WALATT Snippet
After a long time of not sharing writing, enjoy this kind of long snippet! (More under the cut)
Posey had been walking for what felt like an age, but finally she had reached her destination; the snow covered glade deep in the ancient forest. Though she hadn’t been told what she was looking for, she was certain that she had found it as soon as she saw what lay in the centre of that clearing.
It was a glass coffin, set on a solid silver foundation. Silver threads snaked up from that pedestal to curl around the coffin like beautiful claws, trapping what was inside.
Posey stepped forward, and promptly got her boot soaked. Cursing under her breath, she extracted herself from the water, shaking extra drops off of her thankfully water resistant boots. Her prize had captured her attention so completely that she had failed to notice the little stream running all the way around the clearing.
They really did think of everything, she thought to herself.
Pausing for a moment to consider this new problem, Posey knelt down and began to push piles of snow into the stream, blocking up a section of water a little wider than her. The water seeped through the snow, so it didn’t interrupt the flow completely, but she hoped that it would serve her purpose.
With that done she rose to her feet and turned her attention back to the coffin, walking over for a closer look.
Inside was a woman, not much older than Posey herself it seemed, but that was the only similarity they had. Her skin was as pale as the snow around them, her hair shared the colour and iridescence of raven feathers, and her lips were stained blood red. Clearly she wasn't human, though her aura had told Posey that long before she had reached the glade. It was what she had used to guide her through the forest when her map had proved to be woefully out of date.
The first challenge was getting the coffin open. Posey rummaged through the bag the old man had given her, and pulled out a pouch full of keys. There were five locks on the coffin, but about eighty keys in the pouch. Thankfully, it looked like only five of those keys were silver, which Posey hoped was as obvious as it seemed. Now, which one went where?
She examined the locks. Each one had a unique pattern on it, which she found matched with one of the keys. Again she hoped it was as it simple seemed, as she slid the first key into the first lock.
She turned the key and just barely managed to move her hand out of the way in time to avoid the trap she sprang. After taking a moment to calm down, Posey knelt to examine what tried to kill her.
It was a needle, made of pure silver and coated in a poison Posey recognized as being toxic to many magical creatures. It wouldn't pose her much of a threat if it weren’t for the needle threatening to prick her finger.
All the same, the key had worked, and now that she knew what was going to happen she was pretty confident she could avoid the other traps.
I guess they weren’t expecting a lone human to try this, she thought as she set about taking care of the other locks.
Four identical traps sprung and four clicking locks later, Posey lifted the glass lid off the coffin.
There was only one challenge left now; wild roses bound the woman in her bed like rope. Posey examined the way the thorns dug into her skin. It seemed unnecessarily cruel. The flowers were what trapped her, but the thorns seemed to have been intentionally driven into her despite it serving no real purpose. Posey would have to be extra careful to avoid causing any further damage.
Every day she hated her so-called “birthright” more.
Posey pulled a pair of gloves out of her backpack and put them on. They didn’t usually help much with protecting her, but she hoped that thorns were far enough removed from the original wording of the curse that they would do.
Slowly, she began untangling the brambles, slicing pieces off with her knife whenever she could. The process likely took over an hour, but when it was finally finished the woman let out a sigh of relief that told Posey that she had done right.
Posey lifted the woman out of the coffin. She was still completely unconscious; Posey would have to carry her back to her camp and try to find a way to wake her. Thankfully she was incredibly light, so carrying her didn’t cause any strain.
Coming to the snow bridge she made earlier, Posey hoped she wouldn’t accidentally kill someone she just rescued when she crossed. The woman gasped when they crossed, but she seemed unharmed. Still, Posey decided to hurry to her camp and try to wake her as soon as possible.
I have more in the scene this came from, so let me know if you liked this and I'll do a part two.
Bonus tagging @dyrewrites because you expressed interest in this story/dark fairytale stuff via writeblr live.
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