Stuck in the Land Of Dragons

CHAPTER NINE

A few days passed with no sign of the old man. Willow and Theo went out hunting with Thyrin and Wickley, helped Bellisca do housework, or went out exploring by themselves. It was now that Theo realised that he would never see his family again.

One day Willow and Theo were lounging about at the front of their cave, Locksharti ran by.

"Willow! Theo!" He shouted loudly. "I've got it! Figured it out! I've got the theory. We can get out of here!"

"What?" Theo shouted. The children stood up and ran after the man. Then Willow ran back to tell her mother where they were going. They arrived at Locksharti's cave. He sat down and started talking.

"So Atholia has this staff. This staff has a special stone in it which can open the portal to take us home. You guys need to get this stone and we can go home!"

"Right..." Theo said looking at Locksharti's excited face. "Well, how are we going to get the stone? I mean, it's Atholia. There's no way she'll let us in."

Locksharti's face fell. "Well," He said as he perked up a bit. "We'll just have to think about it. We'll find a way, even if it takes us another century!" Then he turned back to his book, muttering "Get the stone... turn into Atholia... scales... spit..." Theo took that as the time to leave. He tapped Willow and they went off.

"That man is mental," Willow declared.

"I don't know..." Theo looked up at the clouds. "He might just be old. I think he might be onto something. But god help us if it takes a century!" Willow laughed and they chatted all the way back home.

"Hi Mama!" Willow called.

"Hi Willow!" A voice called back. Bellisca came out of the other room.

"Did you go see Locksharti again?"
"Yeah. He said he had his theory. Apparently Atholia has this staff which has a special, one-of-a-kind stone. This stone is also a portal opener. If we get the stone we can go home," Theo explained.

"But, you can't get the stone! It's Atholia! The dragon ruler! There is no way you'll be able to get it," Bellisca exclaimed.

"Thanks for the encouragement, Mama."

"That's what I said. But I think he might be on to something. Willow and I are going to visit him everyday to work on a way to get the stone."

That's exactly what the two children did. For the next two weeks, the pair visited Locksharti every day to try and find a way to get the stone. By the end of the two weeks, they had as much of a lead as they did before Theo even got there.

"I'm giving up," Willow sighed one day as they were walking to Locksharti's cave. "We have nothing. Nothing to go on, nothing to help us. Our only lead is this old man who seems to be older than a century and as mental as a crajon!"

"What's a crajon?"

"A crajon is a stupid, batty dragon that has no idea how to live or do everyday things." Theo rolled his eyes.

"I still think he's onto something. We will get something. I know we will."

"Fine. I'll go there with you everyday. But I'm only doing this because you are the only friend I've ever had and I'm still deciding if I'd have more fun helping you find a theory or helping Mama clean the cave." Theo chuckled at her.

"Hello there, m'boy! Hello there, Willow! Come on!" Lockshati shouted when he saw the pair. They set back to work, occasionally glancing at Atholia's cave. Locksharti had moved caves, and was now living opposite Atholia so he could see how often she came out of the cave.