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He had awoken Anne and lied about how she had come to. He told her that the spell or whatever it was that put them to sleep must have worn off on them, and that it would probably wear off on the others eventually, and then took her to the dungeon.

They entered the underground prison and Xanthus immediately spotted his greatest enemy; Avyrus, the druid King.

“Ah, Avyrus,” Xanthus smirked at the druid King tauntingly. “Are you enjoying your stay at Xanthus’ dungeon?” The King wondered how they had eaten for that one week of having been asleep.

Perhaps the sleeping spell had taken away the hunger for them? It made sense.

Avyrus did not reply; his face was filled with hatred. It was no wonder, after all King Xanthus was responsible for all this.

It made him swell with pride.

He knew that he had fulfilled part of his quest to destroy the druids when he saw the leader’s unhappiness.

“I see the young magic boy has stopped yapping,” Xanthus laughed energetically, referring to Titus. “That is good. Let my methods teach him well!” The King then looked Avyrus dead in the eye. “I should exalt him for it.”

“Speak poorly of us all you want, it will not change anything,” King Avyrus turned his head away from the evil King with disgust in his facial expression.

Looking in at the druid’s cold, icy blue eyes made him smile with satisfaction. “I do not want it to change you,” Xanthus stated, and then added, “No, I am already happy knowing that you and the rest of the druids will never leave my castle fortress!”

“We will find a way,” the druid King growled confidently.

He was so stubborn! Couldn’t he just accept that he would never again see his lovely forest, which by the way was not so lovely anymore because of the fire? That this would be the last place he saw before he was executed?

“Xanthus! Hurry over here immediately!” Queen Anne called to her husband with a serious voice. It startled him, especially the tone. Leaving his arch enemy to do whatever it was that imprisoned druids did at that time of day, he went to meet his pregnant wife at the front of a prison cell. “What is wrong?” He asked worriedly.

“The cell is empty!” Anne said quickly, and Xanthus looked into the prison cell. He was shocked to see what he saw; the King was completely sure that this was the jail cell that Titus had been residing in.

He recognized the servant that lay asleep where Titus should be.

It was his wife’s servant, Millie.

And what lay next to her was a big dish of half eaten food. It looked like it was the King’s missing dinner of rice and two chicken legs! How dare Millie share it with a druid, no less a prisoner? This was bad. It meant that Titus had escaped, most likely given a key by Millie.

“And look!” Anne distracted him from his thoughts facing a cell behind him. “Another druid is missing also!”

“I’ve had enough of this,” Xanthus snapped, fed up with the disappearances. He stormed back to Avyrus’ cell. “What do you know about Titus and the other druid escaping? Tell me!”

“I know nothing,” Avyrus said simply.

“You must know something! You had to have been awake with the yapping of that damn druid Titus!” The King persisted angrily.

“It may come as a surprise to you but I was asleep when Titus escaped prison.”

Xanthus took out his sword, its silver edges flashing, and hit it against the bars where Avyrus stood. Luckily on the druid’s part it did not hurt him, but the King of Aerulis wished it had. He could do with the druid bleeding a bit for all he’d done. “I will not accept that!” The King snapped furiously.

“Sire, please!” Anne cried to him, obviously disturbed by her husband’s sudden violence. But he ignored her, waiting for what Avyrus might do or say next.

“I swear, I was asleep,” Avyrus replied, but then added, “But I know that wherever he is... Titus and the other druid will find a way to free us all from you.”

“Those worthless boys can never defeat me alone,” Xanthus chuckled.

“No, but perhaps... well, perhaps a certain wolf can,” Avyrus spoke quietly. A wolf…? What was getting into Avyrus’ head? How could a wolf defeat him? It was hilarious to the Aerulis King.

Titus and the other druid stood a better chance of winning than a stupid wolf!

“Okay, Avyrus, you can go dream about how your wolf will rescue you from your cell,” Xanthus mocked his enemy and then turned away to walk upstairs. “The execution will be held in a few days. Your druid warriors could be anywhere by now, so I won’t bother with a patrol to fetch them.”

“What about Millie?” Anne queried.

“Leave her!” He growled sternly. “She’s a traitor. And traitors don’t deserve to be moved from a cell.”

His face softened, and then he walked back down the stairs and put his arm around her. “Come now, forget about all this nonsense. You need rest if we want to have a healthy child.”

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He led her carefully upstairs and then made their way to her chambers where he laid her down to rest.

They kissed goodbye and then he left the room to go off and set up the execution.

Once he was out the door, he whispered something that would clear off the spell completely so that he may continue with the day.

It would take quite a while to set up the execution, maybe even until midnight that night, but it was worth any wait.

They were so lost!

They’d walked so far, yet had come across absolutely nothing useful. Titus never liked not knowing where he was, and since he was leading Zachery into unknown potentially dangerous land, you could certainly say that he wasn’t in the greatest mood he’d ever been in.

For the past week they’d probably been traveling in circles, hopelessly lost in the forests of England. They hadn’t even come across a single kingdom! It was either Aerulis was as big as the entire human galaxy or that every kingdom had magically disappeared. None of those stories were possible, so what was going on?

“Titus, just face it! We are lost! Can’t you just ask someone for directions?” Zachery pressured him. He’d been saying that the entire trip! Titus would have stopped and asked for directions if there was someone to ask.

“Oh, okay,” Titus mocked him with frustration, “How about we ask the speck?” The druid warrior growled, pointing to the dust speck floating around in the light. “There’s no one here!”

“Then let’s find someone!” Zachery snapped back at him.

“Haven’t we been doing that for the past week?” Titus threw his arms up impatiently. “No, how about you go and find someone. I’ll keep going.”

“We can’t split up,” the young druid warrior Zachery responded sternly. “King Avyrus would be disappointed. We are out here to save the druids, not act like immature apprentices.”

“Spare me of your lectures, Zachery. You and I are barely warriors ourselves,” Titus retorted bitterly. He understood that Zachery had lost his father to Xanthus’ men very recently, but that was no excuse!

“The wolf that I raised is out there somewhere,” Zachery began, gesturing to the forests and mountains ahead. “I know of the prophecy, my father told me. If we find her, she will help us. I know it...”

Titus raised his brow. What? Avyrus and Tairek had brainwashed him too? What had happened to his intelligent druid friends? So this is what the druid clan had come to. Stuck in a rotting dungeon, awaiting execution, thinking a wolf would rescue them.

“You believe that also, Zachery?” He sighed.

“Trust me, Titus,” Zachery told him. “Sascha will save the druids, somehow.”

“So where are we going now?” Titus asked him, treating Zachery like he was the leader.

“I don’t know,” Zachery replied, and then looked forward at a mountain in the distance. “Forward I guess.”

Titus glanced at where Zachery was looking. His heart sank when he saw the snow covered mountain tops. “Oh no, you can’t be serious!” He exclaimed with disappointment.

“And why not? Wolves usually hang around the mountains,” Zachery grinned with amusement. He walked forward, continuing their quest. Titus just stood behind, mouth open with shock. But he snapped out of it and followed.

“So we’re going over the ice cold mountains,” he growled. “Someone put me out of my misery, please.”

They’d been walking for hours! When would they reach the mountain?

At least at this point it wasn’t that much further, then they could take a rest... maybe even rest for the night as it was nearing the evening time. It was twilight... and Titus didn’t want to sound crazy, but had the trees suddenly become black and leafless?

From where Titus was in the strange forest, he could finally see a lit up city and a huge castle in back of it. “Windstorm City,” Titus recognized it. He had been brought there as a child to meet King Dragomir who was the only ally of the druids. He had been about seven years old then, now he was nearly twenty. “I wonder how King Dragomir has been doing all this time.”

“Maybe he’d be able to help us?” Zachery suggested.

That was a good plan! That’s what they’d do instead of searching for a hopeless wolf! “Yes, I agree,” he told Zachery, and then took off running toward the city entrance. Finally, they had something to work on. Dragomir would send his army of knights to rescue the druids from King Xanthus, and now Titus didn’t have to worry about a thing.

They walked through the city as if they were native to Windstorm. When they finally reached the castle they were greeted by about five guards. “Peasants are not allowed to access the castle grounds,” one of the strong guards clad in metal armor growled sternly. “I suggest you turn around immediately.” The guards held up their swords as if to ward off the “peasants”.

“You don’t understand,” Zachery told the Windstorm City guards. “We’re here to speak with King Dragomir. We are druids.”

“You are druids?” The tallest of the guards seemed shocked. “I have received word that they were taken captive by King Xanthus de Taske. Then how could you be a druid?”

“We both escaped,” Titus told the guard.

“And we have to find a way to rescue the rest of us!” Zachery added. “So please, let us speak with your King.”

Some of the guards exchanged glances with each other. Titus knew that they were debating whether it was safe to let the two druids in. Of course, they had no intention of hurting anyone.

Soon, the tallest guard turned back to them. “Very well, follow us,” he growled with a low suspicious voice. “But do not try anything stupid. We will kill you immediately.” And so, Titus and Zachery went on to speak with the King about their situation.