A young councilman representative stands from his seat to begin the discussion.
"Last night, my Elders, two young girls from the Taisen Tribe managed to escape from an unknown attack on their village." Reports the councilman. "They state that their attackers were creatures with white masks. They possessed their chief’s son, captured their friends and families and took them to a floating castle that appeared out of thin air. I’ve never heard or seen such creatures, let alone a castle in the sky. Sounds a little off if you ask me."
Off or not, reports have indicated that three local villages have been raided overnight with their inhabitants either missing or dead. We were fortunate this time to have survivors, or else we wouldn’t have known. Clearly, nothing has been done."
"Actually, Elder Flondia, I’ve taken the liberty of sending military personnel to investigate one of the villages; however, it seems the only thing left was a recorded feed from one of the soldiers." Another councilman replies as he activates a holographic projector using a built-in computer within his desk.
From the center of the room, a small round section of the floor opens up, and a futuristic device rises from the ground. It activates projecting footage from a small camera. The footage shows a soldier and his platoon investigating an abandoned and demolished village. As the soldier turned a corner, a lurker sprang up to attack. He succeeds in killing it, but then he hears gun fire and screams from his fellow men. From his p.o.v, he turns to see his comrades getting killed one by one by a small group of Lurkers. The soldier tries to shoot one approaching him, but it dodges the bullets easily. It knocks the soldier to the ground and finishes him off with several swipes. The entire council and elders cringe at the scene and the sound of the soldier getting slaughtered to death. The video ends by showing the face of the Lurker with blood-covered claws about to strike again. The room was then filled with everyone speaking to each other, wondering what that creature was, and worried about what would happen to the city of Auran if they made their way to the city.
In order for the commotion to end, one of the Elders, Elder Chandler, uses his gavel to bring everyone back to attention. "Order! Order!" He yelled.
An older Councilman, Councilman Sete, leaves his seat and with the help of his staff approaches the floor. Everyone remained silent but curious about what the Councilman was doing.
"Councilman Sete, do you have something to say?" Elder Chandler asked.
"Elder Chandler, its clear something evil has arrived to our world, I stand before everyone to say that we must not let those things step foot in our city." Councilman Sete announced.
"Councilman, you just saw what happened to those soldiers. Imagine if we sent an entire army; it would be a massacre." Replied female Councilwoman Vizar.
"Clearly, Councilwoman Vizar, you have forgotten that we have a weapon that may defeat this threat." Said Councilman Sete as he turned and looked back at Vizar.
He then faces the chamber doors to the room.
"You may enter." He orders.
Everyone turns their attention to the chamber doors as they open up to reveal a group of five standing at the door. In the center of the group was a young woman, 17 years of age, wearing a Celtic-like tiara over her head, indicating she was royalty. She was Princess Anya, of Auran, daughter of the late King Zarcon. Behind her was second in command and confidant Rika, a tall milk chocolate-toned woman a little older than Anya with a military-like attitude. The following two behind them were a large-built brawny fighter type named Caleb and a Zonian-Jin halfling named Vincero, but his team calls Vinnie for short. The five walked inside the room; when the council noticed the princess coming inside, they all stood at attention.
"All rise for Princess Anya and her knights." Elder Chandler shouts.
The Princess and her knights walked up to Councilman Sete. The councilman bows to pay his respect to the Princess. The Princess nods, accepting his gesture. Councilman Sete then faces the Elders.
"Over the years, I have gathered the descendants of our most powerful warriors to prepare them for a situation as dire as this." Stated the councilman. "The Knights of Auran are needed once more, and their children will lead us to victory."
Elder Chandler looks at the knights, then at Councilman Sete. He strokes his beard thinking about the councilman’s statement to use the Knights to fight off these monsters.
"Councilman Sete, do you actually believe that these…children are capable of handling a mission as important as this?"
"Children?!" Shouts Caleb. Caleb walks past Vinnie and Rika, trying to make his way towards the Elders, but the Princess raises her arm to prevent Caleb from moving any further.
"Caleb, stand down." Orders the Princess.
Caleb listens to his Princess and backs off, even though he feels they are still arrogant pricks sitting high and mighty in their chairs. The Princess lowers her arm down.
"Elder Chandler, our parents risked their lives to save our people from threats of long ago. You’ve relied on them for their safety and protection. They left a legacy that we may never match, but despite all that, we are here, and will fight to protect our home." She expressed.
"Your highness, in one year, you will be Queen. Should you choose this path of fulfilling your father’s role, your life will be at risk." States Elder Chandler. "If anything happens to you, it will jeopardize our kingdom."
The Princess looks down, giving what the elder said some thought. She then looks back at Elder Chandler.
"I understand your concern, Elder, but my Father left me with the fate of Auran on my shoulders. I can’t just sit here while my team risks their lives. I want to go!" She exclaims.
Elder Chandler looks sternly at Princess Anya and her knights. They all looked serious, and confident, even convincing the Elder that there may be hope. He lifts his gavel up.
"Councilman Sete, you may send your Knights on this mission. We hope for your sake they do not fail us."
Elder Chandler hits his gavel on the sound block ending their meeting.
Inside the hanger bay, adjacent to the castle, the Knight’s aircraft crew were busy gathering the necessary items for the airship; Vinnie was monitoring their progress. Rika was directing the traffic of the guards who were bringing in supplies, and medical kits for any survivors they find. From the balcony of the hanger, Princess Anya watches the progress of everything, but instead of showing her excitement, she is concerned; more than that, she is worried about how fast everything is coming together. She thinks back to years ago when councilmen Sete approached her about creating a new team of Knights. She was worried then but didn’t want to ruin her Father’s legacy. Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard someone clearing their throat from a distance. She turns around to see Councilman Sete standing in the doorway.
"Councilman, what are you doing here?" The Princess asks out of curiosity.
"I wanted to wish you luck and see you off on your first mission. Your Father would’ve been proud." He replied.
At that response, the Princess looks away, doubtful of Sete’s positive reply. The fact that he would compare her to her own Father discouraged her. The councilman notices and looks at her in curiosity.
"What seems to be troubling you, my Princess?" He asks.
"You say my Father would be proud, but am I ready? I’ve been waiting for this moment to prove my worth. But what if I can’t lead? What if I make mistakes?"
The Councilman thinks about what she said. He wanted to help steer her negative thoughts away from the mission. Then he remembered he had something for her. He reaches into the inner pockets of his long garb like rob.
"I think I have just the thing for you, my Princess."
He takes the item out of his pocket, puts it in the Princess’s hands, and closes them. She opened her hands and looked down to see it was a round gold brooch. The brooch was decorated with white crystal stones, but in the center of the brooch was a one-inch size red gemstone that glistened brighter than the other stones around it. She marveled at the beautiful gift as she had never seen a brooch so gorgeous.
"Councilman, it’s beautiful. She exclaims, awing at the gift. Could you be so kind as to help me pin it on Councilman?"
"Of course, your majesty." The councilman replied. She gave him the brooch, and the councilman placed the brooch over her black laced choker.
"I wanted to give this to you upon your coronation, but I think now is a good time. It was a gift from your Father." He said.
The Princess started to tear up as she couldn’t believe her Father had gotten her something as wonderful as this. Despite her role as the Princess, she hugs Councilman Sete as she couldn’t help but express her joy over the gift given to her; he, in turn, embraces her as well, like a father hugging his daughter. Rika arrives at the balcony where the Princess and Councilman were. She calls out to the Princess to get her attention. Both Princess and Councilman stopped and turned their attention to Rika.
"Your Highness, we’re ready." Rika reports.
The Princess looks at the Councilman and begins to worry, but Councilman smiles at her, reassuring her she will be alright.
"Go in honor of the fallen." He said.
He then bows to her, and she accepts his gesture. Rika and the Princess leave from the balcony and head to the aircraft, where Vinnie and Caleb are already on board.
The people outside the hanger have made room for the aircraft to depart. The Princess sits at the captain’s seat, watching as her knights prepare for takeoff. The operators from the radio tower contact them.
"This is the radio tower to the Knights of Auran; you have clearance. Please proceed to take flight." Announced the operator.
"Copy that. Vinnie replied. We have clearance from the tower to take off, commencing count down in T minus 10 seconds."
As Vinnie counts down, Rika notices a flashing button on the control panel as she receives a signal from their intercom.
"Princess, we have an incoming message, retrieving now." Rika orders as she presses the button to accept the call. In front of the Princess, a hologram device comes down from the aircraft's ceiling and projects a hologram. General De Grandis of Auran’s army appeared from his head to his shoulders.
"Greetings your highness, this is General De Grandis. We have orders from the Elders to accompany you and your knights as a backup." Stated the General.
"Thank you, General." The Princess replies. "With your help, we can cover more ground. Please be careful out there."
The General salutes, and the transmission ends. Vinnie finished his countdown and pushed the lever to ignite the thrusters. The aircraft comes to life as the engines ignite, powering up the thrusters.
"We have lift off." Vinnie announces.
The aircraft rises from the floor and moves forward out of the hanger and into the air. As they were flying towards their destination, General De Grandis and his men were in their aircraft, following from behind. Princess Anya gently touches her gift; she looks beside her and sees her reflection from a nearby control deck. She watches as the red gemstone in the center resonates and shimmers. She almost becomes mesmerized by its beauty.
"I’ve never seen a stone so beautiful." She thought. "It almost looks alive.”
She then realizes they were heading to something they may never return. She thought that if this is to be a gift from her father, maybe it’ll bring her good luck. She holds the brooch tight and closes her eyes.
"Father." she softly whispers to herself. “Knights from the past, if you can hear me, please give us strength. The strength that will defeat our foes.”
As she continues to softly wish on her gift, unknown to her, in the center of the brooch, the gemstone begins to glow and resonate as if sending a signal softly. Deep in a temple far from Auran, buried in the sand, a Garnet gemstone, the size of a person’s hand, is glowing in the dark as it responds to the Princess’ gemstone from her brooch. The garnet stone then emits a beam of light that shots out from the temple, stretching out from the sand, and into the air. Three other temples hidden around their world contained stones of different colors: green, blue, and gold. Like the garnet stone, they too started glowing in response to the Princess’ brooch and emitted a beam of light that shot out from their locations and into the sky. The beams of light stretched beyond space itself. The four beams of light merged to become one giant pillar of light that continued to stretch throughout the galaxy.
