THE FIRST THING LAURA saw was a shock of violet hair glowing through the dust of the fallen wall. And then another. The quake had knocked the Lysors to the ground, and they covered their heads in terror. Two Hexors, a man and a woman, galloped through the wreckage on horseback. The woman wore a gleaming wolf pelt around her shoulders. Her short blond hair looked as if it had been chopped with a dull blade. She carried a bow in her right hand, and strapped to her shoulder was a quiver with a single arrow in it. Silver. With violet feathers.
The man wore a mangy cloak of weasel pelts roughly stitched together. He was so big and broad that he made his enormous horse look like a pony. His thick arms were so hairy that it was hard to tell where his fur cloak ended and his arms began.
As they circled around the Lysors, Laura saw that the horses they rode had no eyes.
The woman surveyed the area, then smiled broadly. Her teeth were as black as tar. “So this is it. The lost Lysor city. I’ll admit, using your powers to make it invisible was pretty clever. I’ve been scouring this valley for years.” She pulled the silver arrow from her quiver. “But an enchanted Hexor arrow will always break a Lysorian spell.” She turned to the man. “What do you think of this place, Hugo?”
Hugo looked around the Never-Dark Forest and scratched his bulbous chin. He grinned, revealing his own black teeth. “Well, Erika. I think it’s pretty crummy.”
Erika nodded. “Eleven years looking for this?” She spat onto the ground. The grass where the glob of black saliva landed instantly withered and died. “Where’s Queen Ailix?” she demanded.
Torian pulled himself to his feet. Erika quickly loaded the silver arrow into her bow and pointed it straight at his heart. “Move another inch and it’ll be your last.”
Torian froze. “Queen Ailix is dead,” he said, his voice shaking.
“Huh.” Erika glanced at Hugo. “This day gets better and better.” She turned back to Torian. “Well, unless you want to meet the same fate as your queen, I suggest you hand over the Crystal Crown.”
“Strongly suggest!” Hugo added, gnawing on his yellow fingernail.
Beads of sweat gathered on Torian’s forehead. “We—” He tried to steady his voice. “We don’t have the Crystal Crown. You Hexors stole it.”
“Liar!” Erika snarled, pulling back her arrow. “We Hexors have been searching for the crown ever since we were able to escape the Putrid Forest. You think you can trick me into believing one of our own has had it this whole time? What kind of fools do you think we are?”
“Ow!” Hugo cried.
Erika whipped her head around. “What is it?”
“I accidentally bit off my whole fingernail.”
Erika sighed, rubbing her temples. “Enough of this nonsense. Hugo, search the houses! Turn this place upside down!”
Hugo looked at her, confused. “I don’t think I’m that strong.”
“Just go, you drooling oaf!”
“Yes, ma’am!” He spurred his horse and it galloped off toward the Lysor homes.
Erika spoke with contempt. “Nobody move, or I’ll strike you all down. Believe me, I’d love an excuse to wipe out all the Lysors at once.”
From the middle of the crowd, Claude snorted. “You only have one arrow.”
Erika narrowed her eyes at him. “One enchanted arrow.” She aimed at a nearby tree and let the arrow fly. It punctured the thick trunk. The glowing green leaves turned violet and began to wither.
Erika beckoned to the arrow, and it reversed course, flying straight back toward her.
Laura realized that was how the arrow had disappeared from the wall.
Erika loaded the arrow back into the bow. “One arrow is all I need.”
Claude gulped loudly.
In the distance, Laura saw Hugo ransacking the houses one by one—including her own. He didn’t even bother to get off his horse before entering with reckless abandon. There was an ongoing racket of glass breaking, pots clambering, and heavy wooden furniture being flipped over.
Laura huddled between her dad and Millie, who was trembling in fear.
“We have to do something,” Laura whispered. “The Crystal Crown isn’t here.”
Millie let out a soft squeak. “When that guy comes back empty-handed, we’re going to be skewered like fish kebabs!”
“Keep calm,” said Micah. “Torian will figure out a solution.”
All three of them looked over at Torian, who stared petrified at the arrow pointed at his chest.
Micah grimaced. “I hope.”
Hugo emerged from a house, shouting in frustration. “I can’t find it!”
“It’s here somewhere,” Erika called to him. “It has to be. Keep looking.”
Hugo galloped along the path and into the next house—Millie’s.
Millie winced. “I hope that horse is housebroken.”
They heard Hugo clanging around inside.
Millie clasped her hands together. “Please don’t spill the Thew. It took me all day to make it.”
Micah’s eyes went wide. He whispered, “Millie, is the Thew still on the fire?”
Millie nodded. “It needs at least another hour before the broth soaks up all the fish-bone flavor.”
A look of determination that Laura had never seen before crossed Micah’s face. A change had come over her father.
“What are you doing?” Laura asked.
“Something I haven’t done in a very long time.” He closed his eyes. His lock of hair blazed green. The trees around him glowed brighter. He whispered an ancient Lysor word. “Tier’e.”
Fire.
There was a loud pop! and a flash of light from inside Millie’s house, followed by a shriek of pain. The horse galloped out of the house, neighing in alarm. Hugo staggered out after it, covered in smoldering Thew.
“Aaagh! It’s so hot!” he wailed, stumbling around the front yard. “I don’t know what happened. The fire just…exploded!”
Erika’s eyes darted in confusion from Hugo to the Lysors. “Which one of you did this?” she shouted. “Tell me!”
Micah stepped forward. “I did.”
“Dad, no!” Laura whimpered. She didn’t understand. Why was he doing this?
Erika pointed the arrow at him. She drew it back so far it looked like the bowstring might snap. “How?”
Micah looked her in the eye. “Lysor magic may be weak, but it’s far from dead.”
“We’ll see about that.” She released the silver arrow. It soared through the air.
Just as it was about to hit Micah in the neck, he uttered, “Goith’e.”
Wind.
A colossal wind blew through the forest, scooping the arrow up in its invisible arms and carrying it all the way to the Clear Lake. There was a soft splash as it landed in the water.
Erika laughed sharply. “Nice try.”
She reached out to beckon for the arrow. But before she could move her fingers, Micah bellowed, “Oighar’e!”
Water.
The Clear Lake froze over, as if a thousand winters had descended in a single second. The arrow was trapped beneath the ice. Erika let out a bloodcurdling cry of anger.
Exhausted, Micah collapsed to the ground.
“Dad!” Laura cried, wrapping her arms around him.
“I’ll be okay,” he said weakly.
“This isn’t over!” Erika shouted. “In fact, it’s just the beginning. Hugo, get over here!”
Hugo was galumphing around Millie’s front yard, chasing his nervous horse and rubbing his wounds. “Coming!”
He managed to clumsily climb onto the horse and rode over to Erika. A gruesome red blister was raised on his forearm where the Thew had burned it.
Erika continued, “Now that I’ve found the lost Lysor city, I’ll return with the entire Hexor army. Unless you hand over the Crystal Crown, we’ll destroy this place along with every last Lysor!” She smiled, her teeth as black as death. “Don’t miss me too much.”
She laughed as she galloped over the wreckage of the wall and into the hills. Hugo started after her.
“Wait,” said Micah. He dragged himself to his feet and approached Hugo carefully. “This will help with the burn.” He pulled out a single strand of his green hair and wrapped it around the blister on Hugo’s arm. Immediately, the redness died down and the wound began to heal.
Surprised, Hugo looked for a moment as though he was about to thank Micah. Instead, he yanked his arm away and scowled. “You have two days.” He rode off into the dim evening light.
As soon as the Hexors were out of sight, the Lysors turned to each other in panic. Their homes were wrecked. The north wall was a pile of rubble.
An elder Lysor called out, “If the Hexors don’t have the crown, who does?”
Torian looked as confused as anyone. “I—I have no idea.”
Millie pulled her brothers and sisters close, trying to comfort them. “The Hexor army will be here in two days!” she called out. “What are we going to do? We have to run! We have to hide!”
Laura looked at Torian. He was so pale, she thought he might faint. But as he dabbed the sweat from his forehead, she saw his expression transform in an instant, as if he were putting on a mask of confidence.
“There is nowhere else to hide,” he said. “There is only one solution. We rebuild!” He turned to Micah. “Thank you for your bravery. Laura, take your father home so he can replenish his strength.” He turned back to the crowd. “The rest of you—our work begins now! By dawn, we’ll have a new wall, even bigger and stronger than before, and no one will come in again!”
