The Legend of the Sword of Apocalypse: Part Two

     Agent Deana gasped, and saw the Faerie Queen behind her, clad in a violet bathrobe. Her purple hair fell elegantly below her shoulders, and her sky-blue fuzzy slippers made funny, slightly squishy noises on the floor.

     "Nothing, Your Majesty," the disguised dark faerie answered quickly. "Just…checking around in case…any of General Julia's cronies are around here."

     Fyora smiled, and placed her hand gently on her shoulders. "Ceres, Ceres, Ceres. You can sleep well tonight, knowing that my guards can take anything that crosses our path. Now, you may need your rest, as those rebels can attack any minute, any second. You must always be ready, vigilant and strong. Good night, dear Ceres."

     She stood there, waiting for the queen to walk back to her bedroom. Deana made herself invisible with the snap of her fingers, and silently followed her to a huge, majestic room in Faerie Palace. Before Fyora could shut the door behind her, the agent slipped right in with her, making sure all the while that no one was watching.

     The dark faerie stepped inside the intricately decorated place. There was a large four-poster canopy bed, innumerable tapestries and trinkets all over the place that matched the overall violet and sky blue color scheme, and a large looking glass in one wall of the room. When we take over Faerieland, I'm asking General Julia if I can have the queen's bedroom, thought Deana to herself.

     But before that, she had to find and take the Sword of Apocalypse. Where was it? She quietly began to search in every place that popped into her mind - underneath Fyora's bed, within the chest of drawers, her closets full of long, beautiful gowns…

     There was no sign of a blade anywhere. Agent Deana began to think that her quest was futile…until a sudden blaze of light pierced her eyes, making her flinch. She squinted towards its direction and saw her quarry.

     The Sword of Apocalypse glittered behind a huge glass case beside the mirror. She hadn't thought of looking at that wall yet. She stood up and walked towards the glimmering weapon locked behind what seemed to be crystal instead of glass. The renegade touched the padlock with her hand, and watched it glow purple. As it shattered before her eyes, the dark faerie shot a swift glance at the sleeping queen. Thankfully she was barely bothered by the breaking sound, and was still fast asleep.

     Deana let out a sigh of relief and picked up the sword from the shards of shattered crystal. Looking back once again at Fyora dozing on her fancy bed, she broke into a run and fumbled for the handles of the doors. When at last they opened, the rebel sprinted down the empty corridors, grateful that most of the queen's allies were also in a deep slumber at this time of night.

     She pushed open the exit of the palace, and took flight into the dark sky, becoming visible once again only when she was already a safe distance from the queen's domain. The agent kept on flying until she reached the outskirts of Faerieland, where a seemingly normal fluff of cloud was perched on the usual clouds. A door opened and she flew inside, the chambers within bearing no resemblance to its exterior appearance.

     It was the lair of the rebelling dark faeries.

     "General," whispered Deana as she got to the end, "General Julia. I have Fyora's little sword. I nicked it while she was snoozing."

     A taller dark faerie stood up from where she was sitting, sweeping her long purple hair away from her face and fingering a broad sword at her waist. She took it out, and tossed her old weapon onto her seat.

     "Give it to me, Agent Deana," snarled Julia. "Tonight is the night we storm the queen's pathetic little land and take it for ourselves."

     "I don't get it," said another minion, running a gnarled comb through her hair. "Why would you want Faerieland if you think it's pathetic?"

     The general rounded on her soldier. "It's only pathetic because of that pathetic leader of theirs - Fyora. Once we pry it out of her delicate hands, we will transfer it into a better place. We will rule!" She laughed maniacally, and her comrades joined in, letting the chamber echo with their cackles. Julia examined the Sword of Apocalypse more closely, grinning with extreme malice. "Oh, I can just taste that triumph. Come now! We must seize the day and attack NOW!"

     Whooping and cheering with glee, the army took flight and began to ascend towards the opening of their lair, pouring out like a steady stream of horrible liquid. Their leader squealed the loudest, waving her new weapon high in the air as she led her troop towards Faerie Palace. They flew through the night, all imagining their group taking Faerieland by force from Fyora and claiming the land as their own.

     ***

     Back at the castle, a light faerie was peeking out through a window. She squinted through the dim sky, staring at the blackness. However, amidst the blackness, something else that was dark had begun to move. It was drawing closer to the palace.

     "What - what is that?" wondered the faerie. "Fyora? Where's Queen Fyora?" She broke off from the windowsill and zoomed down the empty corridors, past all the portraits of famous figures in Faerieland history, and slowed to a screeching halt before the double doors of the queen's bedroom.

     Pushing back her long blonde hair, Iris began to knock. After three hard hits, there was no response. She must be a sound sleeper, thought the light faerie.

     KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK-KNOCK.

     There was nothing still.

     BANG! BANG-BANG BANG! BANG! BANG!

     "QUEEN FYORA! QUEEN FYORA!" yelled Iris at the top of her voice, hoping that she could be heard through the doors. Before she could bring down her fists again, they opened with a creak, and out stepped a very sleepy Fyora, tying her bathrobe absently, hair tousled and her eyelids droopy.

     "What - Iris - I was sleeping - what's wrong?" she asked, scratching her head and tossing back some of her violet hair.

     The light faerie said nothing, but grabbed her queen by the arm and dragged her towards the window, through all the hallways. The ominous dark cloud had gotten considerably bigger and nearer, and Fyora squinted at it, still very tired and slightly irritated.

     "Dark faeries…" she mumbled.

     "What do we do?" asked Iris nervously. She heard the clink of weapons and saw the first wave of the palace jump out and attack the army.

     The queen rubbed her eyes. "We…fight," she said, more clearly and more steady now. "I'm going to get dressed. You alert everyone inside so we have lots of allies on our side."

     Iris flew off towards the opposite direction, while Fyora hurried back to her bedroom, locking the door behind her. She quickly began choosing her outfit, and a special suit of armor she only reserved for dire emergencies. She looked at herself in the looking glass and smiled.

     "This is your time to prove yourself," the faerie said to her reflection, pinching her own arms to stay awake. "We are going to fight General Julia's army and win." The queen directed her gaze to the crystal case where she kept the sword Reidar the yellow Eyrie weapon-maker had created for her.

     But she didn't see a sword, or even a case for that matter. What were left were a few shards of the crystal and the broken padlock, and nothing else.

     The Sword of Apocalypse was missing.

     Fyora ran out of her room in panic. "Iris? Iris, where are you?"

     The light faerie replied, her voice faint and far away. "I'm over here, Your Majesty! I've summoned just about everyone in the castle to help hold off the dark faerie rebels. Are you ready? We need you to help fight the invading force!"

     She bit her lip and stared back at her bedroom. "But…but…"

     "Your Majesty, like you said before, we need EVERYONE to fight! That includes you!" The light faerie went towards her, a little out of breath. "Come on, we have to go before they tear down Faerie Palace and totally ruin our kingdom!"

     "But…I don't think I can," said Fyora anxiously.

     Iris's eyebrows shot up extremely high. "But…but…you CAN! You are the Faerie Queen, the greatest, the best…"

     "You don't understand," she said to the light faerie softly. "My blade is gone. You know the one that Reidar has forged for me so we can use it in this war? It's gone, and I think someone broke into my room while I was asleep."

     "Who could have done such a thing?" asked Iris.

     "I don't know. Anyway, I need help all the same. Get me Reidar. Send a messenger to alert him of the disappearance of the Sword of Apocalypse."

     "Do you think he can create another weapon for you in the war?"

     "It's too late for that. Weapons take loads of work and time to form. I'll just tell him about what happened to the sword, and ask him for help."

     The light faerie nodded. "I'll do it. Meanwhile, Your Majesty, sword or no sword, our army needs YOUR help. Go ahead, and I will alert Master Reidar for you." She flew off towards the back of the castle to avoid the attacking dark faerie forces, while Fyora swept off to the other direction to aid her troops.

To be continued...