They ran through the hallway and into the main entry room, which opened up into the dark courtyard. They had almost forgotten that it was still night. It was completely dark now, and not a single star shone in the sky.
“Where is the torch?” asked Sara.
“I thought you had it,” said Woggy.
And then they both realized at the same moment that they had left it in the dining room. The dining room where they had trapped the dull knight. There was no way they could get it now. They were trapped between the Night Knights and the darkness of night itself.
The wind whistled ominously in the inky air. The four children stared out into the darkness. They felt the cold wind against their faces. It gusted right out of the darkness and Sara felt something hit her in the stomach. A gentle hit. Like a single sheet of paper hitting her body. She looked down and, sure enough, it was a sheet of paper. The wind held it against her like a hug. The wind that had been her foe not long ago now blew in with a friendly gift.
Sara could hear the sound of wood chopping, and the door splintering. There was no time to waste. She smiled and sat down to draw. She quickly sketched a torch and then blinked and held it in her hand. Rob grabbed it and flew up to the chandelier lighting the torch and returned.
The darkness melted before them as they fled the castle. The glow of light around them felt like a shield of protection against the shadowed world. The sounds of sword against wood faded with each step they took.
They climbed the hill and soon found the mouth of the cave. They plunged through the icy waterfall that guarded the entrance to the cave. Woggy held his backpack over the torch so it would not get dowsed by the falling water. The cave was dark, just as it had been before, but it was no darker than the outside world. Somehow being surrounded by the familiar stone was comforting.
They ducked through the tunnel and with each step they were able to stand a little straighter. They walked through the massive room with crystal pillars. There were a few times where they questioned which way to turn. I am not certain, but I think they might have made one or two wrong turns that made them retrace their steps and try again. Everything looked different walking through the cave in reverse.
They finally found their way to the room studded with jewels on the walls. Their spirits were rising. They did not hear the sounds of anyone following them, and, as Woggy pointed out, the Night Knights would have had a lot of trouble ducking through the low ceilings of the first part of the cave.
Their hearts still pounded heavily, though now from exertion more than fear. They were all ready for a good nap. The cave soon ended and the four found themselves in the open air once again. The darkness was no different, but there was now a fresh breeze about them.
They were all sure that they knew the way to the Perch. The problem was that nothing looked familiar and each one was sure about a different direction. Woggy was sure that the path lay straight ahead, Sara knew that they had come from the left. Finn said that he could smell the mangoes from the Perch tree and that they needed to go right then slightly left. And Rob was sure that it was either straight or left. They stood there for quite some time, trying to remember, and wishing that it was day again so they could see something to remind them of where they had come from.
They saw nothing, but they heard something: the sound of thundering hooves up above them. I do not know if you remember the debate that the four children had the very first time they found the cave. They were trying to decide if it would be better to climb over the mountain or to go through the mountain in the cave. They chose to go through the first time, and again the second time. But their pursuers had chosen to go over the mountain.
The Night Mare tore down the hillside to where the children were standing. The dull Night Knight was on its back, but in the darkness the children could see nothing. The sound of hooves got louder and louder. Soon they could see a glint of light reflecting off of the dull Knight’s sword from the flickering torch.
Rob flew towards him with her sword drawn. She was fearless. Now that I say that I am actually not sure it is true. I think Rob had lots of fear, but the biggest fear was that her friends would get hurt. And she was going to do everything she could to keep that from happening.
The Knight held his sword in the air. The two swords flickered bright in the torchlight and then collided with a crash. Rob flew in the air twisting and swinging her sword nimbly. The dull knight flung his sword around wildly. The swords clashed and clanged. There were many impressive moves and dodges on both parts. Every move seemed to be sped up in the quivering light of the torch.
Woggy, Sara, and Finn stood watching the duel with stunned amazement. They were not sure what to do. Finn had his sword drawn, waiting for a moment when he could jump into the fight. None of them were sure if the Night Mare could be fought. It was pure shadow.
Rob flipped in the air and swung her sword at the knight's sword arm. Her blade was inches away when the knight reached up his other arm and smashed it against Rob, knocking her to the ground. She fell with a thud, sliding a few feet from the Night Knight. Her sword landed point down in the ground just out of her reach.
The Night Mare reared up on its hind legs as the Night Knight stared down at the defeated Rob lying on the ground. He raised his sword high in the air victoriously, readying for his final blow.
“No!” shouted a voice from the darkness, and then Woggy ran to Rob’s side, standing in front of her protectively. He grabbed her sword by the handle with both hands and raised it up out of the ground to defend his fallen friend. He was there like a knight in shining armor–well, not the type of knight that is in this story, but the type of knight that is a hero. The type of knight that protects, and is kind and brave.
Woggy held the sword up very bravely. Soon he felt Finn by his side, then Sara on his other side. Sara reached down and helped Rob up. Woggy and Finn stared down the knight with swords in hand, waiting to see what his next move would be. The Night Knight towered above them on the horse of pure shadow. Out of the darkness came the sound of clanging metal. They could see the shimmer of the shiny knight as he trotted down the hill to assist his fellow knight. He was less shiny than he had once been, though. It was apparent that he had taken some time trying to clean his armor, but it really just looked like he had been smeared with ashes.
All four of them were scared, and all four of them were very brave. Rob leaned on Sara. Sara held up the torch. Finn and Woggy looked and waited, holding tightly to their swords.
That is when Woggy saw it. He saw the first star twinkling out of the night sky, fiercely standing out in the darkness. It shone down with a ray of courage that went straight into his heart. Then he saw the second star, and the third. Soon the whole sky was full of pinpricks of glowing light. There was a spark of light hopping from star to star, turning all the dark stars on. All they had needed was a spark. It looked an awful lot like the spark that was their friend. Soon the sky was clear and beautiful, and a full round moon smiled down on them with a friendly, white glow.
Woggy felt brave. He felt his friends by his side. They were all together. They were standing up to fear. He was not alone. He felt loved. He remembered what his mom said when he had nightmares: “Darkness is where weak things hide when they want to appear strong.” The lights and the memories gave him hope, hope that together the four of them could win, hope that the night had a weakness, and that together they could find it.
Woggy smiled. It was a genuine smile, and it lit up the whole valley. The darkness vanished from the shining light of Woggy’s smile. It disappeared as fully as though the sun had risen on a beautiful clear morning, all around their little group. Colors and flowers could be seen all around them. The world seemed alive again. Alive and beautiful.
The Night Mare vanished because it had only been a shadow. The knight that had been riding it toppled to the ground. His helmet fell off revealing that there was nothing inside of the suit of armor which now lay limply on the ground. Only a hollow metal frame, no longer ominous. No longer a danger to them. Its weapon lay still in its metal hand.
The shiny knight marched into the light and looked down at the hollow knight. Seeing that his companion was just an empty threat, he realized that he, too, must be empty, and collapsed on the ground. Both knights lay still, nothing more than piles of metal, one dull, one shiny. No longer powered by fear and darkness, the knights were weak in the brilliant light. They were not nearly as strong as they had appeared.
Woggy looked up and saw Spark dancing around the moon and then he watched him drop down like a shooting star. Spark zoomed out of the sky and was soon by their sides. Woggy kept smiling and the light did not fade. Sara, Finn, and Rob looked around in disbelief. Were all of their fears and enemies really gone? They all looked at Woggy, and then they all hugged each other and shouted and danced. They were victorious!
All of A-Dream seemed like a dream once again. It was beautiful and peaceful. Everywhere Woggy turned, his face made the world a little brighter and a little more beautiful. He knew now that he really was not ordinary, and that he never wanted to be.