The Fox Princess And Her White Dog

1: The Stranger from Her Dreams

*Warning: Description of punishment about midway through this chapter. You can skip to the end if you're sensitive. The rest of the book is not this distressing 😬*

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The sun hung like a bloodied orb in the crimson sky. The once green waters below her feet and the cliffs on either side of her were bathed in an ominous shade of red.

Like the past iterations of this nightmare, Snow was looking at the legion of celestial soldiers before her through another person's eyes. She wondered why so many men in full gold-plated armor, wielding both swords and spears, were required to subdue her.

"It's you again!" said the red-caped captain, his nostrils flaring above his black beard.

Snow heard herself scoff. The voice and words were not hers, neither were they within her control. With a half-smirk on her lips, she said, "How's your leg, Captain? Is it better since the last time I smashed it to pieces?"

The captain's face contorted in anger at her mocking tone. "Remove the barrier and step aside," he ordered.

Snow turned to look behind her at the cave mouth that was blocked by a pulsating wall of blue light.

She needs more time, this person had thought, though she did not know what he meant. As she slowly turned back to face the soldiers, she drew a halberd with a spear tip and twin crescent moon blades out of thin air.

Her voice came out low and menacing. "What if I don't want to?"

The soldiers nearest to her pointed their weapons at her, ready to advance.

"Seize him!" shouted the captain.

With a tremendous roar, wave after wave of soldiers attacked on three sides. This body she was inhabiting had fought fiercely; she, or rather he, sliced and stabbed furiously with his weapon, drawing blood and screams.

He twisted and turned swiftly, catching blades and spear tips between the crescent blades and the shaft of his weapon and pulling swords and spears out of soldiers' hands. Summoning a gust of wind beneath his feet, he propelled forward and slashed across the next wave of advancing soldiers, shattering their swords and turning their spears to splinters. He dodged blows and counter attacked, and when he had the chance, thrust out his palm, blasting soldiers back with strong gusts of wind.

All the while, he kept glancing at the cave, even as he swung the halberd around his torso, the blades carving armor and flesh like they were made of soft clay. When a soldier slipped past his defense and tried to breach the barrier he had created, he grabbed a spear out of another soldier's hands and hurled it at the soldier, striking him between the shoulder blades. He spun around, and more soldiers came charging at him, baying for his blood.

The sound of metal clashing against metal and howling men echoed all around the rocky cliffs covered in verdant vegetation and cherry blossom trees. Before long, the river was filled with blood and the bodies of fallen soldiers.

Cherry blossom petals borne on the wind fluttered onto the darkening waters and the dead in their suits of gold.

He panted heavily as he eyed the remaining soldiers floating in mid-air around him. His pristine white clothes had been sprayed red, and a crimson line ran from a wound on his thigh down his trousers and white boot.

The captain, floating high in the sky with the sun at his back, surveyed the carnage around him.

"You rabid dog, you will suffer for this," he hissed.

"Bring it on," Snow heard herself reply through bared teeth. She lunged forward for another attack - this time at the captain, who remained stock still in the air with a maniacal look in his eyes.