The Battle of Sherwood – Part II
"Good, Albert! I'm pleased you'll accept my challenge. Now, as a sign of good faith, how about you let a few of your hostages go? Perhaps the most injured ones? It'll make no difference to you, and show your troops what a marvellous, considerate leader you are!"
Spencer had had enough. "No one's leaving this room, Hood! And no one's injured! Now, are you coming inside or not? Let's see this 'bravery' we've all heard so much about!"
On the other side of the door, Robin seethed, knowing Spencer had lied, confirming he had no intention of letting anyone out alive. However, the plan with Merlin was agreed, so he had to maintain his calm and stick to the script. Namely, wind up Spencer, keep him talking and hit him when he isn't expecting it!
He looked back to his attack squad. To Little John, who nodded, holding Rumple's invention safely in his huge hands, ready to go. To David, who'd now joined them (Charming didn't let them refuse). The farmer prince stood braced, ready to charge with a sword in one hand and his old sheriff's pistol in the other. To Alan and Will, his best knife throwers. And finally to Philip, the young mayor. All willing to fight, and die, if necessary. Robin prayed to god it wouldn't come to that! The risks were high, and they all knew it. Okay, here goes!
Sighing loudly into the reception microphone, he said in an exasperated tone:-
"Very well Albert, have it your way! But a leader of men should always consider the safety and well being of those under his command first! You know, when-"
At that moment, several things happened at once. Firstly, Emma saw Spencer shoulder his assault rifle, facing the door and aiming at its centre. She had to stop him! So as loud as she could, given her pain, she screamed:
"ROBIN, DON'T COME IN! HE'S GOING TO SHOOT!"
Robin heard her a second before the battering ram hit the door. Outside the clinic and using magic, Merlin had earlier constructed a heavy gun carriage with wheels, a full-size oak trunk, felled, cut and sharpened to a point, was mounted on the top. On either side, a heavy wood and metal shield to block whatever came back at the six grown men it took to get it rolling. Philip's guards had heaved it along the ramp, building up speed as it now hurtled into the building across the reception area, straight towards the closed auditorium doors.
A mere second before impact, Spencer turned back at the alert given by Emma. Without hesitating, he swung the rifle around, in her direction, firing a single shot to silence her. "AAARGH!" she screamed as the bullet ploughed through her shoulder, forcing her off her knees and spinning her like a top. The pain was agonizing! And she felt the burn down her entire side, she coiled up, expecting another. As he pointed, preparing to fire again, the door behind him shattered.
As the huge battering ram ploughed through the door, it's hinges broke immediately as the heavy wood blew in. Spencer, having been distracted by Emma, turned to see a large gaping hole in the frame, a heavy wooden ram filling it. Ruby, now lying down, saw a huge man step onto the top of the ram, jumping and throwing something round onto the floor close to Albert Spencer! Remembering Merlin's instructions, she whispered loudly at Regina and Emma "EYES CLOSED! NOW!"
Even with her eyes tightly shut, Ruby couldn't believe the sheer intensity of the white light! It was blinding, and her ultra-sensitive wolf eyesight was completely overwhelmed! Now she understood Merlin's instruction, knowing that if she had opened her eyes, she would likely be blind by now! However, that was as nothing compared to the enormous explosion of sound, the earth-shattering deep boom, that immediately followed. Deafening wasn't the word to describe it! The ear-splitting boom paralysed everyone in the room. Everyone, except John and the invading men wearing Rumple's carefully-fashioned wax ear plugs!
Dazed and blinded, Spencer opened his eyes to see only a blur, but saw the outlines of several men who had now entered the auditorium. To his left, Colonel Mason seemed to have been instantly flattened by the large man who had thrown something. Next to him, as his eyes cleared, Corporal Johnson was looking down at the knife now embedded in his chest, thrown by a young scruffy man. Probably one of Hood's thieves, who was now wrestling his gun from him. Spencer saw Johnson scream but couldn't hear it, deafened by whatever tortuous device had made that noise.
As he scanned to his right, the blurry image showed Smith and Pargitter had also been overwhelmed. Philip Briar now stood over a bloody faced Smith, while Pargitter seemed to be on his knees surrendering, his rifle on the floor in front of him. He still heard nothing, merely seeing the act play out.
His eyes flashed back up to a figure looming over the top of the battering ram. Within moments he saw the furious face of Charming coming over the top, heading straight at him. A second later, David had seized hold of his rifle with one hand, before delivering him a swift punch to the face with the other, then bringing his short sword to the man's throat. "You'll pay for this, you bastard!" David growled. But Spencer's hearing was still impaired, so he only heard a low muffle. Spencer dropped the rifle in surrender. David was so close to plunging the knife into the man's throat. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw Emma. Emma! His girl, his beautiful daughter, was writhing on the floor in agony. Obviously also deaf from the thunderflash, she twisted around in pain, and that's when David saw her face, almost beaten beyond recognition. The sheer shock at the state of her made him gasp, momentarily distracting him.
Spencer seized the opportunity! In a moment he picked up his rifle, slamming it hard into Charming's head. The shock made him reel back in pain, allowing Spencer to deliver another blow. As he went down, Spencer didn't waste the chance. Collecting his hidden dagger from the lining of his boot, he turned the blade, ready to stab Charming through the heart before he could recover.
However, before the knife rammed home, a swish passed his face as an arrow embedded itself deeply into the former king's shoulder. He looked up in surprise to find its owner. Hood! The outlaw moved quickly, seizing the knife firmly, before using his forehead to deliver a fierce blow to the former king's nose. Robin wasn't going to make the mistake of leaving this man to respond!
"Try to knife someone when they're unconscious? Nice touch that! Everything I would expect from a vile little turd like you! Now, I challenge you! Pick up your fucking sword and fight me you weasel!" Robin Hood was no longer shouting, just growling, teeth bared, focused and waiting. No distractions. "PICK IT UP!"
Spencer, knowing there was no way out of this, recovered quickly. Seeing Robin only with a short knife in his hand, he pulled his long sword from the scabbard, facing him, ready. One full slice would do it!
What he hadn't anticipated was the sheer speed the outlaw moved. Spencer pulled his sword arm back ready to slash the man, Robin dashed within inches of him, wrapping his wrist around the sword hand to hold it back. With almost surgical precision, he drove his knife hard, not into the man's chest, but under his chin, piercing the flesh and forcing it up hard, through the tissue, into the mouth and nasal cavity, behind the eyes and into the brain, instantly killing the former King George, tyrant and mayor! Spencer's eyes briefly showed shock and surprise, before glazing over, the rest of his body slowly buckling to the floor, as a cascade of blood now flowed from the open wound.
Everyone stood rigid, most having seen the brutal and swift dispatch. The end of the life of a king. The end of a cruel man.
Robin exhaled. He'd always prided himself on his ability to talk his way around most adversaries, rather than having to kill them. Sadly, sometimes it was necessary. It wasn't his first kill, but he hoped to god it would be his last!
Looking down at the bloody corpse, the noise around him returned his mind to the present. He quickly surveyed the room. His men were already dragging Spencer's last troops from the room. Will had already jumped up onto the stage, to several bundles of clothes on the wood floor. No, not clothes. Bodies! His heart raced as he stepped up, realizing who the bodies belonged too!
"MY GOD! REGINA? EMMA?" he yelled, stepping first to the battered brunette, who lay on her side, crying loudly. She could hardly speak due to the disfiguation of her face. "RRRBBNN!" she muffled. Will was already slicing through the ropes tying her wrists behind her, followed by the ones on her ankles. Tears were pouring down her cheeks as she immediately launched herself beside the stilled body of her wife. "HLLPP HRR!" she screamed.
Robin so wanted to hold his soulmate, seeing her so distraught. He looked across at Emma, seeing her lifeless body now slumped in a large pool of blood. His heart broke at the suffering this couple, this beautiful couple, had just endured. A large hand appeared on his shoulder. Tuck.
"Rob, get Emma outside, quick! She needs magic, not medicine, right now! You, Merlin, Gold. Anyone! Just get her out there quick, before we lose her! We'll help Regina! She's injured, but she isn't dying! Go Robin, go!"
Robin didn't answer, just bending down and gently scooping the still Saviour into his arms. As he stepped towards the rubble of the former door, he noticed John had already picked up the larger, heavier Prince Charming, whose body lay unconscious. The pair raced through the reception with their patients, outside to the front of the building, where groups of people had gathered to tend to the various injured lying around.
Knowing they were now back in the land of magic, Robin pulled his own magic to him, two large trestles now appearing in front of them. Without hesitation, he laid Emma's lifeless body gently onto one, before leaning to whisper into her ear.
"Emma, you're safe now! Gina's safe! Stick with us now! Come on!" A nurse appeared at his side. "Robin, let me in! Please? I need to stop her bleeding!"
Back in the almost empty auditorium, Tuck was now lifting Regina. Seeing her broken features, he ignored her tired, unrecognizable protests, lifting her into his arms gently before running not outside but up the stairs to the operating theatres.
Will Scarlett had similarly collected Caroline Locksley, still unconscious, into his arms, following Tuck. Alan gently tended to Ruby, the only fully conscious one of the four women. "Blimey, Rubes, that's quite a shiner you got there! You'll need a bit of make up on that if you don't want to ruin the wedding photos!"
As Tuck entered the emergency treatment area of the building, his eye was drawn to the corridor full of injured people, some with major and some minor injuries. Laying a groaning Regina gently onto a new hospital trolley, he called out, "Anyone? Help needed here please?" Two nurses in bloodied scrubs appeared from a side door. 'Where's Whale?" he demanded.
'In theatre, operating." Said the elder. "What do you have?"
"A very poorly queen, badly beaten. Help us, please?" he pleaded.
The nurse ran some basic checks over Regina, who lay silently, no longer resisting and too injured to argue. "I'll get a doctor." Within moments, a young woman appeared at Regina's elbow.
"Sorry you've been in the wars, Mrs. Swan-Mills!" said Dr. Annabelle Sage to the clearly agitated woman, trying to calm her. "Let's take a look at you." Merlin's youngest ran a gentle hand around the massively swollen jaw and face. "She will need her jaw reset first. Prep her for theatre please."
"Can't you use magic?" said Tuck, fearful for the woman he'd grown to regard as his little sister.
"It doesn't work like that. Magic can fix bruises and tissue damage, but the bones and everything underneath need to be reset first. We'll x-ray and I'll ask Victor to operate as soon as he comes out of theatre with dad. Then we can take her outside, and dad or someone else can heal the superficial layers. What about her wife? Doesn't she have white magic? Or Robin?"
John didn't want to mention Emma's condition in front of Regina. "Emma's been hurt too! Rob's already taken her outside."
On the lawn outside, even more urgent attention was being given to Emma. As Robin looked over her as she lay on the stretcher, Rumpelstiltskin appeared to his left. "Okay, Locksley," said the Dark One as he passed his hand across the blonde woman's body, as though he were scanning her. "She has some sort of bullet lodged under her collarbone. She's bleeding heavily out the back, and doesn't have much time. You need to first collect the bullet, and stop the bleeding!"
"Me, how? I don't even know how! I can't possibly! Why can't you do it?"
"I have no medical knowledge, whereas you have! It's all in the Sorcerer's knowledge transfer. If I do it, I'm more likely to kill her. Try to remember Merlin's lessons, it's all in there!" He rasped, pointing to the man's own head.
"Robin hesitated, drawing down the condensed memories of magical healing he had received from the Sorcerer. Imagine the shape of the bullet. Picture it in your mind. Imagine pulling it out. Imagine the sides pulling apart, then seal behind as it comes out. Draw slowly. Seal the wound with heat. He stood in silent concentration as the various instructions finally came.
Quickly ripping open the top of Emma's blouse to reveal the gaping wound, Robin gently covered his palm across the entry wound, summoning the bullet, calling on it, ordering it and any other invaders in her chest and shoulder to come forward. Moments later, he heard a loud groan as the Saviour winced in agony, and was astonished to feel the a hard buckled shape and smaller shards now appear in his palm. Emma cried out in pain.
"She's bleeding badly, Rob!" gasped Ruby, appearing at Emma's other side. He flinched, knowing whatever he did now would determine whether she lived or died. He plunged his finger into the wound, imagining the sealing of the broken vessels. A pulse of light emanated from him into the almost unconscious woman. The bleeding appeared to have stop, but she was weak. Too weak. Oblivious to those around him, Robin now begged. "Come on, Emma, wake up! Stay with us! Henry needs you. Gina needs you. So do our children; our children, Emma! Don't do this to us?" Placing his now bloody palm on her forehead, he pushed his magic into her, as he'd been taught.
She groaned again, her swollen eyes now opening. "Robin?"Her voice was barely audible.
"Yes, it's me. We'll get you through this…I promise!"
"Never made that second date, did we?" she whispered, between groans.
"Plenty of time for that, milady!" he replied, desperate to keep her awake. "Where should we go next?"
Despite her obvious agony, he detected the faint hint of a smile on her badly disfigured features. Robin hadn't yet had the time to fix her beautiful face. "Bora Bora sounds good, but there's no chance of that." Her voice grew even more faint. "Robin?"
"Yes, love?"
"I'm sorry how…how I treated you. Sorry for being such a bitch. I'm sorry I -"
"Stop talking like that, Emma! Don't apologise, and don't talk like you're leaving us! You're not, just hang on!" He encouraged, now bending closer just to hear her. Her voice was so quiet.
"I would've liked another date, but just…just take care of her, ok? Gina. Take care of the woman we love. Don't leave her again. She needs you…Henry too…just…" her stopped, her head slumping to one side.
"No! No! Stay with us! Stay!" A small tear fell down his cheek. This fantastic woman was about to die, and he couldn't bear it. "Don't-you-dare!"
A final flicker from her eyes as she croaked. "Tell them I loved them. All of them. I love you too Robin…" and with those final words, Emma Swan-Mills, The Saviour who broke a curse, slipped away from them, her mouth hanging open. Her eyes open and glazed.
"NO!" he yelled, tears and anger now flowing as he kept trying to force his magic into her.
"She lost too much blood. She's gone!" bawled Ruby, as her own tears started to roll from blackened eyes. Robin breathed heavily, realisation hitting him.
She's dead! How do I tell Regina. Or Henry. Honour? This'll kill them!