Tak was shouting orders to release him and Stell as the fairy holding him struggled to keep him still as they all walked down the path the others had gone. Unie kicked and tried freeing herself from her captor's arms, but he was too strong for her to escape. Thorne remained with the leader of the soldiers, her head looking down in shame. Stell, still weak from overdoing herself, dragged her feet as her soldier kept poking her forward, both of them growing further from the others.

Stell's energy was far too gone for her to care about being arrested again or to even argue like the kids were. All she cared about was finding someplace to lie down and sleep. She felt like she was going to collapse at any second on their trek through the forest.

What happened to the others? Did they get caught too? The soldiers mentioned something about traveling with a shadow. They had captured Thorne. Did the others already get sent to their queen? Was she really as merciless as the soldiers made her sound?

After what felt like an entire day of walking, the soldiers led the children and witch to a clearing where a castle covered top to bottom in vines and plant life. Stell shook to keep herself going as they made their way up to the castle doors. The lead soldier pushed the two wooden doors open into a lobby of white tile, light green wallpaper with vines of thorns, a bright green carpet lead down to a hallway across the door and branching off to the sides by staircases leading up to a balcony.

The lead soldier guided the group down the hallway, the walls covered in paintings of women with pointed ears and in different colored, elegant dresses. One had a handsome looking man who had a long golden beard and wavy golden hair. Next to him was a woman with long pink hair and a long white, linen dress that fell to the floor and went off the frame. Another painting had a woman who looked similar to the man, except she was slender and her hair was straight. Next to her was a man who's ears were normally shaped and smaller, his hair was short and dark blue and his clothing looked poor.

Finally, the soldier opened a door at the end of the hallway and into a throne room where the golden haired woman from the painting and the man in the painting with her sat next to one another in their thrones. The woman's painted thin figure replaced with a bulging stomach from months of pregnancy. Below them were the rest of the group Stell had traveled with.

Kabuto turned and quickly tried getting up to get to Tak, but was given an immediate threatening point of a spear from Tak's captor. Thorne's soldier threw her to Reuben's side where Harry squeaked angrily at the fairy. Reuben checked over his student has best he could with his arms tied behind his back. Kabuto moved himself closer to Tak when his soldier shoved the fire mage to the floor, followed after Unie and Stell. Stell could barely keep her upper body up and her mind conscious. She looked up at the pregnant queen, her eyes showing no kindness and her husband's face expressionless.

"These are all of them, your highness," the lead soldier bowed deeply to the woman, "one had these weapons on her." he held up Unie's bag, Unie groaning about how she just got the bag back.

"Let me see it," the queen ordered, holding out her thin arm. The soldier stepped up the stairs that led to the thrones and handed her the bag. She opened it up and looked through it, pulling out some of the smaller weapons and watched as some fell apart in her grasp. Unie complained about working hard on the weapons that fell apart and how long it took her to get them right. "Children's toys." the queen scoffed, carelessly throwing the bag to the side, most of the weapons falling out and breaking on impact.

Unie began to protest about how her tools were not toys, but was cut off by Carla. "Kid, shush," the vampire shot, "she's an elf, they judge other people very harshly!"

"I don't care if she's a dragon!" Unie spat. "I worked for weeks on that stuff!"

"Silence!" The queen shouted. She gently placed a hand on her bulging stomach. "What were you all doing in fairy territory? Why are you accompanied by a shadow? And why do you carry weapons?"

"Oh, please don't kill us, your highness!" Reuben pleaded, maneuvering his arms below his knees to hold them up in front of his chest. "We didn't mean no harm! We was just fooling around was all!"

"Reuben!" Alia hissed.

"I don't want to die with a vampire!" Reuben wailed.

"Shut him up!" the elf queen demanded. A soldier obeyed immediately by hitting Reuben hard in the back of the head, sending the necromancer forward.

"Ah, damn it!" Reuben cried out in pain.

"We were just passing by," Kabuto interjected fiercely, "we didn't mean any harm in coming here. We would have left the moment we realized where we were, but our witch is very weak and she needs some plants to regenerate."

"I was raised to believe shadows and witches were mortal enemies," the queen pointed out, "why are you here in Sefloria assisting a witch."

"Because she's my friend!" Tak exclaimed. "And she promised me cake and my master was just taking me to get some."

"And you are?" the queen asked annoyed.

"I'm Tak," Tak puffed out his chest proudly, "the best fire mage in all of Trapario!"

"And the girl is a nymph, correct?" the queen looked to Unie. The young nymph nodded shyly. "Did the witch promise you cake as well?" Unie nodded once again. "What was the witch doing in Kespain?" the queen looked to Stell quizzically.

"I... I was..." Stell struggled to find her words, her mind still pushing her to stay awake, "I was... I had heard that... That King Alabaster was... Going to... Was using dark magic to... Scare Trapario... So I went to see if it was true... And it was... Then... Wendy told me to find a book in a vision I had... And I'm looking for that... Now..." Stell felt like she was going to throw up.

"This is bad," Carla spoke as she looked over Stell. "Please, we have to get her those plants!"

"We're not done here," the queen shot, holding her hand up at Carla, her green eyes still on Stell, "a book? What book?"

"The Grimorie..." Stell breathed, "it's... Supposedly filled with... With spells and... Curses... Only powerful witches and wizards can control... Wendy says it... It... It chose me to be... Its owner... So... I need to get to... To... Um..."

"To Midnight Mountain," Kabuto finished. "Seriously, I think she's about to pass out!"

"I will not be given orders by a shadow," the queen snapped. "This book is for powerful spell casters and it chose you. That means you're a powerful witch, enough for Wendy, the wife of the Guardian, to send you off to the cursed Midnight Mountain to get it. What kind of magic do you possess?"

"I... I just learned I can... Heal..." Stell gasped, "I... Can use my magic to pick things... Up... To hit people with... And... And... I can... Wendy... Gave me... A mirror... To see into the past... Present and... Future..."

The queen snapped her fingers and the soldier that had dragged Stell to the castle ran up to the witch. He felt around until he found the mirror and brought it up to the queen, who snatched it up and looked at it.

"As you can see, witch," the queen began, "I'm pregnant, but it's a little late. If you're a healer then you can find out what's wrong with my baby."

"Now, wait a minute, your grace," Reuben spoke quickly, "Stell is still a beginner with her magic, she's used all of it fighting some of Alabaster's men and healing two of us. If she over does it, she could die."

"My baby and the future of the Fairy Kingdom lies in the balance," the queen snapped harshly, "the book can find a new owner, but I can't let my first born child die!"

Stell could hardly hear anymore of the arguing. Everything around her was spinning. Words were sounding distant and disoriented. She could feel her heart slowing and her mind shutting down. Everything started to grow darker and her body felt like it was melting. She could feel herself slipping further and further down the river again. If this was what it was like to die, Stell was terrified. She wanted her mother. Her mother... Mother...

Mommy...

Stell looked up through her bangs to see the queen. Everything around her looked strange. It was dark and bloodshot red. A pulsing sound reverberated off the walls and different strings branching off like roots glowed slightly at each pulse. Stell looked at the queen's stomach. Her beautiful long white dress had vanished, along with the twig and flower woven crown she wore. She was nude and her stomach glowed the same lines at each pulse. Stell squinted her eyes to look closer, but instead of seeing the queen's stomach, she saw something curled up within her. It was a fully developed fetus, its mother's pointed ears and father's face and all. Stell could see it was a boy. His ears and nose twitched as if he could hear and smell everything going on outside his home. His heart beat was at a steady pace, Stell trying to match his so that she could stay alive long enough to tell the queen.

Almost... There... Almost... Save me... Almost there...

The voices of Stell's friends came to her in muffles. The queen's was distant, yet sharp and furious. Stell needed to speak. She needed to tell the queen what she saw. She may let them leave if she assured the queen her baby was fine. She just needed to find her voice and form her words. It hurt to concentrate, but she was so close.

"B-B-Boy... Boy..." Stell whimpered softly, not sure if anyone could hear her, the world starting to blur around her. "I... It's... A boy... He's... Alive... Coming soon... Coming... Soon..."

That's when she saw the world fade into complete darkness, only hearing the sickening thud of her body hitting the floor as she went out cold.