It was like we were staring at an oncoming storm of death. We were all staring up at the ominous sky, the clouds above the castle dark with evil purple and death black.

"That doesn't look good." Madeline said bluntly.

"Nope," I agreed, still fearing the very worst.

"We should probably check that out." Razz informed.

"Yep," I nodded.

We began to rush to the village, Madie still having trouble breathing. We ran through the gates, ignoring the panicking villagers, and hurried to the towering castle ahead of us. We didn't need to pass by any guards, because they were too busy throwing spears at the thundering clouds above. I would have laughed at them if we weren't in this situation. We ran through the massive doors and went to the throne room, ignoring the snobby butler who commanded us to leave.

When Charitie opened the door, she was met with a blade under her chin.

"Cherry!" I shouted, rushing to save her from whoever held the sword.

"Oh, it's you." Sighed Andrew, letting go of Charitie and stepping back. "My deepest apologies, young travelers. If you couldn't tell, my kingdom isn't in the best situation. We are clearly under attack."

"By what?" Asked Connor.

"Erm... We are not sure yet." Andrew shrugged. "But something very evil. That much we know of."

"Obviously," scoffed Amelia. Dang, could she stop being so snobby and whiney? Andrew looked at her as she crossed her arms over her chest, his face refusing to show any expression.

Razz elbowed me, and we both smirked at each other, sending each other mental signals like: Ooh! Someone's got a crush! through our eyes and smiles. Hehe, we are such hopeless romantics.

Andrew cleared his throat. "Well, um... would you mind going somewhere safer than here?"

"Yeah, we would mind." Connor said dully.

"Why is that?" Andrew tilted his head to watch one of the guards throw another batch of spears at the clouds.

"Because we were born for adventure, and we are trained to deal with this stuff."

"Is that so? Well, then, what is this?"

"Magic." I butted in. "Definitely magic." Hey, what would you expect from someone who writes books in the fantasy and sci-fi genre? ... Exactly.

"I knew it!" Andrew snarled under his breath. "But who sent this bad omen?"

Seriously? Who else?! I shot in the back of my brain.

"Uh, who told you that you'd 'rue the day' again?" Madeline asked, gasping slightly.

Andrew's face became blank. "Er.... Oh! War'decla?" He asked, like a clueless kid in class was called on by the teacher.

"Der!" Razz made a funny face.

Andrew made a face that looked like he just smelled something strange. He was probably thinking something like, 'How dare you disrespect the king?!' or whatever. But I ignored it and focused on not laughing at War'decla's ridiculous name.

"So, what do you suggest we do, then?" Andrew continued.

"Well, in each case," said Charitie, "we are given two options about what the person or creature-thing would be doing. One, is hiding. Two, is that they'll come face-to-face with you."

I glanced around the area again, waiting for some more action to accur. It was getting kinda boring just standing around and waiting for something to happen.

"Seeing what's happening now," finished Charitie, "I'd bet everything on option two."

As if on cue, War'decla's merciless voice boomed through the castle. "You made the wrong choice, Highness!"

"Why are you doing this to my country?!" Spat Andrew.

"Oh, Andrew, I suspected you would at least have an inkling as to why I hated this country. I was sadly mistaken..." He paused for dramatic effect. "For millenias, I have been serving this wretched settlement. I was on the very boat that landed here."

"Truly? That was over a thousand years ago!"

"Da-dang!" Razz blurted. "He is old!"

"Shh!" Hissed Amelia.

"So it would have been fitting for me to become king when I have been here the longest. But, unfortunately, your family tree always kept me from achieving my goal. I have tried thousands of things! Poison, assassination, hypnotism, everything! And yet your family still thrives! And if that wasn't enough, your family walked all over me! From making potions for petty reasons, to making me feed them, I've had to kiss your feet for TOO LONG!

"Now with the help of my new accomplices, I will take over this pathetic kingdom and make you do my bidding!"

"New accomplices?" I whispered to myself.

"Why do you want to take it over if it's so pathetic?" Asked Amelia.

War'decla must have been stunned slightly, because he paused for some time. Well, I actually have no idea. We couldn't see him or anything, so...

"Excuse me?" War'decla said.

"I mean, if you don't like it, then why do you want it?"

"Well, to make you suffer, of course!"

"Oh. Well how long do you plan on ruling?"

"Forever, half-wit!"

"Wouldn't that get boring after a century?" This was me.

"No!"

"Really? 'Cause you'd just be on your butt in the same place while people do stuff for you instead of doing that for yourself. Sounds pretty boring to me."

"Well, er... Agh! Enough! I and my accomplices have already set our minds on what we want!"

"Who are your accomplices?" Asked Connor.

"That doesn't matter right now! Now, prepare to suffer!"

"If you think you can just take my kingdom, then you have yourself a war! We'll find you and your accomplices, War'decla! We'll find you, and then we will end your rein of terror!" Proclaimed Andrew in a raged voice.

Lightning struck through the castle ceiling, dangerously close to Andrew. The king yelped and jumped back, then held himself ready. More lightning erupted from the sky, booming thunderclaps following in its blinding tracks. Thankfully, Andrew was able to dodge them, summer-saulting out of the way. We had to rush away and take cover, followed by the king. We threw a table onto its side and used it as a shield, waiting for the lightning and thunder to leave us.

After at least three hours, there was no more lightning or thunder, making us sigh in relief. Then War'decla spoke.

"You're lucky I have grown tired, Majesty, otherwise you would be gone."

"We'll find you, you monster! We'll hunt you down and hang you for all of your crimes!"

The rolling, ominous clouds above began to disperse, leaving nothing but a hole in the ceiling and a charred floor as evidence that it actually came.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked as we got up from our hiding position.

Everyone nodded curtly or grunted in response, looking about the throne room.

Andrew gazed upon his people, his face hard. "We need to prepare for war," he stated once everyone seemed calm enough. "Mr. Darnell, post a public announcement in the town square that we need supplies, money, recruits, and that the blacksmiths need to start work on forging weapons."

An older man--who I guess was Mr. Darnell--bowed and hurriedly showed himself out the door.

"Mrs. Ruthadör, get everyone in the kitchen to begin baking bread for the recruits."

A woman dropped a low curtsy, then held up her ridiculously poofy dress as she left the fancy room.

"The rest of you, help me clean up."

Amelia leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Please."

He glanced at her, then looked back at everyone and clasped his hands together. "Please."

They began to work, and Andrew turned to the Time Watchers. "You must excuse me, I have some matters to attend to."

We nodded. He quickly trotted over to his citizens and began to clean up the mess War'decla left him, and we huddled together.

"So we found out what are mission is." Madie said quietly.

"Yeah, but war?" Connor said with extreme unease. "We've never had to deal with a war before! I don't even know how to hold a shield..."

Amelia gasped. "Maybe that's why we can turn into--" she paused, then said in an even lower tone, "into dragons."

"Probably." Charitie shrugged.

"What about Friday?" Questioned Razz. "We need to find and save him."

"I think," Lorita whispered, her face dim, "that we may have some time here. Remember that two days here is only seven minutes?"

"I always forget that." I admitted.

"How long will this war be?" Razz asked Jason.

"Calculating..." Jason's face was dim as he calculated ahead of time. Yeah I know, pretty cool, right? When he got his answer, he made a faint bleep. "Sixteen days."

"Wow, that's short." Amelia commented.

"Mm-hm." I nodded in agreement. That's about the shortest war I've ever heard of.

"Who will win?" Madie asked Becky.

"War'decla, if you stay out of this war." Madie's watch answered.

"Any things we need to keep an eye on to make sure Andrew'll  live?"

"Assassins, poison, and spies. Although sometimes the assassins are spies, so you need to be extra careful."

"Yes ma'am."

"Sorry about that," Andrew said as he quickly came over. "Now, I apologize, but you must leave now. I won't have you hurt because of an evil force from my kingdom."

"Actually, we were sent to protect you," said Amelia, "so we're not going."

"I can protect myself, thank you." Replied Andrew.

"You don't understand," said Charitie, "if we don't watch over you, you'll die."

Andrew stared at us with pure shock. "Who sent you?" He asked after a few moments of silence.

"Someone very, very smart." Said Connor. "So smart, he can see into the future."

That sounded extremely stupid. I said in my mind. But, Andrew bought it.

"So he is a sorcerer?" Andrew put his hand on his sword's pomel.

"You can say that." Madie said.

"Ah," Andrew looked down at his feet. "He must be very wise, then... Well, if you were sent by a sorcerer to protect me, then I suppose that's reason enough to stay. Although I am still weary for your health."

"We will be fine, I can assure you." Madie said.

"You must remember, we are going into war, here." Andrew reminded.

"We have quite a few surprises." Connor stated.

Andrew nodded slowly. "Well, looks like we're going to war."

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Hey! So sorry for the super late chapter, but I was just doubting myself in my writing, and I was also stuck on a writer's block. Anyway, what did you think? I would seriously love to see your thoughts. If you liked this chapter, punch that voting star in the face... LIKE A BOSS! And, high-fives all around. Yes, I've been watching Jacksepticeye. He's my favorite.

Anyway, more chapters on the way. BYE!!!!