A Grimm Warning

by Chris Colfer

  Alex stirred to life and slowly sat up. She looked around the cottage as her eyes adjusted. “Where am I?”

  “You’re safe, dear,” Hagetta said.

  “Hey, Alex, heads-up—you’re also on fire! But don’t worry, it’s helping your leg and wrist heal,” Conner warned her.

  Alex’s eyes grew twice in size as she saw the flames engulfing her wrist and leg. “Okay,” she peeped. Nothing could make her entirely comfortable with this. “Sooo… what kind of fire am I on exactly?”

  “They’re healing flames from the breath of an albino dragon,” Hagetta explained. “The albino dragons were very rare and just as awful as regular dragons, but their flames had unique healing qualities. My great-great-great-great-grandmother acquired some of those flames during the Dragon Age and my family has kept them burning from generation to generation.”

  “Wow,” Conner said. “I can’t even keep a Chia Pet alive.”

  Alex became less anxious knowing this information but she was still uneasy from waking up in the strange cottage. She couldn’t stop staring at Hagetta—she could have sworn their paths had crossed in the past.

  “Do I know you from somewhere?” she asked.

  “Her name is Hagetta and she’s Hagatha’s younger sister.” Conner filled her in.

  Alex was shocked. “You’re Hagatha’s sister?”

  “I am,” Hagetta said. “But I believe we saw each other at Jack and Goldilocks’s wedding.”

  “You’re right!” Alex said, putting the pieces together. “How do you know Jack and Goldilocks?”

  Hagetta laughed at the thought. “I’ve known Goldilocks since she was a very little girl and started her life on the run. We first met when I caught her trying to rob me. I scared her off and thought I’d never see her again, but then a few weeks later I found her in the woods—she had been attacked by some creature and barely survived. I brought her back here and healed her wounds but she refused to stay any longer. She insisted she didn’t need my help and told me she could take care of herself. I knew she was too stubborn to convince, so I gave Goldilocks her first sword. I told her she would have to learn to defend herself if she was going to live on her own.”

  “You gave Goldilocks her first sword?” Conner asked, tickled pink by the story. “That’s like giving Shakespeare his first pen!”

  Hagetta smiled. “She returned the favor a few years later. A gang of trolls cornered me in the woods and tried to enslave me. Goldilocks heard my pleas for help and she came out of nowhere on that horse of hers.”

  “Wow, talk about karma,” Conner said.

  “Indeed,” Hagetta said. “And since then, I’ve tried to assist anyone I met who needs a helping hand. I never thought a wanted fugitive would teach me the power of a clean conscience.”

  “We can’t thank you enough for helping us,” Conner said, then quickly looked around the room. “Wait, where’s Lester?”

  The twins heard a squawk as Lester drowsily popped his head up from under Hagetta’s table. Flames covered his busted beak and his left wing was ablaze as the peach-colored fire slowly re-grew his wing one feather at a time.

  “That is the most stubborn gander I have ever met,” Hagetta said. “He wouldn’t let me touch you when I first found you—it was like he was protecting his own chicks. I told him I only meant to help but still had to sedate him with a sleeping potion to calm him down. It should be out of his system by now.”

  Conner made an affectionate frown and rubbed the giant goose’s neck. “Thanks for looking out for us, bud,” he said. “Mother Goose will be very happy to hear that.”

  Alex searched her dress pockets and suddenly gasped. “Oh no,” she said. “My wand broke and the pieces must have fallen out of my pocket!”

  “No worries, child, your wand will be back to normal soon,” Hagetta said. She pointed to the fireplace and Alex saw her crystal wand had been placed directly on the firewood and the flames were slowly mending it.

  Alex was so relieved she laid back down and almost forgot she was on fire herself.

  “You’re the nicest witch we’ve ever met,” Conner said. “I thought all witches were terrible, but you’ve proven me wrong.”

  “All it takes is one bad apple to disgrace a whole tree,” Hagetta said. “I come from a very long line of witches and I’ve only ever heard of one witch who eats children—but thanks to the story ‘Hansel and Gretel,’ the whole world thinks all of us live in gingerbread houses and lure innocent youths to their deaths.”

  “That’s an interesting point,” Conner said. “I’ve met just as many ugly humans as I have ugly witches but we’re not stereotyped.”

  “Most witches don’t start out as ugly,” Hagetta said. “Dark magic leaves its mark on its dealers. My sister Hagatha was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Men traveled across kingdoms to woo and court her. But after devoting her life to harmful witchcraft, its effects began to show on her face.”

  Alex sat straight up. “Wait a second, how long have we been here?” she asked.

  “A few hours,” Hagetta said.

  “Oh no,” Alex said. “Conner, we’ve got to get back to the Fairy Palace at once! Now that the Grande Armée has started attacking we have to form a new plan!” She made the mistake of stepping on her bad foot and yelped in pain before falling back onto the cot.

  “You two are no good to anyone in the condition you’re in,” Hagetta said. “Wait for the flames to finish doing their job. Once they burn out, you’ll be healed.”

  As much as it killed her to sit still at a time like this, Alex had no choice. Their plan had been compromised, and she slumped as if they had already lost the war.

  “It was really smart of you to keep half of the armies hidden, Alex,” Conner said. “At least no one was unprepared for this to happen. As soon as we get back to the Fairy Palace we’ll find out who has and hasn’t been attacked—maybe our first plan can still work.”

  “I’m not sad because of our plan,” Alex said. “You saw how viciously they opened fire on the Elf Empire. There’s no way the Corner Kingdom or the Bo Peep Republic stands a chance against forces like that—”

  Hagetta couldn’t help but interrupt. “Did you just say ‘Bo Peep Republic’?” she asked. “What on earth is that?”

  “It’s the new name of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom,” Conner said. “They changed the name because Little Bo Peep was elected queen.”

  Hagetta raised both of her eyebrows and looked off into space, completely flabbergasted. “Was she now?” she asked.

  “Do you know Little Bo Peep?” Alex asked.

  It was obvious from her expression that they were acquainted. “Very well, I’m afraid.”

  “How do you know her?” Conner asked.

  “She sought me out when she was a little girl,” Hagetta explained. “Apparently she dozed off one afternoon on her farm and lost track of her sheep. The whole thing was a great embarrassment for her so she found me in the woods and paid me five gold coins to make her a potion that would keep her awake.”

  “Did you make her the potion?” Conner asked.

  “I did,” Hagetta said. “And it was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made.”

  “Was something wrong with the potion you gave her?” Alex asked.

  “No, there was just a lot wrong with the customer,” Hagetta said. “The potion worked so well that Little Bo came back to me many times, expecting fixes for all of her problems throughout the years. She needed a potion for her sheep to grow the fluffiest wool, she needed a potion for her cows to give the sweetest milk, she wanted seeds to make her chickens lay the biggest eggs—it never stopped! Especially when that man came into the picture.”

  The twins looked at each other, equally intrigued.

  “Which man?” Conner asked.

  “The man Little Bo fell madly in love with,” Hagetta said. “He was older than she was and a total crook.”

  “Are you talking about the man trapped inside her magic mirror?�
� Alex asked. Her curiosity had completely taken over her body and she couldn’t help asking.

  Conner and Hagetta both stared at her. Conner had no idea what she was talking about but Hagetta was astonished she knew anything about it.

  “How did you know about the magic mirror?” Hagetta asked.

  “What magic mirror?” Conner asked, hoping one of them would fill him in.

  Alex hesitated as she tried to make the explanation as harmless for herself as possible. “During the election a friend and I thought it would be fun to spy on Little Bo,” Alex said. “We weren’t looking to cause any trouble, just to have some fun, but we saw a magic mirror inside her barn and there was a man trapped inside it.”

  Conner raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Is this the same friend you’re not dating?”

  Alex didn’t respond. All her attention was on Hagetta.

  “The magic mirror in Little Bo’s possession is a mirror of communication, not of imprisonment,” Hagetta said. “I should know—I made it for her. The man you saw wasn’t trapped in the mirror; he was locked away in prison many years ago. I gave them each a mirror so they could still communicate.”

  Alex covered her mouth. It had never occurred to her that the mirror in Little Bo’s barn might be a communication mirror like the kind she and her brother had.

  “Wait a second,” Conner said, making connections of his own. “There was a mirror in one of the cells in Pinocchio Prison! Is Little Bo Peep in love with the Masked Man?”

  “She never told me his real name but yes, that is the name he chose for himself,” Hagetta said. “He was the youngest son in a very powerful family—but he longed to be more powerful than all of them. He tried everything he possibly could to gain the control he desired; he lied and stole, he made promises he couldn’t keep, and bargained deals he couldn’t afford. He’s the most conniving type of man there is.”

  Alex nodded as everything began making sense to her. “Little Bo wanted to be queen because she thought being the ruler of a kingdom would give her the authority to free him from prison.”

  Hagetta grunted. “I’m sure she also couldn’t live with the guilt,” she said. “Little Bo is the reason he was caught in the first place—she turned him in.”

  Conner gasped. “She turned in the man she loved?”

  “He may have cast a spell on Little Bo’s innocent heart, but even she couldn’t deny how dangerous he was. She warned me about him just as many times as she confessed her undying love. She betrayed him because Little Bo was protecting someone else she loved,” Hagetta explained. “Little Bo and the Masked Man had a child.”

  Both the twins shook their heads in disbelief. “Little Bo is a mother?” Conner asked.

  “She was,” Hagetta said. “Little Bo was terrified of what the Masked Man would do if he found out she was carrying his child. He was so obsessed with power she was afraid he would see an heir as a threat. So she wrote an anonymous letter to the Fairy Palace warning them of his plans to steal from the Fairy Godmother, and he was caught in the act. Little Bo gave birth to a son while he was locked up and he never knew about the baby or the betrayal.”

  “What happened to the baby?” Alex asked.

  Hagetta sighed and shook her head. “Little Bo came here while she was in labor and delivered the child right in this room,” she said. “She begged me to take the child somewhere the Masked Man could never find him. She was so young at the time I couldn’t argue that the child should be raised by someone else. So I took him to a place I will never reveal for as long as I live, so his father will never find him. It broke Little Bo’s heart to be separated from the child and the Masked Man. I tried soothing her with the healing flame, but even the flames of an albino dragon can’t fix a broken heart.”

  “Did you do anything else to help her?” Conner asked.

  “I did,” Hagetta said. “And it was the only time I ever performed dark magic. I followed a spell I saw my sister perform on a lovesick maiden a long time ago. I cut out a small piece of Little Bo’s heart, the part that was full of hurt and longing for the men in her life, and I turned it into stone. The maiden my sister used the enchantment on turned into a soulless monster, and I wanted better for Little Bo, so I gave Little Bo the piece of her heart on a chain and told her to wear it when she was ready to face the loss that comes with love. For her sake, I hope he stays in prison for the rest of his life.”

  It was a tragic story and it made Alex even more nervous about the chapter of the story they were still in.

  “Hagetta, the Masked Man was recruited by the Grande Armée,” Alex said. “He promised the general he could take them to a dragon egg. We were told it was impossible, but if he is as powerful as you say, do you think he actually knows where to obtain one?”

  Hagetta went very quiet and her face became still. Horrific images flashed behind her eyes that she didn’t share with the twins.

  “I pray he doesn’t,” Hagetta said. “The fairies were successful in ridding the world of dragons, but there have always been rumors that there were one or two eggs left behind. No one would know how to kill a dragon anymore if one should arise—all those fairies are either dead or too old to slay a dragon now. If the Masked Man were to get his hands on a dragon egg, it wouldn’t matter what kind of plan you formed, the world would be over.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  FEEDING THE CREATURE

  The villagers dug so deep into the earth they created a canyon beside the Grande Armée’s camp. A villager by the name of Farmer Robins had the misfortune of being the first to uncover the magma below the dirt. As soon as his shovel broke the ground, the lava gushed out and burned his hands. He screamed and fell to the ground in agony.

  Although Rook had been warned to leave the south of the Eastern Kingdom, by the time he convinced his father that they should take Alex’s advice, the Grande Armée had occupied their farm and the villages nearby. Rook and his father were taken captive and brought to the camp to dig along with the other imprisoned villagers.

  “Father!” Rook cried, and rushed to his father’s side.

  Lava rapidly filled the canyon and the villagers frantically climbed out of it to safety. Rook and another man hoisted Farmer Robins onto their shoulders and helped him up out of the canyon just as its base filled with lava. The lava was so hot the abandoned shovels caught on fire before it even touched them.

  General Marquis peered through his tent at the commotion and a small smile appeared on his face. He knew it was time to hatch the dragon egg.

  The villagers were gathered in a group at the side of the canyon by the soldiers who observed them. They panted and sweated profusely from their quick climb. Rook held his father’s head in his lap; he was moaning in pain from his burns. He needed help but as Rook looked around the camp he realized there was no one there who could help his father. He had to figure out a way to escape the camp as soon as possible.

  A few moments later General Marquis and Colonel Baton stood over the edge of the canyon looking down at the orange lava at the very bottom. The Masked Man was sent into the canyon to place the dragon egg in the lava and the commanders waited impatiently for him to return. Finally, they saw his covered face appear as the Masked Man crawled up the canyon wall.

  “Oh boy, we’ve got a lively one!” he happily shouted up at the commanders. Parts of his tattered clothing had been burned off and the edges of his mask were smoky. Apparently the hatching process hadn’t been seamless.

  “Did the egg hatch?” the general asked.

  “Yes, it did!” the Masked Man said. “Congratulations, General, it’s a boy! And he’s a feisty lad! He nearly scorched me to death with his first breaths alone.”

  The Masked Man surfaced and reached out a hand for them to help him up but the general and the colonel didn’t offer him any assistance. He pulled himself out of the ground and onto his feet and brushed all the dirt and ash from his clothes.

  “And now what do we do?” the general asked.

/>   “We feed him,” the Masked Man said. “He’s napping in the lava right now but he’s going to be very hungry in a few minutes. The key is to keep as much food down there as possible. As soon as he runs out he’ll climb up here to hunt, and we don’t want him to do that until he’s grown. Dragons are most aggressive when they first emerge from their nests, and we want him to save that energy for when he attacks the fairies.”

  The general grunted after learning he would have to wait even longer. The Masked Man continued to test his patience more than any battle ever had. “What does it eat?” the general asked.

  “Meat,” the Masked Man said as if it were obvious.

  The general eyed the Masked Man peculiarly, hoping this might offer a chance to finally get rid of him.

  “Don’t look at me,” the Masked Man said. “I’m nothing but skin and bone—he’s going to need protein to build his strength. Besides, once he emerges, you’ll still need me to show you how to declare dominance over him.”

  “Lieutenant Rembert?” General Marquis ordered.

  Rembert was among the soldiers keeping watch over the villagers and stepped forward. “Yes, sir?” he asked.

  “Round up all the livestock we took from the villagers and bring them to the edge of the canyon,” the general said. “Gradually push the animals into the canyon as the Masked Man instructs.”

  “Yes, sir,” Rembert said. “And what do you want us to do with the villagers now?”

  General Marquis snuck a menacing glance at their captives. “Keep them alive for the time being,” he said. “We may need more food for the dragon later.”

  Although the villagers couldn’t hear the general, it was obvious what he was plotting with the lieutenant. They whispered frantically among themselves and the families held each other a little tighter than before. Rook looked around the camp, trying to think of something—anything—to save his father and the other villagers from this nightmare.