Dead Reckoning

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Once David, Liam, Morgan, and Leroy stepped down on dry land after rowing to shore from the Jewel of the Realm, they each quickly lit their torches they had brought over with them so they could see through the darkness, then pulled their weapons of choice to have them at the ready in case of an attack from the Lost Boys as they cautiously made their way into the forest now surrounding them, allowing the older Jones to lead them. David carried with him his sword and his old service weapon he had given to Hook when Killian took over as sheriff with Emma, having found it on the ground after his son-in-law dropped it in his fight against Bishop. The former Knight of Camelot also brought his own sword, and Liam his own cutlass, while Grumpy carried with him his pickaxe and a club.

Silence fell over the men while they walked until Leroy finally spoke up as he asked, "How the hell did Hook stand living here for over two hundred years? I've barely been here twenty minutes and I already can't stand it."

David smiled as he glanced over at his old friend, then answered grimly, "You would do it if you felt the same need for revenge as he did. Or if someone you care about is depending on you being here to save his life. Why else did you come?"

"Fine… you're probably right, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be anything other than myself so long as we are stuck here," Grumpy responded curtly.

"I wouldn't expect you to be," the Prince replied with understanding. "Luckily we won't have to stay any longer than it will take us to find the magical spring and then get back to the ship, provided we don't run into any trouble."

Liam continued to use his blade to cut through the brush in the way of their pay while he asked quietly, "Exactly how bad are these Lost Boys really? Pan was the only one here at the time Killian and I came. Not even he was as bad as you've said back then."

As the Naval Captain looked back at his friends behind him, Charming sighed and then answered, "Honestly, according to your brother they're far worse than the boys we brought home with us. Hook became trapped here again not too long ago when another villain we faced tried to keep him and Emma apart by banishing him to another world through a curse. He first wound up in the Enchanted Forest, but when he managed to get himself a magic bean in hope it would get him back home, the bean transported Hook here instead. The Lost Boys captured him when he fought them in trying to get a weapon back Emma that would help her in her own battle at home. Emma used a rare kind of magic to find Hook again and as she did so, these boys were about to burn him at a stake. Out of revenge for his role in Pan's death."

"I see," Liam stated in frustration, then remained quiet while he kept slashing the brushes and trees until they at last found themselves at the bottom of the mountain now towering above them that Killian had said was known as Deadman's Peak. "The spring is up there. As are the dreamshade plants that killed me."

"To reach the waters, we'll need to cut our way through the dreamshade that stands in front of it to keep anyone away," David worryingly responded. "Or at least one of us will."

The older Jones immediately replied, "I'll do it. I'll climb up there and get the water we need to help save my brother. I'm already dead. I can get through fast and easy, and without having to worry about being cut by the deadly thorns. The rest of you can wait down here."

The Prince laid a hand down on Liam's shoulder to stop him when he started towards the rocks ahead and in objection he said, "It's a good idea for you to collect the water, but we're all coming up there with you. We need to stay together. Besides, we can't let you do all the work. It wouldn't be right. Not to mention that if we do happen to come under attack, we could use your help to fight the Lost Boys, or anything else that might be haunting this island."

"All right, then we climb," Liam answered, then once again led the way as the four men began their ascent up the mountain.

Their climb was slow and difficult as they made their way to the top. David thought back to his own climb the first time he had done it and while it been more difficult for him then due to the poison spreading through his body, this climb wasn't a whole lot easier. He remembered watching Hook climb up ahead of him as well and realized that it surely couldn't have been easy doing so with only one hand, even if he did have a hook he could use to catch himself in case he slipped. It was the same with their climb up the beanstalk at the time of the final battle. David knew that he had underestimated Hook both times, as he's underestimated in almost every way ever since they first met. He knew then that he was going to have to apologize for doing so once they finally save his life.

"How are you feeling, Sir Morgan?" Charming asked his friend after they all reached the top at last and struggled to get their breathing back under control, then turned his head to glance at the others as well. "Leroy? Liam? Are you guys feeling alright?"

The Knight nodded, until he was finally able to talk as he responded, "I'm about as well… as can be expected. I'm a warrior. Not really that much of a climber I'm afraid."

The dwarf scoffed as he replied, "And I work in the mines looking for diamonds, pixie dust, and do other odd jobs. I can't believe I actually volunteered to come here."

"You were the one who said you wanted to get out of Storybrooke," the Prince retorted smugly, then he turned around to look ahead of him at the deadly dreamshade plants baring their way to the magical spring behind them. "Whatever you do, don't touch the thorns. Gold said it isn't easy to make the cure for the cure and Hook's going to need all of it so that he won't die after all of our efforts to save him. We can't risk needing it ourselves."

"Don't worry, you won't be needing it because you won't ever be leaving Neverland," a boy appearing to be of Henry's age answered cruelly as he and several more of Pan's followers appeared and surrounded the heroes upon the peak, where there was hardly any room for an all-out fight without risk of being cut by the poisonous plants. "You won't be alive long enough to try."

David, Grumpy, Sir Morgan, and Liam quickly pulled their weapons again while the Savior's father spoke pleadingly saying, "Please… we haven't come here to fight you. We just need a little of the water from the spring behind the dreamshade in order to save a friend's life. As soon as we get it, we will leave and never come back."

Another of the boys who appeared to be more in charge than the rest glared at David as he chortled and then responded, "Yeah… we heard who you are trying to save. Hook managed to escape from us when some woman appeared through a magical door and rescued him. He deserves to die here on the island he despises so much. But at least so long as we don't let you so-called heroes get away, then at least he'll die wherever he is now."

"Are you the leader here?" Liam asked the boy calmly, though inside he was seething over the cruel words spoken against his brother. "At least tell us your name."

"Our only leader was Pan," he replied in anger. "But I go by the name, Ace. We recognize the one appearing to be your leader. He came here with more of you and Hook to rescue the boy, then murdered Pan. The rest of you have never been here I'm guessing?"

The older Jones answered, "Then you'd be wrong. I came here to this island even before any of you did. Along with my brother, you and most others now call Hook. I nearly died here. And then I died for good once we returned to our own land, not realizing the price of your spring's water."

Ace looked at the ghost strangely as he questioned, "You're… you're Hook's brother? You don't look anything like him. If you're really dead, then how are you here now?"

"I'm here for my brother," Liam responded firmly. "We all are. That's all you need know. If you really want to fight, then let's get on with it."

"Be careful of their arrows!" David quickly called out to Morgan and Leroy as the battle between the heroes and Lost Boys suddenly began when a few of Pan's followers charged the four men with their handmade spears, while a couple of arrows flew just past their heads. "They're tipped with dreamshade. Don't let one of them scratch you either."

While David fought against Ace and another of the boys using his sword only to defend himself and not to strike them down unless it was necessary to do so, as Sir Morgan did the same, Grumpy fought off one of the bigger of them with his axe, suddenly using it to cut into a boulder above one of their heads as he swung high so that the debris would fall and knock the boy unconscious, then charged against another when a boy attempted to kill the Knight from behind. Liam fought three more with his own blade until one of them succeeded in knocking it from his hand when he thrust his spear right through Liam's chest. However, the Lost Boy stepped back in fear when the brother of their old enemy didn't fall or even appeared to be hurt and he, as well the rest of the boys knew Liam was a ghost just as he said. The older man touched the staff sticking out of him as the spear then dissipated thanks to the small amount of power granted to him by Zeus to help him in his endeavors, then he continued to fight.

Ace suddenly knocked David to his knees with a blow to the back of his right knee and Leroy cried out as the other boy his friend was trying to hold off as well was about to strike him down with a blow to his head, until all of a sudden an arrow flew through the air between the rest of those fighting as the projectile struck its target through the back of the boy's shoulder, causing him to collapse to the ground in agony and scream. Ace continued striking out at David until two more arrows flew by, one of which struck the rock just next to Ace's head and bounced off, while the other gazed the leader's arm. Finally, Ace whistled to get the rest of the Lost Boys attentions and shouted at them to retreat. All of them started to run, as two stopped to grabbed the boy who had been wounded, then followed close behind.

The Prince immediately turned to look to each of his friends once the danger appeared to be clear, as no more arrows flew by nor any threat could be seen, and asked, "Is everyone alright? Are any of you hurt?"

Morgan looked himself over to make sure, then replied, "Other than being a bit winded and exhausted, I'm fine."

"Leroy… you good?" David continued.

"I'm more than good," the dwarf answered smugly. "It's about time I've been in a good fight like that one. But who on earth fired those arrows? If they were aiming to kill, they're not a very good shot."

Grumpy turned his back to the boy he thought he had knocked out with the rocks until the enemy rose behind him in an attempt to kill the dwarf, but before he could, a blow dart suddenly struck the Lost Boys' neck and he truly lost consciousness this time, then the stranger who had saved him stepped out into the open and stood among them as she responded curtly, "It's because I am that they're not dead. And neither are you."

Three of the men stared at the woman before them while David recognized who she was by her clothes and upon remembering his daughter's suggestion to find this woman, he looked at her as he asked, "I take it you're Tiger Lily?"

"That's right… I am," the Indian Fairy replied strongly and then looked between the four strangers to the island herself as she determined whether or not she could trust them. "Who are you? Are you really here to find something to help you save Hook?"

"We are," Charming answered steadfastly as he sheathed his sword, while the others finally lowered their own weapons as well. "He's our friend. And he's also my son-in-law. Hook was wounded in a fight by an old enemy from here. The weapon used on him is draining all of the years he spent here in Neverland, killing him very slowly and painfully. We came for the waters from this spring to heal the burns, but…"

She suddenly interrupted, "This weapon… was it an ancient steel brand?"

Liam quickly responded, "It is. Do you know of it? Can you help my brother?"

"You're Liam Jones," Tiger Lily stated without question as she turned to face him as if she was looking for similar features that matched Killian's. "Killian told me about you, a long time ago. Yes, I know of the brand. And these waters will heal the burns, but if you want to stop the steel's power and restore his youth before he's too far gone, then you have to destroy it. However, the only way to do that is to destroy it within the fires that forged it long ago… before it drains Hook of his youth completely. Do you have it with you?"

"It's still in the hands of the brute who did this to him, in our own realm," David replied with concern. "Our families and friends are about to fight in a great battle against not only the man who hurt Hook, but also a God who blames us for the former God of the Underworld's death, and his army of souls he pulled out from the Underworld. We've been busy."

The Fairy without her wings nodded in understanding while she answered, "Yes, you have. There's no way you will have to time to return to your land, find the brand, then travel back here to Skull Rock where the fires reside. Which means you need a way to take enough of the fire back with you."

Leroy looked at her skeptically as he asked, "Can you really do that?"

"My people have never done so because they've never had a need, but long ago I was told of a spell which when cast it can expel the fires into a vessel," she responded and then looked towards the spring. "Gather your water quickly. We need to get down to Skull Rock. Hopefully we will be in time to save Hook."

"We will," David replied strongly. "We have to."