Heroes and Monsters

Chapter 1

I fidgeted with the ballistic fabric of my white robes while looking down at the data tablet lodged in the wrist of my vambrace. I had pulled up the underbelly camera view of our armored shuttle and watched the forest below blur past, imagining what it would be like to live here instead of the ivory tower filled deserts of Sheilda. I had been brought to one several months prior to our trip but it just hadn't been the same. The mandatory safety briefing had taken all the wonder out of the experience and I hadn't the chance to feel the leaves between my fingers or a crisp breeze upon my face. All of my novels seemed to make that part of a wilderness trek a necessity. Sister Faith had brought me to one of the wilderness combat arenas located in the Main Army's barracks as a gift for advancing to the next stage of my education but soon I'd be standing in a real forest and not some underground warehouse filled with trees and shrubs cultivated to perfection by our automated custodians. This entire journey was in fact part of my training. My Chevaliers, Alexander and Elora were taking me on a diplomatic mission to a wealthy, mundane kingdom to negotiate recruitment rights and acquire land for our new wave of outposts. Alexander would handle the negotiations because of his natural charm, much the same as brother Empathy. Elora assigned a unit of thirty Royal Guards to act as my bannermen since Empathy's knight order would have sent too intimidating a message if they were seen marching through the friendly keep. Each had been recommended by their superior officers for having talents suited to escort missions and from looking at the species list on our roster, were all beings at home in the wilderness. Alexander was so paranoid as to assign a squadron of Rangers from the Main Army to act as additional eyes and ears. My protectors had grown in their vigilance ever since the Second Keeper rescued me during the siege of an old fort three years prior.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the turbulence of our aircraft and Alexander turned to me with a wide grin, trademark twinkle in his blue eyes. He adjusted his warm, blonde hair and slid on his helm before speaking.

"No time to have your head in the clouds, my Queen. We have negotiations to make and you have notes to take. Remember, never stray too far from us when we touch down on the landing zone. From there we'll make our way on foot through the woods and bordering farms undetected to keep the mysticism these primitives have of us alive. It would make the discussion go much more smoothly. Now for a refresher. What are your survival tools?"

My answer came automatically thanks to Elora's constant drills. "My bannermen are my first line of defense against any hostile force. I am to keep them in between myself and the enemy at all times. Sergeant Chester will remain by my side throughout the fight as my mortal bodyguard. As always, my servants will act on their own will and float about the battlefield."

"Good, now what else?" He asked with audible approval while checking his equipment and weapons. The gleaming silver handles of his many blades stood out against the stark white of his smart sheaths.

"If we are separated I am to use the weapons and training in my possession to survive, though you really do worry too much. Your exoskeleton has two teleportation magicks on it tied to my own after all. You'd be at my side in a moment's notice." I had the utmost confidence in Chester Lawless as well. I had seen video clips of the Lycan's assessment where he ripped off an abomination's arm and spared no time in beating the thing with it.

Alexander sighed at my usual argument. "We need to be alert at all times, my Queen. The Blue bloods are hidden across countless worlds. An attack by them is a very real possibility should they detect our use of the gates."

He spoke of the interdimensional gates created by our ancestors before they were wiped out during the peak of the Blood War, now just dust among the stars. We had the last remaining five under our control, deep beneath the sands of our desert island, along with the complex transport array all of our ships' warp drives were connected to.