She And now we come to Akayna's story. This was probably the most challenging story yet, but still one I've wanted to explore.
StoryFairy10: I'm glad you enjoyed that part of Piper's story. Again I was always bothered that Piper somehow ended up with two last names(unless "Elvanestri" was her second middle name, in which case my mistake), so I tried to make sense of it.
Bookwrm123: I actually didn't think about that, but yeah it's rather nice that both use their adoptive last name in respect for their parents. Another thing they share in common.
At any rate, please enjoy!
Lightning struck behind a terrifying crimson castle, where thunderous roars could be heard. Though the castle seemed vacant at first glance, the roars could be heard deep within the castle. Suddenly, an armored knight was thrown to the ground. The knight gets up, but seemed somewhat dazed as it was hard to stay balanced. Then, without warning, a large, scaly foot landed right next to the night, to which the brave warrior looked up, to see a terrifying dragon staring down, with ravenous intent.
The warrior struggles to stay balanced , apparently it had been a long and brutal battle. When the warrior finally manages to stand firm, the warrior stared right into the eyes of the bloodthirsty beast, whose blood red eyes continued to stare. Then, a decision was made to remove the helmet, to which the warrior revealed a female with purple eyes and long, flowing auburn hair.
It was then that the beast decided to charge its deadly flame breath, ready to burn the brave warrior alive. With all her strength, the warriors charged her magic sword, ready to deliver the final blow.
"Vile beast, your reign of terror ends now!" Yelled the warrior, as she charged with full fury, and just before the final blow was struck, there was a flash.
"Gotcha!" Shouted an eight year old girl, who seemed like a younger version of the warrior, only more modern. It was none other than Princess Arkayna Goodfey, pretending to be a brave knight.
"Aaaaaaaggh!" Said a tall regal man, who had dark blue hair and a beard, with a toy sword caught in his arms, pretending to be stabbed. "I have been defeated! How could I have have been so… careless." He finished as he pretended to perish, lying flat on the ground. This was Argo Goodfey, a proud father and King of Drake City
Then, out from the wardrobe, came Queen Kassandra who had similar colored hair to Arkaynal, only a bit more purpleish, wearing a stereotypical princess outfit.
"Oh brave knight, you have saved me from the terrible dragon! You will be celebrated for this."
"Or will she?" Said Argo in a pretend menacing voice as he picks up both Arkayna and Kassandra, all laughing with joy. He then sat them both down, with both parents sitting beside Arkayna, hugging her warmly. Clearly, they were very close to each other. Arkayna loved her parents very much, and would never have traded them for anything. And the feeling was very much mutual for Argo and Kassandra.
But all fun and games were cut short, for Argo's phone began to ring. It was Nova Terron. This put a worried face on Argo, which in turn put a worried face on Kassandra and Arkayna. What could The Starmaster of the Astromancer Academy possibly want at this hour? Only one way to find out. Argo took this matter outside the room, not wanting to worry his family further until there was reason to.
"Greetings Nova, I trust this is urgent?" Argo inquired, in an authoritative tone.
"Unfortunately, Your Majesty, very urgent. An army of reanimated skeletons threaten the entire Realm. "
"You don't mean…"
"Yes, your Highness, The Spectral Hand. I suspect their mysterious leader is with them. I believe you know what you must do. We need your aid in our forces."
King Argo dreaded this would happen. He already needed to defend the realm before Arkayna was even born, now again, just when they were bonding? Still, his duties were clear. He had to defend The Realm which, llast he checked, included his beloved wife and daughter.
"Very well, I'll depart shortly."
With a saddened face, he asked Kassandra to meet him outside. Kassandra knew this was dire news, so out they went. Arkayna couldn't help but wonder what the problem was, so she eavesdropped, placing her ear against the door. She heard her parents talking about the invasion, and how he had to go help stop these revenants. Arkayna was very much worried.
It was bedtime for the young princess, though Arkayna could not sleep a wink. All she could think about was her father, going to war, far away from Drake City in order to defend The Realm. All she could think was, "how long will Daddy be gone? When will he comeback?... will he comeback?" That last thought frightened her to no end.
Unable to sleep, Arkayna gets out of bed in her pale green nightgown, then walked down the hall to see her father. All things considered, she suspected he would be in the armory, getting ready for the fierce battle. Sure enough, he was all armored up and picked up his mighty sword of light, a weapon passed down from one generation of the royal family to another.
Argo looked in the mirror to see if everything was in place, only to see Arkayna's reflection as she stood at the doorway. He then turned to face his daughter, who had a look of sadness in her eyes.
"Daddy, do you really have to go? Can't you just stay here where it's safe?"
"My sweet Arkayna." The mighty king kneeled down at the young lady's level. "I would love nothing more than to stay right here with you, where we will be together always. But, as you will one day understand, my responsibilities are clear. I must defend the realm… I must protect the ones that I love."
Arkayna shed light tears in her eyes. She didn't ball her eyes out, though it was clear she really did not want him to go. Argo then thought for a moment, he still had a little bit of time before the rest of the army was ready to depart, so he had some time to spend with Arkayna.
"Come with me, I have a gift for you." Argo then took Arkayna to the throne room, where in a secret compartment in his throne, he took out two small, wooden griffin statues, handcrafted himself. "You have one, and so do I. So now, in our hearts, we will always be together."
"Your majesty." Said one of the guards, "Your army is ready to depart when you are." Argo then took the time to give one last hug to Arkayna before he left, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Kassandra arrived in the scene, with light tears in her eyes as well. She then joined in on the group hug. After that, Argo was on his way to battle. Both Kassandra and Arkayna could only watch as he left to defend The Realm.
Two whole months have passed since King Argo had left to defend The Realm. Queen Kassandra had been pacing the floor almost non stop, hoping for any word from the army. Poor little Arkayna was rather lonely for the past months, Kassandra didn't seem in the mood for games as all she could do was worry about Argo.
Arkayna started to look at her griffin statue, hoping missing her father dearly. Each night she kept hoping that maybe, just maybe that one day, her father would show up and they would be a happy family again. It was right there when a horn sounded. That was Argo's Army. Kassandra and Arkayna seemed overjoyed that they returned. It wasn't until they entered the palace halls when Kassandra realized something was amiss.
All the soldiers had disheartened faces, as if a great catastrophe had come and rained down on them. Soon, Kassandra realized what was missing. Argo, wasn't with them.
"What happened? Where's… Argo?"
"Your Majesty." The General started, having a look of regret in his eyes. "I have… unfortunate news."
A brief flashback of the terrible battle showed that Argo was struggling to stay on his feet as skeleton knights kept coming for him. He was vastly outnumbered, and all the other soldiers were too busy fighting off skeletons of their own.
In a last ditch effort to save the realm, he drew his sword of light, which flew a bright gold, and smited as many skeletons as far as the eye could see. All were destroyed but one, which shot an arrow at his back. That skeleton was struck down by the general, but it was too late.
Just like that, the flashback came to a halt. Kassandra had heavy tears in her eyes, the possibility she had long dreaded had become a reality. Arkayna's fragile heart sunk after that. She cried into her mother's arms. All the soldiers took their helmets off in respect for their fallen king. A funeral was held not long afterwards.
Over the years, Arkayna had grown accustomed to her life without her father. That's not to say she didn't miss him. Point in fact, she missed him more than anything, often looking at the small wooden griffin statue as a way to look back at the good times. But she felt he had the tears he deserved, and at least tried to move on.
Queen Kassandra, on the other hand, was a bit more domineering since Argo's death. She limited a lot of Arkayna's free time in order to show her the responsibilities of being a queen, as well as a monarch in general. Arkayna tried to play around with her mother, just like the good days, but the Kassandra wouldn't have any of it, she wanted Arkayna to take her future role as queen seriously. But perhaps the worst thing in Arkayna's life could only be said in one word… Gawayne.
Kassandra eventually moved on and married a monarch by the name King Darius. Darius himself seemed alright, Arkayna grew to like him over time, and even started to call him dad once she got use to him. It was his son, Gawayne, that proved insufferable, for he was lazy, vain, and downright selfish. He always clashed with Arkayna, much to Kassandra's chagrin.
Arkayna had to take at least five forms of martial arts in order to stay in fighting shape. Kasandra did not really want her to be a warrior so to speak, just not a victim. Such sessions were more intense the more she learned, but she was becoming a capable young lady for it.
Age fifteen had finally come, and Arkayna was standing in the middle of a dark room with training attire. Her eyes were closed, as she was using her other four senses to sense any movement around her. She knew something would attack, she just had to wait for it to happen.
Suddenly, six guardsmen appeared from the shadows, going in all out. Arkayna quickly backflipped out of the way and grabbed a staff. She managed to block all their attacks and, followed by tripping two up, and hitting one in the abdomen, neutralizing him.
She then grabbed one from behind and flipped him over, pinning him to the ground. From both sides, the two remaining guardsman charged to her, to which she just jumped out of the way and both collided, dazed as a result. Arkayna smiled for a moment upon her victory.
Then, Kassandra stepped in to spar with her daughter, holding her own trademark staff. With all her skill, Arkayna when full force on her mother, holding nothing back. Both seemed evenly matched more or less. After a short while, Arkayna was tripped up by her mother, her staff just inches away from Arkayna's ace. Kassandra was unimpressed.
"You need to take training more seriously Arkayna, if I were your enemy you wouldn't be breathing right now!" Arkayna swatted the staff out of her face out of frustration.
"I do take training seriously! Incase you haven't noticed, I just took out six guards in less than five minutes. What does that tell you?"
"And yet you couldn't even beat me? Not to mention, what if it were eight or more? You need to be ready for anything! Or do you want to end up like your Father?!" That seem to hit a weak spot in Arkayna, who wore an angry look in her eyes. Kassandra took a little breath to temper herself, realizing she went a little too far with that last sentence. "Arkayna, all I want is the best for you. I don't want to lose you, and I want you to be able to defend yourself."
"So how good do I have to be so you can finally be my mother again?" Arkayna said in an annoyed tone. Helping herself up, she stormed out, slamming the door on her way out. Kassandra couldn't exactly blame Arkayna for being mad, though she reminded herself why she had to push Arkayna.
Arkayna stormed down the halls, passing by a few butlers, Darius, and a snickering Gawayne, knowing she got scolded. Bursting out the door, she found herself on the balcony, staring at the night sky. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself, even counting to ten a few times. Once she was calm enough, she just stood there, with a melancholy expression on her face.
"At what point did my life become one big battlefield?" Arkayna sighed. "Is this what it really means to be a princess? To be brutally judged? I can't even leave The Palace without an escort. All I want is… all I want is a normal life… all I want is my Mom."
I realize it's implied that Arkayna's Father died before she was born, though the keyword there is implied, so I thought this would be a good idea to add more to the story.
Anyway I've only got two more stories for this fic planned. With the end of the semester at hand it may be a long while before I actually get to them, so my apologies in advance. As always, feel free to review and share your thoughts, hope you enjoyed.