‘’We can’t just leave Shabina there!’’ Greg said. 

    The woman narrowed her eyes at him. 

    He stood back. 

    She frowned. ‘’We can do what we want! It’s her fault that she’s there!’’ The woman said. Her name was Marcella. She was evil, unlike the rest of her family. She recruited her cousin, Greg, to help her take revenge on the royal family… but so far, he was as helpful as a hamster.

Shabina was Greg’s best friend. Shabina tried to take down the Ninja Princess last year and get her in trouble, but she failed.

And Marcella didn’t care a bit about it.

Greg was nice, unlike Marcella.

    ‘’What I want you to do is get that ninja princess!’’ 

    Greg fearfully nodded.     

    ‘’Now go!’’

    ‘’First, you ignored our calls.  Second, you ignored the guards. Third, YOU WENT DOWN THE STAIRS FROM THE RAILING!’’ King Eric was very cross with his daughter. Queen Sophia put her hand on his shoulder. 

    ‘’At least she’s safe, dear.’’ 

    Adira felt anger bubbling up in her like a volcano. ‘’I can take care of myself!’’ she protested. ‘’But you aren’t letting me!’’ Adira was a Ninja Princess! She didn't need anyone taking care of her... that was HER job!

    King Eric stared at his daughter.

    It was unlike anything Adira had ever seen before. As she stared at the map, she slowly realized her parents have been deceiving people into believing that there was nothing else except the kingdom and the village. 

The more she stared at the map, the more angrier she felt. Why would they trick her?

After Adira looked at the map, she read the letter. 

    A woman named Marcella wanted Adira to come to her secret lair... Alone. This would've been alarming to Adira if she wasn't so upset with her parents. It stated that Marcella stole a jade from Adira's castle and will give it back if Adira made a deal with her.

    Very suspicious...

    At dinner, Adira was unusually quiet. She usually has a lot to say, so this was very concerning to her parents. She went to bed right after dinner. At 2:30 a.m., her alarm rang.

    Ding… Ding… Ding-a-dangle! ding-a-dangle! Ding, dangle-ding!

     Adira turned the alarm off. It was go time.

    As she walked through the halls of her castle, she realized how long she will be gone. She packed a bunch of supplies that would be needed. Then, she finally left the kingdom.

    Adira took a deep breath and traveled to Marcella’s castle.

    There were many paths to get to Marcella’s Secret Lair, but there was only one path Adira could take. She decided to cross the grasslands near the palace, on a path she knew well but hadn’t gone on in a while. 

    Next, she’ll cross that old bridge that she had seen many times but had never crossed, and then she’ll take a refreshing break at Rainbow Falls. She'll travel on for a little more.

    Afterwards, she’ll take another break at Secret Cavern.  She’ll walk a little more, and then she should see

Marcella’s Secret Lair.

    As Adira reached the grasslands, she quickly discovered a problem.

    There were two paths leading to Rainbow Falls, one that gets dangerously close to Unknown Land (basically a whole dangerous place full of unknown things,)

and another way that leads through a path of high grass. Adira decided to go where the high grass was at. 

She jogged through the dark and mysterious grasslands, hoping for the sun to rise soon. It was spring, and there was still a bit of snow left on the land. 

    Adira shivered and put on her cloak. It was very cold at this time of very early morning.

    Hours passed, and soon Adira can see the sky brightening just a bit. But the sun was still far from rising. Adira’s stomach growled, and she realized she hadn’t eaten anything since dinner yesterday.

She swiftly ran through the grasslands, hoping to reach Rainbow Falls before she became any more hungry.

    She quickly reached the bridge and took the first step.

Creak.

Adira took another.

Creak Creak Creak.

And another.

CREAK CREAK CREAK.

And the last one did it.

CREAK CREAK CREAK!!!!!!

    Adira stopped in her tracks, knowing that the bridge was about to break. But the bridge wasn’t that long. She could probably make it with her special triple flips.

    Adira planted her hands on the dusty gray bridge.

She started doing her triple flip. The weight of starting the flip made the bridge start collapsing, which distracted Adira for a moment. She almost made it to the other side! but it was too late. 

    The bridge collapsed utterly, and any hope of landing on the last few steps was gone. ‘’AHHH!’’ Adira

screamed. 

    As she fell, she managed to grab a dangly root from a tree near Rainbow Falls. She did a flip and landed on the ground. She walked the remaining steps to Rainbow Falls.

    Adira gulped delicious water from her pack. She had just eaten an apple with a big croissant.

She sat down on a rock, watching the sunrise. Hopefully, she could get the jade back before it was

too late. 

    When the sun was almost completely up, she took one last sip of water and stood up. She must not dawdle.

    An hour later, the breezy wind carried Adira’s hair in front of her face. She swiped it away.

She realized she never read the journal the maid have given her, so she reached into her pack and grabbed it. It looked quite new, but many pages have been written already. 

She sat down on a nearby bench and read the first

page. The maid had quite neat handwriting, she had to say.

Dear Diary,

It am very hot. I hope finding the girl will be worth it.

It started getting cooler as I get closer to the village. The reason why Marcella wanted me to get the girl was to well, ask her something. The bait was the kingdom’s prized jewel. That’s all the info I managed to get. 

Marcella’s castle was east of the palace, but you can’t just go on a straight path. There are too many dangers to face, for example, villagers, wolves, and other evil minds.

So yes, I’m quite smart to go on the path I’m on.

I’m already at Secret Caver, and I’ll soon be at -yuck- Rainbow Falls.

I’ll inform you more about my journey later. Buh Bye now!

    Adira didn’t dare read anymore. She was behind enough.

    She slowly walked into more grasslands, expecting

to see Secret Cavern to know she was on the right track.

    But she didn’t see anything. She wandered for hours and hours, becoming hotter and hotter with the cloak she had on. She didn’t want anyone to see her, but maybe… Adira slipped off her cloak.

    ‘’Watch it!’’ A man on a horse rudely yelled at her. 

    Adira gracefully jumped away.

This was all wrong. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone near Secret Cavern. Adira dreadfully realized that she took the wrong turn to the Village.

    Adira slowly kept walking on the path, hoping no one recognized her. She was become dreadfully hot, sweating so much that her cloak was sticking to her. 

She planned to go through the village and straight to Marcella’s castle. But, she had to be careful. If the villagers see her going on the path beyond the village, they would try to stop her. Her dad tricked them into thinking there were just- cliffs.

    One day, Adira thought, I’ll explore all of the

unknown lands. Adira stopped. There were two paths, one to Marcella’s castle, and one leading to the village. A smell drifted to Adira from the village bakery. She wandered there, helplessly. She loved bakery smells, and she loves what they sell.

    10 minutes later, she demolished delicious chocolate donuts with milk- her favorite. When the Baker saw her eating like that, he laughed. 

    ‘’Don’t let the princess see you,’’ he teased, ‘’She’ll be upset you’re eating her favorite donuts!’’ 

    Adira turned red. ‘’I, um,’’ Adira makes her voice more squeaky than usual to hide her identity, ‘’I will like to take these on the go?’’ 

    The baker grinned and handed her a few more donuts. ‘’Buh-bye now- what’s your name, hon?’’

    Adira grinned. ‘’Same name as the princess.’’ Looking at the Baker’s astonished face, she giggled and slipped out of the bakery and onto the

path.

Where am I? thought Adira as she walked through high grass.

She had a good clue, because, on the left of her, was the path she had walked on to get to the village. On the right, there was a gigantic Hole. 

It was dug for no reason, just messing around, but I can reassure you, it’s deep. Adira peeked in the hole and gasped at how many random things were in there. A couch, a lamp, headphones, and even a car were in there!

Adira sighed frustratedly. She was heading to Secret Cavern when she could’ve already been to Marcella’s Castle!

Soon, she made it to the Cavern. She decided that she wouldn’t stay long, maybe just ten minutes.

She also decided she would read more of the journal the maid had given her.

Dear Diary,

 I made it to Rainbow Falls. I swam in there a bit because I was so hot. I noticed some unknown land up ahead. One day, I’ll investigate it!

Marcella told me to find this- Ninja Princess. She said she needed to talk to her about- something. 

Whatever it is, I’m sure she wouldn’t want to be part of it,  but I must do my duty. 

I was thinking about Shabina earlier. Red hair, green eyes, sarcastic teenager? With very fancy clothes. Shabina’s best friend, Greg, was depressed when Shabina got caught in the dungeons. I wonder what Shabina’s doing now…

The Ninja Princess- who has heard such a thing?

Adira turned the page.

Dear Diary, 

Marcella sent me a letter. It states that I shouldn’t give anything to the princess besides the letter

Marcella told me to give to her. 

I wonder why?

I am crossing the bridge, now. There are lots of icky insects. BLECK! 

Marcella was a pretty young maid before- well, everything- happened.

It started with the first letter. Someone convinced her to steal the queen’s jewels. Strange, huh? Marcella would get a prize every year for stealing a jewel… like the jade. All she had to do was listen to the person who was writing the letters. I wonder

who it was…

Marcella is fooled easily. Would she become fooled by the Ninja Princess? 

But Marcella has changed… hasn’t she?

-Beth.

    Adira furrowed her eyebrows. Who was Shabina?

Suddenly, a flashback from the past filled her mind.

Here’s an excerpt of it…

    She took her rope hidden in her bag, and tied it around the person! It was a teenager. She had red hair and green eyes. She had her hands on her hips. She narrowed her eyes at Adira. 

    ‘’You must be the Ninja everyone talks about, Princess Adira.’’ 

    Adira turned white with fear. As she did, she let go of the rope. The teenager tied the rope around Adira. Adira had the urge to call the guards, but that would confirm the teenager’s guess. 

    Read (The Ninja Princess and the Lost Opal) for more details.

    Shabina. The one who tried to steal the opal. Adira decided to read a little more. 

    Dear Diary,

    There’s bad news. And Good news.

    The Good News:

    Marcella wants me to travel to the castle in the back. Fewer people, fewer distractions.

    Bad News:

    I’ll have to get close to Unknown Land.

    I don’t want to go anywhere near that place.

    Adira stumbled down the cave, trying to understand everything. Adira sighed and grabbed her pack.

    It was time to find Marcella.

   
Adira has been hoping to catch up with the maid -