Prince Sky thrust his sword into the ravaged beach of Domino, ready to retire from the day's mayhem. As he walked towards the ships, he ordered a squire to retrieve his sword and shield and clean them. Dead bodies littered the once white sands of the beach; some were young with the light still shining in their open eyes, others held the gaze of a savage beast, and the last were old soldiers who were ready to embrace death on the far bank of the river Styx. However, the gruesome sight no longer bothered Sky. He was used to the bloodshed he had witnessed for his entire life, and it no longer bothered him that he had contributed to the massacre.

A few tents were being set up along the shores of the beach already. Had it not been for Prince Sky and his top-notch army, this battle for land would have raged on longer, and it would have been the Espirians among the numerous scattered corpses rather than the Dominions. "How ungrateful" he thought.

Sky threw aside the thick velvet covering of the tent used as a makeshift door. The rest of his friends were already out of their armor and into more relaxed clothing. "Well if it isn't the great Prince Sky," said Riven calmly as he iced a gash on his shoulder.

"Perhaps if you reached the shore faster, it would have been you with the honor of being called 'great'," remarked Sky.

"How long do you reckon this war will last?" asked Brandon as he sipped his warm cup of tea.

"We will breeched the walls of Domino and return home by next week," said Helia, "As long as Sky is with us, leading our army to victory."

Sky opened his mouth to respond when a young squire entered the tent timidly. "What is it?" asked Timmy.

The squire said, "Prince Sky, your war prize has been delivered in your tent. Professor Saladdin would like you two befriend her."

"Why?" asked Sky casually, "What can a common woman of Domino do for us?"

"Well, she isn't just a common woman. Professor Saladdin thinks she may be of royal blood. And he also believes that it is about time you had yourself a consort."

Sky stood up to exit the tent and heard his friends whistling and laughing behind him. Since the news of this war spread through the Magical Dimension, this was the first time he smiled.

When Sky entered his room, he felt his heart skip a beat at the sight before him. It was a gorgeous maiden with cool blue eyes and fiery red hair that cascaded down her back. Her blue dress complimented her eyes very well, despite being torn around the arms from her struggle to free herself. "Leave us," ordered Sky, and all the lower soldiers left the tent.

He grabbed a towel and dipped it into cold water before making his way towards the maiden, whose hands her tied behind her back. She was bleeding from the corner of her mouth, and he could tell that she was a fairy. When women were taken as "war prizes" they were always stripped of their powers, and whatever power they possessed were given to their masters. Sky looked around for the tiny flask of magic that was taken from this girl, and found it lying on his bedside table.

When he went to dab the corner of her mouth she turned her hand refusing to accept help from an enemy. "You don't have to be afraid of me." She still didn't respond. "What is your name?" Nothing. "I'm not asking you for much. Just a name."

For the first time, she turned her head towards her captor willingly and replied firmly, "Bloom. Princess Bloom."

Sky felt his jaw drop at her reply. He was not the commander, nor a powerful king or general. He was only the Prince of Eraklyon, a smaller kingdom in comparison, but he was given the Princess of Domino as tribute. He imagined that Valtor would be given the princess, not him. Before he could ask anything more, she said, "I don't have it. The Dragon Fire does not belong to me, it belongs to my sister."

It made perfect sense. Valtor didn't come here to save his brother's marriage, he was seeking the legendary power of the Dragon Fire that belonged to the royal family of Domino. "Have you told anyone else your name? Or that you don't have the Dragon Fire?"

"Do you take me for a fool? Why would I go shouting on Espirian territory that I am the Princess of Domino?"

"Then why did you tell me?"

She fell silent at his last question, and she even stayed still allowing him to dab away the blood on her face. "How did you get captured? I thought you were accompanied by guards everywhere you went."

"I was out with Stella and Flora, my best friends-"

"Wait a second," interrupted Sky, "Stella isn't your sister?"

"Of course not," Bloom said, "Her dad was King Radius before he and his wife died. My parents took her in when she was less than a month old, and we've been inseparable friends. My parents consider her their child, and Daphne and I consider her our sister. As I was saying: we were walking along the beach. We weren't expecting this and we were captured by soldiers and taken to Saladdin and Darkar. They distributed us. Do you know where Stella is?"

"Valtor will have her. To the rest of the Magical Dimension, she is known as your sister. Therefore, he will have assumed that she has the Dragon Fire."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Well then he still has use for her."

Bloom closed her eyes at the thought of what could happen to Stella and tears flowed down her cheek. Sky was lost for words; he wanted to comfort her, but he had never been in a situation like this and he was just lost. He strode away behind thick velvet curtains and changed out of his heavy armor.

Suddenly, bone chilling shrieks shook the tent and Sky ran out to check what the commotion was all about. He was expecting the Dominions counterattacking in pursuit of their princesses, but that wasn't the case. Men were dropping to the sand, writhing in pain as blotches of skin were ripped of their body and burns appeared around their body.

The prince looked up at the sky as if he were hoping for something to appear there. "Plague," he said in a barely audible whisper as Brandon approached him carefully. "We've offended the gods."

Right in front of them, another young soldier fell into the ground in pure agony as skin was removed from his face revealing burning red flesh. Both Sky and Brandon backed away in horror as the boy experienced a slow, painful death.