If you have arrived in the middle of the adventure, you may start at the beginning by going HERE

Erik chooses to go to Soggybottom Swamp:

Another sign a little further along said, “See the Seer of Soggybottom. He sees your future, he sees your past, he sees what you need. He knows if you are sleeping, he knows when… oops. Wrong guy.”

Erik said, “That’s just who we need! A Seer will be able to see what became of my birthday present! Let’s go, Benton!”

The air was dank, chilly, and had a distinct odor of rotting vegetation. Erik shivered. Benton shuddered.

One of Benton’s hooves sank below the surface. Erik leaped off his back. “I guess I’d better walk. This ground is too soggy, and together we’re too heavy.” Benton nickered his appreciation.

They tiptoed… well, Erik tiptoed. It’s hard for a pony to tiptoe, no matter how much he might want to. They tiptoed onward, testing the ground under their feet or hooves at every step.

Squish, splorsh, squodge, squoosh, squidge… for a while all they heard was the sound of their own footsteps… hoofsteps… foofsteps… whatever they were, that was all they could hear.

Until… glorp… gloosh… glop… grumble… growl… groooooof… the sounds were getting louder, and growlier. Something, or possibly several somethings, was coming through the swamp towards them.

Bursting out of the tangled vegetation in front of them were strange, horrid-looking creatures, their mouths turned down in grimaces, their feet caked with mud, their hands waving and flinging clods of swamp grass at Erik and his pony. Erik said, “Yikes! I thought Gnashing Gnarfronks were only in books!”

Benton tried to rear up on his hind legs, but his hooves were stuck in the mire.

As one of the Gnarfronks came glooshing toward him, Erik kicked out in a Tae Kwon Do move, then spun around and knocked two more Gnarfronks off balance. Mud went everywhere.

Benton managed to get his hooves unstuck, and tried a few Tae Pony Do moves of his own. Grumbling and glowering, the Gnarfronks glooshed back into the swamp. Erik bowed low to Benton. “Good thing that I learned Tae Kwon Do when those visitors from afar came to the castle! Now, let’s try to find that Seer, and then get out of here!”

They splodged through the swamp. Occasionally they heard a glorp or grumble from a Gnarfronk, but as soon as Erik assumed a Tae Kwon Do stance, the creature glooshed off in the other direction.

Finally, they had crossed the entire swamp. A sign swinging off its hinge said “Seer” but there was no seer to be seen.

A small swamp creature with a very soggy bottom said, “He’s gone off somewhere. He’s always doing that, and he never leaves a note. He thinks we can see into the unknown and know where he is, but we don’t see, so we can’t know. See?”

“I see,” said Erik, although he wasn’t sure he did. “So he’s not here at all?”

The creature looked all around. “I don’t see him. He’s the unseen Seer, I’d say. Wouldn’t you?”

“I suppose so,” Erik said.

“See? I knew it. But that’s all I know. So long.” And the creature disappeared into the swamp grass.

Erik leaned against his pony. “Benton, it looks as though we’ve come all this way for nothing. What’s the good of a Seer that can’t be seen? I guess we’ll have to go back.” Benton didn’t look too happy about that, but he needed to stick with his boy, so they turned around and started splodging back through the swamp.

To go back and choose Mystery Mountain, click HERE