Magica

 

Chapter 5

In the Prison Of The Evil Magician

 

“The city is surrounded by the wooden army!” cried the king in dismay.

Then all of his friends went to the window to see what was going on. The city was filled with the Woodmanian soldiers. Almost every building was invaded. The palace was also invaded, but they could not open the doors and enter.

“It’s impossible for us to escape now!” remarked Rose, for she was scared of the wooden army.

“Don’t be afraid,” smiled the king for the first time since the last group of letters had appeared.

Then the captain of the Woodmanians cried out in a very loud voice, “Magica City has fallen to us! Surrender and you shall live! Resist and you shall die!”

“I think that if we escape, the people of Magica will be safe,” remarked the king after hearing this evil statement.

“And why is that?” asked Mr. Good curiously.

The king replied, “As soon as I’m out of the palace, the Woodmanians would put one of their men as the king of Magica City. According to the Magican custom, as soon as a new king is in power, the people must obey him. So if I leave now, the invaders will bring a new king into this palace. As soon as the Magicans see this, they will immediately give their allegiance to him, and so the fighting will stop.”

“But how can we escape?” asked Rose, still frightened by the sounds of the invaders fighting Magican soldiers.

The king opened one of his cupboards and took out a little stick. He explained, “This stick can transform us into anything we want. So I’ll let it to transform us into large owls. Then we’ll fly out of  the window and escape! After that, I will let it to transform us back to our normal shapes.”

They all agreed to this idea, because that was the only way for them to escape.

“Do it quick!” shouted Mr. Good, for he could hear the wooden soldiers walking in the palace. This meant that the wooden army had succeeded in entering the palace.

So the king touched himself with the stick and said, “Large owl!”

He was instantly changed into a stony owl. So he pointed it at his five friends and did the same thing. They were all transformed into large owls. Rose and her horse and the cat were changed into regular owls. Mr. Good became a stony owl, just like the king. Don the donkey was changed into a wooden owl.

Suddenly, the door of the room was opened and the wooden soldiers entered the throne room. But the six owls flew quickly, and they were soon out of the palace.

Now the palace was surrounded by Woodmanians from all sides. So King Friendly cried in a loud voice, “Magica City do not be afraid! We shall return very soon and free you from the satanic invaders!”

The wooden soldiers tried to seize the king and his friends, but they were flying in the air.

“Should we change ourselves back to normal now that we’re safe?” asked the king.

“Let’s stay the way we are,” smiled Rose, “For I want to visit my old house in North Bathra to get some food. There’s a river that we have to cross. But if we fly, we’ll avoid it. Now follow me, everyone!”

So they all followed the little girl as she flew toward the city of Bathra.

“I wonder if your old house is empty or not,” remarked Mr. Good after a little while.

“We shall see when we get there,” she smiled sweetly.

The king looked at Rose’s horse and said, “I’ve never asked you this. What’s your name?”

“Well Rose called me ‘Goody,’” replied the horse.

“I shall call you ‘Mr. Hor,’” the king told him.

“Thank you for my new name, your majesty,” smiled Mr. Hor.

King Friendly had ordered them to fly as fast as they could, because he said, “The affects of the stick will be over in about an hour from now. And then we’ll be transformed back to our normal shapes again.”

When they had reached the old house, Rose’s horse laughed and remarked, “It’s funny. Rose and I were here about four days ago, and now we’re returning again.”

“Well we’re not returning to stay,” Rose told him. “I just want to take food and water for our journey, for we don’t know where we have to go.”

When Rose had opened the door and had stepped in, she did not see anyone. So she began filling many bags with water from the well, and kuls from the tree.

Suddenly, they all began to change back to their normal shapes again. They were frightened at first, but then they realized that they were not in danger. Nevertheless, it did not hurt.

“So where should we go now?” asked the Friendly Statue. “Who can help us to save Magica City?”

“Let’s get out of here and then we’ll see where we want to go,” suggested the Good Statue.

So the group was divided between the donkey and the horse. Rose and Caty the cat rode on the horse’s back, while the king and the other statue were on the wooden donkey. But they walked beside one another, lest they   lose one another.

“It looks like a storm is coming in our direction,” the cat remarked.

But before anyone could reply, the wind seized them and they were flying. The travelers remained sitting on the horse and the donkey, but the two animals were flying. They could not resist the wind. No one knew where the wind would take them to.

They were suddenly dropped to the ground. Everyone was unconscious for five minutes. The drop was so sudden that they were almost dead.

“Where are we?” asked Don the donkey, being the first to speak.

Nobody answered. The region looked strange to everyone.

“Let’s discover this strange city,” remarked Rose.

So they all followed her. However, she was not sure where to go. She just kept walking.

They presently came to a fine looking house that was inhabited by a wizard. There was a sign on the door that read, “Madman the great wizard.”

“Let’s avoid him if he’s mad then,” Rose told them, for she was frightened easily.

But the Friendly Statue  knocked on the door anyways.

The person who had opened the door was not handsome to look at. He had a very nasty face. His clothes were dirty.

“Come in!” he said nastily. And before the travelers could do anything, they were magically pulled into the ugly looking house.

“If you do me a favor,” began the evil wizard, “I’ll do anything you ask for.”

“And what do you want us to do?” asked the Friendly Statue, for he was the only brave person who could talk to this satanic man. The other ones were too frightened to say a word.

“I want to marry her,” replied the wizard maliciously, pointing at Rose, who was very scared.

The little girl looked pleadingly into the statue’s eyes, asking him to deliver her from the wicked magician.

The Friendly Statue smiled to her, which meant that she must not fear. He was determined to save her and leave this sinful man.

“Could you please give us time to decide?” the Friendly Statue asked.

“You have twenty-four hours,” the magician smiled nastily. “But I warn you not to escape, because there’s magic everywhere in this house. So it’s impossible for you to run away.” He laughed maliciously and left the room.

After that, the magician returned to the travelers, carrying a little baby girl in a bundle. The baby was fast asleep. The bundle was very heavy. So  the magician had to  carry it magically.

“Will you hurt a baby?” he asked nastily.

“We won’t hurt any person except evil wizards,” was the statue’s answer.

“Good,” cackled the wizard. “Then, I’m going to enchant your hands and feet. Then I’ll put the baby at the door so you won’t be able to open it unless you move the baby away from it. But if you try to touch the baby, she will be  burned, because there will be magical fire in your hands and feet.”

Suddenly, everyone’s hands and feet were burning, but it did not hurt them.

“It does not hurt you,” he smiled cruelly. “But if you touch someone else, that person shall die! Ha-ha-ha-ha!” Then he disappeared.

The Friendly Statue sighed and said, “So now we can’t open the door and escape unless we remove the baby. But we can’t do that either, because as soon as we touch the little girl, she shall die. Our hands and feet are enchanted.”

“So we’ll be stuck in this devilish prison forever,” remarked Don sadly.

“I forgot to tell you something,” said the cruel magician as he returned to the prisoners. “I have enchanted your whole bodies. So if you try to touch the baby in any part of your body, she shall die, because your whole body is enchanted!” And he left again.

“That’s even worse,” sighed Don.

When night had come, the wizard returned to his prisoners and said, “It’s time for supper. What would you like to eat?”

“But the food will be burned if we eat,” the Friendly Statue told him.

“No it will not be burned,” the evil wizard replied. “The enchantment does not apply to the food.”

The three travelers who were capable of eating did not want to eat anything at first, because they were afraid of magical food. But the wizard said, “I promised to give you twenty-four hours to decide whether you will let me marry the little girl or not. So I can’t harm you unless the twenty-four hours are over. Then if you don’t let me marry her, I’ll enchant you all, except her. So I’ll be able to  marry her without having anyone to resist me.”

“But why do you want to marry me?” asked Rose, speaking for the first time. “I’m too young to be married.”

“Because you’re the sweetest girl I’ve ever met,” he replied.

“But if you were kind, I probably would’ve said yes,” she replied. “However, you are not treating us kindly. So how can I marry an evil person?”

“Silence!” he shouted angrily. Then he left.

“You’ve made him really angry,” laughed the Friendly Statue. “Good job!”

After a little while, Rose and her horse and the cat fell asleep. But the Friendly Statue, Don the donkey, and the Good Statue did not sleep of course. So they sat together conversing in low tones.

The little baby suddenly opened her beautiful eyes. She looked at the strangers. It was hard for her to decide whether to talk to them or not, because she did not know anything about them.

“Mommy!” she cried. “Where’s mommy?”

She began to sob very hard. The three sleepless prisoners felt sorry for her, but they could not help her.

“But how can she talk if she’s only a little baby?” the king asked the other statue in a whisper.

“I don’t know, your majesty,” replied Mr. Good.

“Do you still call me ‘your majesty’ even here in prison?” laughed the Friendly Statue. “I’m a prisoner not a king.”

Realizing that the baby girl  could talk, the Friendly Statue turned to her and asked, “Where’s your mother?”

“At home,” she replied, still crying.

“Then what are you doing in this prison?” he asked.

“The owner of this house stole me from my mother and brought me to this prison,” was the answer.

“Well we’re also prisoners,” smiled the Statue. “But if we find a way to escape, we’ll take you with us.”

“I would go anywhere,” the baby girl cried. “But don’t leave me in this hell!”

“So how did the evil Satan steal you from your mother?” the Friendly Statue asked.

The little baby told them the following story:

“Well three days ago, he came to our house to marry me. But my mother told him that I’m only a baby. So he was furious with her. Then he murdered her.” At this cruel memory, she began to sob again. But then she continued, “So then he brought me to this place. And now he had made it impossible for you to rescue me, by enchanting your bodies to kill me if you touch me.”

The next morning, the Satan of this house, as the travelers called him, came into the room where they were. He explained, “The enchantment that I had put on you is broken. However, the door is now enchanted. So if you touch the door, then you shall die!”

“So can we touch the little baby now?” the Friendly Statue asked.

“It’s safe for you to touch her,” was the reply, “But you cannot escape.”

“Well at least we can play with the little girl now,” smiled Mr. Good.

Then he went over to her and took her out of the bundle.

“Thank you very much for bringing me out of the little prison,” she smiled at him. “I know that we’re not free from the evil magician’s power yet, but at least I have some friends who care for me.”

“I believe that love will defeat evil,” smiled the Friendly Statue. “Come and sit beside us, dear.”

So the little baby came and sat in between the two statues. She was very delighted to have some friends  who cared for her.

“What’s your name, dear?” Mr. Good asked.

“My name is Flowerah,” she replied sweetly.

“Well you’re prettier than any flower I’ve ever seen,” remarked the Friendly Statue happily.

“And how old are you?” was the donkey’s question.

“A year and a half,” was the sweet reply.

The other three prisoners were all awake now. So the Friendly Statue told them about Flowerah.

“How far is your house from here?” the donkey asked Flowerah.

“Very close,” was the reply. “If I’m out of this prison, I believe that I’ll reach it in less than five minutes. I know exactly where it is.”

“But you’ll never leave this house,” the evil magician laughed devilishly.

That afternoon, the wizard came to them and said, “Your twenty-four hours are over now. So will you let Rose to marry me? Does she want to marry me?”

“I won’t marry you even if it means that I must die!” she screamed.

“Do you love Flowerah?” he asked.

“What does that have to do with me marrying you?” asked Rose.

“Well if you marry me,” he smiled cruelly, “Flowerah shall be our daughter.”

Then he pulled from his pocket a little stick. Pointing it at Rose’s friends, he muttered a word in the magical language.

Suddenly, they were all dead except Rose and Flowerah.

“Now only my wife and my daughter are alive,” he said, laughing like a demon. “Come and give me a kiss, dear.”

“Come and help me!” Rose shouted at Flowerah, as she got up and walked toward the evil magician.

Then she gave him a very big hug. She pretended that she was in love with him. So as she was hugging him, she stole the magical stick from him and ran away from his embrace.

The good news was that Rose remembered the magical word that he had used to murder her friends. So pointing the stick at him, she said the magical word. As she had  expected, the evil wizard fell to the floor. He was finally dead!