A/N: So yeah I know it's not Wednesday, but I will begin sending out chapters every 3-4 days, depending on how fast my beta reader will be able to go through the chapters. There will be 14 chapters in total, and I can't wait to share this story with you all. Hope you like where I'm going with this, let me know what you think in a review.

Thanks to Ultraluckycatnd for beta reading this for me.

Chapter 9

The wind swept her hair behind her as she urged herself to keep going. It had been three days of endless travels, only sparing time to find rest for the night, something the rest of the group had urged her to accept. Leaping over another fallen tree, she found her footing and scanned the path ahead of them, her hand clasping the ring she wore around her neck, the ring that four days ago had started to shine and become warm against her skin. Killian was in danger, hurt, or captured; all she knew was that she should get to him, she'd made a promise.

The sun was setting lower on the sky now, and she focused her magic on the ring, trying to get a bearing on what direction they needed to go for. They had crossed the border to Oz this morning so they all had been on extra high alert as the Misthaven Elves rarely traveled to this realm. They had yet to meet anyone on the path, it seemed to be a secluded part of the realm.

"Perhaps we should rest up for a bit," Graham urged as he leaped over the fallen tree. He glanced over his shoulder making sure the rest of the group gathered around. Ruby and Elsa came next followed by August, who had opted to be their rearguard.

Emma whirled around and glared at the elven head guard. "I know he is close, I can feel it." She tapped the ring nestled above her breast bone, the metal burned hot against her fingers. "We just need to go down this path." Emma gave each member of their group a hard stare.

"Emma." Ruby sighed and leaned against the fallen tree, her brown hair was coming loose from the intricate braids she usually wore. Swiping the wayward hair away from her face, Ruby growled. "We're exhausted and we need rest." She nodded to Emma. "You look like you could drop to the ground any moment now. We've been traveling at this ridiculous speed for three days now."

Emma inhaled deeply as she took in her friend's words; part of her brain knew it was true, but her heart was pulled by whatever force that had connected her to Killian. She knew he needed help, or the ring would never have begun glowing like this. "I need to find him." Her voice was clipped and the words grated over her vocal cords. "I know he is in pain, I must find him." She started backing away from the group. "Just give us one more hour." She glanced to the sky and she knew they had more daylight to search for him. She turned her gaze upon her friends. "I know I've asked a lot from you, going on this trip, my own parents not fully agreeing on how important it is." Her heart clenched as she remembered how her parents had tried to dissuade her from taking off on this trip. Her mother had understood the feelings pouring from Emma as she'd spoken about Killian, but her father had been more reluctant in the matter.

"We all agreed to go," August reasoned, and pushed away from the large rock he'd rested against. He shifted his backpack and nodded. "One more hour and then we'll find a place to rest." His eyes scanned the group and it was with some reluctance that the rest of the group followed Emma down the path her magic had shown her to follow.

Emma vaguely paid notice to the different colorful flowers, shining in the greenery in bright orange, red, and purple, though the vegetation they passed on their trek down the narrow path was slightly unfamiliar. She started to wonder if her magic might have been mistaken when the undergrowth began to thicken and made the path even more narrow. Slowing down, she made sure her focus was on her magic and the connected rings, it was made so she would be able to detect in what direction she would have to travel to get to Killian. As she pushed forward, she ignored the branches swiping over her arms, the slight pain was nothing compared to the ache in her heart. Knowing that Killian was in pain had filled her senses with one goal in mind, to find him. Fast.

Suddenly she picked up a low roaring sound and she stopped and listened carefully; it did sound like an animal, but she wasn't sure. She'd heard of the flying monkeys roaming the land of Oz, but this sound didn't come from the air. Her heightened elven sight scanned ahead of them and a flash of yellow weaved between the undergrowth. Silently she got her bow and arrow ready, motioning to her friends to be prepared. It had recently rained, and the wet leaves covering the path sent an earthy smell swirling through the air after each step they took. She hoped whatever animal was up ahead of them would be long gone before they reached the end of the path.

As they moved forward in slow alertness, Emma touched the ring again and the burning sensation was getting stronger; they had to be close. When she spotted a small cottage through the foliage further on, she stopped and listened again. All seemed quiet so she motioned for them all to move forward, and they soon found themselves on the edge of a large meadow where a small white cottage was nestled up against the forest they'd just passed through. A river could be seen at the other end of the meadow, its water glinting in the sunlight.

"What in the seven moons is that?" Ruby whispered and pointed to an animal walking around the small cottage. When Emma looked, she blinked and watched as the large yellow animal stopped in its tracks and blinked at them with dark eyes. Its head was encompassed by darker hair that ruffled in the wind, as the beast moved its head from side to side.

Emma clutched her bow in her hand, making ready to draw an arrow to send at the beast if needed. They gasped when the beast bared its large fangs, the white glinting in the sunlight. A low rumble came from the animal and it made a louder roar that had them all grab for their weapons.

"Lion no!" a female voice commanded from the other side of the cottage and to everyone's surprise, the lion shook its head one last time before it trudged into the forest. Seconds later a woman emerged and when she saw the group of elves standing near her home, she blinked in surprise. "Who are you?"

Emma took a small step forward, peacefully lifting her hand, hoping the woman would understand that they didn't wish to harm anyone. "I'm Princess Emma of Misthaven, the elven realm three days' journey east of here."

"You're elven?" the woman whispered in awe and she smoothed her hands over her white apron.

"We are and we do not wish to cause any harm." Emma paused, hoping that this woman could help them. "We're searching for my friend, our friends, they should have been traveling through this realm. I've come to know that they are hurt, or at least one of them is." Emma closed her eyes, trying not to picture Killian laying half dead somewhere.

"How do you know this?" The woman looked at them cautiously, her eyes narrowed.

"I have magic… it's white, pure magic, no worries." Emma lifted her hand again in a peace offering. She then tapped the ring around her neck. "This ring connected me with my friend, he would be able to call for me if he ever was hurt." She glanced around. "I sense that he is somewhere here, very close."

"He is inside." The woman flipped her thumb towards the cottage. "Follow me, I'll take you to him."

Emma blinked, not understanding what the woman said. "He's here…?"

The woman nodded and motioned for them to follow her. The group began walking but stopped short when the yellow beast showed up again. When she saw this she chuckled, "Oh Lion they will not harm, I promise." She waved her hand towards the forest. "You go out to hunt or something." The beast did as she asked and it soon vanished into the darkness of the forest. She began walking again but then she realized her visitors hadn't followed her. She turned around and raised an eyebrow, and then it dawned on her. "Oh don't worry about Lion, he won't hurt a fly. He's my pet."

"That's your pet?" Ruby asked in disbelief, shaking her head as she cautiously began to walk around the cottage, her eyes scanning the edge of the forest for any signs of the lion.

The woman nodded. "He is, just a sweet kitten really," she chuckled, then gasped. "Oh my goodness I haven't even introduced myself, I'm Dorothy."

They all nodded in greeting and Emma quickly introduced everyone in her group. Then Emma walked to the front of the building. She wanted to reach Killian, and help him in any way she could.

Dorothy pushed open the door and whispered, "Mr. Jones, your friends are here." A rustling was heard from inside and soon Emma saw Liam appear in the doorway. When he saw the group of elves, he sighed in relief.

"Bloody hell it's good to see you." His eyes landed on Emma. "Killian has been asking for you, Your Highness." He bowed his head in respect.

Emma gave him a quick smile before she pushed past him and scanned the small area inside. She quickly spotted the bed at the furthest wall, and what she saw had her heart sink. Killian was curled up on one side, his face pinched together in pain, and a low moan fell over his lips as he tried to shift into a more comfortable position.

Emma's heart clenched at the thought of him being in so much pain and had been for the past three days. She looked over her shoulder and demanded, "What happened to him?"

"A flying monkey nicked his skin right over the collar of his coat. It wasn't deep enough to need stitching, but the poison from the beast did fester in the wound." Liam stepped further into the room and added, "We used Phoenix Flower to try and pull out the poison, and I think we managed to get most of it out." He gulped, "but he is still in so much pain, and the wound doesn't seem to want to start healing."

Emma nodded in understanding. "You did all you could, wounds like that are tricky." Her mind was already sorting out what needed to be done next, no other medicine would be able to help Killian, it would all rely on her light magic. She rushed to the bed and gently touched Killian's forehead, his skin was clammy and warm and he mumbled in his sleep.

"It's okay, Killian, I'm here," she soothed and leaned over his body to inspect the wound they had tried to bandage. When she lifted the linen covering the wound, she saw how it was infested with the dark poison from the flying beasts. She'd read about the creatures roaming the land of Oz, and knew that being bitten by them was in essence fatal, because the person would be turned into a flying monkey himself. Since Killian had only been scratched by its long claws he'd been lucky, but the poison had still tried to infect his bloodstream.

"Give me some clean rags and warm water," Emma asked no one in particular; she'd sensed that her friends had joined them inside. Soon enough a bowl with warm water was brought to her. She smiled as she took the rag from Dorothy. "Thank you, you've been a huge help. What you did with the Phoenix Flower saved my friend's life."

Dorothy gave her a small smile. "It's nothing, his brother was the one who'd been vigilant enough to find shelter and bring the Phoenix Flower to my attention."

"Where did they get that from?"

"I have no idea, but as you said, it saved his life," Dorothy explained.

Emma nodded and dipped the rag in the warm water, then she removed the bandage and gently cleaned the wound. It reeked of evil and darkness, and her magic reacted to the combination it seemed to have. Then she realized that the darkness Killian had told her about lurking inside him might have tried to feed off on the poison from the flying monkey. This was going to be tricky so she took a deep breath as she discarded the rag and turned her focus on Killian. Her hand smoothed over his forehead again, and his lips moved in a silent plea. When her fingers slid behind his ear and got closer to the wound, she closed her eyes and focused her magic to remove any lingering poison.

Dark curls of magic swiped at the light streams of magic she began pouring into his body, her fingers hovering over the wound while the other hand smoothed over his chest and side, before she settled her hand over his heart. The drum of his heart was disturbingly slow, but as she started to push forward with her magic, she felt him gasp in pain and his heartbeat tripled and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"Fluttering Phoenix feathers," Emma muttered to herself when a particularly stubborn part of the poison refused to let go; it seemed to be anchored to something rooted deep within him. She knew it was the darkness that had been a constant companion throughout his whole life.

Killian gasped and his eyes shot open at the new intensity of the magic pulling at his core. "Emma?" His voice was hoarse and his blue eyes looked haunted and in disbelief of her actually being here.

"I'm here Killian. I'll help you, just stay still okay?" Emma whispered as she tried to keep her focus on getting the last poison out of him. Why didn't this work?

"Emma… I… you… here?"

"Yes, of course, I'm here." She stopped short to gaze into his glazy blue eyes. "I would travel to the ends of the world for you."

"Why?" His voice was a low whisper, eyes filled with wonder.

"I… I love you, you ol' fool, I love you." Emma felt the words slip from her lips with such ease that it quite surprised her. The words had lived in her heart from the moment she'd gotten to know this half-man, half-elven. "I love you." She leaned over him, her fingers still hovering over his wound, her other hand resting over his heart. With a final sigh, she let go of her insecurity about the love she had for this man. Then her lips closed over his and her hand resting over his wound burned with the dark and light magic struggling for which one should reside inside Killian's body. When Killian moved under her and he deepened the kiss, she felt the darkness inside him finally release the poison that had infested him. It seeped into the ball of magic hovering under Emma's hand, was consumed by the light magic and when Emma closed her fingers around the orb, it vanished into thin air.

Killian gasped in surprise, his lips still close to hers, and Emma felt the moment he was released from the poison because his whole body relaxed. His arm was finally strong enough to wrap around the back of her head, fingers tangling in her blond locks.

"You saved me, you saved me," Killian mumbled against her lips, and when she pulled back his eyes were filled with wonder.

"That I did," Emma said, and she clenched her fingers a few times before she smoothed her hand over the side of his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Blood brilliant, love." He grinned and glanced behind her. "Hey there brother, I'm okay."

Emma looked behind her, she realized that her group of elven friends, along with Liam and Dorothy, had witnessed her professing her love for Killian. She tried to stem down the blush she felt creeping up her neck. Well, they all knew that she cared deeply for this half-elven man Killian Jones. Once they got back to Misthaven, they would have to face the music regarding her parents.

Liam smiled and turned his focus on Emma. "Thank you, Your Highness, I'll forever be in your debt. You saved my brother's life." Liam bowed his head in respect.

Emma rose and nodded in return. "I did what was needed to save his life." By telling him you love him, her mind gave back, and when she felt a pang of regret flash through her, she realized that he hadn't spoken the words back. Clasping her hands together she turned to look at the man holding her heart, hoping to get some clarification on the matter. With a small sigh, she saw that Killian had fallen asleep, the battle between the darkness inside him and the poison had been far too tiring. Emma knew that the darkness was still there, and she only hoped that once he and Liam found the Olympian crystal, they would be successful in getting the darkness out of them.

Emma turned back to the group and said, "Let's go outside and gather our thoughts and plan out the next step." All she wanted was to curl up in that bed with Killian, feeling his warm body against hers, hearing him breathing, and feeling him being alive and well.

Everyone filed outside and spread out around the yard in front of the cottage, and Dorothy managed to find food for everyone. While they ate, Liam told the tale of what had happened to him and Killian. He mentioned a man named Will who had helped them.

Emma looked around. "Where's Will now?"

"Oh, he wandered off this morning with Tin Man, my dimwitted friend Scarecrow wandered off again," Dorothy gave as an explanation to this matter. She looked as if her words would make sense to her guests, but when she realized they all looked at her with a blank stare she added, "You see here in Oz I have only three real friends, you already met Lion, the sweetest little pet…"

"I wouldn't call him little," Elsa mumbled under her breath. Emma tried not to chuckle.

"... and then I have Tin Man. He desperately wants a heart and then Scarecrow doesn't have a brain so he rarely knows what he's doing." Dorothy shrugged and looked at her guests as if hoping they would understand now.

Everyone smiled and nodded in understanding even if some might only partly comprehend what all this meant. Emma was relieved when no one came with more comments on the matter. Dorothy had helped and assisted the brothers and had helped save Killian, it would be bad form to ridicule her way of living her life.

An hour later they all picked up the slow whistling tune rolling towards them coming from the river and as they all looked over the meadow they saw a young man wearing a traveling cloak walking along with two other figures. Emma squinted in the dimmed light, the sun had almost slipped past the horizon. As the figures came closer she realized that one of them was made entirely out of some sort of metal, the silvery surface reflected the waning sunlight. So that had to be Tin Man, and as Emma inspected the other figure she realized it did resemble a Scarecrow with raggedy clothes, a straw hat placed over a head made of what looked like burlap.

Emma noticed several of her friends gasp in surprise and wonder at this sight; well this land of Oz certainly came with a few surprises. As the trio came closer Emma could see when the young man realized that the cottage had gotten a few more guests. He pulled back his hood in wonder and slowed his steps, blinking as he took in the group of tall elves, some standing and some sitting on barrels or crates.

"Oh hi there Will," Dorothy greeted and walked over to the group, Emma smiled when the woman walked over to greet the man, and it was an even bigger surprise when Dorothy stopped in front of the young man, Will, and leaned over and kissed him.

Dorothy slipped her hand into Will's and nodded to the group. "This here is friends of Killian and Liam." She pointed to Emma, "The elven princess helped heal Killian, she got the poison out."

"Blimey, they are elves," Will muttered in disbelief, his eyes sweeping over the group.

Dorothy chuckled at this. "Yes they are, and would you believe it when I say that your friends, Killian and Liam, are half-elven."

Will gasped. "For real?"

"Hmm." Dorothy nodded and urged, "Now come eat, you must be hungry." She turned her gaze back at Tin Man and Scarecrow. "Come now, you would want to eat too I imagine, don't worry they are all friendly."

Dorothy set about to find food for Will and her other two friends. It turned out to be quite a party at the end; when the first surprise had settled, Will seemed eager to regale the elves with his side of the story of how they'd managed to find the Dark One's dagger.

Emma spoke with Liam about what their plan was now, she knew they wanted to find the Dark One; with the dagger now in their possession they would be able to summon him. And once they had him within their reach they would take back the Olympian Crystal and use it to remove the darkness within them.

"We're still a bit uncertain as to how that crystal will work." Liam sighed and rubbed his face, "all I know is that we would finally be free once the darkness inside us is removed."

Emma chewed on her bottom lip contemplating what to say. "I might be able to help."

"How?"

"I have light magic, my aunt Regina has been training me, and she told me that I have some powerful light magic inside me. She claims I've been blessed with this power to help someone." Emma shook her head. "She even called me a savior." She scoffed. "Me, a savior. I'm a princess who wields great healing magic, and sure I know it's powerful and all that, but saving someone…"

"You saved my brother," Liam mused, his eyes bright in the flames licking over the logs in the firepit they built when night fell.

"Yeah, but that was also my healing powers…"

"That was helped along with the power of true love," Liam proclaimed with a knowing smile.

"You think?" When Liam nodded she continued, "Well the elven realm Misthaven does build its social structure based on true love. It is not all elves that have magic, to the extent that I or my aunt has."

"Your realm is built on true love and magic?" Liam asked in wonder. He looked down at his clasped hands, then his eyes sought out the form of Elsa sitting opposite of them. "Graham never spoke much about how your realm functioned, our friendship was more based on the experience we've had together."

Emma nodded and nudged his shoulder with her own. "True love can happen between anyone."

"You think?"

Emma detected the hopeful notes in his voice and she knew that her friend Elsa might be harboring some similar feelings to the other Jones brother. "I believe so."

"Well…" Liam trailed off and rose to his feet and walked to the silver blond-haired elven that seemed to have captured his attention.

Emma sighed; once all of this was over things were going to change in dramatic ways, and she knew that no matter how Killian felt about her, she would carry her love for him in her heart forever. Perhaps he would say the words back once he woke up the next day, and if not she would try and carry on and help the Jones brothers with their quest to finally find peace in their life. Once the darkness would be removed from them they would finally be free, free to live their lives and love whomever they desired.