DISCLAIMER:: do not own. just borrowing for purpose of creative expression. no profit obtained.
A/N::excited about this update mainly because the creature involved in it was from one of my stories when i was in high school. i got high praise from my professor, but i always wanted to revisit it, and now i got the chance. except i made it evil, where before it was good. hopefully it works well as fantasy is not really my forte. anyways, enjoy and review. loving the feedback this is getting.
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-Chapter 38: Help Me Chase The Shadows Away-
It barely took them any time to break camp once Emma awakened. Regina was set on making it over the second Hex and to Maleficent's fortress before the peak of night. But that was only if luck was kind enough to be on their side and luck had never favoured either Queen.
The morning stretch over the remaining portion of the first Hex proved uneventful. The Huntsman kept a distance ahead of them, using scouting as an excuse, though Emma was rather sure he just disliked being close to Regina. He'd begrudgingly admitted to the blonde that something in her eyes had changed and he no longer saw the callous and cold woman who'd taken his heart. Emma had been good for her, had changed her. But no matter how changed she may be, Emma knew he would never forgive the past misdeeds. She may no longer be the Evil Queen, but she existed in the physical shell of the cruel ruler and it was too hard to separate the two in his mind. So he only came near when Regina insisted on riding ahead to observe the way for herself, which she did every hour or so, magically probing for any traps the Huntsman may be unable to see.
"Where will you go after Maleficent's?" He came apace beside her.
Emma shrugged, her eyes scanning the surrounding landscape for any signs of an impending ambush or hidden trouble. Regina had been gone for longer than usual and she found it exceedingly worrisome. Unlike the first Hex, which had been sparsely dotted with foliage here and there, but mostly barren, the second Hex was it's opposite. The surrounding area was thick with forestry and places to hide. She had no knowledge of these woods and even the Huntsman seemed unfamiliar with the territory. If any unsavory characters were going to attempt to cause trouble, this would be the place to do it. "I have not thought so far ahead. Time… it is not my friend at the moment, mayhaps it never has been. I do not have long. A week from today. That is all time has afforded me to solve the riddle of my life. I would call it unfair but it is a drop in the bucket of all I have endured. Unfair has been such a constant companion to me in my life, I should like to call it friend."
"She took the news well."
The corners of Emma's mouth lifted in the smallest of smiles. "She is a Queen in every way, much more so than I have ever been. And a Queen's reaction is what she allows people to see, even me. Ever dignified, even when facing Death. I quite expect she won't even flinch when the time comes. Me, I shall come undone, but not her, never her. She shall face the end calmly."
The Huntsman was quiet for a time. Finally, "What of her other half? Surely it will not be so bad to give up one when you still have the other?"
Emma shook her head. "Have you ever been in love Huntsman?"
He nodded his head. "I once thought so."
"I know nothing of the losses you've faced in your life and maybe you can understand because of the loss of your heart. Without it… you will always be an incomplete being. That is what Regina is. She may still have her heart, but she does not have her soul, not all of it. No matter which side I love, I am only loving a part of her. Mayhaps that is enough, but I dream only of having all of her. Her dark and her light. Beyond that, I have children, one each in both worlds that do not exist in the other. Henry was born there, after the curse, and Savya here in the same fashion. I do not love one more than the other. They are both my children. I am no stranger to loss Huntsman, I have lost much in my life… my mother to the war, my father to his mind, my best friend to yet more battle… Death has walked beside me, her cold hand on my shoulder for all my life. I know her intimately, like an old lover. But this… this is the one thing I do not want to give Her. She can have everything, this world and all the people in it, as long as I keep Regina and Savya." She looked away, blinking back tears. "But no one has ever accused Death of being a good listener."
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It was another hour and Regina had still not returned. The Huntsman insisted they pull the horses over to a clearing and have a small meal from their food stores. They were almost halfway across the second Hex unmolested, an amazing feat, and they were making excellent time. If they continued at their current pace, they might make it to Maleficent's just after nightfall.
Emma slid off Freedom's back, rubbing her stallion's nose fondly. He had seen more work this past month than the rest of his days put together, but he'd come through. She reached into her bag and fed him an apple.
"I should try and find a place for them to drink." The Huntsman gestured between Freedom and Mary Brave.
"Let me." Emma grabbed for the reins of the other horse. "I need to stretch my legs." She offered him no time to protest and led the horses into the trees. They had crossed a stream a while back that would have continued a little to their east and she headed in its direction.
Finally she stumbled upon it. It was thicker this far up, almost river-like in size, though it had all the calmness of a burbling stream still. She led the horses to its edge, tying each to a separate tree and leaving them to drink, while she bent down herself and splashed some of the cold water across her face.
A giggle made her look up.
On the opposite bank stood Savya, looking just as she had the last time Emma had seen her. Emma stood up, blinking her eyes several times to clear them of any dredges of sleep that could be forcing a hallucination. But the girl still remained. "Savya… sweet one?"
The little girl held out her hand and beckoned Emma before disappearing into the trees.
Emma looked over her shoulder, back the way she'd came. She should tell the Huntsman, but there might be no time. She was already losing sight of the little girl through the thick press of trees. No, she'd just have to go collect her daughter and come right back. She touched both horses on the nose. "I'll be right back." And then she plunged forward through the water. It went up to her knees, soaking her riding trousers, but she cared not. Savya was her only goal.
She wasted no time when she reached the opposite bank, plunging ahead into the trees, following the sound of giggles as her only indication of which direction her daughter had gone. Every so often she'd catch a glimpse of her up ahead through the trees. "Savya? Slow down! Honey, please, Momma and I were so worried about you."
As the sounds of the stream became a distant memory far behind her, it occurred somewhere in the back of her mind that she should be more cautious than this. Something Regina had whispered to her this morning tugged at her memory, but she couldn't seem to remember the brunette's exact warning. She knew, despite the nagging sense of alarm, that she couldn't stop; this was her child. She pressed on, following the little girl deeper and deeper into the trees.
She paused against a tree, her chest heaving. The air was thin this high up the mountain, making it harder for her to breathe. She'd lived in the lowlands so long that she was unaccustomed to the high altitudes. Her lungs were screaming at her to stop, to rest for a bit and then go back. But her heart was telling her that her child was waiting for her. Her head was still undecided.
"Mommy!"
She shot away from the tree at the scream, her motherly instincts erasing the pain in her lungs, dwarfing it to an insignificant throb that mattered not. She rushed through the trees, branches and brambles tearing at her trouser legs, slicing little holes into her skin, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
Finally she stumbled into a clearing. Savya stood at its other side, her back to the blonde.
Emma's chest heaved with each breath she took. "Sweet one?"
The little girl turned to her slowly, her face blank. Slowly, a wicked grin spread across her features. And just like that, Savya wasn't Savya anymore. Where the little girl had just stood was a woman. Or that was the closest thing to describe what she was. She was female in form, her body long and elegant, perfect in proportions. Her deceptive beauty was the only indication Emma had that she wasn't human. She was taller than the average woman, at least 6'2". Her skin was pale, but not alarmingly so and had a bluish green tinge to it like one who had been in the water a bit too long. Her hair was black as ink and long, her eyes a deep violet. She grinned, her teeth all straight and perfect, but otherwise normal. She wore a tight lavender dress. All in all, she looked rather… well, if Emma was being honest, docile.
And that's when she attacked.
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Regina caught up with her party slightly off the road. Or rather, she caught up with the Huntsman. Scouting had yielded little results. There was no traces of any threat magical or otherwise until the beginning of the third Hex. She had expected to find traces there. Maleficent's fortress was not without its protection, but she knew how to cut through Maleficent's traps easily enough; she'd done it so many times she was sure she'd meet with no trouble. She dismounted Starfire next to the man, who was alternating between carving new arrow shafts from a branch and eating some hard bread. "Where's Emma?"
He shrugged and gestured into the woods with the half-completed arrow to the east. "She went to water the horses."
"How long ago?" Something wasn't right. She felt a disturbance in the air.
He looked down at the pile of completed shafts by his feet, seeming amazed at how big the pile was, fifteen maybe sixteen completed. He paled. "Before all those."
Regina's anger flared. "You fool! I told you to protect her!"
She pushed through the trees, heading straight east. She kept running, unable to stop until she came upon the stream, and the horses. They were restless now, having drank their fill and had wandered as far as their secured reins would allow them.
"Emma? Emma, my love, are you here?" Regina looked around, her eyes skimming everywhere, trees, the opposite bank.
The Huntsman emerged from the trees behind her, leading Starfire. "Is she here?"
Regina frowned. "No. Something made her leave. If it had been a mountain cat or a bear, it would have attacked the horses as soon as it ran her off. She left here on her own. Why?" She skimmed the water's surface and then back up to the other bank. "There!" On the opposite side, in the mud near the water's edge were the distinct impressions of women's riding boots.
Regina turned to the Huntsman. "Stay with the horses. No matter what you see or hear, do not move. Do you understand me? I think I know what did this. If it has already… if she has come to harm, it may return for you. No matter what you see or hear, do not move. Your instincts will not help you here Huntsman. Stay where you are. It cannot cross water."
He nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't protect her."
Regina regarded him coldly. "Not as sorry as you'll be if she's dead."
With a flick of her fingers, smoke consumed her form and just like that she appeared on the other bank. She proceeded into the trees without a glance back. She had known leaving Emma in the Huntsman's care was a risk. He may have incomparable knowledge of the Forbidden Forest, but in the Hexes, he was just as clueless as the next hunter. There was hardly any reason to venture into the mountains, if you were mortal. There was enough game to hunt in the lowlands and the Hexes were full of the realm's darkest creatures.
She could sense the magical trace now as if she were following an actual visible trail in front of her. It curved around trees in an odd path, almost as if it had been dancing through them. There were times it had gone around the same tree several times, looping in a circle. Waiting for its prey to catch up. She pressed onward.
She saw the trees breaking up ahead and the magical trails inevitable destination. The forest around her, as well as the clearing up ahead, were dead silent. Was she too late? She could already feel the violent wrenching of her heart in her chest as she pushed forward.
She emerged from the trees, tears already streaming down her cheeks unbidden.
Two bodies littered the floor of the clearing, both deathly still.
The first lay on her back, her blonde hair splayed all around a face, which was scratched in several places, some shallow and superficial, some deep and angry. Her eyes were closed and she didn't move. Blood soaked the legs of her riding trousers, torn nearly to shreds.
Regina fell to the ground beside the still form, pulling Emma's body up into her lap. She placed a kiss to a sliced forehead and smoothed down blonde hair. "Oh, my love. I'm so sorry. I left you unprotected. I was so foolish. This is my fault. I promised to protect you and I've failed." She leaned down, pressing her lips to the soft ones beneath hers, her tears falling from her eyes and onto cold cheeks. She pulled up and buried her face in her hands.
"Regina? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Her hands fell away and she stared at the woman still propped across her lap. Sage green eyes looked up at her questioningly.
Regina's eyes went wide, her mind still not quite able to believe it, and she gathered the blonde up and into her arms, hugging her fiercely. She refused to let go and Emma allowed her the embrace. "Hey, it's okay. You're fine."
Finally, Regina released her hold slightly, taking it down from bone-crushing to just tight. "I thought you were… that I'd lost you."
"Savya was at the stream and I followed her here. There was this thing, this woman… she lunged for me."
Regina pulled away enough to look in her eyes. "I thought I told you this morning not to be fooled by what you see. The eyes can be deceptive Emma. Sometimes they show you that which you want to see, not that which is truly there." She pressed a kiss to her forehead once more. "Did it hurt you?"
Emma brow crinkled and then she winced as the action split the cut, opening it fresh. She raised a hand, wincing again. She pulled it away, her fingers covered in blood. "I… I don't remember. It ran across the clearing. It was so fast, like a blur. It jumped and her… claws went into my shoulders. She… she knocked me in my ground. I… something hit my head and…I don't remember anything after that." She glanced around until she saw the other body. Her eyes went wide as she turned back to the brunette, crawling deeper into her lap as she regarded the body in fear.
The other body was laying on its side, its back to them. It pale skin was tight against the ridge of its spine. They saw the lump of each separate vertebrae in the curve of the spine.
One of Regina's arms cradled the blonde against her, while the threw out the other one, magically rolling the body towards them to assess the thing's wounds.
Throwing knives and arrows littered the creature's body. It was dead.
"What is she?" Emma clung tighter to Regina.
"It's not a she. It has no gender. They're called Apasmas. They're like Chameleons. They change form at will. They draw you in by appearing to you as the form you most wish to see and then they pull your essence from you. An Apasma is a dangerous creature Emma, and they are all over the second Hex. I should not have left you alone."
Emma shook her head. "You cannot be there to watch me at all times my love."
Regina looked back at the dead Apasma. "The question is… who killed it?" She held Emma protectively against her and looked around.
Emma narrowed her eyes, trying to recall the memory.
Emma winced, letting out a cry of pain as long, needle-like claws sunk deeply into her shoulders. She fell backward with the force of the impact. The beautiful woman was heavier than she appeared. It used the leverage of its claws to pick her shoulders up off the ground and slam her head back against the ground. Stars shot off behind her eyes, the sting blinding. It repeated the process and black dots danced across her vision. The woman was about to lift her once again when something slammed into it.
An arrow protruded from the woman's chest. It was quickly joined by another. The woman let out a scream and released her hold on the blonde. She stumbled back as a throwing knife smacked into her stomach.
Emma vision swam, moving between darkness and consciousness. Her head lolled to the side and she saw a flash of white move from the trees, raising a beautifully carved bow. An arrow flew from the bowstring and smacked with the others into the woman and she finally went down.
The figure in white moved forward and crouched beside her. She tried to see up into the hood, but her vision was already darkening, already clouding over. Soft fingers pressed against her shoulder and she felt a sharp pull against her skin. It was excruciatingly painful and she thrashed until the pain became too much and she let the darkness claim her.
Emma grabbed for her tunic, pulling it aside to reveal the skin at her shoulder. Circular scars covered her skin in an arching pattern.
Regina's fingers traced across the fully healed wounds. "What are these?"
Emma looked back at the fallen creature. "It's where she grabbed me. I think… I think the woman in the white cloak… healed me." Though she wondered why she had left all the other cuts and why the healing had hurt so much.
"The woman in the white cloak? The one who took Savya?"
Emma nodded. "She killed the Apasma. She saved me."
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The Huntsman jumped as the riverbank swirled with a cloud of purple smoke and then Regina appeared with Emma carried bridal style in her arms. "Help me."
He laid down a saddle blanket and helped the brunette lower Emma onto the blanket. Regina removed the tatters of her leather riding trousers, leaving her clad only in her small clothes.
The Huntsman tried not to look, to preserve her modesty as best he could.
Regina began to heal Emma's legs, running her fingers slowly across each cut as if she were applying a thin line of salve. "Get me some water from the stream."
The Huntsman grabbed one of the waterskins and fetched fresh water from the stream. He ran back up and handed it to Regina.
She poured some on Emma's leg and the blonde yelped at the low temperature of the mountain run-off. Regina cursed under her breath and muttered an incantation to warm the liquid. She tried again. "Is that better?"
Emma nodded tiredly.
Regina cleared away the blood. The cuts were all small and superficial, there would be no scarring. She turned her attention to the blonde's face. It took nearly half an hour to heal all Emma's injuries. No trace remained of any, except those at her shoulder.
Emma yawned once she had finished. "I know not why I am so tired. It's not even nightfall yet."
Regina frowned. She grabbed a fresh pair of trousers and tried to slip Emma into them. "You'll be fatigued for a few days yet, until the poison has time to leech from your system."
Emma paled. "Poison?"
Regina nodded. "Apasmas use the needled tips of their claws to inject poison into their victims. It's not fatal except in extremely high doses. Apasmas generally don't use it as a means of killing, merely to incapacitate their victims while they steal their life force. This particular one seemed to want you dead however. It would have merely started to drain you right away otherwise. That means someone sent it after you."
The Huntsman frowned. "Mayhaps the woman who conjured the Shadow Wolf."
Emma shook her head. "No, she killed it. She saved me."
Regina nodded. "I think it was something much darker. The woman in white wants us to reach Maleficent's. She's doing everything in her power to make sure we make it there. Whatever sent the Apasma after Emma is hoping the exact opposite. Going to Maleficent's is going to give us answers, answers that someone doesn't want us to have. Without the assistance of our mysterious friend, I fear Emma would not have made it. My powers are great but even I do not possess enough knowledge to extract Apasma Venom from a victim. It takes great skill and even greater concentration. I've only ever seen it done once, in my childhood days."
"By who?"
"A traveling mystic by the name of Manja. She was a beautiful woman, with long white hair and eyes the colour of roses. She was quite remarkable in her skill, but my mother had her sent away. She didn't like considering that there was anyone out there more skilled in the arts than she."
"Could the woman in white be Manja?"
Regina shook her head. "Hardly. Manja had to be nearing forty when I knew her. She'd be over eighty five by now. No, this is someone younger, but with just as much skill."
The Huntsman patted Mary Brave's nose. "I suppose the only way to find out for sure is to go where she's leading us."
Regina pursed her lips. "Yes, I suppose so."
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They had lost a good portion of the day. Emma was still too weak from the venom to ride herself so Regina got onto Freedom's back, for Starfire had been overworked already, and the Huntsman handed the younger Queen up into her arms. She wrapped her arms around the blonde and grabbed the reins. They made quick progress despite riding double, but only managed to make it to the base of the third Hex before they had to make camp.
Regina set up wards around their small campsite. If someone wanted the Queen of the Enchanted Forest dead, they wouldn't stop at one Apasma. There would be other, possibly darker foes. Her first thought was of Hadrian. He was certainly the one with the most motive and having the Queen die at the hands of some creature would appear enough of an accident to secure his rule, but also leave him blameless, the grieving King. But he had no such sway here. Apasmas were not easily controlled. They came at a high price, and it wasn't gold they asked for in return for their service. Many lives had been lost to buy their cooperation, of that Regina had little doubt. Hadrian was too noble and proud a man to sacrifice so many lives. This wasn't him. Which meant their problems were a lot bigger than any of them had ever anticipated. Something dark was coming, and fast. She could only hope they'd be ready for it when it arrived.