Wonderland

~Fear Will Learn To Fear Me~

A black bird opened its wings and fled. A black bird flew, flew through the sky, and flew over cozy homes, over the hunters' training fields, over the King's palace, over fortresses and citadels and over everything that signaled humanity. A black bird flew through the sky and didn't stop till she reached the woods. The shadowy, sinful and wicked woods.   

A black bird landed on a tree branch, looking aglow in the light of the full moon. A black bird looked around, gazed off into the distance, and saw The Wall. The great, defensive Wall. The Wall of Allymea, or as others liked to call it, The Wall of Resistance. When, in fact, it was only a wall built on cowardliness and dread. One day, a black bird would fly right past that Wall and be free, but today was not that day.   

The black bird finally fixed her eyes downwards and sensed the others before she saw the campfire. Normally, you would have thought that it would be pretty imprudent to light a fire in the woods, where the hunters could see the smoke emerging from the trees, but the truth was, no hunter dared venture so deep in the woods. Not when there was no rest for the Wicked.   

The black bird sang to announce her arrival and everything around her dropped dead. The people sitting around the fire or in their tents listened to the song and remained silent. No birds sang in that forest. No bird except the black bird.   

Annabelle Maxwell, leader of the Wicked, the only remaining nymph left in the Allymea Kingdom, was here, and she was ready to unleash all hell among her own kind.   

"Where is he?" Annabelle demanded in a bitter voice, her face still, her lips pursed, but no answer came.

No one dared move or speak, let alone start pointing fingers and throw the blame at each other.   

The army of the Wicked, all of the sorcerers, vampires, werewolves, banshees, even fairies looked at her with terror intheir eyes. She was their leader, a born ruler, the one who had gathered them, made them stronger, and who, soon enough, would help them rise from the ashes, but although they respected her, most  feared her, because Annabelle Maxwell had not won the title of leader for nothing. No, she was the head ofthe army for a reason. She was the strongest, the most lethal and, above all, the wickedest. And now, they had made the worst mistake possible. 

They had gotten her angry.  

"I asked where he is." Annabelle repeated, anger clear in her voic. After a few seconds of heavy silence, thenymph spoke again, shouting this time.

"Axton, come out wherever you are! You can't hide forever. I knowit was you."

Normally, hearing her tone, everyone, whether they were humans or monsters, would run in the opposite direction, but not Axton. For a simple werewolf, he was rather bold. And for someone who had made the mistake he had, he was rather stupid, too.

So Axton took a few steps forward, emerging from the crowd, arms extended in a mocking gesture of surrender. 

"Here I am," he said smugly, grinning foolishly at the nymph. "Did you call for me, Your Highness?"  

Annabelle, already growing impatient, did not have time for his jokes or teasing, for he had done something behind her back, he had acted on his own, and that, a leader of good judgment could not tolerate.

"You have two minutes to start justifying your actions." she told him, standing tall in front of the speechless crowd, who could only watch.   

Axton, however, stood his ground. "I have nothing to justify."   

"Really?" the nymph arched an eyebrow at his words. "Is acting against my orders nothing? Is stepping foot outside these woods without my permission nothing? Especially when you all know how dangerous it is out there! How easily you could have gotten killed, and worst of all,  is an attempt at killing the only remaining heir, Prince Antonio, nothing?" She demanded.