Gwen opened her eyes when she felt her feet land on firm ground. She squeezed Leos hand to make sure he was still there. He looked down at her and smiled showing his pointed teeth. Gwen looked around at her surroundings, they were in a small clearing of a forest and all around them vampires who just arrived through the portal were smoking out. The Queen still stood there watching her men disappear, she spotted and waved them over.

"Gwen you are to remain with my as my guard" she ordered, Leo opened his mouth to argue but the Queen raised a hand to silence him.

"My word is final" she nodded once to Gwen then turned to talk to Malik who had come up behind her. Gwen looked at Leo who mirrored her worried face.

"Gwen, Leo lets go" the Queen had returned her attention to them as Malik smoked out. The Queen disappeared and Leo's hand shot out and grabbing her wrist and she felt herself disappear then reappear. As soon as they did the warmth of Leos hand was gone. She checked her surroundings again. The were on a cliff of looking a Grand Canyon. She recognized them immediately, they were in Erakylion.

"Why are we here your majesty?" Gwen asked her voice slightly muffled by the mask. The Queen raised a hand and pointed north. Gwen could just see the yellow Solarian civilian ships navigating through the canyon.

"They made an inter-dimensional jump" Leo's mother informed her "but they were followed". Gwen's eyes widened as she saw what the vampiress meant. Dozens of Black Darts were on their tail and it wouldn't be long till they caught them. The red headed royal nodded and most of the warriors with them disappeared. Gwen watched from their vantage point as the Darts overtook the civilian ships. They stood there in silence, she by the queens side. Leo had gone with the men leaving herself, the Queen, Malik, Oliver and three others. Gwen stepped a couple paces away at the very end of the cliff, no one stopped her. She pulled the mask down so it hung around her neck. She faintly saw some explosions and there was black smoke rising from the area they were in. She hoped that it wasn't a Solarian vessel, she felt someone stand beside her. She glanced to see Malik.

"I should be with them". Malik said nothing but bowed his head.

"You should not worry, we have not lost a single vampire in this war" he told her "Leo will not die". Gwen hugged herself and let the wind blow her long hair around her.

"It's not only him I'm worried about". Malik only nodded and returned his attention to the battle. But the silence was interrupted by another vampire smoking in.

"My Queen! Four of Baltors battle cruisers made a jump and are en-route to the convoy" he reported. The Queen hissed and let an energy ball fly from her hand.

"We are strong but even we cannot take down a battle cruiser, especially one that Baltor has put spells on himself". Gwen's heart was in her throat, no!. Her eyes scanned the area for some sort of plan. Her eyes connected with a landmark that she knew well. The Realm Pass, it was an entrance to a valley. The twin peaks were either side of the canyon and the pass between them were narrow, enough space for a single battle cruiser to pass at a time. Once the Solarian fleet was through the could create a landslide to block the path but that would take to much time. But a memory came to her. She had once walked in on a interrogation of one of Baltor's beast, Leo was in charge. She had watched as he had created a shield to keep it contained. He had later told her that his powers came from his mother and that hers was stronger and more powerful. The plan formulated in her mind and she pulled the mask back up before she turned to face the Queen.

"We could use the Realm Pass your majesty". The Queen turned her now ice cold blues, she had figured that all vampires eyes changed when the fully embraced their vampire side, but the Queen was somewhat calm, the teeth had not grown.

"How?" she asked gliding up to the flower princess.

"We lead the Solarian Fleet through the pass make sure all the darts are destroyed before they get through" Gwen was starting to pace the same spot, back and forth, back and forth. "Once they're through, you and the prince raise a shield to block the pass" Gwen stopped and faced the Queen "I've seen it hold back one his creatures, it should repel his magic and block out any more of his ships. It will bring them to a stand still. We'll have enough time to destroy their ships". Gwen took a couple of deep breaths after her tirade, watching the Queen expectantly.

"An ambush?" Malik muttered nodding his dark head. The vampiress smiled and nodded her head.

"It will work!". But something seemed to pop into the regal head of the Queen for her eyebrows knitted.

"But there is no way to get the civilian fleet into the valley, there's no way to lead them there because of the crossroads" the Queen sighed and followed Gwen's practice of pacing. Gwen flicked her head back to the fight. The ships were almost to the crossroads. They were a moment on the road where the canyon broke into four different ones. They all lead to the capitol but at different lengths. She knew that Uncle Brandon would be taking the shortest route but it wasn't through the valley. There was no way of getting them there unless…

"I'll board the Royal Command and take control of their piloting and take them to the valley myself, the other ships will follow the Command" Gwen said breathlessly, it would work. The Queen stopped and thought about.

"But my Queen you can't be considering this, the risk of exposure…" it was one of the other vampires. The Queen held her hand up again to silence him.

"Gwen it would be…" the Queen stopped mid-sentence her whole body rigid. Malik brushed past Gwen and laid a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"She's here, she's close…." The Queen whispered "she's on the Royal Command!" Malik's eyes widened and he nodded.

"I will retrieve her". He bowed and turned back to Gwen but looked back over his shoulder.

"Will Gwen be going on her mission?" he asked, everyone was watching the Queen. But she was only looking at the fairy in disguise in front of her. Gwen repressed the urge to fidget, she just felt like she was being measured up. But the Queen merely smiled and nodded.

"Go". Gwen was shocked, the Queen was taking a big risk, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to return. The others seemed to thinks so too because the air was filled with their protests.

"Silence!" the Queen ordered and it was obeyed. "Hurry before it is to late" she said, Oliver finally made his move after all that time remaining silent that Gwen almost forgot he was there.

"Lets go!" together he, Gwen and Malik walked to the edge of the cliff. Malik did the same thing as Leo did and his hand grabbed her upper arm faster than the eye could see and they disappeared. The next thing she knew she was surrounded by dissolving smoke. Malik and Oliver had their weapons raised so she did the same. Everything soon cleared and she recognized where she was. She was on the Royal Command's bridge and everyone was staring at them. She saw Jaydon by the command chair and Brandon beside him. No one moved. She glanced up at Malik whose eyes were everyone, presumably looking for 'she' that the Queen had mentioned. His eyes landed on the door to the pilot's quarters and he lowered his weapon slightly. He then strode towards the door but Gwen caught movement from the corner of her eye. Jaydon had made to stop Malik but his father had grabbed his arm. Malik was not deterred, he opened the door and disappeared. Gwen returned her gaze to the crew, she saw some familiar faces. Jaydon's eyes were plastered to the door which she found odd. Just then Malik reappeared but he was carrying someone. Gwen couldn't see her properly but Gwen could see she was dressed in the black clothes of the vampires, but the way Malik was holding her was blocking her face from view. Gwen could see she was ill from the sweat pouring down her neck and her long blonde hair was a mess. Malik gave her a long hard look which she returned. He nodded and smoked out, she knew Oliver had done the same. With a moments hesitation she made her way to the piloting system and the crew gave her a wide berth.

"Up" she ordered the pilot who gave his King a look as if asking for permission. Brandon nodded and the man stood. Gwen slipped easily into the seat was ran her hand over the familiar console. She had done a lot of training and was probably one of the best pilots in the eight realms. She looked up to see the crossroads just ahead, she was going to have to make a very sharp turn to get onto the path she wanted. Luckily all of Solaria's pilots were very good flyers her uncle Brandon made sure of that. She grabbed the two-handed steering wheel and turned it sharply. Everyone behind her cried out in shock and surprise at the turn. Gwen pulled with all her might, the Royal Command was a big ship and she had to make sure it came through in one piece. She sighed with relief when they made but a familiar presence appeared beside her.

"Where are you taking us?!" it was Brandon and she had expected this.

"To safety" was her answer and she returned her attention to the console before her.

"That's not good enough!" Gwen took a deep breath and turned to look him dead in the eye.

"Two of Baltors Battle Cruiser made an inter-dimensional jump soon after the Darts came through" she told him "now if you want this convoy to stay in one piece then I suggest you sit tight and let us handle it". Brandon was rendered speechless but nonetheless he returned to his seat. Gwen concentrated on her piloting this road was a treacherous one. She saw a set of rock formations that could be a problem. Putting her piloting skills she dodged and weaved, dipped and tumbled through them. She could here the cries from behind her and she could not help but laugh.

"Yeehaw!". She was still laughing when they made it through she checked the scams to confirm that everyone had made it through, they had. Gwen could see the pass before them and she could also see a single figure at one of it peaks, her red hair blazing in the sunlight. Brandon had seen it too and had come closer to the screen.

"It can't be…" he mumbled. Gwen put on an extra burst of speed and made it through the pass. She gave another sharp turn to face the pass. They watched as the Solarian ships passed through. Gwen counted them all, when the last one passed through her gaze fell to the peak. They watched in wonder as the shield was raised. Several late Darts ran headlong into it and blew up on impact. It wasn't long till The Battle Cruisers appeared in single file. The ships were huge and completely black and everyone could see Baltors emblem emblazoned on their hulls. They were brought to a stand still by the force field. They fired several shots at it but it didn't have any effect. Then the whole area was surrounded by black smoke as the vampires commenced their attack. It seemed to do some damage but not much that was until two purple beams came from the peak. The Battle Cruisers blew. The explosion was great and huge. It went up since the shield blocked the fire from flooding the valley. But then it was silence and Gwen found herself staring at the peak. Suddenly a vision of the Queen standing there came to her. The Queen simply nodded her head before disappearing. Gwen again found herself in pilot's seat slightly panting. She froze though when she felt the tip of a phantoblade against her neck.

"I think it's time you left my ship" Brandon's voice said in a commanding tone. Gwen smirked beneath her mask.

"Trust me , you really don't want me to" Brandon did not remove his sword but Gwen didn't expect him too. Gwen slowly stood and turned to face her Uncle. Just as slowly she reached up to her mask. She pulled it down the smirk still on her face.

"Gwen?" Brandon said his sword lowering.

"The one and only" she said. The next thing she knew she was in a bear hug.

"Jaydon…can't breathe" she choked patting her friend on the back. He released but kept his hands on her shoulders.

"What happened? Where did you go? And why are you wearing this…?" she knew if she didn't stop him the questions wouldn't stop.

"I'll tell everything as soon as we reach the capitol" she cut him off "right now I need something to eat". Brandon laughed and he and Jaydon escorting her out. Her hand slipped beneath her coat rubbing her hands against the fine material. Leo didn't know and she was proud at how well she had hid it but she had retrieved the fan she used at the ball before they had left. It was her last remembrance of him. She would see him again.

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Author's Note: wow I'm on a roll! I started this one as soon as I put the last chapter up, 2 chapters in two days, woohoo! It oud be awhile till the next one cause school starts back up tomorrow but I'll try.