Chapter 19
More challenges
On the other side were more challenges. The next one
was to beat and defeat the three brothers; the air gods.
They wore crowns of golden flowers, their hair was black
and curly, and extended in the middle of their backs, and
their clothing was made of the finest silk. These brothers
were as large as mountains, they were triplets and they
controlled everything in the air.
Right now, as the children entered the magical door,
they found themselves in a fighting arena. As the Air Gods
looked down on the children, they laughed and teased the
children that they would never pass through the golden
gates. The children could see it from afar; it was made of
pure gold with silver rods as its bars. On the other side
awaited a beautiful land of dwarves, elves, and many
mysteries.
"Let the games began!" shouted the air Gods.
The three brothers stood and looked over the arena.
Out of the air came a large giant. The three brothers had
formed clouds to make giants, and it came racing down from
the sky. It tried to stomp on the children. Peter and the
others dodged and ducked to avoid being stomped on, but the
cloud giant was not easing up. It was built as if it was
made of stone.
The clouds began to be packed up together to form a
hard outer core. The children tried to run through it, but
the clouds were too thick, none of them knew how to defeat
such a creature. Then came roaring from the arena seats;
suddenly there were onlookers. No one knew where they came
from, they just seemed to appear out of thin air, and that
was just about right; all the people in the arena seats
were made from clouds. Many of them flew away as the wind
blew, and many of them lost their body parts.
As Peter watched, an arm came flying by his face, and
it was nothing more than a puff of clouds. Apparently the
gods did not take the time to make their people as well as
they did their monsters. The cloud monster roared and blew
out rolling balls of clouds that knocked the children over.
The only thing left to do was to try and outrun the monster.
The children had nothing to fight with. As they ran,
Peter noticed that the monster was losing some of its
clouds. So Peter huddled his friends together, and came up
with a plan; they were to run in different directions to
spread the clouds thinner. Once it was vulnerable, Peter
informed his friends that they would make a dash for the
golden gates.
The idea seemed promising, and the children ran in
different directions. The cloud giant ran after them as the
crowds screamed and cheered for the gods and their monster.
Peter and his friends had no one cheering for them, so they
had to cheer for themselves. As the children ran, each one
took off in a different and opposite direction, causing the
cloud monster to lose patches of its cloud puffs. Once
Peter and his friends saw this, they gave each other high
fives.
"Great job!" said the children to each other.
The cloud monster started making cloud rocks that it
tried to smash the children with. One by one the cloud
rocks came out of the air, falling at a fast rate of speed,
and causing the children to run for their lives. The crowds
cheered for the cloud monster, their roars were so loud
that the children could hardly hear each other. Defeating
the cloud monster was not as easy as it looked. The longer
the children waited to run and spread the cloud monster
thin, the more the cloud monster produced more cloud puffs
to replace the chunks that it lost.
The children felt their strength surge, and they ran
their hearts out. The cloud monster did not know who to
chase, and as it tried to chase all of the children, the
more patches of cloud it lost. The children cheered for
themselves, and they kept on running faster and faster.
Soon the cloud monster became thin, and was dissipating
right before their very eyes.
"Run toward the gates!" shouted Peter to his friends.
As they ran, and the gods saw they were getting away,
they sent an army made of nothing more than cloud puffs.
This army of fighters came out of the skies ready for
battle; some had swords, some had arrows, while others had
hammers and hatchets.
The cloud army looked so real, the children were
stunned for a minute and were in a daze, until Millie
shouted, "Run!" as she deciphered the codes on the golden
gates.
The cloud army came down in the thousands, chasing the
children; Peter and his friends ran their hearts out as the
crowds roared for their defeat. As they were running, Clara
fell and stumbled. Steve came with his flying shoes and
scooped her up while the other children ran and ran. The
cloud army threw cloud bombs at the children. As they
exploded near their heads, the cloud bombs were so loud and
thunderous that they shook the entire stadium. The army
shot arrows at the children, one passed by Peter, missing
him by an inch.
"Keep running!" said Peter.
The children could see the golden gate ahead, and
Millie standing there waiting for them, encouraging them to
run faster, and faster. Peter and his friends did, even as
the army of cloud fighters was catching up with them. The
children ran and dove into the open area of the golden
gate, where they were greeted by fairies and fresh energy
water.
Peter looked back at the cloud army and saw that it
was disappointed that they'd lost, and the gods were very
upset. They made the skies cry black rain; the monster
cloud and the cloud army were washed away and evaporated as
if they were never there. Peter and his friends were proud
of themselves, and hugged each other in victory, but the
hard part was just beginning. At the end of the golden
gates was a land of fantasy; there were flowers that
bloomed over and over again, and let off sweet smelling
fragrances.
Small elves stood by the gates handing out energy
water in a leaf-like cup. The children drank and drank
until they could not drink any more. They were all tired;
they had fought for hours in the Ambassador Forest. The
children sat under a palm tree and rested for a while;
there was so much peace on this side. The creatures on this
side of the golden gate were nice and friendly.
Peter and his friends made lots of new friends. Then
Robert told everyone that it was time to go. They all
shrugged their shoulders as if they did not want to leave
this relaxing environment, but the other door was waiting,
and no one knew what to expect. If the other temple was
hard, then this one would be harder. The children said
goodbye to their new friends, and got on their way.
A silver door lay ahead. The children walked faster,
just
to get it over with, and then burst through the door.
Waiting on the other side was a giant fat Buddha. It was
adorned with golden anklets and bracelets; its skin was
very pale, and it wore nothing more than a big diaper.
"Oh, this is going to be fun!" said Peter
sarcastically.
The Buddha's face seemed to have the appearance of mud
splatters. It stood at least ten or eleven feet, and it
stomped its feet over and over again. Every time it did,
the rocks from the mountainside came tumbling down.
The symbols of Baja glowed all over the Buddha, it
seemed to want to wrestle with the children; stomping its
feet as if it was ready to attack. The children ran and
split up, but the Buddha had other tricks up its sleeves.
It touched its face and took its outline off! The outline
turned into a mask of multi colors that spun through the
air and shot out splatters of mud. The mud splatters turned
into little mud warriors that came after the children.
Mud and dirt were being flung from everywhere; the
Buddha beat on its chest as the mud warriors formed and
then attacked the children. The mud warriors were no more
than two feet tall, and all had little weapons, whether it
was a spear, bow and arrow, knife or club; they were all
armed with a fighting tool.
"This doesn't look good!" said Clara, as she ran
alongside Peter.
Steve used his magical shoes to fly into the air, and
Michael used his wings, but the mud warriors attacked them
with mud ball canons that hit Michael and sent him tumbling
from the sky. The Buddha held his stomach and laughed out
loud. Sam then used his fart bubbles to catch Michael as he
fell.
"It's a nasty smell, but thank, pal," said Michael to
Steve.
Millie pulled out on her shades to find a secret
passage, but there was none. Yet, there was something
hidden under the flying disc the Buddha had. It was a small
object that glowed, and every time Peter ran by, the object
glowed brighter and flashed rapidly. Millie told Peter that
there was something hidden under the Buddha's flying disc.
But there was no way out; the children knew then that
they had to fight this giant beast. Jamyra brought forth
her gift of frost; she held out her hands and, as they
turned icy cold and white, a burst of cold air came over
the area, and then a shot of ice. The little mud warriors
turned into chunks of ice, but this was not going to hold
for long. Jamyra could see her ice melting right before her
eyes.
The Buddha saw what Jamyra was doing, and took off his
mud face to make more mud warriors. To help Jamyra, Robert
took his watch off, and turned the golden dials to make it
snow. The mud warriors got cold and shivered, and with
Jamyra making ice, the mud warriors stopped fighting and
huddled together for warmth.
The Buddha was not happy, and shot fire from its
mouth, defrosting everything. To stop him, Peter opened
some large holes. He held his hands tight, until they
turned orange and magical dust flew out that, in turn,
became a black hole. The Buddha jumped and jumped all over
the place to avoid the black holes. Then it hopped onto its
disc and flew away. It seemed there was nothing to stop
this creature.
Then Clara tried; she conjured up a huge glob of her
green saliva bugs, and ordered them to attack the Buddha
while he was flying on his disc. The green flies went into
the air, attacking the Buddha. He fought, and then opened
his mouth to spit mud at the flies. Many of Clara's flies
fell to the ground and died; the mud was very toxic. But
Clara could produce as many flies as she wanted.
The Buddha opened its mouth and sent mud flying to his
face where a mud mask formed to protect him from Clara's
flies. The children were getting fed up; nothing they did
seemed to work. The mud warriors defrosted and came after
the children, sending them flying and running.
Clara pulled out her fiery dragon sword and called
upon it to attack. The sword let out a roar, and the dragon
of fire flashed through the crowd of mud people, scorching
and burning their little behinds. The mud warriors turned
into clay that grew hard because of the fire. This was the
only thing that seemed to slow the warriors down.
Nicholas gave off a big roar, and from the loudness of
it, the clay warriors cracked and broke. The children had
found something that they could use to stop the mud
warriors. The dragon of fire flew east to west and north to
south, burning everything; while Nicholas roared aloud and
broke all the clay warriors.
The Buddha flew on his disc up high into the air, and
saw what was happening. He swooped down and tried to catch
one of the children, but they were diving and dodging him.
Then he went after Clara's dragon of fire, but it was too
fast. It swooped by the Buddha.
Then Zack conjured up some snot buggers from his nose,
and had them form into a wall of goo. The Buddha was flying
so fast that he did not see the snot wall, and flew into
it. He struggled to get out, but was stuck. The snot was
sticky, and had the Buddha caught like flies on a sticky
trap. The children cheered and realized that the Buddha was
trying to get loose, so they hurried and ran over to the
secret floor that was hidden by the Buddha's disc. They
opened the passage, and as they opened the small box-like
door, a glow burst out of the hole, sending the children
flying to the ground.
"What was that?" shouted Millie.
Peter gazed upon the opening. In that small area laid
a golden glove that glowed with the symbols of Baja. Yet,
the glove seemed to be for something special and someone
special. Every child tried to put the glove on, but it
would not fit. Then the last was Peter, and the minute he
touched the glove, it began moving and sliding across the
floor, like a fish out of water. It jumped right onto
Peter's hand; it was a perfect fit.
"Peter, I told you that you are a special child," said
Clara as Peter blushed.
"We must leave, the Buddha is trying to break free,"
said Robert.
The children sent Michael to fly up and get the
Buddha's disc so that they could ride back. He got on the
disc, but did not know how to fly it; he went spinning and
twirling through the air. Then Ben put on his magical cape
and flew up with Millie so she could decipher how to
control the disc. It took Ben a while to catch up with
Michael. Once they did, Ben dropped Millie onto the disc to
have her decode the symbols, and find out how to fly it.
It took Millie less than a minute to do it, and then
she swooped down to pick everyone up.
"Oh, this is so cool!" said Peter.
The disc had just enough room for all of them. Millie
was in charge of flying t
he disc, and Robert was in charge
of the directions. The disc had a nice comfy spot, and the
children relaxed as they flew through the air.
"What do you suppose the glove does?" said Clara to
Peter.
He had no idea; he just knew it was cool. Then Millie
interrupted, and said that the glove held the answer to
either getting the eighth key or it was the eighth key. No
one knew for sure. Well, whatever it was for, Peter held
onto it very tightly.
The children then took a quick nap as Millie stood
guard. Then, as the sun was setting on their first day, the
children parked the disc in a tree and let it hover. The
night went by fast; it seemed like the children just went
to bed; but in the forest, time is of the essence. The
children woke up to bright colorful little birds singing.
"Oh, that is so cute," said Millie.
The birds puffed up and turned into bigger birds. The
children screamed and took off through the air, but the
birds chased right behind them.
"Faster!" said Clara to Millie.
Millie made the disc go faster, and eventually the
birds turned back around.
"That was close," said Robert, as he looked over at
his friends.
Then from above, Peter noticed a temple below them. It
had people working in the yards, and they seemed like they
were moving somewhere.
"Let's go down for a better looked," said Peter.
Millie took the disc down lower, where there were men
and women chained up; they were held as slaves, and making
weapons and fighting gear.
"This must be where my father is being held," said
Peter as he peered through the crowd.
He saw no sign of his father, but he did recognize the
symbols of his father's army. Peter then noticed that the
prisoners were being watched over by large rock dogs; so he
tried to find another way into the temple, without being
seen. As Peter searched around the temple grounds, he saw a
shadow behind a tree; at the same time, Millie lowered the
disc. There was a person lying in the shrubs, and one thing
that made Peter's eyes pop was that the person had orange
hair!
"Father!" Peter shouted.
The person did not move. Peter lowered the disc and
jumped off, calling to his father. Thinking the worst,
Peter slowly turned the person over, and yes, it was his
father, Sam Carrot-Top. He was still alive and breathing,
but he was a little bit out of it.
Peter and his friends lifted Sam onto the disc, which
was harder than it looked, but the children pulled together
and got the job done. Peter hurried and got the disc into
the air, where he shook his father to try to wake him up.
Clara tried to get Sam Carrot-Top to drink some water, but
he was too busy mumbling in his unconsciousness. The only
thing that was left was for Steve to pull off his shoes and
let his toe jams wake Mr. Carrot-Top. So, Steve did it with
pride. He snatched off his shoes, grew his feet and let the
odor lose. At first, nothing happened, and then Mr. Carrot-
Top choked and gasped for air.
"Father, father!" Peter shouted.
Sam Carrot-Top thought that he was dreaming, and
closed his eyes again; until Peter called his name a few
more time. When Sam finally caught his breath, he touched
Peter as if he didn't think he was real. Then Mr. Carrot-
Top rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was not seeing
things.
"Son, where am I?" said Mr. Carrot-Top.
"In the Ambassador Forest!" shouted Millie.
"Who are these children?" said Mr. Carrot-Top.
"These are my friends, father, and we came to save
you," said Peter.
Mr. Carrot-Top eye's filled with tears; he was so
proud of his son and gave him a big hug and kiss. "We must
leave," said Mr. Carrot-Top to the children.
Sam went on to introduce himself to the children and
they did the same, as many of them showed off their powers
to him. Sam was impressed by the children and their
bravery, to come this far and get him.
"Hi, Mr. Carrot-Top, I have the same name as you, my
name is Sam Salmon," said Sam nervously.
"That is a great first name," said Mr. Carrot-Top.
He looked over the temple ground, warning the children
to stay high in the air to avoid being seen by the seven
wizards. But, it was too late, the wizard boy Cilus was out
walking the grounds and he spotted the disc. He sent an
army of black birds to attack the disc.
Mr. Carrot-Top climbed into the controls as the black
birds came out of nowhere. They were huge birds with a few
feet of wing span, and their chests were covered with
golden armor. Their bodies glowed with red symbols, and the
birds flew violently at the disc, hitting and bumping it,
causing it to tip and shake.
The children held their heads low to avoid being
pecked by the birds' beaks. The birds squawked louder and
louder, as if they were calling for backup. Mr. Carrot-Top
sent the disc weaving and flying through trees and over
lakes and mountains, but the black birds were right behind
them. Some of the black birds got under the disc and tried
to over turn it. The children screamed as Mr. Carrot-Top
did his best to control the rough ride.
"Hang on tight, kids, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!"
said Mr. Carrot-Top.
The children clung together for dear life. Then
thunder came from the skies, and behind that was Bella,
riding her black bat-like creature.
"I want you dead, Sam Carrot-Top!" said Bella as she
looked Mr. Carrot-Top right in the eyes.
"Over my dead body, I have a village to save!" said
Mr. Carrot-Top.
This made Bella furious. As she helped the black birds
attack the disc even more, Jamyra got up and used her
powers to freeze the birds in the air. They plummeted to
the ground because the ice made them too heavy to stay in
the air. Bella was not happy with this and sent lightning
bolts that hit the disc. It went spinning out of control.
Zack formed a soft landing pad with the buggers from
his nose. It was so nasty, but it was the only thing to
make the landing softer. The children and Mr. Carrot-Top
jumped from the fallen disc to Zack's landing pad; they
were all covered with green mucus.
"I must wash myself very well, when this is over,"
said Jamyra.
Mr. Carrot-Top just laughed, and then ordered everyone
to run. As they all ran, Mr. Carrot-Top made sure that
everyone was together, because he could sense that the rock
dogs were on there way. He heard rumbling in the ground,
then feet thundering on the ground like wild horses.
"Keep running!" shouted Mr. Carrot-Top.
The children ran faster and faster, but Zack and
Millie could not go any more; they had to stop, and as
Millie stopped, there was a big rock dog breathing right
over her h
ead. She could feel its hot breath on her neck;
she trembled and was too afraid to turn around, so she
disappeared.
That impressed Mr. Carrot-Top. "Good girl," he mumbled.
Millie came closer to her friends, un-noticed by the
rock dogs; the dogs became confused and looked around as if
they were chasing their own tails.
"Go, go!" said Mr. Carrot-Top quietly.
Peter and his friends softly crept toward a hole in
the rocks. Suddenly all of them seemed to disappear into
thin air, but they were hiding in the cracks of a rock.
They could hear the sound of Bella chastising her pet rocks
for losing Sam Carrot-Top and the children. The rock dogs
whimpered and begged for forgiveness, but Bella had had
enough. She struck the dogs with lightning, turning them
into nothing more than dust.
Mr. Carrot-Top made the children remain quiet as they
watched Bella pace back and forth by the opening of the
rock. Bella was not pleased; what would she tell her master
Cilus? Bella flew up onto her bat and took off.
The children started to leave, but were held back by
Mr. Carrot-Top; he told them that it was a trick to get
them to come out into the opening. He knew what type of
woman Bella had become, and he did not trust her one bit.
Mr. Carrot-Top and the children stayed crouched in the
opening for hours. Finally Bella got tired of trying to see
if Mr. Carrot-Top and the others would appear. She flew
back to the temple with an empty hand to show Cilus.
Mr. Carrot-Top rushed the children out of the hole and
headed toward home. It was a long way, and Peter told his
father that they had a ship, but they had to hurry if they
wanted to use it. Peter told his father that the ship was a
spell that only lasted three days. After that, it would
turn back into a trash can.
Mr. Carrot-Top ordered the children to hurry; maybe
they could find another way out of the forest and back to
the mainland. As they were leaving, Sam Carrot-Top took one
last peek, and noticed that Bella and the seven wizards
were finished forming their army. He also noticed that some
of his men were left behind. Many were so brainwashed that
they truly believed Bella and the other wizards were their
friends and on their side.
Sam hated to leave the men that he'd fought side by
side with. He wanted them to be free, but the only way to
do that was to free Baja. Mr. Carrot-Top congratulated all
the children on using their powers for good and not evil,
and to always remember to be each other's support. Peter
and his friends became closer after Mr. Carrot-Top gave
them those words of advice. It was no time for special
moments; blasts of fire balls came flying through the air
as they were being attacked.
"Run, children!" shouted Mr. Carrot-Top.
The children hid behind Mr. Carrot-Top because there
was nowhere else to go.
"We know this forest by heart, we will always find
you," said Mirus.
"Mr. Stewart?" shouted Peter.
"No, son, that's not Mr. Stewart," said Sam Carrot-Top.
He explained to his son and his friends that Mirus was
the twin brother of Mr. Stewart. The children were in shock
and wondered why Mr. Stewart never mentioned it.
"Oh, man you look just like my principal," said Jamyra.
But Mirus was not the talkative type; all he wanted to
do was fight and cause trouble. He attacked Sam Carrot-Top
with his invisibility, punching him everywhere on his body.
Millie got upset and turned on her invisibility powers and
threw rocks and stones at Mirus. "You bully, leave him
alone!"
Mirus was very surprised he was not the only one who
had invisibility. As Mirus was distracted, Sam Carrot-Top
attacked him. The two men fought, until Jamyra turned Mirus
into a block of ice.
"Nice timing," said Sam Carrot-Top to Jamyra.
Sam could still see Mirus' eyes moving, and with the
help of the children, they pushed the block of ice into the
river. Sam and the children ran toward the temple, hoping
that maybe they could find a way home. But as they were
leaving, there were dagger cards being thrown at them and
bursting into rays of colors and gases.
"Cover your mouth and nose," said Sam Carrot-Top to
the children.
Hoyle the card thrower kept throwing cards. He had
grown into a big green slimy monster with his teeth as
yellow as the sun, and an odor that would kill anything
living. He ran after the children, sending them in many
different directions; and at one place there were three
more rock dogs waiting for the children. They had the
entire forest surrounded; the rock dogs were determine to
catch anyone to give to Bella.
These dogs were huge, and no match for Peter and his
friends. So they decided to try and catch the dogs instead
of fighting them. While Mr. Carrot-Top and Hoyle fought,
the children were capturing the three rock dogs. First
Robert slimmed his body down to hide behind a very skinny
tree. The dogs were confused and could not find him. Robert
peeked out and pulled his head back in; teasing and
taunting the huge animals. As the dogs became distracted,
Sam Salmon chewed his wacky slime gum and let it ooze out
of his mouth onto the floor. The ooze was slippery and
thick.
Sam told Robert to run from behind the tree, and as
the dogs gave chase, they slipped; the ooze made them crash
into the rocky mountain so hard that their bodies shattered
into tiny pieces. When Bella saw the commotion, she flew
back down. This time the children were ready for her. Clara
sent her green slime flies to swarm and attack Bella before
she reached the ground; then Michael used his wings of
flight to fly into the air and taunt Bella's bat. It became
irritated, and twisted and turned, throwing Bella from its
back. Like a cat, Bella landed on her feet, and wiped the
slime Clara's flies had left on her face.
"You little brat, I am going to get you!" said Bella
to Clara.
Clara ran, and Bella gave chase, and then she was
suddenly stopped when she saw Peter hold his orange hand
out, ready to make a hole.
"You wouldn't dare to do it!" said Bella to Peter.
"Oh, yes I would," said Peter.
He formed a hole just big enough for Bella to slip in.
As it formed, Bella tried to call her bat, but it was too
busy being chased by Michael in the air. Bella went
tumbling down the hole; and out of the blue, Marcus
appeared, causing Peter to lose focus.
"Uncle Marcus, why are you doing this?" said Peter.
But Marcus did not respond; he just threw balls of
fire at his nephew. When Sam Carrot-Top saw that his son
was in trouble, he rushed to his side, scolding his brother
for going to the side of evil. Sam pushed his son out of
the way and fought with his brother. It was a sa
d sight to
see; two brothers fighting it out, one for good and the
other for evil.
Peter forgot all about Bella as she crawled out of the
hole, grabbing Peter by the legs and dragging him into the
black hole. Peter screamed, and Ben came flying down with
his magical cape to save him. With one swoop, he grabbed
Peter from the grips of Bella. As they turned around and
raced back up to the top, Bella was not far behind.
"Don't you ever go away?" said Peter to Bella.
She just gave off a wicked smile and laughed.
Meanwhile, Clara and the rest of the children helped Mr.
Carrot-Top fight the other wizards. Nicholas roared so hard
that Hoyle's cards broke every time he tried to throw them.
Clara filled Marcus' face with slime flies so Mr. Carrot-
Top could get an advantage. The more Sam Carrot-Top fought,
the more he changed into something. He became, green, then
orange, and then the color went to his right hand and it
grew the size of five men's fists. The fist was so strong
it knocked the wizards out, one by one, with just one punch.
It was the coolest thing the children had ever seen.
Mr. Carrot-Top's hand was so huge that it could pick up one
of the wizards with just its finger. Sam himself was
surprise by his powers; seeing as his power of levitation
seemed to have gone away. All the children could see were
wizards, one by one flying through the air. Now that Sam
Carrot-Top had his powers, there was no way of stopping
him; he was kicking butt left and right. Wizards and anyone
that stood in his way were being tossed aside like
yesterday's trashed.
Then came Louis, the wizard of elasticity. Louis came
from behind a tree limb that was thinner that the width of
a thread. His arms could stretch as long as he wanted them.
Louis stretched his hands into the hole to grab Bella. Then
he used his hands to wind and curve through the forest like
a snake; he was searching for the children without moving
from where he was standing. The children ran from the long
hands; they were not only scary and spooky, but just plain
weird. Robert let Louis chase him around a tree until his
hands were tied up.
"You fool," said Bella to Louis.
His hands were now stuck and the children laughed.
Jamyra froze Louis' hands together. He was in pain from the
cold, and could not move his fingers because of the
frostbite.
"Get me out of this!" shouted Louis to Bella.
She completely ignored him and went after Peter; she
wanted him. If Peter were caught, then Sam would surrender.
Peter was too smart for Bella, every step she made, Peter
had a hole ready for her to step in. She called her bat to
come and scoop her up, but it did not respond; it was too
busing being chased by Steve and Michael.
Seeing that they were outnumbered and losing, Bella
called upon Cilus to come and help. He came with Horitio,
the wizard of face changes. He came down throwing fire
balls from his hands; it seemed fire balls were the number
one choice of weapons among the wizards. Horitio tried to
take Sam Carrot-Top's face, but he didn't stay still long
enough for Horitio to grab ahold of his. So he continued to
fight with the fire balls, as Sam used his newfound
strength to beat up the wizards. Cilus was not having this;
he was embarrassed to see his wizards not able to beat a
bunch of kids, and came down throwing a flying disc that
changed into a huge giant with a large club.
"Oh, no! Not another giant," said Peter.
It was more than one giant; they came down in pairs of
three, every time Cilus threw a disc into the air, it
changed into some form of giant. Cilus himself looked like
a little boy, like Peter and his friends. Peter tried to
make friends, but Cilus was not having it. He did not want
to be Peter's friend, and threw four discs into the air. As
he did, Clara shot them out of the sky before they got a
chance to form into whatever giants were going to come out
of them.
Clara took her golden sword and called upon the dragon
to knock the disc out of the sky, but there were still
three giants left to get rid of. The first was a huge white
bear that beat on its chest and roared. It had a massive
head, and super-sized paws. It attacked the children, and
they ran through the forest, screaming and hollering.
Millie disappeared, as always; Jamyra tried to freeze the
bear, but it was too big and too strong. It broke loose
from the ice Jamyra put around its legs. Sam Carrot-Top
took on the giant bear, using his strong hands to lift and
threw him to the floor. Back and forth Sam used his powers;
finally Sam spun the bear by his feet, and then let go and
sent the bear flying into the abyss.
Next was a large dragon that was so yellow that it
matched the sun. It had big blue eyes and a tail made of
sharp spines. It flew down shooting fire from it jaw at the
children, burning trees and anything in its way. On the
dragon's back was Cilus, controlling where it went. At
first, the dragon attacked Mr. Carrot-Top, but had no luck;
he held on to its sharp spine tail and tried to bring it
closer to the ground. The dragon was very powerful, and
pulled away from Sam, but Mr. Carrot-Top kept a firm grip
on its tails, even as his hands bled from the cuts of the
spine. Nevertheless, Sam hung on until the pain was too
much to bear, and then he let go.
The dragon then went after Peter and his friends, who
were already being chased by Bella and a few of the other
wizards. Sam Salmon produced a few fart balls and burst
them in the air, causing the dragon to squirm a bit. This
gave Mr. Carrot-Top another chance to catch ahold of its
tail; and he did just that. Sam Carrot-Top spun the dragon
around faster and faster, causing it to throw Cilus off of
its back and onto the floor, where he was now face to face
with Peter.
"So you are the boy king," said Cilus to Peter.
"No, I am just a boy," said Peter.
Cilus had an unsettling look of disgust toward Peter,
but Peter was not backing down from him. "Maybe we can be
friends."
Cilus laughed his wicked laugh, and then pushed Peter
to the ground. Cilus started to cast another spell, when a
slap in the face from Clara's green saliva bugs knocked him
down. Peter quickly got up and moved toward Clara. Cilus
had a hard time fight off Clara's green saliva bugs; he got
so mad and created another monster. This one came from the
clouds. At first, they rolled in and then there was nothing
but silence. Cilus thought maybe his magic was not working;
but oh, it was working very well.
The clouds shook as if something was trying to get
out; and what jumped out of the clouds was nothing more
than some cute little mushroom people! They were soft as
feathers, and the
ir bodies were in the form of mushrooms.
They were white with red polka dots. These little critters
giggled all the time as they hopped from cloud to cloud.
Peter and his friends relaxed, thinking that these little
mushroom people were nothing more than harmless critters of
the forest. But they were not at all harmless; they were
big trouble for Peter and his friends.
At first, the mushroom people did nothing more than
play around. Cilus got ticked off, and sent a lightning
bolt to the clouds. It hit a few of the mushroom people,
causing them to attack. Out of their little hands came
balls of soft clouds that at first looks so innocent, but
then they burst in the air and sent down flying daggers and
electric sparks. Peter and his friends ran once the first
cloud puffs went off.
Cilus was happy and shouted, "More, more, you fools."
The mushroom people threw more, but never moved. They
just sat on the clouds and attacked. They were so delicate
that they could not touch the ground or they would
evaporate into thin air. They were more of a nuisance than
a big threat. Nevertheless, Peter and his friends had to
deal with them. Peter tried to hide from one of the
electric bolts, but it caught him and gave him quite a
shock. Peter's head was smoking and his hair was fried. His
friends laughed, and then got right back to work trying to
defeat the mushroom people. Jamyra tried to freeze them
while trying to protect Mr. Carrot-Top from Bella, who was
coming up behind him with her nails out and ready to poison
him again. Jamyra froze Bella's nails, and then her
freezing power was blocked by the mushroom people who put
up some type of shield to protect them in the clouds.
Cilus tried to fight with Peter; the two boys hit and
punched each other until they fell into one of Peter's
black holes. Screams came out of the holes as they fell,
but most of the children were too busy battling to notice.
Millie disappeared and flew up with Ben to try and capture
one of the mushroom people to hold as ransom. Even though
Millie was invisible, for some reason the mushroom people
could still see her. They could detect body heat through
their big blue saucer eyes; they knocked Millie to the
floor with one of their bolts, and then sent down a hail of
electric sparks upon Mr. Carrot-Top and the others.
The children, and even some of the wizards, ran for
their lives; sparks were flying everywhere, the ground was
becoming so electrified that no one could stand on it
without getting shocked. Bella was still trying to defrost
her nails, and the other wizards flew off into the hole
where Peter and Cilus were. That's when everyone noticed
that Peter was not around.
"Oh no, they must have taken him!" said Clara.
Sam Carrot-Top turned around quickly and dove into the
hole, when he found out that his son was missing.
Meanwhile, the remaining children were left to fight with
the mushroom people and Bella. Ben used his ability to
change into anyone, and pretended to be Cilus. He commanded
the mushroom people to go into the darkest corner of the
forest and give light with their electricity. At first the
mushroom people did not leave; they were a little
suspicious, and one flew down and circled around Ben. He
tried to keep a straight face and hold the appearance of
Cilus together, but those who knew Ben knew that he had
issues with getting a look-alike face to stay. But this
time, Ben held it until the mushroom people jumped back
onto their clouds and went away.
"You fools, that is not Cilus!" said Bella as she came
running after Ben.
It was too late; the mushroom people had taken off so
quickly that when Bella turned around they were gone. She
was furious and chased after Ben with her bat. He used his
magical cape to fly through the air, up and over clouds, in
and out of tree trunks, and up and over trees. Bella was
not having a good time; not only was she wasting time with
a bunch of spoiled brats, a war awaited. Bella quickly
turned around and headed into the temple. She summoned a
flock of black birds to go after the children. There were
so many black birds that they covered the skies and made
the sun go down; there was nothing but darkness.
Clara used her magical sword to give light to the area.
"We must get out of here!" said Zack.
All the children decided to jump down the black hole
to find Peter and his father.
"They'll need our help," said Robert.
As the black birds came flying through the air, one by
one the children jumped into the black hole. It was so deep
that there were huge worms and tree roots growing
everywhere. Clara used her magic sword to draw light into
the hole. She led the pack as they began their endless
fall. Soon, from deep down, Clara spotted the remaining
wizards also falling. Ben used his cape to fly by Clara to
see where the wizards were going.
As they saw Ben, the wizards threw balls of fire back
at him and the other children. The fire went flying by the
children's heads causing them to feel the heat across their
faces. This did not stop Clara or the other children from
wanting to save their friend. Clara fought back with her
magical sword, turning it into a dragon and sending it
after the wizards as they threw their fire balls.
The fire dragon ate the fireballs, gobbling them down.
The wizards pulled out all the magical powers they had,
from fire balls to laser blasts, and Hoyle threw his cards
at the children. When the cards hit the sides of the hole,
they burst into clouds of smoke. This slowed the children
down because they could not see. The smoke was thick and
grey; there was no way of seeing anything ahead, so the
children stopped and waited for the smoke to clear.
"Oh great, while we sit here, Peter could be hurt,"
said Zack.
"Be a little more patient," said Clara.
The smoke cleared, but there was nothing in sight. It
seemed like the wizards had found a place to hide. As the
children continued to fall, the wizards came out of nowhere
and were now in back of the children. The wizards had
managed to find a ledge, and stayed on it until the
children went by. Jamyra used her ice freezing, while Clara
sent her green saliva bugs flying at the wizards. They
dodged Jamyra's freeze power, and only a few of them were
caught by Clara's flies.
Jamyra and Clara decided to put their powers together
to see what would happen. Clara spit out her green bug
flies, and then Jamyra lightly froze them. It was a great
idea; now Clara's flies were hard and strong from the
freezing. They flew around the wizards, now looking like
white snowflakes, but when they touched any part of the
body, everything froze immediately. Mirus was the first
wizard to
fall victim to the concoction. The two girls
laughed and giggled together for the first time; they were
now becoming friends.
Mirus was falling faster; the weight from the ice
seemed to weigh him down. When the other wizards saw this,
they decided to move out of the way. Many of them used the
fire balls to melt the flies, but they were too fast for
the wizards' dumb fire balls. The other wizards were not
happy, and used their powers to block the children with a
wall of fire. Jamyra turned it into ice water, and the
children floated through, laughing at the wizards, and that
made them even angrier.
Jamyra stretched out her hands to form a wall of ice
to block the wizards that were behind them. As it formed,
Hoyle was trying to run through and made it halfway. His
body got frozen within the ice, and he let out a loud
scream. The other wizards tried to stop, but they too ended
up hitting the ice wall.
"That will keep them out for a while," said Robert as
he congratulated Jamyra on a job well done.
Finally the children could see a bottom, and down
there was Peter; they could tell by his orange hair.
Standing over Peter was Cilus, holding a magical stick with
two golden horns at the end of it. The horns from the staff
seemed to have a tight grip around Peter's neck. Next to
Peter was his father, who was not moving due to a hit on
the head from a rock. Blood was everywhere, but Peter was
not going to let his father die; he fought with Cilus.
Peter mustered up enough strength to push Cilus away, and
then Peter took his two hands and pried the staff with the
horns away from his neck. Cilus saw that Peter had grown
powerful and took off; he jumped on his magical staff, it
turned into a flying broom, and up the hole he went.
Meanwhile, Clara and the others chased Cilus all the
way to the top, where they lost sight of him. Then they
went back down to assist Peter. He lay on the floor, still
trying to catch his breath. He managed to crawl over to his
father and kissed him on the forehead.
"Stay with me!" Peter cried. Tears fell from his face
onto his father's head. The cold touch of the tears seemed
to wake Mr. Carrot-Top. "Oh, father, you gave me a scare."
All Mr. Carrot-Top could do was lie there and smile,
until he got his strength back.
"We must get out of here," said Peter to his friends.
He told them that the holes he made led to different
worlds, and he did not want to be sucked into a time warp.
At that moment a bright light came through the walls of the
hole; that process was starting!
"Go, go, go," said Peter, as he pushed his friends
toward the top of the hole.
Ben and Michael used their flying powers to fly with
Mr. Carrot-Top to the land above. Jamyra was in charge of
forming an ice bridge to the top, so that the rest of the
children could make it out. She quickly formed the bridge
and the remaining children ran to the top, even as the hole
got bigger and started to open up to another world.
"Faster!" said Peter.
The children ran and ran until they could not run any
more. So, they walked at a quick pace. Meanwhile, as the
children looked back, they could see the hole opening up to
another world. When the hole got bigger, everyone took a
peek; the world was so beautiful, one that no one had ever
laid eyes on. From what they could see, the land had
mystical creatures, huge dragons with crowns as large as
their heads, silver oceans and waterfalls, and the people
seemed to live in huge stone homes. The beaches had sand
that glittered in the sun. Peter and the other children
could hear the soothing sounds of the ocean waves; they
were in a daze.
Millie shouted, "Snap out of it, the hole is growing!"
The children realized that they were being hypnotized
by the hole so it could swallow them up. The hole had
almost caught up with them; the children ran faster, and to
make matters worse, Jamyra's ice bridge was melting. The
more she tried to produce more frost; the sunlight coming
from the other world was so hot that it melted the bridge.
The children sped up; passing all the wizards they had
frozen on the way down. Clara noticed that a few of the
wizards were missing, along with Hoyle. But they did not
have time to study the wizards; they had to get out of the
hole before it ate them alive and transported them to
another world.
When the children made it to the top, they were
greeted by Ben, Michael, and Mr. Carrot-Top. Also, the
black birds that were chasing them when they first went
down into the hole were still there.
"Keep still, don't move," said Peter, as the birds
were now sleeping.
They had waited so long for the children to come back
out; they formed a nest and slept on the edge of the hole.
Little did these black birds know that there was a surprise
coming; the hole was about to swallow them up and take them
to another world. The children tip-toed softly out of the
hole, one by one, as the opening to the other world barely
missed them. Suddenly, the hole gulped up the birds like a
last meal; all that was left on the ground were a few
feathers.
"That was close," said Peter.
Now that night was falling and the remaining wizards
were back at the temple, the children could get a rest.
Peter's father started to really come around and collect
his senses. Once again, the children had made it through
another test, but they were going on the third day. Robert
knew that they only had hours to get back to the vessel to
make it back home to Baja safely. He gently shook his
friends to wake them up and back on schedule. Most of them
did not want to wake up, they were tired and exhausted, but
they knew that either they got up and started moving or
became the wizards' prisoners.
Mr. Carrot-Top was still a little woozy, but he was
able to stand on his own two feet and walk. Suddenly they
heard a hovering above.
"Behind the trees!" shouted Peter to his friends.
Up above in the sky was none other than their vessel.
Merseft was looking out the window, and Peter jumped out
and signaled to him. He flew it down to his family and
friends. Merseft blabbered on about how the spell was going
to wear off, and that they would be stuck in this scary
place forever. But, he was glad to see Peter and the
others. Yet, he had some bad new.
"What bad news?" said Peter.
Merseft told how a woman all in black found the vessel
and thawed Larry out. He told her that he'd found out that
Mirus the wizard was his father, and he wanted to be with
him and become a wizard.
"Who is Larry?" asked Mr. Carrot-Top.
Peter explained to his father that Larry was a student
at his school, his uncle is Mr. Patric Stew
art, and he
treated Larry more as his son than his nephew. Peter told
his father that Larry had no special powers, and was only
accepted at Waldorf Academy because of his uncle. It made
sense to Peter and his father that maybe Mr. Stewart was in
with his twin brother to take over Baja.
"But in the meantime, we must leave," said Merseft.
The children were glad to be on board, where there was
food, water, and a nice place to take a nap. Everyone piled
on board, and the 3D pilot took off his cap and introduced
himself. He reminded the children that they were running
out of time, as this nice flying vessel would soon be
nothing more than a trash can again.
"Oh hush, we know, now start the vessel," said Jamyra.
Peter could not help but feel hurt knowing that they
had left Larry behind. He would become nothing more than an
evil seed like his father. As the vessel took off, the
children looked from above and saw all the destruction that
was done to the forest, the supporter of life in Baja.
Mr. Carrot-Top saw how his son was looking so sad, and
said, "Don't you worry, when the elders arrive this will be
over."
Peter just nodded to please his father, but in his
heart he was very worried about what was going on, and he
was the one who was supposed to stop it. Peter felt like a
failure, and went to the back of the vessel and moped.
"Oh, stop putting so much pressure on yourself; we did
our best," said Clara, as she sat next to Peter eating her
cotton candy worms.
Peter laughed as Clara had a worm hanging from her
mouth. "You little pig," said Peter.
Clara smiled and said, "I did my job I, got you to
smile."
She went off to be with the other children as Peter
stared out the window. He could see men of his father's who
were once fighters turned into slaves cutting down the
trees of the forest to make weapons and tools for the war.
Sam Carrot-Top wanted to save them, but knew it was too
dangerous. Still, he promised in his heart that he would be
back, and he would save all who would come with him.
One by one, the trees of the forest fell, and animals
were scampering to find a way out; their home as they knew
it was being destroyed, burned to the ground. All Peter and
his friends could do was just watch as their men destroyed
the entire forest, causing animals that had lived there for
centuries to find another home. The wizards were being
careless, and did not care about what they were doing to
their own world.
Meanwhile, the children fixed Mr. Carrot-Top plenty to
eat and drink, as they too ate and drank and took quick
naps. Many of the children had nightmares with wizards and
ghosts, and just like the perfect father, Sam Carrot-Top
was there to comfort them. Although he was badly beaten and
bruised, he kept watch over the children until they were
out of harm's way.
As Sam Carrot-Top looked past the forest and onto the
Azul Sea, he saw large fleets of ships filled with giants
and monsters. They were starting to gather for war, and in
the center of it all was his brother Marcus. There must
have been at least a thousand ships, with creatures that
were only created for war; many were wearing the red glow
codes. None of them were made of the Baja symbols, so the
red codes meant they were made of wizard's blood. These
creatures were savages; they ate fish right out of the
water raw and unclean. Many of them looked like mystical
beasts; some were half-beast half-stone, while some had
heads as big as the moon and tiny bodies.
Whatever scary things the wizards could conjure up,
they most certainly did. They wanted the people of Baja to
be afraid of them; they wanted them to be so afraid that
they would not fight, just give up and become slaves of the
forest. Tied to the back of the fleet of ships were huge
land monsters, like the sand octopus that buried itself and
lived under the sand. There were at least fifty of them;
they were huge, weighing at least a ton, with their furlike
bodies that came in many different colors.
Then there were elves that stood two feet tall, all
locked in cages; they seemed to be under a spell of some
sort. Then there were huge giants and large tigers,
elephants and dragons, and many more. It was as if one was
seated and watching a circus pass by.
Sam Carrot-Top was a smart man; he took mental note of
what he'd seen as the vessel past over the seas and on to
land. There was a parade on the roads leading to Baja, a
parade of nothing more than war. The roads were filled with
dark Ryders, and leading the way, on a huge throne up on a
giant elephant, was Bella. Her throne was decked out in the
finest gems, her seat was made out of jade and silver, and
a golden saddle was made to fit the huge elephant to place
her throne on its back. She had maidens fanning her as the
elephant carried her through the hot roadways. Behind her
was a long line of ground vessels; there were canon
throwers that were so huge that they had to be operated by
a giant.
The giants came in many colors and shapes; some were
fat, some were skinny, and some were hairy, but they were
all fit to be called a giant. A group of a thousand men
were armed and fitted with the most advanced swords, bows
and arrows, and sharp knives. They were all dressed alike,
and marched to a silent tune; no one could hear it but them.
Then there were another set of fighters, but they were
skeletons, there had to be at least five thousand of them;
all adorned with golden breastplates to protect the fake
beating hearts that Bella had made for them. They were
dancing and jumping into the air, showing off their skills.
Behind them were Bella's rock dogs that she'd made
stronger, faster and bigger.
Baby dragon pups were way at the end of the line,
chained down and mistreated. All Bella wanted them for was
their firepower. Bella's army was the longest; there were
so many creatures and monsters that she'd formed that there
were no names for. There was an elephant-type with long
wooly green fur and ten ivory horns sticking out from its
face. Then there was a creature with ten eyes that spun
around and around; it had nothing more than a balloon-type
body and eight legs. What this creature did was nothing
less than amazing; it would jump into the dirt and suck up
the trees and vegetation with one gulp. There were trees
all around, and then suddenly they were gone; nothing but a
small hole as a reminder as to where they'd once stood.
There were also red, black, green, and multi colored
lizards that Bella had her men feed to the other animals.
Like the cute bunnies in their nesting holes, Bella was
cruel and heartless; she truly was a witch.
As the children woke up from their naps,
they saw Mr.
Carrot-Top staring out of the window. So they joined him
and saw a sight that was so scary they hid their faces.
Then they came back to the window and gazed upon how
powerful the wizards seemed; they had built an army from
stones, and raised the dead to make their bones fight for
them. The wizards had split into several groups, making
them so much more powerful, but Mr. Carrot-Top reminded the
children not to worry, that the elders would awaken and
fight for the citizens of Baja.
That's when Peter reminded his father that he still
did not have the key to unlock the elders. Peter told his
father of the secret glove he'd found in the temple. Mr.
Carrot-Top wanted to see this treasure his son had found;
and when Peter brought the bag carrying the glove forward,
it glowed just as it did before. Mr. Carrot-Top quickly
dumped the contents of the bag out, and he gazed upon a
true find. The golden glove was in pristine shape; it was
so beautiful, just like the last time he'd seen it. Peter
and the children were amazed to know that Mr. Carrot-Top
had seen the glove before. He explained to the children
that when he was guarding the key, he had to wear this
special glove that allowed the carrier to hold the key. Not
everyone could wear the glove, it was blessed and made by
the elders for a certain individual, and that individual
was Peter.
"I told you so," said Millie as she wiped the sleep
out of her eyes.
"Have you tried on the glove?" said Mr. Carrot-Top to
his son.
"Yes, father, I tried it on, and it only fit me, not
my friends."
As the children listened, Mr. Carrot-Top told of how
once in the special square in Baja, the boy who the glove
fit would call upon the key, and it would come from out of
the depths of the earth; searching and flying, until it was
reunited with the glove. Then the wearer of the glove had
to open the doors to the elders with the eighth key.
All this time, Peter had felt as if he had failed his
father, his friends, and most importantly, the people of
Baja. But all this time, he had the key right in front of
him. Peter jumped up and down as his friends cheered him on.
However, Mr. Carrot-Top knew that having the key could
become a burden more than a joy. For now, he did not want
to tell his son about the bad part, until it was time; he
just wanted his son to enjoy being with his friends and
know that he was not a failure. He was the one the prophets
spoke of.
Even though Peter was very happy, the thought of
actually being the savior of Baja had not taken effect yet.
After a few more cheers of happiness, the captain came out
in his 3D form and notified them that they would be
reaching the mainland of Baja soon. The children were so
happy, they cheered again, but then suddenly the captain
said that they would have to hide behind the clouds because
something big and unknown was heading their way.
The children and Mr. Carrot-Top rushed to the window,
where they saw the wizards Mirus, Hoyle, Louis, and Cilus
leading an army of the sky that was headed toward the
mainland. Cilus was riding an eighty foot long orange
dragon that had three tails; its eyes were so huge and
round. Cilus sat on the back of the dragon on a golden
saddle, and the dragon had a wingspan of at least thirty
feet. Next to Cilus was Hoyle, riding a large bird with a
tail that had fangs at the end. Then there were Mirus and
Louis on some type of flying disc; Peter and his friends
remembered the disc from when they went to the golden
temples.
Somehow the wizards got ahold of the technology and
made their own. Then there was Larry riding his own
floating manta-ray with a sharpened spike tail and jet
black in color. Larry sat on his golden saddle and held a
magical staff. This was not the same Larry the children
knew; he seemed to be more evil. The thought of having all
that power had gotten to him; Larry had a wide smile on his
face, he was now with his father, and was consider a
wizard. That's when Peter noticed that one of the wizards
was missing.
"Where is the wizard Horitio?" said Peter.
The children looked through the huge crowd, but no
Horitio was found.
"He must have been eaten by the hole," said Clara.
Peter nodded in agreement. Behind the wizards was an
army of the air. Cilus had created a wide range of
creatures to attack Baja by air. There were birds by the
thousands that were fitted and equipped with fire balls and
smoke bombs. Then there were huge bats that were in groups
of a thousand, carrying fighters on their backs; there were
also huge cloud giants made of nothing more than clouds.
There were porcupine people, their skin dark in color and
protruding from their skin were needle-like spines that
were not only sharp but poisonous.
Cilus also had a huge army of armadillo men; their
outer shells were so tough that they could withstand
anything, and according to Cilus would be the first line of
defense for the wizards. On the backs of a thousand birds
were scarecrows that had come alive through the spells of
the wizards. The scarecrows were made of nothing more than
hay, but were in the form of men. They were given life by
Cilus to seek and destroy anyone who would not bow down to
him and his ruling. Then there were a group of a million
critters that were know as the fuzzys. They were fur ball
creatures that shook off their fur, and once the fur was
off, it turned into needle-sharp pins. With a million of
them being shaken at one time, they would make a great
weapon to stop the army of Baja.
Peter and his friends were amazed to see all the power
formed by the wizards; they seemed more powerful than the
citizens of Baja. Mr. Carrot-Top thought the same thing
too, but he did not want to let the children see that he
was also afraid and surprised by the wizards' army. Deep
down inside, Mr. Carrot-Top was hoping that his father, a
master of inventing, had come up with something that could
withstand the armies of the wizards.
Mr. Carrot-Top made the children believe that he had
seen this all before, and that there was nothing to worry
about. Once the children heard that, they became more
relaxed and were confident that they would be able to
defeat the wizards and all of their monsters.
Once the children had settled down and were less
afraid, Mr. Carrot-Top pulled his son aside and told him
that once he called upon the eighth key, there was no
turning back. The eighth key held special powers, and that
was how he'd lost his brother to the wizards. Mr. Carrot-
Top told Peter that his brother was jealous of being born
with no magical powers, and not being the one the elders
wanted. When Marc
us saw that he was not getting the
attention his brother got, he decided to turn on his own
flesh and blood. Marcus was very upset that he was not the
chosen child, and became very jealous, and hated Sam all
his life.
It was the elders who made the choice of having a
person in charge while they hibernated. Sam Carrot-Top told
Peter this so that he would be aware that there were many
people out there who would be very jealous of him. Peter
needed to be very careful who he called his friends. Peter
graciously took his father's advice and wondered what the
elders would look like. Suddenly the red light in the
vessel went off, and an alarm sounded.
"What is going on, Merseft?" said Peter.
"We are running out of time; we have to move from
under these clouds," said Merseft.
He explained to everyone that the spell was wearing
off, and that they had to move before they no longer had a
vessel to ride. The captain quickly moved the vessel from
beneath the clouds, and put it into top speed. It went
flying through the air, passing unnoticed by Cilus. Then on
to the mainland of Baja it went. Peter and his friends were
glad to be going home; after all, they had snuck away from
home. The children waited with anticipation as they could
see the town square.
"We're almost there," said Peter, as he pointed out
the window.
No one was expecting the town square to be empty.
There was no one in sight; all the stores and houses were
boarded up, the roadways were bare, and there was not even
a stray dog in the streets. Now Sam Carrot-Top panicked,
and wondered if Cilus had somehow done this. As the vessel
got closer to the town square, he noticed that there were
many missing trees and vegetation; he explained to everyone
that the town was getting ready for war and that they were
in hiding.
"We must place you in the town square, so you can call
upon the elders," said Clara, as she gently turned Peter's
face in her direction.
Peter was in a daze looking out the window.
"No time to be afraid now," said Robert.
"We are all in this together," said Mr. Carrot-Top.
Finally the vessel was over the square. The children
couldn't wait to land. As soon as the vessel landed, the
spell was up and the vessel turned back into nothing more
than an empty large garbage bin.
"Oh, that was a close call," said Ben, as he licked
his fur.
"Oh, you are so gross," said Jamyra to Ben.
There was no time for pity as Mr. Carrot-Top grabbed
Peter by the hand and led him to the town square. Sam
shouted, "Everyone, come outside and watch Peter call on
the elders!"
At first no one came; the roads and pathways were very
quiet. Then out of nowhere men women and children rose out
of the ground. They were hidden underground by special
holes. When Jane saw her husband and son she ran toward
them, not believing that it was really them. She poked and
probed both Sam and Peter, and when she found that they
were real, she broke down in tears.
"I thought I'd lost you both," said Jane, as tears
fell from her face.
Jane was not the only one happy, but the other
children's parents came running to give their kids the
biggest hugs. The other citizens cheered the children for
saving Sam Carrot-Top. The children felt as if they were
royalty, but there was no time for fun. Sam Carrot-Top
announced that Cilus and the other wizards were on their
way, and that Baja must prepare for the worst. He explained
all the evil forces that were coming, and that the citizens
must not be afraid. If they were afraid, they would be
easily defeated. The crowd moved aside for David Carrot-Top
to come and shake his son's hand and give him a big hug.
"I did not want to leave you," said David.
"I know," said Sam, as he gave his father a big hug.
This was followed by Samantha and Dorothy. But Sam
Carrot-Top had a surprise for the townspeople; Peter had
found the glove to call upon the eighth key. When they
heard this, their hearts became brave again, hoping that
this time it was for real, that the elders would come out
of their hibernation.