Chapter 1- First contact
Captain Aedra PoV and Squad 3 - Introductions.
We have 7 people in our squad including myself even though we should be at 10-12. I have yet to fill the other positions....The Grandmasters have been getting after me for doing enough recruiting out of the schools. I usually have no time for the new adventurers coming out as fresh recruits because I don't have the heart to send them to something that I don't know if they will survive, so I am extremely picky about who I let join my squad. I made sure each of the people already were just as strong as me or comparable through talent or experience. After my Dad died in combat and we lost most of Squad 3 with him, my sister and I have been training non-stop to get strong enough not to be a burdern again. It is really hard for me to accept a new member, even seeing their skill level. I know the Korbias is aware of this, but he wants me to get over it through the persuasive powers of logic. I usually tune it out. I know my future team is out there somewhere, I'll find them when the time is right.
I am a spellsword, I use magic to cast different types of lightning based skills on myself or elemental attacks (primarily lightning, I can use wind, but I am not very good at it) channeled through my sword. I am very effective because of my lightning affinity that came from my dad's side of the family. I can channel the speed of lightning to engage my enemies and it is very effective. I had the luck to inherit my Dad's old sword, it is a long sword with a hand and a half gip called Nightstorm. The blades' edge was the perfect silver of polished steel, while the entire center part seemed to be a view of very dark roiling water, that had fathomless depths. The sword enhanced channeled lightning and changed the property of it, turning it from the blueish yellow of my mana made lightning into the purest black lightnight. It seemed to glow with blackness. The sword was not an evil entity trapped in some dimension, allowing it to control my mind like some silly cursed sword. It was enchanted by orcs, for my father.
On a mission to locate some item, near a small orc village east of The Gift a few hundred miles, a group of orcs was being hazed my some large wolven monsters that chased the group into a gorge that my dad was able to see in the afternoon light from the deck of the BlueFire.
He was able to cast lightning far enough to scare the beasts away. The squad then gave them all a ride back to their village. The shaman was so moved that he actually helped that she enchanted the blade that his sword for him. The Shaman said that my father's lightnight during night is what saved her family member and so she used her magic to bind a dark storm enchantment to his blade. At the time the sword actually grew in length and size but not weight. It was not a long sword at its forging day, yet such was the power of the enchantment the shaman was able to produce. In the final moments of its enchanting the waters of the night started to roil in the center of the blade, and lightning that was channeled through the blade then became black as night, I always wondered if the Shaman saw the irony in that...The light of the storm is what saved your family, then why did you make this swords lightning black? Either way, I have not once, in all my years needed to sharpen or fix dents or chips, the sword seems to be damn near unbreakable. At least if it were to be broken, the force of whatever could break it would probably kill me, and if it didn't the power of the enchantment being foribly broken would certainly do the trick. But enough of my fathers sword, here is my squad and crew.
Draed Scarren, Sargent of the squad and my number 2, is a half orc/half ogre. His parental combination is a very rare thing, and it only worked because his mother was an Orc Priest, and apparently had blessed her child before giving him away. He is a bit older than me at 36 and is very deadly in combat with his massive 8 ft, 450 pound frame he is an unstoppable tank. He is also very compassionate, and caring oddly enough, he will die for any one of us to live. I found him in a crazy bar fight when I was a teenager and we fought each other till exhaustion, then shared some whiskey after we recovered, and have been friends every since. If I wasn't tough, I would have died in that fight, but I have always been good in a fight. He uses a nasty morning star mace and a huge enchanted sheild in his off hand to draw attention and smash his way through enemies. His armor was terrifyingly huge that covered his massive frame with solid plate metal, he had spikes on his shoulders that made him looks like a badass. It is very easy to get along with the Sargent, do your job and don't betray his family(the guild), then he will go to war for you.
The next crew member is my terrifying younger sister who is more or less my equal in mundane physical combat(no arcane or lightning added) I am for being only 2 years behind me. Aethena Mathias is almost unstoppable with her dual blades(named after the phases of the moon, Novilunium and Cornicularis, New Moon, and Crescent Moon respectively). Her weapon enchantments give her weapons momentum of some sort, or rather makes it easier for her to flow through combat. She has earned the name Blade Mistress of the Moon in the tournaments she enters on her downtimes. She looks down on people who aren't strong or talented, and look down upon isn't quite right, rather she just doesn't give them the time of day. Since our father died, her outlook on strength has always been a large part of her life, and she views everything through the lens of strength. I assume its part of her own coping mechanism, I went into self doubt and self incrimination, and she fell into mental state, where she dislikes interacting with people who cannot hold their own.
We train together as often as possible since our father left us, we found catharsis in beating each other with training swords for hours on end. As she flows through her death spiral of whirring metal blades, I notice her hair is almost exactly like our mothers, a deep black with a slight dark forrest green highlight if view in the right light. My genes seemed to follow in my fathers footsteps, brown hair, blue-eyed, wide shouldered, even for a half elf I was rather large in the shoulders. Besides that we look very similar in facial structure, my sister, with her ears like mine, weren't as long as standard elven features dictate, but still were pointy. She had a piercing set of emerald eyes that were a little more turquoise than our mothers. We both have a decently pointy chin, and her long hair was kept back in a braid that reached her lower back. Our father, Jaedred(Pronounced yae-dred) Mathias had a very strong jaw, thick eye brows, and hands like a bear. Our mother is still alive and we see her quite often. Aethena stays with our mother as often as she sleeps at the guild hall. Our mother is a gorgeous and loving Elven woman who was taught my sister how to fight with her dual blades. Aella from house Faedrid, took the name of our fathers family as is the human way, she is a serene dark haired woman with striking emerald green eyes. They glow with love everytime I come visit. She is still as graceful as the first memories I have of her teaching me the basics of the sword, watching her spart with my father. Aella Mathias lives peacefully in our fathers family estate, she has a few maids, and servant to take care of her and the property. Our father left a lot of money for us, but both my sister and I made sure that our mother never has to want again. She always seems unshakeable, but I have been around my mother my whole life, I know that the last 6 years since our fathers death have been very rough on her. She has been almost distant since he died in that fight, its not distance from her children, but distance from the world, as if she sees our father waithing for her but she cannot join him for a long time. She doesn't do much if we don't involve ourselves in her life, and that will be the only time you will see the soft loving side to my sister Aethena, in our mother's company. My sister is cold, but she is nothing bud loving and caring to our dearest mother. I try my best to cheer her up, and visit her as oftern as possible but it's almost as if very few things truly brighten her dark world. We love her to death though. She still asks if I have a wife to be almost everytime I see her. Anyways back to my crew.
Taezed Belzard is so frighteningly proficient with a bow that it gives me the chills. His arrows can seem to fly from every shadow, and he alone is a force of nature. Not only is he good with his recurve, but he is effiencent with the sword/dagger combination he uses in close combat. He is part dragonkin, which means he has great eyesight, and is stronger and faster than a normal human, among other skills. He mostly appears to be human, with some scales here and there, but wears dark hooded leather armor so you can only see his dragon eyes. Make no mistake his eyes are as reptillian as they get, and it is with a silent slit of darkness surrounded by gold, that he uses to stalk his prey. He is a great sparring partner though, and one of the strongest duelists in the guild. I can usualy beat him 1 on 1, but only if I channel my lightning, and even then its never a sure thing. If he has any weakness at all, it is only his wife Shirina, who saved his life the first time they met. She joined my crew the day he was dying and she healed him with her Priestly powers of the Unbroken. Taezed and her, were almost immediately involved with each other, connected at the hip. And because no one could make Taezed smile, except his Shirina, there was no one more worthy to tame his dragon heart.
Shirina Belzard is the human Priest of the Unbroken. She is a stern healer, and a beautiful mature woman, in her late 30's. She produces knowing smiles and compassionate healing touches that go unmatched throughout the entire guild. She and Taezed met in the Lunar Pact Guild and have been together for 4 years. She is deeply in love with Taezed and has the super power of being able to make him smile, the only person who can do so. She comes off as the mother of our squad, always telling use what we need to be doing to be safe and healthy. She comes on missions and stays with the main group of us, dealing out buffs and healing. Taezed and her have not had any kids, but she definitely seems to want them with all the hints she drops to him. She will step down as squad healer if they ever decide to, I know Taezed will probably never leave the guild but I know I will have to find a healer one day though, when they finally have a child, then maybe 2 people will be able to make Taezed smile.
Ellestrae Faringae is my squads' arcane wizard. She is the one who maintains the Squad Speak Spell and does a massive amount of utility things for the squad and the guild. Her arcane magic has so many uses from enchanting to single person teleportation. She also collects herbs for her Alchemy sessions with Guildmaster Liadri, they act like sisters when they are together but they will never admit it. She is the oldest person in the squad, but don't ask how old. She still has the beautiful Elven features that keep her youthful looks through many long years and her hair is only just starting to turn grey. She is very smart and can be quick with people she finds lacking, or if they are not doing what they should be, she will reprimand them. This includes me as captain...especially me. I am 100% sure she is only here cause she worries about my mother, and wants to make sure we are safe so she doesn't lose anymore family members. She is like a stern aunt that alway scolds me for my reckless combat style and for not having a wife yet. She spends most of her free time in her study as she was a member of the Arcanum, she is always researching something or learning about something else. which is like a faculty or research member of the School of the Arcane Arts, located in The Gift. She joined my squad after our father passed, she was friends with him and is stil friends with our mother.She doesn't fight often, but she has strong arcane spells that lets her hold her own if need be.
Lastly we have our Elementalist, a skinny fire obsessed human named Dorrin Bale. Dorr is one of those guys who could be so terrifying with his skill, if he only pushed himself to be that way. My sister and him do NOT get along. Dorr specializes in fire and while its his main focus, he is still a full elementalist with the ability to use all 4 elements. He is very dangerous when he sets his mind to a task but he can get distracted easily be it booze, women, or some new magical drug, I always have to wrangle him in. He also makes weirdly timed jokes that can be oddly perverted, so people who don't know him are always either confused or disgusted by his attitude. I know he's a pain in my ass, but he means well, and I know he would got to war for any of us in the Lunar Pact. He also drinks more than he probably should, but God help us all the day he actually wants to destroy anything. What really stands out about Dorr is his extreme precision with his spells, for example he can open a Hellrift so perfectly that only the heart of an enemy will burn.
That is Squad 3, back to the present.
Captain Aedra PoV: 2 minutes before Starfall
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
It has been a quick flight, and we got here in an hour or so on the first day. We have been on patrol for the most of the past two days. Our gunners have been shooting at various monster sightings they have seen in the trees on the north side of the Lake Pyramid. We have been securing and patroling the approximate area that Aliana confirmed would be the location of the starfall. It was a cove that had a hill going up at a 30 degree angle from the shore through a densely wooded area that opened up into a small clearing around 50-70 yards from the shore. There was mostly open forrested plains, and scattered trees further north and east of the cove. The lake was called Lake Pyramid, because in the middle of the lake was an almost perfectly shaped 3 sided pyramid rock that stands nearly 80ft in at the tip.
I am currently on the Bridge in the captains seat of the Blue Fire. The pilot seat where Helmsman Jacrone Smith sits was down in the pilot seat, that was in a spherical hole in the floor. Smith was an eccentric man with a loud sense of humor, that could brighten or darken anyones day just as easily. But when it comes to following orders, the shear skill he has at flying, or the on the spot decision making. When the hatched closed over the top of him the sphere lit up showing our 360 degree field of view to him. The ship cannot be moved without this sphere activated, and while Helmsman Smith is our main pilot, we have two other crew memebers that rotate with him for long trips. From his seat, the pilots awareness would increase as the hatch was closed. As if it were part of his body, or he was part of the ships body, it was as if his mind was the Gravitation Stone that was the core of our ship. His pilot seat had an eight inch steering wheel by the left hand and a joystick that helped control direction of flight and elevation. While in the pilot seat and locked, he could feel where the ship is, how fast the wind was going, and could be instantly prepared to make analysis based decisions depending on the circumstances. The ship is designed to always stay level and the gravitation stone won't let it get out of level in the slightest, unless it is destroyed. This isn't just me saying that the ship never goes down, or doesn't even tilt, no it is literally to do so once a gravitation stone is activated in the core of whatever it was bound to, until they are shut off. Larger ones like the ones powering ships like this, could not be shut off by design. However smaller ones for a floating chair for instance could be deactivated so you can move it out of level.
There have been a few signs of other guilds in the area, it's hard to tell if they are aware of the starfall that is about to happen, or are just following us around again. I am sure that one air ship that was a Frigate class had to be from the 10 Red Blossom's. They were another Covenant Guild like us. (A guild that was formed during the building days of The Gift) But they had this attitude that could start fights out of the blue, we did not get along with them.
"Aliana, do you have a time frame for the starfall?" I asked again for the hundreth time.
She smirks while standing next to my captains seat looking at my view screen where a portal was visible on the moon in the distance. On either side of the bridge there was 12 gunner stations(6 per side) that hooked up to the outside Arcane cannons. There were other various stations that were silent at the moment, but monitoring everything. The bridge was at full capacity right now with every station manned. "Any minute." She says in a quiet tone, nearly a whisper. I look at her blindfolded face with some a raised eye browl, my curiosity peaked. I receive no indication that she knew I was looking at her, but she knew, just chose not to acknowledge it.
Not a minute later there is a massive burst of light from the moon portal and flying out of it at impossible speeds is a white flaming star falling towards the planet. All of us sheilded our eyes, and yet I noticed Aliana did not, it makes me so curious, I vow I will find out what your eyes look like one day!
After a few minutes the light died down and the star seems to react as it entered our atmosphere and started to slow down. It was no longer glowing white, but it was still on fire. As it was headed for the far side of the lake I thought we were positioned wrong and instructed Smith to start moving that way. Just as he obliged and the ship started turning towards the southern end of the lake, the star curved away from there and kept going north across Lake Pyramid. It skimmed past the Pyramid by nearly 300ft to the east, where it smashed into the water then rolled through the trees up the slight incline. Smith was already on the way, and it was less than a 5 minutes before we were there.
Our Squad Speak Spell activates as Taezed reports. "It's about 50 yards in from the shore in a clearing, no monsters sighted, should be clear. It's still on fire though." He had been on the north side of the lake scouting, and making sure it that side was clear of monsters this whole morning. He usually only scouts alone.
"On our way." I reply.
As we load up onto the large drop pad (A single platform in a roughly rectangluar shape that can ferry supplies, cargo, personell, you name it, from the floating airship to the ground) I have Ellestrae use her arcane detection spell for any traps or groups of people, not that I didn't trust Taezed, but I just always double check everything if possible. I know Taezed would approve. Elle gives me the curt nod as her spell is in place, she obviously didn't find anything. The drop pad settles a half foot above the ground.
"Dorr, put those fires out." I say as we step off of the squad drop pad. The crashed star is about 20 yards away from us and is still burning.
"You got it." He says on the exhale of a breath, casually throwing a hand up. He didnt have to use water to put the fire out, he only needed to remove the fire there. Part of being an elementalist is that he can not only create the 4 elements, but he can also control the 4 elements. Fire is the easiest for him so the flames are squelched almost instantly.
As I walk up to the wreckage I can see all the way to the lake, had to be a hundred feet down the hill and this metallic object is now stuck in this little clearing that is relatively flat. The path of destruction is incredible, trees are in splinters and the path it rolled is a perfect indication of the violent crash. But the way it turned towards the water, it had to be controlled right?
I walked around and this darker reflective surface is well cracked and partially crumbling, I see what appears to be a gloved hand through one of the larger holes in the crystal-like substance. I pried more of it away and was able to make out a person.....no a female in an incredibly regal dress with a silver helmet and blue and silver color scheme throughout her dress. No skin was showing and at least one of her legs had to be broken at that angle. It looked like her right arm is in the wrong position form the shoulder. It looks like she is still breathing though, so I removed as much of this glass as I can and pulled her body out. She was surprisingly heavy, and I realize her clothing is actually armored. Her metal helmet had no eye slots and just appeared to have a smale section that was black with subtle wavy lines, it was like looking into a portal that was into an abyss. "Shiri." I said in a loud desperate voice, I hear our healer moving forward, a stretcher being unfolded. The magic stretcher floats down to next to me where I deposit the girl.
A sharp intake of breath..."She is horribly wounded." Shirina gasps, while scanning her body with her hand on the womans chest surrounded with a yellow glow. "Many breaks, punctures, internal bleeding, I think her brain is bleeding as well. This is too much for any healing magic, she will die within the hour.I can just ease her passing." Shirina lays this news on us with a stern medical proficiency. It is plain she is putting aside her emotions in order to help the girls suffering. I know she will grieve later.
"What?" Dorr says.
"That can't be right. Aliana?" I ask in disbeleif, this can't be right, we just got here and she's dying? There isnt any weapons on her either, so the starfall IS her. It has to be right?
Aliana has a concerned frown above her elegant blindfold, and it appears she definitely doesnt understand. "I don't know, I thought it would be a weapon, not a person. Is there really no chance your healing magic can help Shiri?"
"I am trying but her brain is badly damaged, I have never seen anyone recover from injuries this bad, also I can't take her helmt off to touch her skin. Someone try to get her helmet off." Shirina ordered. Divine healing powers work through touch, it can go through armor, but not nearly as effective, skin to skin contact is the cannon way of healing and there is no way to touch her skin. Ellestrae moves to work on her helmet which seems firmly secured through hidden means, there is no visible way to remove her helmet. It appears to just be connected. Aliana also tried to help find a latch of some sort, going as far as trying to pull on one of her gloves of the non-broken arm.
As Shirina poured her divine healing power into the woman, I looked up to see Aethena searching the ship that the girl was in. "See anything Aethena?"
"Maybe...one sec." She mumbles back, I hear her mumble through the Squad Speak.
"We got incoming." Taezed reports in his serious voice.
"What do you see Taezed?"
"About 40-50 midsized monsters on a death sprint towards us from the north, should be there in 2 minutes, I am not sure how they got that close without me seeing them sooner, but we have a fight on our hands in a minute." Taezed responds.
"I have yet to pickup anything with my Arcane Detection...oh wait, I have them now. I am not sure how they got so close either." Ellestrae say with a perplexed ending that seemed to be more fore her own thoughts than the squads.
"I found something...weird, it seems to be in pieces." Aethena says while half way inside the...space..ship?
"Bring it over here."
Aethena walks up to me with a pile of oddly shaped objects, one sphere and a handful of odd shaped triangular-ish things. She shrugs and says, "I don't know it was on the floor in pieces, I grabbed all of them though." She hands them over to Ellestrae, the scholar. She is inspecting the pieces when I hear on the Squad Speak that the monster pack is approaching.
"Alright, Aethena, Draed, Dorr lets take out this pack while they load up the body and get onto the ship."
Shirina is still deep in concentration with her eyes closed trying to reach the poor girl who is clearly unconcious in some sort of brain coma.
"Elle, Aliana, can you escort them back to the ship?" I nod at the nurse and her patient.
Aliana gave a quick wordless sound I took to be affirmation and Elle sets the strange objects on the stretcher next to the woman, but they did not quite touch her. I turn to the north readying Nightstorm, when I see Dorr is already getting things started.
A 20ft tall fire tornado grows in front of Draed as he settles in to prepare fore the attack with his massive sheild and mace, Aethina on the left side of him with her deadly dual swords at the ready, and Taezed was in some invisible shadow to the northwest side of the clearing that had a decent vantage point through the trees. The monsters come bardging clumsily through the trees with a lot of momentum, aiming right for the giant fire tornado that Dorrin made, or rather at the giant of an orc on the other side of the fire tornado. Many of them run right throught the fire tornado and it burns nearly a quarter of the mob to a crisp. Some come through with flames making them howl in pain, with no sign of slowing. The rest seem to learn and come from either side in a pincer style trying to avoid the tornado.
Taezed let his midnight-black with gold trim recurve bow called Reclaimer, launch pin point accurate shots, as he took down one for every arrow he launched. The precision and skill he has is nearly insurmountable. As the monster pack is about to hit Draed, my sister and I roll out form either side of him and the three of us charge forward together, I used my left hand to channel my lightning speed through my body and immediately increases my speed to insane amounts, I casually stab 6 in their exposed eyes and roll through the horde of them as my sister does the same next to me. She is great at the family lightning ability to channel speed and she is all blades and spinning as her swords slice and stab through another 10 of the pack. Dorr lets his tornado fall after most have passed it, and starts to lob single target fire balls that when struck by the incoming mobs, just continure to burn deeper through them. It would be a horrible way to die as a marble sized ball of white hot magical fire worms its way through your skull and out the back of the head.
Draeds mace falls again and again pulverizing skulls of these mutated bear things. As my sister and I roll back behind his huge frame. I hear a voice that doesn't make sense behind me.
Shirina was walking with Ellestraes and Aliana's guidance, and the stretcher is following perfectly with Shiri still maintaining contact with where the womans heart was beating. She did slightly trip and bump the pile objects and the singular sphere in the pile of metallic chrome and blue pieces rolled forward on the strecher and made contact with the dying womans shoulder. The instant contact was made, a spark of white light blasted between the two. All of the pieces rearranged themselves around the sphere which now had a blue diamond eye and crazy spiking patterns made from the triangular-ish pieces that were with it, then it spoke.
"Oh my, we made it."
"Something is happening." Ellestrae says over the Squad Speak slightly alarmed.
While the weird shaped object turns and shoots light over the woman who seems to teleport a few feet to the right where its clear. She drops from a spread of white blips that seem to form into her body. Her previously burnt and damaged armor is now pristine and shining in the mid-morning sun, with a 4 and a half foot tall long bow in her hand she stood staring at the
Shirinas scream was more of a yelp, but it was loud when the body of the woman she was trying to heal just disappeared in a field of light.
The mysterious woman with an elegant white long bow was now staring at us silently through her faceless helm, while the floating metal thing at her left shoulder said in a metallic voice "Hello there." to the three women that stood there in shock.