by Chris Colfer
The tribe was so loud Brystal could barely hear her own thoughts. The trolls eventually voted for slavery, and then crept closer to seize the children.
“Okay, I’m going to count to three,” Brystal told her classmates. “On three, I’m going to wave my wand and cause a distraction, we’re going to grab the net, and then run out of the clearing. Got it?”
“I don’t want to be dragged out of here!” Skylene said.
“One…,” Brystal started. “Two…”
Before she could give the final signal, the ground rumbled beneath their feet. The trolls looked down in fear and started backing out of the clearing.
“Great job, Brystal!” Lucy said. “This is one heck of a distraction!”
“It’s not me!” Brystal said. “I haven’t done anything yet!”
Suddenly, hundreds of green hands with sharp fingernails burst out of the dirt. A colony of goblins crawled out from underground and emerged into the clearing. The goblins were tall and lean creatures with glossy green skin. They had big pointed ears, small jagged teeth, and nostrils without noses. Their clothes were made from the skins of bats, moles, and reptiles. All the goblins carried sharp spears, and they jabbed the weapons in the trolls’ direction. An older goblin wearing a sash made from dead centipedes confronted the troll chief face-to-face.
“How dare you poach on our territory!” the goblin elder yelled.
“This is our territory!” the troll chief yelled back. “Everything above the ground belongs to us! Go back to the holes you crawled out of!”
The chief swung his club at the elder, but the goblin blocked it with his spear.
“You’ve already stolen our food, our water, and our land!” the elder shouted. “We will not let you take slaves from us, too! Leave the forest immediately or face the consequences!”
“Trolls don’t cower from anything—especially goblin filth!” the chief declared.
Tension between the leaders escalated and the classmates worried they were about to be caught in the middle of a full-fledged battle between the species.
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this!” Lucy whispered to her friends.
“Please don’t!” Tangerina pleaded.
To her classmates’ terror, Lucy strutted across the clearing and placed herself between the troll chief and the goblin elder.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” she said. “Fellas, chill out before we all get hurt!”
The interruption infuriated both leaders.
“Who do you think you are?” the troll chief growled.
“You don’t recognize me?” Lucy asked. “I’m Lucy Goose of the world-renowned Goose Troupe. I’m sure you’ve been to one of our shows. Me and my family have performed for trolls and goblins all over the In-Between. We’re kind of a big deal around here.”
The goblin elder squinted at her and rubbed his chin.
“Oh, yes,” he said. “I remember you. You’re that little fat girl who hit the obnoxious box of chimes until I had a splitting headache.”
“It’s called the tambourine,” Lucy corrected him. “Look, I understand things are tough between you guys. And you don’t want to make things worse by embarrassing yourselves in front of a celebrity like me. I normally don’t do this, but if you let me and my friends leave the clearing in peace, I promise to come back and give you all a free performance. Come on, what do you say? There’s isn’t a conflict in the world that can’t be solved with some good old-fashioned entertainment.”
The students and apprentices cringed at Lucy’s attempt to negotiate. The goblin elder turned back to the troll chief and made an offer of his own.
“Tell you what,” the goblin said. “You can have the tambourine player, but we’re taking the others.”
“No!” the chief yelled. “You can have the tambourine player, and we’ll take the others!”
The chief blew a horn in the elder’s face and a brutal battle between the trolls and goblins began. Brystal and her classmates watched the brawl in horror—they had never seen such violence in their lives. The creatures ruthlessly bludgeoned and stabbed one another, and when their weapons gave out, they resorted to twisting noses and pulling ears. Brystal was just as heartbroken as she was disturbed—if humankind hadn’t expelled the trolls and goblins from their kingdoms, they wouldn’t have to be fighting over resources like this. However, Brystal was glad the goblins had arrived when they did—they were the best distraction she could have asked for.
“NOW!” she yelled to her classmates.
Brystal, Emerelda, and Xanthous grabbed the net and charged out of the clearing, dragging Tangerina and Skylene behind them. Lucy led the charge, pushing the trolls and goblins out of their way. Initially, the creatures were too busy fighting one another to notice, but they quickly spotted the children fleeing the area.
“THE SLAVES ARE GETTING AWAY!” the troll chief bellowed.
“AFTER THEM!” the goblin elder commanded.
The trolls and goblins chased after the classmates, and the sparring creatures moved through the In-Between as a united force. The students and apprentices ran through the forest as fast as their tired legs could carry them, using their magic to prevent the creatures from getting too close. Brystal waved her wand and sent trolls whirling through the air in giant bubbles. Emerelda threw handfuls of rubies and diamonds on the ground to make the goblins slip. Xanthous removed his Muter Medal and lit entire trees on fire to scare them off. Despite all their magical efforts, the trolls and goblins never paused their pursuit.
Lucy was running in front of her classmates and spotted something alarming in the distance ahead of them.
“Hey, guys!” she called over her shoulder. “We’re heading toward the cliff of a canyon!”
“Then do something so we’re not heading toward the cliff of a canyon!” Emerelda said.
Just as they reached the edge of the deep and rocky canyon, Lucy snapped her fingers and a rickety rope bridge with wooden panels appeared in front of them. The classmates ran across the bridge and it started to sway like a giant swing. The movement caused Xanthous to trip and he fell flat on his face. His Muter Medal slipped out from his hand and fell into the canyon below. The boy instantly started to panic and he was engulfed in flames.
“No, no, no, no, no!” he gasped.
“Xanthous, listen to me!” Brystal said. “You have to calm down! If you get too heated, the bridge is going to—”
It was too late—Xanthous’s fire burned through the ropes and wooden panels. The bridge snapped in half and the classmates fell into the canyon. The students and apprentices screamed as they dropped through the air and plummeted toward the rocky earth below. The fall reminded Brystal of the final chapter in The Tales of Tidbit Twitch, but unlike the main character’s fall, there wasn’t a river to break hers. Brystal tried to manifest something soft for her and the others to land on, but as she waved her wand, the velocity knocked it out of her hand.
Brystal desperately reached for her wand in midair.… It was falling right beside her, just a few inches out of reach.… She stretched her arm out as far as possible.… Her fingertips grazed the side of it.… She wrapped her hand around its crystal handle.…
POOF! The children hit the bottom of the canyon and a cloud of dust rose into the air. As the trolls and goblins looked over the cliff, they didn’t wait for the dust to clear before retreating back into the woods.
Nothing could have survived that fall.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE GIRL OF FLOWERS AND THE TREE OF TRUTH
Brystal was awoken by a strong flowery scent. Her eyes fluttered open to see what was causing the smell, but all she saw was the color yellow everywhere she looked. She waited for her eyes to adjust, expecting the color to fade or turn into something she recognized, but the yellow—and only the yellow—remained around her. Brystal was lying on something very soft, but she didn’t know where she was or how she got there.
She remembered the sensation of falling.… She remember
ed how hard it was to breathe as the air rushed past her face.… She remembered reaching for something descending beside her.… She remembered brushing her wand with her fingertips.… And she remembered how desperately she needed it.…
Brystal gasped and sat straight up as her full memory returned. She recalled running from the trolls and goblins with her classmates, she recalled Xanthous dropping his Muter Medal as they crossed the rope bridge, and worst of all, she recalled plunging toward the canyon’s rocky floor. However, she hadn’t landed on the hard ground as she had feared—Brystal’s fall had been broken by an enormous yellow rose.
As Brystal got to her feet and peeked over the massive petals, she discovered she was in the middle of an enchanted garden. Everywhere she turned, Brystal saw flowers, mushrooms, shrubbery, and other plants that were the size of houses. Her classmates were scattered around the garden, and thankfully their falls had been broken by giant flowers, too—and just like Brystal, the impact had knocked all of them unconscious. Emerelda was nested inside a towering purple tulip, and Lucy was draped over the side of a gigantic pink lily. Xanthous was lying in a huge red carnation that was partially singed now, thanks to the boy’s flames. Tangerina and Skylene were still tangled in the trolls’ net, but the girls had landed safely on a sunflower.
“Is everyone alive?” Brystal called to them.
One by one, her classmates started to groan and slowly came to. They rubbed their heads, stretched their limbs, and looked around the garden in amazement.
“Well, this isn’t the worst place I’ve woken up in,” Lucy said.
“Where are we?” Emerelda asked.
“A big garden of some kind,” Brystal said.
“But how’d we get here?” Xanthous asked.
Everyone looked up and saw that the canyon was still above them. But strangely, the garden was underneath the canyon’s rocky floor, and it covered them like a transparent roof.
“The bottom of the canyon must have been a magic barrier,” Tangerina speculated. “It’s just like the hedge around our academy! We must have fallen into another magical residence!”
The classmates carefully climbed down from their giant flowers and took in their bizarre surroundings. Xanthous found his Muter Medal dangling off a daisy and immediately put it back around his neck. Brystal searched the garden for her wand and found it at the base of a milkweed plant. She waved the wand at Tangerina and Skylene, the net around them dissolved into thin air, and the girls joined the others on the ground.
“You could have done that before you dragged us through the woods,” Skylene said.
“Sorry,” Brystal said. “I’m still getting used to these life-and-death situations.”
The students and apprentices searched for a way out of the garden, but they couldn’t find an exit anywhere. They followed a dirt path snaking through the enchanted plants, but the property seemed endless. As they walked, Tangerina’s bumblebees buzzed with excitement about all the giant flowers around them. They merrily made trips to and from the enlarged blossoms, returning to Tangerina’s beehive with more nectar than they knew what to do with.
Eventually, the classmates heard someone humming in the garden nearby. They rounded the corner and found a six-year-old girl watering normal-size poppies. The girl had ringlets of bright red hair and she wore a sundress made from large red rose petals. She hummed a cheerful tune to the poppies while she watered them, and after she was finished, she set her pail aside and twirled her fingers through the air above the flowers. The poppies started to grow, stretching to the height of a tree.
“Nice trick,” Lucy called to her. “Do you do parties?”
The little girl wasn’t expecting the classmates, and screamed. She dashed behind the giant poppies and hid from the visitors. Brystal felt terrible for frightening the little girl and approached her with an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you,” she said. “You have nothing to be afraid of—we’re fairies just like you. We’re a little lost and were hoping someone could show us a way out of… well, wherever we are.”
“I’m not allowed to talk to strangers,” the little girl said.
“Then let’s fix that,” she said. “My name is Brystal Evergreen. These are my friends Lucy Goose, Emerelda Stone, Xanthous Hayfield, Tangerina Turkin, and Skylene Lavenders. What’s your name?”
Brystal’s friendly charm won the little girl over and she stepped out from behind the poppies.
“My name is Rosette,” she said. “Rosette Meadows.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Rosette,” Brystal said. “Now that we’re better acquainted, can you please tell us where we are?”
“You’re in Greenhouse Canyon,” she said. “It’s the world’s largest botanical garden and nursery for magically enhanced plants.”
“Do you grow all the plants yourself?” Brystal asked.
“It’s my family’s specialty,” Rosette said. “The Meadowses have the greenest thumbs in the magical community. Our thumbs aren’t actually green, of course—that’s just a figure of speech. Although my uncle’s thumb did turn green once, but that was just a bad infection. Boy, I sure miss him. Wait. If you didn’t know about Greenhouse Canyon before, how’d you end up here?”
“Me and my friends were chased off the cliff by trolls and goblins,” Brystal said. “We fell into the canyon, but luckily your flowers saved our lives.”
“You were chased by real trolls and goblins?” Rosette asked with large eyes. “That’s amazing! I’ve never seen a troll or goblin in real life before. This one time, I thought I saw one, but it was just an anteater. Wait. Did you say our flowers saved your life? Wow, that’s incredible! My family should use that for marketing. I can picture the advertisements now. ‘Meadows Flowers—not only are they beautiful, they’re lifesaving.’ It’s tough getting new customers when your location is a secret.”
“Oh, I imagine that’s a tough way to sell—”
“Our usual customers are all old and smell like cheese. Why do you think that is? You guys are the youngest people I’ve ever seen in the canyon! I rarely have anyone my own age to talk to. Gosh, this is nice. Is this nice for you, too? I spend a LOT of time with plants! They say talking to plants helps them grow. I’m not sure it’s the healthiest thing for me, though. Plants are good listeners, I guess, but it’s not the same as talking to people. Sometimes you just need to hear something besides your own voice, you know what I mean? Hey, do you guys want a tour of the gardens while you’re here?”
Obviously Rosette was very excited to have company, but she talked so fast the others were having a hard time understanding her.
“We’d love to stay, but we’re in a bit of a hurry,” Brystal said. “Would you mind showing us how to get back to the In-Between?”
Rosette looked around the gardens curiously and scratched her head.
“Actually, I’m not sure how to get out of here,” she said. “Believe it or not, I’ve never been outside the canyon before. My family is very protective. Did you know the world is full of people who want to harm us? It was news to me. My family also says I’m a lot for other people to handle. They say I’m best in small doses—whatever that means. It doesn’t hurt my feelings, though. Everyone expresses love in a different language. Do you guys know what your love languages are? Mine is quality time. It used to be physical touch—but that wasn’t working very well, so I had to change it. People are so picky about personal space and—”
“Is there someone else we could talk to?” Lucy interrupted.
“You’ll have to speak to the Sorceress,” Rosette said. “She’ll know a way out.”
“Did you say the Sorceress?” Emerelda asked.
“Yeah, she’s my aunt,” Rosette said. “Come with me—I’ll show you where she is.”
The classmates followed the little girl through the gardens, and along the way, Rosette gave them the tour they didn’t want. She spoke in great detail about every flower and plant they passed. Bryst
al suspected she was purposely taking the long way through the garden so she had more time to talk to them. Soon they passed a bundle of bushes with colorful berries that caught Xanthous’s eye.
“I recognize those,” he said. “Madame Weatherberry had them in her golden carriage.”
“Those are our Meal Berries,” Rosette said. “They’re one of our bestsellers. They grow different types of food depending on what time of day it is.”
“What’s that over there?” Skylene asked.
“Oh, that’s our Orchard of Objects,” she said. “Come on! You’ll definitely want to see it!”
Rosette skipped toward the orchard and gestured for the others to follow her. Lucy shot her classmates a scathing look as they went.
“Stop asking her questions!” she whispered. “She’s slow enough as it is!”
The little girl showed them an acre of trees planted in very straight rows. All the trees in the orchard were identical, but instead of fruit or flowers, each tree grew a different household object. There were trees with bars of soap, buckets and mops, pillows and blankets, candles and candlesticks, tables and chairs, spatulas and frying pans, brushes and combs, shoes and socks, and even trees that sprouted stuffed animals.
“My family can grow just about anything on trees,” Rosette boasted. “We get requests from witches and fairies all over the world. Money is always what people want the most. That probably isn’t a surprise, though. Before you ask, the answer is no—we don’t grow money trees. At least, not anymore. The last time we sold one, the Western Kingdom had an economic crisis. They still haven’t recovered from the—”
“Rosette, how much farther until we reach the Sorceress?” Lucy asked. “We’re in a bit of a crisis of our own.”
“We’re almost there,” Rosette said. “Our house is just beyond the Vineyard of Vices and the Farm of Fragrances. I can’t wait to show you those!”
Eventually, the tour ended at a large four-story manor. The home was constructed entirely out of vines, and it had a spiral roof of twisted thornbush. Inside, the manor had a thatched floor and walls made from colorful shrubbery. As Rosette escorted her guests through the home, the classmates heard the sounds of several different creatures coming from somewhere inside the house. When they stepped into the great room, Brystal and her friends discovered a zoo of potted plants that looked, moved, and roared like animals. There were barking dogwood blossoms, meowing catnip plants, screeching monkey-face orchids, and flapping bird-of-paradise flowers.
