[Joe Wizard's Traveling Castle: The Prophecy Dragon. Chapter 1: Destiny Nap]
Cries of the early morning Roosters rang through a peaceful seaside village. The small birds zoomed through the village streets and villagers shot at them with their crossbows.
These Roosters were quite the nuisance. No one appreciated waking up to such vicious beasts ripping through their livestock with their fire breath and razor-sharp wings… but that’s just how mornings worked around the village.
Despite the rude awakenings, the lonely cobbled village was peaceful. It was built not too far from a cold rocky beach. The buildings poked out of the ground along windy roads up a shallow hill, surrounded by a dark pine forest. The small village was hidden away on Rooster Island, secluded and alone, but happy with their solitude.
The village-folk could look out over their beach, over the uninterrupted vastness of the ocean, and be happy knowing that nothing unfamiliar would harm them.
But as the Roosters from the dark forest all seemed to confirm for the village-folk, nothing was safe outside the village, let alone outside the island. No one but themselves were to be trusted.
But it wasn’t the usual cries of the Roosters that woke Mary Destiny that morning, but her cat kneading at her face with its paws.
Mary groaned, turning over on her side.
Her cat flapped its feathered wings, flying over the other side where it pushed at Mary’s cheeks.
“Miau,” it cried.
“Ughh, what do you want, Onyx?”
The cat let out an excited little peep as it leapt off the bed and flew to the ground with a soft thud as it marched proudly out of the room.
Mary sat up in bed and took in a deep breath, the sunlight shone through her stained-glass windows, casting a gold light on her face, shining in her deep brown hair and eyes. A blue light reflected off of a round steel shield that hung on Mary’s wall as a decoration. She stretched and yawned before turning to see Onyx re-enter the room with a proud stride.
Mary noticed something in Onyx’s mouth and shot up to stop her.
“Woah woah woah!” she yelled. “Onyx spit that out!”
“Mew…” the cat opened her mouth lazily and let her prey fall to the floor. It was a little lizard, severely injured, missing one of its heads. It scurried away.
“Come on, little girl, you know not to bring stuff in from the outside. The outside is scary and dangerous, and gross and-”
Onyx rolled her eyes.
“Oh, come on.” Mary knelt down to scratch Onyx behind her ears. “I don’t have to tell you this every morning.”
Onyx’s head shot up as she spotted something outside the window. A dragonfly had whizzed past it had seemed. Without second thought, the cat zoomed out of Mary’s small stone home.
Mary followed after her quickly, stumbling outside in her pink night shirt and flowy blue pants. She tripped over a root growing in the cobblestone path and caught herself.
Embarrassed to be tripping outside in her night clothes, she looked around to see if anyone had seen her, panicking at the sight of awestruck villagers but soon realizing that they weren’t gawking at her, but at something else entirely.
Must be something pretty crazy if they didn’t notice her trip, especially dressed like this, she thought. She stood up and stared off in the direction the village-folk were looking, and quickly understood the shock and confusion in their faces.
Onyx bounced and flew after the dragonfly toward the thing that the town was transfixed on.
Just outside the village docks, in the shallow water off the rocky beach, was something unfamiliar. Something that broke the emptiness of the ocean, something new: a grassy island. A small, quaint, grassy island with a small castle atop it. It would be extremely generous to call such a small structure a castle, but it presented itself as such, because that’s what it was.
A dark red-tiled roof clashed with an intersecting blue-tiled slope, which itself was interrupted by a tall and crooked stone tower, atop which the pointed roof was adorned with a bright red flag. From the side of the castle a large chimney spewed smoke. Someone was home.
The town’s people were right to be scared and confused, on their toes and wary of the new sight. It was clearly from outside, it had to be. But how did it get there?
Mary wanted nothing to do with it, not one bit.
Onyx thought otherwise.
The dragonfly flew for safety to the mysterious island, and throwing caution to the wind, Onyx leapt from the beach and flew to the island after it.
“No no no! Blast it!” Mary yelled. She ran forward but stopped herself. It could be dangerous. She turned around and ran into her house, grabbed the round metal shield off of her wall, and ran back outside to her cat. She loved her cat more than she feared what was outside her village boundaries.
The villagers turned their attention to Mary as she ran to the island.
Never before had they seen someone run so fearlessly to something so foreign. The town hadn’t known Mary before, but they wanted to know her now. Not because they were amazed, but because they wanted to know how someone could be stupid enough to do what she did.
It didn't take long before Mary dove from the edge of the rocky beach and splashed into the rough choppy waters.
The cold stung but she ignored it as she pushed forward. “Stupid cat!” she yelled as she paddled ahead and crawled her way onto the island. She gasped for air and lay on her back, clutching her shield tightly. The island was rather narrow, and the castle took up most of it. What land there was contained a single large rock, with a crack across the top of it. A very short collection of crooked steps led to the castle entrance, interrupted by the island’s bumpy nature and overgrown grass and flowers.
Mary quickly remembered what her goal was and stood up, running for the door where Onyx sat crunching on her catch.
“Onyx, I can’t believe you. Come on, let’s get home and as far away from this castle as possible.”
“Intruder!” The door of the castle swung open and a bright golden shimmering sword jabbed through the opening, just missing Mary by a hair. It glowed with what seemed like magic, and for a moment Mary was intrigued, but her shock and fear took over as she shrieked and fell.
Onyx’s hairs stood on end as she hissed at the door.
Mary held up her shield. “I’m unarmed!” she announced. “Don’t hurt me!”
A face peered behind the door, obscured slightly by a pointy knight’s helmet sitting askew over his head, his eyes blinking and his face blank, before shifting into a smile. “Oh hello,” he said, smiling. “Who are you?”
“That’s not necessary, I’ll be leaving.” Mary turned around.
Onyx slid through the opening in the door and waltzed into the castle.
“Oh.” The knight stepped back. “Hi little fella.”
“Oh, I’m sorry about her I’ll just-”
The knight opened the door to the castle to let Mary in. The knight wore a loose red shirt and dark blue pants just as loose. His helmet seemed to be the only form of armor on his person. He clutched his enchanted weapon tightly in his left hand. Upon closer inspection it seemed that the weapon was entirely golden; blade, hilt, handle and all. Mary stepped in to grab Onyx, and as she did, she stopped and looked up in awe.
Inside the castle was the grandest room she had ever laid her eyes on. Marble floors stretched far and wide and a massive candle-lit chandelier hung from the arched ceiling. A loft surrounded the room and directly in front of Mary a grand staircase led its way to the second story loft, with intricate railings. One thing struck Mary as odd, as the windows were just as small as the outside.
She thought about it a moment, how strange that windows hadn’t grown larger, then it hit her.
“Oh, gods, this castle… This castle is massive inside, but the outside, it’s… it’s barely bigger than my house, this is… well this is magi-”
“Magistrate!” a cheery voice called from above. “No wait, that doesn’t make much sense, now does it? Were you about to say magic?”
“Clearly, she was about to say magic.” The knight looked up at the man to whom the voice belonged. He leaned against the railing of the loft above the entrance.
The young man smiled with glee at his visitor. He wore all blue, to match his large blue pointed wizard’s hat, which he tipped at Mary with a wink. He held a wooden tree-branch-like staff in his hand, tipped with a yellow upside-down cone-shaped crystal. Green stained the crystal where it and the staff met.
He tapped the staff on the ground and in a puff of smoke, he disappeared.
Mary turned around, expecting the wizard to have shown up just near her, but instead caught him hurrying down the stairs and running across the marble floor to meet her.
“You weren’t meant to see that…” the wizard said with a short breath. He held his hands to his knees. “I thought I could run faster, that’s what I get for running this early in the morning.”
“I heard it’s good for you,” the knight said.
“Wait a minute…” Mary looked at the two men. “You two are wearing pajamas…”
“Why thank you for noticing.” The wizard smiled proudly.
“You’re not one to judge.” The knight gestured to Mary.
“Who are you guys?” Mary asked.
“I am Joe Wizard!” Joe introduced himself, “And this is my bestest of friends, Ned Knight!”
“Are those really your names?” Mary asked.
“Why of course! Why wouldn’t they be?” Joe asked.
“And your name, fair villager?” Ned asked of Mary.
“Mary Destiny,” Mary introduced herself. “I’m sorry to barge in like this. I’ll be getting my cat and going now.”
“Now wait, why leave so soon?” Joe asked. “We haven’t had company in a while.”
Mary shook her head. She needed to ask again, for her question was only partially answered. Every bone in her body told her to forget about this and go home, but curiosity took over. “Who are you guys? Not just your names, I mean. Why are you here? How are you here?”
“Well, take a seat.” Joe lifted his staff, and the crystal glowed at its tip. In the distance, the squeaking sound of a wooden chair sliding across the floor crept closer. Suddenly, from a room nearby, three chairs scooted their way to the three of them. The crystal lost its glow, and they all sat down. Joe cleared his throat, and seemed primed to tell a story, when he stopped. “What year is it?” he asked Mary.
“1000,” she answered.
“Oh, how convenient,” Joe smiled, clearing his throat once more, “One hundred years ago, in this very village, there was a sword stuck in a stone…” Joe twirled his hands around as he lifted his staff in the air. Mary looked up to it with wonderment.
Joe tapped the staff on the ground, and in a flash of bright light, smoke surrounded the three of them. As the smoke cleared, Mary found herself overlooking the village. She felt floaty, and when she tried to look at her hands, nothing was there. She seemed to be inserted into a memory as nothing more than an observer.
“Joe! Joe! Come look!” A little boy called for his friend. The little boy appeared to be Ned, and Joe, was Joe Wizard, of course. Ned continued, “It’s the sword in the stone, Mister Garek’s gonna tell us about it.”
A villager stood in front of the sword in the stone. The cracked stone was the very same that Mary had seen in front of the small castle, and in fact, there the castle was, in this memory, not an island, but just one of the many buildings in the village. The villager standing before it began to announce to a small group the importance of the blade.
“Hear ye, hear ye! Gaze upon the Enchanted Blade of the Chosen Knight! Placed here by the first guardians of these lands so that one day, a new Chosen Knight would wield it to seal away the evils of these islands! Only one worthy of being the Chosen Knight can so much as hold the blade in his hands. Come one! Come all! Try your might! Are you the Chosen One?”
“Woah…” Joe Wizard stared at the blade with a twinkle in his eye and a floaty feeling in his feet. “That’s the Chosen Knights blade?”
“I told you!” Ned smacked him on the shoulder.
Joe jumped up and down, raising his hand. “Mister Garek! Mister Garek!”
“Yes, little Joe?”
“Where’s the Enchanted Staff of the Chosen Wizard?” Joe asked cheerfully.
“Oh, you little magic maker you.” Garek stepped forward and knelt before Joe, patting him on the head. “Show me a trick again.”
Joe smiled and nodded gladly. He clapped his hands together twice, then closed his hands into fists, clapping them together before opening his hands. A small bunch of butterflies burst from his grasps, and quickly flew away.
“Woah ho-ho. That’s a new one.” Garek smiled.
“I’ve been practicing!” Joe declared proudly. “I’ve been putting together my very own staff too!”
“Well you’ll sure live up to the Wizard family name, then huh?”
“Yup! By the time I’m a grown up, I’ll be the first of the Wizards to do advanced magic in a hundred years!”
“Hey Mister Garek-” Ned interjected. “Can I try to lift the blade?”
“Go ahead, Ned.” Garek stood up and stepped aside.
Ned walked up the walkway to the stone, and pushed past villagers attempting to lift the blade. He stood up on the rock and held onto the handle with both hands. The townsfolk stared at him in anticipation.
Ned pulled with all his might and just as it seemed that he couldn’t possibly do it, the sword swiftly ejected from the stone, flinging Ned onto the ground.The crowd erupted in excitement, cheering and screaming in amazement. The little kid had done it.
Ned stood up and stared at the sword in his hands, smiling from ear to ear. “Joe, I did it!” he exclaimed.
Joe laughed and jumped up and down, excited as can be, extremely proud of his friend.
The smoke cleared as Mary seemed to return to her senses.
“Well…” She shook her head to regain her bearings. “I thought the Chosen Ones were a myth… But why are you here now?”
“Well you see,” Ned explained, “We grew up here knowing that I was the Chosen Knight. We had time to prepare for the evil the Chosen Ones are destined to protect these lands from. The whole village knew for sure that Joe was the Chosen Wizard, so he prepared himself as well. We were about ready to go on an adventure to find the Enchanted Staff but-”
“But an evil came,” Joe said. “The very thing that we were destined to protect the world from sealed us away in our own castle, and it sunk us into the sea.”
“So, what’s different? Why show up now?” Mary asked.
“Well…” Ned looked to Joe. “We don’t know.”
“We’ve woken from a destiny nap of sorts… I guess this means that another Chosen One’s been found. Another weapon has been pulled, probably unsealed us or something.”
“So, are you two going to find that person and help them seal the evil?” Mary asked.
“That’s the idea!” Joe smiled. “Why don’t you come with us and-”
A faint meow sounded outside.
“Oh, would you look at that. I found my cat, I’ll be going now.” Mary turned away, hoping to distance herself from the situation. She hurried out of the castle and looked around for Onyx. She spotted her pawing at the water on the small island’s edge.
Mary looked up. She was on the other side of the castle now and could see a small windmill on the side of the tower. It picked up speed as wind passed through it. With the gust of wind, a wave splashed over the end of the island, and with it came what Onyx desired... a glass bottle. Mary was almost content just to pick Onyx up and head home, but she noticed something.
“Oh no…” she groaned. “No no no… UGH!” She leaned over and picked up the bottle. Frustrated, she popped off the cork and removed the note from within. “Onyx, if you get me caught up in some sort of adventure, I will never forgive you.”
“Miew.” Onyx looked up at Mary, pressing up against her leg and purring.
Mary read the note:
Mary sighed lengthily, drawing it out and slouching over. Onyx gave her a strange look.
“Fine!” Mary said to her. “But only because the world needs it.”
Mary stormed back into the magic castle.
“Oh, fancy seeing you back.” Joe Wizard smiled. “Change your mind about an adventure?” he asked.
“This washed up on your island.” Mary handed Joe the note.
“Oh… oh I see. Well, no time like the present. This person clearly needs our help!”
“Your help.” Mary pointed. “I’m going back to bed.”
“Not so fast.” Joe swished his staff in front of Mary and stopped her from stepping away. “Your cat seems pretty lucky. We might need to keep her around.”
“I’m not leaving without my cat,” Mary said sternly.
“Then you’re coming with us.” Joe said sternly.
Mary looked at him strangely.
Joe smiled and turned around. “Ned, you know what to do.”
“Uh huh.” Ned ran up the stairs and to a room. He turned a large wheel and pulled down on a pulley system.
The castle seemed to shake.
“Wait wait wait, what’s happening?”
“This castle’s magic in more ways than one, little lady. Tell me, have you traveled before?”
“No.” Mary shook her head. “No, and I never will.”
“Curious. Seems as though you have a knack for this kind of thing.”
“Ready-o!” Ned yelled from upstairs.
Mary ran outside and stumbled back as the island seemed to lift from the ocean.
“Mew?” Onyx meowed in a questioning tone. She flew by Mary’s shoulders, flapping her wings anxiously.
“I don’t know…” Mary said.
Suddenly, a big blue object burst from the water, and a loud sound, almost musical in nature, hummed from the smooth object. A light purple strip ran down the object, which, upon further inspection, seemed to be some sort of head. The creature seemed vaguely dragon-like, though with a face so round and smooth it could be mistaken for a salamander. It turned its head and spotted Mary. It hummed. A sparkle shone in its green eye.
Mary screamed, jumping back and hitting the floor as she fell on her back. She held her shield close to her for safety. Suddenly the castle was on the move.
“The castle’s on the back of a monster?!” Mary yelled.
“Don't offend him,” Joe said, “He’s no monster. He’s a Castleback. Only of his kind.”
“This is insane!” Mary yelled.
Joe laughed as the castle pushed forward through the water, out to sea, and away from the village.