Prologue

Sixteen years ago…

​

It was a cool autumn day as red, orange, and yellow leaves drifted gently to the ground. A young woman was bent over a grave as her tears fell and seeped into the earth. Grappling with her emotions, she spoke, though she knew the man buried below would never hear her.

“How could she? How could she betray us? We had everything planned out. We were going to rule the realms together and bring peace. She just had to go running to her father and tell him everything. She thought she was saving everyone--but no. Instead she caused your death. Oh, Javin, I wish you were still here."

The wind began to blow and leaves of all different colors swirled around the woman. Her long, strawberry blonde hair ruffled up in the breeze.

“What is this, Adreana?” a cold but beautiful voice demanded from behind the grieving lady.

Adreana whipped around to find a tall woman standing right behind her. She was wearing black pants and a simple gray shirt. She wore, strapped to her waist, a leather belt with a sheathed dagger hanging from it. Adreana had no idea how long the other woman had been there or what she had heard.

Adreana quickly wiped away her tears and stood up. “What are you doing here?” she demanded while standing as tall as she could.

“I believe that I asked you a question first,” the crimson-haired woman said. Her bright green eyes glowed menacingly.

Adreana glared at the other woman. “The plan has failed,” she spat. “It would have worked if Aanya had not spilled it to her father, King Aadish."

“So I came all this way for no reason,” the young woman concluded. She sighed and began to walk in the direction of a small stream, her soft leather boots making no sound on the damp ground. “If you decide that you still need me, you know where to find me.”

“Wait!” All at once, everything came to a stop. The wind stopped blowing and the woman stopped walking and all was quiet. “I may still need you, Alisha. We need to go on with a new plan.”

Alisha turned around quickly, causing her dark velvet cloak to flutter slightly. “What is it?” she asked.

“That selfish elf must learn her lesson." Adreana’s amber eyes were wild and full of malicious intent.

“What is it you would like me to do?” Alisha inquired with a small smirk.

A wicked grin slowly spread over Adreana’s face and her eyes flashed with madness. “I want revenge. I want you to kill Princess Aanya of the Elves."

Chapter 1

Serin

​

I tucked back a loose strand of my curly fiery red hair and pulled up my hood as a determined expression crossed my face. I stood at the ready and ran forward toward the barrier that was in front of me. At the last moment, I jumped. My hand gripped the barrier, and I pulled myself to the top and dropped down to the other side, landing perfectly. 

I took a moment to regain my balance and my breath before I jogged forward across a balance beam that was set over a ten foot hole in the ground. My black cloak billowed out behind me. Ahead there was a rock wall with only a few far spaced ledges for my feet. I swiftly climbed up and over the wall as a dummy came into view. 

There it was: my target. I made my way through the rest of the course, dogging swinging blades and fighting other kids pretending to be guards. At the last second, I produced a knife from my belt and threw it at the dummy. I heard a thud as I ducked under the last obstacle, and I knew the knife had found its target. A smile crossed my lips. I had succeeded.

“Amazing job, Serin. You completed your training exercise quickly and precisely just like a good assassin must." My mother stood waiting for me at the end of the course, a smirk spread across her face.

“Thanks,” I said with a small smile while I caught my breath. I pulled my hood down and let my ponytail swing from side to side in the breeze. I glanced at the dummy to see where the knife had ended up: embedded right in the heart.

“I think you’re ready,” my mother said, looking at me approvingly.

“Ready for what?”

“For your first mission."

My eyes widened. My first mission! I had been training for this moment all my life, and it was finally happening! I had to stay calm, though. Good assassins never allow their emotions get the best of them. They stay calm, collected, and get the job done. And that was exactly what I would do.

I had been training to be an assassin ever since I was born. I trained side by side with my mother, Alisha, and the other assassins who worked for her. She had helped to create a whole network of assassins, spies, and thieves in training who would be professionals someday. My mother taught me how to be agile, smart, cunning, and most of all, ruthless. After all, she was the most feared assassin in all of the Five Realms. 

My mother worked with Adreana, the most formidable person in all of the Five Realms. She was going to take over all of the Realms someday and bring peace. Right now, all of the realms were separated by wars and greed. If they were united under Adreana, less people would die.

My mother had helped Adreana create the fifth realm: The Dark Realm. She will help Adreana take over the Five Realms and put an end to all the wars and rulers. Once she kills the rulers, Adreana would become queen of all Five Realms, bringing peace. When that happens, my mother will be the second in command of the Realms. Because Adreana never had a child, that meant one day I would be the Queen of the Five Realms. I couldn’t wait for that day to arrive. I would be the most clever Queen in all of history. 

Snapping back to reality, I turned back toward my mom. “So, what’s my first mission, then? Kill a general of the elf army? Kill a fairy that’s getting in Adreana's way?” 

My mom smirked at the second comment. It was no secret that Adreana found fairies annoying and hated them. I found this strange since she not only lived in the Dark Realm but also in the Air Realm, which was filled with fairies.

My mom shook her head. “No. Your mission is much more important than that."

“What is it?” I asked, curious, but a little nervous at the same time. I tried not to let it show.

“Your job is to kill the elf princess, Princess Halfrida."
I almost gasped. I hadn’t expected to be sent to kill a princess. It was an honor to be sent on a mission that was so important. I knew the elf princess needed to die, but wasn't Princess Halfrida around my age? She had so much more life to live… 

I pushed the thought out of my head and refocused on what my mother was saying.

“Serin, I need to talk to you about it, though. On my first mission…I hesitated,” my mother recalled. “I saw fear flash through the elf’s eyes before I killed her. I was about to deliver the final blow when I stopped. This gave the elf just enough time to get away. I failed my first mission, and Serin, you can’t fail yours. This is very important. Okay?”

I nodded. “I promise, Mom. I won’t fail. I wasn’t raised all these years just to hesitate. I’ll make you proud." I didn't know why my first mission was to kill someone this important, but I did know that my mother spoke often with Queen Adreana about all of my potential. This was probably my chance to prove myself, and if I ended up failing they would send someone with more experience afterwards. It wasn't like I was going to fail though. 

“Good,” she said. “You leave tonight, at sunset. The darkness will help to hide you.”

I waited anxiously for sunset, and I spent a lot of the day practicing different moves on dummies. 

Around lunch time, I was called to a meeting with my mother and Queen Adreana. This was to explain to me the plan they had already worked out. 

“You will most likely arrive at the Elf Palace late at night. Most people should be asleep by then, including the princess,” Queen Adreana explained.

“You will break into the palace through a window on the second story. Go for a spare bedroom window, so that way you don’t risk waking anyone up.” My mother handed me a floor plan of the Elf Palace and a sketch of the outside of it. “This is where the spare bedrooms are,” she said, pointing to the far end of a hallway on the floor plan. “It is just down the hall from the elf princess’s bedroom.” Her finger trailed down the hallway and landed on a room labeled “Princess Halfrida’s Room." I nodded.

“And this,” my mother said, picking up the drawing, “is a drawing of the side of the palace you will need to be on. The circled window is the princess’s bedroom, and the starred window is the spare bedroom we think you should aim for. There doesn't seem to be much activity there.”

A few hours after the meeting, my mother escorted me to the armory and helped me to pick out the weapons she thought would best help me on my mission. I picked out throwing stars, sleeping darts, and a black cloak, much like the one I trained in. I stored the throwing stars in an inside pocket of my cloak and looked around at the supply of knives lining the wall. I reached my hand toward one, but my mother stopped me. 

“No, Serin, have this one.” My mother took her dagger out of its sheath and handed it to me. “This was my first dagger, and I think you should have it for your first mission.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, hesitating before I grabbed it. My mother’s dagger was special to her, and I was honored to use it on my first mission.

My mother nodded and gave me a smile. “I’m sure you’ll do amazing,” she said.

Of course, if my weapons failed, I always had my black magic. Everyone in the Dark Realm started out as ordinary creatures from the different realms. When Adreana and my mother found someone worthy, they would give them dark magic from a special stone that Adreana discovered. The stone would give you powerful dark magic when your hand was placed over it. Of course, since my mother was born with powerful dark magic, I was born with my magic. All good assassins needed some magic on their side.

I walked out of the armory. Before I could leave the fortress, I ran into none other than my best friend, Laina. She too was an assassin in training as well as a trained thief. Laina was from the Sea Realm. She had on a necklace that would give her legs. Whenever she took it off she would have her mermaid tail again, so she could do all the missions that required underwater travel. Laina was seventeen, about one and a half years older than me. In a few months, I would turn sixteen.

“So…” Laina asked with a grin. “How did training go today?” Today Laina was wearing a pastel shirt, black pants, and boots. 

“It went amazing actually,” I said calmly, hiding both my excitement and nervousness as a true assassin must. “I’m going on my first mission.”

“No way!” Laina breathed, her wavy hot pink and aqua hair bouncing. “Where? When? Who?” she asked, spitting off questions left and right.

“Slow down,” I said, cracking a smile. “I am going to the Elf Realm to kill the elf princess, Halfrida, and I am leaving right now.”
Laina literally screamed. A few guards, thieves, spies, and assassins in training who were close to us whipped around and drew their weapons, misunderstanding Laina’s scream. “No way!” she exclaimed again in her bubbly voice. 

Once they heard her excitement they sheathed their weapons and went back to what they were doing. If you didn’t know Laina, you would have never guessed she was a thief and an assassin. One thing was for sure, she definitely wasn’t your typical Dark Realm girl. “I never get to go on important missions like that! You’re sooooo lucky! Well, then again, my mom isn’t the most feared assassin in all of the Realms so…”

I smiled. Laina might seem like a happy go lucky person, or mermaid, but she wasn’t always this way. My mom found her washed up on a shore at six years old. Her clothing was torn and ripped, and she looked like she hadn’t eaten for months. My mom gave her a necklace that would give her legs whenever she was on land, took her home with her, and helped nurse her back to health. When Laina got better, we asked her what happened. She couldn’t recall anything about her past. My mom decided to take care of her since then, so Laina has been like a sister to me in a way.

“I have to go now, Laina. You know, princess to assassinate and everything." I grinned, but something still didn't feel right to me. Once again, I quickly pushed the uneasy feeling away, replacing it once again with excitement.

Laina returned the smile, her many freckles seeming to glow, and hugged me. “Just come back in one piece!”

I nodded and walked out of the fortress. I was ready to begin my mission.

****

I stealthily climbed through the forest that led to the Elf Realm, being extra cautious the whole way. One part of forest that was in the Dark Realm, the Forest of Fears, was full of all types of weird and dangerous creatures, so I had to be very careful. I had to fight off a weird-looking frog the size of my head and an extremely vicious swamp serpent. 

After a little while, I finally made it to the Elf Realm where the forest was much calmer and smelled like pine trees. After about two more hours, I was at the edge of the main village, in the heart of the Elf Realm. I pulled the hood of my cloak up and clutched the dagger in my sheath. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a single elf outside, and most of the lights were off inside the houses. I took a deep breath, trying to trust that my black cloak and the night would hide me, and slowly began to sneak throughout the houses that were scattered around the forest. The Elves did not live in houses like in the other realms. Instead, they lived inside of trees, which were grown hollowed out for rooms. I found this an odd way to live.

Soon, I approached the Elf Palace which was located in the middle of a large clearing with a few trees scattered here and there. The palace was made out of three huge trees that were woven together. It was about five times bigger than all the other houses surrounding it. I had no idea how they grew their trees like that, but I had to admit, it was pretty cool. Although, to be clear, I would never want to live in a tree.

At the edge of the clearing, I stopped to take in my situation. From where I was crouching in the shrubs, I could see both the front and the side of the palace. There were two guards posted at the front door and probably two more inside. There were no guards along the side of the palace closest to me, but I knew there would be lookouts. I thought briefly that it was a very good thing my mother and Queen Adreana sent me during the night. In the day, I would never be able to get inside unnoticed. I squinted through the darkness to make out the details of the side. It was the same part of the palace as in the drawing my mom had shown me, which meant I was only a short distance away from my target.

I looked up to where the roof of the palace would be, and then realized there was no roof and no towers, but there were large nest shaped structures wedged between branches. On them were two lookouts each. I knew from my studies that the lookouts would be armed with crossbows and bells to alert everyone of intruders. I could just make out the outline of the lookouts, and they seemed to be facing the other direction. I took the chance and ran to the base of the palace grabbing onto notches in the bark and heaving myself up. The princess’s bedroom would be on the second floor, so I climbed to the second row of windows.

Once at the top, I had to move sideways across one window to reach the target guest bedroom window. My fingers were aching. Just before they gave out, I pulled myself onto the window ledge and rested for a few seconds. Then I took out a throwing star and broke the glass of the window. It fell to the floor with a shatter. I wasn’t too concerned about the noise. It was so late that everyone should be deeply asleep, and the lookouts weren't close enough to hear.

I stepped into the room, slowly and quietly, listening for any sounds in the hallway beyond the closed door. When I heard nothing, I headed straight for the door. I cracked it open to look out into the hallway. There were only two torches lighting the hall, one on each side, so I could still use part of the darkness to hide myself. I noticed two guards standing outside a bedroom a little ways down the hallway. Of course that would be the princess’s room. I fumbled in my cloak pocket for two sleeping darts and inserted one into a tube. Pressing the tube to my lips, I blew hard into it and the dart flew through the air and lodged itself into a guard's neck. He flinched before he tumbled to the ground. The other guard followed only a second later. 

I smirked and ran down the hallway to the princess’s door. We assassins are trained to kill only our target victim and never kill anyone else unless necessary. I quietly took a hold of the door handle and opened the door just a crack to make sure it wouldn’t squeak. It was soundless, so I opened it a little more until there was enough room that I could squeeze through. 

I searched the room in the dark for the princess’s bed. I spotted it against the far wall of the room. Princess Halfrida was wrapped in the covers, sleeping soundly. She didn’t have a clue that her life was about to end… I paused and the uneasy feeling entered my heart again. No time for pity now, I told myself as I moved in to make the kill. Remember, this is for the good of the realms, Serin. I found the handle of my mother’s dagger hanging on my belt and unsheathed it. There was a quiet zing as the dagger scraped against the sheath. I lifted the dagger over my head, about to plunge it into her. It was time to kill the princess.