Forest of Fireflies

Chapter 59

(Daniella's POV)

"What do you mean-" Henry paused. I saw a realisation rush over his eyes. He looked around and stuttered, "You believe that this is the night when, when....the Queen slaughters the village."

I nodded and hastily added, "We need to get out of here, in case it really happens."

"Yeah, we-" Henry was interrupted by a pounding sound of horses. I closed my eyes and grimaced. No.... After an initial split second of dread, I glanced at Henry and said, "We have to go. Now!"

I started running across the village square, away from the direction of the main road. I didn't know the area well, but after running around for a while, I figured that the only exit from the village was the road. Unless we used the forest. 

Henry pointed towards the dark tangle of trees and I nodded. We ran into it with only light from the moon and stars guiding us. There was mist in the forest and beneath the crunch of leaves, Henry and I were weaving through the branches as fast as we could. After a while, we had lost sight of the village. However, before Henry could go any further, I called out softly for him to stop. He came up to me and we both panted, trying to catch our breaths. Then, I whispered, "We can't go too far. When mother leaves, she'll go in the direction of the palace right? We need to catch on, whilst not being seen. It's the only way in which I can orient ourselves."

Henry widened his eyes, "So we have to run after her when she leaves?"

After another pant, I replied, "Yeah. We'll place a distance between us of course. The black knights are trained to sense any abnormal movement in the forest, they'll see us if we get too close."

Henry sighed and leaned his head against a tree. In the thick silence that hung in the air, I listened intently for any signs of a massacre. I hoped that I was wrong. I hoped that this would simply be another visit, not a mass murder. Henry spoke up quietly, "If we're in the past then...where were you at this point?"

I closed my eyes. "I believe I'm still in Wonderland. At least we know for a fact that there won't be two of me running around at the same time." I chuckled at the thought of this.

"Yeah, but that makes it worse doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, just saying....but if mom catches you, she won't know that you're her daughter."

I exhaled and glanced down at the cuffs on my wrist. "Yeah. The worst thing is not being able to use my magic."

I looked at Henry and saw that he was sporting an uncomfortable expression on his face. So, I added, "It's not your fault. You wouldn't have been able to stop them."

"But I could have convinced Snow to not put that on you. Now we're in trouble."

I chuckled, "Neither of us knew that we would end up back in the Enchanted Forest. In the past. And to be honest, I believe Snow would still have put this cuff on my hand even if you tried to convince her otherwise."

"What does it feel like?"

"To have this cuff on my wrist?"

"Yeah."

I pulled at the thick leather band and sighed. "It makes me feel weak. It's like...as if part of your body has been taken out and hollowed away."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I guess, magic's a large part of me." I wanted to tell Henry about magic but I was interrupted by a shrill scream in the air. I whipped my head in the direction of the village.