An Alternate Dimension: The Language of Dawn

Chapter 22- Misha

"NO!" she shouted. "I- I can't." She held the leaf in between both talons, ready to rip it apart.

When the others had left, she needed to escape to report to the queens. She had found a crack in the wall where Aaron's bunk was. She had spent a long time pounding the wall before it broke, then she flew as fast as she could to get to the Grand Castle before the others, which she had. What she had not expected was that the queens had planned for her to end the Shade of Dusk. She couldn't say no, otherwise she would never get her parents back. Now, however, she realised that they weren't going to give them back anyway. The queens had been using her. The Desert Queen had them in soldier's uniforms, ready to fight unwillingly. She had to save her friends, to make up for betraying them.

The Forest Queen came forward from behind a wall of guards.

"Don't do it, Misha! I knew you were weak, so I enchanted a little something extra into it. If you break that leaf, dark magic will consume you! You will still end up killing your friends. I am very evil, yes?"

She hadn't seen this coming. The Forest Queen's magic was very limited, but it was possible that it had grown stronger. Now what would she do? Break the leaf and kill her friends or kill her friends anyway? If only she hadn't gotten lost that day, and her parents hadn't had to find her, only to be captured. Then she wouldn't have lit the fire at the treehouses to bring the two groups together. Why had fate decided on this? What had she done wrong?

There was only one thing she could do. Maybe the Forest Queen was bluffing. Maybe she wouldn't actually turn evil. It was better than killing her friends without trying anything else.

She tore the leaf in two, then waited. The queens, guards, and Shade of Dusk gasped in unison. There was a tense silence, as Misha braced herself for anything that could happen to her. Would she die? Would she suffocate? Would she hurt others because of that something?

Her breathing grew heavy. Something was going to happen. Maybe.

Nothing.

"I knew it! You were just bluffing!" She shouted at the Forest Queen, but she looked serene as she said. "No, I wasn't. It just takes some time to kick in." She cackled.

Suddenly, her scales tingled. Her claws felt heavy, her vision grew darker. Nothing could save her now.

At least she had tried. But, what was happening?

She desperately tried to ignore the hatred inside her. She needed to stay good for as long as she could, for some reason that she did not know.

"No, Misha!" Arani cried. She saw her friends cover their eyes. Only Elaine didn't.

"Wait." Elaine said. "I'm an animus, right?"

Hope sparked in Misha's heart. No one had to die.

"But Elaine, you could become corrupt as well! You know the rules of animus magic; using too much damages your soul. You've built the treehouses and the hut, that's enough!" Stephanie protested.

"Well, we're gonna die anyway, right?"

Stephanie hesitated for a moment then exclaimed "True. Go for it then! What are you waiting for?"

The guard holding Elaine quickly realised that he needed to do something, so he covered her mouth. It was apparent that he didn't know that spells didn't have to be spoken. It was at that moment that Misha lost her mind.

She snarled and clawed the ground. She made a lunge for someone's throat - she had forgotten their name, who they were - but didn't touch it, for right at that time, Elaine finished thinking her spell.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Misha breathed. "That was so tense!"

"mrhphurmph!" Elaine tried to say, for her mouth was still covered.

The Forest Queen growled. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU DRAGONETS! YOU WON'T GET IN THE WAY OF OUR WAR LIKE THE PROPHECY STONE SAID ONCE PETER LOCKS YOU IN A CELL!" She looked towards the huge guard, who had spectated the whole situation.

Suddenly, Misha knew how they could take care of the queens then and there. She turned to Peter.

"Have you had enough yet, serving these evil queens? You've seen what they've tried to do, how can you still follow them?" She said.

"Well," Peter said, looking at Sabina and then sweeping his gaze across the Shade of Dusk. "I was never sure if they were evil or not, I just didn't know! But I guess seeing you face the queens with such bravery, and knowing you have good hearts proved that they deserve a bad future. Maybe locked in the dungeons forever." He smiled at Misha, then Sabina. Then, his face turned into a scowl as he stared at the Queen's eyes.

"AS HEAD GUARD, I ORDER EVERY GUARD TO CAPTURE THE QUEENS!" He yelled. Surprisingly, every guard dropped the dragon they were holding and made for the Queens. They must have wanted to do that for a long time.

"FREE ALL THE PRISONERS IN THE DUNGEON, THEN LOCK THE QUEENS UP." He ordered. Soon, the rest of the Shade of Dusk joined them.

"I heard what was going on." Luna said. "So, I guess we won?"

"Yeah, we won." Sabina said, smiling. They rejoiced with their reunification and the former Shade of Flight members shared stories with Zain, their long-lost friend. He still had to leave though, saying he still had much of the continent to explore with his sisters. So he left, and the Shade of Dusk said goodbye to him, even though half of them didn't know who he was.

This was the happy ending all of them had hoped for.