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Chapter III: The Evil One Takes His Toll

The temperature inside the cave stayed at a constant—not quite warm enough, but not so cold one would freeze to death. It was just the right temperature to keep someone uncomfortable. The fire that our party lit was more for the warmth than for the light. At the end of every corridor inside this mystical cave was a soft glowing light that shown bright enough to see, like the exit was just around the next bend. However, once you got to the end of any particular corridor, the light would unaccountably slip behind the next corner, thus making it even easier to get oneself lost inside the labyrinth of passages and tunnels inside the cave. If the unwary traveler didn’t trace their steps carefully, they could find their bearings hopelessly misplaced, not sure where the light from the entrance was.

The aurora also took away the concept of time. Being the only source of natural light inside the cave, a person never really knew what time of day it was since the light was as constant as the temperature. If someone fell asleep inside the cave with no one keeping watch, they would have no idea if they were unconscious for only a few minutes or several days.

It was the sound of Reggie’s rumbling stomach that woke Irwin. Reggie had curled up right beside Irwin’s head and must have been dreaming about a smorgasbord of goatish snacks, which could’ve been about anything. At any rate, it was causing such a ruckus in Reggie’s abdomen that Irwin had no chance of falling back asleep anytime soon. So, Irwin gave in and sat up to rub his eyes.

The group was still just inside the entrance to the cave, so Irwin could see it was indeed early morning. He opened his knapsack and tore off a piece of spice bread and slipped his pogo stick out too. Then, he tip-toed outside so as not to wake anyone else up to practice some more on his still virtually unused apparatus. Irwin could have run outside yelling and screaming while pounding his fists to his chest and it wouldn’t have mattered. Reggie’s stomach was rumbling, Gowen was snoring, or was it Liadan? At any rate the only person not making noise was Irwin…Irwin and Shaudawn.

For the next half hour or so, Irwin fought to master his pogo stick, and just as determinedly he tried to stay balanced, the relentless stick would send him head over heels to the ground. Finally though, Irwin broke the will of his stubborn pogo stick and managed to stay on it for a dozen bounces before getting so excited he lost his concentration and ended up thrusting himself backwards, leaving his arms flailing in the air before hitting a lone bush beside the cave entrance.

“WOO!! HOO!!” exclaimed Irwin, out loud. “I did it! I did it!”

Shaudawn came around the entrance to see Irwin dancing a jig and twirling his pogo stick in the air like some kind of crazy black-magic ritual.

“So, it looks like someone fell on an ant hill.” Shaudawn surmised whimsically. Irwin blushed at the fact that he was seen in the middle of this silly bit of revelry.

“I’m sorry if I woke you Shaudawn, but I did it! I did it! I can bounce on my pogo stick!”

“Don’t worry about waking me lad. I hardly sleep. A waste of time if you ask me,” Shaudawn replied.

Irwin, his heart still racing with excitement from his newly learned skill, noticed Shaudawn was carrying his belongings in a bundled mess like he was attempting to leave in a rush. Irwin rarely saw Shaudawn carry anything. He always managed to stash everything he owned beneath his robe.

“Are you leaving?” Irwin inquired.

“Yes, yes I am Irwin. I have some other business that needs tending to.”

“But what about our journey? Who will guide us and make sure we’re going down the right path?”

Shaudawn then just looked at Irwin with his mysterious yet soothing smile and said, “Well, I should think that would be obvious by now. You will have to lead them to your destinations.” Shaudawn paused a moment when he saw Irwin’s face turn as pale as the clouds above their heads.

“ME? But, I know only the lands around the Northern Village. How can I possibly guide anyone through travels in a land I know nothing about?”

“Let me ask you this,” Shaudawn began. “How can any of you lead the other through a land that none of you know? How does a person get from one place to the next without falling into terrible peril? How does a bird know where to fly?”

Irwin generally loved riddles because of the thought needed to get to the answer. However, Shaudawn’s current riddle had left Irwin’s mind a blank. “So, what are you really trying to say?”

“You sit and worry about what to do and where to go. I wasn’t here to tell you these things until a few days ago and you seemed to have fared just fine. I only came in to make sure the four of you made this journey together. You all would have eventually reached this spot at some time, but the outcome may have possibly been much different if you had all made your journeys alone. Now that you are together, I need to take care of other things right now and that leaves you in charge, young man.”

Before Irwin could start asking questions again Shaudawn said, “And don’t ask me why I know these things. I am a seer and to explain to you how things work with me would not make any sense to you anyway. This is where you are supposed to be and this is a travel you need to take with those people, and that goat, inside that cave. Now, if you don’t mind I really am pressed for time.”

“But how will we know what tunnels to take in the cave and what roads too, if and when we find the exit to the cave?” Irwin rattled off his questions before Shaudawn could possibly have stopped him.

Shaudawn sighed. “Ok, but this is it. I really need to go now. Avoid the green lights inside the cave. The true exit is along the corridor with the blue light, and if you ever have a question which passageway or road to take…your pogo stick will aid you. Goodbye now, my friend, tell everyone good luck for me and perhaps our paths will cross again someday.” And with that, Shaudawn winked at Irwin, summoned his bird Ahton and began to climb the rocks away from the cave.

Irwin began to feel ill. The only person he had ever really bossed around before was his annoying younger sister and she never paid much heed. Now, he was expected to lead two older people and a stubborn goat, none of which had a lick of respect for him.

“What if I get us all hopelessly lost?” thought Irwin. “How can my pogo stick tell me where to go? Why did Shaudawn leave in such a rush before saying goodbye to everyone? Why am I left with all the responsibility?”

Irwin quickly ran in the direction Shaudawn had left to ask all these questions. However, as soon as he got on the top of the hill, Shaudawn was nowhere to be seen. Irwin slowly climbed back down to the cave with all his unanswered questions swirling in his head, and more questions forming on top of his old questions. All those swirling questions made Irwin terribly dizzy until he lost his balance and tumbled down the hillside. His head did battle with a large rock on the way down. The rock won, knocking Irwin unconscious. He tumbled the rest of the way to meet his final resting point at the cave entrance.

       *          *          *

Wizards need sleep just like everyone else. Most wizards need beauty rest as well. However, if they actually took all the beauty rest required it would cut into their life quite substantially. This is why wizards only take regular sleeps instead of beauty sleeps.

Abremelin was currently in the middle of a regular sleep. He wasn’t dreaming though. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to dream, but more out of necessity. If a wizard, sorcerer, or any spell casting entity were to dream they might accidentally mumble an incantation and inadvertently turn themselves into a mouse, turn a frog into a prince, etc. This could become frustrating and generally unproductive for all involved. So, it was considered by all archimagi, conjurers, enchanters, mages, magicians, magi, necromancers, sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards a best practice to leave dreaming to artists, loafers and the lot.

Resting atop Abremelin’s rising and falling chest was a key. It was like most any other key one might expect to see. It was made of brass and quite old. The handle was an oval with an intricate design of a tulip in the center. It was also the only part of the key that was shiny. This was because Abremelin would rub it between his fingers when he was thinking. The shaft and teeth of the key were considerably tarnished and showed years of previous use. The key was tied around the wizard’s neck with a simple piece of twine. But, this twine had a spell on it that would keep any human from removing the key from around Abremelin’s neck without his permission.

A mockingbird was perched inside the wizard’s window watching the key. Mockingbirds are known for their keen eye for shiny and glittery things. They like to take these things to make their nests with. They are a type of bird with sort of a flare for interior design. Mockingbirds are not human, so the bird had no trouble plucking the key from around Abremelin’s neck.

The wizard didn’t even wake until he heard the wings of the mockingbird flapping in his ear. He shot out of bed and to his feet, clutching his hand to his chest where he only caught a handful of his dusty old robe. Abremelin ran to the window to catch the bird, but it was already well on its way back to its nest, which will certainly have much more curb appeal now.

“Blasted bird!” Abremelin shouted in anger. He could still cast a spell on the bird and turn it into a blind toad with a bad leg, but he decided there was no point. “It’s of little consequence,” he thought to himself. “The key was only to the shackles that bind Shylleah, and I wasn’t planning on releasing her anyway. Besides, no one will ever think to dig around in a bird’s nest for an enchanted key. Although, I did rather like rubbing the handle—helped me think.”

Abremelin then shrugged his shoulders and lit his pipe before studying one of a number of old books of spells.

       *          *          *

A blurry blue haze with splotches of white began fading into Irwin’s eyes. Suddenly, a huge black hole took up his entire field of not quite comprehensible vision. Irwin attempted to reach for it with his hand. It was cold and damp. Right at that moment a long red snake shot out of the black hole and attacked his face. Irwin could feel its venom covering his nose. He panicked and threw a fist at the snake almost knocking Reggie out cold.

“Hey!” exclaimed Reggie. “I bring you back to life and this is the thanks I get?” Reggie then sat back on his haunches and tried to shake the butterflies out of his head.

“Sorry Reggie. I thought your tongue was a snake. But you shouldn’t be sneaking up on people with your tongue like that anyway.”

“Sneaking up? I save your life and you thought I was sneaking up? Fine, don’t expect me to work my magic on your poor ugly face again!”

“Hush, both of you!” Liadan demanded. “We’re just glad you’re ok Irwin. Now, just lay back and put this damp cloth on your head. You gave yourself a pretty nasty knot.”

“I’m fine. I must have taken a tumble down a couple of rocks is all.”

Irwin sat up and instantly became nauseous. He then heeded Liadan’s order and lay back against a rock.

“Where is Shaudawn?” Gowen questioned.

“He left,” Irwin responded while trying to fight back the throbbing pain in his head. Although he was rather enjoying the TLC he was getting from Liadan, he didn’t want to come across as a weak little boy, but as a man with a small wound.

“He left? What do you mean he left? Are you saying he just got up this morning and said, ‘Ta ta, must be going? Have a lovely time in the cave’?”

“Yes, basically, and when I went to go after him he was gone.” Irwin winced slightly from a throb he didn’t feel coming.

“I knew it!” Gowen exclaimed. “I knew that foolish little man was up to no good! He probably kept us delayed so we couldn’t fight of the evil vermin that attacked the village and your family’s farm. Then, he brought us out here and made me open this Holy Cave and break the vow I had made to the King. I suspect a pack of wolves is just around the corner to devour us at any moment.”

Liadan sat back and broke into tears, “Why would he make up a story about my father still being alive? What a horrible, horrible man!” She was now sobbing so hard she couldn’t speak any further, as tears pour from her eyes.

“Now just hold on a minute!” Reggie broke in. “You guys are blowing this all out of proportion! I mean, yeah, he was a funky old guy who probably ate some bad mushrooms when he was younger but he can’t be as bad as you’re all making him out to be. I’m sure he must have given my pal Irwin an explanation…right Irwin?” Reggie asked nervously.

“Yeah, he did tell me some stuff.” The pain was subsiding to a tolerable level in Irwin’s head as he told the rest of the party what Shaudawn had said.

Everyone laughed when they heard the part about Irwin leading them through the journey. What good would a 12-year-old boy be, leading them on a dangerous quest? They were convinced Irwin had added that part in to try and pretend he was a man. But, Irwin insisted it was true and continued filling them in on the secret to getting through the cave and of the mysterious power his pogo stick apparently had.

Gowen decided to tolerate Irwin’s fantasy of being in charge and let him walk in front of everyone as they navigated the cave. They had to leave their horses behind since the cave tunnels were too small. Gowen himself followed up the rear, just in case anyone had set up an ambush. The group continued navigating through the cave into the afternoon. Or at least they assumed it was afternoon since there was no sun to gauge the time by.

They all decided to stop for a break and have a drink of water and a bite of bread before continuing on. So far, all that Shaudawn had told them was true. They avoided the green lit corridors and only took the ones with the golden yellow light. Whenever they came across an intersection in a passageway, Irwin would hop on his pogo stick and it would point him in the correct direction. One time, he tried to even force the pogo stick through the wrong passage and it threw him completely off the stick leaving him flat on his back.

“We better keep moving.” Gowen suggested. “The sooner we get through this cave the better.” He then tried to stand up but his Sword’s scabbard had become lodged between two rocks. He pulled and pulled but it wouldn’t come free. It was embarrassing having everyone watch him struggle with his sword.

“Want me to give you a hand?” Liadan offered.

“No! It’s just jammed pretty good. Why don’t you guys go on ahead and I’ll meet up with you at the next intersection.”

Everyone agreed and started moving on without Gowen. “Be sure to take the next passage on the right.” Reggie said. “The one on the left is glowing green.”

“No kidding.” Gowen said sarcastically. “Do you think I don’t know what green looks like?”

Gowen struggled for several more minutes with his scabbard until, suddenly, it broke free so easily that Gowen’s own strength threw him back against the wall. “It was almost like someone was holding it,” Gowen thought. When he got around the corner he was a little confused. Reggie said the right Passage was the correct way, but it was clearly glowing green, and the other on the left had a comforting golden hue of light.

“Stupid goat, he doesn’t even know his right from his left.” Gowen mumbled. He then proceeded to walk into the left passage.

Liadan heard a huge crashing noise from behind them, and then they all heard a man’s voice crying out for help.

“It’s Gowen!” Liadan exclaimed. “He must be in trouble!”

They all ran back to find their companion. They could still hear his voice calling for them. “Help!! They’ve got me! Get away from me you cowards! Take that! I could use some help here!”

Finally, they all three came running out of the right passageway, now yellow, and his voice disappeared into the echoes.

“He must have gone through the left passage!” Reggie presumed. “Dumb Knight might have known his colors but he didn’t know his right from his left.”

“It couldn’t be that.” Liadan argued, giving Reggie a cold stare. “He must have been ambushed.”

“Well, the voice was clearly coming from the green passageway and we were given explicit instructions to avoid going in those.” Irwin concluded.

“So what do we do now?” Liadan asked.

“We have no choice but to continue on and get out of this cave. If we stay around any longer we may get ambushed, and we can’t go down the green passage. Who knows what kind of danger is in there. We can only hope that Gowen’s knightly training can keep him safe.”

Liadan reluctantly agreed, and the group, one friend smaller, cautiously moved on through the cave.

Soon, Irwin spotted a corridor with a cool blue light shining from it. They carefully walked toward it. Irwin was wishing he had taken Gowen’s short sword yesterday. He held up his pogo stick instead, hoping any potential attacker would be near sighted and a little jumpy. Luckily, there were no attackers. And, as Shaudawn had said, the blue light took them out into a beautiful lush meadow.

The sun was starting to set, so the party gathered some wood for a fire. They all huddled close as it got darker. There were sounds coming from the night that none of them had ever heard before. They had decided to keep a rotating watch so nothing could sneak up on them. None of them slept that night anyway.

The next morning greeted all three exhausted travelers with a brilliant and warm sun. This meadow had no signs of fall. Deep greens and vibrant colors overtook and surrounded the meadow. The sweet smells of flowers in bloom, dew drops sparkled on the tips of the blades of grass, and a warm breeze swirled around making the flowers and leaves dance. This new land was much less scary during the day so everyone decided to catch up on their sleep before planning their next step. That is, everyone except for Reggie.

Reggie had never tasted a finer or sweeter grass in all his goatish days. He was willing to lose a little sleep to fill his tummy. “Besides,” Reggie thought, “who knows if I’ll ever get another chance to eat this good for awhile. I can sleep anytime.” So, while the others snoozed, Reggie went to work to make a dent in this small field of grass.

While Reggie was stuffing his sexy goat face, he was oblivious to the two little men standing in front of them, until he almost ate one.

“Hey-hey!” the little man squeaked. “What-what do you think you’re doing?”

Reggie was so startled to hear the grass talking that he jumped back a foot or so.

“Now-now, who-who are you?” the little man asked.

“Uhhhm… I’m Reggie,” Reggie replied, still not sure who was talking to him. “I think I ate some bad grass. Maybe I should just lie down awhile,” he thought. When Reggie went to lie down though, he almost sat right on the second little man.

“Heeey Big fellah! Hooows about watching where you put that thing?” squawked the second little man.

“O.k., I ate some bad grass and have had no sleep. My mind is just playing tricks on me. There’s no such thing as talking grass; I don’t care where you live. I better get some rest soon or I’m going to start seeing little men with bells on their shoes.”

Just then the first little man with bell tipped shoes jumped up on Reggie’s snout and waved a big hello. Reggie screamed, “BLLLLEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” sending both he and the little man hurtling in opposite directions.

All this commotion had woken Irwin and Liadan from their sleep and the both ran as quickly as they could to see what happened.

“There’s a little man in the grass!” Reggie screamed

“Heeey! Dooon’t forget about me!” said the second little man

“O.k. There’s little men in the grass!” Reggie screamed again.

“Now-now, little or big is a matter of perspective.” The little man claimed as he got off the ground, wiped his britches off and walked toward Liadan and Irwin. “Hello-hello, allow me to introduce ourselves. I-I am Fligbug and this is my cohort Zucchi.” They held out their hands and shook Irwin’s index finger and kissed Liadan on the pinkie.

Fligbug and Zucchi were no bigger than small hamsters. Their clothes were the same green as the grass and their faces brown as the soil, so they were impossible to see unless you were looking directly at them. Their shoes were tipped with tiny bells as were their pointy little hats. Whenever they moved, or the wind caught their hats, it made the slightest tinkling noise that could hardly be heard.

“Well you two are certainly friendly,” said Liadan.

“Yes-yes, it is much safer to be nice to the person you are approaching when they are 100 times your size. Don’t-don’t you think?” asked Fligbug.

“So how come you guys talk so funny?” Reggie inquired. “I mean you say the first word of every sentence twice and your pal Zucchini over there talks pretty slow. Were you both dropped as children?”

“Wow-wow. Look-look, a talking goat, Zucchi.”

“Yeeeahhh! An uuuuugly talking goat tooooo boot!”

Irwin and Liadan laughed at the two little men and Reggie just let out a grunt of disgust at all of them.

“My name is Irwin and this is Liadan and that moping animal over there is our goat, Reggie.”

“We-we are pleased to make your acquaintance young travelers. What-what brings you to our meadow?”

“We are on a quest to find an evil doer that has destroyed my village and also possibly keeping Liadan’s father captive,” Irwin informed them.

“Wiiiith just the twoooo of you?   Yooooou arrrrrree braver than me!”

“Hey! There’s a goat here too you little bell hoppers!” Reggie blurted

“If-if you were as small as us, you would want something to warn the earthworms that you were coming. Have-have you ever seen what a scared earthworm can do?”

Reggie wasn’t amused. “Actually,” started Irwin, “we started with a party of five. But one of them left quite unexpectedly and with little reason. And the other we think was kidnapped by someone in the cave behind us.”

The little men advised them that they had seen a giant dressed in tin being hauled off in a cart surrounded by bars and heading east. They couldn’t be sure but he was probably being brought to the castle of the evil wizard, Abremelin. The wizard liked to perform experimental spells on humans before writing them in his books. That way their effectiveness wouldn’t be questioned.

“So how can we get to this castle?” asked Liadan.

“The-the wizard sees and knows all that happens in the forest. You–you cannot just walk up to the door and knock. He-he already knows you’re here-here. You-you must hide and sneak into the castle when he’s asleep. But-but beware; the last person to try and rescue someone from the castle was a faerie named Shylleah who is now Abremelin’s slave. She-she is held captive there by bewitched shackles that only the key around the wizard’s neck will unlock. Also-also she is the only one besides Abremelin who knows where his secret dungeon is located.”

“If the wizard knows we’re already here how can we get to his castle unnoticed?” Irwin asked.

“Weeee can help you geeet there by showing you the best hiding spots iiiin the forest. Buuut when you get there, yooou’re on your owwwwn.”

“Sounds fair to me, Zucchi,” said Irwin and Liadan nodded in agreement as well.

“There-there is just one problem,” said Fligbug. “The journey is long and our legs cannot keep up with yours.”

“Not a problem at all,” replied Irwin. He then took the little men in his hand and placed them on Reggie’s back. “You can ride on Reginald’s back and show us the way.”

“Who asked me if it was okay to put these little parasites on my back? They’ll be competing with my fleas, and I’m very attached to my fleas!”

“Hey-hey Zucchi not only is the talking goat ugly, but he stinks too!”
Fligbug’s quip made everyone laugh, except for Reggie of course, and they all started the long journey to Abremelin’s castle.

Description
Chapter III: The Evil One Takes His Toll

The temperature inside the cave stayed at a constant—not quite warm enough, but not so cold one would freeze to death. It was just the right temperature to keep someone uncomfortable. The fire that our party lit was more for the warmth than for the light. At the end of every corridor inside this mystical cave was a soft glowing light that shown bright enough to see, like the exit was just around the next bend. However, once you got to the end of any particular corridor, the light would unaccountably slip behind the next corner, thus making it even easier to get oneself lost inside the labyrinth of passages and tunnels inside the cave. If the unwary traveler didn’t trace their steps carefully, they could find their bearings hopelessly misplaced, not sure where the light from the entrance was.

The aurora also took away the concept of time. Being the only source of natural light inside the cave, a person never really knew what time of day it was since the light was as constant as the temperature. If someone fell asleep inside the cave with no one keeping watch, they would have no idea if they were unconscious for only a few minutes or several days.

It was the sound of Reggie’s rumbling stomach that woke Irwin. Reggie had curled up right beside Irwin’s head and must have been dreaming about a smorgasbord of goatish snacks, which could’ve been about anything. At any rate, it was causing such a ruckus in Reggie’s abdomen that Irwin had no chance of falling back asleep anytime soon. So, Irwin gave in and sat up to rub his eyes.

The group was still just inside the entrance to the cave, so Irwin could see it was indeed early morning. He opened his knapsack and tore off a piece of spice bread and slipped his pogo stick out too. Then, he tip-toed outside so as not to wake anyone else up to practice some more on his still virtually unused apparatus. Irwin could have run outside yelling and screaming while pounding his fists to his chest and it wouldn’t have mattered. Reggie’s stomach was rumbling, Gowen was snoring, or was it Liadan? At any rate the only person not making noise was Irwin…Irwin and Shaudawn.

For the next half hour or so, Irwin fought to master his pogo stick, and just as determinedly he tried to stay balanced, the relentless stick would send him head over heels to the ground. Finally though, Irwin broke the will of his stubborn pogo stick and managed to stay on it for a dozen bounces before getting so excited he lost his concentration and ended up thrusting himself backwards, leaving his arms flailing in the air before hitting a lone bush beside the cave entrance.

“WOO!! HOO!!” exclaimed Irwin, out loud. “I did it! I did it!”

Shaudawn came around the entrance to see Irwin dancing a jig and twirling his pogo stick in the air like some kind of crazy black-magic ritual.

“So, it looks like someone fell on an ant hill.” Shaudawn surmised whimsically. Irwin blushed at the fact that he was seen in the middle of this silly bit of revelry.

“I’m sorry if I woke you Shaudawn, but I did it! I did it! I can bounce on my pogo stick!”

“Don’t worry about waking me lad. I hardly sleep. A waste of time if you ask me,” Shaudawn replied.

Irwin, his heart still racing with excitement from his newly learned skill, noticed Shaudawn was carrying his belongings in a bundled mess like he was attempting to leave in a rush. Irwin rarely saw Shaudawn carry anything. He always managed to stash everything he owned beneath his robe.

“Are you leaving?” Irwin inquired.

“Yes, yes I am Irwin. I have some other business that needs tending to.”

“But what about our journey? Who will guide us and make sure we’re going down the right path?”

Shaudawn then just looked at Irwin with his mysterious yet soothing smile and said, “Well, I should think that would be obvious by now. You will have to lead them to your destinations.” Shaudawn paused a moment when he saw Irwin’s face turn as pale as the clouds above their heads.

“ME? But, I know only the lands around the Northern Village. How can I possibly guide anyone through travels in a land I know nothing about?”

“Let me ask you this,” Shaudawn began. “How can any of you lead the other through a land that none of you know? How does a person get from one place to the next without falling into terrible peril? How does a bird know where to fly?”

Irwin generally loved riddles because of the thought needed to get to the answer. However, Shaudawn’s current riddle had left Irwin’s mind a blank. “So, what are you really trying to say?”

“You sit and worry about what to do and where to go. I wasn’t here to tell you these things until a few days ago and you seemed to have fared just fine. I only came in to make sure the four of you made this journey together. You all would have eventually reached this spot at some time, but the outcome may have possibly been much different if you had all made your journeys alone. Now that you are together, I need to take care of other things right now and that leaves you in charge, young man.”

Before Irwin could start asking questions again Shaudawn said, “And don’t ask me why I know these things. I am a seer and to explain to you how things work with me would not make any sense to you anyway. This is where you are supposed to be and this is a travel you need to take with those people, and that goat, inside that cave. Now, if you don’t mind I really am pressed for time.”

“But how will we know what tunnels to take in the cave and what roads too, if and when we find the exit to the cave?” Irwin rattled off his questions before Shaudawn could possibly have stopped him.

Shaudawn sighed. “Ok, but this is it. I really need to go now. Avoid the green lights inside the cave. The true exit is along the corridor with the blue light, and if you ever have a question which passageway or road to take…your pogo stick will aid you. Goodbye now, my friend, tell everyone good luck for me and perhaps our paths will cross again someday.” And with that, Shaudawn winked at Irwin, summoned his bird Ahton and began to climb the rocks away from the cave.

Irwin began to feel ill. The only person he had ever really bossed around before was his annoying younger sister and she never paid much heed. Now, he was expected to lead two older people and a stubborn goat, none of which had a lick of respect for him.

“What if I get us all hopelessly lost?” thought Irwin. “How can my pogo stick tell me where to go? Why did Shaudawn leave in such a rush before saying goodbye to everyone? Why am I left with all the responsibility?”

Irwin quickly ran in the direction Shaudawn had left to ask all these questions. However, as soon as he got on the top of the hill, Shaudawn was nowhere to be seen. Irwin slowly climbed back down to the cave with all his unanswered questions swirling in his head, and more questions forming on top of his old questions. All those swirling questions made Irwin terribly dizzy until he lost his balance and tumbled down the hillside. His head did battle with a large rock on the way down. The rock won, knocking Irwin unconscious. He tumbled the rest of the way to meet his final resting point at the cave entrance.

       *          *          *

Wizards need sleep just like everyone else. Most wizards need beauty rest as well. However, if they actually took all the beauty rest required it would cut into their life quite substantially. This is why wizards only take regular sleeps instead of beauty sleeps.

Abremelin was currently in the middle of a regular sleep. He wasn’t dreaming though. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to dream, but more out of necessity. If a wizard, sorcerer, or any spell casting entity were to dream they might accidentally mumble an incantation and inadvertently turn themselves into a mouse, turn a frog into a prince, etc. This could become frustrating and generally unproductive for all involved. So, it was considered by all archimagi, conjurers, enchanters, mages, magicians, magi, necromancers, sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards a best practice to leave dreaming to artists, loafers and the lot.

Resting atop Abremelin’s rising and falling chest was a key. It was like most any other key one might expect to see. It was made of brass and quite old. The handle was an oval with an intricate design of a tulip in the center. It was also the only part of the key that was shiny. This was because Abremelin would rub it between his fingers when he was thinking. The shaft and teeth of the key were considerably tarnished and showed years of previous use. The key was tied around the wizard’s neck with a simple piece of twine. But, this twine had a spell on it that would keep any human from removing the key from around Abremelin’s neck without his permission.

A mockingbird was perched inside the wizard’s window watching the key. Mockingbirds are known for their keen eye for shiny and glittery things. They like to take these things to make their nests with. They are a type of bird with sort of a flare for interior design. Mockingbirds are not human, so the bird had no trouble plucking the key from around Abremelin’s neck.

The wizard didn’t even wake until he heard the wings of the mockingbird flapping in his ear. He shot out of bed and to his feet, clutching his hand to his chest where he only caught a handful of his dusty old robe. Abremelin ran to the window to catch the bird, but it was already well on its way back to its nest, which will certainly have much more curb appeal now.

“Blasted bird!” Abremelin shouted in anger. He could still cast a spell on the bird and turn it into a blind toad with a bad leg, but he decided there was no point. “It’s of little consequence,” he thought to himself. “The key was only to the shackles that bind Shylleah, and I wasn’t planning on releasing her anyway. Besides, no one will ever think to dig around in a bird’s nest for an enchanted key. Although, I did rather like rubbing the handle—helped me think.”

Abremelin then shrugged his shoulders and lit his pipe before studying one of a number of old books of spells.

       *          *          *

A blurry blue haze with splotches of white began fading into Irwin’s eyes. Suddenly, a huge black hole took up his entire field of not quite comprehensible vision. Irwin attempted to reach for it with his hand. It was cold and damp. Right at that moment a long red snake shot out of the black hole and attacked his face. Irwin could feel its venom covering his nose. He panicked and threw a fist at the snake almost knocking Reggie out cold.

“Hey!” exclaimed Reggie. “I bring you back to life and this is the thanks I get?” Reggie then sat back on his haunches and tried to shake the butterflies out of his head.

“Sorry Reggie. I thought your tongue was a snake. But you shouldn’t be sneaking up on people with your tongue like that anyway.”

“Sneaking up? I save your life and you thought I was sneaking up? Fine, don’t expect me to work my magic on your poor ugly face again!”

“Hush, both of you!” Liadan demanded. “We’re just glad you’re ok Irwin. Now, just lay back and put this damp cloth on your head. You gave yourself a pretty nasty knot.”

“I’m fine. I must have taken a tumble down a couple of rocks is all.”

Irwin sat up and instantly became nauseous. He then heeded Liadan’s order and lay back against a rock.

“Where is Shaudawn?” Gowen questioned.

“He left,” Irwin responded while trying to fight back the throbbing pain in his head. Although he was rather enjoying the TLC he was getting from Liadan, he didn’t want to come across as a weak little boy, but as a man with a small wound.

“He left? What do you mean he left? Are you saying he just got up this morning and said, ‘Ta ta, must be going? Have a lovely time in the cave’?”

“Yes, basically, and when I went to go after him he was gone.” Irwin winced slightly from a throb he didn’t feel coming.

“I knew it!” Gowen exclaimed. “I knew that foolish little man was up to no good! He probably kept us delayed so we couldn’t fight of the evil vermin that attacked the village and your family’s farm. Then, he brought us out here and made me open this Holy Cave and break the vow I had made to the King. I suspect a pack of wolves is just around the corner to devour us at any moment.”

Liadan sat back and broke into tears, “Why would he make up a story about my father still being alive? What a horrible, horrible man!” She was now sobbing so hard she couldn’t speak any further, as tears pour from her eyes.

“Now just hold on a minute!” Reggie broke in. “You guys are blowing this all out of proportion! I mean, yeah, he was a funky old guy who probably ate some bad mushrooms when he was younger but he can’t be as bad as you’re all making him out to be. I’m sure he must have given my pal Irwin an explanation…right Irwin?” Reggie asked nervously.

“Yeah, he did tell me some stuff.” The pain was subsiding to a tolerable level in Irwin’s head as he told the rest of the party what Shaudawn had said.

Everyone laughed when they heard the part about Irwin leading them through the journey. What good would a 12-year-old boy be, leading them on a dangerous quest? They were convinced Irwin had added that part in to try and pretend he was a man. But, Irwin insisted it was true and continued filling them in on the secret to getting through the cave and of the mysterious power his pogo stick apparently had.

Gowen decided to tolerate Irwin’s fantasy of being in charge and let him walk in front of everyone as they navigated the cave. They had to leave their horses behind since the cave tunnels were too small. Gowen himself followed up the rear, just in case anyone had set up an ambush. The group continued navigating through the cave into the afternoon. Or at least they assumed it was afternoon since there was no sun to gauge the time by.

They all decided to stop for a break and have a drink of water and a bite of bread before continuing on. So far, all that Shaudawn had told them was true. They avoided the green lit corridors and only took the ones with the golden yellow light. Whenever they came across an intersection in a passageway, Irwin would hop on his pogo stick and it would point him in the correct direction. One time, he tried to even force the pogo stick through the wrong passage and it threw him completely off the stick leaving him flat on his back.

“We better keep moving.” Gowen suggested. “The sooner we get through this cave the better.” He then tried to stand up but his Sword’s scabbard had become lodged between two rocks. He pulled and pulled but it wouldn’t come free. It was embarrassing having everyone watch him struggle with his sword.

“Want me to give you a hand?” Liadan offered.

“No! It’s just jammed pretty good. Why don’t you guys go on ahead and I’ll meet up with you at the next intersection.”

Everyone agreed and started moving on without Gowen. “Be sure to take the next passage on the right.” Reggie said. “The one on the left is glowing green.”

“No kidding.” Gowen said sarcastically. “Do you think I don’t know what green looks like?”

Gowen struggled for several more minutes with his scabbard until, suddenly, it broke free so easily that Gowen’s own strength threw him back against the wall. “It was almost like someone was holding it,” Gowen thought. When he got around the corner he was a little confused. Reggie said the right Passage was the correct way, but it was clearly glowing green, and the other on the left had a comforting golden hue of light.

“Stupid goat, he doesn’t even know his right from his left.” Gowen mumbled. He then proceeded to walk into the left passage.

Liadan heard a huge crashing noise from behind them, and then they all heard a man’s voice crying out for help.

“It’s Gowen!” Liadan exclaimed. “He must be in trouble!”

They all ran back to find their companion. They could still hear his voice calling for them. “Help!! They’ve got me! Get away from me you cowards! Take that! I could use some help here!”

Finally, they all three came running out of the right passageway, now yellow, and his voice disappeared into the echoes.

“He must have gone through the left passage!” Reggie presumed. “Dumb Knight might have known his colors but he didn’t know his right from his left.”

“It couldn’t be that.” Liadan argued, giving Reggie a cold stare. “He must have been ambushed.”

“Well, the voice was clearly coming from the green passageway and we were given explicit instructions to avoid going in those.” Irwin concluded.

“So what do we do now?” Liadan asked.

“We have no choice but to continue on and get out of this cave. If we stay around any longer we may get ambushed, and we can’t go down the green passage. Who knows what kind of danger is in there. We can only hope that Gowen’s knightly training can keep him safe.”

Liadan reluctantly agreed, and the group, one friend smaller, cautiously moved on through the cave.

Soon, Irwin spotted a corridor with a cool blue light shining from it. They carefully walked toward it. Irwin was wishing he had taken Gowen’s short sword yesterday. He held up his pogo stick instead, hoping any potential attacker would be near sighted and a little jumpy. Luckily, there were no attackers. And, as Shaudawn had said, the blue light took them out into a beautiful lush meadow.

The sun was starting to set, so the party gathered some wood for a fire. They all huddled close as it got darker. There were sounds coming from the night that none of them had ever heard before. They had decided to keep a rotating watch so nothing could sneak up on them. None of them slept that night anyway.

The next morning greeted all three exhausted travelers with a brilliant and warm sun. This meadow had no signs of fall. Deep greens and vibrant colors overtook and surrounded the meadow. The sweet smells of flowers in bloom, dew drops sparkled on the tips of the blades of grass, and a warm breeze swirled around making the flowers and leaves dance. This new land was much less scary during the day so everyone decided to catch up on their sleep before planning their next step. That is, everyone except for Reggie.

Reggie had never tasted a finer or sweeter grass in all his goatish days. He was willing to lose a little sleep to fill his tummy. “Besides,” Reggie thought, “who knows if I’ll ever get another chance to eat this good for awhile. I can sleep anytime.” So, while the others snoozed, Reggie went to work to make a dent in this small field of grass.

While Reggie was stuffing his sexy goat face, he was oblivious to the two little men standing in front of them, until he almost ate one.

“Hey-hey!” the little man squeaked. “What-what do you think you’re doing?”

Reggie was so startled to hear the grass talking that he jumped back a foot or so.

“Now-now, who-who are you?” the little man asked.

“Uhhhm… I’m Reggie,” Reggie replied, still not sure who was talking to him. “I think I ate some bad grass. Maybe I should just lie down awhile,” he thought. When Reggie went to lie down though, he almost sat right on the second little man.

“Heeey Big fellah! Hooows about watching where you put that thing?” squawked the second little man.

“O.k., I ate some bad grass and have had no sleep. My mind is just playing tricks on me. There’s no such thing as talking grass; I don’t care where you live. I better get some rest soon or I’m going to start seeing little men with bells on their shoes.”

Just then the first little man with bell tipped shoes jumped up on Reggie’s snout and waved a big hello. Reggie screamed, “BLLLLEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” sending both he and the little man hurtling in opposite directions.

All this commotion had woken Irwin and Liadan from their sleep and the both ran as quickly as they could to see what happened.

“There’s a little man in the grass!” Reggie screamed

“Heeey! Dooon’t forget about me!” said the second little man

“O.k. There’s little men in the grass!” Reggie screamed again.

“Now-now, little or big is a matter of perspective.” The little man claimed as he got off the ground, wiped his britches off and walked toward Liadan and Irwin. “Hello-hello, allow me to introduce ourselves. I-I am Fligbug and this is my cohort Zucchi.” They held out their hands and shook Irwin’s index finger and kissed Liadan on the pinkie.

Fligbug and Zucchi were no bigger than small hamsters. Their clothes were the same green as the grass and their faces brown as the soil, so they were impossible to see unless you were looking directly at them. Their shoes were tipped with tiny bells as were their pointy little hats. Whenever they moved, or the wind caught their hats, it made the slightest tinkling noise that could hardly be heard.

“Well you two are certainly friendly,” said Liadan.

“Yes-yes, it is much safer to be nice to the person you are approaching when they are 100 times your size. Don’t-don’t you think?” asked Fligbug.

“So how come you guys talk so funny?” Reggie inquired. “I mean you say the first word of every sentence twice and your pal Zucchini over there talks pretty slow. Were you both dropped as children?”

“Wow-wow. Look-look, a talking goat, Zucchi.”

“Yeeeahhh! An uuuuugly talking goat tooooo boot!”

Irwin and Liadan laughed at the two little men and Reggie just let out a grunt of disgust at all of them.

“My name is Irwin and this is Liadan and that moping animal over there is our goat, Reggie.”

“We-we are pleased to make your acquaintance young travelers. What-what brings you to our meadow?”

“We are on a quest to find an evil doer that has destroyed my village and also possibly keeping Liadan’s father captive,” Irwin informed them.

“Wiiiith just the twoooo of you?   Yooooou arrrrrree braver than me!”

“Hey! There’s a goat here too you little bell hoppers!” Reggie blurted

“If-if you were as small as us, you would want something to warn the earthworms that you were coming. Have-have you ever seen what a scared earthworm can do?”

Reggie wasn’t amused. “Actually,” started Irwin, “we started with a party of five. But one of them left quite unexpectedly and with little reason. And the other we think was kidnapped by someone in the cave behind us.”

The little men advised them that they had seen a giant dressed in tin being hauled off in a cart surrounded by bars and heading east. They couldn’t be sure but he was probably being brought to the castle of the evil wizard, Abremelin. The wizard liked to perform experimental spells on humans before writing them in his books. That way their effectiveness wouldn’t be questioned.

“So how can we get to this castle?” asked Liadan.

“The-the wizard sees and knows all that happens in the forest. You–you cannot just walk up to the door and knock. He-he already knows you’re here-here. You-you must hide and sneak into the castle when he’s asleep. But-but beware; the last person to try and rescue someone from the castle was a faerie named Shylleah who is now Abremelin’s slave. She-she is held captive there by bewitched shackles that only the key around the wizard’s neck will unlock. Also-also she is the only one besides Abremelin who knows where his secret dungeon is located.”

“If the wizard knows we’re already here how can we get to his castle unnoticed?” Irwin asked.

“Weeee can help you geeet there by showing you the best hiding spots iiiin the forest. Buuut when you get there, yooou’re on your owwwwn.”

“Sounds fair to me, Zucchi,” said Irwin and Liadan nodded in agreement as well.

“There-there is just one problem,” said Fligbug. “The journey is long and our legs cannot keep up with yours.”

“Not a problem at all,” replied Irwin. He then took the little men in his hand and placed them on Reggie’s back. “You can ride on Reginald’s back and show us the way.”

“Who asked me if it was okay to put these little parasites on my back? They’ll be competing with my fleas, and I’m very attached to my fleas!”

“Hey-hey Zucchi not only is the talking goat ugly, but he stinks too!”
Fligbug’s quip made everyone laugh, except for Reggie of course, and they all started the long journey to Abremelin’s castle.