They had been trekking through the tunnel for a few hours when the sound of rocks shattering as if by an explosion reached their ears.
"Do you think she's trying to bury us in here?" Tessa asked.
"For some reason I don't think she would do it by blowing up the castle she lives in", Filipi responded. "That's caused by something else, or someone."
"Guys!" Rowan called. He was somewhat ahead of the rest of the group and was crouching down, his fingers brushing the stone.
"Blood", he said. "It's been here a few days."
"When did you become an expert in tracking?" Indira asked. Rowan shot her a grim smile.
"I'm the brother of the Huntsman; I've got to be good at something."
"If the blood's a few days old it might belong to Jade or Robin, or even Toby", Ella pointed out.
"But they didn't even head inside this tunnel", Arianne protested.
"The tunnels must have merged without us knowing it", Belle replied. "Things like that happens in here from time to time."
"We're far from any sort of entrance", Wolfgang said, looking back the way they had come. "They must have been attacked in this location by something."
"But why here?" Indira said with a frown, lighting up the walls with her wand. "Why place a trap in such a strange location?"
"Because it's unexpected", Maryse replied, "and because we must be getting closer to what she's intent to keep away from us. Look."
She nodded down a narrower corridor, one that could easily be missed in the darkness. It was not very long and ended in a rough, uncut stone. Maybe it was even the foot of one of the surrounding mountains.
"Well, it would seem she's not bothered to place it back up again", Clarissa said with a grin. The sound of an explosion sounded again and the rock down the narrower corridor seemed to tremble.
"That's not the sound of someone trying to bury us", Wolfgang said with a grin of his own. "That's the sound of someone trying to get out."
"That's terrible logic", Ella muttered. Wolfgang just kept grinning and walked down the corridor, tapping the rock with his wand.
"Well, it's not an illusion", he said. "The Witch must be teleporting past it every time she comes here."
"That does seem to be her favoured way of transportation", Filipi agreed, "along with that broom of hers. And someone who can teleport does not need to blow his or her way out through the rock."
"See, this is why you and I work so well together", Wolfgang said and smiled at her. The blonde rolled her eyes at him and drew her own wand.
"Bombarda!"
Shatters of stone blew out towards them and Wolfgang uttered a series of foul words while the dust slowly cleared.
"Alright, I see your point", he coughed. "Still not on the best of terms."
A muffled sound was heard from the other side of the now hollow rock. Wolfgang quickly placed her ear on the stone in an attempt to hear it more clearly.
"Guys?"
The voice was faint, but still recognizable.
"It's Jade!" Filipi called back to the rest of the group, before turning towards the stone. "Jade, we're coming! Stay back!"
She shot a glance at Wolfgang, who quickly moved back to the main corridor. Filipi walked as far back as she dared before raising her wand again.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
Stone and dust flew in every direction, clattering against the walls of the corridor. Both the explosion and the clattering echoed down the dark route for a long time and everyone seemed to hold their breaths while the dust slowly settled, revealing a hole through the stone. It was not more than two feet wide and perhaps three feet tall, not enough for anyone to walk through, but enough to crawl, and enough to see a familiar face peeking out, illuminated by the light of a wand.
"Hi guys", Jade said with a lopsided grin. "Knew I could count on you."
"Are you alright?" Indira asked and hurried up to the hole. "Is Robin there as well? And Toby?"
"We're both here, milady", an accented voice from behind Jade called.
"We seriously need to get them out right now", Jade said, her face becoming serious. "The Witch hasn't treated either of them that well. Toby's drifting in and out of consciousness."
"We're several hours away from the exit", Maryse pointed out, "and the Witch..."
"The Witch is gone", Jade interrupted. "She came in here to gloat just before we managed to escape. I'll tell you more later. Also, I've found a way out of here on this end."
"So you weren't trying to blast your way out here?" Chris asked.
"Of course not", Jade huffed. "It looked like solid rock to me, possibly several yards thick or more."
She stepped slightly to the side, revealing a blasting site on the other side of the vaguely illuminated cave. There was a small hole, wide enough for a hand and an arm to go through, leading out into the open air.
"An air vent", Jade grinned. "I just made it a bit bigger. Want to help me out a bit?"
The others looked at one another before they nodded.
"I'll just blast this hole a bit bigger", Filipi said. "It's a bit too high up to get through without any difficulty as it is now."
The others nodded in agreement and she uttered the simpler version of the blasting spell one more time, causing the hole to grow in height and allow them to step through – crouching, but otherwise without any trouble.
The cave on the other end was roughly circular and illuminated only by Toby's wand, which Jade had managed to attach to the wall. Close to where it sat were a set of chains and, further away yet, a dark corridor.
"Why don't we use the corridor?" Chris asked.
"Because it only leads back to where me and Robin were chained up", Jade answered and walked over to her work station. "I blasted the way here."
"And how did you know where to go?" Ella asked. Jade turned towards her with a frown.
"What, you didn't hear it?"
"Hear what?" Arianne asked. Jade nodded at Toby's crumpled form next to Robin. Indira and Miranda were sitting next to them as well, tending to their wounds. Miranda had also given Robin her flask of water, which he was now gulping down.
"Him talking", she said. "Seriously, it was like he'd become Professor X or something; I could hear him in my head and I just had to find where the sound was strongest to get the right direction."
"Since when is Toby a telepath?" Wolfgang asked with a frown.
"Do you think the Witch did something to him?" Tessa asked.
"It doesn't matter", Clarissa responded. "We'll get him out of here and figure that stuff out later. Blasting time?"
"Agreed", Rowan said. "Will you do the honours, Izzy?"
"Seriously, I still think you two should get married", Jade said with a grin, "but go ahead."
Clarissa grinned back and raised her wand.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
The wall in front of them shattered into a million pieces, big and small, and the rumbling seemed to echo through the mountain.
"I think we'd better get out right away!" Maryse called. "The cave's giving in!"
Wolfgang and Rowan hoisted Toby up between them, while Belle steadied Robin. Then they ran, out of the dust-covered cave and the Witch's captivity. They were quite a way away from the castle itself, as expected by the length of the tunnel, but this in turn meant that they were not that far from the disguised camp. Arianne and Indira took the lead down the slope, opening up the hole in the shield as they went and keeping it open while the others made it through. Then they closed it.
"Freedom!" Jade shouted.
"Good to have you back, Jade", Wolfgang said with a grin as he placed Toby down on a sleeping mat.
"Jade, you said that the Witch had gloated about something", Belle suddenly said. "What was it? Has Snow..."
"The baby's not here yet, Belle", Robin interrupted, "but they've decided to do something else."
"In order to defeat the Witch they need Emma's help", Jade explained, "and in order to get that help it seems there's no other way but to enact the Dark Curse."
Belle gasped, while the others looked confused.
"What's with the Dark Curse?" Miranda asked. "Will it bring us back to Earth?"
"Yes, it'll bring us to Storybrooke, but..." Belle said and hesitated. "In order to enact it the one casting the curse needs to sacrifice the heart of the thing they love most."
"And who would that be for Regina?" Arianne asked. Robin shook his head.
"The Queen's not the one casting the curse. It's Snow. Charming's sacrificing himself for this."
"But..." Clarissa said. "But... what?"
"Is that why Rachel and Catriona disappeared?" Ella asked. "Because of their connections to Snow and Charming?"
"Is Catriona connected to Snow?" Chris asked with a frown.
"It's not that hard to figure out", Ella replied. "Pure as the driven snow. Also Catriona and Snow seem to have become just as close as Charming and Rachel."
"Never mind that", Tessa said. "We need to find a way to stop this from happening, find another way back to Earth."
"When's the Curse going to be activated?" Belle asked.
"According to the Witch?" Jade responded. "Tonight. And as the sky's darkening already it could be any time now."
"We're too far away from the castle", Robin said and slowly got up.
"Doesn't matter."
The faint voice from the ground caused everyone to turn their gazes towards Toby. He was smiling faintly at them.
"I can talk to them", he continued. "I did it with Jade and I can do it with them. I'll tell them to stop."