Andrew Buckley - Stiltskin

Robert was taking the silence as a time to reflect and plan.

“You really don’t have a plan,” said the voice in Robert’s head.

Robert ignored it.

Although, it was true. He’d considered using the vial of blood that the White Rabbit had given him. He’d said it would take Robert anywhere he wanted if he went through a door.

The problem was that he’d never seen or been through a door and the prospect scared him. The other reason was that he felt he needed to be here. Needed to stick to Lily because… well… he couldn’t actually come up with a reason.

“It’s because she’s beautiful, and despite all outward appearances she seems to care about your well-being,” said the voice.

Robert didn’t reply. He didn’t want to give off the impression he was going crazy to the others. Even though that was obviously what was happening, he didn’t feel the need to advertise it any more than he had to. Either way, he felt this was where he was supposed to be for the time being. The one thing that was still bothering him―

“One thing?” said the voice.

―was the cat. The voice in his head was strange, definitely. The fire that had started at the halfway house was very suspicious. The cat, however, he was certain had been real. He hadn’t imagined it; he’d held it in his hands.

“Maybe you didn’t?” said the voice.

“Shut up!” said Robert.

Lily jumped. “Damn it, Robert!”

“Sorry,” said Robert sheepishly. “I don’t have any control over it.”

“I know it’s not really your fault.”

Robert was a little surprised. This was the first time that Lily had admitted any hint that she knew what was going on with him.

“So,” began Robert, hoping to get back on speaking terms once again, “tell me about the Historian?”

“Well, for starters, he lives there,” said Lily as they crested the high ground of the pathway to reveal the foot of one of the surrounding mountains. Set into the foot of the mountain was a medium-sized castle built of a dark grey stone, with three tall towers and guarded by a high wall. Robert noticed that there were flocks of birds flying close to the castle walls and around the towers.

“I thought it’d be bigger,” mused Robert.

“The castle is just the front of the Archives. The mountain behind it is largely hollow. It was mined by an ancient group of Dwarves. There are countless rooms and passageways; many haven’t even been explored. It was originally supposed to be some sort of Dwarf kingdom but the Giants wiped them out.”

“How did the Giants get in there?”

“The Dwarves were so impressed with themselves for hollowing out an entire mountain and turning it into their kingdom that when the Giants rampaged across the land, the Dwarves felt the need to defend their mountain.”

“Wouldn’t they have been safer in the mountain?”

“They weren’t the smartest of the ancient races. They marched out to meet the Giants and were consequently crushed. The Giants wanted nothing to with the Dwarves or anyone else. They just wanted to get from the Southlands, where they had originally lived, to the North where they wanted to re-settle. The Dwarves just got in their way.”

“And now the mountain’s a library?”

“Precisely. It was taken over by the first Wizards’ Council and became home to our history. It was managed largely by wizards for many years until just over a hundred years ago, when the Historian was appointed to watch over and catalogue the Archives.”

“Over a hundred years? How old is he?”

“He’s getting close to his nine-hundredth birthday.”

“So he’s not human?”

“No.”

“Dwarf?”

“No.”

“Wizard?”

“No.”

“Look, it’d probably help if you gave me a hint.”

Lily stopped and turned to face Robert and he realized then that he had been wrong about her seeming anxious. She wasn’t anxious or nervous, it was fear he saw in her. She was scared of the Historian.

“Lily, what is he?”

Lily bit her lip and looked to the ground. “He’s a werewolf, Robert.”

Robert didn’t know why the thought of werewolves existing was any stranger than anything else he’d seen today but the concept struck him as amusing.

“Well yeah, of course he is. Now it just seems silly that I even guessed a wizard. I suppose he has an assistant that’s a vampire?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, there’s no such thing as vampires,” said Lily and continued walking.

Robert followed behind her. “So when it’s a full moon he turns into a wolf and terrorizes the local farmland?”

“No, he doesn’t do that anymore.”

“Ohh, so he’s a nice werewolf,” said Robert with a laugh.

Lily turned around and stood in Robert’s path. Her eyes were moist with tears.

Robert’s smile instinctively dropped from his face.

“He’s not a nice werewolf. There are no nice werewolves. He terrorized Thiside for many years and killed a lot of innocent people. He stole a passport and fled to Othaside in the early eighteenth century and hid in France quietly for thirty years. But he couldn’t keep his blood lust in check and he finally snapped. Othasiders named him the Beast of Gévaudan because that’s the province he was terrorizing at the time. Your history books actually have some of the details. He attacked two hundred and ten people and killed one hundred and thirteen of them. A special task force had to be assembled to cross over to Othaside to hunt and capture him. He was dragged back here and served a hundred and thirty years in the Tower before being released and appointed, at his request, to be the Historian. He’s a murderer, a killer of men, women, and children. He’s not nice, Robert.”

“I’m sorry, Lily, I didn’t know.”

Lily wiped a sleeve across her eyes. “Well, now you know. Let’s make this visit short.”

She turned and walked away, passing the Gnomes who had stopped to see what the shouting was all about.

“You’ve got a real way with the ladies, moron,” said Gnick.

“Who’s that?” asked General Gnarly who had been watching Lily.

Robert looked down the road to see that Lily was talking to a bright blue glowing ball.

“That’s her Fairy. She went after the Dwarf.”

Lily beckoned the three of them over. “Veszico had an altercation with Rumpelstiltskin but essentially she lost. The Dwarf was heading toward the City of Oz which means he definitely has an agenda.”

“How do you know?” said Robert.

“Because he’s heading toward one of the most populated areas in Thiside. If you’re an escaped convict on the run, then staying away from people is normally the best thing to do.”

“So there must be something there he wants.”

“Or needs,” added the General.

“Hopefully, the Historian can tell us what he was doing when he was caught, which might give us some idea of where he’s going,” said Lily.

Veszico’s little voice rang like the tiniest of tiny bells.

Lily looked confused.

“No, I haven’t seen Jack since he went after you.”

The Fairy’s voice rang again but this time with urgency.

“I’m sure he’s fine, and regardless, I have a different task for you. I need you to fly to the Kingdom of Hearts. Agent Tweedle is on assignment as council to the Queen. I need you to send him to the Tower as quickly as possible. There’s a prisoner there who needs interrogating; the Guard Troll will know which one. He might be able to shed some light on how and why Rumpelstiltskin escaped but tell him to use caution.”

The Fairy nodded, shone brighter, and flew off toward the East.

“Come on, we’ve lost enough time already today,” said Lily and started a quick pace toward the Archives with the Gnomes running on ahead.