by Kiki Thorpe
“It’s funny to think that the trees lasted longer than the people,” Lainey said.
“Where were you guys?” Kate asked as Gabby and Iridessa sat down and helped themselves to breakfast.
“We were doing a bit of sleuthing,” Iridessa replied. “It turns out Gabby’s not the only one around here who’s missing a shadow.” She told them about the butterfly shadows and the stone arch. “We think that might be where Gabby lost her shadow.”
“Just like those shadows we saw in the woods on Misty Peak!” Lainey said. “Remember the wolf shadow that followed us?”
They all shivered. “How could we forget?” Mia said.
“The question is: Why?” Fawn said. “What’s causing the shadows to come off?”
“It has something to do with these ruins,” Iridessa replied. “I’ve felt it since we got here. Strange magic hangs over this place.”
“I wish we had a book,” Mia said, “or something that could tell us about this castle.”
“We do!” Fawn said, suddenly flying to her feet. “Oh, why didn’t I think of it before? The bats!”
Mia looked confused. “The bats have a book?” she asked.
“No, of course not,” Fawn said impatiently. “But they’ll know the story of this place. They’re incredibly smart, perceptive creatures. And they are wonderful storytellers. Their oral histories go back generations. If anyone can tell us about the shadows, the bats can.”
“Let’s go right now!” Iridessa flew up to join Fawn.
The girls started to get up, too. But Fawn stopped them. “We can’t all go barging into their home,” she said.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Mia said, quickly sitting back down.
“Iridessa and I will go,” Fawn said. “And you too, Gabby.”
“Me?” Gabby’s heart sank. She wasn’t sure she wanted to meet a bunch of spooky bats. Especially not without Mia there to hold her hand.
“I’ll come,” Lainey volunteered. “I’d love to see the bats.”
“Me, too,” said Kate, who hated to be left out of anything.
“No, just us three,” Fawn said firmly. “Too many people will disturb them. And if they get upset, they won’t talk to us.”
Gabby wished she could trade places with Lainey. But she followed Fawn and Iridessa to the small round building where the bats lived.
Outside the door, Fawn paused. “Now, remember, let me do the talking. Don’t make sudden movements. Bats don’t use echolocation in their homes. So if you start jumping around, they’re likely to bump into you.”
“Got it,” Gabby said, nodding hard.
“And, Iridessa,” Fawn said, “try not to shine too brightly. They’re very sensitive to light.”
Iridessa dimmed her glow a notch. “Fawn, are you sure about this?” she asked. “How do we know that they won’t take us for giant fireflies and try to eat us?”
“They won’t do that, will they, Fawn?” Gabby asked. She couldn’t stand it if anything bad happened to one of the fairies.
“No,” said Fawn. “At least, I don’t think so. They prefer mosquitoes. Everybody ready?”
Iridessa squared her shoulders. “Let’s do this.”
Fawn flew into the darkened doorway, with Iridessa and Gabby following close behind.
At once, Gabby noticed the smell—a rank odor that reminded her of the zoo back home. She covered her nose and breathed through her mouth as they moved farther into the room.
When they reached what Gabby guessed was the center of the building, they stopped. The air above them was filled with rustling, flapping sounds. Fawn pointed toward the ceiling.
Gabby looked up and gasped. There must be hundreds of them!
The bats hung upside down on the ceiling. They looked packed so tightly that when one shifted, the movement rippled across the whole colony. They looked like a living, breathing, seething canopy. The sight of it made Gabby’s skin crawl.
Fawn fluttered up to a bunch. She squeaked something in Bat. But the bats turned away from her glow. They burrowed into each other, grumbling.
Fawn tried the next group. As the light of her glow touched them, the bats covered their eyes, complaining. Gabby didn’t understand Bat language, but she could guess what they were saying. Leave us alone! We’re trying to sleep.
Fawn tried another bunch, and the same thing happened.
Gabby and Iridessa exchanged worried looks. What if they couldn’t wake up the bats?
Just then, one of the smaller bats broke away from the ceiling. It fluttered toward them.
“Ah!” Fawn smiled. “I knew we’d find it eventually.”
“Find what?” Gabby whispered.
“The night owl. Or I guess you could call it the morning bat. It’s the bat who’s wide-awake when everyone else is sleeping. There’s one in every colony,” Fawn replied.
The bat came into the dim light of the fairies’ glows. It was the size of a mouse, but its wings made it seem bigger. It had huge ears and needle-like fangs. But as it came closer, Gabby saw that its eyes were intelligent and kind.
Fawn and the bat squeaked back and forth for several long moments. Then the bat flew away.
“Well?” Iridessa whispered. “What did it say?”
“We were just saying hello,” Fawn replied.
“That was hello?” Gabby said. They’d been talking for a few minutes!
“Bats are very formal,” Fawn explained. “You can’t rush greetings. It’s considered quite rude. But I have good news. She says she’s happy to tell us the history of this castle.”
“But where did she go?” Iridessa asked. The bat had disappeared into the darkness near the ceiling.
“She has to wake her family,” Fawn said. “Bats have a particular way of telling stories. It’s more like a conversation. They all play a role in remembering. Oh, look. Here they come.”
A group of about a dozen bats was fluttering down toward them. When they reached Fawn and her friends, Gabby thought they would land. But instead, the bats remained in the air, circling above their heads and squeaking faintly.
With Fawn translating, the bats began to tell the story of the forgotten castle.
The Bats’ Story
Long, long ago, a king ruled over this island. He was a powerful man, who had conquered many lands. It is said that he never lost a battle. But he was neither wise nor brave. He had come to power through wicked means—the source of his strength was a magic stone.
The king had gathered a great fortune, but he felt no peace. He lived in fear that someone would steal his stone—and his throne. His fear became so immense that he fled to a remote island, taking only his servants. He built a fortress to protect his stone. And with its magic power, he cast a spell over the island so that it might never be found.
But even this was not enough. Day after day, alone in his castle, the king’s madness grew. No one escaped his suspicion. He even began to fear his own shadow.
His shadow tormented him. It followed him everywhere. He could not be rid of it. At night, the king woke in terror, certain that someone was in the room. When he lit a candle, he saw that it was his shadow.
The king vowed to be rid of shadows. Of course, no one paid him much mind. He was mad, after all.
But then one night, from the king’s window, there came a blinding flash. A shudder ran through the castle, as if it might split in two. The king emerged from his chambers, wild-eyed, and announced that he had banished all shadows from his home. His shadow would never trouble him again.
From then on, no creature—human or animal—cast a shadow within the castle walls.
The troubled servants whispered of witchcraft and abandoned him. The king didn’t mind. Alone in his castle, he was finally content.
His peace lasted for three days.
Then a new
shadow appeared—a shadow like no other. It was not of a human or an animal, but something far more frightening—a great shadow beast.
It was more than the king could bear. He fled the island and was never seen again. His kingdom fell into ruin.
This all happened ages ago. The king is long gone. But the curse he placed on the castle remains.
* * *
The bats were flying slower now. Their squeaking grew fainter. Gabby could tell the story was coming to an end. But they still hadn’t answered the most important question.
“How do I get my shadow back?” Gabby wondered aloud. “Ask them, Fawn.”
Fawn repeated the question into the air.
The bats swirled and squeaked. Fawn translated: “They say, ‘To undo the curse and make what’s halved whole again, you must find the magic stone.’ ”
A bat swooped toward them, so low Gabby had to duck.
Fawn frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Gabby asked.
“They’re all talking at once,” Fawn told them. “They say, ‘Beware.’ ”
“Beware?” Gabby exclaimed. “Beware of what?”
“Shh!” said Iridessa. “Not so loud!”
But it was too late. As Gabby’s voice echoed through the quiet chamber, a ripple went through the colony overhead. A cloud of startled bats released from the ceiling.
In an instant, the room filled with squeaking.
The bats’ leathery wings brushed against Gabby. She turned and tried to run. But the bats were everywhere. The air was thick with their furry bodies. It was like a blizzard of bats.
Gabby couldn’t see the door. She couldn’t even see where the fairies had gone.
Just then, two bright lights appeared in front of her. It was Iridessa and Fawn, their glows blazing.
“Quick, follow us! This way!” Fawn cried.
With her arms over her head, Gabby ran after the fairies. The dots of light wove through the room, dodging the swarming bats. Soon she could see a narrow rectangle of light.
A moment later, Gabby plunged into sunlight. After the darkness of the bat house, the daylight was blinding.
Mia, Kate, Lainey, Rosetta, and Silvermist were all gathered there, waiting.
“Well?” asked Kate. “What did they say?”
“Cursed?” Mia exclaimed. “You mean to tell me we spent the night in a cursed castle?”
The girls and fairies were sitting on stones in the old courtyard as Fawn told the bats’ story. Even with the warm sun shining on her, Gabby shivered. The bats’ final warning still echoed in her mind: Beware.
Beware of what? She and Fawn had left before they could find out.
“Look on the bright side, Mia,” said Lainey. “At least the castle isn’t haunted.”
“Honestly, I’m not sure which is worse,” said Mia.
“But we can break the curse. We just have to find that magic stone!” Kate rubbed her hands together. This was the sort of adventure she lived for.
“Oh, sure,” Mia said, looking far less excited. “We just have to break a centuries-old curse. No big deal.”
“It does seem like a lot of trouble for one little old shadow,” Rosetta agreed. “Gabby, are you sure you need it? I don’t suppose you’d consider leaving it behind?”
“Rosetta!” Silvermist exclaimed.
“I’m only asking,” the garden fairy replied. “And I think it’s a fair question. If Gabby doesn’t care about her shadow, there’s no sense wasting time trying to find it. We only have so much fairy dust, and we still need to find Tinker Bell.”
Everyone looked at Gabby. “It’s up to you,” Iridessa told her.
Gabby thought about it. What was a shadow good for, after all? It wasn’t exactly a friend. You couldn’t talk to it. Or play games with it, not real games, anyway. You always knew what your shadow would do a second before it did.
But on the other hand, her shadow had always kept her company. And it was a part of her. She thought of the butterfly shadows and how frightened they’d seemed all on their own.
“My shadow’s always stuck by me,” Gabby decided. “I can’t just leave it behind.”
“All right, then,” Rosetta said. “Fawn, tell us again what the bats said about breaking the curse.”
“Just what I told you,” said Fawn. “They said we have to find that magic stone.”
“But did they say where we should look for it?” Lainey asked.
“Or what the magic stone looks like?” Iridessa added.
“Or what we’re supposed to do once we find it?” Silvermist chimed in.
“So many questions!” Fawn huffed, folding her arms. “They just said, ‘Find the magic stone.’ All right?”
“Maybe it will all be clear when we find it,” Kate said. “And the sooner we start looking, the better. Think of it like a treasure hunt. I bet that old king hid it somewhere in this castle. For all we know, it’s been right under our noses this whole time.”
They spread out to search, each taking a different part of the castle. Gabby picked her way through the ruins, examining the rocks and pebbles she found. There were stones everywhere. How would she know when she found the right one?
She picked up a small stone with golden flecks in it. Could this be it? Gabby wondered. Or what about this one shaped like a heart? Or this one with the milky stripe running through it?
None of them seemed particularly magical. But she put them all in a pile, just in case.
The day wore on. Gabby’s pile grew. But each stone she added only made her doubt the others. She felt as if she was going in circles. What had Mia called it?
A wild-goose chase, Gabby remembered.
That made her think of the funny moth. She realized she hadn’t seen it since the day before. Not since she’d passed through the arch.
Gabby straightened up. The rocks she was holding fell from her hands.
The moth had been trying to warn her. It had tried to keep her from passing through.
“I know where we need to look!” she cried.
Her friends came running at the sound of her yell. “What is it?” Kate asked breathlessly. “Did you find it?”
“Follow me,” Gabby said.
She led them across the castle grounds toward the arch.
“This is where my shadow came off. So this must be where the curse is. Maybe the stone is here, too,” Gabby suggested.
They searched all around the arch, but they didn’t find anything other than the most ordinary-looking stones.
Kate was about to step under the arch to look beneath it. But Iridessa stopped her just in time.
“If we’re right and this is where the curse is, you can’t walk beneath it, or you’ll lose your shadow, too.” The fairy turned to Gabby. “You’ll have to be the one who searches it.”
Gabby stepped up to the arch. She’d already lost her shadow when she stepped through it. What might she lose this time?
Gabby took a deep breath and walked under it. To her great relief, nothing happened.
“Look around,” Mia urged her. “Do you see anything that could be a magic stone?”
Gabby looked up at the arch curving over her head. It was made of rectangular stones, piled one on top of the other.
In the center, at the very top of the arch, was a wedge-shaped stone. And on the underside of the stone, she saw a small dark circle.
“There’s something up there!” Gabby exclaimed. “But I can’t see it from here. I need fairy dust to fly up.”
She came out of the arch, and Fawn sprinkled her with fairy dust. As soon as the fairy dust settled on her, Gabby felt its magic working. As she started back to the arch, her feet were already leaving the ground.
But before she could fly up to the top, something small and dark whipped past her face. Gabby looked arou
nd, startled.
The moth was back!
“There you are!” Gabby felt strangely pleased to see it. “I was hoping you’d come back.”
Of course, the moth didn’t reply. It was buzzing frantically around her. For the first time, Gabby got a good look at it. Up close, it didn’t look much like a moth at all. It looked like a fairy—if a fairy had been made entirely of smoke.
It’s not a moth, Gabby thought. It’s a shadow. A fairy’s shadow!
The shadow turned more urgent circles. It was trying to tell her something.
“What? What is it?” Gabby looked toward the woods, where the shadow was pointing. Her heart gave a leap.
There, at the edge of the woods just beyond the arch, was Gabby’s shadow.
Gabby called out to it. But her shadow never turned in her direction. It was looking over its shoulder at something among the trees. What Gabby saw then made her knees go weak.
Another shadow was behind her own. This shadow was much bigger than Gabby’s. Bigger than a tree—no, bigger than a house! It emerged from the woods, growing larger and larger. Like a great dark cloud, it seemed to pull all the light with it.
Gabby’s scream stuck in her throat as she stared up at the great shadow beast.
When Iridessa saw the huge shadow come out of the forest, she recognized it at once. It was the same awful thing she’d seen in the night.
But how much more terrible it looked in the daylight!
The shadow crept forward on dozens of legs. Wings sprouted from its head. Horns grew out if its back. A tail as thick as a tree trunk dragged behind it. But the most frightening part was its center. It was like a big black hole.
With frightened cries, the girls and fairies turned to flee.
But as the shadow beast lurched toward them, Iridessa paused. There was something odd about the beast’s movement. It limped along in a herky-jerky way, as if it was being pulled in several directions at once.
