This picture is a view of Snowdon in North Wales Snowdonia national park early in the morning.

I blink warily as light fills my vision. Sunlight. Frowning, I open my eyes and take in my surroundings. The floors are a warm creamy brown stone. Archways are carved into the stone, allowing sunlight to stream into the room and cast a warm glow. Lush green plants grow against the wall with colourful purple flowers. The floor is a more smooth pale cream stone. That is what I see behind the bars in front of me. I stand in a small square room with the same stone floor and walls. There are no windows or plants, but there is a small bed with soft sheets on. The bars are black and intricately carved.

"Toryn?" I shout. "Serenity, Tanya!"

"Isla?" Toryn shouts back.

"I'm here," I hear Tanya say.

"Me too!" Serenity shouts. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Where are we?" Serenity asks, but I stop talking. I look out to the room behind the bars and notice the smooth stone bench with intricate carvings lining the side. Sitting on the bench is a woman. It goes quiet and I know my sisters have seen her also. She is beautiful. Her skin is pale olive and her eyes a lagoon green. Her thin lips are pale pink. Her hair is a soft, pastel pink and falls in waves to her shoulders. Woven into her hair, are delicate purple, green and yellow flowers, sitting on the top of her head in a halo. She wears an elegant white lace dress which falls off her shoulders and flows elegantly to the floor. She smiles and stands up. Her movements are graceful as she walks toward us. Everything, even in this small prison room is beautiful. What sort of prison is this? The woman comes toward me with, a warm smile gracing her face.

"I know you are confused," she says. "But you are in no danger here." She smiles.

"Why are we locked behind bars?"Toryn asks.

"We weren't sure how you would react, these cells block shifting ability. We didn't want you shifting," she says. As she says it, I realise that I can't sense the dragon side of me.
"Who are you?" I ask. She looks at me.

"I'm sorry, I should introduce myself. My name is Lady Indira."

"Why are we here?" Tanya asks.

"Perhaps I should explain when you aren't locked behind bars," she laughs. As she says it, the bars slide up and we all walk out, relieved to see each other uninjured.

"Where are we? I would like to know that before we go anywhere with you," I tell her.

"Of course, you are in Shadow, home of all the Shifters. You are home," she says. The four of us look at each other.

"I know you don't have a reason to trust me, I can't imagine what it was like living on that awful Island. But, you are home now and if you would like answers, then follow me and I will try to answer all your questions." I can sense the dragon side of me returning and with that, my senses return. The sense of danger I've had with those robed people is not present now. Somehow, I know that this woman isn't part of them. Instinct also tells me I can trust her.

"Okay," I say. She beams and my siblings look at me. I nod my head.

"Follow me, it's so good to have you four home again," she says whilst walking toward a stone archway. We follow her through it and up a spiral staircase. Her dress glides around her as she walks. We come out of a large wooden door and into a corridor. The floor and walls are the same warm creamy brown stone. Sunlight streams in through giant stone archways. With cream stone pillars. Green plants with vibrant flowers wind around the pillars. We all stop in our tracks as we see the world beyond the huge arches. I walk toward them. We are high up and I can see for miles. Mountains, hundreds of them rising into the sky with sheer rocky cliff faces. They are also covered in green and trees thickly sit in the valley's and around the mountains. Blue lakes sit, cut out of the trees and streams cut through the green lands. The sun glows high in the sky, making the skies a clear blue. I step closer to the edge, hearing a deep rumbling. Looking below the archways, I see a sheer rocky cliff which leads to the forest land below. Falling out of the rock below us is a large waterfall. I can feel the spray on my face as I stand above it.

"Come, we have lots to talk about," Lady Indira says. I turn around and follow her again. We continue through the stone corridors in silence as we stare in awe at the world around us. We follow her up another stone staircase which comes up into the middle of a circular room. Well, room isn't exactly the word for it. The floor is marble and a flower pattern. The stairs come up in the centre of the flower. The flower has four even petals. They start out dark green then slowly fade to a lighter green at the end. In between each petal are dark brown and light brown vines. It is pretty. The circle room doesn't have a wall. Instead, it has more archways. This time, they have marble pillars. It is clear that this is the highest point of the building because everywhere you look, you can see the surroundings. My eyes are wide with shock. I can see the view we saw in the corridors on one side, yet the other is different. Built into the mountains and valley's is a beautiful city. Clean white buildings are built into the stone with red or gold-domed roves. Around them are waterfalls which cascade to the ground. There are many single buildings built in the surrounding mountains, but the main city seems to sit in the centre. The mountains are smaller, sitting lower than the ones with all the individual buildings sitting around them. They also sit very close together. It is like there was a huge open square sitting surrounded by the smaller mountain summits which is where the main city was built on. The white building sit closely together with their red-tiled roves. The streets are clean and white. A large building sits in the centre with another domed golden roof. It is spectacular.

"Please, sit." Lady Indira says. I turn back to face her. Four wooden chairs sit in front of a wooden desk which is cluttered with papers. That seems to be the only thing in the office. The desk and the chairs. Lady Indira sits behind the desk, waiting patiently for us. Slowly, the four of us sit down, giving each other knowing looks as we do so. I look up at the ceiling and for the millionth time, my eyes widen. It is clear that the roof of this structure is domed as I can see up into it. It is split into four equal sections, divided by intricate golden swirls. In the centre, is a golden circle. The wall sitting between each golden line is cream with flowers on them. The flower in the middle circle is the same as the one on the floor. Then, another flower sits in each of the quarters. They are the all the same shape. Four petals with patterns sitting between them. One has a dark brown centre. Its petals are orange which fades to a golden yellow. Between each petal, are three light brown lines. Another has a pale purple centre with grey petals which blend to a turquoise blue. A single pale purple swirl sits between each petal. The third has a grey centre. The petals are light blue fading to a dark blue. In between each petal, sits a dark blue dot. However, that isn't what made my eyes widen. What makes my eyes widen is the fourth flower. The same flower as the one on our weapons. With its red centre, four light purple petals which darken to a dark purple. The patterns in between each petal which represents one of our elements. What is going on? I look back at Lady Indira and she smiles.

"Some questions won't be answered today. I'll start with the basics," she says. "You are in Shadow, home of the shifters as I told you earlier and we have been searching for the four of you for seven years." My siblings and I all look at each other with confused frowns.

"Why?" I ask.
"It is a long story," she sighs, her smile falling from her face. "One you will learn soon."

"Do you know who we are?" Tanya snaps. It is a question that had been burning in all of our minds, especially as our flower is on the roof of this room.

"Yes, I do."
"Who are we? How do we not remember our lives before the cave?" Toryn says.

"Where is our family?" I ask. The look that passes over Lady Indira's face is sad and a get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Isla, you are the firstborn," she says. I frown, wondering where this is going. I nod my head slowly.

"Your full name is Isla Mira Dragoheir."

"What does that mean?" she ignores me and looks at Toryn.

"Your full name is Toryn Ash Dragoheir." She looks at Serenity next. "Your full name is Serenity Lilly Dragoheir." Finally, she looks at Tanya. "Tanya Brisa Dragoheir." We all stay silent for a few minutes.
"Why have you been searching for us?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"Shadow is split into Six lands. Zara, Zylen, Zultan, Zina, Zola and the Capitol lands Zania." The Five lands are each ruled by a family. One of these families also rules the sixth land which is the Capitol land Zania. The family that rules Zania, are the high rulers of Shadow."

"What does this have to do with us?"I ask. She sighs.

"Each of the five lands are ruled by a family with the head of the family being the King or Queen." I stay silent. "The lands of Zola are ruled by the Dragoheirs." My heart rate increases.
"The four of you are the last Dragoheirs, making you Isla, the head of the house, which we call Lady of the house, and the true Queen of Zola." There is silence so I decide to break it.

"There is no way I am a queen!" I shout, standing in my chair.

"Not at the moment you aren't."

"I'm confused," I say.

"Something happened seven years ago. There was an attack and your family were killed," she says, her voice sad. I take a deep breath feeling tears prick in my eyes. I look at my siblings.
"Why can't we remember?" Tanya's voice is a whisper.

"All will be explained soon," she sighs. "But after that event, another family took over until your return." I sit back down, another frown on my face.

"It is your choice whether you want to retake your throne and lands."

"How can I make that decision!" I shout. "I know nothing of this place, of where I am, of these people. All I know is the cave and the beasts!" I shout. Lady Indira smiles softly and kindly.

"That is why you are here."

"Here?" Serenity asks.

"You are at the Academy of Shadow, where every shifter comes to learn between the ages of eight and eighteen. You can stay here and learn about your people again and then make a decision as to whether you take your throne back. You will learn your family history and the history of Shadow. You will learn how to strengthen your powers," she tells us. "You will learn the history of your family." I take a deep breath and look around the room. Thoughts rush through my head at a million miles an hour. There is something about this place, the little I have seen of it, that makes me feel safe, at home. Living in the cave was survival. But here, we can make friends, we can learn about who we are.

"We'll stay," I say. My siblings look at me with shock. I see Serenity smile. I look back at Lady Indira who has a large grin on her face.

"Good, now, we need to get you cleaned up and introduced to the rest of the school."

"What?" I ask.

"You're royalty, the last of the most powerful family in Shadow. They have to know that you are home." I sigh.

"Help," I whisper under my breath.