"The dragons circle the area in fifteen-minute cycles and we don't know when the last one started," Granny Relda explained.
Sabrina felt the house lower. The older Puck came from the other room with his crossbow and arrows in hand. He kicked open the door, took a peek outside, and then gestured for everyone to follow. Sabrina and Daphne shuffled outside with Charming close behind.
And then they saw it, the plot of land that had been their grandmother's home. Their house and any sign that it had ever existed was gone. Not even the trees had been left behind. Instead, an enormous castle made from black stones sat on the property. It had two high towers and a drawbridge over a moat dug around the perimeter of the building. On top of one of the towers, a black flag with a bloodred handprint in its center fluttered in the wind. The air smelled of sulfur.
Sabrina could feel tears run down her face, and for the first time in her life she didn't try to hide them.
"I haven't been here in fifteen years," the old Sabrina said. "Never thought I'd be strong enough to look out at it--"
"How do we fix this?" Sabrina interrupted.
"Fix it?" her older self said. "I don't know if you can fix it."
"You have to send us back," Daphne said, her own face wet with tears. "Now that we know what is going to happen, we can change it."
Charming nodded. "My plan exactly, and we're working on a way to do just that. The tears in time pop up all over the place, but by the time I get to one, it has already closed."
"Then we're stuck here?" Sabrina exclaimed.
"No," the future Daphne said. "We may have a way to predict when they come."
Sabrina noticed something unspoken pass between Charming and Daphne's future self. Whatever it was, it made the older Daphne tense.
"People, get back into the house! NOW!" Puck shouted as he pointed toward the sky.
Sabrina looked up and gasped. High in the charcoal sky another dragon sailed overhead. It was green, black, and red, and puffs of smoke drifted out of its wide, reptilian snout. Its roar shook the earth with a boom, and from its gruesome jaws came a torrent of liquid flames that turned a nearby stump into black ash.
The older Sabrina helped Granny wheel her chair into Baba Yaga's house. The rest of the group followed and slammed the door behind them.
"House! Let's move it!" the older Sabrina shouted, and the building once again rose to its feet and raced into the woods.
"Can we outrun that?" Sabrina asked as she watched the dragon blast another nearby tree.
"No," the older Daphne said, rushing to the window and shoving the girls aside. She threw it open and pointed a long thin wand outside. "All we can do is fight. Gimme some water!" she cried. Water blasted out of the wand like it was a firefighter's hose. Unfortunately, the woman's aim was off and it hit the beast in the chest. She cursed herself and shook the wand angrily.
"Not feeling well today, marshmallow?" Puck said. "'Cause if so, I could go out and fight it myself."
"I'm tempted to let you," she replied. "And don't call me that ridiculous nickname."
Daphne stuck her tongue out at her older self. "Hey, cranky. I like my nickname!"
The future Daphne looked at her younger self and a small, almost imperceptible smile crept onto her face. Then she turned back to the open window. "Give me some water."
A torrent of water exploded into the sky like a geyser, and this time it hit the dragon squarely in the mouth. The beast tried to roar, but only a breathy squeak came out. The loss of its most deadly weapon seemed to hinder the dragon's ability to fly as well. It fell to the ground hard and disappeared from view.
"Nice shooting, old me," Daphne said.
"Unfortunately, it's only temporary," Granny Relda said. "Let's hope that we can put some distance between us and it before it reignites its pilot light."
*
Sabrina and Daphne were given two cots to sleep in. Without Daphne by her side, Sabrina felt strange and lonely, but most of all concerned that her little sister was feeling the same way. She was about to ask Daphne if she wanted to talk, but a low, rumbling snore came from the little girl. Apparently, the shock of their current situation wasn't causing Daphne any loss of sleep.
"Child," Charming said softly from his cot across the room.
Sabrina sat up and rubbed her eyes. "I'm awake."
"Have you seen Snow?"
Sabrina nodded. "She's worried about you."
Charming nodded as if he shared her feelings.
"I need to know something. How did Daphne get hurt? I mean, the older Daphne. How did she get that scar?"
"It was my fault. I asked her to help me find something. It was dangerous and we ran into trouble," Charming said.
"What kind of trouble?"
"Nottingham."
Sabrina shuddered, imagining the wicked sheriff's serpentine dagger.
"She was helping me recover something," Charming said. "Something that will help us go home. But Nottingham was guarding it, and he... well..."