LOCATION: THE CRUCIBLE, 100TH FLOOR
PLANET: LAPIS DIVINUS, ORION LUMINARY INSTITUTE
YEAR: 1 | DAY: ?? | TIME: ??
The clopping of the hooves against the well-packed dirt was both calming and unnerving as Kaela sat feeling utterly useless in the covered carriage.
The repetitive rhythm soothed her nerves at the same time as the unfeeling, unceremonious lack of even a sendoff ratcheted them back up. What kind of a shitty family does that to their only daughter?
Kaela thought about her own family, thousands of light years away. Her father, Darian, was such a warm, loving man. Kaela’s mothers, Mallory and Vanessa were both very tough, accomplished women, but just as kind and compassionate as their husband.
And then there was her sister, Elena.
Oh, how much she missed Elena.
They were born two weeks apart, and had a natural sibling rivalry. But it was always based in respect. They challenged each other to be better, and they both had fun doing so.
For the thousandth time, Kaela wished Elena could have come with her to the Orion Luminary Institute. She smiled, imagining Elena working through floor after floor of the Crucible.
Elena would have loved all the combat floors, even with the endless grind. Kaela thought of this 100th floor and she knew instinctively that Elena would love this far more than she herself did.
Kaela was shaken from her thoughts when the clop-clop rhythm of the hooves slowed to a sudden stop.
It was dark outside now, but they still hadn’t reached the border with Goldenvale, the agrarian realm in a valley to the east of Caerwyn.
She pulled the curtain aside and looked around. Since her Perception had crossed the 100-point threshold three levels ago, she could see in the dark almost as well as daylight.
There were six of them.
Six men.
Two in front in the carriage’s path, and two on each side.
They were closing in as she watched.
“Give us all your money, luggage, and jewelry, and we’ll consider letting you live!” one of the men in front shouted.
Kaela laughed to herself.
They were being robbed?
For real?
She waited a moment.
The coachman cleared his throat.
“I’ll have you know, I am transporting the Princess of Caerwyn. I suggest you rethink your course of—”
Thwop!
Kaela heard a gurgle as the coachman struggled for air. But it was hard to breathe when an arrow punctured your throat.
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She heard a heavy thud as he fell from his chair and onto the roof of the carriage.
Six men.
Kaela smiled. It was time to stretch her legs after all.
She reached behind her and loosened the restricting strings of her corset, immediately breathing easier.
The door to her left opened, and a gruff hand reached in. Kaela shifted to the side, but the man had already grabbed a handful of hair and yanked her out of the carriage.
“Gods! The coachman wasn’t lying! It really is the Princess!” one of the men said.
The two from the front came running around. He was licking his lips. “I wanna have a go with her first!” he yelled.
Kaela was already angry as hell at having been pulled out of the carriage by her hair. But this? No fucking way.
The man who had pulled her out was reaching for a dagger on his belt. Kaela’s leg swung upward in a powerful kick to his groin before he could even register the movement.
Then, she punched him straight in the sternum, and unleashed a jab to the side of his head.
He slammed into the ground so hard that Kaela heard his neck break when he hit the dirt.
The others had been closing in, but they froze in place for a split second when they saw what she had done.
“You whore! That was my brother! You’re going to pay for that!”
One of the men shouted as he raised his crossbow, aiming at Kaela’s heart.
She lined herself up, watching the man’s twitching trigger finger.
When she saw movement, she phased into the aether just in time to watch the bolt sail through the air and embed itself deep into the sternum of the man who had been closing in to hold her in place.
Two down.
She ran forward four feet through the heavy, gray, slow-moving aether and reached for her Phantom Blade.
As soon as it entered her hand, she returned to reality, standing next to man holding the crossbow. She sliced to her left and right, taking off one man’s head and severing another’s arm cleanly off.
Blood sprayed across Kaela’s beautiful blue dress and her face.
She kicked him twice and finished him off with another flat-handed strike to his throat.
Four down.
Kaela spun around as the last two closed in on her.
One held an axe and the other was already reaching out to grab hold of her.
Both of them were cursing endlessly at her for killing their partners.
“You picked the wrong mark,” she said quietly.
The man’s arms wrapped around her from behind. Kaela struggled, but he was strong. The other with the axe raised his weapon high into the air and brought it down, aiming for Kaela’s head.
She swung her head backward and heard a sickening crunch as it crashed into the other’s nose and broke his tight hold on her.
She slipped out and dropped down to the ground, watching as the axe meant for her own head slammed down onto the other man’s, splitting his head open like a log even as he was screaming about a broken nose.
Kaela quickly dispatched the last one, and the night grew silent.
“Well, damn,” she muttered. “What am I going to do now?”
She didn’t know the way to Seraph’s Hold. Shit, she didn’t even think she could find her way back to the castle.
But then again, even if she did, why would she go back to that place?
She was breathing heavily, as the corset was still restricting. She reached inside her robes and untied it the rest of the way, pulling it out and tossing it onto the ground.
She climbed atop the carriage and removed the crossbow bolt from the coachman’s throat. Then picked him up and carried him to the side of the road, laying him on his back, and pulling his eyelids closed.
Kaela was about to drag the attackers off the road and out of the way, but exhaustion tugged at her consciousness.
She slid down onto the dirt road, leaning back against one of the carriage wheels.
“I think I’ll rest here. Just for a few minutes.”
She woke with a start. Birds were chirping and the morning sun felt warm on her skin.
She stood and stretched.
Walked around the carriage once, trying to decide what to do.
Six bloody bodies were strewn across the road and surrounding landscape. As she was about to start dragging them out of the way, another carriage crested a hill. It was on the same road and heading straight for her.
As it drew closer, Kaela saw the regalia of the King’s royal guard.
She sighed.