Page 84 of The Beauty and the Griffin

Einarsson intended to use the island for cover, then ambush our army from behind!

Even as dread turned my blood cold, I heard Kapono’s voice in my head for the first time in decades.Bella, help us melt the ice!

Absolutely!I built the spell as I spoke and flung it at the lake’s surface, sensing Kapono’s, Pukai’s, Prince Briar’s, and Princess Ellie’s magic combining with mine. The crackle and boom of shifting ice rose like music to my ears, and I was about to ask what else I could do to help when Chicky suddenly soared in a parabolic arc that left my guts somewhere in the stratosphere.

With my arms clutching the Golden Griffin’s neck, I peered woozily through a faceful of feathers while Chicky closed in on the turul. What did she plan to do?

To my complete surprise, Dodger suddenly dropped out of the sky, sank his beak, claws, and talons into the huge bird’s back, then pushed off and away. Emitting an ear-shredding screech, the turul tumbled tail over beak through a cloud of its own feathers. Somehow Einarsson held on, but how could Chicky possibly snatch the Mirror away from him now?

At the last moment, the turul righted itself, nearly skimmed the black ice below, and began to regain altitude. But just as Chicky made an all-out dive at the bird, I saw, rushing upward beneath the melting ice, a gaping mouth filled with saber-sharp teeth.

I would have warned Chicky if I hadn’t been frozen with dread. As it was, the ice exploded in a sparkling fountain of shards, and the lake monster (leading with those teeth) rocketed higher and higher. The terrified turul did its best to dodge, its feet tucked, its wings flailing, but those huge jaws snapped shut on its tail.

From that instant, I can recall only a flurry of flapping wings, showers of feathers, a man’s roar of fury switching into ear-piercing screams, and my own terror of falling to certain death. I hid my face in Chicky’s feathery ruff and clung to her, using a bit of sticky magic to keep my seat while she pulled off some incredible aerobatic moves.

Hold tight!Chicky nearly shouted into my head.

I was foolish enough to open my eyes again . . . and the next few moments were easily the most surreal of my life. I saw the Mirror of Alviss tumbling from the sky. Still in full flight, Chicky caught its handle with one taloned foot, plunged her open beak and entire head into its reflective surface, then dragged out a being like living quicksilver—or maybe rainbows in an oil slick—with a raging, terrified, screaming face.

An instant later, we were sucked into the Mirror. Words . . . no, not even thoughts can fully depict the vivid blurred colors, warped reflections, screaming fury, and certain death. But then, at close range, I watched Chicky’s sharp beak worry the creature clutched in her talons until it disintegrated like ashes, its shrieks fading into eternal woe.

There.The Golden Griffin spoke into my head with cheerful satisfaction.Now Chicky helps Arabella find her happy ending with True Love. Like Beatrice do.

The kaleidoscope world spun around me . . . and I glimpsed the Mirror one last time, spinning before us at a different angle, its reflective surface shrinking . . . or maybe I was blacking out? Everything felt nebulous.

Then I remember the shock of frigid air in my face before I landed solidly in someone’s arms, and my flopping feet and hands splashed into the icy water of Faraway Lake. I made some unintelligible noises, looked up into Kapono’s astonished face, and promptly blacked out.

I woke up in one of Palau Kalah’s guest caves sometime later, having conveniently missed much of the after-battle wrap-up work. I can’t say that I was exactly desperate for news at first. After all, the amount of crazy action and interdimensional travel I’d experienced would be tough on anyone, let alone a girl well into her thirteenth decade.

Pukai’s daughter Coral, the vain one with red hair, fed and tended me, then related everything she’d seen and heard about the battle before hurrying back to join the celebration in the lake. I was free to do whatever I wished.

I really wished I knew what that might be.

Before I could begin to decide, I heard awhoosh, and something large, feathery, and golden burst through the magical waterfall and landed, perfectly dry, beside me on the cave’s sandy floor. “We see warrior and queen first, then see Beeetrice.”

“What if I want to see Beatrice first?” I asked, feeling ornery and shy about meeting a certain warrior again so soon.

The golden griffin shook her head. “Time for Happy Ending.”

Inevitably, Chicky got her way.

I’ll admit, I didn’t put up much of a fight when she carried me through the waterfall and straight to Pukai and her general, who sat in beach chairs in their human forms beside Faraway Lake. Apparently, a grand celebration feast was already underway. Everyone should have been freezing—it was winter, after all—but the golden sand was clean, dry, and warm, as if the entire resort had been dropped into the tropics.

While Chicky carefully landed, Pukai waved to me from her royal beach chair. “Hey girl, we did it!” she called without bothering to rise.

Kapono hurried to Chicky’s side, greeted her, and then helped me dismount like the gentleman he’s always been. His hands were firm at my waist, and his dark eyes held my gaze. “Bella, don’t ever scare me like that again. I thought I’d lost you forever in the fay realm.”

I don’t know whether the shock of surviving had knocked all sense out of me or some sense into me, but I threw my arms around his neck and clung. “I did too. I mean, I thought I’d lost you.”

He folded me close, and we both shed tears—some tears of sorrow for the lost years, but mostly tears of joy for the prospect of a bright future together.

Let Pukai or her officious officials justtryand separate us now!

26

BEATRICE

“Don’t even begin tofeel guilty for not being there during the battle,” Niel told me with a heart-melting smile. “Your first role in the battle was taking on Winifred, Chicky, and Dodger, and you essentially guaranteed our victory when you promised to marry me. You’ve given of yourself far beyond any duty.”

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