Chapter 4: Freedom and Magic
"Your majesties! The prison security has been breached!" Snow awoke to pounding at the door and the chaotic clang of metal on metal. The guards were unsheathing their swords against what she expected to be Emma, for they did not hold any other prisoners in this dungeon.
She bolted up, pulled her dress over her head and opened the door, closing it behind her because Charming was still getting dressed. "Where is she?"
The answer was automatic without any hesitation of to whom Snow was referring. "Escaped, my queen, and she had an accomplice. A man with a hook for a hand." Hook. Of course. How could she have not thought about him before this moment? He was evidently the first to come to mind in setting Emma free.
Their group from Storybrooke―of thieves and princesses, of an evil queen and a savior―had disbanded after their savior had turned into the Dark One. Without a savior, the land was destined for doom and the group suddenly realized: Emma was the one that linked them. She was the one who had brought them together for the first time in Neverland. And she had, since, been that center piece of the puzzle that made the others fit into this larger body that was bigger than any oneself.
This was no time for her most prized―and only―prisoner to escape. She needed the stone now.
"They could not have gone far. Prepare my horse. I'll go in pursuit."
"I shall as well." Charming joined Snow's side.
The guard bowed. "Do you need troops, my lord?"
"No. That would only slow down the chase. She has no magic. We would be enough. That is assuming the darkness would not take over." Charming's face was determined. One of a hero. Snow remembered when she had fallen in love with this man. It was different now. She did not feel anything, towards him or anyone.
Her horse was the wind and she was a leaf flowing down the winding river of a breeze. Killian, the man with a hooked hand, was in front. He had wound the reins around his hook to stabilize the horse and control its movements but it also put his hook to good use without harming the horse with its tip. Emma circled her arms around his waist, her movements awkward from having never―at least from what she could remember, which was practically nothing at all―been this intimately near someone before.
"Where are you bringing me? It isn't a prison, is it? Surely you wouldn't have wasted this much energy only to transfer me to another cell?"
"Of course not, love. We are going to the fortress." Emma did not know where that was and when she was about to word her question, the double neigh of horses in pursuit sounded behind them, followed by the clop of hooves on soil. A crack of the reins sped their mare forward, its dark mane billowing upward. Killian sputtered and straightened from his almost crouch-like position.
"The hunt is on and we will not be captured." What seemed to be a smirk pulled the man's lips, like he rather enjoyed being chased and the imminent danger they were in.
From amongst the trees emerged the towers of a castle and a bridge that connected the structure from its location in the middle of a lake to the forest surrounding the perimeter. "It was Maleficent's castle, but when we returned, Regina decided to take it as her own. She put up wards around the entire lake against whatever powers Snow is hiding."
"I do not think my mother is hiding any magic."
"Oh no, not her own. At least not yet. She has another weapon."