by Chris Colfer
Although they had always stood and walked like people, the witches threw off their cloaks and revealed bodies that were more animal than human. Instead of arms, Crowbeth had large feathery wings and legs like a hawk. Newtalia had a long scaly torso that coiled like the body of a snake. Squidelle had eight flexible limbs with tentacles like an octopus. Feliena’s body was covered in fur, and instead of hands and feet, she had paws with razor-sharp claws. Each of the witches set their sights on a different classmate and preyed upon the children.
Crowbeth spread her wings and swooped through the air, snatching Lucy off the ground like an eagle catching a squirrel. She raised the girl high into the sky and dangled her above the clouds. Lucy squirmed helplessly in the witch’s clutches, and Crowbeth cackled as she struggled.
“I hope you enjoy your fall as much as you’ve enjoyed our winter!” Crowbeth screeched.
Lucy closed her eyes and tried to summon a mighty force to save her. Just as Crowbeth was about to drop her, a flock of squawking geese appeared on the horizon and flew to Lucy’s rescue. The geese attacked Crowbeth, using their beaks to pluck the witch’s feathers and rip holes in her wings. Soon Crowbeth’s wings were so damaged she couldn’t keep herself in the air, and the witch plummeted into the mountains. The geese grasped Lucy with their beaks and safely lowered her back to the earth.
“Well, you’re not the birds of prey that I was picturing, but you’re the best gaggle a girl could ask for,” Lucy told the geese.
On the ground below, Xanthous and Skylene went back to back as they were circled by Newtalia and Squidelle. They tried to hit the witches with bursts of fire and water, but Newtalia and Squidelle dodged their efforts with ease.
In one slick spinning motion, Squidelle struck Xanthous’s face with all eight of her limbs. The boy fell to the ground, his eyes fluttered shut, and all the flames on his body disappeared. Squidelle lurched toward the unconscious boy; she wrapped her limbs around him and started squeezing him to death.
“It’s time to put your flames out forever!” Squidelle grumbled.
However, Xanthous had other plans. When Squidelle was least expecting it, Xanthous awoke from his pretend blackout and tightly fastened his Muter Medal around the witch’s neck. Squidelle frantically tried to pull the Muter Medal off, but her tentacles couldn’t untie Xanthous’s small knot. As her powers began to fade, Squidelle collapsed and flopped onto the ground like a fish out of water. The witch thrashed across the snow, accidentally rolled into one of Lucy’s sinkholes, and never resurfaced.
“Skylene, did you see that?” Xanthous asked. “I stopped my flames all by myself! I didn’t even need the Muter Medal! Skylene?”
His friend didn’t respond because she had her hands full. Skylene was pointing at Newtalia and blasting the witch with the most powerful geyser she could muster. Unfortunately, the water wasn’t enough to stop Newtalia from creeping closer. The witch dived into Skylene’s geyser and swam through it like it was a stream. Newtalia slithered close enough to grab hold of Skylene, and the witch lifted the girl by her collar.
“You ssstupid girl!” Newtalia hissed. “Did you actually think a little water would ssstop me?”
“If I’m being honest,” Skylene said, “I wasn’t trying to ssstop you.”
Newtalia had no clue what the girl was talking about, but suddenly, the witch became very stiff. Her drenched body started to freeze in the cold wind, and soon Newtalia was as solid as a statue. Skylene pushed her over, and the witch hit the ground and shattered into a million pieces.
“Skylene, that was brilliant!” Xanthous said. “How’d you know that was going to work?”
“Magic is no excuse to ignore science,” she said with a shrug.
Across the way, Tangerina was still in deep concentration as she reduced the blizzard with her bumblebees. Feliena snuck up behind the apprentice and knocked her to the ground, leaving a bloody scratch across Tangerina’s face. The girl tried to trap the witch with her honey, but Feliena jumped out of the way, avoiding each attempt.
“You and your friends will never win this fight,” Feliena growled.
“I’m pretty sure we are winning,” Tangerina said. “My friends have already defeated yours.”
Feliena’s green eyes glanced around the base of the mountain, and she roared angrily when she realized she and the Snow Queen were the only witches left.
“My sisters may be gone, but I still have all nine of my lives left!” she growled.
Feliena lunged toward Tangerina, but right as she was about to strike the girl again, she was interrupted by someone clearing their throat nearby. The witch looked over her shoulder and saw Emerelda standing right behind her.
“You may have nine lives, but diamonds are forever,” she said.
Emerelda grabbed Feliena’s paw and squeezed it as hard as she could. Inch by inch, the witch’s body was slowly transformed into one large jewel, and Feliena never growled, scratched, or jumped again.
“You’re a real gem, Emerelda,” Tangerina said. “Thank you.”
As the students and apprentices defeated the witches, General White and his soldiers conquered the last batch of snowmen. Their successful defense infuriated the Snow Queen, and the witch screamed so loudly her voice echoed through the mountain range.
“She doesn’t look very happy,” Tangerina said.
“What is she going to do next?” Skylene asked.
“Whatever it is, it’s not going to be pretty,” Emerelda said.
“General White!” Lucy called to him. “The Snow Queen is about to show us the ace up her sleeve! Go to Appleton Village and evacuate it while you can! You won’t save your kingdom by sticking around here! Help your people safely across the In-Between and take them to the Southern Kingdom! We’ll hold the Snow Queen off for as long as we can!”
“Thank you,” General White said, and saluted the classmates. “Godspeed, children.”
General White led his army toward Appleton Village, and the classmates stayed at the base of the mountain, waiting with bated breath for the Snow Queen to make a move. An eerie smile appeared on the witch’s frostbitten face as she plotted her next attack. The Snow Queen slammed her scepter into the mountaintop and caused a powerful earthquake to rattle throughout the mountain range. The snow slid off all the steep mountain slopes, and soon an avalanche of catastrophic proportions was hurtling toward the classmates. If they didn’t do something to stop it—and something quick—the classmates, the village, and the entire Northern Kingdom population would be decimated in a matter of minutes.
“Xanthous, I think this one’s on you, buddy!” Lucy said.
“What?” he asked in shock. “I can’t stop an avalanche!”
“You’re the only one with the right skill set,” she said. “You’ve got to create a blast of heat that’s powerful enough to vaporize that thing!”
“I—I—I don’t have that kind of power!” Xanthous said.
“Yes, you do!” Lucy said. “You’ve got to believe in yourself or the whole kingdom will be destroyed!”
The avalanche was growing, gaining speed as it raced down the mountain. It was so strong it snapped the trees in its path like twigs, and it knocked over boulders that had never been moved. The closer it got, the more frightened Xanthous was. Lucy’s words of encouragement weren’t helping him, so she tried a different approach.
“Think about the night your father died!” she said.
Xanthous was very confused. “Why?” he asked.
“Think about how your father beat you for playing with dolls!” Lucy continued. “Think about the fire that killed him and burned down your house! Think about all the shame and guilt you’ve had to live with ever since! Think about how you wanted to drown yourself in the lake!”
The traumatic memories made Xanthous’s flames rise on his head and shoulders.
“I don’t understand,” he said. “What does any of this have to do with—”
“Think of all the time you spent hating
yourself! Think of all the days you lived in fear of being discovered! Think of all the people who told you it was wrong to be who you are! Think of how badly you wanted to change into someone else!”
Lucy was upsetting Xanthous, and his body was soon engulfed in flames.
“Why are you bringing this up now?” he asked.
“Because I know part of you still hates yourself for being different! Part of you still lives in fear of the truth! Part of you still believes you don’t deserve to exist! And part of you still believes you’ll never be loved for who you are! I know how you feel, because we all feel that way!”
Fire started pouring out of Xanthous like lava flowing from a volcano.
“Stop it, Lucy!” he cried. “I don’t want to do this!”
“And you don’t have to anymore—none of us do! Stop carrying all that shame around! Stop wanting to change yourself! Stop worrying no one will love the real you! None of us have anything to be ashamed of! None of us have to change anything! And we’ll always love and accept each other! So let go of the hate and fear that other people have instilled in you! Let it go so you never have to feel it again!”
The avalanche plowed into the base of the mountain, and the classmates were just seconds away from being pulverized.
“Now’s your chance, Xanthous!” Lucy shouted. “Release all the pain and stop that avalanche from leaving the mountain!”
“No!” Xanthous cried. “I can’t do it!”
“Yes, you can!” she yelled. “Let it out, Xanthous! Let it out!”
“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
The boy fell to his knees and a massive explosion erupted from inside him. As Xanthous’s fiery blast collided with the avalanche, the entire mountain range was consumed in a blinding light. Emerelda pulled Lucy, Tangerina, and Skylene into a tight huddle, and then created an emerald igloo to shield them from the heat and the snow. By the time the light faded, not only had the avalanche completely disappeared, but all the snow at the base of the mountain had melted away.
The classmates peeked out from Emerelda’s igloo and looked around in amazement. Xanthous couldn’t believe what he had done, either, and he stared at the land with wide, bewildered eyes. The boy turned to his friends with a bashful grin.
“That felt really good,” he whispered.
“Boy, am I glad that worked,” Lucy said.
The Snow Queen was so enraged that the classmates had stopped the avalanche, her frostbitten hands were shaking. The witch turned in a huff and headed back to Tinzel Palace.
“Look—she’s leaving!” Skylene pointed out.
“What’s she doing?” Tangerina asked.
“She’s retreating!” Lucy said. “Come on! We have to get to the palace before she finds Brystal!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
THE SNOW QUEEN
Brystal climbed through the Northern Mountains as quickly and quietly as possible. She was so cold she was convinced she’d never feel warm again, and she became so tired she worried she’d collapse in the snow and never make it to Tinzel Palace. Brystal was afraid the Snow Queen would notice her sneaking through the mountains if she used any magic, so she refrained from casting any spells to assist her, and made the journey entirely on foot.
The majority of the mountain range was so steep Brystal needed both hands to scale it, and she had to carry her wand in her mouth for most of the trip. She was making great progress until she came to a slope that was so slippery it was nearly impossible to get over. It didn’t matter what she grabbed or where she placed her feet, Brystal kept sliding down the slope and having to start the climb all over again. After her fifth attempt, Brystal began to lose hope, but fortunately, something caught her eye that restored her faith.
Peeking out from the thick snow beside her was a yellow daffodil. It wasn’t an exceptionally pretty flower—its color had faded and its petals had withered in the cold wind—but by some miracle, the daffodil had survived the freezing weather. Although the flower was very small, it delivered the exact message Brystal needed: If the daffodil was strong enough to withstand the Snow Queen’s storm, then so was she.
Brystal got to her feet, climbed the slope for the sixth time, and used all her strength to pull herself over its slippery summit.
Soon Brystal was so high in the mountains that the air became thin and it was difficult to breathe. The battle between the Northern Kingdom’s army and the Snow Queen was so far behind her, it was nothing but a distant murmur. Brystal knew she was getting close to Tinzel Palace because the towers stretched higher into the sky with every step she took. After an exhausting excursion, Brystal climbed over the tallest mountain peak and finally arrived in the Northern Kingdom’s capital.
Tinzel Heights was a large city in the center of the Northern Mountains. Due to the limited space, all the homes and shops were stacked on top of one another, and the narrow roads wound through the capital like a giant maze. Tinzel Palace was in the very center of the town, and it soared to heights that surpassed the mountain range surrounding it. The palace was so tall and lean, and its towers so piercing, that the entire structure looked like a group of sharpened pencils. Brystal couldn’t tell what color or materials the palace was constructed from because the entire city was covered in a sheet of ice. She walked slowly and carefully as she traveled through the capital so she wouldn’t slip on the frosty roads.
Not only was the city physically frozen, but Tinzel Heights was also eerily frozen in time. The streets were littered with townspeople who had been frozen while going about their daily errands. Brystal peeked through windows and saw frozen butchers, bakers, and locksmiths helping frozen customers in their shops. The homes were filled with frozen fathers, mothers, and children in the middle of household chores. Obviously, the Snow Queen had struck the capital so quickly, the city’s people hadn’t had time to react, let alone run to safety.
Eventually Brystal arrived at Tinzel Palace and crossed the bridge over its icy moat. The front doors were frozen shut, so Brystal used her wand like a torch to thaw them open. As she stepped inside, her first sight of the palace made her gasp—not because of the damage the Snow Queen had caused, but because of how beautiful the palace was. Icicles hung from all the ceilings and archways like pointed chandeliers. The walls were coated with frost that sparkled like crystal. The floor was covered in crackling ice like the surface of a frozen lake. Brystal had no idea what the palace looked like before the Snow Queen attacked, but she couldn’t imagine it being any more spectacular than what she was seeing.
Brystal searched through Tinzel Palace, but she couldn’t find Madame Weatherberry anywhere. Occasionally, she would see someone at the end of a long corridor or spacious room. Her heart would flutter, hoping it was her teacher, but she only found frozen guards and servants at every turn.
“Madame Weatherberry?” she shouted into the cold palace. “Madame Weatherberry, where are you?”
Brystal entered the palace’s dining hall and was startled by a gruesome sight. She found the Northern Kingdom’s royal family frozen around the long dining table. King Nobleton, the queen, the two teenage princes, and the four young princesses had been enjoying a lavish meal when the Snow Queen struck. Although their skin was pale and there was no color in their eyes, the royal family seemed very much alive. The princes had died in the middle of a food fight, the queen had perished while arguing with her daughters, and the king had frozen while scoffing at all of them. Brystal half expected the family to move at any moment and continue their activities, but the royals never awoke from their icy demise.
Strangely, all the food and plates had been recently swiped off the table to make space for a collection of maps. Brystal inspected the collection and discovered a Map of Magic, a map that showed the whereabouts of the Northern Kingdom’s army, and a map that showed the weather in all the kingdoms. She took a closer look at the map of weather and covered her mouth in horror—the powerful blizzard the classmates encountered in the In-Between had spread across the whole wo
rld.
Suddenly, the palace’s front doors creaked open and the sound echoed through the royal residence. The temperature instantly dropped another ten degrees. Someone with heavy footsteps and rattling breath stormed inside the palace, and Brystal knew there was only one person it could be. The footsteps came closer and closer to the dining hall, and Brystal started to panic—she had thought she would have more time to find Madame Weatherberry before the Snow Queen returned. Brystal didn’t know what else to do, so she hid in the cupboard at the bottom of a giant china cabinet.
The Snow Queen burst into the dining hall in a furious rage. The witch knocked over every vase and candelabra in the room and then crept toward the table. She gazed down at her map of the Northern Kingdom’s army and saw General White and his soldiers evacuating the people from Appleton Village. The Snow Queen roared angrily and pounded the table with a clenched fist. She then turned to the map of weather, and as she watched her blizzard consume the world, her fury turned into delight. She let out a low raspy cackle and exposed her rotting, jagged teeth.
The Snow Queen’s back was turned toward the china cabinet while she viewed the maps, and as Brystal peeked out from the cupboard, it slowly dawned on her what a profound opportunity was before her. This could be the most vulnerable position the Snow Queen had ever been in—right here and right now, with a quick flick of her wrist, Brystal could end the witch’s reign of terror forever. She just needed to summon the right magic for the job. Brystal leaned out of the cupboard and pointed her wand directly at the Snow Queen’s back.
However, as Brystal imagined how she was going to kill the Snow Queen, her train of thought shifted to the moments after she killed the Snow Queen. Thousands of lives would be saved, but could Brystal live with herself in the aftermath? How would it feel to slay an unsuspecting woman? Would taking another life change who she was? Would she carry any guilt or regret after it was over? She was paralyzed by her troubled conscience, and eventually, Brystal knew she couldn’t go through with it.
