King Carlyle and Jacob the frog found the sunken log in the river that the wise old turtle had told them about. Just as the wise old turtle had said, the log was green and covered with moss and leaves, even though it was sitting at the bottom of the river.
“Well, I guess we’re here,” said King Carlyle.
“This truly looks like a magical place,” said Jacob.
“I’ve had plenty of magic in my life,” said King Carlyle. “I’ve had enough magic to last a lifetime. Let’s see what is actually here.”
Peeking out from under the log, they could see the whole with the whirlpool in it. But then the pike came darting out from behind the log. “What are you doing here?” it demanded, baring its teeth angrily.
“We’ve come to see the magical whirlpool,” said King Carlyle. “And rescue the queen of the Water Sprites. You must be the pike who guards this whirlpool. We heard about you from the wise old turtle.”
“He should have warned you to stay away,” said the pike. “For now I will eat you whole.”
“You can try, if you wish,” said King Carlyle. “But I’ve dealt with one pike like you already.”
“Are you familiar,” said Jacob the Frog, “with the name of Midor?”
“Midor? Midor can’t protect you,” said the pike, as it swam forward. It opened up its jaws. King Carlyle swam down towards the log as quickly as possible. The Pike snapped its jaws behind him, but only clamped down on water.
Jacob broke off one of the twigs emerging from the green log. When the pike attacked, Jacob thrust the twig at the Pike’s jaws. He succeeded in lodging the twig inside the pike’s jaws, but then the pike broke the twig by just snapping his jaws.
While the pike was distracted, Jacob and King Carlyle swam down towards the whirlpool. The pike darted hurriedly to try to get in front of them and stop them from reaching the whirlpool, but once the pike got close to the whirlpool, it ended up just getting sucked into the whirlpool. It opened its mouth in shocked surprise, and then screamed in anger as the whirlpool sucked it away.
King Carlyle and Jacob the Frog watched him disappear for a moment, before Jacob turned to King Carlyle. “Wow, he did not look happy,” said Jacob. “Are you sure you want to follow him down that whirlpool? He’s the one who is set to guard it, and even he didn’t want to go down it.”
“What else can we do?” said King Carlyle. “We’ve come all this way, haven’t we?” And King Carlyle swam down into the whirlpool. Jacob the Frog followed him.
The whirlpool didn’t follow the normal rules of physics, but it was a magic whirlpool after all. The water in the river flowed normally, and it wasn’t until someone reached the hole at the bottom of the river that they were able to feel the current of the whirlpool. But once you were stuck in it, there was no getting out. No sooner had King Carlyle entered into the hole then the current grabbed him, and spun him round and round while sucking him down. Jacob saw King Carlyle spin around and disappear down the hole, but he followed him anyway.
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They emerged in a magical realm. They were still underwater, but the water was crystal clear, and the sun seemed to shine from everywhere.
And there was a water witch, who was yelling at the pike. “How could you let them down here? Can’t you guard any better than that?”
“It’s not my fault,” said the pike. “No other animals have actually been so foolish as to swim directly down the whirlpool.”
“And who is it that dares come down the whirlpool into my realm?” asked the witch.
“A question for a question,” said King Carlyle. “You answer my question first, and then I’ll answer your question. Where are we? What is this place?”
“You dare to ask questions of me?” shrieked the witch. “You are in the magical realm.”
King Carlyle turned to Jacob. “Do you know what that means?” he asked.
“We are definitely in a magical realm,” Jacob said. “That much is clear. But what kind of magical realm? Who created it? And to what purpose? These are the questions.”
“Agreed,” said King Carlyle. “this is exactly what I was thinking.”
The witch laughed. “Fools,” she said. “There is only one magical realm in the forest.”
“The one the sorcerers created,” said King Carlyle. “The one Midor was trapped in. The one that all the monsters were banished to.”
“The sorcerers didn’t create anything. They merely tapped into a very ancient magic, something that had been created thousands of years ago by the forest spirits themselves. But a deal is a deal. It is now time for you to tell me who you are.”
“I am King Carlyle of the Castle of Tauna.”
“You? A frog?”
“The form that you find me in at present is not my true form. I trust that you, as a witch, may appreciate the situation.”
“Do you mean to tell me that you’ve been transformed into a frog?”
“Yes, exactly. Try to keep up now. You’re a witch. I shouldn’t have to spell this all out for you.”
“But how does the king of Tauna find himself in my whirlpool?”
“That is a second question,” said King Carlyle. “A third question, really, if you count the one about the frog. It’s my turn. Where is the Queen of the Water Sprites?”
“She’s here,” said the witch. “You can see her if you like.” The witch uttered a spell and a block of ice floated up. The Queen of the Water Sprites was trapped inside it.
“What have you done?” King Carlyle demanded.
“Ah, ah, ah, that’s two questions,” the witch said. “My turn! My turn!”
King Carlyle, who up until this time had successfully managed to irritate the witch by being so calm and nonchalant, was unnerved by the sight of the Water Sprite Queen frozen in such a way. “Very well,” he said with some effort. “But be quick about it, for I desire to return to the matter of the Water Sprite Queen.”
“Don’t worry about her,” laughed the witch (and it was a cackling kind of laugh). “Time is of no concern to her. We could take another hour, or another year, for all she cares. But my question is an important one. How comes the King of Tauna to put himself in my realm?”
“We’ve come to rescue the Queen of the Water Sprites,” said King Carlyle.
“I fear you’ve misunderstood me,” said the witch, “so I will put my question another way.”
“No fair, no fair,” said King Carlyle. “You’ve asked your question already.”
“But you’ve not answered it.”
“I’ve given you an honest and true answer, I swear that by all the spirits in the forest.”
“But you’ve completely missed my point.”
“Your point,” interjected Jacob the frog, “must wait until the next question. The king has answered you honest and true.”
The witch sighed. “Very well. If the Water Sprite Queen can be frozen in time for all eternity, then what do I care about 2 more minutes.”
“What do you mean by frozen in time for all eternity?” asked King Carlyle.
“Yes, I’m particularly fond of that spell,” said the witch. “I made it myself, you know. It wasn’t from any spell book. I had to make the code myself. It took some doing, but I got it in the end. Of course, you probably don’t appreciate the finer points of spell making. But the point is this: she is now completely frozen. Her body hasn’t moved for the past 5 years. Nor has it aged. It is exactly the same as when I cast my spell. And she will remain frozen like that forever unless…”
The witch stopped speaking.
“Unless what?” asked King Carlyle.
“Well, you know how it is making these spells. It’s almost impossible to make them air-tight. There’s almost always some strange way to reverse the spell. That’s just spell-making 101.”
“And how do you reverse the spell?” asked King Carlyle.
“Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? But you’re going to have to wait your turn. It’s my question next.”
“So it is,” said King Carlyle. “But be quick about it.”
“I don’t wish to be too quick,” said the witch. “I wish to be clear. I don’t want you to miss my point again. So listen closely, King Carlyle. The Castle of Tauna, since its foundation thousands of years ago, has existed to fight the monsters of the forest. The king of the Castle of Tauna is the ancient enemy to the monsters. The monsters would give anything to have the King of Tauna in their power. And you have, of your own free will, entered into their realm and are now entirely at my mercy. I wish to know why you have done that.”
“I am on a quest to free the Queen of the Water Sprites.”
“Quests are for knights and vassals, not for kings. You have a castle to command. Why did you come here and put yourself at my mercy? Who is commanding the Castle Tauna.”
“Two questions,” said Jacob and King Carlyle, both speaking at the same time.
“No,” said the witch. “It is not. My first question was never adequately answered. I demand to know how the King of Castle Tauna was so careless as to let me capture him.”
“Very well,” said King Carlyle. “I will answer this question fully, but then I will expect a full answer to my next question, why have you imprisoned the Queen of the Water Sprites.”
The witch nodded. “A deal is a deal,” she said.
“Fine. In the first place, you should know that at the moment, I am in exile from my castle. Although I am the rightful King of Castle Tauna, I have been displaced by a wicked witch. But I will not bore you with a long recounting of the internal power struggles of our castle. Know only that I am therefore on a quest to return to my rightful form, so that I can regain my Castle and my title as king. On the way to regain my rightful form, I encountered the Water Sprites, and they told me of how their Queen has been missing. So I endeavored to go and rescue the queen. Having heard that she was being held beneath the magic whirlpool, my companion and I sought out the very same magic whirlpool, and that is how you come to see us before you. As for letting you capture us, we do not acknowledge that you have captured us, although we acknowledge that when our parle is over, you will likely attempt to place us in your power.”
“You are in my realm,” said the witch. “Therefore you are already in my power.”
“That is a subject of some disagreement which we will have to resolve shortly,” said King Carlyle. “But for now, it will have to suffice to say that we do not acknowledge we are in your power. I believe I have answered your question as thoroughly as I can. It is now for you to answer my question. Why have you captured the Queen of the Water Sprites.”
“Very well,” said the Witch, “I will answer this one last question. After I have answered it, I will play no more games with you, do you understand? I have it within my power to freeze you in time for all eternity, just as I froze the Water Sprite Queen. And I will do so. But before I do so, I will explain everything, as agreed.”
King Carlyle nodded politely. “Please,” he said.
“The truth is,” said the witch, “We’ve been trying to break out of the magical realm for years. Even before Midor stumbled upon the entrance way, we had been trying to find weaknesses in the spell, and find a way out.”
“But you’re a witch,” said King Carlyle. “What are you doing here with the monsters?”
“Some of us witches were included in the original banishment spell,” the witch said. “At that time, there was much dark magic in the forest, and witches were allied with the monsters. When the banishment took place, many witches were banished into the realm.
“Inside this realm, the years pass, but time has no effect on us. We do not age, we do not die. We’ve simply been imprisoned in this realm for centuries. You can’t possibly imagine the boredom. So I’ve spent the last few centuries trying to find a way out. And then, I stumbled on one. A way through into the river, made by a magic whirlpool. It wasn’t quite big enough for a full grown monster to fit through, or even a full grown witch, but some of the smaller monsters could slip out. And they did. That’s what Midor was trying to track when he stumbled upon the realm.
“The Queen of the Water Sprites, however, realized that the whirlpool was coming out in her river. With her magic, she could have been able to affect things--stop it in some way, I don’t know. So she had to be dealt with. So I froze her. And now, I’m going to freeze you.”
“Yes, yes,” said King Carlyle calmly. “I’ve dealt with a lot of witches and magic before in my time. You can see I’m a frog already. Proof enough that I’ve encountered witches before.”
“Proof enough that you should be scared of witches, I’d say,” said the witch.
“Yes, true, but I’ve also learned a bit about how to deal with witches. Do you see the markings on my skin?”
“You look just like an ordinary green frog to me.”
“No, you’re not looking close enough,” said King Carlyle. He swam up to the Witch's face. (The whole conversation had been taking place under water.)
“I don’t see anyth--” The witch began, but then with a powerful kick of his legs, King Carlyle propelled himself right into the witches mouth.
“What are you doing?” Jacob yelled. “Do you want to be eaten?”
“I’m too big to go down her throat,” yelled King Carlyle. “But as long as I stay in her mouth, I’m safe from her spells. In order to perform magic, any witch needs to be able to say the spell, and wave her arms. They can’t do magic just by thinking it, they need to say the spell. If she can’t talk, she can’t say the spell. Isn’t that right, madam?”
The witch was unable to talk. Her mouth was going into gag reflex motions, but she could not dislodge the frog from her throat, and King Carlyle stayed very firmly in her mouth. She tried to reach in with her hand and force King Carlyle out, but he fought back and refused to let himself be dislodged.
The pike was watching all this with consternation, not sure what to do. He looked at the witch to see if she had any orders for him, but of course she could not say anything. He looked to see if she would make any movements with her eyes, but he saw nothing. He was afraid to do anything without orders, but seeing that the witch was temporarily unable to give orders, he decided he had better try to do something rather than risk her displeasure by doing nothing. So he swam up to her mouth and bared his teeth and tried to attack King Carlyle. But by darting into the Witch’s mouth, he only made things worse for the poor witch, who now had a frog in her mouth, and a pike trying to get into her mouth.
“Don’t just sit there,” King Carlyle yelled at Jacob. “Do something!”
“What do you want me to do?” asked Jacob. “There’s not enough room in her mouth for any more.”
“I can’t stay in here forever,” King Carlyle said. “Get the Water Sprite out while you can.”
“Oh, right,” said Jacob the frog, and he picked up the Water Sprite. She was frozen in a small cube, but Water Sprites are not big--about the size of frogs--and Jacob was able to hold her with his front arms while he kicked with his back legs. The hole where they had come into the realm was still visible. And from what the Witch had said, it sounded like it was possible to go out as well as come in.
The pike, when it realized what was happening, hesitated briefly between Jacob and King Carlyle, before darting down to attack Jacob. But Jacob already had a head start, and was heading towards the whole. He arrived at the whole, and was instantly sucked back into the normal realm. The pike followed him.
King Carlyle, once he saw Jacob and the Water Sprite had made it back to the natural realm, leaped out of the witch’s mouth. He knew he only had a few seconds to make it to the hole before the witch regained the power of speech, but he was hoping she wouldn’t be able to talk straightaway. And he was right. As soon as the frog Carlyle left the witch’s mouth, her gag reflex kicked in from having that slimy frog in her throat, and she coughed, and sputtered. And King Carlyle swam towards the whole as fast as he could.
The witch, while still sputtering, tried to grab at his legs, but he made it to the whole, and was sucked away into the natural realm.
Emerging back on the other side of the whirlpool, back on the side of the river that he knew, King Carlyle saw Jacob the Frog, the frozen Water Sprite, and the Pike. The Pike lunged--this time not for Jacob or King Carlyle, but for the frozen Water Sprite Queen. King Carlyle and Jacob fought to keep the Pike at bay, and the three of them fought and swam around the river.
Just at that moment, a hand came through the whirlpool hole. It was the witch, frantically trying to grab either King Carlyle or the frozen Water Sprite. But the whole was not big enough for the witch to get through any more than her arm. So just the arm came through, and it made frantic movements to snatch.
King Carlyle noticed that the hand couldn’t see what it was grabbing, and got an idea. He swam up and slapped the pike across the face with his little frog hands, provoking the Pike to chase after him. King Carlyle swam towards the witch’s hand, and briefly touched down on the witch’s palm. She frantically closed her hand, not in time to catch Carlyle, but just in time to get the pike. Before she realized that she had grabbed the pike (and not a frog) the witch pulled the pike back through the other side of the whirlpool.
“Of course she’ll realize her mistake in seconds,” said King Carlyle. “But it’s a headstart nonetheless. Let’s go!”
So King Carlyle and Jacob swam as fast as they could carrying the Water Sprite Queen with them. Of course, had they stayed in the water, they might not have been able to swim away fast enough. But the great thing about frogs is that they can go both in water and in land, and by the time the pike had re-emerged on their side of the whirlpool, they had already managed to push the Water Sprite Queen onto the river bank shore, and they were already climbing out of the water and on to the bank. The pike got there just in time to nip at their heels, but not to catch them.
“It feels good to breathe air again,” remarked King Carlyle.
“We had been in the water for a long time,” said Jacob the Frob. “It’s not natural for frogs to spend all their time under the water.”
“Well,” said King Carlyle. “We’ve rescued the Water Sprite Queen. Now we need to get her unfrozen. Where do we go to now?”
“I think you know the answer,” said Jacob.
“The land of the fairies again?”
“They’re the only ones who can help us.”
“Yes,” King Carlyle said slowly. “I was having so much fun on our little adventure, I forgot about the long boring journey to the land of the fairies. But I suppose I can’t put it off forever. I would have had to go there sooner or later.”
“If you want to regain your human form,” said Jacob. “I think they are your best bet. And maybe they can help the Queen of the Water Sprites.”
“Maybe. Otherwise maybe Catherine can get her unfrozen.”
“Catherine?”
“Possibly. She hates me, but that doesn’t mean she hates the Queen of the Water Sprites. And I don’t think Catherine wants the monsters to get loose, so if the Queen of the Water Sprites could be any help, Catherine might want to use her. Then again, you never know with Catherine. She might decide that she wants to try to control the monsters. She did that once before with the ghosts, so you never know.”
“So we’re agreed that for now our best bet is to continue to the land of the fairies?” asked Jacob.
“Yes,” said King Carlyle. “Let’s go.”
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