The great plains covered by lush green grass and hills stretched further than any eye can see. From the north of the great plains the golden fortress glistened in the sunlight. A rider stood upon one of the green hills spanning the great plains holding a beautiful black horse by brown leather reigns.
The rider looked upon the horizon towards the direction of the golden fortress. A black cape hung from the riders back, partially hidden by long messy dark brown hair and the long thin object wrapped in a brown blanket that stretched from back of the shoulders, right down to the back of the riders knees. Some of the shiniest black and leather armour covered the riders torso and arms including a black shiny breast plate decorated with a large red and yellow bird and shaped to feminine body. The armour was very light but very strong and scratch marks covered showing the previous use of combat. As the rider walked bristly towards forwards holding the black house, the horse’s hooves and the black boots from the rider made marks within the muddy ground covered by green grass.
Attached to the riders brown belt were two long daggers, covered in mud and blood stained at the pointy end, a small parchment of rolled up paper was attached to the rider’s belt.
As the rider walked briskly in the direction towards the golden fortress we could clearly identify that the rider was female by the strides and movements that the rider took. The red & yellow mountain snake featured on the breastplate was the crest of ‘Hyspian’. Though the rider was standing in the lands of Cardassa. Both the king of Cardassa and the king of Hyspian are still at open war. What reasons would a rider from Hyspian have to risk her life to head towards the golden fortress?
The golden fortress became more visible as the rider moved closer towards it, signs of fear and apprehension appeared to come from the rider as she took steps closer and closer making haste.
The fortress stood tall in front. The walls made out of pure gold stretched on for miles from either side and were built in a rectangular shape, etched with symbols. Four tall towers rise from each edge of the fortress. A large blue and white flag with a gold crown decorated hung from each of the four towers, attached to long wooden poles.
In front of the rider now was the big gate carved out of Silcrin, one of the strongest metals in Nazulos. The gate was oval and was painted in pure gold to match the rest of the fortress. Two tall guards stood in front of the gate which was twice their size.
The two guards both wore shiny golden armour, a golden helmet and they both were holding a long silver sword made out of Silcrin and Iron & and a large shield decorated with the gold crown crest of Caradass painted on the outer side.
“Stop '' one of the guards shouted as they spotted the rider walking briskly towards them. “Stop now in the name of the king.” Both guards raised their shields to cover their torso & pointed their swords towards the rider.
The rider stopped and placed herself in front of her black horse. As the rider put one of her hands on one of her shiny daggers, she remained silent.
The guard shouted “You’re a long way from Hyspian” and as he stepped closer glaring at the crest on the riders breast plate.
“Who’s in charge here?” the rider demanded as she removed the parchment from her belt and chucked it gently over towards the guards, keeping her guard up. She then uttered “Hypsis has fallen.”.
“The great city of Hypsis has fallen” one of the guards laughed out loud. “Good riddens”
The other guard taunted “Less Hyspian rangers for us to kill” as he reached to pick up the parchment that lay beside his dirty brown boot.
“They came in numbers," the ranger spoke.
“Looking for the golden spear, my people fled down south” the ranger said as she cautiously took a step slightly closer. “We couldn’t hold the mountain city”.
“Who attacked you then?” the guard demanded as he started to unravel the parchment.
Suddenly the sound of buzzing came from behind the rider.
The buzzing sound got louder and louder. Within seconds flying low in the sky amidst the midday sun were a swarm of ten giant wasp like creatures.
The giant wasps also known as ‘Stingers’ were nearly as big as humans. The stingers' bodies were striped black and red. The wings were bright yellow.
The horn from the fortress tower suddenly blew loud and several archers took positions on the ramparts holding and pointing their bows and arrows towards the swarm of stingers.
As the gate to the fortress opened slightly, a sway of arrows fired into the sky from the archers on the ramparts. The arrows missed and fell into the grass.
The ranger and the two guards slipped through the narrow gap in the gate. Just as the gates closed shut.
BANG.
One of the stingers crashed into the gate. The tough gate stood strong.
The ranger drew her daggers and followed the two guards further into the fortress courtyard. The courtyard was open and the ground was muddy, some grass grew in random locations. Other parts were covered in mud and dirt.
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Just as the two guards reached the centre of the courtyard, a stinger flew over one of the golden walls.
Into the courtyard, the stinger flew. It was bigger than the two guards and the stingers' legs moved quickly as they touched the ground. The head of the stinger looked upon the two guards and within seconds, the stinger flipped its back towards the guards.
The sting, large and sharp, went into both the guards' torsos with two single strikes. The armour broke in two from their bodies and they dropped to the ground.
The ranger knew that she was in trouble. The head of the stinger looked upon her, the teeth emerged from the face of the stinger and its dark black eyes stared into hers.
There was no escape for the ranger.
Sweat covered the ranger's face as fear overcame her. She drew the other dagger from her belt.
The ranger had both knives equipped in each of her hands. Gripping firmly and raising her hand firmly but quickly, she hurtled one of the knives towards the stinger’s head.
Hyspian rangers were trained in the arts of using small weapons such as knives, stones and they were very resourceful.
She stepped back and jumped out of the way as the stinger’s back flipped to sting her.
The dagger had missed.
Luckily her daggers were special, and were crafted by the mountain gods. They were known as ‘Spitfire’. The blades would automatically return to the thrower and any wound inflicted would burn like fire.
The dagger flew back into her hand.
The ranger knew that the stinger was more aggressive than ever now. The stinger was angry at her.
Luckily arrows hurtled towards the stinger from above on the ramparts.
“Shoot it down,” shouted a warrior holding a long golden blade and a large circular golden shield, as he ran down the golden steps coming down from one side of the fortress walls.
More arrows hurtled towards the stinger. Both rounds of arrows bounced off the body of the stinger.
The warrior ran towards the ranger and stood beside her.
The warrior was shorter than the ranger and had short black hair. His pale skinned face and skin was covered in dirt and blood.
“We have to destroy it” the ranger voiced, “aim for its legs”. She took two steps back.
The stingers' legs stepped closer towards them.
Both the rangers took an aggressive stance, one clutching a long sword and shield and the other holding two daggers. At the same time they leaped towards one of the stingers' left legs.
One swipe from both of them at the same time, and then they jumped back.
The stinger cried out in pain as one of its legs fell from its abdomen. The body of the stinger hit the ground as its wings started to violently flap.
The warrior looked at the ranger and smirked. He then looked at her clothes. “Hyspian” he uttered “Princess Shana”.
Indeed the warrior was correct, the ranger was the princess of the lands of Hyspian . Shana was third in line to the throne of Hyspian. Her father was King Aysima and she had two brothers who were heir first and second in line to the throne.
“Good guess” remarked Shana, looking at the beast “how?”
“I visited Hypsis many years ago” the warrior shouted as he raised his sword to prepare to strike the stinger again.
The warrior plunged his blade into the stinger. His shield raised up high to block the incoming stinger that hurtled towards him.
Shana threw one of her daggers towards the stinger as she kept dodging one of the razor sharp wings. One of her daggers hit the black and red back of the stinger.
“Who are you then?” Shana asked.
“Quantane of the Riverlands Realms” the warrior replied as he pulled his sword out from the body of the stinger.
“Mercenary for Cardassa Infantry” , Quantane added.
The stinger was still alive; it flew up and towards Quantane and Shana aggressively.
Just as Shana was about to throw another dagger, a massive axe chopped the Stinger in half.
Another warrior jumped off the stinger's body as it fell to the ground. The stinger was surely dead.
The warrior was tall and he had a big build. His long greasy greying hair covered his shoulders and his golden armour was some of the finest around. The armour was light and covered his entire body.
The armour had stripes of silver down one arm and the chestpiece was covered in gold and silver spots. Only one person in Cardassa wore such armour and had such skill with an axe.
The warrior was Lord Walladan of Cardassa. He was in charge of the golden fortress and its defences. His victories during battles and wars were endless. He was a war hero and commander of many infantry. A well respected and powerful figure of Cardassa.
“Arrest her” Lord Walladan shouted “She brought those things here”
Lord Walladan moved quickly towards Shana, pointing his axe at her face.
They stood beside the giant stinger’s body that was lying dead in the middle of the courtyard. Beside them was the parchment of paper that was wrapped like a scroll, that the two guards were carrying. It was lying in a muddy puddle.
Quickly, many troops flock into the courtyard of the fortress to surround Shana.
By now the other stingers had fled back over the great plains to whichever lands they came from.
“Pick up that parchment” Shana said “By your foot”. Shana pointed to the parchment.
Lord Walladan picked up the parchment with his right hand and started to read it as he moved closer to Shana.
Within seconds Shana felt a massive bang on the back of her head. Shana fell to the ground unconscious.
One of the guards had whacked her over the head with the blunt
end of their sword. The guard was dressed like the two guards who were guarding the gate before the attack. Shana was dragged by the arms into the fortress by the guard that knocked her unconscious.