Curse you, Miss Lost...

Sparky was getting a little sick of calling people, but she figured she could get a laugh out of it somehow. So as she dialled the number of Lynxia Lost, she thought about what she was going to say.

‘Lynxia Lost. I’m in a little bit of a hurry, so say what you need to and let me concentrate.’

‘Where are you?’

‘Liffey Bridge,’ there was an explosion behind her, ‘Who is this?’

‘The Liffey Bridge?’ Sparky said, nodding at Ivy. Ivy vanished. There was a cry through the phone, and Sparky disconnected the call as Ivy reappeared with a very disgruntled Lynxia.

'What the-' her eyes narrowed, 'Sparky?'

'Yes?'

'... You died.'

'Nope.'

'Then you're in a lot of trouble.'

'Ya.'

‘Where am I?’ she asked.

‘Zathract’s house.’ Sparky answered. Her eyes widened.

‘In Sydney!?’ she nearly shouts. ‘I need to be on the Liffey Bridge, doing my job, now!’

‘Lynx I-‘

‘I don’t care! I was in the middle of a very important job, for a very important client!’ she held out her arm, ‘Ivy, take me back.’ Ivy looked at Sparky and Sparky nodded.

‘Okay, but, maybe when you’ve finished, if you could call?’ Sparky asked. Lynxia scowled at her, but nodded. Ivy grabbed her and they teleported away.

* * *

The two appeared on the roof of a building adjacent to the Bridge.

‘I thought it’d be easier from up here.’ Ivy said.

‘That’s an unusually nice thing for you to do.’ Lynxia replied, loading her bow and trying to see her target among the chaos that was erupting below them.

‘Sparky needs help. The faster you do this, the faster she doesn’t need help anymore.’ Ivy explained. Lynxia lifted her bow and shoot an arrow into the mess.

‘Got him. I’ll be right back.’ She shadow walked down to the body of the man she just took out, picked him up and shadow walked back. She dropped him on the ground unceremoniously and pulled her arrow out of his carcass. She then looked at Ivy.

‘You should go back. I still need to be payed.’ Lynxia said. Ivy nodded and vanished. Lynxia crouched and touched the dead mans chest, causing it to cave in for good measure. She then shadow-walked to the Irish Church of the Faceless.  She appeared in the centre of the main chamber and Prave stormed up to her.

‘I just cleaned the floors, heathen! Don’t let him bleed everywhere!’

‘Where’s Eliza?’

‘I don’t know! Move him!’ Prave screeched. Lynxia stood and towered over him.

‘Fine.’ She picked up the body and walked into Eliza’s little throne room. She dumped it on the floor and looked around. Eliza wasn’t there. She shrugged and draped herself across the throne. After a few minutes Eliza Scorn walked in and scowled.

‘Why are you…’ she trailed off when she saw the body.

‘Oh. Good job.’

‘Do I get paid?’

‘Of course. Get out of my seat.’ Eliza said. Lynxia stood and walked up to her. Eliza handed her a folder.

‘Your money and your next job are in there. You haven’t failed me yet, be sure not to now.’

‘Understood.’ Lynxia said, opening the folder. She took the money out, counted it and smiled. She then looked at the picture of her target and paled. Eliza saw and frowned.

‘Is there a problem?’ Eliza asked, sternly. Lynxia shook her head.

‘Not at all.’ She said, sliding the image of Sparky Braginski back into the folder.

Busy, Busy, Busy.

I have three things to do this blog post. There first being that I need to announce somewhere, that I have finished KOTW.

Being as vague as possible, page 262 made me want to cry (Really odd spot, too), I think Ghastly did the sweetest thing ever for Elsie (Favourite part), I like Tanith better evil (which I assume is weird...) And my favourite quote is...

"What do you know," Ravel said, breathing a little faster, "Skulduggery's silly little code actually works."

I laughed at Val's misfortune on more than a few occasions, and... I'm really sorry about the Epilogue. I completely called it, two years ago and everything, but...

I don't think I want to be right.

Thing two...

Okay, so, some of you may know that on Tuesday the 14th of August at 4:30pm, Derek Landy will be at the Mosman Pages&Pages for a public signing.

I was going to attend that, but I can't, because of an important school event.

So I couldn't go to a signing. I was... Mortified. I really was.

But, when I told my school librarian, she said she would call a school he's going to during the day, to see if she could get 10 girls from my school, there when he was.

And I got the confirmation yesterday. Just because I couldn't meet Derek, my AMAZING school librarian organised for myself and nine others to go meet him.

And thirdly, here is some reading for you guys to do, if you so wish.

It was dark. Something was coming. Coming for her, she could feel it. She was running blindly, running into branches, through puddles and over rocks. She could hear it behind her, pounding along. She looked back through instinct, even though she couldn’t see. The path narrowed and branches snagged at her body, her legs and her hair. She lifted her arms to protect her face and somehow got her foot lodged in a tree root. She sprawled into the dirt, rolled onto her back and scrambled back into a tree. The thing lumbered up to her and raised its fists. She could taste its rank scent on her tongue. She cowered below it as the monster brought its fists down.

Sparky Braginski woke up screaming for the fourth night in a row. It was the sixth time that fortnight and the thirty-second time since she had moved into the apartment, two months earlier. She was drenched in sweat, yet her skin was cold and clammy. She had kicked her sheets off during her fitful sleep. She stood and made her way to her bedroom window, rubbing her eyes with one hand and opening the curtains with the other. She leaned on the windowsill and looked out. She was in the third from top floor of a building outside the Milsons Point train station. She had a spectacular view, and it had helped her calm down after a nightmare on more than one occasion. She could see The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House behind it. She watched the cars drive up and down the bridge, and boats sail under it. The moon was a waning crescent, and cast a small beam of reflected light across the harbour. She shivered and walked into her little kitchen. She checked the time as she opened the fridge. It was 11:43pm when she reached into her fridge and pulled out her water bottle. She took a sip, shut the fridge and brought the water bottle with her when she sat on the couch. Her gaze drifted around the room. Her apartment wasn’t furnished, but she was proud of it. Her job at the Australian Sanctuary paid her rent, and at the age of twenty-two her job was quite respectable at the aforementioned work place. She was one of the nameless agents who were generally used to protect, siege and research. It would lead to bigger and better things eventually, she knew. Her mind flashed to back when she was fourteen. She remembered her old friend, Nixion Strange, saying that she would make a good Elder or Grand Mage. She laughed, even if Sparky was material for that job, she knew that it could a few hundred years before she got the job. Providing she lived that long. She sipped at her water again, and glanced at her phone. She looked back and saw her address book.

Sparky looked through her contacts, recognising names of people she hadn’t seen in years. She could picture faces and hear voice to match each person. It was people like Lynxia Lost, or Ivy Animosity. All of the contacts were up to date, unless someone had moved in the last six days. Her eyes flew over the contact of Flame Phoenix, and she shut the book. She stared at the cover. Could she call one of them? Maybe they’d help her with the reoccurring nightmare issue. But, then again, she had left unannounced seven years ago. Not leaving the smallest scrap for them to track her with, would they still be as warm as they had been? Would they give her the helping hand she needed when she asked for it, looking over the fact that they, together, had probably lived through hundreds of hardships without her help?

She checked over a phone number for the third time and dialled. She waited until a familiar voice came through the device.

‘Hello, this is Luciana. I’m probably at work, and I’ll get back to you when I can. Leave a message after the tone.’ There was a beep. Sparky hesitated. This was risky. She breathed out slowly and started.

‘Hey, Lu, it’s… It’s Sparky.’ She paused, ‘I-I’m not sure what to say now, I’m not even sure if you remember me. If you’re there, could you call back? I-I mean, if you have a moment to spare, or- or something.’ She stopped again, gathering her thoughts, ‘I… I hope you’ve been well.’ Sparky hung up and sat on the sofa once again. She waited for the phone to ring again, and as she waited, she slipped off to sleep again.

* * *

Luciana walked into her room and pressed the flashing button on her phone that indicated she had a voicemail waiting for her. She sat and began to pull one of her boots off when the message started. She had it all the way off when Sparky’s voice spoke.

‘Hey, Lu,’ the message churned out. Luciana dropped the boot. ‘No.’ she thought. The message continued.

‘It’s… It’s Sparky.’ Luciana pulled her second boot off and prepared to throw it at the phone.

‘I-I’m not sure what to say now. I’m not even sure if you remember me.’ Luciana blinked and the boot slid out of her hand. She blinked again and a lone tear rolled down her cheek. She sat, frozen and listened to Sparky’s message. The message finished and Luciana stood. She picked up the phone and held her thumb above the delete button.

* * *

Sparky was in the dark again. She was always in the never-ending dark. No one was chasing her, but everything was deathly quiet. She attempted to step forward and her foot hit a wall. She stumbled back in surprise and found herself pressed against another wall. She held her arms out and pressed her hands against two more walls. She was trapped, she was trapped and she didn’t like it. A voice appeared in her head.

‘You tried to get help. Don’t do that again. You’re a part of our plans, Braginski, and you need to follow them. Why you tried to get help from there is a mystery, and it isn’t of my concern to pursue it. Just don’t do that again. Someone might get hurt.’ A shrill ringing filled the air.

Sparky woke with a start to the sound of her phone ringing. She grabbed for it.

‘Hello?’ she said, hoping it was who she thought.

‘Hello Sparky.’ There was a silence.

‘Lu?’ Sparky said.

‘Don’t call me that. Yes, this is Luciana. What do you want?’

‘I… Wait. Should I apologise? Should I explain myself? Should I tell you where I am? What do you want me to do?’

‘I want you to tell me why you chose to call now.’

‘I chose now because I need help.’

‘Did you ever think we might’ve needed your help? Did you take into consideration how we would’ve felt after you vanished off the face of the earth? Sparky, we came to the conclusion that you’d died. Did you even think about us till now?’

‘I did think you may have needed my help. I’ve been dizzy with guilt on more than a few occasions because of these things. And I did think about you. Every day. How could I forget? How could I do that?’

‘You managed to leave pretty easily.’

‘Leaving was easy. Thinking was like trying to move sand with a sieve. I never stoped thinking about how you’d be, how you were, how you are, what you might be doing.’

‘Okay then. Where are you?’

‘Sydney.’

‘What have you been doing?’

‘I finished school. I have a job at the Sanctuary.’

‘What do you need help with?’

‘Um, it’ll probably sound like I’m over reacting, but I’ve been having these reoccurring nightmares. And, just now, someone spoke to me while I was asleep. Told me I was part of some plan. And I couldn’t mess things up by asking for help.’

‘You’re paranoid. Thanks for wasting my time.’

‘Wait! Wait! They’re all the same! Every dream except for that last one! And they’re all connected! It’s pitch black every time. I’m always running. The terrain changes. Sometimes it’s a desert, a forest, a jungle. Please hear me out!’

‘Good bye, Sparky.’ Luciana hung up.

Sparky put the phone down and scowled. What more had she expected? She checked the time and found it to be 8:00am. It was also Sunday, her day off. She picked up an apple and bit into it, her brow furrowed in concentration. She walked back into the living room, picked up her address book, her mobile phone and her keys, and left the apartment. She took the lift to the garage and walked to her car. An electric car, naturally. She buckled in and drove out.

Sparky pulled up outside of the building. She flicked through the book and nodded. She looked back at the run-down structure and shrugged. She stepped out of the car and walked around the house, inspecting it. From a distance, the house looked very uninteresting. Vines on the walls, broken windows, even a nice touch of graffiti. In all truth, it looked pretty much the same close up, to the untrained eye. But Sparky’s eye was most certainly trained. This was her job. She counted cameras, sensors and alarms. She walked back to the front lawn and looked at the house, clicking her tongue.

‘Childs play.’

* * *

Zathract Mist walked up his footpath and sensed that something was wrong, almost immediately. He opened the door to his house, his house that was shabby on the outside, and immaculate on the inside. He saw the person sitting on his staircase, held up his hand to stop them from moving or saying anything. He placed his case on the ground, took his gloves out of his pockets and pulled them on. He walked a few feet through a small adjacent corridor and slipped his coat off. He hung it over the back of a chair and then faced the intruder.

* * *

‘How did you get into my house without setting any alarms off?’ he asked. Sparky shrugged.

‘Best friends with the most skilled thief in Australia. You pick up a thing or two.’

‘Fair enough.’ Zathract said, leaning against the chair, ‘How have you been?’

‘Good. You?’

‘Alright.’ He replied. They looked at each other for a long time. Sparky broke the silence.

‘You never were one for conversation, were you Zathy?’ she said. He chuckled.

‘No, I suppose not. I assume I should ask you. Why are you here?’

‘I’m here because I need help.’

‘Why find me? Why not someone else?’ he queried. Sparky laughed softly.

‘I never lost you, Zath. I tried someone else. They refused me. I figured visiting someone’s house would be more successful.’

‘Do you work at the Sanctuary?’

‘Yes.’

‘Why haven’t I seen you?’

‘Because, unlike you, I have a very low and unimportant job on the totem pole.’

‘I still should’ve seen you.’

‘I’m good at going around unnoticed. That’s mostly what my job relies on.’ She said. There was another long silence. Zathract straightened and folded his arms.

‘What do you need help with?’

Zathract’s reaction to Sparky’s incredulous story was unexpected, at the very least. When she had finished, he had remained silent for a while, obviously in deep thought.

‘You know,’ he said eventually, ‘If you didn’t seem so convinced, I wouldn’t believe you. I do believe you, as well. I’m not sure how I can help though.’

‘He did tell me not to go looking for help. I think this alone will cause some damage to his plans.’

‘Hey, this is your dilemma. What do you propose we do next?’ he asked. Sparky sighed.

‘I think it’s time to round up the old gang.’

Zathract was called off to work and said that Sparky could stay at his house, seeing as it was larger than hers. She had thanked him and pulled out her phone. She knew who she had to call first, but she couldn’t say she wasn’t scared. She held the phone to her ear and waited for them to pick up.

‘Ivy here.’

‘Hey Ivy, long time, no see, eh?’ Sparky said.

‘You seem to be mistaken. One, I don’t have friends, and you seem to be addressing me as one. Two, people shouldn’t have my phone number and come up as ‘Blocked’. It doesn’t work like that. So, who are you and why have you called me?’

‘It’s a lot easier to have someone’s phone number if you were given it. This is Sparky. I’m blocked because I can’t afford to have people calling me at random.’ She answered. There was a crackling, and the line cut out as a blue orb of energy appeared in Zathract’s living room. The orb retracted and Ivy Animosity delivered a punch into Sparky’s jaw so hard that it sent her into the wall. Sparky rubbed her chin and lifted her eyebrows briefly.

‘Good to see you too…’ She muttered. Ivy scowled.

‘Give me one good reason not to pull your head off your shoulders.’

‘If you did that I’d die.’

‘Who said I didn’t want you dead?’ Ivy asked, folding her arms.

‘Psh, Ivy, if you wanted me dead, I’d be dead by now.’ Sparky said. Ivy relaxed.

‘Hello Sparky.’ Ivy said, smiling.

Silly me...

I'm making this now because I'm meant to be doing homework. I haven't been writing recently... I mean, I have, but I haven't been adding to any story, use writing up little bits of things for fun. I had school camp a few weeks ago, and Alfred brought a notepad along. We wrote as story together and (as soon as I have the notebook) I will type it up. One font representing her writing, and one representing mine. I'm also going to do my best to find a way to post bits with lines through them, to represent what we crossed out, and the final touch will be keeping the spelling mistakes.

It's kind of sad, but fun at the same time!

I was also reading a Stephen King novel when we started, which may contribute to the unfortunate event at the beginning. We kept going as dark as possible (not very, but under the circumstances quite dark, seeing as the three adults with us the entire camp were always trying to read this story) and we finished it on the fourth morning, and we had a reasonably major argument the previous night. Reasonably meaning I was tired after the six hour hike, and it started raining, so I stopped talking all together, and it ends with that night being the only night we didn't sleep in the same tent. It was all sorted out before we went to bed, and there was a moment where we looks at each other from across the fire (opposite logs, sitting next to the person we were tenting with) and grimaced at our own stupidity.

I don't know why I told you that...

Um, yes, now I do. Anyway, dark beginning, significantly brighter ending.

I plan on writing more of the L4D fan fiction next, but I won't be posting that one here anymore, it'll be on the L4D blog I share with Alfred.

There are at least forty pages of that story, but most of them (about thirty) occur a while past where you're up to.

I have some dot connecting to do.

I'll post the link to that blog here...

http://sparkyandalfred.blogspot.com.au/

If you look at it there will (finally) be an update.

Now... Back to work...

Whoops...

Okay, so in the past couple of days (a week and a half or so) I may have forgotten that my computer could use a web browser. Or hold word documents. I've been using my free time on the laptop, just not writing or posting and SORRY.

Um...

But, as many of you would know, I normally have fairly legitimate reasons for these occurrences.

This one, being caused by my birthday.

What I got for my birthday.

Left 4 Dead 2.

So, instead of being a good blogger/author, I have been playing Left 4 Dead 2.

And I'm terrible at it. Truly awful. It's sad, it really is. I tried playing the first level of Dead Center (meant to be the easiest of the easy) today on Expert.

I died in five minutes. Down, up, shoot, down again, up again, you're gonna die, heal, shoot, down, up, shoot, down, up, heal, you're gonna die, shoot, down, up, heal, dead.

Something like that.

On Expert, please remember that.

I have yet to play it multiplayer, if only because I ashamed that the bots do better than I do while playing Dead Center on Easy.

*shakes head at self*

But I am getting better at it. Slowly. I played The Passing (still easy, but not as easy) on Normal and did better than the bots this morning.

Yay me.

And a note to all of you. Or, a couple, if you ever play this game.

A) Even in an emergency, and an alarm is going off, and Infected are everywhere, if you hear crying- TURN YOUR GODDAMN FLASHLIGHT OFF. You do not want to startle the Witch! ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR TEAMMATES ARE TWO FLOORS BELOW YOU.

B) If a Tank is running at you, shoot and run backwards. If you hit a wall, run in another direction. Stay. Away. From. The. Tank.

C) Don't shoot propane tanks when you're standing next to them.

D) Don't shoot fuel containers while you're standing next to them.

E) If you hear a Hunter/Smoker, don't turn around madly trying to find it. Try and see your teammates in case they get caught/pounced on.

F) Shoot the Clowns and Mudmen.

Those are some very basic instructions. Very basic. Really, really, incredibly basic.

The game is't as scary as I hope it would be, which is mildly disappointing, but oh well.

And it is scary when a Hunter pounces over you. Really scary.

Having played the game itself I'm going to keep writing my fan fiction for the game.

*laughs*

I'm so bad at it.

Important Information.

Okay, I've been doing a truckload of writing recently, so if I start something, post it here and you never hear about it again, please don't be angry. I'm dabbling in ideas.

Of course, if you really liked a certain idea, nag me to finish it and I'll think about it. Don't expect any pattern of posting either, because I'm really, really, REALLY, REALLY busy at the moment.

Things that are currently in progress are the L4D story, the HP story and my most recent blog post.

Other news? Has anyone heard of Tobuscus? Or Literal Trailers?

well, if you haven't here are a bunch of links, they're fantastic.

Literal Assassin's Creed Brotherhood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKrtbUinWOU

Literal Assassin's Creed Revalations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJjJY5YpKRI&feature=relmfu

Literal Bioshock Infinite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSCswCg-9gk&feature=relmfu

Literal Dead Island:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ5c9BzohM4&ob=av3e

Literal Harry Potter Deathly Hallows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MahTKZDHXaA&feature=relmfu

Literal Skyrim:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMKJ9fDM2mo&feature=relmfu

So, you don't have to look at all of them, but it's worth it!!!

Harry Potter Fan Fiction.

‘Petrificus Totalus!’ Eden Fletcher shouts, thrusting her wand forward.

‘Protego!’ I yell, bring my wand up sharply, conjuring a shield. ‘Stupify!’ I continue, stepping forward to assist the spell. Eden flies back and hits the ground.

‘Congratulations Phoebe Carter. You have won.’ Professor Snape's amplified voice rumbles around the hall. I twirl my wand between my fingers and blow on the tip. I bow and walk across the platform. I bend over and hold my hand out to Eden who grips it. I pull her up and we hug.

‘You beat me. That's the first time you've beat me.’ she says.

‘I've been practicing.’

‘Please vacate the platform.’ Snape says. I shrug and hop off the platform. Thalia Whitlock and Elizabeth West walk onto the platform. Oh, this is going to be fantastic. Thalia, Liz and I went to the same muggle primary school together. We got our letters from Hogwarts at the same time. We went to Diagon Alley together. We rode the Hogwarts Express together. We did everything together until the Sorting Ceremony. I was among the first to be called up. I remember feeling so happy when I was sorted into Gryffindor. Even happier when Liz was too. Right after Liz Thalia was called up. Liz and I were watching intently when Thalia walked up the steps and sat on the stool. The Sorting Hat was placed on her head and stayed there for an age before finally shouting ‘Slytherin!’

‘What?’ I had whispered, nearly thrown off my feet with shock. “That can’t be right. She can’t be in Slytherin, because that would mean she isn’t with us!” That was a long time ago. Just six years, in fact. But, that was really how Liz and I got to know the Slytherin students. After Liz and I had been ushered up the dozens of staircases to the Gryffindor common room, we instantly decided to learn the Colour Change Charm. We spent hour after hour trying to learn it. And then one day we put our skill to the test and tried it. We turned the hems of our robes green and met up with Thalia outside the Great Hall. She then lead us down to the dungeons and snuck us into the Slytherin common room. It was scary at first, but over time it became a bit more comfortable, and it was all great until a few days before the end of first year, when a whole bunch of first year Slytherins came up to us and accused us of being in Gryffindor. Well, we couldn’t really say no, so we told them that yes, we were in Gryffindor. One of them stepped forward and said that under normal circumstances we would be ripped to shreds, but they were impressed by our trickery. But, back to now. Liz and Thalia, dueling.

‘Incendio!’ Thalia casts.

‘Aguamenti!’ Liz repels. The battle continues like this until both Liz and Thalia yell at the same time.

‘Expelliarmus!’ Liz shouts.

‘Reducto!’ Thalia yells. Thalia’s wand then flies out of her hand as Liz is thrown off her feet. They always tie. Every single time they duel, they tie. It’s hilarious. They both trudge off the platform and walk next to me.

They then look at each other and start laughing. A hand rests on my shoulder. I turn and smile.

‘Hello Phoebe, how are you?’

‘Just fantastic Nathan. Wouldn't like it and other way.’

‘That's good.’ Learning the colour change charm was initially meant to get us into the Slytherin common room so we could hang out with Thalia, but it had other perks. For example, Crabbe and Goyle never beat us up. We always know who is going to get teased when and, even though we would never tell any Slytherins including Thalia, we can tell them to take a different route. It also gave me the opportunity to meet Nathan, which I would never describe as a bad thing. Especially when the Gryffindors realized that I was dating a Slytherin. That day was fun.

‘Are you two quite finished?’ Liz asks. Nathan scowls at her and Thalia steps between them.

‘It is the middle of class. Whatever you want to do, it can wait.’ she points out. I nod and step away from Nathan.

‘I have a free next.’ I say.

‘So do I.’ Nathan smiles.

‘Me too.’ Liz murmurs.

‘Ditto!’ Thalia exclaims. Well, that settles that. Study session in the Slytherin common room. One of these days Liz and I are going to be studying in the Gryffindor common room and people will start wondering why we're never there. Cross that bridge when we come to it. Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter walk onto the platform, glowering at each other. My index fingers immediately press against my temples. Not again. These two have been at each other’s throats since first year. I am getting kind of worried about both of them though. Draco has been looking sickly recently and Harry is being more angst filled as of late. They start dueling and sparks of colour explode from each of their wands. Draco looks fierce, but his eyes are sunken back into his head. As he deflects each spell Harry casts, his wand is being held looser and looser in Draco 's hand. 

‘Expelliarmus!’ Harry yells. Draco's wand flies out of his hand. 

‘Congratulations Harry Potter. You have won.’ Snape's voice drones. Hate is curled around each syllable. Harry scowls then winces, and walks off the platform. He’s touching his lightening bolt scar. Again. Things are too repetitive with him. I must admit, I’m scared of Voldemort, but the scar thing just bugs me. He’s always moaning about it hurting. Draco walks off the platform, his feet nearly dragging along. Nearly. Thalia steps forward to help him, but Liz grabs her arm.

‘He doesn’t like you.’

‘He has to!’

‘He doesn’t though.’

‘Shut up.’

‘You know it’s true.’

‘Now you’re just being mean!’ The pair bicker about this all the time, it’s so funny. Seeing as we could only duel once this lesson, those who aren’t dueling are either watching or chatting, but Liz and I need to move away from the body of Slytherins or we’ll be noticed by Snape.

‘C’mon Liz, stop tormenting Thalia. We need to go back to our house.’

‘But tormenting her is fun!’

‘Fun that can be had later. Come on.’

‘Fine.’ Liz grumbles. I drag her along to where Gryffindor house is standing. Nothing particularly exciting happens until class finishes, so Liz and I walk down to the dungeons and change our robe colours. Thalia walks up, talking to Nathan, Draco and Eden. Draco walks in front and opens the dungeon. You can practically see Thalia’s pupils turning to little love hearts. Liz goes and pats her on the back.

‘Sorry about before mate.’ Liz says.

‘It’s okay.’ Thalia replies. I join Eden and Nathan’s conversation. Nathan wraps his arms around me as the five of us walk into the Slytherin common room. We sit down on a small collection of couches and make ourselves comfortable. We share Eden, Nathan and Thalia’s copies of Confronting The Faceless between us. I think Draco’s fallen asleep. Eden is lying across an armchair, Liz has her legs on a table and Thalia has her legs on top of Liz’s. Nathan is sitting with one leg on the couch and one off, and I’m on his lap. Each of us has a chapter, and what we do is read it, and if we come across an important piece of information, we ask a question where it’s an answer. After a few minutes Draco stirs. He stands and walks across to where we are. He scowls in my direction.

‘Nathan, I cannot believe you would date a mudblood.’ He mutters. I look up at him and arch an eyebrow.

‘Really? You’re still on this Draco?’ I say.

‘I could get you expelled for being here.’ He growls. I laugh.

‘If you were going to do that, you would’ve done it by now.’ I chuckle. He maintains his scowl for a few seconds and then walks away. I look at Nathan.

‘You don’t mind dating a muggle-born, do you?’ I ask.

‘Not when it’s you.’ He smiles back.

More writing, as promised.

'We wouldn't last five minutes without Bill.' Louis adds, chiming in. Francis snorts.

'Its true.' Zoey says. I sniff and smell cooking meat. My stomach rumbles. Well, I think it's my stomach. It could've been Zoey's. I stand up.

'My stomach is calling.' I say, then sit down by the fire. Francis sits on my left, Louis on my right. Bill has set up a spit of some sort. I'm not quite sure how he did it, because there's a platter above the fire, which is turning as he rotates a handle. How did he do that? Well, it works. I think I'll ask him.

'Bill, how did you rig this up?'

'You learn a lot of things at war, kid.' he says. War? That would explain his uniform. After a few minutes the food is ready, and each of us has a lamb cutlet to eat.

'What happens now? Do we stay here until we get eaten or do we have somewhere to escape to?' I ask.

'We're heading for the airfield. They have planes taking survivors away, but there aren't many left. So, we are in a hurry.' Bill grunts. I've finished my meat and have started gnawing on the bone. Bad habit.

'So... We're blitzing through the city to fly away?'

'Is there a problem with that?' Bill says. I stop slouching and shake my head.

'Good. Speaking of which, we need to get going. Everyone ready?' Bill asks. Everyone nods and stands up. I pick up an Assault rifle and a Combat shotgun. I weigh the pros and cons of both inside my head, and put the Assault rifle down. It just isn't my style. I slide a Magnum pistol into a loop of my jeans, so it's resting on my right hip. I see another and slip into the opposite loop, against my left hip. I put spare ammunition into my pockets, something that I neglected to do last time. I look at the Nightstick that I had acquired. Where do I keep it?

'Put the handle through the loop on the back of your pants.' Louis says.

'...Thanks.' I say, doing what he suggested. And now, I feel fully equipped. I see another Combat shotgun on the ground. I pick it up. I hold one in each hand and rest the butts against my waist. Now I feel fully equipped.

Yeah, I know it isn't much more, but I've been writing different bits of this story EVERYWHERE. There are bits I have that'll come into the story probably months from now. It's kinda a jigsaw puzzle, and I'm trying to put it together from the middle outwards. 

Stuff.

I've been thinking that it's been a while since I last made a blog where I talked about random stuff, so I've picked a few things to talk about. Article One, Faking My Own Suicide (Relient K) and Mirror Mirror.

Article One is a band that I recently discovered because of a Christian Studies assignment. Article One is a Canadian Christian Rock/Violin Pop band and even though I'm really not religious at all, I really like their music.For some of you, it might not be 'hard' enough (*coughZATHRACTcoughcough*) but I like it, and the music is good, so I don't discriminate. My favourite songs by them are

Without You (I'm Not Alright)

This Is Our Life

Hold On

The One (I'm Fighting For)

I Love You More

So, uh, youtube them, they're good songs.

Faking My Own Suicide is the song that Alfred picked for her Christian Studies assignment, and she insisted that I listen to it, and I learnt the words to it before she did. We start singing it at random (which for some reason surprises my other friends. Apparently I'm not allowed to like singing). It's by Relient K and they're worth a look at too.

Mirror Mirror. I watched Mirror Mirror two hours ago, and it is a REALLY good movie in my opinion. I would more than gladly watch it again. The sets were incredible, the casting was fabulous, the script was phenomenal and the music was brilliant.

But the costumes. It's out of character for me to care about clothes, but-

The Costumes. They were AMAZING. AWE-STRIKING. INSPIRING. Perfectly tailored, excellent choice in colours for the set and the person, the styling-

I simply cannot get over the costumes. My favourite scene is the montage where the dwarves train Snow(trying not to spoil anything here) and in the montage, I loved watching Napoleon help Snow trying on all of the different costumes. But the outfit she finished with was fantastic. My favourite movie costume of all time, definitely. My second favourite being Harry's Dragon/Maze Task Triwizard Cup Uniform. But Snow's combat gear wins by a long-shot.

At the end of the movie, I learnt that the costume designer died right after the movie was filmed. Which makes me sad, because she was REALLY good at what she did.

Watch the movie, it's really good. The script is my second favourite part of it... Tied with the casting. The casting was great. The script was great.

Watch. This. Movie.

That's all!

More story coming soon!

L4D continued.

Okay, before I post any more I need to tell you two things.


1. I really like it when you guys comment, because I crave feedback.


2. I'd really appreciate it if you guys checked out Alfred's blog. She hasn't really gotten into it yet, but I've been encouraging her, and she's thinking about drawing my OC's. So I suggested that she could ask for your (Blogland people) OC's, and draw them for you guys. She's an excellent drawer, so you should seriously consider it. DON'T POST YOUR OC'S YET! THAT'S IMPORTANT! NOT YET! Another thing is that she's also writing a story, but she loves having support!


http://alfredxdthe1st.blogspot.com.au/


Is the link to her blog. Go check it out!


And now, without any further babbling, more of the story!

‘They’re vampires.’ Francis mutters.

‘Zombies.’ Zoey, Bill and Louis say simultaneously. Francis keeps grumbling as we cross the road. The automatic doors to the mall won’t open, but that isn’t much of a problem seeing as they’re shattered already. We each step through the glass carefully and walk into the mall. I look around and see a distinct pattern in the architecture. The floor is marble, and it’s splattered with blood. The pillars are marble covered in plaster (you can tell from the holes in the plaster) and they’re splattered in blood. Shop windows are cracked, broken and are splattered with blood. We walk through the mall in silence, except for the obvious shooting of Infected. We walk into the super market and Bill stops us.

‘Check use by dates on everything, get batteries and matches.’ He says. I nod and immediately walk to the meat section, paying attentive attention to levels of mould on everything. I see some lamb cutlets, steaks and sausages. I pick up packets of things and start walking to the matches. I pick up seven boxes of matches and shove them into my pockets. I turn around and see a Boomer.

‘Boomer!’ I shout. I hear someone running up behind me.

‘Don’t shoot until you have to.’ Zoey’s voice whispers in my ears.

‘I know.’

‘Does it know we’re here?’

‘Not yet.’

‘Then why don’t we leave before it pukes on us?’

‘Great idea.’ We slide out of the aisle. We relax and keep looking for food. We hear Bill’s voice.

‘Cut the horseshit, Francis and get your ass down here.’ We hear Francis swear and I shrug. I look back down the aisle at the Boomer, and see Francis stumble backwards into it.

‘Oh God…’ I mutter. The Boomer explodes, covering Francis and Bill in bile.

‘Ah, shit!’ Francis shouts. ‘My vest!’

‘Get you’re head outta your ass, Francis, we got bigger problems!’ Bill scowls. ‘If you hadn’t been foolin’ around, this wouldn’t have happened!’

‘Don’t blame me! If you hadn’t startled me, I wouldn’t have tripped!’

‘Are they like that all the time?’ I ask Zoey quietly. She sighs and nods. Oh. That sucks. I walk to the entrance of the super market and watch for Infected. I see one. Bam. Another. Hole in its head. A third. I aim, but someone else gets there first. Louis is pointing a rifle at the space where the zombie was.

‘A team can always use more members. Try not to die.’ He says, reloading.

‘I wasn’t planning on it.’

‘Good.’ He holds the gun up again. ‘Look out, here they come.’ The horde runs up and Louis, Zoey and I open fire on them. Eventually I run out of bullets, and the Infected are getting closer. In a flash I’ve pulled out two Magnum Pistols, and am firing again.

‘Reloadin’!’ I hear Francis’ voice shout. I look over at him and shoot a zombie that’s about to get him. He looks up with the loaded gun and sees the Infected fall in front of him. I turn away and keep shooting. God, they just don't stop! Zoey pulls put a pipe bomb.

'Take cover!' she shouts, tossing it. She then runs into a nearby store. Each of us does the same. I end up in a pawn shop. I hear the explosion come from outside and I peek through the window. An Infected crashes through the window, and gets up slowly behind me. I hold the guns up at it, and pull the triggers of both. Nothing happens.

'Ah...Shit...' I throw the two pistols at it and sprint through the shelves of the pawn shop, trying to find something to whack it with. A nightstick catches my eye. Brilliant. I pick it up and swing it around. The Infected crashes into the aisle behind me. I whirl and crack the baton against its head. It groans, stumbles to the side and I bring the Nightstick down on its forehead. The Infected collapses. I growl and turn. I walk out of the store and run to the others. They've started shooting again. I pick up my shotgun again and reload it quickly. I start shooting as well. The Nightstick is hanging from my belt when an Infected grabs it and pulls me backwards into it. It bites into my left shoulder.

'Agh!' I shout. I flip the gun over the back of my shoulder and shoot it.

'Cover me!' I yell. I kneel and wrap a bandage around my shoulder. I stand up and start shooting again.

Eventually the Infected disperse and we pick up our bags of food. Louis comes over.

'Are you okay? You look torn up pretty bad.'

'I'm fine.' I grunt. I then glance at my left shoulder and see the bloodied bandage. I conceal a wince and sling the bag over my shoulder.

'Lets just back onto a roof and eat this food.' I say. We jog to the street and climb up the ladders. I sit down and empty my bag. The others do the same. All together we have bread, meat, a few fruit, some clean water, eight boxes of matches and about fifty different sized batteries. Bill bends over to get a fire going. I look at my shoulder again and peel the blood-soaked bandage off. The hole in my arm is about half an inch deep, and two inches wide. It's still bleeding. Zoey comes over and arches her eyebrow.

'Not much of a complainer, are you?' she asks.

'Never really saw the point, to be honest.' I say with gritted teeth. If you ever get a hole in yourself, try and make it somewhere you can reach easily.

'Do you want some help?'

'No, I think I'll just struggle a little while longer.' I scowl. She rolls her eyes and starts bandaging my shoulder tightly.

'Thanks.'

'No need.' she finishes wrapping the bandage and knots the end. 'You ever been bitten before?'

'A few times. Figure I'm immune or something.'

'Well you would've turned by now if you weren't.'

'Good point.' I look over at Bill. 'He doesn't like me very much.' I say, nodding towards him.

'He doesn't like anyone very much.'

'Then why'd he stick with you?'

'No idea. But he refuses to leave us behind now.'

'We wouldn't last five minutes without Bill.' Louis adds, chiming in.

I FOUND IT!!!

Okay! I've been wanting to show you guys this story for YONKS and YONKS and YONKS! AND I'VE FINALLY FOUND THE DOCUMENT!!!!! So! Here is the fantasy story that I wrote in Year Seven, and got an A+ for. No, I'm not exaggerating.

The Blue Dog

A very long time ago there was a kingdom called Cape Nort. In that kingdom there was a castle. In that castle there was a garden. At the back of that garden was a stable, and in that stable was a horse. This was no ordinary horse though. This horse, Koryian, could talk and was the steed of the most famous and brilliant knight in the country. Well, at least that was what the knight thought. The actual situation was that the knight, Sir Frederick was the most hated person in the whole kingdom. The peasants loathed him, the wildlife abhorred him, the trees despised him, the sun and moon detested him and even his own horse execrated him!

Sir Frederick was completely unaware of this because he was too prestigious and special to actually go and talk to people, animals, plants or astronomical beings. Koryian was very sarcastic about it and Sir Frederick couldn’t comprehend sarcasm, so he thought he was being praised.

One day Sir Frederick and Koryian were at the top of the tallest tower looking out over the kingdom of Cape Nort.

“ Isn’t it a beautiful day, Koryian?” sighed Sir Frederick

“ Sure, another one of those great days you set fire to everything,” Koryian replied “ I mean you always do.“

“ Ha-ha, you’re so funny sometimes Koryian.”

“ I’m not trying to be funny.”

Suddenly screams of terror rose up to the tower.

“ The people are in danger!” cried Sir Frederick

“ Here we go again.”

They ventured down together to the sounds of screaming and saw a giant blue monster terrorizing the town.

“ Rarrgh!!!” roared the monster. It looked remarkably like a really really big blue dog.

“ To battle!” Sir Frederick howled

“ Oh dear,” thought poor Koryian.

“ Hello ummm … what is your name?” Koryian shouted at the monster. He shouted because the monster was so tall and because there was so much noise.

“ Scooter!” the monster replied.

“ Scooter. Right, Scooter what are you exactly?”

“ Why I’m a dog, stupid!”

“ Well yes I can see that. Why are you so tall?”

“ I am not tall, everyone else is tiny.”

“ No, you’re huge.”

This conversation went on for a while until Scooter the giant dog flicked away Sir Frederick because he was trying to chop up Scooter’s ankle and it was beginning to annoy him. At this point Koryian had found out that Scooter had eaten a big, green, seemingly dead, glow in dark spider and then felt sick afterwards. Scooter had begun to walk around looking for help and meaning no harm, but everyone was running away screaming.

After Koryian had dragged Sir Frederick away and asked Scooter to try not to step on anything, he had begun to wonder how to fix the problem. He decided to go down to the wizard’s lab to see if Professor Heroni knew how to help. He also decided not to take the knight with him because last time they were down there together Koryian had almost been turned into a pumpkin.

“ Professor Heroni! How are you this morning?”

“ Koryian! You haven’t got that horrible knight with you?”

“ Oh no, not after last time. He’s asleep.”

“ Good. Now why are you here?”

“ I need you to get me a specimen.”

“ What kind of specimen?”

“ A green glow in the dark spider I believe.”

“ Come back in 25 minutes.”

25 minutes passed and Koryian came back and was told the antidote to the poison.

“ The antidote is a scale of the rare ice dragon Frostbane!”

“ Good, good. Wait, what!?”

“ Sorry, can’t help you there.”

“ Any weaknesses of the most powerful and dangerous dragon in the country?”

“ His nose. Hit Frostbane square on the nose and he’ll fall asleep.”

“ I’ll get Sir Frederick to do it.”

“ The way to the dragon caves is very dangerous. Take this potion. Koryian, it is only for a last resort. Sir Frederick must be down for the count before you use it.”

“ What does it do?”

“ Trust me, you’ll find out, and when you do it will wear off in 2 days. I’ll give you 1 potion.”

So the knight and the horse prepared to go to the caves of the dragons. It was a 5-day trip, so they packed fully. They put in the works: healing potions, protection talismans, spare amour, jousting sticks, etc. Koryian secretly stashed the secret potion in his personal rucksack.

“ Koryian lets go, I want to slay some dragon!” Sir Frederick whined

“ I’m coming, gimme a sec.”

“ Well, HURRY UP!” screamed Sir Frederick.

“ Chill out. I’m just getting my lucky baseball hat. You know it turns me invisible.”

“ Not that stupid thing Koryian, I will not ride a horse wearing a baseball cap and that’s that.”

“ Well too stinking bad, you have a sword which is pointy and annoying; I have a cap which turns me invisible.” Koryian stuck out his tongue.

“ My sword is a symbol of power and makes me invincible, your hat makes you look goofy,” before Koryian could cut in he continued, “ I mean a horse wearing a hat, a baseball cap?”

“ Well if I’m wearing it they won’t be able to see me, will they!” a compromise was made so they both got to take their possessions of magic power.

They traveled in a horse cart with a stable attached to the back. Koryian and 8 other horses took shifts of 3’s to draw the cart. But soon they came to an old brick bridge. Koryian unhooked himself from the cart and began to walk over the bridge.

KLIP, KLOP, KLIP, KLOP.

“ Who goes there?” rasped an ogre in a terrible voice

“ It’s me Koryian, Gerald.”

“ Oh, hi, mate. You haven’t got that horrendous knight with you?”

“ Oi!”  Sir Frederick scowled.

“ I’ll take that as a yes.” murmured the ogre, “where are you headed buddy?”

“ The dragon caves. Any advice?”

“ No but watch out for Trolls. They’re a doozy.”

They crossed the bridge looking out for trolls. The day dragged along and the sun spoke with the travelers when he was close enough to the ground.

“ Hi guys, how did I do today?” the Sun began.

“ You did a good job Sun. It was nice, bright and warm.” Koryian replied. They had set up base camp for the night and he was keeping watch. 

“ Thanks for letting me know. I mean, hardly anyone talks to me anymore.” The temperature dropped.

“ Hey don’t get sad, when you’re sad it gets cold, everyone feels it.”

“ Thanks man.” The Sun sniffled. He gradually sunk bellow Koryian’s line of sight. Koryian went to bed and thought about how Scooter was doing.

The next day they set off again. They traveled along the path until they came to the edge of the Black Woods. They stopped so Sir Frederick and Koryian could have an argument. The result was that they agreed that Koryian was to wear his baseball cap into the forest to see what the dangers were. Koryian was also to take his rucksack in case of emergency.

“ I’m not sure about this.” Koryian Muttered as he shrugged his rucksack over his shoulder. “I’ve heard that the monsters in there can smell fear and track it.”

“ That’s ridiculous Koryian,” Sir Frederick continued, “You shouldn’t be scared. Where is that knocking coming from?”

“ Sir Frederick.”

“ Yes.” Sir Frederick played along puzzled

“ That’s my knees, all 4 of them.”

“ Oh. Nuts.” Sir Frederick remarked.

“ My point exactly!”

“ Those are rumours, fictional, untrue.”

“ Riiiight. I’ll get back to you on that.” Koryian whimpered.

Koryian tried to trot through the woods but ended up in a nervous canter. He cantered through the forest looking around at every sound. He went until he saw a house. He looked in the window and saw a girl with curly golden locks of hair. She was eating porridge and not looking too happy with what it tasted like. It reminded Koryian of something, but he couldn’t remember what. He knocked on the door. There was a small scrabble and eventually the door opened.

“ Who’s there?” she asked. Koryian had forgotten about the hat.

“ Oh, right, sorry gimme a sec.” Koryian realized.

After Koryian had taken of the hat and introduced himself the girl she said that her name was Melissa. They had a small chat, looked at some chairs (one of which they broke by accident) and beds when they heard a roar.

“ WHO BROKE INTO MY HOUSE?!” bellowed a loud greasy malevolent voice.

“ Who broke my favourite chair?” cried a softer, kinder, but still quite angry voice.

“ Who (sob) ate (sob) all my (sob) porridge?” whimpered a very young child’s voice. Melissa and Koryian shared a look. The look for Melissa was one of utter horror; Koryian’s was one of realization. He was standing next to Goldilocks. He motioned for her to get on his back. She did and when she was sitting on Koryian’s back she breathed in his ear.

“ What do we do now?”

“ We wear a hat.” He replied. He put his baseball cap on and galloped straight through the startled bears. They rode swiftly through the forest and into Sir Frederick.

Goldilocks returned to her home in a nearby village alone. Then Koryian spent the night in the stable before awaking at dawn.

“ Sir Frederick, I would like you to come with me this time, okay?”

“ Do I have to?” Sir Frederick whined.

“ Yes you do.”

“ Blech.” Sir Frederick grumbled.

This time Koryian managed a steady trot. They travelled through the Black Woods in no general direction, until Koryian smelt something unusual.

Gingerbread.

“ Mmmmm, that smells goooood.” Koryian drooled.

“ What, what smells good?” Sir Frederick asked, savagely. They hadn’t eaten anything for about an hour.

“ I can smell gingerbread (sniff) and frosting and icing sugar and gumdrops!” Koryian Sniffed, “ Follow me!”

They galloped for around 30 seconds. Then they stopped and gasped. In front of them was a mansion of sweets. The first impression of the place was that the building was a 3-storey glittering masterpiece of candy. The walls were gingerbread. The windows were solid see-through sugar. The knocker on the door was a barley sugar; even the chimney smoke was chocolate dust. Everywhere they looked was another delicious kind of candy. Koryian stepped back aghast, the sight was overwhelming. Sir Frederick, on the other hand, could not contain himself. Koryian began chewing on a licorice fence-post painted in mint whitewash. Sir Frederick launched himself at the house. Sir Frederick bit the knocker, sunk his teeth into the flowerbed, chewed the doorknob, munched, crunched and chomped just about everything.

A little while later Koryian was about to say that Sir Frederick was a big, fat pig when a cackle of laughter streaked across the sky. The was a blinding flash of light and then everything went back to normal, only something was different about Sir Frederick. The knight was changing slightly, like when you watch a lunar eclipse. The red ball of light covering the moon gets bigger and bigger until you realize that it’s gotten bigger. Koryian figured it out. Before the flash no matter how much Sir Frederick ate, he remained the same size. Now he was growing rapidly and Koryian couldn’t think of anything to say. Soon the knight was so big he could nibble at the top of the chimney! At that point Koryian found his voice.

“ Stop eating, you big, fat, gorging pig!” Koryian yelled at the top of his voice.

“ What’s the matter Koryian?”

“ Have you noticed that you’re nibbling the chimney-pot?”

“ Yeah, what about it Koryian?”

“ The last time I checked, the house was 3-storeys TALL!”

“ I really don’t see your point, Kory-. Oh”

“ Yes.” Koryian grumbled. Suddenly the cackle returned. A witch appeared right before the pair’s eyes, shrank and stole away Sir Frederick into the house (the door of which had miraculously stayed intact) and left Koryian in silence with no idea what to do.

Meanwhile, Sir Frederick was being carried to what he thought was his certain doom. The witch stopped and turned around, muttered something and knocked the knight out. When Sir Frederick woke up he saw nothing but food. Only the food was healthier this time, no candy or sweets. There was roast chicken, hams, lamb chops etc. The only thing Sir Frederick could think about was how hungry he was and how good the food smelled. He began to eat.

Koryian sat there thinking until he remembered the potion. He got it out and drank it. He felt himself changing. He felt a shot of pain and doubled over in agony. He felt his hooves splitting, getting thinner, rounder and softer. He writhed around until the pain stopped. Then he got up, only differently. Everything looked further away. He staggered over to one of the windows to see his reflection and what a reflection it was. Koryian was a human! Koryian didn’t understand what he was meant to do. He looked around feeling giddy and sick when he saw something glinting in a pile of rubble from when Sir Frederick had disappeared into the house. Koryian picked it up out of the debris with his brand new opposable thumbs. The gleaming item was Sir Frederick’s sword. Koryian picked up his hat and checked his reflection before he put his hat on. He had chestnut brown hair, icy blue eyes, and a light tan. In other words, he was the handsome knight in shining armour. He was wearing a light green T-shirt, slightly torn at the knee jeans and a shark tooth on a necklace. He saw on the ground the armour Sir Frederick had taken off to allow room for more food.

“ Koryian where are you?” cried Sir Frederick as he stuffed his face. He could feel himself getting bigger and bigger, yet he still felt like he was the same size. The witch could hear the chewing from the other side of the gingerbread house. She said to herself that he would make a very good fondue, except the meat would be tough. Koryian, on the other hand was thinking about how to use a sword when he heard Sir Frederick eating.

“ I’m coming Sir Frederick, and please don’t scream, it will let the witch know where we are.”

“ Koryian? Is that you?”

“ Yep. I’m almost there, and please… don’t act surprised!”

“ Surprised about what?”

“ You’ll see Sir Frederick.”

“ See what, I get really bug-. Oh, um, you’re a-“

“ Don’t get me started, fatso!”

“ Oi! I’m not fat!”

“ Try looking in a mirror, pig face.” Koryian sniggered, “ Now, lets get outta here!”

They ran out together, well Koryian ran and found out that he was quite fit and fast, whilst Sir Frederick sort of bounced. They got into the horse and cart and rode into the forest, getting in and out in 8 hours and kept going. The next day’s travel was uneventful (excepting when they ran into some pixies- nasty!) until they reached the side of the mountain.

“ You know, I kind of like being human.” Koryian sighed

“ Shut up.” Sir Frederick scowled

“ Why? What did I do?”

“ What did you do? You turned out to be a really hunky human and I’ve gotten fat since you became human, so your not exactly helping.”

“ Well I’m sorry I’m so fabulous.” Koryian said. Sir Frederick continued to grumble. The cart could not make it up the steep mountainside, so they sent the horses back.

They started to climb up the mountain. When the 2 men reached the top they walked to where the temperature was coldest until they saw an icy blue creature. Sir Frederick drew his sword and whacked the dragon sharply on the nose with the hilt of the sword. After they were sure that Frostbane was unconscious, Sir Frederick carefully prized one scale off the creature. Koryian noticed something underneath the dragon. It was a Returno-globe. The concept of a Returno-globe is to return extremely rich travelers (Returno-globes are extremely rare and expensive) back to where they started. They used it to get back the castle. Koryian ran back to Professor Heroni’s lab. The antidote was made and Sir Frederick and Koryian went to Scooter and fed him the antidote.

“ Thank you very much. Could you please help with another problem,” said Scooter, “I don’t have any family, could you find me a home, Koryian?”

“ I know the perfect place.” Said Koryian “The king loves the colour blue and his favourite kind of animal is a dog. I’m sure he would love to have you live with him.”

The King was delighted, except that Scooter’s ankles were badly damaged. Not unfixable, just temporary. But still the king was angry because he was an extremely passionate animal friendly man. He was so angry that he banished Sir Frederick, who had done the damage, from the Kingdom. For Koryian’s birthday every year he was given a potion from Professor Heroni. Everyone (except the knight) lived happily ever after.