Hey everyone, hope everyone is doing well. I do apologize with the long month wait. But after some decent organization with my schedule, I've come down to a way to continue with my story and work on other projects at the same time. I may not be able to match my illustrations and animations with the same literature. But I'm not going to stop until the story is finished. Don't give up on reading the story. So without further adieu, here's the next chapter of Loyalty Among Worlds.
After the dangerous flight to Frog Valley, Dyllan, Clipper, and the Tormaks wake up the very next morning. Clipper's wing is splintered and bandaged and is glowing a light green aura. Before they went to sleep last night, Tint helped Cronaxx keep Clipper's wing straight, while Dyllan used the Staff of Lerrad to heal his wing.
"Heilen, heilen, heilen."
Dyllan takes the first steps on his quest to finding his best friends. Ever since the spirits told him that his friends are also stuck in Amphibia, he's never felt more ambitious than ever in his life to find them. But only one question remains: Where are they specifically? That's when the four travelers start hiking on the open road.
Dyllan keeps looking back on Clipper's wing still feeling sorry for what he did. Cronaxx sees this and just smiles. "It'll be okay," he says. "Take this as an important lesson to remember in the future. It'll shape you not only to being a better wizard, but a better person."
Dyllan sighs and smiles warmly. "Okay Cronaxx," he said. "I'll remember." He then frowns as he scratches his head. "It's just another one of those uncomfortable memories I don't like."
"Another?" Tint asked. "Do you have more memories like this one?"
"Yes," replied Dyllan. "But I don't want to talk about it."
Tint nods his head "It's okay," he said. "I don't like to talk about bad memories either."
"In my experience," said Cronaxx. "They are only memories. The only thing that makes them good or bad, is how you look at them."
"Uncle," Tint groans. "We don't need any more of your wise words of wisdom. A lot of people just don't understand them."
"And I'll bet the frogs in these valleys won't understand what you're saying either," said Dyllan.
"Oh, that reminds me," said Cronaxx. "Dyllan, as I said before, the frogs in Amphibia are well known for being small minded and paranoid. So the moment they see you, they'll start screaming and everyone will panic. So we need to keep you out of sight." He climbs up on Dyllan's cloak and pulls his hood over his head. Then, Dyllan pulls his cape over his body to hide the rest of his human form.
Dyllan recoils slightly. "You didn't have to do that," he said. "I'm only thirteen. I can dress myself."
"True," said Cronaxx. "But you are a creature no one on this planet has ever seen before." After a few more minutes, Cronaxx smiles warmly. "We're arriving at our first stop."
The four magical travelers climb up a hill to a sign that says, 'Lily Paddington dead ahead.' Once they reach the top, they see a landscape of a large shallow lake with small huts on top of lily pads.
The frogs of the village begin waking up to the rising sun. They leave their huts, adorned in special hats and some in overalls and shirts. But most of the male frogs come out with vests leaving most of their moist skin exposed. Some of their bodies reflect on the sun's rays, that shine directly into Dyllan's eyes.
'Ugh, I wish I had my sunglasses,' he thought.
Before the trio could go a step further into town, Dyllan removes his shoes and packs them in his bag, so he wouldn't get them wet. And Clipper keeps a fair distance from the village by hiding in the tree line. At first, Clipper didn't want to leave Dyllan's side. But Cronaxx assures him that they'll be back before the end of the day.
Dyllan looks around the village and sees them harvesting their crops and carrying them in baskets. He smiles at how well the frogs work well together. "This is incredible," he said.
"How so?" Tint asked. "They're just harvesting crops."
"Yeah," said Dyllan. "But they're harvesting rice." Tint and Cronaxx turn to the cloaked human with curiosity. They never knew a human would know what the frogs in Lily Paddington do for a living.
"I remember seeing something like this in my history class," said Dyllan. "It was during Ancient China, I saw an illustration of this during one of their many dynasties. They plant strands of grass in the water, then during the harvest season, they cut the surviving weeds and plant them again."
"You must know your history quite well," said Cronaxx.
"Not all my history," replied Dyllan. "The best I could get in that class is a B-. I only like looking at the pictures and illustrations from our textbooks."
The trio keep walking across the village, trying to plan their next move. Their walk takes them to the center of the village, where some of the shops are open to the public. The shops sell wagons, food, tools, and decorations for houses. Dyllan observes carefully as one of the customers gives the shop clerk a single copper coin in exchange for what they purchase.
"You guys use coins as currency here?" he asked. "I thought you guys only trade items."
"We do," replied Cronaxx. "Salamanders are the only amphibians in the community who trade items for other resources. We don't believe in currency, because we don't have any intent of cheating others out of their hard work."
"What?" cried the frog. "You said it was one copper coin per flower last year!"
"Sorry pal," replied the clerk. "The mayor of Wartwood is insistent on increasing the value of our products."
The frog just pulls out the exact amount for the store clerk. "You're just lucky I'm a frequent customer," they said.
The two frogs go their separate ways in disappointment. Cronaxx shakes his head, confirming his statement. "See what I mean?" Tint and Dyllan are upset seeing the frog get cheated on. "On the island, we melt the copper just for their components in our alchemy tables. But on the mainland, this kind of currency is a basic necessity."
Dyllan sighs, "Just like back home."
"What do you mean?" asked Tint.
"Back home," said Dyllan. "We also have money as a basic necessity. We use small green papers called dollars, and coins such as quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. You can't get anything on Earth for just one penny. Even countries around the world use different currencies. In Germany, they call their money euros."
"All this talk about currency is giving me a headache," said Tint.
"Well you better get used to it," said Cronaxx. "If we are to get anywhere across the valley, we're going to need money to get supplies. That means we've got to get jobs."
Dyllan groans in frustration. Not because he hates the idea of getting his hands dirty. But because of how long it will take to obtain a job, plus adding the additional time it would take to get paid. So the trio split up to look for work.
Dyllan passes a smith shop just at the edge of town. A dark orange brownish toad slams his hammer on a piece of hot metal. He is wearing a typical blacksmith attire, that consists of a dark grey undershirt with a blacksmith apron with an 'S' on the front, red pants and brown boots. Seeing the metal being pounded makes Dyllan stare in awe, until...
"Are you looking for something to purchase? Or are you just passing by?" asked the toad.
"I'm only looking for a job," replied Dyllan, "Do you have any open positions?"
"I don't, sorry," replied the Toad. "This is a family business. And we're capable of handling things." He takes the hot metal piece and drops it in the water to cool off. As he bellows the flames of his furnace, he turns to the house and shouts, "Kids! Where are the leather straps?"
Just then, a green frog comes out with a box. He is wearing dark brown pants with brown overalls, a light tan shirt with his sleeves rolled up. Under his newsboy cap, he has light blonde hair. He leaps to the forge, then he trips and spills the straps.
Following behind him is a purple newt with black grey bushy hair that reaches all the way down to her back, tied up in a ponytail. She is also wearing a light tan shirt with rolled up sleeves, blue overall pants and brown work boots. Crossing her arms with displease, she picks up the straps and gives them to the toad.
"Here you go," she said.
The orange toad smiles at the newt, then turns his attention to the frog with his eyes half droopy. "Next time, be careful where you jump," said the toad.
The frog dusts himself off and he gets back up. "You betcha, pops!" He turns back to the hut and he hops away. The toad shakes his head with a small smile on his face.
"Those are your kids?" Dyllan asked.
"Yeah," replied the toad. "So what?"
"Nothing," replies Dyllan as he walks away slowly. As he walks back to find the Tormaks, he starts thinking to himself. 'How can he just take in a frog and a newt and call them his children?' he thought. Never in his mind did he believe that a frog, a newt, and a toad would live together like a normal family. Then again, what is normal to him in Amphibia.
Somewhere in another spot of town, Cronaxx finds the local Paddington Library. He enters through the front door revealing shelves stacked with books, and the locals reading quietly at tables. The shelves include ladders that roll across for readers to reach top shelves. And the best part about the library, is that the frogs are quiet.
Cronaxx approaches the front desk and waves hello to the librarian. The librarian is an old purple frog with white hair, wearing reading glasses, a dark blueish grey dress, and brown slippers. She waves back and offers Cronaxx a chance to go in.
But before Cronaxx could accept, the frog lady grabs him by the arm and points to the rule board above her head. The only rule that matters, the only one that is highlighted in red. 'Do NOT make a sound.' Cronaxx nods in agreement.
Then, a tadpole gets up and accidentally steps on a loose floorboard. The purple frog hears this and leaps in and grabs the kid. She whispers in a demonic tone. "Not one sound!" Then she leaps through the open roof with multiple holes and leaves the kid by the side of the building. She comes back in with everyone afraid of her sensitive hearing, that they all look the other way. Cronaxx knows he has to be careful and obey the number one rule if he is ever going to find a job, or resources to travel across Frog Valley.
He searches high and low looking for records on employee businesses across the valley. And most of the records he found are located in Wartwood. So he dug into this backpack, and pulled out his map of Frog Valley. He points to Lily Paddington located on the northwest side. Then he points to Wartwood, located in the southeast part of the valley.
Then, he hears a sneeze as an adult frog is about to fall from the top of a ladder. Knowing it's going to be loud, Cronaxx acts quickly and quietly as possible. He gets up on his feet, with his walking stick in hand. He reaches out to the frog that slips and falls. Then Cronaxx whispers, "Levios."
The magical aura from his hand begins glowing and catches the frog in mid air. He slowly lowers his hand, allowing the frog to sigh in relief. But little does he realize that the sighis loud enough for the librarian to hear. The librarian jumps in, grabs the frog, and leaps out of the library. Cronaxx is considered lucky his whispering didn't make too much noise.
Tint keeps wandering the streets, watching the frogs hard at work with their fields. Every time he sees them pull the weeds out from the water, it makes him feel edgy. The pulls become unbearable to witness. The pulling starts to slow down time, and Tint growls under his breath. The frog pulls out a weed, then Tint screams racing back to the town.
In one of the alleyways, Tint finds cover and sighs with relief. He starts wondering if there is an easy way to make money from the village. 'How are we going to get money and continue our travels?' he thought. 'Getting a regular job is just going to take as long as we were on the island.' Then, he thinks about what Dyllan is probably thinking right now. 'How is he going to cope with being stuck here? He's probably going to complain, complain, complain until he gets what he wants.' Agitated with the situation, his fists tighten until a swirling flaming aura surrounds them. 'There's got to be a better way.'
"Step right up, step right up!"
Tint's frustration suddenly switches to curiosity. He turns out of the ally and finds a dark orange frog standing in front of the table with three coconut bowls in front of him. The frog is wearing a black tuxedo with a maroon fez and an eyepatch.
"Take a chance, and get rich quick! Find the coin in one of these bowls, and double your winnings!" He spots a small green tadpole with a beanie hat with a copper coin in his stubby little hand. "Hey kid. Wanna turn your copper coin into two?" The tadpole comes up and places his coin on the table. The frog grins with delight. "Do you have what it takes to win kid?"
With a spin and a whoosh, the frog keeps a watchful eye on the kid. He didn't even bother to look at the bowls himself. Tint watches with delight, seeing him shuffle the bowls. But all that changes in an instant. His smile turns into a frown.
As soon as the frog finishes shuffling, the tadpole selects the bowl he thought is the one with the coin. But it reveals itself to be empty, and the frog laughs. "HA! Thanks for the coin chump!" The tadpole hops sadly away. That's when Tint steps in. Tint knows to keep his temper in check, because he knows there's only one way to beat his game.
"Excuse me," said Tint. "Mind if I take a crack at getting the kid's coin back?" The tadpole stops in his tracks when he hears Tint's remark. "I've got a feeling you swindled him."
"What?" the frog gasps. "Well I never, how can you accuse me about this without any proof? I'm just a simple frog trying to entertain people."
"Okay," said Tint. "Then I suppose you wouldn't mind showing me you're legit?"
"Sure," said the frog. "Tell you what. I'll play one of my coins for you in exchange to see how legit this game is."
Tint smiles and says, "Alright."
So the frog puts his coin down and puts the other coin under one of his bowls. With a spin and a swoosh, the frog shuffles his bowls across the table. Tint keeps a close watch on the bowls to make sure he's legit. But little does the frog know is that he is watching something else other than the bowls.
Once the frog stops shuffling, Tint points to the middle bowl to reveal a copper coin. "See, you've got a good eye," said the frog. "Definitely better than the one over my eyepatch." Then, the frog grins. "Tell you what. Now that you've won a friendly game, I'll give you a fair chance to win the kid's coin back." He points to the table. "Place your bet, and take your chance."
Tint grins and places his copper coin on the table. He watches with keen eyes as the frog spins and swooshes the bowls. And in a split second, he sees something the tadpole didn't see. The frog does a special last minute trick. He slightly opens the bowl and makes the coin fly right into his sleeve. Tint smiles knowing he would do that and with his hands behind his back, he points to the ground with his finger and causes the coin to slide back in the bowl.
As the frog stops shuffling the bowls, Tint's pupils flashed for a split second and points to the bowl with the coin under it. The frog chuckles, "Ha ha. So sorry kiddo, looks like-" But to his surprise, when he lifts up the bowl, the coin is revealed to be under it. "WHAT!?" He goes in a state of shock that his eyepatch opens up, revealing his other eye to be working.
"Ha! I won!" Tint takes his winnings and gives the coin back to the tadpole. The frog wouldn't stand for it so he steps up to the salamander.
"Alright wise guy," he said. He grabs Tint by his neckerchief. "How did you do it?! No one ever beats me!" As he shakes down the salamander, Tint just keeps smiling.
"A magician never reveals his secrets," he said. "But if you really want to con people, I suggest you wear tight clothing."
The frog lifts up Tint as high as he could, and he starts hearing coins jingle and drop out of his shirt, splashing in the water below them. Then, the crowds surrounding the frog boo at him. Tint watches with delight that the tables have turned on the con artist.
Then, a couple of frog police come up to the scene. "That's him!" "Grab him!"
"Ahh! It's the cops!" cried the frog. He grabs all the coins he could carry and rushes out of the town. In the chaos of his undoing, he spills a trail of coins until he only carries a handful. During the chase, Tint conjures up a light orb so bright a rainbow appears out of his hand. He shoots the light into the frog's eyes, causing him to lose almost the rest of the coins he swindled.
He makes his way to the edge of town until he spots a blue frog man tending a large snail. "Frog Soos! Gun it!" Frog Soos gets in the back of his wagon, and the two make a daring escape.
"Hang on, Mr Ponds!" cried Frog Soos as they race into the forests, losing the cops.
The crowds are happy seeing Tint stand up to the con artist. "That was a cool magic trick you did," said the tadpole.
Tint smiles at the boy. "You know what they say," said Tint. "The difference between a con man and a magician, is that magicians are honest." He points to the copper coin. "Can I see that for a moment?"
The tadpole gives it to him and he performs a coin trick. "Like when I say, I can make a coin disappear..." He does so with the wave of his hands. "...And then, I can turn one coin..." He reaches behind the kids ear and pulls out two more coins. "...Into two." He gives them to the tadpole and leaps for joy.
"That was incredible," said a pollywog. "Can you do more tricks?"
That question gives Tint a wonderful idea. "I'll need to get some things together. But I'll perform the best magic show you'll ever see before days end, by the village square." And so, he rushes across town to find Dyllan and Cronaxx. A few of the children cheer him on in excitement.
On the other side of the village, Dyllan is tending to Clipper's wound, checking for any progress. He removes the bandages only to see little progress is made. Clipper starts wondering if he is ever going to fly again. And so did Dyllan.
Cronaxx comes back with a couple of books in his hands. "You still lack of patience Dyllan," he said. "Maybe some time away from your objective might do you some good." He offers him a book called 'Croaker and the Fly.' Dyllan isn't sure he wants to read just yet.
"I don't know," he said. "I'm just worried about Clipper's wing."
"I told you," said Cronaxx. "It's going to take time for Clipper to heal his wing. The more you fuss about it, the longer it's going to take." He taps on the book. "Just give it a try."
Dyllan sighs in defeat, "Alright," He stares down at the book and wonders with curiosity. "Hey Cronaxx. The title of this book looks oddly familiar."
"Have you read this book?" asked Cronaxx.
"Not exactly," replied Dyllan. "We talked about a book that sounds just like this in school. Apparently, it's currently on the subject of banned books."
"How could a book get banned?" asked Cronaxx.
"Only if it causes someone to hurt people very badly," replied Dyllan. He looks down at the book and starts to wonder. "Then again, it wouldn't hurt to know what causes them to lash out."
But before he could turn one page, Tint comes up with copper coins in his hand. "Hey guys!" he called out. "I think I found a way to make us some easy money."
Dyllan was happy to hear. But Cronaxx was concerned. On one end it was good to have a chance to make money. But on the other end...
"What is it Tint?" Dyllan asked.
"What if I perform magic tricks and entertain the children of the town? I already made an arrangement that I can perform in the center of town where everyone can see me."
Cronaxx is shocked, and isn't impressed with Tint's impulsiveness. He shakes his head with disappointment. "Tint, how many times do I have to tell you? Magic is not child's play!" He grips his walking stick and slams it to the ground. "And do I have to remind you that we are supposed to be keeping on a low profile?"
Dyllan however likes the idea the moment he hears magic tricks. "Actually Cronaxx, that's not such a bad idea." Cronaxx turns to Dyllan with a surprised look on his face. "Sasha always told me: If you're good at something, you never do it for free. I think a once in a lifetime magic show is just the ticket we need to get our supplies."
"It's not going to end well," said Cronaxx. "What if something goes wrong?"
"It's just a magic show Cronaxx," replied Dyllan. "What could go wrong?" He walks over to Tint and the two have a discussion. Cronaxx just sighs in defeat and tends to Clipper.
"So what's going to happen in the magic show?" Dyllan asked.
"I'm going to make some small easy tricks to wow the children," replied Tint. "Then, I'm going to step up my game and make illusions, like duplications, hallucinations, and shoot fireballs from my hands. And finally, for the grand finale, I'll ask for a volunteer and magically turn them into you."
At that moment, Dyllan stops in his tracks. His legs start shaking, his armpits start to sweat, and he covers his face with his hood. "Y-y-you mean... I-I gotta... be up there?" he asked. "On stage?!"
"That's the point," replied Tint. "Now come on!" He grabs Dyllan by the arm and the two race off to the center of town.
The sun reaches around 5 o'clock and the frogs of Lily Paddington all gather in the center of town. Including the librarian, the blacksmith, and his children. Tint is so surprised that they are able to come together at their local outdoor stage.
The two magicians stand behind the curtains backstage. Tint and Dyllan take a peek from the closed curtain. Tint is impressed with how big the crowd is. Dyllan, however, is nervous.
"Look, Tint," he stuttered. "You should just do your tricks yourself. You don't need to use me to show how good you are."
But Tint wouldn't listen, "Dyllan, do you want to explore all of Amphibia without supplies? You wouldn't last an entire day. I'm doing this for us. I thought you were all in when you agreed with me."
"That was before you were going to present me to the entire village," replied Dyllan. "I will not have myself parading in a crowd full of strangers!"
Tint scoffs at Dyllan's backlash. "Well at least I'm still doing this for you, and my uncle. Now stop being so scared and just stay back here until the grand finale."
Dyllan groans in defeat as the curtain start opening up. Tint keeps his composure and walks out into the spotlight. The spotlight just happens to be a large lightning bug with a built in visor on its butt. Tint walks out on stage and makes a statement to the crowd.
"Lillies and Gentle-Frogs, I am the great Tint Tulini, the mightiest magician to behold your very eyes. As we journey through the mystical wonders in the skills of a salamander, just be aware, you will be blown away."
A portion of the crowd awe with wonder while the rest of the adults are a little curious. So Tint begins with another basic coin trick. He takes out a coin and begins a few hand tricks. Only the little tadpoles start enjoying the show.
But some impatient adults are concerned. "This is magic?" "Those are just basic coin flips." "Lame!" Tint keeps his composure and took a deep breath. With a flick of his wrist, he turns his one coin into three, stacking them on top of each other. The three coins turn into six, and then Tint turns them all into one big copper coin for everyone to see.
Some of the crowds start getting impressed with his skills. Dyllan himself watches with delight, despite knowing what he plans on doing with him. He gets edgy as Tint announces his next trick.
"Now be amazed for our next surprising act. If one act is not enough..." Tint reaches down to his feet, and with his hands glowing faintly, he pulls up his shadow to make a duplicate of himself. That's when the crowds starts getting really impressed. Even the librarian is enjoying the display of magic. The crowd start giving Tint as much copper coins as they can in the front row of the stage. Tint's duplicate picks up the coins and puts them in a small sack he pulls out of his back pocket.
Then, Tint's hands starts glowing a bright flaming aura. "And now," he announced. "Time for an enchanting performance." He conjures up a fireball, which turns into three, and he starts juggling. The crowd begins cheering with delight. Some give off a gentle applause, with pleasing smiles all around. Then, Tint splits the fireballs and juggles them with two hands like a fire dancer.
Watching Tint juggle and dance with his fire magic even enchants Dyllan. His mind goes numb watching the flames dance in the air. The only thing he is focusing on is the flames. They make his surroundings go dark. All he can see is the glowing flame, soon it forms into a flaming female figure dancing.
The flaming woman keeps dancing, then a distant echo in Dyllan's head calls his name. "Dyllan... Dyllan... Dyllan!"
"Dyllan!" Dyllan's mind suddenly snaps back into reality. He turns around to the voice, revealing to be Cronaxx with a stern look on his face. "I can't just sit by while you two make fools of yourselves. This all has to end now."
"I never thought I say this, but I agree," said Dyllan. "Tint plans to present me to the audience, and I'm not ready to show myself. Let's make a like a disappearing act and vanish out of thin air." Cronaxx nods and leads Dyllan away.
They use the shadows to sneak past the crowds and stay out of their line of sight. Once they reach the edge of the stadium, Dyllan sighs with relief. "I didn't think Tint was going to parade me on the stage in front of a crowd full of strangers."
"That's my nephew for you," said Cronaxx. "Once he gets on board with something, he sticks to thinking it's a good idea, and then something goes wrong."
"That reminds me of something that traumatized me a long time ago," said Dyllan. "The main character of a story was paraded on stage, thinking he was the winner of some big competition. But it wasn't until he started getting ridiculed and laughed at, that he realized he was wrong."
"And now!" Tint announced. "The moment you've all been waiting for, The Grand Finale!" Tint swirls his hands in the air and summons a magic box. "From the most mysterious lands of the Salamander Isles, I give you the Cabinet of Creation!"
The crowd marvel at the magic box and Tint grins knowing his trick is wowing them. "For the grand finale to work, I will need a volunteer from the audience." The crowds of children start raising their hands up high, giving Tint a tough time to choose.
Eventually, he choses a small pollywog with a stuffed toy. He takes her by the hand and places her into the box. He gives the box a twirl and says, "With a swirl and a chant, I will transform this pretty pollywog into a creature like no one has ever seen before!"
He chants in salamander tongue, "Shiftugaratia, Shiftugaratia, Shiftugaratia." The box twirls as he lifts it up with his magic. The aura changes color from a beautiful flaming glow to as purple as the neckerchief around his neck.
Little does he know is that Croanxx is also using his magic to teleport the small girl in the back of the crowd. The small girl chuckles softly, and Cronaxx signals her to keep quiet. Dyllan keeps his distance, refusing to make contact with the volunteer. He didn't want to scare her with his appearance.
On the stage, the box starts slowing down and touches the ground as the aura disappears. Tint grins as the frogs start pulling out more copper coins from their pockets. "And now, may I present to you, a creature from another world!" And just as he opens the box, the crowd gasp to see the box completely empty. Even Tint is shocked.
"My baby!" cried the mother. "Where's my baby!?"
"You didn't say this was a disappearing act," called out the attendants. "We've seen those tricks before."
"I want my money back!"
Tint grows anxious knowing his finale is about to flop. He turns to see that Dyllan isn't backstage, and that makes him more upset than mad. He sees the crowds starting to pile up, getting ready to climb onstage.
Dyllan watches with pity, seeing Tint about to get beaten by the crowd. Cronaxx is also worried, knowing that the crowd is not pleased.
"The crowd isn't going to let up unless they see this creature," said Dyllan.
"Then maybe it's time to show them one," replied Cronaxx.
"Wait, you're not suggesting I'm going up there are you?" asked Dyllan.
"Technically no," replied Cronaxx. He creates a swirl of magic and it surrounds Dyllan which creates a puff of smoke on stage. "Sim Sala Maris," The crowd slows down to see what's going on. Then a large puff bursts from the box, knocking the front audience down.
Tint regains a visual sight of the stage and see's Dyllan in front of him, still bearing his hood over his face. But the crowd can see the rest of his body. His arms and legs as thin as twigs, stomping on the ground like a mindless zombie. The crowd gasp in awe with what they see before their eyes.
Dyllan, who is still behind the crowd, acts like a puppet on strings to make them believe it's moving. Tint smiles at the Dyllan duplicate. 'Now how was that so hard?' he thought. "There you have it folks, a creature from another world!"
The crowd cheer with thunderous applause, throwing Tint their copper coins for him to pick up. And the volunteer pollywog appears right next to her mother, and the mother hugs her with relief.
Dyllan and Cronaxx keep up with the act, wondering if Dyllan's worst fears are coming true. And he is right. Dyllan watches from behind as a chubby frog with a rotten tomato is getting ready to throw it at the illusion.
"You think that thing is hideous now? Get a load of this." The frog starts to aim, then he throws it at the illusion, hitting it directly in the face. Luckily for Dyllan, he didn't feel the tomato from where he's standing, thanks to Cronaxx's magic.
The crowd gets shocked at first by the action of the frog, but the one who's most shocked is Tint. Dyllan tried to warn him of being out in the open, but he didn't listen. 'I did this to my own friend,' he thought. 'What have I done?'
"Now that's hideous!" shouted the frog.
"Greatly atrocious," said another attendee. That same attendee thows a chicken egg at the illusion.
And that second pelt turns into another one as frogs start taunting the illusion. Even though Dyllan is relieved at not being pelted by fruits and eggs, he is emotionally hurt that they would call him a stupid, ugly looking creature. Cronaxx pats on his hand and whispers in his ear.
"Remember what I said days ago, 'People fear what they do not understand.'"
Dyllan nods and keeps his eyes closed, riding out all the ridicule he hears from the residence. Then he starts feeling tears pour down his face from all the 'treatment' he's receiving.
Tint however tries to calm down the spectators. "People, please. Stop it. Don't hurt him!" But the crowds are laughing and jeering so much they can't hear his pleas. Tint starts getting peeved with the crowd ignoring him.
Then, the illusion of Dyllan starts kneeling down like he wants all of this to stop. His kneeling covers his entire body with his cloak, but the frogs keep pelting him. Tint tries again to get their attention. "Hey! He's down! Leave him alone!" All there pelting, teasing, and jeering does very little with Tint's pleas.
Tint tries to stand in front of Dyllan, but he slips on a rotten tomato and his face starts to boil with rage. Not wanting to let his friend get hurt anymore, he slowly gets back on his feet. Just as another tomato is thrown and hits him in the face, Tint's hands start glowing a dark orange.
Smoke clouds fill the sky, and some of the crowd take notice. But the pelters are lost in their own worlds teasing Dyllan. Tint's eyes glow so bright that his pupils fade away. In the mix of the chaos, Cronaxx takes Dyllan and the two take cover behind one of the buildings. The winds start picking up, surrounding Tint. Then with a burst of anger, Tint shouts with an impending boom.
"I SAID STOP!"
The shout from the salamander knocks down all the attendants off their seats, and the smoke clears to reveal the stadium, now turned into a big crater. As the sun sets on the town, Tint grows exhausted form all the magic he's performed and the big outburst that he created. Dyllan and Cronaxx are safe from harm's way and quickly decide it is time to leave Lily Paddington. Dyllan picks up the tired yellow spotted salamander and they make their way to the edge of the village.
As they walk away, the crowd start regaining consciousness, and jeer at the fleeing salamanders and their strange companion. The crowd begins chasing them down, and Dyllan picks up the salamanders and runs as fast as he can. He whistles to Clipper for help, and the dragonfly comes in and carries them out of the village. Still unable to fly, Clipper uses his legs to race them out of the village. When the frogs spot the dragonfly jumping out to their rescue, they rush back to their homes in fear.
With the sun disappearing from the sky, and the red moon taking its place, Dyllan, Clipper, and the Tormaks set up camp in the forests just south of Lily Paddington. Clipper sleeps while clinging on a tree. Dyllan rolls out his sleeping mat, and Cronaxx refreshes the campfire with some more wood. Tint just stares in the fire with guilt riding on his face.
"Dyllan, Uncle, I'm really sorry," he said. "If I hadn't gone over the top with the grand finale, Dyllan wouldn't have been humiliated like that. I just wanted to make my mark on the world, and show them what I can do."
"What do you mean?" asked Dyllan.
"Ever since I learned I could perform magic, I wanted to be the best wizard I could be. And with my uncle being the best wizard in all of Amphibia, I thought I could make my mark overnight." Tint sulks closely to the fire. "Now I've ruined my chance. I've lost most of the money we've made, and we're probably banished from the town." Tint pulls out a small sack filled with copper coins. "But most of all, I hurt the only friend I've made in my life." He throws the coins away into a thicket in sadness.
"Hey," said Dyllan. He takes his hand and places it on Tint's shoulder. "It's alright, you didn't hurt me that much." He grins and turns to Cronaxx who is also smiling. "At least that what you think you did."
"What are you talking about?" Tint asked.
And so, Cronaxx and Dyllan explain their little trick to the mighty magician himself. Tint is baffled at first, which makes Cronaxx smirk and shake his head. Back in Lily Paddington, the frogs are left to clean up the mess the trio made. Within the mess, they find a stuffed puppet in the middle of what is left of the stage.
"A puppet!" Tint cried. "You used an illusion spell on a puppet to make it look like Dyllan?"
"Better than using smoke and mirrors," laughed Dyllan.
"Dyllan," said Tint with a smile on his face. "Again, I'm sorry I almost dragged you into humiliation."
"It's okay," said Dyllan. "I don't even belong here. And besides, it's not a total failure."
"What do you mean?" Tint asked.
"There was no sign of my friends there, so they must be somewhere else in the valley," replied Dyllan.
"Luckily, there's another city not far from here," said Cronaxx. He pulls out the map of Frog Valley and points to the village south of Lily Paddington. "Bog Bottom is our next stop, so let's get some shut eye. We leave first thing in the morning." Tint and Dyllan nod in agreement. "And let's not worry too much about the supplies..." He goes back into the thicket and gets the sack of copper coins. "We only need the basic essentials."
The group settle around the diminished campfire. Dyllan watches the fire slowly die out as the embers fade away, and the smoke climbs up into the trees. He takes out his photo of him and his friends and whispers, "I'm not giving up girls. I'm very close to finding you. And I will, no matter what." He puts his photo back in his pocket and drifts off to sleep.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, because there will to be more original chapters to come. Much more than my last draft. Anyway, I forgot to mention. The titles of my chapters have a hidden message, just like in the Owl House. Stick around to find out what the message is. Be sure to subscribe to my Deviantart page or my Account for early access to my gallery, and for support. Until next time, Keep on Truckin'!