A/N: This chapter is a little shorter. I'm sorry. It's been a long couple of weeks with the quarantine, and I've had to adjust to college/ high-school work being online, and a sister of a good friend is in life-threatening condition at the hospital. However, this chapter is very important for what is coming later.

Also, I have decided to make a sequel for this book, and maybe a prequel if I have time. Does anybody have ideas for a series name? Please and thank you :)


"I don't mean to alarm you, but these toys are far too much for you...our fates were always intertwined, and soon you'll find that I will be your king!" ~The Evil King by Natewantstobattle


"It's clear that you have a lot of power, and a lot of heart." Scarab spoke calmly and firmly. As she lectured, she began setting up one of the targets at the far end of the field near the vined tunnel where they had first entered. "And Clarion was right about some things. Both are equally important in stopping Shade, but, alone, they are not enough."

"So," she added. "We're going to start with the basics." She lifted her porcupine quill and spun it tauntingly. "I assume you know at least the general concept of fencing? Yes?" She jabbed the end toward him, and he jumped back in fright.

"Hang on just a moment!" he protested. "Can ya go back to the part about Pixie Hollow bein' attacked? When did that happen? Is everyone okay?"

"Less talk, more fight," Scarab replied, twirling around and thrusting the quill at him once more.

He darted back onto a boulder near the waterfall. "What happened?" he repeated, lowering his weapon. "The Queen said he wouldn't go after the Hollow because I wasn't there!"

Scarab shrugged. "Guess she was wrong." She didn't sound too upset about this. But that didn't make sense. Wasn't Clarion her queen as well? Bobble frowned, but Scarab ignored him. "But you can't be any help to them if Shade kills you the moment you step across his borders. You need to learn to defend yourself." She narrowed her eyes, as though sizing him up. "How long have you been here anyway?" she snapped. "How long since your arrival?"

"Uh...a while, and-HEY!" While he was speaking, she had took off, zipping around him and prodding him roughly in the back with the spear. He jumped away, wincing as his wings momentarily gave out and he landed roughly on a fallen oak. "What was that for?"

"Your wings," Scarab said sharply, ignoring his question. "What happened to them?"

"They got burned and...what are ya doing?" He twisted around, finding her coming up behind him to stare at his wings. He stepped away from her, turning to face her and looked up with large eyes.

"You were hit with one of Shade's spells," she whispered, lowering her quill. Then, without warning, she lunged forward and grabbed his shoulders tightly. "How long ago did this happen?" she demanded.

"Uh...not too long ago." Bobble rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think. "A few days, mebbe. Wait...how long was I out?"

"Three days."

"Oh...okay, then, it's been almost a week. Wait...did ya say three days?" He gaped, watching as she stepped back and folded her arms. "I was out for THREE DAYS? No wonder Shade took Pixie Hollow! I...I have to get back!" He dropped the spear and darted for the exit. "My friends...I have to make sure they're all right...my friends..."

"They're fine!" Scarab snapped, shooting in front of him with a burst of fast-flying talent, blocking his exit and forcing him back. "You need to calm down! You aren't thinking straight!" She tried to grab his arm, but he twisted away at the last moment. "Phineas! WAIT!" She flew after him, but he ignored her, whizzing through the vined gates toward the outer gardens. "PHINEAS KETTLETREE, I AM ORDERING YOU TO STOP!"

But, he didn't stop. He didn't even slow down. Scarab wasn't the boss of him. She couldn't tell him what he could or could not do. No one could tell him what to do. He was a Protector, not a slave.

Except for Queen Clarion and Fairy Mary.

A jolt of fear coursed through his body as he realized what he'd been thinking. How rebellious he had suddenly become. That wasn't like him. He never disobeyed authority.

And yet, there he was, running away as fast as his faltering wings would carry him.

And why? Because he was being a coward. At that moment, he didn't care about Pixie Hollow, or his friends. He could hardly breathe, let alone think. He needed to get away. He needed to process everything, not get stabbed repeatedly with a weapon that he had absolutely no idea how to use.

Something green slithered to life on his left, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the vines from around the wooden beams shiver to life and snap out toward him. He yelled in alarm and ducked as it went soaring over his head.

"Stop it!" he yelled, covering his head with his arms and continuing to run/hop desperately across the meadow.

"You can't run away from this!" Scarab shouted after him as she brought another vine to life to try and snare his wrists.

"I said, STOP IT!" Bobble screamed, jerking away fast as the plants nearly tripped him up. "Get away! My friends are in danger! I don't want your help!" The vines snaked closer, and he struggled to keep ahead of them.

"You can't help them if you are dead!" Scarab yelled at him again. "Which is what you're going to be if you don't stop acting like a blind fool, and let me teach you what you need to know!"

"No!" Bobble yelped as a plant finally caught up to him, wrapping itself firmly around his ankle and yanking him backward onto the ground. He clawed at the earth desperately as the vine began to pull him back. "No! NO! I haveta go! I haveta make sure they're...they're...okay...this is...all my fault..." He struggled as the vines, pleased to have ensnared him, crept up his body, tightening around him, pinning his legs together and his arms to his sides. Unable to move, he surrendered, going limp and letting Scarab flutter over to him.

"Get up," she told him, crossing her arms, releasing her talent from the plants, and waiting as he struggled to detangle himself from the lifeless vines. "We've got work to do. And I need to take a closer look at that wing."

Breathing heavily, he obeyed, ripping the vines apart angrily and chucking them off into the grass with a scowl.

"Don't look at me like that!" Scarab protested. "You're the one that went out and got yourself cursed!"

Bobble froze. "What?"

"Shade's fire is cursed," Scarab snapped. "It kills whatever it touches. Slowly and painfully. And if it's really been as long as you said...well, then I think it's best if I try to stop the spreading, don't you?"

"What spreading?" Bobble retorted crossly. "It's just a little burn!"

"Maybe it was once," Scarab growled. "But not anymore. Go look at the water."

"But-"

"Do it."

Flinching, he stood up slowly, backing away from her, toward the creek. He paid little attention to the birds watching curiously from the treetops as he carefully knelt down beside the flowing water. He opened and closed his wings a couple of times, frowning. "I don't understand," he confessed.

"Here," Scarab said, coming up behind him. "May I?" He nodded and she gently grabbed his injured wing, pulling it to the side so he could see it's reflection in the creek. He nearly choked when he saw it, partially shriveled and blackening. As she touched him, a bolt of pain exploded through his body and he gasped, lurching forward, just barely catching himself before he went face-first into the water.

"It's worse than I thought," Scarab muttered. "It's already begun to spread."

Bobble turned to face her. "What...what does that mean?" he asked nervously.

"I don't know for sure," the fairy sighed. "I've never seen it to this extent before. But it might mean you're in trouble." She turned and began to fly back toward the waterfall, looking thoughtful.

"What kind of trouble?" Bobble questioned, glancing longingly toward the exit. It was so close. But if what Scarab was saying was true...then...He took a deep breath and ran after her. "How bad is it? Is it, like, I'm going to feel some mild discomfort, or is it more like...I could die?"

"You won't die," Scarab growled. "But if we don't get it fixed soon, you could be crippled for life. Not to mention the other negative side effects."

"O-other side effects?" Bobble spluttered. "T-there are others?" His voice hitched fearfully. "M-more than possibly...never flying again?" To a fairy, being grounded was almost as bad as death. It made them almost useless, and especially for fairies like him, who were used to being needed, it was enough to drive one mad.

He half-suspected that had been Shade's intention all along.

"There are many possible results from a misfired flame-spell," Scarab replied, grabbing a bowl and selecting a few leaves off of a nearby tree, mixing them into the bowl and beginning to grind them to pulp. "But, yes, that is the general idea. I assume that's what Shade was hoping for, at least."

Bobble wondered if she'd somehow read his mind. Was mind-reading talent a thing? He didn't know. Now that he thought about it, there were a lot of things he didn't know. Starting with why Queen Clarion hadn't told him about this place. If it was really a place for Protectors, why hadn't he come there originally? Scarab was clearly the head of his guild, even if there were only three ever, and she clearly knew more about what was going on than he did.

But Shade would know about this place, he realized as he absentmindedly ran a hand across a moist rock. Queen Clarion wouldn't have wanted anyone to come if she thought it might put them in danger. That was just how she was. Even if that meant leaving him entirely untrained, it was better than the alternative. He agreed with that.

But, it might have helped if he'd learned a bit more of what he was up against ahead of time.

"Here," Scarab spoke again, moving away from the water and holding out the green pulp. "This is made from water lilies. It'll help with the burn. Rub it all over your wings, and then get some sleep. I'll give you a chance to rest up, and then we'll start training, all right?"

Bobble took the bowl from her silently, barely inclining his head in a nod.

Scarab flew away, leaving him standing alone in the clearing, holding the clay, and shaking violently. He didn't want her to see to deeply her words had scared him. If Shade could do so much damage by simply touching him with a spell, what chance had he to stop him? The dream flooded his mind, and he clenched his hands into fists. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't.

That is what I have to stop.

That is why I am the Protector.

He had never felt so frightened in his life (except for, you know, getting thrown halfway across Pixie Hollow by the fireworks launcher for the Blue Moon Festival). He didn't know if he was enough. He remembered Shade's taunting, the way he'd seemed less than concerned when he saw him. That was something Bobble was used to, but to hear one of the most powerful fairies in all of Neverland say it, he truly believed it.

I'm not good enough. I know that. Shade knows that. But it doesn't matter. Pixie Hollow is in danger, and somehow, I have to save it.