The sun beat down relentlessly on the soft fur of the lone rider sitting atop a small creature as he crossed the bridge from the Y'rall Region to Wyndia. His golden fur gleamed as the sun's harsh glare beat down on him, making him stop every so often to wipe the sweat from his brow. He knew what his mission was; you could see it in his eyes. His destination was Wyndia Castle; his mission was to seek help from the King. He rode atop a huge lion-headed creature - whose talons scratched the stone beneath it at every step. Its golden wings beat gently at either side of it and its cat- like tongue rolled out of its jaws; panting.

"Nearly there, girl." The creature murmured; patting it's soft underbelly, "Just past Mount Zubulos and then we're there!" The griffin/sphinx purred gently - a deep rumbling sound - and continued on its four talon-like paws. As they reached the foot of Mount Zubulos, three large dripping creatures appeared in front of it - blocking the path. The rider brushed back his long hair and smiled. "Begone foul creatures." He raised a furry, clawed hand, "Noveik Salum!" A flash of light and the three creatures stood frozen in their tracks. The rider chuckled and gave the griffin/sphinx a slight kick to get it moving. "Tar men." He reported to no one in particular, "Easily beaten by an ice spell, eh girl?" Again he patted the creature and continued on his way.

(***)

Nina stared out of her window at her kingdom-to-be and sighed. There had to be something more out there than this life of luxury! With another dreamy sigh, she remembered her early adventures - spending days, weeks, months and years with the dragon Prince Ryu and the furry Woren Rei by her side. She remembered crossing the ocean for the first time, crossing the scorching deserts, fighting creatures that could tear her in two with just a staff in her hand and fire in her heart, and spending many moonlit nights gazing out at the new territory with the engineer Momo, and her robot companion Honey, by her side.

"There has to be something more out there!" She gazed over at the Y'rall Road behind Mount Zubulos, thinking of Ryu, "There just has to be another adventure worthy of a Princess out there!" As if an answer to her prayers, there was an almighty shout downstairs, "YOUR HIGHNESS! STRANGER IN THE THRONE ROOM! HE SAYS HE REQUIRES YOUR ASSISTENCE, SIRE!" Nina smiled softly to herself and crept from her room to the throne room.

All she saw at first was her father, the King, with an extremely angry look on his face; shouting at someone. When she got closer she could easily recognise a large, muscular, furry creature with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail and the features of a tiger. A Woren! She heard the conversation that the two were having.

"A creature like you does not even have the honour to show your face here and ask for help!"

"Milord, if you please."

"Listen to me, creature.if you so much as take one more step closer to me then I shall be forced to order my guards to execute you swiftly and brutally!"

"And if they should as attempt to fatally wound me, then I shall be forced to wipe every single one of them and then ask for your help again!"

"No." Her father was sweating, "I told you once! I will not have my troops marching into the 'Bad Lands' and fighting against powers that could wipe us out in an instance! No one is stupid enough or brave enough to go there! What with all the demons." her father wiped sweat from his brow and continued, ".I am sorry.we cannot help you.good day."

Nina stepped forwards and raised her staff, "I shall go, father!"

All eyes turned on her as soon as she dared speak. Her father stepped towards her - red in the face - as the Woren watched with his feline ears pricked to attention. The King shook his head and murmured, "No, Nina! You have not been here more than 3 years and already you wish to go on another adventure that would get you killed!" Nina turned on him, eyes ablaze, "I HAVE SURVIVED THE WORST CONDITIONS EVER! YOU DIDN'T COMPLAIN WHEN I TOLD OF CROSSING THE DESERT! YOU EVEN SMILED WHEN YOU HEARD OF HOW I GOT ACROSS THE OCEAN ABOARD THE BLACK SHIP! AND YOU TOLD ME WHAT A HEROINE I WAS WHEN I DESCRIBED IN DETAIL HOW RYU, REI AND I DEFEATED MYRIA!" One of the guards stepped forwards to silence her but she pointed her staff at him with a simple snarl of, "DON'T touch me!"

A high and beautiful voice broke the silence that followed with a golden laugh. The attention turned to the Woren, who was now stood on his hind legs with his twin daggers in each paw; laughing. His voice was rich and high, but had a tone of authority in its laughter. "So this is Princess Nina of Wyndia!" He exclaimed, arms out wide, "You are one of the five that I seek!" A few of the guards were jolted into attention by the creature's sudden joy at the Princess.

The padded feet sounded softly on the royal red rug as he stepped forwards and bent down low, a grin on his furry face, "Princess Nina, I am Siren Thunderclaw of the Bad Lands. I seek an engineer named Momo, a Dragon Prince named Ryu, another Woren like myself named Rei, a mutant of wisdom named Pecoros, and you, my fair Princess. I was told by one of my sources that you five defeated Myria - the Goddess that wiped out the Brood. I am at your service and humbly ask for your help. There are several creatures and mutants that are unlike anything we have ever gazed upon terrorising my homeland. They appear to be coming from a rift that joins our world to theirs in the mountains. Only someone with magical powers like yours can close the rift. Will you help?"

Nina stared into his emerald green eyes and thought this over. She bent down and cupped his furry chin in her hand, making him look into her own eyes. "It would give me great pleasure to help one such as yourself, Lord Thunderclaw."