I'm excited about this Chapter Guuuuuysss! I hope that you enjoy it and relish the moment ;) Please remember to Vote and if you feel like sharing APK around, that would be greatly appreciated too! Love as always,

Daisy xxx
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ELIKA

I was the one that realized that Zalas had yet to surface. I was the one who took it seriously. As Unabonan twisted to avoid the flames that were meant for me, I dove off his back and into the swirling depths of the ocean below, aiming for where I had last seen Zalas.

As the water closed over top of me I spied him, his white hair floating out like a beacon, eyes tight shut and rapidly sinking. Fear clouded my heart as I struck out for him, grabbing his hand and heaving our bodies upwards where the surface of the water beckoned in the moonlight.

The cold air hit my face and I gasped for breath. Zalas was heavy and his weight was hard for my small frame to support as we were tossed back and forth by the waves. I noticed almost immediately that the black dragon was gone and I called for Unabonan, waving my arm to catch his attention.

The big Dragon spotted us immediately, his head snaking down to pluck us both delicately from the water, his long neck twisting to place us back in the saddle.

I spread Zalas out on the flat surface, my eyes pricking with tears. There was a huge gash across his chest, but it seemed to be large only in length rather than depth. I noticed a cut across his head also which would account for the unconsciousness. I hurriedly checked his pulse; my ear pressed against his chest and cried out with fear when I couldn't find one.

Unabonan! His heart isn't beating!

I had seen it done before, I knew what to do. Hunched over my Prince I tilted back his head and began compression's on his chest. I counted to thirty and then covered his nose, my mouth descending over his as I breathed air into his lungs twice, before starting from the beginning.

"Please," I sobbed as I worked over his body. "Please, you can't die. Not like this, not now."

I could feel Unabonan's grief in the back of my mind as he flew us to god knows where. I found myself screaming at him as I continued the motions, pleading with him to do something although we both knew that there was nothing that he could do to fix this.

Just when desperation was beginning to take over my mind, along with the dreadful, horrible realization that this wasn't working, Zalas suddenly sat up coughing, water gushing out of his mouth and onto his lap. He slumped back almost instantly, eyelids blinking slowly as he moaned.

I shrieked, Unabonan's relief mixing with my own, and I threw myself at him, clutching at his clothing and covering myself with his blood in the process. I had completely lost my composure, so glad I was that he was alive and was now filled with disbelief that we had even found ourselves in such a ridiculous situation to begin with.

"What happened?" His voice was rasping and I scrambled for water, lifting it to his lips and helping him drink.

I had seen the attack from the saddle, I had seen everything. It was rare to see Zalas caught so off guard and that Dragon had hit him full on, he had had no time to defend himself. The way that he had been punched straight out of the air told me that he had been unconscious from impact.

I began to answer him before I realized that he had passed out again.

*

CIRCE

We had been flying all night and I could still sense something following us. I clutched Anthemin, my neck constantly craning behind me, looking for someone, something, anything to give me a clue. Zalas's appearance had been an unexpected hurdle and I wondered how he had found me after all this time, eventually coming to the conclusion that he would have had to be following Anthemin's energy.

But that black Dragon ...

Had our collision been an accident? Had he tracked us to the village? I squeezed my eyes shut as I thought of all of the innocent lives that had perished in that fire. Had he done it, knowing that it would draw us back? Or had it been a simple coincidence?

I could feel ... something out there. It kept dropping in and out but it was definitely there. I wondered how it was tracking us. I wondered if, like us, it was growing tired. I could feel Anthemin's wings straining and I spread out my fingers, lending him my energy which he accepted gratefully. I was heart-broken that our reunion had left no time for happy reminiscing, we had barely been together for a few hours and already we were being hunted.

Vanima ... we have to split up.

What? My eyes widened. Anthemin no! We shouldn't have to separate! Not now! Not when I have only just found you again!

But Anthemin was set in his decision. It is the only way that you will be able to escape; it is my energy they are tracking, not yours. They won't expect us to split up now anyway, the Prince either. If you drop off me now, you can slip back into the ocean.

"It's not fair!" My eyes screwed shut and tears leaked out onto my cheeks. Was I not allowed any happiness in this world now that he was gone? Anthemin was the only one left, the only one who had been betrayed just as much as I, but now he was being taken from me too.

Princess, you must start to think about what you are going to do. You cannot hide from your problems forever. Your Mother will continue to search for you, you are too important to just be allowed to disappear and you will be found eventually, whether by choice or by force. It is up to you which one it is, but before either happens, you must decide what it is that you want from life now that he has gone. 

My heart sank at his words because I knew he was right. Seeing Anthemin again, having Zalas suddenly appear, had helped me to realize that although I had been turning my back on the world, it hadn't stopped moving, the people that cared about me, (although at the moment the feeling was definitely not returned,) were still looking and they wouldn't just give up. My life was still out there and it wasn't going to disappear just because I wished it to. Leaving Anthemin now would only work for a short time, eventually I would have to act, would have to do something.

But it was ... it was just so hard.

I felt as though the whole world was pressing down on me, leaving me nowhere to go, no space to think. There was just so much ... "I can't" I gasped. "I don't know how- I don't know, don't know where to start, I-"

My hands shook and I couldn't even think of where to begin.

You can Vanima, but not right now. You need to go, go now. I can feel that Prince Unabonan will soon be after us. Zalas will be with him.

 "But where will you go?" I cried.

Your brother Nathaniel, he still searches for you, as does the other Bones twin. I will seek them out.

"Will you let them know that I am okay?" I whispered softly.

I will tell them that I have seen you and that for now; you wish to be left alone, although I doubt that will stop their search. You will be able to find me again when you are ready. I sensed that our link had been restored.

I looked up with alarm. "Really? But all those months, I never felt you ..."

Only because you did not wish to seek me out, but now that we have been reunited, our link should be as strong as ever. 

I threw my arms around his neck, realizing again just how much he had grown. "I will miss you."

I will miss you too, remember, it is up to you how long we will be separated for. Now go. 

He swooped down lower, close to the water and I pressed my lips to his scales, prolonging the moment.

Go.

His voice was gentle but firm. I felt as though my heart was breaking all over again as I gently slipped off his back and into the water below with a splash. He didn't stop, simply carried on, and I watched him go with tear filled eyes.

I stayed above the surface longer than I should have, my eyes still looking after the Dragon although he had long since disappeared from sight. It was with a jolt that I remembered why we had had to separate in the first place. I could still feel someone coming, hot on Anthemin's trail. Alarmed and not wanting to be discovered, I dropped below the water out of sight, just in time, for a few minutes later I spotted a large shape flying overhead, although somehow it looked strangely distorted. I didn't stick around to dwell on it. I could feel that there was land close to here and that's where I would go.

Slipping out of my clothes under water, I made sure to keep a hold of them, unwilling for a repeat of the situation that I had been in when I had first met Alice. I merged my legs together, welcoming back my tail and although it had only been a week, I felt a sense of relief, as though I had been concentrating really hard on a task and suddenly had a whole lot of weight lifted from my mind.

I struck out for land, relishing the speed with which I traveled. My thoughts were only of reaching a safe place and then I would think about what I was going to do next. There was one firm resolve in my mind though. I would come back when I felt like coming back. After everything that they had done to me, they could at least give me that.

So focused was I on my task, that I failed to realize that the pursuer had paused, looping back to the spot where I was before and after a few moments, realized our trickery. Frustrated, he had considered his options before choosing to head for the closest land with hopes that I would be thinking the same thing.

Once again, Fate had decided to intervene, bored of the hand with which she was currently playing. And so I continued on, as did Anthemin, unaware that our plan had failed to divert at least one of our hunters. Land came into sight and I dragged myself ashore, completely exhausted and blissfully unaware that just a few kilometers down the coast another tired body was doing the exact same thing.

*

I woke with the sun. The tide had come up and I was lying in the shallows, my tail scales glistening in the light. Looking around I realized just how vulnerable I had left myself last night, but thank-fully, as it had when I arrived, the jungle on this island looked empty and there were no signs of human life. My clothes were lying a little further up the beach and I transitioned back into my human form, staggering to my feet and snatching up the pieces of cloth, thankful that they had not been washed away.

I sat back down, brushing the sand out of my short hair and wishing that it would grow faster. It had already lengthened a little, the curls at the back tickling the base of my neck. My stomach grumbled but I ignored it and surveyed my surroundings instead. This island seemed to be quite small; I could see the curve of the land from where I sat, and the jungle was dense and filled with wildlife that I could hear from the shore.

The sky was blue and clear and already the sand between my toes was heating up from the warmth of the sun. It was going to be a hot day. I picked up a hand full of the golden grains, letting them trickle back down between my fingers. I sighed.

Standing up I decided to go for a walk around the island. I felt unusually lonely now after spending time with Alice and her Father and I didn't like it. I kicked at the sand as I walked, climbing over a rocky pile that jutted out of the ground, forming a series of little rock pools. I paused for a moment to inspect them, marveling at the colors and the little creatures that resided in the miniature worlds. Absentmindedly I looked up and over to where the beach continued on the other side of the rock and immediately froze in place.

There was a person, further down the beach. They were standing up, or trying to at least. I found my senses and immediately crouched lower on my perch, praying that they hadn't seen me. My mind was racing. What should I do? Should I leave? My fingers twitched and my heart was beating double time, my legs itching to run as fast as I could in the opposite direction.

I watched as the figure sat back down, turning over to inspect something on their leg. I squinted and tried to make out features of any kind that would tell me if this person was a threat. They didn't seem to be up to much, but there was something in my mind that was telling that this situation could not be purely coincidental.

Suddenly something about the figure seemed familiar. For a moment I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but suddenly it clicked. That black hair ... and even from a distance ... was it? Could it be ... Cobalt?

The more I looked the more familiar the person seemed to become and I sat back for a moment and rubbed my eyes. It couldn't be though! Cobalt was on his ship, how could it be him? My mind was playing tricks on me, reading my desires and finding similarities in this mysterious person. Unless ... unless something had happened to his ship and he had been shipwrecked. It was possible wasn't it? Boats were torn apart by storms all of the time.

My heart was torn. The person looked to be injured and if it was Cobalt, how could I just leave him? I shook my head, what was I saying?! The fact that they could be injured should be enough for me to go over, no matter who it was down there. I mentally slapped myself. I had healing abilities, I could help. And if they turned out to be some human, well then I could knock them out and then heal them so that they wouldn't see anything or ask any questions.

My mind was set but my approach would still have to be cautious. Unfortunately long expanses of beach didn't really leave anywhere to hide. I would have to come out from the jungle. I watched as the person slumped back down on the sand and it kick-started me into action. I couldn't tell whether they had passed out or whether they had just given up trying to move, but I hurried back down from my rocky perch and crept up the shoreline into the jungle. The rock outcrop disappeared as the trees touched the sand and with my cover gone, I darted quickly into the greenery.

Through the green dappled light I ran, my feet padding softly across the earthen floor, any sound I made muffled by the chorus of bird song emitting from the jungle behind me. I inched closer and closer to the figure lying in the sand and from the angle that I was at now, I could make out the dark black hair that was all too familiar. This person definitely resembled Cobalt but I still couldn't be sure that it really was him; it had been such a long time.

From what I could see their eyes were closed and they were making no movement. Worried that I could be letting them die I summoned my courage and stepped out of the treeline. It was a straight walk down to them and as the sand met my toes and they still made no movements, my courage grew and I snuck forward a little more quickly, desperate to put identity of the stranger to rest.

His hair was long and it was covering half of his face. His clothes were rugged and torn and I could see blood seeping out from beneath a crude bandage on his leg. I slowly made my way around his body, my heart beating fast in my throat. I was almost certain now that it was Cobalt, but the hair that was across his face made it hard to be a hundred percent sure. My hand shook as I reached out to brush it away, ready to jump back at any moment. As my fingers touched his skin his mouth twitched and I pulled back with a gasp before chiding myself for being so jumpy. It was just a person! And an injured one at that, I had nothing to worry about.

More confident this time, I lent down and brushed his black hair from his face. For a moment the identity of the person didn't seem to register in my mind and I stared down at them blankly. Somewhere deep in my unconscious thought something clicked though, because I fell to my knees at his side, my eyes wide and staring, white noise buzzing in my head.

There was a scar, on the side of his face. It was long, stretching from his forehead to his jaw, running straight through his eye. As though in a dream I reached out to touch it, tracing the line with my fingers as I had done many times before. His skin was warm and the scar felt bumpy.

"That looks like it would have hurt." I murmured softly, the words finding their way out of my mouth without my permission, my other hand lying limply on my lap. I watched as my fingers paused to rest on his lips, heat flooding through me as his mouth puckered to gently kiss my skin.

My eyes flickered back to his and I saw that they were no longer closed. I shut my eyes and immediately saw his. The golden orbs had been branded onto the inside of my eyelids ever since he had died. I opened my eyes again and they were still there, staring out of this face in front of me, staring right back at me. I could feel my heart beating beneath the material of my dress and the noise seemed so loud, I was sure he could hear it. His lips opened beneath my fingertips, the air that formed his words tickling my skin.

"Hello Princess."

*