Hey Guys!

So I am not completely happy with this chapter - however I wanted to give you guys a chapter with a few different point of views so that you could start forming opinions on some of the more main characters in the story. Sorry that it is a little shorter than usual, I hope you all enjoy it!

I am still trying to get this finished for the 15th - however whether we make it or not, we will have to see :) Itll probably result in me uploading a lot of chapters in one go, although I don't want to rush the story so if I think I can't get it done to standard, then I won't get it done in time for the Watty deadline, but that isn't a big issue :)

Happy reading,
Love you all!
Daisy xx

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(Circe’s P.O.V)

“I will miss you, be good and be safe. I will see you when you return.” My Mother leaned forward to kiss me on both cheeks, hugging me tightly.

She, Queen Airocei and Ambrose had come down to the ships to see us off. I approached my Aunt next, leaving the hardest for last.

My Aunt smiled, gathering me in an embrace. “I will miss you young one, I know that you will do well on this journey. Good luck.” She looked at me seriously before pulling away to go to her own children.

I looked at Ambrose then, with tears forming in my eyes and my Mother smiled knowingly, stepping back to Zalas and Aranel in order to give us some privacy.

“Do you really have to stay?” I was embarrassed to find my voice wobbling slightly.

Ambrose’s eyes were soft as he looked at me, reaching up a hand to touch the side of my face gently. “I will be here when you return.”

I threw myself into his embrace and he held me tightly, his head bowing and his long hair brushing my cheek, a few blue strands tangling into my tears. “I will miss you so much, thank you, for everything you have done for me.” I said gratefully. And I was  grateful, incredibly so. I hadn't known him for long, but already I felt as though he had been there for me through a lifetime of hurt. 

He kissed the top of my head gently and I shivered as he pulled away, looking up into his crystal blue eyes. “You are most welcome Princess. Good luck on your journey. I know you will do what is right.” His voice was deep, carefull ... calculating. 

I smiled through my tears, finding his last words a little strange but choosing not to dwell on it, for at that moment, Lacy stuck her head over the side of the ship, yelling down at us that it was time to board.

I would be accompanying Cobalt and Hobbson on the original vessel that we had arrived on and I was very pleased with the arrangement. Lacy, Nathaniel, Amaryllis, Leonardo, Samson and all of the rest of the original crew were also aboard the ship and I couldn’t have been happier. It would be just like the old days, except for one stark difference of course.

Anthemin’s head broke the surface of the water a few meters away from me. I smiled and waved at him and he smiled toothily back before sinking back below into the blue depths, rocking the massive vessels slightly. The other Dragons were also present, all of them, although three would be staying behind to escort the Air Queen back to the Kingdom when she decided to go. Anthemin, Unabonan, Zarska and Nelonimi would be joining us on our journey to the Earth Kingdom.

The call came to board again, but from a different ship this time. I looked over to see King Darius striding about his deck, a massive fur cape decorating his shoulders. I hadn’t realised that he had brought his own crew, but then he had to have gotten here somehow. From what I had seen of his crew members, they were all similarly built, strong, tall and muscular. I knew that they couldn’t possibly all be Lycans, Lycans were too rare … weren’t they?

One of his men must have felt me staring for he straightened up and turned around, locking me in place with his piercing yellow eyes. The man looked at me for a couple of moments longer before a call from his King turned him around and put his focus back on his work.

I shuddered and Ambrose touched my arm gently. “Be careful Circe. Those aboard that ship are like nothing you have seen before. Animalistic. Deadly. Have caution around them.”

I looked up at him and nodded quickly. He smiled. “You should board now, they are waiting for you.”

I looked around to find that Zalas and Aranel had disappeared, presumably to their own ship. I was the last one on the docks. With a last lingering hug for Ambrose and a wave for my Mother and Aunt, I hurried up the boarding plank, lifting my skirts as I went. I couldn’t wait to change into something more comfortable.

The ships behind us had already peeled away from the docks, heading now, swiftly out to sea. Behind us, King Darius was just casting off and our crew rushed around as they prepared to do the same.

I had forgotten the excitement of being on board a ship and I wasted no time in hurrying up to the deck where Cobalt stood, his hand on the wheel, yelling out orders. I admitted to myself that seeing him there caused an ache in my chest. I yearned for another behind the wheel, his golden eyes flashing, his wild smile and his strong hands caressing my skin …

I pushed the thought away, smiling instead as Cobalt snaked an arm around me, pulling me to his side as he continued yelling orders. I was lucky to have him here, safe and free. My Mother had allowed me on this ship only because she trusted Hobbson, not because she trusted Cobalt, but there was nothing she could do about it now and if she had put me somewhere else, I would have simply switched once we were out to sea. There definitely were benefits to being a Princess.

Cobalt let me go momentarily as he pulled away from the docks and he gave his full concentration to manoeuvring the ship around and out to sea. Below I saw Lacy and Nathaniel rushing around and doing their part to help. Thinking that maybe I could do something too I started down the steps, only to be tugged back by Cobalt.

He shook his head at me smiling briefly. “Princesses don’t do dirty work. Especially dressed like that.”

I pouted. “If you think that I and just going to sit on my arse for this entire trip then you can-

He grinned. “Only until we are out of sight of your Mother Circe, and then you can be free to scrub the decks as much as you like.” He winked and I sighed. He had a point.

At his words, I turned back to wave at the little crowd gathered on the docks. Their faces were growing smaller and smaller, but Ambrose’s shockingly blue hair still stood out through the gloom. I felt a pang of sadness as he became smaller and smaller. I didn’t want to leave him behind, but I had to. And I would see him when I returned.

“First time you have ever had to leave a good friend?”

I moved back over beside Cobalt and nodded. “I am so used to everyone just coming with me. Even Nathaniel ended up back with me eventually.”

Cobalt dropped a kiss on the top of my head and wrapped his arm back around me. We were heading straight out of the giant cavern now, the tunnel of light at the end getting larger and brighter.

“It’s difficult, but you will see him again, we all have to leave people we care about sooner or later.”

“I know,” I sighed. “It just hurts.”

“It does,” He said quietly and I had a feeling that we both were no longer talking about Ambrose.

*

(Obsidian’s P.O.V)

Much to my dismay, I was not put in the brig in the depths of the ship. The Captain, it seemed had other ideas for me. I was blindfolded before boarding the ship and the passageways I was leant down had me thoroughly confused. We were even aboard a ship at all? And if we were, what kind of fucked up ship was this?

To my surprise, I was un-cuffed and shoved into a room, a door and a series of locks clicking behind me. I had ripped my blindfold off in an instant, snarling out of instinct. Where in the hell was I?

This room was metal, all four walls, floor and ceiling. Shining, clean, hard, inescapable metal. There was however, one small window to which I approached cautiously, finding it odd that I would be allowed to see how high up I was.

The window provided the only light, the natural light providing an eerie glow to the room. Looking out I discovered I was actually quite high up, in fact, I could see across the surface of the water and I suspected that I would be able to see across to other vessels that we sailed along-side.

I sank back down onto the floor, my head darting around as I tried to pick up any sound, any at all. But there was nothing but silence. I scratched at my ear, to make sure that I wasn’t going crazy, that I hadn’t gone deaf, but the rustling noise was hardly reassuring. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realised that this prison might as well be worse than the other one.

*

I had dozed off at some point and I woke with a jolt, jumping to my feet and whirling around, sure that something had happened. But there was nothing. I licked at my dry lips and edged over to the window. Just as I had suspected, I could see other ships now, we were obviously preparing to leave.

I pushed myself up against the small circle of glass, longing for the feeling of the fresh sea air on my skin. Looking across to the other ship, I felt my heart tug as I realised it was my own vessel we sailed alongside, or not quite sailed, more like manoeuvred , we had not yet reached the mouth of the tunnel and the open water that lay beyond.

With shock, I realised that I could see the Captains deck and none other than my brother standing at the wheel. I had mixed feelings for a moment, jealously, rage, relief, bitterness. He moved slightly and I realised he had his arm around someone. He moved again and I caught of glimpse of long blonde hair, flowing in the slight breeze.

That colour, triggered a memory and I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, inhaling the smell of her in my nostrils, remembering the delicate tickle of that hair on my face … I opened my eyes abruptly and slammed my fist against the wall snarling. The ships had changed position enough now for me to clearly see her face. She was cuddled into his side, her expression … longing, but excited, but sad all at the same time. She smiled up at him and I growled harshly. She was mine! But then, no, no she wasn’t.

I cracked my neck, rolling my head around my shoulders and expelling the jealousy I felt. She had been a means to and end! Nothing more, surely nothing more … but there was this feeling that I couldn’t shake and I found myself retreating from the window, not wanting to see anymore, anger brewing in a distant part of my mind. She was no-one to me. I knew this as surely as I knew my own name. She was no-one. Wasn’t she?

*

I hadn’t been asleep when the noise alerted me to something odd. The floor beneath my feet had started to move and I had the good sense to leap to my feet, just as the first spike pushed through the metal, exactly where I had been sitting moments before. This was not a small room and panic ripped through me as I realised that this had been too nice so far. The apparent solitude I was sure, would eventually drive me crazy, but it was too kind of a torture, compared to the treatment I had been receiving in the dungeons.

The floor was opening up all around me now and I realised that the first one had been to get me moving. Gradually the long spikes rose up through the floor, herding me like a caged animal until I was trapped in a corner with nowhere to go. The long silvers spines were shaped like a cone, touching each other at the base and sharpening to a deathly point at the end. They were at least as high as my thigh and as they pushed up around me I realised I had no room to sit down.

I snarled, looking around furiously for another way out but there was none. I didn’t even want to know the kind of power you had to have to be able to afford torture weapons like this and as the spikes began protruding from the walls on either side of me, angled so that the spines were merely centimetres away from piercing my skin, the only thought I had was that I would have to get through this. I had no other choice.

 My legs began to shake from trying to keep deathly still, my body and my mind already weak from lack of food and water and I knew that the torture had only just begun.

*

(Circe’s P.O.V)

I was breathing in gulps of sea air as though I was swallowing in my freedom with every mouthful. The sun was high in the sky, the ocean completely flat and already I was dying for a swim in the clear blue water. I had to restrain myself though, we had been on the move for less than three hours and I knew they wouldn’t stop so early into our journey, just so the Princess could take a dip.

Now that I was here, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. Fortunately however I didn’t have to wonder for too long because suddenly there was a dark shadow above us and when I looked up I saw that it was Unabonan’s massive body that was blocking out the sun.

His voice echoed through my mind, asking me to join them, for I had no doubt that Zalas was up there also. As if on cue, Anthemin rose out of the water beside the ship, water droplets rolling off his scales and re-joining the ocean.

Without moment’s hesitation I took a running leap off the side of the ship, landing perfectly on the young Dragons back and clinging to his neck as he swooped upwards into the air before I had a chance to catch my breath, my heart thumping in my chest, breathless laughter escaping my lips.

We flew giddily in circles around the other ships and finally I got a chance to properly see who we were sailing with. There were five ships in total, three Water Kingdom vessels, including the one I was on, one belonging to the Air Kingdom, and the final remaining one Captained by the elusive King Darius, who I had still not made my mind up about.

I saw his crew shade their eyes and look up at us as we flew overhead. We only held their interest for a moment though and after a few seconds they turned back to their work. We turned from the ships and back to the sky, following Unabonan as he climbed upwards towards the sun.

There was not a single wisp of cloud to be seen and looking downwards, I could still see everything so clearly below. Trying to push away the slight dizziness that I was feeling from being up so high, I tried to focus on Anthemin instead, on his breathing, the steady thumping of his heart, the beating of his powerful wings. I felt Zalas and Unabonan touch our minds as one voice, the eerie two-tone echoing through our minds.

In order to become a more powerful team you will need to merge your minds, become one being, one consciousness. Eventually you will be linked to each other at all times and we will teach you how to dull the link so that it is nothing but a hum in the back of your mind. However, at a seconds notice, you will have instant access to each other and this skill alone is invaluable.

Over the next few hours, this became our task. We practiced merging our minds fully and then separating out again. At first the separation after merging was like cutting off half my senses and the shock was enough to make my head spin around and around. Eventually however, the pain lessened, for the more we merged, the more we were still present in each other when we separated and the easier it was.

We will expect you to be practising all of the time now. We cannot stress how important it is for the two of you to concentrate on your training fully, so that you are at least a little prepared by the time that we reach the Earth Kingdom. We may not receive the welcome that we think that we are heading for and it is crucial that you are prepared enough that the both of you can protect yourselves.

Anthemin and I nodded furiously, the warning hitting home for both of us. We would no longer be weak. It was time to begin testing our boundaries. It was time to start pushing ourselves to reach our true potential, our full potential. The best that we could possibly be and I felt it in him as much as it ached in me. It was time to stop being helpless.

*

(Obsidian’s P.O.V)

I didn’t know how long it had been, I didn’t care. Still locked in my position I tried to resist a tremor as a bead of sweat dripped down the side of my face. My knees wobbled again and I growled, forcing myself to stand straighter. I had already suffered several small punctures because of my weakness and the blood trickled from the wounds, mixing in with my sweat.

Inside I was fuming with rage and all I longed for was the chance, the chance to taste blood. But they wouldn’t fight fair and why would they? Why would they when this kind of torment was licking at his fingertips. I didn’t blame him. I knew how it felt, to torture someone weaker than you, to enjoy it. It I was him, I would definitely be enjoying it. Not so great when the roles were reversed however.

I resisted the urge to roll my neck and shake my back out, knowing that if I did I would rewarded with a hole in the side of my head.

I clenched my fists, grinding my teeth. It would be over soon. It had to be over soon. If he wanted me to live, he would have to stop soon. A sudden shock of fear rocked through me. He did want me to live … right?

*

(Darius’s P.O.V)

I paced up and down, staring at my victim, waiting for the moment. Little did he know he was being watched, the room would seem completely isolated to him. It was however, the complete opposite. The walls of his room were all made of a coveted material that could be polished and polished to become slightly see through on one side, but on the opposing side, the sheet would appear completely solid.

I had been around for a very, very long time. If there was anything to know about torture, I knew it. I had invented most of it. I had perfected the rest. My second in command stepped forward behind me.

“Don’t you think he has had enough?”

I growled softly, low and threatening. “Not yet.”

Not yet. He could still stand more. He wasn’t quite there yet, he wasn’t yet at that breaking point, that desperation when he would second guess what he thought he knew. That fear, that pain. He wasn’t there yet, not even close. This one was a tough one; he had shown that back in the dungeons. I had a grudging respect for him, but not so much that I couldn’t enjoy his torture. More that I respected that he would not just be one to bow down, to give up. But he would break eventually, and then he would grow confident and then I would break him again.
And again.
And again.

He hung his head, almost in defeat and I raised a brow, pausing in my pacing. His chest was heaving, sweat dripping off his skin. Had I been wrong? Maybe he was weaker than I had thought. I sighed in disappointment and was about to call the order when his head rose abruptly and his eyes snapped open, the feral gold colour burning in his sockets. I saw him grit his teeth and roll his shoulders as much as the small space could allow.

I smiled, ordering my second in command to keep an eye on him. Striding out from the room, my grin widened as an animalistic roar followed me out the door. He would not be giving in just yet.

*

(Ambrose’s P.O.V)

It ached to leave her. It was an ache that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I couldn’t help but feel that in my heart, I had made the wrong decision to stay behind. I stood at the window of her room motionless, absorbed in my thoughts.

When I had held her, at the docks, I knew that she felt something for me, but what I didn’t know was if it was any more than just friendly affection. I was still confused by my own feelings. I had lived for a long time and only had one love. When she had left, I was broken, I was nothing. Finding myself again wasn’t something that I had enjoyed, Water Sprites were not supposed to lose their partners. Nothing on earth was as painful as that betrayal. We were supposed to be soul mates; we were supposed to be there for each other.

A slight noise alerted me to her presence and without turning I spoke, my voice ice cold.

“You need to leave. I told you not to come here again.”

Her touch was like a trickle of warm honey, oozing down my spine, her voice sickly sweet, pleading.

“Ambrose, I am sorry. Please, if we could just talk.”

Still I couldn’t turn around. I squeezed my eyes tight shut and wished for her to just disappear.

“There is nothing to talk about Katarina. You need to go.”

“I know how you feel about her,” Her voice was bitter. “Ambrose she is nothing compared to what we have, she could never make you happy. I can-

I whirled around, fury in my eyes, power coursing through me as my human charade fell apart and the voice that burst from between my lips was a voice that was filled with all of the betrayal that I felt, all of the pain and anger that she had caused me and all of the poisoned love that I still had for her, even now.

“You do not get to apologise to me now! Do not come to me with your snivelling twisted words! It is not my fault that you didn’t get what you wanted, that he saw right through you! I could have been enough for you! I should have been enough; we were destined to be together Katarina and you threw that all away for what? For a power? For a title? You are pathetic!”

The blast of undiluted fury hit her full force and she cowered down beneath me, having the good grace to look ashamed. I could feel my form changing and shifting as I tried to calm myself but the rage would not leave me, tainting my blue a deep angry red as my shape pulsed and warped, strands of red hair floating out behind me.

“Leave!” I roared. “LEAVE NOW.”

She turned and fled from the room, pausing once at the doorway, only to look back at me, her mouth opening as though she was about to speak, but the look in my face banished any thoughts she might have had about changing my mind. The door slammed shut behind her and I whirled around, sending my fist straight through the wall.

The pain I felt in my chest from rejecting her again was almost as bad as the first time and I gasped for air again and again. I ran my hands through my hair, pulling roughly on the strands, trying to use the physical hurt as a distraction. If I could cry tears then I would have and falling to my knees I roared out again, all of my anger pushing out of me.

Why. Why me? I had done nothing wrong. I had loved wholly, deeply. I had protected. I had provided. I had listened to her, felt everything through her. We were meant to be one. One entity, one being. It was who we are, who we were.

I clawed at my throat, feeling like I was suffocating in my own skin. I had ignored this for so many years. I had put it behind me and then she had to show up and take more from me. But she wouldn’t take anymore.

I climbed to my feet, pushing myself up the wall until I could stand on my own. I shook my head as though the motion would throw her out of my mind and into the hell that she had come from. I forced myself to calm down and in a split second I was collected again, leaving the room and gliding down the hallway, one goal in mind, one purpose.

Evangeline was alone in her study as I entered the room. She looked up, startled before smiling gently at me.

“Ambrose! This is unexpected, how can I help?”

I wasted no time. “I think, my Queen that I have made a mistake in staying behind.”

She raised her brow, a knowing smile on her lips and suddenly I was transported back to the days when I was younger, when I had to ask permission for things that I wanted.

“How so?” She inquired.

“Having Katarina here has opened my eyes to what is truly important to me now. I have come to ask your permission to leave in order to join Circe on her trip to the Earth Kingdom.”

Evangeline studied me for a moment before sighing softly. “Ambrose,” She began. “You are many, many years my senior. I have a great respect for you, I value your loyalty and of course, I cannot order you to do anything,” She paused and I waited patiently. “However, I feel that Circe needs more time to herself, in order to reach her full potential she needs time where she is not pressured into any role. I am worried that she might take your presence as me keeping an eye on her.”

My face remained emotionless as she continued. “In saying that, I know that you have grown attached to her, and as I mentioned before, I cannot stop you from doing what you wish, but you have many years of experience over her, you have found yourself over and over again. She is just beginning her life. She needs room to make her own mistakes and choices and if those come with consequences she needs to learn from those too.”

She rose from her chair and came to stand in front of me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I dipped my head in respect. “I know this might be hard for you, but I ask you to give her space. She will return.”

I sighed. I respected her too much to verbally oppose her and I understood her concern. Her words had also given me time to re-think. Was I ready to love such an free, innocent, wild spirit when I was not yet over the last woman who had destroyed me?

But she could be the one to help you move past that. A small voice whispered in the back of my mind. She could be the one we need.

*

(Darius’s P.O.V)

“My King,”

My head snapped up and around, my eyes zoning in on the man standing in front of me.

“What do you want,” I snapped.

“Joshua has requested your presence at the holding cell immediately Sir.”

I was standing in an instant, striding into the room the next, Joshua already facing me, his expression blank, his eyes excited. He bowed his head and I moved past him, gazing at the sight before me.

Slowly, my lips stretched into a wide smile of triumph, my canines elongating at the sight of the blood. He was still standing though, but not as well as he was a couple of hours ago. And that dead look in his eyes told me that I had won.

And I so loved winning.

*