This was taken somewhere in Scotland and it was taken by me. I can't remember exactly where it was taken but I know it was on the path whilst doing the West Highland Way which is a really fun walking trip! This is in some way related to the next chapter, it isn't the exact scenery that will be described but there will be some similarities.

Enjoy the chapter, sorry for the long update,

Clog-bot out!

Toryn looks at me with a frown.

"What?" I ask, shoving a pastry into my mouth. He just frowns and grunts again, like he knows something is wrong. He was still up when I got back. I had cleaned myself up and my arm had healed so as to make it look like nothing had happened.

"Today," Lady Indira interrupts us, "we are going to fly past the Howlsky palace and through the lands of Zina. Princess Kayleigh's family currently live in the Howlsky palace whilst her sister,  the High Queen lives in the Capitol lands, in the Great Palace. That is where you will be staying tonight and tomorrow. You will then return to the academy."

"You mean we are going to be meeting the High Queen today?" I ask.

"Yes, you will," Princess Kayleigh replies. I gulp, feeling a nervous flutter spreads its way through my stomach.

"Give Katrina my love would you, Indira?" asks Aspen.

"Of course, Your Majesty," Lady Indira smiles.

"Come on, we must be going, we have a long day of travel today," Princess Kayleigh says. Aspen smiles sadly as I walk over to her.

"I'll see you at your coronation," she whispers in my ear as I tightly wrap my arms around her. My coronation, I had forgotten about that. There are only about two weeks until I am crowned the Queen of Zola. My stomach flutters nervously.

"Don't be nervous," she chuckles at me. "You're going to be a great queen," she smiles happily.

"Thank you, Aunty Aspen," I smile.

"If you need any advice, don't hesitate to write. You are free to come and visit whenever you'd like," she offers. I smile again and walk over to Tanya, who is in dragon form on the balcony.

"Bye Eric," I say as I climb onto Tanya's back.

"See you in a few days," he replies. Tanya lets out a goodbye roar and he laughs. Darcy just glares with her arms crossed. We all avoided her as much as we could during our nights stay.

"Goodbye Queen Aspen, thank you for your hospitality," Princess Kayleigh tells her. Aspen just smiles happily.

"I am glad that I could finally see my honorary nieces and nephew safe and sound again," she sighs, leaning into her husband's side.

"Safe travels," Eric tells us as Lady Indira takes off. Serenity and Tanya roar again as they spread their wings and take off. I wave, watching Darcy stomp away as soon as we had lifted off the ground. Not that it bothers me, in fact, it makes me chuckle and roll my eyes.

We fly for many miles through the high snowy mountains before the scenery changes slowly. The tall rocky mountains slowly disappear, replaced by lush grassland, forest, lakes and grassy mountains. They aren't near to the height that was in Zola, but they are still beautiful. Some of the mountains are covered in thick forest. I can sense as we cross into another land, leaving Zola and entering Zina. Zina, the lands ruled by the Howlsky's. We carry on for a longer time, drifting in and out of the clouds. Lady Indira sinks as we come to more vast forest land which stretches out for many miles over and around mountains. I gasp when I spot something in the distance. One mountain sits taller than others. On top of it, sitting slightly above the tree line is a huge castle. With great stone walls and tall spires. It fits in perfectly with the trees all surrounding it.

"This is the Howlsky palace," Princess Kayleigh beams.

"It's spectacular!" I shout back.

"Yes, it is! Once your education with me is all finished, then I will return back here," she tells me with a wide smile.

"Unfortunately, we won't be stopping here tonight, we are heading back to the capitol lands to see my sister." I nod my head. We fly around the palace a few times before continuing.

"Most of the people who live in the lands of Zina live in woodland villages," she explains to us.

"There are many different types of shifters here, but it is mostly full of wolf packs," she explains.

"Do they hunt?" I ask.

"Yes, but not shifters who are a wolves normal prey like deer," she explains. "We all get our meat from animals that we don't shift into. These animals originally come from the island you were found on and are farmed all over shadow depending on the conditions they can live in. Many were released into the wild all across Shadow and they are now part of the system. That means they are hunted by the predators," she explains. I nod my head in understanding.

This is by far, the longest day of travel we've had yet. It took us a long time to travel through the Howlsky lands but now we cross the border back into Shadows capitol lands.

"We're nearly there!" Princess Kayleigh shouts as we dip from the sky. It is a little darker as the sun will soon be setting. We make our way through the valleys that make up the surroundings I have become so accustomed too. Tall rocky cliff faces and mountains that reach the skies with cascading waterfalls which fall into the forests and lakes that make up the valleys. The cliffs begin to get lower either side of us as we near the exit of the valley. They seem to sink into the miles of green grassland beyond. We leave the valleys and fly over the vast flat area of rivers, lakes and grassland. In the distance, I can see more rocky mountains. A large clump of them together. It is as we get closer, I see what is really there and my heart skips a beat.

Tall mountains sit together in a cluster. A huge stone bridge with large archways rises from the ground until midway up the mountains where a huge bowl is cut out of the rock. Inside this bowl is the biggest lake I've ever seen. Words can't describe the size of it. The water of the lake tumbles down on either side of the stone bridge. That isn't what takes my breath away though. What takes my breath away is the giant palace which sits in the centre of the lake on a large island. The palace is built from white stone and has lots of different sections and golden pillars and carvings decorating it. The water surrounds it on all sides, the bridge carrying on across the lake to where there are large golden doors sit to allow entrance to the palace.  The mountains curve almost all the way around the lake like a protective barrier around the palace. I can't believe what I am seeing.

We swoop toward the bridge, landing at the top of the ascent to the lake. We are all speechless. Tanya and Serenity shift back to their human forms as we begin to walk along the wide stone pathway to the golden doors of the palace. I can't help but look around, feeling so small compared the mountain walls that rise around the place and the huge body of water that surrounds us that I can't even see all of.

"It is spectacular, isn't it," Lady Indira sighs. I nod my head.

"This is the home of the High Ruler. When the High Queen Katrina picks the next High King or Queen, they will move here and she will return to the Howlsky palace." I can only nod my head again as we get to close to the golden doors. I see that there are guards standing on either side of the doors that tower above them and there are more on the walls above. Their armour is sleek and gold with the Howlsky flower engraved into it. Forest green cloaks hang from their shoulders, attached by wolf pins. They also have slim golden helmets with have large gaps for their eyes and strip of green on the head. They each are armed with long spears which match the armour along with other weapons.

"No one is allowed to fly into the palace, they have to pass through the gates," Princess Kayleigh tells us. As we get closer, my heart beats loudly in my ears as nerves fill me. We are about to meet the High Queen of Shadow.