Princess Caldora sobbed a little.
"They are good men, they helped us and they've suffered for it." She cried.
"We should get out of here." Falkirk said with unease.
But the princess did not move. She looked at her prince then toward Falkirk, whose ancient eyes darted about the forest searching for any sign of danger.
"There was someone over in the bushes a few yards away, he had a dinosaur standing over him and he saved us."
"Really?" Falkirk said without really listening.
"I think it was Paxtol, my brother."
Falkirk was suddenly alert and his attention instantly turned to the princess.
"Where?" He demanded.
"He's gone." The princess replied.
"Are you sure?"
"He's not there anymore." The princess spoke with a little anger.
"We need to find him." Falkirk said like a man possessed until the prince took hold of Falkirk's arm.
For a moment Falkirk was so enraged that he wanted to scream at the prince.
"We'll find him. He's on this island that's the important thing." The prince said firmly. "For now we need to make sure Bill's body is dealt with and take the princess to the queen." The prince instructed.
Falkirk grudgingly agreed, knowing that the prince was right, but hating every thought of being told what to do by someone so young.
Capden Den remained wrapped in the arms of the queen of the fairies. Sobbing away and making a mess with his tears and bogies on the queen's beautiful white gown.
"Do you know me?" the captain asked while still in the arms of the queen.
"Do I know you? Why, do you not know you?" Queen Loukatos replied.
"Yes, but?no."
The queen lifted Capden Den's head away from her dripping gown so that she could look at him. She saw pain in his bloodshot eyes and she wiped away his tears tenderly with her fingertips.
"Well you have changed, suppose you had to, but you're still in there." She smiled.
"Am I a fairy?" Capden Den enquired with curiosity and fear.
"You were." The queen said as she stroked lovingly at the captain's face.
Falkirk returned with the sad and sorrowful figures of Prince Purplerain and Princess Caldora.
As the princess saw her mother she ran to her and the queen gently released her grip on the captain to take her daughter in her arms.
"My darling, are you alright?"
"Yes mother, but Bill?"
The queen squeezed her daughter tightly then spoke to everyone.
"You've had quite a journey; we should head back to our camp and you can tell me everything that has happened."
As soon as she spoke there was a loud rumble and Prince Purplerain immediately tensed himself for another fight with a T-Rex.
There was a bang, a huge cloud of black smoke and an enormous galleon on wheels crashed through the trees, stopping just before them.
Capden Den watched in disbelief and burst out laughing.
"What in the name of all the hippo's in the world is that?" he bellowed.
"It's a car." Falkirk sighed.
"A car? It's a ship?on wheels." The captain, in the uncontrollable emotions of his grief, suddenly found he could not stop laughing.
"No, it's the future, travelling at high speeds on land, it could change the world." Falkirk argued.
"But it's a pirate ship, on big wooden wheels, not very good wheels either."
Falkirk looked at the captain with slight disgust.
"This has taken years to modify, it's state of the art."
But the captain could not control himself.
"State of the art?" he cried. "It's certainly a state and I wouldn't call it art."
Falkirk glared at this idiot pirate while the queen and her daughter looked on in amusement. Falkirk then turned his back in disgust and walked towards the car, grumbling to himself as he did.
Capden Den lifted his hands up to the sky and looked at his skin. He studied himself curiously, checking his face and rubbing his hands over his beard. Then he stopped and turned to the watching group of fairies.
"If Bill was right and I'm a fairy," he asked. "Why does my skin not glow?"
Chapter Twenty of?
Grand Hippo Raz sat in her usual position on her beach and did her usual thing of watching the sky with its gently drifting clouds. As she listened to her breath softly inhaling and exhaling, she could hear the breeze whisper to her of all the things that had gone on that day.
The sun had gone, leaving behind a brightening moon lighting the thick clouds that were as grey and dense as her tough leathery skin.
The great and wise hippo sniffed deeply to breathe in the evening air, and soaked up the words as they travelled upwards to the moon; something dreadful and painful was lurking on the horizon. The breeze sighed. A storm unlike any this world had ever seen.
As Raz lay deep in thought she felt a large shadow fall over her and for a second she saw this as a sign of dark days to come. She opened one eye to check and saw the enormous bulk of fellow hippo, Rememberto. Not so grand or wise, but equally as large.
Raz looked up and smiled invitingly, "Sit down Rem."
Hippo Rememberto lowered her body onto the sand next to Raz and wriggled her bottom into a comfortable position.
"Can you feel it coming?" Raz asked mournfully.
"I feel something." Rememberto agreed.
"It must be strong then." Raz mused.
Rememberto shuffled before asking, "What is it?"
Raz looked up once again at the intense sky then down towards her younger friend.
"War, my dear." Raz sighed. "A great and terrible war in which there will be no winners."
Rememberto whistled through her large teeth, as if someone had told her how much her beach cave was worth; then the two sat in silence for a moment.
Finally, Rememberto spoke up. "The girls keep gossiping." She said to break the solemn silence.
"What about this time?" Raz asked.
"When you fell in the water."
Grand Hippo Raz blushed through her dark cheeks then let out a small chuckle.
"That was funny." Raz agreed between giggles.
"They keep saying that you should have known that was going to happen."
Raz turned her face and her other eye met Rememberto's gaze.
"How do they know I didn't?"
Rememberto could not think of an answer, she just nodded, like a student who had been told something very wise from her teacher and mentor.
Raz continued to speak in her gentle but knowing way. "Just because we can see things, doesn't mean we have the power to alter the outcome."
"No." Rememberto agreed.
"I remember Rememberto," Raz rolled on to her side and turned her body fully for her little lecture. "The great dinosaur war between the fairies to the south and the dinosaurs to the north; terrible, hurtful time, we hippos were caught right in the middle of it all. The T-Rex asking us for guidance as much as the fairies; trouble was we would tell them and then they would go and do something different for surprise, of course, we knew that would happen too. It was a bitter and long war, lots of death?too much. Not sure this one will be quite so bad, but it will change things. Now he now knows who he once was."
Rememberto nodded again in wise, pupil-like agreement, though she really had no idea what Raz was talking about, as she was born after the great dinosaur war. She had seen it in her studies, but Rememberto struggled to remember facts like that.
"I think," Raz continued. "This will finally bring some peace to our world, certainly between two of the races, but at what cost? War has a habit of asking a high price."
Raz finished her speech and indicated this by shifting her body back around to stare back up at the sky.
Rememberto just sat there nodding for no reason, like a toy dog in the back of someone's car. But unlike a nodding dog, Rememberto nodded in wise, if slightly confused, agreement.
&n
bsp; Chapter Twenty-One of?
Queen Loukatos sat on the matted floor of her wooden hut; it wasn't palatial by any means, but when she decided to leave the oppression of her husband's selfish rule she wanted something entirely different from what she was used to. First of all, she stopped using the title of queen, though people still called her your majesty; then she gave everyone equal power to make decisions, though everyone looked to her for the final say on things; finally, she decided that she would live like all her fellow fairies, no luxuries, no unfair distribution of food, complete fairness. The trouble was, everyone gave her gifts and made sure she was well looked after.
Queen Loukatos sat in her hut facing the roaring fire and the sad, sunken body of Capden Den; she gently bathed his cuts and bruises from a bowl of water and ragged leaves, while the thought kept coming to her that the time to face her husband was approaching.
"How are you feeling?" the queen asked the captain as he stared down at his lap.
"Empty." The captain whispered.
"Have some hot tea, that should help."
The queen lifted a cup of warm green tea that was beside her and offered it to Capden Den; slowly he took it and gently sipped at the earthy liquid.
"Oww!" he cried as the tea burnt the tip of his tongue.
"It's hot." The queen warned.
"I know that now!" Capden Den glared then smiled at the golden glow of the fairy in front of him. "I know you from somewhere don't I?"
Queen Loukatos blushed a little and her heart skipped a beat, her eyes could no longer meet his and she decided the best thing to do was look down at her lap.
"Yes." She muttered with embarrassment.
Capden Den thought for a moment, but it came to nothing.
"Am I really a fairy?" he asked.
"Yes." The queen said to her lap.
"But I don't have any wings."
"No."
"Why not?"
Queen Loukatos met the gaze of the captain and a tear fell from her eye.
"They were taken from you, together with your magic. It's amazing to see you alive, and looking so well."
"But I don't remember anything about that, I know Bill found me and took me in, but before that, there's nothing."
The queen looked sadly at the captain, wanting to tell him, but afraid that too much information so quickly would do some damage to his already fragile state of mind.
"Maybe it will come back with time." She said with a soft smile that sent sparkles of light onto Capden Den's nose.
"I hope so." The captain replied.
"So do I." The queen agreed.
As a silence fell in the hut, Falkirk burst in excitedly.
"You had better come quickly your majesty!" He snarled with fear in his voice.
Queen Loukatos shot up and turned swiftly to Falkirk.
"What?" She ordered.
"Just come. You too." Falkirk pointed to the pirate huddled on the floor.
As the queen left her hut she emerged into a frenzy of chaos on her beach. Fairies flew around busily, gathering their belongings and shouting angrily to each other. As Capden Den came out all of their scorn poured to him. The queen glared at Falkirk.
"What's going on!" she raged.
Falkirk said nothing, instead he pointed out to sea and to a large galleon sailing quickly towards them.
"It seems your pirate has been followed and more pirates are on their way."
Queen Loukatos spun around to Capden Den, who squinted out to sea trying to make out who the boat belonged to.
"I didn't bring them, but I did steal a boat, perhaps they're after that?oh no!" Capden Den exclaimed with sudden realisation.
"What?" the queen struggled to keep her voice from sounding angry.
"It could be Dodgy Dave."
Falkirk laughed with exasperation.
"Who? Dodgy Dave? What kind of name is that?"
"It's not his name you should be worried about." Capden Den snorted in reply.
The captain then sprung to life and turned to the queen.
"Get out of here your majesty, get everyone together and go, this is my fight."
The queen ordered all of her fairies to gather in the 'car' immediately and they all hurried to obey. Luckily, living as they did, they did not have much to pack away. As the pirate ship got closer and closer the final fairy clambered up into the 'car'.
Falkirk waved up at Otto Mobil, who stood poised and ready at the helm of his creation, then turned to the queen.
"The car is packed and everyone is on board. We need to leave soon if we're going to beat the storm that seems to be coming." Otto cried.
"Which storm?" the queen sighed, looking up at the moonless sky and then at the large galleon.
Shouts could be heard from the oncoming ship, angry noises of wild pirates ready to fight.
"That one." He bellowed.
Capden Den sat alone on the beach while all the fairies prepared to leave. His thoughts kept racing from Bill, to Dodgy Dave and to the reward that he had now refused to pursue. He knew none of these fairies trusted him, if that was the case then how could he be a fairy himself?
The queen looked over to Capden Den, trying to find some semblance of the man he once was. For a moment she was lost in the past while she stood at the gangplank that led to the deck of the 'car'. Queen Loukatos fought back a tear and then tried to disguise it with a small nervous cough; she turned her attention to Falkirk standing next to her.
"Get the engines ready. We're going." She ordered.
Falkirk nodded at his queen, glared at Capden Den, then darted up the plank into the 'car'.
The queen was the last aboard and went straight over to the helm where Fairy Otto stood proudly.
"Ah, your majesty, all ready." He confirmed. "I've put all the food we can carry in the hold, there's plenty of sleeping space and we can fit all the fairies on board comfortably. You have the room at the back, the captains' quarters. I'll stay here at the helm?wheel?not sure what to call?still undecided?anyway your highness we are ready. She's got a full tank of fuel and your daughter has agreed to be our navigation from the skies, I likened her to a sort of satellite sending instructions from high up in the air; almost like a satellite navigation service?sat-nav. Brave girl your daughter is, wonderful, she even told me how to fix the broken axle."
The queen raised her hand to quiet down an excited Fairy Otto.
"Thank you." She said. "I want to speak to everyone before we go."
"Come with me your majesty, there's a perfect platform on board for you to give your pearls of wisdom; great place, these pirates must give wonderful speeches all the time." Otto rambled as he indicated to the bridge of the ship.
As the queen moved to the centre of the deck the small band of rebel fairies gathered around her in silence and expectation. Their voices fell to a hushed whisper as the queen took to the small stage. She looked out at her loyal and respected audience, the night cast a blue glow on the faces of her daughter, Prince Purplerain and Falkirk; she smiled and then spoke with a gentle nervousness.
"Fairies, first of all thank you for the last few days, we really have come far. But now we face a threat and must return to finish what it was we started six months ago. We must go back to our kingdom, to our friends and relations and get back what it was that my brutal husband so foolishly took away, our freedom. We fairies should be a fair race, we do not have hate in our heart, we have magic and love, it is time we showed this world what true fairies are and bring unity to all the islands. It will be hard and we will have to fight, but if we can get enough fairies on our side then we can be strong; we may be small at the moment but because we are right we will grow. So thank you and hold this truth in your hearts, we are doing the right thing, for us and for everyone else who shares this world with us."
As the queen stopped there was silence; all the fairies just stood there agreeing, but waiting for something that would tear them away from their thoughts and give them a reason to se
t sail.
That someone was a small fairy boy, charging along the sand on the back of a dinosaur.
"Mummy!" The boy yelled, waving with one hand and holding on with the other.
"Oh my?" the queen could not finish as her eyes lit up when she saw her son bounding towards her.
"Mother!" The fairy boy cried again as he put both his hands up in the air.
The queen laughed with complete excitement and replied, "Yes!"
Otto Mobil did not see or hear any of this and the calls of the small prince were drowned out by the deafening roar of the 'car's engines.
"No!" the queen screamed toward Otto.
The 'car' tilted forwards and began to move gently into the dark water. As the queen leapt over the helm towards her son, Prince Purplerain blocked her way.
"You stay on board. I'll go down with the captain and protect them both." He said.
"But that's my son!" the queen screamed as she struggled to release the prince's grip.
"Your majesty." the prince said calmly. "You need to get out of here, I can cope with the pirates and the captain is as good a man as I have ever met. We'll meet you at the port to the kingdom."
"No!" The queen yelled.
The huge galleon on wheels hit the water sending enormous waves flying up into the air. Capden Den watched as it steadied itself in the sea then he looked out at the galleon carrying Dodgy Dave and all his crew. He could hear the anchor being lowered and from up on its deck, lit by flaming torches, a rowing boat was being launched into the sea below.
Prince Purplerain called to Princess Caldora, who hurried over.
"I'm going after your brother," Purplerain howled to his princess over the noise of the 'car'. "Stay here with your mother and make sure you get to the kingdom. I'll bring the captain and your brother back safely."
Princess Caldora nodded and took her mothers shaking body.
"Is he to be trusted?" Queen Loukatos screamed at her daughter.
But the princess did not reply, as the car on wheels began to move away at speed; using its powerful engine to break through the waves and away from the little bay of the fairy retreat, out into the open sea.
Chapter Twenty-Two of?
The young fairy prince struggled to control his flailing body as he rode dangerously on the back of Jim the Oviraptor.
"Come on Jim!" Paxtol screamed but it was no good, Jim knew that the boat was too far away and he kicked his claws to a halt in the sand as the ship sped away into the horizon.