Her body seemed to be shaking with a combination of excitement and fear. This worded combustion felt so similar to the way it was when she could conduct fire. Fable took a deep breath and began a slow and deliberate pace, eyes narrowed and centered on the Nightmare King. The words growing more and more as it coursed to cover the entirety of her arms. Her hair was set lose upon the wind, as it danced, causing her the warmth of her golden irises to cry out against the bleak.

Seeing the danger, Pitch summoned a Nightmare, and sent it in the direction of Lydia. Before the monster could touch her, Fable threw out her left arm, and sent up a wall. Not of worded fire, this was made up of descriptions of barriers and fortresses. The force of the blockade cut through the black sand, causing the Nightmare to dissolve on contact. Turning her attention back to Pitch, Fable chuckled. "Not so weak anymore, am I?"

He looked stunned for a moment; he had seen Fable wield a dangerous element in the past. At one point, on the night they parted ways, she released enough heat to turn his sand into a thick wall of glass; even then, she never had the stomach to hurt another being. Even when he scarred her five years ago, even then she kept a calm front, though she screamed with an agony that caused her books to shake with unease and terror. Now he had managed to push her to the point of breaking, and it resulted in her pushing back at full force. Perhaps, he had gone too far.

Standing, Pitch began to size her up. "You would never hurt me; we didn't spend all that time together without me knowing a bit about you."

A long cord of worded fire began to extend. "A hundred years or more can change a person."

At this, he shook his head, his smile beginning to grow in confidence. "You're still weak."

Fable snarled and let slip the fire whip, bringing it down at Pitch's feet. "You don't know me anymore!"

The pavement sparked hissed at the contact, she brought the whip above her head with a snap, in seconds, Pitch was trapped in it. Fable closed her eyes and thought every word and line she knew to describe burning, from fire, to ice. The cord began to glow a shocking blue and rusted orange as the words rushed from her hands and towards Pitch; who was fighting in vain to throw the whip. The Nightmare King began to scream, as he felt his grayed flesh hiss and bubble as a result of the heat, bubbling into blackened blisters from the biting cold. Kicking up her leg, Fable wrapped the whip around her, catching it in the heel of her boot. She brought the Nightmare King to his knees. Without a word, she dropped the whip, and ran for Lydia, taking up the globe as she embraced the girl.

The knowledge spirit did not notice Pitch breaking his bonds, as she went to give her destination to the orb. Quiet as a shadow, the Nightmare King summoned up his scythe. Without any form of hesitation, he brought it down with ever intention to kill. Happenstance resulted in Fable turning just in time to see the blade coming down, giving her a mere second to throw her arms up in defense. The pain was excruciating, the black sand coursed through the fresh wound, weaving into the blood, cutting like glass. Even in agony, Fable could only see the gory scythe as Pitch took it up again, cold eyes glazed over with the look of a killer. The globe was still in Fable's grasp, unable to string a coherent sentence together, she blurted out a single word "Safe!"

The thing came to life in her hands, encasing the knowledge spirit, Lydia, and her bag in a halved sphere of blinding light. The force of the barrier threw Pitch backwards and into the unforgiving pavement. Just like that, Fable and Lydia were taken away to someplace "safe" though that could be anywhere, as long as the Nightmare King wasn't present.

Author's Notes:

Yeah, I got nothing to say on this, I know you guys are waiting for Jack to turn up and save the day, but I felt that labored heavily in the cliché area. I make no promises that he will show up in the next chapter, but it's a possibility. You might even get to hear Fable's story of how MiM chose her form her human life to become a spirit…ooooh the possibilities people.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, read, favorite, review, alert, all that jazz.