by Jaden Kent
Owen looked around the hut. There was
a huge cooking pot of bubbling brown
goo over a fire. Jars of spices hung from
hooks on the ceiling. A stack of old bones
was piled against the back wall.
Osgood put on a large chef’s hat. He
tilted it to the right and then to the left.
“You are in big trouble for eating my
grumpkins is what you is,” he said. “Gimme
back the grumpkin you did eat, or into my
stew pot goes you.”
Ella’s eyes widened in shock. “I can’t
replace the grumpkin. I ate it.”
“Suit yourself,” said Osgood. “Grumpkin
stew, dragon stew—no difference is there
to my belly.”
“My sister is sooooo, so sorry, Mr.
Osgood, sir,” Owen said. “She won’t do it
again.”
Osgood plopped spices into his
bubbling cauldron. “A sniffle of
bat curry, claws dried from a
newt, three drops of owl’s
hoot, two rattles of a snake,
and a leg of spider. Oh,
and let’s not forget fiery
lava salt and a splash of
scarlet red pepper.”
Ella perked up at the mention of the
pepper. “Pepper? Did you say pepper?”
“Pepper is fav-fav-favorite for me,” the
ogre said.
Ella smiled. “Wellll,
if you’re going to
make a cauldron of
dragon stew, I know
a very secret dragon
secret that’ll make it
the best dragon stew
in Ogreburg.”
“No!” the ogre said.
“Ogreville is where Osgood lives.”
“Right! And you could be the king of
Ogre-wherever with my cooking secret,”
Ella replied.
“Tell me this secret stew knowledge!”
Osgood said.
“Promise to keep it a secret?” Ella asked.
“All secrets are kept secret with me!”
Osgood replied.
“Very well,” Ella said. “If you want the
yum-yum-yummiest dragon stew, the best
thing to do is put a little pepper on the
dragon before you cook him.”
Osgood grabbed a few pinches of
pepper and threw them at Ella.
Ella sneezed. “Don’t forget the other
dragon. Two’s better than one.”
Owen backed up in the cage. “Oh no. I’m
not a fan of pepper. Really.”
“But I am so much a fan of making you
yummy to my tummy.” Osgood threw a big
handful of pepper at Owen. It landed right
on Owen’s nose.
Owen’s nose twitched. His nostrils
wiggled. His scales shook and rattled. His
tail whipped in a circle. “Woo-woo-woo!”
he yelled. He tilted his head back and his
whole body shook as he sneezed a blaze
of dragon fire. “AH-CHOO!” Fire shot out
of his mouth and scorched the cage.
Osgood stumbled backward. “Aaaaah!
Dragon fire!” he shouted.
“AH-CHOO!” More fire shot out.
“AH-CHOO!” Then even more fire!
“Got to get away from the dragon fire!”
Osgood screamed as he opened up a
wooden trunk and jumped in, slamming
the lid closed.
Ella pushed against the door of their
cage. It swung wide open. “My plan worked
beautifully!” she said.
“That was a plan?” Owen asked.
“Yup. Now just run and don’t stop!”
Ella ran for the door of the hut, but Owen
stayed put and looked around.
“Hang on!” he said. Owen ran to the
ogre’s spice shelves and grabbed a jar of
ogre toenail clippings.
He paused to think for a second, and
then he looked down, popped dragon lint
from his belly button, and placed it on the
shelf where the jar was. “Good trade!”
Owen said. “Thanks, Osgood!”
“Thanks to you for not sneezing fire
on me again, oh mighty dragon!” Osgood
called out from inside the trunk.
“Who knew ogres were so afraid of
fire?” Owen yelled to his sister.
4
THE CAVE OF AAAAAH! DOOM!
“Run!” Ella yelled.
“No way!” Owen replied. “We’ve got
wings! Let’s go!”
Ella and Owen flew out of Osgood’s hut
as quickly as they could.
“Thank you for eating me not!” was the
last they heard from the ogre.
When they were safely away, Ella smiled.
“Say it,” Ella said.
“Nope,” Owen replied.
“Come on. Say it,” Ella said again.
“Nope,” said Owen.
“Just once! You know I earned it!” Ella
said.
“Okay! Okay! Fine! Thanks for saving
my scales, Ella,” Owen said. “I did not
want to end up as dragon stew!”
“Don’t worry, bro! There’s no way I’m
letting anything eat you!” Ella replied.
“Mom and Dad would ground me for one
thousand years if I did.”
With Ella leading the way, the two
dragons soon arrived at a dark and
creepy cave. A chill shot through
Owen’s wings as they landed at the
vine-covered entrance.
“I told you we’d find it!” Ella
cheered.
“Who ... who told you about this
place?” Owen asked nervously.
“A tree elf named Branchy
McElffenberry,” Ella replied.
Owen peered into the cave. “This place
is blacker than Mom’s toadstool pie. Are
you sure this is the Cave of Caves?”
“Sure, I’m sure that I’m sure!” Ella said
quickly.
“If this is the Cave of Caves, then why
does the sign say the Cave of Aaaaah!
Doom!?” Owen asked, pointing to an old,
broken sign that said the CAVE OF AAAAAH!
DOOM! in big red letters underneath a
screaming skeleton head.
“Because dragon wizards can’t spell!”
Ella offered. “Let’s get flapping, bro!”
“Swear on your horns that you’re telling
the truth!” Owen said as he glared at Ella
with his yellow eyes.
“Okay, so maybe I sort of, just a teeny
tiny little bit, kinda, but not much, didn’t
tell you the whole truth about the cave’s
name,” Ella admitted. “But Branchy
McElffenberry said this is where the
Dragon Wizard Orlock Morlock lives!”
“Aw, dragon scales! I almost got turned
into stew for this?!” Owen huffed. “I’m
going home!”
“AH-CHOO!” A fire sneeze shot from
Owen’s mouth and sent him flying out of
control.
PING!
ZING!
ZOOM!
Owen bounced about like a rubber
dragon egg until he smacked into the
sign that said the CAVE OF AAAAAH! DOOM!
The skeleton head fell off above the sign
and bonked him on the head.
“On second thought, lead the wa
y,”
Owen said as he rubbed his aching head.
“I’ve gotta get rid of this cold.”
Owen hid behind Ella as the two dragons
tiptoed on their pointy claws and carefully
crept into the dark cave.
“Hey, why can’t wizards ever live in
a place called the Cave of Yay! Fun and
Happiness!?” Owen whispered.
“Because that’s where all the fairies
live,” Ella whispered back. “And fairies
don’t like wizards because they steal all
their magic fairy flour to make Wicked
Wizard Waffles.”
The siblings stopped in their tracks as
they heard a loud GROWL!
“Please tell me that was your tummy
rumbling,” Ella said.
“No, it wasn’t me, because my tummy
doesn’t have big, scary eyes!” Owen
shouted and pointed to two huge eyes
glowing in the darkness.
Their eyes blinked, and then the siblings
heard a cave-rumbling ROAR!
5
VEGETABLES ARE EVIL!
Ella and Owen were frozen in fear. They
heard another ROAR! that echoed through
the cave. Something big and square
swooped down on them from above. It
had brown wings; sharp, stabby fangs;
red eyes; and smelled like breakfast.
“AAAAAH! It’s a giant Wicked Wizard
Waffle!” Ella screamed.
“DOOOOOM!” Owen yelled. He paused
for a moment and then said proudly, “Hey!
Now we know why they call this place the
Cave of Aaaaah! Doom!”
Ella and Owen gave each other a quick
glance, and then both yelled, “RUN!”
The panicked dragons flapped their
wings to escape. Instead of exiting quickly,
they bonked into each other and fell to the
ground.
“What do Wicked Wizard Waffles hate?!”
Ella asked as the monster waffle swooped
toward them.
“Very small puppies?!” Owen asked.
“No!”
“Gnomes!” Owen guessed.
“No!”
“Well they should hate gnomes. They’re
annoying!” Owen said.
“They don’t hate gnomes!” Ella replied.
“They hate music, so start singing!”
“Pixie bells, ogres smell, vampires hate
the day! When a dragon flies and blows
its fire, the villagers run away!” Ella and
Owen sang as loud as they could.
The Wicked Wizard Waffle covered its
buttery ears and flew from the cave to
escape their horrible singing. The siblings
turned and gave each other a high five.
“I’ve never been so happy that you sing
so terribly!” Ella said, relieved.
But Ella and Owen weren’t out of trouble
yet!
“Don’t move!” someone called out from
behind them.
Ella and Owen spun around and came
face-to-face with a wizard! It had:
CELERY ARMS!
CARROT LEGS!
A BROCCOLI BODY!
A CAULIFLOWER HEAD!
A POINTY HAT!
It wasn’t just a wizard! It was an . . .
“EVIL VEGETABLE WIZARD!” Owen
screamed. “AAAAAH! DOOOOOM! AGAIN!”
“Why did you sing to my Wicked Wizard
Waffle?!” the evil vegetable wizard yelled.
He pointed his asparagus wand at them.
“Tell me why you’re here, or I’ll use my
magic to make a really grumpy pancake!”
“I think he’s serious!” Ella said.
“Of course he’s serious!” Owen replied.
“He’s a vegetable!”
“We don’t want any trouble,” Ella
explained. “We’re looking for the Dragon
Wizard Orlock Morlock.”
“I am the wizard Orlock Morlock!” The
vegetable wizard waved his wand in the
air to look dramatic.
Owen glared at Ella. “I thought Stumpy
McElf-face or whatever his name is said
Orlock Morlock was a dragon wizard?!”
Ella shrugged her shoulders. “That’s the
last time I trust a tree elf,” she said.
6
DRAGON BUNNIES!
The two dragons were in a cage. Again.
Orlock pushed the door closed.
SLAM!
“I’m tired of everyone putting us into a
cage!” Ella complained.
The vegetable wizard had taken the
two dragons to his wizard dungeon deep
in the cave. Torches lit the room. Next to
Orlock’s workbench was a large statue of
a winged lion. On top of the statue was a
clear crystal ball. Dozens of magic items
hung from the walls, which were covered
in slimy moss and smelled like an old shoe.
“What’re you going to do with us?” Ella
asked.
“Turn you into flying monkeys!” Orlock
answered as he rubbed his parsley beard.
“That’s not a very nice thing to do!” Ella
said.
“They don’t call us evil wizards because
we do nice things!” Orlock sneered.
“Can my wings have racing stripes?”
Owen asked.
Ella glared at Owen. “You’re not helping!”
“What? At least he’s not going to turn us
into flying bunny rabbits,” Owen said.
Orlock perked up. “Great idea! Flying
bunnies are even funnier than flying
monkeys!”
“I know how you can make sure we
have huge bunny ears!” Ella said, thinking
quickly.
“If it needs magic fairy flour, don’t
bother. I used all of mine to make that giant
waffle you two chased away,” Orlock said.
“Nope. All you need
to do is pour some
pepper on Owen,” Ella
explained. “It’ll make
him grow huge bunny
ears bigger than a
unicorn’s horn.”
“Nice try! If I dump pepper
on him, he’ll sneeze fire, I’d
bet. Do you think I’m as dumb
as an ogre or something?”
Orlock raised his
asparagus wand to turn
them into flying bunnies.
“Wait!” Owen yelled.
“Maybe there’s
something we could
trade you so you’ll
set us free?”
Orlock thought for a moment, the
asparagus wand still held over his head.
“Well, there is one thing I’d be willing to
trade.”
“Name it!” Owen said.
“Dragon belly button lint for my lint
collection!” Orlock said.
Owen smiled a big smile. “I’ve got plenty
right—”
He looked down at his belly
button and his smile faded. He
had left all his belly button lint
with Osgood the ogre. Owen
looked to Ella (who washes
her belly button every
morning) and sighed. “I
hope you like being a
flying bunny rabbit.”
7
DRAGON BUNNIES?
Owen and Ella hugged each other.
Orlock waved h
is wand and . . . POOF!
The two dragons grew long bunny ears.
“Uh, we’re still more dragon than bunny
rabbit,” Ella said as she wiggled her fuzzy
ears.
Orlock waved his asparagus wand
again.
POOF!
Now Ella and Owen had fuzzy bunny
tails.
“Nope. Still not bunnies,” Owen said.
A frustrated Orlock waved his wand
again and again and again.
POOF!
POOF!
POOF!
With each wand wave, Orlock turned
Owen and Ella into dragons with bunny
teeth, dragons with cute pink noses, and
dragons with big white bunny feet. But the
one thing Orlock could not turn them into
was plain old bunny rabbits with wings.
“Are you sure you’re an evil wizard?”
Owen asked.
“Yes! But . . . I’m just terrible at casting
spells! All I can do is turn broccoli into
cauliflower!” Orlock threw his wand to the
ground and started to cry.
Ella and Owen couldn’t help but feel
sorry for him.
“Don’t cry, Orlock. It’ll just make you
soggy,” Ella said.
“Maybe there’s some way we can help?”
Owen said.
Orlock wiped his tears and picked up
his floppy asparagus wand. “It’d help if
you could turn my asparagus wand into a
rhubarb wand. Those are really powerful!”
“Um, not really sure how we’d do that ...”
Ella looked to Owen, who shrugged.
“We’d need ogre toenails to make the
magic potion, but the ogre down the trail
always tries to make stew out of me when
I go to ask for some,” Orlock explained.
“We have ogre toenails!” Ella flapped