By T.K. Wilson (Rated G)
For Part 1, see our Winter 2024 issue. Find Part 2 here.
~~~
Since I was unconscious for all of what happened next, it’s best told in Fionn’s words.
~~~~
Someone entered my room and called my name.
“Fionn, wake up.”
It was Mother. I turned over and sat up. “What is it, Mother?”
“Get dressed and come with me; Snow White is missing. And we found this.”
She held out a thing that looked like a metal insect.
“It’s marked Sylvan Industries.”
“What is it?”
“A spy drone.”
I looked at Mother and it seemed she was thinking the same thing I had been. The Witch.
“Have you asked the latest group about this?”
“Yes, there was one Sylvan Industries worker among them, he had no idea this was in his escape bag.”
“Are you certain?” I asked, my tone sharp.
“He is telling the truth, son, we are certain. The witch has been fooling everyone with a very advanced homunculus made in Snow’s image.”
The thought made me truly ill. Humans and their prying ways!
“Summon the dwarves. We will find Snow White.”
I strapped on my boots and followed Selig to the trail they had found.
“Sven picked up the trail. She made no attempt to hide where she was going.”
“Snow would have no need for that pretense.”
“Then why did she leave in the middle of the night?” he questioned.
“Because she knew we would try to stop her. Going back to Hawthorne would only put her life in danger or break her heart.”
“Exactly. Snow has always been a good girl… you have to expect a little rebellion,” said Selig with a smile.
“We’re burning moonlight!” shouted Sven.
We jogged after him. I noticed Swanhilde had her complete medical kit strapped to her back including a stretcher. I hoped there would be no need for her skills. I felt the tremor of the earth, warning me that some evil had trespassed onto my Kingdom’s lands. I would speak with Mother about strengthening the wards around the city proper. As we traveled further and further, the cries of the earth and the plants became deafening.
“Be wise, be cautious, take care!”
I could only hope that Snow, my innocent Snow, would heed the warnings.
It was just after noon when we finally found her.
“There!” cried Sven, pointing to a shape in a blue dress on the ground. Snow’s horse stood nearby. He took charge of the horse and moved it out of the way, while the other dwarves surrounded Snow.
“Snow, this is no place for a nap,” scolded Selda.
“I think she’s fainted,” said Simmy.
“Then step back, you lot! Give her some air!” snapped Swanhilde.
I shifted my stance to look over their heads, trying to see what was happening. Swanhilde unloaded her pack and threw her stretcher to her squad.
“Get that ready, I’ll triage.”
I tried to approach, but Selig stopped me. Swanhilde examined Snow thoroughly, her face was grave. She used a brace to stabilize her head and neck, then had her loaded onto the stretcher.
“Easy, easy, gently! Don’t jostle her around!”
“Swanhilde, what is wrong with her? Do not hide it from me,” I pleaded.
“I am not sure. I’m having trouble finding her pulse,” she said slowly. “But there’s still a chance. We need to get her back to Tir Na Nog. Alright boys, quick march!” Swanhilde commanded.
Everything after that conversation is a blur. We made it back to Tir Na Nog, Mother and the healers took charge of Snow White, promising they would do everything they could for her. Father offered me food and drink, but I could not eat. After an eternity, they brought her back out, dressed in her beautiful blue and silver gown, her hands lying across her stomach, and covered in a shroud. She was gone.
I collapsed, sobbing. The pain of loss that elves were never meant to feel shattered me. How long I spent weeping, I do not know. The dwarves, weeping themselves, helped me up.
“Come, Your Highness. Stand up.”
“Leave me be.”
“Your Highness. You must be strong, your people are grieving.”
They did well to rouse me. I must do my grieving in private, it was my duty. I wiped my eyes and got to my feet. My courage nearly failed when they brought me into the main gallery and I saw her. They had pulled the shroud back and draped one of our banners over her legs, like she had been one of our people. She looked like she was only sleeping. My subjects filed past, paying their respects to the girl everyone had loved, and trying to comfort me, but there was no consolation in their words.
The sun went down, filling the room with golden light. Everyone had gone, leaving Snow and I alone. I removed my ring of state from my finger and slipped it to Snow’s thumb, then stroked her cheek with the back of my hand one last time, making her a promise.
“You will be avenged.”
I left the main gallery, my mission was clear at last. I wondered why I had not done this sooner, then there would have been no threat to her at all; but now, too late, I would keep my promise. I dressed in black and took up my sword and dagger. Elizabeta Dracul would know who the true lords of magic were and who it was that had come to avenge the death of the innocent.
I made my way back to the main gallery to find Selig and the others, eyes red from weeping, placing a glass covering over Snow’s body and draping the shroud and banner over it. Finishing their work, Selig turned around and looked at me.
“Where are you going?” he demanded, huskily.
“You know very well where I am going,” I replied.
“You’re going after Dracul? That’s suicide!”
“If I die, then I’ll be with Snow. If I survive, at least no one else will suffer.”
“You have a duty to your parents; you’re their only son.”
“Do you truly believe she will settle for Snow’s death?”
Selig clenched his fists. “You’re right. We’re all witnesses, she’ll hunt us all down.”
“I do not ask you to come with me.”
“Snow was my baby sister, I’m coming with you. What about the rest of you?” He turned to his squad.
“We’re coming too,” said Swanhilde.
“We’ll get our weapons.”
We set out through the forest in single file. There was no conversation, our thoughts were on the mission at hand. At the edge of the forest we halted. I choked on the fumes from the city, I could taste suffering among the chemicals.
“It was never this bad before,” said Selig.
“Small comfort,” I said.
“Come on, there’s tunnels around here that will get us right under the house. Follow me.”
I did not like being underground. I understood many of my people had adjusted quite well to this life, but unless necessity compelled me, one of them would not be me. We walked this road for some distance, then the dwarves halted me in my tracks. Sven pointed at a tunnel mouth, where we exited. Just above us stood a decrepit mansion at the top of a mound.
“Now, we just have to get over that wall. There might be guard dogs on the other side, leave them to us.”
I nodded. We climbed up and over the wall. I prepared myself for the dogs, but none came.
“She must not have replaced the guard dogs,” said Sven.
“All the better for us.” said Selig, hefting his warhammer. “I didn’t want to kill animals.”
“But now we’ll have to deal with the homunculi,” said Swanhilde.
I drew my sword. “Let them come.”
Sven knocked the door in with his mattock and we entered the kitchen. It was a cold, dark house, I could hardly believe this was once my beloved’s home. Out of the darkness came a homunculus, which Swanhilde dispatched with her crossbow.
“There’s more where that came from,” she said, reloading her crossbow.
And how right she was! More homunculi than I had ever seen came flooding into the room, and we laid into them with a will. There was a true legion of the things! The air filled with clay dust and scattering metal as we smashed into all of them; when we had done, I called out, “Is anyone hurt?”
“No, we’re all fine!” said Sven. “And the worst should be behind us now.”
We came out of the kitchen and found ourselves facing another horde of homunculi. I looked at Sven, who was also under the eyes of his squad.
“You had to say it,” said Selig. “You just had to say it!”
These homunculi were stronger, clearly made for defensive purposes, and were more machine than clay. Our weapons were effective, nothing could change that, it was just more difficult. Some even had firearms that were more effective against their own kind than us, as they could not aim well at all. My sword bit deeply through the monsters and I shouted, “Elizabeta Dracul! I am Prince Fionn Silver Star of Tir Na Nog, and I am coming for you!”
The last few homunculi fell to bits at my feet.
“Do you hear me, Witch?!”
“Are you insane?!” bellowed Selig.
“Perhaps I am. Perhaps she made me so.”
At the third floor, we looked around alive to any threat.
“We got up here too easily,” said Selig. “She wouldn’t leave this floor undefended.”
“She’s gotta have something bad planned for us…” said Swanhilde.
I paused. There was something coming, I stopped the dwarves from coming forward as whatever it was stepped into the light. It was Snow White!
Of course it wasn’t really her; it was the homunculus Mother had warned me about, but it came closer speaking with Snow’s voice.
“Fionn, what are you doing here? Go home, my love, go home.”
I recoiled from it; it was horrific.
“Go home, there is nothing for you here.”
I was totally frozen in horror and grief. Selig suddenly burst from behind me with a cry of rage. He smashed his warhammer into the creature and did not stop until it was a mass of clay and shattered steel.
“Take Snow’s face, will ya? Now how do you like it?!” He ran for a nearby door and bashed the doors in. I quickly followed him.
Inside was a witch’s laboratory, and the witch herself. She stood before her mirror applying cosmetics, and to be certain, she was beautiful, but there was a coldness in her. Her grimoire sat on a stand in front of her and she had a ribbonlike belt around her hips decorated with various sigils – the source of her power.
“You gentlemen do like to make an entrance,” she said.
“You are a murderer and a witch,” I snarled.
Elizabeta laughed. “Oh, yes?”
“You killed Snow White,” barked Selig.
“That’s what I meant to do, you Neanderthal!” she snapped. “Would you kill an unarmed woman?”
“No, I would not,” I said. “I am no killer; I can prove nothing. But I can stop you from doing any more mischief.”
I stabbed the grimoire and threw it to the ground, where it spontaneously burst into flames. Elizabeta shrieked and tried to grab it but it turned to ashes before her. Selig and the others smashed her implements for witchcraft, while I attacked the magic mirror. The spirits in magic mirrors are slaves, and are freed if the mirror is broken. I raised my sword to land a blow on it when Elizabeta tried to stop me.
“Wait, you can’t-!”
“I can and I will!” I felt something wrap around my throat, her magic belt. It tightened as she tried to strangle me. We both went stumbling toward a nearby window. As she chanted spells, the dwarves rushed to my rescue; she stomped her foot, and a shockwave knocked them to the floor. She leaned on the window, dragging me with her. I pulled my dagger and managed to cut the belt.
The reverberation of broken spells shook the house, the mirror fell, shattering. At the same time, Elizabeta screamed as the window she leaned on broke. She fell, turning into ash when she hit the ground.
Selig helped me up. “Are you alright?”
I nodded, feeling my neck. “That was a near thing.”
He looked out the window. “Well. That’s the end of her.”
“My kingdom is safe, Snow White is avenged… but nothing can bring her back to me.”
“My Lord,” called a voice. I looked up to see a sylph floating toward us.
“Were you the spirit in the mirror?”
“Yes. I know all her secrets, I know about your beloved, and I know how to undo the spell that holds her.”
“Spell? Snow White is dead, there is no magic that can bring her back!” I displayed more anger than I should have. But the sylph showed no emotion at my outburst.
“My Lord, I know you are grieving, but there is no cause for it! Your love is only in a deep sleep.”
I staggered, but I had heard of such magic.
“Why, did I not consider…”
The house gave a violent shake.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” burst Swanhilde. “This place is coming down!”
“Quick, there! The door in the wall!” shouted the sylph, pointing.
I followed her directions, opening the door and finding something that looked like a crystal decanter full of water. But the water was glowing.
“It is water from the Well of Avalon. She stole it from a Faeblood healer she killed, and was planning to drink it this very night and become immortal herself. A drop should wake Snow White.”
I held immortality in my hands, and healing for my people. The house shook again.
“Out the window, come with me!” cried the sylph as she soared out.
“We can’t fly!” bellowed Selig.
“I will catch you, you must trust me!”
The dwarves kept me back. “We’re more likely to make it if this doesn’t work.”
Sven went first, he jumped out the window and seemed to float gently to the ground. One by one, ending with Selig, they leaped to safety. Like a captain leaving a sinking ship, I was the last. I held the precious bottle close and jumped out the window. The sylph’s wind wrapped around me, slowing my fall. Once on the ground, we ran for the backyard, dodging debris as the house crumbled. Even the wall crumpled like fabric, we scrambled over the bricks and toward the forest. We looked back in time to see the entire mansion fold in and collapse.
“Now that was a close one!” said Selig.
I looked at the sylph. “Thank you for your help.”
“My Lord, may I come to Tir Na Nog with you?”
“Of course you may,” I answered. “What is your name?”
“Ariel.”
From here, I believe that Snow should finish her tale, it is her voice that matters.
~~~~
It was cold in my room and I was all stiff. I blinked, then shut my eyes against the light.
“Snow?” called a voice. “Snow White?” He repeated.
“Fionn?” I answered, raspily. “What are you doing in my room?”
Chaos erupted! I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in the main gallery! Why was I sleeping in the main gallery?! I didn’t have time to ask questions, Fionn pulled me upright and was kissing my forehead, Selig was kissing my hand, the Queen and King were crying, the dwarves were dancing. There was a little pink sylph flying around us for some reason too.
“Fionn, what is going on?” I asked, desperate for answers. “Is this more of your ‘esteem’? What is this?”
“You do not remember?”
“She was unconscious! What do you think?!” scolded Selig.
“Your stepmother tricked you, poisoned you. We thought you were dead…”
“She won’t stop with me, we need to evacuate-”
“Shhh, Snow. She is no threat anymore.”
I froze. “Fionn… did you-?”
“No. She killed herself. My hands are clean, and you are safe. More than safe, in fact.” He picked up a little glass goblet. “Drink this.”
It looked like water, but it was glowing. “What is it?”
“Water from the Well of Avalon.”
I knew what that meant. I would be immortal like Fionn. I drank the water. It was fresh at first, then salty, then fresh again. I knew that the salt represented the tears and pain that would come from immortality, and the fresh represented the joy that I would have in my life. I promised myself that I would never forget my people and always care for them. When I had finished, Fionn raised my head.
“I will never be separated from you again. Snow White, will you marry me?”
“Yes!”
With Elizabeta dead, the City of Hawthorne began to change. The air cleared, and green things began to creep into the city. After their wedding, Prince Fionn and Princess Snow White rode into the city; once Snow had proven her identity, she pleaded with her people to unite with the Faeblood as they had in the past. Slowly, things began to improve. More green things grew, more Faeblood came to the city and began to teach humans a better way to mine and make.
Snow White and Fionn had many children, and eventually became king and queen of Tir Na Nog. The story became a legend, whispered from Faeblood to Faeblood, and finally from child to child, the story of the immortal Princess, whose kindness and strength changed the world.
LogoSophia Magazine 