"The enemy will always cheat, Isla, you need to be prepared for anything."
Isla and her siblings have lived in a cave for as long as they can remember with no memory of how they got there or who they were before. They only remembered two things...
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This picture was taken in Scotland coming down the Devils Staircase toward Kinlochleven
We walk back to Princess Kayleigh's classroom, bowing as we enter then taking our seats. She stands up and looks at us with her cold blue eyes.
"This morning I explained how the system in Shadow works. Now I will be explaining the War and how and why your parents were killed," she tells us. I take a deep breath as a feeling of sadness ripples through me. The four of us take out notes out of the desk and wait for her to speak.
"There are three countries in this world. Shadow, the land of the Shifters, Serena, home of vampires and humans and Nightshade, home of the Warlocks and Witches. Serena is the biggest and has a huge population of humans and vampires, their King is a very old and powerful vampire. Now, Serena and Shadow have always been at peace with each other. Shifters are very peaceful people. We don't want to take over or rule the world and neither do the people of Serena. The vampires leave us alone and we leave them alone. The King of Nightshade, however, does not have the same views as our two countries. King Harrison Moore, Seven years ago, declared war on Shadow." I raise my eyebrows.
"Why?" Toryn asks.
"Because he thirsts for power. He wants to rule every land. Now, he knows that with his forces, he could never overthrow the lands of Serena. He does not have enough people or power. So, he targeted us first, believing that Shadow, being that we have a smaller population, would be easier to take over. He aims to take our lands from us and rule them himself. Now, Ruling both the Witches and Warlocks of Nightshade along with having the power of all Shifters means that the lands of Serena wouldn't stand a chance," she informs. "So Seven years ago, he declared war on our people."
"How?" I ask her with a frown.
"He declared war, by attacking and killing all Dragons." The four of us stop writing and look at her, eyes wide with horror.
"King Harrison knew that the only way to have a chance of taking over Shadow would be the kill the dragons as they are the biggest threat against him."
"If dragons are so dangerous, how could he kill all of them, but not be able to have taken over by now?" Tanya asks. Princess Kayleigh leans back on her desk and sighs.
"It takes a long time to save up enough power to be able to do something and it takes a good opportunity. That was given to him. Once every ten years, all Dragon Shifters gathered in the Dragoheir Palace for the Dragon Ball. There would be no other guards or help, for that night, it would only be Dragons. There were at least One-hundred dragon families. It was that night Moore chose to strike. He had made a spell, blocking the dragons from shifting and then slaughtered them all." Tears trickle down my face as she tells us this. "He couldn't have enough power to take on the High Queen and the Dragons at the same time. If he did the same thing to the High Queen at her palace, then all the Dragons would fly over and destroy him carrying many soldiers. They were his biggest threat so he killed them all." As she speaks, I hear screaming in my mind. I close my eyes, seeing small flashes of people running, screaming. Of Silver skeletal masked black-robed figures swarming and laughing as they killed. Tears spill down my face as my mind struggles to remember clearly. It's as if my mind doesn't want to remember the night clearly like it's putting up a shield but small flashes are seeping through. I can tell my siblings also feel it. It stops and I take a deep breath, looking back at my siblings with a lump in my throat. Princess Kayleigh looks over at us with glazed eyes, like she too is remembering it. I suppose she would have been there in the aftermath. She regains her composure and takes a deep breath, carrying on with a shaking voice. " My sister has managed to keep him at bay for the past seven years, but his power is growing again and soon there will be another attack," she sighs with sadness. "We are lucky that your parents managed to get you away, you bring hope back to the Shifters." Her smile is soft as she looks at us with sad eyes.
"How come we don't remember?" I ask.
"We believe that Moore found you before your mother and father could get you out. He must have known it was too late to catch you, so he made you forget so that wherever you went then you wouldn't remember where you came from and what happened, meaning you wouldn't return home and have a motive for killing him." I nod my head.
"I am sorry I had to tell you this, I know it must be hard," Princess Kayleigh sighs. "I thought it was best I tell you because when your memories come back, you might remember that so it would be best you were aware before you saw it, to make it slightly less shocking."
"Thank you, Princess Kayleigh," Tanya says. She stands up and walks toward us putting her hand on my shoulder.
"I want you to get your memories back, but I hope you don't remember that night." I see her eyes glass over with tears. She takes a deep breath and walks back to her desk.
"That is the biggest attack that has happened in history. It shocked us all with its horror and violence. It had a very big impact on us as a people. Queen Katrina made sure that there was security everywhere, that all of Shadow trained more. She does not want something like this to happen again." I realise that we aren't the only who are affected by what had happened. All of Shadow still recovers from it and fear that another attack will happen. A question pops into my mind and I ask before I can even think about what I am saying.
"Who is Enzo?" I ask suddenly. Princess Kayleigh looks confused.
"I had a memory and I kept talking about Enzo," I tell her. She smiles.
"Lorenzo Bluefire," she says. I frown. "The Bluefire family were very close to yours and lived in the Palace with you. Their son, Lorenzo was two years older than you. Unfortunately, he didn't make it." Something goes through me, a feeling of deep sadness. Though I could not remember him, I still feel deeply affected after finding out he did not survive. "I will discuss the other Dragon families tomorrow, I think that you have had enough for the day. You are dismissed," she smiles. We stand up and smile back.
"Thank you, Princess Kayleigh," I say. She just smiles and we walk out. She closes the door behind us and I hear her sit down slowly by her desk. That was as hard for her to tell us as it was for us to hear.
Toryn warps his arms around me and gives me a warm hug when we get back to our room. Tears stream from my eyes.
"Why do they have to be dead?" I ask. Tanya and Serenity come and wrap their arms around us too.
"Because an evil man killed them," Toryn says. I look at my siblings.
"So we are going to return the favour." I feel my eyes changing with anger. "We are going to give to him what he gave to us. We are going to destroy him and all those who are loyal to him." My brother and sisters eyes all glow as I say this. They nod in agreement.
"He's going to pay for what he's done to us," I tell them with a hiss.
