The Grimm Chronicles, Vol. 4

by Isabella Fontaine

  “We’ll be OK,” I said. “We didn’t come this far to fail.”

  The lions poured out. There were more than twenty, not a single one even slightly afraid of the wraiths. The wraiths matched them in ferocity, and the two sides met. Lions tackled the shadows and dug their incisors into the blackness. With a scream, the shadows dispersed like smoke, leaving only their golden rings and necklaces. More wraiths gained up on a few of the big cats, gliding out of the way of their claws and sinking their black talons into the creatures’ hides. Sparks flew.

  “Now!” Sam shouted.

  I kicked the horse and we galloped through the carnage, slamming right into the rear of one lion and knocking him into the waiting arms of a wraith. We made our way under the gate, into an empty, muddy courtyard. The keep’s big wooden door was open ahead. I slowed the horse, stopping her beside the door.

  “Everyone off, let’s go, no time for dawdling,” I said, hopping off and giving the boys a lift.

  “But the horse!” Seth said.

  I pulled him toward the door. “No time!”

  Inside, the hall was dark and empty. Cobwebs lined the corner of the room. An old wooden table lay in the center, smashed apart. A deer skeleton rested in one corner, its boned picked clean. A few old blankets lay spread out on the stone floor.

  “Not exactly the best decorators,” I muttered. “Sam, where—”

  “That way,” Sam said, pointing to the opening to our right. “That’s the staircase to the only tower that isn’t in ruins.”

  We hurried to the opening, taking the stone steps two at a time. They spiraled up the tower, causing the muscles in my legs to burn. I relished the feeling. There was no more time to strategize and overthink. It was time for my hero’s instincts to take over.

  No sound except the tapping of our feet on the stone stairs.

  Beams of soft gray light sneaking in through the square holes in the wall, illuminating specks of dust.

  The cool air kissing my cheeks and drying my eyes.

  The smell of mangy fur.

  At the top, Scar was waiting for me, standing in front of a beautiful young woman wearing a tattered green dress. I skipped the last step and broke into a sprint.

  “At last,” Scar hissed. “I will have my revenge—”

  I leapt into the air, twisting my body and throwing my shield at Scar’s feet, causing him to lose his balance. I swung the sword in one sharp downward arc. Sparks flew between us. Scar toppled over, his tongue lolling out and resting on the dusty wooden floor.

  I landed, rolled, and jumped to my feet, ready for anything else that might spring out of the shadows.

  But it was just the young woman.

  “Holy crap!” Seth exclaimed, then doubled over in exhaustion.

  “I concur,” Sam said. He took a deep breath and tapped Scar’s torso with his boot. Already, Scar’s gray fur was replaced with a beautiful brown coat. “This one doesn’t have very good luck with you, does he?”

  “Too much talk, not enough walk.” I turned to the woman and held out a hand. “My name’s Alice. I’m here to rescue you.”

  She took my hand gingerly. The tips of her fingers were cold, but she didn’t look Corrupted. That was a good sign. “My name is Gretel,” she said. “I … I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “That’s OK.” I waved it away. “What we need right now is you.”

  She cocked her head. “I don’t understand …”

  “You were once in love with a man,” Sam said. “A thief who learned magic.”

  “Yes,” she said. We all breathed a sigh of relief.

  “There’s an evil force trying to Corrupt this world,” I said.

  Gretel nodded. “We heard whispers of it … before I was taken by the lions. The evil force gathers in the north and kills the earth with its magic.” She gasped. “It has captured my sweet Alexander!”

  “Um …” I looked at Sam. He looked at me.

  “Alexander sort of is the evil force,” Seth said.

  She nearly fainted. I reached out to steady her. “It’s not as bad as it sounds! OK, technically it’s worse than it sounds. But we have a plan. And we need your help. Agnim—I mean Alexander—isn’t beyond saving.”

  “I’ll do anything to save him,” she said. “I searched for him the moment I arrived here. I traveled to all of the southern kingdoms and made my way north just as rumors of a dark force began to spread. The lions say he’s north of here. I have so much to tell him—”

  An intense sharp pain popped up inside my stomach. I bent over, grabbing my abs.

  “Alice?” Sam said.

  Hunger pains. They’re hunger pains. Agnim was right: somewhere, on earth, I’m still there in some form. And I’m dying.

  I pulled Gretel toward the door. “I’ll be fine. Let’s go let’s go let’s go!”

  We took the steps two at a time, no one more excited at this point than Seth, who was convinced our luck had changed.

  Not so much.

  Five lions were in the courtyard, hunched over and feasting on our horse. Gretel gasped and fell back into Seth’s arms. Sam, thinking quick, hurried to the door and shut it before the lions could reach it. He slid a wooden beam over two iron hooks. Not two quick breaths later and they were slamming into the door, testing the strength of the beam.

  The door bounced on its rusty iron hinges.

  “Crap,” Seth said. “We were so close.”

  “Save the melodrama,” Sam snapped. He nodded over his shoulder. “Down that hall will be another exit. Get there before the lions double around the keep and block it off.”

  “How do you know there’s an exit?” I asked.

  He smiled. “Because if I had abducted Agnim’s wife without his knowledge, I would have a secret entrance.”

  “What about you?” Seth asked. “You have to come, too!”

  Another slam. The wooden beam barring the door cracked.

  “In a moment they’re going to break down these doors,” Sam said. He reached up and loosened his tie with a shaky hand. “If I don’t slow them down, they’ll catch up to you. Go!”

  Seth and Gretel hurried to the other side of the room, around the broken table and the animal carcass. I followed them, stopping in the entrance and turning back to Sam. He gave me a nod. His forehead was lined with fat beads of sweat. He’s scared. He knows he won’t be able to stop them. And if I can’t stop Agnim, that means Sam will become Corrupted again.

  “Don’t fail.”

  “I won’t,” I said. “I promise.”

  The lions crashed against the door again. The wooden beam splintered. I turned and ran down the hall, through a dark passage that led into an old bedroom, its feather mattress shredded by claws. Feathers littered the floor. Paintings of royalty hung lazily on the wall. Scar’s old room, no doubt.

  “Alice! This way!” Seth shouted at the end of the hall. There was daylight behind him. I sprinted down the hall, stopping at the entrance. We were on the other end of the keep, all right, although it wasn’t exactly a secret entrance. Seth shrugged. “Maybe Scar wasn’t as smart as Sam.”

  “Now that’s an understatement,” I said. From behind us, a lion’s roar echoed down the hall. “Come on. Time to test our stamina.”

  We slid down the hill on the north end of the keep, through a patch of dead cherry trees, making our way across a clearing of brittle black grass. We ran up and over another hill, Seth and Gretel panting heavily and me nearly doubled over in exhaustion. I fought for every ounce of reserve energy. We were close … I could feel it.

  Lightning lit up the dark clouds above us, followed closely by thunder. In the distance, I could see it: another castle with broken towers and singed black stone sitting along at the northern edge of a clearing … perfect for Agnim.

  “The treeline,” I ordered, pointing to the left. We ran along the edge of the dead forest. The trees were so decayed that the Corruption had eaten holes through the bark. Shriveled roots stuck out of the dirt. Br
anches littered the ground.

  “At least it’s not raining,” Seth huffed.

  Rain began pouring down, drenching us.

  “OK,” he admitted with a smile. “I totally expected that.”

  “You’re a regular wizard,” I muttered. Gretel had begun falling behind; I slowed, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. “We’re almost there!”

  “I’m so afraid,” she said.

  “It’s OK to be afraid,” Seth told her. “I’m terrified, dudette.”

  “I cannot help you.”

  “Everyone can help,” Seth said. “Everyone can do something.” He wiped the rain off his face. “Man, even the rain feels evil.”

  “He’s right,” I told Gretel. “About the helping thing, not the rain. The man you love is still there, somewhere. You need to help him see it.”

  She blinked away raindrops, running a hand through her wet hair. “I’ll … I’ll try.”

  Just give me one good moment … all I need is for Agnim to hesitate once.

  We reached the blackened walls of the old castle, drenched to the bone. My skin felt icy cold. The water seemed to be stinging my eyes. Whatever energy I had left was being washed away. Maybe the rain was evil.

  There was a hole in the wall, a place where someone or something had broken through. I didn’t need to peer around the massive broken stones to know.

  Agnim was inside.

  I pressed my back against the wall and looked left. Seth and Gretel were staring at me, waiting for my move. I sheathed my sword, my hand brushing against the other knife strapped to my belt. Raindrops tap-tapped on our leather armor. I pressed one hand against the cold stone of the wall, steadying myself. I felt as if I might collapse at any moment. The hollow pain in my stomach had spread to my arms and legs, sapping my muscles of their strength.

  “Hey.” Seth put a hand on my shoulder. He was wearing that big, goofy grin on his face. “Thanks for coming to rescue me.”

  “How could I not, pal?”

  He shrugged, then looked down at his bow. “Kinda wish I’d saved a couple arrows.”

  “It’s not the end of the world.” My words were answered with another crack of thunder.

  Seth widened his eyes. “Are you sure about that?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.” I reached out and grabbed Gretel’s hand. “Are you ready?”

  “No,” she answered meekly. “What if … what should I …”

  I gave her a gentle pull. “You’ll know what to do when the time comes.”

  We turned the corner and stepped through the opening in the wall. I gasped. There, in the clearing, was Agnim. He was wearing his black robe, the hood drawn low, rainwater bouncing off the fabric.

  And behind him was the Juniper Tree.

  Chapter 15

  My feet squished on the wet mud as we walked closer. Agnim watched from under his hood, his familiar green chin jutting out just a bit. Lightning lit up the old courtyard. There were hundreds of people standing behind the Juniper Tree, staring at us like zombies. Men. Women. Children. Elderly people hunched over and resting a hand on their neighbors’ shoulder.

  Focus, hero!

  There was no telling what would happen next. The zombies could attack. Agnim could freeze. He could give me an opening where I could get close enough and deliver a knock-out blow. Or he could pull a Scar and totally freak out on Gretel. Or he could just try to kill me. Or Seth.

  Lots and lots of bad outcomes, in other words.

  “Alexander,” Gretel whispered. But the pouring rain was too loud. She repeated his name at a near-shout. “Alexander!”

  He flinched.

  “I remember when we first moved to the village of Bremen,” she said, letting go of my hand. She moved closer to the figure. Lightning lit up the courtyard again. The hundreds of people stood motionless. The ground was nothing but mud, and the vines that had grown over the walls were nothing more than papery stalks. Death reigned in this place.

  But the Juniper Tree … its branches were full of needles. It had an old, twisting trunk and stood two stories tall, as tall as the walls surrounding the courtyard.

  And it was glowing gold.

  “We dined on sausage and cheeses and wine beside a fire,” Gretel said. “I told you I was afraid. I didn’t understand the world we were in. You told me we were nothing more than stories, but ours had a happy ending and so you knew everything would always be all right.”

  “We were running,” he said in a low voice. I nearly flinched at the sound of it over the rain. My hand went to my belt.

  Do it … do it now while he’s distracted!

  “We were being chased by soldiers,” Gretel said. “We’d … we’d done something horrible. I could only remember bits and pieces. You said it was all your fault. You tried to protect me, but I knew better. We split apart.”

  “I … I found you,” Agnim said. “And I killed you. I killed you, my love!”

  “No. The Corruption killed me.” She reached out, slipping her hand underneath the hood. She drew him close. “But the Corruption cannot prevent us from having our happy ending.”

  Now!

  I reached for my knife. But Seth’s wet hand was already there, halting me. He shook his head.

  “What are you doing?!” I hissed, my head snapping back to Agnim to see if I’d missed my chance. He was still enraptured by the sight of Gretel, ignoring me completely. I tried to wrench away Seth’s hand but he grabbed my wrist, squeezing hard.

  “Just wait,” he said. “Just let her try another way.”

  I turned back to Agnim, my fingers resting on the hilt of the knife. There was still a chance, but Seth’s determination had given Gretel just enough time to close the distance between her and Agnim. She leaned in and stood on the tips of her toes, kissing him. Agnim’s hands slipped out of the sleeves of his robe and wrapped themselves around her, holding her tight. Thunder cracked overhead.

  “Oh that’s kinda gross,” Seth whispered.

  The rain became less intense. Agnim’s hood fell back. His terrible green skin and boils faded. His hair grew in sandy brown, immediately soaked by the downpour. His fingers, now flesh-colored and plump, searched Gretel’s hair.

  He pulled her back, looking into her eyes. His face was human. Handsome. Good. “I have not felt like this in a long, long time.”

  She smiled. “Nor I, my love.”

  “Seth,” I whispered in awe. “How did you know?”

  He shrugged. “Beautiful, ain’t it? Well, except for the zombie audience standing in the back there.”

  Agnim turned to me. “Draw your sword, Alice. We must undo this terrible blight once and for all.”

  I drew my sword. Gretel, concerned, reached out for him; he shook his head. “No, this must be done. Alice, point your enchanted sword to the clouds.”

  I raised my sword.

  Agnim stepped away from Gretel and held out his hands, drawing them away from each other. A blue flame appeared; rain evaporated into steam all around it. Little blisters appeared on Agnim’s fingers. He pushed it out and it flew through the air, hitting the sword. I felt a surge of energy pulse through me; a blue light shot up into the clouds, illuminating them.

  The rain stopped for a single heartbeat.

  When it started again, I felt the ground shift beneath my feet. Little blades of grass slipped up out of the mud. Seth and I turned and glanced over our shoulders; through the hole in the wall we could see the dead forest’s trees slowly righting themselves, Little leaves popped up on the bare branches.

  Agnim collapsed. Gretel helped him to his feet. He was smiling.

  “Only a hero could have helped me with that spell,” he said. His voice was weak. Human. “I can remember just before you came. I was going to use you to spread the Corruption by cursing your sword and infecting the rain.”

  “But instead, you reversed the spell,” I finished.

  He nodded. “It will take time, but the rain will at least end this hor
rible war I’ve started. The Corruption was here before I arrived … I remember some of it. Bits and pieces. I’d rather not remember any of it.”

  “Just don’t do it again,” Seth said, pointing and accusing finger at him.

  “I should hope not.” He looked at his pale fingers, watching the rain trickle over his blisters. “Who would have thought I’d be so happy to not have green fingers?”

  Gretel hugged him tight. “We will save the rest of the people.”

  “Yes,” he said. “There are others to the far north, hiding away. We’ll root them out and destroy the Corruption once and for all.”

  “And maybe kill those zombies,” I pointed out.

  Agnim, weak, clutched his wife and glanced over his shoulder. “Yes, they have waited a long time for this moment. Are you ready to leave, Alice?”

  “Oh man are we ever,” Seth said.

  “How?” I asked.

  Agnim nodded toward the Juniper tree. “Touch the tree. Follow the music.”

  “That’s it?”

  Agnim nodded. “You have one of the Juniper seeds on earth. That has always been the link between these two worlds. That, and Death.” He face turned grim. “You must destroy Death.”

  “But … but I can’t. He’s too powerful.” I sighed. “There’ll be other heroes. Maybe someone stronger can do it.”

  “No, you do not understand.” Agnim wiped rainwater off his face, his eyelids shutting for a moment while he steeled himself with a deep breath. He looked weaker now—whatever spell he’d cast to reverse the Corruption had taken its toll. “The Brothers Grimm knew the Malevolence had evil intentions. And so deep inside Death they planted a key. Something the Malevolence would never suspect.” He reached out, clutching my shoulder. “Destroy Death. Wipe the Corrupted off the face of the earth.”

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “Because I have seen his power firsthand. He came for me once long ago and nearly consumed me. I escaped and tracked him down, watching him consume other Corrupted—mostly townsfolk the Brothers Grimm had mentioned in passing. If he’d had more time, he would have taken all of the Corrupted.”

  “But then the Corruption got to Death,” Seth finished. I glanced at him in surprise. “What? Makes sense.”