Good Knight

What it means to be Brave

When Prince Misereoux and Princess Peppermint entered the throne room, Prince Grendelmere was there waiting for them. They tried very hard to act like normal Nightmares even though their hearts were pounding with fear. The Prince of Nightmares didn't seem very happy to see anyone at the moment. Misereoux knew why. It was because Grendelmere knew he was losing.

"Did you really think you could get past me, big brother?" he said. Grendelmere threw dark dream sand at them and their disguises disappeared. A loud screech was heard from outside. Grendelmere's eyes widened in shock as he looked in the direction the sound came from.

Then he looked at his brother and Misereoux stood there frozen. The screech had come from Grendelmere's dragon that was guarding the tower he was holding Sir Theodore in. There were others there besides his brother and the princess of Evanore. Grendelmere rose from his throne angrily.

"NEMESIS!" he hollared. One of the Nightmares entered the throne room in a hurry.

"Yes, Your Malevolence?" Nemesis replied. She realized who was standing in the room before Prince Grendelmere. The situation was not what she was expecting.

"Go search the castle for anyone who is not a Nightmare and bring them to me! Their true identities are revealed and cannot be concealed again!" Grendelmere ordered. Nemesis obediently ran off to go find the intruders after quickly curtsying. Grendelmere turned to his brother once again.

"I see you've figured out how to break my curse," he observed. "Too bad it was too little, too late. Sir Theodore is mine now! The knights of Nod will suffer my wrath!"

"You have to stop this, Grendelmere!" Misereoux argued.

"I don't have to stop this! I have to finish it!" Grendelmere insisted. He rubbed his hands together and created more dark dream sand, then threw it into the space between them.

"You see, Misereoux, the best Nightmares are not the ones I create, but the ones that are already real," Grendelmere explained. Misereoux and Peppermint watched as the cloud of dream sand showed them what was happening in the tower. Grendelmere's three-headed dragon was breaking holes into the structure and breathing fire into the holes.

The vision changed to Sir Nunight and Sir Zippy in the dungeons. Some of Grendelmere's Nightmares were camouflaged into the walls. When the two knights were right where they were wanted, the Nightmares sprung to life and attacked. Sir Nunight and Sir Zippy were outnumbered and no match for their rivals.

The vision changed once more to Sir Tuffy and Lady Rosie somewhere in the halls of the castle. The Nightmares found them and chased them until they were cornered.

"STOP!" Prince Misereoux shouted. He threw his own dream sand at the visions and they exploded like a firework and then there was nothing. The brothers stared each other down.

"What have you done?" Misereoux growled. "You're destroying the balance of the dream world! Are you out of your mind!?"

"Nothing seems fair when you're freedom is controlled by the rest of the world, is it?" Grendelmere challenged.

"Father never took away your freedom and neither did I!" Misereoux assured him. But Grenelmere wasn't convinced. He conjured up more dark dream sand and threw it at Misereoux. When it struck him he was thrown backwards.

"MISEREOUX!" Peppermint screamed. She was about to run to his aid, but Grendelmere stopped her by conjuring licorice ropes to bind her with. She fell to the ground and the licorice slowly began to rot her skin. Grendelmere turned to see his brother's devastated reaction and smirked.

"Don't all parents tell their children that candy rots your teeth?" he added. This made Prince Misereoux mad and he got to his feet and prepared to fight his brother.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you," Grendelmere warned. "Their fate hangs in the balance." He was referring to everyone Prince Misereoux came with. The doors of the throne room blasted open from a strong wind.

Sir Nunight and Sir Zippy appeared out of a tornado of dream sand, which transformed back into the Nightmares that had abducted them. Following closely behind was Sir Tuffy and Lady Rosie. Grendelmere raised his arms like a conductor and orchestrated a melody of Nightmares.

"Let's see, Evie is terrified of the monster under her bed!" Grendelmere announced as he pointed to Sir Nunight. The Nightmare that held him hostage transformed into a terrifying monster with claws and sharp teeth, glowing red eyes and a tail that moved like a whip.

"And Ella is scared of witches!" Grendelmere went on. He pointed to Sir Tuffy and the Nightmare holding him captive turned into a wicked witch with some warts, piercing yellow eyes and green skin. She pulled out a wand and pointed it at Sir Tuffy who levitated into the air and a boiling cauldron appeared beneath him.

"Little Annie is afraid of the dark!" Grendelmere said as he pointed to Lady Rosie. The Nightmare standing over her turned itself into a cloak of darkness and covered her with it. Then Grendelmere turned to Sir Zippy and pointed.

"And Kevin is scared to death of clowns," he added. The Nightmare nearest to Sir Zippy transformed into a clown and cornered the knight. Prince Grendelmere laughed with delight, but the horror wasn't over yet.

Grendelmere's dragon broke through the window behind his throne. It threw Sir Puck and The Fable Keeper across the floor from its claws and held Sir Theodore with Penelope, tightly in its tail.

"FROTUS! What did I tell you about playing in the castle!?" Prince Grendelmere scolded the creature. The dragon lowered all three of its heads in shame. "Don't give me that look! We'll talk about this later!" He turned to Sir Puck who looked terrible already. He thought; what more could he do to him that could top this?

"Let them go, Grendelmere!" Sir Theodore shouted. The prince turned to him suspiciously.

"When did you get so brave? You're courage is mine now," Grendelmere said.

"Being fearful is all about being brave," Sir Theodore said. "It's challenging those fears that completes the definition." The Fable Keeper filled with pride at the sound of this. She knew Penelope would have been the only one to tell him that. The others felt inspired. But Grendelmere only became more frustrated.

"Well, well, well, if it's a challenge of fear you want, it is a challenge of fear you will get!" he said. He waved his arm in Sir Theodore and Penelope's direction, capturing Penelope in dark dream sand. She screamed as she was pulled away from her Teddy Bear and into the arms of the Prince of Nightmares.

"NO!" Sir Theodore shouted. Sir Puck ignored any pain he had, picked up his sword and threw it towards the dragon's tail. The blade pierced the skin and all three heads screeched in pain. Sir Theodore took the opportunity to pull the sword from the dragon's tail and let the beast drop him to the floor.

This enraged Prince Grendelmere and he turned to Sir Puck and stepped on his burned and wounded arm. The knight cried out in agony. But Grendelmere couldn't stick around to inflict more torture. Sir Theodore was charging towards him with Sir Puck's sword in hand and Prince Misereoux came running at him from the other side.

"I won't let you take her, Grendelmere!" Sir Theodore shouted. Grendelmere threw more dream sand and the knight skidded to a halt to avoid another possible curse. Misereoux stopped in his tracks too. Sir Puck protected his wounded arm in case of any unexpected outbursts.

"And Penelope . . . is afraid of Miss Krabbtree," Grendelmere said. He threw more dream sand at Sir Theodore, who was suddenly grabbed at the nape of the neck by the Nightmare that had been posing as Penelope's teacher.

"No! Teddy!" she screamed. She tried to push away from Grendelmere, but he restrained her. The Nightmare cackled and held her claw-like nails to the knight's neck threateningly.

"Your story is over, Teddy Bear. You've lost," Grendelmere said.

"No he hasn't," Misereoux insisted. Grendelmere laughed and turned to his brother.

"Mom was right about you," Grendelmere sneered. "You are a poor excuse for a prince!" He backhanded Misereoux across the face, who was thrown to the floor by the force of the blow.

"Grendelmere! Unhand that girl!" an authoritative voice demanded. They all turned to see King Somnolent standing there.