Chapter 1: A Regal Invitation
June 3, 1457
Seras used her middle finger to move a lock of silver hair out of her eye and behind her ear. She continued to study from a spell book titled Luna. In her world, she had spent only minutes in her lonely little hermit shack, when in the real world, several hours had already passed.
A knock at the door and a stifled laugh snapped her out of studying. She stood up, angered, and answered. Wondering who it could be (for she hadn't any guests since three years previous), a large man grabbed her by her pale arm and she was thrown to the ground. The bandit and his underlings laughed. One of them spoke up, "Anotha' pretty one fer the boss!"
"Hey, just ta' be nice ta ya', I'll share 'is 'un!" More laughter ensued.
Even more angry now, Seras gave them her thought on this subject. "You interrupted my studying to kidnap me! Is that the best you could think of!" The confused men no longer laughed and looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Seras rolled onto her back and thrust her arms in the air. A black, inky blob appeared, and sunk into the ground. It reappeared in three places, expanding, and squeezing the three henchmen into The Void. The shaman stood and glared at their "Boss." He was about to swing a twenty pound axe at her head when an arrow exploded though his right arm. A second shot through his left hand, and a third through the temple and out his right eye. He fell to the ground in a mass of blood, and Seras turned to greet the archer. "Who are you?" she asked, nothing but calmness in her raspy voice. He nocked another arrow.
"Who are you?"
"Excuse me sir, but I live here."
"So you aren't one of those bandits?" She gestured around in a way that said, "Does it look like it?" He lowered his bow, and three more people stepped out from the clearing's edge. Two were dressed extremely eloquently, and the third wore nothing but dented armor.
The rich looking man (who wore a mercenary's armor and sword) of about twenty announced, "We are the son and daughter of King Raferre and Queen Alya of Absyda, and these are our faithful vassals who agreed to aid us in our quest to radicate the bandits. Who are you?"
Seras had no response. "..." and the prince became uncomfortable.
The regal girl who appeared fourteen stepped forward and did a little bow. "Please forgive my brother. His head is larger than a pumpkin effigy of a midget. I am Princess Fiona, and he is Prince Trystan. Our escorts are Gary the Knight and Orias the Archer. And you?"
Seras opened her mouth, closed it, cleared her throat, and said aloud, "My name is Seras."
Fiona whispered into her brother's ear. He muttered what sounded like "Fine..." and she smiled. "Seras, would you like to help us?"
Seras glanced around at the four. "Eh..."