CHAPTER SIX
A BEWITCHING OFFER
The Masked Man was awoken by a throbbing headache. He opened his eyes and discovered he was somewhere in the forest, but he had no recollection of how he had gotten there. Even stranger, when he looked around he noticed the ground was above his head and the smoky sky was below his feet.
After further inspection, he realized he was upside down. His cape was caught on a tree branch and he was hanging several feet in the air. As he slowly returned to full consciousness, the Masked Man remembered that flying monkeys had dropped him there. He wasn’t sure how long he had been hanging in the tree, but since he was still alive, he assumed his cape must have broken his fall.
He reached toward the branch piercing his cape to set himself free. The motion sent excruciating pain through his entire body and he screamed. The pain was so bad, he couldn’t tell where it began or ended. Clearly, he had hit more than one branch on his way down. The Masked Man tugged on his cape and it ripped in half. He fell to the ground and landed on his back with a thud.
After a few minutes of lying on the ground, the Masked Man had a better idea of where the pain was coming from. His left arm was definitely broken, one of his right ribs was most likely cracked, and his right ankle was sprained at best. Half his mask had been ripped off by something he collided with during the fall, and bloody scratches covered one side of his face. Still, it was a miracle he had survived.
He moaned as he struggled to his feet. All the blood in his head rushed to the other parts of his body, making him woozy. He removed his damaged cape and ripped his suit jacket into strips to make a sling for his arm.
The physical pain was unbearable, but he was almost thankful for it—it was the only thing distracting him from his mental anguish.
The Masked Man was not a stranger to disappointment, but losing an empire was one colossal setback he never saw coming. After a lifetime of meticulous planning, he had finally achieved the power he had craved since childhood. Only to then have it yanked away like a rug from underneath him.
After such a narrow escape from death, a different man would have abandoned his quest for supremacy, but the Masked Man’s need for power was like a disease—and fulfillment was the only cure. Like a phoenix, he immediately began calculating his path out of the ashes. Somehow, some way, he would reclaim his power and destroy the literary villains who had taken it from him. But first, he needed to find a path out of the forest.
The Masked Man had no idea what part of the forest he had been dropped in, so he hobbled through the trees in search of an indication. After hours of limping aimlessly through the woods, he only found more and more trees the farther he went. Since the mythological creature had escaped captivity in the Northern Palace dungeon, the Masked Man was as cautious and quiet as possible just in case it was also wandering through the forest.
Eventually he stumbled upon a small clearing with three unusual boulders. They were tall and stuck out from the ground like trees themselves. The Masked Man had a seat against one of the boulders and tightened his makeshift sling. But his rest was short-lived.
A commotion traveled through the woods nearby. The sound became louder and louder as it moved closer and closer. It was a repetitive tremor, like the marching of several pairs of metal boots—Winkie soldiers were approaching! The Masked Man assumed the villains must have sent the soldiers to retrieve his body. He was too wounded to outrun them, so he dived into the bushes beside the boulders and was hidden from view.
A few moments later, two rows of a dozen Winkie soldiers entered the clearing, but they weren’t alone. The soldiers were escorting the Wicked Witch of the West, the Queen of Hearts, and Captain Hook through the forest. The sight of the literary villains sent a rage through the Masked Man that was so powerful, his injuries were temporarily numbed. There wasn’t a word in existence to describe the anger coursing through his veins.
The Wicked Witch of the West, the Queen of Hearts, and Captain Hook paced around the clearing like they were waiting for something to happen. They didn’t appear to be looking for the Masked Man, so he wondered what on earth they were doing in the woods.
“Well?” Captain Hook growled. “Where is she?”
“Are we certain we’re in the right place?” the Queen of Hearts asked.
The Wicked Witch of the West unrolled a scroll of parchment she held tightly in her hand.
“I’m positive,” the Wicked Witch said. “Her instructions say, ‘Take the path four miles into the Dwarf Forests and wait for me in the clearing of the three stone trees.’ There hasn’t been another clearing for miles. This must be it.”
As the Masked Man knew all too well, patience was not the villains’ forte. The Wicked Witch, the Queen of Hearts, and Captain Hook became more restless by the second.
“Well, whoever she is, I don’t like her,” Captain Hook snarled. “She has some nerve to keep us waiting like this.”
“I want to hear what she’s offering,” the Queen of Hearts said. “But if it isn’t appealing, and we’ve come all this way for nothing, I say we capture her and—”
“Cut off her head?” the Wicked Witch asked mockingly. “There are other ways to execute someone, you know—most of which are more entertaining and far less messy.”
“Like dropping the Masked Man to his death?” Captain Hook said with a nasty grin. “Watching him squirm and scream as he fell was rather fun, wasn’t it? If only gravity affected everyone—my hook would be covered in Peter Pan’s blood by now!”
The Queen of Hearts rolled her eyes. “I’m so sick of hearing that boy’s name!” she hollered. “He’s a child, Captain! Let it go! From the way you obsessively talk about him, I’d say he’s taken much more from you than just your hand!”
Captain Hook intended to respond with a snippy comment, but the pirate went quiet. He leaned against one of the boulders and placed his hook on his hip, thinking about what the Queen of Hearts had just said.
From the bushes just beside Captain Hook, the Masked Man had a perfect view of a revolver dangling from the captain’s belt. He was drawn to the weapon like a moth to a flame. If he got his hands on it, with three quick shots he could terminate the literary villains before the Winkie soldiers knew what was happening!
Carefully, when they were all looking in the opposite direction, the Masked Man reached his good hand toward the captain’s waist and unfastened his holster.
It was a painful effort with his cracked rib and it took everything in him not to scream. Slowly, he removed the revolver from the holster with the captain none the wiser.
The Masked Man examined the gun—it had three bullets! He had exactly what he needed to shoot the villains! He cocked it and aimed the weapon back and forth at the three of them, indecisive about which one to kill first.
Captain Hook became agitated and started stomping around the clearing.
“I knew it was a trick!” he said in a huff. “We’ve been fooled! No one is meeting us in the woods today!”
The Queen of Hearts and the Wicked Witch nodded in agreement. But just as they were about to order the soldiers to take them back, they were interrupted by a voice from outside the clearing.
“Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘Good things come to those who wait’?”
The Masked Man lowered the revolver when he heard the voice. It sounded awfully familiar.
The villains and the Winkie soldiers heard footsteps next and quickly turned to see a hooded creature approaching them. The soldiers raised their staffs toward the creature, but with a quick flick of its wrist, their weapons crumbled into dirt. The creature stepped into the clearing and lowered its hood—it was a beautiful woman with horns like a ram’s that curved around the sides of her face.
“Morina,” the Masked Man whispered to himself. His desire to assassinate the villains was quickly replaced by curiosity. What did she want with them?
“Are you the witch they call Morina?” the Wicked Witch of the West asked.
“I am,” Morina said. “And you must be the new leaders of this world. It’s an honor to make your acquaintance. Defeating the kingdoms of humans and fairies is no easy task—you’ve achieved what the witches have only dreamed about for centuries.”
The villains shared a proud look and stood a little taller.
“Since you’re here, I’m assuming you received my letter?” Morina asked.
“It’s not every day we receive an invitation delivered by a crow,” the Queen of Hearts said. “Now tell us, what is the ‘offer of a lifetime’ that you wrote about?”
“It requires a lengthy explanation,” Morina said. “Please, have a seat.”
The witch waved her hand toward the three boulders and they transformed into large stone chairs for the villains to sit on. So far, the witch was very impressive.
“You see, the witches of this world have always had a long and unpleasant history with the people who ruled it,” Morina explained. “Before you arrived there were rumors of an impending witch hunt. Those fears were all but confirmed when the Masked Man became emperor. We were certain that once he executed the royal families, it would only be a matter of time before he ordered our extermination. But luckily, that’s all changed now that you’ve taken his place.”
“If the Masked Man saw the witches as a threat, why should we view things any differently?” Captain Hook asked.
“Because the three of you are much wiser than your predecessors,” Morina said. “Why become enemies when we have a glorious opportunity to become allies?”
The villains side-eyed one another. They weren’t pleased with where the conversation was going.
“For your sake, I hope you’re offering us more than friendship,” the Queen of Hearts warned.
Morina smiled and her eyes grew wide. They could tell friendship was only the beginning of what she had to offer.
“Of course. I’ll cut to the chase,” she said. “Recently, I convinced the other witches that the only way we could escape the pending genocide was by leaving this world. We need a place to ourselves where we won’t be controlled by fairies or ostracized by humans. So I formed a plan for the witches to invade and conquer another dimension, known as the Otherworld.”
The villains were instantly intrigued. “The Otherworld?” they asked in unison.
“It’s a world very similar to this one, but far greater,” Morina explained. “It has hundreds of countries, thousands of cities, and billions of people. There are structures and machines you could only dream of, and more land and sea than we would ever need. The best part is that this world operates entirely without magic. With no fairies to limit us, we would be unstoppable!”
Her passionate description was hypnotizing. Still, the villains wondered if it was too good to be true.
“How can you prove it exists?” Captain Hook asked.
“Take a look for yourself,” Morina said.
The witch’s eyes suddenly lit up like the headlights of a car. Morina magically transferred images of the Otherworld into the villains’ minds and their eyes glowed as brightly as hers. Visions of London, Paris, Tokyo, and New York City flashed before their eyes. They saw the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Taj Mahal.
The villains had never seen a world so grand and diverse before. The light faded from their eyes, but was replaced by the glow of desire.
“How do we get to the Otherworld?” the Wicked Witch asked.
“The late Fairy Godmother has portals hidden all over the kingdoms,” Morina said. “But each one is difficult to open, and the journey takes a toll on anyone who’s not a practitioner of white magic.”
“Then how do the witches expect to cross over?” the Queen of Hearts asked.
“As luck would have it, the two worlds are scheduled to collide very soon,” Morina said. “A doorway will open that will bridge the worlds like never before. Once it appears, we can charge into the Otherworld and take it by storm!”
The villains’ suspicion grew as much as their interest.
“You seem to have it all figured out,” Captain Hook said. “What exactly do the witches want from us?”
A devious smile grew on Morina’s face. This was the part she was most excited to tell them.
“The witches don’t want anything from you,” she said.
“Then why do they want to become allies?” Captain Hook asked.
“You misheard me, Captain,” Morina said. “The witches don’t even know I’m here. I was speaking for myself when I proposed an alliance.”
The villains shared a look, each more confused than the other. Morina waved a hand over the dirt and a fourth boulder shot up from the ground. She transformed it into a large stone throne, much taller than the villains’ chairs, and she had a seat.
“I had every intention of leading the witches into the Otherworld,” Morina explained. “Sadly, that leadership was stolen from me. Two witches with seniority, the Snow Queen and the Sea Witch, have taken the operation into their own clammy hands. But my frustration has taught me a valuable lesson: Witches are not like wolves—we don’t belong in packs. Once we cross into the Otherworld, we’ll fight one another for dominance until there is only one of us left. So I’ve begun a new plan for after the witches conquer the Otherworld.”
The villains shared a smile. Morina’s plan was starting to make sense—and they liked where it was going.
“You’re going to betray them!” the Wicked Witch said eagerly.
“Precisely,” Morina said. “The Snow Queen and the Sea Witch plan to cast a spell on the late Fairy Godmother’s granddaughter, a powerful young fairy named Alex. They believe if they curse her strongly enough, they’ll be able to turn the girl into a weapon and use her to vanquish the Otherworld. I’m not convinced this will work. I believe there are more traditional ways of invading a new territory.”
“You want our army!” the Queen of Hearts said.
Morina clapped her hands excitedly. “Exactly,” she said. “I say we let the witches be our pawns. Let them invade the Otherworld and weaken its defenses. Once they’ve both exhausted all their resources, we’ll charge into the Otherworld and steal it from them! We’ll destroy Alex, the witches, and whatever is left standing in our way!”
It was the most thrilling and lucrative offer the villains had ever received. They were all fidgeting in their seats at the thought of the conquest. However, they still didn’t know if Morina could be trusted.
“How do we know you won’t just betray us in the end, too?” Captain Hook asked.
“We’ve already been deceived once by someone in this world—we won’t let it happen again!” the Wicked Witch said.
“Unlike the Masked Man, I don’t bite off more than I can chew,” Morina said. “We’ll divide the Otherworld evenly among us—we’ll each have our own territory twice the size of this world. Surely that’s more than enough land for each of us. Time is of the essence, so if you’re interested, I need to know now. Do we have a deal, or not?”
The villains huddled together to discuss the situation privately, but Morina could tell they had already made up their minds. They were creatures of greed and couldn’t refuse.
“We have a deal,” Captain Hook said. “But if you disappoint us, we’ll end you just like we ended the Masked Man!”
Morina laughed loudly. “You think you killed the Masked Man?” she asked.
“Of course we killed him,” the Queen of Hearts said. “No man could have survived that fall!”
“Yes, but the Masked Man isn’t a man—he’s a roach,” Morina said sharply. “Even if you cut off his head, he’d be back the very second a throne was left unattended. We haven’t seen the last of him. But don’t worry, I have something that will bring him to his knees should he try to sabotage our plan.”
“And what is that?” the Wicked Witch asked.
The villains were curious, but not nearly as curious as the Masked Man himself. He had very few possessions—what had the witch stolen?
“Not what, but who,” Morina said. “I’ve kidnapped his son, a boy named Emmerich.”
“The Masked Man has a child?” Captain Hook asked.
“Not one he knows about,” Morina said. “But should he ever cross us, the boy will stop him in his tracks.”
The Masked Man was so shocked, he dropped the revolver. He no longer felt any of his injuries or the anger boiling inside him. He forgot all about losing his empire and his desire to kill the villains. All he could feel was adrenaline and his heartbeat. All he could think about was the son he never knew he had.
“I should return to the witches before they get suspicious,” Morina said.
The witch stood from her stone throne and with a snap of her fingers, the boulders all returned to normal. The villains were buzzing with anticipation. If they could invade the Otherworld today, they wouldn’t hesitate.
“When will the invasion take place?” the Queen of Hearts asked. “We want our soldiers to be prepared.”
“It won’t be long now,” Morina said. “When the time is right, we’ll strike. I’ll be in touch.”
The witch covered her horns with her hood and disappeared into the trees. The villains ordered the Winkie soldiers to escort them out of the woods and practically skipped back to the Northern Palace.
The Masked Man was still so astonished, he stayed in the bushes long after the villains were gone. Having a son presented him with a world of new opportunities—opportunities he had never thought possible. If he played his cards right, the Masked Man could regain much more than just his empire—he could salvage everything that had been stolen from him.…