AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, guys this is my first published fanfiction, so be considerate, okay? I accept constructive criticism, not blatant hate. Comment but don't make me regret ever publishing this story. Thank you for reading this story and this author's note, it is appreciated. Remember! Read and review!

For this is the end.
I've drowned and dreamt this moment,
So overdue, I owe them.
Swept away, I'm stolen.

Skyfall – Adele

Once upon a time in a land which was full of monsters and magic, but no happy endings and where men and women lived forever, eternally hounded by cruel and sadistic old gods, a girl child was born, her parents rejoiced at the birth of a living child as they had suffered many miscarriages and stillborn before her, they named her Hadelinde, which meant 'battle shield', for she was the only child born in the village for many years and was to become the next warrior-woman for her village. A particularly impartial god, who did not take sides with his godly brethren smiled and laid a blessing upon the newborn babe as she was held for the first time in her mother's arms.

"Let this child be the last born only for war and fighting, never knowing peace lest it be in death," declared the god and set the message high in the stars for his brethren to see. Then, with a heavy heart, cast an infertility spell across the land, ridding the people of that land of fertility. The god watched as the war kept being fought, the little girl grew like a weed under the tutelage of her mother and father, gaining the adoration and respect of her village who thought of her as their own child. Her honey blonde hair shimmered in the breeze as she completed her sword and archery workouts in the small area that the village considered a town square. They had been lucky for the past 16 years; no gods had come to strike them down for simply existing on their plane of existence. There were no young boys in the girl's village, as no child had been born since her; so her hand in marriage was not sort after.

This isn't a love story, far from it. But the god that had granted her village peace had fell so deeply in love with her but all he could was watch her. He was ostracized from his godly family, he wept in sadness until an idea came to him one day. That day he gathered his magic about him and transformed himself into a large battle horse, a way to get close to the love of his long, long life. Wherever his hooves landed, sparks flew, and his eyes were golden instead of brown. He was midnight black and when his whinnies were voiced thunder and lightning fell.

"Oh, what a beautiful stallion! What beautiful thick mane and tail you have!" Hadelinde exclaimed when she found him in the forest close to her home when she was doing her share of the chores. She cherished him and he cherished her as well, they spent many an hour riding through the forest. Then she was called off to war as she had reached her 18th year, the year she must spend in conscription to her king and queen. The battle against the Old Gods had begun to deteriorate the society of this land and its people and the gods took advantage of that.

They annihilated the very realm that the land was in, sentencing every living creature to a quick but meaningless death. Save for two: Hadelinde and her battle horse. The god had whisked them away just before the annihilation had begun, to a land where happy endings were frequent and people could die. Hadelinde only assumed her inborn magic's had surfaced, responding to her fear, she didn't realise it was the god that had kept them safe in the year of conscription. She did not assume, but she was far from naïve. She had done bad things during her time in the forces of her king, and knew what her magic and skills could do if they fell into the hands of the wrong person or people.

She chose a suitable cave, just outside of the Enchanted Forest, for them to enter an eternal sleep so none could wield the magic that held them in eternal youth. Oh, they were safe from ordinary people, her magic barred normal people from seeing the cave, but magical people could see through the enchantments that protected them. She cast the sleeping spell with a heavy heart, sitting on top of her horse with enough pride she could as she could muster for herself and the memory of her people. The pair were set in stone, but they only slept. Little did they know, a dangerous magical person had witnessed their crossover into Fairy Tale Land; they called him the Dark One.

But his real name is Rumpelstiltskin, and he planned to use them when the time was right. When the situation was dire enough to call upon an immortal foot soldier that was trained to kill and only kill and a battle horse that was a god. They had been sleeping for 200 years under his watch, he wasn't about to wake them up. The Dark One wasn't stupid, but Regina's curse threat had wrecked all his plans. Then Regina went through with her threat and cursed them all, so he loosened the magic surrounding the cave and let it be taken under the curse as well. He cackled in his cell under the castle as the curse wafted over them, he could almost hear the squabbling of the newborn saviour from here.

To be continued.