The inside of a beautiful church in Spain. It was amazing!  When I walked in, it kind of reminded me of how I imagine some of the interiors of the buildings in this story. Of course, it isn't exactly the same, but it has the same feel to it. It was so spectacular!

Toryn and I do talk to Eric the next day. Let's just say he leaves after our chat a little paler than before. Apart from the little chat, the rest of the day is uneventful. I train with Blue, but nothing strenuous. We work on throwing weapons like little daggers and my spear. He makes me do it standing still, or running or with a moving target. I am pretty good at it. We also do a little bit of magic work. After, I just hang out with my friends and siblings. I don't really say much or listen to the conversations. I am just in deep thought, thinking how lucky I am to have them. Eric sits next to Tanya but casts us weary glances every few seconds. Tanya glares at us.

"What did you to say?" She scowls. Toryn and I just look at each other and shrug innocently.

"Oh, you had the protective sibling chat?" Daniel asks Eric who just nods. Daniel chuckles and goes back to talking to Serenity. Then, the evening goes on like normal.

When night descends and it is time to go to bed, I realise that tonight is going to be a bad night. I feel too uneasy and sleep won't come at all. So I decide to head out. Quietly, I change into a pair of leather trousers and a simple top. I grab my weapons and attach them to my body. I just want to run, to get outside. So I sneak out of my room, careful not to disturb my siblings and make my way outside. The cold air hits me and I instantly feel better. I stand on top of one of the mountain cliffs looking down.

"What are you doing?" I jump at the voice behind me. It is Blue.

"I just wanted to run," I tell him.

"Do you think that is sensible?" he asks.

"Well, there aren't any more NightShades in our lands," I say.

"Yes, but we still have a traitor who could be lurking around. A traitor who still may have access to BlackRoot," he tells me. I shudder at hearing those words. I realise that he is right and leaving the academy would be very reckless.

"I'm sorry," I sigh. "I just needed to run. I needed to have time to think by myself and feel at peace,"  I explain.

"I understand Isla," Blue tells me then sighs. "Go." I raise my eyebrows in shock. "I've been training you for a month now, I know you can defend yourself. Plus, I think you'd be able to sense any BlackRoot from a mile off," he chuckles. I nod my head.

"Thank you," I say to him.

"Just be sensible. Take this," he gives me a little leather band with a silver pattern on top. "Break it and I'll come to you straight away." I smile, not bothering to ask how it works because I know he won't answer. "Now go, have your run. Let your dragon lose a little." I don't hesitate as I leap off the cliff. It is exhilarating, the falling feeling. Something I haven't felt for so long. I land gracefully in the woods below and take off running. I smile as the trees are a blur around me and the wind whips at my hair. I run for a few minutes before coming to a stop. I jump up into a tree and just listen. Something I haven't done since being back on the island. Closing my eyes, I take in all the sounds. The wind brushing the leaves, the night animals as they walk and hunt. Even their heartbeats I can hear. Then, I hear something else. The sounds of movement. It isn't close, perhaps a mile away. The sound of shuffling that doesn't belong to an animal. Of bread tearing and the small crackling of a fire. I smile as I run through the trees toward it. When I get closer, I stop, this time smelling all the scents instead. I can smell the soil and plants as expected. I can also smell the fire, the bread and the stew cooking over it. Silently I move through the trees continuing toward what I believe is a camp.

I slow down as I approach, seeing the small fire in the distance. I come to a stop when I'm almost above the small camp. It is him. For a few moments, I just watch. It is odd. He is so alert, but relaxed at the same time. He has a small shelter he's made himself and he sits in front of the little fire. He isn't even dressed in is armour. Instead, he wears brown leather trousers with a loose white shirt. He just looks like another shifter. If anyone were to stumble across him, then he could just say he is enjoying a nice night under the stars. His slightly tanned skin glows in the firelight and his dark hair is slightly scruffy from being in the wilderness. He is very handsome, Handsome, but dangerous. Though he does look different when he isn't "working." It is odd, seeing him relaxed. I smile at myself.

I jump down behind him, landing with a soft crunch. He spins quickly, drawing his sword. He stares at me for a few shocked seconds before lowering the sword slightly. 

"It isn't nice when people sneak up on you, is it?" I ask. He smiles. Not a dangerous one, but a genuine smile. It makes him look even more beautiful. He puts the sword down and takes a seat down next to the fire again.

"Aren't you worried I am about to viciously attack you?" I ask as I walk over to him.

"No," he tells me. I take a seat opposite and cross my arms.

"Why?" I ask with a frown.

"Because you would have done it by now. Attacked when I didn't know you were there." I laugh, feeling proud of myself for being able to sneak up on him.

"What if I'm just treating you with the same honour and respect you treated me with?" I ask.

"You're not looking for a fight," he states.

"Are you?" I ask.

"No, not tonight," he says as he mixes his stew. 

"What would your king say?" I ask.

"What would you queen say?" he replies back quickly. I smile.

"You forget, I am a queen," I remind him. He laughs.

"How could I forget that?" he murmurs under his breath. We stay in silence for a few seconds.

"This is weird," I say eventually. It isn't like our normal encounters when one of us is threatening each other.

"I didn't ask you to intrude on my dinner," he grins as he looks up at me. I look at the meat stew boiling.

"Where did you get the meat?" I ask in a sudden panic.

"Don't worry, I bought it from a butcher. It's the meat of an animal that you lot don't shift into." I let out a sigh of relief, worried he had been hunting and maybe killed a shifter in animal form. All the farm creatures that we eat come from species that have origins on that dark island we once lived on. Our race doesn't shift into them.

"So what are you doing out here, your majesty?" he asks sarcastically.

"I came to run and found you," I tell him. I sigh again and lay down on the floor. "I can't believe I am here with the enemy. Sometimes my own stupidity annoys me." He laughs as I look up to the branches of the trees and the starry sky beyond them.

"We live in a world full of enemies. Sometimes, it is nice to not fight for once," he answers and I sit up to look at him.

"What happened to the king's ruthless assassin?" I ask. He pours his stew into a bowl and dips some of his bread into it and taking a big bite. He laughs and doesn't say anything for a second.

"I don't think of you as my enemy," he says finally.

"Am I just a target?" I ask.

"No, you're a young woman in a bad situation. You have your loyalties, your orders and rules to follow. I don't deny that your country is beautiful, that your people are kind and fair. That everyone who lives here is happy and well treated. There is no greed or corruption," he sighs.

"So why do you want to hurt us? Why do you follow a king who is cruel and greedy for power and wealth? Who kills for nothing but his gain to his own power? My people, people who are innocent, who want nothing but to have their families and live their peaceful lives." He picks up a dagger and starts to throw and catch it.

"He's all I know," he replies. "He raised me, trained me and cared for me. I may not agree with what he is doing, but I owe him everything." I shake my head.

"So if he asks you to go into a school and murder all the children, would you do it?" I ask. He stays silent. 

"There is a reason why he sends his disposable warriors to do all the attacks, why he doesn't tell me of many of his plans." I shake my head, getting angry.

"Just because he raised you, doesn't mean you have to follow in his path," I argue.

"Isla," he sighs. I stop, realising he has never called me by my name before.

"We have both been born with our futures already planned out for us. Ones we can't escape and full of danger. If our roles were reversed, you'd be exactly like me. I'd be like you. Naive." I glare at him and shake my head, still angry.

"What are we doing?" I ask. "Why are having this conversation? I am your target. You have to kill me by orders of your precious king. Why aren't you making it easy for yourself and just stabbing me in the back when I turn around?" I stand angrily. "You've hunted me and we've played this game but I've had enough!" I begin walking away but I hear him get up and walk up to me.

"Wait," he says and I turn to face him.

"I don't know what you want from me!" I shout. "You show me kindness, respect, remorse. You let me heal so we could have a fair fight instead of acting like the merciless killer that all the other NightShades are."

"I do respect you Isla," he says. "No one deserves to die without defending themselves and I know the effects of BlackRoot poisoning and what it does to not only your body but your mind." I feel tears glisten in my eyes as he says these things because he is so right. In some ways, my mind has been more damaged than my body. With every bit of pain I feel, I am terrified that I am being poisoned by that awful stuff. If I see something black in the corner of my eye, I think that it is waiting for me. "No one deserves it, especially you and what you've been through."

"I don't get what you are trying to say," I whisper. He sighs.

"You are strong," he says. "You are brave and you fight for what you believe. How can I not respect that? Be in awe of it? You are braver than me," he admits. "In a perfect world, none of this would be happening. We wouldn't have these duties to other people. We wouldn't have this bloodshed. But we don't live in this world. We both have to accept that we have to make choices. We come from two different worlds and we have a duty them." I nod my head and take a deep breath, not letting my tears fall.

"We have to stop stalling eventually," I sigh.

"I know," he sighs.

"This game only has one survivor, doesn't it?" I ask. He nods. I close my eyes and nod my head also. That survivor will be me. I don't want to kill him but I have too. Not now though. I look up at him. How can I kill him? After he's admitted all of this to me? My thoughts are a mess as I look at him. I open my mouth to speak but then gasp in pain and clutch at my stomach, dropping to my knees. I look down at the ring and see it glowing. What is going on? It never normally punches this much of a kick. My body is suddenly alive with electricity as the magic is awoken. I let out a scream as the magic punch seems to awaken some of my injuries.

"What's wrong?" he asks and I swear I hear panic in his voice. I taste the blood moments before it forces its way from my mouth. It falls to the ground, thick and gloopy as it pushes out of my body. I feel tears falling down my face. I don't understand.

"Run," I tell him. "Get out of here," I snap as I break the little silver pendant on the cuff. He takes off immediately, racing into the forest. Blue appears a few seconds later.

"Isla," Blue says. The ring is glowing more than it ever has before. Blue takes a look at me then the blood over the floor.

"The magic has been woken," I say. "And it's angrier than ever," I tell him. He understands immediately as he picks me up off the floor. He takes off running and we move incredibly fast. It is less only about a second before we are back at the academy. It is already chaotic. My siblings must already have told Lady Indira and the Queen is here too.

"Isla! Where have you been?" Tanya shouts.

"Late night training," Blue says.

"What happened?" Lady Indira asks worried upon seeing my bloody face.

"The sudden kick of her magic being woken set off some of her injuries," Blue explains. I stand up and take the cloth from the High Queen, rubbing the blood off my face.

"I am fine now, it was just the shock," I say.

"Dragoheirs, what is going on?" The High Queen asks.

"Our magic has been woken, but it is different," Toryn says. I nod my head.

"It is stronger than ever before. The NightShades are trying to get into our lands and our magic may not be strong enough," I explain.

"Where from?" Lady Indira asks. I close my eyes as I try and focus.

"Along the coast of Zylen," Tanya says. Serenity nods.

"Okay, we'll get a group there right away to monitor what is going on," the High Queen orders. "Iona if you take us. Xavier, head back to the palace and prepare the soldiers," she instructs.

Some of the warriors are here as well so we all get ready to go. The four of us manage to pinpoint where magic has woken up. We all link hands and Iona teleports us.  As soon as we arrive at the coastline, we are completely battered and pushed around. The storm is massive. The waves are bigger than I have ever seen them, the wind twists and the earth is shaking. We can see the great black ships. They are on fire, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Unlike the first time. These boats are bigger and I can sense the magic surrounding them. Magic helping protect them from our elements. My waves batter these great ships, but they just move gracefully over them or through them. Our storms are doing nothing to damage these ships and they move closer and closer to the docks. There are seven ships, each must be full of hundreds of NightShades. If they dock, that would be it. I lick my lips nervously. The storm intensifies, getting stronger and stronger the closer they get. The rain hammers hard, thick and strong whilst the wind twists ferociously. I feel a little hope as one of the great twisters sucks up one of the great ships and with all of the magic on board, it is still not enough to protect the ship from the true force of the elements. There are still more getting closer and I can only imagine that is is the same in all the other area. I have to do something. The water is already terrifying, great waves full of power batter these ships, yet seem to be doing nothing to actually stop their approach.

Queen Sophie appears next to us, wearing armour. Andrea and Yvette are also next to her as well as their father. All wearing the Greybite armour.

"Queen Sophie," the High queen says, her voice shouting over the wind. "What is your plan?"

"I will lead the Greybite army to attack and destroy the ships," Queen Sophie replies.

"But the Storm!" I shout. Queen Sophie looks at me.

"Don't worry Isla, we've trained for this," she shouts at me. I look at Andrea and Yvette. Their faces are fierce, their hair whipping around in their faces and their grey armour shiny.

"Good luck," the High Queen says. Queen Sophie nods and steps closer to the cliffs. I watch as she takes a deep breath, then launches herself off the cliff. I gasp as my Andrea and Yvette follow, disappearing into the rough, raging waters. Screeches fill the air and we all duck as thousands of birds fly overhead and head towards the NightShade warships. I gulp, scared for my friends and their warriors.