e entered the next realm in the Wonderland sequence, the Portalscape. After that we immediately headed for the door to Neverland—the dark wooden one with the vines and orange tiger lilies. We had to find Arthur as soon as possible and learn more about Excalibur so that we might retrieve it and use it to free Paige’s mind from Glinda’s memory stone.

The five of us passed through the door into a dense area of forest. We compared our coordinates on my Hole Tracker map with our Wonderland map of Neverland. It allowed us to understand what part of the Neverwood we were in, but sadly that wasn’t enough.

“No one actually knows where the Lost Boys and Girls camp is hidden,” Jason explained, reiterating something I’d already gleaned from my own research of the realm earlier in the semester.

“Not surprising,” Blue commented. “If anyone could find out where it was, then the pirates would storm the camp.”

“True,” Jason said, “but it makes things more difficult for us. They didn’t have any maps at the Hideaway—I asked—and no one would point it out on our map either. That little kid with the mace told me that all location information is proprietary.”

“I checked the Hole Tracker when we were there,” I said. “The blob that signifies where we are showed up about here.” I pointed to an area a bit northeast from where we were on the holographic map. “But with the size of this forest, that generality isn’t the most helpful.”

“There has to be a way to figure it out,” Blue said. “We need to find AP; I mean Arthur.”

“I have an idea,” Jason replied. He pointed at a part of our map close to where we were. “That’s Fairy Hollow. The entrance to the secret fairy kingdom is supposed to be there. Its invisible, and fairies are able to turn themselves invisible when they approach it. But if we go there, maybe one of the fairies from the Lost Boys and Girls camp will recognize us and can show us the way back to camp.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Daniel said.

We forged ahead in the cold dusk. I regretted losing my jacket in the Ruined City and was tempted to ask Daniel if I could borrow his again. Then I mentally slapped myself for the thought.

When we arrived at Fairy Hollow, nothing looked out of the ordinary. It was a wooded glen with a bunch of boulders lying about.

“The fairy kingdom is probably underground,” SJ asserted. “We need to get their attention.”

“How do we do that?” Jason asked.

“I vote for the direct approach,” Blue said. She stepped forward into the center of the clearing and started shouting. “Fairies! Come out! We need your help! We’re friends of Peter and Tinkerbell! Help us! Please!”

Startled birds squawked and fled the trees.

“Blue!” SJ protested.

But Blue’s direct approach worked. Several small, whirring balls of light emerged from the boulders. They floated above us and then morphed into fairy form. There were three of them, and one of them was Tinkerbell. She recognized us and zipped over to me excitedly. Her wings flashed as she tried to communicate. I didn’t understand her language, but I got the gist of her expression and body language.

“It’s nice to see you too. We didn’t expect to be back so soon either,” I said. “Listen, Tink, we need to get back to the camp. Can you take us there?”

She nodded with a smile and flew into the forest with the other two fairies. We followed quickly. After a solid twenty-minute trek, we pushed through some branches and found a familiar setting. The Hideaway.

Some Lost Boys and Girls were in the early stages of dinner preparation. Others were busy playing in the tree houses up top. Peter flew into camp from the other side and spotted us. A giant grin spread across his face and he flew over.

“Hey! You’re back! Did you find that Paige woman you were looking for?”

“Yeah, we did,” I replied. “And she pointed us in the direction of our next mission. That’s why we’re here. We need to talk to AP.”

“You’re in luck,” Peter said. “He and I just got back from an expedition to Mermaids’ Lagoon. There he is now.” Peter pointed across the camp to where AP was walking. I called out to him.

“Yo, Arthur!”

He froze in his tracks and stared at me. I crossed my arms and tilted my chin toward the table. “Can we talk?”

Arthur did not want to have our conversation out in the open. He took us to his own bunker, which was on the edge of camp. We entered through a tree trunk like the kids’ bunkers, but instead of a slide, this one had a staircase inside that twisted beneath the earth.

Arthur’s bunker was completely different from the other dwellings in the Hideaway. The furniture was straight, lacquered, and constructed of dark mahogany. The decorations were simple and well-made. A whole wall in the back was dedicated to hunting equipment. A collection of swords was mounted on the right. And by a bed in the corner resided a suit of knightly armor that was worn and scratched like it’d seen a hundred battles.

Peter had escorted us here alongside Arthur. On the way we’d given them the briefest of recaps, an introduction to a much deeper conversation we needed to have. It seemed important to delicately ease our way into the topic of Excalibur.

Arthur gestured for us to sit. My friends and I took chairs surrounding his round table. And yes, I appreciated the irony of that.

“I’ll leave you guys alone,” Peter said, once we’d settled in Arthur’s quarters. “I have business up top. I already know Arthur’s story, and you can catch me up on the specifics of yours at dinner.” He zipped back up the stairwell to the entrance and disappeared.

“I keep my true identity a secret because it’s as dangerous to the children here as it is to me,” Arthur began. “If it got back to Camelot that I was still alive, the people ruling now would likely send forces to bring me back. Obviously this would kill me, as the only thing keeping me alive is Neverland’s unique time properties. And anyone who tried to stand in the way would be at risk.”

“Were you telling the truth about not knowing how you got here?” I asked.

“Not quite. My trusted advisor, wizard, and friend Merlin had me swear many years ago that if I knew I was not long for this world, I would have one of my Knights of the Round Table return me to the Isle of Avalon and push me out onto the lake in a boat. Merlin said it was because I needed to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, who bestowed it to me—a ritual that all past kings who wheeled Excalibur underwent. She would keep the blade safe until someone else worthy came to claim it. But now I think Merlin may have known more than he let on. He had the power to see the future. He may have foreseen that a wormhole would open on the lake and take me here, saving me.”

“So the sword . . .” Daniel said.

“It remains under the care of the Lady of the Lake until someone else claims it.”

“How can you be sure someone hasn’t already?” I asked.

“Because I am connected to the sword. Excalibur was originally forged for the Pendragon bloodline, so Camelot’s kings would always have a strong weapon at their side. It is hard to explain, but I can still feel it out there like a part of me in some other place. The sword is meant to imbue us with great power. However, any man or woman can wield Excalibur and the weapon will grant them enhanced strength just as well. That is why there are so many traps and tests on the way to retrieving the blade. Its owner must be worthy. Should it fall into the wrong hands, the results could be devastating. Each king before me has had to traverse these obstacles to prove himself worthy and claim the sword. I advise you to be wary of these perilous tests on your way to the Isle. I assume that is why you came back to see me, is it not? You want to claim Excalibur?”

“The woman we were looking for—Paige—has lost her memories to the Wicked Witch of the North, Glinda,” Jason responded. “The only way to set them free is to use Excalibur to shatter Glinda’s unbreakable memory stone during the Vicennalia Aurora. When we saw a picture of you in a book about Camelot and figured out who you are, we thought you might be able to help us.”

“That I can,” he said solemnly. “And that I will. I have met many valiant men and women during my rule in Camelot, but none of them fit the bill to claim Excalibur. Then you five came along. When I met you,” he met the eyes of everyone in our group, but lingered on mine for a second longer, “I had an instinct that you might be the ones the Lady of the Lake has been waiting for. You are all honorable and brave, and a valiant team of equally strong, but diversely skilled heroes. Moreover, your timing is right. A long time ago, Merlin told me a prophecy, one that would inevitably become famous in our land. It is known as the Great Lights Prophecy.”

“You have prophecies in your realm too?” Daniel asked.

“We used to,” Arthur said. “Merlin was the only one in our land with the ability to see the future, but he vanished years ago. His Great Lights Prophecy refers to the Vicennalia Aurora. It predicts that Excalibur will be found and the rightful king of Camelot restored when the Great Lights—what we call the Vicennalia Aurora—occurs. You showing up here a few days before that event cannot be mere coincidence. I think the time has come for the prophecy to be fulfilled and you are the ones to see it through.”

“But be warned,” Arthur continued. “The journey to Avalon is incredibly dangerous. You’ll have to cross the infamous Passage Perelous. And should you survive, the Isle itself is full of enchanted traps and obstacles, and it is guarded by the Lady of the Lake, who is a challenge herself. If you make it to Avalon, she will ask much of you. You must show her respect and do exactly as she says. If you deviate from her instructions, you will die. If the other spirits of the lake deem you unworthy, you will die. If you do not watch your step even for one second, you will also probably die.”

Ugh. Don’t magical quests ever let you off with a warning?

“If you persevere and actually manage to claim Excalibur,” Arthur concluded, “you will have to sacrifice something precious in exchange—a decision.”

“A decision?” Blue repeated. “I don’t understand.”

“If you claim Excalibur there will come a time when one decision will define your future and you will not choose wisely. You won’t know when it will come to pass, but it will come to pass. For me, it was when I decided to ignore Merlin’s advice to kill my half-brother Mordred many years ago. Merlin had a vision that Mordred would turn dark, but I didn’t listen. Mordred was my family and I cared for him. I chose to let him live. In the end, that cost me my life. When Mordred stabbed his blade into my body, the Lady of the Lake appeared before me. And I knew that this was my sacrificed decision. I had finally paid the price.”

A buzzer went off near the entrance of Arthur’s bunker. Footsteps echoed down the stairwell and a moment later a girl emerged. She was the oldest person aside from Arthur that I’d seen at the Lost Boys and Girls camp—somewhere in her early twenties. Her hair was dark brown, her eyes were light brown, and she was tall.

I recognized her thin, strong face. I’d seen it before in a dream.

“Hello there,” she said to us in an accent I had never heard before. She pivoted toward the King of Camelot. “Arthur, Peter advised me about what is going on. He said these children just came from Oz and that they are planning on going to Camelot as part of a plan to challenge Glinda. I thought I would aid the effort by sharing my wisdom on both subjects.”

“What do you know about Glinda and Camelot?” Blue asked.

“Quite a lot actually. My name is Dorothy. Dorothy Gale.”

“What?” Blue exclaimed.

I was equally stunned. How many misplaced protagonists were there in Neverland?

I wasn’t sure what surprised me more—Dorothy’s presence or the way she’d been presented. Encountering Arthur and Peter and other important characters on this journey had been big, ta-dah moments. Dorothy had waltzed in here and introduced herself like she was joining us for a card game

She sat down beside Jason. With me, my four fairytale friends, King Arthur, and the new addition of Dorothy Gale, it felt like a literary power table. Mitchell—our writer friend—would have died from happiness. Too bad he wasn’t here. On our way to Arthur’s bunker, Peter mentioned that Mitchell had already taken a wormhole home.

“Peter and the other campers call me their Honorary Mother because I’m the oldest at camp, and with all the adventures I’ve been on, I am pretty good at telling stories,” Dorothy explained. “I’ve been in Neverland for many months for the same reason as Arthur. I sustained a fatal wound and accidentally ended up here. Now I cannot return to Oz because if I left Neverland, my injury would kill me.”

“Did you get hurt while you were looking for the Four Waters of Paradise?” Jason asked.

Dorothy raised an eyebrow. “How did you know?”

“We’ve been to see the Wizard of Oz—Julian,” I said.

“Wait! You’ve been to see Julian?” Dorothy exclaimed. “Tell me, is Ozma all right? Did she make it back to Oz?”

“We were under the impression you were together,” I replied. “What happened? Ozma’s not in Oz.”

Dorothy’s face grew ghostly white. “I cannot believe Ozma hasn’t returned. I thought for certain my slipper would do the job.”

“Your slipper?” Blue said.

“My magic jeweled slippers,” Dorothy clarified. “Since my first visit to Oz I’ve worn them on every adventure. While their main function is to transport their wearer back home with three clicks of the heel, they also have a handy secondary function. You can record a message into the ruby jewel on each slipper. With two clicks of the heel, the shoe with the message will fly wherever you want it to go. Once its message has been played, it will come back to reunite with its mate. The jewels are drawn together like a homing beacon.”

Dorothy leaned forward in her seat and laced her fingers together, her expression serious. “Many months ago, I went to Camelot with Ozma in search of the Four Waters of Paradise. We were successful getting to Avalon and finding the waters, but on our return through the Passage Perelous we were attacked by the Questor Beast. It is Camelot’s most notorious monster—a horrible, multi-headed creature that spits acid and has poison coursing through every vein in its body. If you so much as get scratched by it, you’re a goner.”

“I’ve seen renderings of it in a few old texts about Camelot and in a book that Julian recently showed us,” Blue said, strangely solemn. “I kind of hoped the illustrators were exaggerating.”

“I can tell you that anything you may have seen or read is nothing but a vast underexaggeration,” Dorothy responded.

“She’s right,” Arthur said. “There is no other monster like it in all the realms. Many of Camelot’s bravest knights have been killed by it. The Questor Beast has ravaged the land around Avalon for centuries. I myself tried to hunt it several times and failed.”

I raised an eyebrow with curiosity as I watched Blue’s reaction. Her face was pale and her expression was still. She seemed worried, but also angry—like when you resented something you knew you could not escape.

“The creature’s attack caught us off guard,” Dorothy continued. “We dropped the bottle containing the Four Waters of Paradise and some spilled onto one of my slippers. As a result, the shoes could not transport us home.”

“Why’s that?” Daniel asked.

“The Four Waters of Paradise are the strongest form of magic purifier in existence,” Dorothy explained. “That is why they are able to cure Pure Magic Disease. Luckily, both shoes didn’t get wet, as that would have caused all their magic to be wiped clean. But since, like I said, one shoe was damaged, the pair couldn’t be used to send us home. Ozma and I had to make a break for it on foot. Sadly, we weren’t able to get away. The monster was too fast and the fog was too thick. We didn’t know up from down or left from right. The Hole Tracker we’d been using had also gotten wet, so we were running completely blind.

“We found a cave in the forest where we could temporarily hide from the Questor Beast. I took off my slippers and clicked the heels together twice. While the damaged slipper prevented us from returning home, the shoes’ secondary function still worked. I recorded a message for Julian and Eva then directed the good slipper back to Oz. I knew that once the message was delivered they would send help to collect us, but it wouldn’t matter if we were both dead. So after I sent the slipper off, I decided to buy Ozma a chance to escape.”

Dorothy released a long, sad sigh.

“Before Ozma could stop me, I gave her the other slipper, told her to stay hidden until she had an opportunity to flee, drew my sword, and ran off to lure the monster away.”

“You left her,” I said.

“I had no choice. I had to make sure Ozma was safe. She isn’t just Oz’s ruler, she is like a little sister to me. She’s been my dearest friend since I rescued her and returned her to the throne a couple years ago. So I did what was necessary. Alas, I did not foresee what happened next. The Questor Beast pursued me through the fog. When it finally revealed itself, I managed to cut off one of its heads. But there were still four more to contend with. The monster snapped and bit while I sliced and dodged. Eventually it pounced and I was struck.

“The heads of the Questor Beast have the ability to fire their fangs like knives. These fangs contain a venom that kills within a minute. One of the fangs cut my arm and the poison instantly began to spread through me. I figured that was it. But then I tripped and stumbled down a hill. Just before I passed out, I saw a bright red light. Next thing I knew, I woke up in Neverland.”

“You fell through a portal,” Daniel said.

“A counterclockwise portal,” Blue added.

“Unintentionally, but yes,” Dororthy replied. “The Questor Beast fang was still lodged in my shoulder when I woke, but the effects of its venom had stopped. A few Lost Boys and Girls found me and I have been here ever since.”

“So that’s the reason you didn’t return to Oz,” I said.

“Yes,” Dorothy said sadly. “I’m trapped here because if I were to ever leave this realm, my body clock would tick forward once more and the Questor Beast’s poison would finish me off. However, while I can never go back, I’ve held out hope that in the aftermath of my failure, Julian and his forces were able to retreive Ozma from Camelot after receiving my slipper message. If she’s still missing, then my slipper never made it.”

“It did,” I said abruptly.

Every head at the table turned in my direction.

“How do you know?” Daniel asked.

“When I was exploring the Emerald Tower, I found a storage room where Julian has put all of Ozma’s stuff. The slipper was locked in a box.” I turned to Dorothy. “Did he know about the slipper’s homing and message storing capabilities?”

“Yes, of course,” Dorothy replied. “When the slipper reached him he would’ve immediately known to listen to my message, and then he could have followed that slipper back to the one I left with Ozma. Why in Oz would he lock it up instead? That makes no sense.”

My eyes narrowed at the unpleasant tingle of déjà vu. “Maybe he didn’t want to find Ozma.”

“What do you mean?”

“You said you returned Ozma to Oz’s throne a couple of years ago, right?”

“That’s right. She was stolen by a witch when she was a baby. The witch raised her as a servant with no memory of who she was until I rescued her.”

“So am I correct in assuming that Julian was the sole sovereign of Oz until his younger sister came along and was declared the rightful ruler? And since then he’s just been her second in command?”

“That’s true, but I don’t see where you are going with this,” Dorothy said.

“Where I’m going with this is that maybe Julian didn’t use the slipper to find Ozma because he didn’t want her to return to Oz. ” Dorothy gasped. “That’s a horrible thing to say. Julian would never betray Ozma. He’s her older brother. She adored him and he adored her.”

“So?” I said bluntly. “That doesn’t mean anything. If he decided the throne of Oz was what he wanted and didn’t care about the price, then it’s perfectly conceivable that he could double cross Ozma to get it. Don’t believe me if you want, but the facts are there. The slipper was in his storage room. The box it was locked in would only open to the touch of magic, which Julian has. And when I opened it, it said, ‘Welcome back, Your Great and Powerfulness.’ Do you know anybody else who goes by that humble nickname?”

“Well, no. But I just don’t think Julian is capable of that kind of evil.”

I leaned my hands against the table and looked Dorothy in the eye. “Everyone is capable of evil,” I replied. “They just need the right push.”

I felt someone’s hand on my arm.

“Knight . . .” Daniel said softly.

“What?” I asked, frowning at him.

“Nothing,” he said, withdrawing quickly. “Nevermind.”

I cleared my throat and continued, steadying my tone a bit. “Dorothy, I know it is difficult, but you need to make room for the possibility that Julian intentionally left Ozma in Camelot and chose to keep the throne for himself.”

Dorothy’s face was wrought with conflict as her glassy eyes met my hard ones. “That’s a very cold, dark theory.”

“Yes,” I admitted. “But that doesn’t mean it isn’t right.”