Chapter 9

Facing a Black Den

Soon enough we were in town wondering around trying to find Ginger and Angel. We finally found them in a store again. It wasn't filled with people though, only ten or eleven, maybe even twelve. So Ginger couldn't get that many wishes from them. Half of them probably won't even make a wish. The only thing we didn't know was how many wishes she made already.

"Don't let that dragon get away!" I yelled warning all the people inside the shop.

"Don't make any wishes from her either!" Derik yelled from behind me.

All the people stared at us. It was like they didn't know who we were.

"Rrrrraaaaaahhhhh! You don't give up do you?! How did you find us?" Ginger growled.

"It wouldn't be as fun if we told you, now would it?" Derik answered.

"Gggggggrrrrrrrrr!" Ginger roared as she ran at us.

It didn't do her any good, because Derik just grabbed our hands and 'ran' to the right.

I heard a gasp from the town's people as they wondered how he could move so fast. Then I heard laughter as I saw Ginger fall to the ground, obviously trying to catch us before we got away.

"Stop that!" Ginger growled to Derik.

"I thought you were a powerful dragon, not a weak one that can't catch a fast kid," Derik teased.

"Take that back!" She made another dash for us, but yet again, missed.

Now I saw what Derik was trying to do. He was trying to get her tired.

She dashed for us again, but missed. She tried one last time and Derik ran off, but instead of taking us both to where his next destination was, he dropped me off about half way and told me quickly, to finish the incantation. So I opened the book to the spell. I started reading it so no one could hear me, especially not Ginger or Angel.

I could feel the power rising in me again. I didn't know what was going to happen, if Ginger was going to stop us again or not. It's like Derik said, no one knows what the future might bring, except Susan. I just hope it was good.

I knew Susan had seen me defeating the dragon and saving the world, but I wondered if all her visions came true, and if she was getting second visions that weren't so good to the world. I knew I shouldn't be worrying about that kind of stuff, but I couldn't help it. It just sort of happened.

Then, the next thing I knew I was floating, feeling the magic flow through me.

Faintly, I could hear Derik say, "It might be too powerful for her to finish. If it is, who knows what will happen."

I tried not to believe it, but it was getting harder to keep going as I went. Everything that I hoped wouldn't come true just vanished as though it might come true. I tried not to think of what might happen. I tried to concentrate on the spell, and kept reading. All the times I practiced the spell, nothing like this happened. If it was because I didn't see anyone's face, or it was because I didn't practice on a dragon, I didn't know, but I did know that something was different, now. I didn't exactly know what, but I thought it was good. I thought it was going to help me. I was wrong.

As it grew I knew it was getting more and more control over me. I tried to stop it, but I couldn't. It was too powerful for me to control. I wondered what was happening. Later I found out.

I could see the same thing happening to my mom and Derik. They were facing the green blob to be, Ginger, as she said, "You think you can get rid of me that easy? I'm only one wish away from total power and you think you can get rid of me by reading a spell! You can't stop the most powerful dragon in the world by reading a spell."

"How do you defeat them then?" Derik chimed in. He obviously had enough control to speak his mind.

"I should tell you, why? You would just stop me. I'm not going to tell you. Plus, I control you now, and I think I'll get my last wish from… you," she said pointing to Derik.

"You can't do that!" I said I showed no hesitation or struggle. It was like I could control myself again, but I still couldn't move.

"How did you say that? You were the first one I tried to control."

"I guess I can be stronger than you think." I glanced down at the spell book and saw that I only had two paragraphs to say, each with only five sentences, and then send Ginger back into the book. "I have more control over myself than you do! You can never control someone totally."

Suddenly I got more power. The spell was breaking free! I looked at my mom and Derik to see if they were becoming free too or if it was just I, and to my surprise, they were getting free also. I looked back at Ginger. I stared at her for a second, and then I started reading the spell.

I could hear Ginger growl with madness. Suddenly I couldn't talk. I tried harder. Then I broke free. Ginger was trying to stop me, but I was too strong.

I kept reading. I only had one sentence, of the first paragraph, left. I froze again, and broke free.

Sometimes I glanced at Ginger. Once, when I was close to reading the end, I looked up and I saw that Ginger was frozen and had stopped casting spells. I thought it was because I was close to reading the end of the spell, so I kept reading. I read as fast as I could, but I was careful not to miss any words.

I couldn't feel the power any more, but I knew it was still there. I just couldn't feel it because I was used to it.

I only had one sentence left and I felt weird. I could now feel the power rushing out of me, going to Ginger. I said the last word and I heard Ginger yell and then it faded out like she was disappearing very slowly. A green stream of light came to me and went into the book.

I looked down at the book and I could see a picture of Ginger on the page, and I knew she would be back.

I looked up to see my mom smiling at me. Right then I tried to think of what part of all that Susan had foreseen in her vision. I looked around to find Derik, but he was nowhere in sight. I wondered where he was and how far he could have gotten, since he can run faster than a car. A second after I thought that, he was standing in front of me.

"Where did you come from?" I asked, with a smile.

"I had to call my cousin and tell her that everything worked out, and I got you something," he answered.

"What?"

"This," he said. He leaned in and gave me a kiss. "That's for saving the whole world and making my cousin happy."

"It wasn't just me. You and mom helped. I couldn't have done it without you," I said, blushing a little again.

"Sure you could have. You made the dragon, didn't you?"

"Hey! That's not fair. My ideas always turn out to be a mess. I can't help it. Like I said a thousand times, I get an idea and can't resist."

"Oh. Oh yeah. I forgot. You're the mess up." He shot a smile at me.

"Hey!" I started to run towards him. Then he took off in that super speed of his. "Not fair! Mr. Speed!"

"I like that. Mr. Speed. That's my superhero name." Before he said this he stopped to make sure I heard him.

"Don't make fun of me now. I get all the credit, and you have to have me as your partner."

"You know… I was thinking about that, but then I thought, what if she messes up. But I guess I could have you on my team… Wonder Girl."

"No, if it's going to start with wonder, it's going to be Wonder Woman."

"I'm the superhero. I get to pick your name."

"Lindy, Derik, we should go home," mom said.

"Wait, what happened to Angel?" I asked.

"I don't know, I never saw her after I ran away from Ginger," Derik replied.

"Me either, I wonder if she got sucked into the spell book too," I said.

"If she did, you're telling her mother," Derik said.

"Maybe I should look for her," mom suggested.

"Here, if she disappeared into this book, her picture will be next to Ginger." I opened the book.

Sure enough, she was right next to Ginger's picture. "There you go, now you'll know where she is forever. You'll tell her mom, right?"

"Yes, she needs to know what happened to her daughter," mom answered.

"When you get home, you better put that in a safe, lock it, hide it, and put guards around it. Make sure it stays safe. Put any security you have around it. I hope I see you soon," Derik said.

"Why, aren't you coming?" I asked.

"I have some unfinished business to attend to at home."

"You're going to tell your family?"

"Yes, and I'm going to tell them the story of how you and I saved the world."

"I want to be there when you tell your family the whole secret."

"You can't come. I don't know when I'll be able to come back here."

"Oh, come on, you know that it's little more than a short distance for you. All I want to do is be there for you, if they accept you or if they don't, please?"

"Is it Ok with your mom?"

"Fine with me, just as long as you have her back as son as possible," mom answered.

"Hold on tight," he said. "It's going to be a bumpy road."

As we got outside, it was morning. The sky was a bright pink and an orange color.

I held on as tight as I could and he ran all the way to his palace, which only took about ten minutes, for him.