More London pictures! The first one is Buckingham Palace and the second the V and A museum. Who's been to London?

I feel the magic as I enter the shield. My eyes widen as a purple dome appears all around us, outlining their shield. Then, I see my surroundings. It's a camp. Large black tents sit closely together and roaring fires between them. There is no green grass and colourful wildflowers. Instead, the ground is muddy and charred. The clear sparkling lake is coloured brown from mud and dead plants. It has been contaminated with their evil. Anger surges through me. I quickly crouch to the ground, letting my magic fill me. I throw my body back up, raising my hands with me and letting out a scream as I release the magic. The water from the lake rushes up to the sky at an incredible speed, stopping at the shield. It is clear now, leaving the mud and pollution back in the dip where the water used to be. It turns to ice upon reaching the purple dome and begins to spread along the whole shield. A loud crackling fills the chaos as the ice quickly spreads. The NightShades stumble out of their tents. Clumsy and unprepared. They pause for a second, watching as the water continues to rise from the huge lake and turn to ice around them. I let the magic weave into the little ring upon my finger which will ensure that any damage to my shield of ice will be repaired as fast as it is broken. The ice shield continues to spread down the dome. I scream again. I've never used this much power before, never done something so big with it. NightShades charge toward me, but I can't use any other magic or lose any concentration. Fire surrounds me and I look over at Toryn, his eyes glowing like the flames. It will hold them back in time for me to finish. The wall of flames engulfs some of them before they have time to stop. Others jump out of the way. 

They are too late to realise that I am blocking them. I watch as some run toward their weird flying poles. The long black poles with the spiked end which we saw back at the cave when they found us. Quicker, I need to move quicker. I think as they race toward the bottom of the shield where my ice is yet to cover. I snarl as I remember Lola's innocent smile, then her disfigured bloody body. No, they are not escaping. With a roar, the last of my ice dome suddenly grows and smashes into the ground with a crash all around us. The mud around the thick ice walls of the dome flies everywhere and the earth shakes. I watch in satisfaction as those attempting to flee, fly into my shield before they have time to stop, leaving behind a bloody mess. The last of the magic fills the ring and I sink to the ground, taking deep breaths. The dome of ice is huge and beautiful. It sparkles as the sun shines through it. What makes it even more spectacular is the fact that the sun won't cause it to melt and no other magic but my own will cause it any harm. They are trapped. Now, I have to fight. I watch as the others fight around me, their blades spinning. If they are affected by the cold, they don't show it. I spin my swords in my hands and jump through the fire, slicing through a passing warlock on his flying contraption. 

"Remember we need to capture some," I say through the mind reading link Daniel enchanted for us. 

"I'm already on it!" Serenity replies. She has not emerged from underground yet, but I watch in amazement as thick vines, almost like tree roots appear from the ground and wrap themselves completely around unsuspecting NightShades. They are cocooned, left alive but unable to use magic or escape. I grin. Then race into the complete chaos. Some of the NightShades are in their armour, others are wearing normal clothes having not had enough time to change. Groups fly around us, flicking their deadly spells whilst others fight with blades.

"Tanya?" Oliver asks through the link. "Can you stop them from flying?" I feel Tanya's excitement.

"My pleasure." The wind picks up around us, but I can tell it is even stronger above us. Where some of them fly. It is too strong for them to fly in, causing them to fly off their flying devices and fall to the ground. Others land before they suffer the same fate. Now, they are all grounded. Now, it's time to get to work. I run through their camp, dodging their spells and cutting down anyone in my way. I need to focus on capturing some, Serenity has already woven her vines around many, but we need more. An idea pops into my head. I slide under a blade of one attacker and slice at the one behind. Spinning around I smash my foot into the first attacker chest causing him to stumble back. Jumping in the air, I spin and slice off his head with my sword. I growl, come on Isla. Concentrate. Another runs toward me and I throw a ball of ice toward him. He screams as the ice hits his chest and consumes his body. I snarl as he dies. I need to find a way of keeping them alive as the ice consumes them. Like how we are still alive when Eric turns us to stone. I am thrown by an explosion next to me. I lie on the ground, dazed with my vision blurred. I can't react as a few NightShades appear around me. My eyes widen as blood suddenly spurts out of them, though I can't see where they are sustaining their injuries. Once they are down, Oliver appears. I remember his invisibility power. He grins and takes my hand, pulling me up. 

"Thanks," I pant. He grins. 

"Come on your highness," he jokes, "Get back to work," he grins before turning invisible again. I see Toryn and Tanya fighting side by side as a hoard of NightShades surround them. Toryn swings his axe and wields his fire whilst Tanya swings her vicious spiked whip. I race toward them. My sword slices through the back of one as I kick another out of the way. Tanya catches that one with her whip, the spiked ball at the end of it burying into his skull. Once I am fighting alongside my siblings, I continue to try and throw balls of ice at the attacker and keeping them alive. It fails every time. Frustrated, I decide that I'll have to get someone to teach me how to do it. Gradually, the NightShades push all of us together. All of us Royals work together, surrounded by at least one-hundred more NightShade warriors. Toryn, Tanya and I use our element powers to try and deflect their spells and shield ourselves from them. A blue ball of power charges toward Oliver, now visible. I raise a wall of ice in front of him, causing the ice to shatter into millions of sharp pieces. Sharp pieces which I send flying back to the Witch who cast the spell. Andrea and Yvette are brutal fighters. Not only are they strong, but with the ability to go through things, they are unstoppable. I watch as they battle around enemies. Mowing them down in one strike as they don't need to manoeuvre to stop blows. The NightShade blades just go straight through them whilst their blade bury into the bodies of the Warlocks. We work as a team, surrounded but not losing. Serenity focuses on snatching away prisoners. She is still under the ground and her vines still creep along the floor. Now, they pulled NightShades into the ground to ensure that others can't help them escape. I concentrating on capturing some in a different. Throwing my ice around their hands and legs as well as over their mouths and eyes before welding them to the floor. They get fewer as they charge. Toryn finishes the last few off. A large wave of fire circles around our group, engulfing the final few attackers. Their screams ring as the flames burn their skin before they crumble into charred black messes. 

It is silent for a few seconds before we all take deep breaths. 

"Toryn," I say out loud. There is no need to speak to each other with the minds link anymore. "Burn all the tents and the bodies. Leave nothing but ash." All of the black tents suddenly erupt into smoke as do the bodies. The smell is nasty, but we put up with it. Serenity appears out of the ground. Her skin is muddy as is her emerald hair. Her green eyes sparkle though. All of our eyes do as the magic of our elements rush through our veins. 

"Serenity, can you restore this place to its beauty?" I ask. "We don't want any trace of them left behind." She beams with excitement. Already, the black tents, body and all of their belongings are burnt to ashes which Serenity swallows in newly formed pits. Then, she raises her arms and we all watch in awe. The dry muddy ground, stained with blood begins to change. Green shoots rise from the ground. Colourful flowers erupt once fully grown. Even all the mud and darkness that makes us the lake bed clears, replaced by the stones that would have been there before. Once we are sure there is no NightShade left hiding, I release the ice shield. The ice turns to water which dances around the clearing and back into the lake. A lake now clear and blue. The breeze now flows through the clearing again and I watch as butterflies and bees start fluttering around and birds fly over to sing in the trees. 

"It's over, for now," Maryanne says. I nod my head. 

"Now, we take the prisoners back for questioning," Daniel says. I nod my head. 

"How many are swallowed in the Earth?" I ask Serenity. 

"I snatched about thirty," she tells me. I got about ten wrapped in ice magic also. 

"So we have forty," I tell them. Serenity's prisoners are raised from the ground, still cocooned in the vines. I gather my ice prisoners also. Serenity releases some of the vines, through keeps them covered completely over their hands, wrists, mouths, eyes and ankles. She then links them all together so they are all walking in a long line.

"Let's head back to the capitol," I instruct. We all separate ourselves equally along the line of prisoners. This means we can keep an eye on them easier and make sure none escape.

"Where are we going to keep them?" Tanya asks, through the mind reading enchantment that Daniel made so that the prisoners don't hear or get any clues as to where they are.  

"In the bank, there are cells," Tylo says.  I widen my eyes.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yes, there is a different entrance to the bank which leads to a prison," Yvette explains. 

"It goes deep, deeper than even our vaults. It is dark also," Oliver tells us with a shudder. That shudder alone makes my eyes widen. It must be scary if even Oliver is nervous about it. 

"It also hasn't been used for centuries," Daniel sighs. That may explain why Lord Venom, the master of the bank, is so scary and intimidating. He is probably the warden of the Prison beside it. 

"Let's get these scum back," I speak. "Let's show our people that we've taken action."

"You know my mother is going to be horrified, right?" Daniel chuckles and we all laugh softly too. 

"Our people need this, they need to feel like something is being done to protect them," I say and everyone agrees.

Today, we trapped NightShades in a shield and slaughtered them all. I gulp. They had no escape, no mercy. Part of me knows I had to do it, to punish those who attacked us. I also know, however, that not all two-hundred would have been involved in the attack but we've killed them anyway. Guilt rushes through me and I close my eyes and take a deep breath. My anger has calmed down now, having used so much magic and being involved in such violence. No, Isla. I say to myself. You can't think like that. This is war and there are casualties in war and too many of the casualties have been shifters. Now, it's their turn.

As we walk through the forest, I catch a black shadow in the corner. Looking around, I see him. His mask barely visible under the black hood. I nod my head at him and he nods back before he disappears. I feel like I'll be hearing from him soon.