“Sentinel?” I frowned as a thick wall of bramble and thorns peeled back for me, revealing a small clearing beyond. “What sentinel?”

Puck winced and nodded into the glen. “That sentinel.”

A tree stood in the center of the clearing. It was large and pale, bare of leaves, with crooked branches reaching up to claw the sky. However, only the top limbs were visible above the coils of a massive snake curled around the trunk. The huge serpent, black and shiny with thick, armorlike scales, shifted its huge body into an even tighter coil, looking like it wanted to suffocate the tree. I could see its head, resting on the ground, an arrow-shaped viper skull with lidless red eyes. A forked tongue, almost as long as me, flicked out to taste the air.

“Jeez, that thing has gotten huge,” Puck muttered, crossing his arms as we stared at the gigantic creature. “I don’t remember it being half that big the last time we killed it, do you, ice-boy?”

I started, frowning at him. “You killed it? Then, how is it…still here?”

“It doesn’t stay dead,” Ash replied, watching the monster over my shoulder. His hands came to rest lightly on my waist as he moved close. “If someone wants to use the Wishing Tree, they first have to kill the guardian. If they’re successful, they get their wish, but the sentinel returns to life soon after, even bigger and harder to kill than before.”

“Oh.” I glared at Grimalkin, calmly washing his paws on a nearby rock. “That’s just fabulous. And you expect us to kill that thing? It’s the size of Walmart.”

The cat yawned. “I do not expect you to do anything, Iron Queen,” he said, examining his claws. “I am simply to guide you to where you need to go. If you do not wish to get to the oracle and inquire about the future of your child, that is your decision.” He gave the paw a final lick, then set it down. “But the only way to the oracle is through the Wishing Tree. And the only way to the Wishing Tree is through the sentinel.”

“He’s right.” Ash sighed, and drew his blade. Puck followed suit with his daggers. “If the only way to the oracle is past that serpent, then we’re cutting a path straight through. We did it before—we’ll just have to do it again.”

“I love it when you talk my language, ice-boy.” Puck grinned.

I drew my sword as well, but Ash put a hand my arm. “Meghan, wait,” he said softly, pulling us back a step. I hesitated, then followed him back into the trees, out of sight of the serpent. “I don’t want you to fight this time,” he said as he bent close, his expression intent and serious. “Stay back with Grimalkin. Leave this fight to me and Puck.”