Many years ago, in the kingdom of Lamada, the people were rejoicing in the castle courtyard on a beautiful summer night. The Lamadians twirled their partners around in the street as spectators tapped their feet to the rhythm that the local band had struck up. Children peered through the legs of onlookers to try to get a glance at the commotion on the street. Fireworks exploded in the sky marking this special occasion. This was no ordinary occasion mind you; this was the celebration of the birth of the new princess their queen had just born. The Lamadians looked to the sky as the fireworks exploded welcoming the new princess into their world.
Meanwhile, in the King's Quarters at the Reynold's castle, Queen Lucille was in bed recovering, after just being told by the kingdom's nurse to rest and regain her strength. Her husband, King Richard, was standing by the large window that overlooked the courtyard. He would come here often and just watch his subjects learning about them and even noticing the things they needed such as protection, a variety of new shops and even guards to protect the defenseless when it came to them getting robbed or beat by locals. As of right now, he was watching his people dance and sing below. After clearing his head, King Richard turned his attention back to the people that mattered in his life, his wife, and his new daughter. He looked at his smiling wife holding their baby wrapped in a royal blue velvet cloth. "What should we name her?" He wondered aloud, knowing his wife probably had an idea since he was not good at that sort of thing.
"Hmmm..." thought the Queen looking around for some inspiration to strike, but nothing came to her until she saw her daughter's ocean blue eyes. It reminded her of the days she had spent with her mother, the former queen, at the beach.
Lucille had always loved the water, so her mom had brought her down to the beach for the very first time as a surprise. Little Lucy, as her mom called her, had never seen such a vibrant and gorgeous hue of blue, that she just had to know the name of the color, so she could remember it the rest of her life. When she asked her mother, she replied with aquamarine. Not knowing how to pronounce the word, Little Lucy only could say aqua and that was the color she had always loved.
Since Lucille was an only child, and her mother had died not long after the trip, she treasured that memory more than gold itself, that is how she knew her daughter's name. Only something that precious would become her name. "How about Aqua?"
"Aqua is perfect."
Lucille Reynold gingerly handed her husband Aqua, then picked up a mahogany antique box with gold etching from her nightstand. The box might have looked ordinary to the eye, but it had been in her family for generations and had become quite valuable to all the members of her family before her. Her mother had given it to her the day she was born, and now it was her turn to bestow it on her own daughter. The Queen carefully lifted the mahogany lid and inside, sitting on a red velvet pillow, was a blue, tear-shaped necklace.
When she was a little girl her grandmother told her stories of the necklace having untold powers and a prophecy that would alter everything they knew to be true. The prophecy stated that the person worthy of it would get mysterious and unique powers; although Lucille never believed everything her grandmother said, she still had her suspicions.
Aqua laughed as her mother placed the rather large necklace around her neck. Everything in their world was perfect or so they thought, but what they did not fathom was that their enemies, the Cadars, woken with a start upon hearing the fireworks, which celebrated the princess's birth, exploding in the sky.
When the Cadars heard the fireworks, they jumped out of bed, mounted their horses, and rode straight to the outskirts of the Lamada border. Their leader, Stota, was a fierce looking man on a black stallion. Stota was on a mission. A mission to settle the score once and for all, that King Richard could not take everything he wanted. "Now men," said Stota addressing his men that gathered around intently listening to every word he said. "I will take a small group of three with me to help open the main gate. The guards will be too busy watching the crowd and partaking in the local festivities, that they won't notice us sneaking in. I want the rest of you hiding in the Eastern Woods about a half mile away." Stota paused for a moment, letting this information sink in before continuing. "Once we get the drawbridge open, the rest of you will rush in and distract the royal guards. With the guards busy I will sneak into the King's room and take what King Richard loves most, his baby. Now go!"
Stota's men obeyed his orders and galloped off toward the Eastern Woods and hid in the shadows waiting for the signal to start the attack. Stota and the other two men headed for the castle, their plan was in motion. The three men approached the moat that surrounded the castle from the East side, there they dismounted their horses and tied them to a nearby tree, making sure they did not lose their rides to escape if things went terribly wrong. The Cadars approached the water's edge, knowing they could not go any farther; Stota pointed his finger at the towering wall above him. One of his men carrying a crossbow nodded, responding to his command, and shot a grappling hook that fastened around the wall's stone edge with a soft clink. Stota grabbed the rope and started the agonizing climb, followed closely by his two men.
Once the men neared the top of the wall, they vaulted over and landed as quietly as possible. Just when they thought they were in without being noticed, a guard doing his nightly shift came out of the left tower. He opened his mouth to warn the kingdom, but he was shot in the neck before he had even uttered a word and no alarm was sound.
Stota ran to the body and retrieved his bloody arrow; he had learned long ago that an arrow waisted was a life lost. After recovering his arrow, he raced through the tower that the guard had just come out of on his right, knowing it led to the gatehouse. Before his men followed, the archer that had shot the grappling hook went to reclaim it, leaving no evidence of their entrance. Since he did not have a satchel with him, the archer looped the rope and hook on his belt loop and caught up to the other two.
Stota had been in this kingdom many times before and remembered every inch of it because King Richard was Stota's brother. Even if Stota does not admit it, he did have some fun times with his brother before things changed causing him to carry out this very plan.
The three Cadars descended the long staircase that led into the gatehouse minding their steps, so they would not make any noise. Before entering the gatehouse room, Stota peaked around the corner to make sure no guards were on duty inside. Luckily not, but they were not far. The guards were stationed right outside guarding the front entrance since they thought they had another man guarding the top entrance, but thanks to Stota, they did not. If he was going to lower the drawbridge, he had to be super cautious; any noise would alert the guards outside. He could just shoot them from here, but he thought better of it because two dead guards stationed outside the gatehouse would alert the enemy. Stota turned around and put his finger to his lips; he then pointed to the guards stationed outside of the room, so his men would understand. His archers nodded their heads showing Stota that they comprehended what he was saying.
The three men gingerly walked over to the drawbridge reel and began to push with all their might. Stota and his men groaned quietly in pain as they pushed, for the drawbridge reel was not as light as it looked, it had to weigh a few hundred pounds at least. Slowly the outside wrought-iron chains began to lower the wooden drawbridge, but not without drawing a little attention. The three men finally managed to lower the drawbridge, a painstakingly long and exhausting process, but the guards who were outside had noticed the bridge opening and had snuck inside to stop Stota behind his back.
"Phew," said Stota wiping his brow. "At least we didn't have to deal with Richard's pathetic guards." "Uh, Sir?" Said one of Stota's bowmen tapping him on his shoulder. "What?" Said Stota turning around to see the guards that used to be outside with their weapons drawn and pointed at them. "Oh. Uh... we surrender," Stota said as he put his hands in the air. The guards looked at each other confused by Stota's behavior and that was just the distraction he needed. Stota then began to move to his right, causing the guards to also move. When he was sure the guards were in position he yelled. "Now!" Then the guards realized what had happened; Stota had moved them just enough to have his men positioned directly behind them, so when they tried to turn around, it was too late. Stota's archers' aim was impeccable, and the guards quickly dropped to the floor dead.
"Well, that went well don't you think?" Stated Stota to his archers. The three men moved the guards' dead bodies deeper inside of the gatehouse, so they would not be noticed right away before they headed out of the building and blended into the crowd of celebrating Lamardians. The Cadars easily slipped in and out of the crowd as they headed in the direction of the castle where King Richard and his family currently were.
Outside of the castle, lurking in the shadows was Stota's second in command Grevis, who watched the castle's wooden drawbridge lower. "Men it's time to attack," said Grevis and gave his horse the order to gallop towards the now open entryway. Grevis led his men toward the bridge and into the kingdom to destroy the Lamada royal guards that dared to challenge him and Stota's army.
As they neared the castle, Grevis heard men shouting and knew they had been spotted. Arrows rained down on them like snow in a blizzard, even though men fell on his left and right, he did not stop because he had one job to do and that was to do Stota's bidding.
Meanwhile, a large, black wolf with dark blue markings was running down the castle hallways to the King's Quarters. This was no ordinary wolf mind you; this was Darkmoon, leader of the Guardians. The Guardians are an elite secret organization, known to only a few, who have taken an oath to protect anyone with special gifts and abilities or in this case, the royal family. Guardians can also take any form from an adorable kitten to a ferocious mountain lion. That is why Darkmoon was in a hurry. He had to warn the King that the Cadars were attacking before it was too late.
Darkmoon dashed through the doors into the King's bedroom like a bolt of lightning. "My King," he said in a deep voice that sent a shiver down your spine. He bowed his head in respect before continuing "The Cadars are attacking."
"What?!" The King and Queen said in unison. King Richard walked swiftly over to the window and unlatched it to see that the Cadars had indeed breached his defenses and were headed toward the castle as they spoke. "Is Firestar ready?" King Richard asked addressing Darkmoon.
"Yes Sir, I'll call him." With that Darkmoon gave a mighty howl that echoed throughout the kingdom. Only a few would know what the howl meant and one of those few was Firestar, Darkmoon's young warrior.
A few seconds later a young wolf pup named Firestar burst into the room upon hearing Darkmoon's howl, but do not be deceived, this little pup can fight better than some of the King's top guards. He was handpicked by Darkmoon when he was born because of the future he had foreseen, one he had never told anyone about. Since the day he could walk Firestar had trained and did everything Darkmoon asked and because of that, he was his most trusted warrior. "I'm here my King," said Firestar bowing his head in respect.
"Firestar the Cadars are attacking," said King Richard.
"I noticed," Firestar replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I want you to follow Stota and see what he's up to."
"What about Darkmoon?"
"I am having him lead his pack out of town and into hiding, don't worry, they will be safe. I fear the worst is upon us. Now go before Stota sees you." As commanded, Darkmoon and Firestar left King Richard fearing they would never see him again. They went their separate ways, each with a mission of their own to complete.
A few minutes later Stota and his archers burst into the room. "It's been a long-time brother," said Stota with a snarl.
"Yes, it has," Richard replied putting his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Why are you here? We've done nothing to you."
"Really, when father was dying, he chose an heir to his kingdom and who did he choose? You, the younger son. Not me the rightful heir to his kingdom."
"But I made it right and let you rule the kingdom with me as an equal."
"Then an orchestrated murder led to two separate kingdoms. And that is why I'm here. Since you took someone I cared about I'm here to take someone you care about... your daughter," said Stota as he unsheathed his sword as did King Richard and started to fight.
Stota started with small jabs to Richard's kidneys, but Richard blocked each of his attacks as if he were swatting a fly. Then when Stota took a big swing Richard dodged his blade and cut Stota's right thigh. Now Stota was mad. Richard thought he had the upper hand, so he decided to take another jab at Stota's leg, but Stota was prepared for this and cut Richard's right arm causing him to drop his sword.
Stota raised his sword to deliver the final blow to end his brother when he felt the wind of an arrow whisk past him and land right in the center of Richard's chest rendering him unconscious on the floor.
Stota slowly turned around with his fists clenched tight and anger clearly noticeable on his face. "Whoops," said the guard as he shrugged his shoulders after having just shot the king. Stota lifted his sword and plunged it into the man's chest. "Whoops," said Stota as he dropped to the floor.
The Queen, clutching her baby close to her chest, screamed and jumped out of bed. Pain immediately engulfed her, but she did not care, she would take all the pain in the world if it meant her child would be safe.
Lucille looked for an escape, but the only entrance and exit out of the bedroom was the one Stota had just come through and his men were currently blocking it. The only thing that was open was the window her husband had just unlatched earlier that evening. Knowing it was her only means of escaping, she took a flying leap out the window. Stota and his archers raced to the window expecting to see Queen Lucille and Aqua lying dead on the ground, but instead, she had landed on a soft bale of hay and was running to get Aqua to safety. Stota was baffled upon this site, but not for too long. He took one of his archer's bows and shot the Queen, causing her to fall on the cobblestone before she could get any farther.
With a smug expression on his face, Stota jumped out the window, just like Lucille had, to get what he came for. Stota walked over to the Queen and took Aqua out of her grasp, knowing that the arrow that created a gaping wound in her shoulder was making her weaker by the minute. "No, you can't take Aqua," said Lucille, realizing she would never see her daughter again. "Aqua, so that is her name. Don't worry I will take great care of her," said Stota and with that, the Queen passed out from the loss of blood hoping to one day see her daughter again.
Upon seeing that the Queen was now dead, Stota retrieved his horse from where he had tied it up earlier and left Lamada with Aqua in his arms. Grevis stayed behind to bind up the king and queen, as if they were still alive, and placed them into a boat, then sent them adrift into the never-ending vast sea.
After leaving his brother's kingdom, Stota gallivanted on his horse back to his palace Cadar, about forty miles away. Though these two kingdoms were semi close, it still took a little over an hour to arrive in Cadar.
Once home, Stota dismounted his horse and handed it off to a stable boy who put it away in the palace stables along with any other horses that survived the battle. Then, little by little some of his men returned; the ones that did not reappear were either dead or dying of severe wounds. Many of Stota's soldiers who returned, were very weak and had a lot of scars and bruises that needed medical attention, which the kingdom's nurses treated as the men came in by the dozens.
Grevis was the last to return from battle, his face was worn, his battle armor was coated with Lamardian blood, and the stench of his own wounds was overbearing. He proceeded toward his king who was standing by the stables and told him of his report. "I see we have won," said Grevis inclining his head at Aqua in Stota's arms.
"Yes, we have. Did you take care of the king and queen?"
"Yes my King, they are adrift in the Carsman Sea just like you wanted."
"Thank you Grevis for tying up that loose end."
"You're welcome," and with that Grevis walked away, but before he left he added. "Also, Sinergy is here to see you." Stota did not respond but nodded his head. It was odd to receive a meeting from Sinergy, so this piece of news put his guard up.
Sinergy is King Richard's top adviser and as cruel as they come, he was the type of man that stopped at nothing to achieve his ultimate goal. This time his goal was becoming king and he needed help from someone, someone who hated King Richard just as much as he did, and that man was Stota. You see Sinergy was the one who gave Stota all the inside information, like where the king and queen would be on the day of Aqua's birth and exactly when to attack. That is how Stota was successfully able to infiltrate the Lamada kingdom without complications. Now, Sinergy needed to talk to Stota to get rid of his final competition once and for all. Poor unsuspecting Stota did not know what was coming his way.
"Ah Stota, just the man I wanted to see," said Sinergy riding up to the Cadar's stables. "Sinergy, I hadn't expected to see you for a while," replied Stota.
"I am full of surprises, but I'm not here to talk, I'm here to warn you. After you left the whole kingdom found out that you stole the princess. They all grabbed their weapons, saddled their horses and are headed here to kill you. You need to get away from here."
"Well that was a short-lived victory," said Stota unsure what to do. Surely a few townspeople could not get through his defenses, but a lot could considering most of his men were injured from the battle. "Where should I go?"
"How about the Forbidden Falls?" Suggested Sinergy. "The Lamadians wouldn't dare go there."
"I'll leave at once. Bring me my horse," Stota ordered the stable boy. A few seconds later the stable boy reappeared pulling his majestic steed by the reins. Stota swung himself over the saddle, the reins in one hand and Aqua in the other hand. "Grevis, I leave you in charge until I return. Thank you, Sinergy, for warning me."
"That's what friends are for," said Sinergy with a mischievous smile. With that Sinergy left to head back to his own kingdom. Since the throne had fallen to him after the death of King Richard, he became the new king and maybe another if he played his cards right, which was exactly what he had planned for.
After Sinergy left Stota packed a few bags with clothes and food and then headed toward the Forbidden Falls. Little did he know that he was being followed by Firestar, he had been following Stota since he had left Lamada and he would go to the ends of the Earth to make sure Aqua stayed safe which was his job, so he really did not have a say in the matter either way.
Stota's horse galloped through the forest with such speed and agility it would have left racehorses in the dust. His horse jumped over fallen trees and small streams, it swerved in and out of the dense forest. Stota slowed his horse to a trot as the familiar waterfalls, known as the Forbidden Falls, came into view. "This is it," Stota said to himself as he hopped off his horse, grabbed his luggage setting it on the forest floor and slapped his horse's flank causing it to run free in the woods. No need to keep the horse if he did not even know where he was going, "it's time to see if the legends are true," stated Stota as he approached the water's edge.
The legend of the Forbidden Falls was, whoever went through the waterfalls never came back, but Stota was not afraid of death, okay maybe just a little thought Stota. He looked down at Aqua in his arms; how she was asleep right now was beyond his comprehension. As he looked at the strange child, a black string stuck out of the royal blue blanket, this intrigued Stota so he pulled it out to reveal an all too familiar necklace. "What's this?" He wondered as he brought the blue teardrop-shaped necklace into the light. Memories flooded his brain as he remembered seeing Lucille wear it all of her life. "Well I can't have this ruining my plan," said Stota and with that, he threw the necklace into the water a foot in front of his feet never to be seen again.
He grabbed his bags or what he could carry of them; since he was holding Aqua it made things ten times harder. Stota held his breath and said. "Death is just another adventure," and with that, he stepped through the waterfall, but he was not alone for Firestar had been hiding in the nearby shrubbery and jumped through right after him not knowing what layed ahead for them. One thing was for certain, this was going to be an adventure neither of them would forget.
Note: I hope you enjoyed this rewritten chapter. Updates will be every Friday.