Sealing Death

by Basil E. Bacorn

  Mr. Braddock steered this way and that, making sure he didn't get too close to the woods. "Here's the plan." he announced once the excitement was over, "The Hashduki exist, only because of the Nymph of the Night allows it. If we can find her, and convince her we have good intentions, she'll allow our departure. Until then, trees, flowers, and anything else that's a plant can and will kill us. That means that green means 'AHH! WE'RE GONNA DIE!'"

  Stella raised her hand and posed a question, "Where's the Nymph?" Will spoke up, finally no longer dazed by the kiss, "The desert. She knows we'll be looking for her, and since that is the only place with no trees, that's where she'll go to meet us."

  "Good thinking, Will." Mr. Braddock congratulated, "Let's go!"

  Susan And The Twins

  Susan ran outside too late. They were all long gone. She didn't want her baby to go save everyone by herself! It's too late now, though. Susan sat down by the twins. "What do you two think?" she asked hopefully, "You had a feeling about this mess, is everyone going to come back alright?" Vanessa looked at her brother and the two exchanged a strange look that gave Susan the chills.

  "Everyone is alright," Vanessa began, "for now." She glanced at Vander and he finished, "One will die, and one will return to Death, if they are successful." Vander stumbled over the last word a little bit and then looked back at his sister. "If they lose," Vanessa stated, "All is lost, and it will be the end." Vanessa returned to her regular self and said, "So no matter what, not everyone is coming back."

  Susan wanted to cry. Cassie may never return! The twins didn't say who was returning! "Anything else?" she inquired, trying to relax. Vander and Vanessa shook their heads.

  Susan looked at the clock. James should be home soon, and when he came, they were dropping the twins off to Charlie's grandma and going after their daughter!

  About a half hour later, James walked in the door and greeted, "I'm home!" Susan ran up beside him, all dressed and ready. “You know how you said you were jealous I got an adventure and you didn't?" Susan questioned. "I never said that." James cut in. "Well you did now." she ordered, "Cassie went to save everything there is from some sort of monster by sealing up Death. The twins said two aren't coming back alive, but not who, so we're going on a road trip in your cruiser."

  Susan dragged the rest of her family down to the cop car and got in. Susan called, "Go to Betty's, I'm sure she'll watch them!"

  "I won't watch them." Betty answered. "Why?" Susan questioned. "I am coming with you." she demanded, "My only grandchild is out there too, you know, and knowing there's a chance he'll die, I'd never forgive myself if I didn't come along." Betty moseyed to her cupboard and got out a fanny pack. "I packed this in case of an emergency." she explained walking out the door to the car. She was determined to go, and there's no stopping Betty when she's determined. "To that portal hole!" she ordered, leaving James and Susan no choice but to listen. James flipped on the flashers and siren and flew to the reality crack.

  The cop car drove through the portal. "This isn't Everlanon!" Susan screeched, "Go back! Go back! Go back!" James went in reverse and plopped onto a solid sheet of ice. Uh-oh.

  "That's it!" Betty decreed, "Susan, go ask for directions." Susan opened the door and got out, instantly slipping on the ice and falling on her butt. "Ouch!" she yelped.

  "This is such an exciting day!" yipped a woman from out of nowhere, "Who are you?"

  Susan looked at the woman who reminded her of a fairytale her mother used to read to her. So pale, and frosty! "My name is Susan Smith." she introduced, "I am looking for my daughter, have you seen her?"

  Sisilla grinned. If only it was Cassie. What a coincidence that would be! "Her name?" the Ice Queen inquired. "It's Cassie!" James called out. "You're kidding me!" Sisilla bellowed, "Yes! I know her! She just came through! She went back through the reality crack you just came from!"

  Susan perked up, "Thank you! Is there anything I can do for you?"

  Sisilla grinned. There was something. She formed an icicle in her hand and gave it to Cassie's mother. "This is a magic icicle, if you need help, break it, and I will automatically appear." she explained. "How does that help you?" Susan questioned.

  "I'm trying to change my image." Sisilla expounded, "When you hear 'The Ice Queen', you don't usually think 'warm and kind'. Get where I'm going?"

  Susan nodded and took the icicle. "I understand." Susan shoved the icicle in her pocket and ran back to the car. "Let's roll!" Betty commanded. James put the vehicle in forward, and they rolled into Hashdukien.

  The Nymph Of The Night Part 1

  Hashdukien was a realm of poverty and chaos in the years since the Realm War. Elves huddled in the corners of their caves, and the Hashduki, the mighty forces backing their imperialistic desires, shriveled into weeds. It was a very dark time for the Hashdukies.

  However, all that changed when the savior of Hashdukien was born. It was a rainy night, and the Fairy Queen Vivian was at the peak of her pregnancy with the Elf King Josepher's child. In all honesty, it was political suicide and highly frowned upon that the king of elves and the queen of fairies have conceived a baby nymph. Nymphs were known for their tricks and deceiving of innocent passers-by. With their elfish cleverness, and their fairy magic, nymphs were a race to be feared.

  The sun sunk behind the mountainous landscape, and nighttime took to the sky. Fairy Queen Vivian rang the emergency bell. "It's TIME!" she squealed, "I'm about to have a nymph-ant!" Her nurses flew this way and that, and soon, a new life was welcomed into the world underneath the bright moons.

  "What's her name?" the head nurse asked, cradling the green caterpillar-like baby in her dainty little arms. "Her name is Alesha." the queen replied, gasping for air, "The Nymph of the Night. She shall rule over this broken land, and save us all!"

  Alesha was raised by her mother for fifteen years, until the day when King Josepher raged war on the fairies, and killed the queen with a stab from the Silver Shadow, the only knife that can kill a fairy.

  "Why did you do that?!" Alesha demanded to know, wiping the tears from her face. Her once majestic mother was now a mere pile of ash on the ground.

  "She wanted to give you rule over the whole realm, and I couldn't let that happen." Josepher snapped, "The Hashdukien throne belongs to the elves!" Alesha threw down her hands. "You killed my mother because of a stupid throne!" she screamed.

  "No, I killed your mother because she started it all." the elf explained, "I'm going to kill you because of the throne!" The Elf King ran at his daughter, knife in hand. Alesha flew up in the sky, snatching her father's cape. The two flew to the top of the room, and the Silver Shadow fell to the ground with a clang.

  "Let me go you crossbreed!" he screamed. "Whatever you say!" Alesha smirked. The nymph released the cape from her grasp, dropping the king to the ground, right on top of the Silver Shadow. Josepher screamed at the top of his lungs as the blade punctured his shoulder blade. His body shook and exploded into a flare of fiery elf dust.

  Alesha fluttered out the window and into the open, high above Hashdukien. "Attention everyone! I am now the Queen of Hashdukien!" she announced, "All hail your righteous ruler! From this point forward, anyone against me shall be executed, and any outsiders shall be brought to me for judgement!"

  Later in life, as all nymphs do, Alesha hit that one dreaded time in a young nymph's life when "special" changes happen. At the age of sixteen, nymphs receive the last characteristic that makes them a nymph. They go love-crazy.

  "Where are you going, Jacobsen?!" Alesha called, flying after the blue-haired elf she invited to her house, "Don't you want to stay longer? I'll make pot roast!"

  The 14-year-old elf scurried through the woods, hopping over roots and ducking under the low hanging branches.

  "Hashduki!" Alesha ordered, "Bring him to me!"

  "I don't get it, Syesha." Alesha sighed, looking at her trusted friend and associate, "Why will no one return my love?" "Maybe it's because everyone you chase ends up in the dungeo
n?" Syesha suggested.

  Alesha fluttered over to the door. "That’s not it." she sighed, looking out the window, "I really don't know."

  That night, the nymph snuck into her late mother’s chambers and placed her hand on the portrait that hung above her old bed. She felt the painting and grabbed the frame, swinging it open. Inside, books of all sizes were stacked on top of each other. Alesha carefully read each title and selected the one she needed. Tucking the spell book under arm, Alesha shut the compartment and flew out the window.

  "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Alesha read aloud, "Looks like I'll have to change that!" Reading the page, Alesha recited the spell exactly as it was written, "Omnium oculis intuentibus uideri!"

  The walls around the Nymph of the Night shone brightly with white sparkles. One by one, each speck of light drifted out of the walls and to Alesha, sticking to her like bees on honey. She held out her arms and looked to the sky as the millions of white lights were sucked from the walls and circled her awaiting body.

  The ground shifted and the castle jostled on its foundation, rocks from the ceiling and walls tumbling to the ground.

  The next day, with the palace in a heap of stones, Alesha set out to test her new "power". If all went as it should have, she should have whatever boy she wanted!

  Alesha combed her straight black hair and let it drape gently over her shoulders. She looked at her smooth teal hands and straightened her green dress. Alesha breathed, "Here goes nothing!"

  Back Home

  While their children were saving the world and such, things back home weren't going as well.

  In the Realm of the Foretold, a very worried Mayor Sanders tried to contact his daughter. After going missing on several occasions, she had returned home several days ago.

  "I'm back!" she had announced. The mayor had given her a gigantic hug that almost killed her, and then the roar was heard. She looked at her father and said, "I gotta go!" Stella had run out before he could protest and he hasn't seen her since. There have been rumors of a giant space monster, and with Stella missing, Mayor Sanders was freaking out. Before this, he had thought about running for governor, but now he can't concentrate.

  Mrs. Sanders told him that since their Stella was so brave and courageous, she was probably the one who was leading her friends into battle. "I guess you're right," he sighed after receiving no answer from his 1,964th phone call, "I am going to the authorities. They can send men in that portal to retrieve my, I mean our, precious princess."

  Mrs. Sanders rolled her eyes. She had been trying to tell him that all along!

  Mrs. Spencer had found out about Will being a prince, so she wasn't worried when he stayed in Everlanon. Now, however, she was. The whole Smith family was gone, so not only did she have to deal with the panic of the school district, but also had to tackle Susan's job as principal.

  "Due to the nonsense of a giant space beast," she said over the loudspeaker, "I am creating a new policy in our school district. Any talk of space beasts, or the missing people who may be associated with it, or any rumors of the like, will not be tolerated. It will result in major disciplinary actions." That should calm the hype, now she just needed to calm herself.

  In Everlanon, King Albert paced the throne room. "Will should have been back by now!" he shouted, "Where is he?" "Albert," the queen cut in, "the people are restless. With the dead returned, and everyone knowing that no one can die, it is complete chaos out there! They all look to you for hope!"

  "Hope?" Albert questioned, "How can I give the people hope, if I have none! It's been too long. They must have taken him!"

  "The people on the other side have taken my daughter!" Mayor Sanders told the governor, "Those people are not to be trusted! Send in S.W.A.T. teams or something! Before they come to us!"

  Evangeline looked in her Seeing Cloud and watched the events that had occurred. "Oh, Cassie." she whispered, "You might find success against the Scarrcedenhogg, but you don't stand a chance against what is yet to come!"

  She switched the view to the New York City mayor's office and saw Stella's father's meeting. The scene flipped to King Albert's gathering of troops to find Will. "Ooh," Eva grinned, "this is going to be good!"

  "Attention all knights, warriors, and so on," King Albert screamed to the crowd below, "As you know we face an immense danger! The Scarrcedenhogg is back! We need to eliminate this threat, but first, we must get my son back from those barbaric Earth dwellers on the other side of the portal!"

  "I agree," the governor conceded, picking up the phone, "Send in the S.W.A.T. team full force. That is an order!"

  "Who's with me!" King Albert yelled. The crowd all cheered. The king continued yelling, "Then to the Realm of the Foretold we go!"

  The king rode his steed at the front of the army that was ready to crush any threat in the way. Helicopters landed on all sides of portal, and black vans pulled in. The king's army approached the portal, and on the other side S.W.A.T. soldiers were armed and ready to go in. Then they heard battle cries and were flooded with sword wielding, ax grinding maniacs on horses. Wizards froze and scorched the S.W.A.T. team. The worst part was no one died, so if someone was decapitated, watch out, because they bite.

  News reporters fled to the scene and showed the terrifying massacre to the world. A severed hand flew at one of the camera men, and he dropped the camera as the thing crawled all over it.

  Mrs. Spencer flipped channels and saw something horrible. Once the hand got out of the way, she saw a sideways view of the fight. "Oh no!" she screeched, standing up, "They have to stop this!" She didn't know why, but she got in her car and drove to the mayor's building, certain he was behind this.

  Evangeline saw the mayhem, and was disappointed when she saw her daughter's pesky teacher try to end it. She watched Mrs. Spencer get out of her car, and go up to the top floor where Mayor Sanders was. "Not if I can help it!" Evangeline squawked, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

  Mrs. Spencer went to knock on the door when someone grabbed her hand. "What?" she yelped, turning towards the woman, "Let go of me!"

  Eva smiled. "Nah!" she honked, throwing Miss Teacher across the hall. She slammed into the wall and got knocked out cold. "That's better!" Evangeline sighed smugly.

  The door flew open. "What's going on?" the governor shouted. Eva smirked and vanished into thin air. "Sanders!" the governor ordered, "Call 911! Someone was just attacked!"

  Evangeline found herself in a school building. "Wait, what?" she gasped, looking around, "This isn't my tower! This isn't even Everlanon! Why can't I return?!"

  "Simply put," a man said, "It was a one-way trip only." He showed her a book that was titled, Protection. "You are going to need a place to keep you from getting pulled back into Death, and I have it." he teased, "How about we make a deal?"

  "I'm listening." Evangeline breathed. "If you don't know me, I am Dr. Stephen Chanington, from Everlanon. I was brought here by an amazing woman who now is dead. I had fell in love with her, and now she is gone because of one person, and you know who it is. I want revenge, and you can help me get it, because of your connections, is that right?"

  Eva smiled, "Of course, I can help! We can all help. Consider yourself a member, but remember, good things come to those who wait." Chanington nodded and opened the book on the floor. "Jump in when you're ready," he began, "I'll send the book to them for safe keeping."

  "Sounds good!" Eva cheered, as she jumped in the book. Chanington picked up the book, walked to his closet, and opened the door. Inside, was a bright red mailbox that wasn't there before. Chanington swiftly opened the door and placed the book inside. The door closed, and with a bright flash, the book was gone.

  The Nymph Of The Night Part 2

  The minivan drove through the Endocash Desert. "Why hasn't the Nymph came yet!" Charlie sighed, "It's taking too long! We'll never stop the Scarrcedenhogg at this rate!"

  Cassie grabbed Charlie's hand and whispered, "Don't worry, everything will work out."

 
Charlie felt Cassie's hand in his. She was always so confident and brave! He had already forgiven her for kissing Will, which was probably because he could never stay mad at her. He loved her too much. Although it would be nice if instead of kissing those she isn’t dating, she would kiss her boyfriend. They hadn't even had their first real kiss!

  The end of ever kept repeating in her head. Will's heartless expression as he ripped away his hand, the judgement, and the end of ever. Cassie hated to think about it. Why was she thinking about it? She was with Charlie, not Will, and she will never be with Will! Will is just a friend. A very hot friend with abs and superior kissing skills. So thoughtful, but so heartless on that night. And now he's back to liking her! Even if they were to get together, how long would it last?

  Will wanted more than ever to just push Charlie out of the way and slide in next to Cassie. She had to have feelings for him! If she didn't, that kiss wouldn't have meant anything, and that was impossible! That was one of the best kisses she's ever given him!