Snow White and her group were ambushed as they approached the river that ran through the woods. Unusual noises had caught their attention, but they ignored them, thinking they were animal calls.
Actually, they were sounds emanating from members of the sect, assassins who wanted to capture the princess to offer her to their lord. They had thrown something on the ground, hiding it with leaves, then approached the road the knights were traveling with Snow White. If they had reached the river, there would have been an open battle; it wasn't in the sect's best interest. They were experts in intrigue and traps, poisons and instruments of torture, not melee weapons.
"This way!" One of the guards had noticed tracks and, believing they belonged to the queen's horse or her pursuers, had turned in that direction. The man at the head of the group turned to see what had happened, but before he could open his mouth, he saw the boy and his horse fall. The animal's agonized cry stopped everyone in their tracks, and they turned, raising their hands to their weapons. "Ambush!" someone shouted. "Protect the princess!"
Snow White's eyes widened, trying to figure out where the attackers were coming from, but she saw nothing, heard nothing. She grabbed her dagger, hidden under her skirt, then grabbed her bow and arrows, hoping she wouldn't have to fight face-to-face. She wasn't a soldier; she didn't have the strength or agility to escape an assassination attempt, but she could and knew how to defend herself after the training the knights and Grimilde had given her.
"Where are they?" the young woman asked the head guard, hoping the man would know what to do. "I don't know, but they were waiting for us. I won't let anyone harm you."
"Behind us!"
An arrow appeared from the forest, streaking through the air until it lodged in the neck of one of the horses, knocking another knight off his feet. Soon, more arrows arrived, and Gregor ordered the soldiers to take cover among the trees, then began to gallop away with the princess.
"We can't leave them alone!"
"It's our duty to protect you."
Snow White gritted her teeth and continued to look around, terrified that more arrows might appear out of nowhere to strike them. She heard screams of fighting behind them, and a tear ran down her face: I am not more important than anyone else; every life matters, she thought bitterly.
"Let's stop here!"
Gregor stopped suddenly and quickly dismounted, then helped the princess, finally sending the horses running. "How will we get back?"
"The horses will make it look like we've gone further. Let's hide in the forest, look for the murderers and the queen. I saw traces of blood..."
Snow White then looked down and was startled at the dark red staining the leaves and dirt. Whose blood was that?
No, it couldn't be hers. It couldn't be hers.
"This way. Follow me, pay attention to your surroundings." Gregor entered the forest, followed by the princess, armed with her bow. The trees were thick, one after another, but there were areas of rocks and fallen logs, leaving little room for cover. The sky had become threatening, with dark clouds and flashes of lightning in the distance. It would rain, washing away traces and blood, further intensifying the fighting between the two sides.
What had happened to the nobles participating in the Hunt? Could it have been all premeditated?
What the princess didn't yet know was that Morpheus had created an illusory environment, just as had happened in the past, when Snow White disappeared from the kingdom and passed through an unreal forest. It seemed like a copy, a parallel to the vegetation where the competing hunters were. Unfortunately, the guards, the attackers, Snow White, and Grimilde were trapped.
Morpheus, however, had not been able to foresee that two nobles would infiltrate the trap, creating a breach, and that Astrael was on the two women's trail.
Convinced he had defeated his adversary, the powerful demon had immediately reached the site of the Hunt, to find his sweet sacrifice. Snow White was exquisite, the purest soul he had ever seen, and it would have been immensely pleasurable to destroy her and drag her into his kingdom of shadows.
"She will be mine... mine..."
The whispers were accompanied by a gust of wind, startling Morpheus's victims. The queen gritted her teeth and pulled the sword from one of the assassins' chest, watching the blood gush from the wound. She looked around, then crouched on the ground and took advantage of the momentary pause in the fight to break the arrow lodged in her arm; she couldn't remove it, not in this moment. She would lose too much blood, and if she were poisoned, nothing would change anyway.
She didn't know the type of poison, she could only hope it wasn't something aggressive and fast. She had to find the princess and make sure they got everyone to safety. Something told her that the forest was inhabited by a dark presence, and the whisper she'd heard confirmed her fears.
A demon, likely the one who had attacked them in the first place, was still haunting them, but the reckoning had come. Grimilde raised her eyes to the blade of her sanctified sword and looked at the reflection of the forest: she saw nothing, only a mass of dark shapes.
"This way!"
Grimilde heard voices in the distance and froze, looking around: where were those sounds coming from? Were they the assassins or perhaps someone else? She wouldn't stay still; she checked the corpses one last time and clutched the hem of one of the assassins' cloak, on which was a mysterious symbol. It depicted a serpent coiled around a sword, but what was striking about the drawing were the reptile's horns. Grimilde had never seen anything like it before, and she could only assume it was the sect Astrael had spoken of.
The queen was weak, but she did not lose heart: she walked a few hundred meters and then leaned against a tree trunk. She slipped a leather pouch from her belt and grabbed the object inside. It was a piece of the mirror kept in her palace chamber.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, answer my questions... is this forest real?"
"No..."
"Is there a demon in this place?"
"Not only a demon lurks in this shadowy realm..." the mirror hissed. At that point, Grimilde frowned and looked around again: she thought she saw movement in the distance, so she leaned against the tree trunk. "Mirror... is the Princess of Arran present in this forest?"
The mirror didn't respond, and Grimilde realized she had no other way to communicate with it. It was a fragile piece, made from the complete object, and therefore didn't function properly. Furthermore, it wasn't possible to gain knowledge of everything simply by using the mirror.
The queen struggled to her feet and gripped the hilt of her sword tightly: she was certain Snow White would reach her if she discovered she was in danger. Then, she had to act fast.