By Hannah Carter
Coppelia Potts, Nightmare Hunter, watched her brother Wolfgang pick up a tiny stone bird. He shuddered as he offered it to her.
“You know that scene in Narnia where the White Witch turns the animals to statues?” He swallowed as Coppelia turned the unfortunate bluebird around in her hands. “That’s what I feel like we’ve just walked into.”
“That makes the fourth we’ve found so far. There’s something in these woods.” Coppelia gently put the bird down and crept forward.
The silence pressed in on them from every angle, and Wolfgang grabbed Coppelia’s shoulders.
“I don’t want to be bait this time.” His voice trembled, and Coppelia patted his hand.
“Don’t worry. No brother of mine will be bait when it could end in petrification or death. Maiming, maybe, but not death.” Coppelia grinned, but they both flinched when a twig snapped underneath her foot with her next step.
Someone—or something—screamed further in the forest.
Coppelia darted toward the noise, only to trip over a stone fox. She yelped, and Wolfgang hoisted her up.
Another screech urged them onward.
They broke through a row of trees and into a clearing, where a strange creature sat in the middle of the glade.
Part rooster and part dragon, but all fearsome: the cockatrice.
Wolfgang careened into Coppelia’s back and they both tumbled.
“Close your eyes, Wolfy, or it’ll turn you to stone!”
“How are we supposed to kill something we can’t see?” Wolfgang rolled off of Coppelia’s back. She could breathe again.
The cockatrice squawked once more, something between a rooster’s crow and a woman’s shriek. Coppelia covered her ears—until she thought of something.
“How about a round of Marco Polo?”
“What?” Wolfgang asked.
Coppelia climbed to her feet and felt around for her sword tucked into its scabbard and unsheathed it. “I have a theory that it hunts by sound. Marco!”
“Polo?” came Wolfgang’s timid response. Seconds later Coppelia heard her true target: the cockatrice’s loud crow-cry.
Coppelia edged a few steps toward the sound, careful to feel around with her toes so she wouldn’t trip over any more critters-turned-garden-decorations. “Stay back. I don’t want to accidentally lop your head off. Marco!”
“Okay.” Wolfgang sounded all too pleased. “I’m up against a tree, way back here.”
“Perfect. Marco!”
Crow-cry.
Coppelia braced herself and swung her sword like a baseball bat, but the creature must have dodged.
“Strike one,” she muttered to herself. “Marco!”
Crow-cry.
It sounded so close. Coppelia thrust her sword erratically into the air around her, but still nothing.
“Strike two. Marco!”
“Polo,” said a new voice. “And you’re out.”
Coppelia let her sword tip touch the earth. “Listen, I don’t know who you are, but you’re in—”
“Danger? Nah, I’m not. And neither are you. You can open your eyes.”
“It’s a trap!” Wolfgang bleated.
“No, it’s not. Promise.”
Coppelia opened her right eye the smallest sliver she could and tilted her head up, squinting through her eyelashes.
A boy wearing sunglasses sat in front of her, the cockatrice in his arms, a blindfold around its eyes.
Coppelia hesitantly opened the one eye further, wary the boy might whip the fabric off the cockatrice’s eyes and turn her to stone. “Who…?”
“Name’s Seth, and this is Foghorn.” He patted the cockatrice on the head. It uttered another crow-cry. “And, let me guess. You’re the Potts siblings, Nightmare Hunters who essentially gaslight unsuspecting people into believing magic doesn’t exist.”
Coppelia sheathed her sword and opened both eyes. “No! We protect people from—mummies and imps and… lots of stuff, thank you very much.”
“Hmm.” Seth smirked. “Well, regardless, unless you’ve got some memory-eraser, you can’t make me forget about Foghorn or trick me into thinking he’s some exotic species of chicken.”
Coppelia crossed her arms. “How do I convince you to give it to me anyway? That thing is dangerous.”
“Foghorn isn’t dangerous. I keep him under control.” Seth stroked Foghorn’s long body. “Sometimes I let him loose out here when nobody is around, but he always comes back when I call.”
“Foghorn could kill you.”
Seth chuckled. “Actually, he can’t.” He raised his sunglasses and grinned. “I went blind about a year ago. Sucks, but know what one perk is? I can keep a cockatrice now.”
Coppelia’s arms fell to her side. “I…”
“And I keep him in my room, away from my parents. No siblings to worry about, either. There’s no victim here.”
Coppelia felt something brush against her arm. She glanced down and saw Wolfgang, a serious look on his face and an armful of the petrified creatures.
“Actually, there is.” He held out the animals and let Seth feel them.
“What’s this?”
“Animals that the cockatrice has been turning to stone. We can’t fix them, but we can stop it from happening again,” Wolfgang said.
Seth clutched the bluebird in one hand and the cockatrice in the other. His fingers slid over the beak and eyes, and his mouth twitched. “But… it’s cruel to keep him locked up and blindfolded all day.”
“Yeah, it is. But you can’t let the wildlife suffer, either.” Wolfgang dropped the rest of the statues. “That’s why we keep people safe. Even if it’s sad or difficult sometimes, like making someone give up a pet.”
Coppelia squeezed Wolfgang’s hand. “Yeah. And, actually, I may have a solution for everybody.”
“I don’t want you to kill Foghorn. He’s… good.” Seth’s voice broke, and he held his cockatrice tighter, even when it let out an awful caw.
“He is.” Coppelia stroked the blindfolded Foghorn. “And your glasses gave me an idea. We’ll make anti-magic stare sunglasses—good for basilisks, Medusas, and cockatrices. Thoughts?”
Seth smirked. “Twinning with Foghorn? Love it.”
“There’s just one problem. Technically, Foghorn has to be under the jurisdiction of a Nightmare Hunter.”
Seth’s shoulders drooped. “But—”
“And I think a boy who tamed a cockatrice would make a great Hunter.” Coppelia grinned. “So… how would you and Foghorn feel about being Nightmare Hunters?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yay for new Nightmare Hunters! Glad Coppelia could think of a solution to help everyone :-D
Yesss, and Seth is definitely joining them for a few more journeys this time around…this animal theme is perfect for him!
Yay Seth and Foghorn becoming Nightmare Hunters! :) Looking forward to reading more adventures from this crew.
I’m so glad you liked it!! I hope you’ll enjoy their next adventures as well! 🥰
I love the cockatrice’s name. Quite funny! Great story!
Thank you so much!! I’m glad you caught the reference! 😂
Now I want to draw these two… XD
(Seth and Foghorn, in their matching outfits, that is…)
Oh my gosh, that would be TOO CUTE. 😍 I’d love to see it if you do it! 😂
It is always a good day when there’s a new adventure with the Potts siblings! I loved this one!
Thank you so much!! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I would gladly continue writing Potts adventures in exchange for Zeke and Annie stories…. 😜😜
Love the use of a game of Marco Polo to catch a dangerous beast! Great story!
I can’t wait for a whole book’s worth of adventures from Seth, Wolfgang, and Coppelia! Wen Nightmare Hunters anthology?
My favorite Nightmare Hunter story yet! :D