Whatever spell Sherwood had put on her, it couldn’t stop her tears. She could hardly catch a breath, but that seemed unimportant now. Everything she had said to Asa played over and over in her mind. Every lie that had been ripped from her mouth to strike a lash across his heart. Even as her mouth moved and the words came out, she could see how much each one hurt him.

Tears poured down her face as she moved between houses and down alleys, her feet automatically taking her to where she had been ordered to go. Even though she fought against it with all her strength, she couldn’t do more than falter every once in a while. The closer she got to Sherwood, the stronger the spell was and the harder it was to even have those small triumphs.

What she wanted more than anything was to turn back, to run back into his arms and tell him she loved him too. Maybe she had been uncertain before, but hearing him say those words had made her heart sing, if only for a second. I love you. I love you. I love you. The words battered around in her chest, wanting to burst out. But the spell, the enthrallment, was too powerful.

When the sound of his bike roared through the air and then faded away, her heart broke in two. Sherwood would do whatever he had planned, and Asa would never know. She’d never be able to tell him that it all was a lie and that she wanted to spend eternity wrapped in his arms. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, rocking back and forth.

Maybe she could break free. Maybe, if she fought hard enough, she could regain control of her body. Her fingers curled around the bracelet as she just sat there, utterly useless.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been there before a pair of boots appeared before her. She looked up to find the fairy frowning down at her, eyes narrowed and nostrils flared as his hands clenched at his sides. “I told you to come to me once you were done.”

Even though in this case she knew she had control of her jaw, since Sherwood would want her to simper and beg for forgiveness, Willow didn’t speak. She wasn’t going to give this . . . clown the satisfaction of seeing her so down. Her body moved, getting to her feet, but she still didn’t speak. The fairy grasped her chin and peered into her eyes.

“The spell isn’t binding you fully. You shouldn’t be able to think.”

Her lazy heart gave a thump, then returned to its normal rhythm. Was he going to take the last bit of free will she had from her?

Sherwood shook his head and turned, striding away. Her feet followed, though twice she was able to drag them enough that she stumbled. Both times Sherwood glared at her, but the spell didn’t change its grasp.

“My magic is not as powerful as it once was,” he muttered, whether to her or himself she didn’t know. “They bound it away ages ago. But I left a tear in the bindings and it’s trickled back to me. Strong enough now to do what I must . . . ”

“And what is that?” Willow managed to ask.

Sherwood gave her a furious look. “You should be an utter slave to my will – mind and body. Well, I suppose having your body is better than nothing at all. There was a time when I could level the mountains with a single thought. I whispered in the wars of powerful kings and laughed when they killed each other. It’s not fair that they took it all from me.”

“Yes, because killing people for your amusement is very fair.”

Sherwood gave her a disgusted look. “Your kind breed like rodents. It was population control. If I wasn’t going to do it, you’d do it to yourselves.”

The sound of Asa’s bike was completely gone now, leaving them in the silence. Willow frowned as she listened to the night. There should be the bleating of the sheep, the sound of wind in the trees. Television sets lit up windows, but when they passed them, there wasn’t so much as the slightest crackle from them. She swallowed. Had Sherwood cast a spell upon the entire village? She shivered as she followed him, her stomach twisting.

“What did you do to everybody?” Even as she spoke, the bracelet sent out an electric shock that traveled up her arm, making her cry out.

“It’ll keep doing that until you submit,” Sherwood said lazily. “To answer your question, I haven’t done anything. Yet. It makes it easier for me if we can move unseen and unheard. It has some side-effects which you shouldn’t be noticing.”

Willow clutched the bracelet again, though, once more, she couldn’t even try to tug it off. “Take it off, please. I’m already helpless in your power. Please, let me have my own body.”

Sherwood stopped. He cocked his head as he studied her, then smiled. “No, little flame. I will not remove the thrall from you. I know humans. They are far from helpless. You like to pretend like you have no power in your lives, but what aren’t you capable of? You drove my people from our homes simply by refusing to believe our power. You are a strange breed, and I have underestimated your kind far too often to do it again. Besides, I am not without mercy. You will be far more afraid and pained if I released you from the thrall.”

Willow wanted to kick him for that. The electric pain shot up her arm again, but this time, she didn’t cry out. Sherwood began to walk again and she followed. She wanted to ask him where they were going and what was waiting for her at the end of it, but what was the point? She wasn’t sure if it was the thrall sealing her lips this time or her own despair.

Sherwood, however, seemed only too happy to continue talking. “For thousands of generations, I have been bound to the wills of lesser beings. The king’s line . . . They gave me to the dragons because of their long memories. If I had been bound to humans, I would have been able to convince them in a generation or two to free me. But dragons? Slow to change and slow to expand.”

Was that why they still raided? Because they had always done it?

“I have attempted to free myself in other ways,” Sherwood continued. “I nearly ended the king’s line and won my freedom by inciting rebellion a thousand years ago. But that Lord Asa, your beloved dragon, thwarted it. Quinn was meant to die. Instead, he survived and became king, and he was far too reasonable and generous to incite a new rebellion. A fluid dragon, one that eased the burden on the lesser ones and brought in new prosperity.”

By the way, he spoke, prosperity and equality were dirty words. Willow remained silent, wondering if there was some way that she could use his monologuing to her advantage.

“The king’s line was made immune to fairy spells when I was bound to them,” Sherwood muttered. “But Quinn’s gentle heart helped me work towards my plans. He didn’t want to see me imprisoned forever, and so gave me freedom if I stayed within his boundaries.”

“It’s a shame he didn’t kill you,” Willow spat, then screamed as a wave of pain washed over her. It was too much even for the thrall keeping her moving and she crumbled to her knees. Black and white splotches filled her vision and she panted, saliva dripping from the corners of her mouth. “Stop.”

“I’m not doing anything. It’ll stop once you stop fighting me.”

Willow’s head bent. Her muscles trembled. And then they stopped. The pain eased as she stopped fighting against the thrall. After a moment, she got to her feet, her mind still fuzzy from the pain.

“What are you going to do to me?” she whispered.

Sherwood tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. “Kill you, of course. It’s the only thing to do with a human. You and I will die together. Or rather, this fleshy prison that keeps me prisoner will die. And your death will release your spirit for me to capture and revitalize my magic. Then I will level mountains the way I used to and I will rule the world. There are no more fairies to stop me. The queen took our people and fled long ago.”

Willow swallowed hard. “But you said humans are more powerful than—”

“I’ll destroy humans. I’ll whisper in their ears again. I will create a new world from the nuclear waste left behind. You people are so full of intolerance and hate. First, I will set you against the dragons, and then I will sit back and watch as your struggles for power after they’re gone destroy you.”

Willow was suddenly aware that she was nodding. The horror she should have felt with his statements was muted. She knew that it all should terrify her, but she didn’t feel frightened . . . She didn’t feel anything at all . . .