"There's got to be a place that can serve as neutral corners," Han said, "somebody on each isle wants to kill someone from another isle, but where can we gather them together?"
Chewbacca offered his opinion on the matter.
"Good point, those guards may not let us in chess land, and if the queens hop around like the guards do, it'd be too much trouble to transport them with us, so we'll get the others and meet up on the Isle of Wonder. Who do we start with?"
Chewbacca had an answer for that one too.
"Good point, Beast may not appreciate us interrupting his new life as a married man, but he could probably clear this stone business up with the chess people," Han said as he took the map out, and sent them back to the Isle of the Beast.
A hop through the now cooled down pond, skip and a jump through the garden to the gate, and they'd found their host and his new bride, who already proved to be very happy together.
"I'm forever grateful to you for breaking the enchantment that has plagued me," the prince told Han, "but what brings you here now?"
"You need to come with us," Han said, "you've got some business to tend to over on the Isle of Wonder."
"Are you mad? I haven't left this isle for a century!"
"Well today's the day," Han said, "It's important. Beauty, you come with us, you better hear this too, because this involves your homeland, the Crown."
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"It's a long story, but I need to get everyone together, because I'm only going to explain it once," Han answered as they left the garden and headed back down to the beach.
Once they reached the Isle of Wonder, Han told the prince and new princess, "You guys stay here and don't touch anything or talk to anything until we get back, we have to pick up a few more people and we're heading over to chessboard land to speak with the queens."
"Two queens?" Beauty inquired.
"Oh trust me, this island's full of surprises," Han said, "don't talk to any rotten vegetables either."
He was sure right now they both thought he was insane but he couldn't worry about that. He and Chewie disappeared in a flash of blue light and reappeared on the Isle of the Mist and ran back to where they'd nearly been cooked for dinner. Most of the coals had gone out, but some embers still burned bright in the pit.
"Arch-Druid!" Han called as he and Chewbacca ran over to the hooded men.
There were whispers and murmurs from the Druids, their leader looked upon the smuggler and asked, "What brings you back, Captain Solo?"
"An emergency," Han said as he just barely skidded to a stop in the dirt, "The Crown itself is at stake, I need you and your men to come with us."
The old man looked concerned and shook his head, "This is most unusual."
"Yes it is," Han answered without missing a beat, "That's why I need your help."
"What do you want us to do?"
"Just come with me, there are some people that I need to find, and then I can explain it, two people have already been murdered and if we don't act fast, the Crown's princess could join them."
Louder and more concerned murmurs passed through the lips of the hooded men. The Arch-Druid selected a handful of his men and said, "We will go with you, and we will help in any way we can."
Han led them all out to the beach, and transported them all to the Isle of Wonder again. The man who only that morning had been the Beast recognized them immediately and a fight nearly broke out as he accused them of stealing his family's coat of arms, though the Arch-Druid made it clear he didn't have any idea who the man was. Han and Chewie got in the middle of it and broke it up and he told both sides, "That's enough, if you want to save the princess you have to forget about this until I get back and can explain what's going on. Ordinarily I'd leave Chewie here to keep things from getting out of hand, but I'm going to need him where I'm going. So you," he pointed to the prince and gestured to the oyster beds, "over there, you," he turned and pointed to the Druids and gestured to the curve leading to the book stacks, "Stay over there and don't move. I have to go get someone else before I can explain any of this."
Hoping they could make it back in time before both sides started killing each other, Han and Chewbacca returned to the Isle of the Sacred Mountain, and once again, despite Han's efforts to make it to the top of the cliffs before vertigo could win over, he wasn't able to make it and Chewbacca had to sling the Corellian over his shoulder and carry him up the rest of the way. Though, Han noted, it didn't seem to take near as long this time and wasn't quite as excruciating of an ordeal.
He was never so happy to reach the top of the cliff, and as soon as Chewbacca put him down he was running down the northern path leading to the guards. They found them, and both came to an immediate stop.
"You again," the first guard said.
"Lord Azure made it clear you weren't to return to the city again," the second one added.
"Never mind that," Han said, "can you guys fly to the Isle of Wonder?"
Both guards' jaws dropped.
"Those thieves?"
"Yes 'those thieves'," Han mockingly responded, "can you fly that distance?"
"This is most unusual."
"Never mind, take us to your lord," Han said, "this is a matter of life or death, the fate of the very isle depends on it."
He'd never get used to flying without his ship, but once more he endured the trip up to the pantheon and sought an audience with the royal couple.
"Why have you returned?" Lord Azure wanted to know. "I made it clear that I would not disobey my Crown further by allowing a human to enter our city."
"Your crown is why I'm here," Han answered. "The Crown is in danger and I think the only way the princess can be saved is if you work with us. Question, can you and your people fly from here over to the Isle of Wonder?"
Lady Aeriel's eyes widened and she made a shocked sound. "The Isle of Wonder, who stole our golden fleece?"
Han looked at her skeptically, and out of nowhere asked, "How's your daughter? Lady Celeste?"
The royal couple grew quiet and barely turning their heads to one another, exchanged a small look. Han continued, "You remember, the young sacrificial maiden who only this morning I put my life on the line for to save from that hybrid beast in the catacombs that your own people booby trapped and you didn't even feel a need to warn me about the rooms where we could've been impaled, crushed, squashed, or dropped to our deaths? Do you really mean to say that your sacred fleece is more important than your daughter's own life? So...let's try this again...can you and your men, fly over to the Isle?"
"Yes," Lady Aeriel answered, no readable expression in her voice, and just a hint of humility in her eyes, "of course."
Han let out a huff of relief and told them, "Then I need you to, immediately, I have to get back there ahead of you and keep everyone from killing one another. Once you get there, don't do anything, I need to address everybody at the same time..." he turned towards Chewie and then realized, "Oh wait, we still have to get down the cliffs again..." and he was already dreading that.
"Our guards will escort you down," Lord Azure told the Corellian.
Han smiled faintly and bowed his head, "Thank you."
Flying down the side of the cliffs was marginally better than trying to climb up them had been, but Han was still never so relieved when he felt his feet touch the sandy ground. Once the guards left he turned to his best friend and asked in disbelief, "What's the matter with me, Chewie? Since when I do care about saving a princess?"
Chewbacca roared in response.
"Nothing in this whole matter concerns me whatsoever, so why am I so hot about getting to the bottom of this? I must be losing my mind," Han concluded, "Or I'm getting soft in my old age."
The wookiee rumbled as he patted Han on the back hard enough to make his whole body vibrate.
"Okay, alright, enough!" Han said as he pulled out the map again, "we gotta get back, if the members of the different isles kill each other over their stolen stuff before we get back, there won't be any way in hell of getting to the bottom of this."
They transported back to Wonder just in time to get between the Druids and the prince, and force everybody into neutral corners as each continued to hurl accusations of thievery against one another, and things only got worse a while later when the winged ones appeared and the Druids accused them of stealing their oak. Han broke it up and ordered everyone, if they cared about the fate of the princess and the Crown itself, to follow him, and he led the way through the swamp, through the garden and through the gate into Chessboard Land. They only got as far as the edge of the board before the knights stopped them again, and promptly the red and white queens hopped up to the end of the board, arguing with one another before turning their attention to everyone else, and once they realized the prince in the powdered wig was the once named Beast, they flung accusations of him being the reason one of them had to present a rotten egg to the princess for a wedding gift.
Once again Han yelled until he was hoarse to break up the fighting, and he looked around at all the different people from the different isles, and he told them, "Alright, that's enough. I have been to each and every one of your islands today, and I have endured all kinds of booby traps and guards and welcoming committees that tried to have me killed," he pointed at the people variously and told them, "I saved your daughter from certain doom, I found your missing dangling participle, I broke the curse and found you a wife, I have listened to everybody accuse everybody else of stealing something from them, and the one thing you all have in common is that the Vizier sent word not to trust a foreigner who came to your lands. Arch-Druid, you said the winged ones stole your sacred oak tree-"
"That's prepos-" Lord Azure started to say.
"You shut up!" Han promptly silenced him, and pointed to the winged people and said, "You said the queens here stole your golden fleece."
"Oh that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," the white queen commented.
"And you said the beast stole your singing stone," Han pointed out.
"He did!" the red queen replied.
"That's an absurd lie!" the prince told them, "I haven't left my island in a hundred years."
"And you," Han concluded, "said the Druids stole your family coat of arms."
"Indeed."
The Arch-Druid's eyes became hard as he looked at the young prince and started to tell him, "We have never taken anything which was not ours."
"Okay," Han got everyone's attention, "everybody here says someone else stole something from them. Anybody here want to admit to actually taking anything?"
A chorus of no's served as answer.
"Okay, does anybody here have any of the things they're accused of taking?"
A louder chorus of 'no's and a few accusations of 'liar' came around this time.
"If we were to search all of your homes, your homelands, from end to end, would we find the things you're accused of stealing?"
A much louder round of "NO"s! was the answer this time.
"Well I can't help but find that very interesting," Han said as he took out his map and told the people, "As I'm sure you're all well aware, the ferries are not running, meaning nobody can travel between the islands right now, and haven't been able to for years...I on the other hand have been able to bounce all over the Green Isles, because of this magic map I found on the Isle of the Crown. This map shows there are five isles in this area, but only four of which claim to be the victims of a robbery. I have listened to the people talking on the Isle of the Crown, and very interestingly enough, there is nobody on the Isle of the Crown who wants to make an accusation against any other isles as having stolen anything from them. Furthermore, nobody here has named the Isle of the Crown in the perpetrator against their own land's stolen treasures. Does anybody happen to find that suspicious?"
Confused murmurs and whispers passed among the people.
"For that matter," he turned to the Arch-Druid and asked, "You don't find it odd that the people from Sacred Mountain could come over to your island, somehow manage to uproot a whole oak tree and make off with it, something that'd probably require a dozen people to accurately pull off, and nobody would've seen a thing to stop them?"
A sudden noise surrounded him and it took a few seconds for Han to realize it was the members of all the different isles laughing at him. He looked around and saw similar expressions on all their faces, he didn't get it.
"What is it?" he asked.
The white chess queen was the first to recover long enough to tell him, "You foolish human...the Mist's sacred oak is a miniature, it would fit right in your hand. Everybody knows that."
Everybody broke into an even louder fit of laughter, some clutched their sides and looked like they were about to fall down. Han turned to Chewbacca, shrugged and said only, "Well, they found some common ground anyway."
As a general rule he didn't like looking like an idiot, but for the time being and the purpose of this meeting, he was willing to give the people that. It seemed to be the first thing they united together on for several years.
Once everybody calmed down and the laughter stopped, Han resumed what he'd started and told them, "Something else to consider, the four isles that have been robbed, have all been in contact with the Vizier, who told all of them to be on the lookout for any strangers coming to their lands, warnings of a foreign assassin, to dispose of any intruders, and from what I have heard in all parts, nobody here is particularly fond of the Vizier, but all listen and obey because he is about to become part of the Crown, correct?"
More whispers and murmurs.
"This is, several months after the king and queen of the Crown were apparently 'assassinated' in their daughter's absence," Han pointed out.
"What?" was the general consensus among the people now.
"The Vizier sent word that King Caliphim and Queen Allaria died in their sleep," Lady Aeriel said.
"Yeah well apparently someone forgot to tell the castle's guards that, because they said the couple were assassinated and that's why the wedding has been closed to the public," Han said, "by show of hands, who here were originally invited to the royal wedding?"
Everybody raised a hand and looked around at one another in surprise.
"Well the Vizier knows that you all have been feuding with one another, so even if the ferries were running, how would he arrange for all of you to be present without a fight breaking out?" Han asked.
"It can't be done," he heard one of the queens murmur, "it simply can't be possible."
"Somebody had something to gain by turning you all against one another," Han said, "but I still haven't been able to figure out why that is...except you are all loyal to the Crown, you were loyal to King Caliphim, and I'm sure you're all loyal to the princess in wake of his death. She marries this Vizier, and you're forced to be loyal to him as well...and it's far easier to be loyal, if you're all kept separated from one another, and fighting with one another, and don't realize he's put you all in the exact same ship."
"But why would Alhazred do that?" Beauty asked.
Han shook his head, "That's what I don't know, there's got to be a way to get into the castle before the wedding and find out, but I've already encountered the guard dogs and I know they're not going to be too friendly if we head back there. The wedding's closed to the public, so I'm not sure it would make a difference even if any or all of you just happened to show up."
Something else occurred to him and he asked, "How did the Vizier keep contact with all of you guys if there's no way to travel between the isles?"
"We spoke with the Vizier's genie," the red queen answered.
Everybody else answered the same.
Han looked around at them and said cynically, "How convenient the genie is the only person who can travel to all the isles while the ferries are out of service. What's he look like?"
Everybody described the genie as a tall thin man with pale skin, short hair, a thin beard running from his sideburns down, and gold eyes that sparkled when the light hit them. He had a penchant for the mint plants that grew in the caves on top of the Sacred Mountain, but overindulging in them left him a hiccuping staggering almost drunk, it was his one known vice.
Han looked at Chewbacca and recalled something.
"Lord Azure, Lady Aeriel...when we were in the catacombs, someone very much resembling your daughter approached us and had us follow her, right into one of the rooms with a trap floor and we nearly fell to our deaths...her eyes sparkled gold just before she turned away from us."
"The Vizier's genie?"
"Is he capable of taking on any form he chooses?" Han inquired.
Nobody could say for certain because they'd only seen the genie in his true form.
"So, if he could impersonate your daughter...it stands to reason he could also take on the physical appearance of...the Beast...or a Druid...or the winged people...or a member of this very isle."
Everyone looked around at one another and the murmurings grew louder as they started to realize what he was saying.
"Alhazred had his genie come to your lands, steal your prized treasures, so each would blame the other, the isles would be at war, each isle would be cut off from one another, and no one would know anything he was doing all the while the king and queen of the Crown were murdered, which was the Vizier's only shot at the Crown. With them out of the way, all he had to do is marry their daughter, who no one even in the palace, has even seen for months since she returned home. So nobody knows if she's alright, if she's even still alive, or what he's doing to her. She would've been a small child when he first came to the Crown and worked at advising the king, you all have been fighting with each other for years, so it's obvious he's been setting this all in motion for a long time, meaning he's been eying the princess to marry and become the new king, since she was a little girl." Thinking about it, let alone giving voice to it, made Han's stomach turn, and he wished he could track down the Vizier right now and blast him right between the eyes.
"If King Caliphim and Queen Allaria knew what Alhazred was doing," Lady Aeriel said, "they would strike him dead from the next realm."
"We would all be better off if they were still alive," the red chess queen bemoaned.
"I remember," the white queen added, "we used to get along so well back then when Queen Allaria and King Caliphim were in charge, before they brought the Vizier in to assist in the government's affairs."
That made everybody quietly murmur as they thought, and it gave Han Solo an idea.
"So maybe him killing the royal couple wasn't just to marry Cassima and take over the Crown...maybe they'd found out he was responsible for setting the isles against one another and he murdered them before they could do anything about it," he suggested.
The red queen moaned, "Oh if only it were possible to bring them back from the dead and reverse this grave injustice."
"It may be possible," the Arch-Druid said.
Heads turned at his words, people murmured.
"What do you mean?" Han asked.
The older man looked at him, giving Han a slight case of the creeps, something about him reminded the smuggler of those hokey old Jedis who died out long ago. He told Han, "Legend has it that it is the right of any human to challenge the Lord of the Dead in order to save his own life...or the life of another already passed. But the knowledge of how to do this was lost centuries ago. I have only heard of one who tried it: a young knight who came to the Land of the Green Isles from a distant land long ago. According to the story, he was determined to challenge the Lord of the Dead for the soul of his dead lover, it is said that he tamed the Lord of the Dead's horse, a black winged demon-hearted beast named Nightmare. Nightmare sometimes flies to the human world to feed on certain luxurious plants. Those unfortunate enough to see her are glad to escape with their very souls intact. Somehow, the knight captured Nightmare and rode off on her back, supposedly to the Realm of the Dead. But neither the knight nor his lover ever returned. If there was a means for challenge, it was lost with the knight."
"But that's just a myth," Han said.
"No," Lord Azure's voice cut through the crowd like a blaster shot. "Nightmare is in fact very real, he frequents our isle and feeds on the nightshade that grows there."
"Nightshade?" Han repeated, "that's not luxurious, that's poison-what am I saying?" he murmured to Chewbacca, but brushed it off and said to the Arch-Druid, "Okay...okay...so it's possible...what can you tell me about this Lord of the Dead?"
The old man responded, grimly, "Ahh, that is a blacker matter still. To the Druids he is Samhain, Lord of coldness and despair. Samhain was once a man like you or I, but he insulted the gods, and was sentenced to rule the underworld. Immortal he is and mateless, robbed of sleep, robbed of movement, robbed of companionship. It is said that he hates all mortals, even more for the mortality that he lost. That is all I know."
"Cheerful fellow," Han murmured under his breath to Chewbacca. Then he thought of something, "Wait a minute, the spell book." he dug it out of his pocket and flipped through it. "There's a spell in here for charming a creature of the night...this horse should qualify, right?"
The members of the different isles looked at him and inquired what it was he planned to do.
"If this thing can actually be charmed, I'd have a better chance going back with it to the Realm of the Dead," he said.
"You don't seriously mean," Lady Aeriel said, "you mean to confront death, to barter for two souls that already belong to him?"
"Why not?" Han asked, "besides, the chances I take, it might be nice to get a sneak peek of what I'm in for when my luck runs out. Maybe I can get him to agree to a swap, he sends back the king and queen, and we give him someone else."
"Who?" the prince asked.
Han didn't answer. It was a pipe dream, but he figured if there was any way possible he could send Jabba the Hutt on an early trip to the realm of the dead, maybe this Samhain guy would consider him big enough to trade for two people. He read the spell and felt a bit deflated, "A human skull, brimstone, a strand of hair from a pure-hearted maiden, this is never gonna work...wait!" He turned to the winged people and said, "The skulls in the catacombs, can we use one of them?"
"I don't see why not," Azure answered, "the owners are beyond caring what happens to them now."
Han turned to the Arch-Druid, "the embers from your bonfire were still burning when we were there, any chance they're still hot?"
"Should be."
One of the winged guards flew off to retrieve the skull. Han walked over to the prince and his wife and inquired, "Beauty, you're the only one here I can ask, but-"
The blonde woman smiled at him and said, "I would be honored to help, Captain Solo," and pulled a strand of her long hair out.
"I hate to ask, are you still..."
"You arrived just before we could conduct the wedding," the prince answered.
"Good, I mean, I'm sorry, but, that helps us a lot," Han said, "I don't know...I don't know how a spell could possibly know the difference, but..."
"Captain Solo," the prince interjected, "I don't know that this will do you much good, but I want you to have something."
Han looked and was surprised when the prince took out a small rectangular mirror with a metal frame around it. He was confused but the prince explained, "This was going to be my wedding present for the Crown, the mirror of truth...perhaps truth will serve a nobler purpose in the realm of the dead."
He wasn't sure how, but he responded, "Maybe it will," and placed the mirror in the bag he'd brought with him.
A short time later, the winged guard returned with a skull, and told the smuggler, "Nightmare is on top of the mountain."
"Oh great, then we need to hurry," Han said as he put Beauty's hair in the skull, "we gotta get back to the fire pit to finish this. Hey, can you fly from here to the Isle of the Crown?"
"It's a longer trip," the guard said.
"I know that, but can you do it?"
"I believe so."
"Great, while I'm gone, I need you guys to transport the others to the Crown, the Vizier's spent years driving a wedge between all of you guys, the last thing he's going to expect is the whole lot of you showing up for the wedding. Maybe you'll have better luck convincing the guard dogs than we could. When you get there, do whatever you can to hold up the wedding."
"Yes, Captain."
"Captain," Han muttered to himself, "how do you like that? I'm probably about to die on a suicide mission, and I'm finally getting some respect around here."
He and Chewie rushed out to the beach, used the map and headed back to the Druids' isle, ran back to where the bonfire had been and he scooped up some hot embers into the skull, then they returned to the Isle of Wonder, and had four of the winged guards fly them back to the Sacred Mountain and up to the top of the cliffs to save them the time climbing the stairs.
Han couldn't remember ever seeing any kind of animal like Nightmare anywhere in the galaxy. A pitch black horse with huge black wings and glowing bluish green eyes. He felt something towards this supernatural animal he'd only felt towards material things he could exchange for credits. It was beautiful. He wished it was small enough to fit in his hand that he could transport with him when he left here, he wouldn't mind having something live and beautiful to hold onto for the sake of owning it. The beast leisurely grazed on the nightshade plant growing by the entrance to the cave. Han remembered something and had Chewie hold the hot skull while he walked past the animal, which paid him no mind, and crawled into the cave's entrance. The smell of mint was overwhelming, and some ways into the cave there was a light of some kind to see by, he picked several leaves and stuffed them in his pockets. He wasn't sure what the odds were he'd have another run-in with that genie, but if he did, he was going to be ready for it.
He crawled back out of the cave, gave some of the mint leaves to the winged guard and explained his plan, then took the skull from Chewbacca, and though time was of the essence he felt a need to say, "I must've been insane to agree to this...it's not bad enough I'm helping save a princess, now I'm saving her dead parents." He looked at his best friend and told him, "Look, Chewie, there's a good chance I'm not going to come back from this, so I want you to stay here and help the others. If you get into the castle and you find the Vizier, rip his head out of its socket for me."
Chewbacca howled defiantly.
"Sorry, pal, I'm going at this alone," Han said, "you've been a great friend, and...your life debt to me was paid up long ago, there's no need to drag yourself in this far for me, because I honestly have no idea what I'm walking into."
Chewbacca snarled and shook his head, and nearly crushed Han's ribs when he hugged the man.
Han sucked in a ragged breath and felt himself choked up. "I guess you got a point, if we have to die we might as well go down together, at least we'll have someone to spend eternity with." He pulled back from the wookiee's killer grip and said earnestly, "Thanks, Chewie."
He held the skull in one hand and the spell book in the other, and feeling very much like an idiot, recited the incantation to make it work. He saw a small tendril of smoke rise up from the skull that stretched clear over to the horse, and seemed to take on the form of a wagging finger, beckoning it over to the smuggler holding the skull. Nightmare raised his head and followed the smoke and came over to the human.
"This is like mounting a tauntaun, right?" Han asked uncertainly. The next thing out of his mouth was a yelp as Chewbacca grabbed him by the hips and lifted him up on the enchanted horse and then straddled it behind Han, as Nightmare took flight and headed back for his home realm.
"This thing must be enchanted," Han commented during the ride, "it's able to withstand both of us and ain't slowing down yet."
Chewbacca grumbled behind him.
The sky turned from day to night, stars were out, not like the ones Han always saw flying in direct vicinity of them, they were tiny dots in a dark blue sky, they looked so far away. Even though the only home he'd ever really known was his ship, he genuinely felt homesick, especially since he had a burning feeling in his stomach that he was never going to see his beloved Falcon again.
"Just remember when we get there," Han told Chewbacca as they seemed to be nearing the realm, "Everything here is already dead, so ripping arms out of people's sockets isn't going to do a lot of good, and blasting them won't do a damn thing."
A minute or so passed, and Han turned his head to look at the wookiee and told him, "Hey Chewie, if I gotta do this, I'm glad you're with me for it, thanks, pal."
He felt the air choked out of him again as he felt the wookiee's huge hairy arms snake around his chest as Chewbacca howled in response.
"Yeah yeah," Han tried to sound nonchalant, "I love you too. Oh heads up, we're coming in for a landing."