Chapter 16: One Way
Killian continues to fight until all his strength is gone. His body has gone completely numb and his skin becoming rock hard. His boots are turning ice blue, meaning the process has started and he knows that there's no fighting it now. Like Lady Marian, he was going to become an ice sculpture, his body completely void of warmth. His movements are slowing and it hurts, like moving through an endless pool of tiny shards of broken glass. The numbing of his body helps, but it is not a painless process. He continues to pant, trying to keep himself breathing as long as possible… at this point, he's praying that Emma or Regina, or someone will find him and break the Snow Queen's curse over him. What's only slightly reassuring is since the bloody crocodile has his heart and he won't perish from being turned into ice. He just hopes that the Charmings stop the ice witch before she unleashes her spell on the town.
A cold gust of wind whips through the cave, causing the ice to advance a bit further up his legs. He stands, still hoping to have a little bit of fight left in him. He knew this means the ice wench has returned. The last time, she had some sort of glowing crystal the pulsated like a heartbeat. She placed it on the shelf next to his hook, gave him a small smile and departed again. This time, as she materializes, she wasn't alone.
Elsa and Henry are shoved to the icy floor of the cave, very close to where Killian stands. He tries to reach down and help them, grabbing the Lad and Queen's hands.
"Bloody hell, not you too!" he says.
"Killian!" Elsa asks, seeing the paleness of his face and his clothing slowly turning to ice. "What did she…? Are you, all right?"
"He is for now," Ingrid says smiling. "But not for much longer."
"Why are you doing this?" Henry shouts, pulling his sweater around himself to stay warm.
"She wants Emma to join her family willingly," the pirate explains. "By eliminating all those she loves, but you made one fatal mistake Love. You can take me and make me into a fancy lawn ornament, but as soon as you mess with her son, you've got a whole family coming after you."
"He's right," Henry says proudly. "My grandparents and my moms are going to find you."
"You mean Snow White and her Prince Charming?" Ingrid smirks. "They won't find you, they're right here." The Snow Queen holds up the pulsating crystal.
"What did you do to them?!" Elsa cries out. Both Killian and Henry look horrified.
"You can relax, they're perfectly fine. They are just in suspended animation, in hibernation if you will. But unfortunately, it's not very warm in there either. The minute the crystal stops pulsing, they'll end up just like you Captain. As for the not-so Evil Queen, well I neutralized her powers with a little magic from the Dark One and she's still trapped in her family's mausoleum. She won't last long there either, it's getting very cold in the cemetery."
"You're a monster!" Henry shouts. Gathering all the courage that he can muster, he runs towards the witch with the intent to tackle her. Ingrid doesn't even bat an eye, she creates a patch of ice in front of the fourteen-year-old, causing him to slip and land face first on the white, ice cold floor.
"Henry!" Elsa shrieks, running to his side. She's horrified to find blood pouring from his nose and his cut lip. It leaves cold droplets on the bright red contrasting the white cave floor. Killian also wants to run to the young lad's side, but the ice has moved up his legs, keeping him in one spot.
Stunned and cold, Henry lets Elsa help him up, wiping the blood on the sleeve of his sweater.
"Please, if you want me, keep me, but let them go," the true Snow Queen begs.
"I'm sorry Elsa, this is the way it has to be…" Ingrid says.
With the wave of her hand, a cold wind forces both Elsa and Henry off their feet. They slide back against the cave wall next to Killian, the cold breeze also advancing his freezing even more. Then icicles in the form of stalactites and stalagmites grow up from the top and bottom of the cave, spreading around the two helpless heroes into the form of a cage. The two are now trapped indefinitely.
"You truly are a witch," Killian snarls angrily, wishing her could attack her.
…
Not far away, a yellow VW bug is speeding through the rough forest terrain towards the Snow Queen's cave at top speed. Emma Swan, tears in her eyes, but a fire in her veins weaves through the trees towards where she knew Henry was being held. She was hell-bent on ending the Snow Queen for the last time!
…
However, she didn't anticipate that Ingrid would be watching from her mirror.
"Your mother/girlfriend is faster than I anticipated," Ingrid smirks.
Both Killian and Henry smile, knowing that nothing was going to stop Emma from finding them.
"You're not going to like her when she's mad," Henry says smugly.
"I think this might slow her down a bit…" she raises her hand.
…
As Emma drives forward, sharp icicles pop out of the ground and she doesn't see them in time. Her front tires plow through them, causing the car to come to a dead and abrupt halt. It happens so suddenly that the airbags explode in the Saviour's face.
"What the…"
Emma pushes the bags out of her face and gets out of her car. She sees the icicles and her hands light up.
"It's going to take more than that to slow me down you, b****…," she says, deciding to go on foot, leaving her car behind. The earth rumbles slightly as her powers become stronger with her emotions.
…
"Perhaps something with a little more spring in its step," Ingrid mutters.
…
As Emma trudges through the woods, going purely on instinct and yet somehow, she knew where Henry was. Once she beats Ingrid and has Henry back, she's going to force the evil snow queen to release her parents, Elsa, and Killian, because she's more than sure that the wicked blonde has him too. She's seeing red and her hands burn with the strongest magic she's ever known. The drop in temperature tells her that she knows she's getting closer.
Suddenly, she hears a growl and out of the corner of her eye, she's something white. She turns to see some kind of animal made of snow and ice prowling behind the trees. Like the dragon they'd encountered, its eyes matched the hollow and yellow colouring as it looks at its prey. It's pointed ears flatten out and its long snout lets out a loud snarl.
By the look of it, it appears to be some kind of dog, it looks a lot like Ruby in her canine form. The beast comes out from behind a large oak tree and Emma has her hands up, ready for a fight. The thing begins to circle the Saviour, still growling, but the angry mother is not afraid. Not in the least, nothing would stand in the way of rescuing her son, parents, and boyfriend.
Now that it was closer, Emma could see that it was a wolf, an Arctic wolf, with little flecks of ice forming the fur, giving it a slight shine from her light magic and the claws elongated and shining. It lets out a grizzly and bone-chilling howl, confirming the blonde's identification of species. It continues to circle.
"Who's afraid of a big bad wolf," Emma says. "Come on Jacob, let's dance…"
A/N: Why do you think she called it Jacob? Thank you again to PopPotter777 and for your comments. I'd like to call you my number one fans.