Chapter 6 Escape from Hell
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
I grab the foot of my bed and pull back. I strain against its weight, its legs dragging across the stone floor. I pull my heavy bed back further from the wall. There, that gap should be big enough. I let go of my bed with a sigh, pick up my chalky stone off the floor, and lie down prostrate on my bed. I reach down into the dark space with my stone and chalk in another messy white line beneath the twenty-two rows of lines filling every bit of the wall, except for the bottom that only has room for one more row.
I pull the chalky stone away. Tears well in my eyes. This makes day six hundred ninety-three since Sara came into my life. It seems so long ago. I prop myself on my elbows and look out my window. The sky is brightening, revealing dark stormy clouds. There is no rumble of thunder to accompany the storm this time. The first snowfall must be nigh. God please no. I hate—the wood door SLAMS. I stiffen, unable to breath, and listen closely…
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. The black glass knights draw closer to my cell. Are they bringing another prisoner? Are they returning Greta's skinless, bleeding corpse to torture me with? Have they finally come for me? I hide my precious chalk beneath my pillow and turn over onto my side, keeping myself propped on my arm to see better. The thumping of their perfectly timed, one-minded march grows louder, reverberating down the dim hall and into my cell. The same two black glass knights come between my cell and the one across from mine, carrying something wrapped in their cloaks. A pang pierces my heart and my stomach churns. God, not again. Not again!—Their black cloaks move suddenly, rustling loudly! My heart skips a beat and almost stops. Quiet sobbing comes from within the knights' cloaks, tickling my ears. I bolt straight up, staring while one of the knights unlocks the cell door with those jingling keys. He pulls the cell door open, the hinges crying out, and both knights carry the struggling form into the cell. They turn their cloaks over, dumping the being out onto the floor with a thud.
"Oh my God." It's Greta. She's back! She's alive!
I watch her trembling body past the knights, barely noticing the knights leaving her cell and locking her in. The knights turn and march down the hall the way they always come, revealing Greta. She writhes on the floor in the daylight coming in through her cell window. She is still wearing her dress and her boots! She buries her face in her hands and rolls over to face me, her hands…horribly wrinkled.
"Greta!" I scramble off my bed and fall to my knees at my bars, clutching them with both hands.
"Princess?" she asks, her voice weak, shaky, the sound of it different somehow. My heart thrums, all these strange little details irrelevant.
"You're alive! How!?" I ask. I watch her closely, hoping she takes her hands from her face, but she keeps her face hidden from me.
"She is alive," his voice comes out of the dark hall, pulling my eyes to his shadow looming beside Greta's cell, "because of you."
Fear and confusion come over me, my brows furrowing, my body wanting to tremble, but I keep myself still. "I told you already, I don't know what you are talking about!"
He scoffs and steps into the light, the jingling of keys drawing my eyes down to the keys in his hand. Oh God.
"My sister…" he looks down upon me, evil lust in his eyes "…has relinquished her word." He fiddles with the keys, fingering each one until he settles on one.
"No." I scramble back from my bars against my will.
An evil grin spreads Finn's bloated lips, showing his crooked teeth. "Fear not, little bitch." He puts the key into the keyhole and twists it, the lock clicking. My heart misses a beat. "My sister wants you alive." He pulls open my cell door and enters as I scramble back to the farthest corner of my cell. He laughs at me, his laughter cutting me deeper than it should. He moves towards me, his hands reaching for me.
"Leave her alone!" Greta says. Finn grabs my arms and I scream, his hands like snakes tightening their bodies around me. I cry out in pain as he hauls me to my feet and forces me down onto my bed.
"NO!" I fight against him, but he overpowers me easily, pinning my hands above my head and my legs beneath his.
"Princess!" Greta screams. Hot tears well in my eyes.
"SHUT UP!" Finn looks back at Greta and glares down at me, a sickening, nauseating grin plastered to his face. I fight him with all the strength I have, but to no avail.
"Fear not! Fear not!" he whispers to me. He grabs the top of my dress and yanks it down, my dress tearing loudly as he exposes my quivering breasts. He digs his sharp fingernails into my chest as if trying to clutch my beating heart. I yelp from the five sharp stabbing points of pain encompassing my heart. God help me! He's going to turn me to ash!
"I will make you know hell intimately, but I will not slit your throat," Finn says. "When I am done with you"—he lowers his face to the side of mine and bites down on my earlobe, forcing me to scream from the pain—"I will take you to my sister and she will kill you." He lifts his hideous face to glare down at me, digging his talons deeper into my chest, drawing blood. "She will carve out your beating heart and eat it."
My teary eyes widen, my heart racing faster than it has ever beat. This cannot be happening! This cannot be real! Greta's alive! Finn is going to tear away the last of my dignity! The Queen will eat my heart!? This must be a nightmare, a nightmare spawned from my guilt of eating Sara's frozen flesh. Wake me please!
Finn releases my wrists, lifts his legs from mine, and grabs at my skirt, forcing it up to my waist! Terror fills me beyond clear thinking. Finn's eyes lift up to mine, so menacing, so evil. Something inside me clicks. I grab both sides of Finn's head and dig my thumbs into his open eyes. He screams and grabs my wrists, but I press my thumbnails deep into his eyes. They pop. Clear fluid oozes out onto my thumbs. Finn yanks my thumbs out of his eyes and covers his eyes with his hands. He screams and backs away from me, tumbling off my bed onto the floor. I sit up and stare down at him, watching him writhe on the floor. I…I gouged out his eyes! No thought about it, no contemplation, I just reacted to save myself—"Get out of there!" Greta says. "Run!"
I release a shaky breath and look up at my cell door—wide open, Finn's keys stupidly stuck in the keyhole! I scramble off my bed and slink along the wall to my cell door, giving Finn a wide berth while he continues writhing and screaming on the floor. Surely the black glass knights or somebody else hears this. I must move! I bound into the hall and push my cell door shut, twisting the keys until I hear that click. My God, I'm out. I'm out! This cannot be real! It cannot be—"Go, Princess!" Greta says.
"Greta!" I pull the key out of my cell door and turn to her cell, picking the first key and shoving it into the keyhole of her cell door. "I'll get you out of here!" I try turning the key, but it doesn't budge! "Damn it!" I tear the key out of the keyhole, go to the next key, and push it into the keyhole.
"Guards!" Finn yells. I try turning the key, but it strikes something within the keyhole, halting me—thump, thump, thump, thump!
"Damn door!" Panic rises in me as I pull the key out and go to the third key. My heart pounds in my ears, my body and hands shaking uncontrollably. I try pushing the third key in, but my hands are shaking too much!
"Princess!" Greta grabs my shaky hand, her hand withered and her grasp as weak as an old woman's. "Don't try!" I look up at her—her face is as withered as her hands, her hair now grey and white. What happened to her!? "Leave!" she says.
I shake my head, trembling. "I-I cannot—" A banshee-like shriek tinkling with glass cuts through the air, piercing my ears. I look down the hall, two colossal black glass knights running for me!
"Get her!" Finn says.
"Go!" Greta pushes my hand away. "Go!"
I take her hand and squeeze it. "I promise, I will come back for you!" I drop the keys at the foot of Greta's cell, unsure whether I should give them to her or not. Giving them to her could invoke Finn's ire upon her. I turn and run, just missing a black glass hand swiping at me! My heart pounds in my chest and in my ears. My chest heaves, already desperate for air even though I've just started running. My sight is full of tears, but I keep from scrubbing them. Finn's eye juices are still on my hands and I cannot afford to lose sight for a breath's moment.
I reach the end of the dim hall that I have stared so long into and turn without thought, running down another dark passage. The knights' boots pound close behind me. A few knights step into view at the end of the hall and run towards me, shrieking! I stagger to a halt and look to my left—another dark hall empty of knights. I duck into the dark hall, barely missing the knights swiping at my head. A sharp pulling pain erupts across the back of my scalp, but I yank my head forward and keep running, tearing out my hair by the roots. I cry out from the pain, but I keep running. This cannot be real. I must be dreaming some fantastical dream. How on earth am I running for my life!? How is Greta alive!?
I turn aimlessly, running down this hall and that hall, the knights right behind me. I reach a set of stairs and race down them two steps at a time. How is any of this happening!?
I reach the end of the hall, turn another corner, and race down the long dark hall. Is this the same hall!? No, no, it cannot be because I just came down a set of stairs. Oh God, all these halls look the same! Windowless, dim, none of them any shorter or longer nor wider or narrower than the last! My lungs burn. My body aches all over. The back of my scalp feels as if it caught fire. I breathe fast and heavy, my chest and shoulders heaving. My right side develops a sharp stabbing pain beneath my lung. Each breath I take feels like a stab to my side! God, when will this nightmare end!? Wake me up! Please!
I turn left and skid to a halt—a dead end! My thrumming heart falls. It's over.
The familiar sound of a gentle breeze blowing reaches my ears. I look up at the source, a blinding grey light burning my eyes. I squeeze my eyes nearly shut, but I keep them open just enough to see. Am I dead? Is that what that light is? I force my eyes open a little more, enduring the burning pain. No, it's not a light leading to the afterlife, but a window! No, I'm not dead, but that window is larger than the one in my cell. Perhaps it is large enough for me to climb through if only I could reach it. It's higher than me by a few feet—shrieks echo down the hall! I wheel around to face the black glass knights, but there are none in sight. I heave a sigh of relief. There are none in sight now, but they are close!
I look all around me for something to help get me closer to the—a tall wood shelf filled with ceramic bowls and iron pots is set against the wall. I can push the shelf down and use it to reach the window, but once I do, the black glass knights will hear the crash and come to me. Another shriek, closer this time! God, no time! I run to the other side of the shelf, grab hold of it, and pull as hard as I can. The shelf creaks as I manage to lift it off of its two back legs. I pull until it tips over from its weight, crashing on the stone floor, wood cracking, ceramic shattering, iron clanging.
A shriek sounds just around the corner! I go around to the other side of the shelf, drop to my knees, and push the shelf against the wall with the window. I jump to my feet and step up onto the shelf. I reach up, grab the window's ledge, and pull myself up with all my strength, my arms trembling and burning. I haul myself mostly out into the world and suck in a desperate breath—a burst of foreign air rushes into my lungs. I choke on the air and lose my grip on the window ledge! I fall out of the window and land on my back hard, jolting my spine with spasms of pain.
I cry out softly, barely keeping my pain quiet. Oh God, how long was that drop!? Are splintered bones piercing my skin!? I swallow hard, bracing myself, and I sit up despite my pain. I look down at my chest and legs. My pitiful, nearly flat breasts are bare to the frigid air, but no bones protrude from me. I'm only covered in mud and the flecks of snow drifting down from the sky. I sigh while my nerves calm. I am alright. My body is aching, the back of my scalp is still burning, but other than that, I am unscathed.
I try pulling my torn dress back onto my shoulders. I arch my shoulders back, managing to keep my dress up, but with all the running I will be doing, there is no way I can keep my torn dress on my shoulders. Where am I going to find suitable clothing? I've worn this same green dress everyday for the last two years. The times I was fortunate to have enough water to wash it have come and gone now that I am fleeing for my life. I sigh. Worrying about how I will clothe myself, not just for modesty but also for warmth, will do me no good now.
Something to consider is the foreign air. I breathe in, allowing this foreign air to fill my lungs. "Fresh air." I must have been so accustomed to the stench of rotting flesh and rat urine that I had forgotten the smell of fresh winter air—odorless, cold, crisp. I look up at the sky, snowflakes landing on my lashes and melting on my cheeks. The snow feels as dry as the rain. I'm not sure if I'll ever become accustomed to such a strange feeling.
"How is this happening!?" I ask Him above. Silence. Of course. I shake my head at Him and scramble to my feet, the mud icy cold beneath my hands. I don't have time to contemplate if this is reality or not. I need to move! I look all about me, a solid stone wall to my right and left. I fell into a passageway, but there is no ceiling above me. I press myself against the wall casting a shadow and move along it. God, I pray I am heading towards an exit—and not a dead end. If it's a dead end, then I'll have to go back and keep searching for a way out.
As I continue moving along the wall, my ears hear something. It's faint, but it sounds like chattering—of voices! My heart picks up. People! I have not heard so many voices at once in fourteen years! None of this seems real, but oh, how wonderful this fantasy is if it is indeed a fantasy. I want to not just hear these people, but I need to see them! I move faster, keeping my back pressed against the icy cold wall. The chattering grows louder. A horse neighs in the distance.
I reach the end of the passageway and peak around the corner. There, blocking my way out, is a barred door!
"God," I curse under my breath. Another set of bars!? Why!? I hate bars. I hate them almost as much as I—no, I don't hate Finn, but I am allowed to hate inanimate objects. Movement beyond the bars pulls my eyes to look past them. I gasp. People! So many people meandering about in the courtyard, many coming to and fro beneath the portcullis, leading pack animals and driving wagons and carts loaded with goods. A few black glass knights ride about on black horses covered with ebony armor, patrolling the courtyard. I gulp and retreat behind the wall. How am I supposed to get past them!? Surely they are searching for me.
I may have to go back. This may be the dead end I was worried about, but what if I go back and arrive at another dead end? That barred door may be my only way out. Do I risk going back, wasting precious time that I can use to put more distance between me and the black glass knights already searching for me within the castle? Or do I risk stepping out into the open and attempt to blend in with all the common folk?
I gather what courage I have and peek around the corner. Many of the people wear hoods and cloaks, hiding their faces. If I could somehow find a cloak or a hood, I may be able to blend in and walk out of here unnoticed. God, the thought of me just strolling out of here…my stomach churns, but energy fuels me. What a beautiful and nerve wracking possibility.
That's it. I have no choice but to go forward and not look back. All I could do for twelve years is push forward. If I looked back, my memories tormented me, but that all changed two years ago when Sara entered my life. I grab hold of Sara's ring and cling to it. No, I can look back and think of her without being tormented. I can look back at Greta and still cling to reality. Sara asked me to deliver her ring to her husband when I escape…and here I am, so close to freedom. I question if any of this is happening, but the only reason I survived for fourteen years is because I kept pushing forward, remembering the few good memories and avoiding all the torturous ones.
Just as this ring exists, so does hope. Sara gave me hope. The very least I can do to repay her is try to fulfill the favor she asked of me. I highly doubt her husband is still alive. He probably killed himself by now, but I have to try. I also promised Greta that I would come back for her. Greta begged me to escape like Sara did, and here I am. She was selfless and did not cling to me when I tried to unlock her cell, but she pushed me away. I will fight to keep my promise to my last breath. It's the most I can do.
Sara mentioned that forces were amassing at Duke Hammond's fortress. Whether they still are or have abandoned their cause, I'm not sure, but if I am able to reach Duke Hammond's fortress and show myself to him, surely he would aid me in freeing Greta. If Duke Hammond is still the honorable and righteous man he made himself out to be, then he will help me free Greta.
I tuck Sara's ring into my dress and grab the corner of the wall, the stone icy cold. I study the knights on their horses making their rounds about the courtyard. The common folk keep a clear path for the knights, never daring to step foot in front of them. The light snowfall, the first of the winter season, drifts down from the sky and lands on people's heads and shoulders, clinging to their hair and clothing for a moment before melting. The snowflakes that land on the knights' ebony armor do not melt as they do on their horses. The snowflakes that land on my cheeks melt quickly and the snowflakes falling on my arms stay for a moment before melting. The black glass knights must not produce body heat, therefore they are not alive. I suspected it from the beginning of my imprisonment, but after fourteen long years, I finally got my answer—their shrieks slice through the air, jolting me! I almost retreat around the corner, but the knights upon their horses keep going about their mindless patrol, never straying from their paths to come for me.
Thump, thump, thump! Many glass boots pound on stone, marching in hurried unison! I look to the grand stairs and the lofty doors of the castle's entrance. The two doors, made of wood with steel reinforcements, creak and start to part. I remember those doors. They were so heavy that each door needed two men to move it. I swallow. The space between the doors grows, revealing a black void. As soon as the doors part enough, one black glass knight comes out of the void, followed by a second, a third, a fourth! As the doors open wider, more knights pour out of the void and march down the grand stairs! People look back towards the grand stairs and panic. I hide within the shadows. Chaos erupts.
Women scream as the crowd scatters. The horde of knights shove their way into the panicked mass, grabbing every woman they find and looking at her closely before throwing her aside. They're looking for me! What do I do!? Do I stay hidden here and risk being found? Or do I risk stepping out into the open—if the barred door is unlocked—and attempt to blend in with the people? If one knight grabs me, I'm dead.
More knights spill into the courtyard, grabbing woman after woman and looking closely at her face before throwing her aside. There are still a few scattered people caught within the swarm of knights, a few women and children, but mostly men. There are enough for me to possibly slip through undetected, but I must move now or lose my chance before more people escape and more knights come out of the castle.
I creep up to the barred door, grab hold of the bars, and push. The door opens with ease and quiet! I open the door a small ways and slip through. I shut the door behind me in case any knights come this way. Seeing this door partially open would point them towards me. I suck in a breath and rock back and forth on my feet. My nerves buzz. My body falters. Come on, Snow, move. Move!
I run out into the open. I run to a thick of panicked common folk and push my way into the middle, running with them and against them, bumping shoulders with almost everyone. A man pushes me out of his way, making me stumble back and crash into another man. The man falls down behind me, but I manage to regain my balance. I wheel around to look down at him. My heart drops and aches. He is such an old man, reaching out for his walking stick that is just out of his reach. He will be trampled if I don't get him out of the way!
"God, I'm sorry!" I say and grab the man's walking stick and push it into his hand. "I have to get you out of the way!" I stoop towards him and wrap my arms about his thin waist, his pelvis sharp even beneath his thick clothes. The man looks up at me as I pull him up, his eyes glazed over with a milky film. The dwarf's blind eyes flash across my sight and disappear. I gasp and start crying as I help the man up and run with him, dodging panicked people and going behind several people as a wall between me and the black glass knights. Pain tears through my heart all over again, the invisible blade carving my heart in half and ripping it out of my chest.
No, I cannot think of it! Focus on the here and now. I must! I burst out of the panicked mass with the old man and hobble with him to the other side of a large parked wagon. I help him sit down against the wagon wheel.
"Here you are," I choke out while I sob. I keep from looking at his eyes. To do so would bring back the memory and the pain.
"Thank you, child," the man says, his voice raspy and weak from old age. He wraps one arm around the back of my neck and hugs me tightly. I tense, my legs wanting to spring and carry me far away from here, but I fight against the urge to flee and return his embrace. On the other side of the wagon, women and children scream. The black glass knights shriek. Their steps are uneven; thu-thum-thump-thu-thump-thump. I have never heard them stepping at different times. They have always been of one mind.
"You must go." The old man pulls his arm from my neck and pushes his trembling hand against my shoulder.
I spring to my feet, keeping my eyes from his. "Please wait here until you hear no more people! You will be trample—"
"I know, child. Go there!" The man points to his right. I follow the direction of his finger all the way to a gaping hole in the bottom of the wall. The sewer! It leads to the ocean. I turn and take off towards it.
A knight shrieks behind me, piercing my ears! I cry out, but I don't look back and keep running for the sewer—sharp, burning pain pierces my back just to the right of my spine! I scream, but I keep running. My sight is brimmed with tears, but I just see the black hole—my only escape now. A colossal black figure steps in front of the sewer reaching for me! I drop to the ground, using the cold mud and my momentum to slide towards the gaping black hole. Something snaps. The burning pain spreads across the right side of my back and flank. I gasp and weep. It feels as though someone pierced me with a white hot poker and lit my right flank with fire! What pierced me!? A knife!? A flaming arrow!?
The dark sewer gulps me down and I drop suddenly. "AAHHH!—" I fall into deep water, gulping down a mouthful of sewage! My mouth and eyes burn as I slowly drown in the sewage. So this is my end—to die in the urine and shit of other people? No, no! This cannot be my end, not when I have come so far, not when I am so close to freedom. This may all be some fantastical dream, but I refuse to let it end with such a pathetic death!
I kick and thrash about in the water, searching for—my feet hit solid ground! I plant my feet against the ground and push myself up, breaking past the sewage! My chest tightens, making me cough the polluted water out of my lungs. Fresh air fills my nose and mouth. I scrub the sewage from my eyes and peer down the tunnel. My sight is so blurry, but I see the white light shimmering at the end of the sewer! Praise God, it's not over yet! I must keep moving! I wade through the chest-high sewage towards the light. My escape, my freedom, all of that only a few steps away! How is any of this happening? How is any of this real? I must be dreaming, or I must be dead now. Whatever has truly happened to me, I'm not going to give up yet! I must keep pushing forward for Sara and Greta!
I take the last few steps and stop at the edge of the sewer. I grab both sides of the tunnel to keep from being pushed out by the force of the water rushing between my legs. The loud, angry waves crash far below me. I blink my eyes fast to clear most of the sewage water and tears from them. I manage to clear my sight enough and I look down at the Gastean Sea. The sewage pours down the cliff face like a mighty waterfall, emptying into the stormy black waters far below. The sea crashes over and over into the cliff face, trying to beat it down to sand. The waves are so violent, so angry. They rise so high and fall apart in masses of white foam. My only way out is to leap into those raging black waters! There's no way I can keep my head above that! God, Sara was brave and accepted her death. Greta was brave and accepted her old age and continuing imprisonment. Why can I not—There's a splash behind me! Black glass knights! I don't have to look back to know it's them. They are rushing towards me, splashing through the sewage to reach me.
My only way out is to jump. I…I would rather drown in the Gastean Sea than to have my heart torn out and devoured. I bend my knees and push myself out of the sewer, leaping as far as I can with the powerful current. The length of my leap reaches its end and I start falling with the torrent of sewage. I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to see my end. The air whistles past my ears. I feel like I am falling slowly, but I am fast approaching the angry sea. God above, if you hear me, please do not let me strike the cliff face or any hidden rocks beneath the sea. Please—I strike the water hard. Pain erupts and spreads across the front of my body. The sea crashes down on me, filling my ears with the sound of rushing water.
I almost cry out from all the different pains consuming me, but I keep my mouth shut. The sea rushes about me, pounding me, crushing me, turning and tossing me about without mercy. I dare not open my eyes for fear that I am in her deepest, darkest depths. Am I dead now? Has this fantastical dream finally come to an end? God, what a horrible end! I fought for fourteen years to stay alive. I make a miraculous escape and my end comes at the hands of the Gastean Sea!?
No! I refuse to have my dream end this way! It will end with me fulfilling my promise to Greta and trying my best to fulfill the favor Sara asked of me! I kick my arms and legs, trying to swim against the sea's assault. My eyes sting from the saltwater despite me keeping them squeezed shut. My lungs burn from the lack of air. My chest tightens more like someone continually pulling the laces of a corset about me.
I break past the sea's surface! Water pours down me. Freezing air touches my wet, yet dry, cheeks. My chest constricts and forces me to cough the seawater out of my lungs. My feet find solid ground. I stumble forward, my fingers burying into icy, gritty sand. Earth! Precious earth! I dig my fingers into the precious earth and pull myself up onto the shore. I cough up the last of the seawater onto my chin. My body trembles from the cold, from the pain, from the fear. I grow too weak to uphold myself and collapse onto my back—fire stabs me and shoots from my back to my front! I try to keep quiet, but a scream forces my mouth apart as I lift off the backs of my shoulders to ease the pain. What is causing this pain!?
I roll onto my front and gingerly, blindly ghost my fingertips over the right side of my back, drawing closer to the strongest point of the fiery pain. My fingers find a sharp dip in my skin and get soaked with a hot fluid—my blood. I bite my tongue and carefully feel about the length and severity of my wound. My fingertips bump into a splintered edge, sending a shockwave of pain through my back and my right flank. I jump from the pain and pull my hand away. It's—it's an arrow stuck in me. When I felt the piercing pain strike my back, that must have been the arrowhead burying itself into me. When I dropped to the ground and heard that snap, that must have been the shaft breaking in two under my weight.
"Oh God!" I weep, burying my face into my arms. What am I going to do now!? I'm wounded enough to almost cripple me. I have no gold, no weapon, no proper clothing that's soaked, and no horse to carry me to the nearest village for help. I sniffle and scrub the saltwater from my burning eyes. Who will I turn to? Who would help me?
I clear the last of the seawater from my eyes and look up. An expansive cliff towers above me. My eyes widen. This cliff looks so familiar, marked by a distinct ledge that splits the cliff into an upper half and a lower half. I remember I used to follow that ledge with Papa to our secret place—the alcove where we hid our crustacean collection! Perhaps I can go there and hide until dark! It maybe risky, but I cannot go far with my wound.
I pull myself to my feet, biting my lip hard enough to draw blood, but I manage to keep quiet enough. I try to run, but the burning pain worsens and spasms throughout my right side without end! I slow down to a fast paced walk, easing the pain just enough. I follow the ledge all the way to the wall of bedrock the castle was built on. Once Papa and I reached this point, we would turn and head to where the bedrock meets the sea. I hobble over to where the bedrock meets the sea, gripping the icy rock for support, and I peer around the corner—a towering mountain of boulders that extends far out into the sea is all I see! Tears well in my eyes. I look up at the cliff. Empty sockets mar the smoothed bedrock. Those sockets must be where the boulders used to be a part of the cliff. I look down at the mountain of boulders. These boulders must have broken off the cliff when the earth shook violently several years ago and sealed off the entrance to the alcove.
Tears spill down my cheeks. My body shakes with my sobbing. Everything was taken from me, even this alcove that holds so many good memories! I open my arms and press myself against the cold bedrock, clinging to it. I let my eyes drift shut and breathe in deep, taking in the salty smell of the sea. Memories of Papa and me flash across my mind.
I pick up a rock, revealing the red and blue spotted coral crab shell that was hidden beneath it, and point it out to Papa. "This shell belongs to the red coral crab!"
"Very good, and the next one!?" he asks me.
I hum a made up song while I remove dozens of stones off the crustacean shells. I point from shell to shell, saying, "This shell belonged to a queen crab, this shell belonged to a rose roost crab, this shell belonged to a horseshoe crab, and this shell…" I pick up the large, black husk of the dead crustacean. The different segments of its body bend and crack while I turn it about in my hands. "This shell once contained all the innards of a trilobite!" I hold up the trophy shell of my collection.
"Very good, Snow!" Papa claps while I hold my trophy high. His claps echo in our little alcove. "Very good!"
I force my eyes open, let out my final sob, and turn away from the last good place of my past. I suck in a hard breath, doing my best to ignore the sharp stabbing pain that accompanies it, and I hobble back down the shoreline. I look at the raging sea as I continue pushing forward, its black waters reaching so far into the horizon. Where do I go from here? I cannot linger here and wait no matter how much pain I am in. The black glass knights will find me for certain if I remain out in the open. I need shelter, a place to hide.
The farther I hobble down the shoreline, the more the cliff slopes down to the beach. Something small and dark moves along the top of the cliff. I slow to a stop and squint my eyes to see better. There are a few dozen black dots shifting about, but they do not move from their spots. What is that? Could it be the black glass knights searching for me!? I bite my tongue and run closer to the cliff face. The pain in my back and side is excruciating, spasming with each step I take, but it's either enduring this agonizing pain or the pain of having Ravenna carve out my heart to—I shudder at the thought and put it as far from my mind as possible.
I manage to reach the cliff face and stop, gulping down shuddery, painful breaths. I look at the lowest point of the cliff at one of the black spots. My eyes widen. That black spot is the distinct shape of one of the knights' horses, but his back is missing his rider! I look at all the other horses surrounding him. Their saddles are empty, too! Would it be possible for me to sneak up to one of the horses and ride off without being spotted? There is no way I will be able to continue running and hobbling about with this pain. My legs are growing weaker with every moment I waste.
Sara. Wait, Sara, her ring! Did I lose it to the sea!? I scrabble at my neck with my sandy, frozen fingers—my fingers brush over the cold loop of linen hanging around my neck. I run my fingers down the linen's length, silently praying. My fingers brush over something hard and cold tucked between my breasts, circular and metallic. Relief washes over me. I brush the sand grains off her tarnished ring, pull my soaked dress back up my shoulders, and tuck the ring beneath the frayed neckline of my dress.
I look up at the horse again and watch him for a moment. He lowers his strong head to the ground and moves his mouth in slow, chewing motions. No rider comes to him. The horse is waiting for one of the knights to come to him and climb onto his back, but there are no black glass knights in sight now. It's risky, but what other choice do I have? That horse is my only chance to get as far away from Finn and Ravenna as possible.
I creep to the base of the cliff and look up at its height. It's probably as tall as four of me. Any other day, I would have enjoyed scaling up the cliff, but will I be able to do it with my wound? I feel myself growing weaker by the moment. If I don't act now, the black glass knights will find me!
I reach out with shaky hands and grab two lumps of rock sticking out from the cliff face. I tug on the rocks a few times. They do not break off from the cliff. My mouth parts with one silent laugh. If I wasn't wounded, I'd be thrilled to start the climb, but now…God help me. I breathe in deep. A sharp pain shoots through my back and my right side, but I bite my tongue and start climbing the cliff face. Pain shoots through my back and side as if arrow after arrow is piercing me through, but I only cringe and place foot after foot on solid rock. I pull myself up higher, all my muscles burning and aching, trembling more the higher I go. It's been so long since I last climbed anything. I was strong enough as a child to climb, but fourteen years of imprisonment and starvation have made me so weak. I look up at the top of the cliff. It's so far above me! If I don't get there in the next moment or so, I will lose my grip and fall!
I climb and climb, wanting so dearly to cry out for some release of my pain, but I keep silent. I grab another piece of the cliff and pull myself up higher, the top of the cliff so close! Just a few more feet and I'm there! I plant my foot on more steady rock—the rock cracks beneath my foot and falls away! Fear jolts me, but I cling to the cliff and manage to anchor my foot on solid rock. Clink. The little bit of rock that broke off strikes the cliff once. Clink. I wince, looking down at the rock bouncing off the cliff again. Clink. Again, the rock strikes the cliff face. "Damn it!" I mouth silently. The bit of rock finally lands in the sand below with a very soft thud.
A shriek cuts through the air! They heard that rock fall! Thump. Thump. Thump. I must hide! There's a small crevice in the cliff just large enough for me to hide! I pray it's still there! I retreat a little ways down the cliff and find the small crevice that looks still enough for me to hide in. Praise the Maker! I pull myself into the cramped crevice, hiding within its darkness. It's more cramped than it used to be, but that's no complaint now! The thumping of the knight's boots stops only a few feet above my head. My stomach tightens, my nerves on edge. Dare I lean forward into the daylight to see it?—No, stupid, stupid idea! I retreat as far as I can into the crevice.
The knight yawps—and sniffs the air!? Sniff, sniff, sniff. The knights can smell now!? I thought they are not living! I hold my breath, daring not to let out my breath lest it hears me! Or smells my foul breath! I wait…and wait…and wait. My lungs start burning and my chest tightens. I need to exhale soon. Please leave! Please!
Glass scrapes along rock. THUMP, THUmp, thump – its steps soften with its retreat. I release my breath and gasp for precious air, my exhales billowing as white smoke before my face. I try to regain my breath, calm my jittery nerves, and gather my bearings. So, that little rock drew the knight's attention. The black glass knights are either close by, or they have excellent hearing. Either way, I need to move as quietly as possible. I need to move now before they mount their horses. Is the horse I was eyeing still there?
I carefully climb out of the crevice and scale the rest of the way without breaking off any other rocks from the cliff.
I finally reach the top of the cliff, grab a strong hold of it, and pull myself up enough to peer past the ledge. I freeze. The world, this kingdom…I don't recognize it. I look about slowly. This...cannot be. The road that once led from Kalobarrow to the castle, a road that was so beautiful that many called it Tabor's Pride, is gone. The thick, rolling green grass that once covered both sides of the road is gone. Only a ground of ash and rocks remain. What happened!? The road was still here that fateful night I was imprisoned…Was all this Ravenna's doing?
Hau-hau! What was that!? I look farther up the road where the sound came from. A dozen black glass knights roam about the road with four large hunting hounds, following the hounds' sniffing as they steadily draw closer to me! I have to move! I have no chance at being quiet. All the knight or the hound has to do is look up and see me. I look at the black armored horse. He continues eating dried twigs. Pity fills my heart. He has no grass to eat, green nor brown, so he is resorting to dead twigs.
I shake my head of the disheartening thought, place my arms on the ledge and lift myself up, enduring every bit of fiery pain consuming my flesh. I throw one leg past the ledge and roll over onto my back—The hounds howl. The knights screech, ringing my ears. Their glass boots pound as they come for me!
I cry out this time as I haul myself to my feet and race for the horse. The horse snorts and lifts his massive armored head, his ears flicking every which way, his tail swishing from side to side. I must mount him before he becomes too agitated! He turns to face the barking hounds and the black glass knights and squeals!
"NO!" I plead with the beast, going to his side and grabbing hold of his dangling reins. "Please calm down! Please!"
Whether he hears me or not, he starts backing up. My stomach knots. I haven't rode a horse since William and I were children. I pray I remember! I grab the beast's saddle and leap onto his back. I cry out and sob from my pain as I push my feet into the stirrups and grab the reins. I pound the horse's flanks and pull the reins right. He rears up, squealing with fright as the hounds and the knights draw near us! I nearly fall off his back, but I lean forward and cling to the reins tightly. The horse comes crashing down, sending shockwaves of pain up through my back.
Just as the hounds reach us, the horse wheels around and bounds down the road. My cries of pain turn to whimpers as I find my balance in the saddle. I lift my weight off his back and shorten my hold of the reins. Even though it has been fourteen years, all this is coming back to me quickly. I try guiding the horse down the road by pulling his reins left, but he follows the road on his own, paying me no heed upon his back. God, I care not if he obeys me. He is letting me stay on his back!
With each thundering stride the horse takes, another spasm of fire rips through my back and side. An army of hooves strike the earth close behind me. The black glass knights shriek. The hounds bark and howl. I glance over my shoulder. A dozen black glass knights on a dozen armored horses chase after me, the knights' cloaks and the horses' tails whipping in the wind. The four hounds run with the horses, somehow keeping up with them despite being half the horses' size. Panic threatens to consume me, but I look ahead at the road and try to clear my mind. It calms me a little.
Despite the knights, their horses, and their hounds almost at my heels, I stare at the dead world about me—trees that are brittle and rotting, the sky forever covered with the dark stormy clouds. It has stopped snowing, but even when it snowed, the flakes that landed on my cheeks and melted were as dry as the rain. All this must be Ravenna's doing.
I remember when she led me to the orchard and plucked a pink blossom from one of the apple trees. She laid the pink blossom in the palm of her hand and closed her fist about it. When she opened her hand, the wind picked up the ashes of the blossom and carried them away. She then took off her shoe and stocking and placed her bare foot upon a barren patch of earth.
"Watch," she told me. I watched her bare foot closely. When she lifted her foot, green grass sprung up from the barren earth and spread out as far as she willed it.
I was amazed. "How did you do that!?"
She smiled softly at me. "It's an awesome power, isn't it? To be able to revive something that is nearly dead?" Her smile disappeared then. "But to revive something is not without its cost. Life is finite. In order to revive one thing, you must take life from another as you just witnessed with the blossom." She raised her hand up to the apple tree, gesturing to all the pink blossoms that would soon produce blood red apples.
I look all around me, seeing nothing but barren land filled with rotting trees, a ground layered with ash, and rocks of all shapes and sizes. Is that what Ravenna did? Did she take all the life in this land and turn everything to ash? Did she put the land's life elsewhere? Where would she possibly move it too!? No, the only plausible reason for her action is that she took all the life in this land and consumed it.
The knights shriek behind me, shattering my thoughts. I dare not look behind me again. I pound the horse's flanks, spurring him to go faster. He heeds me this time and gallops faster, but probably only to preserve his own life. At least he has not thrown me off his back yet. Myriads of rotting trees, some uprooted, some broken, blur past me like endless bars lining both sides of the road. Even out here, away from my bars, nature has been transformed into its own prison, forcing me to stay on the road. My heart sinks. Will I ever taste freedom?
Far down the road, a large settlement made of the infamous red stone rises up from the dead land—Kalobarrow. If I could just make it there, I may be able to lose the knights through the many winding streets. The city is built much like a maze where one can easily become lost if he does not know his way.
With each pounding stride my horse takes, the city grows larger, its details becoming clearer. My heart aches. The once pristine buildings of the city are now crumbling. The red clay roofs, the rosy bricks—all of it is very slowly crumbling to piles of broken rock and ash. Some of the watchtowers outside the city are in such ruin that they no longer serve their purpose, but a few of the watchtowers still have guards keeping vigil over the city. I squint my eyes, trying to see the guards better. Are they human or are they the lifeless knights that have infested this land?
The closer my horse draws to the ruined city, the easier it is to see the guards in one of the watchtowers. One of the guards looks down at me, his dark eyes shining with life. He's alive and human. A breath leaves me. Perhaps he will spare me—the army of pounding hooves draws the guard's eyes farther down the road.
"Sound the alarm! Clear the streets!" the guard shouts. He looks back down at me and points at me. "Stop her!"
Oh God no! He must be loyal to Ravenna! That, or he fears her wrath should he let me escape. My horse pants beneath me, slowing down just enough for me to notice us passing between the first two buildings of the city.
"Don't stop!" I plead with my horse and pound his flanks. He whinnies in distress and charges forward right for the panicking throngs of common folk swarming the street!
"Move!" I shout at them, pulling back on the reins just enough to slow my horse down, giving the people in front of me enough time to move out of the way. "MOVE!" I yell. Women and children scream and men curse me as they push the women and children out of my way.
Their shrieks sound behind me! I look back. The twelve knights and their horses thunder through the street after me! The horses ram into a few people who didn't move fast enough, knocking them down and trampling them under their hooves, bones cracking. The people still in the knights' way slow them down a little, but they are quickly gaining on me—"STOP!"
I look ahead. Kalobarrow guards on horses spill out onto the road in front of me! I scream and pull the reins to the right. My horse squeals and wheels to the right. I ride my horse down one of the side streets, the stone cracking beneath his hooves. We reach the end of the side street and he makes a sharp left down a far narrower street, my knees bumping into the towering walls on both sides. A shriek bounces off the walls, their horses' hooves echoing all around me. The hounds bark at our heels and snap at my horse's legs. I try guiding my horse left and right down the narrow side streets, but he turns on his own, snorting harshly. All I can do is cling to him for my life. God, please don't let him take us to a dead end!
My horse veers right down another narrow street, smashing my knees into both walls. I cry out from the pain, but I force myself to focus on the end of the narrow street. At the end of this narrow street, there are rotting trees. Beyond the trees are more trees. A way out of Kalobarrow! I listen hard for the pounding of horses' hooves and the knights' shrieks. The knights and their horses are silent. Only two of their hounds still pursue us, snapping their jaws at my horse's legs but missing every time.
My horse and I burst out of the city and into the trees. Branches strike my face, my eyes squeezing shut instinctively. I duck my head behind my horse's head and manage to open my eyes despite their strong need to squeeze shut again. Beyond the sparse trees is a wall of dark, dead forest that looms over the land. I look left and right across the horizon. This forest spans as far as I can see. Fear comes over me. This forest is massive! The trees grow so close together that it will be difficult for my horse and me to maneuver through it—but it will also be difficult for the knights and their horses to stay together in their pursuit. They will have to split up. Perhaps this forest, this dark forest, is my salvation. God, all of this seems too fantastic to be true, but I must keep pushing forward.
I grit my teeth against all my pain and pound my horse's flanks. "Just a bit farther!" I tell him. As we close the distance to the forest's edge, my horse starts jumping, squishing and sloshing about in a hidden pit of mud. He kicks up globs of mud onto my legs and face. His jumping turns into bucking as he tries to free himself!
"Easy boy!" I cling to him for my life! "Easy!"
He squeals and panics, drawing steadily closer to the forest's edge. Just past a fallen tree lies the forest! We're so close!
"We're almost!—" He throws me off his back, sending me flying over the fallen log! "AAHH!—" I land hard in the brambles of the forest, scratching and slicing my hands and chest. All my slices and scratches sting, but I grit my teeth, grab hold of the fallen log, and pull myself up, snapping many of the brambles engulfing me.
"Oh God!" Tears well in my eyes and I reach for my horse's reins, trying to grab hold of them as he struggles for his life. He squeals and thrashes about, the whites of his eyes visible, but he only sinks deeper into the muddy pit. I sweep my hand back and forth, back and forth, my fingertips just brushing his reins every time!
"Stop fighting, boy! You're sinking!" Past my horse, I barely notice the hounds growling and barking viciously at the edge of the muddy pit. The thundering of horses' hooves sounds in the distance along with the black glass knights' shrieking. I pull myself farther over the log and finally grab hold of my horse's reins!
"This way, boy!" I pull back on his reins, pulling his massive armored head towards me, exposing his teeth about his bit. He pulls back against me, nearly yanking me into the muddy pit! Fire flares up in my back and side, escaping me as a scream.
"What are you doing!? This way!" I cannot properly anchor myself against the fallen tree because I'm lying prostrate on it! "This way!"
He still fights against me and tries rearing up, ripping his reins out of my grasp. Something whizzes past my ear and strikes the fallen tree beside me. I glance down, an arrow embedded in the rotting trunk! I—I cannot save him. I scramble back, sobbing. My horse thrashes about, squealing, slowly sinking deeper and deeper into the mud pit. His panic will lead to his demise and there's nothing I can do to save him. Movement beyond my horse draws my teary eyes to the twelve knights that have stopped along the edge of the mud pit. One of the knights draws his bow, another barbed arrowhead aimed for me!
I wheel around and try to run deeper into the forest. My running turns into clambering and stumbling over fallen trees and squeezing between the tight spaces of the trees still standing. The deeper I delve into the forest, the darker it becomes. I dare a glance up at the forest canopy. The branches grow so closely together that they have entangled themselves into a solid layer, blocking out any daylight. Fear fills me as I delve deeper into the darkness. What I would not give to be able to turn back to the daylight, but to go back would be to give myself up to the black glass knights. I have no choice but to keep going deep—the ground drops! I go tumbling down, down, down, crashing through an endless barrage of brambles and thorns!
I fall into a soft bed. Strange—Something puffs beneath me. What was?—A thick cloud of something fills up my mouth and lungs! I force my eyes open, a cloud of black ash drifting down all around me. I gag and choke on the black ash. My chest tightens and my lungs burn. I gasp for air, pushing up my chest as far as it will rise, but my chest tightens more and my lungs catch fire! I clutch at my chest, digging my nails into my skin. Panic fills me. I cannot get up! The canopy starts moving, writhing, hissing…snakes! I hate snakes! I squeeze my eyes shut. God, wake me! I'm done with this dream! Please wake me! Wherever my soul is, limbo or hell, I don't care! Just end this!
The hissing fades in the darkness. My chest loosens and my lungs cool. Everything…fades away.