Defiance

"The universe has been victim to Baltor's tyranny for some time."

The voice began and the pointless chatter and noise ceased. All attentions were focused on the speaker.

The speaker continued. "Approximately eighteen years ago, there were devastating attacks that destroyed the most powerful realms of that time; Solaria, Tides, Eraklyon, Domino… they were all razed by Baltor's wrath, simultaneously. There was no time to call for aid, no time to prepare, and most certainly no time fight back. Who could've come to their aid anyway? There was no helping it… People were left to fend for themselves; they soon became displaced, helpless, lost, injured… dead.

The falling of the greatest realms shook the universe to the core, and slowly everything fell at the hand of Baltor. Every realm, every planet, every moon… Baltor took and stripped everything of its powerful magics and vitality. Then he declared himself the supreme rule of the universe. Nobody opposed him."

The group of worn-but-tenacious teenagers who'd been listening intently looked up from their various activities as the narrator paused his tale. They all looked solemn and their eyes held somber expressions that were well beyond their years. It was obvious that they knew the tale, that they've heard it a number of times before, that they've lived it. But they still listened to the story, their attentions captivated by the speaker as though the story may just change or shift the slightest from previous recitations.

The narrator was just a boy himself, similar to the ages of his enraptured peers. His short, tousled blonde hair was bright despite the dark, dank attributes of the cavern room they sat in. The tautness of his chiseled facial features expressed his own sobriety in response to the tale. But his eyes lacked the solemnity; their luminescent, azure depths held a fiery passion that could inspire any individual resolute on looking into them. They currently stared off into the dark expanses of the shadows, but their lack of focus only broadened the vicinity in which their stirring powers could work. "Only one person was said to be strong enough to face him. One: a young fairy who held the very power Baltor used to take the universe by storm. But she couldn't have possibly faced him in the state she'd been in. So instead she fled, abandoning the universe she'd sworn to protect." The boy looked down, as though he himself were guilty of the fairy's actions. "And so the universe fell."

"She wanted to fight." said one of the teens. A sprightly girl stood and walked over to the boy, her movements daringly graceful versus the staidness of the listeners. She knelt next to him and took his calloused hand, her thumb brushing over his knuckles. "The fairy would've fought. But she was too late by the time she returned. Baltor had accumulated too much power by then. She went to her friends and they gathered as many survivors as would follow them. Together they went into hiding, working far beneath Baltor's despotism. They worked toward the day Baltor would finally end, the day the free universe could rise again."

A disdainful laugh resounded from the opposite side of the room. Another boy stood in the shadows, arms crossed in defiance, making him appear as the dark horse of the group. The blonde boy's eyes focused then and met the tenebrous, scornful eyes of his contemporary. The dark horse stepped toward the narrator, "She couldn't wait for that day though, could she? Out of haste and a sense of overconfidence, she challenged Baltor prematurely, far before any sort of power or talisman could've been discovered to use against him. The fairy thought she was strong enough. But she wasn't…" He shook his head at the blonde boy. "She was a fool. And she jeopardized everything for those who'd pinned all their hopes on her."

"She wanted to help!" the girl consoling the first speaker insisted.

"She was prideful and impetuous!" snapped the dark horse. "She refused the help of those who would've stood by her."

"She didn't want them all to die!" she responded defensively. Her brown eyes were alight and shined with an unshakable admiration of the fairy in question. "Her friends and people were dear to her. She only wanted for them to live and love without Baltor's control and terror. So she went forth alone. It was what she thought was right."

Yet another of the teens joined in the conversation, speaking up in order to move the story past the quarrel of her friends'. "Overall it proved to be pointless. She died." She consciously ran a hand through choppy-cut, scarlet hair as the focus was redirected toward her. She set her jaw determinedly and faced her peers. "And she was their only weapon. Her dependent people were left with nothing…"

"Or so they thought." the blonde boy interjected quietly. He returned to his lack of focus and remained pensive as the focus returned and intensified on him.

"What are you talking about? We've got nothing strong enough to stand up to Baltor." A girl with features nearly identical to the dark horse boy threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "The only individual capable of standing up to him, the late Queen Bloom of Domino, is dead and gone, the Dragon Flame in her possession gone with her. Any water star we could supposedly gather would be useless because we have no Dragon Fire to activate it. It's Baltor's universe now. It's only a matter of time before he hunts us down and enslaves or destroys us."

"We still have a chance!" the blonde boy answered heatedly. "Bloom left us with a chance to take Baltor out."

"What chance? We've been withdrawn from Baltor's sight for sixteen years since her downfall and not even the members of the great Company of Light have anything to stand up to him. She did not leave us with any power to even contend with Baltor? There is no chance!" argued the dark horse, his dark eyes flashing with anger.

"You forget that I'm her son!" cried out the blonde teen. He stood then and faced his darker contemporary, fists clenched tightly to his side. His blue eyes overflowed with tears. "We've wallowed in the darkness beyond Baltor's sight with little or no faith in what my mother has done. We take for granted everything she has given us. You say she was a fool to throw herself at Baltor! In all reality removing herself from us was the best thing she could've done to ensure our survival…" he took a small breath before finishing his statement, "… and our salvation."

The dark horse scoffed again at Bloom's son. "So enlighten us. What salvation did the great Queen Bloom of Domino leave us, Edan?"

Edan's tears mysteriously disappeared from his face and he met the gaze of his mother's ridiculer with fiery determination. Slowly he raised his calloused hand before him, palm up and flames ignited illuminating all of his peers' astonished faces. "Me."

~Author's Note~ I hope you enjoyed this little preview of one of my story projects, Defiance. I'm really looking forward to posting it! Thank-you for being such dedicated readers! Ciao for now!