Songs to listen to while reading:
Cruel by McKenzie Small
Fight for You by Pia Mia

"Well, nice mess you've gotten us all into, Hayley."

I glared at a sulking Evangeline.

"It wasn't Hayley's fault!" Teyla was quick to come to my defence.

I gave her a nod of appreciation as I bowed my head and closed my eyes. Our situation wasn't good ... at all.

A flashback of the last few hours' events replayed through my mind:

"I'm the queen of the cove. Who are you?"

"W-what the hell is a queen of the cove?" Mr Wang demanded, his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched.

The woman stared at him, her blank face completely expressionless. "Ask that to my companions."

"Companions?" I repeated, completely baffled. "W-wait ..."

THUD. THUD.

We all whirled around, horrified. There must have been dozens and dozens of invaders behind us, in front of us, all around us. There was no escape. They had simply appeared out of nowhere! They were all women and were dressed very similarly to the queen. They all wore different coloured mantles and were all armed with swords.

"What do we do?" Wesley hissed.

I turned my head to glance over at him and my eyes widened in surprise. Wesley had his arms wrapped around Teyla's waist, pulling her close to him.

Evangeline was standing right behind them and even though the urgency of the situation was escalating, she still saw fit to give me a death glare when she noticed how close Daniel and I were. Spoiled bitch.

"Don't move," the lady commanded, her voice sharp and business-like. She beckoned for the invaders to close in on us. "Remove their weapons. Tie them up."

"What? No-o!!!" I yelled out as Daniel was wrenched away from me. I struggled with every ounce of my strength but it was no use. I was quickly overpowered.

"Ahh, we have a feisty one I see," the lady smirked as she stepped towards me. Suddenly, a flash of shock crossed her face. "Lift up your head and look at me!" she barked.

I had no choice but to comply.

She circled me warily, taking in every small detail of my appearance. She shook her head.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"Gag her," she told the warriors holding me down. "Secure her bonds tightly. Keep an eye on this one, make sure she DOES NOT escape."

She whirled around on her heel and stalked off a few metres before turning back to face us.

"Bring them to the cove," she ordered.

And that's where we were taken, bound, struggling and completely clueless as to what on earth was going on. With hundreds of women warriors encompassing us, escape was near nigh impossible. We trekked for hours through the freezing, forbidden wasteland filled with rocks and covered with snow. And the further we walked, the further we got from Eagle's Crest.

Finally, as darkness was beginning to fall upon the land, we arrived at a massive labyrinth of caves dug into the mountainside. We were dragged through the entrance and thrown into one of the dungeons deep below ground. Our gags were removed and we were given a little water, but that was all.

Now, we were stuck inside an iron barred prison and chained securely up to the rocky walls which lay behind us. It was pitch black down here, save for one lone torch that was situated next to the jail door. It was a very disheartened situation.

Several tears slipped from my eyes. Everyone left back in Precipitous was going to die and it was going to be all my fault!

"Stop being such a crybaby," Evangeline spat out upon sighting my tears. "It's time you learned to toughen up!"

A growl arose in the back of my throat and I tugged against the chains weighing me down. "That's rich coming from you!" I hissed through gritted teeth. "You'd better be glad for these chains otherwise I'd be across the room and throttling you right now!"

"As if you'd have a chance against me!" Evangeline let out a high-pitched cackle.

"Are you serious? You can't even climb up a blooming rock! I think that's ..."

"Okay, ladies!" Mr Wang raised his voice and stared pointedly at both of us. "Let's just take a chill pill, alright? This is not helping."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Whatever," I mumbled under my breath.

"Huh! I heard that!" Evangeline shrieked.

"Shut up!" Teyla yelled.

"Wait! Listen!" Daniel motioned for all of us to be quiet. "Do you hear that?"

My ears perked up, waiting, listening for something, anything.

A distant clang of metal against metal sounded throughout the dim, dusky room.

"Someone's coming!" Teyla whispered excitedly.

"It might not be a good thing though," Mr Wang warned her.

The brisk pace of many booted feet plodded across the dirt floor, sending shivers of terror and alarm up my spine.

CLANG. CREAK.

The large wooden door at the end of the dungeon slid open. A company of women invaders, their commander in the lead, went marching straight through it. The flames from their torches cast dancing shadows across the floor and walls as they came near and stopped at our cell.

The lady commander stepped forward. "I'm glad to see that you're enjoying your stay," she smirked. "But now that you've gotten acquainted with your surroundings, it's time for you to find out who we are," she beckoned for the jail door to be opened. "Take them to the Great Hall."

Several warriors hurried into the room. They unlocked our hand-cuffs from the wall and escorted us out of the dungeons.

I nearly tripped over myself as I tried to keep up with the guards' fast-pace. I felt awful. They were going to kill us and there was no way around it.

We were taken to the upper level of the caves. Even though I was close to impending doom, I could appreciate how welcoming and cosy the place looked.

The invaders had taken one of nature's cold, unfriendly environments and transformed it into a home. Expensive embroidered carpets covered the earthen floors. Large torches were mounted up on the walls, illuminating several stone-carved statues. I glimpsed long wooden tables piled with fruits, meats and wines in the dining room and comfortable-looking arm chairs in the lounge.

We passed underneath a set of bejewelled archways and were marched up a long hall. Rows and rows of women invaders lined the edges of a rich red carpet that ran the whole length of the entry. A large throne sat, in all it's glory, right at the end of the room, the carpet overlapping at it's edges. The woman commander sat on it, two grey-coloured wolves beside each of the throne's armrests.

Wait a minute? Wolves?

I couldn't help the gasp that escaped from my mouth. The one wolf, that I'd seen stalking me, following me, sniffing around for food; that wolf belonged to this lady! He had been herding me and the others, straight into a trap!

I glowered furiously at him, even though I knew it would do no good. Stupid wolf. I should've just told Mr Wang when I had the chance and then we could've gotten rid of him.

As we approached the throne, we were all forced down onto our knees. The warriors stood right behind us, spears at the ready.

The lady commander motioned for them to step back as she arose from her throne. All the warriors in the room knelt respectfully before her.

By this point, I was so damn confused I kept pinching myself just to double-check that I wasn't dreaming.

"Hayley Schultz, am I correct?" the lady spoke up, addressing me.

I lifted my head and stared at her, amazed. "W-what? How did you ...?"

"I'm the Queen of this Cove. My name is Redwind. I am the leader of this colony."

I bit my lip to stop a retort from leaving my mouth. Instead, I focused my gaze on her as she continued to speak.

"At this point, we are the only ones left who are not under the control of the Author," Redwind went on. "We are the only so-called 'invaders' who live in peace and harmony. We broke away from the others in a revolution that escalated over 65 years ago. No one knows where we are for we barely venture forth from this cove. We have everything we need here; safety, food, supplies, weapons. We have also prepped ourselves in case of an invasion from the blood-sucking others who are still under the Author's rule.

"No one dared come near the hazardous Eagle's Crest until, some years ago, we received a letter from a woman known as Patricia Schultz."

I inhaled sharply, my head spinning from the news. "W-what? That's - that's my mother."

"I know," Redwind told me. "She sent me a letter, this letter ..." One warrior scurried forward, an in-scripted note in her hand. She gave it to Redwind, hastily bowed and withdrew.

Redwind opened the note and held it out to me. With trembling hands, I took it and held it close to my heart, tears shining in my eyes. "M-mum," I whispered.

"Yes," Redwind turned away from me, clearly moved. "In the letter, she told me that she was coming to visit ... soon. She had studied the ancient books of old and only one as smart as her could've figured out our whereabouts. I don't know how she did it, but she did, she found out where we were hiding.

"At first, I was very alarmed, however, as I studied the letter long and hard, I realised something: she wasn't coming to turn us in, she was coming to seek help from us. I waited for her, but she never came."

I snapped my head up to look at Redwind. "You - you don't know? She died two years ago. The Author killed her. The Author killed my mother and now he's going to kill everyone else back in Precipitous. There's only 13 of us left! We were the only ones not naive enough to belief the lie, we were the only ones brave enough to leave Precipitous altogether."

Redwind narrowed her eyes at me. "How do I know that you come in peace? You may be Patricia's daughter, but you may not have the same heart she did."

"I - I ..." I faltered. I was struck wth a sudden thought, and dropping the letter upon the ground, I started digging around in my back pocket.

The sharpened point of a spearhead was pressed against my back. "I don't think so," sounded the nasally voice of the warrior behind me.

"No! No, wait, you don't understand! I have a code! My mother wrote it! If you compare the handwriting to the letter, you'll know for sure that she sent me!"

Redwind raised her eyebrows and glared suspiciously at me for a moment, an entire agonising moment.

Finally, she lifted her hand and waved the warrior away.

I heaved a deep breath of relief. "Allow me." Taking a plastic sachet from my pocket, I spread it out on the ground. Opening it up, I produced the codes, their translations and everything else I had stuffed inside.

Redwind descended down the steps of her throne and came to stand beside me. "Compare the notes," she ordered, pointing at two of her nearest warriors. Kneeling down next to me, she whispered, "If you're lying to me, I'll personally see to it that you die, a horrific and gruesome death. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "Yes. I do."

"Good," Redwind straightened up as she sent a questioning look to her companions.

One of the women looked up and gave her a nod of affirmation. "They match, Your Majesty."

Redwind swept her mantle behind her as she climbed back up towards her throne. Seating herself on it, she crossed her legs at her ankles and folded her hands.

"Arise," she told us.

We all scrambled up to our feet, unsure and uncertain.

"Today, you have shown great bravery. In the face of much adversity, you left behind everything you had to prove to the world, to us, that there is a second chance to be had. I admire that. However, as an invader, once the characters escape, each and every one of us will perish. I am not like the others who are out there, who only care for themselves, who only care about pleasing the Author. I want to make sure he is properly punished for what he has done to us over the years, but I cannot personally carry that out. So, I will hand the mission over to you, Hayley Schultz. Once you escape from here, make sure the Author does NOT get away with his crimes.

"Your mother wanted to come to me, seeking help, but she was murdered, murdered by an invader, a worthless, disgusting creation of the Author's, intent on destroying, savaging and hurting you characters. I could easily do the same, but like I said, I am NOT like them.

"Therefore, Hayley Schultz, I will assist you and your friends. Your mother wrote this last code, an anonymous and nonspecific one, directing you straight to me. I heard of your coming and sent one of my wolves to protect you, to make sure you were not attacked during the dead of night. I wanted you to come here, I wanted to find out the truth, I wanted to know what is happening back in Precipitous.

"So, you will be pleased to know, that I have the key you have been searching for, the key that will unlock this book and allow you to escape. With this key, you can return to Precipitous and rescue those who are left."

I couldn't believe my ears. I was struck dumb. It all seemed too good to be true. The queen of the cove, commander of an entire army of invaders, the recipient of my mother's letter: Redwind, was going to help us retrieve the key and return to Precipitous.

Gif: Hayley fights back against the invaders.

A/N: 900+ reads? Okay I'm sooooso excited about this!!! I'm screaming!!! Tysm for that!!!! I love each and every one of my readers! Thank you for ur continual support, I really appreciate it. So do any of u's like how the mystery is developing? What do u think of Redwind? What was your first impression of her? Do u think Redwind will really help Hayley escape if it means that she, in turn, will die? Pls leave ur opinions in the comments!! I love to hear from u guys!!! Btw I've only a few more chapters left of this book!! I'm so excited that it's nearly done. It's come a long way and I couldn't have done it without you's. Tysm!! Enjoy the rest of ur day lovelies!! ❤️❤️

Word Count: 2,510