

(Taste of)

Tooth

Goblins

by

Ash Toroid

(A free sample of the first 30% of the Fantasy Adventure, 'Tooth Goblins')

# Chapter One

[This sample contains the first 30% of the fantasy adventure story, 'Tooth Goblins'. I hope you enjoy it]

Ellie was beginning to ache. She kept thinking she should go back to her bed and get some sleep, but something kept her waiting and watching. She was hidden in her older brother's wardrobe, watching him sleep. It was Duncan's thirteenth birthday tomorrow and her parents had told her that he would become a teenager tonight, transforming into a moody, lazy and increasingly smelly young man. Duncan could be a bit annoying at times, but he was generally a happy, sporty and helpful brother. Ellie couldn't believe that he could transform into something horrible overnight and she wanted to witness it herself. So after everyone else had gone to bed, she had crept into Duncan's bedroom and hidden in the wardrobe, keeping it open just a crack so that she could peek out.

Standing in the wardrobe, for what felt like hours, was very boring and Ellie was beginning to doubt that she would see anything. Maybe her parents were wrong. Maybe there was no transformation. Or maybe it just couldn't be seen. Whatever the case, Ellie's legs were tired and her eyes were getting heavy and she decided that the best place for her was her own bed. She lifted her hand to carefully begin pushing the wardrobe open, but before it even began to move, the bedroom took on a strange green glow. Ellie's hand flinched back in surprise, maybe even fear. What could cause that? She wondered, trying to give a rational explanation for it before her imagination went wild. Could it be a faulty streetlight? A passing ambulance? A defective toy?

Ellie's imagination didn't have time to come up with stranger possibilities as her own eyes began to do it for her. She thought she could see small men, no taller than her knee, scampering across the room. She gave her tired eyes a quick rub and waited for them to refocus. There was definitely an eerie green glow in the room and there were indeed two tiny men clambering up onto Duncan's bed. Ellie didn't know what to do. She thought maybe she should scream, to wake Duncan up. But then one of the small men stood up on the bed and threw some dust into Duncan's face. The dust began to glow that same unnatural shade of green that seemed to infuse the room as it settled on her brother's skin. Ellie suddenly felt sure that something terrible was happening, and she didn't want it to happen to her so she stifled the scream that was brewing in her stomach.

The green glow in the room flashed brighter and Ellie strained to see the other end of the room. She heard a heavier footstep and prayed that it was her father, coming to help. But what she saw was even more confusing. It was a young man stepping into the room, through what looked like a magical greenish doorway – it shimmered in a way that made her eyes hurt and was almost impossible to focus on, as if it wasn't quite there.

The young man that had stepped out of it was hauntingly familiar. It was Duncan. Ellie couldn't comprehend what was going on. There were two of Duncan in the room, as well as the two small men who Ellie couldn't really see in the dull glow of the otherwise dark room. New-Duncan lurched across the room in a sluggish manner. Then he pulled Sleeping-Duncan's bed sheet off roughly, making the two small men dance out of the way to avoid being flung off of the bed. Ellie was sure her brother would wake at that, as it made one of his arms flop into his own face, but her sleeping brother didn't stir. Then one of the two freakishly small figures spoke, "Well, don't just stand there, help us get him back through to the Ivory Realm. It's the last thing you'll have to do for us, then you can have an easy life here, in his place." He spoke in a squeaky yet slightly croaky way. It was a voice that Ellie was sure could not be trusted.

With that, New-Duncan grabbed the arms of the sleeping version of himself and, with a little help from the suspicious figures giving the instructions, they took her sleeping brother, half-dragging him across the room. Ellie didn't understand what was happening, but she knew it was bad. She wanted to scream, to burst out of the cupboard and help her brother. But she also wanted to sink back into the cupboard and hide from the creatures. She did nothing, watching silently and afraid as they pushed her sleeping brother through the glow of the portal. The croaky, horrible voice spoke once more to New-Duncan, "Enjoy your new life." Then both of them leapt through the portal and it winked out of existence. Ellie was in the dark again, with her new older brother. But he was unaware of her. He seemed unaware of much at all. He simply lurched over to the bed, lay down and pulled the bed sheet over himself. He seemed to be snoring almost instantly.

Ellie didn't move for a long time. She wasn't even aware how long it had been since she had last remembered to take a breath. She drew one in slowly, carefully, fearful of waking New-Duncan, whom she felt sure she couldn't trust. Was this the transformation that her parents had told her about? She couldn't believe her parents had known this would happen – it was horrible.

Ellie suddenly felt trapped in the wardrobe and desperately wanted to get out. It was beginning to feel like the cramped space was closing in on her. But she was also scared of waking New-Duncan, that he might throw her through the portal with the horrible little men. Ellie began feeling around in the wardrobe, hoping to find something to protect herself. She thought maybe one of Duncan's swords might be in there – toy swords, but better than nothing. The best she found was a small stick, a toy wand that Duncan hadn't played with in years. Ellie decided that it would have to do. She clutched the stick and pushed the wardrobe door open. It creaked painfully loudly and Ellie's eyes darted to New-Duncan, but he didn't stir, the rhythm of his snoring not faltering. The brother she had grown up with had never snored.

With the wardrobe open just enough for a skinny ten-year-old girl to slither through, Ellie began to make her way across the room, holding the stick out between her and New-Duncan like a spear. When she got to the bedroom door and slipped out, she felt a wave of relief, like she had just escaped a pit of snakes. She took a deep, refreshing breath, then moved across the hall, ready to burst into her parent's room to tell them everything. Suddenly a tiny man appeared in front of her eyes, smaller even than the ones that had taken Duncan just minutes earlier. However, this one had wings, allowing him to hover in front of her face, like a fairy!

The night was just getting weirder. Ellie decided it was definitely time to scream. As she opened her mouth the fairy, which had an expression on his tiny face that must have been very like Ellie's – panic – lashed out with a hand and some golden dust spread out over Ellie's face, going up her nostrils, into her eyes and mouth. It seemed to stop her from screaming. More than that, it made her feel relaxed, even happy. She couldn't scream, but she didn't really want to anymore. She just stood, staring at the fairy in front of her, not really believing the strange things that were happening to her tonight. Maybe it's not real. Maybe I'm asleep. Yes, that makes more sense than small men kidnapping my brother and a fairy hovering in front of me.

But it felt very real, and her hand was beginning to hurt as she clutched the stick ever more tightly. In fact, it even felt like it was getting warm, almost hot really, like it might start burning soon. Slowly, feeling a bit dizzy, she looked down at her hand to check that the stick hadn't caught fire. The fairy also looked, before floating down to look more closely, his little wings beating incredibly fast, like a humming bird. Ellie was relieved to see no smoke coming from her hand, but was deeply confused as to why she wasn't feeling more scared of the unbelievable situation that she found herself in.

The fairy darted back up to head height and gave her a quizzical look. Then he spoke "Where did you get that?" he demanded. It was almost aggressively asked as he pointed down at the stick, but his voice was a musical, beautiful thing that made Ellie want to answer.

"From Duncan's wardrobe," she whispered honestly, no longer wanting to wake her parents. She was taking an instant liking to the mythical creature, although she could not exactly say why.

The fairy gave her an exasperated look, and asked again, "No, I mean, how did you come to own it?"

"Oh," responded Ellie as she thought about it, remembering. "My granddad gave it to us. I mean, he actually gave it to Duncan, a few years ago. Granddad told Duncan that it was a magic wand. He said it had belonged to a wizard called Merlin a long time ago and had been passed down through our family for generations. Granddad was good at telling stories. He once told me a story about a princess that –."

The fairy interrupted her, excitedly, "That's Merlin's wand?! The Merlin? I can't believe this! The Elders will be so pleased with me! They might even make me a Lead Tooth-Fairy!"

Ellie smiled. A tooth-fairy? That's what he was? "You're a tooth-fairy?" she asked. Her friend, Kate, had told her the tooth-fairy wasn't real. Ellie couldn't wait to tell her that she was wrong. She suddenly remembered all of the other things that had happened, which the strange golden dust had made her almost forget, and she suspiciously questioned, "Are you anything to do with the small men who just kidnapped my brother?"

The fairy looked at her, appearing both insulted and saddened by the question. "We have a lot to talk about. Is there somewhere we can sit down?" he asked.

Ellie took one last look at her parent's bedroom door, some part of her mind still telling her to run in there screaming. But she ignored it and instead turned to her own bedroom door and led the way into it with the fairy floating along by her shoulder. She closed the door behind her and sat on the bed. Reaching across, she turned her bedside lamp on and drew her blanket up over her legs, waiting for the fairy to begin the explanation that she felt sure was coming.

# Chapter Two

"My name is Rayk," the fairy introduced himself. He felt nervous – talking to a human went against all of his training – but excited too, as he always did when he broke the rules. He considered how much to tell the human girl, who had reddish-brown hair and wore pale yellow bed-clothes. He knew he would be in trouble for talking to a human, but discovering a wand would probably be enough to balance it out. If it really is the wand that had belonged to Merlin, then I will be more than forgiven, I will be rewarded as a hero!

The human looked down at him suspiciously as he settled himself on the bed, facing her. He couldn't blame her for being suspicious if she had just witnessed her brother being kidnapped and she suspected he might be involved. "I'm Ellie," she stated in return, with slightly forced politeness. Then she pointed the wand at him accusingly and demanded "Now, do you know what happened to my brother?"

Rayk felt nervous having the wand pointed at him, but tried to remind himself of what he had been taught about humans at Tooth-Fairy Academy – from which he had only just graduated and was still in his probation period as a Tooth-Fairy. The teachers at the academy had assured the trainees that very few humans knew any magic, and struggled to master even the most basic spells. This girl seemed young, even by human standards – probably only ten or eleven years old – so surely she didn't know how to use the wand. It still made Rayk want to dodge out of the way, just in case lightning was about to burst out of the tip. With a great mental effort, he forced himself to remain calm and sit still. He decided he would have to tell the girl what had happened to her brother. If he could convince her to give him the wand, he could change the course of history for all of fairy-kind.

He took a deep breath and started talking, "I'm afraid the brother you knew has been taken to the Ivory Realm by goblins. They have replaced him with a clone. Tooth-Goblins must have come years ago and taken one of his teeth, from which they grew a clone. The clone, your new brother, is harmless and he won't hurt you as far as we know. His sole purpose is to take your brother's place to stop you humans realizing that goblins have been kidnapping and replacing humans for years." There. It was out there. He had told her. Generally human-fairy interactions didn't end well, so they rarely happened and Rayk knew he would have to make a full report to the Fairy-Elders when he returned. But if this girl was really a descendent of Merlin, then it was worth a try. Rayk suddenly realized that the human, Ellie, was staring at him as if he was crazy, or stupid.

"Goblins!?" she exclaimed, louder than Rayk would have liked. He hoped her parents didn't wake up. Human adults were difficult at the best of times. "Goblins took my brother? What for?" she demanded.

Rayk had already said more than he should have and he was beginning to question the wisdom of continuing to talk to the girl. Maybe I should just disappear now, back to the Ivory Realm and talk to the Elders about what to do next, he thought. But he felt like he might need this strange girl in the future, and knew that if he disappeared now, she would never trust him. He decided to stick to the truth, wherever he could. "They've taken him, along with thousands of others over the years, to be a soldier in their wars. Goblins are an argumentative bunch, always at war with one-another."

Ellie bit her lip. She seemed to be considering what he had just said. "Why don't they just use the clones as soldiers? Why swap them?" she queried.

It was a very good question – the girl was clever. He explained, "Because the clones are made with magic, and as a result they can also be unmade with magic. Having an army that can be unmade with a single spell would not be much use. Also, the clones grow up too fast, with no parents other that a few goblins around. As a result they are moody, argumentative, lazy and selfish – all things that would make them very bad soldiers. So they teach them just enough to fill in for the real person and, on the real person's thirteenth birthday, they swap them. Then they take the original back to the Ivory realm, use a few simple spells to make the teenagers follow orders and train them as soldiers. They've been doing it for years, and you humans seem to think it's normal for boys to change like that when they become teenagers. After a few years of living a normal human life, with parents correcting their behaviour, the clones seem to turn into fairly normal adults."

Ellie's mouth was hanging wide open in disbelief at everything Rayk had just said. He wasn't sure if she was waiting for him to continue his explanation, when she suddenly rubbed her face vigorously and asked with the slightly distrustful tone, "What was that stuff you threw in my face?"

Rayk lifted the pouch that hung from his belt and pointed at it. "It was Fairy-Dust," he said, a little sheepishly for it is quite impolite to cast a spell on someone without their permission.

Ellie's eyes narrowed as if she didn't believe him. "Fairy-Dust? What is it? What does it do?" The girl seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of questions, but Rayk hadn't expected that one. She doesn't even know what Fairy-Dust is for?

"It's also known as Magic-Dust, Tooth-Dust, or simply Dust. Fairy-Dust works sort of like a fuel for magic, making my spell more potent," he explained. "I'm sorry I cast a spell on you – it was just a relaxation spell, to make you stop panicking and prevent you from screaming. I didn't want you to wake anybody up."

The girl bit her lip once more, considering his words, confusion spreading across her face. "Why is it called Tooth-Dust?" she asked.

"What do you think Fairy-Dust is made from?" he gave the obvious answer. "Why do you think Tooth-Fairies come collecting teeth?"

In a very unsure tone, as if she thought he might be making fun of her, Ellie asked, "Fairy-Dust is made from teeth? Human teeth?"

"Yes," was Rayk's honest reply. "Fairy-Dust is made by grinding teeth into dust. You can make it from any teeth, with varying results. Human teeth produces the best quality Dust. Very few fairies use anything but human Tooth-Dust. That is why being a Tooth-Fairy, like me, is a very important job," he said proudly.

Ellie seemed to be taking in all of this information very quickly and was more open-minded than his lessons had suggested a human would be.

"Can you bring my brother back? I don't want a moody clone for a brother," was the girl's next question.

Rayk was shocked by the request, unsure what to say. "Umm, well, fairies don't normally get involved with goblins – generally we avoid them as much as possible." He saw the disappointment spreading on her face and tried to explain more, "Fairies and goblins have never really got on that well, then when they started taking teeth from under pillows, about twenty years ago, it made things worse. Most tooth-fairies don't like the competition. Not that it is that much of a problem – there are so many of you humans in the world these days..." Rayk realized that he had got a bit off-topic and could see that Ellie wasn't impressed.

"So, can you bring Duncan back or not?" the girl asked, sounding a bit impatient.

"I ... I don't know," Rayk considered if it was even possible. Rayk knew very little about the goblin lands within the Ivory Realm, but there were fairies who knew more. Could the girl's brother be found? If so, could he be rescued? Rayk knew he should not get involved, but he felt like there were other forces at work today. He was supposed to be having a day off today, but one of the other Tooth-Fairies had accidently been turned into a Caterpillar while in a magic lesson. The caterpillar would now have to build a cocoon and hibernate in it until he had morphed back into a fairy so that he could resume his Tooth-Fairy duties.

Rayk had been asked to fill in and while visiting his first house of the night, on the same street as this one, he had felt magic being used nearby. He had carefully come to investigate. He had been further drawn by something, which he now felt sure was the wand. He had a feeling that his part in this girl's life was just beginning, but he also knew that he was already out of his depth. He got up and launched into the air. "I'm going to have to go and talk to the Fairy-Elders about this. I'll be back tomorrow night." With that he threw a pinch of Fairy-Dust into the air to help create a portal. He gave a backwards glance and said in a rush, "Don't let that wand out of your possession!" Then he flew through the lightly glowing, shimmering gateway, back to the fairy realm.

As the portal closed behind him, he just heard Ellie urgently calling after him, "Wait, Wait! I need to know..." The last words were lost as the portal winked out of existence and Ellie's unrelenting questioning would have to wait.

# Chapter Three

Ellie lay back on the bed as the tooth-fairy disappeared through the portal, the strange disc of golden haze vanishing as soon as the fairy was through. A tooth-fairy? An actual tooth-fairy was in my bedroom, talking to me? She struggled with how ridiculous it sounded in her head. But as her mind cleared, possibly the 'relaxation spell' wearing off, her mind focused on more pressing matters. Duncan, the brother that had been a constant in her life, who had always been there to help her, to teach her, to share the blame when they got into mischief together, her Duncan was gone. He has been replaced with a clone that probably doesn't even know who I am, she thought sadly.

Rayk had told Ellie that the clone wouldn't harm her, or anyone for that matter, and that he would do his best just to fit in and take the real Duncan's place. But the fairy had also said that, due to an accelerated childhood with only goblins as parents, the clone was likely to be moody, selfish and rude. Ellie lay awake for a long time thinking about it, dreading meeting the new version of her brother. She kept thinking that she should run into her parents' bedroom and tell them everything. But it all sounded so ridiculous, she barely believed it herself – they would never believe her. She would have to wait until morning. Once they realized that 'Duncan' was so different, Ellie could explain it all and surely they would believe her. She kept going over everything in her head, how she was going to explain it to them. It felt like she was awake all night. She must have been awake for most of it, but exhaustion overtook her in the end.

She was woken slightly roughly by her father shaking her arm as he leaned over her with a concerned look, "Ellie.... Ellie.... Ellie, are you okay? Good, you're awake at last – I was starting to get worried. You're usually the first up. Come on, or you'll miss Duncan opening his presents. We've been waiting for you."

Ellie battled the sleepy fuzziness that seemed to have a grip on her mind to make sense of what her dad was saying. "What?! Duncan's awake already? You've seen him? Is he okay?"

Her dad gave her a confused look with one eyebrow raised. Her dad was bald, but had thick dark eyebrows and when he raised one it looked like a strange caterpillar making angry movements on his forehead. "Yes, he's fine. Why wouldn't he be?"

Ellie couldn't believe her dad wouldn't have noticed some difference. There must be something. Unless dad is a clone too?! she thought worriedly. What if dad is helping cover for the cloned Duncan? She pushed the paranoid thought aside, wanting to ask about the clone downstairs, "Nothing unusual about him then? Nothing different?." Her father's confused eyebrow stayed reassuringly raised and Ellie felt very sure her father was nothing but the man she had always known..

"You mean because he's a teenager now?" dad asked, trying to make sense of her questions. "I suppose he seemed a little grumpy, and less talkative than usual. But he perked right up when we gave him his special birthday breakfast of pancakes with syrup. He started gobbling them like he'd never had pancakes before. You better get downstairs quick if you want to get any pancakes before they're all gone," he advised with a smile, then hopped out of the room to leave her to get dressed.

Ellie didn't waste time getting dressed. She threw a dressing gown over her bedclothes and rushed down the stairs after her father. She burst into the kitchen, ready to reveal the terrible truth to her parents about the imposter that had replaced her brother. But what she found was so uncomfortably normal looking that Ellie felt a wave of doubt sweep over her, suddenly feeling sure that it must have all been a dream. Her mother stood at the cooker, making more pancakes. Her father sat at one end of the table, ignoring the single pancake on a plate in front of him while looking at his phone, no doubt reading the news as he did every morning. Also at the table, with his normal, messy, brown bed-hair was Duncan. His plate was empty and from the amount of syrup spread around his mouth, he had devoured more than his fair share of pancakes, but that wasn't particularly unusual. His face was the same. His skinny frame, which looked a little stretched as he was fairly tall for his age, was familiar. When he looked up at her, the brown eyes looked just like her Duncan's eyes. But that look also confirmed that everything was real, not her imagination. For Duncan looked at her with curiosity and a total lack of recognition.

"Good morning Ellie," her Mum greeted her. Her shoulder-length reddish-brown hair, the same as Ellie's, hid her face, but her voice sounded completely normal.

"Mornin' Mum," Ellie answered automatically without taking her eyes off of Duncan. She thought she saw him mouth the word 'Ellie' to himself. He was learning, taking mental notes.

"Good morning Ellie," the clone copied the greeting her mother had used. The voice was right, but the words weren't. Duncan never called her Ellie. He always just called her 'Sis'.

Her dad looked up and asked the clone "Do you want to open your presents now?"

The clone gave a huge grin and replied excitedly, "Presents? For me? I've never... I mean, yes, I'd love to open my presents!"

It was then, with the realization that the clone had been about to say 'I've never had a present before', that Ellie began to feel sorry for the clone. What has he actually done wrong? She asked herself. It's not his fault he was cloned. It's not his fault he was raised by goblins so that he could be used to replace her brother. It was a difficult realization, because Ellie wanted to hate the clone, to send him back to the goblins and have her Duncan back. She began to consider how awful it must have been growing up without loving parents, to instead be raised by goblins. The 'Duncan' in front of her might be a clone, but he was also a boy who had never before been given a gift on his birthday, had probably never had a Christmas.

Ellie's father got up and disappeared from the room. It wasn't long before he returned, with an armful of presents. As he placed them on the table in front of Duncan he said with a smile, "I've saved one for when you get home from school."

However, it did not make the clone smile. Quite the opposite, a look of panic flashed across his face and he asked, "I have to go to school today?" Ellie was surprised to see that the clone appeared to dread the idea of school, as she thought that after growing up in the care of goblins, those horrible little men that had kidnapped her real brother, even school should seem quite pleasant.

It was Ellie's mum that answered, "Of course you have to go to school today."

The clone then asked almost timidly, "Are you going to drive me there? In a car?"

This time Ellie's dad replied, with that one eyebrow raised again, "No, you can walk, same as you always do." Then, in a slightly more exasperated tone, he added, "Honestly, you've been a teenager for a few hours and you're already too lazy to walk half a mile."

Ellie alone recognised that it wasn't laziness that was causing the clone's anxiety. With increasing sympathy for the clone, she realized that the clone didn't know how to get to school. He knew no-one in this world. "I'll walk with you" she blurted out, not really sure why. When she saw the relieved look on the clone's face, she felt like she had done something right. The clone was innocent and deserved her help. But her brother, the real Duncan, was also innocent and would also need her help. Can I help both? She wondered. Does helping the real Duncan mean sacrificing the clone? Or could both be saved? Ellie wished the fairy, Rayk, had remained longer, to answer more questions.

The clone picked up one of his presents. It was a new football, Ellie could see. It was wrapped, but was quite obviously a football. But the clone seemed hesitant about it. He didn't seem to be familiar with the idea of wrapping paper and looked as if he were trying to work out how to unwrap it without damaging anything. Apparently Ellie's father was impatient with the unusual behaviour, for the real Duncan would have torn all of the paper off long ago. "Hurry up and tear the paper off boy. You've still got two other presents to get through and at this rate you'll be late for school."

The clone immediately took the advice and tore the paper off. When it revealed the football, he examined it for a moment. Then he licked it, which invited confused looks from their parents. He seemed a little disappointed that the gift wasn't edible. He picked up the second present with an expression of renewed hope.

* * *

Ellie walked a little warily next to the clone on their way to school. He walked slowly. She wasn't sure if it was due to him being lazy, or because he was looking at everything as if it were the first time he had seen them; the houses, the cars, even roads and drains. Ellie supposed it was the first time he had seen them, although she had no idea what the 'Ivory Realm', as Rayk had called his world, was like.

The two said little to one another. The clone seemed to have little inclination to talk to her and she didn't know what to say to him. She found herself wondering if he might help her rescue her brother. She was sure the real Duncan would help in a rescue attempt, even of someone he didn't know. This clone shared his DNA, so maybe they would be similar. She also kept thinking about the wand in her schoolbag. The fairy had said that it was a real wand and that she should keep hold of it, so she had packed it in her bag.

When they got to the end of the road, Ellie said to the clone, "It's this way," as she pointed to the right.

He looked at her suspiciously. "I know," he said in an unconvincing tone, lacking the certainty that should have accompanied such words. Then in a slightly annoyed and haughty tone, he added "I walk this way all the time, don't I?"

Before she could stop them, words tumbled out of Ellie's mouth defensively, "No you don't! I know! I know you're a clone! I saw the goblins take my brother last night!" She saw the shocked look on his face, but she carried on, not wanting him to think that she blamed him "But I know that it's not your fault. I'm just trying to help you!"

Suddenly the clone didn't look like her brother any more. His face was angry and threatening in a way that Duncan's never had been. He grabbed Ellie's arms hard, hurting her and growled at her, pulling her up so that her face was just a hand's width from his, "You stupid little girl! You don't know anything! I'm your brother now and you better get used to it." He spat the words out, saliva spraying over Ellie's face. "You better not say anything to anyone – not if you know what's good for you! They wouldn't believe you anyway. They'll think you're crazy. They'll lock you up. So you better just keep your mouth shut and show me the way to school." He let go with one hand and turned her around, keeping a painful grip with his other hand as he began to shove her in the direction that they had been going.

Ellie's heart was racing, she was so scared. Her hands were shaking. Duncan, both the real one and the clone, were much bigger and stronger than her and he had really scared her. As she was shoved along the street, she realized what a terrible mistake she had made. She had to share a house with this clone and he was right – her parent's wouldn't believe her. They actually seemed to believe that the change in Duncan was just the result of becoming a teenager. If she started telling them about fairies and goblins in the night, they really would think she was crazy and they might actually lock her up. She realized that she had to rescue her real brother – it was the only way she could have a future. She began thinking about the wand in her bag, wondering if it might be useful in rescuing her brother. But she knew too little and began desperately hoping that Rayk would appear sooner rather than later.

As the clone pushed Ellie once more, a shove to her schoolbag, she began to worry that he would discover the wand in her bag and take it. Just then some boys from their school began hurrying towards them. They were older boys, older than Duncan. They were not nice boys – they were bullies, although Ellie had always managed to escape their attention before. She wondered whether her day could get any worse.

When they got near enough, one of them called over, "Duncan – I heard it's your thirteenth birthday today. How are you.... feeling?" As they asked the unusual question, all three did something odd with their hands, extending one finger and a thumb on one hand, while touching their thumb to their little finger on the other hand as they crossed their wrists. The Duncan-clone repeated the action with a relieved look on his face. "Thank you for seeking me out – there is a lot I need to ask," he said to the boys as if they were long lost friends, even though Ellie was sure Duncan had never been friends with these boys. It quickly dawned on her though. These boys were also clones. They were giving each other secret signs to show what they were. Ellie became very nervous, surrounded by the four clones, all much bigger than her. She felt a strong desire to be holding the wand again, but knew it would not help her anyway and she feared that the clones might take it from her.

One of the boys, the biggest one, spoke again, "Come with us Duncan – we have a lot to talk about."

One of the other boys gave Ellie a baleful stare then jerked his chin at her and said in a threatening tone, "Go on little girl, get to school." Then he gave an evil grin and added, "Before goblins come and get you!" He produced a laugh at his own joke and the other boys gave slightly uncomfortable chuckles at the reference to their previous masters, which they thought she knew nothing about. Ellie was scared – for all she knew it was possible that goblins would come and get her. She took the opportunity to run away, heading straight to school as fast as she could go.

# Chapter Four

After Ellie had arrived at school, breathless and a little shaken, her day began to settle into a more familiar routine. At least, it might have to anyone watching her. Within her mind, she was full of worry. Things had taken a sour turn with her cloned brother. She had felt sorry for him and had been trying to help him and he had thanked her by threatening her and shoving her around. Now she kept going through things in her mind. She wanted to reveal all of the secrets to everyone. But who could I tell? She kept questioning. The clone was right – Mum and dad won't believe me. No adults would. The only ones who would believe me are those that were clones themselves, and what might they do to me? She kept coming to the same conclusion. She was going to have to rescue Duncan herself. She began desperately hoping that the fairy, Rayk, would appear again soon, hopefully that night. The day couldn't end fast enough for Ellie and her lessons seemed to drag on forever.

Each time she opened her bag to get a book or a pen out, she looked at the wand. She would touch it, still unsure whether to believe that it might have real magical power. A day earlier she wouldn't have believed it. But that was before she had seen goblins kidnap her brother and spent a night talking to a fairy. Now, anything was possible. She began to think about what her grandfather had said about the wand. Ellie had been there when her Grandfather had given the wand to Duncan, exactly three years ago on Duncan's tenth birthday. The old man had said that his Grandfather had given it to him on his tenth birthday, many years before. Ellie wished she could go and talk to him – maybe he would have believed her. But he had passed away almost two years earlier. Ellie could remember very little of what he had said about the wand. She remembered that he had said it had been passed down in the family, all the way from its first owner, Merlin. At the time Ellie and Duncan thought he was making it up. But Rayk had seemed to think it entirely believable and seemed sure that Merlin had been a real person.

She spent lunchtime with her best friend, Rose. "What's up with you today Ellie?" Rose asked several times. Each time Ellie was close to telling her everything, but she didn't have many friends and was worried about making her closest friend think she was insane.

Her final lesson of the day was a science class with her favourite teacher, Mr Lister. As she got her books out she gave the wand a quick squeeze, reassuring herself that it was still safe. It surprised her to find that it felt warm and Ellie imagined that it wanted to be held. She felt herself pulling it out of her bag, not wanting to let go of it. When she realized that she was holding it out in plain sight, she jerked it under her desk. The sudden movement drew attention and she instantly regretted it, hoping no-one had noticed. Her hopes were in vain, as she noticed several people now looking at her, craning their necks to try to see what she was hiding under her desk. One of those looking was Mr Lister. He asked in his usual friendly manner, "What's that you've got Ellie? Is it something for show and tell?"

Ellie initially felt panicked, that the wand would be confiscated and she might lose the small hope she had of helping to get her brother back. But then she thought that maybe she could use the situation to her advantage, perhaps find out something about the wand. She pulled the stick out from under the desk and held it out for Mr Lister, and the rest of the class, to see clearly. "Yes," she answered, improvising, "It's a family heir-loom, but I don't really know much about it. I was hoping you might be able to tell me something Mr Lister."

"Oh, well, that's interesting. Let me take a look at it," said the teacher, holding his hand out towards her.

Suddenly Ellie became more reluctant, that feeling of the wand wanting to be held still affecting her. What if Mr Lister felt it too? Would he keep it for himself? But it was too late to back out. She passed the wand to the science teacher, watching his face intently as he took hold of it as she tried to see if he felt anything. She was relieved when he took it as if it were just a stick. He held it up to his face, examining it closely. He then moved over to the window and looked at it a little more in the improved light. He made some mutterings as he did, but the only word Ellie caught was 'interesting'.

"Well Ellie, I think this will require a little research. We'll discuss it at the end of the lesson," he told her, leaving her a little disappointed, but still hopeful. Then he turned his attention to the entire class, "So class, today we'll be talking about ..."

Ellie stopped listening as Mr Lister began the lesson, considering for the hundredth time whether to tell her friends anything. Would they be any less likely to think me crazy? Seeing Rayk again could not happen soon enough.

The class dragged on, Ellie unable to concentrate on the science lesson as her gaze stayed fixed on Mr Lister. The teacher, between attending to pupils, would occasionally refer to his computer. He kept picking up the wand as he compared it against something on the screen, which was frustratingly out of Ellie's view.

With just a few minutes of the lesson remaining, Mr Lister picked up the wand and stood at the front of the class, as he did when he wanted their attention. As was his custom, he waited for silence. He was a popular teacher and the class willingly went quiet.

"Well class, we'll take the last few minutes of the day to talk about Ellie's family heirloom," he said. "So Ellie, what can you tell us about it?"

"Not much," Ellie began, unsure what to say. "My granddad gave it to... to me," she said, deciding that the fewer people who knew that it had actually been given to Duncan, the better. "He said it had been in the family for a very long time. I don't really know any more than that. I don't even know what sort of tree the stick comes from."

Mr Lister smiled at her. "Well Ellie, the first thing I can tell you is that it is not from a tree. It is a horn. Or rather a tusk, from a Narwhal I believe. Not the full tusk though – it appears to be the top part of a Narwhal's tusk," the teacher revealed.

"A tusk?" asked Ellie, surprised. She had thought it was wood.

"Yes," he confirmed. "It is basically the top section of a giant tooth that grows from the front of a Narwhal, which is a type of whale."

A tooth! A giant tooth! That's what makes it magic! Ellie thought excitedly, really starting to believe that it truly was a magical wand, maybe even once belonging to the legendary Merlin. Rayk had told her that Fairy-Dust was made from teeth, so it made sense that a magic wand would be too.

The school bell rang and the children hurriedly packed up their bags, looking expectantly to Mr Lister as they waited for him to dismiss them.

He handed the wand back to Ellie, "That's a very interesting item Ellie. Look after it. Perhaps leave it at home in future – you've seemed very distracted today." Then, to the whole class, "See you all tomorrow." That triggered a rush of children as they flooded out of the door. Ellie moved more slowly, more carefully. She wasn't sure if she should rush home. Will the clone be there? She wanted to avoid her brother's clone if possible.

She waved goodbye to her friends at the school gate. She had barely spoken to them all day, not sure what to say. They had asked if she was okay several times and each time she had told them that she was fine. As she took a slow walk home, she began to regret it, wishing perhaps that she had gone home with one of her friends, maybe had dinner there.

When she got home and opened the door, she was pleased to find that Duncan's shoes were not there. But then she realized that the clone wouldn't know where to put his shoes anyway, and began a wary exploration of the house. She found her mum in the kitchen and asked her if Duncan was home. Her mum told her that he wasn't yet. Ellie wanted to tell her mum everything but knew that she would never believe her. Instead she went upstairs and took out the wand, holding it, waiting to see if she would feel anything from it, like she thought she had earlier that day.

Ellie wished that she knew how to use the wand, but she didn't have the faintest idea. She didn't even know if she could. Can just anyone do magic? She began to examine the wand, the Narwhal tusk as Mr Lister had informed her, looking for any marking - an 'on' button seemed too much to hope for. She found nothing.

Ellie began trying to cast spells, without having a clue how to begin. She pointed the wand at things, imagining that lightning might shoot out of the wand. She tried saying magic words as she did so – "Alacazam!", "Hocus Pocus", "Shazam!", "Lightning!", "Abracadabra!"

None of it worked and only served to bring her mother upstairs to investigate. "What's all the noise about up here? Everything okay?"

"Yes Mum, just playing" Ellie answered, still holding the wand.

"Hmm, well, just be careful you don't hurt yourself with that old stick – you could poke an eye out. I should have thrown it out years ago". She mumbled a mildly worried comment about Duncan not being home yet as she left the room. She called back to Ellie as she went downstairs, reminding her that her father would be home before long and that she should come down for dinner soon after. Ellie went back to trying various attempts at magic.

When the house's front-door opened and someone entered, Ellie listened intently. She was pleased to discover that it was her father, home from work.

Dinner was a quiet affair, with worried discussion from her mother wondering where Duncan might have got to. Her father tried to make plausible excuses, "He's probably gone playing football and forgotten to call."

Ellie kept quiet through dinner, and the first chance she got, she excused herself and dashed back to her room. She grabbed the wand from under her pillow, where she had placed it during dinner. She sat holding it, frustrated. She began to think about the fairy, Rayk, hoping he would come. He had used magic on her last night, and had seemed to find it very easy, even natural. She thought that he would be able to teach her to use the wand. She began to wonder what using magic might feel like. With that, she began to feel a warmth spread through her body and the wand once more felt like it belonged in her hand, like it wanted to be used. Suddenly Ellie felt like she could do anything, that doing magic was easy. But she still had no idea how, and the feelings of certainty faded away, as did the warm feeling. The wand began to feel just like a stick again. Before long, Ellie was left more frustrated than ever and already beginning to think that she might have imagined it all.

Ellie kept practising, but tiredness was catching up with her. She had not slept much the night before and it was beginning to have an effect. But she was reluctant to go to sleep in case she missed the fairy returning. When her bedtime came, her father came up to say goodnight, while her mother stayed downstairs fretting over the still absent Duncan. Ellie brushed her teeth and put on some fresh clothes before climbing into bed. She lay awake, waiting for any sign of Rayk.

Finally the clone came home. Mum was both relieved that her 'son' was home and angry at him for being home late without letting her know anything. The real Duncan would have been considerate enough to let his parents know where he was. Ellie heard her mother shout at the clone, "Just because you're a teenager now, it doesn't mean you can get away with this sort of stunt!" She didn't hear the clone's response, if there was any. A couple of minutes later she heard stomping up the stairs as the clone was sent to bed.

Ellie realized that her bedroom door was ajar and was concerned that the clone might enter, maybe still feeling angry at her. She clutched the wand nervously as she wished the door was closed. Unexpectedly, the door moved, gently swinging to close the gap as a tingling sensation rippled down Ellie's arm. She held her breath as the clone shuffled past her bedroom, unsure of what had just happened.

Looking down at her hand she thought for a moment that she could see a faint glow coming from the wand. But she blinked a few times and the glow seemed to disappear. She felt a little shocked. Did I just do magic? There had been no bolts of lightning, no stream of light or explosions of power. It had just been a tiny movement of the door. It could have just been a draught in the house. But it had felt like magic.

# Chapter Five

Rayk went through the portal, straight into Ellie's bedroom. His announcements and reports upon returning to the Ivory Realm with his unexpected news had resulted in a frantic day of meeting fairies who were normally too busy to speak to a regular Tooth-Fairy like him. News of talking to a human would have meant a busy day anyway, but to reveal that the human owned a wand – perhaps even the very wand that had been used by Merlin himself – had meant meetings with the oldest and most respected fairies of the Ivory Realm.

He looked at the girl. She was asleep. She was not under her bed sheets, but lay on top of them clutching the wand. The girl looked slightly haphazard, as if she had not meant to fall asleep. Rayk wasn't sure how to wake a human – all of his training as a Tooth-Fairy had concentrated on how to not wake them. He had been taught to be quiet, move slowly and carefully, not to touch them and to move them very carefully and slowly if required to get to the tooth. Rayk guessed he would do the opposite. He flew over to the girl and used a simple spell that lifted her pillow, with her head on it, then he let it drop sharply back to the bed, against all his training. Unfortunately, the nature of the pillow meant the girl had a soft landing and didn't even stir.

A little nervously, Rayk stepped up his attempt and landed on Ellie's pillow, right next to her face. He slowly reached a hand towards the girl. He had never actually touched a human before, other than their already detached teeth. He suddenly wondered what they felt like. As his hand reached her cheek, he was surprised to find that human skin was softer and warmer than he had expected. He stroked it at first, but the girl still didn't wake. So he poked a few times. Still nothing. He was beginning to question why the teacher at the Tooth-Fairy Academy were so firm in their teaching not to touch the humans while they slept – it seemed to have little effect on them. He knew that Snot-Goblins – the goblins that collected human snot which had long been a favoured ingredient in many goblin foods – touched humans while mining, but he had always assumed that they cast a small spell on the humans first to keep them asleep. Rayk now thought that maybe they didn't bother as it didn't seem particularly necessary.

Rayk needed to talk to the girl and had to wake her up. He grabbed a handful of her eyelashes and pulled them hard. Several came out in his hand and the girls eyes opened wide and a pained noise groaned in her throat but she did her best to stifle it. Even so, it was a bigger reaction than he was expecting and caught him off-guard. He fell back and his foot got caught in the girl's bed-sheets and he tumbled off the bed and landed in a heap.

Rayk attempted to straighten out his limbs and wings. When he looked up to the bed, he saw Ellie's face leaning over the edge, looking down at him in the night-time gloominess. He was already feeling a bit jumpy and the girl's face staring down at him made him flinch once more, but as her face changed from one of shock and confusion to one of smiling welcome, he too began to relax.

"Rayk! You came! I'm so glad – I've had a horrible day and I can't talk to anyone about it, except you," the girl whispered, although excitement kept adding a squeak to her voice that threatened to make it more than a whisper.

Rayk finally managed to get himself straightened out and launched himself into the air, carefully flying up to meet the girl, who sat up on her bed. The fairy landed beside her. He had much to discuss and was considering where to begin when she spoke suddenly, urgently, "Rayk, you have to take me to the fairy realm – I have to rescue my brother!"

Rayk didn't know what to say. He had come here to discuss the possibility of borrowing her wand for the Fairy-Elders to study it. Or perhaps even begin giving her lessons in magic. He had asked some of the Explorer-Fairies to consider the possibility of rescuing a human that had been taken by the Tooth-Goblins. But at no point had he discussed with anyone the possibility of bringing the girl to the Ivory Realm. It was possible – with an extra pinch of Dust, Rayk could manage a Portal big enough for the girl to go through. He didn't know what the Fairy-Elders would say. They had been quite excited by the prospect of a human learning to do magic again, maybe even one day speaking to such a human, possibly even a descendant of Merlin – it hadn't happened since that same Merlin, many hundreds of years ago, long before even the oldest of the Elders had been born. But, for several years now, there had been increasing numbers of humans in the Ivory Realm, abducted and taken by the Tooth-Goblins. There were, however, no humans in the fairy parts of the Ivory Realm.

"I think I'll have to discuss this with the Fairy-Elders," said Rayk, unwilling to make such a big decision.

But the girl seemed insistent, "No, it has to be tonight. I can't leave Duncan as a prisoner of the goblins. And.... and the clone scares me."

Rayk tried to be understanding, reminding himself that she was very young. He wanted to reassure her, responding, "I spoke to a representative of the Fairy-Intelligence-Bureaux, who have several agents in the goblin lands. They informed me that your brother isn't in any immediate danger. He'll have several weeks of training as a soldier before he's sent to battle. And, as I understand it, the clone won't hurt you. As far as we know, the clones are a grumpy bunch that struggle to follow orders or think for themselves, but one thing they seem to learn is to avoid doing anything that might draw attention to themselves. So, he won't hurt you."

"He already has," Ellie corrected him as she pointed at some bruising on her arm. "He knows that I know," she explained. "That he's a clone, I mean." She clarified nervously.

Rayk was beginning to feel anxious, feeling that he was going to have to make decisions that were above his station. "Um, are you certain? How could he know?" he asked, while thinking, Perhaps she's overreacting to something.

"I told him," the girl said flatly.

"Oh," responded Rayk. That could change things. Rayk had no idea how the clone might react to a threat of their secret being revealed. Could Ellie's life be in danger? He could feel control slipping away from him, realizing that he was going to have to make decisions that he didn't want to make. He considered how the Elders might react to him bringing Ellie to the Ivory Realm. What other options are there? Should I stay in the Blue Realm with her, to protect her? Or is there somewhere else that I could take her, where she might be safe? But Rayk knew that Ellie wouldn't agree to those options as the girl seemed intent on attempting to rescue her brother.

Rayk bit his lip lightly as he thought. He saw Ellie's hand gripping the wand tightly as she watched him intently, imploring him with her eyes to grant her request to take her to the Ivory Realm. Rayk suddenly felt sure of what to do, without really understanding why. "I will take you to the Ivory Realm and try to help rescue your brother," he told her, feeling a bit nervous at his own words.

The girl beamed at him and let out a tiny squeal of happiness. For a moment it felt like the wand echoed the squeal. I must be tired, he thought. Ellie leaned over the bed and picked up a backpack that looked quite full. "When do we go?" she asked brightly, adding "I've already packed."

Rayk suddenly felt the inevitability of the events, becoming sure that the Fates were at work. He nodded, surrendering to the situation. "Now, I suppose," he said the words but wasn't completely sure it was him deciding to say them. "But what about your parents? Won't they worry about you if you disappear in the night?" he asked, a sudden hope that it could all be delayed and the decision could be passed on to a more senior fairy.

Ellie picked up a piece of paper from her bedside table and held it up smugly. "I've already thought of that. I've left a note."

Rayk didn't need to read the message to know that a note couldn't stop the parents from worrying. He read it anyway.

Dear Mum and Dad.

Gone to save the world.

Back before you know it.

Love you,

Ellie.

Rayk shook his head. It was the worst 'runaway letter' he had ever heard of. The letter was ridiculous. But he knew a spell that would do the trick. He quickly explained to the girl that it might be better if he used magic on her parents to make them think she had gone on a two-week school trip.

"You can do that?" she asked, amazed.

"Yes. Not all fairies could, but Tooth-Fairies like me specialize in magic that works on the human mind. I will use a mix of spells. One to put the idea that you've gone away on a school trip for two weeks into your parents' minds with another to make them tell anyone that asks that you've got a very contagious illness and can't see anyone. Finally a gentle spell to keep them generally relaxed about everything for a couple of weeks." He explained. As an afterthought, he added, "It will probably make it easier for them to adjust to the clone too." But Ellie made a face at that like she didn't know whether it was a good thing or not.

Ellie screwed up her note, and told Rayk to cast the spells. So Rayk flew carefully into Ellie's parents' bedroom and prepared himself. This would be a big spell. He took out his bag of Fairy-Dust. He felt the weight of the dust, made from finely ground human teeth and considered how much to use. He would need more than a pinch to cast spells on two adult humans that would last two weeks, and he needed to save enough to make Portal to the Ivory Realm big enough for Ellie to go through – by far the biggest Portal he had ever made and Portals were quite difficult to make anyway.

Taking out a full handful of the Dust, almost half his stock, he created two Thought-bubbles with a layer of Dust around each to amplify it and make it last long enough. Each bubble held faint images of Ellie boarding a bus with her class-mates and waving goodbye as she went on a school trip. Rayk carefully pushed one bubble into Ellie's mother's ear. As Rayk manoeuvred the other bubble towards Ellie's father, like a large balloon, he realized that the giant human had his head under his pillow, sandwiching himself. His ears were covered. Rayk made a gentle attempt to lift the pillow enough to expose an ear, but he couldn't hold it with one tiny arm while pushing the bubble with the other. With a frustrated grunt, Rayk gave up and rolled the bubble a little further around the man's head and proceeded to stuff the Thought-bubble up the man's nose. Rayk didn't like noses, with their snot and bogeys. He couldn't imagine why goblins found the stuff so appealing; enough to send Snot-Goblins to the Blue Realm to mine the stuff from human noses.

With the Thought-bubbles inside their heads, Rayk cast a Relaxation spell on them, sprinkling some Dust on them as he did. He immediately saw the effect as their bodies relaxed to a level they hadn't known was possible and their breathing became slower, easier and more content. Proud of his efforts, he returned to Ellie. The girl was stood now, her bag on her back, shoes on and ready to go.

He once more grabbed his pouch of Fairy-Dust, and told the girl, "Stand back, I'm going to make a Portal for us."

As he composed himself for what might be his biggest ever spell, Ellie spoke up. "Can I help?" she asked, holding her wand forth.

Rayk looked at the girl in surprise before his gaze fell to settle on the wand. Merlin's wand, his mind reminded him. "Maybe," he said, unsure. He had never seen a wand before – they were very rare – this was possibly the only one. "Could I use the wand perhaps?"

The girl went to hand him the wand, which was bigger than he was, before she realized the impracticality of him holding it. She then adjusted her grip to hold it next to him. Rayk was honoured by the trust that she showed him. He carefully reached towards it and – WHOA! The power that he felt surge through him was terrifying. His hand flinched back as if burned. He looked at his hand, surprised that it looked fine. While Ellie gave him a confused look, he once more slowly moved his hand forward. As his fingers brushed it he felt the power once more, but prepared for it this time, he let it engulf him. He felt powerful! But also small. When touching the wand, he felt strong enough to do anything, and it made him realize how small he was in comparison. The fear of that power, of what he could do at that moment made him decide; he was not ready for such a test. Reluctantly he took his hand from the wand and told Ellie that it would be better if he used his Dust instead, still dazed by the memory of the power the wand offered, and amazed that Ellie could hold the wand without being affected by it.

With the feeling of the wand still fresh in his mind, creating the large Portal seemed less daunting. He dipped his hand into the pouch, took a handful of Dust and threw it into the air as he cast the spell for the Portal, concentrating on making it big enough for Ellie. It appeared, more easily than he had imagined. It was not big enough for her to walk through, but was comfortably big enough for the girl to crawl through.

"After you, Ellie," he invited the girl.

Without a word, or a sign of hesitation or doubt, she dropped to all-fours and went through the Portal. As she disappeared from the Blue Realm, into the Ivory Realm, he felt suddenly less sure of his actions. He wondered if he had been under a spell himself. But surely the girl could not have learned magic without a teacher? The clarity he had felt was gone, but it was too late to change anything. Rayk followed Ellie into the golden glow of the Portal.

# Chapter Six

Duncan woke slowly, feeling dazed. He stretched out, mentally wishing himself a happy birthday. But as his eyes focussed, he realized that he wasn't in his bedroom. He wasn't in his house – in fact he wasn't in a house at all, but laying on a dirty floor in a poorly constructed tent. He sat up, panicked and scared and not understanding what was happening. "MUM! DAD!" he shouted, thinking that they must be nearby. But no-one answered.

A gust of wind blew the tent's flapping door open and made Duncan even more confused. Outside, it was day and there were no clouds, but the sky was not blue. Instead, an Ivory-coloured sky sat above an unfamiliar landscape and strolling across the camp was a small man-like creature with greenish skin that might be best described as a goblin. It seemed absurd, but he didn't think he was even in his own world, which was a terrifying thought.

There were three other boys sleeping in the tent around him, and he woke them up, doing his best not to freak out. None of them had any more idea than him of what was going on.

None of them had any idea where they were, or why, and they all felt very scared. Confused questions of 'Where am I?' and 'How did I get here?' were asked repeatedly, with no answers. But before they could venture out to search for some answers some other boys appeared – ones who had been in the camp for several weeks and began attempting to calm Duncan and his companions and give some rough explanations.

It all seemed so ridiculous; they had been brought here by goblins who would train them as soldiers and use them to fight their inter-tribal wars. It all seemed like some elaborate joke, but Duncan did not think it funny when he saw one of the goblins walk past the tent, carrying a whip which he was threatening to use on some teenage boys who marched before him. The goblin, with slightly alien features and a greenish tinge to his skin, was so much smaller than the boys. Duncan couldn't understand why they didn't just overpower him – even with his whip he was surely no match for any one of them. Duncan asked as much and the boys who had come to explain looked at him blankly, as if fighting back had never occurred to him.

After some slow thinking one had answered hesitantly, "There is more to the goblins than it first appears. They can do magic, and there is no knowing what they might be capable of." Everything Duncan learned of wherever he had been brought, it only added to his fear, but he knew that giving in to that fear would only make things worse. Part of him kept telling him that it was a nightmare, that he would wake up soon, and he very much wanted it to be over. But it wasn't like a dream. It was all too disturbingly real.

Amidst the otherworldly surroundings, it was difficult to doubt anything they were saying. But the concerning thing to Duncan was that they seemed so willing to accept their fate, as if being soldiers in some goblin war was the only sensible course of action.

All too soon the older boys had to go to attend their own duties and left Duncan and his three companions with instructions to wait in the tent. As soon as they were gone, Duncan and one of the other boys, the smallest of the three spoke at the same time, saying the same thing on top of one another, "We've got to escape." The other two nodded firmly, before all four boys looked over their shoulders nervously in case someone was within earshot. They dropped their voices and spoke in hushed tones. They exchanged names.

The smaller boy was called Charlie. He had a freckly face and curly light brown hair with a tendency to talk very quickly, continually sounding excited about everything he was saying. Then there was Oliver, or Oli, who was the tallest, with short black hair. Duncan was tall for his age, but Oli was even taller, although skinnier. He seemed a lot less talkative, but appeared to listen intently and was no less keen to escape whatever freaky situation they were caught up in. Last there was Finn, who was a little chubbier than the rest of them, and had longer, blonde hair falling almost to his shoulders. He frequently spoke, but it was mostly to agree with what others were saying.

The first thing that they could all agree on was that they knew too little about what was going on or where they were. They agreed that they would need to be observant through the day and perhaps sneaking out of the camp at night offered the best chance of escape.

As they were about to begin an exploration of the camp, three figures approached. One had the diminutive figures of a goblin, almost hidden by the two much larger figures flanking him. The first description that came to Duncan's mind was Bigger Boys. They were definitely bigger. The two boys looked about fifteen years old, but at a glance they had seemed older, probably because of the swords they carried and the scars on their faces and bodies. They had clearly had a rough few years working for the goblins, ones that had made them hard and strong. Duncan once again questioned why these tough-looking, armed boys appeared to be silently obeying the unarmed and far smaller goblin, rather than just using the weapons on the tiny creature.

As they arrived at the tent the larger boys drew their swords and one of them, with a sneer, used his sword to draw a line in the dirt outside the tent. He pointed his sword at the four thirteen-year-olds and gruffly said, "You four, form a line here."

Fearful of the swords being waved around near them and the cold, emotionless looks in the eyes of the two warrior-boys, Duncan and his three companions shuffled nervously to the line in the dirt. The goblin stood silently before them, examining them. The humans around him towered over the creature, yet somehow he looked very much in control. He spent some time looking at them, studying each of them in turn without saying anything. It gave Duncan his best chance yet to look at a goblin. He looked like a tiny man, but with sharper, more angular features. A longer, pointier nose and ears to match. His skin had a greenish tinge to it, although in certain light, it might get described as yellowish.

The waiting seemed to be too much for Charlie, who burst out with a question, "Why are we here? What do you want with –" He didn't get to finish his question. One of the warrior-boys stepped forward and swung his sword at Charlie. Duncan noticed that the boy was using the flat of the blade, not intending to kill, but he wasn't being gentle either. Charlie tried to dodge the blade, but the flat of the metal still slammed into his ribs with a painful sounding thud. It certainly knocked the wind out of Charlie who fell to the ground with a gasp of pain.

The brute then gave Charlie a half-heated kick, more of a threat, as he snarled at the scared boys "Get back in line! You only speak if spoken to!" With a helping hand from Finn, Charlie got back into line with one arm cradling his sore ribs and an angry yet submissive expression. He wouldn't speak again, unless spoken to.

The goblin clicked his fingers authoritatively and one of his tame thugs crouched down on all fours, in the mud. The goblin then leapt up onto his back and used him as a platform, like a tiny stage on which he might perform. But Duncan was sure he was not going to enjoy the performance.

"Will you gladly join the Glorious Army of the Moktar Mountain Goblin Clan, and aid us in our goal of conquering all other clans to bring peace and unity to all goblins?" he asked, in what Duncan thought was a mocking tone, although it was difficult to tell with his croaky, whiny sounding goblin voice. "And will you swear on all that you hold dear that you will serve UmKrar, King of the goblins, with loyalty and honour from now until death?"

None of the four answered.

The goblin raised an irritated eyebrow. "Answer! I'm waiting. And be honest."

Duncan, was at one end of the line and he decided to answer first, "No. Never."

The goblin gave him a considering stare, without saying anything. Then the creature fixed its gaze on Oli, who was next in line. Oli held the stare for just a second before he dropped his gaze and breathed out a single word, "No."

Finn was next. "Never," he answered quickly, but quietly. The goblin's stare moved quickly past him.

Charlie was last, still shaken from his brief but painful beating. Charlie kept his gaze down, not seeming sure of what to say, scared to do anything that might invite another beating. "I ... um ... I don't ..." he quickly glanced at his three companions and Duncan could see that he was very anxious, with watery eyes threatening to form a tear. "No," he croaked, seeming to flinch at his own word as if it might invite another blow from a sword.

The goblin did not appear perturbed by their failing to swear to follow his king. If anything, he seemed pleased about it as a smirk spread across his face and he rubbed his tiny hands together. "It's so much more fun when they think they have a choice," he said as if to himself, but clearly loud enough for all to hear.

"I am PelKaar," the goblin introduced himself, as if he had just arrived. "It is my job to turn you into part of the army of King UmKrar. I will make you want to serve, even beg to serve, to follow the orders of all goblins without question and without hesitation." He waved his hand, indicating the boy upon whom he stood, who knelt on all fours in the mud silently, without complaint.

Duncan felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, scared of what might be coming. What had been done to these boys to break them, to make them so obedient to the pocket-sized goblins?

PelKaar then jumped down to the ground and the boy ceased being a stage and stood once more, looking no less fearsome than before despite have been used as a step.

The goblin began chanting then, a stream of words that made no sense to Duncan. They had to be in a different language. It had a primeval sound to it, containing a lot of grunts and throaty noises. But it was a rhythmic sound, the chanting seeming to repeat, but changing in pace. Duncan noticed Oli, stood next to him, beginning to sway in time with the chanting. A quick look showed that Charlie and Finn were also swaying. Then PelKaar threw a handful of sand or dust or something into Charlie's face, never stopping his chanting. Charlie didn't flinch, didn't even seem to notice. He was stood up and swaying, but there was little other indication that he was conscious. The same happened with Finn and Oli.

Duncan began to notice a burning feeling on his chest, like a tiny point of increasing heat on the skin, a little below his neck. It seemed to be getting warmer. He knew then that he was seeing magic, goblin magic, like the other boys that had visited earlier had mentioned. But the magic didn't seem to be affecting him the same way as the other three. Then he noticed that one of the two warrior-boys that had accompanied the goblin was watching him suspiciously and he realized that being the 'odd one out' wasn't likely to lead to good things. So Duncan let his eyes droop and began to sway in time with the other boys.

PelKaar continued his chanting and moved slowly and steadily down the line towards Duncan, using the dust on each boy. When it was finally Duncan's turn, it was taking most of his concentration to ignore the burning feeling on his chest, a point of heat that surely must be singeing the skin. When the goblin threw the pinch of dust at Duncan, suddenly that point of heat intensified, like a white-hot pebble resting on his chest. Surely by now there was no skin left and it was beginning to burn through the bones of his chest. But Duncan kept from screaming out, a feat of will-power that he might never match, even keeping his eyes almost closed and, amazingly, even remembering to continue the rhythmic swaying.

Then the burning was gone. The chanting, too, was absent. The goblin, was done. He was already walking away and called almost absently back to his two guards, "Snap them out of it – we're done for the first day."

The two guards stepped forward without hesitation, following orders without thought. They slapped each of the boys in the face. Hard enough to bruise, but not any harder. It snapped the other three out of the trance into which they had fallen. Duncan saw the blow coming and rode it out a little, so it wasn't such a damaging blow and took it as his cue to begin acting normally. Then the guards walked away, leaving the four boys with little idea of what was going on.

As soon as the goblin and his two guards were out of sight, Duncan lifted the front of his shirt away from his skin and peered down to inspect the damage, sure that he would find a hole burned into his chest, down to the bone, if not deeper.

There was no damage at all, not even a mild red mark. However, the ring that he wore on a chain around his neck, out of sight – the ring his grandfather had given his at the same time that he had given him that ridiculous stick of a 'wand' – it was cleaner and shinier than it had ever been, like it just come from a shop rather than worn at his neck for more than a year.

Duncan began to wonder if all those stories grandfather had told them about being the descendants of a powerful wizard, Merlin, could be true after all.

# Chapter Seven

Ellie stood very still, her eyes transfixed on the sight before her. Her vision was filled with the strangely haunting sight of a beautiful world that was not her own. She felt very aware that she was an alien here. It wasn't just the fairies warily approaching as they watched her with interest and confusion. The sky was an ivory colour, nothing like the blue sky of home. There were trees everywhere, or at least she thought they were trees for they appeared to have wooden trunks and many leaves but they appeared more organised and more aware than any trees she had seen before. Some were so huge that she could see enormous trunks that went upwards without giving her any idea how high, obscured by the branches and leaves of other trees. Yet none of them seemed to intrude on any other, as if they were being considerate of one another. She felt like they too were watching her, even though the giant plants had no faces.

Rayk hovered in front of her, nervously attempting to get her to follow him. But Ellie needed a moment to take it all in. The grass seemed to sway in a gust of wind, flowing all together, but Ellie couldn't feel any movement in the air. There were fairies everywhere, as if this was an important place for them, yet Ellie could see no buildings. More fairies kept appearing, drawn by the commotion that Ellie's appearance was causing. Rayk began calling out, attempting to reassure the forming crowd, "It's alright, she's with me," and, "She's a friend, a descendent of Merlin." The name Merlin seemed to cause a bit of a stir.

The growing sea of hovering fairies suddenly split, a rift appearing through which a trio of fairies glided confidently. While Ellie found it difficult to guess how old any of the fairies were, most with features that appeared ageless, these three did seem older somehow. Or perhaps just wiser. For a moment, Ellie wondered whether the two things were different. Their title seemed to confirm it, as Rayk whispered urgently in her ear, "These are the Elders."

There was no time to ask any questions about the trio as they glided forward, floating to a stop just an arm's reach away from Ellie. They calmly assessed her, with frequent glances towards the wand that remained tightly clutched in her hand. The Elders appeared to be two female fairies and a male. They had faint wisps of grey or white in their hair, and the male had a bushy set of grey eyebrows, but they had no wrinkles and looked no less agile that any of the other fairies present. They did however make slower, more controlled movements and seemed less awed by Ellie's presence.

"It has been over a thousand years since a human walked among fairies in our lands," stated one of the female fairy Elders. This one was shorter than the other, perhaps looking a little older with silvery white hair that fell to her waist, and a plain dress. Ellie wasn't sure if she was addressing her, or Rayk, or one of the other Elders, or perhaps even musing to herself.

The other female Elder, the taller one, wore her hair intricately bound in weaves around her head with a streak of grey at the front. Her dress, a rich purple, had more adornment and her voice, when she spoke, was more powerful. "Rayk, this is the human girl of whom you spoke?" she asked an anxious looking Rayk. She didn't wait for an answer. "This is not the course of action to which we agreed," she noted in a disapproving tone. It was a stark contrast to the tones of excitement and curiosity coming from the crowd that was slowly pressing closer.

Before Rayk had a chance to prepare a response the male Elder spoke, "Welcome, descendent of Merlin." Things seemed to be going so fast that Ellie didn't realize that the wizened fairy was talking to her. It was only when Rayk hovered very close and gave a tiny jab with his pointy elbow that she thought to answer.

"Um, thank you, Mr... um ... Mr... Elder." Ellie didn't know what to call the fairies. "I want to rescue my brother from the goblins," she blurted out in explanation of her presence in their strange land.

The Elder smiled at her and he said "My name is Dayn. This is Varl, the Eldest," he introduced the shorter, older looking female Elder, then indicated the other, more fancily adorned Elder, "and this is Purst."

"Hello," she greeted, feeling slightly embarrassed at so much attention. "I'm Ellie. Ellie Merlson," she gave her own name in return.

Varl, introduced as the Eldest, looked around at the increasing size of the crowd that clamoured around them. "Come Ellie, we will go and discuss things somewhere more peaceful. Follow me to the Elder's Clearing," the tiny fairy said in a soft voice that was still heard very clearly. The other two Elders appeared to nod their agreement and all three began to drift back, still watching Ellie, yet the crowd behind them split apart to make way.

Ellie looked to Rayk for advice, but he was watching the Elder's intently, apparently not sure of something. A look of relief appeared on his face when Purst spoke to him, her carefully embroidered clothes seeming to be unaffected by the air movements that her fluttering wings must be making. "You too, Rayk." His look of relief slid a little when she added, "You have some explaining to do."

When Ellie failed to move, Rayk flitted close and gave her a tiny shove before landing to rest on her shoulder. She began to move in the direction the three Elders were drifting. Rayk began whispering in her ear, which tickled at first but she quickly became used to it.

"These Elders are our leaders. The Three Elders have led the fairy people since King Farayd was killed in the Goblin War, almost two-thousand years ago. That was in the time of your ancestor, Merlin. He helped end the Goblin War." Ellie listened carefully, enthralled. It was so much to take in, that there was a whole other world that human's didn't know about, with its own races, who had a long and complex history of their own. "I mean not these Elders, exactly, but always a council of three. Varl, is the Eldest and has been on the council the longest, but only about one-hundred-and-twenty years or thereabouts."

"Over a hundred years!?" Ellie gasped, astonished. How can she be that old? wondered Ellie, before she realized that Varl has been on the council of Elders for that long. "How old is she then," she whispered back, trying to be a little more subtle. Rayk looked momentarily horrified at the question, but, attempted to explain. "It's very rude for someone as young as me to ask something like that, but at a guess, I think Varl is probably about nine-hundred years old. It is said she is one of the oldest fairies in our history. Dayn is the next oldest alive, but he is not even eight-hundred years old." Ellie's mouth hung open in disbelief. How could anything live so long? she thought. Then a further question occurred to her, "How old are you Rayk?"

The youthful looking fairy raised an eyebrow at her, before answering quietly, "I am sixty-one years old, barely old enough to have qualified as a Tooth-Fairy."

Ellie didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. The fairy riding on her shoulder, with his boyish charm and an uncertainty about him, was old enough to be her grandfather. Each thing she learned made the Ivory Realm seem all the more alien.

As they followed the Elders through the forest, past trees so enormous that Ellie was sure nothing like them existed in her own world, they left the crowd of curious fairies behind. They still saw some fairies, amongst the branches of the trees. Ellie even thought that she saw one disappear into a hole in one enormous trunk and completely different fairy emerge a moment later. None attempted to follow them to wherever they were going.

Seeming slightly uncomfortable with the silence, and perhaps the sedate pace set by the Elders, Rayk spoke again, still whispering into her ear in a tickly fashion, "Purst manages the Fairy-Dust industry, including all Tooth-Fairies, so she is my boss. Dayn manages food production and collection. Varl is the head of education and magic. Any major decisions that affect all fairies must be agreed by at least two of the three." Ellie nodded along, remaining quiet as she absorbed the information. Rayk continued speaking as they walked deeper into the alien forest. "We are going to the Elder's Clearing. It is a sacred place, where the most important fairy matters are contemplated and decided. I have only been once before, when I graduated the Tooth-Fairy Academy and Purst promoted be to be a probationary Tooth-Fairy. We are nearly there – you'll be able to see it soon."

Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, a sun-bathed clearing came into view, the bright light breaking through the thick canopy of the enormous trees surrounding it to reveal a grassy meadow with an enormous rock platform in the centre. To one side of the meadow was a small herd of deer, but they were not like any deer Ellie had ever seen. They were small deer, about half of the size of the ones she had seen in her own world, but still considerably larger than the diminutive fairies. However, that was not what made them so alien looking. Their fur was silver and shone in the sunlight. Most magnificent of all was the stag, with antlers that looked like they were made of gold, almost blinding in their radiance as they reflected the light. As the Elders entered the clearing ahead of Ellie, the deer looked nervous, but they remained still. Dayn split off and gently glided over to the herd, to land lightly on the one of the stag's golden antlers. He appeared to whisper something to the animal before he again launched into the air and re-joined the other two Elders as they settled on the stone plinth. As Ellie entered the clearing with Rayk still resting on her shoulder, the herd looked at her, considering, then turned as one and bounded out of the clearing and disappeared.

The Elders, stood on the stone plinth in the centre of the clearing, were clearly waiting for her. She obliged by walking carefully to stand on the grass before them and wait patiently.

It was Varl, the Eldest, that spoke. "Ellie, it would appear that your family line has a destiny that is intertwined with that of all fairy-kind. In the life of your ancestor, Merlin, there was a time of great turmoil and change in our world. Fairies lived under the rule of King Farayd. He was a good king and we fairies prospered. However, the goblins also had a King, who was not quite so good. Like most goblins, he was warlike and ruthless. It is quite normal for the goblin clans to fight among themselves, but the Goblin King at that time was a very strong and harsh king and soon the goblins had stopped fighting amongst themselves, fearful of the punishments that he would deliver. With the Goblin Hordes unified and obedient under his rule, he turned his attention to the fairy lands, invading, crossing the Colossus Mountains, which separate our lands. We fairies had little choice but to go to war and hold back the raging Horde." Varl was speaking in a very solemn tone, recounting the history of her race.

Ellie slowly nodded, not sure of what to say and still clueless about how her great, great, great...how many greats?...great, great grandfather was involved. Varl continued her story, "Fairies are a peaceful race and war is not something we are good at. At first we took heavy losses and the Goblin King and his Horde progressed into the fairy lands. But we learned quickly, adapting our spells and using magic in ways that it should not be used. Soon we were holding our own, but couldn't push them back. They were dug in amid the swampy lands at the southern edge of the mountains. While leading a foolhardy attack into the heart of the Horde's camp, King Farayd was mortally injured. He was a young King and was dying without an heir. In what he said was a vision, he said that the three eldest, wisest fairies should lead fairy-kind until a new King or Queen showed their worthiness. The first Trident of Elders was brought before him and he died shortly after, in their presence. The very next day, your ancestor Merlin appeared in the Ivory Realm."

Varl paused, watching Ellie for any reaction, perhaps wondering if Ellie already knew the story. But it was all new and fascinating to the girl. Excited to know more, Ellie asked, "How did he get there?"

Dayn picked up the narrative, speaking slowly and giving time for each word to be considered. "Merlin was a mysterious man and he liked to keep secrets. We knew very little about him, but he offered help in our war, for which we were very grateful. With new kinds of magic – human magic – he helped us push back the Goblin Horde. He helped us in other ways also, such as setting up the agreement for humans to leave their used teeth under their pillows, which made tooth collection much easier for the Tooth-Fairies," he said, nodding towards Rayk as he did so. Ellie had never thought about why people put their fallen-out teeth under their pillows, or when they might have started doing it. It was very strange and amazing to think that her ancestor had organised the beginning of that tradition, to the benefit of a race that most people thought were just a myth.

Dayn continued, "Your ancestor was a Fuman, the hybrid son of a human mother and a fairy father – a fairy that had an unusual ability to change his size. Merlin is the only known Fuman hybrid to have ever been born. Each of the greater species have their own type of magic, but Humans do not appear to know how to use theirs. However, the fairy part of Merlin appeared to awake the human magic in him and he learned to use both parts. It is assumed that his father taught him to use fairy magic, but it is a mystery how he learned human magic. Perhaps he taught himself. We can sense magic in you, but Rayk tells us that you do not know magic. We can try to guide you, but you may have to learn your Human magic yourself."

The Fairy-Elder, with his bushy grey eyebrows, was assuming that Ellie wanted to learn magic. Or does he believe I need to learn magic? Curious, she asked, "What do I need to learn magic for? I just want to find my brother and take him home."

Dayn looked surprised and disappointed at the statement, but it was Purst that spoke next "The timing of your arrival does not feel like a coincidence. No human – or Fuman – has entered the fairy lands for many human generations, since Merlin arrived during the time of the Goblin Horde and helped us defeat it. Now, you arrive, and..." The elegantly dressed fairy looked at Rayk for a moment, seeming unsure of whether to continue, but then she decided, "A new Goblin King has risen and a new Horde, made up of goblins and a new threat – Human soldiers – is ravaging the goblin lands, conquering the goblin clans, one by one"

Rayk gasped on Ellie's shoulder before launching into the air and hovering before the Elders. "A King?! I'd heard some rumours, but everyone thinks it's just one of the clans using the human soldiers to settle some old scores against the other clans. Why have you kept this from us?" he demanded of Purst.

But it was Varl, with her calm and quiet demeanour, that answered. "The news that UmKrar, chieftain of the Moktar Mountain Clan, had crowned himself only reached us two days ago – the very same day that a Tooth-Fairy returned from duty with the news of finding Merlin's Wand in the hand of one of his descendants. It seems that the Fates are playing games with our futures and we have not yet worked out what to do. And that, dear Ellie, would be why you must learn magic. Your destiny is tied to ours, and it can be only a matter of time before this new Goblin King turns his attention to our lands, and it would seem that we may need your help."

"How long, do you think?" asked Rayk, with a tone of both fear and urgency.

Varl looked at Rayk and Ellie, then shrugged, "We cannot be sure. UmKrar has been using human soldiers for over ten years, and has conquered about half of the goblin clans. It may take another ten years to conquer the remaining clans. But as his power and his armies grow, it may take less time, perhaps only a year or two. However, we also received some interesting and hopefully good news from the Fairy-Intelligence-Bureaux, passed on from one of the Explorer-Fairies. The remaining goblin clans, those not conquered by UmKrar have formed an alliance. Hopefully, standing together, they can defeat him – or at least slow him down. So, hopefully Ellie will have years to learn magic, and we fairies will have time to train an army." The last was said very gravely. Apparently, the fairies did not have an army, and were reluctant to change that.

Suddenly terrified of what these fairies – and their entire civilization might need of her – Ellie began to feel light-headed. "You've been practising magic for hundreds of years. I'll let you use the wand if you want," she offered, before asking, "Why would you need me?"

Varl gave her a motherly look, seeming apologetic as she began her explanation. "Each race has its own type of magic. Fairy magic is very nurturing, centred around aiding life. Goblin magic is Elemental, they have great power over things like rock and metal. Human magic we know little about, and no living fairy has seen it used, but our histories describe it as 'Chaotic'. However it might be described, Human magic is far more powerful than fairy magic when used as a weapon," she said it with a sadness that showed she didn't look forward to seeing magic used in such a way.

# Chapter Eight

Duncan lay on the ground in his tent, thinking hard. His new companions, Charlie, Oli and Finn, were all asleep around him. They had been ordered to go to sleep, and so they had, instantly. They didn't appear to have much choice, such was the grip of the goblin magic over them. Since PelKaar had cast spells on them all yesterday, the three hapless boys had done everything they were told, without thought. Duncan had also been following every order without hesitation, making sure that no-one realized that he wasn't under the control of the magic, while he tried to think of what to do. But it had been a long hard day, with little time to rest or think. PelKaar or one of his minions had had them practise marching, learning to use a sword or stand and pretend to fight in a line over and over again throughout the whole day. They barely had time for the tasteless and measly meals served between sessions. Duncan was exhausted and every muscle ached, but he needed to stay awake a little longer, needed time to think.

Duncan was sure that the ring that he wore on a chain around his neck had somehow protected him against the goblin magic. Charlie, Oli and Finn were all definitely not pretending to be under the spell; sometimes if they were left alone for a few minutes, the boys would begin to come round, to be able to think again. They would begin to have their own thoughts, maybe talk about something – food or football or video games or something mundane. But one of the first orders they had been given after the spell was to 'never try to escape'. Now, when Duncan tried to discuss the possibility with them, they just stared at him, seeming unable to comprehend what he was suggesting. They just had no interest in escaping. So Duncan was left with little choice but to attempt it on his own. But it didn't feel right, leaving these boys here, knowing they would be forced to fight and possibly die in some goblin war that they really knew nothing about. It was such a difficult decision.

He began to convince himself that, if he did manage to escape on his own, he could find help and come back and rescue the other boys. But the 'if' seemed ever bigger the more he thought about it. He was not just in a strange place, he seemed to be in a strange 'world' with no idea of how he got there, or how he might get back. As far as 'finding help' might go, he had no idea if there was anyone – or anything – that might be willing to help him in this world. Without the measly food the goblin's gave him he would soon starve, for he no idea what things in this world might be edible.

Duncan began to debate if he should give the ring to one of the boys, to see if it would release them from the spell. But he was scared that if he gave it up, the spell that the goblin cast on him would start to take effect and he would lose control of his own life, like the others had. But do I have to take it off? He suddenly thought, exhaustion making his thoughts come slowly, as they increasingly had for the last two days. What if I just touch them with it? Would that break the spell?

Excited by a possible way to help his friends, but still fearful of losing the ring's protection, Duncan slipped his finger through the ring before lifting it and the chain he wore it on over his head. He then shuffled closer to Charlie, glancing around to make sure that there was no-one that might see that he wasn't asleep, against orders. Then he gently touched the ring against Charlie's arm.

Nothing seemed to happen. How do I know if it has worked? Duncan needed to find out if Charlie was free of the spell. He shook Charlie's arm, trying to wake him, but got no response. He poked him in the ribs, but still nothing. Is he asleep because of the spell? Or because of genuine exhaustion? Duncan didn't have the faintest idea how magic worked. So he pinched Charlie. Then he pinched him even harder. It wasn't working. Touching him with the ring hadn't worked. But Duncan needed it to work. He touched the ring to Charlie's arm again and began to concentrate, trying to imagine how a spell might look or feel. And something strange began to happen. Duncan thought that he could see a curious green glow coming from Charlie. He blinked his eyes several times, trying to clear the tiredness from them, but the glow remained. Then he thought that he could see it emanating from Finn and Oli too.

Duncan felt like he was close to something, and that green glow was what he had to target. He began to imagine pushing the glow with his mind, pushing it out of Charlie. Duncan could almost feel his mind pushing against something. It was solid and smooth, not budging. He explored it with his mind, focusing through the ring. Then he found something – a tiny crack in the brick wall that was somehow caging Charlie. He scrabbled at it, trying to widen it. Then he began to strike at it, slamming the weight of his thoughts towards it. Several more times he lifted his mind back and upwards, rearing away from the magical wall that encased Charlie, before slamming it down, aiming it into that crack. Then, tired like he had never been tired before, he felt at the crack again. Yes! It's wider, and deeper! It's working! Duncan felt elated, like he might really be able to save his friends from a doomed fate of slavery, war and death.

With a fresh sense of purpose lending him energy, Duncan raised the weight of his mind up again, ready to bring it smashing down towards the crack in the prison that he could sense encasing his friend. But as he held it, poised, he felt like he could mould it, shape his will into something better, more dangerous. So, as he imagined the power of his own mind gathered in the air above himself, he began to shape it, to draw out the front into a point, to concentrate the weight behind that point. When he felt like he had forged a giant pick-axe that was becoming difficult to hold, he slammed it down, focussing all that energy, all that Will into the crack in the walls that imprisoned Charlie's mind. When the weapon of Duncan's mind smashed into the wall, it shuddered. Duncan shuddered too. But he felt shards of the prison walls explode past him, leaving a crack in the green glow around Charlie, and the boy began to stir from the magic induced sleep.

Duncan watched, waiting and hoping, but after a few movements and grunts, Charlie was still asleep. While the crack was clearer now, much bigger, the wall still held Charlie. So Duncan focussed his mind once more. It was easier this time, quicker too. The thought blade slammed down, but this time Duncan held it in its shape, lifting it and smashing it into the crack again and again, becoming frenzied with the weapon which now felt like an axe of golden light being wielded by him against the green magic of the goblin, PelKaar.

Then the green glow exploded away from Charlie. Duncan almost felt dirty, like bits of the evil magic had hit him and might have stuck to his clothes. It had come as a shock to Duncan, who felt out of breath, even though all the axe-wielding had been done in his mind – his body had barely moved. Now Charlie was awake and wide-eyed, staring at Duncan and looking like he didn't really know what was going on.

Charlie suddenly reached out and pinched Duncan's arm, hard. "Ow!" yelped Duncan, barely remembering to keep his voice low as the noise slipped out. "What did you do that for?" he demanded.

"You pinched me while I was asleep!" explained Charlie defiantly. But he still seemed to be trying to work out what was happening, and what had happened. "I remember you pinching my arm, but I couldn't wake up. I was trapped, in my own body. I remember things, but it all seems like a dream – or a nightmare really – since that goblin lined us up. I haven't really been with it. I.... did you save me Duncan? How did you save me?"

Duncan was taken aback. That was a lot of information mixed with several questions. So, they are aware of what is going on, but still have to do what they're told, even when they don't want to. It was a terrifying thought, to be trapped like that. Duncan suddenly felt enormous gratitude to his grandfather and the ring that he had been given. He attempted to explain it, "My grandfather gave me this ring. When PelKaar was casting spells on us, it felt like it was getting hot. I think it is magic, and it protected me. Then I figured out how to use it to break you free."

Charlie's mouth hung open. "You mean that you used magic? And you freed me from that .... that... that HELL!" he spat out the word, but had taken the hint from Duncan and kept his voice hushed. Becoming aware of the other two sleeping boys around him he asked in an urgent tone, "Can you free them too?"

# Chapter Nine

Duncan let out a breath he hadn't been aware that he was holding and looked at the sleeping forms of Oli and Finn. He was more tired than he had known it was possible to be. He'd had a long day, keeping up with the physically draining practices and exercises that the goblin, PelKaar, demanded of them. That had been supplemented with limited food and no sleep yet. Then the experience of using the ring to free Charlie had taken a level of concentration that had taken him close to complete mental exhaustion, on top of the physical exhaustion. But, knowing that he had the power to free them from their magical prisons, he couldn't leave them to that fate any longer. He nodded, the movement making his neck ache. Then he squirmed slowly closer to Finn, close enough to reach out and touch Finn's ankle.

Once more he felt around that magical wall, looking for any crack or blemish. There was no crack this time, but there was a point where it felt thinner, so that was where he worked. There was no clumsy smashing his mind flat against the wall this time. From the first, he shaped his will into a dense, sharp point, a dangerous pick-axe with which to attack. Again and again he raised his thoughts up, shaped them into an ever finer point and smashed it down, always aiming at the same spot. Duncan had no idea of how long it was taking, but it did not feel like a fast process. He got into a rhythm, five blows then stop and feel for progress. It was slow in coming, but eventually that thinner section began to feel like a crack in the magical wall that held Finn's consciousness captive. More and more hits and the crack grew. The magical barrier was beginning to crumble around that crack.

Duncan felt he was close, that Finn would soon be able to think for himself again, when he was dragged up to the real world by Charlie shaking his arm and urgently whispering into his ear, "Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, something is happening! I don't know what, it doesn't seem normal. You have to hurry up, free them! Duncan, can you hear me?"

There was fear and panic in Charlie's voice, but for them this was a world that had only fear and panic to offer. Duncan had to free them and find a way to get them all back to their own world, to their families. But he was so tired, he struggled to form words to answer Charlie. "I'm close," he managed to croak, "Just another minute." He didn't wait to hear Charlie's response, throwing his mind at Finn's prison once or, twice more, feeling desperate. Then that gratifying feel of the magic shattering once more came in a burst. The backlash was like a slap in the face that made Duncan feel awake for a moment, although exhaustion made his thoughts slow, his mind groggy.

It was still night, but there was now movement and noise all over the camp. Charlie was right, something was going on, something that didn't seem like it was a common occurrence in the camp. There were orders being shouted, and teenage boys under the spells of the goblins leapt to obey.

Finn sat up, his eyes wide in astonishment, but he had no time to say or do anything as a goblin appeared and shouted an order at them, "Everyone, wake up and report to the West-Gate of the camp!" The voice of this goblin was shriller than the croaky voice of PelKaar, but it had the same result. The goblin didn't wait to check that his orders were being followed and moved on towards the next tent, confident that he would be obeyed without thought. Oliver, still firmly under the grip of PelKaar's magic, snapped his eyes open instantly and leapt to his feet. Charlie reacted quickly, throwing himself to catch Oli's foot, even as Oli attempted to spring into a run towards the West Gate. Oli fell to the floor, with Charlie still gripping his foot and calling to Duncan, "Quick, you have to free him too!"

Duncan was so tired, he could barely keep his eyes open, struggling to bring himself to move forward and attempt to place his hand on Oli, to make contact with the ring. But it was futile. Charlie had a poor grip on Oli, who was the biggest of them all and was being driven by magic, putting no effort into anything other than obeying the order to report to the West Gate. Before Duncan could do anything useful, Oli had shaken free of Charlie and burst into a sprint into pre-dawn gloominess.

Charlie stared after Oli, open mouthed, and Finn solemnly looked around at them. Even Finn, his mind freshly released from a mental prison, knew that they had just watched their friend sprint off to a life of magic-enforced slavery, war and death.

But, thought Duncan, we are free, and we will do what we can to save him. To save all of slave-soldiers! Against every wish of his exhausted mind and body, Duncan forced himself to his feet. Battling against dizziness, he extended his hands towards his two remaining friends, and helped them to their feet. "We've got a lot to do," he told them. They nodded, knowing that if they failed to take this chance at breaking free of the goblins, there would never be another.

Helping to steady a still-dazed Finn, he whispered to his two friends, "We need to find some food and water, and then sneak out of the camp." Charlie nodded vigorously, eager to be away from the goblins. Finn struggled to think for a moment before quietly saying, "I think I know where they keep the food. One of my errands yesterday was to help get the gruel that they feed us. It's a bit like a hazy dream, but I think I can find it again." Duncan urged Finn to lead the way, while keeping an eye out for any goblins.

The three boys, scared and desperate, made their way through the dark camp. Teenage boys and their goblin masters, carrying flaming torches, were rushing towards the West Gate and whatever might be happening there. Finn led them across that path. They were noticeable because they took a different path from everyone else, so they hid in shadows and waited until no-one was coming as they sneaked between rows of tents and small, ramshackle wooden huts.

A relieved look spread across Finn's face as he saw a shed-like structure and he whispered to Duncan and Charlie, "That's it. That is where the food is kept. I don't think it is locked."

Duncan imagined it wouldn't be locked as it was unlikely that anyone had ever had the free-will to think of stealing food before. The camp was quieter now, less movement. Probably everyone had already reported to the gate. The boys darted over to the food-store, swung the door open and slipped inside. It was dark inside and the boys had no light. But fearful of being recaptured, they needed to be quick. "Grab whatever food you can carry – who knows when we'll next be able to get food." So the three of them started searching in the gloomy shed, feeling for any food that felt familiar.

"I found some sacks," Charlie whispered out excitedly, as he handed sacks to Duncan and Finn. The three of them then started stuffing their sacks full of whatever seemed like it might be edible.

With as much food supplies as they could carry, they exited the food store and dashed into what looked like a less used hut nearby. When they entered that, they discovered racks of weapons. In their short time they had been put through a very basic lesson with spear and sword, barely learning more than how to hold the weapons. Thinking as fast as his exhausted mind would allow, Duncan spoke to his friends, "We should take a weapon each. We might need them." Duncan picked up a sword. Finn also picked up a sword, but after almost stabbing himself with it as he tried to slide it into a scabbard, he put it down and picked up a spear. Charlie, meanwhile, was perusing the bows, testing a few. Then he seemed to settle on one and picked up a quiver of arrows that rested nearby, slinging it over his shoulder.

"You ever used one of those?" Duncan asked his friend.

"Actually, my dad is really into archery and he made me learn. I never liked it. It always seemed silly learning something that would never be useful. Now I wish I'd taken it more seriously," replied Charlie.

Finn snorted at the madness of the situation, asking, "You mean you didn't foresee being kidnapped by goblins and having to survive in another world with nothing but a spear or a bow?"

"We have to try to get out of the camp," Duncan said, "Hopefully, since everyone has gone to the West Gate, we might be able to sneak out of one of the other gates."

Duncan barely saw their nods of agreement in the darkness, but they moved towards the door with him. They stepped out of the armoury hut, and moved through the camp towards the North Gate, which was the nearest.

They turned a corner and came face to face with a goblin, flanked by four armed teenage human soldiers. All were bigger and older than Duncan, and looked like they knew how to use the swords they carried. Duncan knew they couldn't win any fight here and he panicked, not knowing which direction to run. But the goblins and soldiers didn't look concerned. The goblin looked at their sacks and asked "You were sent to get supplies? Who by? I was sent to collect the supplies. Oh, it doesn't matter! Quickly, you three, come to the Westgate with us," and he pointed, ushering them.

The goblin expected any human it came across to obey it unconditionally, and Duncan knew they had to obey to keep it secret that they were no longer under the control of PelKaar's magic. So he quickly headed the way the goblin pointed, shoving Finn and Charlie to make them go too – they were not practised in pretending to be under magical control.

The goblin and his daunting soldiers followed closely. What am I doing? Duncan kept asking himself. He needed to escape, but here he was being shepherded towards a massing army of goblins and their mindless soldiers who would kill him the moment they realized he wasn't under their power.

When they reached the West-Gate, it was well lit and Duncan could hear the sound of lots of people, but they weren't in the camp. So he headed on through, leading the party of his two friends and their escort.

Outside the camp was a sea of grass. Massed on it were neat rows of teenage soldiers, with their goblin commanders giving orders. One row at a time the soldiers were led through some sort of magical Portal, a glowing green disc that floated just an inch above the ground. The soldiers were armed and looked ready for battle.

The goblin trailing the three boys directed them to join a row of soldiers. So, not wanting to blow their cover, they did.

When the goblin moved away, content that he had done his job, Duncan whispered to the unknown teenage boy in front of him, "What's going on?"

The boy gave a confused look, as if he wasn't used to being asked questions. But the goblins obviously hadn't forbidden talking as he answered as soon as he was over that initial confusion. "We're taking part in some sort of surprise attack. Apparently it's a new enemy – Fairies! Forces are being sent from camps all across King UmKrar's lands. We are next."

We really are next, Duncan realized, with no time to digest the new information that fairies also existed in this world. The row started moving toward the Portal. Duncan shot a nervous look back at Charlie and Finn, but could do nothing but shrug and begin to move with the row of soldiers. There were hundreds of soldiers and goblins, on both sides of the Portal. But perhaps a battle would present more opportunity for escape. Or I could get killed, he understood, but tried to keep that thought buried as he didn't really have many options right then.

Following the boys before him, Duncan leapt through the green-glowing portal, into the unknown.

# Chapter Ten

Ellie felt a bit nervous to have left her own world, but more than that she felt excited learned that she had arrived in the Ivory Realm in their late afternoon, despite leaving her own world in the night. So she spent time talking to Rayk and had a stream of curious fairies visiting, introducing themselves and asking a quick question or two before Rayk would politely ask them to give her some time and space. Ellie was eager to begin a search for her brother, but she had gained very little sleep in her own world's night and was hungry and had no idea where she was or where she should go. So she was at the mercy of Rayk and the Elders, who had told her that they would contact the F.I.B – Fairy-Intelligence-Bureaux – and hope to arrange to meet them in the morning.

When dinner was brought it was a sort of roasted mushroom with lots of fruit. Ellie really enjoyed it, but felt guilty when Rayk pointed out that the amount she had eaten in one meal would have fed a fairy for almost a year. But he also assured her that food was abundant in the forest and there would be no shortage.

When the sun set, the forest did not grow dark, it was just lit in a different manner. Some plants seemed to glow, and a swarm of glowing insects appeared in the night. They moved as if dancing and Ellie saw a couple of fairies flit up and join the insects in their dancelike patterns of movement. Eerie music seemed to filter through the night, although she could not tell where it was coming from.

Everything around her seemed magical, yet it wasn't until bedtime that Ellie saw magic being used directly since Rayk had made the Portal to bring her here. The fairies slept up in the trees somewhere, but Ellie couldn't fly up. Realizing that Ellie had no bed, the fairies still present had a quick discussion before they each reached into the pouches that they wore at their waists and took out a pinch of Dust. Rayk whispered a single word to her, "Watch."

And the small group of fairies began to circle a tree. It wasn't one of the enormous trees, but it was at least as big as her house, with trunks and branches that looked strong and unyielding. But as the fairies seemed to sing to the trees, tracing Dust-coated fingers along the bark, the tree began to change shape. The huge living organism was moulding itself to their will. One huge branch seemed to swoop down and around the trunk, turning itself into a spiralling staircase. Other, higher branches began to interweave themselves into basket-like structure, just right for a ten-year-old girl to lie in. Then, before her eyes, from the small branches that lined the basket, new soft green shoots burst forth to form a lush, living mattress. Ellie felt a tear roll down her face, as she felt such gratitude for the fairies and the tree for accommodating her in this way and a fearful thought for her how her older brother might be faring in this strange world, without the help of friends like these. Feeling tired and emotional, Ellie bade the fairies goodnight and ascended into the tree and her living bed.

She hadn't slept properly for two nights now and was drained. As she lay in the bed, the branches seemed to mould themselves to her body, becoming very comfortable, almost as if the tree itself was hugging her, welcoming her. In the tree's embrace, Ellie quickly fell into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

Rayk felt like he had barely wrapped himself in his wings and closed his eyes when something woke him. There was noise in the forest, at night! The forest was a serene place, particularly at night, so any noise was out of the ordinary. But this wasn't just any noise. This was shouting and screaming. It was getting louder, and closer. Shaking the sleep from himself, Rayk unfolded his wings and dove into the air, unsure where to go. The noise was coming from one direction, which he felt he should investigate. But Ellie had gone to sleep in the other direction and he felt responsible for her, that he should go and check on her as she was not in her own world and didn't really know anyone or anything.

He didn't really have time to decide. The cause of the uproar was moving closer rapidly. That source was definitely not caused by fairies, or anything else that lived in the forest. Rayk knew the sound, from his Tooth-collecting missions. Humans! Human boys!

"We are under attack!" he shouted, to anyone near enough to hear, a stab of fear felt in his stomach. It was the human soldiers of the Goblin-King attacking the heart of the fairy homelands. Then he saw them, the teenage boys charging through the forest waving swords and spears, while goblins rode on the shoulders of some of them, calling orders out. He felt terrified for his people – they were not prepared for an attack.

Rayk knew he had to get to Ellie – whatever happened tonight, in the long term the girl was possibly the fairies' best hope to push the goblin forces back out of fairy lands. Rayk launched into the air, flitting among the branches and leaves, darting past other fairies that were awake and panicked and unsure what to do. The rampaging forces charged through the forest, seeming to look for something to destroy. The fairy way of life meant that they built little, instead coaxing other life-forms to aid them, like trees growing into convenient shapes. But the Great-Trees, at the centre of the fairies' community held many treasures, had taken millennia to become the fairy city-complex that they were. They were enormous, dwarfing the other trees around them. They acted like a beacon, drawing the attacking horde. Fortunately, that was a slightly different direction from where Ellie had gone to sleep.

Rayk could see pockets of fairies forming, rallying against the surprise attack and coaxing trees and plants into the defence of themselves and their home. With guiding thoughts and a touch of fairy magic, tree branches were beginning to swing down and swat at the attacking soldiers. Swat was how it seemed as the branches bent and creaked their way towards the forest floor to sweep towards wild teenage boys who rampaged, hacking at anything within reach with the swords. However, when the cumbersome branches did find a target, there was a crunch of bone as boys were thrown across the forest like dolls. Despite the potential power of the trees, they were slow and not very effective. The trained soldiers of the goblin forces had an big advantage and Rayk could see his friends falling to their horrible weapons. Each time he saw a fairy risking their life, Rayk wanted to stop and help them. But he had to ignore that desire to help his friends and family – he had to get to Ellie.

The tree that had volunteered to be Ellie's bed came into view and Rayk could see that Ellie was awake, sat up in the bed. As he got closer he could see that her eyes were wide with fear. He was flying as fast as he could while having to dodge trees that were beginning to bristle with anger as they felt their brothers and sisters being sliced and smashed with goblin-wrought weapons. Ellie saw Rayk just as he came in to land next to her. Her face flashed a look of relief but it switched back to fear, "What's going on? Are we safe?" she asked timidly.

"The goblins are attacking! The war has begun! And no – we are not safe. We have to get away from here, quickly!" he blurted out hurriedly. She began to climb out of the hammock-like bed the tree had formed around her, but then turned and dove back in. Rayk thought that she had decided to hide in fear, but then he saw that she had left her wand and bag behind. The tree gently cradled it in green vines and lifted it, extending it toward the girl. She took it, offering a polite "Thank you," to the tree.

She was slid down the branches, to the forest-floor. But even as she did so, Rayk saw a horde of boy soldiers rushing in their direction. Ellie saw it too, and screamed at him, "Quick, make a Portal!" Yes, a portal, of course. He reached for his pouch of dust. But it wasn't there. He hadn't picked it up when he had woken up. Without it, he could make a Portal just big enough for himself, but not nearly big enough for Ellie, barely even big enough for one of her hands. "I haven't got my Dust," he told her, angry at himself. "We have to run."

There was no time though. The soldiers were already upon them. Ellie backed up against the tree as five boy-soldiers, two with goblins riding on their shoulders, rushed at them. With no Dust, Rayk could only perform simple spells. He formed a small thought-bubble, containing the concept that it would be a good idea to attack the other boys and attempted to launch it at the lead boy. But it slid off of him, as the boy's mind was already consumed with goblin-magic. So Rayk flew at him, aiming to jab him in the eye. But the boy saw him and swept his shield up. The shield, a solid wall of wood and metal many times heavier than Rayk, caught him. It knocked the air from his body and sent him sailing thought the air to land in a barely conscious heap, unable to stand and struggling to breathe. His dazed mind watched as the boy swung his sword at Ellie, a blow intended to kill as it arced towards her neck. But the skinny girl was quick in her terror, ducking under the blade. The clumsy boy, annoyed at his failure launched a booted foot at the girl, who was less than half his size. It caught her just above the eye, splitting her eyebrow and releasing a trail of blood down the side of her young face.

But Ellie's blood was not the only thing released in that moment. The fear of death, the instinct for survival and the weight of destiny came crashing together in a flash of light that blinded Rayk just as he blurred into unconsciousness.

# Chapter Eleven

Ellie's world spun as the boy's boot caught her eyebrow. Afraid that the next swing of the blade might bring her death, Ellie jabbed fearfully at the boy. Her wand was in her hand, clutched tightly, and she aimed its point at the violent boy's stomach. The result was far more spectacular than she could have imagined. Instead of the boy being mildly discomforted by a twig-like bone being poked at him by a puny ten-year-old girl, the muscular teenage boy was struck by lightning. But the lightning did not come from the sky; it came from Ellie, through the wand. It bridged the space to the next boy, launching both boys into the air with screams. The remaining three boys, two with goblins perched and directing them, came to a confused halt. Their confident rampage brought to an abrupt end, they stood unsure of what to do. The boys looked apprehensively to the two goblins, who looked from her to each other in shock. From the corner of her vision, which began to turn pink as blood ran into one of her eyes, Ellie saw Rayk crumpled on the floor. She felt anger building up at the goblins and their brainwashed warrior-boys.

One of the goblins screeched something at the lone boy and instantly, with a look of fear on his face, he raised his sword and leapt towards Ellie in an attack. Without thought, Ellie's wand came up at the boy in response to his swinging sword. From the wand she felt a powerful burst of air explode before her, a shockwave that swept toward her enemies. The attacking boy was smashed from his feet, his sword flying free of his hand. The other two boys stumbled as the wall of air hit them and the goblins riding at their shoulders scrambled to stay mounted. The goblins and their human vehicles were running away in fear.

There were three unmoving boys surrounding her, along with one fairy. Ignoring the boys, Ellie rushed over to Rayk. She wasn't sure what had just happened, although a small voice in her mind was whispering to her, Magic! You did magic! She couldn't quite register that, but she knew she had to check on Rayk. She knelt next to the tiny fairy, who had heroically tried to fight off the five boys to protect her. He wasn't moving. One of his wings was crumpled and torn, there was a tiny trail of blood at the corner of his mouth. He looked dead and Ellie felt a surge of rage flow through her. First her brother had been kidnapped by these goblins and now her new friend had been killed.

The combination of intense anger and the feeling of power that still resonated in her took control. The wand felt hot in her hands, eager to be used. She stood and looked around. The forest was noisy. There were violent shouts from teenage boys and screeched orders from goblins directing their soldiers to do more damage and cause more pain. There were screams of fear from fairies and animals. Stood quietly at the edge of it was a ten-year-old girl who was filled with chaotic power that needed a target.

Ellie began to walk, a silent glide towards the noisiest parts of the forest, like a ghost with a blank look in her eyes and an emotional numbness directing her movements.

When she saw anyone holding a sword, or the small figures of goblins with their sharp features and snide looking faces, she released the power that was building in her. It would burst forth in unpredictable ways; lightning bolts, powerful balls of air, small intense whirlwinds, even burning fireballs. Some tried to attack her, to fight back, but they never got close. Soon there were no more enemies, just scared boys and goblins fleeing for their lives and shocked fairies staring at her incredulously. Ellie collapsed in grief and exhaustion.

* * *

Duncan followed the group, with Finn and Charlie close behind. They were trailed by some fearsome looking boys – men really, by the look of them, although the scars and grime made it difficult to tell. There was a goblin with one of them, giving orders. Those orders seemed to be to head towards the tallest trees in the forest, which could be glimpsed occasionally through the foliage above, and destroy anything of interest along the way. Apparently there would be rewards for any boys who managed to kill a fairy. So there were armed boys that mindlessly hacked at plants and trees along the way, and when some fairies eventually came into view there was a flurry of arrows being launched towards the tiny winged creatures, which seemed to dart out of the way easily.

As their troop progressed towards the grove of enormous trees that rose far above the rest of the forest, fairies appeared to become more desperate. They seemed to have magic of their own, for the trees that the fairies touched began to attack the boys. Branches would swing down to swipe at the boys. Vines would creep along the forest floor in an attempt to entangle the boys' ankles. The branches were slow moving, but there were many of them and sometimes they caught a boy. The sound of thick tree branches smashing into the ribs of a boy just a few strides in front of Duncan was sickening. The horrifying screams of another boy could be heard, further ahead, as he was dragged into bushes which also attacked the boy. Duncan was terrified and exhausted and it was taking all his concentration to avoid death, leaving no chance to look for escape opportunities. Even he wanted to kill the fairies, to stop this cruel attack on him and his friends. As the fairies seemed to become more desperate to stop them, they became more reckless, and some of the boys earned their rewards by batting those tiny bodies with whatever weapon they had to hand.

They reached their destination. There were already dozens – maybe even hundreds – of soldier-boys here. They followed the orders of a number of goblins that strolled around them. Here, there were more of the tiny fairy-bodies littering the ground. They had tried to defend this place, and they had failed. There was still some fighting, at the edges, but the goblins and their brain-washed soldiers were in control. The goblin behind Duncan called out orders to look for bags of 'Tooth Dust', whatever that was. But his group split up, going in different directions. This is it! Duncan realized, Our chance to escape! All they had to do was 'search' somewhere that no goblins could see them, then sneak away. With a signal to Charlie and Finn to follow him, he began to move away, in a direction that looked quiet. But there were more soldiers and goblins arriving every minute and finding somewhere suitable to make their break was increasingly difficult.

Then it all began to change. The general air of confidence and victory was disrupted by a ripple of uncertainty. Thunderclaps could be heard, shuddering through the forest, but there were no clouds. Then screams could be heard, human screams of fear, getting closer. Figures began bursting into the area, running scared and shouting of a demon coming, summoned by the fairies. They were talking fast, screaming words that were barely understandable, but they seemed to be claiming that the demon controlled lightning and fire and was coming for them. All of them. The ripple of fear was spreading. It spread to Duncan too, who was already the most scared he had ever been. The screams got closer and the goblins in the area were beginning to look nervous too.

The demon arrived. Boys were thrown across Duncan's view by bolts of lightning. Tongues of flame burst forth, and several boys and even a goblin ran in panicked circles with clothes on fire. Duncan caught a view of the Demon, although from where he stood it looked more like a skinny girl, considerably smaller than himself. But the whirlwind that seemed to form at her hand and speed towards a group of Soldier-boys, before sending them flying into the air to be slammed into tree trunks, that seemed all too real and demonic.

With that, several goblins shouted order to grab any 'Dust' available and retreat back to the Portals. It had an instant effect. Every boy was instantly running at full sprint, away from the Demon. Duncan, driven purely by fear of the Demon that would no doubt kill him long before he had a chance to explain that he was not on the goblins' side, ran too. Charlie and Finn dashed along with him. The Demon pursued them. Lightning reached out with intense white fingers of death to kill more boys around him, but there were so many boys that surely the Demon couldn't get them all. They ran past the trees and plants that were still trying to kill them, and still succeeding occasionally.

Suddenly Duncan hit the ground, but didn't stay there as a vine wrapped around his leg and began to drag him to a certain doom. Finn quickly grabbed one of Duncan's outstretched hands, slowing the journey towards a thorny bush and giving Charlie enough time to swing his sword clumsily at the vine. He clipped the vine, making it loosen its grip on Duncan and stop dragging, but it hadn't let go so Charlie hacked at it again. This time he cut all the way through, and Duncan was free. In that moment, from behind Charlie, Duncan saw a large tree branch sway towards them. With time for nothing else, Duncan grabbed Charlie's ankles and pulled hard, dropping Charlie to the ground and knocking the air from his lungs. But the tree branch narrowly missed them all. They were all alive, for the moment, thanks to each-others' efforts. There was no time for gratitude. There were more plants trying to kill them and the Demon was still coming. They helped each-other to their feet and began running again, following the stream of fearful boys and goblins that fled towards the relative safety of the Portals that would take them back to goblin lands and away from the Demon that was hunting them.

At last a Portal came into view. Duncan could see boys leaping through Portals, most going towards the closest ones. He couldn't remember which had been the one that he had come through, but he knew he didn't want to go through the same one as everyone else. He led Finn and Charlie past a Portal, then past another and another until he reached one that seemed to be the last. While he could no longer hear screams of death, he was scared that the Demon might still be coming. He didn't want to try to reason with a Demon, so he took a deep breath and leapt through the Portal, with his companions following close behind.

I hope you enjoyed the first 30% of

### TOOTH GOBLINS

by

Ash Toroid

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