by Holly Hook
Then Shorty faced Alric. "No," he said. "I'm not hurting Candice. I'd never hurt Candice."
Alric's face darkened, and he frowned, training his dark eyes on Shorty. "You are my son," he reminded him. "No one will want you. Everyone will fear you. Your only safety is with me. This entire kingdom wants you dead, Shorty. Was that not a hard lesson for you to learn?"
"Don't listen to him," I told Shorty. "Shorty—Queen Nori wants you. I want you."
Alric advanced on me. "Hold your tongue," he ordered. "Or I will kill you myself." He grabbed the front of Shorty's shirt and we lost grip. "Kill this girl, or I will destroy the two of you. I will kill Candice first, and then you in the next couple of days, after you've had time to think about what's happened."
Alric released his shirt. Shorty caught his breath and turned towards me. He raised the wand, so it pointed at my chest, panting. His eyes were huge. Trained on me. I backed away and almost stumbled over some rotten apples.
"Sorry," he said.
"Shorty!" I shouted.
I hit the ground. Shorty opened his mouth to cast the spell.
And at the last second, turned to face Alric.
The dark wizard had no time to react.
"Schlafen!" Shorty yelled.
Alric's eyes got big, and he reached out towards Shorty, but then he slumped forward and hit the bricks face-first. His robe billowed around him for a second and settled, and then a loud snore emanated from Alric.
Shorty ran over and helped me up. "Come on," he said. "I don't think he'll be out for long."
"We should kill him," I said, standing. Apples rolled away from me and down the hill.
"Kill him!" a man shouted from up the hill. I glanced. People stood in doorways, leaning out and watching us. "Kill him now. You can do it!"
Shorty held the wand up and studied it. It seemed more gnarled than ever.
"My mother," he said. "He's the only one who knows where she is."
"Your mother would want him dead," I said. "He will enslave all these people if we don't do something about him now."
Shorty turned towards Alric. The people all went quiet. A child said something, and a mother shushed him. We could end this now. Free these people from Alric. We might not reverse the darkness, but we could do that.
But Alric was already standing. Pushing himself from the bricks. The spell hadn't lasted on him at all.
Shorty raised the wand.
"Sterben!" he shouted.
Alric jumped back and clutched at his chest, then raised one hand and pointed his palm at Shorty. Shorty flew back and into the stall of rotten lettuce. It crashed back, and the produce fell all over him. Bugs flew. Swarmed.
"Shorty!" I yelled, rushing for him.
He leaned against the cart, dazed, the wand in his lap. I picked it up and turned towards Alric, but the man was still clutching his chest and staggering around the fountain. He was straining against the spell, trying to resist it. Why wouldn't he drop? His robe flapped around him as he walked laps, taking heavy breaths. Alric had forgotten we were here.
"Get up," I told Shorty. I grabbed his hand. Alric's breaths were getting less labored. He was holding off the spell. Couldn't anything kill this guy?
Shorty stood, dropped the wand, and picked it up again.
And we ran.
Doors slammed behind us as we left the people behind us to Alric. We had no choice. The death spell couldn't even take him down. Shorty and I ran around rotten apples and dates and plums lying in the road. Another door closed as we passed and I glimpsed a woman behind a window, watching us leave her behind.
I grabbed Shorty's arm and pulled him into an alley.
We ran past barrels and baskets in heaps. Around curves. The stench of garbage overtook us. This darkness had turned everything to rot and despair.
"Shorty!" Alric shouted from behind.
"Go," I breathed. There was no way Alric would allow him to live. I had to get Shorty out. The alley widened, and we emerged into a small courtyard of brick. A little girl leaned out of a window above, watching us. These were homes back here. Houses, packed so tight there was little or no space between. A single tree grew from the center and its branches had grown thick. Dark. There was no good here anymore.
Shorty and I stopped. Far back, windows shattered.
"He's looking for us," Shorty said, panting for breath.
"There's got to be a way to stop him," I said.
"This place is dark. It's his now. He's free to do what he wants here." Shorty grabbed both my arms and faced me. "All this darkness is making him more powerful. Alric is weaker in light areas, but even in those, he's a force to deal with."
"Is he going to send another firestorm?" I asked.
Another crash.
"I don't think so. He wants these people. It's just us he wants to kill."
"There's got to be a way to reverse this," I said. More glass shattered. Alric was drawing closer, building by building, and doing a violent search. People screamed in the distance. He hadn't seen us run down this way but soon he'd find this alley. "Alric said I'm still a danger to him. What if we can still make the story end the way it should?"
"But the frog prince is dead." Shorty searched around for an escape but the courtyard had no other exit than the one we'd just come down. "And soon we'll be, too."
"Then we can make another one." A crazy idea exploded in my mind.
Shorty let go of my arms and turned in a circle. "Anyone in these houses a prince?" he called. "Anybody?"
The little girl ducked inside and closed the shutters. It wouldn't do her much good when Alric got here and did his search.
More glass exploded. Alric was drawing closer. He'd see this alley in no time. Then he'd have us cornered.
I grabbed Shorty's shoulder and spun him around. "Aren't you a prince?"
His mouth fell open. "Are you kidding? Me?"
"Your mother's a princess. And your grandmother's a queen! We met her back there."
"That woman?"
"Yes! You heard her. We can end this the way it should end." I eyed the wand that Shorty still held. "Become a frog. And then I have to free you."
Shorty followed my gaze to the wand. The world had gone quiet. Shorty trembled.
"You can do it," I said. "Is it possible to cast spells on yourself?"
"That's dark magic."
"You've already done worse."
Shorty gulped. He raised the wand and pushed me away. I let him. He turned the wand and pointed it right at his chest.
A pair of footsteps echoed down the alley towards us. The shattering and screams had stopped. Alric was almost here.
"Frosch!" Shorty shouted.
A cold sensation rippled through the air and I had to wrap my arms around myself.
A pop sounded and Shorty's form turned dark. He groaned. Shrunk. A sucking noise echoed off the sides of the houses, peaked, and stopped. The wand landed and rolled towards the evil tree. I blinked at a small, dark form on the brick. Color returned, and a bullfrog stood there, staring right into the alley. It had happened in under a second.
Alric entered the courtyard.
He stopped and stared down at the frog, then back up. His eyes widened in horror.
"No," Alric breathed.
Kill me, Shorty thought. That's the way.
I dove for the frog.
Scooped him up.
Alric raised one hand, but it was too late.
I wrapped both hands around Shorty the frog and squeezed as hard as I could. "I'm sorry!"
A scream of pain echoed in my mind. Another pop cut it off and dust filled my grip. Crumbled. Alric stood there and let his hand fall to his side in shock. The color drained from his face as I released my grip and let the dust fall to the ground.
I had killed Shorty.
I dared to glance down. I didn't dare breathe. The green dust settled on the brick and gathered in a little pile at my feet. It was all that was left of Shorty. What if this didn't work, a
nd he didn't come back? Shorty was just a queen's grandson.
And then smoke rose.
Green vapor billowed up and invaded my nostrils. I backed away as the smoke grew thicker and thicker, blocking my view of Alric.
But robes flapped as the wizard moved and raised a palm.
"Sterben!"
Alric's voice was a dark hole opening in my soul.
The smoke made one final eruption.
And a form fell against me, throwing me back.
Chapter Fifteen
We fell into the brick.
Pain erupted through my elbow. Then shock took over and dulled everything. Shorty landed on top of me and grunted. He rolled off, settling next to me. He still smelled like fresh straw and the outdoors.
And he was breathing.
His warm breath blew against my face. My heart still beat. Somehow, the two of us were still alive.
I remained still. I could sense Alric there, watching us, trying to size up whether we were dead. Shorty continued to breathe, but his breaths got more careful. More shallow. I did the same, keeping my eyes closed.
He had blocked the spell. Shorty hadn't been alive when Alric said his word of death. He couldn't have died from that.
Footsteps clicked towards us.
Alric.
We were alone in the courtyard with him.
He stepped closer, circling around. Yes. He was trying to verify our demise. "Shorty," he muttered. "You failure. You miserable failure."
My lungs burned. If Alric saw my chest moving, it would be all over. I took a teeny, tiny breath.
"I should have done away with you right after I imprisoned your unfaithful mother," he continued. "No one will ever find her out in the sands."
And then he walked away from us. I let out a quiet breath and Shorty did the same.
"Alric."
It was Queen Nori.
I dared to open my eyes a little.
She stood there in the mouth of the alley, eyes blazing with hate. Her fists remained clenched, and she stared down the wizard without fear.
Alric had his back to us. "Nori." He spoke without emotion.
"You have taken everything from me," she said. "You have taken my daughter. And now, my only grandchild."
Shorty lay inches from my face. He opened his eyes. Reached towards me and wrapped his hand around my arm.
He felt warm. We were both alive as ever.
"You want Shorty?" Alric asked. "You should have taken him a long time ago."
I pushed myself up and Shorty joined me. The tree above us had thinned some, casting less of a shadow on the ground. And was the sky lighter than before?
The Fox Kingdom could return to light and it seemed Alric hadn't noticed yet.
Nori took a step towards him. She didn't dare glance at us but instead held out her hand. The wand flew off the ground and into her grasp. "I should give you a form that is more appropriate for you than that," she said. "All your gold may prevent your death, but I can still curse you."
And then she pointed the wand right at Alric and muttered a single word.
Alric held up one hand, and the air exploded with energy.
I shuddered. Shorty and I backed away, staying close together. My hair stood on end. Alric and Nori faced off with each other. She trembled as she pointed the wand at him. Alric's hand shook with the effort of holding off her spell. The sky grew brighter and the first rays of sun filtered through the tree. The darkness was lifting. Hope was rising.
And Alric was faltering.
He glanced at the sky and continued to hold up his hand, blocking the spell. Even from the side and behind, I spotted fear. His mouth fell open. Went slack. The color drained from his face. The dark wizard cursed.
And then he fell back into the tree with a deafening crack.
Nori dropped her arm and let the wand slap to her dress. She advanced on Alric, but his form had turned black as if he were a silhouette.
And begun to shrink with a strange creaking sound.
"Whoa," Shorty said, stepping forward.
The creaking increased, turning to a low groan, and then the form solidified.
Into a rat.
The rat stood here as if not sure where it was, then looked up at us with nasty, beady black eyes. It turned its stare between me and Shorty and Queen Nori, who kept a hold of the wand.
And then it squeaked and ran.
Right through the courtyard and into a tiny alley, disappearing from view.
"Was that--" I started.
"Alric?" Shorty finished.
Nori smiled at us. It was a long, tired smile. "For now. He will free himself from that form within a few days even though I made the curse as strong as I could. He is skilled at shifting his shape." Then she glanced down the alley. "We should leave. Queen Annabella has discovered her son's demise by now. The Fox Kingdom will be distracted by the events of Alric's arrival. Now is the time to go."
I sighed in relief.
And hugged Shorty.
"Whoa," Shorty said. "We shouldn't get too comfortable yet."
He was right. We broke apart, and I faced Nori. "But what about you?" I asked. Wouldn't the woman just give Shorty a hug and tell him she was glad he was alive? Give him a sign that maybe someone would love him?
"I can manage," she said. "The two of you need to go. Leave this place. The Star Kingdom will welcome you."
Then I saw it.
A glint of pride in Nori's eyes.
She slapped her hand on Shorty's back and led us back down the alley.
* * * * *
We passed the aftermath.
People were out, huddled in groups, checking out the damage. The place was quiet now. Alric had left a mess down the main street, searching for us. Some storefronts had collapsed down the front and bricks littered the road along with glass and produce. The sun shone off the glass, making it sparkle. The place looked as if an earthquake had hit.
But the produce had become fresh again. The crows and bugs had vanished along with the rest of the darkness. I knew there was still a rat out there, one I hoped to never see again.
The Fox Kingdom was no longer Alric's.
And neither was my father's.
The three of us raced past the main market where tents lay in collapsed heaps and merchants struggled to load what they could into carts. We raced down the grassy hill while dandelions slapped at our ankles and back through the trees and the cottage where laundry still hung. The forest stretched out in front of us, green and beautiful. Here, the trees showed no signs of having turned to evil and back. The flowers all remained bright and cheerful.
Only then did we stop to take a break.
"We are safe now," Nori explained. "Please, take a rest. We have a long way to go."
Shorty and I stared at each other, catching our breath. Shorty's face was long. Haunted. I wanted nothing more than to make that go away.
"Why couldn't you kill Alric?" I asked Nori.
She shook her head. "No one has killed him. Even when he should be dead, Alric comes right back again. It is all the gold he's gathered over the years. Gold is the same as magic here, and the more you have, the more powerful you become. The other monarchs have discussed ways to kill him, but Mary says the only thing that will do so is his own story. It's the only thing strong enough in Fable."
"Which is?" I asked.
Queen Nori shook her head. "The Glass Coffin."
Shorty frowned. Shuddered.
His mother was in there. Trapped in a story that had yet to end the way it should.
"Who's supposed to free her?" I asked.
Queen Nori waved us along and walked through the tall grass. "I don't know. We have been trying to find the one who can kill Alric for years, but we suspect Alric has taken steps to make sure his story never concludes."
Shorty and I stood there, watching the Queen of the Star Kingdom walk farther away.
I reached out.
And then he took my hand.
Tingles ran up my arm, but this was nothing like the cold magic I'd felt coming from Alric. Nothing at all. Shorty was the opposite of that. There was magic in him, but it was light. Warm.
* * * * *
"Nori," I asked once we had reached the dirt road and passed the charred part of the forest. "Do you know anything about saving people from water nixes?"
She stopped and turned before Shorty and I could release hands.
And Nori smiled.
"Water nixes are no problem. Something as simple as a golden spinning wheel or a golden flute played during a full moon will suffice for getting a victim out of her pond. Are you missing someone?"
"My friend," I said. I wondered what Franco would think of this new development. His entire world was about to crash and turn upside down. He might laugh. Dive back into the nix's pond just to get away from the weirdness of, well, Shorty and I. "Lawrence convinced a nix to snatch him so I'd have to do what he wanted to get him back. He's all the way back in the Water Kingdom."
"Did he?" Nori asked. "I doubt Lawrence planned to make good on his promise. His people are much better off without him. Annabella will have to call upon a royal cousin to take the throne when she dies. The two of you saved the Fox Kingdom in more ways than one."
"So do you have a golden flute lying around?" Shorty asked.
"I can enchant one. It will be up to you to play a song on it under the full moon, and you should see your friend again. I hear it worked well for a young wife when her husband got snatched by a nix several years ago. Speaking of enchantments, it won't do for us to walk all this way. The Star Kingdom is two days off. I'll take you there as there is still two weeks before the next full moon."
"But Franco!" Shorty said. "We can't leave him for two weeks."
I was shocked Shorty was worried about him.
And touched.
"We'll get him out," I said. "I will not forget about him. But we need to make sure we have what we need to save him. And then how do we get home?"
Nori held the wand with both hands, contemplating. "The Star Kingdom is your home now for both of you. And once you free him, we will take your friend Franco in."
Shorty did something I hadn't seen him do in a while.
