I awake to the bed dipping. Opening my eyes, I’m met with Blair looking down at me, his expression sad.

He sighs loudly, then says, “I’m so sorry for snapping at you, Dara. You didn’t deserve that and I’m truly sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me.” He shifts uncomfortably shaking his head.

“It’s just that… my capture, it changed me. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d survive. Thinking about you was the only thing that kept me going.”

I take his hand and squeeze it tightly, telling him I forgive him, and I understand. I have no idea what he had to go through at the hands of James, and to be honest, I don’t know if I could hear it. It would break my heart.

“Can we take you somewhere special today?”

I smile up at him. “Sure, I would like that.”

“Great. I’ll let the guys know. You have a swim suit, right?” Blair asks, surprising me. Swim suit? I didn’t even think Silvia had a swimming area.

As soon as he leaves my room, I get ready. I find a pair of bathers in my drawers - thanks to Jolie, no doubt. I’m excited to see where the guys are taking me. It’ll be good to see more of Silvia since all I’ve done is train and fight. Once we defeated James, I’d have time to see more of Silvia, and to really enjoy its beauty.

Making my way into the kitchen, I quickly make myself some toast and eat it in record time.

Arms wrap around me from behind. “Is someone excited about our little excursion?” Oliver whispers in my ear.

I nod my head eagerly, walking towards the front door with Oliver still attached to me. All of my warriors meet us in the living room and follow us outside. I turn to see Jolie joining us. Giving her a smile, she returns it and it looks like we’re okay now.

Harlan leads us through the village while I walk behind him with Oliver, Declan, Blair and Jolie. Looking at Blair, I notice that he is physically back to full health but after our chat earlier I knew he had a long recovery ahead.

“Hey guys, wait up. Mind if I join you?” I spin around to see Elijah running towards us. I instantly look at Jolie. Despite her trying to hide it behind her long blonde hair, I can clearly see her blush.

“Sure, you’re more than welcome,” I quickly reply, not giving anyone the chance to shut him down.

I smile brightly in anticipation. You’d be blind if you couldn’t see the chemistry between Jolie and Elijah. There’s something there; they just need to spend more time together for it to develop, and I have front row tickets to the show. I catch Oliver shaking his head at my antics - he knows exactly what I’m up to.

We walk for the next hour, and I take in the serenity. The sun is shining, but everything is different. The beautiful flowers and vibrant colours of Silvia used to keep me going. Now everything is dull, greens replaced with browns. The blossoming flowers now are drooping like the life has been sucked out of them. I hear the sound of cascading water, we turn and I stop in my tracks. Up ahead is the most beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen.

I knew there was a river here but I hadn’t had the chance to see the waterfall before. I strip off my clothes, leaving me in my one piece bathers. I run up to the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and jump into the water. As soon as my body hits the surface, I freeze. Opening my eyes underneath the water, I look down at my body and it’s glowing blue. Tingling starts from my toes and slowly creeps its way up my legs then it consumes my whole body. A force pulls me down further into the water. It feels as though I have weights tied to my feet, holding me down. It’s trying to keep me here for a reason. A shiver goes through my whole body and that’s when it hits me; I feel it - I sense Topaz.

It’s somewhere in the water. I swim towards the surface, gasping for air. Strong hands grab my waist and help me stay afloat.

“Shit, Dara, are you okay? You were under there for ages,” Harlan says, sounding concerned.

It didn’t feel like I was under for that long. “It's here. It’s here in the water,” I yell so everyone can hear me. Looking back I notice everyone else is in the water.

We all swim towards the edge and quickly get out.

“Are you sure, Dara? You’re positive it’s here?” Jolie asks.

Rolling my eyes, I look around wildly at the water. “Yes! I felt it. It’s here.”

I look around to see everyone with their eyes wide. I’m just as surprised that it appeared here, without us even looking for it.

Jolie walks back to the edge of the pool. “Get back in the water, Dara, and let Topaz take you to it.”

I hope it's going to be that easy. Everyone follows as I make my way back into the water. The water engulfs my body as I walk further into the freezing depths. With my warriors and Elijah close behind, I relax and reach out with my magic in search of the Topaz stone.

A force takes hold of my body as I get pulled towards the waterfall, I let my magic take control, allowing it to draw me in the right direction. I abruptly stop under the waterfall, feeling as though I’ve hit a solid wall. Pulling myself back, I push myself forward hitting the wall again. What the hell is going on? Turning myself to the side I try to swim that way but again I am met with resistantes. I try every way but I can’t move. Lost for what else to do, I dive down beneath the waterfall, no force stops me. I emerge on the opposite side, gasping for air.

The first thing I notice when I look around is that I’m in a cave, a breathtaking one at that. I swim over to the edge and pull myself up. Instead of being a regular dirt floor, this one is covered in lush green grass.

Looking around, light trickles in from the cracks above. The musty damp smell tickles my nose, causing me to sneeze loudly, breaking the otherwise dead silence.

The walls are covered in bark which has beautiful pictographs drawn everywhere. The images are of different animals, sketches of Silvia and people. The familiarity of this place hits home; I’ve been here before. My fingers skim the bark, the images, the people. Touching them, I know I helped to draw some of these.

My magic surges suddenly, pulling me in the direction of the furthest wall of solid rock. I stop right in front of it and look around for a way to get past it. I know Topaz is here - just behind this wall.

I feel my warriors as they come up joining me and go in search of a hidden entrance. Running my hand over the hard-rough surface trying to find any difference in the texture. After several minutes of looking we realise there’s no way to get past it. Harlan places his hands on the wall trying to push his strength against it, of course it doesn’t even budge. No one is stronger than Harlan. If he can’t break down this wall, I have no idea what can.

Jolie tries next, throwing magic at it, but it simply bounces straight back towards us. We jump out of the way, watching as it barrels back out through the waterfall. She shakes her head, frustrated, but keeps trying. I join her in throwing all of my magic towards the wall. We keep going at it for twenty minutes straight, finally giving up when it's clear it’s not going to budge.

“There must be some active spell on this wall hiding the Topaz stone from us. I know my father wouldn’t have made it easy - especially since James would be after Topaz as well” I say thinking out loud.

“We need to head back home and re-group - work out a way to knock down this wall,” Jolie says.

I walk over to one of the side walls, admiring the drawings one last time, when Declan comes to stand beside me.

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” he mumbles. “We used to come here as kids. We loved it. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this place. Of course, your father would hide Topaz here. He knew we loved it here.” He shakes his head, obviously feeling guilty for not thinking of it earlier.

“Don’t blame yourself, Declan. You can’t know everything,” I reassure him, reaching for his hand giving it a squeeze. I glance up to see everyone else moving back towards the pool. “Come on. Let’s figure out a plan at home.”

I hang back on the way home, the pressure of finding these stones before James is weighing heavily on me. I don’t know if I have what it takes to fulfil my destiny. We have one stone, but we desperately need the second. Everyone I love has sacrificed so much for me to succeed. They obviously believed that I could end this once and for all.

Finding a rock on the ground I kick it, frustrated. Did I believe them? I wasn’t so sure. Of course, I would try with everything I had to succeed. I just hoped it would be enough.