text: Eleanor woke up to thunderous bangs and thuds surrounding her house. She jolted out of bed and fixed her attire then ran towards the large balcony adjacent to her bedroom. ‘What on earth is going on?’ Eleanor gasped in horror at the dreadful sight. Her eyes roamed the area as her vision blurred with tears and her heart pounded in her chest. She saw blood decorating the freshly cut grass, dead bodies littering the front yard of the kingdom. Limbs and torsos submerged into the water fountain. She instantly made her way towards the door, pulled it open and stepped out. ‘Princess Eleanor,’ a muscular, broad man yelled as he walked up the stairs. Eleanor looked at his appearance smeared with crimson liquid, his right hand clasped a bloody sword. ‘What is going on, Dominique?’ Eleanor questioned in uncertainty. Dominique lowered his sword and stopped beside her, ‘There was an attack, princess,’ he huffed, ‘We were ambushed and we’ve lost many lives.’ ‘Who dared to ambush us? In our own kingdom?’ Eleanor spoke seething in rage, ‘Wait, where are my parents?’ She looked around then began walking down the stairs. She saw torn bodies laying on the floor. She continued running towards her parents' room which was on the opposite end of the castle. ‘Princess, wait, listen to me!’ Dominique shouted as he followed her. ‘Dominique, I need to make sure my parents are okay,’ Eleanor shouted back, she turned around for a split second, then bumped into something hard. The force caused her to stumble back, she regained her composure and eyed the being in an armoured suit. The creature lifted its hand and out of thin air, a sword appeared. Eleanor’s eyes widened at this sorcery. In the meantime, Dominique reached them and charged at the extraterrestrial beast with his own weapon. Dominique and the creature began fighting, the sounds of their swords colliding echoed throughout the hallway. Eleanor stood in the side wondering what to do. Her eyes caught a large dagger that was hanging in a glass frame. She ran to it and broke the glass using her elbow, she grabbed the dagger and ran towards the fight. She saw the creature throw Dominique a few feet away. It lifted the sword in the air and began slowly bringing it down aiming at Dominique's chest, he gasped for air on the ground. Eleanor ran and with a swift move, her dagger punctured through the metal armour. The dagger entered through the back and went straight through. Within seconds, the creature vanished with a puff of green smoke. Eleanor bent down and helped Dominique up, ‘What the hell was that, Dom?’ ‘Our enemy, Princess,’ he gasped for air, ‘They are an unknown species.’ ‘What does that even mean? How did they enter our land?’ Eleanor exclaimed as they continued their journey towards the King and Queen's chamber. ‘They appear from thin air and they vanish into the air. They don’t have a physical appearance, I think they are a spawn of magic. Someone is controlling these things,’ Dominique grabbed Eleanor’s arm and made her stop, ‘Your parents aren’t here.’ Eleanor creased her eyebrows, ‘Where are they?’ ‘Those things-’ his words were cut short as the creatures reappeared but this time there were six of them, all carrying swords. Dominique whipped his sword against one of the armours but the creature remained unfazed. ‘Don’t you want to find your parents?’ one of the armoured creatures spoke up. The voice was deep, hoarse and guttural. ‘What do you know?’ Eleanor turned to face it. ‘Come with us,’ was all that the creature muttered. Dominique was held tightly by three creatures whilst the others held Eleanor. With a huge clash of wind, darkness blurred their vision and their world spun. Within a few minutes, everything turned to normal, Eleanor opened her eyes only to realise they weren’t in her castle. She and Dominique examined the territory, they were teleported to the outside of another castle, however, it was dull and gloomy. The castle was inhabited by dead trees and bushes, the sky was covered with black and green, puffy clouds. The creatures ushered Eleanor and Dominique towards the inside. As soon as the huge doors opened, they saw the interior of the castle, it was extremely eerie and creepy, with green candles lit in each corners providing minimal brightness. Suddenly, a burst of loud laughter resonated through the castle, ‘At last,’ the high pitched voice sighed. ‘What the hell is this?’ Eleanor murmured under her breath. The creatures walked until they entered another room, a pair of bodies were standing in the far distance, muffled screams released from them. Eleanor ran towards them as she realised that was her parents. A dark green light beamed into the room giving clear vision. King Charles and Queen Tatiana were tied up to a medieval torture device. Eleanor wept as she ran towards them and fumbled with the shackles. She huffed as the shackles weren’t loosening then she paused in her tracks as another loud chuckle vibrated through the room. A tall, slender woman appeared in front of the room where a throne rested. She appeared from thin air, dressed in a black and dark green gown, her eyes glistened with a green glow. 'Marvellous creatures, am I right?' the woman pointed towards her army, 'It took me years to learn magic then more years to forge this army, an army that cannot be destroyed. An army that isn't mortal, no matter how many times you kill it, they just refuse to die. They possess no emotions, hence, they cannot be manipulated. They only listen to their Queen, and follow her commands.' ‘Who the hell are you and why are you doing this?’ Eleanor shouted and took a few steps in her direction. The figure stood there and tilted her head towards the left, her eyes lingered on Eleanor for a few more seconds then shifted to her parents, ‘Really? You both didn’t inform her about me?’ Eleanor looked back and forth from her parents to this mysterious figure, ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘Eleanor,’ King Charles whispered as a tear slipped through his eye. ‘Wait, let me introduce myself,’ she hushed Eleanor’s father and elegantly strolled down the steps from her throne towards Eleanor. ‘Hello, Eleanor, I’m Cordelia, your aunt. It’s so good to finally meet you,’ her fingers slowly lifted to caress Eleanor’s face. Eleanor stepped away and cleared her throat. ‘I don’t have an aunt,’ she replied. Cordelia laughed, ‘Sweetheart, you’ve been lied to by my cunning sister and your mother. The precious Queen Tatiana.’ Eleanor gazed towards her restrained mother, she received her answer as her mother avoided eye contact. ‘How is this possible?’ Eleanor whispered and ran her fingers through her long, silky hair. ‘Eleanor, she’s playing with you,’ Dominique spoke up. Cordelia glared at Dominique with pure hatred, ‘Take him away,’ she ordered the creatures who followed the command. They dragged Dominique away whilst he thrashed around in their solid grips. ‘This is a family matter, strangers aren't welcomed,’ Cordelia smiled, ‘Now, my dear sister, would you please enlighten my niece to the truth?’ ‘It’s true,’ Queen Tatiana spoke aloud with her head down, ‘She is my sister.’ ‘Was that so hard?’ Cordelia humoured. ‘Why don’t you tell her what you did, Delia,’ King Charles added on. ‘As I said, this is a family matter, Charles, you should know better than to interrupt us,’ Cordelia lifted her hand and green smoke exited her palm and travelled towards King Charles. With a swift movement, it entered the king through his mouth and constricted his vocals. ‘STOP!’ Eleanor screamed, ‘YOU’RE HURTING HIM!’ ‘There is a lot more I’m willing to do if you all don’t show me some respect,’ Cordelia’s voice boomed through the room with immense fury. ‘You betrayed me, Cordelia,’ Queen Tatiana said, ‘You betrayed our family.’ ‘I had to,’ Cordelia argued back. Queen Tatiana scoffed, ‘You did it for your own selfish reasons, Delia.’ ‘Really?’ Cordelia scoffed, ‘What would you have done?’ ‘Anything else, but not what you did,’ Queen Tatiana shook her head, ‘Our parents are dead because of you.’ ‘You’re so quick to blame others and rid yourself of the blame, Tati,’ Cordelia exclaimed, ‘But you didn’t do anything to change it.’ ‘You did this to us and to yourself,’ Queen Tatiana argued back. Cordelia chuckled, ‘You’re right I did. Life taught me the hard way that you have to do what you have to do to get what you want. This life doesn’t give you everything, well I didn’t get everything, unlike you.’ ‘You think I got everything handed to me?’ Queen Tatiana gritted the teeth, ‘You have no idea what I had to go through to get everything.’ ‘Apparently, you’re the only one who does things, am I right, sister?’ Cordelia rolled her eyes, ‘I went through more and you know that. Ever since I was little, I was neglected and abandoned because you were the ideal child.’ ‘That’s what this is about,’ Queen Tatiana felt tears rolling down her cheek, ‘Delia, if that’s the case then let my husband and my child go and you and I can talk. They aren’t involved in our matter.’ ‘You really think so highly of yourself, sister,’ Cordelia smirked, ‘You're all here for a reason and quite frankly you’re in no place to make demands.’ ‘What do you want?’ Eleanor spoke in between. ‘I’ll come to that soon, my beautiful niece, what’s the rush,’ Cordelia smiled towards her, ‘Let's have a little family reunion.’ ‘Cordelia, please take whatever you want, just let my family go,’ Queen Tatiana sobbed. ‘Tati, stop it,’ she scoffed, ‘You sound too desperate and it's annoying me. I'll take what I want when the time comes.’ ‘I’m sorry,’ Queen Tatiana spoke up. ‘For what exactly?’ Cordelia raised an eyebrow. ‘For what you went through,’ Queen Tatiana answered. Cordelia stared at Queen Tatiana for a few minutes wondering what to say. Cordelia laughed, ‘At least sound sincere, Tatiana.’ ‘What do you want me to do then?’ Queen Tatiana answered back. ‘I'm glad you said that,’ Cordelia smiled with satisfaction, ‘Let me tell you what you need to do.’ ‘I want your throne, your title and your power,’ Cordelia announced, ‘Which rightfully belonged to me, as the older sister, I should’ve inherited it.’ ‘Fine,’ Queen Tatiana gave up, ‘Take it all, I don't want anything as long as you leave my family alone.’ ‘That was quite easy,’ Cordelia laughed, ‘But that's not all. I also want this land to myself, in other words, you and your family need to hand over your kingdom and power to me and leave.’ ‘I am the rightful heir,’ Eleanor spoke up, power lacing her tone, ‘I won’t give it up that easily.’ Cordelia was taken aback, ‘Wow, my niece, I didn't think you had it in you. But, there is nothing you can do about this.’ ‘Wait, Eleanor, don't argue back,’ Queen Tatiana ordered. ‘But mother, she wants us to leave our home, she wants everything we have, that is our identity, our entire existence,’ Eleanor reasoned with her mother. ‘Are you willing to lose your family over this, Eleanor?’ Cordelia raised an eyebrow, ‘Because I can assure you that I have nothing to lose, however, it seems like you have everything to lose.’ 'You want me to leave my home with my family, you want our kingdom, throne, power, everything we worked hard for?’ Eleanor confirmed, ‘You decide to swoop in with your army of magical creatures and demand to take what ours, what do you expect us to do just hand it over to you?’ ‘I can put up a fight but are you willing to?’ Cordelia's stance stiffened. There was a fury bubbling in her eyes just waiting to release. Queen Tatiana interrupted, ‘Eleanor, please, you don't know how dangerous she can be. She can have whatever she wants, but I won't risk your life.’ 'Mother, are you really willing to go down without a fight. Is that what this kingdom means to you?’ Eleanor objectified. ‘This kingdom is nothing without you or your father. I am not willing to lose you both,’ Queen Tatiana sobbed. Eleanor hushed because she knew this battle was not worth fighting. She knew there was no way she could convince her mother to put up a fight, knowing her army was already wiped out. She was at a disadvantage because her parents were constricted, Dominique was trapped and she was unarmed. She was up against a being who harboured pure rage, who possessed powers beyond comprehension. ‘Where would we go?’ Eleanor asked. ‘Anywhere else but here,’ Cordelia shrugged. ‘Fine, take everything. I relinquish my powers as Princess, my parents relinquish their titles as King and Queen. This Kingdom, the throne it's all yours, Cordelia,’ Eleanor announced, ‘You can release my parents and Dominique, we will leave this place as soon as we can.’ ‘How do I know you will hold the end of your bargain?’ Cordelia sceptically inquired. ‘The odds are in your favourite,’ Eleanor shrugged. ‘I trust you, Eleanor,’ Cordelia smiled, ‘I apologise that my first impression hasn't been the best, however, I've waited far too long for this moment. If only you knew the whole truth you would understand why I am doing this. But, then again you're the only child, which means you didn’t struggle the way I did. Perhaps, someday I'll tell you the truth, the reality, about your mother and our parents and what they did.’ ‘There is nothing you can say or do that will change what you have done today,’ Eleanor sighed, ‘Nothing should drive a person to do what you have done, especially to your own family.’ Tatiana interrupted, ‘Eleanor, forget it, it's not worth it.’ Eleanor looked at her mother then back at Cordelia, ‘Let my parents go and bring Dominique back here.’ Cordelia nodded, she closed her eyes and then lifted up her hands. Eleanor noticed a thick cloud of green smoke released from her palms and made its way towards her parents. The green smoke morphed and unlocked the shackles that constricted them. Eleanor ran to her parents and aided them as they got to their feet and composed themselves. The creatures brought Dominique and they all walked out together. ‘This life isn’t going to suffice you, Cordelia,’ Queen Tatiana spoke up for the last time, ‘What happened to you was unfair, but what you’re doing now is sinful. We have nowhere else to go and you know that, yet you’re doing this.’ ‘You won’t be forgiven,’ Eleanor stepped back and told her family to walk out. She turned around and faced Cordelia, ‘You took away the very thing that was our world, our home, you snatched it away for your selfish vengeance. This doesn’t mean you have won, or that this Kingdom is yours,’ Eleanor smiled, ‘This Kingdom belonged to us and will always belong to us and us only. Trust me, we will be back, I will be back and I will take back my home.’ ‘Enjoy it whilst you can,’ Eleanor uttered her last words and walked out.