Prologue July 17, 1996 Raven Nightingale's Point Of View The late afternoon's hard, driving rain had

calmed considerably as night set in. Now, at midnight, it was only drizzling as I ran towards the Lockwood Castle. The prophecy that I was supposed to deliver was safe inside one of my inner cloak pockets. As I ran, I thought of how important it was that I deliver this written copy of the prophecy to the parents of the three girls it was meant for. Without a written copy of it, the three little girls would not be able to save our world as the prophecy foretold, If the written copy was lost the fate of the World Of Magic would be lost with it. I shivered slightly as I reached the castle. The guards opened the gates for me without a question. That meant that Adianna and Christopher Lockwood were expecting me. They must have taken in the urgency of my earlier call because they hardly ever remembered when I was supposed to come. Usually, one of the guards would have had to go and ask them if I was supposed to be here. It didn't bother me as it would have bothered some other Witches. The Lockwood's were a busy family; they had six children, three of which were under five years old. It was to be expected that they forget things most of the time. Adianna Lockwood was the Witch Queen, the most important Witch of us all. Our world put the Queen before her husband. (We didn't call the Queen's husband a King either, we called him her Second In Command.) Queen Adianna had a lot on her hands at the moment with the three wars going on in the World Of Magic. Besides all of that she had her children, the house servants, and every other small problem that arose in our world. One would think that she'd be cranky with all of that going on but she wasn't. Actually she was always nice. Everyone loved her. I had been her nanny when she and her twin sister Cassie were younger and I knew the family very well. I was surprised when Adianna answered the door. It was her three younger children's birthday, and she would usually have been in the living room with them. I was even more surprised when Christopher came up behind her. Then the three little girls walked up behind them both and I realized that they had been getting them ready for bed. "Come inside Raven, you must be freezing." Adianna's voice was warm. She led me to the sitting room of her castle. Sitting down, she looked at her husband. "Michael, will you take the girls upstairs to bed. Mom and I will be up soon." Christopher told one of the older boys. "Sure dad." Michael took the girls and disappeared from the room. After he was gone I took the prophecy from my cloak and handed it to Adianna. She looked down at it for a few moments before turning her gaze back to me. Her gaze was questioning, and I knew I'd

have to answer more than a few questions for her. I didn't mind doing that, she never asked stupid questions like most people that read my prophecies did. "What does it say?" Christopher asked. "It says, 'Two Royal daughters will be reunited with their triplet on their seventeenth birthday. On that night they will embark on a journey to save their Kingdom. Their journey will save the World Of Magic from destruction by its most feared enemies. One of them will sacrifice herself for the lives of her sisters.' Raven, what does this mean?" "My lady, it means that your young daughters will someday save our world." "What does it mean when it says that two of them will be reunited with their triplet?" Christopher asked "The youngest daughter will be sent to live in the High Country with her brother tonight. On her seventeenth birthday, she and her brother will come back." "And they'll go to save us...from what?" "That, I cannot say. All I know about that is the enemy will be a new one." Adianna's voice quivered when she asked her next question. "What does the prophecy mean when it says that one of them will sacrifice herself?" "One of the girls will give her life for those of her family and her world. I do not know which one, but it will happen." "Oh. We have to send Adalyn away tonight?" "It is the safest thing to do. In my vision I saw that if she does not leave, she will be killed along with your oldest son. If you send them away together everyone will live until the sacrifice." "Thank you Raven. You have always helped us." "You are welcome my lady." She paused for a second, pondering something. When she finally spoke it was a question I never could have predicted she'd ask me. "Was it really your home that was destroyed by those vandals last month?" "Yes ma'am." "Where are you living now?" "In a hut near the river. It's the best I can do. My husband, as you know, was murdered three years ago and I can't rebuild the house by myself." "Will you move in here with us?" "I would happy to." "Thank you so much. The girls will need someone to keep them company while their sister is away, and I know how much you've always loved children. You took care of my sister and I when we were children after mum died." "Thank you my lady." "Please call me Adianna. I will have Cassie fix your old rooms for you. It's going to be

wonderful having you home. Cassie will be excited to have you home again, she's wanted me to bring you back for some time now." "Thank you Adianna. You always were the kindest of people." "You taught me to be kind. Come upstairs, I'll go get Cassie to help you with your rooms." "I know now why you and your sister were always my favorite girls." She laughed. "Why?" "You were always nice. When your father got out of line, you'd put him back." "You taught us to do that." "Adianna?" Christopher asked, his voice soft. "Yes love?" "Do you want me to go bring Adalyn and Michael down?" "Yes. I'll be down as soon as I make sure Cassie and Raven see one another." "Okay love." "Cass!" Adianna called out as we reached the third floor. A tall girl with long red hair, striking green eyes, and curvy figure walked out of a room. Cassie was Adianna's identical twin and obviously nothing had changed there. They still looked identical in every way. Until Cassie spoke, then the differences between them were obvious. Cassie was the quieter twin. She could easily fade into the background if Adianna would let her. Adianna, though, would rather die than let her fade into the background. She was always making Cassie do things in public. In fact, if it weren't for Adianna, no one would have even the slightest clue that Cassie even existed. "Yes Adi?" But Adianna didn't have to answer; Cassie had already caught sight of me. She grinned, her green eyes lighting up the way they always did when something excited her. I braced myself as she hurried towards me. As soon as she reached me, she threw her arms around me and pressed me tightly to her chest. I hugged her back, laughing quietly at Adianna's eye roll. "Raven! You're home!" "Yes." "Why didn't you tell me you were going to ask her to come live here?" She asked Adianna. "I didn't know I was going to until she called tonight. She gave me a prophecy about the girls, one that's going to save our world someday, and I knew I couldn't let her go home to a hut." "A hut?" Cassie asked me. "I thought you lived in the mansion my dad gave you when you left." "Vandals destroyed it. I've been living in a hut by the river for several months now." "You should have told us sooner. We wouldn't have let you live in a hut." "I didn't want to bother Adianna, she already has so much on her hands." "Nonsense Raven. You've been my mother since I was three years old. You would never be able to bother me. Cass, will you get her old rooms ready? I have to go get Adalyn and

Michael ready to go." "Sure." Cassie and I watched Adianna walk downstairs before beginning the short walk to the seven rooms that were once again mine. I couldn't help but to remember the days when the girls were just babies as I entered the rooms. I couldn't believe I was going to live here again. But then again, I could believe it. Adianna had never wanted me to leave in the first place. It was good to be back here, but I couldn't help but to think of what would happen when her own girls turned seventeen... Chapter One July 17, 2010 Alexandria's Point Of View. Sunlight streamed through my windows when I woke up. For a few moments I was blinded by the sunlight. Finally, I was able to see Raven and Alexa sitting at the foot of my bed. I groaned, throwing the blankets back over my head. Alexa laughed, pulling them completely off of me. Glaring at my sister, I sat up. Raven laughed at us, her immortal face lighting up. At the sight of her smile I had to smile back. Yawning, I pulled myself out of bed and walked into my private bathroom. While I was in the bathroom I brushed my waist length, blood red hair out until it hung in a straight line down my back. Grabbing the clothes I'd hung up on the door the night before I pulled them on and walked out into my room. Alexa was lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling with a bored expression on her face. Raven was standing near the windows, staring outside. As I walked towards them they smiled at me. Alexa stood up and followed me from the room. Together we descended the stairs to the sitting room where our parents and soulmates were waiting for us. As soon as I saw them I remembered that it was our seventeenth birthday. Alexa and I smiled at each other before going to sit next to our soulmates. "Good morning love." my soulmate Tristan told me with a kiss. "Morning." I answered with a yawn. That's when I noticed the way all the adults were staring at each other. And Aunt Cassie wasn't even in the room which was odd because she was always there when we woke up in the morning. I glanced at my parents to see them both wearing anxious looks. What was going on here? And why was everyone acting so weird? I got my answer when Aunt Cassie walked in with three people at her heels. As soon as I saw two of the people following Aunt Cassie I recognized them. It was Adalyn and Michael, my brother and sister. How could I have forgotten them? I shook my head, suddenly feeling dizzy. How had I forgotten my triplet? It didn't make sense until I realized that mom must have cast the Forget Me Spell on Alexa and I to make us forget our siblings. But why in the Goddess's name would she want to do that? Mother's voice, intruding on these thoughts, gave me an answer.

"Alex, Lexa, Lynnie I want you guys to know that what Raven and I are about to tell you is the complete and total truth. None of it is a lie." she began, staring at us intently. "Okay..." Alexa said, her brows furrowing. I looked at my sisters to see each of them wearing the same perplexed expression that I was wearing. Adalyn entered the room and sat with the boy I didn't recognize at my feet. All of us waited for mother to speak but she didn't. Instead, Raven spoke. "When you were three years old I gave a prophecy about you three. The prophecy was written down and given to your parents who have kept it and will give it to you now." "Here Alex, read this to your sisters." my mother said as she handed me a worn piece of paper. I took it and unfolded it. Inside was the prophecy Raven had spoke of. I took a minute to breathe before reading it to my sisters. "Two Royal daughters will be reunited with their triplet on their seventeenth birthday. On that night they will embark on a journey to save their Kingdom. Their journey will save the World Of Magic from destruction by its most feared enemy. One of them will sacrifice herself for the lives of her sisters." When I was finished reading we all stared at each other. Tristan tightened his arms around me and I looked up at him, wondering what the prophecy meant. What journey were we going to take? And what enemies were we going to save the World of Witchcraft from? None of it made any sense until Raven handed me another piece of paper. "This is information about the prophecy that I was able to gather over the years. It tells you who the enemies you will face are, where you will go, and what journey you will take." Raven told me. I opened the folded paper and read what was written on it. It was written in Raven's flawless cursive and said: Alexandria, Alexa, and Adalyn will be facing the Dark King Esmyth and his warriors. Esmyth rules the Kingdom of Darkness and is feared by all. His kingdom is in the ancient land of Black Island. Black Island is down near Africa and is the home of the most vile and feared creatures in history. This is where you must travel. But first, you must find Elizabeth Cault, Esmyth's mother. She is a vampire/witch, and will help you learn the magic you will need to defeat her son. When you get there, she will instruct you in the ancient magic of our people for a period of seven months. After this period of time you will leave her house. From there your journey will take you to Liam Draconus the Dragon Master. He will provide you with enough dragons for each person going on the journey. Liam will also teach you how to ride, train, and fight on dragonback. From here you will finally meet Esmyth. You will battle him using only magic. One of you will sacrifice yourself for the

others. Upon doing this, Esmyth himself will be killed and the person who sacrificed themself for the others will be given new life. I looked around at everyone in the room. So this was what we had to do then? We were going to defeat the most evil witch in nearly six centuries? Taking a deep breath I looked up at my sisters. They stared back at me, their eyes taking on the same determined look mine had taken. It was clear to us that this was what we had to do and we were not going to complain about it. If it saved our world, we would do it. Alexa spoke my thoughts, staring at Raven the whole time. "If this is what we were destined to do, then I'll do it. I cannot deny something that could save our world." "I agree with my sister. We cannot deny our destiny." Adalyn proclaimed. "And I agree as well. When do we leave?" I asked, my eyes meeting those of my soul mate's. "You leave in an hour." "What about our soulmates?" "You will take them with you. I know from experience that it is nearly impossible to be away from them for any period of time." Raven answered. "Thank the Goddess for that one." Adalyn said, glancing at the boy behind her. "Don't worry about taking clothes or any other thing like that. Alexandria has gotten quite good at the Necessity Spells." Raven said with a smile. "Okay. Can I ask something?" Alexa asked. "Of course you can darling." Mother answered, her voice small. "Why did you take Adalyn and Michael away from us and put a Forget Me Spell on us?" "If I wouldn't have done that Adalyn would have been killed. It was the only way to keep them safe." "Oh. That makes sense now." Instead of speaking, I walked over to my parents and hugged them. Father was the first one to hug me back. I buried my face against his chest as my sisters walked over to us. I could feel mother crying as she hugged all of us and I wondered what she was thinking. It must have been horrible for her to have to let us go, not knowing if we were going to die or not. I pulled back and looked at her. She smiled and kissed my forehead the way she'd done since we were small. For a second I felt like I was small again. Then Raven's voice called us from the front door and I was once again seventeen. "Yes Raven?" Alexa asked as we reached her. "I'm sorry. It's time to go. I didn't think the carriage would be here this early but I guess it is." "Okay." we all said at once.

We turned to look at our family. Mother was crying, tears lining her face. I gave her and everyone else a final hug and walked out into the morning air with Tristan at my side. As we climbed into the carriage I leaned my head against Tristan's chest and closed my eyes. He wrapped his arms around me and we settled in for the ride. No one spoke or even looked at each other until we were well away from the castle.

Chapter Two Alexa's Point Of View Scenery flew past the carriage but I wasn't as interested in seeing the sights as might have been if the circumstances were different. The only thing I could think about was the fact that I was leaving home and I didn't know if I would ever come back. I had no way of knowing if I would ever return to Lockwood Castle and that frightened me. I stared at Alex for a moment. She was laying across Tristan's chest, her long hair covering her face. We were identical but the difference between us was obvious. She was the dominant triplet, the one that always had an answer for everything. And yet now she had no answers for what we were going to face in the future. For once since we were children she had no answer to this question. To be honest it scared me because Alex had always been the one everyone turned to when they had a problem. She could solve anything...except this. I switched my gaze to my other sister. Adalyn was staring out the window. Her blue eyes didn't seem to be staring at anything in particular, they were just staring blankly ahead. She had her soulmate's hand and was holding it against her chest. He was staring down at her the same way I'd often seen Tristan and Zach staring at Alex and I, with the gaze of a loyal protector. Adalyn glanced up at him her eyes filling with tears. He brushed away her tears but they kept coming. She met my eyes then and whispered softly. Her words brought Alex jolting awake. "What's going to happen now? What if the prophecy was wrong and one of us does die?" "No one is going to die." Alex said, her voice suddenly hard. "It could very well happen Alex." I said, staring into her eyes. "Not if I can help it. If someone wants to kill my sisters they're going to have to kill me first." "And after they kill you?" "They'll have to kill me before I do the same to them." Tristan murmured, staring down at Alex.

"It's possible that that's exactly what they could do. We're dealing with Esmyth. He's done...horrible things to people a million times stronger than us." I said. Alex's voice finally broke. "I know but we can't think of the possibility that we might die. If we think of that, we'll never win the battle. If we allow ourselves to doubt for even one second we will die. And I will NOT lose someone else like we lost Justin." I fell silent, thinking of our brother. Justin had been killed by one of Esmyth's warriors last summer. Alex had been the one to find him and it had given her nightmares all summer. It was rare for her to mention even his name and I knew what it made her feel to do it then. Looking up into her eyes, I sighed. "I'm sorry Alex. You're right, we shouldn't doubt this. If the prophecy says that no one is going to die, then no one is going to die." "It's okay Lexa. I just...I hate thinking about Justin." "I know but thinking about his death, and the person who ordered it, should give us motive to complete the prophecy though." "You're right. Esmyth ordered his death, and we're ordering his." "Justin will be avenged." "By his little sisters." "He'd hate that one." "Only because he liked being the older brother." "I know." We all fell silent after that. Alex and I were thinking about Justin. I remembered him the way he wanted to be remembered, as the loud and overly obnoxious brother he'd been. Justin had been the protective older brother. Since Michael had left he and our other brother Dante had made sure we were protected. The reason for his death had been because of us. He had been killed because he wouldn't tell Esmyth's warriors where Adalyn was. (Of course we hadn't known that then but it was obvious now.) When he wouldn't tell the warriors got angry and killed him. I pushed away from that thought, knowing it would only bring pain for me to remember that. "Lexa?" Zach whispered, looking down at me. "Yeah?" "I love you." "I love you too." I stared into his green eyes, watching as they explored my face. When he met my eyes I found his lips crashing down on mine. As usual, the moment he kissed me, I felt a spark light within my soul. It was always like that between soulmates. The fire that lit within your soul when you kiss your soulmate was one of the many signs of a soulmate.

"Lexa?" I heard Alex ask softly. I broke Zach's kiss. "Yeah Alex?" "Do you think that Justin is watching us right now?" "Yes I do. And I think he's smiling at us. Or probably making a joke out of the fact that his baby sisters are going to avenge him." She smiled softly. "I think you might be right." "Of course I am." I stared back out of the window, watching the ocean waves crash onto the shore. A thousand memories flew at me as I watched it. The first time I ever met Zach was on the beach as well as our first kiss. Alex and I used to go there at night when it was warm and lay on the sand until the sun came up. So many of our happy memories were spent on the beach. And now we were leaving. There would be no more happy beach memories. Instead there would be memories made in unknown places, memories that could end up haunting us for the rest of eternity. Soon we were past the border of my mother's kingdom and into the land of the humans. People stared at us as the carriage drove past. I remembered that they drove funny contraptions called cars instead of riding in carriages. I stared out the window as we drove past some of the cars around us. They really were funny looking things. I couldn't imagine how on earth they were driven without horses, but I suppose even humans have their own ways of traveling. I mean some witches drove cars but most of us preferred the old ways. Besides, it was much more interesting to watch the humans stare at you when you drove past in a horse drawn carriage. They could come up with the funniest things to say about us as we drove past and I had always enjoyed listening to it. "What are you thinking about?" Zach whispered, looking down at me. "Currently or five seconds ago?" "Currently." "Humans reactions to our carriage." "Only you would think about something like that." "Yeah I suppose so. But that's why you love me." "Yes, that it is. You have always made me laugh." "That figures." "Why do you say that?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow the way he always did when something puzzled him. "I say that because you were laughing at me the first time you saw me." "Only because you and Alex were wrestling and you kept screaming like a banshee." "That's mean." "Yes but you know that I love you." "Yeah I know you love me. And I love you too."

I kissed him again at the same time that Alex and Adalyn were kissing their soulmates. We all laughed when we broke apart and discovered that we had all kissed at the same time. Alex grinned, returning quickly to her usual self. Tristan, her soulmate, laughed and kissed the top of her head. It was quiet for a few moments before Tristan and Zach got tired of the silence as they always did. "Dragons. I cannot believe that we're going to ride dragons." Tristan told Zach excitedly. "I know. They're supposed to be really fast." "They are really fast. It just takes a while to get them to pick up speed." Dakota, Adalyn's soulmate, said. "Really?" "Yeah. That guy Liam we're going to see is my uncle. I go to his house every summer to visit him. He taught me how to ride dragons." "That's awesome. I can't wait to meet him." Zach said. "He's a pretty cool guy. He raised my brother after our mom died and grandma couldn't take him. And I've stayed with him every summer since I was ten." "How many dragons does he own?" Tristan asked. "Over a hundred in all. And I think the females just gave birth so that's another fifty to a hundred." "Alexa I think our boyfriends are going to leave us for dragons." Alex said, rolling her eyes. "Possibly." "I agree. They seem to love the dragons more than they do us." Adalyn said with a laugh. "You're all wrong." Dakota said. "Yes. I wouldn't leave Alexa for a dragon because dragons kill people and I prefer to have a girlfriend that won't kill me." Zach said. "Me either. But in my case both are killers. Alex kills people for even looking at her wrong." Tristan laughed. "Hey!" Alex exclaimed. "I'm just kidding babe." As they kissed once again the rest of us pretended to gag ourselves. Zach rolled his eyes at the ceiling, pulling me towards him. Suddenly I found his lips crashing down on mine and heard everyone else groan in protest. Someone - probably Tristan - made a gagging sound and Zach flipped him off. I laughed against his lips, letting myself sink deeper into his arms. He tightened those same arms around me as our kiss broke and I laid my head against

his chest. His heart thudded against my ear and I smiled at the sound. That was my favorite part of him: his heartbeat. His heart beat was a sound unique to Zach. It was the only sound in this world that I knew like the back of my hand. I could tell you what the exact rhythm of it was without even hearing it. "I love you Alexa." he whispered, kissing the top of my head. "I love you too Zachary." "You two are the most disgustingly mushy couple I have ever had the misfortune to meet." Tristan said with another fake gag. "You and Alex are the same way if not worse." I told him. "She's right babe." Alex told her soulmate with a laugh. Silence fell over us then as we reached the harbor. I looked out of the window, staring out at the dock. Our driver stopped and opened the door for us. We all looked at each other. Why had we stopped at the dock? Were we taking a boat to Elizabeth Cault's home? Questions swirled around in my mind as we walked over to the boat my family had owned since we were babies. As we climbed on board the driver turned to us with a smile. "We are traveling to the island of Dark Cove. Elizabeth Cault lives there and that is where I am supposed to take you first." he said. "Okay. Thank you Marcus." "You are welcome Lady Lockwood." he told Alex. We walked down into the house part of the boat as Marcus began pulling the boat out of harbor. I lay on the couch with my head in Zach's lap. Alex and Tristan lay across the chair and Adalyn lay with Dakota on the floor. As Zach began to stroke my hair I closed my eyes and was soon asleep. I slept dreamlessly and woke five seconds later (or so it seemed) to Zach kissing my forehead. "What's up?" I asked groggily. "We're at Elizabeth Cault's house love." "Oh." I sat up and looked around. It was dark out now, the moonlight streaming through the window. Alex was stretching in Tristan's arms and Adalyn was being picked up by Dakota. Looking up at Zach I threw my arms around his neck and told him to carry me. He smiled a little and picked me up. Soon my sisters and I were being carried out into the warm night air. I looked around at my surroundings to find that we were walking towards a large beach house. The moon was shining on the ocean, making the scene look like something out of a

movie. Off in the distance a dolphin flipped out of the water. I smiled up at Zach, leaning my head against his strong chest. Suddenly a voice startled us. "You guys must be the Lockwood sisters." We all looked towards the front door to see a tall woman with long brown hair and crimson eyes waiting for us. She was wearing a thin white dress that barely reached her thighs. Looking at her you couldn't tell that she was old enough to have a child. Then I remembered that she was a vampire as well as a witch and I realized that her appearance would stay the same no matter how old she got. "That's us." Alex said hopping down from Tristan's arms. "Come on in guys. I have rooms set up for all six of you." Alex stared at her for a second before speaking. "Actually ma'am we share rooms with the boys. They're our soulmates." "That's fine you can share if you'd like." "Thank the Goddess for that one. I can't sleep without Tristan." Elizabeth just laughed. I hopped down from Zach's arms and followed my sisters into Elizabeth's house. She turned on lights as we walked and I looked around at her home. It was really beautiful. The walls were painted a lovely burgundy color and the lights were chandeliers. Along the walls she'd hung paintings of the ocean as well as the countryside. We walked into a large living room where she instructed us to sit down. We all did. For a few long moments she didn't speak. Then she smiled at us and began her speech... Chapter Three Adalyn's Point Of View When we arrived at the home of Elizabeth Cault I couldn't believe that someone so young could be the mother of someone that was over 377 years old. It didn't seem possible until I remembered that she was a vampire so of course she wouldn't look her age. She invited us into her home and we followed her down a long hallway into a living room. She told us to sit down and we did. I sat next to Dakota and held his hand while she began speaking. "I will be teaching you not only ancient magic but how to defeat my son. Esmyth has always been interested in Dark Magic and I won't deny that he does not merely need to be defeated. My son needs to be killed. After what he has done to people he needs to have his life taken from him. I will be the first one to tell you that I do love my son but I also hate what he has become. And I know that he won't change now. He does not love me anymore, he loves his power and therefore I cannot protect him. When the time comes, you must kill

him. It is the only way to save our world and that is more important than his life. I will give you the tools needed to do this but it will be up to you to use them." she said, speaking in a calm voice. "Okay." Alex said. "We will begin lessons tomorrow. Tonight I will give you time to settle in and get acquainted with your surroundings. Come, I will show you your rooms." "Yes ma'am." "Please call me Beth." "Okay." We followed her up a spiral staircase and into another long hallway. She didn't speak until we reached three rooms. Then she smiled at us and pointed each pair to a separate room. I smiled a little and pulled Dakota into our room. He flipped on the light and closed the door behind us. When we were inside we sat down on the bed next to each other. I looked around at the room. It was a big room with French doors that opened up onto a balcony that faced the ocean. The walls were painted a soft pink color and the curtains were a darker pink material. The bed we were sitting on was a huge four poster one with dark pink curtains around it. The dressers were made of smooth wood that had been painted black. On the wall there was a painting that had been titled "Romeo and Juliet's First Kiss." "What are you thinking about love?" Dakota asked, pulling me closer. "Nothing really just the room." "It's very...pink isn't it?" "Yeah but I think that it's beautiful. We have the same kind of balcony that we had in my room in the country." "You're going to enjoy that." "Definately." "Are you excited about having your sisters back?" "Yes. I'm also glad that they remembered me so quickly. Mom didn't need to put the Forget Me Spell on me because I was hidden so well that no one would find me. She had to do it to my sisters because they had to believe that there were only two of them." "Alex is quite the character." "She's what they call the dominant twin. Everyone notices her before they take notice of the rest of us." "Not me. I notice you first." "But we all look the same." "So? You're my soulmate and therefore I would recognize you before anyone else." "Of course." "I love you Adalyn." "I love you too Dakota." "Do you want to do a Necessities Spell on us so that we can go to bed?" "We were just sleeping."

"I know, but I want to hold you. I have no patience to have you sitting so far away from my arms." I laughed. "You need to learn patience." "No thanks, I would rather be impatient." "I suppose I could do a Necessities Spell on us." "Then do it." "I call upon the Great Goddess Helena. Give us what our hearts desire, what our body longs for, and what is needed by all. In the name of the Great Goddess Helena we thank you." As soon as I said the words our day clothes were replaced by night clothes. I wore a long red nightgown with rubies sewn into the fabric. Dakota wore simply a pair of pajama pants. As he always did, he looked like a God in human form. It had always seemed to me that Dakota was too beautiful for a girl like me to have. But he was the holder of my soul and therefore made for me. I had always believed that the Gods had blessed me when they chose him to be my soulmate. "Will you hurry up and get in bed love?" Dakota demanded, already in bed. I laughed. "I'm coming." "Thank you." When I was laying in bed with Dakota's arms around me there was a small tap on the door. I knew before I even heard the voice that it was my sisters. Dakota called for them to come in and they walked in accompanied by their soulmates. We sat up in bed and stared at each other for a few moments before speaking. As always, Alex was the first one to speak. "What do you guys think of Elizabeth?" she asked. "She seems nice enough." Alexa answered. "Yes I know that. But what kind of ancient magic do you think she'll be teaching us?" "Well, that could be nearly anything. But if I had to say exactly what I would probably guess that she will teach us the ancient war magic." I said. "War magic?" Tristan asked, cocking one eyebrow. "Yeah. The ancients had almost a dozen different types of magic. One of their many types was called War Magic. War Magic was used against enemies. The spells were used to protect their own people and to destroy their enemies." "Wow. How do you know all that?" "Dakota loves the ancient history of our people. He has about a million different books on various ancient topics. He's taught me a lot about the ancient people."

"Wow." "What was she talking about when she said that she's going to teach us how to defeat her son?" "I dunno. Maybe she was only saying that she's going to give us information about him. There might be stuff about him that would be helpful to know." "Maybe. How horrible would it be to have your son become one of the most evil Kings in over a millenia?" Alexa whispered, staring into space. "That would be horrible. I don't think I could deal with that." "Yeah me either." "We should get to sleep you guys. We might have to walke up early in the morning." Alex said, rising from her seat. "Yeah you're probably right." "Good night guys." I called as they walked out of the room. "Good night sis." my sisters called back, pausing at the doorway. As they left the room they turned off the light and closed the door. Dakota lay down and pulled me down beside him. Laying my head against his chest I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. His arms tightened around me as he fell into a quick and easy sleep. But sleep didn't come quickly to me. I lay awake, thinking about how quickly everything had happened. It barely even seemed like it was my birthday, let alone my sacred birthday. Today was supposed to be the day when my sisters and I would be given our Witch Names but now that we were going to save the World of Magic I supposed that our Witch Names would have to come later. That was fine with me because saving our world was way more important than Witch Names. If the World of Witchcraft didn't exist, there would be no need for Witch Names. I turned my thoughts to my sisters. We had been reunited today but there hadn't been time for a proper celebration. That wasn't a big deal though, because as long as we were together we'd be all right. I was once again astounded by how much we looked alike. I hadn't been told that we were identical triplets so seeing my sisters again after all the time apart was kind of like looking into a mirror. We all had the same straight, long blood-red hair. And our eyes were the same sky blue color. In fact, the only difference between us was probably in our smiles. Alexandria's smile was more confident than Alexa's and mine. Alexa's smile was sort of dreamy. When you looked at her you could tell that she was the dreamer of the bunch. And my smile was proud. When you looked at me you saw a girl that took pride in herself and in the people she loved. But, despite our differences, we were very much alike. We had our differences, but we were also triplets and therefore alike.

I'm not exactly sure when my thoughts turned into dreams but I soon found myself being kissed awake by Dakota. When I opened my eyes I saw him sitting above me, his lips just inches away from my own. Smiling at him, I claimed his lips again and sat up. He grinned at me as I got out of bed and yawned. "Babe, you need to do another Necessity Spell on us before we go downstairs." Dakota reminded me with a smile. "Yeah I suppose I should do that." "Thanks." "I call upon the Great Goddess Helena. Give us what our hearts desire, what our body longs for, and what is needed by all. In the name of the Great Goddess Helena we thank you." As soon as the spell was said our night clothes were replaced with day clothes. I found myself wearing a pair of tight jeans and a pink shirt. My hair was up in a ponytail and I was wearing a pair of black tennis shoes. Dakota was wearing a pair of knee length jean shorts and a black T-shirt. His shoes were black and his short blonde hair was styled in perfect spikes like it always was. He grabbed his baseball cap from the nightstand and put it on before grabbing my hand. When we reached the hallway we found the others already there. Smiling at each other, we linked hands with our soulmates and walked downstairs. Elizabeth was waiting for us in the living room. This time she wore a floor length pink dress and a pair of stiletto heels. Her long brown hair fell in gentle waves to the middle of her back and her crimson eyes were bright. When she saw us she gave us a smile and beckoned for us to join her. We walked into the living room and sat down on the soft red couches. "Good morning." she said. "Good morning." we chorused. "I thought about what I should teach you first and I decided that I should tell you the most basic spell of all the ancient War Magic. That spell is the Shield Spell as we would call it. In the ancient language it is the Shild Antema. Shild means Shield and Antema means Spell." "Cool." "Even though it is the most basic of all the ancient War Magic Spells it is still difficult to perform. It does take practice but I think you guys will get it pretty quickly." "More than likely we will. We're pretty good at magic already." "So, we'll begin by saying the incantation. The ancients didn't use the kind of spells that we use now. They used only one word for a spell. The incantation for the Shild Antema is Delliana."

"Delliana. I've heard that before. One of the ancient kings created it." Dakota commented. "Yes it was King Emerald III." "Yeah." "So what I want you guys to do now is to say the incantation to yourselves a few times to get used to saying it." We all said the spell to ourselves for a few minutes before we all got used to saying it. I thought that using one word spells was easier than our sentence length spells because you didn't have to waste time on needless words. Of course, people in our day would have argued with me, but to each their own I guess. "Now we need to get the hand motion down before we can attempt the spell." "Okay." "In order to be able to perform the spell properly you need to clench your hands into fists and pull them towards your body. In the same second that you say the incantation throw your arms out in front of you and unclench your fists." "That's pretty easy." I said. "Yes but the final part isn't easy. It is part of performing all ancient spells. The final part of performing any ancient spell is to keep your mind completely blank. Don't allow any thoughts to enter your mind as you say the spell. It's not easy to do, but it is possible. So what I would like you to do now is to practice the spell all together for a while." "Okay." For a while we practiced the spell on our own. It took all but one of us three tries to get it right. Dakota got it on his first try and was told to walk around and help the rest of us.I got it on my third try and joined Dakota in helping the others. The rest of them got it right on their fifth try. Elizabeth was surprised at how quickly we had gotten it down. "You got that faster than I did when I first started learning the ancient magic." she said with a proud smile. "Magic has always come easy to us." Alex explained. "I can tell. Well, I suppose I could teach you the second spell." "Sweet." "The second spell is called Drugard Illenata Antema. It is the Fire Shooter Spell. Using this spell you will be able to shoot fire at your enemies. This spell requires two hand movements and the required blank mind." "Sweet."

"We'll go outside to practice this one though because I don't want my house to be burned down." "Okay." We followed her out into the back yard. We all stood in a circle with her in the center an waited for her to give us more instructions. After a moment of silence she gave us our instructions. "The hand movements for this spell are a little more complicated than the last. Keep your right hand close to your chest and twirl it in a slow circle. Hold your left hand palm-out in front of you. After ten seconds throw your right hand forward palm-out. The fire will shoot out of both hands." "Okay." I practiced the move several times before I got it right. When I finally got it right I found that flames shot out from both palms. It didn't hurt like I thought it would. Actually it just made my palms tingle a bit. The flames hit a tree which Elizabeth quickly doused with an ancient water spell. It took everyone a few tries to get it but soon everyone had it right. We looked up to see Elizabeth smiling at us again. "Very good." she said. "Thanks." "We can go back inside now. The last thing I'm going to tell you is my son's story. Knowing the story of Esmyth's life will help you to destroy him." "Okay." We walked back into the living room and sat down again. This time I lay on the floor with my head in Dakota's lap. The others also lay on the floor together and Elizabeth sat in a high-backed plush chair near the doorway. She stared off into space for a moment as though she was trying to decide where to begin. Finally, she looked down at us and began her story. "Esmyth was born on October 31, 1633. Everyone told me that he would grow up to become something very evil because of the day of his birth but I chose not to believe them. And for a while I thought I was correct. He was good as a little boy. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do when it came to helping someone." she smiled at a memory and began once more. "When he was seventeen, though, he started to change. That's when I gave birth to my youngest boy. I had already become a vampire, but the Gods chose to bless me with another child. Esmyth resented his brother Michael for being born. I guess he thought that I wouldn't love him anymore after Michael was born, but whatever his reason he wasn't going to allow his little brother to live. When I gave birth to Michael Esmyth acted happy at first. He was the perfect older brother to him. By the time Michael turned two years old, I was convinced that Esmyth wasn't going to hurt him. But I was wrong. A little while after Michael's third birthday I was called to my mother's house on business so I left Michael and Esmyth with their father. When I came home the following week, Jacob was dead and Esmyth was gone. He didn't kill Michael. Michael was a good actor and he pretended to be

dead. I was able to save him but there was nothing to be done for my soulmate. The following year, Esmyth had claimed the throne of the Dark King Jaxon Blackwood. He has held that throne for too long now. Too many people have been killed because of him." "Wow." I said. "What happened to your youngest son?" Dakota asked softly. "He lives with me. He will be teaching you how to fight with Dark Wand Magic. Esmyth was always good at Dark Wand Magic and it will be useful to know how to do it also." "Cool." "He's coming home tonight and he'll start teaching you tomorrow afternoon." "Okay." "You guys are free until Midnight tonight." "What are we doing at midnight?" Alexa asked. "I'm going to teach you some more ancient spells." "Okay." Dakota stood up and pulled me to my feet. Around us, the others were standing as well. We smiled at Elizabeth one more time before walking out of the room. As we walked out onto the beach we all did another Necessity Spell on each other, changing into cooler clothes. I found myself wearing a bikini top and a pair of short jean shorts. I was wearing a pair of pink flip flops that matched my bikini top. Dakota was simply wearing a pair of khaki shorts and sandals. I smiled at him, finding him even more breathtakingly beautiful than before. He smiled back at me, wrapping an arm around my waist. Alexa was wearing a short sleeved shirt and a pair of regular shorts. Her hair was half up and she wore a pair of green flip-flops on her feet. She had never been the type to run around in short shorts and a bikini top like I was. Alexa had always been the modest one out of all three of us. Beside her, Zach was wearing a pair of jeans. He was carrying his shoes in one hand and had his other arm wrapped around Alexa's waist. She was looking up at him, laughing at something he had said and they looked like the cutest couple anyone has ever seen. Alex was wearing a black bikini with a red silk wrap around her waist. Her long hair hung loose around her, framing her face perfectly. Standing with his arm wrapped around her shoulders Tristan was wearing a pair of shorts and a white muscle shirt. He wore a white baseball cap over his short brown hair. His arm was wrapped around Alex's shoulder and he was staring down at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. He told Alexa and Zach that they were the disgusting couple but in reality Tristan and Alex were the disgusting couple. They were kissing at the moment and looking at them would give even the most hard-hearted person butterflies in his stomach.

Dakota looked down at me, a smile lighting up his exquisite features. We stopped right near the ocean and he pulled me into his arms. Even though it was pretty hot outside, I was still perfectly cool in his arms. The moment his lips touched mine, a wave of fire ran through me. He shivered as the same fire ran through him, pulling me closer to him. As I always did when he kissed me, I lost track of everything in the world but him. We could've stayed like this for an eternity if it hadn't been for the others groaning behind us. "Come on Lynnie get a room!" Alex moaned, hiding her face in Tristan's chest. "Why? He's a good kisser." "Oh GROSS!" Alexa moaned, rolling her eyes. "You guys kiss in front of us, why can't we kiss in front of you?" Dakota asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because it's acceptable for us." "And it isn't for us?" "Well...no." Tristan said. "It's acceptable to kiss your soulmate no matter who happens to be around." "Not when you are surrounded by family it's not." "Shut up Tristan." Zach said. "Nope." "You guys are-" Alex's words were cut off by the sight of a dragon flying towards us. At first, I couldn't make out who was riding the dragon. When it got closer I realized that it was Raven Nightingale. The look on her face was one of terror and as soon as I saw it a wave of ice ran down my spine. Something had happened and whatever it was it wasn't good. She climbed off of her dragon and ran towards us, terror filling her eyes. When she got close enough to hear us Alex spoke in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "Raven? Raven what's wrong?" "Esmyth is sending people after you. They'll be here soon. He wants a battle between you and his most powerful Witches. If you don't win the battle, he's going to have his men kill you! I've got to get back to the castle so that your mother doesn't have a heart attack waiting for news from you." "Th-thank you Raven." Alex whispered as Raven climbed back onto her dragon. Before we could even speak to one another dragons began descending from every direction around us. Six Witches climbed off of the first dragons and stood in front of us. Dakota

grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly, his eyes dark with worry. I looked at my sisters to see that they were both preparing for the duel with the other Witches. Taking a deep breath, Alex stepped forward and spoke to the leader of the other Witches. "Let's do this. I don't have time to waste on idiots."

Chapter Four Alexandria's Point Of View When Raven told us what was coming it was like my heart stopped. We weren't experienced enough in ancient Magic to duel other Witches in it yet. Then I thought about what she had told us. Raven hadn't said that we had to duel using ancient Magic. We were all pretty good at defensive Magic using Modern Magic. We might be able to defeat these guys using our own Magic. That's when my confidence flared up. By the time Esmyth's men had landed in front of us I was confident and ready to begin the duel. I stepped forward, locked eyes with the oldest Witch, and spoke to her. "Let's do this. I don't have time to waste on idiots." I could feel the others staring at me like I was crazy but I didn't even glance at them. There was no time to argue with them now. We had to get ready to duel. The oldest person gave me a cocky smile. She obviously thought that she was going to win. Obviously she didn't know Alexandria Roslynn Lockwood. When I set my mind to doing something, I did it. And I had already set my mind on winning this duel. No one was going to stand in my way of doing what was needed. It didn't matter that these Witches might be stronger than us in that moment. All that mattered right then was the fact that we had to beat them. I glanced at my sisters to see them stepping forward. The Witch in front of me laughed. "You can't beat us you know." she said. "Obviously you don't know my sisters and I. When we say we're going to do something, we do it. And we've already said that we're going to beat you. So let's get this over with." "Certainly." As we began the duel it became apparant that we could win this. The other Witches were using ancient magic, but we were using the power of the Gods. As I dueled the oldest Witch I watched my sisters out of the corner of my eye. Alexa was bleeding from a cut on her forehead and Adalyn was using the Fire Shooter Spell. A sudden stab of searing pain made me turn my attention fully back to my opponent. I didn't bother to look at what she'd

hit me with, there would be time for that later. As I gathered most of my energy I realized that Esmyth's Witches were almost out of energy. All it would take now to defeat them was an Energy Bullet. Stepping back, I looked at my sisters. "Step back guys. I'll finish this." I told them. They stepped away from the battle as I gathered some of my remaining energy bullet. With the last of my strength I shoved the bullet towards our opponents and got a rush of satisfaction when they all fell. I barely had time to smile at my sisters before I felt myself falling to the ground. When I woke up I was laying on a couch in Elizabeth's living room. The others were all sitting on the floor around me with the exception of Tristan who was holding me in his arms. As I opened my eyes they turned their attention back to me. I groaned, sitting up and frowning. A million questions came to the forefront of my mind but I didn't say anything at first. It was Elizabeth that spoke first. "How do you feel Alexandria?" "Drained. And don't call me by my full name please, it's too formal. Just call me Alex." "Okay Alex. I've got something to give you your energy back. I'll go get it from the kitchen." "Okay." The minute she left the room everyone started talking at once. "We won Alex!" Adalyn whispered. "Good. I didn't want to be dead already." "We're definitely not dead but the other Witches are." Tristan said with a laugh. "What are you talking about?" "When you shot that Energy Bullet at them it killed them instantly." "How?" "They were already drained almost completely of energy so when you shot the Energy Bullet at them it knocked all of the energy out of them. And since Witches can't live without energy they were killed instantly." "Good." I said. "Very. Now all we've got to worry about is an angry Esmyth coming after us." Adalyn said, rolling her eyes.

"He won't come after you again for a while Adalyn. Esmyth is probably wallowing in selfpity right now. He won't even be able to think about making another attack until you guys leave." Elizabeth said, coming back. "Thank God for self-pity then." Dakota said with a smile. "I agree with Dakota. Thank God for self-pity." Tristan said. We fell silent for a while while I drank the nasty tasting potion that Elizabeth handed me. It tasted horrible but it did restore my energy. I downed the rest of it in one gulp and handed the bottle back to Elizabeth. The others laughed at the face I made as it went down my throat. Honestly some of these potions tasted poisonous. "What did it taste like Alex?" Alexa asked me with a grin. "Poison." I answered. "That bad huh?" "Worse." "At least you have your energy back now." "True but still that was disgusting." "You'll live." Tristan teased. "Just you be quiet." "Make me." "Oh I plan on it." "And just how are you going to do that?" "By doing this." I reached up and kissed him. As soon as our lips met I felt him lean into me. For a few moments we stayed in the lip lock, unaware that everyone was watching us. Unfortunately, I soon felt Alexa's arms pulling me back. Looking down at her I glared as fiercely as I could. Her reaction was an eye roll. I looked at Tristan and began pulling him towards the back yard. Behind us I heard Alexa mutter, "finally" and I had to laugh. Even though Alexa could be the most annoying thing on this earth at times she could also be the funniest thing on this earth at other times. She was a two sided person. (Actually she was probably a million sided person but two is enough to name.) When we were in the back yard I leaned against a tree and pulled Tristan towards me. He placed his arms on either side of my body and towered above me, staring into my eyes. As he stared down at me I couldn't help but to forget everything around me. Suddenly we were the only people in the world. In the same moment that I came to this realization his lips

came crashing down on mine and everything completely disappeared. His lips were warm and smooth as they moved in synchronization with mine. His arms crushed me to him with a strength I never thought possible. My heart began to race and soon I was struggling for each breath. When our kiss broke Tristan smiled down at me, his brown eyes lighting up. I grinned back up at him, all my worries and thoughts disappearing. "I love you Alexandria Roslynn Lockwood." he whispered, his voice husky. "I love you too Tristan Alexander Darkvein." "Come on." he said, pulling me back towards the house. "Where are we going?" "To our room. I can't do to you what I want to do out here." "And why not?" "Too many people could see." "I didn't think you cared about things like that." "I don't. I just don't want anyone else to see how beautiful you are without your clothes on." "Then I think you had better hurry up because I'm not going to wait much longer." His only reply was to pick me up and carry me bridal style into the house. As we passed them the others moaned. I heard Alexa telling Elizabeth what we were going to do and Elizabeth's laugh. The rest of it faded into the background as Tristan covered my lips with his own and threw me against our door in our room. After that...well let's just say I couldn't concentrate for a while. When we finally came to our senses it was after midnight and the moon was shining through the open window. I looked up into Tristan's eyes and gave him a smile. He groaned, crushing my lips to his. Just as we were getting into the mood of things the door swung open and we were suddenly joined by Alexa. She rolled her eyes before she said anything. "It's time to get out of bed. Elizabeth wants to teach us some more spells." she said. "Okay." "I'd get dressed if I were you, though." "No duh stupid." She walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. I stood up and performed a quick Necessity Spell. By the time I was finished Tristan had already finished and was dressed in a pair of baggy sweat pants and a black t-shirt. I was dressed in a pair of baggy pink sweat pants and a black tank top. Tristan grabbed my hand and pulled me downstairs with him.

When we got to the back yard we found the others already waiting for us. As he caught sight of us, Zach smirked at us. I blushed a deep crimson color while Tristan mouthed cuss words at him. Elizabeth coughed quietly, telling us that it was time to begin. Elizabeth coughed quietly, reminding us that she was ready to start. "I've decided to teach you a more dangerous spell than the ones we were working on previously. It's called, 'Alenata Antema.' Alenata simply means Death. The hand movements required to complete the spell are quite simple. All you have to do is keep your hands pointed at your opponent. You know that you have succeeded when you see a jet of red lightning come out of your hands." "Cool. But...how are we going to practice this tonight?" Tristan asked. "You're not going to kill anything yet. For now all you're going to do is point your hands in the direction of something that is NOT human." she answered. "Sweet." Dakota and Zach chorused loudly. We all separated from each other a few feet before practicing the spell. The lightning hurt a little bit as it left my hand, but it was bearable. It kinda felt like a dull needle poking through my skin. After a few practice runs Elizabeth told us that we'd better get inside and to bed. Her son Michael would be waking us up at ten o'clock the next morning and we would need to be fully awake for his Dark Wand Magic lesson tomorrow. Giving her a last smile, we all headed upstairs and into our separate rooms. Tristan closed and locked the door to our room so that the others would know not to disturb us. "Dark Wand Magic tomorrow." he said, giving me one of his breathtaking smiles. "That should be a fun thing to learn." "Hell yeah it will. But we should probably get to sleep. He's gonna wake us up at ten o'clock in the morning." "I know." I yawned. "Lemme do the Necessity Spell on us and we can get to bed." "Sounds good." I did a quick Necessity Spell before pulling back the blankets on my side of our bed. Tristan pulled back the blankets on his side and plopped down. I lay down next to himand felt his arms pull me close. Laying my head on his chest I closed my eyes and gave myself over to sleep. We woke to the sound of the door unlocking. At first I couldn't see who had unlocked the door because the person had turned on the light. When my eyes finally adjusted I saw a tall

man with short brown hair standing in the doorway. I moaned, sitting up and shaking Tristan awake. Tristan groaned as he rolled out of bed. "We'll be down in a few minutes." I told the man as I sat up. "Take your time." he replied. "Thanks." After he was gone I pulled the sweats from last night back on and threw my hair back into a ponytail. Tristan came out of the bathroomwearing only a pair of black sweat pants. As I watched him, he put on his black muscle shirt and walked over to me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him quickly. He kissed me back, his eyes opening a little wider. "Okay I'm awake now." he said, kissing me. "Me too." "We should get downstairs now. The others are probably waiting for us." "More than likely yeah." Grabbing Tristan's hand I led him from the room. We walked downstairs and into the back yard where Michael and the others were waiting. It kinda looked like a scene from a movie. We were all standing in front of this Dark Wand master waiting to be taught how to use Dark Wand Magic. 'Wow.' I thought with a small smile, 'I never thought I'd be doing this right now.' It was a true statement. If someone had told me three months ago that I would be traveling the world on a mission to save the World of Witchcraft I would have laughed at them. "I want each one of you guys to take one of the wands. They're yours to keep so don't worry about giving them back to me." Michael said, holding out the six black wands he was holding in his right hand. "Okay." Dakota said, stifling a yawn. "The first thing we're going to do is learn a simple defensive spell. Dark Wand Magic is used for two things: protection and killing. We are going to learn both ways because my brother knows both and it will be good to know just as much, if not more, as he does. My mom tells me that you guys are pretty good at learning spells so this will probably go by really fast." "Sweet. Let's do it." Zach said, catching Tristan's eye. "Okay so, the spell I'm going to teach you is called the Aura of Protection. It gives off an aura-like bubble that surrounds the caster and keeps them completely safe from spells and physical attack. The incantation is Linade Actem. While you are saying the incantation wave your wand in a circle around you."

"Okay. That sounds easy enough." Tristan said, grinning at me. "You should only have to practice it once to get it right unless you need to do it more than that." "Okay." Each of us performed the spell once and figured out that it was, in fact, easy to perform. After we had casted the spell Michael instructed us to try and touch each other and we did. When we got close to one another our hands met an invisible barrier that prevented us from reaching the other person. It would definately be a good spell to know when doing battle with Esmyth and his Magical Warriors. As we looked around at each other Michael told us how to lower the Aura of Protection. "To lower this spell you simply have to say Reverse This Spell. Only the caster can reverse the spell so you do not have to worry about having someone else lower it." "Okay." "I guess that'll do it for today. I'll call the boys in later to teach them how to fight physically while still using magic. We'll all learn a new one together later today or tomorrow. Until then you guys are free to do what you please." "Thanks." Tristan and I linked hands again and walked around the house to the beach. Behind us, the others were walking slowly. Looking back I found that Alexa had fallen asleep on Zach's chest and that he was now carrying her. Adalyn and Dakota were deep in discussion about something and were walking hand-in-hand. I looked up at Tristan and kissed him deeply. He kissed me back amidst all the groans from our family. Happiness filled me when his lips touched mine and brought a smile of pure joy to my face.

Chapter Five Alexa's Point Of View As we walked towards the beach I found myself falling asleep on Zach's shoulder. I barely felt it when he picked me up and began carrying me towards the beach. In fact, the only thing that woke me up was when everyone started groaning. Opening one eye I saw Alex and Tristan kissing. It was a disgustingly cute sight and I wished immediately that I had never opened my eyes. Of course, when I attempted to close my eyes and go back to sleep, I found that sleep evaded me. Sighing, I sat up and hopped out of Zach's arms. "Welcome back to the world of the living." Alex commented, pulling away from Tristan.

"Yeah, yeah." "Do I need to kiss you?" Zach asked me with a smirk. "Why would you need to do that?" "To wake you up fully. You're quite grouchy if you don't get your morning kiss you know." "Then kiss me please." "I'd be happy to do just that." Leaning down Zach touched his lips to mine. We kissed gently at first but as time went on we deepened it. Zach tightened his arms around me and pulled me against him. As I wrapped my arms around Zach our family groaned. We ignored their comments until Michael, Elizabeth's son, yelled for the boys from the house. "Damn. We'll continue this later." Zach said, kissing me one last time before running back to the house. After our soulmates were gone Alexandria, Adalyn, and I stared at each other. Suddenly it occured to me how different our lives would have been if we had grown up together. If Adalyn had grown up with us we would have been able to make some pretty cool memories together before we set out on this journey. But, I reminded myself, after all of this was over we would have plenty of time to make those memories. We would have an eternity to make memories together. "How did you and Dakota meet?" I asked Adalyn. She grinned at me. "I was walking through the forest and I tripped over a log. Dakota was in front of me and he caught me before I could hit the ground. I looked up at him and...I don't know. It was just magic I guess." "That's cool. You guys are a cute couple." Alex said with a smile. Adalyn rolled her eyes. "You mean besides the fact that he's like two feet taller than me?" "We're shorter than all of them. Zach's at least a foot taller than me." "I've noticed. How did you guys meet your soulmates?" I laughed. "Alex and I were wrestling on the beach when I met Zach. He was watching us wrestle and when I heard him laughing I stopped. I still don't know how I heard him laughing when everyone else that was on the beach was laughing right along with him but I did. Anyways Zach asked me if I wanted to take a walk on the beach with him later that

night and I said yes. It wasn't until I kissed him goodnight that I realized that he was my soulmate. Needless to say I got home pretty late that night." I recalled with a laugh. "I would have known Dakota's laugh anywhere even if I had never met him before." Adalyn said with a grin. "I met Tristan the week after Lexa met Zach. I was walking through one of the Palace gardens where he was working. I remember watching him plant the roses and thinking about how gorgeous he was. He saw me staring at him and...I don't really know what happened. All I know is that he ended up kissing me and I suddenly felt like I was whole. It was like..." "Like you were missing something and when he kissed you it just came back together." Adalyn filled in with a soft smile. "Yeah. I thought mom was gonna disown me 'cause Tristan wasn't a Royal or anything but she didn't. Instead she told me that dad's clan was Darkvein before they got married. The Darkvein Clan is known for murdering members of the Lockwood Clan. Dad didn't go along with the infamous "kill the Royals" bullshit that the rest of his clan went along with. He thought that it was ridiculous and was disowned by his Clan when he voiced his opinion. Two weeks later he met mom and the rest is history." "Dakota's mother was killed by a Darkvein. That's why he was living with his dad." Adalyn commented, looking around for the boys. "Really?" I asked, curious now. "Yeah. His mom used to be part of the Darkvein Clan but she renounced them when she married his dad. Marcus is a Wildwood and has quite a few enemies in the Darkvein Clan. He and Dakota moved around a lot after Mary died so that Spike and Dakota would be safe. It was luck that he met me two days before he was going to move again." "Wow." "Yeah. He didn't really know his mom, though, so it doesn't really bother him to talk about it. His dad won't even say Mary's name, though, because it's too hard for him." "I don't even want to think about what would happen to me if I lost Zach. That's a scary thought." I said, shivering at the thought. "I know. Without Tristan I would probably just...die." "I wouldn't even be able to get out of bed without Dakota there to get me up. If I ever lost him I would have nothing else to live for." Adalyn said.

"Luckily for us we've got three very strong soulmates. There isn't a lot that can be done to kill those guys." "I know. Dakota doesn't like to be mean but when he gets pissed off he doesn't care about being mean. It's really hard to piss him off, though. I've only seen him get mad once and to be honest it terrified me." "Zach's the same way. He usually just blows people off but there are times when he just loses his cool. It's scary but he's never gotten mad at me so I'm not afraid of him exactly." "Tristan too. It's amazingly difficult to piss him off but once you do there's no stopping him. Well, unless you're me that is. Sometimes I can't even stop him, though, but then I just think he's incredibly sexy so I don't really pay much attention to what he's saying." Alex said with a grin. Finally, after who knows how long, we heard the boys coming back. In less than a second Zach was standing behind me with his arms around my waist. Dakota stood behind Adalyn with his chin rested on top of her head. Tristan stood next to Alex with one arm around her waist. I looked around at my sisters to see each of them grinning up at their soulmates. "What did you guys talk about while we were gone?" Tristan asked. "You guys." Alex commented. "Were you talking about how sexy we are? 'Cause we know it's true already." Dakota commented with a grin at Adalyn. She slapped his arm. "No. We were talking about how we met you guys." He laughed. "And did you tell them what you said when I caught you?" Adalyn turned a dark crimson color. "No." "Oh this oughta be good. What did she say?" Zach asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes please tell us what our dear sister left out of her story." Dakota laughed. "She asked me if I was one of those Greek Gods. It was both adorable and ridiculous at the same time." "Yes well your answer was kind of cocky you know." "Well you're the one that asked!" "What was his answer Lynnie?"

Adalyn laughed. "He said, 'well I might as well be. I'm definately hot enough.' But then again, he was correct." "And don't you forget it either." "I couldn't forget that if I tried." "Of course you couldn't." Dakota replied and we all laughed. Zach leaned down towards my ear, wrapping his arms around my waist. I leaned against him as he whispered in my ear. When his words were spoken I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face. "Let's get away from these guys. I want to have you all to myself for a little while." "You read my mind." I whispered back. As we walked away Alex called out, "Where are you two running off to?" Zach turned to her, mischief gleaming in his bright eyes. Alex seemed to know why we were separating from the group and simply gave him an eye roll to let us know that she understood. When he turned back to me a smile was lighting Zach's eyes, mixing with the mischief that never seemed to leave them to create the most amazing soulmate in the universe. He grabbed my hand and tugged me down the beach where we were secluded by trees. Then, pinning me against a tree, he stared down into my eyes. It wasn't until our eyes were locked that I realized that something was wrong with Zach. His eyes were too dark now, almost black instead of their normal green. The smile that lit his face was only a shadow of my soulmate's familiar smile. He looked...dark and so unlike himself that it frightened me. His next words, spoken in a voice I had never heard before, sent a rush of terror through my heart. "You think you can defeat me of all people? You are nothing but a teenaged girl with a heart of glass that I will shatter into bits!" "Zach...Zach please...please. I don't know what's going on and I don't really care just please stop. This isn't funny." I pleaded, even though I knew that this...monster was not my soulmate. "Your mate no longer occupies this body Alexa. He's mine now and he'll stay mine until your heart stops beating. I'll make sure of it!" he roared. I broke free of his grasp, feeling sick now. That was Esmyth in that body, not my Zach. Wherever Zach's soul was it was someplace dark. I screamed for my sisters as I left the clearing where Esmyth had pinned me against the tree. Tears poured down my face as I

saw them running towards me. Zach was gone. Esmyth had him now and there didn't seem to be anything I could do to save him now. "Lexa! Lexa what's going on?" Alex yelled as I fell into her arms. I struggled for breath, for speech but it took a second for me to catch it. When I could speak again my voice came out in a sob. "That isn't Zach Alex!" "What're you talking about Lex?" Tristan whispered as Zach's body emerged from the trees. "Esmyth took his soul from his body! That's Esmyth occupying that body NOT ZACH!" "Lexie? Lexie why'd you run away?" Zach's voice asked from the trees. We all looked at each other. Tristan's face darkened as he realized what I had said was the truth. He was Zach's best friend, he knew him better than anyone else, and he knew that Zach never called me Lexie. That wasn't my soulmate in that body and we all knew it. Tristan's words were filled with venom when he spoke. "You don't belong in that body! Get out of it! NOW!" "You have no idea what power I possess little boy." Esmyth snarled, stepping forward. "I'm not a little boy and I don't care about your damn powers! Let. My. Best. Friend. Go. NOW." Esmyth turned his eyes to me. "I think maybe I'll have a little fun with you. How would you like that?" I widened my eyes in response, knowing that I couldn't save myself from him when he was using Zach's body. All I could do was let him hurt me and hope that Zach came back to me soon. As Esmyth shot out his hand I heard Zach's voice in my head. 'Lexa...Oh Goddess Lexa if you can hear me don't be afraid." 'Zach? Zach is that you?' 'Thank the Goddess for your voice! Are you okay? I can't see what he's doing but I can hear his words. Please tell me you're all right.' he pleaded. 'I'm all right but he's shooting spells at me. He doesn't have very good aim, though, and none of his spells have hit where he wants them to hit.'

Zach laughed bitterly. 'Baby...he's got perfect aim. Esmyth is only trying to hurt you, not kill you.' 'Well then he's succeeding. My legs feel like they're on fire.' 'I swear I'll kill him for hurting you baby. Just hang in there for a while. I swear I'm coming back.' 'Where are you?' 'I have no flippin' clue babe. All I know is that it's darker than hell in here and there are a whole lot of other souls around me. I've gotta go babe. I'll talk to you whenever I can. I swear. I love you Alexa.' 'I love you too Zach.' When the connection broke I looked up into the eyes that had once been Zach's and swore I saw them light up the way his did. I knew that it was Zach, fighting to come back. He had promised to come back to me and Zach didn't break his promises so I just had to believe in him. Tristan's voice rang out fom behind me. "Dakota grab him from the back and shove him to the ground." "On it." Together, Dakota and Tristan grabbed Esmyth/Zach and pulled him to his feet. They drug him, screaming, into the house where Elizabeth was waiting. She already knew what was going on, that much was obvious by the look on her face. As soon as we were all inside, she shut the door and stared at Zach's shell. Esmyth's eyes glowed with hatred of the woman that had bore him but that didn't phaze Elizabeth. "Return him Esmyth. You've done enough now." "Mother dear do you really think that I'm going to return this imbecile to his body?" "Do it or I'll make you." "Oh mother you aren't nearly powerful enough to stop me." "Watch me." Without another word Elizabeth flicked her wrist at him. In the next instant Zach was on his knees, clutching his chest as if he was having a heart attack. I waited until I could see his eyes to go to him. As soon as I saw that his green eyes were brght again I knew that it was Zach again. Esmyth hadn't been able to take him away from me forever.

"Please tell me that...asshole didn't hurt you Lex." Zach whispered as I dropped down beside him. "No. No I'm all right Zach." "Are you sure?" "Yeah. I swear I'm fine. Are you okay?" "Well, except for being extremely pissed at that asshole, I'm fine." "Thank the Goddess." "How did he do that to him?" I asked Elizabeth. She sighed and looked out of the kitchen window before answering. "It's one of the trickier ancient spells. I'll teach it to you along with the spell I just used to throw him back into his own body tomorrow. Right now I'm going to lay down for a little while." "Okay." As soon as she was gone we looked at each other. Zach stood up and pulled me against him, his arms secure. I felt safe knowing that he was back in his own body again. Esmyth could never take him away from me completely. No one could do that. "Come on babe, let's go upstairs. I have the biggest headache I've ever experienced in my life and I'd like to go sleep for a while." Zach whispered, leaning his head on my shoulder." "Sleep sounds like a good idea." I answered, kissing his cheek. "We'll see you guys later, then." Alex told me with a smile. "Yeah." As we walked upstairs Zach kept his arm around my waist like he was afraid to let go of me. It didn't really bother me all that much because I didn't want him to let go of me. The feeling I got when he put his arms around me was the best feeling in the world. Even if I were blind and deaf I would know Zach by the simple feel of his arms. That's how powerful the feeling was. "Don't bother with the light. In fact, don't bother with anything but the bed." Zach said, pulling me towards it. "Okay."

As we lay down Zach wrapped his arms around me and hid his face in my shoulder, keeping me pressed tight to his chest. I yawned and leaned against him, suddenly feeling exhausted. In mere seconds I was asleep, listening to the steady beat of his heart beneath his shirt.

Chapter Six Adalyn's Point Of View After Alexa and Zach went upstairs Dakota and I decided to go for a walk on the beach. It was still pretty hot outside but Dakota's arm still felt good around my waist. We walked silently along the sand near the waves, listening to the sound of the ocean hitting the sand. It reminded me of the High Lands Lake where I'd first kissed Dakota and the memory made me smile. "What's funny?" Dakota asked with a smile. "The sound of the water hitting the shore reminded me of our first kiss." "That lake had quite a few good memories. Most of them aren't very appropriate." Dakota said, grinning at me mischieviously. "That's true. We got caught making out under that willow tree by Michael more than once." "Not to mention getting caught skinny dipping by my brother." "Yeah but you're brother just rolled his eyes at us. Michael grounded me." "Spike could have told dad but he knew I would have kicked his ass if he would have done that." "I know you would have too. You never were very nice to him." "Of course not. Why on earth would I be nice to him? He's not nice to me." "Sometimes he is." "Oh? Like when?" "He helped you convince your dad to let you move back to Ireland with me." "True, he did that. But he only did that because I threatened to beat him if he didn't." "Of course you did. That's your favorite thing to threaten him with." "It worked, didn't it?" "I suppose it did." He grinned at me, his dark blue eyes lighting up the way they always did when something amused him. I turned in his arms so that we were standing face to face and pressed my lips

to his. The kiss we shared was like every kiss we had ever shared but it was also different in every way. He put his whole heart into that kiss, making it seem like a gift from the Goddess. "I love you." I whispered when we had parted. "I love you more." "I highly doubt that." "You shouldn't." I grinned at him and the smile he sent back to me made my heart thump wildly in my chest. Our lips met again and this time the kiss we shared was longer than the first, sweeter somehow. His kiss was sweeter than the sweetest honey, more intoxicating than the finest wine. "Lynnie!" Alex's voice called from behind me. "Yeah Alex?" I called back, rolling my eyes at Dakota. "You've got a visitor waiting for you." "Who is it?" "Someone named Clara Manson." "I'm coming!" Dakota and I stared at each other, fear racing through our veins. Clara was his ex-girlfriend, the one he'd been seeing when he met me. She'd never gotten over him leaving her for me and had been thinking of ways to hurt me since it happened. But how had she found us here? We hadn't told anyone where we were going, not even Dakota's father. Whatever she wanted it couldn't be good. Dakota pulled me towards the house, his face set in an angry expression. "Whatever she hopes to gain by coming here she isn't going to achieve it. I'm going to make sure of that." Dakota whispered to me, his arm tightening around my waist possessively. "I know you will." I whispered back, leaning against him. As we walked into the living room we saw Clara standing in front of Alex. Judging by the look on my sister's face I could tell that Clara had said something not too nice about me and Alex had gotten pissed off about it. When I got closer I heard the anger in Alex's voice.

"If you don't shut the hell up about my sister you're going to regret it. I don't give a damn who you think belonged to you. Dakota belongs to my sister and you can't change that! He is her soulmate so I'd suggest you back the hell off before I make you!" "He was mine first! And you can't do anything to me. If you touch me I'll go to Queen Adianna and have you arrested." I laughed. "You really believe Queen Adianna will arrest her own daughter? You would be the one in jail." Clara looked up at me and smiled cruelly. "That doesn't matter. I just came by to give you some friendly advice. If you let Dakota come home with me you'll have a chance at escaping. If not Esmyth's warriors are on their way here right now and I'll make sure they catch you." Dakota growled, his eyes darkening with rage. I put a hand on his arm to stop him from running at her and he looked at me, his eyes wild with rage. Speaking in a low voice he made sure she knew exactly what she had done by calling Esmyth. "That's it Clara! If my soulmate dies because you're being a selfish bitch I'll kill you. You had no business sending them here!" "She's put a spell on you. If I can get you back where you belong everything would be all right again." Clara insisted, her voice trembling. "SHUT UP! SHE'S MY SOULMATE YOU STUPID WHORE!" Dakota yelled as Tristan, Zach, Alexa, and Elizabeth came running into the room. "Whoa Dakota, what's going on?" Tristan asked, taking a step back. "I swear to the Goddess Clara if you don't leave him alone I'll kill you myself. You've done enough damage by calling Esmyth." I yelled. "She did WHAT?" Tristan shouted, his eyes widening. "She called Esmyth and told him where we are. We've gotta get out of here. Now." Alex said, pushing past Clara. "Come on guys let's go upstairs and get everything packed. We'll be ready to go soon." Tristan said, running upstairs after Alex. "We're coming!" As we all ran upstairs I heard Elizabeth call for Michael. Fear rose in my heart as I realized what was happening. Esmyth's warriors were heading straight for us at that very second. If we didn't hurry up we'd be dead before morning. I pushed that thought out of my mind, knowing that if I thought that way I wouldn't be able to think of anything else.

When we were in our room Dakota and I rushed around the room, throwing things into a small dufflebag that Dakota had conjured seconds before. In less than a minute we had all of our belongings packed into one dufflebag and were heading out to meet everyone else in the hallway. Alex and Tristan were waiting for us outside of Alexa and Zach's door. Alex was clutching Tristan's hand to her chest and was staring at him with an expression of worry. Tristan was staring back at her, his eyes soft. "Come on guys let's get outta here." Zach said, coming out of their room with Alexa at his side. Dakota looked down at me, his eyes still burning with rage. As we descended the stairs we heard Clara sobbing and my heart filled with anger. This was her fault. If she had never come here in the first place we wouldn't be in danger right now. When we were close enough to her that she could hear me I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards me and spoke angrily. "I swear to the Goddess Clara if Dakota dies because of this I'm going to hunt you down and kill you myself. He is my soulmate, not yours so GET OVER IT! And I swear Clara, you'd better not try my patience. I'm close enough to killing you anyways." Her eyes were wide when she whispered back. "He'd kill Dakota?" I laughed bitterly. "Of course he would you stupid bitch. Dakota's my soulmate and Esmyth is out to kill my sisters and I. What do you think he's gonna do? Just let him walk away?" Dakota looked down at me and whispered, "Babe, come on. She isn't worth it." I let Dakota pull me out of the room and into the dining room where Elizabeth and Michael were waiting for us. When we were close enough for us to hear them Elizabeth spoke in a firm voice. "I told Michael to go with you guys so that he can finish teaching you both Dark Wand Magic and Ancient Magic. And I also know how mad you are at this girl but I want you to take her as well. I've seen firsthand what Esmyth does to people that cross him and I don't want that to happen to her. She's so young. Please take her. I wish you all nothing but the best of luck." Dakota looked down at me before replying to her request. "We'll take her with us as long as she doesn't piss Adalyn off again. She pisses my soulmate off again and we're gonna have serious problems." "Thank you. I'll go get her and be back in a second."

As she disappeared from the room Dakota and I stared at each other. I sighed, leaning against his side. Just when I'd thought it couldn't get any worse she had to come along. Now there would be no peace. Dakota leaned down and kissed my lips as Clara entered the room again. "I wish you all the best of luck. May the Goddess be with you." "Thank you Elizabeth. We appreciate everything you've done for us." Alex said as we headed into the night. As we walked towards Michael's boat we got quiet again. Alex was leaning against Tristan for support while Alexa was being carried by Zach. Clara was walking a little ways behind us all, looking like she'd rather be anywhere but here. I sighed a little before making the decision to talk to her on the way to where we were going. She wasn't really all that bad. I mean, she hadn't known what calling Esmyth would mean for us. She was just hurt that Dakota had left her the way he did and hurt made even the best of people do things they'd never do in normal situations. As we climbed aboard Michael's boat he directed us towards a small set of stairs. We climbed down them and saw a small living area with several small couches and chairs. I sat down on a couch next to Zach and Alexa with Dakota at my side. Clara sat on a chair in the opposite corner of the room. I looked at her and opened my mouth to say something but she spoke before I could get a word out. "I really am sorry for calling him. I've been stupid these past few years...haven't I? Don't answer that; I know I have been. I guess I didn't realize until I saw the way Dakota looked at you in that house that...that he is your soulmate Adalyn." she said, her voice trembling a little. "It's all right. You couldn't have known what Esmyth would do with the information. Not many people do. You were hurt that Dakota left you the way he did and the Goddess knows that hurt makes people do things they wouldn't normally do." Dakota chimed in, sounding embarrassed. "Yeah I did break up with you the wrong way. I'm sorry for that. I was just so excited about finding Adalyn that I wasn't thinking about how it would hurt you. I should've thought it out before doing it but...excitement got the best of me I'm afraid." Clara smiled a little. "It's all right. You guys make a cute couple, though. He's so tall and you're short. It's comical but cute." I grinned at her. "He is pretty tall...isn't he?" "Yeah, but that's a good thing I think. Tall guys make things more romantic in a way."

Alex laughed. "It does make it more romantic. Especially when you're standing in front of the ocean kissing him." I laughed. "Yeah. Of course that only counts when you're not in danger of getting caught and grounded by your older brother." "Your brother grounded you for kissing Dakota?" Clara asked, laughing a little. "Yeah but that was mainly because we weren't just kissing. We were getting ready to skinny dip in the lake. Michael caught us and the rest is history." Dakota said, grinning at me. I blushed. "Spike could have told your dad but he was afraid of you." "Of course he was. Who isn't afraid of me?" Zach laughed. "I sure the hell I ain't." "Well, you were pretty scary when you were yelling at Clara. That was...wierd." Tristan said with a laugh. "I don't usually lose my temper like that. I just don't like Adalyn being threatened." I grinned. "That was actually only the second time he's lost his temper. The other time he started yelling at my ex-boyfriend Julius Cassidy for calling me a whore. Take what you saw in the house and times that by like a million and you'll have what he did to Julius." Tristan widened his eyes. "Wow. I woulda done a whole hell of a lot more to the guy than just yelled at him." Dakota laughed. "Oh I did. He didn't have balls for a month until High Priestess Janie came home from vacation and did the counter spell to mine. Let's just say he never messed with my girl again." "That's funny. Now I know why Julius was always bad-mouthing you behind your back." Clara said. "I know he did. I heard him a few times but he never said anything about Adalyn when I was around so I just ignored him after a while." "He wasn't stupid enough to try that one again." I told Dakota with a yawn. "You're tired." he said, smiling at me. "Sorta. I dunno why, though." "We didn't really sleep last, remember? We were busy with other things."

I blushed. "Shut up and let me sleep." "Shutting." As Alexa and Zach moved to the floor to lay down I made Dakota lay down so that I could lay in his arms. When he was laying with his arms around me I settled down against his chest and closed my eyes. A few seconds later I fell asleep with the steady beat of Dakota's heart as my lullaby.

Chapter Seven Alexandria's Point Of View I was running across a field littered with bodies. The one who was pursuing me was almost close enough to catch me now. I sped up, trying not to look down at the bodies I was running across. My attempt to keep my eyes on the horizon in front of me failed and I looked down to see the body of my soulmate laying below me, his eyes wide open. He was surrounded by everyone I loved. My mother was laying with my father's hand grasped tightly in her own, a sword through both of their chests. Next to them lay Alexa and Zach. Zach held Alexa in his arms as though he'd been trying to shield her from death. Adalyn and Dakota lay with their hands clasped, staring at each other through glassy eyes. I screamed at the sight but the sound was cut short by the sting of pain that shot through me when I felt Esmyth's sword cut through me. My last thought was lost in the sea of pain that I was drowning in... "Alex! Alex babe wake up." I opened my eyes to find Tristan staring down at me, his expression worried. After a few moments the lingering terror from the nightmare faded and I was able to breathe normally again. Burying my face in Tristan's chest I took a deep breath, inhaling his scent. He held me tightly to his chest and whispered comforting words in my ear. "What was that about?" Alexa asked, her voice worried. "It was a nightmare. A stupid nightmare." I replied, my voice still shaking a little. "Are you okay?" I looked over at Adalyn and smiled. "I'm fine. It's over now." "You sure babe?" Tristan asked. "Yeah I'm fine. It was scary at first but I'm okay now. I promise."

Tristan stared down at me for a few more minutes before smiling at me. I smiled back a him as the fear ebbed away. As we stared at each other I heard Clara talking to Michael upstairs and spared a glance at Adalyn to see her grinning. Before she could say anything Dakota answered the unspoken question. "They figured out last night that she's his soulmate. She went upstairs to get some air and they ran into each other. They've been up there since she woke up this morning." "Wow. But he's a vampire...how're they going to work that?" "He's gonna change her later tonight. They're still discussing it." Adalyn answered with another smile. "Good. That means she'll leave you alone now." Zach told Dakota with a grin. "She would have done that anyways. Adalyn and I talked to her last night before she went upstairs. She actually apologized to Adalyn and they're friends now. Which is incredibly wierd because they've never liked each other very much." Adalyn rolled her eyes. "I never said I didn't like her. I just thought she was sorta rude." We laughed for a few minutes before sobering. The silence that filled the room then was nervous. We all knew what question we wanted to ask but none of us wanted to ask it. Finally, Zach asked it in a voice that didn't seem like his. "Where are we going now?" Dakota sighed. "We can't go to my Uncle Liam's place 'cause Esmyth knows that we were headed there next. According to Michael we're headed to a house his mother bought last summer. He said we'd be there by dinner time tonight. Elizabeth is gonna meet us there tomorrow." "Well, that's better than nothing I guess." Alexa said, looking up at Zach. "When do you think we'll have to leave for this fight with Esmyth?" I asked. "I don't know. Probably pretty soon. We'll have to leave before Esmyth figures out where we are." Tristan answered, tightening his arms around me. "True. I'd say we learn what we can in two weeks. After that we leave." Adalyn said, looking around at us. "I agree with Lynnie. If we wait longer than that it could end up bad. We want to save our people then we need to do this the right way. We can't wait three weeks or more to leave. It's time to face him." I agreed.

Behind me, Tristan tensed at the sound of my words. I looked around at him to see what was wrong and saw him staring down at me. The look in his eyes was one I sincerely hoped that I'd never see again. It was like...like he was afraid that we only had two weeks left together. My eyes filled with tears as I touched his cheek and spoke, my voice softer than normal. "We can't act like we only have two weeks left together. If we give into the thought that we're going to die...we won't survive. Raven promised us that we wouldn't die and we have to trust that now. It's the only way that we're ever going to survive. And, believe me, I have every intention of surviving." Tristan managed a small smile. "I know that love. It's just...I dunno. Hearing you say that it's time to face someone that's trying to kill you makes me want to protect you. That's what I've always hoped to do in some way but I can't save you from this. I can't stop him from hurting you. It kills me." Dakota's voice rang out then. "I know what you mean. Every time I think about letting Adalyn go in there and fight that...that monster I want to kill him myself. And if he hurts her I'm going to do just that." "Yeah. I can't stand the thought of Alexa going in there either but I can't stop her. I can't protect her from this and it kills me." Zach said, keeping his eyes on Alexa's face. I looked at my sisters and spoke. "It isn't going to be easy but we have to do this. I'll admit I'm terrified at the mere thought of fighting him but...there's no way around it. We have to fight. It's the only way we're going to save our people." Adalyn kissed Dakota's cheek before speaking to us. "I hate it when he worries about me. That's going to be the hardest part about this whole war thing. I can't make everything all right again." When Alexa spoke her voice was stronger than I'd ever heard it. "Look, if we keep thinking about this we're going to drive ourselves bonkers. We have to start thinking about how we're going to defeat him." Before anyone else could reply our mother popped up in front of us. I was surprised to see her but not because she had just popped up out of thin air. I'd seen her do that more times than I cared to count. No, I was surprised to see her because she usually would have just sent Raven to give us a message. When she spoke, I realized why she'd come instead of Raven.

"They've got Raven. Esmyth himself came for her. I was told to tell you that it's...it's time for the first battle. He's not letting her go until you beat him." "Where is he?" Alexa asked, her voice solemn. "He's at the Battlefield of Blood. He's waiting for you." I sighed. "Well, so much for two weeks." Then, looking at Tristan, "We need to tell Michael and Clara to head to that place alone. We have a job to do." In front of me, my mom smiled. "I'm so proud you all. You're the bravest Witches in our world and I'll always love you. Just, do me a favor and keep yourselves safe...all right?" "All right mom. I love you." I whispered. When she was gone I turned back to my siblings and our soulmates. Tristan re-entered the room and stood behind me, ready to leave at a moments notice. But I wasn't ready yet. I stared around at my famly and spoke in a voice that I hoped wouldn't betray the terror I was feeling. "We're going to beat him. And when we do I'm going to throw a party. A huge party where we're all going to relax and have a good time." Zach grinned. "Sounds fun but right now we've-" "We've got an evil asshole waiting to kill us. Let's get out of here." We grinned at each other for a half second before making our departure. I was terrified but I somehow knew that this battle wasn't the Final Battle we feared. No, this battle was only the beginning. There would be much more to come after this. This was only the beginning of the war. I grasped Tristan's hand tightly in my own as we walked forward into battle...

Chapter Eight Alexa's Point Of View We could hear Esmyth's army as we got closer and closer to the Battlefield of Blood but we didn't slow down. I spared a glance at my family. Alex and Tristan were walking hand-inhand, their faces proud. On my other side Adalyn and Dakota were walking next to each other, their faces determined. We were ready for this. It would be our first real battle with Esmyth and his armies but we were prepared to fight them. I stared at Alex and knew that we would win this battle, even if we didn't win any of the rest. Even if this was our last our only - stand against Esmyth I knew we wouldn't fail this time.

As we reached him Esmyth smiled cruelly. He was confident to the point of arrogance. That would be his downfall. I looked around at his minimal forces and realized that he didn't have as many men as we'd first thought. Really, there were only six of them. But he'd performed the Multiplying Spell and had created an army out of six people. That would be another downfall. If we could kill the real soldier we'd kill all of it's clones. "You're foolish to think that you're going to beat me." Esmyth said when we were within earshot. "No," Alex said, her voice cold. "you are the foolish one. If you think for one minute that we're going to be beat by you then we oughta have your head checked before we do battle. I don't like killing stupid creatures. Even evil ones." Esmyth laughed. "It's going to be a shame when you're dead. I'm rather going to miss your pathetic attempts at insults." Alex yawned. "Whatever. Can we get the fight started? I'm rather sick of standing here staring at your disgusting face." "As you wish." There was a flurry of movement as Esmyth's men came hurling themselves towards us. Without glancing at my sisters I began screaming spells, both Ancient and Modern. Quite a few times I managed to kill the clones with the Fire Shooter Spell. (Apparantly getting hit in the chest by a ball of fire can kill you.) By the time five minutes had passed we'd killed over half of Esmyth's army. Alex had killed three of the original soldiers, dropping Esmyth's size down from a sixty to a thirty. Zach was battling another clone with Tristan right beside him. A few seconds later there were no more soldiers. Now was the time for my sisters and I to fight Esmyth. "Guess what time it is?" Alex snarled at Esmyth. "Time for me make my depart I'm afraid. I will leave you with a gift, though. Just a little taste of what's going to happen to you. To all of you." Before any of us could even open our mouths to speak he flicked his wrist at Raven, who he had been keeping tied out of sight. He had brought her to stand in front of us when it was clear that he was not going to win and I could only guess what he planned to do now. A second after his wrist flick Raven gave a startled cry and dropped to the ground. Alex screamed in fury but Esmyth had vanished. We all dropped down beside Raven. She was dying. That much was obvious. But she was awake, waiting to say her final words. She looked around at all of us and smiled. Her smile showed that she was proud of us, proud that we were the ones that her prophecy had spoken of. When she spoke her voice was stronger than a dying woman's voice should have been.

"You are going to save our world. I know you will. And you will survive. All of you. I am proud to have known you." Then she looked over at Adalyn and smiled warmly. "Adalyn, your time will come at the very end of this war. You will have a difficult decision to make but you will make the right one. It will be you, Adalyn, that defeats him once and for all. Trust your judgement to make the final decision. It will serve you well." After giving us one final smile her eyes closed for the final time. We sat at her side for a very long time, staring numbly into Raven's face. It seemed like some horrible nightmare but I knew it wasn't. This was reality and reality wasn't nice. Another endless moment later Alex gave a loud cry of grief and launched herself into Tristan's arms. He held her against him as she wept, his eyes never leaving Raven's face. For a long time after that, her scream was the only thing I could hear. It echoed in my mind, filling me with more grief than I'd ever thought my soul could hold...

Epilogue Adalyn's Point Of View I stared at the elder woman's body as her final words resounded in my mind. "Adalyn, your time will come at the very end of this war. You will have a difficult decision to make but you will make the right one. It will be you, Adalyn, that defeats him once and for all. Trust your judgement to make the final decision. It will serve you well." What had she meant by that? My heart raced at the mere thought of making a decision that could possibly lead to our downfall in this war. As I thought about it, I recalled the last line of the prophecy Raven had given about us. It had simply said: "One of them will sacifice herself for the lives of her sisters." What if that was my final decision? What if I was supposed to be the one who gave her life for this cause? 'What if you fail?' A voice asked in the depths of my mind. 'I won't fail. I won't.' I vowed as Alex's wail shattered the eerie silence that had fallen over us...