Chapter 1 - Hunter And Hunted

“Come on in, my Prince. There is some news you should take heed of.”

 

As the young man entered, an elderly woman with curly silver hair lifted her weary head off the counter and blinked at him through her glasses. “Welcome to the cafe once again, sire.”

 

“Thank you, Matilda,” the Prince responded politely. “How has your day been?”

 

“Just the usual. That granddaughter of mine doesn’t stop talking while I’ve been trying to read my paper, so I haven’t even got to politics yet.” Matilda grumbled, her stormy blue eyes annoyed.

 

“That’s Evelyn for you, I’m afraid,” he chuckled in amusement. “Where is she, anyway? I was hoping that she’d go out hunting with me today in the woods.”

 

A young girl about the same age with ginger hair sticking out everywhere and cheeky blue eyes poked her head around a door. “Just here, Oscar. Let me clean up this mess Rosie made – there’s spag bol all over the floor and it’s really not looking great at all.”

 

Matilda gave her the death glare. “Don’t call our Prince by his first name! Be respectful, Evelyn!”

 

Oscar shook his head quickly. “No, it’s fine Matilda. I have no problem with you or Evelyn calling me Oscar. You have been wonderfully kind to me for all the years that I’ve known you both and I don’t see any reason for you to address me by my title.”

 

“I’m still addressing you formally,” Matilda sniffed, flicking through the newspaper before stopping quite abruptly on the politics page. “Hey. Looks like Nighthollow have had quite a hectic month.”

 

“I already knew about the Phoenix’s Treasure being stolen. Most of the kingdoms in the Pureblood world knew. We also know that the teenagers who returned it back are being mistreated and harassed: especially that kid who’s supposedly responsible for the death of that young girl,” Oscar responded a little coldly. “I don’t see how it can get worse for them now.”

 

“Look at this article then. Appears two of the four survivors have been elected to the Council.” Matilda explained, waving the newspaper in the Prince’s face until he took it from her hands and stared at it, carefully reading the article and looking at the picture. It showed a young man probably in his late twenties or early thirties putting on a very cheesy smile, his hands on the shoulders of two teenagers who didn’t look particularly thrilled on this exciting opportunity. The tallest was an awkward looking boy with a lithe frame, thick black hair, emerald green eyes and a shy look about him. The other was a young girl who looked quite muscular for a girl admittedly; accompanied with wavy blonde hair, pastel blue eyes and a determined face.

 

“They’re very young to be elected, even if they’re just young spokespeople,” Matilda remarked. “Especially the little girl. She’s only fourteen – two years younger than you. Interesting choices too – the boy is the brother of the girl who died and the girl’s boyfriend is the boy who is currently serving reputation as a criminal.”

 

Oscar narrowed his brown eyes suspiciously. “What makes you so interested in Nighthollow, Matilda? Do you have relatives there or something?”

 

“They’ll be your only hope soon, my Prince,” the elderly woman murmured. “Are you unaware of the threat to the kingdom?”

 

“For goodness sake, this cousin of mine won’t be the end of me. Boy or girl, I’m still heir to the throne.”

 

“Yes, but the King may decide that his child will take over. If he makes that choice, you’ll be executed.”

 

“There’s a one in four chance of that happening. If the child is a daughter, then she can’t take the crown. If the child is a son, then it’s down to my uncle and his advisors to decide who the heir is: which should be me. I’m the oldest.”

 

“Your future is hanging by a fine thread right now, my Prince. You must prepare for the worse in case the King decides otherwise.”

 

Evelyn eventually appeared before Oscar could reply. He noticed her usual soft white hands dripping with soapy water and blue eyes tired but bright. “Let’s go then. Should I bring Flack?”

 

“We’ll walk, if you like.” Oscar offered.

 

His friend grinned at him. “You’re good.”

 

“I put the interests of my people at heart.”

 

~

 

Oscar sat up on one of the branches of the apple tree, his bow poised and ready to strike whatever unfortunate prey happened to stroll by. Though it was a tense sport, he’d always felt calm and peaceful out hunting in the woods.

 

Evelyn was scaling the elderly tree, grasping onto branches and hauling herself up like a little monkey. She’d always stop by to collect some apples – both to eat and to cook with. Her grandmother’s business was good, but the family were quite poor in comparison to several other families in the High Kingdom.

 

The High Kingdom was the Kingdom of Kingdoms – the big deal. They were at the top of the pecking order in the Pureblood world and were the richest despite certain residents like Evelyn being slightly worse off. Oscar was the Prince of the budding Kingdom, while his uncle Stefan was King. Sure, he didn’t like his nephew all that much, but he was a decent enough man. He probably had to because of Oscar’s status within the Kingdom. His wife Queen Rosalind was heavily pregnant with a child who would be Oscar’s cousin.

 

A stag deer trotted by, his head lifted proudly as he stared round at the bountiful forest. Oscar lifted his bow to aim for the handsome animal, his oak brown eyes focused on shooting him. He didn’t like the thought of killing such a magnificent and innocent creature, but the antlers and meat were worth a lot.

 

He finally released the arrow and managed to hit the stag in the stomach, making him cry out in pain as he staggered to the ground, blood trickling out like a small stream.

 

“Nice catch!” Evelyn shouted down to him. “Stefan will be proud of what a great hunter you are!”

 

Before Oscar could jump down to retrieve his kill, he spotted a large black dog lurking near the dying stag, odd red eyes intrigued. Evelyn went rigid with horror as the creature got closer. “Don’t shoot!” she hissed to her friend. “That’s a Demon!”

 

“But they don’t usually come here. What’s this one doing here?” the Prince asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

 

“He could be an exile from the Land Of The Lost. Or he spun up here when the Phoenix’s Treasure was reunited,” Evelyn suggested. “Regardless, he shouldn’t be trying to steal prey unless he’s desperate. He would have attacked the High Kingdom first.”

 

“He’s limping,” Oscar observed, pointing out that the Demon’s back left leg was badly wounded and bleeding black blood. “He’s too weak to attack a Pureblood. Besides, if he comes anywhere near us, I’ll shoot him.”

 

“So you’re going to let him take that stag you spent ages waiting for?” the ginger haired girl inquired.

 

“I’ll shoot him if he tries any sneaky tricks,” Oscar assured her. “He’s a little lame if he is trying to steal fresh-kills made by Purebloods. He’s stooping ridiculously low indeed.”

 

The Demon lifted his head and growled at the two Purebloods in the tree. “Fools. Hard life I have had. Weak runt.”

 

He then sauntered off with a snort, leaving Oscar to ponder for a while. How did he get here in the first place and what happened to him?

Chapter 2 - Finally Free

“Look at me, Luna! Look!”

 

Turning her head, Luna saw Cody pointing at the target with a huge grin plastered to his little face. He’d managed to throw a wet paintbrush and hit it on the left edge of the target, leaving a green splotch of paint.

 

“Well done,” Luna praised him, giving her little brother a pat on the head. “You’re really coming on with this. Thorn will have quite a little fighter on his hands when you eventually start training!”

 

Cody’s face drooped at the prospect of training. “But Ash won’t be there, will he? He said he’d teach me all his moves.”

 

Luna remained silent for a while on the thought of her friend. He’d been convicted guilty of murder a month ago and was supposed to be released from prison today, but he’d been kicked off the training program until he could redeem himself. Luna herself had been arrested on the same day for assaulting an officer and back chatting Councillor Airing, who was in charge of Nighthollow. She had been let off extremely lightly despite her actions and was now a young spokesperson for the Council along with her friend Atlas following a vote. Their friends had thrown a party in celebration, but neither newly elected councillors felt right.

 

Atlas was still in the depths of grief for his foster sister Rune, whom he blamed Ash for killing. The young girl had died retrieving the final part of the Phoenix’s Treasure, but her older foster brother had pinned the entirety of the blame on Ash. He was completely insane after loosing her that horrendous day.

 

Luna, on the other hand, had enough on her shoulders before the election. She had sworn to look after her newfound brother Cody after their mother chose to stay in the Normal world, which angered her beyond belief. She also felt she couldn’t enjoy herself knowing Ash was in prison still: though her time there was brief, the two had taken a step forward in their relationship after much turmoil on the quest and were now officially dating. Cody was the only person to know of the shift in relationship status, yet Luna intended to announce it soon rather than leaving it to fester for longer.

 

“He’ll be released today,” she eventually reassured her brother. “You can come with me, if you like. He might have time to show you some tricks before Thorn puts you onto the training program.”

 

Cody lit up at that, his dark blue eyes excited. “Great!”

 

On the quest, Ash had developed an unlikely bond with the seven year old boy after he had shown Luna to the dungeons in the Land Of The Lost where he had been held captive. The brown haired teenager had been a little shifty and hostile towards him at first, but after finding out that Cody was actually Mia’s son and thus Luna’s little brother, he softened up considerably. Sure, he and Atlas went from close friends to deadly enemies, but he had shown a different side.

 

The wavy haired girl led Cody across to the prison, where two stone-faced guards stood at the entrance. The younger-looking one stared at the two in puzzlement. “What brings you here, Councillor Wilde?”

 

Luna curled her lip. “I believe my friend is supposed to be released today, correct?”

 

“The grumpy kid who murdered the little girl? Yeah, he’ll be led out shortly. Councillor Chase is with him now.” the older guard explained.

 

What is Robert’s interest in Ash? They aren’t related so closely anymore – they’re just uncle and nephew after we found Cassie and Will at The Lodge. What could Robert possibly want? Luna pondered, ignoring the rising anxiety in her stomach.

 

She then heard voices coming from inside. One sounded rather fierce, which Luna recognised as Robert Chase within moments. Worry took it’s toll as the voices got louder before quietening down as they exited. Robert had the front, while another officer followed him.

 

Behind them was Ash, flanked by two officers.

 

“This is your last chance, Ashley,” Robert warned him icily, handing one of the officers a key. “Next strike and you’re out for good. Clear?”

 

Ash just scowled. “You deserve to die painfully, Councillor Chase.”

 

“Don’t you dare give me such flippant replies!” Robert snapped, seizing the brown haired boy’s shoulder harshly and pushing his fingertips down, making his nephew let out a slight groan of pain. “Councillor Airing and I will be keeping a close eye on you. Any slip-ups and you’ll know what’ll be coming.”

 

The black haired man nodded to the officers and released Ash, allowing him to stumble off towards the cabins. Luna approached him from behind and placed a gentle hand on his back to steady him. “Don’t allow him to overpower you, Ash. I know you’re stronger than that.”

 

“I have spent a month reliving my childhood. Any strength has been beaten out of me.” Ash responded darkly, not looking up to meet her gaze.

 

“You can’t expose yourself as vulnerable,” Luna went on. “You have to hide your fears. Like I hide my fear of heights by climbing trees. I understand your problems are much more complex than mine, but I want to help you in any way I possibly can. If you need to talk, you know where to find me.”

 

Ash just nodded. “Thank you, Luna.”

 

Cody smiled gleefully at Ash. “I’m so glad you’re out of prison now! You can show me all your little tricks!”

 

“We need to develop your powers first so you don’t go crazy. Do you know what power you possess yet?” Ash asked kindly.

 

“Awesomeness, obviously!” Cody chirped.

 

The brown haired teenager let out a short laugh, amusement dancing in his dark green gaze. “Naturally. Now, if you run along and collect up some wooden swords and a bite to eat for me, I’ll give you a quick lesson. I just need a quick word with your sister.”

 

As the blonde haired boy skipped off happily, Ash turned to face Luna and gave her a weak smile. “It’s good to see you, Luna. I apologise for my tone earlier when you were just trying to help.”

 

“It’s completely understandable in your circumstances,” Luna assured him. “You’ll heal some of the worst of your scars soon. Just hang in there, okay?”

 

“You can’t escape from the greatest of pain. You have to live with it forever,” Ash sighed softly. “Anyway, have you heard anything from The Lodge?”

 

“Celeste’s Pack is thriving well – she holds command over nineteen werewolves and seems to be enjoying living among other werewolves. Jason and Isabelle are hoping to move into The Lodge permanently on request of Nigel and are doing okay as spies, but I think Isabelle still has feelings for Atlas. Adele misses everyone terribly, but she’s enjoying life. Leon is trying to get in contact with Celeste’s friend Annabelle who he met when we were saving you from the Land Of The Lost, but he’s not having much success. Cassie and Will wish you happy birthday for a month ago and they sent a present over which I’ve got in my cabin,” Luna relayed back. “I have a small present for you also.”

 

Her friend looked oddly touched. “You didn’t have to get me anything. I only turned fifteen – not a big deal.”

 

“You’re in your last year of childhood, so I think that’s a pretty big deal,” Luna pointed out. “There’s also the fact that I’m now your girlfriend.”

 

“There is that fact, yes, but I’m still surprised. That means I have to get you something for your birthday now.” Ash teased.

 

Luna laughed lightly, just as Cody returned carrying two swords and a small brown paper bag. “I got you a blueberry muffin!” he announced.

 

“Thanks, Cody,” Ash replied, taking one of the wooden swords and the muffin. “Now, I’ll show you one of the first moves I learnt…”

 

As Luna settled down to watch the two Purebloods, she couldn’t help but think of Robert’s daunting warning. “Councillor Airing and I will be keeping a close eye on you. Any slip-ups and you’ll know what’ll be coming.”

 

This horrific man had somehow exposed Ash in some of the cruellest ways possible, even into his teen years where he was almost an adult.

 

How could he possibly live with no guilt for his actions towards his nephew?

Chapter 3 - Dangerous Miracle

Once Oscar and Evelyn had returned with the stag, Oscar had gone straight back to the castle to check in on his aunt and uncle. There were rumours about that Queen Rosalind had gone into labour while the Prince was out hunting, which had slightly concerned him. Is she okay?

 

“Where on earth have you been, your Majesty?” a plump woman with a blonde ponytail inquired as he reached the great wooden gate.

 

“Am I not allowed freedom, Daisy?” Oscar retorted, narrowing his brown eyes. “Anyway, what are these rumours flying round that Rosalind has given birth? Old Denis at the market was saying something about it.”

 

“It is true, but it’s not looking great at the moment,” Daisy sighed. “She has given birth to twins.”

 

“Then surely you should be rejoicing!” the brown haired Prince exclaimed in surprise. “What’s wrong with twins? This is wonderful news! We have two new members of the Royal Family!”

 

The maid bit her lip and folded her flabby arms. “They’re so frail, young Prince. Their survival rates aren’t looking great at the moment: they could die. Rosalind isn’t looking too well either.”

 

“Doesn’t the palace doctor have powers to cure sickness?” Oscar pointed out.

 

“He cannot allow someone to defy death, child.”

 

“Can I see them?”

 

“Certainly. Right this way.”

 

Oscar followed Daisy into the palace and down the long hallways, which was almost like a trip down memory lane for when his parents had ruled over the mighty kingdom. He could remember the day when his father had taught him how to fire a gun and he’d broken a window, but his father had been very patient and repaired the window using his powers as a Pureblood. He could remember his mother dancing down the exact same hallway on Christmas Eve when Oscar was about five. She had been a very graceful woman in her time.

 

Then came that awful day ten years ago.

 

Oscar had just turned six when terrorists broke into the palace. They were unemployed and had been for some time, so they wanted revenge. About twenty of them had snuck into the sleeping castle, killing two guards and one of the footmen. The Prince hadn’t heard the gunshots previously until he heard angry shouts coming from down in the kitchen. He’d woken up with a start then and wondered out – curiosity killed his cat multiple times and this was one such occurrence.

 

He had seen a terrorist with a loaded gun aimed straight for him once he’d come out of his room. He had been frozen with genuine terror, but his mother had shielded him and consequently was shot in the head right in front of her son.

 

The little boy had run then, all the way to his parent’s bedroom where his father was. The King himself was asleep, so Oscar had decided to wake him to tell him about what happened to the Queen.

 

He was unresponsive.

 

Then Oscar eventually found that his father had been shot in the heart.

 

Thinking about the memory had made Oscar feel a little shaky, so he stopped and straightened himself up, ready to present himself in front of his aunt and uncle. His honey brown hair wasn’t exactly tidy and neither were his clothes or hands, but he had to make haste. This could be the last time he’d see Rosalind alive.

 

When Daisy opened the door, Oscar stepped in and saw a small huddle of doctors around a small bed near the window murmuring a few inaudible words. Rosalind was on another bed opposite, her face pale and curly red hair sticking to her head. She lifted her head when her nephew walked in. “Oscar,” she quivered. “Why are you here?”

 

“How are you?” he asked anxiously.

 

“Tired. I’m not sure how the twins are, though. They haven’t even told me what gender they are,” Rosalind scowled. “As their mother, I should know. Go and find out for me, will you?”

 

“Where’s Stefan? Isn’t he with you?” Oscar questioned, narrowing his brown eyes suspiciously.

 

The Queen gestured to the window. “He’s checking up on something outside. He’ll be back in a moment. Could you just go and find out about my little children, please?”

 

The Prince cautiously made his way over to the doctors, his eyes wary. “How are they?”

 

One of the doctors shook his head, stepping to the side to reveal two newborns wrapped in satin, their eyes tightly closed.

 

They were both completely motionless.

 

Oscar reached out to place one hand on the closest child’s head, which was pale skinned much like Stefan and small like Rosalind. It even had their mother’s angular cheekbones.

 

Moving round, Oscar placed his hand on the other child’s head. This one had blonde hair as Stefan did, but bore no resemblance to Rosalind at all. It was completely their father’s child.

 

The child suddenly spluttered a cough, opening their wide eyes to reveal a sky blue colour. It opened it’s mouth and let out a wail of hunger which made the doctors rush over and inspect it. Rosalind let out a gasp. “My baby!”

 

“Hold your horses, your Highness. We still need to clarify a few things before we can let you hold them,” a doctor explained. “Would you mind if Oscar held it for a while so we can check it over?”

 

The Queen sniffed, but bowed her head. “Very well.”

 

Oscar wanted to reject due to anxiety, but he had completely no say in the matter as the young child was passed into his arms, it’s tiny legs kicking about in the air. Despite his nerve of welcoming his little cousin into the world, he felt quite calm holding the tiny little bundle.

 

“It’s a baby boy,” the doctor announced cheerfully. “Healthy one at that. He was fortunate to survive that ordeal.”

 

The door suddenly flung open and a tall stone-faced man with thick curly blonde hair and a long red robe walked in. “How are they?”

 

“One child was far too beautiful for this world and did not pull through, but one survived. You have a healthy baby son, King Stefan.” the doctor informed him.

 

Stefan had a rather menacing grin playing on his lips as he stared at Oscar, almost as if he was gloating over the fact that his own son would one day rule over the High Kingdom.

 

Nice try, but I’m next in line. Wait a couple years to see what happens then.

 

“I would like a private word with my wife, if that is at all possible,” Stefan asked, his black eyes thoughtful. “I will also hold a great feast to honour this wonderful news. I’m sure Matilda doesn’t have her hands full to help out with this, does she Oscar?”

 

“I haven’t the faintest idea, but I’ll find out for you.” Oscar offered, placing his cousin back down and disappearing out.

 

~

 

“Woah there, boy. We’re here now.”

 

As Oscar dismounted his dark brown horse in the pouring rain, Matilda stood at the café doorway with a lamp in her ancient hand. “What brings you here?” she yelled over the rain.

 

“Rosalind has given birth to a son!” Oscar shouted back.

 

Matilda look horrified. “Come in, my Prince! I see there is a tale behind this!”

 

Oscar gladly accepted the generous offer and stepped inside, slipping his coat off and allowing the elderly lady to hang it up. “I’ll get one of the girls to make you a coffee.”

 

“Thank you very much, Matilda,” Oscar responded. “I am very grateful for your generosity at this hour.”

 

“Nonsense child. It’s only just six in the evening.” Matilda assured him.

 

As the brown haired boy took a seat, he heard steady footsteps on the top of the staircase. “Who’s here, Matilda?”

 

“Who do you think it is, Evie?” Matilda sighed. “Come and look for yourself.”

 

A bright face appeared on the turn of the stairs seconds later. “Hey Oscar! What brings you here?”

 

“It’s not good news, child,” the elderly woman grumbled. “Rosalind did give birth while you were both out hunting. The child is a son.”

 

Evelyn’s blue eyes became deep pools of terror as she swallowed. “Has Stefan made a decision yet?”

 

“He’s going to hold a feast tonight and announce it then,” Oscar informed her. “He was hoping you’d help prepare some food, Matilda.”

 

“Course I can,” Matilda replied. “Are we invited formerly as guests, my Prince?”

 

Oscar nodded. “The entire of the High Kingdom is invited – that does apply to you too.”

 

“But what if Stefan decides to let his son take the crown?” Evelyn asked, her voice wavering. “We’ll have to watch him sentence you to death, Oscar!”

 

“Stefan is a fair man. He knows what the people want and the royal traditions. I’m supposed to take the throne on Valentine’s Day because that’s when I turn seventeen.” Oscar pointed out.

 

“You take it back to it’s rightful family then,” Matilda added. “Your mother’s ancestors have ruled over the High Kingdom for generations. Stefan may be Anna’s brother, but he was the youngest and last to be married. Anna married Jacob when she was eighteen.”

 

The brown haired boy frowned. “So technically I can’t take the throne unless I find a Queen?”

 

“That tradition has only applied to Princesses. You can go straight ahead when you turn seventeen, but I think you’ll be more respected if you had a wife which would maybe serve as a role model to younger female Purebloods.” Matilda explained, beckoning a young woman over who handed Oscar a cup of strong-smelling black coffee. The waitress winked at him cheekily as she went off, which Matilda scowled at. “You watch it, Natalie. This is your future King you’re trying to flirt with, not some commoner from down the road.”

 

Evelyn’s cheeks gained a bit of colour and she ducked her head in an attempt to hide a shy smile on her face. Oscar knew well that she was admired by Edward Pullet – one of the stablehands at the palace who was a relatively friendly young man. He knew he and Evelyn got along well and he presumed she was going to marry him soon, which was why the Prince was confused to why his best friend was so embarrassed.

 

Shrugging it off, Oscar sipped his coffee and just thought of the feast.

Chapter 4 - The Feast

“Welcome to the palace, where today we are celebrating the birth of Prince Louis Herring!”

 

Oscar watched as a small family came down the stairs into the great hall dressed in their finest clothes. The Prince himself hadn’t tried too hard – he just wore a white shirt and black trousers. This place was his home and he didn’t feel that he had to dress up especially for such an occasion.

 

One of the children from the family ran up to Oscar, his pale blue eyes bright. “You’re gonna be an awesome King, your Majesty!”

 

The Prince chuckled, crouching down to be at the young boy’s height. “Why thank you very much.”

 

“I’ll be a better King!” the child’s little sister insisted. She didn’t look much more than about four.

 

The boy spluttered with laughter. “You can’t be a King Lucelle; you’re a girl!”

 

“It sounds better than King Callum!” the girl retorted fiercely.

 

“Maybe little Louis will take you on as Queen,” Oscar assured her kindly. “Now, have you seen a ginger haired girl with blue eyes who’s roughly my age but a bit shorter?”

 

“You mean Evelyn Birch?” Lucelle questioned. “The nice lady from the café?”

 

“Yes. Have you seen her?” Oscar went on.

 

Callum vaguely pointed in the direction of the kitchens. “I saw her down there with the scary old lady!”

 

“That’s her grandmother,” Oscar pointed out in amusement. “Anyway, thanks for your help. If you come and find me later, I’ll give you both a giant slice of cake.”

 

The two siblings squealed gleefully and skipped off, making the Prince smile warmly at them both. It’s great to see youngsters like them filled with such energy.

 

“You’re looking happy despite the fact your future is looking pretty bleak.”

 

Oscar turned his head to see a rather lanky man in his late thirties with very little hair and a light brown glare. The Prince recognised the man as Thomas Jordan – the commander of the army in the High Kingdom. He was Stefan’s right-hand man and his closest ally: this man could order Oscar’s execution if Louis was chosen as the next heir.

 

“Commander Jordan,” Oscar addressed him with a slither of remorse in his voice. “What an unexpected surprise. I thought you were training up your troops this evening.”

 

“I simply can’t miss a feast to celebrate this new heir.” Thomas exclaimed, emphasising on the word ‘heir’.

 

“Of course, but I know how devoted you are to building up the army. We can’t afford any threats now, can we?” Oscar responded airily.

 

Thomas sniffed. “It seems all quiet on the front. My second-in-command is watching over the posts tonight along with a few other soldiers. I will be informed if something starts up.”

 

The brown haired teenager was about to reply when a group of café workers came up from the kitchens with bright smiles on their faces. Oscar scanned the crowd for Evelyn, but the ginger haired girl was no where in sight. Matilda said she’d be here. Where is she?

 

“Looking for Matilda’s granddaughter, are you?” Thomas chuckled in mild amusement. “I’d expect her to be fawning around Edward. He’s taken quite a shine to her, young Herring. I can’t see your friendship being so close for much longer.”

 

“Address me by my name or my title rather than my last name. If you want to be treated by me respectfully, show me the same amount you would like to receive,” Oscar spat. “You of all people should know simple manners, Commander. And for the record, you shouldn’t be nosing into my affairs – I will respect Evelyn’s choices no matter what they may be.”

 

“Oh, but you won’t,” the skinny man went on with a sneer. “You’re a Prince, Oscar. You shouldn’t be out of the running now, should you? You should be top of any girl’s dream list.”

 

“Remember that I’m your future King.” Oscar snapped back, stalking off fiercely.

 

When he eventually became King, he’d definitely get a new commander.

 

Before he could go over to talk to one of the young soldiers, he eyed Evelyn coming down the magnificent golden staircase. He nearly let out a gasp as he stared at his best friend.

 

She looked stunning.

 

Rather than having her curly ginger hair loose over her shoulders, she had it up high in a bun with a white flower keeping it up. Her bright blue eyes were sharper thanks to thick black eyeliner and mascara which exposed her long eyelashes. Although some called it a dangerous colour to wear, Evelyn wore a long sleeveless white dress with matching gloves that came just over her bony elbows. She also had a silver necklace around her neck with a silver ring attached to the end – a good luck charm given to her by her mother on her deathbed. Her usual clothes and soapy skin were no where to be seen for the first time in ages.

 

Some of the young men whistled cheekily at her, but the café worker just ignored them and crossed the hall over to Oscar with a bright smile on her face. “Hello.”

 

“Hello indeed; you look amazing!” Oscar exclaimed.

 

Evelyn blushed slightly. “Thanks. I made the dress myself with some help from Matilda and a couple of the other employees.”

 

“It looks lovely on you,” the Prince remarked kindly. “Anyway, would you-”

 

The honey brown haired boy was cut off when King Stefan appeared at his throne at the head of the great table, his golden crown resting on the top of his blonde curls. “I have important news to share with you all. Come and sit, should you wish to hear.”

 

As the Prince, Oscar had a fancy seat in the middle on the left side of the table. He usually sat with Evelyn and one of the soldiers, but today it was Rosalind who sat with her nephew as well as Evelyn. She wore a pastel pink dress and little Louis was asleep in her arms, his tiny body wrapped up like a present in satin. Only his pale face poked out.

 

Once everyone had assembled, Stefan sat down himself. “As you may know, young Oscar Herring here is the next heir to the High Kingdom throne. Today’s arrival of Louis has threatened this, but after much discussion we have come to a decision on the fate of the crown.”

 

Oscar felt Evelyn’s gloved hand grasp his tightly under the table, her head raised to the ceiling. She looked as if she was muttering a prayer of some sort, which confused him slightly. Nice to know she has so much faith in me. I just know that Stefan will be fair about this and allow me the crown. The Kingdom will frown upon it otherwise.

 

“With the support of my friends and advisors, we have decided that it will not be Oscar that will take the crown when he turns seventeen. Louis is the rightful heir as he is my son, so the execution of Oscar Jamie Herring will take place within seven days.” Stefan announced, a devilish smile playing on his cruel face.

Chapter 5 - Gifts

Luna gave Cody a final hug. “Goodnight, Cody. Sleep well.”

 

“Bye Luna!” Cody replied, heading off into his new cabin after one of the older boys. Thorn had decided to put him into a cabin so he could find some friends before he started training in a few days time. Naturally, the blonde haired child was thrilled to pieces to begin training so soon into his dramatic arrival at Nighthollow.

 

He deserves it, in the end. He’s had such a hard start to life and now he can begin to find himself as a true Pureblood. Luna reflected.

 

Once her brother had disappeared, the wavy blonde haired teenager pulled up the hood on her jumper and made her way out to the forest. She hadn’t been there properly since the night of the Demon attack which had sparked the quest for the Phoenix’s Treasure after it was stolen. It had taken five gruelling days, but they had retrieved all three Treasures.

 

The only thing they’d lost was Rune.

 

Thinking about the happy black haired girl made Luna feel rather down rather than her usually cheerful self. Ever since Rune had died, she had felt like she’d lost a slice of her heart. The young girl had been her closest female companion throughout childhood and her lost had devastated Luna, but not as much as her foster brother Atlas. He’d gone insane over her loss and caused Ash’s arrest by openly blaming him. Since the verdict was given, neither boys had spoken to each other. Atlas had avoided the dark brown haired teenager since he was released from prison.

 

Once Luna had reached the forest, she sat on one of the low-hanging branches of a tree and thrust her hands towards the ground a few feet away, releasing a ball of fire and thus creating a small fire to keep her warm. She curled up into a ball next to the trunk of the tree and rested her head against it, watching the flames with weary eyes.

 

“I’m surprised you came here of all places to find peace.”

 

Luna didn’t need to look up to figure out that Ash had followed her out from the cabins. He was slowly approaching her with his hands in his trouser pockets and his dark green eyes focused on her. “Is everything okay, Luna?”

 

“I just want to get away from it all at the moment and go back. Go back to the old times where we were a tightly-bound group with everyone happy and alive,” Luna replied wistfully. “Back when not every day was a constant fight.”

 

“Back when I was a self-centred pig?” Ash pointed out. “Back when little Cody had no hope and no one to look up to? You may not realise it, but you saved his life.”

 

“But I couldn’t save Rune, could I?” Luna retorted. “I should have gone in her place; she had so much-”

 

“No,” he interrupted firmly. “You shouldn’t have.”

 

Luna narrowed her blue eyes at him fiercely. “Give me a good reason why not.”

 

“Rune was just too wonderful for this world. She was part of a story which didn’t conclude in the way people thought it would. If someone dies, they did for a reason that we sometimes can’t explain. There are some people that you must continue across your story without, but they’ll always be in your memory until the final page.”

 

“That’s not a reason to why I shouldn’t have taken Rune’s place.”

 

“If you had died, you’d hurt more people than you believe. Mia and Cody would have gone insane with grief and I’d feel even worse knowing I’d killed you. I already feel horrid about sending Rune to her death and I deserved the sentence, but I wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt of killing you, Luna. You’re my best friend as well as my girlfriend now: we now both hold more responsibilities to each other than ever. We’re supposed to trust each other’s word, which you do not at the moment.”

 

Luna took her hood down and blinked at Ash. “Of course I trust you. I just feel it was my destiny to die in the Land Of The Lost rather than Rune’s.”

 

“If it truly was your fate, then you would not be here now,” Ash pointed out, a new wisdom around him than Luna hadn’t seen before. “You are here now, and that’s all that matters. Live for today and know that you are too precious for this world to loose now. The plotline requires you here.”

 

The blonde haired Pureblood gave him a warm smile. “You must teach me how you can put sweet things into lessons.”

 

The boy’s emerald green eyes darkened. “I’m serious, Luna. I don’t want you moping around blaming yourself for something that wasn’t your fault. Come back out of the cold and get some sleep, for goodness sake.”

 

“It’s not cold.” Luna insisted.

 

With a sigh, Ash made his way over and sat next to her on the tree branch, his back slumped. “You’re impossible.”

 

“That’s what you love about me really.” his friend teased.

 

Ash didn’t respond for a while and didn’t look up at Luna either: he just sat there and stared at the flames as they danced before him. The light they produced showed a red mark on his cheek and there was a bit of dried blood on his chin, which concerned Luna quite a bit. “Did you talk to Robert before coming here?”

 

“What does it matter to you?” Ash retorted sharply. “I’m trying to block him out of my life; stop bringing him up!”

 

Luna let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry, Ash.”

 

The brown haired boy blinked at her in surprise. “No, it’s fine. I’m just a bit tetchy today.”

 

“No kidding. When should I bother you next?”

 

“In ten years time.”

 

“Why, where do you see yourself in ten years time? You won’t pass training minors seeing as you’ve already been kicked off the training program and thrown in prison.”

 

“I hope to be the honourable and worthy Pureblood I’d aspired to be as a young boy living in the shadow of abuse. I want to be able to live my life normally without the fear that my so-called parents will attack me.”

 

“You need to tell one of the more sympathetic Councillors about what Robert and Matilda have been doing to you. They could be sentenced to prison for a long time or maybe even exiled from Nighthollow.”

 

“Robert and Councillor Airing are friends. Councillor Airing won’t throw his friend in prison because his nephew comes out with claims that he’s been abused by that man. Besides, if word does get out then the boys in my cabin will torment me about it.”

 

“All you can do is try to speak up.”

 

“I appreciate your concern, but there’s nothing I can do. We’ll just leave it at that.”

 

Silence came with his words. Luna didn’t really know how to respond; she couldn’t help Ash face up to his greatest fear which she had tried to help him overcome for some time now. She feared that Ash would be killed or forced away from Nighthollow unless he found his voice. At this time, it didn’t look like he would. He really needed a breakthrough.

 

Then she remembered something as she put her hands into her jacket pocket. “Ash?” she began timidly.

 

Ash looked up from the ground to his friend. “Yes?”

 

“You still have birthday presents left which you didn’t receive a month ago.”

 

The brown haired teenager tilted his head to the side in confusion as Luna produced two brown paper packages from her pocket and handed the slightly larger one to Ash. “That’s from Cassie and Will.” she told him.

 

Nodding, Ash carefully tore open the package to reveal two books. One didn’t have a clear title and just had the dark blood-red leather cover, while the other was a normal reading book by the looks of it. Ash raised an eyebrow at the second book. “100 Short Stories That Could Change Your Life.” he read out loud.

 

“I’m curious to know how exactly it will change your life. For all we know, it’ll probably give you nightmares or something,” Luna teased. “Anyway, what’s the other book?”

 

Her friend picked it up and opened up to the first page, which had a small note with it which made him light up. “It’s a bit like a biography of my parents up to when I was born.”

 

Luna smiled. “That sounds nice,” she remarked, handing him the other package. “This one’s from me. Sorry it’s not much.”

 

“I’m sure it’s thoughtful, no matter what it is,” Ash assured her kindly, unwrapping the package and picked up one of the presents in his hands, which happened to be a smooth grey stone the size of his palm. He stared at it curiously with his dark green eyes. “Is this supposed to be a bad pun? Like as in ‘you rock’?” he questioned.

 

“No, you noodle. It’s a Seeing Stone. You can use it to see what is to come or what has passed.” Luna explained.

 

“Egyptian times, here I come,” Ash teased. “Thanks Luna. It’s a really great gift.”

 

“There’s another present there.” the blonde girl pointed out, tossing her wavy hair over her shoulders.

 

The tall Pureblood gazed at the second present, which looked like some sort of silver badge. The outline was in the shape of a star and in the middle was a long blue diamond which shone whenever the lights of the fire caught it. Ash looked up and smiled at her. “The mark of the fallen star, right? Rosco told me that the blue diamond is a symbol of good luck and very rare. Oh Luna, you didn’t have to go to such lengths for me!”

 

“Well, you go a bit far in desperate attempts to save my life.” Luna teased, amusement sparkling in her pale blue eyes.

 

Laughing, Ash leapt up to his feet and pulled her into a tight embrace, taking Luna by genuine surprise. “You don’t usually hug people!”

 

“It’s not illegal to hug someone now, is it?” the tall boy pointed out cheekily. “Anyway, you should get some sleep. There’s probably going to be a Council meeting tomorrow of some sort – you’ll need every ounce of strength to stay awake during that. Come on.”

Chapter 6 - Flying Solo

Oscar had retired from the feast not long after Stefan had announced his execution. He had been unable to hold back his fury and shock, so he had left and sat in his room watching as people begun to take the party outside. Some were wobbling about in a drunken manner, while others remained sober for the entire evening.

 

“This is ridiculous.” the Prince grumbled to himself as he watched the party-goers begin to leave. He had shown a new vulnerable side tonight – a side he hoped no one would see for a while yet. He was going to their King if that little toad hadn’t been born! He couldn’t show weakness in front of his people!

 

When he heard a pair of heavy footsteps and another more light-footed one, Oscar quickly jumped onto his bed, grasped his pistol from his bedside table and pulled the blankets over him, his heart thumping rapidly under his shirt. It’s got to be Stefan and one of his little friends. It can’t be anyone else.

 

He nearly stopped breathing when he heard the door squeak open and the two people enter. He heard a heavy breathing sound that sounded like a sigh. “Little Prince Charming Herring didn’t last long now, did he?”

 

“Hurry.” a harsh voice snarled that sounded like a Demon, of all things.

 

“We’ll make it look like a suicide. I can give the dramatic sob story tomorrow to say that the poor child felt so unworthy and let-down that he simply went over the top and stabbed himself. No one will suspect a thing or grieve for long; well, maybe that waitress, but otherwise life will be perfect without that little flaw in my perfect line.” Stefan explained menacingly.

 

“Soldiers surrounding place. No escape for cowards.” the Demon grumbled.

 

“That’s good,” Stefan replied. “Now, time to owe Anna a favour.”

 

Oscar had heard enough.

 

Quick as a flash, he kicked off the blankets and pulled the trigger, making Stefan scream out in agony as he collapsed to the ground, clutching his shoulder. It would heal, but for now it was a good distraction for Oscar to climb out of the window.

 

“Get him!” Stefan roared between his screams.

 

The Demon – whom Oscar recognised as the dog-Demon he’d seen earlier – licked his lips hungrily and leapt for him. The Prince didn’t have a moment to attack, so he jumped from the windowsill and allowed himself to fall, hoping he’d land somewhere decent.

 

He let out a small curse as he landed on something leather, but then realised his trusty horse had caught him. The dark brown stallion whinnied nervously as Oscar petted his neck. “We need to get moving, Broken. That Demon is faster than I previously expected: head down to the café as fast as humanly possible.”

 

Taking the order, Broken broke into a swift gallop and headed out of the castle gates down the high street, his speed gaining rapidly with every stride. Oscar was proud of the young horse, as he had been a sickly foal rejected at birth, hence the name ‘Broken’.

 

The two arrived at the café in no time at all, where Oscar quickly dismounted the tired horse and banged on the door frantically, hoping that Matilda was up late rereading her newspaper.

 

The door slowly opened to reveal a rather tired-looking Evelyn in light blue pyjamas, her dark blue eyes lighting up as she realised who it was. “Hi, Oscar! It’s great to see you, but can you please come and find me when it’s daylight? It’s nearly eleven at night!”

 

“Please, Evelyn. This is important. Just hear me out, okay?” Oscar pleaded desperately.

 

The ginger haired waitress straightened up a bit and stared him dead in the eye, biting her lip anxiously. “What’s happened?”

 

“Stefan’s working with the Demons. He literally just tried to kill me and make it look like suicide. I had to jump out of the flipping window because he set this Demon on me!” Oscar relayed back. “He’s playing a little game of manhunt now: I won’t have the advantage of hiding much longer.”

 

Evelyn’s face went to a pale mask of genuine shock. “Oh gosh, Oscar. You’d best come in – I’ll wake Matilda and alert her of what’s happened. She’ll contact someone who can help, find you a place safe from-”

 

“I haven’t got time for any contacting. I need to get out of here straight away,” the Prince cut her off. “I can’t stay here knowing that Stefan is out to murder me. That Demon will track me down in a matter of hours unless I flee.”

 

“Matilda says the only place you can go is Nighthollow.” Evelyn murmured softly, not meeting his gaze.

 

Before Oscar could perhaps offer some comforting words to his friend, there was a chorus of screams and angry shouts. A young woman ran down the lonely street screaming a simple sentence at the top of her lungs. “Demons have broken into the Kingdom!”

 

Evelyn’s dark blue eyes became urgent. “You have to go to Nighthollow! It’s the only way you’ll get out alive!”

 

“But the Demons are attacking the Kingdom!” Oscar argued. “I can’t abandon my people in this time of need!”

 

“Open your eyes and see that you can’t always be the knight in shining armour! You have to leave, Oscar! They’ll kill you if you don’t!” Evelyn screamed at him.

 

Oscar’s brown eyes darkened. “I’m already sentenced to death.”

 

“You just escaped from death. You can’t go back and give yourself up meekly. Just lay low for a few days until this all calms down.”

 

“I can’t be a coward. Stefan was already going to prove me a coward by faking my suicide, so I must be strong and fight alongside my people. I know I won’t be King, but I’m still the Prince.”

 

“I’m going to force you to go whether you like it or not. If I have to knock you unconscious and drag you by your ears, then I will.”

 

“You’re so stubborn, Evelyn.”

 

“One of the many flaws in my personality. Now come on, before those Demons find you!”

 

Oscar followed his ginger haired friend back behind the café to a small block of stables, where Evelyn tapped her knuckles swiftly on the first door. “Flack?”

 

A whiny and a bang against the wooden door made Evelyn sigh. “Sorry buddy, but we need your skills for the long trip. I need you to take Oscar to Nighthollow.”

 

A light grey horse head poked up and snorted at Evelyn, rising to her feet and revealing long feathery wings. Flack was one of the few Pegasi in the High Kingdom, being one of fifteen belonging to residents amongst the Kingdom and one of four mares. The other Pegasi were dotted round the Pureblood world in small numbers.

 

“Flack will be able to take you to Nighthollow with no problems,” Evelyn assured the Prince, flashing a nervous smile. “She’ll get you there faster than Broken can, so I’ll look after him while you’re gone. Just promise me you’ll stay safe and try to convince the Purebloods of Nighthollow to help us. Though they are just a sanctuary, their numbers are large and their fighting force is strong. They could help you take back the Kingdom.”

 

“I’m not the convincing type usually. Besides, the Demons outnumber us by a ridiculous amount: even with Nighthollow siding with us, they’ll win quite easily, especially if the army are on Stefan’s side too.” Oscar sighed, giving Flack a pat on the nose as Evelyn led her out. His friend shook her head at him. “The only ones you’ll need to convince are the four who survived the trek to the Land Of The Lost. Even if Nighthollow refuse participation, they will be able to speak with the Moon’s Children, the Winged and perhaps the Skyriders. They encountered all three on their journey. If they were able to save their own home, I think they are capable of saving our Kingdom.”

 

“They won’t help me in an uprising so soon after loosing their friend. I don’t want to take them into another battle where they could loose someone else.” Oscar pointed out, mounting the Pegasus.

 

“Just go, please!” Evelyn begged. “May the Phoenix guide your path on the road to recovering our Kingdom!”

 

Before the honey-brown haired teenager could even say goodbye, Flack took to the sky rapidly, away from the High Kingdom and away from the place he had called home his entire life.

Chapter 7 - Welcome To Nighthollow

“You still awake, Ash?”

 

Ash lifted his head up from his sketchbook towards one of the bunks near the window, where a boy a little younger than him was staring straight at him with narrowed grey eyes. Closing his sketchbook discreetly, Ash nodded. “I’m having trouble sleeping. I’m not used to the calm and welcoming atmosphere of the cabin.”

 

“I’m sure you’ll eventually settle back in,” the boy assured him. “Anyway, where did you go after dinner? I saw you go into the woods and I’m not sure exactly what went on.”

 

“That’s none of your business, Nick,” Ash responded airily. “Keep your nose out of my affairs and stick to your own.”

 

Nick shrugged. “Whatever. I was just curious. For all I know, you could have murdered someone else with your supposedly deadly powers.”

 

“If you’re trying to annoy me, it’s not working.” the brown haired boy grumbled.

 

“Were you out doing naughty things with the cute blonde girl?” Nick guessed.

 

“You’re twelve. You shouldn’t know what naughty things go on,” Ash pointed out sharply. “And for the record, the cute blonde girl you were referring to is called Luna. I’ve known her since I started training.”

 

“Way back in the dark ages, then?” the younger boy teased. “Besides, that girl is pretty. I don’t know how she hasn’t got a boyfriend. If I knew her a bit better, I’d ask her out myself.”

 

Ash stiffened. “Someone already did ask her out and she said yes, so I think you should respect the boyfriend.”

 

Nick let out a little gasp. “Wait, you’re dating her?”

 

The older boy did a slow sarcastic clap. “Extra brownie points going straight to Nick Letten for stating the obvious.”

 

“It’s not obvious, though! I don’t think even Atlas knows, and he’s one of the most knowledgeable guys here!”

 

“Atlas does not need me to deal with. He has undying grief for Rune on top of everything at the moment and we are not on good terms. I suggest you rest that weary little head of yours before it explodes from over-thinking.”

 

“But I’m not tired.”

 

“Hard cheese. Go to bed, for goodness sake.”

 

“Not until you do.”

 

“Nick, I’m three flipping years older than you. You’re still young and need sleep. Just-”

 

Ash was cut off by the sound of an ear-deafening crash and a sound that sounded like a horse neighing. What on earth is going on at this time?

 

Nick disappeared under his covers and fished out a torch. “Let’s go and investigate!”

 

“Fine, if it’ll shut you up.” Ash grumbled, getting out of bed and slipping quickly into his trainers while grabbing a dagger, motioning for the twelve year old boy to be quiet as they snuck out of the cabin. For all he knew, a Demon probably got lost and crash-landed in Nighthollow. It was always a possibility.

 

Once they were both outside, Nick turned on his torch and waved it about until he abruptly stopped when he saw the ghostly silhouette of what seemed to be a cloudy-grey wing. “Do you think it’s one of the Winged?”

 

Ash shook his head. “That wingspan is too long to be one of the Winged and my theory of it being a Demon has gone out of the window too. I think it would be wise to check it out.”

 

Careful not to wake any other sleeping Purebloods, the two boys made their way over to the crash site cautiously, making sure that nothing was following them. If a Councillor or one of the younger members of the community had heard them, both Ash and Nick would be in serious trouble.

 

Nick shone his torch down into the ditch where he’d seen the wing and let out a gasp of astonishment. “Look, Ash! It’s a Pegasus!” he exclaimed brightly.

 

Ash stood over the ditch, frowning. “The Pegasus won’t have travelled alone here. It hasn’t got a reason to. Its rider must be under it or somewhere in Nighthollow,” he pointed out. “I’ll lift it out of the ditch and see what happens from there.”

 

Concentrating on the slightly alarmed Pegasus, Ash found the strength to lift the mighty horse about five feet into the air before gently placing it down on the grass. While Nick ran over to murmur comforting words to it, Ash spotted a young man sprawled out slightly off to the side of the ditch with blood on his head. He didn’t look much older than Ash, but he was probably about the same height of possibly a little shorter.

 

The man suddenly coughed and his eyes flew open, clutching the right side of his rib cage which he was laying on. His face was screwed up with pain.

 

Ash curled his lip. “Who the heck are you, and why are you here?”

 

“I need your help.” the man managed to get out between grunts of pain.

 

“Why didn’t you just go elsewhere, then?” Ash retorted. “I’m sure someone else would be enthralled to help you. I’m currently not in a good mood because a certain someone disturbed my beauty sleep.”

 

The man’s brown gaze lifted towards Ash hopefully. “Please, sir. My friends told me I’d find help here with the four surviving saviours – the ones who brought back the Phoenix’s Treasure.”

 

The younger teenager raised an eyebrow. “We’re tired and grieving. Come back when we haven’t got so much on our shoulders.” he snapped fiercely.

 

“You don’t understand!” the man pleaded, his pain threshold clearly increasing. “I will die unless you help, and so will my people!”

 

“What Demon Drink have you been consuming? Whatever it is, it’s some pretty strong stuff,” the Pureblood replied curtly. “And for the record, I don’t take kindly to helping strangers. I’ll help you out of the ditch, but then I’ll bid you on your way. My people don’t like trespassers, especially weird ones like you.”

 

Once he lifted the stranger out of the ditch thanks to his powers, he pulled out a sword from his belt and clutched his side with the other hand. Ash could see he was trying to put on a fierce face but failing miserably. “You children are so ignorant. You really have no idea who I am, do you?” he remarked, his voice wavering a little.

 

Ash pointed his dagger at him warningly, a shadow passing over his dark green eyes. “I couldn’t give a care to who you are, but I wouldn’t mess with me. I’m one of the best-skilled Purebloods for my age in Nighthollow and also not badly injured. I’ll overpower you easily.” he replied coolly.

 

Nick poked his head up, his brown eyes widened with horror. “Don’t do it, Ash!”

 

“You should listen to your friend, buddy. Things could get messy if you decide to actually fight me. I’ve been training since I was four.” the trespasser responded smugly, a weak sneer crossing his pain-stricken face.

 

“That’s impossible,” Ash snapped back, taking a large step forward with his dagger still pointed threateningly at the stranger. “The legal age is seven.”

 

“That may be the case for you, but that rule doesn’t apply to me,” he went on. “I am the-”

 

He suddenly spluttered a cough and collapsed to the ground, clutching his right side and allowing his eyes to shut. Ash placed the dagger back into his coat pocket and crouched down, poking the stranger’s face. “Get Cynthia, Nick!” he yelled over to his cabin-mate. “We need to find out who he is!”

 

“What about the Pegasus?” Nick inquired.

 

“Just leave her be. We need to get this guy to Cynthia so she can find out whatever is wrong with him. I’ll interrogate him further tomorrow to get some answers. I don’t trust him, but he clearly has a story to tell.”

Chapter 8 - Consequence

When Oscar eventually opened his eyes, he found himself in a small bed with a damp cloth on his face. He could vaguely remember the events of last night, but his brain felt fuzzy and he couldn’t think straight.

 

Once he managed to sit himself up, he realised the horrific pain in the right side of his rib cage was gone. The only thing that hurt now was his head. What on earth happened to me last night?

 

“Alas, our sleeping lion stirs,” an elderly female voice chuckled. “How’s your head?”

 

“Hurts a bit, but nothing much,” Oscar responded with a yawn. “Where am I, if you don’t mind answering? And what happened yesterday?”

 

“Why, you’re in Nighthollow of course!” The woman couldn’t help expressing a laugh. “You crash-landed here on your Pegasus. Two of our trainees spoke to you and brought you back here when you collapsed. Your Pegasus is out the back with my old pony and I believe one of the boys who found you yesterday are bringing some of his friends to question you. It’s about something you mentioned in the discussion?”

 

Before the Prince could reply, he heard a door open and a few voices.

 

“So he’s here?”

 

“Yeah, Nick and I dragged him here last night. He weighs a ton!”

 

“Thanks a lot for that super-useful information, Ash.”

 

“No need to be rude, Atlas.”

 

Atlas… that name rings a bell! Oscar realised, thinking back to the newspaper article he’d seen the other day at the café. He’s one of the young spokespeople for the Nighthollow Council!

 

The elderly woman shifted her way slowly away from Oscar and in the direction of the voices. “Councillor Ravener, Councillor Wilde, Mr Chase and Miss Bird,” she addressed them formally. “I take it you are here to speak with the stranger?”

 

“Well, duh!” a female voice responded sharply. “Why else would we be here?”

 

“Right this way, then.” the old woman went on airily, ignoring the other girl’s comment.

 

Oscar felt a little wary as the old woman returned with the four people. They had the memories of many battles dancing in their eyes; Oscar was no fool to what they had experienced. Nighthollow were frequently attacked by Demons, so the majority of the population had fought in battle.

 

“Hello there,” a black haired boy began cautiously yet politely. “My name is Atlas Ravener. I am a newly elected young spokesperson of the Council.”

 

A glum-faced girl with shoulder length brown hair stepped forward next. “Clarissa Bird.” she announced simply with a slither of ice creeping into her voice which made Oscar shiver a little.

 

“You already know me from our delightful encounter last night, but you probably don’t know Luna Wilde,” Ash commented, gesturing to the young girl beside him with wavy blonde hair. “Like Atlas, she’s also newly elected to the Council.”

 

“I already knew of their status. My friend who ran the café where I’m from showed me the article announcing it,” Oscar admitted before turning to Atlas. “The little one who died was your sister, wasn’t she? I give you my condolences.”

 

Atlas sniffed and didn’t respond, so Luna answered gravely for him. “Yes. However, I think it would be best if you didn’t bring it up.”

 

The Prince shrugged. “So. Question me.”

 

“What is your full name as well as your current position?” Ash inquired, perching on the corner of a desk next to the door.

 

“Oscar Herring. Exile from the Pureblood High Kingdom,” Oscar answered airily. “My friends directed me because I need your assistance.”

 

Clarissa narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “I don’t believe you. Those of the High Kingdom don’t usually come crawling here for help.”

 

Such nice people. Oscar remarked privately, not meeting eye contact with the young hostile girl as she continued to glare at him with fierce blue eyes. “I completely refuse to believe you until you give us proof!”

 

Ash suddenly fumbled around in his jacket pocket before revealing a smooth grey stone which he clutched in his hand tightly. “I could use this Seeing Stone to discover that for myself, or I’ll just throw it at his head to see what happens. I personally prefer the latter.” he commented coolly.

 

The elderly woman immediately stepped in front of the Prince. “No harm shall come to him here. I think it would be best if you all left him to rest for the morning and perhaps come back in the afternoon – the poor sap doesn’t look ready for all your accusations.”

 

Luna shrugged, not looking too bothered. “Okay. I’ll go and check in on Cody: I haven’t seen him this morning and I’m wondering if he’s still asleep.”

 

“I’ll come with you,” Ash offered lightly. “Life does get boring when you’ve been kicked off the training program.”

 

As the group were herded out of the room by the woman that Oscar still didn’t know the name of, the Prince found himself suddenly drifting off to sleep as if he’d been given some sort of drug.

 

~

 

“Mama? Mama?”

 

Cody was desperate now. He had been having nightmares about his Mother for two weeks now and feared something bad had happened to her. Sure, he loved Luna as his older sister, but now Mia needed him. He had to save her.

 

He had quietly slipped out of Nighthollow early this morning before most of the people in his assigned cabin were awake. Cody only had little legs, so he had figured out that he would have had to leave early so he wouldn’t be wandering around the streets of London at night where the werewolves were liable to attack him. He knew that Celeste wouldn’t attack him, but he still had to keep his wits about him.

 

The blonde haired child was trailing down a long alleyway, avoiding getting caught in the gaze of the Normals as they trekked up and down the streets. He didn’t want their attention or gifts like they would probably give him; his only mission was to reach The Lodge.

 

“Cody? What are you doing here?”

 

Cody spotted a tall pale-skinned teenager with wavy brown hair running over to him with a slightly concerned look upon her face. Celeste!

 

“Are you here alone?” Celeste inquired, narrowing her eyes. “It’s not safe here. I had to save two Normal children that were attacked by my Pack two nights ago and I don’t really fancy getting Luna to hate me because I can’t keep command over my werewolves.”

 

“I’m going to find my Mama!” Cody declared. “Which way is The Lodge?”

 

“I’m not letting you go near her, Cody. She is a bad influence on you. Return to Nighthollow before you drag out the entirety of the population there out into the Normal world where things could go horribly wrong,” Celeste ordered sternly. “I can’t believe Luna let you come here alone! She knows how dangerous it is!”

 

“I came here myself without a word!” the seven year old retorted. “I’m going to continue searching whether you like it-”

 

A sack was suddenly pulled over his head in mid-sentence, plunging him into darkness. He let out a shrill scream as he felt his wrists and ankles being bound by rope which scratched his skin harshly. “Celeste!” he screeched desperately as he tried to wriggle about to free himself. “Help me!”

 

Cody could hear Celeste attacking someone in her wolf form, but then he heard a gunshot and a yelp of pain which made him scream. “Celeste!”

 

He kept on screaming her name even as he was dragged away and thrown into the back of what seemed to be a car. His cries were eventually drowned out by the sound of the engine as the vehicle drove away from the alleyway and towards a new destination.  

Chapter 9 - The Giant Worm

“Calm yourself, sweetheart. I will alert the Council and make sure they conduct a search.”

 

“Thank you, Rosco.”

 

“No problem at all, Luna. Go and take some deep breaths and talk to someone about it who can offer you some confidence about the situation. I’m sure little Cody is safe, wherever he may be.”

 

Luna rose from the chair in the library and made her way out, tears forming her pastel blue eyes. All she had wanted to do was hide in there and bawl, but she didn’t want to look weak in front of the elderly man. She admittedly hadn’t cried when Rune died, but if anyone had messed with little Cody… she couldn’t imagine life without her little brother being there, even if she’d known his existence for a little over a month. He had become part of her life in ways she couldn’t possibly explain.

 

Once she was out of the library, she leant against the wall before suddenly sinking down to her feet and held her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably like a young child. She couldn’t hold it back any longer; she had to let it out.

 

“Are you okay?” a voice asked a little awkwardly.

 

Lifting her head, Luna saw Ash standing a few feet away from her, his dark green eyes lost and staring down at his shoes. He had a small brown paper bag in his hand which he offered out to her. “I thought you might want something to eat. Food is the world’s best antidote for anything and everything.”

 

“Food isn’t going to bring back Cody, Ash!” Luna yelled at him through her tears. “He won’t come back unless we do something!”

 

Ash raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “We? What are you implying, Luna?”

 

“I’m implying that we go to rescue him, stupid!” the blonde girl replied a little fiercely as she wiped her eyes. “If we go and ask at The Lodge, they could help us find Cody and we could use Adele to search Oscar’s past. Everyone’s a winner!”

 

“I point blankly refuse,” Ash responded firmly. “Rosco’s going to talk to the Council to send out a search party of experienced Purebloods. We don’t need to get involved.”

 

“I am part of the Council, if you remember correctly. I probably have more knowledge of the wide world than most Purebloods twice my age too: someone’s going to get hurt unless I go.” Luna sniffed, turning away from him.

 

“You do not need to throw your life out on the line to be the hero all the time.”

 

“I’m just proving myself as a brave older sister looking out for her brother. This mess is partly my fault for not keeping an eye on him and I’m going to redeem myself by being brave.”

 

“You have nothing to prove and nothing to be sorry for. Bravery is not defined by throwing yourself into the fire – putting out the flames is true courage.”

 

“Sitting on the fence and observing is cowardice. If you don’t want to go, then I’ll go by myself and prove you wrong.”

 

Luna heard Ash sigh irritably as he walked round and crouched in front of her, looking her dead in the eye. “Look, you have nothing to prove to me and never will. I know of your abilities and don’t doubt them at all. I just believe that you should calm down and let the Council deal with Cody. They’ll find him in no time.”

 

“He’s my brother, Ash. You don’t understand,” Luna murmured, not meeting his concerned green gaze. “Right now, he could be scared and alone. Assembling a search party will waste too much time – if I go now I can prevent his suffering.”

 

The brown haired boy tapped her lightly on the chin with his thumb. “No one said he was in pain. With his unknown whereabouts, I highly doubt that he’s injured or-”

 

He was cut off by an ear-splitting crash coming from the forest, unleashing a chorus of screams from the surrounding Purebloods. Luna leapt up to her feet rather quickly yet clumsily, eyes widened curiously. “What the heck was that?”

 

Ash frowned as he got up, grasping the hilt of his dagger on his belt. “Please tell me that was someone’s stomach growling on a megaphone.”

 

“I won’t even ask why on earth you said that,” Luna mumbled, getting a curved long sword out of her own belt. “It sounded like an earthquake of some sort, but there was no damage caused apart from that bang.”

 

Ash’s emerald eyes darkened. “Only one creature can move like that, and that creature happens to be a Demon. It appears we are once again being attacked.”

 

A mound of earth suddenly appeared just on the edge of the forest before collapsing to reveal a giant black worm-like thing with tiny orange eyes and gigantic razor sharp teeth. It unleashed a mighty roar which shook the trees and buildings around slightly. Luna found herself frozen in horror as she stared up at the beast. Is it here for the Phoenix’s Treasure again? Has it taken Cody?

 

“If you want to be smothered to death by that mutated earthworm, by all means stand there blankly and stay in whatever planet you’re on,” Ash grumbled, elbowing her hard in the side. “I’m going to try and lift something which might injure it. Cover for me, will you?”

 

Nodding, Luna kept her sword clutched in her right hand as Ash concentrated on a large window from the infirmary not too far away. He managed to yank it out of the wall with no damage sustained, so he thrust his hands towards the Demon and the window flew through the air, smacking into the Demon’s face and sending shards of glass flying onto its black skin. It somehow didn’t let out any sort of pained cry – it just glared fiercely at Ash with its orange pinprick eyes and let out a fierce growl which made Luna nervous. What’s it planning?

 

The Demon worm sucked up all the glass into his mouth casually before turning back to the two young Purebloods, opening its jaws wide and spitting the glass shards out at them.

 

“Duck!” Ash yelled as he pushed Luna roughly down to her knees before crouching beside her as the shards flew over their heads. Luna let out a slight yelp of pain as she felt a slightly smaller piece scrape her face, leaving a cut on her left cheek which did let a trickle of blood dribble out. Her friend shuffled over after hearing her yelp. “Did you get hit by the glass?” he asked warily.

 

“It only grazed my cheek. It’ll heal quickly enough,” the Pureblood girl assured him. “You weren’t hit, right?”

 

The pale skinned teenager shook his head. “I’m fine. Sorry I threw the window.”

 

“We didn’t know it could fight back like that,” Luna insisted. “Anyway, I’m going to see if I can find something to slice through the worm. My sword could work, but I’m concerned the worm will eat it and Rosco told me this was my father’s sword.”

 

“You could use barbed wire. There are loads next to the training targets,” Ash suggested thoughtfully, pointing to a relatively large pile of the sharp wire. “Doesn’t one of the girls in your cabin possess the power to make some objects come alive?

 

“Yes: Meena Durain.”

 

Meena was a sixteen year old Pureblood who had originally been born into the Normal world. She’d been sent to boarding school, but she had few friends there because she was different. Rather than attempting to build a friendship group like all the other children, she had slumped around the hallways by herself because she was unwilling to make friends. The school had received reports of Meena bringing tables and such to life and had injured one girl when she was eleven; she was thrown out after that little fiasco and left home in fear of hurting someone because she couldn’t control her powers properly. Her parents were exiled from their previous sanctuary and didn’t fancy stepping foot in another one, so they suggested to Meena that she should travel to Nighthollow and return to them once she had completed training. Luna was quite friendly with the troubled child and enjoyed her company, but she would be graduating from her training soon because she was too old to continue and she should have fully developed her powers by now.

 

“We should find Meena to ask if she could do it for us.” Ash decided, nodding his head encouragingly.

 

“You wanted me?”

 

Luna nearly had a heart attack when the curly haired girl appeared behind her. She was quite small and petite for her age, with thick curly black hair tied up in a ponytail and light green eyes. Among her various scars from Demons and training, she had a light dusting of freckles on the bridge of her nose and under her eyes.

 

Ash acknowledged her with a quick nod. “Would you be able to make that barded wire come alive? Luna and I were thinking that it could kill the Demon because we really aren’t going to be able to fight it off for long.”

 

“I can try, but these things can develop minds of their own and the outcome isn’t always pretty,” Meena responded, sucking in her breath thoughtfully. “The last time I brought something similar to life, I had to kill it myself because it tried to kill Thorn. It’s amusing thinking about it, but it really wasn’t funny at the time.”

 

“We may have no other option,” Ash sighed. “Go for it.”

 

Looking a bit wary, Meena stepped forward towards the tangle of wire and flicked her wrist upwards, summoning up the sharp metal in a snake-like manner. She flung her hand towards the worm Demon, allowing her barbed wire snake to let loose and attack the intruder, its spikes digging into the Demon’s black skin and unleashing splatters of black blood. The wire snake wrapped itself around the Demon’s neck and thus cutting off its air supply.

 

Luna nodded at Meena. “Good work. I don’t think we have anything to worry about now. You can stop now.”

 

The curly haired teenager threw her hands down, and the barbed wire snake went limp around the Demon’s neck as it faded away with a cry of anguish.

 

The Purebloods let up a loud cheer as the Demon vanished from existence, but Luna didn’t feel any urge to join in. She could see families grieving over some of the younger Purebloods who had bravely lost their lives fighting against the giant worm Demon, which sent a wave of guilt over the young girl. She usually did feel guilt when others died, but something wasn’t adding up.

 

The Demons hadn’t bothered Nighthollow for several weeks now since a group of them were killed during the battle at the Land Of The Lost and Alpha had disappeared. They usually wouldn’t go into battle unless motivated by their leader. A chill passed through Luna as one question hung in her mind.

 

Has Alpha returned?

Chapter 10 - Plans And Reunions

Atlas wiped the last of the blood from the cut on Luna’s cheek with a damp cloth, only leaving the small outline of the cut on her face. “There.”

 

“Thanks, Atlas,” Luna replied, leaping up off the stool she’d been sitting on. “I’ll take more care next time.”

 

The skinny boy went over to the sink and turned on the tap, wrangling the excess water out of the cloth and cleaning the blood off it. “You were taking care – you just need to watch where these objects come from. Knowing before they strike will save you from injury, whether it’s a minor bleed or slicing your internal organs open or something.”

 

Luna shuddered. “Thanks for the delightful image.” she remarked uncertainly.

 

“You weren’t meant to picture it in your head, stupid,” Atlas sighed, shaking his head. “Anyway, a message came from The Lodge earlier. Rosco retrieved it and I think it’s pretty important.”

 

“Why would they send a message to us?” Luna pondered. “If it’s truly important, they would notify the Council or the Fellowship of The Phoenix.”

 

Atlas thrust a folded piece of paper at her. “See for yourself.”

 

Nodding, the wavy haired Pureblood unfolded the letter and gazed at the contents.

 

Cody in London. Possibly alive but unknown whereabouts. Cece shot + wounded badly attempting to save him. Last seen him forced into back of car? Meet at Lodge ASAP.

-  L

 

Luna felt the blood draining out of her face as she read the note in her head. Atlas stared at her in concern. “What’s happened? Is everyone okay?”

 

“Cody’s been kidnapped,” Luna replied bluntly. “And Celeste has been shot.”

 

Atlas looked horrified as his cousin was mentioned. “Is she alive?”

 

“The letter states she was wounded badly. Either her Pack or the guys at The Lodge would be keeping an eye on her,” Luna pointed out. “Nonetheless, our presence is being called upon at The Lodge as soon as possible.”

 

“The Council have sent out search parties for Cody. We shouldn’t really leave Nighthollow, especially as Councillor Airing is still wary of you.” Atlas sighed, wiping his glasses.

 

“Stuff the Council, I’m going to look for my brother whether anyone likes it or not,” Luna retorted. “You can either come or not.”

 

“You will need my navigation skills.”

 

“Oh ha-ha. Who else should come?”

 

“Ash is stronger than both of us, plus he thinks the world of both you and Cody. He would be a valuable person to have around if this comes down to a fight.”

 

“I think that we should bring Oscar too. We can get some answers out of him if we get Adele to search his memories and he’s from the High Kingdom who are notorious for their ferocity in battle.”

 

“Sounds logical enough. I doubt Clarissa would want to come, so I think we should bring another girl along.”

 

“Four of us is enough if we’re not going to cause the Council to grow suspicious. If too many of us go missing suddenly, they’ll try to stop us early on.”

 

“We’ll need to ask Cynthia first if we can bring Oscar with us.”

 

“I’ll get round her. You wait and see.”

 

~

 

Oscar had been rather humbled to accompany the three Purebloods to the Normal world. As he had never ventured out of the Pureblood world, he felt a slight unease as they set off, but he was quite excited on the prospect of walking among these creatures. To his surprise, his three companions didn’t say a word as they journeyed on.

 

“You guys are lucky to grow up in Nighthollow,” he commented in an attempt to create conversation. “It looks and sounds like a great place: you’re all like one big family.”

 

“Family? Don’t make me laugh,” Ash scowled. “The only real family I have live out here.”

 

Oscar titled his head to the side in confusion. “Were you born in the Normal world?”

 

“Yes. My parents went into hiding because my mother was still training when she was pregnant with me, so when I was born they put me under the care of my aunt and uncle in Nighthollow.” the younger boy replied icily.

 

“Tough crowd,” Oscar remarked, flicking his honey brown hair back. “What about you two? Did you get abandoned in a shoebox or something?”

 

Luna’s pastel blue gaze hardened. “You son of a-”

 

“My mother died in childbirth,” Atlas cut in quickly, taking a slightly friendlier approach to the question. “My father has raised me alone, but he also fostered Rune. Luna’s father was killed by Alpha in a battle seven years ago and her mother was held captive in the Land Of The Lost as a prisoner of war which was where she gave birth to Cody. They both escaped, but she now takes residence at The Lodge with Ash’s parents and some of our other friends.”

 

“I see,” the Prince responded, ignoring the anger in Luna’s eyes. “My parents were shot by terrorists when I was six years old. My mother died protecting me and they killed my father when he was asleep.”

 

“The joy of terrorists.” Ash sneered.

 

“At least my parents loved me enough to keep me.” Oscar retorted coldly.

 

The brown haired Pureblood took a dagger from his belt and pointed it at him, his dark green eyes narrowed. “Is that a challenge?” he asked coolly.

 

Oscar opened his mouth to reply, but Atlas slapped Ash around the face so he dropped the dagger and thus wasn’t a threat anymore. “Are you insane?” the black haired boy snapped. “We’re surrounded by Normals and you just pulled a dagger out on someone! Pull yourself together and act in a civil manner, for goodness sake!”

 

Scowling, Ash bent down to pick up his dagger and glared at Atlas fiercely. “I’ll take up the rear.”

 

Wincing at the large red mark on Ash’s pale face, Oscar nimbly joined Luna at the front, not saying a word to her. After her previous reaction to his words, he decided to remain silent.

 

“Here we are.” Atlas announced once they’d got outside a massive black house at the end of a relatively normal looking street. Oscar could spot two teenagers sat on the top step leading up to the house who Luna yelled at. “I don’t think Nigel would approve of you both casually sitting on the steps to a safe house!”

 

The taller of the two – a slender girl with shiny long ink-black hair and watchful green eyes – leapt up to her feet and darted down the steps, dragging Atlas into a fierce embrace. “I’ve missed you all so much!” she exclaimed.

 

Luna and Ash exchanged an amused look as the other teenager made his way down the steps, a bright grin painted on his face. “Long time no see.”

 

“Hello, Jason,” Ash replied pleasantly, a smile creeping into his stern expression. “Have you been driven crazy by Leon yet?”

 

“He’s actually a really great mate,” the boy named Jason replied cheerfully. “The only one you have to watch out for around here is Adele. She walked through Flint’s memories and nearly gave the poor guy a heart attack.”

 

“Good to see she’s still up to her old tricks,” Luna teased. “Anyway, Leon called on us because of the incident with Celeste. Is she okay?”

 

“She’s alive, but Nigel’s worried about her. She was shot in the leg in wolf form – thank God it was her back leg otherwise it would have shot her arm in human form,” Jason sighed. “We’ve had a few members of her Pack stay with us while she slowly heals, but I think she’ll need to stand down for a while. Nigel thinks there will be long-term damage from this.”

 

“Pack?” Oscar was instantly suspicious. “This is a Pureblood safe house that looks after stray werewolves?”

 

Jason narrowed his brown eyes at him. “And you are?”

 

“This is Oscar Herring. He’s from one of the Pureblood Kingdoms and we’ll need Adele’s assistance to piece together his reason for being here,” Luna explained quickly. “Oscar, this is Jason Warner. He’s a Normal spy for the FTP and lives here too with his sister Isabelle. She’s the one molesting Atlas.”

 

“I guess I’d better show you all inside,” Jason commented, his gaze sweeping across the three Purebloods. “Come on in. Cassie’s preparing lunch, so we’ll feed you up and then discuss the current situation at hand.”

Chapter 11 - Time To Change

Luna trailed after Cassie as she went back and forth to the kitchen, bringing various plates and bowls to the hungry arrivals. Despite the fact she was starving to death after missing breakfast, she was happy to help out the curly brown haired woman bring in the insane amount of food she had prepared.

 

As Cassie retrieved a bowl of soup for Flint, she stared over at Luna with her soft blue gaze. “I noticed that Ash seems a bit brighter. Have Robert and Matilda left him alone now?” she asked quietly.

 

“I haven’t seen very much of Matilda so I can’t really say, but Robert will occasionally make a few harsh moves.” Luna responded.

 

“I see,” Cassie just quickly nodded. “Well, I’m glad that you’re all safe and healthy. As long as you’re happy in Nighthollow, then that’s all that matters.”

 

Luna blinked at her in confusion. “I’ve nearly always been happy in Nighthollow. What do you mean?”

 

“That wasn’t directed to you, dear,” the young woman insisted hastily, passing Luna a large packet of crisps. “We should get this moving on rather quickly now. I think everyone has slowly died of starvation waiting for us.”

 

The wavy haired Pureblood followed Cassie back into the living room and placed the crisps down with the various bowls and plates on the coffee table before slumping down on the floor between Adele and Ash. Adele greeted her friend with a smile, her non-blind eye bright. “It’s great to see you again, Luna.”

 

“And yourself,” Luna replied cheerfully. “How have things been here? I haven’t received any letters from you guys for a while now.”

 

Adele gave her an amused look. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you why we haven’t been replying to your messages.”

 

“Fair enough.”

 

Atlas picked up a piece of bread and started spreading jam on it, glancing up at the door as a black haired man came into the room. “Hello, Will. Good to see you again.”

 

Will was Cassie’s husband and also the father of Ash. They were both teenagers when Cassie had given birth, so they unwillingly gave up their son to Will’s older brother Robert and his wife Matilda. Ash had only discovered the secret when he and Luna had stumbled upon The Lodge while on the journey for the Phoenix’s Treasure and hadn’t taken it well, but now he’d come round and finally grew to appreciate his parents.

 

Adele blinked nervously. “Isn’t Leon supposed to be with you?” she inquired.

 

“Leon’s catching up,” Will assured her, wiping his brow. “We were ambushed by some masked Purebloods and we took a prisoner. I think she could help us find Cody.”

 

“Masked Purebloods?” Cassie echoed. “I think I heard something about a group of them. They’ve already caused havoc in Texas, Peru and Egypt.”

 

“I guess we’ll find out.” Will sighed.

 

Leon then trudged in with a small hooded figure behind him. Their wrists were bound by a fine silver chain which Oscar seemed to recognise immediately. “Ironchain,” he commented a little suspiciously. “Why would you have possession of it when everyone knows it can fatally harm Purebloods?”

 

“I use it to keep the swooning Pureblood girls under control,” Leon replied bitterly, turning to Will and Cassie. “I haven’t got a name out of her yet, but she claims to be twenty four which I find hard to believe taking her height and strength into consideration.”

 

Will narrowed his dark blue eyes. “Interesting. Is she aware we have a member of The Order with us who will be able to fish out any lies lurking inside her?”

 

“She didn’t ask,” the fair haired Halfblood responded. “Anyway, is Emma about? I could do with some assistance with a couple of wounds.”

 

“I could have a look at them.” Adele offered politely.

 

Leon shook his head. “Its fine, Adele. I think Emma knows more about how to treat these types of wounds. She is medically trained, after all.”

 

“Besides, I actually need to ask a favour off you,” Luna chipped in. “Our rather unsocial friend-”

 

“Friend?” Ash snorted, rolling his eyes. “Don’t make me laugh.”

 

Luna ignored his comment and continued. “Anyway, Oscar claims to be from the High Kingdom, but we have no proof of his past and can’t help him unless he tells us the complete and utter truth. Would you be able to walk in his memories and find out if he’s actually hiding anything?”

 

Adele nodded curtly. “Of course,” she said quietly. “I’ll put your interrogation forward after lunch and let you know. In the meantime, you could probably try and get some information out of the prisoner to find out what happened to Cody and why Celeste was shot.”

 

“Thank you.” Luna felt relief crash over her like a wave.

 

As the large group tucked into the feast, Luna spotted Adele occasionally glancing over at Leon with an unreadable expression in her good blue eye. I only wish I could see into her head to see why she keeps staring at Leon. She looks so worried about him – is there something we haven’t been told?

 

“So, was this Celeste the only one to witness Cody being taken?” Oscar questioned, munching on a homemade chocolate chip cookie.

 

Leon’s brown stare hardened. “Don’t you listen?”

 

“Calm it, buddy. I was only asking to see if I could help at all,” Oscar responded airily. “You may not realise it, but I do want to help out. I wouldn’t have accepted to come if I didn’t want to help.”

 

Leon just grunted. “We’ll find that out when Adele walks in your memories.”

 

Oscar looked fascinated at the thought. “She’s a member of The Order? I thought they died out a few centuries ago. Any survivors were executed.”

 

“That execution was only a rumor,” Adele informed him. “There are still five of us alive, I think. My little brother Rory and three other members survived the attack on our headquarters as well as me, but I don’t know the whereabouts of any of them. They’re likely to be around the Normal world.”

 

“Interesting.” the brown haired teenager replied thoughtfully.

 

Luna let out a small yawn, feeling sleep creep up on her like a shadow. “Would anyone object if I had a quick nap? I’m exhausted and just want to sleep.”

 

Cassie shook her head. “I don’t blame you. If you want to go upstairs, that’s fine by me. I’ll send for someone to wake you up when we’re ready to question the young woman.”

 

“I don’t think I’ll make it up the stairs…” The young Pureblood trailed off, her eyes feeling heavy as she allowed her head to drop to the side. Ash sensed her tiredness and draped one arm over her shoulders, drawing her close to him and allowing her to rest her weary head on his shoulder. Luna was just able to murmur her thanks as the deep ocean of sleep pulled her down into its depths.

 

~

 

“I think we should leave her be for now,” Cassie suggested, biting her lip. “Let her sleep in here. We can take our conversation into the kitchen.”

 

“I’ll stay with her in case she freaks. You can let me know when you intent to question the prisoner.” Ash offered, feeling a little reluctant to leave the wavy haired teenager.

 

“She’ll be fine, Ash.” Atlas replied a little dryly, but he stiffened slightly. Ash was curious immediately. What’s got into him now?

 

Adele quickly left the room and returned with a light blue blanket, gesturing to Luna. “Get her up onto the sofa so she’s comfortable.” she ordered lightly.

 

Nodding, Ash gently hauled her up onto the sofa and placed her head onto one of the pillows, allowing Adele to drape the blanket over her. She really did look exhausted, but Ash couldn’t understand why. He only wished he could look into her mind and see what was troubling her, what was making her so tired. She usually had barrels of energy at the ready to irritate certain people, but now she looked the complete opposite. She almost looked ill.

 

Whatever’s up with you, I hope you’ll be okay.

 

“Ash?” Atlas’s sharp voice cut into his thoughts like a dagger. “Could I have a word?”

 

The dark brown haired Pureblood shrugged. “Sure. Won’t do any harm.”

 

Atlas decided to wait until everyone had left before leading Ash out of the living room and into the hallway, ignoring all the laughter from the kitchen. He took off his glasses and cleaned them quickly with the hem of his white t-shirt before placing them back on and staring at Ash. “Is there something I should know about?” he inquired.

 

Ash narrowed his dark green eyes. “What are you on about?”

 

“You and Luna. You seem closer than usual, plus someone from your cabin mentioned to me this morning that you were dating,” Atlas responded a little briskly, crossing his arms. “Care to enlighten me on how long this little fling has been going on for?”

 

“When are my affairs any of your business?” Ash retorted angrily, clenching his fists. “And for your information, we’ve been dating for just over a month. We didn’t tell you because of the time you were going through at the time, plus I was in jail so we didn’t want to establish it officially until I was free.”

 

“Who knew about this?” Atlas demanded. “I’m absolutely thrilled that you couldn’t trust me enough to tell me!”

 

“The only ones who knew were Cody and Nick, but Nick found out unintentionally. Luna told Cody and he was cool with it,” Ash responded a little calmer. “I don’t see the problem.”

 

“That’s one thing I hate about you,” Atlas grumbled. “The way you go from fuming to cool.”

 

“Coming back on topic, what does my relationship with Luna have to do with you?” Ash questioned icily.

 

“Don’t you think I know the real you? That sarcastic, bloodthirsty creature who has never loved another living thing in his entire life? That lying little cheat who won’t take no for an answer? That broken toy that won’t allow himself to be tossed in the dirt because he’s too special to bear it?”

 

“I recommend you stop there, Atlas. I might have to take action otherwise.”

 

“No, I won’t! I know that you’ll hurt her and I refuse to let you make her life a misery!”

 

Ash sucked in his breath and blinked at the black haired teenager in genuine surprise. “Make her life a misery? My life is a misery.”

 

Atlas gritted his teeth and pointed a dagger threateningly at Ash, making him hold his hands up. “Put the dagger down. There’s no need for us to fight.”

 

“You killed my sister: of course there’s a need for us to fight!” Atlas screeched, throwing the dagger straight at him. Ash quickly snapped into action and thrust his hand forward, making the flying dagger fall to the ground abruptly with a clatter. “That’s a warning, Atlas. We all know who will win this fight.”

 

“I don’t want you to go treading on your best friend’s heart. She was like Rune’s sister and I’m going to look out for her, which means you’ll have to deal with me if you hurt her. Luna already lost so much already and if she looses you, I can’t possibly imagine-”

 

“Okay, I’ll give her the fact that she watched her father die in front of her, her mother lied to her and she lost Rune, but I think even she can vouch that she’s not the victim of whatever plotlines are messing with us. I lived as a silent, suffering shadow for seven years and was lied to about my parentage. No one wanted to be my friend until you three came into my life and took me under your wing. I learnt that my parents deliberately abandoned me and didn’t try to interfere with my life. I have to live with the guilt of knowing that I made a stupid decision to go along with Rune’s suicidal idea. I was tortured for a month because of this miscarriage of justice that you caused and I have lost my status of being a good Pureblood because I was kicked off the training program. You have every right to voice your opinion on me because I know I am a damaged monster, but I am the author of my story and the author says it’s time to change the protagonist’s fate.”

 

Atlas opened his mouth to speak, but Ash just cut him off by raising his hand as he made his way up the stairs. “Enough has been done. Leave the monster alone.”

Chapter 12 - Behind The Mask

Ash lifted his head lightly from the book in his lap and glanced at the door. “It’s open.”

 

The door handle turned down, and Adele poked her head in. “I’ve gone through Oscar’s memories and have a result.” she announced.

 

“And?” Ash urged, closing the book and rising to his feet. He’d been waiting for this news for most of the afternoon and was itching to get answers.

 

“He speaks the truth. He is from the High Kingdom, but what you may not be aware is that the Herrings are their royal family,” Adele explained. “Oscar was heir to the throne, but since his uncle Stefan came into power as King he was played down and now his cousin is next in line. It also appears that the King is conspiring with Alpha to kill his nephew.”

 

“Interesting,” Ash remarked thoughtfully. “The only thing that I’m still confused by is why he came to Nighthollow rather than elsewhere.”

 

“He was fascinated by your journey and believed you could help him. He might be older than you, but he is desperate to take back his kingdom. The least you could do is try to help rather than being so cold. He could benefit you in some way – you might learn something from him.” Adele went on, crossing her arms.

 

“He’s a spineless rat, Adele. He may act all innocent, but I sense something dark lives in him,” Ash replied icily. “This might seem sudden, but he offended me deeply and I will not forgive or trust him. If the others are willing to go ahead and help Oscar, I will assist but remain hostile to him.”

 

Adele narrowed her blue eyes fiercely at him. “He’s just a child, Ash – not much older than you at that. He’s frightened and needs help; can’t you just accept that we all get offended at some point in our lives? You probably offended him first, anyway.”

 

The dark haired teenager shrugged. “Is Luna awake yet? I need a word with her about something important.” he inquired, moving away from the subject of the Prince.

 

“I don’t believe so. I checked in on her ten minutes ago and she’s still fast asleep: she really must be exhausted. How hard is she being worked?”

 

“I was kicked off the training program, so I only see her a few times a day. Today has probably been the most I’ve seen her in a single day.”

 

“Did she not visit you in jail? I’m sure that status as Councillor would let her pass.”

 

“Only Councillor Airing and the actual Council visit the prisoners. Luna is a young spokesperson and doesn’t have any advantage with it really apart from a fancy title and attending the Council meetings.”

 

“Do you think she and Atlas were chosen deliberately to get back at you?”

 

“I don’t think so. If they were truly trying to get back at me, then they probably would have exiled me from Nighthollow altogether. Besides, I’m sure the Council have me somewhere near the bottom of their priorities because I’m not an adult and I don’t reign superior over anyone.”

 

“Your power is very strong, Ash. You may not realise it, but controlling gravity over objects is a pretty big deal. I have seen you save lives on numerous occasions because of your power. The Council should be afraid of you.”

 

“The Council aren’t the slightest bit scared of me. Robert probably has them all believing that I’m a little weakling incapable of such damage, so to them I’m just another Pureblood trainee to mess with. We had a Demon attack Nighthollow just before we left and it was one of the older girls who defeated it because she can bring life to everyday objects. I just threw a window at it and probably injured a few people because it spat the shards out. I know Luna was hurt during that fight because of my actions.”

 

“You have to stop portraying yourself as the bad guy because we all know that you’re as good as any of us. You’re a skilled young warrior with the courage of a lion and the spirit of a survivor. I’m sure many others can vouch for that.”

 

Ash opened his mouth to reply, but he suddenly stared over at the door when he heard someone breathing. He motioned for Adele to move away from the door silently, ignoring the confused expression on her face as he grabbed the dagger from his bedside table and crept towards the door, remembering one of Thorn’s first lessons when he’d taken over from the previous tutor. You move at your quietest when you are graceful in your steps. Moving on your toes isn’t the easiest way you can travel, but it’s the best chance you’ll have of surprising your enemy. This may not always work on Demons and the Moon’s Children, but it will definitely work with most other species.

 

Once he’d reached the door, Ash grabbed the handle and flung the door open, revealing a relatively tall figure with honey brown hair. Ash knew immediately who it was. “What are you doing here, Oscar? Why were you eavesdropping?” he inquired sharply, pointing his dagger at the Prince threateningly.

 

“I heard my name and managed to catch the comment about being a spineless rat,” Oscar retorted hotly. “I’m glad you think so highly of me, Ash.”

 

“It’s a pleasure. I take pride when I insult people: especially those who wish to return the favour.” Ash replied bitterly.

 

Adele glared at the two boys fiercely. “No fighting or things will get messy,” she warned them before turning to Oscar. “Is there any news on that prisoner?”

 

“Bill said she was awake and he was waiting for Luna to wake up.” Oscar responded, taking a slightly calmer side with the immortal blonde girl.

 

“His name is Will,” Ash corrected the Prince through gritted teeth. “How stupid are you, your Majesty?”  

 

Oscar’s brown eyes flashed a warning. “Is that a challenge, reject boy?”

 

I won’t let him speak to me like that! Ash told himself, glancing towards a chair in the corner of the room and slowly lifting his hand up, bringing the chair up with him. The brown haired Pureblood let out a laugh until Ash jerked his hand violently across and thus flinging the chair across the room, hitting Oscar and knocking him over with a loud thud. He let out a gasp, clutching his right arm and fixing a look so murderous Ash wondered why he hadn’t been stabbed yet.

 

“That’s enough,” Adele snapped. “That was completely uncalled for, Ash. I suggest you go and cool off somewhere preferably away from Oscar.”

 

“With the utmost pleasure.” Ash spat.

 

~

 

Luna paced back and fourth, glancing at her light blue socks as they moved across the wooden floorboards. “State your name.” she said simply.

 

In the middle of the room, the prisoner that Leon had brought back earlier sat hunched in a chair with her wrists no longer bound by the ironchain. “What good will my name do for your precious investigation?” she snapped back.

 

“If you refuse to cooperate, I will have to simply force you to do so in the most unpleasant way possible,” Leon warned her sharply. “Answer my friend’s questions truthfully, or you won’t like the consequences.”

 

The black cloaked woman let out a grunt. “Sierra Nightlock.”

 

“And how old are you, Sierra?” Luna inquired, staring up at the young woman.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

“Seventeen.” she answered.

 

“You are part of a group of masked Purebloods, correct?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“What is your group’s name and objective?”

 

“You really think I’m going to tell you our plans, little girl? The Silhouettes don’t give in meekly to such stupid questions.”

 

“Telling me would save you from whatever pain Leon is willing to inflict on you.”

 

“I couldn’t care less. I’m a goner anyway for getting caught: my master doesn’t react well to any of us being taken prisoner. The last one was stabbed in the back quite literally.”

 

“We’ll come back to that one, then. Where are The Silhouettes located?”

 

“Like I’m really going to tell you that. What’s your interest in me, anyway?”

 

“My brother was kidnapped and my friend was stabbed this morning. We were wondering if you had any connection to that event.”

 

“Are you talking about the blonde kid and the werewolf?”

 

“Then you were involved,” Luna felt a sense of satisfaction that she’d finally found the group responsible for the ridiculous crime. “What are you intending to do with my brother?”

 

Sierra didn’t meet her pastel blue gaze. “You’ll have to find that out for yourself if you actually succeed in finding out hideout. All you’ll get out of me is that he won’t be harmed. He is safe.”

 

“That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, but thank you for cooperating,” Luna replied with a sigh. “You will remain prisoner here overnight until we decide what to do with you.”

 

Sierra shrugged, clearly not looking bothered as Luna and Leon left the room and firmly locked the door so she wouldn’t escape. Leon was the first to speak when they were outside the room. “I know we didn’t get a location or motive, but at least we know Cody is safe.”

 

“I’m not sure if I can put all my faith in her,” Luna admitted sadly. “There’s something about her which I don’t trust.”

 

Leon shot her a sympathetic look. “We’ll find Cody,” he promised her. “Even if it means venturing forever, we will get him back for you.”

 

Luna didn’t say anything to reply. She was grateful for the fair haired Halfblood’s determination to save her brother, but she had little hope that anyone would find Cody. Though Sierra had given a name of the group and confirmed they were involved, they had no idea what was happening to Cody or where they were based.

 

What if we never find Cody?

Chapter 13 - Help And Silence

“The Silhouettes?” Cassie frowned at the name as Luna explained the questioning. “I’ve got a hunch that whatever they do isn’t good news. That Sierra seemed pretty scary.”

 

Atlas glanced up, his green eyes troubled. “Even the most terrifying of people have their weaknesses.”

 

“Is there something bothering you, Atlas?” Luna asked in concern. “You seem a bit skittish.”

 

“Everything’s fine.” Atlas replied hastily, but Luna traced the uncertainty in his voice. She sighed in slight irritation. “I can tell you’re lying. I won’t judge you if it’s something bad.”

 

“He had a fight with Ash while you were sleeping,” Oscar replied dryly, turning a small black pebble over in his hands. “It wasn’t pretty.”

 

“What the heck were they fighting over?” Luna groaned.

 

“Your relationship with Ash. Atlas thinks he’ll hurt you emotionally because he’s damaged.” Oscar told her simply.

 

Cassie looked a little surprised. “I thought I heard someone yelling about being a monster. Will told me I was imagining it, but how bad was the extent of the row?”

 

“Ash can’t speak to anyone in a civil manner. He was rather shifty when Adele went to talk to him about her interrogation on me and he threw a chair at me,” the honey haired Prince sighed. “He disappeared, but I’m pretty sure I saw him return to his room looking a bit sorrowful.”

 

Luna raked her hands through her wavy blonde hair, groaning. “Oh my God. Atlas, did you really need to fight with him about that of all things? Robert and Councillor Airing were already sceptical about it because they overheard our discussion about going that far when we were in prison,” She was shaking her head. “I’ll talk to him. We’re intending to leave to find Cody tonight and I would prefer if he came.”

 

“Who else do you want there?” Cassie queried.

 

“Atlas, Leon, Adele and perhaps one of Celeste’s werewolves. They might be able to find out where The Silhouettes are based seeing as they know all magical business in London.” Luna replied.

 

The curly haired woman nodded. “Good choices. If you want to talk to Ash, I’ll find a werewolf who can help you out.”

 

~

 

Imogen had been one of the five werewolves who had stayed with Celeste since she was stabbed and brought to The Lodge. She could remember the day better than most when the sixteen year old had just turned up out of nowhere and started taking in the Packless werewolves of London. Many of the Winter Pack would probably not have lasted much longer if Celeste hadn’t appeared.

 

Now, their strong-willed leader was in a coma-like state with the possibility of loosing her leg.

 

The Pack had been in turmoil over who would take leadership of them if Celeste was forced to step down for a while. There were three candidates after the prosperous role: a former member of one of the American Packs, an exile from a Pack in Brazil and just a normal Londoner. Imogen had never been interested in politics, no matter how much it was shoved down her throat.

 

Before the Winter Pack had been formed, she was a dropout from school living out on the streets since she was eleven because she couldn’t control her wolf. She was now nearly sixteen and had found a home for the first time in five years. She’d made many friends among the Pack; Celeste being one of them. If she did die, Imogen wanted to be at her side when she did pass. It would be her debt for all her leader had done.

 

A slick-haired seventeen year old boy sitting opposite Imogen glanced at his watch, frowning. “It’s five o’clock. Myra should have been back with our fish and chips by now. Do you think she’s all right?”

 

“Myra’s quite capable of looking after herself,” Imogen assured him. “She wouldn’t want you fretting about her, Zed.”

 

“I know,” Zed sighed, swinging back on his chair so it balanced unsteadily on two legs. “It’s just with all this going on. If people are capable of kidnapping Purebloods and shooting our leader, then Myra is at potential risk. I’m worried she’s done something stupid and is now slowly bleeding out in an alleyway somewhere.”

 

“She’ll be fine!” a long-limbed girl with freckles groaned, clearly tired from listening to Zed worrying about his sister. “Myra is stronger than you think! Just be quiet in case Celeste wakes up – she wouldn’t want to wake up to bickering!”

 

Imogen nearly laughed. “You’re picking a fight right now, Georgie. Zed was completely calm.”

 

Georgie just narrowed her pale brown eyes and focused her attention on Celeste, who looked more like she was sleeping rather than unconscious thanks to her rather messy hair. Imogen had this thought that if she tried to sort it out, the wavy haired teenager would wake up and make some teasing comment of how her comrades were just sitting around doing nothing.

 

A knock at the door startled Imogen, making her straighten up in case it was Will or Nigel. “Come in.”

 

Cassie plodded in softly, her gentle blue gaze resting on the gathering of werewolves. Her face was hopeful, but there was a slither of concern creeping up on her to shadow her current expression. “Still no change, I take it?”

 

A small boy with wide brown eyes, ginger curls and a wiry figure shook his head. “Nothing.”

 

“I see,” Cassie was now definitely showing concern for the teenager she’d known for so many years. “Anyway, the group going to break out the child tonight aren’t so familiar with the mythical business of London, so I was wondering if any of you knew enough about the Pureblood gangs to show them on their way.”

 

“I want to stay with Celeste.” Georgie replied firmly.

 

“It’ll only be a few hours. Celeste is perfectly safe here,” Cassie assured her. “You’ll be doing her cousin, my son and their friends a huge favour if you help them.”

 

Imogen glanced up at Cassie and leaned forward, interested in the idea. “If these people shot her, then I’ll be more than happy to offer my assistance. Who do they need to find?”

 

“A group who go by the name of The Silhouettes. They’re a group of Purebloods-”

 

“I’m sorry, but are you trying to tell us that they willingly kidnapped one of their own?” Georgie interrupted, narrowing her cloudy grey eyes. Imogen had always thought her eyes were pretty, but had never said this to her face. The sixteen year old was like a thunderstorm; you could never predict what she’d do next.

 

Cassie closed her eyes, sighing. “Without knowing their motives, we don’t know why they took Cody. He may be Pureblood like them, but he’s so young.”

 

“I know about them,” the young boy piped up. “They’re based about fifteen minutes from here at normal walking speed.”

 

Zed stared at him in horror. “Like we’re going to let a werewolf cub go on a life-threatening mission! You’re twelve!” he cried.

 

“If Teddy knows enough about them, then I’m willing to accompany him to keep him safe. I lived on the streets for five years, so I know my way around here,” Imogen offered. “You and Georgie can stay here and wait for Myra. Just don’t eat our chips while we’re gone.”

 

Cassie looked a little nervous. “Can you both control the wolf?” she asked.

 

“Teddy’s a little iffy now and then, but I haven’t got too many issues.” Imogen told her reassuringly.

 

“Then it’s settled. If you both want to come with me, then I’ll take you to meet the Purebloods. Some of them are a little feisty, but I think you’ll get along with them without too much trouble.”

 

Saying a quick goodbye to her friends, Imogen stood up and followed Cassie’s beckoning hand out, Teddy not far behind.

 

~

 

“Sierra? Are you awake?”

 

No response came from her room, so Leon presumed she was asleep or not talking to him. He had been asked by Nigel to take up a drink which would keep her calm and hopefully reveal the location of The Silhouettes. As none of the adults had known in the first place that the gang had come to London, Sierra was possibly the only chance they had of finding Cody and avenging Celeste if she truly was going to die. Her leg definitely wouldn’t be the same again, but there was a chance that she wouldn’t survive because she’d lost so much blood.

 

Turning the shining silver key in the lock, Leon lightly kicked the door open with his foot and stepped in, his brown gaze resting on Sierra. She was sprawled out on the floor with a peaceful look on her usually stony face, a blood-stained knife in her hand.

 

There was blood on the knife.

 

Almost dropping the glass of juice, Leon crouched beside the older girl, giving her shoulder a fierce shake. “Stop playing me around, Sierra.” he ordered sharply, though he could hear the shakiness of his voice.

 

No response.

 

“So help me, I’ll bang pans over your head if necessary. Just wake up!”

 

Silence.

 

“Sierra!”

 

Only an echo of his cry followed.

 

With his heart running a marathon, Leon lifted her hood to reveal out-of-control curly brown hair. There was clearly no damage to her face or head, so Leon was left to wonder what had happened until he had a daunting idea cross his mind.

 

He gently pulled the sleeves of her black cloak down, but leapt back once feeling a wave of nausea over him as he looked at her wrists.

 

They were covered with deep cuts. New ones at that, with blood trickling down still despite the fact she had passed. Leon couldn’t believe his eyes. He heard a ringing noise in his ears rather than the silence which had been with him since he’d entered the room, taking slow breaths.

 

He’d been responsible for the suicide of a girl only a year older than him.

Chapter 14 - Alone

When Cassie returned a little later, she’d brought two rather youthful-looking people back: a tall girl with mousey brown hair tied back in a high ponytail with a burgundy bow and darker brown eyes as well as a bird-like boy with ginger curls and large brown eyes. Both bore a few scars in various places.

 

“Luna only asked for one werewolf. Why bring two?” Oscar inquired, tilting his head to the side. He wasn’t intending to be rude, but he knew he had phrased it wrong when the girl gave him a cold look. “Do you seriously think I’d let a twelve year old take you to such a dangerous place by himself? One of the girls who were with us appears to have disappeared and she’s seventeen.”

 

Cassie ignored the comments. “These two are Imogen and Teddy. They’ve kindly stopped keeping a vigil over Cece to help you, so be polite and grateful for their assistance.”

 

“Oscar wasn’t included on the shortlist.” Atlas pointed out sourly.

 

“I think you’ll need his experience from growing up in a Kingdom. They begin training early, so he’ll know more than most of you.” Cassie responded calmly, naturally keeping the peace. Oscar had found it fascinating that a strong woman like her had such patience with even the hardest of people.

 

Adele then came into the living room, her good blue eye troubled. “Has anyone seen Luna? Leon’s in a complete state and I think it would be best if she had a word with him.” she said anxiously, biting her lip.

 

Oscar pointed one finger to the ceiling. “She’s talking with Ash upstairs,” he informed her. “He looked really bad before I came down, so she went to speak to him.”

 

The blonde girl frowned. “She must have heard me talking to Leon. We were only down the corridor from Ash’s room – Leon was nearly crying, it was awful-”

 

“Hold your horses; Leon was crying?” Cassie cut her off, looking worried also now. “He’s as hard as nails. He doesn’t cry.”

 

“I think even the hardest of people would cry if they discovered someone committed suicide because they’d brought them somewhere.” Adele replied bluntly.

 

Oscar sat up, flicking his honey brown hair from his eyes. “Wait, the prisoner’s dead? Her group are going to think we killed her!”

 

“If they want evidence, they can very happily ask me to walk through Leon’s memories,” Adele spat angrily. “I won’t have a problem with that.”

 

Atlas looked a little concerned himself now. “The quicker we go, the quicker we can relay a plan to get this sorted. Adele, you can go and bring Leon down and try to hurry Luna along. Imogen and Teddy, you two can wait outside with Oscar. I need to get a few weapons; you’ll all need them too.”

 

“I have a couple of ninja stars and two long daggers. I won’t need anything, but thank you for the offer.” Oscar told him, but then remembered that he was a better shooter rather than single combat. He had left his bow and arrows in his room while fleeing the palace after Stefan set the Demon on him.

 

The black haired boy nodded quickly, hot-footing it upstairs and leaving Oscar with the werewolves to head outside. Imogen was using a strange metal rectangular device and jabbing her thumbs into it hastily, chewing her lip. The Prince gave her a curious glance, leaning against the letterbox attached to the wall. “What is that thing?” he asked.

 

“It’s a phone. Normals use it to stay in contact with their friends and family,” Imogen explained, not breaking her dark brown gaze away from the mysterious object. “I’m just sending a message to my friend Myra to let her know where we are. She’s out getting food for us, but she’s taking a while.”

 

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Oscar assured her. “Werewolves are pretty strong in comparison to most species.”

 

“Don’t try to pity us. We don’t need it.” Imogen snapped, putting the phone in her coat pocket and sitting on a step next to Teddy. Oscar just let out a soft sigh. I’ve never been in a place where so many people hate me. How can I expect their assistance if they can’t even get along with me? It feels like everything I say is wrong or offensive. Oh, if only Evelyn was here to help me out…

 

Adele opened the door and gently pushed Leon out, her pale hand resting on his left shoulder. Oscar turned his attention to them immediately and away from his own troubles. “Is Ash okay now?” he asked quietly.

 

“Yes,” Adele answered simply, keeping her worried gaze on Leon. “I did catch something rather sweet he said, but I won’t share because I don’t think he intended for anyone else but Luna to hear.”

 

“I didn’t think they’d have sweetness in their relationship. Ash seems rather stubborn and harsh if you ask me and Luna’s quite feisty if she’s in a mood,” Oscar pointed out, raising an eyebrow. “They’re on the same pole rather than being opposite, if that makes any sense.”

 

“Incorrect. Same poles repel, while opposite poles attract. Ash has always had a soft spot for Luna from what I’ve observed and heard. Behind his eyes hides the warmth that we all feel naturally – he won’t express it too much in front of others. On the other hand, Luna’s sensitive and does try to be sympathetic, but if others disrespect her then she won’t bother to waste her breath. She didn’t like me too much because I pried into one of her most sensitive memories.” Adele explained.

 

“Luna reminds me a little of a friend of mine back home, actually,” Oscar replied, remembering a photograph he had in his jacket pocket. Fumbling around in one of the inside pockets, he picked out a small grey book with a swan on the front and opened it, showing a photograph to Adele. “This was taken at Christmas last year.”

 

The blonde teenager left Leon’s side and stood beside Oscar, her good eye scanning the picture. It showed a laughing group of people in a huddle, grinning for the camera and celebrating the festive time. Oscar was standing in the centre with a boy named Sean on one side and Evelyn on the other. The Prince pointed to his curly haired best friend, who had a little garland of holly balanced on her head on top of her ginger hair. “That’s Evelyn, my closest friend and also not as well off as most people are in the High Kingdom. Her personality’s a bit similar to Luna’s, but Evelyn is very down-to-earth and never really miserable. She’s got this bubbly personality which I don’t always understand because she’s been through so much and she’s not too wealthy.”

 

“She’s very pretty. Would she be your Queen if you were in line for the throne?” Adele inquired, smiling a little.

 

Oscar felt a little hot. “She is pretty, but we’re just friends,” he insisted briskly, pointing to a broad shouldered boy with short blonde hair and very pale brown eyes. “See him? That’s Edward, one of the stablehands at the palace. He really likes her a lot and I think he’s planning on proposing to her soon.”

 

Before Adele could respond, Luna came outside with Ash and Atlas following behind. Atlas made his way forward and handed the werewolves a small bag. “There’s a shotgun and two knives in there. They belong to Will, so take care.”

 

Imogen just nodded curtly, opening the bag and handing Teddy the two knives while keeping the small gun. Oscar personally thought it was a little harsh to give the werewolves a gun so soon after Celeste was shot, but he guessed they didn’t really have a choice. After all, it was better to have one weapon than none at all.

 

“Let’s go.” Luna said gravely.

Chapter 15 - A Rather Bad Plan Fails Anyway

“Fear me you lords and lady preachers,

I descend upon your earth from the skies.

I command your very souls you unbelievers.

Bring before me what is mine,

The Seven Seas of Rhye.”

 

Ash glared back at Leon. “Will you please turn that off?” he scowled.

 

“Can’t hate on Queen,” Leon told him cheerfully. “Maybe Lady Gaga is more your taste?”

 

“Normals are weird.” Ash concluded.

 

“They are, but remember I’m not even partly Normal. I’m Pureblood and Winged, remember?” Leon teased. “I only live in the Normal world, which doesn’t count as Nighthollow. You live under Normal rules in London and I say you listen to this wonderful music.”

 

The dark haired Pureblood didn’t look amused. “Isn’t there another way you can entertain yourself?”

 

Leon grinned. “Certainly.” he replied, taking the object which he’d called an ‘IPod’ from his pocket and swiped his finger across the screen a few times before placing it back in his pocket.

 

“Pressure pushing down on me,

Pressing down on you, no man ask for.

Under pressure that burns a building down,

Splits a family in two,

Puts people on streets.”

 

“I’m really about to kill you.” Ash warned him fiercely.

 

“This isn’t bad, actually,” Luna commented, smiling a little. “Is this entertainment in the Normal world?”

 

“Queen were and still are the greatest musicians ever,” Leon explained. “Their lead singer died a couple of years ago, so they don’t produce any more music, but it still lives on.”

 

Ash just shrugged and carried onwards, following Imogen and Teddy as they navigated the group down long alleyways and around corners, staying as far away from the busy roads as they possibly could. It was coming up to six in the evening, but cars still congested the tarmac paths.

 

Imogen suddenly halted, lifting one hand to stop the rest of the group. “Turn the music off. There are two Silhouette guards up ahead.”

 

“How do you know?” Atlas inquired, fascinated.

 

“The black cloaks and masks give it away easily,” Imogen replied, pointing to the two shadowy figures pacing back and fourth. “They won’t be easy to surprise, admittedly. Anyone got any bright ideas?”

 

“There’s always a back way round in these situations,” Atlas suggested. “They’re only patrolling the front of that skyscraper thing-”

 

“Skyscraper?” Luna echoed in puzzlement.

 

“The building that the guards are front of is called a skyscraper. They’re really tall buildings that overlook the city,” Teddy piped up. “The Silhouettes are likely to be on the top floor. We could blow up the whole thing seeing as they own it all and then jump off the roof because we wouldn’t have time to go down via stairs.”

 

Luna’s afraid of heights, Ash remembered, glancing at the blonde girl’s nervous face. How are we supposed to get everyone out alive?

 

“That’s a foolish idea. We’ll just be jumping to our deaths.” Adele pointed out a little dryly.

 

Oscar shook his head. “Not if one person can create something to land on. My mother’s power was the ability to recreate close objects, so she could have made a pillow clone or something.” he explained.

 

Leon looked hopeful. “Ash can control gravity on people and-”

 

“I’m unwilling to allow you to put your lives in my hands. Someone died because I wasn’t strong enough and I don’t want anyone else hurt,” Ash cut off sharply. “As Oscar said, we’ll need something to land on so we don’t get injured.”

 

Oscar raised his eyebrows in surprise, his brown eyes confused. Ash glared at him fiercely, but then realised. No one’s agreed with him yet: I guess he didn’t expect me to back him up. Regardless of how much I hate the guy, he has a point.

 

“You’re a Pureblood, aren’t you Oscar?” Imogen chipped in, narrowing her dark brown eyes. “Do you actually have anything useful?”

 

“I can produce bolts of lighting. Nothing useful in this situation.” Oscar responded, shrugging.

 

“Oh screw it.” Imogen sighed, lifting the gun and pulling the trigger, successfully shooting one of the guards in the head. The other tried to run, but Imogen was a quick shot and managed to get them in the back. Atlas gave her a sideways glance. “Why didn’t you just do that in the first place? We wasted valuable time arguing over what to do and you cowered at the back knowing well enough that you could have shot those guards! We might have been in the building by now if you’d done that sooner!”

 

“I didn’t want to create a fuss in case any other Silhouette members heard the shots, but you lot were so useless with your powers that I decided to take matters into my own hands,” Imogen responded airily. “Now, come on!”

 

~

 

“So, Teddy will come with me to try and find anything we can use to blow the building up. Luna, Adele and Oscar will go to find Cody and free any other people who have come here against their free will. Ash, Imogen and Leon need to take out any guards that will block our passage to the rooftop so we can get out as quickly as possible. Keep in contact using the earpieces that Teddy brought.”

 

Luna handed the earpiece to Adele. “I can trust you to keep this safe, right?” she asked.

 

“Of course,” the blonde girl promised, placing the device into her right ear. “Lead the way.”

 

Beckoning Oscar over with some reluctance, Luna created a small flame in the palm of her left hand and held it up, ignoring the burning sensation as she carried it along so she could actually see her way down the dimly lit corridors. The skyscraper was mostly coated with shadows as if the entire place had no lighting at all – the others would find it hard wondering around in the unwelcoming darkness.

 

Turning a corner, Luna let out a gasp as the fire burnt her pale white skin, making Oscar turn his head with a quick flick. His eyes were a soft coppery colour in the flickering flames. “Okay?” he questioned in a low voice.

 

“Okay,” Luna murmured. “It’s just my powers playing up. I’m not sure why it’s burning me so much – I usually have no issues.”

 

“Hush!” Adele hissed, putting her hand over her ear where the earpiece was. “Okay, got it. We’ll keep an eye out for them.”

 

Keep an eye out for who? Luna felt panic rise inside her.

 

Adele had clearly spotted the wavy haired teenager’s worried glance, so she just placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, her long yet bony fingers squeezing it firmly. “The offence group thought they saw two young children running around the corridors. Ash has confirmed that neither of them had Cody’s figure or hair colour according to Leon, so don’t worry-”

 

She suddenly fell silent when a male voice buzzed in the earpiece and let her hand fall to her side. The pale girl bit her lip anxiously, stiffening as she listened on and thus filling Luna with much anxiety. “Shoot. Thanks for the tip-off, Atlas. We’ll hurry up.”

 

“What’s happened?” Oscar queried.

 

“A guard spotted Atlas and Teddy with explosives, so they’ve put the place on full lockdown. His wishes are that we free any prisoners and get them to the rooftop so we can escape as quickly as possible as we don’t have much time,” Adele explained. “Keep going down the corridor in case we find anything.”

 

As they carried on, warning sirens began blaring around the place, deafening the group of Purebloods. Oscar pointed to a set of metal double doors just up ahead. “I saw a young girl in there! I think that’s where the prisoners are being kept!” he yelled over the dreadful din.

 

Nodding, Luna followed the Prince swiftly down towards the doors and thrust them open with her shoulder, almost falling flat on her face on the white tiled floor. The sirens were muffled in here a little, which was a nice change.

 

Noticing that there was light, she put out the flame in her hand and scanned the room, resting her gaze finally on a small figure curled up in white bed sheets. She stopped beside the bed and gave the child a gentle shake. “Cody?”

 

Her brother’s pale face poked up, lighting up when he saw his sister. “Luna! What are you doing here?”

 

“I should ask you the same thing!” Luna exclaimed, ruffling his blonde curls affectionately. “You didn’t half give us a fright when you went off! Lucky that a bunch of werewolves from the Winter Pack found Cece and brought her to The Lodge, otherwise we may not have found you.”

 

“I had a nightmare about Mother and wanted to see her,” Cody admitted, looking down. “I’m sorry.”

 

“We haven’t got time for apologises; in case you haven’t noticed, the whole place is on lockdown and we may only have a few minutes to escape. Are the other people here prisoners?” Luna explained.

 

The seven year old nodded hastily. “Most of them are newer than me, so they should be good with escaping.”

 

“Luna! We need to leave now!” Adele shouted, herding a small group of children to her. “Leon and the others are at the rooftop!”

 

“Um, I can’t walk,” Cody responded a little uneasily. “Some people gave me an injection to make me stronger, but I can’t move my legs on my own for twelve hours.”

 

“Wait, you’re experiments?” Luna was horrified. “They’re testing things on you?”

 

“Some of the kids have lost legs, so I’m lucky.” Cody replied.

 

Luna was only just able to contain her anger. “Is there anything else I should know about?”

 

“I had this really yucky pink liquid too,” Cody pulled a face at the sentence. “And they gave me a dress that smells of metal.”

 

“Hospital gown?” his sister corrected him in amusement.

 

Cody shrugged, not looking too bothered with his mistake. “Whatever.”

 

Sighing, Luna scooped up her little brother and was about to offer him a piggyback when Oscar darted over. “I’ll take him, if you like. I can run with extra weight.” he offered politely.

 

Cody looked a bit sceptical. “Who are you?”

 

“Prince Oscar Herring of the High Kingdom. Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” the brown haired boy introduced himself. “I’m an ally.”

 

“You can trust him.” Luna assured Cody, passing him over to Oscar who placed the child on his shoulders. Though she could tell that her brother was afraid, he seemed comfortable enough with being around the strange Prince.

 

“We need to go now, no exceptions!” Adele screeched. “There are guards coming!”

 

Swiftly, Luna thrust her hand up and released a ball of fire towards the other door behind them, hoping to keep the Silhouette guards busy. “Go now!” she yelled, encouraging the children out of the door. Some of them were limping, but Cody was the only real badly affected one because some of the older Purebloods had too grave injuries to help them out. To keep everyone together on remembering the pitch-black corridors, Luna created a small flame to act as a lantern to guide the younger children.

 

The horrific sirens were still screaming in the corridors, so the older Purebloods had to work quickly and carefully to ensure that the experiments didn’t send them on a wild goose chase. It was really the last thing they needed right now.

 

“Atlas said the explosives are in place, but they’ll go off in two minutes!” Adele yelled above the alarms. “He wants to know what floor number we’re on – it’ll say by that staircase up ahead!”

 

“It says we’re on floor eighteen, so we’re going to floor nineteen by climbing these stairs!” Oscar shouted back.

 

“The rooftop is floor twenty, so we’ll make it!” Adele sounded relieved.

 

Once they’d crossed several more corridors, they clambered up the final flight of stairs at long last to get to the rooftop, but Luna couldn’t push back a nagging feeling in her mind. This seems all good to be true. We haven’t had any major run-ins with guards… where are they?

 

“One minute to spare,” Atlas remarked, nodding. “Good work.”

 

“How are we meant to get down safely?” Imogen asked curtly, curling her lip. “Those kids are probably about the same age or younger than Teddy; they’ll break their necks easily.”

 

Atlas looked rather uneasy on the comment which reminded Luna that Rune had died in a fall, so she decided to speak. “We haven’t got a choice. Purebloods are relatively steady on their feet and most young Winged can glide down, so most of them should stand a chance. If there are any Skyriders or werewolves, then they might be in trouble.”

 

“Guards coming!” Leon suddenly yelled frantically. “Get the children off the roof!”

 

“I’ll use my powers to put some of them onto the top of that building nearby!” Ash shouted back, beckoning the group of terrified experiments towards him. Luna rushed in his direction to help, but Atlas blocked her. “We’ll need your powers to hold off the guards. We haven’t got long left before the building blows up and we can’t afford too many casualties. Ash will be fine.”

 

Reluctantly, Luna took out a long dagger and pointed it threateningly at a short female guard with the normal black hooded cloak and a personal black cat mask. She just laughed mockingly, not bothering to even draw a weapon. “You’re kidding me, right? A bunch of kids broke into the headquarters?”

 

“You took my brother when he was lost and scared,” Luna snarled, her light blue eyes blazing with all the anger thriving in her. “If you mess with my friends or family, you’ll have to deal with me.”

 

“Oh man, is the big scary Pureblood gonna stab me with her big sword?” the Silhouette taunted in a childish tone. “Oh, I’m so scared!”

 

“You should be!” Luna snapped. “I made the journey to the Land Of The Lost, survived being poisoned, watched my father die before my eyes when I was seven and have probably killed more Demons that you could ever hope to!”

 

The woman had a smirk playing on her grim face. “You may have survived being poisoned, but would your little friends be as strong?”

 

Without waiting for a reply, she took a pistol from her belt and fired a dart with a sickly green liquid in a random direction, a wicked little smile replacing her childish smile. Luna could see she was deadly serious now, but she couldn’t see whom she’d hit because there were guards surging everywhere like an ocean crashing against boulders on a beach.

 

She suddenly felt a little rumble beneath her feet, almost like a mini earthquake. She wanted to panic for a moment, but then realised what was happening.

 

Before she could even think, an ear-splitting explosion arose from the great skyscraper, and Luna was thrown into the air with the burning debris following her, beginning the suicidal plunge down to the ground.

Chapter 16 - What Remains

Oscar only just had enough time to grab Cody as the building blew up, sending every single person into the air and plummeting back down as gravity took its dangerous toll. He was genuinely too shocked to scream, but little Cody was absolutely terrified and sounded like he was being murdered.

 

The fall didn’t last long, but the Prince hit the ground rather harshly on top of a pile of rubble, covering Cody’s ears so he didn’t hear the pained screams of the half dozen children that Ash didn’t save in time. Where are the others? I can’t see them!

 

Some of his panic lifted when he spotted Imogen rise up to her feet unsteadily, her arm hanging at a rather awkward angle. She’d probably landed on it in the fall and broken it. Her black silk blouse was also ripped, exposing some of her rib cage.

 

Knowing that he could stand, Oscar scrambled up and hoisted Cody up with him, who was thankfully uninjured also apart from a few scrapes. Imogen lifted her dark brown gaze to them both wearily. “Two of those experiment kids broke their necks in the fall.” she announced bluntly.

 

“What about the others?” Oscar inquired shakily.

 

“Atlas, Adele and Leon are okay, but I’ve not seen Teddy, Luna or Ash. Natural instinct says that they could all be buried under the rubble,” Imogen sighed softly. “Are you hurt?”

 

“Not too badly. I’ll live,” the Prince assured her. “We should focus on finding everyone else before any surviving Silhouettes do.”

 

Imogen shook her head, her mousey brown ponytail shaking with her. “Most of them have fled or died. Only a couple remain – they wouldn’t bother stirring up trouble when so few-”

 

“Imogen! Oscar!” Leon’s pleading cry pierced the air and interrupted the werewolf. “Come quickly! Ash is hurt!”

 

Oscar swiftly crossed over towards the fair-haired teenager with Imogen on his heels, feeling a sense of fear for Ash. “How badly is he injured?”

 

Leon had Ash’s head in his lap, one hand over the boy’s right rib cage and another supporting his back. “I saw him get shot in the back by a dart with this weird green liquid in it. I’m not sure exactly what it was, but it’s not good,” he explained gravely. “Have you found Luna yet? I’ve not seen her, plus she needs to know about Ash.”

 

Imogen shook her head and said something, but Oscar didn’t hear what she said. He was more focused on the boy who had found the very sight of him revolting as well as being ridiculously brave, but beneath all of that was a damaged human being. He’d been hurt so much in his childhood from what he’d heard from the argument with Atlas earlier, yet he knew how to care for people in his own way, even if that meant being a sarcastic twat nearly all the time.

 

Ash has always had a soft spot for Luna from what I’ve observed and heard. Behind his eyes hides the warmth that we all feel naturally – he won’t express it too much in front of others.

 

A rather small yet reluctant feeling of sympathy rose inside Oscar. He had no idea if Ash was actually dying: he was breathing, but it was slow and unsteady, completely unnatural compared to his usual breathing. If he died, Oscar knew all too well that Ash’s friends would be more than unwilling to help the Prince get his kingdom back. Cody’s kidnapping had already thrown them off track.

 

Adele crouched down beside Leon, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I’ve called The Lodge. Nigel says we need to get any wounded back as soon as possible in case these Silhouette people have been messing with Demon poison.” she told him gently.

 

“Seeing the state of Cody and Ash, they probably have,” Leon responded coldly. “Ash is the only person my age in my family. If he dies, then I’ll go back to just being a lone child living with my aunts and uncles. I don’t want to be the poor little lonely orphan that everyone pities.”

 

“Ash is related to you?” Oscar was rather surprised.

 

“Cassie’s brother was my father,” Leon replied simply. “He died when I was eleven in a car crash, along with my mother.”

 

All Oscar could find himself saying was “Oh.”

 

Adele glanced up at him with a little frustration noticeable on her face. “You’re probably the strongest of us. You can carry Ash back and someone else can take Cody because he’s a lot lighter than Ash.” she explained.

 

“So he’s fat now?” Imogen remarked, a small smile slithering into her previously concerned expression.

 

Adele shooed her away with one pale hand mockingly. “Be gone, werewolf. Go and find Teddy.”

 

As Imogen let out a short mildly-amused laugh and plodded off, Adele returned her attention to Leon, who now held Ash’s head in his hands. “It’s okay. Oscar won’t kill him,” she told him soothingly. “He fought with us. He’s proved himself an ally.”

 

Technically, the oldest person in the group trusts me since Adele is over a thousand years old, Oscar reflected, glancing up as Leon gently placed his cousin’s head down on the ground. They’ll listen to her and they might even help me take back the High Kingdom.

 

Careful not to make Ash’s injuries worse, Oscar slid one arm under the unconscious boy’s shoulder blades and another under his knees, picking him up. Adele had been right: he was a lot heavier than Cody putting height and strength into comparison, but not as heavy as he first dreaded. He clearly hadn’t been eating much because Oscar could see a pretty detailed outline of his rib cage against the light grey fabric of his t-shirt. His dark brown hair also carried flecks of grey ash from the explosion as pretty much everyone else involved did.

 

Atlas nimbly leapt over a wooden beam towards the group looking a little shaken. “I’ve found Luna and Teddy.” he announced thinly.

 

“Where are they, then?” Adele inquired, narrowing her blue eyes.

 

“Luna’s trying to calm down – she’s in complete meltdown mode. She’s terrified of heights and the whole explosion didn’t help because she was flung into the air before plummeting down,” Atlas explained, brushing the ash off his slender hands. “On the other hand, she was luckier than poor little Teddy. His wounds were too severe and he died as soon as I pulled him from the rubble. Imogen’s gone to return him to the Pack.”

 

“Bring Luna over. We’ll need to return back to The Lodge so Nigel can look at Ash and Cody,” Adele told him. “Leon, you can take Cody.”

 

~

 

“…and that’s why I came to Nighthollow in the first place.”

 

Luna sat back on the wooden kitchen chair thoughtfully, glancing up at a moth circling the simple light above her head. “So, you want us to help you overthrow a well-respected royal family because you’re consumed by jealousy.”

 

“They’re hardly respectable people. Stefan tried to kill me,” Oscar pointed out a little sharply, giving Bungalow a scratch behind his stormy grey ears. “I have allies inside the walls of the Kingdom. They’ll help too, but we’ll need a larger force if my uncle really is working with the Demons.”

 

“Putting everything into consideration, I do owe you for saving Cody, but I’m not sure if Atlas and Ash feel the same way,” Luna sighed softly. “I’ll talk it with them tonight or tomorrow, but for now you have me on your side. I’m sure Nigel will be willing to help too, and maybe even Celeste will offer her Pack to assist.”

 

A flash of relief came across the honey haired Prince as he sat up, shooing Bungalow away with a flick of his hand. “Thank you, Luna. This means a lot to me.”

 

Before Luna could reply, Cassie poked her head in, carrying Cody in her arms. “He’s tired, so you can put him to bed if you like. Leon’s loaned him some of his old pyjamas for the night rather than that hospital gown.” she said in her usual gentle voice.

 

Luna took her brother from the brown haired woman. “Thanks, Cassie.”  

 

The older woman nodded, her icy blue eyes blinking in the light. “It’s a pleasure - he’s a lovely little boy. I don’t see how Mia could just give up both her children: she had the makings of a wonderful mother.”

 

“Well, she’s not such a great one now, is she?” Luna replied a little coldly, leaving the kitchen and heading up the stairs, keeping a firm hold on little Cody who had his head rested on his sister’s shoulder.

 

Once she found a spare room, she settled Cody onto the bed and pulled the covers over him, ruffling his blonde curls. “Sleep for as long as you like. We won’t be doing anything too strenuous tomorrow with Ash still in a state.” she told him, feeling a little guilty for lying to her brother. Oscar needed immediate help, so she was intending to leave for Nighthollow tomorrow with the others and leave Cody temporarily at The Lodge under the care of Will and Cassie.  Mia was supposedly travelling the world, so Cody would be safe from her influence.

 

Cody blinked his large innocent blue eyes. “Will Ash be okay? I didn’t want him to get hurt.” he asked uneasily.

 

Luna pondered for an answer for a short while. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s the strongest person I know; he has to pull through.”

 

“Don’t go all mushy on me. I’m not interested in your love life.” Cody whined, pulling a face.

 

“Watch it, you little monkey,” the blonde girl teased, giving him a quick hug before stepping back towards the door. “Get some sleep now. You’ll need it.”

 

Rubbing his eyes, Cody laid his head on the pillow and tightly shut his eyes, leaving Luna to just close the door and let out a deep sigh. She felt pretty sleep-deprived due the events of this evening, but she wanted to check in on Ash to see how he was. Nigel had done everything he could to help him, but the brown haired boy was still at risk and needed rest desperately.

 

Making her way as quietly as she could down the corridor, Luna slipped in through the already ajar door to see Ash was sleeping rather peacefully, his cheek resting on his hand like a young child. His pale face was blank and unreadable: Luna only wished that she could know what he was thinking behind his closed eyelids. He still wore the clothes he had worn during the attack, but the blood she had seen had been washed off as far as she could see – the white duvet was pulled up to just over his hips.

 

Not wanting to disturb him, Luna sat in the brown leather armchair and picked up Ash’s sketchbook which was balancing precariously on the arm. She opened it up on a random page and scanned the work. Surprisingly, the first thing she saw was a photograph of them both when they were about ten or so – Luna could remember the day quite well. Their previous tutor was retiring and had appointed Thorn in his place, so all the training Purebloods were celebrating. Ash had simply worn a dark green t-shirt with black jeans and trainers, while Luna had worn a white blouse with a black skirt brushing just above her knees and white flip flops because it had been a particularly warm summer. She was smiling and sitting on a bench with her head resting on her best friend’s shoulder, who was also smiling much to her amazement. Luna hadn’t seen this picture after it was taken.

 

On the page next to the photograph was a sketch of the same picture, but they were both a bit older and somehow a bit more happier-looking. There was also a quote on top of the page; “The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”

 

Luna didn’t know where the quote was from, but she thought it was a nice one.

 

Placing the sketchbook back down on the arm, she rose to her feet and gave his dark brown hair an affectionate ruffle before quietly leaving, shutting the door behind her.

Impressum

Texte: Text and idea belongs strictly to me. Copying, stealing or borrowing is not permitted.
Bildmaterialien: The image on the cover is not mine - it is a painting by Keith Parkinson I found on the Internet.
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 22.02.2014

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