Lesson Two: “Monsters Are People Too”

Previously, our adventurers were reunited in an ancient forest. After escaping the evil clutches of a giant tree spider, they ran clear across the Kingdom to the Blackmar Pits of Fire. But a mysterious presence was secretly following them. Will they find another means of escape or will they face their fears? Let’s find out in today’s lesson!

“Harry, we’re being followed! To the castle! Quickly!” 

King Mateo dashed towards the fire pits. Harry blinked in confusion. “But the castle’s the other way!” he yelled.

“I know,” King Mateo understood Harry’s confusion. “We’re taking a different route. My father commissioned a network of secret tunnels that would provide safe passage to the castle. The Royal Architects recently finished this work. We just need to find the secret entrance. Let’s go!”

A fire pit erupted, sending flames streaming across a violet sun. 

As the embers fizzled back to the earth, a faint glow caught King Mateo’s eyes. The secret door's hidden keypad!

"There it is! But wait, I can’t remember the access code.” King Mateo nervously wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“What now?” asked Harry.

King Mateo’s squished his face in thought as Harry's face grew bright with an idea.

“What about the letter from this morning? Didn’t it mention a clue?” 

“Harry, you’re a genius!”     

King Mateo rummaged through his backpack for the letter. “Here it is! E4, C4.” 

He punched the code into the keypad. 

Nothing. Again he entered the code. Still no response.

As they were about to give up hope, the door burst open with a groan, releasing a cool puff of air. 

Stepping into the entryway, they were startled by a voice. “Good afternoon, King. Welcome to the Royal Tunnels.” The voice continued. “Please place your signet ring in the scanner. Your raft will then inflate. We wish you safe passage."

“A raft???” muttered Harry.

“Oops, I should have mentioned. The Architects thought waterslides would be more fun than regular tunnels." 

“You first,” said Harry.

“Hold on tight!” The raft zipped down the tunnel, twisting and plunging, Harry’s stomach lurching with every dizzying turn.

The architects were right. It was great fun.

Soon though, the raft came to a stop. 

The automated voice again bounced against the tunnel walls. “Apologies, King. The castle entrance is under repair. Please exit here.”

Our adventurers stepped into the warm, dusky air. Birdsong filled the sleepy sky.

But something felt off. 

The ground trembled, the grass shivered, and the stars above spun themselves dizzy as a deep roar sent our adventurers flying through the crisp night air. 

They landed just in time to see a massive alien, fur-covered and ball shaped, rumble towards them at terrifying speed!

King Mateo jumped to his feet. But Harry was stricken with fear, once again frozen in place.

What will happen? How will they save themselves?

That’s when King Mateo remembered the vials in his backpack. Lifting one out, he turned to Harry.

"Listen Harry. The contents of this vial will grant you the superpowers we need to escape. But it only works on those of the Royal House. So, I'm making you an official member of the Royal Guard. From now on, you'll be known as Lieutenant Harry, Puppy Pawn and Defender of the Crown.”

King Mateo handed Harry a small vial of lava-red liquid.

Harry’s eye sparkled with wonder as he watched the vial’s liquid pulse and glow.

“With this, you'll have the power to make any danger disappear! Including that scary alien! But for it to work, you’ll need to follow a few rules. First…”

“Rule number 1: Make sure the danger is real. Can it capture (catch) you or one of your friends? If so, continue to rule two.”

“Rule number 2: Get into position. Place yourself one step away from the danger, on a forward diagonal."

“A diagonal?” Harry paused. And despite feeling nervous and confused, he spotted something. The alien was no longer moving.

“I'll show you,” said King Mateo, bringing Harry’s attention back to the conversation. “Let's use this plant as an example.”

King Mateo got into position with the plant directly in front of him.

“Watch. See the V shape I'm making with my arms? If the plant, or the danger, is between this V, between my arms, the potion won’t work. You'll be blocked, 'Stuck like Chuck'.  But, if I adjust my position, like so… where is the plant now? Still between the V or along one of my arms?"

“Along the end of your arm.”

“Yes, the danger is now on my forward diagonal. And that means, if I were you, I could make it disappear. Though, this rule is a bit different for me. As King, I can make anything in any direction disappear, as long as it's one step away. But back to you…”

“The final rule:

“Rule Number 3: Slide and Spray!

So you’ve made sure the danger is real and you’ve gotten into position, now all that’s left is to slide into the danger, spray it with the potion, and watch it disappear! 

Harry sniffed the air and paused. A familiar scent floated by. “That can’t be possible," he thought distractedly.

“Harry? Are you ready? It’s time to capture the alien.”

Harry puffed out his chest, determined to make King Mateo proud. But without warning, the giant ball began to wiggle and squirm. And a loud voice from inside the alien called out, “Alien? What alien? Where? Let’s get out of here!”

What followed was almost too astounding to describe… The giant ball began to crumble and separate into tiny furry pieces!

Harry’s shock melted into laughter. This was no alien!

“You’re here! You found me!” Harry threw himself forward as his brothers and sisters removed their alien disguise.

“That tricky old Shadow King! After you fell, he wanted to leave you behind. But we weren’t going to let that happen. So we ran off when he wasn’t looking. And found this cool disguise!" Exclaimed the puppies.“

Harry frantically wagged his tail, overcome with delight. But once again, a happy reunion was cut short. A danger lurked in the shdaows.

“Someone’s here! To the castle before we’re captured!” ordered King Mateo. 

A thunderous wave of feet, paws, and hooves group broke into a run. Trampled grass and chunks of moist mud kicked through the air when King Mateo suddenly cried out, “Owww!!!”

The puppies came screeching to a halt. And as if by magic, four figures appeared, looming over their fallen King. 

“We've come to help!" said the mysterious figures.

King Mateo recognized their voices. It was Sho and Luca, the Bull Rook Brothers, along with their cousins, Helena and Henry, King Mateo's friends from the future! 

“You’re here just in time!" he declared. “Someone is following us and I need your help getting everyone back to the safety of the castle!”

They all looked down at King Mateo's bruised and swollen ankle.

"Sure thing, but any ideas on how to get there undetected?" asked Sho.

"The vials! We use them to make ourselves invisible! Then whoever is following us won't know where we've gone to!" suggested Harry

“I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, you’re a genius Harry! Ok everyone, form two lines—shoulder to shoulder, that’s it, and with one Bull Rook at each end. Great, now lock tails and I’ll spray the formula on you. Perfect, now keep those tails locked together as we march to the castle."

And so, one by one they disappeared. Soon they were back on castle grounds. 

“I can’t believe that worked!” exclaimed Harry. 

King Mateo sighed a sigh of relief. “What a day! Time to eat and then rest. And plan for tomorrow. After all, plenty of our friends are still missing.”

But the others weren’t listening. They were too distracted by the rich aromas wafting through the Royal garden.

The puppies galloped towards the delicious smells, their giggles piercing the peaceful night air.

“Hey, what's that?" asked Sho, the Bull Rook, between bites. He was pointing to a giant board on the garden lawn.

"Oh, that? That's for games," responded Wilbur, the Royal Butler. “I thought you might like to have a bit of fun before the evening’s end.”

"Oooh, I know a fun game!” laughed the puppies. “Let's play "Copy the King!" 

The garden echoed with playful shouting and the pitter patter of spotted paws. King Mateo chuckled as the puppies wobbled on their pretend ‘swollen ankle’.

“Very funny, you all look just like me! Injured! And so came the perfect end to a wild day.

Would you like to play their new game? Let’s try it!