When Laura finally regain consciousness, she blinked open her eyes and groaned. "Oh...What just happened?" She sat up and rubbed her head. She instantly stopped when she became fully aware of her surroundings. She looked all around her and realised she wasn't by the park lake anymore, she was surrounded by strange multi-coloured trees, big and small. She stood up. "This isn't the park. Where am I?" She continued to look all around. Bizarre sounds filled the air, as well as exotic new smells. She heard what sounded like birds singing, but these were not the typical bird noises she heard back home. Their sounds were more rhythmic, more melodic, they were enough to put anyone into a trance. As she inhaled, she took in all the different scents. Some were sweet, some were sour (in a good way). But they seem to combine perfectly with each other, creating a whole new type of exotic aroma. The smell was comforting and striking, like a combination of different scented candles all in one place. It was almost enough to drive Laura's senses wild.
"Hello?" She called out. Just then, a bunch of flying creatures came flittering towards her. Laura screamed and ducked down as the creatures flew over her head and above the trees. She looked up at them and from looks of it, the creatures seemed to be shaped like butterflies, only 'large kite' sized. Okay, now she knew for sure that she wasn't in the park anymore. 'Am I dreaming?' she thought. It certainly looked like something out of a dream. Laura pinched herself to make sure. Nothing happened, which indicated that she was not dreaming.
Laura panted a little. "What is this place? How did I get here?" At that moment, she felt something in the pocket of her jacket. She reached into it and pulled out the purple crystal she had got from the willow tree. Laura's eyes widened "This what must have brought me here!" She gasped. They crystal was no longer glowing but it still sparkled a little.
Laura gave it a shake. "Why did you bring me here?" she asked it. She shook it again but nothing happened. "What am I gonna do?" she sighed "For one thing I can't stay here. I gotta find somebody. Maybe they can tell me where I am and what this is." She looked at the crystal again before tucking it back into her pocket. She then began her journey to search for something or someone to help her.
While trekking through the mysterious woods, she took the chance to take in what was around her. Laura couldn't help but be marvelled by the wonderous forest. The sunlight shone through the trees' multi-coloured leaves, creating a rainbow light-show around her. "Woah" Laura whispered as she traced her hand along one of the tree branches and stroked its leaves. She took notice of all the various plants that grew. There were flowers that were brightly coloured, peculiar shaped and some with strange but pretty patterns on their petals. There were even mushrooms that looked beautiful. Laura stopped to smell one large flower that was magenta coloured with purple spots, it smelled so sweet, like spiced fruit cake. She almost forgot what she was supposed to be looking for.
She suddenly froze when she heard these odd buzzing noises which sounded like rusty chainsaws. They got louder and louder. She turned around and to her horror, three large mosquito like creatures emerged and headed straight for her! Laura screamed in terror and bolted in the other direction, the bugs gave chase.
Laura sprinted as fast as she could, leaping over logs and plants in the process. Her panting got heavier but she couldn't slow down or else she would be bug food! Still running, she looked behind her. The terrible bugs were slowly gaining on her, their horrible buzzing noises getting louder.
Thinking quickly, she darted left around a thick tree. But the mosquitos were quick to follow. Laura's legs began to wear out, what was she going to do now?! All of a sudden, a streak of orange zoomed past Laura. As she looked back, she saw the streak jump up and tackle one of the bugs. The bug buzzed frantically as it tried to shake the orange thing off. Then just at that moment, two strands of white stuff shot out from the trees above, latched onto the remaining two insects and yanked them up. Laura had no idea what just happened but she did not stop running.
However, just as she looked back ahead, her eyes widened in horror. She saw that she was heading straight for what looked like a giant white net. Before she even had she chance to try and slow down.... SPLAT! She landed right in the centre of it!
Laura tried to move, but she found herself stuck to whatever she had landed on. The white stuff was stuck firmly to her hands and arms, they were like strings made of superglue. She finally managed to pull one of her arms free, only for her to end up turning and falling back onto the sticky net. "W-What is this thing?!" She studied it more closely and her eyes widened when she realised that it was actually a giant spider's web! 'Oh no!' Laura struggled again only this time more desperately. "Help!" she shouted "Somebody help! I'm stuck!"
Just then, she heard somebody gasp "Oh My Gosh! Are you okay?" Laura looked up and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Before her eyes, a giant blue spider the size of a car dangled from a thread just above her. Normally Laura wasn't afraid of spiders, but to see one this enormous would be enough to freak anyone out.
Laura shrieked in terror "AHH! GIANT SPIDER!" The spider yelped and recoiled up the thread a little. "Please don't eat me!" Laura pleaded while cowering in fear. The spider stared at her in confusion for a second before slowly lowering himself on the ground in front of her. He had to be careful not to startle her any further. "I...I'm not gonna eat you." Laura stopped shaking and looked up "Huh?" She couldn't believe it, a giant 'talking' spider! "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He apologized.
Laura was completely stunned "Y-You can talk?" The spider blinked his four eyes "What? Of course I can talk." He chuckled "How else would I be able to communicate? My feet?" He paused when he noticed Laura was looking at him in utter confusion.
"What am I doing?!" He smacked himself on the head "I'm so sorry you're stuck! This isn't the first time I've accidently caught someone other than a bug in my webs." As the spider continued to speak, Laura noticed that he was strangely getting smaller. "Oh this is so embarrassing!" He covered his eyes with his two front hands just as he stopped shrinking. He was now the size of a dog.
"Wait, how did you do that?" Laura asked. The Spider looked up at her "Do what?" he asked. "You just got smaller." Laura replied. The spider looked down at himself "Oh! Yeah I can change size." He grew back to the size of a car. Laura gasped "Please don't be afraid, I promise I won't hurt you." he said gently "Here, let me help you. He reached out to grab her but suddenly stopped and looked to her for permission "Err...that is...if you want me to." He asked nervously.
Laura could now see that he was a nice spider and was no threat to her so she knew it would be okay. "No, no, please, help me down." She answered. So with that, the spider put his two front hands around her waist and pulled her off the web. "Thank you" Laura said gratefully as he set her on the ground. "No problem. I'm really sorry I..."
"Don't be its fine." Laura reassured
"I've never seen you around here before. What's your name little girl?" He asked her. "My names Laura, Laura Greengate" she replied. The spider smiled "Well, nice to meet you Laura." He held out one of his hands and she shook it "I'm Orb."
"Orb?"
"Yep. O-R-B, Orb. The size changing spider." He introduced.
"Have you always been able to do that growing thing?" Laura asked curiously. "Yes. It's my magic ability, I've always had it." Orb replied. 'Wait he say magic? Wow! A magic spider!' Laura thought in amazement.
"Comes in handy for a lot of things." Orb continued "Especially catching big nasty bugs like these." He held up the two bugs now cocooned in webbing. "And I gotta say they are great to eat for later." He put them away. "Lucky Me and Sprylie were there or they would have eaten you."
"Who's Sprylie?" Laura soon got her answer when the same orange streak from before came zooming by and stopped right in front of them, revealing a small orange squirrel. "Orb what's going on?!" she spoke in a fast, slightly squeaky voice. "Is everything alright?!" She zipped round multiple times not even noticing Laura. Laura just stared at her in astonishment. "I heard someone scream and then I heard you scream and I got worried. I tried to get to you, but that Skeeter back there managed to put up a fight and...." She stopped when she finally caught sight of Laura. "Who's this?"
"Oh! Sprylie meet Laura! Laura this is my best friend; Sprylie."
Laura waved "Hello."
The squirrel suddenly grinned brightly "Well hi there!" She zipped up onto Laura's shoulder and held out a paw. "Great to meet ya kid!" Laura shook Sprylie's Paw with her finger and thumb. "You too. Wow, you're one fast squirrel."
"That's me! Sprylie the speedy squirrel!"
"That's so cool." Laura complimented.
"Thanks!" Sprylie replied "So what are you doing out here?"
"Well I was kinda lost before those bugs chased me and I got caught on that." She pointed back to the web. Sprylie sighed and gave Orb a look "Orb, how many times have I told you not to build those webs so close to the ground." As quick as a flash, Sprylie cut the edges of the web making it fall down. When she finished, she brushed her paws clean. Orb rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish chuckle. "Sorry Spry."
"No it was my fault." Laura said "I didn't watch where I was going. I'm just glad you guys were able to save me." She turned to Orb "And err...I'm sorry for being scared of you Orb."
"Oh it's alright." He assured her. "Sprylie was actually scared of me when we first met."
"Really?"
"It's true." Sprylie zoomed back to them. "I got tangled in one of his webs and I thought he was gonna eat me." She climbed up onto his head "But after he released me, I saw what a big softie he really was. He was lonely and so was I, so we decided to stick by eachother's sides and we've been best pals ever since!" She nuzzled Orbs head with her tiny knuckles and they both laughed. Laura couldn't help but smile and giggle. She liked these two, they seemed a really cute pair. Sprylie looked back to Laura "I take it you're not from around here?" she guessed.
"No, actually I'm from a place called Rosenville" Laura clarified. Just then she suddenly remembered what she was supposed to ask. "Hey, that reminds me, where exactly is here?" Sprylie jumped off Orb "Why you're in the land of Fauria of course!" She declared with her arms up. Laura blinked "Fauria?"
Sprylie and Orb smiled at eachother, then gestured for Laura to follow them up a small slope. They both moved some thick tree branches aside and Laura gasped in awe. She gazed upon the beautiful view of a marvellous land. There was a huge mountain covered in snow in the distance, giant flowers that grew among giant hills, multiple lakes with waterfalls that cascaded down into them. More giant butterflies and colourful birds flew in the air above them. The sky was so blue, like the ocean. It was like looking at a picture from a fantasy book.
"It's so beautiful" Laura breathed.
"It sure is, Kid" Orb responded.
"So if you from this....Rosenville, then how did you get here?" Sprylie asked
"I don't know. First I was in the park back home and the next thing I knew, I wound up here." Just then she remembered the crystal, she reached into her pocket and pulled it out to show them "But I think 'this' is what brought me here."
"Holy Hazelnuts!" Sprylie said as she stared at it in astonishment. "That's some gem you got there."
"Certainly looks like it." Orb added. "May I have a look?" Sprylie requested. Laura nodded and crouched down to hand the crystal to Sprylie. Sprylie held the crystal in her paws studying it further. "Hmm..."
"Do you know anything about it?" Laura inquired.
"Nope, I've never even seen anything like this." Sprylie admitted. Orb shrunk down to the size of a cat so he could get a closer look at it, Sprylie handed him the crystal. "Me neither, but it must contain some sort of magic if it brought you here" He handed the crystal back to Laura.
"There's only one creature who would know what this is." Sprylie stated
Orb's eyes widened as he turned to Sprylie. "Sprylie, are you talking about who I think you're talking about?" Orb questioned.
"What? Who?" Laura asked.
"Only the Great Golden Eagle." Sprylie specified.
"Who's the Great Golden Eagle?" Laura asked
"He is the brave and wise ruler of Fauria" Orb answered "If there's anybody who knows about Faurian magic, it's him."
"Wow" Laura breathed "Do you think you could take me to him?"
Orb and Sprylie blinked in surprize. "Oh, err...we don't really think that would a good idea" Sprylie answered hesitantly.
"Why not?"
"I don't think he would want to see us. We've never even met him before. Besides, he's a very busy bird. With all his royal duties, I don't think he would want to be disturbed."
"Please." Laura begged "He may be the only one who knows how to get me home. I don't even know where he lives." Orb and Sprylie thought for a moment, then looked at each other. "Would you just give us a minute please Honey." Sprylie told Laura as she and Orb turned the other way. They started whispering to each other. Laura leaned in a little to hear them.
"Orb, we've never been to see his royal majesty before. We don't even know if he'll welcome or help us. No offence but we're outcasts."
"But Laura needs our help." Orb protested
"We've never helped anyone before, and it's not that I don't want to help her. It's just that... what if we do something wrong?"
"Come on Spry, we have to do something. We can't just leave her, she's just a kid. What if she gets lost or hurt, she doesn't even know this place, but we do. The least we could is take her there and the eagle can help her for the rest of the way. Plus, this is the first time someone has asked us for help! Isn't that great?!"
"Hmm...you do have a point there...." Sprylie admitted. She knew Orb was right, this was the first time someone has asked Sprylie and Orb to help them out. Also she would feel bad about not helping Laura. She gave a small smile to Orb. "Okay, let's do it." She turned back to Laura "Alright Laura, we'll take you to him!"
"Great!" Laura beamed "So where exactly does the Great Golden Eagle live?"
"He lives in a castle, right on the other side of this forest" Sprylie explained. "Is it that far?" Laura
"Don't worry, with me around, we'll be there in no time." Orb reassured. Then to Laura's amazement, Orb grew to the size of an elephant, he picked her up and placed her on his back. "Wow!" 'Incredible'. Orb looked really big from this point of view. Sprylie sped up one of Orb's legs and joined Laura by her side. "You better hold on tight. Let's go Orbie!"
"Okay!" Orb called as he began to move forward. "Whoa!" Laura laughed as she felt the giant spider's movements.
So the three of were now off to meet with the Great Golden Eagle. Laura hoped he knew how to help her, but she also had to hope that he would help her too.