This picture was taken on Tryfan overlooking the Ogwen valley, this isn't the scenery I am describing in the chapter, though it is where I get a lot of my inspiration from.

I take in the surroundings around me. Giant stone arches rise high above us and intricate carvings line the walls. We walk onto grey marble floors which turn into stairs which descend below. Two passages go off either side of us to a balcony around the hall which overlooks the ballroom. Lady Indira stands midway down the stairs where there is a large gap before the final steps to the main floor. My heart beats rapidly as I see the huge amount of people standing on the floor and around the walkway around us. Together, we walk down the stairs to Lady Indira. I can't help but look around me though. Great stonewalls rise high with grand diamond chandeliers hanging from them. Metal bars sit along the walkway, sitting between large stone pillars. Each section had one of the flowers in the middle of the black metal, I realise. As I look up, I see another walkway further up, this one with stone barriers. More students stand up there. I can see that there is a pattern on the floor, but I can't see what it is because of the number of people standing on it. All around the room, the flowers sit. Decorated in elegant places. As I look over the people standing in the high walkways, I see that they are wearing a uniform similar to ours, but brown. They also don't have dragon patterns or any patterns. They are just plain. On the main floor, there are many who wear a red version of the uniform again it is just plain. Behind those wearing red are more wearing brown. Standing at the front, closest to the stairs, however, are people wearing the black uniform like ours. They also have animal patterns and flowers on their belts. I guess these are the other Ruling families. My eyes catch the girl from earlier. Her face is that of shock and anger.

"I welcome back the Dragoheir family! The last Dragons of Shadow and one of the five original families." With that, she kneels in front of us. My eyes widen and I look at my siblings. Once she bows, everyone else at once follows. I look over the hall with a hammering heart as all these people bow to us. All except Darcy who glares at me with hatred. Eric tries to pull her down but she refuses. Lady Indira stands.
"Darcy, I suggest you bow," she says. Normally I would say not to worry, but this was very satisfying after her earlier performance.

"I will not bow to these imposters," she spits. I frown.

"I can assure you, Darcy, they are not imposters, now be respectful and bow."

"Why, they are below me still? I am still the princess of Zola and they aren't. They are just another high family. They should be wearing red." The hall is silent as she says these things.
"The High Queen has ruled that if the Dragoheirs choose, they are to return to their rule of Zola and the Scallis family are to return to their status and role of High family." All these words confuse me, I have no idea what they mean.

"At the moment, they aren't rulers of Zola until they decide. However, they are still your equals as members of one of the five original families. Also, Isla is a Lady of the house, therefore, she gets your respect." Darcy continues to glare at me though it doesn't bother me. A feeling falls over me. One of peace and belonging. These halls seem familiar, like De Ja Vu. Before I can stop my self, I speak.
"I accept," I say. My voice is surprisingly calm as it sounds over the hall. There is silence following. My siblings look at me and smile. I can tell we all felt this. Lady Indira looks at me with a pleased smile.

"We accept," I change my words. "We choose to return to our roles of the Rulers of Zola." There is silence. I don't know how I knew what to say, I just did. It came naturally.

"Darcy I suggest you bow, in one months time, Isla will become the Queen of Zola and your family will return to their previous High family status. As of now, Isla is the future Queen." I can tell there is a gloating tone behind Lady Indira's voice. It seems that Darcy was not well liked here. I can also here small bits of laughter ripple through the hall.

"You are all dismissed," Lady Indira says. We watch as everyone begins to leave, some jumping out of the way of Darcy as she stomps through the crowd.

"Follow me,"Lady Indira tells us. We walk with her back up the stairs.

"There is a lot you need to learn before you start classes. You will also take extra lessons to catch up. Today, you will be taught all you need to learn to begin lessons tomorrow."

We arrive back in her office with all the archways which open to the world around us.

"Do you get wet when it rains?" I ask. She laughs.

"No, there is a field which goes up when the weather is bad. The field also stops anyone from falling. Now, please take a seat."

We do so.

"Now, this is a sensitive subject. There is a lot of history you have to learn, but we won't go into all that detail today. We are going to start with the shifter ruling system." We nod our heads.

"As I told you earlier, there are five ruling families who each rule a land. One of these families also rules the sixth and is the high ruler of all of Shadow. At the moment, we are ruled by the High Queen Katrina Mia Howlsky, Lady of House Howlsky and Queen of Zina," she tells us.

"What can she shift into?" Tanya asks.

"All Howlsky's shift into wolves." Lady Indira replies. "And it is the Howlsky flower which dominates most of the patterns of the academy." She points to the green flower on the floor.

"What about the other lands?" Toryn questions.

"Zultan is ruled by House Bearella. Their King and Lord of the house is Grant. The Bearella family turn into Polar Bears. Their flower is the grey one." I nod my head, looking up at the grey petal flower with tips of blue and its purple centre and swirls between each petal.

"There is also House Greybite which rules the lands of Zylen. Their Queen and Lady of the house is Sophie Greybite. They can turn into Great White Sharks. Their flower is the blue one." She continues. "Then there are the lands of Zara ruled by the House of Scorpallis. Their King and Lord of the house is Francis Scorpallis. Their flower is the gold one and they turn into large Scorpion's," she tells us. I nod my head. "You will go over this in the future, don't worry if you don't quite get it," she smiles. "There is a lot of history behind the five families and you will be taught why they are called the five original houses and why you are important, but I will continue with the basics," she explains. "After the Royal families, come the High families. There are five high families in each land. Their role is to take over the ruling of the lands if one of the royal houses were to unfortunately perish. They also help look after cities and different parts of the lands," I can hear sadness in her voice. "There has only been one time when a high family has had to take over the rule of a land and that was seven years ago," she sighs. "Seven years ago, the palace of Zola was attacked. This was your palace, your home." I feel a lump in my throat begin to form. "Your parents managed to send you away during the attack but every dragon in the palace, every person in the palace was killed and the Dragoheirs, we thought, were lost forever," she says, her voice sad. "I know you have questions, and you will find out the answers soon," she tells us, then continues. "The Scallis House took over and the Lady of the house, Aspen Scallis, became queen of Zola. They can shift into large snakes," she explains and I gulp.

"How did they get chosen to take over?" my voice shakes as I ask.

"They took over because they were the family closest to yours and who were most trusted by your parents. They were very close friends." I nod my head again.

"Bellow the High families, are the common people. Just regular shifter families who live in the many lands of Shadow," she smiles softly.

"I would like to know more about my family, more about dragon shifters," Serenity says. She stands.

"Come," she says. We walk through the corridors.

"Your Mother was called Echo Tanya Dragoheir. She was the Lady of the Dragoheir house and Queen of Zola. Your father was called Ray Dragoheir. He used to be the youngest son of the Redscale house another family of Dragon shifters."

"Where there many dragon shifters?" Toryn asks.

"Yes, like all shifters, there are many shifters of the same animal. There used to be hundreds of Dragon shifter families like there are hundreds of Wolf shifter families or Bear shifter families for example. But, all Dragon shifters have been killed. You are the last four." I sigh softly. Why can't I remember any of this? We come to a stop. We are in another marble hall. The floors are pale cream and the walls are lined with gold. In the centre of the wall opposite the entrance, is a painting. Slowly, I walk toward it. There is a man and a woman standing next to each other. They both hold two children each. The two being held by the woman are older than the babies in the man's arms. I look up at them. The woman is beautiful. Her skin is pale creamy and her smile warm and gentle. Her hair hangs around her, perfectly smooth in a mixture of lilacs and blues. Her eyes are dark blue. She wears a flowing blue dress. The man has dark brown hair and fair skin. His eyes red. His face is sculpted and sharp. He is very handsome. I know immediately that they are our parents. My eyes dart back to my mother with her soft features and sparkling blue eyes. Tears stream down my face as I look at the painting and at the four of us in their arms. Smiling joyful baby smiles as we look up at our parents. It is the biggest painting in the room, but as I look on the other walls I see many more. Portraits of us and our parents as we grew up. All of us have wide grins on our faces, the love flowing through us. They are gone, that love is gone and we can never see them again. That isn't the worst part though. The worst part is we can't remember. We can't remember that love and happiness we shared with our parents. We can't remember those special moments together whilst we were growing up. I lean into my brother and my sisters come and hug us as well.

No, the love isn't all gone. It is still strong between the four of us and it always will be.

"Why are they gone?" I ask.

"You will find out over the next week. There is a lot of information," Lady Indira says.

"I don't want to find out during the week! I want to know now!" I shout at her. She smiles softly and nods her head.

"Like I said, there was an attack on the palace. Everyone was killed but they managed to get you away before they could get to you."

"That wasn't what I asked. I asked why."She sighs.

"Because Shadow is at war."

"What?"Tanya asks.

"Look, I suggest you get some rest. I promise, you will find out everything but it will take time. There is so much you need to know." I sigh and nod my head. It has been a long and confusing day. We begin to walk back toward our room.

"Why did you decide to take back your lands so soon?" Lady Indira asks. I frown.

"It just felt, right," I tell her.

"What do you mean by that?" she asks, her voice curious.

"I felt like I had to do it. Like it was part of a missing piece of me. When I said I would, it felt like another missing part of me had been found. But there is still more to find."

"I am glad you did," she smiles. "I know you all don't remember your life before. But give it time. As you learn more and see more of your old home, hidden memories and feelings will be unlocked."

"Is it silly?"I ask. "Am I doing the right thing?" I ask.

"Of course you are. You are the true heirs of Zola and you are the rightful queen."

"But I don't know anything about this place, about these people."

"You will. Give it time." I sigh. "You were born for this, it is in your blood. You may not know what to do, but your instincts are strong, Isla. Do you want to know why you felt the need to say yes?" she asks. I nod my head.

"Because the Dragoheirs are part of the five original families. With the Scallis family in your position, it wasn't right. The power that flows through all the families wasn't its strongest. It's like a missing piece of the puzzle being replaced with one that doesn't fit. Your instincts told you that you had to complete the puzzle so you did. With all five families back and linked again, the puzzle is complete, there isn't a kink in the chain." I nod my head, not really understanding because my mind is a mess.

"It was the instinct of a Dragoheir and even if you don't know our ways at the moment, there is time to learn and you will grow and become who you were born to be. You will make your parents proud." We come to a stop outside our room.

"Thank you, Lady Indira," I smile.

"I know there is a lot to take in, but don't worry Isla. We will guide you every step of the way. All of you," she smiles. The four of us say our goodnight and head into our room.

The four of us sit on my bed, leaning against each other.

"I can't believe this is happening," Serenity smiles.

"Me neither, I'm going to be a Queen!" I shout, sitting up. "In a month and I don't even know anything about the people or the lands," I sigh.

"Isla, you have a month to learn and we are very quick learners," Tanya tells me.

"Plus, Lady Indira says our memories will slowly return with the more we learn and see of these lands and people. In a months time, we may be able to remember our lives from before." Toryn tells me. I nod my head, still not completely sure.

"Look, Isla, I know we don't remember, but the Dragon instincts are strong and they encouraged you to accept. We've always trusted our instincts and they have almost always been right. We were born for this, you were born for this. It is in our blood and it is our responsibility to continue the Dragoheir name and look after the lands that our family have looked over for many years before us." All of us look at Tanya as she says these things. I smile.

"You're right, when did you get so knowledgeable?" I laugh. She smirks.

"Since none of you are, I have to do all the thinking for you." I role my eyes and lie back in my bed. It is so comfortable, something which feels strange to me.

"Everything is going to be fine, Isla," Serenity tells me. "We're home." I nod my head and smile.

"And we're together," Toryn tells me. I look up at my younger twin and smile.

"Come on, we need to get ready for bed. Lessons start tomorrow and we have to be up early," I sigh. Serenity sighs too.

"How are we going to navigate around this place!" She shouts and collapses on her bed face first. I laugh.

"I guess we'll have some sort of guide I hope." She grumbles into the bedding which is inaudible.

"Come on, it's time to sleep," I tell them. Toryn stands up.

"Night," he says, walking out of the archway and down the stairs to his room. The three of us walk to our wardrobes and open them. We all gasp. Inside the wardrobe are long colourful gowns. I press my hand to the soft material of one of the dresses.

"What do we wear to bed?" I ask. Tanya comes over to my wardrobe and pulls out a long white lace dress.

"This of course," she says. I roll my eyes and close the wardrobe. The three of us strip out of our uniforms and hang them in the wardrobe. We then pull on the long white dresses. The lace material clings to my torso, not tightly though. The dress is loose around my legs. It is really pretty. I sink into my bed, pulling the covers over me. My sisters lie down, sinking into the soft bed.

"Night," I sigh.

"Night," they say back at the same time. I smile as I flick my wrist, ice putting out all the flames lighting the room.

For a long time, I lie awake, as do my sisters. It is silent, all but the waterfalls around us. Though the bed is comfortable, it is too soft. We've been sleeping on a cold stone floor for the past seven years. I sigh and stand up, walking silently over to the archways which look out over the beautiful mountains. They are lit by a large white moon, not a cloud in the sky. This allows my eyes to see the beautiful landscape clearly.

"Isla?"Tanya asks, I turn around and look at her and then Serenity. They both sit up at the same time looking at me.

"It's too soft," they both say at the same time. I nod my head.

"I know," I sigh. Toryn walks into our room.

"I heard you speaking," he says. "I can't sleep, it's too empty in my room." I walk over to the floor and lie down. My brother lies next to me and my sisters lie down with us also. The marble ground is cold, but it is a familiar feeling. We all wrap into each others warmth like we have done for so many years. This is how we feel safe and secure.