An hour later, the small group emerged along the edge of a narrow but deep ravine. The wide waterfall fed the underground river that surfaced on the other side of the palace walls and flowed into the pristine lake on the palace grounds. Marina knew from experience that the water was deep.

“Please be careful, your Majesty. Isha once told Father that he swam the underground river to see if it was possible. There are many caves that dead end. There are also eels, sharp rocks, and passages that he said he was barely able to squeeze through. Once you enter, the swift current will prevent you from coming back out this way,” she warned, staring down at the glittering mist shining in the moonlight.

“You needn’t worry, Marina. My men and I are very adept at handling anything under the water,” Orion dryly reminded her.

She released a self-conscious snort. “I’m sorry, your Majesty. Tonight may be the only chance we have to save my people,” she replied with a bow of her head.

“There is no need to apologize. We will be successful,” Orion told her, touching her chin so she was forced to look at him. “I promise.”

Her expression softened, and she smiled. “I believe you,” she murmured.

Orion dropped his hand and nodded to Mike, who stood to the side. “Safe journeys. We will see you at the palace,” he said.

“Good luck,” Mike automatically responded with a nod of his head.

Marina watched as Orion nodded to Kapian before he dove off the side of the cliff into the turbulent waters below. The others quickly followed. She waited to see if they surfaced, but they didn’t. She hoped they would be successful.

It would be a fight to get through the waters, even for the sea people. Once the men were inside the palace, Orion and his men must kill any of the Hellhounds that patrol the interior courtyard while one of his men opened the gate for Nali and her monsters.

Now that her magic was restored, she could seek the aid of the trees and other plants to help them. Once Nali and her monsters secured the statues in the courtyard, Orion, Drago, her, and Mike could enter the interior of the palace and discover where the Sea Witch was holding the King.

“Let’s go,” Mike said in a quiet voice.

“Yes,” Marina responded with a slight nod.

They wove their way through the forest to the eerily silent outer city. She turned and headed through the park that was adjacent to the palace grounds. Running down the same path she had traversed nearly a year before, they wound their way through the forest to the outer wall of the palace.

“Please Mr. Tree, guide us safely to the other side of the wall,” Marina softly requested.

She breathed a sigh when the vines hanging from the tree reached down. Lifting her arms, she waited for the vines to wrap around her wrists. Mike hesitated a moment before he reluctantly did the same. She heard Mike’s swiftly inhaled breath when the vines lifted them off their feet.

Seconds later, they were lowered to the ground on the other side of the wall. Marina blanched and stumbled back from the interior wall when she saw the tangle of black moving along the stone wall. They had escaped the creature’s detection by not climbing on the wall. Marina could see the skeletal remains of birds, small mammals, and insects, which had not been so fortunate, caught in the thick tentacles.

“I don’t understand,” she whispered as she stared at the moving vines. “If the Sea Witch used her magic to enchant these vines, they should be normal. The spell she cast should have weakened, just as it does with the ogres. I think this isn’t magic, but the same creature that chased me before.”

“A creature?” he muttered, stepping back when the curling vines twisted toward him.

Marina frowned, puzzled. “Perhaps this is its natural form.”

“Whatever in the hell it is, we need to stay out of its reach and get to the palace,” Mike grimly pointed out.

Marina nodded and looked around them. She waved her hand to Mike to follow her. They moved through the maze, staying in the middle where the light of the moon shone. Several times, they were forced to pause when they saw a black tentacle stretching across their path.

“We will have to go a different way,” she whispered.

The path leading to the main garden was blocked. The moving tentacles looked like a bed of boiling worms or snakes. Backing away, she signaled to turn left. She began to worry that they were taking too long. Turning to the right, she could see a narrow side entrance to the maze. This one came out near the sheds that housed the supplies for the gardeners.

“Marina, run,” Mike hissed.

She glanced over her shoulder and gasped. Behind them, the black tentacles had transformed into thick spears that were moving through the maze. Bursting into a run, Marina focused on the opening. Behind her, she could hear Mike’s steady breath, the sound of his feet hitting the ground, and the snapping of wood as the spears struck the limbs of the bushes behind them. She bit back a cry of frustration because she was unable to protect the century-old plants.

“Hang on!”

The sound of Mike’s voice penetrated her mind a second before his arm wrapped around her waist, and they went flying through the air. Mike turned, holding her against him before they hit the ground and rolled.

Breathing heavily, they looked over their shoulders at the entrance to the maze. Jagged, sharp points a foot apart sealed the entrance. They would have been impaled if Mike had not grabbed her and jumped out of the maze.

“It must have sensed something was in the maze,” she whispered, watching as the deadly tentacles slowly retracted.

“Yeah,” Mike said, rolling onto his back and staring up at the starlit sky for a moment. Above them, he could barely make out the silhouette of Drago as the Dragon King flew across one of the bright moons. Rolling to his stomach, he pushed up off the ground and held his hand out to help Marina up. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I think so,” she replied, bending to pick up Mr. Bow off the ground before she grabbed Mike’s hand. “What do we do now? How can we fight such a creature?”

Marina didn’t want to admit that she was terrified. This creature the Sea Witch had under her control was far more powerful than anything she’d had to deal with so far. The Hellhounds were bad enough, but at least she knew she could kill them. This creature was different.

Mike glanced around. A slow, menacing smile curved his lips. He turned and pulled her along with him.

“Come on. I have an idea,” he said, heading for one of the buildings.

* * *

Mike cut around the side of the building, making sure it was safe first. Peering through the window, he grunted. He could see an open door on the other side. Keeping his back to the wall, he turned the next corner. A large cart stood next to the building, a few feet from the open door. Beside it stood two men petrified in place. One held a large bag while another carried a bundle of wood under his arm. Their heads were turned back toward the palace. Their stone faces etched with expressions of confusion and fear.

“This is what she did to the entire population of dragons except for the Dragon King. In some ways, I wonder if it would have been more merciful than to live with the fear of knowing what could happen,” Marina quietly said, walking up to run her fingers along one of their faces.

“As long as there is one person who can stand up to Magna and fight, there is always a chance of breaking the spell and freeing those who were imprisoned,” Mike sharply retorted.

“How can we fight her and that creature?” she asked.

Mike could see the hopelessness seeping into her eyes. Stepping forward, he turned her around to face him and cupped her face. They wouldn’t give up now.

“Trust me, Marina. I swear I will do everything I can to free your people. Tonight is the night. Believe in that. We have a kick-ass team with some of the scariest warriors I’ve ever seen in my life. If anyone can defeat Magna and that black thing, we can,” Mike softly and passionately vowed.

He saw her swallow, and her look of doubt and despair dissolved into determination. She nodded, rose up on her toes, and brushed a kiss across his lips. Pulling back, she gave him a shaky smile.

“What is your plan?” she asked.

“Fire! Just about everything hates fire,” Mike said with a confident grin.

“Except dragons,” she said.

Mike raised an eyebrow at her and tsked. “Okay, I’ll give you that. I’m willing to bet my collection of autographed baseballs that thing doesn’t like it though,” he said.

He watched as a glimmer of excitement lit up Marina’s eyes. She bit her lip and glanced at the cart. Walking over to it, she began gathering up some materials. She searched the cart, opening several jars until she found what she was looking for.

“What are you doing?” he asked, following her.

She glanced around, her eyes darting to a pile of debris off to the side of the building. “I need several long poles,” she whispered, lifting the cloth and the jar. “I can make torches.”

Mike gave Marina a sharp nod. “I’ll get some,” he replied, turning toward the pile.

He returned and watched for a moment while Marina set the items she had collected down on the ground and straightened. Glancing around, she rummaged in the cart again, pulling out the largest clay bowl she could find. She returned to the other items on the ground.

Tearing the material into strips, she placed them to the side while she poured the contents from the jar into the bowl. She glanced up at him when he held out four poles, each one approximately three feet long. In his other hand, he held a small box that had been on the ground next to the pile.

“These should work,” she said with a nod.

Mike watched as she took one of the poles and quickly wrapped the cloth around the end. She attached the strips to the remaining poles and dipped the fabric ends into the thick gel.

“Do you have any more of that gel?” he asked, placing the box on the seat of the cart.

“Yes, there are several more jars. Look for the ones with a red stripe. That shows they are flammable. What is in the box?” she asked.

“I’m going to make some Molotov Cocktails,” he replied, pulling out several of the small jars and lining them up on the edge of the cart.

Mike grabbed one of the jars, pried the lid off, and carefully filled it with the thick gel. He continued to do this until he had filled three dozen jars before placing the lids back on them. Opening several crates, he discovered a stash of wax and wicks.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small knife and cut a two-inch piece of wick for each jar. He used the corkscrew on his knife to punch a hole in the top of each lid. He carefully threaded the wick through the holes. He reached back into the box and pulled out a long candle and a round metal tube that he discovered was a lighter. Flicking the top back, he aimed it at the wax on the candle. Marina watched in fascination as he sealed the top around each wick.

“What does this Molotov cocktail do?” she asked, curious.

Mike grinned. “It makes a big fire. When I was a kid, I was grounded for a month when I made one and threw it on a pile of firewood my dad had just chopped. I spent the month chopping wood to replace what I had torched. It wasn’t so bad, though. My dad helped me, and I grew to appreciate how much work it took to chop that much wood,” he replied with a mischievous wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Most children would have resented their father for making them work so hard,” she replied with a glitter of amusement in her eyes. “Why didn’t you?”

Mike held up his arm and bent it to show off his muscle. “Most kids didn’t end up with huge muscles by the end of the summer,” he replied with a grin. “All the girls in school were after me that year.”

Marina gave him an indignant sniff and lowered her head to focus on her torches. “I can imagine they would have been anyway. I was popular with the boys in my village. None of them could handle a powerful bow the way I could,” she retorted.

He softly chuckled. “I don’t think it was just the bow, Marina,” Mike murmured.

She looked up and raised an eyebrow in inquiry. “Why do you say that?” she asked, her breath catching at the fiery look in his eyes.

Mike leaned forward and cupped her chin in his hand. “While they may have been aware of your prowess with the bow, I believe they were definitely just as aware of the beautiful woman holding it.”

“Mike, you know I love it when your voice gets deep like that,” Marina breathed before her eyelids fluttered closed as he leaned in to kiss her.

Several seconds passed before he reluctantly ended the kiss. As much as he wanted to continue kissing her, now was not the place or the time. Still, he couldn’t resist brushing another quick one across her lips when she released a soft sigh. She opened her eyes and gazed at him with a slightly dazed look.

“There really is magic between us. This is something special, Marina. When this is over, I want to make a life with you,” he said in a guttural tone.

Marina bit her bottom lip and looked at him with a somber expression. “Even if it means you may never see your world again, or your sister?” she asked.

Mike was silent for several seconds before he leaned back and looked down. From the rigid expression on his face, she knew he was thinking about all that he would leave behind. Something deep inside told her that she could not go to his world. She didn’t understand why, but it was as if something warned her that she would not be allowed to exist as she was.

“We’ll discuss this more when this is over,” he replied, looking back up at her. “But the answer is yes. I would leave my world behind to remain here with you.”

He saw the relief sweep through her eyes. Her joy was tinged with regret. She knew that making such a decision would always haunt him.

Mike turned and finished making small, powerful fire bombs while she picked up the torches in one hand. Mr. Bow muttered under his breath that he did not like being near anything that could make fire.

“You know, I’m made of some of the richest wood on the isle. Elder trees do not burn gracefully,” Mr. Bow muttered.

“You do not need to worry, Mr. Bow. If all goes well, you will be back to shooting arrows soon,” Marina assured her bow.

“I can do it if Mike is near,” Mr. Bow informed her.

Marina looked up at Mike with a raised eyebrow. “Is that true?” she asked.

“He said he felt normal when I held him,” Mike informed her, packing the jars into a large, leather knapsack and pocketing the lighter.

“I truly hope he is. We may need his assistance,” she replied.

He paused and looked at her. “Are you ready?” Mike asked.

“Yes.”

Even from a distance, Mike could see the mass of black vines moving against the palace walls in the moonlight. Nodding, he motioned for her to lead the way. They would walk through the open area near the lake and work their way around to the front courtyard and gates. Looking up, Mike saw Drago begin his descent down to the lake. He took a deep breath when he saw the dark shadows of Orion and his men emerging from the water.

“Orion and Drago have arrived,” Mike pointed out.

“We must meet up and warn them of the vines,” she said, swerving toward a wide path leading toward the others.