The Cap And the Quest

by Richard Gray

Chapter 1: The Birthday Present

It was a hot, lazy day in Utah and the Wickham boys (Aaron, Ben, Nathan, and Adam) were sitting inside of their brick house on Wood Bend Road. Their mother was sewing in the kitchen and their father was working on installing a sprinkler system out in the dusty front yard. Ben, Nathan, and Adam were sitting in the living room content and playing with their Lego sets and Bionicle toys. Aaron, who was the oldest of the boys, was too anxious to play. He was sitting on their fluffy couch by the piano waiting for the mail to come.

It was August 13^th, two days after his 7^th birthday, and Aaron was anxiously waiting for a package from his uncle Richard. Richard lived far away in Ithaca New York. He was a scientist who studied electrons, mesons and stars--and he always managed to send them neat birthday presents a few days after their birthday. Once he sent them Astronaut ice-cream with a video tape of men walking on the moon. Another time, he sent them real dinosaur bones--a T-Rex tooth. Ben's birthday was two months earlier and Richard had given him lots of neat toys. Now that it was Aaron's birthday, he couldn't help but wonder what Richard was going to send him.

Suddenly, Aaron could see a big brown UPS truck pull up to the side of their house. Then, in a few minutes, there was a knock at the door.

"The mail!" Aaron shouted. "The mail, Mom... It's the mail!"

Mom Wickham slowly stood up from her sewing and answered the door. There was a tall man in brown clothes who handed Aaron's mother... a great big box.

"Who's it to? Who's it to?" Aaron shouted.

Mom thanked the UPS man, then slowly set the box down on the floor. "It's from your Uncle Richard, Aaron. It's addressed to you. I think it's for your birthday."

Aaron jumped up and down. He raced for the box as his younger brothers gathered around him to see what uncle Richard sent. Aaron tore off the tape on the box and threw out all of the packing paper until he got to what was inside. It was... a little red cap with a note attached to it. Aaron was very disappointed. They usually got such neat toys, but this was just a little red hat.

"Hmmm...," Mom said. "Uncle Richard must be low on money this month." Then, she went back to her sewing.

Aaron picked up the little red cap, then picked up the note. He was old enough to read now so he read it to himself. The note said:

Dear Aaron,

This little red cap may not look like much, but believe me, more often then not things aren't always what they seem. Remember that. Next chance you get, take all of your brothers down to the basement to play and put on the cap. You'll get a surprise! Trust me.

Love,

Uncle Richard

p.s. Tell Ben that his lucky number is 97. Don't forget, it's very important. Tell him right now.

"What does it say?" Ben asked.

Aaron glanced at Ben. "It says your lucky number is 97..."

"My lucky number? Why 97?" Ben asked.

"How should I know?" Aaron grumbled. Aaron quickly brought his attention back to the rest of the letter. He didn't understand why his birthday present should have Ben's lucky number in it, and he wasn't sure what to make of this little hat. It looked so ordinary and boring, how could there possibly be a surprise in it? Aaron didn't know, but he was going to find out.

"Come on guys," Aaron said. "Lets go to the basement to play."

Aaron and all his brothers (Ben, Nathan, and Adam) slowly snuck down stairs to the basement while their mother was sewing. They slowly opened the door, then they all ran in and shut it as quietly as they could.

Ben asked, "What are we doing down here, Aaron?"

Nathan asked, "What game are we going to play?"

Adam asked, "Goo-goo-gaa-gaa-Mum-ee-tee-doo?" (Adam was only one year old and couldn't talk yet, but in baby language this meant "Yea, what game are we going to play, Aaron?.")

Aaron looked down at the little red hat. He wasn't sure what uncle Richard had in mind, but he couldn't wait to find out. "I don't know," Aaron said, "but uncle Richard said that if I put this cap on when I was in the basement we would all get a surprise."

So, with that, he put on the cap. Nothing happened at first, but then he took a step forward and blue sparks started to jump from the top of the cap to a spot just behind their water heater. They all gasped with surprise as a big white portal opened up in their basement!

"Wow," all four of them shouted (except for Adam who said, "GooGaaGaa" but it translated from baby language into "Wow.")

The four of them slowly walked up to the glowing portal. Inside of it, they could see another world filled with trees and a big gray, stone Castle. "Wow," they all repeated. They turned to one another with big smiles on their faces. "This is a surprise!" Then they all stepped through the portal and got transported to another world....

Chapter 2: Attack of the Minotaur

In a flash, their basement disappeared and the four Wickham boys were surrounded by a beautiful forest and off in the distance was a castle made of gray stones. They all gasped and smiled up at their new surroundings.

"This is a surprise!" Aaron said.

"This is fun," Nathan shouted.

"Goo-goo-goo," said Adam (I'm not sure what that translates to from baby talk).

"Where are we?" Ben asked.

Suddenly, a voice called to them from the forest. "Run! Run for your life!" it shouted.

Aaron, Ben, Nathan, and Adam all turned around to see who was shouting at them. It was a little boy wearing all gray clothes and a gray pointed cap. He had olive colored skin, a big head, big brown eyes, big squishy cheeks, and brown hair. He had pointed ears, and little pointed, gray shoes with golden bells sewn to the toes.

"Who are you?" All four Wickham boys shouted.

"Hurry," the little boy said, "I'm Sam of the Gray Elves... There are a herd of Minotaur coming this way... If you value your life, RUN!"

As Sam the Elf ran toward the castle Aaron saw the Minotaur coming their way. Each Minotaur had the head of a Bison, the arms and torso of a strong man, and two hoofed legs with shaggy brown hair and a tail. There were at least 10 of these Minotaur.

"Come back here!" the leader of the Minotaur shouted. "All five of you are prisoners of the Ice Queen Muwanna! Come back I say!"

The Wickham boys screamed at the monstrous Minotaur then ran for their lives and followed Sam toward the big gray castle. They ran and ran as fast as they could, and the Castle was coming closer and closer, but the Minotaur were very fast too. Aaron could hear the galloping stride of the Minotaur come closer and closer to them as he ran.

Finally, they made it to the castle wall and four of them piled inside as they closed the gate. Aaron looked around. Sam the elf was there. Ben was there. Nathan was there. But Adam was gone!

"Where's Adam?" Aaron shouted.

He looked outside the castle walls and saw that the Minotaur had captured Adam. "Ha Ha Ha Ha," the Minotaur laughed, "I have your baby brother, now he will be a prisoner of the Ice Queen Muwanna. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha." With that, the Minotaur rode off and disappeared with Adam.

"Oh no!" Ben shouted.

"Adam!" cried Nathan.

Aaron turned to Sam the Gray Elf. "How will we get our brother back?"

"I wish that we knew," Sam said with sad eyes. "A few weeks ago the Minotaur kidnaped the Princess Kirsten of the Gray elves. We want to rescue her, but we can't do it without a cap of power."

"Oh no!" said Aaron. He and the other two remaining Wickham boys slunk down against the Castle wall and sulked.

Then, it felt like somebody tickled them. "Who did that," Aaron said.

Then, somebody tickled Ben. Ben said, "Hey, stop, who did that?"

They heard a squeaky little voice behind them say, "Again." Then both Aaron and Ben were tickled again. There was no one in front of them, and the only thing behind them was the castle wall.

"Who's doing that?" Aaron and Ben asked.

Nathan said, "I saw who it was... They're behind us."

Aaron and Ben turned around, and there were little holes in the wall behind them. Someone inside the wall laughed. They said, "Again," then stuck their finger out of the hole and tickled Ben again.

"Hey," Ben grumbled, "Stop tickling me."

A squeaky voice inside the wall laughed at them again.

"Come out here," Aaron demanded.

The holes in the wall suddenly got much bigger as if by magic, then a little elf stepped out. He was very thin, with a long chin, bright eyes, and lots of curly blond hair flowing out of the top of his head and around his pointed ears.

Sam said, "That's just Matthew... He's a Gray wall elf, he lives in the walls. Wall elves always live in the wall. They like it."

Matthew took a deep bow, "Matthew, Elf of the Wall at your service, Wickham boys."

"How did you know who we are?" Aaron asked.

"You're Uncle told us," Matthew said. "We told him that he needed to give the cap to a brave young warrior who had just turned seven. We Wall elves have a prophecy. It's said that one day, a young warrior, who's only seven years old, will come from the realm of Earth to the land of Golden Stone with the cap of power. The warrior will also bring with him three brothers who will help us to save our princess and rid the land of Golden Stone of the evil Ice Queen Muwanna."

Ben asked, "Where is the land of Golden Stone?"

Matthew took a bow and said, "This is the land of Golden Stone."

Sam looked closer at the cap on Aaron's head. "That's it!" Sam squealed with delight. "That's the cap of power... You're the one, Aaron Wickham. Now you can save your brother Adam, our Princess Kirsten, and rid us all of the Evil Ice Queen and her followers."

"Ahhh!" Aaron cried, "but I'm not a warrior! I'm just a seven year old boy! How am I supposed to fight off a bunch of Minotaur?"

"It's the prophecy," Matthew said, "Just have faith in yourself. You'll find a way, Aaron. If you don't then no one will."

Aaron felt sick and nervous about the idea of having to fight all of those beasts. He couldn't help but think that he would have rather uncle Richard had just given him a toy. But, there was no backing out now. He needed to save Adam from that Ice Queen, and these elves needed their princess back.

"Well," Aaron said. "I guess I'll try."

"Shew," said Ben. "I'm glad uncle Richard just gave me toys for my birthday... Well, have fun fighting all of the Minotaur warriors, Aaron."

"Hey!" Aaron shouted, "no fair. You have to help."

Matthew giggled, "All three of you have to help. That's what the prophecy says it will take for the princess Kirsten of the Gray Elves and your baby brother Adam to be saved."

Nathan had been quiet most of this time, but he asked a very important question. "Why do we need the cap of power to save them?"

Sam of the Gray Elves explained, "The queen's dungeon can only be reached by the magic portals, and you need a cap of power in order to open the portals."

"Well," Nathan asked, "why haven't you just used a cap of power and saved her before?"

Sam shook his head. "You don't understand. A long, long time ago we Gray Elves created the magic portals and there were red caps of power all over the place. Then, one day, the evil Ice Queen Muwanna found out about our portals and used them to come to the land of Golden Stone. When she got here, she put a spell on the portals so that none of the elves could use them any more. Then, she stole all but one of the caps of power and gave them to her warriors."

"What happened to the one she didn't steal?" Ben asked.

"We sent it to a place called Earth so that the Ice Queen couldn't get it. For some reason, Muwanna and her evil soldiers can't go to Earth."

Nathan asked, "Is there some way to break the spell so that the elves can use the portals again?"

Sam shook his head, "I don't know. She used a large magic crystal to cast the spell. We think she keeps that in the dungeon as well. If you could destroy the crystal it might break the spell and then the elves could use the magic portals again."

Aaron gulped. He looked to Matthew and Sam, "Does that mean you two can't help us?"

Matthew said, "Well, we can't go through the portals until the crystal has been broken. But, I'll show you the way to the first portal that you have to take to get to the dungeon. It's guarded by a giant dragon known as Lewis."

"A dragon?" Aaron gasped.

"Yep," said Matthew. "And the dragon Lewis is one of the biggest, tallest dragons that there have ever been. If you want to save your brother, and the princess Kirsten of the Gray Elves, you three will have to find a way to pass by the dragon into his lair. "

All three Wickham boys screamed, "Eeeek! A Dragon!"

Chapter 3: Stalking the Dragon

Sam of the Gray Elves gave each of the Wickham boys an elvish spear and a helmet so that they could slay the dragon who guarded the first portal. The spears were strong and light and painted gold. Each one had a very sharp point that was supposed to be able to pierce the dragons thick skin.

Matthew the Wall Elf agreed to leave his home in the walls of the castle and lead the Wickham boys to the dragon. It was a very long journey through the green forest but it was very beautiful in the land of Golden Stone. There were lakes, streams and thick giant trees everywhere they passed and there were huge bald eagles soaring through the blue sky above them.

Aaron loved everything about these beautiful forests but the journey was very long and his legs were getting so tired he wasn't sure if he could walk much farther. Just when they thought they could walk no more, Matthew stopped them behind a bolder overlooking a waterfall.

"Psssst," Matthew shushed, "the portal is behind the waterfall, but down below us is the dragon."

The three Wickham boys looked over the edge of the boulder, and surely enough there was a huge, golden dragon sleeping at the bottom of the waterfall. The dragon's torso was at least the size of their brick home on WoodBend Road back in Utah, and both his neck and his tail were each just as long. The dragon snored as it slept by the water and the white teeth that poked out when he exhaled were as big as Nathan.

Ben shivered, "We're going to have to fight that?"

Nathan said, "His teeth are bigger than I am!"

Matthew said, "Well, actually, according to the elvish prophecy, the one carrying the cap of power is the one that has to face the dragon."

Everyone turned to look at Aaron, and when they did Aaron gulped, "You mean me?"

"Yes," Matthew said, "but don't worry, if you get eaten it will be Ben's turn."

"Eaten?" Aaron gasped.

"My turn?" Ben hissed.

"Yes," Matthew said, "and if Ben get's eaten then Nathan can try."

Nathan glared at Ben and Aaron. "You two better not get eaten," Nathan said.

"Hurry," Matthew the Wall Elf said as he patted Aaron on the back, "right now he's asleep. If you go now, you have a much better chance of defeating him."

Aaron gulped again. He had to save his baby brother Adam, and these elves needed to get their Princess back, but he was scared.

Matthew said, "Don't worry, Aaron. Just believe in yourself and you can do just about anything. Honest, I know you'll figure out a way to get past the dragon."

Aaron wasn't so sure, but he decided to try. He slowly climbed down the side of the cliff to where the dragon was sleeping. He went as quietly as he could because he didn't want the dragon to be awake before he could get down there. Aaron held his breath as he got to the bottom. The dragon was just a little ways ahead of him. He held tight to his spear and held it up in front of him so that he could stab the dragon with it. He stepped closer and closer. Before he knew it he was a few feet from the dragon's side. The side of the dragon's stomach heaved in and out as the huge creature breathed and his breath nearly knocked Aaron down.

Aaron tiptoed up to the spot on the dragon's chest that Matthew said was his weak spot. He was close enough now. All he would have to do was stab his spear out and the dragon would be dead and then they could pass. But, that's not what Aaron did. Aaron looked into the dragon's peaceful looking face as it slept. Then, Aaron thought of something. No one ever said that the dragon was a mean dragon. Aaron decided it was wrong to kill the dragon without finding out whether or not he was a good or a bad dragon. Aaron then did the bravest thing he could have possibly done. He put his spear down then he shouted at the top of his lungs, "WAKE UP MR. DRAGON.... WAKE UP LEWIS!"

"Arggg!" Ben and Nathan said, "what are you doing, Aaron? You're going to wake him up!"

But, Aaron didn't listen to them and he decided to do what he thought was right. He shouted again, right by the dragon's ear, "WAKE UP MR. DRAGON!"

Suddenly the dragon's golden body began to stir. The huge mass swayed from side to side, it's giant wings spread apart knocking Aaron to the ground, and the dragon opened his eyes. With a yawning roar the dragon's long neck swayed up toward the sky and it perched it's body down on it's hind legs.

The dragon said in a booming voice, "Who has woken me up?"

Aaron was a little scared now, but he still stood back up and answered the dragon.

"I did," said Aaron.

The dragon's large eye's narrowed down on Aaron. "Ah," the dragon said, "you bear a cap of power on your head... Very foolish of you to wake me little cap bearer, for the evil queen Muwanna has cast a spell on me and I must eat you unless you can defeat me."

Aaron shook at the idea of being eaten, but he stood his ground and continued to talk to the dragon.

"Would you eat me if it wasn't for the queen's spell?" Aaron asked.

The dragon slumped his big lips down and had a sad look on his face. "No," the dragon said, "you see, I used to be a nice dragon. I used to let people ride on my back and I used to be friends with the elves. But then, the evil ice queen Muwanna came with her powerful dark magic." The dragon sniffed as if he were going to cry. "Now, because of the queen's spell, I have to let her evil warriors use the magic portal, but if any elves or friends of elves come to use it I must eat them unless they can defeat me."

"How sad," Aaron said. "What kind of spell has the queen put on you."

The dragon pointed the tip of his long snout toward a large nest beside the waterfall. Inside of the nest were five dragon eggs and above the nest was a little black cloud.

"Those are dragon eggs," the dragon said, "inside of them are my little baby brothers: Dave, Fred, and Jean. They're not even hatched yet. The little black cloud above them is Muwanna's spell." The dragon sniffed and giant dragon tears fell from his eyes. "If I don't stay here and eat anyone who tries to use the portal the black cloud will break all of the eggs... So, you see little cap bearer, I don't want to eat you, but I have to protect my baby brothers."

"Well," Aaron said, "I don't want to be eaten, but I have to save my baby brother. The queen's Minotaur kidnaped him and took him to the dungeon. My other two brothers and I need to get through the portal so that we can save him."

"I guess we will have to fight then," said the dragon. "If I don't fight you and try to eat you the cloud will break the eggs with my baby brothers in them. And, if you don't try and defeat me your baby brother is doomed."

"Wait," said Aaron, "the spell doesn't say that we have to fight, it just says that I have to defeat you."

The dragon scratched his head with the end of his tail, then nodded. "Well, yes, I guess it does say that."

"Well," said Aaron, "what if I can defeat you at something else. Like a game or something."

The dragon thought about this. "Hmmm... Yes, that might work. Bring your other two brothers down here, each of them will also have to defeat me if they wish to pass into the portal."

Aaron waved at Ben and Nathan and told them to come down. Slowly, Ben and Nathan climbed down the hill toward the dragon. All three Wickham boys stood before the dragon and the dragon swayed his long neck down to the ground so that his big eyes were right in front of them.

The dragon said, "I will ask you each a question. If you answer it correctly, then you have defeated me and you may pass through the portal. Also, I will give you something that will help you on your journey to save your baby brother.... But, if you answer the question incorrectly--"

"Will we be able to go home then?" Nathan asked.

"No," said the dragon, "if you answer the question wrong, I will have to eat you."

Chapter 4: The Dragon's Questions

It was time for the Wickham boys to answer their questions from the dragon. If they answered their questions correctly the dragon would give them gifts to help them on their journey and would let them pass through the magic portal. But, if they answered the questions wrong, the dragon would have to eat them in order to save his own baby brothers.

"Well," Ben said as he shrugged, "at least we didn't have to fight him."

All three of them had sick looks on their faces as they waited for the dragon to begin to ask his questions. They had no idea what kind of questions to expect from a dragon and they were frightened that they might not be able to answer them.

The pupils of the dragon's eyes focused on Aaron first. "Well, little cap bearer, my question for you is this... What are your names?"

"Uh," Aaron said, surprised at how easy the question was. "Well, I'm Aaron... Aaron Wickham." He pointed to Ben, "This is Benjamin Wickham." Then Aaron pointed to Nathan, "and this is Nathan Wickham. Our other brother is named Adam Wickham. He was taken prisoner by Muwanna's Minotaur."

The dragon said in a deep voice, "Very well, Aaron Wickham. You have given a correct answer. You may pass."

Aaron sighed with relief and so did Nathan and Ben. It seemed that the dragon was trying to give them easy questions. Next, the dragon's eyes skipped Ben who was second to the oldest and then looked at Nathan who was the youngest out of the three of them.

"Nathan Wickham," the dragon said, "my question for you is this... What is your quest?"

Nathan gulped. "Well," he said, "first, I'd like to not get eaten... Then, we need to rescue our baby brother Adam and then save the Princess of the Gray Elves, Kirsten."

The dragon laughed at Nathan's answer. "Very well, little Wickham," Lewis said. "You will not be eaten by me. You have answered my question both honestly and correctly."

The dragon finally looked at Ben who was in the middle of the three Wickhams. "Well, Benjamin, my question for you is this..." Ben was smiling. Aaron's question was easy. Nathan's question was easy. Ben was sure that he was going to get an easy question too. But, then, the dragon asked, "What is the largest prime number between 1 and 100?"

"What!" Ben squealed. "How am I supposed to know that?"

The dragon said, "Oh come on, it's not that hard. Just tell me the answer, what's the largest prime number between 1 and 100?"

"But I'm only five years old!" Ben squealed. "I haven't even started school yet!"

The dragon looked at him very sternly. "Ben, if you do not answer the question, and answer it correctly, I will have no choice but to eat you."

Ben shivered and was about to guess 5, since that was how old he was. But, just then, Aaron remembered something from uncle Richard's letter. For some reason uncle Richard had written at the bottom that 97 was Ben's lucky number and that he needed to remember it. "Ben, try your lucky number," Aaron said.

"No helping," the dragon grumbled.

"Ummm....," Ben said as he shivered. He thought hard trying to think of what his lucky number might be and remembered uncle Richard's message. "Is it 97?"

The dragon looked very stern and he licked his lips as if he were hungry. "You don't even know what prime numbers are, do you Ben?" Lewis said.

Ben shook his head. Ben said, "No, I'm only five."

"You're uncle gave you a hint, didn't he?"

Ben nodded, "Yes."

"Well," the dragon grumbled, "I have this to say to you little Wickham... You answered the question correctly."

Ben sighed with relief, "Shew."

"But hear this," the dragon said, "promise me that when you're bigger you'll go to school and learn about prime numbers."

Ben sighed, "If I ever get outt'a here I'll go to school and learn about anything you want me to."

The dragon's neck swung back up to the sky and he stood on his hind legs. "Very well, little Wickhams," the dragon said. "You have all answered your questions correctly... I will now allow you all to pass through the portal, and I will give you gifts and advice for your journey."

The dragon slowly walked through the water fall and into a cave that was behind it. The Wickham boys followed. The water from the waterfall ran down their faces and their backs as they walked through it. Once they passed the stream of falling water and wiped their eyes, they found they were in a cave filled with gold and wonderful looking things made of metal and beautiful gems. The dragon fumbled through the piles of objects and picked out four things then brought them out for the boys.

"Nathan," the dragon said, "you have a sweet and kind heart. You are a gentle soul but you also have within you the potential for shrewd determination and thinking. Of the three of you, you are the right one to carry the portal expositor."

"What's the portal expositor?" Nathan asked.

"Oh," the dragon said, "it's something that the Gray elves made a very long time ago when they were making the magic portals." The dragon handed Nathan a glass sphere the size of a baseball. Inside of it was a glowing arrow pointing to the back of the dragon's cave. "This is the expositor. If you hold it in your hand, it will point the way to the portals that you must go to for your quest. The closer you get to a portal, the brighter the arrow will glow. Right now it is very bright because the first portal you must take is right behind me... There is one more portal you three will have to find once you go through this one. Nathan, with the expositor, will show all of you the way to the next portal."

Nathan carefully took the glass ball in his hand and marveled at the glowing arrow dancing around inside of it. He was very proud that this responsibility was his.

The dragon's eyes focused on Ben. Seeing as how the dragon came very close to eating him, this made Ben quite nervous. "Now for you, Benjamin," the dragon said, "you are brave, loving and true, and once you have set out to do something you stick to it and hold your ground until it is done. For you, I give this." The dragon held out a gold shield. "This shield is made from my grandfather's scales. No arrows, no swords, not even Muwanna's magic can get past the shield. With this, you will be able to hold your ground no matter what, and help defend the others during your battle with Muwanna's men."

Ben took the shield. There was a metal handle and leather straps on the side so that he could tie it to his arm and carry it with him. He smiled as he felt how light yet how strong it was. He felt that with this shield he could stand against anything that Muwanna threw at them.

The dragon then looked at Aaron. "Aaron, cap bearer," Lewis the dragon said. "Since it is your birthday there will be two gifts for you. Your uncle gave you the cap of power, and you have been chosen by the elvish prophecy to defeat queen Muwanna. You are the leader of this group, and not just because you are the oldest. You stick to what you feel is right. You could have killed me while I slept, but you decided to do what was right and honorable instead. You are willing and brave enough to do whatever you must for those you care about. You are also wise and mindful to the world around you, and these are all qualities that the leader must have. For your first present, I give you the elvish eyes." The dragon handed to Aaron what looked like a pair of glasses with green lenses and silver frames. "There will be many dark places in the queen's dungeon, Aaron. If you put on the elvish eyes you will be able to see as if it were bright even in the darkest of places. You will need this in order to lead yourself and the others through the dungeon."

Aaron graciously took the glasses with a "thank you" and then the dragon brought out his second gift. "This," said the dragon, "is for your birthday. It is a sword that the elves fashioned from one of my baby teeth. There is nothing in this world that is sharper, or stronger, than a sword made from a dragon's tooth." Aaron took the sword with his hands. It had a silver handle and it was placed inside of a golden scabbard. Aaron slowly pulled the sword out of it's scabbard so that he could look at the blade. The blade almost looked like the white ivory on the piano keys back home, but he could tell it was stronger than steel and probably sharp enough to cut almost anything.

The dragon then spoke to all three of them. "Now that I have given you your gifts, young Wickhams, I now give you some advice. First of all, remember that things are not always what they seem. Aaron already knew this. For instance, just because I am big and have lots of teeth doesn't mean that I want to eat you or that I'm willingly helping the queen. I'm just a victim of the queen like you are. So, do not judge things simply on what they might look like.

"My second piece of advice is for each and every one of you to believe in yourself. You have all been chosen for a reason. If you believe in yourself you will be able to accomplish miraculous things... Now go little Wickhams, go and save your brother Adam. Go save the elvish Princess Kirsten, and rid us all of the evil queen Muwanna."

The dragon stepped aside then Aaron stepped forward. Blue and purple sparks flew out of the cap on his head and a swirling white portal opened up in front of them. The three Wickham boys took one another's hands and then walked through the portal together to save their brother and everyone who lived in the land of Golden Stone.

Chapter 5: The little Chipmunks.

Purple sparks and flashes ran past their bodies, and the next thing they new they were standing in a forest again. This time it was a forest that was on the side of a mountain. Far up above them, at the top of the mountain, they could see a large, dark fortress made of black stone. They were all pretty sure that it was Muwanna's dungeon.

"I like going through portals," Ben said with a smile. "I wish we had portals back home so that we wouldn't have to use the mini-van so much."

"There is a portal back home, Ben," Aaron said, "That's how we got to Golden Stone, remember."

"Oh," Ben said. "... But, I meant portals that could take us to the store or to Grandpa's house."

While Aaron and Ben were talking, Nathan was staring down at the expositor in his hand. The little glass ball was nearly clear and the arrow inside was very faint. The dragon said that the arrow glowed when they were close to a portal, so Nathan guessed that they must be very far from the one they needed to take. He put his hands around the ball so he could block out the light and hopefully see the arrow better.

Just then, there was a rustling in the trees. All three of their ears perked up.

"What was that?" Ben asked.

"I don't know," Aaron said as he clutched onto the handle of his dragon tooth sword. He knew there were dragons and Minotaur in this forest, and this close to Muwanna's dungeon there was no telling what other sorts of creatures might be close by.

They could hear another rustle, then another, and another. "Get ready with your spear, Ben and Nathan," Aaron said. "Just in case."

All three of them huddled together. Aaron had his sword out and ready, Ben had his shield and both Ben and Nathan were ready with their Elvish spears. The sounds were getting louder and louder. The limbs of the trees were rustling, and then whatever it was jumped out at them...

It was a little teeny tiny chipmunk. It's body was no bigger than the length of Aaron's hand, and it's tail was about that long too. It was fuzzier than a stuffed toy on Christmas morning, it had a dark streak down it's back and it had cute, black eyes and big, bucked teeth.

It chattered as it finished eating a small nut, then it nervously stood on it's hind legs, jittering the whole time. It suddenly ducked back to the ground, then ran back, around, and stopped in front of them again. It's tail jerked up straight, then it stood on it's hind legs again.

Suddenly, another little chipmunk that looked exactly the same as the first hopped down from a tree and stood beside the first. The each chattered for a bit more then they started to have a conversation.

The first chipmunk said in a high pitched, squeaky voice, "Well, what do you think they are."

"They don't look like Minotaur," the other chipmunk said.

"Nope, nope, nope," the first chipmunk said, "definitely not Minotaur."

"They came through the portal, so they can't be elves," the other chipmunk said.

"Nope, nope, nope, definitely not elves."

"Baby dragons?"

"Nope, nope, nope, definitely not baby dragons."

"They don't have feathers or beaks, so they can't be penguins."

"Nope, nope, nope, definitely not penguins."

Ben laughed. "Penguins," Ben said. "We're not penguins."

At the sound of Ben's voice the chipmunks were very startled. They ran back to the forest for a few minutes, then slowly walked back toward the boys with their tails in the air.

"They talk!" one chipmunk gasped.

"Yep, yep, yep, they definitely can talk."

"Wow," one chipmunk said, "that's amazing. They're not Minotaur, dragon, penguin, or elves, but they can still talk."

"Yep, yep, yep."

The one chipmunk cautiously asked them, "You three aren't chipmunks, are you?"

"We're not chipmunks," Aaron said.

"Nope, nope, nope, not chipmunks," said the chipmunk. "Well, then what are you?" the chipmunk nervously asked in his squeaky voice.

"Well," Aaron said. "I'm Aaron Wickham, this is Ben Wickham and this is Nathan Wickham."

"Oooh, Wickhams," the chipmunk said, "I've never heard of Wickhams before."

"Nope, nope, nope, never heard of Wickhams before, nope, nope, nope."

"What are Wickhams?"

Ben said, "We're Wickhams."

Aaron said, "Well, we're boys."

"Boys?" the chipmunks gasped.

"Humans," Aaron said.

"Humans!" the whole forest seemed to shout. Before they knew it a hundred chipmunks came out of the trees and surrounded them. They stared up at Aaron, Ben, and Nathan with surprised looks on their furry little faces. "Humans!" they all gasped. Then, one from the top of a tree pointed at the cap on Aaron's head. "Look," he said, "that one has a cap of power!"

All of the chipmunks rushed together in a big bunch off to the side. Suddenly, the forest was very quiet except for the high pitched sound of the chipmunks whispering to one another about the boys.

While they did, Aaron whispered to Ben. "Ben," Aaron whispered, "I have a bad feeling about these chipmunks."

Ben whispered back, "Well, they're only chipmunks. What could they possibly do."

"I don't know," Aaron said, "but I don't think we should trust them."

Suddenly, all of the chipmunk whispering stopped and all of them looked up at them with big, buck toothed smiles and dark little eyes. "Welcome Wickham humans," one of the chipmunks said. "We've heard that there was an elvish prophecy about humans coming with a cap of power to rid us of the, uh, evil queen Muwanna... We would like to help you."

"Um," Aaron said, "that's okay. I think we can find our way."

"Nope, nope, nope," one said. Another continued, "We will show you the way to the portal, and we will give you food." The chipmunks looked at them and all of their belongings. "We see you have no food with you," they said, "... You must come with us and we will have you for supper."

All but two of the chipmunks ran and hid in the forest. "Come, come, come, you must come with us." "Yep, yep, yep."

The chipmunks dashed around them to the other side, went into the forest a ways, then waved them on to follow.

Aaron said to the others, "I'm not sure about this."

"They're just chipmunks," Ben said.

"But did you see how many there were?" Aaron asked.

Nathan spoke up, "Well, we have to follow them no matter what."

"Why?" Aaron and Ben asked.

Nathan shrugged as he stared at the chipmunks, "Because that's the way the expositor is telling us to go."

"See," Ben said, "Nothing to worry about."

Aaron shrugged. If the expositor was telling them to go in the same direction as the chipmunks, maybe the chipmunks weren't so bad. The three boys followed the scurrying pair through the forest for a very long time. It didn't take long for the beaten path to end and soon they were walking through twigs and vines and getting scratched as they did.

"How much farther?" Ben asked.

"Oh," the chipmunks giggled in squeaky voices up ahead of them, "not much farther. Nope, nope, nope. Come on Wickham humans, you can do it... Soon, we'll have lots of food and fresh meat."

Aaron whispered to Nathan, "Does the expositor still point this way?"

Nathan said, "Yes, and the arrow is starting to get bright."

Aaron shrugged again. He wasn't so sure about these chipmunks-something about them made him nervous--but the expositor kept pointing in the same direction they were going. After they traveled for a while longer the forest finally cleared out. The two little chipmunks were there waiting for them.

"Come on, keep going, not much farther." "Nope, nope, nope, not much farther."

They went a little ways more then they could see a clearing. There were no tree limbs above the ground but it was still covered with leaves. In the middle of all of these leaves were plates full of cookies, a bowl filled with chocolate chips and jelly beans, and a big plate with a birthday cake on it for Aaron.

"Wow!" Ben said. "Those look delicious."

Aaron couldn't argue. They hadn't eaten anything the whole time they had been in the land of Golden Stone and the chipmunks had been leading them in the right direction the whole time. But before they could go toward the pile of sweets and birthday goodies Nathan tugged on Aaron's shirt.

"Aaron, Ben," Nathan said, "The expositor says we shouldn't go that way. The portal is in the opposite direction."

"But we're just stopping to get food," Ben said.

Aaron was the leader but he wasn't sure what to do. Surely they wouldn't stand a chance against Muwanna if they were hungry. Why shouldn't they take a break and eat? So, Aaron decided that they should stop and have some food. Nathan was hungry, so he decided to go with them too.

The chipmunks watched the three boys as they walked toward the plates of food and sat down. Ben took a handful of jelly beans, Nathan took a chocolate, chocolate chip cookie, and Aaron stuck his hands into the birthday cake. The cake was vanilla with chocolate filling and mint flavored icing. It was all delicious and while they ate the chipmunks started to giggle.

"Hey," Ben asked the chipmunks, "why aren't you guys eating?"

The chipmunks rubbed their little teeny hands together and squeaked, "Oh, we can't eat sweets." "Nope, nope, nope."

"Well," Nathan asked, "what do you eat?"

The chipmunks gave a dark little giggle, "We only eat meat." "Yep, yep, yep."

Ben said, "But there isn't any meat here."

The chipmunks just giggled and didn't say anything else.

As Aaron licked the icing off of his fingers he noticed his foot was stuck on something underneath the leaves. He looked down, brushed the leaves aside, and saw that there was a robe net underneath all of them that had been hidden by the leaves. Just then Aaron figured it out, this was trap.

Aaron gasped, "Nathan, Ben, RUN!"

Chapter 6: Escape from the Chipmunks

But, before the Wickham boys could get to their feet it was too late-the evil little chipmunks had sprung their trap. Suddenly, the net underneath the leaves started to rise up to the sky, closing around the Wickham boys until they were trapped inside and hanging far above the ground.

"Eeek!" Nathan squealed.

"Oh no!" cried Aaron.

"Ahhhhhhh!" yelled Ben.

They were trapped up in the trees and the two chipmunks below them ran around in a circle laughing at them. Then, hundreds and hundreds of chipmunks flew out of their hiding places in the forest and started dancing around. "We caught the little humans," the chipmunks sang. They all clasped their hands in circles around one another and danced beneath the hanging boys. As they boys cried for help all the little chipmunk eyes began to glow red and their bucked teeth transformed into hungry fangs. All the little chipmunks sang a wicked little song that went something like this:

Yep, Yep, Yep,

What do you know,

Caught them-yes-sure we did,

Nope, Nope, Nope,

In Golden Stone,

We Chipmunks do not fib,

Yep, Yep, Yep

The Queen you know,

she'll hear just what we did,

Yep, Yep, Yep,

Onward we go,

Cook each and every kid,

Yep, Yep, Yep,

We'll stew them so,

Tell Queen just what we did,

Yep, Yep, Yep,

That Queen you know,

We'll do just what she bid,

Nope, Nope, Nope,

In Golden Stone,

We Chipmunks do not fib

All the little chipmunks glared up at the three of them and cackled out, "We Chipmunks do not fib! Ha, ha, ha... He, he, he. We chipmunks do not fib!"

"Aaron," Nathan asked, "Does this mean they're going to eat us."

Aaron gave a sad sigh, "Probably. I think when they say that they'll 'Cook each and every kid' they're talking about us."

"Oh," Nathan sniffled, "But part of my quest was to not be eaten."

"Aaron," Ben said, "why don't you just cut the net with your dragon tooth sword."

"Right!" Aaron said, but he couldn't reach it. The net was closed tight around all three of them and the only thing they could move was their legs that hung out of the net. "It's no use," Aaron said. "I can't reach it."

Aaron kept trying to reach it, but it was no use. The net was too tight around them. The chipmunks beneath them continued to sing and dance, but there were more chipmunks in the trees. The ones in the trees slowly carried the netted boys deeper into the forest and the dancing group followed below rubbing their bellies and licking their lips.

After traveling up in the trees like this for quite a while, they stopped. They were in a chipmunk village and beneath them was a big pot of boiling water.

The chipmunks sang, "We'll cook them up, We'll stew them up, We'll eat them up for sup."

Aaron said a little prayer, and just when they seemed doomed, Nathan said, "Aaron, Ben, the expositor, it's glowing really brightly, we must be very nearby the portal."

Aaron knew his prayer had been answered. He eagerly asked, "Which way is it, Nathan?"

Nathan pointed. Aaron peered over Nathan's shoulder, and the arrow was brighter than it was in the dragons cave where they were only a few yards away from the portal. So, he knew that this portal must be very near by.

Nathan cried, "But how can we get to it? We're in this net, and they're about to lower us into a pot of boiling water!"

"It must be very close," said Aaron. "Hurry, Ben and Nathan, we have to work together. We need to swing our legs back and forth but we have to do it at the same time or it won't work."

The others quickly figured out what Aaron was talking about. They had all played on swings before, and they knew that if you moved your legs back and forth just right you could make the swing go. So, as the chipmunks slowly lowered them toward the boiling pot, the Wickham boys swung their legs back and forth. Soon, the net was swinging back and forth too, but the boiling water was getting very close.

"We'll cook them up, We'll stew them up, We'll eat them up for sup," the evil chipmunks sang.

They were getting closer and closer to the boiling water. Steam was collecting on them and drops of warm water were forming on the ropes. "Keep your feet moving together!" Aaron ordered.

The chipmunks continued to sing, "We'll cook them up, We'll stew them up, We'll eat them up for sup."

Just before the boys toes hit the surface of the boiling water, they swung away and Aaron's cap of power began to glow. Purple lighting flew out of it and the portal opened up.

"No!" the chipmunks screamed when they realized what was about to happen, "No, not our supper." But Aaron, Ben, and Nathan flew through the portal and when the net swung back and fell into the boiling pot it was empty.

Aaron, Ben, and Nathan flew out the other side of the portal with blue sparks running past them. They flew through the air a few feet then fell to the stone ground.

"Ouch," Ben said as he hit the floor. They were inside of a stone tunnel and they knew they were inside of Muwanna's dungeon. It was very cold down there and Ben had scraped his elbow when he landed. "Ouch," Ben said again. "Oh well, at least I didn't land in a pot of boiling water."

They were all very sore from the landing. But, at least they were safe from those chipmunks. Luckily, the food came through the portal with them as well as all of their gifts from the dragon. So, the three of them sat down in the cold halls of the dungeon and finished off the cookies and what was left of the cake (the jelly beans and chocolate pieces fell out of the net).

Once they had eaten they leaned up against the stone walls and took a quick break. They were very tired. Nathan tucked the expositor into his bag. The arrow was gone because their were no more portals to take until they had done what they had set out to do.

Aaron said, "Okay guys. We need to go and find Muwanna."

"What about Adam?" asked Nathan.

"And the princess," Ben added.

Aaron sighed. Aaron said, "Don't you think they'll be easier to rescue after we take care of the queen?"

They thought about it, and decided that Aaron was right. The three of them got up and slowly started walking through the dark, cold hallways of the dungeon. Aaron wasn't quite sure where he was going, but he had a feeling that he was going the right way.

Eventually they came to a fork in the hallway. They had to decide wether to turn right or left but Aaron didn't know which way they should go, and he felt it was very important they chose the right one. As he thought about it, there were sounds coming down the hallway behind them. Aaron put on the elvish eyes that the dragon had given him and he could see a very large group of Minotaur and giant Penguin warriors coming up the hall toward them.

Aaron gasped and whispered, "Ben, Nathan, hurry, we need to hide!"

Chapter 7: The Ice Battle

The three of them hid in the dark by the wall as five Minotaur with swords and spears and two creatures that looked like giant penguins walked by them. The penguins were black and white and had silver helmets, black belts, and they were carrying silver sticks with glowing balls on one end. The balls weren't glowing bright enough to make for very good flashlights, so Aaron guessed that they must have been some sort of magical weapon.

As the Wickham boys hid in the dark they listened in on the conversation that the Minotaur and the penguins were having.

The leader of the Minotaur grumbled in a deep voice, "We have to tell the queen."

"Meep, meep," the lead penguin grumbled from his beak. "The queen will not be happy about this at all... You say the chipmunks let them pass. Meep, meep."

The Minotaur leader grumbled, "Foolish little chipmunks. They should have just eaten the boys raw, but guess what they did. They brought them back to their village. Their village! Then the humans got through the portal."

"Meep. Meep," the penguin cursed, "then they must be in the dungeon. The portal in the chipmunk village leads right into the dungeon. Meep, meep. My penguin ice warriors found some cookie crumbs and a plate by the entrance portal. Meep."

"Grrr," the Minotaur grumbled. He took a sniff of the air with his bison nose. "They're definitely somewhere in the dungeon then.... We must go directly to the queen. We must stop this elvish prophecy from coming true."

The penguins and the Minotaur walked down the hall. Aaron whispered to Nathan and Ben. "Guys," Aaron said, "did you hear what they said."

"Yea," Ben said, "they're going to go tell the queen we're in here!"

Nathan shivered, "I don't think I want the Queen to know we're in here."

"Come on," Aaron said, "we have to follow them. They'll take us right to her."

They looked at one another anxiously, then stood up and they all quietly followed the Minotaur and the penguins down the hallways. It was very dark and if it wasn't for the elvish eyes that the dragon gave them they wouldn't have been able to find there way.

They followed the Minotaur and the penguins to a very cold part of the castle. The floor started to become slippery with ice and long, pointy ice sickles were hanging from the ceiling. Before long, they could tell by the sound of the Minotaur voices that they had stopped. The three Wickhams cautiously crept up to see what was going on. They stood at the edge of the dark hallway and looked in on a large icy room. Snow covered the walls, and the boys shivered being so close to it. Aaron could see that the Minotaur were even shivering and only the penguin warriors didn't seem to mind the cold.

As Aaron looked around the room he could see that there were at least ten Minotaur in it and thirty penguins. Then, Aaron looked up to the front of the room. There was a huge throne there and sitting on it was queen Muwanna herself. Just looking at her brought shivers up and down the Wickham's back. Nathan covered his eyes when he saw her, Ben hid behind Aaron, and Aaron desperately wished that there was someone bigger than he was so that he could hide behind them. He shook with fear as he looked at her.

The Ice Queen Muwanna was at least eight feet tall-which was two feet taller than their uncle Richard even was. She was thin like a broom stick yet she seemed incredibly strong. She wore a ragged white dress with flakes of snow and ice sickles hanging from it. Her head sat at the top of her long skinny neck. She had a beak-like nose; large, black eyes; blue, sunken skin; purple lips; and her teeth were long, black and sharp like an angry dog. She didn't have any eyebrows, but the hair on her head was long down to her waist, pitch black, and it hung and moved as if each strand of it was alive and had a mind of it's own. She carried with her a long staff with a blue, glowing axe blade fastened on the end.

Aaron wanted to look away from the queen and run, but he did his best to control his fear and try to look around and figure out what they were going to do. Then, Aaron noticed it! To the side of Muwanna's throne was a glowing crystal the size of a basketball. Aaron knew that it had to be the crystal that Matthew and Sam of the Gray Elves had told them about, the one that kept the Elves from using the portals and cursed the dragon's nest. Aaron knew that he had to find a way to destroy that crystal.

As Aaron tried to think of a plan, the leader of the penguins nervously walked up to his queen.

"Meep," the penguin began, "My Queen Muwanna. We have some bad news for you."

Muwanna's dark eyes focused down on her penguin. "Bad news!" she rasped out. She growled under her breath then hissed at him. "I thought I told you never to bring me bad news!"

The penguin gulped, "Uh... Meep... Meep."

"What is it!" Muwanna growled with clenched teeth.

"Meep, my queen, remember the human baby that your Minotaur captured for you this morning?"

The queen hissed, "Yes... A filthy human child in my kingdom. How could I forget."

"Meep, my queen, Meep, uh, yes, well, we believe that there may be more humans in Golden Stone...." The queen glared at him. "Uh, I mean, your kingdom."

"More humans!" the queen growled, "more filthy disgusting, vile little humans in my kingdom... Is this all the despicable news you have for me, bird boy!"

"Um, uh, Meep, well," the penguin grumbled.

"Speak, or I will have the Minotaur cut out your tongue!" the evil Queen said.

"The chipmunks let three more humans with a cap of power..."

"Yes!"

"We think there are three more humans in the dungeon."

"Have they been captured yet!" the Queen growled.

"Well, uh, meep, no."

"No!" she shouted. "No! You know about the Elvish prophecy, and yet you allow humans with a cap of power to wander around my dungeon! You useless bird... You have failed me for the last time." The queen pointed her staff at the penguin and a cold, blue beam shot out of the end of it and hit the penguin. The penguin squawked, then the next thing they knew he was inside of a giant block of ice.

The Wickhams shivered as they watched.

The Queen pointed to a different penguin warrior. "You are now the leader of the penguins," she said, "and don't fail me or you'll end up in a block of ice like the last leader."

"Meep, uh, yes my queen," the new penguin leader said. "Meep."

The Queen shouted, "I will deal with these pesky humans myself... Bring me the baby that the Minotaur kidnaped. I will put an end to this elvish prophecy."

Aaron, Ben, and Nathan watched from their hiding place as a Minotaur walked down another hallway. In a few minutes he returned, carrying baby Adam in his arms. Adam looked very frightened, but he was a brave child and he didn't cry. The Minotaur set Adam down on the cold ground by the Queen's feet.

The Queen picked up something that almost looked like a microphone. She put it next to her mouth, and as she spoke her voice could be heard all throughout the dungeon. She said, "Humans, I know you are in my dungeon. I have your baby brother. You have one minute to surrender yourself to my guards or I will turn your brother into a block of ice." The queen put the microphone down, then looked down at Adam with her dark eyes.

Aaron looked to Ben and Nathan. "We have to go save Adam," Aaron said.

Ben and Nathan nodded. They were very scared of the Ice Queen, but they were still willing to do what they needed to do in order to save their brother anyway. Aaron took out his dragon tooth sword, Ben made ready with his dragon skin shield and his elvish spear, and Nathan held his spear tight and ready to face the queen.

Aaron had them wait for the right moment. The Minotaur and the penguins were following the queen's gaze with their eyes. The queen said, "Only thirty seconds left, humans!"

As the queen turned her head in the opposite direction Aaron, Ben, and Nathan dashed forward toward their brother. They raced past the Minotaur, past the penguin warriors, and ran right up to the queen's feet. Nathan and Ben each took one of Adam's hands and Aaron grabbed the crystal from the side of the queen's throne.

The queen screeched out in anger once she realized what had just happened. "Filthy humans!" she growled.

The Wickhams rushed off to the wall, but the queen raised up her staff to strike at them.

"Ben," Aaron said, "your shield!"

Then, just as Ben flipped around and held his dragon skin shield out the queen shot an ice blast at the four of them. The icy blast hit the dragon shield, then bounced off of it and instead froze one of the Minotaur that was in the room.

"Get them!" the Queen shouted.

All four of the Wickhams hid behind Ben and his shield. It was up to Ben to hold his ground and not let any of the Queen's magic hurt his brothers. The Queen shot out another blast that bounced off the shield and hit the ceiling. Then, the penguins took out their magic weapons and started shooting magical ice blasts at them. Ben, quick and brave, deflected each and every one of them. Then, the queen growled, "Fools, on the count of three, hit him all at once... One, two, three!" On the Queen's command all of the penguins fired their weapons at the same time and the queen sent a powerful blast at them too. Ben stood fearless, and held the shield out, but the combined forces of the queen and her men was too powerful. Ben was able to deflect all of the blasts, but the force threw him down to the ground and knocked him out, leaving the Wickhams momentarily defenseless from the Queen's ice magic.

"Ben!" Aaron and Nathan shouted.

"Goo goo," said Adam (which translated to Ben).

Nathan felt Ben's neck for a pulse. "He's okay!" Nathan said, "it just knocked him out. He'll be okay in a few minutes."

Aaron thought quickly. He shouted, "Queen! I have your crystal... Call off your guards or I'll smash it."

All of the Minotaur and the penguins stopped and growled at the Wickhams and no more magical blasts were fired for fear of breaking the crystal.

The Queen said, "Fools! He's bluffing." She looked at Aaron as he stood with the crystal in his hands. She smiled at him and let out an evil, conceded laugh. "Ha! Human... You think you can simply smash the magic crystal... The only thing that could possibly break it would be a magical blast or the blade of a dragon tooth sword."

Aaron set the crystal on the ground, then took out his sword and held it up so that she could see it. "You mean like this one!" Aaron shouted.

"Ahhh," the queen gasped. "You filthy little human... How did you get a dragon tooth sword!.. Give me back my crystal!"

"No!" Aaron shouted back at the queen. The Minotaur started to come up to them again but Aaron shouted, "I'll break it if they take one more step closer. I mean it! Back up!"

The Queen gritted her black teeth together. "Fine," she said, "Minotaur, Penguins, take a step back." At her command her soldiers took a step away from the boys. The Queen then started to speak in a voice filled with fake sweetness. "Fine little humans," she said, "no one is going to hurt you... Just give me the crystal back and you can all go free."

Aaron shook his head. He said, "I won't give you the crystal back until you give us the Princess Kirsten and we're back to a portal to safety.

A wicked smile crept up along the queen's face, showing her black teeth. "Fine, little humans, you want the Elf princess do you." She looked to one of the Minotaur. She ordered, "Bring me the princess Kirsten."

"My Queen," the Minotaur said, confused.

"Just do it," the Queen said.

It was a few minutes before the Minotaur returned with the princess. The princess was a pretty young Elf girl with a flowing gray gown and a pointed cap. She had blond hair, brown eyes, and olive colored skin.

When the princess saw the Wickhams she gasped, "Humans, with a cap of power, here to save me... The Elvish prophecy must be coming true."

The Queen growled, "Silence!" Then, she looked back at Aaron. "I'll make this very simple little human," she said as she pointed the end of her staff at Kirsten. "Either you give me back that crystal or I'll turn Princess Kirsten here into a block of ice."....

Chapter 8: The Princess for the Crystal

Aaron didn't know what to do. If he gave the Queen back her crystal he was sure she would make them all prisoners, but if he didn't she would turn the Elf princess into a block of ice.

"On the count of three," the Queen said, "If I don't have my crystal by the end of the count I'll turn the princess into a block of ice.... One... Two.. "

"If you turn the princess into a block of ice," Aaron shouted, "I'll break the crystal."

"Three!"

"No!" Aaron shouted. "Wait, what if I roll the crystal toward you as the princess walks towards us."

The Queen paused then licked her lips. "Hmmm... fine little human... The princess will walk toward you, and after she has taken a few steps you roll the crystal toward me... But beware, if you don't roll the crystal toward me by Kirsten's third step she'll be nothing but ice."

Aaron grudgingly nodded. "Agreed," he said.

Kirsten started to walk toward them and on her third step Aaron rolled the crystal toward the Queen. Soon, Kirsten was with the Wickhams, but the crystal was in the Queen's hand.

"Ha," the queen laughed, "you little fools... Penguins, shoot them."

"Meep," the leader of the penguins said, "yes my Queen."

All of the penguins aimed their magical blasters at the Wickhams then fired.

Aaron, Kirsten, Adam, and Nathan all thought that they were doomed, there was no way that all of those blasts could miss them. But, at the last moment, Ben finally regained consciousness. He immediately stood up and put his shield in front of the others. All of the blasts came together on the dragon skin shield, then, with a push from Ben, they all bounced off of the shield and went straight for the Queen.

"No!" the Queen screamed.

The blasts went straight at her, the crystal was thrown from her hand and the blasts smashed it to tiny pieces. There was a big flash of light as bits and pieces of the shattered crystal sprinkled all over the ground. The flash was so bright that it temporarily blinded everyone in the dungeon.

The Wickhams and Kirsten were young so they got their vision back first. When they looked, they saw that the queen was partially surrounded in ice. Her feet were trapped in blocks of ice and so were her arms. But her head and mouth were uncovered.

"Help me you fools," the queen shouted, "get me out of this ice block, now!"

Princess Kirsten put her hand on Aaron's shoulder. "Come brave warriors," she said, "we must hurry while the Minotaur and the Penguin are still blinded."

All five of them ran out of the room and down the hall. Aaron asked, "Princess, do you know how to get out of here?"

The princess shook her head, "I'm sorry, warrior, but I don't."

Ben said, "Well we can't stay here forever, how are going to get out."

Suddenly, a light came from Nathan's pack. Nathan looked down, then brought the expositor back out again. The arrow was back and pointed the way that they needed to go. "Hurry," Nathan said, "the expositor knows where we need to go."

The Princess helped Aaron carry Adam, then they all ran as fast as they could. They turned as the Expositor's arrow turned and glided through the halls looking for a way out. Finally, they came to a big door in the wall and the expositor told them to go through. They pushed it open and they were outside of the dungeon and in the fresh air.

"We made it," Ben said.

Aaron shook his head. He said, "We're not there yet. We're not safe until we reach the portal."

They continued to run through the forest then, when they reached a clearing in the trees, purple sparks started to fly off of the cap of power on Aaron's head and it opened up a big white portal spinning in front of them. They all sighed with relief when they saw the glowing whirlpool of light and they could see the hillside by the Elf castle was on the other side of the portal. All they would have to do was go through the portal, run to the castle and they would be safe at last.

Aaron sighed to Ben, "Lets let the Princess and Adam go first."

Ben nodded, "Yep, Nathan, you and the Princess and Adam can go first."

Nathan smiled. The expositor was glowing brightly and he knew this was the right way to go. Nathan and the princess took Adam's hands, then they walked through the portal onto the hill beside the Elf castle.

"Okay," Aaron said, "Now it's our turn Ben."

But, just then, arrows started to zoom through the air toward them.

"Duck!" said Ben.

As they ducked the arrow caught the cap of power, just barely missing the top of Aaron's head, and sent the cap through the portal. With the cap on the other side without them, the portal immediately closed leaving Aaron and Ben on the other side by themselves with someone shooting arrows at them!

Aaron felt the top of his head. "Ben," he gasped, "the cap... it's gone! It went through the portal without us."

"Oh no!" Ben gasped.

Just then, an army of angry looking Minotaur carrying swords and cross bows came at them. Aaron stood up with his dragon tooth sword, Ben with his shield and spear, and they got ready to fight.....

Chapter 9: The final Battle.

The cap was shot off of Aaron's head with an arrow and zoomed through the portal without them. Adam, Nathan, and the Princess were safe, but Ben and Aaron were trapped just outside the Queen's dungeon with an army of blood thirsty Minotaur ready to attack them.

The Minotaur shot off a few more arrows from their cross bows, but Ben blocked them all with his shield. The Minotaur threw their cross bows aside when they ran out of arrows, then took out their swords.

"You're no match for us, puny humans!" the Minotaur said.

Aaron glanced at Ben. "Ben," Aaron said, "remember what the dragon told us."

"Yes," Ben said, "if we just believe in ourselves, we can do almost anything."

"I believe in us, Ben," Aaron said.

"I believe in us too, Aaron," said Ben.

Then, the two brothers looked toward the Minotaur running after them.

One Minotaur threw his sword down toward Ben. Ben blocked the sword, then moved the shield aside and hit the Minotaur with his spear. The Minotaur fell to the ground, and Ben got ready for the next one coming his way.

Another Minotaur went after Aaron. Aaron blocked the Minotaur's sword with his dragon tooth blade. They clashed their swords back and forth, fencing.

"Give up human!" The Minotaur growled at Aaron.

"Never!" Aaron shouted.

As the Minotaur threw his sword down toward Aaron, Aaron blocked it and the blade of his dragon tooth sword sliced the Minotaur's blade in half.

"You broke my sword!" the Minotaur said, then ran away as Aaron slashed his sword through the air.

The two brothers fought about ten more Minotaur each, defeating each and every one of them. Then, from the top of the hill, came the biggest, meanest looking Minotaur they had ever seen. He was twice as big as the others and twice as ugly.

"Huuuummmaaaannnss," The giant Minotaur grumbled. He lifted up his huge, steel sword that was as thick as a tree trunk. "No puny dragon tooth sword will break my blade!" In the Minotaur's other hand he had a huge club that looked like it was made out of an entire tree. "I will defeat you humans," the creature grumbled.

Aaron and Ben looked at each other. "We have to work together on this one," Aaron said.

"Right," said Ben.

They both went after the giant Minotaur at the same time. The Minotaur swung his giant club at them and the two boys ducked and rolled in opposite directions. Then, they ran on opposite sides of the beast. Ben poked the beast in the side with his spear, and Aaron stabbed him in the calf with his sword. The Minotaur screamed out in pain, then swung his huge club around the air. It hit Aaron and sent him flying toward a tree.

Aaron gasped, then slid down the trunk to the ground. He was okay, but he had the wind knocked out of him and it took him a minute to catch his breath again. By the time he looked up the giant Minotaur was right by him, with his sword raised and ready to strike. Aaron quickly rolled away as the Minotaur's blade came down and cut the tree behind Aaron in half.

Aaron gasped under his breath, "Geesh, that was close."

The Minotaur shouted, "Not close enough, human!" He swung his sword up for another try at Aaron. This time, the beast screamed out in pain as Ben stabbed at him with his spear from behind.

"Leave my brother alone!" Ben shouted.

The Minotaur grumbled, then turned his attention away from Aaron and set out after Ben as Ben ran. Aaron looked around. There was a thick vine along the ground in the Minotaur's path. Aaron ran toward the vine. After Ben had passed it, Aaron pulled hard on the vine until it was tight and about six inches off of the ground. As the Minotaur passed by, he tripped on the vine and fell face first into the mud.

Aaron raced toward the giant Minotaur, then jumped on his neck and put the dragon tooth blade next to the beast's throat. "Surrender!" Aaron shouted, "or I'll use my dragon tooth sword on you."

Ben double backed, then pointed his spear right at the beasts eyes. "And I'll use my spear on your face if you don't surrender and leave us alone," Ben said.

The Minotaur sniffled, then started to cry. "Don't hurt me," the Minotaur blubbered. "The queen made me attack you... Don't hurt me!"

Ben and Aaron were very surprised to hear a great big, giant Minotaur cry like a baby. Aaron knew he needed to be stern though. "Promise," Aaron said sternly, "promise you'll leave us alone or else we'll use our weapons on you."

"I promise," the Minotaur cried. "I promise."

"Okay," Aaron said. "I won't hurt you then."

"Neither will I," said Ben.

"Thank you," begged the Minotaur, "thank you."

Just then, an icy blast shot out at them from behind the trees. The huge blast hit the giant Minotaur, incasing the beast in ice as well as Aaron's feet. Aaron was trapped, his feet stuck in ice on top of the giant Minotaur! Another blast of ice came from the trees, and Ben was only able to block part of it with the shield. His feet were trapped in ice too.

"It's cold," Ben screamed as he tugged at his feet.

"We're trapped," Aaron said.

Just then, the Queen walked out from behind the trees. She had managed to get herself out of her own ice magic, and she did not look the least bit happy. Her eyes growled at the Wickham boys and she hissed out as she pointed her staff at Ben and Aaron.

"Well, well, well," The queen said as she angrily stalked forward, "what do we have here. Two filthy little humans." She laughed, "Ha, and you've lost your cap of power little human." She smiled and showed off her pointy black teeth as she crept toward them. "You may have deprived me of my crystal, and the elf Princess, but I'm going to enjoy turning you two into permanent ice cubes." The queen laughed.

Aaron shook. There was nothing they could do. They were trapped where they stood!

Suddenly, purple sparks started flying through the air. A bright white light flowed out of mid air and the portal opened up again. This time, Sam the gray elf came through wearing the red cap of power, then Matthew, then Nathan, and so did ten other elves from the castle. They were all armed with spears, cross bows, bows and arrows, helmets, and swords.

"Step away from Ben and Aaron," Sam ordered.

Nathan aimed his spear at her. "Yea, or else!" Nathan added.

"That goes for me too," said Matthew as he aimed his bow and arrow.

"Elves!" the queen shouted.

"Yes," said Matthew. "After the Wickham boys destroyed your magic crystal, the spell was lifted and now we Elves can use the magic portals again."

"Your days are numbered, Muwanna," said Sam.

Muwanna laughed, "Oh, you think you're so smart, do you little Elves. Well I don't believe in Wall Elf prophecies. I may have lost my magic crystal, but I have more than enough magic left to turn each and every one of you into ice sculptures."

Suddenly there was a deafening roar behind them in the forest. The trees rustled and flew back and forth, then out from the forest came the largest golden dragon that ever lived. It was Lewis from the water fall. He towered above all of them as his giant wings flapped in the air.

The dragon growled, "Do you have enough magic for me, Muwanna?"

Muwanna looked up at him and screeched, "You! But you should be guarding the waterfall portal."

The dragon laughed, "When they broke the crystal I blew that black cloud of yours away from my baby brothers, then came after you!"

The queen hissed at the giant dragon, then started shooting cold blasts at him with her wand, but none of them worked. Lewis's scales and dragon hide deflected each and every blast. Lewis swung his huge neck down toward the ground, then with one bite he swallowed Muwanna whole. With a terrible roar he swung his head back up to the sky and blew out his rage in a breath of flames. The queen was gone and Golden Stone was saved.

Chapter 10: going home

Aaron and Ben waited patiently as Lewis freed their feet from the ice with his fiery dragon breath. The ice was gone, but the legs of their pants were just a little bit singed.

"Thanks," Aaron and Ben said.

They rubbed their cold feet to get the circulation going again.

Ben pointed to the giant Minotaur that the queen had frozen in ice. "Hey Lewis," Ben said, "could you free him too."

"But he's a Minotaur," Lewis said, "and a really big and really mean looking one at that."

"Well," said Aaron, "and you're a giant dragon. That doesn't mean that you're bad."

"Yea," Ben added as he shook his head, "and just because chipmunks are small and cute doesn't mean they're nice."

The dragon nodded and gave a great big smile that showed all of his long white teeth. "Very well," said Lewis. He blew his hot breath on the frozen Minotaur and set him free.

The Minotaur gave a great big smile as he shivered from the cold. "I'm free," he said. "Thank you dragon. Oh thank you little humans."

"Actually," said Aaron, "our names are Aaron and Ben."

"Well," said the giant Minotaur, "My name is Jasper."

The dragon's large eyes looked down on Jasper sternly. "And why were you helping the queen?" Lewis asked.

Jasper sobbed, "Oh, all I ever wanted to do was be a poet and write Haiku. But the queen made me join her army because I was so big and strong. She said if I didn't, she'd turn my pet cat, Shadow, into ice.. I didn't have any choice."

"Haiku?" Lewis asked.

"Yes," said Jasper, "Haiku is a Japanese word. Haiku are poems where each line has a certain number of syllables. Would you like to hear some?"

"Uh," Ben said.

"Gee, well," said Aaron.

Lewis grumbled, "Minotaur Haiku?... Uh, I think we'll pass."

Sam came up to them with the Cap of power on his head. "Lewis," Sam said, "Can you fly the Wickham boy's to the Gray Elf Castle. Matthew, the other elves, and I have some work to do on the portals now that the queen is gone."

"Certainly," said Lewis.

With that Sam, Matthew, and all of the other Elves went into the portal and disappeared.

"Hey," Aaron grumbled, "he took my hat."

"Don't worry little humans," Lewis said, "It may take us a bit longer to fly, but I'll get you there. Nathan, Ben, Aaron, climb onto my back."

They waved goodbye to Jasper then they all climbed up onto Lewis' back. After a few flaps of Lewis's great wings they were off the ground and soaring through the air toward the Gray Elf Castle.

The dragon spoke to them as they flew. "All three of you have done very well. You have been brave and true the whole time during your quest."

Aaron sighed, "Well... uh."

"What?" said the dragon.

"Well," said Aaron. "That's not true."

"Isn't it?" asked Lewis.

"I wasn't always brave," said Aaron. "There were lots and lots of times when I was really scared and all I wanted to do was run away."

"But you didn't," said the dragon.

"But I wanted to," said Aaron.

Ben slunk his shoulders down and admitted his failings too. "I was scared too," said Ben. "When I first saw the queen, I ducked behind Aaron because she was so scary looking. I wanted to run too."

Nathan said, "Yea, I was really scared lots of times too. Especially when those chipmunks were going to eat us."

The dragon gave a scoffing laugh. He said, "You think that just because you were very scared that you weren't brave."

"Isn't that what brave means?" Ben asked.

Aaron said, "Yea... Doesn't brave mean that you don't get scared about stuff?"

The dragon shook his head as they flew. "No, little humans. Bravery doesn't mean that you never get scared. Only people who are very stupid never get scared."

"Then what does bravery mean?" asked Nathan.

Lewis said, "Young Wickhams. The person who is truly brave is the one who will stand up and do what they know is right, and do what has to be done even though they are scared. The heros and the brave ones are smart enough to know there are reasons to be scared of things, but they do what they need to do anyway. Those are the heros, the ones who do what they think is right even if it is scary to do it, and little Wickhams, you are all three very brave."

Soon, they could see the castle down below them. "Hold on tight," Lewis said. They landed by a gathering of elves standing around the portal that led to the Wickham's basement back home. Sam was there, the princess Kirsten was there holding Adam, Matthew was there, and so were lots of other elves too.

They all clapped as Lewis landed and the Wickham boys slid off of his back.

"It's the ones in the prophecy," they all shouted, "the ones that came from earth to save us!"

They cheered the Wickhams. Then, all of the elves gathered around them in a circle and danced around as they sang a song that they had just written for them. Elves were quite good at making up rhymes on the spot. The song the elves sang went something like this:

The crystal's smashed,

Dark days are passed,

Now Queen is gone,

It won't be long,

till' bright days here,

to love not fear,

O' The Wickham boys saved our land,

No Minotaur,

To chase us far,

No Penguins cast,

Their ice cold blast,

The Chipmunks eat,

No more elf meat,

O' The Wickham boys saved our land,

Those boys came here,

Conquered their fear,

All three held strong,

the whole quest long,

And cap on head,

Dear Aaron led,

O' The Wickham boys saved our land,

Dear Ben was brave,

He would not wave,

Young Nate was too,

Nate's heart was true,

Aaron did fight,

for what was right,

O' The Wickham boys saved our land

Our Thanks to you,

For what you do,

Now we are free,

Always will be,

Sing one more time,

Then end this rhyme,

O' The Wickham boys saved our land.

"You're heros," Matthew said.

"You broke the crystal," said Sam, "and you brought our princess back."

The princess Kirsten stepped up and gave them all big hugs, then put around each of their necks golden medallions to honor what they had done. "Thank you," the princess said.

Sam walked up to them, and there were three elves behind him and all of them had their own cap of power on their head.

"Thank you for lending us your hat, Aaron," said Sam. "We've started taking all of the old caps of power back from the queen's men. Soon, we'll have them all back and most of our elf warriors will each have one." Sam took the cap of power off of his own head and put it back on Aaron's. "Take it with you, Wickhams. Some day you must return to Golden Stone and visit us all."

"We will," said Aaron.

"Yea," said Ben.

"We will," said Nathan.

"Goo goo gaa ga," said Adam (I think that means "we will" in baby talk, but I'm not sure).

The four Wickham boys waved good bye to everyone, then stepped through the portal and landed back in their basement on Woodbend road. The first thing they could hear was their mother calling to them from upstairs.

"Aaron, Benjamin, Nathan, Adam! It's time for dinner, hurry up, I've been calling you for a long time now," she called.

Ben said, "What will we do with our spears and things."

Aaron looked around the basement. There were lots of boxes filled with old toys and things that were still packed from when they moved in. "We can just hide our spears and helmets under the toys and Mom will never find them."

They all hid their weapons then hurried upstairs.

"Mom," Nathan gasped, "guess what happened to us!" He tried to explain what had happened, but all that Momma Wickham would say was, "Sound's like you guys had fun playing downstairs." She didn't believe them. But, it was okay. Someday they would go back to Golden Stone and maybe then they could bring their Mom and their Dad with them.

That night they all sat around in their bunk beds telling and retelling their stories to one another. It was hours before they all finally went to bed. Aaron, however, stayed awake the longest of them all. He sat up by himself and thought of all of the adventures he had in Golden Stone. Now that he was safe and all of the danger was over, he was very glad that Uncle Richard had given him the Cap instead of just a toy. Then, when Aaron couldn't keep his eyes open anymore, he placed the cap of power under his pillow and he went to sleep. In his sleep, he could hear the elves singing and he dreamed about when his next adventure to Golden Stone would be.

The crystal's smashed,

Dark days are passed,

Now Queen is gone,

It won't be long,

till' bright days here,

to love not fear,

O' The Wickham boys saved our land,

No Minotaur,

To chase us far,

No Penguins cast,

Their ice cold blast,

The Chipmunks eat,

No more elf meat,

O' The Wickham boys saved our land,

Those boys came here,

Conquered their fear,

All three held strong,

the whole quest long,

And cap on head,

Dear Aaron led,

O' The Wickham boys saved our land,

Dear Ben was brave,

He would not wave,

Young Nate was too,

Nate's heart was true,

Aaron did fight,

for what was right,

O' The Wickham boys saved our land

Our Thanks to you,

For what you do,

Now we are free,

Always will be,

Sing one more time,

Then end this rhyme,

O' The Wickham boys saved our land.