The Secret of Shadow Castle
Chapter 1
The spooky castle loomed in front of me, begging me to come in. I took a couple of small steps forward and all of a sudden a putrid odour filled the air. “What is that smell!?” I screamed, mblocking my nose. I took my hand of my nose a few seconds later and the smell had completely vanished as if a giant vacuum cleaner had come and sucked it away.
I looked at the castle. Had the smell come from there? Its towers were as black as midnight, there was something oozing down the walls. There was a old sign by the gate. It was covered in sticky,brown mud. I pulled down my sleeve and wiped it away. Looking at my sleeve I wondered where was a laundromat was when you needed one!
The sign was written in a strange language, a language I couldn’t understand. Suddenly I thought about running away but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I slowly walked up to the doors and pushed, they opened. I stepped in and BANG!it shut behind me. When the door slammed more mud and goo fell off the sign. It now read,in English, what is said in the strange language: Beware of Witches or you will become mince meat! I walked into the hall. At the far end of the room there was a gigantic black throne made of stone That’s strange I thought to myself. “Glad you could make it,” a slimy voice hissed. “We’ve been expecting you.” We?? Suddenly witches of all shapes and sizes sprang out from the walls, and it looked as if the walls were moving in. They all stood around me ,boxing me in, staring at me with beady little eyes. “Yay. I haven’t had a decent meal in ages!” the stinkiest one smiled.
“Hey!” another one yelled. “Who said you got to eat her?” They all started fighting about who got their next square meal. Me!
All of a sudden a feminine voice broke out above all of the trolls. “No one and I mean no one is allowed to lay a slimy little finger on her. Get it?” The witches all looked at each other then they all yelled “Yes boss!” Alwina, the empress of witches emerged from behind her spiky black throne. She was draped in shiny black cloth and veil made of spiders webs. Her eyes shone like the last burning spark in the fire. The edges of her mouth curled up when she saw my face “Ahh…Young Abi. You look just like your mother. Before I locked her in the dungeon. Suddenly I felt scared. My mother had disappeared when I was two and I haven’t seen her since. I’m now twelve going on thirteen and I needed answers. “Take her to the dungeons. I will call for her when I need her. Now go!” She turned and strutted to another door leading down a dark, empty corridor.
Chapter 2
Two ugly looking witches approached me,looking me up and down with looks of disgust on their faces. I guess I smelt pretty bad but then again they were the witches so…They grabbed an arm each and pushed me towards a big creaky door. They tugged it open and pushed me through. Once inside we went down and down a flight of stairs until we reached the dungeons. I stared. Every single cell was full of fairytale creatures that I thought only existed in books. There were pixies, trolls, unicorns,elves and so many other that looked like they had been there for an eternity As I look back at the witches I see one of them put a rusty key in a cell lock. The cell door opened with a creaky GROAN! The witches looked at me and I walked in and they shut the door behind me. All I saw was two beds, a tray with slop on it and a cup of water. Suddenly I feel eyes burning into me. As quick as a bullet I turn around. Emerald green eyes stared at me and I screamed. I heard the witch guards come running. They unlocked the door as I crumpled to the cold, hard floor. I hear them whispering something. “Queen…Not happy…We… Big trouble.” They stopped talking (finally), picked me up and gently placed me on the bottom bunk. Instantly I fell into a deep slumber and didn’t wake for a couple of hours. When I did awaken I found two eyes staring at me. They were the same emerald eyes that had scared me but they looked vaguely familiar. Then I realised that they looked exactly like mine. I sat up slowly and saw that it was a girl. Her hair was as black as midnight with vivid green tips. My hair looked exactly like hers apart from the fact that my tips were blood red. I timidly asked “Who are you?” she smiled and responded “Annabelle Andrews-your mother.”
Chapter 2
I swallowed. “You can’t be my mother. Father said you were dead.”
“That was because he was trying to protect you from Alwina. I presume that he told you ‘stories’ about her to stop you from trying to find me.” I leaped from my resting place and gave my mother a hug. “Thank God you are okay. I thought you were really dead like father said.” She gently pushed me away and looked me in the eye. “So you believed him?” she said sternly. I thought about my answer carefully.
“Umm…Well…Yes. But that was because he…” I barely finished my sentence but my mum encouraged me on. “He threatened to chuck me out if I believed that you were alive and well.” She smiled sinister smile.
“Well. Did he now? Wait until I get out of here. I’ll give him what he deserves that slimy little sh-” I cut her before she could curse any more.
“Mum. It’s fine. But we really do need to get out of this cell” I explained, looking around. All of a sudden I felt a sharp point digging into my leg. I slipped my hand down the side of my boot and wrapped my hand around a leather-bound grip. I produced a simple dagger that I had just sharpened that morning. My mother grabbed it from my hand and walked toward the door. She looked at a cell down the hall. She nodded and the elf nodded back. He took a small shard of glass out of his shoe. He snuck a glance at his inmate. The troll nodded slowly. I then realized what they had planned. The elf would cut himself,give the shard to the troll and then scream,attracting the attention of the guards.I breathed deeply and got ready to go. I heard a piercing scream that echoed down the hall. The guards came running. Mum picked the lock quickly and quietly while I stood watching the guards drag away the troll. I heard the creak of the door and saw my mother hop out of the cell. She beckoned me to come out. I did. The guards weren’t by the door so we got out rather quickly. About to run up the steps I heard the whinny of a horse. Turning around I saw a white fully grown horse with blazing red wings of fire. It was my old pegasi Flame! I thought after all these years she would be flying with the angels. “Mum! Give me that knife.” My mum looked at me and then the knife in her hand.
“Now!” I yelled. She tossed me the knife and I grabbed it mid-air. I raced toward the cell and stopped when I got there. I picked the lock speedily and Flame burst through the door. She nickered and spoke in a soft, musical voice “Thank you for setting me free. I would like to ask you for a favour,please?” I nodded solemnly.
“Instead of taking me with you, could you please take my daughter,Halo. I am too old to be flying around with people on my back. Take her now and I will repay you someday.”
I stared into her piercing green eyes and saw the sadness. The guards were coming back. I could hear their boots echoing in the empty halls. “Fine I’ll take her with us.” Flame looked happy that I had said yes.
“But…you have to have to promise the minute you get out you come and find my mother and I, okay?” She looked at me like she didn’t want to but slowly she nodded and looked at her daughter. I saw the tears start to flood her eyes as she backed into the cell again. I hesitated to shut the door but I had to. I ran back to Mum with Halo trotting by my side. I hopped on and grabbed her mane. I beckoned Mum to hop on as well and she grabbed my hand to get up. Halo took off in a blast of golden light-which is probably where she got her name from.
“Where are we off to?”Mum yelled above the wind. I smiled gleefully. “We are off to get a spell off a witch
Chapter 3
Night fell as we flew towards the Lost Woods. The moon was full and the wolves let out a blood-curdling howl. I saw the flames flickering in the windows of the straw huts. The castle where King Jax and Princess Jinx lived towered over the huts. In the distance the Lost Woods merged into the Dark Woods where no one dared to go unless they had a death wish. I turned Halo down towards the edge of the Lost Woods where a small hut lay near the edge of the Dark Woods. Halo dropped into the trees around the hut. “This is as far as I go. I sense the presence of a witch.” My mother glared at me.
“What are we doing at Serena’s liar? You know she hates me.”
“It's not my fault she cursed you. Besides if you want to get back at my father we are going to need her help” I said. “Fine. But I'm waiting out here for you” she grumbled. I sighed and walked timidly towards the old oak door. Slowly I raised my hand and knocked on the door twice. It swung open and a short woman with black hair tied up in a bun stood there with an annoyed look on her face. “Yes? What do you want?” She groaned.
“Umm… I need your help with a curse I want to put on my father.” A glint of mischief came into her eyes.
“What did you have in mind?” She asked suspiciously.
“Well… I want the curse that you put on the Prince of The Lost Island. The one called ‘The Spell of Insanity’. If you help me I will pay you a lot of money. $2,500 to be precise.” Her eyes nearly came out of her head.
“Deal. Come in and I will give you a list of ingredients that I need you to gather for me. Some of them are easy to source but others will be harder to get. Okay?” I nodded and Serena handed me a long list of ingredients that went something like this:
- Rats fur from Rats Gorge
- Troll hair
- Rainbow essence
- Milk from a golden cow
- Fairy dust
- Essence of Fear and Despair from Black Tooth Rock
“Do I have a deadline to get all of this to you by?” I inquired looking at the long list in front of me.
“Hmm? Oh. No. There usually is but with the amount of money you offered me you can take your precious time.” She told me before turning to her desk covered in papers.
I looked at the list one more time before slipping out the door and leaving Serena to mix up her spells.
Chapter 4
I raced toward the spot where my Mum and Halo had been standing and gasped. There, in the clearing, was a 10 foot tall giant dangling my mother by the ankles and holding Halo by the mane. Halo was screeching while Mum bit his fingers and punched his arms. The giant showed no reaction towards the finger-biting and the arm-punching. Instead he just laughed and threw them around like rag dolls. I edged out of the clearing and did the first thing I could think of: race back to Serena’s hut. I knocked on the door until Serena opened the door. “One more knock and I will dangle you over a pot of hot lava! Understand?” she growled. I nodded and slowly put down my hand.
“Sorry. Umm…You wouldn’t by chance have a sword I could use. Please?” I sneaked a glance at the black-blue hilt of a sword dangling from her waist.
Serena looked suspicious and placed her hand on it and asked “What do you need a sword for?”
“Well…you see there’s this giant…And my friends need help because the giant has them.” I spoke so fast that by the end I was out of breath. She sighed and went inside. When she emerged she was holding a small silver pouch. “Sprinkle some of this on him and he will fall to sleep. Now go away and leave me in peace!” She snarled thrusting the bag at me and slamming the door. I ran back toward the clearing and saw the giant setting up a fire. Probably to roast Halo and Mum, I thought. I slipped up behind him and slipped my hand in the bag. When my hand came out it was holding a small mound of green powder. Quickly I chucked it all at the giant. He twisted round and saw me but before he could grab me he fell face first into the logs. I tied him up before speeding over toward Mum and Halo. “Come on. Let’s go before he wakes up” Mum said. We hopped on to the back of Halo and flew off to get the rat’s fur from Rat’s Gorge. As we flew night became morning and it became awfully hot. We slowed down and landed gently next to a shimmering pool of water. It gleamed in the early morning sunshine. We sipped the water and soon after we had a drink we lay down on the grass and drifted off in a deep sleep. Soon after I was awoken by a scream of pure terror. Quickly standing up I scribbled a note to my mother and ran off toward the sound. Running up to the top of a large hill I spotted a tall tower rising in the distance. Again I heard the scream piercing through the air. I sighed and ran off toward the tower. I really should had have brought Halo, I thought to myself. Soon enough though I reached the edge of the forest. Staring up at it I wondered how on earth I was going to get up. That’s when I noticed a dagger sticking out of the wall. Snatching it up I stuck it deeper into the wall and hoisted myself up. I kept going until I had pulled myself to the top. I heard the flutter of wings before pulling myself up into the room. I fell to the floor with a THUD! and as soon as I climbed back up to the window sill I saw Halo and Mother. I told them to wait outside until I had searched the place. They heisatated before drifting down towards the rocky ground. Turning around I saw a rat scampering along the skirting. I followed the rat to the back of the room. There I saw an old dusty sign. Frowning I rubbed the dust off and gasped as I saw the words that were etched in the wood. It read :
Rats Gorge Tower. Home to ALL the rats.
I had finally found Rat’s Gorge. Racing Back over to the window I beconed my mum to come up. Halo brought her up and deposited her neatly on the sill and went back down to the ground. “I’ll be down here if you need me” she muttered and with that went to sleep. We turned away from the window and Mother asked me,“Right. So…What exactly are we looking for?”
“Well I found this sign and It said that we are in Rat’s Gorge. So I thought we better start to look for the rats that Selena wants. She didn’t say how many so we’ll just get ten.” I stated. Mother nodded and we got to work. After a while we realized that the sun had gone down hours ago and we only had 4 rats.
