Evan's Quest - Chapters 1 through 9 (August 4, 2000)

By Daniel Burgess

Chapter 1

Evan

"There's one, father!" shouted Evan to Isaac.

"Where? Oh yes, I see it. You can have this one, son!" he replied while slowly walking toward his son, so as not to make a sound.

The afternoon sun was beaming through the tall branches and rays of golden light fell onto the leaf- filled floor.

Evan lifted his wooden bow and placed the arrow onto it. His movements were slow and precise as though he wanted to get every detail correct. The white-feathered end knocked against his arm and the arrow fell to the ground with a loud crunch as it hit the brown leaves. The deer looked around from hearing the sound. Evan and Isaac stood totally still so that the deer did not see them. The deer continued on, having inspected the area. It looked at the ground as though looking for food.

"Never mind, son. Have another try," Isaac whispered over to Evan who was standing about a metre away from him. Upon hearing these words, Evan slowly bent down and picked up the long wooden arrow.

Once again he set up his bow. This time he did it more carefully. He looked down the shaft of the arrow at the helpless deer. He pulled back the tight string as far as it would go until his fingers went numb. When he released, there was a satisfying twang and the arrow flew perfectly through the air.

Evan's heart was beating faster and faster, as it would be his first kill. But the deer jumped with fright and bounded off into the deep forest and the arrow fell to the ground with a tormenting thump.

"It doesn't matter, son. You did well. One day you'll get one," Isaac said reassuringly and put his arm around Evan.

"Anyway, let's go and get some supper before it gets cold."

They both walked off into the woods, toward their home. Evan was down hearted, but he was also hungry.

When they arrived near their home, they picked up the pace a bit as they could smell food.

"That smells nice, doesn't it, son?" Isaac said to Evan as they walked over the hill. The sun was just setting on the horizon and the sky was turning a bright orange. The day's warmth was just coming to a close as they reached the house.

The house was on its own in the clearing, the nearest town about a mile away. The house was a small cottage with a yellow thatched roof and a small wooden cow shed next to it. The windows were wooden with green shutters. These were open when Evan and Isaac were walking past. Evan looked inside and saw the glowing log fire in the corner. Isaac went inside and Evan went round to the cow shed.

"I'll be in, in a minute, father," Evan shouted back.

When Evan reached Adela, the cow, he stood next to the wooden fence and leaned on it. Adela slowly walked up to him and put her head next to his shoulder. Evan started to talk to her.

"Oh, Adela. When am I ever going to get my first kill. I let my father down today. I know I did. He wouldn't show it but he was expecting me to get that deer," Evan said in a soft voice. Evan always talked to Adela. He used to tell all his secrets and worries to her.

"Next time, I'll get that deer. I'll prove to my father that I can hunt."

Inside the house, Chloe was just serving the supper. Chloe was not Evan's mother. His mother had died when he was small. Evan came through the door and sat down at the table.

"Hello, Evan," Chloe said in a sweet, soft voice.

"Hello, Chloe," Evan replied.

"Your father has been telling me that you nearly got a deer today," she said questioningly as though wanting an answer.

"Yes, but it ran off," Evan responded in a glum voice.

"Don't worry, son. You'll get one of those deer," Isaac assured him. He was sitting at the other side of the table, reading a letter he had received that morning. As Isaac read the letter, Evan stared at the yellow tinged parchment.

"Oh, no!" Isaac said in a deep, slow voice.

"What is it, father?" Evan inquired.

"The royal guards are inspecting all homes in the area!" answered Isaac to his son.

"What ever for?" Chloe said.

"The letter says that there has been a thief in the kings castle. They are searching for the stolen belongings," Isaac said while reading.

"What was stolen? Was it valuable?" Evan asked, intrigued.

"It doesn't say. All it says is that the inspections will be some time next week."

"Oh well, we've got nothing to hide," Chloe said reassuringly.

No one in the room said anything else and started to eat their supper.

That night Evan had dreams about the thief in the castle. Then his dreams moved onto hunting and that deer he missed. At that moment he suddenly awoke. It was still nightfall. Evan couldn't get back to sleep and he still had that deer in his mind.

He decided to go outside and see Adela. When he got outside in the dark and cold, he realized that it was a bit of an idiotic thing to do, to come out in the middle of the night. But since he was out there, he might as well stay. Adela was asleep anyway. He climbed up and sat on the hard, wooden, cowshed fence. He stared up at the glimmering stars on the black setting of the night sky. His neck started to ache so he put his head down and looked behind him at Adela lying on the hay bed.

At that moment he started getting ideas as the cool breeze blew through his hair and round his neck. He planned it all out. He must have been out in the night for well over an hour. His plan was to come out tomorrow night and hunt that deer. That would prove to his father that he could do it.

He went back to bed that night and fell straight to sleep.

The next morning Chloe, Isaac and Evan were sitting at the table eating their breakfast.

"I need you to go into town for me, Evan," Isaac said directly to Evan.

"Okay. Why?" Evan asked his father.

"Oh, we just need some supplies," Isaac told his son. Evan just nodded and carried on eating.

Evan set off from the house early.

"Bye, Evan. Be careful!" Chloe shouted to him.

"I will. Don't worry," Evan shouted back.

"And don't go near that castle, you know, with all that thieving going on."

Evan was walking at quite a pace, looking around at the countryside as he did. Evan only saw one person, an old man, go past him.

Evan was thinking about the castle all the way, the temptation of the words Chloe said to him before he left. When he reached the town, he stopped and sat on a wall as his legs were hurting quite a bit. He looked at the people around him. There was a market going on in the village centre. There were many stalls and entertainers. The streets were filled with bustling people getting on with their lives.

One man walking nearby was selling hot pies. Another woman was selling roses. There was a jester running around, and many people near by him were laughing. The jester ran up to Evan and started doing a ridiculous dance. Evan knew it was daft but he couldn't help but laugh to himself.

Evan got off the wall and started getting the things on his father's list. One of things was some pies for their supper tonight. Evan looked around for the pie merchant he had seen before but couldn't see him. Then he heard the bellowing.

"Pies for sale, cheap and tasty, come and get your pies!"

The shouting was coming from around the corner. Evan walked round and saw the pie man. He bought three pies and walked off down the road to look at some more of the stalls.

Evan spent quite a while buying things. Then he needed a rest. He found a shop named "Magic & Wizardry". This intrigued him so he went in.

The shopkeeper was an old man, with white hair and glasses. As Evan walked through the old, woodworm ridden door, there was a musty, stale atmosphere.

"Hello, my young fellow!" the shopkeeper said in a loud, cheerful voice.

"Oh, hello. I'm just looking, thank you," Evan said in a panicky voice.

Telling that Evan was a bit afraid from his voice, the shopkeeper replied, "Don't be afraid! I won't bite. Look around all you want. Just shout me when you want something."

Evan was reassured by the merry voice of the old man. "Okay, thanks!" Evan said and the old man went off into the back of the shop.

The store was amazing, and Evan was astounded by all the books and potions. He knew that all this was just fairy tale stuff, but it was fun to think that there was magic in this shop. Feeling a bit more confident, Evan shouted back the shopkeeper.

"Erm, Sir!" Evan said in a loud voice.

The old man came out and said, "Yes, my good friend. Am I to believe that you need some assistance?"

Evan was a bit bewildered at how cheerful and happy this old man was. But he eventually said, "Yes, I was just wondering if all this stuff is real?"

"Ah, I see. Yes, it is all truly magic!" the old man replied.

Evan looked a bit unsure. At seeing this, the shopkeeper said, "Hmm, I'll have to convince you in some way. Come with me."

Evan was getting quite excited now, at what the old man was going to do! The shopkeeper, while picking a few books off the shelf, said, "Oh, yes. I never asked you. What is your name, my good chap?"

"Evan, sir, and yours?" Evan asked, getting quite friendly now.

"Oh, hello, Evansir. My name is Elgan!" Evan smiled at Elgan's joke. Elgan picked one last jar off the shelf and with armfuls of stuff he said, "Come this way, Evan!" Elgan walked round the back and Evan followed.

The room at the back of the shop was amazing! There were paintings all over the wall, and Elgan's bed was in the corner. There was no window and it was quite dark, which made the room more mysterious. Elgan walked over to what looked like a workbench. He placed all the things on the work top. Evan was just standing in the doorway so Elgan said, "Come on in, Evan!"

Evan walked over to the workbench. Elgan opened a large book, flicked through a page or two and then said, "It's dark in here, isn't it? Let's have some light."

Elgan opened a jar which contained a green liquid. As he took the lid off, Evan could smell a horrid stench. Elgan started to say some weird words, something like, "Elgarot, Putoron and mirkforth. Light of the flame, bright of the fire, let there be light, let there be fire!" Elgan swung his arms around in the air, in a criss-cross movement.

Suddenly there was a flash and a flame appeared on Elgan's hand. "Arrgh!" shouted Evan. "Do not worry, Evan. It doesn't hurt!" Elgan reassured him. Then Elgan threw the flame. It landed on a candlewick, which was sitting on the workbench.

"That's amazing!" Evan said, confused.

"Now do you believe magic is real?" Elgan asked Evan.

"Absolutely!" Evan answered. "But I have to go now!"

"Thanks for believing, Evan. Bye," Elgan said to him as he was heading to the door.

"Thank you. I'll come again sometime!" Evan said as he opened the front door.

"Good. I hope you do!"

Evan walked through the market slowly, thinking about what had just happened. He looked up to his left and saw the castle towering overhead. The flags gently flapped in the breeze. A green moss was growing on the castle walls. If it weren't for what had just happened and what time it was, Evan would have gone to have a look at the castle. But he had to get home.

On his way home, Evan came to the conclusion that what he had seen at Elgan's shop was some sort of trick. He didn't know how Elgan did it but it couldn't have been magic!

That night Evan's plans all went wrong as the royal guards came to inspect that night. So Evan didn't go hunting. As they all knew, the knights didn't find anything but left the place in a bit of a mess.

"Ill-mannered and uncivilised barbarians. They've left the place in a right state!" Chloe said angrily.

The next day Evan had forgotten about Elgan for the time being. He was more concerned about the night. He had decided to go hunting this night, instead. He planned it more carefully so he wouldn't get caught sneaking out.

Everything was ready. The bow and arrow were by his bed and his clothes were set out. All he needed now was the night to come!

Evan's Quest

Chapter 2 - The Accident and the Penalty

The night came and Evan's heart was racing! The trouble was that he dare not move. He eventually got bored of just lying there, so he got up and dressed and sneaked out of the quiet, dark house. As Evan stepped out into the cool night, his heart started to beat rapidly. He slowly walked off into the darkness and didn't once look back at the barren house.

As he walked through the dark wood, he heard noises that scared him. He stepped on the crispy leaves, which made a crunching noise every time he put his foot down. Then there was a loud hoot of an owl. This unsettled Evan and he stopped in the shadows. He looked around and couldn't see far because of the darkness. The forest went silent. Evan was getting so panicky that he decided to carry on walking as the silence was scaring him even more. Evan was becoming more and more anxious so he tried to think about other things. The thought that came into his head most often was to turn back and go home to his warm bed. But he kept cancelling that idea out with the thought of that deer. He had to prove to his father that he could do it.

Evan stepped out into a clearing. The ground was dirty and there were no leaves covering it. The moonlight gleamed through the gap in the trees and cast a bright beam on the dusty ground. Evan looked around the clearing and then saw some movement behind a large bush.

Evan's heart started to race faster and faster. He lifted his bow very slowly so as not to make a mistake, and then he took an arrow and placed it on the bow. He pulled back and released. As soon as Evan let go, it was as though everything went into slow motion. The arrow glided through the air, cutting through the wind with ease. Evan's heart stopped as it flew. He wanted it to hit that deer so much.

As the arrow went straight through the bush, there was a loud howl. He had done it. But now that he had, Evan didn't feel as pleased as he had imagined he would. He had wanted to hit that deer so much, he hadn't realised that he was killing a living animal.

Evan walked sadly up to the bush and looked behind it.

"Arrgh!" Evan screamed.

"Father!" There, lying on the ground, was Isaac! The arrow was half way through his chest. The blood was pouring out onto the earth. Isaac's hand was around the end of the arrow.

"It . . . hurts, son! Help me!" Isaac managed to say.

"I'm sorry, father. I was trying to prove to you that I could hunt!" Evan sobbed. Evan knelt next to him on the floor.

"You didn't have to prove it to me, son! I knew you would do it some day. I was older than you before I got my first kill," Isaac said through the pain. "I found you weren't in your bed, and your bow was gone. I knew what you were doing."

"I'm sorry, father! I'll go get help," Evan said as he stood up and headed the way he came. Isaac was losing blood fast. He was dying and Isaac knew it.

Evan ran through the forest, not knowing where he was going. His head was spinning and he was crying. The tears were streaming down his face. Evan tripped over a log and fell flat on his face. He lay there weeping. He realised there was no hope. He had killed his father, his own flesh and blood.

Isaac lay on the ground in the cold night. Isaac was quite an old man. His hair was greying and he had a short brown beard. The arrow was really hurting him now. He tried to pull it out, but that just hurt him more. He took one last tug as hard as he could and the arrow eased out. "Arrgh!" The pain was too much for Isaac.

Evan had decided to try one more time to find help. He was just about to give up when he saw a light up ahead. He ran faster. It was a cottage. All the lights were on and Evan could see figures through the window. He knocked on the small wooden door.

A small, old woman came to the door. "Hello, can I help you? You shouldn't be out in the cold at this time of night! Come in!" Before Evan could even say a word, she was pulling him inside.

"No! Get off me. My father is dying! Out in the wood." Evan pulled himself out of her arms.

"Oh dear. You poor thing!" the old woman said in a soft voice. Evan was realising that this was hopeless when a royal knight walked behind the old woman.

"What's this? Your father is injured? We are just about done searching here," the knight said.

"Oh, thank you!" Evan said in a relieved voice.

"Whereabouts in the forest is he?"

Evan led the three knights through the dim forest. It was becoming light as the morning sun started to rise and the rays of light shone through the openings in the branches high above them. Evan was quite surprised that he found the clearing so quickly. The four of them ran to the bush.

Isaac was now unconscious. He had been lying there for about an hour.

"Right, let's get him back to the castle!" one knight said.

"It's going to be okay, father," Evan said into Isaac's ear. The three knights picked up Isaac and started to carry him into the wood. Evan stood where he was and didn't follow them. He began to cry again.

"What have I done?" He then chased after them.

The knights carried Isaac for ages. Then they came to the edge of the forest. Evan saw the town to the left, and the castle was up ahead of them. They ran across a field up to the moat. The guards were looking through the slots at Evan and the knights.

"Open up. It's us!" one knight shouted up to the guards.

One of the guards' faces disappeared from the arrow slot. Then the giant drawbridge jolted and started to move down. Evan looked up at the tremendous castle towering over them. Almost every arrow slot had a face in it. The castle wall was scattered with them. The ground shook as the huge drawbridge hit the ground.

"Come on," one of the knights said quietly to Evan. "Your father is going to be alright," he said reassuringly. Evan looked up at his rugged face and did a faint smile.

The shiny portcullis made some clanking noises and started to move up. As the group moved over the drawbridge, Evan looked over the edge into the water. He saw that his face was streaked with the dirty marks of the tears. Then a golden fish swam through his reflection, swirling it up.

As the bunch of them walked through the entrance, Evan looked around. He had always wanted to see inside the castle, and now that he was inside, he wasn't really thinking about that.

Elegant, colourful tapestries were hanging on the wall, and every so often there would be a small shelf with some sort of vase or dish on it. They were walking down a corridor with many doors along it.

Isaac was becoming very heavy for the knights. "Let's set him down somewhere," one knight said.

"No! Keep going!" Evan said wildly.

"Hey kid. You try carrying a grown man for an hour." The knight knocked on the next door.

What look liked a servant answered the door.

"Yes, sir!" the servant said to the knight.

"We need to borrow your bed," the knight said. The servant agreed and led the knights in. They set Isaac down on the bed and sat down. They stayed there, resting for about five minutes, until Evan said,

"Can we go now? He needs help."

"Okay, let's go." They picked Isaac back up and went out into the corridor. They carried on for about five more minutes, through corridors that all looked the same to Evan, and up and down a few staircases. Eventually they came to a dead end of a corridor.

"Here we are. You better just hope that the King is in a good mood," one knight said. This didn't make Evan feel very good.

At the end of the corridor was a huge door which looked as though it were made from oak. It had gold strips along the edge and two silver handles on each side. The knight knocked loudly on the door.

"Enter!" a strong voice shouted from inside. They all went in. The knights placed Isaac carefully on the carpeted floor. Then the knights started to bow. Evan saw them doing this, then did the same quickly to catch up. As Evan lifted his head up, he looked at the king sitting on his throne. He was dressed in rich clothes. There were a few servants around him, and in a line from him to the King were some more servants dressed in better clothes.

"Come," the King said to Evan. Evan walked closer to the King and knelt down.

"What is your name, son?" The king asked Evan in a soft, quiet voice.

"Sir, my name is Evan."

"Hello, Evan. And what brings you to my castle?"

Evan looked straight into the Kings blue eyes. "Well, your majesty. My father has been involved in an accident! He is badly wounded and needs help soon," Evan spurted out very fast.

"Okay, calm down. I'll help you, Evan!"

Evan smiled and said, "You will? Oh thank you, sire!"

"Guard! Go get the royal sorcerer!" the King shouted in a loud voice to the guard who was standing by the door.

"But! I can't just go giving away free magic here and there."

"Please, sire. Our family does not have much money," Evan said downheartedly.

"Do not worry, young Evan. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, as they say. If you help me, I will get the royal sorcerer to heal your father."

As the King said these words, the door opened and Evan looked around. There standing in the doorway was a middle-aged man dressed in purple robes. The King turned his head and started to whisper to a female servant standing next to him. The sunlight from a window shone onto the Kings crown and glinted into Evans eyes.

"Evan, this is Aiesha," said the King, pointing to the very beautiful woman standing next to him. She will take you to your quarters and explain to you your task." Aiesha looked at Evan, smiled and nodded."In the mean time, the royal sorcerer will freeze your father so that he will not die. If you complete your task, your father will be un- frozen and healed. If you fail, your father will be un-frozen and left to die.

Evan thought this was very unfair, but it was the only way that his father would be healed. So he headed out of the room with Aiesha and before he walked out, Evan remembered something.

"Er, your majesty?"

"Yes, Evan!" the King shouted across to him.

"Can you contact my stepmother and tell her?"

"Yes. I'll said a messenger to tell her."

Evan reached his quarters and looked around. The room was quite small but sufficient. There was a window, a bed, a table and one chair.

"Evan," Aiesha said to him as he was looking around.

"Yes?" Evan replied.

"Sit down and I'll tell you your task." Evan did as she said. "For many years the castle has been under attack by a dragon. This castle used to be twice the size it is now! But the fire-breathing monster destroyed it. The King has sent many a knight and warrior to fight the dragon. None have ever returned."

Evan cut her short and said, "Let me guess. My task is to defeat the dragon!"

"I am afraid so. But you only have a short time to complete this duty."

"Not a too difficult task then!" Evan said sarcastically.

Aiesha left Evan alone for a while. Evan sat on the large windowsill with his knees held up close to his chest. He stared down at the ground. He was a long way up. He glanced around the countryside, thinking about his impossible task. He looked down at the town. He could see all the people getting on with their own lives. Evan thought to himself. If warriors and knights couldn't defeat the dragon, how did he even have a chance? If the way that had always been tried was just brute force, perhaps another approach would have a better chance. But what could the other approach be? Evan suddenly saw Elgan's shop. Suddenly loads of ideas came swarming into Evan's head.

Evan ran down the corridor to a room where Isaac was being kept. He ran in through the thin wooden door. By now an hour had passed and Chloe was sitting by Isaac's bed, holding his lifeless hand. Evan ran up to Chloe and hugged her.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt my father," Evan said in a soft, emotional voice.

"It's okay, dear. I'm sure it was an accident! But you have to complete the King's task," Chloe replied.

"It's okay. I have an idea that may help my father."

Evan's Quest

Chapter 3 - Training of All Kind

Evan talked to the King before he set off.

"Before you leave, I must kit you up," the King said to Evan.

"Follow me!" The King led Evan through some corridors and out into a courtyard. The midday sunlight beamed onto the grass of the courtyard and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Evan could feel the warmth on his skin. Evan could now see what Aiesha was talking about. The far wall was crumbling and Evan could see the remains of buildings that had been destroyed.

The King pointed over to a wall to their left. There were four doors.

"That's the armoury, the weaponry, the stables and the training ground. This is Rowan." The King clicked his fingers and a youngish man came running up behind them. Rowan was older than Evan but younger than Isaac. He had a kind face, freckles and short ginger hair.

"He will get you ready for your adventure. Good luck. I dearly do hope you succeed. If you are not back in four weeks, your father will be unfrozen and left to die. If you come back with the dragon's heart to prove you have killed him, my sorcerer will heal your father. Again, good luck and good day to you, Evan." With that, the King went back into the tremendous castle with his majestic robes trailing behind him. Evan did not see the King again for quite a time.

"Hello Evan. My name is Rowan." Evan turned to see the man standing with his hand out. Evan shook Rowan's hand and felt that he had a strong, firm handshake.

"I will be helping you for your big quest. For the rest of today I will prepare you and then you can get a good nights sleep, ready for your big day tomorrow. If you are ready to start, come this way!" Evan listened intently and did as Rowan said.

They walked over to the four doors. The warm breeze blew all around them.

"Now, where do you want to start?" Rowan asked Evan.

"Er, how about armoury?" Evan replied.

"Fine, let's go."

The two of them went through the door. There was a short corridor and then they were in a small room. All the walls, floor and ceiling were made of a dark wood. In the centre of the room there was what looked like a counter. Rowan walked into the centre of the counter and looked at Evan. There were all kinds of armour hanging on the wall–shields, helmets, and body armour.

"Right, what are you looking for?" Rowan said to Evan.

"Well, I want something that is light but that will protect my body quite well. I don't think I want a shield or a helmet," Evan replied as the thoughts came into his head.

"Ah, I think I have just the thing." Rowan pointed over to a wall. There was a garment, and Evan went into a small side room and put it on.

"Well?" Rowan said as Evan walked back out.

"It's a bit heavy! Haven't you got something that is more like normal clothing?" Rowan pointed to another uniform. This went on for quite a while, over and over. Rowan was becoming quite annoyed. He had his head on the counter. But Evan then walked back in and said, "It's perfect!" The one Evan had chosen was very light and was just like a shirt.

"Okay, at last. Let's go." They went back out into the courtyard.

"Can we do the weaponry next?" Evan asked.

"We certainly can. That's my favourite." The weaponry was a large room, with weapons all round the walls. Swords, daggers, bows, arrows, crossbows, maces, spears, axes and anything else Evan could think of was there.

"Wow, amazing!" Evan said as he looked around.

"It certainly is!" Rowan replied smiling. There were two doors as well, one with a sign saying archery range and the other saying attack training.

"I think you need one kind of sword and one kind of archery," Rowan said.

"Can it be a small sword?" Evan asked at the thought of carrying a big, heavy sword around.

"Yes, I suppose." Rowan went over and picked up a sword. It was just the right size, and he handed it over to Evan.

"Come on." He took Evan through the door that said attack training. The room behind the door was very small and bare. The floor was made of straw. In the centre of the room there was a dummy. It looked as though the dummy was sack stuffed with hay.

"Go on. Have a swing at it." Evan was a bit worried but he walked up to the dummy and raised his sword. He swung with all his might and hit the dummy on the shoulder with a thump.

"Yes, that's good. But try to take smaller hits so as not to open yourself to attack, and also you can make more blows if they are smaller. Try again." Evan was getting quite into this now. He hit to the left of the body.

"Quick to the right." Evan did as he said and swung the small sword to the right-
hand side of the dummy. Evan took one last swing and the blade cut through the air like a bird gliding through the sky. The last swing took the dummy's head clean off.

"Excellent! You are quite a swordsman." Evan felt pleased with himself that Rowan had said that.	"Thank you!" Evan said in gratitude.

"Now I think you are ready for a live opponent." These words made Evan a bit wary, but he had to learn.

"Just wait here." Rowan went through a door and shut it behind him. Evan stood in the room on his own. He looked around and got a bit bored so he took another slash at the decapitated dummy.

"Ha, take that, you brute!" Evan giggled to himself.

The door opened and a figure walked in.

"You! I'm fighting you?" Evan said to Rowan.

"Yes!" Rowan now had a lot of armour on.

"Are you ready?" Rowan asked. Evan's heart was racing. Evan nodded.

They both moved closer and began. Evan took the first swing but Rowan blocked it with his sword. Rowan's sword hit Evan on his weak chest plate.

"Remember to block the attack as well as make it!" Rowan said. Evan nodded. The fighting went on for quite a while.

"Well done. Good fight!" Rowan shook Evan's hand.

"You are a very skilled fighter!" Evan said to Rowan.

Back in the main weaponry room, Rowan said to Evan, "Do you like that weapon, then?"

Evan replied, "Yes, I'll take this one."

"Right. Here's your bow." Rowan handed Evan a bow and a pack of arrows.

In the room marked archery range, there was no ceiling. The sunlight beamed in. The floor was grass and at the other side of the room, there were two targets.

"Right. Take your shot," Rowan said, pointing to the targets. Evan lined himself up and raised his bow. The arrow hit the red colour on the target with a thud.

"Very impressive! Have you done this before?" Rowan asked Evan.

"Yes, I go hunting a lot," Evan answered.

"Good. We can zoom through this part, then." Rowan raised his bow and did the same, but Rowan hit the bull's-eye dead in the centre.

"No! That is impressive!" Evan said, amazed at Rowan's shot. The evening light was blazing through the roof.

"As you've done this before, I think you need something more powerful." Rowan handed him a crossbow. The crossbow made Evan excited, as he would have lots more power.

"I'm tired. Are you? Let's take a short break!" Rowan said.

The two of them went into the castle and Rowan lead Evan into the main hall. The main hall was a huge room with a tall ceiling. There were gigantic tapestries hanging from the wall and there were broad beams on the ceiling. High up near the ceiling, there were a few small windows. These were stained ones with tiny coloured pieces of glass. The floor of the hall was stone slabs and in the centre there was a long table set out with polished cutlery. They drank a cool, refreshing drink and had cold venison and vegetables to eat.

Back out in the courtyard, Evan looked up and saw the red and orange sky. The few clouds that had formed near the setting sun had orange outlines.

"I fancy some nice vigorous training! Do you?" Rowan asked.

"Well, not really, but if I have to!" Evan said.

"That's the spirit!"

The training ground looked daunting as they walked through the archway. There were jumps and ropes, streams and swings. Evan had to climb ropes and run and jump across large gaps, all while Rowan watched. The training ground was also outside. Evan's body was aching after about an hour and he couldn't do anymore.

"Okay, that'll do. Come on down," Rowan shouted up to Evan who was high up on a rope. The evening chill was starting to blow.

The only door left in the courtyard was the stable. The stable was a long corridor with pens along it. In each pen there was a horse. The horses were all different colours and sizes. As they walked down the stable with the hay covered floor, Rowan asked, "Have you ever ridden before?" Evan hadn't, ever! So he shook his head.

"Well, now is the time to learn. I have just the horse for you." They stopped at a stable and looked inside. There was a horse standing in the corner. On the gate the name Crystal was painted in fancy gold writing.

"Crystal," Evan said.

"Yes, she's the perfect horse for you."

Evan and Crystal got saddled up and rode well into the night. They were getting to know each other, and Evan was learning to ride. Crystal was a speckled grey colour. Evan felt her soft hair with his hands. Rowan left them to ride for a while but came out when it was quite dark.

"Come on, Evan. It's getting late." Evan left Crystal for the morning.

Evan got into his bed that night, thinking about all the things he had learned that day. He fell asleep very soon and had a good night's rest.

The next morning, the sun beamed through the large window onto Evan's bed. The light woke Evan up. He was really comfortable and didn't want to get up. But Rowan came in five minutes later and made him get up.

"Come on. Get up. You've got a long day ahead of you and you want an early start," Rowan said to Evan. Evan did as Rowan said and got up and dressed in his clothes and the leather armour he got the day before. He looked out of his window as he was getting his boots on. It was a beautiful morning outside and looked as though Evan's first day was going to be a warm one.

He gathered all his belongings and went out of his room into the corridor. There was a knight in gleaming armour guarding his door.

"Can you tell me where Chloe's room is?" Evan asked the gallant knight.

"Yes, Sir Evan. She is at the end of the corridor to the left," the knight replied.

"Thank you," Evan said back and headed down the corridor. Evan giggled to himself at the thought of the knight calling him Sir Evan. He reached the end of the corridor and went to the door on the right. He knocked and went in.

"Can I help you, Evan?" Aiesha asked. Aiesha was sitting on a chair in front of a large mirror with a brush in her hand. Evan blushed and said, "Oh, er, I'm sorry. I think I'm in the wrong room! I was looking for Chloe's room," Evan said in an embarrassed voice.

"It's okay. She's across the corridor. Anyway, I'm glad you caught me. It looks like you're ready to go," Aiesha said, which made Evan feel more comfortable.

"Yes, I'm ready, but I just wanted to talk to my mother, I mean Chloe." That was the first time Evan had called Chloe his mother.

"Yes. You go and talk to her and I'll meet you downstairs." Evan left Aiesha's room and stood in the corridor thinking to himself.

He was kind of glad that he made that mistake now. Evan had a soft spot for Aiesha. She had a beautiful face, long golden hair and she was a kind person. Evan then knocked on Chloe's door and this time waited for an answer. He heard the familiar voice of Chloe and went in.

Evan and Chloe talked for quite a while about what had happened.

"I have to go now," Evan said to her.

"Yes, I'll come down with you." Evan and Chloe went down all the corridors and staircases and met up with Rowan and Aiesha.

The huge portcullis slowly raised and the hulking drawbridge fell to the ground. As this happened, the rays of light shone brightly into their eyes.

"Well, this is it," Evan said as he stared out into the countryside.

"Good luck, son. Do it for your father," Chloe said to him, which brought a tear to his eye.

"Yes, good luck, Evan. Remember the things I have taught you and use your weapons wisely," Rowan said to him.

Evan looked at Aiesha for her farewell, but she just smiled and said, "Good luck." She kissed him on the cheek and he blushed.

"I'll try my best." Evan and Rowan walked over the wooden drawbridge with the clunking of their feet. They walked on the soft grass over to a willow tree where Rowan had already tied Crystal up.

Evan got up and walked over to the grass banking. Rowan went back to the others and waved. Evan raised his arm and waved back to the three of them. He looked up and saw all the knights waving from their arrow slots and all the guards waving high above him from over the moss-covered battlements. Evan could hear all the knights and guards shouting down to him, "Good luck, Sir Evan!" Evan laughed to himself, raised his arm higher and waved faster. He turned Crystal toward the town and galloped off. He thought to himself that that was a good way to leave and he smiled.

He knew he wasn't going far. He was heading to Elgan's shop, which was just over the hill. He came to the top of the hill and slowed Crystal down. He could see Elgan's shop from where he was and he bounded down the hillside to outside the shop on the cobbled path. He tied Crystal up and went inside.

The door made that ringing bell sound that he had heard that time ago. Elgan was standing with his back turned, sorting a shelf out.

"Elgan! My good friend," Evan said at the top of his voice.

"I know that voice. Evan, I knew you'd be back." He turned to look at Evan.

"Oh, who's the young soldier boy?" Elgan said in a comical voice.

"Elgan, I need your help!" Evan continued to tell Elgan all about what had happened to him and what he had to do. He finished with, "I want you to help me become a sorcerer!"

"Well, I'll try my best!" Evan was surprised and pleased that Elgan had agreed.

Evan and Elgan went into the familiar back room and Elgan said,
"Right. So you want to be a wizard. Not an easy task, especially for a wizard like me. You see, there are different ranks of wizards based on how much they know. I am not very high ranking. But I'll try."

Evan nodded and waited for Elgan to continue,

"I have also never taught magic before. Anyway, I'll do a spell and you try to copy it. Do not worry if it goes wrong the first time." Elgan did the spell, which Evan recognised. It was the spell that Elgan had done when Evan had first come to Elgan's shop. Elgan did the same movements and the same words he had last time and the flame appeared again. Even after seeing it for the second time it still startled Evan. The flame flew across the room exactly as it had before.

"Your turn!" Elgan said as he faced Evan. Evan's heart started beating at an alarmingly fast rate. Evan got ready and copied the movements and words that Elgan had done. Evan felt a tingling feeling in his arms and hands like pins and needles but much worse. A purple glow came around Evan's hand and a giant flame burst at the end of his finger. Just like Elgan's had, but Evan's flame was massive.

Evan screamed and shook his arms around frantically trying to put out the fire. This was not because of pain, because there was no pain. Evan couldn't feel a thing. It was just instinct.

"Calm down!" Elgan shouted over the top of Evan's screaming. Evan didn't listen and carried on shaking his arms. Because of this the flame released from Evan's hand and flew across the room.

Elgan saw the flying flame and shouted, "NO!" As Elgan thought, the flame landed directly on his bed.

The bed burst into flames with a roaring fire. Smoke bellowed into the room and Evan and Elgan were coughing their lungs out. Through the smoke, Elgan struggled to do a spell. He mumbled some funny words and a spray of water burst from Elgan's outspread hands. The flame was out in a second.	"Oh, I'm so sorry, Elgan! I didn't mean to!" Evan pleaded for Elgan's forgiveness.

"Its okay, not too much damage caused." Evan realised that what Elgan had just said was totally wrong, as he looked at the blackened, steaming bed.

The two tried for quite bit longer but all the spells Evan tried went utterly wrong.

"I am afraid to say," Elgan continued after Evan had just made a vine sprout up through the floorboards, "I am not a skilled enough sorcerer to teach you the art of magic!" Evan looked down at the floor gloomily.

"I'm never going to be a wizard!" Evan said slowly,

"Ah, my friend. Don't lose all hope as quickly as a snap of the fingers. There may still be hope for you yet!" Evan, hearing these words, snapped his head up in surprise.

"I have a friend who is a much more skilled magician than me, and I think he has taught the most amateur of wizards to be very skilled sorcerers! I think he may be able to help you!"

Evan looked very pleased at what Elgan was saying. "Oh good, where is he?" Evan asked intriguingly.

"Ah, well, that's the problem you see. He does live quite a long way away from this place, and there are many dangers in between us! Do you think you can manage?"

"Oh yes. I'm sure I can!" Evan boasted.

"Yes, I'm sure you can, but still I must help you a bit. I will give you some potions." As Elgan was saying these words he walked over to a shelf and picked up three small bottles with an orange, murky solution swirling about inside them. The bottles made a quiet clinking noise as they tapped against each other,

"Now these potions are a blend of very powerful herbs and lotions. They are quite dangerous if used incorrectly. But I will show you how to use them accurately. If you encounter any hostile creatures out there, throw one of these at them. Now, don't waste them. They are not toys. They are hazardous weapons. Now I think I can trust you with them!" Elgan handed over the three bottles and Evan put them in his backpack.

"Thank you, I will be careful!"

"Well, you must be on your way before the night falls upon us! I will give you a map to help you find him. His name is Ry."

Elgan pointed on the map to the top of a hill. "That is where he lives. He will be expecting you. Now go quickly." Elgan was pushing Evan through the door and out into the street before Evan could even say anything. Elgan then waved and closed the door.

Evan stood outside for a second staring at the door, He looked around and felt the difference of the warmth. It was very warm inside, and a cool breeze blew around Evan.

He looked at the map and saw he had to go north, so he got up on Crystal and started her at a gentle walk through the town street. It was not market day and there were not very many people about. A little boy waved up to him as he rode past. Evan smiled back. He reached the edge of the town and looked back at the towering castle.

It was about mid day as Evan rode down the familiar trail, which led all the way to his house. He went along it into the quite open wood. He finally reached his house and knew nobody would be inside. So he went straight past it and carried on down the road. He was a bit away from the house when he remembered Adela. He quickly turned Crystal and she made a neighing noise. He trotted back to the house and got down.

"Oh well, Adela, all this trouble I've got my self into, and it was here where it all started! I'm off on my big journey now." He rubbed his hand on the top of her head and smiled. "Chloe should be back to feed you soon, but I'll get some grass for you." Evan walked over to some tall grass and clasped his hand around it. The wet morning dew was still on the blades. He handed Adela the grass and she slowly munched it. Evan then shook the dew off his hand and waved goodbye to Adela.

Evan's Quest

Chapter 4 - Ambush

Evan had been riding for about two hours, and he couldn't feel his legs. He needed a rest, so he stopped at a clearing to the left of the road. He placed all his things in the saddlebag and tied Crystal up at a tree. He went to the clearing and sat down on the soft, wet grass. He lay there for about five minutes and closed his eyes. The afternoon sunshine was beaming on him and he didn't want to move, but something happened that meant he had to move.

An arrow flew across his outstretched body and stuck in the grass next to him. He quickly sat up and looked around. In the bushes around the clearing, he saw movement. Hordes of arrows flew out of the brush. He quickly dodged them and tried to run for Crystal but there were too many arrows.

"Who's there?" Evan shouted.

"GET DOWN!" a gruff voice shouted from the bushes. Evan didn't really want to disagree so he went down on to his knees and then on to his stomach and put his hands round his back and up onto his head.

Evan watched as a man walked out of the bush nearest the road. The man looked rough. He was wearing tatty clothes and had many weapons around his belt. The man walked toward Crystal and laughed, always watching the helpless Evan. Evan knew what he was going to do so he shot up and shouted, "No!" Evan ran toward him, getting ready to fight. But more swarms of arrows flew toward him.

Evan was near the man now and the man said, "I wouldn't." The man laughed again and carried on toward Crystal. Evan knew he had no chance so he got back in the same position.

The man took Crystal and walked back into the forest. Evan could still just see the men in the bushes.

"DON'T FOLLOW US!" one of them shouted again. Evan looked around and a rock was flying toward him. It hit him on the forehead before he had a chance to move. He was out clean.

Evan slowly opened his eyes and saw it was getting dark. The men had long gone and he stood up. His head was throbbing with pain. Evan knew he had no chance in succeeding in his mission so he headed into the forest the way the man went with Crystal.

Evan could tell that these criminals were inexperienced because they had left their footprints in the mud. Evan followed them for quite a way when he saw a faint, hazy glow up ahead, and smoke drifted over the treetops. It looked like campfire.

Evan edged his way closer. Staying out of sight, he climbed a fair-sized tree. He looked down into a clearing, surrounded by large rocks. He could see about six or seven big men, huddled around a small fire in the centre. A few of the men were lieing on clumps of straw, fast asleep. Others rooted through his rucksack. Evan stared amazed as they went through all his belongings.

He looked around the clearing. At the edge, quite far away from the men, was Crystal standing, tied up to a small branch. Evan glanced his eyes back to the men and his foot slipped on the moss covered branch. He fell onto a lower branch and hung on so as not to make any more sound.

Evan listened as he heard murmuring and mumbles. The men had heard him and one of them said, "What was that?" The others looked around, and another, who looked like the leader answered, "You heard it. Go look!" While they were saying this, Evan pulled himself back up and sat on the branch, with his grip tighter than before. He peered back over the treetops and saw the other men had gone back to what they were doing. One of them, the one who had heard Evan, was walking cautiously toward him, looking round timidly.

Evan quickly snapped a nearby branch and it made a crunching noise. The man's head abruptly shot up and his ears pricked. Evan waited until the man was out of sight of the others and underneath his tree. He swung the log and it made a soft thump noise as it hit the man on the back of his head. The man was clean out on the floor with his face in the mud.

Evan smiled to himself at his achievement. He then climbed down and crouched next to the man. He quickly darted round the back of the rocks and all the way around to where Crystal was. Crystal, at seeing him, made a peculiar noise. Evan looked in the horse sack and the only object left was his crossbow. Evan smiled to himself again. He took the crossbow, loaded it with a bolt and peered his head over the boulder.

The men were still looking through his rucksack. Evan gazed as the bulkiest man took one of Elgan's bottles out and stared into it. Evan still didn't know what those bottles did, but it was his only chance. He put the crossbow up onto the rock and steadied it. He stared down the sight and pointed directly onto the bottle the man was holding up.

With one quick movement, the bolt was released and cut through the air in a silent, swift movement. The man said, "What do you think this is then? It might be ale!" The man was cut off as the bolt struck the bottle. It cracked and the red liquid spilled out onto his hand.

"Arrgh, what's this?" The liquid then began to smoke. A blue haze started drifting into the air. First it surrounded the man and he rocked on the spot in a dizzy motion.

"What's wrong, boss?" one of the men asked. Then the dazed man exploded in a swarm of green sparks.

Evan smiled again. The potions worked very well. The mist began to grow and drift over more of the men. They began to scream and struggle away, but with no luck. Within a matter of seconds, all the rest of the men were bursting in the green sparks.

Evan giggled to himself as all the men had finally gone. He picked up his crossbow and started to walk toward his possessions. He realised the smog was still expanding. He stopped on the spot and then realised he was going to have to move. He turned and his pace began to quicken. He ran to Crystal, jumped up on her back and rode away from the smoke.

He was quite far away when he stopped, turned and looked, but he could not see the haze any more. So he slowly walked back to the campsite. The smog had gone. He went to the centre, picked up his things and headed off. But he then saw that it was late into the night now and he decided to stay for the rest of the evening. So he settled down by the fire, tied Crystal near to the warmth, ate some of the food they had left and slowly drifted to sleep.

Evan's Quest

Chapter 5 - Hazardous Province

Evan awoke abruptly to the song of some nearby birds. Evan rubbed his eyes and stood up. He realised that it was still very early and the sun had only just peered over the horizon, so Evan sat back down next to the fire which was only just glowing. Evan looked through his possessions to make sure it was still there. It was, apart from one of the bottles which he had used the night before.

He picked up one of the remaining bottles and stared into it. The orange solution inside was swirling around in a pattern of red colours. The liquid seemed to form the shape of a face. Evan looked harder and the face was screaming but he could hear no sound. The face looked terrified of something. Evan felt like opening the bottle but then remembered the horrible things it had done to those men. So Evan just placed the bottle back in his rucksack, lay down and stared into the white ash and the smouldering embers.

He opened his eyes some time later and looked around. He had dropped off. It was now late morning and he quickly got ready to leave.

He rode Crystal for some time and tried to get back to the road where he was ambushed. He found it and carried on down it for quite a way. The sky was a bright blue colour and Crystal seemed eager to carry on.

Back at the castle, Chloe was becoming more and more worried about Evan. Isaac still remained frozen and the King was depending on Evan to succeed.

Some way on, Evan looked up at the sky. It was becoming black and murky up above him. He then looked ahead and he saw there were dark, crooked mountainsides way in the distance, and he was coming to an unlit wood.

Now Crystal seemed apprehensive and distressed to go on, but Evan urged her on and used that to block his own worry about the journey ahead. He had an uneasy feeling about going into the forest. But he reached the edge of the wood and forced Crystal and himself to proceed. As soon as they entered the forest, Evan felt an unsettling chill come about him. He slowly walked Crystal down a rough, rocky path deeper and deeper into the darkness.

Evan looked around him into the dark woods. He did not only feel like he was being watched, but he saw it. He could see lots of bright white eyes staring at him, drilling worry into his mind. As he went deeper still, the thought that he wasn't going to make it out lurked in his mind. Evan's hand was etching at his sword, just in case.

The sounds of the forest made Evan's worry even bigger--crunching and cracking, weird mumbling and screams. Then the forest went silent. Evan pulled Crystal to a halt and looked around. The forest was totally silent.

Then, suddenly, a horrible beast jumped from the brush just ahead of Evan. Crystal was spooked and bucked but Evan managed to stay on. He grabbed at his sword that made a scraping noise as it was thrust into the air. Evan's heart was thumping and there was an awful chill down his back.

The beast had sharp, white teeth with sticky spit dribbling down its face. It was the shape of a dog but bigger and more brawny. It made a high-pitched scream and bolted toward Evan and Crystal.

Evan also started Crystal running toward the beast. van grew closer and bent to one side and swung his sword down to the ground but missed the beast. The creature then leaped at Crystal and with its almighty claws it scratched at her body. Blood appeared and Crystal bucked again. This time Evan was sent flying to the dusty ground.

Crystal bolted off down the trail and out of sight and left Evan on the ground with the creature moving slowly toward him.

The beast stopped and made an evil growling sound. Evan was terrified but knew he was going to have to fight. The beast then made a jump for Evan and he rolled out of the way. He had his sword ready for the next attack. It came and Evan did an almighty swing and struck the beast on the back. It fell to the ground and squealed. Evan saw his chance, struggled to his feet and ran as briskly as his wearied feet would carry him.

He got quite away, then turned his head and saw that the beast was still lieing in the middle of the road. But other beasts like it came from the brush and were looking at it. When about ten were there, their heads simultaneously turned to look straight at Evan. He carried on running. When he turned his head again, he saw that the remaining creatures were now running toward him in a ravenous rage.

Evan thought fast and took the crossbow that was hooked to his back. He loaded it while running and, still running, he turned the top half of his body and fired the crossbow. The bolt hit one of the pursuing beasts and it fell to the ground.

The rest of the beasts were catching up fast and Evan didn't have time to load another bolt. He just tried to run faster. They were right on his tail and about to leap on him when Evan felt a pair of hands on his side that pulled him. Evan closed his eyes, ready for the pain of the hungry beasts feeding on him but nothing happened. Evan slowly opened his eyes and saw he was inside a small house. He looked and there was a very stern looking man and a woman standing next to him.

"Oh, dear, are you okay?" the woman asked. Before Evan had a chance to answer, she asked another question. "Why are you out here on your own? It's very dangerous around these parts, you know. It's a good job that Bill here saved you or you would have been those beasts' dinner for sure." The woman babbled on.

"Oh, leave him alone. He's not a child."

Evan saw his chance to speak. "I must thank you, sir. You saved my life out there." Evan thanked Bill as nicely as he could.

"Well, you must stay with us for a while, er, what did you say your name was?" the woman asked.

"Well, I didn't, but it's Evan."

Evan and Sue, which he found out was her name, talked for quite some time. He told her about his adventure, and he found out that Bill had found Crystal running past their house and he'd tied her up around the back.

So Evan agreed to stay with them for a short while and they ate a satisfying meal. By now it was very late and Evan was in his room.

He looked around the room and saw it was a small room, with a bed, chair, mirror and a small window on one wall. He sat on the bed and it went in as he put his weight onto it. He was about to get into the bed when he heard voices. He stood up and went to the closed door. He slowly opened it a little bit and light beamed in. He saw Sue and Bill standing in the lounge area. He could just hear what they were saying.

"Let's just kill him while he's sleeping and eat him now!" Sue said to Bill. Evan's mouth dropped as he heard these words,

"No! If we attack him now we'll lose his trust, but if we become his friends we may be able to use him for other uses!" Evan's heart began to beat faster and faster, out of control. He quickly closed the door to again and sat back down.

His mind was racing. He had to get out of this place, and fast. He looked at his things and remembered where Sue had shown Evan where Crystal was. He grabbed his things and got his sword ready. He went to the door and peered through the crack once more. Evan looked closely at Bill. He then realised that Bill's eyes were glowing a red colour, then his teeth grew longer and Bill's body was changing into one of the beasts he had encountered before.

These things were not human! Evan suddenly barged through the door, his sword flying. Bill, upon seeing Evan, made an evil growl. Evan carried on and swung his sword at Bill. It had no affect and Bill made no move. Evan got worried that the sword didn't hurt him. He was stronger that the beasts outside. Evan looked around for anything hard, but Bill had already made his move. He jumped at Evan and sent him flying to the ground. Evan grabbed at anything, and that thing happened to be a vase, which was sitting on a nearby table.

Evan swung his newfound weapon and it smashed on Bill's head, but the smash, again, did not hurt Bill. But something did. It was the water inside the vase. It burned Bills skin and he moved back in pain.

Evan had time stand up and run for the door. He got out with his life and all his belongings. He shut the door behind him and hurried around and jumped onto Crystal, and he went as fast as Crystal could carry him down the road he had first come on.

Evan got a long way without looking back and relaxed a bit. That hadn't gone as well as Evan had hoped. But he said to himself, "That was close!"

And then something happened that startled Evan. "It sure was!" Evan looked around him. There was no one on the road behind him or in the bushes to the side of him. Who had said that? Evan just told himself he had imagined the voice and carried on.

Some time later he heard the voice again. "So, what's the plan from here?" Evan knew he did hear it this time and he drew his sword.

"Who's there?" Evan shouted out into the thick forest to his side.

"Well, there's no need to get that thing out!" Then Evan was jolted as Crystal jumped back and his sword flew out of his hand and stuck into the ground below him.

"Nasty, horrible things they are!" Evan couldn't believe it. Crystal was talking to him.

"Crystal? You can talk?" Evan said, not even believing what he was saying.

"Well, clever you!" Crystal answered back.

"This is amazing! A talking horse!" Evan answered.

"You've never heard of a talking horse?" As it happened Evan hadn't. Evan and Crystal rode and talked all through the night and the sun began to rise. Evan was very tired and his eyelids were really heavy.

"Oh, we've ridden all through the night!" Evan said to Crystal, and she replied, "Yep, and look around, we're out of the dark province!" Evan did and they were out of the forest and riding down a small, pebble path through beautiful countryside with the warm sun beaming on both of them.

Evan's Quest

Chapter 6 - The Dead Fortress

Evan and Crystal rode through the beautiful countryside, running streams and dazzling waterfalls for some time. It was still daytime, about midday, and the sun was high in the sky.

The two adventurers were just coming over a ridge and Evan was looking in his rucksack, not really paying attention to the road ahead, when Crystal said, "I think you should see this, Evan." Evan looked up and ahead there was a fortress.

It was smaller than the castle in his hometown but still looked quite grand. It was mostly made from wood with a large fence round the edge and he could see some buildings inside the outer fence.

"Well, let's go have a look, shall we?" Evan said to Crystal, and she began to walk down the hill toward the fortress.

They reached the moat that was around the fortress and walked over the small bridge, arriving at the outer wall. They rode around it until they found a wall. It was knocked down and Evan and Crystal squeezed through the hole that was there. Inside the castle grounds Evan looked around and couldn't see any sign of life.

"Where is everyone?" Evan asked Crystal.

"I don't know, but it looks as if this fortress has been under attack. Let's go have a look inside those buildings," Crystal answered.

Inside, the fortress was the same as outside. Nobody was there.

"Perhaps its been deserted?" Evan questioned.

The two went further down into the fortress, down corridors. Finally they came to a room at the end of a corridor. The door was closed and looked heavily fortified.

"Well, we've looked everywhere else. If there are any people in this fortress, they're in here!" Evan said down to Crystal.

Evan got down from Crystal's back and walked to the door. He tugged at the handle and realised it was locked. He knocked on it and shouted, "Hello? Is anyone in there?" Evan waited for an answer. There wasn't one,

"Well, looks like I was right. This place is deserted!" Evan and Crystal were about to leave when they heard a quiet, faint voice. "No, please wait!" The voice came from behind the door. Evan and Crystal looked back at the door.

"Hello? Who's that? Can you let us in?" Evan asked.

The door slowly opened and a large man was at the door. "Who are you? Why are you in my fortress?" Evan giggled in his head. The man's weak voice did not match his body.

"Well, my name is Evan and this is my horse Crystal. We are on a journey and we came to your fortress and wondered if we could rest?" The man looked relieved and his body slumped a bit.

"Oh good, because my humble fortress has been under attack. In fact, the attackers are up there right now, surrounding the castle! I'm surprised you managed to get in," the man said and led Evan and Crystal into the room.

"Well, sir, there are no attackers out there. In fact, there was nobody around," Evan told the man.

"My name is Josh, by the way. There isn't? Are you sure?" Evan nodded and looked around. The room was quite small to say how many were inside it. There were about twenty five or so knights sitting in the room, all huddled together and looking very sad and bored.

"Why are you all down here?" Crystal asked Josh.

Josh jumped as a horse was talking to him, but he managed to mumble, "We are hiding out from the attackers!"

Evan then cut in and gave some advice. "I think you should stand up for yourself and fight back! This enemy can't be that strong!"

By nightfall Evan had persuaded Josh and the other knights to come out of hiding. Evan got the men ready for the next attack. He lined up all the bow men on the battlements.

The night went on and the soldiers became tired and bored. Evan was up on the battlements with his crossbow, too. Evan had almost fallen asleep when there was a bellowing near him and he jumped up. "Look! They're here! On the horizon!" Evan's heart started to beat out of control. Looking toward the horizon, he saw horses, men and catapults coming toward them.

"Bows at the ready, men!" Josh shouted.

Within minutes, the attackers were closer and Josh yelled. All the men raised their bows and Evan did the same with his crossbow. They pulled back and released. The sky was filled with arrows as they flew across and the first few rows of men fell to the ground.

This arrow flying went on until the catapults were in range for them to fire. Evan looked down as the long arms of the catapults flung forward and the enormous rocks flew toward them. Evan prepared himself as the rocks hit the wall and there was a rumble. The castle shook and some of the wall fell.

"I told you! They're too strong," Josh said to Evan.

"Don't give up yet!" Evan replied. But at the back of his mind he knew they had no chance of winning.

The carnage went on for hours and Evan thought to himself how they had survived so long. Eventually, as most of the walls had fallen, most of Josh's men were dead and the enemy was storming the castle, Evan said to Josh, "We have no chance! Let's get out of here!" Evan and Josh fled the castle at the back, Evan riding on Crystal and Josh on his own horse.

They looked back as they were about to go over a hill. The castle was crumbling and the enemy had overthrown it. Evan looked at Josh riding next to him. He could see that Josh was upset.

"I'm sorry, Josh," Evan said in a quiet voice.

"It's okay. You only meant the best. It's just that I've lost everything, my fortress, all my soldiers. I'm alone and have nothing!" Evan looked down at the ground and felt so bad for him.

For the next half-hour the two men rode through beautiful countryside, with gorgeous streams and trees all about.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Evan asked in a soft voice, trying to sound comforting.

"I don't know. What am I supposed to do?" Josh replied, and his voice seemed even more upset now.

"Evan, why don`t you tell Josh about your uncle and aunt?" Crystal asked from down below Evan. He didn't know what she meant.

"What? Why? How do you know about my family?" Evan asked her. Josh looked puzzled, too.

"Didn't you know your uncle and aunt's house is on the route you are following? I know about them because the King has filled me in on all of your life, so that I can help you the best I can!"

Evan's uncle and aunt were kind people, but he didn't see them often, because they lived so far away. But Evan was sure that they would take Josh in for a while.

"Yes, that's it, Josh. You can stay with my uncle and aunt for a while, until you get yourself back on your feet." Evan grinned at Josh. He had helped him for once.

"Are you sure? Are you sure they won't mind me staying for a little while?"

So Evan, Josh and Crystal continued on through the empty countryside, on their way to Evan's uncle and aunt's house.

Chapter 7 - New Faces

"How much farther is it, Crystal? We've been riding for hours. The sun will be setting soon, and we don't want to be riding in the dark!" Evan asked wearily.

The three travellers were now getting tired, but Crystal reassured them that they were close. In fact, they rode over a small hill, and there it was.

"Ah, I recognise that house!" Evan jumped down and ran down the hill toward a small house. Crystal and Josh followed at a slower pace.

As Evan got closer, he saw a terrifying sight inside one of the small windows. "Oh my god! Quick, quick!" Evan shouted up to the others who were quite far behind up the hill.

Evan stared in horror as the flames he had seen inside the window started to burn to the outside. He quickly headed for the door, but Crystal arrived and stopped him. "Don't be stupid, Evan. You'll be killed!"

Evan stopped and stared at the burning house. A small tear ran down his cheek, and Josh, who had just arrived, saw the small reflection of a flame in Evan's tear. Josh looked away from the sadness.

About an hour later the fire had gone out. But the house was wrecked. Evan, Josh and Crystal searched frantically inside the rubble for any sign of life. But all they found was blackened wood and some still glowing embers.

"Well, that's it. They're gone!" Evan said in a slow, saddened voice.

"I'm sorry, Evan," Josh said to him.

"Me, too. I know you loved them," Crystal said to him in a reassuring voice.

"Oh well, we had better go. It's starting to get dark," Evan said. He jumped up onto Crystal and rode off. Crystal and Josh knew he wasn't right, and he was acting strangely.

The three travelled for quite some time through the beautiful hillsides. Evan was riding up front with Josh just behind. Evan was thinking to himself while slowly looking around. He'd never been this far from home before. He suddenly wondered, as he saw the sky turning a peachy orange with the sun setting on the horizon, how much farther they were going to have to travel to get to Ry's.

He slowly stopped Crystal and got out the map that Elgan gave him. He realised he was very close!

"We're nearly there! At last!" Evan said to the other two. Evan didn't notice it but, in Josh's mind, he knew this was the end of the road. He had nowhere to go and nothing to do. He was just tagging along with Evan. A small tear just hung under his eye and the reflection of the setting sun glinted as it rolled down his cheek. He wiped it with his arm.

They rode for just a little while longer. They saw a large hill where Ry's house was supposed to be,

"Hmm, where is it? All I see is a hill?" Evan said. He jumped down from Crystal and wandered up the grassy hill. Near the top he looked around, searching for any signs of a house. Just as he got to the very top of the hill, Evan felt the ground beneath him fall away. He screamed and heard Crystal shout,

"Evan!" He was falling at quite a speed. Evan slowly opened his eyes and saw he was sliding down a thin tube that was only the size of Evan's body. He felt very claustrophobic and looked up and just saw a spot of light too far away to see.

Evan fell for a least one more minute, and he was becoming increasingly worried. Just as Evan was slightly getting used to the tube, he shot out of the end, flew through the air, and landed on a soft surface. He bounced a little before landing flat on the soft surface. Evan was quite flustered after this and, as his eyes adjusted to the light, he looked around.

He was in a large, circular room with a very high ceiling. On the ceiling was a large, round piece of glass where the last beams of the setting sun shone through. The walls were wooden panels and the floor was also wooden. The soft surface Evan had landed on was a large, four poster bed. Around the room there were a dozen or so bookshelves stacked high with old looking books. There were no windows on the wall apart from the circular one on the ceiling. Then Evan looked in front of the bed and there, standing upright, was a very old looking man who Evan did not notice at first.

"Evan, I presume?" the old man said in a very frail voice. The man was quite tall but was bending over slightly, probably because of his back. He had a very long beard that hung down to the floor and white, scraggy hair. He was wearing a long, red robe which draped along the floor. He also wore small glasses that were perched on the end of his nose. After Evan had looked at the man, he uttered, "Err, yes, are you Ry?" Evan sat up on the bed, then stood up at the side.

"I am indeed, lad, the one and only Ry!" Evan looked at Ry, then looked around some more.

Ry saw this and said, "It's pretty impressive, don't you think?" Evan now focused back to Ry and began to talk to him for several minutes. Evan's main concern was that of Crystal and Josh. But Ry reassured him that they were fine.

"Ah yes, your two friends up on the surface. Do not worry, Evan. They are just fine. My workers are looking after them!" Evan was shocked once again by the news that Ry had his own workers! But Evan was not sure that this was the whole truth.

"Ah, you do not believe me!" Ry said to Evan.

"No, no. I never said that!" Evan replied.

"You are forgetting that I am a master magician. I know what you are thinking!" Evan felt very disturbed by this, that the privacy of his mind was being listened in on by Ry.

"How do you think that I got in contact with my good friend Elgan?" Ry continued.

"Well, I would like to see these workers," Evan answered.

"Ah yes, you are still concerned about your friends. Yes, certainly. I will take you there now." Ry beckoned Evan over with a curl of his hand. Evan looked around the room and could see no apparent door apart from the tube he first entered through. He walked over to Ry, and Ry clicked his fingers. There was a flash and Evan suddenly realised that he was no longer in the circular room but he was back on solid ground with the now night sky above him.

Evan looked around. He could see he was in the centre of a clearing, surrounded by tall trees all around the edge. In the clearing were a dozen or so little men scuttling around doing various tasks. Evan couldn't believe his eyes. The men were only about half the size of Evan. Evan watched as the small dwarf creatures busily ran around. Some were chopping wood, some mixing liquids in pots, and others were talking to each other.

"Evan, I'd like you to meet my workers. They do jobs for me, and in return I give them a home and I feed them.

Over the next ten minutes, Ry introduced all of his workers to Evan. Evan shook their hands with a smile on his face. All the workers were small, with green clothes on. A few had brown beards, and others had little hats on. After they had all been introduced, they went back to work. Evan looked around and saw Crystal far over the other side of the clearing, eating out of a trough, and Josh talking to one of Ry's workers.

Ry turned to Evan and began to speak. "As you can see, Evan, your friends are being well looked after, and they are very safe. This clearing is my worker's home. It is very secret so that my workers will be safe. But it's getting late now, Evan. Let's go back to my home and I'll show you your room for the night. Tomorrow we can get started with some magic."

"Thank you, Ry. I can't thank you enough for how you are helping me. My father is very ill, and I need to help him anyway I can," Evan replied.

"Oh, it's nothing, Evan. I'm happy to help however I can." Ry clicked his fingers once again, and as before, Evan found himself back in the circular room.

Chapter 8 - The art of magic

Evan looked around for his room, but still could only see the room he was in and the small tube opening in the wall.

"Ah yes, your room." Ry turned to one side of the room. He pointed at the wall and clicked his fingers on the other hand. There was a sparkle of white light on the wall, and when it faded, a door was revealed.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Evan said in amazement.

"Oh, that's nothing, Evan. Well, go in then," Ry said. "I'll be here if you need me. Have a good sleep." Ry turned away from Evan and walked toward one of many of the book shelves around the room. He looked at the books for a minute, then took one down. He sat down on a large chair and began to read. Evan looked at the door and was just about to go in when Ry looked up from his book and said, "Goodnight, Evan."

"Thank you. Goodnight to you, too, Ry," Evan replied.

Evan closed the door behind him and looked around the room. It was almost pitch black and he searched for a candle. He found a large one by the door. He lit it and the room came into view suddenly.

Evan's room was square, with four walls. There was a large, comfy bed in the middle and various other pieces of furniture around the room. There were no windows because Ry's entire house was inside the hill. Evan got into the bed, blew out the candle and fell straight to sleep.

Evan had a very good nights sleep, and his bed was very comfortable. Evan suddenly awoke as sunlight beamed through his bedroom door. He slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them. He sat up and looked at the open door. Standing in the doorway was Ry.

"Good morning, Evan. I trust you had a good night's sleep? We have to get started early, so up you get. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes," Ry said in a soft voice.

"Ok, thank you. Yes, I did. I had a very good night's sleep," Evan said in a weary voice, as he was still half-asleep.

Evan got dressed and made his bed. He opened his bedroom door and walked out into the main room. Ry was preparing breakfast. He looked up and said, "Hello, Evan. Ready to get started after we've eaten breakfast?" Ry asked Evan as he walked into the room.

"Sure, but after we have eaten, do you mind if I go and see my friends for a little bit?" Evan asked as he sat down at the large, circular table.

"Not at all. We'll just eat this, then I will send you to the clearing and you can see your friends for a bit. Then we can get started with teaching you some magic."

Ry put the breakfast onto the table and they ate. While Evan was eating, he thought about his father.

The two finished their meal and Ry sent Evan to the clearing as he said he would. Ry stayed at the house, though. Evan looked around in the clearing. A warm breeze blew around his face and he looked around for his friends. The dwarfs were all in one corner of the clearing eating their breakfast, and Evan saw Crystal and Josh also eating in one part of the clearing. Evan ran up to them.

"Hello. How are you doing?" Evan walked to Crystal and began to rub his hand along her side.

"We're fine, Evan. These dwarfs are treating us very well," Crystal said to him. Josh turned to Evan. "Yes, we are fine. How are you doing with Ry?" Josh asked.

"Ry is great. He is an amazing man, with remarkable powers," Evan replied.

The three talked for about fifteen minutes. Evan was reassured that they were ok and wouldn't mind staying there for a while.

"Well, I'm glad you are ok. I will be back tomorrow to see you again, but I've got to got started with my magic." Evan waved to the two friends and walked into the centre of the clearing. He looked around and thought to himself how he was going to get back. He went over to one dwarf and asked him,

"Err, excuse me."

"Yes, can I help you?" the dwarf replied in a quick, squeaky voice.

"How do I tell Ry that I am ready to go back to his house?" Evan asked.

"Ah, no problem," the dwarf replied. Then he walked a little further into the centre of the clearing. He then stopped and clapped his hands loudly. The dwarf then went back to work with the others. "He'll be here in a minute," he shouted over to Evan.

As the worker said, Ry appeared in the centre of the clearing within a few minutes. Evan walked over to him.

"Evan, you're ready to get started then?" Evan nodded and Ry took them back to the house.	"Ok, let's start from the beginning. First, I need to teach you about what magic is. Magic is an art, you must learn to master it, and you must not abuse it. Magic is not a tool of evil. Magic is a weapon to defend yourself and others with." Ry continued as he sat down on a chair. Evan sat down next to him and listened carefully.

"You can only learn as much magic as your mind wants to learn. Now, the first thing you have to be able to do is a simple mental task. If you can't complete this, then you have no chance of doing magic," Ry told Evan.

"Ok, what is this simple task?" Evan asked.

Ry reached inside his pocket and brought out an orange stone and placed it on a small table in front of them. Evan looked at it carefully. The orange stone was partly transparent and had different shades or orange in it. The stone was about the size of Evan's clenched fist.

"What is it?" Evan asked.

"It is a magical gem. The task is to make the gem move," Ry said. Evan jumped in.

"Oh, that's easy!" Evan threw his hand out and pushed the stone about five centimetres with one of his fingers.

"No, no, no. Let me finish," Ry said abruptly. He moved the gem back into the centre of the table. Evan apologised and sat back in his chair.

"Now, where was I? Ah yes, the task is to make the gem move, without physically touching it. You must move it with your spirit and mind," Ry said. Evan thought in his mind that he could never do this. It was impossible.

"No, Evan. It's not impossible. It's very possible indeed." Evan remembered about Ry's mind reading trick.

"Well, can I see you do it?" Evan asked.

"Certainly." Ry positioned himself above the gem. Evan watched as Ry concentrated on the stone, staring at it very carefully. Suddenly the gem jerked about two centimetres towards Evan, then, smoothly and slowly, moved around the table. Evan gasped loudly and watched carefully as the gem moved back into its original position in the centre of the table.

"Now, your go," Ry said to Evan.

Evan did as Ry had and concentrated on the stone. "Just concentrate all your energies into that gem moving." Evan tried his best to do what Ry had just told him but nothing happened. The stone just sat there on the table and didn't move a millimetre.

"Never mind,. Keep trying. It is only your first attempt." Evan kept trying, and Ry stood up and went and got drinks for them both.

A few hours later Evan was sitting in his room alone, still trying to make the gem move. He had had no luck as yet and was getting quite frustrated at it now. Suddenly just as Evan was about to give up, the gem flew from the table and hit the wooden wall with a thud, then fell to the ground. Evan felt proud of himself. He stared at the gem on the floor. Evan concentrated his mind again, and the gem lifted from the floor and floated about a metre above the ground.

This time the gem moved a lot easier, and Evan kept practising until he was very good at moving the gem. He opened the bedroom door and made the gem fly through the doorway.

Ry stood up. "Brilliant, Evan. I knew you could do it!"

A few days past. Everyday Evan went and spent about an hour with his friend. Ry and Evan got on with the training.

"I love this new fire spell you taught me, Ry," Evan said as he walked across the circular room.

"Yes, it is a good one, and you seem quite good at it. Try it again," Ry suggested.

Evan raised his arm horizontally and held his hand out flat with his palm facing upwards. He closed his eyes and concentrated firmly. A small, stout flame appeared in Evans hand. It flickered, and Evan opened his eyes with a smile on his face.

"Very good Evan, but remember, your magic is not unlimited. When you use it a lot, it becomes tired, and your magic will not work as well when it is tired. You need to rest it, by not using it as much," Ry told Evan.

"You refer to magic as though it is a real creature," Evan replied in a bemused voice.

"Well, not exactly a creature. But magic is real. Magic is not just a skill; it is a gift also."

Evan sat down and read through a large, heavy, magic book that Ry had given him to examine.

"All these spells look very complicated, much harder than the fire spell," Evan enquired as he flicked through the pages.

"Yes, all magic is not as simple as the fire spell. You will never know every magic spell, because there are just too many, and you have to study hard to become a powerful wizard like me," Ry replied. Evan sighed deeply and carried on reading through the dusty book.

Evan's Quest

Chapter 9 - Putting magic into practise

Evan was beginning to get worried. The magic he was reading through was starting to look difficult, and he didn't want to disappoint Ry. The only spells Evan could do so far were moving small objects with his mind and the fire spell.

Because Evan didn't want to disappoint Ry, he kept doing the fire spell, because it was the one he was best at.

"Umm, Evan, I think it's time we introduced another spell to you. I think you are good enough at the fire one now," Ry said looking over his shoulder at Evan creating yet another flame.

Evan reluctantly said, "Well, okay, but can it be another simple one?"

For the rest of that afternoon Ry taught Evan one more spell–a water spell. Evan had been staying with Ry for a few days now and was beginning to get comfortable and quite used to it. Evan mastered the water spell quite easily.

"Good, good. You're doing well at this spell, but we'll call it a night. Keep practising that one and I'll show you another tomorrow. Goodnight, Evan. Evan smiled and went off to his room.

In his room he sat on his bed. He thought to himself about all the trouble he'd got himself into, having to go on this long quest and risk his life. But then he thought about the good points. He had made lots of new friends, which he never would have before and also he thought about these cool spells he was learning. What he was really worried about was what he was going to have to use them for.

The next day Evan was up before Ry. He was hesitant to go into the main room, because Ry was still asleep, so he sat on his bed thinking. He raised out his hand flat and closed his eyes in deep thought. A small apple-sized globule appeared in the palm of his hand. Evan opened his eyes and stared at it. The globule shook slowly at any movement of his hand. The globule was like a bubble of water, but more stable than a normal bubble. With his other hand the poked the globule with his index finger. As soon as he made contact, the globule collapsed and cold water fell into Evan's lap. He wiped the water from his clothes, sighed and lay back on the bed looking up at the wooden ceiling.

Evan opened his eyes suddenly. He thought to himself he must have dropped off. He heard movement in the main room, so he got up, stretched his arms high in the air, and walked out.

"Good morning, Ry," Evan said.

"Ah, good morning, young Evan," Ry replied.

Just as Evan was sitting down and Ry was taking a book from a shelf, one of Ry's workers suddenly appeared in the middle of the room in a swirl of smoke. Ry and Evan both looked startled at the worker. The little dwarf ran up to Ry and started jumping up and down in front of him. Evan could now see that the worker had small scratches of blood on his face and his clothes were torn. From the way the worker was acting, Evan could tell that something was seriously wrong. He stood up quickly and ran over to Ry and the worker.

"What!?" Ry shouted, The worker was blurting out a language Evan had never heard, but Ry seemed to understand it.

"Oh my god! Evan, quick! The clearing is being attacked!" Ry hastily said to Evan.

Ry moved to the centre of the room, and Evan and the worker quickly followed. Ry raised his hand in the air and flicked his fingers. Evan was used to being teleported to the clearing now and found himself instantly standing on the dewy, wet grass.

Evan quickly looked around. Small workers were running all around the clearing, screaming in a bolt of hysterics. Some workers were laying on the grass badly injured, and others were trying to stand up but failing. Evan tried to see what they were going insane over. Then he saw. In the corner of the clearing stood three beasts, the ones he had encountered earlier in his quest. They were growling loudly and snarling, with blood dripping down their faces.

Evan frantically looked around for Crystal and Josh. He saw them no where, until suddenly he saw Crystal lying on the floor.

"NO!" Evan screamed in a prolonged shout. He ran as fast as he could towards the injured horse, fearing the worst. As he reached Crystal he dived on his knees and gently stroked her. "Come on, Crystal. Don't you die on me!" he quietly whispered to her.

Evan turned his head and saw Ry with his arm out straight, frantically shooting beams of purple energy at the beasts. The beams that hit seemed to be working, injuring the beasts, but more beasts were diving out of the brush and attacking. Evan could see Ry was struggling, and one of the beasts overpowered him, diving at him, sending him flying and landing on the ground with a thud.

Evan jumped to his feet and ran towards the beast that was attacking Ry. He ran in a craze of hysterics, plunging at the beast, kicking it in the side. The beast retreated back to its gang in the corner.

"Ry, Ry!" Evan screamed louder and louder. This was going horribly wrong. Ry turned his head slowly towards Evan and slowly and softly whispered, "Fight them off, Evan. You can do it!" Evan took a deep breath and stood up. He turned to the cluster of beasts, put out his hand and began to create a fire ball in his hand. Evan suddenly became worried. The fire ball in his hand was alarmingly small, smaller than he had created before. With the fire still in his hand, he knelt down to Ry.

"What's wrong? Why is it so small?" Evan whispered to Ry. He gulped as he saw three beasts leave the group and begin to run towards him.

"It's your magic! Your magic is tired! Here, hold my hand. We can join magic forces!" Ry said in a weak voice.

Evan quickly placed his hand in Ry's old, chapped hand. The fireball instantly began to grow. When Evan thought it was big enough, he threw the fire with all his might. All his anger was released in the throw. The fireball flew through the air with amazing ease and hit right underneath the three beasts, sending all three of them into the air.

Evan looked over to the group and counted. There were seven of the ferocious beasts left. He looked back down to Ry, who had passed out. It was all down to him. To make things worse, he saw all the seven beasts were running towards him together.

Evan suddenly got a swirling, worried feeling in his stomach. He knew he couldn't take on seven beasts, and he knew he had to protect the workers, so he ran, out into the brush. He ran as fast as his legs would take him, but the forest was getting thicker with more twigs, leaves, bushes and branches. He tripped up three times and he could hear the pursuing beasts getting closer to him. The underbrush around his feet was getting even thicker. Evan's heart was pounding. He was breathing rapidly. Evan stopped and looked around. They were getting closer, so Evan took his chances and clambered up the nearest tree. He got as high as he could and then stopped and tried to be silent.

Evan watched as the seven beasts ran past. He watched as the shabby, grey hair and beady white eyes went past. After the last one, Evan breathed deeply and relaxed a little.

Evan cautiously made his way back to the clearing, looking back every few seconds. He came to the edge of the clearing and ran in, looking around. The small workers had stopped panicking and were tending to their injured. Crystal was now standing but still looked injured. Ry and Josh were no where to be seen.

Evan ran up to a nearby worker and began to ask him questions. "Where is Ry? Are you all okay?"

"Ry went back to his house to get some healing spells. I'm okay, although some of us are quite badly injured. Thank you for leading them away. I'm just afraid they are going to come back!" the worker replied in a quiet, squeaky voice.

A couple of days later, most things were back to normal. Ry healed the workers, and he moved them to a new location. Crystal was back to full health, but Josh couldn't be found. Evan and Ry had searched for him, but they could not find him anywhere.

"I think we can get back to your teaching now, Evan," Ry said.

"Sure. I'm ready to learn some more spells," Evan replied.

"You used your magic very confidently. I'm proud of you, Evan," Ry told him. Evan grinned at what Ry said, and Evan began to feel much more positive about using his magic.

Over the next three days, Evan learned five new spells. Ry was really delighted at Evan's progress.

Evan looked around him, as the sun beamed down from above, through the few white, fluffy clouds which sailed across the deep, blue sky. Evan had asked Ry to teleport him outside, because Evan was beginning to feel the stress of all the work. He walked along a grassy ridge of a small stream. He looked down as he walked, glancing into the clear, blue water which trickled over large pebbles with a soothing sound.

Evan looked around him. The trees were all around the stream, with a ridge at either side. He could hear the birds singing around him. Evan looked ahead and saw a small wooden bridge just up the stream a little. He walked up to it and strolled onto the centre of it. Stopping, he leaned over the side of the bridge. He looked down as the water went past and under the bridge.

Evan suddenly looked up as he heard a noise. He looked around and saw a small, grey rabbit running along the ridge towards him. Evan wandered why the rabbit was alarmed. Then Evan saw a beast jump from the undergrowth just behind the startled rabbit. He recognised the beast straight away. He could tell these beasts were a regular occurrence. Evan stared into the terror in the rabbit's eyes, and he couldn't let the beast get it.

Evan held his palm vertically towards the pursuing beast. He whispered a few words under his breath and a small, purple flash happened in Evan's palm. A small cloud of purple smoke was hovering around Evan's outstretched hand, as though Evan had an object in his hand. He threw the ball of energy. The beast stopped as he saw the cloud of mist and flashes coming towards him. For a brief second Evan saw terror in the beast's eyes and felt sorry for it, but then he remembered the havoc and fright the beast brings.

The spell Evan just cast came closer to the beast and landed with an almighty crash in front of it. The small area around the beast was engulfed with the purple smoke, and the beast came flying from the mist. It flew into the air and over the top of the trees. Evan laughed aloud and as the mist cleared, he saw the little, cute rabbit come running out.

Evan walked up to the little creature and stroked it on the head. He smiled at how friendly the rabbit was. The rabbit seemed to enjoy the grooming. Evan suddenly became startled as the rabbit cowered and began to tremble for a few seconds before running into the undergrowth. Evan stood up and was shocked as the whole area was submerged into shadow. Evan looked around frantically, but then looked up.

Evan was astonished as he saw a gigantic mass above him. He looked closer and saw that the thing he could see was a huge dragon. Evan realised it was the dragon that he was out to kill.

The dragon seemed to be quite slowly flying overhead. Evan could not see much detail, so he quickly ran to the nearest tree and clambered up it. He got as high as he could, and he saw enormous scales all over the stomach of the dragon. Its immense wings flapped with colossal strength. Evan saw that the dragon's body was red, and its underbelly was a creamy, pale yellow colour. He looked further up the body and saw its head and its big beady, white eyes. Looking straight forward, Evan gazed at the dragon's amazing teeth, just poking out of the side of its mouth. One of the teeth was bigger than the whole of Evan's body.

Evan saw the dragon was flying further and further out of view of his tree. So he dived down and landed flat on his face in the grass. He scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as his feet would go, almost falling over. He bounded down the ridge, until he came to an opening in the trees. He ran through it and was overwhelmed with the view he saw.

Evan was so amazed he stopped dead. He couldn't believe his eyes. He was on a ridge, high up above the kingdom. He stared down in amazement. He could see as far as he could imagine. He could see fields, hundreds of trees, streams, waterfalls, hills, and villages. He could see all over the kingdom.

Evan looked down and saw the dragon gracefully flying over the kingdom. He thought to himself how he didn't want to kill such an elegant creature, but then he remembered the pain and sorrow it had caused. He watched it fly over the horizon, getting smaller in his view as it went. Evan gazed down at the view, at the sea of tranquillity and he prayed to himself that that moment would last.

Evan began walking back to Ry's house. He walked back through the opening of the trees and back to the side of the stream. He glanced below at the side of the stream, where the water lapped softly on the grassy edge. He thought to himself as he walked slowly along the stream. He thought about the dragon, and about Josh, and what had happened to him. With his mind full of thoughts, Evan solemnly walked back to Ry's house, the place up on the hill still in the back of his mind.

Ry smiled. "Welcome back, Evan. Enjoy your walk?" Ry asked as Evan came shooting out of the tube and landed on Ry's large bed.

"Yes, thank you, Ry. You'll never believe what I saw. The dragon! It was so graceful and elegant. It was huge. You should have seen it!" Evan blurted out, trying to tell Ry everything at once.

"Evan, I have seen the dragon and experienced its wrath. It may appear graceful and elegant, but it is a horrible monster! It would kill you in an instant!" Ry replied.