Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories #6)(35)
Of all the possibilities Conner had predicted over the last week, this outcome had completely escaped him. Apparently, they wouldn’t need to travel into the fairy-tale world after all—the Literary Army was coming to them.
“It’s still not enough to defeat the Otherworld!” Conner said. “Both sides will just keep fighting until there’s nothing left!”
“And perhaps that’s been my plan all along,” Morina said. “The fairies have been turned into stone, soon all the witches will be slaughtered, the armies of the Otherworld will be defeated, and the Literary Army will be destroyed in the process. That leaves both worlds entirely defenseless and ready for new leadership—leadership from someone like me.”
Conner glared at her with the most hateful gaze he had ever sent anyone in his life. He couldn’t believe one person was capable of so much manipulation.
“Millions of innocent people are going to die because of you, and there won’t be a drop of blood on your hands,” he said. “I’d say you’re a monster, but that’s not fair to monsters.”
Morina was tickled by that notion, and a sinister smile spread across her face. “I may not be the most powerful enemy you’ve made, but I’m certainly the smartest—and that makes me the scariest of them all,” she said.
A small clock over the entryway struck midnight, and the Rose Main Reading Room began to vibrate.
“Well, it’s been such a thrill catching up, but I’m afraid you’ll all have to be quiet now,” Morina said. “I don’t want you spilling any secrets to our guests.”
The witch snapped her fingers, and the metal bars confining them snaked around their mouths. Conner and his friends looked at one another in panic, but there was nothing they could do. Whether they liked it or not, the bridge between worlds was about to appear.
What started off as a light rumbling sensation quickly escalated into a thunderous tremor. The room shook so violently that the windows shattered and the walls began to crack. The chandeliers swung like wrecking balls before crashing to the floor. The tables slid and slammed into one another like bumper cars, and many of the bookshelves collapsed.
Suddenly, an enormous ghostly orb descended from the ceiling. It glided through the air and landed at the far end of the room. The orb stretched into a wide oval and gained color and depth, as if invisible paintbrushes were painting it. With every passing second, the image of a vast forest became clearer and clearer. Soon the image was so vibrant it didn’t look like a painting of a forest, but a doorway to one.
The witches of the fairy-tale world peered through the opening and took their first steps into the Otherworld. Arboris, Tarantulene, Serpentina, Charcoaline, and Rat Mary led the charge and were followed by hundreds of other grotesque women. Some flew into the library on broomsticks, some galloped with hooved feet, and some crawled inside on all fours.
A wave of salty seawater spilled into the library and swirled around the room like a living serpent. The Sea Witch rode the wave into the Otherworld perched on her coral sleigh, which was pulled by a school of sharks. A sudden chill filled the air, and the Snow Queen emerged through the bridge aboard a sleigh pulled by two ferocious polar bears.
“Your Excellencies,” Morina said with a shallow bow. “I’m so glad you’ve both successfully made it through the bridge. Just as promised, I have found the Bailey girl and cursed her with the dust from the magic mirror. With her power at our disposal, the Otherworld will be ours in no time.”
The Snow Queen and the Sea Witch were shocked that Morina had pulled it off.
“Well done, Morina,” the Sea Witch said. “I have to admit, we’re pleasantly surprised by your competence.”
The witches were so excited to finally be in the Otherworld that they didn’t even notice the people tangled in the railing above them. Conner and his friends tried to warn the witches that they were walking into a trap, but they couldn’t form words with the metal bars around their mouths.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” the Snow Queen screeched. “We have a world to conquer!”
CHAPTER TEN
THE WITCHES ARRIVE
By midnight, over a thousand US Marines had joined General Wilson on Fifth Avenue. The soldiers surrounded the New York Public Library on all four sides, but it was impossible to get close. Whenever a Marine came within ten feet of the building, he or she was quickly knocked back by one of the lion statues. Even if a soldier was on the opposite side of the structure, a lion would crawl over the building and swat the soldier away before he or she could enter.
The general watched the statues from behind a wall of sandbags in the middle of Fifth Avenue. He took a long drag from his twelfth cigar of the night and decided it was time to take action.
“All right, enough cat games!” he said to his soldiers. “I want both those lions blown to bits! Open fire on the count of three… One… Two… Three!”
The Marines unleashed tremendous firepower on the national landmarks. Bullets came from soldiers on all sides of the library and from snipers stationed on the rooftops nearby. The statues were shot until they crumbled into pieces and the front steps of the library were covered in their stony debris.
“Hold your fire!” the general ordered, and the shooting ceased. “Inspect the damage!”