Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Darien

 The ancient city of Snowfall was rumored to be built by House Vestarr in the Age of Ancients when the ancient family ruled as the Northern Kings, some say before even the Guardians of Zenartha were formed in Chardan. It was then that the castle was constructed as a fortress to withstand the sieges of countless enemies that would take up arms against them. The rival northern houses and fearsome monsters never breached the castle's walls. Eventually, small villages were built around it to provide a safe haven for survivors in the dead of winter, like right now. Eventually, walls were built around those villages, and they became parts of the city itself. This process repeated for thousands of years, with each wall being built stronger than the one before it. Now, three walls defend Snowfall. The one around the keep was made from cobblestone, which was the oldest and weakest one, the one defending the inner city was made from granite bricks, and the newest one, defending the entire city, was made from iron. It was nighttime when Queen Alicent arrived at Snowfall's gates, with Darien and Damien at her sides. Winter in Mistral wasn't pleasant, but in the Snowlands, Darien felt as if his ears and face were about to freeze off. Of course, to Lord Karlon and the rest of House Vestarr, it was a part of everyday life. A warm fire and dinner wouldn't hurt at the moment, though. The southern portcullis of the iron outer wall raised, and the Queen along with Darien, Damien, the dozen black-armored Dragon Knights, and three dozen Lysander soldiers in dark outfits marched into the city. They then passed through the portcullis of the granite wall, then Lord Karlon, his mother, Lady Rose, and younger brother, Allard, who was half his size, greeted them. They bowed to their knees as the Queen approached the cobblestone gates.

"You may rise, my lord, my lady," said Queen Alicent, and the Vestarrs stood up.

"Welcome to Snowfall, Your Grace," Karlon greeted. "I had dinner prepared when I heard you would arrive by nightfall."

"You are very kind, Lord Karlon," said the Queen. There was a metal chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the dining hall in Snowfall's stone keep, above dozens of tables where northern lords and ladies sat. Darien wasn't knowledgeable on the Snowlands houses, but he could recognize the hanging icicles of House Frost, the snowflake of House Snow, and a raven, the sigil of House Blackburn.

"Hey, Damien," he challenged. "See if you can tell which belong to which house."

"Vestarr, Frost, Snow, Blackburn, Telkan, Climber, Morkas, and that's it," said Damien.

"Congratulations," Darien teased. "You have named seven of the dozen Snowlands houses." Damien rolled his eyes. Usually, Damien was the one to tease his older brother.

"Oh, whatever," Damien spat. "You can probably name, like, four."

"You're not wrong," Darien admitted. They both sat by the warm hearth, while Lord Karlon, his mother, and brother sat with the Queen at a long table at the other end of the hall.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Damien asked.

"No idea," said Darien. "Then again, I don't really care."

"Woah," Damien whispered. "That's a little harsh, isn't it?" Darien still didn't trust Queen Alicent after the incident at the tournament months ago, but she has treated him better after he helped save Princess Andrella.

"When the Queen tries to kill you in your sleep, come and talk to me," Darien snapped. "She's probably trying to manipulate Lord Karlon like she manipulated father months ago."

"I thought there wasn't any more tension between you two," said Damien.

"Well, she still treated me like crap my entire life," Darien reminded. "I don't know about you, but that isn't exactly something you just forgive and forget."

"Right," agreed Damien. "Hey, do you remember that kid we met months ago? He was getting beat up by a squad of Knights."

"Oscar?" asked Darien. "Of course I remember him. He went to Ice Spear the day after that, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he's training to be a Guardian," said Damien. "How do you think he's doing?"

"Well, we could visit Ice Spear and check on him, couldn't we?" Darien suggested. "With Alicent's permission, that is."

"She'll let us," Damien assured. "She met Oscar, too, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," said Darien.

Suddenly, they both felt a hand on their shoulders, as Lord Karlon said: "I need your help, guys."

"With what?" asked Damien.

"I'm not entirely sure," said Karlon. "Come on." He took the glass zweihander, Blizzard, from above the fireplace, and led the brothers to the northern iron portcullis of Snowfall. Outside its walls, a dozen brown-armored soldiers of House Vestarr were fighting something, firing bolts of red plasma rounds at it from their assault rifles, but they couldn't be seen against the darkness. The portcullis raised, and spotlights mounted on the top of the walls came on, revealing an enormous monster that stood upright like a person, but it must have been thirty feet tall, covered with a chitin exoskeleton, with two huge pincers on its arms, with a smaller pair of arms just below them. The antennas on its head turned towards them as it opened its mandibles, and unleashed a loud, sky-shattering roar that shook the foundations of Snowfall.

"What the hell is that thing?" Damien asked, drawing Lightning.

"Something that the Guardians warned me about months ago," Karlon answered, drawing Blizzard. "We can't let it breach the walls."

"Agreed," said Darien, and he rushed at the bug monster with Thunder. When the creature lashed one of its pincers at him, he quickly bashed it away with his warhammer, and zapping it with its storm-enchanted head. As it raised its arm again, Karlon quickly ran under it with Blizzard, then made a swing at the chitin plated limb, and sliced its pincer off. The monster then made a grab for Karlon with its smaller arms, and Damien quickly sliced it off with Lightning. With the use of its right limbs gone, the bug monster made a wide sweep with its remaining pincer. Darien, Damien, and Karlon quickly jumped back to avoid getting hit.

"Close one," said Karlon, stabbing his greatsword into the snow. The frost malakyte gem on its pommel began to glow brighter, and the three warriors were each surrounded by a gray cloud with snow falling from it.

"What's this?" asked Darien.

"Protection spell," Karlon answered. "That thing can't touch us without freezing."

"Let's finish this, then!" shouted Darien, and the three rushed at the creature again. When it raised its last pincer, Karlon raised Blizzard to block its attack, and the entire limb froze, then Darien shattered it with Thunder. Damien quickly severed one of its legs with Lightning, and it collapsed. Darien's warhammer then began to crackle with electricity, and he leaped into the air. He brought Thunder down on the monster, followed by a lightning strike from the air, and the bug creature exploded, sending parts of its exoskeleton everywhere. Some pieces landed inside Snowfall's wall, and others were lost in the snow.

"That was a thing," said Damien.

"They've attacked Snowfall?" asked Karlon. "Damn it, we should have located their hive months ago."

"Wait a minute, what are these things?" said Darien.

"They're called trikeen," Karlon answered. "They're a race of insect people that sort of live like bees. There are different types, like foragers, warriors, drones, and whatever this thing is."

"So, there's a hive somewhere, with a Queen?" asked Damien.

"That's what the Guardians think," said Karlon. "I'll have to talk with General Blackburn in the morning."