http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSXlkc9UFE4

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We should have never gone to the forest.

But we always do what we’re not meant.

My first step on the grass started the beat of my heart. I took Kris hand as we strode deeper in to the forest. His eyes were black and intense. I could feel him shaking, his hand trembling in mine. I knew how he longed to be free.

Go Kris.

The butterflies followed behind us. Their wings skimming over my head. I should have felt safe at their protection. The pure innocence and bright colours was enough to ward off any harm or danger.

She cannot get you now.

“Promise me something.” Kris said quietly. I looked up at him. He returned my gaze, breathing heavily. “If something happens, promise me you’ll run.”

Something was wrong. I could tell by the way he was acting. Sweat appeared on his forehead and his hair started to lighten. I looked down and saw his feet drifting off the ground slowly.

“What is it Kris?” I said urgently. Kris struggled to against his body’s instinct to fly away from the danger.

She’s coming for you.

His hand fell out of mine.

“We should never have come.” Kris gasped before surging in to the air.

He looked so graceful, suspended in the air, arms thrown out, legs bent slightly. He drifted around slowly. I knew he was desperate to come back down to me but his body wouldn’t let him. When Kris was in danger, it was his instinct was to fly.

In the middle of the air he stopped dead.

Froze completely.

Foot steps upon the forest ground. She’ll kill you.

“RUN!”

Kris’ shout reached my eyes but my body was frozen.

All of a sudden an arrow whistled past my ear. My head snapped round. The arrow held one of the butterflies pinned against the tree, it’s antennas drooping sadly.

The other butterflies scattered, their protection leaving me.

I turned around slowly, dreading what I knew I would see.

She walked calmly and slowly, her blonde hair glowing in the gloom. I could see the paleness of her eyes from where I stood and how they looked at me, gleaming with evil. Her slender hands clasped her sceptre, it’s power radiating from the heart shaped crystal at the top. The cream coloured dress she wore fell to the ground in graceful drapes, gems shimmering along the bodice where it clung to her waist and accentuated her figure.

I knew I should already be running but my feet wouldn’t obey me.

The Queen raised her sceptre, light emitting from it as if it were the sun. My eyes widened as she brought down the sceptre.

Thump.

A tree to my right creaked and began to fall. I leapt back, clattering to the ground as the tree fell in front of me.

Thump.

I tumbled out of the way as another tree met the same fate, coming to rest against the grass, it’s twisted roots sticking up.

With each thump of her sceptre, the Queen destroyed the forest. I managed to move out of the way as each tree collapsed but I was getting weaker.

And she knew it.

Her head tilted to the side, considering me.

I felt a thump beside and I turned. Kris took my hand and pulled me up. His face was milky pale and his eyes; I’d never seen them so murky. Together we looked at the Queen.

 Her eyes were so bright they seemed corrosive. She took a deep breath.

I knew what was coming. Kris stiffened beside me.

Time slowed.

The sound that came out the Queen’s mouth grew in intensity and pitch with each passing second.

“No!” Kris roared.

Flames were sneaking across the forest floor, the orange tendrils reaching out and setting trees on fire. Smoke rose in to the air, turning everything dim and shadowy. A burning branch narrowly missed my head, and I shrieked, stumbling backwards.

Kris was furious that she was using fire in such way. He snarled, a few puffs of fire spitting out from his mouth.

He was a dragon. He could breathe fire. But he couldn’t put it out.

Grabbing my hand tightly, Kris ran through the forest. Our feet pounded against the floor. My heart beat too loud and behind us I could hear the Queen’s sceptre.

Fire hissed at my feet and all around us. We ran for our lives, each step more desperate then the last.

She’s going to kill you.

I tripped over a tree root and went clattering to the ground. My vision juddered at the impact and Kris’ hand was wrenched out of mine. I saw him turn back, his eyes widen.

“We have to keep going!” He shouted, pulling me to my feet. I nodded blindly, pushing the hair back from my face.

Fire surrounded us. The queen walked on, her slippered feet stepping in to the flames. And walking out, unscathed.

How could we survive?

I darted past trees and leapt over bushes. The Queen’s scream became one long note of anger as she struggled to kill us.

Time is running out. You cannot hide forever.

“I can’t Kris!” I cried. My legs were getting shaky and I kept falling down. My brain was screaming for me to keep going, to keep running but my body physically couldn’t do it. Arrows flew past us, thudding in to trees. One arrow took a lock of my hair with it and I screamed with fear. Kris clutched my hand tighter as we dashed deeper in to the forest.

“We can’t run forever!” I shouted to him. If he heard me, he made no signs of acknowledgment. His stamina was incredible as he ran without showing any signs of stopping.

But I couldn’t do that.

I fell down again, my vision blackening out. Scenes flashed before my eyes to the beat of the Queen’s sceptre.

Kris turned round again, bending down to pull me to my feet. He cupped my face and my hair.

“You can do this. We can escape.” He whispered but I shook my head. I touched his cheek gently and his eyes closed at my touch.

I looked behind me. The Queen emerged through the flames of the fire. was still open and she was still screaming, causing the fire to lash out ferociously.

We were entirely surrounded.

I looked at Kris again. His hands were still cupping my face and he rested his forehead against mine. His eyes looked deep in to mine as he placed his hand on my chest.

“You’re stronger then you think.”

I felt something stirring in my heart. It began as a trickle and then gushed throughout me. My cells ignited as the force of power Kris was directing in to my body overwhelmed me. His power seeped out of his hand and into my heart, making me stronger.

But leaving him weaker.

“Stop.” I whispered as Kris sank to his knees, his head bent. He was totally drained of his strength. He’d given it all to me.

I turned round, knowing what I had to do.

The Queen came to a halt, a few metres in front of me. Fury passed like a shadow over her face. With a flick of her hand, she sent hundreds of crows straight towards me, their beaks sharp and intent on doing some damage.

With a tilt of my head, the power in me changed the crows in to snow. It fell to the ground and disintegrated.

The Queen let out a roar of fury and banged her sceptre upon the ground.

Beasts and creatures emerged from the ground. They slithered to their feet and began to stalk towards me, leaving a trail of blackness along the ground. Their eyes had no pupils and the whites gleamed in the dark.

I closed my eyes and concentrated hard. A sword formed itself in my hand, glinting faithfully. I lifted it up, testing it’s weight in my hand and then prepared to fight.

The first creature lunged towards me but I sliced my sword right through it’s stomach and it melted into a black puddle. Another beast came clawing for my face. I swung the sword in a high arc and decapitated it. The Queen screamed and flinched, as if in physical pain. Two more creatures came to attack. I dug the sword in the first one and then slashed the hilt over the head of the other. They both fell to the ground, hissing.

The Queen fell to one knee.

I approached her, the sword drooping in my hand. She looked up at me, full of so much hatred. I could feel her summoning up her remaining energy.

Drawing back the sword, I plunged it deep into her chest.

The Queen threw back her head and screamed. The forest shook with the force of her voice. All at once, her body burst into a thousand crows that whirled around me. I slashed and sliced, twisting around, face screwed up with the effort. Crows fell to the ground, dead.

At last, my sword killed the last crow and I dropped the sword, breathing heavily. The power Kris had given me seeped out of me as I walked with shaky feet towards where he lay on the ground. My feet gave way and I fell to the ground, clutching his hand.

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“You have power you know.” Kris said. “Right in here.” He tapped the place where my heart lay.

“Not as much power as her.” I whispered.

“You have more than her.” Kris replied softly. “You just need a helping hand.”

“Promise me you won’t go in the forest.” My Mother said, her eyes wide and beseeching. “You know she’ll be waiting for the time when you step foot in there. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

The Queen picked up her sceptre. It filled her hand with warmth.

“Dear, dear child.” She chuckled to herself. “Dear silly girl. Doesn’t she know that I’ll kill her? One twist of my sceptre and she’ll breathe no more. And as for that dragon of hers...” She tapped her sceptre lightly on the ground. Flames appeared on the carpet in front of her. “Let’s fight fire, with fire.”

“You know that I’ll always protect you right?”

“But what if you can’t? What if I can’t be protected?”

“Lips red as blood. Hair black as night. Bring me your heart my dear, dear Snow White.