Chapter 18

The bulky beast continued its ascent from the water, swimming toward them. Concentric circles rippled around his bulging body, and a growl escaped from his lips.

Dewey lowered his voice, whispering to Paige, "Should we just go or–"

"Who disturbs my rest?" he bellowed.

"Too late," Paige answered, shoving her glasses up on her nose. "Uh, hello, sir. My name is Paige Turner, and this is my partner, Dewey Decimael. We…disturb your rest."

"Why?" the dripping creature growled as its thick paws curled into fists.

"U-uh," Paige stammered, poking at her glasses again, "well, we're looking for water from the Pool of Yearning for a friend. He is a little…green around the gills and needs it desperately. Which is why we disturb your rest."

The beast narrowed his eyes at Paige, a grumble rising from its throat.

Paige swallowed hard and chewed her lower lip as she awaited his response. "Listen, we realize you guard the pool, and we don't want any trouble. But we really need the water. So maybe we could discuss some sort of trade here? I'm open to suggestions."

The creature continued staring at them without responding.

Dewey flung his hands out. "Look, Mr. Frightening Fairy, we really need–"

"What did you call me?"

Dewey winced. "Frightening Fairy."

"Fairy of Fright," Paige hissed at him.

"You fools," the creature shouted.

"Sorry," Dewey said, waving his hands in the air. "Sorry, Mr. Fairy of Fright, sir. We're new here."

The creature lowered his chin, his eyes boring into them. "This is not the Pool of Yearning. And I am not the Fairy of Fright."

Paige's jaw dropped open, and she shot a glance at Dewey. "Oh, I'm sorry. We must have taken a wrong turn."

She thumbed behind her. "The sign back there was down."

"Cut, actually," Dewey added. "Cut down."

"Right, sabotaged. And we just guessed at the direction. We were like, is the sign right? Or did the saboteur turn it around so we'd go the wrong way?"

"Or did they leave it the same so we'd be tricked into thinking they turned it and go the wrong way," Dewey chimed in.

"Exactly! We had no idea. And we just picked a direction and walked. And then we saw the pool of water and assumed–"

"SILENCE!" the beast boomed.

Paige and Dewey pressed their lips together, quieting their babbling tongues as their eyes went wide.

"I have had enough. I am the FearMonger, guardian of Lake Dread. You have disturbed my rest. And now you must pay."

"Umm, here's the thing. We are so sorry about this," Paige answered. "We can totally just turn around and leave. Let you get back to your slumber."

"Yeah, no worries at all," Dewey added. "We will just turn around and get right out of your very thick hair."

"No!"

Paige and Dewey exchanged a glance before returning their attention to the angry creature.

Dewey narrowed his eyes at the sea monster, focusing on the scales crawling up his midriff. "Wait a second. I mean, how can you do anything to us? Aren't you half merman?"

"I am. Come into the water so that I might inflict your punishment."

Dewey's eyebrows squashed together. "Uh, no, pass."

"Come receive your sentence."

"No way, uh-uh," Dewey retorted.

"Paige Turner," the creature bellowed, "come into the water."

"I'm with Dewey on this one. Hard pass."

White teeth shone as the creature snarled at them. "Come to me."

"Make me," Dewey shouted back.

The beast tossed his hairy, muscular arms out to the side, howling in frustration. The water around him bubbled and churned. A trident rose from under the waves, sliding into his hand.

"Uh-oh," Dewey murmured. "I think we'd better get out of here."

"Agree," Paige said, already stumbling backward before she spun on her heel and took off.

Dewey sailed next to her.

"COME BACK HERE!" the FearMonger shouted after them.

Paige continued her sprint up to the top of the hill, slowing only as the lake disappeared behind them when they started their descent.

"Whoa, that was…" Paige shook her head.

"Ridiculous," Dewey said.

They reached the bottom of the hill, and a winded Paige bent forward, resting her palms on her thighs. "Did he actually expect us to just jump into the water with him so he could attack us?"

"Apparently. What an idiot," Dewey said, fluttering down to land on her shoulder and suck in a few deep breaths. "Who would do that? What a terrible monster."

Paige straightened and continued down the path toward the fork. "He is kind of limited with the merman tail."

"Yeah. If I was the author of this book, I'd have given him way better powers."

"I had almost forgotten you're an aspiring author. How's Malice in Wonderland coming along?"

Dewey wrinkled his nose and shrugged. "Eh."

"Writer's block?"

"I've just hit a point where I'm questioning everything I've written."

They reached the fork and continued down the opposite path. "I'm sure every writer is like that."

"Imposter syndrome strikes again."

"Imposter syndrome, huh? Well, everyone gets that, writer or not. I have it with this job. I feel like I'm just guessing my way through."

"You'll learn," Dewey assured her as trees closed in around them again. "I mean, look at you now."

"Yeah, illustrated and fighting imaginary creatures to get bark from a fictional tree that'll cure my vampire scratch."

"When you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous."

Paige held her hands out in front of her. "It is ridiculous. Look at us. We're cartoons."

"Illustrations."

"Whatever. Either way you slice it–"

A squawking overhead cut off any further conversation.

Paige ducked down, scanning the canopy of trees above them.

Another screech sounded, and the leaves rustled.

"What is that?" Paige asked.

"I don't want to find out," Dewey answered, clinging to her.

"We should probably get out of these woods."

"Agree. Make a run for it."

Paige nodded and took a step forward when a flutter of activity rained down from the skies above. A murder of crows streamed from the trees, surrounding them.

Paige stopped short, spinning around to stare at the aggressors. "What the hell is this?"

One crow stalked forward, flicking its head to the side to stare at them. "What are you doing in our woods?"

Paige flung her hands out. "Of course you talk. We're just passing through on our way to the Pool of Yearning, okay?"

"No, it's not okay. These are our woods."

Paige heaved a sigh, her head falling back between her shoulder blades. "You're kidding. Why is no one ever okay with anything in this book? The moral of the story here really should be sharing."

"We share nothing," the crow hissed.

She held up a hand. "Fine, fine. What do you want so we can pass?"

"Want?" the crow questioned.

"Yeah. What do you want? Is there a test or an offering or something? What do you want to let us pass?"

The crow ruffled her feathers, her wings spreading to the sides as she grew in size. "How about your life?"

"What the hell?" Paige cried as the massive crow stalked toward them.

"Run, Paige," Dewey screamed, wrapping his arms around her neck and squeezing.

"Get away from me, you crazy bird," Paige shouted as she darted between its two skinny legs and sprinted away.

The large animal snapped its neck toward her. As she escaped, it cawed, sending its smaller compatriots into a frenzy. They fluttered in the air, screeching and shrieking as they flew toward Paige and Dewey.

"RUN!" Dewey shouted, shielding himself with his wings and gripping tighter to Paige.

"I am running," Paige choked out as she covered her head with her hands. "You're choking me."

"Ahhhhh!" Dewey screamed as wings beat them and beaks poked at them. "They're pecking me! They're going to tear my wings! Run!"

"They're pecking at me, too," Paige retorted. "And I am running, but you're choking me!"

Paige scrambled forward through the crowd of crows as fast as she could, emerging into the blue sky beyond the wooded area. The crows landed in the trees, still squawking at her.

Dewey's wings still flapped as a defense mechanism. Paige collapsed onto the ground, sucking in deep breaths as her heart rate returned to normal. She tugged at Dewey's arm.

"Please, stop," she choked out in a hoarse voice.

"Right," Dewey said after a moment, releasing his death grip. "Sorry. I panicked."

Paige nodded at him. "It's okay. Are your wings okay?"

Dewey flung them open, twisting his neck from side to side to check. "Seem to be."

Paige's jaw dropped open. "Dewey, there's not a scratch on them."

"No," Dewey said, a grin sliding across his face, "I fared pretty well."

"Yeah, well, I didn't," Paige shouted, thrusting her arms into the air.

Blood trickled down her skin from various poke holes.

Dewey winced. "Yikes! Looks like you took the brunt of it."

Paige shook her head as she climbed to her feet. "As usual. Anyway, note to self, let's not go home that way."

"Definitely not. They give new meaning to the term murder of crows."

"No kidding."

Paige dusted herself off, taking a moment to assess the damage to her arms.

Dewey jabbed a finger forward. "Paige, look!"

She pried her eyes away from her wounds and stared ahead. Placid blue water peeked through a ring of trees.

"That must be the Pool of Yearning."

"Yep," Dewey agreed, leaping into the air and landing on Paige's shoulder again. "Come on. Let's get the water and get the heck out of this crazy place."

Paige nodded and took a step forward before she stopped. "Wait. How are we supposed to collect the water? We don't have a vial or anything."

Dewey flexed his jaw, tracing his jawline with a finger as he thought. "We need a container."

"No kidding. And we don't have any. We should have asked Prince What's-his-name for something."

"Maybe we could politely ask the Fright Fairy for one."

"Oh, right," Paige with, pressing her hand against her forehead, "that's a wonderful idea. We'll ask the horrible fairy who guards the pond if we can have a vial to steal her water. I was hoping to avoid this Fairy of Fright, if you don't mind."

"Well," Dewey said, launching off Paige's shoulder, "we need to find a container of some kind, then. Spread out and look around."

Paige wandered off the path into the grass, searching for a container with which to carry the water. "This is ridiculous! We're not going to find a vial just lying around in the grass."

"Here we go," Dewey shouted, darting up into the air and waving a crystal vial in the air.

Paige stuck her hands on her hips. "Are you kidding me? Why would there be a crystal vial in the grass?"

"This book is filled with all sorts of creatures, small and large," Dewey said as he rejoined her on the path. "I figured someone must have dropped something somewhere."

"Seriously? Some elf dropped his crystal vial in the grass?"

"Mmm, probably not an elf, but–"

Paige waved her hands in the air before running them over her hair. "Never mind. Let's just get this water and get back to the castle."

"Right," Dewey said, handing her the vial. "Now, when you go up–"

"Wait," Paige said, snapping her gaze at him, "what do you mean when I go up? We're in this together."

"It makes more sense for only one of us to go. Way better chance of not getting caught. Also, faster."

Paige thrust the vial back toward Dewey. "All right. You go."

"Why me? You've got a sword!"

"And you've got a walking stick with a knife. You're quieter because you can fly."

"Oh, no. My wings make an awful racket. Like an annoying buzzing sound that can be heard for miles. They'd hear me coming from a mile away."

Paige's features settled into a stony expression. She yanked the vial closer to her. "Fine. If I get killed, you'll feel terrible."

"Okay, okay," Dewey said as she stepped forward. "We'll go together."

Paige gave him a tight-lipped smile before they joined hands and inched forward to the pool. They approached the bank. Water gently lapped at the edge.

Dewey raised a finger to his lips, then tapped it toward the water. Paige nodded, slowly uncapping the vial. With the stopper clutched in her left hand, she eased herself down into a low squat and stretched her arm toward the water.

She hesitated for a moment, with the vial hovering over the water. She slid her eyes to Dewey. He gave her a thumbs up. She returned the gesture, then blew out a long breath and dipped the vial into the water.

Air bubbled up to the surface as water forced its way into the vial. Paige lifted it from the water and slid the stopper into place. The light-blue water glowed from within the glass container. She shot a glance at Dewey and grinned, giving him a thumbs-up.

He flashed two thumbs-up back and jabbed a finger back the way they came. Paige pressed her still-smiling lips together and nodded. She turned her back on the pool and took one step when the sound of splashing water met their ears.

"Stop there," a sweet female voice said.

Paige and Dewey spun to face the new arrival.

A glistening fairy, still dripping with water, hovered above the pool's surface. She batted her bright-blue eyes at them, a smile forming on her rosy lips and spreading to her pink cheeks.

"Hello," Paige said, her voice shaky.

The fairy cocked her head, her blue hair flowing as though she still floated in water. "What has brought you to the Pool of Yearning?"

"We're trying to help a friend," Paige explained. "He needs the water to cure his curse."

"And did you take the water?" the woman asked.

Paige swallowed hard, glancing at Dewey. He shrugged and gave a slight bob of his head.

"Yes, we did take a small vial of it to help him," Paige admitted.

"How kind of you," she said.

Paige smiled at her, thumbing behind her. "Thank you. So, if you don't mind, we should be getting back to him to cure his curse. Thanks so much."

Paige waved at her as she spun to depart.

"Actually," the fairy said as Paige took a step, "I do mind."

Paige's heart skipped a beat, and she twirled back to face the winged woman. "Oh, uh–"

The woman's delicate features twisted into a gruesome mask of anger. Her eyes blackened, her skin reddened, and her slim fingers balled into fists.

Her wings beat hard, and she flew toward both Dewey and Paige. "Get ‘em!"

Thousands of tiny fairies sprang from the pond, carrying a net made of water. They dropped it over Paige and Dewey. A rush of water surrounded them.

Paige felt herself turn weightless as she floated, suspended in the water net, still able to breathe, but unable to move.

"Hey," she shouted, bubbles escaping her mouth and her voice muffled by the water.

She tried to pound her hands, but they only wobbled back and forth slowly as she pushed through the liquid.

Next to her, Dewey floated in his own aqua prison. He clawed at the net, but could not tear through it.

Paige's features pinched as she scanned her new prison. She found no way out.

She was trapped. Possibly forever.