I flew past alarmed guards, through the gardens, and towards the stables.
Hot tears almost froze as they streamed off my aching face. My feet screamed in their flimsy slippers, a stitch tore through my left side, and my throat burned with the snatched gasps of frosty air in between lung-tearing sobs.
Hearing the exclamations of the stablehands as if coming from another world, I burst into my steed’s stall. Next thing I knew I was sitting on Amabel’s back while she kneeled, grabbing handfuls of her silvery mane, urging her up.
With a whinny and shake of her horned head, Amabel rose, my desperate kicks to her sides launching her into a thundering gallop.
Tearing through the gates, the wind slapping in my unbound hair, and freezing my face, the stomps of Amabel’s hooves kept furious tempo with the bruising beat of my heart as we rode right towards the setting sun.
The invisible noose of the curse tightened, making drawing breath a struggle. I screamed with all that was left in me, of futility, of fury, railing against its unfair cruelty. I had to escape it, outrun Death. It couldn’t end like this. I hadn’t started living yet!
But no matter how fast we galloped, there was no stopping the sky staining with an ominous gradient of bloody oranges and angry purples, ushering in the end of my last day.
Then the sun started dipping fast behind Sherwood Forest as it sprouted from the horizon, and with it seeped my last wisps of strength.
Breathing became impossible and numbness settled into my bones, loosening my grip on my unicorn, melting me off her back.
Indigo twilight started to fall, and so did I, into the arms of darkness.
I never felt the ground.
Through dark mist, clusters of images formed.
I floated from one instance to the next, twirling through nebulous backgrounds as haziness gave way to clarity.
Below me, a castle made of ice cracked open to display dozens of broken mirrors, with two figures dancing in the midst of the shards—a crystalline man and a wooden girl with fiery hair. As I passed them, they dissolved into a silver liquid that rose, crested, corroding all it touched, melting the walls and collapsing the ceiling, revealing what lay beyond.
Under a blazing summer sun, an emerald-green sea sparkled, and burning ships sank under a wave that soared high enough to brush the sky. In its retreat, it bared the sand beneath, where a girl with a fish’s tail screamed voicelessly at someone aiming to stab a bull-horned man with a golden trident. When the wave crashed upon the golden shore, they were gone and the waters turned the red of wine—or blood.
The landscape morphed, the gold of the sand becoming that of wheat fields, the green of the sea turning to that of grassy hills. The land streaked past me as I followed a blonde girl rushing by houses with red-tile roofs, fields full of wild horses, grazing livestock, and barns with multi-colored cats. Her speed caused the smaller details to blur as the sun moved across the sky, giving way to a full moon that grew impossibly larger.
As the moon descended upon the earth, the land shattered under the brunt of massive antlers surfacing from beneath. Billowing purple smoke masked the entity’s massive form as it rose to grab the girl by the ankle and drag her below. The moon screamed.
As the land withered and the fields turned grey, the scene streaked to a still, eerie forest.
Brittle morning rays seeped through the mist, sparkling off dewdrops that hung like crystal beads on silvery cobwebs spread across twisting black trees. Birds sang along with the calm tune of the whistling wind, and the sounds of a rushing river and rustling leaves joined the melody.
The music of nature compelled me to dance through the forest, singing along as I twirled into a crossroads surrounded by glowing, blue mushrooms.
A deep voice joined mine, and hands grasped my own from behind. Our duet filled the air, making pink flowers bloom on the black trees.
Joy filled my heart as my partner swayed me down a path that seemed to have no end, but I was content to let him lead me onward. Looking up, I sought out his eyes—and found none.
He had no face.
“Who are you?” I asked breathlessly.
I could feel the vibration in his chest against mine, an answer making its way to his lips. Then he spoke, and it wasn’t in words, but hard knocks.
The knocking grew louder, and the dream disappeared in