Greystagg's revenge
Greystagg paced to and fro across her throne room, a look of concern spread across her face. The Witch Queen, clad in a long white dress with her snowy white hair neatly plaited, was beginning to wonder if she had made the right decision; a decision which could change the Grey Sisters' lives forever. After a little more thought, she walked up to her magic mirror and spoke to it.
"Heggatty?" she called. There was no response. "Heggatty? Where are you, little sister?" There was still no response. "Come. 'Tis your soul queen who commands your attention."
At last, her sister, Heggatty, soon appeared on the magic mirror. The young witch wasn't as tall, charming and beautiful as Greystagg. She was actually quite opposite. She was quite small with a hunched back, she was clad in a brown smock and hood which concealed her ginger hair and her nose was as big as an eagle's beak with a small wart on it.
"Whats d'ya wants then, yer highness, eh eh eh?" said Heggatty in her usual cheery voice. "What d'ya want from Heggatty then, eh eh eh?"
"Listen, little one," Greystagg tried to calm her. "And carry my words to every sister." She hesitated before speaking again. "I have refused Lord Fear's alliance…and have closed off our causeway to prevent his incursions."
The alliance. The one thing that had caused trouble for the Grey Sisters ever since the season started. In this world there were two sides: the Powers That Be (the good side) ruled by Treguard Dunshelm, and the Opposition (the bad side) ruled by Lord Fear. Greystagg however was neutral. Ever since she set up her home in Witch Haven, she had taken no-one's side. But at the start of the season, Lord Fear had offered to make a treaty with her, which meant that the Grey Sisters would side with the Opposition. Greystagg had considered what to do carefully, but half of the witches could not be convinced into trusting Lord Fear. In the end, she refused the alliance. To stop his incursions, she had changed the number order of the causeway and sent a Pooka, a big green floating creature, to guard it just in case.
"None may now pass without the rights of passage," Greystagg continued. "Which I do not intend to divulge."
"What about the amber forest, mistress, eh eh eh?" asked Heggatty. "What about the amber for the Solstice, eh eh eh?"
This was one of the issues she was beginning to regret. Witch amber was the source of the witches' power and every year they had to perform a ritual to recharge their powers. The problem was that the only known source of amber in the world was an amber forest that Lord Fear had claimed as his own some time ago. It was very unlikely that they'd be allowed entrance to the forest now.
"There is no good news I'm afraid," Greystagg sighed. "We cannot harness the amber forest without Lord Fear's permit. So we must scour the kingdom for witch amber. We must collect enough to make sure we have the festival of the Winter Solstice. Tell the sisters…everything is precious. Even our jewellery must be melted down. Now go."
Greystagg waved her hand across the mirror and Heggatty vanished. She then turned and looked around her golden throne room.
'I can only hope now,' thought Greystagg. 'That Lord Fear will leave us in peace.'
But she was wrong…
Flames burned around her. Parts of the castle fell to the ground. Some of the witches were screaming in terror. Greystagg tried desperately to ignore these things as she faced Lord Fear.
"Well, dear," the technosorceror said mockingly. "It looks like it's time to pack your bags and move on, because I'm taking over now!"
Greystagg was filled with rage. Here stood the man who had just set fire to Witch Haven with some fireballs and she was all but powerless to defeat him.
Lord Fear, like the name implied, looked very scary indeed. He wore a metal helmet, shoulder pads with metal spikes, a long black cape and a black breastplate with a white ribcage painted on it; this whole outfit made him look like a skeleton. His skin was quite a pale-greyish colour and his blood-red eyes were very intimidating.
"This is our home!" shouted Greystagg. "You can't just destroy it!"
"Well tough, I just did!" he retorted. "When the next season starts, I plan to put more traps in the dungeons and Witch Haven is in the way. You know, if you'd accepted my alliance, I could have just used you and your witches for traps. But you didn't, so this old place will have to go!"
It was hopeless. Greystagg hadn't been able to find enough amber for the Solstice which had caused the Grey Sisters' powers to become very weak.
'There's only one thing for it,' thought Greystagg. She looked up to the skies where the rest of the witches were trying to avoid the danger on their brooms.
"My sisters!" she shouted. "Retreat! We have no other option!"
Greystagg quickly casted a TELEPORT spell and teleported away. As she was doing so, she was sure she heard a triumphant laugh from Lord Fear.
A new season of the dungeons was due to begin soon. Greystagg, who now resided in a place called Amberhane, looked into her magic mirror at the place that was once Witch Haven. There was no physical trace that it once stood there; Lord Fear had taken care of that. Now there was traps there that were fuelled by rotten technology; no pure magic whatsoever.
There was the Trial of Spikes: a large chessboard with spikes emerging from each square. You had to take a certain combination of squares or else you'd be impaled.
There was the Firebomb Room: a cavern with sliding tiles across the floor. You have to make your way to the door without falling off the tiles or being hit by a fireball which would occasionally shoot from the side walls.
But to top it all off, loads of Lord Fear's minions had made their homes there. Trolls guarded the entrance, goblins roamed the corridors…
"That's it!" Greystagg shouted to herself. "I will have revenge, Lord Fear!"
But the question was: how was she going to get it?
Three months had now passed since the season had begun and Greystagg had decided to confront Lord Fear on the matter. She tuned her mirror to try and find him, but eventually his intimidating face came into view.
"Yes?" he said. "Who's calling the greatest power on earth?"
"It is I Lord Fear" Greystagg said coldly. "And this is not a social call."
"Aah, if it isn't Greystagg, queen of the witches! And how is the former ruler of the former Witch Haven?" Lord Fear said with a smirk.
"We will have revenge on you Fear!" snapped Greystagg. "Witch Haven, as you well know, is all but destroyed, warped and overwhelmed by this ghastly technomagical environment that only a twisted mind such as yours could create. Believe me…we will have a reckoning!"
"Really? The trouble with you witches is your old hat. Get it?" Greystagg didn't get it. "You're just test-pilots for the broomstick factory. And if you're so good at wart charming, then how come all the witches I see are covered in them, eh? Answer me that!"
"You had no right to demolish our home."
"Really? Well what was I supposed to do? Ask for planning permission?" Fear said sarcastically. "It's the march of progress, dear. Oh, and if you're thinking of trying the old cuddly Lord Fear doll and knitting needle trick, then let me warn you: one twinge and I shall summon you hear and deal with you personally."
"Ha! But you know not my calling name!" said Greystagg with a sly smile.
"Well a little bird told me that if I were to say Gwen three times, I should get a most welcome visitor."
'What?! How can this be?!' Greystagg thought with shock.
This was a very serious matter. In this world every witch, wizard and elf had a calling name. For elves it was just their own real name so that's why they tended to use nicknames. But for people like Lord Fear and Greystagg, they could choose their own calling name. As Lord Fear said, Greystagg's calling name was Gwen. But who had told Lord Fear about that, Greystagg would never know.
"Dragons take you!" she shouted at him.
"And you, dear. Ciao!" And with that, Fear disappeared from the mirror.
Greystagg clenched her fists with a look of hatred across her face. Now she had all the more reason to get revenge. But now that Lord Fear had her calling name, it was going to be very difficult. But she swore to find a way. Somehow…
It hadn't even been an hour before Greystagg heard a voice in the back of her head saying,
"Gwen, Gwen, Gwen!"
In a blink of an eye, Greystagg teleported to the caller's location.
"Who dares to summon me?" Greystagg demanded as soon as she arrived.
"I'm a dungeoneer," said a young girl standing in front of her.
Greystagg was slightly relieved. She had half-expected the caller to be Lord Fear. But this was just the current dungeoneer: Julie. Dungeoneers were children from the 20th century who travelled back in time to quest through the dungeons. Julie looked like any other dungeoneer. She wore a pink top, black legging and black and white trainers. She also wore the questing equipment: the Eye Shield, a knapsack and, of course, the Helmet of Justice: a helm that protected her from the illusions of the dungeon.
"And why do you summon me?" asked Greystagg. She did a quick survey of her surroundings and saw that she was at the entrance of The Black Tower of Goth; Lord Fear's home.
"I need help to get out of the dungeon," said Julie.
"And what can you give me?"
"Revenge against Lord Fear."
Greystagg's face lit up slightly. If this girl was telling the truth then she could finally achieve what she had been waiting to do for three months.
"Tell me!" said Greystagg with a happy look on her face.
"Well I've got the sword but he wants to get rid of me so I can't get the sword back."
Julie indeed had the Sword of Freedom, a quest object that no other dungeoneer had been able to retrieve.
"And? What else?" Greystagg demanded impatiently.
"I've held him with the ARKEN shield," Julie replied.
Greystagg was thrilled. The ARKEN shield was made with green magic which Greystagg had learned Lord Fear was inexperienced with.
"This, I am going to enjoy," said Greystagg. "He's held fast, you say?"
"Yes, but not for long."
"Right, and what is it you wish?"
"I need to get out of the dungeon."
"Ah, you need a RETURN spell! I gift it to you. And now…REVENGE!"
And with that, Greystagg walked into the other room, where her wish was waiting.
When Greystagg entered the room, she was met with an amusing sight. Lord Fear was sitting on his throne, chanting an incantation, whilst a large ARKEN shield preventing him from moving. As soon as Fear noticed Greystagg, he stopped the incantation and stared at her with a look of fury.
"You!" he shouted. "I had a bad feeling you'd come!"
"Just sit back and relax, Fear," laughed Greystagg. "You had your revenge one year ago. And now it's time for MINE!"
The End…