Chapter Text
"I will be your soldier"
Queen Serenity walked through a long passageway built of quartz and marble of translucent quality. Behind her and in absolute silence, Luna followed. Her big eyes in neon blue, opened wide the moment they reached the end of the hall by heavy doors carved in precious white stone secretly guarded.
The Holy Tower of the Moon. Throughout her many lessons, Serenity learned about Cosmic Order and the powers of Divinity. With such a magnificent history and power locked safely within these walls, Luna was sure many deities from Olympia could not grasp an idea of the Queen of the White Moon’s hierarchy as they walked past many pedestals showcasing many sacred regalias once owned by the queen’s ancestors, among them: Hemera’s Chalice, Apollo’s harp, Diana’s Crescent bow, and now, the strongest of all, Selene’s Lunar Light; the Silver Imperial Crystal.
The couple walked into what seemed to be a control center. Luna watched in awe at the glass panels hanging down the tall ceiling showing them all kinds of events, even those close to Earth’s orbit. She had heard about this impressive technology, but seeing it live was mesmerizing.
“This is more than a praying chamber,” Queen Serenity’s gentle voice bounced inside with a singsong echo. “This is a planetarium, Celestial property. An out-of-bound place where strategic commands would be made if there is a threat to fault Universal Law.”
Serenity turned to Luna and offered her a gentle smile. “The moon has many resources, and we are standing in one of its greatest secrets.” The goddess in white approached the panels. “This place is an offering Goddess Selene did to Lord Helios in gratitude after the ancient war, when the Moon was declared an empire.” Her eyes read along the meticulous mappings with inscriptions in ancient Latin, Serenity could understand to a certain point.
“I studied the principles of Universal Law despite not being in my jurisdiction. Divines are authorities of Cosmic Order, the most I can do is watch over Earth from afar.”
“It is truly an impressive catalog of information, Your Majesty,” Luna admired while observing the blue orb displayed on a larger scale. The queen’s eyes teared, but her determination was unbreakable. “Since Olympia cut its ties with Terra, many other realms have followed. I will protect this planet as if it’s my own, Luna,”
Serenity turned back to the Earth’s projection. “One by one, they will forget there was a time when Terra’s guardian fought countless battles that granted countless benefits to them… but not me.”
Luna pondered on the queen’s words with concern. Queen Serenity took a deep breath, most in melancholy. “I know the risk, I’ve made decisions that I do not know how they will unfold over time. But for the first time, I experienced grief and I saw the dark…” Her brow furrowed, showing she was holding her emotions. “Luna: If it ever comes to threaten us, and I cannot fight against it, you must head to Terra and search for its protector,”
Luna paled, “Do you trust them that much? Your Grace?”
“The Helian Clan never breaks a vow.” Serenity walked closer to the panel showing Earth, her fingers barely tracing the curve of the blue orb slowly spinning on its axis. “Not only do they have my entire trust, Luna, but also my deepest respect and admiration. If we ever must raise our arms to fight, the Earth’s protector will stand on our side.”
The Lord of War stormed into his study chambers with a murderous stare. His humor was laced with fury after meeting with Queen Serenity, and it was slowly spiraling out of his control. Ares did not accept being told what to do, much less having his failures exposed. She did not need to threaten him, humiliation was always much worse.
Caught in the swirls of his feelings, Ares didn’t notice he wasn’t alone. “It seems there has not been a single victory under your belt since that traitor was banished from this plane.”
Ares turned over his shoulder and found Eris leaning on his gilded chair behind a large table. Her raven hair slipped to the front covering most of her face, but it was evident she was very much enjoying every minute of this display of erratic emotions from the warlord.
“What are you doing here?” Ares did not care for his tone, nor did he want a visit.
Eris watched him pace his study with a grin, “I came to see how you were doing. It’s been long since you last visited, Limbo isn’t the same without you.” Eris walked around the chair and wrapped her arms around Ares’s neck like a snake taking over its prey. “Oh, Dear, she’s got you in a very foul mood,”
“I don’t have time for this,” Ares turned to her, “Why are you here? Did Hades send you?”
“Can’t you just believe I was genuinely worried for you?” Eris pulled back with an annoyed grimace. “Sure, The Lord of Death is keeping us busy settling some unfinished business. I assume you know about his demands…”
“There isn’t much to be done as of now,” Ares stood still, he was not responding to Eris’s seductive tactics and she bitterly noticed. “I heard you visited the new white queen. Is she still crying over the loss of her precious friend?”
“Save unnecessary opinions to yourself,”
“It is no secret how shattered she was when her traitor friend was given its sentence.” Eris pursed her lips, holding back a smirk. “In chains. What a vision.”
Ares stepped back, breaking free from her hold. Eris, at this, kept on pushing his patience. “All this over a human, of all creatures. Have you ever wondered what he looks like? Just to see if he was worth the catastrophe.”
Eris peered over her shoulder, Ares’s silence fueled her chaotic nature, negative energy was her source of feed, and Ares’s was extraordinary; she knew what buttons to push to get as much as she wanted. “How the mighty have fallen. And now, the white queen’s coronation came to be a very dull event out of pure grief…”
“How do you know all this?” Serenity’s warning started to ring the alarms in Ares, “I do not believe you were even counted to attend,”
Eris’s smirk slowly died, he also knew how to push her buttons. “Neither were you, for what I’ve been told,”
“That does not answer my question,”
Eris stood behind his desk again to put some sort of barrier in case the warlord reached his limit, “Everyone knows the alliance between them was more than one out of duty. The Moon Queen is her weakness, it’s obvious. The Titan had no one she could fully trust, not even you.” She said with a snark. Her violet eyes gleamed from under her lustrous hair. “An Ancient Titan playing the role of a Goddess. It’s blasphemous when it is well known it survives the threat of its ancestors. All of you thought you could keep that monster on a leash, well, look how that turned out… A beast will always show its fangs.”
“ Why are you here, Eris?” Ares asked with a warning in his tone. His piercing stare narrowed. “Why this sudden interest in all of this?”
Eris cackled, “Why, you ask?” She sat on Ares’s chair and crossed her legs, using every trick in her arsenal for seduction, using the high slit of her gown to expose her milky skin. “I suppose I am just intrigued to see how this evolves. ” She was fixed on Ares. “The titan might not be here anymore, but it does not mean the white queen will not try to change the rules of the game.” Eris slurred her voice to a pur. She leaned forward, now showing her cleavage to the warlord. “I may not have the privileges of a deity, but I still have jurisdiction as one of The Underworld’s necromancers.”
“Jurisdiction?” Ares scoffed in mockery, “Hunting lost souls to feed the beasts of Inferno?”
“Mock me all you want, Ares, but you cannot deny I am right,” Eris scowled, “The Divine Queen will not rest until she gets what she wants out of pure caprice. She’s a deity who’s never been told no in her whole existence and this is the one soul she cares about the most.” She sighed, “Poor Athan of Upsilon… No wonder why he relies on his past experiences to deal with all of this.”
This piqued Ares’s interest. The brief discussion he witnessed when he arrived at the moon came fresh to his mind. “Whatever do you mean?”
Eris shrugged a shoulder, leaving her answer to his interpretation. She knew how to weave intrigue. “Don’t you think she will try to bring her beloved back?”
“Universal Law does not work that way, Eris. Even Divines must obey it,”
“One does not need to be The Great Mistress to be able to tell she will try to help her ,” Eris leaned back but her eyes did not leave Ares’s. “The Titan can still crawl her way back and kill everyone out of pure spite,”
“Metamorphosis is not a force of revenge,”
“But it is a force of change. Perhaps you forgot how it manifested?” Eris leaned her chin on her hand. Her smirk died down and was replaced with seriousness. “The intricacy of their bloodline… What they represent. Helios’s descendants are spellbinding, agreed , but also a curse. All they do is attract madness…”
“Evolution is a primal force,” Ares argued, “How they came to manifest is a cause and effect,”
“And you know why, ” Eris arched her brow. “Think about it, Ares. Celestials sent a priest to keep them under control. We do not know how long that pact will last now that they’re gone,”
“Enough,” Ares waved his hand to dismiss Eris. “I have much to deal with at the moment to keep wasting time talking about this. I could care less for cheap gossip.”
“The Titan has the Sun stone in her command. Are you not worried?” Eris’s playful tone was gone. “I am trying to help you focus on what’s important. You are the God of War, stop stalling and do what you are supposed to! Dementia is fast to dig their claws on those who are desperate.”
Ares stayed silent for a moment. Eris’s words carved a sense of it all. His focus was all over the place, and it caused a dent in his reputation. It didn’t take long for the silent couple to be interrupted, “Lord Ares–” a soldier stepped at the entrance of his study.
Ares turned with a glare as sharp as a blade. “Master, forgive the interruption,” The soldier bowed, “I thought–”
“Under my command, you do not think, you obey.” Ares walked to his desk and found Eris nowhere to be found. She must have left the moment the soldier made himself known. With a short flick of his wrist, he allowed the young guard to step into his office. “What now?”
The soldier stomped his weapon on the marble floor, taking a resting position in front of his lord. “We have been informed of a dark presence hovering in the Sun’s orbit,”
Ares’s attention was now solely on the young soldier. “A shadow?” He asked with alertness. “Who is reporting this anomaly?”
“Polemarchos of Orion,”
“And why am I learning about this now?! ” Ares roared, his expression darkened with threat. Eris’s tactics proved to have succeeded. “ I am the Warlord of Olympia!”
“We were told you were at the Moon in a meeting with–”
Ares raised his hand to shut the soldier. He took a deep breath to calm himself, the situation got messier than what he had anticipated. “Summon Aegeus of Orion,” he glared at the soldier, “Now!”
“Master.” The soldier obeyed the order, leaving Ares alone with his thoughts. Furious, Ares’s body stiffened with every scenario playing in his mind. Retribution… Retaliation, at this point, was the same.
Geb’s prediction had now been written in stone.
✶
Eris crossed the portal she created from the dark waters of the well she used to do her readings and monitoring. Crossed in arms, she analyzed the situation with excruciating detail. She had to be careful, she knew Ares’s cruelty had no limits when his patience ran out. War incarnated, once Ares set his mind on something, he would not stop until he succeeded.
“This will be a bloody mess,” Eris muttered in fear. “Whatever happens is up to you from here on, if you fail, don’t you dare crawl your way here.”
Eris walked past a shadow standing at the far back of her temple. “Hopefully you know what you are doing. To be honest, I always preferred the other half. Things were far more entertaining,” She sat on her throne at the altar. Her violet eyes darkened and grinned with a scoff. “But even I know only a fool would offer their soul to them. You must have offered something great to have gained this much interest,” Her voice turned quiet, “You are practically a demon.”
Metallia bent one knee before Eris and brought her hand over where a heart should be beating. Her fingers were dark like coal. “ Signaculum sanguine tactum sole frangi potest, ” She answered, and raised her head to show Eris her yellow eyes lit like orbs. “My vow is stronger than any cast or spell, Mistress Eris. Stronger than any ancestral bond.” A grin curved on one side of her face, causing Eris’s skin to crawl. “And it will all be worth it once my sacrifice is complete.”
Gaia had been working on new mathematical mappings for most of her morning and afternoon. She was deeply focused until a gust of wind followed by the loud rustle of a flock of birds alerted her of unusual activity that unglued her from her post in an instant.
Frantic screaming laced in the thick and hot breeze confirmed Gaia’s suspicions, Aegera was in danger. She turned and read the trails of dark smoke from the watchtowers, they were under attack. Gaia ran toward the main courtyard but an explosion forced her to stop. Her eyes widened, what a bittersweet feeling, she knew this all too well. Her lips showed tension, her hand reached for her chest on instinct. Restless, Gaia's first response was to try and locate Eros’s whereabouts.
As she approached the front gates, a pull in her chest clawed its way into the depths of her soul, stalling her. Gaia’s eyes were wide with horror, her instinct told her the wrath of war had manifested. Her lips parted, knowing any sort of action on her part as an awakened titan would be catastrophic for humanity, threatening the balance.
A fleet of armed soldiers ran past her, pulling her out of her trance. Gaia looked around, she could feel Eros, although not close; he was already confronting the situation. The loud and always busy city of Aegera was in chaos, a stark contrast from its normal brightness. Gaia wet her lips, thinking of ways to handle the situation, Obelix’s aura was dormant, far from reach; complicating things.
Deciding on taking matters into her own hands, in the best way she could, Gaia crossed the gates despite the many warnings from soldiers trying to keep order and headed toward the city without taking her eyes off any detail. Despite being a coastal area, the heart of Aegera stood on the peaks of dormant volcanic formations. The city was built on mountainous territory that spreads down to the foot of the hill into the thick forests leading to the port towns by the Aegean Sea.
A loud cry caught Gaia’s attention, forcing her to stop and search for its owner. Running against the crowd, she found a child holding dear life from a column staring terrified at a man three times her age. He frowned, balancing his heavy weapon over his left shoulder, and bent down to get a hold of the small girl trying her best to find a way to escape. “Shut the hell up!”
The girl cried louder and put her arms up to protect herself. The soldier’s axe was kicked from his hand and got kicked straight in the face, knocking him down. Gaia stood at his feet with a furious glare. She bent to grab the weapon and swung it in his direction, startling the soldier holding his jaw, completely fazed. Gaia lowered the weapon, cutting flesh off his leg, and making the man scream in pain. “Coward,” she condemned the man’s deliberate decision to hurt an innocent child. With precise execution, Gaia turned and kicked the air out on another attacker, leaving him unconscious.
Gaia kneeled to meet with the girl face-to-face and held her close. The protective instinct in her took over, “Did he hurt you?” She asked with worry. The girl shook her head and kept sobbing, “Mama…!” she cried.
The word felt like a nail to her heart and fell at a loss for words. Gaia had not thought of this unspoken wish for eons that in an instant, this girl was able to bring back from the locked depths of her mind.
“Xylia!!! Xyliaaa!!!” The mother’s desperate call snatched their attention. The girl reacted, stretching her arms at the woman running toward them. “Mama!”
Gaia made sure it was safe for them and let mother and daughter reunite. The mother, choking with her tears, looked up at Gaia. “Oh, Kore, thank you! Thank you!” The woman shook her head, trying to explain what happened. “We are under attack. The Archon Polemarchos alerted us to evacuate before he left at full speed alongside his generals, His Highness too,”
“His Highness?” This alarmed Gaia. “Which direction did he go?! Did you see him!?”
“They were all heading to the foot of the mountains,” The woman pointed ahead, “The King is said to be there too,”
Gaia turned toward the direction she was given, doing mental calculations to read the coordinates of their location. She was agitated, this was not going according to their plans. They’ve been taking extreme cautions to avoid a confrontation… This war felt provoked. “Love…” She muttered under her breath with worry.
“Kore, run to the great temple in the northeast,” Gaia pointed to the stone road to their right. “Alert as many people as you can. Tell the guards Hiereia Gaia sent you there for safety, His Highness’s order. The same goes for all temples around the city,”
“Thank you!” The woman held her daughter tight and ran to safety, following Gaia’s instruction. Gaia went in the opposite direction, taking a bow and a bag of arrows from a soldier she kicked out of her way. She pinned the man with her foot firmly pressed on his chest, and glared at him with threat. “Who sent you?”
The soldier answered her with a bloody grin despite the pain, he was enjoying taunting her and he was succeeding. “As if I spilled what I know to a woman,” he blurted through a forced breath.
Gaia arched her brow, now pressing her foot harder on his neck, limiting his airflow. Her eyes darkened, and she leaned down to grab the soldier’s sword and stabbed his shoulder, pinning him to the ground. “Then, you’re not worth my attention.”
“You think you can outsmart our King? You will not be able to get out of it this time,” The soldier forced a cackle, “We’re too many and we do not come in peace. Cairm’s best soldiers are here to hold the royal family prisoner! We are here to take it all, the title of strongest is ours!”
“Your best, you say?” Gaia said and she stepped back. Her eyes gleamed in gold, “I want to see you try.”
The sun beat down the plains surrounding the towering city, its walls gleamed like a beacon in the harsh view of the landscape. Beneath the unforgiving sun reflected on piles of white stone, the army of invaders brought up their banners fluttering in the harsh wind and surged towards the city’s imposing gates.
Eros was there riding his horse, fully armed. He blocked the entrance with General Leonidas on his right and General Rumalos on his left. “Foínikas,” he started, using the prince’s war name on the battlefield. “The first line of defense is formed and ready for your signal,”
Eros didn’t turn, his attention was fixed on the Archon Polemarchos heading their way. “His Majesty is with the first division of archers.” The head of the military force avoided using any titles to keep Eros in anonymity. “He instructed us to follow your command.”
Eros proved to be Aegera’s most skilled archer and a meticulous strategist, and under these circumstances, he knew facing the Persians in open battle would be a fool's errand. The sheer size of their army could mirror their own, but having a direct confrontation would surely result in a crushing defeat. Their height was a great aid in battle.
The Persian army, a formidable force governed by the mighty and highly conflictive King Isra, loomed on the horizon, their numbers were oddly modest but their resolve seemed unbreakable. The prince held his thought for a bit longer, before securing his bow on his back; feeling disgusted with the dishonorable way their opponents were making their demands. His heart was heavy with the weight of the impending battle as he came to the realization their agreement served only as a smoke screen to buy time for their troops to arrive without them suspecting.
Rumalos showed the prince a map, and Eros’s gaze followed the signs marking their territory. He studied every possible outcome if he formed a line of attack along the mountainous terrain bordering Aegera, where a narrow pass could serve as an easy gateway for invasion.
“There are soldiers in civilian clothes roaming the city. I have the royal guard tracking them down,” Leonidas added. Rumalos growled in fury, “I sent a fleet to create a blockage, the castle is safe.”
“We also have armed forces watching over the perimeter by the Eastern wing,” Leonidas stopped when Fazel Aslani, the right hand and advisor of the Persian King of Cairm, appeared riding his horse behind the king’s most trusted soldiers. Leonidas read through this tactic, “The King did not come,”
“No,” Eros’s jaw clenched in anger. “He was never planning on coming,”
Leonidas turned, “We have an approximate number of men,”
“How many?”
“Around 2000,”
Eros’s brow twitched, but he never took his eyes off the battlefield. “What about the border?” He asked.
“We have two lines of defense on watch, their numbers are also scarce,”
“Our defense archers will keep the royal quarters safe from intruders. They are all in position.” Leonidas exhaled, “I’ve been informed they have a few in our custody.”
Eros turned, rather impressed. “They’ve been captured?”
Leonidas nodded, “Alive. Although, pretty wounded,” He peered a glance at his leader, “A familiar technique,”
Eros read between the lines of what Leonidas was implying, “How many troops do we have for mobilization?” He kept analyzing the situation. The general was detailed with his answer, giving the prince more to think about. “Fortifying the pass could buy us time to hold off the Persians and prevent their advance,”
The plan was fraught with risk, but as the prince explained it in specific detail, Leonidas considered this to be their only chance for victory. “Sending this amount of soldiers at this particular point can debilitate our first responders,”
“We may not like war, Aigída, but that does not mean we do not know how to fight,” Eros said between clenched teeth and aimed with his bow and arrow. “I am not letting them steal our dignity,” He narrowed his gaze, “I rather die.”
Gaia stopped, desperately searching for the prince. Surrounded by men, it was easy to spot her in the multitude as she pushed her way through the tight crowd and stole countless glances from the soldiers.
“Oi! Kore! You can’t be here! We are about to start a war!”
“Who’s this?!”
“What the hell is a woman doing here?”
“Oi, you need to go back to the city this–”
Gaia raised her hand midair, shutting the soldiers’ relentless comments. It was like flies buzzing in her ears, and she needed to focus on memorizing her surroundings as much as she could to know how and where to intervene. Her eyes studied every single detail in both domains like a hunter. There was much happening inside her head: calculations, scenarios, strategies, possible victories, and unavoidable sacrifices. She had to be extremely cautious and precise, once she started she was not stopping until the job was completed.
Gaia caught a fire arrow flying across the sky, the end of the agreement that once held peace between both territories was no more. “Love,” she said with a whisper. The soldier’s roar was deafening, Gaia was impressed by the impressive number of armed men standing in defense of Aegera; brutal and merciless, she watched them go at them like boulders, threatening their opponent’s defense.
The sound of arrows cutting through the air, the echo of metal gritting against metal, it was all too familiar. War was war wherever it broke, Gaia stood with eyes brimming with tears of anger. “What have you done…” She asked in the air. Her hands trembled as the bloodshed had begun.
The Persians crashed the first line of offense, Gaia charged into the fray ripping a spear from a fallen soldier who got caught in a whirlwind of destruction, and cleaved through the enemy like a reaper in a field of wheat. Enemies and allies alike were struck by the ferocity of her assault leaving both sides faltering for a second. Their ranks, once orderly and disciplined, crumbled into chaos as they struggled to defend themselves against the onslaught from the maiden no one could identify.
Gaia moved with the speed of a lightning bolt, her spear was a blur of deadly steel. She struck with the force of a tempest, her blow sent enemy soldiers to the ground with no signs of them having the strength to stand up. This caught Eros’s attention, from his place in the battle he saw movement that could only mean one thing. A loud crash made him turn, “Gaea…” he muttered with urgency.
“Aigída!” Eros pointed in her direction, giving him a silent order. Leonidas took immediate action and created an opportunity for him to ride to the other side of the battlefield.
“Foínikas!” Leonidas yelled but his leader was already gone.
Eros’s fear was taking his mind and heart hostage. His hands started to shake despite the strong grip he had on the reins. He shot his arrows, one after the other at Persian soldiers. Eros could feel his heart pounding in his throat; he was desperate. Parallel to him on the battlefield, the enemy, overwhelmed by Gaia's sheer might, were forced to retreat by the command of their strategist. The king’s advisor, Fazel Aslani, had already taken notice of this peculiar soldier and their relentless battle skills.
“ Who is that?” He mused with a hand over his lips, his eyes trying to keep up with the speed of her movements. The strategist shook his head, “Can’t say for certain, Lord Aslani. It’s hard to focus, they’re too fast.”
“I want it restrained!”
“Advisor, our defense fronts are weakening!”
“How is that possible!?”
The sun moved across the sky, several hours had passed. The Persians’s once-confident march was turning into a desperate scramble for survival. Close to reaching midnight, Gaia was finally seen walking out of a thick cloud of dust and smoke with her spear having reaped a bloody harvest to open herself a path. The open fields outside of the city were stained crimson, the air was thick with the scent of death. If they did not change plans, this could turn into a massacre.
“Bring the executioners,” Aslani ordered. The strategist turned, “B-But Lord Aslani that is–”
“I said bring the executioners!” The advisor repeated with a yell, his eyes narrowed. “But leave that one for last, we will break it last.”
One by one, soldiers surrounding Aslani were defeated. He knew Aegera’s army was strong, but this? The Persians could give them war; they were feared, vicious, and they always won one way or another.
Gaia turned over her shoulder at the sound of gallops approaching. Glancing at her spear, Gaia pursed her lips at its dull blade and turned to grab another one before sprinting towards a horse that had been left abandoned by its fallen owner and rode straight to the four men dressed in armor and leather coming at them.
The battle was fierce and unrelenting. Despite their smaller numbers, Aegerans fought with the ferocity of lions, their spears and shields a whirlwind of deadly steel. Leonidas’s skill on the battlefield was a beacon of courage amidst the chaos around them as he led his men with unwavering determination, his every blow sending a Persian soldier to face defeat.
Though their soldiers also got caught in the crossfire and some ultimately fell, their sacrifice did not go in vain. Their heroic stand and Eros’s timely response and strategy bought precious time for the Greek city to prepare for an impact. Eros and his armed forces aimed at the line of defense keeping the advisor and his people safe from the line of fire while Gaia stood on the opposite side, in the line of offense, all bruised and battered, but still with a gleam in her eyes that only spoke murder.
The dust finally settled, and the battlefield fell silent save for the mournful cries of the wounded and the triumphant roars of the defenders. Gaia stood amidst the carnage, her white peplos now smeared with grime and gore. The blade of her spear still dripped with the blood of those who crossed paths with her. She stopped before the towering figures of the Persian executioners without showing a speck of fear. Her vivid eyes, ablaze with the fire of her ancestors met the cold gaze of the executioner's leader, a man with a scarred face and a cruel glint in his eyes.
“A woman fighting the front lines?” Fazel Aslani cackled. “What desperate tactic of Aegerans to rely on such a pitiful trick? We’re warriors, woman , get out of my sight!”
Gaia did not move an inch, her spear rested across her back while holding a warning glare.
“Say that again?” Gaia threatened. “I am noticing a trend, and I do not like it.” Caught in her rage, she took thundering steps toward the advisor’s tent; the Persian advisor froze.
“Gaia!!!” Eros could not make his travel faster. Her wrath was a death sentence to all of them. He knew there was no way to stop her, but he also did not want her to keep fighting. He watched her raise her weapon to the sky as a declaration of war to those coming for her.
“You dare to breach a treaty that has put countless lives in danger and you find it bothersome when a woman fights injustice? Your head is what you should be more worried about.” Gaia roared through the desolate landscape, a moment that would forever be etched in Aegera's history.
“This cannot be serious,” One of the executioners mocked their opponent. “The royals send their weakest links as scapegoats? Bah… They’re like little children crying over their favorite toy,”
“What a joke,” Another one laughed, “I’ll take this myself in a blink of an eye. Go back and protect Advisor Aslani,”
“His Majesty will not like it if that also returns dead,”
“I’ll make sure I tie her up so she doesn’t squirm that much,”
Gaia’s grip tightened on her spear, a weapon as graceful and deadly as she was; her mind as sharp as her blade. Her right hand twitched, demanding her attention. “Forgive me, my guardian…” She lamented. “I cannot summon you. I must do this alone.”
One of the executioners caught her blade in the dim light of dusk. Yet, Gaia remained unfazed, her courage was fueled by the knowledge that she was fighting for justice and the future of this kingdom. This she could do.
With a swift motion, Gaia turned on her axis with her spear still holding the executioner’s blade from touching her face, the sound echoed through the field. She moved with an unmatched grace, her blade had become a blur of steel. She parried the executioners' blows with ease, her movements precise and calculated. The executioners, taken aback by her skill, faltered, their confidence was shaken.
Gaia seized this opportunity, her spear found its mark. She turned to hit one executioner and threw him off his horse in a cry of agony when the mysterious warrior practiced the same technique of pinning him on the ground with his spear. The remaining three executioners pressed their attack, angry.
Gaia fought them with unmatched ferocity, her blade flashed in the dim light of the torches from the soldiers around them. She dodged and parried, her movements were as fluid as the water in a mountain stream. Another executioner fell and got immediately pinned to the ground the same as the last; his blood creating a pool underneath him. The two remaining lunged at Gaia with vigor, their faces contorted with rage only to be met head-on. Her spear, a whirlwind of wood and steel, and the clash of blades reverberated in a symphony of echoes.
“Lord Aslani…” A soldier approached cautiously, but the advisor already knew what he was trying to convey. Watching this fight was captivating and embarrassing at the same time. He had the authority to stop, yet he wanted to see how far this could go.
Eros arrived, finally catching Gaia striking down the last executioner with a swift and decisive blow. He fell to the ground, his eyes wide with disbelief as he felt his blade piercing through his flesh, keeping him in place for her to keep moving forward. She stood surrounded by the fallen executioners, her chest heaved from exertion but her courage and skill proved to be stronger than the might of her enemies.
“You must be Advisor Fazel Aslani, Cairm’s right hand.” Gaia raised her head, her piercing glare caught the advisor off guard. “Tell me, are these the elite soldiers supposed to come to take it all?”