The kingdoms that made up the Council of the Light were coexisting within the borders of Darg, rebuilding the kingdom slowly and regaining their strength to repel another attack by Maleficent.

However it was not enough. After hearing about the prophecy and what it really meant, Maleficent was hell-bent on ending the life of the future Queen of Darg before she was even born.

After her last attack on Darg and the Council of the Light, she provided her new army with dark magic and distributed her faithful slaves to the seven kingdoms under her purview as part of the Council of the Seven Shadows.

For the next months, battles began to crop up almost daily all over Darg, Keridwen, Arahal and Narekath. Since Maleficent knew about the prophecy, intrusions into the palace also began to emerge, with a single objective in mind: to kill Snow.

And although Maleficent's army was powerful, they never managed to penetrate the magically protected borders of Darg.

The magic of the people of Keridwen was too powerful and Maleficent's army was not strong enough to defeat their magic, and eventually, the Queen of Darkness ordered a swift retreat.

By the eighth month, Snow's water broke and in through her shouts of pain, she ordered Henry to summon his kingdom's wizards and witches so they could conjure up a protective barrier around the borders of Darg.

"Snow... Maleficent ordered the withdrawal. Now-" James attempted to dissuade his wife by reminding her they were no longer in immediate danger.

"James... we... cannot risk... anything. She is very powerful. Do what I say. We must protect... her," Snow barely could talk through her violent barrages of pain.

"I know-"

Snow wouldn't hear it. "We made a promise... we promised her."

James took a deep breath of acceptance, then he turned around and looked at Henry, "Do it. We must protect Emma and our people."

This time wizards and shamans joined forces, there had been many casualties and merely the people of Keridwen were not enough. They didn't have enough wizards and witches to build an energy barrier of this magnitude.

An overwhelming silence was felt throughout the kingdom as the preparations began. Just the chant of shamans and magicians could be heard throughout Darg.

Families of peasants, soldiers, magicians, and Amazons watched in the darkness of the night as the dome was forming, rising from the parapets.

Everyone looked to the sky, watching as a purple veil covered the entire kingdom.

When the dome closed, a crying baby broke that silence.

Everyone looked at each other again and they were wrapped by hope again. Their princess was born; she would save them all.

In the palace, James was wiping the sweat from his wife's brow while Snow's midwife covered her daughter with a white blanket that had her name embroidered on it, before handing her off to the new parents.

"Emma ..." Snow smiled gently, rocking her with tears in her eyes "I know it's a tough world, and you will have to bear the burden of being a Queen and a saviour, but we will always be by your side. No matter what."

The Council of the Light came in soon after to wish the royal family congratulations, and they all knelt before the new princess. The future queen would save Arauwen from darkness. Forever.


"Noooooo!" Maleficent shouted, throwing a glass of wine against the wall.

"My splendiferousness, you still can kill the baby," the slave attempted, trying fruitlessly to dissuade his queen's anger.

But Maleficent was not in the mood to be coddled. "Shut up you little worm!"

"But-"

Maleficent grabbed her staff and started walking down the main throne room, fury growing with each step.

The slave still persisted, "My queen…"

"Shut up and follow me," she growled, before her sneer turned one of derision. "If this future Queen Emma will be so powerful and full of light, she will have to fight an enemy full of darkness now."

"Do you mean yourself my glorious one?"

The Queen of Darkness scoffed. "Of course not, I won't risk my own life like that. I will create a baby full of darkness and when she grows up she will be able to go toe to toe with the daughter of James and Snow and make them suffer... forever."


Maleficent, being informed that the princess Emma had been born, did everything in her power to defeat her. She was determined to make sure that the prophecy wouldn't be fulfilled and she could conquer all the kingdoms in Arauwen, subdue everyone who dared to defy her and rule the land as the sole queen.

Thus, Maleficent divided her army into small squads, each section with twenty men.

A small contingent of that size could carry out the killing the baby and the monarchs of Darg without being seen by the royal guards nor the entourage of magicians and Amazons who guarded the borders of the kingdom.

When little Emma was born, Snow did not believe in this false feeling of peace, so the Council of the Light remained united to protect the four kingdoms that were still standing and their little princess Emma.

"We have been on the offense for over eight months, we cannot always defend, we must attack!" James said with a loud knock on the table.

"We haven't enough troops," Henry said trying to calm down the King of Darg.

"But-" James paused, felt that something was rubbing the sword he had hanged on the left side of his belt. He looked down and saw his eight month old daughter sitting on the floor trying to reach her father's sword.

James smiled and took his daughter in his arms, "Come here, my princess, you're still too young to play with swords. You'll have time for that when you're older."

The remaining council could do nothing but smile. Emma was the hope their people had. The hope to eradicate evil forever, but right now, she mesmerized everyone with her sweet disposition.

The Amazon Queen made her way closer to Emma, who smiled and began to make grabby hands to be picked up by the monarch. She gave in immediately, taking her up in her strong arms. A fond smile crossed her face before she grew serious again and looked to the King of Darg. "James, what is going to happen to the princess?" the Queen asked while Emma tried to reach the amazon's collar of feathers.

James sighed, looking at his smiling daughter, "We will not leave her helpless. We will have to raise her as a queen but train her as a warrior as well."

They looked at him and smiled. The King of Arahal got up, looking to the rest of the council as he said, "And we will give her our support. She will be under our protection."

After adding this, Emma laughed, having managed to grab the collar of feathers when no one was looking. Surprised, the Amazon Queen chuckled. "Hey princess, how-"

"I think she has more personality than we all think" Snow added, hiding her concern for what might happen to Emma many years down the road behind a smile.


Seasons went by, one after another the Council of the Light was still trying to resist Maleficent's attacks, still on the defense.

The other seven kingdoms of Arauwen remained under the power of the Council of the Seven Shadows, but there wasn't much left of those kingdoms. All the inhabitants were either dead or were slaves of the darkness, living in the most absolute poverty and despair.

Those who tried to escape were hanged or decapitated in front of the entire kingdom so they would all know their fate if they tried to escape to Darg.

The Council of the Light could only repel attacks that headed their way, unable to attack and recover the seven kingdoms that Maleficent had under her control. They weren't strong enough, and had no hope of actually being able to form a plan that would ensure victory as well as minimal casualties.

Although most of the inhabitants of Keridwen, Arahal and Narekath were in Darg, these three kingdoms made up a small flank of an army, there was little they could accomplish if they pretended to be a full-fledged army.

The situation for James and Snow was getting worse, up to the point that Maleficent's soldiers and orcs had managed to enter the castle and get to Emma's room. Thankfully, the attempts to attack Emma were without success, because the shamans created an invisible shield with magic that covered little Emma at all times.

After checking the halls of the palace to reassure himself that there were no dangers lurking, James entered his bedchamber and smiled at seeing Snow sat on a fur carpet playing with Emma.

He came into the room and placed his sword and scabbard on the table.

"Look how much she has grown," James whispered, seeing Emma playing with a small wooden sword that Snow made for her.

"I know. She is already five years old..." Snow stood up and looked out the window. The snowy landscape hid the holes in the walls due to ongoing battles.

James looked at his family, "When will this war end..." he sighed, stroking the golden curls of his young daughter's hair.


"Worm!" Maleficent screamed.

As fast as he could, the slave made his way closer to his Queen. "Yes, my queen of Darkness?"

"How is my army faring?"

"We are dwindling in size. The small battles in Darg caused a dent in our army," he dutifully reported.

Maleficent nodded. "Yes, it's for this reason that I have called upon you. I have decided I'll give that stupid Snow and her small family a little break. Let's agree to a temporary truce to give me time to recover my army."

The slave couldn't believe his ears. "But my queen-"

"I'm not stupid, worm!. I will sign a truce temporarily, but we will attack when they least expect it and so Snow, James and their little princess will be caught unawares. They will be mine and that prophecy will never be fulfilled. "

Maleficent's servant wrote the peace treaty and when he finished he gave it to her with trembling hands.

She looked at him with contempt and stood up from her throne of bones and skulls. She took a quill and signed the treaty, placing it on the small pouch attached to her crow's leg that she had perched on her shoulder before whispering the recipient to him. The crow seemed to nod before taking off in a flurry of wings and caws.

As she watched the crow leave, Maleficent made a promise. "I'll end with you Snow, if it's the last thing I do."


Snow was rereading Maleficent's treaty while she walked under the arches of the main courtyard of the palace. The Queen looked up and saw blacksmith's son running. The child was the same age as Emma, and often joined her daughter playing, except now he was crying.

"Come here coward!" Emma laughed as she chased him.

"Emma!" Snow scolded her.

Emma immediately skidded to a stop, knowing she had been caught. "But ... but he started it..."

"Emma, we know that is not so," Snow countered, a stern look on her face.

"But-" the princess muttered kicking a stone, knowing there was no hope of arguing her case.

Snow gently took her hand and mother and daughter sat on a stone bench next to the fountain.

"Emma, you are already five years old and I know how you must feel. I also was a princess at your age, and I had obligations. I know my darling, it's very hard because you want to discover adventures and new worlds that you have around you." Snow could not stop smiling at how much she resembled her daughter.

"But mom, I just want to slay dragons, I don't want to study Arauwen's history. It is ..."

"Boring?"

"Yes..." Emma muttered looking at her feet that did not reach the ground yet.

"I know it's boring, I also had to do it when I was your age."

"You did? Didn't you get bored?" the little princess gasped.

"Well, I listened to your grandparents when they told me to study," Snow smiled and winked her "But I didn't always pay them attention, at least, not as much as they wanted. I also wanted to slay dragons and discover adventures outside the palace."

Emma smiled at her mother and hugged her around the waist.

"Mama... I will try to be a good princess... and a white knight of the court too, but no promises!" she added with a giggle.

"My daughter... you will be a Queen!" Snow said and laughed at the silliness of her daughter.

"But dad told me that I can be whatever I want. So... I can be a queen and go kill dragons!"

"Of course dear!"

Emma stood over the stone bench and gave her a kiss on her mother's cheek. She jumped to the ground, grabbed the sword and started playing pretend, as if she was killing dragons.

Snow kept looking at her daughter and she begun to think of the huge burden her poor daughter will have over her shoulders, being the savior of a land that eleven leaders haven't been able to save.

"Mama, mama look! Look!"