Episode 5: Taking Back the Castle
Taking Back the Castle
Once upon a time in the land of Atheria, there was a Princess Nea and a Princess Lulu and they went on the most amazing adventures.
They had finally retrieved the purple star crystal from a mysterious ogre after developing an intricate plan to get it back from the elves who took it from the ogre king before they could. As soon as they had it back, they learned that the ogres had come and taken over their castle while they were gone, thinking that it was Princess Nea and Princess Lulu who stole the crystal.
So Princess Nea and Princess Lulu headed back to their castle as fast as they could, but as soon as they left the Forest of Forevermore, a huge thunderstorm started pouring down rain. And before they could get back to Sparland Castle they had to find shelter. And they did, at the same village that they stopped at earlier. And they went into the inn to see if they could stay the night, until the rain went away.
While they were there they ran into the Shadow Man again who happened to be doing the same thing – finding shelter in the rain. As they were about to walk up and say ‘hello’ he turned to them and greeted them – before they could even introduce themselves.
“Why hello Princess Nea and Princess Lulu of Sparland.” He said, looking directly at them with those vague eyes. “Please, have a seat. I was just explaining how my quest to find fairy water isn’t proving fruitful.”
“Have you tried in the Frost Caves, at the base of the Mt. Willow?” Nea asked, remembering her earlier adventure.
“Oh yes, yes indeed. It’s not finding the water that is troubling anymore. It’s finding a cure. But alas, how did your adventure go?” he asked.
“It went well. Not how we expected, but we got what we were looking for.”
And both of the girls were impressed by how well the Shadow Man could keep them in his sights, even though he couldn’t see with his eyes. And that’s when Lulu decided to ask about it.
“Is it tough not being able to see? Is that why you’re looking for fairy water?”
The Shadow Man chuckled a bit, “Why would you think that I want to see?”
And Princess Nea, because she was bold and brave always spoke her mind said, “Because everybody should be able to see. Don’t you want to see?”
The shadow man tilted his head a little and he said, “You know what, princesses, I see many, many things – even though I can't see with my eyes.” and with that he pointed to his eye. “Now, this may sound odd to those who see with their eyes every day, but I consider myself very lucky ... even though I can't. I don't want to see with my eyes. There are other things - other ways – to see. And can I tell you ladies something?”
They both nodded.
“I see other things, special things, things that people with eyes can not see.”
And with that, he walked away, presumably to continue with his adventure.
When they got back to their room that night they thought more about what the Shadow Man said and what they would do when they got back to their castle - and what were they going to do with the ogres of Gozdur!
Lulu was really good at putting together plans, so she thought really hard and really long. And Nea was pretty good at being creative.
“I’ll bust open the castle doors and fight all of those ogres.”
“Fighting isn’t always the best option, Nea.”
“Well, maybe it is. We can muster all our soldiers, be brave and tell those ogres and King Bealock to leave or we’ll kick their cans.”
Then something occurred to Princess Lulu, who was a bit quicker to seek advice and help from others sometimes, “Maybe we should ask the shadow man and see if he can help. Maybe he knows another secret – like he did for the Forest of Forevermore, maybe he can see something that we can't.”
So they went back down to go find him, “We need some help. We've news that Castle Sparland is overrun by King Bealock’s ogres and we need to protect it. Do you know how we can do that?”
And he said, “Well, I have a few questions, but I think the three of us could come up with a good plan.” And so, the three of them started to develop a plan to rid Castle Sparland of the ogre invasion.
The next morning they got up and left the village and put the plan in place. And the plan they come up with (for Nea & Lulu) was to wear their special cloaks, turn back into ogres, and to tell the ogres that Gozdur was on fire and they need to return immediately. That way, they would leave and go back to their home without there being any battle and without anybody getting hurt.
And that’s exactly what they did, they walked into their castle and started telling all the ogres that there was a huge dragon sighted in the North Woods and now Gozdur was on fire. And that Cedar Landing was next!
“But we need to find Princess Nea and Princess Lulu – they have taken my crystal. I need it back!” protested King Bealock.
Then one of the other ogres, the one with glasses, from the shop (remember him?) said, “Ogre King, Ogre King, there are more important things that you (and we) need to worry about. If our Gozdur is under attack by a dragon we must protect it. We cannot let it be burned to the ground again!”
And the king realizing there was no one to defend their city.
“We must go before the dragon destroys Gozdur, the rightful land of the ogres! We shall return, ogres. We shall return and take back what was stolen!”
Now while Nea & Lulu were at Sparland, the Shadow Man had another part of the plan. You see, he was actually friends with a dragon. A very special dragon named Scorch. They had been on many, many other adventures together when they were younger. As soon as he and the princesses had developed the plan at the inn, he put his piece of the plan in place and met with his old friend, the dragon named Scorch.
“Scorch, there are two important princesses that need our help. They need you to fly over Gozdur and pretend like you are going to burn it down. Everyone will think that you’re dangerous, and that will drive King Bealock and his ogre horde away from Castle Sparland. Does that make sense? Just like during the invasion of Forevermore.”
Scorch nodded.
And one other thing, “Can you also fly over Cedar Landing too, that would be really convincing. But when you see the ogre horde coming, fly off, don’t attack – just fly away, back to your cave. I’ll send word ahead of time to Prince Paul at Cedar Landing so he won’t attack if they see you.”
And with that, Scorch let out a loud roar and flew off.
And the plan that Nea, Lulu and the Shadow Man put in place went off without a hitch. The ogres ended up leaving Castle Sparland, Nea and Lulu had found the purple crystal and had kept the elves from having it too. Oh, and remember that girl ogre? Well, she was back at the ogre village now, keeping an eye on the ogres so that if (and when) the ogres came back for the crystal again, she could help Nea & Lulu.
Now, the only problem was that Tuck was nowhere to be found.
The end.
