Elysia: The Magical World

By Xlibris US

In this coming of age sequel to the first book Elysia, Courtney, Reginald, Steve and Penelope return as the Light Swords on a new adventure in Elysia and the other dream worlds. This time they have to cross the deadly Maelstrom swamp to reach the third dream world, the Magic World. They must stop the Evil Wizard in this world from giving magic to the Maelstrom kids who are using it to steal the Crystal of Light from Elysia. The Crystal of Light powers Elysia. They face many dangers in both Maelstrom and this new Magic World as they desperately try to stop the Evil Wizard. And this time, because they return as pre teens not children, the injuries they suffer in the dream worlds can hurt them in the real world. Will they be able to help Elysia the world, which they grew to love in the first book Elysia? Read this book and find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493198153

Book preview

Chapter 1

SURPRISE TRIP

Courtney strummed the guitar in her room, working on her first original song, Elysia. Tears formed at the sides of her eyes. Every night she tried very hard to return to Elysia, the beautiful world in children’s dreams, but she couldn’t will herself to go there. A woman now, she didn’t belong in a kid’s only world, even though she still felt like a kid. Of course, Buzz’s Magic Honey could take her there, but someone from Elysia would have to use the honey, not her. Courtney missed her Elysia friends, such as Herbert the giant ape, Wild Fluffy the rabbit, Mildred the hippo, Swim Master the dog, Red Nose the clown, Big Mama Washington, and even the Royal Answerer. In fact, Courtney missed everyone she met in Elysia, her best friends Penelope and Steve, and of course, her true love, Reginald, most of all. Also, the smell of the place lingered in her mind. Courtney’s room smelled a little like her dirty clothes and her makeup and inexpensive perfume. Elysia, however, possessed all the most wonderful smells in the world rolled into one.

Courtney still communicated with Reginald. They e-mailed, wrote each other on Facebook, tweeted, texted each other constantly, and sometimes Skyped or talked on the phone. Yet this frequent communication only made Courtney long to hold Reginald more rather than less and increased her sense of loss. Also, Courtney couldn’t date other boys so long as she and Reginald continued to be a long-distance couple. Reginald complained that he also found himself unable to date. In one very emotional Skype session, they decided to break up and to start dating people in their own areas, but their breakup only lasted a day. They couldn’t walk away from true love that easily. Both Courtney and Reginald saved what money they could for one of them to make the trip from Des Plaines, Illinois, to Sydney, Australia, or vice versa, but between them, they had only saved $600, not nearly enough to make the $3,000 journey. Most of that money came from the $400 Courtney received as the Chicago area diva contest winner.

Also, in Elysia, Courtney reigned as queen and accomplished big things. She couldn’t leave all that and not feel very sad about it. Other people, including her mom, didn’t feel Courtney had a right to be sad. Being junior high school president and high honor student, Courtney appeared to be the child all parents wanted their kids to be. She should be very happy and filled with a sense of accomplishment, but she didn’t feel that way at all. Courtney suddenly stopped playing the guitar and climbed into bed. She had a lot to do tomorrow at school. Courtney fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

In disbelief, only moments later, she stood in front of the Elysia gate. Courtney took a few seconds to look, smell, and listen to this place she loved so much.

First, the vibrancy of the colors literally took her breath. Even grays and blacks seemed to shine in the soft sunlight. Second, the smells seemed to be a mixture of all the smells she liked best in the real world: roses, chocolate, fresh-cut grass, leather purses, cinnamon, and jasmine. Every breath she took filled her with these wonderful scents. Finally, the wonderful sounds caressed her ears and filled her head. Beautiful distant voices, songbirds, rustling winds, and soft chimes filled the air. Courtney suddenly remembered how beautiful her voice and guitar, Reginald’s lovely tenor voice, and Penelope’s violin sounded here.

Cedric walked quickly up to Courtney, bowing as he did so. He carried a small book in one of his large coat pockets.

Queen Courtney the Great, my goodness, what an honor. Queen Taranov and King Chin must be waiting for you. You’re the first child ever brought back after his or her time with Queen Buzz’s Honey.

"The great, really, I’m just Courtney, the same girl I’ve always been. Anyway, don’t they give that title to dead people, even though I guess I became dead to most creatures, kids, and people in Elysia when I left Elysia as a teenager? Cedric, how have you been? I see your hat still has a hole in it. I’ve missed this place very much. But I’m confused. I’m thirteen, not fourteen. The Royal Answerer said I had to be fourteen for the honey to work. And what could be so important that the king and queen would bring me back?"

"Well, fine but still very busy of course. As to the book, well, you ought to know all about that. It is a copy of the Elysia Book of Rights you were responsible for creating. Almost everyone carries one in case they have an argument with someone. I don’t know why the honey worked. Only the Royal Answerer could tell you. As to the reason, Maelstrom kids used an invisibility spell to sneak into Herbert and Bertha’s house and took the Dark Crystal but failed to get the Crystal of Light. They froze Herbert, who guarded the crystals, with another spell but couldn’t freeze Bertha too. So Bertha stopped the Maelstrom kids from getting the Crystal of Light even though they were invisible. I guess it has to do with that."

Wow, that’s big news, Cedric, but before I get into this problem and my role in solving it, I have a couple of questions.

I’ll give you whatever answers I can, my queen.

Is Reginald on your list of arrivals?

Well, I would’ve said no, but I see his name just popped on my list. He should be here any moment, but I don’t know about Steve and Penelope, the other Light Swords.

They died in Maelstrom. Could they return?

Well, according to the rules, no, but neither could you or Reginald. I don’t know what that magical honey can do.

I sure hope it brings them back. I’d love to be a Light Sword again. Cedric, can I wait for Reginald? He’s kind of my boyfriend.

My queen, you can do anything you want. When you’re ready to leave, just walk through the Adult Questioner’s door and head into Elysia. But I beg you to go to the castle as soon as you can. The new king and queen will be waiting for you.

Of course I will, Cedric. I’m very anxious to see what I can do to help Elysia.

I’m late, my queen. I must greet the newest kid on my list. Say hi to King Reginald, our great warrior king, if I don’t see him.

I will, Cedric.

Courtney paced back and forth in front of the Elysia entrance. She saw a few kids, but Cedric quickly approached them with his usual lines about gaining the Adult Questioner’s approval to be admitted to Elysia. She felt very nervous. Even though they talked all the time, would Reginald still like her? What would he look like in person after a year? Will he like the way she looked after becoming a woman? Suddenly, some arms surrounded her waist. Startled, Courtney turned and looked into Reginald’s magical green eyes. She felt warm. Her heart soared.

Courtney, I’ve dreamed of this moment for over a year. You’re so beautiful. I can’t believe it.

And you’re so handsome and already tall. What are we going to do?

That’s easy.

With that statement, Reginald kissed Courtney on the lips. She kissed him back as hard as she could. She melted into Reginald. Courtney never wanted to leave his arms. Reginald’s lips tasted like the most delicious food Courtney ever ate. Several minutes passed. The heat between them grew stronger. Then, Courtney suddenly pushed away from Reginald, her face flushed.

Well, as much as I loved that, we can’t kiss all day. Queen Taranov and King Chin are waiting for us. The Maelstrom kids took back the Dark Crystal and tried to take the Crystal of Light. They have access to magic. We have to see what we can do to help.

I don’t see why I can’t kiss you all day. We’ve a lot of kissing to make up, and kissing you this time is even better than last time. But of course, I’m ready to help Elysia.

Well, maybe we can kiss for a long time at the end of our quest. Cedric said we could just walk into Elysia past the Adult Questioner, so let’s go.

Hey, wait for us, the rest of the Light Swords, Penelope said with a big smile as she and Steve walked slowly up to Courtney and Reginald.

Wow, I can’t believe it! Is it really you? You look great. You lost a lot of weight. You’re starting to get one of those curvy figures. Remember when we first met, I said you might get one of those, Courtney said, smiling and putting her arms around Penelope.

After facing a dragon and the rest of those Maelstrom creatures, I didn’t feel like I had to eat so many cookies, chocolates, and cakes to make me feel better. I even started to run a little. By the way, did we win last time? Remember I burned up before the end, and I think Steve did too. And what’s this about another giant ape? I appeared here in the middle of your conversation with Cedric, Penelope said.

Okay, I’ll fill you and Steve in on what happened after you left, Reginald said.

After you burned up, Courtney and I escaped through the cave’s tunnel. The troll didn’t bother us, still remembering what Courtney said about Herbert beating him up if he hurt us. The wolves tried to stop us as did the giant snake, but we defeated them both and made it to the border with the help of two horses we borrowed. Once in Elysia, the Dark King and several of his soldiers came across the border and challenged us, but we defeated them in a sword fight. When we returned to Elysia as heroes, they made us king and queen. As queen, Courtney made Herbert a mate of Bertha. Herbert and Bertha fell in love and began living with each other. Also, Courtney had all the answerers work on a book of rights for all Elysians. After completing the book, we had a festival, ending with a dance. Courtney became a teenager the night of the dance and disappeared from Elysia. As king, I focused on our defense against the Dark King and his special new soldiers called the Torture Rangers. When Courtney left, I had a confrontation with the Dark King and his Torture Rangers. They outnumbered us, but we managed to defeat them in the end with the help of Angry Stinger and his squadron of bees. Because bees die when they sting someone, all the bees, including Angry Stinger, died in the battle. After paying tribute to the bees, I left the battle area, but I had reached my teenage years and disappeared from Elysia.

When Reginald finished, Steve exclaimed, Wow, we missed a lot. This time, Penelope and I’ll stick around to the end.

You’d better. Without you guys around, we had a tough time. Okay, we’ll go to the new king and queen as the Light Swords to see what we can do, Courtney declared.

We’ll go, but before we do, I just have to tell you the exciting news. Believe it or not, a boy just asked me, the girl with the curvy figure, out on a date! Penelope said with more than a little pride.

Hey, what’s this guy’s name? I don’t like some other boy moving in on my girl, Steve said with a serious look on his face.

So you two did date before. I thought so. And you, Steve, gave me such a hard time for being with Courtney, Reginald said with a little smile.

Well, we did kiss, but never got as serious as you guys did. Still, I missed Steve, but had no way of finding him, Penelope said slowly.

I couldn’t find you either, Penelope, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t miss you. Anyway, the new Penelope is even more attractive than the old one. Maybe we can kiss just like Reginald and Courtney just did, Steve said with a smile.

I’ll think about it, Steve, but someone brought us back here for a reason. We need to find out what that is, Penelope said, smiling a little.

I already know a little from Cedric. The Maelstrom kids used invisible magic potion to sneak into Herbert and Bertha’s house and get back the Dark Crystal and then froze Herbert to reach the Crystal of Light. Fortunately, they didn’t freeze Bertha too. She stopped them from taking the Crystal of Light. I suppose we have to do something about the magic, or otherwise the Maelstrom kids will eventually steal the Crystal of Light. Then the world we love so much will disappear as it began to do last time, Courtney said, adding some of her suppositions to the information Cedric gave her.

Okay then, the Light Swords are back! We’ll win just like last time, Reginald said, thrusting his hand in the air in triumph. The other Light Swords thrust their hands in the air as well.

The Light Swords, forming into a group, marched right up to the Adult Questioner’s door, their heads held high. Penelope said to their old friend, the door knocker, Hi, Knockle, do you remember us?

Everyone in Elysia knows about Courtney the Great and Reginald the Warrior King, but I also remember the two of you, Penelope and Steve, when you first came here as I do everyone who enters Elysia.

"What’s with all this great stuff? We just know her as Courtney," Penelope said, wrinkling her face.

"Well, Courtney is responsible for creating the Elysia Book of Rights, which gives all Elysian creatures and people certain rights they never had before. I have one here attached to my door. So everyone, even the trees, is starting to call Courtney the great. The new king and queen officially adopted the title. Courtney is the first Elysian Queen to be called great."

Hey, you guys don’t have to call me anything other than Courtney. It’s kind of embarrassing to have people call me great, Courtney said slowly.

What about this warrior king stuff? Steve said.

"Oh, well, the same thing happened with Reginald. After winning the fight against the Dark King to retrieve the Crystal of Light and capture the Dark Crystal with the rest of the Light Swords, Reginald, with only two bodyguards, also defeated the Dark King and his Torture Rangers, who tried to take the crystals back. With those two impressive victories, the new king and queen added the Warrior King to Reginald’s name. But, Penelope and Steve, you shouldn’t feel so bad. Being part of the famed Light Swords also gains a lot of respect around here."

I feel like Courtney. You guys don’t have to call me anything other than Reginald, Reginald added, tapping his foot and looking down at his shoes.

We won’t. Anyway, we already heard these stories from Reginald. Now let’s go looking for our adventure. I really missed this place and being a Light Sword. My real life as far as I can remember is boring by comparison, Steve responded as he turned toward Knockle. He added a comment with a little smile on his face. Hey, Knockle, do you want a strong knock?

That isn’t even funny. I’ve enough problems with first timers hitting my knocker hard. The last thing I need is experienced hands like yours shaking me with a strong knock, Knockle responded.

Knockle, don’t worry. Steve is only kidding. Anyway, let’s stop fussing around and go to the king and queen. We need to do what we came here to do, Courtney said.

The Light Swords shrugged their shoulders and entered the Adult Questioner’s house. He reacted in what now seemed a familiar way, holding on to his little black book with his left hand.

Wow, what an honor! The Light Swords, Courtney the Great, and Reginald the Warrior King return to us. We need your help. Elysia doesn’t stand a chance with Maelstrom kids using magic against us, the Adult Questioner said loudly.

Yeah, what do you know about that? Steve said. He noticed for the first time the strong aftershave the Adult Questioner wore.

Even though I’m a questioner, I know this. Elysia and Maelstrom are created out of children’s dreams, so a little magic is involved in fashioning these places. The Magic World is created in the same way, but everything there revolves around the practice of magic. The better you are at magic, the more likely you are to survive and have a good life there. Unlike here, good and evil exist together. It’s hard to tell them apart sometimes until it is too late. Maelstrom and Elysia beings can’t exist in the Magic World, and supposedly, Magic World creatures and people can’t exist in our worlds, but with all the magic they possess in the Magic World, everyone here worries that Magic World beings can create a spell that allows them to be here. Like Elysia and Maelstrom, kids can exist in the Magic World. The entrance to the Magic World is supposedly in the deadly Maelstrom Swamp guarded by Snap the huge alligator. That is all I know about it.

That’s a lot and very helpful, but I’m surprised you gave out all that information. If I remember, the last time I asked you for answers, you became offended, Courtney said with a puzzled look on her face.

Yeah, well, you were just kids then. Now you’re the most famous people in Elysia. There’s a difference.

I suppose so. Anyway, the Light Swords need to get going, Courtney continued.

The foursome waved to the Adult Questioner and moved quickly out the door onto the main Blue Road. They stopped in amazement. Almost the entire Elysia community lined the road. High Five, Tea Lady, Frilly Lady, Wild Fluffy, Swim Master, Dale, Red Nose, the Colonel, Mane, Matilda, Big Baby,