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I clung to my stuffed wolf, my index finger brushing along the carefully concealed stitches in his side as if the feel of them could bring me some amount of peace. It was for the good of all, I told myself. Just not for the good of me. It was the only way I could be worthy, I thought. But why did I believe that? Because Pitch told me? When did he ever tell me something that was true?! He'd gone on and on about how the Guardians didn't exist, but look! They did! And they cared about me even when he said they didn't. They found my wolf. They took care of him, knowing how precious he was to me. They took care of me when Pitch had told me how no one ever would want me.
He was a liar. So why was I okay with this?
I wasn't, I realized. And I was through being his toy. My fear of him didn't matter. All that did matter was that I wasn't going to go without a fighting chance.
Pitch was so intent on getting away that he didn't expect my elbow to connect with his face. As he reeled back, the nightmare slowed uncertainly at his shifting weight and I took the chance to throw myself from the creature. With wolf clutched to my chest, I hurtled through the sky towards the snow. When not too long ago, it had been a great source of fun, not it looked hard and unforgiving. From the height I was falling, I didn't imagine it would be a kind landing.
I looked at my stuffed animal, remembering how I'd brought him to life with Sandy's help – though I hadn't realized it at the time. Maybe I could do it again? Imagination was a child's tool, after all.
Please, wolfy. Please let me do this. I looked at those marble golden eyes, concentrating with all my heart as I'd seen Jack do before. There was a glimmer there. A spark of life and I felt a spark of hope within my chest. It was like the final piece of a puzzle slipping into place. Not made of sand or ice this time, my wolf was silver furred and amber eyed and large as a nightmare. While the cold whipped tears from my eyes, I clung to him until he tossed his head towards me to lever me up onto his back.
He absorbed the landing in the snow with strong legs and stood tall, snarling up at the gathering nightmares in the sky while Pitch gave a growl of his own. I was afraid, yes. But it is in fear that we discover bravery.
"Get her," Pitch demanded, pointing a sharp finger at me, his eyes boiling with rage. The nightmares came like a wave of darkness. Curling my fingers in his fur, I lowered myself across his back and urged him to go. I felt the muscles of his hind limbs bunch up before he burst across the snow with incredible speed. Jaws snapped at sand, littering the white snow with their remains like ashes. A nightmare got passed his onslaught, snapping at me. Rather than curl away from it, I lifted my leg to give it a mighty kick to the face. It exploded into a pile of sand just as its comrades did.
We worked as a team, my wolf and I, though he certainly did the majority of the work with his sharp teeth. There was a lull in attacks and he panted hard, his ribs expanding with each breath beneath my legs. "You okay?" I asked him with concern, uncurling a small hand from his fur to pet between his ears. He gave no answer, but lifted his head proudly to glower at Pitch. Above him, I saw more dark sand gathering as if being pulled from all corners of the world. The fear rose like bile in my throat, but I battled it back.
"You dare defy me?!" Pitch screamed, manifesting his scythe and raising it above his head like a flag. "If you won't bend to me…you can die standing!" A fresh wave of nightmares gathered around him while my wolf was already tired. Still, he was right. I wasn't going to bend to him anymore.
He gave a battle cry while I braced myself for a collision we couldn't face. Neither of us expected a boomerang to strike him right across the face and make him lose hold of his scythe. It plummeted to the ground and stuck straight up in the snow at a crooked angle. Putting a hand to his jaw, he looked north to see Bunny catch his weapon.
"G'day, mate."
There was a powerful roar as reindeer poured over the hillside, pulling the rocket powered sleigh behind them. In front, I saw the two who had fought earlier working together with such ferocity that it brought pride to my heart. Jack leapt from the sleigh, aiming his staff at nightmares and firing off icy blasts while Tooth sliced through them with rapidly beating wings. Sandy conjured up two golden whips and began beating them back into submission while North chopped away with his dual swords.
"No!" Pitch called, his voice full of fury as his creatures were beaten down one after another. My wolf lashed his tail, a snarl rippling from deep in his chest as he pinned amber eyes on Pitch. He gave a mighty leap, aiming to rip the Boogeyman right off his steed.
No one expected Pitch to conjure up another scythe with such speed and ferocity. Though he didn't have time to angle it well enough to cut me, the brunt end of it hit me full in the chest and knocked me off my wolf. Taking my wolf's sudden distraction to heart, Pitch took the time to flee for his life even as I fell.