Kingdom of Zuland, Grezeit Castle, Present day.
Sara panted as she locked onto her target; Myngelion. Trickles of sweat dripped from her cheek as she raised her shortsword. "Don't hesitate, attack!" Her voice rang across the empty arena.
Myn, who was opposite of her, circled her, claws at the ready. Unlike Sara, he showed no signs of exhaustion. He snarled quietly before running at full sprint for her. The room quaked seconds before he was upon her. He swung his armored claws downward.
She blocked it. Though her muscles strained from his brute strength.
He went for a knee.
With an exhale she quickly dispersed her blade into a liquid, forming an X-shaped shield. It hardened right in time protect her torso from the incoming attack. How could someone of such a large size move so quickly? A repeating question for every time they sparred. She was shot back by the blunt force. Knowing her opponent would be on her in seconds she quickly dispersed her steel and shot both globs at each side of the incoming kasaber.
He lunged forward for yet another attack.
Each glob of steel met their marks, hitting Myn's forearms. Sara commanded them to solidify. She would have to use all of her available steel to slow him down, a task that was easier when voiced, considering that using her aura had already drained her of most of her stamina.
Myn violently crashed to the ground as the newly-formed shackles weighed him down.
I have you. Sara liquefied her shoulder pads as she closed in for her victory. She could taste it. Never had she been able to react fast enough to pin him. But this time it was different, a new flame of vigor burned in her, yearning to be the one in control. The new liquid floated above her before she molded it into a dagger. She swiped it across the knelt beast.
Myn growled and arched his head back, dodging successfully before closing his jaw on her wrist.
There was a shock of disbelief as she felt his teeth squeeze down on her bracer. But she was still in control. She could still prevail above this…somehow. Pulling her arm free wasn't an option as his jaws had the strength of an anvil. Suddenly. Yes. She focused her aura on the bracer, liquifying it just enough to shape a latch around his snout. Yes! She felt the pressure dissipate as she pulled her hand free. She panted loudly as she used the remaining amount to form a sword. She thrusted forward, stopping the tip right at his neck. "Yield," she commanded.
Myn's eyes were filled with astonishment. His ears shot up before he gave her a nod.
She exhaled a sigh of relief and felt as if all of her muscles went limp at once. It was over.
The steel-locked muzzle and shackles melted like snow in summer, dripping to the ground beside her Queen's Shield.
She slumped her shoulders and threw herself to the ground. Her body was burning up, though the cold stone felt overly soothing. Wet strands of hair stuck to her cheek. "That was..." She couldn't find strength to finish her sentence.
He raised an eyebrow disbelievingly as he stood over her.
"What?" She scoffed as she admitted to herself that she wouldn't be able to hide her ambitions from him. "Fine, I admit it…I was a bit more aggressive than usual. Its simply that I've had a lot on my mind, Myn. Apologies if I let my frustrations out on you."
Myn sat beside her, shaking his head in disagreement.
"What? You think I sparred better because I was upset?"
He nodded yes.
She continued looking at the ceiling. "People coming back from the dead, an attempt on my life, and now learning that Rames' death was more than a fatality in a siege. I feel that I would have been ready for any of the three…just not all of them at once." She chuckled and smiled. "Sometimes I'm glad that you can't talk so that you won't tell me how ridiculous I sound."
Myn smiled as he raised a closed palm and slowly opened it, a gesture that meant 'The bad will pass', in the language of hand-motions.
"You're right." She felt her morale ignite at his loyalty. The day she met him as a slave she had given him the same signal, and now the times were better. She would have to try to be patient, it would all pass soon enough.
"I walked the halls two times over looking for my betrothed. Didn't expect her to be here of all places," said a voice came from the chamber entrance.
Sara rolled her eyes, recognizing the pompous voice. It seemed the worse would take longer to pass than she would have hoped.
Lanace closed the gap between them while twirling a finger around his long hair.
In seconds Myn was on his feet, towering over Ara'koh's prince with a glare as he snarled.
Lanace took a step away. "Barbaric beast. You know what we used to do to your kind in Ara'koh? We would keep them in shackles and within whip's length. Your lot made for good slaves. If it hadn't been for my brother's choice to abolish the act, I'd would have you lashed until your fur came loose in clumps." His voice was shrill.
Myn growled even louder at clenched his fists.
Sara wiped the sweat from her forehead, her anger reaching a peak once more as she walked beside her Shield. "Myn, take a step back." She put a hand on his arm before grimace at Lanace. "Prince, I'll remind you of who you're speaking to, an honorary knight of Zuland. Any disrespect shown towards him is equal to aiming your insults at me. You'll remember that without blemish, next time I won't command my Shield to retreat."
His sharpened glare remained on the kasaber.
Sara turned to leave. "Come now, Myngelion, escort me to my chambers, I require a bath."
"Allow me to accompany you, Princess," said Lanace from behind. He grinned and attempted to walk around her bodyguard. He fell back as Myn pushed him to the ground with ease. "I assure you that will be the last time you ever lay your filthy hands on me, beast!" His voice cracked as he pointed an accusing finger.
Sara remained on the path out of the arena, the heavy footsteps at her rear assured that her Shield followed suit.
~0~
Sara leaned deeper into the hot water. The words of her father echoed in her mind. Though her problems were slowly melted away by the nerve-soothing steam. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her quarters were equipped with all the necessities one would need. Her bath was built into the stone and had been crafted to resemble hot springs. Her handmaiden had insisted on helping her wash out her hair, though Sara desired solitude whenever she wanted to be alone with her thoughts. She toyed with some nearby liquid steel, swirling it as it levitated above her open palm. A shiver climbed down her spine as she remembered the sensation of that unknown steel the day of the assassination. Was it gold? Copper? A combination of both? She closed her eyes and sank an inch deeper as the hot water relaxed her muscles. The water's soothing warmth was overpowered by foul thoughts. Her father had mentioned that a group of Loradel soldiers turned rebel were to blame for her love's death. But even so, one group of rogue soldiers didn't represent the kingdom or its people, did it? She cursed herself for not taking a larger interest in Loradel's recent actions. No longer would she stand aside and let the truth elude her. Starting a war would lead to the deaths of countless on both sides—no, it wasn't a war. Zuland would make a pact for Loradel's surrender, if they were to refuse, then Zuland had the Lionslayer. The idea was one that was still a bit hard to come to accept. Would Ramses want this? Of course he would, he had helped make the Slayers, after all.
There was a knock on her door. Can't I ever find a minute to relax? "Yes, maiden? What is it?"
A gruff voice answered from behind the door. "Not a maiden, Princess. It's General Svarga."
Sara stood from the warm water, grabbed a nearby fur and covered her bare skin. Water dripped from her hair down to the stone floor. "I'll be ready in a moment. Care to explain how you got passed Myn?" She wrapped her soiled hair into a bun.
A muffled chuckle came from Svarga. "Oh, I didn't get passed him. He's right beside me. He's looking at me quite fiercely, I might add—think he's fallen for me."
Sara fastened the fur around her chest and stood behind an elegant screen. "You may enter."
The silhouette of Svarga bowed on the other side of the screen while still in the doorway. "Apologies, Princess. Though I thought you should be present during our next meeting."
"Next meeting? My father didn't mention anything of that."
"That's quite odd." Confusion in his voice. "I don't see—"
"What are you waiting for?" said another voice from the hall. The snake-like and high pitch tone marked the owner as General Giase. "King Ryker was quite clear that the Princess was not to attend this meet."
"I wasn't aware of that," replied Svarga. "The reason?"
"Quite an obvious one, the meeting's subject is of little importance, we wouldn't want to bother Lady Sara with trivialities. Come now, let us depart." His light footsteps receded.
Sara exhaled angrily. It seemed that she would never find respite in recent days. "General Svarga," she called.
"Yes, Princess?"
"The subject of the meeting, what was it?"
He paused for a moment. "It seems some of our men were killed by a group of Loradel soldiers in the south."
"South? I wasn't aware we had men at the border."
"It was a small regiment that was placed there to help protect a small village, even I had little knowledge of it. Though it seems that there was some sort of attack and most of the men were killed."
"When did you hear about this?"
"I heard about it just this morning after we received a messenger hawk from an outpost near there. One of the survivors claims that a Loradel Demon-Hunt unit attacked them unprovoked. With help from the townsfolk, they killed majority of our men."
Sara dug through recent thoughts as she voiced her loudest question. "What will you do?"
Svarga shrugged. "Chances, nothing. Not until we can validate what happened there. I doubt they were actually Loradel soldiers and more likely just Enlancers. If the people there helped, means they're just to blame and we'll just remained out of it. That land holds next to no tactical foothold and it would be a waste to take it back."
"Horseshit," mumbled Sara.
"Apologies for bothering you, Princess. I should take my leave now." He bowed and closed the door.
Sara's nostrils flared as she knew what she would have to do.
~~~
Sara replicated every action of her father to find her way into the tower and down to the Lionslayer's coffin. A heavy weight of annoyance loomed over her. Her balled fist turned white at the thought of Loradel. Her father was right. Loradel was a kingdom with one leg in the lion's den, an era of chaos waiting to happen. Men and women of free will acting no better than savages…then she would treat them as such. This was no longer a time of debate; it was a time of action. Her anger grew as she came to the realization that her father knew she would want to take action for her people's murders. It only meant he still didn't trust her counsel. She placed her hand on the coffin. "Lionslayer, awake now." She would prove she was capable making hard decisions, in duo, she would cleanse the world of the scum that killed honored knights of Zuland.
Then came the ear-wrenching sound of stone grinding stone as the coffin opened. Seconds later the Lionslayer stepped out of his den with a heavy stomp.
Sara's heart sped up with exhilaration. Her father had also explained that the Slayers could travel large distances while being carried in the talons of a trained Gaia Hawk, a monstrous-sized bird that only recently was considered to be used as a tool for upcoming warfare. "The scoundrels of Loradel dare wet their blades with the blood of our kingdom's men. I want you to go to the border, there's a village there, Hansel. Hunt the Loradel commanders there, and eliminate them."