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"Fairytales are more than true: not because theytell us that dragons exist. But because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."- Neil Gaiman
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Hunter stood before the six of them, brandishing her sword. "You didn't think I'd let you run off without saying hello first, did you?"

Bailey let out a yell as she ran towards her, readying her sword. All of her pent-up emotions converged into her swing.

Their blades collided in a forceful impact, creating a few sparks. Hunter effortlessly deflected Bailey's attacks as they circled around one another. They parried back and forth, with each advance a closer call than the last.

The redhead let out a grunt of pain as Bailey kicked her in the knee. She stumbled backwards before pulling off one of her gloves with her teeth. A blast of red escaped from her palm, hitting Bailey in the chest and sending her flying backwards to the floor and sliding to the base of the fountain.

Felicity and Anthony were quick to Bailey's aid as Robin stood in front of them, his sword drawn.

He ran toward Hunter and managed to nick her arm, but she quickly disarmed him. Robin fell to his knees and pulled his bow from off his back, swinging it down and sending her to the ground.

She didn't stay down for long, rolling onto her hands before flipping back to her feet. She kicked him square in the gut and on the shin where his injuries had just barely healed. He groaned in pain as he grabbed his fallen sword just in time for it to collide with hers once more, this time closer to his heart.

She stepped over his collapsed form as Bailey wearily stood back onto her feet. Hunter outstretched her ungloved hand, lifting Bailey into the air and sent flying towards her. Her fingers wrapped around Bailey's throat and quickly applied pressure. Bailey's legs thrashed and her body squirmed, but she couldn't break free. Black stars began to dot her vision as her head felt lighter by the second.

Hunter smirked at her effort. She raised an eyebrow and tauntingly tilted her head. "I never noticed until now how much you and your brother look alike. He gave me this exact face when he died."

Bailey's steely grey eyes were once again lit aflame with a burning rage. She wrapped her hands around Hunter's arm as her palms radiated a blistering heat. Hunter released her grip, her skin turning a vibrant red.

The second Bailey's boots touched the ground, she threw her head forward and headbutted Hunter before sending a punch to her chest.

Hunter collapsed to the ground, a small dagger sliding out of the top of her boot. In a flash Bailey loomed over her, the dagger pushed against her throat.

"Bailey!" Robin exclaimed as he slowly rose to his feet, clutching his abdomen. "I know you're upset; you have every right to use that knife...but killing her won't bring Tristan back."

Bailey glanced at him and the twins before looking back at Hunter's smirking face. She let out a deep breath before dropping the dagger on the ground. Just as Hunter went to reach for the knife, Bailey delivered two quick, but forceful, punches to her face, knocking her out cold.

She stood up, blowing a piece of hair out of her face before grabbing her sword. "Let's get out of here before I actually kill her."

Felicity and Anthony followed closely behind her, with Aura and Robin, leaned on her, not far behind.

As Carolyn passed by Hunter, her bracelet once again lit up. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion until her grandmother's voice echoed through her head.

They'll help you find what you need.

Her eyes then locked with Hunter's sword, the emerald of the engraved dragon glimmering in the sunlight that streamed through the room's windows. She bent down and picked it up, taken aback by its lightness. Her bracelet glowed even brighter, as did the large ruby in the pommel.

Carolyn grabbed the sword she had nabbed from one of the guards and threw it at Hunter's feet. She can have the crappy one when she wakes up.

As she caught up with the other five, Carolyn muttered a soft, "Shit." The six pressed themselves against the wall as more and more servants and guards started to awaken from the sleeping spell, the castle quickly becoming alive once more.

After a long while, when he felt the coast was clear, Robin cautiously led them to the nearest entrance to the servant hallways, a warn dark wood door hidden behind a thick curtain. It took their eyes a minute to adjust to the dark, torchlit hallway. Around and around they went as they slowly descended the spiral staircase to the first floor, the clicking of their boots bouncing off of the grimy stone walls.

They froze in place when they locked eyes with a fierce pair of mocha brown.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," Onyx droned with an uninterested sigh, pushing off of the wall. "Oh good, I was wondering where you two went—I was about to start counting how many people I'd have to torture to find you again," she added when she saw Felicity and Anthony.

Aura, Carolyn, and Bailey readied their weapons, but Felicity stepped in front of them, pure sadness in her eyes as she looked at the shell of her daughter. "Oh Onyx, what have they done to you?"

Onyx let out a scoff and outstretched her arms. "Made me stronger, more in touch with my inner power."

Felicity softly shook her head. "No, the Villains made you believe that absolute power achieved by violence was the only way to fill that void inside of you."

Onyx's face twisted into a snarl, her hands balling into fists. "I should have killed you when I had the chance." She raised her wand and released a blast of fiery red.

Aura pushed her mother out of the way and created a small forcefield. It weakened the spell, but she was sent flying backwards, her back hitting the stairs. She let out a raspy breath, the wind knocked out of her lungs.

Time slowed as Onyx aimed her wand again. In her painful haze, Aura racked her mind for a way to keep the raging queen occupied to allow her friends and parents to escape. Her vision filled with cobalt blue as mist of the same hue erupted from her outstretched palm. Instead of an aimless cloud, the mist transformed into a blue lasso that wrapped around Onyx's wrist, knocking off her aim, and spreading to around her body.

"Run..." Aura croaked as Onyx squirmed in the lasso's grip. Carolyn and Bailey rushed Robin and their parents out of the hallway.

Onyx grunted as she finally broke free, blasting Aura back down onto the stairs. She sent another red blast, but it was deflected by Aura's forcefield.

Again and again Onyx sent blasts her way as she stepped closer, each time Aura's shield deflected it. And each time, a pinching pain grew in her skull until Onyx stood right in front of her.

Aura tried to send a blast of white, but Onyx caught it in her hand. The queen looked at it gleefully as her touch corrupted the magic and turned it into a grimy, oily black.

"Not so tough without your friends as backup, now are we?" Onyx taunted, aiming her wand at Aura's chest. "It's a shame, honestly. I thought it would be more satisfying killing you—oh well." Just as she was about to cast the no-doubt fatal spell she inhaled a sharp breath, her eyes widening. Her gaze traveled to her thigh where an arrow had freshly pierced through her exposed leg.

Aura looked around Onyx's frame, her eyes widening in surprise to see Carolyn posed with a bow already loaded with a fresh arrow.

Onyx casually bent down and pulled the arrow out of her thigh without so much as a flinch or a drop of blood. She turned and looked at Carolyn dead in the eye. "Was that supposed to hurt?"

Carolyn's face dropped. Oh shit. She released the arrow in her bow, aiming for Onyx's chest.

Aura sprinted towards Carolyn, despite the growing pain in her back, sending a blast of red behind her as they raced out of the servant's passageways and into the early evening air. They continued to run through the chaotic marketplace, their eyes searching for the other members of their party.

Aura's chest burned as she tried to breathe in as much air as she could, her back aching. Jolts of pain shot through her legs as she and her sister barreled across the marketplace's cracked cobblestone.

Carolyn dared to look behind her, terrified that if she did she would see Onyx within inches of them. Instead, as if it was any better, a group of five armored guards were hot on their tail.

Three horses galloped towards them. When they were close enough, Bailey and Robin hoisted Aura and Carolyn up and onto the saddles without even slowing down. They urged their horses faster and faster across the bridge into Caeshire.

Frightened townsfolk leaped out of the way before being awestruck at the sight of their former king and queen. People leaned out of their home's windows and stopped whatever activities they were doing at the commotion.

The horses took a sharp turn and leaped over a wall of crates into an abandoned side alley. They could already hear the loud clanging of armor drawing near. Felicity and Anthony barely had a chance to react to the disarray of their kingdom before Carolyn had grabbed the bottle of light lavender potion and poured it onto the ground.

The filthy stone sunk into the earth and swirled to create a whirlpool of colors.

"Jump!"