Chapter 10

The week was sad and rainy. After Nutsy had died, the Grade Fives seldom saw Tyla. She was always in her house, in shock and desperation. Queen Crystalia thought it would be best to have a funeral. Therefore, that afternoon, the Grade Fives were taken to a place where there were a whole lot of tiny little headstones with cupboard dryads carved into them.

Nutsy's grave was right at the back, where a crowd of cupboard dryads and Tyla (who was standing in a pool of tears) were dressed in black. The funeral was long and sad. A wise, old looking cupboard dryad gave a speech. Tyla had a speech to say, but she didn't even get half way through when she burst into a loud whimper. The funeral ended with a short song sung by the other cupboard dryads.

'Oh, little Nutsy, little-little Nutsy! We are too sad! We miss you to the moon and back.

You were so young, a great friend to all of us! Oh, little Nutsy, little-little Nutsy!'

The Grade Fives copied Queen Crystalia in clapping and soon there was a huge round of applause colliding with Tyla's sniffs.

The next few days in Sparklimmar World were wet and dreadful. There had been so much rain after Nutsy's funeral that the valley, where the castle and village had settled, was flooded, and all the buildings magically teleported to the top of a hill. You could see the small speck of the Flamy's Cave glowing in the distance. Tyla was only seen at eating times. The rest of the time, she would be in her hut, not letting anyone in, not even the queen.

The Crystal Orb was redder than ever nowadays and the cupboard dryads that served the food were replaced by grumpy old goblins, which got annoyed if any one asked them for something that would take an effort. Queen Crystalia told the Grade Fives that if a cupboard dryad died, the other dryads would refuse to work for at least a week.

By the time the rain season had ended, Tyla had come out of her hut.

"Great, Tyla, you're here!" the queen said excitedly, as Tyla walked into the library, just as she was about to bring out the orb. "I was just about to look into the future to see when you were coming out, but now we don't have to anymore."

She took the orb out of a cupboard, where it was kept, because now it was always wailing. This time, there was no ear-splitting wail and the orb was not red. Just like the first time the Grade Fives saw it, it was bright blue. "That's, odd?" said Tyla.

"Yeah, let me check it out!" She placed the orb on the table and held it, humming what sounded like a lullaby. Soon, there was a picture of a hall in the castle, decorated with gold streamers and there were many Sparklimmarians dancing around the room. Tyla gasped and wailed – "YES, I thought because of all the bad times happening it wouldn't come!"

"What wouldn't come?" asked Josh, as in walked the Grade Fives. "The Dance of the Sparklimmarians of course! Ever since I defeated Salvo, there was an annual ball to celebrate the defeat of the flamies and to mourn all the people who died trying to stop them. It is also a great chance for girls to reveal themselves to their true love!"

Carmin, Chloe, Josy, Michaela, Rana, Sarah and Tisah all squealed and stared at the boys. Tyla's eyes were wide and it looked like she was in some sort of trance, muttering – "He's so handsome! I wonder if he will say yes – Zey, I love him so much!"

Within the next few days, all the Grade Fives had managed to obtain formal wear from a small fabric store in the village.