Chapter 11

“We’re stuck?” Mary asked, not believing what she heard.

Brad sighed.  “Yeah, we are.  Maybe if we shout someone will notice that we’re gone.  Do you want to try that?”

She thought about it for a little bit.  “I can’t think of anything that would be better.  Let’s try it.”

They started shouting “help, help!” in hopes that someone would hear them and rescue them.  Dragons were supposed to have good hearing, right?  They were shouting for a half an hour straight.  Mary’s voice was getting sore.  When she took her break, she looked around the walls of the wishing well again, since her eyes were getting used to the dark.

Mary looked around really carefully, and eventually she saw that there were some lines in the wall that looked kind of like a door.  Looking closer, she saw that there was even a little stone sticking out.  Could that be a doorknob?  Reaching out, she pulled on the little stone.

It was a door!

Mary was shocked when the water around her rushed forward into the room behind the door.  So was Brad.  He almost instantly stopped shouting and asked, “What just happened?”

“There was a door!” Mary explained.  “I pulled on the doorknob, and it opened.  We could have gotten out all along.  We didn’t even have to shout for help.”

“So I made my voice sore for no reason?” Brad asked.

Mary giggled.  “I guess so.  Now come on.  Let’s get out of here.”

Brad nodded and together they walked into the room.  It wasn’t a very big room.  It was long and narrow, about the size of a school bus, and at the other end there was another door.  Nervous, Mary and Brad walked to it and pushed it open.  On the other side was a room.

Well, it wasn’t exactly a room.  It was much too big to be a room.  This place was so big that Mary and Brad could barely see the other side.  There were random things all around them.  In one part there were huge statues and paintings of things that they couldn’t identify, and on another side there were huge bookshelves with rows and rows of thick books.  Towards the back of the room it looked like there were plants growing almost to the ceiling high above their heads.

“What do you think this is?” Mary asked Brad.

“I have no idea.  All I want to know is how to get out,” he replied, looking around to see if he could see an exit.

Mary frowned.  “I want to know what it is.  It’s such a strange place.”

He sighed.  “Fine.  While you look around at the stuff, I’m going to look for a way out, okay?”

Mary nodded, walking towards the books.  There were so many of them she didn’t know where to start!  Walking down the rows, she saw that the books were about tons of different things.  Some were about flowers, and some were about houses.  There were books about different places and different people, and books about animals and rocks.  Mary could have happily spent the rest of her life sitting there, curled up in one of the many chairs, reading.

All of a sudden there was a noise.  It made Mary jump and ask, “Who is there?”

An old man came walking out from behind one of the shelves of books.  He was short and had a long white beard that went to the floor.  “That should be my question, young lady.  What are you doing in my room?”

“This is your room?  It’s amazing!” Mary told him.

“That doesn’t answer my question.  What are you doing in my room?” the old man repeated.

She smiled.  “My friend and I were looking at the wishing well, and we fell in.  We were just looking for a way to get out of here.”

“Well, that’s easy.  You just go way to the other end of the room and use the stairs.  It may take you a while to climb them, though, because they’re very tall.  Good-bye,” the old man said, walking back to his books.

“Wait!” Mary called, following him.  She found him sitting on the ground and reading a book about birds.

He sighed.  “What do you want?  I’m very busy.”

Mary ignored how rude he was being and asked, “How did you make this room and fill it with so much stuff?  It’s so big!”

“That’s easy.  I was able to do it because I’m an elf,” the old man replied.

Mary raised her eyebrow.  “An elf?  I thought they went into hiding a long time ago!”

The old man laughed.  “What do you think this is?  My room is underground, and the only way you can get in is through that wishing well.  I’d definitely call that in hiding.  I haven’t seen any of the other elves in centuries.”

“Mary!  Have you found the way out yet?” Brad asked, walking up to her.

The old man replied, “Yes she has.  It’s the staircase all the way at the other end of the room.  Good-bye.  I hope you have a nice life.”

“You too.  Mary, let’s go,” Brad said, grabbing hold of her arm.

She struggled out of his grip.  “I have some questions I want to ask.  Why did you go into hiding, Mr. Elf?”

“My name is not Mr. Elf.  It’s Aaron.  All of the elves went into hiding because we didn’t want to deal with being around the humans anymore.  Like right now.  Can you leave now, please?  I’m asking nicely,” he said impatiently.

“Can I come back?” Mary asked.

“Can I stop you?  Well, I can, but I don’t really want to, so you can do whatever you want,” Aaron said, already reading his book again.  Mary smiled and nodded to Brad, who was also waiting impatiently.  Together they went to the other side of the room to the stairs.

When they got there, Mary and Brad just stared at the stairs.  They were huge!

“How big do you think they are?” Mary asked Brad.

“There must be at least a thousand stairs,” Brad replied.  “Should we go up them now?”

Mary nodded.  “If we don’t get back soon, Lady Jade will start to worry about us.”  Brad nodded in agreement, and they walked up the stairs.  It took them a really long time, but finally they made it to the top.  Once they got there, they saw another door.  Brad pushed it open.  They were back in the castle by Mary’s room.  Lady Jade was walking by them when they opened the door.

“Where did you two come from?” she asked.

Mary smiled.  “It’s a secret!”  Brad rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything.

Lady Jade smiled back.  “I see.  Well, I hope you two had fun.”

“I’m hungry,” Brad complained.

Lady Jade laughed.  “Good.  Dad made a really big meal for us for dinner tonight.  You’re going to love it.”

“When can we eat?” he asked excitedly.

“Right now!  I was just about to go and find you so I can show you were the dining hall is,” Lady Jade explained.  “Russell and I just finished unpacking.”

“That’s good.  Where’s the dining hall now?” Brad asked.  It was Mary’s turn to roll her eyes.  Boys were always so hungry.

Lady Jade led them down numerous flights of stairs, almost as many as they had climbed to get out of Aaron’s room.  They they turned down many hallways.  Mary decided that she would never be able to find her way around the castle no matter how long she stayed there.

Eventually they got to a room that was a lot like the Grand Hall in Draco City, the place where Mary had dinner when she first got there.  One difference was that it didn’t have three sets of tables, but many round tables spread all over the room that anyone could sit it.  Another difference was that it was a lot bigger.

Brad and Mary looked around in awe as they followed Lady Jade to an area where the tables were smaller.  The rest of them were for dragons.  Lady Jade said, “We should sit here tonight.  I want to introduce you to my dad’s uncle, Sir Andrew.”

As they walked up to the table they saw another old man.  This one was taller and looked less grumpy than Aaron, and his white beard was a lot shorter.  It only went down to his waist.

When they approached he smiled.  “Jade!  How have you been lately?”

“I’ve been good, Uncle Andrew.  You said you wanted to talk to me?” Lady Jade asked.

“Yes I did.  Your father wanted me to tell you that he wanted to talk to you after dinner.  You should take Russell and your new little friends to his rooms after we finish eating,” Sir Andrew replied.

Lady Jade cocked her head to the side.  “Why can’t he talk to me here, at dinner?”

“Some messengers came in a few minutes ago, and he had to talk to them.  He won’t be coming to dinner tonight,” Sir Andrew explained.  Then he sighed and said, “I guess you’re just going to have to deal with me.”

Lady Jade laughed.  “Isn’t that terrible?”

Dinner that night was strange for Mary.  The plates were so big.  And the forks!  She could barely hold hers in one hand.  She ended up using two hands.  Sir Andrew, watching her, was laughing at her through most of the meal, but thankfully, he didn’t say anything.

When they finally finished all seventeen courses of the meal (dragons ate a lot; maybe that’s why they get so big), Mary was about ready to fall asleep.  She had got up really early that morning and had stayed up really late, and that was never a good combination.  So when Lady Jade got up from her seat to go and visit her father, Mary followed her in what seemed like a sleepwalk.

Lady Jade walked up two flights of stairs and down a grand hallway.  At the end of the hallway was a doorway that was bigger than all the ret of the doors.  Mary caned her head and could barely see the top of it.

“Where are we going?” Mary whispered to Lady Jade.

The dragon princess smiled.  “We’re going to my father’s rooms.”

“But why is it so big if it’s only for one person?” Mary asked.

Lady Jade laughed.  “He’s a dragon after all.  It’s going to be bigger than human doors.  Besides, he’s the king.”

Two huge dragons opened the door for them.  lady Jade quickly walked in, and Mary followed her.  Russell and Brad had offered to stay behind and help clean up the dining hall.

Sitting inside the room was the huge dragon that Mary had ridden to get to the palace.  He was sitting on a pile of rocks that resembled a chair.  Lady Jade smiled up at him and said, “Hello, Dad.  You wanted to see me?”

“Yes.  I haven’t talked to  you in a long time, Jade.  How have you been?”

Lady Jade laughed.  “I’ve been great.  The humans are so interesting!  I found myself a new friend, too.  This is Mary.”

The dragon king smiled at Mary.  “We’ve already met.  How are you feeling?”

“I’m kind of tired, but other than that I’m fine,” Mary replied.

“That’s good.  Jade, I’d like to ask you something.  Did anyone follow you out of the human city?” the king asked, shifting in his “chair.”

Lady Jade frowned, thinking for a minute.  “I didn’t notice anyone, but that doesn’t really mean anything.  I left because one of my friends said that some people were suspicious that I wasn’t human.”

“That would give the humans in Draco City good reason to follow you.  Are you sure that you didn’t see anyone?”

The dragon princess went pale and asked, “Why, what happened?  Dad, tell me!”

He sighed.  “I just got a message from the elves.  The humans have found their city, and they want to start a war.”