CANDYLAND - 1. Quest

Chapter 14 - Half-cake, half-cookie

 — Next artifact, the artifact of the Shadow Kingdom! said Pancake Cookie with joy.
— It's the Wand of Shadows, said Ice Cream Cookie.

— The Wand of Shadows is located near the Lost Tower, a tower covered in vines, hidden between two dead trees. We say that it's guarded by a red velvet dragon that is unstoppable. But just like the Frost Witch, maybe the legendary Red Velvet Dragon doesn't exist? said Maple Syrup Cookie, looking at Pancake Cookie's map.
— I don't know about that, Maple Syrup Cookie. Sure, the legend of the Frost Witch was hiding heaps of important details about the snowflake curse, but the Frost Witch, I mean, Ocean Cookie still does exist, pointed out Marshmallow Cookie. Ocean Cookie is your mom after all! she said, talking at Ice Cream Cookie.
— Yep!

Little did they know, there was a huge chance that the Red Velvet Dragon did, in fact, exist and still does live till this day. But... in a different form, that is.

🍭🍭🍭

The four cookies were getting more and more tired by the second.

This quest to find the five artifacts is getting tiring... When will it be over? When will I go back to my life as queen of the Light Kingdom? was roaming in the ex-queen's mind.
Marshmallow Cookie just wanted her old glamorous life back. But what she wanted the most was the support of her missing brother. Espresso Cookie went missing about five years ago now. Maybe even six? Sigh, she lost track of time already! It's only been two days, yet, she still feels like it's been years since she's been in the dark forests of Candyland.

Oh, how much she missed the good times! The time from before S'mores Cookie had crashed her twenty-fourth birthday party. Before S'mores Cookie kidnapped and brainwashed Skittles Cookie, her ex-best friend. Before she took over the Light Kingdom, the Nature Kingdom, the Shadow Kingdom, and the Frost Kingdom. Before she captured King Sugar and stole all of his powers, becoming the new evil empress of Candyland.

Sigh. Was Maple Syrup Cookie even sure that finding the five artifacts was the plan they needed to defeat S'mores Cookie? What if they would be stuck in hiding forever, in fear of being captured by Empress S'mores, Queen Skittles or those candy monsters? What if they would be soon obligated to fight monsters for the rest of their lives, starting now?

All she wished was for that wicked witch to leave her alone, to disappear.

Ugh! I hate S'mores Cookie! She ruined my life... Who would've thought that a villager could ruin a queen's life and destroy it? Nobody, that's what! UGH! I just want to get this search over with. I just want to defeat S'mores Cookie, she thought.

And then, she thought of Skittles Cookie.

That traitor... Even if she was brainwashed and doesn't mean to do all of this, she still contributed to all of this! I bet that she's using dark magic along with S'mores Cookie, her new best-friend. Ugh! Just thinking of that hurts my brain...

Marshmallow Cookie was walking, yet at the deep bottom of her thoughts. She wasn't looking where she was going and bumped into Pancake Cookie, who had stopped walking.

— Huh?

She looked at why they were stopping, and that's when it hit them. There was a cookie... with the arm of a red velvet cake dragon!

The cookie looked at them, saying:

— Ah, some fresh faces! It's been awhile since people have tried taking the Wand of Shadows... So, who's going first?
They were stunned, and confused. What did this strange cookie mean by « going first »? Like, did he mean to get the Wand of Shadows first? Or...

— What do you mean? said Maple Syrup Cookie.

— I mean, who's going to fight me first?

And then the ex-king laughed.

— Beat you? You're simply a cookie! I'm the king of the Nature Kingdom, so I have the powers of the element of nature. Of course I can beat you! Bring it on!

But, then...

Suddenly, the guy turned into a cake dragon! He was the legendary Red Velvet Dragon?! Oh, dear...