Tag: fantasy

Just as the bandit’s stone-headed axe comes down for my head, a shield that glints with the Verlassen coat of arms, a gray howling wolf on the yellow and purple background, swings between me and the axe. The stone axe chips against the polished steel of the shield with a grating metallic ring. One of the royal messenger’s bodyguards steps in front of me, using his shield to knock the bandit off his feet. Then the soldier pulls his right arm back, a sharpened sword in his hand aimed for his opponent, and I avert my eyes. I hear the bandit scream—his mixed wooden and fur armor must have done nothing to stop the soldier’s sword.

“Estelle!” Cooper exclaims from behind me. “Are you okay?”

Mom and I are still cleaning up from last night’s baby delivery when Braxton knocks once on the door to our home and office before entering. He toys with one end of his mustache. “A royal messenger just arrived!”

Mom and I stare at Braxton and then glance at each other, Mom’s dark eyes no doubt as wide as my deep blue ones. With Inizion being one of the most remote villages in Amenyl, for a royal messenger to show up here meant it was an incredibly important message.

Chapter 1: The Stars Align

One of my favorite pastimes, besides for helping Mom take care of people, is gazing up at the night sky as I soar through the stars in my mind.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the daytime too. But laying out on a blanket behind our one-bedroom wooden home on one of the tallest hills in Inizion, watching the sun set and the stars blossom against the deep blue-black background, is a joy that I can’t pass up. Mom has taken to just assuming I’ll be out here every night unless I say something.