n hour later there was, in fact, a plethora of thanking going on.
This gratitude fest was not between SJ and me though, but between the Therewolves and our whole gang.
We were at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The dark memories and ominous wildlife of its depths were behind us; the much less intimidating, downhill forest that led to town was ahead.
The Therewolves had spent the morning giving us humans rides out of the Forbidden Forest so that we wouldn’t have to face its perils a second time around. Even with half our furry comrades staying behind to guard the campsite, every one of the former prisoners had been escorted out by noon.
My friends, Daniel, and I were the last group to be escorted to freedom. By the time we made it to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the other humans had already gone, no doubt having returned to town as fast as possible.
I didn’t blame them for not waiting. They’d already expressed their sincerest thanks to us earlier and were naturally itching to get back to their families.
Sydney—the Therewolves’ new leader—had escorted us out along with Merilyn. Having morphed back into human form, they wished us off with a myriad of hugs and handshakes.
“Thank you, my dear. Thank you all for everything,” Sydney said as he shook my hand repeatedly. “We can at last live our lives again, and we owe it all to you.”
He made the rounds to shake everyone else’s hands while Merilyn gave me such a strong embrace she nearly broke my neck.
“Where will you go now?” SJ asked Sydney as he gave her a handshake of her own.
“Oh, we shall find a new part of the Forbidden Forest to inhabit. Perhaps something near a river or a tar pit.”
“I’m sorry about your tunnel system, by the way,” I said. “Now that I know you guys aren’t bloodthirsty monsters I feel pretty bad about burying your home.”
“No need to worry, my dear,” Sydney replied. “That underground monstrosity was all Pepperjack’s idea. We actually prefer to live out in the open. Being close to nature provides us with a greater, surrealist influence on our acting. It will fuel our training as we return to our true love—the purest, most valiant form of theater: comedic improv.”
After a few more well wishes, Sydney and Merilyn returned to their beastly forms and ran back into the Forbidden Forest.
The five of us began to march forward. Town wasn’t far. It was only a twenty-minute walk through this downhill, smaller forest to reach the stable where we’d left our Pegasi and carriage. From there it would be smooth sailing to our next destination. At least that’s what I figured until another memory came rushing back.
I’d seen us walking through the very place that we were walking through now in the dream I’d had last night. And then . . . then there had been something wrong.
I slowed my pace and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The tall trees, the intricately woven roots in the ground, the stones scattered here and there—everything appeared calm. And yet I knew what I saw in that vision, and what I felt now.
“Guys, something feels off here,” I said.
“After everything that’s happened, now you start feeling worried?” Blue asked half-jokingly.
“I’m just getting a bad vibe is all,” I replied. “We should be careful.”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to upset any of these trees,” Daniel mocked. “They might start taking swings at us.”
“I’m not joking, Daniel” I said. “I don’t really know how to explain it, but there is definitely—”
CRUNCH!
I suddenly heard the very clear, very memorable sound of a branch being crushed beneath an unknown weight. The noise sent a shiver of trepidation up my vertebrae. Instantly every hair on the back of my neck stood erect and the blood in my veins stopped cold. Without a doubt it was the same awful sound I’d heard in my dreams. And that meant—
Instinctively I spun around just in time to see a giant fireball headed straight for us.
“Get down!” I yelled.
I tackled the others to the ground and we hit the floor just as the flaming cannonball soared overhead. It barreled into the grass and left a trail of smoke in its wake.
My ears rang for real this time and it took me a second to get to my feet. I looked back in the direction the attack had come from. The trees blocked the view a bit, but soon enough I saw him. There, not a hundred yards behind us, was Arian. To be precise it was Arian, eight armed henchmen, three additional dudes wielding crossbows, and six guys working together to operate a set of surprisingly portable, flaming cannonball catapults.
Jason cleared his throat. “Is that the same kid from the Capitol Building that tried to—”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“And they’re all here for—”
“Uh-huh.”
“So we should probably—”
“Oh yeah.”
And on that note of agreement, we all made a run for it.
It did not give any of us any pleasure to run from a fight. But if I’d learned anything from all the near death experiences lately, there was a very clear difference between running and running away. The latter being attributed to cowardice, while the former related to common sense.
The fact was, while it would have felt way more natural to fight, going against that kind of firepower would’ve been suicide. And seeing as how our ride out of here was not that far off, if we hurried we’d be able to escape without incident.
Bobbing and weaving through the trees, we retreated with purpose, dodging the constant stream of arrows and fireballs flying in our direction.
I stole a glance back at one point and saw Arian and his armed men gaining on us. The short look cost me, and I tripped over a tree root that sent me tumbling to the ground.
Eyes on the road! Eyes on the road!
I picked myself up and kept going. That is, until I flattened myself to the ground again to avoid being decapitated by another flaming cannonball.
Wait. The catapults are behind me, but this shot came from somewhere in front.
I got up and squinted through the smoke into the distance.
Oh no. There were more of them. And they were up ahead, intending to cut us off.
I’d underestimated Arian. I’d learned from my dreams last night that he had something in his possession now, some kind of tool that was helping him track me wherever I’d been. But I hadn’t expected it to help him anticipate where I was going as well. Not only had he been able to use it to follow us out of the Forbidden Forest, he’d also obtained the foresight to instruct more of his forces to trap us on our way back to town.
“Now what?” Jason shouted as he and the others noted the additional threats.
“We split up,” I responded. “As a group we’re an easier target. All of you—do what you have to and get out of here. We’ll meet back at the stables.”
The others nodded in accord and our team broke apart. Arian’s men were in close range now, so I drew my wand from my satchel.
Spear.
It was not a moment too soon. Just then one of our enemies appeared and took a swing at me with his sword. I blocked his blow then kicked his kneecap, elbowed his jaw, and slammed my staff onto his shoulder blade to drop him. When he hit the ground I leapt over his back and kept running, defending myself against more opponents as they passed by, morphing my weapon into its different forms.
Another fireball came at me as I approached the edge of a steep, tree-encircled slope. I’d been busy taking down another one of Arian’s men and had barely seen the projectile coming. I sidestepped to narrowly avoid it.
Phew, that was close, I thought as I wiped the sweat from my brow. I need to get out of range before—Eep!
The attacker I’d just dropped had crawled up behind me and grabbed hold of my ankle. I fell to the root-laden earth, my wand flying out of my grip. It tumbled down the slope. I turned my head and saw the henchman smirking.
“You’re not going anywhere, princess.”
“Oh, I beg to differ.”
With the very foot he was holding on to, I power-stomp-kicked him in his smug face. The punk was knocked out cold, and my ankle was freed from his greasy grip. With haste I stood and raced down the slope in search of my wand.
Where is it? Where is it?
“Looking for this?”
My breath caught in my chest at the sound of the familiar voice. Arian stepped out from behind a tree—his sword in one hand, my wand in the other.
“So tell me,” he continued as he moved forward. “How does this work exactly? Only Fairy Godmothers can use wands because of their magic, so what makes you able to use this one? What makes you so special?”
He doesn’t know about my magic yet. Unlike my visions of the dangers in this forest, my dream of him talking to that cloaked girl must be an exchange that’s yet to pass.
I backed up the slope as he approached, but did so very carefully so I wouldn’t trip over any more roots like I had before.
“Why don’t you tell me what makes me so special, Arian,” I responded. “You’re the one hunting me, after all.”
Arian shrugged. “It’s not that complicated. As I said back at the capital, your book and its prologue prophecy are of particular interest to our leader.”
“Nadia, right?” I said as I quickly glanced behind me.
I’d noticed that the dude I’d face-kicked had dropped his sword. Without my wand it was my best bet for defending myself against Arian. First, though, I needed to get close to it. And to do that I needed to keep Arian talking.
“She wants me out of the way just like she wants to get rid of Paige Tomkins and Natalie Poole . . .” I continued.
Arian’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know about them?”
“Enough, I assure you,” I lied as I slowly eased my way backwards. “Anyways, don’t change the subject. I must be pretty darn important for you to go after me first. I guess I’m flattered.”
“Don’t be. You were just the only one we could get to for the time being. What with Tomkins missing and Poole not yet existing.”
We had just reached the summit of the slope. The sword I’d been after was only a few feet away, but I hesitated as Arian’s words sunk in. “Wait . . . what?”
Arian suddenly lunged at me. I dove to the side and his sword stabbed into the tree I’d been up against. He threw my wand back down the slope then removed his blade from the tree as I rolled for the fallen soldier’s sword.
Launching myself up, I raised the blade just in time to deflect another one of Arian’s strikes. I moved it down to parry him again. Then I tersely blocked him on my right side, my left and up and down and right and . . .
Move, move, move!
Arian was coming at me with full slice-and-dice force, making it no easy trick to avoid being cut up like a fruit salad.
I hadn’t fought anyone full force with a sword in a while, and truly had never been that confident with the weapon to begin with. Moreover, this guy was just as good as Daniel.
Who, in case you’ve forgotten, is really, really good.
I needed to get my wand in order to even the playing field with my own particular skill set. And I needed to do it without getting skewered like a fancy appetizer in the process. But I had no idea how to do that. Our fight had allowed Arian to move me pretty far away from where he’d tossed it.
Things went from bad to worse a second later when Arian’s weapon knocked the sword from my hand completely.
Retreat with purpose! Retreat with purpose!
Zigzagging around the trees, I raced erratically through the forest. Eventually I ducked behind a particularly large trunk and sank to the floor to buy myself time to think of a plan.
“You can’t hide forever!” I heard Arian call from somewhere not far off.
Ugh, he’s right. I need to improvise here. I’ve done more with less . . .
I slowly peered my head out and saw Arian. He was some dozen feet behind the tree, but looking in the opposite direction. I hid behind the trunk again and clutched the nearest root tightly as I closed my eyes and summoned my confidence.
Just go and kick his butt—him and all his annoying friends. You can do it. Just get up from the ground and go.
I felt my hands grow hot, but I ignored the sensation. My eyes burst open with resolve and I grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it at a tree a few paces to my left.
The rock bounced off the trunk and the noise definitely caught Arian’s attention. As I listened to the sound of his approaching footsteps I grabbed another pebble and carefully slid up the tree trunk until I was standing.
When I sensed he was a couple yards away I gently tossed the second pebble out in front of me. It rolled innocently to the ground as if it’d been knocked loose on accident. Of course, it hadn’t been.
The idea was to give away my location, but not let Arian know I’d done so on purpose. He had to think he was catching me off guard, when in reality I was waiting for him.
I knew making a direct dash for my wand was out of the question. Arian was faster than me, and he was blocking my path. I had no choice but to try and disarm him first. And since he had a weapon and I did not, the only chance I had of doing that was by fighting him from such close range he would be unable to fully extend his sword.
Between that and the element of surprise, it might just be enough to keep me from getting killed.
Arian held his sword in his right hand, which was why I’d drawn his attention to the left before redirecting it to the tree I was hiding behind. Placing myself on the same side as his blade put me in a much better position to block and disarm him. In theory.
I heard his footsteps crunching over the fallen foliage. He was close now.
Any second—
Arian’s arm came into view as his sword swung around the tree, poised to separate my head from its shoulders.
I kept his strike at bay by simultaneously blocking his forearm with my left hand and his wrist with my right. He made to pull away, but I followed the momentum and harnessed it to my advantage. Instantly I tightened my grip around both parts of his arm, kicked his knee inward, and twisted his arm down.
I slammed my knee into his lowered chest and in the process cut his leg with his own sword. The blade fell from his hand as I’d hoped, but he recovered too quickly. Arian immediately followed up with a jab to my ribs that I was too slow to block. In that temporary stun, he wrapped the arm I was holding around my neck and pinned me against him in a tight chokehold that both my hands were trapped in.
“What’s the matter?” he grunted as I struggled. “The damsel princess out of ideas?”
I gritted my teeth in anger and stomped down on his foot with the heel of my boot. With a thrust I turned our entangled bodies and slammed his back against the tree behind us.
I could’ve sworn I heard the bark crack when his head knocked against it. He released me from his chokehold, but before I could take more than a step, he grabbed my left wrist and twisted it sideways.
Something snapped. A bolt of pain shot through my arm, but I had no time to process the injury. As I lifted my leg to fire off a backwards kick, he kicked my knee outwards. My body fell to the ground. Arian kicked his sword back into his hand.
Adrenaline rushing through me, I automatically rolled to my right, barely avoiding the blade as Arian plunged his sword into the earth where I’d landed.
In a last ditch effort, I forcefully swung my leg around—sweeping Arian’s out from under him. He dropped to the grass as I continued the momentum, using it to propel myself to my feet.
It was safe to say I’d never run faster. My heart throbbed loudly in chorus with the blood pulsating through my head. Combined with the white noise in my ears, it made for a beat like a violent symphony. If I added that to the blur of trees and smoke around me, it felt like I was trapped in one of my nightmares.
My eyes darted about as I searched for my wand. Finally, I spotted it resting on the forest floor twelve yards away. Checking behind me, I saw that Arian was on his feet and not far off. I bolted for my weapon with absolutely everything I had.
A burst of panicked yelling and shouting came from close behind me. It didn’t sound like my friends, which led me to believe it was coming from Arian’s men. I knew better than to waste my time by turning around to check, though. I didn’t need to see the future to know that if I slowed down in the slightest, Arian would catch up with me.
Seconds later I reached my wand and picked it up without breaking stride. I spun around in anticipation of my inbound enemy. He was twenty feet away and closing. I braced myself to fight as he drew nearer. I was done running.
Alas, defeating Arian was not in the cards for me today. Without warning (and definitely without precedent) a giant arm swung out of the trees and flung Arian backwards. Only after a moment I realized that it wasn’t an arm at all. It was a branch; a branch attached to a massive trunk with a set of golden eyes.
One of the trees had turned animate and was now stampeding about taking shots at Arian and his men. The thing must’ve wandered out of the Forbidden Forest.
Lucky for me, I guess.
However, it was pretty unlucky for Arian’s forces. That had to be the source of the freaked out yelling I’d been hearing.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, I decided to save my battle angst for another day and seize my chance at escape. But then, of course, another obstacle dropped from the sky.
Literally.
Just as unexpectedly as the appearance of the rogue tree, the same dragon from Century City that we’d defeated ages ago suddenly swooped overhead and landed in the forest.
The earth shook when he impacted the ground—crushing several trees beneath his massive tail. I saw flashes of his silvery skin and gleaming, golden eyes through the foliage. When he let out a deafeningly mighty roar, I took that as my official cue to exit.
Let Arian and his jerky friends handle this one; I’m out.
My hunter and his forces now distracted by these new opponents, I made my way out of the forest with little more hindrance.
At the speed I was moving, I arrived at the town stables in minutes. Once inside, I saw my friends and Daniel arguing with the establishment’s proprietor.
“What do you mean you sold our carriage and two of our Pegasi? You said we had thirty days!” Daniel yelled at the heavily bearded fellow.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s been over two weeks. No one goes into the Forbidden Forest that long and still comes back. I thought you were dead.”
“Well, we’re not. But you definitely are if you don’t get us a ride out of here!” Blue retorted.
“Look, I don’t have any more Pegasi, just the three others that you left. But you can have that carriage over there.” The bearded man gestured to a rundown vehicle in the corner. “Some of your stuff’s even in the trunk.”
The dragon’s roars reached the stable.
“That will have to do,” SJ said. “We must leave. Now.”
Lacking other options, we hastily attached our three Pegasi to the rickety carriage and climbed in.
Without the other Pegasi and the levitation potion SJ had placed on our former carriage, there was no way we were getting into the air. We had to settle for escape by road. It wasn’t as fast a means for getting away, but it was probably a safer option given that one of our enemies, or even the dragon, might’ve otherwise spotted us in the sky.
When Sadie and the other two remaining winged steeds were strapped in, we took off like lightning. With speed and fortitude, we rode out of the stables, leaving antagonists, monsters, and who knows what else behind in our dust.