The Dark Prince

Chapter 1

No one knows about us. I am Ashley Ryder. I am the princess of the wind spirits and commander of millions of soldiers until the Darklord came. My mother and father tried to stop him but he killed them and stole half my army leaving me the only heir to the kingdom. My best friends boyfriend ,Matthew Turntide, was one of them. He was tall with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. They were absolutely perfect for each other and both excelled with the sword as a weapon. Today she and I were going to ride the perimeter of my kingdom once I was able to leave these stupid castle walls.

"Ashley" a voice called bringing me out of my dark thoughts.

"What is it Lance?" I asked as I tried to keep my voice steady. A boy with hair the color of milk chocolate and yellow eyes like a cat entered the room and came up beside me. 

"A message from the Darklord has arrived" he whispered in sincere regret.

"Oh no," I thought as my hands started to get clammy and my forehead beaded with sweat.

Every message that the Darklord had sent was to gloat about his army, and every time Tiffany ( my best friend ) would run out of the room crying, because of some snide comment about Matthew. That made me hate him even more if that was even possible. I took a deep calming breath as I walked out of my room into the brightly lit plaza, marked only by a dark cloud floating in the center above my families crest, a golden sword that was encased in a magic ward.  I walked over to the dark cloud and shot mist out of my finger into the center of the darkness until the cloud started to morph into something else. Slowly the form of the Darklord appeared.

"Ashley Ryder, how was your day" a voice boomed before the cloud fully formed into the Darklord.

"It was fine until you summoned me" I hissed as my eyes met the dark endless eyes of the darklord. He was dressed in all black except the single red ruby that adorned his right middle finger. I knew that if I was to look closer I would be able to see his family crest of a raven clutching a vial of blood, an image that represented dark magic....blood magic. 

"Always have an attitude," he laughed although his eyes told a different story. They burned with so much hate that I could almost feel it through the magical link that had conjured the dark cloud. " I just called on you because I wanted to keep in touch. Oh! I almost forgot, have you seen Matthew lately?" he asked with a disgusting smirk on his face. Instantly I knew that he had seen someone that I had not. As I spun around I realized that I was too late as I saw Tiffanie's hands covering her face as she fled from the rooms, wracked with sobs. 

"How dare you!" I screamed as I turned around and shot mist out of my fingers at the cloud message. The darklord laughed as the cloud started to dissipate into nothingness and the last thing I heard him say was "Well that was entertaining." 

"Tiffany wait" I yelled. I rushed into her room. She was laying on her bed sobbing.

"I..I'm sorry" she stuttered.

"Don't worry we will get him back" I soothed.

"Y..you're lucky you don't have a boyfriend "

Okay it's out. I don't have a boyfriend. So what. Not everyone needs one.

"How about we go shopping"I asked. Shopping always cheered me up when I was crying in my room over some sad ending to a book I read.

"Okay I guess"

"Carl" I yelled " ready the horses and my bow."

"Right away miss."

I walked into my room and went into my closet. I opened it and got my silver dress with blue sapphires dotted along the neckline and sleeves. A little gody but it was my favorite one and maybe just maybe Id run into someone. Trina curled my hair and applied my make up though it still looked like I didnt have any on. Just enough to accents my eyes and my graceful cheek bones. An hour later we were ready and strolled out the the court yard making peoples mouths drop in envy. Just kidding they didnt but I imagined that they did. One thing that you should know about my castle is it made entirely of clouds and it floats in the sky and changes colors depending on the sun. I walked over to my horse that had a dark purple blanket covering his back. These are wind horses. They can be Pegasus, unicorn,regular, or a spirit horse which is any color and is made out of wind. He choose Pegasus today and so did Tiffanies.

"Hey Exavier my amazing boy." He nudged me with his nose and bowed so I could get on. Once we were both on we took off and headed toward the ground that was a lush green that made my eyes burn. We were almost halfway down when out of the corner of my eyes I saw a streak of black that rammed into Tiffanies horse. I heard her scream and then something hit us as well. Black syrupy stuff coated Exaviers wings and tied them next to his body. We were free falling and the wind ripped at my hair as I clung to Exavier praying that we wouldnt die. The ground raced towards us and the last thing I said was "Oh no" before I hit the ground and looked up.Right before I blacked out I saw Exaviers wings vanishing and the cold blue sky replace them.

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The picture to the side is of Ashley. And did you know how hard it is to find a cover that you actually like! Gah it drove me insane lol