 
Creation News

By John Handrahan

Editor Jill Handrahan

Copyright to John Handrahan 11 June 2012

All rights reserved

Published at Smashwords 11 June 2012

Creation News table of contents.

Chapter 1 The Wanderer.

Chapter 2 The Cottage.

Chapter 3 The Magic Box.

Chapter 4 Bunnies Galore.

Chapter 5 On The Trail.

Chapter 6 Moldavite City.

Chapter 7 The Dark Side Of Stash

Chapter 8 The Trial.

Chapter 9 The Lost Wood 1000th Annual Ball.

Chapter 10 The Book Of Creation.

Chapter 11 New Beginnings.

Chapter 12 Garbage Beware.

Chapter 13 The Big Dig.

Chapter 14 The Fairy Castle.

Chapter 15 Time To Kill.

Chapter 16 The Escape.

Chapter 17 Return To The Cottage.

Chapter 18 Letters From God.

Chapter 19 Return To Sender.

Chapter 20 The Joys Of Youth.

Chapter 21 All Good Things.

Chapter 22 There Rightful Place.

Chapter 23 The Ruling Bodies.

Chapter 24 The Soul Man.

Chapter 25 Revenge Of The Tala Bunnies.

Chapter 26 Carters Party.

Chapter One -The Wanderer

It was one fine fluffy mellow day, with icing on it, in June 2011. A long long way away, thirty minutes out of Hamilton, close to the Bermuda triangle, the scientific ship Wanderer sailed through choppy waters carrying a small scientific team who were tasked with exploring the surrounding ocean.

Below decks in the ship's mess the team leader, Professor Milliner, prepared her team for the coming weeks of exploration. The five sat in the small homely seating area of the mess holding drinks, each slowly taking in their new home for the coming months. The mess had a small games corner with everything neatly fastened down by bungee straps. One wall held a TV and a briefing whiteboard. There were two doors, one leading to the upper decks and the other to the living quarters. The galley was situated at the side of the mess and the smell of roast beef lingered heavily and rather queasily around the large serving hatch.

Professor Milliner caught and drew the attention of the small team.

"Hello everybody, I know you all know me. Rather than go straight into our heavy work load I thought we would spend the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other and complete a few team building exercises to break the ice a little." Professor Milliner asserted herself over the hum of the ships engines.

"It's not that bad, I have some nice fun exercises. I know some of you haven't done this before. First of all I would like you all to stand up, introduce yourselves and tell us one thing you like about the person next to you. One more thing, err, where you would rather be if you weren't here?" the Professor said looking at Sarah, her protégée.

Sarah stood up finding her sea legs against the gentle rocking of the ships motion. She looked at Kevin Rickman and then addressed the group.

"Hello I'm Sarah Baker, I like your smile," Sarah said, blushing, not knowing quite what to say. I didn't just say that she thought to herself blushing even more furiously.

"I would rather be anywhere else right now," she finished, sitting down covering her red face with her hands. The rest of the group laughed at the inappropriateness of her remark so Professor intervened for Sarah's sake and changed the direction of the exercise.

"I am Professor Wendy Milliner. I like Sarah because she is always honest and I would rather be diving off the Great Barrier Reef," which on reflection didn't help much and the three men with them were smiling like mad.

The groups attention moved to a red-haired male who stopped laughing and started wearing a decidedly worried look with a on his face at being the new centre of attention.

"My name is Gary Fensure, I like your Kings of Leon t-shirt and I haven't got anywhere else I want to be right now," he said, not wanting to explain his online gaming addiction.

"There must be something you would do rather than work Gary?" asked the Professor.

"Yeah, just chilling with my own company and playing online games I suppose," Gary reluctantly replied.

The man with the king of Leon t-shirt now took his turn and looked at the third male who was clean shaven and had a gung ho look to him. He looked him over once and could see by the outdoor clothing and muscles that he worked out and was fitter than he would ever be.

"Hi, Pete Timpson," I like your big knife and I would rather be at Glastonbury right now," smiled the guy The group paused expectantly to see what Kevin said about Sarah.

"I'm Kevin Rickman, I like your smile too and I would rather want to be up the Amazon exploring the tributary rivers," Kevin smiled, looking Sarah straight in the eyes and watching her blush again then taking the opportunity to glance quickly over her slender figure.

"Well that broke the ice!" the Professor intervened quickly. "The first exercise will last one hour. You have to get the egg that I am holding here to the floor without breaking it," she explained, taping the egg to the ceiling of the galley as she spoke. The egg was attached by tape to a piece of string and suspended from the galley ceiling. It was swinging with a slight motion as the ship rode the waves.

"To help you in this task I am giving you thirty pieces of paper, some blue tack, twenty elastic bands and twenty paperclips," the Professor continued.

"How does the egg leave the string?" Gary asked.

"I will cut the string in one hour; I would get on with it if I were you."

"Are we allowed scissors? Or sticky tape?" Kevin asked.

"No, only whatever you have on you. No leaving the room, no cheating," answered the Professor.

They settled down to the task at hand and stared at the egg swinging lazily in the walkway of the galley. They came up with several designs to try and lower the egg to the ground safely but were struggling with the limited supplies of materials. Kevin eventually took out his note pad and tore some more pages out to give them a chance. The Professor watched intently at their interaction to measure them up, see who took charge and to see if there were any personality conflicts.

Finally after thirty minutes they had decided, with Kevin leading the group that they were going to use Gary's design of a cradle with several layers of ripped paper to catch the egg as it dropped. At this point they took another look at the egg which was picking up momentum as the ships motion increased. The rain pelting the decks above increased the ships background roar.

"That's not going to work now, the sea is swinging the egg around too much," Pete stated.

Gary sat and played with the egg, trying to stabilize it a little.

"It will be fine. As soon as the scissors go in it will stabilize it a little." Gary assured the group, who were mid Blue Peter with the cradle.

They were struggling with the movement of the ship and the slightest jolt was making the flimsy design distort. Sarah was getting frustrated with the task and knew what the Professor was doing as she had experienced her teaching before. She got up and made her way over to her mentor which wasn't easy when the boat was moving.

"The sea is a bit rough for this exercise," complained Sarah.

"You have twenty minutes and you know full well it is not about the completion of the task. Now go finish it. I'll check out the weather with the Captain," ordered the Professor heading towards the bridge.

Sarah returned to the group.

"It's no good, she is going to make us finish this," Sarah explained, feeling useless as making things wasn't her forte and her despondent face did not go unnoticed

"We are nearly there, I want to see if it works," said Gary, eagerly looking for acknowledgement.

"All done," said Kevin, poking the strange looking cradle into position. They sat looking at there work with a small but shared sense of accomplishment.

"Drink anyone?" Sarah asked.

Replies came from around the room and she took orders. This was her forte!

An alarm sounded throughout the ship and the intercom screeched to life.

The Captain had ordered everyone into survival suits and life jackets.

"What's that all about then?" Gary asked.

"Standard procedure in bad weather or if a storm is coming, is to get everyone in suits and life jackets. Nothing to worry about," Kevin said.

The men went to their cabins, found their survival suits and life jackets and proceeded to put them on. Sarah was making tea when the order to put the survival suit came. Well anything that made her feel useful made her feel better. She thought that doing simple tasks before putting on the suit would be wholly acceptable, but she hadn't been to sea before.

Making tea in a gale is not impossible but vertically challenging and making tea was in fact a good coping mechanism for life's ups and downs. She thought she could put it in a flask for later.

The First Officer didn't see it like that. He had come below to ensure everyone was putting their suits on as he knew that the suits could be tricky, only coming in two sizes.

"Miss Baker you need to put on your suit right now," he insisted.

"Cup of tea? Surely the lifeboat would wait for me if we had to abandon ship," Sarah calmly flicked her long blonde hair and fluttered her eyelids at him.

"Yes it would in an ideal world but we have already lost one man overboard and the sea doesn't play by your rules," he frowned with a disapproving glare. Carter had become annoyed and frustrated with her attitude.

"Put your suit on!" Carter commanded assertively.

Sarah looked shocked, not knowing they had lost a crew member above. She went obediently to her bunk and found her standard issue survival suit and struggled into it.

Sarah was a good academic marine biologist but lacked common sense and coping mechanisms for some of life's situations sometimes. She had an attractive, vulnerable 'come and get me' look you sometimes see in the girl next door when you are growing up. She knew Carter liked her and she liked pushing his buttons to see what happened. Sarah was studying her PhD and was attached to Southampton University. She owned a house in Fareham. Her mother, who was well off, had brought this for her on completion of her degree several years before. She lived on her own and owned one cat that her mother was looking after while she was away. Sarah mostly spent her time studying and enjoyed the challenge of learning new things. She never really made it into the whole student lifestyle when she was at university as she had to study hard to get were she was. She never felt that she had achieved much as her mother had always helped her so much with anything she wanted. Her father had died ten years before and she lacked any male role models in her life which left her believing men were strange creatures invented by God to torment women.

She had however started dating at her mother instructions; her mother had been setting her up with several well off men at functions such as charity balls and village fetes. Her mother denied it but Sarah knew what she was up to. Sarah did have a best friend, Clare, who had studied marine biology at Southampton with her. Clare had settled down with a nice young man and was expecting her first child. Sarah had spent many nights out on the town with her but nowadays it was coffee over brunch at a local café or dinner while Clare's partner went out for the evening. Everyone around her was growing up and she thought going on this expedition would bring some life back into her life.

Carter moved on to Gary who was putting his suit on but had a rotund figure that required a positional movement fit in the standard survival suit.

"I was born like it you know, its genetics," Gary murmured.

"What's that?" Carter replied.

"Clothicaly challenged," Gary replied, breathing heavily as he struggled with his suit.

"Breathe in," Carter requested.

"That's it, thanks," Gary said, thinking that he now looked like a rather lumpy Duracell battery due to the bright ginger hair and black survival suit.

Gary was, as he said, born like it. His ginger hair and his chubby speckled face led him to isolate himself into his online computer game hi-tech gadget world, outside of which he knew little, but this was fine as he could afford most things he wanted from his work. Gary lived in the outskirts of Manchester where he had studied computers up to master's level and then had started work for games company, eventually moving on to work for a web deign firm. Gary had gone on to do consultancy work for large firms, advising them on their systems and software. He used to share a house with several other people who he had studied with. When his friends went their separate ways he saw this contract job working in the Devils Triangle. His business was a bit slack due to the recession so he moved his belonging into his mum's house and thought he could save enough money for a house of his own from taking this contract. Gary had never been to sea and he saw it as the big adventure he could tell the rest of his family about when he returned home. He thought everyone should have at least one good adventure in their lives and this was Gary's big chance to break up the monotony of work.

This brought Carter to Pete. Pete was about five foot ten and had a slim build and black wavy hair pulled back in pony tail and had no problems getting in his suit, simply adjusting his ponytail to get in his hood on. Pete had packed a bag. In Pete's mind he was waiting for the ship to sink, planning what he might need in case of emergency:-

Torch, sample bags, rock hammer, testing solutions, rizla, tobacco, lighter, herb and a bottle of JD - only one of which might help save his life but if he was going to die he wouldn't care. Pete was the geologist on this expedition. His job was to collect rock samples and formulate the composition of the sea bed in the area around the Bermuda triangle. Pete liked history and archeology but hadn't the will to study anymore to obtain the qualifications he needed to be an archeologist. He thought geology would give him the opportunity to live on the fringes of those occupations and get to see some cool stuff.

Pete was single and lived on his own in a flat in Southampton. His flat was modest and very studenty with entire walls filled with advertisements for bands and gigs. He had used any poster he could find to create a mosaic of modern expressionism that wasn't flowery or in any way resembled conformity. He had family in London who he visited once a year but mainly he did as he pleased. He enjoyed his freedom and the alternative lifestyle that living away from his family gave him. Pete wasn't sad but had more than his fair share of apathy. He tended to look on the dark side of life and counterbalanced this with the vast social life he had kept going from university and beyond. Pete liked parties and enjoyed raves, most of which were illegal or had gone underground after the governments nanny state had taken over every aspect of trying to ruin a perfectly good pastime.

"You don't need the bag. Insurance will cover any losses," Carter assured Pete.

"I would rather stay on the cautious side," replied Pete. Insurance doesn't cover everything he thought.

Kevin the expedition diver was also ready and had ensured that he had all the essentials: - compass, water, rations packs, first aid kit, rope, survival kit and flares. Yes, he was one of the survivalists of the world that pride themselves on knowing what to do in any situation, any time, any place, anywhere - any one feel sick?

Kevin was very fit and went jogging most mornings, sometimes even around the desk of the ship. This had given him a stocky muscular body, broad shoulders but very little tan for someone who spent a lot of time outside. He always put this lack of tan down to his dad giving him black hair, he was just the same.

He grew up in the Lake District near to Kendal and had been climbing hills and learning to dive since he was a six. His family took him everywhere and gave him the perfect middle class upbringing. He joined the police force just to go on the diving team; he was a little short for beat work. The criminals would laugh at him for being such a shorty he thought. Kevin soon got bored with this as searching for dead bodies and drugs under ships wasn't that much fun after a while. He wanted a more challenging adventure. When this job came up he was delighted as he had never dived in this part of the world and everywhere was different, new and exciting to him. He liked to be on the move and was happiest when he was going to something different or new.

"Ready?" Carter asked politely.

"Check," Kevin replied.

Kevin was always ready for anything. He was super fit and always volunteered for any job. Kevin would be Pete's boss if he knew anything about geology.

"They didn't tell him he didn't need a bag" Pete murmured under his breath.

"What did you say?" Kevin asked, knowing that Pete was taking the piss.

"You forgot your knife," Pete replied, seeing Kevin had left his diving knife on his bunk.

"I know, it will give me a chance to use Big Bertha, seven inch blade saw on the back, compass, snares, flint, fishing lines and hooks in the hilt," Kevin gloated.

"Snares, catch many rabbits at sea do yaw and what are going to burn?" Pete smirked.

"Pipe down everyone, come through to the galley," ordered the Professor.

The group moved to the galley where Sarah had abandoned her making the tea making because the suit wouldn't let her.

"I have spoken to the Captain Marston and it appears that this is just a precaution because the weather is severe. You're to remain together and wait here. Your life boat is on the port side of the ship and if you do need to abandon ship the Captain or First Officer will ensure that you all get aboard it. There is another life boat on the other side of the ship if for any reason you can't reach yours," the Professor commanded.

"The First Officer said that a man had been swept overboard, I didn't think the sea was that bad here," Sarah said nervously looking at the egg swinging.

"There are tropical storms here which can reach hurricane level but they're not due for a month. A rogue wave moved some crates loose and it broke the sailor's safety line and swept him overboard. The crew is searching for him now," explained the Professor.

"What's the weather forecast say it is going to be like?" Pete asked, now looking at the eggs violent behavior."

"It didn't. The storms sometimes brew up faster than the weather satellite can predict. Anyway stop worrying, I'm sure the Captain has it under control. You made a good job of this exercise," assured the Professor.

The group were sat looking at the cradle they had made to catch the egg when the egg suddenly fell from the ceiling. It was caught beautifully by the cradle they made. They laughed and the Professor went to see if the egg had broken.

The ship listed hard to port throwing everyone violently from the benches they were sat on. Scraping noises come from beneath them and they heard the sound of pans and pots crashing in the galley. The ship lurched back into its upright position and everyone picked themselves back up. They were clearly scared and the scraping noises could still be heard.

"Is everyone ok?" asked the Professor.

"That's a reef or the bottom I heard scraping," Kevin said.

"Wait here. I'm going to see what's going on," said the Professor.

She didn't get time. There was a massive ripping sound then a large thud and she was tossed to the ground. The others were thrown onto each other. The Professor was dazed and barely heard the abandon ship call come over the tannoy. Kevin and Pete helped her to her feet and started to climb the stairs to the main deck. They were met by Captain Marston who checked that they were all there then guided the passengers to the lifeboat where he met up with Carter.

"I'll take two crewmen and the scientific team and you take the crew. The sea is still moving the ship around like a piece of paper. We've got to hope there's land close to these shallows," the Captain ordered, looking worriedly at the sea.

"Yes sir. Good luck," replied Carter.

"Abandon ship! Good luck Mister Carter," the Captain ordered, clambering in the lifeboat. The lifeboats were lowered into the water, one from each side of the ship, and both rowed away.

Chapter Two -The Cottage

The Professor felt the coarseness of sand on her face and realized she was no longer at sea but on land. She felt the rawness of the sea water on the back of her throat and coughed to clear it out.

The Professor was a very capable woman and a strong leader; some would describe her as young Audrey Hepburn if it wasn't for her looks being so dissimilar. She had auburn hair cut short in a bob and could be described as petite as she only stood four feet eight inches tall. She looked good for a woman in her late thirties.

There were only a handful of marine biologists who were professors in the UK and it had taken her years to get to where she as. Professor Wendy Milliner was born and raised in Southampton where she worked, studied and had lived for most of her life. She loved the sea and researching. She had spent most of her life studying, writing books and teaching just to get the qualifications she needed to instigate the exploration of the Bermuda Triangle. She had been fascinated by the subject for years and had a degree in geology just so she could understand the mechanics of what was happening in the area. The Professor lived in the halls of residence and the university gave her everything she needed. She was a true academic and loved a good debate. She would go on holiday and work instead of relaxing, just for the fun of it and had taken several trips to Australia and the Florida keys where she could explore the ocean diving. If you couldn't go diving she wouldn't go. She spent her reading and academic dinner trips to other university to pick the brains of other professors.

Her mother and father were both elderly now but fit and well. They lived in Dorset by the coast and she always ensured she saw them regularly,

Staggering to her feet the Professor moved around rubbing her body to warm up. She was freezing from being immersed in the sea. Everything on her seemed to be working she thought but she was still shivering.

The beach was stunningly beautiful and under any other circumstances she would be happy to spend time there. There were palms and colorful plants everywhere, many which she hadn't seen before. The palms seemed to turn into dense jungle further down the beach. There was a clear coastline which turned in on itself and she could see for a mile or so in each direction. There was nothing but sand and jungle. First things first she thought to herself. The plan: - get out of wet clothes and allow the sun to dry and warm her, find survivors and locate civilization. The beach, although beautiful, was not a place to be for a long time. The sea air and the sun would soon have a negative affect and dehydrate her and give her sunstroke. She thought that she would walk along the coast line to find a fresh water inlet and of course look for survivors or people who could help.

She started walking up the meandering beach and spotted several bodies lying on the shore line. She couldn't tell who they were as they had their survival suits on. Her stomach dropped at the thought of the bodies being dead. Still feeling weak still and shivering from her ordeal she went as quickly as she could to the first one and turned it over. It was deckhand Lewis and he was cold and lifeless. She clasped her hands to her face and turned away, crying softly into her hands. She felt scared and alone and she had never seen a dead body before. Taking a deep breath she pulled back her tears and approached the other bodies. She turned the next one over. It was Sarah. Sarah coughed and a sigh of relief burst through the Professor.

"Sarah, are you ok?" the Professor asked.

"Think so, need a drink," Sarah gasped as her teeth chattered from the cold.

The other body began to move, it was Pete.

"Could kill for a drink, must have swallowed a gallon of water," Pete croaked, also shivering.

"Hello, everyone ok?" A voice shouted from down the beach. It was Gary.

"No. Deckhand Lewis is dead. Come and give me a hand?" asked the Professor.

Gary looked shocked and rushed down the beach to help the others.

The group looked Lewis body. It sent a shiver of shock through all of them.

"What are we going to do?" Gary asked.

"We will move him up to the tree line and cover him with our survival suits keep the birds off," the Professor decided.

The team took off their survival suits and started wringing out their wet clothes. They were desperately trying to warm up and the sea had chilled them to the bone. As they took a moment to warm up in the midday sun Pete started to head for the jungle.

"Where you going Pete?" the Professor asked.

"The little boy's room," Pete answers cheekily, jogging around trying to get his body warm.

Pete jogged into the tree line where he opened his bag to find his stash which was sealed with his smoking materials in several plastic bags. He then proceeded to roll a herbal cigarette. He liked his herbal cigarettes; they calmed his brain down and gave a perspective to a world turned upside down by bureaucrats, social control and business.

He found it hard coping with the fact that all life was controlled by money and the best seekers of it. His philosophical mind was fortified by the MP's returning their expenses.

Gary and the Professor pulled Lewis's body of out of the water and up to the tree line. They covered him with survival suits and sat resting for five minutes, absorbing the warmth of the suns rays.

"What now?" Gary asked, cringing at what he had just been handling and trying to find out how he should be feeling about it.

"We will head up the beach and try finding the others," the Professor replied with the same look of anguish Gary had worn.

Pete lit his smoke, haaa. He felt his body melt into relaxation, his mind float onto cushions of velvet clouds floating to the edge of the universe. He heard rustling in the undergrowth and looked around. Most things run off from humans he assured himself but the feeling he was being watched lingered. Paranoid, he thought, got to stop smoking too much of this stuff.

"Pete," Sarah's voice cried.

"Coming, got a shortage of toilet roll out here," Pete said jumping first and then panicking.

He fumbled his stash into his bag and threw his smoke away into the undergrowth.

"Gross, too much information. We're heading up the beach to look for the others, the Professor says hurry up," Sarah shouted.

Pete headed out of the jungle, to about twenty paces and heard rustling again. He turned round and it stopped. Best get out of here, there could be wild boar or something not very nice in here, he thought getting panicky.

Pete emerged from the jungle and saw the others heading up the beach. He picked up pace to catch up with them.

"I am so thirsty," Sarah said, thinking that it was like going to swimming pool and not being able get the nasty taste out of her mouth.

"You're not the only one," Gary replied.

"Dairy milk chocolate bar with caramel inside," Pete muttered.

The group turned and looked at him suspiciously, as if to ask what planet was he on.

"Yeah, I'm thirsty too and cold," Pete fumbled out.

"There's the Captain," the Professor cried happily, not wanting any more dead bodies.

"Hello, you all alright?" Captain asked the group.

"We're fine but your crewman Lewis, I'm afraid we found him dead on the beach," the Professor replied, not knowing quite how to tell him.

The Captain wasn't shocked, but looked saddened at the news.

"Kevin's with me. There's a cottage just round the corner of the beach. He's gone to check it out. It was hardly worth getting in the lifeboat for how long it stayed afloat. Never seen a sea like that one, we're all lucky to be alive. Baminda is still missing and I haven't seen anything of Carter's boat," explained the Captain.

"Any idea where we are?" Gary asked.

"No, all the equipment went out: compass, GPS. Let's head up to this cottage and see if we can find a phone or radio," said the captain leading the party up the beach.

They approached the cottage which was just like those chocolate box cottages you find in southern England: A single storey thatched roof cottage with cute glazed windows with painted black frames and contrasted by pristine white walls. There was wisteria growing across the front of the building and a neat row of hanging baskets and planters were placed at equal intervals along the front and side of the building. A neat three foot hedge row surrounded the cottage and had been formed into an arch as you went through the gate, which led to a mature garden with neatly kept borders. To the right going through the gate was a lawn and herbaceous borders and beyond that, a further one hundred yards away there was a vegetable plot.

It was a perfect little cottage. They approached the door and saw it had a sign on: 'The No1 Eden Place' Kevin popped out the front door and made everyone jump.

"There's no one in, no phone, no radio. I have been to the other side of the cottage and up that hill. We're on a small island but the tide cuts us off from the main land. There is a track which seems to lead across but we need to rest before we set off again and wait for the tide. But the kitchen is well supplied," Kevin explained.

The Captain led them went inside, as you could expect from the outside, it was beautiful. There were white walls with low ceilings and dark wooden beams running the length of the open planned area. The kitchen was to the right as you entered the cottage and had been fitted out in a nice light solid oak finish with black marble worktops. To the left there was a nice light wooden table with six chairs. There were half height walled partitions separating the kitchen from the lounge area. The lounge consisted of a front door area to put your coats and shoes, three large double sofas that were arranged round an open fire and a couple of small tables. They made a bee line for the kitchen and all poured glasses of water thirstily.

As Pete drank his water he thought it tasted funny. It was like going on holiday were they had poor water supplies. He felt paranoid again and as if his herb had worn off. I will have to build another one he thought.

The rest of the group went back for more water. It was delicious after the sea water.

"Cup of tea? They won't mind, we have just been shipwrecked," Sarah cried.

No one objected.

"Coffee for me, two sugars," the Captain requested.

"And me," the Professor smiled.

"Chocolate for me if they've got any?" Pete asked.

"I'll get this fire going and get us all warmed up," Kevin said.

"I'll see if we can find something to put on while we dry our clothes," the Professor said.

Sarah searched for the tea and coffee in the kitchen. Everything was in a foreign language.

She pulled out a packet that looked like tea and smelt it: mmmmm tea!

Eventually she identified what she thought must be coffee and hot chocolate. There was a coffee maker but it seemed somewhat complicated to her.

"Gary, can you get this coffee maker to work?" Sarah asked, smiling at him.

"Yeah sure," Gary smiled back and went over to help.

Milk, she thought. She went to open the fridge door.

"Good afternoon, may I be of service?" the fridge asked her.

She jumped back and turned to Gary.

"I only wanted some milk and the fridge is talking to me, it's a bit over the top for a fridge," Sarah said looking shocked.

"Yea this coffee maker is amazing, it's got caffeine control buttons, color, thickness and temperature, everything, never seen anything like it. I'll have it going in a minute," Gary replied, not even looking at her, completely engrossed in the coffee machine design.

Sarah turned back to the fridge and pulled out the milk.

"Got any chocolate in there?" Pete asked.

"Only milk I think. I'll have a look, yes one bar of dairy milk caramel," she said looking in the fridge again.

"Thanks," Pete replied.

Kevin went over to a nice open fire but with no wood near it. There was a button though –'press once and stand back' was written underneath it and below this was another label: 'Product of Dragon Fire Ltd.' Strange, he had never seen an open fire operate by a button before. First time for everything he thought. He pushed the button and stood back as instructed. Huge blue flames came gushing up from a grate below the fire and out slightly into the room just missing burning him. I can see why it said stand back, he thought. Everyone glanced at the fire ignition.

"Fire's working," Kevin yelled, warming himself up.

The Professor searched through the lounge which had small corridor leading to four doors. She opened the first one and found it was a bathroom. She had never seen one like it; the bath appeared to be a giant shell. The detail was so amazing that it was like a real shell. You can't get them that big of course, she thought. The sink was also made out of what appeared to be a sea shell. There were gold fittings everywhere. The toilet was a sea shell too and she just had to sit on it just to see if it was comfortable. Must have cost a fortune, she thought. She opened the second door and found a cleaning cupboard with a vacuum cleaner marked 'Tornado Powered Cleaning Inc.' The next room she just glanced in and saw it was a TV room with a sofa in. Finally she found the bedroom. It was a lovely room. There was a hand carved double bed with thousands of animals carved into it. The figures carved on it were so real they almost seemed alive. On the corners there were little cherubs. Each cherub had their own little character. There was the wardrobe and two bedside tables equally well carved must have taken someone years to get them done, she thought. There wasn't much else in the room apart from a few pictures that appeared to be alien landscapes futuristic paintings. She opened the wardrobe and found exactly what she was looking for; six identical dressing gowns. She thought it a bit strange to have six identical gowns but was cold and didn't care; she just wanted to warm up.

"Here's some dressing gowns everyone, get your wet clothes off and I'll get them on the line," the Professor fell into a motherly role for a moment.

The girls filed into the bedroom and boys changed in the lounge. The Professor and Captain picked up the clothes. The kitchen had a washing machine, but they couldn't find wash powder or any setting on the machine to operate it and the language on the machine was foreign looking. The pair headed for the garden and made a makeshift line out of some twine from the greenhouse.

"They'll be dry in no time. I'm going to wander down to the beach after this cuppa, see if I can't find Carters' party nearby. They shouldn't be too far away, there's wreckage all along the beach," explained the Captain, worried about his crew.

"I'll come with you, see if we can't figure out this tide while we're down there. Not much else to do until we can cross to the mainland." the Professor replied.

Gary and Kevin explored the cottage out of boredom.

"Who do you think lives here then?" Gary asked.

"Holiday let I think. Clean, tidy, no photos, landscape paintings, clean linen," Kevin theorized heading into the TV room.

"Wait a minute. Have you seen the hi-tech gadgets in this house? Look at that" Gary said with his mouth drooling and pointed at a DVD collection which filled the entire room A 10 feet square, 70 inch screen Olympus 2011 hung on the wall.

"I didn't know Olympus made TVs." Gary said inquisitively, examining it.

"Look at this collection: - Star Trek the original series, Star Trek TNG, Star Trek DS9, Star Trek Voyager, Star Wars and ET. These people are complete nerds. It's all Sci-Fi," Kevin said screwing his nose up at it.

"Yeah it's really cool isn't it? Let's watch something." Gary said excitably.

Sarah put the kettle on to finish the drinks and it boiled instantly. She took a close look at the kettle. 'HELLFIRE' was its brand. Got to get one of these she thought.

"Tea up," Sarah yelled, not knowing where everyone was.

Everyone gathered round the kitchen table, grabbed their drinks and headed for the fire to finish warming up.

"The Captain and I are going to have a walk down to the beach to see if we can find the rest of the crew. Anyone is welcome to come, as long as someone remains here in case any survivors turn up," said the Professor.

"I'll come," Kevin volunteered.

"Ok then. The rest of you put some food together please, whatever you can find," the Professor asked.

"This coffee is amazing Sarah," the Captain smiled at her.

"Thanks to Gary. He got the machine working, too hi tech for me Captain," Sarah said as she sipped her tea. This tea tastes funny she thought to herself, maybe it should be made without milk. The Captain and the Professor headed down towards the beach in search of the crew. Gary slipped into the DVD room to find something to entertain himself with.

"That's it! Disappear when there work to be done," Sarah moaned, annoyed with them both.

Gary ignored her, and walked off into the TV room.

"I'll fetch some vegetables from the garden," said Pete coming up with a plan for a smoke.

"Oh thanks Pete," Sarah said smiling at getting some help.

Pete grabbed his bag, chocolate, drink and saw his opportunity for a fat one. He made his way through a large formal garden to the substantial vegetable plot and greenhouse. He proceeded to make a smoke and lit it. Mmmmm that's better, he thought as he took a sip of his chocolate. It's worn off again, that's weird.

"Pete," Sarah's voice echoed from the back door.

Pete jolted. That girl knows how to ruin a good smoke; he threw his smoke into the undergrowth of the hedge.

"Yes," he said blowing out the rest of the smoke from his lungs.

"Got any salad?" Sarah asked trying to see him in the garden.

Pete's eyes scanned the plot. He was trying to remember what things looked like when they weren't in a packet.

"Yes, I'll be five minutes," Pete shouted, packing his stash away.

"Oh, take your time. I think I've found some tinned salmon that's all."

Pete turned to the hedgerow to look for his smoke and couldn't find it. Great Vegetables that eat your smoke! Pete heard a faint snigger. No, must be paranoid, he thought. He looked around the plot and picked assorted salad vegetables and fruit. After filling his bag up he returned to the cottage.

"This should be enough I think," Pete said emptying his finds on the table.

"Thanks. Where're you going? Aren't you going to help?" Sarah said, trying to keep him on the task at hand.

"I've done my bit; I'm going to get Gary off his arse," Pete said as he wandered through into TV room.

"Sarah needs a hand," Pete looked at Gary who was wearing some sort of helmet.

"I can't, not yet. This is too good, there's a helmet on the floor. Try it."

Pete looked at Gary who animating the onscreen actions to Luke Skywalker's battle with Vader, and then looked at the DVD case on the floor Star Wars triple film edition.

"You're not right. You know that don't you?" Pete said sarcastically.

"No, put the helmet on. You will see, you're in the film itself. It's amazing. This tech has been thought of but I didn't know anyone had got it working as well as this."

Pete, curious to see what he was harping on about, put the helmet on.

Vumm.

"This is amazing, I'm Vader, got to get one of these," Pete cried mimicking Vader's actions.

"Told ya," Gary said smugly.

Vumm.

Vumm.

"This is where I chop your hand off," Pete said absorbed by the moment.

Vumm.

"Oh no it isn't!" said Sarah walking into the room.

She picked up the remote and started pressing buttons.

"Ha, what you doing? Five more minutes," Gary pleaded.

"Okay five more minutes," Sarah said, fumbling with the remote and not knowing which button to press. They all look the same, she thought.

The screen fast forwarded to the Leia and Solo kiss and finally she found the play key.

"No Gary, that's not right," Pete said fighting off Gary's kiss.

"It's an interactive program. It's the only way the film will move on," Gary said, wanting the full experience. Pete pulled his helmet off and wiped his mouth on his bath robe.

"You two make quite the couple," Sarah joked laughing gently and walking into the kitchen.

"Didn't know you smoked," Gary said sipping his drink to get rid of the taste.

They went to the kitchen and started to prepare some dinners. The door opened and in walked the Professor and the Captain.

"You were quick," spouted Gary, surprised at their return and secretly wanting to go and play with the new toy he had found.

"We've spotted their lifeboat smashed up on the mainland coast. I don't quite understand why we haven't seen any helicopters or search planes," a bemused Professor explained.

"The sea moved us way off course. They're probably searching the wrong area. We think the tide may be out around 10 o'clock tomorrow morning" the Captain replied.

"It's getting dark out there already," Kevin commented.

"I thought it was only about two o'clock. You lose track of time," said Gary.

"Let's get this dinner finished and our heads down. We don't want to be stuck on this island another night," the Professor took charge as always.

They finished making the salad and sat down to dinner.

"This is nice food Sarah," Kevin politely commented.

"It's nothing," she blushed a little.

"I picked all the salad," Pete chirped in.

Everyone ignored him.

"The girls get the bedroom and the boys can have the sofas. I'll look for some blankets," ordered the Professor. She returned with an armful of blankets.

"Time for a night cap," Pete pulled his large bottle of JD out of his bag.

"Yes please," said everyone.

Sarah and the Professor headed to their room with their drinks to get an early night.

Gary and Pete headed for the DVD room couches, Gary indulged in the Battle for Los Angeles movie, Pete indulged in the JD.

The Professor and Sarah settled down into bed and drink their JD.

"You ok Sarah? You look a little down?"

"Oh no, just a bit of PMT. I keep thinking about that dead sailor, can't get it out of my mind."

"I know, drink up. It will numb it a little, good nights sleep might help.

Here, I found these in the bathroom," and passed her some ladies things, "thought one of us might need them."

"Thanks."

The two drifted off to sleep.

The two cherubs on the bottom of the bedstead came to life and started talking.

"Hey Ron, psst Ron," Albert the cherub said.

"Shush," Ron the cherub replied.

"You think they know?"

"Not a clue."

"Hey Ron, what's PMT?"

Sarah woke up and the room went quiet. She sat thinking about what had happened and her family and how worried they would be. She wondered whether there were any survivors and if they were all dead. She decided to finish her JD and think of nice things so she sat counting pink fluffy bunnies. She soon dozed off again but the cherubs remained still for the rest of the night.

Chapter 3 - The Magic Box

Kevin was the first to wake and had gone out for an early morning run. It was a bright, warm and sunny morning and wheeling gulls were flying overhead searching for food. He stopped to take in the view and catch his breath. He had run to the top of the hill to check for planes, ships and the tide. Kevin could hear the sound of waves lashing the beach and the constant chirping of wildlife.

He ran down to the beach to check for any survivors that may have been missed. This was a good fifteen minute run, but no effort for Kevin.

"Hello!" he shouted, hoping for a response.

The chirping of the wild life suddenly dimmed and birds started dropping from the sky.

What's wrong? Kevin thought in alarm. He ran over and looked at a bird which was clearly alive and breathing but wasn't moving. He thought he would ask the others, they would know, they're marine biologists and gulls live near the coast. He carefully picked up the bird, cradling it in the palm of his hands, and walked towards the cottage. As if by magic the bird struggled up and flew off. He turned around and watched as all the birds got up and flew away from him. That's freaky he thought, and rushed back to the cottage.

Sarah awoke having had a restless night. She had kept hearing laughing coming from the garden and figured the boys had been up late finishing off Pete's JD.

Cup of tea she thought. She searched to the cupboard for a different brand of tea as she wasn't that keen on the other one she had found. She made herself a full pot. Mmmmm.

Everyone was now up, dressed and entering their morning rituals.

"Morning. Tea, coffee?" Sarah asked, taking orders.

The Captain headed for the bathroom. He been to boarding school and knew to get there first before other people contaminated it with their smells.

"Me next," yapped the Professor, heading to the bedroom in search of a hair brush.

"Gary, give us a hand with this coffee machine?" Sarah asked.

Pete grabbed his bag and headed outside for his morning constitutional.

This time I am going to get stoned at the bottom of the garden, he thought.

Wait, something wasn't right. The garden had been trashed completely. There were holes in hedges, plants pulled up and pots broken. It was a real mess. I'll tell them after I'm stoned, he thought. Pete sat down under the apple tree and rolled himself a smoke. An apple, I'll put that in the bag for later. He heard giggling in the hedge - a woman's voice. Not again he thought. "Ok, come on out you caught me," he said.

"Are you sure?" a little squeaky voice replied.

"Yeah."

"Got any more of that stuff?" the little voice enquired.

Pete would have fallen over if he wasn't sat down as a little glowing fairy came floating out of the hedge row. The fairy had four wings that glistened with iridescent rainbow colors in the bright sun. Her body was glowing with a golden aura and her red hair sparkled as if filled with glitter. The fairy was wearing a small silver tiara, a pretty white dress and silver slippers. She was very beautiful and had a big cheesy smile.

"What stuff?" Pete asked, not taking in that she was a fairy.

"That stuff."

The fairy pointed at the smoke. The smoke promptly fell from his mouth as he attempted to articulate speech and the penny dropped.

"Thanks, mmmmm."

The fairy took a drag and proceeded to do cartwheels through hedges, plants, anything that got in the way, which explained the garden but not the fairy, he thought.

"Come back with my smoke."

The fairy passed the smoke back to him and he took a drag.

"You're very nice, kind and handsome," the fairy said.

"Thanks. You're also very beautiful. So what are you? Where am I? Am I dead? Or have I gone insane."

"Thank you, don't be silly. I'm a fairy, you're in the Garden of Eden and no, you're not dead yet."

"Yet!"

"Are you a god or a very powerful wizard with cloaking capability?"

"No I'm just human like most people."

"You're human? Don't get many of them round here. It might be different then, the SS will come for you."

"The SS?" Pete cried choking on the smoke he had just taken in.

"The Salvage Service. You have been stealing God's food, living in his cottage without permission, drinking from the fountain of destiny and messing with the creation cupboards. Are you passing that over or what?" pointing to the smoke.

"Here," Pete paused for a minute to try and take in what was happening. It reminded him of a trip he had once taken. Not a day trip to London.

"Shouldn't be messing with the creation cupboard, all sorts of things go wrong. Just look at the last person who did it. Merlin I think his name was. Here's a couple of souls for your, what do you call it? Smoke."

"Souls, don't know that I want a souls. I'm not the devil."

"Oh it's our currency here. What else would we use?" the fairy giggled.

"Here, Where is here exactly?"

"Moldavite. So do you think I am the most beautiful girl you have ever seen?"

Pete went into his diminishing stash and pulled a small lump of herb of and gave it to the fairy. Ah a seed. He took the seed out of the herb and slipped it into his pocket.

"Yes you are. Shame about the size thing."

Pete sort of liked the cute little girl routine she put on and she was good looking. He thought he would go with it. It would all come out in counselling.

The fairy passed him the bag of souls.

Pete opened the bag up and had a look. They looked like a cross between fire flies and sperm, long tails and glowing big heads which were wriggling.

The fairy looked at him worriedly "Must go, see you soon."

Pete heard a noise coming from the house and hurried back, wondering if anybody else was having hallucinations.

"Haaa," an enormous scream bellowed out of a woman entering the back door.

"Haaaaaaaa," Sarah screamed equally surprised at someone entering the property.

The woman had taken off her cape exposing six arms to Sarah.

"What are you doing here?" The woman's voice had a heavy Asian accent.

"Haaaaaahaaaaahaaa," Bolts of blue light shot out from Sarah's hands just missing the woman's head and putting a hole in the roof.

Gary stood there with his jaw dropped and his face frozen in disbelief by the whole event.

The woman fled screaming "Intruders! Intruders!"

The bolts of destructive blue light wouldn't stop. Pete ran in hearing the commotion.

He grabbed Sarah's hands and pointed then in a safe direction.

"Think nice thoughts, think nice thoughts," Pete said trying to calm himself and her down. Pete was thinking he might be having a psychotic episode.

"Fluffy pink bunny fluffily pink bunny fluffy pink bunny," Sarah stuttered panicking like mad inside.

Sarah's breathing calmed and the bolts stopped, Pete let go of her cautiously.

"Fluffy pink bunny," Sarah said, calming herself.

Another bolt shot out, bounced off the roof and Gary turned into a fluffy pink bunny.

Pete grabbed Sarah's hands again as the blue started shooting around the room, taking chunks out of the roof.

The Gary rabbit did what rabbits do best run, straight into the garden.

The Professor and Captain ducked, dismayed at what was happening and not knowing what to do.

Kevin ran in "What's happening?" Everyone dropped to the ground instantly.

Gary bunny ran and hid in the hedgerow near the back door and watched as what you could only describe as a wizard approached Kevin from behind.

The wizards curse took Kevin to the ground instantly.

Gary rabbit ran round to the front of the cottage and hid in the bushes near the front door, listening carefully and watching intently for what would happen next.

Four more wizards entered the cottage. They were all dressed identically, like the Klu Klux Klan but in black apart from one who was in red. The one in red was a fierce looking man with a jet black beard, piercing dark brown eyes and a hardened face.

"Joseph Jones!" the fridge greeted the one in the red cape.

"I'll get to you in a minute fridge. Get them in the magic box before they wake up. We need to get back before the tide comes in," Joseph ordered.

The wizards started moving the unconscious group to a portable jail on wheels. It looked like a medieval wagon with three small barred windows on the sides and back. Pulling this grim looking box were nine black unicorns.

The wizards loaded their belongings onto the magic box and locked the door.

"I want statements off all the appliances, check the garden and other room for witnesses. Right then fridge, spill your guts; this isn't your first time aiding criminals," The stern voice of Joseph shuddered through the fridges circuits.

"I am only here to serve, I was made that way," the fridge replied.

"If I had a soul for every time someone used that excuse I'd be a rich wizard," Joseph growled, radiating disapproval.

The fridge explained what had happened and that in no way was it his fault. The other wizard returned with statements.

"Put the fridge in the box," Joseph ordered.

"We need to issue a warrant for the fairy queen who has fled the garden after destroying most of the vegetable plot," David said.

"Yes? Well, we'll sort all this out in a couple of days when we're back at the HQ," Joseph sighed.

"We have missed one sir; he got transmorphed into pink fluffy bunny and ran off into the jungle," another wizard reported.

"He shouldn't be hard to find but we haven't got time now. David, unload some supplies for the other wizards. You and I will take the prisoners back and the rest can salvage the mess," Joseph commanded.

"Ok sir," David said compliantly.

"Listen up, you wizards are to clean up this mess and leave it spotless. No consumption of any of the food or water in this cottage, supplies will be left outside and a wagon will be sent for you. Be on the lookout for a pink fluffy bunny with unknown powers possibly dangerous and maybe accompanied by the Fairy Queen," Joseph explained their orders.

Gary rabbit watched the wizards as they loaded the magic box. What do I do next, how long I am going to be a rabbit and do I have powers? Why do I have a longing to run and eat grass? Thoughts tumbled around his little bunny mind in a panic.

David and Joseph climbed aboard the magic box and drove down the track; Gary made a run for it and hopped along under the wagon. Gary was struggling to keep up; his little paws were getting sore from the rough track. He had to keep up. They were nearly at the crossing. Oh, he thought, the tides coming in. The water was half way up his paws; Gary had never been the physical type even when he was human. Going to make it going to make it he thought to himself.

He just made it to the other side but he couldn't keep up with the wagon and ran into a bush to rest. He sat panting, thinking his chest was going to explode his heart was beating so fast and now he was alone, lost in the wild.

The gentle rocking motion of the box slowly woke the captives apart from Kevin who was out cold.

"What happened?" Pete enquired.

"Kevin, that's what happened," the fridge replied.

That blue light started bouncing around the box; Pete lunged at Sarah who was clearly panicking at the talking fridge. He clasped both of her hands together.

"It's going to be alright, deep breaths. I am going to let go, so keep your hands together, understand," Pete's voice lowered, making her listen.

"Yes," Sarah cried, nodding her head.

"Breathe," Pete spoke, gently calming her.

"Right then fridge, what's happening, what's Kevin's fault?" Pete demanded.

"You have no idea do you? You were in God's cottage," the fridge said condescendingly.

"Wait, I know that. A fairy told me this morning," Pete replied.

"A fairy, you want to watch that one you know, she's not right at all. The other fairies, you know, prefer other fairies. They're all female. She has been searching for blokes since the beginning of creation. She thinks no one knows, the other fairies will out her if they find out," explained the fridge.

"Oh," Pete said not wanting to disclose information to him.

"You didn't encourage her did you?' asked the fridge.

"No," Pete said sheepishly.

The Professor and Captain were still a little shaken up at what they had seen but listened carefully.

"Kevin drank from the Fountain of Destiny and she mixed creation potions, tea I think she called it, with the water and hey presto," explained the fridge.

"Don't get it,' Pete replied.

"She drank more than anyone, a whole pot and different potions to yesterday. Too much! Kevin's power puts people to sleep from what I can see, or knocks them out when he talks. You should all have some kind of powers, lighting bolts, flying, healing, walking on water, raising the dead, you know that sort of thing," the fridge said.

"What's happening?" Kevin asked and then they all were asleep again.

Twenty minutes later!

The Professor stirred first this time with a slight head ache, stared at Kevin and brought her finger to her mouth in a gesture of 'Keep quiet'.

Sarah awoke; the Professor launched at her hands and pointed them at the roof, Sarah on auto panic shot a bolt at the ceiling which unluckily or luckily hit Kevin on the rebound.

"Ow," yelled Kevin being knocked out. They were all out again twenty minutes later Pete woke up. He searched Kevin's bag, knowing he would have some rope and tape.

The Captain woke up.

"Give us a hand Captain? I'm tying up these two so I don't spend the rest of my life as a pink fluffy bunny or in a coma," Pete said sarcastically.

Pete was sort of enjoying this. He got to tie up and gag Kevin, the ex copper. The Captain tied Sarah hands together so that she wasn't going to wake up and take them all out. The rest of the group awoke rubbing their heads.

"Well done guys, we were getting nowhere," the fridge said, longing for a good conversation with them.

The Professor moved over to Sarah who was waking.

"Sarah, we tied your hand until these people can sort out what happened to you," the Professor spoke, calming Sarah with a hand on her shoulder as she untied Sarah her.

"Yeah, we don't want to be pink fluffy bunnies," said Pete smirking.

Blue balls of fire were glowing in Sarah's clenched hands, Pete's smile went.

Kevin awoke. The professor moved over to him.

"It really important not to...." the Professor didn't get to finish her words before she started yawning.

"Muunh muunh..." Kevin looked annoyed and was trying to articulate through the tape.

The Professor went out cold.

"We've cut down the range," Pete said yawning and swiftly put his fingers in his ears. Better, he thought.

Sarah lifted her hands and parted her finger releasing a blue ball of energy knocking Kevin out. Cool, she thought, getting some control.

"You can't do that! You don't know what it going to do to him," Pete said smiling uneasily.

"He was alright last time I hit him with one," Sarah replied.

"Let's not argue. We're in enough trouble as it is," the Captain said not seeing the funny side of their predicament.

"Give us a hand Pete?" the Captain asked, attempting to move the Professor.

Pete and the Captain pulled the Professor back to the other side of the magic box. Pete went over to Kevin and retied the mouth gag, adding a layer. The Professor stirred again.

"Sarah knocked him out with her blue balls and we regagged him," Pete explained, like a naughty schoolboy grassing on a fellow pupil.

"Let's gets some answers out of the fridge, Sarah, you watch Kevin. We need to calm him and explain. We can't leave him tied up all the while," the Professor ordered.

"I think we should leave him gagged though," Pete chirped in.

"Hey fridge, you awake?" the Captain asked.

No reply.

"He must be out. Tell us everything you have learned from the fairy Pete," the Professor ordered.

Pete explained everything, well almost every thing, he knew to the captive audience.

"Well we don't seem to have any powers," the Professor said.

"Not yet, it can vary from person to person and potion to potion," explained the fridge.

"So where we going and what are they going to do with us?" asked the Professor looking worried.

"Are we going to die?" Sarah said crying again.

"No, you're not going to die. The Salvage Service, their job is to salvage souls and ensure order is kept through Moldavite," the fridge reassured them.

"I thought souls were the currency here in Moldavite?" Pete asked slightly confused.

"Souls are currency but its human souls I mean, they are more valuable. There's something different in them. The currencies are an early form of soul, not very good stereotypes, just like characters out of poor play. Each soul is what it is. God gave them to us and we use them for currency," the fridge said, gloating at his superb intellect.

"What's different about human souls?" the Professor asked.

"They have the power to be creative," the fridge said in a dramatic way as if it didn't happen every day.

"Is that it?" Pete screwed his face up waiting for the meaning of life and the universe to be explained to him in one sentence.

"Well look at me. I have a soul, I am alive and I am articulate, well educated and of a nice disposition. I couldn't design a garden, write a fiction novel or invent something," answered the fridge.

"Oh," came from around the box.

"God gave the human soul something no one else had. How do you think you came up with 4000 religions, airplanes, fridges and TV's?" the fridge explained.

"Yeah but you're better than anything we got at home. Incidentally where is God? Couldn't he sort this whole mess out in a click of one finger?" Sarah said, pulling herself together.

"I thought you would mention that. He's on his day off. Being creative is hard work. Idea after idea is fun for a while but even God needs inspiration. Looking at what you humans have done was quite inspiration and hence me and the over indulgence in science fiction. Rumour has it that he is off making planets with aliens on. You see I am just an improvement on what you all can do, humanities ideas. Well may be a little more. I can cook, chill, freeze and materialize food," bragged the fridge.

"On his day off? Will he be back tomorrow then?" Sarah asked.

"Do you really believe that he made the earth, the universe, everything in a week? A day to him is so many millions of years," explained the fridge who couldn't believe they were so stupid, and that they had human souls.

"I thought God was everywhere," Sarah said.

"Well he is in a way. He can look at your soul and see what you are doing like in a movie," replied the fridge.

"So how did we end up here then if he is perfect?" asked Sarah.

"Look at you then, you're created in God's image, are you perfect?" responded the fridge.

"No," Sarah replied.

"Well neither is he. Remember the dinosaurs, mistake. Small children make can one out of modeling clay. First attempts aren't always the best. This wood, for example, that we are in now, is called the Lost Wood. It's full of lost ideas that God made and decided not to finish. This group of islands contains everything he has ever created, plus some man made ones like dragons and flying turtles," explained the fridge.

"What about Jesus?" Pete asked, wanting some philosophical enlightenment.

"He was, like you, swept up here age 15 and escaped age 25,"replied the fridge.

"So what's the right religion then?" Pete asked.

"Isn't one, he feels, sees whatever he wants through the soul," the fridge answered.

"What about good and evil?" Sarah asked.

"That's old school. Everyone knows when they're being horrible and nice; they don't really need telling but sometimes need stopping. Praying works very occasionally but he has to be listening at the time. You humans do seem to have created a lot of yourselves. Seven billion is a bit much for any god," explained the fridge.

Kevin started to wake up.

"Kevin's waking up Professor," Sarah alerted everyone.

"I'll go this time," the Captain volunteered, seeing the Professor was in some pain.

He went over to Kevin, put his hand over his mouth and whispered in his ear explaining carefully what he knew so far. Kevin relaxed and the Captain untied him. Kevin clambered over to his bag in full action man mode and kitted himself up with his survival gear. He then pulled out a note pad; pen and a plastic map bag then put it round his neck.

He pulled out his note pad, wrote something on it and showed it the fridge.

"I thought no one would ever ask," the fridge's door opened joyfully.

Kevin went in the fridge, pulled out Kobe steak, chips, and peas, a side order of onion rings, a bottle of tomato sauce and a bottle of Jamison's whisky special reserve.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Pete said.

They all placed their orders.

"Is there a little girl's room in here?" Sarah asked.

"Over there in that corner there's a door," said the Professor.

I hope it's clean or I won't be able to go, she thought. Sarah opened the door. There was a small but clean bathroom with a shower, everything a girl needed.

Sarah came out with a completely disgusted look on her face and her hand clenched together. The Professor glanced at her.

"I just had to explain to a talking toilet what ....." and whispered something in the Professor's ear.

"He thought I was self harming and that he needed to stop the coach and tell the wizards, like he's going know anything about being a woman. Then he asked me what PMT was! I nearly blew him up. No, he's still working. The voice centre is a little squeaky." Sarah explained angrily anticipating the Professors question.

The Professor went in the bathroom and explained a few social graces of the human world to the toilet.

On top of the magic box the two wizards Joseph Jones and David Williams sat chatting.

Joseph Jones had been working at the SS for four hundred years which was a good length of time for a wizard but had only been running it for ten years since his predecessor had an accident with a Cracken. Joseph had seen many leaders come and go and didn't really want to do the job. Having to manage people was where he lacked compassion and he couldn't tolerate stupidity. But you don't apply for the job; you get elected by secret ballot.

Wizards came in contact with the most dangerous of God's creations and this always meant a high mortality rate, mainly through being eaten or lost to unknown creatures of the Lost Wood. This is where David Williams came in. He lived in the Lost Wood, an area not known well to wizards as it was plagued with Gods unique creatures that had not made it into the evolutionary plan. David was in fact Adams predecessor but was missing vital organs for perpetuation of the species. However he did get a human soul which as you know Moldavites regard highly, so out of thousands of applications David was given an apprenticeship. It was thought that David could bridge the gap between the SS and the Lost Wood kingdom of Moldavite.

Having only a limited number of wizards the service asks God to make up a potion to create a new wizard. The apprentice then takes the potion and develops his wizard skills under close supervision. The problem is you never know what powers a wizard will be given from the potion and how long it will take to master them. Wizards were given a crystal to help focus their powers which could be mounted traditionally in a staff, wand, or you could be alternative and have a ray gun or sabre. A lot of new wizards opted for the more modern ones, but were frowned upon by their superiors as indulgent.

David, having a soul, designed his own crystal holder, which you would describe as a Dirty Harry supercharged version. It had six chambers containing six different crystals, laser sights effective to a mile and an electronic hair trigger. He liked his westerns did David and saw himself as a John Wayne of the wizard world.

"When God charged the wizards with managing the humans I never thought we would have sinful souls to take care of. It's a new one for me. I have to check out our records to see what I can find out about it," Joseph Jones commented.

"My research shows that there was an incident like two thousand years ago or so."

"No, there's been more since but they're kept in the confidential files which only I have access to in case of an emergency like this. It stops gossip apparently. I say it only creates conspiracy theories David."

Joseph had not had much to do with David. He had reports but only ever read the ones marked urgent as he hated the red tape stuff. He thought maybe he could get to know him a little better.

"Right then David; show me your crystal holder."

David passed his six gun to Joseph.

"What's this? Six crystals?"

Joseph pointed the gun at a tree.

"Be careful sir."

Joseph pulled trigger and took out half the forest to his right, at least ten shots exploded out.

"How are you supposed to heal or repair with this?"

"I don't, I use my ring"

"I am confiscating this for your own good. Have you any idea what could happen if this got in the wrong hands? There are six crystals in here. Each crystal could create one dangerous creature in the wrong hands. A wizard only carries one crystal so not to increase danger to others who may follow. And have yourself a shave when we break camp you know you're not permitted facial hair, until you're of a higher rank." Joseph barked angrily noticing the beginning of moustache.

"Yes sir, sorry sir, I was only being creative," David said, feeling his face.

David had begun to grow a blonde moustache, which did look silly with his albino like features and red eyes. Wizard weren't allowed facial hair until grading. The wizards all walked around with hooded capes and it was easy to tell a wizards ability by looking at his beard, sideburns, or the number of curls in their moustaches.

Many creatures had some kind of magical ability and crystals could focus their powers just the same as a wizard. Crystals were always a great concern to Joseph who had read about them being used in the Great Wizard Wars and had fears of a creature uprising.

"I like you being creative but not creating weapons of destruction. We will pull over here for the night and use some of that forest we destroyed for fire wood," Joseph said.

"Are you sure we'll be ok this close to the wood?"

"Are you scared? I thought you lived in the wood."

"Well yes Sir, I do, and that why I made a big gun."

"We'll be fine. You have a lot to learn lad, nothing comes within twenty feet of the track generally. It will be forty feet if you get a good fire going

"Yes sir."

Joseph slipped the gun into his rucksack for safe keeping.

"Right then fridge, do your job; sort the prisoners out with some food," ordered Joseph staring into the box.

"I am here to serve, Mr. Jones sir," replied the fridge.

David made camp; he put two small tents up, made a fire and put some food on to cook. It was starting to get dark and the stars were lighting up the night sky.

"Beautiful isn't it," David remarked.

"Yeah if you like that sort of thing," an uninspired Joseph was checking his mmails on his laptop

"Is that a comet?" David said.

Joseph watched for a moment. "No that's a fairy."

"Halt in the name of the Salvage Service," Joseph commanded.

The tiny little glowing figure didn't get time to move. David's curse came and knocked her to the ground.

"She didn't stop," David cried.

"You have to give creatures a chance before you zap the hell out of them. Lucky for you this is the Fairy Queen. Nice shot, let's put her in the box," Joseph ordered, tutting to himself.

They dropped her in the back of the box through the bars in the window. The others had gone to sleep after their drinking session.

Joseph checked his mmails and contacted HQ to let them know what was happening. He heard a rustling in the bushes but could not see anything so he went back to his mmails. He then switched to

TV on his laptop. Let's see who won the lottery then, he thought putting it on play back. The Fairy Queen won, I will tell her in the morning. He put a shield spell over the camp and magic box and went to bed.
Chapter 4 - Bunnies Galore

Gary sat catching his breath in the bushes. He noticed a little elf like creature run past him and follow the carriage. A minute later a fairy flew by in front of him heading down the track towards the magic box. Gary thought about the events and wondered if he may have super powers like Sarah. He started mimicking master Yoda/ karate kid moves in an attempt to invoke a response.

"Hai ya."

This was a bunny with attitude. No, nothing, he thought.

There was a growl from the bush behind him. Run! He thought.

He ran straight into the wood. A snarling wolf like beast followed.

"Haven't had rabbit for years, this is going to be exquisite," the creature growled.

Gary ducked, dived and dogged in-between the undergrowth. He darted everywhere as the creatures teeth lashed at him. A hole! Damn missed it. Gary circled round and into the hole he flew. Ah safe, he thought.

"You have to come out sometime rabbit and I will be waiting," snarled the creature.

"Hello," a softly spoken Irish voice said.

"Aaarrh hello," stuttered Gary panting and startled by the new voice.

A little door opened and he could see the figure of rabbit in front of him.

"Come in you will be safe in here," the rabbit gestured him to come inside.

Gary hopped through the door and looked around. It was a tiny little house made for a rabbit. This was an open plan burrow with a small wood burning stove in the centre with a kettle on it, which Gary could see that it had been adapted to suit bunny paws, as had most of the burrow. There were drawers with obvious claw marks on where the rabbit opened them, but no handles as such. To the left as he came in the door there was a bookcase in the corner with a pile of books on it. To the right of the bookcase was a sofa and small table opposite the TV and DVD. As he looked right there was a kitchen area with a few pots and pans, a table with a large chopping knife on it and a few vegetables.

Opposite him were two doors; presumably bedroom and bathroom he thought.

"Do you like my burrow then?" the rabbit said, locking the door and slipping the key into her fur.

"Yes it's very nice. I'm Gary."

"Oh sorry, I'm Charlotte; it's so long since I've seen another rabbit, I didn't mean to stare."

"No I am thankful that you let me in your burrow away from that thing."

"Edward."

"It's got a name?"

"Yes, he's been hunting me for years. I can't go out anymore, he's completely obsessed. Would you like a cup of tea some thing to eat perhaps?"

"What real tea and real food?"

"Yeah, what do you think this is? God's cottage?" Charlotte went over to kitchen and prepared some fresh vegetables and a cup of tea.

"Well I'm not actually a rabbit."

"You could have fooled me. Ears, tail and fluffy pink fur. Funny color though I can't really say anything cos mine's blue."

"Well I got turned into a rabbit after my work mate Sarah fired blue bolts at me."

"And why would she do a thing like that?"

"I don't think she could help it."

"Sounds like she didn't like you very much. One girls loss is another girls gain I would say," her tone increased in feeling.

"Oh," Gary was unable to articulate what had happened fully. He just went with the flow.

"Come, eat up," she passed him a nice bowl of salad.

"Got any mayonnaise?"

"No I don't! Are you vegan? You poor lad, you must be rabbit shocked after that Edward chased you. You poor adorable thing."

The soft sweet Irish tone had completely worn off now and Gary feared the beast was in the burrow and not outside. Gary was never good with women but strong women made him want to run a mile.

"Thanks very much for your hospitality, must be going now. I must find my friends and return home."

"Oh you can't go just yet, Edward will be waiting. Come and watch the lottery with me. It could be you. You could win the prize of one human soul."

Charlotte flicked on the Olympus 2001.

"Got this one cheap off God. You know he does like his new toys. Come on don't be shy. Stay an hour and I will take you out the safe entrance away from Edward."

Gary calmed at the thought she was going to let him leave without a scene and sat next to her.

"I am nice once you get to know me,"

The TV sprang to life.

"The lottery, which I know you have all been waiting one hundred years for, will be on after this news flash." The presenter said.

"Hello I'm John Watkins and this is Creation News.

A group of unknown perpetrators, believed to be human, have destroyed part of Gods' cottage. It is believed that they drank from the Fountain of Destiny, made potions from the Creation Cabinet, ate his food and one even intoxicated the Queen of the Fairies, who destroyed the garden of Eden vegetable plot. There is a rumor that a drug has turned her heterosexual but a spokes fairy from the fairy castle assures us this is not true. If any creature knows the whereabouts the Queen of the Fairies they are to contact the SS immediately. Now here is a special request from Peter Jones of the SS."

"Have you seen this bunny? He was last seen in the vicinity of God's cottage and is believed to be a human perpetrator by the name of Gary. Do not approach this bunny as he may be dangerous and has unknown powers. If you know his whereabouts contact SS or press the red button on you TV remote now," Peter said.

"Who's a cute little naughty bunny then? You're so cute and cuddly."

Gary squirmed in her grasp and he felt a like he had an apple stuck in his throat.

"Please I am human."

"Now if you were human I would have to turn you in. It's my duty, I know you're all bunny down there."

"Ooh."

"And now the moment you have been waiting for; The Centennial Lottery," the TV presenter said.

"Who, it's the lottery."

Once every one hundred years isn't enough, can't get out, she has the key hidden in her fur, and if I put a hand her, that it! She will never let me go, Gary thought in full panic mode.

"Watch your screens now folks," the presenter said excitedly.

The screen flicked through thousands of names.

"The Fairy Queen is the winner; please contact the SS to claim your prize," the presenter cried with excitement.

Charlotte turned the TV off.

"Ok what do you want," Gary asked reluctantly.

She whispered in his ear.

"I don't know if I can do that, I don't know how."

She turned on the TV and slipped a DVD.

"Oh god that's whoa,' Gary cringed.

"This my favorite bit, I got it off two squirrels."

"Like home movies did they? I can still see their tails under the costumes."

"I am the only one of my kind in the Lost Wood. I have been here for years, alone. There must be something I can do for you?"

"Yeah, get me to my friends."

"Deal."

"Ok get lets give it a go, I have done worse."

"Whoo, arh emm arrrh it's not working," Gary said.

"I have an idea."

Charlotte pressed a button on the TV.

"What's that?"

"These are the humans that the SS watch and care for they know sin and protected from the original apples affect. This is the SS prime function in Molavite."

The TV showed pictures of naked people going about there daily chores.

"I can focus in if you wish."

"Yes her there, it's working, I do remember it being bigger though."

Nature took over and the couple fell asleep.

Charlotte woke up and made a huge bowl of food and a carrot juice latte.

She'd never felt this hungry but had never done that before she thought as she gloated at her achievements.

Gary stirred and sort of jolted upright.

"Morning my little cute fluffy bunny, you're so sexy."

"Morning. Got any coffee?" Gary replied with a shamed remembering look on his whiskers.

"You're a real animal."

"Thanks," Gary blushed, not that she could tell.

"Want something to eat?"

"Please."

They both sat down and ate breakfast. Gary wasn't that hungry for vegetables and longed for sausages egg and bacon. All he had eaten was salad since he got to the islands.

Charlotte munched through her pile of vegetables.

"Do you want that?"

"No go ahead."

Charlotte polished off his plate of food.

"Have you got a map if these islands."

"Yes here. She passed him a roll of parchment."

'Gary opened it up."

"Wow."

The map showed an intricate maze of tunnels so complex even the most experienced map reader would have difficulty with it. He was going to be stuck with her a while, he never going be able to read this thing.

"We're going to need supplies if we're going to the Moldavite city."

Gary's ears perked up.

"We will take these tunnels here, here and there to get to the vegetable plot."

The couple hopped through a side door that Charlotte unlocked. It was pitch black inside.

"Just give your eyes a second to adjust."

It was like having your own night vision built in. Cool he thought. She ran quite quickly and Gary struggled to keep up.

"Slow down. I'm not used to this body."

"Well you're a fast learner."

She darted around so quickly Gary would get lost in a second if she wasn't there.

He could see a blinding light, his eye began to adjust.

"Wait let your eyes adjust or you won't see Edward if he is out there."

They hopped out into a large vegetable plot.

"Planted this all myself, all home grown yummy." Charlotte proceeded to have a little snack.

"I don't know what you have done to me. I'm starving this morning. Can't seem to get enough food into me."

Gary watched her, completely fascinated by the amount she ate; two cabbages, two carrots, a cauliflower, an entire sprout stem. Her stomach expanded.

"That's better" she said.

She then pulled a little four wheel truck out a homemade shed and proceeded to fill it up.

"We have long journey. I'll have to pop back to the burrow and pick up a few souls and some supplies," Charlotte said as she piled it high.

The two of them proceeded to pull it back to the burrow.

"I am tired," she said half way back to the burrow.

Gary proceeded to pull the cart on his own and followed Charlotte. The couple arrived back and slumped on to the sofa.

"I need a minute, I'm so tired," said Charlotte falling asleep on the sofa.

This was Gary's chance to run for it but he thought he'd be lost in an instant. He decided to explore her bookshelf. Most of the books were in a foreign language but there was a book in English 'The Lost Woods Hidden Secrets,' written by Ian Eagle Owl of Clover Common, winner of the 1911 Centennial Lottery.

Gary read the book intently as it was answering a lot of his questions about where he was. A few hours passed. Gary then caught glimpse of Charlottes belly as she started tossing and turning on the sofa. It was moving. Can't be he thought, no.

Charlotte woke up.

"Was I out long?" she asked.

"A couple of hours I think. Charlotte, do you know why God only made one of you?"

"Well no. God said he hadn't quite got me right but liked me so I could live here for the rest of eternity. I think he felt bad because I always get cheap TVs and stuff off him.

Gary pointed to her belly.

"Oh no, can't be! What have you gone and done with that human soul of yours? What have you done? I only wanted a bit of love and I wasn't made for this!"

Charlotte poured herself a glass of carrot juice and sat down on the sofa resting the glass on her belly.

"Judging by that carrot juice bouncing on your belly I would say God over did it."

"What do your mean over did it?"

"Well my grandparent had some rabbits,"

"Are you telling your family are slave traders," Charlotte was quite emotional.

"No, no, they had some living on the allotment," Gary failed to tell her about eating one.

"Oh."

"But they took about a month to develop from you know."

"A month! I'm going to be like this for a month?"

"Well, I think that was the bit God didn't tell you. Judging by the size of your belly, about two days if that."

"What happens next then?" she grabbed for the squirrel porn and shoved it in the DVD player.

"No, no, no, that's not it and that's just wrong," Gary said.

"What I do now then?" she started crying.

"Please, please, don't cry," Gary pleaded.

Charlotte wiped up her tears and started munching on some carrots.

"Have you seen human give birth on the TV?"

"Yes, sure, loads of times. Funny, can you imagine creatures having to do that?"

"Well they do and usually rabbits have several offspring."

"No, no, can't be," Charlotte was mortified.

"Doesn't anyone here breed?"

"No only the birds and the bees as a rule. Oh and humans of course. We're all unique you see."

"What about those two squirrels."

"Gay. I'm sorry. I can't go after your friends now, not with what's happening. I'm going to need you to look after me."

Charlotte shows him a mother, father and child on the TV. Gary took a big gulp.

Charlotte spent the next two hours munching on vegetables and watching the births of three new humans, Gary went back to his book.

He wasn't used to reading this much and it was sending him to sleep. He slowly drifted off.

When he woke up several hours later he had lost track of time as there were no windows or natural light in the burrow. He noticed that there was a big pile of knitted cloaks next to an enormous Charlotte. Must have been out longer than I thought, he said to himself.

He needed the toilet. He had been avoiding this as it might be messy. He went into what we would describe a bathroom. Mmmmm that's better he thought.

"Gary," Charlotte's voice cried.

"What's happening?" Gary asked, hopping into the lounge.

"It hurts."

"Oh sh..t," Gary gasped in blind panic.

"They're coming! They're coming!"

Gary peered round to Charlotte's rear, not wanting to but compelled to.

Straight in the face, nearly knocking him out, a small purple super furry ball shot out of Charlotte at lighting speed. Gary caught the baby bunny.

"Daddy, Daddy, what's my name? What is it? Tell me, can't wait," The baby bunny asked excitedly.

Gary was completely shocked. He wasn't expecting his offspring to talk to him quite so soon.

"It's a boy Charlotte," he showed him to Charlotte who wept.

"Mummy, what's my name?"

"Ronnie."

"I am Ronnie," the little bunny cried with excitement.

Gary wrapped up Ronnie in the knitted cape.

"Now stay put while I help mummy."

"Yes Daddy."

"It's happening again. Ow!"

Gary was ready this time using the knitted capes to catch the ballistic bunny. The bunny flew out of Charlotte but instead of Gary catching him the baby went off flying round the room.

"Mummy! Daddy! Look at me I am flying, what's my name?"

"Come here, come here." Gary said getting annoyed with the defiant little bunny. Gary's ears pricked up and the bunny was sucked into the cape in an instant.

Gary realised he had found his power, just in time by the look of his litter. Telekinesis, ear operated. Gary spent the next half an hour catching bunnies and naming them and trying to control them. That's it, he thought, all done. Charlotte fell asleep.

Gary was getting confused so he looked around and found some string, a knife, some parchment and a pencil.

"We're hungry," nine squeaky voices cried.

Gary, not sure what to give them, chopped some veg up.

Phew he thought as the bunnies tucked right in. He spent the next 6 hours toilet training, feeding and disciplining. He explaining the world as he knew it and how he met their mum, at which point most the girls were in tears. Gary found a cartoon channel on the TV and this seemed to keep then out of trouble. They did seem to be growing at an alarming rate and had doubled in size. They would be out of food soon. . He sat them in a row and wrote their names on parchment tags and their powers on the back. Then he tied them round their necks.

Finally he got them to sleep. Gary sat there wondering what was going to become of him and if he would have to spend the rest of his life as a bunny. What would mother think to have a talking rabbit for a son? He decided to concentrate on finding his friends. The book was helping so he sat reading it until he heard Charlotte stir.

Charlotte woke up and looked across at Gary. Ahh she thought.

"Are you ok," Gary asked.

"Yeah I am fine."

"We need to get some more food soon. They are growing at a considerable rate. Are you up for that?"

"Yeah I need a clean and a carrot juice latte and I will be fine. What happened in here? It's a mess."

"Well they all have powers. Took me a while to get control of them and my own power."

"I wasn't expecting that."

"No neither was I. I have telekinesis, ear activated. Let me introduce our family."

Gary walked along the sleeping row of little bunnies.

"This is Robert. He can fly, and is a little mischievous. Gary junior, he is the only pink one so I gave him my name. He can throw plasma balls hence the holes here and here.

This is Charlotte junior. She has her mums personality and super strength to go with it. Look at this hole she put in the work surface. This is Penny, after Charlotte junior accidentally broke my arm Penny healed it. The track marks round the room, that's Richard with super running ability, he's really quick. Here is Gail; she could hear Edward up above digging to get in and has super hearing. Colleen appears to be able to take any form she wishes. The charred front door and burnt carpet? That's Kerry's fireballs. Finally we have Ronnie who can go invisible, not sure were he is right now."

"Oh, we will have to dig another burrow. We can't bring them up here with Edward outside and there's not enough room. I could do with a drink."

Charlotte pulled out a bottle of carrot wine "Here, I think we both deserve a little drink."

The couple slumped onto the sofa and relaxed with a glass of wine before going to the allotment.

"It's strange they all came out with powers and could talk with a full vocabulary straight away," Gary commented.

"That's the human soul and normal soul crossover; I was made with speech built in. You drank a potion, that's what happened."

Chapter 5 - On The Trail

Pete woke up, sat up against the back door of the box and looked around. The sun was just coming up and he could feel its warmth. He spotted the Fairy Queen hovering above him.

"Morning Pete," the Fairy Queen squeaked, smiling intently at him.

"Morning your highness," Pete replied.

"Oh please call me Catharine," Catharine fluttered long sweeping red eyelashes at him.

"Catharine now is it?" the fridge interrupted.

The Fairy Queen reached into a little pouch, pulled out a handful of dust and threw it across the fridge and the party.

"Please don't hurt them. They're my friends," Pete said worriedly.

"Oh no, I wouldn't do that. I just dusted them. It will make them sleep for an hour or two longer. I can't stand insolent machines; it's not as if they have been around for long and they think they're the bee's knees because God likes them. I thought a bit of privacy would be nice."

Pete reached for his bag, had a look for his stash and proceeded to roll a smoke.

"I'm nearly out of this stuff you know. Mind you, doesn't seem to work for me like it used to."

"That will be all those potions you have been taking."

"We didn't know we were in God's house, or anything for that matter. Could you do me a favour?"

"Yes, anything."

"It's sort of illegal where I am from. I could get in trouble, not that it matters now. But the humans I am with look down on it."

"I know what you mean, I like boys."

"Seems perfectly normal to me."

"Yeah but all fairies like other fairies. They don't know either; they would look down on me too."

"How come you're in here anyway?"

"Trashing God's garden, years of frustration. I should have known better really."

"What will happen to you?"

"Probably get a few years with the SS cleaning up other peoples messes. It's not that bad, they always go easy on creatures with powers cos they're useful. There are not enough wizards to keep absolute control so crimes are paid back by services to Moldavite."

Pete passed her the smoke "What will happen to us do you think?"

"Oh I don't know. Probably the same, they will find you jobs but you can't leave."

"I have job, a family, and a house."

"You have a family?"

"Just mum, dad and sister, it's still family."

"I thought you meant wife and kids."

"No single, never met the right one," alarm bells rang in Pete's head but she was a fairy. No harm, he thought.

"Oh," she blushed.

"What are your powers then?" she said changing the subject.

"I haven't got any."

The fairy dug deep in her tiny bag and pulled out a small crystal.

"I got this from a wizard who dropped it the forest after a fight with rather vicious goblin. The wizards use them to channel their powers."

"You mean I'm a wizard?"

"Well no, but you could have the potential be one. It really depends on what you drank but you should have some powers I would have thought. I have seen God mix the wizard potion and he never seems to take much care. Here, take this. I know a few spells that might be useful. You won't last long here if you can't look after yourself."

"Thanks. What do I do with it?"

"Hold it in the palm of your hand and clear your head of all thoughts."

A bottle of water started floating in front of him.

"Good, you have water master capabilities."

"What's that?'

"You can control water. It's a much respected power; water is just about everywhere. See what spells you can cast. Spell casting is about feeling emotion and then casting a spell. Different emotions and different words create different spells."

"I understand."

"Think of the emotion fear and say the word shandor."

A small yellow bubble popped around Pete and the fairy. Cool he thought.

"Well done, that's really good. This is a shield and it will protect you from magic spells and physical attack."

"More," Pete demanded.

"I only know two more, not much call for it being god's gardener. I know this plasma ball one but you can't really do it in here. It's not safe. The emotion is anger or frustration, and the word is kinmoor. I do know one that's a healing spell. The emotion is peace or love and the word is conart."

The magic box started to move.

"Lets stop, the wizards are up. I don't want to get you in any more trouble."

"Ok," Pete said putting the crystal on a small locket around his neck.

The fridge woke up.

"That's a dirty trick, sprinkling fairy dust on a defenseless appliance."

"Would you rather I turned you into a toaster?" Catharine asked with sugary sweetness.

"No," Pete stopped the Fairy Queen dusting the fridge again and got his breakfast order in quick. "Eggs, bacon, beans, black pudding, sausage and hot toast with a cup of coffee white with two sugars,"

"What's that you ordered?"

"Breakfast. Want some?" Pete offered her small pieces of his breakfast and they sat and finished it together. Pete ordered ten bars of chocolate and three dr peppers from the fridge for later and put them in his bag along with his stash. He slung it around his shoulder for safe keeping. Pete sat going through the spells in his head trying to memorise them.

Meanwhile up above them.

"We will be in Moldavite city before nightfall with a bit of luck," said David.

"Oh look at that soul fly! I forgot to tell the Fairy Queen she won the lottery," Joseph said.

What appeared to be a sparkling fire ball whizzed through the air and headed towards the magic box. The soul went straight through the roof.

Kevin was stirring; Pete got hold of his locket repeating the spells in his head.

Kevin went to yawn.

"Shandor," Pete said, a bubble popped up around him and the fairy.

"Arh," Kevin began to yawn.

"It worked," Pete cried.

Bang! A thunderous roar ripped through the air. Pete and the fairy were forced out of the back door and straight down the side of a ravine into a stream. The pair continued to be pushed upstream while traveling in Pete's bubble. The soul was pushing hard against the shield trying to get to the fairy.

"What's that?" Pete asked.

"Don't know."

The bubble popped. Pete was swept downstream by the fast moving current before being washed up on a beach further down. The fairy was hit by the soul which took her upstream and tossed her into the rocks where she passed out. The blast made the unicorns bolt and David fought to regain control and pull up the magic box.

The two wizards jumped down. Joseph immediately repaired the back of the box fearing the occupants may emerge and attack them. They looked inside and observed Kevin who was the only one awake in the box.

"Two missing," David said.

"No-ones ever done that before, must have been that soul. Turn the box around. We will go back and see if we can find them."

They searched for a good hour but found nothing.

"They will be long gone by now, lets take the rest in and I will mmail HQ to let them know what's happened."

Pete scrambled to the beach exhausted by the cold icy water. He felt a thump on the back of his head and he was out cold.

The Fairy Queen woke up and checked herself. She felt quite different and wasn't sure why. Catharine searched the river covertly but Pete was nowhere to be seen. Realising where she was she decided to enlist the help of an old friend. Catharine flew through the woods and straight up a hollow tree and promptly knocked on a small door inside.

"Catharine, how nice to see you," a one eyed snowy owl opened the door and invited her inside. There was only one room in the tree hollow and it was wall to wall books all the way round apart from a small section with a fridge in. There was a reading desk in the middle of the room with a small perch attached to it.

'Hi Philip, sorry this isn't a social call."

"Thought you had come to gloat over your human soul."

"What are you talking about Philip?"

"You won the lottery. Surely you must have it by now."

"Oh, that's what it was, they send it by shooting star if you don't claim it."

She spent the next hour explaining everything that had happened and her problems, frustrations, life, the meaning of universe and everything. Philip knew everything about Catharine and she trusted him with her life.

"There is a way you know. 'The Book of Creation' could have the answers you are looking for. It is rumored to be in the Lost Wood somewhere, buried deep in the earth. That rabbit Charlotte might know were to find it. I would go and see her."

"Could you fly around and search for Pete for me?" The fairy gave Philip a brief description of Pete and said her goodbyes.

Having found the possible answers she was looking for the fairy set off toward the rabbits burrow in full flight.

Gary meanwhile was busy chopping vegetables for the not so baby bunnies. The babies had grown up fast and were eating the last of the food.

"We will have to nip to the veg plot and get some more vegetables. We're out Charlotte," Gary said, looking tired from child care.

"Again! We will leave them here this time. That Edward nearly nipped young Penny's tail off last time we went to the veg plot," Charlotte replied worriedly.

"They gave him a good battering but it was a close one," Gary agreed.

"You, me and I think Charlotte junior ought to go this time. Children, we have to go to the allotment. We will be back in half an hour. There will be no going out while we're not here. Edward will be waiting and I don't want any injuries," Charlotte commanded.

"Yes mum," nine voices replied.

The trio of rabbits set off for the allotment.

"They gone?" Gary jnr asked mischievously.

"Yes but I can hear him up there cursing us," Gail said angrily.

"Did you get the key Ronnie?" Gary jnr asked.

"Yes," Ronnie replied.

"Edward is the villain who has plagued bunny kind since the beginning of creation and must be stopped to allow all bunnies everywhere to roam free from tyranny and repression. Power to the bunnies, rise up and defeat the evil overlord," Gary jnr rallied his troops.

"You mean you want to go out and play?" Gail said.

"Yes, that too," Gary jnr said.

The bunnies had been watching far too much super hero TV and were ready to take their place as the Lost Woods heroes, and go out and play of course. They sat down for twenty minutes and came up with a plan to teach Edward a lesson.

Ronnie went out the front door, invisibly of course, and checked out the way ahead. He could see Edward pacing back and forth muttering to himself. He went back and signaled the others to come out. They all crept slowly out into the forest.

"Ready?" Gary jnr whispered.

Edward's ears pricked up, his nose was on fire with the smell of fresh rabbit.

"Attack," Gary junior shouted.

Several fireballs and plasma balls shot at Edward who was yelping as his tail caught fire. He charged them and Colleen changed into a twenty foot tall giant bear and proceeded to hit him on the nose. More fire balls and plasma balls landed painfully on his back. Edward ran screaming out of the forest and up the track leaving the smell of burning fur behind him.

He saw three wizards about a mile ahead and chased after them screaming "Asylum, give me asylum." Asylum was granted to any creature would accept a code of conduct and work for the SS, but no creature had ever done this before.

The Fairy Queen had hidden high up in the trees. She knew Edward would be around somewhere and she needed to check that it was safe to approach the burrow. Catharine watched the bunnies' actions in complete surprise. Charlotte came out and screamed at the top of her voice.

"What are you doing? Get back inside immediately."

The bunnies hopped back inside sniggering to themselves at their achievements and being told off. The fairy approached Charlotte.

"Hello," the Fairy Queen said.

"Hello," said Charlotte nervously.

"I need your help please, if you can?"

Charlotte was completely surprised. How could she help the Fairy Queen, what about the children?

"You will have to excuse me, I have things to attend to, Edward will be back soon," Charlotte replied, not knowing what to say.

"It won't take long, I just need some information. Your children sent Edward packing. I could see him running up the track asking three wizards for asylum. He won't be back," pleaded the Fairy Queen.

Charlotte realised that the fairy meant no harm and that she already knew about the children.

"Come in then. Cup of tea?"

"Please."

"You will have to excuse me," Charlotte asked for some consideration, "I had nine children yesterday who promptly grew up and turned my burrow upside down,"

"How did you.....?" the fairy was quickly interrupted.

'It's complicated, unintentional, nice, scary, and indescribable." Charlotte blurted out.

The pair entered the burrow and could see nine bunnies sat in a neat row in front of the TV watching 'Watership Down'. They had little bunny tears running down their faces.

"That seems to be their favorite film, that and 'Dungeons and Dragons'," explained Charlotte.

"I didn't know you could get that on the TV," a surprised fairy said.

"Oh, sorry, this is Gary. He has a human soul like you. He can get anything he imagines on the TV."

"Oh haven't tried that yet. Hello Gary."

Gary was into his book again, "Oh hello."

"This is the Fairy Queen Gary," Charlotte introduced her.

"I hear you had a close encounter with one of those humans," Gary said, realizing she may be of help.

"Yes. I made friends with the one called Pete," Catharine's eyes sparkled as she mentioned Pete.

"Are they alright?" Gary asked.

The fairy explained her encounters with Pete, editing just a few bits here and there.

"So what information is it that you wanted?" Charlotte asked.

"I need to find 'the Book of Creation' to help the humans leave the island. They don't belong here; I was told you might know where it is," explained Catharine.

Charlotte went to a cupboard and pulled out a piece of parchment.

"This is a map of the old tunnels built by the mole miners thousands of years ago. It goes below what we use now. The trouble is all of God's darkest creations live down there, most of them are not hospitable and all are dangerous. Not a place to go on your own. You would need a party of wizards to go on such a quest even to stand a chance of coming out alive."

"A quest, a quest, we're going on a quest," the children excitedly screamed.

"Oh no you're not, pipe down a minute," Charlotte said firmly.

"Mum, mum," Gail tried to get her mums attention and tugged on her fur.

The children hugged together in a bunny confab whispering amongst themselves then proceeded to collect items from the room and place them in rucksacks concealed under their capes.

"You need to find a good seer who won't blab as soon as he has helped you. They're always the same; read your future and tell everyone. They will let you know where the book is exactly," Charlotte explained.

"Salvage Service open up. We have reason to believe you are harboring a pink fluffy bunny by the name of Gary," A wizard's voice soberly echoed through the door.

"Quickly, everyone out the back door. Bring up the rear Gary and lock the door behind you," Charlotte cried urgently.

The children had already packed as they had heard the wizards coming but were unable to tell their mum because she was deep in conversation.

Charlotte grabbed her traveling bag and some scrolls and left the burrow.

Chapter 6 - Moldavite City

The magic box was now well en route to the city having left the lost wood. Joseph checked his mmails:-

Urgent asylum seeker: Brian Foxloxy.

Urgent cottage repaired: Brian Foxloxy.

Urgent protesters at HQ: Peter Jones.

Now Joseph got hundreds of mmails but never three urgent ones in a row. He clicked on the first one:

'Sir. We picked up a creature seeking asylum on the mainland near Gods' cottage. He claimed he had been attacked by several purple bunnies and one who was believed to be pink. We need a warrant to search the home of Charlotte bunny who is believed to be harbouring Gary the bunny and making illegal copies of said bunny.'

Joseph replied:

'You have my permission to search the property, pursue and detain. Use only necessary force so we may question the culprits.'

Joseph clicked on the next mmail: 'We have repaired the cottage but there is an apple missing from the garden. The human named Pete was believed to have taken it when he intoxicated the Fairy Queen.'

Joseph opened the last mmail: - 'There is a mob at the gate protesting against asylum seekers from the Lost Wood. The mob is really angry so be careful.'

Nothing for years and then complete anarchy he thought.

"Be ready when we get to the outer moat. There's an angry mob of anti asylum seeker protesters. Shield spells only, I don't want any injuries" Joseph said to David.

The humans below them were now waking up and Kevin was running out of writing paper explaining what had happened. The fridge woke up then.

"My circuits can't take it any more. I'm going to blow a fuse if I get knocked out one more time," the fridge complained.

The party ordered breakfast and settled down to eat it, ignoring the sulking fridge.

"Looks like we're out of the wood. I can see farms over that wall. There is a village and a mob up ahead at that big gate," The Professor gave a running commentary on what she could see out the window.

The group looked out the windows of the magic box and could see banners and hear chanting...

"Get them out, get them out," the crowd chanted.

The banners read; 'No asylum seekers here,' 'Save our jobs,' 'Creatures go home.'

"Well they haven't done that for a while," said the fridge.

"What do you mean?" The Professor asked.

"God created these humans who live and work on the right of this track. He gave them human souls but unfortunately very little intelligence and he wasn't happy with them. He wiped most of them out with the Black Death and unnatural disasters. Many creatures believe there are still some off the island and they have contributed to the human population explosion. Like most things he kept the best of the worst. These humans farm the land and provide food for the masses. They do tend to protest a lot over change or anything new."

The cart went through the gate peacefully. There was a large twenty foot wall to the left of the track and the human village to the right with farms beyond. It was very pretty with rolling hills and vineyards filling the skyline and tiny windmills in the distance.

"So what's over the wall, fridge?" the Captain asked.

"Good question Captain. They are God's perfect humans or the best he has done so far. He shielded them from the effects of sin and they live happily with nature taking only what they need being eco friendly, tree hugging, and caring people. They ensure there is a balance with nature and the way they live. They're the prime responsibility of the SS. Nothing matters more," replied the fridge.

"So you're telling me that the whole 6 billion people on earth are a mistake?"

"Well, yes and no. You were created perfect but he left the back gate open in the Garden of Eden, the rest is history. But you are a mistake; he likes you because you're more like him than he cares to admit. God created you in his image and was trying for perfection but got himself.

"I'm confused," Sarah said.

"It took me a while, but there is no shame here in not understanding God," the fridge said.

The track started to climb upward and the party could see the huge outer wall of a fairytale castle mounted on bedrock. There was a sheer drop either side of the track now. It seemed to go down for miles. The track curved round in a large helix slowly bending in and up toward the city. They could hear the wind blowing fiercely outside and when they looked out over the track it felt as if they were flying sideway.

The city had twelve parapets in symmetrical places inside the inner wall. In the middle of the city was a huge parapet that dwarfed the others. The Captain took out his spyglass and could see huge telescopes and cameras mounted on the parapets.

"It's a long way up," the Professor said.

"Yes, they placed it that high up so that it wouldn't interfere with the humans below and he could watch them carefully. They can see most of the land from here. If you move your spyglass to the right you should be able get a glimpse of Mount Olympus and to your left is Haven Mountain. Just down to your right is the Well of Souls. Looking out of the back door to your right is Devils Island and to your left Fairy Tale Island," explained the fridge.

They came to the front gates of the inner moat where the doors swung open as if by magic. The carts pace slowed to a steady walk and the group looked around in amazement. There were market stalls everywhere and people, creatures of every shape size and colour, many of which they had not seen before. It was very loud and the buzzing of bartering was everywhere. The clothes and stalls appeared to be from the Middle Ages with barrels of wine and beer on sale, dead fish were hanging in rows from hooks on a fish stall, fur stalls with piles of animal skin being cured. The smells lit their senses and fired their eyes around the castle. The cart circled around the outside of the inner castle wall and two large doors opened. They went through a courtyard filled with exotic plants. Humming birds sucked nectar from beautiful flowers and hanging basket planters were placed in neat little rows. The cart approached another set of doors and pulled into a large hall lined with a row of ten wizards.

Joseph Jones got down from the cart and was escorted by one of the wizards to the back of the box. Joseph began to speak in a clear, loud somber voice which echoed round the hall.

"Listen up prisoners. You will do exactly as the wizards ask or we will use force. There is no escaping this room as it is magic proof. These wizards will need you to answer all their questions to ensure you have proper care and a fair trail for your crimes against God.

The SS is fair, firm and forgiving to those who confess and wish to make amends.

This is Peter Jones; he is your defense council. He will assist you with your every need while you're here. I will open the door and you are to come out one at a time. Remain in the box, fridge. I have a job for you.

"I'll go first and try and explain about Sarah and Kevin to the wizards before they take out the room between them," the Professor said.

Sarah clenched her hands tightly together but they were being forced apart by bright blue sparks. She was scared but mostly angry because of the difficulty she was having containing the power. The PMT wasn't helping.

"Hello, I'm Professor Milliner. I am sorry we have caused you so much trouble, we mean no harm. There are two in my party who are having difficulties with their powers. Firstly there is a young woman, Sarah. When she gets scared blue energy comes out of her hands and she is struggling to contain the power so for all our benefit please try not to scare her too much. We also have a young man who can't talk because when he does he puts everyone to sleep. The Captain and myself have no powers."

"Ok thanks. Please follow the wizard to the next induction point," Peter Jones said.

The Professor could see a row of desks with machines and computers on them. The rest of the hall was bare and empty. There were a couple of dark wooden doors and no windows just candle light sconces placed around the room. The Professor walked over to three wizards with laptops.

It was a thorough grilling. Name, date of birth place of birth, national insurance number, NHS number, sex, martial status, school, college university, criminal record, health , life ambitions, family... Every question including favorite food was gone through. The Professor had never been so cross examined in her life.

The wizards typed searches intensely to find all her records from anywhere in existence that she had ever been. "Take this disc to the next station please, follow the escort," the wizard ordered.

The Professor went to the next station to what looked like a scanning device, very hi tech. Gary would love it, she thought.

"Disc please, place your hand here, your other hand here and look through this hole. Thanks. Please take your disc to the next station and follow the escort," said a very polite wizard.

She passed the disc to the wizard at the final table. It printed off a tag which he placed around her hand.

"This tag will allow you to access the facilities here and is also a record of your life. Do not lose it. Please follow the escort," ordered the wizard.

The Professor could see Kevin and the Captain at the stations behind, but no Sarah

"This way please," the escorting wizard requested.

The Professor followed him through the hall to what appeared to be a small court yard.

"You may use this courtyard for exercise and you each have your own room. Your tag will open this door only and operate this equipment. Mr. Peter Jones will be with you later tomorrow," her escort said, showing her to her room.

The Professor looked around. There was a fridge, TV, and a computer. A small door led to a bathroom, and there was one single bed. She went out to the court yard and had a look around. There were cameras everywhere, not just looking at her but out away from the city and beyond.

The Captain wandered out, followed by Kevin with a note which he passed to the Professor.

'Sarah is taking a little longer, the wizards look scared of her,' Kevin's note read.

Back at the magic box Sarah was being talked out of the box very gently by Peter Jones who was sweating somewhat. Sarah's powers were forcing her hands apart and they could hear crackling. She calmed down a little when she started the processing and was fine until she went to the scanning machine. Peter Jones gently showed her what to do and all was well until she laid her hands flat and blew the machine up.

"That's never happened before!" Peter Jones exclaimed.

"I didn't do anything," Sarah clasped her hands tightly together.

"I know," said Peter, who could see the anguish on her face.

Sarah managed to finish the process and joined the others in the courtyard.

"Are you ok Sarah?" the Professor asked.

"I blew that machine up by accident. I could kill for a cup of tea," Sarah replied.

"Come in my room for a bit and calm down. I'll get the tea," the Professor said, putting her arm around her.

The Professor ordered tea from the fridge and Sarah began to calm down, sipping slowly.

"I'll try this computer and see what it does," she placed her tag in a little hole.

"Hello Professor Milliner. How may I help you?" the computer asked politely.

"I want the information you have about me," demanded the Professor.

The screen lit up with hundreds of page of information from birth till the present moment. There it was; induction information. Station 3 information, DNA, retinal scan, powers. She clicked on powers; level 3 telepath.

"Computer, define a level three telepath."

Level three telepath may telepathically link to any none terrestrial language creature, command and control," the computer said.

"Does this mean I can control any a creature who doesn't speak my language?"

"That is correct," replied the computer.

"Computer, access Sarah Baker's file," requested the professor.

"Access may only be granted to the file holder with appropriate tag." replied the computer.

"We will have to go to your room for a bit to access your information. Are you calm enough now?" the Professor asked Sarah.

"Yes I think so," Sarah said, getting up and going to her room with the Professor.

"Computer, show me my induction file and results for powers. Computer, why did the machine blow up when it scanned my powers," Sarah asked.

"The machine was only capable of measuring to a level 3 god, this is what it measured before it blew up," the computer replied.

Sarah clicked on powers: - level 10 transmorphic,

Level 10 plasma ball,

Level 10 healing,

Level 10 shield,

Level 5 teleport,

Level 2 telekinetic.

"Wow," they both said excitedly.

"So do I have more powers then?" Sarah asked.

"You're scheduled to be rescanned tomorrow at ten in the morning on a level ten machine," replied the computer.

"I am goddess," Sarah said, hardly believing her own words.

"That is correct," the computer replied.

"Computer I have only seen half of these powers, how do I access them?" Sarah asked.

"All magic powers are emotion based, different emotions will evoke the powers," answered the computer.

"PMT, I have had it all week. That explains the plasma balls," Sarah said.

"Computer, how do I evoke healing powers," asked Sarah.

"The emotions you require are love or peace and think about what you would like to heal," answered the computer.

Sarah lay down on the bed and relaxed. She thought of how she felt about her pet cat who she loved dearly. She soon started to glow all over.

"That's working then," Professor said.

Sarah sat up, "That's good, no more periods, no pmt," she said with excitement and then she was gone. The Professor shouted her name several times and went to leave the room but didn't have the correct tag to open the door. She banged on the door "let me out," The door opened.

"That's fun, only got as far the outer wall. It appears to be magic proof, excitement seems to trigger teleportation," Sarah said.

"I am going to see how Kevin and the Captain are doing. Have fun," said the Professor walking out.

Sarah was elated at the idea of super powers and was soon back on the computer learning how to command her powers.

The Professor went to Kevin's room and explained what she had found so far

Kevin looked complete depressed and had a bottle of Jameson's in his hand.

He listened carefully, and then accessed his file.

Station 3 powers

Unknown power: The power appear to put people to sleep and is voice activated, possibly he is a Cracken.

Shield: - level 6 shields will protect against most magic and creature based attacks. Fear activated.

"What's a Cracken?" he typed.

"Cracken or magical creature's that can't interact with society because the powers are generally too powerful or obscure," the computer said.

Kevin sat on his bed, thought deeply and attempted to activate his shield. No, couldn't get it working. Kevin had never had an active imagination and was drunk.

"Try it in the morning when you haven't had the Dutch courage," suggested the Professor.

Kevin nodded.

The Professor knocked on the Captain's door. He was sat reflecting at his life on the screen, wondering unusually for him if he had made all the right choices. He was thinking about his wife and the friends he had lost touch with.

"Hi," said the Professor.

"Come in," said the Captain.

"You can assess your induction file."

"Already got it open."

The Professor explained what the others had found out and the Captain's curiosity made him look at his induction. Station 3 powers

Level 5 seer.

"Computer define seer," commanded the Captain.

"Level 5 seer may see into the future or past of any creature to the length of 5 months. This is the most difficult power to master as it requires the user to feel no emotion to access it," answered the computer.

"Well that's a pile of doodoo isn't it?"

"Apparently you can still do spells."

"Computer access spells." requested the Captain.

"Spells are off limits until you have been tried. You also require a crystal for spells," the computer responded.

"Drink," the Captain asked.

"Please."

"Rum ok."

"Yeah fine."

"I think I need to get to the point were I don't care about anything" the Captain said.

"Sounds good."

The pair relaxed and watched some TV.

Meanwhile Sarah was a new woman or animal should I say. She had been in her room practicing her powers and had changed herself into a mouse and was trying to achieve the correct emotion to change back again there, she did it. It was getting late but this was far too much fun. One last thing she thought.

She went outside, turned into a Peregrine Falcon and flew into the sky. The castle was indeed magic proof but not flight proof. She sawed high above Moldavite. The bird's eyesight was amazing; she could see every tiny little thing for miles. She circled the island, looked down and saw little fires lit up all across the Lost Wood. She was very excited. 'I wonder if Pete and Gary are down there' she thought, and with that she teleported above a small campfire. She flew round looking down at the ground and saw that there were little elf like creatures dancing around a fire who appeared to be gambling at cards. Piles of chips were everywhere. Sarah spotted Pete. He was being held at spear point by several angry elves.

He appeared to be holding a machete whilst talking to a bush in front of him and crying at the same time. Sarah flew in close and perched on a nearby bush, and watched with intrigue.

Chapter 7 - The Dark Side Of Stash

Pete awoke to find himself tied to a rough bamboo stretcher tied together with the same vines that bound him. He was heading down a stream in a kayak with elf like creatures paddling madly trying to hit their camp before nightfall. The Ghump tribe was a concept God had in the early years of creation, the concept being men were all made equal. They all stood at three feet six inches tall and had pear shaped humanoid bodies. The Ghump were all exactly the same; blue eyes, pointy ears, small noses, large mouths, everything the same. They lived for exactly one hundred years and all carried one egg which they laid ten years before dying, The Ghump were asexual, they lived off berries, birds, fish and bees. They were allergic to alcohol which made them very ill. This created a lot of confusion and boredom within the tribe. The tribe had developed a sophisticated method of tattoos which differentiated them on sight. Each elf had his place and job tattooed on his arm and there was one chief at a time. Most of the time was spent gambling. They would gamble on the outcome of anything just for something to do. The tribe had no need of technology to survive but had acquired to the skills and wealth to acquire top of the range TVs, video games and computers. They had hacked into the main SS computer and had video feeds all over Moldavite. The Ghump sat around screen watching interaction between creatures and making bets on the outcomes. The interruptions of humans had caused a massive outcry as whole fortunes had been lost in moments, particularly when Pete and the Fairy Queen escaped. Tinny, the new chief came into power when he took nine elf fortunes in one sweep. The richest elf is in charge. He is seen as the best person to lead at the time, so who is leading the tribe can change from moment to moment. The stream increased in speed and strength, they must have been traveling a 30 mph. All he could see was woods for mile after mile. It was becoming dark and the stream lit up as the eyes of animals popped up out of the water. The stream widened and Pete could see a small settlement up ahead with a few small timber buildings and one really long one.

The kayak pulled in at the village and four elves carried him out and placed him on the floor. One of the elves tore Pete's right sleeve off and began tattooing his arm. The tattoo was a bit like a hieroglyph. There was a tree, a smiley face and a hand.

"Hello anybody here speak English?" Pete asked. All he could hear was grunting and clicking noises coming from their mouths. Then one elf came forward

"Welcome to the tribe, provider of the magic herb," the elf said, lifting the remains of the smoke.

"You're the one who has being stealing the smoke," Pete said.

"You threw them away."

"Our new chief Tinny has made you one of the tribe and has given you the job of providing the herb for the tribe, I am Eererew. We're all named after our skills. Just call me Bob if it's easier. It's short for my translation, Bigmouth of Bough."

"Ok Bob, are you going to untie me?"

Yes but you must promise to provide the magic herb for the tribe or else the chief will hunt you down and feed your innards to the Cracken for lunch," Bob said rather lightly..

"Ok."

Bob untied Pete and three spears came close to his face. Bob grunted and the spears moved back. Pete went for his stash.

"I haven't got much left, here," he passed a small pouch of herb to Bob.

The tribe followed Bob into the big long hut and Bob presented Tinny with his prize. Bob returned to Pete.

"More, clllick," Bob demanded as the spears moved back in place.

Pete put his hand in his pocket and searched around.

"I have a seed and can grow some more for you."

"What? You can grow it?"

"Yeah that's how you normally get it."

Bob grunted and clicked a lot as another elf came forward.

"This is Gat. He is the Gardener. He has a special soil for you to use that is found only in Bough. It will grow the herb faster, stronger and make it reproduce."

Pete didn't have a clue if any of this would work but he thought it might buy him some time until he came up with a plan.

Gat carried over a huge tub of soil and a bucket of water.

Pete reached into his pocket and pulled out the contents. A bag of souls, a dairy milk chocolate wrapper, one seed and pocket fluff. He bent down and placed the seed carefully in a hole he made with his fingers. His leg cramped up and he spilt the souls which were really hard to catch and put back. That's all of them I think he thought to himself as he put them back into his pocket. He watered the seed and hoped it would grow.

Pete sat down and said, "That's all I can do for now. You will have to wait a week or so for it to germinate."

"Wait, watch it for a minute." Bob pointed towards the tub.

After minute or two there was a bit of movement. Two single leaves forced their way to the top of the pot and opened out.

"Gat says water it again. The soil absorbs everything quicker, he will mix some feed," Bob said.

Pete watered the seed and it just kept growing.

"Hello," a little squeaky voice said.

Everyone stepped back a little in surprise.

"Thank you for creating me. I am so pleased to be alive. You are my creator and must be a truly powerful and magnificent God," the plant said, her voice coming from her stem.

"It was an accident," shocked and astounded, Pete answered.

The plant began to wither and her leaves curled up and looked kind of ill.

"Boohoo, that so awful and cruel. I don't want to live any more," the plant sobbed.

"I wasn't talking to you Sarah, my sweet, beautiful, pretty plant," Pete said, realising the plant was the only way out without a fight.

"You gave me a name 'Sarah,' Do you mean it? Do really mean it?" Sarah asked, her voice quivering with emotion.

"Yes I do, I am just going to get you some water," Pete said gently.

"You're so nice and lovely. What is your name? I am going to name one of my seeds after you, oh great one," Sarah responded, her leaves spreading happily reaching towards him.

"Pete."

Pete walked to the river to get water with Bob following.

"Bob, what's happening to my plant? Its got feelings, can talk and its leaves curl up when I talk to it badly," Pete asked.

"You must have dropped a soul in with the seed when you were watering. What are you going to do next? I've got ten to one odds that you're not going to get the plant to produce any stuff," Bob replied, trying to get inside information.

"You're betting I can't produce any more stuff?"

"Yes, what else is there to do round here? Can't have sex, can't drink and can't create. We know God exists, he is our neighbor. Gambling and smoking the herb is it."

"Well do me a favour! Let me do the talking to the plant. She is really sensitive," said Pete, walking back to this plant.

"Here's some water for you my little perfect plant."

A group of elves were gathering around, clearly betting on whether the plant made it through the night. Pete was quite shocked. The plant had clearly doubled in size and had already started flowering, great big purple flowers.

"You're truly remarkable. You're flowers have the sweetest scent and the most beautiful colours."

The plants branches stretched out with every kind word Pete spoke and as the light fell he could see the glistering THC sparkle in the moonlight and yes, a few seeds had started to form. The tree was truly amazing and stood 10 ft high and a good 5 ft wide. Harvesting time, he thought.

Pete had grown quite attached to the tree in the time he had spent with it but knew that it was him or the tree.

"Bob, can I have a word?"

Pete took Bob over to one side and asked him for a machete. He thought this would be the quickest and easiest way to dispatch the bush.

Pete walked over to bush.

"Please don't kill me," a soft feminine delicate voice rolled out from the bush. "My life is here with you, my creator," Sarah started crying, water gushing down her stem.

It was killing him. He had never killed anything in his life, certainly nothing that said "please don't kill me," Tears rolled down his cheeks too.

"I have just come to chop down a few weeds in your pot," Pete lied unconvincingly.

"You think I'm gonna believe that bunch of krap! Do you think I can't smell burning bud from the hut," a deep growing voice hissed back at Pete.

The bush caught the tribe and Pete off guard; it took down three of the four guards around it before it went for Pete.

Pete ducked and dived as the branches threw stolen spears at him

"I wouldn't smoke me. I am strong enough knock out a Cracken!"

"Shandor."

Pete engaged his shield and chopped the plant down.

Bob came running over, "Thanks Pete, you're free to go, I am chief now. Here, this is for helping us," as he passed him some bush.

"You have a good day?" Pete asked.

"Yeah the three guards who were killed by the tree left me holding their chips," said Bob.

Sarah flew in and changed into a human again as she landed next to Pete.

"Don't see that everyday," Sarah said, laughing at him.

"Sarah," Pete was please to see her and gave her a big a hug. "Bob, Sarah my friend, Sarah, Bob chief of the Ghump tribe. We're going before the chief changes again Bob. Thanks and take care," Pete said as he quickly walked away.

Sarah and Pete grabbed a torch and headed away from the village for a good half an hour. Pete made a fire from the torch and the drift wood laying about on the edge of the river. Pete pulled out the dr pepper and some chocolate bars from his bag and the couple exchanged stories.

"So how are we going to find Gary?" Pete asked.

"I have a plan but you may not like it, I am going to turn you into a bunny or something and myself into an eagle then teleport to where Gary is."

"Now let think about this. I am barely staying alive being human ooooyhh."

"Trust me, I am a goddess."

Sarah executed her plan. They were soon high in the air with Pete peering out of the rucksack.

"I really don't feel very safe"

"Let's go, whee."

They teleported but judging from where they were, they hadn't gone far. She tried again and they didn't move. He must be down there. She swooped down and landed.

"I couldn't see him anywhere" she said changing them back into human form

"He could be underground," Pete suggested.

"Yes, I can't teleport underground but I have an idea."

"No."

She turned them both into moles.

"Ok, let's start digging."

"You can't be serious" a little squeaky voice exclaimed. Pete put his bag in a nearby bush and retied his locket around his neck.

The pair had been digging for several hours when they broke through into a tunnel below.

"You see it wasn't that bad. He can't be far way now."

The pair scampered along the tunnel until they came to a junction with five routes on it.

"Can you hear that?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, but which direction is it coming from?"

"That way.

Chapter 8 -The Trial

Joseph Jones went to his chambers, after handing the prisoners over to Peter Jones. His chamber was quite large. In it were two round tables pushed together with thirteen chairs around them. There were a couple of wonky book shelves behind the tables. To the right was a solid oak writing desk littered with papers and old parchments. The room had a tired look as if never got completely cleaned and the furniture was worn and damaged by time. Behind Joseph's desk was a sturdy looking door with a key hole and a large door handle. He went over to the large door labeled 'Restricted. Head of SS only' and taking out a large key unlocked the door. He had never been in this room because he thought he might be more judgmental about his work if he did. The worst of whatever happened got put in here and was recorded on parchment only. The room was full of dangerous objects: enchanted swords, lighting rods, old blue crystal crossbows, goblets, banned spell books, Poseidon spears, crystal balls, musical instruments, and multi crystaled rings. Joseph looked around; he was curious and had to go in. He found some large rifle looking weapons and read the parchment stuck on the side of it; God Stopper level five. There were three rooms and one whole room was dedicated to crystals; there were red, blue, yellow, green, violet and orange ones. There were enough weapons to stock five wizard armies. He searched around for scrolls but had difficultly finding anything. He left the room and summoned the wizard council to come and help him. The wizard council was made up of the longest serving wizards. The fact they hadn't been killed was a testament to their wisdom, it was thought. The wizards in question had served for total of five thousand years between them, but even they hadn't seen what was in the restricted section.

"As you know gentlemen there has been an incident at God's cottage. Some humans have acquired powers and it is our job to salvage the situation. This is the restricted section, I have made the decision that we are going to record all items in this room and destroy the most dangerous ones. There is far too much weaponry in here and I can't find the records I need. I want the parchments put on a level ten security on the computer system."

Joseph went over to the computer

"Computer, grant access level ten to the following wizards; Peter Jones, Rex Fox, Britton Mathews, Ian Malling, Simon Grant, Robert Smithson."

"Get Peter up here as soon as you can. Work through the night, I need answers for the morning. Double the guard on these chambers while this is sorted out and get the armoury to test these weapons and classify them all," Joseph commanded.

Joseph retired for the evening. He had a long day and he needed to get a clear head to sort this mess out. He didn't like closed door stuff which annoyed him, he was a true idealist and held that transparency was the key to trust and interspecies development.

The wizards sat together in the chambers plotting trying to figure out what to do next.

"He hasn't got a clue has he?" Robert said, looking at Britton's face.

"We will all be banished to the Lost Woods if he finds out," Ian said worriedly.

"He was only created ten thousand years ago after the ice age and the Second Great Wizard War. God saw we were thin on the ground and made some more creatures for existence. Don't ask me why, there have always been enough volunteers," Britton said, putting another curl in his moustache.

"We could just sift through this stuff and get rid of the evidence," Simon said, raking through parchments.

"Yes but Peter will be up in a minute and he's of the same breed," Ian said.

"I found them and I have an idea," Britton Mathews emerged with a set of six rings from the crystal room. Each ring had multi crystal facets. Britton was one of the few wizards with a human soul that he had obtained hundreds of years before. He was the brains of the five. He stood at a steady six feet and looked about forty. His long plaited beard and curly mustache made him look older than he was. He was a weasel when he joined the SS and had learned to take human form quickly. He found it got him what he wanted more often. He shouldn't have had a human soul which he got purely by a freak accident. The human soul he owned had been heading for another creature who had won the lottery. Britton had just got in the way at the wrong moment and absorbed it. Not many people knew of this and it was recorded along with everything else that went wrong in the restricted section. The salamander who had won the soul went mysteriously missing shortly afterwards and nothing was done due to lack of evidence. Britton was one of the most powerful wizards and had the ability to control machines and people through telepathy but even the SS didn't know about his powers as he told the scanning machine what to do.

"Those crystals are what got us into this mess in the first place," Rex said.

"No one will ever know," Britton replied.

"God will know," Robert said.

"He's not bothered as long as we keep the humans isolated and his endangered species protected," Ian said.

"We will need a ball each to take out the seers; you'd best grab some God Stopper five rifles out of the weapons cupboard. Can't be too careful when it come to taking over Moldavite. Computer, print a list of seers' level one or above and give me brief history on each," Britton commanded.

"No wait. Get all this stuff away and I will go and get Peter," Ian interrupted.

They had cleared the office and closed the restricted area when Ian came back with Peter.

"What's the problem? Joseph has gone to bed. He must be tired; you don't bag a god everyday. She is really scary and has only just got control of her powers but seems good willed enough, the same as the rest of them. I am sure they will be a valuable asset to our society," Peter babbled. Britton lifted his ring and Peter dropped to the floor.

"Steady on Britton, you don't want to kill him," Rex protested.

"I needed to make sure that the implant lasts long enough, four months should do it I think. We still need to keep an eye on him. Get him to his bed and he should do every thing else we need." Britton answered.

Ian teleported away with Peter.

There was a knock at the door and a wizard entered. "The goddess has escaped sir," he said.

"How?" Britton asked.

"Don't know sir, just checking the CCTV sir," replied the wizard.

"Ok keep me informed and bring the updates straight to me. Please don't disturb Mr. Joseph Jones as he is tired," Britton commanded.

"Oh no sir, bringing in a god is tiring work" the wizard agreed.

"Oh, will you send David Williams to me please?" Britton requested.

"Yes sir, right away sir," answered the wizard.

The wizard removed the items from the restricted section again. Robert was looking into his ball.

"She's flying away from the castle Britton," Robert reported.

"Good, we can use this to our advantage, I want those seers taken out, get on it." Britton said angrily.

"Sorry Britton, I found the one they call Pete. He appears to be having a fight with a magic herb bush and he has a green crystal," Rex said.

"Shame we haven't got any of the old mark one crystal balls, we could have him in an instant. But where is that list of seers? Tomorrow night we will send the wizards into the forest to search for the escaped humans. Send these four seers to the village of Bough and give them a search warrant for illegal camera tapping, but for now just implant them with our rings. I will set a trap for them, there will an outcry and we get a more liberal approach to our work," Britton said.

"I have implanted all the seers apart from the human we have in the cell. He is not going to have a vision outside that cell, not in that room," Robert said.

There was a knock at the door.

"Put your Balls away," Britton said.

In walked David Williams, "Hello Sir."

"Fine work you did today son," Britton complimented him.

"Thank you sir," David smiled.

"I have a special mission for you," Britton said.

"For me sir?" David said with surprise and excitement.

"Yes, if you feel up to it," Britton said, reeling him in.

"Yes sir," David replied.

"We believe that the pink fluffy bunny may be attending the ball tomorrow night and thought you would be the ideal wizard to represent us and gather intelligence on this bunny," Britton said.

"Would you like me to arrest him sir?" David said keenly.

"Only if you feel it is safe to, but I want you to intercept the coach coming from God's cottage and take the asylum seeker with you as an aid," explained Britton.

"Yes sir, thank you sir," David said, walking out and headed for God cottage

"Do you think it's wise sending such an inexperienced wizard?" Rex asked.

"It's not a good idea to have too many wizards with ideas around. Right, I will teleport over to Bough to sort out this herb trap, you guys get rested and rise before Joseph gets up," Britton said, before teleporting to Bough.

Meanwhile back in the cell.

"Are you getting anywhere with your powers yet?" the Professor asked.

"All I know is we're going to be stuck here for a while and I don't seem to get out of this courtyard in any visions. I want stop now, I have two days of conversations with you ahead and already know what's going to happen," The Captain replied.

They poured themselves some more rum and the Captain passed out, leaving the Professor stuck in the room with him all night. She couldn't open the door.

The door was opened with an authoritative presence by Peter Jones who walked in without waiting to be invited. "Come on, out into the yard." The two hurried out into the yard where Kevin was already standing with several wizards who had their wands out.

"I am the new head wizard of the SS and I am not as forgiving as my predecessor, who is no longer with us. One of you escaped last night and this is not going to happen again. In light of what happened we will forgo a waiting period. Your trial will be in one hour instead. This is Mr. Britton Mathews; he will assist you in your defence," Pete Jones explained.

"Hello Mr. Mathews, I am Professor Milliner."

"Hello Professor. I don't have much time for you quite now as I have to prepare for court. They haven't given me much time so please cooperate and don't talk too much."

The wizards all walked away quickly.

Kevin was trying to mime something across the court yard. The Professor followed him into his room, accompanied by the Captain. Kevin tried his computer but it had been turned off. He went over to his mirror and breathed heavily on it. He wrote, 'They took my pad, what am I supposed to do?'

"Don't worry, I will speak for you," the Professor assured him.

"There is something not right here, their tone and attitude has completely changed. I read we were supposed to be observed for a week or two before trial. It's as if they are punishing us all for Sarah's escape. Does anyone know how she did it?" the Captain asked.

"No, I hope she's ok. She was exploring her powers; maybe she just made a mistake. It's not like we're experts in magic," The Professor said.

The hour passed quickly and soon the wizards came back. They were led through a series of corridors and a long tunnel which brought them out in what appeared to be small coliseum. The coliseum was a Roman type design and very new looking with hundreds of seats all round the arena inside. Coats of arms representing each kingdom were placed around the bottom of the arena and flags were all the way around. The prisoners were sat in front of the judges and told to be quiet. There were twelve podiums with different judges at each of them. They represented the twelve kingdoms, Heaven, Hell, Fairytale, Greek Mythology, Gods, Norse Mythology, Witch and Wizard, Dragon, Dinosaurs, Creatures of the Lost Wood, the Extinct Creature /Water Kingdom and Humans.

The prosecution mole started "People of Moldavite, we are gathering to consider what to do with these humans in light of the following charges:

Breaking into God's cottage.

Eating his food.

Drinking from the Fountain of Destiny.

Making potions from his cabinet.

Intoxicating the Fairy Queen with magic herb and turning her heterosexual.

Destroying parts of God's cottage.

Attacking the cleaner of God's cottage. How do the defendants plead?"

"Guilty," Britton said.

Kevin got stung by a bee.

"Ow," He cried.

Everyone went out flat including Kevin who was taken out by Britton, who just happen to be wearing ear plugs at the time.

The party woke up in the cells and the Captain went round to the others to make sure they were alright.

"We were set up," the Professor said frustratedly.

"Yeah, no doubt about that," The Captain agreed.

Chapter 9 - The Lost Wood 10000th Annual Ball

"This is like when the bunnies headed for a new safe burrow in Watership Down, isn't it mummy?" Charlotte jnr asked.

"Yes Charlotte," Charlotte snr answered.

"Mummy," Ronnie tugged her fur.

"Yes Ronnie," Charlotte answered her son.

"Where are we going?" Ronnie asked.

"To a ball," Charlotte replied.

"What's at the ball?" Ronnie asked.

"Mummy's friend who will help us set up a new burrow."

Charlotte was leading them to Paul Beeton, a long time friend and host of the annual Lost Wood Ball. This was the only time all the creatures of the Lost Wood got together. There were rules, they didn't try to eat, kill or maim each other as this would be considered rude.

The creatures went in fancy dress as a rule but it wasn't compulsory. The more venerable creatures tended to dress up and mask their scents. There was never any trouble until a few days afterwards, when predatory creatures attacked their victims after following then home from the ball.

Paul lived in a very large burrow dug out from a set of ten giant trees. It was at least half an acre underground. Paul himself was very popular for hosting this event and had very little trouble with any creatures. He had an extensive Moldavite library and operated a book service to any who wished to read. He obsessively collected the books and was probably the best read creature you would ever meet. The ball had attracted the attention of the SS for many years and they had sent several wizards to it as a gesture of good will but not in recent years, not since one wizard never made it home after a nasty fight with a goblin.

This year was 10000th annual ball so it was a big one. Everyone would come and after recent events in the wood there was much gossiping to be done. Paul had also arranged on some rather large raffle prizes, which was always a crowd pleaser. Prizes included an enchanted sword and a year's supply of fresh veg (another great one for the herbivores). The book 'Classic spells for beginners' a popular prize, Paul obtained one every year, no-one else knew how to get them. The star prize this year was a bag of the magic herb. There wasn't going to be enough room in the burrow for everyone and some creatures were too large, so he had several gazebo type structures made from palm and bamboo plants placed outside. He placed the food and the drinks outside, the main dance floor inside and a smaller one outside which was never used.

"We've got to pick up the pace. We need to get there well before nightfall," Charlotte urged.

They hurried along the maze of winding tunnels, each of them holding of a piece of string to ensure they didn't lose one another. After several hours they arrived at Paul's burrow.

"Wait here," said Charlotte.

She went through a small door and was stopped by a large bear type creature.

"The ball doesn't start for four hours Miss," the bear exclaimed.

"Oh, this is a personal call to Mr. Paul Beeton." Charlotte asserted herself.

"He's busy miss," the bear growled.

"It's ok, let her through," Paul shouted, noticing the change in the bears tone.

Charlotte ran over to him, hugged him and proceeded to cry all over him

"What's wrong?" Paul asked softly.

Charlotte pulled herself together and explained everything to him

"Everyone take a break. Out, out, out, clear the room," Paul commanded in a very clear camp accent. A herd of staff went outside to take a break.

"Let's get those poor little darlings in the warmth. Come in you little lambs, you must be famished," Paul cooed opening the door.

"Paul," Catharine greeted her old friend.

"Catharine how are you lucky little lady? How's the new soul?" Paul asked completely in awe at her.

"Yeah it's good. I had a few ideas, getting there," Catharine said; hoping something good would pop into her head soon.

The bunnies looked at the main hall. It looked very exciting and was beautifully decorated. There were garlands up every where and little floating candles with different colored covers provided the lighting. They appeared to be floating in mid air. There were tables with only a few chairs spread across the room and adapted drink stands designed to fit all creatures' heights. Poles ran from the top of the burrow to the floor supporting the ceiling and little round shelves were placed at intervals up and down the pole. There was a highly polished slippery wooden floor. The walls, which were made of clay like those in the burrow, were smoothed and painted white to capture the light. Even the ceiling had been painted. It was very pretty with what looked like stars reflected on it as the candle lights floated around the room. At one end of the burrow was a small stage with the prizes set up on display. The whole thing got them very excited.

"Come through here, no-one will come in my private quarters so make yourselves at home." Paul insisted "I'd love to chat, but the ball; you know it's the big night. Now you must all come to the ball."

Paul was a shape shifter and very vain, no whiskers ever out of place. He was young at heart and liked to keep his fur immaculately trimmed. He stood five feet tall and had typical badger stripes on his face, only the usual white part was orange and he wore a monocle over his left eye. He needed reading glasses but thought a monocle was more distinguished and attractive. Paul went to his extensive wardrobe.

"Help yourselves to costumes. There's over a hundred here. I can't bear throw them away. For you Catharine I have this," Paul said, showing his collection off.

"It's a mouse ball!" Catharine said, disgustedly.

"Yes, you're the Fairy Queen. You light up like a Christmas tree and are wanted in twelve kingdoms, for trashing the Garden of Eden. This is perfect, the shower is through there and could you all take one please? You smell like stale tunnel. There is some scent masker over there on the dresser. See you in a bit," Paul explained.

The bunnies ran round Paul's quarters exploring and looking at everything. He had an open plan living area which was very common in the Lost Wood as it was best to accommodate every creature. As you walked in a large sideboard was to the right with pretty ornaments on it and a small collection of unique glassware. To the left was a kitchen with all the latest inventions, fridge coffeemaker and Paul's favorite 'Grow Your Own Veg' indoor gardening system. Veg grew on a micro scale in a five foot by three foot allotment which where then put in an enlarger, Paul thought it was brilliant. The idea hadn't caught on as many creatures couldn't size themselves down to grow the veg in the first place. To the front was a row of sofas facing a glowing fire and the sideboard to the right. In the far right corner was a walk-in wardrobe with a full length mirror and to the left was a shower and multi creature toilet.

Paul's walk in shower was large enough to fit the entire family in.

"Ok, you heard the badger. Everyone in that shower now," Gary ordered.

Charlotte picked costumes for Gary, the children and herself, costumes that ensured anything pink, purple or blue would be completely covered.

The children became very loud and the sound of noisy giggling was everywhere, Gary went to investigate

"Daddy he's not made right. He has got a thing he shouldn't have," Charlotte jnr said, exiting the shower. The girls were laughing at the boys and teasing them.

Gary went in just as Gary jnr was about to throw a plasma ball.

"No. No using powers in this burrow," Gary said firmly.

"What is it? Daddy," asked Colleen pointing,

"Your mum will explain. She knows all about it. Dry up and go and ask her," Gary said with a smile on his face.

He wrapped each child in a towel as they left the shower, and picked up the capes for the wash. He liked doing the washing here. You loaded the washer, pressed a button and it came out clean and dry in an instant. Charlotte jnr walked into the bath room and hit Gary on the arm.

"Oww," Gary cried out in pain and stood holding his paw.

"That's for what you did to mummy with your stick," Charlotte answered walking out.

"Penny," Gary cried, walking into the lounge.

"I am not talking to you, cause of what you did," said Penny her ears fully up and whiskers forward.

"If I hadn't done it sweet heart you wouldn't be here. Now come and heal Daddy arm," Gary said softly.

Penny eventually healed his arm. Gary put some educational TV on. He knew it would be on a channel somewhere, he had found everything else he had looked for. He also knew neither of them had the parenting skills they needed, especially when your children go from zero to fifteen in a day.

"Children, come and watch this new TV program I've found?" Gary asked.

The children gathered round and watched a David Attenborough wildlife special on rabbits.

They were still getting dressed up in their costumes and had not encountered such sophisticated clothing before. The costumes shrank to fit them, but if you got it wrong the costume tied you in a knot.

They soon stopped and stare at the TV with their little mouths dropping. The burrow went very quiet and they glared at their parents for the remainder of the afternoon with a disgusted looks on their faces.

Gary, Charlotte and Catharine took it in turns to shower ready for the ball.

The children could hear music playing and the sound of voices in the background. They were getting very excited. Charlotte could see this and stopped to have a talk them.

She sat down with the children. They appeared to have grown again and seemed almost as big as she was.

"Listen carefully please. We will all get in trouble if the SS find us. They sometimes send a wizard as a representative of the SS. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves so no using your powers unless we get attacked or need to get away. Do you understand?"

"Yes" came back and a few nods from the children.

This way we can build a new burrow and they will forget about us, because we're no trouble to them and they will leave us alone. Now there are a lot of creatures here who do have powers and some who are dangerous so don't go upsetting anyone. This is the one night of the year when peace reigns over the Lost Wood. Oh don't forget your manners, please and thank you," instructed Charlotte.

Paul came in and everyone turned and looked.

"You all look superb my little darlings," Paul said, smiling.

Charlotte was wearing the queen of heart costume and had picked Gary the king of hearts. The children had been given more aggressive costumes of predatory animals. Three of the girls Charlotte jnr, Kerry, and Gail were different types of fox. Charlotte had picked a ferret for Gary jnr, a stoat for Robert, a wolverine for Richard and Ronnie was a small bear. Colleen didn't dress up she just changed herself into a cougar. Charlotte thought this best to keep the predators away.

"Would you like to come through to the main hall and mingle with the other guests? I suggest you split up to look less conspicuous," requested Paul.

The girls wandered off straight away and started giggling to themselves, talking about handsome princes, looking at the other creatures and giggling. The boys went and sat in a corner looking out, wondering if there were any nice rabbit like creatures out there, which there was, but everyone was in costume.

Then what appeared to be a young beautiful Hare walked in. She was dressed or rather her lack of costume was her costume. The hare was wearing just enough to cover her modesty and a little princess crown. The boys stared with their mouths open wide and their little whiskers twitched with excitement.

"She's mine, she is," Gary jnr commanded his brothers.

The hare walked straight to their mother and began conversation.

"Nice costume Charlotte," Silvia said tautly flicking her ears forward to show how little it impressed her.

Silvia had recognized Charlotte by noticing that her fluffy blue paws were not covered. The boys' listened intently, wondering who she was and how their mother knew her.

Charlotte huffed and replied, "Did you forget your costume then?" in a deep Irish tone.

Silvia and Charlotte had fallen out over a squirrel several years before, not being able to breed did not mean that they couldn't enjoy a good interspecies relationships.

"Lost your squirrel then did you Silvia?" Charlotte had another dig.

"Afraid so, going through another one of those gay phases like the one he had with you, must go I have prey to catch," Silvia said, strutting away as if she had won the minor battle.

The boys walked past their mum and followed Silvia.

"Stop. Stay away from her, she is trouble," Charlotte said, stopping them in their tracks.

Gary's ears pricked up: there was a smack of flesh on flesh and a fox hit the ground with a crash and was out cold.

"Dirty fox," Charlotte jnr was furious.

Charlotte rushed over "What happened?"

Charlotte jnr whispered in her mum's ear

"That's perfectly alright my dear; I would have done the same," Charlotte praised her prodigy.

Gary noticed a young wizard entering the room with Edward. He could see the beasts nose twitching sniffing to see what he could find. He realised the wizard was from the cottage and quickly went over to Charlotte and pointed them out.

"They wouldn't start anything here, they would get eaten," said Charlotte looking across the room.

"I'll go and check what the boys are up to. You keep an eye on the girls and Edward," Gary said.

"Ok," Charlotte said, with a slightly worried look on her whiskers.

The fairy was stuck in a corner with cat like creature trying to play ball with her

"Get off. I am not your play toy, go away," Catharine shouted at it.

She was getting really mad; she popped in her bag and dusted him while no one was looking. Although strictly speaking, there were no fights at these events there was a goblin recovery crew and a recovery tent outside for those less fortunate creatures who had been dusted by fairies, or lamped out by a small furry bunnies, or more rarely, drunk too much. The crew was busy tonight. The six little goblins were just stretchering out a fox who had fainted.

"Oh another one over here! The air must be a little thin in here tonight, open the main doors," Paul shouted over the crowded room. "Let some air in or they will be dropping like flies," he pleaded.

Gary made his way outside where the whole area was lit by the floating candles. He couldn't see how it had been done but it was pretty and lit the area well. Gary was looked around for the boys who were nowhere to be seen. Eventually he caught a glimpse of two of them on the edge of the forest.

"Where's Gary jnr," Gary asked.

"He went off in the woods with a strange bunny to pick some flowers," Ronnie said innocently.

"Was this bunny named Silvia?" Gary asked suspiciously.

Ronnie nodded yes.

"Wait here," Gary hopped into the woods.

A half dressed Gary jnr was heading toward him with an enormous grin on his face.

"Where have you been?" Gary asked, sternly.

"I was showing the nice hare around the forest and explaining who Richard Attenborough was and what he had taught me," Gary jnr replied sarcastically scratching behind his ear.

"Don't tell your mother, she will go mad. She hates that hare. Now straighten your costume and wipe the grin off your face. Your mother told you not upset people, not go and breed with them," Gary said, ambivalently.

"Yes dad," Gary jnr said, trying to control pride in his achievement.

Gary was rather pleased with his offspring in a way but couldn't help wandering if hares and rabbits could cross breed. He was already in trouble for starting a new breed of rabbit and wondered if his son had done the same.

Gary took the boys inside where their mother could see them. Gary went over to Charlotte and explained the boys had been playing outside.

"I'm going to get a drink. Do you want one?" Gary asked, needing one.

"No thanks, "Charlotte replied.

Gary wandered outside and went up to the bar.

"What you got?" Gary asked a ferret wearing a bow tie.

"Mead, red or white wine, cider or home distilled potato moonshine," said the ferret in an Italian accent.

"Yes I'll try that potato stuff," said Gary, wondering if all ferrets had Italian accents.

Gary noticed Silvia at the food stall with her plate piled really high.

"Thanks," Gary took his drink and walked past the food stall, observing Silvia.

That moonshine is really good he thought, and she is really hungry, not good.

He went back inside and noticed the security bear demanding payment from two moles trying to gate crash.

"We're not trying to gate crash; we're looking for our friend Gary. We lost him," Sarah said.

"Turn me back to human, I have a few souls, I can pay him," Pete demanded.

Sarah turned them both back to human form and the room went deadly silent

"Haven't you seen anybody transmorph before? I forgot our costumes," Sarah said, thinking it was a costume ball.

The rooms hum began again as Gary walked up to Sarah.

"It's me, Gary, follow me," he said quietly, leading them into the private quarters at the back.

"That was really cool what you did, but could you do it again? You wouldn't believe what's happened to me," Gary gave a lengthy tale of what had happened including the SS being present at the ball.

Sarah turned him back into a human.

"Oh thanks," Gary said sighing.

Charlotte walked in followed by the Fairy Queen in her ball.

"Oh my. What have you done with my Gary you evil monster? Where's he gone?" Charlotte demanded.

"I am Gary, I told you I was human when met you. These are the friends I told you about," Gary explained, realizing she was very upset.

What am I going to do, what about your children?" Charlotte sobbed.

"You're a sick puppy Gary," Pete said laughing.

"Turn up on a woman's doorstep, take advantage of her, leave her with nine children without a father," bellowed Charlotte in a deep Irish accent.

Charlotte slumped in the corner crying. Gary comforted her with his hand around her.

Pete was also slumped in a corner but laughing hysterically to himself, "nine children! Nine children!"

Sarah sent a low energy plasma ball at him

"This is serious," Sarah said.

The fairy jumped out of her ball.

"Hi Pete," Catharine said, smiling at Pete.

"Hi Catharine, you're looking good today," got to stop doing that, Pete thought, it just came out.

Sarah was smiling at the pair. Perspective, she thought, everyone needed perspective and turned everyone into rabbits.

"Oh my Gary," Charlotte hugged and kissed him.

"What's happening?" Gary asked.

"We need to stay hidden while we figure out what to do next. Gary can't just leave his family and three humans and a fairy are going to stand out a mile. I need to rest and sleep the same as everyone else so I am going out there and have a good time at that party and have a good sleep on it," Sarah said, up for relaxation time.

Charlotte dried her tears up and they all headed out to the party.

"Ever been a bunny before Catharine?" Pete asked, with his little whiskers twitching.

"No it's a new one for me," Catharine said, looking at his strange bunny expressions.

"Did I ever tell you what nice whiskers you have and nice fluffy fur?" Pete said smiling to himself.

"She had nine kids! They grew up in one day, you think you coming anywhere near me while I am rabbit, you've got another think coming," Catharine realised what rabbits metabolisms were like and what the strange twitching he was doing meant.

Pete chuckled to himself. They held paws and went upstairs to the bar. Pete told Catharine of the spear wielding plant, Bob, and his tattoo. Catharine explained about her new soul.

Charlotte introduced Sarah to her family and Paul, of course.

The boys wouldn't leave Sarah alone, 'one fit bunny,' as Ronnie put it. Gary jnr had blabbed, of course, to the other three lads and they were very curious. This was no major problem for Sarah. She just changed sex. It was early morning now and the party was still raging on. Paul came up and stood on a podium with a mic in his paw.

"Now ladies, gentle creatures of the lost wood, it's time for tonight's raffle.

The fourth prize: - A Book 'Classic Spells for the Beginners,' the winner is number 357 blue

"I won the spell book," Pete cried with joy.

In Sarah's quick thinking that they all needed to be bunnies she plain forgot to think about, (A) The colour pink, (B) there was only one rabbit or supposed to be only one rabbit on the islands, (C) he didn't have a costume on. Basic facts like this get the SS interested in you. Pete went on stage, passed his ticket over and accepted his spell book. David stepped up "Salvage Service, you're under arrest." Edward paced round to the stage snarling, his lip curled up. David was a confident wizard but lacked the common sense needed for tasks such as this. The room fell silent. Sarah edged her way to the front along with the other bunnies.

She transformed herself into human form and readied a plasma ball.

The bunnies threw off their costume to reveal their true identities and stared at Edward who hadn't completely taken it in what was happening. There was a gasp from the crowd as Colleen turned into large bear. Gary jnr had his plasma ball glowing in his hand. Kerry was juggling fire balls.

"Looking for someone? Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" she asked David withy true bunny boisterousness.

It was the Mexican stand off David had imagined hundreds of time in his head. Who was going to make the first move?

"Shandor," Pete said.

Pete's shield pushed David back. Sarah teleported behind David, turned him into a frog and took his ring from him. David tried to run away but was eaten on the way out by a two headed crocodile. Two plasma balls took Edward straight out and six little goblins came in, picked up Edward and carried him out.

"Well let's get back to the raffle and the third prize of a year supply of veg goes to ticket number 2195.

Silvia hare walked forward and claimed her prize and gave little Gary jnr a little wink. Gary jnr smiled back, itching his side.

"Did you see her? She can leave my poor little Gary alone," said Charlotte protectively, grabbing hold of little Gary jnr.

"I am big bunny now," Gary jnr said pulling away.

Second prize of an enchanted sword goes to ticket number 5149.

A furry costume moved forward and claimed its prize.

And finally, first prize a bag of magic herb: \- goes to ticket number 6734.

A fox like creature came up and claimed its prize. There was a big sigh as most of the people wanted that one. Charlotte led the children into Paul's quarters in the back, Pete and the others followed.

"How long do you think we have before they send more wizards?" Sarah asked worriedly.

"Two to three hours at most," Catharine said.

"We're too tired to move now," Charlotte explained.

"I have an idea. I will teleport us to where me and Pete came in the tunnel system, then I'll change you all into mice and I'll fly us all to near God's cottage. We can sleep at the edge of the jungle there, they won't think of looking on that island. I think the tide will be in," Sarah said confidently.

"We'll will go and get some supplies from the food stand. Change me and Catharine into humans and we'll sort that out?" Pete asked Sarah, not wanting to be stuck as a rabbit if anything went wrong.

"I can only teleport one at a time so I'll start moving them now," Sarah said.

Sarah changed both Catharine and Pete into human form and the couple moved off upstairs.

"How does it feel to be human then?" Pete said, looking at her beauty longingly.

She grabbed him and they entered a deep passionate kiss, sending them dizzy.

"Come on lets move, we haven't got long," Catharine said, breathlessly.

The couple grabbed supplies and moved quickly back to Paul's quarters. There was no one there so the couple waited.

Sarah teleported back covered in blood. "It was a trap. They must have found your bag and waited for us, there were wizards everywhere," Sarah cried.

"Is that your blood?" Pete asked, shocked.

"I am fine," Sarah concentrated and healed herself.

"What about the others and the children," Catharine asked looking worried.

"I took Charlotte over first. They held her at crystal point and stunned the others as I teleported them over. I made it really easy for them. I thought I could save the universe with these powers and I am so stupid. They killed one of the bunnies! He tried to make a run for it and they had guns, they just shot him," Sarah explained was crying like mad now.

"No don't be so hard on yourself, you're a good person and have good intentions. This isn't like the SS I know. They never usually use deadly force or draw blood, especially on a human," Catharine said.

She flicked on the TV to the news channel.

"Hello I am John Watkins and this is Creation News, breaking news: The SS have captured rabbits believed to be illegally making copies of themselves. Wizards fought a bloody battle with the so called Goddess Sarah. Four wizards were killed and the Goddess Sarah was injured before fleeing from the SS. This event all happened after Peter Jones was elected new head of the SS after Joseph Jones was given a vote of no confidence by his fellow wizards early today. Joseph, who has now been expelled from the SS, has been sent into the lost wood as punishment for the escape of the goddess and the lack of protection of God's cottage. The SS are now looking for a human by the name of Pete who planted killer magic herb bushes near the village of Bough. Three wizards were killed searching the area early today. All creatures are warned to stay out of the area by order of the SS. Any creature wishing to become a wizard should now apply as there are vacancies.

"I didn't kill anyone, I just stunned them," Sarah said, not believing what see heard.

"There something wrong here, even Peter Jones isn't like that. There's something happening we don't know about," Catharine said.

Sarah cleaned herself up as Pete packed the bag with supplies and Charlottes scrolls that she had left behind.

"Ready," Pete said.

"We need to go down to find the Book of Creation. It will show us how to get off the island," Catharine said.

"Well it would be a start," Sarah answered.

The three headed for the back door to the burrow. Sarah changed them all into moles and they headed down the tunnel.

Chapter 10 - The Book Of Creation

Somewhere deep in the tunnels of Moldavite, not too far from the Mole Miners City, the three explorers were traveling in search of the Book of Creation.

"I can't see to read this map Sarah, I'm sure were going circles. What about turning us all into fairies?" Pete suggested "Don't get me wrong, moles can see much better than I can in the dark, not very far mind."

Catharine laughed, "Yes, you have a point."

Sarah changed them all into fairies.

"Cool, do you feel like this all the time?" Pete said, intrigued by the experience.

"Like what? You look good as a fairy, never seen a male one before. You could set a new trend," Catharine said, looking at him admiringly. He was slightly larger than her and had six wings.

"Like you drank too much coffee and your heart is racing. We could start a new species like Gary did. I never made love as a fairy before," Pete replied.

"Get a room. Why am I the only person in our group who doesn't have the urge to mate with locals?" Sarah complained.

"Cause we're just trying to enjoy life and you are trying to save the world. It's an age thing," Pete replied.

"What does she mean, get a room, Pete?" Catharine asked quietly. Pete whispered the answer in her ear and she blushed.

"Right. Where are we on the map?" Sarah asked.

"We're here, we need to get to there and then we go down on to this map. Then I don't know. I was warned about these tunnels being full of nasty creatures. Right, keep up. This is going to be a fast ride," Catharine said, pointing at the map.

They all held onto Pete's bag while Catharine led the way down the tunnels until they got to the point where the tunnel descended and the map ended.

"I think you should lead now Sarah, you have the most power," Catharine said, looking for some guidance.

"OK, we should stop and rest, have something to eat and a little nap. Got any protecting spells in that book of yours Pete?" Sarah asked.

Pete scrambled through the pages until he found one. "Twelve hour camp spells. Protects against entry and low level attack spells. Better than nothing. Shandor fonce," said Pete casting a spell. A bubble popped up and moved out across the tunnel entrances. They ate before they settled down for the night.

Sarah woke up first and watched the couple cuddling together with their wings wrapped round each other. She ate her breakfast and studied the map carefully. All the tunnels seemed to point to single junction, a focal point on the map. The others woke up.

"Morning," Sarah said.

"Morning," they both replied.

"You cuddled me all night. It was beautiful," Catharine whispered.

"It's what gentleman does," Pete replied mushily.

"Just before he gives you nine kids! We have a mission and I am here you know," Sarah snapped, sounding rather like a petulant child.

After a sulky breakfast they headed into the lower tunnels. The air was considerably warmer than above and they soon picked up pace trying to make it to their first target. The tunnels were a lot bigger and the air was very stale. Their glow didn't even light the sides of the tunnel walls. They all could feel they were moving downwards at a rapid rate.

"I don't like this," said Sarah, bad vibes sending chills up her spine.

"Know what you mean," Catharine agreed.

They felt a slight breeze; it felt good, lifting the staleness from their lungs.

"Do you feel that?" Sarah said.

"Yes," echoed the others.

They flew for a good hour before they started to see a light at the end of the tunnel and felt the breeze increase.

"That feels like fresh air," Pete said.

All their spirits picked up a little, the tunnels were depressing and lifeless.

They stopped in awe at the exit to the tunnel. Ahead of them was a cavern that was full of light with a huge city built into the sides. It looked like something from an Arabian film. They looked round in amazement, intrigued to see what they would find. They saw thousands of little houses built out of red clay soil with small windows to let light in, little open doorways with no doors and little flat topped roofs. You could see the city had not been planned, it had that evolved look that happens when one house is built on or next to a small space until there isn't any space left.

"How we never knew this was here I don't know. I think we're at the base to the Well of Souls, the light appears to be coming through it." Catharine explained with surprise, pointing upwards.

They could see a large mass of water suspended above them with millions of tadpole like souls floating around in it. The well had a glass like bottom which was clearly some kind of shield; moths were bumping into it and bouncing off as if it was an electronic fly zapper. The souls were creating the best light display they could ever have imagined which fully lit the cavern.

"No signs of anyone living here," Pete said.

"Let's head into the centre of the city," Sarah pointed to a square, "over there."

They walked through the outer wall of the city but there was no sign of life anywhere. This felt really spooky and they wondered what could have happened to leave the city deserted as they passed empty house after empty house.

Pete thought he saw a little movement up ahead but then it was gone. They made their way to the centre of city where a large square featured a statue of a mole wearing a helmet. He had a pick slung over his shoulder and an expression of pride on his face as if looking at his work. "It must be a mole miner's city," Catharine stated the obvious. There were some stalls as if there should have been a market there but it was dusty and deserted.

They looked around and saw that no houses or buildings were the same as any other. It was as if each builder's character had gone into crafting them. Nothing was moving and the silence was eerie when from the corner of his eye Pete caught a glimpse of motion again. He saw dark shape was moving slowly towards them from the distance. Immediately Pete held his crystal ready to cast a spell and Catharine put her hand in her bag ready to dust whatever was coming.

A small elderly mole with a long goatee beard approached them. The mole wore a long beige workman's coat with a suit and tie showing underneath. His whiskers were long and grey and even with a flat cap on you could see he was losing hair. The mole was barely managing to walk and was leaning heavily on a stick he was using as a crutch. He neared them and let out a deep racking cough. From the colour of the handkerchief he brought up to his mouth he was coughing up blood. The group relaxed, he was clearly no threat to them.

"You're sick," Sarah said gently. She went over to him and used her healing power without another word.

"Thank you, kind fairy," said the old mole, looking at Sarah with gratitude.

"What happened here?" Sarah asked him as the others moved toward them.

"Evil wizards brought plague to the city," the mole said.

"Are there any more of you who survived?" Catharine asked.

"Oh yes," he said placing his crutch on the floor. He tapped twice. Moles appeared from everywhere, all ages, colors and sizes. There seemed to be about two hundred of them. They were all ill.

"We numbered 4000 strong until the plague," the first mole said.

"Bring every one in close and tell them not to be alarmed, I will heal them," Sarah said hoping she could do mass healing.

He did as she had asked and, good to her word Sarah healed them. The town centre sprang to life with activity; tables, chairs, food and wine were produced as if by magic and the sound of miners hard at work tapping with little picks could be heard.

"I am Sarah, this is Catharine and Pete," Sarah introduced them as she transformed them back into their usual forms. The mole introduced himself as Albert.

Catharine looked at mole children "You can breed then," she said.

"Yes, we've always been able to breed. We have to be careful though; our females have nine at a time so we limit our number. We were only given a short life span of about 150 years," Albert explained.

"What do you do down here?" Catharine asked. "I know you're miners but what do you mine?"

"What do we make you mean? We make human souls and fill the well up." Albert replied.

"Do you mine these crystals?" Pete asked holding his green crystal.

"Well yes and no, they come up while we mine this," Albert said, holding his hand out.

It was a small yellow glowing crystal.

Curious Sarah asked, "So, how do you make a soul?"

"That is a very complicated procedure. Mix part of a dying soul with the correct elements to produce a new soul. The soul is then taken to the Fountain of Destiny and given life," he explained.

"So you go to God's cottage to create the souls?" Sarah asked inquisitively.

"No, don't be silly, we put the tap in there thousands of years ago to save him coming down here every five minute when he needed a cup of tea. No one wants their boss overlooking them all the while they work. It's counter productive," Albert said, obviously happy to answer all their questions.

"So why did the wizards set a plague on the city?" Catharine asked.

"They wanted the secret of the human soul and how to upgrade it," the mole replied.

"Can it be upgraded then?" asked Pete.

"Well yes, I suppose so if you're a professor in quantum molecular physical transmophication acceleration with side disciplines in biomechanical engineering, chemical engineering. Or a god with a human soul of course, but they don't exist. They had been trying to gain access to these tunnels for years but then the Cracken that protected us was let out by Poseidon and wasn't returned. The wizards themselves are just outcasts from the SS. They have their little ups and downs. We don't have any contact with the topside apart from the odd order for crystals and that's done by machines," answered the mole.

"So where are these wizards now?" Sarah asked.

"Not sure, there were reports they were hanging around the Fountain of Destiny but it's the same as Gods Island, you can only get there if you have a human soul or the SS grant you permission. You know that free will stuff God always goes on about? Can't interfere," said Albert "But what brings you here? We haven't seen the like of you since the beginning of creation," Albert put his glasses on and stared intently at Catharine's chest.

"We were told we might find The Book of Creation lurking down here somewhere," Sarah said.

"Gods notepad, what do you want with that?" Albert looked surprised. "It's barely readable, been down here so long,"

"We were told it may help some human friends of ours back to existence. You see they got shipwrecked here by accident," Sarah said.

Albert stared at their chests more intensely.

"That would be you two then would it? Wait, I'd know that soul anywhere, I made that one myself. Very tricky some of these souls you know. You see that room over there prints a list of specifications of the soul; they're not all the same you know. A certain amount of destiny gets written in, there's always free will of course which makes life interesting," Albert continued, "Strange things souls, I have never seen a human one in place before. I will tell you where the Book of Creation is now that I have seen your soul Sarah. Please note that you can't leave the island with powers. There is a large energy cloak that protects the island and existence as you knew it. If you have power you will not be able to leave. Now please sit and eat with us as our guest of honor,"

They sat down in the town square which was alive with smiling faces. There was a lot of staring at chests which felt strangely uncomfortable even though they now understood why the moles did this. The trio sat and pondered their own destinies and wondered what they were made of.

"What are you going to do about these wizards Albert?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing. I have seen what happens to them," Albert replied, staring at her chest.

Sarah went quiet. Pete and Catharine were too busy sexually tormenting each other to notice.

The moles were giggling at their chests. One even turned round and said "There is a reason God didn't make male fairies."

"That's enough of that Thorn. Do you have a map Sarah?" asked Albert, glowering at the disrespectful mole.

"Yes," she replied.

"We are here, this is where the notebook is, there are dragons here, here and here, evil wizards here we think, trolls there and there, not sure what's in-between but you can do it safely if you are careful. Most of these creatures I haven't seen or heard of for years but that was how it was thirty years ago. It might have changed now," Albert said.

"Thanks," Sarah said as she jotted notes on the map. It was a lot to remember. One thing bothered her: how he knew where the wizards were if all the information was thirty years old. Did he see it in her soul or was he like Septic Peg from the TV.

Albert shyly thrust a small leather bag towards Sarah "This contains some nice freshly cut crystal. A bag of a hundred should make you a wealthy woman up above. It's the least I can do to thank you for saving our lives," Albert said, smiling at her. Sarah accepted the bag, realising it would upset Albert if she refused and thinking the crystals could have a use for to help them on their journey.

An hour passed quickly at the feast. They had all had their fill of vegetables and fruit wine. It was time to move on and they said their goodbyes to the hospitable moles. They set off down a new tunnel with Sarah leading them.

"You feel better now Sarah? You know you just saved the world and human kind from running out of souls forever?" said Pete.

"No," Sarah said, not wanting a philosophical conversation.

"I bet that's destiny calling you for a purpose, you know that bit of you that's not quite satisfied, not quite done something you should have. It does make you think though," Pete taunted her a little.

"It's the should have that made me escape. You know the free will? I pick my own fate," Sarah lied as it was a complete accident.

"Stop, look at this map," Sarah explained everything the mole had told her.

"We'll just follow the safe route," Catharine said.

"I have an idea. Why don't we stop by the Fountain of Destiny, just for a look, while we're here?" Sarah said.

"There are wizards there," Pete said.

"I think it's our fate to face them," Sarah said remembering what Albert told her and trying to turn his philosophy on back on him.

"I think it's our free will not to," Pete answered worriedly.

"I don't," a voice came out the darkness.

Five plasma balls ripped down the tunnel, Sarah instantly transformed the three of them into fleas just as the tunnel lit up. They saw five wizards.

"Where've they gone?" the first wizard asked.

"Must have teleported," another replied.

"They left their bag," said the first, looking at the bag. The wizard walked right up to them unknowingly.

"Kinmoor, shandor," Pete said.

Pete attacked the wizard, knocking him clean out and then put a shield up around himself and Catharine. Sarah had teleported behind the other wizards and was flying around as a fairy knocking them out while they were hurling plasma balls at Pete's tiny little bubble. Five unconscious wizards were soon on the floor. Sarah turned Pete and Catharine into fairies.

"Can I go behind them next time? Do you know how terrifying it is to be the size of a flea and have a plasma ball the size of a house fire at you continually?" Pete complained. "Not to mention having an irresistible urge to bite anyone close by and hop instead of walk," Sarah ignored him as she stripped the wizards of their crystals.

"This is strange; they have red crystals, not green. All ours are green. The SS crystals were green as well," Sarah said as she searched them finding a map, a crystal ball, a bow with no arrows, a bit of food and lanterns. She turned them all into human form again. They couldn't carry everything as fairies

"I wish you would give us some warning when you're going to do that," Pete said, nearly falling over. The transmophication put him off balance as he was flying then standing.

"Sorry, I think it and it just happens. I'll take their stuff and have a look at it later, see if it's any use," Sarah apologized.

"What about these guys?" Catharine asked, looking at the sleeping wizards.

Sarah turned them into slugs, "That should stop them causing any trouble," Sarah remarked as they set off down the tunnel.

"I thought we went left here," Pete said.

"I have a plan. Trust me," Sarah said.

"So do you think it was destiny that brought us to that wizard?" Pete asked.

"No. I think I was mad at the SS and I needed to let off some steam," Sarah replied, lying again.

They had walked for at least two hours when finally they saw light at the end of the tunnel.

"Where are we then?" Catharine asked.

"The Fountain of Destiny, I hope," Sarah replied excitedly.

They walked out into a large cavern with a cascading fountain in the centre. The whole cavern was alive with plants and pretty flowers. The walls were completely covered with pretty climbing plants bearing huge flowers. The ground had a carpet of flowering clover, with radiantly beautiful flowers of several indescribable colours they had never seen before. It wasn't apparent where the light was coming from. Sarah looked closely and saw light was coming from some sort of plant fungi she had never seen before. It felt soft and warm when she touched it. The fountain had a large round marble seating area around a pool of transparent water. There was a fountain of water coming from a spout in the centre of the pool. The spout was six feet tall and made from four stone mermaids holding a giant chalice. The water flowed upwards for at least three feet from the top of the chalice then fell over the sides of the cup. They all sat next on the marble bench and emptied the contents of the wizards' bags onto the floor.

"So what did we come here for?" Pete asked.

"A power up," Sarah said.

"Don't you think you have had enough?" Pete asked.

"Not me, you two. I can't rescue everyone on my own; I think I proved that already," Sarah said sadly.

"I don't want to end up like Kevin," Pete said.

"Its just plain water, no potion this time," Sarah said. She took the water carrier and filled it from the pool.

"Here you go, I read up on it when I was locked up. It will allow you to access powers without crystals."

While the other two polished off the water. Sarah examined the crossbow, aiming around the room. It didn't seem to do anything and had no bolts but Sarah thought there was a possibility it might be magic. She pulled the drawstring back and an arrow appeared, "Hey guys, look at this," The arrow fired around the room narrowly missing everyone before returning to its position on the crossbow.

"It's an evil gun," Catharine said "They were designed years ago when the whole good and evil thing was happening. The arrow chases around and kills anything evil. It's an antique and must have been one of the first ones about. It still has its blue crystal in it as well,"

Sarah picked up the ball and showed Catharine, pulling a 'what is it' face.

"Haven't a clue," Catharine said, looking at the ball.

Pete started building a smoke out of his beloved plant Sarah.

"This thing nearly killed me you know," Pete said, pondering on his memory of the plant. Mmmmm Pete thought.

Sarah sat holding the ball when to her astonishment her cat appeared in the centre and she could see her mum feeding it. Having figured out how it worked. She tried thinking about the moles and the ball showed them busily working away. Sarah then focused on the Professor, Kevin and the Captain and saw them in the cells. She focused on Gary and the bunnies. They were caged in a magic box on a road somewhere. Gary was in his human form and the bunnies huddled round him and their mum. They all looked scared.

"Catharine will you come and look at this?" Sarah asked.

Catharine moved over to Sarah and looked into the ball.

"Look at the ball and tell me where they are, they look very scared," Sarah said.

"The box is headed towards Devils Island. That can't be right! They haven't had time for a trial or induction, all the usual stuff. They usually observe prisoners for seven days usually at least. Once they go there we won't be able to get them back. Devils Island has a super shield to keep all the really nastiest creatures in," Catharine said, looking worried for the bunnies.

"I'll teleport us up. We can come back for the book, we know where it is. Let's leave the maps here in case we get caught. I'll leave the crossbow and the ball and take only a few crystals. I could do with you getting your powers soon, though. Do you feel anything?" Sarah asked.

"Give us a crystal?" Catherine said.

She went through her emotions whilst holding the crystal. First she started to glow, then a fire ball fired up in her hand, then she vanished and reappeared.

"I can teleport, I have self heal I think but with the use of a crystal at the moment. I will have to wait for my full powers."

Sarah looked at Pete "Pete," she shouted at him.

"I am so stoned, I can't walk and that plant wasn't lying, she was kicking it," Pete babbled.

"Wait, drink this," Catharine gave him some water.

"What is it with getting stoned? I always get interrupted, now I'm straight again" Pete complained.

"We need your help; we have to rescue the bunnies. They're being transported to Devils Island and they might die," Sarah said dramatically.

"Ok, what's the plan?" Pete said, paying attention.

"What power do you have?" Sarah asked.

Pete grabbed hold of his crystal and got completely drenched in water from the fountain. The clover Pete was sat on seemed spring into life with growth. The patch had red coloured flowers and reproduced itself across the cavern floor in a matter of minutes turning the cavern floor completely red. They all looked with amazement at the new red flowers covering the cavern floor.

"Well I still have my water power except it's now dangerous to me and the plant life around me. Give me some time it will sort it," Pete replied.

"We're going to go and rescue the bunnies. Wait here, watch to see what happens on the crystal ball," Sarah said.

Sarah and Catharine teleported to the surface where Sarah transformed them both into eagles

They soared high, spotted Devils Island and headed towards it. Catharine could see the coastal road and headed towards the magic box. The magic box had an escort with a coach load of wizards behind it.

"We need to stop them," Sarah squawked, the urgency in her voice had the side effect of squawking.

"Yeah but now they're going over the tidal bridge," Catharine replied.

The cart was half across the tidal crossing when a wall of water rose up in front of the magic box and stopped it. One of the wizards got down from the box and chanted at the water which started to part. The waves then came round both sides of the wizard, swallowed him up and threw him twenty foot into the sea. The wizard in the second cart got out and started looking around for the attacker.

The girls climbed a little higher out of sight of the wizard.

"Are doing that?" Sarah asked Catharine.

"No but I would like to meet the person who is. Thought it was Pete but I can't see him anywhere."

The waves lashed up forming hands and tossing wizard after wizard into the sea. Even those who put up defensive shields got picked up by the waves and swept out. After the last wizard was swept away the waves picked up the magic box and moved it five hundred yards inland, smashing it open.

"This is our cue; whatever did this may be after the bunnies. Let's get them out of there quickly," Sarah said.

They swooped down to the magic box and Sarah transformed them both into humans.

"Is everyone ok? No major injuries?" Sarah checked everyone.

"No we'll be fine. My poor Richard," Charlotte wept.

Catharine comforted Charlotte with an embrace but the urgency of escape took Sarah over.

"Listen up, I'll turn us all into gulls and you follow me across the wood. Does everyone understand? We don't have any time to hang around," she commanded.

They all answered that they understood, Charlotte sounded very fragile. Sarah led the new gulls away to the skies. It was a bit slower by gull but gulls were common here and they wouldn't be spotted, Sarah was also employing low level flying so the party could land in case of trouble. They reached safety without any problems and the girls began teleporting them to Pete at the Fountain of Destiny.

Chapter 11 -New Beginnings

Everyone arrived at the fountain of destiny with an enormous sense of relief. They were all safe, at least for the moment. Sarah changed them all back to human or rabbits or fairies according to their origin.

Pete and Catharine hugged and kissed. All the children went "arh".

"You ever been in love?" Pete asked the children all staring at him.

"Yes," Gary jnr replied, then put his hand over his mouth and hid from his mum, scratching behind his ear.

"So what happened Charlotte?" Pete asked gently.

"They captured us, as you know, and stuffed us in that magic box, not that I have any magic. They called us an abomination; they said that we were going straight to hell. We had no food, no water, no trial, nothing. They just took everything from us. Stay away form that fountain, children it's dangerous," Charlotte said, weeping and keeping one eye on the children.

"This doesn't bode well for the rest of your friends. They will be next," said Catharine somberly.

"Listen up everyone, I have a plan. Sarah said organising them. I'm going with Catharine to get The Book of Creation and the rest of you are to head to Mole Miners City. First we need to power you up; I can't protect you all at once. Charlotte here's some crystals for you, Gary and the children. Pete has a basic spell book and will teach you some spells when you get to the city,"

"Did you like it?" Pete asked Catharine and Sarah.

"Like what?" Sarah said.

"The waves and the wizards flying everywhere," Pete said.

"Was that you? But how?" Sarah asked in amazement.

"You know that ball? Through that," Pete explained.

"I thought your powers were off and too powerful," Sarah replied.

"I sat and thought about that. Powers are emotion based aren't they? What's the most powerful emotion? Love. I'm in love with a fairy. I didn't admit it to myself so I lost control. Simple really when you think about it," said Pete blushing.

"Can we do it now?" Catharine increased her size to human and looked him straight in the eye.

"How long have you been able to do that? I didn't know you could," Pete said indignantly.

"Since creation, there's a lot you don't know about me," said Catharine giggling naughtily.

.Sarah passed the water to Gary and Charlotte and ignored the temporary hormonal imbalance.

"You will be fine, Pete's had some and he's ok. There s no potion in it. The water will allow you to cast spells and defend yourselves," Sarah said.

Charlotte emptied out all the supplies and fed everyone what she could. The kids were hungry and the food was soon gone. On full stomachs Pete led them towards the moles city. Colleen had turned herself into a fairy so she could help light the way and was asking Pete every question about love and how it feels that you can imagine. The journey went on and seemed to take forever with such a big group but eventually they made it to the square where they had first met Albert. The square was bustling with excitement and Pete was glad to see Albert approach.

"Hello Albert, could we possibly stay for a while? We would be happy to pay or help out. We're having a bit of a problem with the SS, breeding, powers and love. Everything really. We need a home for the rabbits and somewhere to stay for a few weeks. Please could you help us?" Pete asked.

"Hello Pete, you were quicker than I thought you would be. That's free will for you. Now let me see,""

Albert put his large glasses on and walked among the group. "These rabbits were did they come from?" "From me," Charlotte answered.

"From me, why?" Gary asked at the same time.

"We didn't make them. Their souls are different from either of yours. They are very interesting, haven't seem anything like it before," Albert said, staring at their chests and pulling strange mole faces.

"Can we stay?" asked Pete, who had no back up plan if the mole refused his plea, staying with the matter in hand before Albert got distracted

"Of course you can stay! I will ask only that you allow me to study all of your souls while you are here as I have much to learn. You may have a house each if you wish, there is enough space. Please feel free to use them as you wish. There is a row of three over there," Albert said, a gleam of excitement in his eye at the chance learning something new.

"Is there anything we can do to help out?" Pete offered.

"Do you know anything about gardening? Most of our females are pregnant, rebuilding our population. They are unable to attend to it," Albert replied.

"Just show me where it is," Charlotte said, with a big cheesy grin. She loved gardening.

"There's a school if your children wish to attend," Albert offered.

"That would be great," Charlotte said, thankfully.

"We could help out with the mining if you want," Pete said.

They explored the houses and chose their new homes. The houses were just big enough to fit a human in and each had three bedrooms and two reception rooms. They were terraced and had a small unattended garden at the back of each one. They were made from red clay. Charlotte was overjoyed at found somewhere to live, but had never been in a house before. The children were claiming rooms and arguing but Charlotte quickly sorted this out. She walked around the living room which was furnished with a few old arm chairs. It had a small fire under a mantle piece which had a small box laying on it. Charlotte opened the box and found an inscription on the inside that read 'Mr. J Frederick, Mole of the Year CCXZS.' It contained the personal effects of the mole that had once occupied the house, such as small paintings and initialed monocle cases. Three little shawls hung up in the hallway. Charlotte quickly scampered around the house removing all the objects. The place didn't feel right to her until she had finished. She packed them away neatly and placed them in the cellar. The rooms were big enough for them all to use. Charlotte allocated bedrooms to the boys and girls and the small box room for herself and Gary.

Next she found the school house and took the children over. She was greeted by well presented woman with thick spectacles who, of course, stared at her chest. Mrs. Buckthorpe was only two and half feet tall but her demeanor commanded respect. She wore a dark blue dress and had a little hooded shawl round her shoulders. She appeared to be young having none of the grey whiskers that moles get when they hit a hundred. This gave Charlotte some confidence as the bunnies could be a handful.

"I am Mrs. Buckthorpe. Please come in."

Charlotte entered the school house and looked around. This was the first school she had been in and she was interested. Mrs. Buckthorpe led her into a classroom where twenty or so pupils were studying. They were sat with parchment and paper in front of them. On one wall was a large board with covered with complex looking equations. Bookshelves lined the other three walls with sections covering every subject one could imagine and quite a few that you couldn't. Charlotte had never dreamt of seeing so many books in one room.

"I am Charlotte. I don't mean to be rude but what do you teach here? I mean I never went to school. I have had thousands of years to teach myself though."

"Well we only live for one hundred and fifty years so we have to learn as much as we can quickly. Maths, English, Moldavite history, culture, languages, geology, biology, chemistry and physics are some of our subjects. They are the basics of course and then we do advanced courses, tailored around each child's needs. They can be about anything destiny throws at us: magic, quantum mechanics, we have even had a super hero mole. That was interesting, very difficult to teach, heavy on the morals and social sciences."

"Well it does seem to be very comprehensive," Charlotte said.

"My children are only three days old you see and I have done the best I can but they all have powers. Will this be a problem?"

"No, not at all| the small teacher reassured the worried mother, "We encourage them to learn about anything they have and then develop it as a skill," Mrs. Buckthorpe replied.

Charlotte, satisfied that the teacher would cope, left the children with her after brief introductions of who was who and what powers they all had. Mrs. Buckthorpe already knew what powers they had however as she had similar insight to Albert.

Charlotte went off to find the veg plot to see what sort of state it was in. After asking a couple of helpful moles she found it. It was enormous. She had never seen anything like it. She wandered round and found it was a pretty impressive setup although it hadn't been maintained so there were a lot of repairs needed to get it working again. There was a fully automated watering system which she repaired first before happily sowing row after row of crops.

Gary and Pete went to Albert and asked him how they could help. Albert took them over to a crystal seam where they saw about twenty miners trying to move a large rock. Gary immediately lifted it for them.

"Where would you like it?" he said.

They all smiled, pointing to the desired position for the rock. Gary and Pete spent the rest of the day helping and getting to know their new workmates.

After school and work everyone met back at the houses. They all gathered together for the evening meal. The children were all very excited, busily competing to tell their mother what they had learned at school. Pete fetched the crystal ball and was waiting for his dinner with Gary.

"What are we supposed to do now? Has Sarah got a plan you think?" Pete asked.

"I think she probably has. She does seem to know what she is doing," Gary said.

Pete grabbed the ball "Shall we have a look see where the others are?"

They focused on the ball and saw Kevin, Captain Marston and the Professor performing manual work in the court yard. They were breaking rocks with sledge hammers. It looked heavy work and all three were grimy and had lost weight. There were wizards constantly monitoring them. One of the captives found something and a wizard stepped forward and grabbed it from him immediately. Pete and Gary couldn't quite see what it was. The wizard spoke.

"We need you to work faster. Keep this up and you won't have any dinner tonight again," the wizard said viciously, "We need more. This isn't good enough,"

"I am glad I escaped," Pete said with feeling.

"I think we should try and practice our powers. I don't even know what I can do yet" Gary said. He needed to help the captives and watching them so impotently was painful.

"Yeah, let's start tomorrow. I'm beat today. You might want to see if they have a computer here. When I was with that tribe they had hacked into the cameras in the city you know, well everywhere," Pete suggested.

"Now I am a computer wizard. Why didn't I think of that?" Gary said.

"Nine kids," Pete replied.

"You wait; bet you get that fairy pregnant, I've seen you, with her. I'm going to see Albert to see if I can find a computer. I'll see you later or tomorrow," Gary said leeringly, avoiding Pete's grumpy comeback by leaving.

Gary walked around asking moles where Albert was until eventually he found him.

"Albert, I was wondering if I could have access to a computer and connect up to the main system?" Gary asked.

Albert did his usual staring at his chest and then gave him a reply.

"Yes, we have lots of computers but we never use them. We don't have any moles gifted in that area."

"Albert, I don't want to seem rude but why do you stare at peoples chests and who made my children's souls?" Gary asked.

"When I look at you chest I can see your intentions, but the more interesting thing is I see what's freewill and what's destiny in your intentions. As for your children I am still working on that one. I wrote a letter to an old friend see if he could help."

"So how much free will I am using and how much destiny?" Gary asked.

"I can't tell you. It's part of our code. God has forbidden it and I think it's a small price to be able to look at souls. I will have a TV sent over to you as well, it will keep your kids out of trouble and allow you to work," Albert offered, not wanting to have another destiny conversation. The desire to ask questions was written all over Gary's chest.

"Thanks Albert, oh can you tell what powers people have?"

"You need to go to Mrs. Buckthorpe for that. She will tell you everything you need to know."

Gary returned home and shared the day's experiences with the others over dinner.

When Pete finished his meal he returned to his new house to have some herb. Gary and Charlotte went to bed

"It's not right cuddling like this. I preferred you when you were a bunny. You look like a skinned rabbit when you take your clothes off," Charlotte complained.

Gary wished he was a rabbit again too. He missed his cuddles with Charlotte and hated to see her big blue eyes full of disappointment. As soon as the thought crossed his mind he promptly transmorphed back to his rabbit self but with blue fur this time. He didn't like pink that much.

"Oh that's a nice surprise," Charlotte was delighted, "but that isn't! No more children so go to sleep,"

Early the next morning everyone set off to school and work. Pete met Gary who explained that he had transmorphed when he went to bed and found it a nice surprise.

"So what else can you turn into then?" Pete asked.

"I don't know, but if we go and see the school teacher she will be able to tell us what powers we all have and how to use them, I hope," Gary replied, shrugging his paws.

At the schoolhouse they were met by the school teacher. She wrote what powers they possessed on a piece of parchment for them; she also gave them some titles of recommended books.

"So what you got," Gary asked.

"Water power level 7, level 4 shields, plasma ball level 3, fireball level 1. I feel like I am playing one of your games," Pete said, pleased with his powers.

"You're doing better than me and I play them all the time. I got transmorph level 3, telekinetic level 7. Great no shield, I am dead," said Gary who had wanted a little more.

"You can use spells for the other stuff. We can have a look on the computer to find out more later on," Pete said, trying to cheer him up as they continued to work.

Gary enjoyed his work as he got to use his powers all day and was getting a dab hand with them. Pete quite liked it because he was a geologist and had taken several samples home the day before that he thought may contain a new metal never seen before. He was trying to figure out a process for extracting it for further examination.

The sound of a commotion in the City reached them; screams were coming from the square. The bunnies ran straight out of the school to see what was happening. Moles were running in all directions and "screaming run for your lives." A giant green fox like creature came running down the street snapping at the moles. Robert flew above the creature and distracted him but the creature jumped high and was close to snapping Robert in half. It gripped Roberts's tail in its fearsome teeth. Gary jnr rushed to the rescue pelting the beasts side until it let go, snapping at Gary jnr and knocking him sideways into a doorway. Colleen matched the creature's size, shifted into her bear form and locked in battle with it. Kerry went round its back and lit the creature up. No-one had ever seen anything like it. She was firing fireballs like a machine gun, her hand pulsating until everyone moved back from the heat. The creature ran away screaming, green fur flaming on its back.

"Very good Kerry," Mrs. Buckthorpe said approvingly.

"Did I do it right?" Kerry asked.

"Yes that was perfect Kerry, I told you could do it," Mrs. Buckthorpe praised her.

Pete and Gary had ran from the mining seam and were standing still in amazement.

"I think we need to go to school, Gary those kids are making us look bad," Pete said, only half joking.

There was much praise for the children and Penny came over to heal Roberts's tail. Too late though, it had been completely torn off and Robert was in awful pain. Penny quickly healed the raw skin and he dried his tears.

"At least it wasn't anything I really needed," Robert sighed, with a sad look on his whiskers.

Charlotte fussed round him like a mother hen for the rest of the day. They all went home little early and Charlotte made a giant pumpkin pie for tea, a treat for them all.

Pete went home to look at the crystal ball. He was missing Catharine's presence and was worried she and Sarah had been captured or worse. He could not find them using the ball at all and this bothered him. He thought that he would go and see Gary and find out if Gary had hacked the system yet.

"Thought I would find you here," Pete said.

Gary had set up his secret lair in the basement away from the others. He left them with the TV to play with.

"I nicked all the computers, Albert sent three and three TVs. Your TV is in the corner over there," Gary said. He had three screens in front of him. It was a bit like NASA and there was a TV on the wall with computer language scrolling through.

"So what's the plan?" Pete asked.

"Computer 1 will reprogram computer 2 with existence language from the TV which I know and understand.. Computer 2 will explain language on 3 and I will hack computer 1. computer 3 will decrypt passwords and help with firewalls," Gary replied cryptically.

"So how long in the real world?"

"Don't know, it is complicated."

Pete took his TV and mounted it in his bedroom for company.

He put on the news channel to see what was happening in Moldavite.

Hello I am John Watkins and this is Creation News,

Paul Beeton was arrested today in light of the recent terror attacks on asylum seekers; it was believed he had weapons of mass destruction hidden in his burrow. The SS engaged in a fierce fire fight with terrorists thought to be the dishonored Joseph Jones, ring leader Goddess Sarah, and deposed Fairy Queen Catharine who was turned heterosexual by the magic herb. Three wizards were killed in the fight and the fairy Catharine was believed to be seriously injured. If anybody knows the whereabouts of these creatures please contact the SS immediately. Now with further news it's over to Jenny. Thanks John. I am here live in Bough where five tribe members have just been arrested for trading the magic herb. The magic herb, as you know, has resulted in thousands of assaults on creatures who were out on good nights at taverns, parties and evening clubs. The herb causes the user to go temporarily insane with violent outbursts, resulting in innocents been hurt and arrests having to be made. Because of the unrest the SS has introduced an identity card scheme that will be made compulsory before the end of the year. Now back to John. A house was raided today in the lost wood, the occupant, a Miss Silvia hare, had been breeding illegally and is wanted on suspicion of terrorism. Unfortunately six hares were killed whilst resisting arrest; the hares were apparently under the influence of the magic herb. The SS have now issued a new law in light of the terror events. No more than six people will be allowed to gather at any one place and crowds without permission will be broken up immediately."

Pete had heard enough and turned the TV off. He picked the crystal ball up and looked for Catharine but still couldn't see her. He looked again at the Professor and the others. Kevin had been gagged and the wizards were openly whipping their captives. Pete looked hard for some water in the ball and found just enough in a bird bath to form a whip from the water. He took the wizards down in one lash. He couldn't do any more for them and frustrated stayed up all night tinkering with his metal.

"How's it going?" Gary asked the next morning, He had just told Pete that he would need to be working on his computer for about a week to hack into the system. Pete explained he wasn't going to work that day and Gary explained it was the weekend anyway. When Pete shared what he had seen in the crystal ball Gary reassuringly told him of Sarah's healing. "They'll be fine," Gary comforted, "Sarah can heal her if she really is wounded,"

"What do you think of this?" Pete asked, changing the subject, holding up plans for weapons.

"What is it?" Gary asked looking shocked as Pete never played video games or anything.

An automated wizard machine system to stop nasty things attacking the city. This is the best one. It's a dust grenade or fairy hand grenade, chucks fairy dust everywhere and puts enemies to sleep. I need help with shield and maybe a computer to operate them. This is an enchanted shield so it will give the same energy as a force five shield. I stopped up all night reading this spell book. I need the next book up to enchant the objects and some of the material that the fairy bags are made of, and some dust. What do you think?"

"Yeah, should work," Gary said.

"I'll start extracting the metal we need from this rock," Pete said "We're going to be busy this morning and you can help. Now then, this metal is special. It can be enchanted, I read about it last night. The trick is in the spell casting; apparently you have to be a level seven enchanter. One of should be I'd have thought,"

They set to work and as Pete had warned they were going to be very busy that weekend. The children had gone to a special Saturday morning class held on the outskirts of town. Mrs. Buckthorpe was giving the whole family lessons in using their powers and developing their potential. She had the unique gift that she could see the full potential of every person and their powers. Most well trained wizards would still only use half of what they had because they didn't know how to use the rest.

Mrs. Buckthorpe went along the line of bunnies giving them instructions.

"Right then Ronnie, you can make yourself invisible but what about that cart over there? Feel the object then try and cloak both yourself and the cart.

Robert, flying may seem inactive power but see how fast you can fly around that house. Try and get a whirlwind going to destroy it,"

"Yes Miss."

"Gary, you can fire plasma balls and use a rapid fire rate. Try and imagine your plasma balls going to the target without aiming, look away from the target and send the plasma ball off. This will allow you to shoot on the run and if you are moving they will have a hard time hitting you.

Kerry, well-done but fire can be made into flaming streams to be controlled like a whip, useful for cutting an opponent's escape route off. Have a go; see it in your mind first.

Penny, you're a good healer but you should be able to take life. Not fully, that would kill, but enough for you to make an escape. This is my only flowering plant. Make it wither but don't kill it. Just hate the plant but not too much and it will wither. Then heal it up again.

Charlotte jnr, you have super strength and you also have the ability to take strength. You see this steel ball? You can't crush it. Imagine the ball to be as soft as clay and then try.

Gail, you have super hearing but you also have super spell casting ability. Imagine objects talking to you. You can use this power to enchant objects and cast your own individual spells. Enchant this rock so it will make sure you get to school on time. Don't be late again, please.

Charlotte snr, your power is telepathy. You can talk to people straight into their heads. With the more weak minded you may get them to hear noises and perform simple tasks. The other good thing about this ability is you can cast spells without anyone seeing it coming if you are carrying a crystal, so I suggest you borrow a spell book and learn some spells to make the most of it." Mrs. Buckthorpe issued her instructions.

Gary and Pete had worked hard all morning. Some of the moles had been helping with the casting moulds, mainly so they could check out their chests. They were now ready to pour into four hundred and sixty moulds. The automation in the foundry was amazing and it made everything so much easier. Just one button to press and that was that; fifty potable shields, four hundred reusable fairy grenades and ten automated wizard machine guns.

"Do you think that's enough?" Pete asked, looking around at their produce.

"I don't think there are enough of us to carry this lot, let alone any more" said Gary.

"It's ok, I found a shrink and enlarge spell. I practiced it last night. We can pick up a few crystals from work on Monday. I have enough crystals to make get one of each working and try enchanting everything. Let's leave these until after dinner now, I'm beat," Pete said wearily.

After they had eaten dinner and relaxed for a while, catching up on the days events, Pete had another look in the ball. He could see Catharine, Sarah and Joseph Jones with Silvia hare and three children in tow. Hey, they were at the fountain of destiny. Pete couldn't rest and shaped the water fountain into letters R U O K heart symbol. Catharine wrote 'yes, see you soon. Love you too.' on the ground with a stick. Pete sighed and fetched Gary to go back to work, explaining that the others were only two hours away. They worked hard ready to show off their new inventions to them for the next two hours.

They finished assembling one machine gun and one shield and one fairy grenade, bar the missing components and then tried everything to enchant the gun but it still didn't seem to come to life.

"That's a day wasted," Pete said dejectedly.

"Sarah or Charlotte may be able to help yet," Gary said, believing in the potential of their labour.

Gail had been watching them and went over.

"Can I have a go?"" she asked.

"Be my guest," Pete said.

She stood studying the gun for a while and then touched it.

Automate with wizard power, this machine gun with of no power,

Auto target evil power, suck it to em with bunny power.

The machine came to life.

"How do we know it works?" Pete asked.

"Go and get your mum Gail," Gary said, smiling at her. He turned himself into a mole and several other scary creatures but the gun wouldn't shoot him. Charlotte arrived "What can I do to help?"

"I need you make this machine think that mole is an evil wizard." Pete said smiling.

Charlotte concentrated, and it worked. Plasma balls flew out like mad.

"Stop firing." Gary shouted, turning himself into a bunny so he could run faster.

"Cool," Pete said laughing.

Chapter 12 -Garbage Beware

One hour from the Fountain of Destiny Sarah and Catharine moved down to the tunnel following the map. They had just entered a new tunnel with an old stream bed in it and what appeared to be plant life growing abundantly. The walls were lit by glowing life forms that Sarah had never seen before. They were crawling around everywhere. She looked closely and could see they were some kind of slug. Urgh she thought. The tunnel meandered round, back and forth, not at all like the map. She could see little sparks flying up ahead like tiny plasma balls and tiny fire balls. Sarah activated her shield around them both. They walked forward slowly.

"Have you seen anything like that before?" Sarah asked.

"No, strange isn't it?" Catharine replied.

They were very close now and the energy balls were bouncing off the sides of the shield.

This close they could see the sparks were from an army of slugs who seemed to be in the middle of a battle with an army of mutated snaillike creatures. Tiny shields popped up everywhere and the teleporting slugs were getting behind enemy lines but it was difficult to see who was winning. They moved on to find it went from strange to bizarre further down the tunnel. A large creature suddenly teleported in front of them. It looked like a baby elephant and scared them a little because of its sheer power and size. The ground where it had landed sprang to life and swallowed it up. The elephant creature screamed as huge teeth rose out of the floor and ripped into it.

Both girls screamed as the mouth turned toward them, burped and then launched itself at them. Catharine dusted it and it dropped like a fly. They moved past it carefully jumping as it moved slightly when they squeezed past it. Catharine put her hand in her bag ready to dust again and they hurried down the tunnel. They could hear the creature stirring.

"That dust didn't last long," Catharine said, looking scared.

"Long enough for me not to be there," Sarah replied, moving down the tunnel even more quickly.

"This place is really weird. Where is it?" Catharine looked around at the floor and walls, waiting for something to eat her.

Sarah cried out as she was sucked down into the earth up to her waist "Aaarrh I'm stuck,"

"Don't panic, teleport!"

"Too scared. Can't get excited when I'm scared," Sarah replied.

Catharine pulled at Sarah's arm frantically but with no progress.

"Move back!" Sarah shouted, coming up with a plan.

Sarah had been sucked down and could feel what she thought were teeth near her feet. She activated her shield as the earth moved like an earth quake and swallowed her up. Catharine didn't know what to and was petrified until Sarah teleported next to her.

"Run!" Sarah screamed.

They caught a glimpse of the monster. It was like a giant earthworm but with small, sharp teeth. The sucking motion of its mouth was creating a slight wind inside the tunnel. They ran into a small chamber and caught their breath. The ground continued to shake as the monster began to force its way down the tunnel towards them. They ran quickly with the monster snapping at their heels. Sarah hurled plasma balls at it but it had shielding |Just as it seemed it would catch them the worm monster hit bedrock and stopped pursuit.

"That thing had a defensive shielding inside itself. I was battering hell out of it but that didn't do a thing. No wonder it got so big. There are some other really huge monsters down here," Sarah warned nervously.

They read the map again but couldn't work out where they were. There was a junction just in front of them and they couldn't decide which path to take.

"It s got to be that one, that's where all that nasty slime and creatures are," Sarah said

"I want to go down that one. It only smells a bit stale, not nasty," Catharine said.

"Ok, that one first," Sarah said.

After five steps the ground gave way, forcing them to slide down a smooth slippery tunnel until they popped out into a cavern below.

"Good choice Catharine," Sarah said sarcastically as she got back on her feet, brushing loose soil from her face.

"Yes it was, look."

There in the centre of the room was a little glowing book

"I expected something bigger," Catharine said. There was no answer and no sign of Sarah.

"Sarah," she called. "Sarah," she tried to call again but she had been lassoed by rather nasty looking ivy and pulled into the cavern wall. The ivy was slowly covering her.

Sarah had also been captured by the plant but had transformed a small grass hopper. She was being chased by some sort of mantis in the carpet of plants on the cave floor. Sarah put her shield up and plasma balled the ivy. It released Catharine as it moved away from the heat.

Sarah changed them both into fairies. She was fed up with fighting the urge to hop in her present form. She shielded them while they hovered and dodged around, avoiding the attempts of animals and plants to eat them. In every inch of the cavern something was trying to eat something else.

"This whole cavern is alive! We need a plan. I'll concentrate on this shield since we appear to be safe in here," Sarah said, amazed by the whole thing.

"Look at that," said Catharine in shock.

The both watched a small pool of dirty water at bottom of the cavern. There were creatures popping into existence before their eyes, things were coming out of the pool, most being eaten almost straight away by other creatures, a few occasionally getting away. The ivy was polishing most of the escapees off before they got anywhere.

A Russian vine grabbed them and pulled them into the ceiling. It would not let go.

"It's got shielding, the plasma balls aren't doing a thing! I can't teleport. We're stuck," Catharine screamed.

They were in a standoff with the plant; Catharine looked around for clues as what to do next.

"There's a drain pipe over there and it says 'God's house on it fitted by mole miners Inc,' look at that pipe," Catharine said.

"We're in the sewer leading off God's cottage. All the potions that went wrong and God's poo are flowing down here. Does God have poo do you think? He has a toilet and is it magical poo that will attack you when you're not looking. That explains the really weird creatures and plants. You got a plan yet?" Sarah said having a philosophical poo moment.

"Yes we're going to wait for something to eat this plant or one of God's turds to turn up and rescue us," Catharine suggested wittily.

"Spells," Sarah said.

Some hours later Catharine had tried every spell she could think of.

"Take over the shield spell. I'm going to have a go at making up a spell. We're supposed to be able to do that. I haven't tried a spell yet," Sarah said, wanting to relax for a minute.

"Ok, ready," Catharine said.

"It's so hard, holding a shield up for so long," Sarah said, breathing a sign of relief.

Sarah cast a spell;

"Take this vine with my power,

From my sight, take not an hour."

The vine released them and started receding back toward its roots.

Sarah teleported them both to the book, grabbed it and moved them back into the tunnel near where they had fallen through the ground.

"Let's have a look and see what it says. Arh, a foreign language. Hebrew I think but not sure. Do you think Paul may have some books I could borrow?" asked Sarah.

"Yes, he should, or he will know where to get one. I'll teleport us there now," Catharine said.

Before she could do so two SS wizards teleported into the tunnel in front of them

"I want the book now," one said, lifting his ring up.

The wizard was one of those wizards with long curly moustache and a plaited beard that you don't want to meet in a dark tunnel.

Sarah put her shield up and noticed the strange crystaled ring he had.

Catharine quickly teleported them to Paul's.

Their arrival at Paul's wasn't the best timed. Catharine took them straight into the main hall of the burrow where Paul was sat comforting Silvia Hare and what appeared to be three hare children. Silvia was crying inconsolably.

Catharine approached Paul.

"Good timing. How did you know I wanted to talk to you? Please, both of you come this way," Paul said.

"You girls look like you have been at war and smell like you have been in the sewer! Please have a shower. There is fresh clothing in the wardrobe. I would be most grateful if one day you both turn up in nice attire smelling of roses just for a change. You know where the fridge is. I need to calm Silvia down. Young Gary has been busy and she had nine children, only to have six of them slaughtered by the SS. It's such a mess," Paul stopped talking. He was speechless, his mouth moved but words didn't come out.

"Yes, it's the Book of Creation. It was in the sewer beneath God's house. You don't want to go there, very nasty," Catharine said.

"I going to go and comfort Silvia for a minute. Let's see, brandy should do it. I will be back in twenty minutes," Paul said.

Sarah changed them into human form and the girls showered.

"So where does he get all these clothes from? Look at this dress!" Sarah said.

"Oh, Paul is a shape shifter and does so when it suits him. He likes being a girl sometimes, you know the attention, and it's always kept him popular," Catharine said.

"Mixed grill, onion rings, mushrooms brown sauce and a pint mug of tea," Sarah requested from the fridge.

Paul came in herding Silvia and her three children.

"I am so sorry girls. That Joseph Jones just turned up, wanting some books. I can't let him see these children. Not at all sure he can be trusted. He got kicked out of the SS for your escape and what happened at Gods cottage but this isn't normal for the SS," said Paul, guiding the family into his quarters and closing the door.

"If you are going to the library I need something to translate this book and a full set of wizarding books please. Put it on my account," Catharine requested.

"I need a book on crystals and their uses please. I have these to pay for them," Sarah said holding out five crystals.

"One is enough," Catharine interrupted.

"Thank you. This is enough to settle your debt Catharine and you now have an account Sarah, up to 100 books. I will take you to the library as soon as possible," said Paul looking pleased at the sight of the shiny crystal.

They picked clothes from Paul's wardrobe and ate breakfast. Paul went out to greet Joseph Jones.

"How nice to see you again Sir. How I can help you today?" Paul greeted Joseph and gave him his usual respect so not to annoy him. Wizards can be tricky.

"I am not with the SS any more you know. Things aren't right, wizards disappearing and these new laws. I need any books on the history of Moldavite you have and specifically any on the council members. You know stuff before my time," Joseph asked politely. He didn't know if he was going to get help from Paul.

"That is difficult and expensive sir," Paul said, knowing he could make a few souls here.

Joseph reached into his bag, pulled out the weapon that David made and took out a crystal. He looked at Paul and waited for the smile when he popped another one out. You could always tell the right price for something by Paul's smile.

Joseph handed the crystals to Paul "There is one other thing. I need to talk to the goddess Sarah. I need to know what happened to David Williams. I heard he was sent here and disappeared."

Paul led him into the library and went to see Sarah.

"Joseph Jones wants to talk to you and is asking about David Williams," Paul said worriedly, entering his quarters.

"Ok thanks Paul, I'll talk to him," Sarah said, following Paul out the room.

"Hello," said Sarah.

"Hello Sarah, Could you get the books I asked for please Paul? I didn't come for trouble, I just came for information. You wouldn't know but things aren't right here in Moldavite at the moment. It's not normal to send people off into the wood for not doing their job well," Joseph said calmly, watching Sarah's body language.

"So are you telling me that you're under cover to flush me out?" Sarah asked, not trusting him at all.

"No, there's something not right. Peter Jones didn't behave like himself. He was aggressive, uncaring. Look at the way he was with you when you arrived; not many wizards have the courage and patience to talk an uncontrollable goddess out of magic box without getting scratch on them. I know you're a good person who just got washed up here and it was not anybody fault. Sh..t happens. I want to find out what is happening in the castle and I would like your help. Firstly, I'd like to find out what happened to David Williams who was sent here by some idiot. David's, well he's still wet behind the ears."

"I didn't kill him. I just turned him into a frog and took his ring off him; I thought it was the only way he wouldn't get hurt. That Edward was with him and the bunnies weren't going to stand for someone who had tormented their mother since the beginning of creation. A fight was always going to happen. Here, this is what I do to make a friend" she offered her hand to him.

"We do the same," replied Joseph shaking her hand.

"You can stop hiding now Paul," Joseph said firmly. He knew Paul was hiding in his books listening in.

"The frog was swallowed by a two headed crocodile that then became sick. He threw up, the frog escaped and has been running around the burrow ever since. I've been trying to catch him. Here are the books you all requested and a few extra I thought might be useful if you were on the run," Paul said, rather scared as he was always fearful of the SS and Joseph was a strong confident wizard.

"So what now Goddess? How do I get hold of you if I need you?" Joseph asked.

"Put Mr. Jones books on my account Paul. I am going to club him over the head, drag him back to my secret lair and get a mole to look at his chest," she said.

Jones smiled, not that he knew exactly what she meant.

"I have a little favour to ask. Could you take Silvia and the kids with you? She has nowhere to go and the SS are hunting them as if they are wild animals," Paul said.

"Of course," said Sarah.

"Could we take David with us? He has a good soul but lacks experience," Joseph asked.

"Yes but you're responsible for him. Let's get the others and find David," Sarah said firmly.

They put the books into their bags and headed out into the main hall to look for David. Paul went to get the others from his quarters.

"David, David come out. It's Joseph Jones."

A little frog hopped out of a hole under the stage and Joseph picked him up.

A plasma ball flew right at him and knocked David and Joseph out. Sarah's shield went straight up as a hail of plasma ball and fireballs were continuously pelted at her. She healed Joseph and David who started to come round as she kept her shield up over them. There was so much being hurled at them that they couldn't see who was attacking or where they were. Catharine came out and hurled several plasma balls as a distraction. It gave her long enough to see where she was.

"We have to move now!" screamed Sarah urgently.

Joseph put David in his bag and pulled out a crystal before running with Sarah towards Catharine who was firing barrages at four wizards on the main stairwell.

"Get a shield up Catharine, cover us while we get to the quarters then drop back," Sarah ordered.

Catharine put her shield up but it didn't hold under the heavy fire. She took several hits and fell to the ground like a lead weight. Sarah ran forward dodging fire and teleported her to Paul's quarters. Sarah quickly healed Catharine who was covered in blood. Joseph held the wizards off at the door with a shield; he could see them from his position with the rifles from the restricted section.

"They have God Stopper Rifles! My shield won't hold against that. I think they're using banned weapons," Joseph said angrily.

"Catharine, double up on this shield with Joseph," ordered Sarah.

"It won't last long even with two of us," said Joseph.

"I don't need long," Sarah replied.

Sarah turned into a flea and teleported around the round the room knocking out the wizards and teleported back to the quarters with the God Stopper in her hand.

"All done, they can't shoot what they can't see," Sarah said.

"We won't have long," Joseph said.

"Everybody get your things and we'll get going. Are you coming Paul? It won't be safe here now you know," Catharine looked worriedly at her friend.

"I'll be fine, I've had this before. I'll just explain that I had no choice," Paul replied confidently.

The rest headed out of the burrow and into the tunnel system.

"Where are we going?" Joseph asked.

"Mole Miners City. They built these tunnels and make souls for God. They can breed as well. They're a little freaky at first, they stand staring at your chest, but they are OK, friendly," Sarah said.

Chapter 13 - The Big Dig

They emerged from the tunnel where Joseph stood looking in awe at Mole Miners City, then made their way down to the square where they were greeted by Albert.

"Hello Albert. Sorry, I ended up with some more refugees," apologised Sarah.

"Hello Sarah. Now, let me have a look," Albert put his glasses on.

Sarah got David out of the bag and turned him back to his original form. He looked completely shocked and cowered next to Joseph. Albert paced up and down looking at their souls.

"Ok, you are all welcome. I will make arrangements for accommodation. Joseph, could you do me a favour? We have lost our Cracken. Could you see to it that I get it back please? We have been attacked by creatures and plagued by evil wizards ever since it's been gone. Pete made some protection, the bunnies have been super, but I prefer the Cracken. I sleep better at night knowing he is there," Albert said greeting the newcomers.

Joseph looked in bewilderment at Sarah.

"He does that sometimes," Sarah laughed.

Catharine saw Pete and ran over, giving him a big embracing kiss. They disappeared into their house without another word.

Charlotte was still gardening but Gary came out followed by the children, curious to see who the newcomers were. The boys laughed their heads off and were shoving Gary Jnr round in fun.

"It's not funny," Gary jnr said.

"Which one of you three was in the ferret costume at the ball?" Silvia asked smiling a little.

The square went silent, you could here a pin drop, and then the boys all pointed to Gary jnr.

"That was me," Gary jnr said, nervously twitching his paws.

"Then these are your children; Rachael, Susan and Vincent, say hello to your dad," Silvia said softly.

"Hello," three squeaky voices came out.

"Hello, do you want to come and play? I will show you around," Gary jnr said not knowing what else to do.

"There were more but the SS killed them when we fled our burrow," Silvia wept and fell into Gary jnr paws.

There was a big gasp from everyone, including some curious moles. Gary Jnr hugged her clumsily before taking his children to play. Gary snr led Silvia back to his house.

Charlotte arrived back at the house. Gary was sat in the lounge with a cup of tea comforting Silvia.

"What's that hare doing up in my house! Get your own bunny, leave my Gary alone," Charlotte bellowed in a very deep Irish accent.

"It not what you think Charlotte, wait a minute. She has mothered Gary jnrs kids," explained Gary.

"It wasn't my fault he was dressed as a ferret." Silvia said, pleading with her.

Silvia sobbed out her story to Charlotte. They sat weeping together and exchanging birthing stories as Silvia was on her own when she gave birth to the kids. Gary disappeared into the basement and was now doing his thing with the computers, attempting to crack into the system.

The girls had officially made friends again and were planning a rather large barbeque and family get together.

"Mummy, mummy! Dad can throw plasma balls! It's so cool! He is so going to kick some wizard ass," Vincent cried, running in excitedly.

"Where did you learn language like that?" Silvia said.

"I saw it on TV," Vincent said, lying through his paws.

"You are not to use language such as 'ass'," Silvia said.

In fact Vincent had just been to the outskirts of town and watched his dad and the other bunnies practice their powers. Silvia's children had not been born with powers, Gary jnr took them to see what they could do and they could not do anything. Everyone met in the square for a barbeque as there wasn't enough room them to assemble anywhere else. There were barbequed vegetables galore, everyone tucked in as they sat around a large table set with wine and juices.

"So what's next Sarah?" Joseph asked.

"We rescue the others," Sarah said pulling out the ball.

"There are four hundred wizards up there," Joseph said.

"Pete has a plan," Catharine said.

Pete pulled out his gun, a shield and a fairy grenade and placed them in front of them.

"What's that lot?" Joseph said sternly looking at the weaponry.

"This is a plasma gun that will automatically target enemies with plasma balls. I designed it to protect the moles from attack down here. I think six should be enough for the city which will leave us with four to use for our protection," Pete explained.

"These are dangerous items they would normally be banned, not all the wizards are bad up there," Joseph said, concerned.

"These are all none lethal weapons. The plasma balls are made to stun only, give me a moment to explain," Pete said, seeing the disapproval Josephs face.

"Sorry please go on," Joseph apologised.

"These are shields that we can move around. I think about thirty to cover the tunnels too and stop us being attacked by animals. I have twenty spare of these. I haven't got these enchanted yet but Gail will be sorting that out soon. I have these which were made for breaking the others out of the castle. These are fairy grenades. You put the dust in here in the small bag here and then press this button. The grenade pops and fairy dust will be thrown everywhere, knocking out people. I created them after I found they were mistreating the others and realised that we were going to have to get them out. My plan is to use what we have and tunnel up into the castle from here. They won't be expecting attack from beneath," Pete said pleased with his efforts.

"There are two problems facing us," said Sarah, "we were attacked in the tunnel by wizards who knew exactly where we were. This means they have one of these balls and can see where we are. We don't know if this shield will stand up to this." She pulled out a God Stopper Five.

"Those balls can't see everywhere. There must be something in the rocks around here blocking them, or they would have attacked already," Joseph said.

"Myself and Pete are going to the fairy castle to get some supplies for these grenades, but I need to have a days rest first and see if there is a way of cloaking us from the balls. Pete needs to finish the defenses to make sure we have a home to come back to," Catharine said.

"I have to finish hacking their computers, it's really tough," Gary said.

"Yes, I think we all need a rest and to research what we do next or we are going to end up getting killed. I think we should work on these defenses first. They will find us sooner or later, but it will take them time with these tunnels. This brings me to some light reading," Sarah said pulling out a large pile of books.

"Joseph, you're in charge of the after school club with the bunnies and anyone wanting to learn combat training. David, you can help in the mines with Pete and Gary," instructed Sarah.

"I thought you were the best at that from what I could see," Joseph said not wanting his old job back.

"I am very creative and you know how to train wizards. You can teach them how you taught the wizards to help them gain tactical advantage. We all have to contribute, the mole population was four thousand and it went down to two hundred so we are helping them until they get back on their feet. I am going to research these books and try and see if we can sort Kevin out if we rescue him. I need to find out about these crystals and what they do," Sarah explained.

"Time for a drink." Pete said with a grin on his face "The moles had about three hundred fridges lying in a warehouse that they didn't use so I asked them for one. They don't seem to like some technology. I got a few bottles of JD to relax with and some sweets for the children,"

They partied late that evening, got merry, and all filtered off to bed drunk.

Early the next morning healing spells littered the little houses. The inhabitants were staying in and getting rid of the JD hangover.

Catharine and Pete lay in bed, cuddling. Not wanting nine children the pair had spent the evening engaged in everything but sex. But nature had taken its course when the JD took over and the pair had slumped into a mushy pile on the bed and could not move after a nine courses of love making. Gary walked in.

"You coming to work Pete?" Gary asked blearily.

"It's Sunday Gary," Pete replied.

"Oh," said Gary and walked out again. The happy couple went to sleep.

Sarah had woken early that morning and was eating breakfast in the square whilst reading a book on translation. It was a very slow and painstaking process which she didn't enjoy. She put it down and wandered if the school mistress might be better at this task. She picked another one up and browsed the pages. Wizard war two: Enchanted artifices, their uses and how to defend against them. She looked through the chapters: Enchanted swords, goblet poisoning, God Stoppers, crystal balls, power rings, enchanted cross bows, hammer axes of Norse Mythology, Divine spears and Poseidon.

She turned to the chapter on crystal balls

There are currently three type of crystal ball used within the Divine Union Army. First is a communication ball for face to conversation with all your comrades.

The second is mark one ball where you may look for anyone you know or have met and it will show you where they are. It is very important to know your enemy to use this effectively. You may also use powers through the mark one but cannot pass physical objects through it.

The third is a mark two. This ball is the same as mark 1 but you may project none physical power through the ball

Defenses: - cloaking from detection. This is difficult as it requires blue crystals placed above and to the sides of a person: see diagram. This completely obscures the crystal ball. However finding enough crystals is near impossible for any sizeable force.

The main defense is to use cloaking chants; this requires one person to continually chant for the protection of the rest.

Sarah flicked to the God Stopper five chapter.

The God Stopper five was created for the care and control of gods and is capable of knocking out a level 5 god; there is no defense against this weapon yet.

She placed the book down and picked up another: Crystals and their Uses, and started reading again.

Gary, who had raided Pete's fridge as an afterthought when he went round was now eating his bacon and egg cob in the basement. Charlotte had banned all meat products from the house as she considered them offensive. Gary had managed to load the latest version of windows on his computer and had it working on cracking the encrypted passwords used by the SS. He thought he might try a little magic. After seeing what Gail had done he thought he might be able to speed it up a little.

"Haven't got time for life's demands,

Speed this up, Gary commands."

It worked. The system was all working: Access granted level 12 clearance. That was Gary busy for the next few hours figuring out how everything worked.

Catharine and Pete were now in fairy form, lying in bed together.

"That's different, never done it flying before," Pete said breathlessly.

"Mmmmm" Catharine curled up to Pete and started playing with his wings.

"No. I need a rest," said Pete, turning the TV on.

Hello I am John Watkins and this is creation news. The SS have raided the fairy castle. Queen Isabella was killed whilst under the influence of the magic herb. She had refused to give up her stash to the SS. This caused the fairies to riot and there have been many deaths. Figures are not in yet as to how many have been killed but gardens all across Moldavite appear to be unattended by any of the fairies. Rumours have it only a handful survived.

Pete turned it off. Never anything nice on that TV he thought. Catharine was crying.

"Let's get to work Catharine, we need to do something," Pete said.

The both went outside to find Gail. They found her on the outskirts of town playing a version of big bad wolf but with low level plasma balls.

"Gail, we need your help to enchant these shields and grenades," Pete asked Gail who appeared to be a whiz at these things.

"Ok," Gail said, pleased to be able to use her magic.

"Take these shields with no power,

Make them fill with great power."

"That worked straight away. I tried loads. Thanks Gail."

"From a bunny's special power,

Give this object busting powers."

Pete took the grenade and filled it with a little dust. He pushed the button and threw it. It worked. They still needed the special cloth for the grenades to work properly but he could take a few with him. They headed off to Sarah to see what was happening with the ball theory and show her the new toys.

"Hi Sarah," said Pete.

"You got them working then?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, ready for action. Just popped in cos we're going to look for survivors from the fairy castle attack and pick up the supplies we need for these grenades," Pete said.

"What attack?" Sarah asked.

"The SS went in and killed the queen, caused a riot and it sounds like they nearly wiped them out," Pete explained.

"It going to be a trap you know, to draw you out." Sarah said worriedly.

"I know but we do need supplies to rescue our friends," Catharine said.

"I'm coming," Sarah said, concerned they would be captured.

"No. We want some time alone; we haven't had much of chance to be together. Anyway, who's going to rescue us if anything goes wrong?" Catharine replied.

"Ok. I found this chant but it has to be said continually or it stops working. It will hide you from the crystal balls. The only other way is to cover yourselves up with crystals like these. They have to be blue ones," Sarah said.

"Ok, I have some at the castle. I'll bring the whole box, got quite a collection," Catharine replied.

"Gary knows where all the equipment is to be set up, the shields and stuff. Gail just needs to enchant the rest of it. We're going to take 10 grenades, a wizard gun and 2 shields. That should give us the edge if we get any trouble. We should be back in about a day I think," Pete said, confident in his work. The couple packed some supplies and set off.

Chapter 14 -The Fairy Castle

They traveled in human form as there was a lot of equipment to carry and Pete chanted while Catharine teleported them. She was limited to how far and often she could teleport so they swapped around quite a bit. Both had their shields permanently on and this made them feel a little safer. The castle was over a hundred miles away and it would take the best part of a day to get there. It was very difficult not talking to each other but the couple spoke to each other using their eyes mostly, although Catharine kept kissing him when they teleported while smiling. He couldn't talk then anyway she thought.

The castle stood on a hill. It had high cliffs on all sides and only one entrance; a long narrow rope bridge. It looked like a medieval castle. Pete had expecting a fairytale castle but was still pleased.

There were no signs of life and no wizards appeared to be around.

"I am going to teleport us into the bathroom of a friend so chant quietly and be ready. It's the safest place I can think of," Catharine said, teleporting in to the bathroom.

Catharine looked around and could not see anyone in her friend's quarters. She slowly opened the door to the corridor and Pete followed her with his weapon in hand, still chanting. They couldn't hear a sound; it felt as if the castle was deserted.

"This isn't right, there should be at least a few servants knocking around," Catharine whispered.

They crept into the next corridor, spotted a wizard and moved back out of sight.

Catharine teleported to her own bathroom and peeked out the bathroom door carefully. There were two wizards in the other room. She turned to Pete and communicated with her hands that there were two wizards next door. She listened carefully to what they were saying.

"We have cleared all the dead out of the castle which we have renamed Castle Rex. There are ten prisoners in the dungeon, about five went in the woods but we will soon have them. I sent most of the wizards back to HQ. There are twenty wizards in the forest searching and five on guard throughout the castle. We have ten searching for the crystals you asked for and I have a prisoner outside to interrogate, the Queens Aide May," a wizard said.

"I have just the thing to loosen her tongue, a nice pair of scissors to chop off her wings with. Bring her in," Rex said coldly.

"Yes sir," the wizard replied.

A wizard roughly dragged a struggling fairy in by her wings.

"Where are the crystals that the fairies have been collecting since the last wizard war?" Rex asked holding the scissors up to her.

"I am not telling you, you murdering b..t....d," replied May.

Catharine burst in and dusted all of them before they knew what was happening.

"May, get one hundred yards of bag fabric now out my closet," Catharine ordered.

"Yes your highness," May obeyed without question or surprise.

Catharine then pushed a secret compartment under her desk and pulled out a pretty gold bag of fairy dust. She lifted the base of her seat and pulled out a very large bag of crystals.

"Right! May, pack a bag and put these in it. Hurry, we haven't much time," Catharine said urgently.

Pete glanced curiously around to see what the kind of room Catharine had and how she lived. To the right of the bathroom door were two six foot square windows with green velvet drapes and stained glass windows depicting fairies overseeing gardens. There was a large desk looking out over the Lost Wood with a parchment holder full of rolled scrolls with pretty blue ribbons tied around them. In front of the other window was a dressing table holding hundreds of beautiful ornate glass vials of perfume.

To left of the bathroom was a large four poster bed with gold tasseled red velvet drapes. There were layers of neatly embroidered pillows on top of a silken counterpane on the bed. There were many paintings spread around the room of various Fairy Queens in battle with dragons, demons and wizards. Pete knew they were Fairy Queens as they all wore the same tiara that Catharine worn when he first met her. Pete was surprised as everything was made to fit a human sized person and nothing appeared to be adapted for a small fairy. There was a large open fire with sparkly ornaments above which came to life and changed position while he was watching. Behind the bed was a walk-in closet full of clothing. Diagonally opposite the bathroom was the door leading out to the castle.

Catharine ran round the room picking up items and throwing them into a bag before taking a sword and crossbow down from the wall. She placed several blue crystals in the hilt of her sword, pressed a button and the sword glowed blue.

"You can stop chanting now Pete," Catharine said.

"But won't they find us?" Pete said looking puzzled.

"I sure hope so. Set your gun up on that window overlooking the rope bridge. Finish your grenades, I'll cover you," Catharine ordered him.

"Are we going to war Your Highness?" May asked.

"Just for the afternoon," Catharine said, putting blue crystals in the base of her crossbow.

She went to a drawer and found some crystal holders on string and started loading them too. Catharine tied them onto Pete while he was working. She was still smiling at him.

"Pardon me Your Highness, who is your friend?" May asked.

"He is your King," Catharine said.

"But..." May stammered.

"Do you wish to challenge your queen to mortal combat to be queen yourself?" Catharine challenged her.

"No, you're Highnesses." May replied with a startled look on her face.

"Ready, are you sure these will refill automatically?" Pete interrupted.

"Yes they're just like my bag. May, finish loading these crystals. I need about seventy loaded as soon as possible. Here my king, this will protect you from the fairy dust," Catharine said, tying a small bag of fairy dust around his neck.

"You realise your first responsibility as Fairy King is to make more subjects," Catharine said, laughing at him.

Pete had that slightly worried look on his face men get when women realise that they have all the cards.

The machine worked a treat, sending four wizards into the sea. Plasma balls were firing left, right and centre into the wood. Pete rigged the corridor door with a grenade so anyone going in would get a good dusting and they headed down to the dungeon. The corridors were full of paintings of fairies interacting with creatures from all over Moldavite and tapestries showing the evolution of the fairies role in Moldavite.

Catharine was on fire, she ran into some wizards. She took the head clean off the first wizard with her sword and she killed the second by hip firing her crossbow. Then Pete threw his first grenade down the twisting stair well which disposed of the remaining wizards in the dungeon. A simple dungeon was at the bottom of the stairwell. The square grim looking place had a caged cell in one corner and an armoury in the other. There a small door leading downwards. Flaming sconces spread light around room showing the fairies caged in the corner. Catharine chopped through the locks holding the fairies captive.

"Any fairy wishing to challenge me say now or keep your peace," Catharine stated as they all bowed down.

Catherine paused for a moment and waited. They didn't look up at her and held their heads down submissively.

"Then this is your King, Pete. We're at war, now arm yourselves," Catharine ordered, opening the armoury.

"Highnesses," came from round the room as the fairies armed themselves with a crossbow and sword each.

May loaded the crossbows and swords up as the fairies left the armoury. She had just finishing tying the crystals on the fairies.

"Everyone armed?" Catharine asked.

"Yes your highness," May replied.

"How did they wipe out so many of you without a fight?" Catharine asked.

"They teleported in and knew exactly where to go for effectiveness. They were using red crystals and their plasma balls were killing out by the dozen because of the power. We only managed to dust a few before we were wiped out," May said sadly. Catharine didn't speak but swore silently to herself that they would not be caught unawares again.

She went into the armoury and unlocked a chest that contained a bag full of blue crystal bracelets. She passed these out, one per fairy.

'What are they?" Pete asked.

"They are healing bracelets," Catharine said slipping one on his finger.

"I have an idea. I could take us round the outside of the island using the sea, go inland up this stream and we could drop down into the tunnel system here. They won't expect it and will be looking for us on land," Pete said, showing the map to Catharine.

"That sounds like a plan to me. There are still fairies out there but we could look for them in the crystal ball. If we go south we can get out at the sea edge and I have a small fishing boat there. We could hide in the bottom while you use your powers. I'll get the gun," Catharine replied.

Catharine teleported upstairs as waking wizard lifted his ring to her. She swooped out of the way and chopped his hand off, followed by his head. She noticed his ring didn't look like the others she had seen and slipped the ring from the bloody hand, pocketing it before grabbing the gun and teleporting back to Pete.

"Are you ok?" Pete asked as he saw the blood on her clothes

"Yes I'm fine. It's not my blood. We need to change the crystals in these shields. The blue ones are better," Catharine ordered.

After the fairies recrystalled the shields for protection they headed down a tightly winding staircase to a small fishing boat at the bottom.

The wooden boat was of a simple design with two oars and a small single sail. It held several bags of fishing nets and smelt profoundly of rotten fish. There wasn't much of room for them but they all got in. Pete used his water power to move the boat quickly away, trying to keep his wake down to a minimum so as not to draw attention. Even so, it wasn't long before he was spotted by flying wizards who sent fire balls roaring towards him. Pete created a large wave shield to put the fireballs out even as they were fired. The wizards swapped to plasma balls which went through the boat. The small fairies clambered closer to Pete and Catherine, staying inside their shields. The boat had a large hole in it and trying to sink but they were lucky no-one had been hurt. Pete grabbed Catharine's hand and prompted the fairies to stay inside the shield. He put a large air bubble around the entire remainder of the boat and sunk the boat bubble down to the bottom of the sea. The couple looked at each other and smiled at the beauty of the sea floor. It was very peaceful down there. They passed over a sleeping monster on the sea bed. It must have been one hundred foot, long at least.

"That's the missing Cracken," Catharine said.

As they approached the entrance to the stream running inland he could see five bubbles in the water with staffs sticking from them. The wizards were heading for shore and throwing everything they had at the fairy boat. As plasma balls approached them Pete moved, turned the balls around and sent them back to the wizards who were now leaving the water. He surfaced the boat where the fairies quickly and vengefully killed two wizards with their bows. The rest were dragged down by Pete into the water and teleported away rapidly.

Pete sailed the fishing craft to the stream which he followed. He couldn't find the tunnel entrance though and needed help. He was finding it difficult to concentrate on where he was going as he was still plugging the hole in the base of the boat and keeping it moving. . Catharine came up and found that they were nearly at the tunnel entrance. She guided him carefully to the nearest point of land.

"There's a flying wizard," she whispered a warning to Pete.

A wizard flew by with a staff in his hand, searching the river and spotted them. He turned and opened fire. The fireball bounced off Pete's shield. Pete quickly shot him down but wizards began teleporting in and everywhere weapons were being fired at their boat. The fairies remained hidden inside Catharine's and Pete's shields. There were at least thirty wizards there and seemed like a stale mate. Pete concentrated harder and brought a huge wall of water up onto the wizards, sending them hurtling down stream with their fires doused. A few remained but were soon extinguished by the fairies. Free from wizards for the moment they moved quickly through the forest and were soon in the tunnel where they sighed with relief and rested for a minute to recharge their batteries. They journeyed through the tunnel undiscovered and were only thirty minutes away from Mole Miner City when four wizards attacked them, two wizards from both the front and rear. Pete lobbed a couple of grenades knocking them out instantly. As he retrieved his grenades and stripped the wizards of their weapons he pondered on how they had found them.

Pete depressed the buttons on two grenades and gave one to Catharine. They went off inside their shields and all that could be seen was fairy dust.

"That's not funny Pete," Catharine said angrily.

"Look," he said. One of the fairies had dropped to the floor.

"They had a spy there all the time, that's how they found us so quickly," Catharine said as realization dawned.

"A shape shifter, I couldn't tell you what I was thinking because someone might have been hurt and we couldn't take him with us, he would give the cities position away," Pete said.

"Let's move before more turn up, I'll disarm him. Right, let's pick up the pace," Catharine said, "I want to get back to the square and meet up with the others."

Chapter 15 -Time To Kill

Sarah picked up an enchanted shield and went to her room to get the God Stopper before walking to the outskirts of the city where she found a nice quiet place to stop and test the weapon. Activating the shield she walked a good twenty yards away then took aim and fired. The gun kicked and a red energy ball shot out of the end. It went straight to the shield and bounced off. She fired again and the shield went down. Two shots she thought well, better than nothing. She picked up the broken shield and returned to get her book on crystals

She opened the book and read the chapters Crystals and their Power Levels, Using crystals defensively, dark magic crystals, crystal ethics pros and cons

Sarah thoroughly researched the power levels of crystals and discovered that some amplified wizard powers considerably more than others. The yellow crystals used for soul making were the most powerful and would boost a normal wizard's power into the god power range. These were the crystals that were the God Stopper Five. The red crystals amplified fighting ability and attacks, the blue crystals were the best for defensive uses such as cloaking and for defense weapons. Then she found out about the green crystals; these could perform all tasks but didn't amplify the power.

This was good but still didn't tell her about the ring she had taken. She picked up the book she had been reading earlier and looked up the power ring section. The section talked about combining crystals to create different power effects but was uncertain as to what power effects you could get with each combination. This was a tricky area of research and no one was clear on what could happen. The book did say that rings exist and gave sketchy examples of them. Sarah saw Albert and decided to ask him see if he knew.

"Hi, Albert."

"Hello Sarah. I see you have a question for me," he said, as he looked at her chest.

She took a rock and drew a picture of the ring she saw on the wizard's finger. There were four crystals in it.

"Do you know what this ring would do? I was attacked by a wizard wearing one, and one crystal is the same as the ones you use for the soul making while two others were red and the fourth one was blue," Sarah explained.

"The yellow one is used to write a persons destiny, so I suspect that the ring is used to tamper with that. I I can't be sure until I have seen someone's soul who is thought to be altered."

"What, like a form of mind control?"

"Yes, but much more than that. It can change the way someone is at the core of their soul," Albert replied.

"Do you have any other colour of crystal here?"

"Oh yes, we get orders for them occasionally. We have just had one for the yellow crystals but we can't give them out, God's orders."

"How could someone get hold of these yellow crystals then?"

"Well we didn't just mine here; we mined in three other kingdoms before we came here. We're due to move to another location any time now; we're just waiting for God to tell us where. The crystals here have just about dried up. There must be many places they can be found in Moldavite."

"Have you got any spare blue crystals I could have?"

"Follow me," Albert said.

Albert led her to a large warehouse and opened the door. The warehouse was full of crystals, mainly blues, a few red and lots of green

"You can have as many as you want. I have been hoping the SS would go blue for years because it's better for defence but they never order any."

"Is there any defense against the yellow crystals," Sarah asked.

"Possibly, but I'm not certain of it. The bunnies have no destiny written into their souls. This is what makes them different from everyone including me. I have written to God about this matter but haven't had a reply yet."

"You wrote a letter to God?"

"Well, he is my employer; I have to report irregularities to him. I have a box I post letters in and they get there. I don't know how. Before you ask, it's for my use only."

Sarah went back to the house to find Charlotte and Silvia. She had a lot of work for them to do.

"Hi Charlotte, Hi Silvia," Sarah greeted them.

"Hello Sarah, have you come for your dinner? You're a bit early," Charlotte asked.

"No, I have something to ask you. I need you to make some hoodys for me. I need enough for everyone, all the bunnies, people and hares. I need you to sew in these crystals like this," Sarah explained.

"What's a hoody?" they both asked.

Sarah drew diagrams showing the design and explained how the crystals needed to be arranged to work properly. She gave them a sackful of the blue crystals

"Could you work through the night for me and get them finished so if we have to move we can? We're going to start work on this tunnel and we'll need them for that." Sarah asked apologetically. She knew she was asking a lot as both Charlotte and Silvia had small children to care for.

"Yes, we'll finish them before nightfall, but before you go I just need to take a few measurements,"

"|Thanks," replied a relieved Sarah, "Do you know where Gail is?"

"Gary and Gail are finishing the enchantments on the weapons. They're down at the edge of town," Charlotte replied.

Sarah fetched her God Stopper and a small sack of crystals from her house. She went to the edge of the city. She could see the children playing and Gail enchanting the shields.

"How's it going?" She asked.

"We've almost finished," Gail replied.

"Can I borrow one? I am going to test out this God Stopper on a shield with a blue crystal in it. I tested one earlier and it only took two shots to bring it down. I have been reading and the blue ones are better for defense," Sarah said.

"Yes, feel free. Have you seen Pete?" Gary asked, "He was supposed to be helping me,"

"Yes. Pete and Catharine went to the fairy castle to get supplies for the grenades and rescue some fairies," Sarah sounded worried.

Sarah removed the green crystal from a shield and went to the bag to get a blue one. She pulled out an enormous blue crystal. "Look at the size of that," she said.

"I have an idea, give it here," Gary replied.

He picked up an unenchanted shield and with the help of his tool box modified the blue crystal to fit before giving it to Gail to enchant.

"I could do with this one to cover the whole city. Gail, maybe try and alter your spell to help give it more power?" Gary asked.

"I think my spell casting is quite good enough thank you, Dad. I have seen yours and I am a big bunny now," Gail responded, annoyed with his interference.

"Ok daughter," Gary smiled.

Gail enchanted the shield while Gary ran into the centre of town with the crystal and Sarah continued her test. She set the shield up, shot one round at a time and smiled as the shield held fast. Meanwhile Gary activated the shield which did indeed cover most of the city except for the outskirts weren't covered which didn't matter as much.

He returned with a big smile on his face.

"Here's the big sack of blue crystals. I'm off to see Joseph. I thought he would be down here teaching these kids," said Sarah, puzzled.

"Ok, I'll see you later," said Gary.

Sarah teleported back to town went to Joseph's house and knocked on the door.

"Hello Sarah, come in. I wasn't expecting a social call on a Sunday. Moldavites traditionally tend to have Sundays to themselves."

Sarah followed him into the lounge. Sarah had forgotten it was Sunday and decided not to complain.

"I thought I would give you an update. We've made a shield to protect the city against attack with some blue crystals Albert gave us."

"Blue you say? Haven't seen blue ones used before."

Sarah explained her finding on the crystals, the ring and everything else.

"This destiny thing might be why Peter Jones has been behaving out of character."

"I have an idea but it's getting late now. We could ask Albert to look at the crystal ball with us when we look at Peter Jones. Albert should be able to tell us if his soul has been tampered with," Sarah said.

"I'm with you on that," Joseph agreed.

"I've been meaning to ask, if Gods not here how do you get potions to make new wizards?" Sarah asked.

"There's a box. You just put the number of potions required in it and a day later or so you get the potions in the bottom of the box," Josephs replied. Sarah nodded. It seemed that God was into boxes for communication in a big way.

"So what are you researching Joseph?"

"Same as you, I think. The information I need is in the restricted section of my old office though," Joseph explained. He went on to tell Sarah what had happened to him in detail

"I have been reading history, mainly books we don't have access to in the SS because they were written by the winning side of the wizard war."

"So who lost and who won?"

That's not such a simple answer," Joseph said. He frowned with concentration as he began his explanation. "The SS look after humans, that's their job and primary function. Their secondary job is to clear up any accidents. Some wizards interprete that as control and power and bring politics into it. You know the sort of thing: the magic herb is bad for you, no parties without permission, let's go to war, kill our enemies, and were all going to die at the hands of terrorists. Well, when that got out of hand last time there was a war, before I was born. This is why I have the books. I was trying to find out if the council members were in the last war and on what side they were on. I think together with the ring you were talking about they might be trying to start a war with the creatures of the lost wood."

"Why would they want to start a war?" Sarah pumped him for information.

"I don't know, power maybe. All that happened last time is both sides ended up with losses and everything went back to normal."

"Thanks Joseph, I'm going round to Charlotte's for dinner and don't want to be late. She's doing me a favour. See you tomorrow. I'll pop round with Albert," Sarah said smiling graciously and leaving.

The girls had already made the bunnies hoodys and the children were stitching on the crystals when Sarah arrived at Charlottes house.

"Sorry, dinner will be five minutes. The boys are stretching their culinary talents today. Are these ok?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, they're great," Sarah said, admiring their handiwork.

"You couldn't just grab Gary for his dinner could you? He's in the cellar," Charlotte asked.

Little did Charlotte know that Gary was munching on chicken legs in the cellar, brought to him by the boys who were exchanging them for vegetarian recipe names that they could order out of the fridge he now had in his cellar.

"Hello Gary, how is it going?" Sarah said.

Gary almost choked on his chicken leg as she entered. "I am in their system at last," he said, recovering but red faced, "I had to use a spell to speed the process up but there is so much information it is difficult to find useful information. However I have all the cameras. I can tell you there are a thousand wizards up there now. They have recruited six hundred wizards in about two days. Look at that screen,"

Sarah could see an entire army of wizards training with red crystalloid rings.

"Have you got access to the prisoners and can you turn this camera off, unlock doors, you know that sort of thing?" Sarah asked.

Gary typed for a moment and brought up the semantics of the castle with door passwords and everything needed to mount a rescue. He then brought up pictures of the Professor, Captain Marston and Kevin. They were being held two floors up from the dungeon in the same courtyard she remembered. They were still heavily guarded and being forced to crack rocks open.

"Can you zoom in on those rocks Gary please?" Sarah asked.

The zoom showed that the prisoners were mining tiny little yellow stones and the ore that Pete made their weapons from.

"Thanks, could you do me one more favour?" Sarah asked politely, "Scan this book, translate it for me and do me a print copy please?"

"Yeah sure," Gary said, hiding his guilty pleasure, "I'll have it done after dinner,"

They went upstairs to eat with the others, Sarah was hungry but Gary had already eaten well but would have to show willing so as not to arouse Charlottes suspicion and, even worse, possible disapproval,"

"Gary, where's Gail?" Charlotte asked "Her dinner's ready,"

"She said she was going down to the foundry to get some metal for a school project," Gary replied.

Charlotte went outside and called for Gail to come for her dinner.

"There no need to shout Mum. I heard your conversation with Dad half way down the road," Gail said. She went inside and ate hungrily.

Gail was generally quiet but everyone seemed to forget that she could hear just about every conversation she wanted to and this had led her to grow up first out of the bunnies. She was the most mature emotionally. Her lack of powers had led her to be inventive and she had come up with a plan to have her own toy. She was going to create the first invisible shield. She liked the sunlight and going outside and wanted to play more as fighting for wasn't fun for her. She had collected a pile of off cuts so that she could make an invisibility shield. Gail gathered some tools and planned to start work after dinner. She had ten blue crystals as she thought that it would need that many to make it work.

Gail went into the back yard and started filing and sawing. She was making a helmet out of scraps of metal so it wasn't going to be pretty but would, she hoped, work. She made a framework by soldering bits together and then used fabric on the underside to make it comfortable.

She attached the blue crystals, using some Hard as Crackens a helpful mole had given her after staring at her chest for 10 minutes. She needed just one more thing and she would have to go to her Dad for that.

"Dad," Gail said pulling at Gary's fur gently and giving him her big bunny eyes with ears back look.

'Yes Gail," replied Gary, who was watching his computer screens intently.

"Can I have one of those on/off buttons you used to make the fairy grenades? It's for my school project."

"Show me when you have done it," Gary said, passing her a button.

"Yes Dad," Gail left the cellar to head outside.

"Gail come here and try this on before you go out again," Charlotte ordered, catching Gail just as she opened the door.

"What is it?" Gail asked.

"A hoody. It will stop the evil wizards finding you by using crystal balls. Keep it on in case we have to leave for any reason," Charlotte replied.

"Ok Mum," Gail replied obediently as she left the house.

She fixed the button to the homemade helmet and prepared to enchant it.

Gail said a few words and saw the helmet sparkle for a second. Time to test this, she thought, putting it on and pressing the button. To her shock and disappointment the helmet turned half the town invisible instead of her. She could hear the shrieks of moles who had walked into doors or who were half way through doing tasks when half their house disappeared. She turned it off quickly and went inside to show it to her dad.

"Hi Gail, what's it do?" Gary asked looking impressed.

"I made it to turn me invisible but I got it wrong, it turned half the town invisible. You can have it. I'll try again tomorrow," Gail said, appalled at her creation.

"That's very clever Gail, thank you."

"But I got it wrong," Gail said.

"Yes, but it means we can go out and play or move on the surface without wizards attacking," Gary replied.

"When can we go dad?" Gail asked. She hadn't thought of anyone else going with her.

"We have to rescue Dad's friends first and I think it should be very soon after that," Gary said.

The next morning everyone was wearing their nice new hoodys which were sparkling with the shiny bright blue crystals sewn into the sides. Sarah had told them to assemble in the square as they had a mission to complete. When everyone was present Sarah walked out into the square to give a briefing

"We need to rescue our friends who are trapped above us. I have decided to tunnel up and go in the bottom of the castle, if we go any other way we will be spotted before we get anywhere. They won't expect that. I think Charlottes abilities will make short work of the tunneling and combined with everyone else's powers we can do it in a day, hopefully before Pete and Charlotte get back," Sarah explained.

"I have a spell, a tunneling spell that I made when I overheard your plan one day. It does about ten feet at a time," Gail said.

"You can be in charge of tunneling then. Don't go all the way to the top; leave a layer of rock there so they don't know we're coming. I'll come up with a rescue plan with Joseph and Gary. See you all at about six for dinner. I believe Charlotte and Silvia have packed lunch for you all," Sarah said.

David led the sparkling helpers to try and find the best location to start tunneling

Sarah turned to Gary.

"Right Gary, tell me you have translated that book?" asked Sarah.

"Yes, it's right here," he replied passing her the book.

"Its Gods note pad from when he first created stuff," Sarah said flicking though the pages.

"You're thinking of messing with that?" said Gary worriedly.

"That is exactly what I am going to do. I need to sort Kevin out. He hasn't spoken for days. We can't leave the island with powers," Sarah explained to him. "Here we are; Nullifying Powers. I think we can do that. Let's get to work on the plan and see if Peter Jones has been tampered with. I'll go and find Albert. You start on the castle plans."

It didn't take long to find Albert. He was always where he could be found, helping his people somewhere in the square.

"Yes Sarah? You need my help don't you," Albert said.

She was growing fond of Albert; he was always there for her and always pleased to help.

"Yes I need you to have a look at Peter Jones's soul for me," Sarah explained.

"You didn't tell me it was an exciting request, Where is he?" he asked putting his glasses on.

"I have a ball in the house that will show him to us. I hope your power will still work using the ball," Sarah said.

"Let's go find out shall we," Albert said excitedly. In the house, peering into the ball they saw Peter was drinking his morning coffee, working on the parchments in front of him.

"Anything Albert?" Sarah asked impatiently.

"There something wrong. I need a closer inspection to know properly. I am too far away I'm afraid. That's a nice ball; got any spare?" Albert said.

"I am going in the castle tomorrow hopefully. I will try and pick you one up if I see one. Thanks Albert," Sarah said as Albert went back to his job at the square. Gary came in with the plans to the castle.

"I am sure there something wrong. Albert doesn't like to commit until he know exactly what his opinion is," Sarah said.

"Gail made an invisible cloak last night in helmet form out of our scrap metal. She said she wanted to go out and play but I could have it because it covers half the city and doesn't work as she wanted it to! It's button operated as well. With the helmet and the shield we could go topside for a bit. I could do with some sunshine," Gary said.

"Once we have rescued the others," Sarah said.

Chapter 16 -The Escape

Sarah sat looking into the Well of Souls, taking a brief moment out from reality, it was so pretty. It was like watching snowflakes fall on a winters day but warmer and even more beautiful. Her reverie was interrupted when she noticed Pete and Catharine walking down the main street followed by several fairies.

"Well done. Got back in one piece then?" Sarah asked them as they approached the square. She was incredibly relieved to see them both alive and well.

"We just had a shape shifter and four wizards in that tunnel. They will be unconscious for about an hour but they're only thirty minutes from here," Pete told Sarah, "It won't be long before they find us if they try."

"Ok, we have our defenses set up and we'll be ready for them if they turn up. Have some food and rest now. I'll brief you on our plans this evening," Sarah reassured them.

"You're Highnesses, where would you like your luggage placing?" asked May courteously.

"That house over there, but don't unpack yet May. Sarah, could I borrow your ball?" Catharine asked, "I have some fairies lost in the wood and I would like to check if they are ok,"

"Of course, I'll get it for you now," Sarah replied.

Pete and Catharine couldn't wait to get their room and change into fairy form but managed it somehow. They looked into the crystal ball and saw the entire fairy group had been captured. They were being held in the dungeon of Moldavite city. They could see Paul there as well.

"Hungry are you?" Pete said quizzically, looking at Catharine who was eating a large pile of chips.

"I am not pregnant! Slaying wizards is hard work. This is no world to bring a child into. I lost five hundred fairies at that castle and I don't want that for my children," Catharine said scowling crossly at Pete. She had been thinking, even joking about having children, but was swinging between being cynical and realising that there was a need. She definitely didn't want them at the present time and in their current circumstances. They were waited on for the rest of the afternoon by a set of jubilant fairies who were very happy to have their Fairy Queen back but had not made up their minds about having a King.

That evening a well rested Catharine and Pete visited Sarah to hear her plans. Sarah answered the door and greeted them with pleasure. She was ready to leave the house though.

"We're going to have to do this in the square. There just isn't the room here for everyone. Could you inform the other fairies? I think we need everyone for this," Sarah said.

They set the equipment out in a row so that it could be handed out in the centre of the square and Sarah once again addressed the assembled creatures.

"Good evening everyone. As you know, we have been working on a plan to get our friend's back. For those of you who don't know, we have three friends being held in the castle. We also believe that Paul Beeton is being held in the dungeon," Sarah said.

"There are five fairies being held in the dungeon too," Catharine said.

"We need to rescue them as well," said Sarah.

"Could I help at all?" Albert said.

"I would rather you didn't. Your people need you and I don't want you to get hurt. If I think of anything that won't endanger you I will let you know though," Sarah promised.

"He could check out the rest of the prisoners and see if they are safe to return with us," David suggested.

"That's a very good idea David. Albert, could you do that?" Sarah asked.

"What look at soul in placement? Oh yes?" Albert replied happily.

"To summarise: our main objectives are to release all the captured prisoners, acquire information from the restricted section, capture Peter Jones and grab Albert a crystal ball if we see one. This is a stealth mission primarily; we are not going there to wage a war. There are a thousand wizards up there and barely thirty of us so it is a quick in and out as fast as possible," Sarah explained.

"Why are we capturing Peter Jones?" Catharine asked.

"We believe that his soul may have been tampered with and he no longer has control of his actions. Wizards with rings such as this may been altering people's destinies," Sarah said holding up a picture of the ring.

"A ring like this? I took this from the leader who killed my fairies," Catharine said holding up the ring.

"Yes just like that. I want to see what has happened and if we can we fix Peter's soul. We have no defense against these rings but it is possible that Gary's children will be immune to its effects. They don't have destiny written in their souls. If we encounter wizards with rings like this the bunnies are to take the lead to counter its effects. I don't want any of you going bad. Here is the plan: we only have a few feet to go but we're not completely sure where the tunnel will open in the dungeon, so we will have to improvise as we go. We'll use fairy grenades to clear each room as we go. This should minimize noise and damage to both sides. Remember some of these wizards are good but we don't know who. Right, over to Gary," Sarah said.

"I will put all the security cameras on loop so they can't see us, open the doors we need access to and lock the rest of the doors in the castle. This will alert them but we will be quick enough that they won't know what happened. Your main threat will be from teleporting wizards and from flying wizards on the roof. This is the layout of the areas which I'll unlock. The majority of the bunnies will take control of the dungeon and use portable shields and one wizard gun to keep our exit secure. The fairies are to control this main turret. This is our access to the upper levels and our escape route. You will have one wizard gun and portable shields here and here which should keep the turret in our hands. Sarah, Pete and Ronnie are to release the prisoners who are here; there are five guards on this level. Ronnie should be able to cloak you. David, Gary jnr and Joseph will go to the main chambers which are guarded by three wizards. I suggest fairy grenades. Back to Sarah," Gary explained, pointing to areas of his enlarged map.

Sarah explained how all the equipment worked and everyone's role in the escape.

"Is everyone clear what they are doing? I would stay up late tonight and sleep in tomorrow, so you are fresh and ready," Sarah said.

"I have a question; don't we need to cloak the prisoners escaping from the cells?" Joseph said.

"Good point, we will get some crystals to tie round the prisoners and I will take hoodys for the others. I think that's everything. Anybody else? "Sarah asked.

"We need a name," Ronnie said.

"I will leave that to the bunnies," Sarah said.

"Terrestrial animal liberation action bunnies," Gary jnr said.

"I will make some calling cards up," said Gail.

They all relaxed for the rest of the evening in their homes, or rather tried to. The children drove Gary, Charlotte and Silvia insane with their over excitement and desire to rid the world of evil. But eventually they calmed down and went to sleep.

It was early evening as they gathered to go up the tunnel. The young bunnies were very noisy and had to be told to calm down several times. It would take at least an hour to climb to the top and they would need to concentrate on being stealthy. The tunnel they had carved was impressive and made the job of getting to the castle easier than most of them had anticipated. When they reached the top of the tunnel Gail came to the front.

"Are you going to open it up?" Sarah asked.

"Wait; get everyone quiet, I'm listening. There are two guards up there. I can hear them talking," Gail was listening carefully. She took a fairy grenade from her belt, pushed the button and quickly said the tunnel spell tossing the grenade as she said it. The grenade exploded almost immediately.

They had emerged right in the corner of the dungeon. As Sarah climbed out of the tunnel she saw two wizards lying unconscious on the floor. The bunnies quickly put shields up and secured the dungeon. Ronnie climbed the stairwell of the turret first and placed shields at key positions. Capturing the stair well without a fight was essential to their plan. The fairies took control of the turret and the rest moved to the upstairs chamber which Ronnie entered first. He set off a grenade which immobilized the two guards on duty there. The others followed behind him. They set up two shields on doors they were not using just in case. Pete, Sarah and Ronnie headed off to rescue the Professor, while Joseph, David and Gary went after Peter Jones. Albert was making his way around the cells, inspecting each soul as he went.

"No, no, no, no, yes, all of these. That's it," Albert said.

They released all the fairies, seven owl looking creatures, Paul and a fox. The hares guided the rescued to Mole City.

Ronnie set off another grenade and knocked out two more guards in the next room along.

Pete and Sarah set up more shields on doors that Gary had no control over while Ronnie scouted ahead, invisibly of course. Ronnie came back "There are two flying wizards on guard circling the castle. I will cloak us while we cross the courtyard." They crossed the yard and made it to the Professor's room without being spotted, right under the noses of the flying guards. The Professor was asleep. Sarah woke her, gently putting her hand over her mouth.

"It's me, Sarah, keep quiet. We're here to rescue you! Get dressed in this and stay inside. We'll be back for you in a minute. I'm just going to get the others," Sarah whispered urgently.

They repeated this process with Captain Marston and Kevin. With all three escapees dressed in shielded hoodies they headed for the escape route, picking shields up as they went. They reached the turret unseen and Catharine led the way down to the tunnel. Sarah, Pete and Ronnie went to find the others who were not back yet. They scurried through the rooms to the main chamber's entrance. Sarah sent Ronnie in first to scout around.

"They're in there. Gary's fighting with David and Joseph. There's another wizard in the room and I think he's wizard controlling them. Peter Jones is lying on the floor," Gary jnr reported.

Acting quickly Gary jnr went straight back to the room, armed with two grenades which let them off next to the controlling wizard. A dazed and bewildered Joseph and David looked around stopping the fight immediately, wondering what happened.

"I missed this wizard with my first grenade so he got the chance to control those two," Gary jnr said, shaken.

"Ok, let's go everyone before it goes up in the air," Sarah snatched two crystal balls out of the restricted room as she spoke.

They made sure Peter Jones was unarmed. He was just unconscious so they picked him up and hurried back down into the dungeon. The fairies followed jubilantly. Sarah was troubled though: it had almost seemed too easy. Gail collapsed the tunnels behind her as they retreated to the miner's city.

They found a celebration provided by the moles, food and wine and plenty of it when they arrived back at the square. While the hungry and victorious group started the celebration Sarah approached Albert and whispered in his ear. Albert looked around the chests of the new humans who were rejoicing in their release.

"They have all been altered I am afraid," Albert said.

Sarah called her rescued friends to her, but after placing a grenade in her hoody pocket.

"Professor, Kevin, captain come here I need to show you something," Sarah shouted.

They walked over, smiling at her.

"You were amazing Sarah. Didn't think you had it in you," the Professor praised.

"Come and give me a hug you guys, I missed you," Sarah said softly.

As the three moved in Sarah popped the grenade, taking them by surprise. They fell unconscious to the floor. Sarah and Albert had taken the precaution of tying small bags of fairy dust to themselves but not the escapees. Bunnies, fairies, hares and moles looked at her in shock.

"Their souls have been corrupted and we can't trust them," Sarah said, "Search them, tie them up and put them with Peter Jones. I knew it was too easy. They expected us to rescue them and set us up."

The escapees on the floor were searched by fairies. They found a handful of crystals and a ring like the one from the fairy castle.

"Looks like you were right," Joseph said sadly.

Albert was examining the captives with great interest

"Their destinies have been altered but I am not sure how to put it right. I only make these, not repair them," Albert said, frowning at Sarah.

"I will try and heal one," Sarah could not bear the idea that her friends had been changed. "Albert, can you check to see if it's working?"

She tried the Professor first. Sarah placed her hands on her and thought of her mentor, her character and her wisdom. To her delight the Professor glowed and woke up.

Albert stared intently at her chest.

"That did it; you would be an excellent soul maker," Albert said.

Sarah set about healing the rest of them and then, happy in the knowledge she had foiled the enemy, joined the others for the well earned celebration. Sarah filled the Professor and the others in on what had happened aware that she appeared to be ranting in her need to give them all the information they needed as quickly as possible. They listened in stunned amazement.

"So what do remember Peter?" Joseph asked.

"I was called to your office the night we captured the goddess. The council was there and then it was like being on auto pilot until now. It's like I was there but someone else was in control," Peter replied.

"So what's your story?" Colleen asked one of the owl like creatures.

"I am Thomas, part of a network of owls called Owl Qaeda. We distribute the magic herb through the forest. It's good business. I will be a rich owl one day," Thomas replied.

"What are your plans now then Sarah?" the Captain asked.

"We take Kevin to God's cottage and fix him. I have God's note pad and have found a cure for his powers," explained Sarah.

The dinner party disbanded and everyone went to bed, tired from their night's efforts, except the bunnies who were watching the TV intently.

Hello I am John Watkins and this is Creation News, the news today: There was terrorist attack on the city today and forty wizards were killed in a brutal fire fight between the Goddess Sarah and the Salvage Service. She was assisted by a terror group known as the Tala bunnies, who apparently left a calling card in the dungeon where they broke out twenty of the most dangerous creatures. The so called Tala bunnies have been creating weapons of mass destruction and this is the first time they have used them. Please watch this footage and if you recognize any of these bunnies press the red button on your remote now please.

The bunnies had been watching various clips of themselves on the TV for two hours, pleased with there fame but disgusted at the propaganda that was been shown when Charlotte eventually came in, turned it off and told them to sleep.

Chapter 17 -Return To The Cottage

Everyone was late getting up the next morning; they were tired from the night before. The party assembled in the square as Sarah had requested.

"I am going to God's cottage to sort Kevin out. I understand that some of you want to return to the Lost

Wood? If anyone wishes to go can go back I'll take them there. The bunnies have asked if they can go up top and play but please wait for me to return first, then we can all go for picnic and day out together. Joseph, could you and Peter take the Professor and Captain and anyone else who wants training and give them some magic lessons and equipment training? They can't defend themselves," Sarah asked.

"I'm coming and Pete is. We need some magic herb," Catharine said.

"Ok. Teleporting is quite quick. I'm so worried that the moles will be attacked. It's only a matter of time," Sarah said.

"We're going by sea; it's more fun, as you will see," Catharine rhymed her words with a giggle.

They gathered supplies together and Catharine led them to the surface, near to where they had come inland before. Pete had brought the invisibility shield that Gail had made for a sea trial.

"Gods cottage in about an hour, meet us at the fruit tree in the back garden," Pete said, arranging his magic herb pick up. He had found an owl with a soul to make the drop. The seven owls flew off into the woods after saying goodbye and thank you.

"Ok everyone, if you please, board the HMS log and we will depart," said Pete cheekily.

"What? Sit on the log?" said Sarah, looking at him as if he wasn't right.

"Yes," Pete replied.

They all sat on the log and Pete brought some water over from the stream and lifted the log up. He turned the helmet on and off they went.

They were speeding down the stream at a number of knots. It was a bit like a banana boat ride Kevin thought, holding his mouth shut so as not to talk. They passed the fairy castle which was burnt to the ground. Their journey was mostly through tropical jungle and past sandy beaches. They felt really alive being outside again.

"What's that castle over there?" Sarah inquisitively asked, pointing to the nearby waters edge.

"It's a retirement home for wizards and servants of God." Catharine answered her. "It takes five thousand years of service to get a place there you know. They get all the latest gadgets and are given anything they want. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if Albert makes it there one day,"

"But if it takes five thousand years of service, he will be dead before that happens," Sarah said.

"No, God makes one of his potions and gives it to them, that means they have been short listed, let's say," Catharine replied.

They approached the island and saw God's cottage immediately. Pete pulled the log into the beach and they strolled towards the cottage. Pete turned the helmet off and put it in his bag. They approached the cottage with caution. Everything appeared to be back the way it had been when they had first arrived. A quick look around the cottage showed that no one else was there. Pete ran into the garden and found Thomas the owl waiting for him under the tree.

"Thanks for the rescue. Here's a bagful for free and this is a whistle. If you need some more or a favour just blow the whistle. One of us will turn up," Thomas stretched his four wings and took off before Pete had even finished saying his thanks.

He went back inside where Sarah was still trying to decide what the ingredients were on the packets. She was now using both sets of God's handbooks and looking confused.

"Hello handsome. You're looking rather gorgeous today! Have you got something for me?" Catharine said, lifting the bag of herb out his hand and running off into the bedroom with it. They soon got kicked out of the bedroom and returned to the kitchen table where they built a smoke.

"We just got kicked out of the bedroom by two cherubs on the bedstead," Pete said looking surprised.

"Shush, I don't want this to go wrong," Sarah frowned in concentration, "ok, finished."

"Afternoon Catharine. That's a nice soul, how's it working out for you? The garden is looking good too." a figure at the door said. He walked over to the creations cabinet and looked around. "I just popped in for some of that, that and that. Oh good you found my notepad Sarah. Now I would put a little bit more of that in, after all these are just notes," God said, mixing a drink for Kevin. He passed Kevin the drink and then quickly mixed another one and put it in a traveling flask. They were all gob smacked or should I say god smacked a perfectly average looking god with perfect averageness arrived.

"Now drink that down Kevin, all of it. It should work straight away. Could you do me a big favour Sarah? Just deliver these for me on your way back to the Mole Miner's City. I'll have that. Haven't you heard that smoking damages your babies?" God said.

"Thanks, back to normal," Kevin said smiling broadly. No-one passed out.

"How many babies am I going to have!" asked Catharine angrily.

"You're not quite back to normal Kevin, you will have some powers. Catharine, the reason you never made into existence is because you were so sweet and lovely I couldn't give you up," God said looking at her chest.

"Oh, that's so lovely," Catharine said.

"Pete, you have seen Roman Candles go off. Well I would make a big net. Oh nearly forgot, give that to Albert please Sarah, tell him thanks for his hard work," God said, passing Sarah the travel flask and heading for the door.

"Is that it? Aren't you going to sort out this mess?" Sarah said.

"Can't interfere with free will, are you saying you don't want your free will any more?" God said, taking a drag of his smoke.

"No, I am fine thanks, see you soon," Sarah said.

"Oh I would hurry back, the city will be attacked in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 now. Nice herb Pete. Where did you get it?"

"Thomas the owl gave it me after we rescued him from Moldavite City," Pete said offering him some.

"Must go," God said, and taking the sample Pete had given him God left the cottage.

Sarah muttered to herself, pouring a glass of water.

"Not the water," Kevin said. But she had already drunk it

"We need to get back to the city it's under attack. I am exercising my free will to increase my teleport range.

"Good idea," Catherine said, having a glass with her.

"Let's see how well this works, shields on everybody. Catharine think of the square outside your house. Now if we all hold hands together," Sarah counted down, "three two one,"

"Well, that worked! Hello Albert," Sarah said, "this is for you. God says thanks; it's for all your hard work. And some post for you as well,"

Albert opened his letter and began to read:

"God gave us a new mining location to and will be picking us up in five minutes in the square," Albert said, drinking his potion, "This city is yours Sarah. Thank you for all your help," Albert went to find his people and prepare them for their immediate relocation.

Gary ran towards them "The wizards have tunneled down to us and are shooting the shield trying to find a weakness. There must be about fifty of them. The wizard guns are slowing them down but they have taken one out already. There's only one gun inside the shield," Who had identified a fault in their defenses.

"Get everyone together and get packed and ready to move now," Sarah said, "I'll keep the wizards busy for a while,"

Sarah used her favourite transformation for attack; turning herself into a flea and teleporting the wizard guns inside the shield perimeter. She located them to try and leave herself an exit out of the cavern. This only caused the wizards to bring yet more wizards down. They were working in pairs or trios, one with his shield up and one shooting at the city shield. Sarah found Catherine and asked her to start teleporting people to the surface and placing them under the helmet cloak. The problem with teleporting was that unless you all had the same picture of where to go in your head you could all end up all over the place. Sarah looked around and found Albert.

"Here I nearly forgot to give this to you," Sarah gave him a crystal ball

"Thanks Sarah. Here, I made you these glasses for checking souls, red for tampered with and blue for fine," Albert said.

"Thanks," Sarah said, a little tearfully, sad to see her leave.

"Time to go," Albert said.

He walked into the centre of the square with his bags and joined the rest of the moles. They all vanished in the blink of an eye.

"I have taken ten up Sarah," Catharine explained, "I could do with teleporting you so you know where we are going,"

"Ok," Sarah agreed.

They teleported into a wide open field in the middle of nowhere. Sarah could see the rabbits playing and then they were back in the cavern.

"Right, I will get my belonging and start teleporting with you," Sarah said.

Sarah quickly packed her bag then returned to help. They finished teleporting the people together.

"We need to save as much of the equipment as possible, fridges, TVs and computers. That shield won't last forever, I can see it going quickly," Sarah said.

"They're not going to find us in the houses, so I will take shields and wizard guns first. You go for the fridges, we need food," Catharine replied.

They had transported out everything except the computers before the shield gave way. Sarah and Catharine crept around trying to get to the bunny house but it was too late, the wizards were already there.

"Let's go."

"Agreed," Catherine replied.

They teleported to the new camp in the open field in the middle of nowhere.

"Where are we Catharine?" Sarah asked.

"This is called Buttercup Field; it is the site of the last Great Wizard War ten thousand years ago. Nothing grows here except buttercups. We can see anything coming here and the shield will work fine, nothing in the way," Catharine said.

The area was barren and lifeless except for the buttercups, with very little to see for about a mile in every direction. The forest was a mile to their right and the sea and Devils Island to their left. The bunnies had already started tunneling out a burrow for everyone, giving little rooms to each person. They had created a large meeting room come lounge. Gary was mounting the TV and moving the fridges down into the main room. David and Peter were busy building an entrance as the cloak could be seen in the rain. They lashed wood together to create a framework and made a soil base to layer buttercup plants onto. Paul was trying to convince Catharine to go to his house and fetch a shower and scent masker. He couldn't bear to be unclean and smelly. There was concern in the camp: having no showers, no proper toilets and no heating was going to cause problems. The group lined the inside of the burrow with blue crystals which were in plentiful supply and this allowed them to relax a little.

Sarah had almost forgotten about the rest of the mail God had given her. She looked at the names and addresses carefully: Eric Hedgehog, Wizards Retirement Home. Thomas, Owl Qaeda. Holy Order of the Divine Dragon Youngsters (the hoody). Joseph Jones, SS leader.

She put the letters in her pocket as she had no idea when she could deliver it or where in most cases. She wondered what the letter marked Joseph Jones had in it.

"Sarah, the others want a meeting," Charlotte said.

"Fine, half an hour. What's wrong?" Sarah asked.

"Paul and the others aren't used to roughing it. No mattress, no blankets, where's the toilet and how do I get clean?" Charlotte replied.

Sarah fetched a hot chocolate drink and saw she had five minutes until the meeting. She looked over at Devils Island which was quite beautiful considering the name it had. It had, ironically, a small smoking volcano with what appeared to be jungle at its base. There were several castles on the island and she sort of hoped she wouldn't be going there, just because of the devil. She finished her hot chocolate and went back inside

"Quiet please everyone," Sarah shouted above the babble of several people all talking at once..

"We have quite a few issues to sort out. I know its rough but I am asking you all to put up with it for one night and tomorrow we will make it a home. We can put our brains together tonight and sort out what to do. First issue please, anyone?"

"Toilet," Colleen said.

"We can make a hole in the ground tonight and fill it in later. Anybody know where we might get a toilet," Sarah asked.

"Yeah, I got one close to here, about thirty minute walk, but the SS may have taken it, I took it out of this broken box on the road. I have a shower too if its still there," Mark the fox said.

"Good, next issue?" Sarah said.

"Heating and lighting," the Professor said.

"I think I can sort the heating out," Gail said as she placed a shield on the floor and said a spell.

"With this power I desire,

Turn this shield into fire."

Gail leant over and pressed the button and a blue flame popped up giving out bags of heat and gently lighting the room.

Cheers came up from around the room.

"Mattresses and blankets," Silvia hare asked.

The room went quiet.

"Kevin what would you do?" Sarah asked.

Kevin had not said a word to anyone for about a week now and was lost for words for a moment.

"If I can go to the wood I can show you how to create a mattress, but if you look at my bed you'll see I have carved out what is comfortable for me. You can borrow my knife. We have heat so we don't need blankets," Kevin said.

"I'll see what I can find on my travels tomorrow as well," Sarah said.

"Any more problems from any one?" Sarah asked.

The room went quiet again.

"Ok my turn, I have these letters to deliver, given to me by God, I have no idea where to go with them apart from one. Anyone know this person? Eric hedgehog, wizard retirement home," asked Sarah

"That's the one we passed on the HMS log," Catharine said.

"Cool. Thomas, Owl Qaeda?" Sarah said.

"I can get him on this whistle, no problem," Pete said.

"Holy order of the Dragon Youngsters (hoody)?" Sarah asked.

"They're in another kingdom several days travel away. There is one person I know who might know exactly where to go but I don't know were he is right now," Paul said

"Ok we can work on that. One last letter; Mr. Joseph Jones," Sarah said passing the letter to him.

"Thanks," he said taking the envelope and opening it.

You, Joseph Jones are hereby appointed head of the Salvage Service and are charged with ridding Moldavite of evil!

God.

The letters on the page glowed as if written in a magical golden ink.

He passed the letter round, looked shocked. SS don't get letters from God, besides he was already on the case, he thought to himself.

"Great a holy crusade, which brings me to my main issue. Having rescued everyone I haven't got a clue how to get off this island," Sarah said.

"Find out how Jesus did it," Kevin said.

"Anybody, any idea how Jesus escaped?" Sarah asked.

Paul said "I have a book on his escape but it was always seen as fantasy. It's back at my burrow if there is anything left there."

"You and I will go and deliver the mail tomorrow Paul and pick it up on the way back. Any other issues," Sarah said.

"Yes I have one. As I have been charged by God to rid the land of evil I'll need some help and would like to commission you as SS officers and men. I am almost sure that Jesus' escape will be documented in the restricted section in my chambers. This of course will mean you will have a full pardon and will earn God's favour," Joseph said.

"I need a new castle then. God said I m pregnant and made an unrepeatable joke about it," Catharine said.

"What's the unrepeatable joke?" Gary said.

The room went completely silent everyone wondering what God had said.

"Not saying."

"He told Pete to make a big net and she would go off like a Roman Candle," Kevin said

The room laughed.

"It's not funny! I can't and won't fight until my fairies are born," Catharine said.

"Who said we were going to fight? There are a thousand wizards out there and the only way to beat them is to get the people on our side, otherwise we will be living in this burrow for a long while. I would prefer to stay in a nice tavern that supports our cause. I would expect once the people know we have been charged by God they will seek us out and help us. No-one knows exactly what's happened but as soon as they see this they will help. So whoever is with me raise your hand," Joseph said.

Everyone put their hands up. As they did so the words on the letter Joseph held lifted gently and flew round the room in a circle and went straight into Joseph's chest.

"Well, if anybody has a plan I would like to know it now. Mine just flew in me," Joseph said sarcastically.

Sarah reached for the glasses that Albert had given her and looked at his chest. It was glowing a bright blue, altogether different from the others who hadn't received a message from God.

"I think that was an upgrade to your soul Joseph. Albert gave me these glasses to identify souls that had been tampered with. Yours is glowing bright blue but is different from other souls in the room. He could have written something in your destiny or given you protection from their rings," Sarah said.

"That's typical. God sends you on a holy quest with no proof to anyone else about what's happening," Catharine said.

"Give us that letter Sarah, the one for Thomas, and I will give him a call see if his letter will give us a clue. I could do with five minutes for a smoke as well," Pete said.

"Ok. Let's take half an hour to eat. Our brains will be function better on a full belly," Sarah said, passing the letter to Pete.

Pete went up stairs and rolled a smoke. Captain Marston followed him up with a plate of macaroni cheese and a bottle of rum. Pete gave the whistle a good blow and waited.

"You're on the hard stuff Captain," Pete remarked looking at the bottle of rum.

"I have this power of a seer and I haven't been able to access it. You need to get so you don't feel any emotion to access it and although I have always thought of myself as a tough man I don't seem to be able to get rid of emotion," Captain said.

"The wrong thing to do is to drink. Here, try this herb," Pete said.

The Captain frowned at it and then started smoking. He spent the next twenty minutes giggling to himself and trying to gain some control.

"I don't think its working and I can't stop giggling," the Captain said.

"No, you need more," Pete rolled another one and the Captain slowly turned into a vegetable. He slumped onto the floor staring into the sea. Pete had seen an owl hovering and circling the camp and he dropped the shield to let the owl know where he was. The owl flew in and landed. Pete turned the shield back on.

"That's a neat trick Pete. What's your order then?" Thomas asked.

"No, I am fine at the minute. My friend Sarah was given this letter to deliver, we think it's for you," Pete said, passing the letter over.

The owl looked at the letter in what Pete thought was a curious manner but it was really hard to tell. All owls looked the same to him. The owl clawed the letter open and read it.

"Anything good?" Pete asked.

"No, just an order for the magic herb. Don't know how I am going to deliver it though. He's in some star system up there," Thomas said.

The words left the page of the letter as they had earlier and went straight into the owl's chest. Thomas vanished. So much for intelligent logic working, he thought to himself. He stared at the Captain who was now comatose on the floor. If that doesn't work we'll have to send him for counseling to resolve his issues, Pete thought as he went back inside. Everyone was eating so Pete ordered fish and chips and sat down.

"Is everyone here?" the Professor asked.

"The Captain will be a while, he's working on a vision," Pete said.

"No, not again! He has been very drunk the last week trying to get a vision. He snores so loudly when he drinks but he still hasn't had one yet, not properly." the Professor complained.

"He is trying something different today," Pete said smiling.

"Did you get hold of the owl Pete?" the Professor asked.

"Yes, nothing. The letter was an order for the magic herb," Pete said.

"Back to where we were then," Joseph said.

"Not quite Joseph, I have a cunning plan," Sarah said, placing the ball in front of him and giving him the glasses.

"What's this for then," Joseph asked.

"Well if you put on the glasses you will be able to see whose soul has been tampered with. You know the SS wizards. All you do is focus on them and then look. If they have been tampered with you heal them," Sarah said.

"That will account for about two to three hundred of them and there are about one thousand of them. I'll borrow the ball and have a go. We could do with seeing who is being controlled and who is controlling them. Thanks Sarah," Joseph said.

Sarah picked up her books "I am off to bed for some light reading," and went to bed.

They filtered off into their little rooms. You could hear moans and groans as people tried to get comfortable. Gail had carved out a toilet in a dead end of one of the tunnels. The was the patter of paws running back and forth for the next half hour with moans of disgust every time someone went to use it. Eventually it got quieter.

Chapter 18 -Letters From God

David, Peter and Joseph stayed up all night working with the crystal ball and healing as many wizards as they could.

They took to teleporting wizards back who were not protected by the castle. They healed them at the camp and come the morning there were about fifty healed wizards in camp. The healed wizards had organized themselves and were crystaled up. They had all sewn the blue crystals into their coats.

"Sarah, Sarah" Joseph said, shaking Sarah gently to wake her.

"Morning, what's up?" Sarah sat up with a gasp.

"We've been up all night with that ball you lent me. I've healed about one hundred wizards and rescued fifty who are up top side. Some of the wizards are the ones who killed Silvia's children so rather than cause conflict and scare everyone to death I thought I'd wake you first," Joseph said., "I'm going to take them to the wizard's retirement home and set up an HQ there. There are too many of us now to stay here. Thought you might want to help me teleport them over and deliver the mail,"

"Ok let me have a tea first" said Sarah blearily, "Wake Pete and Catharine, they can stop anybody going topside,"

Joseph did as Sarah had asked and returned. Sarah was sipping her tea.

"Can I keep hold of the ball and glasses please?" Joseph asked, "I could do with some more crystals and two wizard guns too, if that's ok."

"Yes that's fine. You'll need some shields as well. Take ten, that should be enough I think," Sarah said quickly calculating numbers.

"We're wearing blue uniforms, just so you can tell the difference between us and them. Don't want any accidents," Joseph said.

"I'm ready. Teleport me first so I know where I 'm going," Sarah asked.

They popped up outside a grand looking castle. It had a moat, a drawbridge and towers. Sarah had never seen a new looking castle before. The sandstone was flat, not weathered; it looked strong and splendid in the morning sun. They teleported back above the burrow and Sarah noticed the Captain staring out to sea in some sort of trance.

"Looks like he got his vision at last," Joseph said.

"Is that normal for a seer? How long will he be like that," Sarah asked.

"Yes it's normal. He could be a day or two. He may have some useful information for us," Joseph replied.

Sarah and Joseph started teleporting the wizards across to the retirement home. It didn't take long as Sarah could take about five at time now. With all safely teleported Sarah followed Joseph over the drawbridge and into a courtyard. The courtyard reminded her of the one she had seen in the city: It was very quiet and very beautiful. There were flowers everywhere of all shapes and sizes, even the inside walls were filled from top to bottom with trailing plants. Sarah felt as if they were in a secret garden, not a castle. There was a veg plot with greenhouses and a polytunnel to one side of the courtyard and a seating area with tables and a barbeque to the other. In the centre small hedgehog was pushing a wheelbarrow along the path, occasionally weeding. He turned and looked at them.

"There are supposed to be two fairies in this garden. Don't know what the world is coming to, haven't seen them for days. Mr. Jones, are you sure you're the head of the SS? In my day we wouldn't have allowed fairies to go wandering off neglecting their duties. You'll have to get on with it now," The hedgehog said grumpily.

"I'll deal with the fairies when I rid Moldavite of evil," Joseph said, rather dramatically.

"A bit of evil? Is that it, a bit of evil? I fought the Devil himself and ten of his demons with one hand," Eric scoffed.

"Yes, we have all heard the story sir," Joseph said, putting on the glasses to check the hedgehog's soul.

"I suppose you want me to come out of retirement to kick demons back to hell?" Eric said rather hopefully.

Eric looked fine Joseph thought, looking at his chest but a nearby servant didn't. He shot a plasma ball straight into the servants' chest then walked over and healed her. He gave her a hand up and apologised, explaining what happened.

"Your servant had been tampered with and is now cured. No Sir, I do not wish you out of retirement," Joseph answered Eric's original question, "but I would like the use of the castle for a short time please while I retake Moldavite City Sir. How many people are there in here Sir?"

"There are ten of us and five servants. What do you mean tampered with? Did you have to shoot her?" Eric said indignantly.

"I got this Joseph. You find the others," Sarah said.

While Joseph went to find the others Sarah sat with Eric explaining the events of the past week.

"You're my kind of goddess. Have you ever considered transmorphing into hedgehog and retiring from being a goddess for while?" Eric asked.

"No. I like the exciting life, traveling, seeing new things, new people, battling evil wizards. I am going to be a legend in my own lifetime," Sarah spouted, laughing inside at the grumpy hedgehog.

"They soon forget you. Been there, done that and still got put out to pasture," Eric said.

Joseph returned, bringing castles inhabitants into the garden with him. He had lied to them to get them in the garden as they had all been tampered with.

"Super heal required Sarah," Joseph commanded.

Sarah healed everyone immediately, understanding Joseph's cryptic communication.

They all looked confused. Joseph explained what had happened to them and urged them not to panic.

"Have you had any visitors lately Eric?" Joseph asked, wanting to identify the person who had done this. He wondered why they hadn't tampered with Eric's soul. He was one of the most powerful wizards of all time.

"No not at all. Just the usual deliveries," Eric replied.

"Have you ever had a soul upgrade?" Joseph asked.

"Yes I have had five all together, never human though, why?"

"They had tampered with everyone's destiny but yours, which mean they couldn't for some reasons," Joseph replied.

"I have this for you Eric, God asked me to drop it off," Sarah said.

"Mail, I like mail, maybe a new quest for me," Eric said, tearing open the letter.

You, Eric hedgehog are hereby appointed first officer of the Salvage Service and charged with ridding Moldavite of evil!

God.

"Bugger, I've been drafted as your first officer," Eric said.

The words lifted off the paper and circled into his chest as before.

"God's writing a plan I think, changing our destinies. There must be something bad behind this for him to bring Eric out of retirement. We have all heard the stories Eric, but what was it you were good at that made you famous and earned you retirement?" Joseph asked.

"I was the best fighter and the most powerful wizard but I went for the head rather than the body. The head is always smaller," Eric said.

"Yes, this is the problem we are faced with. We can't find the head. Every wizard has been corrupted, even the wizards controlling the wizards are corrupt and we can't find the head. Every time I healed one wizard, they were corrupted by another. This is what is going to happen, Eric you are going to take Sarah to finish delivering her mail. At her camp are the Tala bunnies, you're to train them in wizardry and lead a campaign of small attacks on the SS to draw out the wizards. I will rescue as many wizards as possible and build an army. We will use the army to pull them into a battle. At which point Eric, your job will be to locate and chop off the head." Joseph explained.

"Sounds like a plan. These Tala bunnies, are they any good?" Eric asked.

"They broke into the city and rescued their friends; they have souls and are creative." Joseph said, struggling to describe the brave bunnies.

"I will go and pack right away. Follow me Sarah," Eric said.

Sarah followed him along a long corridor with paintings, plaques with coats of arms, suits of amour and weapons of all descriptions hanging from the ceiling. They came to a door and entered a lounge.

"Please help yourself to a food and drink," Eric said.

Sarah looked around the room; it was full of trophies and awards for services to Moldavite. The lounge had two sofas and a fire similar to the one at God's house. There were weapons spread around the room, most of them looked antique and went back to Stone Age times by the look of them. Sarah couldn't see a kitchen but spotted a fridge in the corner.

Sarah walked over to the fridge and the door opened.

"Here is your egg and bacon with a hot cup of tea Goddess Sarah. Have a nice day," the fridge said.

Must be an upgraded fridge she thought.

"Right, I need to know what facilities and weapons you have," Eric demanded.

"We have four hundred fairy grenades, thirty shields or so, four wizard machine guns, one cloaking device, eight hundred blue crystals and one mark two crystal ball. No toilet, no shower, one fridge, one TV, no blankets and one improvised blue flame fire."

"Never heard of half that stuff," Eric said.

"We created it mostly," Sarah said.

"What about personnel?"

"Ten bunnies, four hares, fifteen fairies (one pregnant), six humans, one fox, and one badger."

He looked at her strangely.

"What powers do you have Sarah."

"Level 3 god plus I don't know exactly, I can do most things. Most of the SS guards I have met are scared of me," Sarah explained.

"And the rest of your party?" Eric asked.

Sarah explained what powers everyone had or had developed so far and gave him a blow by blow account of the weapons they had created at Mole Miner's City. She requested help with bedding and stuff. She was relieved to have someone in charge for a while who she thought was more equipped to deal with this sort of thing.

Eric opened up his secret weapons stash, and proceeded to fill a trunk with it. He then went into his wardrobe and pulled out a beautiful blue crystaled cloak and put it on.

"Grab that end of the trunk," Eric said.

Sarah did and he teleported them to the dungeon of the castle.

"Teleport us to your camp," Eric commanded.

Sarah teleported them to the camp.

"Ok, leave the trunk, back to the dungeon," Eric said.

"We have two rather nice portable camps here, never used. I have been dying to try them out. They have in built cloaking, toilets, beds and armoury. They do take a lot of crystals to run but think they're worth it, about five hundred each. We could never find enough of the crystals to run them."

"Hold my hand," Sarah said.

She teleported to the warehouse at Mole Miner's City. The once full warehouse was now empty. She stared around into the corners and found nothing so she teleported them back to the dungeon.

"I thought there might be a few crystals left there. We have 800. I will ask Catharine if she has any. There was a mountain of them there you know," Sarah said

"Lets get these to the camp; we both have to do this at once. These items are to big not to. Three, two, one," Eric said.

They arrived at the camp and Sarah was excited and intrigued about how something ten foot cubed was going to turn into a camp. Eric walked up to it and pressed a button. The cube opened out into six pyramids. The pyramids started to grow and Sarah could see little windows and doors on the side of the pyramids. They got bigger and bigger until the doors became human size. Each pyramid came out at about the size of two houses put together.

"Get the crystals please Sarah," Eric commanded.

"Sarah went inside and was met by a barrage of questions from everyone. She grabbed the crystals and said nothing to the others who just followed her outside. Eric opened up the side of the pyramid and started putting in the crystals. He fished and pressed a button. A huge shield went up and he pressed another button and a cloak went up underneath.

He flicked lots of switches and the little camp came to life with light, doors opened and closed.

Everyone had come out to watch him put up the camp.

"I am Eric hedgehog. Joseph Jones as asked me to train you in the art of wizardry and to set out a campaign of warfare to draw out the evil of this land. This is the latest in portable camps from Hellfire Inc; it is untested but is a lot better than the burrow.

This camp can house up to fifty creatures and has heat, light, fridges, TV, computers, armoury, invisible cloaking, and shielding. It's so new the former SS don't even know it exists yet.

"The former SS?" Catharine queried.

"Yes, you are the SS now, together with the fifty or so wizards who have been liberated from having tampered souls. Joseph is creating an army and we will create havoc after a little training with what we have here. Sarah and I have mail to deliver so make yourselves at home and save beds both of us. We will be gone for two days," Eric explained before he grabbed Sarah's hand and teleported them both to the edge of Moldavite city.

"Right, turn into a mouse or something small and I'll get us into the city. We need to go into the city to get to the other kingdom, and this is the only way. The kingdoms were separated eons ago to stop warring. They are not looking for me, only you."

Sarah did as she was told and jumped inside her own rucksack. Eric picked it up and teleported to the entrance of the city. The gate scanned him and let him in. Eric walked around the edge of the city to get to the gate he needed. It was the Fairytale Kingdom gate he needed. It was three gates down so it would take a while to walk there. The City was a meeting place for Traders from all over the kingdoms and the streets were busy with peddlers trying to sell their goods and all manner of creatures trying to buy them. He made it safely to the entrance.

"Anything to declare Sir? Eric hedgehog! I didn't realize it was you sir, come on though," said the gate guard, awed by the presence of a hero.

Anybody could get in the city but getting out was another thing entirely. You were thoroughly vetted by the kingdoms authority.

Eric walked down the exit path into the Fairytale Kingdom. At the bottom of the path he stopped to let Sarah out. She changed back into human form and looked around. The view was amazing: no wonder they called it Fairy Tale Kingdom. She could see rolling hills and little castles and in the distance a huge rainbow arcing across a brilliant blue cloudless sky. Waterfalls fell gracefully amid the trees and the whole forest just seemed to twinkle at her.

"We have to walk for about half a day from here. Teleporting doesn't work here. There are dampers in place to stop people teleporting from one kingdom to another, just in case the shield doesn't work," Eric said.

"We could fly," Sarah said and changed them both into eagles.

"Ok, very creative Sarah. I am impressed."

"You will be when you get up there." Eric followed her high in the sky. They flew around for five minutes, loving the feel of hovering in the air currents and soaring into the clear blue sky.

"This is the best power ever. Flying up here makes me feel on top of the world, Sarah said excitedly "Right, where are we going?"

"Follow me," Eric said.

After an hours flight he swooped down onto the track and Sarah turned them both into their normal forms.

"So what is this hoody then?" Sarah said

"It's a radical religious faction. Cult some would say if God didn't exist."

"So why are they radical?'

They devote there whole lives to him, unlike any other creature, which we find bizarre because, well, you've met God. He's chilled, doesn't seem to care about things but does; he will go water skiing, eat too much, drink too much and watch too much TV.

These monks they starve themselves, punish themselves with pain, pray all day, sing songs about him, don't smoke and don't drink. Can you imagine if your society were based around virtues and strict moral codes? The place would be full of hypocrites or criminals," Eric said.

"So what do you think God would want with them?" Sarah said.

"Same as me I suppose, to rid Moldavite of evil. I really don't like them that much, they creep me out with their holier than thou crap. There were five hundred of them years ago and they lived in the Lost Wood Kingdom. They used to go door to door trying spreading the word and there were two hundred or so left when they were moved here for their safety," Eric said.

They had walked down along a grassy path and reached a clearing when they saw what looked like a large gothic cathedral with very high towering walls and sculptured figures of God's creations up the sides and front of the building. Most of them were entwined in a battle, one creature against another, quite often with man placed in the middle separating them. Sarah found this strange and thought they should have been eating the man instead.

"They will all be in church now. This way," Eric said.

As they walked into the church they saw about two hundred differently colored dragons sat praying, chanting some prayer she had never heard before. The dragons weren't very big, about the size of a three year old child. Sarah found them cute and cuddly. She sort of wanted to take one home, cuddle it, feed it and place it at the bottom of her bed at night.

"Who dares disturb the order whilst praying?" a large thundering voice roared around the cathedral.

"Oh great, here they go," whispered Eric to Sarah.

"Tis, I the Goddess Sarah, messenger of God," rolled off Sarah's tongue in a rather dramatic tone.

"You shouldn't have said goddess, it only upsets them," whispered Eric cringing.

"Come forth messenger of God, say thy piece," the voice thundered around the room again and a little cute yellow furry dragon came from behind a podium to meet her.

Sarah handed the letter to the dragon.

He wasted no time opening it and read it out aloud to congregation.

You, the Holy Order of the Dragon Youngsters are hereby by appointed 1st Battalion of the liberation Army of Moldavite (LAM) under command of the Goddess Sarah. You are charged with ridding Moldavite of evil!

God.

The words then circled around and went straight into Sarah's chest.

"Now I am not impressed with that messing with a girl's destiny," Sarah said sharply

'It could have been an upgrade. You have a human soul so you have free will," Eric reminded her.

"What's your name dragon?" Sarah asked.

"Marcus, goddess," he replied.

"Marcus, how long will it take you to get you troops ready for battle with supplies and equipment?" Sarah questioned.

"We don't have any weapons, the local farmer drop us their spare food off. We don't really know how to fight. We're a peaceful order. We only pray," Marcus said.

"You're soldiers now and you will learn how to fight. That is my order; get every one ready to move in one hour," Sarah said sternly.

"Can I have a word Goddess Sarah?" Eric said, pulling her to one side.

"How are we going to get them through customs?" Eric said.

"No problem. I am more confused about why I am in charge of them, free will and all. What are tiny little dragons going to do? They can't even fight!" Sarah said.

"We will see what powers they have when we get back to camp," Eric shrugged.

The dragons were ready and marched out singing songs of praise the lord, creator of all dragon kind, you're so good with mankind, and we're so dumb and so blind to your glory, soft and kind.

"Can't cope with this, I'm gonna smack them in a minute," Eric said between gritted teeth. He looked annoyed, his bristles were spikier than usual and his face was very red.

"You can smack them as much as you like when we get back to camp. You're in charge of training," Sarah said.

"Ok what now?" Eric said as they reached the bottom of the trail and looked up at the city entrance.

"Listen up troops. No noise from now on. I am going to turn you all into fleas and you need to jump onto Eric hedge hog, but be quiet until I turn you back to dragons."

She turned them all into fleas and they jumped onto Eric. Eric walked up to the gate and was let straight through.

'You ok Eric? Have a good trip? Nice to see you again," Frank the guard said.

"And you Frank" Eric dispensed the pleasantries and went round to the gate for the Lost Wood Kingdom.

"Eric the hedge hog, you are hereby arrested for consorting with criminals, mainly one Joseph Jones, former head of the SS" a wizard shouted, grabbing Eric from behind and bundling him into a magic box before he had the chance to move. The box was driven out of the city and toward the Lost Wood.

Chapter19 -Return To Sender

"Where do you think are they taking us?" Eric asked.

"Don't know but we are on the road to Devils Island. We rescued the bunnies from going over there," Sarah replied.

"That is just mean, giving the souls to the Devil. I'd love to know who is behind this."

"What about the devil?" Sarah said.

"No, he's happy. He has is own little empire over there. He's a bit mean, not too dissimilar to God only he has no sense of humor," Eric said.

The magic box found the lost edge of the lost wood and stopped.

The two wizards came round to the back of the box and opened the door.

"Come on then, we need to get out of here before real wizards turn up. Where's Sarah?"

The two wizards were none other than Colleen and Paul who quickly changed into their usual forms. Eric was both annoyed and relieved. He grabbed their hands and teleported back to the camp.

"Your face was a picture when we put you in that box Eric," Paul said, chuckling to himself. He explained, "The captain finally got a vision. It was of you being captured by wizards traveling into the city from the lost wood; we merely impersonated them and captured you to ensure they didn't," Colleen said.

Sarah jumped from Eric and materialized into her human self. She transformed the dragons back as well. "You only captured us because I let you," she said, watching their jaws drop as she materialized dragon after dragon.

"Can you see if Catharine has any more crystals so we can put up the other camp?" Eric asked Sarah.

"Yes sure," Sarah said.

She had no idea where anybody was and had to ask around to get directions to Catharine.

"Hi, how's it going?" Sarah asked. "You're looking plump for a fairy."

"I'm fat and ready to burst," Catharine said unhappily.

"Do you have anymore crystals?" Sarah asked.

"Yes," Catharine pointed, "there's a bucket load over there."

Sarah thanked the fairy and returned to Eric carrying the crystals. She loved watching the portable camps unfolding, it was like science meets magic all wrapped up in one fantastic bundle. Eric soon had the camp up which was for the dragons, so they could have a camp to themselves. They had to share bunks but this was luxury in comparison with what they had left at home. Eric proceeded to show the dragons how to do everything. They were new to using technology and really didn't have a clue. They were still ordering their usual gruel like stew even when they were told they could have anything.

Eric took Marcus to a training pyramid. He needed to find out what powers he may have, if any. He used a scanning machine which was very similar to the one Sarah had blown up in the castle. The printout said 'fairytale abnormality.' What that was supposed to mean he didn't quite know.

"Computer; define fairytale abnormality," Eric ordered.

"This means their powers have to be induced by another. They are latent powers and will be activated by another latent power from another creature," the computer said.

"Computer; please search data base for creatures to activate their powers," Eric said.

"There is a three legged mouse in the Lost Wood but it hasn't been seen for twenty thousand years, there is a flea that lives on havoc demons from the volcano on Devils Island."

"Are there any creatures in the Lost Wood that could activate their powers other than the ones you have stated?" Eric asked.

"No," the computer said.

Eric dismissed Marcus. He was ready to eat and find a bunk in the parallel camp.

Sarah walked into the camp and looked for her bag which would indicate which bed was hers.

The bunnies, hares and Gary had taken over one pyramid, the fairies another and Sarah finally found her belongings with the others.

"Hi everyone," she said, sounding rather tired and despondent.

She could see the Captain asleep on a bunk and Kevin and the Professor attempting to make something on a small portable cooker.

"What's happening guys?" she asked.

"We're making cookies with magic herb for the Captain," the Professor replied.

"I don't get it," Sarah replied.

'The Captain found that the herb induced visions and he has been getting close to finding out who is behind everything. We were trying cookies to see if it was better for him than smoking," Kevin said.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting that," Sarah said.

"I have felt quite useless these last few days," the Professor said sadly, "I needed to do something useful even if it is just baking cookies. Everybody seems to have a use or function but I feel quite powerless. There's not much use for someone who can talk to creatures that don't speak English. I've tried doing spells and I'm useless. I can't shoot straight. I am a scientist, not a magician or a warrior! There must be a way off this island. If Jesus can do it we can too."

"You should ask Eric to train you, Kevin should too. Eric seems to be really well respected. God said you would have a little power left, you should go see what it is." Sarah suggested, tucking into a large roast beef dinner.

'Where is he anyway, you know, Eric," Kevin asked.

"I saw him go off into a pyramid on his own. Is the Captains tired then after his vision? " Sarah said, pointing to the sleeping Captain.

"No we lack Pete's experience with the herb and our first attempts at making these cookies went a little wrong, we put too much in. He has been out for four hours. Good job you can't overdose on this stuff," The Professor said, laughing at this at least.

"Where's Pete?" Sarah asked.

"King Pete is probably delivering fairies by now I would have thought. Catharine is really huge and looks like a Christmas tree bauble rather than the fairy you put on top," Kevin explained, smiling.

"That's not nice Kevin. Your power could be to be the first pregnant man. I'm going to see her and make sure she is ok," Sarah said a little crossly.

She walked over to the fairy pyramid and was greeted at the front door.

"Good evening goddess Sarah. How may I be of service to you?" a fairy asked.

"I would like to see Catharine please," Sarah asked.

"Queen Catharine is indisposed at the moment," the fairy said.

"Fine, I would like to see King Pete then," Sarah said frustratedly.

"King Pete has asked not to be disturbed while he takes his herb," replied the fairy politely.

"Let me in or I will turn you into bird food, do you understand?" Sarah shouted angrily. She was not going to be fobbed off by anyone.

The fairy moved aside quickly, recognizing that arguing would be useless. Sarah walked inside and shouted for Pete.

"Hi Sarah," Pete said, coming to see what the commotion was about.

"How's Catharine?"

"Very bad tempered and very pregnant. She's through there, be warned," Pete said, only half joking.

Sarah found Catharine sitting in a homemade hammock chair in fairy form. She was eating ice cream, lots of it. She was clearly feeling sorry for herself.

"I don't mind being pregnant so much but everything hurts. Can't fly, I sink like a brick. My feelings are all over the place and I just want to know when it will end."

Kevin wasn't lying; she was huge and clearly distressed by the whole ordeal.

"Well it can't be long now, you look ready and healthy. That's usually a good indication," Sarah said, not knowing how to make it easier for her.

"I am looking forward to having a new family of fairies with a fresh start, I wonder if I will have any boys. I have a list of over a thousand name here, five hundred boys and five hundred girls. Could lift me down for a bit? I can't stay in one position for too long," Catharine said, cheering up a little in Sarah's company

Sarah helped her down and she waddled over to the fridge for some more food

"Are you and Pete alright?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, he is more excited than I am and very proud. He is also very protective. He's been working the girls hard on emergency drills to get me out in case anything happens. He knows more spells now than I do," Catharine said.

"Good. I'm going to shoot off and see Gary and Charlotte, do some catching up," Sarah said her goodbyes and headed off to the bunnies pyramid.

"Hi everyone, how's it going?" Sarah asked cheerily as she walked into the kitchen.

'It's fine, a bit sterile in these pyramids but they are well equipped. Gary has written a long list of the best vegetable dishes he can think of ordering out of this fridge, so I am happy. The kids are fully grown physically and in a couple of hundred years they will be mature. What about you?"

"God's given me two hundred dragons with no powers or common sense to fight an army of evil wizards and they're the best hope of defeating them! Well, that's enough complaining, I came round to be sociable. Where is Gary?"

"He is in the computer room hacking again I think. Go right in, he needs disturbing once in a while to make sure he's alive," Charlotte said.

Sarah went into the computer room where Gary was sitting watching four computers screens intently. He hadn't noticed her enter and sat staring the screens. He was watching people on them.

"Computer, analyse subjects behavior and formulate when the first changes occurred. Go to the time index on appropriate camera changes," Gary ordered the computer.

"Hi Gary, busy? Should I come back later?" Sarah asked.

"No, this is good timing. I've been studying the SS and looking at behavior changes. I can pinpoint on three separate wizards exactly when their behavior changed and I have it on camera. What I don't have is who is doing this. I have watched hours of tape and the council members appear responsible for the first few tampered souls. I've looked at all the CCTV footage and there must be someone either with a shed loads of mark 1 crystal balls or they are invisible. Those mark 1s, according to the data base, have all been destroyed. The people who made them are believed to be extinct," Gary babbled, sounding delighted to share his information, "I've found out that nearly all the wizards who disappeared were seers. I bet the Captain will get some sort of vision soon relating to whatever is behind this. They are sending wizards out into the Lost Wood capturing creatures who are seers. Here is a list of them. They are targeting the Bough area nearly every day to try and wipe out the herb plant, presumably because it helps seers. I also have list of targets we can attack."

"Thanks Gary, that's been a great help I'll give this to Eric and we will come up with a strategy to deal with them," Sarah said, heading for Eric's pyramid.

In Eric's quarters Sarah had a shock as there were two hedgehogs sat watching TV. She then realised that one of them was Paul and started to leave. She didn't want to intrude on a private conversation.

"Sarah," Paul said in his usual form.

She turned around.

"Sorry, I was just on my way out," Paul said, walking out the door.

"I want to go to your burrow tomorrow, early start ok?" Sarah asked him in passing.

"Yeah sure, that would be great," Paul disappeared looking vaguely embarrassed.

"I see your hedgehog chat up line worked on someone Eric," Sarah said jokingly.

"You had your chance, give yourself two thousand years and you will want a bit of me," Eric said sarcastically.

"I don't think so," Sarah said. She couldn't help laughing at the little creature's huge ego.

"You will after you have seen some of the animals round here," he said laughing to himself.

"I've got a list of possible targets you might want to have a look at. Gary said they are all seers and the wizards are targeting herb manufacture as this is aiding seers. If we caught some seers we may be able to see who is behind this," Sarah said.

Eric's spines pricked up as he walked over to Sarah and took the list, browsing it carefully for five minutes.

'It would appear that Gary is nearly correct but this one is not a seer. I know him from a long time ago," Eric said going over to his computer.

He typed for about five minutes and printed some details off.

"Charlie Monkey, a six handed monkey was a professional pickpocket until we caught him many years ago and he became a jeweler. He was then arrested for the manufacture of dangerous rings. We can't rescue him, we can't trust him, but we could sling him in the dungeon at the castle to stop him harming anyone," Eric said.

"Isn't that wrong. He hasn't done anything yet," Sarah said.

"Yes, but we could bribe him to make something for us I suppose, and give him secure accommodation. Is that more agreeable?" Eric said.

"Yes that would be fine," Sarah said.

"Big day tomorrow, I'll nip out and see Joseph and start training your friends," Eric said.

"How did you get on with my battalion of dragons or need I ask?" Sarah said looking at his whiskers twitch.

'They have latent powers which need to be activated by another creature that doesn't exist or is not on the data base." Eric answered.

"Well God gave them to us for a reason, so I would check all the bunnies that are not on the data base; Silvia's children, Pete, and Kevin," Sarah replied.

"Tell Gary to keep the information coming, this is great," Eric said.

"Yeah I will. He's managed to pinpoint when the changes occur exactly and is studying the changes in the souls the moment they are tampered with. He thinks the soul changers are using crystal balls, but has no evidence at all of who is behind this," Sarah said.

"Ok, I'll find out what I can from Joseph tomorrow."

"I 'm off to bed, got an early start. I'm going over to Paul's for some books. Night," Sarah said, making her way to her much needed bed.

The next morning Sarah was up early, ready to go on a good days adventuring. She was waiting outside Paul's pyramid for him to emerge, but instead found he had been up early with Eric. He came over from the training pyramid carrying a crossbow and a 5ft shield strapped to his back.

"We have got portable all round defense shields you know, rather than that great big thing," Sarah remarked.

"I like this old fashioned stuff, you can feel and touch it and it doesn't use crystals," Paul said.

"Ready then?" she asked, taking hold of Paul's paw.

"Yes," Paul replied.

They teleported into the main hall of the burrow. It was in complete darkness apart from a small light behind the bar.

"Give me a minute," Paul said, tripping over. He scrambled to the little light at the bar and flicked a switch. The room lit up. They could see the devastation left behind after the fire fight with the wizards. There were holes and scorched craters everywhere in the burrow. Tables were smashed or overturned and Paul's personal drinks bar had been emptied. Paul scrambled around looking for his secret stash of moonshine and pulled a bottle out. The burrow had been looted. Fittings and easy to sell items had been stripped from it.

Paul despondently led the way to his private quarters, followed by Sarah who couldn't believe the damage that had been done the by looters. They had even taken chandeliers from the top of the burrow. Paul's quarters had been stripped bare, absolutely nothing remained, not even a single item of clothing. Paul went to where his wardrobe had once stood and pulled on a couple of tree roots. A hidden door slid silently open.

"They didn't get everything. There's enough wealth in this cupboard to fix this place up twice over, but that's not what I came for. These are." He pulled out a large bag of crystals, a sword, personalized shield, a strange looking crossbow, helmet and a crystaled cloak.

"We have loads of equipment already Paul," Sarah reminded him.

"Not like this. These were all collected from two wizard wars. They are the best anyone can get," Paul handed her a very large yellow crystal, "this is for you. Please accept it with my thanks and gratitude for rescuing me."

"Thanks," Sarah blushed. She wanted to say she didn't need gifts for recuing anyone but didn't want to hurt Paul's pride. It was obvious he wanted to give the gift. "Where did you get it? I have never have seen one this big."

"I was told it came from one of the old Mole Miner Cities. Some shrew gave it me to settle a debt. Ok, I'm ready. Let's go check out the library."

They walked through the main hall and went. There had clearly been a fire in the library from the stench of smoke coming under the door as they approached. Paul looked with horror as he saw all the books on a smouldering bonfire. The fire was nearly out but the books were destroyed. Paul was distressed at the sight of his life's work destroyed by flames.

"There was no need for that," he said angrily.

Paul went to the far corner of the library and pulled on some singed tree roots. He revealed another secret room which contained his rarest books. They were unharmed. Paul packed some that he thought might be useful, including one titled The Jesus Quest.

He locked the secret room and went to Sarah who was fumbling through the books, trying to salvage one or two.

"Leave them. I have the book you wanted and the rest may help us make weapons." Paul said sharply. He wanted to get away from the room and the pain the loss of his beloved books brought him.

Sarah teleported back to camp with him. She took the book to the Professor who had been feeling a little useless

Chapter 20 -The Joys Of Youth

Eric was in the training pyramid scanning a line of bunnies into the data base. He hadn't processed this many creatures for a long time and it was slow going for him. The machine was having trouble reading bunnies and kept saying they shouldn't exist so he moved onto Pete and then Kevin.

"Match confirmed," the computer announced.

Eric smiled that the hard work had paid off. He set a training program up for the bunnies with targets that teleported in to the room and sent low level plasma balls shooting at the bunnies. They loved it. They had to destroy the targets and avoid the plasma balls. The computer adjusted the difficulty as they destroyed each target until the computer won, at which point the trainees were graded and the next bunny would have a go.

"Everybody is to have at least two sessions before dinner," Eric commanded, "I need to take Kevin to the dragon camp to explore his powers."

The dragon camp was about one hundred yards away as Eric could not hear them singing at that distance. Eric and Kevin approached it together.

Marcus came over to greet them before they even got to the camp. He walked straight up to Eric.

"Troops ready for training, Sir! They are in the parade square awaiting orders Sir! It is also my duty to inform you that several dragons were injured during a weapon exercise this morning, Sir! Plasma cannon, I think it was, Sir. It was God's will Sir, we have buried them over there," Marcus said in what he seemed to think was a military voice. The effect was spoilt by the tears running from the dragons eyes.

Eric stood still, feeling shocked. He didn't know what to say to them. He looked at the three graves. The dragons, having been ordered by the messenger of God to become soldiers had taken it to heart and saw themselves as warriors. They had accessed the facility to see what to do as they hadn't got a clue.

"Weapons training this morning," Eric said, recovering himself, "but first I would like you to meet Kevin, your latent power activator. Now just shake hands to find out what happens."

"Is that it, touch?" Kevin asked, surprised.

"That's what the computer recommended. I've never done this before, fairytale magic this is," Eric said.

The dragon and Kevin shook hands.

"Sh..t" Eric said in surprise, nearly startled out of his wits.

They both turned into one hundred foot long dragons with large wings. They were huge with a two hundred foot wing span and towered above Eric. Their green bodies had long pointy tails and spiny backs and looked hard and scaly. Both dragons had four feet with three sharp claws on each, very like an eagles. Kevin couldn't resist taking off and flew high up into the sky. The other dragon followed him. They were spotted by the SS as soon as they flew out of the protective shield of the camp. One hundred foot dragons stood out like sore thumbs. Six flying wizards charged towards them firing plasma balls. The whole camp heard the commotion and came out; in fact half of Moldavite was watching. No-one had seen a dragon in the skies for years since they had been hunted to extinction, for their teeth which were used for potions it was thought.

The plasma balls bounced off the dragon's sides without harming them. Kevin flew in behind the wizards, who were flying in formation, growling angrily at them. As he growled flames roared from his throat setting fire to the wizards' cloaks who teleported away in alarm. They landed in triumph, buzzing from both the flight and the victory and reluctantly changed back into their usual selves by touching tails with each other.

"Well I wasn't expecting that. It was wonderful! I didn't want to stop flying. The urge to spread my wings was huge," Kevin said, remembering how he had felt in dragon form. Wonderful!

"You should be able to transform without touching with practice. You will have to touch all the dragons to activate their powers initially. No more flying. They will know where we are if you go up there too much." Eric said, although he couldn't help laughing at their new powers.

Eric spent most of the day training the dragons to transform, breathe fire and fly. They used the helmet Gail had made to cloak them from any wizards still flying around.

Eric teleported into the castle and found Joseph. He excitedly told him about the dragon power, and then, brimming with confidence, asked which one of the targets Joseph wanted attacked.

They talked for at least two hours formulating a plan of attack. Joseph agreed the monkey should be put to use, after all he just needed a living. Joseph would capture him and put him in the dungeon to work. Eric was tasked with attacking the Bough magic boxes. Joseph also wanted Eric to attack the annual wizard bash due to be held down at the human village. Joseph would attempt the rescue and capture of seers. He didn't have any with his party and they were useful. The attack on the wizard bash would hopefully be the catalyst to draw them out into battle. Joseph had now captured two hundred wizards. Added together both camps were much smaller than the opposition but felt they had advantages in skill, cunning, weaponry, plus Sarah and the dragons which were an army in themselves. Eric teleported back to his pyramid and then walked over to find Gary. He wanted to sit planning the Bough raid to make sure nothing could go wrong and see if Gary had an update.

"Hi Charlotte, is Gary in there?" Eric pointed to the computer room. She nodded with a carrot in her mouth.

Gary was busy studying the images of wizard behavior.

"Anything happening Gary?"

No, I've been watching these clips of the tampered wizards but can't seem to find anything new. I'm going through the same clips again with different types of camera. I've detect a quarter of a degree decrease in temperature close to each wizard as it happens to them but I can't find anything else. The decrease in temperature always happens in a shadowy area near the subject. The Captain is in one of his trances again so hopefully he will be able to shed some light on the matter," Gary said, watching the screen obsessively.

"I need to know if there've been any updates on the raids the SS are going to carry out."

"Give me a minute. Yes, this raid at Bough, they're going to take the whole village in. they're sending forty wizards and ten magic boxes. They have orders to destroy all the magic herb plants they find. There are ten flying wizards, twenty on the boxes with the final ten teleporting in to kill the plants after the raid. There is an estimated one hundred villagers there," Gary said, feeling pleased someone was interested in his hard work.

"Thanks Gary, does it say what weapons they are taking?" Eric asked.

"No, the tribe is not seen as hostile, just as growers of the herb," Gary said.

"There is another list of targets for you here," Gary passed him the paper.

"Thanks, it looks like we will be busy tomorrow," Eric said.

Nearly everyone went to bed early that night. They were exhausted from the excitement. One by one the pyramid lights were turned off, except in fairies pyramid where the lights continued to blaze.

Catharine was about to pop, literally. No one was expecting what happened next.

Catharine was in pain and the fairies had been running round frantically. They had everything ready, towels, hot water and blankets. No-one knew what they were supposed to do with them but they had been watching relevant films on the matter and they always had them there ready. Unfortunately the film never showed you what happened next. You just saw baby in a blanket. Of course Pete had picked the films from a limited memory. Little House on The Prairie, The Walton's. The fairies were behaving like most human men at these times, absolutely clueless.

Pete sat prepared in human form. He had made a net after remembering the conversation with God on the matter which he had hidden from Catharine on account that it might scare her. He held her hand and was as comforting as he could be. In his other hand he had a list of names ready. Catharine was somehow managing to hover because this was giving her the least amount of pain, and then it happened. Catharine shot out of the room at some speed leaving her first born hovering in mid air.

"Hello," a squeaky little voice chirped.

"Hello, back in a minute, just going to help your mum," Pete said running into the lounge. He couldn't see Catharine, just a trail of fairies. The servants ran round collecting the small fairies as fast as they could. Pete followed the trail outside. Catharine had obviously circled round the pyramid. He changed into fairy form and flew upwards to get a vantage point. She had left a trail looking like a Christmas trees with white flashing lights on, more usually found on a village green or near a town hall. Pete looked at the top of the pyramid; Catharine sat on the top, exhausted. He picked her up, flew her inside and laid her down on the bed before taking the net and running outside. The first hundred were quite easy to catch. They had just been born and hadn't fully got to grips with flying away from daddy for fun. The others were not easy, they went everywhere. He chased them into the training room where they activated a training program to avoid capture. They were all girls, no boys, all very similar but not the same.

He chased several hundred naughty fairies round the camp for two hours. They are just like their mother he thought. They didn't listen to a word he said. King didn't mean a thing to them but they were all cheeky and very fast, with an unbelievable vocabulary. He was convinced the last two, who were playing tag with him, were communicating in what he thought was Chinese. The servants hurried around after the children with one on guard at the door at all times. Pete walked in with the last two baby fairies. He was exhausted; all the children cheered him knowing he had caught the last two.

"I suppose we'd better name you all then," Pete said, tiredly.

"We already have names. We picked them when we were in mum. She sat thinking of names; we heard her and then picked one each," A small fairy said.

"I do need you to behave a little better. We are at war and could be in danger!"

"We're ready to fight, we know all about the war." another small fairy spoke.

"How could you?" Pete was baffled.

"We got all mums memories and all of yours," they chorused

"Don't know much do you dad," giggles rippled through the room as a voice spoke from somewhere.

"Don't be disrespectful," Pete tried to be firm.

"Well not all your memories, we are have different bits of both of you." came out of the crowd.

"Yeah, daddy doing that to mummy while she was pregnant, that's so naughty," and fits of chipmunk like laugher flooded the room.

"Pipe down; I am going to see your mum and make sure she is alright. I don't want to disturb her if she is sleeping. Put two fairies on the door May, I need some sleep, thanks." mumbled Pete as he went to Catharine who was sleeping soundly when he went in. He curled up next to her and fell asleep.

The Professor had awoken with a really good feeling this morning. She went straight into the shower. She had been sat up late reading the books Sarah had given her. They were hard reading because separating fact from fiction is hard when you're living in a place like Moldavite.

But the Professor was feeling optimistic and full of energy and inspiration. She dressed and went over to the mirror. She had never been one for staring into mirrors and had stopped looking after she turned thirty five. She noticed she looked younger and so thought that the mirror might be programmed or something. She tried talking to it, but nothing happened. Yes, she was younger. She went and found the Captain who was in one of his trances and found he was younger too. He was definitely five years older than her and he used to have wrinkles but they were now gone. Sarah walked through the lounge area from the kitchen.

"Do I look younger to you?" the Professor showed herself off.

"Yes, you do, I wouldn't complain," Sarah answered.

"But how?"

"Eric said these camps were untested, maybe it's a good side affect."

Eric walked into the pyramid. "Meeting in an hour in the training room," he told them quickly and walked towards the door.

"Eric," the Professor stopped him.

Eric turned round.

"I seem to be getting younger, does that have anything to do with the camp?" the Professor asked.

"Yes, I put the healing on permanently. It won't turn you into a child again, before you panic, it will just make every cell in your body perfect again. You humans have such a small life span it shows up more than on anyone else. The healing needed to stay on to stop ring attacks. It will cancel them out if they try tampering. I have a lot to do, see you in a bit," Eric said leaving the pyramid.

"Well I'm a happy twenty year old again," the Professor said smiling to herself.

"I think you would be lucky to get served a drink without ID," Sarah said grinning

The girls woke Kevin and told him their good news and about the meeting. They stayed to eat breakfast with him before heading off to the training room.

"Listen up everyone; we have a mission to protect the citizens of Bough and the magic herb." Eric began, "We are to take on a total of forty wizards and this is what is going to happen: We'll wait until all the villagers have been arrested and the SS have taken them away. We'll intercept them on the road at this point. There is a stream on one side of the road. Ten of us will be on dragons and we will attack in this formation: two from the front, six from the sides and two from the rear. Pete will put up a water barrier here. Kevin and ten dragons will take on the wizards in the air, Ronnie and another twenty dragons will remain high up ready to help if needed. Sarah and I will take on ten wizards at the village," Eric explained with the use of a very nice three dimensional map.

"Pete's not here," Sarah said.

"He's had a busy night, I will brief him later. Catharine had her children," Eric smiled.

"How many?" asked Sarah, upset that she didn't know before the meeting.

"Please focus on this; we have things to do before tonight. We need to make saddles to ride the dragons. I've already spoken to Charlotte and Silvia and they are working on them but will need some help. We're to ask the villagers to relocate once we have rescued them and the Owl Qaeda will keep an eye on them for us," Eric said.

"What about weapons? I'm useless at magic," The Professor said worriedly.

"I am running weapons training for anyone who wants it this afternoon. If that's it, I have Pete and the dragons to brief," Eric said.

Sarah rushed over to Catharine's pyramid, walked in and smiled. Catharine was sat watching TV with her feet up in the corner of the lounge and Pete was cuddling her.

She moved toward them and was completely surrounded by hundreds of fairies. They were like swarm of locusts moving in on its prey.

"Hello goddess Sarah," a fairy child said.

"Hello children," Sarah replied.

"Now don't torment the goddess, she will turn you into worms," Catharine said.

"Whhoo," the children went together.

"You may go out and play but stay within the shield in our camp," Catharine said, "May, go with them please. Pete and I will come and collect them later,"

The children swarmed out into the camp, flying around at breakneck speed, dive bombing anyone and everyone for fun.

"They are definitely our children. It took me two hours to catch them after the birth and when we woke up they tormented us to hell. They have our memories but each one has a different bit. They must have compared notes on what Catharine and I felt about each other while we were asleep. It was like going to Relate twenty years too early when we woke up," Pete complained.

"We're better for it now though. I love you," Catharine said adoringly.

"I love you too," Pete answered soppily.

"They're so naughty and mischievous. How do you control five hundred fairies?" Catharine asked hopelessly, "They're already planning the downfall of the SS and they're only a few hours old. That's mainly my fault,"

"They are all beautiful and so intelligent!" Sarah smiled at the new family, "It's good to see you looking back to your usual strength as well Catharine, but I came to bring you news as well as admire the babies. We have a mission tonight. Eric will be round in a bit to brief you Pete. I'll leave you to get some rest, congratulations anyway," Sarah said and went off for a tea.

Everyone in the camp was smiling. With new life comes hope and joy for a better tomorrow Sarah thought as she looked at the fairies flying around.

The Captain came running from the pyramid straight to Sarah. It caused quite a scene as the look on his face was of pure terror and he appeared to be mind bendingly scared.

"What's wrong Captain Marston?" Sarah asked. She had never seen him come out of a trance and wondered of this was normal.

"They are here, they are here."

"Who are here?" Sarah asked but the Captain collapsed on the floor and passed out. The Professor came over and helped Sarah carry him inside.

"Does he normally do this when he comes out of a trance?" Sarah asked with concern.

"He is usually emotional and hungry but not like this," The Professor replied. She too was worried.

They managed to half carry and half drag the unconscious sailor back into the pyramid and put him on the sofa. The Professor went to the fridge and took out a bottle of rum, two coffees, a tea and a plateful of fish and chips. She wasn't sure what he would want when he woke up and the fridge just produced everything she was thinking of at the time.

The Captain stirred, sitting up groggily. He saw the rum and dived straight for it, upending the bottom and taking long desperate gulps. The rum seemed to have a calming affect and he regained some of his dignity. He sat up straight and filled his pipe, although Sarah saw his hands were still shaking.

"You alright?" asked the Professor.

"Yes, sorry about that. The visions are usually just images of what could happen, sometimes nice you know. I have had one of people at home and it's like playing catch up with old friends. This one was evil. I could feel the hate and loathing sucking the life out of me," The Captain said, his hands still trembling as he sipped his rum.

"What did you see?" the Professor asked.

"I saw eyes everywhere, yellow glowing eyes all looking at me. They are outside the camp, the city and the tunnels, everywhere. The feeling was the worst, awful feeling I ever had." The Captain cried as he took another sip of his rum. "they call themselves Gips."

The Professor put a comforting arm around him. Sarah left her to make sense out of what was happening and went over to Gary's pyramid. She was completely unnoticed by Charlotte and Silvia who were frantically making saddles for the dragons.

Gary was on the computers, fanatically working to identify the mysteries of the tampered souls.

"Hi Gary, how's it going?" Sarah enquired.

"Nothing, nothing on any front, no new missions, not any activity at all. All they seem to be doing is setting up their wizard bash at the village. I think they are having a rest," Gary said, sounding frustrated.

"The Captain had a bad vision. He said that he had seen Gips everywhere and they were awful."

"No sign of them here. Can't seem to make a breakthrough, sorry. What are Gips?" Gary asked.

"Some creature he is getting visions about who have yellow eyes apparently so you won't miss one it they turn up," Sarah said sceptically. She thanked him and went to inspect her troops.

The camp dwellers continued to train and then worked for most of the afternoon before they stopped for a rest as they had a long night ahead of them. By early evening everyone was ready to go. The dragons were now outside the camp with their riders sat on them. When the thirty dragons took off it was an impressive sight to watch. Kevin took his ten dragons and followed Ronnie. He would stay with him until he was ready to attack the flying wizards. Pete led the other ten to the ambush point on the road and got everyone hidden in the woods.

Sarah and Eric teleported close to the camp and watched as the tribe were loaded into the magic boxes.

The boxes had just left Bough with their unwilling and unhappy cargos of villagers when more wizards teleported intent on destroying the village and the plants. In flea form Sarah teleported in really close to the wizards and healed them, one by one. They all came out of their trances but were dazed and confused. As Eric came over to the wizards they asked him what had happened to them. Eric was explaining when one of the wizards suddenly threw a plasma ball at him, hitting him on the head. As Eric lay stunned and bleeding Sarah knocked the wizard out in an instant with a powerful plasma ball. She ran over to Eric and healed him at once but the healed wizards had all had their souls tampered with again and a huge fight erupted. Sarah eventually did what she did best, stunned them all in fleas form. Although the wizards with her were all unconscious a barrage of plasma balls and fire balls suddenly flew at Sarah and Eric from nowhere. Sarah's portable shield was about to fail so she switched to her own shield which held off the plasma balls. They were being fired upon from all directions, hundreds of plasma balls. The whole camp was engulfed in flames when the plasma balls suddenly stopped. A row of twenty dragons flew in and ploughed across the village engulfing it with flames. Sarah's shield protected them from the flames but the village was lost. She teleported back to camp and waited for the dragons to come in and land.

"Well someone is definitely behind this other than the wizards, someone with a lot of power: Invisibility, teleport, plasma balls and fire balls. The wizards changed really quickly as well," Sarah said, shaken by the experience.

"I hope the others do alright," Eric said.

'I'll go and find out," Sarah offered.

"No, I think that much firepower in one place can only mean one thing. They were trying to kill you. It's a small village. They must know what we are doing or they are watching us," Eric said.

"That goes with what the Captain was saying about them being every where, but how do you fight what you can't see? I do that all the time, I turn into a flea usually."

The dragons flew over and landed as a group. Everyone appeared to be there and to be in good spirits. Eric went to them.

"Went like a dream, no injures, all the villagers were rescued and are setting up a new camp at an undisclosed location," Pete said.

"Well done, get the weapons away. Marcus, clear the camp down and pack it up. You can bunk in my pyramid; Eric ordered Marcus, "Put on a rotating shift of dragon guards to protect the camp. It will be tight but we will have to manage for now. Expect trouble."

They went to the armory and put their weapons away gladly. They had all seen enough fighting that day.

Sarah took her damaged shield and was about to throw it into the bin when Gail asked for it, said something about a project she had going on. Eric whistled the Owl Qaeda and sent a message to Joseph to tell him what had happened. Everybody went to bed apart from Gail who was on a mission of her own. She was searching the only bin in the camp. They didn't get a lot of waste. Found it, she thought, one pair of broken glasses. She put them in her pocket and headed for the training room where there was a small well stocked tool room for running repairs. She spent most of the night working to finish her project and nearly did. Exhausted, she went to bed in the early hours of the morning clutching her project in her hands.

Chapter 21 –All Good Things

Eric woke early the next morning, trying to decide on a plan of attack for the Wizard Bash that evening. He had come to the conclusion that the only safe way was to attack by air. It was the only real advantage they had. There had been no reports from Gary that wizards had been tampered with in the air and he thought this to be a safe bet as he only needed to annoy the enemy. He went to find Sarah, but she found him first.

"Hi Eric, what's the plan?" Sarah asked.

"A straight forward air assault by two hundred dragons and yourself I think should do it. They want you dead because you pose a threat to them. The more you engage them the more they will pursue you and hopefully this will draw them out in a battle. I want you to use as much force as possible. Neutralise as many wizards as you can," Eric said firmly.

"I am not a killer Eric. I will turn them into frogs or something," Sarah said uncomfortably.

"Ok sorry. I want you to even the playing field. I don't care how you do it. They will come here in force and I want to stand a chance of winning. I estimate that they outnumber us two to one plus. I'll relocate the vulnerable and less well equipped to fight to a safe location and the rest of us will make a stand here," Eric said.

Gail was searching the camp looking for the final pieces of her project; it had taken her all day. She went to visit Catharine who was now fully recovered and sharpening her sword ready for battle.

"Do you have any spare crystals I could have please?" Gail asked, "They're for project I'm working on."

"Let me have a look, they have taken a bashing recently," Catharine said checking her depleted stock. She took out a handful of crystals and opened up the palm of her hand to Gail.

"Can I take one of each colour to see which one works best and bring the rest back?"

"Yes of course. Why don't you see Sarah, she has books on crystals powers. What are you making?"

"Top secret, hush, hush, you know," Gail said in a fluffy cute bunny kind of way.

"Ok," Catharine said.

Gail searched for Sarah and finally found her looking out at the ocean admiring the view.

"Catharine said that you have a book on crystals I may be able to borrow?" Gail asked politely.

"Yes sure, it's in my bunk. Help yourself, Gail," Sarah replied lazily, not wanting to move as she was catching the sun She hadn't worked out that her tan would be healed in minute once she was back in the pyramid. Gail headed for Sarah's bunk. On the way she there she passed the Captain who was yet again in a trance. He had left a bottle of rum out as precautionary measure. The Captain had been developing what seers call trance fever, which happens when a seer spends more time in trance than with the real world because they would say it was better. Unfortunately there was no one there to warn him this was happening. Gail found Sarah's bunk easily enough. It had Sarah's distinctive light blue bag on it. She struggled with the bag as it was made for humans and inevitably everything flew out but she found the book. She had repacked the bag and started to walk out when she fell over a big yellow crystal. Not sure where it had come from she put it in her pocket and thought she would ask later. Gail hurried to the training room to complete her mission.

It was time for Sarah's attack on the Wizard Bash and she kitted up; two shields, a wizard gun and two hundred dragons. They took off and she thought it looked really impressive. Everyone watched, no one had ever seen two hundred together dragons before, it was unheard of. Catharine came late to watch the dragons fly off to battle and was really angry with Eric.

"What have you done letting her go off on her own? Why didn't you ask me?"

"She is perfectly capable of handling herself and she has two hundred dragons," Eric said stiffly, his stiff bristles giving away how annoyed he felt.

"She still needs help now and then. I have fought with her before," Catharine said, storming back to her pyramid to grab her weapons. She searched for Kevin and told him what they were going to do. Kevin changed compliantly into his dragon form as soon as Catharine slung a saddle on him. They raced into the skies. Catharine could see that Sarah was already in battle with the wizards below.

Sarah's dragons had flown in and set fire to most of the human village including the Wizard Bash. Fires glowed everywhere. Sarah herself had teleported to the ground and had been bouncing around turning the wizards into bees. The dragons above were locked in combat with flying wizards and were winning easily. Sarah transformed into her human form again as the wizards were running away and she needed them to come back and fight. But strangely they didn't. Instead they ran away just as intense plasma balls started firing at her. She put her own shield up not wanting to ruin any more portable ones but a box closed in on her. It was a trap! They had her in a large magic box. The sides had come up from the ground where they had been buried under hay and the top automatically came down as the sides moved up. Wizards ran back to her location and brought out harpoons from under hay bales and carts. They fired the harpoons at the dragons who were now dropping from the skies. Catharine could see what was happening and ordered the dragons to retreat before the losses became too high. They flew back carrying their wounded comrades. The rest were lost. One hundred and seventy dragons landed back at camp and twenty of them were wounded.

Penny ran round the dragons, pulling out harpoons and healing them as quickly as possible.

Catharine was enraged and slapped Eric a good one over his whiskers.

"You knew this would happen didn't you?"

"Thought it might but I wasn't expecting her to get captured," Eric said calmly.

"I think you never liked being upstaged by anyone and she certainly did that to you didn't she? No amour or riders on the dragons either!"

'We haven't got any amour," Eric said.

"Make some. You remember how to do that don't you?" Catharine said furiously walking away before she lost it completely with him.

Eric wasn't trying to get anyone killed or injured. It was bad luck and he no ill intent. He had overlooked something, but had an idea of how to put things right. He teleported over to Joseph's castle. Joseph was asleep and Eric woke him with the bad news of what had happened and what it was going to do. Joseph promised his forces would join him in three days for battle. Eric had gone to the castle to get the monkey and some supplies. He had a plan to build e armour for the dragons. There were supplies of metal there, more than enough to build armour. He started teleporting everything over to the camp. It took nearly all night to do it. He kept the monkey and the dragons working that night and had two sets of armour almost finished by the time the camp started to wake.

Eric got the whole camp working around the clock on the armor. Eventually he went to see Catharine and apologized for his poor judgment and told her he meant no harm to the dragons or Sarah. Eric had been of an age in Moldavite were life was cheap and had only just come to terms with the concept of no existence and what it meant to people.

Gail was trying to avoid work as she had her own agenda happening but Eric was looking for her. He knew she was a skilled enchantress and had six sets of amour that needed to be harpoon proof. Gail was chatting to the monkey and bribing him with a blue crystal to make her something. She had tried but lacked the dexterity for the fine work required. Eric caught her mid bribe.

"He's working for me young lady," Eric said angrily.

"He's working for both of us now. I pay better than you, I don't devalue creatures," Gail said obstinately.

"What is it he's making exactly?" Eric asked.

"Can't say exactly, top secret," Gail said.

"Come with me," Eric ordered.

Eric led her into his pyramid and into the computer room at the back of the building.

"So what is it you are making?"

"Can't tell you but I will show you when it is done and then you will understand, ok. It's nothing bad," Gail said.

"That monkey is making armour to save lives," Eric said solemnly.

"This will save more than lives. Trust me, I am a very skilled witch and I hear everything remember?" Gail said.

Sarah had been locked up before but not for such a long time and she really didn't like it. They had put the magic box in the same courtyard she had once escaped from but had not let her out. This was her second day in the yard and she had survived by healing herself.

She was fully armed with two shields and a wizard machine gun. They weren't going to let her out in the foreseeable future. The box was, as it said, magic proof and most powers rebounded back in so she tried to make herself smaller. She sat as a flea on the window at the back of the box, but there was a magic force field up still. Sarah tried turning into various small creatures. A dust mite? No, still didn't work. Sarah sat and thought about what a very small living creature was and turned herself into a nanobe which was a living creature smaller than bacteria. This gives the world a whole new look she thought to herself. She could see the shield and the tiny imperfections on its surface and yes, there were holes she could get through. Just about squeeze she thought. The only problem was that it was going to take while to get there, she didn't exactly have legs. Then the penny dropped and she turned herself into a nanobe sized human. This is easier she thought for moment until some bacteria tried eating her. She teleported to the shield, became a nanobe sized worm and went through. She turned back into a flea and looked around.

Sarah wanted to turn herself human again and grab some weapons but didn't know if anything or anyone was watching. She decided to wait for darkness. The guards in the courtyard didn't move; they were stationary until relieved. They didn't approach the box or go near it, just watched it until the early hours dawned over the castle. Sarah knew she had to do something soon. She had been waiting for someone to move close and her plan was to hitch a ride out of the cell block. She hopped over onto a guard and waited for the morning shift. The guards changed and took her with them. Well, she was out of the courtyard she thought. The guard marched through long corridors and into a large dining area with waitresses serving tables.

She jumped on a waitress and traveled back to the kitchen with a food order then jumped on the head chief and finally a chef who was putting out the rubbish. She leapt from him onto the rubbish pile, turned into a sparrow and flew off until she hit a force field previously not in place. She flew around trying to find a way out but couldn't. The shield encapsulated the castle and its entrances. Sarah flew to the Lost Wood entrance and perched there, waiting for something to come out so she grab ride through the shield. It was getting late when finally a procession of wizards came out, stopped at the shield and opened a hole that would let them out. She thought there were only a few wizards but saw there were hundreds armed to the teeth with harpoons, crossbows, plasma cannons and shield generators. She hopped onto the back of a cart and was carried out beyond the shield, where she flew up out of harms way. Sarah circled around to count their numbers. There must have been six hundred or more. She teleported back to camp and circled around looking at the battle preparations below. Sarah didn't want anyone to know she had escaped, especially the SS. That army wouldn't be there if they hadn't captured her, she thought. She saw Gail and followed her to the edge of the camp.

Chapter 22 -Their Rightful Place

After her brief talk with Eric, Gail finished enchanting the dragon's armour then returned to the monkey and asked for an update. He presented her with two objects. Gail thanked him and went to find a nice quiet area on the edge of the camp. She had created a pair of spectacles from the broken shield metal.

Gail attempted to enchant the spectacles.

They're invisible they can't be seen,

Make them visible make them gleam.

She put the glasses on and looked around. Nothing happened. She changed crystals to red and repeated the process. She looked around and still nothing happened. She then tried a yellow crystal and it worked. She could see creatures outside the shield, dark shadows with yellow eyes and mouths. These must be the Gips, they had humanoid form and stood at about four feet high, but she could see no more detail than that through the glasses. They were watching the preparations and clearly finding out what was happening. There were none close to her and she felt safe, they were scary. She placed her second object down and started her second spell.

Make this object of desire,

Come alive with healing power.

There was a very large yellow crystal in the centre mounted on a cup with a little on/off button on it. Good she thought. She cut her finger with her knife and turned the button to on. The cut healed. She had made a mass healing on the move machine and it worked! It would also give protection against soul tampering.

"Gail, I know you can hear me, it's Sarah. Meet me in your bathroom in your pyramid." Gail heard Sarah's voice but could not see her. In Gail's bathroom a tiny insect leapt from her clothing. It transformed into Sarah.

"Sorry about that, didn't want anyone to know I had escaped. What do those glasses do? Can you see anything through them?" Sarah said.

"Yes, there are loads of creatures, the Gips and they know exactly what we are doing. They can't get past the shield but they can see through it, clearly they can," Gail said.

"I need you to take me to my bunk and then get Eric for me please," Sarah asked.

"No problem. He has been dying to find out what I have been doing," Gail answered.

Gail picked up the book she had borrowed from Sarah and replaced it on Sarah's bed before fetching Eric.

"Eric, you need to come with me," Gail said.

"I'm busy," Eric said.

"Too busy to see what I made? Don't stare and don't make sudden movements when you put them on," She passed him the glasses which he put on. He was shocked.

"Will you come with me now? Leave the glasses on," Gail said.

"Yes of course," Eric followed her to Sarah's bunk.

Sarah locked her door straight away behind Gail and Eric.

"Sorry about the cloak and dagger stuff, they don't know I've escaped yet. They're sending a huge wizard army; more than six hundred are on their way. Those things out there will tell them exactly what they have to face," Sarah explained.

"Well, we'd best not be here then had we?" Eric replied.

"Where are we going to going to go then?" Sarah asked.

"I would rather be in Moldavite city than here; we are after all the SS. All we need to do is get in. You got out, so you get can us in. If their army is out of the city we could easily retake it. We will have all the resources there to sort this out once and for all," Eric said.

"You have to do exactly as I ask then," Sarah said.

"Ok. Joseph is here as well you know."

'How many people does he have?" Sarah enquired.

"Only about fifty left. He was ambushed from inside castle the day after they captured you," answered Eric.

"There are about five hundred and fifty of us then, your all in the LAM now. Can you shrink equipment? I can do people but I haven't mastered objects yet," Sarah asked.

"Yes, Joseph and I are dab hands at that." Eric replied.

"Get all the equipment and shrink it into my blue rucksack and make my rucksack the size of this," handing Eric a small crystal. "Teleport the spare camp to the warehouse at Mole Miner's City, if everything goes wrong we'll need a back up plan. Is there any way of replicating these glasses? We are vulnerable until we get some more. We need to do this really fast before they know I'm gone and while the army is out of the city," Sarah said.

"I'll look into this right away and get the equipment sorted," Eric said.

Eric was gone for five minutes and he came back slightly out of breath.

"Everything is being done as requested. Only twelve sets of glasses though, we haven't got enough metal here for any more," Eric replied.

"That was quick Eric."

"Well the right person is doing the right job. You're in charge of the army and this is war. I am an SS officer and proud off it, so is Joseph. God put you in charge of the war, Goddess Sarah," Eric said.

Thank you Eric, Sarah will be good enough thank you. Gail, go with Eric and enchant the glasses please and Gail, thank you, you're very talented," Sarah said.

An hour passed very quickly Sarah was eating yet another roast dinner as she had missed eating for two days and had two cups of tea lined up. Eric came into the lounge and passed her the glasses.

"I have tested them all, they work fine. Who gets them then?" Eric sounded belligerent, as if he wanted to fight.

"You, Joseph, Kerry, Ronnie, Gary jnr, Catherine, Colleen, Pete, Gail, Charlotte jnr, Penny, Paul and me. This crystal will heal most of the city at once. All we need to do is take out the bad guys and secure it. I think we should place this crystal on top of the middle parapet. That will heal the city I think and hope. Secondly we need to secure the manufacturing areas in the confusion and get working on some glasses straight away. I will need your guidance to get there and then it will be up to us to make the area ours. So grab, say, six shields each and four machine guns and put them in this box. They should buy us enough time to enlarge everything else."

"There is a large workshop with many workers in it just here," Eric showed her on the hologramatic map, "Capture that and we will have supplies and workers. There are bars on the windows but you could fly down from the main parapet and get into this small storage room on the side of it here,"

"Shall we make it up after that then? It's more fun," Sarah said, not used to having every step planned out.

"Well you can, you have a soul. I will do as I am told," Eric said smiling.

Sarah organized the shrinking and, storing the shrunken LAM in boxes like little toys to be played with later, put them in her tiny bag.

Sarah transformed into a Robin, picked the LAM up in her talons and flew into the air. She soon saw the wizard army approaching their camp and turned into a Peregrine Falcon to pick up speed towards the city. Soon she landed on a large tall tree overlooking the path up to the city. Her opportunity soon presented itself in the form of a food cart making its way to the city from the village. She transformed into a Robin again and scampered under the canvas. A bumpy thirty minutes later they were under the City shield and Sarah was on the parapet where she needed to place the healing crystal. She hadn't anticipated the strength of the wind and flew round the parapet twice before she found abandoned pigeon nest inside the loft space. She placed the crystal in it and turned it on. Sarah flew from the parapet and landed on a window ledge looking into the workshop that Eric had shown her on his map. She fluttered to the next window along and looked in. Bingo! It was the storeroom. Slipping inside Sarah returned to human form before taking out a tin and turning Eric back into a hedgehog. Eric resized the equipment and putting on the glasses they took a quick peek out of the door. It was working! The healing had cured the tampered souls. She wasn't sure the enchantment would do it as well as she could. She looked around for the Gips and saw there were two, busy trying to tamper with the workers souls.

"You get the doors with shields and I'll get the bad guys," Sarah said.

"Ok," Eric said teleporting around the room like a whirlwind.

Sarah fired a huge plasma ball and knocked one Gips out cold. The other one was teleporting around so fast she had trouble keeping up. Eric walked over slowly carefully drawing his sword and chopped the creatures head from its hunched shoulders, making it visible to everyone in the room. The Gips was a light grey colour. The blood liquid oozing from its body was black and smelt awful. There was still little definition in the Gips even without glasses.

A collective gasp of bewilderment came from the workers in the room.

"Eric, explain what's going on. I'll resize everyone," Sarah commanded, as she opened the tins in order and got everyone out safely. She took time out to look around the workshop. The room was enormous as it undertook every kind of job, large and small. The workers were soon making glasses for the entire party with the monkey's supervision.

"How long before we get company do you think Eric?" Sarah asked.

"It will be a while, one or two hours. No-one comes down here," Eric replied.

"What's the best way to evacuate the civilians from the castle?" Sarah obviously had a plan.

"Attack alarm, it hasn't been sounded for years but it does clear the city. They will be back to their kingdoms in minutes," Joseph said.

"Where is it? Can we teleport there?" Sarah asked.

"The control room. It has ten guards and yes we can," Joseph replied.

"Gary jnr, Eric and Ronnie come with me please. Ronnie, put up your cloak and keep it up," Sarah said, organising them all, "Eric, you teleport us there. I shoot first. No-one else does, understand?

They teleported into a large room full of wizards who were searching the screens, trying to work out what had happened to them. There were four creatures in the room trying to regain control of them. Sarah made like a flea and dealt with them very quickly before put her shield up and returning to human. The wizards turned around pointing their weapons at her.

"I have come here to explain what's happening to you. Now please listen," Sarah said.

"Who are you?" a wizard asked.

"You know who I am," Eric stepped forward, recognizing the wizard as Brian, an old former colleague.

Eric explained what was happening and showed them the glasses and the Gips behind them. They stood down and listened to Sarah.

"We need to evacuate the city of all civilians as soon as possible. Activate the attack alarm. Does the city have one those healing mechanisms the camp had?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, it covers all areas," Eric replied.

"Activate it," Sarah commanded.

"How many wizards are here at the moment?" Sarah asked.

"About one hundred we think," said Brian foxily.

"Can we get them in the dungeon, let's say for their own safety, while we clear the castle and city ground of these creatures?" Sarah asked.

"We could, but it is difficult to do without raising suspicion if we are being watched," answered Brian.

"Teleport back to the workshop and get two portable shields and some more glasses if there is any ready Eric," Sarah asked.

Sarah looked at the CCTV screens; there were creatures everywhere in the city. She viewed Joseph's chambers and saw the council members clearly talking to the Gips as if they could see them. Eric arrived back with the shields and three pairs of glasses. Sarah set the shields up and gave three of the wizards' a pair of glasses each. They were shocked at what they saw. While their attention was held by watching the creatures on CCTV however two creatures teleported in and killed two of the wizards instantly. Eric and Ronnie knocked them out with plasma balls.

"They are on to us," Sarah said, startled, "I thought we'd have a little longer."

"They have started killing now Sarah. This means they will hold the wizard army to ransom," Eric said.

"Let's just take this castle first," Sarah said, putting her hands on the two wizards to try and resurrect them. She wasn't strong enough for resurrection. "Hold this room guys. I am going to the workshop," she said, teleporting out.

Sarah went back to the workshop and walked straight into a fire fight. She was forced to duck down to avoid several plasma balls. Three Gips had teleported in and caused havoc. They were all dead now. Lethal force had been used against them when they killed a worker.

"How's it going?" Sarah asked.

"We're making a pair of glasses every 3 minutes but this will take us, good twelve hours to kit everyone out. Their army will be here in about four hours, maybe less if these Gips are on the ball," Joseph said.

"Ok let's go chop off their head. Joseph, Catherine, Pete, Kerry come with me, we're going to the chambers to take on the council. Grab two wizard machine guns," Sarah said.

"Just a minute," Catherine said, carefully putting her fairies in the store room out of the way.

"Have we tried the fairy grenades against the Gips yet?" said Pete grabbing some.

"No," Sarah said.

Everyone picked a few up and ran into the next room. Pete had pushed a grenade just before entering which went off when they arrived, knocking two guards out and choking two Gips. Pete and Catherine killed the Gips with plasma balls.

"Well the fairy grenades have some affect on them," Pete said, delighted his idea worked.

"Are you ready?" Sarah said, poised at the door to the chambers.

She opened the door and a barrage of plasma balls knocked them back onto the floor. They threw a grenade in each and listened. It was silent. The door opened from behind them and they found themselves targeted by plasma balls, from both sides this time. Pete and Catherine set up the machine guns and threw some more grenades. No-one could see anything because of the amount of flames in the room; everyone was hugging the sides of the room to keep out of the fire. Suddenly the plasma balls stopped and the silence returned. They peered into the room and saw five dead Gips in there but no wizards.

"They must have teleported out to somewhere else in the castle," Sarah said.

Joseph went into the restricted section and saw it had been emptied out completely. There wasn't as much as a scrap of parchment left.

"It's worse than we think. They have taken every object banned in the last millennia. Half of them are more dangerous than you Sarah," Joseph said.

"Wait here," Sarah replied.

She teleported back control room and saw the creatures were regrouping and reforming at the armoury. There was no sign of the council members.

"They have killed the guards and are emptying the armoury. I don't know where they are taking the weapons." She reported breathlessly to Eric.

"They are killing the guards throughout the castles and just teleporting in and out really quickly," Eric explained.

"There are just too many of them to take on until we get enough glasses made," said Sarah, "but I have an idea."

She teleported to the workshop, grabbed a pair of glasses and teleported back to the office.

"Could we get the mole miners to make some of these glasses? How long would it take Joseph?"

"I can write a note and post the glasses. Don't know how long it would take. They are usually quicker than the workshop," Joseph said.

Joseph wrote a desperate letter to Albert explaining the situation and put the letter in the box with the glasses.

"Where will they come when they arrive?" Sarah asked.

"The armoury," Joseph said.

"Come with me," Sarah said, holding out her hands.

The group teleported into the control room again. Sarah looked at the screens to see what was happening now.

'They have cleaned out the armoury and have found a breach in the shield which lets them teleport the weapons away. They've left a sizable force behind in defendable positions, protecting the creations room next to the armoury," Eric said.

"What is the creations room exactly, not like Gods cabinet surely?" Sarah asked.

"No, not exactly, but there are element of that. People with souls are employed to create in there and it is where some of our best inventions come from, like automatic healing and kettles that boil instantly," Eric explained.

"Can we teleport into the armoury without getting spotted? We need to secure it for a delivery of glasses," Sarah said.

"Yes no problem," Eric said.

"I will be back in one minute," Sarah said, returning to the workshop.

She had landed in a fire fight again. Two Gips were attempting to kill off the workers one at a time. She dropped the two Gips in an instant as they didn't see her teleport in. She looked around the room and found Gail.

"You feeling creative today Gail?" Sarah asked.

"I'm always feeling creative," she said, launching a plasma ball at a teleporting Gips, smacking it on it head and knocking it out.

Sarah led her over to the crystals piled in the corner and the heap of enchantment metal.

"I want something simple to stop these things teleporting whenever they feel like it," Sarah said, searching the crystals for big blue one.

"I need something as well, a safe working environment. Send Gary jnr back. He's a better shot," Gail commanded.

"Ok but don't activate the teleport inhibitor until I say," Sarah teleported back and forth and returned with Gary, who sat with two plasma balls in the air, ready to take out any creatures who appeared.

Sarah took some more shields and teleported to the entrance of the courtyard where she had twice been held captive. She walked over to the magic box, opened it and took out the gun and two shields she had left on her escape before returning to the control room.

"Go and see if we have a reply from Albert, please Joseph. What's happening Eric?" said Sarah.

"Nothing. They are just waiting, guarding the entrance," Eric said.

'Is there any way out of the creations room once you are in there?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, there are servant's entrances and a main testing yard entrance on the other side. They are all covered, look at this CCTV. The city itself is clear of Gips now. They are gathered in and around the Creations Room only," Eric replied.

Joseph reported back holding a note that read 'Ten minutes for the first hundred and one hundred every ten minutes after that.'

"We have an armoury to capture, gentlemen," Sarah teleported all the occupants of the control room to the armory with the exception of Ronnie. He was to remain invisible and watch over the control room with a wizard machine gun until Gary got up there and worked his magic. They set shields up and started teleporting glasses over for Gail to enchant. Gail had already designed a teleport inhibitor and was busy enchanting the glasses.

Eric gave the glasses out to everyone who could fight or was needed, including two dragons that were fully kitted up in amour. They were causing a scene as there was no room for them and the courtyard had to be opened to allow some room.

"How many troops do we have equipped now?" Sarah asked Eric.

"About a hundred and fifty," Eric replied.

"That's enough to attack. Take the wizards and Tala bunnies to the armoury. Catherine and I will attack from the courtyard side with the two dragons. I'll take Gary and Gail to the control room first and leave them instructions to activate the teleport inhibitor when you are in position and tannoy us the go ahead when she has done it.

When Sarah arrived in the control room with Gail and Gary they carefully watched the screens to see when Eric had finished teleporting. Sarah teleported back to Catharine where they mounted the two armored dragons and took off, circling around to find the entrance they needed. Near the armoury a fierce battle was raging: wizard machine guns were going full pelt at the creatures who were blasting back with the plasma cannon that was sat in the entrance of the room. The Gips had shields which they had stolen from the armoury. It was a stand off and neither side was budging. The fire fight had been going full blast for fifteen minutes.

Sarah and Catharine weren't faring any better. They had found the entrance to the room from the court yard, and they were dodging heavy fire from two well placed plasma cannons below.

Their friends in the workshop heard what was happening as a team of eleven workers, including the monkey, started working on a new gun.

This was single shot rabbit gun Gail thought, for the use of the Tala bunnies only. It came with its own inbuilt shield, teleport compensator/ inhibitor, healing, and fairy grenade launcher. It was mounted on a small tripod at the balance point of the weapon to pick up the recoil. She had been working on it for a while but hadn't had the resources to build it, it was simple and effective. Gail finished assembling in ten minutes then enchanted the weapon. She kitted up and wrapped a big scarf around her head with a symbol of boxing bunny on. It looked very similar to a turban but she had to protect her ears from the noise. Gail clipped a few grenades to her belt, turned the shield on and turned the teleport compensator on. She was enjoying this as she was always in the background doing something important for everyone else and didn't usually get to vent any anger.

"Gail, we need you in a minute to enchant some glasses," The Professor called.

"This won't take a minute," she answered, pressing the teleport button.

She teleported into the armoury and walked out into the centre of the fire fight. The fight went quiet for just a

moment. All eyes were fixed on her, intrigued to see what she did next. They had stopped fighting in surprise.

"Silence!" she screamed at the creatures in her loudest voice.

Everyone was still looking at her.

"I am a fair bunny, a just bunny, so I will give one chance to surrender before I blow your atoms all over the walls. So what do you say?" Gail screeched.

The Gips open fire on her.

"Thought so," she said, pulling the trigger on the main weapon. The shield went, the plasma cannon went and on the second pull of the trigger the door exploded, with shards of wood flying in all directions. Gail transported to the court yard that she had seen on the CCTV earlier. Sarah and Catharine had destroyed one cannon between them. Gail pointed the gun, fired twice and took the door of its hinges. A hail of plasma balls came out of the room but she fired the fairy grenade launcher continually until it stopped and then she fired the main weapon again.

"That should soften them up a bit for you! I've glasses to enchant, see you in a bit," Gail teleported back to the workshop.

Sarah and Catharine were pleasantly shocked. The creations room was equally as large as the workshop. There was large shield dividing the room in half with the creatures and the council wizard on the far side working and ignoring Sarah and her troops coming in. Sarah and the Tala bunnies set the shields up ready for a fight but the two hundred or Gips moved in closer to whatever the wizards were working on and then vanished. Not teleported, their just disappeared and their shield dropped as they left.

"No one move. They may have transformed into small Gips," Sarah warned.

Everyone started looking at their feet and saw nothing. Sarah transformed across the floor checking the way as she went and found nothing. She reverted to human and went to see what they had been doing. Joseph came as well and recognized the equipment. It was a one way transportation device, presumably taken from the restricted section. They were used for smuggling before the city allowed trading.

"What is all this? They must have been working on something important not to fight us," Joseph said.

"Yeah, this is similar to the equipment we saw at the Mole Mines City," Sarah said.

"We'd best be ready. We'll have an army arriving in an hour or so," Joseph said.

"I'm going to do some looking around outside to see where they are and what they are up to. Get everybody tooled up and ready to fight and test this new teleport inhibitor for weaknesses. Ask Gail if she can make me something to teleport through the inhibitor, she appears to be able to. How do I get out please?" asked Sarah.

"I will let you out the front," Joseph said.

Joseph let her out of the city and she turned into an eagle and soared high into the sky.

Chapter23 -Chapter The Ruling Bodies

Sarah enjoyed flying. Although she was looking to see how far away the wizard army was it was still wonderfully relaxing. She circled around the island for a while and with no army in sight, went in search of them.

She was looking for the army of nine hundred or so that they all expected to attack them and she couldn't find it. She did spot a large fire near their previous camp and went to have a look. She had found the missing army. They were all dead, weapons gone. Just dead bodies everywhere: it looked as if they had killed themselves. She flew down, landed near a dead wizard and tried resurrecting him but it didn't work. She tried several other wizards with no joy. The portable camp was still there and intact. She left Buttercup Field and the carnage below, flew up into the air across Bough, searching for any signs of the creatures. There were none at Bough but she could see magic herb plants fighting and went in for a closer look. She perched on a tree and watched two battling plant armies that were competing. The Ghump tribe were running around with white flags and stretchers collecting dead plants. There was even one writing the plants personality down as this helped with the disposal. Apparently the personality affects the smoke. A plant scuttled past her.

"What you fighting over?" Sarah asked politely.

"You see the purple headed plants? They are blasphemers and are saying our lord and creator, The Divine Pete, is a murderer and is not a God at all. We are on a holy crusade to wipe them from existence. We are the Presitearian Orange Tops which is a bit of a mouthful, so you can just call us POT" the plant said, turning to engage a purple headed plant.

Sarah was completely taken aback. She hadn't been expecting that response and then remembered what she supposed to be doing. She flew quickly back to the castle and was let in by Eric.

"Stand down. There's no army coming. They're all dead." Sarah said solemnly.

"Dead?" Eric said, shocked at the news.

"Yes dead, all of them. I can't see any of the Gips out there which means they're underground and that the moles may be in trouble again," said Sarah, worried now about Albert, "I need a meeting in ten minutes up in Joseph's chambers with you Joseph, the Tala bunnies, Catherine and Marcus please. Where do I get a cup of tea from around here?"

"Follow me," Eric said.

Sarah followed Eric through a maze of doors and corridors which all looked the same to her. Eventually she found she was in the canteen where she had once been a flea. She found the fridge which produced a large mug of tea and a chocolate fudge brownie to her delight. Sarah followed Eric up to Joseph's chambers and sat at the head of a rather battered table. She sat for a while, just stuffing her face and sipping her tea and wondering what the creatures might be up to. She suspected that it was to do with the soul. Everybody arrived and sat down looking tired and exhausted.

"Well it appears on face value that we have won and the SS is back where it is supposed to be. The Gips have disappeared," Sarah said.

"They must have some kind of plan; they're up to something," Eric said.

"Yes but what could be worth so many lives? That's the entire old SS wiped out, one thousand wizards gone and no trace of the Gips. They didn't want to fight us or keep the city. You worked with these wizards! You must know," Sarah said, in a bit of a frustrated rant.

The group looked completely blank. They had no answers to give her.

"Ok, I have a theory and it is only that. These Gips want an upgraded soul or a human soul; something to do with the soul, and Moldavite domination. All the clues lead to it." She said, hoping someone would give her a clue.

I think that the mole miners may be their next target if the creatures didn't finish their work here. We could just post the miners a letter and check if everything is ok," Joseph said. "But how do we find the Gips? It was sheer dumb luck last time," he continued.

"We could ask them," interrupted Gail.

"Ask them how? Ask who?" questioned Sarah.

"Prisoners, we have prisoners don't we?" Gail answered, passing Sarah the teleport compensator.

"Ask the Professor to make contact with the prisoners, she's the only one with the right powers and let's see what happens. Go with her Eric, she isn't too good at the magic stuff," Joseph ordered.

"I knew I was missing something, I tried to resurrect the dead wizards earlier and I am supposed to be able to do that. Why didn't that happen? Can we check dead people's souls? Where do they go? I know the mole miners use them," Sarah broke in.

"Don't know, we could check you out if you want. There are plenty of dead wizards out there to practice on if you fancy another go?" Joseph said.

"Yes test me again. I'll see if I can get hold of Albert," Sarah said.

Sarah and Joseph went the area where she had been inducted and Joseph set a slightly different machine up.

Ok, put your hands here, head in the hole.

"Hello Sarah Baker, your test results will be with you shortly" the machine said;

"Level 5 god," a piece of paper offered.

"Computer: define level 5 god," Sarah requested

Level five god capabilities: - resurrection of the dead, 20000 year life span,

Level 12 transmorphic,

Level 12 plasma ball,

Level 12 healing,

Level 12 shield,

Level 10 teleport,

Level 4 telekinetic,

Level 5 lightening bolts,

Level 5 fire balls.

"Computer: define raising the dead and how would I do it," asked Sarah.

"You are capable of reanimation of corpses up to a week after death. Just use a love emotion as you would for example; healing," the computer responded.

"Computer why would I not be able to reanimate a corpse?" requested Sarah.

"Unknown." responded the computer.

Sarah checked out how to activate the other powers that she didn't know she had and headed off to find a corpse. She tried five reanimations on wizards with no success but on the six one the wizard came back to life. He was fine; a little shocked but alive. She went round the entire city and only found five out of a hundred who could be brought back to life. Sarah headed back to Josephs' chambers to see if there had been any word from Albert. There wasn't any word from him at all, which was strange because he had just made the glasses for them.

The Professor came into the chambers. She looked awful, tired and drained and her eyes looked as if she had seen horrors that that tainted her very soul.

"Are you ok?" Sarah asked.

'That was horrible. I know I was in control and that but it was awful, just awful," the Professor said.

"The Gips all killed themselves, and each other, once she had made contact with the first one," Eric said.

"They are linked to each other but there is one evil thing that I couldn't control. It was in the distance. I was linked to one wizard briefly and I could sense the other Gips near him as well. They looked at me as if I were food or cattle; they were drooling over me like a tasty burger or something. I know there are thousands of them out there," explained the Professor.

"They're feeding on the souls. I think that's why I couldn't resurrect most of the wizards," Sarah said with understanding dawning. Thomas the owl teleported in at that moment with a letter.

"I thought we had a teleport inhibitor activated," Sarah said.

"God gave me an upgrade on the one Gail made for you and said I would need it. I didn't want it, could have just knocked. This is what you get for intergalactic herb trafficking! Anyway, here's your post," Thomas said.

He dropped a letter marked Goddess Sarah, Ruler of the Lost Wood Kingdom.

"I've been upgraded. I am the ruler of the Lost Wood Kingdom," Sarah said sarcastically, looking at the front of the letter.

"Congratulations! You're the first you know, great honour that is," Eric said.

They were all shaking her hand as the lost wood had always been looked after by the SS before which had left them a little thin on the ground. She opened the letter:

You, the Goddess Sarah, are hereby appointed the ruler of the Lost Wood Kingdom. Please teleport with Thomas and help Albert as he is under attack. Ps give these seeds to Pete. I have been working on new strains. He will know what to do with them.

God.

The letters flew from the page, circled around and went into her chest.

"Ok Thomas lets go to the workshop. I need some dragons and a young bunny named Gail," Sarah said.

Sarah and Thomas teleported to the workshop below where they found Gail and two fully armoured dragons. Gail was tooled up and was ready to go in five minutes. Sarah checked the dragons were able to fit in the cavern. They were going to teleport to the caverns with Thomas who said there was plenty of room. They mounted the dragons and prepared to teleport.

"Right Gail, here is an extra shield. They break if there are too many plasma balls thrown at them. I am not sure what we're going into but I want you to cause a distraction while I do the rescue," Sarah explained.

A moment later they teleported to an enormous cavern at least three times the size of the last Mole Miners City, it went on for two miles or so. There were glistening stalactites and stalagmites growing from the ceiling and floor. She could see at least two hundred Gips battering at the two shields left behind the last time they were there. The moles huddled in the corner, scared and shaking. Gail let rip with her fairy launcher and stunned fifty or so Gips. She teleported in close and went for her main weapon, creating craters and dead bodies as she went. Return fire focused in on Gail until her dragon, Herbert, came in and fireballed the enemy along with Marcus. There was an influx of Gips teleporting in. Sarah teleported the majority of the moles to safety and returned with Eric and Catherine, all with the light of battle shining from their eyes. Sarah had lost Gail in the intense fire and the dragons were now taking a battering. Gail had teleported onto her dragon and was firing as fast as she could with the fairy grenade launcher to give Sarah some respite from the fire. She couldn't see anything through the fire and plasma balls. Herbert dragon fell to the ground with a cry and Gail was forced to teleport onto Marcus. She turned her backup shield on and went in full force with her main weapon until, with Marcus wounded, she teleported them both to the workshop. Leaving a severely damaged Marcus to be healed Gail grabbed more shields and went straight back into the fight. The others were now down to one shield but Gail soon set another one up. She hadn't been able to turn the teleport inhibitors on as this would limit the numbers that Sarah and the rest could move. There was nothing really to shoot at now as their shield would go with this intensity of fire in a matter of minutes. She could hardly see through the barrage but peering blearily spotted Sarah teleporting the last of the moles out of the cavern.

"Is that it then?" Gail asked worriedly.

"Yes, you get out of here," Sarah answered.

They arrived back at the workshop and Gail took a deep breath. She took her gun to the monkey for repairs and modifications and searched the crystal pile for something nice.

"I'll be back in a minute," Sarah told her, teleporting back to the cavern. Sarah had transformed into a nice small insect but her soul must have lit up like a Christmas tree and spotted her in a second but not before she had teleported Herbert the fallen dragon back to the workshop for healing. This time Sarah took Ronnie to the cavern. Ronnie's invisibility shield was working and they were able to do some research. She watched the creatures and saw they were working hard, mining gems and collecting mole equipment before teleporting it out somewhere. Sarah was looking for the head, the person in charge or one of those council wizards. They must have a base somewhere she thought. But there were thousands of tunnels. She remembered the crystal ball and thought she might have a go at finding them using that.

Back at the workshop the first person she saw was Albert. Albert was, as usual, staring into chests. He appeared calm and his cheerful smile and silky fur didn't shows any signs that he had been under attack with the rest of his kind less than an hour ago.

"Hi Albert, you ok?"

"Yes I am fine, thanks to you," Albert said smiling fondly at her chest.

"Ok. What is it that you see in my chest that's so amusing Albert? I have had two letters fly into this chest and I'm really annoyed that I have no idea what he has done to me," Sarah's free will spoke up.

"Nothing bad, upgrades mainly against these creatures. Shall we go and have a cup of tea? I can answer your questions but it's too busy in here, though it is a very nice workshop," Albert said, knowing that tea was the key with Sarah.

Sarah happily led the way to the canteen before going on to Joseph chambers.

Joseph's rooms had been redecorated. To the front a long table had been placed, to the right was a new wooden desk covered with lovely green leather. There were two ink wells with quills laid neatly at their side. It looked very official she thought.

"Sorry for interrupting," Sarah had just walked into a roomful of dignitaries, or so it seemed.

"No, it's fine. This is the Goddess Sarah, first ruler of the Lost Wood Kingdom and also leader of God's LAM," Joseph said, introducing her by her formal title.

The room applauded and welcomed her.

"Please take a seat." Joseph offered. Sarah sat down but Albert paced around the room looking at chests intensely and then looking back at Sarah.

"These are the leaders of the twelve kingdoms; this is the god Zeus, mythical ruler, this is the Devils Advocate, Jia of Devils Island, Gabriel: Heavens representative, Prince Mark from the Fairytale Kingdom, Thor: Norse Mythology, the Goddess Shelia from the Gods Kingdom, King Rex from the dinosaur kingdom, Helen from the Witch and Wizard Kingdoms, Edward from the Dragon Kingdom, Jane representing the humans and Elizabeth from the extinct creature/water kingdom," Joseph walked around introducing everyone in turn.

"Do I have to have that mole snooping around me?" Elizabeth complained.

Elizabeth was a young woman with perfect features and long black hair curled into ringlets with blue and red bows neatly holding them into decorative positions. Her hair alone must have taken hours to do; Sarah also noticed her fine clothing and the attention to detail on the embroidered dress she was wearing. She wanted her tailor and the time to pamper herself.

"Yes. He is my personal aide and bodyguard," Sarah said. It was an awful lie; what did she need a bodyguard for anyway?

"We're here to discuss the recent evacuation of the city and to decide when it is safe to reopen it. I have explained what's happened to the leaders of the kingdoms and how the SS is doing everything it can to resolve the issues such as soul tampering and reopening the city as soon as possible. Who would like to start?" Joseph said. The meeting was wearing thin as Sarah wanted to have a long conversation with Albert about what was happening.

"I would," Sarah said.

Everyone looked a little shocked as it wasn't thought polite for new beings to take the lead.

"We have an unknown force of Gips that are eating and controlling souls. They have killed a thousand wizards in my kingdom alone; I don't know where they are based, it could be in any one of our kingdoms. I suggest we pool our resources to check to see if the Gips are living in any other kingdoms or if they're controlling creatures elsewhere. My letter from God commanded me to Rid Moldavite of all evil, not just the Lost Kingdom. I can only assume that he meant everywhere. We have glasses that can help us detect the Gips and you are welcome to order some from the workshop. We also have the problem that the mole miners are not making souls and we need to recapture their mine and get them back to work as soon as possible," Sarah said.

"Well, you do seem to be having a few difficulties. That's probably because you are new to the job but I assure you there are no creatures eating souls in my kingdom," the Goddess Sheila explained arrogantly.

A rousing cheer came from around the table at this point.

"All those in favour of reopening up the city up say Aye," shouted Jia, the Devils Advocate.

Aye came up from around the table.

"Motioned carried," Joseph said.

"If you will excuse me, I have evil to attend to," Sarah said with all the dignity she could muster. She was tired, she had been shot at, carried an entire army in her claws, helped liberate a city, rescued the moles and fought the mysterious but evil creatures but they had all just ignored her, and even worse, patronized her!

"You have been given chambers on the top floor of this parapet Goddess, your belongings are also up there," Joseph said.

Sarah was still really annoyed that no-one seemed be listening to her and that they all seemed to be on little power trips. She left the room with a chilly goodbye and went with Albert to her quarters. She had been given the most beautiful quarters anyone could wish for with the most up to date equipment. She had to look around for a minute and even found a wardrobe with uniforms in it. 1st Battalion Salvage Service Army was written on the side. She noticed her crystal ball had been returned and her blue ruck sack and books were on the table. She immediately ordered two teas from the fridge.

"Albert what do you know about these creatures?"

"Well, very little. They don't appear to have a soul, its sort of missing. There is a place for it but nothing is there. I can see the creatures with my glasses on but it's the first time I have encountered them. They came into the camp and I got all my people into the shield. Once they realised we could see them they tried to kill us."

"What would they want with your tools and crystals? They had similar equipment here. I'll show you tomorrow after you've had a rest. They appear to take the souls out of people and the Professor said she thinks they are eating them. I tried to raise some dead wizards. It didn't work and it should have" Sarah said reflectively.

"It is quite possible to take souls out but I not sure how anyone could have done it and the person survive. As for eating it, anything is possible. We must get back to making souls as soon as possible," Albert said.

"Could you make them downstairs in the workshops if you needed to, for a while?" Sarah asked.

"We could make them and write the destiny in later I suppose, but only for a couple of days. We need the print out to write the destiny in you see. Eventually we would run out of crystals and dying souls," Albert said.

"So where do you get the dying souls from?" Sarah asked, intrigued, "I thought they lived for ever."

"They do but when a soul has experienced everything it can and has been around for millennia it dies. I get them delivered from the Soul Man. The Soul Man is another one of God's employees; he collects souls for recycling and we use as many as we can. Fresh ones are always in great demand as God wants to write his destiny in and likes to fight the free will to see what will happen. Divine entertainment we call it."

"The Soul Man sounds like death to me. So how do I get hold of the Soul Man? I would like to see if any souls have gone missing recently," Sarah said.

"You don't get hold of him; he just pops up now and then. He knows when you need souls and drops by.

"Well he owes me about ninety five souls I would say. I tried to resurrect ninety five people and I didn't get them so I think I should put out a warrant for his arrest and see if that gets his attention," Sarah spoke optimistically.

"Original idea! Should work I think," Albert said.

"I'll get to work on your city straight away Albert. Incidentally, what kingdom is your new city located in? I don't want to step on anyone's toes," Sarah questioned.

"The Gods Kingdom," Albert replied.

Albert left to find the rest of his people. Sarah settled down for the evening and had a good nights sleep for the first time in days|.

Chapter 24 -The Soul Man

Sarah awoke late the next morning feeling refreshed and able to think. Her head had been swirling before from the barrage of questions that she had been trying to decipher and had hurt a lot.

She showered, dressed herself and ate a marvelous breakfast of eggs benedict with no interruptions or pressures. It was lovely but her mind had already wandered back to the task at hand. She thought that it might be an idea to go see Joseph again without the other kingdom leaders there. When she reached his chambers she knocked this time.

"Come in. Ah Sarah, I hope you didn't find the meeting too taxing yesterday" Joseph went on to explain: "You must remember that these kingdoms have been around for a millennia and this is the best they have ever got on with each other. They are all jealous of you because you've got the kingdom they all wanted. The Lost Wood has effectively been a no mans land for years."

"I wasn't at my best yesterday either. I'd a hard day and I didn't know the ground rules. I do have about a million unanswered questions though and I thought you might give me a few answers. The Mole Miners City is in the Goddess Shelia's kingdom. Isn't it her problem to sort out? There are Gips there, I fought them yesterday," Sarah said, once again beginning to feel aggrieved.

"No. It's your problem to tell her that and also that you have been instructed by God. She dare not argue, trust me," Joseph answered, "You're in charge of God's army and that can go anywhere it's needed,"

"Can I have the files on the six wizards of the council and histories on them all? I need more information to try and make sense of all this. My other problem is I need to find the Soul Man. He collects souls from dead people and I tried to resurrect ninety five wizards yesterday and couldn't. I think it was because their souls had been stolen," Sarah explained.

"I'm already on the case of the council wizards and I've had a copy of their files brought up already. I've been studying them since they booted me out but I didn't have access to these files then. Have a nice read. I'll put a Wanted for Questioning bulletin out for the Soul Man, Moldavite wide."

"Where are Albert and the Goddess Shelia? I need to speak to both of them."

Joseph pressed a button on his desk and David Williams entered the room. He looked worried when he saw Sarah.

"David, I'm assigning you to the Lost Wood Kingdom, primarily at the disposal of the Goddess Sarah. Do you understand? Do as she asks. I don't want to find you as a frog again," Joseph ordered "Good luck."

"Yes Sir and thank you," David agreed.

"David will help you with anything you want now," Joseph told Sarah.

"Thanks Joseph," Sarah left with David.

Joseph had slipped back into his usual SS role; it fitted him like a glove. He seemed a lot different to the Joseph who wasn't a SS officer and she had kind of liked him better before. She asked David to arrange a meeting with Shelia and direct her to Albert, which he did promptly.

"More questions Sarah?" Albert asked.

"Yes, only one really; can you kill a soul? If so how do you do it? It occurred to me that you need part of a dying soul to create a new one. They are using your equipment and very similar equipment here so they must be trying to make souls or upgrades even. I can't explain the missing souls in the wizards I tried to resurrect and the only answer can be that they are trying to make souls."

"That's two questions. Yes, you can kill souls but as everyone knows that will twist your own. There is a complicated transmorphic equation that explains it but you here you go; evil is easier. To kill a soul; that would take a lighting bolt when the soul is out of the body and exposed if I try to explain in your terms," Albert said.

She gave him a big kiss on his smooth furry cheek "Thanks Albert."

"The Goddess Sheila will see you now," David announced.

"Thank you David, what level is the Goddess Shelia?"

"Level 3," David said.

Sheila, like most goddesses, was very much like a prom queen and needed to be treated as such. Shelia had a stunning humanoid figure, beautiful blue eyes and black hair and had reached her current position though the manipulation of people rather than power. Sarah had her own plan for this prom queen.

David led Sarah up to the goddesses' chamber. The layout was identical to her that of her own quarters but the decor was different.

"Good morning Sarah," Sheila greeted her.

"Good morning Sheila. Sorry for disturbing you on such a glorious morning." Sarah apologized.

"What can I help you with?" Sheila asked, sounding rather weary as if seeing Sarah was a huge chore.

"I came to seek permission to enter your kingdom with God's army to secure and protect the Mole Miner's City. I think about two hundred dragons should be enough to protect them."

"But why, my young girl, would you need an army?" Sheila asked.

"With your permission I would like to show you. David, go and get me three portable shields and three sets of glasses," Sarah requested "Tea would be awfully nice as well if you don't mind."

"Of course! Where are my manners?" Sheila exclaimed. She didn't like being wrong footed.

"I must apologize for my discourteous behavior yesterday," Sarah faked an apologetic manner, "I had an awful day, I tried resurrecting one hundred wizards but only five lived. I am not used to failing so badly." she continued, laughing at what she would do next.

David returned with the three shields and three sets of glasses.

"Please allow me," Sarah said, fitting the shields and glasses for everyone.

Sarah touched both of them on the shoulders, teleporting them to the Mole Miners City.

"I didn't think you could teleport out of the city even, let alone into someone's kingdom," Shelia said, sounding offended.

"I can. God sent me to rid Moldavite from evil. That evil." Sarah said pointing at the Gips.

There were about two hundred creatures in front of them, all busily mining. Joseph had given David his pistol back on the terms he only used it on the Gips. He held it in front of him, ready to fight. As he aimed it the creatures spotted them and let rip a barrage of plasma balls. David returned fire and, Sarah noticed with a new found admiration, was a damn fine shot. Sarah decided that this was the time to try out her newly discovered powers and her lightening bolts arced across the cavern floor, destroying the Gips by the dozen. She whipped up fireballs and sent them hurtling into the already decimated ranks of her enemies before teleporting in very close to them. Turning her fireballs into whips, Sarah spun around setting fire to anything and everything. Re-enforcement creatures were teleporting in so she went to flea size and hopped around, killing them one at a time. Returning to the others she switched back to throwing lightning bolts which seemed to be the most effective weapon. But their numbers were growing. There were now thousands of Gips firing at them and their plasma balls were growing in intensity. Sarah retreated with Sarah and David to Sheila's chambers

"Another tea Sarah?" Sheila asked, as if the last few minutes had never happened.

"That would be lovely," Sarah replied courteously, following her lead.

"David, tea?" Shelia asked.

"Yes please," David said, still shaking.

"Please feel free to place as many troops as you think are needed. Are you sure two hundred dragons are enough?" Shelia asked.

"It's all I have, but I'm working on some new weapons, Sarah answered, "I think David could help my armoury this afternoon. Let's see what we can come up with."

The goddesses spent the morning together while Sarah explained the whole story at length. By the end Shelia was a changed goddess.

Later, David and Sarah found Gail in the creations room working on protection shielding for the moles. Sarah noticed that Gail was wearing an SS uniform. An emblem on her sleeve read 'Armoury Expert 1st battalion'. Gail was building something unlike anything that she had ever built before. It was the size of a small car and resembled a giant crown and had twenty large blue diamonds, thirty small ones and a lot of metal in it.

"So what have you made Gail?" Sarah asked, looking with interest at the artifact.

"A new shield, it will be strong enough to withstand an assault from a level 10 god for about 10 minutes, or an army of soul eating creatures indefinitely. This is an improvement on the bunny gun I used yesterday, its got multi fire and auto targeting. It's for use on Gips only. They wouldn't let me make it for anything else, too dangerous they said," Gail explained, "and this is a fairy grenade and this is a super fairy grenade. These guys in here are really good. They keep saying I'm special but they have increased the strength of the dust by a factor of ten! Oh and here are some fresh dust protection bags for the upgraded dust."

"Wow, "said Sarah, impressed, "Get these into production, we're going to need twenty or thirty of everything you've made so far. I'd like you to work with David and see what else you can come up with. Show her the gun you made, David. I'll be away until morning," she continued, "I'm going to see if I can find their hidden liar.

Back in her chambers Sarah found the old map of the tunnels before teleporting to the Fountain of Destiny to start her quest. She teleported high into the sky over the Fountain of Destiny and checked where it was in relation to the map. She repeated the exercise several times in different locations within the tunnels, hoping to understand the scale of the old map but it didn't seem to make any sense. Turning herself into a fairy Sarah decided to take a different approach and headed down a tunnel just to check what was there. You don't have tunnels that go nowhere she thought. There were no creatures or indeed anything else alive this far below Moldavite. The tunnel started to descend even further. The air was warming up as it increased in staleness with darkness consuming the tunnel. Even with the light shining brilliantly from her fairy form Sarah couldn't see own hands when she held them in front of her face. The silence felt full of menace and Sarah was considering whether to teleport back to the surface when she turned a corner and saw the end of the tunnel, leading out to yet another large echoing cavern. In the cavern was a disused mining city. It was very much like the other one with the same disjointed look and door less doorframes. She looked around and found nothing except another set of tunnels that were on an even lower level than the map showed. Promising, she thought picking one at random to explore. She spent the next five hours zooming around tunnels but found nothing. One more tunnel, she thought tiredly. It was the smallest yet longest tunnel she had been in so far. It seemed to go on for miles, ascending and descending, twisting in places to avoid bedrock. Walking her way through her exhaustion Sarah found her feet dragging and tripped over something lying in her path, a bag of some kind. It resembled a giant Santa sack. When she opened it she found a glistening mass she thought must be souls. She looked at the bag carefully and saw it had something written on the side next to a large black button; Property of Soul Man Recycling Inc. Press the return button if found, step back once button is pressed. Sarah checked the rest of the bag and, finding nothing else, gripped the bag tightly and pressed return.

She found that she had teleported and arrived, with the bag still clutched in her hands, in a waiting room which contained a full length counter. The counter was obviously designed to separate customers and employees. She saw a poster on the wall bearing the legend: Be nice to people in this life, you don't know where you will end up in the next." On the counter was a small hand bell labeled 'Ring for Services'. Sarah rang the bell and a ghostly figure came to the counter. Sarah wondered what it was but thought it would be rude to ask. The figure was opaque but had form; a mouth and eyes but no eyeballs. It was able to handle objects. It was floating in mid air and had two arms but no legs.

Nerves sent a chill down Sarah's spine; the figures presence chilled the room to the bone.

"Hello I'm Fred, How may I be of service to you today?"

"What is this place?" Sarah demanded.

"This is the headquarters of Soul Man Recycling Inc."

"Then I would like to speak to the Soul Man please."

"Which one?" the figure asked.

"The one in charge," Sarah replied.

"Who shall I say is calling?"

"The Goddess Sarah, ruler of the Lost Wood Kingdom," Sarah announced herself rather grandly.

The figure typed on his computer.

"You're not due here for another twenty thousand years it says. This is quite out of order. You shouldn't be here. What happened to you and how did you die?" the figure asked.

"I'm not dead. I want to see your boss now. This is the Lost Wood Kingdom isn't it?" Sarah said.

"This is, but you not supposed to be here. This isn't the lost souls department," Fred said adamantly.

"I'm the ruler of this land and in charge of the LAM of God, charged with ridding Moldavite of evil. Now you cooperate with me or I will bring my army down here as well, understand?" Sarah said angrily.

"He won't like it, he will be really annoyed," Fred said.

Fred floated through the door at the back of the waiting room. Sarah could see him knock on a door and heard a muffled voice telling him to enter. There was a moment's silence which was followed by a furious bellowing and screaming. Fred returned to the counter shaking.

"He says go back to the surface, No living allowed here Miss," Fred shook with fear and the temperature dropped even further.

"Ok Fred, I'll go back to the surface," Sarah placed the bag of souls on the front of the counter. She turned into a flea, hopped around the counter and crawled under the door the office she had seen Fred enter. She transformed back to human and looked over the desk where she saw a small mouse wearing a smart green suit and tie. He was holding a little stick in his paw. The mouse had the cute little furry look you get with pet shop mice.

"What is the meaning of this? Get out! You should not be here," the small mouse bellowed at her.

"I need some information," Sarah started only to be interrupted.

"Fred get her out, get her out now," the mouse bellowed.

Sarah turned the mouse into a small snail just as Fred floated in. He looked shocked and the room went deadly quiet.

"Your boss would like you to show me round and cooperate fully with me; I want to see everything," Sarah said smoothly.

"I have always wanted to show someone round, no one ever come down here. This way please," Fred said excitedly, obviously so happy to get this chance he was going to ignore his boss's new shape. Fred's excitement filled the room with warmth and gave Sarah with a an enormous sense of well being

Fred led Sarah through several offices whilst explaining that soul catching was a highly respectable business and took years to master. He explained that there were over twenty thousand soul catchers worldwide and that his section covered the Moldavite kingdom which was monitored by just one Soul Man at the present time.

"This is the main sorting office. The souls are graded here according to their life length, evilness and general wear and tear," Fred said.

The room contained a giant hopper with slots coming from it. The slots had little gates leading on to a conveyer belt, which fed sacks like the soul mans. The machine was turned off and dusty. The room was like a factory, but had many strange machines in it and tools everywhere.

"Its not very busy is it. Have you had much work here lately?"

"No, nothing for months."

"Months you say? There have been a thousand wizards killed up above plus three thousand mole miners and you say you haven't had any business," Sarah puzzled.

"No, not a soul," Fred said looking shocked at this information.

Show me everything down here. Do you have inventory logs, a record of what should be here?

"Yes Miss, right there," Fred said.

Fred showed her around the rest of the premises until they came to three large doors;

"This room contains the fresh souls ready to go to Albert and this one holds the evil ones we weeded out as per God's request. He doesn't like the evil ones anymore since free will and written destiny were introduced. This room holds the dying souls which also go to Albert."

Each door had little glass windows in and Sarah looked in them all, one at a time. She could feel the evil souls which gave her quite a chill down her spine. The recycled souls' room looked full and ready to empty. She peered into the dying soul's room and thought she saw some movement. She tried to open it.

"That's locked miss. Allow me," Fred opened the door and looked around.

"My word! I thought they had fixed that leak last week,"

There was a strange greenish liquid falling from the roof and dripping onto the floor of the room. Fred picked up a bag of broken souls, accidently spilling one into the liquid as he did so.

"Oh it's ruined, look I don't know what it is but it kills dying souls," Fred explained mournfully.

The soul had actually been transformed into one of the Gips and had teleported straight out of the room when it popped into existence.

"You need to move them out of here immediately. I'll send some Salvage Service men to attend to this. Could you send the Soul Man to see me as soon as he turns up please?" Sarah asked.

"Yes of course. What about my boss, Caesar?" Fred enquired.

"We'll sort him out on the way back shall we?" Sarah said.

They returned to the offices where Fred's boss was hiding behind his chair. Sarah turned him back to his usual mouse self.

"Now listen to me very carefully. You have a serious problem here. I think the Soul Man is missing. I tried to resurrect some wizards the other day and it didn't work so you should be missing some souls. I want a complete audit of the souls in this building and I want to know how many are missing. Find the Soul Man and send him to me. You can contact me at the Moldavite city. I'll try and get you some help and protection while I sort this evil business out," Sarah promised.

With the mouse anxiously agreeing to whatever Sarah asked she returned to the waiting room and, picking up the bag of souls she brought in, teleported to the workshop. It was closed for the night. Sarah suddenly released how long she had been in the tunnels and how tired she was. She teleported to her room and ate ravenously. She soon fell asleep in her chair.

Chapter25 -Revenge Of The Tala Bunnies

She was woken the next morning by David who had come to see if she was back. She was stiff from sleeping in the chair but healed the aches and pains that she had gained before grabbing herself a cup of tea and sipped it.

"Are you ok goddess? You've been missing for over two weeks!" a relieved David showed concern for her.

"Really, I thought it only was an afternoon," Sarah said, surprised and suddenly realizing that she couldn't have been in Moldavite as she knew it. Where she had been teleported to was uncertain, some would call it the after life she thought to herself.

Sarah explained to David where she had been and how long she had been away and asked "What's happened while I've been gone?"

"Everyone thought you were dead apart from Albert and me. I've seen you fight and Albert said it wasn't your time yet. Albert is desperate to get working again but has run out of dying souls and nearly out of crystals. We've made lots of weapons, mostly automated, and Catharine and Pete have come up with a plan for recapturing Mole Miner's City," David explained, adding unexpectedly, "There are thirty of your subjects with various petitions outside awaiting audience with you."

"Arrange a meeting with the Tala bunnies and LAM in an hour," Sarah said.

David nodded and continued, "The Tala bunnies have been disbanded and are now integrated into the SS due to the lack of wizards. The Professor has gone on an assignment to the Extinct Creature Kingdom. The Captain is in rehabilitation for his addiction to seering. Most of the fairies are now at work in the gardens of Moldavite. Gary is head of internal security and lives here with Charlotte. Paul's rebuilding his burrow and Silvia has moved back to the Lost Wood and there hasn't been a Gips sighting for over two weeks," David finished, smiling at the last piece of news.

"Thanks David, it's a lot to take in when I was only gone for an afternoon. I'll go and see what my subjects want," Sarah said quietly.

Sarah went through to her chambers and saw a queue of Lost Wood dwellers with various pieces of paper and strange objects in their hands waiting to see her.

Sarah went though their requests, mainly mundane simple request to build taverns or to use the creation room for an hour. One petition was for the criminalisation of the magic herb but it only had a few signatures from seers who had been through rehabilitation. She dismissed it immediately.

Her friends arrived for the meeting and enveloped her in a huge group hug as if they hadn't seen her for ages. Sarah led them into her lounge and offered drinks.

"So what happened?" Catharine said, "You've been missing for weeks."

"I went down into the tunnels in search of the Gips lair. I found the Soul Mans bag but no sign of the lair." Sarah answered, showing them the bag of souls and the teleport button.

"I pressed this button and was teleported with the bag to the HQ of the Soul Man", Sarah said and continued to explain what had happened and what she had discovered.

"Can I have a look?" Albert asked, staring at the souls in the bag.

"Has anyone been down to the city to see if they are still there?" asked Sarah.

"Yes I went down there two days ago, they are still working there. We have an attack plan but we were waiting for you to come back," Catharine said.

"I have a plan as well but I need some help from you Gary and from you as well Gail. I need some sort of electronic/magical tracking device made. I also need this bag replicating and a few souls placing in it. I want to take the city back, secure it and at the same time accidentally leave this bag where someone will take it back to their hideout," Sarah explained, "Hopefully this should lead us to Albert's equipment,".

Catharine told her about their attack plan and then took her to the armoury where they tested the weapons and went through the upgraded bunny guns, fairy grenade launchers and improved shielding for the dragons. The guns could now be mounted on dragon backs and could teleport the dragon too. They were fully automated, leaving the dragons able to move freely. There were some portable guns for human use that were originally designed to be used by wizards, but Joseph had only let them produce a few. They were to be decommissioned after the Gips were destroyed for the sake of safety.

Gail supervised the copying of the bag while Albert took charge of the souls, carefully examining them as he had not seen some of the soul types before, such as the evil ones.

Sarah went for quick pre attack recon to see if the creatures were there and in what numbers. They were definitely still there but only about one hundred of them. She managed to get in and out without being spotted and went up to see Joseph. She knocked on his door and went in.

"I have a little job for you," she said.

"I thought you were dead," said Joseph.

Sarah explained what had happened to her and told him about the greenish liquid that was causing the mess.

"So what do you want me to do exactly?" Joseph offered his services immediately.

"I thought it was your job to clean up messes like this one. It's God's drain that's caused most of this problem. I thought that you'd send some wizards down to maybe clean it up or something."

"Gods drain nearly killed you and Catharine. I haven't got the wizard power at the moment for such a big job but as soon as I get more experienced wizards I will deal with it," Joseph said, "It sounds to me as if we could do with God down there for a bit just to clean up the worst of it. I have never heard of the Soul Man before you told me of him and I haven't had a response to the bulletin I put out. I will however, at their request, give leave of absence to the former Tala bunnies so that Albert can get back to work. We need human souls producing,"

The attack was planned for the next morning, after they had a good nights rest and everyone involved was up early in the morning and ready to go. They assembled in the armoury, collected their weapons and in turn moved into the courtyard next to the workshop.

Firstly there one hundred and seventy dragons to teleport to the mine, start the fight and drop the sack of souls for the creatures to pick up. A force of eight bunnies, ten fairies, Sarah, Pete and David were to track the bag of souls and attack the next position.

The dragons would follow once the mining camp was secure. They had the portable camp Eric had given them to set up and the extra shielding that Gail had designed to allow them to work. The dragon's teleported in on the count of three and a fire fight was in progress almost immediately with the help of the auto firing weapons. Sarah's party teleported in only a few seconds later. They watched the battle rage from beneath Ronnie's cloak. Marcus circled around and dropped the bag as planned. Sarah waited for the bait to be taken, seeing the Gips teleporting in en mass. It didn't take long for them to spot the bag and grab it. Gail had given Sarah a device that would teleport them a few seconds after the bag had been teleported. One of the Gips took the bait and teleported the bag away to its lair. They followed, still hidden under Ronnie's cloak and were transported to a large smooth bored out cavern. It appeared to have been cut from solid rock and had highly polished walls like marble. It was fully enclosed with no entrances or exits. There were blue crystals surrounding the cavern, twinkling beautifully. Albert's equipment stood in the centre of the cavern. It seemed that the wizards were making more Gips. There were thousands of them down there and they were teleporting out.

"Listen up! You need to teleport here, here and here," Sarah said urgently, pointing out the spots, "Then turn on your teleport inhibitors and open fire. Ronnie and I will sneak to the centre, get the equipment, teleport out the destiny machine and come in with dragons to finish off the job.

They did exactly as she had asked and the fight began. The cavern soon became a mass of fire through which it was difficult to see anything. The auto firing guns were the scariest things; Gail had never thought she would be responsible for the mass destruction of a species. The wizards in the centre of the cavern had dropped a large shield over themselves just after Sarah had teleported the machine to the Mole Miner's City, which was now under the control of the dragons. They had surrounded the wizard shield and were firing madly at it but getting nowhere. Catharine was shouting orders to wipe them out wherever, they could but the noise was so deafening that no one could hear her. Rex was clearly controlling a large number of the Gips and focusing their attacks on one bunny at a time. The creatures completely covered Colleens shield until she could no longer be seen through their mass. Colleen morphed into a large bear when her shield went down, They could all hear the pain in her roars as she leapt through the Gips to get to safety behind Gail's shield. She was bleeding heavily from a shoulder wound she had taken from the plasma cannons which had opened up on her as soon as she had changed form. The fairy paired to fight with her was not as lucky. She was torn limb from limb. They saw her body disintegrate, pummeled to oblivion under the punishing attack. The enemy had now focused on Charlotte jnr whose shield was covered as Colleen's had been. Robert had taken off with his bunny gun and was creating quite a stir. He was blasting the Gips away from Charlotte jnr. They all intensified their fire, worried that Charlotte's shields would fail under the vicious onslaught. Ian now walked the edge of his shield and, muttering a spell, threw an object straight at Robert who had proved too fast to catch or shoot. Robert saw the small ring shaped object as he darted around the cavern avoiding the plasma balls. It had missed him but veered back after him and was gaining in speed. Ian threw another two rings in the air which also homed in on Robert. He didn't stand a chance. They were too fast and too many. They hit his shield with a loud bang which shattered it to pieces and then hit the bunny gun he was carrying which sent him diving out of control to the cavern floor. He lay unconscious in a pool of blood. The locust like horde of Gips continued their assault on Charlotte jnr whose shield had only seconds left. She saw the shield flicker ominously but managed to teleport quickly to Penny and double up under her shield with her. Penny's shield was now targeted, covered with Gips attacking en mass, but it was holding longer with two fairies and two bunny guns protecting it. The Gips were taking longer to break through the shielding. The plasma cannons were now directly assaulting Kerry's shield. There were four in total though only two of them could hit her position. She also teleported next to Penny and Charlotte jnr to double up on the shields protection. The plasma cannons would now have to shoot their own to hit them. Ronnie had teleported around the room collecting the injured bunnies and retreated to a corner to heal them but some of the injuries were too serious for him. He would have to wait for Penny or Sarah to help. The shields on Penny's and Charlotte's guns evaporated forcing them to fight hand to hand with the Gips. They were shredding them. Penny sucked the life out of them and Charlotte pulled them apart. They walked back to back across the cavern mutilating the creatures as they fought to get to Kerry shielding. The two fairies had already made it over there but one had been injured by a flying ring. The creatures moved away from them suddenly just as their plasma cannons let rip. They were thrown hard against the cavern wall. Charlotte got up quickly and carried her injured sister under Ronnie's shield.

We need to teleport you to the next cavern. How many of you are still alive?" Sarah asked Marcus

"One hundred and nineteen dragons are still living," Marcus said with a mixture of pride and sorrow. His once shining scaled were dull with fatigue and the dust of the explosions and he was covered with gore.

"Leave twenty here to guard the camp," Sarah ordered.

They teleported back to the lair where they found the situation was grim. Three fairies and four bunnies were down; their guns were out of action. Ronnie had his cloak protectively over them, shielding them from the ceaseless attack. The dragons evened the battle up a little but the odd were against them on numbers. The shields couldn't stand up to the intensity of the fire raining endlessly on them. Marcus swept in, wave after wave of dragons firing from above but Ian had let another twenty or so rings loose. The dragons were finding it hard to shoot them down because they were so small and fast and they were falling victim to the battle, one by one hit by a mixture of plasma rings and harpoons from inside the shielding. The hordes of Gips were slowly decreasing as well, with only five hundred left outside the shielding and the same inside.

Most of the shielding had failed by now but Sarah raised her shield and protected everyone. About twenty dragons were healing themselves behind her shield. There was one bunny gun left, under Gail's supervision.

"Catharine go and get some more shielding, we're in trouble here," Sarah shouted.

Catharine was back in an instant with five portable shields. Everything was happening so fast. There were about five hundred creatures still alive and the cavern was littered with corpses. The remaining Gips were behind an impenetrable shield they had stolen from the restricted section. Catharine set up shielding quickly. Sarah took a portable shield and charged the Gips shield, lashing the side of the shield and striking it continually in the same place try to bring it down. It wasn't working and they looked on in horror as the fire concentrated on Sarah until finally she was gone; her shield failed and she disappeared into the plasma ball abyss. In shock and anger they let rip with everything they had but didn't make a dent.

Gail teleported back to the workshop recycling corner where several of her banned weapons had been placed in readiness to be destroyed. Joseph had deemed them too powerful to be used safely. Gail reloaded a gadget with the crystals that had been removed from it and enchanted them again. She teleported to the Mole Miner's City were she retrieved her rather large shield before returning to the hidden cavern. Gail found most of her comrades dead or nearly dead, their shields disintegrated under the intensity of the fire. Catharine and Pete were still fighting hard with one portable shield left between them and Ronnie's cloak was hiding injured bunnies and a few dragons. Gail was really mad. She put her new shield up and it worked a treat. She walked up to the edge of it and screamed out in a loud voice that echoed around the cavern.

"I am giving you one chance to surrender and then I will blow you all across the cavern," bellowed Gail in the loudest voice she could muster. It fell silent for a minute.

"I am going to eat you for my dinner, little bunny. I like rabbit stew. You will be just as tasty as your little brother Richard mmmmm." The screeching, deeply evil voice of Rex resounded.

"This bunny ain't for eating!" Gail lifted what could be described as a very oversized gun and pulled the trigger. The kick lifted Gail off her feet and sent her slamming into to the cavern wall. There was a huge explosion and the wizard's shields went down immediately. The Gips started dropping by themselves now. Something was killing them but no-one knew how it was happening. Then Tala Bunnies realised that it was Sarah who had shrunk down when her shield failed. She had been trying to get through the wizards shield when Gail had taken it out. The Gips now numbered less than fifty and the Tala Bunnies were taking carefully aimed shots at them, being careful to avoid Sarah who they couldn't see. The wizards were working in pairs to shield themselves. They were powerful and skilled. Despite the massive drop in the numbers of enemy facing them this was not going to be an easy fight. The wizards grabbed at the soul bag and four of them held linked hands together, pressed the button to teleport and were gone. One wizard remained; Britton Matthews. He had a makeshift shield and was skillfully avoiding plasma balls. Sarah transformed back into herself and looked him straight in the eye.

"Give it up and I will let you live," she said.

The wizard, seeing he had lost the battle, teleported away through the inhibitors.

"He's the SS's problem now," Sarah said, "They can surely find one wizard?"

Sarah quickly hurried through the cavern, resurrecting the dead and healing the injured en mass. It was quite a sight to see bodies lift into the air, join together and return to life. She returned life with none of the failures she had experienced before. Nobody had ever seen this before. They returned to the workshop where all the weapons were handed over to the SS to be decommissioned. Joseph came down to congratulate them all.

"That bag worked a treat Gail, those wizards teleported straight into the magic box and will be on trial in about two weeks, after we have given time to repent a little," Joseph said.

"Can we talk to the wizards and see what they were up to?" Sarah asked Joseph.

"Yes sure, let's see what they have to say. Follow me," said Joseph heading up the stairs.

The pair went through the castle and out into the courtyard where the large magic box stood. They looked through a barred window into the box. The wizards seemed to be huddled in a corner playing with the bag that had brought them there.

"They're up to something," Joseph said quietly.

Joseph went to the corridor and shouted "Guards," before taking out his wand and approaching the magic box again cautiously. "Sarah, we haven't disarmed them yet or checked them for banned items," Joseph warned her as ten guards came running out.

"Listen up prisoners! Hand over your weapons and come out peacefully. We are firm, fair and forgiving. You will be treated with dignity and kindness," Joseph was gesturing No with his head to Sarah. He knew that they were going to come out peacefully; they had been wizards and knew the drill. He went to lift the catch on the door but it was stuck. He jolted it and the magic box opened. He pulled the door open slowly. The box sprung open, the lid flew off, the side fell down and the prisoners were gone. Sarah pushed the corridor door shut. She didn't want them trying any more of their tricks. The guards started falling down, choking to death. Sarah quickly shrunk Joseph and herself down to the size of fleas. They looked around trying to see what was killing the guards but saw nothing.

"You think you're the only one who can have power? Do you Sarah Baker?" Robert's voice screeched sinisterly.

Joseph and Sarah looked searchingly around, desperately trying to see where the sound was coming from. The voice appeared to be everywhere. Sarah walked up to Joseph and held his hand. She teleported them to one of the cells, resized them and put her shield up.

"They're gods. You have no chance so wait here" Sarah said, teleporting to the parapet where she had placed the healing crystal. She pulled it out of the metal and put it in her pocket. She teleported back to the courtyard, and put her shield up.

"Now come on lads, four onto one and you're only what, level 1 gods at the best. You might have stood a chance if you were clever but as it is you may as well give up now," Sarah taunted them.

"Level one? You have no idea of the power we have. You can't begin to understand!" the one voice had turned into four screeching voices as if they were talking together.

The plasma ball came from nowhere and sent her flying, breaking a stone water feature in half and putting her on her back in the corner of the courtyard. The wizards still hadn't appeared and she was running out of ideas. Two more heavy strength plasma balls were coming at her so she teleported to the other side of the courtyard. The plasma balls bounced back and hit the wizards who screeched in pain.

"You will pay for that," Robert cried, as a stream of fire bellowed across the top of her shield.

Sarah threw a lightening strike at the spot the fire had come from. It knocked the wizard back onto the floor and he materialized, lying in a pool of blood. She quickly pulled his ring from his finger using her telekinetic powers and put it in her pocket.

"His power wasn't in his ring, you silly little woman, it was in his soul," Ian said, materializing with his hand in the chest of the wounded wizard. Sarah sent a full force plasma ball at him.

"Thanks for the power up," he said stopping her plasma ball mid air and sending it back to her.

"Flea in your ear," Sarah replied.

"What? Haaaaaaaa," He screamed. Sarah had teleported inside his ear and shot a lightening bolt in his head which was shielded. The noise had burst his ear drum and he was rolled around on the floor in pain. She teleported away to the other side of the courtyard and watched. Another wizard came over and drained the life force from him. She couldn't see him but saw the life drain inexplicably from the wizard.

"You can't win you know. You only make us stronger" the voices said, as a lightening bolt struck another wizard who fell to the floor. Sarah saw the last remnants of life sucked out the wizard. The last wizard appeared in front of her with his shield up.

"I'm more powerful than Britton Mathew whose splendid idea this was in the first place. With this much power I don't need an army of soulless creatures to be the most powerful creature in existence," Rex said.

"Power? Is that what all this is about, power? Killing thousands of creatures for power?"

"Once we had created a human soul each, our only desire was to rule and control existence as it should be. We just wanted to exercise our free will."

"Are you telling me you have created a human soul just to rule human kind?"

"You don't understand. God will not interfere with free will. That is the greatest gift you can have."

Sarah thought about this for a moment and still had that feeling that she really should be doing something.

"I am terrible sorry if I spoilt your plans. You may have free will and even alter your destiny. I have one thing to say to you; destiny has way of biting you in the ass."

Sarah took the crystal from her pocket and brought the hugest lightening bolts down on Rex, who was fried instantly.

Sarah let Joseph out and went straight to the canteen where she ordered a bottle of vodka, some ice and fresh lime from the fridge. She poured them both a very hefty drink. Gail came in, grabbed a glass and poured herself a glass as well drink before changing her mind and drinking straight from the bottle.

"On the hard stuff today Gail? What's with the speeches mid battle?" Sarah asked.

"A hero should always give the people chance to surrender," Gail said, surprised at the question.

"You want to tell me why we're having drinks and how you knew there were four gods in the box?" Joseph asked.

"I suspected they were gods because they had been making souls. It takes a level 3 god to do that Albert told me. I knew definitely they were gods, because Catharine killed one of the council, Rex Fox. Someone resurrected him. When I saw him in the cavern I realised what they were up to. It took a while to get it in my head and figure it out. We're sat having drinks because I haven't the urge to go anywhere or do anything, which means I must have fulfilled my destiny, either that or I'm getting old," Sarah smiled into his eyes.

"So what about Britton Mathews? Are you going after him?" gasped Joseph, choking on his vodka.

"Well I thought you were the expert on bringing in level three gods. I have no desire to chase after him; he's probably in existence now or in another kingdom," Sarah said smiling at him again.

Thomas materialized in front of them, carrying two letters which he dropped on the table.

The letters read Mr. Joseph Jones, head of the Salvage Service, Sarah Baker Ruler of the Lost Wood Kingdom.

"I'm not opening it, not until that bottle of vodka is gone," Sarah said. "I'm having a day off.

Chapter 26 -Carters Party

Carter cast off from the Wanderer, the sea tossing the small life craft relentlessly. There was no escaping the violent behavior of the sea. Carter took it head on and rode each wave as if it was his last, fighting on through the waves, riding the weather out. He caught a brief glimpse of the ship, shaking herself to pieces in the fierce waters before eventually disappearing. There was no sign of Captain Marston; he had also disappeared into the sea. Carter thought the captain didn't have a chance, not without a strong crew to help him ride the waves. The weather was calming now, the waves subsiding with it. The crew broke out the emergency rations and started handing them round. They were not home safe yet, not by a long way and they needed to keep their up their strength until they were picked up which could be some time but hopefully not that long. The morning came and the sea flattened and stilled as if nothing had happened, or had ever happened. They could see an island in the far distance and attempted to row there. The current continually swept them out to sea and although they fought hard it was in vain. The lifeboat was carried round the side of the island before being swept out to sea again. They would have to wait for the currents to turn with the next tide. They rested for the next ten hours or so before once again attempting to reach the island when the current changed but with no success. Night fell but cloud covered the sky making it difficult for Carter to pinpoint his position by the stars. He didn't understand why there wasn't a search plane looking for them or a ship or any sort of traffic on the water. There had been at least three ships near their location on the night of the storm. He drifted off into a deep sleep, tired and exhausted from rowing. When he awoke to the sound of the sea lashing the side of the boat it seemed as if there might be another storm approaching. They broke out more rations. It was the last of the food and they only had a day's ration of water left. They would need their energy if that was a storm coming; they wouldn't last long without strength. The storm was blowing from a different direction and taking them back toward the island which was a speck in the distance now. A good row and we'll be there, he thought. The crew worked hard and used every ounce of strength they had to pull through the ocean. The storm was assisting them this time. Carter could now see two islands and headed for the nearest one. They were close to the breakwaters, but were still was a good hundred yards away from the shore. The small boat was tossed about and the crew were struggling to keep control of it. A huge wave hit them, swamping the decks and crushing the timbered sides and suddenly they were over. Their boat capsized and Carter lost sight of his crew members as the ocean wave engulfed them all. When he came to he found himself lying soddenly on a beach within yards of beautiful tropical jungle. He stood up and looked around, seeing nothing but beach and jungle. Carter walked along the coast searching for his crew mates but found nothing. He was tired, exhausted and needed a drink badly. He had reached the far point of the coast when he turned a corner to see a cottage and a man walking toward him.

"Are you ok Mr. Carter?"

"No, I need, a...." Carter said.

"Glass of water. Here you are," the man replied cheerfully, producing a cool clear glass of liquid.

"You found my crew then?" Carter asked.

"No you are the only lucky survivor who made it here" the man said.

"How did you know my name?" Carter asked, puzzled.

"Oh sorry," he said, "I am God."

"Who? Sorry?" Carter asked again, not sure he had heard correctly.

"You know. The Divine one, the one and only all powerful God. Please follow me" said he.

"So I suppose this is heaven then," Carter said disbelievingly, following God into his garden.

"Not quite, this is my home, Moldavite," God said, "Please feel free to help yourself to some fresh fruit from the garden, but not from that tree there. That's forbidden. I will arrange some accommodation and transport for you,"

"There were two life boats. Are the others all dead then?"

"Two life boats, of course," he said and took out a mirror from a small satchel around his waist. He waved his hand across the mirror and brought up images.

"The other life boat landed on Devil Island. I have no say what happens there. Dreadful place, look at what the devil has done to that poor girl, Sarah. She gets there as an emotional wreck, turns into a goddess and is ruling a kingdom. People will buy into any lie these days. She could leave any time she wants. He just tricks them into believing what they want and then captures their souls," God said.

Carter pulled out his pipe, tobacco and a small bottle of rum he kept for emergencies from beneath his survival suit, where he had kept them dry.

"No smoking here, no drinking here. Here's a good book I wrote that should keep you busy until the transport arrives. I must fly, world of prayers to answer," God said and vanished into thin air.

Carter was in shock and sat down for a moment. He looked at book King James The

First Bible. God edition.

