Almare - The White Mirror

It was odd to think that the plan she had so much opposed just a day before, Virginia was now defending with everything she had. The Governor refused to help them “reawaken the monster,” but he provided the five travelers with a place to rest for the night. The Dwarves did have the power to stop King Wendell from reactivating the mirror. They made them, after all, and Wendell was not their king; he ruled the Fourth Kingdom, while Dragon Mountain was the Ninth. The Governor had decided however, that no matter how little he liked it, Wendell was right. He had said it himself: something needed to be done.

What the five travelers had come for was advice, but the proud Governor would only give them a useless piece of it: “I would strongly advise you come back here being able to say that no one was abducted because of your insanity. Otherwise, you had better not come back at all.”

“And good luck with that nose,” he had added tartly to Wendell.

Uneasy sleep would have been a blessing to Virginia. Instead, she lay on her back stiff as a board with her eyes wide open. She wondered now how she’d managed to get the only bed the Dwarves had to offer. Everyone else was asleep on the rocky cave floor, tiny Dwarf blankets pulled over them. Virginia supposed it was because it was her son that was lost, her baby. A little bed was small consolation for that, she thought bitterly. Then she reproved herself. A pity party would get her nowhere fast.

She shifted awkwardly. What had Snow White thought of sleeping in a miniscule bed like this? It hit her suddenly that Snow White was just a few minutes away. Her cavern of ice was somewhere here, in Dragon Mountain. If only it hadn’t turned to rock.

Sleep was not coming, so Virginia silently crept out of bed. She was doing more and more of this. The carpet zipped up to her, coming up under her hand. She put a finger to her lips for the carpet’s silence and stepped slowly over Wolf’s head. He didn’t stir. She wished he could come with her, stop her form going out alone into the dark tunnels. Somehow, though, she knew she would do this on her own. She hopped onto the carpet and urged it out into a dimly lit corridor.

Flying was so much faster than anything else, it seemed. She loved it, and she had come to anticipate the carpet’s little jerks and turns when she didn’t expect them, as though the fabric had a mind of its own. After a while she was sure that it did. She wasn’t guiding the carpet at all, yet after five minutes of flying blindly, Virginia found herself in the strikingly familiar cavern. There was no ice, no snow, just rocks - an especially large one sitting in the middle of the room. Snow White’s ice coffin was gone, but Virginia knew that she wasn’t gone at all.

She flew over to the large rock that had once held Queen Snow White. She slid off the carpet and placed her hand on the bare stone. It was cold as ice.

“How did you live with those Dwarves?” she murmured.

“Bad memories fade.” hy are you...?”

Snow White’s voice came from everywhere at once, and yet maybe it was only inside Virginia’s head. She wasn’t startled. She had expected it.

“Virginia, you are afraid.”

Virginia smiled. “Wouldn’t you be?”

“You fear what will help you and ignore the real danger,” Snow White’s voice said gently.

“Could you just tell me in real words, please? No one else will help us, no one else cares...”

“That’s not true. You have many friends. But remember, Virginia, you also have many enemies. You must hasten to the mirror.”

“I know.” Virginia stared down at the stone. A tear fell on it and turned to ice. “First my mother, now my son, Snow White. What will I do?”

“Your son will not die,” Snow White said firmly. “He is not even in immediate danger. But you must be quick. Peace will not last long now.”

Virginia realized she was talking about someone other than her, something bigger than even getting Patrick back. She couldn’t imagine what that could be, but Snow White seemed to know. She was also not going to explain. Virginia climbed back on the carpet.

“Oh, and Virginia,” Snow White’s kind voice called out to her. “Perhaps you could convince the others to cut Wendell a break, hmmm?”

Virginia laughed. It echoed off the walls and came back to her sounding as weak as she felt.

“I’ll try,” she promised.

Virginia could feel Snow White’s voice, her spirit, or whatever it was, receding from her consciousness, but something comforting of it was left, and would always stay.

“I will watch over you,” she heard, and then she was gone.

Virginia paused, not wanting to leave, to go back to the dark room, the others. To face it all in the morning.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and swooped out of the room. The black halls suddenly didn’t seem so menacing.

They woke early. Rather, Virginia woke early and kicked the others mercilessly until they got up. Most of the Dwarves were still asleep, so they had no trouble leaving. And since the Governor had wanted them to leave as soon as possible anyway, they found no reason to say goodbye.

They flew almost non-stop through the day, resting only for meals that Virginia cut very short. She seemed to the others to have a renewed sense of energy, which she did. The others didn’t know it, but Snow White’s words had awakened her and made her realize that the only way to get Patrick back was to go and find him. And that was exactly what she was going to do.

The sun set and still they flew on. They were headed due north, toward the sea, so they had a lot of Kingdoms to pass through. It was strange to see everything they’d seen a year ago, now from up high and in the dark. They had passed Kissing Town, Little Lamb Village, and the Disenchanted Forest. A shudder rippled through everyone, even Acrotis, when they passed the Evil Queen’s ancient castle near the river. The Third Kingdom, looming in the distance, was not anything to fly through at night. The bean forest grew so thick and tall that Virginia couldn’t see anything above or beyond it. It seemed darker than the rest of the Kingdoms. They decided to rest for the night and try it in the morning.

Curled up under their carpets and the stars, the five travelers fell asleep quickly, even Virginia. She woke up only once during the night, to see Wolf next to her, staring into space.

“What’re you looking at?” she whispered.

“The stars,” he answered. “They’re the same here as in New York, you know.”

Virginia hadn’t known, and it surprised her. She had never really thought about it. “What does that mean?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” He was silent for a while. “Do you think...” he paused. “Do you think Patrick can see them?”

That was another thing Virginia hadn’t thought about.

“Yes,” she said, but she didn’t know why.

He turned to her and kissed her. “Me too.”

“When will this end?!” Tony demanded of the group as they sped through the beanstalks early the next morning. Weaving in and out of the stalks was not fun, to say the least, but there was no alternative. They couldn’t go over because as far as anyone knew, there was no over. The beanstalks reached into the clouds and when they tried to go up through the clouds, it didn’t end. Nothing ended here. It was starting to seem like one infinite tangle of smelly leaves and stalks. And then it stopped.

They pulled up just in time. Spread out in front of them was the entire troll army.

A field that had to be more than a mile square was completely covered in trolls. They were tall, smelly creatures, outfitted in scraps of leather and heavily armored. And there were not just trolls. Sasquash, huge hairy animals that looked like furry trolls, were scattered around, leaning over smoldering fires and tearing strange meat off bones. The nasty little pixies flitted about above everyone’s heads, many carrying swords that were much too heavy for them. There were also at least five giants. They were not as big as beanstalks, but twenty soldiers would not be a match for one. It was a horrifying sight. The five zipped back into the beanstalks.

“What. The. Heck. Is. That,” Tony emphasized hoarsely.

“That is worse than I thought,” whimpered Wendell.

Virginia was shaking. “You said it was bad. You didn’t say impossible! Were you counting on one man versus one giant? One Sasqaush? That isn’t going to work.”

“You know about this?” whispered Wolf.

“I’m going to die!” Tony whined pathetically.

“Shh!” Acrotis looked around at them all reprovingly. “Come on! We can’t panic.”

“Watch us.”

“No! All we have to do is get to the mirror. That’s what we came to do.”

“Sure, to get Patrick,” Tony said. “But that won’t help this...” He stared at the troops with a horrified expression.

“Still, that’s what we have to do,” Virginia said. Hadn’t she told herself that she would NOT get involved with this stupid war? It was Wendell’s problem, not hers. This was Wendell’s universe, not hers.

Wendell frowned. He again looked like the king he really was, even with his nose. Virginia felt the same pang of pity for him. But that didn’t change her mind.

“The Governor is right, even though I have preferred to ignore it up until this point,” Wendell sighed. “My kingdom needs me. This army will not stay here for long, and I can guess where it is going next. I’m sorry,” he said, turning to his companions, “but I must return to the Fourth Kingdom. There will be a war, and I must make sure we do not lose.” King-like though he was, Wendell seemed pitiful enough with the backdrop of the troll army. Overcome, the others could only nod.

“This is our parting, then,” he said, turning his carpet around. “I will see you soon. When you come back, don’t wait for me. Go straight into the castle and back to Man-Hat-In, and I will contact you there when I have the time and mirrors to do so. Don’t worry,” he added, smiling. “They’re just trolls, after all.”

They smiled bravely for him and wished him luck. Then Acrotis did something that no one expected. She kissed Wendell on the cheek.

“Um, thanks,” Wendell blushed brilliantly. “Good luck to all of you.”

He sped off and they lost him instantly among the beanstalks.