Cinderella: Ninja Warrior (36 page)
Read Cinderella: Ninja Warrior Online
Authors: Maureen McGowan
Tags: #Fairy Tales & Folklore, #Juvenile Fiction, #Adaptations, #Interactive Adventures
Her stepmother towered above her, eyes searing with hatred. “I’m a fair person, so I’ll give you a choice.”
Cinderella scrambled to her feet. “I’ve seen enough of your so-called deals and choices to know not to trust you.”
“I’ll make this simple.” Her stepmother stretched her hand out, her fingers like the talons of an eagle. “Wand . . . or prince?”
Cinderella gasped and backed away. She was more sure than ever that if her stepmother had her real mother’s wand, she’d be able to rule the kingdom with terror. But Cinderella couldn’t sacrifice Ty. Not even to save the kingdom.
Her stepmother shrugged and then flames shot from her wand to encircle Ty. The flames crept closer to him as he struggled to release his trapped feet.
Gwendolyn ran down the steps. “Mother, stop it!” she yelled. “What are you doing? Surely if Cinderella marries the prince, it will benefit us all.”
Not even looking behind her, her stepmother swung her wand and Gwendolyn flew through the air to land on the roof of the house. She slipped, but then grabbed onto the crow-shaped weather vane.
The flames rose higher, and Ty alternated between shielding his face from the heat and frantically brushing sparks and flames from his clothing. Cinderella’s heart pounded. She had no choice. She threw the wand at her stepmother, who snatched it nimbly out of midair.
The flames died down and the evil wizard turned the wand over in her hands, her eyes wide with malicious delight. “Fool! With this wand, I can rule the entire kingdom!” She waved it once, and every leaf on every tree surrounding the garden died and fluttered to the ground.
Cinderella had no time to second-guess what she’d done. She ran toward Ty. The grass around him was scorched, the fabric of his trousers singed. She threw herself into his arms. “I love you,” she said.
Ty held her tight and said, “I love you, too.”
Cinderella felt a surge of energy flow through their joined bodies as if they were gathering light from all around them. The ground softened beneath them and Ty was released. Clearly, declaring their love had increased their powers.
“We need to stop her,” he said.
“I don’t have a wand.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Cinderella realized she didn’t need one. The magic already inside her had been magnified and sharpened by Ty’s declaration of love.
She looked up at Ty and found a reassuring determination on his face. He lifted his wand, and together they shot a bolt of energy toward her stepmother. The force of it sent her crashing to the ground, still clutching the treasured wand.
Cinderella and Ty continued forward, but moved apart to approach her stepmother from either side, so she’d have to divide her attention to attack them both.
Her stepmother rose from her feet and chose Cinderella as her first target, shooting foul-smelling black sparks toward her.
Tapping into her ninja training and feeling more in control and powerful than she ever had in her life, Cinderella cartwheeled to the side, and then leaped and flipped above the next flash of sparks.
Staying airborne longer than she thought she could, she stared down at the scene below her, feeling as if everything was moving in slow motion. Her stepmother dodged a rope from Ty’s attempt at a binding spell, and before Ty could regroup, her stepmother shot another spell at him.
Cinderella shouted to warn him, but it was too late. A powerful force slammed into Ty’s chest, threw him back, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
“No!” Cinderella landed, then sprang forward and planted a powerful kick directly into her stepmother’s chest, sending her into the ground on her back.
Her mother’s wand fell from her stepmother’s hand. Cinderella dove and grabbed it, but her stepmother grabbed it too, and they struggled on the ground for control of it.
“It’s mine!” Cinderella shouted through gritted teeth as she flipped her stepmother onto her back, her every muscle burning with effort. “Not yours!”
Her stepmother’s eyes glowed red. Momentarily blinded, Cinderella turned away. Her stepmother took advantage of the opportunity and rolled Cinderella onto her back. No longer focused on the wand, her stepmother wrapped her hands around Cinderella’s throat.
Cinderella gasped for air, dropped the wand, and clutched at her stepmother’s hands, trying to draw on Ty’s love, but with him unconscious, she couldn’t. There was no way she was strong enough to battle her stepmother alone.
Her lungs burned, lights flashed behind her eyes, and a fog invaded her mind. Drifting out of consciousness, she remembered her father telling her she was going to have a new mother and two sisters. She’d thrown her arms around her father’s neck because she’d thought a new wife would make him happy. Now that she understood true love, she knew how childish she’d been to assume love could be replaced so easily. He’d only married this horrible witch in order to give his daughter a family. If only he’d known.
Struggling to stay in the present, Cinderella fought to keep her eyes open and assumed she was hallucinating when she saw Ty appear and wrap the crook of his elbow around her stepmother’s neck. He pulled her back.
The vise grip around Cinderella’s neck released and she gasped for air.
Her stepmother leaped up, ready to lunge for Ty, but Cinderella felt a surge of enchanted power inside her. She threw her hands forward and froze her stepmother in midair.
Her stepmother’s rigid body dropped to the ground.
The next thing Cinderella knew, Ty was holding her in his arms. A rush of warmth and safety overtook her before she snapped back into focus. “My freezing spell won’t last.”
They turned to her stepmother, but she—along with her real mother’s wand—had disappeared.
Cinderella spun, searching for the evil wizard, but it was no use.
“She’s gone,” Ty said. “You’re safe for the moment.” He tightened his embrace and Cinderella’s breaths came out hard but shallow.
Had her stepmother given up? That was highly unlikely. Even if she didn’t come back right away, she had her mother’s wand and would have to be stopped.
“Max!” she cried, breaking away from Ty and running to where her godfather had lain in a heap since her stepmother’s attack. Cinderella fell to her knees at his side. His chest rose and fell, but his forehead was gashed, his eyes remained closed, and his normally flushed skin was nearly gray.
Her eyes filled with tears. “Max, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
A warm hand fell onto her shoulder and she looked up to see the royal wizard dressed in a scarlet robe of fine silk. Ty stood beside him.
“How? Why?” She looked up into the royal wizard’s eyes.“When did you get here? How did you know to come?”
“The prince’s groom rode to alert me. I’m sorry I didn’t arrive before the wizard who attacked the prince fled. Who are you?”
Cinderella gasped. Still under the effects of her stepmother’s spell, the royal wizard didn’t remember he’d seen her before. She turned to Ty and said, “My stepmother cast a spell last night. He doesn’t remember me, just as you didn’t at first.”
Ty stepped up beside the wizard and said,“This is Cinderella, the girl I was seeking.” He reached down to touch Cinderella’s face. “You were planning to train her.”
The royal wizard scratched his head. “I was?” He frowned.
Cinderella stepped forward. “My stepmother made everyone at the ball forget they’d ever met me, even Ty—I mean, Prince Tiberius.” She looked into his eyes.
Ty pressed a kiss into her hair. “Our love brought my memory back.”
The royal wizard’s jaw hardened and a wind swirled around him. “It takes a powerful wizard to cast a spell over me without my detection. I will find this wizard and break her black magic spells forever. Her actions will not go unpunished.”
Cinderella grabbed the royal wizard’s arm. “My godfather was hurt trying to help us. Please, is there anything you can do?”
“Let me take a look.” The royal wizard crouched down and then, keeping his hands about two inches above Max’s motionless body, he ran his open palms down his torso and legs, then back up again, as if trying to sense where and how badly he’d been hurt. As he scanned his hands back and forth, tiny sparkles of light bounced over Max’s body, intensifying near his head.
Ty took Cinderella by the shoulders, helped her up, and held her tightly. “Give him room. There’s nothing we can do but let the wizard work his magic.”
She turned to press her cheek into Ty’s warm, broad chest and inhaled the leather scent of his vest. “Max helped me so much. I wouldn’t have even made it to the competition or the ball if it hadn’t been for him.”
The royal wizard put his hands above Max’s face. Light spread from the royal wizard’s fingers. It encircled Max’s head and Cinderella fought back her tears. In spite of all that had happened, this should be the happiest day of her life, but if she lost Max . . . she shuddered at the thought. The royal wizard held his hands just above Max’s face.
Her godfather’s eyes opened, and Cinderella lurched out of Ty’s arms. “Max!” She fell to her knees in the grass beside him.
Max blinked several times, as if trying to focus on the royal wizard’s face. “Hal?”
The royal wizard started, then nodded. “Fred? Is it really you?”
“What’s with the fancy robe, old friend?” Max’s voice was weak and he rubbed his eyes.
“I was appointed royal wizard ten years ago.” He ran his hands above Max again.
“Impressive.” Max nodded and then winced and raised his hand to his head.
“Where have you been, Fred?” the royal wizard asked. “You disappeared—it must have been at least twelve years ago. Have you been living here?”
Max sat up. “I’ve been doing my best to protect Isabel’s daughter. Quite a challenge, since I was transformed into a cat.”
Cinderella gasped. Isabel. Her mother’s name and her own name at birth. Although now she couldn’t imagine herself being called anything but Cinderella.
The royal wizard turned toward her, his brow furrowed. “You’re Isabel’s daughter?”
She nodded.
“No wonder you have such amazing powers.” He turned back to Max.
Max sat up quickly. “Where is Helena?”
“Helena’s behind this?” The royal wizard stood and looked around the grounds.
Max stood up, aided by the royal wizard. “She tricked Isabel’s widower into marrying her, hoping to get her hands on her wand. She killed him and kept Isabel’s daughter trapped and enslaved.”
Cinderella slowly absorbed what the two wizards were saying. Helena must be her stepmother’s name. She’d lived with the woman for so long without knowing. “She got away,” she told them. “And she has my mother’s wand.” She crouched down beside Max. “I’m so glad you’re okay. How did you turn yourself back into a man?”
“It was harder this time because my feline form was the cost for suspending her other spells, but because I was farther away from your stepmother’s influence, I was able to make it permanent. I hope.” He ran a hand through his hair. “After I got the magic into the wand, I had to figure out a way to balance it on some twigs so I could pass under it.” He shook his head. “I’m glad to be rid of that cat body for good. I only managed to break the spell moments before I got back here.”
“You saved me, Max.” She reached out and squeezed his hand.
“Glad I could help, but you saved yourself.”
“Fred,” the royal wizard interrupted, “why is this young woman calling you Max?”
A chuckle burst up from Cinderella’s chest. “Max was my cat for thirteen years. He failed to mention his name was Fred, so I picked one for him.”
The royal wizard tossed his head back and laughed. “You know, I think Max suits him.”
“I thought so, too,” Cinderella said. She heard a voice calling out, and remembered Gwendolyn.
She backed up to see Gwendolyn still clinging to the weather vane on the roof.
“Who is that?” the royal wizard asked.
“My stepsister. Can you get her down?”
The royal wizard raised his wand and a rope appeared out of thin air. Gwen struggled against it at first, then allowed it to wrap snugly under her arms. The royal wizard lowered his arms and the rope gently brought Gwendolyn off the roof and back to the ground.
The shrubs rustled a few feet away and Agatha pushed her way out, pulling a leaf from her hair.
“Thank goodness. We’re saved.” Gwendolyn ran toward Cinderella with her arms wide, as if she planned to hug her.
Not so fast,
thought Cinderella. She backed up and Gwen got the hint and went to Agatha instead.
thought Cinderella. She backed up and Gwen got the hint and went to Agatha instead.
“And who was in the bushes?” The royal wizard came up to stand beside Cinderella.
“My other stepsister, Agatha.”
“Were you hiding from your mother?” the royal wizard asked.
“Yes,” Gwendolyn said quickly, and Agatha bit her lip and nodded.
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