Alfie The Elf

Chapter 8

'Bilby, are you now ready to tell us how you ended up in that wooden box?' Alfie asked as he navigated the hot air balloon.

'It's a long story,' Bilby replied letting out a sigh.

'That's fine, we have a long journey ahead,' Pedro replied adjusting his sunglasses while Bullet cocked his ears sitting down next to Bilby.

'Well... as I said earlier, I belong to the Easter Bunny family. My twin brother Wilby is currently the head of our family. Master Zinghran, the wizard, has been looking for the magical dagger of 'The Dark Shadow' to become the Master of this Universe,' Bilby paused for a moment and then continued, 'He came to know through the Seer that the Mythical Creatures hold the key to the location of the dagger hidden by The Guardians of the Universe.'

'Hold on a sec... who are the Guardians of the Universe and what is The Dark Shadow?' Alfie asked scratching his head.

'Let me explain,' Bilby said calmly, 'Like night and day we have evil and good around us to maintain a balance in the universe. The Guardians of the Universe guard the universe against the dark forces. The Guardians are comprised of the five most powerful Angels of God and they control the five elements of the universe that are Fire, Earth, Water, Sky, and Wind. Without these elements, the universe cannot function normally.' Bilby paused to take a breath and continued, 'Dark Shadow is not a 'what' but a 'who'. He is actually a 'Fallen Angel' who was thrown out of Heaven by God and later commissioned by the Dark Forces to take over the Guardians of the Universe and establish the Kingdom of Darkness. The Guardians and the Dark Forces have been warring since time immemorial,' Bilby explained, 'This is the Dark Forces' latest and the most dangerous ploy against the Guardians of the Universe.'

'Ok... And what are Mythical Creatures?' Alfie asked further.

'The power of Good and Evil depends upon human beings' faith, or belief, in them. Childhood is a very important stage in the lifetime of a human being. Children have very tender minds and they can easily swing towards both good and evil. So, to protect children from getting influenced by evil, the Guardians of the Universe created the Mythical Creatures to represent one important event in their lives each. The power or energy of the Mythical Creatures again depends on the faith children have in them. If children stop believing in the Mythical Creatures, they will cease to exist and in turn, the Dark Forces will influence their tender minds and turn them against good. This in turn will create an imbalance in the universe and destroy it in totality,' Bilby explained while the others gaped at him in amazement.

'If I am not wrong, Easter Bunny is one of the Mythical Creatures, isn't he?' Pedro broke the silence.

'That's correct,' Bilby smiled and added, '...and now to answer your question as to why Zinghran captured me: Because he and his people mistook me to be the Easter Bunny, as we are identical twins.'

'But how did he capture you?' Alfie asked while twiddling with the controls but turning to look at Bilby for a moment.

'Our family is spread all over the world, and we are addressed by different names. We, Mythical Creatures, always camouflage our hideouts to safeguard ourselves from dark forces that can use us and our special gifts granted to us by the Guardians of the Universe, to harm the world,' Bilby replied. 'The Seer, Madame Dinglebell, was asked by Zinghran to track our movements. I, being the most adventurous member of our family, made a mistake this time when I was sent by my brother to deliver an important message to my Aunt in Australia. Instead of taking the magically camouflaged route I took the regular route and was detected by the Seer. She alerted Zinghran and his sidekick, Marty, who trapped me. You know the rest of the story as you helped me escape from that box.'