“Oh, Charlie, so many terrible things have happened since you’ve been gone,” Chase said. “The Masked Man stole a potion from the late Fairy Godmother’s chambers and used it to travel into the books from your library. He recruited a terrible army that attacked our world and imprisoned the citizens from every kingdom. He almost executed all the royal families, but thankfully Jack and Goldilocks saved us and brought us to the abandoned mine. After we escaped, the Masked Man’s army turned on him, and now three horrible emperors are in power!”
“Unfortunately, I’m quite familiar with the emperors,” Froggy said. “I saw the Wicked Witch, the Queen of Hearts, and Captain Hook through a mirror in the Northern Palace. I overheard them making plans to invade and conquer the Otherworld next—that’s why I need to find the twins immediately! I need to warn them the emperors’ army is coming!”
“The twins went into the Otherworld to recruit their own army,” Sleeping Beauty explained. “Jack, Goldilocks, Red, and Trollbella went to help them assemble it. They’ve already enlisted people from the worlds of literature, like the Tin Woodman from Oz, the Lost Boys from Neverland, and the Merry Men from the Sherwood Forest.”
Froggy thought his ears were deceiving him. “Did you say Oz? Neverland? The Sherwood Forest?” he repeated. “Well, they’ve certainly had quite an adventure without me. What sort of army are they assembling?”
“The twins are recruiting characters from Conner’s writing,” Rapunzel said.
Froggy’s mouth dropped open. “That’s remarkable,” he said. “But why go to such extremes? Aren’t there enough people in this world to fight the Literary Army? Surely, the Fairy Council could do something to help—”
“The Fairy Council was turned into stone long before us,” Sir Lampton said. “The Literary Army attacked the Fairy Kingdom first before ambushing the others. They came so quickly in the middle of the night, there was nothing we could do to prepare ourselves.”
Froggy had known things were bad, but he had no idea they were this bad. He sat on a boulder as the magnitude of the situation sank in.
“Just for the record, I’d like to remind everyone that I predicted all of this,” the Traveling Tradesman said. “Remember when I was using the Lost Boys’ marbles to foresee the future? I specifically said worlds would collide, and now look what’s happening—worlds have collided, all right!”
Hagetta rolled her eyes at the silly man. “Oh, shut up, you old geezer,” she said. “If you’re such a gifted psychic, then where was the warning about the Literary Army? Or the monster who turned us all into statues for a week?”
Regardless of the challenging times, Froggy still needed to warn the twins about the Literary Army’s next conquest. He leaped to his feet, more determined to find them than before.
“I need a way into the Otherworld,” he said. “How do the twins manage to get back and forth?”
Hagetta looked around the mine and retrieved the emerald-green Land of Stories treasury from the ground.
“They’ve been using this,” she said, and handed Froggy the book. “It’s been splashed with the Portal Potion. When the book is opened, a powerful beam of light projects from its pages. Step through the beam and you’ll enter the Otherworld.”
“Thank you,” Froggy said. “I just hope I’m not too late.”
“Do you want us to come with you?” Sir Grant asked.
“No, this world needs you more than I do,” Froggy said. “Once the Literary Army has crossed into the Otherworld, the rest of you should use their absence to liberate your people from the Northern Kingdom. There’s also a cottage just a few miles east of here by the river. You’ll find the missing children from the Corner Kingdom and Charming Kingdom in the basement. Take them with you and reunite them with their families.”
The royal families and the soldiers nodded—eager to finally be of service to their people again.
Rook stepped forward. “I want to come with you,” he said. “If Alex is even remotely in danger, I’m willing to do whatever I can to help her.”
“That’s out of the question,” Farmer Robins said. “An enormous army is headed for her world, Rook! It’s too dangerous! I won’t let you put yourself in harm’s way!”
“You don’t understand—I have to!” Rook declared. “I’m partly to blame for this whole mess. If I hadn’t led the Grande Armée to the royal families, the Masked Man would never have had the opportunity to steal the Portal Potion! I betrayed Alex and I’ve had to live with the guilt of a hundred men because of it. The only way I can redeem myself is by making things right. This may be my last opportunity to make it up to her—so I’m going and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
After seeing the determination in Rook’s eyes and hearing the passion in his voice, Farmer Robins knew there was no arguing with his son. Instead of debating him any further, the farmer clasped his son in a tight embrace.
“Be safe,” he said tearfully. “You’re all I’ve got left, Rook.”
“I will,” Rook said, and hugged his father back.
“Your father is right about one thing,” Sir Grant said. “The Otherworld is going to be significantly more dangerous once the Literary Army enters it. Even if the twins have secured an army to fight them, the two of you shouldn’t make the trip alone.”
Froggy couldn’t have agreed more. “We’ll take the Fairy Council with us,” he decided. “I have just enough tears left to free them. But we need to hurry—as far as we know, the army could already be headed to the Otherworld.”
“Then we’ll take Cornelius to the Fairy Kingdom,” Rook suggested. “He’ll get us there three times as fast as any horse could.”
Rook whistled and the chubby unicorn stepped out from the group of animals. Cornelius loved being singled out and neighed arrogantly. Porridge, Buckle, and Oats grunted—there was nothing more annoying than a big-headed unicorn.
“Splendid,” Froggy said. “We’ll leave at once.”
Froggy and Rook climbed aboard Cornelius and steered him out of the mine. The unicorn galloped as fast as a race car. They charged through the Dwarf Forests and sped across the Charming Kingdom, and within two hours of their departure, they were already approaching the Fairy Palace in the Fairy Kingdom—or at least what was left of it.
The destruction was a devastating sight. The golden pillars and arches of the majestic palace had been blown to pieces by the Jolly Roger’s mighty cannons. The vibrant gardens surrounding the palace had been burned to a crisp and were covered in debris. In the center of the ruins, Froggy, Rook, and Cornelius found the statues of Rosette, Tangerina, Xanthous, Emerelda, Skylene, Violetta, and Coral. The colorful Fairy Council was just as pale, stiff, and frozen with fear as the people had been in the abandoned mine.
“What kind of monster is capable of this?” Rook asked.
“It wasn’t her fault,” Froggy said. “It was the monsters behind the monster—they’re the ones to blame.”
Froggy jumped down from Cornelius’s back and approached the statues with his bottle of Medusa’s tears. Just as he was about to pour the first teardrop into Emerelda’s stone eye, the sound of approaching footsteps came from behind him. Froggy turned and saw a group of strange men walking toward them.