Hello again, readers! Now, if you liked last chapter, let's give our mystery writer a big round of applause :D!

Hello everyone! It's the mystery writer here! I heard from this wonderful author a few guesses about my identity ;) And I will tell you this: You are all WRONG! Well, that's my hint for today XD (I'll promise I'll post better hints in the next chapters...)

Thank you! I look forward to hearing more guesses from any of our readers, so if you have one, just leave it in the review! We both hope you enjoy this chapter, and just to say thanks for the guesses so far, she will now hand out cookies!

(::) (::) (::) Enjoy these cookies while reading the chapter! :D


Fiona's P.O.V


I can't believe it! I look away for one second, and boom! All those goods gone! I wanted to trade those fish for some yummy ice cream… I thought. And they got the princess's too! I was supposed to protect them...I'm so dead…

I ran down the small dirt road. I had to get that wagon! But wait. There were two more kids aside from the thieves in the cart! They seem to be handling things pretty well, I admitted.

With the people in the wagon attacking the thieves, no one was steering the wagon. It rolled all over the place. Suddenly, the earth started to shake. An earthquake! This couldn't get any worse. I sprinted after it as it rapidly escaladed higher up a very steep hill.

As we raced higher and higher, I realized it wasn't just a hill. It was a small mountain! And it was tilting sideways! What would happen if the wagon took a wrong turn and dropped down?!


Mike's P.O.V.


Boy, this guy is tougher than the Beagle Boys! I cringed. I can't hold him back forever.

I spotted a live fish that jumped out of a barrel. I grabbed it immediately. I held it so the tail would slap François' face with every flap. This fighting thing is entertaining!

"Oh… I'll get you for that, you slimy slug!" roared François.

I boldly jumped off the moving wagon. "You're gonna have to catch me first!" I teased.

"Why you little..." François shouted furiously. As I had wanted, he hopped down and followed me. Good. I thought. This is going just as I planned.


Mia's P.O.V


What was that noise?! I dug with my hands under the jewels and fish (talk about a strange combination!).

"Ah!" I shrieked. Something touched me!

I looked back down, and saw two faces! One had short black hair and golden ties in her hair, styling it into little ringlets. She had golden eyes, and a very scared expression. She started shrieking through her gag again. She looked Krokotopian.

Next to her was a girl with dark brown hair, and an almost angelic face. I couldn't see much, since most of her was still buried in fish, but she seemed to have wings growing out of her back. Maybe she was from Aquila?

I heard Mike's wrestling and a fish-slapping battle behind me (Nice, Mike!), but I paid it no heed. I had to help these girls!

I took off their gags immediately.

"Help!" the girl with wings cried.

"I'm trying!" I said. The knots around their wrists were so tight and randomly wrapped that I couldn't possibly take it off as fast as I needed to! At least not by hand.

Just then, a hand swiped at me. I quickly dodged, causing Pan to lose his balance. The burglar fell right into the wagon, landing next to us.

The other girl muttered something in Krokotopian. She leaned forward and head-banged him. Yes! These are some feisty girls! Maybe they were meant to join the Knights of the Silver Rose too… But there was no time to think about that right now. Time to fight like Darkwing Duck!

I grabbed my pan again and slammed it onto the thief's head.

"BOOM!"

The entire land rumbled. It was an earthquake.

With a shock, I realized Mike was no longer on the wagon. He wasn't even next to it! Where had he gone? Then I realized something even worse. We were heading up a cliff, thanks to that earthquake! Now the mountain was sideways, and we were rolling right up it!

What should I do? Save the girls...Or the wagon?


Mike's P.O.V


I couldn't remember the last time I'd done something like that. Jump off a moving wagon?!

Wait a second, I thought to myself. Wouldn't that be considered 'brave'?

I didn't have time to ponder that thought. Francois angrily charged towards me. I realized I was standing at the edge of a cliff! Just my luck. I groaned. Fate has discovered my second greatest fear: heights.

Out of nowhere, an idea hit me. François continued charged towards me. He seemed to be going a hundred miles a second! I held my ground. Don't look down, don't look down… I told myself.

Of course I looked down. Beneath me was the haunted forest from earlier. Was that spider tormenting another poor soul?

You can do this! I repeated to myself. I took some calm breaths. If I messed this up, I would fall down there. Who knows what would happen after that…

But thinking something scary did something for me it had never done before...

It made me braver!

That's it! I thought. I have to be afraid! Because without fear, no one could ever be brave…

Right when he was a hand length away from me, I stepped aside, opening the gap between the cliff and the ground for him to fall.

"Smooth move," commented an unfamiliar female voice from behind me.

"Um, thanks?" I managed to say.

"Mike! Help us out over here!" cried Mia so loud that it echoed throughout the valley. She must really have been in trouble!

I ran alongside the peculiarly friendly stranger. This girl is fast! I observed. We rushed to pull the wagon the opposite direction and pull it back to safety.

It was a lot harder than it sounded. It was the heaviest thing I had ever pulled in my life! Thankfully, together, we pulled it to safety. I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

This girl is strong too! She definitely has the qualities of a true hero...

I noticed Mia had knocked Pan unconscious. Just then, I realized something. Where was Francois?!

"ARGH!" howled a voice in anger, dashing towards me and the girl, full of thorns. He reminded me of Donald Duck in a rage.

"Ah!" we both yelled. I ran as far as I could away from him again, assuming that she was right behind me. "Woah!" I said as I halted to a stop.

I looked behind me, and noticed something was missing. She wasn't there!

"Help!" cried the voice. I looked back towards the edge of the cliff again. I saw her hand hanging onto the side, but that was it. François must have knocked her down! He had survived the fall earlier, but that was a much lower part of the cliff. It was a lot more jagged up here.

If this girl fell, she would die.


Mia P.O.V.


Everything happened all at once! I couldn't keep track on what had happened. I finally found a knife that one of the thieves left behind and used it to cut the two girls free, but then there appeared to be a third girl in trouble!

The two girls followed close behind me, but both of them were flying! The Krokotopian girl somehow controlled a sandstorm to lift her up, and the other used her angel wings!

Luckies… I thought to myself, paying extra attention to my feet (which were on the ground) as we ran to the edge of the cliff.

"I command you to stop!" cried the Krokotopian girl as her sandstorm disbursed.

She must be someone really powerful, I thought.

"As the next heir of Krokotopia!" she finished.

I gasped! I didn't know I was with someone so important, but that was only the start.

"I order you to freeze!" commanded the other girl. "As the princess of Aquila!"

I couldn't believe it! I was in the middle of two of the most legendary girls in the Spiral!

"You really think I'd stop for you two? Please, you're my hostages!" teased François, his foot above the girl hanging off the cliff's hand.

"You stop torturing these girls this instant!" I cried.

"Or else what?" sneered François. He held the girl above the high drop. Her life was in his unworthy hands.

"Fiona!" cried the two girls with worry.

"Or else I-I'll-!" I stuttered angrily.

"You might as well give up!" Francois laughed. "Give me the wagon and I'll consider letting your friend... down."

This had to stop.

I grabbed a hairbrush out of my pocket, and threw it towards him with all my might. "Gah!" he exclaimed as he wobbled off the edge of the cliff. He dropped Fiona halfway onto solid ground, and she pulled herself up.

Francois stuck his arms in the air, trying to regain his balance, and failed. He fell all the way down the mountain.

"Hahaha!" laughed Cassandra. "Wish you had wings now, didn't you François?"

"We are eternally grateful for your service," thanked Cleopatra, bowing her head to Michael and I.

"The three of us came here to make a trading deal with King Artorius." explained Fiona as she got up. "Oh my gosh! I didn't introduce myself in all the commotion. I'm Fiona, Ambassador of Grizzleheim."

"It's such an honor to be in all your presences. " I bowed with awe and respect. I felt like I was meeting the mayor of Duckburg, times three! "Would you like me to guide you to the palace?" I offered.

"Yes please!" they all cried together in gratitude.

"But you don't have be so formal with us." Fiona chuckled. You just saved our lives after all."

"Except around Cleopatra. She can be quite a diva sometimes!" Cassandra whispered in my ear.

"Well, I couldn't have done it if it weren't for my twin brother, Mike..." I admitted.

We headed safely back to the castle without further complications. By then, it seemed as if we were all friends since forever.

"Your Highnesses!" cried Destiny, bowing as we all arrived. "What brings you all to Avalon?"

"We came for a trade agreement with King Artorius," stated Cleopatra.

"And to join the Knights of the Silver Rose!" I added with pride.

Christina rushed out. "You're back! So you completed the tasks all right?" she asked excitedly.

"With lots of help," I admitted as we explained our tale.

"That sounds exciting! But now, all of you are back!" Christina exclaimed happily. "Well, except Genevieve, Andrew, and Olivia...I hope they're okay…"

I looked up at the sky. I wondered what she was doing out there… What if they never returned?