Legends of Ivaloria

Chapter 1

"Stop right there!" the guard shouted. "Do you have consent to enter Queen Trisley's apartments?"

The masked stranger lifted his face. "Maybe", he said in a husky voice.

"Show your face!" said the guard.

"Now that's where you go wrong," said the stranger. He lifted his cowl, and kicked the guard hard in the chest. The guard grunted in surprise, as it was a she, not a he. 

"Please don't get up," the girl said.

The guard got up, and got slashed across the face.

"I'd hate to say it, but I told you so," the girl said. She put her cowl back on, and proceeded through the heavily fortified castle of Qis. 

"You get a consent?" said a man.

"Sure, but I'm afraid I dropped it at the front gate. The guard let me pass, so all good!" said the girl.

"What's your name?" the man demanded.

"I'm sorry, but I can't answer that." Saying that, the girl unsheathed her sword, and cut through the legs of the man. The man fell, shouting and screaming.

"Oh, I wish you hadn't shouted, now I'll have a lot of people to contend with," the girl said with a sigh. She hurried up the steps to the Queen's room. 

"Do I knock?" the girl asked. 

"No," a voice answered from within. 

The girl was startled. The door opened, revealing a mass of guards inside, with the Queen in the middle.

"Alyssa Frize," the Queen said. "We've been waiting for you."

"I guess you never thought I'd bring backup, huh?" Alyssa asked.

The Queen frowned. "Half of you, go search the castle!" she ordered her men.

Once the guards had safely departed, Alyssa smiled. "What's so funny about being a captive?" Queen Trisley asked.

"Nothing," Alyssa said, chuckling, "except the fact that I don't really have backup."

Alyssa leapt into action, bringing out a sword and causing a rain of blood. In minutes, all of the remaining guards were either heavily injured or dead at their feet. 

"Not so confident now, are you?" Alyssa asked.

It was the Queen's turn to smile. "Always have faith." Saying so, she backed to her window and jumped from the sill. 

Alyssa gasped, and moved to the window. There was no sign of a body, nor any blood. Somehow, the Queen had escaped right from her clutches.

"Damn it," whispered Alyssa to herself. 

"Alyssa to Corlys, do you copy?" Alyssa said. "I need evacuation out of the Qis palace at once."

"We copy," was the answer. Alyssa looked up, and saw the huge Clandestine descending upon the roof. 

She moved quickly to the roof where she was met by her brother Corlys Frize, the Heir of the North. "Unsuccessful, eh?" asked Corlys. 

"You can see the result," said Alyssa. 

"What happened?" said Corlys.

"Jumped out a window, got evacuated somehow. This is the fourth time she's been right in our clutches and escaped again." replied Alyssa.

"Tough job to decipher," murmured Corlys. Just then, a squad of guards appeared on the roof. "Take them!" they shouted.

Corlys unsheathed his sword. "Well, isn't this interesting," he said.

"Oh, quit your talking and let's just get to it," replied Alyssa.

The fight ended even before it began. Corlys and Alyssa cut through the guards like they were made of paper. 

"Get on the ship, let's go!" Corlys said. More guards appeared, and Corlys was forced to beat a retreat for himself and his sister back to the Clandestine.

Once they were safely in, Alyssa closed the cargo deck. "Fly!" she shouted.

The plane slowly took off, and flew away so fast that the remaining guards couldn't even make out the direction in which it had gone. 

"Queen Trisley will be displeased," said a voice behind the guards. The remaining guards turned around.

"No, sir, we did everything we could to try to stop them, please, forgive us-" A man's plea for mercy was cut short by the man stabbing him through the chest.

"Report back to me. Now," the man added, surveying the remaining guards. They had no choice but to agree.