Lani snuck past trolls, making her way to the kings castle. It saddened her to see many of her own kind fighting against each other, probably trading their side in return for life. The tip of her tail was glowing softly, a defense attack she had learned in the academy ready to strike. She has attacks that could seriously injure the other side, but she hoped it wouldn't come down to that.

She gasped as she turned a corner to see a 9 foot troll standing directly in front of her, luckily facing the opposite way of her. She quickly jumped back, hiding herself in one of the only trees that weren't burning. She watched it as it traveled in the same direction that she was heading; to the king's castle. She knew what she had to do.

"Duratus!" She yelled as she pounced towards the beast. Just like that, he was frozen, not even enough time for him to process what just happened. He wasn't dead, but at least now she had enough time to pass by him without being crushed by his giant wooden bat.

She ran faster then she ever has before, dodging flames as they whipped around, almost as though they we're trying to grab onto her. 

"Ahh!" She exclaimed as a flame whipped one of her legs. She fell to the ground in pain, looking at the blisters already forming on her leg. But she couldn't stop yet. not now, not ever. She was so close! She looked around her, at the once fun park she would play at as a kid now fully consumed in flames. At her now ash house, thinking of her dad. He wouldn't want her to give up; her mom wouldn't want her to give up. She ignored the pain in her leg and got up.

She continued to run to the castle, limping a little on the way. She had thought that for sure she would have made it before Nimroth's troops. But when she arrived, her heart sunk. The big ice door that was in front of the castle was now smashed, leaving pieces of sharp ice scattered every where, slowly melting. Was she too late? She wondered.

Lani was about to go inside to see if there we're any survivors, when suddenly she heard someone screaming something near her.

"Give me back my baby back!" A woman yelled at a troll.

Lani looked behind her to see an Ice Monsie, basically a human made of 75% ice, hitting a troll with one of her frying pans. The troll laughed as it held her baby up high in the air, too high for her to reach.

"Ha ha! Puny little thing, thinking you can defeat me! Thinking you can defeat Nimroth, better yet!" The troll laughed harder. "I can easily take him down," Lani thought, "he's just some big brute who doesn't even know how to fight, using his size to torment people." She prepared for a moment, ready to freeze him, when suddenly a loud noise came from the top of the castle.

"Is this thing on- oh, mm hmm," A guy said as he cleared his throat, "attention, people of the North! Your king, Dameous, is dead!" He exclaimed.

Lani's neck burned, from the flames all around her and from the sudden urge of her wanting to cry. "But no more crying." She thought. She's a warrior, and warriors fight, not cry. Still, she had no idea what to do anymore. Her parents were dead, the king was dead. Nimroth was only getting more powerful; her own side joining his army, him gaining more land for his troops to train on, and making the only other people that would fight him lose hope. It seemed as though the world was crushing her, slowly coming down her entire life then suddenly crashing down at full force. The only solution she could think of was to fight, and at that moment, it didn't seem like such a bad idea.

"Famonet!" She yelled, dropping the troll that held the woman's baby to he ground. Luckily, the woman caught the baby. She didn't think that far ahead... 

She would stun every troll that came in her way, although I'm sure if she knew a spell that could kill them, she would use it every chance she gets.

She made her way into the tower, but the inside was nothing like how she'd expected it to be. She expected there to be broken vases everywhere, shattered glass on the floor, maybe some blood. But the ground was shiny, the table was set, and vases still held beautiful everlasting flowers picked from the royal garden. But there were no signs of war anywhere. "Is this a trick?" She thought. Maybe trolls were hiding around every corner, ready to kill her. But every corner she peaked around, remembering her mistake from earlier, there were no trolls. Or any life for that matter. 

She was so confused, when she suddenly heard  a clashing noise somewhere near her. It sounded like pots breaking. "Finally, some action!" She thought. She ran towards where she heard the sound come from, near the room where the guy announced the kings death. Who was that guy, anyway? Lani had never seen or heard of him before. Incase he was dangerous, she changed back to her human form so he couldn't tell who she was.

"Onto slavis." She whispered. Just like that, she turned back into her human self.  

She quickly grabbed a nearby rag to cover herself and carefully stepped down the hall, trying not to make much noise. When she had finally come to the room, the door was closed. She didn't know if there was going to be an army waiting there for her, a trap perhaps. She slowly reached for the door knob.

"Well, it's now or never." She whispered to herself. She quickly bounced the door open, but what she saw wasn't anything like what she was expecting. She expected to see the king on the floor, dead. But what she saw, she couldn't decide if it was worse, or better.