Jayden wasn't entirely sure how the night got to this point. One second they were sitting around a bonfire and enjoying the night, and the next Elle is going postal and Asher is working with the bad guy?

It hadn't escaped Jayden that they were in a war. It was something that he was well aware of. Tonight though, the reality of what they're dealing with hit him in the face with the force of a freight train.

"You bastard!" Elle screamed as she lunged at Asher on the ground. Judah held her and she pushed him off of her. She turned around and faced the wall. A loud thump filled the room. Jayden turned abruptly, only to see Elora on the ground. Her body fell in a ragdoll, limbs sprawled out every which way position. It sent shivers down his spine.

"Guys!"

Selena threw herself to the ground and sat on her knees. She picked Elora's head up and laid it on her lap. "We need to get her to the bed," Selena pointed to the window where a small cot was placed underneath.

Judah and Jayden dropped Asher's arms and walked over to Elora. Jayden grabbed her feet and Judah grabbed her arms. They lifted her to the cot. When they settled Elora into her bed, Jayden turned and saw Asher sprawled out on the floor. He wept into the floor as Elle looked at him in disgust from across the room.

"This is royally fucked," Selena said. She grabbed Judah's arm and took deep breaths to calm herself. "We have no idea what is going on or how to fight this woman. She snapped her fingers and almost transported us to Gedeon's evil lair."

It sounded rudimentary to Jayden. An evil bad guy with strong henchmen. A lair they attempted to bring the good guys to, but that was only rudimentary in the movies. This is real life. As much as Jayden wanted to shake himself awake from this dream he had to come to face reality.

The battle was just getting started.

"We're the only ones acting rationally at the moment," Judah whispered to Selena and Jayden. "There's a lot we need to process, but the first thing we have to do is decide where we are going to go. It shouldn't take long for them to realize where we are."

A soft moan came from the cot. Selena scurried across the room and knelt quickly so that she was at eye level with Elora. She grabbed Selena's hand and whispered to her while choking out words. "That took a lot of my magic," Elora finally managed to mutter. "I'm afraid that is all I'm going to be able to help you with."

"Wait what?!" Jayden said. "You can't just leave us! We don't even know where we are or where to go!"

Elora gave a soft encouraging smile to the kids. Her voice was raspy and sounded as if she was at a level of exhaustion that Jayden didn't know possible. "I should have trusted you to fight all those years ago. Now, we are in the exact situation. Make no mistake, they'll be here shortly."

Jayden felt his heart begin to thump fiercely and rapidly in his chest. He was distraught.

"You have to unify your bond," Elora choked out. "I know that there was betrayal and distrust, but to even have the chance you have to link your magic and fight back. Down the hall is your old playroom. Go there and make a plan. Under the table in the middle of the red seat is a secret passage that will lead you out of the castle. If things get messy that is what I want you to do." "What about you?" Judah asked.

"They won't harm me," said Elora. "They need me."

Jayden was surprised at the assured tone she had in her voice. He nodded before he turned around to see Elle looking out the window of the tower and Asher had remained in the same position on the ground.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated over and over. "They were going to hurt her. They were going to kill her and I couldn't let her die!"

"Shut up!" Jayden said to Asher.

Jayden knew someone had to step up. He also knew that the person to do so was not him. Jayden was fine with being in the background and providing help where he could. He in no way wanted to take responsibility for the whole of the group. He knew someone that would do it though.

"Judah," he whispered to him. "We need you right now."

Judah looked at Jayden and nodded. He walked to the middle of the room, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "We need to get out of this room," he finally declared. "We need to get to the old playroom and figure out how to open the passage to get out of the castle. Then we need to unify our magic."

Sounded like an easy enough task. Except for the fact this was the Dominions. Nothing came easy when it came to the Dominions.

"Good luck," Elora from her cot. "Please stay safe. The fate of our worlds depends on it."

Jayden ran over to Asher and picked him up off the ground while the others made their way to the door. Judah opened the large wooden door and peeked out the hallway and began to walk quickly out of the room.

"I'm so sorry," Asher cried. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean for this to happen-"

Jayden slapped Asher across the face. A bright pink handprint was left on Asher's cheek. It snapped him back into reality quickly. He looked shocked at Jayden as he was grabbed by the shoulders.

"You don't get to sell us out and then fall apart," Jayden whispered harshly. "You get your shit together and you get it together now because we're going to need you."

Asher sniffled but nodded his head. Jayden grabbed him by the arm and led him out of the room. The large marble walls were hardly anything to look at. They were tattered and worn. Leaving an image of something that was once amazing behind. The ratty flags with a G made Jayden's anxiety only grow as he realized this was once a mighty fortress before Gedeon took it down and made it what it is now.

Jayden saw Elle disappear into a room so he started to run. Asher was behind him, Still a little dazed from being slapped. At least he isn't sobbing anymore. Jayden thought to himself. He pulled Asher into the room and then closed the door behind them. Right as they closed the doors they heard men stomp into the hallway.

"Elora!" one roared. "Where are they?!"

Jayden looked around the room in a panic. He needed something to block the door. The whole room was lined with bookshelves of games and literature. In the center, there was a red couch that dipped into the middle of the floor, and the table that Elora had mentioned sat in the middle of it.

"Help me grab the bookcase," he said to Asher. The two boys easily picked up the shelf and placed it in front of the door while the others frantically searched for how to open the tunnel. Jayden heard the men's footsteps coming down the hallway and felt his heart begin to race.

"Check that room," the men said.

"Guys they're coming!" Jayden urgently whispered.

"Freaking hell!" Selena cried as she grabbed the top of the table and began to shake it. "Why won't this thing open?!"

The sound of stone scraping together filled the room. Selena yelped as the couch began to completely shift from the middle of the room. When the couch stopped moving, the group ran over to the spot the couch was originally placed and gasped. In the center of the floor was a tiny staircase that led to a dark tunnel.

The door to the game room jiggled and Elle grabbed onto Selena's hand in fear. "Well, guess we don't have a choice now do we?" she said as the two girls walked quickly down the stairs. When they got to the bottom they had to squat down and crawl into what looked to be a tiny hole in the tunnel.

Judah went next, followed by Asher, and Jayden. They stepped onto the stone steps right as the men began ramming the door. He looked at a tiny lever that sat on the wall, pulled it down, and sighed in relief as the couch began to move back into its original position.

The tunnel was dark and wet. The air was hot and humid, leaving a smell that could only be described as earthy and old. A soft glow given by aged lanterns hung from the ceiling and led the way. It was just enough light to make sure you wouldn't run into the wall.

Jayden stood still for a moment to let his eyes adjust and then began to move to the crawl space the others disappeared into. Jayden hated tiny spaces. He didn't like to feel like he was going to get stuck somewhere. As he squatted down and crawled into the hole he found himself praying that he would be able to stand in just a few short seconds.

His prayers were not answered.

Jayden was not only unable to stand in the tunnel, but he was unable to move to either side. The crawl space was a tiny tunnel that you had to crawl to get through. Jayden was sure when he was twelve he could have easily run through this with no problem. At seventeen, and standing at six foot two inches tall? This was going to take work.

"Guys?" Jayden called into the darkness. His heartbeat began to quicken the farther he crawled through the tunnel.

"We are here," a voice called not too far ahead of him. "Just keep moving. This has to end sometime."

When Jayden was a kid his grandpa always told him that when he was scared he should do something to take his mind off what he was doing. "I whistle," his grandfather used to say. "Any song that comes to my head and eventually the fear starts to go away." Jayden started to whistle "Mary Had a Little Lamb", and soon, the others joined in.

The tunnel began getting tighter, and even Jayden's whistling didn't help the fear that came from him feeling his arms begin to squish, but eventually, he looked up and saw the light of the moon and began to calm down.

"You made it, Jay," he told himself.

When he climbed out of the tunnel, they were in a shrowded area with large bushes filled with the most beautiful flowers. Oranges, pinks, yellows, and blues, danced around the area. There were old marble benches that were placed between the bushes. The stars created a twinkle and the soft breeze blowing the flowers softly created a serene feeling. Jayden couldn't help but feel this would be a great place to take a date.

"We are obviously in some part of a garden," said Elle. "We need to figure out a way to hide and then link our magic."

The rest of the group nodded and they began to walk down the grassy path between the bushes. When they emerged from the garden they were standing in a terrorized courtyard. Fountains were smashed, statues were shattered in pieces, and old clothing and jewelry were scattered across the grounds. "Has it been like this for seventeen years?" Selena wondered aloud. "Surely someone would attempt to clean this up a little?"

"Not if they were threatening you," said Judah. "No one wants to die to make a courtyard look nice."

They walked in silence through the courtyard. They crouched low and took turns hiding behind the rubble that was scattered across the area. When they reached the other side of the courtyard they noticed a small cottage sitting next to the palace.

Judah was the first to walk over to the cottage and opened the door. He looked into it, made sure it was safe, and then motioned for the rest of the group to follow. When Jayden got to the building he gasped. It was disgusting in there. Gardening tools lay sprawled out in the room covered in dust.

A wooden work desk with various tools that Jayden had never seen before sat near the edge of the room. There was a table by one of the windows with a single chair, and a bed right in front of it also against the wall. Also covered in dust and grime.

Cobwebs were peeking out from the deepest corners of the room and bugs scattering around the floor.

"This must have been the groundskeeper's house," Asher said.

Judah walked to the center of the room and faced the group. "We don't have time to think about that right now," he told them. "We need to link hands, close our eyes, sing kumbayah or whatever you have to do to trust everyone in this circle, and link our magic. Anything you're holding onto right now needs to get squashed."

He looked at everyone with a deadly expression. "Or we're going to die tonight."