“Stop! Stop!” Wolf shouted from somewhere below me. I flew faster and higher to avoid him. “I’ll talk!” He yelled. I slowed down enough for him to catch up. Then I punched him in the snout with my tiny fist. “Ow! I’m sorry.” He said, ducking his injured nose into his leg. “Talk.” I wasn’t in the mood to play games. “I saw them about a week and a half ago. They were hard to miss. Those two kids were as fat as winter geese! If anything, the fact that I didn’t eat them should prove I’m not a natural wolf.” I snapped my fingers. “Which way did they go?” “Why do you want to know?” I was beginning to understand why he hadn’t found a princess yet. “Because I owe them the courtesy of seeing me alive. They did, after all, leave me for dead.”
“Revenge is a bitter apple,” he said softly. “You expect me to take advice from someone who ate a small child?” Wolf glared. “I didn’t see the direction they went. But I know they were looking for the nearest castle. They said something about reporting their parents for child abuse. I don’t know. They kept going on and on about breadcrumbs and Stepmums. It wasn’t until the fairy spoke that I took notice.” “What did she say?” “Her voice was amazing! It was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. It was-” “Magic?” Wolf blinked at me. “Yes! It was magical.” “I hate to tell you Wolf, but fairies are born with natural magic abilities. Some have the power of persuasion. Others can do minor spells. A very select few can even teleport. Whatever you felt, you were duped.”
“You’re just jealous.” He spat out stupidly. “Jealous? Before I left home I could convince a fish to fly! You’ve heard of a Flying Fish, haven’t you? That’s right. I did that!” Wolf stared at me for a second before bursting into laughter. “Oh that’s rich. YOU convinced a fish to fly? You couldn’t even coax information out of me, and I’m not exactly a difficult target.” I waited until he’d collected himself before talking again. “So what did she say to you?” Wolf shook the tears from his eyes. “She said she’d find a cure for my ailment if I’d do them a favor.” “What kind of favor?” I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like the answer.
Wolf suddenly grew somber. “I was given very specific instructions. She didn’t want me to harm you. I wasn’t to use any force.” I waited for him to continue. “What did she ask you to do?” “She asked me to detain you.” Part of me wanted to fly off the handle, to berate him for being such a pawn, to rage over being deceived. I hadn’t planned on going after her. Although surely it would have been understandable, given the position she’d put me in. I had just wanted to live my life. But now she’d made me mad. All I could think about was evening the score. “How long have we been talking?” I asked. “I don’t know. A few hours maybe?” The sun had long since been put to bed and the moon was steadily rising to take its place.
“What castle do you think they were heading towards?” “The closest one is on the other side of these woods. It’s probably a day and a half’s journey from here.” I followed his gaze into the darkness. “Thanks.” I mumbled, quickly flying off into the forest. I tried not to think of Wolf as I flew off in the direction he had nodded toward. But the pounding of his paws below served as a constant reminder that I was being followed. After what felt like hours of chase, I circled back to confront him. "Stop it," I hissed. Wolf licked at his bleeding feet. "Stop what?" "Stop following me. Haven’t you done enough?" "I feel awful about deceiving you. I thought maybe you might let me make it up to you?" "By what, slowing me down? Go away!"
I flew off at a faster pace, hoping I'd be able to lose him. But no matter how quickly I raced, Wolf was always below. I made camp for the night in the hollow base of a tree. Wolf took post below me, curled up like a house cat on the tail end of his cape. "Leaving so soon?" He yawned as I tried to make a quiet escape a couple hours later. "I'm beginning to think that fairies live off air alone. I haven't seen you eat or sleep since we met." I spun around to face him. “I don’t see how you can help, unless by ‘help’ you mean getting me killed. If you haven’t noticed, you’re not exactly discreet.” Wolf stretched his legs lazily. “Don’t worry about me Fae. I’ll be just fine.”
“Well be forewarned, I won’t protect you if this gets ugly,” I called from over my shoulder. "Protect me?” He scoffed. “I’m a Prince. I was born for this!" Our conversation was cut short by the beating of a hundred wings. The forest came alive as a flock of birds ascended from the woods around us. Wolf crouched low to the ground. "We're not alone." He whispered. "Don't be ridicul-" An axe sliced through the air, wedging itself into the tree behind us. Wolf dodged to the side. I soared into the sky, watching as a huge man walked calmly from the forest. The moon, now high and full, reflected off the metal clasps on his jacket. "Woodcutter," Wolf nodded grimly toward him. “I was wonderin’ where my new fur coat ran off to!” Laughed the Woodcutter. “Do you like my hat?”
He swung his head around, showing us the wolf tail that hung from it. “It isn’t complete until I have the matchin’ set.” He took a swig from a flask and began to cross the distance between us, his feet taking heavy and uncoordinated steps. Wolf looked up at me, “I’d like to revise my statement from earlier.” “Oh?” I asked, watching the Woodsman reach for the axe in the tree. “You’re more than welcome to save me.” A bellow tore through our conversation as the Woodcutter pulled on the handle of the axe. An amazing and foolish idea suddenly popped into my head. I flew to the other side of the tree, careful not to get in the way of the Woodcutter.
With one hand on the trunk I whispered, “Please let this work. What was one, now is two. Unite yourselves as something new.” I waited, hoping for something great but expecting nothing. Within seconds the tree began to shake. The Woodcutter stepped away from it, staring in mute shock as it began to bulge. Strange cracking noises began to issue from the tree. And then it imploded. We all blinked in awe at the space where the tree had been. Where did it go? Suddenly, it began to rain axes. “You have to be kidding me!” Wolf screamed as he dodged one of the falling weapons. “This is your idea of helping? Is this payback for earlier? I said I was sorry!” I shook my head in confusion. “I don’t understand. I said ‘unite.’ Maybe I need more practice.” “Well practice quick!”
The Woodcutter skipped around like a kid, picking up axes with both hands. “One axe wasn’t good enough. No, she had to give him a stinking artillery!” Wolf yelled. I placed my hand over the opening where the tree had been. “What was one, now is- many? Take them back, we don’t want any!” Something began to shift below the surface. One by one the axes disappeared. Most dissolved back into the earth, sucked through by some unseen force. The ones the Woodcutter had been clutching hopped out of his arms and back down the tree hole. “Hey!” He called after them. We waited for something to happen. Then, without warning, a tree erupted from the dirt like a geyser.
A minute passed. Wolf snickered behind me. The snicker stretched into a giggle. I turned my head and stared at him. “I’m glad you’re amused.” “Well it’s better than the first spell,” he gasped between fits of laughter. I turned back toward the tree. The Woodcutter was examining it with astonishment. Even I had to admit, it was amazing. The tree, if you could call it that, stood thirty feet high. But it didn’t look like a normal tree. It looked like a very large and bushy axe. I began to laugh too as the Woodcutter threw his weight into it. The handle of the axe was rooted firmly in the ground. This was one axe the Woodsman would never be able to wield.
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