Disclaimer: All recognizable subject material does not belong to me.

Stand Your Ground: Legend of the Monster – and the Firebird that Never Returned

Chapter 8

Answers

Kemalth was getting ready for Vidia's return. He knew she would come back. She had guts, and wings or no wings, he knew she wouldn't leave them.

He pulled Iridessa from the feather bag – she had caused enough trouble with her irksome light. He tied her hands together and pinned her to the ceiling of the tunnel.
He left the others in the bag and pinned that to the ceiling, also, close enough that they could speak to Iridessa.

He brought his large head close to them. "Listen carefully – I'll only tell you once. When Vidia comes -"

"She won't come." Fawn faked a laugh, trying to convince him.

"When she comes if you remain quiet and don't attract attention, I will let Vidia go. I will rein in my appetite and allow her to live."

"Really?" Tinkerbell asked, suspiciously. "Why should we believe you?"

"You don't need to. But know that if you make a single sound, or if you attract her attention by moving or throwing objects, I will kill her immediately, and it won't be pretty. That's all."

Kemalth walked gracefully to the other end of the cavern and sat down in the doorway opposite where Vidia would come in.

"Dessa, can you use a light to cut through the feathers in the bag?" Tink said, quietly, trying not to let the salamander hear what she said.

"No, my hands are tied." Iridessa replied. "I can't move them, and I haven't got any pixie dust to make a light with."

"I can chew through them in just a few moments." Scruffy volunteered, and bared his teeth.

"No!" Fawn covered his mouth with her hands. "We haven't got pixie dust. Scruffy, at least, would certainly die, but the rest of us haven't got a chance, either."

"Well, you could've just said that we'd all die." Rosetta fanned herself a little.

"She did." Silvermist pointed out.

"Do you hear something?" Tinkerbell stuck her head out of one of the holes in the net to extend her ear toward the passageway. "I hear something."

"I don't." Iridessa could't move her head at all.

"Be quiet, if it's Vidia, he'll kill her immediately, remember?" Fawn begged.

"We can't let her die!" Scruffy whispered, "but he'll eat her either way."

"And he said it wouldn't be pretty." Rosetta reminded.

"Rosetta!" Silvemist frowned at her.

"What? I like pretty." Rosetta shrugged.

"SHH!" Tinkerbell pulled her head back in. "Vidia's life may depend on us all being perfectly silent."

Stand Your Ground

Vidia stepped slowly toward the doorway that led into the cavern. She stopped just beside the door. She adjusted her backpack straps on her shoulders, then walked into sight. In the middle of the doorway she turned. She looked around. The salamander was sitting opposite her, in the other doorway.

The fairies and Scruffy were nowhere in sight.

"Are they in the other cavern?" Vidia asked, not seeming too worried.

"No." Kemalth replied.

"Did you eat them?"

"Immediately after I captured them."

"No, you didn't. You're lying."

"Why do you say that?"

"If you'd eaten them right away there would be blood – and Dessa's backpack. And the feather bag, because I don't think you'd eat that."

Silvermist cheered silently.

"I cleaned up while I was waiting for dessert." Kemalth commented.

Vidia took a deep breath.

"I figured it out." she announced. "I know what the Firebird discovered."

Tinkerbell and Fawn exchanged a worried glance.

"And you've come to brag about your intelligence?" Kemalth asked, sardonically.

"No." Vidia lifted her chin. "I've come to give you a warning – and a choice. If you have or do hurt my friends . . . run."

"Me? Run from you?"

Vidia nodded. "And run as fast as you can, because I will follow and I will kill you." She didn't raise her voice. She was speaking a fact.

The salamander narrowed his eyes.

"If you let them go . . . I can set you free."

Everything was silent.

The fairies on the ceiling frowned, uncertain.

Kemalth laughed. "You don't know how to kill me. For hundreds of years fairies have tried to figure that out. They've come here and died. You shall, too."

"No, I really did figure it out." Vidia insisted. "You see, before the Firebird came you didn't have to wait for fairies to come to you. You came to Neverland and took them."

The salamander shifted his feet impatiently.

"The Firebird pretended to leave one day, but went back and stole blue pixie dust."

"And why did he do that?" Kemalth asked, bored.

"Because he needed it to imprison you on the island." Vidia said, clearly. "'From a trickle of yellow pixie dust to the roar of flame'. Pixie dust burns! This island was cool and wet, with one dormant volcano. The Firebird put the pixie dust into the volcano. Everything got hot. The ground, the rivers, the volcano. The Firebird did that because he found out that you aren't fireproof. You hate fire. You turn away from Dessa's light even when it's really dim. That's the 'Myth of the Salamander'. It's one of the first things that I learned about you. Scruffy and Fawn both agreed that your kind is fireproof, but you really aren't. That's why you can't leave. The river goes around the cave entrance like a moat. You can't cross the steam, you'd burn."

Vidia paused. "The myth of the Salamander is what puts you apart from big lizards and alligators. You're just an overgrown lizard, because the Myth of the Salamander -" she shook her head. "It's a lie."

Kemalth stared at her, calmly.

Vidia fell silent as she waited for him to respond. He clapped his hands together in applause.

"Ingenious. Very clever, Vidia. But you should have thought your plan through. Do you really think that words can stop a monster like me? You haven't got anything to start a fire with. You haven't even got pixie dust."

"But you do." Vidia pointed out.

"That doesn't help you."

"How well have you done your research on fairies?" Vidia asked. "I'm a fast flying fairy."

"Without wings." Kemalth laughed. "I'm sure you're very dangerous."

"Think! What do fast flying fairies do?" Vidia encouraged him, grinning. "I'm not all that dangerous, but I'm sure not harmless!" She twirled a finger in midair.

The bags of pixie dust whirled in from the other room inside Vidia's wind and dumped the pixie dust in a circle around the salamander.

Vidia grabbed a handful of dust and threw it up toward the ceiling, right onto the other fairies. "Dessa, shine a light!"

"I can't move my hands!" Iridessa cried. "I can't control where it goes!"
"Just do what you can." Tinkerbell assured her. "Don't worry. One beam, as bright as you can make it."

Iridessa concentrated and made a very bright beam of light to the floor, but it wasn't in the right place. It was inside the circle of pixie dust, not touching any of the dust.

"Is everyone floating?" Tinkerbell checked. "Scruffy, chew through the net!"

Scruffy took a few nibbles, then scrambled out and hopped over to Iridessa, meaning to chew through the feathers pinioning her to the rocks.

The salamander noticed Scruffy's actions and reached up with one hand and grabbed him.

"Scruffy!" Vidia shrieked. "No!"

Scruffy struggled, but Kemalth had him in a tight grip. Kemalth put him in between two boulders and put other rocks around him, trapping him in a stone cage.

Silvermist reached Iridessa and tugged at the feathers, with no effect. Tinkerbell joined her as Rosetta and Fawn flew to Scruffy's rescue, but the rocks were too large.

Rosetta noticed the pixie dust lying on the floor, and went to get some to use on the rocks, but the salamander slammed his tail into her, sending her into the wall.

With Rosetta out of action and all the others busy, the salamander turned to Vidia, who took a few steps back.

Kemalth reached forward with his front foot light lightning, trying to crush her, but she rolled out of the way, letting him crush a boulder into several pieces.

Vidia ran toward the beam of light, without a clear plan in her head. She saw Fawn and a groggy Rosetta still trying to free Scruffy. She picked up a handful of pixie dust and threw it onto the rock. "Get Iridessa free!" she shouted. Fawn and Rosetta helped Scruffy out, and they started toward Iridessa.

Vidia started to turn back to the salamander, but he hit her with his foot, and she sprawled across the floor. She shook her head of ringing and pushed herself to her knees. She suddenly saw the ray of light shining on the floor and remembered -

She pulled off her backpack and dumped everything out. She snatched up the silver locket * and tossed it across the floor to the end of the light.

The light reflected off the locket and onto the pixie dust. Suddenly flames as tall as the salamander sprang up, and the fire spread all around the circle of pixie dust. All around Kemalth. All around Vidia.

* See Stand Your Ground: Firebird Tears chapter 8 to see where she finds the locket.