• "Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" Jonathon let out a groan as he suddenly crashed into the ground, his breath flying out of him. His head was spinning and he could feel leaves beneath him. Leaves? Jonathon groaned, trying to snap back into reality. Those damn little creatures had stolen his dream. How on earth he came to that conclusion is probably impossible to tell, but in his mind it was the only logical explanation.

    "He's knocked out. Quickly, before he wakes up." The voices were tiny, tinier then before and by the time Jonathon opened his eyes, it was to find that he was no longer in his chimney. On the contrary, he wasn't even in his house.

    Jonathon pushed himself onto his feet, staring left and right. Trees. Leaves. He was in a forest. Where? What? Where did those little bastards take me? Jonathon jumped as the bushes in front of him start to shake. His muscles tensed and he picked up a stick. Someone was mumbling, grumbling to themselves.

    "Damn little fae. Come back here ya little monsters!" Suddenly the figure stepped out from the bushes and Jonathon rushed forward, getting ready to swing the stick.

    "Aaaaahhh!!!!!!!!" Jonathon let out his war-cry, swinging the stick forward, only to pull back at the last moment. Standing in front of him was a little man. An angry little man.

    "How dare you swing that stick at me, boy!" In an instant Jonathon was being pushed up against a tree, a knife to his neck. The man stared at him from behind a large beard, eyes bulging. Jonathon's heart was pounding. He expected at any moment for the short man to stab him and leave him there to die. But suddenly he was let go and the little person turned and picked up his walking stick, turning to walk back through the bushes, mumbling "Damn human's not even worth it."

    "Wait!" Jonathon said, calling after the man. "Where am I?" Even though this strange short man had nearly just killed him, he still needed to know how to get out of here. And how to find those little bastards that stole his dream! But the dwarf wouldn't pay him any mind, just continuing through the forest, Jonathon on his tail. "How did I get here? What is this place?"

    "Don't follow me." The dwarf grumbled.

    "You've got to give me some sort of answers. Or at least point me to someone who will." Jonathon kept looking from the small man to the trees around him. It was dark, nearly impossible to see, the only light coming from the moon through the trees and the soft glow from the fireflies drifting around.

    "Oh, so you're one of them. An outsider, then?" The dwarf grumbled, almost grudgingly. "This is Kingdom. As to how you got here, I can't tell ya. Now will you leave me alone." The dwarf muttered something under his breath. But Jonathon didn't stop following him, keeping right on his tail. Jonathon swatted his hand around in front of him as the fireflies started moving around in front of him.

    "Kingdom?" Jonathon questioned. "Why would those little dream-stealers take me here?" At this the dwarf turned to look at him, giving Jonathon his first good look of the little man. He was about shoulder height to Jonathon, with a short beard and a small cap, a backpack on his back and a pair of goggles on his head. He looked really old, at least in his forties, with heavy wrinkles and graying hair.

    "Dream-stealers? Let me guess, about two inches tall, annoying little voices, about six of them?" Jonathon nodded his head. "Well, you ain't gettin' that dream back. You should just head home."

    "Home? I don't even..." Jonathon swatted away a couple of fireflies. "...I don't even know how to get back home. And I'm not going back...What's up with these damn fireflies?" Jonathon swatted on of them, sending it flying.

    "Those aren't fireflies, boy, their lamp-elves." Jonathon raised an eyebrow, turning to look at the firefly he'd swatted away. The dwarf was right. A tiny little person, with green hair and a glowing dress was standing up, shaking her wings. Jonathon winced in sympathy. "I'm so sorry..." Jonathon turned and ran after the dwarf. "...wait! I can't just leave. I need that dream. Just tell me where I can find those..."

    "Fae. They're fae, boy."

    "Why do you keep calling me boy? I'm twenty eight years old, for your information." The dwarf turned and looked at him with a grimace.

    "And I'm a hundred and twenty your senior. So I'll call you boy if I want to. And you ain't gonna find those fae. By now they're halfway across Kingdom, ready to give that dream to the Faerie Queen."

    "The Faerie Queen? Why would the...the Faerie Queen want my dream?" None of this was making much sense to Jonathon. Faerie Queen, dream-thiefs, little dwarf men, lamp-elves. He was starting to wonder if he was still dreaming.

    "You are thick, boy. Cause she's sick. And if your dream is important enough for you to chase after them into Kingdom, then its twice as important to them." The dwarf stopped walking, turning to look at him. "You really want that dream, huh?"

    "More then anything." The dwarf nodded.

    "Then you need to find the Faery Queen and ask her for it. Its her dream now."

    "Then can you take me to her?" Jonathon asked.

    "I don't know where she is. She's hidden. No, you need a gnome." Jonathon raised an eyebrow.

    "Like...a garden gnome?"

    "No, like a travelin' gnome. Gnomes are Kingdom's pathfinders. Its tour guides. They're bloody hard to find, but if you can, only a gnome can take you safely to the Oaken City." The dwarf gave him one more look over. "Damn, crazy human."

    [End of Part II]