The Lost King of Geraptiku: Part Eight

     "Isn't it marvelous?" Zar asked.

     "Yes, but why did it have to be so far away?" Donis whined, rubbing his aching legs.

     "Here," Torinia said, handing him another vial full of a dark goopy green liquid.

     "What's this?" Donis asked, uncorking the bottle.

     "Slorg Syrup. Drink!"

     Donis did as she said, and immediately felt the familiar surge of energy run through his veins.

     "Sir Donis!" yelled a voice from the closest blue tent.

     Donis swiveled around and came face to face with a short white Draik who was dressed head to toe in golden armor.

     "Lieutenant Grayson at your service!" he yelled, saluting Donis with his gloved claw.

     "Er... hi?" Donis said nervously.

     "Follow me," Grayson said, grabbing Donis' paw and pulling him towards the most extravagant tent Donis had ever seen.

     The tent was decorated with two huge golden flags with large blue Ds woven into them. The blue fabric the tent was made of glimmered with a golden sheen in the setting sun. Donis gulped and reluctantly followed Grayson inside.

     "This," Grayson said, "is your army."

     Inside the tent sat about ten or eleven different Neopets, including Torinia and her Tasu. In the middle of the Neopets was a huge wooden table with a large map tossed over the top. On the map were small wooden figures painted either red or blue. At the end of the table was a small golden chair that Grayson motioned to.

     "Sit down, my dear King," he said, bowing deeply.

     Donis gulped and sat down in the chair. The other members of the tent grinned widely at Donis, obviously waiting for his commands.

     "Er," he said nervously, "Is this the whole army?"

     "Ha!" Grayson laughed, and the rest of the tent members laughed along with him. "Don't be silly! This tent is just for those of us who are important! The little warriors must stay outside to polish their weapons while we talk about the strategies of war."

          Donis gasped, and at that moment, something sparked in his mind.

     "Little, eh?" Donis thought to Zar, "Everyone thought I was little and couldn't possibly be of any importance, and look at me now! I'm a king!"

     Having made up his mind, Donis nodded and said, "Really? Well, I wish to speak to these 'Little Warriors.'"

     "W-w-what?" Grayson asked, completely stunned.

     "You heard me!" Donis shouted. "Now!"

     "Uh... yes sir!" said Grayson, nervously saluting Donis.

     He then pointed to a small green JubJub who sat at his side and yelled, "Kirt! Fetch the warriors."

     "All of them, sir?" Kirt asked, raising his eyebrows.

     "Of course! Now go!"

     As Kirt hopped off to fetch the warriors, Donis sat patiently and twiddled his thumbs as the rest of the army slowly made its way to the tent

     "Are you sure about this, Donis?" Zar asked, slithering off from Donis' lap onto the soft purple pillow that lay at the side of the golden chair.

     "Very sure," he answered, grinning at the stunned Kirt who walked back into the tent.

     "Um, Donis, sir?" he asked, saluting Donis and staring nervously round the tent.

     "Yes, Kirt?" Donis answered from the head of the table.

     "They're here," he said, pulling back the tent flap.

     There, standing at attention in perfectly straight rows, were approximately 200 warriors of varying strengths and sizes. They all, however, were wearing silver armor with sapphire blue Ds on the chest plate.

     "Welcome," Donis said, bowing to the warriors.

     The members inside the tent gasped at this display, but let Donis continue as he was, after all, the king.

     "I called you all here today to tell you what we are fighting this battle for, and how we are going to fight it," Donis said, pacing in front of the warriors. He gulped nervously and stared at the warriors for a while, but soon continued.

     "This is not going to be a battle of bloodshed," he said, "Nor is it going to be a mercy battle. I have asked my personal trainer and magician, Mrs. Torinia, to fit your weapons with a special spell that will send our enemies to this unnecessarily huge tent that stands behind me, where they will be kept until every single one is captured. Then we will make them our slaves! How does that sound?"

     For a moment, the whole battlefield was quiet. Then, a slow clap emerged from behind Donis and he swiveled around to see who it was. Torinia was clapping steadily, and walked out to Donis and stood by his side. She smiled and winked at him as, slowly, the other tent members begin to clap. Soon the whole battlefield was filled with the clapping and cheering of Donis' army.

     "I doubt that Vagio will be so kind!" Donis yelled over the crowd. "So go! And prepare yourselves to win!"

     ***

     That night, Donis sat in his pajamas at his desk in the tent that Grayson had led him to after dinner. He stared at the map that showed the placement of his troops and rubbed back the tiredness in his eyes. Suddenly, he heard a knock at the wood that held his tent up and jumped with surprise.

     "Donis? It's Torinia, can I come in?" Torinia asked, pulling back the tent flap.

     "Yeah, sure," Donis said, rolling up the map and stuffing it into his desk drawer.

     Torinia walked over to Donis' small cot that lay beside the desk and sat down. They stared at each other for a while, then Torinia patted a spot on the cot beside her, and Donis sat next to her. Zar, who lay on the pillow, opened one eye, winked at Torinia, who winked back, then closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

     "Something's changed in you, Donis," Torinia said, softly.

     "Yes," Donis said.

     "Do you know why?"

     "Well," he answered, scratching his head, "When I heard Grayson refer to the warriors as 'little', I guess it sparked some sort of pent-up anger in me, and I decided that everyone here was important enough to fight for. Even the Petpetpets that crawl in the dirt. I'm not sure where that speech came from; I just sort of made it up as I went along."

     He laughed a little and Torinia smiled.

     "You're starting to remember, aren't you?" she asked.

     Donis nodded and said, "I remember how it felt to be king and the responsibility I had to the people of Geraptiku."

     "That's good," Torinia said, patting him on the back. "This will help you to beat Lord Vagio."

     "How?" Donis asked.

     "Lord Vagio doesn't love or care for anything besides himself. His ego always gets in the way." She then stood up and started to leave.

     "Wait!" Donis said. "I still don't understand."

     "Oh look at the time!" Torinia said. "I have to go bathe Jada now! Tootles!"

     She then turned and ran back to her tent, leaving Donis sitting, completely befuddled, on his cot.

     "Do you know what she meant?" Donis asked Zar who opened his eyes and slithered off the pillow.

     "Yes, but I think you should figure it out for yourself," he answered, slithering to the end of the bed.

     Donis glared in contempt, and no matter how much he bugged him, Zar would not answer. He finally gave up, threw his robe across the tent, and fell asleep.

     ***

     "Are you ready?" Zar asked Donis.

     It was early the next morning when Grayson, who told him that Vagio's army was fast approaching, awakened Donis. Donis, yawning and stretching, had reached for the bottle of Slorg Syrup left over from his trek yesterday, and immediately felt rejuvenated.

     "As ready as I'll ever be," Donis answered, raising his sword.

     "Charge!" Grayson yelled pointing his sword at Vagio's approaching army.

     ***

     What felt like days later, but in fact were only a few hours, Donis crouched behind a rock with Zar at his feet.

     "Where do you think he is?" Donis asked, peering around the edge of the rock. What he saw made Donis lose his breath.

     "What is it?" Zar asked.

     "Vagio," Donis whispered, standing up from behind the rock.

     "How many times," Vagio said, walking towards him, "have I told you that I'm a Lord now?"

     He raised his claws and sent two huge fireballs zooming towards Donis, who ducked behind the rock. The fireballs whizzed past his head and hit a member of Vagio's army who was busy battling Grayson about fifty feet away.

     "I see Torinia has trained you well," Vagio said, sending another fireball towards Donis.

     Donis lifted his sword, concentrated on the fireball and pulled his sword through the air.

     As the fireball exploded, Donis laughed and said, "Yes, she has."

     After an hour of battling with Vagio, Zar slowly slithered towards Vagio's ankles.

     "What are you doing?" Donis asked Zar with his mind.

     "Just watch," the Quetzal answered.

     Then Zar began to throw dirt from the ground on to Vagio's heavily embroidered cloak. Suddenly, Donis remembered Torinia's words and grinned.

     "Oh Lord Vagio," he called, "You've got a little dirt on the hem of your marvelous cloak!"

     Vagio gasped and looked down.

     "Oh my goodness! My precious cloak!" he said, sending small fireballs at Zar who quickly slithered out of his reach.

     Donis laughed and took the opportunity to send a huge stream of water at Vagio. The water hit him in the middle of his back, and he screamed with surprise.

     "Why you-" he began, but Donis didn't get to hear the rest of his insult, for he vanished in a puff of blue smoke only to reappear seconds later in front of his whole army that was encased within the large blue containment tent.

     ***

     "So," Torinia said, crossing her arms, "after all that, you're just going to leave us here?"

     A week after vanquishing Vagio's army, Donis, Zar, Torinia and Jada returned back to Torinia's house.

     "We discussed this," Donis said. "I'll only be gone for two days. I just want to explain everything to Hana. Then I'll be back to become King of Geraptiku once more."

     "I know," Torinia said, "But I don't want you to leave!"

     She pounced at Donis who sat on the floor packing Hana's Emergency Supply Kit bag full of supplies, along with a gift for Fyren and Hana, for his trip back to the door in the middle of the woods. Donis laughed and hugged Torinia back.

     "I just wish," she said, jumping up and brushing her eyes, "I just wish we had more cookies."

     She snapped her fingers, and a red Krawk with his hands and feet contained in golden handcuffs, ran around the corner of the living room and bowed deeply.

     "Yes, your eminence?" Vagio asked, with a slight twang of impertinence in his voice.

     "More cookies, please!" Torinia commanded.

     "Yes, your eminence... " Vagio said, bowing again.

     As he ran back to fetch more cookies, Donis laughed and said, "I'm going to miss you too, Torinia."

The End

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed my series! Please know that I do not condone the theory that all Lupes enjoy eating Chias; that's just the way that Fyren is. XD If you have any comments, questions or concerns don't feel shy to neomail me! Tootles!