My eyes flew open and I sat up gasping for air – like in a movie when the actress or actor has a bad dream. Only mine wasn’t a bad dream. Mine was reality. I looked over to where my digital clock stood, displaying “3:08 AM” tauntingly.“Great.” I moaned softly, pulling my pillow over my head.There was no way on earth I’d manage to get to sleep now! I lay in bed for a few minutes before giving up, sliding myself out of bed in one slow and languid move. I slipped on my fluffy bunny slippers (no kidding, I really have a pair) and opened my bedroom door as silently as I could. Every small whisper of a sound was loud in the silence of the early morning, and each step I took sounded as if I was stomping.As I passed my father’s study I noticed that the door was closed and that a thin sliver of light escaped from under it. My mind automatically went into overdrive. Was there someone in Baba’s study? What if they&rs

“Bounce, bounce, bounce! Wakey, wakey sleepy head! Santa’s come and Mama refuses to let me open my presents until you’re awake and downstairs, so get up kiddo.” Nik ordered as he bounced repeatedly on my bed. I yawned and rolled over, turning my back to him in the hope that he’d just take the hint and vanish. I wasn’t in luck. “Come on...” he moaned as he threw my duvet off of me and tugged on my arm. I groaned, sounding very much like a zombie from one of those black and white horror movies. “Merry Christmas to you too, pest.” I managed to yawn out, slowly obeying Nik and dragging myself from the warmth of my bed. Nik clearly thought I was taking too long because he tossed me over his shoulder and carried me down to the living room where our Christmas tree had been set up, setting me down in my usual chair and thrusting a cup of luke-warm coffee into my hands. Our Christmas tree had been the same tree ever since I was a child. It had

Usually you hear of people crying themselves to sleep... in my case I cried myself awake, finding my pillow damp and my eyes puffy. I didn’t know what to do, almost zombified in my devastation. How could a father slaughter his own son? I knew Icelus was evil but even I didn’t expect that from him. Lying in bed and staring at the ceiling as the sun slowly began to leak into my bedroom, I realised just how vital it was to stop Icelus. Sighing, I reached over and grabbed my cellphone from where it sat on the nightstand. Three text messages blinked on the screen – one from Ally and two from Morpheus. I skimmed through them all, already knowing what they’d contain. They were worried that I hadn’t contacted them after the ball... they didn’t even know that Dareios was no longer alive. “Oh, Dareios...” I whispered into the silent room. My head filled with images of Icelus’ face as he hacked off his son’s head, of Lyssia smiling as Dareios’ head fell to the ground an

“Morpheus?” I cried out after him, stupidly thinking that he would hear me and come back.He didn’t... but then deep down I truly didn’t believe that he would.Warrick grinned as he stared at the place where Morpheus had once stood, the black mist dispersing. He rubbed his hands together, muttering something in Danish to himself as his thoughts clearly ran away with him.“Fabulous!” Ally giggled, clapping her hands and jumping up and down like a preppy cheerleader.Their overjoyed reactions made me feel as if I was being even more selfish than usual. I just couldn’t summon up the emotion to feel glad that he had gone back to his real home. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks... Icelus wanted to kill Morpheus. And Morpheus wasn’t as strong as he should be. The amulet merely granted him his godly powers to use in the mortal realm, but he had been weakened by Icelus’ initial attack.“Guys, Mo

It hurt.“Oh gods, this is it. This is how I die.” I thought to myself as my body fell to the ground.I couldn’t feel anything apart from the pain which sliced through me with the strength of all of the weapons housed in the Citadel. Lyssia’s laughter rung in my ears as she stood over my body, her head thrown back in mirth. The crowd seemed to have taken a few steps backward, although they clearly couldn’t pull themselves away from the spectacle the nightmare had brought with her.“I guessss Morpheusss’ love wasssn’t undying.” she hissed, turning her back and walking away from me, leaving me to death as she tracked down her next victim – the second man in chains.His wife started sobbing again, clutching his hand with all her might as if it would save him. He turned deathly pale once again, his eyes darting to where I lay. I guess I must have been quite a sight, covered in blood and dying, becaus