Planet Galbia: Hana and the Stag of Life

Chapter One: How it all Started

The picture above is the Stag of Life

It was week after the birth of the High Princess. The king and queen held a ball in celebration and Galbians, as well as allied aliens from other planets, from all over came to give their gifts. As normal, the baby girl did not have any color to her hair, eyes or wings yet and although most who arrived were on tight schedules, they would stay to see what her powers and name would be.

In the middle of the ceremony everyone became quiet, they could tell the one of the spirits were approaching. Soon all the lights became shades of red and green, and the planters grew twice their size. There was a flash of reddish-green light in the middle of the room. And from that light, a stag emerged, one who's antlers were made from tree-bark and borne many leaves, small berries and flowers. The stag's fur itself looked to be made from the tree bark of a mahogany tree.

He was like Mother Nature only, the father. He was the highest spirit in the entire universe, and the most powerful. It was said that he could even build and rebuild entire planets complete with the original species that lived on them. He was respectively named, the Stag of Life.

Many of the guest whispered as to what his presence might be. Why would one so powerful come? Was he going to give the princess a gift? The stag had never done that before. And if it did, what did it mean? There were planets that have had the unfortunate luck of being destroyed, was it the princess's destiny to revive them?

The stag walked over to the princess, his movements graceful. Once he got to her, he sniffed her and she stared at him with wonder. She giggled and lifted a hand and petted the stag's head. This simple act of touching is the way powers are flowed and transferred from spirit to Galbian. Soon the princess's hair became a light green on top that darkened to a red color. Her eyes did the same and so did her wings.

The stag lifted his head and addressed everyone in the room, "this is high princess Hana of planet Galbia." There was a loud applause and the stag turned to address the high king and queen, "I sense a high disturbance in the future. If destruction finds its way here, guard her with your life." His voice was soft and hard at the same time, with a hint of sadness and distress.

In a flash of red and green light the stag disappeared and all the lights came back to normal. The plants too regained their normal size, all but the ones closest to Hana. Many of the guest came to ask what had happened, what it all meant. And when it was clear that everyone had given their gifts, the ball had ended and the King and Queen returned Hana to her crib.

"Protect her with your life..." the King repeated the spirit's words. "Hard times are heading this way... Tomorrow I'll get the troops prepared for battle."

The Queen gasped, "are you sure that's necessary? What if it's something minor?" But even as she said, it she knew it wasn't true. If it was Hana wouldn't have been given suchlike great power from a powerful spirit.

The next day the King did as he said he would and the soldiers followed his orders without question. Days turned to weeks and the army only grew, both in strength and in numbers. The King was even happy to see young citizens wanting to join too, but of course there was an age limit he wouldn't dare break.

It was a month after Hana's birth when things took a turn for the worst. The King was warned by Galbians on an allied plant of a threat unlike any other. They called the invaders the Hakai and as far as they could tell, their army consisted of numerous enemies from all other the universe, dark beings from the darkest corners, all formed into one chaotic army. The King quickly assembled his own army and told them that battle was heading their way. He sent soldiers to the other planets in their Galaxy in an attempt to spot the enemy before they came to close into contact. But even with the training and warning, it was to late and nothing could change their fate...

First came the rumble as the atmosphere shook with the army of ships entering the planet. The queen stayed with Hana as her husband went to assemble his army and give off orders. Two soldiers were inside with the queen and her baby and two were outside her door. The queen's communicator went off and she brought up a video message from an very wounded Galbian.

"I'm so terribly sorry your highness. But the enemy... they snuck up on us..." the water from his tears started cleaning off the caked blood around his face.

"W-we are all fine here. Please, get here as soon as possible, we could heal you-"

The Galbian cut her off. "We've tried... there's a force field surrounding our planet your highness," he explained sadly. "Those of us who have tried to get through, even by teleporting, have somehow been intercepted. We can't get through..." before the queen could assure him that they'd get through this, she was cut off.

Hana sensed the uneasy and frightening emotion from her mother and started to cry. The queen then quickly picked her up and started singing a lullaby. Then the door busted open and the king came inside just as Hana fell asleep.

"We have to go." He said as he wrapped his arms around them. "We can't stay here much longer, we have to protect Hana."

The queen nodded, understanding. "But we can't. They out a force field around our planet."

"How far out can we go? Surely it can't contain us, not if we use our powers together, as one."

The queen weighed her options, but she knew that the only way to ensure Hana's safety was to try and leave the planet.

"The others will understand. And it won't be forever..." he hugged his wife tighter. "We shall return when Hana is of age and at her highest potential."

The queen nodded just as an explosion hit near their window.

One of the soldier spoke up, "Excuse me your majesty, but if you are planning to go, I suggest you leave now."

The king hugged his queen and Princess and whispered, "Let me take the lead, I know the prefect planet." Then they disappeared from the room.

When they reappeared, things were dark. They were just outside their planet surrounded by the Hakai's ships and to make matters worse, dead soldiers as well as common folk who had tried leaving, floated in space around them. They didn't worry about not having an atmosphere to breathe as the king made an invisible small platform, complete with its own gravity and air supply. But it wouldn't last long, but just long enough for him to figure out a new plan.

"Well, well," the voice if the Hakai's leader boomed from their communicators. "I see the king and queen have abandoned ship! What a laugh! Hahahaha!"

From the queen's arms, Hana began waking up again.

"State your business. What do you plan on doing to our planet?" The king shouted at the ships.

"Isn't it obvious? Your planet, as well as others now that your out of the picture, shall be reduced to nothing. Rubble. Ash. A spec of dust floating in the universe. We shall destroy all planets and create anew in our own image so that we may become gods!"

"Gods? That's outrageous!" Said the king, then laser beams were positioned around he and his wife and daughter.

"It may seem like that to you, but to us, it's brilliant. Any last words before you are disintegrated from this world?"

The king looked towards his wife and back at their daughter. "It would be too much for us all to go, only one."

"'Guard her with your lives,' he knew. The great spirit knew this would happen," the queen said as she nodded.

From the tiny screens that were brought to life on their communicators, the king and queen could see that the Hakai were broadcasting the situation live. The laser heated up and the king gathered as much of his power, as well as his wife and, just in time, they were able to send Hana through space while met with a different fate of their own, just outside their planet.