Chapter 25
Tooth fluttered around the Workshop in search of Allie and Pitch. She left a yeti to watch the two sleeping winter spirits so she could check on the other two. She checked the kitchen, the living room, the toy center, North's private study, and the whole East wing. She couldn't find them anywhere.
"Uuuuggghhh, where are those two? I hope Pitch hasn't gotten them into any trouble." muttered Tooth as she continued her search. One of the yetis came running up to her and motioned for the fairy to follow. They went down several passages until they wound up in front of the two giant double doors Allie found earlier.
"The library? Haven't been here in a while."
When she pushed open the door, the library was much bigger than she remembered. Thousands of rows of books lined the walls. There was just about every novel known to man. Romance, horror, adventure, fiction, comedy, sci-fi, drama, historical, and many more. There was a giant glass dome skylight serving as the roof. In the center there was a grand fireplace with chairs and couches. Allie and Pitch were there, noses in books.
Tooth fluttered over and took in the scene. Pitch was seated in a chair reading the Hunger Games and Allie was lying down on a couch reading Dracula. They were both so wound up in their books that she had to clear her throat three times before she was noticed.
"Oh hey Tooth. What's up?" asked Allie as she went back to her book.
"What are you guys doing?"
"Well isn't it obvious. We're reading." Pitch said. "We each recommended books for each other to read. How this girl manages to survive is actually quite entertaining."
"You sound like someone from the Capitol." Allie said jokingly. "And wait until you get to Catching Fire. I asked for the whole set for Christmas. I finished the first one in three days."
"So you guys are just reading?" asked Tooth.
"Well I was going to frighten some yetis but she dragged me here instead." Pitch admitted. "Does the boy die in the end?"
"Just keep reading the book." Allie ordered as she placed a bookmark in between the pages. "How are Jack and Snow?"
"Snow is fine and she's resting. Jack I'm a bit more worried about. He keeps struggling in his sleep. Almost like he's…having a nightmare. Pitch you better not be giving Jack those nightmares or I swear I will-!" Tooth was cut off by Pitch.
"No I'm not the cause of his nightmares! I've been in here the whole time." Pitch stated, rising from his seat. "Why am I always the person to blame?"
The two immortals went into a small argument, leaving Allie to just watch them. They continued back and forth until the doors opened. North, Aster, and Sandy came in. Tooth quickly fluttered over hoping for good news.
"Ve know vhere Jolon is located. The one problem ve have is all the monsters." North said. Tooth shivered a bit at the mention if monsters. "But ve are going to find thee vitch."
"How's Frostbite holdin up?" asked Bunny. Tooth was about to answer when several of the mini fairies swarmed into the room. They started talking to her and she quickly flew out. "Hey what's wrong?!"
The others quickly followed the distraught fairy to the infirmary. When she opened the door, Tooth screamed out in shock. A large gray snake was encircled around Jack and Snow. Slowly constricting them. It glared at the intruders before tightening its grip on the two spirits. Jack was in pain and Snow had tears of fright streaming down her face.
"Guys! Please help!" Snow yelled. The snake, angered by her outburst, stretched its head over and bit her in the shoulder. "Ow!"
"Let them go!" yelled Tooth. The snake just looked at her annoyed before doing something none of them expected. It talked.
"Would you all pipe down! A reptilesss hearing iss much more ssenssitive than other creaturess." she stated. "By the way, my name iss Malinda."
"Woah. Talking snake." Allie said in a bit of shock. "Definitely have no idea what species you are."
"Were you sent by Rhiannon?" asked Pitch.
"Ahh you mean my Misstressss." she said, Snow's blood dripping from her fangs. "Yesss. Sshe ssent me to Burgesss to poissson ssome children. But your idiot friendss here decided to interfere."
"And your lisp is really annoying." Jack laughed weakly.
"Rgh, SSHUT UP!" Malinda yelled in annoyance. Tightening her grip around the two snow spirits.
"Someone has a bitter attitude." mumbled Pitch. Malinda heard him though.
"Yess, I do. Thatsss why my Misstressss made me." she stated. "I am the Ssnake of Bitternesss and I take my job with pride."
"That's a stupid name." Allie stated, crossing her arms.
"Alright enough of this. You either let them go or we make ya into a fancy belt." threatened Aster as he grabbed his boomerangs. As he went to take another step, the snake launched itself at the Pooka, fangs barred. North grabbed Bunny by the scruff of the neck and yanked him out of the way. Crashing into the wall, the snake fell to the floor before regaining its composure and slithering towards the door.
"No you don't!" yelled Allie as she quickly slammed the door shut. Malinda hissed at her before attempting to bite her. "Yikes!"
In an effort to escape the snake's jaws, she jumped in the air before stomping down on her head. The snake struggled beneath her feet until she used her tail to whiplash Allie in the face. The force of the blow sent her stumbling into Sandy.
He quickly used his dream sand to float up to Allie's level. Her cheek was bright red and starting to swell a bit. A drop if blood hung at her lip but she quickly wiped it off.
"I'm fine Sandy, but that fudging hurt!" complained Allie as she rubbed at her cheek. Malinda picked her head up from the floor, anger written all over her features. Several of her teeth were broken and blood was oozing from her mouth. Her snout was bent strangely, suggesting that it was broken. Pupils formed into small slits as she hissed at them, droplets of blood splattering on the floor.
"You'll pay for that!" she yelled before Aster's boomerang hit her.
"Quick North, grab her head!" ordered Bunny as he caught his weapon. Before she could move, North got a strong grip on the reptile's head. The others quickly grabbed onto the rest of the snake. She struggled a bit before Sandy put her out with his dream sand.
"Fwooh…Jack! Snow!" Tooth gasped before she fluttered over to the winter spirits. "Quick get them up on the bed."
Following the fairy's orders, they patched up Snow's bite, sat both of them down in bed, and managed to get a bit of food and water in them. They still felt horrible with the amount of poison in their system. Sandy put both of them to sleep with a bit of sand. Jack was dreaming about dolphins and Snow was dreaming about small bunnies. This calmed the others down a bit before they looked back at the snake.
"What do we do with it?" asked Tooth as she poked its head.
"Ve vill use it as ransom for the vitch to give us thee antidote." North stated before telling one of the yetis to bring a cage.
"I doubt that will work. Rhiannon doesn't care if her creatures are destroyed, she can always make new ones." Pitch said. "Her creatures remain loyal though."
"But how will we get the antidote?" questioned Tooth as she tried to settle down some of her fairies.
"Why don't we just get it from Malinda?" suggested Allie as she held an ice pack to her cheek. Everyone looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "What?"
"How are we gonna get anythin from that bloody snake?" asked Aster as he polished his boomerang.
"Well you can usually get the antidote from the snake itself. You have to milk it from its fangs." explained Allie. "There's a special milking drum that is used for large poisonous animals, like Malinda."
Sandy made a motion with his hand to indicate for her to further explain.
"Well it's basically a cup with a sort of plastic over the opening of it. You grab the snake by the head and coax it into biting the plastic. You hold it's head there until enough of the venom has been leaked from its fangs before making the antidote with it. Many people around the world use this method, especially where there are a lot of snakes located." Allie stated.
"How do you know all this?" asked Aster. Allie shrugged her shoulders before saying, "When I was little I would always read books about animals. I know a lot of weird facts, but if we want to get her venom we are gonna need something bigger than a cup."
"Malinda should have been back by now. What is taking that serpent so long?" questioned Rhiannon as she closed one of her spell books. Several thoughts of where the snake could be crossed her mind. She could have fallen asleep in the rays of the sun. Hunting for something to eat. Still terrorizing children.
One thought did stick out in her mind though. She ran into the Guardians.
"Hmm…against one or two shouldn't be a problem for her, but all of them…" she thought as she started fingering her shawl. Quickly opening up one of her spell books she stopped at one of the pages, black bird decorated the page. On the next there was the same bird, only it was made out of flames. "A Phoenix. Perfect."
Grabbing the book, she walked up to a cauldron and started adding ingredients. A raven feather, wood of a burned oak, dog teeth for talons, and the ground up bones of a small child. She lit up the fire with a snap of her fingers before she recited the spell.
"The day is quiet with no more mirth.
Another day on this planet Earth.
With the screams of the frightened, and the cries of the poor.
People dying right outside your door.
With feathers that are dark and flamboyant.
Send me a creature of Clairvoyance!"
The cauldron started to shake. Sparks of flames ignited within combining the ingredients into a solid form. A small twister of fire shook the pot with immense strength before it stopped moving completely. All was completely still.
A streak of fire erupted from the cauldron and started to spiral around the room. Rhiannon just had a smirk on her face as she watched it glide around the room. It stopped in front of her. A majestic bird, completely indulged in fire, flapped its wings to stay airborne. The flames seemed to dance around it, before it landed on the edge of the cauldron and extinguished its flames. A giant black bird was left in its place.
"You shall be called Brenna. You will show me what is to come in my future." Rhiannon ordered as she allowed the bird to perch on her arm. "Now go find Malinda."
With a small bow, the bird took off. Flying out the open window and towards the North Pole.
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