by Robyn Fraser
Now it was Dean’s turn to be embarrassed. “I guess it was a few days ago. I didn’t have a toothbrush with me when I came to Illusiland.” They angled their head away from the sphinx.
“You’re not from here, then?” asked the sphinx, sitting back on her lioney rump, vast golden wings tucked into her sides, brown serpent-head tail curling in beside her. She blinked her eyes slowly.
Dean wasn’t sure how to answer that. They didn’t know what to share and what to keep secret. They wished Rose would wake up, but their friend’s chirpy snores continued their regular rhythm behind them.
“She won’t wake for a few hours,” said the sphinx. “Max gave her a little bite.” She swished her tail and the serpent head hissed and grinned.
“What? She’ll be okay though, right?”
“As long as you answer my riddle correctly,” said the sphinx with a sly smile. “Not many do, however. Especially the Concretians.” She tilted her head. “Which is what I thought you were at first. But no, you wouldn’t be drawing if you were, would you? Unless, perhaps, you’re a rebel Concretian? One of those V.E.G.A.N.S., maybe?”
Dean shook their head. “No, I’m not one of the V.E.G.A.N.S.,” they said. “Well, I guess I am, really, but I’m not part of the group. And no, I’m definitely not Concretian.” They sucked up some courage and sat a little taller. “My name is Deanna and I’m the daughter,” they paused, “well, child, of Queen Juliana and King by Marriage Robert. I’ve returned to save Magitoria and Illusiland from Mr. Sactual.” They swallowed, took a breath, then added, “But I’m going by Dean right now.” Why not tell all if they were about to die anyway?
The sphinx raised her eyebrows. “Are you really? I knew your mother, you know. Nice person. Excellent at riddles. Always asking if the sphinx and the Riddled Ridge would join Magitoria.” She smiled. “But then we wouldn’t be allowed to eat people who didn’t correctly answer our riddles. And that would be no fun now, would it?”
Dean shrugged. “Um, no, I suppose not. If you’re into that sort of thing.”
“And we are, ‘into that sort of thing’, Dean. Very much so.”
The sphinx casually stretched her long lion’s body. “How’s your mother doing, by the way? I heard she created a protective spell around Magitoria, but that was years ago now and I haven’t seen her since.”
“She took my father and me to Mundaland to hide out until the spell wore off. Which is going to happen in a week. Well, less than that, actually. Which is why I’m here, trying to save the land.”
The sphinx chuckled. “A—what—ten year old, thinking they can save an entire nation? I should make a riddle out of that.” The sphinx tilted her head in thought, rubbed her chin with a paw. “Hmmm. How about, ‘I have a throne but no home, imagination but no reason, with a chicken I’ll save my nation. Who am I?’” The sphinx glanced lazily at Dean and smiled. “Not my best work, but you get the idea.”
Dean’s fists clenched the flashlight and sketchbook. “First off, I’ll be twelve in a few months. Second, you know that Mr. Sactual and his army have bombs and stuff and that they can totally blow up this mountain and every sphinx on it, don’t you? And I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going to happen if they conquer Magitoria. See if you’re smiling then.”
“Oh, well, that’s quite serious then, isn’t it?” said the sphinx in a tone of voice that suggested she thought anything but. She stood up, took a step toward the cave entrance, and sat back down. “I quite like you, actually. You remind me of your mother.” She smiled teasingly. “Now, for your sake, and perhaps for the sake of the entire world, if what you say is true, let’s hope you answer my riddle correctly. Are you ready for it?”
No, Dean was most certainly not ready, but what choice did they have? They couldn’t even try to make a run for it with Rose asleep. “How many guesses do I get?”
“Three.”
“And is there a time-limit to how long I take to make a guess?”
The sphinx shrugged. “I’m not hungry right now. So let’s say, if you haven’t completed your third guess by dawn, I will kill and eat you. Sound fair?”
“Um, sure. I guess.” At least they had a while.
“And how about this for a bonus? If your first answer is correct and you guess it in the next,” the sphinx checked a watch on the wrist of her front left leg, “hour, I’ll give you a ‘Get Through The Mountains Free’ pass. Which means that you can show it to any other sphinx you run into and they’ll let you continue on without asking a riddle. I wouldn’t normally do this, but as I said, I rather like you, Dean. And your intentions certainly seem good.” She shrugged. “To be honest, I’ll almost feel bad about eating you.”
The sphinx looked Dean in the eye. “Are you ready for the riddle now?”
Dean took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“Here it is:
I have no substance but can create everything
The key to finding me is in your mind
Though I have no body, those who dislike me bury me
Though I have no wings, those who love me give me flight
What am I?”
Dean gulped. For all the hundreds of riddles that were in their book back home, this was not one of them.
“Um, can you repeat it to me more slowly so that I can write it down?”
“Why certainly, my dear Dean.” The sphinx did as requested and Dean scribbled the words onto a fresh page of their sketchbook.
“Tick tock,” said the sphinx when Dean had finished writing. “As much as I enjoy watching my victims sweat, I’m going to lounge outside while you’re working, get some fresh air and let you focus on your life-or-death answer.” She stood, stretched, and padded outside.
“Yeah, thanks for that,” said Dean to the sphinx’s rear end. “Really appreciate it.” They couldn’t be sure, but they thought Max smiled and stuck his tongue out at them as he and the rest of his body left the cave.
“Okay, first line,” Dean said aloud to themselves. “I have no substance but can create everything. Air? Oxygen? They both have no substance. And without them you’d have nothing, right?” Dean wrote the two words below the riddle. They really wished they had someone to talk this out with. Rose kept chirp-snoring, however.
“So, is the key to oxygen or air in my mind?” they continued. “I guess if I don’t have any oxygen, I wouldn’t be able to use my mind.
“But what about the next line? Oxygen has no body, but what does ‘those who dislike me, bury me’ mean? That doesn’t seem to relate to oxygen or air. And how would you make them take flight if you loved them? Breathing?” Dean shook their head. “No, it’s not air or oxygen.” They scratched out the two words.
“Think, D, think.” As they read and re-read the lines of the riddle, their pencil hand began to doodle on the bottom of the page. Hardly thinking about it, Dean drew a person with a key inside their head, wisps of smoke-like substance curling away from the person’s brain and floating out into the atmosphere, creating ‘everything’. They drew a car, a baseball bat, a creature with two noses, three eyes and no mouth, a planet with eight moons. Below this, they drew a grave with a gravestone that read “I hate you” and then a blob of ‘something’ with wings on either side, flying up toward all the other images they’d drawn. It was all chicken-scratch of course (no offense to Rose) but it gave Dean’s mind a chance to think outside of the box; to use their imagination.
They stopped scribbling. Imagination. Could it be?
“Imagination has no substance but can create everything,” they whispered, “just like I was doing with my drawing.”
They went to the next line. “And yes, the key to it is in my mind for sure. Yes, yes.”
Dean was getting really excited now. “Imagination has no body, right, but lots of people bury their imaginations, especially when they get older. Like Mr. Sactual and the Concretians.”
They were quivering. “And the last line: those who love me give me flight. Flights of imagi
nation! Mother’s always telling me I have a problem with that!”
Dean stared at the riddle and went over each line three more times, making sure it made sense. Finally, they called out.
“Ms. Sphinx? I think I’ve got it.”
A padding of paws, and a moment later the woman’s head was visible in the beam of Dean’s flashlight. She had a smug smile on her face as she checked her watch.
“First off, Dean dear, that would be ‘Mx,’ sphinx, not Ms. Second, I’d suggest you more than think you’ve got it. You still have twenty-three minutes before my ‘free pass’ deal ends and several hours before dawn. But only two more guesses if you get this one wrong.” She cocked her head. “Well what do you know? That rhymed.”
“It sort of did, but not really,” said Dean, their mouth farting out words again. What was wrong with them? It was like Dean had Irritable Blather Syndrome or something.
“Well, smarty-pants,” said the sphinx, frowning. “I’m done trying to help you, then. And I’m about ready for another snack anyway.” She waved a paw. “Let’s have it. What’s your answer?”
Dean took a deep breath and second-guessed themselves. Maybe they should give it more time? Try to think of other possible answers? They ran through the riddle one last time in their head. No, it was right, it had to be.
“Imagination,” they said. “That’s the answer.”
The sphinx smiled, baring her sharp teeth. She took a step forward and reached for Dean with a clawed paw.
Dean cringed backward. It must have been the wrong answer, they thought, and now she’s going to eat me.
“Congratulations, child of Queen Juliana. You got it right.”
The sphinx patted Dean on the back, then removed her paw and sat back down. “In one try, too. Very impressive. Just like your mother.” She turned her head slightly. “Max, do you have that pass?”
The tail swished forward, a square of laminated paper between Max’s fangs. The sphinx grabbed it and passed it to Dean. “Your ‘Get Through The Mountains Free’ pass, as I promised.”
“Thanks.” Dean took it. Indeed, written on it in blood red was ‘Get Through The Mountains Free’, then below that the names ‘Minnie and Max’. ‘+1’ was scribbled at the bottom.
“Is this good for Rose, too?” It would be almost useless if it wasn’t.
“That’s what the plus one is for,” said the sphinx.
“And your name’s Minnie?” asked Dean.
The sphinx nodded.
“One of the trolls who helped me in the desert is named Minnie too.”
Minnie sighed. “It’s a common name here in the north with those in my age-group. I do rather wish my mother had had more imagination of her own. I mean what about Killgrave or Death Eater or even The Riddler? But no, she had to bow to the naming trends of the time.”
The sphinx shook her head. “Well, again, congratulations Dean. You kept your wits and your imagination about you as few do.” She stood and turned toward the cave entrance. “Now, I’d suggest you get some rest like your friend there. It sounds like you have a long day of traveling tomorrow.” Minnie stepped out into the darkness and waved a paw. “Until we meet again.”
With that, she disappeared into the night.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Where Dean Discovers What Makes The Fantabulous Forest Just So Fantastically Fabulous
At the first sign of dawn, after an uncomfortable and fitful sleep in the cave, Dean got up and woke a very groggy Rose.
“Wha…where am I?” said Rose, rubbing her forehead. “And why do I feel like I drank five glasses Port Potty port last night?”
“That would be Max,” said Dean, crouching beside their friend. “He bit you.”
They went on to explain the entire story of Minnie, the riddle and the ‘Get Through the Mountains Free’ pass. “It’s a ‘plus one’,” Dean added. “So you’ll get to pass too.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” said Rose. She was standing now, stretching her limbs. “I’m amazed that you got the riddle all by yourself, D. Well, not really. I know you well enough now to know just how bright you are—just like your mother. But still, outsmarting a sphinx isn’t easy.”
The duo packed up and, having no food to eat or water to drink, exited the cave and continued their trek up the mountain. It was a little after noon when they reached an elevation high enough that snow was covering much of the rock. They stopped to eat large handfuls of it.
It wasn’t until they were almost at the mountain’s peak that they ran into another sphinx. Dean didn’t think her nearly as nice as Minnie, but once showing the pass, the creature bowed her head and let them continue.
It was with the sun at their backs that Dean and Rose started their descent down the mountain.
“We’ll make it to the Fantabulous Forest by sunset,” said Rose. “We can set up camp at the edge of it.”
“Will there be food there?” asked Dean. “I’m starving.” Their stomach had been making very loud growling noises for the past several hours.
Rose hesitated. “A lot of tasty plants grow in the Fantabulous Forest,” she said, “but we have to be careful. Most of them aren’t safe to eat.”
“Oh.” That didn’t exactly sound promising. “Are they poisonous?”
“Well, not exactly.” She paused. “You have to be careful about the water in there, too. We should fill that bottle you have with snow.”
Dean still didn’t understand what was wrong with eating the forest plants, but it was clear that Rose didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so they let it go. They’d have to eat something before too long, though—they were seriously hungry.
The sun was setting when they took their last steps over hard mountain rock and passed onto a mossy forest floor, having used their ‘Get Through The Mountains Free’ pass two more times.
Just a hundred feet in front of them was the tree line of the Fantabulous Forest. In the twilight, the trees seemed to shimmer with colored lights. It was fascinating. Dean began to walk toward them.
“D? Deanna!” called Rose, running to catch up and finally grabbing her friend’s hand with a wing. “Sorry, I meant Dean.” She was panting. “We’re not going into the forest tonight—it’s too late. We’ll camp back there.” She pointed to the base of the mountain.
“But…it’s so beautiful,” said Dean. They were completely entranced by the lights. At least until Rose jerked their hand with enough force to swing their whole body around. As soon as Dean was no longer facing the forest, it was like a spell had clicked off. They shook their head to clear it.
“The Fantabulous Forest sucks people in with its mesmerizing beauty,” said Rose, as she led Dean by the hand back toward the mountain. “And once you’ve eaten its food and drunk its water, you’ll never ever want to leave. Here, sit down on the grass, but face the mountain, okay?”
“Uh, okay,” said Dean. Their head felt fuzzy.
“I have friends who went into the forest years ago, just to check it out,” continued Rose. “They’re still there. I mean, at first they’d send me postcards saying what a great time they were having. But then they’d send them less and less often and the writing, well, it got to be almost illegible. And what they wrote didn’t really make sense after awhile. Like, ‘Fairies falling up into dandelion sun. Sharp teeth shine down. I feel empty, like a mushroom.’ Things like that.”
Rose shook her head. “We’ll need to be very, very careful as we cross through the forest. As fantabulous as it may be, it’s also rather fanatical with its desire to keep people in its branchy clutches.
“And the other thing,” added Rose, “is that you were probably just a few feet away from your mother’s protective spell. It’s between the base of the Riddled Ridge and the start of the tree line. As Magitorians, we won’t have any trouble crossing, but if you try to do it unaware, it can hurt.” She cocked her head. “Well, actually it hurts even if you do know it’s coming.”
“Okay,” said Dean, yawning.
They hadn’t been that tired a few minutes ago. It was like the forest had sucked energy from them or something. Even though they hadn’t eaten all day, the need for sleep overtook them. They lay down on the mossy ground, using their backpack as a pillow, and closed their eyes.
Dean woke at the break of dawn to the feeling of a feather duster brushing across their face. They opened their eyes. It was Rose.
“Time to get up,” said the chicken, with one last brush of her wing over Dean’s nose. “If we make a good pace, we’ll be through the forest and at Magus Manor by midday.”
“I’m so hungry,” groaned Dean as they rolled over and pushed themselves into a sitting position. They felt weak. “And thirsty.”
“There’s a bit of water left.” Rose passed the juice bottle they’d filled with snow when higher up the mountain. “You finish it.”
“Thanks.” It was maybe a third of the bottle and Dean glugged it back in two gulps. “So, there’ll be food close by once we’re out of the forest?”
“Not far, once we’re out,” agreed Rose, though she didn’t look Dean in the eye when she said it. “Just make sure you don’t eat or drink anything inside the forest, D. Even though some of the plants are completely harmless, there’s no way for us to know what is and what isn’t. So promise me you won’t eat anything, okay?”
“Yeah, okay. Sure.” Dean felt too weak and hungry to argue.
“Good,” said Rose. “Now, we’re going to go slowly so we don’t rush into the protective spell—it’ll hurt less that way. Follow me.”
Dean stood, shouldered their backpack and followed their chicken friend. The sun was shining through the forest’s evergreens, making them look magical and tantalizing. It was all Dean could do to not rush forward.
“Okay, I think it’s just up ahead.” Rose was holding both wings out, feeling for some invisible thing in the air. “Ouch!” she cried suddenly, jerking a wing back. “It’s right here.”
