Alastor and Angel made a makeshift sled out of some sticks and stones, which they then placed the moth adze's body on. After that they and the princess proceeded to walk across the bridge while hauling the unconscious adze along. The group then climbed over the cliff and slid down the slope from the keep. Princess Charlie was the first one to reach the bottom and she could not contain her joy. Free. She was finally free. She had been looking forward to this day for sixteen years and at long last it had come. Dreams do come true.

"You did it!" She bubbled. "You rescued me! You're amazing, you're wonderful, you're..."

She watched as Alastor and Angel collapsed from exhaustion once they landed at the bottom of the steep hill. It was obvious these two weren't used to extreme heroics but she wouldn't complain. After all they had accomplished what no other knight had.

"A little unorthodox I'll admit but thy deed is great and thine heart is your pure." She grabbed the billows of her dress and curtsied. "I am eternally in your debt."

Alastor was not immune to this outpouring of praise. He blushed beneath his helmet, enjoying the positive attention.

"Hey what am I? Chopped liver?" Angel asked. "He didn't exactly rescue you by himself toots."

"Of course." Charlie said smiling at him. "Where would a knight be without his noble steed?"

"With all due respect my dear." Alastor said. "You do realize he's not a horse so technically he can't be a steed."

"Zip it Smiles, this is one of my best moments." Angel said.

Charlie giggled and turned to Alastor again, her eyes bright and sparkling.

"You may remove your helmet now good sir knight."

"Ahhh...No." Alastor said, certain of what her reaction would be once she laid eyes on his face.

"Why not?"

"I...I have helmet hair." He stalled.

"Please." Charlie said coyly. "I would'st look upon the face of my rescuer."

She playfully tried to peek under his visor. Alastor shooed her away.

"No, you wouldn'tst."

"But how will you kiss me?"

"What?" The blush he hid underneath his helmet increased. "That wasn't in the job description."

"Hey Al, maybe it's a perk." Angel offered with a sexy eyebrow raise. "I can tell you're not into guys but how do you feel about chicks?"

"I'm interested in neither actually." Alastor said. He calmed down his flustered demeanor and looked at Charlie. "My dear I think you have misunderstood my position in this rescue."

"No. I haven't misunderstood anything." Charlie declared as a matter of factly. "You know my story, don't you? A princess is locked in a tower, spending many long and lonely years awaiting a brave knight to rescue her. And when he finally liberates her, they share true love's first kiss."

Alastor gulped when he remembered that little detail from the book that before now, had slipped his mind.

"With Alastor?" Hooted Angel. "Wait a second, you think Alastor is your true love?"

"Well...Yes." She said mystified.

Alastor and Angel exchanged looks, then they erupted into a fit of laughter.

"You think Alastor is your true love? Ha, ha, ha!" Angel howled.

"Ha! That's wacky nonsense if I ever heard it!" Alastor chuckled.

They laughed until they were gasping for air. Charlie was not amused.

"What is so funny?" She demanded, indignant.

"Let's just say I'm not your type, my dear." Alastor said.

"Of course you are. You're my rescuer." She insisted. "Now remove your helmet please."

"Look." Alastor warned. "I really don't think this is a good idea."

"Just take off the helmet." She repeated.

"I'm not going to."

"Take it off."

"No."

"Now!" She commanded, losing her patience.

"Okay! Easy!" He conceded. "As you command your highness."

Slowly he removed his helmet and gave her a shy grin, waiting for her to scream and try to run away like most people. The princess stared at him blankly, confused but surprisingly not frightened. In truth she seemed more disappointed than afraid.

"You're a wendigo?" She said.

"Oh, you were expecting Prince Charming or someone similar?" He smiled teasingly.

"Well yes actually...Oh no. No this is not good. Listen I don't mean to sound ungrateful but you can't be a wendigo. You have to be human. It's kind of mandatory given the circumstances."

"Forgive me, I don't follow. I thought all you cared about was escaping a prison."

"I did but let's be realistic here, I can't marry a wendigo."

"Really? I'm the one who needs to be realistic? You were the one who was ready to marry the first person who sprang you from that lava infested slammer. Provided that he was human of course."

"Well be honest, you don't really expect someone like me to marry someone like you, do you?"

Alastor sighed. He had heard this sort of thing too often.

"No. No I did not." He confessed irritably. "Princess I was sent to rescue you by Lord Vox okay? He's the one who wants to marry you."

"If that's true then why didn't he come rescue me?"

"Good question my dear, though I'm afraid you'll have to ask him that when we bring you to him."

"But I have to be rescued by my true love." She argued. "Not by some wendigo and his pet."

"Pet?!" Angel cried, insulted. "Oh you did not just call me a pet! I'll have you know toots, that I am no one's pet. He and I share equal footing."

Alastor rolled his eyes.

"Look Princess I hate to be such a disappointment." Alastor continued. "But the fact is, Lord Vox chose you to be his bride and he sent me to be your escort to the wedding. Now could you please make my job a little easier and just come along quietly?"

"I'm sorry but you're job is not my problem. I may be a damsel but I have my limits, and I will not be reduced to being escorted by some messenger boy. I have to be rescued by my true love. No exceptions." She sat herself down on a nearby boulder. "You can tell Lord Vox that if he wants to rescue me properly, I'll be waiting for him right here."

Now Alastor was losing his patience.

"Well I'll have you know Princess, that I may be a gentleman but I have my limits also, and furthermore I'm no one's messenger boy. I'm a delivery boy."

"You wouldn't dare." She called him bluff.

But Alastor did dare. With a smirk on his face, he scooped the princess up and flung her over his shoulder.

"Agghh!" She screamed. "Put me down!"

"Angel if you're coming with us then you're in charge of keeping the adze under control."

"Whatever you say Al." Angel grabbed the reigns of the sled and pulled it, following behind Alastor.

Charlie was now kicking and screaming.

"Put me down or you will suffer the consequences! This is not dignified, put me down! Aggghhh!"

She put a good struggle but she was no match for Alastor's grip. Eventually she had to accept the unconventional rescue, like it or not. Hours later, the four of them were still trudging through the forest. Or rather two of them were still trudging. One of them, the princess was not trudging because she was still slung over Alastor's shoulder. She was even leaning her chin in her hand as she hung over the wendigo's back. The fourth member of the group, the moth adze was still lying out cold on a sled that Angel was pulling. However after another hour passed, she came to at last.

"Huh?! What?! Where am I?! What's going on?!" She said sitting up suddenly.

"Oh you're awake." Angel observed. "And you can talk."

"I...I can talk." She realized in surprise. "I can talk again and I can think clearly again. But that would only be possible if..."

She put her hand to her now bare throat.

"My collar!" She gasped. "It's gone! Yes! Oh thank God! I finally got that damn thing off!"

"Technically I was the one who got it off you." Alastor said.

"Who are you?"

"Vaggie this is my rescuer Alastor." Charlie introduced in an upset tone. "everyone this is Vaggie."

"A wendigo? You were rescued by a wendigo? Huh...Didn't expect that. Wait a minute, you mean you're the one who took off my collar? You chose to do that instead of kill me?"

"Pretty much."

The moth adze called Vaggie stood up from her sled and walked up in front of Alastor. She got down on her knees and bowed her head with deep respect.

"Thank you." She said in a tone which expressed far more gratitude than anyone Alastor had ever met. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." He said. "Now run along to wherever home is."

"No can do." Vaggie said. "I'm supposed to watch over and protect Princess Charlotte until she is happily married to her true love. That's you, correct?"

"Wrong." Alastor said. "I'm just the escort."

"Apparently my groom to be is Lord Vox." Charlie said before turning to look at Angel. "What's he like by the way?"

Alastor and Angel exchanged looks again.

"Well let me put it to you this way Princess." Alastor answered, putting her down so he could take a brief rest. "When you see him the first time it'll be quite a shock."

He threw Angel a smiled who chuckled at his joke.

"Yeah a real electrifying experience." He joined in.

"He's a whole new brand of a fellow. With a custom-made personality."

"But careful you don't push his buttons."

"Or he may replace you with a new model."

"The newest model."

Alastor and Angel exchanged puns and laughs back and forth. Charlie and Vaggie looked at them confused, not at all understanding the jokes.The very bad jokes from their view point.

"Don't quit your day jobs guys." Vaggie said.

"Could one of you let me in on the joke here?" Charlie asked.

"Oh you'll find out when we reached the Fourth Kingdom in a week." Alastor said.

"A week?" Charlie stopped cold. "It'll take that long?"

She looked over her shoulder at the setting sun. Vaggie did the same, understanding the princess's panic.

"Shouldn't we stop to make camp?" Charlie asked.

"We will." Alastor said. "But it's a full moon tonight, there will be plenty of light for us to keep going at least until eleven."

"That's not going to work for me. I don't want to travel after dark. It's not safe. We should rest now."

"But if we stop now it'll take us even longer to get there."

"But there are robbers in the woods and Heaven knows what else."

"She has a point Al." Angel said. "Maybe we should stop for now."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm scarier than anything we'll see in this forest." Alastor said.

"But I'm tired." Charlie persisted. "I need to rest, and so does Vaggie."

"You'll both get your rest later."

Vaggie shook her head.

"Mmm-mmm. You really don't want to make her angry." She thought.

"I thought you were a gentleman." Charlie said.

"I am but I also said that I had my limits. We will stop but not at this moment and you'll just have to accept that."

Frustrated beyond words, Charlie jumped in front of Alastor , blocking him.

"I need to find somewhere to camp now!" She yelled.

Alastor and Angel stopped dead in their tracks, a little taken aback by her rage. So now they had two choices. Make camp now or suffer the wrath of an angry woman. They wisely chose the former.