"What do we do?", the usually joking Lucas asked, his voice dead serious. Hearing Lucas speak this way scared me more than the Council speaking. I'd known Lucas since I was 5. In 10 years, never once had he sounded so serious. Before I could answer James came up to us. "Come on, all of you, right now. We need to go. The guards are gonna evacuate everyone", he said. "What about our parents?", Adrea asked as we followed James to the palace. "I'm sure they'll be here soon", he replied. "Elena!", my mom exclaimed as she rushed to hug me. "Are you okay?", she asked me. "Get off, mom. I'm fine", I replied feeling a little embarrassed. Andrew smiled at his mom reassuringly. "Me too, Mom. I'm okay". She smiled at him, looking relieved. "What about the rest of you?", Dad asked my friends. "Everyone alright?". "Yes your Majesty, thank you", they replied bowing/ curtsying slightly. I shook my head in exasperation. No matter how much I tried, they only addressed my parents formally. It really got to me sometimes. "Your Majesty", a guard came running up to us. "Everyone has been evacuated safely and the island is on lockdown". "Good", dad nodded at her. "Get me the General immediately", he commanded. "Yes, your Majesty" she bowed and flew off, her fairy wings fluttering behind her. Dad turned to King Aidan, "I suppose you'd like to return to your Kingdom?" he asked. "Yes", the King nodded grimly. "I must prepare my people for war". That was when it finally struck me. We were at war. This island, which had been a safe haven for the magical folk for a billion years, was at war. And everyone's lives were at stake.
I exchanged glances with my friends. 'We need to do something'. They nodded, telling me they understood. I motioned for them to come follow me and quietly left the room as the adults, Andrew and James began discussing about the best way to return to their kingdom. I heard dad suggesting for them to have one of the wizards of dad's court create a portal directly into their palace, as we quietly left the throne room. "Okay, what's the plan?", Kent asked, wrapping an arm around Adrea's shoulders as she snuggled into him. I looked at all my friends. They all looked scared but also determined. I knew they would do everything they could to protect our world and our people. No matter the cost. I fixed my gaze on Kent and said, "The plan, is to protect our world and our magic, even if we die doing it". They all nodded their heads grimly. "I can get on board with that plan", Andrew's voice came from behind us. We turned to see him and James standing behind us, casually crossing their arms as they leaned against the wall. "You're supposed to return to Xillainiam", I told him. "Yup. Which is exactly why we need to decide what we're gonna do about it right now so that I can gather some back up and whatever other things we need", he replied. "Or, a)you kids can listen to us and do what we tell you or b) we can all work together and send the humans back where they belong", this time it was Queen Helen, Andrew's mom, who spoke from behind us. "Suppose we chose option 'B'", James jumped in. "I suppose you have a plan, your Majesties?".
"My dear boy", dad boomed, "a King always-",
"Always-", King Aidan cut in,
"Has a plan", dad finished.
"And what exactly is the plan?", Andrew asked raising an amused brow. "We attack before they reach the island. The storm around the Realm should take out half their army and our warriors finish the job before they even set eyes on the island. Piece of cake", mom said. "Um, no offence, but um, do we even know what they're planning or like, when they're coming?", Carlos asked. "We just sent out some scouts", mom smiled at him. "I'm sure they'll be back soon". Just then, the same guard as earlier flew in, her face pale. "Your majesties", she bowed, "one of the scouts just returned and he has news. I'm afraid it isn't good". All of us exchanged worried glances. "Send him in", dad commanded.
The scout walked in and bowed. "Report", dad said grimly. "Your majesty, the humans have an army of at least a thousand men and they are only 2 hours from the island. The storms are having no effect on them for some reason. It's like another much darker, sinister force is interfering and helping the humans. Also, they have new weapons. They all had some metallic kind of sticks bent in an odd shape and stacks of some sort of metal balls. I don't know what they are, but I think the balls can be quite dangerous. They were very cautious of them".
We had all gone pale by the time the scout had finished his report. A thousand men??? The entire population of the Realm was only about 500 people, including the kids. Yes, we did have giants and ogres and trolls and goblins and such but we also had harmless, innocent folk. Dad thought aloud exactly what I thought. "And metallic sticks and balls? What in the world are they?!", he exclaimed. "Forget about that. What I'm worried about is this so called 'Darker, sinister force'", King Aidan said. "What magical being would want to help humans steal our magic and capture our land and people?", he asked.
"Unless, of course, those people don't have magic anymore and have been banished from the land and therefore want to do the same to all other creatures", my mom breathed.
"Ellie, what are you talking about?", dad asked her.
"Don't you remember, Charles? The old legend of the Shades?".
"You can't be serious", dad paled. "Besides, that's just it. It's a legend. They're a legend. They probably don't even exist".
"Aren't the people you rule over supposed to be just legends? They still very much exist don't they? Hell, the Council still exists. If they do, then why not the Shades?".
"But the shades had their magic taken from them as you said earlier. How could they help the humans?", dad asked.
"You know as well as I do, Charles, that one can never take the magic away fully. It is always there. Just a little bit of magic will remain and given time, it can slowly grow. They must have bidden their time. They were probably waiting for the perfect opportunity. The right time. The right moment. And when they came to know of the humans planning on attacking, they got their moment".
"Let's say it's possible. But why would they just decide to use the magic they'd saved for over a billion years to help some humans?", dad countered.
"Because they think that the humans have a chance. They think that the humans may actually be able to defeat us. Those weapons the scout mentioned must be something huge and dangerous if the Shades think that the humans have a chance against us", mom said quietly.
"And now that the Shades have decided to use their ancient magic and fight with the humans, we're screwed", dad finished. Mom nodded.
"Okay, somebody needs to clue the rest of us in", I said waving an arm around at everyone else. "What's the legend of the Shades? Who are they?". My parents looked at me.
Dad said, "Your worst nightmare-",
"And your greatest enemy", mom finished.
Looks like it wasn't going to be a piece of cake after all.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, guys. Don't forget to vote and follow. Also, comment down below if you think I should write in the humans POV next. Ilygsm, peace out!
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The Villain
Fantasy**ON HOLD**Elena was done. Her whole life had been a lie. She was broken. She was betrayed. And she was tired, tired of it all. And yet, she kept going. She had to, if she wanted to destroy the world. And so she went on. She pushed through. She foug...
