Our story starts with a worm named Shelly. One day Shelly was sliding down the sidewalk when a tree branch fell from a nearby tree cutting Shelly’s tail off. At first, Shelly was very scared and the wound hurt a lot but once he looked at his cut tail he saw that it had become another worm! He decided to name the other worm Carl and decided they were brothers.

But something even more amazing happened Carl grew arms and legs something Shelly was never able to do. Shelly didn’t know what to do. He wanted to teach his little brother how to be a good person but didn’t know how until he thought of an idea. His idea was that since Carl had arms and legs he could be a hero and save many people. So that's what happened. Shelly told Carl to be a hero.

Carl not knowing where to start wandered into a hole in a nearby tree. He found a dark passage leading into the roots of the tree. At the bottom of this passage, there was a town lit up by fireflies and glowworms. It was beautiful he thought. The town was very large and expansive in the roots but he could see there were damaged houses and abandoned shops.

He decided to find the mayor and see if he needed help. After all Carl did want to become a hero for his brother. Carl walked around town looking for a town hall he asked a local. She said that the town hall was the big tower in the middle of the town. Carl went to the town hall and met the mayor. The mayor’s name was Bob and he was a Boxelder Bug. 

Carl asked the mayor if he needed help, as Carl had seen damage in the town. The mayor said yes and told Carl about three brothers, The Rat Brothers who have been attacking the town, taking food, and destroying houses. Carl said he could help and asked where the rat burrow was. The mayor told him it was deep below the tree and that it was extremely dark down there.

The mayor said Carl would need protection to fight The Rat Brothers. So the mayor showed Carl the local blacksmith. His name was Joe and he was an Antlion. Joe told Carl that to make a sword powerful enough to defeat The Rat Brothers Carl would have to bring Joe ancient magical materials from around the the land.