Chapter 16: The Red Heron

Uodeela and her students were walking deep into the forest. She had elected to take them on a long walk into a deeper area of the forest in order to show them more of what it had to offer. Many of the plants in this area were much different from the ones that grew closer to her house, as Uodeela pointed out a tall flower that was a mix of red and yellow.

"That's the blood flower, very useful in many potions and a required ingredient in the Elixir of Fire," said Uodeela.

"Fascinating," said Lilly, taking notes. She turned to see that Luz was drawing in her sketchbook. Luz had taken the sketchbook with her on their various outings and had used it to draw pictures of the plants they had come across. Lilly looked at the picture Luz had drawn.

"That's pretty good," said Lilly, commenting on Luz's drawing.

"Thanks!" said Luz. "I hope that even if I do get home, I'll have a record of everything I learned here. Plus, it's nice to be able to keep practicing my art."

"Let me see," said Amara, a little forcefully. She stared at Luz's picture for a few minutes before commenting, "That is actually pretty good. Your use of color blending helps make the colors in your drawing look more authentic. I see you also prefer the technique of wavy lines. That's helpful for a flower, as it tends to not be straight."

Both Lilly and Luz were stunned to hear Amara compliment her.

"What?" said Amara, seeing their faces. "I'm from Newtopia, and I have an appreciation for art. It seems that even though you are from a different world, art is still universal." With that, she walked away.

Uodeela pointed to a bush that had some purple berries on it and said, "These are wartberries. They're very tasty, and you can cook them in a pie if you want, but they also make for a good ingredient in some curses."

"Speaking of which, when will we be learning about curses?" asked Amara.

"Eager to learn about curses, eh?" asked Uodeela.

"Master, I assure you," began Amara with a smile, "I don't wish to learn curses just so I can start curing all my enemies. That being said, if my enemies knew I could potentially curse them, they might be more keen to not anger me."

"I see," said Uodeela, turning to the rest of her students before continuing, "While we're on this tangent, all of you should know curses are not to be placed lightly. Curses are inherently dark magic and should not be used for petty reasons. Once a curse is placed on a target, they will be permanently affected, and only the caster of the curse is able to remove it."

"Wait, you have curses here too?" asked Luz.

"Of course," replied Uodeela. "Curses are the other major form of magic here, aside from potions. Though again, like those, there aren't many around these days who can successfully cast a curse. I will go over those eventually with you, but remember what I said: putting a curse on someone is serious. They should only be used as a last resort of punishment."

The group continued their march through the forest, eventually setting down to take a break. That's when Luz surprised the group by spreading out a blanket for them to sit on and eat their lunch.

"In my world, we call this a picnic," said Luz excitedly. "We tend to have them a lot in the summer when the weather is nice outside."

"Oh, eh, we have those here too, Luz," explained Lilly.

"Oh, really?" said Luz, a little crestfallen.

"But it's nice that you wanted to share something from your world with us," said Gustav, trying to perk her up.

"Yeah, and honestly, it's been a long time since I've had one of these," said Uodeela. "We've been walking awhile now, so let's sit and take a break."

"Great!" said Luz. "Here, I made a little vegetable medley for all of us. I used the last of the tomatoes, so I hope you all like it."

The group sat down and ate their lunch. Even Amara, who was usually distant from the group, decided to join in and eat with them. For a while, they all enjoyed each other's company and the food. Suddenly, there was a huge noise from deep within the forest. A few moments later, a large swarm of cicadas came whizzing by.

"Watch out! Cicadas!" warned Uodeela.

The group quickly flattened themselves against the ground. Luckily, the cicadas seemed to mostly ignore them and continue flying right past them. As quickly as it had started, the swarm had flown right past them and off into the distance.

"Huh, that was weird," said Lilly

"Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like they are running from something?" asked Gustav.

"Cicadas tend to move to different grazing areas when food becomes scarce, but I agree with Gustav," began Uodeela. "It almost felt like they were fleeing from…" Uodeela was cut off as suddenly there was a loud stomp sound, almost as though something large and heavy had stepped close to where they were. The group turned to a nearby puddle and saw the water in it ripple as they heard the sound again. Once more, they saw the water In the puddle ripple, and once more, they heard the sound. All of them began to get nervous.

Uodeela's expression quickly changed to worry as she seemed to have realized what was making that sound. "Everyone, get up slowly and get moving," she said in a nervous voice. It was the first time that any of her students had heard fear in her voice.

"NOW!" she shouted, though all the while she continued to look in the direction that the cicadas had come from.

The group quickly got to their feet, and Luz attempted to pack up her blanket and food. As she was doing this, suddenly, the creatures that were making the noise appeared. The amphibians all had a look of pure terror on their faces as, off in the distance, a pair of herons came into view. They were huge, at least twenty feet tall, with menacing beaks and clawed feet. It didn't seem as though they had noticed Uodeela or her students yet. Even so, all the amphibians were paralyzed in fear as they couldn't take their eyes off the herons.

"Are those giant birds?" asked Luz, before quickly being shushed by the amphibians. All of them gave Luz visual signs to stop talking.

Uodeela motioned with her hands and got her students to follow her. They retreated deep into the forest in an attempt to put some cover between themselves and the herons. As soon as they were out of sight of the birds, Uodeela explained.

"Those aren't just giant birds, kid. Those are herons, some of the deadliest predators here in Amphibia," explained Uodeela.

"You need to be quiet around them, or you'll get us killed for sure," scolded Amara.

"A single heron can go through an entire village of frogs in under an hour," said Gustav nervously. "I hate to imagine what two of them could do."

"That's why, for now, we're staying right here, hidden beneath the trees," said Uodeela. "We'll wait for the herons to leave, then we'll head straight home."

"Are you sure they'll leave?" asked Amara. "For all we know, they'll stay in the area searching for food."

"If they don't find anything to eat, then they'll leave for sure. They'll move onto other feeding grounds," said Uodeela. "We just need to stay quiet and hope they don't find us."

As if on cue, two large beaks came violently down into the area and began trying to snatch up the group. Luz and the Amphibians screamed in terror and turned to run away. They ran out of their hiding place and right past the herons. As they did, Luz could see just how huge they were. It was almost as though they were running from a dinosaur!

"Run! I'll distract them!" called Uodeela as once again she closed her eyes, then opened them to reveal her glowing red eyes. She began fighting with the first heron, throwing fireballs at it. The second heron started chasing her students, snapping at them, and trying to eat them. As the students kept running, Amara tripped and fell, leaving her in a prime position to be eaten.

"Amara!" yelled Lilly. Reaching into her satchel, she found a bottle of fog potion and threw it at the ground near Amara, sending up a thick fog that obscured her from the view of the heron. While the bird was distracted, Lilly reached into the fog and grabbed Amara, pulling her to safety. The bird lunged at the two of them and tried to eat them, but they managed to dodge, and Gustav launched a kick at its eye. That hit staggered the heron and gave the group a chance to put some distance between them and the bird.

"You saved me," said Amara to Lilly in a surprised tone.

"Don't thank me yet," said Lilly as she pointed to the heron, which had recovered and was once again chasing them down.

"We can't keep running," said Amara. "It will just chase us until we get tired and can't run anymore."

"Here, I have an idea," said Luz. She reached into her bag and pulled out a strength potion she had made earlier. In one gulp, she drank the potion. It took a second, but eventually she could feel the increase in strength in her body. The heron lunged at Luz, but she was able to grab its beak with her hands and hold it back. The heron screeched and tried to close its beak on Luz, only for Luz to push back and gain some ground against it. While none of the amphibians noticed, Luz's eyes glowed purple for a brief second as she kept up her battle against the heron.

In an effort to get the bird to back off, Amara, Lilly, and Gustav grabbed some nearby sticks and began hitting the heron. They aimed for its neck and eyes, raining blow after blow on the heron. Eventually, it did leave, though it ran back to where the other heron was.

"It's heading back to where teacher was!" exclaimed Gustav.

"What do we do?" asked Lilly.

"Teach can handle herself. We should do as she said and head back to the house," said Amara.

"We can't just leave her," countered Luz.

Before anything else was said, Uodeela appeared on the path. It was clear that she had not fared well in the fight, as she bore scars and bruises on her body, her clothes looked disheveled, and she bore an expression of fear on her face.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked with worry in her voice.

"We had to fight off one heron," explained Luz.

"But it's okay; you're here now. Let's get going," said Gustav.

"That fight took a lot out of me," said Uodeela, a bit weakly. "I'm not sure I can make it."

Upon hearing that, Luz, still under the effects of her strength potion, went up to Uodeela and grabbed her body. She draped Uodeela over her shoulder in a fireman's carry and motioned for the others to follow. The group kept moving at as quick a pace as they could manage, when suddenly a loud cry came from behind them. Looking to the sky, they saw the pair of herons had regrouped and were flying towards them. Uodeela turned her head to see the herons approaching.

"Kid, stop. Put me down," she said to Luz.

"No, I'm not going to leave you," replied Luz.

"I'm not asking you to, but I have something that could save us. I need to use it," she said pleadingly to Luz. "I promise I can help. I'm not trying to trick you into abandoning me."

At this, Luz acquiesced and lowered Uodeela, who reached into her hair with her tail and pulled out a bottle filled with a potion of some kind. The potion was bright gold with a tint of red in it. Uodeela pulled out the cork and downed the potion in one gulp.

"You all better get back," she warned. "I don't know what may happen, but listen closely, As soon as I transform, get out of here, head home, and don't look back. If I survive, I'll make it back on my own."

"Transform?!" said Luz.

"We can't leave you, master," said Lilly.

"If you have any respect for me, then you'll obey my instructions and do as I say," said Uodeela sternly, who then fell to the ground, clutching her stomach as though she were in pain.

"Master!" exclaimed all the pupils at once.

"GO NOW AND LEAVE ME!" she yelled in a voice that was much deeper than her usual voice.

In the next instant, Uodeela began to glow, and her body began to transform. Feathers appeared all over her body, and her neck stretched to a longer length. A beak grew out of her mouth, and her arms transformed into large wings. Her legs began to grow and stretch, and her feet became clawed. When the transformation was complete, Uodeela had become a giant heron herself! While she looked much like the herons that were pursuing them, one key difference was that her feathers and coloration were still red.

The Uodeela heron let out a screech into the sky! It immediately turned around, flew to the herons that were pursuing them, and began attacking them. Feathers flew everywhere as it used its beak and claws to tear at the herons. The pupils watched this unfold with both alarm and intrigue until Amara snapped them back to reality.

"We have to go!" she said in a hurried tone.

"We can't just leave her," said Lilly pleadingly.

"Listen, you heard what she said," began Amara. "Teach can take care of herself. She drank that potion in order to give us a chance. She asked us to respect her wishes."

Luz, Lilly, and Gustav looked between the fight and Amara, eventually realizing that she was right. They followed Amara along the path. After almost an hour, they made it back to Uodeela's house, though the mood was far from happy. For a while, they stood outside the house and looked back at the path they had come from, hoping to see Uodeela walking along it. They waited until it finally got dark, but there was still no sign of their teacher. As the light began to fade, they debated what to do next.

"We should keep waiting," said Gustav. "Let's light a fire and stay outside until she gets back."

"What purpose would it serve for all of us to wait?" countered Amara. "Here's what I propose. Let's set up a rotating watch. One of us can wait for her outside while the others sleep. If she comes back, then at least one of us will know. If she doesn't come back by morning, then we'll go looking for her."

The group considered this arrangement and decided that it was the best course of action. Amara volunteered to take the first watch and set up a schedule for the rest. Luz would take the next watch at midnight, with Lilly after that. Gustav would take the final watch until dawn. They did agree to light a fire before going to bed, so whoever was on watch duty would have it for warmth and light. Also, it would hopefully serve as a guiding beacon for Uodeela should she come back. Before the other students went to bed, Amara pulled Lilly aside to talk with her.

"Lilly, you saved my life back there. Why?" she asked.

"What do you mean, why?" said Lilly in shock. "Was I supposed to just let you get eaten?"

"I mean, I haven't exactly been nice to you since we came here. You said as much yourself. I've given you no reason to save me, and yet you did," said Amara softly.

"Listen, Amara," began Lilly. "While it's true that I think you can be selfish, stuck-up, and just generally mean, I also don't want you dead. Besides, I think you would have done the same thing for me if the tables were turned, right?"

Amara turned away, her face filled with shame, before responding, "Honestly, I'm not sure I would have. My parents have told me time and time again how the weak were made to lift the strong. They believe in the survival of the fittest. They think if you were too weak to defend yourself from a predator, then you deserve to die." She paused before continuing, "That's what they taught me, and that's what I grew up believing."

"Well, have you ever considered that maybe your parents were wrong?" asked Lilly.

Amara remained silent and didn't respond. Lilly came up to Amara and put her hand on her.

"Listen, Amara," began Lilly. "I know I said you were mean, but you don't have to be. If the only reason you act the way you do is because of what your parents told you, then maybe it's time to start thinking more about yourself. Look at Teach. You've seen how strong she is, but she may have sacrificed herself to save us. Would you call her weak if she turns out to have been eaten by the herons?"

Amara didn't respond immediately but eventually said, "No, of course not."

"That's something to think about, then," said Lilly. Before going inside, she turned to Amara and gave her a hug.

"You looked like you needed that," said Lilly. "Goodnight, Amara."

Amara sat by the fire, occasionally stoking it. Her head was full of many different thoughts. Amara doubted that she would be able to sleep, even if she wasn't currently keeping watch. Lilly had given her a lot to think about. She was having the same thoughts as the day they had gotten the tomatoes. At first, those thoughts had not bothered her, but now, after having her life saved by Lilly, she was unsure of what to think anymore. Eventually, her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a sound come from the forest. She stood up and looked in the direction it had come from, then she saw a figure emerge. As the figure came into the light, Amara sighed in relief as she realized it was Uodeela.

"Master!" she exclaimed, rushing to meet her.

"Hey, kid! I finally made it back," replied Uodeela.

As she came closer to the light, Amara noticed just how disheveled and ragged Uodeela looked. She had even more bruises and scars on her than before, and her clothes were torn. Some of her wounds looked fresh, with dried blood on them. Thankfully, Uodeela looked to at least have all her limbs. Amara also noticed how weak and tired her voice sounded.

"Were you keeping watch for me?" she asked, and Amara nodded. "Thanks, I appreciate that! Let's not wake the others, though. I have a feeling I'm gonna need to sleep in tomorrow in order to—"

At that moment, the front door opened, and Luz came out, yawning.

"Amara, it's about five minutes to midnight, so I'm here to—" began Luz, before stopping as she noticed Uodeela returning.

"UODEELA! YOU'RE OKAY!" screamed Luz as she rushed forward to hug her.

"Okay, easy there, kid," said Uodeela, reeling from the hug. "I'm sore all over."

"Sorry," said Luz, releasing Uodeela from the hug. "I'm just so happy to see you! Let me wake the others."

"No, leave them be," said Uodeela. "We all need a good night's sleep. In my case, I think I could use a good twelve hours, so consider tomorrow's lesson canceled. I need a day to recover."

"Okay, okay," said Luz, still excited

"Here, you two, help me get to my room, please," said Uodeela. With that, Luz and Amara stood on either side of their teacher and draped her arms over their shoulders, helping her walk. Eventually, they got her to her bed In her room.

"So anyway," began Uodeela as she got into bed, "that potion is actually a combination of both a potion and a curse."

"Are you saying you cursed yourself?" asked Amara.

"Kind of," replied Uodeela. "You see, normally, a curse is supposed to be debilitating in some way, but since so many curses revolve around transformation, I thought, well, why not make a curse that you can use on yourself?"

"I guess that makes sense," said Luz, not really sure.

"The problem with a curse, though, is that it can only be removed by the caster," explained Uodeela, "so if I cursed myself to turn into a giant heron, I'd be stuck that way. It took a lot of testing and experimentation for me to come up with a way to make a curse that was temporary. I got around that problem by combining it with a potion."

"So you managed to combine a curse and a potion," said Amara. "Has anyone else done that?"

"To my knowledge, no," replied Uodeela, "and I do my best to try to stay informed about any magical happenings in Amphibia."

"You couldn't just make a potion that transformed you into a heron?" asked Luz.

"Potions can't transform anything that radically," said Uodeela. "There are some transformation potions out there, but the other problem is that potions wear off. My potion curse hybrid is permanent until I choose to turn back, although…"

"What?" asked Luz and Amara together.

Uodeela thought for a second before responding, "It's nothing you need to worry about. Thanks again for helping me. As I said, everyone gets the day off tomorrow. Make sure you tell Lilly and Gustav not to disturb me, as I will need a good twelve hours of beauty sleep."

"Goodnight then," said Luz before leaving the room. Amara had stayed behind, wanting to ask one more question.

"Master," she began, "is that how you were able to fight the king?"

Uodeela's eyes lit up at that question. She looked deeply into Amara's eyes.

"So that rumor is still circulating around," she said, a little bitterly. "Well, since you asked, yes, that is how I was able to fight with King Andrias. But that's all I'll say about that. The reason we fought is personal and something I'd rather not discuss right now."

"Master, I'm sorry, I just wanted to know—" began Amara before being cut off.

"It's alright, I get it. If I'd heard a rumor like that, I'd want to know if it was true as well," said Uodeela. "As I said, I don't want to talk about the details now. Maybe someday, but for now, I need to rest."

"Right, well, goodnight, master," said Amara before leaving the room and closing the door.

Uodeela lay in bed, and while she was tired, sleep didn't come easy. Two thoughts were keeping her up—the first being about her curse-potion.

When I first started using it, I never considered any long-term consequences,thought Uodeela. I've been using it for years now and I wonder… There were a few times today when I was the heron that my mind seemed to go blank, almost as though I had lost myself. It took so long for me to get back because there were times I wasn't sure if I was myself. That may be a warning sign, but honestly, can anything be done about that? I don't know. At the very least, I should try not to use it unless the situation is desperate.

The other thought keeping her awake was what Amara had brought up. Uodeela would occasionally think about the day the fight had happened. It was the same day that she had been banished from Newtopia and moved into the deep wilds of Amphibia. While the king had never formally punished her, she wondered if he had ever found another means to accomplish what he wanted to. Still, she pushed these thoughts out of her mind and fell asleep. As she slept, she began to dream of what had happened all those years ago…

100 Years Ago

Newtopia's Palace

Uodeela was frustrated. She had just overseen another failed attempt to reproduce the box that had once powered Newtopia. The box in question had exploded, nearly killing one scientist involved.

"Well, another failed attempt, Uodeela," said one newt bitterly. "Years of work down the drain!"

"I don't understand… What went wrong this time?" asked Uodeela, puzzled.

"I think at this point, we may have to accept that we simply don't know enough about how this first box was made," suggested a different newt.

"I think another issue is the fact that we don't have a similar power source like the first box had," said a third newt. "I know we've asked about using your gem before, Uodeela. Are you sure you won't reconsider?"

"No, this gem is very precious to me. I simply can't give it up," said Uodeela. "You aren't the first to suggest that, by the way. The King himself has asked about using my gem."

"I do wonder though," asked the first newt, "are we maybe going about this the wrong way?"

"What do you mean?" asked Uodeela.

The first newt spoke again, "Well, it's just that we've been so focused on trying to replicate both functions of the box, the fact that it needs to both power the city and work as some way to transport others to different worlds. I wonder if we might have more success if we simply cut the other function and focused instead on powering the city."

"Hmmm, that does make sense," agreed Uodeela. "I can't believe we didn't think of it before!"

"The traveling to other worlds part has always been the harder part anyway," said the second newt. "Plus, even though Andrias says it's possible, we have no way of really knowing that for sure. I mean, the only other evidence we even have for the existence of these other worlds is the king's word."

"He has been alive longer than any of us," said the third newt. "If he says it's possible, I assume it's true."

"I should go and speak to him about this," said Uodeela.

"Are you sure?" asked one of the newts. "The king has been getting more irritated every time we bring him news of a failure. He really wants us to try to recreate that box."

"I have noticed that," said Uodeela, "but he and I have a personal relationship. If I tell him, I'm sure he'll go easy on me."

Uodeela made her way to the throne room. She was told that the king was busy at the moment, though shortly after that, the attendant at the door was called away and left. While she waited for the King alone, Uodeela thought she heard a voice. Curious, she went up to the door, which had been left slightly ajar, and peeked inside. Andrias was alone and seemed to be talking to himself.

"I assure you, my Lord, progress is being made," he said. He paused, seemingly waiting for a response.

"If Uodeela really is the granddaughter of Sheresade, then she's the best hope we have of recreating the box," said the King. Again, there was a pause as he waited for a response.

"Well, yes, it hasn't worked yet, but I think if we give her enough time, it will. Then I can finish what you started… father," said Andrias.

"But that seems a bit extreme, don't you think?" he asked.

"I see. I know the prophecy says the box will return someday, but it's been 900 years at this point. How much longer do I have to wait?" said Andrias. A much longer pause than usual as he listened.

"But Uodeela is busy working on the box. If I allow you to absorb her consciousness, that will halt whatever progress we've made."

These words caused Uodeela to tense up. Andrias stood still, waiting for a response.

"No, I haven't forgotten the deal we made in regards to her, but… Surely she can be more useful in trying to make a new box than she can as a mind of the Core, right?"

"I know… You want to add her knowledge of magic to the core, and you see her as a replacement for Sheresade."

At this point, Uodeela slowly began to back away from the door. Once she felt she was far enough away, she turned, ready to run, but before she could, the door opened.

"Ah, there you are, Uodeela. Please come in. I need to speak with you," said Andrias in his usual pleasant tone.

In her mind, Uodeela was already considering all her options. She thought about whether she should run away or go along with the King, at least for now, and quickly tried to decide which path to take. After a few moments of hesitation, she turned around and followed the king into the throne room, taking note of how he closed the door behind her.

"So, unfortunately," began Uodeela, trying to start the conversation, "our most recent test was a failure. I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but—"

"Oh, let's not worry about that right now," said the King. "We don't always have to talk business here. Tell me, how have you been lately?"

"Oh, I've been okay," said Uodeela nervously. "I just thought you might want to hear more about the latest test."

"Well, honestly, I'm thinking of shelving the entire project," said the king. "There have been too many failures where that is concerned, and hey, if you stopped working on the box, we could spend more time together."

"Oh, of course, your majesty. That would be nice," said Uodeela nervously.

"But before all of that, there is something I want to show you," said Andrias. "It's down in the castle basement."

Internally, Uodeela was screaming, all her alarm bells going off. She knew if she went down into that basement with Andrias, she would not be coming back up.

"Great, I'd love to see it!" said Uodeela. "Just let me go and inform the other newts that we won't be doing any more experiments." Uodeela made her way towards the door, only for the King to step in front of her, blocking her way.

"Ahh, that can wait until later," he said nervously. "I think you'll really want to see what's in the basement."

Uodeela finally decided to be direct. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, I must decline. I do not feel comfortable with this arrangement."

At this, Andrias decided to drop the act, saying, "This isn't open for discussion, Uodeela. You're going down there, one way or another!"

Uodeela stood her ground, looking Andrias straight in the eye. "Why don't you tell me what the Core is?"

Andrias was caught off guard by that statement, but only for a moment. "You'll find out soon enough. Now come with me, OR ELSE!" With that, he lunged forward, attempting to grab Uodeela, but she dashed out of his way. Andrias attempted to grab her again, but Uodeela was too fast. She rushed towards the door, frantically trying to open it, but it didn't budge. Andrias ran after her and finally managed to grab her in his hand. Just as he was bringing her up to his face, he heard the sound of glass breaking and looked down to see a broken bottle on the floor. He looked back at Uodeela, who had a huge smile on her face…

The doors of the throne room burst open, and out flew a large Red Heron! The newts guarding the door fled in terror at this sight. Right after the bird, the king followed, trying to grab the heron, but he was no match for this large predator. The heron screeched and slashed at the king with her huge talons. She managed to leave a large scratch on the king's armor on his left side in the shape of an X. King Andrias tried to fight back but was clearly outmatched. The heron kept moving as it ran out of the palace and into the streets of Newtopia, causing panic among the citizens there. However, it seemed more interested in escaping than eating any of the newts. Once it had run to the edge of the city, it spread its enormous wings and took to the sky, flying away into the untamed wilds of Amphibia.

At that moment, Uodeela shot up in her bed, scared awake by that dream that was more of a memory—a memory of a different time in her life. She had spent her years since leaving the palace learning all she could about the Calamity Box, as well as trying to train a new generation of magic users in Amphibia. Now that Luz was here, she was beginning to realize that whatever reason Andrias had wanted the original box would likely be revealed soon…