Somehow they had broken the spell! Melody shouted in her head. The nice old man who had rowed
her across the river had come to visit her and brought some things she had needed from the town. He had told her
about the travelers he had met on the river and by his descriptions; Melody determined that it was Wolf, Virginia,
Patrick and the others that had been trapped in the 6th Kingdom. So now that the curse was broken they were making
their way back to the palace of King Wendell!
Melody was quite relieved that everything had worked out for her friends. Now they could get
on with their lives without any more disruptions from the likes of her. The old man had left her little cottage
a while ago. Melody now just stood around chopping carrots on her table. She was so alone. She didn't even have
her pet dove to keep her company. The cottage was so quiet now. She had decided to give up magic too so there weren't
any spells for her to work on. Besides, she had left her spell book and a bunch of other stuff behind by the Footprint
Lake. She missed having the company of other people around her.
She glanced into the burlap bag the old man had brought to her and she gasped when she saw two
miniature pumpkins in the sack. That reminded her of Patrick. She missed his company especially because he had
always been so attentive. He probably hates me now! They all probably don't ever want to see me again. I don't
blame them. Melody scolded herself. How did things turn out the way they had?
She was actually related to Virginia of all things and she didn't even know how. Did Virginia
know? The shoes don't lie, right? Melody tried not to think about the fact that Virginia had been the one that
killed her mother. Nothing could be done now. But if Virginia had killed Melody's mother, did Virginia know she
had killed someone she was also related to? This was all getting way too confusing for Melody. Her mind was jumbled
up with so many thoughts.
She put her cutting knife down and pulled out the miniature pumpkins. Maybe I can follow them.
Maybe I can catch up to them just to sneak a glimpse of Patrick. Maybe he misses me too. Melody sighed and slumped
into a chair behind her. Maybe I should also tell Virginia that she and I are related too. She groaned and hugged
the pumpkins to her chest and put her head down on the table.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I've tracked down their scent, Sire. They've crossed the river." Bon announced to
the snoozing Sire who was slowing their progress down astoundingly. The Sire opened one large yellow eye and grunted.
"We'll get across in the dark of night." Bon whispered.
"That will do. Do you think that Wolf has caught our scent yet?" The Sire inquired.
"I'm sure he has. Now we've got them on the run they will be sure to leave a trail of careless
tracks behind them. It will be easier to follow them."
"Good work, Bon. Now once we catch up to them, I recommend we don't dally. Just slit their
throats. All of them except Wolf. He's mine." The Sire declared sleepily.
Bon narrowed his eyes and also grunted an agreement. He actually wanted to get rid of Wolf himself.
But no matter, I'll get rid of the Sire before he gets a chance to kill Wolf. Then Wolf is all mine! The old bastard.
Just a complete nuisance to me. Bon thought to himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wolf, you better tell me what is wrong right now or I am not going to speak to you for
the rest of the day!" Virginia threatened Wolf. He whimpered softly but finally gave a loud sigh and slumped
his shoulders. He turned his head to the sides and back to see if anyone else could hear them.
"I think we're being followed." He whispered in a low growl. Virginia wasn't surprised by his announcement.
"By whom, do you know?" She whispered back.
"I-Virginia, it doesn't matter by whom. Huff, puff. We just need to get moving fast and
get back to the palace."
Virginia narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a You-can't-hide-anything-from-me look. Wolf shied
away from her eyes and tried to pay attention to other things in their surroundings.
"What are you two whispering about over here?" Tony sprang up next to them. He was in such high spirits
that Virginia didn't want to bring him down.
"Nothing Dad. I was just asking Wolf how much further it was to get back to the castle."
"Huff, puff Tony. Have no fear. I say we should have about three quarters of the day to
get to the castle if we hurry enough."
Tony nodded his approval and cracked a big smile. He walked back to Princess Wendy and Pip who
were quietly conversing with one another. He raised his head suddenly as if he heard something in the air. Patrick
seemed to have also caught the same sound.
"Hey, do you guys hear that tinkling sound?" He called out.
Wolf had also raised his head at the precise moment. But it wasn't his ears that had caught a
sound. It was his nose that caught a familiar scent. And the scent spelled immediate danger. It was overpowering.
"Virginia!" He gripped Virginia's shoulder tightly. He looked up at everyone who was
all gazing at him. "RUN!" He howled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Princess Wendy gave a high pitch scream. Pip flew into the air and cried out "We're dead!
We're all dead!" over and over again. Patrick picked Princess Wendy up over his shoulders and began running.
Tony was right behind him.
Two enormous hairy things had jumped out from the bushes and roared. Their lips were flared back
revealing disgustingly sharp teeth dripping with sticky saliva. Their eyes glowed a bright yellow and their claws
were outstretched; ready to tear the throats out of anyone in their way.
Virginia recognized the Tazzies immediately. Even with their hairy bodies and nondescript clothes,
she could tell it was The Sire and Bon, the tazzie who they had encountered not long ago. She gave Wolf a frantic
look but all he did was shove her behind him and told her to run. She didn't want to leave him
"No Wolf! You come with us too. Pleeease!" She pleaded. Wolf's eyes had also turned
a yellowish tint and his fangs were starting to protrude. He gave her a commanding look but when he saw the pleading
in her eyes, he growled and turned to run. He gripped her hand in his and they ran after Patrick and the others
as fast as they could.
"Oh Jesus cripes! Where the hell are we?! This cannot be real!" Virginia and Wolf could
hear Tony hollering up ahead. "This entire forest is made of diamonds!"
"DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!" Patrick's voice rang out. Virginia looked at Wolf with a horrified
expression. They were entering the Three Forests of the 12 Dancing Princesses.
The Tazzies were right on their heels. Their panting and snarling could be heard echoing through
the trees. Virginia ran as fast as she could behind Wolf but he was too fast. He was leaping over fallen branches
and high bushes as if they were nothing while Virginia struggled to follow.
They finally made it into the forest of diamonds and saw Patrick still holding Princess Wendy
in his arms. Tony stood as still as possible, suppressing the urge to touch a diamond leaf.
"Don't change anything, don't touch anything. Just run! The Tazzies are right behind us!"
Wolf roared out. Everyone gave him frightened stares but finally turned and ran as hard as their legs could.
"You filthy bastard! Come back here and take it like the wolf you are!" Came a low growling voice that
was ganging up on them. "You are going to pay for the death of my son!"
They all entered into the Forest of Silver and once again Tony stood still and stared in awe
at the bright shining leaves and branches that glittered like moonbeams. "This is unbelievable! Where are
we? And why can't we touch anything?"
"Dad, please! If you move or touch anything the earth will swallow you up whole!" Virginia
cried out. Tony gave her a disbelieving look.
"This can't be real."
They all stopped and checked their surroundings. Patrick set Princess Wendy down onto her feet.
"They're coming, they're coming!" Pip flew above and cried out. Tony began running
again towards the Forest of Gold and Patrick and Wendy followed. Virginia pulled on Wolf's hand but he didn't budge.
"Wolf?"
"It's time I have to set this all straight, Virginia. Stand behind me." Virginia's
eyes widened when she realized that Wolf was going to stay and fight two enormous deadly Tazzies.
"Wolf, you can't. You'll be killed!"
Wolf turned and gave her a weak smile. "Don't you have faith in me, my Virginia?"
The Sire and Bon made their way into the Silver Forest and they snarled at the sight of Wolf
and Virginia. They didn't even pay attention to the silver that was surrounding them in glittering white light.
Wolf and Virginia stood still as could be. The two Tazzies growled low in their throats and began circling the
two humans.
"I didn't kill your son, Sire." Wolf suddenly said. The Sire halted and narrowed his
glowing yellow eyes. He opened his huge jaw and snapped at Wolf's hand but Wolf pulled away quickly.
"Nice try, Wolf. I know you didn't kill my son. It was your bastard of a father." The
Sire sneered.
"My father didn't kill anyone either."
"Am I suppose to just believe you now? Quit playing games with me. Prepare to have your
throat ripped out."
"Sire, wait." Bon cried out. "Why don't you make him suffer and have him watch while we kill his
beloved wife first!?" The Sire's eyes grew round and he gave an evil smile.
"What a great idea!" He hissed.
Virginia gripped onto Wolf's arms and pressed herself to him as close as possible.
"I've got the magic Shoes of Truth. Put them on and ask it a question. Ask if I was the
one who killed your son. It will tell you the truth." Wolf said calmly. The Tazzie's eyes grew even wider.
"There are no such things as Shoes of Truth." Bon called out. He had seen the shoes
in action before by the footprint lake and he didn't want The Sire to find out that it was him who had killed Tad,
his son.
"The shoes exist. I have them right here. If you don't believe me, see for yourself. Try
them on." Wolf pulled the shoes out of his jacket and tossed them to the Sire. "Or have Bon wear them.
Say his name then ask your question and he will answer you."
The Sire gripped the shoes in his hands and studied them.
"He's lying, Sire. I saw those shoes before. They are nothing but old dirty shoes that aren't
worth a cow's dung. Don't believe anything he says!" Bon growled out. "What are you afraid of, Bon? Why
don't you tell the Sire who really killed his son?" Wolf said keeping his voice even. Virginia started to
understand what he was getting at and she calmed herself down. She did have faith in Wolf and he was going to get
them out of this.
"Bon, I want to see if these are truly magic shoes. Put them on. If they are not real, then there is nothing
to lose." The Sire urged the other Tazzie whose eyes were beginning to dart around to avoid direct contact.
"I won't put them on, Sire. It's a waste of time. Let's just kill these damn humans and
get it over with." Bon's patience was running low.
"Is there something you are not telling me, Bon?" The Sire said with a slight catch
in his voice. "Why won't you put them on?"
"Because I don't want to!" Bon roared at the Sire. "You idiotic old bastard! Don't
you get it? They're trying to trick you. If you don't stop pestering me about the damn shoes, I'll kill you too!"
"What did you say, Bon?" The Sire's voice grew low with anger.
"I hate repeating myself. You are so old you can't even hear anything. I think it's time to get rid of the
Old Sire and proclaim a new one in its place." Bon growled and began circling the older Tazzie whose eyes
were beginning to glow a bright, bright yellow.
"You. It was you the whole time!"
"Of course it was! You were just too stupid to know it. You believed anything I told you.
I killed your Tad. He was a good for nothing idiot who was getting in my business. I wouldn't have killed him if
he hadn't found out that I had burnt down that barn with all those human brats in it."
The Sire's eyes opened so wide Virginia thought they were going to fall out of its sockets. He
gave a horrendous roar and leapt at Bon's throat. Bon reflected by holding up his arms and throwing the Sire over
his head. The old Tazzie turned and narrowed his eyes. He panted from the exertion and growled deep in his throat.
"I trusted you. You, it was you this whole time! You lied to me!" The Sire roared and
leapt again at Bon. His rage was blinding him from realizing that leaping at Bon wasn't going to do anything. Wolf
shielded Virginia's body with his as they watched the two Tazzies struggle. It was useless, they weren't getting
anywhere.
"Let's get out of here, Wolf." Virginia whispered. Wolf nodded and they began to turn
around to sneak away.
But at that moment, Sire flew through the air. Bon had tossed him high into the trees and the
Sire broke a bunch of silver branches off of the glittering silver trees. A heavy branch fell on top of Wolf's
head. His eyes bulged wide and he raised his hand to his head. But Virginia watched as his eyes rolled back and
he slumped into a heap on the ground. He was out cold. Virginia became frantic, she tried to raise Wolf up but
he was too heavy for her. She turned to look at the struggling and groaning behind her and saw Bon hurl himself
on top of the Sire and in horror, she watched as the ground beneath the two Tazzies opened up and deafening loud
waltzing music drifted up to them. The Tazzies howled in surprise as they tumbled into the hole.
At the last minute, Bon reached out and grabbed onto Virginia's foot. Virginia screamed and gripped
onto Wolf's jacket. But the Tazzie, Bon, was too strong and his weight was pulling them down. He held on with all
his might and Virginia lost her grip on Wolf's jacket. She struggled and tried to grab onto something but there
was nothing on the bare dirt ground. The weight was too much for her. And she realized that she was slowly being
dragged down into the gaping hole to join the Tazzies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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