“What is the danger?” Uniqua asked.
“Monsters, my Lady Unicorn,” the Bunny answered. “Great monsters that walk on four legs with sharp teeth. But the worst are the two-legged creatures. They stand twice as tall as your friends.” (Here he pointed to Tiny and the twins.)
Uniqua sighed deeply. Her legs trembled and almost buckled.
“What does he mean?” Karen asked worriedly.
“When the Dragons ruled this land,” Uniqua explained, “they kept the wolves and coyotes—like in your world—in check and protected the Bunnies. But unlike your world, these canines are very clever and smart. It means that when the Dragons could no longer protect the Bunnies, they have multiplied and have become stronger. This is their land now.”
“And the two-legged kind?” Carl prompted.
“Trolls!” Uniqua breathed in terror, and her whole body quivered. “They are the cruelest creatures I know who live on this Island. They aren’t the most intelligent creatures in the world, but they are the most savage. They will eat almost anything. They love to destroy things by taking them apart with their hands and teeth. Almost nothing short of magic can stop them, and even then it takes a powerful magic.”
“You could stop them, couldn’t you, Uniqua?” Karen hoped.
“No, child. I don’t have the power to do that.”
“There’s got to be a way,” Carl cried. “To have come this far—”
“I’m not afraid of them,” Tiny declared. “Why, I’ll bash their heads together. They’ll be sorry they even met me.”
Uniqua laughed softly. “Your heart and your bravery are as large as a true Giant. If you were still in Big Head, they would, no doubt, fear you. But alas, my friend, you would be no match for them. They will not attack you one-on-one, but like a pack. You would be quickly overpowered.”
Karen looked at Cassandra. “As a Dragon, you could protect us.”
“Look at me.” Some of the self-pity returned. “I am so small. The Trolls feared my parents because they were big and powerful. While they protected the land, the Trolls never left their caves in the mountains.”
“So that’s why no one ever crossed over the mountains,” Carl realized.
“Or under them,” the Unicorn added. “The Trolls dislike light, and they hate the sun even more. They like to dig tunnels under the mountains, too.”
“So, how do we get to Dragon’s Bridge?” Carl asked. “I’m not giving up now.”
All eyes turned on Buck.
“We’ll use the warren tunnels,” he answered after a moment of thought. “There is only one problem, though.”
“Only one,” Uniqua snorted.
“The tunnels are wide enough to allow two Bunnies to run side by side, but the height is smaller than most of you. At your present size, you could not fit in the tunnels.”
Uniqua chuckled. “That kind of magic I do have.” Everyone looked at her, kind of puzzled. “Fear not, my companions. I can make it possible that we all will fit through.” She did not explain further. “Lead us to the nearest entrance.”
While the Unicorn felt confident she could make it possible for the Group to pass through the tunnels, everyone else, including Buck, had their doubts. To make matters worse, the howl of a wolf sounded in the not too far distance. And, it was answered by other calls that were also not far away, maybe even closer.
“We’ve been spotted,” Buck said in alarm. “Quick! We must hurry.” He ran a few yards away to a rock lying on the bare ground. With a shove and a mighty push, he moved the rock away to uncover a tiny hole.
“I can fit through this opening. So can Hunny, Bunny, and Runny. But how can you—?”
“Dig,” Uniqua commanded. “Make the hole three times larger.”
“But then the monsters—the wolves and coyotes—can get in,” Buck protested.
“Dig!” the Unicorn commanded again. Her eyes became glassy, and her horn began to glow a soft white with streaks of blue.
The four Rabbits dug furiously even though the ground was fairly hard and difficult to move. The calls of the wolves sounded closer, and this made them work even harder and faster. Finally, a hole three times larger than before gaped before them.
“My sensors detect ten creatures running this way,” the Robot announced. “More are following.”
“Everyone except the Bunnies gather close to me,” the Unicorn told the Group. “Stay close. Touch each other if you must. My magic is strong but only in a small space. Now, Bunnies, lead the way!”
The wolves could now be seen, and they were running very fast. Gaunt with over-long and misshapen legs, their long tongues hanging out of their mouths between rows of sharp and filed teeth, their eyes bright red with a lust for hate and killing, they raced to be the first to savor biting into the flesh of our friends.
As the Bunnies leaped into the enlarged hole in the ground, Uniqua commanded, “Now!” And, the remaining members of the Group dropped into the hole.
Time and space are different for the different parts of the Island. Size changes, too. In Big Head, for example, the Giants are of enormous size, but when they step outside their land, they shrink to a normal size. The dinosaurs are very tiny in their forest, but, as with the triceratops, they increase to their normal size outside their forest.
But it was not just a matter of shrinking with Uniqua’s magic. The best way to explain it is to say that her magic created a bubble. Just outside her bubble, the earth kind of expanded, while inside the bubble, members of the Group kind of retracted. And, as the bubble passed through the tunnel, the earth returned to its normal shape. Looking at it from an external view, you might say that Uniqua had created an alternate dimension to squeeze through normal space without getting stuck in the tunnel.
After the Group passed through the opening, the Unicorn paused just long enough to stamp her hind legs. She created a cave-in that completely destroyed the opening. So that when the wolves finally arrived, not only could they not find an opening, they had no idea of where to begin digging. Even if they did dig a little, the Group would be far away from them.
The warren tunnel traveled a long ways underground. If the Bunnies had built trains in them, they would have been more like subways. Normally, when you travel underground, it should be very dark, since no light from above can penetrate the earth. In a subway, we have electric lights. Since the Bunnies had no electricity, they used the next best thing: a kind of phosphorus that gave off a constant glow. After a time, everyone could see where they were going, even if faintly. And, because Buck knew these tunnels very well—like the back of his hand—Uniqua just had to follow him and the triplets.
Deep thumping sounds could be heard behind them. Trolls had finally joined the wolves, and they were using heavy clubs made of wood or bone to smash the ground.
“Let’s rest here for a moment,” Buck suggested. They had arrived at a fairly large cavern where several tunnels met. “That way leads to an entrance close to Dragon’s Bridge.” He pointed to the Group’s left, or to the east, if we were above ground. “This tunnel will take us to Bunny Camp.” He pointed in the opposite direction. “I request you accompany me to Bunny Camp. The clans will be overjoyed to see you, Queen Cassandra. We can also refresh ourselves. Maybe we can make plans to help free our parents as well.”
“No,” Uniqua quietly counseled the Dragon. “We would waste precious time. Already, I fear that we are too large a group. More people will attract too much attention. Instead of a delegation of peace, we will look like an army going to war.”
“I agree,” Cassandra said. Something had begun to change in her. To Buck, she made her decision. “I will place no more of my children in harm’s way, friend Buck. We will go to Dragon’s Bridge. You will return to the clans. But I make you this promise: when I have freed my parents, I will come to Bunny Camp. Together, we will plan how to free Dragonland and make it safe again.”
Buck bowed to her. “My Queen’s desires are my commands.”
&nbs
p; “They’re here,” Prince Bot said ominously, which always means that something bad is going to happen.
Quietly, the Group could hear footfalls above their heads. Maybe they just imagined it, but they thought they could detect a lot of sniffing. The howls from these animals were deafening, however. They had been found! And, they were digging!
“They cannot dig through the rock,” Buck assured everyone.
But then came the pounding, and it sounded to the Group like someone was beating a drum, only they were inside the drum.
“Another reason why we can’t go to Bunny Camp,” Uniqua pointed out. “We’d lead them right to the Camp.”
“To Dragon’s Bridge!” Buck cried out, and he immediately stepped off down the correct tunnel that would take them there.
Above ground, the pack of wolves sensed their movement, and they stopped trying to dig in the ground but straight away started tracking their prey moving underground.
It would have been pointless to try and shake their pursuers off their trail. The tunnel ran fairly straight. When the Group finally reached its end, there was nothing to do but fight. If they reached the end quickly, thought, they might have a chance to race over the Bridge before the wolves and Trolls could catch them.
“We’ll have to dig when we get there,” Buck told the triplets as he loped as fast as he could. “The ground should be fairly soft. I wished our Mother had allowed me to get reinforcements. It would have been a battle to sing songs about for generations.”
“Who would sing them, if we are all dead?” Cassandra shot back. “War, battle, songs of battle: what has happened to you Bunnies?”
“The Great War might be over, my Queen, but we Bunnies still fight for our very lives.”
At last, they reached the dead end. Everyone was exhausted from the mad dash. For a moment, the monsters chasing them lagged behind. Maybe it was because the wolves were jumping and running around, excited to be so close to their prey. The Trolls were slow moving, and they often followed the wolves making circular patterns around the tunnel below their feet. So while the attackers never lost the scent, they were unable to pursue in a straight line.
“What time is it?” Carl asked absent-mindedly.
“It is after nightfall,” Prince Bot answered. “The moon will rise in exactly two hours, thirty-nine minutes, and twenty seconds.”
“How do you now that?”
“My chronometer is very accurate,” the Robot replied. “And, it self-adjusts to every known time zone on and off the Island. The weather will be cloudless as well. I am also programmed to monitor weather and geographic movements.”
“Scott would love you,” Carl commented.
“Get ready,” Uniqua broke into everyone’s thoughts. “We’re going through.” She dragged the Group towards the dead end and upwards to the surface. The earth and soil simply moved out of the way.
When they were above ground, Uniqua turned to Buck. “Quickly now, while the magic lasts. Return to the tunnel. Tell the clans that you met Queen Cassandra. Tell them to hope, for one day soon, Dragonland will again be free.”
Buck bowed low to the Dragon. Then with a leap and a bound, he hopped back down into the tunnel. The ground returned to normal.
Uniqua’s magic dissipated.
“Now, we run! Run quickly to the Bridge!”
“Wait!” Karen had an idea. She just then remembered the flowers in her pocket. Quickly pulling them out, she started throwing the foul-smelling petals behind her. “Now! Run!”
Their pursuers, perceiving that their prey were above ground again, ran straight for them. No more circling and dancing. They had only one thought in their minds: kill. But when they reached the ground where Karen had thrown the flowers down, the wolves suddenly put on the brakes and began howling: they did not like the horrible scent.
The Group finally reached the wood-plank bridge, the only access across the moat to the Islet. It was very narrow, wide enough to allow only one person to cross at a time. In single file, the twins started to cross it. In the daylight, it would have been quite scary. At night, in the dark, it was terrifying, because it tended to sway a bit with each step.
“Cassandra, no!” Uniqua shouted, looking back as she stepped onto the first planks. The children were allowed to race across the bridge first, followed closely by Tiny and Prince Bot. Uniqua was behind him with Cassandra and the Bunnies following her heels. Instead of intending to cross the bride, Cassandra had decided to make a stand at the head of the Bridge, protecting the children and the other members of the Group. Amazingly, she had grown to the size of an elephant, and she let out a terrific roar that startled the wolves and the Trolls. The enemy paused only for a moment, but it was enough time for Tiny, Prince Bot, and the twins to safely cross to the Islet.
The Bunnies took up defensive positions in front of Cassandra. They were ready to die to protect her. But the fight never came to pass. Cassandra, swelling her size even larger, bellowed a second time, and it was accompanied by a long, thin flame that lit up the night.
The enemy faltered a second time. They did not realize that they had been chasing a Dragon. Still, it was only one Dragon, and it was just a small Dragon at that. Rallying their courage, filled with the lust of murder, they bore down on Cassandra and the Bunnies.
The ground all around suddenly shook like a fairly strong earthquake. The air split with thunderclaps. The night sky became as brilliant as day. Cassandra’s parents had awakened, and out of their mouths came terrific roars and streams of bright yellow fire. The enemy finally quailed, meaning that they were very, very scared. The wolves stared whimpering and crying, as if they had been physically hurt. The Trolls covered their ears and then their eyes—they could not do both at the same time. Then they, too, started running away, howling in pain with their fierce voices.
The fight that might have happened was won without a single casualty.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
DRAGON’S BRIDGE
You know, it is always fun to go back to a place you like. I always looked forward to staying with my grandparents’ house for two weeks every summer. Not only did I get to be with my grandparents, I also always had a lot of fun.
With Cassandra, she was so happy to be reunited with her parents again. Yet, while this was a happy moment, it was also very sad. Unlike my grandparents who were free to go anywhere they wanted or do anything they wanted, Cassandra’s parents were prisoners. Their right legs had a thick chain around them. This chain allowed them some freedom of movement, but it was securely fastened to rings embedded deep into the ground. No magic or power known on Earth could free them of these chains.
Cassandra snuggled close to her mother and father. They, in turn, lavished her with affection.
“Now, Cassandra,” Father Dragon spoke to his daughter. “You must tell us how you got here.”
“First, let me introduce you to my dearest friends,” Cassandra began. She introduced the twins, the Unicorn, the Giant, and the Robot. She did not have to mention the Bunnies, for naturally they had served Cassandra’s parents before the Great War.
“Humans,” Father Dragon observed. His brow furrowed in thought. “Interesting.” Then he changed his tone to a friendly one and bowed his head almost to the ground. “You have our thanks.” Back to Cassandra, he repeated, “Tell us how you got here.”
For the remainder of the night with help and insertions from her friends, Cassandra told her parents every detail of the adventure so far.
“And now, we are here to ask the Lord of Power to free you,” Cassandra finished.
Father Dragon’s eyes appeared so sad. “That is not possible, my Daughter. I hurt King Kurt badly, and this punishment is fitting for my crimes.”
“Yes, Husband. We must remain in bondage to the Lord of Power,” Mother Dragon agreed.
“Ridiculous!” Carl muttered.
“Carl!” Karen admonished him.
“It is!” Carl insisted. “I mean, King Kurt started the war
in the first place!”
“That is not quite true,” Father Dragon corrected him. “No doubt you have been on this Island long enough to realize that we must share with our brothers and sisters. I did not want to share my pretty things. I caused him to become angry. If I had given him what he wanted, he would not have started the war. It was because I was selfish.”
“It was extortion!” Carl continued. “He had no right to demand anything. If the people of the Island want to share, they should be able to share freely, not be forced.”
“Still, I should not have hurt him. He suffered a lot because of me.”
“And, so have you,” Uniqua added.
“King Kurt has forgiven you,” Karen said, seeing that this line of dialogue was good. “He knows that he was wrong. He doesn’t want you to be a prisoner any more.”
Father Dragon thought about this a moment. “What you say might be true. But we cannot be freed without the Sphere of Life.”
“What is that?” Carl asked without thinking.
“The Sphere of Life has magic powers of healing and forgiveness,” Father Dragon explained. “It looks into the hearts of all people. It was by the Sphere of Life that the Lord of Power imprisoned us. Only the Sphere of Life can free us.”
“Where do we find this Sphere, Father?” Cassandra asked.
“It is hidden in the great door of the castle at the top of the Mountain of Power. But not just anyone can take it, Cassandra. As soon as you touch it, it will read your heart, and it will judge you. One needs to have love in his heart, not desire. For if the Sphere learns that you wish to use it for the wrong reason, it will punish you in a terrible way.”
“We must try,” Cassandra protested.
“I have given you my warning.” Father Dragon examined each member of the Group. “Of the adventures behind you and those to come, this is the most dangerous of all. It would be better to forget us. You humans want to return home, and that should be your only goal.”
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