Chapter One
Written by ACM – Illustrated by DCS

Rose’s heart pounded wildly against her sternum. What felt like no more than five minutes ago she had been sleeping soundly, cuddled against Fox’s chest. Now she was hidden in the shadow of an abandoned paper mill, knees shaking with nerves.

The sounds of fighting reached her ears. Around the corner, just out of sight, a creature of the Night Blossom was trapped by Hydrangea and the girls. Pathetic shrieks had brought Rose and Fox to the scene, but at the last second, Rose stopped herself. She couldn’t run into a fight dressed only in her pajamas, but she couldn’t bring herself to transform either.

In the weeks since her wand shattered, she’d only tested the shield.

Between her sweaty palms she clutched her newly-reformed wand. All the other times she’d lifted her wand to change into a warrior-princess flooded back to her—the warm, feather-soft magic, the thrill of excitement, of hopeful determination that swirled around her before every battle.

“Rose?” Fox called out to her. He hadn’t transformed either, still dressed in a tank top and sweatpants. He waited for her, wouldn’t leave without her.

Rose met his eyes. His steady gaze and reassuring smile grounded her even as she felt ready to fly into a million pieces.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

There was a yelp of pain. Whether it was from the Night Blossom creature or one of the girls, Rose didn’t know, but her resolve hardened. She pulled in a deep breath, fear falling away.

“I am,” she said, voice firm.

Solid black with jagged wings framing the pink gem finial, glinted in the thin moonlight as she held it aloft. She closed her eyes and begged the wand to work.

Familiar magic blossomed over her. She sighed with relief as it swept over her skin. There was something new in the magic, something exciting, almost dangerous. A hint of thorns hidden among the petals that brushed against her.

The magic faded and she was left in her new uniform.

Rose glanced over herself. She really wasn’t the Garden’s princess any more.

Long black gloves, thigh high black boots and a bodice with a neckline that plunged so deep it exposed her belly-button. A pair of jagged black wings draped from her lower back. She was practically giddy to see how much her new uniform matched Fox’s.

Speaking of Fox, Rose looked at him to gauge his reaction. He did not disappoint.

Fox’s mouth hung open.

Smirking, Rose reached over to close his jaw with the tip of her finger.

“C’mon, we have work to do,” she said, voice low.

Fox swallowed thickly. He fumbled his wand, preparing his own transformation.

Rose allowed herself a giggle as he vanished into his own swirl of magic.

When his magic faded, she realized it wasn’t just her outfit that had changed. Though the differences weren’t nearly as dramatic, she could see all the places that Fox’s uniform remolded itself. The scarf was gone, giving her a delicious view of his throat. Sleeves rolled up to reveal even more of his powerful claws and forearms.

“Huh, didn’t think I’d get an upgrade too,” Fox mused. His mouth quirked upward. “I like it.”

“Me too!” Rose chirped, grabbing his huge clawed hand in her excitement.

“Let’s show them what the two of us can really do,” he said.

There could be no more delaying. One of their people was being hurt and they had to act. Face determined, Rose squeezed Fox’s hand one last time.

The two of them launched into action and finally saw the clash that had brought them running.

Backed into the far wall and trembling with fear, the Night Blossom creature was tall and spindly. At first Rose thought they were a deer, but the legs were too long and the face was too flat, almost human. When they screamed, their mouth opened wide, revealing an impossible amount of teeth.

Their eyes cut past the girls and pierced straight into Rose’s heart—huge with fear and pleading for help.

Hydrangea’s lance was pointed at the creature, ready for another attack. Her crown, the one that used to belong to Rose, glinted in the moonlight.

It stung to see what used to be hers worn by another.

Rose brought her wand up. This was not a battle she truly wanted to have but she knew she had to. She wasn’t entirely sure what weapon would appear but she needed something—anything to protect her people.

A black ribbon burst from her wand. The dark vine, sharp with long thorns, carved through the night sky. With a crack like a pistol shot, Rose’s vine smacked Hydrangea’s lance away.

“How dare you attack one of my people!” Rose shouted. The whip recoiled back to her wand, ready for her next move.

Hydrangea whirled around, furious. She stopped dead when she spotted Rose.

Belle and Marigold had turned with her shout; their weapons lowered for the moment. They wore matching expressions of shock. Belle’s ears turned bright red.

Cotton was nowhere to be seen.

Night Blossom creature temporarily forgotten, Hydrangea turned her focus on Rose.

“What are you wearing?” she demanded.

Rose cocked her hip out, smoothed her hands down her sides and grinned, “like it?”

Hydrangea’s face went alarmingly pale then incredibly red in an unhealthy amount of time.

“It looks good,” Marigold said, eyeing her appreciatively. Belle quickly elbowed her. “I mean—”

Hydrangea spluttered, “what—you! Have you no respect for your title? You’re a princess!”

“Not anymore,” Rose reminded her.

Rose did not wait to see what Hydrangea would do next. She brought her wand forward. As soon as Rose started moving, she ran on instinct.

The first attack would be hers.

With a flick of her wrist, the whip came alive. It snaked across the stones with a hiss, aiming to wrap around Hydrangea’s ankles.

Hydrangea didn't retreat. She stepped forward, face contorted with rage, slamming the butt of her lance onto the ground to intercept the vine.

The whip coiled tightly around the lance’s shaft. Rose smirked and yanked backward, intending to disarm her, but Hydrangea braced her weight. Instead of losing her weapon, she drove the lance forward.
Rose was forced to pull back to avoid being tugged into Hydrangea’s range. The whip uncoiled with a vicious snap, breaking the tension.

Through the fight, Fox stood back, stunned. Neither of knew what would happen with Rose’s wand, but he clearly hadn’t expected a whip. Nor had he expected Rose to wield it so well. When she slowed to a stop, he stepped up beside her.

“You show your face, dressed like that, just to defend a monster?” Hydrangea yelled.

“They aren’t a monster!” Rose retorted.

“It attacked the night shift at a nearby factory,” Belle explained, hoping to defuse the fight between her former and current princesses. “We stopped it—”

“And you think death is worthy for a crime like that?” Rose snapped.

Belle swallowed, looking away.

“We had to stop it,” Marigold murmured.

“We should be helping them,” Rose insisted. She stood tall, ready to rally. “They are hungry and scared. And—”

“Then they are a beast driven by instinct,” Hydrangea sniffed, chin raised defiantly. “A beast that needs to be put down.”

A white-hot anger scorched through Rose so quick and violent she was almost blinded by it. She swept her whip into the air in a blur of motion. The air popped with miniature thunderclaps, echoing her fury.

Hydrangea raised her lance with both hands.

“Try to stop me,” Hydrangea growled.

Then she thrust forward—a lighting-fast stab aimed directly at Rose’s chest.

But Fox was a fraction faster. He sprang forward, the flat of his blade slapped the lance-tip to the ground in a shower of sparks. Rose didn’t hesitate to take the opening. She cracked her whip in tight whirl. It lashed through the air, slicing Hydrangea’s cheek.

A bloody, jagged streak bloomed across her pale skin.

Hydrangea reeled back with a hiss of pain. Her grip faltered for only a second. With a furious tug, she wrenched her lance to swing into a wide arc.

Fox caught Rose around the waist and the two of them leapt backward.

A momentary pause fell over them, chests heaving with effort, eyes locked onto each other. A smile, unbidden, pulled across Rose’s face. She fell so easily into Fox’s space and he caught her effortlessly.

The two of them straightened and faced Hydrangea once more. Rose unfurled her whip.

If they were on the same side, Hydrangea would have pointed out all the holes in her stance. Probably remind her of all their training and that she should be practicing more.

But they weren’t on the same side anymore. A chasm had opened between them. It only grew wider with each passing day. If Rose ever wanted to close the gap, she would need to make the girls understand—to see that the Night Blossom was not the true villain.

Fear and pain were terrible motivators.

With the Knights facing Rose and Fox, the creature tried to make an escape. Marigold turned to stop them, wand at the ready.

As they reared, Rose could see that the long legs ended in terrible crystalline spears. They vaulted forward.

Marigold’s eyes went wide. There wasn’t enough time or space to move out of the way. One of the crystal hooves collided with Marigold’s temple, throwing her to the ground.

Rose darted forward to help her but a flash of Hydrangea’s lightning sent her reeling back.

“Mari!” Belle yelped. She immediately turned her bow on the escaping creature.

“Belle, don’t!” Fox tried.

It was too late. Belle’s arrow had been released, whistling through the air with deadly precision.

The creature let out an ear-shattering yowl and plummeted back to the ground with a sickening thud. Belle’s arrow quivered in their heaving side. They whimpered, trying to stand once more. Their oddly flat face turned to the group.

Something in the air shifted, then crystals started to burst from the ground, launching from the creature’s hooves and racing straight toward the Knights.

Rose and Fox sprang apart to avoid a crystal exploding right under their feet.

“I told you. Once a monster, always a monster,” Hydrangea sneered. She twirled her lance, lightning sparking from the tip.

Fox reappeared in front of Rose. He caught Hydrangea’s lance in his claws, stopping it from sinking into her flesh.

“Is that any way to treat royalty?” he asked.

“Former royalty,” Hydrangea corrected.

Hydrangea did not bother with any more banter. She itched for a rematch, determined to take Fox down. She whacked Fox’s hand away.

With Hydrangea focused on Fox, Rose blocked Belle from the creature.

“Rose, do we have to do this?” Marigold asked, at a loss.

Belle rushed to Marigold’s side. She did not look at Rose or the creature as she helped Marigold to her feet.

Blood oozed sluggishly from Marigold’s forehead.

The sight of blood dripping down Marigold’s smooth mahogany skin made Rose’s heart ache. She wanted to wipe it away, to heal the wound but Belle’s arrow was trained right at the creature’s heart.

“We don’t have to,” she tried, hopeful. “You can help me. Join me to help fix the kingdom.”

Marigold deflated, “The Garden gave us our powers… I, we, I can’t.”

“Mari, please,” Rose tried again.

The creature screeched. They kicked out. Another barrage of crystals pierced the air.

A blinding spell flashed from Marigold’s wand, shattering the crystals to dust.

“We have to defend ourselves,” Belle said through gritted teeth.

Marigold could not bring herself to attack Rose. All she could do was make sure Rose’s thorns didn’t fly too close to Belle or Hydrangea.

Now it was a true battle.

The factory grounds rang with the powerful attacks. Magic blew holes threw old brick. Weapons tore great slashes through the ground.

Despite the situation, it felt good to fight with Fox again. They covered each other’s gaps, a seamless and well-oiled machine. She could move knowing that Fox watched her back, just as she watched his.

Rose fought a smile when he sent her a wink as he dashed by to stop Hydrangea’s lance. She flicked her whip in a short loop, sending one of Belle’s arrows careening away from Fox.

The only thing that slowed them down was the deer’s crystals. Jagged chunks of dark purple stone made any path narrow and difficult to maneuver through. More than once, the crystals became a temporary shelter as Rose ducked behind them to avoid an attack.

A crystal near Rose’s shoulder exploded with an arrow’s impact.

“I am not your enemy,” Rose called through the glittering dust. Fighting against her former Knight was painful but she knew if she stopped the creature would be torn apart. If she could reach Belle, make her understand—

“You might not be, but that thing is,” Belle replied. She swung her bow, knocking a tossed chunk of crystal away.

“They aren’t either. They are scared—!”

“It attacks innocent people!”

A shaft of lightning cut between them.

Fox darted through the crackling energy. He struck the ground. His vines burst out of the shadows; a great writhing wave that launched toward the Knights.

“Go, I’ll follow,” he promised.

“You’d better!”

Fox’s opening gave Rose enough time reach the Night Blossom creature. Behind the broken crystal wall, they quivered and whimpered.

“Don’t be afraid,” she cooed, empty hands raised in peace. “I’m here to help you.”

Giant, frightened eyes lifted to hers. She did not understand how she had ever seen them as enemies.

A loud clash of Hydrangea’s lance and Fox’s sword reverberated through Rose’s ribcage. If she didn’t take the creature now they might not be able to escape.

The creature was too big for her to carry, but she could help them walk. She urged them to their feet. She pressed her side against theirs. Blood, ink-dark and glittering, seeped from the arrow wound into her clothes. It was strangely cool.

The two of them hurried away from the battle. As they neared the edge of the old factory grounds, Belle appeared in front of them. She clutched her bow but did not point an arrow at them.

Her former knight was built for quick and quiet work. Now on the other side, Rose couldn’t help the trickle of fear that rolled down her spine. She and the deer slowed to a stop. She did not raise her whip.

“You can come back to us,” Belle said, voice cracking. “I’m sure we can fix this together, with your parents.”

“You know I can’t. You know what’s happening isn’t right,” Rose stated, placing herself between Belle and the creature.

Belle flinched at the movement. Her face pinched with an unspoken pain.

“Please, Belle, let us go,” Rose started.

Silently, Belle stepped out of the way. She cast her eyes down, to avoid watching as Rose and the creature hobbled as fast as they could.

Rose could not bring herself to look back at Belle. She fled from the factory. Her heart broke all over again as she slipped into one of the many shadow doors that would take her back to safety.

To Be Continued…