Destiny - Book One in The Bomcard Trilogy
Chapter Ten - Stelipse and the Overexcited Tree

Lucas awoke the next morning to discover Elizabeth was no longerin her bed. He looked around the large room but could not see her anywhere.Charles was asleep on his bed, snoring so loudly that the table felt like itwas moving.

Lucas rose from the bed and decided to go outside for fresh air.He floated down to the ground and headed towards the large door. Looking up atthe gigantic obstacle above him, he thought to himself, how am I going to openit?

He stared at the doorand tried to use his powers to turn the doorknob. With a sigh, he realised thathe could not move the door at the same time. At least he could not just yet. Hesighed and moved back to the table, flying back up to the top. As he landed, henoticed Elizabeth was back and staring directly at him. He frowned at her andasked, ‘Where were you?'

‘Nature called.'

‘Sorry. I do not mean tosound … possessive or rude. I woke and you were gone.'

‘Didn't mean to worryyou,' she smiled at him. ‘We need to prepare to leave. Depending on where weleave from, it's going to be quite a travel.'

Lucas looked at her,turning his head on the side and smiled. ‘Have you forgotten I can fly? We cancover more ground.'

‘True, but it's alsodangerous. If we are seen, then that will be a problem.'

He looked at her andfrowned. ‘What happened last night? Have you ever heard of something like thathappening?'

She shook her head. ‘No,never. It felt so real, like we were there, physically. The fact we bothremember it too … well, I am not entirely sure. Maybe I began the dream and youused your telepathy to tap in?'

He stared at her,concern in his eyes. ‘Do you think we should tell Charles?'

‘Maybe … I'm not sure.What do you think we should do?' she asked.

‘Hmmm,' Lucas mumbled.‘Well, let's wait till Charles is awake. Take it from there.'

‘Fine with me.' She smiledat him, turning and sitting down on the edge of the bed. ‘I will miss thisplace though. The people here are very kind.'

‘Yeah, I will too. Weneed to continue though. I need to replace the elves and my mother.' He looked ather, his eyes filled with curiosity. ‘Elizabeth?'

She looked up at him.‘Yes?'

‘Ah … I was wondering.You know when I replace the elves. What are you going to do?'

She looked at him,confused. ‘What do you mean?'

‘Well … I know that youdon't … want to leave, but shouldn't you go back home, at least to make peacewith your father?'

She thought carefullyabout how she would answer. ‘No. That is not the place for me. I am where I amsupposed to be. You need help defeating Barback and I said I would help you.'

‘It is dangerous. Idon't mind if …'

‘Drop it.' She smiled athim and continued, ‘I said I would help, and I will. You are my only friend,the only one I have ever had and you … you are so much more than that as well.My father and brothers have controlled my whole life and you have shown me Ihave a choice, at least in some areas. I control my life and I choose to followyou. To the death, if need be.'

Lucas smiled at her.

‘Good morning, my smallfriends.'

They both jumped andturned to see Charles sitting up in his bed. ‘Apart, you are both very strongbut together, you will have the power to defeat Lord Barback.' He rose out ofthe bed and Lucas noticed what he was wearing. Gone were his clothes fromyesterday, as the giant stood now in a large white dressing-gown, complete withhis little white cap on his head.

‘Give me a few momentsand we shall leave.'

‘Charles?' Lucasmumbled.

The giant looked down atLucas, his friendly smile warming towards him. ‘Yes, little one?'

‘Where's your teddybear?'

‘I do not have one.'

Lucas and Elizabethlaughed as Charles stared at them, confused. Smiling towards them, he burstinto laughter with the pair. After a few moments, Lucas stopped laughing andlooked up at Charles with seriousness filling his eyes.

‘Last night, both me andElizabeth … I mean Elizabeth and me, well, we kind of had the same dream,'Lucas informed the giant. ‘We were at some lake and well, it felt real. Likereal real. Do you think it was my telepathy?'

Charles looked at him,confused. ‘You both experienced the same dream? What happened?'

‘Nothing major,' Lucasreplied quickly, shaking his head as he begun to blush. ‘We left here, and wewere travelling to Stelipse, but we stopped at a lake for a break.'

‘Ah, that is quiteinteresting,' Charles mumbled, scratching his face. ‘It is possible that yourtelepathy powers allowed you to enter Elizabeth's dream, or at least pull herinto your own. Your telepathy lets you enter other's minds, so I cannot see whyit does not work with dreams.'

‘Ah, excuse me, Charles?Where were you dropping us off?' Elizabeth asked, eager and succeeding inchanging the topic.

‘Just near where I foundyou,' he replied. ‘You will only be a few hours out from Stelipse. There, replacea young man named Zachary. He will help you continue your journey.'

The next ten minutespassed by quickly. They packed up and cleaned the house as best as two smallhumans in a giant's house could. When they had finally finished, Charles heldout his hand and Lucas and Elizabeth jumped into it. Charles carried themoutside and walked over to the now empty table where Marybeth and Donald weresitting in silence. Marybeth was smiling towards them, while Donald was noteven paying attention, lost in his own world as usual.

‘Charles?Can I ask you something?' Charles looked down and noticed Lucas lookingup at him. ‘It is sort of a privatequestion. I do not want Elizabeth to hear.'

‘Youmay.'

‘Whydoes everyone get so angry when people of two different species fall in love?'

Charles looked down atLucas. As they reached the table, Charles took his familiar seat. He placed hishand down and Elizabeth hopped off. She noticed Lucas and Charles were bothquiet. She thought it was odd they were both silent; however, a small part ofher knew they were communicating. She walked over to Marybeth and startedtalking to her. Lucas, however, continued his conversation with Charles.

‘Ido not quite understand. Why can't I be with Elizabeth?'

Charles frowned as hereplied. ‘It is because of the bitternessbetween cultures. When two different species populate together, there is afifty-fifty chance on which species it will become. Take both Elizabeth andyour species. The elves worry if the merpeople populate with humans and producemore of their kind, then they might try to overthrow them. The merpeople do notbelieve the elves should be the ones who rule; they believe they should. Theyworry if the elves populate too much, they might try to enforce their rules onthem or even try to exterminate them.'

‘Idon't … why would they believe that?'

‘Liesspread through the ages. They no longer talk or communicate with each other. Noelf is allowed in the merpeople's kingdom and no merperson can enter the elves'home. Death is punishment.'

Lucas frowned. ‘So that is why Elizabeth is so upset. Can Ichange the law?'

Charles looked at him,confused. ‘I do not understand.'

‘IfI am the king, this Lost Son, I thought I was supposed to be like, in charge ofeveryone. Doesn't that mean I can change the law if I see fit?'

‘Lucas,you are not in charge of anyone. Do not act like the kings before you.' Lucas flinched at theharsh tone in Charles's voice. ‘Everyoneis equal. You will meet new creatures and you must not be like the kings ofold. Make them your equal.'

‘Iam sorry, Charles. It came out wrong.'

‘Thenrepeat your question.'

‘Iam king, right? Therefore, by being king of Bomcard, I can change laws I see asunnecessary. I can change the law about species, if I believe that it makesus... unequal.'

Charles looked at him. ‘You can; however, it does not mean thatthey will allow the law to pass. There is a council, your council, which youmust speak to first.'

‘Ihave a council?'

‘Yes.The council was created with one creature from every species. You place yourtopic forward and you all debate. You have final say, but I do warn you. Listento the others. Before the Second War, there was talk of an uprising.'

‘Ido not wish to be king, Charles,' Lucas told him.

‘Ido not understand.' He looked at Lucas with a confusedexpression.

‘Iwant to be normal. To do normal things and … fall in love with whoever I wantto. I can't lead anyone. If I don't want to fight myself, how can I convinceothers to join me?'

Charles smiled. ‘It is normal to have doubts, to have fearsand concern.'

‘It'smore than that, Charles,’ Lucas sighed, feeling his heart breaking again. ‘Idon't like being the different one out of a group. I always have been. I can'tbe a king. I don't know how to. Yet, I know I have to be. I know I have to stepup and be the one everyone turns to. I just don't know if I can be who theywant me to be.'

‘Lucas,you only need to believe in yourself and you will discover the power in you tosave us, and in time, you will be confident in claiming your title as King ofBomcard.'

‘Thankyou.'

While Lucas was talkingto Charles, Elizabeth was having her own in-depth conversation with Marybeth.

‘Marybeth, do youbelieve two people of different species can be together?'

The giant smiled atElizabeth. ‘If it is true love, it should not matter who or what they are. Youdo know the stories of meeting your true love?'

‘Stories?'

‘Yes, it has been knownto happen, but only with those who are truly destined to be together,' Marybethreplied. Leaning in closer, she began. ‘See, in our lives, we meet and fall inlove with different people. Everyone has that one person that they are destinedto be with; however, not everyone is lucky enough to ever replace that person.What I mean is, you can fall in love with the love of your life, the person youalways imagined being with, or you can fall in love with your true love, whomay be the exact opposite of who you dreamed of. You may be better off with thelove of your life than your true love.

‘What the stories alwaysstate is that upon discovering the identity of your true love, both of yourbodies will be surrounded by an aura. The auras will then clash and blendtogether. It will not happen immediately. In one story, the pair did notdiscover this until their final moments in life.

‘Another story is loveat first sight. It has been known to happen, where one or both parties havefallen in love with the other upon first glance. It has taken them a minute, aday, a week and so forth to realise, but when they do, they discover they haveloved that other person since their first glance.'

Elizabeth looked at herand smiled. ‘That is confusing.'

Marybeth returned thesmile. ‘Love is, but believe me you will know it when it happens.'

‘So, what is thesignificance of the aura?' Elizabeth asked her.

‘Nothing, really.'Marybeth smiled. ‘It has no purpose other than to tell the lovers and anywitnesses that they truly belong together. In some cultures, where royalty andlower class civilians have fallen in love, it was used to prove they could bein a relationship.'

‘Yeah, we had that backhome,' Elizabeth mumbled in disappointment. ‘You could only marry into certainclasses. It is why I was involved in an arranged marriage.'

Marybeth nodded andturned in the direction where Lucas and Charles were having their telepathicconversation. ‘I assume all this talk is of you and Lucas.'

Elizabeth nodded, herface turning red from embarrassment. ‘Is it that obvious?'

‘Our ears are biggerthan yours. We can hear further. I heard your conversation.'

Elizabeth looked at herin shock.

‘Do not fret. The boysdid not hear. My hearing is better than theirs.'

‘Good.' She turned andlooked in Lucas's direction. Turning back to Marybeth, she asked,

‘How did you and Charlesend up together?'

Marybeth stared in Charles'sdirection with a painful glance. ‘Technically, we are not together. However,when we have to, we turn to the other for support and guidance.' Staring downat Elizabeth, she asked with a smile, ‘Is it that obvious?'

‘I see the way you twolook at each other.' Elizabeth smiled. ‘You should tell him.'

‘He knows, as I do. Whenthe time is right, we will be together; the same as you and Lucas.'

‘How can two people betogether when their species forbid it?' Elizabeth sighed.

‘I do not know theanswer to that one. The better question is, is it worth replaceing out?'

‘Hey.'

Elizabeth looked up andnoticed Lucas walking over. ‘I think we need to head off.'

‘It is time for ourfriends to leave.' Charles's voice bellowed over the valley. Donald turned tolook at them and nodded.

Marybeth smiled at themas she leaned down. ‘Farewell, my small friends. You are always welcome here.'

‘Yes, they are,' Charlessaid warmly. ‘We need to leave now.'

With that, Charles heldout his hand. The pair leaped onto his hand as he began to walk away with them.Lucas and Elizabeth looked back and waved at their new friends, both yellingout to the giants, ‘Bye! Thank you!'

Marybeth waved backsadly as Donald nodded. Charles walked back up the cliff and up out of themirage sky. As Charles walked over to where he found them, they expected him tolet them down. He did not, however. He continued to walk further ahead andstopped after walking for five minutes when he noticed a small forest nearby.Heading over, he moved behind some trees, half the size of the giant himself,and froze. Staring ahead of him, Lucas and Elizabeth turned in the direction hewas looking before he slowly walked a few more feet ahead and placed the pairdown. They stared ahead and could just see the outskirts of a town.

‘Up ahead is Stelipse. Itook you further than I should have, but I had no choice. Time is running out.'Charles looked at them with his kind blue eyes. ‘I will miss you, my littlefriends.'

Elizabeth looked up athim and smiled. ‘Thank you for everything.'

‘You are quite welcome.'

‘Yeah, thank you,Charles,' Lucas spoke sadly. ‘And thanks for teaching me to control my powers.'

‘You are also welcomeand don't either of you forget you are always welcome in our land. Do not beafraid to step through the veil.' He looked at the town. ‘Now, head in thereand look for a young man named Zachary. He will take you onto the next part ofyour journey. Until we meet again.' He nodded at them and then slowly fadedaway into the trees. They stood there and watched him leave in silence untilthey could not see him anymore.

Lucas turned and lookedat the town nearby. This Zachary man was in there and he knew where his motherwas. It was time for him to meet her and the other elves. He started walking outof the trees, but something grabbed him and pulled him back. He thought it wasElizabeth until he turned and found she had disappeared.

‘Elizabeth?'

The forest was filledwith dead silence. Turning around in a circle, he began to feel the panicoverwhelm him as he realised he was alone. The sound of a branch breakingbehind him made him turn in fear as the silence began to play on his mind. Allof a sudden, a branch reached out and grabbed his leg, raising him high intothe air. He watched in horror as the ground flew away from him, his body movinghigher into the dark trees.

‘Let me go! What thehell?!' he screamed as he dangled upside down from the tops. He struggled toget out of the branch's grasp as it moved him closer to its trunk. As soon ashe was right in front of the trunk, Lucas noticed that surprisingly, it had ahuman looking face shaped into it. It had long, black, hollow holes for eyesand a large crack from one side to the other that split into a smile.

‘Well, well, well. Andwhat do we have here?'

Lucas looked at it,terrified. He did not know how to act. This was a talking tree! Why wouldCharles drop them off here? He then remembered what they were talking aboutbefore.

‘Everyone is equal. You will meet new creatures and you must not be likethe kings of old. Make them your equal.' He dropped us here on purpose,Lucas thought.

‘Put me down now!' Lucasyelled at the tree.

‘Or what?' The treelaughed. ‘You'll wave your hands around until I do? Ha, ha, ha.'

‘Where is Elizabeth?'

‘The girl? Oh, she's …hanging around.'

On cue, Elizabeth camescreaming down from the sky and landed next to him. The sudden jolt of the stopmade her stop screaming in shock. It was not long before she found her voice.

‘Let me go this instant!You could have killed me!'

‘Oh, we have discussedthis already,' the tree smiled. ‘I think I'll let you hang around for a bit. Noone ever bothers to stop by for a chat.'

The next moment happenedfaster than Lucas thought it did. As the tree turned Lucas in his branch arm,spinning him around and around in circles, his amulet fell out of his shirt andthe moment the tree saw it, it started to panic.

‘What did I do? I … Ididn't mean … Why am I alone? I don't know what to do.'

‘What do you mean?'

‘You're the king. Ididn't mean to …'

That was when Lucasrealised that there was only one Living Tree. ‘You're alone? Where are yourfriends?'

‘I don't have any.'

‘Well, I'm not surprisedif you treat people like this!' Elizabeth yelled at him. ‘Unhand us thisinstant!'

Surprisingly, the LivingTree obeyed and dropped them, the pair falling to the ground and landing with ahard thump. Elizabeth leaped to her feet in an instant and she grabbed Lucas ina move to pull him up. ‘Come on!'

‘No.' She looked at himin shock as he turned to her and repeated, ‘No.'

He turned to the treeand noticed that it looked like it was crying. Its branches were swinging outeveryone and both Elizabeth and Lucas had to duck to avoid contact as the treecried, ‘Everyone hates me! I didn't mean to upset anyone.'

‘It's okay. We are fine.Please stop crying.' The tree roared on for a few more moments before itfinally stopped. Lucas stared at the Living Tree, his eyes filled with kindnessand forgiveness. ‘Where are the others of your kind?'

‘I don't know,' the treewhimpered. ‘I wandered off one day from my group. I became lost and ended uphere. I was too scared to leave. Humans kill us trees, living or not.'

‘My name is Lucas.' Hepointed to himself before pointing to Elizabeth. ‘And this is Elizabeth. Whatis your name?'

‘I don't have a name.'

‘Everyone has a name.'

The tree looked like itwas thinking as a branch reached down and touched his face. Its eyes flew upand it seemed to look up in thought. ‘I cannot think of one. I was never namedwhen I got lost.'

‘How about we give you aname?'

‘Oh, yes!'

Lucas turned toElizabeth and smiled. She slowly returned his gesture and walked slowly up tohim. She turned to the tree and asked, ‘How about … Branchy?'

‘Branchy?' Lucas lookedat her with a confused, dumbfounded look.

Elizabeth shrugged andreplied, ‘It is how we met, with a lot of branches.'

‘Oh! Oh! I love it! I'mBranchy!' The tree threw its arm branches up and waved. ‘Thank you!'

Lucas and Elizabeth bothsmiled.

‘Well, we better startheading off,' Lucas spoke kindly.

Branchy slammed hisbranches down on the ground and pushed with all his might. As the pair watchedin shock as the ground shook, the tree's roots flew out and he started jumpingup and down in excitement. The ground was shaking worse than when the giantsran with them, little tremors making Lucas and Elizabeth attempt to preventlanding on the ground.

‘Whoa! Branchy, stop!'Lucas yelled, falling onto his backside.

He stopped jumping andlooked down at them. ‘Where are we going?' Branchy looked at them excitedly.Lucas looked at him, terrified.

‘We are heading toStelipse.'

Elizabeth turned to himand whispered, ‘Don't tell him that! He'll want to come!'

Lucas looked at her andwhispered back, ‘I won't lie to him. Elizabeth, he is like a kid. If I don'ttell him, he'll just follow us.' He turned back to Branchy. ‘We are heading toStelipse to look for a friend.'

‘I can help! I'll comewith you!' Branchy looked excitedly at them. ‘Please let me come!'

‘Branchy, you can't comewith us into town,' Elizabeth said to him, smiling at Lucas as she passed himand placed her hand on the tree's trunk. ‘People would panic if they saw you.'

‘I can pretend to be anormal tree!' He stretched out his branches to the sky and closed his eyes. Hismouth also shut, his branches swaying gently in the breeze and they bothrealised in awe that he looked exactly like a normal, everyday tree. After amoment, his eyes flew open and he cracked a big smile. ‘See?'

‘That was good … but youmoved.' Elizabeth smiled sadly at him.

Lucas looked at him andsmiled. ‘Branchy, why don't you wait here. I will come back to see you. Ipromise.'

Branchy looked at himand smiled. ‘Oh, yes please! I have never had friends before. I don't want to loseyou.'

Lucas smiled at him.‘Branchy, we won't stop being friends if we are not here with you.'

Branchy laughed.‘Really? Friends forever! Friends forever!'

Lucas laughed andElizabeth could not help but laugh too. The three laughed together until Branchysat down, shaking the ground again. He looked at them and asked, ‘Can I meetyour friend?'

Lucas looked atElizabeth and turned to Branchy, replying, ‘We shall see how our meeting goes.We don't know if he will … be up for it?'

Branchy looked at him,confused and hurt. ‘He won't want to see me?'

‘We may have a task forhim. He might not be able to meet you just yet.'

Branchy smiled. ‘Oh …okay!'

‘Branchy, stay here andwe'll come back, okay?' Lucas smiled at him.

Branchy nodded andElizabeth and Lucas turned, heading out of the small forest. As they walked,Elizabeth turned to Lucas and said, ‘I'm sorry about before. About Branchy, Imean.'

‘It's okay. It's weird,but he seems …'

‘Childlike?'

Lucas looked at her andnodded.

‘I grew up being taughtto keep to my own species,' Elizabeth sighed sadly. ‘You are helping me breakthose boundaries. I like it.' She turned and smiled as he did the same.

They exited the forestand found the rocky path that led towards the town. They walked along until theyfinally arrived at the large stone wall that circled the town. It was higherthan most gates and Lucas realised it was as tall as the table back inCharles's house. Approaching the gate, he felt for his amulet and sighed.

He looked at Elizabethand said, ‘This is not a good idea to have around my neck.'

‘What is?'

‘The amulet,' hereplied. ‘It keeps falling out.'

‘We have no choice. Wehave no bags to store it in and the safest place is with you. We just have tobe careful.' Elizabeth looked up at the gate.

As Lucas turned to lookhow far back the town stretched, he realised that he could not see the endingof the forever stretching stone wall. This town was gigantic! How were theysupposed to replace this Zachary man in a town this big?

The gate was made of twowooden doors that were as large as Charles was himself, reaching higher pastthe top of the stone wall. Two towers sat on each side of the door, each withwhat Lucas believed to be a guard's post at the top, but minus the guards.Elizabeth knocked and on the left door, a small piece of wood slid down and anold, worn face popped out.

Elizabeth looked up atthe man and said, ‘We are travellers seeking refuge and food.'

‘What business do youhave here?' the man asked with curiosity.

‘Our business is ourown. We will not cause trouble,' she replied.

The man nodded and thewood flew back into place. With a loud creak the two doors opened and Lucascaught his first look at the wonder of Stelipse. He gasped at how much largerit was inside.

It looked exactly like amarket. Aisles and aisles of stalls filled the streets, stretching as far backas the eye could see. Little double storey stone homes filled the area behindthe stalls and two larger building sat across the road from each other at the frontof the town. Carts with horses rode by, as did wagons similar to the one theysaw a few days ago, but they could not move through the busy, packed streets.The most interesting thing he noticed was how this looked to him like theold-time markets he used to see in movies and read about in books.

As the pair walked downthe packed streets, Lucas noticed a small stand from the corner of his eye and,walking over to it, he found books upon books scattered across the table. Notlike the books he had back home, though, he did notice. They were only colouredblue, red, and green. He looked at the man behind the stand and noticed he wasstaring right at him and Lucas was instantly reminded of Mr. Dawn. He had lightgrey hair that was turning white and his odd glasses made him stand out of thecrowd even more. His upside down triangle glasses pointed down towards hislarge, crooked nose and as the man smiled, Lucas saw how oddly white his teethwere. Not white like someone who brushed all the time but white as in bleachedwhite.

‘Hello, my son,' the mangreeted, his cold, flat voice sending chills up Lucas's spine. ‘What can I helpyou with? After a book with some adventure and romance?' He grabbed a bluebook. ‘Or what about one with horrors and mysteries?' He placed the blue bookdown and grabbed a red one.

It was then that Lucasnoticed a strange brown book he had not seen on the stand before. It had arough covering and looked no bigger than a folder. Lucas gasped as he noticedsomething that made his skin crawl. On the front cover was a seal, a circularseal that bore familiar signs, a seal that looked like his amulet could fitinto and unlock. The moment Lucas's eyes fell onto the book, he felt a strangesense of recognition. He grabbed the brown book, but the man snatched it out ofhis hands. The smile was gone, replaced by a hideous snarl.

‘This is not for sale.'

‘I'm … sorry,' Lucasmumbled. ‘I just … it seemed … what is it?'

The man stared at himsuspiciously, but he answered, ‘An ancient book. It was said to belong to thePrincess of the Elves long ago. Its pages are filled with spells and stories.No one has ever been able to open it.'

Elizabeth looked overand walked to where Lucas had disappeared to.

‘Lucas, what are youdoing?'

He turned and whisperedto her, ‘Look at the book in his hand.'

She turned and her eyeswidened with shock. Her face quickly fell and she turned to the man and asked,‘How much for the book in your hand?'

‘I told your friend itis not for sale.'

She stared at him coldly.‘What do you want for it?'

‘Why do you want it sobad?' the man asked as he returned the cold stare. They stared at each otherfor what felt like ages.

‘Lucas?Can you hear me?'

Lucas flashed his eyesquickly in her direction but never moved any other part of his body. ‘I can.'

‘Thebook has a seal. It looks like your amulet can open it.'

‘Hesaid it belonged to the Princess of the Elves. My mother's father was theelder. The book belongs to her.'

Elizabeth turned to theman. ‘Where did you get that book?'

‘I found it in a burningvillage years ago.'

‘How much for the book?'she asked again.

‘It is not for sale …unless …'

‘Yes?' they bothreplied.

‘I want his sword.' Hepointed at Lucas and the sword that was by side.

Lucas looked at him, shocked,and replied, ‘No way. You're not having this.'

‘Maybehe can.' He turned to Elizabeth in shock. She shrugged as she remindedhim, ‘You have telepathy. You can placeimages in people's minds as much as you can thoughts. Maybe, we can deceivehim.'

‘Ido not want to do that.'

‘Neitherdo I and it is something I wish I did not have to ask you to do. We do not havea choice, however. This man will not sell us the book and we cannot steal it.The book is now in his attention.'

She turned to the man andsaid, ‘Very well, but throw in a bag to carry it in and we have a deal.'

He smiled, his bleachedwhite teeth shining bright. ‘Very well.'

The moment his back wasturned, Elizabeth leaned down and took out her knife she kept near her ankle.As the man fiddled with the items, Lucas turned to the knife Elizabeth washolding. He imagined seeing himself from the man's point of view and he sawElizabeth holding the sword. He saw that there was no sword by his waist. Hestared at the man.

Elizabeth held out theknife as the man turned. Lucas stared into the man's eyes. See what I want youto see, he thought. The man looked at Lucas for a brief moment, his gaze blankand neutral as they stared into each other's eyes before he turned to Elizabethand stared down at the small knife in her hand.

‘It is magnificent!'

It worked. Lucas turned and smiled atElizabeth. She returned his gesture and as she held out her hand, the manpassed her the bag. It was made from wolf skin, tied together with thick brownstring, and quite heavy. Before she gave him the fake sword, she threw the bagat Lucas.

‘Check it,' was all shesaid.

He opened it and foundthe book was in there. ‘It's here.'

She handed the knife tothe man and as he continued to bask in its beauty, she stared at Lucas andspoke in his mind, ‘Lucas, let's leavenow.'

They turned and movedquickly through the crowd, continuing to walk until they reached one of thetall buildings Lucas had seen upon their first entrance to Stelipse. Theyentered the stone building on the right and shut the door behind them. Theyseemed to be in an inn, which also seemed to be a pub of sorts. Men and womenwere dancing around the tables, drinking and laughing, waitresses walked acrossthe room with wooden trays in their hands, drinks and food piled high. It wasvery loud inside, the music roaring and deafening.

Wooden floorboardscovered the ground and white marble stone was decorating the wall. Along thesides, table booths sat from one end to the other. A massive bar was in themiddle and a kind-hearted man standing behind it. Elizabeth noticed an emptybooth and dragged Lucas around. As they sat, he noticed that it was quieternear the booths than anywhere near the dance floor. Good, he thought tohimself. I won't have to yell.

Elizabeth turned to himand said, ‘That was very lucky.'

‘I can't believe I didthat,' Lucas mumbled. ‘How long before he realizes?'

‘Not that long.'Elizabeth sighed. ‘I am sorry, Lucas. It was the only way. We need to leavehere fast. He will alert the guards when he realizes we used magic. Mostlikely, he will think we are elves.'

‘Thank you for helpingme get the book.'

‘It is your mother's. Itdid not belong to him.' She smiled at him. ‘Come on. We'll ask the inn owner ifhe has seen this Zachary guy.'

As they dodged thedrunken patrons, many still singing, dancing and laughing about their youngerdays, Lucas and Elizabeth reached the bar and moved towards the man behind it.The noise was very loud here, louder than at the back near the stalls. The manseemed very friendly, but as Lucas now knew, looks could be deceiving.

‘Excuse me!' Lucasyelled over the noise. ‘I'm searching for a man!'

‘What man?!' the barmanyelled back.

‘I only know his name isZachary. He is friends with a man named Charles.'

The man looked aroundhis bar before turning back to Lucas and replying, ‘Sorry, kid. No one here bythat name. At the moment, it is only my regulars. Try the bar across the road.'

‘Thanks.'

They headed out of thebar and went into the stone building opposite. The moment the pair entered,they froze in shock. Inside, it was exactly the same as the previous building,except everything was backwards. The floor was marble and the walls werewooden. The stalls were on the opposite side and behind the bar was a woman,cleaning the top. The one major difference that they both noticed immediatelywas that there was no noise in here at all. Lucas looked at Elizabeth with aconfused look.

‘Okay. Weird much,' hemumbled and walked over to the woman behind the bar. ‘Excuse me, miss. I amlooking for a man named Zachary. He knows a friend of mine named Charles.'

Taking a look around thebar, she turned back to Lucas and frowned, ‘Sorry, love, haven't heard of himand everyone in here are my locals.'

‘Thank you.'

As they walked outside,Lucas turned to Elizabeth and asked, ‘Is there anywhere else he may be?'

‘No. These bars are themost popular places.'

‘There they are!'

They both turned andfrowned in union as the book man came running at them, four red guards at hisfeet. Elizabeth and Lucas both looked at each other as Elizabeth grabbed hisarm and made for the escape, but they realised that the crowds had passed. Atleast eight guards now surrounded them and they were trapped.

One of the guards, obviouslythe leader, stepped forward. ‘This man claims you used magic to steal hisbook.'

‘We did no such thing,'Elizabeth laughed at him. ‘He asked for my knife and he got it.'

‘I did not! I wanted hissword.'

The guards turned andlooked at Lucas's sword still by his side in its holder. The leader guard'smouth dropped when he saw the gems on the sword's hilt. ‘It's you.' All of theguards drew their swords as the guard yelled, ‘Kill the boy! Take the girl andretrieve the amulet!'

The guards charged as one.Lucas grabbed onto Elizabeth and flew straight up into the sky. People aroundthem gasped and pointed as the guards froze in their steps. Lucas flew acrossStelipse as people pointed, screamed and cheered and after flying across theentire town, he finally landed on the other side. He let go of Elizabeth,turned to her and said, ‘We have to replace Zachary.'

‘We need to leave,Lucas.'

She turned and startedmoving through the crowd that was forming around her. Before they could getanywhere, the guards had reached them. They were fast, Lucas thought. Lucas andElizabeth stepped back and felt their backs press against a wall. He drew hissword to the shock of Elizabeth.

‘Lucas! What are youdoing?!'

‘I'm not runninganymore.' In his right hand, he held his sword while with his left, he createdan orange fireball. As he looked up, his eyes turned the familiar burning redElizabeth had come to recognize. ‘Thisshould be interesting.'

That was when Lucasnoticed the bow and arrows. Around him on top of the wall, guards weresurrounding them, aiming down at them with their weapons. Elizabeth looked atLucas, terrified. She pulled out her sword. ‘We can't stop them all.'

Lucas frowned as herealised she was right. He could not count how many guards had now appeared.The first eight guards were there, but now reinforcements had arrived and Lucaslost count after fifteen.

‘Well, well, well. Wemeet again.'

Lucas turned andrecognised Rafael walking out of the crowd. The leader of the guards walkedover to the front of his men and smiled. ‘I knew you would be here, but Ididn't think you would make it this easy.' His smile faded as he instructed,‘Give me the amulet and the girl lives. You, on the other hand, will die eitherway.'

‘Not today he won't!'

A new voice yelled overthe crowd and a dark shadow descended in Stelipse. A gigantic, horrific roarfilled the air, causing Lucas and the screaming crowd of spectators to look upand gasp as a red dragon flew above them. The dragon descended low enough for ablack clothed young man to jump from the dragon's back and land in front ofLucas. Their new ally had serious dark black eyes and his black hair was cutshort to show his clean face.

The young man smiledwarmly and nodded to Lucas. ‘Your Majesty, so sorry about the delay. I believeyou were looking for me.'

‘Huh?' Lucas mumbled inconfusion.

‘I am the DragonMaster.'

‘You,' Rafael hissed ashe looked at the young man, hatred in his eyes. ‘You traitor. It is your headfor this boy.'

Zach stared at him andsmirked. ‘You can try.'

Rafael looked at himcoldly before answering, ‘Fire when ready.'