Potlendh Read online

  “Now what?” Karen asked as she looked at the Dwarfs rather nervously, expecting them to sit up at any moment and then harming them.

  “We tie them up and then take their clothes.”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier if we took their clothes off and then tied them up?”

  Carl stopped to think of the order of action and then shook his head. “Whatever,” he agreed, bending down to start stripping the soldier on the left of his belt, shirt, and trousers. Then, after the man was wearing only his underclothes, he used several pieces of rope found in one of the belt pouches to bind the Dwarf’s hands and legs. When he had finished, he noticed that Karen was having problems pulling the pants off the other Dwarf, as she really did not want to touch the man. “Come on. I’ll do it.” And with his help, both Dwarfs were relatively naked of their armor and tied up.

  “We aren’t going to wear their armor, are we?” Karen cried incredulously.

  “Again, you have a better idea?”

  “Ugh,” Karen grunted. The idea of wearing someone else’s clothes did not appeal to her one bit, especially a person who might not practice good hygiene, like taking a bath daily or regularly washing his clothes. “We don’t look anything like them,” she declared as a matter of fact after Carl had donned his prisoner’s armor. “And the armor stinks!

  “If it will help us get through the gates, we can ditch them later,” he explained.

  “What about the beards?” she pointed out, ready to give up on the whole idea.

  “We’ll just have to keep our heads down, blend in with the surroundings,” he responded.

  “This isn’t going to work,” she grumbled.

  “As long as you keep thinking that way, it won’t. But we have to try it. Otherwise, we’ll have no chance to rescue our friends.”

  Karen sighed as she placed the heavy helmet on her head.

  “Look, Sis,” Carl tried to encourage her. “The only way we can get in through the gate without immediately being noticed is to wear these disguises. Once we’re in, we’ll have to find somewhere to keep low until we find out where Uniqua and the others have been taken. Here, you better take one of these.” He handed her one of the two Federation weapons that he picked up.

  “How do you fire one of these things?” she asked as she examined the tube-like rod, for there seemed to be no trigger on it.

  “Let’s just hope we don’t have to, okay?” He started walking toward the imposing gates, now unguarded, but they did not know what dangers lay behind the doors. Nor did they understand the challenges that awaited them.

  Actually, getting through the doors was the easy part of the twins’ plan, for there were no sentries inside the doors. But the sight that greeted them was just awful in its grand design. Remember when I told you that the entire land of the FOB was under roof? And, do you remember when I wrote that the citizens of the FOB were Dwarfs? It may be a misconception (because most of the other books we read usually have Dwarfs living underground), but these Dwarfs enjoyed living in a cave-like environment, and they had built their cities and fashioned their landscape to look so much like a cave that for a moment the twins actually thought they had entered a huge cavern that should be underground but was actually built above the ground.

  The roof was slightly porous, but it blocked out much of the sunlight, making the land dark and fairly gloomy. Huge pillars shaped like joined stalactites and stalagmites supported the high roof. Indeed, stalactites of all lengths hung from the roof to give the right impression that the Federation was housed in a real cave. Correspondingly, stalagmites dotted the landscape everywhere; it was probably a good thing that there were these formations, for they offered the perfect hiding places as the twins carefully entered the land and tried to keep to the shadows and behind these structures to keep from being seen.

  If you have ever been in a real cave or cavern, then you might remember all the different rock formations and crystal formations that usually were very colorful. I remember seeing one crystal combination that looked like a huge strip of bacon. The Dwarf engineers who had fashioned their country so long ago imitated all these kinds of crystal combinations as decorations, so that the cave was not as dreary as you might think at first. They were also designed to reflect the sunlight—the little bit that filtered through the roof—and shine with a soft light, almost as if they were lamps set about the city to keep total darkness at bay.

  While our twins were in disguise and surreptitiously—think spies or spy-like—making their way further into the land, they soon saw a huge stone castle not far off in the distance. The land nearest the gate was the most cave-like, meaning that there were many more rock formations that approximated a real cave. But the land around the castle was more like pastoral land, meaning that the grounds around the castle walls were cultivated. At least some of the Dwarfs enjoyed farming, which was a good thing, especially since the people here liked to eat. The problem was this: the twins could hide among the stalagmites and boulders near the gate, but should they try to approach the castle, there would be no ground cover behind which they could hide.

  They were hiding behind a particularly large boulder thinking of what they should do when they suddenly heard footsteps approaching. Thinking that they might have been discovered, they shrank as small as they could against the rock, tried to be as quiet and still as possible, and listened to every sound the Dwarfs near them were making.

  “This promises to be a good show,” one of the Dwarfs said to two others accompanying him.

  “Yes,” a second agreed. “King Kurt is coming. And, boy, is he hopping mad!”

  “More than usual?” the third interjected.

  “He has never forgotten the burning,” the first said. “And, they say that one of the prisoners is a Dragon.”

  “Ha, ha!” the second Dwarf laughed. “It’s payback time!”

  “Yes,” the third Dwarf chuckled. “It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch a Dragon get burned.”

  The three Dwarfs continued talking, but their voices grew softer as they walked away from the twins.

  “You hear that?” Carl whispered to his sister.

  “They’re going towards the castle,” Karen stated. “That must mean that our friends are being held prisoners inside that castle.”

  “It sounds like maybe all the Dwarfs are going to the castle,” Carl thought aloud. “Maybe we can blend in.”

  “I don’t think so. Remember, we still don’t look like Dwarfs. The beards?” she reminded her brother.

  Carl was looking around, partly to see if there were any other Dwarfs nearby and walking towards the castle. That was when he spied some lichen, which is kind of like moss or fern. “We can use this to make beards.”

  “That won’t work,” his sister disagreed. “It doesn’t even look like hair!”

  “We keep our heads down, we try to act like Dwarfs, and we need only get into the castle. It’ll work! Trust me!”

  Karen was very doubtful, but then she did trust her brother—a little, anyway. After Carl carefully stepped away from their hiding place to gather some long strands of lichen and brought them back, she helped her brother sort the lichen out and start braiding the strands into rather straggly looking beards. They didn’t have to be perfect, of course, for if all of the other Dwarfs were more interested in watching the treatment of the prisoners and not each other, the twins would have a good chance to enter the castle and see if they could do something to help their friends.

  *

  Now, we have to leave the twins for a moment while they prepare for their entry into the castle, because we need to know what is happening to Uniqua, Cassandra, and the Rabbits.

  They had been captured and tied up by the Dwarf patrol that had surprised them. Perhaps to say that they had been tied up is not totally accurate. I am sure you would not like to carry either a Unicorn or a Dragon; I mean, after all, they are pretty heavy creatures. The Dwarfs had placed ropes around their necks and bodies, but they allowed their
legs free so that they could be forced to walk under their own power. Since the Rabbits were small and easily carried, as well as to keep them from running away, the Dwarfs did tie them up securely and carried them on the Dwarfs’ backs.

  Uniqua seemed to take her captivity rather well. After the short fight, in which she and her friends had lost, she submitted to her captors and followed the Dwarfs meekly through the doors of the wall. She was happy that the twins had not been captured, and she hoped that the children were intelligent enough to figure something out that would effect a kind of rescue.

  Cassandra also meekly submitted to the ropes, since she did not seem to have much of a choice. She was terribly unhappy at the prospect of having to go into the FOB, because she had already made up her mind that she did not want to enter the country. With good reason, I might add, because she was very angry with King Kurt for having her parents imprisoned by the Lord of Power. That anger was enough to fuel the burning fires inside her belly and make her rather dangerous. But at the same time she was quite a bit afraid of King Kurt, for he had been the only Islander that had been able to conquer the Dragons, and that kind of made the fires within her die down. (I know that many of you would like to see Cassandra get really mad and start exhaling fire and smoke. But you see, if she had done this—yes, the Group would have won the first fight and been free—the plan that Uniqua was hatching at this very moment would not have come to fruition—or success—and then the adventures to come would not have happened at all, and the twins might never have been reunited with their father. So, instead of thinking that Cassandra was just a little “chicken”-heart, think of it as just being part of the overall plan.)

  Now the Rabbits were very unhappy at being all trussed up. Unhappy? That really is an understatement. They were hopping mad! (Sorry. That is a pun, because Rabbits like to hop; and being hopping mad means that a person is so angry that he or she might just do something where other people are going to get hurt.) They so much wanted to get free of their ropes and then start hurting their captors for being so mean to them.

  So, by the time that the twins were finished making their beards, their friends had already been led into the castle and placed in special holding cells. I say special because unlike most castles (or how we like to think of castles) there was no dungeon. There was no prison. There really was no need to lock people up for crimes. To say that there was no crime or that no one in the FOB did anything wrong is not quite correct. The three kings did not believe in locking people up, and the Dwarfs did not believe that it was right to put a person in jail either. Instead of concentrating on punishing people for being bad, they believed that re-education was better, teaching a bad Dwarf how to be a good Dwarf, and these methods were much better than hurting a person and making them feel even worse. Since the king of this middle part of the FOB was called King Crane the Brain, I guess it stands to good reason that this logical course of dealing with crime and misbehavior was actually pretty intelligent.

  So, that leads us back to the special holding cells. Since there was no prison, Uniqua and Cassandra and the Rabbits found themselves each locked inside some of the most decorative and luxurious rooms of the castle. Only the locked doors and guards outside their doors kept our friends prisoners. Between you and I, Uniqua could have easily knocked the door down with her special horn. Cassandra probably could have just barreled through the door with her bulk. And the Rabbits—well, I would rather leave what happens with them as a kind of surprise.

  *

  The stage was set, as we might say.

  The prisoners were in their rooms, and despite the fact that they were captives, their captivity was kind of nice. They had large soft beds to lie on, and the rest of the furniture, although simple, was made of excellent wood and craftsmanship. The food served to them was excellent, and overall their treatment was pleasant and kind.

  The twins, meanwhile, were getting ready to enter the castle, joining a growing throng of Dwarfs heading towards the castle. Carl’s daring plan to mingle with the Dwarfs walking to the castle worked, as no one seemed to notice that their beards were not quite normal. Instead, everyone around them was more interested in the recent captives, and they were animatedly engaged with speculation as to what might happen to them. Nothing like this had ever happened before, and they wanted to know how the three kings were going to deal with the invaders.

  King Kurt arrived with a lot of fanfare, wearing his military suit of armor and surrounded by his elite guards, and accompanied by his beautiful wife Irene (who will also have a part in this developing situation). This suit of armor, by the way, hid his body from interested eyes, for he had been horribly burned during his battle with the Dragons, and the last thing he wanted was anyone to see his twisted and grotesque ruin of a body. He wore his helmet visor down, so that no one could see his face screwed up in a painful grimace.

  His brother Bart the Heart came from the coast, shaking hands with or waving to everyone he saw or greeted him. Of all the brothers, he was liked the best, and he rarely—if ever—wore any fancy clothes that we think kings like to wear. He liked to walk and talk among the common people and often dressed just like them, as if he were no more special or important than they were.

  And King Crane sat in an antechamber just outside his expansive throne room, while his subjects were busy getting ready for all his guests and the trial of the prisoners. Nicknamed the Brain, he was always in thought and liked to be as logical as possible. He believed that thinking problems through was the best way to find solutions to problems that came up now and then. But today he was a bit unsettled, to tell the truth, for something this important had not happened since his brother Kurt’s foolish war against Derkesthai. The arrival of such strange creatures to his kingdom meant that he must use his brain to the fullest and understand the meaning of their arrival and how they would affect the future. Down deep, he feared a second war waged in revenge that would be even more devastating than the first.

  So, now we come to the great throne room. Three thrones had been set at the far end of the castle, just below four flags: three for each of the kingdoms and a larger flag above them that proclaimed in white letters on a bold blue background: The Federation of Brothers. Ringed around the sides of the throne room were the onlookers, the curious, and Dwarfs of all ages who had taken a day off from work and school to watch these historic proceedings. The twins mingled near the back of the room, still trying to blend in with the crowd. The middle of the room had been roped off, like a wrestling ring, for this is where the prisoners would be led to and be judged by the three kings.

  A trumpet from above—a balcony also ringed the throne room, and this was crammed full of people, too—sounded a single note, and the entire room became quiet. From a door hidden behind the three thrones, the three kings of the FOB strode out. Well, Kurt marched out, as best as he could while still being in such great pain, just like you would expect of a military man, and stood at attention in front of the left throne, his left hand set upon the hilt of his sword. He looked rather menacing, which means that if anyone thought of doing something stupid like trying to cause some trouble, King Kurt would instantly whip out his sword and stop such nonsense in a flash.

  King Bart ambled forward meekly, and he waved to everyone present as he took his place before the right throne. The children and a couple of the adults waved back. The older Dwarfs hid their grins behind hands placed over their mouths, as many people thought that this was just about as un-royal as a king could be to act so kindly and child-like towards his subjects.

  Then King Crane stepped out and stood in front of the middle throne, his otherwise thoughtful, youthful face looking very troubled. He held out his arms, palms up, in greeting to the assembled, and then sat down on his throne. His brothers followed his example and sat down as well.

  “Bring forth the prisoners!” a voice that would be identified with a chamberlain cried out. This chamberlain had two duties. A chamberlain is kind of like a chief of staff f
or the king, since it is his job to keep the day-to-day things running and managing all the minor problems and details that a king should not have to be concerned about. Being king of a country can be very difficult, and like a factory a kingdom has to produce food, keep the people happy, protect it from all kinds of problems, and the like. This chamberlain was also the chief of the military, a job that fortunately did not occupy much of his time or mind, since there were very few threats against the FOB. He, too, was a bit troubled, for being the highest military chief was a job that he really didn’t like, and he was very honest in telling people just that.

  Uniqua, Cassandra, and the three Rabbits were paraded into the throne room by an escort of twelve guards, each armed with that very strange tube-like weapon. At least they were no longer bound and could move about freely. Uniqua proceeded just slightly ahead of Cassandra, while the Rabbits crowded very close to the Dragon’s side. They were not afraid; they felt that they were protecting their mistress, as the Rabbits were so loyal to her. Their size almost hid the poor Dragon, for in her diminutive size she was barely larger than a chicken right now. When the Group had reached the middle of the throne room, Uniqua bent forward on her front legs and bowed gracefully to the kings.

  King Crane rose to his feet to address the prisoners as well as for the benefit of the assembled crowd.

  “I do not know whether to welcome you to our kingdom or to fear your coming,” he spoke. “In truth, it has been countless years since anyone has come to our land. Your presence here is rather troubling, and there is no precedence as to the proper treatment of your visit.” What the king was trying to say in his fancy words was that since no one had come to the FOB in such a long time, he did not know how to deal with them.

  “If I may, Your Majesty,” Uniqua began, “we should begin with a point of order. First, we did not come to your lands. We were dragged here without our consent. Second, since it is of necessity that we visit you, we would have gladly knocked on the gates and asked your benevolent permission.”