**Lab-dub Lab-dub Lab-dub** My heart is beating loud as we run through the halls of our Palace, deafening screams are heard everywhere as we descend the hidden stairwell of this damned castle. This place once boasted of it's prestige and glory, but now, everyone who lived here can only attest to the horror that filled every room.
"My dear child, you must run faster and you must never look back!" My grandmother, the proud empress of Sylvania said to me as we go down the never-ending spiral of stairs. Even though I tried to fight my tears from falling, thinking about my grandfather and dear friends, who are currently fighting for their lives and mine made my tears fall like a flowing stream. I can't help it, it was just yesterday when we're training and play-fighting with one another, we were having fun! But now, this peaceful place filled with love and memories is slowly turning into ashes. As I fight my tears my vision became blurry and I stumbled and fell hitting head-first on the ragged stone-wall. My grandmother, although tired, used what's left of her energy to cast a healing spell on me so that I can continue running. When we reached the last floor we ran to the farthest end and my servant, pietro who has the same built and also the same age as me, used a locating spell to find the hidden passage behind the wall.
"Your Majesty! My Empress, please allow me to fight alongside the Emperor and my knights! Please at least allow me to have an honorable death! I cannot let myself live with the thought of surviving without fighting! Their blood is on me!", I plead my grandmother as she opened the hidden door.
"My child, you are the only treasure your parents had given me, how will I be able to face them knowing I let my only granddaughter to die?". Ah, it has been so long since I heard the word "granddaughter" being used to address me. No one, aside from my parents and grandparents, know that I am a woman. I was so young when my mother died after giving birth to me. My father is still missing after he went on an expedition trying to find a way to resurrect my mother. After my parents died, my grandparents led everyone to believe that I am a man, they said it was necessary to do so because if anyone knows of my true identity, war will certainly breakout. There's something about our bloodline that is so special, everyone would die just to have our powers in their hands.
We can already hear the loud marching steps of the army that came to chase us, so my grandmother hastily directed me to enter first and walk until I reach the end of the tunnel-like passage. She told me to go in first then, she and Pietro will follow after, but then when I got inside and started walking,
[The passage is only 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide and we cannot walk side by side, hence, I needed to walk a little bit to allow them to enter]
the door was suddenly sealed shut. I can hear my grandmother and Pietro chanting a spell to close the passage and to prevent them from finding the hidden door. I also heard a burning sound and the screams of Pietro behind the door, afterwards I heard my grandmother shouting followed by a very loud explosion, the passage door wasn't broken, maybe it's because of the spell Pietro and grandma casted. I cried silently as I cannot let anyone hear me, I cannot put my beloved grandmother's efforts in vain. I cried silently as I walked towards the exit, it was a very long and sad journey. I wanted to just kill myself to escape the misery, but my hands are trembling, I feel helpless but I cannot just end my life knowing that people from my empire died just for me to survive... No, I can't just do that... I need to fight, I need to live....
Alas! I found the exit, weak because of hunger and exhaustion, I collapsed just before I got out of the tunnel...