My grip on Anitha's fur tightened as we raced down the stairs leading to the dungeons of the castle. My eyes watered as the wind rushed past us, Anitha skipping three steps at a time to allow us to reach the bottom faster.

We reached the dungeons and I gasped as Anitha unceremoniously tossed me off her back, it was due to my years of training that prevented me from falling face first on to the stone ground. A small growl left my lips as I slowly turned to face Anitha, who was frantically pressing against the stones of one of the cells, cursing under her breath as she moved to the next one.

"Anitha, what happened back there? What did they do to Xavier? How did I do what I did? Anitha, answer me please..."

My pleas were cut off as she clamped a hand over my mouth, the other firmly against my shoulder. She removed her hand from my shoulder before using it to place a finger over her lips, I nodded before she removed the hand that was over my mouth. She kept the finger over her lips as she used her free hand to trail the gold chain of my necklace, grabbing the pendants, allowing them to sit in the palm of her hand. My eyes widened as I looked down to see that cracks had begun to form on one of the rubies as if it was barely keeping something contained.

Never in my life had the ruby had a crack like that, for years, despite my training, it never even bared a scratch no matter how hard I trained and yet here it was, barely able to hold itself together. She gave it a light tap which caused the pieces to fall out of the gold clasp that held it.

She sighed in defeat as she reached up to caress my face, pressing the pieces into my hand.

"I know you are scared and in shock right now, Sera, but we need to get out of here this instant."

She clamped her hand over my mouth again as I prepared to protest. I wanted answers now, Animalians don't just shoot black fire out of their hands and while the fire consumed those creatures, the skin on my palms remained smooth.

"I promise that after we escape, I will tell you everything but for now, we need to get you out of here because if we don't and those creatures get their hands on you, everyone of this planet will be doomed. So please, Seraphina."

I nodded and proceeded to help her as she pressed the stones on the wall of the cell, Xenia joined us and tried to help by pressing her nose against the stones nearer to the ground.

"We are looking for a stone with the symbol of a dragon on it, the dragon is curled around a flame. I have no idea how big it is, so keep your eyes peeled."

I squinted my eyes in an attempt to find the dragon but raised an eyebrow when I saw it. It was not small at all, about the size of my palm. The dragon was the colour of tarnished brass when the flame was as black as coal, but what caused my eyebrow to raise was that Anitha's hand just brushed past it.

"Anitha, you just brushed past the symbol."

"Where?"

"Right there, right next to your hand."

She looked to the side of hand before giving me a strange look, removing her hand from the stone wall.

"Could you point it out for me, Sera?"

I placed my hand over the symbol, gasping as I felt a wave of heat spread through my body. Anitha nodded at my hand before replacing my hand with hers and pushed against it with all her might, but nothing happened, the stone would not budge. I reached over to help her as the faint sound of yelling caused us to still. Anitha gasped as a slight push from my hand caused the stone to sink into the wall before falling out onto the other side of the wall.

We stepped back as various stones began to follow suit, I nervously chewed my bottom lip as the yelling grew closer. Xenia whined before slamming her body against the wall, to try and loosen the bricks further, we waited with bated breath as more stones fell to form an arched entrance that Anitha quickly dragged me through.

I gasped as I saw the shadow of those creatures coming down the stairs right towards us.

"Anitha, they will be able to follow us through."

Her eyes widened as she saw that shadows come closer, her eyes frantically searching the ground for the stone with the symbol on it.

"Sera, place the stone in the exact place you found it."

I opened my mouth to question her sanity before she gave me a look that made me sigh. I could not comprehend what she just said to me as I picked the stone up and held it in the same place where I first found it, letting it dangle by my fingertips in mid-air. A spark of heat caused my fingers to let go of the stone, and to my amazement, the stone remained there in mid-air.

I watched in utter awe and amazement as the other stones around us began to fall back into place, sealing us inside the tunnel. The creatures had made their way down the stairs and the last thing I saw before the wall sealed was Abraxas's red eyes.

"Would they be able to get in?"

"No. Now hurry, they might not be able to get in here but there is no telling whether they would find another way to get to you."

I hummed in agreement as we started our journey down the tunnel, the smell of mildew and mould caused me to scrunch up my nose while Xenia sneezed to clear hers. I managed a small smile before looking down at my hands. I stared at them as tears dripped down my cheeks, trailing my jawline before collecting at the tip of my chin dripping down on to my hands.

Would everything have turned out differently if I had done what I did to those creatures when they arrived? Could I have saved my family from death?

My heart felt as though a someone had run a knife through it and started to twist the blade as I remembered how I treated my parents in the last few hours. My mother's last action was to protect me from those creatures, even giving her life so that they would not take me. My father's was to use his life to buy my freedom. And what was the last thing I did to them? I ignored them and lashed out at them, snapping at whatever they said to me, never letting them get a word in and ignoring even their slightest attempts at love and affection.

Xenia must have sensed my change in emotional state as she pressed her body against my legs as much as she could while we were walking to try and offer me comfort, her actions were noticed by Anitha who slowed her pace, turning around to grasp my hands, holding them.

"There was no way you could have changed what happened back there. You didn't know what was happening to you, let alone know how to control it. There was nothing you could do and nothing in the world could have prevented this from happening."

A sob escaped my throat as grabbed her by each shoulder and shook her.

"That is why I need to know. I need to know what's happening to me. What do I have that is so important that all this chaos had to ensue just to get it. Please Anitha, I will go insane if I don't get answers."

"And I promised that I will give them to you, I will keep that promise and tell you as much as you need to know, but we have to get out of first and get to somewhere safe."

I sniffed and nodded, she smiled and brushed her hand across my cheek before turning to

walk down the tunnel again.

With difficulty, I followed her bracing one hand against the wall and another on Xenia to prevent myself from falling.

There was physical pain, yes, but the weight of knowing that the last thing I said to my parents where something so full of hate hurt me more. With each step, I took away from the place I called my prison instead of my home, the urge to run back increased. I looked to my side where Ratiska hung after I managed to tie it to my dress.

For years I have dreamt of a day where I would be presented this sword, where the crowds would cheer for me as they accepted me, where my parents would look at me with pride. Instead, I had it thrust into my hands by father, surrounded by the screams of my people. I would give it all up, the glory of the sword and the position I wanted so dearly, just have my family alive again. To have my mother fussing about my appearance, to have her chiding me when I did something to purposely anger the nobles of the court. To have my father quietly check on me at night after we fight, to have him hold me in his arms each time I try to leave. To have my brother push me to fight against the other guys to push my boundaries, to have him tug on my hair when I ignored him to read. To be together, we were not perfect, but we cared and I out of blind hatred ignored all these things and placed how they wronged me above everything else, and now there was no way to take it back.

I looked at the seventeen rubies still around my neck as well as the shattered one that I held I my hand. I used Ratiska to cut a strip of cloth from my dress to make a makeshift pouch. This necklace was one of the only things I had left from my parents... I was going to treasure every piece of it.

We walked for a long time before we came to a dead end, Anitha started to panic before I saw a stone that had the symbol of a dragon curling around a flame, wordlessly I pushed it and what happened at the entrance happened here.

I winced as the rays of the sun burnt my eyes, a small smile graced my lips as I smelt fresh air, laughing as Xenia ran out to roll and romp in the grass knowing that she was doing it more for my benefit than hers.

I held the stone in mid-air once more and felt the spark of heat as the wall began to piece itself together, I turned to Anitha to start asking for answers before I say something flying towards us in the corner of my eye. Staying still as I grab the body of the spear that had come sailing just inches away from my face.