Post by Sara on Oct 26, 2012 15:22:22 GMT -5
My story had been rejected because it "was found to have significant punctuation errors or would require too much reformatting"
I have looked over it, and re-sent it but I get the same problem. I seriously don't know where have I gone wrong so I'd thought I'll post the first part here and hope someone would be kind enough to point me the way...
The large clock tower stroke one, breaking the silence in this small dark town unknown to most of Neopia. In a distance, faint mootixes' chirpings could be heard. A large horus swooped down silently from a tree and caught an almost gummy rat in its beak. On the west side of the town stood an old and worn looking museum with its cracked paint just visible in the moonlight. A bulgy figure could be seen by the window as another tall fellow stood erect. The tall figure's head was hidden from view by a hood but as he moved his head up slightly, a ray of moonlight touched beneath the hood only to reveal a sinister looking mutant mask. "You sure are taking a long time, Rem, aren't you worried about the guards?" asked the tall creature as he toyed with a twig. There was no answer. The tall creature whistled and turned to face 'Rem'. "Hmm… we hadn't any storms for quite a while," the tall one let out a mocking sigh. "Hate to think that a big one is just on the horizon," he drawled slowly and gave a bored yawn.
A faint click was heard from the window and 'Rem' let out a long sigh of relief. The tall one turned sharply to 'Rem' and asked, "Did you do it? Is it unlocked?" 'Rem' spoke in a wheezy breath, "Aye, it is done." The tall figure rushed to the slightly opened window and pushed it open but 'Rem' pulled him back. "You'd better be sure that this would end our nightmare," he wheezed. The tall creature let out a shrill laugh and shook his grip. "Relax oldie; you can always count on me," he chuckled and started to climb in. A bright ray of light suddenly blinded him and he shrieked as he lost his balance and fell backwards. His hood fell back and his blue hair glazed in the moonlight for a few seconds before he covered himself again, too soon for anyone to notice his appearance. He picked himself up and tried to run away but blocking the path was another neopet with a bright torch, and although Rem and his accomplice couldn't see who they were, it's a safe to bet that they are the guards.
The person from inside the museum yelled, "HALT! What are you two doing here in the middle of the night?" Rem looked uneasy but his accomplice simply chuckled and pulled out his guitar. "You mean our quest?" he laughed mockingly, closed his eyes shut and taunted them, "How unlucky you two are today…." The guards saw deep purple flames burning in his eyes as he blinked them open. They panicked but they couldn't scream; it was as if someone took their voices away from their throats. The stranger played a tune from his guitar, his face of silent mockery, and flames of the dark shot out of the guitar towards the two guards….
*Meanwhile, somewhere in Faerieland*
It was getting late in the day, and a deep orange glow was settling at the edge of the foggy sky as the sun sets behind the trees. A biscuit aisha was making crunching sounds as he walked down the main pathway, scattered with dried autumn leaves, to the little faerie cake houses by the faerie city. His brother, a wraith korbat was fluttering beside him, sometimes stopping to watch a pteri's nest or a buzz's hive. The pathway was empty except for themselves but Faerieland is safe even at night so there was nothing for them to worry about.
"Boy, am I hungry. Did she say what we are having tonight, Theo?" said the korbat after running away from an angry looking mother pteri. "Probably something you dislike, Mailee," his brother answered with a slight chuckle as they turned around the corner and came to a dear little neohome, the home of their younger siblings. Theo rang the door bells and a seasonal kyrii, whose name is Kirryka, answered the door. She crossed her arms across her soiled apron and frowned. "You're late," she said gruffly. "Awww, don't be so grumpy. Your favourite brothers have arrived," Mailee joked but Kirryka simply said, "Hmph," before letting them in.
Running down the stairs were their youngest sisters, Tilly the baby kacheek and a baby grundo whom they called Liela. "You came! You came!" Liela shrieked as she ran into Mailee's arms. Tilly grinned and ran to hug them. "The others are all out on some school trip so it's been dull with just Kirryka, Pterill, Liela and me." Holding hands (and Liela chattered excitedly on something that none of them could figure out), they walked to the back of the dining room where Pterill the faerie zafara was placing the last dish on the table. "Hi guys, you've arrived just in time." Everyone took their seats and Mailee was eager to eat until he saw that they were having jelly food for dinner. "Jellies again?" Mailee grumbled. "Can't we just have some normal food for tonight?" "Now Mailee, be thankful that you have a family who cares a lot about you no matter how much trouble you get yourself into," Pterill replied. Theo quietly added, "You can say that again." Mailee gave Theo a dirty look.
A few minutes into dinner, Pterill exclaimed, "Oh, I almost forgot. This came in the mail for you, Theo." Theo's ears perked up and saw her sister holding a letter. "It was sent here by mistake a few days ago but I keep on forgetting to give it to you." Theo grabbed the letter and began reading it while eating his food.
"So Mailee, I hope you have been staying out of trouble lately," Pterill said.
"Don't worry, I have been a good boy," Mailee smiled innocently.
Pterill drank some water before asking, "Oh? That is not what that nice light fairy said."
Mailee swallowed hard and fiddled with his fork. "Wh-why? What did she say?"
"She said that she saw you-"
CLANG! Everyone jumped and turned to Theo who had dropped his spoon.
"Guys," Theo said, "Can we take a trip to the Haunted Woods?"
Pterill paused to catch her breath and then asked curiously, "Um, sure but may I ask why?"
Theo, still looking at the letter, replied urgently, "My friend needs me to do him a favour."
"And did your friend say what that favour would be?"
Theo shook his head and answered," He did not say… but I still owe him for, for... I just need to do this favour."
Pterill hesitated so she looked at Mailee and asked, "What do you say, Mailee? Do you want to have a vacation in the Haunted Woods?"
Mailee, despite complaining about the food, took a bite out of his jelly hot dog and replied, "Sure, I hope he has some interesting stories to tell because I've pretty much heard every story the faeries have to offer."
Pterill turned back to Theo and said, "Then it is settled. All four of us here would take a trip to the Haunted Woods. I don't mean the babies of course; our sister Kiki would be happy to attend to them," to which Tilly and Liela groaned.
Kirryka stop eating when she heard this. "Four of us? But, I-"
"It will be good for you Kirry," Theo interrupted. "You do need a break, you know."
Kirryka would argue but she knew she wouldn't get her way anyway. She did know that the Haunted Wood isn't exactly a 'safe' place to be but hey, what harm could it do, she thought as she gobbled up the last of her pinanna jelly.
*Two days later.*
The four pets had finally arrived at the village deep within Haunted Woods where Theo's friend lives. The village seems to be a traders' town although there seem to be a lot of construction work being done everywhere. Pterill was staying close to the group, scared stiff of all of the spooky coloured pets running about.
"Th-there sure are a lot of creepy ne-neopians out and about. Yo-you sure we are at the right place?" Pterill asked while trying hard not to clutch at Theo or Mailee would make fun of her.
"Hmm… we've turned right here and another 300 or so- yup we're on the right track," replied Theo who was engrossed in his map. "So much have changed since I last came here that this map is almost useless," Theo shook his head and sighed. Development may be good for the neoconomy but he sure is glad that Faerieland is sleepy enough.
Mailee darted here and there examining the place. "This place is great. We really should move here," he said excitedly as he saw a wraith pteri flying above his head.
Kirryka glared at him, and stayed close to Pterill with her hand on the hilt of 'Lealtad' or 'Loyalty', her trusted sword. She's thankful that she remembered to bring a few weapons with her, not that she often leaves without them. The journey seemed to be going on forever. The village had narrow, windy pathways which go around houses and other buildings and made it hard to keep track of where you are. They had just passed old shops, wilting gardens, dry, barren orchards and now they were walking past a haunted graveyard. Pterill felt that she had enough of this place and was sick with fear.
Just then, a faint tune had caught the korbat's sensitive ears and he jerked backwards. He shut his eyes, trying hard to focus on it. Yes, it's a beautiful tune; unordinary and delightfully enlightening. He had never listened to anything this sweet before, not even at the big Tyrannian concerts or the music played at one of Fyora's balls.
He realised that his siblings were a few paces ahead of him. "Surely they wouldn't mind… I won't be long," he murmured and took to the air to get a better view. But the tune is now mingling with the banging and clanging of the construction works. "Bother the noise," he muttered between his teeth as he tried very hard to locate the source of the music. He came to the edge of the marketplace by the entrance of a cave where a glowing kacheek was fiddling with a little violin.
Mailee stayed under the shadows to see if the kacheek was the one who played the music he heard. The kacheek coaxed a soft tune out of his violin and a few embers started to appear just above the ground in front of him. They swirled around in a pattern which captivated Mailee as he watched the unusual show. The kacheek had just noticed Mailee's presence but he just grinned and began to play a more powerful song on the violin. The swirling embers began to flare up and moulded to resemble two ballroom dancers. They danced to the music from the violin and Mailee could not help but move closer to get a better sight. The kacheek turned to look at him and he softly asked, "Do you like it?"
Mailee dreamily responded, "It is beautiful! The dance, the music and the embers…." He paused hesitatingly and the kacheek resumed his play. The lady's flaming skirt flowed like lava down to her ankles as she moved gracefully to the music with her partner.
Mailee gathered enough courage and asked, "Are you a sorcerer?"
The kacheek smiled at Mailee's response and said, "Maybe."
Mailee hugged himself with delight when he saw that the kacheek seemed to like him. The notes were now low and long and it was nearing the end of the song and the two flaming ballroom dancers twirled once, bowed to Mailee, and before the song is over they dissolved into thin air. "What trick was that? Can you teach me?" Mailee asked but the kacheek nervously replied, "I don't know… I'm sorry. But I really am glad that you like it. Would you like to hear something else? Something sizzling and fast." Mailee nodded his head quickly and replied, "Yes, please!"
The kacheek was ready to play another tune but they heard footsteps advancing towards them and a booming voice yelled, "YOU THERE!" A green skeith was standing over them, his face showed pure anger. He looked too well-dressed to be a thug with his Neovian costume but that did not prevent the two pets from getting frightened.
He grabbed the kacheek's arm and yelled, "How dare you play your talent out in public like this, let alone sneaking out the camp." The kacheek protested, "But I hate to hide from the world. My talents are meant for so much more than the camp. Didn't you see how happy it made this korbat felt?" But that only aggravated the skeith even more. "You're putting our lives in danger. You should never forget that." Mailee was shaken by the scene he was witnessing. The skeith noticed him and pointed a finger at him. "And you!" Mailee backed away. "Forget everything you just saw." Mailee didn't wait but he flew away from the cave as fast as he could.
******
Pterill felt uneasy; she knew her brother would be fascinated by this place and that she as a sister should have been watching over him. Now Mailee would probably be lost for days and it's all her fault. Oh, bother, bother… why was she so lost in her own fears that she forgot to watch over her brother?
"Okay, when did any of us last see him?" Theo asked. Kirryka shrugged and shook her head.
"I do believe about a quarter of an hour ago, he was telling us how he likes this place so much," Pterill sighed.
Kirryka groaned, "With his wings, he could have gotten anywhere in 15 minutes. I don't suppose we'll ever find him now."
Pterill bit her lips and stared at the ground guiltily. She felt a pat on her shoulder and turned to see her brother looking down at her. "We would find him, Pterill. It's not your fault, he's old enough to be able to look after himself without a little sister to watch over everything he does," and he gave Pterill a comforting hug.
*****
Mailee frantically flew through the crowds, almost colliding with everyone. He didn't know what the skeith would do if they ever see each other again. "No, I don't even want to think about it," he thought and shivered as he remembered the tales told by the faeries of how skeiths eat almost everything they could. He was so perplexed that he ran straight into a… faerie zafara?
"Ouch, who do you- MAILEE!!!" shrieked Pterill as she turned her head to see her brother on top of her. "We were so worried, where on Neopia have you been? And oh, you are heavy, please get off me" Pterill demanded as she shoved Mailee off her.
Mailee rolled away and stopped to catch his breath before replying. "I heard some…."
"You get us all worried because you heard something?" Theo asked disbelievingly.
"It was beautiful, magical and…."
"Forget it! We should have never brought you with us in the first place. You are nothing but trouble!"
"No, listen to me please!" pleaded Mailee and he told the story about the kacheek, the skeith and the show the kacheek played.
"That's awful! The kacheek should be allowed to play wherever he wishes to," Kirryka said when Mailee ended his story, surprising the others since she rarely pities anyone. Pterill looked at her and asked, "Don't you think we're stepping into danger by intervening?" But Mailee pleaded, "But please… We have to help!" Pterill wasn't sure about what they should do. She turned to Theo but before she could ask, he cleared his throat and suggested, "We'll go to my friend's house first and ask his opinion on this." Everyone agreed since the journey had been tiring and surely they were close to the place by now. "But remember, Mailee," Theo said sternly to his brother, "never, ever do that again. If you want to investigate something, tell us first and if it's worthy we'll go together, do you understand?" Mailee nodded and mumbled, "I'm sorry, everyone."
He was quickly forgiven and so they set off again to find the house of Theo's friend. They finally arrived at an old and worn looking cottage. "I believe this is it," Theo said while grabbing a key from the envelope. "If my friend is not here then he won't mind if we-" But he stopped when he saw a note nailed to the door. "Hello, what's this?" he asked and tore the note from the door. It reads:
"I would like to kindly remind my citizens that any assistance to a dark sorcerer who disobey the law of the land is strictly forbidden and those who disobey will face a life time in the dungeon. The former occupant of the house failed to heed my warning and his punishment will be made as an example to those who threaten the peace and security of Dark Thorns. Signed by Lord Pteridon."
"No…," Theo mumbled after reading the letter. "No… this cannot be right. My friend would never help such a fiend." Pterill walked up to Theo's side and patted his shoulder." I'm terribly sorry, brother but I really think we should leave. Things are getting more and more dangerous." Mailee shook his head, "But we came here all this way, we should not turn back now." Kirryka again voiced her opinion, "Theo's friend is in danger. We've got to help. Imagine it's someone we know. Would you help if Cheeta or little Orcrie gets into trouble?"
Pterill gave up to her sibling's determination and silently hoped for Fyora's protection. "He did save my life once," Theo gulped. "I am not going to back out now," Theo turned and his sisters noticed a tear dampening his biscuit face.
"So… what should we do now?" Mailee asked.
"We need to see this Lord Pteridon obviously," Theo muttered and walked down the path.
"But wait, Theo!" Pterill called. "Do you even know where he lives?"
Theo shook his head and frowned. "Who is he anyway? I don't think I've ever heard of him before."
"Lord Pteridon is the younger brother of Lord Kass," Kirryka said as she pulled herself onto the railings of the porch and looked out. Theo raised his eyebrows and turned to Pterill but she shrugged back. Kirryka went on, "When Pteridon was in his late teens, his brother sent him to Haunted Woods to learn the ways of the ghosts as well as to find the possibility of taking over Haunted Woods although Pteridon never knew. He fell in love with the place and to keep the long story short, one day he found out about his brother's plans. He went against his brother's will and warned the people there. His brother disowned him but the people were grateful and the head of one small village saw a good ruler in him and asked if he would be so kind as to rule their village. He accepted and the village had grown into a developing traders' town called Dark Thorns."
Mailee jumped up, "Why, we are in Dark Thorns now, aren't we? Someone would know where he lives then."
Pterill stared at her sister. "I didn't know you've taken an interest in Neopian Knowledge, I thought you enjoyed Petpetpetology?" she asked.
"I lost interest," Kirryka said lightly before jumping down and pointed to a castle just a few miles ahead. "I believe that is the place," she said and started marching off. The others quickly trotted to catch up with her.
When they arrived at the castle, a Halloween scorchio in a purple and grey guard uniform greeted them by the gate. "I believe you're not living hereabouts… What brings you all here?" he asked and took a good look at the strangers.
Theo stepped forward and asked, "Is this where Lord Pteridon lives?" The guard nodded and Theo continued, "A friend of mine was arrested for assisting a dark sorcerer. May I please know the details of the crime? What happened really?"
The scorchio narrowed his eyes and eyed them suspiciously, "You're not one of the bad 'uns?"
Pterill rolled her eyes and exclaimed, "Oh, please do we look like practitioners of the dark magic or something like that?"
"Looks always deceive, my dear lady," said the scorchio and he pulled out his baton.
"Look, I'm his friend," said Theo, "but I have nothing to do with the crime at all. I came here all the way from Faerieland at his request because he told me that was in some kind of trouble. I'd like to know the details of the crime, please."
"Nope, it's perfectly confidential. A pretty mess the lad caused an' he deserves to be 'in some kind of trouble'"
"But please there must be something we could know. I firmly believe he was innocent in this crime"
"Innocent?" the scorchio scoffed. "He's as innocent as I am guilty. Whatever makes you believe that he really is innocent?"
"Because he said in the letter that he was trapped and he would come to a bad end no matter which path he took", Theo said firmly, his eyes burning in determination.
The guard stared at Theo for a few seconds and asked, "Do you have the letter with you?" Theo fished it out of his waistcoat pocket and gave it to the guard. The guard read it slowly and carefully as Theo held his breath. After toying with the letter for a few minutes, he folded it and asked Theo, "Do you mind me keeping this as evidence?" Theo shook his head and said, "I'll do anything to proclaim his innocence."
The guard nodded and placed it in his front pocket. "I'm sorry lad, we were fairly sure that he was as guilty as anything when we caught him. Why didn't he try to prove himself innocent, I wonder. Nevertheless, I do believe you'd like some answers. There had been some funny things going on lately in Dark Thorns. Rumours said that a dark wizard is avenging the spirit of his father who was said to be killed by the village chief before Lord Pteridon came. We didn't pay much attention to that until a few days ago when your friend and the sorcerer tried to break into his Lord's museum. When they were caught, the sorcerer used flames of the dark to fight against the guards. One of them is still in a bad condition while the other told us what happened. Your friend admitted to everything but he wouldn't tell us neither the identity of the sorcerer nor his actual plans." Here the scorchio shrugged and looked at the museum which stood on the opposite road.
Everyone was quiet and didn't know what to say although none of them think a wizard avenging some death would break into a museum. Theo gritted his teeth. "He's protecting someone… someone, something would be in danger if he tells everything which is why he kept it a secret," he murmured.
"What did you say, lad?" the scorchio asked looking up to him.
"Nothing, can we please see him, sir?"
"I'm sorry, lad. Nobody is allowed to visit him. His crimes were big and the security control is tight. I advise all of you to go home and forget everything. After all, this -" he patted his front pocket, "may be helping him to avoid spending the rest of his life in the dungeons."
Theo nodded, mumbling "Thanks" and he sadly walked down the path with the others tagging quietly behind him.
They stopped at a little cafeteria for an early lunch as they discussed on what they should do. Although none of them were really hungry, they knew they need the energy to go on.
"I think we should stay out of this mess, Theo. After all, the scorchio was right; we have no proof that he really is innocent… what if he isn't?" Pterill questioned cautiously.
Kirryka joined in, "I agree. I would have said, 'let's go on' if the circumstances were different but I don't think we could do anything. Also, we are treading on thin ice with the guards against us as well as the rest of the people of Dark Thorns."
Theo shook his head as he pushed his fork into his pasta with eyes and said, "He didn't simply save my life that day. He did much more and I'm not leaving him when he needs me like any cowardly fair-weathered friend." Nobody spoke for a while and right after he took the last eyeball off his plate, he stood and announced, "We're going back to Remy's house."
"I take it that your friend's name is Remy?" said Pterill, hoping to buy some time for her to finish her own plate of pasta. Theo nodded and stared at a distance, lost in his own thoughts as he waited for his siblings to finish. After they paid for their meal, they all walked back towards Remy's house and Theo was determined that he would set his friend free at all cost.
When they walked to the door, Theo took out the key and unlocked it before pushing it wide open. They all peered inside and through the dim sunlight which poured in from the window, they saw that the walls of the entrance hall were 'wall-papered' with research papers. On one side of the wall, music sheets of all sorts were put up as well as information on rare, ancient musical instrument and on another, the papers were of ancient arcane lore. But other than that and the cluttered desk, the inside of the house was just like any other Victorian styled home, elegant and lavishly furnished.
Theo gasped when he saw the papers, "What are all these? What are you doing here, Remy?" he muttered under his breath as if Remy was welcoming them into the house.
They all walked in and looked at Theo expectantly. Theo sighed and said, "Remy is an archaeologist and he studies the magical remains of ancient civilisations. And since we are looking for something that would lead us to the problem he's facing which as we had known, involved some very dark magic, there would be lots of distractions about." He paused and looked around. "I don't remember him liking music but I don't think it would have anything to do with what we're looking for so we could just skip that part. So try to find something - anything that would help Remy."
The others said they would and went to search. Mailee flew up close to the ceiling where it's hard for the others to reach. Ways of sorcerers and some of their spells and rituals were written all over the papers. "These stuff look neat," Mailee whistled and wondered if their elder sister, Redda, would let him use some of the spells back in Faerieland. Pterill found sketches of monsters and stared in horror when she found some sketches of wraith beasts which she had seen since Xandra's betrayal. Again, she felt a cold shrill inside her body that reminded her that they might be walking into a trap themselves.
"Hello! What might you be?" Mailee asked and pulled out a recently pasted roll of parchments. He flew down and unrolled it on the cluttered desk and saw a map of Dark Thorns and a few villages around it with lots of notes scribbled about. "Aww, it's just an old map with lots of writings on. I was hoping that it would be some awesome ancient magic trick," Mailee sighed before flying back to the wall.
"A map with writings?" asked Theo and walked over to the table. He studied the map for a few minutes and noticed something strange. "Pterill, come here," he called.
Pterill left the sketches and walked over to Theo, trying to calm her nerves. "What is it that you found?" she asked.
"Not me really, it was Mailee. But see, Remy was keeping an eye on a particular gypsy camp that moves about in this area," he said and pointed to a number of circles on the map. "He marked their movements and it seems like they move every few days. The last one was marked only five days ago. We might as well try and ask them some questions, maybe they know something about what Remy was up to."
Pterill shook her head. "But Theo, gypsies usually don't like to be disturbed and they're not so trustworthy either. For all we know, they might be the ones behind it, those who framed Remy. If so, walking right into their camp would be walking straight into a lion's den."
While they were arguing, Kirryka found herself walking into the music section and was eyeing something out of place. It was a newspaper article on a legend of an ancient tome but before she could find out more, Theo called out, "Kirry, Mailee, what do you think we should do? Should we go after these gypsies?" Kirryka quickly tore the paper out as it seemed interesting, and turned to face Theo, "Since the very first day, I had oppose on this trip. There's something dangerous about - something very wrong and out of place. But you wouldn't listen and insist taking this trip so fine; you don't need my opinion," she said, placing the paper in her pocket.
Mailee rolled his eyes and said, "I'd like to know more about this thing. Everything is so exciting." Pterill looked at her two brothers and let out a defeated sigh. "Fine but remember that we're meddling with a huge offense, assisting a dark sorcerer. Let's be very careful and hope that Lord Pteridon's people won't think that we're one of them."
I have looked over it, and re-sent it but I get the same problem. I seriously don't know where have I gone wrong so I'd thought I'll post the first part here and hope someone would be kind enough to point me the way...
The large clock tower stroke one, breaking the silence in this small dark town unknown to most of Neopia. In a distance, faint mootixes' chirpings could be heard. A large horus swooped down silently from a tree and caught an almost gummy rat in its beak. On the west side of the town stood an old and worn looking museum with its cracked paint just visible in the moonlight. A bulgy figure could be seen by the window as another tall fellow stood erect. The tall figure's head was hidden from view by a hood but as he moved his head up slightly, a ray of moonlight touched beneath the hood only to reveal a sinister looking mutant mask. "You sure are taking a long time, Rem, aren't you worried about the guards?" asked the tall creature as he toyed with a twig. There was no answer. The tall creature whistled and turned to face 'Rem'. "Hmm… we hadn't any storms for quite a while," the tall one let out a mocking sigh. "Hate to think that a big one is just on the horizon," he drawled slowly and gave a bored yawn.
A faint click was heard from the window and 'Rem' let out a long sigh of relief. The tall one turned sharply to 'Rem' and asked, "Did you do it? Is it unlocked?" 'Rem' spoke in a wheezy breath, "Aye, it is done." The tall figure rushed to the slightly opened window and pushed it open but 'Rem' pulled him back. "You'd better be sure that this would end our nightmare," he wheezed. The tall creature let out a shrill laugh and shook his grip. "Relax oldie; you can always count on me," he chuckled and started to climb in. A bright ray of light suddenly blinded him and he shrieked as he lost his balance and fell backwards. His hood fell back and his blue hair glazed in the moonlight for a few seconds before he covered himself again, too soon for anyone to notice his appearance. He picked himself up and tried to run away but blocking the path was another neopet with a bright torch, and although Rem and his accomplice couldn't see who they were, it's a safe to bet that they are the guards.
The person from inside the museum yelled, "HALT! What are you two doing here in the middle of the night?" Rem looked uneasy but his accomplice simply chuckled and pulled out his guitar. "You mean our quest?" he laughed mockingly, closed his eyes shut and taunted them, "How unlucky you two are today…." The guards saw deep purple flames burning in his eyes as he blinked them open. They panicked but they couldn't scream; it was as if someone took their voices away from their throats. The stranger played a tune from his guitar, his face of silent mockery, and flames of the dark shot out of the guitar towards the two guards….
*Meanwhile, somewhere in Faerieland*
It was getting late in the day, and a deep orange glow was settling at the edge of the foggy sky as the sun sets behind the trees. A biscuit aisha was making crunching sounds as he walked down the main pathway, scattered with dried autumn leaves, to the little faerie cake houses by the faerie city. His brother, a wraith korbat was fluttering beside him, sometimes stopping to watch a pteri's nest or a buzz's hive. The pathway was empty except for themselves but Faerieland is safe even at night so there was nothing for them to worry about.
"Boy, am I hungry. Did she say what we are having tonight, Theo?" said the korbat after running away from an angry looking mother pteri. "Probably something you dislike, Mailee," his brother answered with a slight chuckle as they turned around the corner and came to a dear little neohome, the home of their younger siblings. Theo rang the door bells and a seasonal kyrii, whose name is Kirryka, answered the door. She crossed her arms across her soiled apron and frowned. "You're late," she said gruffly. "Awww, don't be so grumpy. Your favourite brothers have arrived," Mailee joked but Kirryka simply said, "Hmph," before letting them in.
Running down the stairs were their youngest sisters, Tilly the baby kacheek and a baby grundo whom they called Liela. "You came! You came!" Liela shrieked as she ran into Mailee's arms. Tilly grinned and ran to hug them. "The others are all out on some school trip so it's been dull with just Kirryka, Pterill, Liela and me." Holding hands (and Liela chattered excitedly on something that none of them could figure out), they walked to the back of the dining room where Pterill the faerie zafara was placing the last dish on the table. "Hi guys, you've arrived just in time." Everyone took their seats and Mailee was eager to eat until he saw that they were having jelly food for dinner. "Jellies again?" Mailee grumbled. "Can't we just have some normal food for tonight?" "Now Mailee, be thankful that you have a family who cares a lot about you no matter how much trouble you get yourself into," Pterill replied. Theo quietly added, "You can say that again." Mailee gave Theo a dirty look.
A few minutes into dinner, Pterill exclaimed, "Oh, I almost forgot. This came in the mail for you, Theo." Theo's ears perked up and saw her sister holding a letter. "It was sent here by mistake a few days ago but I keep on forgetting to give it to you." Theo grabbed the letter and began reading it while eating his food.
"So Mailee, I hope you have been staying out of trouble lately," Pterill said.
"Don't worry, I have been a good boy," Mailee smiled innocently.
Pterill drank some water before asking, "Oh? That is not what that nice light fairy said."
Mailee swallowed hard and fiddled with his fork. "Wh-why? What did she say?"
"She said that she saw you-"
CLANG! Everyone jumped and turned to Theo who had dropped his spoon.
"Guys," Theo said, "Can we take a trip to the Haunted Woods?"
Pterill paused to catch her breath and then asked curiously, "Um, sure but may I ask why?"
Theo, still looking at the letter, replied urgently, "My friend needs me to do him a favour."
"And did your friend say what that favour would be?"
Theo shook his head and answered," He did not say… but I still owe him for, for... I just need to do this favour."
Pterill hesitated so she looked at Mailee and asked, "What do you say, Mailee? Do you want to have a vacation in the Haunted Woods?"
Mailee, despite complaining about the food, took a bite out of his jelly hot dog and replied, "Sure, I hope he has some interesting stories to tell because I've pretty much heard every story the faeries have to offer."
Pterill turned back to Theo and said, "Then it is settled. All four of us here would take a trip to the Haunted Woods. I don't mean the babies of course; our sister Kiki would be happy to attend to them," to which Tilly and Liela groaned.
Kirryka stop eating when she heard this. "Four of us? But, I-"
"It will be good for you Kirry," Theo interrupted. "You do need a break, you know."
Kirryka would argue but she knew she wouldn't get her way anyway. She did know that the Haunted Wood isn't exactly a 'safe' place to be but hey, what harm could it do, she thought as she gobbled up the last of her pinanna jelly.
*Two days later.*
The four pets had finally arrived at the village deep within Haunted Woods where Theo's friend lives. The village seems to be a traders' town although there seem to be a lot of construction work being done everywhere. Pterill was staying close to the group, scared stiff of all of the spooky coloured pets running about.
"Th-there sure are a lot of creepy ne-neopians out and about. Yo-you sure we are at the right place?" Pterill asked while trying hard not to clutch at Theo or Mailee would make fun of her.
"Hmm… we've turned right here and another 300 or so- yup we're on the right track," replied Theo who was engrossed in his map. "So much have changed since I last came here that this map is almost useless," Theo shook his head and sighed. Development may be good for the neoconomy but he sure is glad that Faerieland is sleepy enough.
Mailee darted here and there examining the place. "This place is great. We really should move here," he said excitedly as he saw a wraith pteri flying above his head.
Kirryka glared at him, and stayed close to Pterill with her hand on the hilt of 'Lealtad' or 'Loyalty', her trusted sword. She's thankful that she remembered to bring a few weapons with her, not that she often leaves without them. The journey seemed to be going on forever. The village had narrow, windy pathways which go around houses and other buildings and made it hard to keep track of where you are. They had just passed old shops, wilting gardens, dry, barren orchards and now they were walking past a haunted graveyard. Pterill felt that she had enough of this place and was sick with fear.
Just then, a faint tune had caught the korbat's sensitive ears and he jerked backwards. He shut his eyes, trying hard to focus on it. Yes, it's a beautiful tune; unordinary and delightfully enlightening. He had never listened to anything this sweet before, not even at the big Tyrannian concerts or the music played at one of Fyora's balls.
He realised that his siblings were a few paces ahead of him. "Surely they wouldn't mind… I won't be long," he murmured and took to the air to get a better view. But the tune is now mingling with the banging and clanging of the construction works. "Bother the noise," he muttered between his teeth as he tried very hard to locate the source of the music. He came to the edge of the marketplace by the entrance of a cave where a glowing kacheek was fiddling with a little violin.
Mailee stayed under the shadows to see if the kacheek was the one who played the music he heard. The kacheek coaxed a soft tune out of his violin and a few embers started to appear just above the ground in front of him. They swirled around in a pattern which captivated Mailee as he watched the unusual show. The kacheek had just noticed Mailee's presence but he just grinned and began to play a more powerful song on the violin. The swirling embers began to flare up and moulded to resemble two ballroom dancers. They danced to the music from the violin and Mailee could not help but move closer to get a better sight. The kacheek turned to look at him and he softly asked, "Do you like it?"
Mailee dreamily responded, "It is beautiful! The dance, the music and the embers…." He paused hesitatingly and the kacheek resumed his play. The lady's flaming skirt flowed like lava down to her ankles as she moved gracefully to the music with her partner.
Mailee gathered enough courage and asked, "Are you a sorcerer?"
The kacheek smiled at Mailee's response and said, "Maybe."
Mailee hugged himself with delight when he saw that the kacheek seemed to like him. The notes were now low and long and it was nearing the end of the song and the two flaming ballroom dancers twirled once, bowed to Mailee, and before the song is over they dissolved into thin air. "What trick was that? Can you teach me?" Mailee asked but the kacheek nervously replied, "I don't know… I'm sorry. But I really am glad that you like it. Would you like to hear something else? Something sizzling and fast." Mailee nodded his head quickly and replied, "Yes, please!"
The kacheek was ready to play another tune but they heard footsteps advancing towards them and a booming voice yelled, "YOU THERE!" A green skeith was standing over them, his face showed pure anger. He looked too well-dressed to be a thug with his Neovian costume but that did not prevent the two pets from getting frightened.
He grabbed the kacheek's arm and yelled, "How dare you play your talent out in public like this, let alone sneaking out the camp." The kacheek protested, "But I hate to hide from the world. My talents are meant for so much more than the camp. Didn't you see how happy it made this korbat felt?" But that only aggravated the skeith even more. "You're putting our lives in danger. You should never forget that." Mailee was shaken by the scene he was witnessing. The skeith noticed him and pointed a finger at him. "And you!" Mailee backed away. "Forget everything you just saw." Mailee didn't wait but he flew away from the cave as fast as he could.
******
Pterill felt uneasy; she knew her brother would be fascinated by this place and that she as a sister should have been watching over him. Now Mailee would probably be lost for days and it's all her fault. Oh, bother, bother… why was she so lost in her own fears that she forgot to watch over her brother?
"Okay, when did any of us last see him?" Theo asked. Kirryka shrugged and shook her head.
"I do believe about a quarter of an hour ago, he was telling us how he likes this place so much," Pterill sighed.
Kirryka groaned, "With his wings, he could have gotten anywhere in 15 minutes. I don't suppose we'll ever find him now."
Pterill bit her lips and stared at the ground guiltily. She felt a pat on her shoulder and turned to see her brother looking down at her. "We would find him, Pterill. It's not your fault, he's old enough to be able to look after himself without a little sister to watch over everything he does," and he gave Pterill a comforting hug.
*****
Mailee frantically flew through the crowds, almost colliding with everyone. He didn't know what the skeith would do if they ever see each other again. "No, I don't even want to think about it," he thought and shivered as he remembered the tales told by the faeries of how skeiths eat almost everything they could. He was so perplexed that he ran straight into a… faerie zafara?
"Ouch, who do you- MAILEE!!!" shrieked Pterill as she turned her head to see her brother on top of her. "We were so worried, where on Neopia have you been? And oh, you are heavy, please get off me" Pterill demanded as she shoved Mailee off her.
Mailee rolled away and stopped to catch his breath before replying. "I heard some…."
"You get us all worried because you heard something?" Theo asked disbelievingly.
"It was beautiful, magical and…."
"Forget it! We should have never brought you with us in the first place. You are nothing but trouble!"
"No, listen to me please!" pleaded Mailee and he told the story about the kacheek, the skeith and the show the kacheek played.
"That's awful! The kacheek should be allowed to play wherever he wishes to," Kirryka said when Mailee ended his story, surprising the others since she rarely pities anyone. Pterill looked at her and asked, "Don't you think we're stepping into danger by intervening?" But Mailee pleaded, "But please… We have to help!" Pterill wasn't sure about what they should do. She turned to Theo but before she could ask, he cleared his throat and suggested, "We'll go to my friend's house first and ask his opinion on this." Everyone agreed since the journey had been tiring and surely they were close to the place by now. "But remember, Mailee," Theo said sternly to his brother, "never, ever do that again. If you want to investigate something, tell us first and if it's worthy we'll go together, do you understand?" Mailee nodded and mumbled, "I'm sorry, everyone."
He was quickly forgiven and so they set off again to find the house of Theo's friend. They finally arrived at an old and worn looking cottage. "I believe this is it," Theo said while grabbing a key from the envelope. "If my friend is not here then he won't mind if we-" But he stopped when he saw a note nailed to the door. "Hello, what's this?" he asked and tore the note from the door. It reads:
"I would like to kindly remind my citizens that any assistance to a dark sorcerer who disobey the law of the land is strictly forbidden and those who disobey will face a life time in the dungeon. The former occupant of the house failed to heed my warning and his punishment will be made as an example to those who threaten the peace and security of Dark Thorns. Signed by Lord Pteridon."
"No…," Theo mumbled after reading the letter. "No… this cannot be right. My friend would never help such a fiend." Pterill walked up to Theo's side and patted his shoulder." I'm terribly sorry, brother but I really think we should leave. Things are getting more and more dangerous." Mailee shook his head, "But we came here all this way, we should not turn back now." Kirryka again voiced her opinion, "Theo's friend is in danger. We've got to help. Imagine it's someone we know. Would you help if Cheeta or little Orcrie gets into trouble?"
Pterill gave up to her sibling's determination and silently hoped for Fyora's protection. "He did save my life once," Theo gulped. "I am not going to back out now," Theo turned and his sisters noticed a tear dampening his biscuit face.
"So… what should we do now?" Mailee asked.
"We need to see this Lord Pteridon obviously," Theo muttered and walked down the path.
"But wait, Theo!" Pterill called. "Do you even know where he lives?"
Theo shook his head and frowned. "Who is he anyway? I don't think I've ever heard of him before."
"Lord Pteridon is the younger brother of Lord Kass," Kirryka said as she pulled herself onto the railings of the porch and looked out. Theo raised his eyebrows and turned to Pterill but she shrugged back. Kirryka went on, "When Pteridon was in his late teens, his brother sent him to Haunted Woods to learn the ways of the ghosts as well as to find the possibility of taking over Haunted Woods although Pteridon never knew. He fell in love with the place and to keep the long story short, one day he found out about his brother's plans. He went against his brother's will and warned the people there. His brother disowned him but the people were grateful and the head of one small village saw a good ruler in him and asked if he would be so kind as to rule their village. He accepted and the village had grown into a developing traders' town called Dark Thorns."
Mailee jumped up, "Why, we are in Dark Thorns now, aren't we? Someone would know where he lives then."
Pterill stared at her sister. "I didn't know you've taken an interest in Neopian Knowledge, I thought you enjoyed Petpetpetology?" she asked.
"I lost interest," Kirryka said lightly before jumping down and pointed to a castle just a few miles ahead. "I believe that is the place," she said and started marching off. The others quickly trotted to catch up with her.
When they arrived at the castle, a Halloween scorchio in a purple and grey guard uniform greeted them by the gate. "I believe you're not living hereabouts… What brings you all here?" he asked and took a good look at the strangers.
Theo stepped forward and asked, "Is this where Lord Pteridon lives?" The guard nodded and Theo continued, "A friend of mine was arrested for assisting a dark sorcerer. May I please know the details of the crime? What happened really?"
The scorchio narrowed his eyes and eyed them suspiciously, "You're not one of the bad 'uns?"
Pterill rolled her eyes and exclaimed, "Oh, please do we look like practitioners of the dark magic or something like that?"
"Looks always deceive, my dear lady," said the scorchio and he pulled out his baton.
"Look, I'm his friend," said Theo, "but I have nothing to do with the crime at all. I came here all the way from Faerieland at his request because he told me that was in some kind of trouble. I'd like to know the details of the crime, please."
"Nope, it's perfectly confidential. A pretty mess the lad caused an' he deserves to be 'in some kind of trouble'"
"But please there must be something we could know. I firmly believe he was innocent in this crime"
"Innocent?" the scorchio scoffed. "He's as innocent as I am guilty. Whatever makes you believe that he really is innocent?"
"Because he said in the letter that he was trapped and he would come to a bad end no matter which path he took", Theo said firmly, his eyes burning in determination.
The guard stared at Theo for a few seconds and asked, "Do you have the letter with you?" Theo fished it out of his waistcoat pocket and gave it to the guard. The guard read it slowly and carefully as Theo held his breath. After toying with the letter for a few minutes, he folded it and asked Theo, "Do you mind me keeping this as evidence?" Theo shook his head and said, "I'll do anything to proclaim his innocence."
The guard nodded and placed it in his front pocket. "I'm sorry lad, we were fairly sure that he was as guilty as anything when we caught him. Why didn't he try to prove himself innocent, I wonder. Nevertheless, I do believe you'd like some answers. There had been some funny things going on lately in Dark Thorns. Rumours said that a dark wizard is avenging the spirit of his father who was said to be killed by the village chief before Lord Pteridon came. We didn't pay much attention to that until a few days ago when your friend and the sorcerer tried to break into his Lord's museum. When they were caught, the sorcerer used flames of the dark to fight against the guards. One of them is still in a bad condition while the other told us what happened. Your friend admitted to everything but he wouldn't tell us neither the identity of the sorcerer nor his actual plans." Here the scorchio shrugged and looked at the museum which stood on the opposite road.
Everyone was quiet and didn't know what to say although none of them think a wizard avenging some death would break into a museum. Theo gritted his teeth. "He's protecting someone… someone, something would be in danger if he tells everything which is why he kept it a secret," he murmured.
"What did you say, lad?" the scorchio asked looking up to him.
"Nothing, can we please see him, sir?"
"I'm sorry, lad. Nobody is allowed to visit him. His crimes were big and the security control is tight. I advise all of you to go home and forget everything. After all, this -" he patted his front pocket, "may be helping him to avoid spending the rest of his life in the dungeons."
Theo nodded, mumbling "Thanks" and he sadly walked down the path with the others tagging quietly behind him.
They stopped at a little cafeteria for an early lunch as they discussed on what they should do. Although none of them were really hungry, they knew they need the energy to go on.
"I think we should stay out of this mess, Theo. After all, the scorchio was right; we have no proof that he really is innocent… what if he isn't?" Pterill questioned cautiously.
Kirryka joined in, "I agree. I would have said, 'let's go on' if the circumstances were different but I don't think we could do anything. Also, we are treading on thin ice with the guards against us as well as the rest of the people of Dark Thorns."
Theo shook his head as he pushed his fork into his pasta with eyes and said, "He didn't simply save my life that day. He did much more and I'm not leaving him when he needs me like any cowardly fair-weathered friend." Nobody spoke for a while and right after he took the last eyeball off his plate, he stood and announced, "We're going back to Remy's house."
"I take it that your friend's name is Remy?" said Pterill, hoping to buy some time for her to finish her own plate of pasta. Theo nodded and stared at a distance, lost in his own thoughts as he waited for his siblings to finish. After they paid for their meal, they all walked back towards Remy's house and Theo was determined that he would set his friend free at all cost.
When they walked to the door, Theo took out the key and unlocked it before pushing it wide open. They all peered inside and through the dim sunlight which poured in from the window, they saw that the walls of the entrance hall were 'wall-papered' with research papers. On one side of the wall, music sheets of all sorts were put up as well as information on rare, ancient musical instrument and on another, the papers were of ancient arcane lore. But other than that and the cluttered desk, the inside of the house was just like any other Victorian styled home, elegant and lavishly furnished.
Theo gasped when he saw the papers, "What are all these? What are you doing here, Remy?" he muttered under his breath as if Remy was welcoming them into the house.
They all walked in and looked at Theo expectantly. Theo sighed and said, "Remy is an archaeologist and he studies the magical remains of ancient civilisations. And since we are looking for something that would lead us to the problem he's facing which as we had known, involved some very dark magic, there would be lots of distractions about." He paused and looked around. "I don't remember him liking music but I don't think it would have anything to do with what we're looking for so we could just skip that part. So try to find something - anything that would help Remy."
The others said they would and went to search. Mailee flew up close to the ceiling where it's hard for the others to reach. Ways of sorcerers and some of their spells and rituals were written all over the papers. "These stuff look neat," Mailee whistled and wondered if their elder sister, Redda, would let him use some of the spells back in Faerieland. Pterill found sketches of monsters and stared in horror when she found some sketches of wraith beasts which she had seen since Xandra's betrayal. Again, she felt a cold shrill inside her body that reminded her that they might be walking into a trap themselves.
"Hello! What might you be?" Mailee asked and pulled out a recently pasted roll of parchments. He flew down and unrolled it on the cluttered desk and saw a map of Dark Thorns and a few villages around it with lots of notes scribbled about. "Aww, it's just an old map with lots of writings on. I was hoping that it would be some awesome ancient magic trick," Mailee sighed before flying back to the wall.
"A map with writings?" asked Theo and walked over to the table. He studied the map for a few minutes and noticed something strange. "Pterill, come here," he called.
Pterill left the sketches and walked over to Theo, trying to calm her nerves. "What is it that you found?" she asked.
"Not me really, it was Mailee. But see, Remy was keeping an eye on a particular gypsy camp that moves about in this area," he said and pointed to a number of circles on the map. "He marked their movements and it seems like they move every few days. The last one was marked only five days ago. We might as well try and ask them some questions, maybe they know something about what Remy was up to."
Pterill shook her head. "But Theo, gypsies usually don't like to be disturbed and they're not so trustworthy either. For all we know, they might be the ones behind it, those who framed Remy. If so, walking right into their camp would be walking straight into a lion's den."
While they were arguing, Kirryka found herself walking into the music section and was eyeing something out of place. It was a newspaper article on a legend of an ancient tome but before she could find out more, Theo called out, "Kirry, Mailee, what do you think we should do? Should we go after these gypsies?" Kirryka quickly tore the paper out as it seemed interesting, and turned to face Theo, "Since the very first day, I had oppose on this trip. There's something dangerous about - something very wrong and out of place. But you wouldn't listen and insist taking this trip so fine; you don't need my opinion," she said, placing the paper in her pocket.
Mailee rolled his eyes and said, "I'd like to know more about this thing. Everything is so exciting." Pterill looked at her two brothers and let out a defeated sigh. "Fine but remember that we're meddling with a huge offense, assisting a dark sorcerer. Let's be very careful and hope that Lord Pteridon's people won't think that we're one of them."