darkness rising ( complete )

By the Fire

Wrapped in warm blankets provided by Grace sitting around the fireplace, the VKs were warm and cozy, their stomachs full of hot delicious soup and their heads filled with questions. Grace had come ready to answer.

"How did this start?" asked Mal.

"What does the prophecy say?" asked Jay.

"Am I really a queen?" asked Evie.

"What is the deal with wolves?" asked Carlos.

"Were do pirates fit in to all this?" Uma asked.

Grace raised her hand to silence them. "I will tell you the story. If you promise to not ask questions."

"But what if we have to ask you a question that we need to know the answer too?" asked Harry.

"What if it's eating us up inside?" asked Gil.

"Then you may raise your hand," said Grace. "Like in school."

The VKs sat up straight and leaned foreword intently.

Grace took a deep breath. "This is a long story. So brace yourselves. Okay. Once upon a time there was a beautiful queen....

She lived in a land called Anvia. It was a lovely lan-

"That's where that guy said he was from!" said Carlos. Everyone looked at him. "Oops, sorry."

Anyway, it was a lovely land with a north and a south. The people who lived there were happy and content. The city was the largest most busiest trade system in the world. It was there before Auradon was even thought up. The queen loved her people and the people loved her. But there was a deep secret behind the castle walls. A secret that the queen couldn't tell anyone. She didn't want anyone to wield it's power. It was a ruby red amulet in the shape of a wolf. One day, while the queen was sleeping, someone broke in to the castle.

"How?" asked Jay.

Mal elbowed him in the ribs. "What was that for?"

"I was just wondering how the person broke into the castle," said Jay. "Did it have tight security or something?"

"It had guards," said Grace.

"Did they hear the person enter?" asked Jay.

"Here's a thought Jay," said Harry. "Why don't you let her finish?"

Jay grinned apologetically at Grace. "I'm sorry. Continue."

Then  when the queen awoke the next day, the amulet was gone. She sent her guards to search the kingdom. She wanted to know who stole her amulet. Weeks went on, months, but there was no sign of the missing amulet. The queen gave up. She shut the world out.

A few days later, the southern part of Anvia began to suffer. Wolves were killing sheep and pigs  from the farms. The people didn't know what to do. They couldn't turn to the queen for help, because she was locked away. Then, the queen got a message from a raven. It said that the sender had her necklace and was going to return it, if the queen gave up her throne. The queen refused and the country went to war. It was a long hard battle. Eventually the enemy gave up and retreated into the woods. Anvian soldiers went to look for them, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Wait," said Harry. "They just left?"

"Cowards," muttered Uma. "If I were the bad guy, which I have been on many occasions, I never would have let the good guys win."

"So that's how Raven can control the wolves," said Evie. "She uses the queen's missing amulet."

Grace nodded. "But there is a dark side to the magic. Nobody, not even she knows about."