-1Ivy increased her pace for about the tenth time and ignored her sore knee. It was telling her she was pushing herself too hard, but she really didn't care. Amazingly, it wasn't hurting as bad as it should. Maybe that was another affect of being a wolf. Or maybe she just wasn't feeling it.

"Ivy." Faolan almost whined, bounding to catch up to her, "You're walking kind of funny, you know."

Ivy didn't reply. Just listening to Faolan tore her up inside. Part of her wanted so much to say to heck with everything, give him a chance. Maybe he is your mate. Another part of her couldn't do that, couldn't let herself trust him that completely. She didn't need to make those warring emotions worse by making it a conversation with him.

"Are you hurt?" Faolan asked with concern, "If you're hurt I don't want you to keep this up. We'll take a break for a while…"

Ivy didn't like his tone for some reason.

"I don't care what you want." she said through clenched teeth.

Faolan looked stricken.

"What did I do?" he asked, practically begging her to tell him, "Just tell me how to fix it."

Ivy couldn't take it anymore. She needed to vent her feelings and unfortunately for Faolan, he had released them.

"You can't." Ivy said, whirling on him, "I want that witch to just go away. I want the voice to go away. I want all these feelings to go away. I want…"

Ivy broke off, biting her lip. She was disgusted with herself. If she stamped her foot and threw a temper-tantrum, she would be acting just like a spoiled, rich, brat.

"Do you want me to go away?"

God, he sounded so hurt. She forced herself not to look at him, knowing that the look on his face would be too much for her.

"I don't…I mean…no, not really. Maybe. Oh! I don't know! I don't know anything!" Ivy cried.

Faolan whimpered. He wanted to nuzzle her cheek. He wanted to hold her real close so he could feel her heart beat. He wanted to kiss her again and make her laugh. That's what he wanted. But he could almost feel the wall she had put around herself, forcing him and the rest of the world to keep their distance. The only way he could help her was if she let him in. And he didn't think she was ready to do that yet.

"Please, just…let's just get to Wendell's Castle." Ivy pleaded.

Faolan nodded. Yes, that was where the mirror was. Then, she could go back to her world where she would be safe. That would be best. Even if it left him without his mate.

"Okay. As soon as I'm sure you're safe, I'll leave you alone." he promised.

"Uh…guys?" Randal asked quietly.

"What Randal?" Faolan asked, his voice weary.

"There's a horse and rider coming this way fast. From the way we came. I was just thinking that since you're supposed to be in prison…" Randal trailed off uncertainly.

"Cripes, you're right!" Faolan cried, dashing off the road to hide behind some trees.

Randal was right behind him. But Ivy remained where she was.

"This is your chance. You know you won't be able to handle traveling with that wolf all the way. You haven't done anything wrong. They're not after you." the voice whispered.

"Ivy!" Faolan called urgently as the pounding of horse's hooves grew louder, "Come on!"

The horse and rider came into view suddenly. The rider saw her and pulled his mount back to a trot, then a walk, then finally came to a halt right in front of her. The rider was a young man with some kind of royal crest on his shirt. He looked very anxious.

"You're blocking an official road, miss. Is there a problem?" he asked.

"I…" Ivy choked on her words.

Could she actually just leave Faolan and Randal without so much as a goodbye?

"Do it. Do it!"

"Are you headed to King Wendell's Castle?" she managed to ask.

"Why, yes. I am a royal messenger. Why?" he asked.

"I…um…need a ride." Ivy admitted.

The messenger's eyes got wide.

"Of course! A young lady shouldn't be wondering around by herself during war-time." he said and extended a hand to her to help her up.

"War-time?" Ivy asked.

The messenger frowned.

"You don't know? The entire 9 Kingdoms has broken out in war! And half of it's civil war. It's a disaster! That is why I must find King Wendell." he said importantly, sticking out his chest with pride, "All the messengers before me have not returned. It is my mission to find King Wendell and return to the war-front with his instructions."

Ivy didn't know if she could tell him that the last she knew, Wendell had been a dog.

"Come on, then. I'm in quite a hurry, you understand." the messenger said impatiently.

Ivy glanced back at the trees, but couldn't see either of her companions. She sighed and took the messenger's hand and swung up behind him.

"She left! I can't believe she left!" Faolan cried, running out into the road to look after the horse that was quickly riding away, forgetting caution.

He caught Ivy looking back at him. Randal ran up behind him and tugged on his shirt.

"What's going on?" he whimpered.

"I don't know, Randal. Something's very wrong. Huff-puff, everything's wrong. War across the 9 Kingdoms, this is bad. What am I going to do?" Faolan asked out loud.

He looked down the road again just as the horse disappeared from view.

"Come on, Randal." Faolan said, taking his brother's hand.

"What're we going to do?" Randal asked.

"We're going to follow her. I won't let her face that witch alone."

Whatever Wendell said to Tony, it worked. Tony stopped hitting his head on the tree and returned to the group. But he was unusually silent and Virginia didn't have the nerve to press him. She really wanted him to be okay with this even though he didn't really have a choice in the matter. The baby would come, like it or not. What a horrible thing for her to think! Of course she would like for her baby to come! She would love her baby and so would her father.

Wendell dropped back next to her and put a reassuring arm around her.

"Don't worry. He'll come around soon. He's just not used to the idea that his daughter's all grown up and going to have a child of her own." he explained.

Virginia nodded. She was distracted by a growling noise and looked over to see Wolf growling at Wendell. Apparently, Wendell heard him, too.

"Oh, stop that, Wolf. She's not only your wife, she's my step-sister." Wendell said.

"Step-what?" Wolf asked in surprise.

"What?" Virginia demanded at the same time.

"What did he just say?" Tony asked, turning around simultaneously.

"She's your what?" Maive piped in.

Wendell smiled at their reaction. He took a step back, as if he were taking the floor for a speech.

"Virginia's mother was my step-mother so she's my step-sister. And Wolf, since you're married to her, you're my step-brother-in-law. Tony, you're also related to me since my step-mother was married to you and your Virginia's father. And since you're all related to a king, that makes you royalty. Lady Virginia, Lord Anthony, and Lord Wolf."

"Lord Wolf! Huff-puff, no wolf has ever been given a title! No human title, anyway." Wolf exclaimed.

"A lord!" Cinnamon cried in astonishment, "You…you'll be a leader to all wolves…everywhere!"

"I'm a lord." Tony said in something close to awe, "I always knew I was meant for something better than a janitor. Murray's got nothing on me!"

"I'd already begun the official paperwork. I told you I hadn't forgotten you, Anthony." Wendell said.

"Great. Now we just need to survive this little episode." Maive said, not to thrilled with the idea of annoying, grumpy Tony becoming royalty. No doubt, he would try to boss her around even more, "Remember Marissa? Yeah, the witch that ruins all our reputations by trying to destroy us all. She might not find this as exciting as you all do."

"Yeah, we remember, Maive. Thanks." Tony snapped. He withdrew into himself again, "I'm a lord..."

Cinnamon's head shot up as her ears caught an out-of-place sound. She stood up and cocked her head slightly so as to better concentrate on the sound. A pounding, like…hooves? She sniffed. Yes, she could definitely smell horse. Not one of her favorite smells. And human, too. And…half-wolf? That was strange. Wolves and horses didn't usually get along well. She hadn't with the couple horses she had met. Plus, the wolf smell…it seemed new, somehow. Like it didn't quite fit. How odd.

"Someone's coming." she reported.

The others all got to their feet and began looking around for whoever was headed their way. A few minutes later, a horse galloped into view. A young man rode in front and a girl, the half-wolf, rode behind him. The man saw Wendell and pulled his horse to a stop, yanking roughly on the reins so hard that the animal threw up it's head in pain. The girl slid off and hurried to the animal's head, soothing it and giving the man a dirty look. Cinnamon remembered now where she knew the girl from. It was the other girl from New York, Ivy she believed her name was. She was a little bemused at the girl. She had to know that her friend, Danielle, and all her companions were there, but she was seeing to the horse first.

"You're going to destroy this horse's mouth and it's temperament if you keep doing that." she growled, giving the horse a final pat before turning to the others, "Danielle! Everyone's here! More than everyone. Who and…uh…what are you?" she asked, pointing at Breena.

"I'm Breena and I'm a fairy, thank you very much." she said indignantly.

"Where have you been?" Danielle demanded.

"And why are you a half-wolf? And why do you smell of other half-wolves?" Cinnamon asked.

Danielle's eyes widened and so did almost everyone else's, including the messenger. He shook his head and cleared his throat before presenting himself before Wendell. He bowed deeply.

"King Wendell, I have brought you news from the war-front. Many messengers have been sent to your castle, but none have returned. We are in desperate need of your guidance. I have news from all the Kingdoms, the latest advancements, and personal letters from Commander Forswell." he said officially, "Also, I have some minor news of a murdering half-wolf on the loose and his two accomplices."

He glanced at Ivy suspiciously.

"War-front!" Wendell cried.

Instead of explaining, the messenger handed Wendell a large packet of papers. Wendell hurriedly began reading them and the further he read, the more worried he looked.

"How did…? What did…? When did…?" Danielle spluttered.

Ivy smiled slightly.

"A couple days ago. I drank from a brook that I shouldn't have. Luckily, I didn't drink enough to turn me all the way into a wolf. Actually, it's kind of…cool. I can smell really well now, I can hear better, I think my sight's better. In fact, I know my night vision is better than it was. I can run better…" Ivy would have continued, but Danielle waved her hands to stop her.

"So…what are you going to do? I mean, you can't stay a half-wolf. The full moon, a tail. Your parents'll freak if they find out." Danielle said.

"My parents!" Ivy cried and it sounded a little like a yelp, "They've probably called the cops! They're going to kill me!"

"Your parents? You've met my mom, over-protective lady? Oh, man." Danielle groaned and forced herself not to think about what her mom would do to her.

"That's the least of your problems right now." Cinnamon said and they both spun towards in surprise, "You still haven't answered my other question. Why do you smell of other half-wolves? Male, if I smell right. One of their scents is quite strong on you, almost as if…"

"They found me in the beanstalks, alright." Ivy interrupted rather loudly. She sounded more than a little defensive and her tone caused some of the others to glance at her strangely, "Their names are Randal and Faolan and they're brothers. I've been traveling with them this whole time until this morning when I got a ride with that messenger."

Cinnamon raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"And what about that whole accomplice thing?" Danielle asked, then lowered her voice, "Was that you? One of those wolves killed somebody and you helped him?!"

"No!" Ivy said even more loudly and now all the others were looking at her, "Well, yes. But he might not have killed that girl."

"Might?!"

"I don't really know. And he doesn't remember because it was during that freak full moon. I'll explain everything to you later." Ivy promised, although she had no idea how she could explain it.

How could she ever find words to explain her inner turmoil? She still wasn't really sure why she had helped Faolan. Randal had been an influence, but she had to be honest with herself. Part of her had wanted to break Faolan out the minute they had thought of it. The same part of her that believed his words. And the same part of her that thought maybe he could really be her mate.

"I need to take a walk. I'll be back in a minute." Ivy said suddenly, leaping to her feet and running off.

Danielle glanced after her friend. She was sure acting strangely. Danielle looked to Cinnamon, wondering if she knew more than she was letting on. Cinnamon met her gaze for a moment, then turned away without a word. If she knew something, she wasn't telling. Danielle sighed. She really didn't like being left out of things, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. She decided to go and see if she could help Wendell at all with this war stuff. She watched T.V. and read a lot of books. Maybe they could come up with a plan. Funny, she hadn't thought she'd want anything to do with Wendell after that whole…kissing business, but as it turned out, he was really a great guy. He had been the first one to her aid when Cinnamon had almost attacked her. And he had been there for her to talk to when she was feeling lonely and jumpy. She really hoped that she could help him get back to his castle. She really didn't want something bad to end up happening to him…or to any of the others, of course. Yes, it would be best if they could get rid of this witch and they could all…live happily ever after? Danielle rolled her eyes at the thought. Yeah, right. Well, at least they could get started on doing something now that Ivy was here. No more waiting!

"Wendell!" she called, running over to the spot on the ground where he had spread out his papers and was talking with the messenger, "What's the news?"

Faolan could have run faster, but he knew that Randal wouldn't be able to handle the pace if he did. Good thing his little brother was as fast as he was. They hadn't fallen too far behind. Faolan wouldn't have been able to stand a slower pace.

"How could she? What did I do?" Faolan asked out loud again.

Randal didn't even bother to remind him he was talking out loud.

What had Ivy said about a voice? A voice that she wanted to go away, that was it. What voice? Was that what was wrong with her? She shouldn't be alone for any amount of time, much less the time it would take for them to catch up. No, not with that witch still at Wendell's Castle like Ivy had said she was.

"She'll probably be mad at you for following her." he told himself, "But maybe you'll rescue her and then she'll see. Yes, huff-puff, then she'll see how much you lo…how much you care about her. But maybe that witch will be really bad and there won't be a happy ending. What if I get killed? What is she gets ki…"

Faolan choked on the word. He couldn't say that! He couldn't even think it. He wouldn't let that happen.

He couldn't say the other word for a totally different reason. That word had scared her off when he had been about to say it before. He had to be very careful what he said and did. He didn't want to lose her. He wondered what advice Wolf would give him if he could talk to him.

"Randal, she likes you. Why?" Faolan asked, suddenly.

Randal shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Oh, gee, that helps. Can't you run any faster?" Faolan asked impatiently.

Randal growled irritably. His brother was always this way when he was worried. He tried not to let his brother get on his nerves and ran a little faster.

"They're all together. Now to turn them on each other and drive them apart." Marissa said, "Mirror, if I get them not to trust one another, split them apart, will your prophecy be broken?"

The mirror's face appeared slowly. It's rhymes were annoying, but at least she didn't have to rhyme at it.

"Only together can they pull through.

Divided they cannot defeat you.

But beware, destiny plays a hand

In their fates as well as that of the land." the mirror said and faded away again.

Marissa smiled. Soon. Her goals were all so close. Soon, her plans would be fulfilled.

"Perhaps it is time to call my most faithful servant home." she mused.

Marissa turned to a different mirror and called up a picture of her servant in the 10th Kingdom. He sensed she was watching him and looked right at her in a way that made her shiver. He quickly went to a mirror.

"Such destruction. It's beautiful. You should see how efficient their weapons are for killing. They have weapons that can kill thousands in one blow." he said as if he spoke of the most wonderful thing in the Kingdoms, "What is it you want? If you're checking on my progress, I can assure you that by midnight tomorrow, this kingdom will be destroyed."

"Good, good. But that's not why I called you. I think it's time for you to return. I may need your assistance." Marissa said.

She would never say that she needed his "help". He might be on her side, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take advantage of her if he got the chance. His kind were notorious for doing whatever was needed to achieve their ends. It was probably a good thing that they were all extinct except for him. One was enough.

He was right, though. By midnight tomorrow it would be over. Either the Kingdoms would be destroyed as would those pretend-heroes or she would be.

Ivy was glad when she was engulfed in trees. Somehow it made her feel more secure. She didn't go far, just far enough to ensure her privacy. She doubted anyone could sneak up on her now other than another wolf. It seemed to her that she could hear every bird chirp and every leaf rustle anywhere near her.

"What is wrong with me?" she asked out loud.

The relative silence of the woods answered her. Ivy sighed and collapsed in the foliage near the base of a large tree. She seriously felt like crying, but wouldn't let herself. Of course, trying to stop her tears just made them more determined. She sniffed and the noise seemed loud to her.

"I don't deserve to be here." Ivy said, sniffing again, "This is a magical place. I get here and wars start. Maybe if I leave, everything will be good again."

And what about Faolan, her thoughts nagged at her.

"He'll be better, too, if I'm gone. He'll find a nice, pretty girl and they'll fall in love and live happily ever after. Me? No, I'm just a nobody. I'm not the kind of girl who finds a nice guy who really loves her. No. I'll end up some crazy old lady who yells at kids as they go by and waves her broom at them. And…and…I'll have ferrets. Yeah, I'll have lots of ferrets and I'll call them my babies." Ivy smiled slightly to herself, even though she was actually crying now, "Crazy ferret lady, they'll call me. Run, run from crazy ferret lady, they'll scream."

Ivy laughed weakly at her imitation of one of Chandler's lines from a Friends episode. She rubbed her eyes furiously, but it didn't seem to help.

"I'm probably already crazy. Yeah, this is probably some wild fantasy I made up. Or another crazy dream. I'll wake up in a minute and write a story about it and go back to my boring, pointless life."

Ivy growled and slammed her fist into the ground angrily.

"Oh, stop it! Stop it, Ivy! Stop feeling sorry for yourself! You…" Ivy shut up quickly.

Had that been her imagination or had she heard the snap of a branch?

"Ow!"

Oh, crap. It was the messenger guy. What was he doing back here? What should she do now? Ivy was about to make a run for it -better that he never even knew she was here, she didn't want anyone to know she was crying- when the owner of that voice stumbled into view. She froze and so did he when he saw her.

"Uh…hello." he said slowly.

For a long moment, neither of them moved. Finally, Ivy couldn't hold her awkward position anymore and fell back into her previous one. She sniffed again involuntarily and tried to hide her face from the messenger.

"Are you crying?" he asked.

"No." Ivy said, but her voice came out strangled. She faked a cough and tried again, "Of course not."

"Yes, you are." he said. He sounded confused, "Why are you crying? I thought that you were…"

"The accomplice of a murdering half-wolf?" she supplied, looking up.

"Well, yes." he admitted, shifting uncomfortably.

"I am. Although the murder part is still questionable. What are you doing here?" Ivy demanded.

The messenger looked shocked. He quickly recovered, taking a deep breath and straightening.

"Well, I was actually…um…coming to…you know…heed the call of nature." he said as if he were rather embarrassed.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that here." Ivy said flatly.

"Of course! I mean…" he was blushing rather profusely, "I'll just go now."

Ivy didn't say anything, but watched silently as he turned to leave. The minute his back was turned, she dropped her face in her hands again, trying to cover her sniffing and half-strangled sobs.

The messenger stopped. He could hear her crying. He really couldn't just leave her like that, it was most ungentleman-like. He sighed and turned around, walking back over to her.

"My name's Peter." he said, for lack of anything else, "What's yours, miss?"

"I don't want to talk right now." she growled from behind her hands.

Peter stiffened at that growl. He had never trusted wolves. Not since he was little and his older brothers had scared him with stories about wolves eating little children. But she wasn't really a wolf. He had heard her tell her friend about the brook. Was that why she was crying?

"Well, maybe you should." he persisted.

She looked up at him, incredulously and he got the distinct impression that she wished he would go climb a beanstalk. Why was everyone always mad at the messenger?

"Well?" he pressed.

"Ivy." she said stiffly.

"Why are you crying, Ivy?" he asked.

"None of your business, Peter." she growled.

"If it's about that brook, I'm sure we'll find some way to reverse the spell…" he said quickly.

"It's not about that. I don't care about that." she interrupted.

"What is it, then? Is it that half-wolf that…well, that…was said to have murdered someone?" he asked, phrasing it as best he could.

She stiffened and he knew he'd hit his mark. What about the half-wolf, though? Had he hurt her? Was she scared?

"Did he do something to you?" Peter asked.

"No. Well, kind of." Ivy admitted.

"What?" Peter heard himself asking.

"He said he loved me."

Peter almost fell over on his backside. True, a wolf proclaiming his love to a young girl must be something of a shock, but was it cause to be crying in the woods? Maybe she was scared of that wolf and he had made advances on her?

"But what…has he been dishonorable?" he asked.

"No! No, nothing like that." she said quickly, "It's complicated. I don't want to talk about it. I came out here to be alone."

He didn't leave so she looked at him.

"I'm okay, really. Shouldn't you be helping Wendell with battle plans or something?" she asked, wiping her eyes and standing up.

"I suppose." Peter said, "Come, it's not safe to be out here alone this close to the Castle. Not from what I've heard about that witch."

Ivy allowed herself to be guided back to the camp. They emerged behind Danielle and Wendell who were sitting rather close to each other, pointing at different marking on some kind of map. Danielle seemed to be explaining something.

"If you center your troops here, they'll get squashed by 1st and 3rd Kingdom armies. You're at the worst disadvantage of all the Kingdoms since yours adjoins all the others. There's no way you'd be able to hold up against an all out assault. You can't fight an eight-front war. The only way we can save the 4th Kingdom is to stop the problem at the roots which means stopping the witch." Danielle said, pointing with finality at Wendell's Castle.

Wendell nodded in grudging agreement.

"You are right. It's the only way." he said.

"So, we're fighting her again?" Ivy asked.

Danielle and Wendell both jumped and turned to look at her. Danielle looked questioningly from Ivy to the messenger's arm that was around her and back again. Ivy stepped away from him.

"Yes. Yes, we are." Wendell agreed, moving away from Danielle when he caught the messenger looking at them in the same questioning manner that Danielle had looked at Ivy.

"I suppose I should wait for the outcome." Peter said.

"Guess so." Danielle agreed. She stood up and turned to address the others, "Well? Are we going to go fight this witch or not?"

Ivy groaned inwardly as she recognized Danielle's "Let's kick butt!" voice. Silence answered her until Wolf slowly nodded.

"Yes. We can sneak in tonight and catch her by surprise. But not you, Virginia. You stay here." Wolf said firmly.

"I…" Virginia began to protest.

"I agree with Wolf. You should stay here." Tony added, cutting her off.

"Since when do you agree with Wolf? Why are you two ganging up on me? Stop pretending you care about me!" Virginia screamed, backing away from them.

Wolf shot a glance at Tony before hurrying toward her.

"Way to go, dad." he snapped.

"Stop arguing!" Maive insisted urgently.

"Oh, shut up." Wendell turned on her, "Do you think you could stay out of other people's business just once? All you do is make it worse."

For a moment, Ivy was confused. What was going on? Why were they all acting like this all of a sudden?

"I might be a little more help if that stupid fairy had granted my wish like she said she would!" Maive said angrily.

"I can't make you a better witch! I'm just a fairy." Breena protested, "I try to help people and look where it gets me."

Soon everyone was yelling at everyone else. Even Peter was up in arms and yelling at Wendell. The only ones not yelling were Ivy and Danielle. Danielle acted like she couldn't even hear them. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking her head, as if disagreeing with a voice only she could hear. A voice…

Just then, Ivy sniffed and caught an all too familiar scent. She spun around just as Faolan ran up. She backed away from him, hugging herself. She was suddenly so cold.

"Stay away from me." she whispered.

Faolan pretended he didn't hear her. He kept walking towards her.

"I know that you're scared. But I wish you hadn't left like that. I know that you think it will all be better if I go away, but I can't. I just can't. Maybe you're right. We are just teenagers, how can we know? But we're wolves, too. Both of us, now. And a wolf knows his mate when he finds her."

Faolan stopped suddenly, afraid he had said too much.

"No! Stop it!" Ivy yelled at him, "I trusted you. I trusted you and you turned on me. I don't care if it was the full moon. That doesn't excuse you. I wish I had never met you!"

Faolan looked as if he were heart-broken.

"How can you say that? You go and steal my heart…and then step on it? Do you know what you're doing to me? I feel like I might as well go to prison and die in a cell if you leave me. I'm your mate whether you like it or not."

"I'm not a wolf. I didn't steal your heart. You don't know me. You can't be my…anything. I'm not…I…" Ivy shivered and couldn't finish her sentence.

So cold. Why was she so cold?

Faolan grabbed her roughly and forced her to stop backing away. She heard herself whimper.

"Use that power of yours and you'll see. You'll see how crazy I am about you." he insisted.

Since she was unable to do anything else, she closed her eyes and used her power. She didn't really want to, but she didn't feel she could refuse.

But her power or whatever it was, went crazy. She was getting feelings from everyone. Fear, anger, rage, annoyance, guilt, worry, desperation, jealousy, doubt. And more cold. Freezing, numbing, biting, over-whelming cold. She tried to pull out, to open her eyes and stop her power, but couldn't. She just kept sinking deeper and the feelings got stronger. She couldn't handle them. She thought she might black out, but she didn't think that's what she did. It felt more like being frozen alive.

Ivy sagged and fell against him. Faolan knew immediately that something was wrong. He lowered her to the ground and hurriedly knelt next to her. Her skin was like ice. No wonder he had seen her shiver. She was shaking uncontrollably even now. He looked around for help, but he couldn't find any. Even his little brother had gotten caught up in all the fighting. Randal was growling and shouting at the royal messenger at the moment. Something about staying away from his big brother's mate, which was okay really, Faolan didn't like the guy very much anyway, but any help would have been welcome.

"Ivy." Faolan said urgently, "I'm sorry. Oh, cripes. Please wake up."

No response at all. Faolan whined. What should he do? He nuzzled her cheek, hoping that would reach her. He froze when he could no longer hear her breathing.

"No. No, you can't do this! You hear me, you can't leave!" Faolan yelled at her.

Faolan quickly leaned over to give her his air, but was thrown backwards through the air. He yelped as he hit the ground. A figure appeared out of nowhere and when its scent hit him, even though he couldn't place it, it made him shudder. Whatever or whoever the figure was, he was tall, taller than Faolan, and lost inside a black cloak. He, it, started slowly towards him, moving directly between him and Ivy. Faolan growled and quickly scrambled back to his feet.

"What are you?" he demanded.

It laughed and the laugh made Faolan wince.

"I'd show you, over-grown pup, but you might die of fright. It happens."

"Are you causing this?" Faolan pressed, gesturing at the group arguing and at Ivy.

"You could say that." it nodded.

Faolan's growl got louder and he lunged at the cloaked figure. Just before he would have hit him, he disappeared and reappeared behind him. Faolan would have spun and attacked again even though he was out-matched, but he was close to Ivy and she needed help. Why didn't the others see what was happening? The only person not in the fight was a dark-haired girl and she had sat down on the ground and drawn into herself. Her eyes darted back and forth like a nervous wolf in the middle of a mob. He should know. Not important.

"Ivy. Please, please, don't do this to me. Wake up." Faolan pleaded. He growled when she didn't respond, "I know you can hear me! Wake up! Now! Right, now. I'll yank your tail if I have to. Come on…"

Faolan was yanked back away and thrown to the ground. He was kicked in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him gasping.

"You want her to wake up, to open her eyes? Alright." the figure said.

Faolan turned his head in time to see it wave a gloved hand over Ivy's face. Her eyes snapped open, but she was just as bad as she had been before. Only now she could see her friends fighting and Faolan getting beat up by a dark, hooded person. Faolan realized his mistake. He had made it worse. Yes, it must be even more horrible for her. But he could see an ever so slight movement of her upper body. She was breathing, even if it was dangerously shallow. Maybe she could hold on long enough for…what? To see him and the others get killed? This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. No, it was all wrong. His thoughts were cut off as he was jerked back to his feet and punched in the face.

Ivy tried to close her eyes again, but couldn't. She couldn't even blink. At least she couldn't feel the others' emotions as strongly through this cold. She did feel fear and was surprised to find it was her own. Her chest hurt with each shaky breath, but even that pain was welcome. If she could feel pain, she was still alive.

Still alive…what did it matter anymore? She was going to die one way or another. She had always been terrified of dying, but she had felt enough fear. She couldn't get out of this so she would die eventually. And so would her friends. And so would this world she had come to love in spite of herself and all that had happened. She wanted to cry for the first time in her life and couldn't.

Marissa smiled. The 10th Kingdom bred some pretty insecure ones, that was for sure. All she had to do was reopen some old wounds, bring up some doubts, tell some lies, and the girl, Danielle, was hers.

"Your parents never loved you. It was your fault they split up. Your mother loves your step-sisters and step-brother more than she loves you. Your dad's already replaced you. He doesn't even want to see you. Why do you think he moved so far away?"

Oh, poor thing. It looked as if she might cry. Marissa laughed.

"You'll never be famous. Your daydreams of being an actress and a singer are laughable. You'll just have an average life. No one will know your name. No one will even care when you die."

Marissa failed to add that that would be soon.

"If you were really some kind of hero, none of this would have happened. It's your fault. Why couldn't you be like the people on T.V.? Why did Wendell ever come to you?"

The girl sniffed and shook her head to say she didn't know.

"Do you want all this to go away, Danielle? It can all go away if you want it to." Marissa offered.

The girl nodded slowly. Marissa's smile widened.

"Take my hand. Then, it'll all be over." she said, holding out her hand.

The girl didn't seem to notice that Marissa had suddenly become visible. She picked up her hand and stared at it a moment, as if it were new to her. Her hand was shaking.

With the girls out of the way, the rest would be simple to destroy.