• It was a beautiful spring day with the sun shining, the critters running about, and the dew falling from the grass.
    “Come on!” a voice ringed out.
    “I‘m coming.” A boy said as two children came climbing over the green, rolling hill to a tumbledown cottage with a thatched hay roof.
    “Come on!” The boy repeated. “Evendil wanted to show us his new invention.”
    “I’m just as excited as you are, Gerard, but do you think we could slow down just a bit?”
    Gerard ignoring the boy shouted, “Tobias, hurry up!”
    Gerard ran up to the door and knocked loudly on it rattling the little house’s windows. Tobias finally reared himself up the hill and stood next to Gerard. Gerard then banged on the door once again. “Relax,” Tobias said. “Give him some time.”
    On the other side of the door the two boys heard somebody shout, “Keep your hats on! I’m coming! I’m coming!”
    The door opened and a young man in brown robes with soot all over his face stood in the doorway and then exclaimed “Boys! My most favorite visitors. I am so glad you came because there is something that I wanted to show you. My very latest invention in fact.”
    The alchemist Evendil waved his hand and beckoned them to follow him to his stable. Instead of a horse residing in the stables it was some odd shaped object veiled underneath a cover. “Behold,” Evendil said as he pulled off the cover. “An automobile.”
    Under the covers was a weird looking contraption. It had four huge wheels like that on a carriage but they weren’t attached to a carriage. They were attached to some sort of platform with a fur hide coming up over a metal gadget. Right in front of that were two seats for people to be seated in. In the front of the left seat was a wheel sticking out although it was much smaller then the ones on the side of the platform. At the base of that laid two pedals on the right side.
    “An autonobeel?” Gerard said looking perplexed.
    “No, an automobile. That’s what I decided to call it. This little invention is going to replace horses.”
    “How is this thing going to replace horses? How do you even make it go?” Tobias asked.
    Evendil walked over to one of his work tables and picked up a thin, jagged piece of metal. “With this.”
    “Isn’t that just a key?” Gerard inquired.
    “Not just any key my good lad but a key to the fastest thing ever made, but before you have any more queries let me show you how to operate this new form of transportation.” Evendil proposed.
    Gerard and Tobias both watched as Evendil got into the automobile. “You step into the automobile like so and take the key. Then put it in the small hole to the side here.” Evendil said pointing to the right side of the pole holding the wheel.
    “Turn the key,” Evendil explained as a loud noise sputtered from the metal piece of equipment. “Then pull this bar down so you can go backwards so I can pull out of the stable. From there you use the right pedal to gain speed and the left pedal to lose speed while using the wheel to turn.”
    “Wow,” Gerard and Tobias said in awe.
    “Okay, here goes nothing.” Evendil proclaimed.
    “You mean you haven’t tested it out yet?” Tobias said with a hint of fear in his voice.
    “Ah…no, I haven’t but there is nothing to fear because it will work. It will work. Besides when have any of my inventions did anything to harm anyone or anything.” Evendil said with confidence.
    “Well, there was this one time…” Tobias muttered his voice trailing off.
    With that Evendil pulled the lever down and stepped on the right pedal when smoke suddenly steamed out from the back of the metal device.
    Tobias backed away from the automobile and yelled over the noise coming from the machine, “Is it supposed to do that?”
    “Why yes, that means my engine is working. Without that we’d have to use horses in order to pull this. With a little alchemy, no sleeping for twenty four whole hours, and bare bone meals I was finally able to make it work.”
    Evendil started to operate the carriage-without-a-horse once again. He drove down the hill with Gerard and Tobias running to keep Evendil in sight. “That thing is fast!” Gerard said impressed as Evendil displayed his creation.
    “Yeah,” Tobias muttered.
    The boys watched Evendil drive around the tree at the bottom of the hill and then continued to drive back up the hill. He then stopped in front of the two boys and asked, “Now then you saw how this machine worked now who would like to feel how it works.”
    The boys took turns riding in the magnificent metal carriage. Then Evendil brought it back to the stable and poured some black stuff into the engine. “What are you doing?” Tobias curiously asked.
    “I am putting oil in the engine because that is what it needs to work. The engine needs oil which in turn gives the automobile power.” Evendil informed.
    “Oil? Oil?! Isn’t that a little bit dangerous?” Tobias frantically shouted.
    “Calm down, my good son. This automobile isn’t the least bit dangerous. Now an insane barbarian frantically swinging his broadsword around is dangerous. My invention is as harmless as a fly. I used alchemy and mixed some metals together to create a new type of metal which is ten times stronger than iron but is thin so it doesn’t add much weight to the automobile and protects it from any harm that might ignite the oil.” Evendil said calmly.
    “Wow, really! That is cool. You made a new metal and designed something faster than the fastest horse in the world.” Gerard exclaimed.
    “Well, the metal I didn’t really develop it was already made but is only used amongst us, alchemists…but the automobile is all my work. I am glad that you think so highly of my creation, though. Tomorrow Master Aberoth is coming to see my invention. I plan to gain his favor and ask if he could recommend me to the Alchemist’s Guild.”
    “Congratulations, with something this impressive they will definitely accept you into the guild this time.” Tobias praised.
    “Thank you, Tobias. Well, I am glad that you liked this little treat, but you best be on your way. It is starting to get late and I have much preparing to do.” Evendil said.
    “Okay,” Gerard said. “Tell us when you get into the guild.”
    “You’ll be the first people I tell. Goodbye my good friends.”
    The two boys waved goodbye and left the alchemist to his work. The boys started down the path thinking about the past few hours.
    “That was pretty fun. Just think though we were the first other than Evendil, of course, to see this au-to-mo-bile.” Gerard said have trouble saying the new word in his vocabulary.
    “Yeah, with an invention that magnificent we’ll probably be seeing more of those in a few years.” Tobias said.
    “I just wish that Evendil let us ride the thing ourselves.” Gerard muttered.
    “Well, he wouldn’t want us to crash it or break it before he got to show it to the alchemist’s guild. It sounds like he really wants to get in.”
    “I know but just for a while. Just let us drive around the countryside for a while and I would be happy.” Gerard said then the same look of inspiration came over face as many times before.
    “No, Gerard! We are not going to sneak the auto-mobile and take a ride in it.” Tobias said as he saw Gerard’s familiar face when he gets on of those crazy epiphanies.
    “Why not? We would just borrow for the night then ride it in to the stable before he found out. Then we head back to the castle and get into bed before everybody wakes up.”
    “No. That is just crazy. So many things could go wrong. What if Evendil wakes up early? What if the auto-mo-bile stops? What if somebody kills us and the car is stolen by a bunch of wandering goblins?”
    “No need to go on the extreme, Tobias, because none of that will ever happen. Just think we’ll be the first people to ever drive the machine by ourselves.”
    “N-, well… I guess we could ride it but just for a little while, but only for a while.” Tobias said giving in to his excitement and curiosity.
    “Yeah, now were talking.” Gerard whooped in joy.
    Gerard and Tobias made there way back to the alchemist house. “Okay, we have to do this very quietly. Let’s first check to see where Evendil is.” Gerard explains.
    The boys start creeping up to the house when all of a sudden the door to the stable bursts open. Gerard pulls Tobias behind the bush and Evendil comes out of the stable humming a little tune. Evendil, not noticing the brush of the bush, goes into his house. Tobias gulped in a breath of air from the lack of breathing as they quickly but quietly make there way back to the stable.
    “Now let’s start the contraption and take a little ride.” Gerard said excitedly.
    “Not yet, Gerard. First, two things need to be done. We need to find the key and I need to put a silence spell on this aut-o-mobile. Remember how much noise came from it?” Tobias hissed.
    “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Well then, Evendil left the key on his table when we came here. Let’s see if it’s still there.” Gerard said.
    Gerard walked up to the alchemist’s set of work counters and checked around. He found bits and pieces of metal, vials with liquids inside, and various other things. “Key, key, where is the key?” Gerard mumbled.
    While Gerard looked for the key Tobias prepared his silencing spell by pulling spell components out of his pouch. He then spoke the incantation and a burst of red light enveloped the automobile. “I found it!” Gerard cried out holding the key in his hand.
    “Shhhh! Not so loud!” whispered Tobias.
    Gerard hushed up and jumped into the form of transportation and got ready to put the key in. “Are you ready?” Gerard said as Tobias climbed into the other side.
    “Why do you get to drive?” Tobias moaned.
    “Because I found the key and thought up this whole idea.” Gerard hastily said and then quickly changing the subject states, “Let’s hope that your spell worked or else it will be all over when Evendil finds out due to the loud noise.
    Gerard and Tobias held his breath as Gerard put the key in the hole and turned it. Gerard could feel the engine vibrate as it hummed ever so slightly. Both boys exhaled noisily and then Gerard pulled the lever down and began to back out of the stable. “Be careful!” Tobias said frantically.
    “Relax, your good friend Gerard has this whole driving thing under his belt,” Gerard said ever so calmly as he bumped into the side of the door. “Whoops.”
    “You were saying?!” Tobias said angrily.
    “Don’t worry Tobias everything will be fine.”
    Gerard backed out of the stable and turned to drive down the hill. He put his foot down on the right pedal and flew down the hill. “Whoooaaah!!!” Gerard yelled.
    “Slow down!!!” Tobias shouted as the wind hit him in the face.
    Gerard then remembered the left pedal and he threw his foot down hard on it stopping just inches away from the tree at the bottom of the hill. With there hearts beating really fast Tobias asked, “Do you think we should keep going? I mean my entire life flashed right before my eyes going down that hill.”
    “Of course, we keep going. We didn’t do all that hard work for nothing!” Gerard said adamantly.
    “Okay, okay. So where are we going to go then?” Tobias said.
    Gerard started driving through the tall grass that covered the land with a tall green lining of trees in the distance. “Wherever this automobile takes us.” Gerard declares finally pronouncing automobile right.
    After several minutes of driving in silence they make it onto a country road when they heard something. “Do you hear that?” Tobias said. “It sounds like horses.”
    “Yeah, it sounds like someone might be coming up the road.”
    “Gerard, we should get out of here before they show up. I don’t think that we want to be seen with this.”
    “Your right,” Gerard said nodding his head.
    Gerard quickly backed up farther into the tall grass hiding the vehicle from view. Gerard and Tobias get out of the four-wheeled machine when they heard some horses trot down the road and then stop. “Did you hear that?” A man said.
    “Yes, it must have been an animal running through the grass.” A woman said.
    “Look at the way the grass is pushed over. It must have been a very big animal then.” The man said with some dread in his voice.
    “Well, if it is something we can probably handle it. Now is not the time to be hunting animals though. Let’s continue on to Brunwick.” A third person said apparently an old man.
    The three horses started to ride once more in the direction of Brunwick at which time Gerard and Tobias let out another breath of relief. “We seem to be doing that a lot.” Gerard stated.
    “Well, when were doing dangerous stunts like this I can see why.” Tobias retorted.
    Gerard started driving once more through the tall grass over the road and into the forest. Gerard started into the forest driving past several trees. The peaceful climate and mood set the boys into a passive sort of state as they lied back and enjoyed the ride. Gerard occasionally turned the wheel to dodge the trees but mostly just stayed and relaxed keeping his foot slightly on the accelerator. This state-of-mind was suddenly broken when a small canyon came into view with a raging river lying at the bottom. “Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!” The two boys screamed as Gerard slammed on the brakes with the automobile just slightly over the side of the canyon.
    “Oh great, what are we going to do about the automobile?!” Gerard said panicky.
    “Never mind that. What are we going to do about our lives?!” Tobias said just as panicky.
    “Okay, let’s just calm down and take this one step at a time. First I’ll put in reverse,” Gerard said pulling the lever down. “Then I push the right pedal.”
    The wheels started spinning around when they caught the ground and the vehicle started to back up. Slowly but surely they made their way back with all four wheels planted firmly on the ground. “Phew.” Gerard said wiping his brow.
    Tobias to scared to speak said nothing but Gerard could see that he would be fine. Gerard then turned the automobile around and said “Well, we probably should be heading back now.”
    Tobias nodded and Gerard started through the trees once more but was careful not to go into a trance-like state once again. They drove past some more trees and what looked to be a cave when they saw more horses by the side of the cave. “Oh no,” Tobias said. “Horses by a cave, sounds like bandits.”
    “Your right, let’s get out of here.” Gerard replied stepping on the right pedal.
    Just as they left the horses whinnied and a man poked his head out of the cave. “Why what do we have here?” he wondered out loud.
    He looked off into the distance and saw Gerard and Tobias speed away in what looked like to him an object which was worth a lot of money. He rushed back into the cave and shouted, “Boys! Boys! I think we got our next payment coming right up!”
    Gerard and Tobias rode along and neared the exit of the forest when an arrow zinged over Tobias’ head and got stuck into a nearby tree. “What was that?” Gerard said turning around with Tobias.
    “Hey, aren’t those the same horses outside of the cave?” Tobias pointed out.
    “Oh my gosh! Your right! Then they probably are bandits. They probably want this automobile so they can pawn it off.” Gerard said as another arrow zinged over their heads.
    Gerard and Tobias ducked down as they heard a man yell, “Just give us the magic carriage and we’ll let you go.”
    “Come on, Gerard just do what they say, then we can just tell Evendil the story. He’ll understand even if he’ll be mad at us for a long time.” Tobias urged.
    “Are you kidding me? They’ll kill us if we give this up. Tobias they are bandits not honorable knights. Anyways it just adds to the chase and this adventure if we resist them.” Gerard bravely said with a gleam in his eyes and a grin on his lips.
    “Gerard this isn’t a game. This is real life.” Tobias said ducking his head.
    “I know. I’ll get us out of here and you can use your magic.” Gerard said coming up with another one of his famous plans.
    “That’s your plan.” Tobias said bluntly.
    “I making this up as I go. Give me sometime until something comes to me.” Gerard snappily said.
    “Wait if you’re talking to me who is driving the automobile?” Tobias said.
    Gerard quickly turned to the wheel just in time to veer the vehicle out of the tree’s way exiting the forest. One of the bandit’s horses got right behind the vehicle and prepared to jump on to the automobile. “Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!” Tobias screams looking behind him at the menacing ruffian holding a very lethal looking mace.
    “Stop this thing!!” the man yelled.
    Gerard, with response, started to swerve the automobile left and right. The ruffian losing his balance fell off the back flinging his mace. It soared through the air and Gerard, just in the nick of time, moved his head as it slammed into the post holding the wheel up cracking a small, hidden compartment open. Gerard looked down and said, “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”
    Gerard bent down trying to keep one of his hands steady on the wheel as he opened the small door that stood ajar. Inside were several buttons of various colors. “I wonder what the red one does.” Gerard wondered out loud while pushing the button.
    All of a sudden a hatch opened up on top of the engine with a crossbow ripping through the fur hide that covered it. It immediately turned around and began to bombard the ground with several bolts which exploded on contact making a cracking noise, flash of light, and smoke that emitted from them.
    “What did you do?” Tobias asked fumbling with his spell components trying to stay out of the way of the arrows.
    “I don’t know. All I did was push a button.” Gerard said with a smile starting to form over his face.
    The boys heard coughing and neighing of the horses as the boys shouted in joy of the victory over the vile rogues when an arrow whizzed through the air and punctured a hole in the side of the engine. Gerard and Tobias both looked at the wound with horror as black liquid started to gush out from the engine. Out of the smoke rode one last rider with a bow in one hand, a quiver half full of arrows over his back, and an evil grin on his face as he prepared another arrow.
    More arrows took to the air and hit the target that it was intended to. More holes opened up in the engine as the liquid began to leak out at an amazing rate. “I thought Evendil said he put protection over this thing.” Tobias said angrily.
    Gerard looked at the tips of the arrows that were being shot and realized how they were penetrating the engine’s strong armor. The arrowheads were green like that of adamantine a strong metal that was said to penetrate anything known to man. Gerard wondered how they could get their hands on something like that but was soon distracted as he tried to dodge the arrows from hitting the engine anymore. The rider started shooting three arrows at a time with his supply dwindling only this time his target wasn’t for the engine anymore. His target was for the boys! With a crazed frenzy he shot more arrows more rapidly then before. Arrows flew this way and that not really hitting anything. Gerard and Tobias ducked down as the rain of projectiles ended and they then heard a sword being unsheathed. They looked up to see the brigand, with his long sword shimmering high in the air under, spur his horse to make it ride faster to catch up with the now slowing vehicle while bellowing a loud battle cry.
    “Quick, Tobias, prepare a spell.” Gerard said with a panic-stricken voice.
    Tobias, his hands shaking, pulled out spell components out of his bag and tried to remember the basic words that were needed to invoke the spell while chuckling nervously, “Who would have thought that we would actually run into some sort of insane barbarian swinging his broadsword madly?”
    “Hurry up, Tobias; this is no time to reminiscence on what Evendil said!” Gerard urged as the rider rode closer and closer.
    A light suddenly clicked inside Tobias’ head as he spoke in the ancient arcane tongue. A mist of the arcane energy flew through his hand and went towards the rider. A huge gust wind collided with the horse and the ruffian riding it knocking them both to the ground. The brigand got up and cursed flinging his sword into the ground as Gerard and Tobias drove safely away.
    As soon as the last bandit was out of sight, Evendil’s house went into sight. “How are we ever going to fix this?” Gerard said with despair.
    “I have no idea. I mean I might be able to perform a minor repair spell on it if I still had spell components to do so, but I don’t and that still wouldn’t explain why there is oil everywhere and a crossbow sticking out of the engine and arrowheads stuck in the engine and the hole in the fur hide cover and –.”
    “Okay, Tobias, I get the picture! I guess we are just going to have to tell him what really happened.” Gerard said giving up.
    “Well, that sounds like a start.” A man said.
    The two boys turned around, not realizing that they already parked into the stable, and found Evendil standing in the doorway with Master Aberoth farther back in the distance. The two boys started talking at once telling them that they were sorry and that they just wanted to try it out when Evendil put up his hand as a sign for them to be silent.
    “It’s okay, boys. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t mad, but I can fully understand why you would want to sneak in and drive the automobile. By the looks of it, it is also lucky that you are even alive. Now, I want you to come here everyday for some time and help me to rebuild it and I want you to follow whatever I ask you to do. No more funny business like that of which was just undertaken. Do you understand, Gerard? Tobias?” Evendil calmly said.
    The two boys both nodded as Evendil beckoned them to follow him. Master Aberoth looked at the boys and then at Evendil. “I am assuming that you straightened everything out.” Master Aberoth said in a solemn voice.
    “Yes, they shall be accompanying me here everyday to make up for the automobile.”
    “Tell me when you have it finished so that I may see it. As for you two boys, you two will still attend your normal classes and chores there will be no leeway.” Master Aberoth said directing his attention to the boys.
    “Yes, sir.” They both said grudgingly.
    “Well then, now that we our all at an understanding I shall be on my way. I think I shall enjoy a nice walk before your invention makes it obsolete.”
    All them laughed at Master Aberoth’s little joke as he walked away. Evendil turned to the boys and said, “Before we start any work though I would like to hear of your exploits.”
    Again the two boys burst out talking bringing up bandits, oil spills, nearly falling off a cliff, when Evendil put his hand up again and said, “Wow, it sounds like you had quite an adventure. Why don’t you both start at the beginning?”