The silence hung over them for a moment after Spock's words until Leonard looked back toward the area.

"There's more, isn't there, brother?"

"Aye, there is, Leonard. By how the prints are located, the wolf was walking upright and not on all fours."

"Then it is bound an enchanted creature as we had already suspected and -."

A call from Pavel interrupted James and they all looked to where the young man was. He had dismounted and walked further down the path.

"What is it, Pavel?"

"The wolf. By these tracks, he headed for the hamlet ahead of the girl. His prints are faint, but her footprints are showing atop of them in places."

James frowned, considering the implications.

"Had he wanted to ambush the girl, surely this spot would have been better. There is no sign that others have passed this way recently."

Leonard drew in a sharp breath.

"The ladies said that the beast preyed on the elderly as well. If the little one mentioned where she was going, it may well have rushed ahead to get to her grandmother first. We should hurry else we may be too late to be of aid to either grandmother or granddaughter."

The group agreed and all urged their horses on. When they arrived, they easily spotted the small home that the mother had described to them, but the door was standing open. Nyota volunteered to go in first to avoid scaring the grandmother should she happen to be there alone. The call from Nyota shortly after entering told them that all was not well inside.

"The beast is stretched out asleep on the bed with his stomach so distended that it looks as if he might burst at any moment. The child's basket and red hood are on the floor and I believe the beast has swallowed grandmother and granddaughter both."

Leonard hurried inside and noticed what Nyota had missed - a rippling motion beneath the fur stretched over the tight belly.

"I believe at least one of them still lives! Spock - James! Come help hold the beast still and we might save one of them."

Spock moved to hold the shoulders as James held the legs as Leonard drew his dagger and carefully slit the beast open as it woke howled in agony. A moment later, a gasp was heard and Leonard called for help. Pavel and Hikaru rushed over and pulled the young girl, bloody but living, out of the guts of the wolf. They turned her over to Nyota, then reached in again and drew out the grandmother - unconscious and in poor health, but also still alive.

To the surprise of all, the wolf spoke to Spock.

"You were right, cousin. You were right. Having T'Pring was not nearly so pleased a thing as wanting her."

"Stonn?"

"Aye. She cursed me to this form and to have to subsist only on living flesh. Take pity on me - take my head and end my misery."

Before James or any other could object, Spock drew his sword and removed the wolf's head with one blow. As they watched in amazement, the slit Leonard had made in the belly grew until the body fell apart in halves, revealing the Son of Vulcan, naked as the day he was born, but whole and free of the wolf's form.

Spock began to attend to helping Stonn clean himself as Leonard moved to attend to the grandmother. It had been a close thing, but the old woman would live despite her fright from the day's events. Pavel went outside to fetch wood to build a fire when he stopped and began laughing.

"Listen! Listen, everyone!"

They were puzzled for a moment, but then they all heard it. Birds were singing again now that the cursed wolf was no longer in the woods.

Helping his trembling cousin into clothing, Spock questioned him.

"Why did T'Pring curse you? She seemed happy enough to be your bride when last I saw you."

"I made the mistake of being honest. There is a maiden, hair dark as a raven's wing, skin like milk, and lips like a wild rose. Even more than her features is her soul. She is studious, kind, and gentle of spirit. T'Pring asked what I thought of her and I should have noted the jealousy in her voice."

"You told her the maid was beauteous and she did not take it well."

Leonard entered the room to assure himself that Stonn was not suffering from side effects to his enchantment.

"That, brother, sounds like an understatement if ever I heard one."

Stonn lifted his eyes to look over the human.

"You must be Leonard. T'Pring has no love for you either."

"No offense to either of you, but I have doubts that your T'Pring is capable of love in the truest sense of the word."

Stonn gave a heavy sigh.

"You may well be right. I would also be greatly surprised if T'Pring has not done something to the maiden for having the audacity to be fairer than she is."

It did not take any persuasion to convince Stonn to tell them more.

"The maiden is a princess of a small, isolated kingdom. The borders of it can be seen from Seleya Forest. Do you recall the ring of five tall mountains of ice?"

Spock and Leonard both nodded as Stonn continued.

"Inside that ring of mountains is as charming and peaceful a land as could be wished for called Vega. The formidable mountains surrounding them mean that their land has known nothing but peace. With no need to cultivate the warrior arts, it is their scholars and artists that are prized. I have seen few craftsmen better than the worst of the Vegan craftsmen."

Once Stonn was able to stand, he followed them outside and looked to the beanstalk Leonard pointed to in the distance.

"Do you know what land yonder stalk grows in?"

"Aye. It is not a land I would advise traveling through. 'Tis the land of the Fabrini, a group that believes all lands outside of their own are tainted to the point that, should one of their own leave and return, they execute the poor soul to prevent the taint from spreading. Those born elsewhere who try to enter are said to be as welcome as rats in a grainery."

Leonard offered Stonn a dipper of cold well water, which he drank before continuing.

"Regardless, you could not reach Fabrini lands from here. You cannot see it, but there is a vast expanse of water separating this land from theirs and the waters are far too rough for a small craft to navigate."

A gasp from Nyota drew the attention of all and she held up her wrist where a bracelet of woven gold rested.

"I did not have this bracelet before my sleep and until now, there were ten golden ropes braided together with no beginning or end. Now look."

At Nyota's feet were the shattered remains of one of the golden ropes. Leonard met Spock's eyes and smiled.

"The witch must had added one rope to your bracelet for every year you slept. It would seem that you will lose one of those ropes for every enchantment we end."

"Then I will look forward to the day that my wrist is bare. I want no reminders of the years that I lost."

Stonn knelt before the grandmother and begged her forgiveness for what he had done during his enchantment. She graciously accepted and also made the decision that her daughter was right. She had clung to the past too long and, if the group would assist her, she would travel to her daughter's house along with her granddaughter to dwell there as she had often been requested to do.

One of her neighbors came up to offer their own back as well as their horse pulled wagon. Soon, the rest of the hamlet joined in even though it was now long past sunset. Everyone rested after midnight, then the group rose with the dawn to escort Etta and her grandmother to Rothaube. Stonn also accompanied them as he wished to return to Seleya Forest. He felt fouled by the deaths he had caused while enchanted and wanted to seek the priestesses of their people to undergo a cleansing.

There was rejoicing in Rothaube at the return of Etta, who had been given up for dead. The people rejoiced further at the news that the wolf was no more, but the group did not reveal that it had been Stonn who had been the wolf for fear that he would have been harmed. Etta and her grandmother kept the secret as well, in gratitude for having been rescued.

The whole of the village joined in to prepare a feast for the ones that had freed their lands from the terror that they had lived under for years. The group enjoyed the celebration and headed out the next morning to return to where the Enterprise would be waiting.

After Leonard and Spock filled the rest of the group in on what they had learned from Stonn, Pavel became thoughtful.

"If I recall the navigation maps correctly, we will need to sail very near to Seleya Forest to get to the waters surrounding the Fabrini lands. Why do we not escort Stonn to the priestesses and then check on the Vegan princess before traveling on?"

Everyone agreed that seemed to be a sensible suggestion and the ride back to the Enterprise was far more lighthearted than the ride to Rothaube had been. It might have been his imagining, but James felt much freer. One enchantment gone.