(Lyra's POV)
The knife sliced through my chest like it was cutting paper.
"Hold her down!" Marina screamed at the guards. Her face was twisted with hate as she pressed the bloody blade deeper into my heart. "The dragon magic is almost mine!"
I couldn't move. The magic chains around my wrists burned like fire, keeping me trapped on the cold stone platform. Blood poured from the cut, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was feeling my dragon power being ripped from my soul, piece by piece.
"Please," I whispered, looking at my cousin's face. "We grew up together. We were best friends."
Marina laughed, but it sounded more like a growl. "Best friends don't have dragon power when I don't. Best friends don't get to be queen when I'm better and smarter."
The golden light of my dragon power flowed out of the cut in my chest like a river. Marina held a black crystal above the wound, and all my power poured into it. With each drop that left me, I felt weaker and more empty.
"Stop fighting it, Lyra," Uncle Marcus said from the shadows. He stepped forward, his eyes sparkling with greed. "Your magic will help me rule this kingdom better than your father ever did."
"My father trusted you," I gasped, feeling my strength disappear. "He loved you like a brother."
"Your father was weak," Marcus spat. "Just like you."
The dragon magic kept flowing out of me. I could feel the old dragon spirits inside my soul crying out in pain as they were torn away from me. These spirits had been with my family for thousands of years, and now they were being stolen by people who would use them for evil.
Marina held up the rock, which now glowed bright gold with my stolen power. "Finally! I can feel it working!" She pointed her hand at a stone wall, and golden fire shot out, melting the rock immediately. "The dragon magic is mine!"
I tried to speak, but only blood came out of my mouth.
Suddenly, the castle shook like an earthquake was hitting it. Boom! Boom! Boom! The sounds of war drums rang through the walls.
"What's happening?" Marina demanded.
A man ran into the room, his face white with fear. "Princess Marina! The Shadow Prince's army is attacking! They're already inside the walls!"
My heart sank even deeper. Kael. The Shadow Prince I had once loved, who had promised to protect my country. He was here to ruin everything, just like the prophecy said he would.
"Perfect timing," Marcus smiled. "Let him destroy the country. By the time he's done, we'll be long gone with the dragon magic."
The sounds of battle got closer. People were yelling outside. My people - the innocent families who had trusted me to protect them - were dying because I had been too weak to stop this betrayal.
Through the window, I could see dark shapes moving across the sky. Kael's shadow animals were everywhere, swallowing buildings and people in darkness. The country I loved was being eaten alive.
"Look, dear cousin," Marina grabbed my hair and pushed me to turn toward the window. "Your precious country is burning. And your Shadow Prince is the one ruining it."
I watched in fear as a massive shadow dragon landed on the castle tower. On its back sat a figure in black armor - Kael. Even from this distance, I could see his silver eyes sparkling with cold power.
He had wronged me too.
"The blood ritual is almost complete," Marcus said, checking an old spell book. "Just a few more minutes and she'll be dead. Then no one can ever get the dragon power back."
I felt my life slipping away like water through my fingers. Everything I had ever cared about was being destroyed. My power was stolen. My kingdom was burning. The man I loved was the one killing my people.
Marina leaned down close to my face. "Any last words, dear cousin?"
I used the last bit of my strength to say, "I... will... remember..."
"Remember what?" Marina laughed. "You'll be dead!"
But as the world started going black around me, something strange happened. Deep inside my chest, where my dragon power used to live, I felt a tiny spark of something different. Something Marina hadn't been able to steal.
It felt like... time itself.
The spark grew bigger and bigger, filling me with warmth even as I was dying. Images flashed through my mind - not memories of the past, but images of what could be. I saw myself younger, standing in my old bedroom. I saw Marina as a child, before she became bad. I saw Uncle Marcus when he used to tell me nighttime stories.
The time spark burst through my body like lightning.
Marina's voice sounded far away now. "She's almost dead. The ritual is working properly."
But I wasn't just dying. Something impossible was happening. The spark of time magic was wrapping around my soul, pulling me away from death and toward... something else.
The last thing I heard before everything went black was the sound of my own heartbeat stopping.
Then silence.
Then... I opened my eyes and gasped.
I was lying in a soft bed with pink sheets. Sunlight streamed through familiar windows. The smell of roses filled the air. This was my old bedroom - the one I had lived in when I was younger.
But that was impossible. I had just died on that altar. Marina had stolen my magic. Kael had destroyed my kingdom.
I sat up quickly and looked at my hands. They were smaller, younger. I ran to the mirror across the room and screamed.
The face looking back at me was my own face - but five years younger.
Somehow, I had traveled back in time to when I was eighteen years old. Back to before Marina misled me. Back to before Uncle Marcus poisoned my father. Back to before everything went wrong.
But here's what made my blood turn to ice: I could remember everything. Every detail of my death. Every moment of evil. Every second of watching my kingdom burn.
And deep in my chest, where my dragon power used to be, I felt something new growing. Something that made the air around me shimmer with power.
I wasn't just back in time. I was back with power that felt ten times stronger than before.
A knock on my door made me jump.
"Lyra, darling?" It was Marina's voice, sweet as honey. "Are you awake? I brought you breakfast."
My hands started shaking. In my thoughts, this was the exact morning when everything started going wrong. This was when Marina began her plan to steal my magic.
But this time, I knew what was coming.
This time, I was ready.
I walked to the door and put my hand on the handle. Through the wood, I could feel Marina's thoughts - and what I found there made my heart stop.
She was already planning to kill me. Today.
The dragon power inside me roared to life, and for just a moment, golden flames danced around my fingers.
I smiled and opened the door.
"Good morning, cousin," I said sweetly. "What a beautiful day to be alive."