"Until the Spring" is the thirty-third issue of Fables, and the final part of the informal Mean Seasons arc.
Publisher's summary
The amazing conclusion to the 4-part "The Year After." A mysterious death at the Farm, like the ones that have been plaguing Fabletown, mars the first birthday of Snow's offspring. Is this silent killer another attack from the Adversary, or something even more terrifying?
Plot
In spring, Snow's children have learned to fly, but four more Fables have died via choking with no signs of a struggle. Reynard the Fox informs Snow that the fifth victim is Mary's Little Lamb. North Wind tells them that the killer is a wild Zephyr, a gust of invisible wind that cannot take on solid form and enjoys eating air direct from living lungs, and sends his attendants to look for it. Snow gets the North Wind to train her children to shapeshift even though he is looking for the Zephyr. Rose Red tells Beast to give Flycatcher his old job back via punishments, so he would be unwilling and unable to attempt to return to his family that he lost in the Homelands. In Snow's room, the Zephyr comes to Snow, where it's revealed that it is her other son. Snow explains to the Zephyr that they can't take air from people or animals any more, and sends him to find his father Bigby, safe from the murder investigation. Snow's children are finally one year old, and alongside presents she has laid out seven cupcakes - the start of a new family tradition, to be explained to the others later.
Deaths
- Sally Morrison
- Barbara Allen
- Jack Spratt
- Mary's Little Lamb