The Keepers of the Elements

Alexander

 Ash banged her head off the wall to the beat that Alex's pocket watch clicked. Pippy glared at her. "You're gonna get in trouble, Ash." She hissed.

The princess stuck out her tongue and continued smacking her head off the wall. Alex sighed. It was almost noon.

"Ashlyn, stop making such a racket."

"Ash, mom. Ash."

Pippy narrowed her eyes at her sister with a "I-told-you-so" look.

"Daaaa-aaad, Pippy's making faces at meeee." Ash whined.

"Shut your pie-hole, Ash! I did no such thing!"

"Language, Para!"
"IT'S PIPPY!"

"QUIET!" King Harold roared.

'Thank Zya.' Alex thought. 'That was getting annoying.' He flipped his watch over his finger. "You're majesties, it's just about noon."

The two servants glanced at each other nervously, bowing respectfully to the rulers. "We wish you luck." The king said, placing a hand on one's shoulders. The queen did the same.

And then they were off. Alex listened until he couldn't hear their squelching footsteps before he finally turned to face the princesses. "Do you guys think the kingdom is okay?"

"The kingdom will be fine, stable boy." Alex winced at the nickname.

"His name's Alex mom. Would you lay off? He's practically a brother to us."

"Yes, yes. A dirty boy that spends his days cleaning up after horses is in close relations with the princesses." The queen rolled her eyes. "Back in my day..."

Ash smacked her head off the wall again. "Ugh."

Several hours passed by quite slowly, and the servants didn't return. Everybody in the bunker knew that something was wrong. That the kingdom was still under attack. They just didn't want to accept it.

Alex knew that they would have to escape the bunker at some point. Somebody would find them.

Sure enough, just a while later, a scream echoed down the tunnel. The queen went stiff and fell to her knees.

"Ma, it's okay, we can get out through the trap door!" Pippy tried to comfort her.

Instead, the queen's breathing grew heavy and she slowly stood back up, facing the girls and Alex. "Children."

"Um..." Ash grabbed Pippy and Alex's hands. "What's happening?"

The queen's eyes rolled back into her head. "The powers awaken,"

"Wha-"

"Inside five. Who are destined to meet, when the land is dark." The queen paused for a second. "The light will poison the shadows."

Then she harmlessly fell to the ground with a soft thump. The king ran to his wife's side. "Get up, get up!"

When the queen didn't get up, Harold lifted her up bridal style. "Through the trapdoor, go!" Alex climbed up first, and found himself in a small cavern. He turned back to the trapdoor and tugged Pippy up to stand beside him. Ash got up easily by herself, and King Harold began lifting the queen into the opening.

She was still out cold, but Alex and Ash managed to get her through. The King was the only one left.

Just as he got to the top of the opening, he yelped and slid back down, eyes wide with fear. Ash, Alex, and Pippy all ran to help, but when they reached the trapdoor, they realized that the king wasn't alone. "We have to help!"

"We have to run!" Alex shot back, grabbing the princesses. "You two cannot get captured!" The three of them turned to look at the trapdoor, and then the queen. "Come on, princesses."

With one last glance at the queen, they took off, running out of the cave and into the forest.

"Where are we going?" Pippy asked between breaths.

"I have no idea. Just run."

They ran for what felt like miles before finally stopping to breathe at the base of a large tree.

"Do you think they're alright?" Pippy asked. Ash and Alex exchanged knowing looks before turning to the princess.

"They'll be fine, Pip." Alex smiled at her reassuringly.

"Then... what do we do now?"

Before anybody could answer, a thundering roar cut through the air, shaking the ground.

"I think... we run from whatever that is!"