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THE KNIGHTS OF DREAMLAND

Episode One

THE BLACK KNIGHT

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The right of Michael Smith to be identified as the author of this work has

been asserted in accordance with the copyright act. This work may not

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the terms and conditions under which this work is published

By

Michael Smith

 

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CHAPTER 1

Angelina Thomas lay perfectly still. Her little hands clutched tightly at the

sheets of her bed as she pulled them up over her mouth and nose. Only her

wide eyes showed above the covers. Even though it was a warm summer

evening her bedroom, normally a bright and cheerful place during the

daytime, felt distinctly chilled. Darkness shrouded the room as shadows

lurked in gloomy corners. Eerie tendrils of blackness seemed to reach out and

crawl across the floor towards Angelina's bed.

‘Are you still awake Angelina?’ It was a familiar voice that called from the

bottom of the stairs.

‘Yes mummy, I can't sleep,’ came the reply, ‘I'm really scared!’

Angelina sat up in bed still grasping the covers tightly around her face.

Warily she reached out beyond the security of her bedclothes and turned on

the small lamp beside her bed hoping to dispel the shadows that lurked in the

dark corners of the room, but it didn't seem to be much help. Angelina heard

her mother’s footsteps on the stairs and she began to feel a little better as the

hall light cast a comforting glow around her bedroom.

The door opened and Angelina's mother came into the room.

‘Do you know how late it is Angelina Thomas?’ It was a question that did

not require an answer, and even if Angelina had wanted to reply she was not

given the chance to do so.

‘I read you a nice long story and you've had your milk,’ Mrs. Thomas

tucked in the bed-sheets tightly and puffed up Angelina's pillow as she

continued talking,

 

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‘Now why don't you snuggle down under the blanket and go to sleep?’

she said in a comforting voice.

‘I'm sure there are monsters in here,’ whispered Angelina as her mother

sat on the bed, ‘I saw a creepy shadow and it was moving about in the corner

of my room.’ She pointed to the floor where she saw the creeping shadow. ‘It

was quite scary and that's why I can't sleep.’ Angelina sighed deeply.

‘Well I can assure you Angelina, there are no monsters in this house,’ her

mother said firmly, ‘and shadows can't possibly hurt you can they now? I want

you to settle down and go to sleep.’ Mrs. Thomas kissed Angelina on the

forehead and rose from the bed, ‘I’m not going to come up here again. You

can leave your night light on if you like,’ she started walking towards the door

blowing her daughter a kiss on the way out, ‘night, night and sweet dreams.’

Mrs. Thomas left the room.

Angelina heard her mother’s footsteps tread softly as she went back down

the stairs. There was a sharp click followed by a dull clunk as the hall light

was turned off and the living room door downstairs closed. The dark shadows

once more returned to the corners of Angelina's room. The small bedside light

gave some small glow of comfort to the otherwise gloomy atmosphere, but

still the shadows lurked menacingly.

Angelina lay snuggled under the warm bedclothes with her eyes barely

peeking over the top of the blanket. She could still see the dark and strange

shapes cast by her night light from where she lay. They seemed to have a life

of their own, murky tendrils eerily caressed the walls sending creepy fingers of

blackness dancing across the ceiling.

 

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‘I must not be scared,’ Angelina said to herself, ‘mummy said that

shadows can't hurt me and mummy's are always right, aren't they?’

Angelina tried hard to convince herself. ‘And anyway there are no

monsters, not really, not real scary monsters that live in dark places and eat

children and breath fire and only come out at night when mummy's and

daddy's have gone to bed and, WHAT'S THAT NOISE!!’ Angelina sat up with

a start and glanced nervously around the room.

‘I'm sure I heard a noise.’ She said hoisting the blanket up to her face. ‘I

hope it wasn't a monster, oh dear, I wish it was morning, I wish mummy would

sit with me, I wish these shadows would go away.’

Angelina was now feeling really quite frightened. From her position in the

bed she looked as hard as she could to see if there was anything there, but

saw nothing that should scare her. Only the shadows lurking in the dark

corners of the room.

Suddenly there was a movement. Angelina went stiff with fear, her mouth

went dry and her skin felt clammy. In the darkest corner of the room just by

her bookcase, an especially nasty looking shadow was creeping along the

skirting board. It seemed to be stretching out long pointy fingers as it crawled

across the carpet towards her bed. A scream started to build in her throat, but

nothing would come out except for a peculiar choking noise.

‘I want my mummy,’ thought Angelina as she stared transfixed at the

creeping shadow slithering menacingly closer towards her bed.

 

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‘It’s a monster, I know it is,’ a voice that did not seem to belong to her

screamed inside her head as the black shadowy fingers scrabbled and clawed

their way along the floor.

They had now reached the side of her bed and were crawling their way up

towards her blanket. Angelina could stand it no more. She wanted to call out

for her mummy and to shriek out as loud as she could for help. She opened

her mouth and took in a deep breath ready to scream when she heard a very

loud noise. Angelina held her breath. The noise came from her room that was

for sure, but it wasn't a scary noise like a growling monster, it was more of an

annoyed shout. In fact Angelina could have sworn it was more like a voice, a

voice that said,

‘Ouch that hurt.’

Angelina sat up a little more so that she could get a better view of the

bedroom and the source of the noise. It seemed to her that even the scary

shadows had gone. They had just simply disappeared. The room now

seemed to be lit by a strange pale blue light.

‘Ouch, now look what you've gone and done, Ow! That hurt! Stop, stop,’

came the voice again, only this time it was much louder and clearer than

before.

Angelina had stopped feeling scared. Somehow the voice did not seem to

be very frightening and actually sounded quite funny.

‘Who’s there? Angelina whispered to no one in particular.

 

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There was a momentary silence followed by another loud crash. The

distinct whinny of a horse could be heard followed by yet another torrent of

bad tempered moaning and groaning.

‘Hey watch out will you. A chap can get hurt doing this sort of thing

don'tcha know.’ The voice sounded quite annoyed.

Angelina couldn't stop herself from sniggering, even though she could not

see where the moaning came from, it really did sound very funny. The blue

light was much brighter now and filled Angelina's room. She could just begin

to make out a rather strange image emerging from her wardrobe. At first

Angelina thought that perhaps she had fallen asleep and was dreaming, so

she gave herself a little pinch just to make sure that she was still awake. As

her eyes adjusted to the strange light she focused on what could only be

described as a shape emerging straight out of the wall next to her wardrobe.

Angelina could now make out the shape of a horses’ head. A beautiful

white mane flowed down the creatures’ neck in long soft curls and it shone

with a radiant white light. A pair of the softest blue eyes stared at her and

blinked from the other side of the room. As the wondrous creature emerged

from the wall, Angelina could see that there was someone sitting on its back,

and that someone was obviously having a great deal of trouble staying there.

The figure looked very unsteady as it wobbled from side to side desperately

clinging to thin air as if to gain some support.

It was then that Angelina noticed that what she first thought to be a horse

was really not a horse after all, but a beautiful white unicorn. On its strong

muscular back, flailing the air wildly, sat a knight wearing a suit of shining

 

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silver armour. However there was something not quite right about the knight

even allowing for the strange contortions and frantic grappling. Angelina

suddenly noticed what it was that looked so odd. The knight, who by now had

slipped down the side of the unicorn and was grasping wildly at its white mane

to stop him from toppling completely onto the floor, was sitting astride his

saddle the wrong way around and facing his mount backwards.

‘You did this on purpose, I know you did,’ muttered the dislodged rider,

‘you're just mad at me for taking that wrong turning back there.’ With a

resigned groan the hapless knight crashed onto the floor in a rather

unbecoming heap.

‘Excuse me,’ asked Angelina as she tried desperately not to giggle at the

struggling pile of armour that was by now struggling in vain to stand up.

‘Excuse me, but what are you doing in my bedroom?’

‘I'm trying to stand up, what do you think I'm doing, waiting for a bus?’

replied the strange figure as it rolled around the floor.

‘Would you like me to help you?’ Angelina asked climbing out of bed. She

padded across the bedroom carpet towards the helpless figure.

The unicorn blinked a blue eye at Angelina and said, ‘That would be very

kind of you, Sir Roderick here is a little clumsy. I do hope we didn't frighten

you. You see we, or rather he, took the wrong turning back there,’ the unicorn

turned her head to the floor as she spoke indicating towards the writhing heap

of metal on the bedroom carpet.

Angelina could not quite believe her ears,’ you can talk?’ she gasped.

An annoyed voice emerged from the direction of the floor.

 

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‘Of course she can talk, in fact she rarely stops.’ The knight paused and

looked at the unicorn sternly, ‘And I'm not clumsy. We just had a slight

materialisation problem that's all.’

A gloved hand appeared from under a pile of armour and Angelina

grasped hold of it pulling the knight to his feet. ‘Ah that's better, thank you

very much. Allow me the honour of introducing myself,’ continued the figure

whilst adjusting his armour, ‘I am Sir Roderick the Brave, of the Knights of

Dreamland and this is my trusty steed Cornucopia,’ and with that the Knight

made a sweeping bow, so sweeping in fact that he completely lost his balance

and fell over with another resounding crash. The unicorn shook her head and

tossed her mane in embarrassment.

‘Here we go again,’ she said with a sigh.

‘I'm pleased to meet you my name is Angelina Thomas and I live here,’

responded Angelina with a curtsy.

The clumsy Knight again pulled himself to his feet, with the assistance of

Angelina, who could no longer contain herself and giggled uncontrollably.

‘It's not terribly polite, don'tcha know, to laugh at one's misfortunes young

lady,’ the knight straightened his armour and stood erect.

‘After all, I am a Knight, eh what, demands at least a token of respect.

Youth of today. I don't know what the world’s coming to, when I was a lad.’

Roderick muttered to himself as Angelina interrupted his rambling.

‘I didn't mean to be rude, but you looked so funny when you fell over and

after all, you are in my bedroom you know,’ said Angelina placing her hands

on her hips.

 

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‘And it's very rude to interrupt a chap who was just about to tell you

something instructive, now I suggest that you take my advice young, whatever

y'name is,’ again the knight was interrupted mid sentence, this time by the

unicorn.

‘Oh do shut up Roderick,’ scolded Cornucopia, ‘I am sure the young lady

meant no disrespect and she did help you. After all, she does have a small

point.’

The unicorn looked kindly at Angelina as she continued, ‘We are in her

bedroom, how would you like it if someone came crashing through your wall

half way through the night and then started falling around all over the place?’

the unicorn glowered at Roderick the Knight.

‘Er, ahem, ummm well perhaps you’re right,’ returned Roderick sheepishly

as he dusted an imaginary spot from his shoulder, ‘point is we're here now

and he's here somewhere.’

Angelina looked puzzled, ‘what did you mean, he's here, who's he? And

who are the Knights of Dreamland? And why are you here? I'm a bit

confused.’ Angelina looked bewildered as the unicorn shook her head and

gazed at the ceiling sighing loudly.

‘The Knights of Dreamland,’ retorted Roderick. ‘You don't know who the

Knights of Dreamland are?’ Roderick sounded genuinely surprised, ‘Why we

are the watchers of the night, the guardians of the dream world, without us the

Knightmares will ride out and then where would we all be? Eh what, dash it

all,’ Roderick waved his arms around wildly trying to emphasise the point and

 

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in so doing managed to knock over Angelina's bookcase spilling dozens of

books all over the floor.

‘Oh Roderick, do be careful,’ said Cornucopia.

‘Well I've never heard of the Knights of Dreamland. I have heard of

Dreamland, my mummy told me it's a place you go when you go to sleep, but

she never mentioned anything about any Knights,’ said Angelina.

Cornucopia began to recite a verse.

Knights of Dreamland Brave and bold,

Riding unicorn since days of old.

Valiant heroes one and all,

To stop the Knightmares is their call.

Armed with shield on trusted steed,

T’is kindness and love their only need.

Knights of Dreamland Brave and bold

Riding unicorns since days of old.

Cornucopia finished the rhyme and nuzzled Angelina. She spoke softly

and gently like a warm breeze. ‘The Knights of Dreamland protect human

children from the realm of the Knightmares who prowl the night

waiting...waiting,’ she paused thoughtfully as if trying to think of the right

words.

‘What are they waiting for and are they dangerous?’ asked Angelina.

 

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‘They wait for just the right moment when little children are in bed and

frightened of the dark,’ the unicorn looked at Angelina with huge round eyes

that sparkled like jewels. She continued softly so as not to sound too scary.

‘They cause fear and live to scare, remember that fear alone can destroy you,

all by itself. Their work is done if they succeed in frightening you Angelina,’

continued the unicorn.

‘And it's my job to send 'em back so they won't scare anyone,’ joined in

Roderick who was on his knees trying to pick up the scattered books and

managing to drop more than he picked up.

‘Where do you send them to?’ asked Angelina, ‘why don't you just kill

them?’

‘Kill them!’ retorted Roderick dropping an armful of books, ‘Kill them, you

can't kill them, good grief did you hear what she said Cornucopia? By George

sir. Dashed indecent if you ask me, can't just wander around killing things just

because they scare you. I suppose you stand on spiders and swat flies do

you?’ Roderick started waving his arms around again and narrowly avoided

sending a teddy bear flying. ‘Oh awfully sorry you scared me,’ mocked

Roderick, I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you now, gosh that was a fright,

awfully sorry old thing but I have to cut your head off now. Bah! Youngsters

today, no discipline, always in a hurry. When I was a lad-’ again Roderick was

cut short before he had the chance to continue his monologue.

Cornucopia blinked her soft blue eyes and began to speak, ‘We can never

kill anything Angelina, it is very wrong to take a life. The Knightmares are very

unhappy creatures and after all, they just need love like anyone else. Only the

 

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Knights of Dreamland can help them so we follow them wherever they go and

see to it that they neither cause harm to themselves nor anyone else.

‘But if they scare people then that isn't very nice is it?’ replied Angelina,

‘Perhaps they wouldn't be so unhappy if they stopped being so mean and

scaring everybody.’

‘Ah bit of a conundrum that,’ said Roderick.

‘A conunwhat?’ asked Angelina.

‘Conundrum,’ continued Roderick, ‘dilemma, y' know bit of a puzzle, feel

kind of sorry for them somehow. You see m'dear the Knightmares are under a

sort of spell. The Black Knight imprisons them in his castle. His castle on-,’

Roderick hesitated as if gathering unwelcome thoughts, ‘on the dark side. He

pollutes their minds with blackness and cruelty and sends them out into the

night to frighten the humans,’ continued Roderick.

‘So these Knightmares are really good people who have been made

wicked by the Black Knight,’ said Angelina, ‘Why can't you just tell the Black

Knight to stop doing bad things all the time?’

‘We have tried for many ages, but he never changes his evil ways. The

Black Knight possesses magical and dark powers. He is armoured from head

to toe and never shows his real self. Nor does he allow anyone to see him. No

one in Dreamland has ever seen his face. Only a brave few have ever tried to

get close enough for that matter. He lives in a huge pitch-black fortress

surrounded by high black walls and it's always night on the dark side,’ replied

Roderick.

 

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‘Well if it's a black fortress with black walls and always dark, how do you

know it exists at all? I mean it would be like looking for a black spot on a black

carpet in the dark wouldn't it?’ retorted Angelina. ‘I mean have you ever seen

the Black Castle?’

‘Err ahem, well, erm, sort of, I mean it must be there, everyone says it is,

and besides if it wasn't then there would be no Black Knight, and if there was

no Black Knight then there would be no Knightmares, and if there were no

Knightmares then I wouldn't have to go chasing all over the place after them

would I? Eh what! Sound logic that, dash it all,’ Roderick looked satisfied with

his explanation.

The unicorn nuzzled Angelina again and this time spoke in a clear yet firm

voice, ‘The Knightmares ride out wherever there are frightened children

Angelina, the Black Knight forces them to do it, they are at his mercy. It is said

that without fear in the world of humans the Black Knight and his fortress

would be no more, but there is fear in the world Angelina, and so as long as

there is fear, he will be there.’ Cornucopia looked at Roderick.

‘And so shall we tra la, and so shall we.’ added Roderick with a flurry of

his arm which finally connected with the doomed teddy bear sending it

somersaulting through the air.

‘I still want to know why you came here into my bedroom,’ began

Angelina.

Roderick looked a little embarrassed and muttered, ‘Simple mistake, any

chap could have gone wrong, all a bit confusing really. You see we were

chasing this Knightmare and, well we sort of lost it. Could have sworn it turned

 

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left at that last cloud formation we passed.’ Roderick gazed off into space and

scratched his helmet as if trying to re-live the moment.

‘You see Angelina the Knightmares rarely set foot in the human realm.

They usually hover between the real world and Dreamland, waiting to pull you

into their reality if you let them. It appears that this particular Knightmare

ventured into the human world. We must lead it back to Dreamland or it will

cause a lot of trouble,’ the unicorn looked concerned.

‘How can it cause trouble?’ asked Angelina.

‘If it stays in the human domain for too long, it will frighten other children,

and the more children it frightens the more powerful the spell. If the spell gets

too strong it will surely be lost to the Black Knight forever,’ Roderick spoke

softly as if he were talking about an old friend.

‘I don't understand,’ said Angelina, ‘if it stays here and frightens children

and the spell gets stronger then it will be lost, but when it goes back it is still

under the magic of the Black Knight, sounds to me that it has a pretty tough

time of it all things considered.’ Once again Angelina looked bewildered.

The unicorn shook her mane and sighed, Angelina saw a silver tear trickle

down Cornucopia's beautiful face.

‘You see,’ began Cornucopia sadly, ‘The Knightmares were once knights

of a different kind and were once Roderick's friends. They were part of the

Knighthood of Dreamland, protectors of the dream realms. Some were placed

under the spell of the Black Knight many ages ago Angelina, before time

itself, so far back in ages past that many can no longer recall how they

became captured under his dark magic. Others are locked up in deep

 

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dungeons awaiting the spells that will turn them into the Black Knight's

minions. Some say the knights found the only thing that could defeat the

Black Knight's magic and that he set a trap to capture them,’ Cornucopia

looked distant as if remembering a time long ago.

Roderick stroked the Unicorn's head affectionately and looked at Angelina

with watery eyes.

‘You see, we must try and find the Knightmares to protect them and try to

break the spell so that they can become a part of the Knights of Dreamland

again.’ Cornucopia sighed.

‘How do you break the spell?’ asked Angelina.

‘The Knightmares can only enter the realm of children where fear exists,’

answered Roderick, ‘If that fear is taken away the Knightmares move on to

find another victim don’tcha see,’ continued Roderick as Cornucopia nodded

in agreement, ‘but if the Knightmare itself becomes frightened, if that very fear

upon which he feeds is turned against him, then....poof!!’ Roderick waved his

arms about to emphasise the poofness of the situation.

‘Poof!’ exclaimed Angelina looking puzzled.

‘Poof indeed,’ returned Roderick, ‘the spell is broken and the Knightmares

become Knights of Dreamland again, protectors of the realm, defenders-’

‘Yes, yes we know all that,’ interrupted Cornucopia, ‘however all this

talking is not helping us to find the Knightmare is it?’

‘By Jove, I'd forgotten all about that, we must away, be off, sorry for the

uninvited visit Miss, but we have work to do, deeds to accomplish, spells to

vanquish, foes to fight, damsels to rescue,’ Roderick drew his sword and

 

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swished it through the air as if to fight off some unseen enemy. Unfortunately

the hilt of his sword caught on the handle of the wardrobe door forcing

Roderick off balance. He fell sideways careering into the bookcase scattering

its contents once again across the floor.

 

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CHAPTER 2

Cornucopia stamped her foot as Angelina helped Roderick to his feet.

‘Maybe I can come with you,’ ventured Angelina, ‘I could help you find the

Knightmare and I could even scare it so that he turns back into a good Knight

again,’ Angelina continued excitedly, ‘I'm not scared, really I'm not.’ Angelina

stopped talking as a small voice fell on her ears.

‘I'm glad you said that!’ said the voice, ‘you can come with me.’

Through the wall appeared a miniature version of Cornucopia. A small

white unicorn trotted playfully into the room and stood next to Angelina.

‘Allow me to introduce my daughter,’ said Cornucopia with an added

brightness to her voice. ‘Tamarand, this is Angelina, Angelina please meet

Tamarand.’

‘Oh she is beautiful,’ exclaimed Angelina stroking the small unicorn. ‘Can I

really come with you, oh please can I?’

Roderick looked at Cornucopia and winked, ‘We were hoping you would

ask us. Children have the power to frighten the Knightmares. Especially brave

children who don't scare easily, just like you Angelina, we would be honoured

to have you along, but we must hurry, every minute we stand here gossiping

the Knightmare gets further away.’

‘We must return before the sun rises in your realm Angelina,’ began

Cornucopia, there was a serious edge to her voice, ‘I must tell you there is

danger. If you do not return here by the rising of the sun, you may never be

able to return again. The Black Knight knows everything, especially when a

human child enters his realm of darkness.’

 

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‘Well I'm not scared and anyway you said that Knightmares can't hurt you,

only fear can cause you harm, and I'm not scared so they can't hurt me can

they? Anyway, Tamarand will see that I'm back by morning, won't you

Tamarand?’ Tamarand nuzzled Angelina and nodded in agreement.

‘Very well then, we had best be off.’ Roderick climbed surprisingly

gracefully onto Cornucopia's back and extending a hand helped Angelina

climb onto Tamarand. Roderick raised his sword above his head, almost

slicing the ceiling light in two and he began to recite a short poem.

Knights of Dreamland bold and bright,

Sworn protectors of the night,

With Unicorn so strong and wise,

Away, away fair steed arise.

The words of the rhyme echoed around the bedroom as the blue light

gradually gathered about the party. Angelina's heart raced as they turned to

face the wall next to her wardrobe. She closed her eyes tightly as they all

disappeared through as if it were made of air.

 

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CHAPTER 3

No one saw the dark shadow slide wraith like from beneath Angelina's

bed. It slithered across the carpet towards the wardrobe where the small party

had left the room. The shadow stopped and black smoke the colour of ink

began to swirl up from the floor. A small whirlwind formed like a miniature

tornado as it twisted towards the wall and vanished through as if in pursuit of

something, or someone.

A pale blue mist that seemed to glow with a softly pulsating light

surrounded the small party. Angelina felt quite warm and snug despite the fact

that she was only wearing a thin cotton nightgown; it was as if the mist itself

wrapped her in its own warmth. Gradually the haze began to clear and

Angelina could see that they were flying. She saw the stars in the sky. They

appeared so close that she felt all she had to do was simply reach out and

touch one. Soft pink clouds floated aimlessly on the whispering breeze as the

unicorns and riders drifted higher and higher into the night sky.

‘Where are we going Roderick?’ asked Angelina as she watched a small

cloud drift past her.

‘Ah ha, yes well that is the question is it not m'dear. We go where the

wind takes us. Wherever the shadows dwell that is our destination. At least I

think it is, dashed if I can see a thing at the moment, eh what!’ replied

Roderick in a muted voice.

Angelina noticed that although Roderick was in fact sitting the right way

round on Cornucopia's back he had somehow managed to be wearing his

 

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helmet back to front giving the appearance that he was looking directly behind

him.

‘Maybe it would help if you put your helmet on the right way round,’

giggled Angelina.

‘Eh, whasat y'say, must be going deaf too, speak up, can't hear a word,’

shouted Roderick.

‘Your helmet, oh brave and valiant one,’ mocked Cornucopia, ‘IT'S ON

BACK TO FRONT.’

‘No need to shout, don'tcha know.’ Roderick grasped the shining helmet

with both hands and twisted it the right way round, ‘Ah much better now I can

see again.’

‘We must seek the Knightmare that tried to frighten you Angelina. It can’t

be that far away and neither can it return to the dark side until it has frightened

someone. You must keep a sharp eye out for it and if you see anything,

whatever happens, do not be frightened. If the Knightmare manages to scare

you here in Dreamland it could be very dangerous.’ Cornucopia spoke with

concern in her voice.

‘Dangerous!’ gasped Angelina, ‘I thought you told me that Knightmares

couldn't hurt you.’

‘Oh they can't hurt you,’ continued Cornucopia, ‘but if you get frightened

here in Dreamland you might not be able to return to your own world. Fear

itself can stop you from thinking clearly. Fear makes you panic and forces you

to take decisions that you would not normally make if you were clear headed.’

 

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Angelina looked down from her position on the back of her flying unicorn

and she saw that she was surrounded by stars which twinkled brightly like

fairy lights on a Christmas tree. As far as she could see there were millions of

them, tiny pinpoints of light on a background of inky velvet. A shooting star

flew brightly overhead leaving a silver trail as it disappeared from sight. The

trio flew on ever upwards into the night.

 

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CHAPTER 4

‘G..A.R.B.A.G.E, WHERE ARE YOU, YOU TREMBLING TWIT? THERE

ARE HUMANS IN MY DOMAIN,’ the voice sounded like thick treacle as it

echoed around the infinite blackness.

Gloomy shadows slithered along smooth dull walls as if trying to hide in

even darker corners of the great hall. A shadowy image sat upon a black

throne. It was draped in an inky cloak that flowed around the figure and onto

the floor like heavy smoke. Covering its head sat a helmet of black steel from

which sprouted two bat like wings that flapped as if they were trying to

escape. Bright silver stars studded the helmet and appeared to shine giving a

dull eerie glow to the otherwise inky atmosphere. A huge throne sat in the

centre of a great chamber. It was not a throne studded with jewels and

covered in gold leaf. It was a plain and cold throne formed of great smooth

blocks of the blackest stone.

Within the darkest recesses of the dismal great room, ominous shadows

hovered menacingly occasionally brought to life by the eerie flickering of a dim

light cast by smoking torches that were set into chamber walls.

‘GARBAGE, I SAID THERE ARE HUMANS IN MY DOMAIN,’ the voice

boomed causing the great chamber to shake.

A small thin trembling figure cowered on the stone floor at the foot of the

throne.

‘I, I don't understand it your greatness, humans have rarely entered your

domain before, I mean are you sure it’s a hum-’

 

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‘AM I SURE, YOU QUIVERING WORM, AM I SURE?’ the voice of the

Black Knight boomed like thunder as the thin figure shook with fear and tried

to back away from the throne. A black-gloved hand studded with spikes

pointed a menacing finger at the frightened minion called Garbage. The voice

of the Black Knight lowered threateningly as it spoke.

‘Am I not all-knowing, lowly servant?’ the Knight asked slowly.

‘Y..Y..Y..Yes, oh great one,’ simpered the quivering Garbage.

‘And am I not all seeing?’ returned the Black Knight in a quiet but

threatening voice.

‘Y..Y..Y.Yes, most certainly, oh great one.’ Garbage quaked and shook

uncontrollably as the terrified minion crawled slowly back towards the throne.

‘And if I am all seeing and all knowing, then am I not always right?’

questioned the Knight in almost kindly tones.

‘Why, yes of course master, I did not mean to quest-’

‘THEN IF I SAY THERE ARE HUMANS HERE, THEN THERE ARE

HUMANS HERE, YOU SNIVELING SLUG.’ The Black Knight rose from his

throne. A gloved finger still pointed at the servant who was by now

desperately trying to find an exit route away from its steadily advancing

master.

An arc of silver fire shot from the finger. Slicing the dark air it landed with

a deafening crack in front of the speedily retreating servant. Garbage stopped

instantly in his desperate attempt to escape his master’s fury.

 

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‘You will go and find this human child now and bring it to me,’ continued

the Black Knight, ‘take Gremmen with you and do not fail me, or you will see

the inside of the darkest, deepest pit I can find in my dungeons, DO YOU

UNDERSTAND ME GARBAGE, YOU HEAP OF RUBBISH?’

‘YYYYYes, master. Immediately master. I'm going right this second

master.’

‘GREMMEN, come GREMMEN.’ Garbage scurried across the floor of the

chamber calling out as he disappeared into the shadows. A dark shape

emerged from the roof and opening huge leathery wings it swooped down to

the floor following the servant as it scurried hastily from the great room.

‘Idiot is bound to make a mess, but I have my spies, no-one escapes my

eternal night, least of all a HUMAN,’ muttered the Black Knight with utter

distaste.

A booming roar reverberated around the chamber like rolling thunder and

a plume of dense black smoke glittered with tiny sparkles of light. The Black

Knight vanished leaving only the inky gloom.

 

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CHAPTER 5

‘Where are we going Roderick?’ asked Angelina as the small troop sailed

ever upwards into the brightly starlit sky.

‘Young people today, no patience, no discipline, eh what! Why when I was

a young squire I-’ Roderick rambled on.

‘We go where the shadows go Angelina. My senses tell me that there may

be one close by. It may even be following us right this minute,’ interrupted

Cornucopia as Roderick shot her an annoyed glance.

‘Do you think it was the shadow in my room?’ asked Angelina as Roderick

muttered in the background, ‘I'm sure it must be you know.’

‘Quite possibly young madam, quite possibly and if I'm not mistaken, and I

generally am not,’ Cornucopia rolled her eyes as Roderick continued, ‘I would

think that our shadowy Knightmare is on our very tail right now. Smell 'em a

mile off,’ Roderick sniffed loudly to emphasise his smelling abilities. ‘Yes sir,

dash it all, boundah's probably right behind us and up to no good I would

wonder. Reminds me of the time when-’

Angelina suddenly saw a dark shape shoot past her right side. It

appeared so suddenly that she jumped. Tamarand turned her head towards

Angelina and spoke softly, ‘Remember Angelina you must not show any fear

no matter what you may see.’

The shape returned and darted under the legs of Cornucopia as if trying

to scare the small party.

‘Well our visitor has finally arrived.’ said Cornucopia loudly, her voice

showed no sign of any fear.

 

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‘By Jove the cad, the rascal, why don'tcha show yourself you non-entity

you, what’s the matter eh? Scared are you? Come on out and show yourself

servant of the Black Knight.’

Roderick waved his arms about frantically in the air and attempted to draw

his sword just to show who was in charge. Unfortunately he caught his

armoured glove on his shield and lost his balance. Clawing wildly, Roderick

gave a mighty heave to free the snagged glove. There was a tearing noise

and Roderick completed a spectacular backward somersault off the back of

Cornucopia. He yelled out and tumbled down and down through the dark night

sky.

Cornucopia watched calmly as Roderick plummeted out of sight then,

winking at Angelina, she swooped down after the plunging figure. Tamarand

needed no encouragement and swiftly turned to follow. Angelina held on

tightly as the two unicorns raced downwards in a steep dive. Roderick could

be seen now tumbling over and over like a falling leaf. His arms were flailing

as if seeking some purchase to stop his rapid descent. Cornucopia swooped

past Roderick and executed a perfect mid flight loop bringing her smoothly up

and underneath Roderick who landed on Cornucopia's broad back with an

ungraceful flop.

‘Phew by George that was a close one,’ puffed the knight.

‘Do try and be more careful Roderick,’ Cornucopia sighed.

‘Are you all right?’ shouted Angelina as Tamarand glided gracefully to

Cornucopia's side.

 

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Roderick adjusted his armour and dusted himself down, ‘Fine thank you,

just a slight mishap, eh what, now where is that shadowy creature? Make me

fall of my mount would he? I’ll show the cad.’ Roderick waved his sword in the

air.

‘Now don't get excited again Roderick, I may not catch you next time,’

scorned Cornucopia.

Just then the dark shape swooped in front of Tamarand and made a

screeching noise. Angelina was startled but remained calm. Tamarand turned

and nuzzled Angelina's leg as if to give her comfort then turned and spoke to

the shadow that was trying its hardest to scare everyone,

‘Oh yes very scary I'm sure. Look at me I'm absolutely terrified. See I can't

stop shaking......with laughter.’ Tamarand threw back her head and laughed

as heartily as she could. Cornucopia did the same.

The shadow hovered menacingly. Angelina's heart raced as she waited

for it to do something horrible. The black shape emitted a rather feeble

screech that sounded more like a whine than a howl. It waved what could be

taken for its arms in a last, and unconvincing, attempt to scare everyone then

finally gave up and just hovered there. Slowly the shape took form and

Angelina saw the outline of a small black pony. A black pony in a dark sky

was hard to see, but Angelina could now clearly see the pony and it was

sniffing.

‘Oh bother, bother, bother, bother now I'm for it,’ sniveled the pony, ‘my

master will lock me up for sure, why aren't you scared, you’re a human child,

all children are scared of me, why do you have to be different, oh bother,

 

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bother, bother!’ The pony stamped his hoof but it had no effect in the still night

air.

‘Well you shouldn't go around trying to scare people then should you?

How would you like to be frightened,’ and with newfound bravery Angelina sat

upright and screamed her loudest scream. The black pony leapt with fright

and shot behind Cornucopia quivering.

‘Don't let her near me, don't, don't, don't, what are you going to do with

me, oh doom, oh dear, oh bother, bother, bother.’ The pony started to cry in

loud sobs as it tried to hide behind Cornucopia.

‘Well perhaps that will teach you a lesson m'lad,’ said Roderick, ‘can’t go

around dishing out what you can't take yourself y'know.’

‘No-one is going to hurt you, stop crying and you can tell us why you were

sent here to scare us,’ Cornucopia said in a kindly voice.

The pony, still trembling, poked a tear stained head over Cornucopia's

back and slowly emerged to stand in front of the group.

‘I...I...I was sent by the B...B...Black Knight,’ stammered the frightened

pony, ‘It was me who tried to scare the human child in her realm. I hate to do

it, I really do, but he makes me and if I fail then he locks me up with no

supper. He does that with all my friends.’ The pony shook his head sadly.

Angelina wiped a tear from her eye, it was a sad sight to see, and even if

the creature had tried to frighten her, Angelina felt very sorry for it.

‘Well we can help you,’ replied Cornucopia softly. ‘If you help us we may

be able to set you free and you could return to the Knights of Dreamland.

 

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‘Oh yes please help me, I will do anything you say. Anything at all,’ said

the pony brightly.

‘Well first you must take us to the Black Castle and help us to free your

friends, only then when you have proven your bravery will you be able to

return to Dreamland,’ said Cornucopia.

‘I will I promise,’ said the pony sincerely.

Angelina leaned over and patted the black pony gently, ‘What's your

name?’ she asked.

‘My real name is Mara, that is before the Black Knight caught me and cast

his wicked spell. Ever since that fateful day he has called me Creeper, it's a

horrible name.’ The pony shuffled its hooves and looked embarrassed.

‘Well, I will call you Mara,’ said Angelina, ‘Come on then we had better

make our way to the Black Castle and see if we can free some of your other

friends, what do you say Roderick?’

‘Absolutely eh what, spiffing good show, Come on then, into the breach

n'all that,’ Roderick waved his arm in a sweeping arc and bid everyone fall in

line behind him.

The little brave band led by Sir Roderick once more rode up into the starry

sky.

 

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CHAPTER 6

‘Gremmen where are you?’ repeated Garbage whilst shuffling through a

particularly slimy part of the undergrowth.

The forest was called Darkwood and it bordered the realm of Dreamland.

Having been dispatched by the Black Knight to find the human child,

Gremmen and Garbage had made their way through the dingy forest in the

hope that they would trap the human child and its followers. To avoid

discovery they had kept off the main pathways and travelled through the

deepest part of the forest and now Gremmen was nowhere to be found.

‘Gremmen where are you, you slime ball,’ Garbage looked around and all

that could be seen were the ominous silhouetted shapes of gnarled and

ancient trees that grew densely in the forest.

Suddenly there was an almighty crash followed by a terrifying screeching

noise. Out from behind the bushes hurtled a black shape that crashed directly

into Garbage sending the creature flying backwards into a muddy puddle.

‘Help help it’s a monster help,’ screamed the terrified Garbage trying

desperately to push off the attacking monster.

‘It’s you!’ spluttered the black shape as it wiped sticky mud and dead

leaves from its flaming red eyes.

‘Of course it’s me, you nearly scared me half to death, you clumsy oaf,’

muttered a relieved Garbage finally recognising the assailant as Gremmen.

‘What were you doing back there anyway?’ whined Garbage.

Gremmen continued to wipe the mud off himself and replied calmly, ‘I've

found the human child, and instead of rummaging around the forest like a

 

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scared rabbit, like you, I have been busy so why don’t you pick yourself up off

the floor and follow me and do try and keep up this time.’

Garbage muttered and followed Gremmen reluctantly into the wet foliage.

After a short while the trees gradually became less dense and the strange pair

approached a steep rise. Climbing up the slippery slope to the ridge of the hill,

Garbage peered over the top and grinned menacingly, he turned to Gremmen

and sneered,

‘Seems that for once you're right. I can see five creatures and it looks like

two of them are unicorns,’ Garbage squinted. ‘and a rather emaciated pony.

Wait I can see something else. Yes, errm, I mean no. It can't be. It’s a knight

and he has a human child with him.’

Garbage twitched nervously as black smoke started to swirl around him.

‘Gremmen go and see if you can find out what they are doing, but don't let

them see you. GO.’ Garbage yelled.

Gremmen sneered at Garbage resenting the minion's tone of voice then,

unfurling his leathery black wings, launched himself into the dark starless sky

and headed towards Roderick and Angelina leaving Garbage to make his own

way down the hill.

 

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CHAPTER 7

‘Look Angelina, over there can you see the forest?’ Tamarand asked

excitedly.

Angelina could just make out a line of trees in the distance as Cornucopia

began descending towards the forest. Closer and closer they flew until the

unicorn landed softly on a patch of moss. Cornucopia turned her powerful

head and blinked soft blue eyes as she spoke.

‘We must be very careful everyone, this is Darkwood forest and we are

now in the realm of darkness. This is the domain of the Black Knight,’

Cornucopia spoke slowly and carefully to emphasise the danger ahead.

Roderick dismounted and lowered the visor of his helmet. Angelina

thought this made him look very brave. Climbing down carefully from

Tamarand's back she stood beside Roderick.

‘You do look brave,’ she said complimenting her friend. Roderick waved

his arms about, ‘what’s the matter, are you trying to say something?’ Angelina

continued.

As much as Roderick tried to reply all that could be heard was a muted

muffled grunt. ‘Mmmm mm Mmm Umm Mmmm,’ muttered Roderick.

‘I can't understand you Roderick what are you saying?’ asked Angelina.

‘Ummm MMM UMMM!!’ replied Roderick.

‘Why don't you put your visor back up Roderick then we can all hear you

properly,’ suggested Cornucopia.

 

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Roderick pushed the visor up with a resounding clang, ‘I was trying to say

that we must all stick together. Mara will lead the way to the Black Castle and

we shall all fall in behind him. Be on your guard and remember Angelina, fear

is your worst enemy. Whatever you do be careful of the, AGGGhhhhGhhh,’

Roderick yelped and shot forward in a flying dive onto the mossy forest floor.

‘Be careful of what Roderick?’ asked Angelina trying desperately to hide a

smirk.

‘The undergrowth,’ said Roderick pulling himself up and removing bits of

slimy moss from his helmet.

The forest looked particularly dark to Angelina as they entered Darkwood.

Mara took the lead and Cornucopia, Roderick, and Angelina followed closely

behind. Tamarand brought up the rear.

After several hours of scrabbling through the wild undergrowth and feeling

very tired, Angelina sat down on a grassy hump under an old gnarled tree.

‘I'm very tired, can't we sit down for a short while until I get my breath

back?’ asked Angelina panting.

Mara stopped. He turned his head and called for Tamarand and

Cornucopia to rest. Roderick sat down with a resounding clank of his armour.

‘Just for a very short while then,’ gasped Roderick. ‘Can't be too careful

y'know. Why I remember the time when I was on a noble quest, we had

travelled for miles and miles when we sat down for a short rest, just like we

are now. Then out of the blue, no warning, Pfoom!!’ Roderick puffed out his

cheeks and blew loudly to demonstrate the type of pfoom he described.

‘Pfoom,’ asked Angelina, ‘what went Pfoom?’

 

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‘Why the Black Knight, that's what,’ replied Roderick. ‘Arrived in a Pfoom

of black smoke he did right in front of our very eyes.’

‘What did you do?’ gasped Angelina excitedly.

‘What any brave Knight would do in the face of such evil,’ replied

Roderick.

‘He climbed on my back and I flew him out of danger. That's what brave

Knights do,’ mocked Cornucopia.

‘What, no no no, well I mean yes .....eventually, yes we did take flight, so

to speak, but not after I gave that evil Knight a piece of my mind, eh what,’

Roderick was clearly being defensive.

‘You waved your sword at him and called him a mad bat actually,’

Cornucopia chuckled.

‘Yes well there you go then, see I told him all right,’ Roderick folded his

arms and tried to look brave and fierce.

‘Yes I do agree with you there Roderick, you did call him a mad bat,

whilst making a hasty retreat with my help,’ Cornucopia laughed gaily and the

others soon joined in, even Roderick guffawed.

 

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CHAPTER 8

The sound of laughter faded as a voice strong and clear cut through the

frivolity.

‘Excuse me everyone,’ It was the voice of Mara. No longer did his

normally timid voice show any sign of shyness or doubt. For the majority of

journey Mara had simply kept quiet following close behind the small band,

only replying shyly when required, but now it was a strong and firm voice that

could be heard. ‘Excuse me but I feel a presence close by,’ continued Mara.

Everyone turned to look at Mara and what they saw astonished them. The

young pony, who only hours before was a frightened and timid creature, no

longer appeared as the small-framed pony they all recognised. Mara’s

features had taken the form of a fully-grown unicorn. A coat as black as raven

and shining like velvet adorned his muscular frame and from his sleek head

rose a spiral horn which appeared to be made of polished stone.

‘Mara what happened to you?’ asked an astounded Angelina, ‘you've

changed, why you’re beautiful.’

Mara nodded his head towards the child, ‘I shall sing you an ancient song

Angelina. Listen well to the words and you will understand what has occurred.’

Lifting his head Mara began to sing.

In days of old, an age long gone,

there was no darkness only sun,

then humans came and with them fear,

dark forces gathered ever near.

 

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And then one day the darkness came

a Knight of evil thought did reign

so strong he grew on human dread

that all the good and kind had fled.

T'was on that day the Knights were born

to rid the world of all its scorn

they came from afar when they heard the plight,

and joined the brotherhood of Knights.

But hear me well and take your heed,

the Black Knight's power is strong indeed,

a spell once cast by his evil hand,

will bring you under his command.

A minion then will you become,

a Knightmare's life has just begun.

All is not lost do not despair,

spells can be broken by a child who cares.

When fear itself is turned around,

the one who’s cursed it will astound.

The Black Knight's spell will be destroyed

a Knight of Dreamland once more will ride.

 

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‘And it was all thanks to you human child,’ continued the transformed

Mara. ‘You see it all began when you frightened me. Just after I first tried to

scare you. When I became terrified of you the spell cast upon me by the Black

Knight was broken, but not completely. The curse was very powerful and for

many years did I serve that Black Knight. As my strength returned through

your love and compassion,’ Mara looked at everyone with deep emotion, ‘so

the spell gradually became weaker and weaker until I was fully restored to my

former self. It is all thanks to you Angelina, only when a human child turns fear

against one of the Black Knight's minions can the spell be vanquished.’ Mara

gave Angelina a gentle push to show his gratitude.

Roderick walked over to the black unicorn and asked softly, ‘Then who

are you?’ he asked resting his hand upon Mara's head.

Mara seemed to stand very tall and proud as he replied. ‘I am Mara of

Dreamland, order of the Brotherhood of Knights, and my master is Sir

Michaelmas the Bold, commander of the brotherhood of all the brave Knights

of Dreamland.’

‘But I thought Sir Michaelmas was destroyed in the great battle with the

Black Knight,’ replied Roderick.

‘My master of whom you speak was not destroyed, although I fear his fate

is now much worse,’ replied Mara, ‘The Black Knight cast a powerful spell

upon both Sir Michaelmas and myself whilst we were occupied in battle

fighting off many of the Black Knight's minions. The spell was very strong and

we stood little chance, and now,’ Mara hesitated, ‘and now he is one of the

 

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Black Knight's strongest warriors.’ A glistening tear rolled down the unicorn's

face as he retold the painful event.

‘The spell must be broken or he will remain forever under that terrible

curse. He will also remain our enemy and loyal only to the Black Knight

himself,’ Mara shook her mane to flick away the tears.

‘Well we must rescue him, eh what, we shall go and break the spell and

release Sir Michaelmas, why he was my greatest friend, we went to Knight

school together,’ Roderick patted Mara's head, ‘Do not worry Mara of

Dreamland we will not fail you, we shall overcome this evil Knight and give

him a thing or two to think about, dash it all eh what.’

Mara nuzzled against Roderick and spoke again, ‘The presence I felt

earlier is getting closer we must leave this place and move onwards my

friends we have much work ahead of us if we are to free my master.’ Mara

then turned to face Angelina, ‘You have been very brave Angelina, but I fear

there are terrors in store that are beyond even your imagination. The Black

Knight is powerful and his minions are under a potent spell. The minions can

cause you great fear if you are not on your guard, but all can be overcome if

you face that fear and stare it in the eye,’ Mara nodded her head and

continued, ‘remember Angelina, only fear itself can cause you harm,

remember well brave one.’

‘I will be brave and I won’t let you down Mara, I won't let any of you down,

I'm so pleased that you are a unicorn again, but you were quite sweet as a

pony,’ replied Angelina.

 

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‘Then let us be off, we have battles to fight, spells to vanquish, deeds to

fulfil,’ Roderick drew his sword and thrust it skyward. Unfortunately he

happened to be standing under a large branch and his sword pierced the hard

wood and embedded itself firmly. Roderick marched forward and was

suddenly lifted from his feet by the unyielding sword. With a surprised yelp he

catapulted backwards into the air landing on the ground with a loud thud. The

sword bounced from side to side firmly lodged in the bough of the tree.

‘Oh Roderick do stop playing soldiers will you we do have work to do you

know,’ scolded Cornucopia.

With Mara leading the way followed by Cornucopia and Tamarand, the

brave little group made their way deeper into Darkwood.

 

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CHAPTER 9

Gremmen circled high above the forest like a vulture awaiting its prey.

The winged beast suddenly turned and swooped down towards the forest at

terrifying speed like a bird of prey swooping on its quarry. Keeping a safe

distance, Gremmen landed in a small cluster of dense trees. Inky black smoke

swirled around his great body until nothing more of his awesome form could

be seen. Gremmen had used his magical powers to make himself totally

invisible. He moved forward and sniffed the air.

‘I smell human child,’ thought Gremmen to himself, ‘so close I could

almost touch it. The master will be pleased with me, and as for that slug

Garbage, I shall finish it off and take all the credit for myself.’

With an evil chuckle Gremmen took to flight once again and headed

towards the source of the scent. Flying low over the forest Gremmen spotted

the human child with its friends and circled directly above them invisible to

human sight.

Mara stopped in his tracks and stepped slowly back towards Cornucopia.

He appeared to be whispering in the Unicorn's ear. Suddenly Mara darted into

the dense bushes to the left and Cornucopia responded likewise only she

went to the right. Roderick twisted his head from side to side looking

thoroughly confused.

‘Where did they go, dash it all they could have conferred with me, after all

I am in charge eh what,’ Roderick bustled about looking behind the trees and

bushes for the missing unicorns.

 

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‘I'm sure they will be back very shortly Roderick. You had better take the

lead now,’ said Angelina, she too was a little concerned at the sudden

disappearance of the two unicorns.

Roderick, Tamarand and Angelina walked on a little nervously when

suddenly there was a loud squeal followed by a screech that could only be

described as a low moaning and groaning. Out of the forest trotted

Cornucopia and behind her, looking very bedraggled, was a very wet and

slimy elf like creature. It had distinct gnomish features, a big nose and deep

set eyes with long pointed ears and it was dripping with weeds and mud.

‘That was unfair,’ grumbled the creature, ‘I don't like wet things and I

definitely don't like horses sitting on my head either.’

‘I am not a horse, I am a unicorn, and I did not sit on your head! I pushed

you into a muddy bog because you were spying on us,’ remarked Cornucopia

haughtily.

‘The mud encrusted creature flopped onto the forest floor in a dripping

heap, ‘Oh no, now I'm for it, you don't know how much trouble you have got

me into now, I'll be mincemeat when he finds out,’ wailed the elf.

‘Perhaps you had better tell us who you are and why the Black Knight

sent you,’ asked Cornucopia.

‘I don't know what you mean,’ replied the nervous elf. ‘Black who, never

heard of him, you must have me mistaken with someone else. No, sorry,

definitely can't help you there. Well nice meeting you, must be off,’ the elf

shuffled its feet and began to sidle off in a vain attempt to make an escape.

 

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Roderick pointed his drawn sword at the creature, ‘I wouldn't do that if I

were you.’ The elf cowered. ‘You just said that if he finds out you would be in

trouble. I think you're lying elf, and furthermore I think that I may have to do

some prodding with this very sharp sword if you don’t tell us the truth,’

Roderick gave the elf a prod with his sword as it yelped, ‘Oh eugh, oh dear

what's that awful smell?’ Roderick held his nose and grimaced.

The elf winced at the cold steel then flopped to the ground dejectedly. ‘It's

me I'm afraid,’ said the elf, ‘my name is Garbage, or at least that's what he

calls me, I've forgotten my real name, it’s been so long now,’ Garbage sniffed

an exceptionally loud and soggy sniff before continuing. ‘The Black Knight of

whom you speak wants the child. I was sent to capture it, but now I've failed

and he doesn't like failures,’ The elf hung its head miserably and a piece of

wet weed slithered down its nose onto the moss floor.

Angelina stepped up to the hapless figure and touched a soggy arm

kindly, ‘Are you under his spell like the other minions?’ she asked with

genuine concern.

‘Yes and there is nothing that can be done, I am lost. A lost, wretched,

miserable failure. I couldn't even scare anything properly if I tried. I deserve to

be what I am,’ moaned the elf dejectedly.

Angelina moved closer to the sad figure. The smell was revolting and it

took all the strength that she could muster to stop herself from gagging on the

obnoxious odour. Angelina placed her mouth next to the elf’s pointed ear and

whispered, ‘It will be all right just you see,’ then without warning she screamed

as loud as she could and made a dreadful face whilst leaping up and down in

 

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front of the dumbstruck creature. The poor terrified elf shot into the air and

dived behind a bush in horror landing squarely on its back in the muddy bog

from which it emerged earlier.

There was a momentary silence followed by scuffling and scrabbling from

behind the bush. There was a puff of blue smoke and to everyone's

amazement, from behind the foliage emerged a small elfin girl. Her hair was

the colour of sunshine falling in long curly tresses about her shoulders. The

elf's eyes were wide and round shining brightly. Her ears were long and

pointed.

‘Garbage is that you?’ asked Angelina.

‘My name is Miranda,’ said the little elf, ‘you broke the spell, I can

remember who I am,’ the tiny person skipped excitedly trotting around in

circles so full of joy to be rid of the spell that she almost forgot the danger that

was still present.

‘You smell a lot better too!’ remarked Roderick sniffing the air.

Cornucopia stepped up to the elfin girl and spoke softly but clearly. ‘The

child has broken your spell and now you must help us. Was there anyone or

anything else with you when you were sent to capture us?’ asked Cornucopia.

The sprite stopped prancing and thought carefully, ‘Gremmen. Gremmen

was with me, oh dear I had forgotten all about Gremmen. He will surely know

that I've been caught and he will tell the evil one. We are all in great danger.’

Miranda stood still her eyes wide with concern.

‘Who or what is Gremmen?’ asked Roderick.

 

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‘Gremmen is the favourite of the Black Knight, he is fast and strong and

has the power of flight and magic. He is also very cunning and we must take

great care,’ Miranda looked at each of the friends in turn.

‘Well we had better be off again. Has anyone seen Mara by the way?’

asked Roderick striding off once again into the forest as the rest of the group

followed.

Gremmen circled above the tree canopy like a wraith in the night. ‘So they

have Garbage do they? Clever, clever, clever, well we can be clever too can't

we?’ a plan was fermenting in Gremmen's evil mind as he mused over the

situation, ‘At least I am rid of that sniveling heap of rubbish. Now I shall

capture the child and receive my just reward from the Black Knight. Ha ha! to

work Gremmen, to work.’ With an evil cackle Gremmen soared over the trees

and descended into Darkwood.

 

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CHAPTER 10

The castle stood at the top of a towering cliff of smooth black stone. Inside

its dark intimidating walls the Black Knight paced the floor of the great gloomy

chamber. He had not heard anything from Gremmen or Garbage and his

rage, fuelled by impatience, grew steadily.

‘Where are those idiots?’ thought the Black Knight. ‘Can't I trust anyone to

do the simplest of functions? I want that human child and I want it NOW!’ a

clap of thunder shook the castle and smoke poured out from under the

Knights’ steel helmet.

Just then a small leathery object flew into the chamber. It shot through an

arched doorway and bounced off a wall rebounding with a dull splat. The

creature shot across the hall narrowly missing the Black Knight's head.

Having gained momentum from the bounce it careered uncontrollably into the

stone throne in the centre of the hall and was again propelled instantly

towards the Black Knight's helmet. With a resounding clang the flying object

fell to the ground landing in a cowering heap at its master's feet. The creature

lifted its head and shook itself off, spraying dead leaves and bits of squashed

berries onto the armoured feet of the huge figure in front of it. The Black

Knight, further enraged by being hit on the head by a flying leather creature,

bent down and picked the quivering object up by its ears holding it inches

from his face.

‘YOU MISERABLE, FOUL, OBNOXIOUS LITTLE SKINBAG,’ the knight

bellowed, ‘what news have you, or should I say if you have no news, then

that's bad news, for you ha ha ha.’ The Knight tweaked the creature’s ears

sharply causing it to emit a shrill wail of pain.

 

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‘They have Garbage your Evilship,’ the creature stuttered nervously, ‘only

it’s not Garbage any more, that is, it was Garbage, you could smell that it was

Garbage without looking, but it’s not Garbage any more. The creature winced

as its master gave another hard tweak, ‘I mean to say Garbage is there, but

not as Garbage, and it doesn't smell any more-’

‘STOP BLITHERING YOU FOOL, WHERE ARE THEY NOW AND

WHERE'S GREMMEN?’ the raging figure stamped a steel clad foot on the

stone floor sending an awesome echo reverberating around the stone walls.

‘Gremmen disappeared, your Worstness.’ The leathery thing trembled as

it continued. ‘It vanished in a puff of smoke. Garbage was attacked by a

horned horse, well not so much attacked as pushed really, into a rather

muddy bog if I recall,’ The Knight threw the quivering creature onto the floor

and it bounced across the room screeching.

‘A horned horse can only mean one thing,’ muttered the Black Knight

thoughtfully, ‘A unicorn. And where there are unicorns there are Knights!’ The

Black Knights eyes flamed red. ‘Yet another addition to my minion army and

with the aid of my faithful Gremmen as a hidden spy I shall give this matter my

personal attention and deal with this myself, after all, it will be easy to set a

trap and capture both Knight and child,’ the Knight threw his head back and

laughed wickedly.

Uttering an incantation, the Black Knight vanished in a ball of fire that lit

the great hall and for an instant looming shadows scurried across the walls as

darkness returned.

 

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CHAPTER 11

The forest was dark and heavily overgrown with creepers and thorny

bushes. There were strange sounds to be heard all around. A mist had

gathered upon the ground so that Angelina could hardly see her feet. A

piercing screech made her jump, but she gritted her teeth and repeated to

herself. ‘I must be brave, I must be brave.’ Nearby a bush moved and another

shrill screech almost made Angelina jump out of her skin.

‘Don't worry Angelina, remember what Mara said, only fear can cause you

harm,’ it was Cornucopia who spoke gently to her human friend.

Roderick marched some way ahead using his sword to clear a path

through the dense undergrowth. He whistled nervously as he went hacking

away at the bushes. Tamarand, with Miranda the elf sitting upon her back,

drew close to Angelina who was walking alongside.

‘Dashed thick this forest,’ retorted Roderick as he slashed away at a

particularly heavy shrub, ‘Reminds me of when I was in, Aghhhhhh,’ Roderick

yelled out and then disappeared from sight.

Cornucopia ran forward to see where he had gone, but Roderick was

nowhere in sight, only his sword lay on the ground as evidence that he had

been there at all.

‘Where's Roderick?’ squealed Angelina running over the brambles and

briars to where Cornucopia stood.

Everyone searched for Roderick. They called and shouted his name but

there was no reply.

‘Oh no, where can he be,’ Tears rolled down Angelina's face.

 

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‘Come now Angelina this is no time for tears, Roderick is a brave Knight

and he will be all right,’ comforted Cornucopia, but there was apprehension in

her voice.

‘But he hasn't got his sword and he's all alone,’ sobbed Angelina.

Miranda tugged at Angelina's sleeve and spoke, ‘I will go and look for him,

and you stay here. I know the forest well and besides I smell the work of

Gremmen here and I may know where he might be.’ The little elf ran off

before anyone could dissuade her.

‘Be careful Miranda,’ shouted Angelina, ‘Shouldn't we go after her

Cornucopia?’

‘No! We must stay together now, it will be safer,’ said Cornucopia, ‘we

shall wait here; remember Miranda was once a minion of the Black Knight,

she knows this forest very well. We shall wait.’ Cornucopia looked concerned

but tried to reassure everyone that everything would be all right.

A few minutes later Miranda came scurrying back through the trees and

came to a halt, she was breathing heavily as she spoke, ‘It's Gremmen, he

has Roderick in a trap, I think he’s all right but he's all trussed up at the

bottom of a very deep hole.’ Miranda stared wide-eyed as she finished her

explanation.

‘We must go after him and rescue him, come on everyone,’ Angelina

started to run.

‘No wait Angelina, this is a trap, a trap to catch you,’ shouted the elfin girl,

‘I know this must be the work of Gremmen, we have to work out a plan,

please wait,’ Miranda pleaded.

 

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Angelina stopped and turned back. Tears were running down her cheeks.

‘But we have to rescue him Miranda; we can't just leave him there. Oh I

wish Mara was here he would know what to do,’ she sobbed.

Cornucopia walked over to her young friend and nuzzling her she spoke

to Angelina softly.

‘Don't worry Angelina, Roderick has encountered worse situations than

this. He is strong and brave and he would not want you, or any of us, to act

hastily.’ Cornucopia continued, ‘Miranda is right, we must have a plan,

Gremmen sounds like a tricky character and we have to be equally cunning in

return if we are to help Roderick and keep you safe,’ the unicorn added kindly.

Cornucopia cast a glance at Miranda who was lost in deep thought, ‘I

suggest we rest here for a while and think things out carefully.’

Angelina sat down and wiped her eyes, Tamarand sat beside her whilst

Cornucopia and Miranda whispered to each other.

‘Gremmen is very powerful,’ began Miranda, ‘if he caught Roderick in a

trap then he did so for a purpose, otherwise he would have taken him to the

Black Castle. I'm sure he wants to lure the child to the same fate as our brave

Knight. We will have to set a trap for Gremmen and I think I have an idea how

we can do it, but it will need the help of Angelina. I am not sure she can be

brave enough.’ Miranda looked thoughtfully at Cornucopia.

Angelina is a very brave young lady and she will do whatever is required

of her. She is our only chance of success. Tell me Miranda what is your plan?’

Miranda leapt onto Cornucopia's neck and clutching her mane, whispered into

the Unicorn's ear.

 

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Cornucopia stood very still as the elf spoke, ‘Gremmen has Roderick in a

trap and he expects the child to rescue the Knight. So we won't disappoint

him because that is precisely what she is going to do.’ The sprite paused for

effect. ‘Except that we shall set a trap of our own,’ finished Miranda with a

glint in her eye. The two friends went over to Angelina and told her their plan.

‘It will be dangerous Angelina but we shall not let anything happen to you.

However it is up to you. We will not force you to do anything you feel you

cannot do,’ said Cornucopia.

‘Roderick is my friend and so are all of you, I'll help and even though I am

a little afraid. I know that you are near to protect me. Come on lets do it,’

replied Angelina with determination as she rose to her feet.

 

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CHAPTER 12

Roderick opened his eyes to find that he could not move as his hands and

feet were bound together tightly. A strange fine silk like thread held his hands

and feet in a vice like grip, and try as he did there was no release from the

strong grasp of the threads.

‘Dash it all, where am I? Blithering hole in the ground, how did I get into

this mess. Why if I had my sword now I'd, I'd-’ Roderick almost choked when

he heard a rasping and evil voice.

‘You would what,’ grated a voice from nowhere in particular.

‘Whassat. Who's there. Come on out you coward,’ yelled Roderick, trying

desperately to see where the voice was coming from.

‘I am Gremmen, servant of the Black Knight, Lord of the Knightmares and

you are my prisoner, Oh brave Knight,’ Gremmen mocked his captor. ‘Not

quite so valiant now are we? Very soon I shall have the human child then my

master will cast a spell that will make her his forever!’ Gremmen uttered a

wicked laugh and pointed a long pointed talon at Roderick, ‘and you shall

become one of his minions.’ Gremmen sneered cruelly.

Black smoke began to swirl from the muddy floor of the hole and a dark

shape began to form in front of Roderick. As the image became clearer

Roderick could make out two huge leathery bat-like wings that seemed to

form a cloak around the monster. Two flaming red eyes peered at him from an

evil face and upon its huge head sat a helmet of black steel. The body was

armoured and huge gloved hands held a mighty sword. In the other talon it

held a shield of a dark strange metal that seemed as dull as coal.

 

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Roderick felt helpless as he tried to struggle free from the bonds.

‘Just let me lose and I'll fight you man to beast, you overgrown bat! By

Jove sir I'll show you how brave I can be,’ Roderick was bouncing up and

down in a vain attempt to emphasise the point.

‘You seem a little tied up just now,’ sneered Gremmen menacingly, ‘can't

even protect yourself, you clumsy fool. In fact I doubt if you could even fight a

falling leaf,’ rasped the beast. ‘I will deal with you later. When I have the child

my master might give you to me as a gift then, brave Knight, you may even

get your wish. I would enjoy destroying you. Slowly that is.’ With those final

words Gremmen vanished in a ball of sooty acrid smoke leaving Roderick

alone once again.

‘Why if I could only get free,’ muttered Roderick. ‘I have to warn Angelina

and Cornucopia, oh bother and dash it all,’ Roderick struggled hopelessly

against the strong bonds.

Suddenly he heard a noise. A very familiar voice, He struggled even more

desperately to try to get free. It was the voice of Angelina that he heard calling

out his name and she was getting closer.

Roderick shouted out, ‘Angelina go back, it’s a trap.’

Angelina made her way through the path that had been partially cut away

by Roderick. She called out his name as she went. Stopping to listen

occasionally, Angelina thought she heard a voice calling back, but she could

not be sure. Drawing nearer to where Roderick had disappeared Angelina

distinctly heard her name being called. A cold sweat had formed on her brow

and Angelina's heart thumped loudly against her chest.

 

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‘I must be brave, I must be brave,’ she repeated to herself.

The undergrowth seemed to be closing in all around her; even the trees

appeared to be a lot closer together than they were before. She pressed on

bravely.

Now she could hear Roderick calling her very clearly, his voice seemed to

be coming out of the ground just ahead. Angelina stopped and knelt down

onto the soft moss. She poked at the leaves and twigs that littered the floor of

the forest with her bare hands to see if she could find any sign of a hidden

trap into which Roderick may have fallen just as Miranda had instructed her to

do earlier. Suddenly, her hand fell through the undergrowth. There were

leaves and twigs on the ground but underneath she felt nothing. Lowering her

face to the ground she whispered loudly.

‘Roderick is that you, it's me Angelina, are you all right?’

But before she received a reply there was a loud screech and the ground

in front of her exploded. A pall of acrid black smoke poured out of thin air and

the most horrific monster she could imagine began to take shape in front of

her very eyes. Angelina wanted to scream in terror as the evil apparition grew

in form. It had the wings of a bat sprouting from its huge back. They formed a

frightening black canopy that curled over the beasts head like an evil vampire.

An immense black steel helmet covered its head except for two slits,

which revealed flaming red eyes. In its claw like hands it held a great sword of

jet-black steel. A stone handle carved from a skull gave the weapon an

awesome appearance. Its monstrous arms were covered in scales like snake-

skin. The great monster towered above her head roaring and spitting flames

 

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from its mouth. Its red eyes were ablaze with fury. Angelina almost turned and

fled her fear was so great she felt that at any moment she would scream and

scream and scream until she went mad. But deep inside her there was a

growing warmth. A sort of glow that stopped her from the overwhelming fear

that threatened to suffocate her. The glow became stronger as she

remembered the words of Cornucopia. ‘Remember only fear itself can cause

you harm,’ the words tumbled over and over in her head as the monster

continued to rage.

Angelina's fear slowly dissolved as she stood firmly and spoke with a

clear and brave voice to the howling fiend.

‘I don't care who you are or what you do. You can't hurt me, so just, well

just you go back from where you came.’

Angelina was no longer frightened, her fear had simply vanished even

though the raging thing in front of her continued to screech and flail the air

with its mighty sword.

‘I can destroy you with a single blow human child,’ the evil monster

bellowed.

‘No you can't,’ retorted Angelina, ‘you’re just full of hot air and you let my

friend go you big bully.’

Gremmen was now completely livid; he had never been defeated by

anything, least of all a human child. He raised his massive scaly arm and

swung the mighty sword around in the air before bringing it crashing to the

ground in a shower of sparks. The great weapon barely missed Angelina by a

hair's breadth.

 

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‘Missed me, naa na na-na naa,’ whooped Angelina as she side stepped

the blow, ‘Can't even scare me any more you big bat,’ Angelina now danced

around in little circles, which enraged Gremmen even more. The monster

stamped the ground and raised his sword once again, this time Angelina

turned and ran back along the path as fast as she could. Gremmen charged

after her smashing down trees and bushes in his relentless pursuit.

Angelina darted left and right as Gremmen crashed behind her. Then

suddenly, she threw herself on the ground and put up her hands in front of her

face, as if to protect herself. Gremmen stopped in his tracks and bellowed, ‘so

human child I have you now, scared as a rat in a trap ha ha.’

Suddenly there was a loud crack followed by a creaking sound. The

ground beneath Gremmen's feet suddenly gave way and before he could leap

aside, Gremmen crashed into a deep pit with a piercing screech and roar.

Cornucopia emerged from the bushes with Miranda the elf on her back.

Angelina stood up and brushed herself down.

‘Well done Angelina, I think our friend has fallen for his own trap,’ said

Cornucopia.

A blue mist had gathered about her as she spoke and settled above the

pit into which Gremmen had fallen. Gremmen realised that he was the victim

of a trap and immediately tried use his magic to free himself, but the blue mist

now filling the hole prevented him from thinking clearly and he began to feel

sleepy. All thoughts of battle and capture vanished from his mind as he began

to drift into sleep.

 

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Angelina rushed back up the path again towards Roderick. She arrived at

the spot and could hear him yelling at the bottom of the pit.

‘Dash it all, where is everyone, by Jove sir let me out of here and I'll show

that overgrown bat a thing or two,’ Roderick ranted.

Suddenly the twigs and leaves above him were torn away and a familiar

head appeared over the edge of his hole. It was Angelina.

‘Oh Roderick you do look funny, are you all right?’ she asked.

‘Angelina! You’re safe. Let me loose and I'll show that overgrown bully a

thing or two,’ Roderick bounced around the floor of the pit splattering mud all

over himself as he did so.

Angelina climbed over the edge of the gaping hole and lowered herself

carefully down the slippery sides next to Roderick. She began to try and undo

the fine threads that bound Roderick, but as she touched the black thread it

simply melted away freeing the Knight instantly.

‘How did I do that?’ she asked in astonishment.

‘It must have been a spell cast by that bat creature. Your bravery melted

the thread,’ replied Roderick who appeared more surprised than Angelina.

Roderick jumped up and hugged his friend asking her a string of

questions.

‘Tell me what happened, where is that evil beast? I thought you would be

captured, I tried to shout and warn you but you kept coming,’ Roderick

paused, ‘you are the bravest human I have ever met,’ said Roderick.

 

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‘How many human children have you actually met Roderick?’ asked

Angelina questionably.

‘Ah well it's difficult to be precise y'know, errm, ah, well actually. Er, one,

yes most definitely, one,’ returned Roderick, ‘But you are without question the

bravest.’

Angelina quickly changed the subject. ‘We trapped the bat thing by his

own evil plan; Cornucopia and Miranda dug a deep hole and covered it with

twigs and leaves. I lured the creature to chase after me and it fell into the

hole. Cornucopia made some blue mist and now the monster is trapped,’ said

Angelina excitedly.

‘Jolly good show, eh what, brave young thing what! Dash it all!’ Roderick

retorted, ‘but we have to get out of this pit, once the Black Knight knows what

we have done there could be more trouble. We have to finish our task and try

to free my friends at the Black Castle,’ replied Roderick.

Just then a vine dropped over the edge of the pit and Roderick saw the

head of Cornucopia appear. Miranda stood at the edge of the hole.

‘Hold the vine Roderick and Angelina and I will pull you up,’ with the vine

tied around her great horn, Cornucopia pulled the two friends out of the hole.

Roderick scrabbled to his feet and helped Angelina up.

‘We must be off,’ panted the knight, ‘how long will that creature be trapped

for Cornucopia?’ asked Roderick picking up his sword which he noticed had

been lying on the ground where he had dropped it earlier.

‘We won't have to worry about that, Gremmen will be asleep for quite a

long time,’ replied Miranda.

 

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Angelina looked concerned, ‘But what if it is under the Black Knight's

spell,’ asked Angelina, ‘if it really is a Knight or Unicorn, or even an elf like

Miranda was before I scared her and broke the spell, then we should help it,

shouldn't we?’ Angelina looked at Roderick then Cornucopia in turn.

‘She could be right,’ replied Roderick scratching his chin thoughtfully.

‘I want to try to break the spell,’ said Angelina bravely, ‘I did it with

Miranda and Mara, and I can do it to that monster too.’

‘That could be very dangerous Angelina, at least the monster can do us

no harm where he is,’ warned Cornucopia.

‘If the monster is under a spell then I have to break it, it isn't enough to

see something suffering, you have to try do something if you can,’ Angelina

seemed determined.

Cornucopia finally agreed that if this was indeed what the child thought

was best, then they would all help. Slowly the small group of friends

approached the pit in which Gremmen lay asleep under Cornucopia's spell.

Angelina reached the edge of the pit and started to climb down. Her heart

raced as she saw the outline of the huge creature on the floor.

‘Wake him,’ cried Angelina.

Gradually the blue mist cleared and the beast began to awaken. Angelina

quickly jumped onto its great armoured chest and with all her strength pulled

off the beasts’ helmet. Hardly believing her own bravery, Angelina stared into

the beasts' slowly opening eyes. She spoke in a loud, clear and threatening

voice.

 

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‘I am the human child you came to capture, and I have conquered my fear

of you, prepare to meet your end you terrible beast,’ and saying that Angelina

raised her arms and waved them around menacingly as if she was about to

cast a spell.

At first the great beast blinked its huge red flaming eyes as if it were not

quite awake. Then, as it focused upon the child sitting on its chest a great

coldness descended upon it. Nothing had ever managed to threaten its

existence before. For the first time, Gremmen felt real fear; it lay transfixed as

the child stared into his eyes. It was what Gremmen did not see that scared

him to his very being. As the great creature stared at the child standing upon

his heaving chest, Gremmen could not see any hint of fear in her eyes. In fact,

there was a brightness that sent a cold chill through his bones.

Suddenly Gremmen yelled out a great roar. Angelina was momentarily

taken aback but continued her stance upon the great heaving chest.

‘Please don’t hurt me, oh please. I was only obeying orders,’ Gremmen

cringed, ‘don't cast a spell on me. Look I'll help you, I'll do anything, anything

at all,’ Gremmen sobbed and pleaded with Angelina not to hurt him.

Angelina looked up at Cornucopia and Roderick, who were staring

transfixed from the top of the pit where they stood watching intently. She

winked at them. Stepping down from beast's chest she wagged a finger at

Gremmen who was visibly quivering with fear.

‘I will let you go if you promise never to scare anyone again. Do you

understand me?’ Angelina said sternly.

 

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‘Oh yes thank you, I won't, I really won't,’ Gremmen sat up and looked at

the child. His eyes, no longer a flaming red, had mellowed to a soft green and

he looked nothing like the scary, hideous beast he had been earlier. Angelina

patted Gremmen's head and called to her friends above to help her up out of

the hole. Again the vine was lowered over the edge, but this time Angelina did

not need to be pulled up. Huge clawed hands gently held her around the waist

lifting her to the ground in one easy movement. Gremmen then stood up and

in one stride stepped out of the deep pit.

A pale blue mist gathered around him as he stood. The mist gradually

became so dense that Gremmen could no longer be seen.

‘Thank you human child, I will not forget you.’ The voice seemed to be

distant. The mist dissipated and nothing remained of Gremmen.

‘Where did he go?’ asked Angelina.

‘I think he had to go and change,’ quipped Roderick and everyone

laughed at his feeble joke.

It was Cornucopia who broke their laughter.

‘We must make our way to the Black Castle. We still have work to do.

Come let us go.’

Cornucopia once again led the small band into the forest.

 

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CHAPTER 13

The forest was now as silent as the grave. Not a sound could be heard as

the group of friends made their slow path through the dense undergrowth.

Darkness seemed to penetrate everywhere. The trees were so tightly packed

that nothing could be seen above them. Even the very ground upon which

they trod seemed steeped in blackness. Gradually the foliage began to thin

out and a path became visible in the tangled undergrowth. The friends,

keeping closely together, followed the path as it wound around through the

wood.

Suddenly they were standing on top of a ridge and in the distance across

a deep ravine and standing upon a high cliff, they saw the Black Castle

shrouded in a dark mist. The massive stone walls seemed to shine by their

own eerie light. The tall spires reached into the night to touch the velvet and

starless sky.

‘There it is. The Black Castle,’ whispered Roderick as they stood in awe at

the sight before them.

‘It seems so high up, how are we ever going to get up there?’ asked

Angelina.

‘Ahem. If you recall some of us can fly,’ Cornucopia announced. ‘But we

shall have to very careful because I sense that the Black Knight knows our

every movement.’

Roderick climbed gracefully onto Cornucopia's broad back and turned to

Angelina.

 

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‘You must ride behind me, Tamarand and Miranda will stay here, this is

too dangerous for them. Hold on tightly Angelina,’ he shouted.

They bade their farewell to Tamarand and Miranda promising to return

with more friends as soon as possible. Cornucopia used her magical power of

flight and lifted from the ground easily with Roderick and Angelina on her

back. Tamarand watched sadly as her mother soared ever higher into the

black sky. Miranda the elf stroked her young friend lovingly to comfort her.

Cornucopia flew directly towards the mighty castle. Angelina gripped

Roderick around his waist as Cornucopia soared through the sky. After a

short but exhilarating flight across the deep ravine, they began to descend

toward the Black Castle's drawbridge. Suddenly there was a great clap of

thunder and an arc of silver light crackled across their path. Cornucopia

swerved sharply to avoid being hit. Roderick grabbed tightly to stop himself

from falling off. Another arc of light blasted to the rear of the unicorn as she

executed a steep dive. Thunder raged and bolts of lightning burned the air

around them. Angelina held on tightly as Roderick drew his sword in

preparation for battle.

‘Come and fight you coward,’ shouted Roderick.

‘Yes come on out so we can see you,’ joined in Angelina as they

continued to plummet towards the ground. Another terrifying thunderclap

roared around them as another brilliant flash erupted only inches from the

unicorn. The ground rushed towards them and only at the very last second

Cornucopia swooped upwards narrowly escaping the deadly bolt of silver light

as it smashed into the earth beneath them in a spray of sparks.

 

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‘Phew, that was close,’ shouted Roderick over the noise of the blast and

waved his sword at the unseen attacker. The unicorn swooped sharply to the

right narrowly avoiding another bolt when a huge flash caused her to pull up

suddenly.

There, directly in front of them appeared the Black Knight. His armour was

black as coal and glistened as if it were covered in oil. Upon his great head he

wore a helmet with bat like wings on either side. A long spike crowned the

helmet giving the Knight an especially evil appearance. In his hand the Knight

held a lance that crackled with forked lightening from its deadly point.

‘GIVE THE HUMAN CHILD TO ME YOU FOOLS. DID YOU REALLY

THINK YOU COULD OUTWIT ME. I AM THE LORD OF KNIGHTMARES,’

the voice of the Black Knight boomed.

Roderick aimed his sword forward and whispered a command in the ear

of his unicorn. In an instant Cornucopia responded and shot forward towards

the Black Knight. Roderick yelled out at the top of his voice.

‘Tally Ho! You boundah take that,’ and with a crash of steel Roderick

slashed at the Black Knight's lance. There was another clash of steel and

brilliant luminous sparks flew into the air.

‘SO IT'S A FIGHT YOU WANT IS IT SIR KNIGHT,’ the Black Knight

bellowed.

Raising his lance the evil knight aimed it directly at Cornucopia. There

was a loud crack and a ball of bright fire shot from the tip of the lance and

arced across the sky cascading a shower of sparks as it fell towards

Cornucopia. The unicorn shot downward and swerved left and right trying to

 

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avoid the fireball, but no matter what she did it continued to follow her, gaining

steadily. The deadly bolt of fire hit Cornucopia squarely in her chest and it

would have smashed directly into Roderick and Angelina if it was not for

Cornucopia's bravery. At the very last moment she raised her front hooves

rearing up on her hind legs and took the full blast in order to protect her riders.

Cornucopia desperately tried to regain her flight but she began to fall. It was

all she could do to glide down in wide circle using what little strength

remained.

‘GO TO YOUR DOOM FOOLS, MAYBE THAT WILL TEACH YOU TO

MEDDLE WITH THE BLACK KNIGHT. NOW MEET YOUR END,’ the Knight

bellowed. He then turned in a hard dive and plummeted towards the falling

unicorn and her helpless riders.

Angelina saw the Black Knight hurtling towards them, but she did not feel

afraid, she felt sad for Cornucopia and she felt concerned for Roderick, but

she felt no fear as they drifted through the air. Angelina closed her eyes as

the ground raced towards them. Just as she thought they were surely doomed

something happened.

Angelina opened her eyes fully expecting to have hit the ground by now

when she saw a familiar blue mist draw around them. Instead of crashing to

the ground they landed gently into the mist and immediately saw something

that lifted their hearts. Out of the blue haze emerged a pure white unicorn, just

like Cornucopia, only bigger and much more powerful.

 

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‘Well hi you fellows, enjoy the landing?’ It was Mara and no longer was his

coat black in colour. It was now as pure white as freshly fallen snow. A silver

spiral horn adorned his head instead of the black one he had earlier.

‘Mara it is you?’ squealed Angelina, ‘But you've changed colour.’

‘The entire spell is completely broken Angelina. I am now my true form

once again,’ responded Mara.

Suddenly there was a howling screech and the Black Knight hurtled out of

the sky landing with a heavy thud and a shower of sparks to confront Mara.

‘WELL IF IT ISN'T MY OLD AND FEEBLE MINION. 'WE MEET AGAIN

CREEPER, COME TO THE RESCUE HAVE WE? HA HA,’ the Black Knight

mocked, ‘YOU MISERABLE SLUG, YOU WILL MEET THE SAME FATE AS

YOUR FRIENDS.’

With those terrible words the Black Knight aimed his lance at Mara's head

and with an awesome crack another fireball erupted from its tip and shot

towards Mara. The unicorn quickly darted to the side and soared into the air

as the fireball smashed into the ground. The Black Knight followed

relentlessly.

Angelina and Roderick stood on the ground and watched helplessly as

Mara dodged and weaved to avoid the bolts of lightning that were aimed at

him. Suddenly he turned sharply and dived towards them shouting something

that they could not hear clearly. Roderick strained forward cupping his ear to

listen to what the unicorn was shouting when he was struck on the back by a

heavy slap that sent him sprawling to the floor.

‘Still a clumsy oaf then,’ boomed a voice.

 

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Roderick turned to face has assailant. A grin spread across his face when

he turned and saw a familiar face. Angelina saw another Knight in bright

golden armour standing next to Roderick with hand outstretched. The Knight

looked very handsome indeed as he helped Roderick to his feet.

‘Michaelmas. It's Michaelmas everyone,’ yelped Roderick hugging his old

friend. ‘Where did you come from old chap? By Jove it's good to see you

again!’ Roderick looked ecstatic.

‘You may remember me as the creature who trapped you Roderick,

thanks to that human child the spell was broken and I have returned Sir

Michaelmas the bold, commander of the Knights of Dreamland,’ the golden

armoured Knight raised his sword skyward in a salute.

‘Gremmen’, gasped Roderick.

Sir Michaelmas thumped Roderick on the back once again sending him

sprawling to the ground with a crash.

‘Gremmen indeed I was, but no more a servant of the Dark One,’

Michaelmas continued, ‘no time for reunions just now Rodders old boy. Come

on get up old chap, no time for resting we have work to do. Take your friend

and Cornucopia to the Black Castle and free the others. There are many

imprisoned in the dungeons awaiting the Black Knight to cast his evil spell.

Hurry now and release them quickly. I shall meet you there,’ with those words

Sir Michaelmas raised his sword.

Mara swooped down and in a single graceful motion the golden armoured

knight grabbed the unicorns’ mane and hauled himself onto Mara's back.

 

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The Black Knight hurtled out of the sky towards Michaelmas and lowered

his deadly lance.

 

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CHAPTER 14

Angelina held on to Roderick as Cornucopia entered the Black Castle.

The drawbridge was open and they walked carefully through the portcullis.

Everywhere was quiet as they headed towards a huge studded door. Angelina

dismounted and pushed on the heavy door. It swung slowly open creaking

noisily as it did so. Roderick again drew his sword and led the way down a

stone corridor. The passage was dimly lit by flaming torches that were

attached along the stone walls. They gave off an acrid smoke that made their

eyes water. The light cast long eerie shadows around them as they continued

down the passage. Each step echoed around the corridor as unearthly

shadows crept along the walls.

They emerged from the corridor into a cavern with a very low ceiling. Set

into the walls of the cavern, were small doors each of which had an iron grill at

about head height although no lock could be seen.

‘These must be the dungeons,’ said Roderick, ‘come on we have to free

our friends.’

‘But where are the keys Roderick?’ asked Angelina.

‘We do not need keys here,’ replied Cornucopia. ‘These doors are locked

by dark magic and all that is needed here is a little white magic.’

Cornucopia approached the first door and touched the lock with her horn.

The door immediately burst open and out of the gloomy cell emerged a grey

unicorn that bowed its head in thanks to Cornucopia. Another door opened

and a rather bedraggled but smiling Knight stood in the entrance. Soon every

door was opened in the same way and before long the cavern was filled with

 

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cheering and laughter. Roderick was introducing everyone to Angelina. There

were Knights and unicorns everywhere.

A voice strong and proud cut through the air and the noise fell instantly.

‘There is a great battle going on my friends. Mara is at this moment in

combat with the Black Knight himself, and we must go and help,’ it was

Cornucopia who spoke.

‘Come on everyone,’ yelled Angelina who started running back down the

dimly lit passage. Everyone followed and they soon emerged into the castle

courtyard and out over the drawbridge. They all came to a standstill and

stared up into the sky.

Flashes of light slashed across the darkness and great rolls of thunder

could be heard as Mara and Michaelmas swooped down towards them. The

Black Knight was directly behind them bellowing with rage. Mara made a

perfect landing on the ground and reared up on her hind legs to face the Black

Knight as he descended with a spray of sparks.

The Black Knight approached menacingly as Michaelmas reached inside

his armour and drew out a silver box. He was not however quick enough and

the Black Knight seized his chance. Aiming his deadly lance at Mara a bolt of

lightening shot from the tip hitting Michaelmas solidly in the chest. The Knight

flew backwards off the back of his mount and landed with a crash on the hard

rocky ground. The Black Knight quickly dismounted and moved towards the

gathering of Knights and unicorns.

‘SO YOU HAVE ESCAPED EH? WELL NOW YOU ARE ALL GOING TO

BE DOOMED. FOREVER AND FOREVER. ESPECIALLY YOU HUMAN

 

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CHILD.’ The Black Knight approached Angelina with lance raised and ready

to strike.

She thought quickly her mind racing. Suddenly, Angelina knew what to

do. She leapt sideways making a grasp for the silver box that Michaelmas had

dropped. She gripped the box and tore at the lid. At first it would not move

then, abruptly it flew open as if all by itself. The Black Knight towered over

Angelina his lance inches from her face. Angelina knew this was her final

chance before a lightening bolt struck her and for a moment she felt that she

had failed everyone.

Bright blue smoke curled up from the silver box in her hand and tiny

sparks flew out of the mist and danced around the air like tiny fire-flies. The

Black Knight froze in his tracks staring at the silver box. The blue vapour

curled around the Knights huge armoured feet and slowly up to his thighs. It

drifted up to cover his armoured chest and finally his face and helmet.

‘No. No. Noooo,’ screamed the Black Knight in terror. There were more

sparks shooting around blue mist. Streaks of brilliant light sparkled inside the

vapour like lightening inside thunder-clouds. The mist swirled around to form a

whirlwind of light around the Black Knight.

Angelina looked up at the fading figure in front of her. The mist slowly

began to clear as the whirlwind returned to the silver box as if sucked in by

some strange power. As the final curls of blue smoke dissipated Angelina saw

an astonishing sight. The Black Knight was totally immobile and stood like a

stone statue, solid and very still.

‘What happened, what did I do?’ she asked in surprise.

 

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The knight in golden armour arose from the floor. A dark burned scorch

marked his breast-plate.

‘What you did was very brave, very brave indeed, that silver box contains

the only thing that can overcome the power of the Black Knight,’ said Sir

Michaelmas.

‘What is it?’ gasped Angelina.

‘It is your fear Angelina,’ it was Cornucopia who spoke.

‘What do you mean my fear? I'm not frightened any more,’ replied a

bewildered Angelina.

‘Precisely m’dear, exactly eh what!’ spluttered Roderick, ‘Don'tcha see,

when you lost your fear it had to go somewhere. Mara here obviously trapped

it in that silver box. All unicorns carry a dream box with them in the hope that

they will capture fear and use it as a weapon against the Black Knight,’

Roderick continued excitedly. ‘Remember I told you that the spell of the Black

Knight can only be broken when a human child can cause fear in his realm,

don'tcha see you scared him stiff,’ laughed Roderick.

Sir Michaelmas stepped forward to stand in front of the statue.

‘The spell of fear will not last forever. One day it will wear off and he will

return once again. The fight will go on, but for now we must celebrate,

cheered the golden knight.

Angelina looked up at the great Black Knight who stood frozen to the spot,

she started to giggle and soon everyone was laughing and cheering.

Cornucopia nuzzled Angelina and Roderick hoisted her up onto her back.

Roderick climbed up behind and everyone cheered loudly.

 

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‘Three cheers for Angelina the bravest human child I have ever met, hip

hip hooray,’ cheered Roderick.

‘Hip hip hooray,’ cheered everyone.

‘But now you must return to your realm Angelina, it will be sunrise in your

world very soon and we must go,’ said Cornucopia.

‘I shall miss you all so much,’ replied Angelina, ‘Will I ever see you again?’

‘You will see us in your dreams Angelina,’ responded a voice behind her.

It was her two friends.

‘Tamarand and Miranda,’ yelled Angelina delighted to see her friends safe

and sound. Tamarand nuzzled Angelina and Miranda gave her a friendly tug.

‘We shall always be in your dreams Angelina,’ said Mara, ‘now you must

go, but we shall accompany you. Come on everyone let us give our brave

friend a sending off she will never forget.’ cried Mara to everyone.

With a great cheer all the knights mounted their unicorns and flew into the

sky. Over the forest they climbed cheering and singing songs.

Victory is ours this day,

the Knights of Dreamland ride away.

The Black Knight's reign is once more thwarted,

t'is right and honour in which we trusted.

The human child so brave and bold

her deeds in stories will be told,

The Knightmares held at bay once more,

 

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so children's dreams can truly soar.

On unicorn the sky we ride,

the stars our company and guide,

so Knights of Dreamland with trusted steed

to Angelina's home, make speed.

High into the sky they flew, higher and higher until Angelina could see the

stars again. Soon she could see a bright moon filling the night sky as thin

wisps of clouds floated beneath them. Cornucopia began to descend and

Angelina could see her house as they flew across the sky.

Soon everyone came to a standstill and gathered around Angelina and

Cornucopia as they all hovered above the roof-tops surrounded by a pale blue

light.

‘I have something for you Angelina,’ stuttered Roderick, ‘it's from all of us

really.’ Roderick handed Angelina a silver brooch. It was studded with pale

blue gems and in the shape of a star. Angelina could see that in the centre of

the star there was beautifully ornate writing. As she looked closer she could

see what the writing said;

Lady Angelina

Knight honorary of Dreamland

‘This is for me, I am a truly a knight?’ squealed Angelina with joy and

pride.

 

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‘You have earned the right, brave one,’ said Roderick, ‘we shall meet

again Angelina. When there are deeds do be done, adventures to embark

upon, we shall meet again.’ Roderick’s eyes were moist with tears.

‘I shall remember you all and if you ever need me, I'll be there,’ replied

Angelina wiping back a tear.

‘And now we must go Angelina the sun is about to rise,’ Cornucopia said

softly, ‘We shall meet again young one.’

A blue mist gathered around them and Cornucopia moved forward into

the blue light. Angelina held on to Roderick as they entered through the wall

of her bedroom. Angelina stepped down from Cornucopia and kissed her

goodbye. Miranda blew a kiss and waved and Tamarand nudged her

whinnying softly.

‘Until next time Angelina,’ waved Roderick.

Angelina walked across her carpet towards her bed, she pulled the covers

back and climbed in. She was very, very sleepy. Just as she laid her head on

her soft pillow she thought she heard a voice.

‘Ouch, by Gad sir you did that on purpose,’ there was a faint crash and

Angelina giggled as she fell asleep.

THE END