“Enchantress, allow me to explain,” Riven started, but his voice caught.He reached his hands to his throat to find it wasn’t working.Brumenhildr prevented him from speaking.
“I charged you to clean this pond.”
“It was beyond redemption, Great One,” Bella said, falling to her knees in supplication.“It was too polluted to clean.We thought it best to start anew, and look,” Bella said, pointing.“Already the deer have found it, as well as birds.A duck even splashed in it yesterday.”
“Silence!”Brumenhildr roared, and birds in the nearby trees erupted in fear, fleeing the site with panicked cries.
Riven watched Bella’s hands crawl to her throat.She, too, had been magically shushed.Riven pushed through, making himself croak until he found his voice.
“Do not punish her for my doing.The new lake was my idea.”
Bella shook her head at him for the lie, but if anyone were to be punished, it would be him, not her.
Riven stated, “I was the one who ordered it dug.I was the one who hired men to assist.I am the one to earn your scorn, not Bella.Please release her.”
Brumenhildr glared at Riven, her eyes filled with retribution.Finally, Bella gasped and caught the ground with her hands, sucking in fresh air.
“You mock me with this.”
“I do not mock you, Enchantress.The deceased animals in this pond have been blessed by both a pastor and a priestess.The new pond has likewise been blessed to be clean and fruitful for all its days.”
“This was neither your task nor your punishment.”
“It was the only way to fix it.The pond could not be cleaned.”
“It was supposed to be cleaned.That was what I charged you to do.”
“An impossible task.So we made a new pond for you.A better one.And everyone in town knows to keep it clean.Indeed, we look forward to the day we can fish here.”
Brumenhildr said nothing, just lifted Riven in her hand.Once he was eye level with her, she began to squeeze.
He struggled, and struggled, but her grip only tightened.
His sense of self waned.His memories evaporated like steam from his tea.He knew what was happening; Brumenhildr was turning him into a regular frog, just like she threatened.Riven looked to Bella, then his mother, wanting his last memory to be filled with people who meant the most to him.“Please do not harm my mother or Bella.I accept my punishment.Do not harm them, please.”With his last breath he uttered, “I love you, Bella.”
The enchantress threw him to the ground, and all he could do was croak from the terrible impact.His body hurt.His lungs wouldn’t work.He didn’t know how to escape or how to get to water.He only knew he needed to flee from a dangerous predator.
Something was after him, and he needed to try to survive.
He looked up just as a giant foot came slamming down on him.
