Ismael Novas was always fascinated by magic and the occult.  He joined a traveling circus and practiced his trickery until he learned as much as big top could teach him.  One day the would-be shaman decided to strike out and begin his magical career. The future wizard secured an apocryphal wagon with mysterious inscriptions and symbols on its sides. Over time, the fake warlock obtained two assistants and a giant lizard to help his pseudo magic and increase the sale of bogus bottles of magical elixir. 

Ismael would never become rich, but he learned enough magic to acquire an elaborate castle in the darkest part of the forest and the qualms of all who encountered him.

The sorcerer sat on the topmost floor of his citadel by an open window.  He had just finished a niggling lunch of roast mutton and black bread, then sat looking out over the forest. Suddenly a giant crow landed on the window sill. 

“Oh, Master Magician, there are intruders in our forest!” he screeched loudly.

“Yes, yes,” he answered, “I watched them.  I do not think they mean any harm.  They appear to be simple country folk headed to Packard Landing.  What bothers me is the robot who just joined their company.  He is most intelligent and a danger to my magic.  We must do something about this robot.”

“What do you plan, Oh Wise Wizard?” questioned the crow.

“Stupid bird! I will use fear! It has always worked in the past,” thundered Ismael

“But Master, how will you strike fear in a robot’s heart?  I hear they do not have one.”

“Ridiculously stupid jackdaw!  Those wanderers will deal with a great magician who can strike fear in anyone’s heart, even those who do not have one.”

With that, Ismael stormed off to his laboratory and magic books, and the crow proceeded to deal with the food left on the dinner table.  All in all, the crow experienced a more propitious afternoon.

The evil wizard poured over his magic books, looking for mysterious spells and unexpected illusions to strike fear in the unaware humans and the mechanical man.  Soon the ancient magic books revealed an answer, and he summoned the giant lizard to him.  “Nigel, my boy, I have an important job for you. You must know that everything we have rests in your success. There are intruders in our forest, and one of them is a robot.  Your job is to strike fear in their hearts, especially the cunning and treacherous mechanical man.  I will increase your size and give you fire-breathing abilities.  Now, be off and terrorize all whom you encounter!” 

Next, Ismael summoned his two assistants.  “Nigel is now a dragon, and I have given him magical abilities. You must follow him, capture the intruders he frightens, and bring them to me.  Tie them securely and be careful of the mechanical man.  You will probably not capture him, but he should follow you to the castle.  We will fool the robot into entering, imprisoning them in the dungeon.  If you fail, I will turn Nigel against you.  Do not fail!”

Back on the forest path that afternoon, a giant, fire-breathing dragon rounded a bend and lumbered toward the explorers. Terror filled their hearts!  Amos quickly realized that his knowledge of physics had little use on a Piscary forest path.   He wished, at that moment, for a nice talking rock or a sarcastic tree, but this creature reminded him of a dinosaur he had seen long ago in the movies.  There was nowhere to run, and Amos and Adital realized they were doomed.

But, unlike in the movies, a glimmer of hope magically appeared.  Stephen stepped forward and shouted, “Stand back! I’ll deal with this!”  He raised both arms above his head and shouted at the dragon, “Go back to whence you came!”  The dragon responded with a burst of fire and began lumbering toward the explorers.  

Adital grabbed Amos’ arm and shouted, “Quick, into the woods!”  At that moment, a massive, black shadow passed over the adventurers. There was the sound of giant wings, then an enormously large, multi-colored bird swooped down, caught the dragon behind the neck, and flew off. 

Amos and Adital stood astonished at what had just happened. Stephen turned and explained, “The bird will take the dragon back to its home.  We call this giant bird Moa, who watches over us.  No harm must befall me during this adventure because I have important work to do when I return home.”

At the edge of the forest path, Ismael’s two lieutenants sat hunched behind the trees, watching the dragon’s sudden departure and questioning their mission’s purpose. The ferocious dragon, tasked with frightening everyone, was gone, making them more cowardly.  Nevertheless, they gathered their ropes, chains, and cables and charged onto the path toward the explorers.

It soon became apparent that they hadn’t given much thought to dealing with an intelligent robot and two resourceful explorers.  All three raised their hands above their heads and shouted at the would-be kidnappers, “Be Gone! Be Gone! BEGONE!”

With that, Ismael’s accomplices rejected their plans to launch an attack, abandoned the tools of their trade, and fled back into the woods. The intrepid explorers stood in complete astonishment and burst out laughing. Dealing with trauma didn’t seem all that difficult, or did it?  

A short time later, Moa and her struggling cargo landed in the courtyard of Ismael’s sinister castle.  The giant bird spread its wings and flew off back toward the travelers.  Poor Nigel blew a fire trail after her but completely missed his mark, like the rest of his luck that day.

Ismael watched all of this from the window in his library and removed the hapless Nigel’s magic spell.  The poor “former dragon” began whining for something to eat, so Ismael threw a loaf of black bread out the window at him.  It was time for more and better magic.

Adital. who had grown accustomed to all these bizarre pseudo-realities, urged everyone to continue their journeys.  “Who knows what surprises await us next?” he laughed.  It soon became evident that everyone had misjudged Ismael, his magic books, and secret spells. Their problems were beginning.

The truth was that Ismael Novas knew failure better than most people.  He realized that he was dealing with forces beyond his ability. Fearsome dragons weren’t formidable enough; not only that, dependable assistants were not reliable. 

Ismael knew too well that his magic was a scam, but years of deceiving people had taught him a trick or two.  It was time to teach these intruders about the reality of make-believe.

 He attired himself in his best wizardly robe, a black, pointed hat, and painted his face in frightening designs.  Then he gathered any explosives he could find, conjured a frightful black horse, and set off in his mystical wagon.  He knew he would bring terror to everyone who saw him.

Anyone but a robot, a retired physics professor, and a fellow who thought life was the funniest state of affairs ever. All this proved to be Ismael’s downfall.

The Wagon-From-Doom rounded the curve in front of the travelers and stopped.  Ismael threw an explosive charge that created a cloud of smoke and an earth-shattering explosion.  Adital slapped his forehead and cried, “here we go again!”

Ismael shouted, “Begone from my forest, forever!” and flung another explosive charge at the travelers.  Much to the wizard’s surprise, no one moved.  They just stayed motionless in the middle of the road, waiting for some magical occurrence.  These people had experienced talking trees and poetic rocks on their journey, and a garnish shaman in a pointed, black hat seemed part of the comedy.

Stephen had missed many of Ismael’s deceptions and didn’t have the patience of the humans.  It was time for some real magic.

He raised both hands above his head and shouted, “You have frightened and deceived many people!  I dismiss you!!” Ismael and his wagon disappeared immediately. A gnarled tree with strange, twisted roots sat on the path’s edge.  As the travelers passed, it shouted, “Get out, Get Out, Get Out!”

They walked with a lighter step after their encounter with Ismael.  Adital shielded his eyes and chuckled. “Look! The sun!  I guess the root of our problem was that charlatan wizard all along. Our journey might be somewhat normal now that he’s gone.”

“Don’t believe anything until it happens,” joked Amos.