-1Maive's mind was an absolute blank. She knew she should try to do something, anything, but she just couldn't. Marissa was right. She was nothing. The Coven had underestimated her and sent Maive. They had made a wrong decision and now everyone would pay for it.
Maive didn't even fight when she was tied up. She felt herself sinking into a dark place, almost like in meditation, but different and bad. And she didn't fight it. There was nothing she could do anyway.
Maive felt herself being dragged along. After a few moments she was thrown into a cell. She fell back against the wall, but managed to keep her feet. She looked around her, but didn't really care or register anything. She was in some kind of dungeon. It was dark and gloomy as a dungeon should be. Cobwebs all over. It looked like it hadn't been used to often.
Maive sat down on a wooden bench and let herself fall deeper into the blackness.
A sudden noise made her jerk back to herself and look around. She went to the door and looked out the barred window. She couldn't see too well, but she could hear. And what she heard sounded like people.
"See, I knew it would lead to the dungeon." a male voice drifted down to her.
"I never doubted you." a woman's voice replied, "You think she's here yet?"
"I don't know. It's been long enough, hasn't it?" the man pondered, his voice getting closer.
There was no response so Maive guessed the woman must have made a gesture of some sort. She moved over to see if she could see who was coming.
A man and woman stepped into the dim lighting and Maive recognized them from her visions. It was Wolf and Virginia!
"Wolf!" she called, "Virginia!"
Wolf and Virginia hurried over to her cell door.
"How do you know us?" Virginia asked.
"My name is Maive. I'm a good witch, sent by The Coven to help. But I'm just an apprentice. I have visions and I saw you two." Maive said in a rush.
"Where's Wendell? What happened?" Wolf asked as he searched for some way to open the cell door.
"Marissa turned Wendell into a dog. Then, she made herself young again. She's too powerful. I don't know how we're going to stop her." Maive said.
"Where's Wendell now?" Wolf asked.
"He ran. I think he went through the mirror. Marissa sent the wolf-girl and Tony after him."
"There's no key or anything." Wolf reported.
"Stand back. I can open it." Maive said.
Now that she had something to accomplish, some point in her even existing for at least just one moment, she could think again. She remembered a spell, taught to her early. A spell to break locks.
Maive chanted the spell and knocked on the door three times. The lock exploded and the door swung open. Maive smiled. At least, she could do something even if it was only opening a door.
Wolf and Virginia stared at her. Wolf scratched his temple and shook his head.
"We have to help Wendell. Cinnamon can track him down and with Tony to keep her on task…" Wolf frowned, "We have to hurry."
"I'm coming with. There has to be something I can do to help fix this." Maive said.
Wolf began to shake his head, but Virginia put a hand on his arm.
"She might be able to help." she said quietly.
Wolf looked at Maive who nodded emphatically.
"Please. I've already messed up once by letting Marissa get this far. I can't let her win." she said.
"Huff-puff, alright. Let's go." Wolf said finally.
The three turned and headed back to the larder and up to the mirror room.
Cinnamon really didn't like this Tony. He wouldn't be so bad if he would stop bossing her around like some kind of dog. It was past the full moon, otherwise she would have used that excuse to rip out his throat.
No, she wouldn't! She couldn't think like that. She was a good wolf, why was she thinking like that without even the full moon. Could the witch be messing with her mind? That was the only explanation she could find that she even remotely liked.
"He has to be around here somewhere. You're supposed to be able to track stuff. You're a wolf. Why can't you find him?" Tony demanded.
Cinnamon growled.
"Because you're stupid kingdom has destroyed all the natural air and I can't smell through this. Plus, there's no scent of his to find over here. The dog's gone." she said with finality.
Tony didn't seem to notice her tone.
"He can't be gone. Where would he go? We wouldn't run off into a city he doesn't know, would he?" he pondered out loud.
"Well, then where is he?" Cinnamon asked.
Tony's mouth quirked angrily. He turned and stomped off in the opposite direction. Cinnamon glared after him for a moment before following. The witch had said for her to follow Tony so she had to.
Wendell knew his castle wasn't safe anymore. Wasn't even his anymore. He must have the worst luck with evil witches than anyone in history. Even Snow White only had to face one.
But Wendell had no idea how he could do anything from here. Even with the two girls to help.
I must get back to my castle, Wendell said to himself, It's the only way. We managed to save the Kingdoms before with Anthony and Virginia. Maybe these two can do the trick this time.
Wendell barked at the two and started back towards the mirror. The girls looked at each other, then ran after him. Wendell made sure to make use of his dog sense of smell. He could smell Anthony and the wolf-girl, but they weren't nearby.
Wendell came to a stop when he reached the mirror. He looked back over his shoulder for the two girls. There they were. As soon as he was sure they were close enough to see where he went, he jumped back through the mirror.
"What the…?" Danielle asked, mouth hanging open in a big O.
"It must be some kind of…portal or something?" Ivy said, approaching the area where the dog had disappeared slowly.
The two girls examined it. They could kind of see a room through the distortion.
"Well?" Danielle asked, looking at her friend.
"Here goes nothing. I hate this world anyway." Ivy said and stepped into the mirror.
Danielle followed.
The two were in nothingness for a moment before being thrown out on the other side of the mirror. Ivy put out her hands to catch her balance. Man, what a ride!
Danielle looked all right. Ivy looked at her questioningly.
"I've watched enough Sliders to prepare me, I guess." she said with a grin.
"Shut up. I don't have cable." Ivy replied.
The two looked around them. They were in a room with many mirrors. The dog was nearby, waiting for them. When he saw them arrive he started towards one of the mirrors.
"I think he wants us to see something." Ivy said, moving over to where the dog was.
Where the dog sat near them, in the mirror reflected was a young man. Danielle looked from the reflection to the dog and back again.
"That's you?" she asked, pointing at the image.
The dog placed a paw on the image and the reflection of the young man placed his hand in the same spot. The dog whined.
"Did someone do this to you?" Ivy asked, kneeling next to him.
The dog whined again and growled a little.
"I'll take that as a yes. But what do we do?"
The dog looked at her. He cocked his head as if to say he wasn't sure.
"Great." Danielle snorted, "Just peachy."
Ivy opened her mouth to say something to her, but all of them fell silent when the door creaked open. A man entered first, not looking at them, but looking out the door. Two women followed him. He shut the door behind them and turned around.
"Wendell?" he asked, dropping to his knees and holding his arms open for the dog.
The dog ran over to him. The man petted the dog and scratched his ears as he talked to him.
"Yes, I heard you got turned into a dog. Don't worry. Huff-puff, we did this before and we can do it again." the man said with conviction.
"Uh…who are you?" the woman next to him asked the two girls.
She was staring at them suspiciously.
"I'm Danielle. She's Ivy. We found this dog in Central Park and he said he wasn't a dog and he wanted our help and…" Danielle tried to explain in a rush.
"Said? You can understand him?" she interrupted.
"Well, no. But he barked once for yes and twice for no. We hid him from this weird girl and this old guy and then he led us here." Danielle finished.
"Worked the first time." the man agreed, speaking to Wendell. He looked up at the girls, "I'm Wolf. This is my wife, Virginia. And that's Maive. We were going to look for Wendell when you brought him here."
The dog, apparently Wendell, looked indignant at that statement.
"He actually brought us here." Ivy said, and the dog looked happier.
"Older guy? That most be Tony and the wolf-girl!" Maive exclaimed from where she was standing over by the travel mirror.
She turned to Wolf and Virginia and started to say something, when she fell to one knee, a hand on her head.
"Oh." she moaned.
"What is it? Maive?" Virginia asked, going to her.
Maive didn't answer. She had her eyes closed and appeared to be unable to hear anything Virginia was saying to her. A few moments later, she opened her eyes and looked around the room at everyone.
"These two must stay. They are going to help us defeat Marissa. How, I don't know. But they will." she said.
"Us?" Danielle asked.
Maive nodded as she struggled to her feet. Virginia helped her.
"This is just like one of my stories." Ivy said to herself. She was beaming, "Yes!"
Virginia glanced from one girl to the next. How odd that they should seem so happy to be caught up in this. All she had wanted was to go home when she had gotten here. But they were different people.
"We'll do whatever we can to help." Ivy said in her most assertive voice.
Wendell barked softly and whined, motioning at the mirror.
"Oh, right! Cinnamon and Tony are out there looking for him. What do we do about them?" Wolf asked.
"I'll go after them. I might be able to break the spell on them." Maive volunteered.
Maive stopped in front of the two girls.
"I'm getting things from both of you. You both have the gift. But in your world it couldn't be fully achieved. Trust in yourselves. Don't doubt yourselves like I did. That's your greatest weakness when fighting her." Maive warned, them moved past them and stepped through the mirror.
"This is all too fast. What do we do?" Virginia asked in confusion.
"We fight the witch." Danielle said simply.
Wolf nodded.
"Right. Wendy, you need to stay somewhere safe. You wait here for Maive to come back. The rest of us will go after the witch." he said.
He looked at everyone for confirmation. Everyone nodded.
"Huff, let's go!" he said, leading the way out.
Ivy hung back by her friend.
"What did she mean?" she asked in a whisper.
Danielle shook her head, "I'm not sure. I'm not sure of anything. Let's just kick butt and go."
Ivy nodded and followed her friend as she left the room after Wolf and Virginia. But she knew there was more to it than that. So much more. What were they getting into? And would they be able to get out if they did manage to beat this evil witch? And would she want to?
Virginia's mind was spinning. She had to just drop everything for now and concentrate. This was important. She could ask questions later. Virginia followed Wolf's lead closely, the two girls behind her. They snuck back out into the hallway and over to the stairs. They all plastered themselves against the wall when two guards came by. Virginia held her breath, hoping they didn't see them. She waited until the guards were well past to breathe again. This was too much! Wolf gestured to her to hurry up. They slunk down the stairs and hid beneath them. Wolf pushed them back behind him as he surveyed the courtyard. Virginia peered over his shoulder. The woman (who they now knew was the witch) was pacing back and forth, talking to herself. Virginia strained her ears, trying to hear what she was saying. It sounded like she was arguing over which kingdom to destroy first.
"What do we do?" Virginia whispered to Wolf.
Wolf pulled her back in the deep shadows.
"We need weapons. If we can get the rose away from her we can kill her." he said.
"Rose?" Danielle whispered.
"The magic golden rose. It's what's giving her all that power." Wolf explained hurriedly.
"You're going to need a distraction." Ivy said.
She looked at Wolf, then at Virginia.
"I can do it."
"No." Wolf said, shaking his head.
Virginia knew that Wolf wouldn't let some girl who had no idea what was going on get herself killed. But the girl was right. They needed a distraction.
"Wolf's right." she agreed, "I'll do it."
Before anyone could stop her, Virginia ran out into the courtyard. The witch spun before Virginia even reached her.
"You!" she cried. The witch held up one hand and Virginia stopped dead still, "You may have broken a couple of my spells, but you have no idea what you are up against. You believe that I am like your mother. That I am evil and my only wish is to rule the 9 Kingdoms. You are almost right. But unlike your mother I will not be so stupid as she to depend on common people. Or to let you go free."
The witch locked her gaze on Virginia's. Virginia wanted to close her eyes, to get away from that stare, but she couldn't.
"Oh, Virginia. You are so blind. Deep down you know the truth. No one loves you. No one wants you. Tony and Wolf pretend to because they need you. They are just using you. You know it. Don't you? Don't you?!" the witch demanded.
Virginia couldn't move. She couldn't even breathe. What if it was true? She had always been afraid that no one loved her, that no one could love her. Ever since her mother had left. Something about the witch made Virginia believe her. It was true! Virginia felt her eyes well up.
"See? You do know. Poor delusional Virginia. How could you be so foolish? Thinking that someone actually loved you. You know it's not true. You know that it's all a lie." the witch continued.
The tears that had welled up in Virginia's eyes began to fall.
"Your mother was trying to spare you this. Did you know that? She was trying to kill you before you had to go through this. Wouldn't it be so much nicer just to fall asleep and not wake up. To fall into the soft, cool, darkness. Would you like that Virginia?"
Virginia nodded slightly. Anything was better than knowing that no one ever had and ever would love her. That even Wolf didn't really love her.
"Come her, Virginia. I will make it all go away." the witch said, holding out a hand to her.
Virginia slowly stepped towards her, holding out her own hand. The tears were coming in torrents now. Virginia sniffed. It would be over soon.
Ivy stared after Virginia in shock. She was going to do it! She could have, she knew she could have. Ivy mentally slapped herself. It was not the time to argue with herself. Now was the time to use the distraction Virginia had given them. No time to think at all, just time to act. Ivy tapped Danielle and Wolf on the arm and motioned for them to snap out of it and move. Wolf glanced at Virginia and whined. Ivy was struck by how he seemed like her puppy when he was upset and worried. Again, not now. Ivy led the group and edged out of the shadows. She stayed low and tried to get behind the witch who was evidently weaving some kind of spell on Virginia.
Ivy stopped and looked back to see how Danielle and Wolf were doing. And saw that they had a problem. Wolf had stopped just off to the side and behind the witch. He must have been in her blind spot or something because she didn't see him. Maybe she was too busy with the spell. That wasn't the important part. Wolf had his teeth bared and looked ready to kill something, most likely the witch.
"That's not true!" Wolf yelled.
Ivy winced. So much for the plan.
The witch whirled on Wolf. She held one hand out towards while keeping the other pointed at Virginia.
"What would you know, you filthy animal?! You know that's all you are. You're just a nasty, nasty animal. How could you ever trick yourself into thinking that a girl like her could ever love a wolf like you?" the witch asked.
Wolf felt her compelling words. They sounded so… Wolf shook it off. That was her power! To look inside them and see their greatest fear and use it against them. But there was a problem with that. Wolf grinned and it wasn't a nice grin. That spell wouldn't work. A wolf didn't particularly care about being called an animal. Wolf let go of his human side and let himself be a wolf. It would have been better to be wolf on the outside, too, but it wasn't the right time of the month and he didn't have the time. Wolf snarled, crouching low. He pulled his lips back from his teeth in what was almost a smile. He locked his eyes onto the witch's. Even a human could understand these signs.
The witch stumbled back a step. She managed to keep up the hand that was towards Virginia. Virginia didn't move and didn't seem to see what was going on.
Wolf pounced. The witch raised her other hand again and this time it glowed with magic. Wolf stopped in mid-air. The witch jerked her arm and Wolf was flung across the room to crash into a table in the corner. He yelped at the impact. But he forced himself to get up. He had to stop her. If he didn't, she would kill Virginia. His Virginia. The mother of his unborn cub. Wolf growled low in his throat, the growl building as he got to his feet. He could feel that he was bleeding a little, but he didn't care. Wolf took slow, cautious steps towards the witch, circling slightly.
Before he could do anything, though, one of the girls (his mind slowly registered that it was the one called Ivy) ran out in front of him.
"Wait." she said shortly to him, then turned to the witch, "You stop this! Boy, did that sound like a line out of a comic or what?"
The witch laughed.
"You, little girl are easier to read than even Wendell. You…" the witch began weaving a new spell.
"Shut up!" the girl yelled.
Wolf backed up a step. He could smell new magic and this time it was coming from the girl!
"I don't want to her anymore of your bull! My greatest fear…blah, blah, blah. I've seen better bad guys on prime time. Danielle, am I right?" she said, shooting to her friend for help.
The other girl's face lit up as she caught on and she ran to back up her friend.
"No kidding. I'd be more scared of those crap werewolves on Buffy than her. And you can see the zippers on them!" she said.
Wolf didn't understand a lot of what they were saying, but he could smell magic building. A different kind of magic than was already in the room from the witch. He had never liked the smell of magic, but this was different than any he had smelled before.
"You two think you can fight me with insults? You don't know who you're fighting. This isn't a game or a TV show. You are not superheroes. You are just two girls who have watched too much television and think you can handle evil." the witch said.
She gestured at them, sending a glowing ball of magic at each of them. Just before it would have hit, both girls raised their hands at the same time and deflected it with some kind of glowing magic shield of their own. The witch looked surprised. But so did the girls. The witch quickly covered her surprise. She seemed to be deciding something quickly. Wolf sensed something was about to happen and tensed for it. The witch's whole body began to glow and she began chanting something that Wolf didn't understand. A blast of light shot out from her in all directions. It hit Wolf and then all was black.
Ivy groaned and put a hand on her head. Man, what a headache! She slowly opened her eyes.
"What the…? Where am I?" she asked out loud.
Ivy looked around, but all she could see was forest. She seemed to be all alone. She got to her feet. Maybe the others were nearby.
"Danielle! Wolf! Virginia!" she called as she walked a little aimlessly.
It suddenly struck her that calling loudly into the woods might not be a good idea. She might attract something or someone she didn't want to. Ivy stopped and tried to think of what she should do. She had no idea where she was, she had no supplies…
"Wait! My backpack!" she said to herself.
Ivy slung her backpack around. She had completely forgotten she had put it on. It made sense. She never went anywhere without her backpack. She unzipped all the pockets and dug through it.
"Jerky, good. Paper. Pencil. CD player? Gee, that's great. I'm lost in god knows where, but I can listen to Faith Hill. Book. Another book. Woah, that's a library book! This is insane. Apple. Notebook. Pocket knife. Batteries. Keys. Wallet. I wonder what currency they use here. Wherever here is. Gum. Granola Bar. Receipt for somewhere. Hairbrush. Pony tail. Old sandwich, ewww. I've got to learn to take things out of here. Um…more pencils. Math homework? When did we get this? Oh, well." Ivy sighed.
That was about it. Her entire list of supplies. This was pretty sad.
"I'm going to die." she said to herself, "Oh, shut up, Ivy. You're not going to die. You might as well get a move on and look for some kind of path or something."
Ivy zipped up her backpack and started walking. She normally liked walking in the woods, but it helped a little to know if you were even on planet Earth. Hopefully, she would find someone that could help her.
Virginia blinked. What had happened? Did she loose her memory again?! No. No. She remembered now. The witch had placed a spell on her and…somehow she had ended up here. Where was here?
Virginia scrambled to her feet and spun around in a circle, looking all around her. Then, she groaned. She had been here before. She was at the base of Snow White Falls. But where was Wolf? And those two girls, Ivy and Danielle, come to think of it. Was she all alone?
"Wolf?" she called over the rushing waters of the Falls.
No answer.
"Wolf!" she called louder.
Still no answer. Well, she would just have to find her way back to the castle. She had done it once before. Of course, that time hadn't gone too well and her father had been there. And Wolf had guided them. Negative thinking was not going to get her anywhere. All she had to do was retrace her steps from before, but avoid the Swamp this time. She would meet up with the others at the castle. That had to be where they would go. Wolf would know that she would head back to where they had last been together and those girls would go there if they could find the way because that was the only part of the Kingdoms they had been before. Virginia took a deep breath and started off.
Danielle sat up. This was bad. Very bad. They had been hit by some kind of spell and from the looks of things, it had sent her somewhere. By herself. Danielle scrambled to her feet and looked around. Yep, she was right. They had been separated.
She began pacing as she tried to get her thoughts in order. For some reason, pacing had always helped her think better. When she thought at all. Danielle was much of a thinker. She was more of a doer. Ivy was the one who thought about stuff. Although, she usually did so after everything was over. That's why they got in trouble so much.
What was it that you were supposed to do when you're lost in the woods? Stay put or look for running water? She knew it was one of the two.
"Well, might as well look for water. I'm thirsty anyway." she said out loud.
Danielle picked a direction at random and started walking that way. If she was lucky, it just might be the right way. Danielle wasn't lucky often.
Wolf sniffed before anything else. No Virginia! Also no Ivy, Danielle, or witch. Wolf opened his eyes and pushed himself up off the ground. He recognized this place. It was the 2nd Kingdom!
"Oh, cripes." was all he could manage.
Wolf wiped at some dried blood at the corner of his mouth. He was near the border. That was good. Maybe he could get back into the 4th Kingdom before the day was out. Maybe he could find Virginia. Oh, he had to find Virginia. She couldn't believe what the witch had said, could she? He loved her with all his heart, she had to know that. Wolf would have howled, but he didn't want to attract attention. Instead he broke into a run towards the 4th Kingdom.
Maive stumbled out of the other side of the mirror. She had never used a traveling mirror before. Mirrors were a subject in Maive's training, a big one. Identifying mirrors, using mirrors, types of mirrors. The whole works. But seeing as there were only two traveling mirrors now, one that was usable, she had never gone through one. It made her queasy.
Maive looked around. She seemed to be in some kind of forest. She started walking, then stopped. Wandering aimlessly was not the way to find Tony and…Cinnamon, was it? What a name! Maive sat down on the grass and reached in a pouch on her belt. She pulled out a small fragment of a mirror.
"Tell me how it is that I may find
Those that are controlled by another's mind
By name of Cinnamon and Anthony they go
Tell me, mirror, I must know." Maive said.
Not a bad rhyme, she thought proudly. At least she hadn't forgotten everything she had been taught.
"The two you seek are near at hand
They search for a dog that rules a land
They remain within the green
But their image cannot be seen." the mirror replied.
Maive frowned. What…? Oh! The witch must be shielding their images.
"A thanks I must give to you
In helping me find the two." Maive said shortly and put the mirror away.
It was always important to thank a talking mirror or they might not want to help you next time. Mirrors could be picky that way. Maive got to her feet and looked around. Near at hand…within the green? They must be in this forest somewhere! She had better hurry and find them before they decided to leave!
Tony was seriously tired of this. Not to mention that all of the girl's food-talk was making him tremendously hungry. And his feet hurt. Plus, he had a headache. And to top it all off, they hadn't found Wendell.
"This is hopeless. We're not going to find him." Tony whined.
"We have to." Cinnamon said shortly, but she was staring with the most longing look Tony had ever seen in the direction of the Grill, "Don't we?"
Tony paused and thought it all over. As long as they were near the Park they should be able to catch Wendell before he went back through the mirror. And he couldn't have gone far. It was getting on in the evening.
"Alright. We'll get some food." Tony nodded.
Cinnamon looked like she might jump for joy. Instead she bounded off towards the Grill. Well, close enough. Tony hurried after her.
"Don't think of wolfing down too much. I don't got that much cash on me." Tony warned.
Cinnamon nodded absently, her mind obviously already on the food. Tony picked a table and sunk into one of the chairs. Cinnamon took the other one. A waitress came soon.
"Can I take your orders?" she asked politely without even looking at them.
Tony picked up a menu. What the heck, he might as well spend all his money now.
"I'll have the steak." he said and would have continued, but he caught Cinnamon out of the corner of his eye.
Her eyes were wide and her tongue had lolled out on one side. She stared at the menu like it was a…oh, who knew what she was imagining? Tony quickly covered.
"Make that two." he said quickly, "And what kind of beer you serve here?"
Cinnamon glanced over at Tony. He had yelled at her for her eating habits. She couldn't help it. She was just so hungry and she had never had food like this. And now here he was, half-drunk.
"Tony. How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked.
"Um…two and a half?" Tony asked, then burped.
Cinnamon growled in frustration.
"Guess it's time to go. Can I get this stuff in a bag or something?" Cinnamon called to the nearest waitress, pointing at what was left on Tony's plate.
If he wasn't going to eat it, she would. Besides, they should watch the mirror. The dog, King Wendell, had to come back to it sooner or later. Tony was right about that at least. Guess everybody had to be right sometime, Cinnamon thought with a shrug as she pulled Tony towards the door, the bag with the left-over food in her other hand.
Maive had followed the first path she had found. It led her to the edge of the forest. But what she saw was amazing! Lead cars sped by on hard streets with people inside, giant glass buildings rose to the sky. Lights all over, making the deepening night seem like early evening. Maive was staring at everything with such interest that she almost didn't see the two people exiting the building nearby and coming towards her.
"Tony!"
"Maive? What the…" Tony exclaimed, suddenly a lot more sober.
"Who's she?" Cinnamon demanded.
Maive closed her eyes and quickly began chanting. If she could finish the spell before Marissa figured out what was going on and countered, she might be able to free them.
"Yours fears have bound you.
Let the binding be undone.
Free the minds and free the body
From the hands of the evil one.
As it is spoken, so let it be done." Maive chanted.
She opened her eyes. Tony and the wolf-girl were standing as if frozen. Maive hurriedly searched through her pouches, found what she was looking for, and threw it. The small vial broke on the ground near Tony's feet. A mist seeped from it to wrap around both of them for a moment, then disappeared. Both blinked for a moment, then seemed to come alive again.
"What the hell did you do?" Tony demanded.
"I did it! I actually did it!" Maive realized.
She clapped her hands together.
"You did what?!" Tony yelled.
"My spell! My spell to free you from Marissa! It actually worked!" Maive cried.
She turned and began walking back towards the mirror, mumbling to herself.
"I knew that the potion was right because Master Leo made it for me, but I had no idea that my spell wording would be so affective. This is excellent! Wait until I tell Mistress Phoebe! Oh, she'll be so pleased. My spells have never worked so well. Well, at all if I make them up, to tell the truth. This is just wonderful!" she rambled to herself.
Tony and Cinnamon hurried after her.
"Maive? Maive! What's going on? What about Pri…I mean, Wendell? Where is he? What's happened?" Tony asked.
"Oh, him. He's hiding in the castle. Gave you two the slip. With a little help." Maive informed them.
"The girls! I knew they're scents were mixed a little too much with that dog's. They must have found him and figured out who he was and brought him back." Cinnamon exclaimed.
"That's about right." Maive agreed, "Wolf, Virginia, and the girls were going to fight Marissa when I left. We have to hurry back and see if they're alright."
"You left my daughter to fight that witch!" Tony exclaimed.
He pushed past Maive and hurried down the path. As much as he might not act like it at times, he loved his daughter. He did not want anything to happen to her. Maive and Cinnamon hurried after him. The three stepped through the mirror.
Danielle had found a path and decided she might as well follow it. It wasn't too long before the forest broke around her and the surroundings turned to farmland. Danielle could tell this much from driving through California so much. With her dad and mom divorced and remarried, she had two homes in two different states. It could be hard sometimes, but it could also be cool. She got two rooms. And twice as many parents to beg money from. But that wasn't the point at the moment. The point was, she had finally found people! Off in the distance, Danielle could see a village. It was obviously a farming community. She could see the little white blotches that had to be sheep. Danielle stopped at a sign. She read it carefully. 'Now entering Little Lamb Village #5' it read. Little Lamb Village, huh? What a cutesy, wutsy name. It sounded like something out of Mother Goose. Danielle shrugged to herself and continued down the road. She was getting very hungry. She would kill for some pizza or maybe just some french fries. Mmmm.
"Stop thinking about food." Danielle commanded herself, "It'll just make you hungrier."
Danielle stopped again when she heard giggling. She turned in a circle, looking for the source. She finally found it. There were a group of girls off to the side in one of the fields. They each carried those curved staff things. What were they called? Crooks! That was it!
"Uh…excuse me, but could you tell me where I am?" Danielle asked, leaning over the fence.
The girls looked at each other and giggled some more. It almost made Danielle sick, all that giggling.
"Why, you're in Little Lamb Village. Didn't you see the sign?" one of them said with a heavy accent that Danielle couldn't place.
"Yes, I know. But where is Little Lamb Village? What country?" Danielle asked again.
"Oh! You must mean the 4th Kingdom. This is King Wendell's kingdom." another girl said.
Wendell. Wasn't that the name of the dog? So the dog was a king? What the…?
"Um…I think I need to talk to somebody in town. Like a tour guide or something?" Danielle asked, talking very slowly as if to a very dim-witted child.
"A guide? Oh, well, you'd best speak with someone else, then. We're just shepherdesses."
"Uh huh." Danielle said slowly, "Well, thanks for the help."
Danielle turned and started down the road. She could feel the shepherdesses watching her.
"Yeah, right. Thanks for nothing." she said quietly to herself.
Danielle hoped that the people in town would be more helpful.
The forest didn't stay a forest long. It was very dark under the foliage so Ivy almost didn't notice. Until she came across the first beanstalk.
"What in the…"she began, but cut herself off as she looked up and could not see the top.
She moved around the beanstalk. It was huge. She stopped when she came to a sign.
"'Condemned. Do not climb.'" she read out loud, "Okay, this is weird. And smelly."
These beanstalks smelled so strong! Her nose was filled with the scent, making her unable to smell anything else. It was very strong. It made her sneeze. Ivy looked around. This place was…well, ominous. She started walking again and couldn't help, but pick up her pace. She would have broke into a run, but something stopped her. It was a statue. She stepped closer to investigate. She had to brush aside some vines, but she saw that the statue was of a young man. She looked down and saw the caption.
"'Brave Jack. The first mayor of Beantown.'" she read, "Brave Jack? Oh, my god."
Ivy stumbled backwards and had to brace herself against a beanstalk. It couldn't be! It had to be just a coincidence! She must be completely nuts thinking that that could actually be a statue of the Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk. It was just impossible! But what if it wasn't? Hadn't she always wished that there was another world, a story world, where adventures and magic existed? Hadn't she stayed up at night in the dark and wished with all her heart and soul that it was true, believed down to her very core that it had to be, that her mundane life wasn't all that there was? Maybe she had, in her wishfulness, been right! Ivy didn't know what she should do. Should she leap for joy, or stay on her guard for the inevitable danger that was always present in stories?
"Save the joy for later, Ivy." she told herself quietly and wished that she had some sort of weapon.
Oh, well. She would have to see how much karate she actually remembered. And how much fairy tale stuff, as well. If Jack and the Beanstalk were real here, what else was?
"Are you a troll?"
Ivy must have jumped three feet in the air at that small voice. She spun towards the sound. Seeing no one, she looked down. A little boy stood, half-hidden behind a beanstalk. His bright shining eyes peered out at her. Ivy was not a people person and even less of a kid person. She hated little kids! But something about this little boy melted her heart. She knelt on one knee so she was on more of a level with him and held out her hand. It didn't really occur to her what he had asked.
"No, no. Of course not. My name's Ivy." she said softly and was surprised at herself.
She sounded like a…a…kindergarten teacher! Or something. She was never this nice. Especially not to little kids. What was it about this little boy?
"Are you going to hurt me?" the little boy asked fearfully, drawing back farther behind the green stalk.
"No! Never! I promise. Cross my heart." Ivy said solemnly, crossing her heart, "You can come out. You're safe with me, I swear."
The little boy stepped cautiously out from behind the beanstalk. He sniffed when he was close to her and looked up at her.
"You smell good." he said.
"Uh…thanks." Ivy said uncertainly.
How do you respond to that? She decided to wing it. Maybe he could help her find her way back to Danielle and the others.
"Do you know where we are?" Ivy asked.
The boy nodded vigorously and flashed a charming smile.
"Of course! I'm very smart, really. The schoolteacher didn't think so, but I am. We're in the 3rd Kingdom. The Troll Kingdom." he said.
"Kingdom? What do you mean kingdom? Trolls?" Ivy asked. She shook her head, "I'm new here? Can you tell me more about this place?"
The boy started to nod, but sniffed again and cocked his head as if he heard something.
"We have to go!" he cried, grabbing Ivy's hand and pulling.
"What? Why?" Ivy asked, letting herself be pulled.
"The trolls are coming back!" he said in earnest, his eyes wide, "Hurry! We have to hide!"
Ivy cocked her head and now she could hear the sound of barking. She hurried after the boy. He dived under some thick bushes at the base of a beanstalk. Ivy hurried after him. She had to hold her breath, the smell was so strong there.
It wasn't long before the dogs came into sight. And with them….! Real Trolls! Ivy almost gasped. But that wasn't who she was. Instead she sized up the situation. Too many of them. They were armed. She could never fight them, especially not with the dogs. Her best bet was to stick with the little boy and hope they passed.
"Suck an elf! We'll never find those mangy wolves!" a rough voice said, too close for comfort.
"Yeah, we will! We have to!" another voice replied.
"When I find that wolf that took a bite out of me…I'll skin 'em alive!" a third declared.
Ivy winced at the comment. Poor wolf! She waited breathlessly for a few more long moments before the trolls and their dogs passed. She scooted back out from under the bush, sitting back on her butt and looking to the boy for explanations. He could only be about seven, but he seemed so…immature wasn't the right word. Just not mature. Kids in her world (was this a different world?) always seemed older than they were, made tough by their environment. This kid had that aura about him, but not the sense of being forced to act older than he was. Ivy's intuition told her that he had been through some tough times, but someone had taken care of him. She wondered if that someone was still around.
"Do you know somewhere safe?" she asked.
The boy paused. Then slowly nodded. He took her hand and led her from the bushes quickly, his pace getting faster the farther they went. Ivy didn't blame him. She wanted out of this area, too.