Once Upon a Prophecy

17

Everything was wood. I could smell the pine trees and evergreens. Darkness started to grip the light. Clouds circulated above us, threatening rain. A castle loomed ahead of us.

"We better camp out. No use trying to get wet." Greta said.

"Where are we?" Ana asked. Peter sniffed the air. Greta gave me worried look. I could tell she knew where we were, too.

"Let's get to bed. We need rest." I responded quickly.

Once we set up the tent, we didn't realize how hungry we were. So we ate, and then we set our blankets up to rest. Greta suggested she should keep watch. I was going to negotiate, but the blankets were so soft and the pillows plump, not to mention she offered for herself to do it. As soon as I laid my head on the pillow, a dream came to me.

It was a dark forest. Mist curled around my feet and everywhere else. Thunder boomed above me and lightning struck. A castle loomed ahead of me. It had a black color and looked ominous. I approached the gates, to have them softly open for me. Inside the main room were two staircases on both sides of me. A cauldron sat in the middle. Dark purple fog poured out. The fog pulsed around my feet. It writhed and turned until it was twisted bramble. As the thorns started to move, I ran to the right staircase. I heard whispers bounce off the walls. Follow us. Everything will be good. Come to us.

Part of me did want to stay, but part of me ran until I hit a crumbled balcony. Crumbled stone fell into the chasm beneath me. The thorns started to make their way up the steps into the balcony. A small cage hung above me, with an old hag inside. "Do not be afraid. They are here to protect you." She said as if pointing to the thorns. My feet hit the balcony edge, as I woke up in the tent.
The silver moon tried to shine through the clouds. I could tell it was still night. I made my way out of our tent, careful not to step on Ana. Greta sat on the ground, humming a soft lullaby. I dropped down beside her.
"So, you know this place?" I asked.
"You could say that. Outside of any of our kingdoms, and further from the Unknown than anything. Used to be home of Briar." Greta responded softly. The silence wavered. I could only hear her hum of music. After twenty minutes, I spoke up.
"I hope you find Kai."
"Thank you." She took in a sharp breath. "He was gone at a very young age. Poisoned, you could say. The Snow Queen's ice shard fell into his heart. He was very bitter from then on. Stupid me, thought it was just a phase. Then he set out. After several years, I went to find him. Once looking in the Snow Queen's palace, he wasn't there. Neither was she. I assumed he had becomes her servant by then, so I set out to find her. When I found her, he wasn't there. But I should've trusted my gut."
"Why?" I asked eagerly, like a child hearing her mother tell a story.
"Well, it felt wrong. As soon as I came upon her, everything felt wrong. Until we went through the glass. Now it feels as though he may be up there." She motioned to the darkened castle. Silence stirred back up again.
"Well, why not go see if he's up there?"
"Really?! Quinn, I really thought you were mad, but this," Greta pointed up, "is even worse than I thought."
"You sure?" I quickly checked one more time. I wanted her to find Kai, and if it felt right, then why not try.
"No. Then again, am I ever?" She leapt to her feet. I ripped off a piece of loose fabric from the tent, and wrote to Peter telling them where we were going. I tightened the sheath of my sword, and started up the path.
It wasn't as hard as we thought. Quite easy, actually. It took around ten minutes getting up. As we reached the wooden doors, Greta and I pushed open the gates. Greta lead me up a stairwell, and everywhere she felt she was doing right. Sometimes we would stop and turn around, others we would have to go back a series of steps. Finally, as light was going into the sky, we reached a tower. I knew we had made the wrong turn.
Thorns grew up the walls of the tower. Windows were cut out around me. Straw lay on the floor, scattered around me.
"No... No... Please no!" I quietly whispered. I touched the door to find it locked. I shook it. Greta seemed to be not as worried as me. In fact, she stood absolutely still. Some of the straw gathered to morph into a spindle. An old, familiar hag sat over it.
"Malkia." I whispered.
"Hello, Quinn. I decided to stop by. Seems your friend is having some bad luck." She waved her hand over Greta, and her eyes had a green glow.
"I really wish you wouldn't have stopped by. It was lovely having you here." Greta's hand inched closer to the spindle.
"Wait!" I spoke abruptly. "Take me. It was my fault for bringing us here. Greta shouldn't be hurt because of it." Malkia smiled. The green glow faded from Greta, and a tingling sensation flowed from me. I made my way toward the needle. I couldn't stop myself.
"Quinn! Please don't!" Greta yelled. That moment the doors burst open to have Ana and Peter come in. My finger touched the spindle, and Malkia laughed. With a wave of her robe, she was gone. I put my finger up to my face to examine it. A small dot of blood grew from the prick. My knees gave way as soon as I collapsed. I couldn't feel anything. But I heard everything.

"Quinn! Quinn! No, no, no no! Quinn please wake up." Peter shook my hand.

"No use. This isn't her story, so it just won't work. We have to either find true love, which would just be weird at her age, or find someone to work off the spell." Greta sighed.

"Peter, do you still have your dust? We could put some on her to lift her up." Ana thoughtfully said.

In a way, I felt as though I was lifted up. That's when a low growl consumed the room. It started soft and grew till it echoed through the tower. I knew what they were.

"Wolves." Whispered Greta. I could hear whimpers and the uncapping of swords and daggers. After minutes of Peter and Ana shouting back fighting strategies and the dog howling with wimpering, and Greta telling everything to shut up, I honestly wanted so badly to fight, and cover my ears. Someone grabbed my sword and my presumption was it was Peter. Greta started to mutter under her breath, as though solving some problem.

At last, all the sound stopped, except the clapping of hands from everyone.

Ana came up to me and spoke into my ear, "Hear that Quinn? We defeated all of them."

"Not quite yet. Did anybody notice a larger one in the pack?" Greta called out.

"They all looked... the same." Peter paused. I could hear swords raising. Ana clutched one of my hands, with her other she grabbed her dagger. A howl pushed through the tower. As the footsteps stopped. I could feel everyone stop. It must have been a big wolf. I heard one sword clatter to the floor.

"Greta! What are you doing?!" Peter yelled. Another low growl came from the beast.

"Oh... I found you... I found you..." She whispered under her breath. "Kai, don't you remember me? Please Kai, it's Greta, your best friend. Kai, please remember." That's when I heard quiet sobs. When a warm light reflected onto me, I knew something big happened.

"Oh, Greta!" A cheerful and happy man's voice said. "Where am I?"

"You're in the tower." She whispered. He gasped.

"Is she?" He asked, from seeing me.

"No. This isn't her story." Greta replied. "Do you know any possible way to push off the curse?"

"We could talk to Queen Briar." Peter spoke bravely.

"No, no. That wouldn't do. When I was frozen in her lake, she spoke to a mirror."

"Wait, you were frozen in her lake?!" Greta gasped.

"That's what our tale says, but she changed me into her servant to change it up."

"So, she talked to someone in a mirror. Not that hard, but is there anything else you heard or saw?" Ana asked.

"Well, I heard her talking, just bits and pieces, but she talked about how she would make her way to Neverland. And an old hag talked about making her way up here, but some lady refused the older to. Something happened, then the Snow Queen and hag started to argue, until the dark lady stopped it." He stopped.

"For some odd reason, I know who to contact." Peter spoke in a hushed whisper.

"Who?" Ana asked.

"The Fairies. They're Tink's relatives. All of them came to Queen Briar's birthday celebration."

"What will they do? They said it's against their power to reverse a curse." Greta responded.

"Only one of them said that. If they work together, maybe we can get this stupid curse off Quinn." Peter sighed.

"Where will we have to go?" Ana asked.

"To the center of the four kingdoms, their source of power."