Marilyn made her way to the banquet hall where Darex held most of his meetings. She had been ordered to stay in recovery for a couple days upon returning. The first thing she did after leaving recovery was check on Ryllah.
The surgeons assured her that Ryllah would soon be completely back to normal, and that she was lucky to have a princess who could afford the best medicine in the quadrant as a friend. After that, she decided she may as well report to her father. She was still very bitter about the forced marriage to Lucius, but she knew that if she wanted to keep getting missions, she would have to play nice.
Upon arriving, Marilyn saw that her father was preoccupied with several Elementi that she had never seen before. She knew this could mean only one thing.
“Davus, I assure you we will do what we can to bring your eldest daughter to Farako.” Darex said as he stood up from his throne and walked down the steps to be on the same level as the other Elementi.
“I know the timing couldn’t be worse, but it would be rude if I did not introduce my daughter who has just arrived.” He gestured toward Marilyn.
“More of you than I thought there’d be.” She said as she waved awkwardly.
“Princess Marilyn Thunderfist. These are our newest generals.” He said proudly. “1st heir to the throne of Onyxia, Kios Stone and his wife Basby. 2nd heir to the throne of Aeros, Kortimo Monsoon and his wife Kaija. The king and queen of Luna, Davus Tidal and his wife Marcel. I have appointed their son a general rank as well. Lior Tidal, 1st heir to the throne of Luna. Last we have sister to the King of Pyra, Virsa Pyre and her husband Baster Pyre.”
“Where’s Jraken?” Marilyn asked. She thought only of testing her abilities. Her fight with Horbel had only fed her ego. Despite having needed assistance.
“And King Jrax. I was certain I saw his ship outside.” Davus added.
“The only member of the Ferno family to have escaped was Prince Dravon, who would now be King Dravon had he stayed on Pyra.” Darex explained. “It would seem Jrax could not convince Jraken to leave the Jhori Quadrant. He tried to make him leave by force and lost his life in the process.”
“From a child? Who do you take us for?” Asked Kortimo.
“Jraken is no ordinary child.” Virsa added in. “My brother, Jrax, would tell me about it when he came over drunk and crying about his ex-wife.”
“She’s not his ex-wife. She’s his dead wife. You Pyrans are awfully cold for being the race of fire.” Davus chimed in.
“Dead or not. She left him, and I had to hear about it for the last 10 years. I don’t doubt that Jraken defeated my brother. Obviously, something happened to him or else he’d be here!” Virsa shouted. Everyone could see that it was a touchy topic for her.
“Dravon has confirmed that his father was kicked into his own collapsing palace by Jraken. He had sustained injuries himself from trying to help his father subdue Jraken, but Jraken was too much for them. The boy barely escaped with his own life.” Darex continued. “Now, do forgive me, but I haven’t seen my daughter in several days, and I’m interested to hear how a simple scouting mission turned into such a perilous undertaking. We will meet again tonight in the banquet hall.”
Everyone shuffled out of the room and soon it was just father and daughter.
“Lucius is a fine general.” Said Darex. He leaned back in his chair and made himself comfortable.
Marilyn rolled her eyes. “Here we go.”
“He claims you are the best fighter that he’s ever seen. That you bested a creature he is still convinced was immortal.”
Marilyn squinted her eyes in anticipation of disappointment.
“He also claims you were quite reckless!”
“There it is.” She remarked under her breath.
“That you never had any intention of reporting back! You wanted to go and take on every an entire Plaquar Slaving Squad by yourself! Thank the maker Ryllah and him were able to convince you to compromise on a reasonable plan!”
Marilyn could not help but feel betrayed. Lucius, you just made it back onto my kill list. “Dad, I’ll admit. That Horbel guy was pretty tough. Lucius was a decent cheerleader. I overcame where few among us probably would have. I don’t think I’ve done anything to warrant suspension if that’s where this is going.”
Darex let out a long sigh and leaned forward. “While you were away, we had quite a boost to our numbers. With the addition of the newest Free Elementi we have doubled our forces. We’ve also added immense diversity to what we used to be capable of having on a team.”
Marilyn’s mind immediately jumped to one person.
“No Jraken though. I thought you said that would end the war right there.” She shared in her father’s disappointment of not being able to recruit him.
“We will continue on as planned. Or rather, we have adjusted to make up for our current circumstance. Which is why I will already be sending you on another mission.”
Marilyn gave the air in front of her a couple quick jabs. “Nice! My team is ready to roll!”
“On the subject of your team, I no longer feel that Lucius is a suitable match for you.”
“Can I get that in writing? I’ve been telling you this from the start! I don’t need a partner. It’s just not for me. I’m too independent a person.” She was overly thrilled she did not have to think about marrying him whenever she saw him now. It was going to make getting along with him much easier.
“You are mistaken if you believe that I am withdrawing your betrothal with Lucius to settle with not having grandchildren! However, I will not make you marry someone who is weaker than yourself.”
Marilyn scoffed. “Great. All I have to do is beat the daylights out of anyone you betroth me too.”
“And someday you will meet your match! Until that day comes, you will always have no less than four warriors on your crew. All of my generals will now be operating under the same rules. I can’t afford to lose any warriors right now. Larger teams increase the odds of more of my fighters coming home.” He explained.
“So, I just need to find one more? I’ll take Gwapa!” Gwapa Stream had been a childhood sparring partner of hers. As they got older the gap in their abilities grew and Darex saw no reason for them to continue training together. Saying she would only slow her down. It had been years since she had seen her.
“I didn’t think you would be keeping Lucius, and I would hardly call Gwapa an elite warrior. Why don’t you have a look at the newcomers?”
“My team went above and beyond the call of duty. I don’t know where all this negative rhetoric is coming from. I came, I saw, I kicked some ass!”
Her father smiled proudly. “Yes, I suppose you did. I should have expected nothing less from a Thunderfist.” He wrapped his hand around a large purple gem that hung from his necklace. An image of his priestess, Lys appeared before him.
“Yes, my overlord?”
“Lys, inform Marilyn of the ancient artifact and where she can find it.” Darex commanded.
“Right away, sire.” Lys bowed before turning to Marilyn. “A Tear of Nivir. It is an ancient green crystal ball. One was bestowed upon the Palians thousands of generations ago by the goddess, Nivir, herself. Like most all the other instruments of the old age, its magic had laid dormant since the fall of the immortals. Now, rumors tell it has started to produce a light. As if it is awakening from a long slumber.”
“Alright, just where exactly is this green night light?” Marilyn knew that Lys had her father believing some wild things. Gods and goddesses, ancient magic, and old artifacts that could change the tide of war were the newest of these unorthodox views.
“It still rests on Palia. They guard this artifact very closely, princess. It is their most treasured possession. They are an ancient species who has secluded themselves from outside contact. They alone have kept the Goki Quadrant border from moving towards our own border. We have reached out to them and they refuse to respond.” Lys’s image started to fade.
“I apologize, Overlord Darex, but I can only project myself for so long.”
“That is all, Lys. Thank you.” He nodded to accept Lys’s farewell bow. After she had disappeared entirely, he started walking toward one of the back doors.
“Follow me.” He instructed.
Marilyn did as she was told. Though, she was curious as to why he was walking toward the training area. Does he want to fight me? She grew more excited as they made their way and took a turn that confirmed they were indeed heading towards the training area. She had never sparred with her father before. She had only ever seen him fight once at a showcase.
Planet Trolk was on the edge of the Farako Quadrant and was not entirely convinced that joining Farako was worth the taxation. Darex took his top general, Weise Jolt out to Trolk and held a free exhibition for their entertainment. The fight was epic. The Trolkites were in awe and more than thrilled to be under Elementi protection after what they had witnessed.
Marilyn too was in awe and had been deeply inspired to become the strongest ever since.
As they approached, she could hear other people already in the heat of battle.
Darex opened the large door and the fresh air of the outdoors swooned around them. The training area was full of young Elementi. Most were lined up watching the two who were currently sparring.
Darex gestured. “As I was telling you, we have several new recruits.”
Marilyn could see his father was thrilled. He looked like a child who had just received several new toys. “I sure hope they are worth the trouble. The Jhori Quadrant is twice the size of ours.”
“I have been in war before, daughter. It is certainly not the quantity of your troops, but the quality.” Darex pointed out a specific one to Marilyn.
As soon as she saw him, she knew precisely who her father was pointing at.
“Well, if it isn’t the old tit hitter from Pyra!” Marilyn yelled over.
Dravon had been waiting in line for his turn to spar. A handful of generals had gathered to watch and assign them to different teams. When he saw Marilyn, he clenched his fists in anger. Other than that, he did his best to hold back how badly he wanted to exact his revenge for what she had done to him back at the Jhori academy.
All the other Elementi stopped what they were doing and took a knee in the presence of Darex. All except Dravon.
General Kasey Storm was another one of Darex’s top generals. “Kneel before the Overlord!” She yelled at Dravon.
“I sure don’t feel like a free Elementi when I am forced to get on my knees.” Dravon said with his arms crossed.
Kasey gathered electricity in her hands and Dravon got into a fighting stance. The other Elementi that were around him scurried away.
“Wait!” Marilyn yelled.
Kasey stopped and the electricity she had created flowed back into her body.
Marilyn walked over to Dravon who continued to glare at her.
“Allow me.” She said confidently.
She walked past him toward the large circle were most of the sparring took place. The circle was made mostly of dirt with few grassy patches here and there. Grass had a hard time growing here due to all the fighting that took place.
“Yes, Princess Thunderfist.” Kasey said as she bowed and took a few steps back.
Dravon walked over to the adjacent side of the circle.
“Princess Thunderfist. Don’t think I’ll go easy on you given your title.” Dravon said as he stretched his muscles in anticipation.
“I’m sure you already know better than to do that. After all, I did knock your ass flat last time we fought.”
Dravon gritted his teeth. “Are you going to pull another cheap trick like you did on Elementa?”
“I don’t know. Would you still be gullible enough to fall for it?” Marilyn laughed. “Oh no! I punched her boob!” She mocked. “As you can imagine, I didn’t have a lot of time. I just wanted to spar with your brother and get out of there. But oh no! You had to come along and get in the way of everything! And now I hear you took off without him? I may never get to fight him!” She yelled.
“You don’t stand a chance against Jraken. No one does.” Dravon said somberly.
“You have no idea what I am capable of.” Electricity started dancing around her body. She remembered Dravon briefly getting the better of her on Elementa. That was before she had fought against Horbel. Being forced to fight at his level had pushed her past her limits. She looked back at her father who stood proudly with his arms crossed.
Someday I’ll be as strong as him. She thought as she took a step into the circle.
No. I will be stronger.
Dravon ignited his arms and legs with immense flames. He tried to push the flames to cover more of his body, but he could feel them growing unstable and refrained. He could not imagine how his father was physically able to withstand the heat of being that engulfed in flames. The All-Flame. He knew he had to master this ability. It made his father capable of moving so fast that his eyes could barely keep up. And yet, Jraken still defeated him. The memories of Jrax and Jraken’s battle would be forever engrained into his mind.
One day I will be as strong as them. He thought as he took a step into the circle.
No. I will be stronger.
Thank you so much for reading my first novel! I hope you enjoyed it! I want to be the best writer I can be, so please feel free to message me any constructive criticism you may have! I am currently working on book 2 of this series and hope to have it finished by the end of the year. We will be following the Jraken/Jessa arc as they battle it out in the Jhori Championship. Along with the Dravon/Marilyn arc as they set to recover an artifact from a tower full of Daemons. I will also be adding two more stories that will intertwine with the characters you've met so far. The next book is the true beginning of the Seven Pieces of Samira series as we will finally come across the first piece of the All-Goddess Samira. So, keep an eye out for book 2: Return of the Celestials!
