Star looked onward from the tip of her army of ten thousand.
Her long black hair gently swished back and forth with the subtle breeze of the vast plains beyond the mountains of Phoenix Academy.
Star had never been allowed to go far beyond the outer walls of the kingdom of Orion, otherwise known by many as Orionis, the kingdom of constellations.
She frowned with arrogance, as she muttered her father's words.
"Grounded? Me? The true heir of Vallmora!? Can you believe this Stewart?"
She stomped her foot and looked down from the seat of her carriage at the boy who had been assigned as her personal assistant, which could only mean slave for someone like Star.
She had forgotten his name after four months of using him for trivial matters, and had just turned to calling him Stewart.
He nodded carelessly, as his eyes looked distantly into the horizon, where Star's eyes began to follow.
Beyond the small hills and lushes shrubs, one of the largest kingdoms on the entire continent, began to erupt with violent golden light, then an eye scraping purple undertone followed.
The army stood in silence as what had once been a behemoth in the horizon-turned invisible in a matter of seconds.
"My lady... What is this?"
One of the generals she had summoned in order to slay the boy who was trying to claim her throne-spoke with hesitance.
"I- I- Uh- I do not know, so go send a scout..."
Star stuttered, as she continued to star into the distance dumbfounded.
"Stewart, dismiss the troops for now."
She demanded, after realizing that she had been standing up. Sitting back down, she let out a sigh and remembered her sister had been sneaking out of Orionis in order to commit treason with "That" boy...
One of the generals had refused to leave, as he frowned at the princess.
"What could you possibly want?"
She groaned, palming her stress-filled face.
"You do not need to send a scout, M'lady..."
"And why not?"
She asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning back in her royal seat.
"You are already aware of what happened, and your father is now going to suspect you for what will come, and I am quite sure you do not want that."
Star frowned.
"I know of the Corruption Catalyst within Rider's castle, and I know of how he came to become a Paladin, despite his... Fractured past... However, I do not know of what you speak of..."
"You do though... A bird will be received tomorrow, telling that Chase of House Phoenix traded lives with Rider of House Night in the greatest battle within our very age... Chase of House Phoenix has been killed..."
He hesitated with every single word he uttered as Star has executed people for speaking the name of "That" boy, but she did indeed let him speak as the dread of reality quickly kicked in at the end of his words.
"You do not mean..."
"There is no way that a boy of Chase's caliber could even think of slaying a monster such as Rider, and since he has proven that scope of things, there is no way that he was slain by someone like Rider. In fact, I am willing to bet that Chase was able to survive the initial blast, slaying Rider with his own hand..."
Star rolled her eyes, but did not interrupt the very worthy general.
"Father will no doubt think that since you dispatched with an army, at the exact same time that the true heir of the kingdom was killed. You killed him... Is what he will no doubt think M'lady..."
"Then I will not return to the capitol..."
"And make yourself look twice as suspicious?"
"Do not raise your voice in the likes of me, Sir Varek..."
The bitter voice of Star seemed to dim out Varek's passionate flame, so she simply smirked at the one shot wonder general.
"Your sister has never treated me with such disrespect..."
Grabbing the dagger from the sheathe upon her ankle, in an instant that same dagger shot straight towards the throat of Sir Varek.
A gust of sickening wind shot through the area around the carriage, and everything was stopped in that very second.
"I would recommend not slaying such a valuable asset, childish girl."
The twisted voice of an arrogant old lady escaped the lips, of what could only be described as a goddess.
There was no way for a human to truly decipher the looks of a lesser god, so they were usually depicted in many different ways; however, for some strange reason Star could immediately tell that this was the lesser goddess of trickery...
Dropping herself to a bow, she lowered her head before the goddess.
"Good, now that I have had my arrival, I would like to give a major player in the upcoming game: a little bit of advice..."
Her voice trailed off as she reached outward with a wrinkled up finger with purple and green jagged nails.
her nail scraped across Star's perfect face, as blood began to trickle onto the grassy pathway, as the horses of her carriage began to whine and groan behind her bowing figure.
"Silence, so you do know when to shut up? Very nice, Anywho: Chase of House Phoenix is alive, and will be heading towards the ruins of Olympia in about a month, there he will face both myself, and a powerful being from the troll family, but he will also face his own trust, as I have my own unique way of incinerating this band of criminals."
It was a lot to take in, as Star needed to carefully watch her wording around such a powerful being, but it was also fully possible that Hextra was simply just tricking Star. After all, the gods and the great three houses have never truly gotten along.
"May I ask why you are assisting me?"
Star asked quietly, refusing to look at the goddess as she did.
"Look upon thy stars... Do you and your people not sense the war? The humans are living in blood lusted bliss, the lesser gods are on edge, the greater gods are in hiding, and the elder gods have no cares in the world. As if one wasn't crazy, one wasn't in eternal slumber, and one hadn't lost all of his powers and been rendered useless."
Star groaned in pain at the very mention of the elder gods...
"Oh! Do forgive me, but I forget you mortals are quite weak spiritually, at least... Most of you... That boy Chase has committed a cardinal sin both by speaking the name of "One of them" and by being the first child since the pact was outlawed to become a champion of a deity..."
Star slowly lifted her head, and raised her eyebrow before the mighty lesser goddess of deceit.
"I want to take my father's throne..."
She couldn't help but say aloud.
Hextra snickered, as he shoulder-length black hair with dark green highlights: came into view before Star.
Her dark green eyes fluttered as the night slowly began to descend upon the plains, bringing a strange de-realization of reality with it.
Star's sense of time must have been messed up by the meeting with a goddess.
"No... Believe it or not, this is not my doing. That child! has the audacity to spy on me..."
Hextra cursed, before lifting a finger as a dark green flame began to slowly rise into the sky, turning into a thread as it grew higher and higher.
Then, as if it had never existed-the moon vanished before the three of them.
After the silence, Varek spoke up.
"M'lady I advise that you decline..."
He said, with fear obviously at the bottom of his throat.
Hextra sighed, and pulled a small dagger from thin air.
It was embedded with vials of multiple different potions, and was carved within what could only be-serpentine stone. As its gentle crescent blade was made of the finest of alloys, as it shimmered black with small blue stars engraved within the flat of the blade.
"Will you take this blade, and become my champion?"
Hextra grinned as the world shook, Varek's eyes widened, and Star's hand slowly reached out towards the blade.