The Adventures of Princess Lizzy and Princess Ruby

This book is fanfiction and is not for monetary gain.

Table of Contents.

Chapter 1: Friends….1

Chapter 2: The Ball…...…5

Chapter 3: Decisions...…..15

Chapter 4: Friendship…20

Chapter 5: The Oak Tree….…..24

Chapter 6: Singing with Animals…..33

Chapter 7: The Tower…...…45

Chapter 8: Things That Creep and Crawl….…58

Chapter 9: The Spider…...75

Chapter 10: Gadgets and Gizmos…..81

Chapter 11: The Strange White Creature…..…92

Chapter 12: The Dragon…..…101

Chapter 13: Their Heroes…121

Epilogue…..118

Chapter 1

Friends

"Aren't our dresses the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen, Ruby?" Princess Lizzy gushed as she ran her hand down her pink dress, which had a light pink lace down the sleeves, wrists, back, and bottom. It was constructed of pink satin with tiny diamonds to glitter in the light. I can't believe it is my thirteenth birthday!

Princess Lizzy had stunning deep brown eyes that drew you in. She had beautiful golden hair that was naturally curled and cascaded down her back. She had a killer smile. But Lizzy's eyelashes were one of her most admirable characteristics. They were naturally long and curled just perfectly. Many women wished they had Lizzy's eyelashes. She was intelligent, helpful, and enjoyed being around others to go with her beauty. She liked to read with her mother and father. She enjoyed playing games with the rest of the family.

Princess Ruby stepped up to Lizzy, her dress in hand, and laid it down next to Lizzy's to compare. Ruby's dress, like Lizzy's, was pink but a tad lighter in color, more of a soft, pale pink. Ruby's gown included a high-low style, broad straps, lace flowers, and a back zipper. "Oh, Lizzy, this will be the most amazing night of your life. I can't wait for the ball! It's your thirteenth birthday tonight, and everything is going to be fantastic."

Ruby had long, dirty blonde hair that flowed freely down her back. Her eyes were a lovely light blue and mesmerizing. She had the perfect chubby, but not too chubby, cheeks with the tiniest of dimples. If you got her to laugh just so, her dimples would show. Ruby adored her siblings and enjoyed being with them, but she was also fiercely independent. She was intelligent, caring, and enjoyed helping others. But she'd had a little sass from birth, and she knew exactly when and how to push her parents' buttons.

Both girls were in Lizzy's bedroom, located within the castle in the Southern Kingdom. Pink was her favorite color, so her room was adorned with various pink flowers. Her four-poster bed was built of oak, with large columns at each end. The columns reached the roof, joined by other oak columns wrapped around the periphery. She had pink curtains hanging from the tops of the columns that surrounded the bed at all times. The bed had a pink bedspread, pink pillows, and numerous plush animals.

Ruby would love when she would come to visit Princess Lizzy. They would spend weeks at a time together. While the castle gave Ruby her room, she frequently stayed in Lizzy's room whenever she visited. The woodsmen had made Ruby a lovely bed, which they had put in the opposite corner of the room.

She had a large fireplace in her room, which Lizzy would keep roaring with a fire every day during the harsh winter months. The wood was kept in golden containers on both sides. A tapestry depicting Lizzy's family hung above the fireplace.

"Of course, it is going to be perfect! You will be there, and you are my best friend. I wouldn't want it any other way," Lizzy said with a smile. She gave Ruby a little hug. "You are the best. I don't know where I would be without you!"

Ruby hugged Lizzy back. "You are my best friend! I would not want to be anywhere else but here for the ball."

Both girls stopped hugging and then hung their dresses. They ran their hands up and down their dresses, and both of them fluffed and brushed their gowns. Since they were small children, both girls have wanted to wear beautiful gowns. They had watched Princess Savannah, and Princess Tammy Lee attend balls for years, including their sixteenth birthday dances.

"It's a shame our brothers won't be here tonight!" Lizzy said in a quiet voice. "The King sent them on another quest."

Ruby looked out the window. She had always preferred the Southern Kingdom due to its warmth and sunshine. The sun was just rising over the hills, and she could feel the heat. She took a deep breath to enjoy the fresh air. The birds were tweeting in the early morning light. "Well, first off, the king is your dad, and you can talk him into doing anything. You have always had that magical power over your dad. Second, they wouldn't have been on a quest if my dad hadn't encouraged your dad to send them."

Lizzy gave a little laugh. "Well, your dad is the king too. And correct me if I am wrong, but haven't you had your dad wrapped around your finger since you were a little kid?"

Ruby laughed too. "Shhh, don't say that too loud, but it is true! My dad would never admit that, but my mom knows that to be the truth."

Both girls broke out laughing, grabbing each other's hands, and dancing around in a circle. Lizzy had a secret crush on Prince Hudson, and since she couldn't dance with him, they talked about all the people they had to dance with now that he was gone. In addition, Ruby had a major crush on Prince James, who had gone. Both girls were suspicious of each other and their crushes, but they never made fun of each other for it.

Lizzy and Ruby were both princesses. Ruby's father was King of the North, whereas Lizzy's father was King of the South. Both kingdoms admired and treasured one another and always helped each other in times of need.

The northern kingdom was created when the southern monarch dispatched his friend to the north. Its purpose was to broaden the kingdom. The right to rule over the north was granted to him by the southern king. The family didn't want to go north, but they understood it had to be done.

The queens of each country were best friends who did everything together when they could. When they couldn't see each other in person, the queens would communicate with pigeons three or four times a day. They would write notes about their days, how they felt, and how they wished they could be together, then place the small message on the pigeon's foot and send them to each other's kingdom.

Both girls stopped dancing when they heard a knock on the massive double door with iron hinges and iron handle doors. "Excuse me, Princess Lizzy. It is time for you two to get dressed. It will be a long day with festivities and games. The King and Queen would like to see you," the helper looked over to Ruby, "and they would like to see you too, Princess Ruby." The servant looked at both of them, making she they heard her. "They want to talk to you both during breakfast."

Both girls were so excited to get ready that they gave each other one last hug and then went to separate sides of the room. People came in to get their hair, makeup, and nails done. Lizzy was so excited because tonight was her night. A dance, a party, celebrating her.

Chapter 2

The Ball

Peaceful, soothing music floated through the air. It was coming from the corner of the room where an orchestra was playing. They had harps, violins, and cellos. The singer was hitting every note perfectly, including the high ones. They filled the room with lovely, pleasant music.

The presentation of the eight-tiered pink cake was in the other corner. It was topped with pink icing in a variety of colors. Beautiful flowers were arranged all over it, from light pink roses to dark pink roses, and a few red roses were thrown in for good measure.

The ballroom was enormous and could easily accommodate several hundred guests. People from all over the kingdom had come to set up this room, each with their unique traits. They'd brought in nearly every rose they could locate from both kingdoms and constructed numerous bouquets. Each one has exquisite pink lilies and begonias blended throughout. The bouquets were numerous and were scattered throughout the room.

"Isn't it the best day ever, Ruby?" Lizzy asked. "Everything was just as I envisioned my celebration, from the colors to the music to the aroma." Lizzy took another glance around the room. "I can't believe how well this turned out."

"It seems like the King and Queen did all they could to make today the finest day ever," Ruby stated as she and Lizzy looked around the room. Ruby closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "The air is filled with pink flowers, and I can smell a trace of cake."

Lizzy and Ruby both turned to gaze at the cake. "It seems that your folks had the baker add more icing."

Lizzy let out a little laugh. "It's true that icing has always been my favorite. They are well aware that icing is my favorite food group."

Ruby giggled as she turned to face Princess Lizzy. "I was under the impression that candy was your favorite food group."

Lizzy took a big breath of her own. "You are absolutely right. Candy is my favorite food group. Today, though, my favorite thing is icing." She giggled too.

Both girls pretended to taste the icing as they stood there. They would scrape the air with their finger as if scraping icing. They'd next take turns pretending to eat it. They made sounds like they were chewing.

"What are you two doing?" Princess Savannah asked. Princess Savannah was the oldest and most respectable princess. Being the firstborn, she knew she had to be. She had lovely, silky, long blond hair that would fall beyond her shoulder and blow in the wind. Her hair was breaded in a French braid today. She had blue eyes, was always nice to everyone, yet could be sassy when necessary. She wouldn't mind sassing the king, especially since she thought it was her birthright to do so. "They better not eat all that cake before I have a chance to get a piece," she said under her breath.

"What does it look like we are doing?" Lizzy asked. Lizzy was curious to see whether Princess Savannah could figure out what they were up to.

Of course, she knew.

"It's obvious you two are pretending to eat cake." She smiled a little and looked to Ruby, "I know you better than anyone besides Princess Tammy." She turned to face her sister, Princess Tammy, and curtsied.

Princess Tammy smiled back at her. Princess Tammy was a huge success with the crowd. Everyone in the realm adored Princess Tammy. It's as if Princess Tammy's life mission was to make everyone happy and congratulate everyone on their achievements. She didn't put on a show; she was just calm, composed, and pleasant to everyone. She shared her sisters' deep blue eyes and golden hair. She always had a lovely smile, but her smile turned into a blush when someone mentioned her.

Princess Tammy blushed slightly; she disliked being the center of attention, so she focused on Lizzy and Ruby. "It appears like you two are eating the most delicious cake you have ever tasted."

She turned to face the enormous cake that was waiting for them. "I can only hope that lovely cake lives up to your expectations." She laughed, smiled, and blushed a little.

Lizzy and Ruby exchanged glances. "It'll be the finest cake I've ever eaten!" Lizzy stated. "Plus," Lizzy said, looking over to the king and queen to make sure they weren't overhearing them, "Ruby and I had already tried it. It's wonderful! We picked a little off the back of it." For their entire lives, the two girls had been known to pick at the cake when no one was looking.

"That comes as no surprise to me," Princess Savannah remarked. "At the very least, I hope you didn't squish the frosting too much."

While Princess Savannah was the perfect princess, she did have a sweet tooth and enjoyed visiting the Southern Kingdom. Because the Queen of the Southern Kingdom adored all forms of baking, she ensured that bakeries were located across the kingdom. So that all of the kids could eat cakes, cookies, pies, and whatever else she liked. So, Princess Savannah knew the Queen would make sure the cake was exquisite, and she wanted to make sure she got a slice. When Princess Savannah visited the realm, she always went to a bakery. She pretended to speak to individuals from the kingdom, the baker, and the children. But the reality is that she was curious about the newest and most recent dessert.

Savannah had another reason for talking to the girls about the cake, even if she had a sweet tooth. "Where's that brother of yours?" Savannah asked, turning a little red.

"Which one?" Lizzy said with a bit of a smile. Come on, say his name! Lizzy knew exactly which brother she was asking about, but she wanted to hear Princess Savannah say it.

"Prince Luke," Savannah whispered, moving slightly to hide her flushed cheeks. To keep herself from blushing more, she pinched her leg.

Lizzy cupped her ear. "I couldn't hear you. Which one?"

"Prince—"

There was a loud banging sound in the corridor, and the princesses all turned instinctively.

"Guards, guards, defend the King and Queen!" yelled a general in the kingdom's army. "You five guards defend the princesses," he cried, pointing to the four girls. Do not let anything terrible happen to them."

The general was yelling and pointing in every direction. He was leading people to their correct location. Guards surrounded the King and Queen like a well-oiled machine. Guards surrounded the Princess, others guarded the windows, and the greatest number of men and women in armor dashed to the big twenty-foot double door that led into the ballroom.

People were terrified. Some were sobbing, while others had puzzled or blank looks.

"What's going on out there?" yelled the King. He screamed over the crowd's noise so that his general could hear him.

The general pushed a guard out of the way so that he could get a clear view of the king. "Sire, we're being attacked by trolls. Their entire army has descended on the kingdom. Half of our troops are accompanying the prince on his mission. We are outnumbered!"

Princess Lizzy, Princess Ruby, Princess Savannah, and Princess Tammy glanced at each other in disbelief. They'd never seen a troll before. They had heard stories of trolls from their parents, but because they had never seen them, they dismissed them as fairytales.

A guard rushed up to each princess and gently gripped their elbows. "Princesses, it is time for us to escort you to the hideaway. We have to go right now," remarked a guard.

Listening to the King, they followed the guard's lead. They could hear the king screaming commands, and Lizzy noticed her father carrying a sword and heading toward the main entrance. "Protect the princesses!" was all she could hear him shout.

Lizzy's heart began to race, her breathing became labored, and she went into a state of shock. This was the first time she had seen a troll.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lizzy saw Ruby struggling as well. Ruby was terrified, worried, and puzzled.

"Ruby, come here!" shouted Lizzy.

The windows shattered, and trolls hopped over the edge. One grabbed his arm, tiny blood seeping from a wood. Another shoved the troll in the back to get him out of the way.

The noise the troll made caused two women to cover their ears.

Another troll gripped the side of the window, yellow spit flying from its mouth, and jumped into the room. It burped as it pushed itself up before shrieking and leaping upon a soldier. A piece of armor flew one way, and the soldier's spear went another. Pinning the soldier, the troll lowered its head. The troll shrieked inches from his face, causing a green ooze with a few brown chunks to slime the soldier. The soldier spat a piece; then put his hands on his mouth.

Lizzy and Ruby leaped to the ground, covered their ears, and curled into a ball. Covering her ears, Ruby yelled, "What was that noise?!"

Many trolls jumped over the shattered doors, and other trolls jumped onto and over other trolls, causing the floor to vibrate.

They were flooding in through the massive front entrance.

The trolls had a horrible appearance. They had little bodies with bent legs, which made it that they weren't that fast at catching people. But because of the number of them, they quickly surrounded people.

Some were green, and some were blue. They all made loud sounds and had crooked, yellow teeth. They had a horrible smell. Everyone in the ballroom could smell them as their foul odor penetrated the room.

These trolls were armed with a variety of weapons. Some had clubs, while others had clubs with protruding spikes. A few trolls possessed spears, but they were only three feet long rather than the standard six-foot length.

Many trolls lacked weapons and would attack by interlocking their fingers, leaping into the air, raising their hands above their heads, and clubbing the victims on the head as they descended. Several people were knocked out this way.

Few used bows and arrows, but many used crossbows.

Every twentieth troll was about five feet tall, with the others being approximately three feet. They appeared to be the ones in charge. They hissed and yelled at the small trolls. If a smaller troll did not cooperate or understand the command, the larger trolls would smack them with their clubs to get them to comply.

A man yelled, and a troll laughed at him. A club flew through the air, striking a man on the head. Wobbling, he put his hands to his head just before falling backward. He was knocked out.

Others began shooting arrows at the trolls, but the trolls possessed thick iron armor, so the arrows were useless. Some tried to take on the trolls with their swords, which would have had a little more impact if there hadn't been such a large number of trolls. There were at least ten trolls for every soldier. As a soldier killed one troll, a swarm of other trolls surrounded and jumped on that soldier.

The screams were getting louder.

"Come on. We're nearly there! The hidden passage is this way," screamed Princess Savanah.

"How do you know where a secret tunnel is?" Ruby said, her nose plugged in a high-pitched voice.

"As you get older, you will be taught the art of battle as well as the art of defense," Princess Savannah boasted. "Including all the hidden passageways across the castle in the kingdoms of the North and South."

"Don't worry about that for the time being," Princess Tammy said. "You'll learn everything there is to know about the passageways in no time. But don't worry just yet." Princess Tammy was a peacemaker and was trying to get everyone out of there.

Lizzy and her guard were right behind Princess Savannah and Princess Tammy and their guards, as were Ruby and her guard. They were moving quickly when the guards for Princess Savannah and Princess Tammy came to a stop.

"Come on, why have you stopped?" Lizzy asked.

Lizzy noticed the guard's hold on Princess Savannah tightening. The same was true when she glanced at Princess Tammy.

Princess Tammy began to tug on the guard's hand. "That hurts me. Please let me go." She struggled to pull herself away from him. "That hurts!" She yanked and tugged again with little success.

Princess Savannah felt her elbow aching and wondered why they had come to a stop. She also wondered why Princess Tammy tried to get away from her guard. Her guard then held her elbow as tightly as he could. "Ouch, stop, you're hurting me!" Princess Savannah lunged at the guard, slamming him across the face.

Why is she hitting the guard? He is here to help us.

Ruby's guard let go of her. "What are you doing? Why have you stopped?" He approached the two guards, "Our orders were to get them into the escape tunnel. Then to the boat that is on the underground river. Obey your orders and keep moving."

Princess Savannah's arm was red, his grip on her tightening every second.

The guard began to laugh evilly.

Princess Savannah slapped his cheek, but he didn't move; instead, he laughed even louder. Princess Savannah became infuriated, her cheeks turned red, and she swung at him many times.

The guard holding Princess Tammy began to laugh as well, but his laugh was high-pitched.

The two soldiers holding Princess Tammy and Princess Savannah morphed and fell approximately three inches to everyone's amazement. The stench was immediate. A guard held Princess Savannah with a large, round nose with six warts projecting from it. Many hairs protruded from each wart. His eyebrow was thick and fuzzy, practically forming a unibrow. He wore iron-studded shoulder armor and carried a spiked old brown club falling apart.

The guard holding Princess Tammy had changed into a deeper green troll. He was a bit shorter than the other one, but he had double the muscular bulk. He was dressed in greater armor than the previous trolls. Spikes protruded from his shoulder armor. His belt appeared to be made of gold chain.

The four girls were all taken aback when they saw his broken, hanging belt. They weren't sure, but it appeared that frozen fairies hung every few inches. It seems that there were about ten fairies in total. But they were wrong; there were no fairies, they reasoned. Or were there?

Each troll struck the other guards with their opposite hand. Both guards were thrown to the ground, their helmets destroyed.

Lizzy saw the guards were breathing, but only just barely.

Ruby could see her sister's surprise in her eyes. Both were wide-eyed, with shocked and confused expressions.

The small, stumpy troll looked Lizzy in the eyes and made a deep, awful moan. Lizzy quickly covered her ears. He made a different sound than trolls had previously made, and then he seized a horn that had been wrapped around his shoulder and blew it. The noise was a signal.

The tiny green troll ceased his screams, grinned evilly, and waved goodbye to her.

And with that, both trolls effortlessly drew Princess Savannah and Princess Tammy to the window and leaped out.

Lizzy's mouth fell, and she dashed for the window as quickly as she could. It was too late, too dark outside, and their castle was shrouded in a strange fog.

Lizzy turned to face Ruby, who was taken aback by the situation. Ruby, the Princess, cried out, tears streaming down her face.

Lizzy ran over to her friend and shook her a little. It didn't work because she was in shock.

Princess Savannah and Princess Tammy had vanished!

Chapter 3

Decisions

"Is he going to be all right?" Lizzy asked the healer.

The healer was applying ointment to the king's wounds with a cloth. "He'll be fine, but he's not getting out of this bed for a few weeks. He received numerous wounds while fending off the trolls."

The Queen strolled up to the bed, placed her hands on his head, "It's okay. You need your rest. You need to heal. We will need you to help get the princesses back." She then placed her hand on Lizzy's shoulder.

The King coughed and tried to speak. It was difficult for him to talk. He gave another cough while trying to say, "I need…get…up…n…" He gave another cough. "Now." He attempted to get out of bed. He couldn't do it. He sat back down and coughed some more. The healer placed a cup of water in his mouth and gave him a few drinks.

"Rest, we'll work this out," the Queen said to her husband.

The Queen spoke into the healer's ear, and she nodded in agreement. She was simply requesting that the healer looks after her husband. He liked to do too much, and she knew he'd do all in his ability to get up and help get the girls back.

"What happened to my sisters? Where did they take them? Why aren't we doing anything?!" Ruby yelled.

"We're working on it," the Queen said.

The Queen summoned the general. "Can you give us an update on what you've discovered so far?"

"Well, your highness, after the two princesses were captured, all the other trolls swiftly fled. They didn't leave a message or ask for a ransom." The general quickly bowed. "We've got everyone working on it." The general paused for just a second. "It was a coordinated attack for them to take those two specifically."

He motioned another man over, gave him a letter, and said, "Hurry."

"We've dispatched urgent riders to get the princes to return," the general said.

The girls exchanged glances. They were aware that their brothers were far away. They wouldn't be able to return for another few weeks.

"Mom." Lizzy quickly looked around the room. "I mean, err, Queen, they are too far away; we can't wait for them to get back to do something!" Lizzy moaned as she looked around the room and noticed servants and the general giving her a look.

"Patience, we must wait. They have the second half of the King's army, and your brothers know how to fight and will be able to handle the trolls—"

"NO! That's not good enough!" Ruby yelled. "They'll be gone in a few weeks, maybe even dead."

The King and Queen of the Northern Kingdom step closer to their daughter, "We can't do anything right now," the King said. "I have sent word, and our army is preparing to come to the aid of the southern kingdom. For now, we wait patiently." When he looked at his wife, the queen of the north, in the eyes, he noticed that her eyes were watering. He, too, had felt twisting pain in his stomach and his heart felt as it had shattered. But he had to remain strong and show no emotion.

Traditionally, the Northern King had an excellent posture and excelled at diplomatic processes. He had a way with words, but more importantly, he had a way with words written down. He would draft peace treaties himself, and they were always correctly phrased. This king stood tall and enjoyed playing a game with the local lads in the courtyard about who could throw the metal disc the furthest. He was in overall excellent health, except for the occasional back pain. He would have his kids walk on his back when he had back pain.

The queen stood by his side in support of her husband. The Queen of the North was always friendly to others, enjoyed serving others, and above all, made sure that everyone came first, especially her family. This situation was tearing her apart inside. At any moment, she was about to break down crying. Her head was spinning, and she had difficulty stringing sentences together. She felt like a small porcupine was tearing her stomach apart every time she relived her girls being yanked out of the window.

"Your father is correct," the Queen said softly. "We don't have everything we'll need to rescue your sisters. The only thing we know about trolls is that they live in the mountains to the east."

"Fine! Do nothing while my sisters are in danger. They won't be in danger weeks from now. They are in danger now!" retorted Princess Ruby. She tried to bite her tongue, but it didn't work, as she added, "If you don't do anything, I will!"

This last comment caused a lot of stir in the room. The Southern King gave out a cough. The Southern Queen gasped. The Northern King began to shake his head no, his cheeks turning a little red. The Northern Queen began to cry a little; she wanted to act immediately but realized it was impossible. She was caught in the middle.

"Listen here; you're not going to do anything!" The King stepped closer to his daughter, placed his hands on her shoulders, and took a deep breath before adding calmly, "I can't lose another daughter, and I forbid you to do anything. Do you understand me?"

"Oh no," Princess Lizzy whispered. Lizzy knew her friend well, really well, and she knew without a doubt that Ruby hated being told what to do. She is going to lose it!

Ruby could only look at her father, the King. "I don't like it when you tell me what…to… do!" she screamed.

She stared her dad in the eye. She wasn't going to blink. She was going to stand her ground.

When her dad stood firm, she decided to give him a little more sass. "As you wish, Your Majesty," she said.

Ruby never addressed her dad as Your Majesty; it was too formal for their relationship. She was emphasizing her sass to her father by saying it that way. She was born with sass, but her older sister, Savannah, may have helped nurture it.

Savannah used to place her palm on her hip and say, "But Daddy!" when she disagreed with what her father said when the princesses were younger. She'd roll her eyes and shake her head and then usually get her way. The girls knew how to push their dad's buttons to get what they wanted.

Lizzy stared at her father as the others argued. He looked like death. He had fought and killed many trolls, but he also took a few clubs from them in the end. I could lose my dad. I don't care what the healers say. I can't lose my dad and my friends. My best friend just lost her sisters, we have to do something and do it now to get them back!

She had to come up with a plan and quickly. So, she agreed with them, only to get them to believe her.

Lizzy was ready to do something that she knew would be hurtful to her friend, but just for a few moments so, she justified it. "The King and Queen are right, Ruby. We won't be able to do anything until our brothers return."

Ruby turned to look at Lizzy, and she was in utter shock. Ruby had a betrayed look on her face. She couldn't believe her best friend was taking their side.

"Come, Ruby, let's leave Father to mend while the Kings and Queens find out how to get the princesses." Lizzy approached Ruby, wrapped her arms over her back, and moved her away from them.

The Northern King smiled and thanked Lizzy. "I think that's a great idea. Why don't you both go to your beds and rest? It's been a long day."

Princess Ruby left with her, stunned. Her best friend had just betrayed her. Her parents wouldn't do anything. She looked over her shoulder at the Southern Queen who sat there, doing nothing. Her father stood proud and determined, and her mother was confused.

Her gut was burning with hot, searing pain. Her heart felt like it had been pierced by a dull sword and left there.

Ruby was furious, and she wanted everyone to know it. "You're all fools! If you're simply going to send me away, send me to bed, then you're going to miss me!" she said as she walked out the door and slammed it. A flower vase fell over and shattered. The healer felt awkward and looked at the ground. Her mom let a few tears flow, her dad stood motionless.

Chapter 4

Friendship

"How could you?!" Ruby said as she threw her tiara to the ground as hard as possible. She stepped over to it, took it in her hands, and felt even more enraged; she loved that tiara. She threw it again, and whatever had survived the first time was now smashed into a million pieces by the second throw.

Ruby paced angrily around the room, occasionally kicking the bear fur rug or throwing pillows. She turned to face Princess Lizzy, who was ignoring her. She noticed her on her bed, and she was doing something but couldn't see what it was. Ruby was becoming increasingly enraged by the minute, and her friend was ignoring her.

"What are you doing?!" Ruby asked.

Lizzy turned, smiled, showed Ruby a bag, and then gently tossed it to her. "You have that one. This one is mine," she said, holding up another bag.

She unzipped her bag to show Ruby warm clothes, food, and a few miscellaneous items she had packed. "Of course, we're not going to stand by while your sisters are in trouble! Especially since both of our parents are doing nothing."

Lizzy gave her a wink and then transitioned into a bow.

"How did you like my performance back there?" she asked. She winked once more. "When we get back, I think I'll try out for the play. It will be the finest acting you've ever seen." She gave a twirl and then another bow.

Ruby's eyes went wide.

Ruby stepped over to Lizzy and hugged her tightly. Ruby could hear her s under her breath. "You're my bestie. I've got your back no matter what, and I promise we'll get your sisters back."

She let go of Ruby. "If we threw a fit in there, it would have just ended with all the royalty sending us to my room. Plus, I am pretty sure they would put a guard outside my door."

She walked to the glass window, the upper portion stained with a picture of her family. She unbolted the iron lock, "Now, we will be able to escape out my window."

Ruby was shocked and happy all at once. Her eyes watered. "I am so sorry that I ever doubted you." She joined Lizzy at the window and stared out, shivering from the icy chill that was coming in. "How are we getting out of here?"

Lizzy smiled, walked over to her bed. She pulled the skirt up and pulled a rope out from under her bed. "We will use this!"

Ruby's jaw dropped. "Why do you have that!?"

"From time to time, I like to sneak out and go look at the stars." She moved toward the window. "I don't think I would be allowed to go out after dark, even with a guard. I figured out a way to get out of my room at night," Lizzy turned to her and gave her a wink.

"I didn't know you had it in you!" Ruby said, awed.

Lizzy put her hand to her chin and rubbed it. I guess I know now why they didn't want me out on my own. There is danger out there. Like trolls!

Lizzy turned to her friend. "If the stories are true about trolls, then do you think they are true about the other stories? Like unicorns and mermaids? What do you think about goblins or dragons?"

She smiled a little and gave a hop. "I know for a fact that one legend is true. There is something I have never told anyone, including you."

Ruby had a blank expression, "What haven't you told me?" She got as close as she could, anticipating hearing the secret. She put her hands in front of her and rubbed them together. Lizzy was about to say something juicy.

Lizzy rubbed her hands in excitement. She looked around the room just to make sure no one was listening, "One night when I was out, I met a fairy…"

Ruby's eyes widened, and she gave a little punch to Lizzy's shoulder. "No, you didn't! You're just kidding." She gave her another little punch to the shoulder. "Right? You're joking?"

If she only knew! Lizzy turned to the window pointed to a large oak tree on the hill just beyond the castle. Because of the deep fog, it was difficult for her to see, but the light from the full moon helped a little bit. "Right there, that is where I met her. She is a fairy. She is just like the story says about fairies. She can get extremely bright when she wants to, but can also stay dark and hidden."

"I think she can help us. I bet you anything she knows about trolls."

When she reached the bed, Lizzy knelt on one knee and knotted the old rope around the foot of it. She walked over to the window, wobbling a little due to the weight of the rope.

She threw the other half of the rope out the window. She tugged on the rope to make sure it was secure. She stepped on the stone ledge and pulled again, just to be sure. Then, she descended.

She made Ruby believe that she had done this countless times by making it look so easy. In reality, she was scared by everything but wanted to be strong for her friend. Ruby walked over to the ledge, looked over the side, and saw how fast Lizzy was going down the rope. She didn't want to be outdone by her friend, so she climbed out the window and headed down.

Chapter 5

The Oak Tree

"I don't see her. Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" Ruby asked.

Lizzy was looking for something on the tree. She wasn't bothered by her remark; instead, she was on the hunt for something. "It's right here!"

"Here is what?" asked Ruby.

"This is the fairy's small door. I told her that I would not tell anyone about her when we first met. That is why I kept it from you. But now, the danger is here. I don't think she will mind." She made a slight knocking motion with her finger.

Tap, tap, tap.

Ruby remained still. Was her friend telling the truth about a fairy, or was she making it up?

Nothing happened, so Lizzy tapped again. "She is the most stunning fairy you will ever see. I believe it was fate that she became our friend. She says there are several types of fairies. Her name is Blake, and she glows brightly and wears a pink dress, and she is petite. Smaller than my hand."

Tap, tap, tap.

Ruby waited. "I hope Lizzy is okay because there are no such things as fairies," she mumbled to herself.

Tap, tap, tap.

Ruby felt her heart stop for a moment as a tiny little lock clicked open. She drew closer to Princess Lizzy. Lizzy was simply sitting there, smiling and waiting.

"Is that you, Princess Lizzy?" Blake, the fairy, whispered in a tiny squeaky voice. "The moon is shining tonight, making it harder to see the stars. I didn't expect to see you for another several week."

Blake, the little fairy, stood no taller than three inches. She was dressed in a lovely pink gown. Her wings were fluttering at a million beats per minute, but she did it with ease. She had light brown eyes and dark brown hair and a slender frame.

"No, I didn't come to gaze at the stars tonight," Lizzy swiftly said, then quickly added, "I brought someone, so please don't be shocked, frightened, or…mad."

Blake turned to look at Ruby. She became bright red. "You said you wouldn't tell anyone." Her shoulders drooped a little. "You promised me."

She slowly flew back to Lizzy. "You will open my world to yours if you tell others about me. Thousands of years ago, a war between humans and fairies did not end well for our kind. We've been in exile since then."

Her wings beat faster than ever as she sailed up to Ruby. She then zoomed around her head and came to a halt in front of her face. "Why did you break your promise?"

"You truly are a fairy. I assumed the stories weren't true." Ruby cracked a grin. She was so delighted she didn't know what to say, and for Ruby, not knowing to say was a difficult task.

Lizzy cut off her friend. "I am so, so sorry I told someone about you. However, this is an emergency. Trolls attacked us tonight. Maybe you heard the commotion a few hours ago?"

Blake flew over to Lizzy and stopped in front of her. She agreed with a nod of her head. "I did hear them. Once I saw them, I flew to the Fairy Queen to inform her that the trolls had descended from the eastern mountains. This is the first time in hundreds of years. Trolls are nasty and love petrifying our kind and making jewelry with us," Blake said, turning dark red. "I hate trolls."

"They stole my sisters!" Ruby cried.

"Wait, they make jewelry out of your kind?" Lizzy asked, a little shocked.

"Yes. That is another story for another day. We fairies hate mountain trolls," Blake said.

"This is Princess Ruby of the North, Blake. Trolls kidnapped her sisters," Lizzy explained. "It was a premeditated attack, and they targeted Princess Savannah and Princess Tammy for whatever reason—"

"We need to get my sisters!" Ruby interrupted again.

Blake came to a halt in mid-air. She thought with her hand on her chin. She was a patient little fairy. She considered helping Lizzy and her friend Ruby. It was one thing to talk to a human; forbidden. It was something altogether different to help a human without the approval of the Fairy Queen. She had to help.

In her tiny, squeaky voice, she said, "I can help. At least as much as I can."

That went far better than I had thought. Why isn't she angry at me? "Oh, thank you," Lizzy said cheerfully.

Ruby jumped for joy. Although, she didn't know how something this small was going to help them. How could she fight a troll when she was so small? Did she have a fairy army, and would she send the fairy army? Was she magical? If she was, could she utilize it to destroy the trolls?

Blake flew over to Ruby and buzzed around her head again, inspecting her. She then dashed back over to Lizzy. "If I'm going to help you, I should at least tell you about the history of trolls. Please have a seat," she said, motioning first to Ruby and then to Lizzy.

Lizzy sat on the ground crisscross apple sauce without hesitation. On the other hand, Ruby simply groaned and said something along the lines of, "How is a history lesson going to help us?"

Blake clenched her fist and then cleared her voice. She then inhaled deeply. "It started many years ago, before I was born. Trolls haven't always been trolls. In reality, they were once dwarves. They are, in essence, cursed dwarves."

Both Lizzy and Ruby gasped.

"Dwarves were generally well-liked. They were kind and would trade anything for their precious treasures. Sure, the dwarves were excellent miners who extracted a lot of gold. They found all kinds of stones, from diamonds to emeralds to sapphires," she said.

She then looked to Ruby. "And they'd find rubies."

She cleared her throat once more. Lizzy sat, smiling. Ruby was drawn to the story's beginning since she adored gems of all types. "The only tricks they'd use on humans would be to hide behind boulders deep in the mountains. Every time a human spoke, a dwarf would mimic them and say the same thing. Humans would be startled, and this would then become what is referred to as an echo."

"There is no such thing as an echo in the mountains," the fairy said with a small smile. "If you ever hear an echo, it's a dwarf fooling you."

Ruby giggled a little, Lizzy joined in, but she didn't think this part of the story helped at all. But it was kind of cool to hear where echoes came from.

"It wasn't just the stones and gold they discovered. Dwarves possessed a kind of magic. It was extraordinary magic, and only a few dwarves had it. They could create magic rings, talismans, and special weapons that could kill very evil creatures," Blake shook at the thought of the evil things.

"You see. I'm at a loss for words. How to summarize this…" Blake had her hand on her chin, pondering. "There was a king tens of thousands of years ago who created this universe. He had three sons and three daughters. This king wore a very unique crown. It was made up of seven highly particular stones. There was one big white shining one in front, much larger than the other six stones. On each side of the massive stone were three smaller stones. Each of the smaller stones had their own special magic."

"Stop. How does this help?" Ruby asked, a little sarcastically. She felt it was a fantastic story, but how would it help get her sisters back?

Blake was patient yet again, and she smiled at Ruby. "As you will see, it is critical that you understand how trolls came to be. You must know of what you are up against."

"Where was I?" the fairy asked, cracking her knuckles and taking another big breath. "Yes, it is correct—the crown. The crown featured a large white stone as well as six smaller stones. These gems represented many types of magic. The king took each smaller stone from his crown and forged six new crowns. Each child received their own crown. As a result, each of the six children donned their own crown with a distinctive stone. They possessed a wide range of magical abilities."

"The white stone had the ability to create. To create live itself. Since the king created the universe he kept this stone for his crown," Blake said pointing to an imaginary crown on her head.

She pretended to point to the first left gem. "Our scrolls say the first gem to the left was an emerald." She clenched her fists and shook a little, "This jewel was given to a sister, who was maybe the worst of all the children. She possessed the capacity to transmute. She had the ability to distort and create new objects. She only ever used her magic to wreak havoc. She had the potential to accomplish so much good with her abilities," Blake said.

"The red stone," she said, looking down at Ruby, "the red stone or the Red Baquette." She pointed the first gem to the right of the white stone. "That stone possessed the ability to perform elemental magic such as fire, wind, earth, and water."

She pointed to the first stone to the left. "The yellow diamond created teleporting and could heal. Other stones can manipulate space and time. Another would be the ability for a person to communicate with someone else with their thoughts."

"So, you are saying all magic came from those stones?" Lizzy asked.

"You are quite astute, Princess Lizzy," Blake observed. "Those stones are the source of all magic."

"Some of the sons and daughters, you see, wanted more power for themselves. They intended to assassinate the king, their father, in exchange for the ability to control all types of magic. They wanted his crown, and then they wanted to add their stones back to the first crown to how infinite power. These evil children." She scrunched her brows to think hard. "These evil children, for years, I believe there were four of them, built a mystical army. The armies were hidden across unseen worlds. They banded together and marched against the king. Throughout history, this has been referred to as the Great War."

"Get on with it," Ruby cut in again.

"Oh, I will. I am getting to the main part right now. This is how trolls were made. One of the brothers had traveled to a distant world, which dwarves populated. The brother arrived and used elemental power to threaten the world. This brother, you see, was the one who wore the red stone and was in charge of all elemental magic. When the king of the dwarves realized they didn't stand a chance, he obeyed the brother's request and offered to help him. The brother requested a sword. One that was powerful enough to kill the king. This sword was supposed to be crafted out of scarce metal. It was meant to be filled with dwarf magic and have the ability to murder the king."

Lizzy politely asked, "Did it work? Did it kill the king?"

The fairy shook her head. "No."

"The dwarf king built the sword himself, adding magical powers to appease the brother, but he purposefully failed to fuse the blade with the necessary magic. When the brother fought the king, he was defeated, and the sword was useless." As if she were fighting the brother, the fairy took a little dagger and swung it in the air.

She put her dagger back into its holster. "When the brother lost to the king, he realized he had been duped."

Ruby tried to calmly ask, "How is this going to help get my sisters back? I still don't understand."

The bright pink fairy zipped through the air, a little frustrated with Ruby. "Listen."

She zipped back to be in the middle of both of them. "The king was about to lose and he knew it. He unleashed one final burst of energy and stripped all of his children of their gems, thereby depriving them of their abilities. Then he sent the stones into the universe to hide them. Nobody knows what became to the king. He simply vanished. Some think he went back in time to hide. Others claim he passed away. I'm not sure, either way."

She took a deep breath. "When the war ended, there was no winner or loser, only a lot of loss and suffering. The brothers and sisters' stones had been taken. It weakened but did not eliminate their powers."

She zipped fast over to Ruby. She became really bright. "When the brother discovered that the dwarves had duped him, he returned with his sister. His sister could be even worse than he was. She was cruel. She cursed the whole dwarven people. She cursed them and mutated their bodies, resulting in the birth of trolls. She forced their brains to be altered, turning them into creatures of hatred, rage, and malice."

"That is horrible! Wait, I thought you said they lost all their power?" Lizzy pointed out.

"No, they still possessed power, but they no longer had their stone to amplify it," Blake corrected.

"You see, you're going up against fallen dwarves that now have absolute hatred and can't think clearly. They have no reason," she said as she swooped away from Ruby.

"Trolls aren't the only thing you have to worry about. They made pets to guard them in the event that the brother and sister were to return. You see, those pets are dragons," Blake said, looking up at the sky.

The little fairy zipped inside her house. She quickly returned. She was holding a scroll. She unwrapped it and read through it. "This scroll here tells the story of the Great War. There are scrolls all over the universe, but none are complete. I don't know who, but someone sent different scrolls to different worlds. If we were to obtain all the scrolls, we would better understand the Great War and the king's location. But that is for another day."

She rolled it up and then unrolled a second. "Yes, that is what I thought." She rerolled the second scroll and held it up, and waved it. "On this world, there is only a small fraction of the trolls. And we, the fairies, have only ever seen one dragon on this planet. But this dragon will be guarding the trolls."

"So, to summarize, trolls are nasty, vicious creatures that are cursed with the ability to hate everything and to be cruel and wicked. Plus, they will have a dragon protecting them. Are you two ready for this battle?" the fairy asked.

Chapter 6

Singing with Animals

Ruby and Lizzy paced in front of the massive oak tree. What were they going to do? They were helpless against the trolls. How could they defeat a dragon if they were useless against the recent troll attack? What about all those trolls? Was it smart for them to leave? Neither of them knew how to fight. They didn't know how to use a sword, bow, or spear. Was this really a good idea?

"We don't have much of a choice," Ruby said finally. "We must save my sisters."

Lizzy paced a few more steps. "I wish Luke, James and Hudson were here. They could help." She turned and walked the other way. "But they can't, and there is no other way. We have to go after them."

Blake gave a warm grin. She was overjoyed, her eyes shone brighter, and her wings flew a little faster. If Lizzy could guess, she thought the fairy was overjoyed at the thought of a dangerous adventure. "We'll need supplies if you're heading deep into the eastern mountains. Stay here while I grab some items."

Blake came back holding a few things. She had two daggers and a golden square. She handed the girls the golden square.

"A…what is this?" Lizzy asked.

Ruby gently grabbed it out of Lizzy's hand. She brought it up to her face for closer inspection. "I don't understand?"

Ruby ran her finger along a golden square with a crown sketched in the middle. The golden square was three inches across. On right and left sides were holes. Ruby ran her finger along the top. She shoved her finger in the opening at the top. "This hole is bigger than the other holes."

She flipped it over, pushed her finger in the hole on the bottom. The hole was bigger than the two side holes but not as big as the hole on the top. "What is this? More importantly, how will this help us?" Ruby asked.

"I just felt like I should bring that. I have a feeling it may come in handy," Blake said with a secretive smile.

I have never seen her smile like that. Did she know something that we didn't? Lizzy didn't know if she should question Blake or just trust her. She decided on the latter.

"What are the knives for?" Ruby asked.

The fairy smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I bet they will come in handy."

Lizzy and Ruby exchanged glances as if they were having a private conversation. They were both bewildered, if not outright terrified. They'd never used a dagger before, but now they had to. This was becoming far more real by the moment.

The three of them opened their packs. She went over their inventory and then put the stuff back in. She was about to put the dagger in her pack when Blake asked for it back.

The little fairy demonstrated while telling them a story about how each item had a spell cast on it to make them exceedingly small so that she could fit them inside her bag.

Lizzy slung her leather backpack over her shoulder. The strap moved from her right shoulder to her left hip. On the other hand, Ruby wore her bag over her left shoulder and hung it over her right hip.

Blake had a map of the mountains and knew which way they should go. She pointed them in a specific direction and they headed toward the forest to the northeast.

The forest grew denser. The vegetation was becoming thicker and the trees were becoming more common. Lizzy and Ruby would occasionally dip their hands in things they couldn't identify when they were traveling through fallen trees or rough terrain.

Ruby's hand became entangled in a furry reddish substance while attempting to climb over a fallen log. She checked her palm right away, felt the shivers, and wiped the material on a dry part of the tree to avoid spreading it on herself.

Princess Lizzy was walking through a gooey green liquid that led her to slip a little, prompting her to reach out with her hand to save herself from sliding any further, and her palm ended up in a pool of muddy brown sludge on a rock. She just wiped the stuff all over her pants until she was certain that it was no longer there. Then she looked down at her hands and discovered there was still more of it, so she continued to wipe her hands on her pants until she had completely removed all of the substance.

They'd been walking all night. After a few hours of rest, they resumed.

It was approximately two o'clock in the afternoon. Even though it was early afternoon, the surroundings were extremely dark due to many trees.

"What happened to the sun?" Lizzy asked.

"I'm not sure. We just ate lunch, and the sun should be shining now," Ruby added.

The trees cast many shadows, but a ray of sunlight reached the ground every few feet or so. As Lizzy zipped up her jacket, the leaves crunched beneath her feet. Because of the shade, it was getting cold. Should we have come? Is this forest getting dark? What else lives in this forest other than the trolls?

Even though there was little light, enough was available to help them stay on track.

Taking it slow as she walked through the woods, Ruby reached out to clutch a tree limb for support. She could hear sticks snapping under her boots as she walked. She drew her foot out of the sludge with her other foot. "Can this place possibly get any more disgusting?" Ruby muttered.

Lizzy wiped some blood off her arm. The tree behind them scratched her.

"Are we there yet?" Lizzy asked. They weren't there, of course. She was well aware that they had a long way to go.

Ruby had to jump over a few rocks to get to where she needed to go. As she traveled from one boulder to the next, her breathing became more rapid and frantic. Ruby knelt beside her shoe and rubbed it. She was trying to massage the soles of her aching feet.

The girls began telling each other anecdotes about their childhood. They recalled when they built forts, played with dolls, and just loved playing together. This was helpful to both of them because they were not thinking about how tired they were.

Hoot.

A noise caused Lizzy's heart to skip a beat. She took a closer look and saw it was only an owl.

"That didn't sound like an owl, but I'm glad it is." She exhaled deeply. She zipped her jacket, and it wasn't just because of the cold. She shivered.

"What's that noise?" Ruby questioned.

"Hide!" Lizzy said and leaned against a tree. "I'm hearing it as well. It sounds like someone is singing or humming. Is that someone singing, or are they humming?"

Blake swooped close to Lizzy and circled the tree quickly to see what was creating the noise. "It's singing. It's a girl singing while sitting on a fallen tree."

Ruby quickly got next to Princess Lizzy, her back against the tree. "Let's take a peek."

Both girls moved their heads around the tree slowly.

A beautiful girl was sitting on a log. She wore a black headband with her long, straight golden hair. She was dressed in a darker tan dress with black boning. Her shoulders were draped with a dark purple hooded cloak.

It wasn't so much that the girl was singing as she was singing to animals.

Lizzy moved her lips close to Ruby's ear and whispered, "Look at that. Those animals are just sitting and listening. Let's see, one, two, three…seven. I count seven animals."

Lizzy's hand was in a fist until she extended her first two fingers, "I see two rabbits." She moved her middle one. "A squirrel." Then she raised her ring finger and last finger. Then two more fingers on her other hand, "Four birds. Seven total animals."

Ruby quickly peeked around again, "How does she get the animals to stand there and listen?"

"I don't know," Lizzy answered. "Maybe it is some form of magic."

Blake shone a little brighter. "Or maybe it is because she has a beautiful voice. Come on, let's go talk to her."

Before Lizzy or Ruby could say anything, Blake shot toward the girl in a flash.

"Come on, Ruby," urged Princess Lizzy. "Maybe she can help us."

The singing stopped rather quickly.

"Oh, hello. I didn't see you there. I was too caught up in my singing. Isn't today a lovely day? Oh, I just love beautiful mornings. Don't you?" asked the girl.

"Yes," said Princess Lizzy. "Well, most mornings, that is. Today we are out looking for two girls."

She leaped off the log, twirled twice, and gracefully bowed. "Who are you looking for?"

Ruby's voice cracked. "We are looking for my sisters. Trolls took them." She licked her lips, "They were kidnapped."

The girl let out a gasp. "That is horrible! Who would do such a terrible thing?"

"Trolls. Evil trolls," Lizzy said with a stern tone. "They are mountain trolls."

A red bird landed on the girl's shoulder and chirped a few times before flying away. The bunnies stopped in front of her legs and pulled at them.

Hoot, hoot. A giant brown owl had joined them and sat on the tree just behind the girl.

"Oh, dear. That isn't good," said the girl.

"My friends here claim to have seen these trolls. They had two girls shackled. I'm guessing they're your sisters?"

"Yes. I will kill those trolls for taking them," Ruby said as she swung her fist in the air. Ruby didn't know much about fighting, but that seemed the right way to throw a punch. "I hate trolls."

Lizzy dodged a wayward punch. Lizzy thought it was a little funny watching Ruby swing at the air, at least as long as she didn't hit her in the process. Lizzy's stomach dropped at the realization. How are we going to fight trolls?

"I am so sorry those horrible creatures took your sisters," The girls said. "I don't have any sisters. If I did, my heart would ache for them. What are your names?"

Lizzy waited until the last punch in the air was thrown by Ruby before speaking. "My name is Princess Lizzy."

"My name is Princess Ruby," Ruby added.

Chirp.

Chirp.

"You are quite right." She tickled the red bird under the chin. "It is wonderful that I get to meet two princesses. I haven't met a lot of people in my life. But today, I get to meet you two." She gave a curtsey.

Lizzy took a deep breath and lowered her head. She flushed slightly. When someone curtsied in front of her, she always felt a bit embarrassed. "Thank you."

"Thank you," Ruby added. "What is your name?"

"My name is Briar Rose, my fairy godmothers gave me that name," Briar said.

Briar gave another twirl and stopped just in front of Lizzy and Ruby. "I love my fairy godmothers. I just love them."

Hoot.

Hoot.

"What's that?" Briar asked.

Hoot.

"You are so kind and wise. Thank you for the suggestion," Briar said. "My friend, hear asks what you are planning on doing?"

"Well…well, we don't have much of a plan. All we know is my friends," she pointed to Ruby, "her sisters were taken. We will get them back."

Lizzy felt a little sick. What is our plan? Other than just finding trolls.

Briar gave a little skip and got to the branch the owl was sitting on. She rubbed his head.

Lizzy made sure Briar was far enough away and moved close to Ruby. She put her hand on her shoulder and whispered, "How does she talk to the animals?"

Ruby scrunched her brow. She was deep in thought. Then she looked at Lizzy and shrugged her shoulders.

She whispered back, "I don't know, but it is awesome. When this is all over, let's come back and see if she can teach us."

Lizzy gave her a wink.

Hoot.

Briar continued to rub the head of the owl. "You are so wise. Thank you for reminding me."

Briar moved closer to the log where she had been seated previously. She pulled out a basket. She reached in and shoved an apple out of the way, pushed the bread to the side, and dug deep in the basket. She pulled something out of it. She whistled a lovely tune as she came back to the girls.

"I want you to have this. As I said, I don't have any sisters, but if I did, I would be so sick if they were kidnapped," Briar said.

She extended her hand and opened her palm to reveal a golden rod.

Lizzy and Ruby didn't move, other than looking at each other and then to the golden rod.

Lizzy reluctantly held out her hand. "It is so beautiful. What is it?"

Briar dropped it in Lizzy's hand. Then Lizzy turned to face Ruby with her palm up. They both stared at the beautiful object. It was a golden bar and had many animals carved into it. Animals such as the owl, birds, rabbits, and a squirrel.

Lizzy rubbed her finger over the end of the bar. At the far end of the bar was an attached golden circle and in that circle was a pink sapphire cut square. "This is too beautiful. We can't take this..."

Lizzy held her hand out toward Briar. Briar only smiled and moved close to Lizzy. She put her hand on Lizzy's and closed her fingers around the golden bar.

"It's yours. My fairy godmother gave that to me on my fifteenth birthday. In a few days, it will be my sixteenth birthday," Briar said as she beamed. For some reason, Briar knew her sixteenth birthday would be special.

Lizzy looked at it again, looked to Ruby, then back to Briar. "Thank you so much. What is it?"

Briar pointed to the golden bar, saying, "It is magical. They claim it will help me to stay awake. I never get tired, so I don't believe I'll ever need it. Oh, and they also stated it would keep me away from anything sharp, like a needle."

Briar whirled slowly with her hands outstretched. "There is nothing in these woods that is sharp like a needle. It will keep you awake on your journey and keep you from injuring yourself. Perhaps it will help you avoid anything sharp, such as a knife or a sword."

"Thanks," Lizzy said one last time, still a little confused.

"Thank you," Ruby added.

"Have a nice day, and I wish you the best of luck on your journey! I hope you get your sisters back." Briar then spun and headed back to her log while skipping and humming. A squirrel leaped into her lap as she sat. While cuddling a squirrel, she began humming to herself.

Blake zipped down and landed on Lizzy's hand. She touched the object. She examined it. She flew up toward her face.

"Blake, you are shining too bright; why are you so happy?" Lizzy asked while covering her eyes.

"I am just happy. Maybe that will help," Blake said, pointing to the golden bar.

Ruby joined Princess Lizzy, and she, too, covered her eyes. "We should get going. We have a long journey."

Both girls turned to look at Briar sitting on the log. She began to sing again.

"She is nice," Lizzy said. "I hope we meet her again."

Lizzy and Ruby started heading back toward the direction they came from.

"What is that?" Ruby asked while pointing off into the distance.

Lizzy shifted her head. She squinted her eyes. "I don't know. It looks like…it looks like…a flying red cape." Lizzy waved the two behind the tree again to get a better look.

"It's not a flying cape. Look, the owl is holding it while it's flying," Ruby said, pointing toward the red floating cape.

"Listen, she has started singing again," Lizzy said while cupping her ear. "She has a perfect voice."

"She is dancing too," Ruby said.

"I know you. I walked with you once upon a dream."

"She is a good dancer," Lizzy said. "She is now dancing with that red cape."

"I know you. The gleam in your eyes is a so familiar gleam."

Snap.

Lizzy and Ruby both jumped. Lizzy gave a little screech. Ruby had goosebumps all along her arms. Both girls instinctively fell to the ground.

Lizzy looked at her hand, a little mud on it as they crawled to the nearest tree.

"Who is that?" Ruby said with a trembling voice while pointing at someone.

"It looks like a man and his horse spying on Briar," Lizzy said as she tried to reposition herself out of view of the man.

"I love horses, and his is beautiful. It is white with a black mane and tail," Ruby said.

Blake zoomed over as fast as she could, her little wings beating a million beats per second. "Yes. He looks like a good guy. Let's not bother either of them."

"You think we should just leave Briar? I don't know. He is spying on her," Lizzy said. "That seems weird."

"That horse is beautiful. Why are they spying on Briar? Should we help her?" Ruby said, her attention fixed on the horse.

Ruby snapped out of it and covered her eyes. Lizzy covered hers too. Blake was shining bright again and was giving off a light blue color.

"Trust me. He is a nice person. I just know he is. I can feel it. Just trust me, leave those two alone. Come on," Blake said as she headed in the opposite direction.

Both girls were baffled, but they eventually agreed with Blake and followed her. She was a fairy, after all.

Chapter 7

The Tower

As she awoke, Lizzy yawned and smacked her lips. "I slept well. This ground was rough, but I slept like a rock because I was so tired."

They had been on the road for days, which made them extremely tired. Both girls were exhausted, hungry, and sad. But they were driven by a desire to get Princess Savannah and Princess Tammy, which empowered them to stay strong through difficult times.

Ruby stretched after removing her blanket. She let out a loud yawn toward the end of the stretch. After that, she massaged her eyes. "Can't we get some more sleep? We have been traveling for days."

"No, both of you need to get ready. I've been looking at the map, and we need to walk this way," Blake stated, pointing with her tiny little finger.

Ruby slouched after a brief groan. She had gotten an excellent night's sleep, but she wasn't eager to start moving.

Lizzy massaged her calf muscles. After that, she rubbed her feet. She loosened her foot by cracking the joints on her toes.

"Hold on, Blake," Lizzy said, wiping her eyes. "We need to get some breakfast. I'm starving."

"Me, too," Ruby said as she stretched her legs and tossed Lizzy an apple.

"All right, but we need to get out of here quickly," Blake said as she flew from one girl's eye to the next.

"What's the rush?" Lizzy asked as she packed her blanket.

"There's no particular reason to rush, other than I don't want to be in one place for too long. There are dangerous things in this forest," Blake said as she flew high in the sky, scanning for danger.

"We know," Ruby admitted, a little snidely. "There are trolls in these woods."

"That's why we've come. We're well aware that we'll have to deal with trolls, but I don't know how we're going to do it," Lizzy added nervously. Her stomach sank once more, and her heart skipped a beat. How are we going to fight the trolls?

"Girls, you are right. There are dangerous trolls in this forest, but there are other threats," she zoomed up again. She was on the prowl for something particular. Blake didn't know whether or not she should tell the girls what was out there. She felt like she should prepare them.

She landed on Ruby's shoulder. "I didn't know if I was going to tell you two about the spiders. But I think you should know about them. In this forest, there is one big spider. It is the size of an elephant."

She flew over to Lizzy's shoulder and whipped a little sweat from her forehead, "This spider is big. There are hundreds of more spiders the size of dogs that follow this big spider."

"SPIDERS?!" Lizzy said. "I hate spiders! Especially giant, elephant-sized spiders!"

Lizzy's palms were on her cheeks, and her skin was as ghostly white. Ruby shook her head. She refused to believe Blake.

Blake was a blazing red, her cheeks more so than the rest of her body. "That is the truth. They aren't too far away. We must keep an eye out."

"Elephant-sized spiders? Can this forest get worse?" Ruby asked.

They were both repulsed by the sound of spiders. Not only were they going to have to fight trolls and even a dragon, but they were also going to have to fight a gigantic spider.

The girls trusted Blake because they had no reason not to. They both nervously packed their stuff and headed in the way Blake had told them.

Over the next three hours, not much was said. They remained silent as they contemplated what Blake had told them.

To break the silence, Blake spoke up, "I think we should go through there." She pointed to some vines.

They came to a stop when they noticed an arc of interwoven vines suspended from an arch. They were strung to create an entryway.

"This way, girls," Blake stated, her face dazzling white this time.

They drew back the long hanging vines, each girl on a different side, as Blake floated between them. The girls turned to face a tall tower.

The tower was long and thin, with a straight ascent. It was made of stone, with moss growing all the way up the tower. Some areas had so much moss that it was difficult to discern where there were stones. Wildflowers were growing all along the base of the tower. There were many windows, but only one door at the top. There were no other visible doors.

"Come on, let's go check this out," Ruby said.

"Okay, we have been hiking for a while and I could use a break for a minute or two," Lizzy added.

A blue sparrow began twittering, and another followed suit. It was almost as though they were singing. The sounds echoed off the rock wall behind the tower.

As they proceeded slowly and softly toward the tower, the grass crunched beneath their feet, and their imprints remained in the grass.

When they inspected the tower, they discovered how thick the moss was.

Lizzy ran her finger along the moss. "This is gross, look some of this slime came off." Moss covered her fingers. "Yuck!" Lizzy brought it to her nose, "That smells gross, it has a kind of mildewy smell."

She knelt and rubbed it over the grass. She ran her fingers through the grass, which was a touch cool because the tower threw a shadow on this area of it. She pressed her finger into the grass and pushed hard 'til the moss rubbed off on it. Mold spores were now packed into the grass, which she could see.

When she realized it was all gone, she reached out her hand and picked a flower, which snapped as the petal broke. She could feel that the stem had white fuzz on it and that it was a bit scratchy to the touch. It didn't do any harm. It didn't hurt as much as thorns did.

Lizzy remembered seeing a rose about a month ago while she was outside. She had run her hands down the pink flowers. The petals were soft, smooth, and ideal. She was so preoccupied with the beauty of the petal that she didn't see when the petals transformed into the stem, and the stem was studded with thorns. It drew a little blood when she ran her finger across a thorn. She quickly put her finger into her mouth to stop the bleeding. Her index finger began to twitch and throbbed with burning agony. She could feel the pulse in her finger. She was so in love with roses that she didn't mind the sting of the thorns. She promised herself that she would wear gloves the next time, though.

She brought the clump to her nose. "This smells wonderful! I've never smelled a flower like this before. We have flowers from all across the kingdom, but I've never smelled anything like this." She took another deep breath, breathing in the scent of the flower. "It smells like lemon."

I love this smell, and when this is over, I will come back here and try to get these flowers. Then bring them back to our castle and plant them in the garden.

"This place is a little oasis," Lizzy said.

Ruby agreed with her, "It is so calm and peaceful here."

Lizzy walked over to Blake and opened her hand into a cupping position. The fairy landed on her hand. She then sat down on her palm.

"What is this place?" Lizzy asked.

The fairy pulled out her map. It creaked a little as she unwrapped it. She looked it over, gave a little giggle, and then jumped a little.

"This place is a hidden tower that we fairies know about, but most humans have never seen it," Blake said.

"Why is it hidden?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, why would this beautiful place be hidden? That tower is massive; why can't people see it?" asked Princess Lizzy.

"The fairies know about this place because a witch lives here," Blake said.

Both girls gasped.

Oh great, now there is a witch we have to deal with? "There is a witch in that tower?" Lizzy asked while pointing to the window at the top of the tower.

"Is the witch dangerous?" Ruby asked with a squeak in her voice.

"Overall, this witch is not dangerous. But she is a horrible person," Blake said. "But she isn't here much."

"How can a witch be dangerous but not too dangerous?" Lizzy asked, confused.

"Well, you see, she doesn't really have any true power. She can't perform many spells, but she has eternal youth. But she did something really terrible," Blake's face saddened.

"What did she do?" Ruby asked.

"Well. She is dreadful. She kidnapped a baby from a castle because she had magical hair," the fairy said sadly, her shoulder dropped.

"You're telling me there is a baby up in that tower?" Lizzy said nervously pointing to the top of the tower.

"No. There is no baby. There is a girl up there that is a few years older than you. She has very long golden hair that is in a braid. Her hair stretches all the way to the ground and the witch will not let her cut it," Blake added.

The girls looked up to the top of the tower. There was a massive window, but only one. The tower had a purple roof that came to a point. A waterfall could be seen in the distance.

"You're telling me there's a girl up there?" Lizzy pointed to the window, shielding her eyes from the brightness so she could see better.

"Yes. She's up there. The witch goes away for a few days at a time, leaving the girl alone up there. I believe she's a little bored," Blake added.

Ruby agreed with all Blake had to say. Lizzy, on the other hand, was curious as to how the fairies were able to know so much. Particularly about this tower, a girl, and the witch.

Ruby screamed loudly, "Hey you up there, are you a girl up in the tower? Our little fairy down here says you are trapped in the tower. Is that true?"

No response.

Lizzy thought for just a second and turned to Ruby. "At the same time," Lizzy said, "scream, 'Hello, is anyone there'."

Both girls took a deep breath, and exhaled while calling, "Hello, is anyone there?"

No response.

Both girls turned and looked at the fairy a little confused. Was the map incorrect? Did it have the wrong information? Maybe there wasn't a witch in the tower because there wasn't a girl. Lizzy had no desire to meet an evil witch.

The air was filled with a loud whooshing sound. Suddenly, braided golden hair flew through the air and both girls looked up to see what it was. It appeared to be a rope, but it was actually smooth, silky hair that had been braided together.

Thump.

"What are we supposed to do with this?" Lizzy said as she held the end of the hair in her hands. The hair was golden, smooth and in perfect condition. "Are you sure this is hair? Why is it so long?"

Blake gave a little giggle. "It is for climbing, of course."

"Climbing," both girls said in unison.

The fairy flew over to the hair and grabbed and tug on it. The fairy was able to move the hair really well. Who knew the little fairy had such strength? "Yes, for climbing."

Lizzy and Ruby had no reason not to trust the fairy. They both did the same thing as the fairy and pulled on the hair. They were testing its strength. It was tight and could defiantly hold them.

"It seems sturdy," Lizzy said.

"Who goes first?" Blake asked looking from Lizzy to Ruby.

Ruby had no idea how this would help her get her sisters. But because she was tired, this tower appeared to be a good place to rest. Ruby rubbed her eyes; she was tired and hungry since they had hiked most of last night.

"I'll go first," Ruby said confidently through another yawn. Ruby walked to the hair, touched it again, and could feel the hair was firm. She ran her finger along the golden hair and could feel how smooth it was. She put her nose close. "Lavender." Lavender always made her feel warm inside and would remind her of home.

Ruby, then Lizzy, made their way up the hair. Blake flew just in front of them. They both were just a little scared. They did know what to expect. Was this girl going to be scary? Was the witch going to come back?

Lizzy gave one last groan and grunt as she heaved herself up onto and over the stone ledge. Her hands were chilly from pushing herself over the stone ledge.

Ruby was waiting for her, her hand resting on the stone frame, which she used to keep herself balanced while she caught her breath. That climb had proven to be more difficult than either of them had anticipated.

"Who are you? And how did you find me?" said the girl in a beautiful purple dress brandishing a cast-iron skillet.

After walking through the door, Lizzy and Ruby stood. Their hearts were racing, and it wasn't just because of the steep climb they had just completed.

"Who are you…and how did you find me?" she asked, raising her skillet a little higher.

"Um, are you locked up here?" Lizzy asked. "If you are, we can help you get down. You can come to our castle and we can get you away from this place."

Ruby took a few more steps forward, cleared her throat, and said, "We can get you out. You can live in the southern castle with her." She pointed to Lizzy. "Her name is Princess Lizzy."

Lizzy moved closer to Ruby, and they were now side by side. "Also, you can go north, this is Ruby, and she lives there. We can get you out of here, and you are welcome to join us. We'll find you a place to live."

"Who else knows my location," she asked, pointing the skillet at the girls.

"We were on an adventure and we came across your tower," Blake added.

It was the girl in the purple dress's turn to take a step forward. "You're telling the truth," she said with her big, bright green eyes.

A little green creature crawled down her arm and over the pan, staring the two girls in the eyes. He used his signal to inform the girl to bring him back.

The girl turned and spoke to the green creature. "I think they are telling the truth. They don't have fangs. I think they are safe."

She turned and took a breath. "Hello, my name is Rapunzel. I would love to go with you, but my mother will not let me go."

"Your mother?" Lizzy asked, a little confused.

Blake flew forward and turned to face the two girls, whispering, "She doesn't know that she has been kidnapped. She doesn't know that her mother is a witch. She will find that out in a few months when a rider will find this tower and set her free."

Lizzy scrunched her brow and looked at Ruby. Ruby was confused too. How in the world would she know that?

Both brought their heads together. "She doesn't know any of this? How do you know it and she doesn't? How do you know what will happen in a few months, then?"

Blake smiled. "It's because I am a fairy, and I know these things. Listen, she can't know. Things are moving along and us fairies are helping just a little to make sure Rapunzel knows about herself."

Lizzy looked over Ruby's shoulder at the girl. "Sorry, just give us a second."

Lizzy came back into the huddle. "What does that mean? How are you helping things along?"

Blake smiled brighter. "I can't tell you much. I am helping the most with this. Let's just say I planted a thought into this man's head that he should steal a crown from the southwestern kingdom. It's called inception."

Ruby shook her head in confusion. "Let me get this straight. You know about this girl. You don't want us to say anything to her about being kidnapped. You planted a thought in a man's head to steal a crown, and somehow a man stealing a crown will lead to this girl being set free?"

Blake beamed. Her whole body shone brightly. Both girls quickly shielded their eyes. "Yup, that's right. A few months from now she will be free."

I don't know what this fairy is up too. She said something like this about the princess in pink we met a few days ago. I am going to have to pry this fairy's brain when we get home. "Okay. I guess we will not say anything," Lizzy added in a whisper.

Lizzy's heart skipped a beat. She was a little nervous. She wiped the sweat from her head. Her pulse was raising. Lizzy was nervous for the kidnapped girl and she was nervous she was going to say something she should not.

After a few breaths, Lizzy calmed down. She could feel her pulse decreasing and she slowed her breathing. "Nothing at all. We were just saying that we come from the Southern and Northern Kingdoms. And if you ever wanted," she looked to Blake and then Ruby to make sure she was doing okay, "to come and visit us, you would be welcomed."

"Wow, that is very sweet of you. It's possible one day. My mother claims that the world is a dangerous place. According to her, it would be safer for me to remain up here," Rapunzel explained.

Lizzy and Ruby remained silent. They stood. Lizzy fiddled with her jacket, while Ruby gazed up at the ceiling. Knowing a big secret about this girl, neither knew how to act. They weren't very good at pretending and looked very suspicious.

"Well, your mother knows best. Listen to your mother," Blake spoke up to ease the tension in the room. "It can be a scary world out there, so listen to your mother. She is right. There are scary things out there like ruffians and thugs." Blake tried to mimic a thug; she wasn't good at it. Both girls laughed a little. "There have also been plagues, and everyone hates a snake," Blake added.

Lizzy scratched her head. Wait, did she say to listen to her mother, the witch? Isn't she a bad person?

She came out of her trance, and Lizzy stepped forward and whispered in Ruby's ear, "Did it sound like Blake was singing a song about listening to your mother?"

Ruby shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. It was kind of catchy."

This scared Rapunzel a little. These people almost confirmed what her mother had been preaching to her for years.

Blake could see she had accidentally scared her a little. "Even though the world can be dangerous, it is not always so. The world is full of beauty and joy. I bet one day you will see the world and love it. I even bet you will meet a man and fall in love one day. Maybe you two will have an adventure of your own."

This calmed Rapunzel. "Thanks. I really want to see the outside world. But with a man, you have to be kidding? I have never even seen a man. Anyway, why are you three here? Oh, and how did you find this place again?"

Ruby's gaze was fixed on her; she was no longer looking around. "The fairy had a map. We have been traveling for days. We hiked most of the night, and we're tired, and the fairy led us here," Ruby yawned.

Lizzy watched Ruby yawn caused her to yawn too. "Do you think we'll be able to stay for a while to rest? Could we get something to eat?" She yawned and rubbed the corners of her eyes. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot. They were in desperate need of sleep.

Rapunzel hurried over to the window and looked out. Her hands were resting on the railing. She turned her stare toward the trees. She heard rustling in the leaves, but it turned out to be a bird. As she looked down at the ivy, she noticed that it was only swaying in the wind.

"My mother left two days ago, but she isn't due back for another three days. You can stay here and get some rest," she said. Rapunzel walked over to Ruby, who was also yawning again, and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Plus, I am a good cook and baker, and I have plenty of food.

At the same time, Lizzy, Ruby, and Blake were overjoyed. They'd found a pleasant spot to rest and eat. They were ecstatic that they wouldn't have to sleep on the ground. They were relieved that they wouldn't be freezing at night. They look around the room, seeking the best location to put their stuff. They decided to get some blankets and pillows and set up their bed. Rapunzel helped them get comfortable. They talked for the remainder of the night, and Rapunzel showed them her star chart, paint, and baking supplies. They fell asleep after a few hours.

Chapter 8

Things that Creep and Crawl

"Morning, you two," Blake said.

Doesn't she ever sleep? Lizzy yawned and stretched her hands out for a big stretch. She opened closed her mouth a few times to loosen her jaw. "Morning, you mean nighttime? We have only slept for a few hours."

Lizzy heard a little laughter.

"No, I mean morning. You two have slept for the entire night."

"I made you breakfast. Plus, I made you food you can take with you. You never mentioned why you were traveling in the woods," Rapunzel said.

Lizzy looked at Ruby, the Ruby looked at Blake and Blake looked back to Lizzy. Were they able to tell Rapunzel why they were there? It seemed okay since it wouldn't give anything away from her future.

In a somber voice, Ruby said, "Trolls took my sisters."

Rapunzel let out a gasp. She sucked in her breath and covered her mouth with both of her hands. She was totally shocked. She didn't have a sister, at least not that she was aware of, and the thought of losing a sister made her sad. "I am so sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help?" Rapunzel asked.

Lizzy stood up, her joints cracking as she did so. Her dad had always told her to stop growing up because the aches and pains of life increased. "Not unless you know how to defeat an entire army of trolls?"

Ruby elbowed her lightly and whispered in her ear.

"Oh yeah, and do you by chance happen to know how to defeat a dragon?" Lizzy asked with doubt in her voice.

To this question, Blake smiled. She smiled because she knew something. Blake always knew things. She beamed and grew a little bright at this last question. Of course, she made it discrete so no one could see her.

"No. I don't know how to beat trolls or dragons. There isn't much in my house I have that could be a troll, let alone a dragon." Rapunzel thought for a minute. "Wait a minute. I may have something. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it does, but you can have it," Rapunzel said.

Rapunzel moved across the room and halted at a specific spot on the floor. The floor was built of various stone cuts that were all precisely positioned, except for a particular stone. She lifted the stone with her fingernails. She retrieved an object wrapped in a cloth from the secret location and untangled it.

"You're welcome to it. I'm not sure what it is, but this is the only thing worth anything in the house." She approached Lizzy and handed her the object. "I stole that from my mother one day when I was mad at her. She thought I was sleeping, and she was talking to herself, saying that item was magical. She had been rude while using me and using my hair to heal…"

Rapunzel put her hand to her mouth, shocked. Rapunzel didn't want to tell strangers about her magical hair.

"Let's just say I was mad at my mom," she said as she calmed down and moved her hand. "I'd like you to have it. It could be nothing, but it could also be worth something. Maybe you could sell it for money to buy food. Or stay at a lodge."

It was in Lizzy's hand. She ran her finger down the length of the metal with her finger. It was flawless. When she traced the gold, it appeared to be three pieces of gold intertwined together, with a purple gem embedded at the end. It looked to sparkle, but not in the way you might expect. It was more like a shimmering magical mist.

"That looks like. That looks almost like the thing we got from the other girl," Ruby said.

Ruby took out her bag, opened the flap, and took the other item out. "Look. It's nearly identical. It is, in fact, the same. Aside from the color."

Lizzy took the piece and placed it next to the other. There were similarities and differences. The pink gold was adorned with artwork. Birds, rabbits, an owl, and a squirrel were carved into the gold. The animal carving on the pink gold was strange.

The piece she had just been given was the same length as the one she had just received, but it didn't have any animal carvings. It was only three woven gold pieces. This one had a purple gem, while the first had a pink gem.

"Thank you," Lizzy said. This made her very happy. She had no idea what it was, but she hoped to trade it for food when she ran out.

The girls hugged Rapunzel before they returned to their belongings to pack them.

Rapunzel threw her hair over the ledge and anchored it to an iron rod just out the door for support. The two princesses climbed down the tower after saying their goodbyes, but Blake remained behind.

Blake returned into the room. "Remember Rapunzel, if someone else comes here, especially a man, persuade him to take you out of the tower. Oh, I think your birthday is coming up. Maybe that would be a good day. Who knows, maybe he will take you to see the floating lights since your mother won't. The floating lights are beautiful. Oh, you are right, and the stars are always constant." Blake winked at Rapunzel and then shot out the window.

Blake heard Rapunzel gasp as she soared out the window, smiling.

Both girls turned back to get one more look.

"I am going to miss this place," Ruby said.

"Me too," Lizzy said.

They left the vine entryway. Blake wiggled her wings and radiated a faint yellowish tint. As the map was folded up, it crinkled.

She looked to the left. "There is no way around. We have to go through this clearing."

She flew a few feet forward. "I don't like this, but this is the way we have to go."

"Um, why don't you like this way?" Ruby asked, confused herself.

"It doesn't look that bad," Lizzy said

Lizzy moved a few steps in the direction suggested by Blake. She squinted and covered her eyes, trying to see a little more. "What's wrong with this way?"

Blake flew toward Princess Lizzy, shining a light grey. "This path may lead us to the spiders."

"What?" Lizzy and Ruby both said at the same time.

Lizzy couldn't believe what she had just said, "Say that again?"

"The little spiders don't do much. They will hide at times. It is the leader. They follow their leader. Look here," Blake said as she opened her brown bag and pulled out another map. "Look, here is a description of the leader." Blake pointed to some scribbles on the side of the map.

The spider's head is reddish-orange in color. Its legs are reddish-brown, and its stomach is black. The spider bears a red mark on the bottom of its hourglass-shaped stomach. The top of the abdomen is speckled orange, with each spot encircled by a yellow or white outline.

"How will we get past the spider?" The map shook. Princess Lizzy, who was a bit frightened, asked.

Blake went from a light grey to a light blue. She smiled, "These should help." Blake opened her bag and gave each girl a dagger that she had in passing showed them before.

The daggers were identical and made entirely of pure silver. The blade's tip curled in one direction, while the bottom of the blade formed a square for support. The handle was made of leather that had been coiled around.

Lizzy saw her reflection in the blade and saw some weird markings. She ran her fingers across the side of the blade. "What is this?" Lizzy asked as her index finger ran across wording.

"That is an old language of the fairies. These daggers are older than me, and I am over two thousand years old." Blake beamed when telling them her age. The older the fairy, the wiser the fairy.

Is she over two thousand years old? I guess I never asked her how old she was. She looks so young. Lizzy held out her hand as Blake put the sheath in it. As Lizzy put the knife away, a rush of wind blew her curly hair. She had a chill go down her spine. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Ruby asked.

"Right when I put the knife into the carrier, a little breeze came. It's like the knife had magic to it." Lizzy looked at the case. "There was nothing special about it, other than looking rather old."

"I felt that. It was just the wind. It is a little windy today," Ruby said.

Lizzy squinted because of how bright Blake was. "Calm down with the brightness. It hurts my eyes a little. The next time it is dark, and we are hiking, you can shine that bright."

Lizzy put the knife in her bag. There is something that she isn't telling us.

The three of them proceeded with their journey.

It wasn't long before their worst fears came true. There were spiders along the trail, but they were no bigger than a bug. They were, in general, a normal spider's actual size.

"I thought these were supposed to be big?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, they will be," Blake answered.

Spiders fled in every direction each time Lizzy took a step. "Look, they are running away from us. Maybe this won't be that bad."

Lizzy looked over to Blake to get a confirmation from her. She was a dull grey color. Lizzy was beginning to pick up on Blake's feelings with her color. Lizzy was well aware that light grey was not the color she wanted Blake to be at this time.

"A…Blake…is everything okay?" Lizzy asked a little jumpily.

"Blake," Ruby muttered.

She changed the color of herself to a light blue. "These spiders will get bigger as we continue."

"Are you sure there isn't another way there?" Lizzy asked shakily.

"No," Blake answered.

Ruby came to a standstill, "Are you sure there isn't another way there? Are you double sure? Triple sure?"

Blake's wings stiffened and then beat furiously. As Blake pressed her nose to Ruby's nose, Ruby became cross-eyed. "We need to make our way past this dense forest. We will come to a loch that opens to the ocean. Then we have to go up the trail to the northeast."

The message wasn't too reassuring for the girls. They stood, confused. A little tear was forming in Ruby's eye. Lizzy was fidgeting with her fingers. She started to bite her nails.

"We have to…we have to…" A tear started rolling down her cheek. "…We have to save my sisters," Ruby said unsteadily.

Lizzy spoke, but the other two could barely hear her, "We have to keep going."

Lizzy smacked her shoulder. She turned to look at it. There was nothing there. It had just been an itch, "That was close." Lizzy didn't like spiders, no matter the size.

Ruby knocked into Lizzy when she was looking in the air. She ruffled her hair and shook it. "Get it out!"

Lizzy ran over and looked in Ruby's hair, "I don't see anything. No spider."

Lizzy's comment didn't stop her from rummaging in her hair again.

Both girls had the sensation of phantom spiders walking over their bodies. Whether or not the spiders were real and on them was hard for the girls to determine. Lizzy had a scratch on her back. Was it from a spider?

All of a sudden, Lizzy's bag started tugging her. Lizzy resisted her bag, which was trying to pull her forward. She fought hard and finally dug her boots into the ground to stop her momentum. "What is happening to me?"

Lizzy grabbed the leather strips and grimaced as she fought. She finally pulled the bag over her head. "Blake, what is happening to my bag?"

Blake beamed. "That is the dagger I gave you. It wants to fight because it has a mind of its own."

"What does that mean?" Lizzy asked. At this point, Lizzy was holding her bag as it floated in the air and was trying to pull her away.

Blake flew toward the bag and touched it a few times to inspect it. "It isn't the bag that is floating. The dagger I gave you is trying to attack danger. It senses danger."

"I don't want that then," Lizzy claimed.

"Why isn't mine doing anything?" Ruby questioned.

"I brought both daggers. They are a pair. They were created at the same time. Both have a little magic but only one always wants to fight. I forgot which was which when I gave you two those daggers."

"Ah…stop pulling me." Her boots kicked some dirt as she was trying to pull herself backward. "How do I stop this?" Lizzy asked as she held the straps in her hands and twisted her body and head to stop the tugging.

Blake unhinged to lock, pulled the flap and flew into the bag. The bag stopped pulling almost instantly. Blake flew back out of the bag.

"Let me catch my breath. That hurt," Lizzy grunted.

"How did you get that to stop?" Ruby asked as she helped pull the bag off of Lizzy's shoulders.

"I can't tell you. It is a secret we fairies know," Blake responded.

Blake flew back down to the bag, got in it again, and pulled out the dagger. She was off balance and stumbled back and forth as she struggled to keep the knife in her grip. The blade was clearly too hefty for Blake and at least four times her size.

"Here," Blake murmured as she attempted to hand Lizzy the dagger.

Lizzy stretched out with her hand to take the knife. An adult may take the blade carefully and know how to handle it; Princess Lizzy, on the other hand, took it as if it were a butter knife. She threw it back and forth from one hand to the other. A faint ping could be heard as the blade struck Lizzy's ring. Her fingers started to tingle and warmed up. "Why does my hand feel like that?"

"The dagger is still up for a fight. It craves danger and is aiming to steer you toward a fight," Blake remarked.

Palm up, Lizzy let the dagger lie on her hand. It grew warm and started to vibrate. It skipped up and down extremely fast, and it was moving back and forth, but only in one direction. The sharp end was pointing down the path. "Does that mean this knife is pointing me toward that big spider?"

"Yes—" Blake stated.

"Hold on. You're telling us that Lizzy's dagger is pointing us toward that massive spider? If it is, why don't we just go the opposite way?" Ruby asked, interrupting her. "Also, why does my dagger do nothing?"

Ruby opened her bag and pulled her dagger out. "See, mine isn't doing anything. Why? I want a cool dagger-like hers!"

Blake zoomed over to Ruby, with her might she picked up the dagger, "This is a magical dagger. It shines as bright as the sun when it senses extreme danger. Close your eyes when it happens. Otherwise, you will be temporarily blinded."

Ruby brought the dagger up to examine it again. "Extreme danger? How close?"

"Close," Blake answered with a single word.

"How close?" Ruby asked again.

"You will know when it is close. You will feel the blade reacting. Who knows, it may come in useful," Blake said.

"May? Extremely close? I don't like the sounds of those words." Ruby placed the dagger back into her bag.

Lizzy took her vibrating dagger and placed it back in her bag as well. "If it is pointing to danger, why don't we use it as a compass and go away from the danger?" Lizzy had a valid point. Why couldn't they use the knife as sort of a compass? If the knife is pointed right, they go left. It seemed like a good thought.

Thud.

Smack.

Crack!

Thump.

"I can't breathe," Lizzy said as she gasped for air. "What hit me? Lizzy was panting as she pushed herself up.

Lizzy wiped some dirt out of her eyes. She saw Blake beaming brightly and scaring off a spider. This spider looked to be the size of a dog. She thought she did a good job avoiding spiders, but she hadn't. It was evident more spiders would come.
"That spider came from nowhere," Ruby squeaked, her lips trembling. "I gave it a push, but Blake got it off you."

Lizzy inspected her sleeve to see a cut. She touched the fibers on her pants where an additional cut was. "Ahh, ouch!" Lizzy squealed as she instinctively grabbed her leg. "It hurts."

Ruby came quickly to her side. As she touched her leg, the first thing she noticed was a red slime. She brought her nose closer, "Gross. It doesn't smell right." There were scratch marks along her torn skin. Ruby looked at her finger and noticed slime mixed with a small amount of blood. Her pants were stained after she wiped her hand clean.

"Blake, hurry! Over here!" Ruby yelled.

The fairy dodged a red bird on her way back to the girls. "Let me see." Her tiny fingers ran all along her shoulder. Blake, too had slime on her hand. "It looks like it bit you. Its poison is in you."

Lizzy's face was turning white. Her legs wobbled, then she fell to the ground. "Please help…"

"There, there. That should help." Blake finished applying a purple ointment to her leg. "That was close."

"Thanks," Ruby said as she awkwardly tried to place her arms around the tiny fairy to hug her.

Lizzy rubbed her temples, blinked her eyes, and then rubbed the base of her skull. She opened and closed her mouth, it was dry. She pushed herself to a seated position. "Ooo…my head hurts," Lizzy moaned.

Blake zipped down to her leg. Dipped her fingers into the thick, purple medicine. Then applied more to her leg. "It bit you but you will be fine. This will make you all better in just a few minutes."

My head is on fire. My leg hurts and my back aches. Why did I come? We can't take on trolls. We can't fight a dragon. I can't even stay up against a small spider.

"Ruby, Blake," Lizzy whispered, "how are we going to get past the big spider?"

Blake opened her teeny, tiny fairy bag, which was a little larger than a bean. "I was hoping to keep this for the dragon," she said, pulling out a purple elixir. "But we need it right now."

Ruby blinked because Blake had quickly reached her eyes. She showed her the elixir. Then showed Lizzy. "This will hide our scent. We can't smell it, but once we take it no creature can smell us, but they will still be able to see us."

"If they can see us, why is this liquid any good?" Lizzy shifted her body, hoping the pain would go away. "Won't they just see us coming?"

Blake uncorked the elixir and held it up to her nose, saying, "Delicious. I'm hoping it tastes as nice as it smells."

The girls bonked heads a little as they smelled the liquid.

"You see, creatures have a considerably stronger sense of smell than sight. I'm sure the spider is aware that we've arrived—"

"—The spider knows we are here?" Ruby said with a tremble.

"Yes, Ruby, he is aware. After we take this, the spider will be unable to detect us. It will only notice us when we are close," Blake said softly to soothe Ruby.

Lizzy's lips twitched as if she were attempting to broaden them as if she were trying to fake a smile. Sure, her smell would be disguised, but the spider was aware of their presence.

"I wasn't going to take this without first speaking with you two. This was supposed to be for the dragon. If we use it now, there will be none left," Blake stated as she recapped the bottle.

The girls huddled together and talked. They tried to come up with different strategies. The pros and cons of taking it now. Was this going to be a short-term gain for a long-term loss?

If we don't get past the spider, we will never get to the dragon. We should use it. "I vote we take it now. I couldn't get past one small spider." She looked to Ruby. "One spider the size of…how big was it?" Lizzy asked.

Ruby's face became red. She couldn't think of anything to say. While cracking her knuckles, she reflected. "It was almost the size of a kitten."

"What?!" Lizzy screamed in utter disbelief.

"Well, maybe it was the size of a full-grown cat," Ruby said, looking to the sky, knowing full well that she was lying. She put her hands close and then moved them apart to show her the size of the spider. Again, she blushed.

This was the biggest spider Lizzy or Ruby had ever seen. After hearing Blake's stories about spiders, this spider was tiny compared to what they were about to face.

Lizzy pushed her hands in the dirt, turning up some dust. Put her hand on her knee and pushed herself up. She looked to Blake. "It was only the size of a cat!" she moaned. To get rid of the dirt in her mouth, she stuck her tongue out a few times. She rubbed her tongue with her hand and eventually got it all.

Blake went pink; she had shined a new color Lizzy hadn't seen before. "Really, the size ofa cat?" Lizzy kicked the dirt in frustration. "A cat!?" It knocked me over so quickly.

Their silence was deafening.

Lizzy held out her hand. "Give me that juice," she said, a little disheartened.

Blake flew up to Princess Lizzy put a tiny drop in her mouth. She did the same for Ruby.

Ruby licked her lips. The taste was perfect.

The three traveled deep into the forest. They were once again silent. They knew the spider couldn't smell them, so they did everything they could to avoid being heard by the spider. There was no light coming through, making it impossible to be silent.

The forest was getting thicker because of the spider webs, but luckily, they hadn't seen any spiders yet.

But their luck ran out. An enormous spider's web was woven into the tree just a few feet away. The web was the size of a small house. They could see the spider in the center of it. It was twitching, and all of its eyes were staring at them.

Lizzy's fist covered her mouth. She bent over and almost vomited when she gagged a little. The spider was repulsive. She'd seen other spiders, but this one was particularly repulsive. It had hair sprouting from every part of its body. It had just seven legs. The other was a stump that had likely been ripped off during a fight. Three of its eyes were gone, while the remaining eyeballs were filled with green goo. As apparent as day due to the spider's size, its fangs had half a donkey hanging out of it. She shook her body. "Gross."

Ruby didn't take a breath for more than a minute. She was still. She was at a loss for words as she tried to understand what she saw.

The spider ignored them while chewing on its latest kill. They slipped around it.

The spider webs became thicker and more prominent as they progressed further into the forest. As one would imagine, the spiders grew in size as well.

Ruby grabbed at her long, silky hair, yanking a few spider webs from it. When she glanced down at her hand, she saw it was coated in the sticky webbing. She felt agitated and knelt on the ground, rubbing the spider webs off her hand. She insisted that everything be removed entirely. "Gross!"

It had been almost two hours. Ruby counted at least thirty spiders. Lizzy had stopped counting after ten. Ten was too many, and any after that was just too much.

Why aren't any spiders attacking us? Is it because we haven't been caught on the web?

"Stop," Lizzy said in a loud whisper. "Look," Lizzy pointed just beyond two fallen trees. "That spider has to be the main one."

Lizzy placed her thumb in front of her eye. She moved her thumb away, then brought it back. "That has to be the most dangerous one. It surpasses Zeus, James' black horse."

"Sorry. That means we are close," Blake said directly in Lizzy's ear. She flew over to Ruby and repeated the same comment.

Snap.

The stick under Ruby's foot just broke. The spider twitched and moved. It stayed in the middle of the web but moved just a little.

"Shhh!" Lizzy put her finger over her mouth.

They froze and went silent. Blake turned a light blue color and guided them around the spider.

That is when they saw it.

Lizzy knew.

Ruby knew.

Of course, Blake knew.

"That is the King of the spiders," Blake said, pointing over her back while looking at the girls.

Ruby wrapped her arms around Princess Lizzy. Her shaking had been noticeable to Ruby. She wasn't doing much better, and she thought she was shivering even more than Lizzy was.

"Ouch. Stop," Lizzy struggled not to scream as her bag pulled her forward. Her neck ached. The strap was tugging on the back of her neck. "Stop!" Lizzy said quietly. Her hands struggled to control the straps.

"I've lost control," Blake responded, gleaming as brightly as she could.

The light attracted the spider's attention. It scurried up and down the length of its web.

"It knows we're here," Blake trembled.

"No!" Ruby screamed. She had turned around to see if they could go backward. Only to see twenty to thirty spiders, ranging from dogs to horse size, standing just behind them. Where had they come from? Where they baiting them the whole time?

"We are trapped!" she cried.

Lizzy shifted her gaze to confirm this. That was a mistake. Lizzy snatched the strap, her throat reddening. Her large muscles tensed in an attempt to keep the strap from strangling her. The strap around her throat was now tugging her in the opposite direction. She was able to wrap the strap around her neck and over her head. She gripped it tightly, so it didn't fly away.

Ruby and Lizzy took a hesitant step back. There was a rustling coming the other way. The giant spider was twitching.

Lizzy went inside her bag and drew out the dagger. Her bag landed on the ground. Lizzy was being dragged forward by the knife.

Ruby followed suit. "Stupid knife," she said, referring to her dagger. "This is as good as a butterknife."

"It is time to act," Blake stated as she turned toward Ruby, her wings accidentally striking Lizzy's eye.

What were they going to do?

Chapter 9

The Spider

Lizzy didn't think before acting. The first thing that came to her mind, she said. Her brothers constantly urged her to believe in herself. She just hoped now was an excellent time to take that advice. "Blake, Ruby, I want you to distract the spider. I want you to make a lot of noise. Maybe kick the dirt. Throw a rock or two, whatever will draw its attention," she said with authority.

"I'm the bait?" Ruby asked.

Blake shook her head in agreement. "Yes. We will do that."

Lizzy paused a second. Blake didn't question her at all. Why not? Was this a good plan since she agreed with her?

"I don't want to," Ruby said, shaking. "You go be the bait!"

"Ruby, I have a plan. I am going to climb up that tree." Lizzy pointed to a tree. "See that branch way up there? It looks like it is long and sturdy. I can walk down it. It may give us an advantage. Maybe I can sneak up on the spider while you two are distracting it."

Ruby grunted. "Fine, but you are going to be the bait for the dragon when we meet it. Do you hear me? More importantly, do you understand me?"

Blake giggled.

"Yes," Lizzy said, rolling her eyes.

Something strange happened when Lizzy wasn't paying attention. The dagger was no longer pulling her. It left the second she started toward the giant spider.

The other spiders drew Lizzy's attention. They shifted from side to side, never looking directly at her. They didn't do anything. It seemed as though they were told not to interfere.

Ruby and Blake walked straight toward the spider.

The branch scratched Ruby's hand as she flung it at the spider. It hit one of the spider's legs. It didn't even twitch. "Why am I the bait again?" she grumbled to herself. Then took a deep breath. "Come on, you big ugly hairy lump of nothing!" Ruby screamed as she threw a large rock at it.

Both the rock and the stick struck the spider, making a hissing sound. Robotically it moved up and down, then right to the left on the web. It hissed at Ruby and Blake. Ruby felt the warmth of its breath. They were close.

The spider whizzed through the spiderweb and stopped near the bottom, jumping upon its back four legs and hissing. Its fangs swing just before spitting venom. It took its two front legs and tried to shoot webs at them when the venom didn't hit Ruby or Blake. Blake had to jump and roll under a log to dodge the webs.

The spider leaped from the web and landed with a thundering thump on the ground. Ruby braced herself against the log, but it shifted slightly, startling her. She didn't want to be crushed under the weight of a log.

"I am going to kill Lizzy if I don't die first!" Ruby yelled. Even Blake, inches away from her, couldn't hear her because of how loud the spider was.

"Come on," Ruby said, grabbing another rock. "Follow me, Blake."

They both made their way from under the log and positioned behind a tree.

"Ready, three, two, one...run!" Ruby shouted as she dashed out from behind the tree, hurling the rock at the spider.

Ruby and Blake were dodging venom and webs. Blake would fly close enough to blind the spider temporarily. Ruby had more time to toss sticks and rocks at it. Ruby once struck the spider in the eye, causing it to rear up and scream before crashing to the ground. This churned up a lot of dirt, making the air a little dusty.

Ruby was scared nervous and didn't forget she was mad at Lizzy. "She is the bait next time," she said, throwing a branch toward its mouth.

Ruby had enough. She reached in her bag for her dagger.

Lizzy was still baffled as to why the dagger wasn't pulling her anymore. It is as if the dagger knew her plan and agreed with her.

Lizzy, dagger in hand, climbed the tree. The dagger was still calm. The last few branches had scratched Lizzy's cheek. Climbing with only one hand was difficult. She couldn't climb without both hands, so she carried the knife in her mouth and climbed to the highest branch. She was high in the crown of the tree now. She looked down to find Ruby, barely avoiding being entangled in a web. She was focused on Ruby then slipped, but quickly regained her footing.

She wrapped her arms and legs around the branch and hurried toward the end. Now that she was at the end, she didn't know what to do next. I thought this was a good plan.

Lizzy heard a cry and looked down to see Ruby. The spider had almost snagged her. But now Lizzy saw her shanking, but not from fear. She had her knife in her hand.

"Blake!" Ruby screamed. "Blake, I can't control this dagger. It is shaking a lot. What is going on?"

Blake turned toward Ruby, gave her a wink.

Ruby's jaw dropped. "Why are you happy?"

Ruby's dagger trembled so severely that it almost slipped from her hands. It turned a brilliant blue color. Then it got a little darker.

It trembled, and then the color increased from blue to a bright white. Ruby closed her eyes and felt a scalding heat in her fingers. Her eyesight had utterly weakened. Her eyes were shielded by one of her hands. Her eyelids were pressed together as tightly as she could. Even though she had closed her eyes, she felt a pulse of light and seemed as if she were staring at the sun.

Thud.

There was a crash. It sounded like a boulder falling off a cliff and then rolling down a mountain. Ruby had to cover her ears. The sound was so loud.

Ruby's eyes strained. She rubbed her eyes to regain focus. She struggled, but her sight was coming into focus. She forced her eyes open as wide as they would go, then rubbed them one last time. Was she hallucinating?

When Ruby focused, there was Princess Lizzy. It wasn't just Lizzy, though. It was Lizzy sitting on the spider's head while the spider twitched. Her hands were on her dagger, which was in its head.

"What happened?!" Ruby yelled.

Lizzy wiped the blood from her shirt and jeans. She would puff air out of her mouth to get the yellow sludge out. She wiped her eyes to get a dark golden slime out of them.

Lizzy pulled the dagger out of the head of the spider and then jumped down.

Ruby was in disbelief, "What did you do?"

Lizzy swept away a small piece of yellow slime, perhaps a little too violently, as it fell on Ruby's boots. "I want to take credit, but I was at the far end of the branch, and the dagger began to shake violently. Wait, how did you make such a marvelous light? Blake, was that you?" Lizzy inquired.

She smiled and nodded toward Ruby. "It was her."

"It wasn't me. It was the blade," Ruby added.

"What?" Lizzy asked, shocked.

"Anyway, my dagger started shaking again when I was at the end of the branch. It pulled me forward. It forced me off the top of the branch, and it sward toward the spider's head. I held tight to it. Next, it plunged into its head."

Lizzy shook her head slightly, disgusted. "The knife pierced the spider's skull. I believe it was aimed directly at the brain. I couldn't tell since I couldn't see clearly." She mimed, covering her eyes. "Your light was bright."

Blake hurried over to Lizzy and extended her hand, saying, "Let me see your knife." Then to Ruby, she added, "Yours too."

Blake ran her fingers along with the blades, flicking the residual gunk on the ground and inadvertently striking an unfortunate squirrel. She sheathed the blades and carefully placed them in her bag, taking care not to damage any other objects. "Wonderful work, girls. You both did fantastically."

Lizzy and Blake looked at each other, then Lizzy looked at Ruby. Then they all three looked at the dead spider. Its body was still twitching.

"That is disgusting and it stinks!" Lizzy said, plugging her nose and fanning the air with her other hand.

The three of them gathered all their belongings and quickly left before any of the spiders could return. They made their way northeast for the next few days.

Chapter 10

Gadgets and Gizmos

"I can't believe we did it," Ruby said, almost skipping. "We killed a spider! No one is going to believe us."

"Nope! But we did it," Lizzy said joining Ruby with skipping. "Blake, why did the other spiders leave?"

Blake took a moment to think. "It was the dagger's radiance. Because spiders are naturally dark creatures, the light scared them away."

She drifted aimlessly through the air, lost in thought. "I'm glad the light scared the others away. I'm not sure we could have beaten the remaining spiders even with the daggers."

They kept talking about their victory. They fantasized about swapping places and seeing what would happen. They took turns jumping in the air and pretending to stab the spider with the knife. They would laugh and giggle.

They talked for several hours. The adrenaline from killing the spiders made it easy for them to walk and make progress. They made their way through the trees until they reached a clearing. Within this clearing, there was an ocean. The ocean was something neither of the princesses had ever seen before.

There were many different kinds of birds. Some long-winged white birds were soaring above the ocean, while light blue smaller ones were floating on the top of the water. The air was crisp and clean, with a lovely wind blowing through it. The beach was littered with huge and tiny boulders of all sizes. There were many different types of rocks. Some were dull and boring, while others were vibrant and colorful.

Lizzy savored the fresh air and the smell of sea as her hair waved in the breeze. She took a few deep breaths and relaxed. She loved going to the beach with her family and splashing around in the water and this reminded her of her family. I miss my mom and dad. I wish Luke and James were here.

Lizzy took a pebble in her palm and stroked her fingertips along the groove in the middle, where she discovered little grains of sand trapped. She brought it up to the light of the sun and was able to see the many translucent colors. This rock was a mixture of blue, green, and purple.

When Ruby noticed Lizzy looking at the rocks, she decided to join in the fun. She grabbed a couple of them. She saw some dull rocks and picked them out and tossed them on the ground. Some of the rocks were brilliant orange, with white striations around them. Others were a brilliant red with tan lines going across them. Ruby, too, held it up to the light and was amazed at their clarity.

"These would make lovely necklaces and bracelets," Lizzy added as she gazed at the rock in the sunlight.

"Maybe we should keep a couple to help us remember the adventure," Ruby said as she began to stuff her bag with rocks.

Both girls were in desperate need of a break. They needed some downtime after such a long and exhausting journey.

So, they sat on the seashore, sorting among rocks until they found the ones that would be great for their jewelry.

Boulders were in the beach line all around them, including right in front of them. There was one massive one and some smaller ones.

Lizzy spotted the morning tide coming in while digging for rocks to create beautiful jewelry.

"Look, the tide is coming in," Lizzy said.

Lizzy looked for Blake, who was zipping around various boulders. She was looking over them. What exactly was she looking for?

Blake flew over to the princesses, her tiny wings flashing in the light. "This appears to be an enchanted sea."

After shooting around to a couple more rocks, she soared a few feet out to the ocean. As she turned to face the other two, she grinned. She returned with such a flurry.

"I saw something you two might be interested in," Blake shouted. "Come here." She waved her hand and flew back out to the ocean.

The two princesses proceeded to the edge of the ocean and peered into the dark blue water, but they saw nothing. Blake was showing them something, but they couldn't see it. They felt they needed to climb higher to get a better view.

Blake swooped down on Princess Lizzy, grabbed her jacket, and yanked it toward a boulder. Blake did the same for Ruby. Ruby went to the rock on the left, while Lizzy went to the massive rock on the right. They both reached the top and looked over the side. They now could see what she was pointing at. This brought them joy.

"Is that a mermaid?" Lizzy asked, her face beaming. To get a better view, she moved to the top of the rock. She was so excited that she almost fell off. "I've always wanted to meet a mermaid," she added.

"What is next to it?" Ruby asked, pointing.

Blake raced down to the water, her wings buzzing vigorously. She flew over the water, just escaping a crashing wave. She flew down and touched the water. She sped away from another crashing wave. "Yes!"

"I saw a mermaid staring at us. She appears to be clutching a red lobster. I also notice a little yellow fish with blue stripes close to her," Blake said.

Lizzy climbed down the rock, keeping her eyes locked on the mermaid, so she didn't lose her. "You can see her once you get close to the ocean. She has beautiful long flowing red hair," Lizzy said.

"It does," Blake added. "The mermaid has long, flowing red hair." She squinted her eyes and placed her hand over her eyes to shield the sun. "I want to meet her," Blake said.

"It looks like she has been watching us. She is getting closer to the surface, and I think she wants to talk to us," Blake said as she brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes.

"I would love to talk to a mermaid!" Lizzy said, almost screaming; she was so excited.

Ruby moved down her rock just a little. "How do you think we can get her to talk to us?"

"Maybe we should talk to her first," Lizzy said as she was climbing down her rock.

Both girls were on the beach. They each took their boots off and entered the water.

"That's cold," Lizzy said, her teeth chattering.

"It stings a little. I didn't know it would be this cold!" Ruby added.

Shivering, Lizzy moved toward Ruby. "It is always like this. It is cold. Then it will burn, then it will ache. After a while, our feet will be numb," Lizzy said walking deeper into the water.

They both continued. Ruby had her arms folded while Lizzy rubbed her arms. They were both becoming pale blue.

"This water is freezing," Lizzy said as her teeth chattered.

"It isn't that bad," Ruby added while her teeth were also chattering. She placed her hands on her shoulders and started rubbing them. Her body was twitching.

"Yes, it is," Lizzy said, shivering.

"What should we say?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "I will try to talk to her," Lizzy added.

"Hello? Are you there? Can you hear me?" Lizzy asked as she took a few more steps into the water.

They both stopped dead in their tracks when they saw a head pop out of the water. The head defiantly had red hair. The red hair was floating in all directions, but as the mermaid kept moving out of the water, the hair stuck to the mermaid.

Just as quickly as the head popped out of the water, it went right back in. She came out two or three times to check that it was safe to talk with the humans.

"Do you think we scared her?" Lizzy asked.

Ruby took a few more steps into the water. Now, she was rubbing her legs. "How should I know?"

Blake flew over to Lizzy's ear. "You didn't scare her; I think she's simply checking to see whether she can trust you."

"Trust me?" With a puzzled expression, Lizzy remarked, "Of course, I can be trusted. I wouldn't harm a fly."

Ruby placed her hands on her stomach, laughing. She couldn't breathe. "Wouldn't hurt a fly? Tell that to the spiders!"

Lizzy had a blank stare. Thought for a second. She finally shook her head, "That doesn't count. Those were spiders! Everyone knows that spiders are bad," Lizzy said, smiling. Then she joined in with the laughter.

Lizzy swiped her hand at the water, launching water at Ruby.

Ruby turned just before the water splashed on her back. It was freezing! "I'm going to get you!"

For a few seconds, they splashed each other until Lizzy said, "Spiders don't count. Spiders, as we all know, do not count. I haven't hurt a single soul!" Lizzy burst out laughing.

"Our kind hate spiders," said a voice that no one recognized. A beautiful mermaid with red hair had appeared. She had two little friends. The fish was yellow and had blue streaks. The other friend was a red lobster.

"Any time we come to shore; we have to be on the lookout for the spiders. They hunt our kind," said the mermaid.

"Well, due to Princess Lizzy," Ruby stated, smiling, "you won't have to worry about spiders."

"What do you mean?" the mermaid asked.

Blake glided down to the mermaid, her little wings fluttering furiously. "Lizzy slayed the most enormous spider in the whole forest!" Blake gleefully announced.

With wide eyes, the mermaid stared at Princess Lizzy. Smiling, she bowed. "How did you manage to do that?"

"Well, it was sort of an accident. I was pulled off a tree and when I did, I landed on the top of the spider. I had my knife and I stabbed it into the top of his head," Lizzy said.

Shivering, Lizzy pretended to shake spider blood off her hands. "It was so gross." She gave another shake and wiped her body; she remembered the blood too well. "After I stabbed him, blood shot everywhere. I didn't want to hurt the spider when we found him, but he tried to kill us. We just wanted to sneak by it."

"Well, I applaud you for your wonderful deed. The forest is now secure for everyone." The mermaid turned to face the crimson lobster.

She shook her head, almost as if she was conversing with him without saying anything. The lobster shook his head and scurried away.

"Where is he going?" Ruby enquired.

The mermaid took a stroke forward to get closer to the girls, and her fish friend joined her. "He went to tell the king."

The fish smacked water with his relatively small flipper, splashing the mermaid with just a little water. "You really need to tell her your harrowing tale," a squeaky, tiny voice said.

"Okay, I will," the mermaid said with a little laugh.

The mermaid swallowed and cleared her throat. "Once upon a time, I met this man whom I adored. I wanted to live on the land with him. As you can see, we merpeople are unable to travel on land. I went to this nasty sea witch and asked that she change me into a human. She agreed and changed me, but she deceived me. In the end, the sea witch was killed by the man I married."

The little fish gave a squirm. "I hated her. Don't forget to tell them that we helped."

"Of course. My little friends here," she gestured to the fish and lobster, "helped me defeat her."

The mermaid slowly lowered her gaze to the little fish. "Just as we all did." She shifted her attention to the girls. "After a while, the sea witch's sister sought vengeance."

The mermaid lowered her head.

"As a result, the sister created tremendous spiders and released them into the land and forest. Their mission was to retaliate against the humans. It was effective. Many people perished, and the others fled. One of them was my husband. I rejoined my father in the sea after he passed." The mermaid's head drooped in sadness.

Lizzy didn't know how to act, so she felt it was best to comfort the mermaid. "I am so sorry you lost your husband. I am happy for you that the spider is dead, though."

Lizzy looked over to Ruby. She looked in her eyes and then gave a head nod toward the mermaid. She moved her lips, but no words came out. As if Ruby needed to add something. Say something.

Ruby scratched her head for a minute, her fingers becoming tangled in her hair, before realizing what Lizzy was asking of her. "Oh, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Sorry. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"There is nothing you can do," the mermaid said, wiping a tear from her cheek.

The little fish hugged her.

"No, but now that you've taken care of the spider, maybe my people can walk on the land again." She wiped another tear and turned to face the girls. "Thank you," she said with a sniffle. "Now, if only you could solve this land's troll and dragon problems."

Both girls' ears perked up, and maybe even they exchanged glances.

"About that. We're trying to rescue Ruby's sisters from the trolls. However, the trolls have a dragon as a pet, and it protects them," Lizzy said. "Do you have any kind of idea how to destroy a dragon?"

The mermaid thought as she placed her palm to her chin. "You see, I have a lot of gadgets and gizmos, and so I really think I might have something for you," she said, smiling at the girls.

She sprang out of the water, did a flip in the air, and plunged back into the ocean with a tremendous splash, heading for the deep depths of the ocean. Lizzy brushed the water off from her shirt.

Both of them shrugged their shoulders. They both turned to face Blake. Blake was fluttering her wings and going slowly up and down. She had her arms crossed and a smile on her face. She grinned as if she could tell what the mermaid would bring. Of course, she was shining again.

Another massive splash came. The mermaid was back, and she had many items in her hands. She held up all the things.

"Look at this stuff. Isn't it neat? Wouldn't ya think my collection's complete?" She handed them each a few items. "Is there anything in that collection you might want?" She gave Blake a few things. "I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty. I've got whosits and whatsits galore."

She pulled out a few more items. Then the girls saw something that caught their eye. It was a golden rod with a reddish tint and a crimson stone at the end.

"What about that thing?" Lizzy asked, pointing at the special item.

"This? Here you go. I hope that helps you," the mermaid said.

She threw the little metal piece toward Lizzy, and she snatched it out of the air. She examined it and felt like it was familiar.

"What is this?" Lizzy asked.

The tiny lobster returned and whispered in the girl's ear.

"I don't know. I found it in the witch's cave after she perished. I hope it helps. I have to go; my father is looking for me. I am happy I met you both," she said with a smile.

Just before swimming away, "By the way, I am Ariel." She jumped into to water and swam away.

They went to their bags and took out the other three pieces. The one Blake had given them, a four-holed golden square with a crown on it. Plus, the pieces from Rapunzel and Briar.

"Look, this piece is almost the same as the other two we got. Of course, it is red like her hair," Ruby said.

Lizzy examined the new gift. "This single red piece is somewhat longer and bigger than the other two, but otherwise, it seems almost the same."

They both looked at it for a split second before glancing up at Blake, who was even brighter than she had been.

Lizzy sighed. "You know something you're not telling us."

"I have a good guess, but I'm not going to tell you. Just in case I'm mistaken. I don't want to give you false hope," Blake stated as she smirked.

Did the fairy just wink?

Ruby responded haughtily, "Fine, keep it to yourself."

They put the four pieces back into the bag.

"How are we going to use these pieces?" Lizzy was puzzled. "I don't think if we just throw them at the dragon that it'll just kill it."

"I don't know. Do you know Blake?" asked Ruby.

"As I said, I might have an idea. But I don't want to say for sure. Just in case I am wrong," Blake said, smiling and beaming bright white.

Lizzy grumbled. She then groaned. "Fine," she whispered, "don't say anything." I know she knows what these do.

They finished packing and then took off. They understood they'd be traveling for a few days to get further northeast. They were even aware that it might be snowing in the far northeast.

They unpacked their warmer clothing and prepared for the frigid mountains.

"I hate boots!" Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs.

"I hate boots," came an echo.

They were shocked and looked at Blake.

Chapter 11

The Strange White Creature

"I thought you said all the dwarves turned to trolls?" Lizzy asked.

"No, only one species of a dwarf. There are others that are good. In fact, not too far from here there are seven dwarfs working in the mines." Blake pointed to a mountain range.

The two girls looked up to the mountain range but were startled when Blake shouted.

"Someone is coming. Hide quickly," Blake shouted, zipping back and forth.

Both girls didn't question her. They both bolted and hid behind a big boulder sticking from the ground. They both leaned around the ledge to see who was quickly approaching.

"I can see them," Lizzy said ever so quietly. "A reindeer is pulling a wagon. There is a tall man in the front guiding the reindeer."

Lizzy slid back behind the rock, scraping her elbow in the process.

"It's just a man and a reindeer?" Ruby asked her friend.

Lizzy was rubbing her elbow. Not only was it scraped she also had a zinger down her arm. "No. I think there were more. I didn't want them to see me."

Ruby's head poked up from behind the rock. "I see a few people in the back. Two girls. And a…and a strange-looking white creature." Ruby quickly slid down the rock. She thought the white creature saw her.

"I can hear them talking," Lizzy said, cupping her ear.

Both girls crawled on the ground to get a better view and to hear them. The white creature appeared to be doing most of the talking; in fact, it appeared that he was doing virtually all of the speaking.

"Did you know sleeping quietly on long trips prevents insanity?" said a man.

The white thing crackled, "Yeah, that's not true."

The man replied promptly, "It is."

They heard a girl say, "It's true."

Then they heard another girl's voice, "Definitely true."

The first girl said, "No, it's the truth."

Then the white creature moaned, "Well, that was unanimous. But I will look it up when we get home."

They made a gradual retreat. Both of them sat with their backs against the rock wall.

"They'll be gone soon," Ruby said, her voice filled with anticipation.

Where is Blake? Lizzy wondered as she pushed a strand of hair from her eyes. "Blake, Blake, where are you?"

Ruby was astonished by this question. She, too, had no idea where she was. In search of Blake, Ruby crawled to the far edge of the boulder.

Lizzy peeked her head over the edge of the rock. Then returned to her previous spot. Then she crawled to the opposite end of the rock and flicked her hand to remove the bugs that had started slithering on her. Lizzy felt like this was a perfect spot to hide. She didn't think they would be seen here. She noticed a glimmer of light and realized where it was coming from. She gasped and reflexively covered her lips.

"Ruby, come here," Lizzy kicked on the bottom of her foot to get her attention. "I found her."

"Blake, where are you going?" Lizzy said, reaching out her hand to capture the fairy. It was too late; she was already on her way to the wagon.

"Fool! What's she doing?" Ruby said a bit snobbishly. "One of these people will be harmful at some point."

"Who knows," Lizzy stepped out from behind the rock. She noticed that Blake had temporarily stopped the wagon and was already chatting with the people. "Come on. She is talking to them; we might as well go, too."

"Oh, there you two are," Blake said smiling.

"Hello," Lizzy replied cautiously.

"Hey," Ruby said hesitantly, waving her hand.

Leaping out of the wagon, the white creature startled the girls. The thing wiggled up to them and stretched its stick hand.

"Hello, my name is Olaf," said the white creature. "Can you tell me your names? You both seem so wonderful. Are you real, or am I dreaming?"

A giant carrot protruded from the white thing's snout. It had arms and hands made of sticks. It had branches sprouting out of its head.

"Olaf, don't scare them," the larger man said as he stepped from the wagon. "I'm very sorry about my friend."

He went toward the reindeer and scratched it behind the ears, and it seemed as though the guy was indeed chatting with the reindeer.

"Look. He is talking to the animal, just like Briar. I want to learn to speak with animals," Lizzy said.

Then he joined Olaf. "Elsa, Anna, it is okay. They are safe to talk to."

Two girls popped up from the wagon. They had been lying down to hide themselves. They jumped over the ledge and strolled up to Lizzy and Ruby.

Elsa bowed. "Hello, my name is Elsa." She pointed to her sister. "And this is Anna."

The four girls exchanged introduction. Elsa and Anna told them they were on a journey but they did not give any specific details. Then Lizzy and Ruby told them what had happened to Ruby's sisters.

"Oh—that is awful," Anna said.

"You know, it is a fact that mountain trolls are gross and disgusting," Olaf added. "Not like our friends the rock trolls. They are wonderful," Olaf said giving a little hick up.

Christophe laughed a little at Olaf's comment. "I've only seen a mountain troll one time in my life. They don't leave the high mountain range often. Rock trolls, on the other hand, are great. If you need love advice, they are the best!"

Both girls blushed.

Blake laughed, but she was well aware that they needed to get moving. They needed to act quickly. She also realized she needed Elsa's help. Even though Blake had never met Elsa before, she wanted her to do something to help them. She knew she had extraordinary power.

"Elsa, we are short on time. Do you mind if we speak?" Blake asked, beaming a beautiful white color. She then flew away and waved to Elsa to join her.

Princess Lizzy, Anna, Ruby, and Elsa were all taken back.

Lizzy knew Blake was acting weird again. Why does Blake want to talk to her? Why does she want to meet her in secret?

"You go. I will talk with my new friends here," Olaf shooed Elsa toward Blake.

"Just beyond that crest, you'll find something exceptionally rare," Blake assured Elsa. "Don't be afraid of it. Just embrace it. It will seem like a purple-blue misty wall. There will be glitter within the mist. Your friends will indeed try to enter, but they will be completely denied. The wall will turn pink, and your friends will be tossed away. To get in, you'll need to use your magic."

Elsa stood properly. She didn't show it, but she was confused. Did the fairy just tell her the future?

"Beyond the wall, there are vertical standing stones, each about thirteen feet high, seven feet wide, and weighing around twenty-five tons."

Elsa's pupils dilated. She didn't know who this fairy was, but how did the fairy know about the wall? How did the fairy know about these stones?

"That's very specific; what are the stones for?" Elsa inquired.

"They will be a representation of what you are looking for, Earth, fire, wind, and water," Blake said, beaming a light red color.

Blake swooped down reasonably close to Elsa and whispered into her ear, "The fifth spirit is real. I have seen it with my own eyes. You must go to the fifth spirit."

Elsa staggered a little, took a step back, almost fell since she was taken aback by that remark. She couldn't understand how a fairy would know she was searching for the fifth spirit.

As she soared to the other ear, Elsa felt Blake brush past her hair and said, "But you must promise me that you will go alone."

Reflexively she shouted, "No, I will not leave my sister! I promised her." Elsa's face was contorted, her eyes strained, and her face puzzled.

Blake looked around to make sure no one else had heard her. "You must abandon your sister, or something terrible will happen to her."

"What will happen to Anna? What terrible thing will happen to her," Elsa tried to ask calmly. Elsa's emotions ranged from being terrified for her sister to being angry and protective.

Blake couldn't reveal too much information because otherwise, the Fairy Queen might become furious. What was she going to say to convince Elsa?

Blake flew down toward Elsa and touched her scarf, "This scarf is part of the Northuldra culture, and it originally belonged to a Northuldran girl named Iduna. Who I believe was your mother?"

Elsa gasped.

Blake flew backward and turned a pale blue tint because she knew the comment would make Elsa think about her mother. She needed Elsa to trust her, and that remark would do the trick.

Elsa stood utterly speechless. How would this fairy know such a thing?

"She will not easily forgive me," Elsa muttered as she lowered her head. "If I leave her, I will break her heart. I promised her that we would stay together."

Blake said, "It's for her own good."

Elsa was astounded by the fairy's knowledge of her mother. But she needed extra proof. "How do I know you're telling the truth?" Elsa sniffed as a tear streamed down her cheek. She wiped a tear away with the back of her palm and wiped it on her mother's scarf.

Blake needed something else to persuade her. An idea came to her. It was a smart plan, but she wasn't sure if she was allowed to carry it out. She needed her help, but she didn't want to do anything that would make the Fairy Queen angry.

So, she went ahead with it nonetheless. She informed her about her future. "You will arrive at a boat on land. It will seem disjointed and out of place. You'll discover something within. Your sister will say, 'Every Arendellian ship has a compartment. Waterproof.'"

"Then you'll uncover a scroll with handwriting you won't recognize," Blake predicted.

"If these things happen, you must promise me that you will go alone. Do you promise? Will you do what I ask if you find a wall of clouds, four vertical stones, a ship, and a scroll?" Blake asked, knowing Elsa would say yes.

Elsa paced. She rubbed her chin, contemplating. She paused for a moment. What did she have to lose if this bizarre prophecy that this fairy had just given her came true? She would not have to leave her sister if it never came true. But if it's absolutely true, her younger sister might be in danger.

"Deal," Elsa said, happy. "Now, what is it I can do to help you?"

As Blake escorted Elsa back to the others, she explained their dilemma.

She unzipped her bag and handed Lizzy three of the pieces they'd already gathered. "How about putting the two smaller pieces on the side of the golden square and the larger piece we just got on the bottom?"

Lizzy did as instructed.

She took the square and added the animal bar with a pink gem.

Click.

Then she rotated it and added the three golden strands with a purple gem.

Click.

She rotated it one last time and added the longer red piece.

Click.

The parts came together flawlessly, and an aura formed around it because each of the three pieces had been magical. It also created a T.

Both Blake and Lizzy looked at the object. It made sense, now, that it all fitted together. "Why didn't we try that earlier?" Lizzy asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

But what was it for?

"We need you to make a blade with your ice magic," Blake said.

Lizzy and Ruby were both shocked. They were confused. They were even more perplexed now that Elsa was going to craft them a blade. What was the blade for? They already had two daggers.

Blake took back the golden handle, she turned it around so that it was making a T. She pointed to the open spot on the top, "Please forge a blade, and put it in this place."

Elsa understood but the girls were still confused.

Elsa picked up the piece and waved her hands back and forth. She gripped the golden handle in her left hand and began at the top of the T with her right. A mist rose from her palm, and she moved her fingers gently, forming a long-frozen blade.

That instant Lizzy knew exactly what it was. It was a sword! Each piece they had collected created the handle and sides of the sword.

"It's a sword! Wait a minute, how…" Lizzy started asking before Blake cut her off.

"In time, my child," Blake continued, "you will understand."

"That will help you," Elsa said. "Blake told us what you are up against. Dragons are cold-blooded creatures and need warmth." Elsa pointed to the sword. "Because that is ice, it will pierce its heart."

Elsa had two more pieces of information that could help them. "Dragons are a touch delirious in the early hours of the morning. Also, the first thing they need in the morning is water because they need the oxygen from the water to create their fire."

Elsa smiled at the girls. "Good luck!"

Elsa nodded to Blake, and Blake returned the gesture. Their arrangement was fulfilled.

They said their goodbyes and developed a bond. They decided to meet when their journeys were completed to exchange stories.

Chapter 12

The Dragon

"It's midnight; wake up, Ruby," Lizzy said as she shook Ruby's shoulders. "We have a few more miles to go. We need to hurry because we need to arrive by dawn. Lizzy suspected she, too, had overslept. They needed to arrive just as dawn broke.

Ruby yawned, stretched and then rubbed her eyes. "Can't we just sleep a few more hours?" Ruby asked, rolling over and covering herself with the blanket. "Just a few more minutes."

Lizzy laughed. "You know the answer to that. No. Now pack your things."

Ruby grunted but sat back up. She rubbed her calves, "We have been traveling for days. We don't have much food." Her stomach grumbled as if to assert this. "And my feet are killing me. Just a few more hours."

"The trolls will have your sisters in a cage in the dragon's cave," Blake added.

This caught Ruby's attention. "My…my…sisters will be in the cave?"

"Yes." Blake beamed.

How did Blake know where the girls were?

That was all Ruby needed to hear. Adrenaline coursed through her veins. She was now moving faster than Lizzy.

Blake didn't tell them how she knew where the girls would be, it was yet another detail she knew but didn't explain to them.

The girls plowed their way through the woods. They knew the end of their long quest was approaching since Princess Tammy and Princess Savannah were nearby. They needed to go quickly but silently. They didn't want the dragon's attention, nor did they want the trolls to hear them.

Blake led the way, her light just bright enough for the girls to see but not so bright that it attracted other creatures. They went on until Blake raised her hand.

It was pitch black out, with just a sliver of light coming from the half-full moon, yet the stars were visible.

"It's too dark," Lizzy said. "I can't see anything."

"Can't you see it?" Ruby gestured off into the horizon.

"Yes! I can see the dragon," Lizzy said, pointing to the cave's entrance. "Its head is sticking out." It is huge! It is way bigger than I thought.

The dragon's body was in the cave, but its neck and head were exposed. It was sleeping. Its scales were as dark as night. The dragon's nostrils were spewing smoke with each exhale.

It would snarl now and then, showing its razor-sharp fangs. The girls even noticed bones trapped in between the creature's teeth.

A noise in the cave caused the dragon to open its eye. The eyelid raised lazily, displaying a gold eye with black pupils. It snorted and shut its eye. It fired out a little burst of fire when it breathed.

Lizzy's lip quivered. "What is our plan?" Maybe go home?

"We wait until dawn. Just like those sisters suggested," Ruby added as she put her back to a tree and slid down it to rest.

How is she so calm?

Lizzy found her own tree and did the same. She quietly put down her bag and slid down it to rest. It's too big! She took a few deep breaths and convinced herself that everything would be okay. She wanted to be home. She wanted things to be the same as they had been previously. She longed to be at a ball, where she could dance, eat, and stay warm. She shivered a little.

"You two go to sleep. I'll wake you up before dawn," Blake murmured, peering over a tree to see the dragon. "That monster is bigger than I thought," she said to herself.

"Wake up, wake up," Lizzy heard someone say. She was half-asleep. "Dawn approaches."

Lizzy and Ruby yawned and stretched as they rubbed their lips together. They were both exhausted.

How did the night go by so fast? Lizzy felt like she'd been asleep for five minutes.

They were startled when they heard the dragon snort. Both girls quickly rolled over and looked over the log.

Blake was shining brightly again, and Lizzy squinted.

"Here, Princess Lizzy," Blake said as she handed the sword to her.

How are we going to kill the dragon?

"Look!" shouted Ruby, maybe a bit too loudly, as the dragon swayed as if he had heard her.

"It's Savannah and Tammy!" Ruby said, pointing beyond the dragon and into the cave. The sun was about to break over the mountain range, bringing additional light with it. The cave was brighter than it had been the night before, and they could see a small cage with two scared girls shivering and lying on the ground.

"It is them," Lizzy said with a bit of a smile. "Ruby, you found them!"

Lizzy fist-pumped Ruby before swinging at the air. Smiling, she whacked her friend on the shoulder. She took Ruby and hugged her tightly. Lizzy was thrilled to see her friends, Ruby's sisters.

After seeing the girls, Lizzy had a new sense of purpose; she was focused and determined to get them. That's it! The footprint!

Lizzy poked her head out from behind the log, "Let's cross the bridge," she said, gesturing with her sword. "Run and hide in that footprint," pointing the blade at the ground.

"We got lucky. Why is there a footprint?" Lizzy asked Blake.

"Who knows, who cares?" Ruby said.

Blake poked her head out, looking. She smiled. "It must have rained a few days ago." Blake pointed to the dragon. "I'm guessing he ate a lot a few nights ago. A large dinner the day it rained; thus, the increased weight may have helped to create the footprint."

Ruby had an idea as well. "Let's gather a couple of these branches when we hide in the footprint," Ruby said, pointing to a scattered of fallen branches littering the path leading to the footprint. "Then we'll be able to hide under them."

"Are you sure it can't smell us in the morning?" Lizzy nervously asked Blake.

"The sister was correct. The dragon does not have keen senses in the morning. It's a cold-blooded creature, so it'll be confused until the sun rises slightly. Because their bodies are weary from breathing fire, dragons drink in the morning. They are dehydrated and need water the first thing," Blake explained.

Lizzy continued to use the sword as a pointer. "We will run, cross the bridge. Continue to that footprint. Jump in it and put the branches over us." Lizzy thought for a second. "But wait. How do we know the dragon will come that way?"

"I'll take care of that!" Blake said, reaching in her bag. She took out a little powder. "This will influence him a little. It isn't meant for something that big. Because it will already be disoriented, it should work."

"Plus, I think that is the way the dragon goes to get a drink. He has a footprint heading toward the water, and the water is almost straight from the cave," Blake whispered.

"Please don't let it crush us," Ruby added.

Lizzy's heart rate and breathing rate were both climbing. It's simple to plan. Doing it, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter. "We can't mess this up. We will only have one chance."

"I will go now," Blake dashed toward the dragon. Her little wings were beating faster than she had ever done. It took her only a few seconds until she was at the dragon.

"This is it. Now or never," Lizzy hesitantly said. Be brave like James and have courage like Luke.

Lizzy grabbed Ruby and pulled her around the log.

They took off at a sprint. Lizzy was a fast girl, but adrenaline caused her to run the fastest she had in her life. At the rate she was going, she felt like one of her brothers, who both were extremely fast. Ruby was close behind.

Because of the rotted wood and splinted pieces of wood protruding everywhere, Lizzy scraped both of her palms as she hopped over a bit of log. She ducked beneath a branch, and the end was in sight. The footprint was close. They moved as fast as they could without waking the creature. They were grateful it was dawn, and the beast couldn't see or smell them.

Lizzy could see the dragon sleeping. Even though she was sprinting as hard as she could, it seemed like a lifetime before she arrived at the footprint. Lizzy was confident the dragon had noticed her. The chirping of the early birds had drowned out the sound of their steps.

"Ouch," Lizzy said as she landed into the footprint. "This footprint is deeper than I thought."

Ruby crashed into Lizzy's back. She leaped into the footprint too quickly. They didn't have time to think about pain, so they promptly pulled some branches over them. They left just enough room to peek their heads through, which they did.

Lizzy gave the thumbs up.

Blake nodded.

Blake reached into a small brown satchel and drew out some shimmering dust. She breathed it into one nostril from her palm, then zipped to the other nostril and did the same.

When the dragon awoke, he let forth a deafening cry. Both girls were huddled on the ground, their ears covered. Pieces of dirt covered their hair due to the vibrations from the dragon's scream.

Whatever Blake did was working.

The dragon stepped out of the cave, extended his wings, and screeched again. He rose to his rear legs and expelled the last of his fire before collapsing to the ground.

When the beast landed, the earth trembled. The dragon shook its head in the manner of a wet dog. The dragon began walking, and with each step, the ground shook.

Bam, Boom, Bam, Boom!

Lizzy reached out and grabbed a stray vine off the side of the wall. Ruby grasped Lizzy's hand to help her balance. Both girls were standing with their legs bent to help them, but it was only working a little. They were about to be knocked over.

Bam, boom, bam, boom!

"I thought we'd have more time!" shouted Lizzy. It didn't matter how loud she yelled at this point. The dragon was noisy.

Bam, boom, bam, boom!

The footprint was five feet deep, and they could squat. The branches had been draped over them. They had as much protection as they could get, but would it be enough?

Would the dragon step on them, or would it smell them and eat them?

Bam, boom, bam, boom!

"Look," Ruby shrieked, pointing to the dragon. "It's confused. It walks on all fours, belly to the ground. It's going slow."

"I know!" shouted Lizzy. "The pounding of its steps shakes me every time. I can tell it's not going too fast."

They peeked out as they stretched their legs. It was challenging since the branches made it difficult to see clearly, and each step put them off balance.

"What are we going to do?" asked Ruby

Bam, boom, bam, boom!

Lizzy raised her head one final time. She scrunched back down and whispered to Ruby a bit more quietly. "It's moving just as we thought. It's getting close to us. Blake must have done an excellent job."

She paused for a moment before stating, "When the dragon walks over us, we have to shove this up into its heart. This should kill the dragon because of the magic in the sword and the frosted blade."

The ground continued to tremble. The dirt started dislodging itself from the sidewalls of the pit. The branches were swaying in the wind.

"Both of us together," Lizzy said with a nod.

Bam, boom, bam, boom!

They were inseparable when they moved. Each of them grasped the sword's handle with both hands. Lizzy's fingers strained as she curled her fingers around the piece provided to them by Ariel.

Lizzy was shaking and looked at Ruby. "If you don't make it, I want you to know you've been a wonderful friend. You're my best friend!"

Ruby looked deep into Lizzy's eyes, and her eyes began to water. "I love you too. You will always be my bestie."

Both of the girls' eyes were tearing up.

Bam, boom, bam, boom!

The beasts' footsteps shook the girls, and Lizzy had to regain her balance. The noise had become so loud that they couldn't hear each other. It was close, really close. It was now or never.

Bam, boom, bam, boom!

Lizzy nodded her head as the beast approached. It was the sign. Would they succeed?

Both girls straightened their legs and stretched the sword as hard as they could above their heads, hoping the blade would quickly penetrate the dragon.

Before spewing flames aimlessly, the dragon let forth a huge roar and a hiss. Then there came the loud bang, which sounded nothing like a dragon. The dragon ran, but the sword remained in his body, ripping through his chest and into his stomach.

The beast shook, whined, and stumbled back and forth before falling. The beast took one or two final breaths before collapsing, its head slamming to the ground and its tongue protruding from its lips. Its eyelids moved gently over its golden eyes.

Lizzy, followed by Ruby, pulled themselves out of the hole. They looked at each other. They didn't know whether to laugh, cry or throw up. They were both covered with the guts of the dragon.

"Yuck." Lizzy shrieked as she flicked her hands, sending some guts flying to the ground. She ran her fingers over her face, trying to get something green off it since she didn't want to know what the green thing was.

Ruby smiled, or was she smiling? She actually just opened her mouth to get a yellow substance out of it. Pulling her hand through her hair, she could fling slim purple goo. She was drenched.

Lizzy pointed to Ruby. "Ooo!"

Ruby pointed to Lizzy. "Gross!"

They both glanced down at themselves, then at each other, and burst out laughing at themselves and each other.

They dashed at one another. As they hugged, a gooey slapping noise was heard. They were overjoyed because they had killed the dragon. They drew back slightly and began leaping up and down while singing, "We killed the dragon, we killed the dragon."

Quickly, they pulled away from each other.

"You stink," Lizzy said, gagging.

"No, you reek! That is gross," Ruby said before pinching her nose.

Lizzy fanned her nose. "That's disgusting!"

Blake found the girls standing next to the dead dragon. Both looked and smelled just as you would imagine, with dragon guts on them.

"What was that loud bang?" Lizzy asked as she saw the fairy approaching her.

"I let off a firework, just loud enough to startle the dragon and make it run. It worked," Blake beamed and gave a wink.

"It did," Ruby said as she flung some gunk into the air.

Blake laughed as she avoided the unintended gunk that shot at her. Blake snapped her finger, and the girls were instantly washed and dressed in fresh clothing.

"Wait, you didn't tell us you could do magic?" Lizzy asked.

"You're telling me you have had magic this whole time?" Ruby added.

"You never asked," Blake said triumphantly. "Had you asked, then I would have told you." She beamed, and then she shone brightly. "I have magic, but not much—only a little. Enough to clean you two up. You both stink!" Blake laughed as she flew to the sky, fanning her nose.

They both heard a scream but couldn't make it out.

They turned and searched frantically but couldn't make out where it was from. Then they realized where the noises came from. Princess Savannah and Princess Tammy Lee were screaming from a cage to get their attention. They were rocking the prison back and forth and shaking the old rusty bars. It worked.

They had found Princess Savannah and Princess Tammy Lee! The girls took off on a sprint toward the cage. The faster they ran, the louder Ruby's sisters screamed, and the louder they shouted, the faster they ran.

Still sprinting, Lizzy crouched over, grabbed a rock, and shattered the rusted old lock.

Princess Savannah practically attacked the girls as she ran and hugged them now that they were free. Princess Tammy Lee squeezed Ruby as tightly as she could.

All four of them were in tears. That is, they were in tears until they heard a horn. A loud horn, followed by another horn.

"The girls are escaping!" shrieked a small, stubby troll with one ear gone and several missing teeth. He hobbled after them, and he used his right hand to take up his club since his left hand had a horn in it. He raised his horn to his lips and blasted once again, alerting the rest of the trolls.

All girls' eyes went wide. As hundreds of trolls descended the slopes, the ground began to tremble as they realized they were escaping.

"Time to go!" Lizzy pulled Ruby as Ruby pulled Princesses Tammy Lee and Savannah after them.

Chapter 13

Their Heroes

The girls wheezed as they raced through the forest.

"This way!" Lizzy was able to gasp out to them.

Tammy was holding Ruby's hand and pulling her along. "You're doing good. Keep up!" Tammy said.

"If only I had my sword. They'd regret kidnapping us," Savannah murmured to herself while looking at that fancy sword Lizzy was wielding.

The four girls raced on. Hundreds of trolls had descended from the mountains and caves to pursue them. The smaller trolls were having difficulty keeping up, but the larger trolls did so with ease.

One green troll with massive shoulder armor reached out and was just inches away from grabbing Lizzy's shirt with its four-fingered hand.

Another troll swiped a few times at Ruby and had just barely brushed her shirt both times.

Savannah and Tammy were not fairing any better. Savannah had been grabbed by a dark blue troll with no teeth and swollen gums but was able to free herself by smacking his hand away.

Lizzy would peek over her shoulder, and each time she did, she noticed more trolls. Where did they all come from? Was she going to be able to get out of there? Was this a good idea for her to come? Sure, the two girls had rescued the sisters, but what good would it do if they were all captured? We really should have planned better.

Lizzy heard a scream. It was Tammy. She had been apprehended. Lizzy turned to see Savannah fighting off another troll, but three other trolls got to her as she did.

Somehow, Savannah got free, and then she freed her sister by kicking several of them away.

When Savannah wasn't fighting trolls, she enjoyed playing a local game where kids attempted to kick a brown leather ball into a basket. She was the best in her kingdom, and it showed today.

Lizzy and Ruby hadn't been captured yet. They were running as fast as they could. Both girls merged close together as they ran. They tried to look at each other, but it was difficult.

They could see it would only be a matter of seconds before they were both caught.

A stodgy little troll nearly touched Ruby, but it could not grab her because Lizzy swung her sword at it.

A taller green troll brushed Lizzy's curly hair, and she knew without a doubt that the troll's next swipe would catch her. The troll's stench was so pungent that she could almost taste it.

This time, the troll's extended hand was going to catch Lizzy. There was no question in her mind that she would be seized. There were just too many trolls. They simply kept coming. How could there be so many?

Zoom!

Zoom!

Zoom!

Lizzy blinked reflexively as a splash of blue troll blood landed on her nose and cheek. When she opened her eyes, she saw three arrows had pierced the troll.

She swiftly whirled around to see her hero, Prince Hudson, riding his horse and stringing another arrow. His broad shoulders and strong hands made it a breeze to shoot arrows quickly.

Zoom!

A dark green troll, wearing a metal helmet, had an arrow aimed at her head. Lizzy hadn't seen that troll who was just behind her. Hudson was a terrific shot, and that troll went face down in the mud before getting Lizzy.

Ruby was taken aback by what had just happened and inadvertently slowed down. It was a mistake. A blue, grumpy-looking troll leaped on her and knocked her over. It shoved her head into the ground with its elbow. The iron taste in the dirt caused her to run her free hand along her lips. Her other hand formed a fist, and she punched the ground. She had had enough.

Ruby turned her body quickly. The troll wasn't that heavy. Anger grew within her belly. Her face went red. Her clenched fists were turning white. She kicked the troll as hard as she could. "Get off me!"

Ruby got to her feet, and then the troll's stomach felt how sturdy her boot was. She kicked him in the gut, and he gasped. "And stay off me!"

The troll moaned as it grabbed its stomach. More trolls were coming to aid their fellow troll.

"Good, you deserved—"

The troll couldn't hear her. Something else caught his attention. The troll saw a figure floating through the air. This troll had been in many battles before. But the person flying in the air was different. Typically, during battles, trolls and men alike have a seriousness about them.

The boy in the air, wielding a sword, had a tremendous smile on his face. He appeared to be having a good time. It was almost as though being in the battle was so fun! The boy's eyes were just a little different, too. The troll squinted and thought the boy in the air might have a sparkle in his eye.

The last thing the troll saw before he met his death was the confirmation that the boy, indeed, had a sparkle in his eye. The troll's eyes opened, he gasped for oxygen, and he reflexively reached for the blade that was now lodged in his stomach. His tongue protruded from his lips, with a yellow slime seeped from the corners of his mouth. The troll knelt immediately before collapsing face-first into the dirt.

The boy pivoted and collided with a substantial green troll with worn-out emblems, showing it was a general. It collapsed to its knees, and he, too, confirmed that the boy had a sparkle in his eyes before collapsing.

A second green troll, larger than the first, stormed at the boy, holding an ax as large as the boy was tall. As it neared, the boy merely grinned. Zoom! Zoom! While the boy resumed the onslaught, two arrows were lodged in its chest.

The other trolls ran.

"Oh, James," Ruby said as she ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck. "I've missed you! I have missed you so much. Don't ever leave me again!"

They had a brief hug. Ruby was clutching James so tightly that he couldn't breathe. He didn't mind and continued to smile. Then he gave her a wink.

The ground shook. Because of the tremors, a few trees were also uprooted, and a few trolls tripped. The calvary, headed by Commander Prince Luke, had come at last.

There were at least two hundred troops on horseback. The archers trailed close behind them. Hundreds of armored soldiers with swords stood just beyond the archers.

The initial calvary plowed through many trolls. A little troll, belly protruding over the beltline, missing his left eye, was the first to get smashed.

The next to be destroyed was a broad-shouldered blue troll that had turned tail to run.

Many other trolls fled. Others attempted to fight. It didn't make a difference. Many trolls were crushed in a matter of seconds. The grunts and growls were deafening.

By the command of their leader, ten horsemen formed a circle around the Princesses. Commander Prince Luke ensured they were safe.

Next, Commander Prince Luke cast a backward look. He extended his right hand. He then made a downward motion with his second and third fingers.

The whistling sound of hundreds of arrows hurtling through the air could be heard. Arrows were slamming into trolls on both sides as the calvary retreated. The first wave of trolls took the brunt of the arrows. As the ground was filled with groaning trolls, several trolls had numerous arrows projecting from their bodies.

Commander Prince Luke raised his opposite hand in the same manner as previously. The stampede of troops could be heard for miles when he lowered his hand. The troops slaughtered the surviving trolls. For at least a mile, they pursued the trolls. None were spared.

Commander Prince Luke got off his horse. He almost stumbled over a blue troll then walked over a green troll. He marched up to Ruby, who was still clutching James and Lizzy, squeezing Hudson tightly.

The princesses had valiantly destroyed a giant spider in the preceding weeks and overcome hunger and cold. They were successful in defeating a dragon. They rescued their sisters and fought trolls. They were both bold, powerful, and independent. They didn't mind hugging James and Hudson.

Luke was tackled more fiercely than he had ever been before in his life. Savannah had crushed him while hugging him.

"Oh, Luke, what took you so long?" Savannah said as she tightened her grip. "You're my prince."

Savannah did not allow Luke to catch his breath. She held even tighter. "Oh Luke, my prince, I have missed you so much! I will never leave you again. I should have never moved!"

Luke blushed.

"Are you four all right?" Luke asked.

Ruby shook her head. Lizzy gave a nod. Tammy grinned and gave him a thumbs-up while Savannah saluted and winked at Luke.

Epilogue

Blake, despite her petite stature, possessed tremendous power. She swooped over to Lizzy, clutching a leather necklace with a dragon tooth pendant. She draped it over Lizzy's head.

She smiled brightly and flew over to Ruby and did the same. She gave her a necklace that she had made.

"Thank you for this," Lizzy said as she looked at the tooth. "But more importantly, thank you for helping us save Tammy and Savannah."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me to my belated birthday celebration? I know you will love the cake!" Lizzy asked.

"I'd love to, but I'm afraid it could be too risky for me," Blake said. She smiled wistfully at her. She wished she could join them but knew she couldn't.

"It has been my absolute pleasure to help you." Blake beamed. "I helped a lot of princesses, one way or another."

Lizzy rubbed her chin. "Is that why you became friends with me? You knew I would need your help?"

Blake flew back to hover in front of Lizzy. "You are my genuine friend. I love you and will always be your friend. But yes, I knew you would need my help. So, I offered it."

Blake wanted to make sure both girls understood she was their friend without question. Blake had been sent on a mission by the Fairy Queen, but the three had formed a genuine relationship.

"Since the end of our conflict with humans, which was all our fault, by the way. We decided that we needed to aid humans in some way. To make up for what we did. Years ago, the council determined that if we helped every princess born with simple acts of kindness, the princesses would spread the word about our good deeds. We knew it would take decades, but we didn't mind," Blake said.

"I promise we will meet again," Blake scratched her chin, unsure if she should tell them what was about to happen to them. She figured it was for the best. "You've both matured tremendously, both physically and mentally, over our journey. That's good, as we'll need your new talents in a few weeks when I take you on another adventure!" She winked just before she vanished.

Both girls looked at each other in shock. What new adventure awaited them?