"Don't… don't do it!" Tom exclaimed breathlessly. A small polite smile on Moon's face turned into a sarcastic grimace.
"Excuse me?" her voice was calm, too calm on Tom's opinion.
"You know what I mean," the boy said. "Stop chasing Toffee!"
"Why should I stop it?" Moon squinted her eyes. "He's a threat, and now he's weakened more than ever. I must destroy him before he destroys my kingdom."
For a moment Tom realized his mistake, and all pieces of the puzzle were put together. He slapped himself on the forehead, almost hurting his eye.
"Toffee isn't that monster who will attack Mewni in my time!" Tom explained. "I'm sorry if I mislead you."
The Queen crossed her arms.
"Could you swear he would never do any harm to my people and my land again?"
Tom's smile faded. He had heard about the battle for Mewni and had seen with his eyes all damage the Septarian leader had caused in the Underworld.
"Well…" he started unsurely, but Moon caught all she wanted to know in the change of his voice.
"You can say nothing," the Queen turned to her maps. "He'll return to revenge, but I'll strike first."
"You'll die if you continue your searching!" the prince exclaimed desperately.
Moon froze. She kept silence quite long, and Tom bit the tip of his tongue as he had said another critically important thing and had changed the future even more.
"So be it," Moon said at last in quiet, yet confident tone.
"WHY ARE YOU SO STUBBORN?" demon's irritation, frustration, and fear unleashed with spurts of flame. "I JUST WANT TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!"
"I don't need a hero!" the girl screamed back at the demon. Her cheekmarks turned bright red from anger. "Tell me what you want me to know or get out of my way!"
"Your Majesty?" a guardian rushed into the tent, holding a battle ax.
"Go away!" Tom and Moon ordered at the same time, keeping exchanging angry looks.
"But, My Queen…" he looked hesitantly at his irritated Queen and more than the scowled demon, hovering in the air in front of her.
"No need to worry," Moon pulled herself up. "I have a conversation with our new honorable ambassador of the Underworld, and we find some disagreements. Nevertheless, we continue the campaign immediately."
The guardian nodded and left the Queen's tent. Moon rolled her maps and prepared to do the same.
"Ambassador?" Tom whispered, following her.
"You can thank me later," Moon said, approaching her warnicorn and riding it.
The prince looked around. The sun almost hid behind the wall of trees, and their silhouettes seemed painfully familiar.
"Are you going to walk into the Forest of Certain Death? At night? Seriously?" Tom asked in disbelief. Moon just shrugged and said nothing, leading her small squad. She was the first who stepped into the shade of the Forest.
Tom rode near her, almost resigned himself with his role. He prepared himself for all possible dangers what they could meet in this place, but he was surrounded only by harmless trees. The only thing disturbed the demon - pressing unnatural silence.
"I hope you know what are you doing," his mumbling sounded like a shout.
"Be quiet," Moon murmured in response. "My scouts reported Toffee's hideout was near."
They continued on their path. The further the Queen's little squad rode the more anxious Tom became. Every second could happen something awful. They might find that shelter and face the psycho monster rebel, or might trap in an ambush. Or the worst - the spell might return him into the present in the most inappropriate moment…
His eyes noticed a slightly recognizable movement beyond the trees. His pointy ears caught a barely audible sound of cracking rope.
"Watch out!" Tom jumped and fell Moon on the ground.
"What do you…" the ending on her phrase was muffled with the noise of the giant spiked log what flew over their heads. Moon looked from the worried boy's face to the timber, still swinging above them, and her eyes widened.
"Ambush!" one of the Mewmans warrior scream and instantly fell with an arrow in his throat. The armed Septarians appeared from the trees, and they were at least twice more than the Queen's squad.
Moon oriented herself quicker than Tom. She jumped on her feet, pulled her wand out of a sheath, and pointed it at the nearest enemy.
"Dragonfly Tornado!"
Two Septarians got into a vortex of glimmering wings and disappeared in it. Their screamings somehow pushed Tom to action.
The prince had participated in battles before. He had fought with Star against Mina Loveberry as well as against Meteora with the Marcnificent Seven. But this time there were no friends near, and the number of enemies was superior. Tom got lost for a few moments, trying to figure out what to do. And then he heard the screams of warriors and caught a glimpse of Moon's silver armor, and his hands clenched into fists. He had the only mission - to keep this girl safe.
The wall of flame appeared between the Queen and her attackers, burning and blinding them. The demon floated in the air above the battlefield, turning everything his fire touched to ashes. His only concern was the Moon's safety. Maybe, on any other day, the boy would have second thoughts about what he was doing (his nature had softened very much after his friendship with Star and Marco), but now he was burning and singeing other living creatures without mercy and remorse.
For Tom, all combat turned into a mess consisting of flashes, screams, and weapon's rumble. The fact he could hear and see in the dark better than his allies didn't help him. No matter how hard he tried to keep his head cold, his actions remained quite chaotic. But, at least, the demon didn't hit the members of the Queen's squad.
The Mewmans fought skillfully, but forces were unequal. One by one the Queen's warriors lost their battle. Many were killed, even more were wounded. The monsters seemed to feel tiredness of their opponents and intensified the onslaught.
"Your Majesty, we should retreat," one of the royal bodyguards exclaimed. "Your Majesty?"
Tom followed the traces of Moon's spells. She combated with three lizards contemporaneously and didn't hear the words of her man. The prince made an attempt to come close to Moon and convince her to follow the advice. A giant lizard with a frilled neck stepped on his way, and Tom set his sword and arms on fire. Though the demon probably burnt his limbs to the bones, the warrior didn't scream, just dropped his weapon and fell on his knees. The stench of charred flesh nearly made Tom puke.
"Moon, it's time to retreat!" he finally reached the fighting Queen.
"I don't think so," she struck two of her opponents down and combated with the last one. "We cope well."
"Well?" Tom couldn't believe his ears. "Look around! Are you sure you chose the correct word for this?"
A bright spell threw the defeated opponent on the ground, and Moon had a possibility to turn around at last. The fuss of the battle had carried her entirely away, and only now the Queen could see how exactly things had been going. The express of composure on girl's face changed into the dismay, but it lasted only a few seconds.
"You're right, she should return to our camp," she was distracted for a moment by another rebel. She blasted him with a rainbow enchantment.
"Hey, I can buy you some time to gather your people," a flame arch appeared between the demon's hands. "My fire seems to be more effective than your spells."
Moon squinted her eyes, skeptical, but noticed a bleeding soldier nearby, and nodded affirmatively. Tom stood still, discouraging the Septarians with his flames.
On the edge of his sight, he noticed the familiar warrior with a frilled neck. He held an ax, and both of his hands seemed to heal. Tom had no time to take action before that lizard chopped one of his hands off. The fire extinguished immediately.
The pain was sharp, but it was drowned by rage. He flew into the air in flames; the black smoke of his souls flowed like blood. His voice became more profound, and he spoke the language no one among those present in that forest could understand. Although Tom gave all his attention and his powers to summoning, he saw as Mewmans left the battlefield. Moon went the last. Her eyes were wide, and sparks reflected in them; she pressed something pale to her chest, and her lips were moving. Tom didn't hear her words, and shook his head angrily as if to say "Don't interrupt me." The Queen seemed to understand his message. She gave him the last worried gaze and spurred her warnicorn, catching up the rest of her squad.
Meanwhile, the prince of the Underworld ended his incantation. He fell exhausted, weaker than a newborn kitten. The monsters around was going to come close and finish him, but they weren't able to do anything before the ground under their legs cracked. A bunch of souls flew out of the crack, and for a moment all battlefield was shrouded in orange radiance. And then the bodies on the ground started to move.
For sure, the lizards didn't expect that. Tom heard frightening shrieks here and there and opened his third eye to check the situation. The Septarians fled away, chasing by the walking dead Mewmans. One of the opponents, the tall lizard with a perfect hairstyle, however, turned back and met Tom's eyes. His gaze was cold and calculating, yet Tom caught something like interest in it. In a few moments, he hid behind the trees, leaving the demon alone with the living corpses.
He could set the souls of fallen soldiers free but decided to wait until enemies went far enough. So Tom just curled himself on the ground, holding the stump of his arm carefully. His hand didn't return to him, and it started to disturb him. It might get lost in the turmoil of battle and retreat. Tom thought about what would say his parents on it and shivered.
But next moment he gained a more urgent reason to worry about. His guts fell sick as before teleportation into the present. "Oh, no, no, no!" his thought with panic. Had he done enough to save Moon and restore his timeline? Moon hadn't been killed in the trap, but she for sure would keep pursuing Toffee. If only he had more time!
The cold forest air changed to the hot and smoky in the Underworld. Tom was laying on the ground, keeping his eyes closed and breathing heavily. Little by little, he calmed himself down.
"Nothing serious has happened," the boy assured himself. "I'll just check what had changed in this time and return, If it's needed, of course."
Tom opened his eyes and stared at the pinkish grey sky of his homeland. He blinked, but the vision didn't change. The prince raised on his elbows to find he was laying among dust, and stones, and marble blocks.
Slowly he recognized in this trash the remains of the Lucitor castle.
