Disclaimer: I do not own The 10th Kingdom. This is merely a fanfiction.

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The Fourth Kingdom – Forest

"Oh Huff-Puff, it's so good to be back!" Wolf was bounding through the trees, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Virginia lingered behind him, a small smile on her face as she enjoyed his antics. His voice rang out between the trees. "Oh, I feel like bounding for miles and miles! Oh Virginia, run with me!"

Virginia was holding her stomach. "Not right now, Wolf."

He stopped, tilting his head at her as he emerged from behind an oak. "Is something wrong?"

"Just … morning sickness. I think traveling through the well may have thrown my stomach off."

Wolf's nose twitched. "Oh no, that's not it. Our little wolf cub is growing! And my, how quickly too!"

Virginia looked down at her stomach and gasped. There was a small baby bump. But that wasn't right. "Wolf … I'm no expert on pregnancy but I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be having a baby bump this soon …"

Wolf shrugged. "You haven't forgotten what I told you the other day at the Park Grille?"

"Wolf …?"

"Wolf cubs grow faster than normal humans."

Virginia faltered. In the excitement of Leone capturing Wolf in New York, she had forgotten. Her face twisted into a frown. "I also recall you never told me how much faster!"

Wolf smiled sheepishly.

Virginia took a step towards. "Wolf … how much faster?"

Wolf turned and bounded between the trees. "Last one to the brook is a rotten Humpty-Dumpty egg!"

"WOLF!"

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.

.

The image of Virginia chasing Wolf and throwing small rocks at him while yelling appeared in a molten looking glass. The Snow Queen smiled as she watched them from the Devil's Mirror. "At last …"

Fiona, the female half-wolf, lay on a block of ice, stretching her legs out, clearly bored. The other two half-wolf men, Hebro and Dynaman, were fighting over scraps of meat. Fiona sat up and sighed, staring into the Mirror. "About time." She drew a blade, examining it. "I can go and have her pelt this very instant."

"No." The Snow Queen's voice was deadly. "Not yet. Leone will track them, keep an eye on them. But they are not to be harmed. Not yet."

Fiona snarled, but obediently sheathed her knife. "I don't understand … she could ruin everything. Just as she wrecked the Evil Queen's plans."

"My dear," the Snow Queen smiled, "she is the plan." The ice witch turned to the female half-wolf. "I sense the jealousy beating in your veins. You are eager to taste human flesh … and I can sense you desire to taste wolf flesh in a different way …"

Fiona looked away, blushing. "You're mistaken."

"I am never mistaken." The icy smile never left the Snow Queen's face. "You and Wolf once ran in the same pack. You … longed to be his, to be the object of his ravenous desire. But his feelings for you were as cold as my ice realm."

Fiona stared ahead, her eyes half closed, trying to shut the memory out of her mind.

"I told you I would reward you for helping free me, and so I shall. Continue to trust me, and not only will you have your packmate … but you will taste woman flesh."

For the first time, a small smile flitted across Fiona's face.

The Snow Queen turned and began walking through her icy throne room. "Come … now that the girl is here, it is time to begin to set things in motion."

Fiona slid off the icy block. Hebro and Dynaman rose to their feet. The trio of half-wolves followed the Snow Queen through a frozen door and onto a sleet-covered balcony. Below was a courtyard filled with snow. The Snow Queen's voice boomed through the courtyard. "My Frost Knights – arise!"

Fiona tilted her head in curiosity as a foul wind blew in the courtyard. Below, the snow began swirling as razor winds whipped around them. Then, the snow began to rise into mounds. Thousands of them. Each individual mound began sprouting arms and legs from newly formed torsos. Heads rose from icy shoulders. The snow crystallized, turning into diamond-hard ice. Thousands of ice soldiers stood at attention, wielding jagged icicle swords.

"My beloved soldiers – it has been far too long. The time has come to march again! March on to the Fourth Kingdom! Kill all in your path! Do not stop until the palace is ours!"

The Frost Knights instantly turned. The icy legions marched in formation out a slowly opening drawbridge.

Fiona had some concerns. "The Fourth Kingdom is not like the Eighth," she pointed out. "It's warmer. They'll all melt before they -."

"My dear Fiona," the Snow Queen grinned. "You should know better than to second-guess me!" The ice witch walked to the edge of the balcony, her arms raised upwards. Her mouth moved wordlessly as she silently uttered a chant in a foreign tongue. Her body began twitching violently. Fiona and the other two wolves backed away warily as jolts of electricity ran up and down the Snow Queen's body.

Thunder boomed above their heads. The wolves gazed up in amazement as dark storm clouds materialized above their heads. Heavy icicles and sleet whipped down from the sky. A heavy razor wind carried the ice along. The ice storm grew larger, and began blowing, moving in tandem with the marching legions.

The Snow Queen relaxed, quite satisfied with herself. She drew her mantle around her shoulders and turned back into her palace. Fiona kept pace with her. "This is your grand plan? March an ice army into the Fourth Kingdom? Forgive me, Your Majesty, I was just expecting -."

"Your instincts serve you well, my dear." The smile never left the Snow Queen's face. "Brute force? My methods are far more subtle than that."

"I don't understand -."

"The invasion is only a diversion. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship."

"You're not being very clear."

"Patience. In time, the intricacy of my plan will become all too clear."

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"Hello? Hello, can anybody hear me?"

The world around King Wendell consisted of nothing but grey, white and black blurs. He heard diabolical snarls, and groanings. He spun, looking in all directions. The evil gurgling and snarls came from all directions.

"Hello?!"

His heart was racing. Or, at least it would, if he still had one. Wendell stared down at his hand. It was grey, translucent. Where am I?

Images of a snowy palace, Antony ringing a bell, an icy witch rising from her sleep … yes, now it all came back to him! The Snow Queen had arisen! He had to get back to his kingdom, prepare his nation for war!

He stopped. Another memory. Molten glass in a twisted, diabolical frame. Ice moving up his legs … no, it couldn't be! He couldn't be trapped inside the Devil's Mirror!

"So … cold … Your Highess … I'm so cold …"

Another voice rang through the Mirror World. It seemed to echo for ages. It was familiar. "Winston?"

A figure emerged from the grey and black blurs. Winston, his carriage driver, emerged, his eyes wide in horror. "Your Majesty! Thank goodness we've found you! We have to go, we have to leave this dreadful place!"

"I don't think we can," Wendell lamented.

"Sir, we must!"

"We're trapped," the king explained. "In the Snow Queen's Mirror."

Winston's mouth hung open. "Then …"

"Yes. Our souls are prisoners here. And our bodies …"

"Frozen in ice in the outside." Winston groaned. "There must be some way out of here!"

Wendell nodded. "I refuse to give up. I refused to allow despair to take me when I was a dog, and I refuse to give in to despair now!"

"What do we do?" Winston asked.

"For now – we explore. We're trapped in the world of the mirror. Perhaps there's a portal to the other side."

The diabolic groaning grew louder. Winston jumped and sidled closer to Wendell. "I don't like this place. It's –"

"Evil," Wendell finished for him. "All who have sold their souls to the Devil himself are trapped here. Along with all of the Snow Queen's victims."

"Is there a way to free them too?" Winston asked.

"There are some here who we would not wish to free. But the Snow Queen's victims …"

The two began walking into the void. Winston clung close to Wendell as shapes and voices materialized around them. Empty faces with no eyeballs. Open mouths moving wordlessly, beckoning to the two of them.

"Don't look at them," Wendell warned. "If you stare at their faces, you will be mesmerized … and become like them."

"They're demons!" Winston exclaimed.

"Lost souls," Wendell corrected. "Some who would not wish us to depart this place. Come, we must keep searching."

"Wendell …" A voice carried along the air. Haunting. Mesmerizing.

"It came from behind us!" exclaimed Winston.

"No, I heard it come from ahead of us."

"Wendell … come to me …"

"It's coming from all directions!" Wendell was looking to his left and right. Nothing. Nothing but the haunting souls of the damned, trapped with them in the Mirror.

"Wendell … come to me …"

Winston raised a finger. "I saw we do the opposite of what the creepy voice says!"

Wendell's eyes were narrowed. "I recognize that voice …"

"Friend or foe?" Winston asked.

"I'm not sure anymore …"

"So alone … alone in the void … come to me, Wendell …"

"It's coming from this direction, I'm sure of it!" Wendell began walking, picking up his pace. It turned into a brisk jog.

"Why are you running towards the creepy voice?!" Winston exclaimed. He suddenly found himself alone, surrounding by the haunting spirits trapped with him. They were moving in, closing in around him. He shrieked in terror. "On second thought, the creepy voice is less scary than these guys! Your Highness, wait for me!" His legs picked up speed under him and he took off after his king.

Wendell was racing now. Spirits called out to him, arms reaching for him in a sad embrace. He ignored them. He had to find the source of the voice.

"Wendell … you're so close …!"

"Where are you?!" he demanded. "Show yourself, I command you!"

"As you wish …"

Wendell stopped short. Winston almost ran into him. A figure was materializing in the void. Translucent, yet somehow almost solid. A purple gown. Red hair. And an arrogant smile. "Hello Wendell … I've missed you …"

Wendell was horrified. "Stepmother!"

The Spirit of Christine, the Evil Queen, had appeared before him, a prisoner of the Mirror as well. And they were trapped with her …