Briar Garden

Long ago, a great sorcerer named Stregone Malvagio attempted to rule over all the land. It was a terrible time for the land of Briar Garden. King Fredryk was ill and Stregone’s army of mutants and monsters was closing in. The skies were gray and the air smelt like smoke and death. The King’s wife Eleanore tried to stop him from going to battle but he knew this was his only chance to defeat Stregone and save the Earth.
Out on the battle field, the soldiers stared at the evil army. There was twice as many monster as there was them. They knew this was the end. Trumpets sounded as the armies collied. Rain poured down making an awful mixture of mud and blood. The king came face to face with the evil sorcerer. As he began to draw his sword all other action seemed to cease; it was just the king and Stregone now. Before he could strike, the sorcerer swung his staff and lifted him. Laughing, the he  tossed the king around, slamming him into his own men. Then he lifted the king high into the air about to let him fall and send him quick to his demise.
The King fought hard and finally grabbed his sword and pulled it from it’s sheath. He pointed it up into the sky and it began to glow. Suddenly, a beautiful white dragon flew down and snatched up the sorcerer’s staff, breaking it in it’s claws. Immediately the monster army began to retreat along with Stregone. The war was over. Three of the king’s most trusted knights ran him into the hospital wing, but it was too late. Just then, Eleanore was rushed into the hospital as well, she had gone into labor. That night a prince was born. Prince Fredryk II.

15 Years Later

A young man sits in a chair as an old wizard jabbers on about history, his long brown hair hanging over his beautiful electric blue eyes. Although he was staring straight at the old man his mind was far off, thinking of much greater things than study. “Prince Fredryk, are you listening to me?” asked the wizard.
Fredryk snapped to immediately. “Sorry Alon, I just haven’t been able to stay focused lately.”
Alon laughed. “You never have my boy. That’s all for today, although, I don’t think you took much from that lesson.”
Fredryk headed out into the hall. He heard the clanking sound of someone running in armor, coming closer. Sir Barken can running around the corner, right past Fredryk with a worried expression. Triggered by curiosity, Fredryk ran after him into the throne room.
In the throne room, Eleanore sat talking to a few peasants about their problems. “My Lady! I’m sorry to interrupt but there’s something evil a-sunder” Sir Barken yelled as he tumbled into the room. All the peasants and guards turned to stare at him.
“I’m sorry,” The queen said to the peasants, “We’ll continue this later, I must talk to Sir Barken now.” The peasants exited the room as Fredryk squeezed past. “What is it Sir?” Eleanore asked.
“In the south,” the exhausted knight panted, “A city was attacked. Stregone Malvagio is rising again.” He panted and wiped his brow. The queen looked up her blue eyes filled with fear. Fredryk had heard the stories of what had happened shortly before he was born, he knew that the worst times were about to come.
Eleanore looked over at Fredryk and sighed. “Sir Barken, send a messenger into the village. Tell everyone what is going to happen, I don’t want anyone to be completely unprepared for this. Get the troops ready for war. And Fredryk, go to your room, you shouldn’t be here.” she said calmly.
“Mother please,” Fredryk insisted “I could help too, I could fight. I’ve been practicing and my tutor says I’m a very good fighter. I can help...”
But the queen just shook her head. “No, you are just a boy, leave this to a knight. Go to your room.” Fredryk hung his head and walked to his room. He figured there was no use arguing with his mother, she was under enough stress as it is.
In his room, Fredryk paced back and forth. His father’s sword hung on the wall above his bed. It was a beautiful sword, with thorn vines carved into the handle and blade. “I have to do something.” He said to himself aloud. He took the sword off of the wall, and attached it to his belt. He opened his window and climbed down the vines growing up the wall. It was already dark outside, he knew that most of the guards had moved into the castle.
Just before he could make it out of the castle, a familiar voice called out his name. “Fredryk!” Called Sir Barken, who was sitting on the bridge guarding the castle. “Where are you headed? The queen told you to stay out of this.” He arose to stand in front of Fredryk, blocking the exit.
“I’m sorry,” Fredryk began, “I just know that I can help, I could get to Stregone before his army grows to strong and take him out.”
Sir Barken looked down at the young man. “I’m sorry, Queen Eleanore’s orders. I cant let you past.” Fredryk hung his head for a moment then looked the knight straight in the eyes. Unlike Fredryk, who was a bit scrawny, Sir Barken was very muscular, his shiny silver armor glistened in the moonlight.
“I’m sorry sir, but you cant stop me.” Fredryk said and with that he ran around the knight, climbed the wall and ran off into the forest. Sir Barken chased after him but was not as fast with all the armor weighing him down. Fredryk ran as fast as his legs could carry him until he couldn’t run anymore. He slowed down and tried to figure out exactly were he was. He had never been this far into the woods before, his tutors would take him into the woods and teach him about the spirits of the forest and taught him to hunt a little but the would never let him go to far from the village.
It was very dark, almost completely silent save for the occasional sound of an owl’s hoot or scampering of a mouse. Fredryk could barely see an inch in front of his nose. Tired of running into trees, he began to walk with his hands out in front of him. With his right hand he felt something scaley covered in slim. He pulled back in disgust and wiped his hands on his trousers. Suddenly, the thing he had just touched moved, there was a bit of a scraping noise then he realized what was there. It was a troll, now holding a burning torch. He looked very upset from being woken up.
Fredryk dodged to the side and ran, the troll right on his heels. He was still tired from running from Sir Barken. He pulled his sword and slashed at the beast. He cut the now very angry troll on his side but not enough to seriously wound him, just enough to make him mad. The troll swung his torch at Fredryk but he ducked just in time. Suddenly, a rock fell from the tree above, hitting the troll on the head and knocking him out cold. Fredryk looked up to see a silhouette of someone standing in the tree. It was too still too dark to see anything else.
The figure jumped down from the tree and landed in front of Fredryk. A voice mumbled some words and a pendant around the figure’s neck began to glow. A girl stood in front of Fredryk, she had messy, short, reddish brown hair, bright green eyes, and clothes like Fredryk had never seen before. She wore shorts with stockings one stripped red and black and the other green and orange, she wore a black shirt with a dark green coat and the pendant around her neck also looked like a sort of ocarina or other instrument. “Hello,” She said with a grin “I’m Twigg. Aren’t you Prince Fredryk? What are you doing out of the castle?”
The Prince explained his story to her. “Ah,” she said, “well... let me come with you! I mean, I helped you with that troll, who’s not to say I cant help you out here? I’ve been on lots of adventures, I’ve traveled all around the world!” She beamed with triumph sounding almost a little braggy, but Fredryk agreed to let her come along.
Before they could set of again they heard a noise. Some one running straight at them in the forest, Fredryk was exhausted and couldn’t possibly run anymore. As It got closer they could hear puffing and wheezing. “Wait...” said the voice “Prince Fredryk, it’s me!” It continued huffing and puffing. “It’s Sir Barken...” Fredryk Knew he wasn’t a threat, he was to tired and to far away from the castle. He caught up, hunched over to catch his breath. “I’m getting way to old for this.” He said then looked up at the prince. “Sire, I understand you wont let me stop you, but let me go with you. Your father was a close friend of mine, I would like to help you take out the man that took his life.”
Fredryk smiled up at the older man and placed a hand on his shoulder. Twigg smiled at them and held her pendant. “Well, it’s getting pretty late” she said “and you two look exhausted. Here I know where we can rest.” She blew into the ocarina pendant and the most beautiful music came out. Suddenly a light shone very brightly in their faces. Trees parted and moved aside as the most odd machine approached them. A carriage made out of metal, that ran without horses or oxen, painted an off-putting shade of green and a peculiar shade of pink with gold stars and trim. The machine stopped in front of them and Twigg boarded. Fredryk and Sir Barken stared at each other but then followed the strange girl.
“This should allow you two to rest while we head further south, we should be stopping in Seseer in the morning. Please get some rest.” Twigg smiled and sat next to a man wearing a tall green hat with flowers hanging off the brim, carrying a oddly shaped guitar. They began to play soft soothing music together. Right away Fredryk found himself feeling very sleepy.
When he woke the next morning the sun was shining brightly. The light reflecting off of Sir Barken’s armor hurt his eyes. He looked out the window and saw the Beautiful town of Seseer was very close. The ocean around the town sparkled and glistened and the lovely castle towered over the huge clean town. Sir Barken grumbled as Fredryk shook him to wake him up. He sat up slowly and stretched as Fredryk went to wake up Twigg who immediately sprang up and was ready to go.
The doors slid open as the sleepy knight nearly fell out but was caught by Twigg, Just a Fredryk stepped off the doors slid closed and the machine took off over the ocean. Many people were wandering around the town but no one seemed to notice the strange machine. Fredryk looked up at the great castle. “Maybe,” he said softly “Maybe they can provide some sort of help.” The three began to walk towards the giant castle. When they reached the gates they presented themselves to the guards who let them in. The castle was big and white with blue rooftops and beautiful stain glass windows. Some of the walls and walkways were even lined with gold.
Two guards opened the huge door to the castle. Fredryk, Sir Barken and Twigg followed the red carpet to another set of huge doors that took four men to open. As they entered the throne room a man announced them to King Aulo. The castle in Seseer was so much bigger and fancier than in Brier Garden. The throne room was maybe ten times as large. All the way on the other side of the room there was three thrones, King Aulo sat in the throne in the middle, his beard was gray, he was wearing emerald green robes and carrying a golden scepter. To his left was Queen Vivian, she has short curly red hair and a dress to match her husband’s robes. To King Aulo’s right was Princess Jayla. She was the most beautiful girl Fredryk had ever seen. Her long black hair was tied back in a bun, she had big hazel eyes and she wore a lovely dress made of a material that look like it had the rainbow sewn right into it.
As they approached the three royals, Fredryk, Twigg and Sir Barken each gave a polite bow. Fredryk stared, mouth slightly ajar, at the beautiful princess. Sir Barken cleared his throat and began to speak. “Your Royal Highness, As you have probably heard, there have been a few towns around here have been attacked. Stregone Malvagio’s army is rising once again. Prince Fredryk here has taken out to destroy Stregone before he becomes too strong, but there are still forces back at Briar Garden. We were hoping that you could help us, Stregone is all-powerful and all the help possible would be nice.”
The king sat up in his throne and scratched his beard. He looked sternly at the three. “Leave.” He said. “I don’t want any part of this war. My city is safe, we’ve spent 15 years strengthening our security. Stregone will never even breach the walls. Guards! Escort them out of my castle.” Fredryk and the others followed the guards out of the castle and stood in the street.
They began to walk through the market, buying food and other items they would need on their voyage when a voice called from behind. “Hey! I’m coming with you!” Fredryk turned around to see Princess Jayla running up wearing the same material before just as trousers. “Excuse my father. He’s scared. He doesn’t want anyone to know but Stregone has him scared to death. I want to help. I know I don’t look like much but I’m really an excellent fighter.”
“Princess,” Twigg began to ask, head tipped to the side “Did they let you come with us?”
Jayla laughed. “Of course not, they think I’m in my room practicing my dance right now. That’s why we have to hurry out of here.” The four turned and ran out of the city, along the path outside the walls and across the fields until the huge city was out of site.
Later, when the sun had set they laid down in tall grass to rest. Twigg and Sir Barken fell right to sleep. Fredryk and Jayla stayed awake laying on their backs looking at the stars. “So...” Jayla said slowly “What is it you are planning to do? I mean, you’re setting off after the most powerful wizard in the world, you must have a plan.”
Fredryk shifted uneasily. “Honestly, I don’t... I have no idea what it’s going to be like. I cant imagine what will happen... Maybe I can at least slow him down...”
“My father made me so mad, it’s like Sir Barken said, we need all the help possible. Stregone is so strong-“
”Wait!” Fredryk interrupted. “That’s it! All the help we can get! Why just men? We could have all the creatures fight! It’s their world too!”
“Fredryk that’s brilliant!” Twigg said out of no where. Fredryk had felt sorry for waking her up but he knew that she could help. She pulled out her ocarina and played the same tune she played in the forest outside Briar Garden. The same machine came over the horizon and stopped in front of them. The doors opened up and Twigg yelled out “Chin Win!! Please come here!” An old Chinese woman stepped out of the machine.
“Yes dear what is it?” she asked in a heavy Chinese accent. She had black hair that was beginning to gray, she was very wrinkled and was hunched over using a cane.
“Please, go to every village, town, city etc. of every race; humans, fairies, trolls, goblins, so on, and tell them of Stregone’s rising. Ask for all the help you can get. Tell them to go to Briar Garden and join forces! Go as fast as you can! Thank you!” Twigg told the old woman with a big smile on her face.
Chin Win hopped back onto the machine and started it up. Speeding off faster than Fredryk had ever seen it go. He laid back down in the grass and fell asleep, they weren’t far from The Gray Marshlands, which was were Stregone was said to be.
The next morning Fredryk was awoken by Twigg shoving a fruit into his mouth. “Eat this.” She said “You’ll need your strength today.” Fredryk looked around to see everyone else was already awake and eating the strange fruit. After they finished eating Fredryk helped Jayla to her feet and they set off. A few hours later they arrived at The Gray Marshlands. The skies were unpleasantly cloudy, the ground was covered in what seemed to be wet ashes, the air was thick and dusty. To put it simply, everything was gray.
There was nothing for about a mile, but in the distance there was a tall almost twisted tower with a huge wall surrounding. The four looked at each other for a moment then continued toward the frightening sight.
When they reached the gigantic wall there was a mutant sleeping on the job outside the walls. Very quietly they snuck up next to him, Sir Barken pulled out his sword and slit the sleeping beast’s throat. The uneven brick walls made it easy to climb up. “Wait,” Twigg stopped them before they began to climb. “There’ll probably be hundreds of thousands of monsters on the other side of this wall. I need to disguise you all.” She chanted a few incoherent words and with that her ocarina lit up and a bright light came over them.
Fredryk blinked and rubbed his eyes, when he looked up there was three monsters surrounding him. “Jayla?” he asked, confused. “Sir Barken? Twigg?” Fredryk now had slimy skin and one bright green eye. Twigg looked like a mix between a bulldog and a ostrich. Sir Barken was a big furry maroon beast with long claws and sharp teeth. Jayla was a bat-like creature with long legs and sharp black horns.
“And this way, we don’t have to climb over the wall, we can walk right through the gate.” Sir Barken said looking a bit relieved. They went around the corner where two more guards stood at the gate.
“Ah,” said the first guard, “You must be Master Stregone’s spies. We’ll open the gate for you.” Fredryk smiled to himself thinking about how these monsters aren’t to bright. They entered the city, which was even more foul than they could have imagined. Monsters were fighting with each other, the streets were lined with garbage, it smelt strongly of manure and most shops and houses were burnt down. The four heros walked straight to the tower in the middle of the town eyes straight ahead to their goal.
The guard to the tower’s gates let Fredryk and the others inside also convinced they were spies for Stregone come to deliver the news. Inside of the tower was dark, they followed the guard who was holding only a dim candle. The went up the twisted turning stairs that lead to a door. The guard opened it. There, sitting at a table in a very large room was the sorcerer. He looked up from his papers. “I’ve been expecting you. Lock!” he yelled at the hideous guard, “Send the troops out, it’s time.” Fredryk’s heart dropped.
“Now,” Stregone said waving his hand, “You thought you could fool me could you?” With that the spell wore off and they were back to their original selves. “Prince Fredryk, I’ve been watching you for a while now. I must say you’re just like you’re father. Looks and stupidity.” Set off by anger Fredryk grabbed his sword and charged at Stregone. The sorcerer picked up his staff next to him and tapped it on the ground which sent Fredryk flying back hitting the wall. Jayla, Sir Barken and Twigg tried to charge at him all at once but they were knocked back too. “Pathetic humans, look out the window.” They rose to their feet and stared out the small window, there was a enormous army of possibly millions of mutants. “You’ve lost. ”Suddenly over the horizon a line began to appear. As it came closer they saw that it was an army. It was huge and still coming in. Not just men, there was every creature of this world, here to fight together. Stregone became red with anger.
“What’s the matter?” Jayla said in a mocking voice, “Were you not expecting a fight?” Stregone swung his staff throwing Jayla hard against the wall knocking her unconscious. Fredryk ran to her and Stregone laughed.
“Fools, what was in your mind that could possibly make you think you could win?” Stregone stroked his long white beard. Fredryk looked up at the sorcerer eyes filled with anger and hatred.
“You mock me and my father and you hurt Jayla” he said softly, “you will pay.” Fredryk ran at the sorcerer who tapped his staff on the ground, but Fredryk didn’t get hurdled back this time, he struggled forward as if he were walking against very strong winds.
Alarmed at Fredryk’s strength, Stregone didn’t hear Twigg mumble a spell. Her spell countered Stregone’s and allowed Fredryk to charge at him. Stregone swung his staff and picked up Sir Barken, Twigg and Fredryk. “Now... Sleep!” He said. Twigg and Sir Barken fell to the floor in a deep sleep. “Well, It’s just us now.” The wizard said to Fredryk still holding him in the air. “This is quite like the way your father died isn’t it? But wait? Where’s your sword? Oh! You seem to have left it on the ground.” Fredryk stared down, his sword was on the ground underneath him. He closed his eyes. He had failed, he failed his mother, Jayla, Twigg, Sir Barken, his father... the world.
Fredryk opened his eyes but it was still dark. “Where am I?” he asked himself. A small white light began to glow in front of him. It grew bigger and bigger until it turned into a beautiful white dragon. “Are you the same dragon that saved my father?” asked Fredryk.
“Yes, I’m Ember.” Her voice was soft, yet strong. It felt safe, almost like a mother’s voice. “Fredryk, I have been watching over you since you were born. When your father was ill he knew his time soon, he asked me to watch over you. I’ve been waiting for years, waiting for the time when you would need my help most. Fredryk, you are a good man, you’re father watching from heaven is proud.”
Fredryk felt a tear in his eye. The dragon began to glow furiously. Fredryk covered his eyes, shading them from the bright light. He felt himself land on the floor. Opening his eyes he saw the wizard on the floor, his staff no where to be seen. Fredryk picked up his sword and walked over to Stregone. “This is quite like the way you were defeated last time.” Fredryk mocked. “Except now, you will never come back.” He ran his sword into Stregone’s heart. The sorcerer looked up at Fredryk, eyes filled with tears.
“But how...” he said weakly before he fell over and died. Fredryk took out his sword and ran over to Jayla.
He held her in his arms. “Please wake up...” he begged. Twigg and Sir Barken stirred and stood up. Sir Barken looked over at Twigg who gave her usual smile and picked up her ocarina. She played a soft sad tune. Fredryk looked up at her and gave her a sad smile. Jayla groaned and rubbed her head. She then sat up quickly and looked around. She saw her friends standing there smiling and Stregone dead on the floor. She laughed and hugged Fredryk tight.
“Prince Fredryk!” Sir Barken called, “Look out the window now!” In the battle field mutants were dropping like flies. After Stregone died the army had weakened.
News of what Fredryk had done spread over the world like wild fire. Back at Briar Garden Eleanore ran to the castle gates to great Fredryk. He ran and gave his mother a hug. “You worried me sick! I told you to stay here! I’m so furious! Yet, I’m so proud of you...” she cried.
The next year Fredryk was crowned king of Briar Garden. Princess Jayla was married to Fredryk, Sir Barken retired as the most honorable knight in all the land, and Twigg continued her travels (of course stopping by to visit). The world was peaceful, the land actually seemed even more beautiful than even. Ember flew over the ocean into the west and the Earth was forever safe.