Almare - The White Mirror

There was a bit of an uproar from the inhabitants of the Fourth Kingdom when King Wendell flew into his palace through a window on a flying carpet. The entire kingdom also breathed a sigh of relief. They had their king back now, no matter how hopeless a king he was with his extended nose. Even with the war looming over their heads, everyone in the Fourth Kingdom had good laugh about that.

But Wendell didn’t even notice. He was consumed by planning and plotting out what in the fairying forest he could do about the trolls. The Council of the Nine Kingdoms met the day Wendell returned. They assembled in Wendell’s palace almost as soon as he sent for them. They traveled from all over the Nine Kingdoms by magic, and everyone was there except the little Fairy Queen of the Eighth Kingdom and...

“King Burly!” The Governor of the Dwarves shouted as he banged his little fist on the table. “These outrageous actions of his will bring us all down in the end. Why if I had him here now, I’d give him a piece of-”

“Really!” Queen Cinderella shouted from her seat at the head of the table. “I think we should all quiet down and focus. This is a civilized meeting. Wendell, perhaps you should describe to the council what you saw. It may give all of us a realistic view of what we are dealing with.”

Wendell jerked up in his seat. He had not slept in twenty-four hours and it was beginning to show.

“Oh, well, yes, that. It was not what I expected, nor what any of us really expected, not in these numbers anyway. There were hundreds, thousands, of them.” Wendell paused as a murmur rippled through the group. “They were lightly armed, but I assure those of you who have never seen one, that a Sasquash does not need armor. Nor does a giant, and there were more than a couple of those.”

Some members of the Council seemed to be losing hope already, so Wendell decided not to go on to tell them all about the flying elves. Or that something else that he had seen, and not told Virginia, Wolf, Tony, or Acrotis about. The fire.

“But,” said Cinderella cheerfully, “we knew something like this would happen. Since the death of Relish, the entire Third Kingdom and the nearby lands in league with them have been restless. It was only a matter of time. Now we are all the more prepared.” She looked around for nods of approval, but received none.

Queen Rapunzel of the Fifth Kingdom spoke up. “I’m sorry to say that you are wrong, your Majesty,” she said with something less than humility in her voice. “My kingdom lies farthest away from the trolls'. I did not see, and still do not see, the need to prepare my kingdom for anything. The troll regiment will certainly not come that far, and you seem to have them pretty much under control.” She spun her long, golden hair around a finger while she talked, as if she would like to tie all the Kingdoms around her finger, too. At least it looked that way to Wendell.

“Ah, but there you are wrong, Rapunzel.” Not for the first time during the council, Cinderella looked on the verge of anger. “The trolls are a major threat. It is obviously hard for everyone to believe that, because they never have been before. But this time it is gravely serious. You all know the great expanse of the wild northern lands, where the Sasquash roam freely and no sensible creature ever ventures.”

They nodded. Queen Riding Hood spoke: “The trolls have never been a threat before because they have always been so power-hungry and argumentative that they would never ask or accept help, at least on the battlefield. Now that Burly has, unbelievable though it may seem, asked for help from the Sasquash in the northern lands, as well as from giants, they could very well overcome all our defenses.”

“Unless we, too, band together,” Wendell cried with all the enthusiasm he could muster.

The Governor eyed Cinderella before he spoke again. “True...” he muttered. “True. But even then, it is highly unlikely that we will be able to defeat them.”

“Please, Governor,” Cinderella said, exasperated. “At least try not to be so pessimistic. We are planning a war here and your premonitions of death make it so much more difficult.”

“I’m not being pessimistic. I’m only trying to be realistic.”

Queen Riding Hood frowned at him. “Giants and trolls and a couple of Sasquash...”

“And pixies,” Wendell offered, a bit miserably.

“And pixies,” the queen acknowledged, rolling her eyes, “are a worthy enemy, true,” she said. “But surely all our armies together can defeat them.”

“Ah, if it were only that,” the Governor murmured mysteriously. Now he was looking straight at Wendell. Wendell tried not to meet his eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Cinderella inquired impatiently.

The Governor smiled mirthlessly. It was a smile that implied that some important information was about to be imparted. The entire Council was breathlessly leaning over the table to hear what he was about to say.

“Dragons,” he said. “They have Dragons.”

Arms out, to the side, back in, out. Legs out straight, bend, kick. Arms out, legs out, to the side, bend, back in, kick, out. This was all that was going through Virginia’s mind as she swam through the long dark ocean. It was all that anyone could focus on, except for Raelee, who was not under the influence of magic breathing rings. She was awake, and could lead them all to Eulonia. The rest of her company was in a daze, every portion of their energy directed on powering them down through the miles of deep black ocean.

Virginia was only aware of herself again when she found herself floating over Eulonia. She snapped back to her strange reality with a start as she took in the amazing sight. The Lost Continent of Atlantis sparkled and sprawled out before them into the distance. Although shrouded by the dark ocean pressing in on it, the city itself was bright and alive. It was situated on rolling underwater hills, and every building was a different color, making the city look like a rainbow of shades. Merpeople swam in and out of oddly-shaped dwellings, and little finned children played in the streets. Raelee had led them to a point far above the city, from where they could see a large palace constructed of something that must have been coral. It wasn’t far away, and Virginia knew it was their destination.

As they swam toward it, Virginia hung back until Wolf caught up with her. She was afraid of the strange city underneath them. It seemed to be alive, always something moving whenever she glanced down. It was alive, kind of, she supposed, because everything was made of coral.

“Do you think the Mirror is here?” she asked Wolf. It was odd talking underwater because bubbles continuously came out of her mouth.

“I have no idea,” he admitted. “I guess if it’s in the city at all it will be in the castle.” He looked up at the huge building, which was much closer now. In fact, Raelee, who had gone ahead of the rest, was already using the oversized door knockers to announce their presence.

They quickly caught up with her just as the ridiculously large doors swung open. Acrotis eagerly went through first and the rest followed.

They were in a large hall without any furniture (can mermaids sit down?), lit with an awful looking substance sitting in little trays along the length of the corridor. It was a florescent goo, and it looked to Virginia like it was alive. She was beginning to wonder if everything in this city was organic.

As they swam further in, Raelee spoke for the first time since they had entered the ocean, which seemed like days ago. “At the end of this hall is the throne room, where our current queen is awaiting you. She was no longer coughing, thankfully. “I am the queen’s trusted advisor when it comes to humans and other land creatures,” she proclaimed, swelling with pride. “That’s why she sent me to get you. She knows why you have come because of the water nymph Queen Cinderella so graciously sent ahead of you. However, she also knows what a risk you are taking in going through the mirror, a risk that could endanger us all.”

Acrotis looked like she was about to protest, but thought better of it.

“Is she going to allow us to use it?” Virginia asked, fearing the answer.

“Yes,” Raelee said, but with amusement in her voice that made one wonder. “We have come up with a way for you to get to the mirror, get in, and hopefully get out with no consequences to anyone in Eulonia. A rather brilliant idea, actually.” She beamed. “If I do say so myself.”

“Are you going to tell us what it is?” Wolf asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to hear it from Her Majesty herself?” Raelee asked, almost teasingly.

“Fine,” Wolf agreed. “Actually, I’m not sure I want to know,” he whispered to Virginia once Raelee had turned to knock on the doors, “if she cooked it up.”

The doors at the end of the hall pulled open just like the main doors had. The group entered a large room, also bare of furniture and lit with the strange lights. This room, however, they noticed with a sharp intake of breath, was decorated all along the walls with countless numbers of shells. It was amazing, looking up and seeing a sky of colored shells, woven, almost, like on a tapestry into scenes and patterns that a person could spend days tracing with their finger and trying to understand. Virginia stood, or swam in place, rather, for almost a full minute, mesmerized by it. Then Acrotis tapped her on the shoulder. They were moving into the room, toward a the throne that Virginia hadn’t noticed before. Sitting on it, or trying, with difficulty, to sit on it, was the Queen of the Mermaids.