Full Description -

The extermination of magic ended centuries ago with all forms of magic fleeing their homes and finding new ones of the scattered islands surrounding Ishgar and Alvarez. The Dragonborn Peacekeepers -Dragon Riders- were exterminated whilst the Celestial Children disappeared.

At the age of seventeen the Princess of Celest Keys, Lucy Heartfilia, is engaged to Prince Natsu Dragneel of Dragon Isle. Their engagement brought misfortune and conflict throughout the scattered islands as dark and powerful criminals rose from the shadows. Alliances shattered, and war broke out leaving Dragon Isle in the middle of the crossfire. One enemy, darker than them all, targeted the Prince personally with his dark and horrible past leaving Natsu unable to hide his true nature.

To protect the Kingdom and Prince, King Igneel sends the newly engaged couple away from the island with their friends in hopes of resolving the conflict that threatens his Kingdom but behind closed doors Natsu's dark intentions lead them straight into enemy territory whilst Lucy learns she carries the world on her shoulders as well as a connection to the fearsome Dragonborn Riders.

A/N- Warning on many possible spelling errors and grammar mistakes throughout entire book.

A lone woman, a Queen by title, frantically ran through the cold and wet night. Harsh wind blew through her village. Harsh, heavy rain fell from the sky and plummeted into the lands soil. Thunder clapped loudly across the sky, the sound so loud; it shook the earth. Lightning lit up the night sky with continuous flashes but there was not one cloud in the sky.

Waves, large enough to destroy a ship out at sea, crashed into the banks and washed through the outskirts of her home. Fires, bright and powerful, burned away at the mountain tops further away from the inhabitants. White mist clouded the pathway towards the burning mountains and smoke rose high in the sky.

The Queen, Layla, wore a beige cloth that covered her from head to toe. The cloak barely gave her enough coverage from the wind, rain and smoke but it was better than having no protection at all; she had convinced herself there was nothing better. It soon became apparent she should have waited for something better but she didn't have the time to wait around.

In her arms she carried a bundle. Like her, this bundle was protected by layers of cloth to protect it from the harsh weather. It cried out constantly, the weather becoming more than it could bare for it's cry was not of fear or freight but pain. Layla clutched it tightly to her chest for both comfort and worry, fear. She ran panicked towards a thick forest, she refused to loosen her grip and kept holding on to the bundle like her own life depended on it.

A strike of lightning struck down a nearby hut. The strike created a boom that shook the ground. The bundle cried, fire rose from the strike and a young family of four rushed out of their home and watched their home burn to the ground. Layla watched the scene unfold as she ran passed but she barely gave them a passing glance as she entered the shrub of forest, regretting her choice of leaving them in need.

Her moment of thought had slowed her down. Mud had slipped through her toes and covered her feet with slime. The feeling was uncomfortable, disgusting but she didn't stop. The trees had served as protection against the rain and wind but it blocked her vision, only the constant flashes of lightning served as the light to lead her through the dangling vines, uprooted tree roots and slippery mud.

A few moments after entering the forest had begun to be dangerous. The bundles cries had gotten softer and less powerful but Layla could feel it shake as if it was cold, it's breathing had become rugged and strained. Layla panicked, like the mother she was and quickened her pace… she refused to stop even if she slipped or fell.

"Hang in there," she chanted. "I'll save you, I promise."

She leaped over an uprooted tree branch and missed the small slope of mud underneath. Upon contact she rolled her ankle, heard and felt a crack but stayed upright as she slid painfully down the small slope. She hit an exposed root and shouted out in pain. Quick to save the baby in the bundle, she twisted and fell on her side.

She sunk in the mud, rain trailed over her face and affected her vision. The babies cry prevented her from wiping the water away. She glanced at the bundle and was horrified to see mud had covered the left side of the cloth. Slightly moving the cloth away from the baby's face, she saw there was no mud touching her delicate skin.

Relieved, she quickly covering the babe again and began to move but noticed her ankle was still and unmoving. She couldn't see in the dark but by the blistering pain, she concluded it was broken and it would be for a while. With the howling wind, rain and constant thunder and lightning, there was no way to find support for it. She had to keep going, she had to bury the pain and escape the forest.

The baby cried harder and Layla was horrified to feel a sudden heat radiating from her. Light surrounded the sky for more than a few seconds and Layla's eyes widened in horror. She felt it coming, the strike that would end it all. Scrambling up with all the strength she had, she leaped out of the way and landed on her knees in time for the lightning to strike the ground where she once laid.

The ground shook from the force and Layla watched fire rise from the ground, catching on the wet trees and growing in strength. The fire had served as a temporary light and it shone over the crying forest, the rain did nothing but add as fuel for the blazing inferno.

Cursing the pain, Layla moved. She stood with a great struggle, keeping a tight hold on the baby in her arms as she ran as fast as she could away from harm. The mud did nothing but made her limping run more like a walk… she slipped and slid along the ground, stumbling over the exposed roots and tangling with the vines. With fire gaining on her heels, she felt like she was going nowhere.

She walked for what seemed like hours and the storm was still burning with anger. She had run into a patch of hail… the rocks of ice were no bigger than tiny pebbles but the thought of somewhere on her island suffering with bigger sizes, horrified her. Lucky for her, the trees served as poor shelters. They protected her from most of the ice but she knew she would suffer a few bruises after the storm passed.

Wishing desperately for sunshine and light, she stood still and used a tree for support whilst searching it's trunk for a thin and breakable branch. The baby continued to cry harshly but Layla kept her grip sturdy and tight. A flash of lightning guided her to an eye-level branch. She grabbed it and twisted her wrist, the branch snapped like a twig and she raised it high above her head. Her palm exploded with golden energy that quickly surrounded the twig in her hand. A bright, golden light lit up the sky and struck the tree and Layla with powerful energy.

She felt the energy replenish her strength instantly. She rolled her ankle on purpose and felt a bone click as magic energy melded into the bone and took away the pain. The baby in her arms became quiet as the power took away its own pain… the pulsing heat Layla had been feeling slowly ebbed away. Relieved but guilty, Layla kept a single golden flame on the tip of the twig as the beam of power returned to the sky.

She dropped the stick, but it did not fall… it stayed afloat and served as a torch. Glad of her accomplishment, she ran after the light as it flew through the forest. It weaved around a tree, it took her down a path of roots and even showed her which vines to avoid.

Through the night she ran. She expertly avoided lightning and fire whilst the light protected her from the harsher weather of rain and wind like a shield. Her ankle, although aching, didn't cause many problems. She could run, leap, slide and weave with ease. She could see through the darkness and she knew exactly where she was.

She passed through a line of bushes and appeared by a pathway. The path, five meters wide but multiple miles long, it circled the entire island and was usually covered with cobblestone but during this weather, it was wet and cloaked by ice from hail. Not thinking of it, Layla rushed onto it and instantly regretted her choice.

Her foot sunk. The ice was fragile and cold. Her toes grew numb, her feet ached upon contact and her bones tensed up automatically… the reaction was out of her control. She looked up at the sky and saw a thin line of cloud overhead, the first part of the storm being normal. Lightning flashed through the cloud, the bright light reflected the substance that fell. She saw white flakes fall from the sky and gently hit her shield and tumble to the ground slowly.

It was snow.

An alerting cry had prevented her from admiring it. The magic had left the babe's system; bringing back her pain. With the mountains being a mile ahead, she kept running for her objection was upon the mountains border.

The thick layer of snow had slowed her down but with each strike of lightning she pushed herself even more. Exhaustion clawed at her eyes, power leaked from her body and the bursting pain she had felt was returning to it's former glory. Her lungs burned, she was beginning to feel cold allover, but she refused to give up. With the mountain range quickly approaching, she searched her mind for a familiar route.

She remembered the path she needed to take and abandoned the snow-covered footpath, running through a line of bushes before returning to the forest. Due to the proximity to the mountains, the forest had thinned out and became more of a valley. A river followed the valley and widened the closer it reached the coast. The trees swayed with the wind and the leaves fell gracefully to the ground.

Rain rebounded off Layla's shield as she became fully exposed to the weather. Hail, the size of larger pebbles, suddenly struck her. The shield struggled to hold as it trembled and vibrated at an alarming rate. The baby's cries had became worse and the heat had returned. A small mountain came into view and Layla added another burst of speed in alarm.

She leaped over a small stream and ran down a crest before jumping over a line of small bushes, returning to a small outline of trees. The hail Layla had feared, tumbled down and the trees suffered it's bursting force. Hail the size of small fists smashed her shield and cracks had begun to form. The mountain she saw was in front of her; a cave entrance was hidden by a thin line of dangling vines and weeds.

A woman with an aging face and greying blond hair was poking through the entrance. Her dulled brown eyes had suddenly brightened as she opened the curtain of vines for Layla to push through. Upon entrance, the shield shattered, and a piece of ice slammed into her back. She gasped as pain broke out, she bit her lip and slowed her run to a stop.

"It's Lucy," she gasped in horror. "She needs help."

The old woman looked at her up and down. Her black clothing suggested she was ready for rest but the current weather was preventing anything like that. "I know," the woman said. "But is that anyway to greet your mother?"

Layla shook her head. "Now's not the time for that mother."

Anna, mother of the Queen, sighed and reached for Layla's cloak… she lowered the hood and held her face dearly. With a look of love in her eyes, Anna smiled sadly. "I know." She grabbed the golden glowing twig and waited for the flame to turn orange, the power had been spent. "Your lucky to be alive, Layla."

"I know."

"Come. We've waisted enough time."

"I know."

Anna hummed and lead the way through a dark tunnel using the flame as a torch. She led Layla to a room lit up by magical blue lanterns that surrounded the circular room. She distinguished the flame and dropped the twig in the room. The room in the cave had many exits and entries; most of them were hidden by the curtain's Anna had put up. With a worrying glance, Anna picked up a blue lantern and ducked under a curtain, "Come."

Silently, Layla followed Anna through a doorway which lead to a bedroom filled with clothes and cloth. A desk was covered in paperwork and rock-carvings. A large bed was unkept, the blankets were messy, dirty and in a messy pile at the foot of the bed. Red rugs were grimy and covered in dirt grimes. The room was lit up with blue lanterns that were even brighter than in the entrance.

Anna hooked the lantern at the doorway and moved to her bed. "I had wondered about the peculiar weather," Anna started as she kneeled by her bed and reached underneath it. "Rain, thunder, lightning, snow and hail all in one storm." She ducked under the beds base and disappeared. "Oh. and there is no cloud. I could still see the stars with all that weather." She groaned, struggling to wiggle her way out. After struggling a few minutes, she sighed in defeat.

"Mother," Layla chuckled. "Do you need help?"

"No!" she shouted. "Lucy needs you more than I. If you so much as forget why you're here, you'll be endangering all of us."

Taken aback, Layla's eyes widened as she looked at Lucy. Her cries had died, her breathing was shaky and shallow, she was burning brightly and trembling with tense muscles. Her pain was still clear by her pale, clammy and sweaty skin. Thunder still boomed from outside, the cave had shook slightly and debris fell. It became clear Lucy had exhausted herself and could no longer stay awake, she was unconscious. "You're right mother," she said as she sat on the edge of the bed, watched Anna and kept a close eye on Lucy at the same time. "I don't understand." Her voice shook.

Anna sighed and tried a different approach. She bent her knees and turned to the side, wiggling forwards this time. "In all my life I've never seen mother nature so mad." Her hand poked out and started dragging the rest of her body out from the bed. Once freed, she looked to Layla and placed a dusty, red box beside her. "After her birth, I've seen many different changes of nature." She lifted the lid. "I'm sure you noticed before she was born but Lucy's not like us. She's both weaker and stronger than us. Her growing power is her weakness as it's also too powerful for her tiny body."

"Why?" Layla asked horrified. She peered into the box to see documents of paper, images made from paintings and a few pieces of jewelry. "Why Lucy? What happened?"

"She was born." Anna responded. "Born under the celestial moon. A premonition from the stars themselves have foretold a baby born with great power will unite the scattered Kingdoms and bring magic back to the lands of mortality. Fate has decided her future but a great threat overshadows her."

Layla choked up. "… what threat? How do you know this?"

Anna ignored her and searched the box. "This power is too great, her small body can't contain it. Mother nature is mad, the sea lord is furious and the stars point her destiny to fail for if we cannot contain it, Lucy will die by her own power." She paused and glanced at Layla. "Don't be alarmed. Lucy can feel you, you're panic will trigger a fit that will surely end it."

Fear. Pain. Horror and sadness. All emotions that were both her own and her worry for Lucy. "… What can we do?"

"Conceal it, until she is strong enough to wield it herself." Anna responded as she took out a necklace made of golden chain. A large pendant of a star with wings was decorated with crystal gems. "This has been enchanted by a Dragon. The pendant will prevent any power from escaping. As long as she wears it, she'll be safe." With Layla's help, they wrapped the chain three time's around Lucy's neck where the pendant loosely hung above her chest.

The pendant's affects were instant. They could no longer hear the thunder, the trembling of the cave had stopped and Lucy began to relax. Although asleep, her breathing gradually returned to normal, she was no longer trembling or burning up. Layla admired the necklace for a moment before saying, "It's not enough, is it?"

"Unfortunately," Anna sighed as she placed the lid back on the box. "As Lucy grows, so will her power. The pendant does contain it but it can only conceal a certain amount of power. She's going to need something more, perhaps a powerful entity that is as powerful or more powerful than she is."

"But that could be anyone!" Layla exclaimed. "We both know there is plenty of Fairies or Dragon's alike that fits that bill."

Anna shook her head. "I'm thinking something stronger. A certain bond perhaps."

Layla's eyes widened. "You don't think she's one of them? Do you?"

"It's certainly something to look into."

Her mind became drawn to a certain cave. Her memory of a conversation shook her. 'Ha, you think you have it sorted out don't you, Queen.' The being laughed coldly. His dark red wings unfolded and the chain rattled from his movement. 'Your child is doomed. You think you can stop it, but nothing can stop fate for fate is time itself. Your child's future has been set in stone by destiny and nothing can stop it but time and we both know your no fate.'

The beings ramblings had went on as he laughed and laughed. 'Perhaps a red rope can alter her future but it wont change what's been written by destiny. You're a fool to think you can stop fate.' He arched his neck, his neck muscles tightened and he released a powerful jet of flame upon her. Layla did nothing but watched as his fire rebounded from an invisible barrier and hit the cave walls. He growled in anger and huffed, flying away.

After a few moments of silence, Layla looked to Anna with a spark in her eyes. "I think I know what to do." Anna looked to her surprised but clearly eager to hear her speak. "A red rope of fate might just save her."