•Beast's Lair•

Solar gripped her fire whip with sweat slickened hands until her knuckles turned white. She stared into the darkness that loomed before her.

"Here. The Beast must be here." Solar said after a long silence.

Without another word Lunar steps cautiously in front of the other guardians, towards the yawning mouth of the cave. It's stalagmites looking like long pointy teeth. She pauses only momentarily, then steps inside. Solar being the next closest, followed suit. Then Flare, and finally Pluto.

The early morning light slumped on the cave's walls, and did the waltz with the Queens' shadows. They stepped around puddles and more than once, jumped up from the squeak and scurry of rats. The air smelt stale, yet buzzed with scents of rotting flesh, stagnant water, and troll.

Trolls were nasty creatures that sometimes wandered into the Starlight Woods from the Beyond. They were a bit shorter than humans, maxing out at 5'2, the average being 4'8. They were humanoid, but had a fourth of the brain cells. That be said, led them to live in abandoned fox holes, caves, and more. They were too dumb to make clothing, so many wore little more than a loincloth, most no clothing at all. Trolls had a very distinct smell because they never bathed and had a horrible sense of smell, as well as their tendency to roll around in swamps and mud for fun. Over all, trolls were little more than green hairless pigs that stood on two very short legs.

Lunar, still in the lead, pinched her nose between her fingers to avoid the stench. In her other hand is a 12 inch dagger, made of cryansium, a crystal and titanium mix, sharp, almost unbreakable, and of course, incredibly sparkly.

The Queens rounded a small corner and stopped short. A very vague shadow was portrayed on the wall. It was dark inside, and the shadow was so discreet most people would not have noticed it. Trained in hunting, the Guardians had sharp eyes to pick up any disturbance in the atmosphere.

The shadow was tall and slim, with a bulk of shoulder-like bumps near the top of what could be called the torso. It was moving slightly. Leaning this way and that, as a bored child would do sitting on a bed.

Then it leaped up and let out a small cry, as if it could sense them and was scared. It knew it was cornered.

As the Guardians jumped up from around the corner, they heard a symphony of grunts. grumbles, cries, moans, bones creaking, movement shattering, and...silence.

Before them now stood a young girl. She was small, no taller than 4'7, with long brown hair that flowed in pigtails to her belly button. Her eyes were red, like she had been crying. Her clothing stood in shambles around her small frame.

Flare looked at the wall, the girl's shadow was at least three times smaller than the one the Queens had seen only a minute ago. Strange. She thought.

"Who are y-ya-yahou?" The girl cried. "Where's my mom?!" And with that, she broke into sobs.

"No, no, don't cry," Flare shuffled forward, wanting to hold and comfort the child. "It's alright."

"Flare! It could be a trap. We don't know what the Beast is capable of." Pluto pointed out, in a low voice, like a harsh whisper.

Flare stepped back with a frown on her beautiful face. Pluto was right, it could be a trap, regardless, she wanted to dry her tears.

"What is your name sweetie?" Flare asked politely instead.

"I'm n-not supposed to talk to strangers-s." The girl sobbed.

"We're the Queens, not strangers at all! Unless you are not from Galäeth?" Lunar asked.

"I-ya am-m-m." She cried. "Bu-buht where's my mawm?" The girl burst into fresh tears.

"We'll help you find your mom, but we need to know your name." Solar spoke quietly from the back.

"Ann-nika." She said.

"Follow us Annika." Lunar said.

The Guardians led the sobbing Annika out of the troll-smelling cave. They went over and sat down by the horses. Charcan was still standing untied by Sunshine, Solar's horse. Flare gave Annika water and some food she had packed for the trip.

"What were you doing all the way out here?" Pluto asked, suspiciously, but with a kind hearted face.

"I don't know. All I remember is being pulled away from my mom and then her shouting my name. It was dark for a while and then I felt like I was falling, sort of? Like my insides were magically floating up and pushing on my tummy. " Annika drew a circle from under her belly button to the bottom of her arm pits.

"Hmmm..." Lunar hummed.

Solar and Flare looked at each other.

"Where were you when you had that feeling?" Pluto asked.

"I don't know." Annika answered. Her face stern.

"What did it look like?" Pluto pushed.

"I don't know. I couldn't see anything." The small girl answered.

"How long ago was it?" Pluto kept firing off questions. "How old were you? How old are you? How did you get to the cave? What's your mom's name?"

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't remember. I don't know...I DON'T KNOW!" Annika shouted and broke into tears again.

"IDON'TKNOWIDON'TKNOW IDON'TKNOW...I DON'T KNOW-W!" She ran off into the woods, turned around and shouted, "I DON'T KNOW!" One last time before she doubled over and fell to her knees as if she were going to be sick.

The small girl's body shook with convulsions. Her hair fell forward and hid her face. The horses tugged and bucked at the ropes and tried to back up. Charcan took a few steps back in front of the other horses, as if to protect them. The Queens slowly backed up as they watch Annika shift.

Her hands first, they seemed to grow and shrink in size, they changed in color and length too. It seemed to fade up her arms and to her hidden face, as well as down her body.

Abruptly, the convulsions stopped.