While the little fox and Amy were walking, Fay appeared in front of them and said:
“I see that you have made a new friend.”
Amy got startled when she saw Fay.
“Yes. Her name is Amethyst, but you can call her Amy. Amy, Fay.”
“This fairy is your friend?”
“And guide. She has been guiding me all the way.”
“There is nothing to fear, young Amy. I will help both of you become heroes and get to your respective goals. But you must be brave, and bravery is what you will need the most for your next step… the Haunted Forest.”
“A H-Haunted Forest?” the little fox stuttered in fear.
“Pfft, I ain’t afraid of no ghost!” Amy said.
“You mean there will be ghosts there?”
“Maybe.” Fay said. “But together, with your courage, will unveil the secrets of the forest, and only then, the things that make the forest scary will not be so scary anymore.”
“You heard her, Red! Let’s go!”
Smiling, Fay vanished.
“Red?”
“Well, you need a name. And since you’re a red fox, why not that one?”
“Red… Yeah, I like that one.”
And so, “Red” and Amy entered the dark, spooky forest. Crickets and owls made the ambience. A swampy smell filled the air. The trees had vines around their trunks and on their branches. Some of them even appeared to have scary faces with glowing eyes!
“Uh…” Red said. “I know it hasn’t been long since we met, but I’m glad to have you by my side, Amy. You are brave, though and cool!”
“Aw, stop it!” Amy said. “You’re making me blush.”
Suddenly, they heard something coming from the trees. A group of ghosts flew toward them! Red ran away from them, but Amy breathed fire at them. Then Red noticed something strange: the ghosts were burning like if they were sheets! Something was wrong. Then he looked harder. The ghosts weren’t really flying. They were sliding down a rope! So he went to find where the rope started. He found out it started from a tree with a spooky face. Then, he noticed that the face looked like a door, so he opened it, and he couldn’t believe what he found inside. A medium sized green troll was handling strange mechanisms to control the ghosts!
“So, it was you!” Red said.
The troll let out a scream.
“Please don’t tell the others!”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s my job to scare intruders, and if they find out I’ve been discovered, I’ll be the laughing stock of my troll fellows.”
“We’re not intruders. We don’t mean to harm you or any troll!”
Amy landed near them, scaring the troll.
“This is the one who was controlling the ghosts?”
“Aaagh! Who is that dragon?”
“Oh, where are my manners? I must introduce ourselves. I’m Red, and this is my friend Amy. Don’t worry, she will not harm you… Right?”
“We’ll see.” Amy said.
“My name is Travis. As you may have heard, my duty is to scare intruders that could harm us trolls. I was born with a great intelligence and ability to build stuff, so they assigned me this job. These ghosts are my most recent invention. However, these last years have been very boring, doing the same thing over and over again. I want to try something new. Perhaps something that might help other people...”
Red had an idea.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Are you serious? One more companion?” Amy asked.
“Think about it. He said he had a great intelligence and could build awesome inventions. Besides, he wants to build stuff to help people. He could help us!”
“Ugh, fine. But I don’t trust him very much, especially because he tried to scare us!”
“Because trolls are often mistreated by people. Let’s give him a chance.”
Red turned to Travis and said:
“All right, Travis, here’s the thing. There is a princess with bewitched feet that we must save by finding a pair of magic crystal slippers found in the Mysterious Mine, where we’ll most likely have to face a monstrous two headed snake called the Bi-per. If you can invent stuff that can help us save the princess, you can join us.”
“Oh, thanks, guys! It means so much for me! And to thank you for it, let me build you a shelter. It’s getting dark out here, and it will be dangerous if you go through the forest in nighttime. Just wait a little.”
Travis gathered some materials and built a tent for them in no time.
“Wow. Thanks!” Red said.
That little fox, the dragoness and even the troll slept comfily in the tent, safe from the dangers of the forest. Next morning, Red and Amy woke up, and found out that Travis was no longer in the tent. Then he greeted them at the entrance with two plates on his hands.
“Morning, guys!” Travis said. “Here’s your breakfast. Sparrow eggs with boar bacon.”
“Mmm… Thank you, Travis!” Amy said.
When the three of them finished their breakfast, and prepared to continue their journey, Fay appeared, startling Travis.
“Who is that fairy?” he asked.
“Don’t worry, Travis. It’s just Fay, and she’s here to guide us.” Red said.
“Good thing you already had your breakfast.” Fay said. “But you will have to wait for a while before you can eat again. You’re gonna need it… when you get hungry visiting the village of Sweetie Hollow.”
“Sweetie Hollow?” Amy asked.
“You mean the village that is entirely made of sweets, pastries, cookies and cake?” Travis said. “Does it really exist?”
Fay nodded yes.
“Aw, man! I thought it was just a myth! I’ve always wanted to visit that place. However, I didn’t have enough time, having to work on traps for intruders in this forest. But now that I’ve joined these two new friends of mine, this adventure gives me the chance to finally visit Sweetie Hollow!”
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Red said.
Fay disappeared once again, and the little fox, the dragoness and the troll left the Haunted forest in order to move on to Sweetie Hollow
TO BE CONTINUED