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The knight arched a thick eyebrow, puckering his green lips. “Then I shall slay you, too, if you will not yield!”

“Are you kidding me?” Paige mumbled. “This is ridiculous.”

“Paige,” Dewey whispered, “I think we should get out of here. Quick.”

“Seriously?” Paige asked as the prince swung his sword in circles on either side of him.

“Yeah. He’s planning to kill us.”

“He’s a cartoon.”

“Illustration. And we’re also illustrated. If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not die on page three, thanks.”

“Wait, if he stabs us, we die. Like in real life, too?”

“Probably? Maybe? I don’t want to find out, so maybe let’s make a run for it.”

Paige swallowed hard, her heart speeding up as she stared at the sword-wielding man in front of them. She darted her gaze around in search of a place to hide or the best place to run.

Would he chase them? Could he catch them? In the armor, maybe not.

“Okay,” she whispered to Dewey, her eyes still trained on the prince, “on the count of three, you fly into the trees, and I’ll run in the opposite direction. He can’t chase both of us.”

“Paige…”

“Just do it. He’ll probably chase me since you can fly. I’ll be fine.”

“We shouldn’t split–“

“We have no choice!” Paige hissed. “Now, on three. One, two, THREE!”

Dewey lifted from her shoulders, disappearing into the cover of the trees. Paige darted the other way, skirting around a thick tree trunk and continuing to run deeper into the woods.

A curse escaped the prince’s lips, but Paige did not glance back as she hurried to put distance between them.

“Come back here, wench!”

Footsteps pounded behind her as she dodged around trees in a desperate attempt to escape.

“You cannot outrun me!”

Paige’s features pinched as the voice sounded closer. She reached an opening and skidded to a stop, searching for a place to hide. Leaves rustled behind her, and she spun to stare at her attacker.

He emerged from the trees.

Paige stumbled back a few steps. “Look, Prince Whatever-your-name-is, we’re not here to cause any trouble. We accidentally got sucked into your world and got stuck here. We just want to go home, and we will, the minute we find the Witchlock tree.”

“I have never heard of such a tree! Are you a witch?”

“Am I a… No. I’m not a witch.”

He raised his sword at her. “What other form of creature has a dragon as a familiar?”

“Familiar? He’s my friend. And I’m a librarian.”

“Friends with a dragon? Then you cannot be trusted! I shall slay you and him too!”

Paige’s shoulders slumped as she lunged from side to side in an attempt to get away. “Will you please stop with the slaying stuff?”