The Woodsprite

A woodsprite ran fast through the woods; ahead of her the mountains calmly waited and around her the light danced and sparkled through the spring leaves on the trees.

A young dog jumped beside her while an old dog kept a lookout from behind. The old dog only had three legs but she could still run. She had velvet ears and a kind face and Scarlet, the woodsprite, loved her.

She also loved the young dog, who jumped and twisted and turned high in the air: he watched Scarlet avidly so he could jump in time with her dance steps.

They were all so happy: it was spring, the sun was shining, buds were on the trees, the cyclamen and snowdrops and buttercups were out and the bluebells were a promise. The air smelt of sweet earth, the birds’ songs soared and the green in the woods soothed their eyes.

Even though chilly Jack Frost lingered in the mist, when Scarlet and her dogs came to a small, twinkling stream, after only a moment’s pause, she took off her warm, felt trousers and jumped in.

The young dog was ecstatic, splashing and jumping and gulping the ice cold water alongside her; the old dog paddled sedately and smiled. Joy was set free in the woodsprite’s heart and it was as if time had stopped to allow this moment to be.

The woodsprite and her dogs were having so much fun that they didn’t notice the scary looking troll, bent over beside the stream. His back was curved, his brow furrowed, his hands cracked and sore from work. He sighed and tutted and went back to chipping at the pile of rocks with his stone hammer, worriedly searching for precious amethyst and aquamarine for Gwragh, the witch.

His heart was granite heavy and the smells of spring and sounds of joy didn’t touch him. The hammering of the rocks hurt his ears, but he kept going, squinting at the ground as icy sweat trickled down his back.

All of a sudden, a flash of fur and teeth and sparkly water droplets flew through the air in front of the troll’s face, making him jump. The young dog landed with a crash and a rattle on the metal plate holding the small pile of rough amethysts that the troll had found.

He roared with such anger that the birds stopped singing and the dog froze as though under a spell. They stared at each other for a second, then the troll lunged surprisingly quickly, considering how heavy he was, towards the little dog with his big, rough hands out-stretched.

The dog was too quick though and leapt right off the ground, skipped over the rocks and ran to hide behind the woodsprite.

“You stupid animal!” roared the troll. “Look what you’ve done!” He grunted and thrashed his arms around, searching for the dog, staring at the woodsprite with fiery eyes. He roared again at her and the dogs, so loudly it hurt Scarlet’s ears.

It was very scary, but although she was shaking, Scarlet stood firmly with her hands on her hips; the old dog growled and the woodsprite scowled at the troll.

“Don’t you dare threaten my dog like that! It was an accident, and you’re being unfair!” The young dog whimpered behind her for good measure and the old dog crept towards the troll, growling.

“You have no idea!” shouted the troll again, and the old dog barked. The troll sat down heavily on the rocks and held his heavy head in his hands. “No idea at all” he murmured quietly.

“What do you mean?” said the woodsprite, her chin pointing upwards. She was still shaky and cross but didn’t want the troll to see that.

“I am enslaved!” he said, looking at her wildly. “I am under Gwragh, the witch’s power,” he said more quietly. ”I have to find and dig up a bucket full of amethysts or aquamarines every day, otherwise I cannot eat and another month is added to my sentence. She hoards all the stones in her dark castle and makes us all just find more and more.”

“Why?” asked the woodsprite, curious and puzzled.

“I don’t know!” shouted the troll. “She’s just greedy and mean. She’s enslaving woodland folk, burning and killing the lands, animals have no homes and we all have to work for her or go hungry and die. There is nothing I can do, this is my life now. And your little mutt has just made it harder for me. I’m going to have to start today’s work again, I’ll be here till after dark.” He put his head back in his hands, back bent and slumped on the rocks.

Scarlet didn’t know what to do at first: he was really scary and he’d been quite rude but her heart ached for how unhappy he was on this beautiful day. She quietly crept with the young dog towards the spilt amethysts and gently found what she could and put them back in his bucket. The young dog picked some up with his mouth, looking sorry, and the old dog grunted and sat down on the grass.

When the woodsprite got close to the troll she noticed a little river of tears running down his dusty, weathered cheek, and she felt sorry for him.

The troll’s mind was dull and blank and his heart even heavier: he wished and wished for another time. As if his wish was being granted, two smooth, cool arms reached around his neck and surprised him. His eyes were closed but he felt the miraculous touch of a light kiss on his hard, bristly cheek.

“Sorry Mr Troll, really sorry. Can we help you?” Scarlet stood beside him a bit nervously, with her hand resting lightly on his massive, round shoulder.

The troll touched his face, and looked at the woodsprite with shocked, softer eyes. Her kiss touched his tear and something amazing started to happen: a ray of bright, yellow sunlight shone down on them through the leaves. The troll stood up, straighter now in the light, and his raggedy clothes fell away to reveal colourful, clean trousers and jacket: his warts and sore hands faded away. He stretched his arms into the air, feeling the spring breeze on his fingertips, did a little skip and smiled; he actually smiled.

The dogs came to stand next to the woodsprite to see what was going on, and were quiet and still. They all watched amazed as from his shoulders impressive, strong wings grew with a wingspan twice the length of a man; he twitched them a bit, and smiled again at the woodsprite.

“Thank you little woodsprite, thank you so much! I am really a Gwedhek Edhen, winged woodland folk, and you have released me from Gwragh the witch’s terrible spell with your kiss. How can I ever repay you? Take all of this, take my amethysts, aquamarines and quartz, they’re yours!”

The woodsprite thought about it for a minute, looked about her and looked back at the troll who was now not a troll but a tall, strong Gwedhek Edhen with wings itching to fly.

“No thank you,” said Scarlet. “Just look out for the other animals as you fly high in the air, help them find homes again. What can we do about Gwragh the witch?”

The Gwedhek Edhen looked worried. “Oh little one, she’s really dangerous. I don’t know what we can do. She’s so powerful. She enslaves anybody who tries to stand up to her, turns different people against each other to start battles, destroys creature’s homes. She controls it all with her amethyst wand and sees everything in her crystal ball, from high up in the dark castle. Promise me you won’t go there alone, woodsprite, it’s too dangerous!”

Scarlet sniffed, and thought for a minute. “I promise,” she said quietly, but she had her fingers crossed behind her back. “Anyway,” she whispered to herself “I’ll have my dogs with me,” and the old dog nudged her hand.

The Gwedhek Edhen spread his wings with a loud thwack and breathed out. “Thank you again little sprite, I won’t forget you. I’m going to help my people now and look after the animals with no homes. Don’t forget me!”

“I won’t!” shouted Scarlet to the skies as he soared away. “Right then,” she said to her dogs who looked up at her with big eyes, “let’s get cracking!” and she took off with a skip and jump up the woodland path towards the silent mountains where the witch’s dark castle lay.

The woodsprite and her dogs started out quickly jumping and skipping and dancing along. They’d gone quite a long way and were getting a bit tired when they smelt smoke. Ahead of them through the trees they saw black wisps rising into the clear, blue sky. As they got to the top of the hill they stopped suddenly; they couldn’t believe their eyes. The woods where they lived and played and slept and swam and found food had been burned; black stumps of ancient oak trees smouldered, and branches still crackled on the parched ground. The woodsprite wanted to cry; what was happening? She noticed a short line of hedgehogs trudging towards them:

“What’s going on? What’s happened to the woods? Do you know?”

“Gwragh, who else?” mumbled the father hedgehog. “She just set fire to the dry grasses which caught the trees and destroyed our homes,” said the mother hedgehog. “We have nowhere to live now, so we will have to work for her in the dark castle.” They trudged on.

Scarlet and her dogs followed them quietly down the stony, charred path. The smoke in the air made her chest hurt and eyes cry: she felt so angry with the witch for ruining their woods like this.

The young dog wasn’t jumping anymore, the old dog was hobbling and Scarlet was feeling so tired, when they looked up and saw the dark castle looming down on them round the corner. No trees grew near it, the rock it was built from was hard, sharp granite and the windows were suspicious slits.

Scarlet felt her hope drain away when she saw the massive heavy wooden door, barricaded with metal: “How are we going to get in?” she whispered to the old dog, who humphed. She walked up to the door which was 10 times taller than her and knocked as hard as she could with her little fist. The dogs looked up hopefully. Nothing happened. She knocked again. Still nothing.

The woodsprite sighed and started to walk around the castle, looking for a way in. They were no other doors and the windows were so, so high from the ground, they’d never be able to climb in. The woodsprite was nearly crying as she came back to the front of the castle, and the dogs’ heads were down.

All of a sudden the young dog’s ears pricked up and Scarlet followed where he was looking. Along the bottom of the big door was a line of around 30 hedgehogs; snuffling and grunting on the path behind were five boars: the oldest hedgehog saw them.

“Need a hand?” he said, with a gruff smile.

“Oh, yes please!” Scarlet grinned and went to give him a hug. He was a bit prickly, but he smiled shyly.

“Right, let’s get on with it then. Ready lads?!” The hedgehogs cheered and got into position, the boars braced themselves at the end of the massive bolt and together used their snouts to push it; at the same time the hedgehogs pushed the bottom of the door together and the massive doors opened a crack.

“Yay!” the woodsprite cheered and with a burst of energy pushed through the open crack : the old dog followed, the young dog whizzed through her three legs.

The castle was dark and cold: their footsteps echoed off the walls as they searched for the witch. “I bet she’ll be at the top,” Scarlet whispered, her voice cracking with fear.

They crept up the spiralling stone staircase to the top tower; they could hear Gwragh the witch muttering to herself. They stood in the doorway, watching quietly as the witch chopped and mixed strange, foul-smelling things in a large cauldren. Scarlet thought about the burnt woods and the animals with no homes, and the enslaved trolls and felt so angry with her that she forgot she was scared.

“What have you done to the woods?” she shouted, hands on her hips, a dog on either side.

“Aaagggh! Who are you? How did you get in, you little snit?” the witch shrieked at her, and grabbed her amethyst wand.

“Do you realise how sad you’re making everyone? You’re ruining these lands! Why are you doing that?” shouted Scarlet.

“Oh you stupid sprite! You have no idea how this kingdom works. I have to keep collecting more and more and more precious stones to keep this world going! I’m busy,” she tutted “and you’re annoying me now. I don’t have time to answer your questions, and I don’t have to!” With a mean smile, she lifted both her arms in the air, holding her linting amethyst wand aloft.

She hadn’t noticed the little dog looking a bit bored next to Scarlet, and she didn’t know that leaping was his favourite game. Quick as a flash, he jumped off the ground, catching the wand and knocking it to the floor with a loud crash, followed by a shattering tinkling noise, and a low hiss. The witch let out a piercing shriek and knelt down, scrabbling around trying to pick up the amethyst pieces, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! My power, my power, all my power gone,” she weeped into the floor. And the castle rumbled.

Scarlet took her moment, and with a very impressive scissor kick, booted the crystal ball with her tiny foot across the room, leaving it to shatter against the hard, castle wall. “And now you won’t be able to spy on anyone either!” she said, rejoicing at her aim. The castle rumbled, and the floor started to shift and lean.

The witch looked up at her, rage in her eyes “You! You! What have you done?!”

The woodsprite felt a bit sorry for her then, crying on the floor. “What am I going to do?! Where will I go?” cried the witch

“Don’t worry” said Scarlet, holding out her hand to help her up “you can come and live with us in the woods.”

The witches eyes dried and she looked at the woodsprite with dark fury, baring her teeth like a cat. “I would rather die” she hissed. The young dog didn’t like that and growled as menacingly as he could. The old dog, who always looked after the young dog and Scarlet, calmly moved forward, head down and sunk her teeth into the witch’s leg. She screamed; and the room began to crumble about them. Slabs of rock shifted and fell and the floor buckled; the doorway was blocked and Scarlet had no idea how she could get out.

She gathered her dogs around her, breathing in their soft, doggy fur and said a silent prayer: for the animals and the woods, and even for the witch. She was glad her dogs were there.

As the crashing of the castle crumbling rumbled on, she closed her eyes. The next thing she heard was a beating noise, she opened her eyes to see the Gwedhek Edhen flapping above her,

“Come on Scarlet, come on! Hold tight, grab your dogs, let’s get out of here!!” He scooped her up and pushed her and the dogs onto his back “ hold on tight!” he shouted above the crashing stone, and with a swoop he flew out through the mean window, into the blue sky, high, high above the clouds of dust as the dark castle crumbled to the ground.

As they soared over the charred earth, where the woods used to be, a soft rain began to fall. Scarlet looked down and saw little dots of green among the black; she smiled to herself and hugged her dogs as she realised they were little oak saplings bravely stretching up into the rain, growing towards the sunlight.