The young woman reached Elyusian and grabbed her arm knocking the firewood from her grasp. She reached back for it but the young woman pulled her forwards in the direction of her village. Elyusian noticed that the young woman was actually wearing a threadbare dress covered in dirt and leaves.

“There is no time. You must run now!' The young woman said as she pulled Elyusian along with her until Elyusian was able to run herself.

“Who are you?” Elyusian panted as they ran.

“My name is Ashalan, Princess of the Haaden Empire.” The young woman answered back.

Elyusian stopped in shock, causing the young woman to stop too.

“Princess Ashalan? The lost Princess? Everyone thinks you are dead!” Elyusian exclaimed, looking Ashalan up and down to try and gauge if she was telling the truth.

“There is no time to explain, we must keep moving.” Ashalan said, grabbing Elyusian’s arm again to pull her along with her.

The moon was full, colouring the night sky in a bluey glow. With the screeching sound of an animal in distress, Elyusian’s head jerked up towards the sky where her hearing had perceived the sound had come from.

A strange birdlike creature silhouetted against the moon, it’s large wings flapped slowly and she saw it’s mouth open releasing another screeching roar. She blinked her eyes in disbelief as she watched it dive from the sky, down towards the direction of her village, flames shooting from it's mouth.

Elyusian’s breath caught in her throat. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw a whole mass of guards running towards them. Fear rose in her chest and she ran harder.

Gasping, Elyusian and Ashalan reached the wooden fence that bordered the meadow and her village. The thatched houses stood burning; many of them had been reduced to rubble and ash, smouldering debris was all that remained.

Ashalan quickly leapt the fence and Elyusian scrambled over too, landing on her hands and knees. As she did so she caught sight of an armed guard descending on them from over her shoulder. They were closing in.

Falling with a thump, Elyusian landed on her hands and knees on the other side of the fence, Ashalan grasped her tunic by the shoulder and pulled her roughly to her feet.

“Don't stop, keep going.' Ashalan grunted as she awkwardly took Elyusian’s hand to tug her along faster. Stumbling along after her, Elyusian watched on helplessly as the creatures continued to burn her village.

Ashalan stopped mid stride and turned her head in both directions looking around her. She went to lead them in the direction of the river nearby but Elyusian held her still. Ashalan turned and looked at her in confusion.

“No, this way. My house is down the end of the village. Hopefully it has been missed by the onslaught.” Elyusian said as she pointed across the centre of the village. Ashalan nodded and followed Elyusian as she ran towards the other side of the village.

Screams and cries rung out, filling Elyusian’s heart with even more fear. She heard a screeching sound above them and looked up to see a pair of gigantic black talons advancing, she froze as they came straight towards her.

The wind left Elyusian’s lungs as Ashalan dove on her, pushing her out of the way. They tumbled to the ground and the creature screeched again at having lost it's prey. It soared above them, it’s large wings flicked out, showing it’s tremendous wing span.

Elyusian found it difficult not to look on in awe at the evil but majestic beast. It turned in the sky and came for them again. Ashalan leapt to her feet and took a combative stance. Elyusian watched in disbelief as Ashalan closed her eyes and held her hands to her chest in a ball, light illuminated through her fingers.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Watching on as the ball grew bigger, Elyusian watched on, completely mesmerised by the magic taking place in front of her. Ashalan opened her eyes and pulled her ball of fire back to her side, she then propelled it forward at the dragon, her palms open at the end projecting the ball forward with explosive force.

The fireball hit it's target directly between the eyes. The dragon shrieked and panicked falling from it's height. It regained its composure and started shaking it's head in pain as it scrambled to stay in the air.

'How did you do that?!' Elyusian asked as she got to her feet. Ashalan turned to look at her, her eyes glowed orange then settled back to their colour emerald green.

'I will have to explain later, we must hurry.” Ashalan said as she turned to look back at Elyusian.

Elyusian nodded, then led the girl in the direction of her house, feeling a sense of relief as they neared the corner of the village. Her house was still intact but she could see houses nearby burning.

“Come!” She said to Ashalan as she ran up to the thick wooden front door and grabbed the wrought iron handle to turn the lock, using her shoulder to push against it's heaviness.

They quickly made their way inside to find Elyusian's father shooting arrows with a bow from the window. Ashalan helped Elyusian bolt the door from the inside and then loaded furniture up against it.

Elyusian stood in the middle of the room panting and Ashalan slumped to her hands and knees on the wooden floor trying to catch their breath.

Running over to her father, Elyusian threw her arms around him.

“Father!” She cried as she rested her head into his shoulder.

“My dear child, I was worried that they had caught you in the forest.” He exclaimed, hugging her back and kissing her forehead. “I am pleased that you are safe and you have a friend? I am Timian, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Father, this is…” Elyusian begun, but was interrupted by a loud explosion.

A blue lightning bolt hit the side of the house causing it to shake and bits of debris to fall from the ceiling. Elyusian put her hand out to steady herself. The light from the bolt illuminated the darkness.

'What is that? It's unlike anything that I've seen before.' Timian exclaimed, as he went back to the window and positioned himself to fire more arrows at the oncoming guards.

“The dragons have been weaponized with magic.” Ashalan said as she rose to her feet. “Those bolts have enough power to disintegrate any living thing.”

Elyusain gulped. Ashalan made her way to the window and looked out.

“There are many guards here now. They will not stop until they have this.” Ashalan pulled a large amulet that hung around her neck, up from under her threadbare dress, to show them both.

Elyusian's father gasped.

“The Jewel of Dragonsfire amulet?! I thought it was mere legend. How did you get it?” He asked, surprised.

“I am Princess Ashalan of Haaden. I have been held captive by the evil sorceress Seraphine for many years and I managed to escape with this magical amulet which she stole from the Earth. I have to get it to a knight called Monterey, I am told he will know what to do with it. This amulet contains information that would bring about her downfall.”

“Princess Ashalan? I'm so sorry, I should have recognised you, your highness.” Timian said, and bowed. Elyusian followed her father's actions and curtsied, causing Ashley's cheeks to go red with embarrassment.

“Please, you don't need to do that.” Ashalan said, looking uncomfortable. Another boom and the house shook again.

“Come with me quickly, you can use some of my clothes.” Elyusian said and led Ashalan to her bedroom at the rear of the house. She opened the door to her small room and ran to the pile of neatly folded clothes that she had stacked on a chair beside her bed.

Handing her a tunic and some leggings, Elyusian then moved quickly to her small cupboard and found her some boots.

“We look a similar size so they should fit.” Elyusian said handing Ashalan the boots then she turned to give her privacy while the Princess quickly took off her dress and put the fresh clothes on.

“Thank you…I’m so sorry, in all this chaos I didn’t ask your name.” Ashalan smiled softly.

“It’s Elyusian.” Elyusian smiled back.

“Thank you Elyusian, I am extremely grateful for your kindness.” Ashalan said, just as another bolt of lightning hit the side of the house causing it to shake violently.

Elyusian’s smile disappeared and she felt her heart drop into her stomach. Adrenaline coursed through her body and she felt her mouth go dry.

“How are we going to get out of here?”