Destiny - Book One in The Bomcard Trilogy
Chapter Twelve - Unprepared

Lucas, Elizabeth, Celeste and Zach reached the end of the tunnel,and as they looked out over the horizon, they witnessed Barback and his armyapproaching. There has to be hundreds of each of the guards, goblins anddwarves, Lucas thought to himself. He turned around and looked at his smallarmy. He had a small number of elves and Spirits but not as many as Barback hadin humans and magical creatures. He had Celeste, Elizabeth and Zach. He hadHonour and for a moment felt safe. Then he finally saw Dominance.

It was twice the size ofHonour, its black scales shining in the sun. The black dragon landed near itsmaster and it was then that he saw Lord Barback for the first time. It was themonster from his dreams, down to the same red robe and complete with his shinysilver sword hanging by his side. Lucas shuddered as he realised that his dreamwas slowly becoming reality.

Elizabeth walked up tohim and squeezed his hand. ‘We'll survive,' she mumbled, ‘We'll win. We'llsucceed.'

He turned to her and noticedshe was not talking to him. She was talking to herself, reassuring herselfeverything will be fine. Unfamiliar fear covered her face. Honour landed behindhim as Zach approached Lucas on his other side. Next to Elizabeth, Celestestood by her side. Both she and Zach nodded at Lucas and Elizabeth dropped hishand.

Lucas turned around andlooked at his army. Elves in battle armour filed in behind him. Spirits flewabove them in silence. They had no bodies to possess, at least at the moment.There were some elves near the entrance, bows in their hands, and Lucas couldnot help but wish that the centaurs were here.

Lucas turned back anddrew his sword as Lord Barback did the same. Both dragons roared and breathedfire in the air. As Lucas held out his sword in front of him, he yelled out,‘For Bomcard!'

Zach turned, holding hisown sword high above him and yelled in response, ‘For Bomcard!'

Lord Barback's army rantowards them as Lucas's army yelled back and ran to meet them. Swords clashedand bodies fell. The elves were taking no prisoners. They had permission tobreak the law and they were taking full advantage.

Celeste leapt into theair with Elizabeth grabbing her hand. As the two flew across the field,Elizabeth dropped right into the middle of the fight. She slashed away at theguards as they attacked. Celeste landed nearby, attacking without mercy.

Lucas ran halfway andwas intercepted by some goblins and dwarves. The dwarves looked exactly like hehad imagined. They just looked like little people with long beards that reachedtheir waists. Their clothes were made from cotton, each wearing the same brownpants and light grey tops.

The goblins looked ashideous as he had imagined as well. They had long, pointy ears and noses andwere as tall as the dwarves. They had different coloured skins, some green,some grey and even red. They were also faster than the dwarves. They swungtheir swords at Lucas, but he flung them back with his powers. Just as a goblinstruck out his sword to connect with him, Lucas flew up into the air. As heflew above them, he shot fireballs down, connecting with his attackers,defeating them.

He turned to see Honourflying up into the sky and towards Dominance. Their claws cut into each otherand they both roared in pain, fire flying across the sky as they screamed furyat each other.

Lucas looked down andfound Lord Barback staring at him. He flew down and landed a few feet away fromhim. He held out his sword, but Lord Barback just laughed.

‘You believe you candefeat me?'

His chilling voice madeLucas flinch. It was so cold, so evil. He was confident he would win. Lucas wasnot but he knew he could not let Lord Barback see that and replied, ‘I believeI will.'

Lucas flew forward andtheir swords clashed. They fought, swords colliding as they both tried todefeat the other. Lucas was holding his own in their fight, but Lord Barbackwas better, parrying away his attacks.

All of a sudden, Lucasheard a horrible roar. Both he and Lord Barback looked up to see Honour fallout of the sky and land near some goblins, squashing many. He quickly turned tosee Zach run towards his fallen dragon. Lord Barback took advantage of Lucas'sdistraction and kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Hefell to the ground and as Lord Barback closed in, Lucas threw a fireball athim. Lord Barback spun in the air backwards but not quickly enough. Thefireball connected with his hood, setting it alight, and Lord Barback ripped itoff in frustration. As he slammed his robe off onto the ground, he turned toLucas and he gasped.

Staring at him was theface of someone who looked exactly like he did, with only small details thatwere different: the face with the green eyes instead of blue; the messy, sandyblond hair; the large battle scar spreading across his face. He knew exactlywho this man was without even having been told or seeing a picture. With hissword falling out of his hand, Lucas froze as he stared at the face of his deadfather.

* * *

Elizabeth slashed awayat guards, dodging attacks from every angle. She could not believe that she washaving this much fun even in a time like this. Her father had raised her toenjoy the fight.

She turned just in timeto avoid a sword flying for her midsection. She swung around and the attackermissed her. She grabbed the man's arm and brought her knee up to it. He droppedthe sword and she punched him in the face. As he fell back unconscious, shepicked up his sword just as another guard had approached her. As her newopponent swung his sword down for the kill, she swung her new sword to defendherself. The swords clashed as they fought. He swung at her low and she backflipped to avoid being hit. As she landed, she launched herself forward,plunging her sword into the man's chest. He fell and she turned to see thecarnage.

They were failing. Evenwith the elves and Spirits on their sides, they could not win. They wouldn'twin.

Elizabeth looked aroundand noticed Celeste. The little girl body, now possessed by a deadly foe, movedso fast that everyone she struck down did not even realise it was a little girlattacking them. The black shapes of the spirits flew down and began to possessthe falling bodies around their leader.

All of a sudden,Elizabeth heard Honour roar in pain. She turned in horror to see the red dragonfall out of the sky. Celeste ran over towards Elizabeth.

‘Are you harmed?' Shelooked at Elizabeth with a confused expression.

‘No,' she replied.Celeste threw a bow at her. She nodded to the person she just killed.

‘Then get started. Zachneeds my assistance.' With that, she was off in the air, heading towards Zachwho was running towards Honour's body.

‘Elizabeth?'

Elizabeth turned andsmiled as an elf ran towards her, her familiar arrow case in his hand.

Smiling, he passed it toher and replied, ‘Queen Martha thought you could use this.'

Elizabeth nodded andthrew the case across her back, reached back and grabbed the arrows she hadgained from the centaurs. She turned in time to see three bulky men runningtowards her. She loaded her bow and fired, hitting one in the middle. Sheloaded another and fired, realising she could not hit both men that remained.One would reach her before she could load another arrow. Just as the last onereached her, he raised his sword. She ducked under his legs and just as heturned to swing the sword down, an arrow pierced his chest. She turned aroundto see Martha standing at the cave entrance with her bow and behind her, moreelves stood with their own bows. They aimed and fired and more guards, goblinsand dwarves fell as arrows plummeted down on the battlefield.

As Elizabeth watched inawe, more of the black spirits descended into the bodies of the dead and tooktheir new bodies into battle. The newly possessed human bodies, complete withthe familiar black eyes with steam, attacked the goblins and dwarves.

Elizabeth grabbed hersword and ran back into battle with a smile.

* * *

Zach swung and stabbedhis way through the crowd. His training as a guard was paying off. He wasyounger and faster than they were and in some ways, he was smarter too. He wasdodging attacks from all over. He knew Honour was fighting for his life aboveand knew he should be with him.

A deafening cry roaredover the battlefield. Zach looked up and noticed in horror that Honour wasfalling out of the sky, landing near a bunch of goblins. He knew that Honourwas too far for him to reach before the goblins did, but he still ran. He hadnever run that fast or hard before. The next thing he knew, he felt like he wasrunning so fast he was flying across the battlefield, and as he looked down, hefinally realised he was. Celeste hadgrabbed him, flying faster towards Honour.

‘You can't do thisalone. May I assist?' she asked with a smile.

‘Thanks,' he replied,smiling back.

Celeste dropped himbefore Honour and she landed next to him. Both pulled out their swords andCeleste stared oddly at his sword before staring at him, her mouth opening inshock. He turned to face her, confusion on his face and he moved uncomfortably.She turned back to the battle just as a goblin with a sword reached Zach andtheir swords clashed. The goblin, which was half the size of Zach, swung low.Zach could not fight the faster creature and moved back. He felt his back touchHonour and realised he was trapped. Either he would be harmed or Honour would,and he knew who he preferred.

He ran forward, preparedto die before his dragon. The fire moved faster and hit the goblin. Zach turnedand saw Honour's head fall back down.

‘Iam sorry. I have failed.'

‘No! You have not! Youdid well.' Zach knelt by Honour, his hands on the dragon's head.

‘You're okay.'

‘Ihave failed and I am hurt. I … do not know if I shall live. You must leave meand defend yourself.'

‘I will not!'

‘Itis not worth your life. For a dragon, the death of his master is worse than itsown death. Do not let me watch you die. If it is my time, I accept it.'

‘Shut up! You will notdie! I will not let you! I will protect you to the death!' Zach stood up andturned to see Celeste nodding towards the approaching goblins.

‘To the death,' Zachrepeated in a whisper.

‘To the death,' Celesteagreed.

* * *

Lucas stared at the body of the man who was once his father. Hewas exactly as his memory reminded him, down to the scar and even the battlearmour. The face however, showed none of its warmth as it smiled an evil, coldsmile at him and laughed.

‘What's wrong? Seen aghost? Why don't you come over here, to your father?'

‘You're not my father,'Lucas replied, his voice shaking. He could not help his body shaking as much ashis voice. His eyes began to flash between emerald green and his natural blue,but neither Lord Barback nor Lucas seemed to notice.

Lord Barback smiled.‘No, I'm not. Quite useful little trick of mine, taking your father's body. Hemight have been a little old, but oh my … can he move.'

Lucas looked at him withhatred in his eyes. ‘I will kill you for this.'

Lord Barback laughed andtook a step towards him, holding out his arms. Lucas looked down at the ground.‘I would like to see you try that. You cannot. I am stronger than you in everyway and once I am done with you, I think I might pay your mother a visit. It'sbeen a while after all.'

Lucas clenched his fistsso tight, blood began to ooze from where his fingernails cut into his skin. Helooked up and Lord Barback noticed his eyes had stopped changing and finallydecided on a colour. His eyes were now completely green and now his hair wasflashing from blond to honey brown. Eventually, his hair settled on the honeybrown and as he stared at Lord Barback, an odd smile appeared on his face.

Lucas moved faster thananyone saw and swung out a punch. He hit Lord Barback across the face, sendinghim flying across the battlefield into the crowd and sending many goblins andguards flying. He flew up into the air and then flew towards his opponent. LordBarback was already up and in the air, flying towards Lucas and both swung outpunches. Their punches collided and created a massive loud blast and force thatpushed them both back. The force of the collision sent those nearby flying backas well. Everyone froze and looked up in the sky, too scared and fascinated todo anything.

Lucas stood floating inthe air, never once stopping his face from smiling. Lord Barback stood acrossfrom him, staring at him coldly. Without a word, both flew towards the other.

Elizabeth looked up andfinally noticed the change that happened to Lucas. Her mouth dropped open. Shehad never seen anything like this - it was very beautiful but also terrifying.She looked around and noticed everyone had stopped fighting. Lord Barback'sarmy had started to retreat and she stared at them, confused. As she continuedto try to piece together what was happening before her eyes, she did not noticeRafael approach from behind.

Zach and Celeste lookedup at Lucas in shock as Honour lay unconscious behind them.

‘What happened to him?'Zach asked.

Celeste looked even moreshocked than Zach. ‘I don't know. He seems … different.'

Zach looked at her.‘What do you mean by different?'

She pointed at Lucas.‘See how he moves, the way he throws his punches and dodges the attacks. Thatis not Lucas. That is not how he moves. Not the way he moved in Stelipse.'

Zach looked up at Lucas,terrified. ‘That is impossible. If that isn't Lucas, then who is it?'

Celeste turned to him,her face white with fear. ‘I am not sure. It may be another … personality.'

He turned to her. ‘Whatdo you mean, personality?'

‘Lucas has always beentorn over being who he is and being who we need him to be. Am I correct?'

‘Yeah, he has, from whatElizabeth told me.'

Celeste looked back atLucas and her face was filled with pain and confusion. ‘What if that is Lucas,but another part of him he has been hiding, the part of him that accepts who heis.'

Zach looked at her andasked, ‘Does this mean he has changed for good?'

Celeste never took hereyes off Lucas. ‘I don't know.'

‘What about that punchthing?'

‘Well, Lucas usestelekinesis, correct? Well, so does Lord Barback. I believe when they threwtheir punches at each other, their power is behind it and not their strength.This creates the blast and sends them flying.'

Zach looked at her,white faced. ‘Isn't that dangerous?'

‘Very,' she whispered,staring up at the battle.

Lucas flew towards LordBarback and swung out his leg. His kick connected with Lord Barback's stomach,sending him flying back. He recovered quickly and launched forward, throwinghis fists out. Lucas blocked both punches and brought his knee up, connectingwith Lord Barback's stomach again. He raised his arms, clenching his fiststogether, and brought them down on top of Lord Barback's head, sending himflying down towards the ground.

As Lord Barback landed,he flew back onto his feet just as Lucas landed where he had fallen, with hisfist now connecting with the ground. The ground shook and cracked under thepressure and Lord Barback launched forward, leaping into the air and connectinghis foot with the side of Lucas's head, sending him flying to the ground. Thehit did not seem to hurt Lucas who jumped back up onto his feet and shot twofireballs at Lord Barback.

Lord Barback leaped intothe air, flying through the gap between the two balls of fire. He landed andlaunched forward, punching Lucas with both fists, one after the other. Lucasgrabbed both of his fists and squeezed them, forcing Lord Barback onto hisknees. He kicked Lord Barback in the chest, releasing his hold at the samemoment, his foot connecting and sending him flying back. Lord Barback landed onhis knees and looked up. Blood oozed from his mouth and he spat some out. Redand black bruises covered his face. Lucas stood up straight, his mouth and facealso bleeding and bruised.

‘Well, this isinteresting!' Lord Barback called to Lucas, standing and smiling coldly. Hisevil eyes stared into Lucas's and never left. Lucas did not reply but startedto smile at him again causing Lord Barback's own smile to fade.

‘You are pathetic,'Lucas spoke in an unusual cold voice.

‘How did you change? Howare you doing this?' Lord Barback asked with curiosity.

Lucas smiled darkly. ‘Iam stronger than you. You know that, don't you?'

Lord Barback stared atLucas angrily, his face turning red with fury. ‘You are not stronger than me.You may have changed your appearance, but you are still that small scared boy Ibegan to fight before.'

Lucas tilted his head.‘I am not that same boy, because I am not Lucas.'

Lord Barback stared athim in confusion. ‘What do you mean?'

‘Lucas went … on alittle trip. You are dealing with me now.'

‘It does not matter. Asfun as this was, it is time to finish this. I want that amulet now.'

Lucas's hand flew to hischest and felt where the amulet still laid. He looked around and noticed thatLord Barback's army had now all retreated behind him. Dominance still flew inthe air, circling above the battlefield. Lucas looked behind him from thecorner of his eyes and saw that his group were behind him. He noticed Celesteand Zach moving towards him. The war had stopped. The victory had come down toLord Barback and him. Lucas looked back at Lord Barback.

Lord Barback launched himselftowards Lucas before he had time to see him move. He was struck hard and wentflying to the ground. Lord Barback landed next to him and slammed his foot intoLucas's chest. He pushed down and Lucas yelled in pain.

Lord Barback reacheddown, ripped the amulet out from under his shirt and held it out, yelling, ‘Wehave the amulet!'

A mighty roar carriedover the battlefield. Celeste, Zach and some elves and spirits ran towards thetwo. Lord Barback flew backwards into the air and landed above his army.Dominance flew downwards and roared as a massive fireball flew out of hismouth, creating a wall between Lord Barback's army and Lucas's own.

As the others ran toLucas, they noticed his appearance had changed back to normal. His new honeybrown hair was blond again as were his normal blue eyes. Celeste kneeled nextto Lucas. ‘Are you all right?'

He looked at her,confused. Before he could reply, both Zach and Celeste grabbed one of his armseach and helped him up. Lucas turned to the flames and found it reached highinto the air. It started to move towards the cave as it grew in size and helooked behind him, yelling to his army to retreat.

The elves and spiritsran back to the entrance while Zach ran towards Honour's unconscious body withLucas and Celeste following him. Zach turned towards them. ‘We can't leavehim.'

Lucas looked around. ‘Wecan't lift him ourselves. We can't do anything.'

‘My friends! FriendLucas!'

The three of them turnedaround and noticed the familiar bouncing tree waving his branches from theentrance of the cave. Still badly hurt, Branchy limped over to them on hisarms.

'Allow me to assist!'

The young Living Treepicked up the dragon by the chest and placed him on his back. He started to hopover towards the cave, dragging the rest of the dragon's body. Zach ran afterhim, but Celeste stopped when she noticed Lucas had not moved.

She looked at him inconcern. ‘Lucas, what is wrong?'

He turned to her, whitewith shock. His face was full of fear and his voice shook as he asked her,‘Where is Elizabeth?'

Celeste looked around asthe last of the army entered the cave. Only Lucas and Celeste were outside.They looked past the flames and noticed Barback and his army had disappeared.They looked around and saw the dead bodies from the battle. Lucas ran downtowards the carnage, Celeste screaming as she followed. As they both searchedthe bodies, the fire moved closer to them.

Celeste grabbed Lucas'sarm and yelled, ‘We have to go!' Lucas started coughing from the black smokemoving closer towards them, shaking his head. She grabbed his arm tighter. ‘Itwas not a request.'

The pair ran backtowards the cave and as they reached the entrance, they turned to see theflames continuing to move towards them. Lucas turned to Celeste and asked, ‘Whatdo we do? How do we stop this?'

Celeste turned to Lucasand frowned. ‘I do not know. Only dragons can control their fire.' Lucas turnedto the flames. They were almost upon them. Celeste started coughing and reachedout for his arm. ‘We have to go inside.'

Lucas did not move. Ashe stared out at the flames, his hair once again changed to honey brown and hiseyes were emerald green. He held out his hand towards the fire. Celeste turnedand saw the flames starting to move back. No, she thought. Not move back, but shrink. Lucas was extinguishing the flames. Theblack smoke faded and eventually the flames disappeared. His hair and eyes onceagain returned to normal as he stumbled and fell. Celeste grabbed him as helanded, taking a hold of his arm.

‘Help me!' she yelledinto the cave.

Nicholas and Zach ranout in an instant, running over to Lucas and Celeste and grabbing a hold ofLucas on each side and helping him into the cave.

They entered the valleyand discovered the aftermath of the war. Dead bodies had been carried in andwere covered with sheets. Spirits floated in the trees, moaning and crying.Wives and children cried over their dead husbands and fathers. The injured laynearby, bandages already having been wrapped around some of them. Some had burnswhile others had worse injuries.

Honour and Branchy satunder the tree next to Martha's house. Martha was with them, tending to Honour,who was not moving. Branchy was trying to help, wetting his leaves and brushingthem over Honour's head. Blood oozed out of the claw marks in his sides and onhis face.

Many turned up to Lucasand continued to cry. He looked around and saw all the pain and damage the warhad caused and in that moment, he blamed himself.

‘If I hadn't come back…'

Celeste, Nicholas andZach looked at him, all with confused looks. Zach spoke first. ‘What do youmean?'

‘This wouldn't havehappened … he wouldn't have …' Lucas turned away, tears in his eyes.

‘Why did I do this? Iknow I should have stayed on Earth.'

Zach grabbed him by theshoulders and turned him around. ‘Pull yourself together. You did not do this.It is not your fault.'

‘Barback has the amulet,Elizabeth is missing, elves are dead and Honour is badly hurt. He could die.Branchy too.'

Celeste walked up to himand slapped him. Zach and Nicholas looked at her, shocked.

'Well, that escalatedfast,' Zach mumbled to Nicholas.

Celeste ignored theother two as she stared at Lucas and said, ‘Get over it - move on. This wouldhave happened eventually. If you hadn't returned, we would all be dead in thefire.'

‘The amulet -’

‘Yes, that is a greatmisfortune. However, Barback would have found a way into your world. He wouldhave killed you and taken the amulet. Prophets foresaw it. Either way, he wouldhave stolen the amulet. This way, you live and fight another day. We can alwaysget the amulet back.'

‘Elizabeth …' Lucaswhispered, shaking. His head sank, his hair covering his face.

‘She is not dead.'

Lucas turned to her,confused and with tears in his eyes still. ‘How do you know?'

Celeste looked up andLucas, Zach and Nicholas did so too. The floating spirits circled above thehome of the elves as she spoke softly. ‘Up there crying are the souls of thosekilled today. They are lost and confused. To you, they are shapes and blackforms. I can see them clearly. Their faces and bodies. She is not up there. Ican only guess that Lord Barback took her.'

‘Why?' Zach asked.

She turned to him. ‘Thatis for another time. We must assist those who need help and regroup.'

As Celeste and Nicholasheaded down to help, Zach grabbed hold of Lucas's arm.

‘Here,' Zach mumbled. Hepassed Lucas his sword that he thought he had lost for good. The jewels wereall still there and the blade did not even look like it had been used. Itlooked brand new. Zach smiled at him. ‘I got your back.'

‘Thanks,' Lucas smiledback. The two boys headed down into the crowd, stopping at those who neededtheir help.

* * *

Night-time had fallen. The injured had fallen asleep, the deadmoved to another location in the village, away from prying eyes. Sittingoutside Martha's hut, Lucas drank the hot tea his mother had made him. It hadmade him feel better, and most of his bruises had already strangely started todisappear or had vanished altogether.

Sitting with him wereCeleste, Nicholas, Zach and Martha. Opposite them, Honour slept, having awokenpreviously before falling asleep. Branchy sat next to him, concern in his eyesover his new friend. Lucas stood up and sat next to Honour as Nicholas stood upand sat next to Branchy, forming a circle.

Lucas looked at thegroup and asked, 'What do we do now?'

Celeste turned to himand replied, ‘It is time for you to gather everyone.'

‘I need to replaceElizabeth.'

Celeste turned back toLucas and shook her head. ‘That is not important at the moment.'

Lucas stood up, shakingin fury. ‘How could you say that? She … it is important!' He was red in theface with anger.

Celeste stood up aswell, standing her ground, unafraid of his burst of anger. ‘She will not beharmed. She is the princess of the merpeople. She will be used to trap herfather or to ensure they stay out of Barback's way. Either way, he will needher alive for now.'

Lucas stopped shaking.Celeste continued when he had calmed down. ‘We will get her back, Lucas. Trustme in helping you make your decisions. We will save her.'

Lucas nodded and satdown, Martha staring at him with pain in her eyes, resting her hand on his.

Celeste sat down as welland turned back to the group. She looked at them all, one at a time and said,‘All magical species must be brought together once again, like in the FirstWar. We will need everyone's help.'

They all nodded. Marthaturned to Lucas and said, ‘We already know the centaurs and fairies. We canstart there. Talk to them.'

Lucas nodded. He turnedtowards Celeste and asked, ‘Do you think it's possible for you to replace morespirits? To help us fight?'

Celeste turned her gazeto Lucas. She was silent for a moment before she answered, ‘Yes; however, asspirits, we cannot physically harm anything. That is why we possess bodies. Ifthey are dead bodies, they have to be recently deceased. It keeps them fromdecaying and falling apart. We will need to replace some. It will take time.'

‘I don't know if we havetime,' Lucas replied.

‘Not all of us will bewith you to fight either.'

‘What do you mean?'Lucas asked angrily.

‘Do not assume it isbecause we cannot or will not. What I mean to say is, not all of us will fightin the same location. During the battle, many spirits were fighting those whorecently died and tried to repossess their bodies. It is known as a battle onthe spiritual level. This will happen again when we fight Lord Barback. Ithought you should know.'

‘Okay …' Lucas noddedand whispered quietly. He turned around, staring outside the circle. Thevillage was quiet now. Those who were still in pain had fallen asleep or passedout from their injuries. ‘I just wish we had more time.'

‘We have plenty of timeif you have the book.'

Lucas and the othersturned and looked at Celeste. She met Lucas's stare and continued, ‘TheGrimlore. It is the book of elfin spells.' She turned and pointed to Martha.‘It is her book. The princess of the elves keeps it safe.'

Martha shook her head.‘I hid it in a village years ago to protect it. The village was destroyed andthe book lost.'

‘No, it wasn't.'

They all now turned tolook at Lucas in shock. He stood up, ran into Martha's house and returned witha small bag. He opened it and pulled out the dusty, old book he had stolen fromthe creepy bookseller. He handed it to Martha and her face lit up.

‘That is my book! Youfound it! Where was it?'

Lucas frowned. ‘InStelipse before … before it was destroyed. I found it.'

Celeste looked at himcuriously and asked, ‘How did you acquire it?'

Lucas looked down to theground, unable to look his mother in the face. ‘I used my telepathy to make theman believe I traded him my sword. It was the only way to retrieve your book.I'm sorry, but he was unreasonable.'

Martha smiled. ‘Thankyou for my book, but I am disappointed.'

Lucas looked up at herand saw her frowning.

‘Lucas, what you did waswrong. Your powers are not to be used for personal gain. However, if it is thebook dealer in Stelipse I am thinking that you met, then yes, you had nochoice. He would never part with an item without something valuable to you inreturn.'

‘My sword. I was giventhe sword by the centaurs. He said it belonged to a selfless king. I don'tdeserve it.' He threw the sword to the ground.

Martha slowly rose andpicked it up. She walked over to him and held it out to him. ‘Lucas, have youever heard stories of the same paths leading to different outcomes?'

He looked up at her.‘No, I don't think so.'

She smiled at him.‘Here, we call it the Bridge Effect. Take for instance you head into a town. Asyou walk in, a ball rolls to your feet. You stop and pick it up and pass itback to the children who were playing with it. You continue walking and noticethe tavern you were about to enter collapses.

‘But what if you didn'tstop and pass the children back the ball? What if you ignored it and continuedon your journey. You would have gone straight to the tavern and been insidewhen it collapsed. You would be dead.'

Lucas looked at herstrangely. ‘What does this have to do with the book?'

‘The book is a valuableitem. Lord Barback did not know it was there. In here are the spells andstories of generations, including how to free Lucifer without the amulet andhow to travel between worlds. Lord Barback would have found a way to freeLucifer. With this book, we can hopefully trap him again if he is released.

‘What the story istelling you is that by trading your sword for the book, your fight that day mayhave ended differently. Without your sword, you may have been killed inStelipse or it might have occurred today. Everything happens for a reason. Donot doubt yourself. You did what you had to do. It was not a selfish choice. Itwas a strategic choice to ensure your survival.'

Lucas smiled at her.Nicholas cleared his throat. ‘I do not mean to interrupt, but we should getback to the matter at hand.'

Celeste nodded. ‘As Iwas saying beforehand, with the spell book in our hands, it might buy us timeas he searches for a way to free Lucifer. He does not know the tomb's locationeither.'

‘I thought he did,'Lucas replied.

Martha shook her head.‘We all believed he did, but the fairies discovered he has an idea but not theexact location. We still have time.'

Zach nodded. ‘He had usguards search everywhere for it. We could never replace it. He believed only thecentaurs knew, but he could never catch one.'

Lucas turned to Celeste.‘We need to replace them before Barback does.'

She frowned. ‘We don'tknow where they are.'

Lucas smiled. ‘I knowsomeone who will.' They all looked at him, puzzled as he continued,

‘The giants. They helpedme before and they will help me again. They can replace the centaurs and thefairies.'

Zach smiled. ‘Do youthink the giants will help us?'

Lucas frowned inresponse. ‘In battle, I don't believe so. They will not fight unless the EvilGiants are released.'

‘Evil Giants?' Zachasked in confusion.

‘The giants who are notso friendly.' Lucas sighed. ‘They tried to kill the other giants and enslavethe world … more or less. The Good Giants won't fight unless the Evil Giantsdo.'

Celeste turned to him.‘They will when Lucifer is free.'

Lucas nodded. ‘I willtalk to Charles. I might be able to gain his help, but I will not place anyhopes on it.' He turned to Branchy and smiled. ‘Branchy? I need to ask you afavour.'

Branchy turned to himexcitedly. ‘Yes! Oh, yes, my friend! What can I help you with? It will be anhonour … I mean … not like the dragon Honour. I'm not a dragon. I mean it willbe a privilege … yeah, that makes more sense …'

They all laughed asLucas smiled and said, ‘Branchy. It is okay. I need you to replace your people forme.'

‘What do you mean by"my people"? You mean other trees?'

He nodded. ‘Yes. I needyou to replace them. Talk to them for me. We will need their help.'

Branchy started jumpingup and down. ‘Oh, yes! Yes, I will! It is an -'

‘Honour,we know.'

Zach and Lucas turned tothe dragon to see his head turn to face them. Lucas nodded at him and Zachstood up, walked over and placed his hand on his head.

‘How do you feel?'

‘Neverfelt better before now, master, and it seems I owe thanks to my new protector.' Honour nodded atBranchy, who once again started jumping up and down excitedly. ‘It is okay, young tree. My debt to you iseternal.'

‘No debt! Just friends!Forever!' Branchy could not contain his excitement. They all laughed again.

Zach smiled and asked,‘You understand him?'

‘Yes! We trees cancommunicate telepathically! It is very useful when we make fun of you humans!'

Lucas turned to Celesteand asked, ‘I also need you to run an errand, if it is possible?'

Celeste nodded. ‘You donot need to ask. I will do what you need.'

Lucas frowned and staredup into the sky. ‘I need you to replace the harpies for me.'

Everyone's face dropped.Nicholas, voice shaking, asked Lucas, ‘The harpies? But … you cannot be …'

‘Serious,' Lucasfinished, eyeing Nicholas. ‘I am. The harpies are deadly foes. It is betterthey are on our side than against us.'

He nodded. ‘Very well,sir.' Lucas smiled at him and Nicholas did not like the way he did.

‘Ah … why are youlooking at me like that?'

‘You have a differentjob.'