Everyone he had ever loved had gone. He gasped, in shock, for his Queen had been killed, but to him, it was obvious she was murdered; there was foul play when it came to Royals. What would he do now? His sole job had been to protect the Queen of Asderia, not to let her die. He had no purpose anymore, he had failed his Queen and himself. Why did I let her go? It was obviously a trap.

‘Help me, dear Dios, for I cannot live much longer, not with this amount of guilt. I failed my mistress, and now, Asderia will pay the price for my actions. They have no ruler, she was the last in the Royal Bloodline of Asderia.’ He sobbed, kneeling on the red-velvet carpet of the ornate church.

‘Let the past die. It was not your fault, Her Majesty was foolish to think such a thing was wise. You warned her, Lord Helretum. Now, the province of Asderia needs a ruler. You are the only one fit to rule.’ A beautiful girl appeared from behind him, patting him on the shoulder. ‘You are not Queen Shiyun, but this province needs prosperity in these tumultuous times. I shall be your advisor, now, we must restore the Bloodlines lost to the maniac who killed her. My first action as your Royal Advisor is to shut off any communication with the other provinces, for the body was discovered in Razgaroth.’

‘No, that is madness! You cannot see me fit to be a ruler, for I am just a servant for the Queen. Besides, if we shut off communication to the other provinces, the murderer would catch onto us much sooner.’ Lord Helretum pushed the girl aside and exited the church. There was an incredible downpour that night, for the Asderian streets were flooded. Clouds of thunder loomed over the Asderian Castle.

‘Don’t you want to give Asderia hope? They need you, a ruler.’

‘If you want a ruler, then go rule the fucking kingdom yourself! She is gone! Yet, you just want to replace her. You know nothing of what it is like! I loved her like a mother!’ His voice broke, ‘She was the only person I had in this alienated world. Wake up, can’t you see that this kingdom has failed!’ Lord Helretum walked to his home, showing no remorse for the girl.

‘They cannot survive without you!’ The girl called to the man, but he had already departed.

The one person that could rule over Asderia had just left her. Dios, why was I such an idiot? He is still an ignorant child. He was just a kid, Valentin. Valentin was her name. She had grown up whilst the Empire was developing, and only barely managed to escape with her life, for she had sorcery in her blood. Now, Valentin hid in Asderia, a place unaffected by the Emperor, while her queen was alive, however, the Queen was no longer alive. If he wanted, the Emperor could take over Asderia, and continue to expand his empire. If Helretum did not step up as King of Asderia, the Asderians would be pawns in the Emperor’s twisted game. This was no longer a sanctuary, but a nightmare.

When she returned to her cottage, Valentin packed her belongings. Asderia was now free land to whoever wanted to claim it. No royal could stop them. It was perfect for the murderer of Queen Hilyun: they had Asderia wrapped up in their finger.

By dawn, Valentin had left the province of Asderia. Now, she would have to fend for herself, no city walls could protect her; she had welcomed solitude with open arms. Her destination was unknown, Valentin only knew it could not be Asderia. Maybe she could find peace in the mountains, and live a long carefree life before a blissful death. As much as she wished it was true, the woman knew there were no ‘happy endings’.

‘This world has changed so much,’ Valentin said to herself. She enjoyed her own company and preferred it rather than socialising with the citizens of Asderia. ‘First, I’m living a normal life, next, the Queen of Asderia dies. It just seems so sudden, so unexpected.’

Valentin continued down the muddy path, looking at the foliage and shrubbery surrounding her. As a child, she had always heard of the forests outside of Asderia, and how they were the most beautiful places in the kingdom. At the current point in time, Valentin most certainly agreed with that statement. The world was not the same as it was, and someone had to change it. Ever since the Empire started its reign almost a decade ago, the Kingdom had not been the same as it was previously. Young children had been tortured because of their abilities, yet no one in the kingdom dared to face the Emperor and tell him what he was doing was wrong. Were they afraid? After all, he was a powerful dictator, probably the most powerful since the Dios.

Soon, Valentin arrived at a small hamlet that was unmarked on her map. Strange, she thought, Most places in the Kingdom are marked on the map. Maybe the map is old and outdated. Valentin looked around. The houses were deserted. In most works of fiction she had read, abandoned places were not to be explored. Oh well, what’s the worst that can happen? The woman looked through each house, finding nothing but dust and decay. There was one house that stood isolated from the others, it was much further away from the clock tower which was situated in the centre of the village. Valentin stepped carefully on the wooden floorboards, trying not to wake anyone that could lurk inside. In these times, you could trust nobody, they had all gone paranoid and mental from the Rise of the Empire. One of the floorboards creaked, unlike the others. Curious, Valentin pulled open the floorboard, only to see darkness, but before she could turn, the woman felt a hand grab her leg.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

She tried to resist; it was no use, Valentin was off balance, and fell into the darkness. It was not the drop that scared her, it was what dangers lurked below. To her surprise, the drop was mildly low. However, it still injured her leg. A hand helped her up from the floor. It was a face she recognised greatly: the face of Aurora Arkov, the most famous member of the Resistance.

‘Hey,’ Valentin said,’ My name’s Valentin, with a V.’

‘Hi. My name’s Aurora, with an A.’ Aurora, chuckled before she abruptly stopped laughing. ‘Well, Valentin with a V, what are you doing in a shit place like this?’

‘I heard a floorboard creak, and I was curious to see what was down here. I am so sorry for this inconvenience, I guess I’ll leave.’ Valentin started to climb up the tall, cobbled wall.

‘No! I mean, don’t leave. You can’t, you already know our location. We have no choice but to keep you, to make sure you don’t rat us out to the Emperor. It has taken us months to relocate after the Sentries found us. The ones here today were lucky to have escaped, other members of the Resistance weren’t.’ She took a long pause and continued. ‘M, can give this woman a tour of how we work around here? I have a feeling she’s going to be with us for a long time.’

An elderly man took Valentin’s hand and gave her a tour of the small outpost for the Resistance. On the way, the woman saw various types of people, ranging from young children to adults to elderly people. It seemed the Resistance was a mixed organisation. The outpost was divided into sections each for specific things, like a place for explosives, and a place for young children who possessed magical powers. The outpost had it all.

‘Here,’ The elderly man clapped his wrinkled hands together, ‘Is the best place that the Resistance has created. Here, you have every type of weapon imaginable. How do you think Miss Arkov escapes the Sentries, with awful equipment? Here, there is technology so advanced that it is even beyond the Empire’s technology. We use magical artefacts, which are kept over there, to enhance the weapons and improve each one.’

‘But what if this outpost was found by the Empire? Wouldn’t you lose everything? If the Empire had these weapons, they could rule the whole kingdom, not just Razgaroth and Etheria.’ Valentin shuddered as she thought about the consequences of the outpost being found.

‘That is highly unlikely, Madam, for this place is not even on maps it is so discreet. Do you think that anyone could get here? The only possibility I could think of is if the Empire had followed you here, but that would be impossible and it would never happen.’ M reassured Valentin, before returning to his workstation. Valentin thanked him for the tour and bade him a good day.

‘So, what do you want to do to make a difference? The Resistance is far from perfect, you know, it has taken us years of work to get to the point we are at today and even now, we are nowhere near the point we want to be at.’

‘What goal do you want to achieve? Surely it must be significant if it has taken you this long just to get halfway there.’

‘I am afraid I cannot tell you that, not when I know so little about you. Don’t take it personally. I’ll see you later, right now, I have to go to Razgaroth, rumour has it that the Emperor is away and has left his brother to guard the Palace. Bye!’ Aurora took a long piece of rope from her pocket and used it to climb up to the surface. Valentin smiled at her, for in this cruel world, it may have been the last time she would ever see her.

Nightfall came. Valentin was taken up to the surface, to a room where the Resistance slept when they were not occupied with whatever mission they were trying to achieve. As much as she tried to conceal it, Val was less than impressed that Aurora had not told her the plans she had, however, in a sense, she understood why: Val was just a stranger to her. Why am I here? I have nothing to provide for the Resistance. The only reason I’m here is because Aurora does not trust me going back out, in case I spill the secrets of the Resistance. A cold breeze came from the door. Someone had come in. Valentin pretended to sleep but took a peep at the shadow. It was Aurora. Trying not to disturb the others, the woman made her way over to Aurora. They went back outside and sat on the rooftop of the house.

‘Can’t sleep?’ Aurora asked, ‘Me neither. I still cannot get my head around this Empire stuff. 847,000 magic people were killed last summer. That’s a third of the population of the entire kingdom. This has to end soon, or his plan will go through. There are only a few left Valentin. Most of them are in this outpost, which is why I absolutely cannot risk its location being breached and found by the Empire. I hope you understand.’

‘I do. Thank you for giving me a place to stay. I appreciate it very much.’ She flung her arms over Aurora, ‘I don’t know what I would do without you. As a child, I heard about all of your exciting events, and they inspired me to be the person I am today. When I arrived home from school, I would always ask my father to read me the newspaper, to see if it mentioned you at all.’ Val laughed. ‘You don’t know how much I look up to you.’

‘I can guess. I just want to give people hope in these dark times. Believe me, I am no hero. I have done unspeakable things, but what separates me from many others in my situation is that I have overcome them. If you give people hope, then-’

‘Everyone is to succeed. The Reklit, 125 BRE. I loved that novel so much, it influenced the many ideas I still believe in today.’ Val finished her sentence.

‘I am impressed, but I have to get to sleep. Tomorrow, I must head back to the Emperor’s Palace. They shut the borders before I could even get a glimpse at the Palace. See you tomorrow.’ Aurora climbed off of the roof.

‘See you tomorrow, hopefully, before you go!’ Val said goodnight, and sat alone, gazing at the stars from the roof. The sheer beauty of the stars could not even phase her. The twilit sky was just as it was depicted in the books and stories, warm and comforting. Valentin dozed off and fell asleep under the stars.