Her Chance to Shine

Prologue:

Escaping the Inevitable


"Why is everyone running, Daddy?" the little girl asked her father, wide-eyed and scared.

"Just follow me. DON'T let go of my hand!" King Relar told his daughter strongly. He could not explain the disaster happening to his beloved princess, his one and only child. She was only four thousand years old in Vinarian counting, far too young to understand. Relar looked despairingly at his wife and queen and held her tight as the family ran.

The chaos was unthinkable. No one had expected this to happen so suddenly; it had been inevitable, but the people of Vinar certainly didn't think it'd be this instant. Their beautiful planet had been attacked by their worst enemy, Ornakh, a cruel, thoughtless, feelingless monster of an alien who only wanted their planet for his own dying race. He and his hideous kind had attacked a smaller city of Vinar less than two hours earlier, and they were working their way towards the capital city, destroying everything in their path and moving swiftly. All one had to do was look around the capital and the fear, confusion, and despair would penetrate right into the heart. People were on their knees crying and wailing, alarms were blaring, guards and army men were racing to defend the city, families scurried with few possessions to the emergency transports, and the sky outside was black as a storm brewed and rumbled, casting eerie shadows on the escaping ships.

The King reached his desired destination, a small and almost non-existent hanger bay occupied by a small ship. Relar hurried to its door and thanked the servant for getting it ready. He hurriedly pushed his family inside and started punching buttons on the datapad. "I want you two to leave. I'm sending you to Earth. They'll know what to do with you when you arrive."

"But... what are you doing? Wh-where are you going?" the Queen begged her husband as he exited the ship.

"Pamra, I have to protect our planet as best I can. You know that!"

Relar's wife burst into tears. "No! No, you can't! Don't leave us!"

"Daddy, don't go!" the Princess cried, running out of the ship and hugging her father's leg.

Relar bent down and embraced his daughter tightly. "I have to, sweetie. I love you," he whispered. "Now get back in the ship, quickly!"

As the Princess scurried away, a servant ran up. "Sir! Your Highness! They're in the city now! They broke through!"

Queen Pamra turned to her husband with a determined look on her tear-stained face. "I'm fighting with you."

"No! I won't let you!"

"You try to stop me!"

"You KNOW you have to take care of our daughter!" Relar cried as he started to break down into tears.

Pamra threw her arms around him and sobbed, "But I don't want to leave you!"

"I know! I know." His voice sounded choked up and muffled as he held his wife tight and stroked her beautiful blonde hair. "I love you."

Suddenly, an explosion ripped through the hangar as one of Ornakh's people threw a bomb in the doorway. The guards and servants were hurled through the air from the impact, and the King and Queen screamed and tried to shield their eyes from the blast as they, too, flew backwards, right into the hull of the ship. They fell limp to the ground. The Princess screamed and tried to run out to them, but the only conscious servant pushed her back into the ship, madly punching buttons on the door as he closed it behind her. She pounded on it, yelling and begging to be let out until she felt the ship lift off. Just as it was about to leave the hangar, flames from the explosion reached huge tanks of fuel stored along the hangar's sides and blew them up, causing the ship to rock back and forth violently. The Princess screamed as she was flung against a cold wall, and then everything went black.