“My wings!” Nola sobbed, feeling her back where her wings had been. “You’re mean.”
Malucia’s scepter grew larger with Nola’s magic. The princess grinned. “No, I’m goal-oriented. Now, where were we with that cake?”
Back in the treetop fort, the fairies hosted a tea party to celebrate Alexa’s arrival. Alexa felt honored and excited. Plus she was having a blast discovering all that her magic could do. She waved her wand and changed both Nori’s and Romy’s outfits into tea-party dresses. Then she changed their hairstyles.
I’m getting good at this, she thought.
Next, she changed a teacup into a towering chocolate cake. Finally, she raised the teapot into the air with a flick of her wand, making it pour tea on its own!
“I think I like this world,” she declared, jumping from her seat. “I feel like a different girl!” She skipped through the trees, Nori and Romy right behind her.
Alexa climbed a tree to look out over the kingdom. With a touch of her wand she sent a shower of sparkles down from the trees.
“I can do anything because I’ve got magic!” she called into the air.
She raced off in the direction of the floating lagoon. “Nori, Romy! I’ve got a great idea!” she called over her shoulder. “I can use my magic to change you back into a fairy and a mermaid.”
Nori raised an eyebrow. “Can you do that?” she asked, doubtful.
Romy jumped up and down excitedly. “She’s a princess! She can do anything.”
Alexa smiled and waved her wand through the air, showering them with sparkles. “It looks like I can do anything! Ready?”
Nori and Romy exchanged a glance and then nodded eagerly.
Alexa closed her eyes in concentration.
Romy walked to the edge of the lagoon. She crouched in diving position. “Okay, I’m ready! These legs are so impractical,” she called, closing her eyes.
Alexa aimed her wand and shot a pink beam toward Romy.
Zing!
Romy opened one eye, then another. Her tea- party dress had been replaced by her regular clothes, but she still had legs.
“Hmm,” Alexa murmured. “I’ll try again.” She flicked her wand. Nothing. She turned toward Nori and sent a pink beam of magic in her direction.
Zing!
Nori didn’t change either.
“I don’t understand,” Alexa said. She shook her wand and then aimed it at a nearby flower.
Zing!
The flower bloomed beautifully on command. Alexa scratched her head.
“My magic still works but not on you. And here I thought I was getting really good at this.”
Nori put an arm around her shoulder. “You are. But I guess you can’t put back what Malucia has stolen. Maybe it has to come from her.”
Romy nodded. “Right from her scepter! That’s where our magic is. We get that scepter, we get our magic back.”
Nori snapped her fingers, an idea lighting up her eyes. “With a princess on our side, we can fight Malucia and get her scepter!”
Alexa cringed. She understood why Nori and Romy thought she could help. But Alexa wasn’t so sure. What if she failed? She felt her old insecurities creeping back.
“Making flowers bloom and changing outfits is one thing, but fighting a magical princess? I can’t do it.” She hung her head miserably. Maybe things weren’t so different here after all.
At Malucia’s castle, a different kind of tea party was about to begin.
“So nice of you to join me at my magical tea party!” Malucia announced from a tiny gold chair at a little table. Three trogs and Nola the fairy sat around the table, looking uncomfortable.
“Did we have a choice?” whispered one trog to the other.
“I didn’t,” Nola mumbled.
Malucia rapped her scepter on the floor to get everyone’s attention.
“We’ll start with the pastries. Who wants one?” She pointed toward a plate heaped high with cakes and donuts of every kind.
The trogs reluctantly raised their hands. If Malucia wanted them to have pastries, they knew better than to argue. Nola turned away in protest.
Next, Malucia waved her scepter, causing a teapot to appear out of thin air.
“Tea’s done! Boiling hot and ready to drink!” She raised her scepter. “I’ll pour.”
The trogs eyed the teapot nervously. One false move and they’d be scorched!
Just then Sniff and Whiff rolled in.
Malucia turned her attention to them, momentarily forgetting the teapot. Hot water splashed everywhere. The trogs ran for cover.
“Look what you made me do!” Malucia cried, stamping her foot angrily at the sniffers. “Where is she?”
Whiff spread a large map out on the table. “This is us,” he began, pointing to a castle painted on the map. “And this glade is where we think the Queen Unicorn may be hiding.”
“Only one of us thinks that, Your Highness,” said Sniff. “I’m not picking up anything but stenchweed. LOTS of it.”
“That’s the point,” Whiff replied, rolling his eyes. “Too much of it. Stenchweed doesn’t even grow in these parts, see? So I’m thinking, maybe someone put it there on purpose. To hide something big and magical they don’t want us to find, like maybe—”
Malucia’s eyes grew big. “The Queen Unicorn.”
“Your Highness,” Whiff continued, stepping forward, “the unicorn is in that grove. I bet my brother on it.”
“Excuse me?” Sniff scoffed, offended.
“Good job,” Malucia said. Then she studied the map. “Hmm, we need to know exactly where that unicorn is.”
She looked slyly over her shoulder at Nola. “And I know who knows exactly where it is,” she whispered to herself. All she had to do was get Nola to show her where the fairies were hiding the magical creature. Then the Queen Unicorn would fall right into her evil little hands.
Malucia snapped her fingers, calling everyone—but especially Nola—to attention. “So the sniffers found the Queen Unicorn! Oh, goody!” she squealed. “Grodlin! What are you waiting for? Round up the trogs and let’s go get her!”
Nola looked up from the table, her brow furrowed with worry.
Malucia bumped into Nola, acting like it was an accident.
“Oh, hi there!” she said innocently. “So, I’m going to let you go. But don’t you dare tell anyone about me going to capture the Queen Unicorn. Got it?”
“Yes,” Nola replied. “Meany,” she added under her breath.
Malucia whirled around. “What?”
“Yes, great and powerful princess,” Nola replied.
“That’s better. Now shoo!” Malucia ordered.
She rubbed her hands together. Now all she needed was for Nola to run home and tell the other fairies. If the fairies knew about Malucia’s plan to raid the unicorn’s hiding place, they would surely try to move her. And when they did, Malucia would be right there, waiting.
“Let’s go get that unicorn!” she commanded the trogs.
Alexa sat near the lagoon, patting the unicorns. She felt miserable.
What was the point of having magic if she couldn’t use it to help her friends? And if she couldn’t be helpful, then she should probably just go home. It didn’t do any good to get everyone’s hopes up.
Nori and Romy sat nearby with other fairies and mermaids, trying to think of a plan to save Zinnia’s magic.
Suddenly, Nori cupped a hand to her ear. “Someone’s here!” she cried.
They raced to the tree-fort entrance just in time to see Nola the fairy spring onto the platform.
“Nola!” Nori cried. “Your wings!”
Everyone gasped in despair. Malucia had struck again.
“I had to walk all the way from the castle,” Nola replied wearily.
Romy looked alarmed. “Did anyone follow you?”
“No, I don’t think so. But they’ve found the Queen Unicorn,” Nola warned. “Malucia’s on her way right now to capture her and steal her magic.
”
“We have to get to the Queen Unicorn! We have to!” Romy shouted in a panic.
Alexa struggled to take it all in. “What will happen if you don’t?”
“If Malucia takes the Queen Unicorn’s magic, and then gets ahold of these three . . .” She pointed at the other unicorns.
“She’ll be unstoppable,” Nori explained darkly. Then she jumped into planning mode. “Romy and I will get the Queen Unicorn and bring her here. Everyone else, stay and protect the other unicorns—and each other.”
Alexa couldn’t take it anymore. What Malucia was doing was wrong. Trying to find one’s own path shouldn’t mean hurting so many others in the process.
But, Alexa was learning, sometimes it did mean taking risks. She stepped forward. “I’m not sure exactly how I can help, but I’d like to try.”
Nori and Romy grinned. The girls high-fived.
“We have to hurry,” Romy urged. “Malucia might be there already.”
“Of all times not to have wings,” Nori moaned.
Alexa looked out across the lagoon. She saw the giant lily pads floating on the water’s surface. She had an idea.
“Hey, maybe I do know how to help,” she started. “Remember the story about the boy and the flying carpet?”
“What’s a carpet?” Romy asked.
Alexa giggled. She had forgotten she wasn’t at home anymore. Rather than explain, she aimed her wand at the lily pads. A purple beam of magic surrounded one, lifting it into the air and making it fly toward them.
“Never mind! Get on!” she cried.
The three friends climbed onto the lily pad. Alexa closed her eyes and focused. She flicked her wand and the lily pad started to quiver. She concentrated harder and felt the lily pad rise into the air.
“Whoa!” Romy and Nori cried.
But as quickly as it had risen, the lily pad plopped back down. Alexa blew out a frustrated breath.
“It’s too big for me to control. It’s not going to work.”
“Yes, it will,” Romy said.
“Try again,” Nori urged.
Alexa squared her shoulders. She was determined to help—and now was the time. She focused her wand’s magic beam once more, and the lily pad rose into the air. She steered it right and left, testing it.
When she was sure the lily pad was flight-worthy, Alexa grinned at her friends. “Which way?” she asked.
“Over there!” Romy said, pointing.
With a wave of Alexa’s wand, the girls took off! They flew over the mermaid lagoon and past a few hovering fairies, who dropped their jaws in amazement. The girls glided across the countryside, whooping and laughing as they dipped and zipped.
Alexa tipped her head back to feel the breeze on her face.
“This is almost as good as having wings!” Nori exclaimed above the rush of wind.
Below them, Alexa spotted a river. She steered the lily pad downward. Romy trailed her fingers in the cool, clean water before they rose into the sky again.
“This is so much fun!” Romy cried.
Alexa beamed. It felt wonderful to see her friends’ smiling faces. If only it could last.
As Malucia’s caravan wound its way through the hills toward the unicorn grove, Alexa, Nori, and Romy left their lily pad nearby. They crawled on their bellies to the top of the hill and peered into the valley below.
“The unicorn is down there,” Nori whispered.
“But how do we get to her?” Alexa asked. It seemed impossible to enter the grove without being seen. Malucia and her entourage could be on any of the surrounding hills, looking for them.
“I know. We can chop down these trees, build a catapult, and launch ourselves over there,” suggested Romy enthusiastically.
Nori raised an eyebrow. “Or there is a secret opening, between those two trees,” she said with a wink.
Romy blushed. “That could work, too,” she replied sheepishly.
Alexa took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure she was ready for such a risky mission. But if she didn’t help her friends save the Queen Unicorn, she would never forgive herself. The girls crouched low and raced down the hill toward a cluster of trees.
“Through here,” Nori instructed, moving aside some curled-in branches.
Alexa followed her friends through the trees toward a small clearing ahead. Then she stopped in her tracks.
Before her stood the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. Tall and pink, with a glorious rainbow mane and tail, the Queen Unicorn pawed the ground nervously as the girls approached.
Nori placed a gentle hand on the unicorn’s muzzle to calm her. “Shhh. It’s all right. This is Princess Alexa. She’s a friend.”
The unicorn moved toward Alexa and nuzzled her. As her iridescent rainbow horn brushed Alexa’s shoulder, it started to glow softly.
“Hey!” Romy gasped. “She never does that for us!”
Alexa smiled and patted the Queen Unicorn’s neck.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” she whispered, hardly believing that such a magnificent creature existed. “But we have to get you out of here.”
The unicorn nodded and whinnied softly. Then she trotted toward a nearby tree stump and stopped. She looked at Alexa expectantly.
“I think she wants you to get on,” Nori interpreted.
Using the stump for help, Alexa swung her leg across the unicorn’s back. But the unicorn didn’t budge.
“I think she wants all of us,” Alexa guessed.
Nori and Romy climbed on. But still the Queen Unicorn didn’t move. So they climbed off again. Then the Queen Unicorn took off, leaving them racing behind her!
“I really miss my wings!” Nori said.
“I know, right?” replied Romy, tripping. “Oops—legs!”
The girls reached the unicorn’s side, and Alexa helped swing them up.
They raced out of the grove toward their fortress.
High on a hill, Malucia and her troop stood, watching them.
“Just as I thought. Follow them!” the princess ordered.
As the Queen Unicorn galloped through the forest at breakneck speed, the girls clung to her back. The less time they spent out in the open, the smaller the chance of running into Malucia.
Finally, the Queen Unicorn skidded to a stop at the base of the secret fort’s tree. They waited for a platform to descend. Then they could hoist the Queen Unicorn up into the safety of the treetops.
“Wooo,” Alexa said, letting out a breath. “I can’t believe we did that!”
“Alexa, without you, we wouldn’t have made it before Malucia,” Nori remarked.
Alexa beamed. Using her magic to ride the lily pad directly to the Queen Unicorn’s grove had saved valuable time. “I’m glad I could help.”
“Can you imagine the look on Malucia’s face when she finds out the unicorn’s gone?” Romy said. She put on her best pouty face. “She’ll be like ‘How did this happen? Where’s my unicorn?’ ”
Alexa and Nori cracked up. It felt good to be back at the fort—and safe. The girls loaded the Queen Unicorn onto the platform. They were about to raise her up when they heard a voice behind them.
“I know exactly where my unicorn is!”
Malucia!
The girls spun around to see the princess and her army of trogs. The trogs wheeled a big metal cage behind them.
“They followed us!” Nori cried.
Alexa was still staring at Malucia. All this time she’d been picturing a horrible-looking witch. But the princess standing before her was just a girl—a pouty, purple-haired little girl! It didn’t make sense.
“That’s Malucia?” Alexa asked. “She looks so—”
“Horrible? Treacherous? Out of control?” Romy suggested.
“I was going to say small,” Alexa replied.
“Don’t let that fool you,” cautioned Nori. “As long as she has that scepter, she’s dangerous.”
Malucia approached them. The girls moved to block the Queen Unicorn.
“Why, hello, whoever you are,” Malucia cooed sweetly. “It seems I’ve already got your magic. So I guess I’ll just be taking my unicorn.” She aimed her scepter at the Queen Unicorn.
Romy dove, pushing Alexa out of the way. “Alexa, hide!” she cried.
Alexa ran for a thicket of trees.
“Go! Run!” Nori shouted at the Queen Unicorn.
The Queen Unicorn bucked but didn’t move fast enough. The trogs lassoed her with ropes—trapping her on the platform.
“Put her in the cage!” Malucia ordered the trogs. “Gently.”
Alexa hid behind a large tree trunk. She watched as Nori and Romy leapt onto the platform in front of the unicorn. An army of trogs surrounded the girls.
Nori and Romy fought the trogs as they pushed and pulled the Queen Unicorn into the cage. But it was no use. Two guards grabbed them and held them back.
The girls watched helplessly as the lock on the Queen Unicorn’s cage clicked shut.
Alexa saw Malucia sitting high in her carriage, aiming her scepter at the Queen Unicorn. Malucia was about to take the unicorn’s magic! Alexa knew she had to act.
She whipped out her wand and shot a blast of magic at a flower near Malucia’s carriage. The flower bent back and then—whack!—it hit Malucia, knocking her from her carriage.
“Oof! What was that?” Malucia cried.
Next, Alexa fired fruit from a nearby tree at the princess.
“Argh!” Malucia screamed, diving behind her carriage. She peeked out and spotted Alexa. “Who are you?” she asked. Then she waved her scepter, causing a branch above Alexa to crash down right next to her.
“Ahh!” Alexa cried, leaping out of the way. She sprinted through the trees.
Malucia took off after her.
Alexa looked over her shoulder as she ran. It was just princess versus princess now.
Alexa raced through the forest, dodging falling branches as Malucia severed them with her magic.
“I’m the only one who can have magic!” she heard Malucia holler behind her. Then Alexa tripped over a root. Her wand flew through the air and landed in front of her.
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