Navigating via her marked-up map, Candice directed Alice which way to go as she drove. The rest of the team were either in the back seat, sitting beside Carol’s car seat, or in the car following them. The snowfall had gotten thick enough that Alice had turned on her headlights and windshield wipers.

“We almost there?” Alice asked.

“Just a few more blocks,” Candice said. “If we are where I think we are.”

“My GPS is still all messed up,” Ken said from the back seat. “Must be some kind of electrical interference. I mean, that’s bad, right? It’s not just the snow.”

“I doubt a snowstorm was all Mary had planned,” Candice said.

“Can we still stop her?” Alice asked.

Candice had wanted to avoid speaking this hard truth, but it needed to be said. “At this point, stopping her might be more dangerous than letting her finish. If we interrupt such a powerful spell when it is incomplete, then there’s no way to predict what might happen. It might just fizzle out into nothing, or…”

“Dee end uh da worlwd,” Carol said.

Candice looked back at Carol, who held a tracking crystal in her little hands in an effort to contribute in some way. Candice replied, “That’s possible. At the very least, it would be the end of the world as we know it. The magic could run wild. Reality could warp beyond all recognition. Time and space could twist and tear. At that point, there would be no fixing it. That would be the end.”

“Then, what do we do?” Alice asked, turning her attention from the road for a moment to look at Candice for guidance.

“Look out!” Ken cried pointing in front of them.

Alice slammed on the brakes just in time as a car ran a red light just in front of them and collided with another car going the opposite way from them.

After they came to a halt, Alice asked, “Is everyone okay?”

They all responded with a “Yeah.”

Alice put the car in park, started the hazard lights blinking, and carefully opened the door. “I’m going to see if anyone’s hurt,” she said, removing her seat belt and getting out of the car.

“I’ll go with you,” Candice said, opening her door and getting out.

The two cars had come to a stop about 20 feet from them, neither of them having been going particularly fast during the collision. While Alice went to check on the driver of the car that had run the light, Candice checked on the other driver, who had a few minor scrapes from broken glass but appeared only a little dazed.

“Candice,” Alice said after prying open the door to the other car. “Look at this.”

Candice walked over and discovered that there was a young girl in an adorable sundress sitting in the driver’s seat of the car. She appeared even younger than an average elf would be and had a look of utter confusion on her face.

“W-what happened to me?” she said as she looked down at her hands. “Why am I so little? I couldn’t see over the wheel.”

Candice heard giggling from behind her and noticed a few children gathering up snow from the sidewalk and attempting to form it into snowballs.

“Is everyone okay?” Ken asked, walking up to them.

“She’s gotten younger,” Candice said, realizing that Mary must be utilizing age magic again. “I bet those kids over there were older as well not too long ago.”

“Is that going to happen to us, too?” Alice asked.

“I hope not,” Ken said, but his voice sounded oddly squeaky now.

Candice and Alice turned to look at him and found he was rapidly shrinking, losing decades of age in a matter of seconds, his clothing getting smaller to fit his body.

Thinking fast, Candice pulled a crystal from her pocket and placed it in Alice’s hand. “Hold that,” Candice ordered her. Then, she ran over to the other car, where Bill and Justin were just stepping out onto the street. “Take this.” Candice handed them each a crystal from her pocket.

“What’s going on?” Justin asked.

“Age magic,” Candice explained. “Hold onto those crystals. They should protect you.”

Candice walked back to Alice and Ken to find that Ken had begun crying and Alice had crouched down beside him to comfort him. “It’s going to be okay,” she said. “We’ll get you back to normal again soon.”

“B-but,” Ken said, sniffling. “I don’t wanna be a little kid again!”

Alice turned to Candice and said, “He’s being pretty emotional, even for him. I think it’s affecting his mind as well.”

Candice looked around, realizing that about half of the people around them appeared to have regressed to various ages, some barely more than toddlers, others still teenagers. Traffic had come to a complete halt, due to so many of the drivers being too young to reach the pedals. She sighed.

“Looks like we’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” Candice said. “Come on. Let’s get Carol.”