Three days later, he got off that same boat and headed inside… where yet another nightmare occurred.

“PRICILLA! GET! OUT!”

 

Eclipse, who was a little way behind Drake as he entered the palace, heard the shout and almost comically changed the direction he was walking so that he was heading toward the tower instead.

 

“You can’t kick me out; I’m here for the meeting.” Pricilla replied, crossing her arms.

“Yes I can, and the meeting isn’t for a couple of days.”

“Queen Apalia and King Yin brought me, they were on their way here and I tagged along.” Pricilla stated, giving a smile.

Drake stared at her for a long while, eyes narrowed… He really must have pissed off karma; there was no other explanation for this.

“Besides,” Pricilla continued. “I hear that alien thing is coming… what’s his name? Zidane!”

“And?”

“And Brahne wants him trapped… So everyone fun is coming.” Pricilla ranted, starting to list people.

Drake actually thought he went deaf for a moment, because he suddenly… could not hear her.

At first, it confused him. Everything had gone so silent. It was as if he were in his own little world. He was aware of the real world, but nothing in it seemed very important. Pricilla's lips moved but nothing came out. The confusion continued when he realized he could still hear somethings... he heard his heart beat in his ears, he heard the door shut behind him, he heard the noises in the other room... It took him a while to figure out what was going on, and when he did he was amazed by it
“Woah! I finally learned to tune you out completly!”

Which was followed by a lot more screaming from both Pricilla and Drake, using insults in every language that they knew, combined, for about three hours.

“… What did you call me?”

“What did you call ME?”

“A prissy little bi—!”

“Ah! You must be Prince Drake!” Broke in a distinctly female voice, from right behind Drake.

 

Drake turned to look and was rather shocked at what he saw… Standing there was a girl about Garnet’s height with long, pure white hair tied back and startlingly blue eyes. She was somewhat pale, and Drake guessed she must be from somewhere cold where the clouds often shade the ground. She was dressed elegantly and traditionally, far more so than Pricilla.

However, all Drake could think about was that he seemed to be staring his opposite in the face.

 

 

“… Uh, yes. Prince Dra…cu…la— Drake. And you are?”

 

“Forgive me your royal majesty, I'm Elizabeth Elsa!” The girl replied, giving the Prince a pretty smile. Her voice had the slight accent that gave it an exotic quality without making it hard to understand, “From Basadayah.”

 

“… A... pleasure to make your aquantence.”

"Oh no!" Elizabeth corrected, "The pleasure is all mine! Truley!"

Pricilla… didn’t like that. She already knew Elizabeth, but she did not like the way Drake was looking at the girl. She walked around and stood between Elizabeth and Drake. “And what are you doing here?” She asked, not intending to be rude to the girl, just making a point to her not to dare get attention like that from her Drakey.

 

“My parents brought me along.” Elizabeth replied, taking a surprised step back from Pricilla.

 

Pricilla still didn’t seem pleased enough with that answer. “That did not answer my question; I asked why you’re here, not how you got here.”

Drake regained his senses enough to hiss at Pricilla to shut up, but she completely ignored him. Pricilla was being rude and it was uncalled for.

 

“Well...I...uh...” Elizabeth started shakily, but looked shocked. What did Pricilla want from her? There was no special reason she had come, she had just wanted to, and had the opportunity.

 

Drake noticed that Pricilla was distracted. His perfect opportunity! Without a word, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her out the door they’d been standing next to this entire time.

“Hey!” She yelped, purely surprised.

Drake slammed the door shut and locked it. “Hm… the headache is gone.”

“Let me in!” Pricilla screamed.

“I would, but… I don’t want to and I’m all out of Aspirin for some reason so even a reaper could not convince me to open that door to save my own life.” Drake replied, leaning back against the door.

He looked back at Elizabeth. “Sorry about that, she’s… Pricilla.”

 

Elizabeth was standing there aghast, her mouth hanging open slightly in shock, as her eyes darted back and forth from the screaming coming from behind the door, and Drake. She couldn't believe that he had done that to the Empress!

“I...I know...” Was all that she seemed to be able to say, as she seemed to try and decide what to do. Wishing she wasn't there, and that she hadn't got caught up in the middle of this mess wasn't working. You couldn't just shove an empress out a door and lock her out like that! It could start a war!

 

Pricilla continued to pound on the door, which Drake actually didn’t mind… He had knots in his back and when she hit the door, it actually felt good… which was a trick he learned a few years back, but would never, ever, ever admit it.

He noticed Elizabeth looking absolutely horrified, though, and was going to explain that he and Pricilla had a love-hate relationship (she loved him, he hated her), but decided he’d rather not. It was always hard to explain to people and usually gave them the wrong ideas.

He got a slightly… interesting idea.

“You know… if you’re visiting and really want to get the full experience you should go see my parents. You’ve already made it into the palace; you might as well meet them.” And I’m kind of interested to see the look on their faces…

 

“T-t-the King and Queen!? They'd meet with me!? I- I mean, alright...” Elizabeth agreed, though she was still rather concerned about what she'd just witnessed involving the Empress.

 

Drake moved away from the door and led the way into the palace.

The more he walked, the more he second-guessed this idea…

He wasn’t sure… why Elizabeth freaked him out, exactly. It was a lot of things. Her eyes were brighter than usual, but uncommon. Her hair was the opposite— it was a rare color. The exact opposite of his hair and eyes, but not just in color. His hair color was fairly common and his eyes… unheard of, something in horror stories not seen in reality.
There was more, though. Elizabeth seemed… timid. Afraid of upsetting anyone, and he… often upset people; sometimes for fun.
The way Elizabeth dressed, too. She was all dressed up as if being here were a big deal. While Drake took pride in what he wore, he’d never put on anything that uncomfortable looking unless forced or threatened to.
…
It was just, unnerving. He couldn’t think of anything to say to her.

 

“So...why did you lock the Empress out? ...Don't you like her?” Elizabeth asked, in an attempt to break the awkward silence, but she regretted her choice of question. It was a personal matter, and she had no right to ask, but Pricilla had told her that she and Drake were courting...It confused her.

In fact, the whole event was confusing her; she had prepared for it for over a week, asked so many questions, and even rehearsed what she was going to say. But it was all going wrong! This was nothing like she had expected. Wasn’t royalty supposed to be dignified? True, Drake was charming… and he was even more attractive than she’d ever imagined… but this was all wrong!

 

Drake had to think up an answer that didn’t involve laughter, curses, gagging, or any reference to Pricilla ceasing to be.
“… I do not like Pricilla. She wishes I did, but I really cannot stand that girl.” He stated, honestly.

 

'I know what you mean,' was the reply that very nearly escaped her lips before she came to her senses. Pricilla had lied to her! How rude! Perhaps she truly did believe that Drake liked her? That was a troubling thought too, the idea that someone that delusional was in control of a country.

“Are you sure she won’t mind?” Elizabeth asked instead. After all, if Pricilla was that moody, and delusional, did they really want to make her mad? She would hate to cause political problems for her parents...

 

“Mind being locked outside? Oh no. She’ll find a way in eventually and then I’ll find a new way to escape her… the meeting coming up will make that a tad harder, but I have the hopes that she’ll find something else to keep her busy as I know I have other plans.” Drake explained, smirking a bit. “She’ll get in and blame me, but since she’s obsessed with me the consequences are non-existent.”

 

Elizabeth nodded in agreement and understanding, when in fact she didn't understand it at all. Nor was she really sure that she agreed with it. Prince Drake and Empress Pricilla were so strange...

She hadn't met many world leaders, but her parents were very serious about their duties all the time, and they expected her to be. Would the King and Queen be like the Prince?? If not, how had they let him get like he was? Surely they would have tried to make him be more sensible, and respectful to other world leaders. Even if Pricilla was obsessed with him, Elizabeth thought that it was still a big risk locking her out.

 

Luckily for Elizabeth, Marina and Chaucer were nothing like Drake. In that they were doing work while Drake was just thinking about shoving Pricilla over a cliff and then going hunting.

Marina was supervising the arrangements for the meeting. She hadn’t been told much about the event, but she was going to make sure the palace would accommodate anyone who showed up. She did look over when Elizabeth and Drake approached, however.

“Oh. Hello.”

 

Elizabeth curtsied in greeting. Drake's mother, the Queen, certainly seemed more sensible. She had a much more regal pose, and seemed to be busy with organizing things. What's more, there wasn't a single locked out dignitary or world leader in sight.

 

Marina smiled a warm, friendly smile and gave a nod of approval.

“Mother, this is Elizabeth of Basadayah.” Drake introduced her, giving a slight bow.

He noticed Chaucer was in the throne room speaking with Queen Apalia and King Yin… he wasn’t sure what their conversation was about but he was sure that he didn't care.

“How wonderful to meet a guest to our mountain town, and from such a noble place as Basadayah. I do hope you’re enjoying your visit here.”

 

“It's been absolutely splendid so far, Your Majesty!” Elizabeth replied with a smile, despite her feelings to the contrary. It would be rude to complain, and would be improper to complain to such a distinguished host. Besides, she didn't want to seem ungrateful.

“You have a lovely palace, and your son has been very nice to me!” She added, feeling that she needed to add upon her answer. This time, it was true; Prince Drake had been nice to her, if not Pricilla.

 

Marina seemed surprised by that last statement, but she quickly hid that fact.

Drake noticed, though. However, there was unfamiliar company around which meant ‘shut up’ on all issues so he instead gave a revolting smile to signal he'd caught that.

Marina smiled yet again, “Well I am glad to hear it. Do excuse the mess, we’re hosting the next world meeting here in just a couple of days and preparations need to be attended to. If you wish, I can assign someone to give you a tour?”

Drake shrugged, “I’ll do it. I don’t mind and I don’t have anything else to do.”

Marina looked at Drake, unsure on how to answer… Drake’s friends, as few as there were, had been given free reign of the palace by his choice… Drake really did not follow any of the proper procedures or any of her rules. He obeyed Eclipse and Ellipsis and no one else, and they had either given up or didn’t seem to care about the danger he put himself in... she wasn't sure he was the best person to be giving anyone a tour of the palace. It really wasn't proper for someone of his status... Then another issue crossed her mind.

“Where is Pricilla?”

Drake grinned. “I don’t know… but I can guess.”

Marina tightened her jaw for a moment and busied herself with something else, making note to tell someone to please go and retrieve Pricilla before a dragon got her.

 

Elizabeth stood there doing her best to hide her bewilderment. She was sure that the Queen knew that Drake had done something to Pricilla! Maybe she was used to it all by now, though it was hard to imagine, if true.

She wasn't sure, but she felt like she was missing something that made it all make sense.

 

Drake was watching Elizabeth. The girl was trying so hard to behave properly, despite the apparent obstacles. Maybe he should leave her with Marina—he bet that would get her trip back in the correct order.
It was almost sad.
This girl had come with such high hopes and he was tearing them apart… not on purpose, of course, but it happened.

“Drake!” Pricilla shrieked.

Drake sighed… this was going to be another long day…

 

Elizabeth spun around as if the shriek had been a blow to the head. It had startled her. Again she felt fear and dread at being tangled up in the strange situation that was greater than her worst fears about what could ever have happened at a world leaders meeting.

 

Drake headed for the lobby. He didn’t care if Elizabeth followed or not anymore. He’d have to act… regal. And he hated that. It was stuffy and dull and cut into his playtime.
He had other things to do.
The party was the day after tomorrow and he was having doubts about it all.

Why help Zidane? Was it really worth it? He didn’t think of himself as such a noble soul. Which brought him to wonder if that was because of how he was raised or if that were just him… which was getting annoying.

He’d have to find a way to keep them away from Zidane… which would be difficult. Drake had a few ideas, but the only one that would truly work was going to get him into trouble… Big, big trouble. The world leaders would have to see it, or everyone would wonder why Zidane left. Zidane and Drake would have to act the way they always acted or blow their cover and… that, too, would lead to very bad things. Zidane would be killed, Drake was sure of it.
It would have to be something that would explain Zidane’s actions afterward… which would get Drake in major trouble.
Drake could just let them take Zidane… That wouldn’t get him in any trouble. Zidane would be in trouble, but he’d be in the clear.

It was getting confusing…

 

Elizabeth looked between Drake's retreating form and Pricilla's approaching one. She was completely unaware to the conflict going on in Drake's mind, but she had her own mental conflict to worry about. Should she hurry after Drake? Stay to face Pricilla? Which would be better?! It might be rude if she turned her back on the Empress... but she did look very unpleased...

'Oh what to do!' She thought bitterly.

 

Pricilla looked her over for a minute.
Not Royalty, not a chance... not a commoner, though. All dressed up… and she was inside the palace, so that proved she was upper class… perhaps her parents were advocates or something—they had to be well-to-do or Pricilla never would have met this girl before.
Pricilla turned on her polite, but completely phony smile. “Well then, I feel like we’re friends already. Your trip isn’t going that well now is it? Poor dear, things do get hectic before a big event.” She lied…
Pricilla had been able to fool nearly every world leader into thinking she was a sweet, king, gentle individual… she could fool this girl.

 

“Really? It's always like this?” Elizabeth asked. Part of her was a little suspicious. The way the Empress had acted a few minutes before seemed a little strange and evil to just be the hectic atmosphere. Nevertheless, Elizabeth was at least thankful that Pricilla was being kind for the time being.

 

“Before such an important event? Ah yes.” Pricilla gave a nod, starting to walk in the direction she saw Drake going. “Everything has to go perfect and people fret that it won’t be; that everything will go wrong.” She glanced back at Elizabeth, “How would you act if you had the whole world watching your every move?”

 

'Less like you...' Was Elizabeth's foremost thought, still shocked at the behavior from earlier. She would hate to make such a spectacle of herself.

“I'd probably be pretty nervous,” She answered instead, which was also more or less accurate. Her parents were pretty powerful people, even though the land they controlled was small. So it often worried Elizabeth when she thought about how all that responsibility would someday be hers. Was it possible she might start to become like Pricilla?

 

“Well, most people get competitive or anxious. Or crazy. As is the case here, I’m sure. My Drakey just gets claustrophobic.” Pricilla said, looking around. “Do you, by any chance, know where Prince Drake went?”

 

Elizabeth shook her head. “He went off that way,” she said and pointed out the door, “He was supposed to be giving me a tour of the palace.”

 

“He must have assumed you’d follow. Come on, we’ll go find him together.” Pricilla stating, smiling.


Drake was glaring out a window.
Outside was his one escape; Pricilla hated nature. He could go hunting, camping, or just prowl around. Practice his archery or his swordplay…
But it was raining.
Not just raining, oh no, it was as if the clouds were at war with the ground. He couldn’t see fifty feet outside.
This was the type of weather where you could drown simply by trying to walk around in it, but he bet he would get in the most trouble just for ruining his clothes.
And he was fairly sure he saw a person be eaten by the mud and he didn’t want that to happen to him—though it very well could have been his imagination.

“I hate the rain…”

 

“Okay!” Elizabeth agreed cheerfully, and led the way out of the room so that they found themselves in a long hallway that led off to both the left and right. One wall had large high windows at regular intervals. Which currently had rain beating heavily against them.

The other wall was windowless, but had small alcoves in their place, where pieces of artwork were stood, or were displayed on pedestals, including vases, statues, and ornate pottery. Both walls had many paintings hung from them.

Elizabeth was so caught up in the impressive collection of history and art, that she almost didn't notice Drake standing at a nearby window.

 

Pricilla didn’t care about the art, so she did notice Drake. “Ah, there you are!”

Drake flinched and closed his eyes a second before glaring at the window. He put his hand against it, feeling the bitter chill from the rain outside, even through the glass.
Part of his reasoning for this was to feel the cold and remind himself that going out into it would be bad… the other part was his wondering if he could push hard enough to break the glass and then run for his life.

Pricilla apparently knew this and grabbed his other arm, pulling him away from the window. “Abandoning people again, Drakey? How rude.”

“How… lucky you were to get in before the rain…” Drake said in a voice that clearly stated he blamed the rain for trapping him inside.

“So many doors, so few of them locked.” Pricilla mused, laughing it off. “Our new friend here was permitted a tour; you shouldn’t neglect your guests.”

Drake sighed, quietly, realizing Pricilla was in her Leader Mode phase where she pretended to be a decent human being. It made things a bit less painful, but usually meant he had to play along… “How foolish of me.”

“Quite.” She giggled, looking around as if making sure there were no witnesses around to watch her turn into her true self; Medusa.

Drake took one last look at the window and then gave into his fate. “… All right. We can begin in the museum.”

It was the most interesting place… not very fun, but interesting. A fine place to begin the tour and it had enough things to distract people with that he might be able to slip away…

 

Elizabeth, who had been impressed with the displays in the hallway before, was doubly impressed just to find out that they actually had a museum in the palace!

When they arrived, Elizabeth immediately let out a small gasp and darted over to an exotic looking exhibit; seeming to totally forget about the people she was with. “What an impressive collection!” She exclaimed.

 

Pricilla was completely bored by all this, but at least she got to spend time with Drake! So anywhere they went was worth it.

“A lot of people keep their collections here, for safekeeping. They also get a discount on their insurance if a piece is featured in a museum. Therefore we have a few artifacts that won’t easily be found elsewhere, ever. Much of it, however, was… donated. Scholars who would rather trade the item for access to some of the rare scrolls not kept in the public libraries. You might be amazed at what people give up.” Drake stated, walking in. “However, those vases, on the thin podiums, are reproductions. It may be fashionable to stack things where a breath of wind can destroy it forever, but it’s also very stupid.”

 

Elizabeth turned around and nodded, before she walked over to the vases that Drake had referred to and examined them closely.

“I never would have guessed!” She decided. It wasn't like she was an expert, but they were obviously very expensive and well done reproductions. They looked so real.

 

“Yes. A lot of fakes are put on podiums…” Drake stated, eyeing Pricilla.

It took Pricilla a full minute before she realized the insult and glared at the prince. Drake smiled and turned away, looking over one of the paintings.

Next was a room full of mirrors.

“Hu? What’s this?” Pricilla wondered, looking around.

“Oh.” Drake smiled, “This is my favorite room. Throughout the ages many different cultures at many different times and places, all believed a person’s reflection symbolized and would show different things. It is said in Di Jun ‘When the mirror is dim, the soul is unclean’. An ancient belief stated people or objects could be connected to their reflections. “In dreams a mirror can symbolize the power of the unconscious to 'mirror' the individual objectively-giving him a view of himself that he may never have had before,” so said Jung 218. The obsession of beauty and a mirror's reflection shows up in stories like Snow White, qualifying it, to many cultures, as a tool of sin. The mirror doesn't hide anything, but gives a reflection of the true appearance. In some stories, the other side of the mirror gives the counter of a person, as the mirror reverses a reflection so figuratively the mirror can reverse a personality, or like in Alice in Wonderland, the mirror can be a portal to another world. In this room the mirrors have been magickally enhanced to do exactly what the legends from the different times and cultures expected them to do.”

Drake liked watching people go through this room… sometimes what he saw in their reflection was funny, other times sad… sometimes horrifying.

Watching Ryan go through it was very amusing.

Sometimes Drake walked through it. The beginning wasn’t so bad, it wasn’t till you got near the end that the truly freaky things began. Drake never went back there unless he was alone. What he saw changed a lot… most of the time he liked what he saw.

Pricilla walked through with disgust, circling around back to the front of the room. She didn’t like the reflections the mirrors were giving her.

She did see Drake following, but was more concerned with her own appearance.

She got to one mirror and gasped. “Ew, gross! This one makes you hideous!”

Drake looked over and smirked. “That one’s just a regular mirror, Pricilla.” This happened to a lot of people. Your eyes get so accustom to being tricked, they make their own images up to try and stop the false images, and in the end simply create a worse one.
He laughed and walked out of that room, back to the first.

Pricilla was enraged by that! How dare he! She grabbed a vase and smashed it over his head.

Or… that was her intention.

However, the vase did not shatter. It broke, yes, but she was fairly sure the cracking sound she heard was mostly Drake’s skull.

Drake fell to the ground out cold.

“…Oops.” Pricilla had expected a flimsy little vase—but it had been much, much heavier than she expected, thicker, too, half of it was lead… they made the reproductions not to break.

 

Elizabeth let out a little shriek in shock. She had been so absorbed in this strange mirror that showed her with grayish black skin, that she had missed the ‘conversation’ between Pricilla and Drake. However, the loud crash as the vase hit the ground, along with Drake, she did notice.

“What have you done!?” She gasped out, rushing over. The insane Empress had killed the Prince!

 

“I don’t know!” Pricilla insisted. “I didn’t… It wasn’t… I just thought it’d break and scare him!”
Sure, she’d thought about knocking him out many times before. It would be a sure way to get him to stay in one place for a while… but she hadn’t meant to kill him!

“Drake! Drake, wake up!” People were going to be upset if he were dead… THAT would start a war, and Daguerreo had a lot more allies than Shivel… maybe she could hide the body. Have her guard take it somewhere far away, “Ooooh... DRAKE!”

 

Elizabeth was on the verge of hyperventilating. This was the worst thing to ever happen to her! What was she going to do!? How could she have got involved in this? What would her parents say? What would happen to her!?

“Is he alive!?” She demanded.

 

“Shut up and help me!” Pricilla shouted. She grabbed Drake’s arms and started pulling. “We can’t leave him here; someone will see, and that’ll be bad…”
She wasn’t sure if he was alive or not. She’d hit him hard… she didn’t know of many beings who could live though something like that.
But she really hadn’t meant to, this time!

 

“I can't believe this...” Elizabeth whimpered pitifully, near tears. She reached out tentatively to take hold of Drake's leg, as if afraid to get her fingerprints on it. Then her first attempts to help Pricilla pull him were weak and half-hearted, as though she was afraid the leg might snap off, like Drake were an old rag doll. But eventually she started to pull a bit harder.

 

“It’s going to be fine… It’ll be fine…” Pricilla told herself, over and over. “Just have to get him far away from here…”

Everything was dark and deathly silent, but it wasn’t a wide-open black void that Drake remembered from before from the dreams. This felt more like he was in a coffin, unable to move. Drake tried to do something, anything, raise and arm, or move a leg, but it was like he had no body, nothing to move. As if he truly were dead. Was this what death was like for demons? Had something happened… and he’d died? This was his afterlife? No… he could get up if he tried hard enough, Drake found. He stood up to get a better view of his surroundings.

Suddenly there was a sound all around him, distracting him from his growing panic. It was an indescribable hissing noise that was growing louder, and louder.

There was a bright-blue flash above his head and the unmistakable sound of thunder crashed heavily a split second afterward; shaking the ground Drake now found himself standing on. He worked out what the other noise was too— the icy rain was coming down relentlessly, he felt it now. It was as if the flash had brought this strange world into physical being.

Drake looked around as best he could. It was nighttime wherever he was, and he was surrounded by tall trees on both sides. A forest. So dark and dense on every side that it might as well have been solid castle walls. His vision was blurry from the heavy rain that kept getting in his eyes, but he could swear that he saw some of the shadows move…

He forced his attention to the path or small road that he seemed to be standing on. He shivered, unsure if it was the feeling of being watched, or the bitterly cold wind that caused the chill.
The path was little more than a treeless trail of mud; the few steps he took revealed that the ground squelched, and he felt paranoid that he may sink into it like quicksand. Each step was hard and with no shelter in sight— it would be tough work to make any progress quickly. That is, if he knew which way to go…

The path went in two directions. One way went uphill, but all he could make out with the thick sheet of rain was more trees and the path continuing out of sight. The other path went down and was about the same.
Drake nearly missed it, but he narrowed his eyes and shielded them from the rain with his hand, and there it was… in the far distance, he could see several pinpricks of orange light. With nothing better to do than stand in the rain and die of exposure, he started to trudge in that direction.
Lightning light up the sky again and thunder again rolled, hurting Drake’s ears.

Long bitter minutes passed where he wished hard that he were back in the warm comfort of the tower, even if Eclipse was there… and that thought alone sickened him.

The rain was coming down so hard that his clothes had been soaked through in seconds, making it hard to breathe on occasion. It figured that this would he the way he’d choose to go. Into the wind so the rain was hitting him hard right in the face meaning that he was walking blind half the time; nearly stumbling into the forest that seemed to reach out to grab him before he realized he had strayed and moved back onto the path.

Out the corner of his eyes, Drake could swear he caught a glimpse of moving shadows… Something stalking him, watching his every move… He didn’t like being the hunted instead of the hunter.

Lightening was frequent, but blinding, never allowing him to use it to see the path ahead, or into the distance, while the thunder seemed to be coming from directly ahead, further proving that he was heading directly toward the beast.

The orange lights got closer at a torturously slow pace. The rain obscured whatever was bearing the lights, but they moved back and forth like fireflies as he watched, seeming to float in midair. As he got closer, it was obvious the orange lights were torches that people were carrying— somehow managing to keep them alight in the dreadful storm.

Drake paused in the road, trying to consider if he really wanted to run into people. He had no idea where he was, after all. The torch-wielding people could be as bad as the rest of this forsaken place. They could be… anything, anyone... The fact that he had no other real choice eventually made him go on. That and his trust that he could fight and escape whatever he ran into. He was forced to look down to try and keep the rain out of his eyes, the freezing water just burned too much… he couldn’t even summon up his fire to warm him.

The storm continued to be relentless; he was so cold… and the rain just seemed to be coming down harder, though it was hard to feel now as his face had gone numb. His legs had gone stiff and numb too. All his strength seemed to be being sapped away with each passing second as he walked for what seemed like an eternity through the deep, thick mud.
It was only the sound of squelching footsteps that made Drake look up again. He hadn’t noticed the sounds until they were almost on top of him. He could make out the dark shapes of people coming closer now, still hidden by the rain, and the dim light barely helped.

Drake stopped and watched with anxious anticipation as the people marched onward in two tidy columns. A fairly large group of people, mostly tall, in dark and soaked robes. Some held torches and four seemed to be carrying something between them. At the head of the columns was a large bald man.

As they got closer, Drake could make out the bald man’s cold and cruel features and his strong muscular build. He somehow remembered that face… and the people behind him in the robes all looked oddly familiar too, though their faces were hidden in the confines of hoods.

What made Drake rush to get out of the way, was when he noticed that the ‘thing’ that they were carrying was really a ‘who’. A boy, no more than thirteen, was tied down on the contraption that they were using to carry him. He was gagged and was struggling. His cries impossible to hear through the gag and the deafening rain and thunder, but the lightning made it possible to see his terror filled green eyes clearly.

Drake didn’t know who the boy was, or what was going on. His first instinct was to get away from them, his second was to help the kid… but with that many people and his fire not working in such weather, what could he do? An earthquake? He’d still have to get to the boy, untie him, and get them both out of there before anyone could stop him.
He was almost willing to try, though… but something… scared him.

The blue robbed people trudged by like an icy breeze and Drake dared not speak—it was as if he feared they would recognize his voice; recognize something about him, even if by appearance, they didn’t know who he was. Luckily for him, they had passed by without a glance in his direction; either not seeing him, or were just choosing to ignore his presence.

Drake turned around just as lightning struck again and thunder that was right overhead, making his ears ring. As his vision and hearing cleared, he jumped back, falling down. There, towering above him, not fifty hundred yards away, towered a large stone temple that looked terrifyingly familiar. The robed figures started up the stone steps, just as the smell of sulfur and ash reached Drake. It was a sharp contrast to the cold air.
It was impossible— how had that temple gotten there? He had walked for miles, at least! It hadn’t been there before…

When about half the men in robes had started to ascend the stairs, two archways in the side of the temple began to pour forth with glowing hot lava. It started to fill a pre-made moat, of sorts, around the temple as Drake watched. The last pair of robed figures barely stepped onto the first step in time to save their feet.

The molten rock steamed thickly and hissed loudly as the rain hit it, but did little to slow it down. The steam billowed up around the temple and Drake was sure that he saw faces in the clouds. He had no time to dwell on it, though, because the doors of the temple slammed shut just as there was another roar of thunder. The moat overflowed and started to creep down the path towards him faster than he would have thought it should be able to move on such a small slope…

It steamed and hissed loudly as it hit each puddle in the road, and it followed the road too, never veering off into the dark forest. It was like a giant snake coming toward Drake.

Drake didn’t waste any time. He got to his feet and tried to run, but his feet were stuck in the mud! He pulled his legs, but it was no use. In fact, he thought was just sinking more.
A loud hiss caused him to whip his head back up from the ground; the lava was close now, over half way, coming closer, and closer…

He recognized this… that same dirty heat. He wanted away from it! Now! But wanting wasn’t good enough, he was still stuck.

There was a scream from the temple that rivaled the many other terrifying sounds this island brought. A scream that seemed to stop even the lava charging toward him. The scream stopped abruptly… and the lava continued on.
The entire island seemed to shake in disappointment, and the temple doors slammed open and the people in the blue robes came out… there were a few less than had entered. The big bald man was there, looking irritated, but his expression quickly neutralized.

That was more than enough for Drake. It was no longer a ‘want’ to be away from this place. It was a need! He had to get out of there.

He went back to the fight. It was hard but he wasn’t going to give up, not ever! No matter how hard, hoe utterly hopeless it became… and eventually, his feet came out of the mud… and the sun came up.

 

“Ugh… oooow.”

“Drakey!” Pricilla chirped, surprised and accidentally dropping him.

Drake hissed and opened his eyes. “Ow…” These dreams suck, but reality is beginning to rival them…

 

“DRAKE!” Elizabeth gasped, and dropped his leg in total surprise, and slight elation. Then she did the only thing that she could think to do.

She smiled...and then fainted.

 

Been awake three seconds, already managed to kill the guest… good for me. Drake sat up and rubbed his head, which HURT. “Ow! You crazy witch; what did you do to me?!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Pricilla stated, putting her hands over her mouth. “It was an accident!”

“It feels like it.” Drake grumbled and got, shakily, to his feet.

“Are you all right? Do you need anything?” Pricilla asked.

Drake snarled at her in way of response and picked up the fainted Elizabeth. “This is, of course, more proof I have against you that you really are a sadistic maniac.” He then turned and walked to one of the rooms lent to noble visitors who were guests of the royal family and put Elizabeth on the bed—which he figured she would appreciate since waking up on the floor being gawked at wasn’t a very graceful experience.

Drake then noticed something… His room was to the right of the library, in the tower… he woke up to the left of the library. “… Where were you taking me?!?”

Pricilla's eyes grew wide. “… Uh…”