Chapter 16: The Ancient Monsters

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The next day, the whole royal family followed Thomas down to the chamber.  They were amazed to find that the whole area was lit up by the grove, as if sunlight was coming from the grove.

“Well Thomas, it appears to be just as you say,” said King Carlyle.  

“And you say they all disappeared into that grove?” asked Queen Benevois.

“Yes.  But before they did, Robert was trying to reach into that grove.  He said he could hear the voice of his father.”

“Midor?” asked Vivian.  “I haven’t seen Midor in years.”

King Carlyle frowned, but he chose to ignore that statement.  “I’m going to reach into the grove,” he said.

“Be careful not to step into it,” said Thomas.  “Actually, let me reach into it.  You hold my arm.  That’s what they were trying to do before Talon came.”

“Be careful Thomas,” said Charlotte.  “Make sure you hold him tight, King Carlyle.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve got him firmly,” said King Carlyle.

“This whole thing doesn’t make any sense,” said Rufus.  “Why would Talon attack them?  He’s been a loyal member of this castle for years.  There must be some misunderstanding.”

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

They could hear the voices from the grove.  They tried to shout back to Thomas and King Carlyle, and tell them what to do.  But it was no use.  “It’s as I’ve suspected,” said Midor.  “There must be some sort of spell that blocks their hearing.”

“Eventually, they saw Thomas’s hand come through.  It appeared first as just a hand hanging in the air.  Then they saw his body start to emerge.  Eventually all of him came through except for his left hand.  His left hand was being held back by someone they couldn’t see.

“Grace? Henry? Robert? John? Are you there?  I can’t see you.”

“The spell,” said Midor.  “He still can’t see or hear anything from the grove.”  Thomas started to look confused, and Midor said, “We have to act fast before he leaves, and we lose our chance.”  Midor ran up and grabbed Thomas’s hand.  Thomas yelled in surprise, and jumped back.  Midor kept a tight grip on Thomas hand, and was pulled back with him.  As Midor was pulled out of the grove, all of the people sitting in the grove were able to suddenly see the underground chamber.  They were back in the room again.  

“The spell’s been broken,” said Midor.  “All it took was for one of us to get pulled back into the chamber, and the whole enchantment came undone.”

Those who had been in the grove could now see the chamber again, and those who were in the chamber could see everyone who was sitting in the grove.  There was a great deal of happy confusion as everyone greeted each other.    

Vivian looked at Midor, but then looked away again embarrassed.  “Vivian!” Midor said.  “I’ve been trying to see you for years now.  I come up to the castle once a year, but they always turn me away.”

Vivian started to cry.  “I know,” she said.  “But we cannot be together.  I have my duties as a princess.  That’s why I had to leave in the first place.” 

At this point, King Carlyle started to lose his patience.  “Midor, what are you doing here?  I told you never to come back to these lands.  And why is Talon tied up?  Untie my sorcerer!”

“Your highness, with respect, I believe Talon has not been honest with you,” said Midor.  “I believe it would be dangerous to untie him now.”

“You what?”  King Carlyle turned to his sons.  “Untie Talon immediately!”  George and Rufus ran forward and unbound the ropes around Talon, and took the gag out of his mouth.  Midor did not try to stop them.

“Talon, what has Midor done to you?” asked King Carlyle.

“Midor is right, my king,” said Talon.  “I haven’t been completely honest with you.  And now there is something very important I need to tell you.  The monsters have never disappeared from this forest.”

“Nonsense,” said King Carlyle.  “There haven’t been any monsters here for hundreds of years.”

“For hundreds of years,” said Talon, “Sorcerers have been sending the monsters to another realm.  You can see it here now.”

Indeed, they could all see the grove.  And King Carlyle and the rest noticed that now they could not only see the grove, but see the land far beyond it--the flat grasslands extending beyond the grove.  It seemed to go on for miles.

“What is this place?” asked Jason.

“This,” said Talon, “Is another realm.  It was created by magic, and until now, only magic could send someone there.  But once someone had been sent to the other realm, no amount of magic could bring them back.”

“But we brought them back,” said Thomas.  “I did.  I pulled Midor back with me, and the rest followed.”

“You brought them back,” said Talon, “But that wasn’t magic.  The spell was specifically designed to only send creatures one way.  They couldn’t be brought back by spells or magic, but there was nothing to stop you from pulling them back.  But once something has been pulled back through the entrance, then the magic is broken, and all the monsters will be free.  Now, I cannot stop them from coming into the forest.”

“Talon, I don’t understand a word of what you’re saying,” said King Carlyle.  “There are no monsters anywhere in the forest.  Our ancestors got rid of them hundreds of years ago.”

“According to the history books,” said Jason, “the monsters mysteriously disappeared hundreds of years ago.  It was as much a mystery to our ancestors as it is today.  But whatever happened, they didn’t kill off all the monsters.”

“It was the sorcerer's guild,” said Talon.  The sorcerer's guild imprisoned all the monsters, and the secret has been kept within the guild.”

“What?” said King Carlyle.  “Why did you never tell me?”

“I was sworn to secrecy when I entered the sorcerer's guild,” said Talon.  “It was decided hundreds of years ago that this needed to be a secret kept only within the guild.  If word got out, people might get curious and start investigating.  And if people started investigating, the spell might get broken.  And now the spell is broken.”

“I still don’t understand,” said King Carlyle.  “How can the spell be broken?  I see no monsters.”

“They’re out in those grasses,” said Midor.  “Trust me.  And they are terrible and frightening to behold.  They probably haven’t realized that the magic is broken, and that they can enter the grove now.  It may take them a few days to figure that out.  But if they ever get loose in this forest, then we are all in trouble.  They are the most terrible creatures you can imagine.”

“Well, then, seal the realm up at once,” said King Carlyle.  “Put the spell back.”

Talon turned to King Carlyle, his face looked scared.  “I cannot,” he said.  “It is not within my power.  The spell is hundreds of years old, and was made by the guild.  No living sorcerer today was alive when the spell was cast.  Maybe, if I contacted the guild, they could try to recreate the spell, but I couldn’t do it by myself.”

“How long will it take to contact the guild?” asked King Carlyle.

“I’ll send a raven tonight.  I should have the answer back within the week,” said Talon.

“Right,” said King Carlyle.  “In the meantime what can we do?”

“There’s very little we can do,” said Talon.  “We can try to cover up the entrance to this chamber.  We can try to secure it with rocks.  But I fear it will not hold against the monsters for long.  They are too strong.  We must prepare for the monsters to come.”

“All of our training might come in useful after all,” said Thomas.

“Okay,” said King Carlyle.  “Do what Talon said.  Let’s demolish this chamber, and try to make sure nothing ever gets out of here.  I’ll send workmen and guards over here.”

“My soldiers can help,” said General Graten.  “I’ll start going house to house to ask them.”

“Talon, you’re in charge here,” said King Carlyle.  “I’ll instruct all the workers and soldiers to do as you say.”

King Carlyle turned to walk back to the castle.  Midor ran up to talk to him.  “My King,” he said, “I would not trust Talon.  It was Talon who imprisoned me in that realm with the monsters.”

“Away with you Midor,” said King Carlyle.  “You are forbidden in this land.”

“But Talon also attempted to imprison my son, your grandson, in the same land,” said Midor.

“So you say!”

“My King, you saw your grandson emerge from the realm, did you not?  Believe me, it was Talon who put him there.”

“Midor, you do not have permission to speak to me,” said King Carlyle.  “Nor do you have my permission to enter the castle.  By your own report, it will probably be several days before the monsters realize they can leave their realm.  If I were you, I would use those days to get as far away from here as possible.  Because you will not be able to shelter in my castle if the monsters come.”

“My King, I have always been a loyal subject.  Why do you hate me so much?”

“Loyal? I told you years ago to stay away from my daughter.  How did you show that loyalty? Begone.  If you have anything further to say to me, address it to a messenger at the castle walls.”

So saying, King Carlyle stormed into the castle, leaving Midor outside the castle walls.

But once inside the castle, King Carlyle immediately went into a private room with his sons George and Rufus.  He then asked for Talon to be brought into the private room.  “Talon, is what Midor said true?  Did you imprison him in the realm with the monsters?”

“I had no choice,” said Talon.  “Midor was seeking to rescue a young bear who had stumbled into the realm.  If Midor had succeeded in pulling that bear out of the realm, then the spell would have been broken.”

“The spell is broken now anyway,” said King Carlyle.

Talon nodded.  “It appears I have failed.  Nevertheless, I bought us a year at least.  Midor was snooping around your Kingdom even though you had banished him several times.  I assumed he was no longer under your protection.”

“What about my grandson, Robert?  You put him in that realm as well.”

“I did,” said Talon.  “But he was never really one of the family.  He didn’t grow up with the rest of us.  And you, my King, love him as the son of Vivian, but you hate him as the son of Midor.”

“My grandson is not to be harmed.  Ever!” said King Carlyle.  “As for Midor, I forbid you to harm him.  I’ll not have his blood on our hands.  But I also forbid you to help him.  If he doesn’t get out of this forest before the monsters get out, it will be his own fault.”

Talon bowed. 

“I’m also not happy that this realm with the monsters in it was kept a secret from me,” said King Carlyle.  “But for that, I suppose I will take it up with the sorcerer's guild. It sounds like you were only following their orders.  Do you have any other secrets you are keeping from me?”

Talon smiled.  “That, as well, you would have to take up with the sorcerer's guild,” he said.  

King Carlyle grunted.  “Hmmm.  I guess I will then.  Okay Talon, I won’t waste any more of your time.  You can get back to supervising the work of sealing off the chamber.”

After Talon left, King Carlyle turned to George and Rufus.  “We can’t forgive him for what he attempted to do to Robert,” said King Carlyle.  “But we’ll deal with him and his treachery later.  At the moment, we need him.  If anything were to happen to him now, it would be a disaster.  He’s the only one who can control the spirits, and he’s our only hope of getting the chamber sealed up.”

“He’s served us loyally for many years,” said George.  “And he’s dined at our table.  He was practically one of the family.”

“I am just as grieved as you are,” said King Carlyle.  “I loved him as well. He was bitter and a curmudgeon, but he was a part of our household for many years, and I loved him in my own way.  We won’t harm him, but we can never trust him again.”

Chapter 15: Inside the Magic Grove

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Thomas ran up the stairs, and back into the forest.  The ghosts were still moaning and swirling around.  In fact, it seemed that there were now more of them than before.  Was this because Talon had disappeared?  If Talon was gone, who would control the ghosts?  Thomas ran for the castle.  A ghost came right in front of him, and opened its mouth wide to scream.  Thomas kept running, and ran right through the ghost.  Because the ghost was made of spirit, he was able to run right through it.  But he felt the air change to freezing cold as he passed through.

Or maybe this had nothing to do with Talon’s disappearance.  Maybe the ghosts were picking on him now because they could see he was all alone, and scared.  And he was scared.  He ran as fast as he could back to the castle, and banged on the door.  “Marcia! Marcia! Are you there?  Let me in!”

The door quickly opened, and Thomas ran inside.

“Are you okay?” said Marcia.  “Are they still out there?  Is Henry okay?”

“We need to wake everyone up,” said Thomas.  “Mom, Dad, Grandfather, Grandmother, everyone.”

“Are you crazy?  We’re going to get in trouble if they find out you went out in the middle of the night.”

“We already are in trouble,” said Thomas.

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

When Robert had gotten hit by Talon’s incantation, it was like a strong gust of air hit him right in the chest.  It picked him up off of his feet and sent him flying backwards into the grove, where he landed on his butt, tumbled over a bit, and then came to a stop.  He jumped up immediately, and ran back.  But once he ran out of the grove, he was running into more grassland.  The stone floor, the underground chamber, it was all gone suddenly.  It was just the grove, surrounded by more grass, and a few trees dotting the landscape.  It looked all very picturesque--like a nice park with grass and trees--but it was not the chamber where he had been moments before, and Robert had a bad feeling that maybe there was no way to get back to where he had been.

“Alas, son, he got you as well,” said a voice.  Robert turned around and saw Midor, his father, still dressed in his ranger uniform with his green shirt and his green hat.  On his back, he carried his usual green rucksack  “I should have warned you earlier about Talon.  I’m sorry.”

Robert was speechless upon seeing his father again, but he had very little time to talk to him.  General Graten tumbled into the grove next, and did the same thing Robert had done--jump up and run forward, only to gradually realize he was no longer in the chamber.  

“Over here,” said Robert, calling Graten over to where he and his father were standing.

“What’s going on?” asked Graten.

But they didn’t have a chance to answer before Henry fell into the Grove.  And then, shortly afterwards, John.  And just when they were all beginning to catch their breath and look around, Talon and Grace fell into the grove together.

“Hello, what’s this?” said Midor.  “Is that Talon himself?  Well, maybe we have a chance of getting out of here after all.  Quick, grab him!”  

Robert, Henry and Graten helped Grace hold down Talon.  Talon started to mutter some incantation, but Henry covered his mouth.  Midor reached into his rucksack and got out a small piece of cloth.  “Quick, stuff this in his mouth.  Don’t let him speak, or he’ll use his incantations.”  Henry stuffed the cloth in Talon’s mouth as the others held him down.  Midor removed some rope from his rucksack.  “Now, let’s bind him up,” he said. 

Talon was an old man with spindly arms, but he had an unnatural amount of strength in those spindly arms.  He almost pushed them all away and freed himself, but all together they were able to overpower him, and bound his arms tightly with the rope.  When at last they had him, they were exhausted from the effort.  “It’s okay now,” said Midor, as they began to relax slightly.  “If he can’t speak, and he can’t gesture, then he can’t make any new spells.  He can’t hurt us now.”

“Where are we?” said General Graten.

“We are in a magical prison,” said Midor.

“How did you get here?” Robert asked.

“Talon imprisoned me here a year ago,” said Midor.  “About a year ago, the Bear King asked me to help locate his missing son.  I travelled through the woods looking for clues, and the clues led me to the kingdom here.  As I began to get more and more clues, I uncovered the hidden staircase beneath the hollow tree.  I came down, and surprised Talon doing his incantations.  He banished me into the grove, because he didn’t want to take the chance that I might tell anyone about this place.”

“But what is this place? Why does he want to keep it a secret?” asked Grace.

“I don’t know,” said Midor.  “But this is where all the monsters of the forest are banished.”

“Of course,” said John.  “That’s why there’s been no monsters in the forest for hundreds of years.  They’ve all been hidden here.”

“Possibly,” said Midor.  “I’m sure Talon here knows a lot more about this place, but don’t ungag him just yet.  I don’t trust him.”

“So there are monsters here?” asked General Graten.

“All over this land.  As long as you stay inside this grove, you're safe.  This grove is magic.  But everywhere else around this land, monsters are lurking.”

“How have you survived here for so long?” asked John.

“It hasn’t been easy,” said Midor.  “But I know a thing or two about surviving in the wilds.  I can hide myself in the trees or in the bushes very well when I need to.  And when I sleep, I always come back to this magic grove. The monsters can’t get you as long as you stay inside here.”

“So how do we get out of here?’ asked Grace.

“There’s one man who knows how to get us out of here,” said Midor.  “And fortunately you, my dear, brought him right to us.  But getting him to do what we want, that will be the tricky part.”

“I have some experience getting people to do what I want,” growled General Graten, as he raised his sword.

“I’m sure you do,” said Midor.  “But a sorcerer is not easily scared, you’ll find.  It’s hard to get an upper hand on them.”  Midor turned to Robert. “The other way to get out of here is to have someone from the outside reach into the grove while still keeping their feet in the chamber.  Was there anyone else with you who could do that?”

“Yes, Thomas was with us,” said Robert.  “A boy from the castle.  But will he come back to rescue us?”

Henry laughed.  “He will.  He’ll want to see Grace again, so he’ll come back.”

“But you know,” said Robert, “It was the funniest thing.  He couldn’t hear your voice when you called to us.  Everyone else could hear you, but Thomas couldn’t.”

“Who is everyone else?” asked Midor.

“The five of us: Me, Henry, Grace, John and General Graten.”

“None of you are from the castle then?” Midor asked.

“No, they are from the kingdom of Mora,” Robert said.

“That explains it,” said Midor.  “Talon must have put a spell on all who live in the castle so that they couldn’t hear my cries.  Maybe he forgot to update the spell when you four came.”

“So Thomas won’t be able to hear you, but could he hear us?” asked Henry.

“I doubt it,” said Midor.  “I suspect the spell is for any voices that come from the grove.”

There was a silence as they each contemplated what this meant.  Finally, Grace spoke.  “Thomas came down to the chamber with us,” she said.  “He saw the grove, and he saw us disappear into it.  And we told him that we could hear voices coming out of it.”

“But,” continued Robert, “He never actually heard my father’s voice.  He doesn’t know that he’s only supposed to stick his hand in the grove, and not walk into it.”

“But he saw everyone disappear into the grove,” said John.  “Maybe he’ll figure it out that he’s not supposed to just walk into the grove.”

“Hopefully,” said Midor.  “It’s our only chance.”

Chapter 14: Beneath the Hollow Tree

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That night, Grace spent one last night in her bedroom.  (She and Thomas both agreed they would switch rooms the next day, since it was too late at night to move all of their things.) While she was trying to sleep, she heard the usual screams coming from outside her window.  It sounded like a human voice--a man’s voice this time.  And Grace thought she could hear the words, “Help me! Help me!” repeated over and over again.

She stood up, and walked to the door.  “How could anyone be expected to sleep like this?” she said to herself.  “I don’t care if the castle is protected.  Those sounds are too horrid.”

Grace meant Henry coming out of his room.  He was fastening his sword belt around his waist.  “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Someone’s in trouble,” Henry said.  “I’m going to help them.”

“You can’t fight ghosts with a sword,” Grace said.  She laughed, in spite of herself.  Maybe it was a nervous laughter.

“So you’re the expert on ghosts now?” Henry asked sarcastically.  “We won’t know unless we try.”

John came out of his room as well.  “You guys hear it too, huh?” he asked.  Then he saw Henry’s sword.  “Henry, that sword won’t work at all.  But I’ve got a book of incantations and charms from the library here,” John held it up.

“Are you a trained sorcerer?” asked Grace.

“No, but, anyone can read the words,” John said.  “It looks very clear.”

Another door opened, and they saw Robert coming out.  He looked at the three of them standing there.  “Did you hear the voice?” he asked them.  “The voice yelling for help?

“Yes.  I’m going out to help whoever is out there,” said Henry.

“I’m going too,” said John.  “I can be of use for once.  I can use the spells and incantations in this book to keep us safe.”

“I’ll guess I’ll go too then,” said Grace.  “If I can’t sleep, I might as well help them.  But you don’t have to come, Robert.  We’ve caused you enough trouble already.  You stay in this castle with your family.”

“I’m going out,” Robert said.  “That voice is my father.”

“Are you sure?” asked John.

Robert nodded.  “He’s out there.  The spirits must have him.”

“Okay, then we’re agreed,” said Henry.  “Let’s go.”

They walked down the castle hall.   Only Henry carried a weapon with him.

The castle halls were always lit with torches, even in the middle of the night.  But when they got to the stairwell going down, it was dark and they had to feel their way down in the dark.  

They went down the dark stairs, feeling the way along.  They kept their hands on the wall.  When they got to the bottom, the hallway was lit again.  But as they turned the corner, they ran into General Graten. General Graten was carrying his sword, and there was a look of anger in his eye.  They jumped back in surprise, and Henry unsheathed his sword instinctively.  General Graten raised his sword, and Henry attacked.  Henry swung his sword at General Graten with all his strength.  General Graten raised his sword to deflect the bow.  Because Henry had attacked with such strength, the blow staggered General Graten backwards.  Before Graten had time to regain his footing, Henry was swinging at him with his sword again.  Graten just managed to block the downward swing by raising his sword up again.  Henry swung a third time at Graten, but this third swing Graten was ready for.  He blocked Henry’s sword, and then pushed his sword against Henry’s sword, forcing Henry’s sword to his right.  The handle of Henry’s sword was moving backwards against his thumb, and Henry lost his grip.  His sword clattered to the floor.

 “Ah, you young pup.  You never change,” laughed General Graten.  “Always all brute strength, and no finesse.  You were always too eager.”  He raised his sword, “and now finally I’ll put you in your place.”

Grace rushed forward between Graten and Henry.  “Stop!” she yelled.  “What do you have to gain by killing us now?  Why are you attacking us?”

Graten lowered his sword, confused.  “Attacking you?  But you attacked me.”

“You ran at us with your sword drawn,” said John.

“Henry drew his sword first,” said Graten.

“What are you doing in these castle hallways carrying your sword?” asked Grace.

Graten looked at all of them, as if confused by the questions.  Then he lowered his sword.  “Can you hear the yelling coming from outside?” he asked.  “I was going out to see what it was.”

There was silence, and then it was John who broke the silence with a nervous laugh.  “Of course.  Of course.  You could hear it from your windows too.”

“And because you don’t talk to anyone in the castle, no one told you,” said Grace.

“Told me what?” asked Graten.

“About the spirits,” said Henry.  “The ghosts of the monsters.”

Graten looked either confused or disgusted.   “Spirits?”

“We’re going out,” said Henry.  “You can join us if you want.  But we’ve been told it’s ghosts and spirits out there.”

“Then why are you going out?” asked Graten.

“Because we’re not afraid of ghosts,” said Henry.

“Because I can hear my father’s voice,” said Robert.

“There are incantations in this book,” said John.

“Because I can’t sleep another night listening to those ghosts,” said Grace.

Graten nodded his head to Grace.  “For once we agree about something.  I can’t spend the night just listening to those sounds.  If you’re going out, I’m coming with you.”

“How do we know you won’t stab us in the back when we look away?” asked John.

“As you yourselves just pointed out,” Graten said, “I would have no possible reason to kill you now.  I’d never make it back to King Richard to get my reward travelling through this forest by myself.”

John looked questionly at the others.  Henry nodded.  “He speaks sense,” he said.  “Let’s go.”

The castle was not surrounded by a moat, nor did it have a drawbridge.  There were several wooden doors, each of which were latched from the inside.  There were guards who patrolled the hallway, but they did not station themselves at one particular door for the whole time, and by waiting in the shadows until a guard walked past, they were able to make a dash for the door.  John quickly grabbed one of the torches from the hallway walls for light, and then they unlatched the door, went out, and closed the behind them again.

It wasn’t until they had stepped out into the forest that John realized the obvious.  “We should have left someone behind behind the door,” he said.  “Now we’ll have no way of getting back inside the castle.”

There was a big gust of wind, and all 5 of them suddenly felt quite cold.  

The wind also blew out the torch that John was carrying.  But as it turned out, they didn’t really need the torch.  It was a full moon, and the moonlight shone through the trees and illuminated the whole forest.   

But as the moonlight was filtered through the tree branches, and fell down in rays of moonlight, they also imagined that they could see flickering shapes and light playing in the moonlight.  Or was it their imagination?  Was there something there in the moonlight air?

And what had happened to the screaming?  30 minutes before, they had all heard a voice yelling “help me”.  Now, they could hear only the sound of the win.   They strained their ears to try to hear the voice again.

“Grace!” called a voice.  They all jumped.  But then they saw someone running behind them.  It was Thomas.

“Thomas, what are you doing here?” asked Grace.

“I was worried,” Thomas said.  “After our conversation today, I thought maybe you’d try and sneak out tonight. So I got up in the middle of the night to check, and I saw you going out the door.”

“Did you close the door?” asked John.

“It’s okay,” said Thomas.  “I woke Marcia up.  She’s standing next to the door.  She’ll let us back in if we knock.  You guys, don’t you know how dangerous it is out here at night?  The castle is protected by charms, but you’re in danger out in the forest.”

“Don’t you hear the voice?” asked Grace.  “The one yelling for help?”

“There’s no one yelling for help,” Thomas said.  “It’s just the usual spirit cries.”

“We all heard it,” John said.

“I heard it as well,” said General Graten.

Thomas seemed confused.  “I didn’t hear any voice yelling for help,” he said.  

Just then, the voice was carried in by the wind.  It was a sound that seemed to come from nowhere in particular, but it was very clear.  “Help me,” the voice said.

“There it is,” said Henry.

“There what is?” said Thomas.

“Thomas, didn’t you hear that?” asked Grace.

Just then, on one of the moonbeams, they all saw a face. It was a white face in the air. It was grinning a very horrible grin.  They all saw it on the moonbeam for one instant, and then it disappeared.  “The spirits!” said Thomas.  “We have to get back to the castle now.”

“I’m not afraid of the ghosts,” said Henry.

“Henry, don’t be stupid,” said Thomas.  “You can’t fight ghosts with that sword.”

“Maybe not,” said General Graten.  “Material weapons are no use against the spirit world, or so they say.  But what can the spirits do to us?  Can a spirit made of air and smoke harm the solid body?”

Thomas looked at General Graten in shock, as if he couldn’t believe the question was being seriously asked.  Then he answered.  “Most assuredly sir, they can.  There are many tales in the history books of spirits inflicting the most terrible torments on the human body.”

“Help me!” The cry came through the air again.  It was impossible to tell in which direction it came from.

“Father!” Robert yelled out.  “Father it’s me!  Where are you?”

“Robert?” the voice answered.

“Yes, father, it’s me!”

“Robert, do not come alone.  The danger is too great.”

“Father, I have friends with me.  Where are you?”

“What are you yelling at?” asked Thomas.

“Can you still not hear it?” asked General Graten.

“I am trapped within the ground,” came the reply from the voice.  “Go to the hollow tree.”

“Where is it?” asked Robert.

“The birds will guide you,” said the voice.  “If you ask them.”

Robert looked around at everyone.  Henry nodded to Robert.  “Go ahead,” he said.

Robert called out to the night air, “Oh, night birds of the forest, I, Robert, son of Midor, seek your guidance.”

There was a flutter of wings, and an owl flew down from one of the trees.  “Son of Midor,” said the owl.  “What do you seek?”

“The hollow tree,” said Robert.  “My father told me to find it.  I don’t know which hollow tree he meant.”

“There are many hollow trees in the forest,” the owl replied.  “But I think I know which one he meant.  Follow me.”

They followed the owl as he flew through the forest.  The owl flew fairly fast, so they had to run to keep up with him.  As they ran, they could hear ghosts and spirits moaning in the wind, and occasionally they could see the outline of a spirit show up in the moonlight.  But although the spirits were all around them as they ran, the spirits never touched them.

Eventually the owl stopped at a tree.  Robert knew instantly that it was hollow just by looking at it.  It was a tall tree, with a huge trunk, but the trunk of the tree  had a large opening on it near the bottom.  

“Here I will leave you, Son of Midor,” said the owl, and he flew away.  But Robert could already see the steps under the tree trunk leading down into the earth.

“Who knows where this leads,” said Robert to the others, “Or what we may encounter down there.  I am going down, but you do not need to follow me.”

“We are not afraid,” said Henry.

“We’re going with you,” said Grace.

“I wish I still had that torch,” said John.  “It’s going to be dark in there.”

“He’s right,” said Thomas.  “We can’t descend without torches.  We’d never be able to see a thing.  I’ll run back to the castle and get some.”

“I’ll go with you,” said John.

They came back soon, each carrying two torches.  The four torches were distributed so that Robert, Grace, John and Thomas each had one.  Henry and General Graten held their swords.  And then, Robert started down the steps.

After having climbed down the stairs, they found themselves in a large underground chamber.  The floor was paved with stones, and the roof was wooden planks.  To their surprise, they didn’t need their torches.  At the end of a long underground room, there was a grove of trees above a ground covered with grass.  And the light shown as if it were daytime.

“What in the world is this?” General Graten asked.

“Father?” Robert called out.  “Where are you?”

“Can you see the grove?” answered a voice.

“Yes.”

“Do not come into the grove yet.  Whatever you do, do not walk into the grove.”

“Okay.”

“Keep your feet outside of the grove, but reach your hand in.  Make sure your feet stay outside.”

Robert walked over and put his feet at the edge of the grove, where the floor was still stones.  He put his hand into the grove.

“I can’t reach,” said the voice.  “Is there anyone with you?”

“Yes,” Robert answered.

“Okay, have them stand just outside the grove.  Ask them to hold onto your left hand.  Make sure they hold it tight with both hands.  Then put only one foot into the grove, and reach your right hand in.  Do you understand?”

“Yes father.”

“Whatever you do, do not put both feet into the grove.”

“I understand father.”

Henry held Robert’s left hand, as he stepped into the grove, taking care to only put one foot inside.

Suddenly, there was a voice from the entrance to the chamber.  “Stop this, you fools!  What are you doing?”  It was Talon, climbing down the stairs.  “Get away from there.”

Robert stepped back out of the forest.  “What is wrong?” he asked.

“What are you doing here?” asked Talon, his face red with fury.

“My father’s voice is coming from inside that grove,” said Robert.

“Get back to the castle this instant,” said Talon.

“But what about my father?” asked Robert.

“Is that Talon?” came the voice of Midor.  “Son, do not listen to him.  He has imprisoned me in here.”

There was a shocked silence which followed this.  Then Robert asked, “Is this true?”

“You don’t understand,” said Talon.  “I have to keep the forest safe.  He was going to ruin everything.”

“Son, whatever you do,” said Midor’s voice, “Do not give Talon time to say the incantation.  He’s a sorcerer, but he can still be defeated if you act quickly.”

There was a pause as everyone looked at each other.  Henry and General Graten both had their swords by their sides, but they were clearly all thinking the same thing.  Defeat Talon?  But Talon was a member of the Castle.  King Carlyle treated him like family.

“Talon, help get my father out of there,” said Robert.  “Or I will speak to King Carlyle about this.”

“Son of Midor,” said Talon menacingly, “King Carlyle will never know about this.”  He uttered a low gutteral incantation in a language none of them had heard before while he thrust his arm out.  Robert was knocked backwards as if hit by a gust of wind, and went right into the grove and disappeared.  

Grace screamed “Robert!”

Henry and General Graten raised their swords, but they were still hesitant to cut down the man.  In their hesitation, Talon uttered another gutteral incantation, and pointed at General Graten.  Graten was then knocked into the grove, and also disappeared.

Henry now ran towards Talon.  Talon uttered the same incantation and pointed at Henry, but Henry dropped to the ground and slide along the floor so that Talon’s arm was pointing over him.  A gust of wind went over Henry’s head, but did not touch him.  Henry then straightened up again, and was now right next to Talon.  He raised his sword, but Thomas yelled out.  “Henry no!”  Henry hesitated.  “You can’t kill him,” said Thomas.  “He’s one of us.  He’s part of our castle.”

That hesitation was all Talon needed.  He uttered his cry once more, and pointed at Henry.  Henry was blown backwards into the grove, and disappeared.

“Talon, what are you doing?” yelled Thomas.

“Be still, Thomas,” said Talon.

“What happened to them,” yelled Grace.  “Where did you send them?  Are they okay?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” said Talon.  

“He can’t get all of us at once,” said John.  “Get him.”

John and Grace rushed for Talon.  Thomas reluctantly joined them.  Talon pointed at John and yelled the incantation.  John was knocked backwards into the grove and disappeared, but Grace and Thomas were able to grab Talon.

The old wizard looked old and frail, but he was surprisingly stronger than he looked.  Grace tried to grab Talon and throw him to the ground, but instead he freed himself from her grip and pushed her away.  He started to mutter his incantation, but Grace grabbed him again and tried to cover his mouth to stop him.  Thomas pushed Talon from behind and knocked him over, but as he fell he grabbed onto Grace and both of them fell to the ground at once.  There was some tussling on the ground as Grace and Thomas tried to subdue Talon by wrestling him down, but he was too strong for them.  He threw them off once again, and leapt to his feet.  But in all the commotion and rolling around on the floor, Talon had moved closer to the grove.  When Talon stood up again now, he was standing right in front of the grove.  His back was to the grove, and he was facing Thomas and Grace.  They both leapt to their feet and ran forward to attack.  Talon uttered his incantation and pointed at Thomas, and knocked Thomas backwards.  Thomas fell back, but because Talon was now facing the other way, Thomas landed on the stone and the stone floor and was not blown into the Grove.  Because Talon had attacked Thomas first, he didn’t have time to stop Grace.  Grace collided into Talon at a full run, and the two of them tumbled over and fell into the grove, where they both disappeared.

Thomas stood up. He looked around him and noticed he was the only one left in the room.  Then he ran up the stairs and out of the room.