A Tale of Magic... (38 page)

“I understand you’re all disappointed,” she said. “It’s never easy to find out you’ve been lied to by someone you love, but if you really think about it, the truth about fairies and witches doesn’t change anything. We’re still the same
people
we were at the academy, and Madame Weatherberry is still the same
person
we set out to save. Everything she’s ever done—writing
The Truth About Magic
, standing up to the Snow Queen, starting the academy—it’s all been to protect and gain acceptance for the magical community. We can forgive her for making a few mistakes along the way, can’t we?”

The students thought about Madame Weatherberry’s intentions and ultimately agreed with Brystal’s perspective, but the apprentices weren’t convinced.

“Tangerina? Skylene?” Brystal said. “I know this is more difficult for you two because you’ve known Madame Weatherberry the longest. It’s perfectly fine to feel whatever you’re feeling right now, but one day I think you’ll look back on this and—”

“It’s not just about Madame Weatherberry,” Tangerina confessed. “I’ve always thought fairies were better than witches—and I
liked
feeling better than something else. It helped me cope with all the hatred the world sent us. Believing I was born that way made me feel valuable—like the universe was on my side.”

“Me too,” Skylene said. “And we hated witches just like humankind hates us. But now we know we’re not better than witches—and we’re not any better than humankind, either.”

Brystal knelt in front of her troubled friends and placed a hand on both of their knees.

“We’re all just a couple of mistakes away from becoming the people we despise,” she said. “So don’t think
worse
of yourself, but let this change
how
you think of yourself. Start valuing
who
you are, more than
what
you are. Prove you’re better than most people by showing more
acceptance
and
empathy
. And fuel your pride with what you
earn
and
create
, instead of what you’re born with.”

Tangerina and Skylene went quiet as they considered Brystal’s encouraging proposal. The changes she suggested weren’t easy, and it would take a lot of time and hard work, but her message inspired them to try.

“You’re really good at pep talks,” Tangerina said. “Like, sometimes it’s
weird
how good you are.”

Brystal laughed. “I have a good teacher,” she said. “We all do.”

After a short break, the classmates continued through the In-Between toward Black Bear Cave. Every few steps, Brystal compulsively checked her geography book to make sure they were going in the right direction. Within the hour, they arrived at an enormous cave at the side of a wide hill. The entrance was surrounded by several black boulders stacked to make the cave look like the mouth of a giant bear.

“I’m guessing
that’s
Black Bear Cave,” Emerelda said.

“Wait, do we think there are
bears
in there?” Xanthous asked.

“Probably,” Lucy said. “I doubt Black Bear Cave got its name for housing flamingos.”

“Doesn’t that worry anyone else?” he asked. “I mean, are we actually going inside a bear cave with a girl covered in
honey
?”

Everyone turned to Tangerina and eyed her honeycomb jacket with concern.

“Oh yeah,” Brystal said. “Xanthous brings up a good point.”

Before they could discuss a possible precaution, the classmates were distracted by a freezing wind that blew through the forest. The wind was followed by a thunderous commotion, and suddenly, the dark woods became much darker. The group looked up and saw the gray clouds of a terrible storm rolling in from the north. As the clouds covered the sky, a powerful snowstorm surged through the In-Between like a white tsunami.

“What’s going on?” Tangerina asked.

“It’s a blizzard!” Brystal exclaimed.
“Everyone into the cave! NOW!”

The classmates dashed through the forest, and the blizzard chased after them like a swirling white monster. They arrived at the cave’s entrance just as the storm collided with the hillside. Brystal and her friends sprinted into the cave until the blizzard’s icy winds couldn’t reach them.

“That wasn’t a normal blizzard, was it?” Skylene asked.

“No,” Brystal said. “The Snow Queen’s destruction is spreading beyond the Northern Kingdom! This isn’t just about saving Madame Weatherberry anymore—we’ve got to get to Tinzel Heights and stop the Snow Queen before the whole world is covered in one big storm!”

The future seemed grim, and as they journeyed deeper into Black Bear Cave, their environment became just as dark. Soon the cave was pitch-black and the classmates could barely see one another. They heard another thunderous commotion coming from ahead, and they worried the blizzard had found a way inside.

“AHHHHH!”
Lucy suddenly screamed.

“What happened?” Xanthous asked.

“Sorry, I just felt something hairy against my leg,” Lucy said. “Tangerina, was that you?”

“Very funny,” Tangerina said. “But I’m behind you.”

Brystal waved her wand and illuminated the cave with twinkling lights. All the classmates screamed when they discovered they were surrounded by over a hundred black bears. Brystal and her friends grabbed one another and looked around the cave in terror, but luckily, their panic was unnecessary because all the creatures were sound asleep on the ground. The snoring bears were even louder than the blizzard outside.

“Did someone give them Simple Slumber Sleeping Salt, too?” Skylene asked.

“No, they’re hibernating,” Emerelda said.

“But it’s way too early for bears to hibernate,” Xanthous said. “It’s still spring.”

“The cold weather must be confusing them,” Emerelda said. “I doubt they had time to gather enough food to survive for very long.”

“Nothing is going to survive a winter that lasts forever,” Brystal said. “Now, everyone look for the abandoned goblin tunnel. The Tree of Truth said it’s somewhere in the back of the cave.”

The classmates searched every corner of the cave and finally found a tunnel flanked by two horrifying goblin statues. Brystal waved her wand, and all the twinkling lights throughout the cave flew into the tunnel to light the passageway. The classmates saw that it was perfectly round, its walls were carved with symbols from an ancient goblin language, and it seemed virtually endless as it stretched into the distance.

Before her classmates could get intimidated by the lengthy tunnel, Brystal led them inside. The students and apprentices walked for hours and hours; the passageway appeared to stretch in a perfectly straight line beneath the In-Between. Brystal tried to trace their steps in her geography book, but the tunnel wasn’t recorded in any of the maps, so it was impossible to tell exactly where they were. Eventually the tunnel split into two different directions, and Brystal had the nerve-racking task of choosing which way to go.

“Well?” Emerelda asked her. “Where should we go?”

Brystal looked back and forth at the tunnels, and she glanced up and down at her geography book, but she had no idea where either branch headed.

“I think Tinzel Heights is to the right—wait, to the left—
no, it’s to the right
!”

Brystal marched into the tunnel on her right, confident she was making the correct choice. Her classmates followed her, but a few yards into the new tunnel, they noticed someone was missing. Brystal looked back and saw Lucy was lingering behind them.

“Lucy, what are you doing?” Brystal asked.

“We’re going the wrong way,” Lucy said. “We should take the tunnel to the left.”

“No, the tunnel to the right makes more sense,” Brystal said. “Trust me, I’ve thought about this. Black Bear Cave is southeast of the Northern Kingdom, which means this tunnel is heading in a northwest direction. If the tunnel continues in a straight line, it’s much more likely Tinzel Heights will be on our right than our left.”

“Stop thinking logically,” Lucy said. “Goblins aren’t logical creatures. They didn’t care how straight the tunnel was—they just dug it until they found something.”

“But my gut is telling me we should go to the right,” Brystal said.

“And
my
gut is telling me we should go to the left,” Lucy said. “Look, we always joke that I have a specialty for trouble, and right now, I sense a
lot
of trouble coming from the left. Please, you have to trust me on this—I can feel it in my bones.”

Brystal was hesitant to change directions. Her eyes darted between Lucy and the geography book, but she couldn’t decide whose instincts to follow. If they made the wrong choice, they’d never make it to the Northern Kingdom in time to save Madame Weatherberry. Fortunately, Brystal didn’t have to make the decision on her own.

“I think we should trust Lucy,” Tangerina said.

Everyone was shocked by Tangerina’s faith in Lucy.

“Really?” Brystal asked. “You do?”

“Absolutely,” Tangerina said. “If there’s one thing Lucy knows how to do, it’s stumble into a bad situation. Her gut would never lead us to safety.”

Lucy opened her mouth to argue but then went silent, because she knew Tangerina was right. None of the classmates objected to Tangerina’s recommendation—they all knew Lucy had a knack for trouble. Brystal took a deep breath and prayed her friends were correct.

“All right,” she said. “We’re going to the left.”

A couple miles into the left tunnel, Brystal was finally able to breathe easy. The passageway began curving to the right and headed in the direction Brystal had thought the other tunnel would take them. She checked the Map of Magic and was extremely relieved to see her and her classmates’ stars appear in the Northern Kingdom.

“You were right, Lucy!” Brystal said. “We’re almost to Tinzel Heights!”

Lucy shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Don’t mention it,” she said. “I’ve got a sixth sense for danger.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt this warm moment of recognition,” Emerelda said. “But do we have a plan for
how
we’re going to save Madame Weatherberry and stop the Snow Queen once we reach Tinzel Heights?”

Brystal had been mulling over a strategy since they entered Black Bear Cave, but she was so focused on
getting
to Tinzel Heights that she hadn’t told the others what to expect when they arrived.

“The Tree of Truth told me the Snow Queen is keeping Madame Weatherberry in Tinzel Palace,” Brystal said. “We’ll go to the palace and lure the Snow Queen out with a distraction. Once she’s away, we’ll go inside and find Madame Weatherberry. Then we’ll wait for the Snow Queen to return, take her by surprise, and… and… and…”

“And
kill
her?” Skylene asked.

“Yes,” Brystal said with difficulty.

“How are we going to do that?” Xanthous said. “I suppose there are more possibilities now that we know witchcraft is an option.”

Brystal knew
that
part of the plan was inevitable, but she didn’t know how they were going to go through with it. Despite all the suffering and damage the Snow Queen had caused, Brystal couldn’t fathom
hurting
her, let alone ending her life.

“I’m not sure yet,” she told the others. “But I’ll think of something.”

They had arrived at the base of a towering mountain range with sharp peaks and steep slopes. In the distance to the north, the classmates spotted the pointed towers of Tinzel Palace peeking out from behind the mountaintops. In the distance to the south, in the heart of a valley below the mountain range, was the small town of Appleton Village. The village was the only place in the Northern Kingdom that hadn’t been destroyed, and it was obvious that the country’s entire population was gathered there. The cottage homes and shops were surrounded by a sea of tents for all the refugees who had fled there.

Not only did they find themselves in the center of a wintry storm, but the classmates had also surfaced in the middle of a war zone. The base of the mountain was filled with soldiers frantically preparing for battle. A tall man with a black beard gave orders to the soldiers as they ran around him, and Brystal assumed he was the General White she had heard about.

“Get those cannons into position!” the general shouted. “As for the rest of you, I want one row behind me and two rows ahead of me! We must use whatever weapons and strength we have left! This is our last chance to save the kingdom! We cannot let her pass the mountains, I repeat, we cannot let her pass the mountains!”

Just a few dozen men were all that remained of the Northern Kingdom’s army. After months of combat, every soldier was exhausted, battered and bruised, and the majority of their armor was damaged or missing. However, the men valiantly pushed through the pain and followed their general’s demands.

“These guys aren’t going to make it through another battle,” Lucy told her classmates. “We’ve got to do something.”

“I agree,” Brystal said. “We’ll help the soldiers first, and then we’ll go to the palace.”

The students and apprentices hiked through the snow toward General White. The general was so busy commanding his soldiers he didn’t notice the classmates until they were a couple of feet away.

“What the heck are you doing here?” he shouted.

“General White, we’re here to help you!” Brystal said.

“This is no place for children!” the general said. “Get to the village immediately!”

“You don’t understand, we’re Madame Weatherberry’s students!” she explained.

“Who?” the general asked.

“Madame Weatherberry!” Brystal said. “She’s the woman who’s been helping you fight the—”

“I don’t have time for this!” General White shouted. “Go to the village before you get yourselves killed!”

Brystal didn’t want to waste any time, either—she needed much more than
words
to earn General White’s trust.

With a flick of Brystal’s wand, all the soldiers’ damaged armor was magically repaired, and all their missing plates and pieces reappeared. General White and his men couldn’t believe their eyes as Brystal’s magic filled in the holes of their broken shields, popped the dents of their smashed helmets, and returned their lost gloves and footwear.

“All right, you can stay,” the general told her. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Tell us how we can help you,” Brystal said. “What do you and your men need?”

“We need a
miracle
,” he said.

Just then, one of the soldiers blew a horn, and the entire army turned toward the mountains. The classmates looked up as a menacing figure appeared on the closest mountaintop. The figure wore a tall crown that was shaped like a giant snowflake and a bulky coat made from white fur, and she carried a long icicle scepter. Brystal borrowed a soldier’s telescope and saw that the figure was a woman with glowing red eyes and black frostbitten skin. Her hands were so thin and bony they resembled tree branches.

Without a doubt, the students and apprentices knew they were staring at the infamous Snow Queen. Their first glimpse at the most powerful witch in the world was a chilling sight, and they shivered from much more than the cold air.

“She’s here!”
General White shouted.
“Prepare for battle!”

As the soldiers hurried into position, the Snow Queen was joined on the mountaintop by four people wearing familiar black cloaks. The classmates gasped in horror when they recognized the cloaked women standing at the Snow Queen’s side.

“That’s Crowbeth, Newtalia, Squidelle, and Feliena!” Skylene said.

“It can’t be!” Tangerina said.

“What are they doing with the Snow Queen?” Xanthous asked. “They’re supposed to be helping Madame Weatherberry!”

Brystal felt warmer as anger coursed through her body. There was only one reason to explain why the witches were standing at the Snow Queen’s side.

“They must have tricked Madame Weatherberry!” Brystal exclaimed. “The witches are working for the Snow Queen!”

“Those
gizzard suckers
!” Lucy yelled.

Now it made sense why the witches were so desperate for Madame Weatherberry to return to the Northern Kingdom when she wasn’t ready. The weaker the fairy was, the easier it would be for the Snow Queen to overpower her. There was no way of knowing how long the witches had been planning their betrayal, but Brystal had a feeling it was their plan from the very beginning.

“Load the cannons!”
General White ordered.

“Sir, we have nothing to load them with!”
a soldier called to him.
“We’re out of ammunition!”

“I can help you with that!” Emerelda said.

She knelt on the ground and quickly started scooping the snow into large snowballs. Once they were the size of cannonballs, Emerelda transformed the snowballs into heavy emerald spheres and passed them to the soldiers.

“Will these work?” she asked.

It didn’t take long for the men to understand what Emerelda was doing. The soldiers dropped to the ground and made more snowballs for Emerelda to transform, and then loaded the emerald spheres into their cannons.

“Prepare to fire!”
General White shouted.
“On three! One… two…”

Before they could fire their first round, the Snow Queen pointed her scepter at the army, and a massive blizzard descended from the sky. There was so much snow, it was all the soldiers and classmates could see around them. The winds were so powerful that Brystal and her friends locked arms to keep from falling.

“FIRE!” General White ordered.

“Sir, we can’t see anything in this snow!” a soldier called back.

“I can fix that!” Tangerina said.

The apprentice closed her eyes and concentrated with all her might. Her bumblebees vacated her hair and flew directly into the storm. Her classmates didn’t understand what she was doing, but soon they realized Tangerina’s concentration stretched far beyond their expectations. Thousands and thousands of bumblebees flew into the blizzard from all over the Northern Kingdom. The swarm moved through the area like a giant buzzing net, and the insects caught the flakes of snow with their tiny legs. Soon the air was so clear the blizzard was nothing but gusts of empty wind.

General White didn’t take the clear conditions for granted.

“NOW!”
he ordered.
“Fire at will!”

The soldiers lit their cannons and pelted the mountains with Emerelda’s ammunition. Each emerald sphere got closer and closer to where the Snow Queen stood. The witch roared angrily and pointed her scepter to the clouds. She summoned a bolt of lightning out of the sky, and it struck the base of the mountain. Suddenly, the ground started to rumble under the army’s feet. One by one, hundreds of terrifying snowmen grew out of the snowy ground and crept toward the soldiers like a legion of icy zombies.

“ATTACK!”
General White shouted.

The army charged ahead and battled the Snow Queen’s frosty warriors. The soldiers courageously fought the snowmen, but they were greatly outnumbered. Brystal knew she and her classmates had to intervene before the soldiers were in trouble.

“Emerelda, keep making those cannonballs! Tangerina, keep clearing the air with your bees! Lucy, Xanthous, and Skylene—follow me! We’re going to help the soldiers fight the snowmen!” she said.

“Let’s kick some
ICE
!” Lucy cheered.

The classmates ran across the base of the mountain and joined the men in combat. Brystal waved her wand and sent snowmen flying through the air in large bubbles, and she used rainbows like colorful slingshots to fling them into the mountains. Lucy crushed the snowmen with falling pianos, tubas, and harps, and she made deep sinkholes appear at their feet. Xanthous and Skylene put their magic together and melted the snowmen with jets of boiling water. With the classmates’ help, the Northern Kingdom’s army tore through the snowmen like they were made of paper. The Snow Queen was infuriated to see her adversaries succeeding and she seethed from the mountaintop.

“This is perfect!” Brystal said.

“Really?” Lucy asked her. “Do you have other battles to compare it to?”

“No, I mean this is the perfect distraction!” Brystal said. “I’m going to sneak into Tinzel Palace and rescue Madame Weatherberry while the Snow Queen is occupied!”

“Brystal, no!” Skylene objected.

“We won’t let you face the Snow Queen on your own!” Xanthous said.

“I don’t plan to,” she said. “If the Snow Queen heads back to the palace, then follow her and meet me there! But right now she’s fixated on the Northern Kingdom’s army! This might be the best opportunity we have to save Madame Weatherberry!”

Brystal’s plan made her classmates nervous, but as they looked up at the Snow Queen’s unwavering gaze on General White and his men, they knew Brystal was right.

“Be careful!” Lucy said. “I’m too young for you to die!”

“I will!” Brystal said. “Look out for each other while I’m gone!”

When she was certain the witches weren’t looking, Brystal discreetly dashed into the mountainside and climbed toward the towers of Tinzel Palace. Brystal kept a watchful eye on the Snow Queen as she went and carefully traveled around the witch without being noticed.

Eventually, the soldiers and classmates gained the upper hand on the snowmen. The Snow Queen decided it was time to send in reinforcements, and she nodded to the witches standing beside her. Crowbeth, Newtalia, Squidelle, and Feliena descended down the mountain and entered the battle.

Although they had always stood and walked like people, the witches threw off their cloaks and revealed bodies that were more animal than human. Instead of arms, Crowbeth had large feathery wings and legs like a hawk. Newtalia had a long scaly torso that coiled like the body of a snake. Squidelle had eight flexible limbs with tentacles like an octopus. Feliena’s body was covered in fur, and instead of hands and feet, she had paws with razor-sharp claws. Each of the witches set their sights on a different classmate and preyed upon the children.

Crowbeth spread her wings and swooped through the air, snatching Lucy off the ground like an eagle catching a squirrel. She raised the girl high into the sky and dangled her above the clouds. Lucy squirmed helplessly in the witch’s clutches, and Crowbeth cackled as she struggled.

“I hope you enjoy your
fall
as much as you’ve enjoyed our winter!” Crowbeth screeched.

Lucy closed her eyes and tried to summon a mighty force to save her. Just as Crowbeth was about to drop her, a flock of squawking geese appeared on the horizon and flew to Lucy’s rescue. The geese attacked Crowbeth, using their beaks to pluck the witch’s feathers and rip holes in her wings. Soon Crowbeth’s wings were so damaged she couldn’t keep herself in the air, and the witch plummeted into the mountains. The geese grasped Lucy with their beaks and safely lowered her back to the earth.

“Well, you’re not the birds of prey that I was picturing, but you’re the best gaggle a girl could ask for,” Lucy told the geese.

On the ground below, Xanthous and Skylene went back to back as they were circled by Newtalia and Squidelle. They tried to hit the witches with bursts of fire and water, but Newtalia and Squidelle dodged their efforts with ease.

In one slick spinning motion, Squidelle struck Xanthous’s face with all eight of her limbs. The boy fell to the ground, his eyes fluttered shut, and all the flames on his body disappeared. Squidelle lurched toward the unconscious boy; she wrapped her limbs around him and started squeezing him to death.

“It’s time to put your flames out forever!” Squidelle grumbled.

However, Xanthous had other plans. When Squidelle was least expecting it, Xanthous awoke from his pretend blackout and tightly fastened his Muter Medal around the witch’s neck. Squidelle frantically tried to pull the Muter Medal off, but her tentacles couldn’t untie Xanthous’s small knot. As her powers began to fade, Squidelle collapsed and flopped onto the ground like a fish out of water. The witch thrashed across the snow, accidentally rolled into one of Lucy’s sinkholes, and never resurfaced.

“Skylene, did you see that?” Xanthous asked. “I stopped my flames all by myself! I didn’t even need the Muter Medal!
Skylene?
”

His friend didn’t respond because she had her hands full. Skylene was pointing at Newtalia and blasting the witch with the most powerful geyser she could muster. Unfortunately, the water wasn’t enough to stop Newtalia from creeping closer. The witch dived into Skylene’s geyser and swam through it like it was a stream. Newtalia slithered close enough to grab hold of Skylene, and the witch lifted the girl by her collar.