Gloria’s mouth parted, then turned into a tight smile. “You joke, Frieda, and I don’t find it amusing.”
“I don’t, Gloria. I wouldn’t come back here and beg you if I were joking.”
Frieda proceeded to tell the Head Witch of the music box, the Jewel of Deception, and of Ignatius and Maria, and their magical abilities far beyond that of any of the dark witches.
Gloria listened with intent. That was good; Frieda had her attention, and the Head Witch was considering her proposal.
Then, as if Frieda hadn’t just spoken for many long minutes, Gloria answered with a resounding no. “I will not aid those who oppose us and our ideals.”
“But they don’t!” Frieda argued.
She sensed the leverage she had slipping away. She stood up and was about to turn and head back toward the clearing on foot, no matter how far it was, when the flaps of the surrounding huts moved, and Frieda’s long-lost sisters emerged.
“I think we should, Gloria,” Tania said. “Too long have we sat idly by, while the world destroys itself a little more each day. We can make a difference.”
“Yes, I agree,” Petunia echoed.
Frieda smiled at her sisters, and they smiled back.
Family, through and through.
“The Arachnids have been our mortal enemies for as long as I can remember. For as long as our history on this world,” Olivia reasoned.
Their collective words were working their magic on the Head Witch.
“Most of the world—well, those who know of us—think we are dark, evil. I believe, Gloria, that it is time to prove them wrong,” Asia said.
All of Frieda’s sisters now surrounded the Head Witch, her face as impassive as a stone. They watched her with their own form of fire in their eyes. Slowly, the Head Witch’s gaze softened.
“A war,” Gloria sighed. “One of my own comes back to me after all this time and wants us to join a war that will surely be a bloodbath.” She paused. Each word hung in the air for a long while. She looked at each member of her tribe, Frieda last. “We will surely die,” she said, a sad smile breaking out on her face.
“No, we won’t,” Frieda countered. “As long as we stick together. I’m sorry for leaving, but I’m back now, and I’ll be right there by your sides while we take the Arachnids down.”
“It has been a long, long time since we’ve done any fighting at all,” Gloria mused.
“All the more reason to go out there and kick some ass,” Olivia said.
“Yeah, kick some spider ass,” Asia amended.
Gloria smiled and closed her eyes. She nodded. “So be it! We shall join your war. We shall crush the Arachnids, and we shall crush the darkness.”
Frieda couldn’t help herself. She rushed across the clearing and threw her arms around the Head Witch. The others made their way over and joined in. Frieda hadn’t realized how much she’d missed them all until now.
And to fight with them by her side…well, that was the ultimate honor.
Once Joe, Maria, and Sherlock arrived at the mountains, Joe had trouble closing his mouth.
“You keep it open long enough, and some weird, magical fly is going to take up residence inside you,” Maria teased as they traveled up the rocky landscape. “Think of that chest-bursting scene in Alien. You don’t want that.”
Joe’s mouth closed pretty quickly at that.
Lucky bastard. I wish bugs would just fly into my mouth, Sherlock pouted. He was ahead of them, but not so far that Maria couldn’t see him. The Bloodhound had learned his lesson since running ahead in the Cave of Delusion the first time.
They rounded the mountain until they came upon the opening where Odarth had been directed to wait until Maria was ready to call on her.
“Now, this is probably going to blow your mind,” Maria said to Joe, “but I need you to promise me you’re not going to pass out again.”
He shook his head. “I’m all done passing out. I promise.”
“Okay.” She drew her sword and, after spinning it in her palm, thrust it downward into the stone.
Joe watched with equal parts amusement and awe. He had not expected the stone to break; Maria was simply not that strong. But the stone had broken as easily as if it had been dirt.
In a commanding voice, his girlfriend boomed, “Man of the Mountain! I have come for my dragon!”
Nobody replied for a long moment. Sherlock took up shelter behind a large boulder, and Joe suddenly wondered what could possibly frighten the dog. Then the words that Maria had spoken, in a voice so unlike her own, finally registered in his head.
Dragon. What the hell? I didn’t believe her before, but—
The ground started to shake. From the darkness, a white figure emerged. It was huge, larger than any animal Joe had seen at the countless zoos he’d visited growing up. Its eyes, burning with fire, were as big as the headlights on his Honda Civic.
Shit, even bigger, maybe.
The dragon stopped a few feet away from them. For a moment, Joe thought he might piss his pants. He couldn’t breathe, and his heart thundered against his sternum hard enough to make his shirt dance and jitter.
The dragon looked menacing—and hungry—but it made no move to hurt the wanderers.
Maria stepped forward and placed a hand—a calm hand, Joe noticed—on the dragon’s snout.
‘So close to its teeth?’ Joe wanted to shout. You’re gonna lose a hand!
Maria rubbed it back and forth. Joe moved a little to the right and was able to see the two locked in a stare of understanding. It was as if they were communicating with their minds.
But no, that would be crazy. Talking to a dog is one thing, but a dragon? Hell, dragons aren’t even supposed to exist!
Then Maria nodded, and Joe knew that she was indeed talking to the
