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Happy Valley...
Dragoon shivered and wished his coat gave him more protection
from the cold. Bluey, however, was almost completely immune to the cold (or
at least, that's what he always said), and a light sweater was all he needed.
"Where's the Fairy stronghold supposed to be?"
Dragoon asked.
"I don't know..." Bluey said. "If we can't find
it, we should ask one of the locals."
"Okay, who should we ask?" Dragoon inquired.
***
"The S-Snowager?" Dragoon asked, scared. "You're g-going to ask the Snowager?"
"Of course! Who else would know more about Terror Mountain than its most famous
resident?" Bluey explained.
"But still... what if the Snowager gets mad
and blasts us with ice?" Dragoon said.
"Ah, ice, schmice," Bluey dismissed. Dragoon
was not convinced. "Okay... if the Snowager doesn't help us... I'll buy you
a grape slush."
"In this weather?"
"All right, all right! Geez, you are the most
difficult Shoyru I've ever met. Listen, we'll go and see the Snowager, and that's
final."
"Okay..." Dragoon agreed reluctantly.
The two traveled to the Snowager's cave, and
walked inside. The Snowager was asleep. This didn't bother Bluey. He walked
up to the sleeping serpent and tapped him on the nose. "Um... Mr. Snowager...?"
"RRRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!" The Snowager
reared up and blasted an icy blizzard at Bluey and Dragoon!
"Noooooo!!" the Snowager's victims screamed.
Their legs were frozen solid, trapping them in front of the Snowager.
"Hah! That'll take care of you thieves!" the
Snowager said, victorious.
"W-W-We weren't going to t-take anything..."
Dragoon stated, shivering.
"Whaaaaaaat?" the Snowager shouted, taken aback.
"Yeah, h-he's right. We're n-not t-t-thieves,"
Bluey explained.
"Oh, geez, I'm sorry. Oh man, this is embarrassing..."
the Snowager said.
"W-We just wanted to k-know where the Fairy
stronghold was," Bluey declared.
"Oh, the Fairy stronghold? I happen to know
exactly where it is. It's in an area on the other side of Terror Mountain. There's
a passage deep in the Ice Caves that'll take you there. In fact, I'll give you
a ride."
"R-R-Really?" Dragoon inquired.
"Sure!" the Snowager replied happily.
"C-Cool... b-but we n-need to t-thaw out first,"
Bluey said.
"Oh, right. I can fix you up." The Snowager
pulled a lever with his mouth. "When I noticed how so many people are freezing
when they come to visit me, I decided to install central heating. And since
I was the Snowager, the guy who put in it gave it to me free of charge! How
about that?"
The cave got a bit warmer and some of the ice
started to melt. When Bluey's and Dragoon's legs were fully defrosted, the Snowager
returned the lever to its previous position.
Dragoon sneezed. "T-Thank you."
Bluey sighed in relief. "I'm still a b-bit cold,
but I think we'll m-manage. You said something about a... a..." Bluey sneezed.
"Ah, excuse me. A ride?"
"Yep, I'll give you a ride. Just a second."
The Snowager pulled another lever, which lowered a portcullis that blocked entry
to the Snowager's cave. "Something else that central heating guy installed."
"I-Interesting..." Dragoon observed.
"Why don't you lower that every time you take
a nap?" Bluey questioned.
"You know, I never really thought of that. I'll
have to try that sometime. Anyway, get on," the Snowager said. Bluey and Dragoon
climbed up onto the Snowager's tail and walked along his body to get onto his
head. "Hee hee... that tickles!"
The Snowager reared up and almost lost his riders.
Quickly, the wintry wyrm turned around and traveled through a little known passageway
behind his hoard.
***
The Snowager and his passengers stopped in front of a huge pink castle. "This
is the Fairy stronghold, as promised."
Bluey and Dragoon gulped. "That's big..."
"Yeah, it really is. Sorry I can't help you.
I mean, could you just imagine me in there? I'd be smashing and bashing and,
whoa, that makes me feel alive."
Bluey and Dragoon leaped off the Snowager and
landed in the snow. "Well, thanks for all your help!" Bluey said.
"Anytime, anytime. And if you manage to pull
off whatever it is you're trying, come back to my cave. I'd really like to hear
what goes on in there," the Snowager said, smiling.
The Snowager and the two adventurers bid farewell
to each other. Bluey and Dragoon looked toward the castle. Dragoon shivered.
"Let's go!"
***
Bluey pushed open the ancient stone doors with a loud creak. Dragoon was frightened
and hid behind Bluey's legs. "Hello?" Bluey called.
"...hello... hello..." the echo responded.
"Is anyone here?" Dragoon asked.
"...anyone here... anyone here..."
Dragoon hid behind Bluey's legs again.
"Now, Dragoon, we can't have you hiding behind
my legs the whole time," Bluey said.
"...whole time... whole time..."
"Ah, stupid echo," Bluey stated.
"...stupid Bluey... stupid Bluey..."
Bluey hid behind Dragoon this time. Dragoon
grinned. "Now who's the coward?"
"Okay... we just need to get the Fairy's Orb
and get out. That's it. Simple enough..." Bluey reassured himself.
"Where would the orb be?" Dragoon asked.
"This is just a hunch, but... probably the highest
tower or the lowest dungeon. Because we're such cowards, I suggest we try the
highest tower first."
"Right!" Dragoon agreed.
The two traveled up a staircase. When they reached
the top, they felt a force pushing them back. They lost their balance and tumbled
down the long staircase. Bluey and Dragoon landed at the bottom of the stairs
with a loud "Oof!"
"Ugh... what happened there?" Bluey said, rubbing
his head with one eye shut from the pain.
"I think there's some kind of magical force
field," Dragoon observed.
"Why would they need something like that here?
I mean, it's almost completely unknown, deserted, abandoned..."
"...abandoned... abandoned..."
Bluey gulped. "Is it just me, or is that echo
only repeating certain words?"
"...leave immediately... get out now..."
Dragoon and Bluey cringed from fear. They were
usually so brave, why was it that this ancient castle was making them so worried?
"L-Let's get out of here!" Dragoon suggested.
The duo ran out of the entry hall as fast as they could. They found a door,
which was locked.
"Come on, come on, open up!" Bluey shouted at
the door.
"W-Why are we so afraid all of a sudden?" Dragoon
asked.
"Yeah, I know," Bluey replied, still pounding
on the door. "What is making us so scared?"
The door collapsed. "EVERYTHING!!!" the duo
screamed. In front of them were assorted zombies, mutants, and skeletons, all
clambering toward Bluey and Dragoon.
Bluey and Dragoon were paralyzed with fear.
Thoughts shot through their head. Move it! Get out of there! What are you doing?
For some reason, their feet were glued to the stone floor. They couldn't move!
The castle guards got closer and closer. Every
step the zombies made, Dragoon got more scared. Every step the skeletons took,
Bluey lost some of his courage.
In one desperate motion, Bluey and Dragoon hightailed
it out of the doorway. Their feet were free, their minds were cleared.
The duo made a sharp turn, almost leaving a
skid mark on the stone floor. They raced up the staircase once more. This time,
they smashed through the force field, creating a light show of purple sparks.
Bluey and Dragoon stopped to take a rest on
the balcony. Bluey bent down and put his claws on his knees. Dragoon sat down
on the ground. Dragoon was breathing hard. "W... What exactly happened down...
there?"
Bluey had to stop in between each word for a
breath. "I... have no... earthly idea, little buddy."
That did it. Bluey accidentally triggered a
secret defense of the castle. By saying "little buddy" Bluey and Dragoon switched
sizes. Dragoon became as tall as the high Bluey, and Bluey became as short as
the little Dragoon. The two didn't notice until they got a good look at each
other.
"Um... did you... have a growth spurt, Dragoon?"
Bluey asked, noticing he only came up to Dragoon's waist instead of the opposite.
Dragoon chuckled. "I wish!" He looked at Bluey
and his jaw dropped. "Um... Bluey?"
It was a weird sight. The dragon owner had to
look up to see his little Shoyru's face. It was awkward for Dragoon too, as
he had to look down to see his tall owner's face.
The two looked at each other for a minute. Then,
suddenly, they screamed at each other, and ran the opposite way.
***
Dragoon, not used to his new-found height, ran through the castle corridors.
Overcome with fear, he accidentally ran into a wall. Pain overtaking his body,
he flopped over backwards. While he lay out cold, he shrank back to his original
size. Then, he came to and got back up. "Huh? Wha...?" Dragoon noticed he was
back to his regular Shoyru size. "Ow... what exactly happened?"
Dragoon sat down on the floor and started to
cry. "Oh... I'll never find Bluey again! I never wanted to come to this stupid
castle!" A Miamouse appeared out of a tiny hole. The Miamouse squeaked at the
sad Shoyru. "Oh, hello little mouse..."
The Miamouse scurried off and Dragoon looked
into the Miamouse hole. "Wow, how did that little Miamouse dig through the stone
walls?" Then, a strange feeling overtook Dragoon. He noticed that the Miamouse
hole -- and the entire castle -- was getting bigger. "Hey... I-I'm shrinking!"
Dragoon exclaimed. When the feeling finally went away, Dragoon was about as
small as the Miamouse. He looked into the now perfectly-sized Miamouse hole
once more. Dragoon gulped. "Well, I guess it's better than sitting around..."
Dragoon delved into the depths of the castle.
***
Bluey was running away from his fears, totally out of character. He was usually
so calm and so brave. But the sight of him being small and his Shoyru being
tall scared the leather boots of the dragon's scale off him.
Bluey stopped running when he saw that he was
approaching a wall. He sat down by the wall for a rest. Then, a single tear
came to his eye.
A Miamouse, who was actually the sister of the
Miamouse who met Dragoon, came out of a hole in the wall. The Miamouse looked
up at the wrong-sized dragon and squeaked.
"Huh?" Bluey's ears perked up. "Oh, hey there..."
he said. "Would you happen to know if I'll ever find my little buddy again?"
Sensing what was about to happen, the Miamouse
ran off. Bluey felt compelled to get down on his stomach to take a closer look
at the hole. "Neat," he stated. "I wonder if it goes all through the castle?"
Bluey felt a strange sensation come over him.
He tried to shake it off. He looked at the Miamouse hole. Something weird was
happening to it. Is it getting... he thought. Bluey panicked. "I'm shrinking!"
he shouted. He closed his eyes and hoped it was all a dream. But when it was
undeniable that this was indeed reality, Bluey opened his eyes to see that the
Miamouse hole was now as big as him.
Bluey had shrunk down to the size of a Miamouse.
He was getting a severe case of deja vu.
To be continued...
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