Chapter 17

"Dewey!" Paige screamed as she stared at the grisly scene.

The giant blade dropped closer and closer to her friend with each swing.

"Help!" Dewey cried again, fighting against the ropes that bound him but making no headway.

"I'm coming, Dewey. Just let me get the tree bark!"

Paige spun to face the platform containing the tree bark. Her stomach dropped as the podium slowly lowered into the floor.

Another loud cry from Dewey drew her attention back to him. The blade nearly slashed him in two.

She flicked her gaze back to the bark. If she tried for it, she'd never make it to Dewey in time. And if she saved Dewey, she'd lose the bark.

Her face pinched with dismay at the choice for a moment before she left the tree bark behind and hurried to Dewey. She swung the sword down, cutting the rope that held him to the stone altar.

He rolled off the platform and to the ground seconds before the massive blade skittered across the stone top, sending sparks flying.

Paige covered her eyes as the bright beams seared her eyes.

"Paige! Paige!" Dewey shouted.

She let her arm fall away and opened her eyes, blinking rapidly at her surroundings.

"Paige! Are you okay?"

Paige swallowed hard, scrambling to her feet and glancing around at the colorful trees that surrounded them. "Y-yeah. How did I get back here?"

"I guess you passed the test," Dewey answered, flying into the air. "Same as me. At least, I think I did."

"Test?" Paige questioned, her memory hazy.

"Yeah. After you fell asleep, did you end up in some weird, dark version of this forest? And call out the guardian's name, and then he stuck you in a labyrinth? And when you got to the center, you had to make a choice?"

Paige's forehead pinched as she attempted to recall what happened to her.

She slowly moved her head up and down. "Yes."

"Yes," she shouted a second time, jabbing a finger at Dewey. "Yes, I went through a labyrinth. Did you meet a really mean door? And a wolf?"

Dewey's fleshy eyebrows knit together. "No."

"How did you get through the maze?"

"I flew over the top to the center."

Paige's shoulders drooped, and she offered an unimpressed stare. "So, you cheated. I'm surprised he let you get away with that."

"Get away with it? How is that cheating?"

"I had to pick my way through that maze inch by inch. I hit so many dead ends and then a really mean door that trapped me with a wolf. And the wolf betrayed me and left me behind."

Dewey shrugged. "Nobody said you had to walk through the maze. And anyway, it's a good thing I didn't. You were in the center almost ready to be sliced in half!"

"That's what happened in mine, too. I had to make a choice between you and the tree bark."

Dewey stared at her for a moment, eyeing her pocket. "So, do you have the bark?"

"No! I picked you. Duh."

A slight smile passed over his teal lips. "Oh, good."

"How else do you think I got out? If I would have picked the tree bark, I assume I'd be stuck in that dark forest for all eternity or something."

Dewey shrugged, the corners of his mouth tugging down. "How should I know what you picked?"

Paige narrowed her eyes at the dragon. "Seriously? Do you seriously think I'd let you get killed?"

"I guess I believe you'd save me."

Paige flicked her gaze at the bright-blue sky above them, shaking her head. "What was your choice?"

"Huh?"

"What did you have to give up to save me?"

"Growth potion."

"You mean…to make you a big boy dragon?"

Dewey nodded and buzzed past her. "Anyway, let's not dwell on it. We survived and I, for one, would like to get out of here and on to the next obstacle."

Paige continued down the path through the forest, jogging a few steps to catch up to him. "That's really nice, Dewey."

"What is?"

"That you chose me over being a big dragon. I know how much you want to be bigger."

Dewey shrugged, refusing to meet her gaze. "No biggie. I figured if I didn't, I'd be stuck there, so…"

"Sure you did," Paige said with a coy smile.

"It has nothing to do with the fact that we are friends. Nothing. I am not sentimental."

"Uh-huh," Paige said, the grin remaining on her lips.

"Also, please no more candy from this forest. I've had enough."

Paige chuckled as she glanced around at the cotton-candy trees lining the path. "You and me both. I just want to get out of here and get this stupid water and be done."

"And then get back to the dumb palace and trade for the bark."

"Yes, and get out of this book, use it to cure my issue, and then work on all the other problems we have."

"Right, like your heritage. I haven't forgotten, but–"

Paige waved a hand in the air as they approached the edge of the forest, interrupting him. "Yeah, I get it. Me nearly dying kind of took priority."

"Right," Dewey said, pointing a finger gun at her. "And then the purple level on top of that."

"I understand. And it's not a big deal. Honestly, I've gone this long without knowing anything, so it's fine."

"Still, I'd like to get you some information."

Paige raised her arm in the air and wiggled it. The silver charms dangled from her charm bracelet, catching the light. "I'm really interested to know if these have any meaning."

Dewey narrowed his eyes at the sparkling charms. "Me too. In particular, the dragon one. Did your mother know the dragons?"

"Maybe she knew your family. Maybe she knew you!"

"I don't remember any Reed Moores hanging around, but I was young. Maybe I forgot."

"I guess we'll find out," Paige said as they stepped into the bright sunshine, leaving the Forest of Isolation behind.

They approached another fork in the road.

Paige glanced up and down each path. "No marker."

She wrinkled her nose as she flicked her gaze between the two paths, trying to determine which to take.

"Well, this is just great!" Dewey fumed. "How are we supposed to know where to go?"

Paige shrugged, taking a last glance down each path. "Guess? We've got a fifty-fifty shot."

"Guess? With your luck? Pass."

"What else do you propose we do? We can't conjure a sign."

Dewey rubbed a digit on his chin. "Or can we?"

"Dewey!"

"Sorry, just throwing it out there. It is a fairy tale. Maybe we could."

Paige shook her head as she tried to determine a way to maximize their chances.

Dewey fluttered over to the tall weeds at the crossroads, diving down and digging around in them. "Wait a second, wait a second."

"Did you find something?" Paige asked, peering over his shoulder.

Dewey grunted with effort, his lips forming a grimace as he tugged at something. "Help me."

Paige stepped into the weeds and grabbed hold of the brown object Dewey attempted to lift. Together, they struggled to raise the heavy piece of wood from the weeds.

"A signpost," Dewey exclaimed as they freed it.

"Yeah, but which way does it go?" Paige asked, scratching her head as she propped it up against a nearby tree.

"The way it is," Dewey said. "Pool of Yearning to the right."

"Or is it this way?" Paige asked, spinning the sign the opposite way to reveal the words printed on the reverse side. "Pool of Yearning to the left?"

Dewey puckered his lips as he considered it. "Wouldn't the sign have fallen the way it was up?"

He spun it back to the original configuration.

Paige pointed down at the bottom. "This didn't fall. It was cut!"

Dewey flew closer to inspect the pole's bottom. A clean slice made it obvious Paige's assertion was correct.

"You're right."

"So it's entirely possible this didn't fall in the same way the sign was supposed to point," Paige said. "I'll bet the saboteur twisted it around so we'd go the wrong way. So we should go to the left."

Paige let the sign fall back into the weeds and took a step to the left.

"Or," Dewey said, stopping her, "the saboteur thought we'd think that so he…or she let the sign fall the way it was so we'd go in the opposite direction, so we should go right."

Paige considered it for a moment before flinging her hands in the air. "We can never figure this out."

"Wait," Dewey said, raising a finger in the air. "I wonder if we can match any splintering on the base of the sign with what's left in the ground."

"Worth a shot, I guess." Paige hauled the sign up and set it on the stub sticking from the ground. "Does it match?"

"Yeah," Dewey answered as he studied where the two pieces met. "So, we go left like you said."

"Wait, let's try this way just for kicks and giggles." Paige groaned as she shimmied around with the sign. "How's that look?"

"Crap," Dewey said.

"What?"

"It looks the same. A match."

Paige let the sign flop into the high grass again and ran a hand over her hair. "So, we go right or left. We still have no idea."

Dewey flew up to her eye level. "Nope. What do you want to do?"

Paige glanced back and forth before she made her case again. "I say we go left. The person who destroyed this sign meant to throw us off the trail. They'd try to mess us up."

"Though what if they wanted us to think they were trying to mess us up, and so they put the sign the right way knowing we'd think it was the wrong way? Also, your luck stinks, so I'm not sure we should follow your advice."

Paige pressed her lips together and huffed out a breath. "You're right. We'll go right."

"Wait," Dewey shouted as she stepped right.

"Now what?"

"What if right is wrong because they knew we'd think they'd think we thought they were trying to mess us up? So, they did put the sign the right way knowing we'd think they'd think putting it the wrong way was what they intended to do and realize they put it the right way."

Paige stared at him, stunned into silence for a second. "Wait, we'd think they'd think that we think…" She swung her finger back and forth as she worked through the logic. "Okay, I'm totally confused. So, do we go right or left?"

"I don't know," Dewey answered.

Paige blew out a frustrated sigh, her shoulders sinking toward the ground. "Okay, we're going to have to just make a decision and go with it."

"Okay, on three, we'll both say our choice, and if they match, we go with it," Dewey proposed.

Paige nodded and began the countdown. After she counted to three, she said, "Left," while Dewey said, "Right."

They both wrinkled their noses at each other.

Paige held her hands up in the air. "Okay, we're just going to have to flip a coin."

"Okay, go ahead."

"I don't have a coin! Why would I have a coin? Do they even still make coins?"

Dewey flung his short arms in the air. "You said it! Why would you say flip a coin when you didn't have a coin?"

"It was a figure of speech! Okay, okay, we just need something with two sides." Paige glanced around, finding a flat rock. "Here, use your knife to scratch something into one side."

Dewey exposed the blade in his walking stick and etched an X into one side of the stone.

Paige sucked in a deep breath as she held the stone out. "Okay, X side up, we go right. X side down, we go left."

Dewey nodded, shoving the blade back inside his stick. "Toss it."

Paige flipped the stone into the air. It rotated around over and over before it began its descent, still spiraling around until it thudded into the dirt below. They hovered over it, staring down at the stone. The X Dewey etched into the rock stared back.

"Right it is," Paige said after a deep breath.

"Next stop, Pool of Yearning."

"Way to think positive," Paige said as they started down the path on the right.

They walked for fifteen minutes. The sky continued to grow darker as they proceeded farther down the path.

Paige glanced over her shoulder as the sky took on a deeper shade of blue. "Wonder how far away this pool is?"

"Well, we haven't come across anything else so far. So, we may not have come across it yet."

"Good point. What was the other thing on the sign?"

"Ummm." Dewey scratched his head. "Lake something-or-other?"

"Oh, right," Paige said as she stalked along, her sword dragging over the ground. "Lake…Placid. No, that's in New York."

"Right, where the water chimeras live."

"What?"

"Water chimeras. They live in Lake Placid."

Paige wrinkled her nose as her mind created images of what the creatures might look like.

"Lake…Depths? Something with a D."

"So, wait, they are both bodies of water. How will we know if we're at the right place?"

"Easy. The Freaky Fairy or whatever she's called should pop out."

"Oh, right," Paige said as they climbed a slight grade.

They reached the top and stared down at the calm pond of water.

"There," Paige said, thrusting her finger ahead. "Water!"

"That must be it! Let's hope this is the Pool of Yearning and not Lake Whatever."

"Yeah," Paige said as she raced down the path. "Race you."

"Wait," Dewey said as his wings beat hard to propel him forward. "You cheated! You started before I was ready."

"You can fly. It seems a fair trade," Paige shouted over her shoulder with a chuckle.

Her feet pounded the dirt, and she heaved the sword off the ground as her thighs pumped to push her faster. Dewey closed the gap between them as they reached the water's edge.

They arrived at nearly the same time, skidding to a stop with grins on their faces.

"I won," Paige shouted triumphantly.

"Like fun," Dewey retorted. "It was a tie at best."

Paige waved a hand in the air before bringing her thumb and forefinger close together. "No, no. I was ahead by a hair. But still–"

A splashing sound interrupted her words.

They both snapped their gazes to the water, their eyes going wide.

"Uh, Paige," Dewey said. "I think we should…back up."

Paige swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah. Definitely."

She took a faltering step backward, her eyes trained on what emerged from the water. Water dripped from the hulking creature, which appeared to be a cross between the legendary Bigfoot and a merman.

Paige pressed her lips together to stop her jaw from trembling as a chill snaked up her spine.

What had they just awakened, and what would it do to them?