The Adventures of Tarin and Zeke: The Dark Book - Part Five

      "How do we know you're not just letting us out do we get captured again and get into worse trouble?" asked Zeke.

      Tarin glared at him. "Would you rather stay in there, chained to the wall?"

      "No," Zeke whispered. "Sorry."

      "Don't worry about it," said the Darigan Grarrl. "Just go, and try not to get caught."

      "Got it," whispered Tarin, as he and Zeke crept out of the room.

      They quickly and quietly tiptoed across the hall, behind a suit of armor. There were no guards in sight. Tarin and Zeke walked the length of the hall and crept down a spiral staircase.

      "That's funny," whispered Zeke. "You'd think all the guards would be in here. I'm surprised we haven't been caught yet."

      "Shhh!" whispered Tarin. "You never know who- or what- could be in here."

      The young Neopets had no idea that all of the guards were back outside, keeping watch from the towers. Narcissa apparently had did not realize that two of her prisoners had escaped. It seems that she doubted that a pair of children could get out of the dungeons.

      "I think it's this way," whispered Tarin, peeking around a corner. Ahead of them was a wide hall with a dark red rug running down the center.

      "I think this is it," said Zeke.

      They carefully walked into the hall. Still, no one was in sight, no one at all, except....

      "Oi!" called the Darigan Krawk guard, from outside the doors of the throne room. He drew a short sword and quickly approached Tarin and Zeke. "What d'you-?!"

      The kids were too fast for him, though. Zeke pounced on the guard, pinning him to the floor, and covered his mouth with one paw. Tarin quickly disarmed him.

      "Where is the book?" asked Tarin. "Tell us or else!"

      "Or else what?" demanded the Krawk.

      "Hand me that sword, please, Tarin?" said Zeke, casually. "There's a good Kacheek!"

      "Okay, okay!" said the Krawk. "In that room down there, see?" he said motioning over his shoulder. "The door's still open. The book's on the stand! Now let me u-!"

      Zeke brought the hilt of the sword down on the Krawk's helmet with a bang. The guard's eyes slid out of focus and he went limp.

      "What did you do to him?" asked Tarin quickly.

      "Don't worry, he's only unconscious," muttered Zeke, checking the guard's pulse. "See? Now then, let's put this guy somewhere out of the way."

      And they did. They dragged him to a closet where they bound and gagged him. They left the door locked behind them.

      "It was that room, wasn't it?" asked Tarin. He nodded towards the room he was sure the guard indicated.

      "Yeah, it was," whispered Zeke.

      They went back down the hall. Fortunately, there were no more guards, and the door to the throne room was shut. The only open door was the one the guard told them about. They walked inside and a strange site met their eyes.

      The book, the one full of evil magic, was actually sitting on a stand in the center of the huge room. A deep violet light seemed to be coming from it, too. Tarin and Zeke approached the book.

      "Now," said Tarin, "we should get this back to Queen Fyora so she can destroy it." He hopped up and took the book from the stand.

      After that happened, the door swung shut. It was glowing purple. Zeke tried to open it. "It won't budge!" groaned the Eyrie, as he desperately tugged at it.

      "Of course it won't , you pathetic, little fool," said a cold voice.

      Tarin gasped and looked wildly around. Zeke ran back to him, and not a moment too soon. When his claws scraped the cool floor as he turned around, there was another pop in the center of the room, along with a flash of violet light.

      "I put a spell on that door so it would close, if anyone without permission lifted the book from its place," said Narcissa.

      "Then it was a trap, wasn't it?" asked Tarin, looking the Faerie in the eyes.

      "A trap? Yes and no," said Narcissa. "As I told you, anyone who entered and picked up the book would be stuck in here. But I actually did not expect you little pests to escape from my dungeons. But that does not matter. Not at all. Hand over the book and I may spare your lives."

      "We're not falling for that!" Zeke nearly shouted.

      "You two are acting braver than you probably are," said the Faerie coldly. "This is your last chance. Give me the book now."

      "You're not taking it without a fight!" shouted Tarin.

      Narcissa laughed at raised her wand. The book flew out of Tarin's hands and into the Faerie's.

      "I've been reading this book a bit," said Narcissa. "I think you'll find it very difficult to survive this."

      Tarin and Zeke braced themselves as the Dark Faerie shouted an incantation. They couldn't understand it at all, but something did happen. The edges of the room began to melt. Soon, the three were standing on a sort of island, surrounded by seven feet of a bright green acid on each side. Shelves on the walls fell into the acid, where they and their contents melted. There was nowhere to run.

      There was another incantation. Narcissa directed her wand towards Tarin and Zeke, who instinctively jumped to the side. It was a good thing, too, for a ball or purple energy had shot out of the wand. It punched a hole it the floor where they had been standing seconds ago.

      "Why don't you just give up?" asked the Faerie. "No one has ever defeated me before."

      "Well you were banished from Faerieland years ago, weren't you?" asked Tarin. "Queen Fyora must've been more powerful than you to drive you out!"

      "You little-!" yelled Narcissa.

      The room shook. Two potions that hadn't been destroyed in the acid fell from the top shelves. A corked flask shattered on Tarin's head, causing the Kacheek to fall to his knees in pain, and a red potion seeped into his fur.

      "It's too bad I couldn't dispose of you myself," said Narcissa. "Many of these potions are poisons that seep into your skin. Any moment now you'll be gone. I'll be watching. Take your time, I'm in no rush."

      Suddenly, Tarin felt different. Not ill or weak, but powerful. He looked at Zeke. A blue potion had hit him. Tarin stood up. Something was burning inside of him. He wanted more than anything to stop that evil Faerie. It flared up, and Zeke gasped. Tarin's fur was on fire, but it didn't burn at all. He knew exactly what to do.

      Tarin ran at Narcissa as fast as his little legs would carry him. He tackled her, and all the Faerie saw was a ball of fire, a tiny Kacheek inside, speeding towards her. The attack was not a complete success, however. Narcissa used magic to throw Tarin away from her. He went flying and skidded towards the edge of the island. Narcissa raised her wand and another energy ball flew at Tarin.

      Zeke leapt in front of his friend and stretched out his armed, when another unexpected thing happened. A huge blue shield appeared in front of them, and the energy ball disappeared on contact.

      Narcissa was very angry. "I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago," she said. She recited another spell from the book. Chains wound their way up Tarin and Zeke's legs, preventing escape. The Faerie raised her wand again.

      Zeke did something quickly. A blue force field appeared around Narcissa, trapping her. The book had fallen to the ground, away from her. Tarin had an idea. He concentrated very hard on his goal, and the book burst into flame. In seconds a pile of ash was sitting in its place. Inside the force field, Narcissa screamed in fury. Then, the room changed again. The acid was replaced by stone. The chains vanished into thin air.

      "We did it!" cried Tarin. Zeke scooped him up and hugged him.

      "I thought we were goners, back there, buddy!" said the Eyrie. "Now then, where were we?"

      "What's that?" asked Tarin. He picked up a scroll. A bottled Light Faerie was under it. Tarin removed the cork from the bottle and the little Faerie zoomed out of it.

      "Oh, thank you!" she said. "For freeing me, I will grant you both the power to zap your enemies in the Battledome. And I'll tell you about the scroll you picked up. Simply open it and say where you want to go, but speak clearly."

      "Thanks!" said Tarin.

      "Oh, and before I go enjoy freedom," said the Light Faerie. She turned to face the imprisoned Dark Faerie, who was watching them with a look of loathing. "Hello, Narcissa!" said the Light Faerie brightly. She blew a loud raspberry at her. Tarin and Zeke laughed.

      "Goodbye, and thanks again!" said the little Faerie. She vanished.

      "Now, I think we should be getting home," said Tarin. Zeke picked him up again and the Kacheek opened the scroll. "Queen Fyora's Castle!" said Tarin clearly. There was a flash of yellow light.

      They found themselves standing right where they wanted to arrive. They were in a cool wide hall. "Congratulations," said a friendly voice behind them. Tarin and Zeke turned around and found themselves standing before yet another Faerie, Queen Fyora herself.

      "Then you know what we just did, your Majesty?" asked Tarin, as he and Zeke bowed.

      "I was watching," said Fyora, smiling. "I did not expect that. I wanted to go and help you out, back there, but it seems that Narcissa has put a spell on her fortress. I can't get there. You were great, though!"

      "Thank you," said Tarin.

      "I think somebody would like to see you two," said Fyora. "A couple of teens have been very worried about you."

      "Katie and David," said Tarin. "Can we see them, please, your Majesty?"

      "Of course," said Fyora. "Follow me." She led them through the halls of her castle and back to the balcony where they had that discussion with Tarin and Zeke's owners before they left.

      "Tarin!" gasped Katie, when her Kacheek walked out. She scooped up Tarin and hugged him. "I was so worried about you."

      "I missed you, Katie," said Tarin. You're crushing me, please let go, he thought. He looked over Katie's shoulder and saw David with his arms around Zeke.

     *****

      They went home later that day. Tarin and Zeke's powers had worn off by then, but they were very happy. There had been a ceremony at Fyora's Castle earlier. Fyora herself had knighted Tarin and Zeke, and they had each received a uniform, a white long-sleeved shirt, violet pants, and a matching purple cloak with a golden brooch, and a beautiful gold medal. But the best part was not getting to be a knight, in Tarin's opinion. It seemed Katie and David had actually become friends, and that made him happier than he had been for days.

      Their adventure was finally over. Tarin went through all of it in his head as he climbed into his cool, soft bed. Still, something didn't feel entirely right, but perhaps it was only just a hunch.

The End

     *****

I want to thank flamer1234567890270 for reading this story first (without laughing!). I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading! :D