Every soldier had their own little rituals which they performed before stepping into battle. It didn't matter if they believed in them or not, it was a nervous tick born from the first time a green youth was thrown into the madness of battle. Ulfihild Freya's ritual or tick was a nervous urge to grip the handle of her great sword.

She continuously tightened her grip around the handle of the blade and yet with her prosthetic right hand, it felt weaker than she was used to. In the past she would have kept a cool head, but now the famous Leo of Zodiac nervously paced across the deck of the ship.

"What's the matter, Ulfihild. Scared of a few pirates." Siân teased her and Ulfihild was tempted to insult Siân with the fact that half her face was scared, which forced her to cover it up with a half metal mask.

"That is something that Juno would do and really, she is right to a degree." she thought before smiling looking at Virgo and responding. "You forget who I am, Siân."

Siân placed her massive scythe upon her shoulders and she smiled as she responded. "Oh I remember who you were, but the question is, do you."

Those words stung and Ulfihild was instantly drowned in her thoughts by those words and she didn't care to watch Siân walk away, the elf satisfied with such a petty victory.

She could wrap it up whatever she wanted, but Ulfihild Freya was not the same woman who she had been many months ago. That Ulfihild had been supremely confident and more importantly, her right arm had not been a flawed simulacrum of the flesh and blood thing. She could use a sword again, but not to her once prodigy highs and that was a supremely stunning blow to her confidence.

But she had trained against the Black Raven himself and not made a clown of herself one would think, but the Black Raven had been toying with them. Anytime he bothered to put any serious effort into the mock battles he instantly destroyed them and the enemies who they were fighting would not allow them to get away with any subpar performance.

"Don't let that vindictive hag get to you." Juno said besides her and Ulfihild looked to her younger sibling who had materialised besides her.

She recognised that Juno herself had changed much as well. The once timid girl had become a firebrand who stood up to even the Zodiacs whomst she had once idolised. Ulfihild smiled in pride as she looked at her now grown up sister who was too focused glaring at Siân who had of course started a argument with Alaric.

"Don't mind her, she is just angry and bitter on the inside and she just wants to get under others skin." Ulfihild had always suspected that about Siân, even during their time in Zodiac as Virgo and Leo respectively.

"I try to, but she is just so annoying. Why did it have to be old man Libra who lost his head, it should have been Virgo." and Ulfihild could not argue with Juno's assessment. Rushing off to fight a bunch of pirate ships with the wise and experienced Libra would have been a dream.

Before she could verbalise her thoughts, Ulfihild was halted by a monotone androgynous voice which danced upon the winds saying. "The sisters of Freya, the meeting of the War Band shall happen now in the conference cabin."

Both her and Juno almost leaped out of their skin when they realised that one of the Ghealach twins had snuck up close to them without any of them realising, and after relaying the message, the Fae twin simply stood there, looking at the two with wide golden eyes.

"W... Why are you looking at us like that?" Ulfihild asked after composing herself.

"Your sibling energy fascinates me."

"Don't you have a sibling as well?" Ulfihild was unsure if this was the brother or the sister.

"Yes I do, but my dear Lug is my brother and thus there is a difference."

Juno then half coughed to cover her biting comment. "He sure does look like your sister."

Brig clearly heard it, and yet she chose not to respond and she simply turned to walk whilst Ulfihild turned to admonish her sister. "I like your new spirit Juno, but maybe let's not piss off the children of the greatest warrior of our generation who is also the kings half brother. They are a the princes cousins, don't forget that."

Juno just definitely shrugged her shoulders in response before stating. "Its not my fault that they are so weird."

XXXXXXX

Looking around her, Ulfihild could not help but sigh in disappointment as she compared the Warband to Zodiac. A disorganised nature flowed through every member who sat within the conference cabin, the only person who held any kind of regal aura was the Black Raven who stood at their

It was shocking to even comprehend that some of them had been part of Zodiac, it was like they were completely separate persons. Siân, Alaric and Juno bickered whilst Mor sat silent and the Ghealach twins smirked in enjoyment of the chaos within the room.

The worst however was prince Balor. The young man sat with arms folded like a toddler grumbling onto himself and randomly snapping at anyone close to his. His inferiority complex and desire to act domineering to everyone had gotten old really fast.

"Why didn't the fools wait for us to arrive?" Balor asked.

"They feared that the rebels would pick up any possible communication. Our arrival on the island must be unknown, nephew."

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Balor huffed like a petulant child and he spat. "Why must we skulk about in the shadows like thieves. We are the arm of the Lunar Empire, our three ships have better fire power and the only danger that we face is the Avalonian battleship, everything else is so out dated that we could pick them off at range if our shields don't hold."

"Because maintaining the element of suprise against Avalon and Hephatan is vital. It is best to win a strong victory in a calculated and admittedly boring manner than to lose it all in the pursuit of pointless personal glory." there was a rare silent tension between uncle and nephew who locked eyes for a far too long a time before the Black Raven returned to his presentation. "We can't leave the ship of our Hephatantian allies to ravaged by pirates, so our boarding action shall be a camouflaged strike team , you to be exact."

Balor scoffed with a dry smile. "And here I thought that you didn't reckless attempts at glory, old man."

"I recognise when such glory is useful. Besides, we couldn't try bombarding the pirate ships but they are too close to the Hephatantian one and we need a display to boost their spirits. They must see that this Warband can win them back their home and you should all further learn how to operate as a unit." the Black Raven then gave them a sly smile. "And that is why I will not be joining you. Have a discussion amongst yourselves, children."

He then smiled and turned to walk out of the room, leaving the remaining members of the Warband in a stunned silence as their leader left them at the mercy of... of... Oh no. Ulfihild turned with dread to look at prince Balor who now stood erect and brimming with a suffocating ego.

"Well, now." Balor cast his evil eyes over everyone of them and Ulfihild could not help but shudder under his gaze. "Shall we begin."

"Ancient Ones Help Us."

XXXXXXX

The Ancient Ones were not being kind to Ulfhild and the rest of the Zodiac this day. They left them in the hands of Balor and the prince lacked any kind of subtlety in his attack plan. I mean the man ordered the ship that they were on to sail directly into the battle for survival between two pirate ships constructed from the corpses of long dead battleships and a small Hephatantian citizen battleship.

Balor ordered the ship to ram directly into one of the pirate ships driving the head of the ship into one of the pirate ships like a hot knife being driven through butter. Ulfihild gritted her teeth and her heart pounded as the sounds of dying men and gunfire filled the air.

Board, now!" Balor roared with his spear raised to the air and to his credit the prince was the first to jump off the deck of the ship, using him spear to smack aside projectiles from the pirates.

What followed next was chaos made manifest. She was pushed forward until she had climbed up the enemy deck with her sword clutched tightly and swinging it over and over again as she was met with the better dressed pirates than she would have ever expected. They all donned a similar style of well kept armour, rather than the usual poor patchwork that most pirates wore.

"Anticatian Scum." she thought as she thought about that island nation which both the Lunar Empire and the Ocean Lord fought tooth and nail against eachother over and yet it fell to its criminal underbelly who transformed it into a pirate nation with entire armadas that serves as a irritant to both the Empire and the Ocean Lords.

Ulfihild could certainly feel her combat rust as she locked blades with the pirates. Sure, they all soon died to strong blows from her great blade, but armour was littered with scratches and dents from the pirates who swarmed her. The past Ulfihild... no, the past Leo would have been a cyclone of death that nobody could touch.

Behind her, Juno cutting a bloody path her bone axe which had become pure crimson. Fighting alongside her ironically enough was Siân with her massive scythe severing pirate limbs at blinding speeds. And though the two would most likely kill her for saying it, they were a good enough team covering each others backs.

Alaric and Mor were a juggernaut duo with the former Gemini unleashing jets of flames upon the pirates and Mor proving his true skills. The once Taurus was a Animus and he had summoned a Mizihimo which was a five metre tall humanoid with a helmet of a bull which he rode into the ranks of the pirates who were splattered across the deck.

Balor was flanked by his cousins Brig and Lug. Whilst the twins were like their air element, constantly flying around as if practicing a synchronised dance of death, Balor fought forward for the deck of the nearby Hephatantian ship upon which a stunned mixture of pirates and Hephatan stood, their once heated battle to the death long forgotten as they watched the juggernaut of death that was the Warband came their way.

The pirates on the Hephatantian ship did not fight like their brethren on their ship as they saw their comrades being brutally dispatched by the wrecking ball which was the Warband. They could only retreat in fear as the blood soaked warband finally jumped upon the Hephatantian ship. They were met with a cold dread from the pirates whilst the Hephatantian's loudly cheered.

"Anticatian Scum of the earth, surrender now if you want to live!" Balor loudly declared.

From amongst their number emerged a man with dark skin and light blue hair and facial hair. His clothing was a deep red and blue with armor laid upon it in places, his finger's had ring with a jewel each. In one hand was a gun and in the other was a basket hilted broadsword.

"Captain Bonnet surrenders to no man, especially not an Empire dog. Slay them all!" The captain ordered his men. " Show them the true wrath of the Hanged Maiden."

The pirates broke out of their drunken confusion and they roared as they raised their firearms and bows before opening fire upon them and once more Ulfihild found herself in battle. She decapitated a nearby pirate whilst drawing upon her earthen magic upon the wooden parts of the ships which erupted into multiple tendrils of spiked vines which entrapped their victims in organic iron maidens.

She turned to parry a warhammer blow but then she a sharp pain erupted in her prostatic, it was as if her entire right arm was set on fire. That distraction allowed the warhammer to strike true and send her crashing upon the ship deck. Her entire bodies nervous system burst with pain, leaving her writhing upon the ground as she watched the slowly approaching pirate.

If she was not in so much pain, she would have had a hearty laugh at the idea that the legendary Leo would die on a Hephatan ship, bludgeoned to death by some no name pirate. But before the blow could be struck, the pirate began screaming and writhing before he fell to the ground, his flesh changing into various shades of purple whilst flowers erupted from his dead flesh.

Shocked, Ulfihild looked up to see a Hephatan with a familiar swirl of dark purple threads dancing arounds her fingers. The Hephatantian looked down at her with a smile and Ulfihild could only feel dread as she watched the thick amount of dark energy in this young woman's control.

XXXXXXX

"Surrender now!" Balor roared as he clashed spear and blade with the captain.

"I'd rather die!" the pirate captain responded in anger as he swung his blade forward and from the sea a thin strap of water moved forward in a similar motion to how the captain moved his blade. Balor reached out his hand and he caught the water freezing it instantaneously when they made contact.

"Bastard son of a... " Balor never let the captain finish his curse as he bullrushed the man and their weapons met in a most furious clash. The captain might have simply been a pirate but all who watched would give him due respect as the man held his own well against the prince.

Their weapons collided multiple times as they danced around each other with ever increasing fury and speed. But none of them had even so much as scratched the other as their wild dance continued. Any in the Warband who watched this viscous exchange who begrudge the prince his due as a skilled opponent.

"When I take your head off, I will piss all over your damn corpse." the pirate taunted at him.

But Balor ignored him as he rolled forward under a sword swing before he kicked the pirate in the back of his leg forcing him down onto one knee before Chris round house kicked the pirate captain across the jaw sending him upon his back and to his credit the pirate instantly scrambled onto his feet, still clutching his sword with a mouth full of blood.

"To think, a man of your skill would waste his time as a worthless scoundrel." Balor snapped at the pirate who spat a glob of blood at the Prince's feet.

"Suck on my sword you bastard cunt." the captain responded with a bloody grin.

Balor sighed and the prince stabbed his spear into the deck, surprising everyone. Then a burst of magical threads danced around Balor and spread across the world as he proudly declared the words. "Castle Winter"

Those veterans amongst them instantly realized what was happening as the world around them began to shift and break apart. It was instantly reconstituted as a frozen tandra that outstretched for miles with large mountains jutting out of the ground like the fingers of some giant trying to dig it's way out of the earth. Upon the mountains one could see a series of glowing white ice castles which glowed brightly under the sunless sky of this world.

"A pocket world." some whispered in awe whilst others said. "by the Ancient Ones, he has achieved that."

This was one of the greatest achievements that one could attain in magical training. An Alpha-Spell which literally overlaid an expression of the user's power upon reality itself, a pocket world in which could basically become a god. Even some great wizards who had trained their entire five hundred years in magic could barely do achieve this power.

The captain stood in awe at this world, but that awe soon gave way to dread as he realised that he could be dead soon. He desperately raised his sword in order to use his own Alpha-Spell, but it was already too late. Multiple ice spikes began instantly gushing out of his body, leaving him a bloody, impaled and dying thing.

"You should have listened to me. I am Balor Ghealach, Prince of the Lunar Empire." he loudly declared as he turned to face the pirates in his pocket world. "Now surrender, whilst my mercy is still present."

Every pirate quickly threw down their weapons in surrender and the prince smiled in triumph as he took in his victory. "Good Choice."