Once the newcomers were all settled, Maria took the Jewel of Deception out of the music box. Frank, the gray haired man, and the four women—Michein, Parmella, Kira, and Sage—helped carry Gramps out into the Dark Forest.
Maria stayed behind.
Odarth was still breathing, but she wasn’t conscious. Long rakes from the Widow’s claws marred Odarth’s scales.
Odarth, wake up, please, Maria urged.
There was no answer.
Closing her eyes, Maria pulled magic from the planet’s core into her own body. She had never healed a dragon before, but how hard could it be?
The magic coursed through her until it tingled in her palms. She put her hands on the slashes and thought of Odarth as she was whole.
Slowly, the slashes disappeared, and Odarth opened her eyes.
Maria—
The young witch passed out before Odarth could finish.
She awoke to great cheers from a crowd among a ruined stretch of forest.
A battlefield.
Maria thought she was dreaming until she noticed Odarth was holding her gently in her great maw.
The dragon set the witch down, and everyone rushed her. They hugged her, congratulated her, told her she did it, that her mother would’ve been so proud, that she was the true heir of Anwyn, and so many other things.
All Maria could do was smile, and try to believe it was all real.
It was very real, but it took days for that to finally sink in.
They were back in the ruined village of Dominion. Gramps was on the mend, though still bruised and unable to walk without a cane or help. But he had never been happier; his friends were back.
The saved five told the story of the world in between. That dark mist had taken most of those who had been saved by Zimmy Ba a long time ago—or so it had seemed. It could’ve been days or centuries, for all they knew. Their sense of time in the world in between didn’t exist.
For a while, Maria had blamed herself for their loss. Gramps assured her that there was nothing more they could have done, and that saving five lives was better than none.
The blame belonged to the Arachnids, a now extinct race…for the most part.
Some had gotten away, and there were some who were not inherently evil and lived elsewhere, but the Widow’s reign of madness was gone.
Just like the music box.
Gelbus had offered to take it to the Gnomes’ vault. He told her that was where such a powerful artifact belonged.
Maria agreed, not reluctantly. It may have been her mother’s, but she didn’t need that piece of her, when she had so much of her mother inside her heart.
When Gelbus had overseen the storing of the music box in the vault, he had been offered his old job back. He had refused it, though and returned to the great hall.
The whole group now stood in the throne room. A long table had been placed in the middle of the aisle, and the throne sat high above it.
“Now what?” Maria asked her grandfather.
He smiled, “We celebrate.”
“And we rebuild,” Frank added. He put his arm around Parmella and kissed her on the cheek. Parmella wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye as she looked around the great hall with nostalgia in her eyes.
“Yes, we rebuild,” Michein agreed. Sage, her daughter, who looked younger than Maria, nodded. “Dominion can rise from the ashes again. We can build a thriving city and offer sanctuary to those who seek shelter.”
Behind Michein and Sage, Kira stepped forward, her red hair like leaves in autumn. “All because of you, Maria.”
Joe had his arm around Maria. He pulled her closer and kissed her on the top of the head. Sherlock was at Maria’s feet, and he made a sound of disgust—but chuckled afterward.
Frieda stood by Gramps, letting him lean on her. Behind them, at the tables, sat Claire, Tabby, the dark witches, and the Light Elves. Odarth sat outside, guarding the palace. The wounds over her body were all but gone.
Do you want to go back to the Cave of Delusion? Maria had asked Odarth.
I will go wherever you need me to go. I owe you my life more than once; I am forever indebted to you, the dragon had replied.
If they are going to rebuild Dominion, they will need an army. You can be the beginning of that army, Odarth, Maria proposed.
Odarth nodded. Anything, Maria Apple, descendant of Anwyn, the Slayer.
The young witch smiled as another alliance was forged.
Maria realized her only loved ones missing were Salem and Agnes.
As if on cue, the witch and wizard—the latter almost as beat up as Gramps—came through a portal in the middle of the great hall.
Agnes held two buckets with ‘BUCKEYE ICE CREAM’ stenciled on the sides.
“Thought you could have this party without us, did you?” Salem asked.
“Not a chance,” Agnes said.
Maria laughed. We’re all here.
Upbeat music started to play from a radio Claire and Tabby had insisted on bringing, and those who could dance did. As the night went on, the music slowed. Sherlock danced with Claire, and then Tabby, smiling a perfect dog’s smile.
Maria looked on, smiling and shaking her head. He finally got his Dog Prom.
After all the ice cream had been eaten, and conversation turned more serious, Frank stepped forward. “If we are going to rebuild, we will need a new queen,” He was looking at Maria.
The candles dimmed.
Her heart dropped.
“What? Me?” she asked, breathless.
Frank nodded along with the others she had saved from the world in between.
Maria looked to Gramps for an answer. He only shrugged and grinned with the rest of them.
Frank and the others stepped aside, revealing the throne.
“Do it!” Claire hooted.
“Yeah!” Tabby enthused.
Joe whispered, “Whatever you want to do, Maria, I’ll be right there by your side.”
The thought of leaving Akron and Ohio and Earth, the thought of being a queen like her mother, was so weird, yet so exciting.
“I don’t know if I can,” Maria said. “I don’t know if I’m ready—”
“To leave your life behind?” Parmella supplied. The woman’s bushy
