We eventually found the entrance of the Fay’s tent, and went on with the plan. It was still too dark to see who was standing on your feet, but the witches were growing impatient, and even worse, hungry. A mouthwatering smell emanated from the tent, making stomachs grumble and witches stumble. We had better hurry.

A terrified Zazzles cast his summoning spell, hoping against all odds to get it right on the first go. We could only cross our metaphorical fingers while Pip teleported with the summoned animals. SPLASH “My soup!” “Eek”... That wasn’t part of the plan… Babette raised her broom and focused her magic through the star shaped talismans dangling at the end of it, trying to lift the huge fabric thing while not seeing where it started or ended. It didn’t lift. It tore.

Meanwhile, Clarissa was moving on. She grabbed one of her feathers and took a very determined step forward, right on my tail. I jumped, landed with a glorious CLANG in the bowl full of milk that had only just appeared in front of me without anyone bothering to mention it. Did I yet tell you that there was a slight slope leading to the middle of the clearing? Well, there is. And milk is, until proven the contrary, a liquid. And that bowl has been oiled and shone for whatever stupid reason my witch had found this time, hence I slipped down the slope, 3 paws in the bowl and the fourth over my eyes, while Clarissa cast her chains in the general direction of where the Fay was supposed to be.

My crazy ride led me straight to the caldron in which Pip had apparently landed, explaining the SPLASH from earlier. I hit it with a BONG that would make birds fly off if there were any, overturning it. That was far from the end of it, though. There was a fire burning under it, of course… WHOOSH. What was left of the tent caught fire, I ended up in magical chains in the middle of the empty tent because of the delay in spell-casting that Clarissa still hadn’t managed to suppress.

Poor Pip was trying to climb out of the noodle soup that had been gently cooking before we arrived, panicked because Zazzles had failed his spell and summoned snakes instead of rabbits. Said snakes were now lost in the midst of the noodles, their terrified hisses proof that this was becoming snake-flavored soup.

Lise, the only member of our party not to have caused chaos yet, was sending spells all around the clearing, trying to hit the Fay that was already long gone at that point, having decided that we were a bunch of lunatics and she was better off on the other side of the world making flower crowns. All in all, it was a complete catastrophe and a raging success.

As the sun finally rose from its usual hiding spot, we looked around and stood frozen in awe before our own incompetence. All we had managed to do was get an impressive number of wounds, burns and bumps on ourselves, and set the clearing on fire. Collateral damage can’t always be avoided, right?

We gathered everyone and regrouped around Pip, who teleported us back to village square right as the villagers were coming out of their homes. “Hurray! The cold is gone! We’re all cured!” they welcomed us as heroes, going out of their way to thank us and offer us anything we might require.

That consisted mostly of bandages and a big cauldron in which the witches made a potion to heal the poor snakes’ burns, as well as Pip’s. It took all morning, but in the end everyone was safe and sound, except for me. Nobody has bothered to help with the enormous bump on my head, even the children were now calling me the “unicat”. My pride was wounded, unicorns are extremely stupid beasts, and arrogant at that!

Cyclamen decided to invite all of us to lunch, to apologize for causing such an immense headache to everyone. Hyacinthe and her pup Kiba were there too, and they wanted to know all about the great fight that had happened in the clearing. The witches, of course, couldn’t tell the truth. They had a reputation! And so, they told the story of how they had cunningly devised a perfect plan, executed with brio. To keep us from snorting or reacting in any way that would give their lie away, they stuffed us with deliciously baked potatoes and an amazingly roasted chicken. A fitting end to our adventure, don’t you think?