Chapter: 1 Mercy Mission
Evil is maternal. Rapunzel feels the shackles clasped over her wrists. The kerchief around her mouth tightens and her green eyes widen. Her endless blonde locks are flung out the window by the only mother she knew. The black-haired, vile woman sinks into the shadows while Rapunzel's hair loses its slack. The golden strands tighten and a man's forearms come into view. His ascent mirrors the love he brought to her heart and she remembers her new dream. His caring eyes and tender smile grant her a moment of serenity. They fade with her wild flailing as she desperately tries to warn him of the trap. But she, like her rescuer, is too late. His eyes shut and he winces as a knife delivers a fatal blow...
Rapunzel doesn't awaken with a scream, but rather a furious whimper. Her hands rigorously pat her blankets before her fingers dig into them. She bolts upright with a trembling grimace and tears begin to flow. More escape with each blink of her eyes and her hair is a wild mess. She isn't loud enough to wake anyone, leaving her to face her trauma alone. Pascal, Rapunzel's chameleon, rolls over on the nightstand beside her. She finds solace in petting his scaly noggin. His eyes start to open and she tucks a tiny kerchief over him. "Shhhh," she whispers with a faint smile. Thoughts of her horrid nightmare return and she rises from her bed. All seventy feet of her hair trails across the soft carpeting as she creeps towards the door. Moonlight shines against her fuchsia nightgown when she roams the hallway. Faded, yet powerful memories of her love in agony quicken her pace. She reaches another door and slowly pushes it open.
There rests the love of her life. His eyes are shut as they were long ago. His rising chest and adorable snore bring peace to Rapunzel's mind. She kneels at his bedside and caresses his cheek. Its warmth invites her to rest her head against his chest, so that she can hear his soft heartbeat. She feels his forearm rise and his hand rubs her shoulder. "Hey," he whispers.
Rapunzel feels guilty for waking him, but his tender smile defeats such thoughts. "Hey," is all she can utter before embracing him. Sensing her distress, he rises to better hold her in his arms. "It happened again, Eugene."
Eugene frowns. "That same bad dream, huh? I'm alright." He kisses her forehead. "Thanks to you."
"I should be over it," she replies. "That day, Mother Gothel, all of it. But there are wounds not even magic hair can heal."
"Everyone has wounds like that," Eugene says. "All we have to heal them is each other." He leans in and the two share a soothing kiss. Rapunzel spends several of the night's hours wrapped in Eugene's arms. He tries his hardest to keep up a gentle conversation, but tiredness gets the best of him. His soft speech slurs and his head falls against Rapunzel's neck. She simpers and plants a kiss on his cheek before returning to her room. Upon doing so, she steps out on her verandah to feel the nighttime breeze. Rapunzel peers across Corona's capital city and finds calmness in its surrounding waters. But something remains off-putting. There is a peculiar chill in the air and peace subsides to eeriness. Rapunzel raises her brow, suspicious of the feeling. If her handmaiden was present, she would've felt it as well. Instead Cassandra was somewhere out in the blackness, serving the kingdom as she always had.
The gallop of palace steeds fills the night. Wind howls and decrepit branches sway wildly over a tired path. The golden gleam of Corona's knights is barely recognizable in the moonlight. Their crested helms form proud silhouettes in the darkness. Among them is Cassandra, riding beside her adoptive father, the captain of the guard. She feels underdressed for the mission, but was caught off guard by its urgency. Rather than don the bulky armor of her comrades, Cassandra wears her usual adventure tunic. Its brown textures compliment the encroaching woodland and she practically blends in. Her black, bob-cut hair bounces with each of her horse's strides. Determination glimmers from her hazel glare as the party rides deeper into the forest.
"So I'm not complaining," Cassandra says. "But why'd you want me to tag along so badly, Dad?"
The captain's mustache twitches. "Because you know this village and its inhabitants. You used to make supply runs there all of the time."
Cassandra nods. "I see. What is all of this about? You told me to mount up and that you'd explain later. Well, it's later."
She can barely hear his response over the stomping horses. "A village crier rushed to Corona earlier this afternoon. He said a young man had fallen terribly ill, and that no one had ever seen a sickness like this before. It gave King Frederic flashbacks to when Queen Arianna was sick. Only there's no magic flower this time. All of this coinciding with a missing guardsman makes things all the more dire."
"What kind of sickness are we talking about here?" Cassandra asks.
"We're about to find out," the captain says. He points toward village lights in the distance. "As servants to the crown, we must look after every Coronan citizen. We need to understand what this illness is and if it's contagious. Hopefully our apothecary can provide better insight."
Cassandra glances back at the doctor trying to keep up. He is flanked by two guards helping to carry his supplies. Though his face seems stern, Cassandra sees the worry in his silver eyes. The village seems emotionally disheveled. Gasps and hollers sound between homes as the cavalry arrives. Groggy villagers emerge from their rickety homes to try and explain the commotion. The village crier leaps from a nearby stoop and salutes the guards. "Where is the lad?" the captain asks. The crier jabs his frantic finger at one of the two floor homes. The captain examines the old building and motions to his daughter. "Recognize it?"
"That's the Weber's house," she replies. "Charlotte Weber makes some of Corona's finest fabrics there." As if on cue, Charlotte emerges from the house with reddened eyes. She scrubs the tears off her cheeks and dashes towards Cassandra. "Charlotte?" Cassandra gasps. "What happened?"
"It's Walter," she weeps.
Cassandra and the captain immediately dismount. "He's the one who's sick?" Cassandra asks. Her mind flashes memories of the teenager's contagious laugh and smile.
Charlotte somberly nods. "He's gone." Cassandra and her father exchange mournful glances and prepare to give condolences. Charlotte catches on and stops them with her hand. "No! I mean he's left!" She urgently grabs Cassandra by the sleeve and rushes towards her house. Moonlight seeps through the clouds and highlights a shattered window on the second level.
"What in the world?" Cassandra whispers.
"His fever was rising," Charlotte explains. "So I had him lay down again. Moments later, I heard a crash and he was gone!"
"A fall like that could've killed him," the captain says. "He couldn't have gone far."
A scream sounds from the adjacent side of the village. Cassandra and her father rush into action. Charlotte scurries behind them, hoping her son is safe. The captain draws his sword when he sees several of his men scrambling through a crowd. The shuffling of heads and profuse shouting makes comprehension all the more difficult. The captain clears a path through the villagers and finds two of his men striking at the ground. A third guard is flailing across the dirt as a lanky humanoid clasps to him. The bony being gargles and snarls until its victim lets out a shriek. Blood paints the soil and the captain lunges to intervene. He kicks the assailant and frees the guard from beneath him.
While the captain tends to his ailing man, Cassandra gets a closer look at who...or what was assaulting him. Though the entity appears human, closer observation reveals it to be skeletal. It twitches from her father's strike and its eye sockets have a violet glow. Fresh blood drips from its teeth and fingers.
"Doctor!" the captain shouts while applying pressure to the man's wound. "Hurry!"
The old apothecary darts through as Cassandra clears a path for him. She urges the villagers to back away and return to their homes, but they barely move. They remain fixated on the bizarre skeleton trembling on the ground. The apothecary kneels before his patient and draws a kerchief to wipe blood. The guard shakes reluctantly and the captain tries to calm him. "I know it hurts," he says. "The doctor's going to-"
Much to everyone's shock, the wounded guard lets out a horrid screech. His green pupils roll up and start glowing purple. Cassandra yanks her father back and the afflicted guard attacks the apothecary. Screams erupt when he chomps down on the doctor's hand. The panic intensifies when the once stunned skeleton pounces on a villager. A shrill of shrieks sound in the surrounding forest. Pairs of violet eyes sway at increasing speeds as more skeletons emerge from the blackness. Some of the beings still posses remnants of clothing and decaying flesh. Each sprints towards a victim to sink its teeth into.
"To arms!" the captain yells. Cassandra and the other guards draw their swords to engage the gruesome attackers. Villagers scatter and some are picked off in the process. Cassandra digs her blade into one of the undead's forearms and it roars in response. She repulses and delivers a swift kick to its chest. She spots the apothecary stumbling amidst the chaos. His eyes match the other creatures and his lips shine with the blood of his victims. Horses whinny wildly and the grass is riddled in broken glass.
The captain decapitates one of the skeletons and it crashes into the dirt. "Cassandra!" he calls. "Get the people out of here!"
"What about you?" she asks.
"I'll catch up. Just go!"
Cassandra reluctantly, yet earnestly follows his orders. She raises her sword and beckons what villagers she can to follow her. She cringes when a guard is swarmed by skeletons and dragged into the shadows. Multiple infected villagers blend with those fleeing and strike savagely. Charlotte buries her nails into Cassandra's arm out of sheer fright. Cassandra ushers her and what other survivors she can onto a hay cart. "Fidella!" she shouts. "Fidella!" Cassandra's tan steed sprints to the cart and is quickly harnessed to it. "Get us to the castle as fast as you can!" she orders. "Do not stop for anything. I mean it."
Skeletons and infected villagers swarm the cart as Fidella picks up speed. The mare's sharp whinnies make Cassandra cringe. The survivors scream and huddle in the cart's center. All they can do is bury their faces into one another to avoid observing the horrid creatures. Cassandra kicks an infected villager off of the cart and struggles to maintain her footing. She feels gravity overwhelm her and her arms swing wildly. The cart scrapes against a home and Cassandra is flung off. She watches the world around her spin into darkness as her body crashes against the ground. Dirt puffs against her face as she rolls uncontrollably. A blunt surface strikes the back of her head and she buckles in response. Pain swells but Cassandra cannot lift her arms to nurse it. Instead she finds herself dizzy and ever so heavy. Her head collapses against the earth and her surroundings gradually fade. Her eyes submit to a rising blackness as the rest of the world becomes a flicker of color. Her throbbing head quiets and sounds mesh together. Screams become a distant echo as her ears grow numb. Cassandra feels herself falling, even though she has already met the ground. She goes limp as the night's madness ensues.