Quest of the Dragon's Lair (20 Jun 2001) A young knight proves her mettle against a fearsome dragon.

Siege des Anges
Just across from the Ainigton Grade School, this little square has been kept as greenery since the old days of the town. A low brick wall, four feet high, surrounds the square, through which paths enter on west and south sides, forming semi-circles which intersect a circle, paved with an irregular pattern of tight-fitting white and black slabs of stones. Trees overshadow the paths and line the edges of this square, all but hiding the center square, in which four benches look onto a bronze statue of an angel facing east, hand drawing (or sheathing, some argue) a sword. Houses border the north and east side, some of a colonial style, others built where older buildings once stood.

It is Saturday, so school is out. The sun casts the angels of Ainigton Grade School into high relief, and draws the shadow of the Guarding Angel across the flagstones of the center square. The shadow-angel's right wingtip is brushing the flagpole, and the wind blows almost directly northwest, a soft breeze that ruffles hair and stirs the American flag into gentle swirling.

Some grown-ups are taking in the fresh air as well; an older couple sits seated on the northern bench of the square, partially occluded by the statue in the middle, and are reading the Kathenapolis Times, a publication of "The City", the closest major metropolis to Ainigton.

Farther off and around the circle that circumscribes the square, another grown-up, an older Chinese man, walks a big happy russet-furred mutt across the grass.

Standing at attention before the Guardian Angel, a tall figure wearing jeans and a white shirt practices drawing a sword, as if trying to finish what the statue is in the midst of doing. From behind, the figure might be mistaken for a young man if not for the long ponytail of bright red hair. The sword is made of wood, but more sturdy looking than a store-bought toy might be. Without a proper sheath for the sword, the girl is having difficulty getting the draw just right.

"I'm telling you, Simon, you've got to be careful when you travel. Most importantly, you should keep in mind local customs. Why, once I forgot it was custom for a certain tribe of pigmies to throw bananas at honored guests. I threw them back, which is an insult. Boy, that was an embarrassing situation..," Thomas explains to his friend Simon as they approach the park, "So, you see, just getting a map doesn't make you a successful explorer. Only a skilled eye will prevent..." He suddenly halts speaking and focuses his attention on the statue and the sword practicing girl in front of it then points. "Look there! Someone with a weapon. We should be wary."

The much smaller boy looks dubious. "Were these pygmies or monkeys? And if the latter, what were you up to, monkey business?" He smirks and then looks toward the girl.

A young girl, hair tossed by the wind and only kept from flowing wild by the bonds of her hair ribbon, approaches the statue from the west. She's alone, though she seems to be looking for someone as she walks. After a few steps in to the park she turns around in a twirl and peers off down the road.

Tom waves a hand at Simon, eyes still focused on the girl in the park. "Shhh!" he whispers, then adds, "Besides, exploring is serious. Why, I've never engaged in any sort of monkey business on any trip -- would've violated the Golden Hawk's code, after all. Anyway, I think I might know her. She's an odd one, adores horses or something like that. I don't think she's dangerous."

Simon takes cover behind a bush, one of those edging the square, and peeks out over it. "Then whyfor does she practice with a sword, if you think not that she will use it, milord explorer?"

The sword-girl straightens up for another attempt, left hand clasped around an imaginary scabbard as she draws out the sword once more. Halfway through, however, she jerks her left hand away and exclaims, "Crud! It bit me again!" Sucking on the webbing between the thumb and forefinger of the "bitten" hand, she sulks over to a bench where a denim jacket is laying, drops the sword onto it and sits down, mumbling something about a chain ... probably the one clipped to her belt that serves to hold her sword.

A lone girl at the edge of the park seems to frown after a moment of looking for her wayward companion, but soon is stirred from her disappointment by the cursing of the older girl near the angel. Alice twirls around again and blinks at the other and her pain, and then starts walking forward with some amount of haste. "Hi!" she calls out. "Are you okay? Do you need a band-aid -- I've got lots!"

"By all the...! Angel is here. C'mon Simon, we better go with her if she's determined to help her out. We must protect her," says Thomas as he quickly starts moving again, this time toward Alice.

Simon mutters to Tom behind the bush, "Methinks we shall soon see the nature of the beast, be she fair or foul, eh?" He blinks, realizing he's talking to a departing back, and then stands to follow.

The redhead looks up in surprise to hear someone addressing her. "Mmmf?" she mumbles around her hand, then blinks and takes it out of her mouth. "Oh ... um, it's just a blister. The links in my chain pinched it." She smiles and shows the irritated bit of skin to the younger girl. "I don't suppose you have any bactine?"

"Ew," remarks the younger girl at the wound. Despite her mother-trained medical knowledge, Alice doesn't appear to have much a taste for wounds themselves. Still, she keeps walking forward, though she wrinkles her nose in a reaction to the ickiness. "Bactine? Oh, hm ... oh! I do!" The girl starts digging in to her adult sized purse, though she herself is hardly "adult sized".

"Thanks. I'm Agatha," the redhead says, introducing herself.

"Lady Angela!" Tom calls out as he approaches. He's moving quickly, but not running as of yet. He blinks and glances over his shoulder, checking of Simon is following, then returns his attention forward.

Agatha jerks a bit when she hears the call, and quickly puts on her bulky jacket when she sees the older boy approaching.

Alice looks about to introduce herself but stops as she sees Tom approaching quickly. "Hi Tommy!" she calls out. She then gives her version of a princess mini-wave, and beams a smile at him. "Lady Sorceress Num- ... Numay can't come because the Sabbath won't let her."

"Well, an' the Sabbath have her prisoner, we should venture forth to rescue her," Simon suggests helpfully. "What is a Sabbath?"

Tom smiles and waves back, "Oh, that's a shame. Simon and I were on our way here to meet her like we planned." He slows down when he gets close and waves to the other girl. "Um, hi. Sorry if I startled you."

"I don't know," confesses Alice, "but it only comes on Saturday."

Agatha has regained her composure and has her right hand resting protectively on her sword. "I wasn't startled," she declares. "Just felt a little chill is all."

The little girl spots Simon behind Tom and gives him a little wave too, greeting him with, "Hi Simon!". She then turns her attentions to her purse and starts digging through it again.

Simon waves back with a smile. "Hi, Angel!" He looks curious to the red-haired girl, who seems pretty big for her age. "So, um, are you, ah..." Evidently he's trying to think of how to phrase it, then just asks it. "Are you a loyal servant of His Majesty? Or an enemy thereof? I ask only because you were waving a sword around pretty vigorously..."

Tom casts a sharp glance back at Simon, but says nothing.

Agatha narrows her gray-green eyes on Simon, and slowly asks, "Which King are you asking about, exactly?"

The little boy with a page-boy cut straightens up and glances over at Tom. Being newly come to His Majesty's Court after all, and not even having met the august personage himself, it's hard for him to put a name to the King.

Alice finishes her search through her bag of seemingly endless healing supplies and draws forth a bottle and some cotton balls. She opens her mouth to speak, glances at the others curiously, then clears her throat as she has seen grown-ups do and declares, "I have brought forth a healing potion and magical ..," she stops to think, staring at a cotton ball, " ... puffyfluff balls. Of healing!" She looks pleased, and presents a wetted cotton ball to the large girl.

Agatha accepts the cotton ball with a semi-curtsey (since she's sitting down, after all) and dabs it against blister on her left hand.

"Why, the Majesty. The ruler of this realm, the bringer of peace, the, um ... er ... Great William Crown, of course," says Thomas, "Surely you've heard of him? I've yet to travel to a land that has not." He eyes the girl intently. "You are not a stranger to our lands, correct?"

The younger girl beside Agatha casts Tom a dubious look. "It's King Westfield of Mirari, you silly!" she corrects him. "King Dad! I mean, King Dean."

"Oh ... that King," Agatha says, in an of-course-I've-heard-of-him tone. "Well, I can't say that I serve him yet," she admits, and stares back at Tom, "unless he's looking for a brave Knight?"

Simon cranes his head sideways at the disagreement, and then suggests by way of breaking the tie, "King William Crown Westfield of Mirari, of course. His deeds are legendary and his words exalted!"

"He also fixes Oldsmobiles!" adds Alice proudly. Digging in her purse again, and putting away her healing supplies in the process, Alice pulls out a stuffed black unicorn -- the ever reserved Knight Protector of the Princess, Lord Mel. She puts him under her arm after giving him a big hug.

Tom scratches his head, looking embarrassed. "Oh, yeah, right. Sorry, I've forgot his last name," he apologizes. "A brave knight? I'm certain he could find use of one now," Tom says, then leans in and whispers, "Our kind ruler has been captured by vile people who are too cowardly to reveal themselves. We are currently on a quest to find the key to his freedom!" Thomas then nudges Alice. "Oldsmobiles?"

"Well, if the kingdom needs me, then I will gladly serve," Agatha announces. "I am Agg--uh ... Lady Redmane, swordswoman and defender of the weak." To Thomas, she asks, "Are you a knight?"

Alice rubs her side as she's nudged. "Ow," she pouts. "They're really old mobiles. So they must be important, ancient and arcane, even!"

"Well, every monarch must have his little hobbies, be it collecting moonlight or tying maidens to rocks to be devoured by sea monsters, and I suppose that the repair of old carriages is more harmless than many," says the little boy, shrugging with a grin to the easily befuddled Alice.

"Meanie," remarks Alice, still pouting. She sticks her tongue out at Simon for a moment, then smiles again and turns towards Agatha. She holds up the stuffed animal for her to see. "Lord Mel is my knight," she explains. "You should talk to him about knights and stuff."

Tom takes off his hat and bows slightly, "No, fair knight, I am not. I am Lord Thomas, chief explorer to the King and renowned adventurer. My skills are of travel, not weaponry, I'm afraid." Thomas keeps his hat off briefly, using it to swat Alice playfully.

Simon introduces himself after Tom, sweeping a comical bow. "Milady Redmane, I am Simple Simon, newly appointed Court Jester by order of the Lady Sorceress Nymuae." It's unclear where he got them, but he has a ball in one hand and two in the other; he juggles them quickly, sending them to each hand over his bowed head, then stands up, balls vanishing as quickly.

Ever patient, Lord Mel awaits all questions with silent attention -- obviously of the sort that listens but speaks very little. He regards the older girl, undaunted, and without even blinking.

Agatha blinks at the stuffed black unicorn. She's seen plenty of stuffed unicorns before, but never a black one. She dutifully bows in her seat to Lord Mel, and asks the group, "Does Lord Mel require any sort of test for new knights?"

Alice staggers away from the hat swat, and she gives him a pouty "don't do that" kind of look. Lord Mel regards the boy warningly in defense of his princess. Well, he looks at him when Alice turns him to do so anyway. She recovers and hugs her unicorn to her chest again, answering the other girl. "Well, Lord Mel thinks you should ... go on a quest!"

"Yes!" the redhead agrees, leaping to her feet and thrusting her sword up into the air. "A quest!" After a moment of holding the pose, she looks back down to Alice and asks, "What sort of quest?"

Tom grins slightly and returns his hat to his head, covering up his unruly hair. He looks right at Alice. "Yeah, what sort of quest?"

The apparent jester nods wisely. "A most dangerous quest, of course."

"Wellllll," Alice considers the matter of a quest thoughtfully, "you should do something kind. You should ... help someone, maybe. Save them from a ... a dragon or monster or something very bad and scary."

Simon leans over and whispers to Tom, "You want to be the dragon?"

"Of course, a true test of knightly valor and virtue!" Redmane agrees, punctuating it with a another jab at the sky. "Any particular monster?" she asks in a more casual tone.

Tom glances at Simon, an odd expression on his face. Slowly, he grins and says quietly, "Well, if we can get Alice to be the one 'in distress', certainly. You could be the ogre guarding the cave."

Alice turns and looks at Tom for a moment, regarding him with nose-wrinkled considering expression, then she turns back. "But we'd need a cave," she says.

"An ogre and a dragon? No, why don't I be Lady Redmane's squire, and carry her spear for her?" Simon suggests, notwithstanding that a little boy might have some trouble playing a convincing ogre. A dwarf, maybe... "She'll need a lance, a sword, and a shield."

"I've got a sword," Agatha points out, lowering said object before her arm gets tired of holding it aloft. "You should see what it can do to a watermelon!"

The princess offers, "There's a ... a cave outside of town. You remember, Tommy? I think you found it. It was ... scary."

Tom rubs his chin for a moment, over-acting as if in deep thought. "Yes, I do. I think it was close to our fair town, just up in the hills. If monsters are to be found, that would be the place," he says slowly.

Simon whispers to Alice and Thomas, "Okay, so how is this going to work? Are we going to head up there, and then Tom, as the dragon, snatches up Alice and takes her into the cave? And then I cry out and point, 'Look Lady Redmane! A fearsome dragon hath snatched up yon Princess'?"

Alice nods a little and hugs Lord Mel all the tighter, evidently uneasy about the proposition of going to the cave. She doesn't however say anything against the idea -- at least not right now.

Tom glances between Alice and Simon. "Sure, we could do that. Hm. I might need a cape. Dragons have wings, after all."

The younger girl, Princes Angel, leans forward a little and whispers, "Tommy needs a dragon costume though! I mean, he's kinda monster-ish now, but ... And um, I could wear my princess outfit! And ... can we bring a flashlight too? It was daaark inside."

"I can get a lantern maybe," Agatha offers, trying to think of where around the town there might be a cave.

Simon whispers back, "Maybe you can use a towel or something? And wear a cone on your face too, for a dragon's muzzle! We can make one with a little glue and paper or something."

Tom scratches the back of his neck and whispers, "I have a flashlight, I can grab it from home. Yeah, a towel would work. Does anyone have any paper cups we could use for the dragon muzzle? And oh, don't dragons need a hoard?"

"I can ask my mommy, um, Queen Westfield if I can borrow the needle and make Tommy a costume. If she isn't busy maybe she'll help me," offers the princess. "I also have some jewelry we can use as treasure."

"But we need to test the knight soon. Making a costume would take time," explains Tom.

Simon looks thoughtful. "Well, it should take us a few minutes. Isn't there anyone whose place is on the way to this cave?"

"Aww," pouts Alice. "Okay."

Alice nods a little. "My house is down the street from here, and we can go up the street from there to the hill," she suggests.

Agatha raises her sword again, and this time gives it a little twirl overhead. "Bring on this monster, and I will smite it in the name of the King!"

"Yay!" exclaims Alice with glee. She clutches Lord Mel to her chest, dropping her nose to touch his muzzle. "For the King! I'm sure you'll be a great knight, Agatha. Lord Mel thinks so too."

Tom turns to Simon and asks, "Now, remind me why I have to be the dragon...?"

Plenty of construction paper was to hand, and so not only was Simon able to make a quick muzzle for the dragon-to-be, but Lady Redmane was able to fashion a shield, on which she has used crayons to draw a coat of arms. It is purely symbolic in protective value, but for a true knight, the symbol is everything. Alice has fetched some of her jewelry, to form a modest hoard.

One-Eye's Hill
Older boys tell ghost stories about the mysterious hermit who lived on this hill, sometimes said to have the "Evil Eye", but that was a long time ago, so if there really was a One-Eye, he's probably long since pushing up daisies. The hill rises steadily to a rounded top, and starts with grass and trees near its base, changing to dirt and rock outcroppings partway up, and the peak is bare granite. There is no road going up the hill, though cars roar by on the visible strip of US Highway and occasionally putter along Miner's Road. However, generations of adventurous children climbing the hill have worn down the grass here and there, forming paths through the trees and up its worn slopes.

It's possible to hike over the slope and see Lake Pollux, a rippled mirror of the blue sky, but from this vantage point it is hidden by the low sides of the hill. That is not however, the point of today's quest. Instead, Tom, intrepid adventurer that he is, has led everyone up a path through thick trees to a clearing that faces a cave which leads down into the hillside.

Tom holds up a hand. "Hark. I hear something. Everyone wait here; I will investigate." Tom quickly disappears behind some brush where they had conveniently placed the constructed costume moments before. A couple minutes pass, then Thomas erupts from the bushes, a towel tied about his neck and flapping in the wind, looking almost like wings -- well, perhaps if you turned sideways and squinted. He also wears the quickly assembled mask and roars! He charges over toward Alice and picks her up, growling, "I have you, little one! Everyone knows princesses make wonderful dinner." With that -- and a quite real and surprised scream of alarm from Alice, who didn't expect to actually be picked up -- he darts off toward, then into, the cave.

"Halt fiend!" Agatha calls, and chases after the pair as far as the cave mouth. "Release the Princess in the name of the King, or face Redmane's sword!"

"Eeeeek!" Alice wails helplessly as the dragon carries her off. Almost forgetting, she adds, "Won't somebody rescue me? Help me, Knight Redmane!"

Simon points and says, "Look! It is the fearful Dragon of Uptonogud! It is said only a blow struck in a weakness in its armor will penetrate to its heart, brave knight!" He has taken some time along the walk to find a "lance" for the knight, a long branch trimmed of protruding twigs and smaller branches.

Tom halts just inside the cave and sets Alice down. He turns and faces outward, crossing his arms over his chest. He throws his head back and laughs, "Face you? You dare think you can defeat me?" He waggles a finger in a "come here" manner and says, pretending to growl, "Try, if you dare."

Agatha looks from the cave mouth to her "squire", who is carrying the lance. You can't use a lance in a cave, she decides, and draws her sword. "This is your last chance to surrender, monster!" Redmane bellows.

Inside the cave, Alice picks herself up so she can brush off any dirt that might have gotten on her before she resumes her cries of distress. "Oh, save me!" she cries. "It's ..," the girl glances behind her, notes the dark and scary cave she happens to be in now and resumes her cries with considerable vigor, "REALLY SCARY HERE, SAVE ME!"

Tom grabs the edges of his cape, er, towel and tries to spread it out like wings. "Surrender? SURRENDER? Dragons never surrender. If you were a real knight, you'd know that," he taunts. He then glances back at Alice and whispers, "Oh, it's not that bad in here. You're right next to the entrance."

The Knight raises up her paper shield, green with a golden horse silhouette glued to the center (at least, it has four legs, a tail and a head). "Hah!" Redmane says, and marches forward into the dragon's cave.

Simon, like any good self-respecting squire/jester, prudently stays out of the way and calls helpful advice to Lady Redmane. "His right heel! That's his weak spot-- wait, that was someone else, wasn't it?"

Alice begins to wave her arms animatedly. "It is too, you mean dragon!" She sticks her tongue out at the dragon and gives him a raspberry. *thhhhhbt*

Tom, the dragon, crouches down and slowly paces from side to side in front of the cave, growling again and attempting to look menacing. He pauses at the raspberry, slowly turning and giving Alice the look. He then spins and faces the knight again.

"Eep!" is Alice's response to the look. She scurries away from the dragon and hides behind a fairly large boulder -- large enough to mostly hide Alice anyway. "Heeeeelp!"

Agatha is forced to crouch down as well, and looks out from behind her shield to look for a vulnerable spot -- namely the space between the left side and the arm where you always pretend to stab someone so they can hold the sword in place.

Tom stays low, waggling his fingers as if they were claws. "I'll enjoy eating you for dinner," he taunts yet again. He does, however, seem to have left himself open for being stabbed just under the left arm.

Agatha feints to the right with her shield, and jabs her sword towards the gap under the dragon's armpit. "Have at you!"

While dragon and knight fight, from the blackness of the cave behind her, Alice hears a faint noise. At first she thinks it's running water, but on listening closer, it sounds more like the growling of a wild animal.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" chants Simon.

Alice, now behind the boulder, turns and seats herself down against the cavern wall and begins laying out assorted jewelry as the dragon's hoard. Occasionally she picks up a piece and puts it on or yells "Help me!" so everyone knows she in distress.

The "dragon" jumps backwards, deftly avoiding the knight's stab. He moves in, taking a swipe at her with his "claws" and comments, "Oh, come now, you can do better!" When he gets close he whispers, "Careful, I don't want to really get stabbed, okay?"

The girl, now in the process of putting on an earring, blinks. Her hand begins to shake and she slowly turns her wide eyes to stare deep in to the cave. The yelling ceases.

While the princess examines the treasure hoard, the growling grows closer, and more ominous, though still low enough that only the blonde child can make it out over the noise of the fight.

Agatha nods to her adversary with a grin, and moves closer with her shield offered out to take the dragon's blows.

"Where's the-- er, beware the dragon's fiery breath, Lady Redmane!" calls Simon from the side. Helpfully, of course.

Tom's claws rake harmlessly against the shield. "Curses!" he cries out and steps to the side, leaving himself open momentarily.

Agatha makes another slow jab at the opening, making sure the dragon can see what she's doing.

Alice's bravery doesn't last and she rises slowly, then begins to back away from the dark tunnel facing away from those outside. The earring drops from her nerveless hand and frightened she begins to shake ever so faintly.

Tom catches the sword this time and guides it under his arm. He cries out, "Oh, my liver!" And clutches at his chest, then collapses to the ground. "I am done for! Woe is me!" he wails.

Her attention transfixed by the sounds from within the cave, the young girl is oblivious to the surroundings outside, and her ankle catches on a fallen branch. She trips and loses her footing, then starts to tumble down the slope of the hill.

Agatha pauses in her attack as Alice trips. "Hey, are you okay?" she asks and starts to step back out of the cave.

The girl lets out a surprised squeak as her foot catches on the branch and with much pent-up terror screams for all she's worth as she finds herself tumbling down the hill. Her arms flail helplessly, sending her bag to the ground, before she loses her footing completely and tumbles down the slope wailing like a banshee. "HEEEEELP ME!"

Simon cheers, "Hooray! Lady Redmane hath slain Uptonogud-- erk?" The jester looks incredulous. As a rule of thumb, princesses freshly rescued sit primly and properly upon the dragon's hoard, rather than popping out as if they'd been ejected by a toaster.

Tom blinks and sits up on the ground. "Hey, that's not supposed to happen," he comments slowly, "What gives?"

Agatha lets go of her sword, rather than trying to pull it out of Tom's grasp, and runs out of the cave to see what's happened. "Alice?"

Tom gets to his feet, picking up the sword as he goes. He just looks around, confused.

The red-haired knight hears a faint growling sound as she chases down the hill after the tumbling princess, though it's louder to the newly-slain dragon, still by the cave.

Alice, it seems, has since left the cave and is now stumbling down the hillside right near the entrance as she frantically tries to stop herself. All that screaming, besides sounding like as if a real dragon was after her, gives her location away pretty well too.

"She must have tripped!" Simon exclaims. Perfectly obvious: The princess runs to give her accolades upon the knight who has rescued her, and trips over an unseen root or rock. "Quick, Tom, we've gotta catch her!" The jester starts running, but the terrain makes getting down safely a chancy prospect.

Tom blinks again, finally hearing the growling. "Ut-oh..." he says quietly, then takes off running as if the devil was behind him! He doesn't even seem to hear Simon as he cries out, "Run! There's something in this cave!"

"What, a real dragon?" Simon calls back.

Turning towards Simon when she hears the growl, Agatha searches for the lance the jester had prepared, remembering some of her father's advice about dealing with wild animals.

Alas, it seems in the confusion, Simon has abandoned the lance near the cave.

Tom runs toward Simon, then skids to a halt. He raises up the sword, unfortunately holding by the blade, not the handle. He turns and faces the cave and looks about, trying to locate the growling.

Tom looks about wildly, waving the sword around slightly. "Simon, where did Alice go? Where's Agatha? What's going on?" he asks rapidly.

"Someone grab the lance!" Agatha calls to the two boys near the cave. "And don't turn your back on the cave!" she adds before continuing down-slope towards Alice.

"I think she tripped when she was going to hug Lady Redmane," Simon yells back, pausing in where he was running after the red-haired knight. "She started rolling down the hill, and now she's out of sight! Agatha's going after her."

Tom's eyes narrow, keeping a close watch on the cave. "Simon, something is in there. I'm not playing around. Grab that stick you had and let's find them and get out of here, okay?" says Thomas.

Simon looks worried. "Shouldn't we, uh, let a grown-up deal with it if there's a wild animal in there?"

Tom nods, "Quite. That's why I want to get out of here. Grab a stick in case we need a weapon and let's move."

"I'm not much good with a stick, but feet won't fail me," the jester says to Tom, a bit piqued. "Let's go!"

Tom nods, then takes off running again, glancing back toward the cave now and then to see if they're being followed.

After a few minutes of frantic scrabbling against the ground trying to check her fall, Alice manages to bring herself to a halt near the tree line. There's a pounding on the ground nearby which at first she mistakes for the thudding of her heart, and she can still hear the growling that had frightened her from the cave, louder than ever. The growl seems to be coming from her right.

"Ow!" squeals Alice once she stops. As she sits up and tries to get a hold of herself, her eyes immediately snap wide open again, and she uses her feet to back herself away against a nearby tree, where she huddles in terror. "Mommy," she whimpers, and wraps her arms around herself and curls into a ball.

Something large and black thunders out of the forest next to Angel, then leaps over her in a single smooth motion, and charges on four hooves towards the sound of the growling. From the child's viewpoint on the ground, she can make out an equine body and the flip of a long, flowing tail. A short, pained yelp replaces the frightening growling noise.

"Is that you, Alice?" Agatha calls when she hears the yelp, and heads in that direction towards the trees.

The now shaking and sobbing young girl peeks out from between her arms and looks up, eyes glazed with tears, to try and find what just ran past her. She hears Agatha's voice and looks away from her search to find her, offering only sniffles to guide the knight's way, too scared to speak.

Agatha works her way along to Alice's resting place, and crouches down. "Are you okay, Alice? Did you hit any rocks or hurt your foot?"

The blonde girl looks up in time to see the dark equine shape vanish into the trees and undergrowth below. Her eye caught a flash of red at the animal's neck, before Agatha kneels next to her.

"W-w-w-wai-!" cries out Alice to the mysterious black horse who saved her, reaching out a hand to where the figure once was. But it's too late, and the figure is gone, leaving Alice alone with Agatha. The little girl breaks down from there and sits up so she can reach out and clutch her arms around the other girl. "Itwasthenanditanditcameandit-," stammers the girl through tears.

Agatha blinks in surprise, and checks to see if the babbling girl is gushing blood or has any bones sticking out, then picks her up and looks for Alice's purse. "It's okay," she says to the girl.

Though a few superficial scrapes and bruises show on her legs, Alice seems more shaken than hurt. Her skirt does have a small tear in it now, however, and her outfit is quite dirty from the tumble.

Alice continues to cling to Agatha, and doesn't seem to register or at least doesn't complain about being picked up. She also continues to babble in fright, "HecameandhesavedandLordMelhecameand ... "

Tom breaks swiftly through some brush and finally comes upon Alice and Agatha. "There you are," he says as he catches his breath, "Are you two okay? Alice, you alright? Simon said you fell!"

"She's a little messed up," Agatha says, "but mostly scared I think. She might have left Lord Mel in the cave."

It takes Simon a little longer to arrive on the scene, as he is forced to go around the brush lest he be jabbed by thorns. "Hey! What happened, guys? Is Alice okay?" echoing Tom's question of a minute ago.

Tom walks over and pats Alice's shoulder gently, "There there, Alice. It's okay, you're safe." He turns and glances back at Simon. "You didn't happen to see Lord Mel on your way here, did you?"

"N-n-n-nohecameandhe -- saved -- me," protests the shaken Alice. The girl looks like a mess. Her dress has grass stains and she's dirty from the fall, plus she's sobbing a small river, tears marking trails down the dirt on her face. She doesn't seem physically hurt, though. "He-he-he-d-did. Hecameand he saved me."

"Uh, no," Simon says. "I wasn't looking, though..." He looks at Alice, who seems to be too distraught to make much sense. Well. That made a little more sense, but still doesn't seem quite sensible.

"Slow down there, Alice. Who came and saved you?" asks Thomas.

Agatha gathers her thoughts. "There might have been a horse or pony that got startled. The stables aren't that far from here. Maybe that's who she means? Did anyone else see it?"

Alice sniffles a little more, reaching to rub her eyes and blink at Tom a little. It takes her a moment but she stops breathing quite so hard and manages to cease crying long enough to give an answer. "L-l-lord M-mel did," she explains. "H-he came and he saved me from the m-monsters. I saw him." She sniffles again.

"Alice," Thomas says softly, "Lord Mel is a toy. He couldn't have. We've just been playing make-believe." Thomas pauses, then asks, "Would you like me to go find Lord Mel?"

Alice frowns and shakes her head vehemently. "N-no!" she protests. "He's real. He's not a toy." Shortly after, she resumes sobbing.

Simon looks confused. "I didn't see anything, but you two got pretty far ahead of us," he tells Agatha.

Tom decides not to press the issue. Thomas then says, "Guys, I think we better find Alice's stuff and get out of here. She's pretty shaken."

"I'll back you up," Simon says nervously. He fishes out what looks like a little wooden slingshot from his backpack.

Tom finally flips the sword around and holds it correctly. "You don't have to, Simon. But if you want to ... okay." He turns and looks at Agatha and Alice again. "Wait here, okay? Simon and I will be back."

The younger girl doesn't protest. She just continues to sob quietly against Agatha, burying her head against the other girl's shoulder and repeating "He's real," every now and again.

"Well, something was here," Agatha says, looking off into the woods. "Did anything come out of the cave after you? I can carry Alice over to the ranch, and find out if one of their horses got loose."

Tom shakes his head. "Didn't see anything. That's a good idea. You guys head there. We'll get there as quickly as we can."

As the two boys approach the cave, they note the costume jewelry and other elements of the dragon's "hoard" scattered across the entrance to it. They hear nothing as they draw near, however.

Agatha nods to the older boy and starts on her way around the base of the hill. "I'm sure Lord Mel would go where the other horses are, Alice."

"He's n-not any horse. He's a unicorn and he's real," protests Alice weakly. With a bit of help Alice plants her feet back down on the ground and walks on her own, though she keeps close to Agatha and clings to the other girl's left hand.

Tom keeps his eyes straight ahead. "Hey Simon," says Thomas, "Gather up Alice's jewelry and we'll return it to her. I'm going to head into the cave. If you don't hear from me shortly, get out of here."

The smaller boy, having loaded a pebble into his slingshot and drawn it back, nods to Tom. "What do you think really happened?" he asks. "I know we all like to pretend, but... It didn't seem like she was pretending."

"Probably a wild dog or something was in the cave. I bet a deer was startled by Alice and that deer probably startled the dog," comments Thomas. The boy adjusts his hat and grips the sword firmly. He then steps into he cave entrance.

There's a musky, animal smell inside the cave that the older boy hadn't noticed on his earlier venture within its confines. When Simon moves to pick up the jewelry, he notices that it doesn't seem to be neatly arrayed the way Alice had it.

Tom flicks on the flashlight they brought for emergencies and shines the light about the cave entrance. "I'll keep lookout. Grab her stuff. When you're done, let me know." he says.

Simon hangs back near the entrance. "That must have been the boulder where Alice was hiding, 'cause I saw her go out of sight," he comments. Momentarily, he lowers the slingshot and pockets it so that he can scoop up the flashing gold gaudery. "Hey, this stuff is fake!" Simon says, as if he'd expected it to be real.

Tom shakes his head slightly and laughs. He doesn't comment; he just moves a bit deeper into the cave, now curious as to what started poor Alice and what growled at him.

There's a lot of scuffing around the entrance, probably from the kids walking back and forth, though there are some odd scratches in the dirt where the "hoard" is spread. As Tom moves further in, he hears a faint whine.

Tom shines the light in the direction of the whine.

The light illuminates uneven rocky ground, and then, as he continues to sweep it, Tom uncovers a dark hole where the tunnel leads down. His current angle with the flashlight is too far back to shine down the curve of that slope, but that seems to be where the noise would have come from.

Tom moves a bit closer to the hole, shining the light down it.

Tom raises the sword, just in case. Anything comes out of there and ol' Tom will play "Hasan chop"!

"Okay, I've got the jewelry," the younger boy's voice calls after Tom. "No signs of Lord Mel, though."

"Crud! We have to find Lord Mel," Thomas shouts back. He then adds, "Looks like there's an animal den in here. It's really cool."

On closer inspection, the hole seems to be more of a short drop, perhaps three or four feet. After the drop, the cave continues deeper in. No sign or sound of any animals, though.

Simon calls, "You sure she dropped Lord Mel in back there?"

Tom calls back, "I really don't know. Maybe she dropped him with her purse. Did you see that anywhere?"

Tom taps on the flashlight slowly. If they weren't expecting them back at the stables, he'd go down into that hole. Hm, perhaps later. He tries to shine the light into the hole at different angles and get a good look as to where things go.

"I thought she had that, but I could be wrong," Simon says, approaching. The littler boy smirks, seeing Tom looking around. "You just want to explore this, don't you? Maybe it's got pirate treasure in it!"

Tom glances back, grinning, "Well, yeah! There's this hole in the ground. It's just screaming for me to go explore it." Thomas grins and points with the light, indicating the hole.

"Well... Let me shoot a pebble in it and if anything yells, it's not safe, right?" Simon suggests.

Tom hmms. "Not a bad idea, there, Simon. Go for it."

The beam of the flashlight, when held low into the opening, pierces the shadows farther inside, reflecting off a wall several feet farther in. Tom can't get the light to illuminate the whole area without jumping down into it, though, so it might just keep sloping down rather than stopping at the visible wall.

The jester fishes his slingshot out again and loads it with a pebble, then takes sight on the bottom of the hole, angling it to go along the lower cave rather than straight down, while pulling the band back. "Here goes," he warns, then lets loose.

Tom listens as the pebble fires, straining to hear if anything cries out.

The pebble bounces against the far wall, where the cave continues after the drop off, then continues to clink for several seconds more, before rolling to a halt.

Tom hmms. "Sounds safe, Maybe whatever messed up her jewelry ran off with Lord Mel." Thomas looks over his shoulder and grins. "I say we go in."

Simon waits a bit, to make sure there isn't a delayed reaction ... or maybe he just doesn't want to go first.

Tom grins, not hearing any refusals. "Geronimo!" he shouts, then hops into the hole.

The sometimes-jester peers down after Tom to make sure that it really is safe and that he isn't going to be eaten by monsters disguised as rock walls. "What's down there?" he calls. "See anything?"

The boy's cry echoes in the darkness. As Simon waits above, after Tom has recovered from his jump, he hears just the end sound repeated a few times, and in his ears it sounds like, "No ... no ... no ..."

Tom shines the flashlight around, checking out the new section of the cave. "Gimme a second, I'll tell you," he calls up.

The cave continues, at a slight incline, for another dozen feet, but the tunnel is much narrower -- perhaps three feet high at the most. Thomas would have to crawl down it to check out the end, but it looks like there's another drop-off there.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Simon calls. "I'm going to wait here in case you need a hand up, okay?"

"Aww, alright. It's really cool down here," Thomas calls back. The boy then gets down and starts crawling down the passageway, keeping the light shining forward.

Keeping the light ahead of him while crawling is tricky, but the boy manages it. As he scrapes along the floor, he fancies he hears something, but the noise he made while moving drowned out whatever it was.

Tom pauses a moment and just listens. He then calls back, "Hey, did you hear anything?"

"Nuh-uh," comes the reply.

Tom continues on, then, moving slowly so he can keep the light forward.

When they speak, Tom hears the echoes of their words, like someone whispering deeper inside the cave, but nothing at all is audible when he's quiet. The drop-off at the far end is much deeper -- his flashlight barely reaches the bottom of it, at least twenty feet lower, and it diffuses at it gets lower, suggesting the narrow shaft broadens. It's at a seventy degree incline or so -- not quite sheer, but awfully steep for climbing.

Tom starts to back up. "There's another drop in here. We'd need a rope to go any further, I think," he calls back. Tom goes slowly once again, trying not to lose his flashlight.

"Next time!" Simon calls back.

"Yeah," Tom replies, sounding somewhat disheartened.

The brave but foiled explorer makes his way back to the first drop-off. As he's straightening from his crouch, after clearing the narrow tunnel, he almost knocks his flashlight into an outcrop from it he hadn't noticed upon entering. He manages to jerk the light back, however, and he turns to face his companion and get a hand out.

"You made it!" Simon says. He kneels to brace himself against Tom's weight, and offers a hand.

Tom reaches up and takes the offered hand. "I'm not a great explorer for nothing," he says with a grin. "Now, let's get out of here. I have rope back at my place. I could grab it next time we're out this way and go deeper." He pulls, and with Simon's help, exits the hole without any difficulty.

Tom slips Agatha's sword into his belt. He grins at Simon and says, "You should learn to be more adventurous. It's really neat down there. Next time, I'm gonna drag you with me." With that, the two walk out into the safety of the daylight and start the trek back towards town to meet up with Agatha and Alice.

Meanwhile, Agatha takes Alice to...

Danzwyck's Stables
This is a fine old New England-style house located where Miner's Road makes a right angle, two stories tall, wooden beams crossing over whitewashed walls, roofed steeply so that snow will fall off to the ground. The actual stables are behind the house, near paddocks and fenced off fields where the horses can be let out to graze and to be exercised. Miner's Road crosses the Cler River through a covered bridge called Eve's Ford, and a spur just short of that leads to the old boathouse.

The "shortcut" that Agatha leads Alice on to get to the stables takes rather longer than the red-haired girl expected, especially since the younger child is still agitated, and not the most determined hiker under the best of circumstances. Still at last they get in sight of the fenced pastures, where the figures of distant horses dot the land.

Agatha smiles when she spots the familiar shapes, and points them out to Alice. "We're almost there!"

The young Westfield has clung to the older girl through out the entire journey here. At the slightest sound the young girl jumped, or else clung all the closer to the knight for protection. When the stables are pointed out to her, she looks up. "Really?" she asks.

"Have you ever been to the stables before?" Agatha asks the younger girl. "I was your age when I first visited, for my birthday." She tries picking up her walking pace to see if Alice is willing to speed up as well, now that they're out of the "wilderness".

Alice begins to move faster, and by the look on her face she seems comforted some by the sight of the familiar structures. She smiles weakly, though the expression doesn't quite look genuine just yet. "Yah," she says. "I come here sometimes with my mommy -- I-I mean, the Queen -- because she thinks I should have 'ex-pose-er' to animals."

Agatha grins and walks along, keeping pace. "Well, then hopefully she won't mind too much about the dragon," she says.

"I like horses. Do you like horses, Agatha?" asks the younger girl. Though she still sounds nervous her voice has calmed considerably, and she has stopped rambling and nearly stopped stuttering as well.

"Oh, I love horses!" the redhead enthuses. "I ride here whenever I can."

As they close upon the fence, they start picking out the individual features on the various horses in the field, all wearing halters -- mostly brown and blue ones. A bay mare trots to the fence to inspect them, while a couple of roans eye them incuriously. A brown-and-white gelding grazes at the far end, and a black pony nibbles at a patch of clover.

As the two walk along the young Alice brightens all the more. At the mention of riding she perks up, looking at the older girl in awe. "Really? I want to ride, too!" The girl's expression droops a little, and she wrinkles her nose. "But the ... Queen won't let me."

Agatha eyes the black pony in particular, but can't really tell if it's just been romping around in the woods. "You need to grow a little more is all," she tells Alice. "I was pretty big at your age, so I could start out okay."

"You're huge, Agatha! You're ... as big as Rebecca is smart!" remarks the little girl. She follows along, watching the horses and ponies as they walk by them. She doesn't seem to regard any of them in particular for any length of time and instead just takes it all in with a searching wide-eyed wonder.

Agatha winces a bit at the remark, but it's not as if it comes as a surprise. "Being big isn't all that great," is all she says.

The black pony swishes its tail at a fly, glancing back at the talking children. It wears a red halter, and has a dusty, grey-speckled stomach. The bay mare by the fence pushes her nose at the wire, trying to investigate the children for sugar cubes.

"But," the girl turns to regard the taller knight, "you can ride and you can reach the top shelves and you can look big and like an adult and things!"

Agatha automatically pats at the pockets of her jacket, but she wasn't expecting to come out this way today and so isn't carrying any sugar. "Well, I'm still just two years older than you. Would you really want to be looked at like an adult that young? I mean ... really?"

Alice just regards the girl with a look of confusion for a moment, perhaps not completely understanding the point the other is trying to make. "No?" she offers, though by uncertainty in her voice she doesn't seem to mean the answer. It sounds more like she might be offering it just to make Agatha happy.

"Oh ... never mind then," Agatha says as they walk along the fence, and smiles down at the blonde girl. "It is pretty cool to be able to reach up to the top shelf."

A dark brown filly trots to the wire and whickers at them. The bay hasn't quite given up hope, and moseys alongside them on the opposite side of the fence, pulling at tufts of grass as she does so. A voice cries out from the distance, "Hey! What're you kids doing?"

"I bet!" agrees the younger girl. She returns the smile, and for once since the incident at the cave, her smile looks genuine. The yell disturbs her moment of cheerfulness and she reacts with a start, at once scooting up against the older girl and clinging to her arm again. "H-hi!" she calls out nervously.

Agatha shades her eyes from the sun and tries to locate the person calling. "Hello? We need to use your bathroom and ... are you missing a black horse? We saw one in the woods!"

"Agatha?" the voice returns. It's one of the stable hands, Fred. "Don't tell me Raf's got out again..." The man scans the pasture as he walks down it towards the field, then sighs with apparent relief. "Nope, he's right here."

Agatha waves to Fred. "Are any others missing, maybe one someone was boarding?" she calls back, and leads Alice towards the man.

"Black horses? Nope, Raf is it." The portly adult gestures vaguely to the pony. "Why? Did you find one?"

Alice keeps close to Agatha, and as she approaches the man, she slowly edges behind the other girl so that eventually she's pretty much behind Agatha. "He's not a horse," the girl protests again. "He's a unicorn."

Fred grins at the blonde child. "Raf's been with us for eight years now. If he's a unicorn, he's been holding out on me something fierce, aintcha, boy?" He clucks to the pony, who snorts and returns to his grazing.

"This is Alice. She took a tumble down One-Eye's hill, and a black horse jumped right over her! I saw it disappear into the woods," Agatha explains. "Mind if I take her to the house to clean her up a bit? She tripped and got some scrapes."

With frown the blonde haired girl shakes her head again. "No! Not that one, he's a pony. Lord Mel is a unicorn and he saved me. He's huuuuge!" she explains.

The adult shades his eyes, studying his regular visitor's more timid companion. "She looks like it, all right. Take her on up. I'm sure Miss Danzwyck will see her cleaned up." He offers a fond, humoring smile to Alice. "Ahhhh, I see. Well, he wouldn't be staying here, then. I'm sure they'd've told me if we were boarding any unicorns."

"Ohhh." Alice looks up to Agatha, and points to the stable hand. "See? Lord Mel wouldn't come here. This is for regular horses and he's a unicorn," she tells the girl matter-of-factly.

"But usually he's just a stuffed doll," Agatha explains to Alice after thanking Fred, having worked out the logic during the hike over. "If he can change into a doll, he can probably change into a regular horse too if he wants." That said, she takes the girl towards the main house.

"That's silly," says Alice. The younger girl tags along and keeps pace despite her bumps and bruises, following Agatha towards the main house.

Hero Point Awards: 3 for Agatha for her debut; 2 each for Thomas and Alice

Previous Log: Welcoming a New Face to Court	Next Log: Lunchtime at Ainington Grade School

Thread Links
	Previous Log: Welcoming a New Face to Court Next Log: Lunchtime at Ainington Grade School		Previous Log: Welcoming a New Face to Court Next Log: Alice's Vision
	Previous Log: Welcoming a New Face to Court Next Log: Lunchtime at Ainington Grade School		Previous Log: Welcoming a New Face to Court Next Log: Lunchtime at Ainington Grade School

---

This site serves as a chronicle of sessions in an online roleplaying campaign moderated by Conrad "Lynx" Wong and May "Rowan" Wasserman. The contents of this site are (c) 2001, 2002 by Conrad Wong and May Wasserman except where stated otherwise. Despite the "children's fantasy" theme of this campaign, this site is not intended for young readership, due to mild language and violence.