* Chapter 1: The Bell of Chances After King Obotar took over the Dwarf Realm and blocked the borders, Lily, daughter of the Woodland King, discovered a symbol. “What do you suppose this means, Lil?” Asked Lily’s best friend, Juniper. Although Juniper and Lily were of different species, Juniper being a Fairy and Lily being a Wood Nymph, they got along like magic. Juniper had tragically been separated from her parents in the Fairy Realm, as she had been visiting Lily when, suddenly, the King Obotar catastrophe had occurred. After that, her father had attempted to cross the border to retrieve Juniper, but he had been caught by The Lurking Ones on the way. “I don’t know, but it gives me a bad feeling…” replied Lily. “Hmm,” said Juniper, studying the symbol closely, “maybe Mr. Bombardo, you know, the librarian, will let us look it up in the library!” “It’s sure to be in the restricted section though,” said Lily cautiously. “C’mon, it’s worth a shot!” “Oh, alright… bur first, I need to make a sketch of it. We might need to show Mr. Bombardo.” The two packed up their picnic lunch, and scurried back to the Woodland castle, owned by the Woodland King and Queen (Lily’s parents). As soon as they got in, they rushed to the library and arrived, breathless. “Mr. Bombardo!” cried Lily, panting, “I wish to browse the restricted section today,” she finished with a curtsy. Juniper held back a laugh. Mr. Bombardo blinked his chocolate brown eyes and rubbed his matching skin. “What is it now, Your Highness and Miss…. Spindle, is it?” he said. “Call me Lily! We just need to look this symbol up…” she held up the sketch she had made of the symbol. “Ah,” said Mr. Bombardo, “I give you permission. You have the right to know.” Mr. Bombardo beckoned them into the restricted section. Juniper and Lily strolled in, and Mr. Bombardo returned to the main library section. They browed until Juniper hollered, “HERE!” Lily rushed over to her, to find Juniper holding a thick, dusty book. Juniper attempted to blow the dust off, succeeding in giving Lily a face full. “It says, this is the symbol of the LURKING ONES? And—” Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in from an open window, and scattered the pages. But before Lily could roll her eyes and turn back to the previous page, Juniper placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “That’s the Bell Of Chances!” she said, “Read that!” It read:
The Bell of Chances: The Bell Of Chances is a golden bell that rests on the highest Peak of the Treacherous Mountains, ruled by the terrible king Obotar himself, whose castles lyes in the Realm of Destruction. Every millennium, in one-hundred-eighty-six years from now, the bell grants the first one to strike it one wish. If the bell is not struck by midnight, the chance is wasted and you will have to wait another millennium for another chance. The only wish the bell will reject is wishing for more wishes. If this occurs, Your wish will be disposed of and you will never see it again. Lily ended with a mysterious look on her face. “What are you thinking, Lil?” Said Juniper uneasily. “Think of what will happen if King Obotar gets his hands on that wish! It would be fairy wands for us!” (‘Fairy wands for us’ is like saying ‘curtains for us’) Juniper frowned. “He’ll rule all four Realms for eternity!” “Exactly!” said Lily, “and if it was one hundred-eighty-six years away from then, then…” she counted up on her fingers, “It’d be only about four weeks away now, and who knows what could happen!” Juniper looked at Lily. “You’re not thinking we…” Lily interrupted, “SOMEONE has to stop him!” “We could DIE!” said Juniper, “There are thousands of Lurking Ones guarding each border, and besides, everyone knows the only way into the Void is through the Realm of Destruction!” Lily looked pleadingly at Juniper. “Would you rather put our lives at stake, or the ENTIRE KINGDOMS!” Lily suddenly lost her temper, which did not happen frequently. “Do you want to be heroes or not? Do you want King Obotar to get that wish, or not?” She breathed slowly and calmed down a bit. “I just really don’t think we’re…” began Juniper, then she rethought and said, “how would we get there? We can’t just run away…” “actually, I’m sure that’s a possibility! We can leave a note, and besides, my dad would let me do anything!” “But probably not—” Juniper sighed, then reluctantly said, “we have to stop King Obotar. And… I can’t think of any reason why we shouldn’t at least try… well, besides getting killed, of course…” Lily smiled and patted her on the back. “This! This is how I know you’re my true friend!” * “Ok, so… let’s go over the plan one more time,” said Juniper for the thousandth time. “JUNIE!” Said Lily, rolling her chocolate colored eyes and pushing her light brown ponytail over her shoulder, “we just WENT over the plan one more time!” Lily sighed and gave in. “Ok,” Juniper clapped her hands twice like she was about to teach Lily how to solve problems. Lily was not impressed. “Now,” continued Juniper, “We wait until the ball,” “What ball?” Lily frowned. “Ugh!” Juniper put her hands on her hips, “That’s how I tell you aren’t paying attention!” “Oopsies,” said Lily. “There’s a ball being held at your castle in twelve days. But don’t worry—” she said before Lily could whine about dancing, “you won’t need to dance. It’s our opportunity!” “To escape!” “That’s right! We’ll escape from the ball to your room, grab our bag, a note to your parents and this key,” Juniper held up a little golden key that she and Lily had stolen earlier. It unlocked the outer gates of the Woodland Palace. “Ok, we’re clear so far,” said Lily. “Alright,” continued Juniper, “we sneak out unnoticed, leave the note on the garden gate, and travel across the Woodland Kingdom, get across the border without getting caught, and travel across all the other realms with absolutely no troubles.” She had a note of sarcasm in her voice. “Ok,” said Lily, “Then we do a good deed for the merpeople and they show us the secret underwater passage to King Obotar’s palace. We steal the key into the void, and go ring the bell, before King Obotar can.” “Precisely,” said Juniper, “We just have one problem. HOW exactly are we going to make it without running into The Lurking Ones, or Gathumps, or Falkies, or ANYTHING?” “I don’t know,” said Lily, “but I do know that we need to be prepared,” “Duh,” Juniper was getting a little grouchy. “Ok, it’s time we pack our bag,” was Lily’s attempt at changing the subject. Lily reasoned that Juniper could thump down to the kitchen to pack some food, while she, Lily, could take care of the other things, such as clothing, books, and, as Juniper insisted, an umbrella patterned as a mushroom. “You can never be too prepared,” said Juniper. As Lily overstuffed the bag, she decided that she would always be friends with Juniper. No matter what.
