I'm back! Novemeber is over, the novel is written and I can now resume updating this story on a regular basis!

Somewhere, amidst all this madness, I had come to the conclusion that I'd never had any sort of idea how this tale actually went. Was it even a fairytale? Had I already asked that question? I wasn't sure about anything anymore.

Yet somehow, with the crazy, red-eyed witch staring me down from across the room, I was a heck of a lot less scared than I probably should have been. Maybe it was the lack of food, or maybe I was just losing my mind. Perhaps it was the fact that I was too mad at Chord for not trusting me to actually be scared. I didn't know the reason.

"Prepare yourself, Taryn Bauer." The witch said. "I will try to make this a quick death."

"You're too kind."

She looked pleased with herself. "I do try."

"Just one question before you smite me," I said.

The witch was caught off guard and lowered her arms a bit, looking at me with a puzzled expression.

"Why do you willing work for Iris? You know she's only using you right?"

She thought about it for a moment. "It's got good pay. Plus, have you seen the dental plan? How else am I going to get my teeth this white?" She flashed me a dazzling white smile. "You wouldn't believe it, but a child's flesh is worse on the teeth than a bag of candy."

"That is so gross."

"So much tastier though."

"You really are insane."

"I believe we've already had this conversation."

"Yeah, well you keep giving me shockingly, new proof of that."

The witch rolled her eyes. "Are you finished talking yet? I swear, I have never battled another player who took this long to actually start the fight. Either get into the oven like a good little girl, or stand still so I do not miss my target."

"Tempting," I said, "but I'm going to have to pass. See, the boy in the dungeon out there? He doesn't believe that I can get him out of this alive. I have to prove him wrong. Unfortunately, that means defeating you."

The witch pouted. "But we were going to have so much fun! I can sense the power inside you even now. I haven't battled anyone like you in a long time."

"Sorry to burst your bubble of fun, but I really can't stay."

"Kids these days are no fun."

I slowly began backing toward the door. The witch was still grumbling to herself about my lazy generation and how no one ever wanted to fight her anymore. I decided my generation wasn't lazy, we were just smarter than everyone else. Who would want to go up against someone like her? They would have to be crazy.

She didn't notice that I had moved until I grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. She shouted in surprise, but I dove outside before she could slam the door shut in my face. I heard her scream of rage as I raced across the lawn to the small barn.

When I got inside, his eyes grew wide and he jumped to his feet. Although in the small cage, he had to stay hunched over.

"Did you do it?" He asked in disbelief. "You killed the witch?"

"Not exactly."

He groaned and sank back to floor. "I knew it. We're dead."

"Hey man, have a little faith. We're here to rescue these people, remember? Not kill them all."

"She's part of the curse," he grumbled, "she would have just regenerated once the tale reset."

"Are you sure about that? How do we know that's how it works? We haven't had to kill anyone to finish a tale yet. Rumple doesn't count. He tore himself in half. How do we know they'll come back if we're the ones doing the killing?"

"You couldn't do it, could you? You couldn't beat her."

"Hey! She had glowing red eyes and balls of blue lights in her hands. My odds weren't looking great." I protested.

He sighed. "Just get me out of here. If she's not dead, it won't be long before-"

Chord was cut off by the barn door flying off its hinges and landing with a crash in one of the stalls.

"Before she comes looking for us," Chord finished, "Now you've done it. We are so dead."

I rolled my eyes. "Remember that whole conversation we just had, about you having faith in me? You should give it a try."

"Why would I do that when I know you aren't able to beat her?"

"Because right now I'm the only hope you have of leaving here alive."

"That is the least reassuring thing you have ever said."

I turned on him angrily. "Look, Genius, you're the one who brought me back here. It's your fault we're about to become barbecue for some old hag. So sit down and shut up."

"I am sitting down." He pointed out.

"Than shut up and let me beat this witch so I can rub it in your face later."

"And just how do you plan on beating me, Taryn Bauer?" The witch sneered, bringing my attention back to her.

"I'm still working on that." I said.

"We're dead." Chord sighed as if accepting his own fate.

I glared at him. "Would you quit saying that! We are not going to die here. I won't let that happen."

Deep down, I knew they were both right. I didn't stand a chance against someone as powerful as this witch. I didn't even have an oven to help me out. Blood pounded in my ears and my hands were shaking so badly, when I reached over to pick up the pitch fork, I could barely hold it.

"How would you like to go? Eternal imprisonment in a tiny cage," I motioned to the small cell that held Chord, "or death by pitchfork?"

The witch laughed. "I will not be the one dying here today. But please, take your best shot."

What I did next was stupid. I charged her, armed with only a green flimsy, plastic pitchfork that I could barely lift with my shaking hands.

Behind me, Chord said something about how dumb I was and how we were both dead. I tried my best to ignore him. We weren't dead. Not yet. My mind flashed with images of Dixie and August. They were waiting for me back in the real world. Iris was holding August and she probably had Dixie too. If I died here, what would happen to them?

The witch easily avoided my attack, leisurely stepping aside as I barreled past with an angry cry. I swung back around to face her again, but was met with a blast of energy that sent me flying backward.

My head connected with the wall and I crumpled to the floor in a pathetic heap. Moaning, I tried to sit up but the world decided to go all carnival ride on me, spinning so fast I fell back down.

Distantly, Chord shouted, "Look out!"

I blinked several times, desperately trying to bring my vision back into focus. A black blur was quickly approaching. I could only assume it was the witch, coming in to finish me off.

I rolled to the side, or I thought I did. I ended up just running into the wall again. The spinning room was more than a little disorienting. I tried to stand, but I could barely tell which way was up and which way was down. I could have been standing on my head for all I knew.

The witch laughed at my weak attempts to move and I realized she must have been casting some sort of magic to keep my head a foggy mess. "Have you had enough yet? Are you willing to accept your fate and die by my hand?"

"Not on your life."

She sighed. "I liked you, Taryn. I was really hoping to avoid demolishing you completely."

The barn was engulfed with a sudden intense light as the witch formed the magic in to her hands once more.

I kept my hands pressed firmly against the side of the barn as I fought to regain my feet under me. "I may not have ever read this particular tale, or know how it goes, but I've never heard of the old hag using magic to beat the children."

"You are correct in your assumptions. The original story does involve any sort of magic. Baking is the only solution. However, Isis has warned us all about you and your special abilities. She and Iris decided it was best to give each of us a little added support. I do feel for Rumplestiltskin though. The poor dear never stood a chance. You see, he wasn't given any special powers. In fact, no one in that tale was. Your arrival there was premature. The sisters did not have efficient time to prepare those characters for their untimely deaths."

My mouth felt dry and my stomach twisted itself into several knots. "You mean he's really dead? Rumple isn't coming back?"

"Oh dear, no. There are no second chances in this game. Your very lives are now on the line."

Somehow, that didn't surprise me. But there was something else the witch had said that bugged me. Something that didn't make any sense. "You said that Iris and Isis had set up extra powers for you characters to face me with. That implies that they knew we were coming, but that's not possible. Chord came to me on his own. They couldn't have known we were going back into the curse."

The witch laughed. "That boy may have believed he was acting on his own, but it had all been planned out by Iris long before. She knew he was going to seek you out. They used his disloyal actions to their advantage."

"I knew I didn't like them for a reason." Chord grumbled.

"So this entire thing was planned." I shook my head in disbelief. "Why didn't I see that earlier?"

The witch shrugged. "Perhaps you are not as clever as they say you are. In any case, you are still going to die today. You are being held here, yes. But we have had no orders to spare your life."

"Wonderful."

She grinned. "Are you prepared to die, Taryn Bauer?"

"Not yet. There's some unfinished business I have to take care of first."

"I'm afraid, dear, that you don't have a choice. I must follow my role and kill you now."

I managed to roll to the side just as another blast of light blasted the barn door.

The oven. It was my only option. I had to get the witch back inside the house.

Struggling back to my feet, I began stumbling toward the house. The more she shot that beam of light at me, the worse my senses got. I could barely see anymore.

She leisurely walked behind me, laughing at my pathetic attempts to move quickly. "I will say that you are persistent."

Somehow, I managed to make it to the house and stumbled through the front door. The witch followed and lightly closed the door behind us.

"Might I ask what you plan to do next?"

I leaned up against the table and eyed the witch wearily. "I haven't decided yet."

"Well while you're deciding. I think I'll kill you."

Before I could react, she shot another beam of light. I couldn't dodge it. It moved too fast. I screamed. The bright light was all I could see. Distantly I heard an explosion. Heat flared up around me, ensnaring me in an oven of bright light. So this was how it was going to end. She would end up cooking me anyway.

That's when I saw the first blue spark. It drifted across my line of vision lazily and then dissolved. Frowning, I noticed that there were more of them. A few danced around my waist and they became more dense farther down my legs. When I saw my feet, I saw that I was standing a blanket of the blue sparks. The same sparks that had appeared in the Rumpelstiltskin tale.

Eventually, the light died down and I was able to see again. My strength had returned and my vision was no longer blurred. The area beneath my feet was charred black. The rest of the house looked like a bomb had gone off inside. The table was blown in half and the chairs lay in pieces scattered across the room. Dishes and other objects lay shattered on the floor. The only area not affected was a two foot perimeter around me.

The witch stood among all the wreckage, stunned. Her glowing red eyes trained on me. "What are you?"

I looked back down at the charred ground. That was an honest question. I wasn't even sure what I was. There was no way I should have survived a blast like that. And what was with the blue sparks? None of it made sense.

"I uh-I'm still working that out too."

"Your life is a mess. You don't come prepared for anything."

I shrugged. "I've always been a bad planner. I usually just fly by the seat of my pants. Like now."

Reaching down, I grabbed a handful of ash left over from the explosion and threw it at the witch, temporarily blinding her. Then I shoved her over in the direction of the oven. She yelped and stumbled. Her foot caught on the train of her dress and she fell forward. Her head connected with the edge of the oven and she crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

I slowly walked over and nudged her with my foot to make sure she was really out. If I could get Chord free from that cage before she woke up, maybe we could get out without having to kill her. She didn't move when I rolled her over and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I turned to leave, but the witch's hand shot out and grabbed onto my ankle. With a shout of surprise, I lost my balance and tumbled to the floor. My head shot around to find her red eyes glaring at me with a new hatred.

"How dare you disrespect me like that!" She spat some ash from her mouth and wiped the black soot off her face. A large cut was bleeding on her forehead. "That was a coward's move, Taryn."

"It worked didn't it? Well, sorta."

I kicked her in the face and she released me with a cry of pain. I scrambled to my feet and bolted for the door but a blast of her magic sent me flying through the air. I landed with a crash against a large cabinet filled with fancy dishes. They crashed against the glass door and shattered into a million different pieces. I was just glad the door was closed so I wasn't gifted with a glass bath.

"You will not insult me like this!" The witch was back on her feet and quickly advancing on me. "Get up and fight me with your own powers. You are clearly gifted and yet you refuse to fight me as an equal. I will not stand for such arrogance."

I rubbed my head and stood. I should have been disoriented at the least. Maybe a little woozy and dizzy from a hit like that, but I felt fine. Whatever those blue sparks had done earlier was effecting me. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't complaining. I was just a bit confused.

"Look, lady, I really don't want to fight you. Fighting you would mean killing you and you said yourself there's no coming back. I'm in this stupid curse to save you. If I were to have to kill you, I feel like that would be a bit counterproductive."

"Nonsense! I will not die. It is you who will be dead by the end of the day." She straightened out her dress and wiped a wooden chip off her shoulder. "I'm a powerful sorceress, granted powers from Iris herself. You can not defeat me."

"You really want to bet on that?"

She threw her head back and laughed. "You really are a funny girl."

"Yeah, well, hopefully my humor and clever wit will be enough to get me out of this because that's all I have." I muttered to myself.

"Call forth your powers, Taryn, and we shall have a true battle of strengths."

"Look, lady, even if I could 'call forth my powers' I wouldn't use them on you. Did I not just say that I was here to save you all from this stinkin' curse?" I grabbed the splintered broom handle by my feet. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it would work. "But if you insist on trying to kill me..."

I ran forward with a cry, prepared to bash her over the head with my stick, but she was quick. She fashioned a her magic light into ball of energy and threw it at me. I swung the stick and managed to hit the ball of light, sending it flying off in the other direction where it landed in with another explosion inside of the bedroom.

"Foolish girl! Quit ruining my house!" The witch shouted angrily.

"Well maybe if you didn't keep trying to blow me up, your house wouldn't be exploding right now!" I quickly countered and raced toward her again.

This time, she was distracted by the wreckage in the other room and I was able to slam my stick into the back of her head. She grunted in pain and staggered. I watched as she fell backward. She would have been fine, if it weren't for the magic of the curse. Apparently, it didn't want to leave things as it was. As she fell, the oven door fell open and an unseen force pushed her back just far enough that she landed on the oven door. It closed then, locking her inside and the fire blazed to life.

I rushed to help her, but I couldn't get the oven door open. The witch remained unconscious, which I was glad for. I don't think I could have endured her anguished screams. I yanked on the over door and beat it with the handle of the broom until my hands were bloody but it was no use.

Backing away, I pressed my back against the wall and slid to the floor, staring in horror at the dying witch.

I desperately wanted to tear my eyes away from the scene but I couldn't. I watched helplessly as the witch was engulfed in flames and burned beyond recognition. I felt sick and I lost any food that I might have had left in my stomach right there on the floor of the kitchen.

After a while, I walked back to the barn. My mind had shut down. All I could see was the witch trapped inside the oven.

I barely registered it when Chord saw me and gasped, "You're alive! Oh my-what happened? Is the witch still alive? How did you defeat..." He trailed off when he saw my face.

My fingers fumbled with the lock as I tried to get it open. I refused to talk or even look at him for fear of breaking down.

"Are you alright?" Chord's hands reached through the bars and covered my shaking ones.

I wished he wouldn't do that. A stray tear slipped through my barriers and trailed down my cheek. Angry at myself for being so weak, I yanked my hands away from his and wiped at my face.

"This isn't working. We need to find something that'll break the lock."

I ignored Chord's attempts to get my attention as I searched the room. There had to be something I could use. That's when I noticed the left over sparks of the witch's magic. I wasn't sure if I could use them, but I had to try. If I was able to summon my own blue sparks, I should be able to handle hers, right?

"Don't do it, Taryn. You don't know what they'll do to you if you try to use them." Chord warned. "I need you alive to free us."

I didn't respond. Crouching down, I allowed my fingers to trail through the magic dust. It clung to the tips of my fingers but didn't hurt me in any way. Curiously, I tried picking it up. Most of it seeped through my fingers, but I was able to hold onto a small bit. Hopefully it was enough to blow the lock.

I told Chord to back up and cover his head just to be safe and then I threw the dust at the lock. At first nothing happened. It landed lightly on the metal and sparkled in the evening light, but there was no explosions. I blew out a breath of frustration and kicked a pile of hay. I was about to turn to look for something I could possibly bash the lock open with when it started smoking. The dust started popping and sparking.

It exploded then. It wasn't a huge explosion, but it was enough to disintegrate the lock.

"Well would you look at that," I smirked, "it worked. Maybe next time you won't be so quick to judge my insane plans."

"I'll keep that in mind." Chord climbed out of the cage, carefully avoiding the smoldering metal. "Now let's get out of here."

He eyed me warily as he came to stand beside me. "What happened in there?"

I just shook my head. I wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Chord must have understood because he simply nodded and took my hand, which surprised me.

"I know you don't want to talk about it and that's fine, I won't rush you, but coming from someone who's experienced some pretty horrible things here, it's better if you know you're not alone. Sometimes, just the simple reassurance that someone's there is enough to ease the burden."

I smiled gratefully at him. I knew I wasn't strong enough to do this alone, but maybe, with Chord's help, we could defeat Iris and return to the real world again.

A small spark of hope lit inside of me. Something that I thought I would never feel again. I squeezed Chord's hand and mouthed, "thank you".

He smiled and nodded. "The tale's not over yet though. Let's go gather up some of the witch's treasures and bring them home to our lovely mother and father."

"Can I please punch the old lady in the face?" I begged as we began walking back toward the house. I wasn't anxious about entering there again, but the sooner we did, the sooner we'd be able to leave.

"No punching old ladies." Chord scolded playfully

"Fine," I threw my head back with great exaggeration, "but I'm not giving her any treasures. That's officially your job."

He laughed. "Deal."

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