Cole stands in the doorway with a solemn look on his face. "I fear we are entering a new war era." He announces in a steady voice. As soon as Viviana hears those words, the flashbacks to her parent's horrible fate come back to her. To her horror, it seems he is telling the truth.
She doesn't know how to feel about all this. One one hand she is horrified about this war starting. But she finds it hard to panic for long because on the other hand, she is running into Cole again. Those should be an unbalanced thing. She should be terrified. But she's not. Because Cole is there. She is meeting him again like she hoped she would.
Cole looks around the room and sees that everyone is at the back door except for one person. The one who hasn't moved at all. Viviana. His gaze immediately drifts to her and a calmer look appears on his face.
Cole walks over to her as if what he just announced had never been said. "Hello, love." He says to her. Even though she can't see herself, she knows she's blushing. Cole being by her makes Viviana feel much safer.
"Hello, Prince Cole," She responds. It might not be the best thing to say but it's better than nothing.
"It's a great thing you're here. It will make it easier to talk to you again. But you never told me your name."
"Oh, right." She responds awkwardly, "My name is Viviana,"
"That's a beautiful name." He replies. Viviana's face turns red when he says that. They both almost forget what he said just moments ago. Almost. "I am so glad I got to see you here," he starts. "I got to tell you before everyone else about the war beginning. It will keep you safer." Viviana hates the reminder, but it was a great that he was thinking of her.
There is a noise over the hill. It sounds like a trombone. The trombone was playing the national anthem of Jelston. "We have to get out of here." Cole says. He grabs her hand and pulls her to a secret passage underground. "We have hidden tunnels throughout the entire kingdom. It's a safety precaution." He tells her.
Together they walk through the tunnels, Cole leading them. The tunnel is dark and is only lit by flying fire bugs. The ones that dwell in underground caverns. It is not uncommon to see them out and about though.
A loud noise sounds through the tunnel. Cole looks terrified but after a moment covers it up. He runs his hand through his hair. "We have to run," he tells her.
Hand in hand they run towards a dim light that was definitely not a fire bug. They run until they come across a ditch. Cole tells her that they need to jump over it. Viviana hates that idea. She is terrified of heights. But Cole seems to be insistent on it so she concedes. He steps back, and makes a far jump and lands up right on his feet. He turns to face her. She takes a few steps back and does the same as him.
She lands on her feet and Cole immediately starts running again. Viviana sighs and follows him. Again.
He keeps going but making sure she's keeping up. He's such a gentleman. Cole makes an abrupt stop. He holds his arm out to signal her to stop running and stay behind him. She looks up from the ground to see they are standing in front of a humongous dragon.
Viviana is terrified. She looks over at the dashing Prince Cole who is protecting her from everything. He stands proudly.
"Hello, your Majesty." The dragon towering over the two of them booms.
"Hello, Comoros, we seek aid and shelter if you are willing to protect us from the enemy." Cole responds to the dragon who is apparently named Comoros.
"So you have come to us to be a supplicant?" He asks in a loud voice.
"Yes, Comoros, we beg of you to help us in a time of war." Cole begs the dragon. "May you please let us stay for temporary protection?"
"I suppose we should honor the allegiance we have to your kingdom, Prince Cole." The Comoros declares.
"Thank you Comoros, we shall be in your debt." Viviana and Cole walk past Comoros and enter the dark cavern he stood in.
