* Owners of Skeiths, please do not be offended that Ihave used Skeiths as the villians in my story. I am sure that there are many nice Skeiths out there. Please do not be offended.* WARNING-THIS STORY IS VERY LONG AND CONTAINS SOME VIOLENCE.

The End of Badeeks - Part 3- The prophecy and the council

by Lilith2592@aol.com

In the village where Tarquin lived with his human, they knew nothing about the conflict between the badeeks and the skeith. No one knew that Tarquin was the heir to the forest, no one even knew that the forest was in danger. So Tarquin grew in the care of his master. He went to school, learned to battle, played sports, and did all the normal things pets in Neopia do. But he was always curious about where he came from. The young woman did her best to tell him, but all she knew was that he had washed up by the river. Tarquin tried not to think about it too much, except when he had the nightmares. He had terrible nightmares of huge beasts chasing him and breathing fire, and helpless screams in the night, while around him trees burned. Sometimes they weren't so nightmareish, yet they were disturbing.

He would see a proud green Badeek with a crown, and the crowned one would say "Tarquin. It is your destiny to save the forest." then dissapear. Tarquin would awake and scream, "what Forest?" and the young woman would rush in and tell him it was only a dream. Tarquin pushed the nightmares to the back of his mind and went on with life. Until one day, when he was walking down the street on his way to school. he was walking quickly and not paying attention, because he was thinking about today's battle. He would be fighting Bard, the biggest and most powerfull student in his battle class. Bard was a Green Skeith, and a bully. Bard had already been given an ability by a faerie, and he never forgot to remind Tarquin about it. Tarquin was worried about fighting him, and not watching where he was walking. Without warning, a young Aisha ran out in front of him. Tarquin didn't see her and he tripped over her, spilling his books all over the ground. The Aisha started to cry, but then she looked up at Tarquin. "You!" she cried. "you're the forest king! You'll save the forest!" then she blinked her eyes and shook her head. " I'm sorry, what was I saying?" Tarquin looked confused. "umm...nothing. sorry I tripped over you." Tarquin picked up his books and ran off.

When he got home, he told the young woman what the little Aisha had said. The young woman told him "Aisha's are known for their psyicic powers. Since you said that she was very little, maybe she wasn't used to her psychic power yet." Tarquin did'nt say anything to the young woman, but he knew that the Aisha's prophecy fit perfectly with his dreams. He knew that he had to find information about a forest. He decided to start looking in the library for information on Neopia. He sat down at an immense old table filled with dusty volumes of NeoLore and information. The humans of the village kept information about Neopia, but never looked at it because their village was the only one inhabited by the majority of humans, they preferred to keep their business to themselves, and they didn't look into the doings of the wild Neopets unless it directly affected them. Tarquin knew that the woman had found him when he was very young, so he decided to check the NeoHistory from about 12 Neoyears ago, when the woman found him.

He lifted the gigantic book down, and started flipping through the pages. So far all he saw were pages of lists of rulers of the different territories, and different tribes. Nothing interested him, untill he got to the page with a map of Neopia central on it. He saw that there was a forest, but far away from the village. so far away that he didn't think that he could possibly be connected to the forest at all. But, he decided to look up more information on the forest anyway. Much to his surprise, he found that the protectors of the forest were a large tribe of Badeeks, ruled at that time by a king named Moss, and a queen named Winis. He turned the page to learn more about the rulers of the forest at the time he was born, but the next few pages in the book were unreadable. It looked as if a careless librarian had spilled a whole pot of coffee on those pages. "Just my luck" Tarquin said to himself. "Just when I start to find somthing interesting, I can't finish" So, out of luck and with hardly anymore information than he had before, Tarquin walked home.

Meanwhile, At the Cerpull mountian, Queen Flavo was holding a council. She sat at the head of a giant cerpull war talk table, an enormous dark table made out of unscratchable wood and iron, with a map of Neopia made of carved and inlaid wood in the center. Every Cerpull King or Queen had a war talk table, where battle plans were made and important matters discussed. Tempest deFeu sat at her right, and the little Earth Faerie sat on Tempest's shoulder. The rest of the royal council and all her trusted generals sat at various locations around the table. "My friends, advisors, generals" Flavo started "we have gatherd here to discuss matters of utmost importance. The Skeiths, the evil vile Skeiths, have taken the forest. they have killed all of the Green Badeeks from the Moss tribe. They have enslaved the peaceful Aishas and forest Chias that live there. They have destroyed the trees, killed and burned the forest. Now that the Skeiths, led by the villanious Duke Gurnthor, have gained control of land above the dark levels, here, in Neopia Central, there's no telling what they'll be able to take next. we must stop them now!"

Flavo's speech was followed by murmers of agreement from her council. "However there is still a slight glimmer of hope to rebuild the forest. If one of Moss' children has survived, he or she would be able to rebuild the forest with Earth powers, if helped by an Earth Faerie. A decendent of Moss's line would have the power to make the forest grow again." Just then Tempest spoke up. "Ay madam, but, ye said that all the lil' badeeks o' that line 'ave been murdered, so, 'ow could there be one left?" "But there is one matter I haven't mentioned. In the letter the faerie kindly gave to me, it says that I should care for Winis' son, as well as give aid in war. Therefore, I assume that Winis sent the baby with the late Sirena to me. The princess was found dead, but they found no trace of the baby." General Draclon, a large purpleish green Cerpull with a long history of battle experience, spoke up. " M' dear Flavo, majesty, methinks the matter 'ere would be to find the lil' babe then, if 'es not dead." "Yes, Darclon, that is what Iintend to do, if indeed, the baby is still alive."

END OF PART 3