A Month of Midnights
IX

Wandering through a forest aimlessly is like waiting in an empty room for someone to free you. You see the door in front of you. All you have to do is open it. Just take a step, lift your hand, and open it. But you can’t. You have the motivation, the desire, and even the willpower to leave the room, but you’re still stuck there. Someone has to come get you. Someone has to open the door for you. And it’s beginning to feel like that someone is dead.

Being lost becomes quiet dizzying. The trees all look identical, and the crunching of the withered leaves under your feet becomes a reminder you that you haven’t yet found your way. The forests of Istoria are an endless maze that, with no map, can become your prison. We passed by many villages and kingdoms, all more prosperous than Chorio’s villages put together. Still, none of them were home to the Writer. We asked, we searched, but it was to no avail. Queen Golde promised the way would be revealed when the two items were collected. Well, we had them both, and nothing had been revealed to us besides the fact that we were still lost.

Did Maleficent lie? Perhaps we do need the real Sword of Truth, my doubtful thoughts kept nagging at me.

Minnie assured me every time I asked that with ten days left in the Month, there’d be no guarantee we’d have enough time to retrieve the other sword and replace the Writer. So now we meandered dismally through Istoria. With each day the same routine was repeated. It was decided that there was no point in hurrying to a place we didn’t know. As a result of this, Dane was taken off Rudy’s back and walked alongside us, his rope tied to the saddle. Late afternoon crawled by us sluggishly, and I slipped down and walked parallel to Dane. Rudy was the only one who separated us. only Rudy separated us. I looked at Dane regretfully. After the kidnapping, my conscience began screaming at me for doing such a terrible thing, especially to an old friend. It told me I was truly becoming evil, and it made me cry more than once.

I walked around Rudy to join Dane who did not seem to notice my presence. Trusting my judgment, though the others would have told me not to, I reached up and untied his gag. Dane looked at me vacantly. “Why’d you do this to me, Blyss?” he croaked. Upright, atop Rudy’s back, noticed Dane was ungagged. He watched suspiciously but did not insert himself.

“I can’t replace the Writer without you, Dane,” I answered, “but you turned me away. You called me villain.”

“Because you are one,” Dane suddenly hissed. The blood vessels in his eyes expanded in a frightening manner. “Face it, Blyss, you were never going to be Sleeping Beauty. You doubted Istoria, and you never did normal things like the rest of us. You’re just like your father.” Dane spat in my face and held up his chin proudly. Since the Month of Midnights began, I had been in a constant battle to subdue every evil temptation. Occasionally, I made exceptions, and today was one of those days. No one insults my father.

“You know what, Dane? Even if my magic consumes me entirely, I will never be as disgusting and dirty as you. And even when your princely magic reaches its fullest, you’ll never be more than a sniveling coward,” I snapped. I regagged him and walked away. Dane glared at me, but I chose to ignore him. And to think I could’ve married that pig, I thought as I walked up next to Rudy. Upright pulled out the Sword of Truth and pointed it at Dane.

“Your days are numbered,” Upright threatened, and the sword illuminated brightly for a very long time. I diverted my attention to stroking Rudy’s neck. The sun, dragged by an invisible weight, had been pulled down and partly shielded by the mountains when Rudy stopped walking. He stood there, still as a statue, and bored his eyes into something ahead of him. I pressed my palm to his shoulder blade and felt his body quivering and humming. I briskly walked in front of him and put my hand on his forehead.

“What’s going on?” I curtly asked him. There was no answer. I pulled away my hand and looked at Rudy.

“What’s wrong with the horse?” Upright asked. Minnie rose up anxiously.

“I-I don’t know,” I stuttered. I put my hand back on Rudy’s forehead.

“Rudy, talk to me!” I ordered anxiously in my thoughts.

“Get...everything...off,” Rudy wheezed. His voice was faint and distant. It was traveling away from me. I removed my hand.

“Get off,” I ordered. Upright obeyed and leaped onto the ground. Minnie flew to the dwarf’s side. I worked tirelessly to remove the saddle. Upright held the end of Dane’s rope and pointed the sword at the prisoner’s side. Dane willingly remained still. The second all the gear was freed, Rudy galloped away madly. The saddle slumped to the forest floor as we watched him bolt away. Silence enveloped us all.

“He talks to you doesn’t he? What did he say?” Upright asked, still looking to where Rudy had disappeared.

“Only to get everything off,” I said breathlessly.

“What do we do now?” Minnie asked. No one answered. Several minutes went by. We all waited for him to come back, but he didn’t.

“I say we leave him. We don’t have time to waste,” reminded Upright.

“No,” I said, “It’ll be night soon. Let’s just stay here for now.” Upright shrugged and began collecting kindling as he was already accustomed to. Minnie flew over and hovered by my face.

“Go replace him, Blyss,” she said softly. I looked at her solemnly.

“What about you and Upright?”

“We can make it a few hours on our own,” Minnie chuckled, “but we need you to bring him back.” I hesitated at her suggestion. In that moment, I felt torn like a ragdoll between two little girls. I couldn’t just abandon Upright and Minnie. I needed them just as much as they likely needed me. But a stronger, more persuasive part of me wanted to go replace Rudy. The choice I made altered my life’s course remarkably.

“Go,” the faery urged.

“Blyss,” Upright cut in. He brought Dane with him as he walked closer. “You think you’re gonna need this?” he asked offering up the sword. I smiled and shook my head.

“I’ll be back by nightfall. If I don’t replace him by then, we’ll leave in the morning,” I said gently pushing away the sword. If something happened to them while I was gone, I wanted them to have the weapon.

“We’ll be here waiting for you,” Minnie promised. I nodded and slowly turned to walk.

“Wait!” Upright interjected. “What if something happens, and you’re not back by morning?” I looked between him and Minnie.

“Then leave,” I said with a heavy heart. “Don’t give up replaceing the Writer.” Both Upright and Minnie looked at me with great regret in their eyes, but neither of them refuted my order. I bid them goodbye and walked towards where Rudy gone. My feet sifted through the papery leaves as I swiftly walked deeper into the trees.

“Rudy?” I called several times. He never replied. The sun continued to sink, and darkness was only an hour away. I wrapped my cloak tighter around my arms. Gusts of the wind played tag amongst the trees, and I was caught in the crossfire.

“Rudy? Where are you?” I called in a frail voice. My flimsy leather boots sent frigid reminders from the cold ground below that time was running out. I felt tears of weariness rise up, but I didn’t have enough strength to even let them fall. A sudden rushing sound paused me in my tracks. Following automatic instinct, I put my hood up to cover my hair and small horns. As I walked forward, the rushing sound suddenly clarified into the sound of water. A few steps closer, and I could tell the water was moving fast. The ground came to an abrupt stop as it overlooked a river that cut deep into the earth. I was standing on top of a cliff that jutted straight down into the foamy rapids. I scanned the river and surrounding cliffs but found no sign of Rudy, horse or human. If I hadn’t been standing so close to the loud water, I might’ve heard them come up behind me.

“Sweetheart, whatya doing out here?” a man cooed from behind me. I whisked around and found three men circling in towards me.

“A pretty thing like you shouldn’t be alone in the woods, especially this close to ole Temptations,” the second man said, looking me up and down like a fresh kill. His thin lips spread over his teeth in a troublesome smile.

“Wouldn’t want you fall over the edge. Takes you right down to Big Blue’s place if you survive,” the third spoke cryptically. “Yeah, betcha don’t know who Big Blue is. Of course, you don’t. He’s one of the forgotten ones. Don’t know why the Writer insists the Story keep being retold. Just provides more danger for the cute ones like you.”

“Who are you? What Story do you belong to?” I asked trying holding my ground. All three snickered and exchanged impish glances.

“Sweetheart,” the first one said, “we ain’t got no Story. We Madmags.”

“Madmags?”

“Mad magics. You know, cause we’re mad all the time. Pretty clever name, don’t you think?” said the third one. The other men rolled their eyes at their companion’s stupidity.

“We’re just like you. Magic was bestowed upon us, and we was told we were gonna be nothing more than some hotshot’s butler or manservant. We wasn’t so keen on that idea,” the first one explained.

“Why didn’t you just go to the Writer?” I asked. The three snickered again.

“Sweetheart!” said the second one. “The last Holder of the Histories told us the Writer could only be seen by ‘important’ literary figures. So we said, ‘Well, if we ain’t important then you don’t need us.’ So we skipped town. Ditched our Stories and created a heap full of trouble for the Writer to replace our replacements.”

“And now we roam Istoria freely, not bound by any script, not bound by any rules. We control the magic,” said the third. They inched closer to me, forcing me back towards the edge of the cliff.

“So, little girl,” began the first, “it looks to us that perhaps you’re looking for the Writer too. Is this so?”

“Yes,” I answered flatly. I couldn’t let them know I was scared of them.

“What’s under the hood, girlie?” the third suddenly asked.

“Her hair, idiot,” retorted the second.

“Nah, something’s there. I can see it,” the third insisted. “Lift up your hood.”

“No.”

“Better do what he says,” the first man warned. “He’s not as nice as me.” I looked back at the third man. He pulled a knife out from the back of his belt and flashed it towards me.I tried to summon my magic like I had at Sirens’ Lake, but I couldn’t get my emotions under control. The buzzing in my toes and fingers sporadically came and went. I was on my own. I slowly raised up my hands and pulled off my hood.

“She’s got little horns!” cackled the second man.

“I knew it!” the third bragged.

“Shut it, you two!” the first man ordered. It was clear he was the leader of the little Madmag pack. He walked closer to me, and his hooligans followed. “You gonna be Maleficent?” he asked. I nodded warily, and he chuckled.

“Sweetheart, you’d be a fool to think the Writer is actually gonna help you! Who’d replace you? Absolutely no one. But I’ll tell you what. You don’t have to die at the hands of some pretty boy prince. You can join us and be free. Use your magic however you want,” the first one offered. I looked at all three of them. Part of the offer I wanted more than anything. I could be free, and I wouldn’t have to live such a terrible fate. That being said, I knew I’d spend the rest of my life on the run from the law with three slimy men who called themselves Madmags. I didn’t like the picture that idea painted.

“No, thank you. I’m sure the Writer and I will come to some understanding,” I said amicably. “Now, I’ll just be on my way.” All three men in unison stepped tightly together and blocked my path.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna rethink that offer?” the second one asked in a darker tone.

“It’s a one time deal,” the third one pressed.

“Please let me pass,” I said looking frantically between the three of them. They stepped forward, and I stepped back. I felt my heels wobble over the edge. The leader of the pack lifted his hand and began to twirl my hair in his fingers. I swatted it away, but this only made him laugh.

“Sweetheart,” he said huskily, “it’s better if you just come willingly.”

“Move out of my way!” I demanded as I tried to run past them. All three of them pushed me back to the edge.

“She’ll boost our numbers, won’t she? She’ll get the others motivated,” said the third Madmag, rubbing his hands greedily.

“You bet she will,” confirmed the leader. He lifted his hand to twirl my hair again when he was interrupted by an unknown cry.

“Jump!”

Of course, I was too scared to actually listen. Someone swung a large dead tree branch over the Madmags’ heads. My rescuer pushed through them and wrapped their arms around my waist. Together, we fell over the cliff and into the vicious rapids below.

“Rudy?” I gasped as we fell. He did not respond but rather placed one hand on the back of my head and pushed me tighter against his chest.

The water gulped us hungrily. Ferocious currents shoved us forward down the river. Rudy let go of me and held on to only my hand as we fought to resurface. Rudy suddenly jerked me upwards, and my face broke the water. Even as I took in fresh air, water splashed at my face and tried to choke my with its frothy white waves.

“Blyss!” Rudy managed to scream loud enough for me to hear. “Rocks ahead!” I strained to see over the water that kept tugging me down like the sirens had in the lake. Sharply pointed rocks emerged from the waters like cursed spears. I gripped Rudy’s hand even tighter as the current dragged us back under. To no surprise, the waters were colder than the outside air. Bitter, glacial swirls of water pushed past me and stung my skin. We weaved almost successfully through the rocky spears. My leg was the only casualty, it being scraped by a smaller rock hidden beneath the surface. Thankfully, the temperature of the water quickly numbed it. As we passed the last rock, something violently tugged me back. I screamed as it almost snapped my neck. Rudy, clinging to my hand, looked back quickly. My cloak was caught on an underwater spear, but I couldn’t move my neck to unsnag it. I began to choke from both the cloak and the water seeping into my mouth. Rudy fought the current and climbed up my arm to meet me face to face.

“Get it off, get it off!” I screamed with all my might. Rudy moved my wet hair from my neck and quickly untied the knot. The momentum of the current and the sudden release jerked me forward in Rudy’s arms, and we somersaulted forward. Everything after the rocks slowed down. I didn’t bother opening my eyes until I felt my feet brush against a flat bottom. Paralyzed by cold and fear, Rudy had to pull me over to a small shore. It was filled with tiny, smooth pebbles that rattled as we crawled onto them. Rudy collapsed by my side once we were safely out of the river. His panting was loud and tired, and he buried his face into his arm. I weakly reached out my hand and placed it on his shoulder.

I gratefully whispered, “Thank you for saving me.” Carefully, he turned his head and looked at me with a goofy smile.

“Consider the favor returned,” he chuckled though his eyes were too tired to open. We stayed there awhile on that little beach regaining strength and building up body heat we had lost in the river. Only the tip of the sun still bravely peaked over the mountains now, and the chilly air only grew colder. Without a cloak, and in a wet dress, I shivered and chattered my teeth. Rudy noticed me curling up into the pebbles, and he pushed himself to his feet. Taking his hand, Rudy helped me up.

“I wish I had a coat to offer you,” Rudy apologized. I smiled and looked down at my feet.

“You saved my life. I can live without a coat,” I insisted.

“Well, when you put it like that,” Rudy said chuckling. Both weak from the river, we used each other as support as we traipsed back into the forest.

“We’re not going to replace the others tonight,” I said.

“Tomorrow then?” Rudy asked.

“I told them to move on if we weren’t back by morning,” I said, now rueing what I had ordered Upright and Minnie earlier. Rudy sighed.

“We’ll replace them,” he assured me. Between the two of us, we gathered enough dead wood to make a fairly large fire. We huddled as close to it as we could, desperate for the heat. More concerned with survival than uncomfortableness, I clung to Rudy’s side as we sat by the fire. He understood what I was doing and didn’t seem to mind. The tips of my fingers were still numb, and I reached out my hand to the fatty flames dining heartily on the wood. Rudy grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand back.

“Be careful, Blyss,” he warned gently. I tucked my hands into my chest and slowly warmed them that way. Rudy’s gaze fell downwards, and he noticed the blood seeping through the skirt of my dress. “May I?” he asked in reference to my wound. I nodded and almost immediately reddened when his fingers brushed against my skin. He gently moved the fabric up to reveal the injury on my calf. Thankfully, it wasn’t very deep. Still, Rudy ripped off part of his shirt sleeve to make a tourniquet and a bandage for the wound.

“Rudy,” I asked as he worked, “is this another trick? Are you actually human?”

“I do believe so,” he answered with an unreadable smile. I frowned which he unfortunately noticed. “What, you don’t believe me?”

“Well, let’s see. I’ve hit my head, been tied up by faeries, had a fire speak to me twice, shoved off a bridge, almost eaten by sirens, I kidnapped someone, oh, and I’ve almost drowned in a river. Forgive me for being skeptical of anything good.” Rudy laughed through his nose.

“I think I can put your doubts at ease,” he said, the corners of his mouth rising. He rolled down the hem and began to lean in towards me. I furrowed my brow and leaned back. I had watched the girls and boys my age; I wasn’t completely clueless.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I said sharply. Rudy rolled his eyes.

“You really think I’d do that?” he asked, referring to something I wasn’t sure I entirely understood. I looked at him suspiciously.

“Well, what were you planning to do?”

“Will you let me show you?” Again, I looked at him suspiciously, deciding if I trusted him enough yet.

“Fine.”

Rudy smiled and leaned in again. I held my breath and readied my fists should he try anything I did not approve of. He lifted his hand to my chin and brought my face to his. New feelings pounded inside me that sent my magic through the roof. If it vibrated anymore inside my blood, I’m sure it would have ripped through my skin. Rudy closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against mine.

“Believe me now?” I heard him somewhere in the blackness. His thoughts were stronger than the last time I heard them.

“Couldn’t you just put your hand on my forehead instead of leaning in and letting me make all these assumptions?” I snapped right away.

“Yes, but watching you squirm was surprisingly delightful,” he laughed.

“Show me something,” I requested. “Then I’ll know it’s really you.”

“As you wish.” Rudy’s voice echoed away, and the blackness turned blue. The aqua color floated and danced back and forth. Sunlight beamed down through the water, sending kaleidoscopes of color twirling up and down. The colors shifted and blurred. Suddenly, a floating figure materialized and outstretched their hand. Another hand took it, and the sunlight grew larger until the blueness disappeared. I saw my own face, dripping wet and eyes red. I remembered crying just before Upright freed us from the net, and I dove into Sirens’ lake. Blyss from the memory looked directly at me, er, technically Rudy and smiled. She looked down at the lake water in embarrassment. My attempt to hide my blush back then had been useless. He had seen it all.

The memory clouded and shifted once more. Now everything seemed grey and bleak. I saw more water, but it wasn’t calm like the lake. Again I saw myself looking into Rudy’s eyes, this time in terror. I recognized the rocks behind me and understood that this memory was much more recent. Another shift in the scenery, and I saw myself in a stable with a flurry of busybodies behind me. We were at Queen Golde’s castle. Rudy showed me memory after memory, each one with me in it. I saw myself fall over the bridge again, be captured by Maleficent-created guards, even back to the memory he had once shown me before, where I was sleeping on the forest floor after crossing into Istoria. I pulled away from Rudy’s forehead.

“Alright, I get the picture. It’s you,” I said feeling flushed. Rudy raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t like seeing yourself?” he asked curiously.

“Well, there’s a reason I’m not the Evil Queen saying, ‘Mirror, Mirror’ all the time,” I joked. Rudy laughed and looked back at the fire. The one vision I saw of him, the first one he showed me, did no justice to his actual face. His hair was as black as the night sky above him, and it fell into neat curls. His eyes were round and kind, and they crinkled at the corners when he smiled. The few freckles he had gave him a boyish charm, but the rest of him was nothing of a little boy. His hands were tough and firm, and he had broad shoulders that kept his posture decent. He was by no means a scrawny young man, but he was not a burly giant like some of the men in my village. It was so strange looking at the real Rudy after all these weeks. Sometimes I had forgotten there was a man trapped inside the horse I rode. Now that he was here in human flesh and bones, I felt like I was meeting him for the first time.

“Rudy, how was it in the first memory you showed me I could see your face but not in any memory after?” I inquired.

“Well, it wasn’t technically my memory I showed you. Queen Golde sort of gave that one to me so I could show you what I looked like,” Rudy said, not breaking his focus on the fire. I supposed this made sense, but my curiosity was still not appeased.

“I see that look on your face,” spoke Rudy. “You’ve got more questions.”

“Will you let me ask them?”

“You can ask all you like. I just might not answer,” he replied with an amused grin. I hesitated before speaking.

“Okay, well, I’ll ask the obvious one. How are you human? Isn’t your magic supposed to be getting stronger? Shouldn’t you be becoming more of a horse?”

“First of all, that’s three questions. Which one do you want me to answer?” Rudy asked. He clearly was stalling for the sake of entertainment.

“All of them, Rudy!” I said shoving his shoulder. He laughed playfully.

“Okay, okay, let’s see if I can answer all three. When the Storyteller gave me my magic, because she bestowed the wrong kind and then tried to reverse it, I got combinations of magic made for humans and for animals who turn into humans, like the mice in Cinderella. My horse magic was stronger at first, but with each midnight I could feel the human side of me crawl back and collide with the horse magic. That’s where my visions and thought projecting come from, I think. After you almost died at Maleficent’s castle, I began to feel really strange, almost sick. The human magic increased much faster. Then today came, and I definitely knew something was wrong. I felt separated from the physical world, and then the weird vibrating came.”

“I felt it too,” I said, remembering when I had touched his thick shoulder.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew I couldn’t carry any of you. I felt terrible running off like that, but it was good that I did.”

“What do you mean?” Rudy sucked in his lips and winced.

“I like you too much to tell you,” he admitted with a shudder.

“That bad?”

“Let’s just say, parts of me turned human quickly...and parts of me didn’t.” Rudy muttered the last part shamefully. The subject was instantly dropped. It only came up again in my nightmares when my imagination desperately produced wild scenarios of what Rudy had gone through.

“Moving on,” Rudy chuckled awkwardly, “I was laying there still recovering when I heard the river. I had dragged myself to the edge when I heard all this talking. I looked over, and farther down the cliff I saw you and those-”

“Madmags,” I finished for him. He looked at me oddly, but I shrugged. “It’s what they call themselves.”

“I heard some of their backstory,” said Rudy, “but at the time I was more concerned with you.” I looked at the fire, hoping the bright light would mask my blush better this time. “I grabbed a branch, waited for the right moment, and, well, you know the rest.”

“If you hadn’t been there, Rudy, they would’ve taken me,” I said recalling the nasty looks on the Madmags’ faces when they appraised me.

“What about your magic? You scared away the sirens with it,” said Rudy. I shook my head.

“I tried, but it wasn’t working. I freaked myself out, and I couldn’t control it,” I explained to him. I was still disappointed in myself for that. Rudy looked at me quietly. I bit my lip and spoke again. “What were you supposed to be?” Rudy blinked oddly and looked at the trees instead of me. His eyes were glossy and wet. “Rudy?”

“As much as I hate your idiot friend Dane, I was actually supposed to be like him,” he whispered.

“What do you mean?” Rudy put his hand on the back of his neck and heaved a weary sigh.

“The Storyteller told me what everyone in my village already knew. I was going to be a prince.” My mouth gaped open.

“Prince? For which Story?” I asked with wide eyes. To be chosen for any role in Istoria was rare but to become a prince or any form of royalty was a miracle. If I hadn’t already been expecting Dane to become Prince Philip, I would have been just as stunned when he received his role too.

Rudy gave a little smile but still did not look at me. “I was going to be Prince Charming and rule an entire kingdom. I had wanted to be him since I was a little boy out sword fighting with sticks. It was all I wanted. I didn’t even care that I’d have to marry a girl I’d barely knew or have to smell thousands of girls’ feet. Being noble and saving the day? That’s what I wanted. And I almost had it.” Rudy’s pain was palpable as he spoke. I could easily empathize with him. Despite my protests againsts Istoria, I still had high hopes for Sleeping Beauty. When something like that is drilled into your mind from the time you’re a child, you become ever so fixated on it.

“But the Storyteller mixed up your magic,” I said. Rudy nodded.

“She told me I had been chosen to be Prince Charming, but when she got up, she fell and hit her head. She rushed the spell, and it was too late. I barely made it out of my village before I transformed. The poor Storyteller had to track me down to give me instructions.”

“But why a horse?” I asked. Rudy chuckled sadly.

“My last name. It’s Horsefield.”

“Rudy Horsefield?” It was Rudy’s turn to shove me.

“I know it’s not as cool as Blyss Bannon so don’t rub it in,” he laughed.

“No, no, I like it. I think it suits you,” I said warmly. I detected a little redness in Rudy’s face too that I was sure wasn’t from the fire. At least I wasn’t the only one blushing now. “So if we replace the Writer, that’s what you’ll ask for? For your magic to be fixed so you can go be a prince?”

“I guess so, but I was kind of liking the horse thing,” he laughed. The corners of his eyes lifted up. “If there was a way I could go back and forth between horse and human, then I’m pretty sure I’d be unstoppable.” He mocked a high society disposition and was pleased to see that he had made me laugh. His eyes wandered up and fixated on the small horns peeking over my hair. Self conscious and embarrassed, I quickly began adjusting my hair in hopes I could cover them up

“What are you doing?” he asked though the answer was obvious.

“I don’t want you looking at them. They’re awful, I know,” I said. Rudy scowled and lifted his arms. I sat still as he moved my hair away.

“You look fine, Blyss,” he said lifting away strands that had fallen in my face. “Don’t be ashamed because of me.” He suddenly paused and looked directly at me, piercing any facade I could have put on. A moment of silence passed, and I gently nudged Rudy away. He blinked twice and seemed to return to normal.

“We should get some sleep. We need to replace the others in the morning,” I said beginning to turn away.

“Is your moron friend still with them?” Rudy asked in bitter reference to Dane.

“He was when I left,” I replied. “Why do you hate him so much?”

“He’s rude and spineless. He doesn’t deserve your friendship,” Rudy abruptly snapped. I chuckled.

“I wouldn’t exactly call us friends,” I said. Rudy paused to see if I was lying.

“Good,” he firmly replied. He turned away and laid down to rest. This ended our conversation on an unexpected low note. I turned the opposite way and laid down. With the decreasing night temperatures, I gradually scooted closer to the fire. Occasionally, Rudy waked to stoke it, adding more hunks of wood to keep it satisfied and burning hot. Towards midnight, the fire itself seemed to quiet along with the rest of the forest.

At first it began as just restlessness. While I felt the usual burning, it seemed Rudy felt something like molten daggers puncturing him from all sides. He tossed and turned and almost rolled into the fire. I lifted my head weakly to see how bad he was suffering. Rudy’s breathing sped up rapidly. I crawled on my knees to where he lay. He was sweating buckets of water, and tears streamed down from his eyes.

“Blyss,” he whimpered in quiet agony, “why does it hurt so much now?”

“Humans are weaker than horses,” I figured. I realized how not comforting that sounded. The midnight pain I felt soon faded into the background as I tended to Rudy, making sure he didn’t stick his thrashing limbs into the fire. He gripped my arm and screamed out into the night, lifting his chest upward in an unnerving manner.

“It’ll be over soon,” I promised him. Seeing him writhe reminded me of my first midnight. I could still hear my own screams traveling through the lonely forest. I had no fire to keep me warm, and I had no one to tell me I’d make it through. Rudy put his hand over his eyes, but I could still see all the tears pour down the sides of his face. I tenderly moved his hand away.

“Don’t be ashamed because of me,” I whispered, echoing his earlier words to me. Rudy smiled but still closed his eyes. For a while I remained sitting there as Rudy’s breathing slowed down, and his grip on my hand relaxed.

“It never hurt this bad as a horse,” he explained softly. “The only time it even came close was after we went to the Queen. The night I kicked you into the river.”

“Upright saved me that night,” I recalled. Rudy rolled his eyes.

“I used to hate Upright and his smug little face,” he spoke resentfully.

“Yeah, but you like him now, don’t you?” I grinned. Rudy tried to hide a smile.

“I suppose he’s alright,” he admitted. I looked down at his hand that still held onto mine.

“How are you feeling?” I asked. Rudy shifted to test his muscles and limbs.

“Better,” he answered. I smiled and gingerly pulled away my hand, but only he tugged on it tighter.

“Don’t go,” he asked fervently. I sighed, realizing I was too tired to argue. I laid down next to Rudy and looked at the stars above.

“We’ll replace them again, right?” I asked, verbally admitting to myself that I had little hope.

“Of course, we will,” Rudy answered. I still felt doubtful. Rudy turned on his side, wincing at the soreness from his magic, and faced me. I turned to face him as well.

“We’ll replace them, and then we’ll replace the Writer. The Month ain’t over yet,” he said with an assuring smile. “Now get some sleep.”

“Well, after you woke me up, I don’t think I can,” I smirked. Rudy scooted closer and put his hand on the side of my face. His forehead touched mine. He showed me Upright, Minnie, and myself all talking round a campfire a few nights before we had captured Dane. Upright was actually laughing for once, Minnie’s wings were beating excitedly, and I was glowing with joy. I didn’t remember ever looking that happy since before my father was alive.

I felt Rudy pull away from my forehead, and I slowly nodded asleep.

When I woke up I was not surprised that replace I had curled up completely next to Rudy. I figured I must have done it subconsciously when the fire had died. My head was pressed against his chest, and his arms had fallen over my shoulders. I blinked up at the morning sky and was dismayed to see it cloudy and overcast. Gloomy looking days never meant anything good for me. I didn’t move though. I was ashamed to admit to myself how comfortable I was. Of course, Rudy woke up and unintentionally ruined it.

“How long have you been there?” he asked with great amuse.

“I don’t know,” I answered vaguely. I was still trying to enjoy my last moment of serenity.

“Well, I can’t get up,” he said. I sighed.

“You didn’t mind this when you were a horse,” I reminded him.

“I’m a human now. My lungs aren’t as big. I sort of need to breathe, Blyss,” he joked, rolling me into the dirt.

“Hey!” I cried. I grabbed a small stone lodged in the soil and chucked it as his shin.

“What was that for?” he feigned innocently.

“For shoving me off!” I declared indignantly, throwing more rocks at him. He laughed and scooped a handful of ashes from the fire. He flinged them at me, and the ashes rained down into my hair and on my cheeks. I shrieked in protest and began throwing at him anything I could replace: grass, rocks, sticks, and perhaps even a few bugs caught in the middle our little war. Rudy continued to toss more cinders at me, and showers of sooty grey soon began disrupting my vision. After a pounding volley of stones, Rudy held up his hands in defeat.

“Cease fire, cease fire!” he said using his arm to shield his face. I yelped in triumphant victory. Bringing his arm down, Rudy guffawed to see my heinous appearance.

“Look what you’ve done to me,” I exaggerated sarcastically. Rudy smiled.

“It’s not that bad. You just look a bit like Cinderella, that’s all.” I paused to see if he noticed the uncanny reference he made. Rudy’s eyes locked with mine.

“Yeah, I suppose I do,” I laughed uneasily. Rudy shied away from me and began brushing flecks of dirt of his arms.

“Well, um, I’m gonna go back to the river,” I said shaking the ash out of my hair. “I’ll be back soon.” Rudy nodded and somehow busied himself as I walked through the trees and back to the shore. I briskly threw off my boots, slipped out of my ragged dress and undergarments, and cautiously waded into the river. Though the waters were calm, I could still hear the roar of the rapids when they had tried to subdue me yesterday. I sank beneath the surface and let the current lull me gently. My hair swirled around my shoulders weightless and free. For a moment, being underwater numbed every pesking thought inside me. I envisioned what the current Maleficent had told me of her own story. She finished her transformation alone and lost in the forest. She had failed to replace the Writer. I couldn’t let that happen to myself or to Upright or Rudy. And Minnie had been so good to us, giving us protection and creating meals for us. She deserved a chance to see the Writer too. When I entered Istoria almost a month ago, my sole intent was to save myself. But now I knew I held the lives of three other beings in my hand. They’d all helped me on my journey, and I was intent on repaying them. I was beginning to doubt if the Writer would even help me when we found him, and I knew I might just have to accept my fate. I was becoming unsure of what I should do: take Maleficent or fight it. No matter what I decided, my priority would be replaceing the Writer for the others, not for myself.

Paranoid that I might be attacked at my most vulnerable moment, I quickly finished bathing and put my dress back on. It felt like a sort of paradox, washing myself only to put on a reeking, threadbare dress again. I yanked my worn boots back on and hiked back to where Rudy was waiting for me. My wet, crumpled hair dripped on to my shoulders, and occasionally I had to squeeze the ends to speed up the drying process. I came back to the ashy fire ring, but Rudy was nowhere to be found.

Oh, no, not again.

I jumped to the worst scenarios. What if he was captured by the Madmags? What if he transformed back? I wasn’t done talking to him! I had so many questions, and I was starving for human companionship. Upright and Minnie weren’t exactly the most ideal people to discuss the world with. Before I panicked for too long, I heard a strange rustling. Assuming it was the Madmags, I grabbed one of the long hunks of wood we hadn’t burned last night and circled the campsite, ready to strike. I heard only two footsteps behind me before I swung my makeshift weapon behind me.

“Blyss!” Rudy yelped. He was crouching behind me, just barely missing my swing. “Is there a reason you’re trying to behead me?”

“Why would you creep up on me like that?” I scolded.

“All I did was walk back here! It’s not my fault you’re so jumpy,” said Rudy, a familiar grin creeping back on his lips. I tossed the wood and helped him up.

“Where’d you go?” I asked bitterly.

“Just farther down the river for a bath. I figured you’d want some privacy,” he answered. I looked up and saw his hair was, like mine, dripping wet. Beads of river water still clung to the corners of his forehead.

“Oh,” I said realizing my mistake. “Well, as long as you’re okay.” I wasn’t sure what to say anymore. Rudy laughed.

“At least I know you can defend yourself,” he said with a playful smirk. I scowled. Rudy noticed my sour expression, and his smile only widened. His eyes then moseyed above my head, but they looked farther up than my horns. He was looking somewhere in the trees. I turned around, followed his gaze, and saw the large plume of smoke billow above the branches. As the smoke reached higher into the sky, it camouflaged itself with the grey clouds, and the two could not be seen separately.

“Early morning fire,” Rudy observed, but his tone didn’t seem as pleasant as it was a minute ago.

“Do you think it’s Upright and Minnie?” I asked as I watched the smoke waft up leisurely.

“It could be,” he answered simply. I turned to him.

“You don’t think it’s them.” Rudy shook his head.

“But it’s worth checking out. We have nowhere else to go,” he said beginning to walk forward. I stood still a little longer, looking at the smoke, wondering what fairy tale involved fire. Hansel and Gretel? Cinderella? Rumplestiltskin? It made no sense. All those stories had finished already. Their characters were off celebrating somewhere. So why the fire?

“Blyss, you coming?” Rudy asked. I tore my eyes away from the smoke and came to Rudy’s side. Together we hiked towards the smoke.

It was strange to walk with Rudy. For that matter, everything about him was strange. Even with his speaking abilities finally improved, Rudy was still quiet. We only made eye contact if we had to climb over a bolder or skid down a slope. He’d always look to make sure I made it safely and then turn back to the smoke. This wasn’t exactly what I had in my mind when I pictured Rudy as a human. I expected him to be more talkative. I wanted him to be more talkative. It seemed I’d have to initiate a conversation if I wanted one.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked in attempt to be casual. Rudy looked up again, checking to see we were in line with the smoke.

“About my brother actually,” he answered. He has a brother? Wait, is he dead? Should I ask? What if he gets upset? All these questions and self doubt were thundering in my head. I’d never been so confused in a simple conversation before. Something must be wrong with me.

“Oh, you have a brother?” I asked. “I have one too.” Why is everything I say coming out stupid? Get it together, Blyss.

“What’s his name?” Rudy asked.

“Who?”

“Your brother.”

“Oh, right. His name’s Leo. He’s seven,” I answered. I pinched my leg to snap myself back to sense.

“Mine’s James, but we all call him Jamie. He’s seventeen,” he said. Like the funeral bells’ gong, something inside of me rang and echoed. It brought to light something I had been determined to keep in darkness.

“James was my father’s name,” I said, the memory of my his smile flashing back in my mind. Years of pushing it away failed in an instant.

“Huh, what are the odds of that?” Rudy said.

“Yeah,” I said, my voice trailing away. Now his death was flashing back. It happened like lightning. There wasn’t even time for blood.

I realized I was letting our conversation die. “So, if Jamie is seventeen, that makes you?” I could see in Rudy’s eyes that he knew I was fishing for his age.

“Nineteen,” he said looking at me with a suspicious smile. “And how old are you, Blyss Bannon?” I lifted up my chin.

“Eighteen.” Rudy made an unusual expression, one almost of relief. A smile sneaked onto his face, but he fought to put it away. “Tell me about your brother,” I urged.

“Well, there’s not a whole lot to tell,” Rudy admitted. “He’s like me, but he always gets in much more trouble. He got caught once when he was twelve stealing two dozen eggs from the Hughes. Spent a week in the stalks.” Rudy laughed at his brother’s past misfortune, and I joined in.

“Leo’s only seven, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up like that,” I giggled, imagining little Leo in the stalks with a pouty lip.

“I always thought Jamie would get some petty thief role if he was chosen. Maybe he’d be the guy who swindles Jack into buying the magic beans in the exchange for the cow,” said Rudy, once again checking for the smoke.

“But?”

“But he actually got into the Istorian Guard,” Rudy said. It seemed he still couldn’t believe it himself. The Istorian Guard wasn’t anything from a fairytale, but rather they were the law enforcers of Istoria and Chorio. They made sure the Stories were followed, the royalty protected, and the general rules were followed back in Chorio. I assumed they also tracked down and hunted those like the Madmags who ditched their Stories. Besides the Storytellers, the Istorian Guard were the only ones permitted to cross between the realms.

“That’s quite an honor,” I said, “but not as much as being a prince.” Rudy chuckled.

“I guess. But the more I think about it, the more I’m kind of envious. He gets to be the knight in shining armor without a Story attached,” said Rudy. His shoulders slumped dejectedly.

“There’s a reason the Writer chose you, Rudy,” I assured him.

“I could say the same thing to you,” he pointed out. “But I don’t believe you’re supposed to be Maleficent. There’s no way you can be evil, Blyss.”

“I hope you’re right, Rudy, but sometimes I wonder if I really am meant to be evil,” I confessed.

“Don’t think like that,” he said, stopping me from walking. He grabbed my shoulders tightly. “You’re not going to become Maleficent. Not while I’m around.” I looked into his eyes gratefully.

“Glad to see someone’s fighting for me,” I said with a weary smile. Rudy conceded, and we continued walking.

“What about your father? What was he like?” Rudy inquired. I appreciated his attempt to the lighten the mood, but unfortunately the empty feeling I had when we buried my father returned. Mother never brought him up, and Leo was too young to remember him. So the topic never came up again, and his memory had slipped away. Rudy seemed genuinely interested though, and if this is what it took build a deeper friendship with him, then so be it.

“Well, he kind of looked like Upright, only bigger. Way way bigger.” My comparison brought a grin to Rudy’s face.

“Is that good or bad?” he asked.

“Oh, good. Definitely good. He had this huge, bushy beard that was so big you couldn’t see his neck unless you looked from the side. And he was a carpenter, so when he was scraping the wood, shavings would fly up and get caught under his chin. Sometimes they wouldn’t fall out until supper time when they fell in his soup,” I giggled. Perhaps not every memory of him completely broke my heart.

“He sounds like a good man,” Rudy commented.

“He was,” I said softly. Rudy caught my glance. He knew what he had stumbled upon.

“Was?” he asked gently. I looked away, trying to restrain myself from being too emotional.

“Rudy, I inherited something from him. Something that got him killed. My mother’s treated it like a curse ever since,” I managed to say.

“May I ask what is was?” It was clear he didn’t want to offend me.

“Awareness,” I said slowly. What a strange word to sum up my childhood.

“How is that like a curse?” Rudy asked.

“My father and I, we question. We see things more for what they really are. People see poverty and think, ‘Must get to Istoria.’ We see poverty and think, ‘Why can’t Istoria help us?’ Especially within the last year, I had thoughts like these all the time. My mother warned me of the consequences, and she was right. The Storyteller knew I thought poorly of Istoria. In their book, it’s a crime.”

“And you said it got him killed?” I felt guilty for making Rudy try to piece my confusing words together.

“My father took it a step further. He went public. He used to stand out in the marketplace and tell everyone they were living in a trance. He was convinced that while Istoria was a great place, they needed to step up and help out its sister realm.”

“They should!” Rudy blurted. “You’re right. This place has all these resources and food. Why doesn’t the Council of Royals send us some so we don’t starve before the next Day of the Choosing?”

“Looks like I’ve cursed you too,” I laughed weakly.

“Sorry, I just, well, you make a good point, that’s all,” Rudy stuttered. I only shrugged.

“It didn’t matter if my father was right. The village council charged him with treason. They beheaded him the next day.” I remembered the slash of the blade being like an animal screech. It sliced clean through his neck. The whole town was silent, and the thud of his head rolling into the basket could have been heard in the villages miles away. He was the first person to be executed in our village in over a hundred years. My mother had used it almost every day since as a reminder to keep my mouth shut and my thoughts closed. Of course, that had led to a closing of feelings all together. My father’s death had completely changed me, and it was only near my own death at Maleficent’s bridge that my feelings could be restored. Strange how death can do that.

“My name,” I said, in need of subject change. “My mother told me to tell me people my name was Blyss because it was gentle yet powerful, because my mom wanted me to have a name that had an emphasis on people’s lips when they said it. But, in reality, it was my father who named me. He hoped that by naming me after ‘Ignorance is bliss,’ he could prevent me from following in his footsteps. Didn’t matter though. After listening to a few of his bedtime stories and lessons, my mother knew I’d become just like him. So, as extra precaution, she had me tell people something completely different about the origin of my name. I guess she thought eventually I would believe it myself.”

“And do you?”

“Not one bit.”

My name had always been a secret. Even Leo was unaware of how it was chosen for me. It was a relief to tell the truth finally. In a way, I was proud my father had named me, even if it was in attempt to prevent me from a life like his.

“I’m so sorry, Blyss,” Rudy mourned. “What a burden to live with.” I looked at him and gave him an optimistic smile.

“It’s not all that bad. It’s nice to be different,” I said, “even if it is in secret.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling. Being a horse is certainly...different,” he laughed. The topics shifted since then. Perhaps that soft moment between us, each of us sharing our own pasts, our brothers, our wishes, all of that brought us closer right then and there. I wished I could’ve had Rudy growing up. He would’ve put a smile on my face right away. I wouldn’t have had to wait to fall off a bridge before I could feel again.

“I’m telling you! If you butcher a pig in front of other pigs, it doesn’t taste as good!” Rudy insisted as we hopped over a little brook.

“Meat is meat, no matter what you kill it in front of!” I declared.

“No, no, if you kill the pig in front of the others, you feel guilty afterwards. You can see their scared little faces when you put the meat in your mouth, and it tastes like blood,” said Rudy, his eyes widening.

“Then perhaps you didn’t cook it long enough!” I teased. The pig topic made us hungry, so we once again switched it.

“Okay, so Golde forbid you actually become Maleficent, what’s one thing you’d look forward to in her Story?” Rudy questioned. I thought for a moment.

“Probably the castle,” I decided.

“Really? That creepy dungeon on the brink of an actual abyss?” Rudy asked in disbelief.

“Well, it would need some remodeling but think about it! I’d get to fly around all day waiting for Sleeping Beauty to turn sixteen.” Rudy looked at me like I was the craziest person in the world. I probably was.

“Well, mine would probably be all the royal banquets at the palace. Talk about the food!” said Rudy patting his stomach.

“Yeah, at least in the castle you wouldn’t have to see the other pigs’ faces when you eat its brother,” I snorted. Rudy shoved me straight into a tree.

“Whatever, Ms. Fly-Around-A-Creepy-Castle.” Next was the thing we dreaded the most in our Stories.

“Mmm, probably having to smell every girl’s feet. Especially the stepsisters’. That’s almost cruel,” Rudy shuddered. “What about you? Probably dying at the hands of Prince Doofus, right?” I shook my head and disregarded the dig Rudy made at Dane.

“No, I’d dread not being invited to Sleeping Beauty’s christening. Maleficent’s evil, don’t get me wrong, but I have to believe that somewhere in her heart, she really did just want to be included or at least remembered. Her life must be so lonely if she spends it fixated on a little girl.”

“You make a good point,” Rudy said, “but I wonder how Maleficent feels about eating pigs?” I rolled my eyes.

“You and that stupid pig,” I joked. We walked farther and farther, but it began to feel like chasing a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. The smoke seemed to be running away from us the closer we walked to it. Other than that, I couldn’t replace much cause to complain. I was having the most fun I’d had in years talking with Rudy. I was refuting Rudy’s pig argument once again when he oddly interrupted me.

“Do you...smell that?” he asked scrunching his nose. Indeed, I did. It was foul and rotten. Whatever was burning, it certainly was not some wood from the forest. It burned the inside of my nostrils, leaving them raw and chafed. We continued to walk on, putting our hands over our noses and mouths. Rudy looked at me as we walked and plucked something out of my hair. He held up a large piece of ash that hadn’t disintegrated yet. More and more began floating down, falling to the forest floor like bizarre snowflakes.

“What kind of Story burns something that would make this?” I asked, shaking out more ashes from my hair.

“Do you think it’s even from a Story?” Rudy asked. His face looked up at the sky with growing concern.

“What else would have cause to burn something like this?” I said holding up the ashes I had collected in my hands. Our questions would soon enough be answered. The space between the trees began to thin until we found ourselves at the edge of a vast meadow. It was filled with long brown grasses that were bent down after years of bullying winds. Built almost exactly in the center of the meadow was an incredible mansion. The castles I had encountered so far were built in an old fashioned manner using traditional stone. The mansion, however, smaller than a castle, was built of glistening black and white marble that gleamed even in the bleak daylight. Marble pillars stood proudly in front of the elegant wooden doors. Miniature towers sat on the roof with windows all around. Stables, a coach house, a barn, guest cottages, and other minor buildings surrounded it on three sides, leaving the front uncluttered and in perfect view from almost every angle. A wide dirt path cut through the grasses, and it led up to the front door. And just above the pillars, perched on the shingles of the roof, was a tall brick chimney with billows of smoke wafting out of it. Ash flakes surrounded the chimney, and I could see them sprinkled throughout the grasses below. On the other side of the meadow was another line of trees that belonged to none other than the Forest of Temptations. It certainly made for an an interesting backyard.

“Should we go up?” I asked.

“Yeah, maybe they can help,” Rudy said though his voice was not convincing. Realistically, we both walked up to the front door of the house that day not for help but to see what was burning. Later, I decided that replaceing out what it was in the fire was not worth what we suffered. Rudy banged the brass knocker against the door. We could hear from outside as the sound echoed into the house. Minutes passed by, and the doors remained still.

“Let’s just go,” I said, disappointed that we’d never get the answer. As Rudy and I turned around, we heard the door creak open. We spun around and saw a man in the doorway. He had a roundy belly and lacked a considerable amount of height. The most interesting feature of his, however, and perhaps the one that should’ve sent us running, was his eccentric blue beard.