Chapter 2: The Sorceress and the Scepter…
It was a long flight, but the children finally reached the School in the Sky (Wheezie had also discarded her 'knightly" gear by then, much to Zak's relief). Landing at the doorstep, Cassie was the first to knock.
"¿Quién es? Who is it?" came the reply. It was certainly Quetzal, but he sounded... quite on edge.
"It's us, Quetzal," said Cassie.
The door opened a crack, and an aging dragon's yellow face gazed out. He bore a worried expression that the kids have only rarely seen, it was the face he makes when something is terribly wrong.
"Dios mío, it's good to see you! Come inside, quickly!"
With that, the children hurried into the building, just as Quetzal began locking all doors and bolting the windows. The kids have never seen him like this before. Whatever he saw must've spooked him greatly, and Quetzal almost never gets spooked.
"Uh, Quetzal, what's going on?" asked Emmy
"Just a moment, niño"
He finished bolting the last window, and then turned out all lights (which frightened Ord for a moment). Then a pair of candles were lit, revealing Quetzal sitting in front of the carpet normally used for Circle Time. "Gather around, please," he said.
The children gathered on the carpet in a circle.
"So," everyone asked at the same time, "What's going on?"
"Dear amigos," began Quetzal, "I went into the forest of darkness yesterday to gather a few moonstones, so I saw precisely what happened that made the forest decay so suddenly..."
Flashback…
Quetzal was in the forest of darkness gathering a few moonstones before making his way to half-moon rock. Suddenly, he heard an evil laugh that sent a chill down his spine.
Then in a puff of green smoke, Maligna the evil sorceress herself appeared before him in her elderly form.
She smirked evilly when Quetzal recognized her. "Maligna?! It cannot be!"
"Ahhh. Hola Quetzal. It has been far too long." Maligna said evilly. "I see you haven't changed much and you're still teaching at the school in the sky. Must be a real burden to still have old habits like that, isn't it?"
"And you have not changed either," responded Quetzal. "You're still picking on everyone and everything smaller than yourself."
"Hmph," Maligna huffed in annoyance. "Spare me the pathetic little lectures Quetzal. What exactly do you know about how to make life better for everyone when you deal with puny inferior children who never grow up?
Quetzal glared at the sorceress, but she kept talking. "I could've changed dragon land for the better but no, all of you puny children and your wishy-washy ways just had to stop me when I had the chance and locked me away like a dragon mouse in a cage begging for cheese! I have suffered in that coffin for thousands of years because of all of you!"
"Enough, Maligna!" Quetzal snapped. "How are you free? Who turned you lose?"
"That answer will come soon enough Quetzal." Maligna smirked. "But first, allow me to demonstrate the beginning of my quest to become Dragonland's RIGHTFUL RULER!"
Suddenly, Maligna raised her cane in the air and said a few magic words only she knows silently. The tip of her cane started to glow brightly, before erupting in a shower of magic which soon covered the entire area! Quetzal saw the forest rotting away and all the magic around him was disappearing! He gasped and watched helplessly in fright as he saw the forest rot away before his eyes while Maligna laughed maniacally!
When the spell was complete, the cane in her hand had transformed into a magic wand and Maligna herself got a significant change in her looks!
Maligna's gown had a mix of purple from her hips stretching to her feet with a pink color on her bodice. She still had her purple sleeves with dark pink color at her wrists and she still had her viper badge around her neck. What was different now is her dark hair now floated freely in the air above an ornate golden headdress and she had a long black & purple cape with a vampire like collar behind her neck. She was also much younger in appearance, with her paper-white skin nearly flawless and her posture now proudly upright.
"You will not get away with this!" Quetzal shouted. "We stopped you once, we will do it again!
Maligna laughed again. "I'd like to see someone try!"
"Now, you old and weak dragon," Maligna began before pointing at him. "GO! Tell all of Dragonland that the TRUE QUEEN has returned and is coming home to finally rule all."
Quetzal then flew off in a hurry to tell every corner of Dragonland that Maligna has returned.
…End of flashback
The gang gasped in horror and fright, especially Ord who was shaking in fear.
"...That's when I sent for you," Quetzal finished, "so you would know as well."
The kids were astounded by the story, but one question lingered. "Wait a minute," said Zak, "We don't even know who this Maligna character is!"
"Who is she?" asked Cassie, "And why would she take away a forest's magic?"
"Good question, Cassie," said Quetzal, who sprinkled magic dust upon a storybook that showed a younger version of Maligna surrounded by animals in the forest.
"Long ago, there was a young elf girl named Maligna. Her birth family went missing when she was two years old, so she was taken care of by woodland animals."
The magic dust shifted the image in the storybook into a picture of a small group of dragons finding Maligna.
"At age five, she was found by a dragon family who took her in as one of their own. They quickly found out that not only was Maligna smart for her age, but she also had an incredible magic prowess. For example, she could fly without wings, and she could breathe fire like she was a real dragon."
"Whoa..." went everyone.
"These were only a few of the abilities Maligna had as a child. She had many more mystical powers few her age could master, so at age eight, she was sent to one of our finest magic schools."
The storybook projection changed to an image of the sorceress dazzling a classroom full of dragons with her magic talents.
"She quickly gained a reputation for being more powerful than the headmaster and grew to become the best in her class. Or, as is the proper term, the valedictorian." Everyone when 'Ooh' at this.
"She usually performed magic shows to demonstrate her abilities," he continued, "mystifying audiences with her mysterious powers and cementing herself as a virtual legend among her peers.
"Finally, the school's headmaster made Maligna his personal protégé, and began undertaking missions for him throughout Dragonland. Her tasks usually involved solving friendship problems and lending a hand whenever someone with incredible magic was needed."
Quetzal changed the image once again. This time, it showed Maligna skulking bitterly within her quarters.
"But there was a problem, and now it began to show: Maligna secretly loathed the way Dragonland was run. She considered our rules and laws too simplistic, labeled our virtue of peace as wishy-washy, and deemed us all children who never grew up."
The storybook image now showed Maligna standing before some royal dragons.
"One day, she attempted to convince our rulers to give her the throne, so she could make Dragonland into a more 'honest' kingdom. They sensed the darkness in her heart and feared that having her as queen would result in our way of life never being the same. Thus, they turned her down without question. Maligna was so furious that she did what nobody in Dragonland has ever done before..."
Now, the image showed Maligna pouring over spell books in vault, a red gleam in her eyes.
"...She broke into the forbidden vault of dark magic and taught herself several illegal spells. Including one that allowed her to absorb the magic of any living creature. This act is what finally corrupted Maligna and warped her mind."
The next image showed Maligna scheming within an evil-looking throne room.
"Fleeing to her secret lair before anyone could stop her, she was now obsessed with only one goal: to attain godhood and remake Dragonland into a twisted nightmare that fits her image. With this new mindset, Maligna drained enough magic to rival our greatest wizard, and hypnotized several dragons into joining her wicked cause. Then when that wasn't enough, she assembled a legion of minions to fill out her remaining ranks."
The image now showed Maligna overlooking her minions leading several dragons away in chains.
"Thus, Maligna began her invasion upon the realm. She attacked many smaller villages, putting more dragons under her spell and enslaving the rest. It was the one time in history that Dragonland had ever faced a serious threat."
Everyone was certainly scared now, especially Ord and Max.
"How did they stop her?" Ord blurted out.
"Yeah!" said Max, "There had to be something that they could do!"
"There was indeed a way, Max," Quetzal confirmed, sprinkling more magic dust upon the storybook.
"Exactly one month into Maligna's invasion, a small group of dragons lead by the legendary Prince Griffin rose to defeat the evil sorceress. They were aided by two children from the real world. A brother and sister who had obtained an enchanted dragon scale, just like Max and Emmy.
"Together, they forged a powerful wand they called the 'Scepter of Chivalry,' a relic that had the ability to defeat evil by chanting these words:
"Darkness be vanquished and light ascending, let the bonds of friendship ring!"
"With the scepter as their ray of hope, Prince Griffin and his friends defeated the wicked legion, freed all the enslaved dragons from mind control, and took back the magic that Maligna had absorbed."
Everyone let out a cheer at this.
"As punishment for her crimes," Quetzal continued, "The group used the scepter's power to imprison the dark sorceress within a magical crystal sarcophagus, which was hidden in a place where no one would ever find it.
"Finally, since the scepter was also capable of evil if it fell into the wrong hands, Prince Griffin shattered it and hid its fragments in three mystic shrines across Dragonland."
Quetzal closed the storybook and looked upon the children's awestruck expressions.
"Someone must've found Maligna's coffin and set her free for some reason," said Emmy, "But who would turn loose someone like her?"
"I don't know, Emmy," said Cassie, "but if she's back, then the only thing that can stop her is..."
That's when it hit everyone's minds.
"The Scepter of Chivalry!" they all shouted
"Exactly, niños," said Quetzal, "Legend has it that if Maligna were to ever return, the scepter must be reassembled in order to defeat her."
"We need to find someone to get the pieces!" exclaimed Max.
"Definitely," agreed Emmy, "but...who would be willing to go on an adventure like this?"
Everybody turned towards Quetzal, who had a look of worried thoughtfulness on his face (he was even sweating a little). Whatever he had in mind must not be something we'd want to hear, thought Emmy.
"Uh...what do you have in mind, Quetzal?" asked Zak, "You look as if you're about to send...Oh no!"
The schoolmaster's face lowered in shame. "Correct, Zak. I do wish there was another way, but after some hard contemplation, it seems that the only ones who can undertake this quest..." He gestured towards the kids and their dragons as he finished.
"...is you."
The ensuing gasp of shock could be heard from miles around.
Even a few animals and creatures around Dragonland heard the gasp and looked up in its direction wondering what the sound was.