A Queen To Come

by Frances Ellen

  From where she was squatting she could see how another two mannequins were already heading towards Lian, and she knew that he would keep fighting until his body physically couldn’t anymore.

  Sophie aimed her wrist crossbow at one of the mannequins heading Lian’s way and pressed the button with her thumb. The small bolt hit the mannequin right in the eye and it collapsed to the ground. She then jumped down from her perch onto a lower block of concrete, still about five feet above the ground. As she landed, she could see Lian’s blood was starting to coat the floor as he pushed the other mannequin back.

  Sophie was about to jump to the ground when a mannequin rose up right at her feet, a sword in its hand. But before she could quickly unsheathe her rapier there was a blue flash, and Sky had used his shimmer to appear right above her. He crashed down on top of the mannequin, his short spear held tight in both hands, to give Sophie a clear route towards Lian.

  There was an oooh from the crowd as Sky brought the mannequin crashing down, but Sophie paid no attention. She knew Sky would be smiling. Somehow, he always found time to smile in trainings like these. She would be, too, if she could just vanish and re-appear wherever she wanted, at will.

  Sophie jumped down and ran towards where Lian was fighting with a strength no man should be able to with the wound he had. He stumbled a step back but still managed to block a blow from the mannequin with his sword, while also avoiding an arrow that was heading right in his direction.

  It made Sophie scowl. Jackson wasn’t taking it easy on them.

  Her breathing ragged, Sophie called out Lian’s name to let him know she was coming to him. She knew her call was what Lian had been waiting for. With three swift motions that completely dislodged the knife in his abdomen, letting the blood run free, which would kill him in minutes, Lian cut down the mannequin in front of him. But before he could turn to Sophie to get himself healed, he saw the exact same thing Sophie did that made her stop in her tracks as well.

  Across the arena, Matu was breaking down several brick walls that Jackson had made shoot out of the ground and block his path. Without knowing that a mannequin was waiting on the other side, ready to bring down its sword, Matu threw his magic into his fists and punched through the final wall.

  The mannequin rose up in front of Matu, and before he could do anything to stop the sword from coming down, the mannequin was thrown to the side, simultaneously impaled through the chest by the sword Lian had thrown, and pierced through the neck by a small bolt Sophie had let loose from her wrist crossbow.

  Neither Sophie nor Lian gave Matu a second look. Sophie knew Lian couldn’t have thrown that sword if she hadn’t been on her way already. That throw alone had turned his survival rate with an abdomen wound like his from minutes to seconds. And even though he couldn’t feel the pain, Lian would be able to sense how close the injury was to killing him.

  Lian stumbled back again, but Sophie was there. Before she could lay her right hand on him and let her magic work, she needed to get rid of the ball.

  “Sky!” Sophie yelled. She tightened her fingers around the small red ball and threw it up into the air.

  She had no idea where Sky had been at the time she called his name. But she knew he was there because she caught the blue flash of Sky’s magical shimmer from the corner of her eye. The gasps and cheers from the crowd told her he had caught it, and the game was still on. She quickly laid her right hand on Lian’s abdomen and let her magic work. The black Band around her wrist, that looked like a tattooed bracelet, glowed golden, indicating her magic was active. In less than ten seconds there was nothing left of Lian’s wound except for the torn shirt and some dried blood.

  Lian didn’t bother to thank her; they never thanked each other for the use of their magic. There was never any time. Within seconds Lian was back on his feet and swerving to the side to avoid yet another two knives thrown his way.

  Sophie didn’t have time to watch him go as the floor underneath her feet groaned and started to crumble away. A second later she was rolling and throwing herself towards solid ground, while also avoiding the mannequins and the weapons that Jackson was so accurately directing at her.

  And all the while the crowd kept cheering, watching with wide eyes and open mouths, and clapping whenever one of the Asters pulled off an incredible move or unexpectedly managed to save another. But Sophie didn’t hear them. There was just the lethal calm of the simulated battle as the seconds and minutes ticked away.

  Chapter 3

  The chatter and laughter of the crowd as they started filing out of the arena could be heard from the closed rooms beneath the stands. After waving at the crowd and taking a deep bow at the end of their training the five Asters headed for the weapons room. This small rectangular space was in the part of the arena that was built into the cliffs and had no windows to let in daylight. Bright, artificial lighting turned on automatically the second Sky opened the door; the rest of the Asters walked in behind him.

  Sky headed for the large round table in the centre of the room and dropped his short spear onto it. At the same time Sophie began the task of healing whatever injuries the Asters still had. In the third round of the training a whip had magically coiled its way around Matu’s ankle and had pulled his feet out from underneath him. He had broken his wrist as he landed, and now he was groaning slightly as Sophie’s healing magic worked its way through his bones. Sky could almost hear them snap back together, and he watched as Sophie stepped back and Matu wriggled his fingers painlessly.

  “That could’ve gone better,” Matu muttered. He inclined his head to Sophie before coming up to Sky’s side and sliding the knuckle knives off his hands. He dropped them on the table.

  “You’d better not be talking about my healing,” Sophie said. She had moved to the long wall, in front of which stood six large lockers, side by side. She opened the one that was hers and hung up her rapier and sheath on the back, and placed her wrist crossbow on the bottom.

  Matu looked over his shoulder. “You know I’m not.”

  “At least you didn’t fall on your face,” Lian joked. “Though I’d pay good money to see that.”

  “Shut up,” Matu said, tugging off his jacket.

  “Maybe Nate could grow a little patch of grass next time to soften your landing?” Sky offered.

  Matu shot him a look, but Sky just grinned, winking at Lian who snickered behind him.

  “Nate should have enough time to do that when all this is for real, you know. Even while battling Disciples right alongside you, he should be able to take a moment’s break to help soften your fall. Hey Nate,” Sky said, turning to his other brother, “maybe we can try it out next time we’re out in the field?”

  Nathan looked up. He remained quiet but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly as he held up his right hand. The black Band around his wrist started to glow green as Nathan put his magic to work.

  Matu held up his hands. “No, noo. Stop it.”

  But it was already happening. Right underneath Matu’s feet, the concrete gave way and, in its place, little sprouts of green grass shot up into the air.

  Matu let out a sigh as he watched the grass grow thicker under his feet. “This is ridiculous.”

  Sophie and Lian looked on with quiet amusement, waiting to see how the exchange would play out.

  Sky looked from the grass back to Nathan. “I think you’re going to need it to be bigger. If you pull on his ankle right now his face will still hit concrete.”

  Nathan pretended to study his work with narrowed eyes. He then glanced at Sky. “You think?”

  Sky grinned and nodded. “Definitely.”

  Nathan shrugged. The Band on his wrist started glowing again. The Band was in the shape of a thick bracelet, wrapping all the way around his wrist. It was like a tattoo, except that it had never been inked onto his skin. Nathan had been born with it. It had the width of about two inches and it was filled with swirling black lines.

  Sky looked at his own Band. It was i
dentical to Nathan’s except for two things. Sky’s Band glowed blue whenever he used his magic, while Nathan’s glowed green. And on the inside of his wrist there were no black swirling lines but an open circle with one single image: for Sky that was the image of a wing, representing his magic of Speed and Flight. For Nathan it was the image of a horse chestnut leaf, representing his magic of Flora.

  Sky chuckled as the patch of grass at Matu’s feet expanded rapidly.

  Matu’s expression grew bored as he said, “Are you finished?”

  “Almost,” Nathan mused.

  Sophie giggled by the lockers, and Sky cast her an amused glance.

  “There,” Nathan declared. The grass was now a perfect two-yard circle, with Matu standing at its centre. “What do you think?”

  Matu rolled his eyes. “Perfect. Can you get rid of it now?”

  Nathan looked at him, surprise in his eyes. “Don’t you want me to test it first?”

  Matu frowned. “Test it? How are you going to AHH—”

  Before Matu could finish his question Nathan had thrown his hand forward. A green vine suddenly appeared in his hand and shot out towards Matu’s ankle. Quick as a flash, Nathan pulled the vine back, which ripped Matu’s legs from underneath him.

  Matu landed on his back with a thud and a grunt.

  Lian grinned hugely, and Sophie struggled to contain her laughter as she asked, “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Matu grumbled as he got back to his feet.

  “Soft as a pillow?” Nathan asked.

  Matu glared at his youngest brother. “I’m not answering that.”

  Nathan thought for a moment before turning his head away, saying softly, “I might have to make a few tweaks…”

  Sky turned from Nathan to Matu. He could barely keep in his laughter. Matu looked at him with a warning in his eyes. He mouthed don’t. Sky rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to unbuckling the weapons belt from around his waist.

  Nathan was quite a mystery half the time. The second they stepped out of the arena he had gone back to his quiet self. With him saying he needed to make a few tweaks… Sky couldn’t tell if his brother was joking or not. If he wasn’t, and Nathan would actually use this patch of grass out in the field, it would be absolutely brilliant.

  Someone cleared their throat, and each Aster, still chatting and laughing, turned to the door. They immediately fell silent when they saw who was standing in the doorway.

  Their Commanding Chief, Jackson Kelly, surveyed each of them with his piercing stare. Sky caught the flash of green on Nathan’s wrist and knew that the grass and the vine had vanished.

  “Chief,” Matu said.

  Jackson didn’t bother with pleasantries as he said, “Axel wants to see you in the Board Room. Now.”

  “We don’t get to clean up first?” Sophie asked.

  “No,” was the Chief’s only response.

  Jackson was already half out the door again when Sky asked, “What’s it about?”

  The Chief turned around, his piercing gaze highly alert. “It’s about Gayle Mendosa.”

  “She’s coming here early. That must be what this is about,” Sophie said excitedly as the five Asters, still in their torn training clothes and covered in dried sweat and blood, hurried out of the arena and up the steps to the castle. The cold October wind whipped at their faces but they were still filled with too much adrenaline to notice. White and purple sea asters bloomed all alongside the stone walkway that connected a side entrance of the arena directly to the side of the castle. Down to their right the hundreds of Affinites who had come to watch the training were still filing out of the front doors of the arena and down the steps back to the town below.

  “She can’t be. They set a specific date for a reason,” Matu said. “She wouldn’t come sooner unless she was in grave danger. And we wouldn’t be here right now if she were.”

  “She’s coming,” Sophie breathed. “I know she is.”

  Sky looked sideways at his sister. Her thunderstorm grey eyes were brighter ever since Jackson had mentioned Gayle Mendosa. Sky’s heart tightened for his sister. He knew what it meant to her to have Queen Aiyana’s reincarnation on Saluverus with them. He just hoped Axel would bring the news she so desperately wanted to hear.

  Gayle’s existence was a miracle in itself. She was the daughter of Tomas and Cara Mendosa, two Asters of the previous generation. Sky’s mother had been a part of that generation. Just like Sophie, Lian and Nathan’s mothers, and Matu’s father.

  Two Asters hardly ever fell in love. Their bonds were so much like siblings that romantic feelings rarely ever developed. It had only happened once before: about a hundred years ago. When that female Aster had been pregnant she was expecting twins. Normally each Aster only ever had one child. It was like some rule of nature. The child would be born with the magic of the parent, and because it would be the only child, its powers would be as strong as in the previous generation. The magic would never be diluted because of a split between siblings. But when, a hundred years ago, two Asters had fallen in love, the woman had given birth to twins. One child inherited the Aster magic of the father, and the other the magic of the mother. It was nature’s way of keeping the Aster magic pure and strong.

  When Cara Mendosa got pregnant, everyone had expected her to be carrying twins.

  But she wasn’t.

  What she had been carrying was far more incredible. A miracle, in fact.

  When Gayle Mendosa was born, she didn’t have either her father or her mother’s Aster magic. No. She was born with a magic that hadn’t existed for almost five hundred years.

  Gayle Mendosa had been born with the magic that had only been possessed by the first and last Queen of the Asters and Affinites: the magic of Fauna. She was the reincarnation of Queen Aiyana. The lone wolf who had brought all Affinites together and made them into her pack. The creator of the Underworld, the mother of all Asters, and the slayer of Kings.

  Aiyana’s reincarnation could only mean one thing: a magic was needed that was stronger than what the Asters together possessed. They would be facing something that their magic alone wouldn’t be able to defeat. That was what Gayle Mendosa represented: a salvation from whatever threat was about to be unleashed across the world.

  Affinites all over the world had celebrated her birth. And inevitably the Underworld got wind of it. And they had tried to take Gayle for themselves. To raise her in Darkness. The Asters and the Small Council of the time had their own ideas on how to keep Gayle safe; Saluverus seeming the best option, since no form of Darkness could detect the island and therefore would never find it.

  But the Mendosas had other plans. They saw Saluverus as a prison. One Gayle wouldn’t be allowed to set foot off of for her entire childhood. Only when she was strong enough to protect herself would she be allowed to step out into the world, if then.

  No, the Mendosas wouldn’t let their child live that way. So they left Saluverus. They decided to cloak themselves and Gayle, so their magic would be as undetectable as the island of Saluverus itself. And they would have a human life. Gayle would have a simple childhood, where she wouldn’t even know about magic. She wouldn’t know about her destiny and the fact that she would be wearing a crown one day.

  Until her eighteenth birthday she would be normal. Human. Then her parents would tell her the truth and she would be brought to Saluverus. To learn about her magic, and to train for whatever threat she was born to face. With the Asters by her side.

  That would be next month. Only four weeks left and then she would come to Saluverus. The miracle reincarnation herself. The Queen. The wolf. The Bhediya, as Aiyana had preferred to be called; the Hindi word for wolf.

  Sky could see the hope and joy in Sophie’s eyes. They were the Aster generation that would write history. Never before, and maybe never again, had Queen Aiyana’s magic returned to the earth. And they would be fighting alongside it.

  “Don’t get your hopes up,” Sky told his sister. />
  Sophie looked up at him. “I won’t.”

  Her words weren’t convincing. “One month, one week. Either way, she’ll be here before you know it,” Sky said.

  Sophie’s eyes sparkled. “Can you imagine?”

  Sky grinned at his sister. In these moments he couldn’t believe how fierce and deadly she could be on a battle field. Sure, she looked disgusting now, with tangled hair falling out of her plait and blood on her face, but there was a childish joy in her that she rarely ever showed. The prospect of Gayle Mendosa coming had brought it out in her.

  The Asters entered the Board Room minutes later. It was a spacious room, with a heavy, round, oak table in the middle. A corner desk filled up most of one of the short walls and part of a longer one. Two large computer screens were on top, next to piles and piles of paperwork that Sky never wanted to ask about, in case he would be asked to read through any of it. The other long wall was completely covered with filing cabinets, and under the window, along the last short end, stood a large chest of drawers. Despite all the furniture, the room was large enough for at least twenty people to stand around without feeling claustrophobic. The oak table stood quite isolated in the centre of the room.

  Instinctively the Asters took their seats at the oak table.

  Axel Reed was already there. He was a large man, with broad shoulders and big arms. He had a round face with blonde hair that was cut extremely short. Sky couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Axel smile. He always had a stern and serious look on his face, and the large, badly healed scar near his right temple only made him more intimidating. He was Saluverus’ Ambassador, and the boss of everyone in the room.

  Axel wasn’t the only Ambassador in the world. Back in Aiyana’s reign, the Queen had created two other islands like Saluverus: one in the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Namibia called Auro, and one in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia called Viria. Lastly Aiyana had created an undetectable place high in the mountains south of Russia, called Glacialis. Also known as the Frozen Dungeons, it was a prison land where captured and interrogated Disciples spent the rest of their days. Glacialis was also home to the weapon’s factories and a laboratory complex, and a small village housing the people who worked there. Every single weapon the Asters and Affinites worked and trained with was developed and made there.