Chapter 4: Warrior Princess

They Came, They Saw, They Converted.

THEY.

THEY.

tHey.

Errrr. ERRRR. Errrooorrrrr.

THe Nox are coming. We must flee, the others have already fallen the last continent is our only hope. Arlo’s people should know the way. The Wayfinder MUST know the w-

ErrrrRRR. 404.

Run, Run, RUN FOR YOU LIVES.

Join, Join, JOIN TOGETHER WITH US.

LIVE FOREVER THROUGH US

BE TOGETHER WITH US.

WE ARE NOX.

Lost transmission to the last free continent of Prima. Sender Unknown.

The Warrior Princess listened to her spymaster as she began to report while she paced back and forth in her office. Several weeks ago, a flaming meteor had fallen from the sky and ended up crashing into the Endless Mountains right next to the Free Lands. Yet there was no explosion or impact felt of any kind. The Last Kingdom had enough on its plate and the Warrior Princess was leader in everything but name as her father the King had fallen ill after a grievous wound taken in battle. Her siblings? Gone and lost to the Nox.

Karla Astris sighed and removed her battle-stained helmet setting it upon her desk. She had just returned after another incursion into the lands of the Last Kingdom established only two hundred years ago after the fall of the Astris Empire which once spanned most of their continent. With the beast lands to the east and the daemon lands to the south the Last Kingdom was in a rough position as the Endless Mountains covered their back. The front was for the Nox.

Gloria looked her liege with silent anticipation. She was the one who kept the last kingdom going. She was the one who time and time again repelled the Nox from finishing their job and assimilating the rest of the free people. In total war between the four races, it was the Warrior Princess who kept their once mighty empire turned kingdom from becoming divided and conquered. It was the Warrior Princess who set aside their differences and established peace between the beast people and the daemons. It was the Warrior Princess who established the collation army after recognizing the threat the Nox posed to the free people of the Largon continent as the rest of the world was in an unknown state. Civil war split the two subjugated races from the Empire. It would be the Warrior Princess, who Gloria believed, would put an end to the Endless War.

“Send a scouting party to the range to see if they can bypass the outer mountains and look for the landing spot of this meteor. Maybe it is a gift from the heavens and Arlo. Maybe he has responded to our prayers in an unknown fashion.”

The Endless Mountains hadn’t had an expedition to explore its depths since the Imperial Airship was lost in the very first expedition. That was when the Artis Empire was still standing. The mountains themselves follow their name’s sake and seem to be an endless range splitting off a portion of the continent but also useful as the Last Kingdom had no need to watch their backs allowing them to focus their full attention on the Nox.

Karla sighed as Gloria left. Only a few people knew the truth. They were losing. Not quickly but nevertheless the Last Kingdom and its allies were losing to the Nox. Not because they were worse in tactics or because their equipment was inferior. They were losing to numbers alone. Every year more and more abled body men and women gave up their lives leaving an older generation behind to take care of the fields and any children. Their population was gradually decreasing, and Karla estimated they’d have a few decades before they were at a tipping point and would not have enough able-bodied men or women to defend the rest of their lands. It was the same for the beast and daemons. Only the leaders of each respective army truly understood this fact.

Karla emerged from the shower immediately being attended to by her various maids. She would be having another ‘date’ to find a potential husband and allow her bloodline to continue. A bloodline she didn’t want to bring into a losing battle and allow another one of the Artis bloodline to lose their free will. Yet it was one of her father’s wishes that she ensures the bloodline of the Artis to continue. As she thought of the man tears threaten to leak from her eyes, but the Warrior Princess did not cry. She was a bastion of hope. The bastion of hope, for her people and she could imagine word spreading quickly through the populace if their princess was to cry.

These people depended on her to be strong and in turn she depended on them to fight for her and themselves. If they could create an opportunity perhaps, they could pierce their way into the heartland of the Nox territory and take out the High Queen who was stationed at the former capital of the Artis Empire. Only then would she be able to sit and relax and bring children into the world.

Count Caccula was a charming man in his late thirties. Charming to anyone that might not possess a brain, but Karla humored his attempts at trying to get her smitten. He had served in battle alongside her father and was taking a much need reprieve from the front lines. A reprieve that the Warrior Princess had deemed lasted to long. As the count had been away from the front lines for over 5 years. The time that Karla took over the army quelled the differences between the races and even took land back from the Nox. The time in which Karla barely in her early twenties did this. Not because she was better than everyone else but because she had the gift from their god Arlo. The gift that only awakens within the bloodline of the Astris if rarely. Wayfinder – an ability that allowed the Astris to find their way to anything within the world of Prima but not without cost. An ability she believed her family has been misusing for centuries even dating back to when the Artis Empire still existed. As Karla found the way to defeat the Nox on battlefield after battlefield while her family used the ability to keep their once sprawling Empire on top through slavery, bribes, and other unsavory methods. Methods that Karla abolished and took immediate action to implement. At great cost to her reputation amongst the nobility. If only they could see the bigger picture.

Her eyes began glowing, giving off a blue gold hue as she activated the ability to see if Count Caccula was the one for her, or even was any helpful to getting her people out from enslavement. They were in a private small dining room with windows facing the Endless Mountains. Gloria came rushing in gesturing to her men to escort the count out while she rushed to the Princess. Karla’s gaze turned west looking directly towards the Endless Mountains as Gloria began to speak.

“Princess you know you’re not supposed to use the ability and give them a chance to express themselves,” the older woman scolded but grew quite as the Warrior Princess eyes glowed even stronger as she gazed towards the Endless Mountains.

“Princess?”

Tears began to fall down Karla’s face as she gazed west.

“I’ve found it Gloria… I’ve finally found it.”

“My Princess what is it that you see?”

“My hope. I see my hope shining brightly in the Endless Mountains. Arlo has answered our callings.”

Gloria immediately whistled and figures in black began to appear and apprehend all the servants while ushering them out.

“Karla…?” Gloria questioned.

“I’ve not told you this but I’m sure you can see it already. We’re losing the battle Gloria. Yes, I’ve had several victories here and there but every year our population decreases. Every year with more incursions into our land and the capture of our people the Last Kingdom loses it’s free will.

I’ve have been looking for a way to counter this a path in which we can either defeat or coexist with the Nox anything that can give us a chance. I’ve seen little to no hope. Not until today. I’ve found the way.”

The light slowly faded from the Warrior Princess eyes and she took a stumbling step forward only to be caught by her spymaster.

“You need to rest, and I will personally head to the Endless Mountains to search for the answer Arlo has sent. The priest say they can no longer feel him the same way they used to.”

“It is ok he has sent us a way out of this Endless War.”

Saying so Karla head slumped forward, and the Warrior Princess fell asleep.

*

Gloria carefully laid the young woman down within her chambers. A smile ever present on her face as she looked at the girl she treated like a daughter. She had watched her grow into the woman she was today, and her sister would be proud of the lady her daughter became. As she left the Spymasters face harden and she began to call out orders having a carriage prepared and a little over one hundred men prepare to explore the Endless mountains to see if they could discover what gift Arlo had sent.

Over the last few centuries word from their god had been scarce yet the people still believed and worshipped him as his blessing still provided protection over the kingdom. Their valleys still grew plentiful, and their mines ran deep and if they ran out ores and minerals, they could always find their way to a new vein.

Gloria lied when she told Karla they could not feel Arlo the same way they used to. In fact, their exact words were:

“Our connection to Arlo has been cut. Like it is no longer there. We have attempted to contact him several times, yet He has not answered our calls. We fear… we fear something may have happened in the divine realm.”

Gloria couldn’t bring herself to add on another thing for the girl to worry about. The priest where still trying and maybe just maybe Arlo had truly sent something to aid their battle against the Nox.

She began to call out orders. Some of her men would set off immediately to look for any experienced men to help travel through the mountains and get word from any of the close villages of the free lands to see if any of the inhabitants spotted the rough position of the meteors landing. It was important that they get these details as soon as possible least the trail to the meteor grew cold and harder to find.

*

Count Caccula rubbed his sharp smooth-shaven chin in thought. Although Gloria had tried to interfere the count heard enough before being ushered out of the small dining room. Enough to know that something was in the Endless Mountains that the princess would want.

He hurried from the castle using his identity to quickly bypass the guards and rush to his manor located within the city. A small contingent of troops would need to be prepared as he would rush to the Endless Mountains and ‘secure’ this meteor.

The count hadn’t seen when it fell himself but had heard plenty of stories as it was the talk for around a week in his domain. Luckily, his domain was one of the closest to the free lands and would allow him to arrive before all other parties. Grabbing a small squad of guards, the count set out from the capital city and rushed towards his lands. Hopefully he would arrive before anyone else.