The Wonderful Wood

The change of tides

Ethan was not allowed to go out into battle. "Not yet," said Drizzlemister whenever he asked about it.

Ethan looked at the battle. Diagon was by his side in the shape of a wolf. More and more soldiers were brought back from the battlefield to the tents to be treated for their wounds. "Okay, you can go see what you can do. I will join the battle soon!"

There was a flash, and Diagon turned into a dragon, and Ethan got onto his back. Diagon took off and flew towards the scene of the battle. Then he breathed fire. The enemy stopped fighting and looked above. For some, the last thing they ever saw was a rain of fire falling on them. Arrows whizzed past Diagon and bounced off his hard and shiny scales.

Ethan stretched his hand, and the ring turned into a boomerang. He threw it, and it knocked down some enemies. The tide of the battle began to change as Ethan and Diagon swept through the enemy ranks.

Ethan looked down on the battlefield and found that the enemy ranks were retreating. The kings rank cheered. They moved forward and pursued the enemy rank.

Soon, the enemy was running back to their camp. Soon, the enemy was running back to their camp. The king was forced to keep on giving chase until the enemy forces dispersed. Everyone in the kings camp sang and cheered for joy.

The soldiers scoured the field, looking for wounded soldiers, and brought them back to camp. Then they dismantled all the camp.

 They all started walking back to the palace. Diagon landed, and Ethan got off him. Everyone cheered, and some soldiers lifted Ethan to their shoulders. They entered the city of the king, and there were people gathered in the streets with flags, banners and flowers.

The people gathered along the streets and started cheering. They walked through the streets and finally came to the palace.

There was a feast prepared in the castle. There were flowers and festoons everywhere, and the whole court had a festive air. The lords and ladies were dressed in fancy clothes and strutted about the castle as stately as peacocks.

The children ran about shouting and playing. There were tents in the courtyard and treats of all kinds. There were vendors of sweets, musicians, dancers and clowns.

The air was filled with the fragrance of cooking food. Ethan changed into a dress that was laid out for him in his room in the castle. He looked in the mirror and couldn't recognize himself.

He walked out among the crowd talking and shaking hands. Diagon had turned back into a squirrel and snuck inside his coat pocket. The festivities went on, and then they sat down at the dinner table to have dinner. Drizzlemsiter and Diana sat by Ethan.

Ethan ate chicken pie, roast beef jerky, fried fish and fried potatoes. For dessert, he had jelly, custard and caramel pudding. He was stuffed. He excused himself and walked away from the dinner table.

He walked into the gardens. He was feeling happy after a long time. The moon shone down, and the stars sparkled and glittered. The night air was cool. He suddenly heard the sound of someone sobbing. He went in the sound direction and found a lady sitting on a bench and wiping her tears with a handkerchief. When she saw Ethan, she stood up.

"Hello," said Ethan approaching her. "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm not," said the woman walking towards Ethan. "I miss my brother. I'm the wife of one of the king's ministers."

"Well, you are just a boy, so I don't know. Nevertheless, I will tell you what happened."

"My brother and I were very close when we were young. But as we grew older, we grew apart. We were close but not as close as we were in our childhood."

"What happened to him?" asked Ethan as they walked down the garden towards a row of fountains.

"He fell into the terrible company," said the lady taking a handkerchief.

"So he became bad?" said Ethan trying to understand the lady.

"He became a robber, a thief, and...my mother died of a broken heart when she got to know."

"No, sadly, he got into the worse gang of all time, and I haven't heard of him from a long time."

"You want me to help you to get in," asked Ethan as they came to a stop by the fountain that sparkled under the moonlight.

 "Yes, that is my only wish right now. And I heard some disturbing news!" said the lady as they stood by the sparkling fountains.

"What is it?" asked Ethan looking at the lady who was dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief.

"That my brother and his gang have been transformed..."

"Transformed?" asked Ethan moving away from the spray of the mountain.

"Changes into horrible creatures," she said, bursting into a torrent of tears.

"We will help you," came the voice of Diagon from Ethan's pocket.

"Who was that," said the lady looking around her. "Did you hear that?"

"That was Diagon, the last dragon king,"

"Ah, I've been hearing stories about him. Is that him on your shoulder?''

"Yes, said Diagon, leaping off Ethan;'s shoulder."

"Yes, said Diagon, leaping off Ethan's shoulder. Then there was a flash, and Diagon stood in front of them in his real shape. The lady gasped. "I never thought I would see a real dragon in my life!" she said, bowing low at Diagon.

"We will help," said Ethan looking at Diagon and back at the lady. "We will do our best."

"They were turned into wood wraiths, right?" asked Diagon as he looked up at the moon.

"Yes. The Wicked Wizard crossed his path, and he turned them all into those horrible creatures. Do you think you can help?"

"I am positive!" said Diagon bowing his head, "you have my promise that I will do my very best."

"Thank you so much," said the woman smiling.