by Jason Beil
had been a lot of movement to the world of Honalee, and Wilberforce had been distracted, to say the least, from his responsibilities. Something had to give.
From his hiding spot amongst the trees, a terrified Yagar peeked at the battle raging around him. Things had gotten way out of hand. Oh, if only that damnable turtle hadn’t stopped him from killing Amy! Now the Witch-Queen would spill her daughter’s blood in the Sacred Grove in the presence of the Four Primes, appeasing the Elder Gods and giving her complete control over the portals! It would be the end of the world. All worlds, if Jane got her way.
Yagar was no saint. Frankly, he was evil to the core. But he was still sane, and he wanted to live. If he had to save the world to save his own skin, so be it. Unfortunately he had failed, and now there was nothing he could do.
Cowering, he continued to watch the battle unfold. It was insanity! An owl was somehow carrying a man in her claws, and she dropped this man next to a woman named Liza. Liza grabbed the man and screamed, “At last!” and a blaze of yellow energy flared between them. Then, as Jane unleashed balls of flame at Hugo, Deidre, Vivian, and Lupo, causing them to scatter in panic, the man in black transformed into the most massive, fearsome dragon Yagar had ever seen.
“JANE!” it roared. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? OUR DAUGHTER!!!”
With a great roar, it launched into the air. Jane turned toward it, laughing.
“Oh, you rascal Puff,” she mocked. “You are too late! The powers I’ve gathered in your absence are more than sufficient to put you down.”
“JUST TRY IT, WOMAN.”
Yagar had seen enough. He turned to run, but his path was blocked by… a giant doughnut?!?
“You’re not going anywhere!” said the doughnut. Yagar fell back in surprise, for it was talking in his master’s voice!
“Lord Hugo?”
“A projection of me, yes!”
Of course Hugo was not really a doughnut. He had been living in Berlin for some time, and got caught in a bad translation.
“Jane’s gone mad and turned against us all,” Hugo continued. “Get over here and help me!”
“But…”
“I order you!”
Well, that was that. Hugo had bound him long ago, and he was compelled to obey. Drawing his wand, Yagar ran into the battle. The care-bear was in his way, leaning over the fallen dragon.
“Amy?” the bear said, tears in his eyes. “Is it really you?”
When he saw Yagar coming toward him, Bear turned around and roared, protecting the wounded dragon.
“Get away!” Bear cried.
Yagar pointed his wand at him. He hated bears.
Bear screamed, which actually sounded like he was gargling mouthwash, and fell onto the dragon.
“Yagar!” cried a familiar voice. “Stop messing around with that bear and help me put this fire out!”
His Master Hugo and the three other Primes were casting frantic spells, trying to douse the flames that had run rampant across their side of the clearing. Yagar ran toward them, waving his wand and adding his spells to their own. With his added power, they managed to extinguish the flames nearest them, leaving a wide circle of charred, smoking earth.
“She played us all,” said Vivian, looking toward the other side of the clearing, where the Draco Magicae and the Witch-Queen fought one another with cataclysmic powers far beyond the ken of mere mortals.
“But why?” asked Lupo. “What’s her end game?”
“Masters,” said Yagar. “If I may?”
Looking annoyed, Hugo said, “What is it, accomplice?”
Yagar cleared his throat. “As you know, I spent years in the deep dungeons, growing my knowledge and power…”
“Cut to the chase, kiddo,” said Deidre.
“Right. In the deepest dungeon of all, I discovered the Grimoire Necrotica, which spoke of an ancient curse. If the blood of a Witch-Queen’s spawn is spilled in the Sacred Grove in the presence of… well, of you four… during a battle involving the forces of Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral… then the Elder Gods will grant said Witch-Queen power over the portals between worlds.”
Vivian shook her head. “Sounds unnecessarily complicated.”
“But somehow,” said Hugo, “she seems to be pulling it off.”
“And if she gains access to the portals…” began Deidre.
“…she’ll be unstoppable,” finished Lupo.
“Right,” said Hugo. “How do we stop her?”
“Well,” said Vivian, “We can’t fight her. We can only hope the Draco can take her down.”
Lupo nodded. “But if her daughter Amy dies, she wins anyway. And Amy’s not looking so good right now.”
Deidre raised her wand. “Right. Healing spells?”
Vivian nodded. “Healing spells.”
As Yagar followed them toward the weeping bear and the fallen dragon, Lupo leaned in toward his brother and whispered, “I didn’t know this was a Sacred Grove.”
Hugo shrugged. “Neither did I. Learn something new every day, I suppose.”
Bob was running in circles trying to keep away from Sara, who he honestly believed was trying to kill him. The fact that she was shouting “Kill you!” over and over made him confident in his assumption.
“Stop it!” he cried. “If you ever loved me at all, shut up and listen for a second!”
Power of animal, he thought, stopping in his tracks and raising his arms into the air.
A bull came running out of nowhere. It rammed Sara and knocked her to the ground.
Hmm, Bob thought. I’m getting the hang of this.
“Ouch,” Sara said, frowning and rubbing her head. “You didn’t have to go and do that.”
“Apparently I did.” He offered her a hand and helped her up. “Look around. Can’t you see what’s happening here? We can’t be fighting each other! We need to work together. We need to fight Jane.”
“Jane,” Sara said, looking up into the sky where dragon and Queen tossed earth-rending power back and forth like two children might toss a ball.
“She gave us power,” said Bob. “What do you say we use it against her?”
The earth rumbled as Harvey stomped up to stand beside them. “Count me in, tiny Bob. Harvey thought Jane friend, but Jane used Harvey. Worse, Jane caused all this.” Harvey indicated the destruction in the grove with a wave of his massive arm. He frowned. “No friend of Harvey do this.”
“Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral,” said Bob, “together again for the first time.”
“Power to the People!” exclaimed Sara, throwing a furry fist into the air.
Bob frowned and tilted his head. “Say what now?”
She put her hands on her hips and stared at him indignantly. “It’s a thing!”
“Whatever you say, Sara.”
“What’s happening?” asked Bear, holding his two front paws to his mouth. “Is Amy going to be all right?”
“She’s… she’s not responding to the spells,” said Lupo. “Rather, her body is… look, her wounds are healed, and her bones are knitted back together… but she won’t wake up. It’s almost as if… as if she’s given up on life.”
“I’m sorry,” said Vivian, putting a hand on Bear’s shoulder.
Bear leaned over his adopted daughter, tears running down his furry face. “Come back to me, Amy. Come back.”
But there was no response. He hunched motionless for a moment, his head pressed against her scales. The others looked on in silence. Long seconds passed, and then he heard a voice behind him.
“Ted? God, Ted, is that you?”
He lifted his head. “Liza?”
She knelt beside him. She looked haggard and disheveled, frumpy and aged beyond her years.
God, she was beautiful.
“This is her, isn’t it. Amy.”
“Yes. The magic people did all they could. Now… now it’s up to her, I guess.”
Liza placed her mouth near Amy’s ear and stroked her reptilian head. “Baby, it’s Mommy. I’m here
for you. I… somehow I heard you calling, and I came. We need you back, baby. It’s been hell without you. Daddy and Mommy need their little girl.”
Amy stirred. Bear sat up, his heart pounding with renewed hope. Amy’s yellow eyes flickered open, and she raised her head.
“Dad? Mom? Oh, God, it’s you! It’s both of you! You came for me!”
“Always,” said Liza.
“Always,” squeaked Bear.
Amy encircled them in her wings and drew them close. After a long embrace, Amy let them go and looked into the sky.
“My birthparents are having a lover’s spat,” she said.
“It doesn’t concern you,” said Liza. “Let’s get out of here.”
Coming up behind them, Hugo said, “There’s nowhere you can hide. And I’m afraid it does concern Amy. Jane needs her blood. And she won’t give up until she gets it.”
“Or until she’s dead,” added Deidre.
“Well then,” said Amy, casting her smoldering gaze toward the Witch-Queen. “Matricide it is.”
The Draco Magicae shielded himself from Jane’s barrage of energy with a wall of force conjured by sheer strength of will. His mind nearly shattered with the effort. How had she grown so powerful? He roared a veritable firestorm at her, but she only laughed as it enveloped her lithe form. It was enough flame to flatten a city, but it didn’t singe a single hair on her head.
“Damn you, woman!” he bellowed. “You are mad!”
“Mad? Is it mad to seek power? I have traveled places you can only dream! I have seen the face of God and found him wanting! It is time, I think, for Goddess.”
“Blasphemy! You…”
His voice faded as twisted faces formed in the sky above them—dark, horrible, faces that frightened even Draco. He had never seen them before, but he know what they
