Royalty, Magic and Love

1500 Years ago. (Bellona's POV)

1500 years ago:

I watched my faithful, loyal, brave soldiers run onto the battle field; their swords colliding with the enemies. I raised my sharp sword and engaged in battle with my enemy’s soldier. I dodged before ducking in for the kill. I sliced him neatly in half and blood flowed onto the ground and onto my feet. Blood splattered on my sword and onto my body. I was used to the smell of death.

For me; there are only two religious gods in my life; Life and Death. The only difference is, as a soldier, you are in charge. You decide who lives and who dies. My golden hair flowed down my back down to my waist. My cobalt blue eyes searched the battle field for my next opponent; my toned, trim body ready to pounce. My slightly tanned skin tainted with blood. I glanced over at my sisters.

Kadisha; my younger sister, the middle child, was fighting furiously on the battle field. She jumped and did a twirl in the air before slicing down three men with her double bladed sword. She had long brown hair that was cut just pass her shoulder blades. Her deep brown eyes held a burning fire that I have never seen before. She had a beautiful hour glass figure which was nicely toned as well. She glanced at me and I could see her determination to win. We had to win.

I heard a battle cry from my youngest sister, Aislin. She jumped and let loose several arrows that speared men in their hearts. She had a similar body shape to Kadisha but she had less of a curvy waist. Her eyes were intense blue, similar to mine but light like the sky. Her hair was brown like Kadisha’s but hers had a redder tinge to it.

Our family was of a royal line, descendants of supposed the goddess Hera and Zeus but I wasn’t so sure if it was true….

“No! Kishan!” Aislin cried out in horror to our brother.

Kishan was our older brother. He was tall and extremely handsome, nearly all the girls dropped in faint when he smiled at them. He was intelligent and very kind but if he didn’t like you, beware, his temper was legendary. He was surrounded by soldiers!

“Kishan!” I heard myself yell out and I ran to him.

But it was too late; he was overrun by soldiers. I could hear him yell out in pain. I felt tears sting my eyes and I battled harder to him. I saw his bloody corpse and I screamed. I felt pure fury enter me.

THEY KILLED MY BROTHER! THEY WILL PAY!

I battled harder than I have ever fought. I slayed many soldiers; desperate to avenge my brother. I saw Aislin and Kadisha fighting their way to me. I fought to them and we battled together. I had to win this battle! If I couldn’t win for me, then for my brother, parents, country…but mostly my people.

We looked up to see Kalazan; watching the battle with glee, his dark eyes shining with blood thirst and power. I growled at him and Aislin pulled out another golden arrow. This man had to die!

“Finem belli et pacis in nobis habitare” I heard Aislin pray in our native tongue.

I watched the arrow released from its bow and fly through the air; the arrow pierced through the air and into Kalazan’s heart. The man himself laughed as the arrow plunged into his body. He simply stood up on his horse and pulled out the arrow and threw it to the ground.

“Did you think you could defeat me, Kalazan Cortez, the most powerful wizard in the world?!” He crackled at us.

His magical aura grew around us and I found it harder to concentrate but then I felt this horrible pain burning in me. It felt as if every part of my body was burning internally and externally. I tried to get up but that just caused more intense pain that I had to yell in pain. I had to shake off this…power that had overcome me. I forced myself up, the pain only increased but I grabbed Aislin’s bow and arrow.

Weakly, I pulled back the bow and arrow, aiming it straight at Daimen’s heart. He looked at me in disbelief and his face contorted with rage.

“Die….Kalazan” I struggled to get out and the arrow flew from the bow and it went right through his heart.

I watched as the wizard suddenly fell to his knees as the arrow pierced his heart. The pain decreased but I could still feel an edge of pain.

“I curse you and your siblings to be the monsters you are, Bellona.” Kalazan spat to me.

I watched the black blood flow from his body. Evil was no more. Kalazan was dead; his black blood spilling around him. My tutors told me that if a man had black blood, he was a bad person, a dark person. But then it happened.

I fell to the ground in pain. I cried out for the pain to stop; it felt as if I was being burnt alive, except for there was no end. The fire burned in my limbs and I couldn’t escape. I felt as if I was suffocating and I began to thrash around and beg the gods to save me. I didn’t fear death but I had to know that my sisters were ok.

Through my pain I could hear Aislin and Kadisha screaming in pain. Through my pain, I briefly thought of Kalazan and I remembered. He had cursed us! I felt a tear run down my cheek before allowing the pain to swallow me.

I woke up but I couldn’t remember what happened after I had blacked out. I stood up but then I fell awkwardly back down and I realized I wasn’t who I was.

I was now a Lion!! I growled a true animal growl. This was not happening! I ran up to my sisters in my haste but what I saw in front of me stopped me in my tracks. My sister Kadisha was a black horse! Her new horse skin was all soft and her eyes were the same familiar warm chocolate brown.

“What the hell happened to us?” Kadisha asked me, freaking out slightly.

“I don’t know Kadisha. But I do know that we were cursed by Kalazan.” I growled at her.

That’s when I noticed a beautiful wolf; her fur was brown with a reddish tinge. Her eyes were the familiar blue of Aislin. I growled at her to get her attention. She ran over to us, with a look of concern.

“What the mother of Jesus happened to us? We’re….We’re no longer human!” Aislin said with a hint of panic.

“We were cursed by Kalazan. We have to break this curse” Kadisha told her.

“Cursed?! By Kalazan! Oh this is just perfect” Aislin snarled out.

“There is no point getting mad. This is our life now.” I said to them before heading to the forest.

“Where are you going Bellona?” Kadisha asked me.

“To get away from here” I told her before sprinting into the forest.

I got caught for the circus a few hundred years later, but thankfully, one of our faithful soldiers, Cadal, our father’s military advisor, found out what happened to us thanks to Kadisha and he tried to rescue me but if he did, my life became worse. We eventually discovered that as long as he didn’t mean to take us for himself, my life would be ok. He changed me around every few years so no one would guess my age.

Every day I waited and performed. It was my life now. I watched as the years progressed and I noticed how much had changed. As they did, my faith of being un-cursed slowly died.

But then we were un-cursed. The only thing we didn’t expect is to fall in love.