Elric swallowed. His eyes stung and he blinked hard. He had never been this scared, not even when he had faced mad dogs or fallen off a crumbling cliff. This fear was like a monster gripping his heart and threatening to rip it straight from his chest. He saw the same fear in the queen’s face.
Elk strode forward. The queen turned to her captain. He bowed low, dropping to his knee, then was slow to rise. “My queen, while I was training Elric as Lord Raven instructed, near the shield, the princess appeared, looking for her brother. She seemed distraught. I covered her with my cloak and sent Elric to return her to the palace. But then the reaper that has been lurking nearby found a weak place in the shield. Remembering the plan, I sent Zephyr to call Prince Elric back. But the reaper nearly broke through. Fox and I were forced to battle it outside the shield. It fought to kill. Prince Elric appeared and distracted the beast long enough for us to escape. Then the creature ran off into the woods.”
The queen towered over him, and Elric felt as if he were shrinking. “You left your sister alone.”
Elric wished he could hide. She was right. He should have never left Wynn’s side.
“Yes,” he admitted. “I believed she was safe where she was.”
He watched as the queen’s expression turned to despair. Her magic snow melted around her as her face fell. “How could you leave her? She is too frail and delicate to ever leave alone. Where was she last?”
Elric stepped forward and answered. “I left her in the garden for not more than half of an hour. She promised she would stay and wait until I came back for her. She was safe there. But when Zephyr and I returned, there was no sign of her. We found her tracks. It looks like she ran toward the shield. Something drove her straight into the Nightfell Wood.”
“What?” The queen stared at him in disbelief. “What could have possibly frightened her enough to make her do that? She knows the forest is dangerous. The shield keeps the monsters out.” Her voice cracked.
A fairy with spiked pink hair came forward. “My queen, only an hour ago, Mildred was pecking at scraps in the kitchens. Suddenly she lifted her head and then ran straight out into the gardens. We didn’t know what was wrong with her.”
“We found her feathers near the shield,” Zephyr said.
If something had attacked Mildred, Wynn would do anything to save her hen, even brave the wood. But it didn’t make any sense. If Mildred was eating scraps in the kitchens, she wouldn’t have left that for anything. There was only one thing that chicken loved more than eating, and that was Wynn. There was no reason for the hen to leave the kitchens except for Wynn, and no reason for Wynn to leave the gardens except for Mildred. Something strange happened.
“My queen.” Master Elk stepped forward. “We have to consider that the timing of the reaper attack on the shield was not a coincidence. It was meant to be a distraction. This was a planned attack, just like the last one that claimed your child. Someone within the dome knew of Wynn, and set out to claim her for the Grendel. The only question is, who has betrayed us this time?”
The queen covered her mouth with her fingertips and slowly sank to the floor. “She’s gone. My winter baby.” The wind picked up around them, chilling Elric’s blood. The sound matched the wail of his own heart.
The queen clutched Wynn’s slipper to her heart, and let out a sob.
The floor beneath them began to rumble and shake. Elric nearly lost his balance as the light flickered in the chamber. A sound split the air like lightning striking at Elric’s feet. Light flashed, and for a moment he was blinded. He blinked his eyes, but strange colors lingered in his vision before he could see the room again.
The chamber fell silent as everyone in the room gasped in horror. A deep crack sliced through the heart of the crystal. Silvery mist streamed out of it. It looked like fairy blood.
Beneath the crystal, the queen lay motionless in a soft drift of snow.
CHAPTER SEVENWynn
WYNN CLUNG TO MILDRED WHERE Hob had hidden her at the base of the tree. The wet leaves covering the tangled roots felt like a soggy blanket that dripped water on her hunched head and neck. She remembered hiding under a thorn bush with Elric and wished he was next to her with his arm wrapped tightly around her. She didn’t know what to do. Hold still. Be quiet. That’s what Elric said to do under the thorn bush.
The horrible howl from the wood faded into a low rumble. Wynn felt it shiver down her back. It made her tummy feel sick. She couldn’t see anything from beneath the thick pile of leaves. She shifted so she could peek out through a small gap between a root and a large spiky leaf. Suddenly she could see the form of an animal out there as it passed by her hiding place. It came so close, its shaggy gray hide blocked everything she could see out of the hole, before it circled around to the center of the clearing.
She had never seen anything so big. It was twice as tall as her father was. The monster had a thick bare chest and scraggly, mottled light gray hair that matched the pale color of its leathery skin. It dropped to all four feet like a true beast and sniffed the ground. With its long snout and sharp teeth, it reminded her of the mad dogs that had chased her once.
A voice filled the woods.
