Gem
I woke up, stretching my arms and letting my hair flow around me. I praised the sun for raising me on this fine day. I stood up.
All normal morning things.
What wasn't normal was what I found in my mailbox when I went downstairs and opened the door.
Dear Princess Gem,
Following the death of Joel, god of Stratos, I advise you not to exit your home during these troublesome times.
I have reason to believe that the murderer is targeting people of power, and so yourself and Pix of the Ancient Capital have received this letter.
I wish you a safe and cheery morning,
-The Great Witch Shelby
Oh. That would make my usual morning routine difficult.
So naturally, as a rule abiding citizen, I ripped the note in two and went about my day. I wasn't about to let the death of a god stop my morning of harvesting!
~~~
As I worked, I thought. It had only just hit me that Joel was a god, and if he was able to die...could the sun die also? And what about Saint Bdubs? It was all so confusing, and a little bit scary.
Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by a tiny bang, way off in the distance, coming seemingly from the direction of the giant gateway to Dawn.
I turned towards the entrance to my empire and stared. The only movement came from the slight breeze from the south, rippling through the beautifully placed leaves, and the heat shimmering off the stone pillars that held up the gateway.
I heard a stick snap behind me. I turned again.
No one was there?! This was getting all too much. I wished I had a weapon, but I had vowed never to raise a sword to anyone long ago. I just had to hope that Saint Bdubs would protect me.
"Gem! Hey!"
I jumped half a mile into the air as I turned. I pulled out a sword out of instinct, but put it away when I saw Oli a few feet away, hanging from the branch of a tree.
"OLI! So it was YOU making all those noises!"
He suddenly looked concerned. "What noises? I flew here...landed a couple of seconds ago."
I narrowed my eyes. "What?! But...I've been hearing noises all day-"
"Oh...actually, same here, now that I think of it. I thought it was the dragon egg hatching, but no such luck."
I laughed. "Oh, I'm sure it'll hatch soon, don't you worry. But I don't think that's our main problem here."
He nodded. "We should probably go to Shelby-"
Suddenly, a figure stepped out from behind a tree.
"Prepare to die." The silhouette said.
They raised their axe.
And all hell broke loose.