by Chris Colfer
“It sounds silly, but I woke up this morning and was just tired of being afraid,” the housekeeper said. “I knew the only thing that would make me feel better was if I did something about my fear. When I realized you were all missing from the academy, I had a feeling you might be in trouble. So I found your stars on the Map of Magic and rushed here as fast as I could.”
“Mrs. Vee, your timing is as impeccable as your cooking!” Lucy declared.
“Well, don’t just stand there like stalks of asparagus!” the housekeeper said. “Let’s roll like citrus on a slanted counter! HA-HA!”
While the clansmen fought off the utensils, the fairies, the witches, and the lynxes escaped from the fortress. They hurried down the beach to where the unicorns and the golden carriage were waiting for them. Without Mrs. Vee to conduct the utensils, the kitchen supplies began dropping from the air, releasing the Brotherhood from combat. Seven and the clansmen ran after the fairies and witches but they were too far behind to catch up.
“THIS ISN’T OVER, BRYSTAL!” Seven screamed. “YOU MAY HAVE ESCAPED THIS BATTLE, BUT YOU WON’T ESCAPE THE WAR! WE’LL REPAIR OUR WEAPONS AND BECOME EVEN STRONGER THAN BEFORE! MY ARMY WILL SEIZE THIS WORLD AND DESTROY EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE! MARK MY WORDS, WE WILL WIN, AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP US!”
Before Brystal joined her friends inside the carriage, she turned back to the fortress and took one last look at Seven. She had every right to detest him, she had every reason to hate him, but as she watched his eyes bulge with rage and his mouth foam with fury, all Brystal felt was pity for the Righteous King.
“People like you will never win,” she said. “Hate is its own punishment.”
The golden carriage raced back to the Fairy Territory with all the fairies safely aboard. The witches flew beside the carriage on their broomsticks, and the lynxes followed on foot. By the time they reached the border and crossed through the hedge barrier, the sun had started to rise. All the fairies and magical creatures were still sound asleep, and the academy grounds were eerily quiet compared with the fortress.
As the fairies climbed out of the carriage and the witches dismounted their broomsticks, everyone was visibly shaken from the battle. Brystal, on the other hand, took advantage of her newfound clarity and immediately planned their next move.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” she told the others. “First things first. Emerelda, I want you to surround the territory with an emerald wall—and Xanthous, I want you to surround her wall with a wall of fire. The Brotherhood’s weapons may penetrate our magic, but I won’t let them set foot in our territory. Tangerina, I need you to send unicorns to the Evergreen house and retrieve my family at once—they won’t be safe in the Southern Kingdom. Skylene, I want you to write to King White, Queen Endustria, and King Warworth and tell them Prince Gallivant has killed King Champion XIV and has plans to take over the world with an army of dead soldiers. Don’t sugarcoat it, they need to be prepared. And Lucy?”
Lucy was shocked to hear Brystal say her name.
“You want me to do something?” she asked.
“Absolutely. Consider yourself back on the Fairy Council,” Brystal said. “The Southern Kingdom has been told that I killed King Champion XIV and that I raised the army from the dead. I want you to create a pamphlet that tells them the truth—use all your show business skills to make it as compelling, as captivating, and as entertaining as possible—it needs to grab everyone’s attention! Once you’re done, I want you and the witches to make as many copies as possible and drop them over Chariot Hills—don’t stop until every street is covered.”
“Aye, aye, captain!” Lucy said with a salute.
Brystal was practically cheerful as she gave the instructions. The fairies stared at her like she was a different person.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing—that’s what’s wrong,” Emerelda said. “You’re acting normal again.”
“It’s good to have you back,” Xanthous said.
“It’s good to be back,” she said.
Even though they had a solid plan in place now, none of the fairies or witches leaped into action. All they could think about was the battle they had barely escaped from. They gazed at the border with fearful eyes, knowing they would cross paths with the Brotherhood sooner rather than later.
“I’m really scared,” Skylene said. “Is it okay to admit that?”
“Me too,” Tangerina said. “We’ve never faced anything like this before.”
“I’m not going to lie to you,” Brystal told them. “We’re up against some pretty scary and unprecedented times. The world isn’t as safe as it used to be, and it may seem like we’ve lost something, but sometimes you have to lose to learn the most important lessons. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned through all this, it’s that no one is ever as alone or powerless as they feel. We can always find someone or something to help us if we’re willing to change our perspective.
“The Brotherhood may seem unbeatable, and they may seem frightening, but their greatest weapon isn’t their soldiers or their bloodstone—their greatest weapon is fear. They want us to believe they’re impossible to beat, they want us to think we aren’t strong enough to face them, but as long as we don’t confuse our fears with the facts, we can and we will defeat them. The truth is, we also have a secret weapon, and it’s more powerful than the Brotherhood will ever be. But first, I had to lose it to realize just how valuable it is.”
“What is it?” Lucy asked.
Brystal smiled at her friends. “Hope,” she said. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of letting people use my emotions to control me. So from now on, we’re going to starve whatever misery they try to cause us. We’re going to fight sadness with laughter, we’re going to fight loneliness with friendship, we’re going to fight anger with gratitude, and we’re going to fight fear with hope. Because as long as we keep fighting, and as long as we keep our hope alive—the Brotherhood won’t stand a chance.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’d like to thank Rob Weisbach, Derek Kroeger, Alla Plotkin, Rachel Karten, and Heather Manzutto for being part of my team.
Everyone at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, especially Alvina Ling, Megan Tingley, Ruqayyah Daud, Nikki Garcia, Siena Koncsol, Stefanie Hoffman, Shawn Foster, Danielle Cantarella, Jackie Engel, Emilie Polster, Marisa Russell, Janelle DeLuise, Hannah Koerner, Jen Graham, Sasha Illingworth, Angelie Yap, Virginia Lawther, and Chandra Wohleber. A special thank-you to Jerry Maybrook for helping me with the audiobook.
And, of course, to all my friends, family, and readers who aren’t afraid to be a little witchy every now and then.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers began publishing books in 1926.
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ALSO BY CHRIS COLFER
A Tale of Magic…
The Land of Stories series:
The Wishing Spell
The Enchantress Returns
A Grimm Warning
Beyond the Kingdoms
An Author’s Odyssey
Worlds Collide
The Ultimate Book Hugger’s Guide
A Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales
The Mother Goose Diaries
Queen Red Riding Hood’s Guide to Royalty
The Curvy Tree
Trollbella Throws a Party
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