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Killian frowned as he looked toward his forearm, which was dripping with blood he couldn’t feel. The numbness quickly became a burning sensation, and his skin took on a sickly purple hue along the edges. “They’re poisoned!” He shouted over the din of the screeching plants. “How do you get so close to the castle without being seen, Jax?”
The tunnel system, but that’s too far to the west from here.
“There’s a tunnel system?” Killian shook his head. “Never mind. Next plan.”
Auntie Shou threw three more balls of fire. “Call the light!”
Killian raised his sword to the sky, terror slowly creeping through his heart. “Light!” The vines continued their assault as Phineas guarded him, but nothing else happened. Killian frowned and tried again. “Light!” Nothing.
Whirling around, he saw the light behind him, blocking the gate, its beams holding back a full assault on the entryway. The attacking thorns seemed relentless against the wall of light that protected the whole forest. “I think it’s a little busy.”
Killian sliced his way back into the fray, when his shoe brushed against something soggy. He glanced down to a red mushroom with white spots. “Shou, can you use the fairy circles?”
“Ha!” She paced toward him, a flame engulfing her hand. “Does a fairy use fairy circles? Of course. What living circles do you have near the castle?”
Killian swung overhead, then ducked beneath another whipping arm. “Does it have to be mushrooms? The rose garden has a circle around the fountain.”
“Roses!” Auntie Toru cried. “Better! Shoushou, I come!” Her spindly legs carried her to Auntie Shou as Auntie Mo joined them in a circle. The man and wolf fought to give them space around the mushroom circle. Blue fire, pink water, and green electricity filled their hands. They put their palms toward the center, forming a ball of swirling elements before them. Phineas, Jax, and Killian drove back the thorns, until the fairies, with a cry, threw their hands forward and drove the ball of magic into the earth.
Auntie Mo grabbed Phineas’s shirt sleeve. “The time is now! Hop!”
“Jump!” Auntie Shou shouted at the same time.
Jax went next as Killian backed toward the fairies. Auntie Toru grabbed the back of his shirt, and all four fell through the fairy circle.
Killian’s every sinew was compressed through the magical portal, and his chest was wringed of all air. He whirled in black space, unable to see anything before a wavering light flickered ahead. He plunged into cold water. Twisting toward the light above, Killian kicked outward, finally hitting the bottom. He rocketed out of the fountain, sputtering and gasping for air.
Phineas and Jax both lay with the bulk of their bodies in the fountain, their heads and arms or front legs dangling over the edge. Auntie Toru and Auntie Shou stood on tiptoe as they waded to the side. A leg passed him in the water, and Killian reached to pluck out a sputtering Auntie Mo.
“What is the point of legs if they cannot reach!” she screeched as she clung to his forearm. “I am like a giant round stone!”
Auntie Shou began to laugh, followed by Auntie Toru’s giggle and a wheezing sound from Jax. Auntie Mo splashed water at them, then she almost toppled again and squeezed Killian’s arm tighter. He felt her legs wrap around his as he dragged her to the side. Auntie Mo was muttering and grumbling again, but she started to chuckle too. Phineas joined in with his bellow.
Auntie Shou looked them all over, plucking a thorn from Phineas’s shirt. Auntie Toru set her hand into the water and from her fingertips, pink magic shifted through the water, pooling around them.
“Dunk your muzzle, dear ancient wolf,” Auntie Shou said. “Toru will help with the poison.”
Jax had been pawing at his nose and, at her beckoning, placed his nose under the water, blowing out bubbles. Killian frowned at the blood from his arm that discolored the lighter magical waters, but by degrees, he felt the numbness of his skin sharpen into a vigorous sting. Then the scrapes and punctures dulled to a shallow wound. Killian flexed and moved his muscles which were now sore, but fully functional.
Dragging themselves out of the water, they collapsed to the grassy earth. Behind them, some distance off, the massive wall of vines writhed in a wall, taller than the trees and circling the whole castle grounds. Killian froze in concern, but the vines stayed in a vertical wall—keeping things out—and didn’t seem to notice their presence. Above them, black clouds rotated slowly, moving faster as they drew closer to the center of the vortex, directly above the tallest tower of the castle. Purple lightning rippled through them, and the air crackled with electric tension and constant rolls of thunder.
Auntie Shou pointed to the central tower and Killian followed her gaze. “She sleeps up there.”
Killian rose to his feet. The way before them was clear all the way to the garden entrance.
“Why is it so quiet?” Killian said in a low voice.
Auntie Shou cringed beside him. “You should not ever say that word, my prince. But I don’t know the answer. I can feel Zalina’s power here, though I cannot see her.”
Killian stepped toward the castle when his foot struck something like a stream of water that fell from the sky, shimmered, and dissipated. Now, instead of a peaceful castle, a horde of creatures with glowing eyes stood before them. The goblins were covered with horns, tattered wings, scales, and claws. The creatures were bent and jagged and writhing with malice. Each wore a belt with a red stone across its chest. Among them stood the gardener. He had a glassy gaze and held a spoon. Killian’s chest iced over. He looked over the army again and saw scattered servants, eyes unfocused, one wielding a serving tray, another a book. Behind them stood Killian’s men, armed with swords, all wearing the same dazed expressions.
“Puppets.” Auntie Shou gasped, her palm flying to her chest.
Auntie Mo pointed between them. “See the marks on their cheeks?” Killian looked closer, glowing purple scratches were etched on each face. Their eyes also clouded with a faint purple hue. “They stand but still sleep.”
Shuddering, Phineas stepped beside him. “I can’t kill our people.”
“We won’t,” Killian said. “Are these goblins like the ones at the castle?” He glanced at the fairies who were studying the group before nodding slowly. “Then we can fight them.” He pointed at his people, enslaved and ensorcelled. “Can you three release that spell?”
