"Fuck." Emma lunged down the steep slope and headed towards the springs, with reckless disregard for her own safety.
The whole area had been encased in thick fog. Nothing was visible, only the wall of white. Nothing could be heard except the dying wind and never-ending rain. Only the one scream had escaped the fog's fortress. It echoed in Emma's mind. Regina's scream had penetrated her to the core.
"Regina." Her own cry was loud and shrill. There was no reply. And that drove Emma forward, as she stumbled from rock to rock, and slid down muddy channels in between. She grasped at branches and larger rocks to slow her descent. At least stop her from flying head first into black gurgling earth, or worse, into one of the foothold traps. Their angry jaws would sever any limb.
She cut through the forcefield of fog and skidded to a halt at the lip of the hot stream of clear flowing water. She looked with terror at the scene opposite. Regina lay inert in one of the Inn's baths. A Sinciput brother straddled her and was throwing left and right punches at her. She was almost unconscious from the onslaught.
"Regina!" Emma waded across the stream, and heaved herself up and into the hot spring bath.
The man turned. His face a tapestry of tiny white scars. He didn't blink. His piercing look made Emma pause. His eyes a unique anaemic ruby colour. The scar-man didn't look human. That made her even more afraid. For her and Regina.
One of his hands rested on Regina's shoulder, loosely holding her in place, the other dangled by his side. Bloodied. He gave a low growl then a sneer. He turned his back to Emma and continued hitting Regina.
Emma looked quickly around the area. No sign of the second brother, but he had to be near. She inhaled sharply at the sight of a strange set of unsheathed tools, hooks and knives, lying just behind and to the right of Regina.
Emma knew she wouldn't make it to them without the scar-man intervening. She had no weapon. No bow and arrow, no sword. No knife. There were no loose branches she could swing at him. She pulled at one of the rocks on the side of the hot spring. It didn't dislodge.
She tried another. The skin on her hands tore from the effort. But she wrenched it free. She ran as fast as she could through the obstructive water.
Regina's eyes flickered open briefly only to cloud over as she was pushed underwater by the scar-man. Emma watched her thrash.
"No!" Emma launched herself at the man. Swinging the rock at his head with all the force she could muster. It cracked open his skull. Blood poured out staining the hot water red.
It didn't stop him. He swung at Emma, knocking her over. The rock thrown from her hands. She stood up and held her chin and cheek.
He knocked her down again. This time her back hit the water, flat. It winded her. The scar-face brother grabbed both of Emma's legs and flung her upside down.
Bad move.
She managed to swing up into his face. A strong right punch to his nose, a nose broken many times before. She heard the satisfying bone snap as her fist impacted on him. He let her go and stumbled back. He wiped the blood off his nose and out of his eyes. But he was still standing.
Regina had come to her senses and managed to crawl her way out of the hot springs and onto the timber deck. She gasped for air. She vomited hot water. With weak legs she attempted to stand.
The second Sinciput brother, with a featureless face, appeared out of the shadows. He kicked Regina low in the stomach with enough force to throw her back into the water.
She scrambled, near panic, into a standing position. Holding her ribs. Her face filled with terror. She tried and failed to create magic fire. She tried and failed to claw her way out of the hot springs. A foot connected with her head. Snapping it back and flinging her hard onto the water's surface.
She stood up again. Dazed and bloodied. Her hands shook and she swayed, nearing collapse.
'Maybe stay down, just not in the water,' Emma thought briefly.
Her silent prayer answered by the wrong person. The flat-faced Sinciput brother with his snub-nose and black eyes drew Regina's weak form out of the water. Gripped by her hair. A sickly smile plastered on his bland face. He shook her, till her eyes snapped open.
"Remember me, Queeny? Finally. Time for us to swap places hey. Snack on someone other than our own brother," he spat. "You will regret ever returning here. We broke the curse in time to break you."
She tore at his thick arm and wrist. She attempted magic but all that happened was a thin wisp of purple smoke and nothing else. His giant spare hand wrapped around her neck. She choked.
"Pig got your throat?" He laughed, and threw her across the room, like a discarded toy.
Her head hit the wall and she lay limp, face down.
"We might just tenderise her a little bit more." He stomped over to Regina. When she lifted her head a bit, he slammed his fist into her. He took a step back and kicked her in the ribs. He kept kicking her compliant body, now curled in an inane attempt to protect herself.
"Marinate her in her own juices," he said as he continued his assault.
Emma didn't wait for the final cooking analogy. She swerved to avoid her own pig issue. Sprung out of the water near the myriad of tools that laid dormant on the side. She picked up the nastiest looking one. A foot-long, inch thick piece of metal with a razor sharp spiked end.
Emma threw it at the snub-nosed pig-man that was attacking Regina. She used all her strength and force, falling forward as she released it. And it hit home. In the back of his neck. Both his hands swung behind him to dislocate the deadly rod. Blood poured from him mouth. His knees buckled and he lurched forward. Eyes bulged in anger and disbelief. He fell on top of an inert Regina.
Scar-face pounded the water in anger. His ruby eyes turned black like his brother's. He yelled with renewed venom at Emma. A yell that shook her. A death cry.
He jumped out of the water between her and the wall where his brother and Regina lay. He glanced at his brother, a pool of blood surrounded him.
"Before I finish her off, which, just so you know, is going to take weeks of fun and games, maybe I deep fry you, little kitten," his voice was filled with rage. "Dip you limb by limb in hot oil. Show you what the Sinciput brothers really are good at. You can be our window display, alongside pathetic dog meat."
"No." A familiar female voice cut through the haze of threats and violence. "She's mine."
Emma's world exploded into stars, a blanket of piercing white, and then complete darkness.