Arabella POV:

As we started to walk the night began to close in around us, making the once peaceful woods seem ominous and dangerous. Caspian notices the darkness that is slowly surrounding us and holds out his hand, he closes his eyes and then says a simple word.

"Solis." He says and a small ball of light erupts from his hand and hovers over our heads.

"Whats that?" I ask awed.

"Its a ball of pure sunlight, since I specialise in sunlight magic I can use it to create sunlight and also sometimes small flames. But its Ronan who's strongest when it comes to fire magic." Caspian explains.

"Damn straight." Ronan says giving a half smile.

Zora smirks while Melody clings to Ronan's arm still scared of the darkness around us, and I have to say without Lupus next to me I would be terrified too. As we continue to walk the others begin to explain more about their magic and how they are children of mages, because apparently if you don't have magic somewhere in your lineage then you don't get magic at all.

"So let me get this straight, someone in my family must have had magic or I wouldn't have the magic I do now?" I ask.

"Well its different for you because your the chosen one, its said that the chosen one will come from a family where magic hasn't existed at all. Better hope your the chosen one, because if so then this country will finally have a good ruler who will treat all people fairly weather they are Mages or not." Melody says.

"The king doesn't like mages? But I thought it was him who made the decree to send all children with magic to special schools where they can learn to use their magic correctly." I say slightly shocked.

"Thats what it started out as, but the king then used us as an army. When I first started at the school it was all about learning to control the magic, but then it turned into using the magic for battles and eventually learning how to kill people." Cormac says sighing.

"We were easy to train and born with incredible skills, so the king decided we would be best put to use as a miniature army. Where a normal army would need hundreds of people, a Mage army would only need about 100 depending on the level of their magic." Caspian says.

"So you all know how to kill people?" 

"Melody doesn't because she's still to young, and Cormac knows the basics of how to use his magic to kill. But Zora, Ronan and I know how to use our magic in the most destructive way possible, its why we ran away. We left because we didn't want to kill people, most Mages in the school are blinded believing that what they are doing is for the good of the kingdom but in reality its because they don't know the truth yet." Caspian says and looks at his ball of sunlight.

We continue to walk in silence making sure to keep our guards up ensuring that we all get out of the forest safe, as we move further along the pathway we notice some light in the distance. Quickening our pace we reach the light. Its a small cottage with the front room illuminating the darkness and offering a soft warm glow, Zora looks at the house and then at the pathway.

"What do you think we should do, its obvious that we're not going to reach the next town tonight. Should we ask for some shelter for the night?" She asks our small party.

"I wouldn't mind resting for the night." Melody says yawning.

"I agree, I'm tired and today has really taken it out of me." I say and then look at Lupus. "You can sleep in the woods tonight boy, I'll whistle for you in the morning if we stay here. Wait over there until we know whats going to happen ok." I say bending down and giving his nose a soft kiss.

He makes a soft grunting noise and then walks into the forest, instantly removing himself from sight. We walk over to the cottage and Caspian knocks the door hoping the owner of the cottage is still awake, we wait for a couple of minutes and then the door begins to creak open. A short old man looks out at us and smiles, he has long snow white hair and a matching beard. He's dressed in striped pyjamas and is holding a twisted wooden cane to support his elderly frame.

"Hello my children, how might I help you this night?" He ask us in a soft voice.

"We were wondering if we could stay for the night, we're heading to Oakenstand and we won't make it there tonight." Ronan says stepping forward.

"But of course, come inside. Its dangerous in the woods at night, so your mages I see." He says stepping aside so we can walk into his home.

Everything is made from wood, from the clocks right down to the chairs. It gives the home a wonderful sense of warmth and comfort which he must enjoy in his old age, he leads us into a sitting room and we all sit down exhausted. I take a quick look around the cozy room, there are two sofa's and an arm chair next to a roaring fire which. The mantle piece is covered in pictures and the walls are filled with bookcases piled high with books.

"How did you know that we're mages sir?" I ask yawning slightly.

"I saw the ball of sunlight hovering over you, and I'm a mage my self." He explains sitting down in a comfy looking armchair.

"What magic do you know sir?" Zora asks running a hand through her blue hair.

"Well my dears I use tree magic, and with that I am able to create things with wood. My entire home was made for me and my late wife using magic." He says and looks at a photo on the mantle piece.

Its of two people, one young man with soft silver hair and bright crimson eyes and a young woman with flowing pale blonde hair and green eyes. She reminds me of my mother but my mother has darker hair, I take a look at the old man in the arm chair and notice its a photo of him and his wife. Or as he said Late wife. Looking at the picture I focus on it and then I could have sworn I saw the picture move, I gasp slightly and then see the two of them placing books on the bookshelves in the room we're in and laughing together.

"Arabella?" Caspian asks giving me a soft nudge.

"I'm sorry, she died recently didn't she?" I ask looking at the old man as he looks at me shocked.

"How could you possibly know that?" He questions.

I stand up and then follow the two images as they look over every piece of the room, they laugh together and sit by the fire talking about the magics they know. They fall asleep on the sofa wrapped in each others arms, clearly totally in love with each other.

"I don't know how to explain this sir, but I can see the two of you together here when you were younger. She loved you dearly, and you her." I say and touch a small heart that was carved into the wall. "You did this when your first child was born, a son. Then another when your daughter was born." I say touching the two hearts which were intertwined.

"Memory magic?" He asks me with tears filling his eyes.

"I don't know sir, I don't know what magic I have...." I say turning back to face them.

"How can you not know? The only way that could be was if you were...." He stops and then stands up walking over to the bookshelf next to the door. 

Plucking out a thick volume he then sits back down in his chair slightly short of breath.

"Are you the chosen one?" He asks me.

"We believe she is sir, we are venturing to see the king to find out if she is or not." Melody explains as she nestles into the sofa ready to fall asleep.

"In all my years, I never thought I would live to see the day." He says as the tears fall from his soft crimson eyes. "May the spirit of this land bless you all." He says beckoning me over.

I walk over to him and kneel by his chair, he holds out the book he picked up from the shelf and smiles at me.

"You must have a thousand questions my dear, please take this book. It will answer everything you wish to know." He says pressing the book into my hands.

I look at the book and open it slowly, all the pages have layers of tissue between them to protect the words that are written inside. There are illustrations and words that are unfamiliar to me, but they all seem familiar. 

"This book was made by the first chosen one, they called her Laurette. She was as pure as the moon light and as radiant as the sun, this book will help you to learn who you are and what your destiny holds." The old man explains.

"How do you have this book?" I inquire.

"Well I was a book salesman by trade and one day this book was sold to me, the man who sold to me was dressed in fine clothes and was obviously from the capital. He was eager to rid himself of the book so took only two silver coins from me in exchange for the book. I knew this book was special so I kept it, knowing that one day I could return it to its rightful owner." He says smiling slightly. "Now its getting late, will you all be comfortable in here for the night?"

"Yes we should be fine here sir, thank you for allowing us to stay here." Ronan says while he glances over at a sleeping Melody.

"Its my pleasure, now its almost midnight so off to bed all of you." He says standing up.

"Whats your name sir?" I ask as I hold the book close to my chest.

"My name is Atrix, now sleep all of you." He says kindly as he walks up the stairs to his own bed.

We each find a comfy place to sit and relax for a little before we settle down to sleep, I thought that once I'd get ready for bed I'd fall asleep quickly. But with this book in my hands I can't settle down, I open the book and begin to study the words written on the pages. Its difficult because its written in ancient Aefidorian and its a lot neater than the countless pages I wrote but its getting easier to read the more I study the pages, I notice Zora look over at me. I sigh and then close the book guessing that she wants me to blow the candle next to me out, but instead she gets up and walks over to me and sits down next to me.

"Good book?" She asks me looking at the pages. "I don't know how you can read that, it just looks like a kid got a hold of some gold ink to me." 

"Its more intricate than what I wrote but its getting easier, so your telling me that you can't read any of it?" I ask tilting the page a little so she can see.

"Nope not a single thing, and the old man was right. Its midnight now so get some rest, we have a long journey ahead of us so its best to get some sleep while we're in a nice warm house. Who knows tomorrow night we could be sleeping in the forest." She says giving me a nudge.

I laugh a little and then close the book, I place my bag under my head and then blow out the candle next to me. I take deep breaths trying to calm my self down so I can get to sleep easier but its still difficult, it feels like there are a million different thoughts going through my head and I don't know how to shut them off. But this then gets me thinking, are these all the spells I'm supposed to know? I pull out a jacket from my bag and wrap it around me in place of a blanket, closing my eyes I slowly begin to fall asleep. Once I'm asleep I then begin to dream, people are bowing down to me and I see Melody, Zora, Cormac, Ronan and Caspian all dressed in very fine clothes, I then walk to a throne and a crown is placed on my head. Then I wake up and notice the sun is just starting to rise, deciding to get a little more sleep I close my eyes and fall into a dreamless slumber.