“May you beers rest in peace,” Axel mumbled. “I think if this was a movie, Big Bad would die first. What do you think, Loki?”
Loki pretended Axel was only a figment of his imagination for the moment, and kept his eyes on the boys and girls.
“Let’s do it,” Donnie tossed Big Bad another beer then crushed a beetle on the ground with a big nasty grin from ear to ear, as if doing the world a favor.
Big Bad led the way to the swamp using his flashlight. Dee, Dum, and Donnie followed him after throwing a suspecting gaze in Loki and Axel’s direction. Tucked away in their hiding place, there was no way he could have noticed them. He looked back ahead into the thickening mist.
“How are we going to avoid the Ferryman?” Big Bad asked Donnie.
“Just walk in that direction,” Donnie pointed. “I have a friend who’s a witch. She designed a log boat which Skeliman can’t detect.”
“Now what?” Loki said to Axel. “They have their own enchanted log boat. We can’t exactly hop in it with them.”
Axel shrugged his shoulders, looking at them disappearing in the mist.
“Great,” Loki said with disgust. “We can’t even see them unless we use our flashlights.”
“No can do. They will notice us,” Axel said.
All Loki could see was swirling silhouettes moving in the mist. He relied on their voices for direction.
“We should move slowly so they don’t hear us,” he said to Axel. “Maybe there is another enchanted log boat they use for backup. If not, we’ll have to ride with Skeliman.”
Loki heard Big Bad announce that he’d found their enchanted canoe. They were still laughing when Loki heard the squishing sounds of their feet in the thick swamp.
“What now?” Axel whispered. Loki could barely see him in the mist.
“Follow me. I’ll find something,” Loki said, walking into the mist with Axel gripping his shirt until Loki took a cautious step into the swamp.
“Stay cool Loki, pretend it’s just thick, dirty green pudding soup,” Loki reassured himself as he saw the wavy smoke hovering over the swamp’s surface. It looked like hot steam erupting from a kettle that was boiling the green brain of an extraterrestrial being. Loki felt a sudden chill in his spine when he heard the others rowing nearby in the swamp.
The girls in the canoe were singing as they rowed. It was a rather peculiar song, and it went like this:
Row, row, row your boat.
Big Bad countered with a husky voice:
Gently down the swamp.
The girls finished and clapped:
Deadly, deadily, deadily…
“Ha ha,” they all laughed and clapped their hands.
“Life is but a dream,” Loki silently joined in, actually enjoying their take on the song. The phrase ‘life is but a dream’ reminded him that he was supposed to be one of the greatest Dreamhunters in the world.
“They sound like drunken pirates,” Axel said, his teeth chattering from the cold. “I think you can use the flashlight now. They can’t see us in the mist, and they’re already ahead of us.”
Unexpectedly, Loki bumped into a canoe in the swamp.
“Why did you stop?” Axel shivered.
“I found it,” Loki said, inspecting the canoe, looking for the ferryman. The canoe was empty.
Loki aimed the flashlight back at Axel to tell him. Axel let out a silent shriek, followed up by the chattering of his teeth.
“If there is a canoe, then it belongs to Skeliman,” Axel whimpered.
“Man up,” Loki said. “It’s empty. Now get in it.”
“I think—“Axel stuttered. “I think I am going to wait here.”
“If you keep stalling, I’ll have to leave you here alone in the dark,” Loki said, ready to row.
“No, I will come with you. But can I ask you something first?” Axel said.
“What?”
“You killed vampires before, right?” Axel asked. “Can I count on that?”
“You can count on me,” Loki said, not really sure he was able to kill the vampire princess. Loki was using a fake-it-until-you-make-it approach. He dragged Axel into the canoe. “I’m not going to fail this time, you hear me?” Loki gritted his teeth.
“Now you’re scaring me, Loki,” Axel said.
Noticing he was losing it, Loki let go of Axel, and started rowing. He couldn’t hear the boys’ and girls’ voices anymore. Rowing across the swamp, he pretended he didn’t hear the many voices of nightly creatures all around. He just rowed, hoping to reach the other side safely. Axel crouched next to him, burying his head under his hood. The cold was increasing substantially.
“This weather is just crazy,” Loki said. “There must be an explanation to it.”
“It’s her,” Axel said in a muffled voice. “It’s Snow White. She can manipulate the weather.”
“Are you sure?”
“Everyone knows that vampires can manipulate the weather, making it colder to suit the environment they need to survive. Snow White likes it cold and snowy around her until she feeds. It makes it harder for her enemies to attack her. After she’s fed it starts to snow red. It’s some sort of ritual to her.”