The Royal Family’s knights had fear etched across each and every one of their faces. The evil army had armor that was colored solid black and its weapons were silver. While the Royalis army had weapons of gold and diamond, their armor was completely white. With the good and evil armies clashing, the war looked like a giant chess match played across the backdrop of a forest.
One of the king’s soldiers, a good knight, tried to help Kara up, who had been lying on the ground. But an evil soldier stood in the way. The good knight, pulling out his sword, sliced the evil man in half, only to watch him multiply. The evil soldier had split into two. Once again, the knight stabbed the man. The evil knight multiplied into four, then, with each successive stab, he multiplied to eight, then sixteen, then thirty-two. The army seemed to be increasing with every hit, making them impossible to defeat.
The royal army was doing their best to hold them back, but the queen’s army just continued multiplying after each physical brush. It was obvious that the royal army was going to lose if nobody came to their aid. Maddie was trying to punch and kick any and every evil soldier she saw. They didn’t die only because they would multiply after any fatal hit, not when they were harmed with a minor injury… making every evil knight an undead warrior.
But there was one flaw that Maddie noticed amongst the fighting. The goblins stopped for a moment, as if they understood the same thing. Brido was safely hidden behind a tree. Kara was being protected by a knight who was now battling thirty-two soldiers. He would eventually lose, and Kara would be captured once again. The group had to think fast.
“Did any of you notice-” Maddie began.
“That Lilith was watching but also was making sure she wouldn’t get distracted!” Ragon finished.
“She was watching the fight. But she stayed very careful. If anyone got within ten feet…they would be blasted apart! Because, they are possible distractions! If we can make the evil queen lose consciousness…WE CAN HAVE A CHANCE AT WINNING! The queen’s consciousness keeps the soldiers alive. She needs to focus on the spell she is performing! But if she loses her level of consciousness, then her army will be defeated!” Maddie cried.
“That is completely correct!” Ragon said with a smile. “Then, when the war is over, we can heal Brido! But right now…we just have to focus on how to sneak up on her! We will need to use the back of a sword. It’s nice and heavy and will most definitely knock her unconscious! It will be a painful too!” Ragon stopped smiling, “Oh no…” he muttered.
“What is it?” Maddie asked, worried.
“Princess Luna doesn’t understand…she’s calling the dragons. She told me when I asked her what her plan was! They will attack the army with fire, and they will multiply faster than ever!” he said, in a serious tone.
Princess Luna whistled as loudly as possible. The next thing Maddie knew, dragons swarmed left and right, breathing fire at all the evil fighters. It was the same clan Maddie had awkwardly run into during the beginning of her journey in Enchanted! The dragons looked just as they had before. Beautiful with their fiery red scales and snake-like eyes. The intensity of the war would only worsen with the addition of fire. As the dragons swooped down into the field, the clan took no mercy to the undead warriors. The fire blew in all places, hitting each and every one of the evil fighters. Maddie could feel the heat of the fire next to her face, and Samara unfortunately was burned in the process of watching (“WHAT THE HECK?!” she shouted as fire singed her cheek).
Some of the Royalis army began to run away because of the seismic multiplication of the guards. Others lost the battle because the undead made for fierce warriors. The few that had survived would end up meeting death very soon. Many of the good warriors had given up, and without their will to continue, all seemed hopeless. But the group was ready to put their plan into action. Samara ran to a good knight’s corpse and grabbed the sword. Maddie got ready to sneak up on Queen Lilith but…someone grabbed her. Well, almost. It was what she felt before. A magic force squeezing her throat. The queen had suspected their plan all along! What could they do?
After a minute, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her vision went dark. The war around her went foggy. “Maddie! Stay with me!” Ragon slapped her in an attempt to keep her awake. But, the evil queen did not like this, so, with a flick of her hand, Ragon was thrown back into a tree and knocked unconscious. Samara took the sword and hit the queen on the stomach instead of the queen’s back. Not part of the plan? Sure. But effective…yes.
The queen, in pain, stopped the spell on Maddie. Queen Lilith swayed for a moment before losing consciousness. The evil army immediately fell to the ground. The soldiers were nothing more than puppets. They were corpses who had been raised from the grave to be used as pawns. The royal army looked around, confused. The dragons, who had been perched on the nearby mountain, swooped down to look around as well.
“How odd,” said the large female Maddie had originally run into.
“Ooh! Mommy look! It’s the runaway food we saw!” squeaked smallest dragon. The one who had peaked over the rock. Maddie glared at the baby dragon, annoyed with how inexperienced she had been at the time she had seen them.
“Take her away,” the king said, bringing Maddie out of her memory. “Give her the magic blocking bracelet,” he ordered the guards. Maddie watched as the guards approached the unconscious evil queen, flinching every time she took a breath. They placed the bracelet on her ankle, picked her up, and dragged her back to the castle to be locked up in the dungeon. Maddie rubbed her throbbing head.
“How do we thank you?” asked a voice behind them. It was the king, eyes filled with tears, holding his daughter, Princess Kara.
“Well…” Samara began. Maddie gave her a quick nudge.
“What Samara was going to say was…we don’t need anything…” Maddie knew what they had done deserved a reward, but it was the least she could do after having ROBBED the Royal Family.
Samara looked at her and whispered, “There are things we need! A horse, food, water, a place to stay!”
Maddie glared at Samara, “We robbed them!” she cried as quietly as possible.
“YOU ROBBED THEM!” Samara said, giving Maddie a well-deserved slap in the arm.
“Fine,” Maddie began. She looked the king directly in the eye and prepared herself. “There is something we could use during this hard journey,” she began, staring at the king. Maddie trailed off but remembered what she had to say, “a horse. Well, two horses. To support us on our journey.” The king thanked the group multiple times then called over a maid and had her bring two beautiful, white Stallions. “They-they’re gorgeous!” Maddie said as she stared in awe at how beautiful these creatures were.
“And we are sorry-” Maddie began.
“YOU are sorry-” interrupted Samara.
“Yes. I am sorry about trying to take the magical ingredients…and the book…” she said meekly. “I just wanted to save my dog…”
“Normally, when a person steals something from our esteemed family, they get into a deep amount of trouble,” said the queen, “But today, since you protected Enchanted AND saved my precious daughter, I can forgive you. All I ask is for my spell book back. You may keep the ingredients.”
Maddie was relieved they didn’t want their ingredients back since she had already used them. She also didn’t want to see their reaction when they found out she possessed their missing key. So, she began to hurry things up…
“Thank you again…and now, we really have to go,” she said as politely as possible.
“Don’t mention it,” the king began, “it’s the least we could do after you saved our daughter.” Maddie looked up to see the king, queen, and two princesses together at last-a TRUE Royal Family-
“Thank you,” came a voice. It was Kara’s, “all that time with her was torture. Day and night, I was to clean the castle. But not regular cleaning. I was to clean the deadly parts of the castle. When she wanted the basilisk cages cleaned, I was to do it.
While the basilisks were still in there-”
Before the princess could finish, Maddie interrupted. “Wait, what’s a basilisk?” she asked.
The princess smiled and began to speak, “You see Maddie, a basilisk is the king of snakes. It can kill you with a single glance. In our world, Lilith figured out how to breed these creatures. She is known as the mother of snakes. A woman who can make them listen to her.” She continued her story. “then, when she was bored…she would beat me and torture me just to hear my screams of pain. She would use her magic to make me suffer in many ways. Once, she threw six deadly basilisks at me…because she knew I had no way to escape them. I was supposed to die today. But then, I appeared for no reason, gagged right in front of you. I never thought I would be rescued.”
“Well,” Maddie didn't know what to say, “I hope you are happy at last. And, thank you all for the horse.”
The magnificent creature kicked its hoof at the ground. Her white color and dark brown eyes made her look like a goddess on four legs. What more could Maddie ask for? But then she decided what she needed.
“Do you mind healing Brido and Ragon?” she pleaded. The king nodded and lifted his hand. Instantly, Ragon returned to consciousness, and Brido’s cuts healed, along with his body going back to normal.
Maddie wished they could do this with Sparky, but she knew only incredibly powerful magic could save him. After all, the poison that was injected into Sparky was not one the people of Enchanted were used to. Sure, Darkness Fangs were common, but it was common sense to steer clear of one. This was something Maddie had not known when she first stepped foot into Enchanted. The entire Royal Family wished the group luck on their journey. All three goblins, Maddie, and Sparky mounted onto the horse and set off into the distance, hopeful to finish their journey.
Chapter 12
Medusa
It had only been a couple hours after the battle, and Maddie held tightly onto the reigns of the horse. Ragon taught Maddie how to ride a horse and she had been having the time of her life. Occasionally, Ragon would correct her form, but other than that, she seemed to have a natural knack at riding horses.
“How much longer?” Maddie asked after switching positions with Ragon.
“It doesn’t seem too far…” he turned quiet once more.
“Ragon…do you know where you’re going?” Maddie asked hesitantly.
“Um…” a look of embarrassment crossed his face, “I heard a rumor that it was located not too distant from the royal palace. After the war, I figured it might be near the famous pond. The one where the Great Doobi fought his last battle.”
“SO YOU DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING?!” Samara shouted.
“Samara!” Maddie cried, “don’t yell at him! It actually makes sense…I like that idea, Ragon. Are we close?”
“Yes. We only have a little bit left to go,” he said, relieved that someone supported his idea, “I figured this area because the people here are very sentimental. I believe they would have chosen his last victory spot as the place where he would be buried.”
After about one hour more of riding, Samara pointed into the distance.
“Look!” she cried out in excitement. She waved her finger at a large castle
It looked like the type of castle that one would find in the Arabian desert. The palace pillars were made from white quartz. The iron doors stood perfectly in view. Something about this beautiful building drew Maddie towards it. The castle had a powerful glow. As if many things had happened there that only a true hero could understand. The aura of power felt so strong that Maddie thought this could be the place that would heal Sparky once and for all.
“It’s the palace of the Great Doobi. You know, the brave, mighty, and powerful dog that protected Enchanted,” Brido said in awe, “we can finally get what we want!”
“But, what about Sparky?!” Maddie shouted. She took a good look at her brown bundle of joy. His wounds were completely open as blood and bits of poison leaked out. The poison had affected him to the point where he now had lost weight and looked very shriveled.
“Don’t worry, there ought to be some sort of powerful magic in here. I mean, just look at the size of this place!” Brido interrupted excitedly. The group walked in and looked at an immaculate palace. It was as if it were cleaned on the hour every hour. But, by whom? Maddie silently walked through the entryway, footsteps echoing with every step.
“Who goes there?” asked a cold, cruel, and deep female voice. Maddie peered around the corner to see a woman with green scales for skin, snakes for hair and armor of solid bronze. The bronze was so dirty that this terrifying woman couldn’t even see her own reflection in the armor.
“Medusa. She can turn you into stone if you look into her cold eyes. You don’t want to get caught being here with her. I hear she isn’t very kind to her visitors,” Ragon shakily whispered. He hugged Sparky closer to his chest, “this dog won’t last through another monster battle,” he stated.
Medusa’s feet seemed to move so gracefully. It was as if she was walking on air. Maddie turned to watch the serpent-like woman glide through the halls as if she owned them. No! These halls belonged to Doobi. So, what drew her here?
“Why is Medusa in this world?! Medusa is from Greek mythology!” Maddie said in shock.
“There you go again,” Samara muttered, “haven’t you learned anything? Your world says it is mythology. They are all real here. These things aren’t just what you read about in books. They are actually alive. They are real, not myths, so would you stop getting all shocked about it?”
“Medusa is a serpent woman. She is cruel and mean. There is no telling what she will do to you if she captures you for any reason and decides NOT to turn you to stone,” Brido whispered.
“But she is in GREEK mythology! Not fairy tales! I refuse to believe she exists!” Maddie said, eyes screaming in protest.
“Look, a lot of things you wouldn’t possibly believe are here. And they are dangerous,” Samara responded.
“I sniff…company!” Medusa cackled. Maddie and the goblins took a step back. Samara looked as if she was about to sneeze.
“No. Not now Samara,” Maddie pleaded.
“Ah…ah…ah…chooooooooo!” Samara sneezed abruptly and proceeded to trip over her feet. She fell backwards and she knocked herself into a table, a vase flying off. Medusa started walking over in the direction where the group was hidden. “Sorry,” Samara whispered, “but, I don’t really know how to defeat this woman.”
“Come, come children,” she cackled, “tell me where you are! I just want to introduce you to myself!” she let out a laugh, more like nails dragged against a chalkboard. It was so high pitched, so unreal.
“You guys, we have to kill her by dropping something on top of her. I don’t know how she got in here, but she won’t stay long!” Maddie cried.
“Lilith won’t stop me. She may have been bad to you, but I will torture you more!” Medusa said, slithering towards Maddie, unaware of her plan.
Maddie looked over at the tall statue and thought if she could knock it over and somehow hit Medusa, she could defeat her and stay safe. Maddie kicked over the second vase, and when Medusa came over to turn them to stone, the statue toppled over and fell on top of the dreaded woman-creature.
“You think she’s dead?” Ragon asked, hugging a terrified Sparky.
“No,” Medusa laughed. She immediately rose from the ground, completely unscathed, “I can’t see that happening anytime soon. BUT YOU WILL BE!” Maddie turned to see Brido’s horrified look.
“I refuse to die today!” Brido cried out. Medusa grabbed Samara and pulled the goblin close to her face, staring deep into her eyes. In only one second, Samara had already been turned to cold, hard stone.
“No!” and for the first time ever, Maddie saw Brido cry.
“Aw. Brido, I know you loved Samara, but we have to keep moving!” Maddie whispered to them, “unless you want the same thing happening to us…”
&nb
sp; Medusa glided over. “Why are you chasing us?!” Maddie asked under her breath as they continued to run from the evil mythical character that was supposed to have never existed. The loss of Samara had hit everyone hard. Ragon was holding Sparky quietly. Maddie was too shocked to speak. Brido was bawling his eyes out.
“Lilith told me you could be The One. She had come over to gloat and say she found you. Being The One…you could bring me to power and break my dreaded curse. You would be the protector of the realms! The power!” she cried, “when I summoned the original great sorcerer, he would not permit me to have any power. For I already had too much. He said, in order to gain, I had to give up all my power. I had to start with nothing. I had traveled incredibly far. When I found the spell book of the gods, the Greek ones, mind you, I searched through it, desperate to find the spell that would lead me to gain all the power possible. I was too powerful for my own good. You, perhaps being The One, can assist me. You could break that rule. We can work together!” Medusa cackled.
There it was again. The One. What could this possibly mean?
“Us?!” Maddie yelled in shock.
“Yes. You can have all you desire if you let me do one last thing,” Medusa answered.
“Ok, and what would that be?” Maddie knew she would never agree but was curious to see where this question might lead.
“Let me dispose of your pesky so-called ‘friends’. Just let me turn them to stone so we can begin working together.” The two remaining goblins each turned around in shock, afraid of what Maddie’s response might be. But Maddie had a basic plan. She would rip the mirror off the wall and shove it in Medusa’s face. Medusa would see her own reflection and should turn to stone. Apparently, if you said no to Medusa, or even tried to hurt her, the only option was to live the rest of your life as a statue. Would Maddie even be able to use Medusa’s own powers against her? That was the plan.
Maddie Shirkoff: World of Odds Page 9