10 years later…
She could have sworn she had been here before, was she going around in circles? That mark on the tree, she made it about 30 minutes ago, she was definitely going around in circles. She could have sworn the map she was using was right. She had drawn it the last time she had been to Belaline Bol. Or was it the compass?
Before she could have another thought, an axe flew past her and dug right into the ground before her. Frightened, she turned towards the direction the axe flew from. Up on the branch of an oak tree was a strange-looking man, brandishing an awfully large battle axe.
"What are you doing around here, wee lass?", he taunted. The man jumped to the ground, allowing Elizabeth to notice for the first time how gigantic he was. She was not going to wait around for the next episode. She turned around quickly to make a run for it. Someone, she knew not their location had hit her, hard enough for her to lose consciousness. Just her luck.
Alcohol, that was the first thing she could smell as she came to her consciousness. Songs, that was the first thing she could hear when she came to her consciousness. Chains on her hands and feet, those were the first things she could feel when she came to her consciousness. A handsome blonde boy, about her age, sitting on a gothic throne, staring deep into her soul with his deep blue eyes, that was the first thing she saw when she came to her consciousness. The boy grinned a sinister grin and got to his feet. That was when she noticed she had been made to kneel. He approached her, and about three feet away, he knelt till their eyes were at the same level. He raised his right hand, and she braced herself for impact. That was a futile gesture, for he only snapped his fingers and lowered his hand once again. As soon as he did, so had the chains completely detached themselves from her limbs.
"Never would I have imagined a lady of your status wandering around these parts", the boy said, obviously trying to be as curt as he possibly could.
"Status?" Elizabeth was confused. What did he mean by status? She quickly began to scrutinise her neck.
"Perhaps, you are looking for this?", the boy said as he held up a shiny emerald necklace.
This was when she finally became aware of the predicament she was in. Somehow, she had been kidnapped and brought to a den of thieves. And that boy seemed to be their leader.
"Oh, how very rude of me, I never introduced myself, did I?", he said as he rose and took a step back as if to make a speech.
"I am Pontapleiff, you can call me Leiff, son of Krampus, leader of the seven dwarves, nephew of the King of Belaline Bol, Santa Niklaus and the future king of thieves and Belaline Bol", he said with his arms far apart in a bid to assume a poise stance.
Weirdly, Elizabeth felt this was him trying to be humble. Talk about awkwardness. Before she could say a word, he was rumbling about once again.
"Who are the seven dwarves, you ask? Well, they are only my merry band of thieves, future leaders of Belaline Bol." there was a loud cheer. He went on.
"This…" he pointed to a skinny guy standing in the corner of the room, "is Duncan, an expert on espionage and reconnaissance, all he wants is to have some fun. The guy to his left is Wilbur, one of the most powerful mages in Fabuland. What does he want? Merlin's spell book, which at the moment is at Belaline Bol. Over here we have Ariel, our only female and most important asset, master of seduction, what she wants, me. There's also Reagan, the person who brought you here and the most resourceful idiot you'll ever see".
"Hey!!" Someone shouted from behind.
"Anyway, there's Von Hohenheim, our genius inventor and alchemist, what does he want from Belaline Bol? You guessed it! The philosopher's stone. Last but not the least, we have Strauss, master explorer, the only person to have mapped the whole of Fabuland, well almost, which is why he's with us, he wants to map Belaline Bol"
Pontapleiff ended with the introductions.
"You still have not told me why I'm here, you've robbed me of my possessions, now let me go", Elizabeth finally managed to say.
"What? You mean this necklace?" Pontapleiff taunted.
"I'll return it, but only after you do something for me", he added.
Elizabeth was helped onto her feet. Good thing she had worn a tighter fit today. She could make a run for it whenever she got the chance, she thought. Pontapleiff drew a long sword out of its scabbard bound around his waist. Just as she thought that was the end of her tale, Pontapleiff tossed the sword over to her.
"Your task? You would have to defeat all the members of the seven dwarves," Said Pontapleiff as the seven dwarves pulled out their weapons with the most sinister smiles painted across all their faces.
After she had lost Excalibur as a kid, Elizabeth had taken up lessons with sword masters in the hopes of retrieving Excalibur and defeating her enemies to regain her rightful place as Queen of Camelot but was she really going to be able to take on all these people by herself, she thought. Elizabeth instantly jerked her head, barely missing a flying dart aimed directly at her head. She didn't see where it came from. She had to take a defensive stance, that was her only option as she tried to understand how each of the seven dwarves fought. They had noticed, now only Reagan came charging at her with battle axes. How did she end up in this situation? She had to defend herself from a 6'7 Viking with humongous battle axes while keeping an eye out for flying darts and God knows what.
"You look scared, lass!" Reagan howled as the axe clashed with Elizabeth's sword, sending a loud cling throughout the den.
Dart!
Elizabeth barely managed to dodge that one. This fight was going nowhere she had to be on the offensive. Just as she prepared to parry an attack from Reagan,
"Kvik-Sandr!",
Wilbur the mage chanted. She began to sink into the ground beneath her.
Dart!
This time she had seen where it came from. It was Ariel. She was just in time to deflect it, even though she was sinking and fast. So that was it, huh? Just before it was too late, she noticed something. The spell was only old Norse for quicksand. How then was she the only one sinking? Wilbur was a shadow mage. He could only manipulate the properties of his adversary's shadow. She had heard of such mages before. She had confirmed it earlier when the dart she deflected had sank into her shadow. That as long as it was not her shadow she was standing on, she was going to be safe. That or the chandelier had to go.
And so, it did.
The lights went out, and so did the shadows. The ground surrounding her had solidified. With her wit, she had completely incapacitated Wilbur. Just as she managed to escape from the hole created, there was a bright flash of light. The room had been made brighter than before. It was Von Hohenheim, the inventor. Of course, he was going to be the toughest opponent to deal with. She could never tell what tricks he had up his sleeves.
Wilbur began to chant another spell, wasting no time. She had to retrieve the sword she had used to take down the chandelier and fast. There was a problem, though. Reagan was between them, and he was ready to strike her down as soon as she was close enough to her.
"Kvik Sandr!", Wilbur bellowed.
"Darn one trick pony", Elizabeth thought.
Well, at least she knew what this spell was, and it was good enough for her. Just as he had cast the spell, Elizabeth made a giant leap, right over Reagan. Elizabeth had noticed something earlier. When the lights had gone out, the effects of the spell had been reversed. She noticed a hole had been made in the ground where she had sunk. That could only mean the spell did not change the shadow's effects but anything that the shadow fell upon. Right now, having leapt right over Reagan, her shadow fell upon him. Reagan suddenly collapsed into a mound of slimy matter.
"Irritum et Vicissim!",
Wilbur exclaimed. He had to cancel the spell to concentrate on saving Reagan. Elizabeth made a safe landing. She proceeded to retrieve the sword from where it had landed. Dart!
"Finally!" Elizabeth thought.
Elizabeth deflected the dart again, making sure she hit Von Hohenheim, who was drawing a strange item from a sack before him. Almost immediately after that, Strauss collapsed to the ground. She had figured Ariel out. Poison darts were the only reason she was not particularly aiming for her vital parts. Wilbur had brought back Reagan. He definitely was a more powerful mage than she had imagined but not an attack mage.
For now, she knew Wilbur would not use any shadow-manipulating shells. It was too risky. If her guess was right, that should be his only sort of attack spell. Reagan was hesitant now to make a move. Who wouldn't be after being turned to porridge? Judging by Ariel's choice of attack, she was not going to be a good close-range combatant. She made a move for Ariel. Once she defeated her, she'd have access to her darts, which would be checkmate from there. Ariel was not going to wait around for that. She panicked and made a run for it, leaving her bag of poison darts behind. She made for the bag, and the remaining dwarves dropped their weapons in defeat. Wait, just now, she had only seen…, Reagan, Ariel, Wilbur and Von Hohenheim, four people. Weren't they the seven dwarves? She could remember there was a spy, Duncan, was it? And …
Everything went black. She had been knocked unconscious from behind.
Again, there she was, kneeling on the ground and before her was that weird kid, Pontapleiff.