book one the prophecy

8/2/2019 Book One the Prophecy

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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 Iwas 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 thethree 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 otherWitches. 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 worldput 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 herchildren, 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 upbehind 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." Christophertold one of the older boys.

"Sure dad."

Michael took the girls and disappeared from the room. After he was gone I took theprophecy 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


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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 seventeenthbirthday. On that night they will embark on a journey to save their Kingdom. Theirjourney 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 sisteris 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


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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 Adiannawould 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 bracedmyself as she hurried towards me. As soon as she reached me, she threw her arms aroundme 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 beable to bother me. Cass, will you get her old rooms ready? I have to go get Adalyn and


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Michael ready to go."

"Sure."

Cassie and I watched Adianna walk downstairs before beginning the short walk to theseven 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 firstplace. 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. Igroaned, 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 facelighting 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 Ipulled 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 andsoulmates 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 oursoulmates.

"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 inthe 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 Cassiewalked in with three people at her heels. As soon as I saw two of the people followingAunt 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 MeSpell 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.


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"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 waswearing. 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 sacrificeherself 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 youwho 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'sflawless 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 ancientland 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 willneed to defeat her son. When you get there, she will instruct you in the ancient magic ofour 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 alsoteach 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


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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 weregoing 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 lookmine 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, staringat 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 musthave 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.


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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 noanswers 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 herthe same way I'd often seen Tristan and Zach staring at Alex and I, with the gaze of a loyalprotector. 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.


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"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. Itwas 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 isgoing 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 theway 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 becauseof 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 sparklight 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.


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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 kissedthe 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 tovisit 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 hereyes.

"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 havea 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 soundand 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


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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 rhythmof 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 outat 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 chairand 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 alittle 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


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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 crimsoneyes 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 appearancewould 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. Thewalls 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 shedidn'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 Iremembered 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 hasalways 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 hatewhat 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


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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. Ismiled 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 thatfaced 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 myroom 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."


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"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 bodylongs 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 longred 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 typeswas 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."


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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 grinnedat me as I got out of bed and yawned.

"Babe, you need to do another Necessity Spell on us before we go downstairs." Dakotareminded 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 foundmyself 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 perfectspikes 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 inthe 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. Wewalked 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 meansSpell."

"Cool.""Even though it is the most basic of all the ancient War Magic Spells it is still difficult toperform. 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 isDelliana."


17/46

"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 toget 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 haveargued 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 fistsand 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 anythoughts 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."


18/46

"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 ourinstructions.

"The hand movements for this spell are a little more complicated than the last. Keep yourright 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. Welooked 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 ahigh-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 beganher 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 anythinghe 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 Iwouldn'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 andEsmyth was gone. He didn't kill Michael. Michael was a good actor and he pretended to be


19/46

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 ontothe 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 khakishorts 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 runaround 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 upat 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 whitebaseball 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 werethe disgusting couple. They were kissing at the moment and looking at them would give

even the most hard-hearted person butterflies in his stomach.


20/46

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 ranthrough 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 RavenNightingale. 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 closeenough 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 killyou! I've got to get back to the castle so that your mother doesn't have a heart attackwaiting 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


21/46

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'texperienced 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 theseguys 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. Therewas 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 doingsomething, 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 melaughed.

"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 onher 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


22/46

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 myselffalling 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 andfrowning. 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 thekitchen."

"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.


23/46

"He won't come after you again for a while Adalyn. Esmyth is probably wallowing in self-

pity 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 mythroat. 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 thingon 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. Heplaced 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


24/46

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 foreach 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 withhis 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 shiningthrough the open window. I looked up into Tristan's eyes and gave him a smile. Hegroaned, 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 quickNecessity 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.


25/46

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. Elizabethcoughed 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 onpreviously. 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 yourhands 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 inthe direction of something that isNOThuman." 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 pokingthrough 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 allheaded 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 teno'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 himandfelt 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


26/46

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 armsaround 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 backyard 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 thisright 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 laughedat 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 wandshe 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 mybrother 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 anaura-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."


27/46

"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 battlewith 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 aboutsomething 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 barelyfelt 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 Alexand 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.


28/46

"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 untilMichael, 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. IfAdalyn 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 aneternity 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...Idon'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 himlaughing 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


29/46

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 whathappened. 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. TheDarkvein 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 shemarried 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 besafe. 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.


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"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 aboutbeing 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 stoppinghim. 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 Adalynwith 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?"


31/46

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 themischief 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 lithis 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 pleasestop. 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


32/46

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 couldspeak 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.'


33/46

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'mcoming 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. Iswear. 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 Ijust 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 wasgoing 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 seehis 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.


34/46

"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 littlewhile."

"Okay."

As soon as she was gone we looked at each other. Zach stood up and pulled me againsthim, 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. Thefeeling 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."


35/46

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 beneathhis 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. Itwas 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


36/46

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, sweetersomehow. 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 shewanted 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 waistpossessively.

"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.


37/46

"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 hemade 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. Youhad 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." Alexsaid, 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.


38/46

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 inthe 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 hisside.

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 nevercome 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 downand 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 Esmythis 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 thebest 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 mysoulmate off again and we're gonna have serious problems."

"Thank you. I'll go get her and be back in a second."


39/46

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 theroom 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 Tristanfor 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. Imean, 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. Weclimbed down them and saw a small living area with several small couches and chairs. I s

book one the prophecy

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