He far preferred staying firmly on the ground, given the choice.
But after two busy but uneventful days, the two children were called up to the Observer Tree for a further, final briefing at the end of the second day. Flora and Cora had returned from another of their healing missions, magically repairing the damage done by the Humdrum’s DDT poison.
Both Roger and Mary had gotten used to their bickering ways. Although they were sisters and Witches as well, they were quite different personalities. Grannie Maddam was much more erfy and mouthy and given to showing her emotions than the Green Witch. But although Flora, the Green Witch gave off ‘airs and graces’, as Grannie would often accuse her, she in fact loved and cared for Cora, her little sister, very much indeed.
Roger wondered just what had gone on between them to have driven them apart for so long. Mary wondered about that too, but she also thought about what had gone on with her Gran and this Jak fellow. There was obviously more to her family background than she knew about.
As they stepped into the natural bowl between the eight great branches of the Observer Tree, Roger could see immediately that something was up. The Green Witch was standing by her Green Pool as stiff as a statue and with her hands balled into fists.
Mary ran over to Grannie Maddam who stood with her back to one of the towering branches, her face a fiery, beetroot red. “Something definitely has happened, and I don’t think it’s good!” Mary flashed a worried thought to Roger and Regor.
“Oh, what is it Gran? What’s happened now?” she asked, almost too fearful and sick to the stomach to hear any more bad news.
“It’s them filthy, good fer nuffin’ Humdrum hidiots!” she explained, almost exploding. “Me an’ Flo have been checking out what they’ve been up to, using the Green Pool, so as ter gets a good look-see; an’ yer won’t believe what they’re doin’ now!”
But then the Green Witch interjected. “Now, now Cora, no need for the dramatics! I’ll tell them, we must keep the Egg-bearers fully informed on what we’re dealing with.”
Grannie Maddam just harrumphed and nodded her agreement, her eyes still blazing with anger. “Well, Mary, Roger, the facts are these. The war has escalated! Humdrums, as you know, have their factories and what they call their Militia, strung all along the South Coast settlements. Although all their weapons of Mass destruction were banned after the Great War, it seems the Inglishe State Government have been secretly stockpiling them anyway. They’re now amassing these weapons, tanks and cannons mainly, and are advancing towards us. Right now!”
“You mean they’re sending in the militia, with guns and artillery, actual weapons that kill people just like what they had in the Great War?” Roger asked, shocked.
“I’m afraid so, dear,” the Green Witch replied sadly.
“B-b-but that’s illegal, isn’t it? I thought all the countries of Erf had made a legally binding agreement to never use such weapons again, for any reason!” Roger insisted.
“Yes, they had, but it seems things have changed. I think Morgrim is somehow behind this,” the Green Witch continued. “I don’t believe the Humdrums would be so stupid and rash on their own. Those high in the Government well know of the Powers of the Forests and even though these have been declining for hundreds of years, they still know of the potential power existing within our great arboreal realms.”
She came to a halt and stared grimly into her pool. Roger sadly realized there were now two forces of evil being sent against the Forest of Lundun, and not just one.
Roger quietly walked over to Mary and took her hand in his. “Well, Mary, I think we’re in for something even worse than Under Erf Monsters and Forest Fires now, but we’ve still got to keep our promise to Mavis, we’ve just got to get Regor safely hatched no matter what!”
“Yes, quite right of course, dear sister,” Grannie Maddam spoke softly, but with barely controlled venom. “Their usual Humdrum way of dealing with the Great Forest’s creatures and magic was ter always juss contain us an’ ter persuade all o’ their ignorant Humdrum populations that no such things as magic and magical creatures even existed. But now they’ve decided, or been persuaded more like, to expose our existence as a real and tangible threat!”
The Green Witch now pulled herself together. “Well, now we fully know what we’re up against, it is even more vital that we get you off to the Bower. You must get Regor hatched so he may inherit the magical powers of the True Dragons. But we must also warn all the Powers of the Forest that we can of the immense scale of threat that is now upon us.”
“But how are we going to win against guns, and ... erm … well, tanks and cannons? They’ll just blow all the trees and everyone to smithereens, won’t they?” Roger asked.
“Listen, Roger, and you too Mary. These weapons are truly awful. They are designed purely for destruction and death. But we wield Life itself. Our Magic goes far beyond such dead things as war machines and weapons. Now we only need to unite! The Powers of the Forest must be stirred into action once more. For too long too many have become separate and individuated from their fellows; behaving as but remote Gods and Goddesses of their own vain contrivance.
“This has been our great weakness over the recent centuries. On your journey you may well find many of the Old Powers of the Forest who will not welcome you or even heed you at all. They may be too long seduced by the wonders of their own private universes. Some may be harmless, some dangerous and a few you may well consider totally mad. But somehow, we must unite the Powers of Nature, for only then can we win!”
There was a brief moment’s stunned silence at these portentous words but then Grannie Maddam grunted and piped up cheerily, “All right, me dears, let’s get ter the camp-fire down below an’ have ourselves a nice, hot cup of tea, eh! I think we all needs it now, don’t yous?”
EPILOGUE
The Great Hall of Fire was nearly completed.
It had been built rapidly by a teeming army of mindless minion worms. Each worm but an empty vessel into which any knowledge and set of skills could be poured. Architects, Engineers, Artists and Artisans of every kind had been sacrificed to this great cause.
The Core’s great king, Morgrave the Magnificent, had first presented the plans for its construction to the Fire-Worm Conclave barely a month earlier. Its major purpose was to be the centre of operations for what Morgrave termed “The Grand Expansion”.
King Morgrave had called for a special conclave meeting, gathering together the ten Fire-Worm Lords of the Core, who besides the king himself and his brother the Master Spy and king’s chief advisor, Lord Morgrim, made up the totality of the surviving Fire-Worm Lords.
These being: Lords Morgaunt and Morgash, Lords Mordark and Mordank, Lords Morvile and Morvain, and Lords Mordread and Mordrudge.
These ten giant and brutal crocodile-like worms were comprised of five pairs of twins. These had survived the long wars of the core over the many past thousands of years, but were now ruled by King Morgrave as assisted by his sly and devious twin brother Lord Morgrim.
Unknown to the King himself, and all the Core Lords, it was Morgrim who now actually controlled and secretly ruled the Erf's Core. Controlling his mad, megalomaniac brother through the development of secret scientific enhancements and their mental and physical devices produced in his secret underground laboratories.
Lord Morgrim had for hundreds of years now, established many of these Under-Erf labs, manned mainly by greedy Humdrum Scientists and Psychonomists, such as Drs Mudfinger and Rab Idego.
Now his long-laid plans were at last coming to fruition.
“My Lords!” King Morgrave now gruffly rumbled. “I have called you here to hear a most stupendous announcement that will mark a great turning point in the illustrious history of the Core.”
Morgrave coughed and scratched at his gaudy golden crown as he seemed to falter in what he wanted to say, but then he shrugged and said, “So now, great Lords, heed well the words of my dear brother and our trusty Master Spy, Lord Mor
grim. He will now speak for me.”
“Thank you, my King, and welcome to our newly opened Fire Hall, my noble Lords,” Morgrim responded as he slithered into the centre of the chamber and politely addressed the conclave gathered in a circle about the central fire pit that blazed from the Erf-core, deep below them.
“My Lords,” he continued, “you are already familiar with the Black Dragons that have been added to our court as elite Royal Security Guards. These along with other advancements in protective body armour that our king has already been fitted with, will ensure increased security for us all.”
Two ordinary minion guards were now directed to open the great double doors of the chamber to allow the entry of a new cohort of Black Dragons, just recently arrived courtesy of Dr Mudfinger and his secret underground laboratory deep under Skiltland.
“Each Fire Lord will be assigned their personal Black Dragon who will guard and protect them at all times. Lord Morgaunt has already been kind enough to test his own prototype Black Dragon. He well knows their value I believe. Is that not so, Lord Morgaunt?” He smiled, slyly turning to the mentally controlled Morgaunt.
“Yes, that is so,” Morgaunt swiftly answered. “And I would add further that my very own brother and twin, Lord Morgash, attempted a surprise mock attack upon me with a squadron of his own grey minion worms. The Black Dragon immediately rendered my brother paralysed and unable to control them and then speedily incinerated the grey worms within seconds. My brother was not harmed and the truth of the attack was speedily revealed by a deep mind purge, this being but one of the many mental abilities these Black Dragons actually possess.”
“Yes, that is so,” Lord Morgash boomed in agreement. “The Black Dragons will prove to be an invaluable resource in our endeavours to subdue and rule all the Under-Erf, of that I am sure.”
“Very good, my Lords Morgaunt and Morgash, the King and his loyal Conclave and I all thank you for your co-operation.”
“But attend!” Morgrim continued. “The King and I are here to announce and unveil to you the Great Plan that our mighty King has devised in order for us to bring about the Great Expansion!"
He now turned toward the central fire pit and with a sudden mental flourish commanded the fires to rise. Red and orange flames billowed upward and formed a huge globe of flame that slowly rotated before them, it’s molten, undulating form slowly expanding and filling the chamber.
“Do not be alarmed, my Lords,” Morgrim boomed to them through the flames. “What you see and experience here is but a fiery, three-dimensional representation of our planet Erf. We will be able to move within it without harm, I assure you. I can control the fiery globe and focus in or out at will, travelling to any Cavern World or Kingdom we wish to inspect.
“I will take you all on a fiery tour around and within our planet Erf. This will follow a spiralling route out from the Core and taking in the major kingdoms. Some will be coloured red indicating they are already fully under our control. Those coloured orange indicate cavern worlds and realms not yet fully ours. Those that are blue are still fully loyal to the so called True Dragons. Those coloured green are trying to maintain themselves as neutral and all other areas left uncoloured are as yet unknown.”
Lord Morgrim now indicated for the Lords to line up and travel as twinned pairs behind himself and the King. And so the Grand Tour began.
As the spiralling tour made its way out from the molten, white-hot core, Lord Morgrim casually and nonchalantly announced to them, “Each pair of Fire-Worm Lords will be assigned a sector of the Erf to rule as Governors of all Cavern Worlds within that sector, under the central rule and command of the Imperial Core. At which time King Morgrave will become Emperor, with your full support of course.
“I myself will remain at the Emperor’s side as his Master Spy and Chief Advisor. I will, as we progress in our conquest of all the Erf, take on other roles and positions as are deemed necessary.”
The tour continued with Morgrim briefly indicating the many Cavern Worlds seething a bright red near to the Core, these already being familiar to the Fire-Worm Lords. But as they spiralled outwards, there were more orange-tinted realms and then as they neared the True Dragon’s Cavern World, half way out, they saw that most were still of a blue hue showing continued support for the House of Sivad and the True Dragons.
There were a few conspicuous patches of red-coloured kingdoms there as well though; some had just been recently added, such a Yekrut, Airys and Nadroj. But as they continued spiralling outwards, passing through the teeming abundance of Cavern Worlds in the outer half of the Under Erf, they could see that this was where most of the work lay to turn these realms from dithering neutrals or still professing themselves as following the Pax Dracona of the True Dragons.
“And finally, to conclude,” Morgrim told them as they circled just under the Erf's surface. “We come to the key to finalizing our complete rule of the whole of the Erf. Yes, Under-Erf and Over-Erf!”
Lord Morgrim led the parade of Worm Lords onto the surface of the fiery facsimile of the planet Erf. “Here on the surface we have long been denied any access, the sky and the light of the sun having always been as a poison to us. However, through careful and secret planning we have been manipulating the Humdrums, bringing them to an ever greater reliance on science and a complete disbelief in all things magical. They are now being equipped as a further force under our control and will help us eradicate all magic on the surface ... it will be a domain of reason and science only!”
Lord Morgrim now raised his bulky form toward the great fiery globe that slowly spun before them where the various continents and countries of the Erf were laid out along with its oceans and seas. With a brief command he slowed the spinning globe to a stop and zoomed inward, focusing down onto the key area that concerned him most, that being the ancient land of Albion, now called Inglande. He now indicated to the watching Core Lords for them to observe this area more closely.
“We are now developing sky protective armour ... and this along with ongoing experimentation in genetic enhancement will render all the Fire-Worm Lords immune to the deadly effects of the sun and the sky upon the Erf's surface!”
He now commanded for the fiery replica of the Erf to diminish and return to its original size and dimension. Then turning to the Core Lords once again he finished his oration and announcement, telling them, “Indeed my Lords, even as I speak, we are very near to launching our first attack and thus beginning the war of the Great Expansion ... we will obliterate the greatest bastion of magic left upon the Erf's surface, The Great Forest of Lundun!”
And there below them rotated the flat disc of planet Erf but now coloured completely red, from the core to the surface!
For a moment there was a stunned silence and then Lord Morgrim turned toward the King and with a great cry bellowed, “Long live the King, long live our Emperor to be! Ten cheers to our great leader, Morgrave the Magnificent!”
Then Morgaunt and the rest of the Lords all joined in a loud and raucous cheering, shouting ten times, “Long live Morgrave the Magnificent!” that echoed about their newly created Great Hall of Fire.
The War of the Great Expansion had begun!
* * *
BIOGRAPHY:
S R Langley is a… Writer and Poet.
Born last Century in the year of the Rabbit, he was raised in the Warrens of South Lundun, but after 18 years in the leafy suburbs, set out to seek his fame and fortune on the High Seas.
After some years circumnavigating Planet Erf, getting dizzy and then bored, he eventually returned home to his beloved Inglande where he finally caught a girl, settled down and after several years had gone by, discovered he had a family of five children, two cats and a dog!
He now lives in the vibrant Capital of the North West – and yes – he does of course support the greatest Football Club ever!
***
And don’t forget …
Check out his Author Website at: https://www.srlangleywriter.com
> And you can follow him on Facebook at: @SRLangley.Writer
Or on Instagram at: SoRoLangley or Twitter at: @LangleyWriter
Or you can email him at [email protected]
And he will always be very pleased to hear from you and will do his very best to reply!*
(* Doesn’t apply to Anti-Social Twits though!)
Subscribe to my newsletter to hear when the next book is coming out!
https://www.srlangleywriter.com/subscribe-contact/
Look out for the next adventure in the Dragon’s Erf saga, Dragon’s Nest, coming soon from S.R. Langley:
Dragon’s Nest
DRAGON’S ERF SERIES BOOK 4
NOW ROGER AND THE COMPANIONS OF THE EGG MUST TRAVEL INTO STRANGE REALMS FAR BEYOND THEIR UNDERSTANDING – FOR IF THEY THOUGHT THINGS WERE WEIRD SOUTH OF THE RIVER – JUST WAIT TILL THEY FIND OUT WHAT’S WAITING FOR THEM NORTH OF THE RIVER!
Friends and family are reunited – and some needed healing and respite has been had at last, in the magical realm of the Green Witch – but for a short while only!
For there is heartbreak and high drama in plenty, as the Companions of the Egg continue their mission across the perilous River Tymes, into the very heart of the Forest of Lundun.
Time is running out – the Dragon’s Egg must be gotten to the Dragon’s Nest to be hatched.
But where is it exactly? And what does Roger have to overcome to arrive there? And if he does – how on Erf do you hatch a Dragon’s Egg anyway?
Find out as Roger, Mary, Grannie Maddam and the ever faithful Nimp, journey onwards into places far beyond Man’s knowledge, or belief.
Dragon's Flight Page 18