The Haunted Woods Secret: Part Four

Zeth darted right and left, he was racing as fast as he could, but could not outrun his pursuer. Daton looked helplessly through the top branches of a large dead tree. "Zeth! Don't let them catch you!"

      "Do you think I'm trying to let them catch me?" he shouted back as he stumbled over the obstacles in his path.

     The Ghost Magtile did not let up; they chased the poor white Lupe over brambles and through bushes. Luckily for him, Zeth was in good health and running was not a difficulty for him. The problems he had were with the brambles, roots and large rocks he was constantly forced to trip over or leap across. "What are these things?" He took a glance behind him. They seemed to slither right through any obstacle they touched, as if they actually were ghosts. He couldn't see a single flicker of life in their eyes. They weren't actually living things, he thought. They were probably illusions of the Amulet. Even so, he couldn't let them catch up, they seemed real enough for him and a bite from them would probably still hurt. Zeth's road suddenly ran short; he stumbled down a steep hill barely avoiding a tree stump. He couldn't maintain his balance as the faster he ran; the harder it was to keep control of his feet.

     Daton jumped to another branch. She could no longer see Zeth or the mob of Magtile slithering after him. "It figures he can't climb trees," she muttered, and slowly climbed out of the tree. "I hope evil ghostly Petpets don't decide to eat me," she sighed sarcastically to herself. "With or without Zeth, I have to find out a way to seal the evil Faerie in an ugly tree for the rest of eternity. It's where she belongs!" Daton began to run. She didn't run in the same direction that Zeth ran for she didn't want to end up falling down a steep hill as well. Even though the Haunted Woods is inhabited and various food stalls and a theme park had been built along with many Neohomes, Daton was far too deep into the woods to really feel comfortable. "As if I felt comfortable in the Haunted Woods on a normal day," she mumbled to herself, rolling her eyes.

     The air was very thick and fog had spread throughout the trees of the Woods. The familiar sounds of Neopians that had filled the air in Neopia Central had long vanished. The noise was now replaced by the sweet sound of silence. Every now and then Daton would hear a snap and would turn around quickly with eyes wide, ready to run, only to realize the sound was coming from the twigs under her own feet. She did indeed feel more vulnerable without Zeth. She found herself constantly keeping an eye out for his figure in the shadows. The poor Kacheek was so busy worrying about the devious looking shadows in the trees and about what might happen to her that she didn't even realize how far she had actually walked. The air was as thick as ever and the ground was soggy and shrouded by fog. It was as dark as she had ever seen the Haunted Woods; the tall dead trees grew up high and reached the sky, blocking out the light with their many large, scary, spindly branches. "This looks about right," Daton squeaked. She knew this scene all too well. This was the exact place where she and Zeth had found the amulet entwined in the tree. "If only we had read that last chapter."

     A loud rumbling suddenly knocked her off her feet. "Oh, great just what I need, an earthquake!" she winced as she attempted to stand still on the trembling ground.

     "Daton!" said a voice from behind her. Zeth calmly walked up to her side and smiled. "Daton! You've found it, this is the place! Now give me the amulet and we can replant it," he said, grabbing for the Amulet Of Dreams that was on a vine around her neck. Daton pulled back.

     "We need to trap the evil Faerie inside first!" she paused. "Hey. How did you get here so fast? How did you get away from those Magitles?"

     Zeth stood quiet for a moment. "Well," he began. The white Lupe took a few steps backwards. Suddenly his eyes shone a bright red and he burst into flames. His body twisting and turning like smoke above a fire. "Because I am not Zeth," he hissed.

     Daton shrieked, did a 180 and ran. She didn't get any more than five steps before she bumped into Lee the Chia. "Lee!" she shouted. "What are you doing? We have to get out!" But Lee the Chia did not move. He laughed an evil choking laugh and thrust his paw forward turning it into a large claw. "Let go of me!" she cried. The fake Chia's image twisted and turned eventually forming him into the evil Dark Faerie herself. Daton gasped. "It's you!" she yelled.

     The evil Faerie's appearance wasn't very fun to look at. Her matted dark purple hair was long and had foliage growing into it. She wore a long tattered black dress accompanied by the only other article of clothing she had on: two wooden sandals on her feet. The nails on her fingers and toes were long and sharp, her wings were large and tattered and her entire body itself was letting of a dark ghostly steam.

     The Dark Faerie grinned. "You must be wondering how fate has brought you the Amulet?" she said in an eerily calm tone. Daton did not answer. "Well," the evil Faerie began. "It was me," she grinned.

     "It can't be!" Daton squeaked.

     "Oh, but it is! I can only receive the amulet from the one who freed me. I cannot harm them until the amulet has been transferred safely and they cannot harm me," she said coolly. "I could only do my damage from within the trees of this damp old eye sore. Easy spells like food rotting and weather spells were enough to keep me amused. Enough until I acquire enough power to destroy everything!" Daton was forced to stare into her hypnotic eyes as she took in every word. "My powers have been drained, all that time locked in a WORTHLESS TREE!" she screeched.

     "If you have so much power, why didn't you leave the Haunted Woods?" Daton whispered.

     "BECAUSE," the Faerie yanked Daton close. "Because I am forbidden to leave it! The other Dark Faeries cast a spell upon me and I am powerless to stop it!" she growled. The evil Faerie took the amulet in her hand."So now, now I can draw the infinite powers of the amulet!" she cackled insanely rising one hand into the air, the other still holding Daton.

     "NOOOooo!" Daton screamed. The striped Kacheek tried her best to kick and bite her way out, but nothing she did would make the Faerie let go.

     "Stand still, FOOL!" the Faerie shrieked.

     "DATON! DAATON!!" The Kacheek looked into the trees in the distance. Zeth was leaning against a tree. He was missing some patches of fur and had several scrapes and scratches all over him. "Daton, Use the amulet!" he yelled again. Daton's eyes dropped to the Amulet around her neck. Glowing orange beads of light were flowing through the Faerie's hand from the center. "She's connected to you now by the amulet! You can harness the power of imagination to defeat her!" he yelled again. Daton remembered when the Faerie had first summoned the shadow creature to fight them.

     "HOW?" she yelled back.

     "Just think of anything, anything at all!"

     Daton closed her eyes and thought hard. The first thing to come to her mind would appear and defeat the evil Faerie once more. The ground began to tremble and the fog swirled around itself, dancing into an image of its own. Hurry, hurry! She's gaining too much power, Daton spoke to herself in her own mind. The fog grew larger and larger and the twisted form began to take shape. A large sausage-like body with a smoky trail of ghostly dripping ketchup took form. At the top were two pickle eyes of fury and a toothy mouth. The form grew clawed arms and thick legs.

     "A HOT-DOG!?" Daton heard the Faerie howl. "You are going to have to do much better than THAT, Kacheek!"

     Daton wasn't ready to give up. The ghostly Hot Dog leapt forward then did something neither Daton or the Faerie expected. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" The evil Faerie screamed as it flicked her up into the air as if she were a pancake. It then caught her in its mouth, swallowing her whole.

     "Ever met a Hot-dog that could take a bite out of you?" Daton laughed. The smoky Hot-dog collapsed in a bright spray of orange light. The light shot at Daton and soaked back into the amulet.

     Zeth hobbled over to Daton's side. "Quick! She's been trapped inside the amulet, we must plant it," he panted. Daton closed her eyes again, this time trying to conjure up a giant shovel, but nothing happened.

     "It's not working!" she cried. Zeth choked, "The Faerie's powers aren't connected to you anymore. That probably means you can no longer use her powers." Daton snapped the vine from the amulet from around her neck. "Then we will have to bury this by ourselves before it's too late!"

     Zeth suddenly looked up. "I know!" He struggled to stand again. When I fell down that hill I found a cave. The cave had a large crevasse that was about ten feet deep! If we throw the Amulet Of Dreams in there and make the cave, well, cave in," he explained.

     Daton nodded. "Show me the way!"

     Daton could feel that the Faerie could break out at any time now. The orange magic glow of the amulet was beginning to fade. If the amulet wasn't planted to grow into a tree soon, she could escape again, but this time for good.

To be continued...