LAURA LEAPED OUT OF the arrow’s path just in time. She could feel the violet feathers graze her arm before the arrow hit the Food-Giving Tree. The tree glowed violet, then rot crept out from the site of the puncture. The trunk grew soft and moldy. The branches began to twist. The leaves dried up. The gray pears rotted and fell to the ground like heavy black raindrops.

The Hexors all looked to Erika.

“Hold your fire. This one’s mine,” she said, beckoning her arrow to return to her.

Torian pushed his way through the crowd. “Laura!” he called. “Use the power of the crown! Send them back to the Putrid Forest, where they belong!”

Erika scrambled to reload her arrow into her bow. Laura thought she spotted a glimpse of fear in her eyes.

“That’s not what I came here to do,” Laura said, gripping the crown so tightly that the crystal almost cut into her palm. She turned to Erika. “What the Lysors did, trapping you in that horrible forest…it was wrong.”

A flash of surprise crossed Erika’s face. She held her arrow steady. But she didn’t let it go.

“This fighting has to stop once and for all!” Laura said, her voice growing louder. “It’s why our ancestors were banished in the first place! The Lysors say that Hexia was evil.”

The Lysors shouted in agreement.

Laura continued, “The Hexors say Lysoria was evil.”

The Hexors nodded and grunted.

Laura looked up at the moons in the sky. She felt as though she was seeing them—really seeing them—for the very first time. “There was no good twin or evil twin,” she said. “They were just sisters who never learned how to share.”

As the rot spread to the edges of the tree, Laura spotted one last fresh gray pear dangling from a branch. She leaped up and plucked it. Then she held it out to Erika. “Here.”

“It’s a trick!” Hugo shouted.

Erika’s eyes shifted back and forth as if she were trying to crack a code in her head.

“It’s not a trick,” said Laura. “It’s a gift.”

Millie took a step forward. “And it’s delicious.”

Erika cautiously took the pear. She bit into it with her black teeth. The juice dribbled down her chin. For the very first time, she tasted something fresh. Even though it was just a mushy bland gray pear, her face lit up and her eyes grew wide. “It’s…good.” She took another bite. “It’s…really good.” She smacked her lips. “It’s…the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life!” She tossed the gray pear to Hugo. “You’ve got to try this!”

Hugo took a big bite of the gray pear. As he chewed, he was overwhelmed with joy and confusion all at once. “Why doesn’t it taste like death?”

“Because it’s not rotten!” said Erika.

“Amazing!” Hugo exclaimed.

The Hexors gathered around Erika and Hugo, eager to try the gray pear for themselves. Laura and Millie smiled at each other. Reina proudly put her hand on Laura’s shoulder.

Torian approached Laura, his hands outstretched. “Remarkable,” he said, a look of awe on his face. “Laura, you’re simply remarkable.” He turned to the crowd. “Friends—and I mean everyone here—what we’re witnessing today is a historic event. A turning point. With the help of our dear friend, Laura, we can finally do what should have been done long, long ago.” He grabbed the crown and ripped it from Laura’s hands. “Send the Hexors back to the Putrid Forest and seal it up forever!”

Torian planted the crown firmly on his head.

There was a flash of white light, and the Hexors were thrown violently to the ground.

“No!” Laura cried. “The Hexors deserve to be free!” She lunged at Torian to take the crown off his head, but with another flash of white light, he sent her flying backward. She landed hard in the dirt.

“You sound just like my fool of a sister,” Torian said, shaking his head and smiling.

As Laura looked up into his face, she saw that behind his grin was something sinister. Something terrible.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” she said, dragging herself to her feet. “You betrayed Queen Ailix. You helped Bloato get into the throne room. You’re the reason she’s dead!”

Torian’s smile curled into a sneer. “It was for your own good!” he barked. “I did what I had to do!”

Shouts of anger reverberated through the crowd of Lysors. They rushed at Torian, crying, “Traitor!” and “Murderer!”

With a flash of the Crystal Crown, the earth shook and a stone tower rose up from beneath Torian, lifting him high into the air, far out of reach from the angry Lysors below.

“Fools! Don’t you see?” Torian called down. “When my sister told me she’d freed our mortal enemies, I knew she wasn’t fit to wear this crown. It was madness! The Hexors would come for the crown! They would kill us all! Just look at them!” He pointed at the Hexors writhing in pain on the ground. “I had to take the crown from my sister so I could keep the Lysors safe. So yes, I made a deal with a goblin—get me the crown, and I’ll fill your filthy little cave with more gold and jewels than you could ever imagine. A fair price to pay to put the Hexors back in their cage of rot, no? Bloato was supposed to steal the crown and deliver it to me, not take it for himself. But I should have known—never trust a goblin.”

Torian ran his finger along the edge of the crown on his head and smirked. “Still, it all worked out. I’ll finally put an end to our war with the Hexors—by winning it! Forget the Putrid Forest—I’ll wipe the Hexors off the face of the earth!” He stretched out his arms wide. “My friends, it’s time to bow down to me! Bow down to your new king, Torian!”

A long moment of silence hung in the air. Then, one by one, the Lysors did bow their heads. But it wasn’t to Torian. It was to Laura.

Torian smirked. “A queen without a crown. What good is that?”

Laura looked up at Torian. “I’m not a queen. I’m an explorer. And you’re not a king. You’re a liar.”

Torian let out a snarl of rage. “All I ever did was try to keep you safe! But I see now that you Lysors aren’t worth saving!” He cracked his knuckles. “I’ll destroy you all—Hexors and Lysors—then I’ll have all the power and no one will ever take the crown away from me!”

The Crystal Crown flashed with light. From the distance, there was a screeching cry, followed by the crashing sound of enormous footsteps. A creature crested the hills, so vicious and horrible, it looked like it was conjured from a nightmare. It was a giant black rat, as tall as the pine trees, with eyes so red, they could have been pools of blood. Its sharp front teeth dripped black drool that burned the forest floor as it raced toward Hillview.