31 May 2023, Week 3: Overcoming obstacles

WARNING: The following chapters have descriptions of giant spiders, evil robots, and evil robots being destroyed. Viewer description is advised. CHAPTER ELEVEN: DARKNESS FALLS “Let me out. Let me ouuut!” Wailed Wilbur, slightly muffled inside the tree. The tree had made a cage of sorts around him, and all he could see was pitch black. A nearby voice began cackling its head off. It was very robotic and stiff, and made Wilbur shiver. Mustering up all his courage, Wilbur yelled, “Show yourself!” The branches parted slightly with a creak, and light streamed into Wilbur’s little room. A horrible, metal skeleton with wires crisscrossing all over it poked its head through one of the cracks and leered at Wilbur. It twitched and gave sparks randomly, as if it was malfunctioning and completely unstable. “I didn’t realise that capturing you would be so easy.” It said monotonously without moving its mouth. Wilbur lurched back and started trying to wriggle through the gaps of the tree-cage. He succeeded. The metal skeleton watched Wilbur run away and sighed. “What a shame. I was hoping more of a challenge. But no, you are just a pathetic, grotty child.” It made a short, sharp whistle and a terrifying, mechanical creature appeared at its side. It was a metal skeleton with wires sticking out all over the place, like its master, but it was huge, about 2 and a half metres tall, and it had very long, very thick arms that were about twice the length of its body with razor-sharp rusted talons. It had a human-looking skull, but with gruesome-looking fangs instead of teeth. The skeleton-man whistled again and pointed at Wilbur, and the skeleton-monster went berserk. It lashed out with its fearsome claws, swiping at Wilbur, only just managing to lunge out of the way before getting sliced. Eventually, Wilbur didn’t duck fast enough and was snatched up. The monster opened its mouth and slowly lowered Wilbur down into the sparking depths of the beast’s metal belly. “Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.” Laughed the cyborg master. If you could call it that. Margo was still scuttling along the path of flattened grass when he heard roars, screams and monotonous laughing. As he cleared a rolling hill, he froze. There was a giant metal cyborg monster about to eat the child who could save the multiverse. Margo bolted over and bodyslammed the creature, causing it to drop Wilbur and fly into a weird-looking nearby tree. “Margo!” Said Wilbur, happy to see the giant spider for once. “Tsk tsk. Idiot. Do. Not. Run. Away. Again.” “Yeah, yeah…” Suddenly, the mechanical terror leapt and crash-tackled Margo. And so a furious battle began. Margo had eight legs, and had magic on his size, but the mech had those horrible claws and sharp teeth that could rip one of Margo’s legs off. “Wilbur. Take. Out. Grinder. He. Is. Controlling. This. Thing—urgh!” Grinder, for that was its name, recoiled at this and looked at Wilbur in alarm. Wilbur stared at the metal skeleton and tried to look intimidating. It was skinny and gangly, and Wilbur was big and strong. It didn’t look so tough. Suddenly, the monster kicked, stunning Margo. It leapt up and slammed the ground with all its might. A gaping crack appeared in the ground between Wilbur and grinder. It looked like it went down for miles. “Jump. Wilbur.” Yelled Margo desperately as he was pummelled by the mechanical monstrosity. “I can’t!” He called back. The rift was getting wider and wider. The more Wilbur hesitated, the bigger it seemed to get. “GO!” Bellowed the spider. Wilbur gritted his teeth and jumped. He cleared the rift by a good half a metre and landed smack bang on Grinder. Quick as a flash, Wilbur grabbed a handful of wires and ripped them off. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh…” Screamed the skeleton flatly as it fizzed, sparked and died. The mechanical beast Margo was battling flipped onto its back and began throwing sparks and waving its limbs and claws in the air like a dying insect. Margo threw a swift punch to its head, which then caved in and the beast stopped wriggling. “Tsk tsk tsk tsk. You. Did. It. Wilbur.” Said the spider. “No. We did it.” And for the first time ever, Wilbur saw another person in his life as a friend.

** Note - week 2 writing task also included here, as this wasn't uploaded last fortnight. CHAPTER 2 THE WORLD OF PANTYLOONY It was nothing like I had ever seen. I was confronted with a wide, open space that looked like it went on forever. It was coloured a deep amethyst and a brilliant shade of aquamarine. All the bushes and trees were shaped like irregular dodecagons. (That’s a twelve-sided shape, by the way.) Well, I think they were bushes. I couldn’t be sure. I could hear a LOT of crashing, honking and banging and could smell the smell of burnt undies. I suddenly let out a huge scream of fear: AARRGGHH!! A huge tabby cat had confronted me, its sharp, yellow eyes fixated on my face. I immediately recognised the feral animal: It was Fatty, the school’s cat. “N…nice Fatty…” I whispered nervously. “There’s no need to be scared, mate!” said a voice that sounded a lot like it was coming from Fatty. I was absolutely stunned. The school cat COULD TALK??!! 6F, the class next to mine was looking after him this week. I walked past him every 2 ½ hours! HOW THE HECK DID I NOT KNOW THAT HE COULD TALK????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fatty was a large, tabby cat with bright yellow eyes. He ALWAYS strutted instead of walking and his favourite food was… MEATBALLS!!! He could eat without any hands and could climb the walls up to the roof whenever he wanted. “Come with me,” he said. “O…kay…” I replied. I followed Fatty toward what looked like an ancient temple or something. As the building loomed closer, I realised I was correct! We were headed to an ancient temple! BOOYAH!! After a while, we came to the doors leading into the temple. They had words engraved onto them. This is what I could make out: Be warned, all who enter here, For what lies within will give you more than fear. Many who have entered this place, Have most truly ended their race. I was scared out of my pants now. At that moment, Fatty said something in a language that was DEFINITLY not English. I heard something that sounded like this: “Jarbeekishamoko.” (I know. Weird, right?) The HUGE temple doors creaked open on old, rusty hinges. Inside the temple was a large, spacious hall, with marble pillars holding the wooden roof up. From what I could see (which wasn’t very far), there was a man with a golden crown sitting on a large, ancient throne. I couldn’t be sure, for there was a guard with around 15 weapons in front of him, blocking my view. Fatty led me down the primeval hall, toward the guard. I assumed that the guard and Fatty knew each other, for at first glance, the guard stepped to the side, looking chief. The man in the throne leant down, for he was so gargantuan, that from his previous position, we would’ve looked like midgets! “What is it you want from me?” He spoke in a large, booming voice that reverberated around the hall. “King Bob, we have come from the far north of Pantyloony, near the Door,” Fatty spoke. “The Door? Hmm… Who is this… this human that you are accompanying?” “This is James Keller, from the world outside the Door- St. William’s Private School.” “Ah, yes. Most interesting,” King Bob boomed. “So, why have you come this far to see me, may I ask?” “Well, I was walking from the West Coast to your temple when I came across young James here. I was wanting to discuss the issue that has been occurring in Pantyloony for many, many moons,” Fatty lectured. I finally found my voice. “What problem?” I asked Fatty. “You see, human, there is this rule in Pantyloony, that my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great Grandfather declared many centuries ago,” King Bob answered. “The rule is that every person that sets foot in Pantyloony MUST bum-shuffle.” “Then why aren’t your guards and Fatty bum-shuffling?” I asked. “Oh, yes that. Animals and servants to the High King are excepted.” “With all due respect, sir, I’m still not seeing the problem.” “Well, since everybody has to bum-shuffle, their pants have been getting holes in them. And people really can’t afford to buy 52 million pairs of pants, now, can they?” “No, sir. They can’t,” I said, wondering what other weird and wacky things I might encounter in this strange, strange world.   CHAPTER 3 JOURNEY TO THE CAVE OF PANTS Me and Fatty exited the gargantuan temple. “What was that all about?” I asked. “I know what to do,” Fatty declared. “What?” “We must journey to the Cave of Pants and ask the dragon there to give the realm of Pantyloony UNLIMITED PANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” “Well said, Fatty. Well said,” I said. “Hold on, the Cave of Pants?!?!” “Yes. The Cave of Pants.” “What the hell is that??!!???!!!????!!!!” I yelled, my arms loosely flailing in the air like one of those weird, wacky, inflatable men you see at HUGE discount sales. “Umm…I think the name is self-explanatory,” Fatty said, uncertain. “Let me guess? A cave chock-full of pants?” I questioned. “Yes! Exactly!” “Right. So, when are we going on this magical, fantasy quest?” I queried. “Now.” “Uhh, okay? Oh, one last question. Do we have to bum-shuffle?” “I should think not, for we are now servants of King Bob!” Fatty replied. And with that, Fatty set off, and I followed him, uncertain of what may happen next. CHAPTER 4 THE DRAGON After a while, and I mean A WHILE, Fatty and I came to a lush, green forest, dense with trees, tall as the sky. We looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and pressed on into the overgrown woodland. No light was shining through the tiny gaps between the trees. But luckily, cat’s eyes can glow in the dark! We carefully treaded through the hundreds and thousands of trees, our path lit by Fatty’s bright, orange eyes. In the very centre of the forest was a clearing, and light flooded around me and Fatty, hurting my eyes. Suddenly, from far, far away, I heard a roar, as though from a lion! “What's that sound?” I asked. Fatty had no time to answer, for a dragon had appeared out of nowhere, it's purple and green scales shimmering in the midday sun. Its wings were spread wide and flapping wildly in the air. “Ha! A dragon! Ya really think I can't beat up a drag... Uh, that's not good... AAGGHH!!!” I yelled, for the fearsome dragon had taken a large swoop at me! I ran and ducked, hiding behind a large pine tree. Fatty ran to near the dragon’s rear end. It turned around, looking fierce and scary. Fatty was not afraid. He raised a paw and roared, “STOOOOP!!!” The dragon flew away at once, never to (hopefully) be seen again. CHAPTER 5 OFF THE WALL “Wow. How the hell did you do that?!” I asked as I stared at Fatty in astonishment. “It’s called magic, bra. Get used to it.” “Riigghhtt.” We set off again, and it was around an hour or two before we came to a river, filled with rocks that the light blue water was trickling and weaving its way through. “I’m tired. And hungry. Can we sit here for a…” I was cut short, for a 6 400-metre brick wall had appeared out of the soggy grass! "WHAT DE?!!" I yelled; my face scrunched up. Then I started giggling. A lot. Then Fatty joined in. And before we knew it, we were on the ground in fits of laughter. It took us what seemed like FOREVER to stop guffawing. Fatty was the first to get to his feet. “Ah! No problem!” he yelled, dismissingly waving a paw in the air. He attempted to climb the wall, but as soon as he laid a paw on the wall, he was thrown back into the grass. “FATTY!!” I yelled, running to assist him. He was unharmed, yet out cold. “BACK OFF!” I yelled to the wall, somewhat hoping that it would go away. And to my surprise, it did! The wall had completely vanished into thin air! CHAPTER 6 THE CAVE OF PANTS The shock of me ridding the wall still hadn’t worn of when Faty came to. He sounded drowsy and somnolent when he spoke. “Whoa. What happened?” “A weird, damn wall appeared out of nowhere and we were driven off the wall (LOL) and you touched it and got knocked out,” I informed him. “Wha? Hold on. What’s that?” Fatty pointed to something on the other side of the raging river. “Is that the…” “CAVE OF PANTS!!” we cried in unison. We ran down the slope of wet grass, through the waterway and to the Cave of Pants, all without a care in the world. The cave looked uninviting and hollow as a log with a million termites feasting on it. Inside the cave was lit by something that looked a lot like fire. We prudently stepped forward and in to the dreaded Cave of Pants. As soon as we moved inside, a dragon (and a dragon that looked strangely familiar, at that) flew in, blocking our path forward. Then it suddenly dawned on me where I had seen this flying beast before. It was the same purple and aqua dragon that had confronted us in the forest a few hours ago! The dragon suddenly dropped out of the sky, as though shot by an invisible gun! I ran to it, concerned. I could see blood gushing out from its left wing. “It’s hurt,” I stated to Fatty. “Do you have any magic powers to like, help it or something?” “I'm afraid it’s all up to you, James,” Fatty said. “When I touched that wall that drove us off the wall (LOL), it confiscated my magical powers. In a way,” he added. I took a deep breath and lightly touched the dragon’s wound. I could feel a deep and warming sensation inside. I thought this must be what magic feels like. When I removed my hand, blood was pouring no more and the dragon looked right as rain. Now all we needed to do was ask the dragon for UNLIMITED PANTS!!!

Week 3: Overcoming Obstacles How beautiful it all was, so majestic, so magical. Until they passed the bend in the road. The forest was cut, the grass was dead, the little town had a rolling head. Ancria was in no better shape than Mothdroth. Further along the dismal road, laced with rot and filth, Barg and the scribe came to the river Armanthir. The rushing water had carved itself into the earth, 500 metres down to a sharp, wet doom. There used to be a bridge. The bridge was no more. "Ohh m - my," stuttered the scribe, "Ancria has seen better daays," "What's wrong?" said Barg. "Even th -the bridge has fallen," The scribe didn't say any more. They took a path along the river, always wary of the fall, high jagged stone peaks shadowing them all. Then a claw. A great beast with claws the length of mountains and teeth as jagged as the cold, hard rocks of the river lashed out at them from the shadows. It jumped the craggly old scribe and barely missed his fragile head with a fatal blow. Barg slashed at the terror with his sword, and the beast backed off a little. He picked up the scribe and ran, ran as fast as he had ever run before, away from the monster of the mountains. Yet the beast had won, it had seized the Motharn's food supplies, it did not care for Barg or the scribe or anything. Barg was putrid and the scribe was so tiny it wouldn't be worth the effort. It took their lunch. Now the challenge for Barg was food, he knew nothing of Ancria, stank of a demon and had nothing to pay with. The scribe was also unconscious. It turned out to be quite easy, in the first town he got to along the road, the people all ran. Barg just took the food right from their houses. It was going to be a weird road ahead.

They had been wandering through the desert for what seemed like an eternity. Even the melancholy keening of the wind had blown itself out and was nothing but a lamenting sigh. Umbrielle struggled to keep her attention focused. Anything could be a threat, but the endless sharp rocks and beige sand made it difficult to focus. After what might as well have been a thousand years in their eternal, interminable wandering, a dark shape resolved itself on the horizon. As it came into view, her eyes and brain struggled to come to terms with what she was seeing. Surely, surely, there was no way something so huge could be… “The Claudian Wall,” TItus murmured. It was so tall, it seemed to touch the heavens. It was so wide, Umbrielle couldn’t see the end of it in either direction. It seemed almost insurmountable. Appius froze. “It isn’t Iunius third, is it?” “I think it is,” his brother replied, “why?” “Because… that was the day Papa wanted all the wall guards withdrawn to the northern frontier.” Titus cursed. “Who will unlock the gate for us then?” “I will,” Umbrielle replied. “But you see, only our father has the key.” Titus pointed out. Umbrielle rolled her eyes and pulled a hairpin out of her pocket. “Your father is an idiot. I know for a fact lock-picking was already around in his time, so he should’ve considered the possibility. “He… he won’t be happy about this when he finds out,” murmured Appius. “His problem, not mine.” Within three minutes, they were across to the other side of the wall, where… “What on earth is that?” Umbrielle asked, mildly disgusted. “It’s the Grosso Topo Warrior! The most fearsome beast in all the armies of-” “It’s a morbidly obese rat” “It’s faster than it looks!” “It looks as if a snail could outrun it!” Appius was cowering behind Titus in an attempt to get out of the thing’s sight. It was terrifying in the way a gigantic cockroach was terrifying, but not a “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES” type of terrifying. Its fur was a dull grey, its claws an indeterminite shade of off-white. Its own personal miasma hovered around it, taking up practically the entire bridge. On the whole, she was slightly disappointed. Her mother would hardly be impressed by the story that it had taken three people to vanquish this oversized punching bag- Umbrielle paused. The beast’s eyes, glowing scarlet embers, glittered with intelligence. It stood up, raising its massive sword, and Umbrielle quickly realised she had misjudged it… AUTHOR'S NOTE: The social challenge takes too much context to explain here. I'm sorry - I didn't get much time for writing...

Do not come after me. Because death awaits you in this world. The nib of the pen scratched against the parchment as I spent my last moments at the writing desk. “Quintalline, stop fretting!” The little glass man had been pacing the shelves for days after the news of my awaiting end. “Your new master will be just as good! So long you do your job properly!” Quintalline grumbled over his shoulder as he climbed up the desk to scatter some sand onto the fresh ink. “They definitely won’t feed me enough!" With a mutter he settled into sleep, his glass joints clicking with a crystalline ring. I stretched my arms and relished the last night I would have. Steadily, I creased the letter into a small crane and whispered a few words under my breath. A tear began to appear in the air, the seams ripping to create a portal. “I hope you get this in time.” With my last wishes said, I gently pushed the crane into the wormhole and waited for my end. She waited. She waited every single day for him to come back. To hear the sound of the doorbell ringing. To see the large stack of books he always took back for her. To feel his embrace again. But he didn’t come. Cora picked on others. She wasn’t genuinely mean, but something had to fill up the vast void of loneliness in her heart. Every day she sat alone. After he left, Cora became hollow. So, she took it out on others. She wasn’t particularly big so she used her words to attack. Oh words. The one thing her father had loved most. He would sit at his desk for hours, conjuring up lands of fairies and trolls, forests with prowling beasts that could kill you in seconds. And Cora could only sit in amazement as her father typed away these magical words, the lulling click of the typewriter filling all her senses. But now, now things were different. She lived all alone still waiting for him to come back. Until she found the crane. Since her father left her, Cora had always neatened up his study in vain of his reunion with her. But then one day, she saw something out of place. The shelf on top of his desk was always filled with little glass animals, collected from his travels. Cora knew them off by heart. An elephant from India, a white tiger from Nepal (one of his rarest), a phoenix from Greece and a red – crowned crane from Japan. Except…it wasn’t a crane. In place of the delicate glass bird, a roughly folded paper crane sat innocently amid it all. Cora blinked. She reached for the parchment and slowly unfolded it. Dear Cora, You may have wondered where I’ve been – I hope you haven’t been worried sick. You may not believe what I am about to say, but I trust you with this information. You know that book I always loved? What was that it called? The Seas of Tarronia? Well anyways, I’m in the book. I’ve been researching in the Royal institute here and I’ve found what this is called. A ‘book warp’ is what happens when readers get sucked into the very lines they were on. And yes, I am enjoying it here though I am trying to figure out how to come back. But I warn you. Do NOT come after me because death awaits you in this world. Father The last line smudged as one tear fell onto the page. That was all it took. One tear and Cora disappeared. Later she wouldn’t even believe how such a fuss grew from a tear. But it was inevitable. She just didn’t know what was waiting for her in the printed world beneath the pages… Cora gasped. It was all she could do for that moment. Everything around her seemed to be frozen in eternal beauty. A luscious canopy of leaves surrounded her and sweet-smelling flowers adorned bushes. The hypnotising smell of the flowers clouded Cora’s mind, and without thinking, she grabbed a sweet berry from the branches and ate it. The syrupy flesh melted in her mouth but when she turned to look around her, the forest revealed its true form. The tree she was leaning against was just a blackened stump and all the bushes were burnt. Tendrils of smoke calmly rose from the scene. Now the flowers weren’t sweet, but they were intoxicating, the smell rising from the plants and curling around Cora’s throat until she choked on herself. The leaves were not the luscious green, but they were dark silver, and the veins were skeletal. The trees were reaching limbs now, the branches not surrounding her, but trapping her. The woods were ebony black, and shadows seemed to fill the place where light was. But the thing that scared her most was not the forest. It was the looming figure that now stooped over Cora. A woman gazed over her. A white cloak billowed around her and the edges of her dress was tattered, leaving wisps of delicate fabric in the air. A light veil covered her face and she seemed to radiate with warmth but Cora could sense something. The lady smiled at her and whispered something into the air. Come with me. Her voice was soft and gentle and Cora reached out as if in a trance. The world spun and the last thing she felt was a sharp pain in her head. “Wake up! The Queen’s soldiers can’t see me here!” Cora opened her eyes and saw someone looking back at her. “You’re finally awake! Don’t you know anything? You almost got taken by the White Women!” A girl stared back at her in disbelief. She had fiery red hair and a pair of aviator goggles rested on her head. Cora sat up. “Where am I?” The girl rolled her eyes. “You really don’t know anything?” Cora shook her head. “You really won’t understand what I’m saying, but I think I come from a different world.” The girl looked shocked. “The other side? You’re from there?” As they were walking back to her house, the girl explained to Cora. “My name is Cecilia. My father left me 2 years ago for an expedition but he never came back.” Cora was surprised at how close Cecilia’s story was to her own. “This kingdom is ruled by the High queen and all her witches. Do not get in her way.” Cecilia’s eyes hardened at the thought. “My mother was taken by the queen and now all she wants is revenge.” They walked in silence until they crossed a familiar looking face printed on a poster. It couldn’t be. She glanced at the poster again. “Who is that?” Her voice shook as she asked Cecilia. “Oh, that’s John Fa- wait. Cora, what did you say your name was again?” Her eyes widened as everything started to click together. Cora took a breath. “Farrow. Cora Farrow.” Cecilia looked in disbelief. “John Farrow is your father?” Cora nodded, her heart turning cold. “He’s getting executed next week.” “We have to stop it!” “But how?” Cecilia looked back sadly. “Can’t you just break into the prison?” Suddenly, an idea came to mind. “We have to find the enchantress.” Cecilia was sceptical to tell Cora her idea but it was the only way. “We have to pack.” She led her into a small room filled with random pieces of clockwork, metal, and glass. At the end of the room was a small wardrobe. Cecilia rummaged for some clothes and grabbed some food for the journey. Cora stood silent next to her and traced her fingers along the map of the kingdom. “It will take us three days to get there. Just hope that nothing gets in our way.” And so, they set off. The outskirts of the town was bordered by the Blackwood forest, a divide between the elves’ city and the village. “Let’s go.” Cecilia took a breath and pushed past the first few branches of the dipping trees. “Why are you willing to help me?” Cora stopped in the middle of the thick tree trunks. “Firstly, because I love a good adventure,” a smile crept across Cecilia’s face, “but also because your story is so similar to mine.” They walked in silence until they reached the heart of the forest. “Can you hear that?” Cora stopped suddenly. The faint sound of someone playing the flute could be heard in the distance. Cecilia stopped walking. “Don’t make a sound. She walked quietly forward until she could see a figure sitting on a rock. It was a hermit. The old man looked calm but Cecilia knew of his intentions. Before she could even say anything, Cecilia could sense that the hermit and disappeared but now left an obstacle in the way. When they tried to walk to the other side of the river, an invisible boundary held them back. Cecilia, with no hope pulled a feathered arrow and slung it onto the bow. In a swift movement she punctured the boundary and the wall shattered, pieces of iridescent glass falling onto the ground.

The sharp blinding light searing through my house. A pale figure grabbing, twisting and a scream. The water hit my skin like bullets as I sat all alone in the rain on my seventh birthday. The slam of the door still lingered in the air, the echo filling the room. Through the small circular window, I admired the picturesque view of the sea. The lighthouse stood at the edge of the rocks, faded red and white painted onto the cylindrical building. The small beam of light shining from the light house reflected off the water. I turned my back onto the view too hurt to look at the sight. My room was on the highest floor making it freezing in winter. The drafts howled against the slate roof, and at night the wind hollered against the closed shutters. My window was the smallest of all of them in the shop. The pensmith workshop had wide double-glass windows that showed a beautiful view of all the Christmas stalls. Coloured lights were twined all over the street lamps and people were getting ready for Christmas by making fruit cakes, treacle puddings and hams. The workshop was the one place I wasn't allowed in but of course, I didn't care about that. On the morning of Christmas Eve, I snuck downstairs before my grandparents woke up. It wasn't my first time down here, but the shop looked much different. Stockings and Christmas decorations were hung around the room and new pens were put in front of the glass display boxes. The mahogany desk was littered with peculiar objects. The first one was an old rustic typewriter that my grandfather kept. The second was a golden tipped feather quill that was half dipped in fresh ink. The last was a little velvet bag which I of course had to open. Inside contained a small brass pocket watch that was encrusted with little quartz diamonds that shimmered in the sun. The hands of the clock were very peculiar as they swung in the opposite direction and instead of two hands there were three. I widened my eyes as I heard footsteps down the stairs and quickly slipped the watch into my pocket. I quietly ran to the back door and winced as the bells jingled subtly. Shoving my hands into my pockets, I pulled over my fur hood and proceeded up to the attic. When I was sure I couldn't hear anybody, I slowly took the watch out of my fur lined jacket. On closer inspection I saw very small engraved symbols on the face of the clock. On the back, there was a very faint outline of two words: The 'Chronometer'. I looked curiously at the brass hands that seem to have no control. Suddenly, I saw a small corner of parchment sticking out of the watch face. I peeled off my gloves and slowly twisted the glass dome on top of the clock. Inside was a very thin piece of parchment. It read, 'Perditus factus est non inveni'. Underneath these words was a giant blot of ink concealing the writer's identity. I looked in wonder as I experimented with the dials. I twisted one to a clock, one to a tree and the final to a fox. I heard a small click and I heard the sound of gears whirring inside the watch. A bright light engulfed the room and when it faded, all that was left was an abandoned pair of peacock blue leather gloves. The sharp jades, limes and emeralds swam before my eyes revealing a thick foliage of shimmering gold fireflies. All I could do was stand in awe. This magical coven was perfect and yet there was not a single person in sight. This secret hideaway seemed frozen in time. The only thing in sight was a spark of rich reds and golds. A fire fox kept out of the iridescent sunlight and sparks flew. Something was wrong. This fire fox was not any normal creature. It could speak and it had a very important message for me. The inhabitants of Elysium are in grave danger from a power that is ever thirsty from ambition. The future of Elysium is in your hands. In the misty distance, a towering forest stood stealing the sunlight. The only sound heard was ticking. Ticking from clocks. I reached back into my pocket to grab my pocket watch with pale shaking hands. I slowly headed into the direction of the forest until I heard a deep rumbling sound. "Who dares to disturb the great guardian," I revealed myself to the great clockwork giant . He was created with twisting vines, gnarled roots and knotted trees. This was no ordinary forest warden. "May I enter your forest?" I fumbled hoping the warden hadn't seen the watch. " Foolish children think they can enter at their own will, if you can clear all the leaf litter in the forest by sundown you are free to enter." I knelt down before the earth and apologized to the forest nymphs hoping they would help protect the trees. Lighting a match, I watched the flames creep against the fallen leaves. It was almost sundown and I had completed the task. I had the feeling that perhaps I needed to be nice to get out of here alive. This was only one of the difficult tasks to come. I listened to the forest and let it play me its song.

I glanced at a nearby bush as slowly its color began to fade away from its leaves. In the blink of an eye, it had turned a dull shade of gray. “Who’s doing this? And what do I have to do with it?” I grumbled. “An evil witch has been gathering ‘color draining balls’ that can get rid of any color it touches. Even Kippies. And Sparkle Land controls all the color on Earth. So if the color in Sparkle Land is gone, all the color on Earth would be gone too! I’d be pretty devastated if I were you.” Bella explained. Before I could answer her a strange figure appeared out of nowhere! Two pointy horns sprouted out of its head along its scaly skin bearing sharp claws on the tip of its fingers! Reaching into its bag it yanked out a smoking black ball and threw it at a tree. Immediately, it had turned a horrifying shade of black! I realised that those must have been the ‘color draining balls’ Bella was talking about. These balls could make lots of Kippies sad. I mean, I don’t care! Do I? “Um… Bella, who is that?” I asked. “That's the witch’s assistant, Morbumconnoritcallifrajour.” Bella replied. “What? How do you say it?” I whined. Bella repeated it exactly as it was. Bella motioned for me to follow her as we squeezed through a narrow valley. Spiders hung from their sticky webs staring at us with their many eyes. Soon, we reached the other side to discover a river filled with squirming balls. Cautiously, I placed my foot onto one of them to find they stayed perfectly still. Just as we were halfway through, Morbumconnoritcallifrajour arrived as he threw a ball towards the river. Slowly all of its color drained out of sight. I felt a violent rumble as it rose into the air thumping up and down rapidly! “Have fun!” he snickered. I leaped onto steady ground as I realised Bella was stuck in the center. I glanced at the path to escape and back at Bella. “UUUGGHHH!” I groaned as I offered my hand to her. With one final jump I pulled her in! “Thank you. You saved me!” Bella thanked. I felt a warm feeling in my heart that I had never felt before. It was different. “Meh, it was nothing.” I replied, trying to hide a small smile. That feeling felt so good! What was it? Bella continued to lead the way leaving me thinking about that strange feeling. Oh no. It couldn’t be. Was that feeling…kindness? Eventually, we landed in a place with no vegetation or color. Suddenly, a witch appeared in front of our eyes as she revealed a mischievous smile. “I know you are here to stop me. I know the bunny is actually a human. I know it all. But if you truly want to stop me I will give you a task. You must work together to build something that will change my mind using Lego.” the witch offered. “I am terribly sorry but for a moment I thought you said we had to build something using Lego.” I told. “You did not hear wrong. And if you change my mind I will stop draining the color. If you don’t then I will continue my task and rule all of Sparkle Land!!!” she cackled. Just at that moment, I knew we had to get to work.

Week 2: Through the Door Ashley wasn’t sure what to do so she sat down looked at Chris. “What are you doing in my realm if you can have whatever you want in yours?” Ashley said, breaking the silence. “I came to find someone who could help me.” Chris looked up at her with big eyes. “Help you with what?” Ashley said. “I’m trying to save our realms.” Chris responded, hoping that Ashley would offer to help. “From what?” Ashley sounded irritated. “From my world destroying both of them!” Chris, for the first time, was annoyed with Ashley. He started to wonder whether Ashley was suited to join him on his quest. He wondered if anyone on Earth would even be interested. ‘Haven’t you noticed your planet deteriorating!’ he screamed inside his head however he proceeded with patience.“Everyone from my planet keeps on creating good and nice things which means slowly your planet is getting worse and worse. Eventually Earth will be uninhabitable.” Chris was looking very serious. “Will you help me?” Ashley’s eyes widened. “I think I need a minute.” She walked slowly away past the door and into the dense forest, then sat against an old oak tree and thought. “If I go, my parents will come looking for me and find the door, but if I don’t, then the entire world will be destroyed along with Chris’s realm.” She knew she didn’t really have a choice, either way something bad would happen. “Maybe”, she thought hopefully. “Maybe they won’t bother opening the door.” She had made her decision. She would go with Chris to help him save their worlds. Slowly walking back to Chris, she wondered if she would ever return from his realm. “Why would your planet be destroyed as well as Earth?” Ashley asked as she sat down. “Well, the people of my planet don’t actually know that Earth exists and if they find out they will prioritise Earth and start destroying every thing they have ever created, which will reverse the effects, making Earth once more a beautiful place”, Chris said before catching his breath. “How do you know?”Ashley replied. “They always prioritise everyone else no matter what. We’re empaths.” The light of the moon shone on the old door. “Are you ready?” Chris asked as he stood up. “Yes.” Ashley also stood up and walked nervously towards the door. Chris pulled a key from out of his pocket and suck it in a rusty keyhole. The door slowly creaked open revealing a pitch black room. “Follow me”, Chris said as he entered the room. Ashley did what he said and was soon eveloped in complete darkness. The only thing they cloud see was each other. They walked and walked until Ashley could see a faint brown speck in the far distance. “What’s that?” She asked Chris, who was a couple of metres ahead. “That is the door to my world!” He started to run. “Wait for me!” Ashley yelled. Before them stood an old overgrown wooden door. “This is it.” Chris said to Ashley as she caught up. He pulled out another key from his jumper and twisted it into the keyhole. The door flung open right into Ashley’s face! “Ouch! What did you do that for!” she exclaimed. “Sorry, I didn’t know that it would fly open like that.” Chris responded guiltily as he watched her get up. They stepped through the door and into another world. “Welcome to Empathia”, he said proudly. It was day time now. The trees were shaped like leaves; giant glowing yellow, red and orange crystals! The grass was orange and glowing! Red, yellow and orange crystals grew out of the ground! Orange glowing foxes roamed the forest. Ashley was amazed. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She was speechless. “Come on!” Chris started to walk along a dirt path and Ashley could do nothing but follow. Her eyes were drawn to the trees. “We’re nearly there!” Chris said as if Ashley knew where they were going. “Nearly where?” she replied, still gazing at the trees. “Nearly at the town where I live!” Chris was starting to quicken his pace. She could see a small wooden bridge in the distance that crossed an orange sparkling river. Before she knew it, they were gazing down at turtles as they happily glided through the almost clear water. The two children had arrived at the town. Cute cafes and cottages illuminated by lanterns neatly lined cobblestone roads. Wooden carts full of people made a tapping sound on the road, reminding Ashley of the horses that she had followed to the stable. She wondered where Chris was leading her. Eventually they reached a small cosy-looking log cabin at the end of a narrow cul-de-sac. “This is my home”, Chris said as he opened the cabin door. Inside, there was a lady making muffins in the kitchen. When she heard the door open and shut, she continued to stir some mixture in a bowl and, not bothering to look up, said “Ah dear, you’re home. Now, could you please grab me an egg from the fridge?” “OK Mum,” Chris replied as he took an egg from the carton and handed it to his mum. When she looked up to take it from him, she saw Ashley standing in the corner of the room. Chris’s Mum continued to stare at Ashley as she said, “Chris, who is this?” “Oh um, this is my friend Ashley.” He responded. “That’s strange, I don’t believe I have ever seen you before and this town is tiny.” Chris’s Mum seemed confused. “She’s um, from the other side of town, and um, she’s home-schooled!” Chris replied. “Ashley this is my Mum Jill, and Mum this is Ashley.” Chris said. “OK, nice to meet you Ashley”, said Jill. Something about Jill made Ashley feel like she had known her forever even though they only just met. “Let’s go outside. There is something I want to show you.” Chris gestured with his head towards the back door. Through it she went and Chris followed. He then ran to a blackberry bush and peaked inside as Ashley watched, curiously. “Come on out Harry!” Straight away, an orange glowing fox pounced out. What surprised Ashley even more than the fact that it was glowing, is what it did next. “Hello!” the fox said. Ashley covered her mouth with her hands. “Did you just talk!” “Yes, I did. My name’s is Harry. What’s yours?” “Why do you care?” Ashley responded rudely. The fox frowned and then turned to Chris. “She’s Ashley. She’s new here.” he said as if Harry had asked him a question. Chris then turned to Ashley. “Harry is my friend. He can see what is happening on Earth whenever he pleases.” Chris explained casually. Ashley could tell things were going to get weird. That night, Ashley slept on the floor of Chris’s room. In the morning, Chris told Ashley how they were going to save the worlds. “There is a crystal at the top of the Snowy Mountain. It is the only thing that can bring balance between the two worlds but it is impossible to make the journey alone - which is why I need you to accompany me.”

Week 2: Through the Door The scribe stumbled over the jagged rocks to colossal crack in the towering gate. “Millennia have worn thiss placce down,” he croaked, stumbling through the crack. Calling it a crack doesn’t do it justice, it was the size of a large cave system, so massive it could fit an army. The gate hadn’t stopped intruders in centuries. Barg followed. Once the pair made it to the other side, chaos ensued. A confusing rush of clanging metal and flickering fire, lighting up the great tunnel with a dazzling light that blinds. Shouting, crashing and urgent footsteps echoed through the empty mountain. The great guards of almighty Ancria fled, the stench of Barg assaulting they’re terrorised nostrils. Archer windows, blockades and towers emptied in the blink of an eye. They walked. At first there was some light, some sound, something to ground them. But as the last guards, deeper in the tunnel, fled, it was just Barg, the scribe, and the dark. Time was meaningless, space incomprehensible. Days were years and weeks were hours, the dark ever unforgiving. If you lost your sense of direction you would be sent back to the start. After a day, a month, maybe even a year, they made it. A blinding light filled Barg’s eyes, as they adjusted he could make out some lush dark green trees, some bright green grass, skies of bright blue, mountains with peaks of majestic white and rich silver. Birds fluttering around and chirping, instead of hiding in they’re nests choking on the dry air. They'd made it.

‘We’re here,’ he said. ‘The Mines of Mildiana. Dwarf kingdom.’ They were staring at a gaping hole in the cliff they had been headed for. It looked like a crack in the skin of rock. A chasm. ‘Well,’ what are you waiting for?’ Arkenstein said. ‘Come on, let’s go!’ Declan shook himself out of his stupor, and followed Arkenstein into the fissure. Arkenstein lit a lantern, and walked through the small passageway behind the fissure. Declan followed him. Soon, they started seeing bones. Entire Snakehead skeletons, stuck between axes, dead in pits, Even suffocated in sand. Declan started feeling like they weren’t exactly wanted here. As they passed a particularly grisly scene with two decomposing Snakeheads stuck between pillars of rock, Arkenstein stopped again. ‘No more Snakeheads,’ Arkenstein said. ‘Get ready for traps.’ They walked slowly forward, Arkenstein looking forward at the ground, at the walls, at the ceiling. Then, he stopped. ‘Pit. Right in front of us. Too wide to jump,’ he said. ‘What will we do?’ Declan asked. Then he quickly added, ‘idiot.’ ‘Well, traps are made to be fallen into,’ Arkenstein shrugged. ‘I think the Dwarves want us to starve to death, more’s the pain. So…’ and he jumped, straight forward, and disappeared from sight. Moments later, there was a thump, and a cry of pain. ‘It’s safe!’ Arkenstein called up. ‘a bit deep, but it should be fine.’ A bit deep was an understatement, as Declan found out, as he plunged through the darkness. He screamed as fell for a while, before thumping down on something soft and sticky. ‘It seems I was a bit wrong in my assumption,’ Arkenstein’s voice came out of the darkness, as he held up the lantern to illuminate their surroundings. ‘The Dwarves don’t want us to starve. The want us to die. Die in a grisly way. If I’m not mistaken, this is the lair of Verdinag. ‘Who’s…’ began Declan asked. But his question was answered, as a loud click-clacking came out of the darkness, and a gigantic spider came out of the darkness, white as marble, eyes red as blood, fangs gleaming and dripping with poison. ‘State your business, or Verdinag will strike!’ a voice cried from the darkness. ‘It will be a painful process where your skin melts off your bones. You don’t want to feel it.’ Chapter 6: the Burndalog As Declan squinted, he could make out a small, squat figure on the back of the giant albino spider. It had brown dirt coloured skin, grey stone coloured hair, and light brown clothing. Its nose stuck out quite far from its head, and its mouth leered out at them from the darkness. ‘Thank goodness!’ Arkenstein cried from beside Declan. ‘It’s you! I haven’t seen you for years, Drindik!’ ‘That’s your own fault!’ Drindik yelled back. ‘How could we let you back when you de—’ ‘Nothing about that now!’ Arkenstein quickly said. ‘That was in the past, Drindik, the past! And I only squished 2!’ ‘They were the only ones we had!’ raged Drindik. ‘We had to go up to the High Emperor King Chieftain Cool Dude to get another evsanlius, and it took ages to breed. We had to spend 5 years, 5 YEARS, without the help of the evsanlius to give us the life-giving milk! And we lost a lot of our treasure on that day too, seeing as you knocked it down the abyss of death!’ ‘Yes, but I apologized,’ said Arkenstein a bit sulkily. ‘And besides, treasure isn’t everything.’ ‘TREASURE ISN’T EVERYTHING?’ Drindik bellowed. ‘TREASURE ISN’T EVERYTHING? TREASURE IS EVERYTHING, ALTHOUGH YOU WOULDN’T KNOW A THING ABOUT TREASURE!’ Arkenstein seemed to get angry at that. ‘YOU THINK I’M POOR?’ he yelled. ‘YES, I DO THINK YOU’RE POOR!’ Drindik yelled back. ‘AND YOU’RE NOT IN A POSITION TO BE YELLING! I COULD KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!’ Arkenstein laughed. ‘You and I both know that you wouldn’t,’ he said easily, not yelling anymore. ‘You don’t know what I’m capable of!’ Drindik snarled. And with that, she yelled, ‘Verdinag, pick them up and take them to the Burndalog! Let us see whether these two will be our friends, or enemies.’ Arkenstein groaned and struggled. ‘Not the Burndalog! Anything but the Burndalog!’ he pleaded. For the first time since meeting Arkenstein, Declan thought he detected fear in his voice, and though it seemed that they were headed to a terrible fate, he still enjoyed Arkenstein’s fear as they were carried off by the spider into the darkness. They travelled over the web for what seemed like hours, but was probably minutes. And all the while, Arkenstein moaned and wailed and pleaded, until even Arkenstein’s fear couldn’t cheer Declan up. ‘Uh, Arkenidiot?’ Declan asked. ‘What’s the Burndalog?’ ‘It’s…’ Arkenstein said shakily, ‘it’s…it’s a feeling. It makes you want to curl up, and never live again. It makes you want to tear yourself to bits. It makes you want to die.’ And at those words, Declan was pleading, and moaning, and thrashing just as hard as Arkenstein, while Drindik looked on and laughed. Soon, they came to the edge of the web, and Verdinag flung them onto the ground. Declan stood up, and looked around. They were in dwarf kingdom. Everything was stone. Everything was brown or black. It was the calmest place Declan had found in this world. And he liked it. Dwarves swarmed to the two travellers, all chanting, ‘Burndalog! Burndalog!’ They were dragged to the mouth of a large cave. In the cave, there was a small dwarf. ‘So, who will it be?’ he asked, without turning. Arkenstein cowered, then quickly said, ‘not it!’ Declan groaned inside, muttered, ‘coward!’ and turned to the dwarf. If he knew what he was facing, he would have lay there and never moved. The dwarf waved his hand, and armour came down from a shelf, and landed on Declan. ‘Hey! What?’ the dwarf ignored him. Next, he held out two weapons, a spear and an axe. ‘Which one?’ the dwarf said. Declan tested the spear, and immediately the dwarf took the axe away. ‘Wait, but!’ ‘Get him!’ the dwarf said. A dwarf twice as big as Drindik picked Declan up, and threw him down a slope. Declan tried to stop his downward decent, but he picked up speed, and fell into the arena. Declan wished he had picked the axe, but he had got the spear. He looked around. There were burning logs everywhere. In the centre was a shining diamond encrusted cup. ‘HELLO! HELLO! CAN YOU HEAR ME!’ boomed a loud voice. ‘IT DOESEN’T MATTER ANYWAY. YOUR GOAL IS TO GET THE CUP. JUST PICK IT UP. BEGINS IN 3, 2, 1.’ Then, out of the blue, completely unanticipated, Declan was hit by a wave of pain. He fell to the ground, screaming, feeling so much remorse about what he had inflicted on others. the spear clattered to the ground next to him. At that moment, he would have loved to just turn back time so he could change his actions. And he knew the only thing that could cause this emotion was one of the story stones. The one he needed to get to save the world. The one he needed so he could get out of this place. Then, Verdinag jumped down from the roof of the cavern, and landed in front of the cup. Declan lay on the ground, and watched through streaming eyes as he saw the giant spider approach, dripping venom on the ground, clicking in triumph. Chapter 7: Death by Remorse, or Spider. Verdinag sped through the burning logs, and Declan watched, pain stricken, willing his body to move. Finally, it did, and Declan was able to stand up, and when he did, he was so dizzy from the effort that he promptly fell over again, hitting a burning log, and knocking it in the spider’s path. It screeched, and reared onto its 4 back legs, waving the other 4 in the air. ‘Thank goodness that dwarf gave me this armour,’ Declan thought, as he watched the fire slide off it. The heat was just another pain that was dwarfed by the power of the Emotion Stone. Declan stood up shakily again, and realized that the spider was afraid of fire. It was still reared up, staring down at the fire with its red eyes, transfixed. Declan staggered over to another log, and shoved it over towards Verdinag. The spider screeched. Now two sides were obscured by fire. This time, bare skin touched the log, and Declan felt a jolt of pain. He tried to scream, but realized he was still screaming from before. Falling to his knees, Declan rolled on the ground until the fire went out, and tried to tone out the sound of his own screaming while he crawled to the next log closest to him. The pain generating from the Emotion Stone was getting worse. He shoved it over as well, and it landed just far away enough for Verdinag to be able to leap out of his prison of fire. The albino spider advanced, and Declan, shaking now, stood up, and stumbled towards the cup. Then, he could go on no further. He collapsed, shaking, writhing, and watched as the spider approached him. Then, he heard a voice. Not the dwarf’s voice, a familiar voice. ‘Come on, Declan! Stand up and get to the cup! Death by spider is worse than death by remorse! Move! Your! Butt!’ It was Arkenstein. Declan somehow found the strength in him to stand up. He half ran, half limped towards the cup, the power of the stone growing stronger as he got closer to the cup. Finally, he was right in front of the cup. Verdinag was right behind him. Just as Declan picked up the cup, Verdinag pounced, and the world went black around Declan. Declan woke up in a stone hut, on a stone bed, with his body aching all over, and feeling as though he wanted to lie somewhere more comfortable. The remorse was gone, but Declan could still feel the aftereffects. The stone hadn’t so much tortured him, as shown him what it felt like to be bullied. It had made him see things from the bullied people’s side. He felt weak. Then, he was knocked of the bed as 50 Kg of Arkenstein bowled him over. ‘You feeling alright?’ Arkenstein asked anxiously, completely ignoring the fact he had just knocked Declan off a hard stone bed onto a harder stone floor. ‘Yeah, I’m alright,’ Declan said, standing up, and rubbing his ribs. ‘How about you?’ Arkenstein stared in astonishment at Declan. ‘What?’ Declan asked. ‘It’s just…’ Arkenstein said. ‘Who are you and what did you do with the real Declan? That is the first time I have heard you ask me how I felt! This is a breakthrough! Life is great! And you got the cup!’ Declan smiled.