Ariadne's POV

"No!" I roared. "I don't care what he did to me! I won't hurt him or his family like this! I don't want to hurt anyone like this!"

But I couldn't seem to get the strength to stop my wings or the fire from exiting my mouth once we reached the house. I hoped beyond anything that no one was there but my fears were made a reality when I heard screams coming from below.

"No!" I landed on the ground and wanted to rush inside to save them but I was too big, I would crush the house. Then a bunch of angry men began approaching from all sides, shooting arrows and throwing sticks that had been sharpened. I wanted to explain to them what I was doing, but I couldn't.

A few arrows went under my scales and pierced my skin. I roared and flew back into the air before I could burn anything else.

"Stop!" I yelled.

"Marry me and I will. You are scaring your people, if you marry me then they will be convinced you will not become a monster again."

"I can't! I won't! You'll hurt them even more if I let you and your brothers free."

The necklace all of the sudden tightened around my neck I felt it burning my flesh. I tried to pull it off, but I couldn't reach it. Estevan was too powerful.

"Stop controlling me," I seethed.

"I wouldn't have to if you would just obey. Sadly, I have to resort to crueler methods when you refuse."

I tried looking back down at the necklace, but I couldn't. "You said King Rowland trapped you down in that kingdom?"

"He did, sadly my father didn't even care for his own sons."

"Your father?" I asked. "How is that possible."

"My father was the king and wanted to live forever. He came close to finding the solution but never did. So on his deathbed, he cursed all his sons to be trapped underground, never aging, until we could get back onto the throne. King Rowland wanted us to continue his legacy and this was the only way. To curse us to live forever until a princess married one of us and thus restored us to the throne, and only that would break the curse. The only other drawback is that the portal to our kingdom only opens every hundred years."

"I'm sorry you had such a cruel father, but you don't have to be like him!"

"I'm nothing like him!"

Burn the village.

I wanted to scream and cry, but instead, fury raged through my veins. I whipped around to look at Estevan, mouth steaming. "How could you?" I sneered. "I would never hurt-"

"But you did," He interrupted, and patted my nose. "So obviously, you would. I honestly didn't know if you would go that far. Interesting."

"That was not me."

"If that makes your conscious feel better."

"Stop!" I roared. "Stop this now!"

My thoughts went to my sisters and family. I sincerely hoped that they were okay. Then I got an idea. Please work.

"My family will never forgive me for what I've done."

"Your family?" An evil glint filled his gleaming eyes. "Shall we test this further?"

I didn't have to fake the fear in my eyes. I didn't know if I was strong enough to resist him, but I knew that I would do anything to protect my sisters. At least, I hoped I would.

Fly to the castle.

We got closer and closer, and with every yard we gained, I began to have doubts. What if I wasn't strong enough? Yes, I loved my sisters but sometimes they got on my nerves. Could Estevan use that to make me burn the castle with them in it?

Then I saw the tree.

The closer we got, the more the tree seemed to shine. I just needed to get Estevan to touch it somehow. I had a feeling that was his source of power, which meant it would also be his downfall.

I tried flying towards it, but soon Estevan saw the tree too and instantly our path was corrected so we wouldn't fly any closer to it.

Could I do this?

"Don't make me do this," I said as we got closer to the huge building I called home.

"Then stop me," he slurred.

I tried harder than I ever had tried before to stop flying towards my home. For a split second, I wasn't moving forward, but it didn't last long enough. I was too weak. The castle was directly getting closer.

I had failed.

"Now say goodbye to your sisters, if they're not dead already they will be soon."

"No," I roared, breathing fire in a circle around me, trying to throw him off my back or burn him enough to let me get rid of the horrid necklace.

He laughed, mocking me.

Burn the castle.

I felt my muscles moving to face the castle, my home, my family. I couldn't burn it down. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

Burn the castle. Now.

I felt my jaw opening and the sensation of fire building up inside my chest. I tried slamming my mouth shut, but it wouldn't cooperate. I closed my eyes and roared as loud as I could before the flame left my mouth.

I had to try to warn them, it was the only thing I could do.

Seconds later, a hot burst of flames forced itself out of my mouth and descended quickly down over the roof where my sisters slept. I wanted to scream, cry, and let my heart explode with how much pain it was in.

Then an unearthly scream sounded from below.

"NO!"

All the bones in my body wanted to fly down there and rescue my sisters, but I couldn't. Instead, I was the one killing them. I wanted more than anything, for the flames to consume me. I didn't care what pain it brought, nothing could be worse than what I was feeling.

Then something zoomed out of the corner of my eye and hit me side on, knocking me away from the castle. Then I saw it again, a little pegasus that reminded me of... Amity.

"Amity!" I screamed. "Leave, now! I don't want to hurt you too."

The horse looked at me in surprise and whinnied before flying away.

"Smart horse," Estevan mumbled.

Then I felt him tense on my back. "It couldn't be."

I twisted my head around, wondering what he saw. My eyes fixed on a little figure stumbling away from Estevan's magic tree. It couldn't be. It was impossible.

"Peter!" I yelled as loud as I could.

Fly to him. Now.

I didn't fight this instruction. I needed to make sure it really was Peter. I needed his help.

When he noticed us approaching he immediately backed up against the tree.

"Peter, is that really you?" I whispered, but my voice still sounded deep and scratchy.

"Ariadne?"

I nodded, and he took a step closer.

"Don't," I snapped then looked down, remembering what I had done to his home just a minute ago. "I don't want to hurt you."

He nodded, not able to take his eyes off me. Even when Estevan started speaking.

"You know. I always hated you. You always seem to get in the way of my plans, and I really don't appreciate that."

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met."

"I am Estevan," he said with a bow, jumping out of my hand. "And I have a little gift for you."

"What gift?" Peter asked, skeptical.

"Peter run," I said not liking the sound of Estevan's gift.

"The gift of never seeing Queen Ariadne again."

Estevan walked slowly and confidently towards Peter, who held his ground.

I went to go stop Estevan but a sharp stabbing pain shot through my body and I screamed in agony. I felt my muscles contracting and I squeezed my eyes shut.

Then I heard Peter screaming out my name, but I couldn't move. Doing anything or even nothing was too painful.

When I finally opened my eyes, I realized that I was human again. Then I saw Peter , sprawled a few feet away from the tree, with Estevan towering over him. Peter's hands were covering his eyes. Then it hit me.

Peter would never see me again.

I got to my shaky legs and forced them to move me towards Estevan. I ran as fast as I could and shoved him hard towards the tree, hoping he would touch it. However, I wasn't strong enough and only bumped him a little closer as I fell to the ground.

"Did you really think you were strong enough to defeat me?"

I looked up at him through the tears of failure that glinted in my eyes. But I was determined not to let him hurt anyone else.

"No," I said. "I know that I can."

I stood up, facing him.

Kill Peter.

I turned to look at Peter, who was trying to make sense of what was happening without his vision. I started walking towards him, anger flaring in my eyes. I felt Estevan close behind me. I raised my hand towards Peter, and then whipped around and used all my might and newfound magic and rage to push Estevan with my mind towards the tree. It caught him by surprise and I watched as he sailed and missed the tree by a few feet.

He chuckled and wiped some blood off his face with his sleeve. "You're going to pay for that."

He moved his hands in the air and I prepared myself for his worst. But then I heard a thud behind me and I turned to see Peter sprawled farther away from before. "No," I yelled and then threw all my force back at him, sending him flying away. Then I realized that I forgot to push him into the tree.

I refocused my energy and could feel my magic surrounding me, making me stronger. Estevan's necklace fell to the ground and a new surge of power enveloped me. I used all of it to pick up Estevan and throw him into the tree.

"Ariadne," Peter choked, and I turned to see Amity bending down for him to climb on her back. He was saved it would all be alright.

"Go, I'll be fine!"

I looked over my shoulder just in time to see Estevan's body slam into the tree, and a blinding white light consumed him, and then the tree, and then continued to spread. I turned and started running.

Amity looked at me, wondering if she could get to me in time, but I knew that she couldn't. "Go! Save Peter and yourself!"

She took off with one last look at me. I probably wouldn't see any of them again. But they were safe that was all that mattered.

I tried to run away, but I wasn't nearly fast enough with how weak my body was. Using the magic took a huge toll on me. I looked around for Peter or Amity, they were the last thing I wanted to see, but I had to look away as a searing hot blast of light washed over me.

So this is how it ends.

So.... do you hate Estevan yet?