Sandy

I hovered over the dark hole that stretched miles beneath the ground. A cold breeze billowed from the depths, ruffling my hair and giving me goosebumps.

Even from here, I could hear the low, ominous rumble of the caverns below. I swallowed hard and dared a step closer.

For a moment, I had to pause and close my eyes. Aila was down there, and it was my duty to protect her. If that meant coming face to face with the nightmare himself... well, I'd bested Pitch before, and I would certainly do it again.

I clenched my fists and felt a surge of determination. I leaped.

For a moment, I plunged through the tunnel in total darkness. Bitter cold wind whipped past my face.

I hit the floor, one palm pressed against the ground to steady myself. The thump echoed against the ceiling.

I marched down the slope, watching for any changes— a moving shadow, a sound… The cave was dead besides the constant drip of water and the creaking of the cages swaying from the ceiling.

The tense emptiness stretched on as I crept across the path.

Something twitched at my side. I whirled around, heat building up in my palms.

Utter silence filled the air. I could only hear my heart beating.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

My entire body unwound in relief. I shot upward and followed the voice. The cave flashed by in a blur, until, finally, I caught a glimpse of a green dress.

Aila was hunched over inside one of the hanging cells. When she saw me, her face melted with ease. "Sandman!"

I pressed myself against the bars, and she leaped to her feet. I scanned over her frantically. If Pitch had so much as laid a finger on her…

"I'm ok, I'm ok," she insisted in a hoarse voice, as if reading my mind. "But we have to get out of—"

She gasped.

I reeled around, and there was Pitch, prowling closer with his hands folded. I pushed myself in front of Aila with my arms spread protectively.

"You're right on time," Pitch replied. He began to chuckle malevolently.

I lashed out with a whip, but before the cord could even snap, the ground tilted under me. I reached for Aila, but she was swept away in the shadows. The world seemed to bend, and I flailed. Right before I fell, another room swirled back into place. I was still in the cave, but Aila was nowhere to be seen.

A shadow flashed by. Before I could summon my whips, everything faltered back into darkness. My stomach lurched.

The feeling of the stone under my feet disappeared, and for a moment I was grappling at emptiness. The entire world was spinning.

I collapsed onto my hands and knees. The moment I hit the ground, the darkness cleared. I found myself kneeling in a foot of snow.

Groggily, I forced my head up, and my vision swam. I clasped my hand over my face and shook everything back into focus.

I was on the edge of a cliff, exposed to the shrill light of the full moon.

Sending a fierce glance back and forth, I stumbled to my feet. I was completely alone.

Before I had time to worry, an angry voice cried, "Let go of me!"

I whirled around, and Aila and Pitch were just stepping through a dark tunnel.

I immediately rushed towards them, but Pitch whipped out a nightmare sand blade and pressed it to Aila's throat.

I froze in place.

Pitch forced Aila to face the moon. "My old friend," he called out. "I am afraid I have some… unfortunate news to share."

The moon swelled. All three of us winced away from the piercing light.

Pitch shoved Aila, and she fell to the ground. I leaped to her and helped her to her knees.

Pitch stepped in front of us. He lowered his head in mock respect. "I have an accusation to make."

It was like a snake crawling up my spine. A cold grip seized me, and suddenly I couldn't move. Everything began to make sense.

"I find it my duty to bring to your attention that the Sandman, Guardian of Dreams as appointed by you, who agreed to every rule of his guardianship as were clearly enforced… has defiantly broken his solemn oath."

My heart began to pound

"He has associated with a family member from his past."

Aila grew rigid. I watched as her face twisted from confusion to shock, and then her eyes finally met mine. She turned down and shook her head. My chest ached as she began to pull away.

"Aila Galloway," he stepped aside, allowing the moonlight to bathe the two of us. "His wife."
Aila instantly recoiled from me as if I had slapped her. I reached out and stumbled towards her, but slowed to a stop when her expression contorted.

She buried her face into her hands and shook her head. "No, it's not true…"

"I have proof," Pitch announced. I turned just in time to see him draw my memories from his robe. He tossed them to me and demanded, "Open them."

I hesitated. I glanced back up at Aila, but she had not moved. I swallowed hard and turned to the Man in the Moon. His light slowly honed in on me like a spotlight. Heat pricked at my skin.

I raised my hand, paused for a moment, then rested my fingers over the blue diamond.

Instead of being sucked into my memories, I watched as the moonlight reflected off the cylinder and projected them into the sky above our heads. The image was of Aila. She was sitting underneath a tree, bent over the medical book she had written.

A different version of me, a young man with messy blonde hair and a mild grin, approached her, and she beamed. I sat beside her, wrapping my arm around her and drawing her close. I rested my cheek on the top of her head and listened as she ranted excitedly, guestering to her book.

The image faded, and was replaced by me on one knee. Aila's hands were covering her mouth, and there were tears streaming down her face. We were both soaked with rain and streaked with mud. I slipped a beautiful ring around her finger. She launched herself into me, nearly knocking me over.

The image changed again, and this time I was the Sandman. I was on the Isle of Stranded Souls. I was reaching out to touch her in complete disbelief. Disbelief that my wife was here in front of me… here on the Isle of Stranded Souls. What was my wife doing on the Isle of Stranded Souls? She wasn't a stranded soul… was she?

In the present, I dared a glance back to Aila again. She had lifted her face from her hands and was staring up. As I watched, she clamped her eyes shut. She crumpled forward.
The memories disappeared. I was left staring at the face of my past self that was painted on the side of the cylinder.

I gazed up at the moon, nearly blinded by the piercing rays, and waited. For a moment, there was no response. The Man in the Moon simply glared upon me.

Then, a flash came over my eyes. I could see a shimmering, golden crystal.

Crack!

It was like a real blow to my stomach. I doubled over and gasped for air.

For a moment, there was only the eerie sound of splintering stone. A fracture appeared through the center. The crystal splintered, and its light wavered. It disintegrated before my eyes.

Just like that, the vision disappeared, and I was kneeling in the snow. I lifted my trembling hands. I seemed to have lost color. An empty ache seeped through my entire body. I collapsed forward.

The light of the moon began to wane as it shrunk back to normal size. I leaped to my feet and stumbled a step forward. I slipped and fell into the snow.

I laid there for a moment, and then there were crunching footsteps beside me. I lifted my face to find Pitch hovering above.

He gripped the collar of my shirt and lifted me right off the ground to his face. My entire body had turned feeble. I could barely move or even feel my arms and legs.

"What happened?" he demanded. "What did you see?"

I forced my head upright and fixed him with a tenacious scowl.

Slowly, a smirk overtook his face. When he spoke, his voice had turned smooth. "You're not a Guardian anymore… are you?"

It was as if hearing him say it had brought reality to life. I struggled to hide the emptiness engulfing my entire body, but it was a real, physical pain. It was as if someone had reached inside and vehemently wrenched a piece of me from beneath my skin. My breath began to heave violently.

Pitch chuckled, almost in disbelief. Then, he threw his head back and guffawed to the sky. He grit his teeth and hurled me to the ground.

I skidded helplessly through the snow, and when I finally stopped, I was left staring at Aila.

She avoided my eyes, entirely turning away.

Everything went black.


. . .

"They are not here, so where else could they be? They had to have gone to Pitch's lair. I feel it…"

"Don't you dare say..."

"... in my belly," Bunny and North both chanted together.

"How can you be so sure?" Jack stepped in suspiciously.

"Well what do you think?" North argued. "He and Miss Galloway just wandered off for alone time?"

"Well…" Jack teased with a tiny grin.

North grabbed a portal globe from one of his shelves. "I say we get the sleigh and take the fight to Pitch. I will not wait here for him to make next move."

A bright light gleamed through the skylight. They squinted as the moon appeared. A beam shot in through the ceiling and pooled around a specific tile in the floor, which opened to make room for a tall crystal.

Jack exchanged a glance with Tooth as the four gathered around.

"What?" Tooth murmured. "He's not… He's not choosing a new—"

"No," North replied, his face suddenly falling dark.

The crystal turned a shimmering gold. The silhouette of Sandy's body appeared inside.

"He's telling us where Sandy went!" Jack exclaimed.

The crystal cracked.

Surprise rippled through the group. Tooth audibly gasped.

The crack surged right through the middle, straight across Sandy's silhouette. It spread in a web until the stone began to crumble.

North hung his head in his hands. "Oh, Sandy…"

The crystal fell dead and dark. What was left descended, and the floor closed above it. The light disappeared. The moon grew strangely dim, hiding behind the clouds.

"What does it mean?" Jack whispered hoarsely, though he had a gnawing feeling he already knew.

For a moment, no one answered. Finally, North sucked in a shaking breath and lifted his face from his hands. "It means…"

"It means Sandy isn't a Guardian anymore…" Bunny finished for him, staring crestfallen at the floor.

"What?" Jack panted. "No! No, that can't be! Pitch tricked him into finding Aila! He would have never done it if Pitch hadn't—"

"Jack—" Tooth reached out to him, but he brushed her off.

"I have to find him!" he sprung into the air.

"Jack…"

He froze at the dreary sound of North's voice. The Guardian of Wonder approached him, a troubled look in his eyes. "We are no longer allowed to ally with Sandy. It is part of the code."

"The code?" Jack scoffed. He stomped back to the ground. "Sandy could be in danger and all you can think about is the code?"

North squared his shoulders. "Sandy made the decision to find Miss Galloway on his own," he barked. "You are lucky to not share his fate as is! If we go after him, we could all lose our places as Guardians!"

But Jack was no longer listening. His eyes traveled past North, where there was a triangular shaped tile in the floor. The silhouette of Sandy was painted there. Only months ago, they had all stood around that circle, holding hands… mourning.

When Jack spoke, he was stunned by how calm his voice sounded. "Did you all forget a couple months ago Sandy was dead? We grieved for him… we cried," He glanced around at the others as their heads began to fall. "Where is that loyalty now?"

Without waiting for an answer, he sprung for the window.

Seconds before he left, a voice called, "Jack…"

Jack paused. He turned, and Tooth fluttered up to meet him at the window. She sucked in a shaking breath, then clenched her jaw. "I'm coming with you." Her little fairies buzzed around her, chirping in determination.

Bunny stepped up next. He grinned. "Count me in."

Everyone turned to North. The last Guardian pursed his lips and turned his portal over in his hands. Finally, he shook his head.

"What am I doing?" he murmured, then exclaimed loudly, "What are we waiting for? Let's go get our Guardian!"