by Liz Braswell
Maleficent did what anyone who knew Maleficent at all would expect: she grinned a toothy, lips-pulled-back, skull-like grin and pointed with her staff.
A purple crack of lighting exploded from it and roared its way across the room, then ended its path in the heart of a man. Aurora’s old painting tutor.
He groaned once and then crumpled. The smell of burning human flesh filled the air.
Aurora Rose swore in rage and struggled against the vines. At least they didn’t cut into her skin, protected as she was by her breastplate and gauntlets.
Then she remembered she didn’t need to be anywhere to do what she needed to do. She tried not to close her eyes and calmed her inner self.
“Not yet,” the blue fairy whispered to Aurora Rose. “Let us do the initial battle. Wear her down. Keep your attack as a surprise at the end.”
“But more people will die!”
“Everybody will die if Maleficent wins!” the blue one shot back. “Try to think tactically!”
“MURDERER!” the green fairy howled, and dove for the queen.
Maleficent aimed around her, picking out another person in the crowd.
The green fairy banked to the side to intercept the bolt. She held out her hand; suddenly, there was a wand in it. A crackle of golden energy flashed out and knocked the purple magic aside. Gold and purple sparks rained on the room as they canceled each other out.
As if she was choosing flowers, Maleficent calmly aimed her staff at different people in the room and then fired.
The green fairy dove and twisted, shot high and rolled, parrying each bolt with a bolt of her own.
Maleficent twirled her staff and bit her lip but didn’t seem that concerned; it was more like she was playing a difficult game than trying to kill people.
Her attacks came faster.
The dream prisoners cowered and ducked. Gold and purple light made terrible shadows behind them, multiplied the prisoners by a thousand shadow prisoners. Maleficent’s evil servants laughed and only occasionally tried to avoid the bolts.
One got hit.
He exploded on the spot, fangs and tusks and yellow eyes and trotters all disintegrating immediately and becoming black soot. There was nothing wet, nothing animal, nothing real or alive about the death.
His compatriots standing on either side hooted and laughed at his fate, at their luck.
And then Maleficent suddenly turned and aimed her staff directly at the green fairy.
With a toothy snarl she sent a giant bolt arcing across the room.
The green fairy dove, but she was too slow, too late, too concerned with saving other people’s lives to worry about her own.
Her legs and arms flailed outward as the energy hit her directly in the heart; purple rays erupted from her eyes.
There was a huge, brilliant explosion.
Aurora Rose turned away, unable to look.
When the light faded, a small, dim green ball hung uselessly in the air where the fairy had been. It dipped and bobbed a little, unintelligent and barely animate.
“Begone, little firefly.” Maleficent laughed.
The red fairy let out a strangled cry of rage.
She ran forward, sword drawn, making straight for Maleficent’s heart.
Maleficent dipped her staff experimentally at the woman.
The red fairy deflected the purple bolt easily, parrying it away as if it were nothing more than a fly.
Maleficent fired again.
The red fairy deflected the lightning again.
Maleficent frowned and sent out a spray of bolts—dozens of them, one after the other.
All that resulted in was the red fairy’s slowing her advance to defend herself from the attacks. She didn’t stop.
Her arms moved quickly, her muscles flexed beautifully as she contorted herself into different positions to avoid being hit. Her brow furrowed with the effort, but her eyes remained clear, full of concentration and anger and not a hint of fear.
She managed to inch her way forward a little at a time.
Prince Phillip, still beside the mostly frozen Aurora Rose, tensed his own muscles and reached, unthinking, for his sword.
“Not yet,” the blue fairy whispered. “Your lives are short and precious. Save the wasting of them to the end, if we have failed.”
Phillip nodded but didn’t take his eyes from the fight.
Lianna also watched the fight unblinkingly. The sparks from the magic and flashes from the red fairy’s enchanted sword glittered in her eyes.
With everyone watching the incredible battle in front of the throne, it was unsurprising that no one noticed two of Maleficent’s servants creeping up on either side of the red fairy until it was almost too late.
“LOOK OUT!” Aurora Rose shouted.
“ON YOUR LEFT!” Phillip cried.
The red fairy didn’t turn around but instead thrust her sword back, up under her armpit, surprising the creature behind her. Her blade sank deep into its chest. But she didn’t waste a moment watching him gurgle and bubble and sputter and die. She spun and dove, slicing the second creature’s feet out from underneath him.
“Doesn’t have a leg to stand on,” the blue fairy quipped, unable to help herself.
Maleficent swung her staff and a purple bolt grazed the red fairy’s left calf.
She staggered and fell to her knees. No cry escaped her lips; she sucked in her breath and shook with pain. But she still forced herself to rise.
Maleficent muttered something unintelligible and aimed again. This time, instead of large purple bolts, little sickly-green fireballs shot from her staff. These flickered strangely and were connected to each other by syrupy strands of magic.
The red fairy looked confused for a moment. But she beat each away easily: one, another, a dozen…
But once they hit something, the balls didn’t dissipate the way the purple bolts had. They drifted to the floor, the sickly green strands that flowed behind them taking much longer to fall, slowly arcing to the ground like cold honey.
The more she hit the balls away from herself, the more the strands built up around her. They stuck to her clothing, her feet, her arms and legs—everything except her sword.
Before long the red fairy was completely entangled. Big gobs of the glowing green stuff dripped from her arms, dragging them down. They pulled her sword arm closer to the floor even as she still tried to parry the attacks.
Soon she couldn’t move at all.
Maleficent smiled widely with satisfaction. Then—as gently as if she were a dewdrop fairy anointing a flower—she tipped her staff lightly at her opponent.
A giant purple flash erupted, engulfing the red fairy and her bonds and everything else within a few feet.
Aurora Rose screamed and turned her head. Phillip put his arm around her but didn’t look away.
A weak red ember glowed amid the scorched, foul-smelling residue of the evil magic that burned the floor.
Maleficent tossed her head back and laughed. Likewise, her raven cackled. She put her free hand out to scratch its throat.
“Well?” she asked. “You’re all going to die eventually. Who wants to be next?”
“And when we’re all gone—then what?” Aurora Rose growled. “You prance self-importantly around an empty castle?”
“You think ruling a bunch of pathetic humans is my ultimate goal?” Maleficent asked with put-on surprise. “I really don’t care a whit about you festering house apes or your ridiculous kingdoms.”
“No, you only care about the parties they throw, and whom they invite,” the princess said archly.
Prince Phillip grinned.
“Nice one,” the blue fairy said, drifting forward. She turned once in the air, giving Aurora Rose a mock military salute. The fairy had little doubt about the outcome of her assault.
But she didn’t approach Maleficent directly. Instead, she drifted toward the edge of the room, to a far corner, and hovered just over some prisoners and their guards.
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“All right, Maleficent,” she said. “Do at least try to remain consistent. If you don’t care about humans at all, you shouldn’t care about killing them. So leave them alone.”
Maleficent, still stung from Aurora Rose’s jab, set her chin and leaned back, putting her concentration into a bolt of immense size.
The blue fairy delicately bounced out of the way.
The bolt struck the floor between two of the guards, enveloping them both in purple fire until they burnt away to nothing.
“I repeat my question from earlier, Maleficent,” the blue fairy said almost casually. She floated to the other side of the room like she didn’t have a plan beyond keeping as much distance between her and the queen as possible. “What happened to you? You weren’t always this insane. A bit touchy, perhaps, and malicious, but not hell-bent on evil.”
“It is not evil to want to live, to continue my life that was cut off so prematurely,” Maleficent snarled, hurling another bolt at her.
The blue fairy ducked, revealing the guard she stood in front of. He received the full of the blast and exploded in surprise.
Aurora Rose began to smile, seeing what she was doing.
“She’s trying to even the odds for us,” Phillip whispered excitedly.
“I know! Shut up!”
“And I can tell you, from personal experience,” the blue fairy continued, slowly drifting down the line of prisoners and guards as if she were inspecting them, “that royal parties are really not as much fun as you would imagine. I like humans more than you, don’t get me wrong, but they’re shockingly smug. Especially their kings and queens.”
With inarticulate rage Maleficent hurled bolt after bolt at her. The blue fairy dipped her head and bowed and twisted out of the way, moving as little as possible to avoid all the attacks aimed at her.
Almost every missed bolt hit another guard, sending it back to hell or wherever they came from.
“And golden dish domes. Really. Who needs them? I’ve got at least half a dozen from various birthdays and christenings over the centuries. They just sort of clutter up the place. Trust me, you didn’t miss much at that party.”
Four more bolts. Four more guards.
The fifth bolt singed the back of the blue fairy’s dress, but she didn’t even wince; she just continued her maddening little flight.
“I DESERVE MORE RESPECT THAN THAT!” Maleficent hissed.
“Yes, you keep saying that. Have you ever thought that maybe they were afraid you’d make a rather unpleasant party guest? I mean, I can’t imagine why they would think that, but…”
This time she couldn’t help letting out a yelp as an extra-large, furious purple bolt shot from Maleficent’s staff. She dove out of the way, holding her head.
But the blue fairy was not as agile or quick as the red one; the magic caught her full in the side. Purple flame crawled over the left half of her body, singeing her flesh as she struggled to keep going.
“So touchy,” she croaked through scorched black lips. She limped, half flying, half walking, toward Maleficent.
“DIE ALREADY, YOU ANNOYING GNAT!” Maleficent swore.
The blue fairy suddenly lunged, diving at Maleficent instead of moving away from her. When the killing bolt got her, it was too close to the evil fairy for her to entirely escape its burning aftermath.
Maleficent shrieked as flames licked up her face, leaving charred tracks on her cheeks.
The blue fairy gave a wink to Aurora Rose and Phillip with a swollen eye, then vanished into the fire. Only another weak little will-o’-the-wisp remained, blue, hovering over her ashes.
The evil queen wiped her face with the back of her hand and looked surprised by the blood she saw there. If she appeared merely unhealthy before, now she was positively frightening, bloody and burned and still pulsing a ghastly green.
She managed to cackle hoarsely.
“No matter. I will be whole in a matter of minutes now. Guards, bring me a victim.”
There was a pause.
“Guards,” she ordered again.
There were only a couple of the inhuman things left, and they looked unsure of themselves now, shaken and unmoving. With most of their cohorts wiped out, they were no longer gibbering and hooting at death.
“Don’t you dare,” Aurora Rose said. “You’ve killed your last innocent.”
“Oh no I haven’t,” Maleficent hissed, striding forward with her staff. “It’s your turn now, sweetest.
“And there’s no one left to save you.”
THE PRISONERS LOOKED ON with horror. The prince put himself in front of Aurora Rose, between her and the fairy.
But the princess was no longer paying attention.
The will-o’-the-wisps, the little green, blue, and red embers, had begun to bob in the air, making their way over to her. They passed practically under Maleficent’s nose—and the evil fairy looked more shocked and confused than angry.
Bouncing slowly in the air as if they had all the time in the world, they crossed the open space while everyone watched silently.
When they finally got to Aurora Rose, they suddenly gained speed—slamming into her flesh with hot sparks.
“Rose!” Phillip cried.
Aurora Rose began to…laugh.
Maleficent didn’t blink; like a snake, she showed her surprise by freezing in place.
And the princess kept laughing.
Not a giggle, not hysteria, not the sounds of someone who realizes she is about to die and is therefore going mad, but a genuine, full-throated laugh.
“Rose,” the prince said slowly.
All her memories fell silent. The dream of the Thorn Castle and her childhood in the Forest Cottage both faded before the realizations of the here and now. She felt alive, as if for the first time. Fully awake and present. Her blood sang with the desire to protect her kingdom, the will to fight for the lives of her subjects and for Phillip—and the knowledge of how to do it.
“I will not show clemency despite your apparent insanity,” Maleficent said carefully, obviously confused by what had just happened and trying to pretend she wasn’t. “You will still die.”
“No,” Aurora Rose said. “This changes everything. And I’m not going to die.”
She stretched like she had just risen from a long sleep; it was a big, luxurious stretch. The magic vines and branches fell away from her like they had never been. She glowed—not like Maleficent, but with a healthy heat behind her eyes and under her skin.
“My true gifts,” she said. “Returned to me.”
“Truly useless gifts,” Maleficent said. “What good are grace and song and beauty—especially to a dead girl?”
“Not those gifts. Those were bestowed upon me by others. These are my true, natural gifts: Intelligence. Bravery. Compassion.
“Those three you ‘killed’ weren’t actual fairies at all—they were parts of me. My true self. Hidden from me by you. Dampened. Darkened. Just like everything else in this wretched realm. Just as I myself was hidden away from the world, first in the woods, and then in a dream.”
“Bravery? Intelligence? Please. You’re nothing but a silly little princess,” Maleficent spat.
Aurora Rose couldn’t have controlled her anger if she had wanted to.
Maleficent suddenly flew backward, buffeted by a mad wind that came out of nowhere, a devil of dust and air that exploded and then disappeared.
The evil queen managed to keep from hitting the floor only by clawing at the throne. Her raven cawed and flapped its wings to stay upright.
“I am not. A silly. Little. Princess,” Aurora hissed. “I am Aurora Rose, rightful queen of this kingdom and your judge and executioner, you silly little fairy.”
Maleficent forced herself to stand upright, the pain of it obvious as she straightened her back. Her eyes flared.
“How dare you…”
“That’s all you are. A silly little fairy grown too big for her britches. Thinks she’s the big, bad powerful sorcere
ss because she’s queen of a dreamworld.”
The stones in the floor grew. They pushed up in columns and pillars all around Maleficent and the throne, groaning and shrieking as they scratched against each other. The wall they made around the fairy looked like the teeth of a very old woman. Like they would swallow her whole.
It would have been a nice ending, but Aurora Rose wasn’t at all surprised when, after barely a moment’s silence, the granite palisade blew apart. Shards of glass-sharp rock rained on everyone in the room. Maleficent’s prisoners cowered and screamed and covered their heads. One of the remaining guards took a chest full of shrapnel, crumpling to the floor.
None of the shards hit Aurora Rose, though; they just avoided her.
When the dust settled, Maleficent was revealed standing in a very unMaleficent pose, fists curled in anger and legs bent, ready for another attack. Her teeth, the only thing about her that remained white, were bared and animallike.
Lianna, behind the throne still, was picking herself up and calmly brushing herself off.
“Insolent whelp!” Maleficent hissed.
“It’s the truth, Maleficent,” Aurora Rose said evenly. “It’s not even your world. It’s mine.”
“I still have your blood, dreamer! You may think you are in control of the world, but I control you!”
Maleficent shook her staff. The green liquid, the blood transformed, swirled around in it strangely.
Aurora Rose suddenly felt sick.
Her mind and stomach wobbled. All the strength and energy she had felt just a moment earlier drained out of her through her feet, like when she was getting a cold or it was the first day of her moon blood or…
Everything seemed pointless and gray.
“Rose!” Phillip cried out. He put his hands on her shoulders and shook her. “Rose! She’s doing it to you! It’s not real!”
Maleficent was grinning. She raised her staff.
“For my help, in these last few hours,
I summon thee with my dark powers:
Golem and demon and efrit and imp,
Heed my call and…”
“No incantations,” Aurora Rose said weakly.
A powerful wind rose and spun around Maleficent, ripping her capes and sucking her breath and words away.