“What should I do?” Fiona gasped for breath as she ran towards the Dunrobbie Hills. “I don’t know what I can do to help.”

     Three dragons flew over her head, soaring toward the opposing army. “Dragons? I’m too late. The battle is well under way. I have to stop it. But how?”

     “They say that it’s the little things in life that are important. Wars aren’t necessarily won by heroic efforts and sacrificing. They can be won by doing small things. I will not let all these people die.” She thought about rain and it began to pour. A heavy, drenching rain fell upon the battlefield. “That will slow them down a bit.” The battle came into her view. “What else can I do?” She pictured a wall and turned herself into a castle-high stone wall. It separated the opposing armies just before they clashed, stretching up and down the hills like the Great Wall of China.

     Horses screeched to a halt near the wall. Marching armies stopped, staring up at the top of the stone structure and having no idea how to scale it. Some of the four legged creatures under Phelan’s rule climbed over the wall with no problem. They were quickly shot with arrows and died. Fiona called to all the animals in northern Scotland to come; all deer, all wolves, foxes, hares, rabbits, sheep, eagles, cows; anything that was living.

     She changed herself from the wall into herself, but invisible. She stood out of the way as the opposing armies charged each other. Men tripped over each other as flocks of Highland sheep rushed among them; deer pranced through the battlefield, frightening the soldiers. Hares and rabbits hopped over fallen men, leaping onto other men’s heads. Eagles swooped down, pecking at whoever they could see. Cows stampeded, along with Highland bulls, through the armies, charging them down with their horns. Men scattered in all directions.

     When the wolves came and attacked the men, they ran back to their camps and refused to go out onto the field.

     Fiona roared with laughter watching the animals running amuck. Men with spears were helpless against the bull’s sharp horns and the wolves’ fangs. “It’s working. It’s working!” Fiona jumped with joy.

     The rain continued to pour down. She noticed the dragons returning to their wizard masters. Even though it was wet, she produced a roaring fire in the center of the hills and hoped the villagers stayed inside to avoid the rain. It shot up as high as the tallest pine.

     She wandered over to where King Bartolf and Dugan sat on their horses with their generals. She listened to what they said.

     “What is going on here? Our men are cowards. They’ve all deserted.” King Bartolf’s veins bulged with anger. “This rain is blinding. Sidero, can’t you do anything to stop this foul weather. I hate Scotland. I can’t wait until I return to Zanaad. It’s warm there.”

     “I could stop it, but it would do no good. We can’t win. They are more powerful than your armies. Take a look around. Almost all of our troops have deserted. You have no army.” The wizard sighed. “Accept defeat, Bartolf. It is over.”

     Phelan, still in the general’s body, leaped from his horse, grabbing his brother around the neck and strangling him. “You coward. You always have been. You talk of me being an embarrassment. It is you who is the coward.”

     “General Timori, what are you doing? I demand you stop immediately. Cease this behavior.” King Bartolf raised his sword to strike.

     Phelan stood, not ready to give away his true identity yet. “As you wish, my king.”

     “Get back on your horse. As long as there is one breath in my body, I will fight my enemy.” Bartolf ordered his generals to attack.

     Dugan followed. The men raced across the battlefield, jumping over the dead bodies and animals. Phelan went with them.

     Fiona appeared in front of King Rolfin and King Kegan. “Fiona? What are you doing here? Are you the cause of all of this?” Kegan wiped the rain from his eyes.

     “It was me. Yes! Your army is all still here. King Bartolf’s and Dugan’s armies have fled, deserted, but the two kings and their generals are riding here to finish the battle.” Fiona saw Johnny. “Johnny!” She ran over and hugged him.

     “Fiona! What are you doing here? Go home right now.” Johnny scolded her.

     “No. You need to send the wizards over to capture Phelan and the rest of them. His brother, Sidero is there too. He’s a wizard. He doesn’t think I know, but Phelan has possessed one of the general’s bodies. He’s on a black horse with a red riding blanket. I sensed him. Hurry.” Fiona pointed across the field. “They’ll be here soon.” 

     Johnny ran to the Wizards of Xilia and told them. They called their dragons and flew over to meet their enemies.

     “You need to go too. There is nobody else but them. It’s time to get King Bartolf and Dugan and his son, Ithgar. Hurry!” Fiona slapped the back of King Rolfin’s horse. It whinnied and ran off. “Go King Kegan.” She slapped his horse’s bottom too. It rushed off, nearly knocking him off. The army followed. Fiona made the wall of fire disappear.

     “Can you stop this rain, Fiona? It’s rather annoying,” Jimmy said. He was drenched, as were the others.

     She stopped the rain, parting the clouds. The others rushed over in time to see the Wizards of Xilia and their dragons circling Bartolf, Dugan and the others, including Phelan. The outnumbered and unsuspecting soldiers surrendered. Samothi took great pleasure in taking his two sons back to Xilia for imprisonment and rehabilitation.

“Yes! His plan backfired. If he’d stayed at the castle, he’d have escaped. He’s always got to be where he can be in charge. You know what? I don’t think King Bartolf and King Dugan allowed him to be in charge and that made him mad.” Fiona stood with Johnny watching as Phelan and Sidera were taken away on the back of a dragon. “Cheerio Phelan. It sure hasn’t been nice knowing you.” She waved and stuck out her tongue. Both captured wizards snarled as the dragon disappeared.

“You saved a lot of lives today, Fiona. We’ll never see most of the other army. The deserters will probably make their way across Scotland, down to England and then across the Channel. People from Zanaad don’t like the cold weather. Having it rain was a great idea!” Jesse patted her on the shoulder.

“I thought the sheep and cows idea was great,” Julian said. “Did you see that redcap? The cow chased it around in circles. I thought I’d die laughing.”

“Still, there are many who died needlessly. Most of them were ghoolies and such, but still, a life is a life,” Jacob said.

“We need to gather up the bodies and burn them,” Joacquin said.

“What about King Bartolf and Dugan?” Fiona looked at the two defeated kings, bound with chains.

“The wizards are sending them home after a stop in Xilia,” Johnny said.

“But, doesn’t that sort of mix up what happens in our lives? They came from the past and now they aren’t there. As horrible as they are, they are still my descendants, just as much as King Rolfin and King Kegan. If they don’t exist, then I won’t either and neither will my mum.” Fiona looked at the thirteen men standing in front of her.

“Fiona, time is different in Xilia. They will be put back in their allotted times and allowed to rule as they choose. Events will not change. That is not what the wizards do. They can and will stop Phelan and Sidero from ever leaving Xilia. The wizards are allowed and entitled to take charge of their own kind. Yes, they did change Drayton because he had no children in the future. In fact, Drayton was to die and soon. He chose to live as a wizard. He cannot live as a human again.” Johnny knelt in front of her as he explained.

“Oh. So King Kegan and his family will still get murdered? What about Princess Anna and Princess Isabella? Will they still be kidnapped by Dugan?”

“We are going to see if we can change that part of it by offering to let him stay here in this time,” Jeffrey said, “as we all have the choice to do now that it is all over.”

Fiona sighed. “I suppose if someone went back in time and waited until Isabella was pregnant with Ithgar and Anna with Jorbi and took them away from Dugan before either of the babies were born, that wouldn’t change much, would it?”

“Every single thing we do changes the past in some way; however, I doubt if it would hurt Ithgar to be raised by his mother. His father did an awful job of it,” Jasper said. Fiona’s mind raced with an idea.

“Actually we got off much easier than I thought we would. It wasn’t really a battle, not much of one anyway. You prevented that, Fiona by using your powers. We didn’t lose one man. The time portal at the castle has to be destroyed so that nobody can enter or leave again,” Jared said.

“What about the orb?” Fiona pictured it in her mind.

“That is going to be given back to its rightful owner, King Rolfin. It is up to him to decide what to do with it,” Jeremy said.

“Oh. I need to go,” Fiona said and ran off, leaving the men staring at her back.

Elspet and Callum were both sitting outside. “Fiona! You’re back. We waited out here in the pouring rain. What happened?” Callum squeezed the water from his hair.

“I need you two to get mum and Uncle Angus out here and keep them occupied. Make something up. I’ve got to go back in time one more time. The others will be along shortly to tell you what happened. Everything is okay. I was able to help stop it before it got too bad.” Fiona said. The three of them went inside.

“Fiona! Look at you three. Why didn’t you come in when it started to rain? Angus and I didn’t know it was raining. Did you feel the earthquake?” Mairi looked bewildered.

“It’s not raining now. Callum and I found something really cool outside. Do you want to see it?” Elspet asked Mairi and Angus.

“We have to watch the orb and books,” Angus said.

“I’ll watch it, Uncle Angus. Go and have a look. It’s so cool,” Fiona said.

As soon as they shut the door behind them, Fiona leapt into the time warp.