She landed hard in the ditch.
Trapped.
She saw the beast’s long clawed fingers first, then its horrible monster face with its wolf snout and big ugly bat ears. She looked up at it from the bottom of the ditch as it loomed over her. Its slimy drool dripped from its sharp fangs.
It reached down for her.
“I have you now. You cannot escape.”
She tucked herself down into the ditch so it couldn’t reach her, but its claw scraped across her cheek.
Wynn screamed again. This time it was answered with a roar. Wynn felt it roll over her like thunder.
A flash of shimmering light and dark stripes crashed into the monster, knocking it back. Wynn turned to the side of the ditch. Using the roots and rocks, she climbed out.
On the other side of the ditch, a furious and beautiful creature was fighting with the monster. It looked like a cat, but bigger, so much bigger. It was nearly the size of the reaper. Its long, striped tail lashed at the ground as it slashed at the creature with fearsome claws. Dark stripes covered its coat, but the light stripes between them changed color, shifting from blue to green to white.
Both beasts had reared up on their hind legs. The big cat moved so quickly Wynn could barely see its paws as it struck the other beast. They fell back to the ground and circled each other. The cat kept its enormous fangs bared as the monster’s eyes glowed red. The cat’s coat changed to the same fiery red. The cat arched its back and tucked its strong hips low.
Suddenly it exploded from the ground, leaping on the reaper’s back.
The reaper tried to shake the cat off. The cat slipped to the side but held on, its hooked claws cutting through the thick gray ruff of the reaper and staining its pale fur with its murky black blood. With an angry snarl, the cat grabbed the underside of the reaper’s throat.
The cat held fast, pushing the reaper’s head and shoulders to the ground until no more sound came out of the horrible monster and it lay still. Slowly the big striped cat let go of the monster and hissed, baring its knife-like teeth. It turned to Wynn. Its eyes glowed in the darkness, a pure shimmering gold.
It stalked forward. Wynn liked cats, but this one had paws the size of her head. She backed up, holding her hands out as the big cat stared at her. It never blinked.
A low rumble sounded in its throat. It was both beautiful and terrifying.
The light stripes changed color again, fading to a deep violet-blue like the night sky just after the sun set. Wynn could barely see the darker stripes. The glowing yellow eyes seemed to float in the air, stalking toward her.
Wynn backed up. She didn’t like these monsters. She wanted to go home.
Her heel hit a rock and she stumbled backward. Wynn screamed as the great striped cat charged forward.
“Hold!” a voice called from the shadows between two tall trees.
Wynn turned, hoping it was someone that could help.
She screamed again as she looked up at a tall silhouette surrounded by billowing curls of thick black smoke.
CHAPTER EIGHTElric
ELRIC RUSHED TO THE FALLEN queen’s side.
She looked lifeless. He lifted her hand and his fingers looked ghostly against hers, taking on a bluish tinge as the temperature in the room plummeted. The other fairies rushed forward. He hadn’t ever seen his birth mother ill. He never saw her dying. This terrified him. The crystal above him continued to bleed and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
“My queen,” he said. “Wake up.” He shook her gently as snow fell. It settled on the curls of her snow-white hair and didn’t melt.
Lord Raven drew Elric back with a firm hand. Elric fought against Raven’s grip. He didn’t know what he could do, but he felt like he had to do something. Lord Raven conjured a bed of mist beneath the queen. She lay on it, blanketed in a soft fog. He didn’t even try to wake her.
The crystal above them glowed with a cold blue light that made the cracked scars within it seem that much more pronounced. The largest one was so deep it cut through the very center of the stone. It continued to bleed even as a group of fairies poured their magic into the crystal’s wounds. It didn’t help.
Raven stood. “The queen is dying,” he declared. His words boomed through the chamber. “We must make her comfortable and do all we can to strengthen the shield on our own.”
“No!” Elric shouted. “We just need to find Wynn. If we can find Wynn, she can heal the queen. She did it before. Send everyone out into the woods at once. We will find her.” Each minute lost was another moment the reaper could find his sister. “She’s out there somewhere, alone and scared.”
Raven looked at him with pity, and Elric hated it. His black eyes reflected the light of the bleeding crystal as he said, “You have no idea the dangers of the wood. She couldn’t survive without protection, not for a moment.”
Elric glared at him. “You don’t know my sister. None of you do. Wynn is strong. She never gives up. I won’t give up either, not yet.” His voice broke. “You have to help me save her.”
Raven swept his hand over the queen, thickening the veil of fog over her until it looked like a shroud.
“Wynn is still out there!” Elric shouted. He turned around to the crowd of dumbstruck fairies. “Doesn’t anyone care that she is in danger?”
Fox came forward and tried to place a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not
