This was an idea I got after watching the Deltora Quest anime series. My brother used the read the book series as a kid (to this day, I regret not reading them fully myself), but I did manage to read a PDF on The Forests of Silence. I thought I would do a gender-swapped retelling just for fun.

For those of you who have seen DQ, here is a guideline of names just to make things easier (Original = Swapped):

Lief = Lana

Barda = Berda

Jasmine = Jason

Shadow Lord = Shadow Queen

Jarred = Jarra

Anna = Annan

King Endon = Queen Enda

Queen Sharn = King Shar

Filli = (In this fanfic, Filli is a girl)

Here are some characters who DO NOT have their genders switched: the Grey Guards, Prandine, Fallow, Min the nursemaid, Crian the blacksmith, Kree the raven, and Gorl).

So that's it. Enjoy!

CHAPTER ONE:

A LIGHT IN THE DARK

Lana of Del sat perched on a rooftop, glaring at the tall husky figures sealing up the last remaining apple orchard from the public. Down below on the open street, several of the townsfolk – all haggard in their tattered clothes, their expressions sapped of life and spirit – formed a crowd behind the stone-faced armed men.

They were the Grey Guards, the ruthless servants of the Shadow Queen. They obeyed their dark master without question and carried with them bags of poisonous pellets called blisters. This was partly the reason why none of the onlookers strode forward to challenge the Grey Guards, to demand the return of their apples. Anyone who fell victim to their blisters met a cruel, agonizing end.

Lana tightened her headscarf, making sure her face would not be seen. She was determined to ruin their little party one way or another. Attached to her belt was a small sack filled with stones. They weren't the best of weapons – especially against blisters – but at least Lana had a strong throwing arm. Years of roaming the streets of Del had sharpened her wits and reinforced her quickness and agility.

The Grey Guards finished chaining the gate to the orchard. Then one of them lifted a hot iron rod and marked the local sign. The wood beneath sizzled and blackened, revealing the Shadow Queen's mark: a black hand with a single eye on the palm.

It meant the Shadow Queen's hand had claimed this area. It meant no living soul could enter on pain of death. The thought made Lana's blood churn with disgust.

There had been a time when the Shadow Queen would never dare lay a hand on Deltora, the kingdom of the seven tribes. Adin, the first king who had born a common blacksmith, had dreamed of a magical belt affixed with the seven tribal gems: the diamond, the emerald, the lapis lazuli, the topaz, the opal, the ruby, and the amethyst. Each gem had a unique power, but when put together on the Belt of Deltora, their combined magic banished the Shadow Queen back to her domain in the north, the Shadowlands.

But the evil sorceress had been far from defeated. Instead of planning immediate revenge, she decided to watch from afar and recover her strength. The Shadow Queen waited for a thousand years, during which time King Adin and his descendants ruled wisely and justly. But as time went on, the legend of the Belt was forgotten, the lingering threat ignored, and the people lost faith in their sovereigns.

Finally, sixteen years ago, the Shadow Queen saw her long-awaited chance and invaded Del Palace. Her seven winged Ak-Babas wrecked havoc everywhere, their ear-splitting shrieks striking terror into the hearts of all who heard. Most of the nobles, servants and guards had been killed in the attack. Worst of all, the Belt of Deltora – the one thing that could defeat the Shadow Queen – had been shattered, its seven magical gems stolen and lost forever. Queen Enda, the ruler of Deltora at the time, had mysteriously disappeared – most likely killed or otherwise fled in guilt and despair.

The Shadow Queen's reign from that day onward was merciless and terrible. She used her Grey Guards to plunge the people into poverty. Those who sought to fight back were dealt with publicly and brutally, and little by little Deltora lost hope.

But not today, Lana thought as she crouched closer to the edge of the roof. The setting sun shone brightly behind her, so she had no fear of being easily spotted. Today, she was going to send those Grey Guards scurrying back to their master like a pack of rats.

"Listen up, all of you!" the pod leader called out to the distraught onlookers. "These apples are now the property of the Shadow Queen! Anyone caught beyond these gates will be immediately apprehended and charged with high treason!"

The other Grey Guards smirked and chuckled wickedly while the people of Del moaned at the loss of their beloved orchard. There was little to eat in Del these days. Most of the people had to dig up to their necks in garbage to find a single scrap of food. Those apples were one of the few sweet treasures of their lives... and now the Shadow Queen had taken it from them.

Just like she took everything else from them.

Lana finished digging the first stone out of her bag when something from the crowd made her catch her breath.

A small child – a girl no older than seven – waddled up to the Grey Guards, an angry pout on her thin face. "Why can't I have an apple?" she said to the pod leader.

The civilians gasped, looking to one another to see who among them that daring little girl belonged to. Sure enough, a frail-looking woman cried out and tried to shove her way through the swarm of bodies.

Lana's heart skipped a beat. That child was the first brave soul she had seen in a very long time, if at all. The fact that all of the adults – save for the wailing mother – were not doing anything to stop the girl was proof of how much they didn't want to have a share in the blame – or the punishment.

The girl continued to rant on, "You mean men stole all our apples! They don't belong –!"

"What did you say?" The pod leader's response came out more like a growl, and his hand reached for the sword at his side.

"No!" The girl's mother finally broke through and swept her daughter into her arms. "Please, sir, forgive her!" she pleaded to the Grey Guard. "She doesn't know any better! It won't happen again!"

"No," the pod leader agreed, though his face was etched with anger, "it won't."

Several people screamed as he drew his sword.

WHACK!

The pod leader stumbled when a small rock clubbed him on the side of the head. The other Guards snapped around, searching for the one responsible.

As their captain came to his senses, Lana stood up in the fading sunlight and laughed at her opponent. "I don't see the Shadow Queen's brand on any of those apples," she said with a wink at the little girl, "so technically those apples aren't anyone's property."

The child gave Lana a wide grin.

The pod leader was not so joyous. "Arrest that girl!" he shouted at his men.

Like a cat from its perch, Lana leapt gracefully onto the street and rolled into a crouch, throwing more rocks at the perplexed Guards. Meanwhile, the mother and her child struggled to get away. The pod leader saw them, raised his sword, and snagged the woman's dress into the ground, sending her plummeting down with a cry.

"Mommy!" the girl cried.

Something in the child's voice woke something ferocious in Lana. Before the pod leader could strike the woman – no doubt to finish her off, this time – Lana rushed forward and tackled the Grey Guard. They crashed down together on the dusty street, kicking and clawing at each other relentlessly.

By now the onlookers had scattered back into city. Among them were the brave girl and her mother, who gave a nod of thanks to Lana before being swept up by the crowd. Lana finally ended the brawl with a punch to the captain's face, sending him flying off of her.

Lana scrambled to her feet just as the other Grey Guards raised the strange-looking crossbows on their arms. With terror swirling in her gut, Lana sped away from them just as small fiery explosions went off behind her.

Blisters!

Lana knew all too well what would happen if a blister hit you. Your skin would melt on contact and, if in the right amounts, the poison would burn through your body – as if your own blood were on fire – until you died screaming. Memories of all those unfortunate victims she had seen gave Lana further incentive to run faster.

She was lucky the Grey Guards had poor aim today; she wouldn't have wanted to be sent back to her parents' forge in a blackened heap.

It wasn't long before her enemies fell behind her, and Lana turned down a narrow alleyway. The scent of burning wool caught her attention, and she quickly realized that her headscarf was on fire. Lana tore the thing off and flung it away, revealing her long creamy-gold hair, before picking up the pace.

She wasn't surprised to see the people of Del rushing to shut their doors and shutters. The sun had set, and curfew had begun. The punishment for breaking it was death. If Lana remained out in the city any longer, the Grey Guards would surely find her... and kill her.

Panting and thinking quickly, Lana raced past the worn-down houses and into the darkness of Del, praying that the shadows themselves would not betray her every move to the enemy.

Happy birthday to me, Lana thought with a mirthless chuckle as she ran onward.

In a cloistered dark chamber of Del Palace, dark red vines littered the ground. At the centre of it all sat a massive stone carved in the shape of a clawed hand.

And above that hand, the gargantuan red eyes of the Shadow Queen shifted restlessly.

This was unusual for her, for she was never restless. The last sixteen years had been the boon of her entire immortal life. Gone were the old days when the seven tribes united under one banner. Gone was Queen Enda and any chance of King Adin's line ever resurfacing. Gone was the bane of her existence, the Belt of Deltora – forever broken, its precious gems hidden away where no mere mortal would ever find them.

Then why was she restless?

It is the dream, she thought as her consciousness rippled through the room.

It had appeared to her earlier that very day. The Shadow Queen recalled looking over the city of Del, a pitch-black sky cast over it, and not a single candlelight could be seen amongst the decrepit streets. Suddenly, high above, a tiny light poked through the darkness. Like a glowing star, it bathed the city in frail but warm light. But it wasn't the pale white light of ordinary stars. This one had several different colours, each one streaking out distinctively across the sky.

Something about those colours shook the Shadow Queen to her very essence. She had clearly seen only seven colours in that single star.

Seven colours... like the seven gems: green for emerald, red for ruby, gold for topaz, violet for amethyst, blue for lapis lazuli, rainbow for opal, and sparkling white for diamond.

The sorceress narrowed her floating red eyes – the form she so often assumed whilst in Deltora – and her snarl of displeasure echoed across the chamber.

"Fallow," she called out in a deep, mesmerizing command.

An abnormally tall, gangly, sour-looking man wearing the robes of the Shadow Queen's chief advisor strode into the chamber. "Yes, great mistress," the man said in a high-pitched tone, bowing at the waist. "I am your most humble servant."

The Shadow Queen ignored his vain attempt to please her. "Something is festering in the heart of Del," she explained, her glowing eyes lingering on Fallow but seeing something else entirely. "I feel a change in the world. I dream of a star in a black sky – a star of many colours. I feel that my rule is threatened."

"Your rule is more powerful than ever, oh mighty Shadow Queen," Fallow said proudly. "Your Grey Guards patrol the land and stomp out any resistance that dares to oppose you. The Belt of Deltora is no more, and without the bloodline of Adin there is nothing and no one who can threaten you again, my great mistress."

"Then why do I feel there is something you have overlooked, Fallow?" the sorceress asked, her voice lazed with poison. "How can we know for sure that the heir to the throne is dead and the Belt can never be restored? What is the significance of this dream?"

She seemed to be asking herself more than anyone, but Fallow, ever the sycophantic fool, assumed she was asking him.

"Is it the seven gems that trouble you, my mistress?" he asked with a gleeful sneer. "I could serve you more if I were to fetch them for you, provided you tell me of their whereabouts, of course."

The red eyes glowed hotter and brighter, and the Shadow Queen's voice rumbled with anger. "Fool! How dare you ask for the location of those gems?!"

Fallow squealed in terror and kneeled upon the floor, his face practically kissing the red vines. "N-No! Of course not! Forgive me, Your Majesty!" he pleaded.

The Shadow Queen reigned in her power and lowered her tone. "See to it that no one leaves the city. Triple the Guards, and order them to kill anyone on sight."

"Y-Yes, my queen. It shall be done," Fallow whimpered.

As he slithered away from her throne, the Shadow Queen contemplated Fallow's words. Why would she have reason to fret about the gems? They were sealed away in the most dangerous places in Deltora, and she placed careful measures into their protection.

The image from her dream reappeared in her mind's eye.

If the heir of Adin was truly dead, surely the gems would have lost their powers by now.

No matter, she thought as she prepared to return to the Shadowlands. The gems will never be found, and that accursed Belt will never shine again.