Nightshade Forest

by Nikki Mitchell

  Eleanor looked down until they got to the gate at the fortress wall. Inside the main gate, another guard held the door open for the dwarf, but not before eyeing him carefully. As they passed, Eleanor swore she saw a green twinkle in his eye.

  Mammot and the fairies headed straight for the throne room, which was the first large room past the entrance. When they entered, they saw the queen look up from her hands.

  “Who allowed you to enter, dwarf?” she asked angrily.

  “Your Majesty,” Mammot said, bowing. “We have information on the crystal and your brother, the prince.”

  “We? You are alone, dwarf.”

  Mammot turned, looking for the fairies. They lowered their hoods and revealed themselves.

  “So, you snuck into my castle?” she asked them sternly.

  “Your Majesty, we are wanted by your guards. They found our camp near the edge of the kingdom and thought we had the crystal,” Elfie said.

  “And do you?” she asked.

  “Oh, no, Your Majesty. We would never take the crystal,” Elfie blurted out.

  “Then what information do you have?”

  Eleanor stepped forward. “Your Grace, we found a cottage at the edge of the forest and Prince Franco was there. When we tried to rescue him from the thief, he revealed that he had stolen the crystal. He wishes to be king.”

  “That’s absurd!” the queen shouted.

  “Please, we must go get it before he enchants the rest of the kingdom. The forest is dying.”

  “Do not tell me what is happening in my kingdom,” she responded. “I know the chaos that has ensued. And I will go with you to this cottage to claim my crystal. If you are correct and my brother is the thief, he will be punished. But if this a lie, you will be punished. Slander against Prince Franco is highly punishable. Are you sure you would like to stick to this tale?”

  Eleanor’s stomach dropped. She sure hoped they were right about what they saw.

  “We heard him tell us himself, Queen Maribelle,” Milo said.

  “Well, if you have the dwarves trusting you, I suppose you may have some truth. I do not understand why this would happen; my brother seemed very content here.”

  “What do you wish to have us do, my queen?” Mammot asked.

  “Go back to your clan outside my gates. My guards and I will meet you shortly.”

  Mammot, Elfie, and Milo turned to walk out, but Eleanor stepped forward.

  “Are you sure you can trust your guards?” she asked.

  Milo whipped around in awe. He couldn’t believe she would ask the queen something like that.

  “First my brother, now my guards?” Queen Maribelle asked in disbelief. “Well, aren’t you a brave little one. I believe I can trust my guards, yes, unless you know of a reason I cannot.”

  “Well, all of the creatures that have been enchanted by the prince have bright green eyes, and I thought I saw a spark of green in one of your guards’ eyes when we were entering the castle.” Eleanor stared at her feet.

  “You thought? You’ll need more than just thoughts for me to distrust my guards,” she shouted. “I suggest you join your friends outside while I gather an army. And remember, I will not tolerate any slander against anyone in this castle. Do you understand this?”

  “Yes, Your Highness. I was probably mistaken,” Eleanor said, turning toward the door.

  “It is a dangerous time to be mistaken, girl,” she said.

  A guard led the guests back to the main gates, where they were met with many questions from the dwarves. Mammot explained everything that happened in the castle, and they looked at him with uncertainty. Some weren’t sure if they could trust the fairies with that type of punishment on the line, but Mammot assured them that everything the fairies said was most likely true, and the fate of the mines rested on the restoration of the crystal.

  After what seemed like ages, guards on horseback came riding toward them. Behind them was Queen Maribelle in her rabbit cloak, and she was riding—Eleanor did a double take—a unicorn.

  She and her army stopped just before the dwarves, and the queen made her way to the front. “Thank you for being in the queen’s service,” she said. “If you help me restore the crystal, you and your families will be greatly rewarded. Now, where is the fairy with the map?” she asked.

  Milo came forward and flew up to the queen. Even if the owls were enchanted, they didn’t dare come against the queen, so he was safe.

  “You will fly by my side and lead us to this cottage,” the queen commanded.

  With the queen and Milo leading the way, the troops of guards and dwarves began to march. At first, they ran into no trouble, but when they hit the edge of the forest, the wolves were waiting for them.

  18

  “Charm them with your flute,” Queen Maribelle commanded.

  “They can’t be charmed; we tried the last time they attacked,” Milo said.

  The wolves were hunched down, teeth bared and green eyes glowing. They had been tipped off. Eleanor started to shake—these wolves were the absolute worst.

  “How did they know we were coming?” She turned to the guards directly behind her.

  “I don’t know, my queen,” one guard said. His eyes twinkled green, but the queen didn’t seem to notice.

  “How did you escape last time?” Maribelle’s attention was back on Milo.

  “We started a forest fire,” he said. “Just a small one to keep them behind, and then we flew through the unmarked areas of the forest. But not everyone here can fly. We won’t be able to lose them on foot, even with fire.”

  The queen turned to her army. “Fall back. We need to regroup.”

  Everyone moved away from the edge of the forest. The wolves hadn’t budged, so the queen was sure they were told to only keep people out. Prince Franco clearly didn’t want his sister to even get close to the cottage.

  “Fairy with the fire power, please come forward,” Queen Maribelle commanded.

  Eleanor passed the guards and flew up alongside the queen. “Yes, Your Majesty?” she asked.

  “How well do you control your fire?”

  Eleanor looked at her hands. She had only used it a few times, but she was surprisingly comfortable with what she had done.

  “Pretty well,” Eleanor said.

  “Good. I want you to go back and get your other friend,” she said. “The three of you will fly through the trees so the wolves will follow you. Once you are far enough away from the edge of the forest, the dwarves will knock down some of the trees and create a blockade. When you hear my siren, you are to fly back and start the blockade on fire. With luck, this will drive the wolves to their master and let us through.”

  Milo flew back and told Elfie the plan.

  “Finally, an adventure that I have permission to go on!” Elfie said, beaming.

  Mammot called his clan to action, and on the queen’s command, the three fairies flew right over the wolves. At first, the pack didn’t notice, so Eleanor threw a few fireballs at the alpha. There were at least fifty wolves guarding the forest, but the fire got the alpha’s attention, and they all began growling and howling at the fairies on its command.

  Eleanor, Milo, and Elfie flew a little higher and continued to taunt the wolves so that the dwarves could have enough time to build the fire zone without getting eaten.

  The wolves began to climb, and Eleanor flew higher. She continued to throw fireballs to keep them occupied. The fire didn’t hurt them, but they seemed to be getting angrier with each one. Their eyes grew greener and suddenly, the alpha wolf spoke.

  “I see you, fire fairy. I know your plans. I have infiltrated your army and you will bow to me,” it said, although Eleanor recognized the voice as the prince’s.

  “What do we do now?” Eleanor shouted to Milo.

  “I’m not sure. I guess we just stay here until the queen sounds her alarm, and then we will warn her when we get back. If we go retreat now, the wolves will attack the dwarves,” he shouted.


  Eleanor continued to throw fireballs at the wolves, but the magic was still going right through them. She realized they weren’t distracted anymore and turned toward the edge of the woods.

  “I don’t think we can hold them much longer,” she yelled to her friends.

  “We have to wait for the queen’s siren!” Milo yelled back.

  Just as Eleanor was conjuring another fire attack, the queen’s siren filled the air. Eleanor, Elfie, and Milo flew back at once, with the wolves close behind.

  When Eleanor saw the size of the blockade, her heart fell into the pit of her stomach. She had never conjured that much fire before, and she wasn’t sure she could control it long enough to light it all.

  “I don’t know if I can do this, Elfie!” she cried. She forgot that everyone in the kingdom, except for Elfie, thought she was Pix. She was terrified of blowing everything up.

  “You can! Just focus!” Elfie responded.

  Eleanor concentrated on her hand and the pile of trees. She tried her best to block everything else out. At first, nothing happened, and she was worried she had used all of her fire power on the wolves. Then fire blasted out of her hands so strongly that the whole blockade was up in flames in just seconds. The dwarves cheered, the wolves howled, and Eleanor flew to the queen as fast as she could.

  “Your Majesty,” she said “We have a—”

  “Well done, girl, well done,” the queen interrupted. “Now onto the next—”

  “I don’t mean to step out of my place again, but we have a big problem,” Eleanor said.

  She explained to the queen what the wolf had said in the woods. She was still shaking from the encounter.

  “How did Franco get the information?” the queen asked.

  “I don’t know, Your Majesty,” Eleanor said. “Maybe the gargoyles heard everything back at the castle.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Queen Maribelle said.

  Eleanor looked toward the army behind the queen and saw it again, a twinkle of green in a guard’s eyes. It was at that moment that she knew for sure that it wasn’t the gargoyles who leaked the information. The prince had at least one guard enchanted this whole time. “Your Majesty, we have a really big problem,” she said.

  “What is it?” the queen asked.

  “I can’t tell you right here, may we speak in private?”

  “All right,” the queen said, patting her unicorn on the side of its neck. She and Eleanor moved off to the side of the army to prevent any eavesdropping.

  “It’s your guard,” Eleanor whispered. “I knew I saw a twinkle of that green when I was leaving the castle earlier. I thought maybe it was my imagination, but I just saw it again. I think your brother may be watching us through your protection. At least one of your guards has turned against you.”

  “I will take care of it,” Queen Maribelle said, heading toward the guards.

  “No, wait,” Eleanor said, flying closer to the queen. “Your brother will see that too. Maybe we can give him bad information. You know, lead him down a rabbit hole?”

  “That is a spectacular idea,” the queen said.

  Queen Maribelle and Eleanor pulled the two commanding guards to the side and explained the new plan to recover the crystal and capture Prince Franco. A handful of guards were to go find the owls and enlist their help so that everyone could fly over the forest and avoid the wolves. It would be faster, and the prince wouldn’t see it coming, the queen explained. The guards obeyed and took several others on the new mission. Once they were out of sight, the Queen descended from her unicorn and spoke with Mammot.

  “Can you call on the giants?” she asked.

  “Yes, but I do not think now is the time,” he responded. “I think we need them as a surprise element. It’s too early to bring out our main weapon, Your Highness.”

  “If you think so; you do know them better than anyone else. But now that the wolves have gone back to my brother, let’s try to get through this forest,” she said, climbing back onto her unicorn.

  Eleanor and Milo flew on each side of the queen as they carefully went around the fiery blockade. Milo kept a close eye on his map.

  “How did you find my brother in the first place?” the queen asked.

  “We found his handkerchief in the cottage the first time we were there, and I used fairy powder to track him,” Milo said.

  “Is he still being tracked?” she asked.

  “No, Your Majesty, I ran out of fairy powder.”

  The queen reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a small pouch, which she handed to Milo. “Track him again. It’s the only way we can keep eyes on him,” she said.

  Milo grabbed the handkerchief from his satchel and placed it on the map. He sprinkled a little of the powder and the red x appeared again. The x was still hovering over the small cabin.

  “He’s still in the cottage,” Milo said.

  “Well then, that’s where we are headed,” the queen said.

  They didn’t make it too far into the woods before hearing a crash through the tops of the trees. The horses whinnied in fear and tried to turn back. The queen and the remaining guards tried to calm them, but the thrashing continued.

  “Gargoyles!” the dwarves shouted, pointing to the sky.

  “How’d they get loose?” Queen Maribelle asked, growing furious. “I’ll turn Franco into a gargoyle when I’m done with him!”

  “What do we do? These gargoyles will crush us! They are made of stone,” Milo said.

  “Throw fire at them, girl!” the queen commanded.

  “It won’t work if they’re enchanted.”

  “Well, do it anyway!” The queen turned and faced the dwarves. “Mammot!”

  Mammot went running up to her.

  “Call the giants,” she ordered. “They can deal with the gargoyles. We need to get to the cottage before he ruins my kingdom.”

  The dwarf reached into his pocket and pulled out another ram’s horn. He blew it and a loud siren filled the air. “They’ll be here soon, Your Majesty.” He bowed.

  “Can you keep them distracted like you did the wolves?” the queen asked Eleanor.

  “We can try,” she said, looking at Milo and Elfie, who had joined them at the lead.

  Eleanor, Elfie, and Milo flew over to the gargoyles, but since they were perched in the top of the trees, they didn’t have the advantage they did with the wolves. As Eleanor grew closer to the treetops, her eyes locked on a gargoyle. Its eyes burned right through hers, and she knew that even if they weren’t enchanted, fire wouldn’t touch these beasts. They weren’t even supposed to be real. A gargoyle was supposed to stay fixed on whatever it was guarding, not take flight and fight. First wolves, and now she and her friends had giant stone beasts coming at them. She tried to break eye contact, but she was frozen in fear.

  The thrashing continued, and Eleanor saw five more gargoyles perch on the trees next to the first. Their talons dug into the already dying trees. With large, white, stone teeth bared, the gargoyles’ wings started to flap. Eleanor closed her eyes and started to lose height, knowing they were about to come at her.

  “They’re going to attack!” she screamed to Elfie and Milo. “The stone makes them a little slower than usual, but they’re too strong!”

  She flew down and rested in a tree, trying to stay out of sight. A few trees over, she saw Milo motion to his cloak, but she was so terrified she had forgotten about her hood. The thrashing continued, and Eleanor looked up to see a wall of stone land right in front of her. It took her one glance at its face to see that it had been the one guarding the fortress gate.

  Eleanor conjured fire and threw it in its face, hoping by some miracle, it would disintegrate. It didn’t. Instead, its eyes flashed a brighter green, and all she saw were sharp claws. She dropped down farther in the tree and looked for an escape. She only saw a blur of stone wings. Eleanor dodged, but when she regained her balance, that’s when she saw it—Elfie was flying in and out of the group of gargoyles, trying to get them to
crash into one other. Eleanor was about to warn Elfie about the gargoyle coming from her left, but it was too late. Elfie was struck with a wing twice the size of her and spiraled straight to the forest floor.

  “No! Elfie!” Eleanor screamed.

  Elfie’s limp body fell to the ground.

  19

  Eleanor’s screams filled the air. She rushed down to Elfie, completely forgetting about the gargoyles.

  “Pix! Look out!” Milo shouted, noticing Eleanor hunched over Elfie’s body. “You have to get out of there!”

  “I can’t just leave her here! Help me!” Eleanor cried.

  Milo flew down to her, dodging the stone wings and sharp talons on his way. He picked Elfie up and flew back to the queen.

  “We have to go back to the castle right now. She’s hurt,” Eleanor said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

  “We cannot abort this mission. We need to get to the crystal,” the queen responded.

  “How can you be so cruel? We’re just trying to help you, and you’ve been so rude since we first stepped into the castle. Now my best friend is hurt, and you don’t care?” Eleanor was screaming at the queen, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  The queen looked taken aback. Nobody had ever spoken to her like that before.

  “I am sorry about your friend, but if we do not get the crystal back, everyone will be in her condition unless they bow to my brother. Have one of the guards take her back. Find one you can trust.”

  Eleanor and Milo flew to one of the guards from the village. Milo knew him well because he did all of the shopping for the castle at Milo’s market.

  “Please take her back to the fairy village,” he said. “There is a healing fairy there that can help her.”

  The guard took Elfie into his saddle and started to ride toward the village.

  Eleanor sunk to the ground in a fit of tears. Milo tried to console her, but he couldn’t. He didn’t understand what was really at stake. His world was fake, but Eleanor was from a real place and Elfie was the only person in this whole kingdom who knew who she really was. Without her help, Eleanor couldn’t make it back home. After a lot of coaxing, Milo broke through and Eleanor sat up.