Fan Fiction ❯ Lee'anara's Curse ❯ Chapter 1 ( Prologue )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter 1

The door to the library burst open. The six children inside quickly
looked up as their mothers ran in. One of the mothers, Angel, had her
arm raised with her hand pointed at what was once a solid oak door.
She glowed a faint blue that tinted her normally red eyes purple as
they gleamed with fear. Her silver hair, usually kept in a neat braid,
was loose and fell to her knees in tangles.

Another, Aislin, was clutching a small pink pendant as her emerald
green eyes darted around the room, searching for unseen enemies. Her
shoulder length brown-blond hair was a faint green that matched the
glow surrounding her.

Reama, the youngest of the four, was part cat and her tiger striped
fur and pink hair stood on end as though she sensed something the
others didn't. Her tail lashed back and forth and her large ears
twitched at every sound. Her pupils were small with fear, despite the
dim light.

Kamia, ten years Angel and Aislin's senior, was the calmest. However,
even she was ruffled. Her purple hair had been hastily pulled up into
a bun with half left down to fall to mid-back. She had no make-up on
and it was easy to see the bags under her eyes.

The women were in only their nightgowns; loose dresses made of silk.
They were completely plain save a small design over their breastbones.
Angel's was dark blue with a silver star. Aislin's was emerald green
with a pink raindrop. Reama's was pale orange with a black crescent
moon and Kamia's was dark purple with a yellow sun.

Angel flicked her wrist and a large oak table flew up to cover the
door, the books scattering over the floor.

"Draco, Ailey." A fifteen-year-old girl with long white hair in a
ponytail and a sixteen-year-old boy with messy pale blue hair stood up
at Angel's call.

"Skylar, Taea." The twin fifteen-year-old brother and sister also
stood at Selena's voice. Their green eyes were filled with worry as
they both reached a hand to fiddle with their pitch-black hair.

"Kyvin." Reama's fourteen-year-old son stood gracefully, smoothing his
blue grey fur and blue hair as his orange eyes widened.

"Kit." The last boy, Kamia's seventeen-year-old son, stood, his
mechanical right hand running through his purple hair.

"You all must hide." Aislin's voice betrayed fear and pain. "The
castle is under attack."

"What?" Skylar stepped forward. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Yes," Ailey joined her cousin. "We could hold them off with magic."
She was referring to the elemental magic Angel had trained her and
Skylar in.

"No." Angel said in a soft voice. "Our magic won't affect them. At
least, mine won't."

"They're beasties?" Kit asked surprised. The beasties, half human half
animal, usually kept to the forests unless they worked in the cities
or, as with Reama and Kyvin, they were friends of a Royal Family.
Unfortunately elemental magic had no affect on them as they were so
close to the elements themselves.

"Then I'll fight them." Draco pulled his sword out of the sheath he
wore at his waist.

"Me to." Taea held out her wood staff in a ready position.

"No." Aislin glared at her daughter and nephew. "Maybe if your
father's were here. But they aren't so you can't."

"Mom," Kyvin cut off his two friends protests. "If they're beasties,
shouldn't we be safe?"

"I won't take that risk." Reama shook her head.

Suddenly cries were heard from the hall.

"Hurry!" Kamia ushered the children to a secret passage behind the
fireplace. Go to your rooms. You will each find a bag. Take it. Don't
ask questions. Just do it."

"Take Eve, Adrian, Nightfire and Darkstar." Angel gave her children
one last hug before they left down the passage.

"Please don't try to stay and fight." Aislin hugged Taea and Skylar
and pushed them through the opening.

"Run and don't look back." Reama gave Kyvin a kiss on his head before
he followed the others.

"Kit." Kamia pulled her son into a hug. "Keep them safe." She
whispered in his ear. "The others will kill me if anything happens to
them."

"I will." Kit kissed his mother's cheek and ran down the passage.

"Good luck." Aislin called after them as she shut the passage. "You'll
need it." She whispered.

Suddenly the table was blown away from the door. Two dozen beasties
burst in, most feline or canine but there were a few birds.

"Well," Angel looked to her companions. "Shall we?"

"You first." Reama gestured for Angel to take the first shot.

"My pleasure." Angel concentrated on her amplifier jewel that was
attached to her glove and a gust of wind appeared blowing several
beasties off their feet. Luckily the jewels power allowed Angel to use
her magic on beasties. Unfortunately it didn't help much.

"I think we're going to need something stronger than air." Aislin
said.

"I'm working on it. You just do your job and watch my back." Angel
concentrated and vines sprung out of the floor and wrapped around
three beasties. She concentrated and a sword of water formed in her
hands. She then made the air around it cool to freeze it into ice and
attacked the other beasties. "I could us some help here."

"Coming." Reama leapt into the mass of beastie and started lashing out
with her claws.

Kamia grabbed a sword from the wall and attacked a beastie. She
quickly knocked it out and moved onto another.

Aislin stood back and watched. She called out advice when her friends
needed it but otherwise stayed out of the way. She had never been good
with weapons. Her talent was more defence as she could create
invisible shields and do a small amount of healing.

Seeing Kamia about to be stabbed from behind, Aislin raised her hand
and concentrated. The beasties sword clanged against the invisible
barrier, alerting Kamia to its presence. Spinning around she saw
Aislin and smiled. Aislin returned the smile with a little wave before
focusing on Reama to repeat the process.

"Stop!" The powerful voice made everyone stop what they were doing.
The four women slowly backed towards each other. The beasties parted
to reveal a tall being. It was impossible to see what it was as it was
wearing a long cloak that hid its face, but its voice suggested male.

Standing beside him was a young beastie, about fifteen or sixteen. He
was a cat with completely black fur and yellow eyes. His straight
black hair stuck out at odd angles and he wore a gold loop in his ear.
He was dressed similarly to the other man, but his cloak was open
revealing black pants, boots and tunic.

"Who are you?" Kamia demanded. "Why are you attacking us? We've done
nothing."

"That's the point, Your Majesty." The beasties gasped at the man's
words as they realised they had been fighting the three queens of
Lee'anara.

Kamia, Angel and Aislin each ruled a region. Kamia ruled Esban, the
mountain region. Angel ruled the forest region of Drayala and Aislin
ruled the oceans region of Kikaru. Reama traveled between them as they
were all fairly close to one another.

"What are you talking about?" Angel questioned. "How can you be angry
if we did nothing?"

"While you sat up here in you cushy castle eating your fancy food and
sleeping in your soft beds, we've been starving." The young beastie
spoke before the man beside him could say anything. "Your hunters are
killing off our food. We have nothing. Our people are dying. We have
no food for the winter so we'll starve and freeze. Half probably won't
make it through. And-"

"That's enough Aiden." The man said firmly. He looked back at the
women. "As you can see, my young companion is very passionate about
our cause."

"We've offered places for beasties in the cities-" Aislin started.

"And we've said we don't want help from humans." The man looked
towards Reama. "Young one, join us. You belong with us not them."

Reama sniffed the air. "You're a wild dog." She finally said.

The man laughed and pulled back his hood. He was a dark tan with black
rings around his eyes and on the tips of his ears. His nose and mouth
pushed out into a snout with a black nose on the end. His hair was
light brown and fell to his shoulders. As he laughed his long canine
teeth showed and sent chills down the women's backs.

"Yes." He said between laughs. "I thought you would have know far
earlier."

"You stink of death and fear. " Reama said calmly.

The man abruptly stopped laughing. "Take her." He hissed.

Three beasties moved as if to grab Reama but Angel and Kamia stepped
before them.

"You want her," Angel glared. "You go through us."

"Wait." The man walked forward. He raised his hand at the women and
whispered. "Death Sleep." The four women collapsed as the spell took
hold. "Take them."

"Sir, are they-"

"No Aiden." The man turned away. "They aren't dead. However, to anyone
who sees them, they will appear to be. Now gather them. And be careful
with the mages. They will be useful in the future."

In the beasties rush to do as their leader commanded, no one saw the
pair of eyes hiding in the shadows disappear.