Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Nyatar

 Prince Nyatar and his sister, Naevys, tracked down their escaped prisoners through the cargo ship they stowed away in, and found the lifeboat they used to float to the riverbank. They eventually found that the roots below the trees had been pulled from the dirt, as if someone had used them to climb. Nyatar and Naevys both climbed onto the ridge themselves and followed footsteps across the brush. Two of them were from the metal boots of a Knight's armor. They were the two Guardians they had captured. The other two were made by leather boots, probably from Ser Arthur Drumwind and Illyria, and all four of them were going west.

"They're awfully keen to escape the jungle, aren't they?" said Nyatar.

"Well, I would be," Naevys countered. "Especially if a friend of mine would die if I didn't get what she needed to live."

"You think the former Silver Hawk was telling the truth, then?" asked Nyatar.

"There's no reason to doubt her, brother," said Naevys.

"Right," agreed Nyatar. They followed the footsteps further into the jungle, as well as fallen brush where leaves and stems had been cut to clear a path through the undergrowth. Soon, they could hear the sound of people talking.

"I think we've lost them," a familiar voice said. "Maybe we can slow down, now." It was one of the Guardians, the one with auburn hair and golden eyes.

"Just rest for a few more minutes," said Illyria. When Nyatar and Naevys peeked through the leaves and bushes, they could see Trevor, Julien, and Arthur sitting under a palm tree, and Illyria standing above them.

"There they are," said Naevys, nocking an arrow to her bow. She drew the bowstring back, but she shot her arrow into the leaves behind Illyria instead.

"Why didn't you shoot them?" Nyatar demanded.

"Look," said Naevys. As Illyria drew her odachi, someone suddenly fell from the bush standing behind her. They wore a suit of light, silver armor, with the helmet crested with a hawk.

"Who is that?" Naevys asked. Nyatar knew who it was, or at least who he was affiliated with. He rushed from the undergrowth as five more Silver Hawks came from the bushes, attacking Illyria, Arthur, and the two Guardian Knights. He rushed in front of one with a katana, blocking a swing directed at Illyria with one of his short, curved swords. Arthur and the Guardians drew their own blades as another squad of five came from behind them, and Naevys quickly shot two of them in the head with her bow as she came from the undergrowth.

"You're fighting with us?" said Illyria.

"You aren't the enemy," Nyatar reminded. The Silver Hawks attacked, with two of them swinging blades at Nyatar. He blocked an attack from a katana and a long weapon called a naginata with both of his curved blades, then threw the attackers backward. Nyatar quickly stabbed them both through the chest with his blades of Epsilon steel before they could attack again. When he turned around, he saw that the other Hawks were dead, except for one, who had Naevys' blade at his throat.

"We should take this one alive," Naevys suggested, speaking in Fae.

"Good idea," Nyatar agreed, then he turned around and said "Captain, I..." Trevor, Julien, Illyria, and Arthur were gone. "Seriously?"

"Let's just go home, brother," said Naevys. "Father will be expecting us soon. Well, he'll expect you, anyway." They brought the captive Silver Hawk before their father to question him, and he was more forthcoming than they thought he would be.

"Why were you after those four?" Nyatar demanded, holding his blade to the Hawk's throat.

"One of them is a traitor to us," the Hawk answered.

"Yes, and two of the others were Guardians," reminded King Ethrion. "Why would Epsilon warriors attack their own protectors?"

"Your ignorance does not surprise me," the Silver Hawk mocked. "The boy with the golden eyes is Trevor Karvine." Nyatar met his father's eyes. Trevor was the younger son of King Brandon Karvine, supposedly murdered at the end of the Busch Rebellion.

"What do you want with him?" asked Naevys.

"To kill him," said the Silver Hawk. "You do remember the slaughter his ancestors brought to our kind eight thousand years ago, do you not?"

"It's reasonable for a King to protect his country from foreign invaders," Ethrion contradicted. "The Silver Hawks wanted to take over the entire west."

"And what reason is there for the Epsilon not to rule this world!?" the Hawk shouted. King Ethrion chuckled at that. The Epsilon race may have been on Zenartha for a lot longer than humans, but it was the humans that have always preserved the world. The Guardians are the only reason the Epsilon are alive.

"You do realize that it's humans that are the greatest heroes of this world, don't you?" asked Nyatar.

"They are nothing more than parasites!" the Hawk shouted.

"And you call us ignorant," Ethrion insulted. "I don't suppose you know about the Dragon War, and that House Karvine is the only reason Aetherian is still on every map of Zenartha."

"And I don't suppose you know that we don't care," the Silver Hawk argued. "What they did to the Epsilon thousands of years ago cannot be forgiven."

"Oh, but it can," Ethrion corrected. "If Rivenar Jarolan would only understand that defending a country from invaders is expected from a King. Do you forget that for the last ten thousand years, the Karvines were the only reason that a second Dragon War hasn't started? I witnessed the eggs of the black dragons being locked underneath the Ivory Tower, and the seal that made sure that as long as House Karvine sat on the Dragon Throne, Kidar and the other dragons of the Abyss would stay where they are."

"As I said, I do not care," the Silver Hawk reminded. "As long as the child dies."

"You would kill one person at the expense of millions more?" asked Naevys. "With no care that this country would be destroyed?"

"Our only concern is seeing all of House Karvine dead," said the Hawk.

"If you have such disregard for other lives, then why shouldn't we hunt down every last Epsilon bearing the Silver Hawks' sigil!?" Naevys screamed.

"Naevys!" Ethrion roared. "Leave. Now." Naevys stormed from the throne chamber, then King Ethrion turned back to the Silver Hawk, asking "Where is Rivenar, assassin?"

"Rivenar is hardly your concern, Your Grace," the Hawk answered. "You should be more concerned with your people." Suddenly, King Ethrion waved his arm at the assassin, and his head quickly came off.

"Why did you do that?" Nyatar demanded. "There was more he could have told us."

"If what he says is true, then we must prepare for war, Nyatar," said Ethrion.

"No, we need to find the Karvine boy and protect him," Nyatar corrected.

"This kingdom has survived worse than the Dragon War," Ethrion reminded.

"Yes, because we've always fought with the humans!" Nyatar asserted. "If Trevor Karvine lives, then this new war won't happen."

"The war will happen no matter what we do," said Ethrion. "Go to the gates to the city and harbor, order for them to be closed. No one enters this kingdom, and no one leaves it." Nyatar knew that Aetherian's fate would depend if Trevor survived or not. Still, he went to the gates to the harbor and ordered them permanently closed. When he went to the city gates, though, he was met with troubling news.

"Close the gates," he ordered the guards, speaking Fae. "The King commands it."

"What about Naevys?" the guard asked.

"What about her?" asked Nyatar.

"She mere moments ago armed to the teeth," said the guard. "She has yet to return." Naevys had always been reckless, but this wasn't expected. Nyatar knew exactly what she was doing.

"Damn it, sister," he whispered, then went across the bridge, into the jungle to track his sister.