Garth searched behind every bush, tree, and thicket. Stephan couldn't just vanish. There was no way. But his useless search proved that it was possible. Like how he had changed Vicky into a girl. The one thing that really bothered him was how.
"Garth," Scar moaned. "What's going-" The wolf boy stopped as soon as he saw Vicky on the ground. "Vicky?" He practically pounced on her, checking for injuries.
"Um, Scar," she said in a sweet voice. After noticing the issue, Scar unbuttoned his shirt and wrapped her in it before helping her up. Vicky was bright red as she looked around. "This is really embarrassing."
"How do you think we feel?" Edward responded, blocking his vision with a hand. Vicky bit her lip as her cheeks burned even hotter. Luckily, she seemed able to use magic. What was once Scar's shirt became a red dress with short sleeves and a collar.
"You're good, Ed," Garth said. Edward opened his eyes and sighed. Richard sighed too, though it sounded like a snarl.
"We're not good. No one's good. Isabella was taken by..." Richard's face distorted into a weird expression. Garth couldn't believe this. And yet, he could. Lilac never stopped believing he was Good, no matter what.
"Oh," Scar moaned, "just say it so we can move on." Richard looked like he was going to be sick. He was silent for five whole minutes.
"By my brother. Stephan took Isabella and the others," he finally admitted. Garth noticed the tears in his eyes. Vicky stepped toward him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's ok. We- Agh!" Vicky clutched her stomach as she seemed to crumble. Richard and Scar grabbed her before she dropped to the ground. As everything settled, a black and red mark appeared on her arm. It was light, but it was there. Everyone gasped as they stared at it. Except Garth.
"It's just a bunch of decorative squiggles," he said. Scar stared at him with frightened eyes. Garth was getting a very bad feeling, because so far, Scar didn't scare easily.
"It's the symbol of blood magic," the wolf boy explained. "That's how Stephan changed her into a person." Richard backed away immediately.
"My brother messed with blood magic? He should have known better!" Edward pointed at Richard as he nodded.
"I bet that scepter thing uses blood magic too. That might be where he started." Garth crossed his arms. If this had been in a book in the library, he would have read it. And he would have remembered. So far, none of this made sense and everyone was assuming he somehow knew. All he wanted to know was how they knew about this blood magic stuff.
"I'm going to ask this once. What...are...you...talking...about?" Garth enunciated. Rather than getting looks of shock or surprise, Garth was seeing shifty glances and fearful looks. Scar and Vicky didn't look at him, Edward rubbed his neck nervously, and Richard couldn't stand still.
"Guys," Garth said, "I'm being serious. Someone please tell me what's up with blood magic." Everyone stayed silent.
"Everyone can harness regular, pure magic if they try," Edward finally said. "This includes black magic. However, a form of black magic...blood magic...was discovered or created or something. No one really knows."
"Blood magic," Richard pitched in, "is black magic dedicated to controlling other people or changing yourself. It's dangerous and rarely used, but when someone is exposed to blood magic, they tend to go after it."
"The sheer power you gain over creatures and people from it alters your mind," Scar added. "You begin to believe you can rule the world, and, with blood magic on your side, you could. Taking control of minds, changing creatures into humans and vice versa. You would be difficult to stop." Everyone looked way, staring at the turquoise grass.
"A small few have dared to go down that road," Vicky said. "Usually Nevers with nothing to lose. But whatever they try to accomplish ends very badly. For everyone."
Garth was trying really hard not to laugh. This sounded like a fairytale, something parents told their kids at night so they learned some kind of lesson. Then again, he was in a school where fairytales were practically born. Better to just go along with it than make fun of it.
"Ok," Garth said, clapping his hands together. "So, Stephan has blood magic, most likely an army of reptiles protecting him, and some kind of plan. And I'm assuming that Isabella, Amanda, and Lilac have something to do with that, if not only for luring us into a trap. Did I get everything?" Vicky blushed.
"He turned me into a person using blood magic," she replied. Scar shrugged.
"We have no idea where he is or what he's planning," he added.
"If blood magic is reliable, which it isn't," Edward noted, "Vicky's life might be on a timer because of the transformation." Scar held Vicky a little closer when he heard that. Richard flung his arms out in exasperation.
"So you could have summarized our chances as hopeless," he yelled. Richard walked away, his head down. He didn't stop until he reached a blue pumpkin, which he sat on.
Garth noticed the defeated look in his eyes. He almost couldn't imagine what the guy was going through. His own brother had kidnapped the girl of his dreams and was now planning on doing something awful. Everything was getting ripped away from him, from those closest to him to what he had believed was truth.
Garth walked over to him. "I can't imagine what you're going through, but we need your help if we're going to stop Stephan. Isabella-" Richard launched to his feet, grabbing Garth's collar.
"Don't tell me what I already know! I know Isabella's in danger. I know my brother must be stopped. I know exactly what you're trying to do." Richard let go of him and turned away, his gaze cold and harsh. "I'm not on your side, Never! My brother is just corrupted by magic. He isn't Evil. Why you and Lilac work out, I don't know, but Stephan isn't Evil."
Garth sighed. He had tried going easy, being reasonable. Now, it was time for extreme measures. Garth grabbed the prince by the shoulders and rammed his back into a tree. He was staring into the prince's eyes with a fierce gaze.
"I really tried to let you figure it out, I did. But now I have to knock it into your little head." Garth squeezed him tighter, Richard struggling against his grip. "Your brother is Evil. He kidnapped Isabella, Amanda, and Lilac without a second thought. He tossed you aside like garbage. Stephan is planning something big, and we need you on board in order to stop him." Garth let go of him, taking a step back. "If you know what's going on, you should probably start acting like it."
Silence filled the forest as Garth and Richard gave each other ugly stares. Garth couldn't help hitting that pressure point, his nerves getting the better of him. The more time they wasted fighting each other, the more time spent not looking for Lilac. He wasn't going to spend anymore time on this guy, and he was making sure that fact was clear.
"Let's go," Garth said, slowly walking away. "We have to find Stephan." Scar and Edward followed him into the forest. Vicky stayed a minute longer, staring at Richard pleadingly. But even she ended up walking away. Richard watched them go, his anger slowly melting into depression.
"Hold up," he shouted. Everyone stopped, turning to look at Richard. All but Garth. He kept his eyes forward on the path as he listened to the prince. "You won't find him in there."
"And I assume you know where he is?" Garth questioned. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Richard nod.
"Stephan would be strongest back at home. Last I checked, we have a reptile problem in our kingdom." Garth smiled. Now they were getting somewhere. He turned around and faced the group. Edward was grinning as he nodded to Garth.
"Flowerground isn't far from here," he confirmed. Garth nodded.
"Lead the way." Edward ran right, Scar, Vicky, Garth, and Richard following close behind. They passed quite a few pumpkins, but Edward didn't stop for any of them. Near a group of blue trees was another turquoise pumpkin, which Edward stopped at. He knocked on the pumpkin and waited.
After a short time, the conductor popped out of the pumpkin and rattled off his usual speech. "No spitting, sneezing, singing, sniffling, swinging, swearing, slapping, sleeping, or urinating in the Flowerground. Violations will result in the removal of your clothes. All aboard!" But rather than the Evers getting dragged into the pumpkin, the caterpillar stared at them.
"What's the hold up?" Scar asked. The conductor peered at them from under his purple top hat.
"You five don't have passes. You can't come into the Flowerground without passes." The conductor was about to close the pumpkin when Garth grabbed the lid.
"No, wait," he said. The conductor struggled to close his pumpkin, but stopped when he realized Garth wasn't going to let go.
"You can't get on without a Flowerground pass," the conductor replied, crossing his arms. "Those are the rules." Garth let go of the pumpkin as he kneeled before the caterpillar.
"I know those are the rules, but this is an emergency. Stephan kidnapped-"
"Princess Isabella, Amanda, and Lilac, I know. This pumpkin is located in the Blue Forest, where it happened. I heard everything."
"Then you know we have to get to wherever the Lynchester's live so that we can stop him." The conductor shook his head.
"Not without a pass, you're not." Garth sighed, trying to find a way around this. They had to get into the Flowerground, fast.
"Mr. Conductor," he said, "please let us go into the Flowerground. It's the fastest way to any destination, and the more time we waste puts everyone in even more danger." The conductor scowled at him.
"Then stop bothering me and start walking." The caterpillar closed up his pumpkin, leaving the teens alone in the woods. Edward turned to Richard.
"Can we even walk to your kingdom?" he asked. Richard shook his head.
"Galgornia is surrounded by treacherous terrain and forests. Because of this, we would have to go around, which would take at least a month. Add Stephan's army, and we might be delayed even further than that. Plus, I don't know where exactly the school lies on a map, so that would add time as well."
All Garth could hear was time. Time spent here, time spent there. More time wasted, less time to use. He could hear the tick of clocks ringing in his ear, symbolizing the time wasted just talking about how much time would be wasted. Time, time, time. They didn't have enough time.
Garth knocked on the pumpkin and waited, but it didn't open. He tried again, and still nothing. Now he wasn't even getting an answer. Time for Plan B. Garth scooted up next to the tree beside the pumpkin and leaned against the trunk. He put his hands behind his head and relaxed.
"Uh, Garth?" Scar asked when he noticed Garth. "What are you doing?" Garth closed his eyes as he crossed his legs.
"Relaxing," he replied. "If we can't get into the Flowerground, we have no other way to Richard's place." Scar looked at the other guys, who stared right back at him.
"Garth, you're not seriously going to just sit there?" Edward questioned carefully. "Lilac is in trouble and Stephan has something big planned. You never back down when the going gets tough." Garth shrugged.
"Yeah, Stephan is pretty bad with his big reptile army. Dragons, crocs, lizards. And the fact he has three princesses locked away like birds must have something to do with his master plan. And with blood magic on his side-"
"Blood magic?" Garth turned to the pumpkin. The conductor was back, a weird form of concern on his face. "When did blood magic come into play?" Garth shrugged and closed his eyes.
"Stephan used it a couple times. Made Vicky human with it. Planning to use it again for something pretty diabolical I'm guessing." He glanced at the conductor. His eyes were wide with surprise as he stared at Garth.
"Then why aren't you stopping him?" he rattled. "Why are you just sitting there?" Garth looked up at the stars, slowly fading with the coming day.
"Walking to, Galgornia was it, will take way too long. We'll be too late before we even reach the treacherous terrain Richard was talking about. And we can't use the Flowerground without passes, which we don't have. The rules are the rules."
In Garth's peripheral vision, he saw a sly grin on Scar's face. Immediately, the wolf boy lay down in the grass staring at the sky.
"Man, it really is hopeless," he said. Edward and Richard caught on pretty quickly too. They sat down, ready for their demise. Vicky was the last to sit down in the cool grass, a sad, yet mischievous, look in her eyes.
"I guess I'm going to die soon," she said, resting on Scar's chest. Richard breathed heavily.
"We'll all die pretty soon. Killed by my own brother. Who would have guessed?" Edward shook his head slowly.
"I wouldn't have." The conductor was shocked beyond belief.
"No, you can't give up! Blood magic can not be allowed to prosper in our land!" Garth stared at the caterpillar.
"But we can't go into the Flowerground. You said it yourself; no passes, no passage." The conductor glanced at all the long faces of the souls who had given up. He cleared his throat nervously, looking around for anyone.
"Perhaps, there can be...an exception," he said quietly. Everyone looked up at him, trying to keep down their growing hopes. The conductor adjusted his top hat, cleared his throat again, and stood a little straighter.
"Where did you need to go again?" Everyone smiled.
"The kingdom of Galgornia, please," Richard replied. The conductor nodded.
"Well, all aboard! No time to waste! You all know the rules!" As the conductor spoke, the teens were dragged into the pumpkin by green vines, one by one. Garth was the last to enter the Flowerground.
A journey that would have taken months lasted only minutes. Garth, Vicky, Scar, Edward, and Richard got off the Flowerground, sprouting on a hill of delicate purple flowers. A lazy river ran in front of them, the crystal water sparkling in the light of dawn. Past the river was a beaten dirt road that lead to two-story cottages and a palace of marble. Its three turrets cast a shadow on the land.
"Welcome to Galgornia," Richard sighed, laying eyes on his home for the first time in a while. Garth started walking toward the river while everyone was admiring. It wasn't that he wasn't impressed, he just wasn't interested in it at the moment.
"We can sightsee later," he told his friends. "We have to find Stephan." Everyone else started coming until Vicky groaned. Scar caught her when her knees buckled. Garth ran back up, but she was already regaining her strength when he arrived.
"I'm fine," she assured the princes surrounding her. Edward frowned.
"No, you really aren't," he replied, touching her arm where the marking was. One of the red lines in the design was more defined now, burning onto her skin. Vicky looked up at Scar, who stared right back at her.
"I may be wrong," Edward said, "but this marking is probably your clock. Five more lines before who knows what happens." Scar held Vicky close, now more worried than ever. He had almost lost her in the Endless Woods. Now he might lose her to blood magic.
Vicky didn't seem phased, pushing away after a while. "Then we should find Stephan soon. If the stories are true, only he can reverse the spell." Richard nodded.
"We can check the palace first, but he most likely will be at the witch's old safe haven." Garth crossed his arms.
"If he's most likely there, then why aren't we going to this safe haven first?" he asked. Richard glared at him.
"The safe haven is a spire in the center of Dead Man's Stand, a lake on the far side of the kingdom where crocodiles, alligators, sea serpents, and hull-crushing rocks are numerous. There's no way to it but through the waters."
Garth had grown slightly pale at the sound of the place. A part of him was impressed and wished there was something like that in Gavaldon. He could have had a home far away from his father, a place where he couldn't reach.
The other part of him was dreading setting eyes on the place, much less trying to get through the lake. Reptilian sea monsters, harsh conditions. The spire was a fortress without even trying. And it now belonged to Stephan.
"We can try the palace," Garth said, "but if an army of reptiles greet us, we make a move on the spire." Richard nodded and started leading the way. The group waded through the water and followed the road to the first set of houses.
As they passed, people started looking through the windows and coming out onto their porches. Garth could hear a few of them mumble about Richard, surprised by his return. He could hear them murmur about himself and the others, wondering why they were here with the prince.
It was almost like being welcomed back to Gavaldon. Everyone speaking in hushed tones about him. Everyone staring at him until their eyes bulged. Young children being held back from crossing his path. Older kids looking on with curiosity. Home sweet home on an ordinary day.
After parading through the street, the teens finally came up to the front doors of the castle. Up close, they could see the creases in between the marble stones that built the palace. Out of these crevices grew long rose vines that climbed up the castle turrets. Above the doors was a blue and white banner, the emblem of Galgornia sewed into its center.
"Purple flowers?" Scar asked, looking at the violet petals on the banner. Richard scowled.
"They're called violets." Scar held up his hands in surrender.
"I grew up in Netherwood. There aren't any flowers to name there." Garth smirked.
His pleasure in the conversation was short lived though. Screams could be heard from behind the castle. A glance at Richard told him the whole story.
"We really should move the farms farther away," he muttered as the teens raced toward the shouts. Garth stopped in his tracks before he fell down the hill into the chaos. Farmers ran in all directions, alligators and two or three dragons on the scene. But the reptiles didn't seem very interested in snacking on the farmers or destroying the fields. One glance at Garth and Richard and they all charged for the hill.
"Guess he's at the spire then," Garth murmured.