Rise of Mother Nature

Dandy Sandy

We crawled to the top of the roof where the now frozen Nightmare lie motionless.

“Look at this thing,” I said quietly as Jack poked at it with his staff.

What you might call my ‘sixth sense’ alerted me that something was coming up behind me. I whirled around and cracked my whip at Pitch’s head. Unfortunately he disappeared before I could hit him. He reappeared on the roof next to us and Jack blasted another frost wave toward him. Pitch ducked out of harms way and frowned.

“You two spend an awful lot of time with those weirdos,” Pitch grumbled. Then he turned his attention fully to Jack, “This isn’t your fight, Jack.”

Jack narrowed his eyes and aimed his staff at Pitch, “You made it my fight when you stole those teeth!”

“Teeth?” Pitch grinned with curiosity, “Why do you care about the teeth?” Sandy appeared next to Pitch and scared him a few steps backward. Then he laughed darkly, “Now this is who I’m looking for...”

But before Pitch could finish, Sandy created two dream sand whips and lashed out at Pitch. He ducked though, and a giant, nightmare sand scythe appeared in his hands. He swung at Sandy. Jack wanted to go forward and help him, but I grabbed his wrist and shook my head. One of Sandy’s whip wrapped around Pitch’s foot and slammed him repeatedly on the rooftops until he chucked him over the building and onto the street below.

I grinned as Sandy floated over to us. Jack looked at him, “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

They floated down onto the street but before I could follow, I felt an excruciating pain that shot up my arm. I looked down and ripped the cloth from my hand. My entire hand was a dark black. My arm was turning purple quickly.

“Hah...” I whined grabbing my wrist and fell to my knees.

Overhead I heard the sleigh crashing into the street then taking off again. I couldn’t pay attention to anything right then but my arm. I laid down on my side cringing. This must’ve been an extreme case of frost bite. Jack’s staff was extremely cold. I remembered back six hundred years ago that I had awoken in plant life. I had been in the forest all my life. I stayed underground or in a cave during the winter. I had never come in contact with extreme cold before. I could feel my head pounding. I couldn’t take it anymore. No! I yelled at myself, You are NOT going to black out! The Guardians need you! I growled and jumped into the air catching onto the warm breeze and my leaf path. My hair blew in the wind as I ran up into the air, higher and higher, where the Guardians were fighting Pitch and his Nightmares. I threw six ‘thorn knives’ at the Nightmares and grew my thorn tipped whip.

“Raaaaaa!!!!!!!!” I screamed as I attacked the Nightmares.

I whipped as many as I could, but they started to surround me. I didn’t know what else to do. I closed my eyes and felt a tug in a pit in the bottom of my stomach. My eyes flew open as I swept my hands around the giant circle of Nightmares. At first nothing happened. Then a giant wave of plants grew behind me and wiped out every Nightmare in the circle. I wrinkled my nose in disgust and my ears twitched. I looked upward and saw Sandy surrounded in an even bigger crowd of Nightmares.

“Oh no...” I whispered.

I felt another sting in my arm but ignored it. I crouched and launched myself higher into the air and I went as high as I could as fast as I could. I finally reached the altitude level with Sandy. Pitch pulled back his arm and aimed a nightmare sand arrow at Sandy.

“NO!” I yelled.

“NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!” Jack screamed and flew toward Sandy but it was too late.

Pitch shot him, “Hahahahaha! Don’t fight the fear, little man! I’d say sweet dreams, but there aren’t any left.”

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Black sand spread across Sandy’s golden back as he embraced the end. Jack was flying toward Pitch in a rage.

“JACK NO!” I yelled after him.

Pitch raised his arms and a giant wave of Nightmares rose above him and crashed onto Jack.

“JACK!!!!!!!!!!!”

I thought he was gone and a tear ran from my eye. Then I saw a huge, blue spark from inside the darkness. It was Jack! My tail and ears perked up and I saw him clap his hands together as the spark disintegrated every Nightmare and threw Pitch backward. Jack was falling from the sky. I gasped and leaped up to him, catching him in my arms and lowered him down to the ground. The sleigh was still in the air but followed us down.

Jack’s eyes opened, “Autumn?”

“Shh, Jack,” I whispered, “You’re safe now. Just relax.”