Dreamwriter

The guard and the man in the room were talking. While they were distracted, Willow crawled out of the bag and fell off the table, onto the floor. Immediately she grew to human size. The man stopped talking and looked at her. She leaped into the air and glared at the man.

"Stay back and DON'T mess with me!" Willow exclaimed. She was ready to use all of the magic skills she knew to protect herself.

The stone guard turned and stared at Willow as well. The man began to laugh kindly. "Why would I harm you? I am on your side." He smiled at her. The man was white haired with a long beard, wrinkly, grey fur coat, grey fabric pants, and grey leather boots. He had a tall silver staff and a small silver bag on his back. The guard looked just like all of the other stone guards but his face showed kindness, not cruel indifference like the others.

Willow was beyond confused. "...Why am I here then, in the evil queen's castle! Why was I in a magical bag that stifled my magic as a fairy? Why, why oh why, is there a stone guard for goodness sakes in this room?! Who are you?"

The old man nodded. "Reasonable questions. Very understandable, for a fairy that has been through so much. Well, Willow, I don't think you'd believe me if I told you, but you'll have to if you want to save Lilliana, Jorstan, the princess, and the kingdoms."

Willow froze in shock. How did this man know her and her friends?

"Willow, I am Parnen, the wizard of the woods. This here is Vacausor, a former stone guard for the evil Queen Delanette. He is very handy. He knows every inch of the castle and then some!" Parnen laughed. "We had to put you in the bag because we had to capture you somehow so we could get you here. The queen still thinks Vacausor is on her side, so it was only reasonable." Vacausor grunted friendlyly.

Willow opened her mouth to speak, but closed it immediately. Parnen had found her?

"Now then, we must rescue them!"

The voice Liliana heard was weak and hoarse. "Who are you?"
"i'm Liliana and what is your name?"
"I really have no idea."
"Well that's ok, you must be the queen's servants.."
" No i didn't think the queen had any servants, I thought the queen, the stone people and I were the only people left."
"I'm sorry but you've been miinformed, the queen was lieing to you"
Suddenly the voice changed to a mean and protective voice "Who are you! Get away from me! I've known the queen my whole life and you, I just met now!"
Liliana took pity on the girl by not yelling and instead told her stories of the world outside of the dark room. The girl didn't talk but listened intently on the word Liliana was saying.
"Stop! Stop!" the girl yelled to liliana in midsentance "If only what you say is true but tis a fairy tale. I'm going to sleep now. Stay away from me for i do not trust you and just remember i am protected by the queen."
Liliana was silent. She tried to conjur up ideas of how to get out of the awful room but was not successful. Then liliana thought about the strange girl in the corner. Why would she think such thing. Who was she. Suddenly a strange idea popped into her head, what if she was the princess. Then she pushed away the idea only for it to come back again. Liliana then thought about the shoes. The shoes did not lead her to the princess but then in a strange way if she was the princess the shoes did lead her there. She came to the castle to get the shoes. These thoughts went through her brain a billion times until she slowly fell asleep.

Lilliana awoke, dazed and confused, in a freezing cold room. It was very dark, but Lilliana could see the faint outline of a candle and a box of matches. She clamored around for them, extracting a match from the box. She attempted to strike the match against the box to create a flame, but the matches were all soaking wet. Of course.

Lilliana stood and meandered around the strange room, shivering because of the cold. She saw a crack of light from the wall and walked to it. Through a chink in the wall, she saw the faint outline of one of the stone guards. Maybe there was a door nearby. She searched more, but couldn't find one. She was stuck, but a tiny voice was coming from a corner...

---

Willow was captured in a bag. It was a magic bag, she could tell, because she wasn't glowing, normal size, or able to fly. A guard was holding the top of the bag and they were walking somewhere. The stone guard's heavy feet clomped along the stone floors, the sound echoing all around. Willow couldn't even climb up the side of the bag because it was smooth like glass. Nor could she rip herself out of the bag.

Willow's tough attitude continued despite her circumstances. She called out to her captor. "Hey, Stony, where are we going, hmm?" Her voice echoed around her pointlessly. Sounds could come in but not out. Willow sighed and sat at the bottom of the bag, awaiting whatever fate was ahead. A door creaked open and she was dropped to a table. "Good, you got the fairy," a gruff voice immediately said...

---

Jorstan sat quietly at the other end of a long ebony table with grey silk sheets. A stone guard stood in each corner. Queen Delanette sat opposite him, looking at him with her cruel blue eyes. She said nothing, merely lifting a black teacup to her mouth and sipping a disgusting looking concoction. A cup of the same liquid was on the table in front of him. Jorstan shook inside, but he dared not expose his fear. He stared at the table.

"Jorstan, answer me. Why did you leave, dear?" Queen Delanette's bittersweet voice asked from the other side of the room. "I was never unjustly cruel to you. Why, compared to the other servants, you have been treated like, well, like a prince!" She folded her fingers together and rested her chin on them. Jorstan still said nothing.

The beautifully evil queen creased her eyebrows together. "And now you refuse my hospitality? Shame, Jorstan. DRINK!" she cried loudly. Snapping her fingers, Jorstan's hands reached out for the cup against his will. He chugged down the repulsive beverage in one gulp. Delanette smiled evilly, laughing as well. Jorstan now stared straight ahead, his eyes dazed. She had poisoned him to obey, and almost nothing could stop the evil queen's magic...

For a minute or two the forest was silent while Jorsten and Willow thought about how to get into the castle. Jorsten broke the silence with a simple sentance that sent chills through Willow's blood. "She already knows."
"What the heck is that supposed to mean!!" Willow said in a voice that was much softer than her own.
Without a reply Jorsten got up and and went right up to the stone guards, who without question opened the gates and let him in. Willow flew fast and tried to catch up with Jorsten but the gates slammed and a cold, stone, hand snached Willow from the air. Willow screamed but Jorsten was to far ahead to hear.
Later in the castle. Liliana wondered around the castle being clumsy and dumb in her actions. Knocking on doors and to opening any door that was unlocked. Of course Liliana found it curious that the stone guards had just let her in but at the moment she was exausted and delerious from not eating anything. Liliana heard something behind her and shreaked with surprise. Suddenly everything went blank.

Lilliana was nearly at Queen Delanette's castle, but Jorstan and Willow were behind. The trees were getting sparser and more twisted and ugly. Jorstan was getting nervous and afraid, shaking at every single sound and shadow. Willow stormed on ahead, turning every few minutes to complain about Jorstan.

"Come on, fraidy! The queen's not that scary..." Willow shouted.

"You didn't live in her castle with her bossing you around for the past 17 years!" Jorstan whined back. "She is pure evil, I tell you!"

Willow rolled her eyes. The castle was emerging on the horizon. "We're almost there. It's only a little away. Come on!" she said, and began running.

Within ten minutes, they had reached the castle. The statue guards stood outside now, so there was no way to go in the front way. Jorstan and Willow froze. Lilliana had to be inside, but how would they get in?