Chapter 22

The air around the campfire shifts; what was tight and brittle softens into something quieter, steadier. The flames crackle low, and for the first time in a while, no one looks like they’re bracing for the next disaster.

“That was beautiful,” Snow says softly. “Where did you learn it?”

The question hangs there.

I don’t answer right away.

The truth is, I don’t want to share something that feels too fragile, too mine, not with Emma or Snow watching me like they might try to dissect it. The trust isn’t there yet. With Mulan… maybe. I think she’d understand. Still, saying it out loud would sound insane.

The song has just always been there. As long as I can remember. Every time I sing it, I’m pulled back into that warm, weightless place, wrapped in calm, in safety. A woman’s voice calling out to me, soft and steady. My Little flame.

My heart always tugs toward her… and then the feeling vanishes, like smoke slipping through my fingers.

“I don’t remember,” I say finally, looking away.

I stand, needing space before anyone can see the sting behind my eyes, and head toward the trees.

That’s when the growling starts.

Low. Wet. Wrong.

Figures begin to stumble out of the forest, men in tattered armor, blank-eyed, gray-skinned. Too familiar. My stomach drops.

“Oh good,” I mutter. “Pretty sure those are supposed to be dead. And last I checked, hearts don’t just… grow back.”

Snow’s already reaching for her bow. “This has to be Cora’s magic.”

“Great,” I say, gripping my axe. “Because nothing says ‘effective’ like arrows when a corpse is trying to share its germs.”

They rush us.

The first one lunges, and I bring my axe down hard, the impact jarring up my arms as bone splits. It doesn’t even scream. Another grabs at my shoulder. I twist, kick it back, and bury the blade in its neck. Snow’s arrows fly, precise and relentless. Emma fires, reloads, fires again, teeth clenched.

Another zombie goes for Snow

I don’t think. I just move.

My axe leaves my hand, spinning end over end, and splits its skull before it can sink its teeth into her.

Snow stares at me, breathless. “Where did you learn to do that?”

For a second, I freeze.

No one knows that part of me. Not even Emma.

For a brief moment, I’m relieved, relieved that my past has a cover, that from the outside I still look normal.

“Video games,” I say flatly, yanking my axe free as I charge back in.

The fighting blurs together blood, rot, and snapping teeth. Somewhere in the chaos, I feel it again: when the monster inside me claws at my control. Not the thing I’ve become recently, but the original one. The one they made me into.

I shove it down and keep moving.

Finally, the last body drops.

“Well,” I say, panting, “that wasn’t so hard—”

I turn.

Mulan is gone.

Running.

With Aurora.

“What the f—”

Before I can finish, the corpses begin to move again.

“Any ideas how to kill these things?” Emma shouts.

“We have to run!” Snow yells.

We bolt deeper into the forest. My ears catch something else—screaming.

“Aurora!” someone shouts.

I veer toward the sound without thinking. Emma and Snow call my name, but I yell back, “Trust me!”

They hesitate, then follow.

We burst into a clearing. Mulan is standing, scanning the area frantically, shouting Aurora’s name.

I walk up and kick her shin.

“Ow! What was that for?” she snaps, scrambling back.

“What kind of warrior leaves soldiers behind?” I demand.

Mulan looks down, shame written across her face. “I panicked. I just wanted to get her out of danger.”

“Well,” I say coldly, gesturing to the empty space beside her, “judging by her absence, you failed spectacularly.”

Emma shoves me back. “Alex, lay off. Now’s not the time.”

I step away, standing beside Snow.

Mulan turns to Snow, voice cracking. “I know I ran when you needed me. But please, we need your help. They took Aurora. Help us… like we helped you.”

Emma and I exchange a look. We know this story. Help given. Help never returned.

Snow straightens. “We’ll help. That’s what heroes do.”

I sigh. “Fine. I don’t want princess blood on my conscience.”

“You helped us,” Emma adds. “We’ll help you.”

“Thank you,” Mulan says quietly.

“Okay,” I mutter, rolling my shoulders. “Enough group bonding. What’s the plan to take down the raisin witch?”

“I’ll take Aurora’s place,” Snow says. “I’ll contact Henry so we can get information from Gold.”

“How do you plan on sleeping yourself into a curse?” Mulan asks.

“She’s already been under one,” I say. “Thanks to Regina and her apple obsession.”

The name pulls at something deep inside me, sharp, sudden, gone before I can grab it. I frown, confused, then let it go.

“If I want to reach that kind of sleep again,” Snow continues, “I need to enter a state where my natural defenses slip. Where my mind stops protecting me.”

“We don’t have another sleeping curse,” Emma says.

“We don’t need one,” Snow replies, turning to Mulan. “Your sleeping powder will be enough.”

“I used the last of it on the giant,” Mulan says. “I’ll need to make more.”

“What do we need?” I ask.

“Everything we can find in the forest,” Mulan says. “But the most important ingredient is poppy seed. Extremely rare. It only grows in the Woods of the Dead.”

Emma grimaces. “How far?”

“Half a day’s journey,” Mulan confirms.

I clap Snow on the back. “Great. Let’s go get you your drugs.”

—————————————————————————————————————————

Short chapter but promise this weekend’s chapter will be longer

-Doc