General Graten, haven’t I?” he said.
“You said it before I could,” General Graten chuckled.
Midor stood silently for a moment, and then he said, “General, I am reluctant to release you from your oath on a permanent basis. But would you consider your oath to still be binding in the future if I were to temporarily release you from it for the present?”
“You see, Midor,” said the General smiling, “I had a feeling this would happen at some point in our journey. In fact, I have a feeling it might happen at a few more points in our journey.”
“This would be a one time only condition,” said Midor.
“Well, let’s bet on it then,” said General Graten. “You can temporarily release me from my oath two times at occasions of your choosing. The third time that you decide to temporarily release me from the oath, we will consider the oath to be permanently released.”
“I am agreeing to those conditions,” Midor said, “Only because I feel confident that there will be no second or third time. Jason, you can give General Graten his sword.”
Jason handed it over. General Graten smiled as he flashed it through the air. “You can give me the sheath as well,” he said. As Jason unbuckled the belt and sheath, General Graten said, “Of course, it goes without saying that if I still had the magic sword, I would be even more valuable to you yet. But that sword was unfairly stolen from me.”
“On that account, General, you will have to complain to Catherine. That had nothing to do with me.”
“It was your wife that did it,” said General Graten.
Midor shrugged. “I still blame Catherine. But I won’t argue with you, General. The point is, I did not approve of the sword being taken from you.”
“It’s no matter,” said General Graten, swinging his sword through the air. “A magic sword is cheating, really. If the sword can cut through anything no matter the strength of the arm behind it, it takes away all the skill. You may as well give that kind of sword to a woman.”
“The women in Castle Tauna are all warriors,” said Jason.
“Yes, I’m sure compared to you, they are,” said General Graten, sneering.
They approached a fork in the tunnels. “Which way?” Midor asked Garth.
“The monster was last seen down this way,” said Garth, and he led them down one of the tunnels.
As they were walking, there seemed to be some sort of rumbling in the walls. Garth froze. “What is it?” asked Midor (although he already suspected the answer.)
“It’s the monster,” said Garth.
“Where is it?” asked General Graten.
“Behind the cave walls,” said Garth.
“So it can burrow through rock then,” said Jason.
There was a smashing sound, and the creature emerged from a hole in the cave wall behind them. “Clever,” said Jason. “It burrowed around behind us, so that it could trap us in the cave.”
“Friend,” shouted Midor quickly. “We wish you no harm. I am Midor, well-known in this forest. Who are you, and what do you want in these tunnels?
Midor spoke quickly, but he barely had time to get the words out. The creature gave a roar, and charged straight at them. General Graten raised his sword, and ran directly at the creature. Midor, Jason and Garth simply stood where they were, paralyzed by the suddenness of it.
The creature was indeed much like the dwarves had described it--something like a cross between a dragon and a snake. It opened its mouth as if to swallow General Graten whole, but fortunately General Graten was just a little bit too big to be swallowed in this manner. Even when the creature’s mouth was open wide, its top jaw only came up to General Graten’s chest. The creature ran directly into General Graten, snapping its jaws. General Graten was knocked back, but instead of falling over he grabbed onto the dragon’s face, so that he was being carried down the tunnel with the moving dragon. While he grabbed at the dragon’s face with his left hand, General Graten brought his sword down onto the dragon’s nose with his right hand. The dragon howled in pain, and blood flowed from the cut. General Graten noticed this with a glimmer of hope. This was not one of those invulnerable ancient monsters. This monster, at least, could be hurt.
But while General Graten grappled with the dragon-like serpent, the creature slithered down the tunnel at a surprising speed. In almost no time at all, the creature, and General Graten together with it, vanished from sight.
“Quick!” said Midor. “After them!”
Jason, Midor and Garth ran down the cave tunnel, pursuing the dragon-snake (which was carrying off General Graten). They couldn’t see it, but they could hear the sounds of commotion coming from down the tunnel. And they could hear General Graten yelling and cursing.
“It sounds like he’s doing okay,” Jason said as they ran, smiling slightly.
“This isn’t a joke,” said Midor. “That creature could eat him whole in a moment.”
“In which case,” said Jason, “I suppose you win the argument. I wonder if General Graten will apologize to you before he disappears down the monster’s throat.
“It’s possible,” said Midor as he ran, “that we may be able to negotiate with it yet. We didn’t really get a chance to say very much just now.”
“Yes,” said Jason. “There was a reason for that.”
“Yes, I know. We may well have to fight it. I hate to say this, but perhaps we should have brought more weapons with us.”
“Don’t let General Graten hear you say that,” said Jason. “You’ll never hear the end of it.”
“It’s not my first choice,” said Midor. “And it’s not what the dwarves were thinking when they summoned me here. No one who calls on me for help ever does so because of my skills as a warrior.” Midor turned to Garth. “What weapons do you have?”
“Very little for the size of humans,” said Garth. “But we do have some dwarf swords and shields, helmets and other armor. They’re located in our armory room.”
“We may be able to use the swords at least,” said Jason.
“If we have time to grab them,” Midor said. “Right now we have to find General Graten.”
They could still hear the sound faintly in the distance of the struggle and the General’s yelling. But as they kept going, they gradually realized that the sounds were becoming louder again.
“They’ve turned around,” said Jason. “They’re coming this way.” But of course, Jason was only articulating what the others had long ago realized. “What are we going to do?” asked Jason.
“Well, we can’t very well let the general fight it alone,” Midor said, and Jason noticed that Midor was crouching his legs down as if he was getting ready to jump.
“Wait, what about--” Jason started. But before he had time to finish his sentence, the dragon-like snake came rushing through the tunnel. General Graten was still in front, hanging on to it somehow. Midor jumped up, and grabbed at the dragon’s face, and found himself immediately carried away down the tunnel at high speed. Jason and Garth just stood there and watched the dragon disappear again, this time it was carrying away both Midor and General Graten.
There wasn’t much there in terms of a handhold, but Midor grabbed onto the dragon’s nose, and, like General Graten, found a place for his feet on the dragon’s lower lip, but was careful to avoid actually putting his feet within reach of the dragon’s teeth. “Welcome Midor,” said the General in a flat tone. “Nice of you to join us.”
Midor looked at General Graten. “Where’s your sword?” he asked.
“The cursed thing ate it,” said General Graten. “The whole sword disappeared down its throat.”
Midor looked in the dragon’s eyes. “Speak to us,” he said. “Are you from this forest, or do you come from the other dimension? How long have you lived here? What do you want?”
“Human, your noise is troubling,” said the dragon. “I should not be obliged to answer questions from my food. I seek only to gobble you down my throat.” It then gnashed its teeth fiercely, but Midor and General Graten both managed to hang on without falling into the teeth.
“As you can see,” said Midor, “we do not go down so easily. You have already felt the sting of my friend’s sword.”
“The sword is gone!” roared the dragon. “You have no more sting!”
General Graten punched the dragon in the nose at just this moment. The dragon’s face seemed to wince slightly, but it also seemed like the punch was only a minor annoyance.
“My name is Midor,” Midor repeated to the dragon once more. “I am well known in this forest, and have many friends. If you tell me what it is you want, I will help you get it.”
“I do not need your help,” said the dragon. “I burrow in the ground and make my own home. I have everything I need. The only thing I desire is fresh meat, and I am very good at finding that myself.”
“You caught the dwarves unaware,” said Midor. “But they are arming themselves now. We know that you bleed as easily as any other animal. The dwarves will kill you eventually. But I can help you.”
“Will you get me meat?” the dragon asked, although its tone was almost sarcastic.
“I can,” said Midor. “As much of it as you would like.”
General Graten’s eyes widened in response to this promise from Midor but he did not say anything.
“All I ask,” said Midor, “is that you stop eating the dwarves. Do we have a deal?”
“I am a dragon. I hunt for my meat. I love chasing down my prey, and seeing the fear in their eyes as my teeth chomp down on them. And am not afraid of the dwarves,” said the dragon. “You cannot bargain with me.”
There was a moment after that where no one spoke, and the only sound was that of the dragon running through the tunnel. Then, General Graten spoke, “Well, that’s clear enough,” he said.
“This is your last chance,” Midor said to the dragon. “When I return, it will be to kill you.”
The dragon laughed, and General Graten, in spite of himself, joined in the laughter with the dragon. “What can you do against me?” said the dragon.
At the same time, General Graten scoffed, “Midor, what are you going to do?”
“General, do you have everything under control here?” asked Midor.
“What kind of a question is that? I’m trapped hanging on to the front of a dragon, just barely avoiding getting snapped up by its jaws, and I’ve lost my sword. Of course it’s not under control!”
Midor smiled. “Hang on tight General,” he said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Midor then jumped to the side and leapt off the dragon. He landed on the cold stone floor of the cave and rolled to the right. At the same moment, General Graten started punching the dragon’s face again, which distracted the dragon’s attention away from Midor. The dragon kept speeding forward, still trying to snap up General Graten. Midor, meanwhile, ran for the exit of the cave.
Midor had still held onto the moonstone this whole time. (The fact that Midor held the moonstone means that he had left Jason and Garth in the dark, but Midor wasn’t worried about them. Garth was a dwarf, and could guide them out of the cave.)
Midor came to the cave exit. The dwarves were at the cave waiting for him. “I can’t reason with it,” said Midor. “But it does bleed. Garth said you have weapons.”
“We have some, but the creature is so big and so quick--” one of them began.
“It attacked so suddenly that we didn’t really get a chance,” said another one of them.
“I understand,” said Midor. “But grab whatever weapons you can now.”
“What are you doing?” asked another one of the dwarves.
“I’m going to call in a favor,” said Midor. He ran to a nearby tree, where there was a beehive. “Hello Midor,” one of the bees greeted him. “What can we do for you?”
“I’m afraid it’s an emergency this time,” said Midor. “I need to get word to Castle Tauna.”
“Castle Tauna? That’s a long way to go for a bee.”
“I know. But maybe you can help me find Sandi or Stuart, the red cardinals. Or Bartholomew the fly. Tell them where I am, and they can bring the message for me. Or tell them the message yourself, and they can carry it the rest of the way.”
“And what is the message?”
“Find Vivian in Castle Tauna. Sarah or Stuart or Bartholomew will know who she is. Tell her to come here. Tell her to come as quickly as possible--use her magic to fly if she can. And tell her to bring her magic sword with her.”
“Anything else?” buzzed the bees.
“No, that should be it.” The bees then all flew buzzing into the air. The whole hive dispersed in all directions. Midor knew with that many bees flying in that many directions, it wouldn’t be long before they met some Sandi or Stuart or Bartholomew. Or at the very least, met some other animal who could find Sarah or Stuart or Bartholomew. The forest was a big place, but it was filled with animals who knew other animals who knew other animals who knew other animals. When Midor sent out a message, it usually didn’t take long before it got there.
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