Kyle wandered around the top of the hill and looked down at the city below. Sunrise was an hour away, but he could sense that the air was changing in preparation for the coming day. The thought that this could be his last day on Earth passed through his mind briefly – he was still wondering if this was the only logical course of action. Suppose that the spell went wrong – he and Flora could both die and Far Far Away would lose one of the three good fairies and their last line of defence. If the spell succeeded, he would have Dama back in his arms, but what had she already been through? He knew that Dama had been dead for some months – what had the afterlife been like for a fairy who used her magic for her own ends? Would she resent being dragged kicking and screaming from Elysium, or relieved to be rescued from Hell?
Flora arrived quarter of an hour before sunrise. She marked out a circle on the grass using red chalk dust and drew out an octagon inside the circle with just enough room for herself and Kyle to kneel down inside. At each of the points on the octagon Flora lit a small oil lamp, the flames reaching up in the pink morning glow. The Fairy Godmother's wand was placed with some ceremony into the centre of the octagon. Flora threw some herbs across the circle and chanted under her breath to cleanse the air of any harmful spirits. Finally, she decided that the ground was prepared and turned to Kyle.
"Kneel down in the centre of the octagon," she instructed, "and close your eyes." Kyle did as he was told and felt Flora step up behind him. She laid her hands lightly on his head and started chanting in a language Kyle could not understand. He felt himself shaking as he wondered what would happen if the spell went wrong.
In the valley below, Puss stretched and looked out of the window. He bounded over to the windowsill, reached up and scratched his claws on the windowpane. His sharp, cat eyes picked up movement on the hill. He watched for a while as a faint pink cloud gathered above the heads of two figures, one standing and one kneeling. Then he sprang down to the floor and ran for Shrek's room.
"Boss! Something is happening outside – come and see!" whispered Puss frantically into Shrek's ear. Shrek got up quietly to avoid waking Fiona and the two made their way outside the room to a nearby window. Shrek gasped at the sight of the magical cloud building above the hill and turned to Puss.
"Fetch Donkey and meet me outside the gates in five minutes."
"Si signor!"
"Is there something wrong?" asked Merryweather, standing in the doorway of her guestroom.
"On the hill," said Shrek, running back into his room to dress. Merryweather glanced up at the hill. "Oh no, Flora! You idiot!" She ran to Fauna's door. "Get up – we have to help Flora!"
Flora tightened her grip on Kyle's hair as a breeze started to circle the two in the octagon. Kyle opened his eyes as the breeze quickened to a small hurricane around the two. He looked up at Flora in terror.
"Is this what's supposed to happen?" he shouted above the wind. He couldn't see out of the circle anymore, dust and coloured sparks blocking his view.
"How should I know? I wasn't there when Salazar brought back Carrabosse. That was four hundred years ago!"
"I thought you said you knew what you were doing!"
"Have some faith in me, would you? I read all the available books on this and contacted Carrabosse last night."
"What did she say when you asked for help?"
"Get lost actually, but that's not relevant right now!" Flora looked up into the swirling mass of cloud above them. "Come on..." she whispered. The clouds started to darken to a rich red wine colour before turning black, the pre-dawn light blocked by the clouds. As suddenly as it had started, the wind ceased and Kyle was aware that he was no longer kneeling on grass. The eight oil lamps burned brightly around Kyle and Flora, their light reflecting off the shining black marble floor. Kyle felt as though he was in a large cavern, acutely aware of the silence that enveloped him and the overwhelming feeling of being watched. He felt Flora's hands shaking as she became slowly more terrified by their surroundings. Neither of them spoke for some time, waiting to see what would happen next.
"Hello?" called Flora, her voice shaking.
"Who is it you ask to be returned, fairy?" came a voice from the darkness, sending a chill down both Kyle and Flora's backs. The voice was dry and unfeeling, with undertones that indicated it had been thousands of years old before their world had been created.
"I ask that Dama Fortuna, the former Fairy Godmother of Far Far Away be returned to life."
"You have invoked the rite of reparare vita - who will be the sacrifice?"
"This man."
"He is human – a poor exchange for the Fairy. We refuse," hissed a second voice, a colder and crueler voice than the first. Where the first voice was unfeeling, this second voice emanated hate and hinted at the punishments that would follow if its time were wasted any further.
"Not an exchange," said Flora. "An addition. Just as Salazar offered himself for Carrabosse, this man offers himself for Dama."
"Ah..." moaned the second voice. "Then we may be interested." Kyle thought the voice sounded altogether too hungry for his own liking.
"What condition will you set for this resurrection?" asked the first voice.
"That Dama must be kissed by or kiss her true love by midnight after her resurrection," replied Flora.
"Unacceptable," replied a cold, hollow voice that sounded like a judge might while condemning a prisoner to death. "This man would simply have to kiss the fairy on her return for us to lose."
"I suggest that the fairy have to kiss this man of her own accord, without being told of the condition that rests on their survival," hissed the second voice again. "If she is not told, it is possible that she would not think to kiss her chauffeur on her first day back to life."
"And if she is told of the condition?" asked Flora.
"Then both Dama and Kyle will die," laughed the voice, Kyle noting the way the sound reverberated around the cavern. He was relieved that it was too dark to see the things they were conversing with – he was quite sure no living human could look upon them and ever hope to sleep again.
"If Dama does not kiss Kyle?" asked Flora.
"Then both die."
"If she does kiss Kyle?"
"Both will live their lives to the full and our role in their futures will be done. For now," replied the judge-like voice.
"Why do you ask that this woman be restored?" asked the first voice.
"There is an enemy in our land that can only be defeated by her power. We have no other options," Flora replied. A deathly silence surrounded them. The silence continued for another minute.
"Which enemy?" asked the second voice.
"Simon Debaal," answered Flora. A high pitched screeching started above Kyle and Flora as the voices reacted to the news. Flora lifted her hands and clasped them to her ears protectively, dropping to her knees. Kyle also covered his ears, but both were unable to block out the sound of the voices arguing about what to do next. They were surrounded, thousands of voices screeching in a hundred old and forgotten language about what to do next. Finally the shrieking ended. Flora returned her hands to Kyle's head and stood up.
"She will be returned. For one day only. You have twenty-four hours in which she must fulfil the condition of her resurrection or you both shall find yourselves standing before this council tomorrow night and our judgement then shall not be so in your favour." The dry voice drew breath high above them.
"So, if we should die," started Kyle, "is there an afterlife?" The voices laughed.
"For some, but not you little human. If you should die as a result of this spell, the souls of you and the lady you seek to bring back to life will be ours to torment for the rest of eternity."
"But if we succeed there is an afterlife for when we die of other causes?" persisted Kyle.
"Oh yes," hissed the second voice. "Dear Dama is experiencing one venue for her afterlife right now. Would you care to watch?"
"I think not," scolded the judge's voice. "Our function is to control the passage of souls to, and sometimes from, the afterlife. Not to torment those souls still living. Be warned, little human. Your love has spent time in the lower recesses of Purgatory for her crimes and may not have recovered by the time she returns to you."
"Purgatory," gasped Kyle.
"Will that be all?" asked the dry voice again.
"Yes," said Flora.
"Then you agree to the terms of our agreement Kyle? This is your last chance to leave here a free man," warned the judge.
"I agree. Double-or-quits. Just as Flora explained beforehand. So long as there's a chance for Dama to return."
"Good. A word of advice as you seem to be souls on the side of good," rasped the dry voice.
"What?" asked Flora.
"Duck..." said the voice, fading into the distance. Both Kyle and Flora felt a sensation of falling as the light slowly filtered back into their world.
Shrek, Donkey, Puss, Merryweather and Fauna ran up the hillside to find out what Flora was up to. Both fairies had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
"She's done the spell on her own, hasn't she?" said Merryweather. "That stubborn old bint, always taking the initiative to carry out the impressive spells on her own. And after we all decided yesterday not to do this!"
"She lied to us! I do hope she's alright," gasped Fauna.
"What's going on?" asked Shrek.
"We were going to bring Fairy Godmother back to life, but decided the spell was too dangerous. Now it seems Flora has taken it upon herself to carry out the spell," answered Merryweather.
"Great, that's all we need, another mad magical madam running around Far Far Away," muttered Shrek. Up on the hill, the black, swirling hurricane contained inside the circle started to fade to a light salmon pink and stopped spinning. "Oh, it looks like the spell is over!" said Shrek. The sun broke over the horizon, the first rays of sunlight hitting the pink cloud.
"Duck!" shouted Merryweather, pinning Puss and Donkey to the ground. Fauna dived face-first onto the ground, while Shrek tried to lie as flat as possible. The pink cloud glowed as if gathering power from the sunlight, then exploded in a flash of pink dust and coloured sparks, a deafening crack of thunder resonating from within. The dust settled. A deathly silence surrounded the hill.