A sensation that she had never know attacked her. She had only ever known the tenderness and warmth that her mother's brought her. She sat there, confused and crying. What was happening? She cried out for the comfort of her mother Selene, Mora, of Asta, but no one came. She screamed for someone to come and explain what was wrong, but no one said anything.

She who was in great emotional distress over the first time experiencing pain and shock. But then a strange person came and helped her. She wasn't her mommy, but she helped her. She smelled like her favorite trees and had a caring look in her eyes. She was a nice lady. She opened her mind to the girl, flowing her thoughts freely to the girl. Thanks and pleasant memories poured into the connection and the elven scientist was momentarily stunned., the elven scientist tried her best to sooth her until her sister finally snapped out of her trance and brought the emergency trauma kit.

The scientist shook her head and put off reviewing all this until she had dealt with the problem at hand, she did her best to soothe the girl's pain until her sister finally snapped out of her trance and brought the emergency trauma kit.

The scientist carefully parted the silver locks of hair to find a gash on the back of the girl's cranium. Drops of red blood and silver strands covered the wound making hard to see, but there was an undeniable impression there. She got to work administering basic first aid, wrapping a bandage around the little girls head while muttering a prayer.

“Wait shouldn’t we clean it first?” Her sister asked.

The elven scientist shook her head.

“We don’t know if she might have a negative reaction any of the bacteria we carry from Terra. The shuttle is relatively sterilized but we can’t take risks infecting the wound with germs she has no defense against.”

Under normal circumstances, the proper protocol when making first contact was to make no hostile intentions and seek to out a way of communication as they were taught at the academy. However, the situation was abnormal. This little girl obviously belonged to someone and the fact that has been hurt by indirect actions they had taken will make any future communications with any other lifeforms either impossible or hostile.

The protocols were there for a reason and she would respect them, however already violated they had been, they could still salvage the situation.

While these thoughts were running through her head, the situation outside the shuttle had deteriorated.

The ethereal chains held the ship in place. With the primary engines melted and turned to molten slag with no hope for escape. Not only did they not possess the materials to repair the engines but an army of glowing orbs had surrounded the shuttle and forming an impenetrable net around the shuttle. They flared up and morphed into thousands of silver lances, a deadly glow coming off each one. Bits of the melted engines drifted into one and was unceremoniously turned to dust.

“James…”

“Too many. Not even sure if our weapons can affect them. It’s not wise to attack.”

“What about using the EVA suits to escape?”

“And risk those things moving to intercept, I don't think so. We are surrounded with no means to defend ourselves and we can't run away or hide. Our best option is to parley and discuss terms.”

To the dwarven engineer who had known the beastman a long time, his answer was surprising and maddening. It was unlike him to wave the white flag in any scenario even if he was outnumbered and outmatched.

The beastman saw the look on the dwarf's face and replied.

“We cannot be reckless here. Under normal circumstances, I would not hesitate to try and create a weakness in the enemy's encirclement or even use the EVA suits as you had suggested, but we are dealing with an unknown power. We have no way to contact Command about our situation nor do we have sufficient firepower to challenge them. And then there are political agendas to consider-"

"Politicals be damned man! Our lives are at stake and you want to surrender because of some stuffy old men on a planet thousands of miles away!" Shouted the dwarf.

"I mean not politics such as those that go on between men, I mean our relationship between us and "them". Because whoever "They" are, we are likely their first contact with Terra, and we must act accordingly. Like it or not, we are representatives of our species in this encounter. If we were to provoke them needlessly we could be endangering the whole of Terra should they be offended. They could be years ahead of us in magical and technological development. If we upset them, we could start a war. Thus, I strongly advise we parley. Your orders sir?”

"i don't think we have a choice. Look!"

As he said so, three of the radiant orbs of silver light, brighter than the rest, flew out of the atmosphere, streaking across the darkness. The lances parted and the three orbs approached the shuttle.

The hull groaned as bolts became undone and screws unthreaded themselves. Plating parted and the whole side of the shuttle facing the three flashing orbs pulled itself apart, opening the cabin to the vacuum of space, yet no one felt radiation burning their skin nor any suction force of the vacuum of space. Gravity seemed to turn back on as the crew members all slammed back down onto the deck, despite the artificial gravity not working.

The three held their breath as figures that could only be described as Immortals descended. The leading one, a tall woman with bronze skin stormed down onto the light colored metal floor. She wore a crimson battle dress and eerie silver spear she held signified her a warrior, perhaps a bodyguard, they thought. You could not see her face through the visor of the helm, but one look at her and even the greenest soldier could tell she was a force not to be trifled with.

From behind her, another long legged beauty descended. She wore a hoodless, ash gray robe with sleeves that brushed the floor as she lightly. Her features were charming, a pale face and delicate jawline, hair the color of black smoke drawn up in an ornate hairpiece, and eyes full of inquisition. With a book in one hand and a long shiny stiletto in the other, her eyes flickered from the elves holding the child to the gash on the back of her head, a dark glint could be seen in her sharp gaze.

“LUNABELLE!”

Rushing past the other two, a gorgeous woman in a light blue chiton pushed the elven girls out of the way and cradled the girl in her arms. She wore no armor, nor weapon, or jewelry. Her dress plain and unadorned, her was hair unpinned flowed down her shoulder. Simple and ordinary, but every male member, including some of the females, were enchanted by her beauty.

Yet her mannerisms indicated she was no mere nanny or handmaiden. Her form and grace rivaled the other two if not surpassed it.

Powerful auras could be felt from all three. If it was the warrior or the clever looking women the crew could believe it, but the women with no weapon emitted the most potent one. The pressure she emitted was passive and carried a hint of distress, eclipsing the aura the other two posed to the point where the others were trivial.

'Oh no. Dieties! At least they do not appear to be hostile.' thought the captain.

The three of them broke open the hull of their ship and didn't even need to worry about surviving the vacuum of space. Dealing with deities was a messy business. Religious practice was banned from the shuttle crew to keep conflict to a minimum since things often got out of hand whenever beings of immense power were involved.

But how and who were they that they could pull a ship apart at it's screws and not worry about dying?

None of this mattered to the women cradling the girl. Tears stained her face as she hugged the girl to her chest, softly chanting a lullaby.

A song from a time when words had yet to be born, when the minds of beings were a thing of the future and thought was just an idea. Raw emotions of sadness and joy, ideas of home and love, a lullaby from a time when intention and emotion was the language of the universe.

She cried for a while, but slowly she grew tired and to the melody of old, fell asleep.

The goddess halted her song and checked the back of the child's head. Sure enough, the gash had mysteriously disappeared. She stood, and walked back towards the other goddesses. Suddenly the potent motherly aura she passively emitted disappeared, replaced with a deadly calm.

“Kill them.” she said.

It wasn’t a request, the moment the words left her mouth the goddess with the spear of silvery light pointed it at the crew and began to advance on the shuttle.

“Wait wait! Truce Truce!”

The captain ran in front and began waving his arms in front of the three.

“Can you understand me? We aren't here to hurt-”

“Kill them. And send this cursed vessel into the sun.”

Ethereal chains tugged at the shuttle in the direction of the fiery ball of death and silvery lances advanced on the awaiting targets.

Shouts of protest erupted as the lances tore through what was left of the walls and closed the net around them. The three goddesses had all but forgotten about the intruders and turned to leave when one the one called Selene halted and turned, a look of fury on her face.

“What did you just say!”

The lances stopped their advance and the crew members all hurried to thank the woman only to be silenced by the point of the warrior's spear. The goddesses rage was not directed at any of the protesting crew members, but at the elven girl who had been holding her child moments ago.

“I said, you have failed as a mother.”

The rest of the crew members did not speak a word and instead looked at her in shock, their eyes seemed to ask the question “What are you doing!”.

“Say that again!” the figure in blue said seethed.

“I said” the girl standing up.

“You have failed as a mother, and quite badly I might add.”

“Please pardon my friend, O great ones. We have all been under a lot of stress lately and her mind-”

With a single death glare from the goddess in blue, the babbling captain was silenced. He could only curse his fate as unlucky, himself sure of his soon demise.

“I will have silence from you mortal! And you! You! You dare call me a failure of a mother! Did your parents drop you on your head as a child? Obviously they did not beat a sense of respect into you! Perhaps a few thousand years in eternal punishment will be a good teacher for your insolence.”

Space seemed to shake and the stars grow dimmer. No one daring to say a word.

“She overreacted just now when she was injured. I wonder, with your pampering...She hasn't had a single discomfort in her life has she? You are a poor mother, for your own method of upbringing is flawed,” she said motioning to the sleeping child in the goddesses arms.

“Flawed! What is this nonsense? You have exactly 1 minute to explain, otherwise...” she said motioning to the darkness of space, a miniature black hole forming in the distance.

The elf girl made a somber face. After she had been rudely shoved off the child, all the memories that the girl had tried to show her came rushing in. A never ending life of happiness. That is what the girl had experienced until now. she had never met with challenges or even a paper cut. And today, that blow to the back of her head was the first time she had truley experienced discomfort of any kind.

The goddess impatiently tapped her toe against the dark metal floor, feeling this she had wasted enough time with these thieves and kidnappers.

Seeing the impatient manners of the goddess, she quickly got to the point.

“This child...She holds a closeness to nature so strong, she was able to share her life like the ancient ents and nymphs could. She...when I am near her, I feel as though I am touching the heart of Lifetree itself.”

The Great Lifetree was the guardian of the forests and a medium they used to commune with their goddess, Naturia. Once a year, or in times of disaster, an elven shaman would be tasked with entering the heart of the Great Lifetree to commune with Naturia for direction and guidance.

Years ago she had once too been chosen from among the high elves to enter the Great Tree and ask for wisdom during the 32nd Demon war. That year, she was to tell the rest of Elvenkind to prepare for war with the forest defilers that had invaded their land. And it had not been a pleasant year.

James had said that what she was speaking was not Terrian, but he was mistaken. She had not spoken any tongue of any of the races, but the language Naturia herself used to commune through the Great Lifetree, The language of No Words.

When the girl had connected, it felt as though she was talking to the girl's soul. Great distress and confusion had been blasted out in an emotional overload, but also the many years of happiness and comfort she had shared with the goddess in front of her.

“You have pampered and spoiled her too much! No one should pass through life without feeling being burdened by such things, it is a law laid down by the creators of life themselves. And in doing so, you have hurt her worse than any sword or stone ever could have.”

“Laws of the Creators of life, what utter nonsense is this. It is my realm and she is my child. I may do as I please. Who are you to question my methods! I can crush your entire world if I wanted to and your dare talk back to me!”

The elven girl gave her a sad expression.

“You may be able to and have done all you said and more, but was it not your upbringing of her that resulted in this happening in the first place?”

Just when the goddess in blue was about to make good on her promise and throw them into the nearby black hole, the one in gray came held her back.

“Sister, despite her attitude, this mortal has made a point.”

“But, Astenna!”

“Sisters, if we are to argue, I ask that we move this into a more suitable place.”

Oddly enough, it was the goddess in armor who said this. Despite her looks as nothing more than a warrior, she was wise enough to carry out important matters in secrecy and away from prying eyes. They may be the rulers of everything within 10,000 leagues of their moons, but you never knew who was watching.

“Very well, Mora, return this vessel to the surface. Do not imprison them, but make sure they cannot go anywhere or get into more trouble. Mora, Selene, Come, we have much to discuss.”

The battle goddess nodded and set about maneuvering the shuttle and its crew into the atmosphere of the red tinted moon. The black hole was dispelled and the crew relaxed. They were no longer in any immediate danger.

Taking the child, the three turned back into glowing orbs and retreated back into the atmosphere of the gray moon.