Macster - The Last Dragon

This finally fazed the Piper, and he flinched, staring down in shock and incredulity at her swollen belly. "But...how can this be? The pipe would never...I merely assumed you were a lady accustomed to good eating..." He flushed in embarrassment at his mistake, and for the first time appeared both apologetic and considerate of her welfare. He seemed unable to take his eyes off her stomach.

And it was in that moment of his distraction that the beast struck.

Virginia had a fleeting glimpse of gray fur and great bulk, smelled a musky scent stifling in the confined cave, sensed more than saw the blur of motion as it leapt, and instinctively she ducked, tearing free of the Piper's now-slack grip and rolling across the floor. The beast landed atop the terrified man and bore him to the ground, claws tearing at his mismatched clothing, fangs snapping before his face, paws pinning him down.

It was only when she scrambled back to her feet and had the magic shoes in her hands that Virginia realized with explosive relief and amused satisfaction that the creature attacking the Pied Piper was Wolf in his lupine form.

But she took no further time to think, because even as she watched Wolf slam the Piper against the cavern floor, she saw the young man lifting his pipe again. She didn't know if he could control Wolf with it, especially while maintaining his hold on her, but she didn't want to take the chance that he couldn't. Hurriedly she fitted first one shoe, then the other, onto her feet over her loafers.

At once the power surged through her, making her gasp at its strength. The shoes glowed, and swirls of golden magic whirled around her body in concentric spirals, enveloping her in the familiar vortex. She smiled in spite of herself as she held out a hand and watched it vanish into a shimmer in the air, then nothing at all.

Unseen now, she crept across the cavern on silent feet, and as Wolf swiped at the Piper, causing him to wrench the pipe away from his lips in her direction, she reached down and snatched the instrument cleanly from his hands. At once the pipe went silent and its glow faded. The spell was broken.

Frozen in place beneath Wolf's snarling form, the Piper stared in stupefaction as the magic enveloped the pipe, shrouding it too with invisibility so that it vanished. "What magic is this?"

"I have my ways," Virginia replied dryly, her disembodied voice discommoding the Piper yet further. "And now that I have your pipe, you are no further threat to me. Wolf? Let's go." At the sound of her voice, the enormous wolf climbed off of the prone young man, tongue lolling out in a canine laugh, and joined her at the cavern entrance.

The two had nearly made it back to the ledge, and Virginia had relaxed, when the Piper's voice arrested her, calling out in despair from the depths of the cave. "No, wait! Please! Milady...forgive me my error...but do not deprive me of my magic! It is my only hope..."

Virginia snorted. "Why? So you can do this to some other poor defenseless girl?" In spite of herself, however, she looked back. Something in his tone...

She blinked in surprise as the Piper stepped into the light. Tears streaked his fine-boned cheeks, and his expression was one of absolute misery. "You don't understand...you can't possibly know what it's like to be alone, without love, with no hope for a fulfilled life..."

"Oh yeah?" Feeling the familiar constriction in her heart, the sensation she'd always had as she thought of her future before Wolf, Virginia shook her head. "Don't bet on it..."

"This was my last chance...my only option left." Clenching his hands into fists, the Piper slumped down on a rock, his shoulders sagging. "I would never truly demand a lady love me against her will...but I did not know what else to do!"

Slowly Virginia softened. If anything could excuse this young man, it was the heartache and loneliness that she too had known all her life. There was clearly a story here, and she longed to know what it was. The man did not seem dangerous without his pipe, so there was no harm in lingering a short while. Perhaps she could help him, and ensure that no one else would be lured into the same magical trap.

Wolf was still growling audibly under his breath, so she gently laid her hand on his thick neckruff, stroking him until he quieted. Then she sighed. "Maybe you'd better start at the beginning. Who are you, and how did you end up in this situation?"

The Piper looked up morosely, frowned, and then gazed in her general direction, trying to focus on her voice to locate where she stood. "My name is Colin. Prince Colin. I am the great-grandson of the original Pied Piper...a dubious distinction to say the least, as he not only stole the children of Hamelin, but sold them into Troll slavery. He was a wicked man, but it is his castle that I inherited--he too was a prince, I am sorry to say. Unlike my great-grandfather, I have been good to my people, and they love me deeply. But...I am alone. I have been unable to find a princess, or any lady for that matter, who would love me and marry me. At least, none who would marry me for who I am, as opposed to my wealth."

He paused, wringing his hands, and then bit his lip, a rather unaristocratic action. "You must understand...I am a highly eligible bachelor, and I am the target of numerous fortunehunters. I am, if I do say so myself, an excellent choice for a mate. Yet...I cannot seem to find the one, she who will truly love me, she whom I deserve."

Virginia rolled her eyes, even though no one could see her. Lovesick and lonely this prince might be; but he was also quite self-absorbed and narcissistic. He was worse than Wendell. "So...you resorted to a magic spell?" She could not conceal the reproach in her tone.

Colin flinched as if stung, and his lip trembled, but when he spoke it was in resignation. "I...I could not help it, milady. I was so desperate...I still am! I thought...I thought if I could simply summon the perfect mate, she would love me on sight and we would be Happy Ever After. I know it was foolish, but I am at my wits' end. I have been here for two weeks, and you are the first to respond, so I was certain..." Swiping his hat from his head, the Piper threw it on the ground. "I simply cannot comprehend it! It must be that the pipe is as evil as my great-grandfather Ethan! It tricked me, it purposely summoned an unavailable lady as my 'perfect mate'!"

A soft chuckle answered the frustrated prince. Turning, Virginia saw Wolf leaning against a stalagmite, back in human form, smirking. Now that she was no longer in danger, he seemed quite calm and in control. "Perhaps, princey. Or maybe it is that Virginia is your perfect mate, just as she is mine...because she is so deliciously creamy and dreamy that she would be a perfect mate for anyone."

Again, although no one could see her, Virginia rolled her eyes--but she also blushed deeply. "Stop exaggerating, Wolf."

"Oh, but Virginia, you know I'm not!" Wolf peered at her beseechingly with his puppy-dog eyes, and she had to laugh.

The Piper, meanwhile, was smiling softly. "I must agree with your mate, milady. You are extraordinary."

Virginia coughed loudly. "Ahem! I think we're getting off the point here. I sympathize with you, Prince Colin, but I can't in good conscience return your pipe to you unless you promise not to use it to summon any more ladies."

"Do not worry, after the way it has failed me today, I will never use it so again." The Piper nodded emphatically, but then lowered his gaze and sighed. "But now I shall never find love, either."

Not with an attitude like that you won't, buddy, she thought. But aloud she said, "That's just it, your Highness. You don't find love, it finds you." She smiled warmly at Wolf. "That's what happened to me. I'd try and help you more, but Wolf and I have an urgent quest we must complete, and we've been delayed enough as it is."

"Oh?" The Piper raised an eyebrow curiously. "And what quest is that?"

Virginia hesitated, but concluded there was no harm in telling him. "The Ice Queen is trying to take over the Nine Kingdoms, and we're trying to stop her." She then proceeded yet again to explain about the ice spell that had claimed Wendell and Tony, and the lone dragon within the Sixth Kingdom who could be their only salvation.

By the time she had finished, Colin was on his feet, a fire in his eyes. Clenching one hand into a fist, he slammed it into the palm of the other. "Why, that's monstrous! Utterly reprehensible! She must be stopped!" He seemed to consider, and then his expression lit up like the silver lining of a stormcloud. "And I shall help you do it."

Virginia started, then hastened to gainsay him. "Um, no, that's not necessary...and anyway, you'd just slow us down."

But the Piper was adamant, his expression as unrelenting as when he had intended to make her his wife. Now that he had something else to focus on besides his self-pity, he seemed galvanized for action--or perhaps he was this impulsive with everything he did. "No I would not! I am young and hardy, and a seasoned traveler. I will be no trouble to you. In fact I could be a valuable asset!"

Wolf cut him off with a growl, the suspicion and dislike returning to his eyes as they glinted golden in the near-darkness. "But that's just it, Piper-boy, you've already been trouble to us. And there's no way we can trust you. A wolfie always follows his instincts, and my instincts are tellin' me to steer clear of you!"

To Virginia's surprise, Colin was unfazed and did not show a trace of fear. By contrast he squared his shoulders and attempted to look as dignified and proud as he could in such a ridiculous, and tattered, costume. "That may be true. But what better way is there for me to repent, to absolve my guilt, and to gain your trust than by aiding in this great quest? It is certainly far more critical than my doomed search for love. And with my pipe...why I could bring you safely through Red Riding Hood's demesnes, to the dragon, and even enchant the Ice Queen!"

Slowly Virginia gazed down at the instrument in her hands--or rather, tried to, as it was invisible to her too. But she could still feel it as she gripped the silver shaft. She had not even considered these possibilities. If the Piper came with them, he would not be left alone and tempted to summon another mate, and he could be a great ally. Yet...could the pipe ever be used for good? She feared not...but on the other hand, the magic shoes were not exactly beneficent, and they had been used in a good cause just now. Her head whirled as the scales for and against tipped back and forth in her mind.

The Piper could not see any of the indecision on her face, so with no indication of what effect his words had had, he turned to Wolf with his next appeal. "And not only that...this tunnel in which we stand leads through the mountains. It is the same path my great-grandfather took with the children of Hamelin to the Third Kingdom...but another branch comes out at a secret pass into the Second Kingdom! I know the way. We can enter unnoticed and escape Riding Hood's patrols. Quite safe and free from harm, especially for a wolf such as yourself." He eyed Wolf knowingly.

Now it was Wolf's turn to vacillate. After several minutes during which he alternately whined and growled, he finally burst into a fit of temple-scratching and snarled, "Oh, huff-puff, what to do!"

But the Piper's final argument had convinced Virginia. If there was a safer, quicker route through the mountains, one that would keep Wolf from harm, she would take it...and if only the Piper knew it...then she would have to agree to bring him along. "All right," she sighed at last. "You can come."

Wolf whirled, eyes harried and wild, and clutched her arm, somehow catching it on the first try. "Virginia! Don't! We don't need him...I can sniff out the trail! And if he comes along he will only try and ensorcell you again."

Colin spluttered, but Virginia ignored him. "Maybe. But that's a chance we'll have to take...there are too many variables, and I don't want our success, and the fate of Wendell and Dad and all the Kingdoms, to rest on the hope that you will find the right way." Before Wolf could do more than whimper at this insult to his tracking skills, she leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper so that the Piper could not hear. "Besides...we don't dare leave him behind us...if he's with us we can keep an eye on him. And maybe, just maybe, we can help him out so he won't be a threat anymore."

The green irises she knew so well were filled with worry and stress, but also a recognition of the truth. She was right...and more to the point, she had made up her mind and he couldn't change it. Finally he offered her a rueful, pained smile. "You're such a soft touch, Virginia."

She chuckled at the old complaint and leaned against Wolf for support as she removed the Troll King's shoes. With a drunken stagger, she emerged from the magic as unsteady and muzzy-headed as ever, but as she put her hand to her head, Virginia found the craving to wear the shoes again that she had once given in to so easily was absent, or so miniscule she could brush it aside like a wisp of cobweb. Slowly she smiled to herself. If she had still doubted the changes her adventure had wrought in her, she could do so no longer.

Because she no longer had the desire to be invisible. Thanks to Wolf, and her own choice to be different from her mother, she had cast that shroud away to face the world, and love, with an open heart. Or as Snow White had put it, now she could see and be seen. The shoes had no power over her anymore.

Colin stood watching as Virginia became visible, and when she looked up with her smile of realization and self-worth, he smiled tentatively in return, and then held out his hand for the pipe. His smile faltered, however, when Wolf grinned back, showing his suddenly wolven canines.

"Very well, princey. You can have your pipe back. But I'll be watching you. And if you make one wrong move, play one wrong note, you'll find out why there are so many nasty stories about us wolfies...and you'll learn how to play your pipe with your tail."

The Piper blanched as he shakily took the pipe and put it to his lips again. Virginia glanced at Wolf in shock and amusement, but turned back at once as the music once more filled the air, accompanied by the argent light--but this time the music was completely different. Gone was the compelling call, and in its place was a monotonous, staccato rhythm. In time with the notes came the grating of rock, and slowly, inexorably, the opening back to the ledge closed, sealing them in the mountain.

For a moment Virginia was certain Wolf had been right, and she had just sealed their fates. But as soon as the portal was closed, Colin smiled at her encouragingly, having recovered some of his composure. His voice, however, was decidedly quavering. "Well? What in the fairying forest are we waiting for? Let's be off!"

And with an extravagant flourish that sent his scarlet cloak billowing behind him, the Piper lifted his glowing pipe and played again, a yearning, plaintive melody, as if the instrument too were searching for the promised way out. When the light had steadied into a constant globe, he strode into the tunnel.

Virginia exchanged a long look with Wolf, who watched her stow the shoes back in the rucksack before taking her arm and leading her after their self-appointed guide.