Macster - The Last Dragon

After a tableau of several minutes, Benjamin Tell snapped another question. "Well? Are you going to speak, or would you like to find out how well I can skewer your head when I'm not aiming for an apple?" His arrow tip jerked suggestively, and the arms of his bow creaked.

Finally Virginia found her voice. "We...we're just harmless travelers, good sir. Heading west into the Sixth Kingdom."

That had been an unfortunate blunder. The bowman frowned, his thick bushy eyebrows coming together like mating caterpillars, and then he shook his head and snorted derisively. "No one goes into the Sixth Kingdom, not if they ever want to come out again. You'll have to do better than that."

"Well, we're going there anyway." Virginia swallowed hard, her wide blue eyes focused to a pinpoint on the rigid arrow. "We have a quest of utmost importance that must be completed, and it can only be completed there."

"Now why should I believe you?" Benjamin Tell glared belligerently at her. "You may be a party of thieves, come to rob my family."

Virginia looked helplessly and uncertainly at the rest of them. Clearly she was unwilling to reveal who they really were, but she had no idea what else she could say to assuage the man's suspicions. And Wolf was too busy keeping his knife tucked unobtrusively behind Red Riding Hood, the blade set against the small of her back to prevent her from crying out her identity, to muster a reply of his own--even assuming he had been able to lower his hackles and regard Benjamin with anything other than distrust and feral intent. So it was up to the Piper to do something.

Clearing his throat diffidently, Colin attracted the archer's attention, gulping as those dark angry eyes rested upon him. "You should believe us because of who we are. I am Prince Colin of the Fourth Kingdom, this is the Lady--" He paused for the briefest of seconds to snatch onto a plausible name and hoped this Tell fellow didn't catch on. "--Carmen, and they are Virginia the Fair and the noble Wolf...two of the Four Who Saved the Nine Kingdoms."

As the words passed through his lips he could hear Virginia muffle a curse and hiss under her breath at him about the danger he was putting them in, but he was rather more concerned about the danger he could get them out of. And it seemed to have worked. Benjamin was frowning still, but in puzzlement and wariness now. Slowly he lowered the arrow a few centimeters and considered them again. "You speak truly?"

Sighing in resignation, Virginia nodded. "Yes, he does. We didn't want to say who we were because we're traveling incognito, and we've already run into jealousy and distrust from others when we admitted who we were." She narrowed her eyes at Red Riding Hood suggestively.

Benjamin Tell's expression became even more unthreatening, and his arrow lowered another notch, but he was still unconvinced. "Anyone could say they are the Lady Virginia, the tale is well known across the lands and I know not her countenance. And any worthless wolf could put on airs and pretend to be the great Wolf who saved all the royals." He lifted his bow again to aim his arrow at Wolf, who growled. Wonderful, Colin thought, another wolf-hater. But at least he acknowledged Wolf's heroism. Now if only he believed they were who they said...

Virginia looked crestfallen and let her shoulders slump, and the Piper realized she no longer had the signet ring she had tried to use as proof of identity back at the palace. It must have been left behind somewhere in the queen's chambers. But that didn't matter; he had something just as compelling.

Extending one hand toward their antagonist, Colin displayed the ring bearing his crest with pride and confidence. "I trust you can see that is a royal emblem. And royals never lie. If I tell you this is Virginia and Wolf, then you must believe me."

Nodding slowly, Benjamin relaxed the rest of the way. "Indeed...and you have the bearing of a noble, so you could not have stolen that ring." Lowering his bow to his side, he smiled for the first time, broad and unassuming, showing surprisingly white teeth. "Forgive me, milady, for questioning you so brusquely. You can't be too careful out here in the hinterlands."

As the forester strode to Virginia's horse, which he towered over, and reached up to take and kiss her hand, the Piper heaved a quiet sigh and felt like falling back against his saddlebags. It had worked. Bless his pipe, it had worked! And a good thing, for he had no idea what in the fairying forest he would have done if it hadn't.

Virginia, meanwhile, was blushing, while Wolf managed a quick, tight grin at the now effusive Benjamin. "I understand. No harm was done, so it's all right. But...could you do something with your bow...?" She pointed shakily at the weapon, which he still gripped in one hand and from which his arrow still dangled.

"Oh!" Looking a trifle embarrassed, the big man slung his bow over his shoulder beside the quiver, where he replaced the arrow. "Sometimes I forget I have it in my hand; it's become second nature to us Tells. After what happened to my grandfather William, our family has made it a point to be well-trained archers." He winked and then puffed out his barrel chest. "Now the Tells are the best archers in all the Kingdoms."

"That's nice." Virginia smiled somewhat distractedly, then looked past him along the forest road. "Um...I don't mean to be rude but, now that you know who we are, can we go on?"

Benjamin looked shocked and shook his head firmly. "Why, heavens no! You must come to my house, meet the missus and children, rest, join us for lunch!" He gestured back into the deep woods.

A small cry came from Red Riding Hood, and Colin quickly glanced at her. She was biting her lip and Wolf had his knife tip pressed even closer to her back, most likely drawing blood. He knew at once she had been about to eagerly accept the invitation, and in turn divined why Wolf had prevented her from speaking. So far Benjamin had not shown any sign he recognized the queen, but that could change if he spent enough time around her. In any case, they could not chance the discovery that "Lady Carmen" was not their willing companion, and it would not take long for Benjamin or one of his curious children to notice the bonds. They had to move on, and soon.

Even as the forester was raising an eyebrow curiously at Carmine, and she was returning a look of feigned innocence, Virginia smiled charmingly and replied. "I'm so sorry...Goodman Tell." She seemed to search for the proper title. "But we really must be moving on, our quest is urgent. Once again the Kingdoms are in danger, and we're the only ones who can save them. Otherwise we would gladly pause to visit your home." She used just the right mixture of worry, higher purpose, and regret.

Benjamin looked deeply disappointed, but he nodded in understanding. "Very well...but if you are certain...?"

"Quite certain, quite certain, yes!" Wolf sidled closer to Riding Hood, on the surface appearing to be calming her mount and solicitously looking after her welfare, but in truth shifting his grip on the knife and covering her bound hands with the loose hem of her riding skirt.

Tell sighed and nodded again. "In that case, I must warn you of the path ahead. If the Sixth Kingdom truly is where you must go, then you are in great danger."

"We know, we know," Wolf muttered. "The poisonous thorns at the border."

"Not only that." Benjamin's face seemed to close, his eyes becoming more sunken and dark with genuine concern. "Unless you are careful, and follow my directions exactly, your path will take you through the realm of the May Queen."

The Piper froze, an icy chill creeping down his spine. He knew of the May Queen, and the tales he had heard made him long to ride away in the opposite direction. But Virginia, he noticed, did not seem at all concerned. In fact she looked both confused and amused. "The who?"

"The May Queen," Tell repeated insistently. "She is...a nature spirit, a magical being who has power over springtime. Without her life-giving touch, the Kingdoms would remain in perpetual winter." His voice was both reverent and frightened at the same time, and when he spoke again the fear was prominent, making his words come out husky and whispered. "But what she can give...she can also take away."

Virginia wasn't smiling anymore. Her skin was as white as chalk. "What do you mean?"

Benjamin glanced back over his shoulder in a furtive manner that made the Piper very nervous, as if someone might be listening to his every word. "It is said that she can see right into your souls, see what is truly in your heart. And if you trespass on her hedgerows, she will take something away from you. She will make a part of you hers forever. And sometimes more than just a part."

Colin swallowed hard as he heard the legends of his childhood repeated, and glanced at the others. Virginia had a hand to her heart, as if she could somehow clutch to her by that vain motion whatever the May Queen would take. Wolf seemed a human, or lupine, manifestation of a coiled spring, overflowing with tension and ready to leap into action at any moment. Red Riding Hood's face was an imperious mask, but her eyes were darting about in horror.

Virginia let out a shaky breath and wrapped her fingers around her reins. "Ohhhh...kaaay...then we'll make sure to avoid her hedgerows. You were about to tell us how to do that...?"

Before Benjamin could begin giving them directions, Wolf suddenly shook himself, growled, and jerked on the reins of his horse, swinging it in a wide circle around the bowman and proceeding onward down the trail. Carmine, against her will, was drawn along. Virginia stared after Wolf in consternation. "Wolf! What do you think you're doing?"

Wolf looked back over his shoulder and gritted his teeth. "I don't need any woodsman's helpful hints to find my way around a forest, Virginia. Especially not this one! Remember, I lived here for years. Unless the landmarks have changed a great deal, I don't think I'll have any trouble guiding us to safety." He paused and looked at Benjamin as if only then recalling he was there. "No offense meant, Goodman. But nothing can beat the nose of a wolfie."

Crossing his arms over his broad chest, Tell frowned anew, his brows jutting out over his eyes like a thundercloud. "None taken. Very well, if you insist. But don't say I didn't warn you. Good luck on your journey. You will need it."

With those ominous words, the man turned and disappeared back into the overhanging boughs, brushing aside leaves and undergrowth until he had vanished from view. Only the crunching and swishing sounds of his passage remained, and soon even that was gone.

As soon as Benjamin Tell was out of earshot, Red Riding Hood twisted in her saddle to confront Wolf. "Have you gone mad? Oh, I had forgotten, you are a wolf, wolves are already savagely insane! Only a wolf would dismiss a skilled tracker and guide, in hostile territory, in close proximity to a capricious being that could destroy him, all for the sake of adhering to his vaunted sense of smell!"

Wolf snarled so venomously that Carmine flinched, and then he snapped his jaws at her, making her jerk back yet further. "Let me tell you something, Red. You don't know wolves half as well as you think you do. Not even that. So why don't you close those crimson lips of yours before I gag them again!" Tying the reins of her mare to his saddle horn (much tighter than necessary, Colin thought), he set his face forward again and once more turned toward the west. But before moving on, he growled another reply, this one much softer. "I don't need him, I don't need anybody to tell me how to find the path, I know where we're going and how to get there. And if we'd stayed much longer with Goodman Tell, he would have noticed those lovely bracelets you're wearing, and huff-puff, we couldn't have that!"

And that was the final word on the matter, as far as Wolf was concerned. Red Riding Hood apparently decided arguing was useless and would only earn her a blow, and Virginia followed along as meek and timid as a mouse, to Colin's chagrin. She was much stronger than this, he knew. But in the face of such anger and stubbornness, she seemed helpless...and even more distant from Wolf. The rift between them had grown wider.

Groaning under his breath, the Piper tremulously trailed along after the others, keeping his eyes on the muddy track beneath his horse's hooves. He only hoped Wolf was right and did indeed know where he was going...or they would all be in much greater peril than simple emotional distress.

It was hours later. Late afternoon sunlight streamed down through the branches of the forest canopy, casting small pools of wan illumination on the path like accusing fingers, highlighting the castoff pine needles and rotted leaves of past seasons strewn amongst the roots and broken limbs. The rain had come and gone, leaving everything soaked and pungent with the smells of life and death, and everywhere the Piper looked, there was fungus--mushrooms and toadstools in hollows and atop logs, their caps bobbing solemnly in the breeze, bracket fungi sticking out like shelves from the leaning tree trunks, lichen clinging to residual boulders. The scenery was quite dull and monotonous, and he only resorted to studying it because he was tired of running through the same thoughts.

Long ago he had forced himself to stop agonizing over the May Queen and what would happen if they met her. He had turned then to morosely contemplating poor Virginia's plight, as he listened in on her half-hearted attempts to speak to Wolf and make some headway with him--on their direction, on Red Riding Hood, on the quest, on any emotional level at all. But Wolf remained silent and noncommittal, only occasionally grunting or muttering a reply, and at last Virginia had given up. Colin hoped it was only temporarily.

After that he had taken to watching Carmine's narrow back ahead of him on the road as he replayed the words of their poignant conversation through his mind. He was still determined to break through her will, find the way to her heart and help her to see the error of her ways. But he was at a loss how to approach it. He had already concluded that the only way the queen might change her mind about wolves was if she spent enough time around one to see her prejudices were unfounded. Unfortunately Wolf was not currently in the mood to display the more altruistic and honorable side of his kind, and would not be acting differently any time soon. The only other method the Piper thought might work with Red Riding Hood was to convince her that her sister truly had loved Duncan, that she was not simply a frivolous girl but a woman with desires, emotional depth, and willpower. The problem there was, he knew nothing about Cerise except what Wolf had told them, which wasn't nearly enough and was in any case only half of who his mother had been. To know more, he must either draw out Carmine or Wolf to talk about Cerise, to give him the information he needed. But the queen was just as reticent as her nephew, and neither was likely to discuss their memories of the woman they had both loved in the presence of each other.

Feeling an onset of melancholy, Colin sighed and returned his gaze to what lay ahead. The view was not encouraging. The trees were now even closer together, and looming farther out over the road, as if they were drawing together for warmth and enclosing the roadway in an attempt to hold the travelers back from their folly. The canopy was so interwoven as to virtually block out all light, and to top it off, a thick, pervasive mist now filled the forest, curling and winding among the trees and creeping across the path on fog-feet to surround the horses' legs, until it seemed as if they floated upon the current of a grayish river. With every passing minute the mist thickened, concealing more and more of the forest, then latching onto the horses and climbing their tack, streaming between the riders until Colin could only see their vague silhouettes. The horses nickered and snorted nervously, clearly upset by the haze, and the Piper was inclined to agree with them. Something did not feel right. There was magic in the air.

"Um...Wolf." That was Virginia's voice, sounding even more frightened and uncertain than she must be, now that it was only a thin cry in the mist, divorced from its owner.

"Yes, my creamy darling?" Somehow the familiar term of endearment lacked its usual warmth, replaced now not only by indifference but fear.

"I can't see the path anymore. Can you?" The casualness she tried to put into her voice sounded quite forced to Colin.

Wolf took a long time in answering. "Of course I can."

Next came Carmine's voice, taunting and snide. "Oh, thank goodness. Be still, my quaking heart. For a moment there I thought your all-powerful sense of direction had failed you."

"Shut up, Red."

Colin barely managed to stifle a chuckle. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the growing sense of danger, he found that exchange incredibly funny.

No one said anything else for several eternally long minutes, as the mysterious mist roiled and swelled like a building cloud, and the Piper had to keep a firm control on his imagination to refrain from seeing amorphous shapes and figures within it. At least he hoped they were just his imagination. After a while, Wolf called a halt and leaned down from his horse's back--to get a better scent, he said, but privately Colin thought it was so he could actually see the road.

"This way," he pronounced at last, turning his mount to the right, following a fork in the road no one else could see.

For once no one questioned him or argued with him, perhaps because they, like Colin, were afraid for their lives and knew Wolf was their only hope, uncertain or not, for getting out of this forest.

Then the whispering began.

It came from behind Colin first, at what seemed a great distance, so faint he at first thought his distraught mind had manufactured it. But then it came again from ahead of them, and again from the side, and each time it came it was louder. Soon it swirled all about them, always moving, never staying in one place for more than a second. It spoke no words, at least none that Colin could understand. At times the voice was harsh and grating, at others soft and seductive, at still others wise and introspective.

"Wolf?"

"I hear it."

"What do we do?"

For several heart-stopping minutes there was only the sound of ragged breathing. Then, without warning, there came the sound of bootheels thunking into furred flesh, and the cry, "Ride!"

With a lurch that echoed his heart, the Piper too kicked the sides of his horse. Startled and spooked, it reared and then came down with a jolt, leaping forward at once along the path.

The wind was suddenly bitterly cold against his face as he raced after his companions, almost as if tiny icicles were being driven into his skin. The whispering now became a roar of outrage, and the wind increased, tossing the branches of the trees. Claw-like twigs and limbs danced and shook, reaching out for him as he galloped unseeing into the murk, and in his dazed fright he could not tell whether it was only the wind or if the trees had actually come to life to snatch him from his saddle. The road became rougher, filled with ruts and holes, and his horse's gait became even more uneven. Somewhere ahead he could hear Virginia shrieking and Red Riding Hood cursing, though whether at Wolf or the spirits in the mist he could not fathom. A boulder loomed from the left and he swerved to avoid it, his horse slipping in the mud, and then a tree angled down from the right.

"Left! No, wait, right!"

Following Wolf's directions blindly, Colin jerked the reins. His horse's breath heaved, and he could hear the foam of its saliva spraying through the air. Something flitted across his line of sight and he screamed in spite of himself. Another unseen apparition tugged at his hat, at his cloak, and he shied away, making his horse dance sideways down the path.

But then Wolf was there, coming out of nowhere, grabbing his reins, and guiding him down the proper path. He heard Virginia call his name, then they were all together again in a tight-knit group, thundering along the new road without any thought for what might lie in their way.

Ahead, the path narrowed to cross a steep, jagged ravine that descended from a rocky cliff to split the forest apart. Spanning the ravine was a weathered wooden bridge, little more than a series of rotted planks supported by massive poles at frequent intervals.

For a moment Wolf hesitated, slowing his horse, but then another eerie wraith danced around him, and he shook his head. "We're trying it anyway!"

"What?!?" Virginia's shout was whipped away by the wind as once again they were off, hurtling forward at ever greater speeds, most likely the fastest these packhorses had ever gone, and still it did not seem fast enough to Wolf, who urged them on with kicks and snarls. Goaded by the canine sounds that ignited primal instincts within them, the horses tapped some well of strength and dodged gnarled roots that rose to trip them, and then they were galloping onto the bridge. Before they had even gone one third of the way across, Colin could hear the timbers protesting and groaning, and the bridge began to sway and shake beneath them.

"Wolf!" he screamed.

"Forget it, Piper-boy, too late now!"

He was going to get them all killed.

Then there was no time for further thought. Wolf snarled more viciously and savagely then he had ever heard before, and as one his horse and the queen's leaped forward. Virginia's was only a pace behind, and then Colin's. Ominous cracks and shudders ran through the structure beneath them, but all of them ignored the sounds as they galloped onwards.

Colin almost didn't notice when they were on solid ground again, but he soon registered a series of crashes, thuds, and groans, and when he looked back he was in time to see the entire bridge tumble into the ravine. And then a flurry of phantasms were raging after them, drawing ever closer, and he quickly averted his eyes.

Faster, faster they plunged along the road, careening around turns, hurdling gullies, crashing through the now-unavoidable clutches of tree branches attempting to hold them back. Finally, at long last, light began to appear through the trunks, and the trees began to thin. Heartened, the Piper leaned forward over his mount's withers and urged it on with confident words he wished he could believe. Daring to look back, he could see no more of the wispy shapes, but the whispering was still with them, desperate and determined.

"We're almost there!" Wolf howled. "Almost...oh, cripes!"

The last stand of trees fell past them, and suddenly they were all sliding to a stop at the crest of a high hill, overlooking a serene valley. A path led down the hillside but disappeared somewhere within the valley. As Colin scanned the ridgeline, he saw no other roads, and the edge of the forest came directly up to the near drop-off everywhere he could see. But as he panted and shivered and looked around for another avenue of escape, he discovered it was not needed.

The whispers had stopped.

Wiping away tears of frustration and gulping in huge mouthfuls of fresh air, Virginia was unable to speak for several minutes. When she finally could, she glared at Wolf. "What the hell was that?"

Wolf had the grace to look apologetic and mollified. "Those were some of the May Queen's sprites. We have strayed a bit into her realm."

"A bit?" Virginia growled. "How much is 'a bit'?"

"Not too much." Wolf scratched self-consciously at his temple and looked away. "I...may have made a mistake once or twice in our path. But I know where we are now."

Virginia snorted. "Well that's very comforting now!"

Colin would have voiced his agreement, except he was still winded from his run and trembling in terror. He kept glancing back at the forest, expecting to see another misty shadow. His eyes were probably as wide and displaying their whites as his horse's, he surmised.

After they had all had a chance to recover, Wolf finally took stock of their surroundings. As soon as he saw the road and the valley below, he stiffened, but quickly relaxed. No one else noticed, the Piper believed. "Down to the valley we go."

"Wait a minute!" Virginia snapped. "You idiot! How dare you do something so stupid, so harebrained, so reckless, and then think you can just brush it off like that? Hello, I'm pregnant with your cub, remember? I could've had a miscarriage with all that jostling and galloping!"

As Wolf turned back, the Piper was pleased to see intense contrition and pain on his face. Maybe he was finally becoming his old self again. "Oh, Virginia, I'm so sorry!" Hurriedly he dismounted and came to her side, reaching up to take her hands in his, but she stared at him coldly and pulled away. Tears appeared in his eyes and he gnashed his teeth. "I didn't mean it, lambchop, I truly didn't! I didn't think--"

"Obviously." Virginia crossed her arms.

"It's just, I had to save you from what was chasing us..."

"By putting me and our child in even more danger? Yeah, that was a smooth move, Wolf."

He scratched at his temple and clutched his hair with both hands, moaning softly. "No no no, Virginia, you don't understand! You weren't in any danger, wolf cubs are very hardy little chaps, it takes a lot to make a mother lose one. She can hunt until the sixth month, and even after that if her pack is in danger she can run like the wind to escape and protect the lives of her little ones. There may have been a risk, but it was a small one. Do you really think I would do anything to put the life of our cub in jeopardy, love?" Wolf whimpered.

"I don't know. You haven't done much to show you care about me lately," Virginia said quietly. "And it would have been nice if you'd told me about all the quirks of being mother to a wolf cub long ago, so I'd have known what to expect."

Wolf's face crumpled, and he whined so pitifully that even Colin began to feel sorry for him. Green eyes brimming over with tears, he peered up at Virginia. "I never thought it would come up, I thought you would be safe at home in my arms the whole time you were with cub. Please, Virginia...please don't hate me! You can't really mean what you said, you can't think I'd hurt you or the cub, or let you be hurt, you just can't!"

At last Virginia relented, her expression softening as she reached out to take Wolf's hand. "No. I don't. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, I was just mad...just, be more careful next time, Wolf." This time she let him reach up and lift her down from the saddle, where he held her in his arms and caressed her stomach protectively.

Kissing her cheek, he nodded and smiled through his tears. "No worries, Virginia, I'll be a very careful wolfie, I'll be so careful you'll think you're riding on the softest, plumpest pillow in all the Kingdoms!"

Virginia laughed and cradled his chin in her hand as she rested her forehead against his. Colin breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps this was a sign that the wall between them would be coming down soon.

But of course at that moment Red Riding Hood, still seated on her mare, had to make a scathing remark. "How touching. Is there trouble in the House of Wolves? How dreadful!"

Slowly, very slowly, Wolf turned around to face her, and she blanched. Colin, off to the side, could see his expression in profile and even he was stunned. The emotions surging and swirling in Wolf's eyes and twitching in his cheeks were so powerful, out-of-control, ravaging his features. Tears still trickled down, but beyond his sorrow, his worry, his distress, even his fury, there was something else--an undeniable sense of loss, of torment, as if somehow those few words from his aunt had hurt him more than anything else she or anyone else in his life had done. Carmine's eyes widened as she took this all in, as if in turn she were realizing for the first time he had feelings that could be hurt.

"Shut up, Red." The words came out in a growl, but lacked the force and anger they had before, instead being choked out thickly, regretfully. "If you know what's good for you, just...shut up."

For the first time since he'd met her, Carmine seemed speechless. After several long minutes, her gaze faltered and she looked away.

When he felt enough time had passed, Colin tentatively asked, "Shouldn't we be moving on? If the May Queen is nearby..."

Wolf nodded morosely, sniffing and wiping his nose. "Yes. We must move quickly before we attract her attention."

Suiting actions to words, he took the reins of his horse and Virginia's and led the way down the road off the windswept hill, Carmine's mare in turn following docilely. Sighing, Colin once more brought up the rear, wishing he had the words that would compel people as easily as the notes of his pipe did.

By the time they reached the foot of the hill and entered the valley, it was almost twilight. However, there was still enough light to see their surroundings, and what he saw did not inspire much hope in the Piper. The valley was about an acre in size, filled with soft, gentle blades of verdant grass, but the susurration begun by the wind was disturbingly reminiscent of the whispering in the forest. Worse, the entire perimeter of the valley was lined with hawthorn bushes, adorned with pristine white blossoms, which he knew were imbued with the power of the May Queen. Each hawthorn bush's branches were intertwined with its two neighbors, forming an impenetrable wall of vegetation around the valley, sealing them in. And now, as he gazed around, he saw the mist that had filled the forest permeated the valley too, and was growing thicker.

"Wolf...?" Virginia bit her lip and pointed. Colin followed her finger and saw that, just within the ring of hawthorn bushes, there was another concentric circle, this one of mushrooms sparkling with dew. A fairy-ring...another source of power.

"I see it." Wolf's reply was curt as he peered around guardedly. "She is close...very near..."

Virginia giggled weakly and began half-singing, half-speaking to herself, her voice rather shaky and disjointed. "If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now, it's just a spring clean for the May Queen..."

There was a stirring in the air, and then a disembodied voice echoed around them--deep, booming, bell-like, resembling the waves crashing upon a seashore. "Did someone summon me?"

Mesmerized, the four of them watched raptly as the mist within the vale billowed and churned like a vast cauldron of witch's brew, never rising higher than their horses' barrels but causing the animals to prance and whicker in fear anyway. Then a pillar of mist rose directly in front of them all, beginning to shape itself to a human form. A wind rose, gentle but constant, and suddenly a flurry of leaves, petals, branches, and twigs sailed through the air, whirling around the misty figure. In and out, up and down, the wind wove its cargo, gradually building a framework of hazel, a head of rowan, a body of hawthorn boughs and blossoms--he could recognize each tree's offering by its fragrance, the mixture of sweetness, bitterness, and headiness overpowering. In short order, a massive construct hovered before them, half again as high as a man, shaped into the gentle curves of a woman's body, its numerous branches and leaves held together by the swirling mist that still darted about and within the mysterious, silent image. Dark hazelnut eyes seemed to regard them with a wisdom and knowledge that stabbed deep into Colin's very marrow. He could sense the power inherent in her, more power than anything or anyone he had ever encountered. Thunder and storms and the deluge of floods were there, roots that plunged deep into the core of magic. She was outside time, boundless, ageless, beyond any line drawn between good and evil. She simply was.

"I am the May Queen," she said unnecessarily. She had no mouth, nor did she need one; the sound simply emanated from her being and quivered in the air like a mountain stream. "You have trespassed on my domains, and thus are bound by my laws."

"No, wait, please!" Virginia pleaded, hands outstretched imploringly. Colin wished he could explain to her it was too late, that there was nothing she could say or do to change their fate, but he was too paralyzed with fear to intervene. "We're on a quest, of grave importance--"

"Your quest, no matter how crucial, is superseded by my laws." A strange sense of pity seemed to tremble in the nature spirit's voice, and the sweet scent of hawthorn grew even stronger. "All that remains is to carry them out." A slender twig-hand fashioned of hawthorn extended to point at the group. "Each of you has lost an integral part of yourselves, and to regain it you must in turn give up something to me...something ingrained and indelible, something that makes you who you are. And you shall give it up willingly." She paused, then indicated Colin. "Except for you. You are free of my bequest...what you require shall not be given to you by me, but by another."

The Piper did not know whether to feel offended or relieved at this declaration, but before he could hazard a reply, Red Riding Hood interrupted. "No! No, I forbid it!" She set her mouth in a prim line and glared at the May Queen with all the power of her rank, somehow managing to overcome her fear. "I am the ruler of the Second Kingdom, and I am not beholden to your laws. Begone, foul spirit!"

Colin closed his eyes and waited in anticipation of the worst, but nothing happened. There was no explosion of fury, no blast of lightning or gale of wind. Venturing to open his eyes, he saw the May Queen had not moved, although her branch-hand now pointed at Carmine. When she spoke, it was in a sad, almost sympathetic tone. "No...I am afraid you can forbid nothing. And contrary to your belief, you are just as enmeshed within my magic as these others. In fact...it is you who is in need of it most of all."

As Red Riding Hood stared at the spirit, flabbergasted, Virginia made one last attempt for understanding. "Your Majesty, please, don't do this! Let us go!"

A dark chuckle made the swirls of mist shiver. "Oh, you shall be freed...after you have freed yourselves. After you have found your way back to yourselves, and to each other. After you have given me what I demand as payment. All of which shall begin...now."

The ground began to rumble and quake as the last word echoed in their minds, and the sweat-soaked horses began whinnying and pawing the earth restlessly. The shaking grew more pronounced, and then with a violent upheaval the field split open beneath their feet, cracking and roiling like waves on the sea. As one all of the horses began rearing and neighing and jerking at their bits, and it was all Colin could do to stay on the back of his. Red Riding Hood, without her hands or feet free, could not hold on at all and promptly tumbled out of her saddle, just missing being kicked by flailing hooves. Luckily for her, her horse did not linger to pummel her, tearing free of Wolf's grip instead and galloping back the way they had come, dragging along Wolf's horse, to which its reins were still tied.

The Piper went next, flying backwards as his horse bucked and shied away from the jutting angles of crumbling earth. Shaking his head to clear it of the ringing, he looked up in time to see Virginia's horse following the others, leaving behind only a single rucksack as they were abruptly abandoned by their mounts. Wolf yelled futilely after them, but the horses were already scaling the hill, and in minutes they had disappeared back into the forest. Wolf flexed his hands and whimpered helplessly.

"Quit standing there, you fool!" Red Riding Hood screamed from the ground. "Get us out of here!"

Snarling, Wolf grabbed Virginia and lifted her in his arms, one hand cradling her stomach. "Get Red!" he shouted at Colin.

Stumbling to his feet as the ground shook with renewed tremors, the Piper scooped up the fallen queen and raced after Wolf as he ran fleetly toward the valley rim. But it was too late, he saw, for even as they neared the opening between the hawthorns, enormous brambles sprang up like hands outthrust from a grave, their thorns deadly and gleaming. Not even breaking his stride, Wolf turned and sprinted along the hawthorns, searching for another exit.

Another mass of plant growth wrenched itself free of the earth, growing with astonishing speed, stems and leaves bursting forth and swelling to head height, then higher. In moments it was intertwining to form a blocky, box-like expanse of evergreen hedge--yew to be precise. In either direction the hedge grew, forming a wall to block their path that only lengthened the longer they watched. Again Wolf wheeled to the side, dashing along the hedgerow.

But it was useless, Colin saw, for between the magically-enhanced plant growth and the instability of the ground, none of them could manage to get ahead of the hedge. And then others began sprouting at right angles, partitioning off the valley, and abruptly their flight became a struggle to keep from being surrounded.

When a particularly violent tremor ran through the ground, the Piper tripped and went sprawling in the dirt. Red Riding Hood rolled several yards away, shrieking in anger, before coming to a stop against a rock, where she lay kicking and squirming. But before he could rise, or call out to Wolf to stop, a hedge grew to tower over him and cut off all access to the queen.

"Your Majesty!" he yelled, clutching at the prickly leaves and crimson berries of the yew. He heard a scream, but it was soon drowned out by the rumbling of the ground.

Realizing he was wasting valuable time, Colin rose and raced along the new hedge, searching for a turning or an opening that would grant him access to Carmine once more, but there were none. The only turns he found seemed bent on keeping him away from his charge. Before he knew it, he was near the edge of the valley, cornered in a twisting labyrinth of hedges, and although he could hear distant screams and snarls, he could not see Virginia or Wolf either, let alone find them. He was entirely alone.

Suddenly an opening materialized ahead of him--perhaps literally, for he could swear there had been nothing but impenetrable vegetation there a moment before he had glanced away. Putting on a burst of speed he hadn't known he possessed, the Piper hurdled forward and streaked through the exit. Even as he fell to the ground and fetched up against one of the hawthorn bushes, he heard a rustling behind him and knew the exit had closed for good. Wheezing, he righted himself and began following the hedges yet again, this time trying to find an end to it, a way to reenter the valley and find his companions.

His search was in vain. He reached one corner of the hedgerow, only to find another row extending what seemed endlessly into the distance. Groaning, he fought against the stitch developing in his side and ran onward, heading for the next corner, if one existed. After fifteen minutes he found it, but when he gazed in dismay at the equally daunting extent of hedge that awaited him, he slowed to a stop, swore, and collapsed against the nearest yew, pounding his fists against its unyielding branches. This was more than mere hardiness, it was the May Queen's magic. He would never be able to penetrate the hedges. And it was useless to continue searching for any way inside, for he knew instinctively that there were none. Now he knew what the May Queen had meant. In exempting him from her laws, she had separated him from his companions, literally.

Bowing his head in defeat, the Piper grasped at the hedge until he felt berries crushing between his fingers, staining his palms with juice that resembled blood. Not an auspicious omen. He also knew now the true magnitude of the spell. The yews had grown to form a maze, one Virginia and Wolf and Red Riding Hood would have to navigate without him, without each other, in order to "find their way back".

Shivering as much from this realization as from the cold tendrils of mist that surrounded him in a maelstrom of motion, he slowly sank down into the sea of fog and buried his face in his hands. They were well and truly trapped.

illustration on this page (The May Queen) by Aqua