Top of the mornin' to you all! Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Hey guys, I'm so sorry with the delay. I've been very busy with my new job and my illustrations. But now that I'm almost caught up with my images and animations, I can continue with writing my story.
A new day dawns in Amphibia, and Dyllan is on the couch scrolling through his pics on his phone. He's more than happy to have his battery fully charged again, and then some. He looks through his pics of him and his family, mostly pics of him and his mom. He sighs at old pics of her when she had hair. Then, he scrolls to recent images of him and his friends. Most of them are with him and Marcy.
Then, Cronaxx comes into the room. "Dyllan, are you ready for your next lesson?" The sudden sound of his voice nearly startles Dyllan, almost dropping his phone. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Didn't mean to disturb you."
"No, no, it's alright, Cronaxx," said Dyllan, turning off his phone. "It's been a while since I went through my phone. It's hard to believe that I wasn't dependent on this thing long ago."
"Well, as a wise wizard once said; Old habits die hard," said Cronaxx. "Now come on, Dyllan lets get moving." Cronaxx exits the house and into the garden, and Dyllan follows behind him.
In the garden, Cronaxx observes Dyllan pointing his staff at the vegetables buried in the ground. "Now remember," he said. "This next spell requires absolute focus. Do not focus on anything else other than the spell in hand."
Dyllan looks to the vegetables and closes his eyes as he concentrates his thoughts. Then, as his staff glows bright red, he utters another word in German. "Schweben." The red aura hovers over one of the vegetables and the leaves start to shake. As the vegetable shakes, it starts to slowly come out of the ground. Dyllan watches with delight, but the shaking starts slowing down and comes to a stop.
Dyllan tries the spell again, "Schweben!" But then the vegetable pops out of the ground and hits Dyllan in the face.
Cronaxx shakes his head, "You're not focusing properly." He walks up to the crops and drops his walking stick. He stretches his arms out and chants in salamander tongue. "salrinrach en strakacan." The light blue auras hover over the rows of crops and all the vegetables pop out of the ground and levitate in mid air.
Dyllan sighs, "I'm trying."
"I know," said Cronaxx. "But do not despair. Failure is the best teacher. Until you figure out what causes you to fail, I suggest you keep trying."
Dyllan nods slowly. He knows he's having a hard time focusing, giving everything that's going on with him and his friends. "Okay, I'll..."
Then, Anne and the Plantars exit the house. "Hey Dyllan," said Anne. "The Plantars and I are going out for a bit. Wanna come?"
Dyllan turns to Cronaxx, who nods his head and says, "Perhaps some time to unwind would do you some good."
"Thanks, Cronaxx." said Dyllan. He turns and hops on Bessie the Snail's shell and the group rides off.
"Look after the farm while we're gone," said Hop Pop.
"You got it," replied Cronaxx.
Just then, another bang is heard by Bessie's barn and Tint slams to the ground. Cronaxx shakes his head as Tint gets up and brushes the dirt and soot off of him. "Something tells me that was the wrong incantation," he said.
"Oh, Tint," said Cronaxx. "When will you ever learn?" He snaps his fingers, conjures up a dustpan and broom, and gives it to Tint.
[Loyalty Among Worlds Opening Sequence]
The opening sequence begins with the calamity box swirling in the darkness. Then faces the readers head on as the box unleashes a bright light. The bright light vanishes and shows Dyllan falling from the sky and landing in a mud pit below. He pulls his head out to see the strange new world of Amphibia.
With the staff in flying into one hand and Tint and Cronaxx approaching his side, they climb on Clipper and venture into the skies.
The scene changes to the town of Wartwood. Frogs from the village start their day with dragonflies flying around.
Dyllan's friend, Anne Boonchuy, steps outside, ready to take on the day. But she ducks at the sight of dragonflies.
Clipper lands in the field and Dyllan rushes to Anne's side with his glowing staff. Tint races to the house with his hands glowing with fireballs. And Cronaxx follows behind him, taking a smell of fresh air in the wind.
Up on the side of the house, Sprig takes out a telescope, looking at the horizon. That is until he falls into Polly's bucket and she responds to punching him out of it.
Sprig lands on Anne's head, Dyllan laughs, and Tint points to the distance. The four friends rush into the unknown.
The next scene shows Dyllan, Anne, Sprig, and Clipper running away from a giant chicken monster.
The next scene shows Dyllan, Cronaxx, and Tint, meditating in the center of a lake. Unaware that danger is lurking below the waters.
Another scene shows Tint and Sprig working together to decipher a message written on the walls. Dyllan and Anne enter the room, running for their lives from an oncoming boulder. Then, Tint destroys the boulder using his magic.
In a new scene, the area is red and dark. Anne and Dyllan stand back to back, with mud creatures surrounding them. Anne stands fierce with her tennis racket, while Dyllan shivers in fear with his staff in hand.
In the next scene, Dyllan looks to his faintly glowing hands. Anne steps in giving him a comforting smile, which makes Dyllan smile too. Then, a giant snake pops out of the bushes. Dyllan points his staff, petrifying the serpent and the two make a break for the farm.
The scene changes to a dark rainy night. The photo of the four humans is tangled in a tree branch with a flash of lightning showing a dark mysterious tower in the horizon.
In the final scene, Dyllan and Anne high five each other. Sprig jumps to Anne's side, and Tint closes a book he was reading and smiles at Dyllan. Hop pop, Cronaxx, and Polly join the four friends with smiles on their faces. Then, Dyllan raises his staff in the air and a bright light fills the scene.
The intro ends with a dark cave barely showing a possible mural in the back as the main titles appear from stardust falling from above. Then the scene cuts black as the titles go poof.
Chapter 16 – Overdrive
On the road back to the farm, the Plantars, Anne, and Dyllan ride in the gentle breeze. Hop pop takes a whiff of the fresh air. "Ahh, a special relaxing day driving our Bessie," he said. "We can practically go anywhere, do anything."
"Oh, can we get swamp slushies?" asked Sprig. "I hear they got new flavors."
Hop pop chuckles and responds with, "nope."
"Can we go off road and shoot crazy stunts?" asked Polly.
Hop pop smiles and says, "That's another big nope." Both Polly and Sprig groan in disappointment.
"Hey, can I drive?" asked Anne. Hearing her ask the question, Dyllan just chuckles at how ridiculous it sounds.
"Absolutely," replied Hop pop.
Dyllan turns sharply at Hop pop's response. "Wait, what?"
"Aw come on, Hop pop," said Anne, unaware of Hop pop's response. Then, she realizes what he said. "Huh, really?"
"Of course," said Hop pop. "I've been trying to teach this guy for years." He gestures over to Sprig who has yet to drive Bessie.
"He's not wrong there," said Sprig.
"What about you Dyllan?" asked Hop pop. "Are you interested?"
"Maybe some other time," replied Dyllan. "Besides, I already have a creature I can drive: Clipper."
"Don't get too dependent on that dragonfly," said Hop pop. "What if he's not there to help you out?"
"It's nothing for you to worry about," said Dyllan. "I'm fine."
"It's okay Hop pop," said Anne. "Just give me the reins, and I'll be ready to drive!"
The scene cuts to Hop pop plopping a book on a stump as the gang reach the farm. The book is called: Bessie's History.
"Not before you read this," said Hop pop. "Bessie's History. Before you touch a snail's reins, you got to know the snail. Feel their heart beat with yours, and become one with the snail."
"Oh," said Dyllan. "Kind of like how I bonded with Clipper? That's impressive."
"Exactly," said Hop pop.
Anne is not amused, "Come on Hop pop, it's just a vehicle. Back home we had a family car, it's nothing I can't handle."
Dyllan leans down into Sprig's ear and whispers, "She still calls the gear shift the Prindle."
Sprig quietly laughs and whispers, "What's this Prindle? And what's a gear shift?"
"The gear shift is what helps make a car move," replied Dyllan. He takes out his sketchbook and draws a basic car gear shift to show Sprig. "And the Prindle is just letters on the gear shift. My mom told me the letters P,R,N,D,L, stand for Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, and Low."
Hop pop shoves the book into Anne's arms. "I don't care. Unless you humans read this history book cover to cover, you can't drive Bessie. Is that clear?"
"Clear as crystal, Hop pop," replied Dyllan. "But one quick question; Are there pictures in this book?"
"There are diagrams," said Hop pop.
Anne screams at the top of her lungs, knowing that diagrams are pictures with descriptions she'll have to read too.
"Overdramatic, don't you think?" asked Hop pop.
Just then, Tint comes into the pen, wiping his hands with a dirty rag. "Hey Hop pop," he said. "I fixed Bessie's stable again."
"Oh good," said Hop pop. "Well, since you're here boy, I need your help with this next chore." He walks over to Polly, who is playing in the mud. "It's Polly's bath time and she's long overdue for one."
"That's not too hard," said Tint.
But just as Hop pop grabs Polly, she slips out of Hop pop's grip and hops around dripping mud. "It's not that simple," he said. "She hates bath time."
"I've learned this from watching Anne!" cried Polly. As she leaps in the air, Tint catches her with his magic.
"That oughta hold you," he said. "Let's get her to the tub."
"You can't stop me!" Polly cried, being hauled away. "I'll just get dirty again!"
Back in the fields, Anne groans holding the large book. "I'll be very old after reading this thing."
"That does look like quite a read there," said Dyllan. "Hey Sprig, have you tried reading this book?"
"Yeah," replied Sprig. "But the farthest I got to was page five. So much description, too little plot."
"Too little of an attention span?" asked Cronaxx.
"You could say that," said Sprig.
"Speaking of attention," said Cronaxx. "Dyllan, I'm going to town to pick up the supplies Tint destroyed in the barn today. Until then, I'd like you to stay here and keep practicing your levitation spell."
"Okay, Cronaxx," said Dyllan.
Cronaxx nods and walks away. "See you soon."
Anne groans again, "I can't read this whole thing. I don't need history, I need experience." She stuffs the book in Bessie's satchel, and climbs up on her saddle. Then, she comes up with an idea. "What do you guys say we take a quick test drive? We can prove to Hop pop we're quick learners."
"Uh, I don't know, Anne," said Dyllan. "Cronaxx told me to stay here..."
"It'll be okay, Dyllan," said Anne. "You can probably learn to levitate quicker while we're on the road. How about you Sprig?"
At first Sprig wants to join her, but a thought comes to mind, "Do you guys have this feeling where this is a choice where we look back and say we shouldn't have done that?"
"What if we get swamp slushies? What do you say?" asked Anne.
Sprig immediately jumps on Bessie's shell and says, "No regrets!"
"Come on, Dyllan," said Anne. "We'll be back before you know it."
Dyllan turns his head to the farmhouse and hears the ruckus from inside. Tint and Hop pop were running around trying to wrap Polly in a towel.
"We'll be back in no time," said Sprig. "Cronaxx won't even know we're gone."
Dyllan turns his head back and forth and finally gives in, "Uh, yeah. I'm coming."
He climbs onto Bessie's shell and Anne whips the reins, making Bessie move across the fields. The three friends cheer in excitement.
Along the way, they see an old elder frog with a small spider driving a giant ladybug ahead of them. Anne kicks into high gear and drives past them.
"On your right!" shouted Dyllan.
"Out of our way slowpoke!" mocked Sprig.
"You rotten little troublemakers!" the elder frog cried out.
"Wow," said Dyllan. "That was..."
"Exhilarating road rage," finished Sprig.
"Live your truth!" Anne cries as she whips the reins and the trio speed off.
Shortly after, Dyllan gets the swamp slushies for him, Anne, and Sprig. He keeps his hood over his head, trying not to draw attention to the bystanders who were curious of his stature. Sprig drinks his slushie without hesitation. Anne tosses it away out of disgust. Dyllan pretends to drink his slushie by looking to the side while the drink spills on his shoulder.
Then, the three continue to drive on Bessie. "Guess Anne was right," said Sprig. "She doesn't need to read an old book. She drives just fine."
"Yeah, she sure does," said Dyllan.
"I'm a natural born driver," said Anne.
"Come on, Anne," said Dyllan. "A snail is much different from a car." He wonders how long the three were driving around. "Uh, we should probably get back to the farm. Cronaxx should be returning soon."
"Okay," groaned Anne. She turns Bessie around, and finds a path that leads off road. Remembering what Polly mentioned about doing crazy stunts, Anne gets an idea. "Want to quickly take this baby off road?"
"Yes!" said Sprig.
"Wait, what?" Before Dyllan could object, the trio race down the off road path. While Anne and Sprig are thrilled with dodging low branches and jumping across small gaps, Dyllan remains in shock and shuts his eyes.
The trio then fall in an open space surrounded by thistle bushes. They come to a full stop, full of relief. Dyllan is most relieved to have stopped.
"Whew, I've had my fill of off roading," said Anne.
"Are you kidding me!?" Dyllan asked. He is still shaking from their little detour. "You better hope we're not lost. Take this snail back on the road right now!"
"Jeez, relax Dyllan, we'll do that," said Anne. She takes the reins and whips them, but nothing happens. She tries again, but again, nothing. The trio see Bessie cowering in her shell.
"Uh, Bessie," said Sprig. "You okay girl?"
"Hey, what's going on?" Anne asked. "Is there no fuel in her tank? Is the oil low?"
Dyllan starts to panic on the inside, and his tone starts to change. "Anne, I'm gonna wish you'd stop treating Bessie like she's a car."
He peeks down in Bessie's shell opening and tries talking to her. "Hey, Bessie. Are you okay? What's wrong?" Bessie responds with a fearful purr and slides deeper in her shell.
"It sounds like she's scared," said Dyllan.
"Maybe we can give her a push?" Anne suggested. "That could help give her a jumpstart."
Dyllan sighs in annoyance, and pushes Bessie's shell alongside her and Sprig. But the snail is proven to be too heavy for the trio.
"She's really a strong snail," wheezed Dyllan.
"Now what are we going to do?" asked Sprig. "We're stuck here."
"Oh, Dyllan," said Anne. "Think you can try to life Bessie with magic? Cronaxx did say you're working on your spell training."
"I'm still learning," said Dyllan. "But, I'll try."
He points his staff at the shell and tries focusing his energy on the spell. "Schweben (Levitate)." The red magical aura floats from the staff and surrounds Bessie's shell. Sprig enjoys watching the sparkling effects, but not Dyllan. He reaches out to the shell and tried to make it float in mid air. But it was no use. Eventually, Dyllan stops before his head could explode, his nose drips a bit of blood, and he lays on Bessie's side.
"I can't do it," he said.
"Can't we call Clipper to help us?" Sprig asked.
Dyllan tries whistling in the forests, but the ambiance is loud and the trees are too thick for anyone to hear. Dyllan keeps whistling till he runs out of breath.
"It's no use," wheezed Dyllan. "We're on our own."
Anne groans in defeat, "We have no other choice. Sprig, find a ride back to the farm and go get Hop pop. Me and Dyllan will stay here with Bessie until you return."
"Good plan, Anne," said Sprig. "We may get an earful out of this, but it's the right thing to do. I'll be back as soon as I can." Then, he hops away swinging from tree to tree. That leaves Anne and Dyllan alone with Bessie.
Dyllan sighs, regaining his strength, wiping his nose from his bloody nostril, and taking a sip of water from Bessie's satchel. "It's been a while since we've had some time to ourselves," he said.
"Yeah, it has," said Anne. "So, how do you think Tint is holding up with Polly's bath time?"
"I'm kind of curious of that myself," replied Dyllan.
Back at the farmhouse, Tint constantly tries to get Polly in the bathtub. "Come on! Hop pop wants you clean, you little tyke!"
"You'll never get me clean!" shouted Polly. "Never!"
"I don't care!" scolded Tint. "Just get in the tub!"
Tint takes Polly in his hands and tries to dunk the pollywog into the bathtub. Only for Polly to attach herself to another part of Tint's body. Every time Tint attempts to dunk her in, she attaches herself somewhere else.
"Get into the tub! Get in the tub! Get in the tub! In the TUB! IN THE TUB!"
The last time Tint attempts to dunk Polly in the water, she just floats in thin air and without any notice, she just pops right next to the ill tempered salamander.
"Now you are really starting to irritate me," he said.
Back in the wilderness, Dyllan starts getting edgy about their current situation. While Anne remains calm and waits. Eventually, the two break the silence. "Ugh, I'm bored!" groaned Anne.
"Well maybe you should've thought of that before getting us stuck here," said Dyllan. "Cronaxx is going to get disappointed if he finds out I'm not practicing my spells."
"Hey, I didn't know Bessie was going to break down on us," said Anne.
"Says the girl who still calls the gear shift the 'Prindle' back home," said Dyllan.
"Hey, all that technical talk hurts my brain," argued Anne.
"Oh, my apologies," said Dyllan sarcastically. "Maybe we can just calm down by turning on Bessie's radio. Do you want AM or FM?!" Anne starts to notice that Dyllan is heating up in his tone of voice. "Look Anne, the next time you want to take me along on a crazy stunt, do me a favor. Leave me out of it!"
"Woah," said Anne. "Sorry dude, I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
Dyllan just groans in frustration, "Ugh, I'm going to cool off. And while I'm at it, you should just take a page out of Hop pop's book, and think about how to get us out of here."
Dyllan takes a breather from his rant and sits down on the opposite side of Bessie's shell. He takes his staff and tries practicing his levitation spell on small rocks. Anne, realizing how hurt Dyllan is, stops in her tracks and sits down to think about what he said to her.
A few miles away from the thicket bushes, Sprig is still swinging from the trees looking for help. As he approaches an open road, he finds a frog riding a bug coming up. Sprig leaps into action and gets the driver's attention. "Hey! Help! Over here! I need a ride!"
Thankfully, the driver stops close to Sprig. But it is unfortunate for Sprig knowing that it is the same frog he and the others passed earlier today. "Bless my socks," she said. "Sprig Plantar, it's you."
Feeling embarrassed from earlier, Sprig immediately apologizes to the frog. "Yeah, I'm sorry about earlier. I got a bit carried away."
"No problem," said the frog. "Sadie Croaker never holds a grudge,"
"That's good to hear," said Sprig, feeling relieved. "Can you get me back home? My friends are stuck and needs help."
"Well then, climb on up and I'll help you get to where you need to go," said Mrs Croaker.
Sprig instantly jumps on and prepares for the ride back. "Just watch out for Archie," said Mrs Croaker. She points to her pet black spider with red eyes. Archie shakes its fur, shedding all over the seats. Mrs Croaker prepares her ladybug and whips her reins.
Sprig excitement turns into boredom when the ladybug starts moving very slow like a turtle. "Can't this thing go faster?!" he cried.
Back in the wilderness, Anne looks to the sky feeling sorry for putting her friend in their situation. Then, an idea occurred to her. She looks inside Bessie's satchel and finds Bessie's history, the same book she placed in earlier today. She takes the book, and opens the cover. Dyllan practices his levitation spell in a calming matter. He's still struggling to focus on his spell, making him more angry. After failing for the fifth time in a row, he puts his staff down and uses his time to catch his breath.
"Hey Dyllan," said Anne. "Listen, I'm really sorry for dragging you along. I understand if you're still upset about this situation. But you're right, if we're going to find out what's wrong with Bessie, I'm going to have to find it by reading her history."
Dyllan doesn't respond, making Anne feel upset that she probably let him down. But to her surprise, he comes back around and sits next to her. She takes great joy seeing a small smile on his face. "Then I guess we better get started," he said.
Knowing her friend is willing to help her, Anne starts reading the first page. After a while, Dyllan takes over reading another batch of pages, unaware that a small pebble next to him starts glowing bright red.
Back on the road, Sprig is having the most boring time of his life. Mrs Croaker's ladybug is still going very slow. Sprig's impatience is making him swing his legs back and forth, and continuously pet Archie. Sprig groans in boredom quietly, trying not to upset Mrs Croaker.
"You know what I think should make this ride go faster?" she asked.
Sprig didn't hesitate to ask. "Anything! What is it?"
"A song," replied Mrs Croaker. She starts to sing Jugs of Juice on the wall, which makes Sprig feel hopeless knowing that the song will make his ride not just boring, but annoying.
Back in the thickets, Dyllan and Anne continue reading Bessie's history. Dyllan gets to a part he finds the most enjoyable, that he reads to Anne out loud, "The snow swirled around us, and I believed we were doomed. I could feel my strength wither away every second. The sweet smell of death grew stronger. Until, I could hear something out in the wind. It was Bessie, I knew she was singing to me not to give up..."
Dyllan could not hold back his tears as Anne started to cry from his reading. "What a noble creature," she says as she hugs Bessie's shell.
"Now you understand," said Dyllan wiping his face. "Bessie is more than just a snail. She is a Plantar, through and through."
Anne wipes away the tears from her eyes. She takes a deep breath and says, "By the way, that was some great reading there. I could hear Hop pop's voice coming from that book."
"Thanks Anne," said Dyllan. "Guess those theater rehearsals finally paid off. It's all about getting into character, it helps give the story a bit more flare."
Dyllan gets up and takes a stretch as Anne picks up the book, continuing where he left off. The next part of the story gets Anne excited. "Dyllan, this is it!"
She reads out loud, "The reason Bessie hid in her shell has become obvious to me. A predator was close by."
"I knew it," said Dyllan. "I knew she was scared."
"And not just any predator," continued Anne. "A natural enemy of snails."
Suddenly, the two humans hear a twig snap. Dyllan turns around sharply and points his staff at the origin of the noise. "It's not far," he whispers. "What else did Hop Pop write about this predator?"
"Let me see," said Anne. She flips a few pages and finds a diagram of a hedgehog. "Looks like a harmless hedgehog."
"Anne," said Dyllan. "I just want to remind you that we're not on Earth. So if there's anything cute and cuddly..."
Then, out in the open, a vicious looking hedgehog snarls at the humans, scaring them. The snarling got the attention of other hedgehogs, who turn out to be the thicket bushes surrounding the snail.
"...There's bound to be something deadly," he finished.
"Hurry!" Anne cried. The two humans climb on Bessie's shell, trying to fight off the hedgehogs. Anne kicks them, and Dyllan swats them with his staff. The light blue hedgehog, the alpha, grabs the staff with its teeth, trying to yank it out of Dyllan's hands. Anne gets back into the book, hoping to find a way to get Bessie to move again. "Dyllan, strap yourself in," she said.
Dyllan holds on to his seat, and Anne cries out, "Bessie! Things are getting Messy!"
Bessie immediately pops out of her shell, and speeds off out of the wilderness. Dyllan and Anne are surprised, yet happy, that Bessie started moving again. The two humans cheer with delight as they leave the wilderness. But the hedgehogs wouldn't make it easy for them. They follow fast behind them, following the snail trial Bessie is leaving behind.
"Eat our dust hedgehogs!" Anne cried. While she wasn't looking and focusing on the road, the blue hedgehog shot a couple of its spike quills at the trio. Dyllan spots the flying quills just in time, "Anne! Get Down!" He pushes Anne down to Bessie's shell just as the quills fly by. One of the quills scraps Dyllan's back, causing a scratch mark on his skin and a tear on his school shirt and cape.
"Dyllan, are you okay?" Anne asked.
"Yeah," replied Dyllan. "It's just a scratch."
Bessie continues to evade the hedgehogs by jumping off a ledge and turning around. But the hedgehogs continue their pursuit. Anne grabs Bessie's book to find a solution to their predicament.
"Find anything that can be helpful, Anne?" asked Dyllan.
"Here," said Anne, pointing to the page. "If you're still being chased by danger, give Bessie some berries from her secret compartment at the front of her shell."
"I'm on it," said Dyllan. He climbs on the front of Bessie's shell and opens the secret compartment. Inside the compartment reveals a portion of Bessie's organs. "Oh, this is gross." He turns his head and reaches for the berries. He gives them to Anne, and she gives them to Bessie.
"Let 'em have it, Bessie!" cheered Anne.
Bessie chirps and eats the berries. The berries cause her slime trail to turn pink and become extra slippery. The hedgehogs start to lose their footing and they slip and slide on the trail. All except for the blue hedgehog.
The three keep running away, but no matter how hard they try to evade, the blue hedgehog is still hot on their trail. Dyllan keeps an eye on the hedgehog, waiting for it to shoot more quills.
"That speed demon is not giving up," said Dyllan.
"Uh, Dyllan," said Anne.
Dyllan turns around and sees Bessie approaching an unstable log bridge. Dyllan starts freaking out at the possibility that at the speed they're going, could cause the log to break apart. He turns back at the blue hedgehog, then turns to his staff.
He hears Cronaxx's voice inside his head. 'Remember, keep your mind focused on the spell in training.'
He points the staff at the hedgehog, and he imagines what would happen if he doesn't do anything. The sudden fear of failing and losing his friends makes him shout, "SCHWEBEN!" A burst of red aura hits the blue hedgehog and lifts it a few feet off the ground. Anne watches in awe, but Bessie focuses on crossing the bridge with ease. Thanks to Dyllan's efforts, the three cross the old oak bridge just before it cracks in two, and falls into the dark abyss.
Dyllan turns and smiles, causing the blue hedgehog to fly straight into the trees, hurting it. The blue hedgehog retreats into the forests as the three return to the open road.
"I did it," said Dyllan. "I did it! I achieved absolute focus!"
"That was awesome, Dyllan!" cheered Anne as she hugged him. "You saved us!"
"Nah," said Dyllan. "Bessie is the one who saved us." She pats her on her head. "She's the ruler of the roads." Bessie chirps happily in response. "Now let's get Sprig and go back home." The two girls agree and Bessie takes them back on the road.
Back on the road, Mrs Croaker is finishing her song, 'Jugs of juice on the Wall'. Sprig rocks back and forth clutching his legs out of insanity. But much to the relief of the song about to end, he smiles hoping for some peace and quiet. "Glad that's over," said Sprig.
"One more time!" cried Mrs Croaker.
Unable to take anymore singing, Sprig screams into Archie like a pillow. But all that insanity fades away when he hears, "Hey kid, need a lift home?"
He finds Anne, Dyllan, and Bessie, moving again. He hops on board and hugs his best friend. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Thanks for helping our friend, ma'am," Dyllan said to Mrs Croaker.
"It was a pleasure," said Mrs Croaker. "But next time, keep your road rage in check." She takes her reins and whips her ladybug into high gear. To Sprig's surprise, Mrs Croaker goes much faster than she was carrying him with her.
"Pretty sure I got played there," he said.
"She's everything I want to be," said Anne.
"The creatures of this world continue to surprise me," said Dyllan.
Later that night, Anne, Dyllan, and Sprig return home safe and sound. The three sigh with relief. "I'm so glad we're back home," said Dyllan.
"Me too," said Sprig. He looks over Bessie's shell and looks through the house window. "And it looks like Tint is taking his bath."
"Now Tint," said Polly, still looking muddy.
"Yeah, yeah, Polly," said Tint unamused and scrubbing his head. "I'm getting behind my gills."
Polly smiles, but then she gets caught by Hop pop. "I got her, Tint!"
"You'll never take me alive!" Polly cried. But Hop pop gives Polly to Tint, and he dunks her into the water.
"That's for tricking me," he said. He takes a bath brush and scrubs her hard. "And this is for the mud puddle!"
"Nooooo!"
"Looks like Polly's learning her lesson the hard way," said Sprig.
"She's not the only one."
Much to Dyllan's shock, the three see Cronaxx with a stern on his face.
"Cronaxx!" Dyllan cried. Then he sighs, "When did you get back?"
"About an hour ago," he replied. "I tried to tell Hop pop that you guys were gone, but he and Tint were a bit occupied with Polly."
He walks up to Dyllan, "I'm very disappointed in you Dyllan. I told you to stay here and practice your magic. But you went out with your friends instead."
"Cronaxx," said Anne. "This is all my fault. I was the one who dragged him and Sprig with me. So, please don't punish him."
Sprig gets on his knees begging, "Please, don't tell Hop pop!"
Cronaxx sighs, "Did you at least practice your spell casting?"
"Yes, Cronaxx, I did," replied Dyllan. "And I perfected the spell, by saving my friends."
Cronaxx nods with a smile. "Well then, since you came back in one piece, I won't tell Hop pop what happened. As long as you perfect your spell a few more times before the sun rises."
Dyllan smiles and shakes his hand, "Deal."
"And don't despair, Dyllan," said Cronaxx. "We all get tempted from time to time. And another thing..." He takes his hand and places it on Dyllan's scratch mark. He uses his magic to heal his skin. "Put some ointment on that scratch mark." He turns to the house and shuts the door.
"You got a wise teacher," said Sprig. He yawns and enters the house. "You coming, Anne?"
Anne smiles, then turns to Dyllan who points his staff to a couple rocks. "I think I'm gonna spend a little bit more time with Bessie," she said.
"Suit yourself," said Sprig, closing the door.
Anne takes Bessie's history book and approaches Dyllan. She watches him practicing his spell. He takes a deep breath, he chants, 'Schweben' and makes a few rocks float in mid air. With his mind at ease, focusing on the floating rocks, he attempts to make them twirl around like he's juggling. But the rocks just fly across the field when he spots Anne watching him.
"You're really getting the hang of this," she said.
"Thanks, Anne." said Dyllan. "Listen, I'm uh.. I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier."
"It's okay, dude," said Anne. "It's still a surprise, because I've never seen that side of you before."
"I was just upset, that's all," said Dyllan. "I didn't want us to get into any more trouble than we already are. I mean look around you..." He gestures to the fields surrounding them. "We are stuck in a strange new world."
"Well, at least we're stuck here together," said Anne.
Dyllan sighs, "Not all of us are together, Anne."
Anne realizes that he's referring to Sasha and Marcy, who are still yet to be found in Amphibia.
"This kind of trouble is huge, compared to what we did in the past," said Dyllan. "And the worst trouble that any of us got was detention and grounding."
He takes a deep breath and looks at Lerrad's Staff. Anne, feeling upset that her best friend is feeling guilty, places a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, no one asked you to join us," she said. "But for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here. Because I don't feel completely alone."
Dyllan smiles, "Thanks, Anne. I really mean it." The two hug for a moment and Dyllan gets back to practicing. "So you gonna turn in tonight?"
"Nah," replied Anne. "I'm gonna read more of Bessie's history, and stay by your side while you're practicing."
"Now that I'm okay with," said Dyllan. "Now where was I?" He stretches out his staff and swirls it at the little pebbles surrounding him. "Schweben." At the same time, Anne takes out Bessie's history and opens up to where she left off.
The very next morning, before the sun is even touching the sky, Hop pop is sleeping in his bed. Then, out of nowhere, the book of Bessie's history is seen plopped on his bed. The impact wakes up the old frog and is frightened at the sight of Anne and Dyllan with tires eyes, showing that they stayed up all night long.
"Good morning, Hopediah," said Anne.
Hop pop is surprised, "Kids?"
"She did it, Hop pop," said Dyllan. "While I was practicing my magic, she read through the whole book in one night. And after I perfected my levitation spell a few more times, I read Bessie's history as well. It was quite a page turner."
"I'm impressed," said a stunned Hop pop. "I'm a bit scarred, but impressed nonetheless."
Anne plops onto his chair and says, "I was wrong about Bessie. She's not just a vehicle, she's an incredible, loyal creature."
"And you were right about another thing," said Dyllan. He looks out the window to see Clipper sleeping in the open field of moist grass. "I can't rely on Clipper all the time. He'll need time to himself."
Hop pop smiles at the two humans with the book in his hands. "Well Dyllan, since you've read Bessie's history alongside Anne, I think you're ready to drive her around too. All you two need now, is experience."
The mere mention of experience cause Dyllan and Anne to start laughing hysterically. The two continue to laugh as they exit the room. Anne walks up to a beam before opening the door. Dyllan takes a handful of red berries and chows down on them, leaving berry juice around his mouth before leaving the room. Hop pop stares at the exit in shock and fear.
"I don't feel safe."
And there you have it. I also enjoyed putting in a couple of references in this chapter. Until next time, Keep on Truckin'!