Floating Stars

Chapter 2: The Emerald Army

"Girl! Get up, you have five minutes!" A sharp voice sent a course of electricity through the ten year old's body as she was awakened the same way she always was every morning. Her thick, ebony hair looped and tangled around her face and her eyes fought against her to stay closed. Once she heard the slamming of her dormitory door, she forced herself to swing her legs over the side of the bed and a groan left her from deep inside her chest as she scraped her hands across her crusted eyes.

Every morning was the same. She would get yelled at, get out of bed, have a shower, get dressed and pull her long hair back tight off her face in a plaited bun. She had to look exactly the same every single day, in a uniform that consisted of beige trousers, an oversized off-white shift and a gold coloured waistcoat that had an embroidered pattern that looked like falling acorns. Once she turned thirteen she would earn her emerald green jacket and her standard army pin; but for now she had to make do with what she had and match her equals.

These uniforms only came in older boy's sizes for she was never supposed to be there. The other recruits resented her, it was as if they saw her as an insult to their own ambitions. But it was never her aspiration to train with the Emeralds, nor did she have any choice to be there or not.
She knew no other life - recruited from infancy was her punishment for existing. Born without love in her life, with no parents that wanted her. She was brought up by a nurse who was employed into the Emerald ranks for her unique situation.

She was given the name Dìl-Aeternia, which translated to "eternally loyal" in the old Natanstrellean language. All the recruits were given a new name once they joined the ranks, however, Dìl-Aeternia never knew any other name.

Once she completed all she had to do within the time she was given that morning, she left her dorm and headed straight to the mess hall to eat breakfast. She served herself the breakfast ration of one ladle full of porridge and sat down at her usual place at a table on her own. Every morning without fail she would sit there and allow the sounds of the chatter, of the many lads that signed up by their own free will, swirl around her as they ignored her presence.

That morning, she could feel prying eyes heavily upon her and the familiar prickling she felt on the back of her neck refused to be ignored. She looked up from her porridge and glanced around the busy mess hall- an action she never usually did because she was aware that the other recruits were told not to associate with her. But, this time, a force that she could not fight against made her lift her head. The eyes of a red-headed boy who sat two tables away met her gaze and he gave her a smile. This was a sight Dìl-Aeternia was not accustomed to.

Every new recruit was warned about her before they joined. Warned about the girl who had a shadow looming over her. The one prophesied to be the future destroyer of light magic of the realm. These rumours plagued her life and the only way she could cope with the stigma that she faced daily was to ignore it. To endure the loneliness that the prejudices of others brought.

She dismissed the boy's strange behaviour with a shrug and finished her porridge, tidied up her utensils and left the hall with her head down.

Making her way swiftly to the combat training yard, she grabbed her fighting staff from the middle shelf attached to the white, outside wall of the building the training yard extended from. She swung it around once before stepping onto the dusty sand that was bordered off with neatly chopped grass. There she took up her place and waited for the rest of the group.

"Oh, by the stars! You're here..." Dìl-Pugnum sneered.

His hatred towards Dìl-Aeternia radiated from his deep, reddish brown irises. His feelings towards her not only rooted from his belief of the rumours that plagued her existence but also came about through jealousy. For she had been able to surpass him within all combat exercises, and his ego constantly got beaten whenever he witnessed that petite, female form stand over him after countless defeats. Every time she fought she brought new moves that he never saw coming.

That was one thing isolation did for her, with her lack of social life she was able to work on her fighting skills. They became her obsession after a while.

Dìl-Aeternia refused to respond to his outburst, however, she was very aware that no good would come out of rebuking him. Her daily mantra when it came to dealing with this certain individual was, Don't give stupid the time of day. It usually worked well. But just ignoring him was not going to work this time.

"Get ready, Princess!" Every syllable that left his mouth was underpinned with resentment. "You are not going to get the better of me this time."

"Okay," Dìl-Aeternia said, trying to keep her voice as steady as she could. What else could she say or do? His tone took her back and she had no idea what he truly meant. She decided to just stand there and wait for the group leader and the rest of the fighting team to join them. Usually, arriving early gave her the chance to think and get her head in the game, but that wasn't going to be possible this time.

She planted her feet and gripped tighter onto her fighting staff. The stronger her demeanour, she thought, the less likely Dìl-Pugnum was going to intimidate her. But that's not what he had planned. A sharp snap of his fingers caused her to put her guard up even more as she witnessed a gang of older boys, all sporting emerald green jackets, form a line behind their younger leader, who wore the same uniform as herself.

"Oi! Cursed girl!" one of them called out in a menacing voice.

"She fancies herself the best junior fighter of the Emerald Army." Dìl-Pugnum spat, then added with a smirk. "I say we put her to the test."

"There's nothing to her! This should be easy," another member of the gang said with  a dark laugh.

Dìl-Aeternia's grip stiffened around the wooden staff that she held ready in her hands and her eyes darted to each of the individual faces that squared up to her.
Only a rumour spurred these lads on, a ridiculous rumour formed from a prophecy that had been spoken over her since her birth. They wanted to prove something - that she had no place amongst them. A concept that never left her mind anyway.

They took menacing steps towards her and she understood that all they had planned was to hurt her. No matter what it may look like to any possible on-lookers. She crouched down ready to defend herself and time seemed to slow to a crawl.

"Hey! What's going on here?" a lad's voice sounded from behind the gang's backs, and barely a moment passed until that lad managed to make his way between Dìl-Aeternia and the gang that sought her blood. "Stop!"

"This doesn't concern you, Dìl-Eques!" seethed the young leader of the gang.

"Do you know what you look like? Five of you ganging up on the Emerald's only female. A ten year old girl. You are acting like Trolls under the power of Noir-Astra!"

It was the lad who was staring at her at breakfast. A strange individual who not only went against the protocol that all the others followed - of completely ignoring her, but who was willing to stand up to his equals to save a yellow rank from abuse. Who was this guy?

"Step aside, unless you want to receive the same punishment!" Dìl-Pugnum threatened, squaring up to his better, feeling brave standing amongst his four cronies.

"I was under the impression that the only one who has the power to distribute punishments here is the Captain," Dìl-Aeternia's saviour responded in confidence. "And I am sure if he caught wind of what you are planning here, he would not be pleased. I'm sure this will be considered an offence worthy of lashing."

All four members of Dìl-Pugnum's gang shared the same look of dread and took a step back.

"He's right, Pug."

"I don't care!"

"Oh, but you will," Dìl-Eques warned with a victorious tone in his voice and after what seemed to be an eternity of angry silence, Dìl-Pugnum eventually backed off and the five of them walked away and took up their places on the field. Dìl-Eques then turned swiftly to Dìl-Aeternia, gave her a tender smile, and was just about to say something until he was interrupted.

"Dìl-Eques! Get into formation!" yelled the group leader and without missing a beat, he rushed to grab a fighting staff and found his place amongst the others.

Dìl-Aeternia's gaze did not leave him. What she felt was so alien to her. Her heart felt light and a subtle smile curled the edges of her lips for the first time that she could remember.

Maybe she didn't have to be alone after all.