“Human?” it couldn’t be true. How could I be human? But Darcy was right. If not a vampire, then there was no other alternative. I must be human. And if I was human, then that meant…
“I’m no longer immortal.” I clenched my fists and willed sparks of pink magic to flare to life, but none appeared. “Oh no.”
My heart thudded with dread as I tested my magic over and over, but no matter how much I willed the magic to come, it didn’t. It was gone.
“My magic. I’m no longer a witch, either. He made her take my magic!”
I screamed and tried throwing my magic like I normally would when I was angry, but nothing happened. I screamed again.
“That bastard! It’s another way of controlling me. He told me I was powerful, and then he took my magic away, so he thinks he’s the one in control. That controlling, evil bastard!” I screamed once more and then decided to take out my frustrations on a nearby table. I upturned it. Glass and cutlery shattered and clattered to the ground. I stopped and took a few deep breaths and stared down at the carnage I’d created.
“Feel better?”
“A little. I guess my father always gets what he wants. The only way to fix this is to go back to the supernatural realm and demand he turn me back—or see if we can get my mother to do it. While I’m there, I might as well take back what is truly mine, and then rid the Dragon kingdom of his tyranny once and for all.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“We’re going to the Dragon Realm, and I’m going to kill my father, get my mother to make me immortal again, and then I’m going to reclaim my throne.”
Darcy stepped forward, took my face in his hands, and claimed my mouth. I kissed him deeply and passionately.
“That’s the princess I fell in love with.”
I kissed him again. “Queen. You mean the queen you fell in love with.”
“Yes. Let’s go take back your kingdom and get you back your immortality.”
We walked hand in hand up to Darcy’s office. When we reached the mirror portal in his office, I was glad one of us still had some magic, because Darcy had to open the veil to the supernatural realm this time. The mirror shimmered, and we stepped through into the magical hidden world adjacent to this one.
***
I hadn’t been home for over three hundred human years. Well, I hardly thought of this place as home anymore. Just being here, the very moment my foot touched down in the supernatural realm, I began feeling extremely anxious. As Darcy and I made our way to the castle, I looked over my shoulder now and then. It was silly, but that’s how my father’s relentless fear tactics were ingrained in my soul. It was a scar that would probably never heal, but I knew I would find the cure here, hopefully. It was time to vanquish my demons once and for all.
The castle in which I was born sat atop a small hill, surrounded by a moat and a thick and treacherous forest. This forest was filled with some of the most dangerous creatures of all: Kitsune. Kitsune were small fox-like shifters. They were tricksters and played with your mind until you eventually went mad. To get to the castle, Darcy and I had to trek through this forest, as his portal had placed us in the middle of it.
“I wish I had my horse,” I said, leaping over a fallen tree trunk.
“Sorry. I couldn’t get us any closer to your castle. It’s surrounded by strong magical wards.”
I sighed. “Of course it is.” I couldn’t remember the castle ever having magical wards. It was probably another one of my father’s games. And for all we knew, my mother was probably trapped inside.
As we trekked deeper into the forest, I heard child-like laughter surrounding us. I took out my athame, my only weapon left and held it out ahead of me. I tried to settle my breathing and heart rate so I could remain calm.
“It’s okay. It’s just the Kitsune,” I repeated this out loud, more to myself than Darcy, for comfort.
“I’ve heard about Kitsune but never seen one in person.”
“You don’t want to. They drive you mad. Keep your eyes straight ahead.”
I knew it had only been three Dragontopia years since I had left this realm, but I didn’t remember the vegetation being so thick. Laughter rang all around us, sometimes circling closer and then drifting further away. We found a bubbling stream where we stopped for a quick drink. I filled our canteens, and just as I had finished filling the second canteen, Darcy hissed my name. I froze and slowly looked up.
“Emma. Don’t move.”
Standing in front of us, in the path we were going to take, on the opposite side of the stream, was a small, white fox.
“A Kitsune,” I whispered. As I said the word, the small fox tilted its head to the side as if to study me. And then it spoke.
“Yesss. That is what we are. We foxes are not just foxes. We are ghosts of the foresssst.”
Its voice was a hissing whisper, soft yet haunting. I never knew they could talk!
“You… you talk!”
“Yesss. Of course. We foxes talk. We laugh, but most of all, we play games. Would you like to play a game, Princess?”
“Oh, no. I… I’m not very good at games. We should be going, right, Darcy? We have an appointment at the castle.” I stood up to my full height, strapped the canteens on my backpack, and leaped over the stream. When I landed on the other side, I yelped as I found I was surrounded by Kitsune.
“Emma! Don’t move!” Darcy leaped over and landed beside me almost without a sound. I held out my blade toward what I thought was the Kitsune we had talked to, but I wasn’t sure because they all looked the same.
“Hi, guys. Like I said, I’m not good at games, and we don’t have much time to play. But I have a proposition for you.”
Ha! That got them. Every single Kitsune tilted their head from side to side simultaneously.
“Emma? What are you doing?” said Darcy, concerned.
“It’s okay, Darce. I have an idea. Are you ready to reveal yourself?”
He bunched up his eyebrows in confusion, then widened his eyes as he understood what I was saying. I smiled, and he returned it. I then turned to the Kitsune army before us. There were about twenty small white foxes surrounding us now, curiosity getting the better of them.
“How would you like to escort the Vampire King and the true Dragon Queen to Dragongate Castle?”
Dragongate was the name of my former home. There were two major residences in Dragontopia; Dragongate, the royal residence, and Dragonkeep, the home of the Keepers—the guardians of the dragons. And Ash and Eva’s home. There was some debate over who the true heir to the throne of Dragongate was, but until my father was defeated, no one but him ruled. And that was a very dangerous thing. The sooner we got to the castle, the sooner his reign would end, and I could free my mother and break my spell.
The Kitsune tilted their little white furry heads the other way now, and then the one we assumed was the leader stepped forward and spoke.
And what he said shocked both Darcy and me.
“We have been waiting a long time for this day.”
And then they did something that shocked us further. Every single one of the Kitsune bowed their heads.
“Welcome home, your Majessssty,” they said in unison. Darcy and I looked at each other and smiled.