Fallen One (Book three of Alfireán age)

- Spoiled Royals -

"Oh," Alf exclaimed in surprise.

He'd heard the fables of the mystical guardians and the tales of Mirinia's powerful crystals. From all accounts, the guardians had cultivated a paradise on the island of Madagascar for the last century and a half, but no one had seen them, and Harold had told him the stories were nothing but propaganda. The woman in front of him, however, seemed to prove otherwise.

As the warrior princess gazed at them expectantly, Alf started to take his hands off the reverse shield so he could free and greet the woman properly.

"Do not let her out!" Drakovian commanded, his young voice full of authority and urgency as it rang out across the battle-scarred peninsula.

Alf stopped and glanced back at the prince to see his eyes narrowed in warning.

"Why not?" Pony asked, taking her hands off of the shield and looking questioningly at the prince and princess.

"Because," Valarinnia answered first, eyeing the prince. "He's afraid I don't believe him. Of which he is right," she said, tossing the prince a heated glance. "I don't trust him, not even as far as I can toss him and his inflated head."

"Why are you even here?" Drake snapped and once again motioned for Olivia to look at the smoldering silver box.

The captive warrior crossed her arms. "Thanks to your little coup against your father, or whatever this nonsense is," she said waving her hand at the destroyed city, "our kingdom is suffering. The meteor you dropped in the middle of your Empire resulted in a hurricane that destroyed thousands of acres of our coastline. And surprise, surprise... another hurricane is already starting to form thanks to your tomfoolery," she continued, strands of purple lightning running alongside her armor as if to express her anger. Shoving her straight black hair out of her eyes, she said heatedly, "So I came to find out what in the world you are up to and to get exact readings from the meteor's impact site."

"Why?" Pony asked, her two brown buns bobbing as she turned her head to the side in question.

"Because with those readings, we might be able to form a counterspell to stop these blasted hurricanes," she answered, her eyes once more flashing accusingly at Drake.

"That might actually work," Olivia said, her face lighting up at the concept of controlling the weather. "If you can figure out how the impact affected the atmosphere's barometric pressure and the jet streams, you could... " she trailed off as Drake glared at her, and for the third time, pointed at the object in his hand. "Oh, sorry," she said, a note of embarrassment coloring her voice. Removing her hands from the barrier, she made her way over to the prince's side.

As Drakovian and Olivia examined the ancient dragon tech, Alf and the others stood there awkwardly with their palms pressed against the reverse shield, keeping the princess trapped inside. The short woman, who Alf guessed couldn't be much more than twenty years old, stared out at them imperiously. Which made the situation all the more awkward. Until, at last, she turned towards Rex. "You there," she stated, jutting her chin at the surprised vice-champion. "You stopped my assault twice, something no one else has ever done before. What is your name?"

Rex opened his mouth to answer when Drakovian spoke up, "Typical. Thanks to your interference, it looks like you and your kingdom have much more to worry about than some weather gone awry."

A sinking feeling settled into Alf's stomach. Without that recording, they couldn't stop or delay Vackzilian's attack, which meant they had to continue on their way to Madagascar. Which, in turn, meant Harold would die without the unicorns' help.