Doom of the Three Stones - The Tales of Big and Little #1 Page 4

  The old gnome's heart broke and he touched Little's head gently. "You don't give up, do you? Even after I tried to hurt you, you still see the best in me. That's very much like my brother." he said.

  Little looked up at him, "He said that Big and I have a destiny, I'm sure he would say the same about you. Come with us!"

  The old gnome looked at all of them and smiled weakly, "I don't know about a destiny, but I will come with you if you insist. Maybe there is some good I can do yet."

  With the formerly evil gnome, they took the Stone of Courage back to the Underground City.

  Episode 14

  As they walked through the Forest of Fear, they noticed that the forest did not seem to be as scary as it once was. The power of the Stone of Courage made their steps lighter and the forest retreated from the Stone's power.

  Once they left the forest, they traveled across the plains back to the Underground City. Along the way, Bjorn and the Dogs learned much of their new companion. It turned out that he didn't start out being evil or trying to hurt people, but he was so jealous of his older brother that he turned to Shirlee for more power. And more power always corrupts the heart of the one who seeks it.

  Eventually they reached the old windmill and went down the long stairs into the city. As soon as the bridge guards saw the old, formerly evil gnome, they sounded the alarm. Soldiers assumed the Old Gnome was a captive and moved in to take hold of him so they could drag him to the dungeon. The guards and they were just trying to keep the city safe.

  Bjorn stepped in front of the gnome, between him and the soldiers. "This Gnome is no longer evil, he has repented of his ways and I vouch for his entry into the city." Bjorn declared.

  The guards and soldiers looked uncertain. “We respect you Bjorn, and we don't want to question your word, but we have orders from the Chief Elder himself to arrest and lock him up if we should ever see him."

  “Then we will all escort him to the Chief Elder and I will explain the situation myself," said Bjorn, and he marched into the city. The soldiers followed closely, never letting the Old Gnome out of their sight.

  They made their way through the city to the Great Hall of the Elders, where they were announced and let in. Once inside Bjorn told the Elders of their journey thus far; of the forest, the castle, the battle with the Old Gnome and his change of heart. Then he showed them the Stone of Courage, embedded in the staff he carried. The Elders were impressed, but they did not know if they could trust the Formerly Evil Gnome.

  They called in Tiberius to hear his advice. Tiberius walked over his nephew and looked him over, "I see you have been through much," he said.

  The formerly evil Gnome looked up at Tiberius, "Yes uncle, I've done so many terrible things. If you feel it is just and right to throw me in the dungeon then I accept my fate." He then hung his head low. Tiberius was surprised, then overjoyed, and gave his nephew a great big hug.

  "My nephew would have never answered like that if he was not changed. Based on his humility and Bjorn's testimony, I believe the Elders should let this Gnome walk free," Tiberius declared.

  The Elders conferred amongst themselves. Finally the Chief Elder spoke, "We will allow this Gnome to walk free in the city, under supervision, but he is not allowed to leave. This is our ruling."

  The gnome said thankfully, "That is more than I deserve." He told his new friends goodbye and left with his Uncle to catch up.

  The Chief Elder looked solemnly at the heroes, "You had many close calls in the forest and at the castle, but greater dangers are ahead. When Shir began attacking this land, the Princess knew that he wanted the Stone of Wisdom for himself, so she hid away in our most well guarded fortress. There she remains and will forever remain unless we can reach her. However, the path is fraught with danger. You must pass through the Land of Giants, and as Bjorn knows, they do not allow anyone to pass through easily. A great many warriors have never come back from that place. If you make it through the Giants, the fortress is in the middle of a treacherous swamp that is said to be more dangerous than the Forest of Fear. It is good that you have the Stone of Courage, you will need it.

  "I can't stress to you enough how much we need the Princess and the Stone she bears. Without them, I don't see much hope in defeating Shirlee or his armies. Good luck."

  The heroes set out once more into the wild lands, over hills and mountains, across rivers and through deep valleys. One day the weather changed for the worse and a thick fog surrounded them. It was so thick that they had difficulty even seeing the ground.

  The ground began to shake and large boulders fell all around them.

  They had entered the Valley of the Giants.

  Episode 15

  It is a very well known fact, to those who know such things, that Giants are very, Very, VERY, VERY ugly. In fact, no one actually wants to be around Giants because they are so hideous to look at.

  Of course, this makes Giants very angry. If people were always calling you ugly and never wanted to be around you, you would probably be upset too. To show that they were mad, Giants decided to throw large boulders toward the lands that don't want them around. Of course they never hit those places, but the throwing makes them feel better and it also keeps people from needlessly walking all over their home.

  Because if there is one thing that Giants can not stand, it's trespassers. They even made a sign at the entrance to their valley, "Trespassers will be crushed, survivors will be crushed again."

  Knowing these facts, Bjorn and the Dogs had to be extremely careful as they dodged boulders and made their way through Giant Valley. It was tricky work. The fog had lifted slightly, but just enough so that they could see a few feet in front of them. The boulders lessened as they got farther into the valley, but the going was still slow.

  Slightly less well known, is the fact that Giants can hear extremely well. Because they hear so much, the world is a very noisy place for them, which also makes them very upset. They can hear a footstep from a football field away, and they can hear a sneeze from much farther. The sneeze is what got Big in trouble, because he in fact did sneeze in the Valley of the Giants. This is not ever a good idea.

  "AAHHH, AAHHH, AAAHHHHH, aaaaaa, chooooooooo!" Big sneezed.

  Bjorn, Little and Big froze, listening for any Giants that might have heard them. Unfortunately, one did.

  The ground shook like an earthquake beneath their feet, the heroes could barely keep their feet. Everything around them shook.

  A Giant came striding over to Big, and snatched him up into the air. Big let out a loud yelp and a howl. Bjorn tried to follow close behind.

  The giant put Big in front of his face and began to lick his lips, a wholly disagreeable sight to anyone normal. But Big was anything but normal. You see, Big saw the best in everyone, and when he heard that the Giants were so indescribably, hideously ugly, he did not believe it. “No one could be that bad," he thought. That's just the way his mind works.

  But that wonderful personality didn't really matter if he was about to be the Giant's noon-day snack.

  The Giant looked at Big saying, "MMMM, yum yum, you do look tasty!" and he raised Big over his mouth to drop him in. When the Giant paused to talk, it was just enough time for Bjorn to run up from behind and use the magical power of the staff to put the Giant to sleep. The Giant closed his mouth, flung Big to one side, and then came crashing down. The sound was deafening at first, but then it kept getting louder. Much louder, like the sides of the valley were avalanching in on them.

  "How can it be getting louder…?" Bjorn asked himself. Then it dawned on him, "Quick! The other Giants heard and they're coming, follow me. Now!" and with a quick look at the sun peeking through the fog, Bjorn headed south. The thunderous noise grew louder behind them, and they ran as hard as they could. But the ground was shaking harder, and running was becoming nearly impossible.

  The fog cleared just a little more and before them stood an impossibly high cliff face. They ran right into a dead end. The rumbling w
as at it's worst, but suddenly came to a stop. As the fog cleared further, the heroes saw 50 giants holding large boulders and trees in their hands, just waiting for a command from their leader to throw. The extra large giant in the middle must have been the King Giant, and he was grinning a sloppy ugly grin.

  The king yelled out a command and the other giants raised their boulders and their tree trunks. They were getting ready to throw and neither Bjorn, Big, nor Little could see a way out of this mess.

  Episode 16

  The Giants raised their boulders and tree trunks, just waiting for the command from their King to demolish the intruders. The king smiled his ugly smile as he held his hand in the air, as soon as it dropped, the giants would throw and the quest would be over. Hope looked far away.

  Big thought this was all too silly. He walked up to the Giants, which made them pause. He looked the King in the eyes and said, "You know, I don't think you look funny, in fact, you look cool if you ask me."

  The King Giant was taken aback, "You aren't afraid of us?" he asked.

  "Oh no, I'm afraid of being crushed to death, but other than that, why would I be afraid of you?" Big asked.

  The King wasn't sure what to do, this creature was not afraid and actually complimented them, this had never happened before.

  Big spoke again, "In fact, if you put down your boulders and trees, I'm sure that we could be great friends."

  The giants weren't sure what to make of this. Friends? With an outsider? That never happens. The King waved his hands and the other giants put down their weapons, but none moved out of the way.

  Big smiled, "We have to go save a Princess from the fortress across the swamp. But once we do, on our way back we can stop by and I will show you how to play fetch."

  The King was astounded, "Everyone treats us badly, everyone runs away from us. So we treat everyone else badly too. I just don't understand how you can be so nice." he said.

  Little joined Big and together they went over and licked the Kings toes. The big Giant laughed and jumped in the air, almost coming down on the top of the Dogs. The other Giants started to laugh too, the sound was deafening but a welcome alternative to being crushed. It had been so long since they laughed that they forgot how good it could feel.

  The King bent down to look at the Dogs and Bjorn, "You may go save your Princess and you are welcome to our valley anytime as honored guests. When you come back you must stay and teach us this "fetch", it sounds fun," the king said with a laugh. "Just no more of that toe licking, okay?" the King added.

  Big and Little smiled back, "Deal, thank you your highness." And they bowed low to the ground. The King and Giants bowed back.

  "Go, save your Princess," The King said, "But beware the Swamp and the dangers within, not even our bravest Giants dare go in there."

  After thanking The King and rest of the Giants, Bjorn and the Dogs headed into the swamp.

  The Swamp was dark and desolate, a wasteland, and any joy or happiness that the Dogs or Bjorn had from being free from the clutches of the Giants was swallowed up by the swamp. It sucked away all good things.

  Their every step was labored, the murky bog was like thick sand holding down their legs as they walked. The smells that came from the swamp made Big and Little want to throw up. But they forced themselves to keep going.

  Finally after what seemed like days of hard walking, they saw the Fortress. As they got closer the ground began to move like waves on the ocean.

  A humungous garbage monster rose from the swamp, swinging it huge garbage fists at Bjorn and the Dogs.

  Episode 17

  The Ancient Garbage Monster swung it's massive arms, swatting at our heroes. Bjorn and the Dogs could barely move their feet in the thick sand and mud, but they did their best to ward off the attacks. It wasn't nearly enough, they were getting pummeled.

  Bjorn took out the magic staff with the Stone of Courage. He instantly felt his fear slipping away, hope spreading through his body. Bjorn leveled the staff at the monster and said, "Take that!" A blast of energy shot out the tip of the staff and hit the monster's head, or what looked like his head. The garbage beast staggered backwards. But it wasn't out for long. It quickly recovering and resumed its attack.

  Bjorn tried to blast the monster once more but nothing happened, the beast kept coming. It began to soak up the water from the swamp and use the foul liquid to blast Bjorn and the Dogs. The stench was unbearable.

  Luckily, the ground became easier to stand on and they were able to dodge the attacks a little better. Bjorn tried more attacks with the staff, but nothing was working. Big and Little tried biting the monster but nothing worked, all they got was a mouthful of garbage. They tried to get around the beast but it stopped them at every turn.

  Their situation looked hopeless.

  Bjorn took a powerful blow that sent him flying back several feet, he dropped the staff as he flew through the air. Little was close enough to swiftly retrieve the staff, grabbing it in her mouth. With the staff in her mouth she had to breath through her nose. The stench was almost too much.

  Little thought to herself, "This is so stinky, I really wish we could have some fresh air."

  The staff began to glow brighter, until it was blazing white. Then a miraculous thing happened. Wind came down from the sky, blowing away the stench and fog. The air smelled so clean, like laundry and fresh cut flowers. The Dogs and Bjorn breathed in deep gulps.

  The new air swirled around the monster like a cyclone, winding tighter and tighter, forming a tornado. The Garbage monster was being suffocated. As it coughed and gagged, pieces of garbage fell off to the ground all around the Dogs.

  Bjorn took the staff from Little and raised it one more time to send a blast straight into the Garbage Monster's heart. Garbage exploded everywhere, covering everyone up passed their heads.

  Bjorn and the Dogs climbed out of the pile of refuse and Little shook a piece of something really gross from her foot. "Ewww, yuck!" she said.

  "I can't believe we did it! Thank you Little, that was amazing." Bjorn said.

  Little smiled, "It was the staff really, I just thought that I wanted to some fresh air. It did the rest."

  Bjorn nodded,"Let's just be thankful we had it with us. Now, we have to get to the fortress. The Princess is waiting."

  They ran to the fortress and the draw bridge across the moat surrounding the castle lowered down for them. Sprinting across the bridge they entered the castle and there stood Princess Nezla with the Stone of Wisdom around her neck.

  The Princess bowed to the Heroes, "You have come, I knew you would. Thank you. I've been held prisoner here for sometime, but thanks to you we can combine the power of the Stones and defeat Shir." she said.

  Then she went over and placed a gentle hand on each dog's head, and Bjorn shoulder and said thank you to each one. The Dogs couldn't have been happier.

  The Princess grew very serious, "But now we must go, there is much work to be done if we are to win this battle. And maybe," she said with a smile," a bath as well." The Dogs and Bjorn smiled back. They couldn't smell themselves anymore but when you fight with a Garbage Monster, a bath is definitely in order.

  They made their way back and Nezla used the stone of wisdom to find the fastest way through the swamp. Passing through the Valley of Giants, they met with the King Giant. Although there was no time for a game of "fetch" the King agreed to help defeat Shirlee if the Princess promised no one would laugh at or make fun of them.

  "I promise you," she said,"No one will run away from you except for your enemies." The King let out a thunderous battle call and agreed to come with them.

  When they returned to the Underground City, there was much rejoicing. A large party was held in honor of the Princess' return and everyone was in good spirits. Two of the magic stones were in their possession, the giants were on their side, the Princess was back to lead them, and they had two great warriors from another world. Everyone came up to Big and Little to thank them.

&nbs
p; At the height of the party, they heard a scream from deep in the Great Hall.

  Bjorn ran toward the noise, quickly followed by the Dogs. They found Nezla on the ground, clutching her chest and breathing heavily. Bjorn ran over and helped her to her feet. But something was wrong.

  The Stone of Wisdom was missing.

  "The Old Evil Gnome stole my stone. He overcame me and just took it." she said.

  At that moment Bjorn had a sinking feeling, and checked his satchel. The staff was missing as well.

  "That Cursed Gnome has both stones, and I bet I know where he's going." Bjorn seethed.

  Just then, a scout came in and said, "I saw the Old Evil Gnome heading east, but he was too fast. I couldn't catch up to him."

  "East?" Bjorn said worriedly, "That means he's heading for Lee and the Castle of Doom. Shirlee will soon have all three stones."

  Episode 18

  No one knew what to do. With the Magic Stones gone, they couldn't see a way to defeat Shirlee. Many spoke of surrender or simply hiding away, hoping that Shirlee wouldn't take notice of their Underground City.

  Even Bjorn didn't have any ideas. He sat moping around his hut all day.

  The Dogs couldn't believe such courageous people would give up so quickly. After all that they had seen and done, neither Big nor Little were willing to give in. They wanted to stop Shirlee no matter what, so they came up with a plan and went to tell the Princess.

  She was in the Great Hall, conferring with the Elders. The Chief Elder was at her side and they seemed deep in conversation. The Dogs walked up and Big cleared his throat, "Mhmmm."

  The Princess and Elders looked up at them, "Yes my Rescuers, did you need something?" she asked.

  Big wasn't used to speaking to royalty and didn't know how to say what he wanted to say, "Well, if it pleases your majesty, we have a plan to get the Stones back and defeat Shirlee."

  The Elders looked amused, but the Princess took them seriously, "Please tell us, so far we have nothing."

  Little started, "Tiberius told us of a prophecy that spoke of dark times and two who would come and save the land. We want to fulfill the prophecy and get the stones back." Big continued, "When we entered the Castle of Fear, Bjorn used his crossbow to sneak into the castle from the top. I think we could do something like that for the Castle of Doom."