Chapter One

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. I groaned, 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 face lighting 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 I pulled 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 and soulmates 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 our soulmates.

"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 in the 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 Cassie walked in with three people at her heels. As soon as I saw two of the people following Aunt 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 Me Spell 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.

"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 was wearing. 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 sacrifice herself 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 you who 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's flawless 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 ancient land 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 will need to defeat her son. When you get there, she will instruct you in the ancient magic of our 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 also teach 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 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 were going 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 look mine 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, staring at 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 must have 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.

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.