Sabrina tore her attention away from Briar and back to the dragon. He could easily do the same to her and her sister. As the smoke dissipated around her uncle she saw something that should have been impossible. The black shell that covered Jake cracked and broke. Pieces fell off and crumbled to dust on the ground. Inside the shell was Uncle Jake, unhurt and whole. In his hand was a dark-green crystal, glowing like a small star.
“My turn,” Uncle Jake said. He reached into one of his pockets with his free hand and pulled out a long broadsword. In one quick motion he shoved it under the dragon’s chin, easily slicing through the creature’s steel-strong skin. The dragon let out a muffled cry and then, with a ground-shaking thud, fell over dead.
“Luckily, I also have an invulnerability stone,” Jake said.
High above, the red dragon roared in rage.
“You want some?” He laughed as the dragon flew off, either to protect itself or warn its masters. “That’s what I thought, punk!”
Buzzflower flew into the clearing. She looked frazzled. When she saw Mallobarb hovering over Briar she cried out and flew to them.
“No!” she shouted. She waved her magic wand over the fallen princess and a stream of colors and lights flooded into her. But Mallobarb held her hand and forced her to stop.
“What happened?” Uncle Jake said, rushing to the group.
“She’s gone, Jacob,” Mallobarb said.
Uncle Jake fell to Briar’s side and cradled her broken body in his arms. He buried his face in her hair and wept. “No, no, no.”
Sabrina and Daphne stood on the edge of the clearing. For the first time in days they hugged each other like sisters. They shook their heads in disbelief and their tears fell on the charred ground.
abrina, Daphne, their parents, and Granny Relda stood in the huge crowd gathered around a vacant space of the camp, now set aside as a cemetery. Mr. Canis stood shoulder to shoulder with Robin Hood and Prince Charming. The three men looked somber as they stared down at the casket that Geppetto had hurried to construct. Pinocchio had helped, and together they had carried it to the plot where Briar Rose’s body was placed. Red Riding Hood placed a bouquet of wildflowers she had gathered along the camp’s walls in Briar’s hands. She looked beautiful, as if she were once again the sleeping princess from the storybooks.
Uncle Jake stood by the casket with Mallobarb and Buzzflower. The godmothers sobbed, and though his face was cracked with misery, Jake did his best to appear strong. His love affair with Briar was well known in the town and the entire crowd seemed to be bearing his heartbreak for him.
Daphne was inconsolable. She wept and clung to her mother. Elvis sat next to her, licking the tears from her face. Sabrina found herself sobbing as well.
“Today is a dark day for us,” Prince Charming said as he stepped before the casket. “We have lost one of our own and one of our most precious. Like many of us, Briar Rose came to America aboard the New Beginning, searching for a new life. She left a family and kingdom behind, but she brought with her two fairy godmothers, Mallobarb and Buzzflower, who have been by her side since she was a baby, nearly seven hundred years ago. Mallobarb and Buzzflower kept Briar safe from wicked witches and a few foolish suitors and an even more foolish husband.”
The crowd chuckled. Sabrina knew that Charming had once been married to Briar, but he had never spoken of their relationship. She had also never heard the prince be self-deprecating before.
“Sadly, they could not have stopped a freak accident. She was killed by a dragon—”
A gasp rose in the crowd. Robin Hood shouted for everyone to remain calm.
“Where did this dragon come from?” a stooped old witch asked.
“It was sent by the Master and the Scarlet Hand,” Charming said.
“They have a dragon!” Little Boy Blue cried.
“They have more than one,” Charming said. “Jacob Grimm managed to kill two of them and claims to have seen a third. We have no idea how many more there might be.”
“Where did they come from? I thought the Grimms had all the dragon eggs,” Morgan le Fay said.
“We have what we were given to look after,” Granny said. “I have no doubt there are others.”