Another pair of red eyes appeared, then another.

It was now or never

Henry took off, heading towards the boat as fast as he could. He could see the others' eyes widening. The sounds behind him confirmed what he thought they were seeing, shadow warriors coming after him.

Jacquelyn went to the front of the boat and held on tightly to it. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

"Woah!" Alianor said as the boat began to lift off the stone shore.

"What's happening?" Ryia asked

"I'm...flying a boat" the blonde answered

"What about Henry?" her best friend asked

"He'll make it" she simply answered

Seeing the boat begin to float, Henry quickened his pace, he knew the warriors could be close behind. As he approached the boat, he took a large leap and caught on to it. Philip and Ryia held onto his arms and tried to pull him up. But they were challenged by a warrior who had grabbed onto his foot. Henry frantically kicked his feet, sending the warrior flying. Free from competition, he was successfully helped into the boat.

But the warriors weren't giving up. One jumped onto the boat, but Henry and Philip were ready with their swords. One slash and the warrior fell back onto the stones.

As the boat continued to float away, more warriors attempted to jump aboard. But with Henry and Philip with swords and Ryia with an axe, none of them made it onto the boat.

"Hurry Jackie!" Alianor said after she joined the fight and hit a warrior with the book of shadow magic

Jacquelyn closed her eyes tighter.

"Go faster" she whispered

The boat sped up as if it had heard her. It was sudden, and it jolted the boat, causing the warriors who had latched on to fall off into the water below, and the guardians to fall to the floor of the boat.

"Woohoo!" Jaquelyn screamed as the boat whizzed through the air

She turned to the others, who were settling themselves. She looked to Henry.

"Next time, don't be so stubborn" she smiled triumphantly at him

He rolled his eyes at her and the others laughed. As Jacquelyn continued to "steer" the boat, the other took in the beautiful view from up high, all while searching for a hiding place.

°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°

Prince Asher, the grandson of King Francis, stood by the window of his "new" bedroom, watching the ocean. He looked out at it angrily, as if it had done him wrong. But he wasn't mad at the sea, but at his grandfather.

When Caine returned and imprisoned them in the east wing of the castle, the newly knighted sixteen-year-old wanted to gather the other knights and fight. But his grandfather wouldn't allow it, saying Caine was stronger than he knew.

Yes, Caine was powerful, but Asher believed that he and the knights will be stronger, they didn't need magic to beat him.

He kicked the wall in frustration, why didn't his grandfather trust him?

Sighing, he continued to look out the window, determined to get him out of his bad mood. If his mother were around, she would surely blame it on his fiery red hair.

In the corner of his eye, something caught his attention. There was an object in the sky, moving towards the castle. He strained his eyes to see what it was. He couldn't see what it was at first, but the closer it got, the more it looked like a boat.

Why was there a flying boat headed to the castle?

Asher stepped away from the window, ran out of the room and down the hall to the room at the end.

He knocked on the door frantically.

"Grandfather!" he called out

It was his grandmother, Queen Amelia, that answered the door.

"What's wrong Asher?" she asked worriedly

"I need to see grandfather"

She stepped aside and allowed him to enter. He searched the room and quickly spotted his grandfather sitting at his table, reading and having his afternoon tea. King Francis looked up.

"Asher, to what do I owe this visit? Here to argue about fighting Caine again?" the King asked

Asher tried his best not to roll his eyes.

"I saw... something flying in the sky" he answered

"Something? Like what?"

"It looked like a boat. Ones like the fishermen use"

The king looked at his grandson confused. A flying fishing boat?

"I'll show you," Asher said walking over to the window in the room

His grandfather reluctantly got up from his seat and followed. The window faced the ocean just like the one in Asher's room. The prince quickly spotted the object and pointed it out.

"Look!" he said

The king looked out the window and his eyes widened, indeed there was a flying boat. It was much closer now and they could see movement in it.

"There are people in it" the King stated

"Who is it?"

"I can't tell"

"Well let's find out" Asher smirked

The Prince ran to the closest seat and took his grandmother's blanket off it.

"Asher what are you doing with that?" she asked him

He ignored her and ran to the window.

"Hello!" he called out, waving the red blanket out the window "Hey!"

He repeated the action, his grandfather eventually joining in. Soon, the boat began to move directly towards them.

"They've seen us, they're coming," Asher said

They waited as the floating boat approached them. They could see someone at the front, and four others behind them. As the boat got closer, Asher recognized two of the five.

"I see Jacquelyn...and Alianor"

At that, the King smiled.

"That's great," he said

Asher looked at him confused, why would that be great?

"King Francis! Asher!" Jacquelyn said as the boat slowed down "It's good to see you two"

"It's good to see you too Jacquelyn," the King said "Please, come in"

"Is this a good idea?" Henry asked "I'm pretty sure there are warriors in there too"

"Have any better ideas?" Jacquelyn asked

He didn't answer, and Jacqulyn brought the boat closer, parking it alongside the window. Asher and the King stepped aside, allowing the five to climb out of the boat and into the room. The boat remained outside, floating in place.

"Your Majesties" Alianor and Jacquelyn said bowing to the King, Queen and Prince.

The other three were unfamiliar with the practice but soon joined in.

"There is no time for familiarities," the King said urging them to stand upright "We have a kingdom to save"

"This is Ryia, Henry and Philip" the blonde introduced quickly "Their grandchildren of the former guardians, just like us"

"I figured so," he said

The three looked confused, how did he know who they were?

"What's been going on since we left?" Jacquelyn asked

"And where's our family?" Alianor asked

"Caine gathered everyone and trapped them in their homes according to one of my knights" the King began "My family and I are confined to the east wing while he and his goons roam the rest of the castle freely. As for your families, I suspect that they are in their homes as well, guarded by warriors. I have no way to communicate with them, all of my castle workers are held captive in the servant quarters, and the knights are in the dungeons"

The girls were a bit relieved, at least they knew that there was a possibility that their family was unharmed.

"This morning, Caine came in, all excited, saying he found a way to get to the north and that he was going to stop the guardians. I thought he was lying, but he hasn't been around since, so I sense that he really did find a way"

"The shop" Alianor stated

"The shop?" the King asked

"We found a secret passageway in Alistair's shop. It leads to the other side. Caine must have found it" Jaquelyn answered

"Ah, I see," the King said, not surprised about a passageway in Merek's old shop "I suspected he had found the table and stopped the descendants, but I see he hasn't. The prophecy will happen"

"You know about us?" Ryia asked

"I was there when the Sun Queen was dying. I heard everything she said. That's when she told me I was the next King of Luxia" he said

Jacquelyn and Alinor looked at each other, they didn't know that he was aware of the Sun Queen's predictions.

"So what do we do now?" the youngest asked

"We do what we're destined to do" Alianor answered

"Defeat Caine" Henry added

King Francis turned to his grandson "Asher, it's time to get the knights"

"The knights?" there was hope in his eyes

"It's time to fight!"