Spellbound
Chapter 8

A pine tree directly next to Penelope shuddered and rained pine needles down on both her and Nathaniel and they gripped each others hand tightly as result but stayed fix to the spot they were standing in. Neither of them moving. Eyes scanning left and right. Fear was replaced with adrenaline and a readiness to retaliate given the slightest provoking. Both of them didn’t move....at all. They waited for something to happen frozen to the spots they were standing in.

“See anything Nat?” whispered Penelope gazing directly in front of her and to her sides.

“Nope...but don’t stop looking and listen to your body if something feels wrong or out of place tell me ok?” whispered back Nathaniel to his friend who had the sweatiest hand he had ever held in his life.

“Ok shall do” whispered Penelope squeezing his hand in recognition.

Nathaniel looked this way and that to see if anything had changed or something he may have seen that was now different getting to the river and if it had changed in any way. He looked at the river again and there was nothing there that had changed. He looked back up the track he and Pen had walked down to get to the river...and he saw something different. It wasn’t much to look at and would have normally blended in with everything else in the forest but after scanning the area as many times as he had this seemed out of place. Nathaniels nerve endings were flying into a warning whirlpool inside his mind and he ever so gently tugged on Pen’s hand he was holding.

“Get ready Pen....look back along the way we came here...Azadarin is about to make his presence felt” whispered Nat as he turned to face the new edition to the forest that seemed to be out of place.

Pen changed the direction she was looking slowly towards the path they both took and at first couldn’t see any sign of impending doom but on closer reflection she then saw what Nathaniel saw and gripped his hand in recognition of this. She whispered to Nat....

“That tree on the path is different Nat”

“Yep...I agree” and both Nat and Pen put their field of vision on the tree in question hoping that they would see a tell tale give away that Azadarin was hiding there. Instead they both heard a splash in the water behind them. Pen looked at the direction the sound came from in the river but Nathaniel didn’t stop looking at the tree on the path.

It moved.

Nathaniel gripped Pen’s hand tightly and she refocused her attention to the pathway.

“He’s coming”whispered Nathaniel.

“I’m ready Nat” and she squeezed his hand back.

The only way Azadarin could sneak up on both Nat and Pen now was to appear and make himself visible directly in front of them because Nathaniel had seen him move so the first test for these two had been done...and they passed with flying colours. They did so much better than the other 8 students he had already tested earlier that morning. Both he and Nibbles had feelings that these two people were ‘special’ and given how they had both held themselves and indeed looked out for each other spoke volumes to Azadarin who now wanted to see if they would run or fight.

He concentrated and the tree he had become to hide from them started to grow gnarled arms and legs, with long spider like twigs for fingers and he rose from where he was hiding and made himself known to both students.

“There he is...” spoke Nathaniel now giving away the whispered voice for his normal tone.

“I see him Nat” said Penelope trying desperately to hide the fear she now had at seeing this monstrosity appear before them both.

“Get behind me Pen..” and as he spoke tree roots burst from the ground and wrapped themselves around their legs, Penelope screamed in terror while Nathaniel buried his knife firmly into the roots and at once they let go and vanished back into the ground as if in pain from the accuracy of Nathaniels aim with his knife.

Once free from the tree roots both Nat and Pen backed back towards the river. It was then that the tree that was Azadarin lumbered forth towards them. The wind instantly howled around them both sending pine cones and needles into the river behind them. It was as if a tornado had just been unleashed in the forest around them and they clung to each other for dear life.

Azadarin still in his disguise as the evil tree dragged himself up to the two frightened youths by the river and with a white flash of light everything around him changed back to calm and sunny, peaceful and serene. There, standing before Nathaniel and Penelope was Azadarin in his human form adorned in his purple wizard suite and hat smiling at them.

Both Nathaniel and Penelope were speechless and breathing heavily in fear about what just transpired in the clearing near the river bank. Out of the foliage from above them in the pine trees came Nibbles who landed gracefully on Azadarin’s shoulder smiling at Nathaniel and Penelope. No one spoke for some time while Nathaniel and Penelope collected their wits about them. It was Azadarin who spoke first with a gentle smile on his face to Nat and Pen.

“Well that seemed to go well for both of you” he said with Nibbles nodding her head in recognition of what Azadarin just said and it was then that it was Nathaniels turn to talk first after making sure that Penelope was ok. He looked deep into the eyes of Azadarin and said...

“Hello again Azadarin and Nibbles, this is my friend Penelope and can I ask you this...did we pass the first audition?” to which Nibbles started to laugh.

“You both passed with flying colours” said Azadarin smiling back at Nathaniel and Penelope.

“Can I ask what the first test was actually please Azadarin...and hello Nibbles nice to see you again” asked Nathaniel putting his knife back into his back pack and both he and Penelope walked towards Azadarin to hear his answer. Nibbles said in a chipper voice...

“Hello you brave pair of humans so nice to see you again” and then Azadarin raised his hand up to silence her because once she got on a verbal role with people she liked she was hard to shut up. Azadarin spoke gently and calmly to both his new students.

“The test was broken up into lots of parts, I wanted to see if you were alert, loyal to each other, ready to defend yourselves, suspicious, attentive, brave and able to fight given how scary it must have been for you to endure” said Azadarin now sitting down and leaning up against a pine tree.

Once again Nibbles took up her spot perched on his left knee smiling at Nathaniel and Penelope.

“So how did we do Azadarin?” asked Nathaniel and Penelope at almost the same time together, which made them look at each in shock and Nibbles laugh again.

“You both past the first test” said Azadarin smiling at both of them.

“Did the other pass as well?” asked Nathaniel and at once Nibbles smile vanished from sight and with a somber voice Azadarin replied...

“No...they all failed and actually Nibbles..could you go and stop that last boy from running because he doesn’t look like he will stop he is that scared” and having said this Nibbles flew up into the air waved a wing at Nathaniel and Penelope and set off to halt one scared boys marathon running exercise into the next country because of an evil tree he saw walking towards him.

Azadarin, Nathaniel and Penelope all stopped moving when they hear some one screaming off in the distance. The screaming was getting closer so they all watched and waited for it to get closer and shortly a rather rotund young man sprinted past them screaming his head off then shortly afterwards Nibbles came to a halt in the air following this boy and looked at Azadarin and said .....

“A little help would be nice” as she flapped her wings taking up the chase with the youngster who was clearly out of his mind with fright.

Azadarin raised his hand and pointed at the boy who had not even seen the party sitting by the river and a smallish white light left his pointing finger and darted towards the running boy. It hit him in the back of the head and he collapsed onto the ground unconscious and stiff as a board. Nibbles landed next to him and whispered in his ear and he woke up then walked back home through a different path in the forest, much quieter and more relaxed. Then Nibbles flew back to Azadarin’s knee and perched herself there saying....

“What did I miss?” and it was only then that conversation started to flow at a normal speed between all parties and there was even laughter to be heard because the mood had changed so dramatically. After a decent chin wag for some time Nathaniel and Penelope were told to expect their new letters in two days time for the next test and having said that Azadarin and Nibbles vanished before their very eyes. Nathaniel looked at Penelope who was still coming back to earth from being so scared and he said....

“We passed....that went well I thought” to which Penelope replied....

“I don’t mind that you are talking so long as you don’t mind that I’m not listening.”

That was how it was all the way home.

But when they parted ways they both said goodbye nicely and just when they both thought they couldn’t see each other anymore they both waved, smiled and got home in time for dinner.