Iya was sitting on a shaded bench in the training arena watching the rain pour on to the sand. The rain was calming and relaxing as she reminded her of a certain memory. Artemis had dropped off both Iya and Kal out in the wilderness, in the middle of nowhere. He gave them a map and a jug for water than told them to find their way back to the palace. Iya was twelve and Kal, thirteen. They looked at Artemis as the rain poured on their heads, wondering if they were going to survive. 'You have two days to get back... work together and stay together. See you soon.' Artems told them as he drove away in the truck. That was the first time Artemis had done anything so extreme, in their eyes. It was the longest two days of their lives. When they did manage to get back to the palace, the relationship between was stronger than ever.
Kal came up behind Iya and sat down next to her. He wondered what was on her mind because she looked focused, in a trance even. When Kal sat down, he scared her making her jump from being surprised. They looked at one another and lightly smiled. "Everything ok? You look a little sad."
"I'm fine just thinking about our initiation test at the end of all of this... I know your father always has something tricky up his sleeves." Iya laughed to herself making Kal laugh with her.
"He does, doesn't he. I know we'll get through this, together... Speaking of my father's looking for you. He says he has something to tell us. You know it's probably the origin story again. You know that's his favorite story to tell." Kal stood up and extended his hand to help her to her feet. Iya looked down at Kal's hand and took the offer.
Together they walked back to the quarters to join the group in the main dining hall. They could hear chatting followed by laughter. Then they heard, “Hey! Let me finish tellin’ my story!” Artemis yelled at his young soldiers which only made them giggle harder. “This is important. Princess Esriz was able to accomplish complete unity within her army. In honor to the princess they named her methods, The Circle of Esriz. She believed in having everyone’s input or ideas to be put into the pot and together they come up with a consensus on the plan. If everyone is in chaos and disarray with no clear plan then we would be no better than the Barbarians that attacked us so long ago. It had worked for us Sagen soldiers for so long that it was something we should have never strayed from.” Artemis turned around and sat down again when Iya and Kal returned. “On a serious note, all of the trust and unity disappeared when Gerok and his Saijerian followers betrayed us. We don’t speak of Gerok in Sage anymore. He’s nothing but a disgrace to our race and way of life. Iya a personal dream of mine was reinstate The Circle of Esriz among the Sagen Army again… maybe one day you will truly understand its importance.
Iya had heard this story from Artemis many times but something registered differently this time. There’s a piece he had added that he had never added before… Gerok. The former commander. Saijerian followers. Something about it really stood out to Iya, “Where did the Saijerians come from Artemis? You never talked about them like this before.” Iya’s question made Artemis sit still for a while contemplating whether he should tell the story or not.
“The Saijerians, as you know, are our outsiders. Honestly anyone outside of Sagen blood can be considered a Saijerian. King Methodius, a long time ago agreed to allow a few groups of refugees from neighboring planets to stay on Sage. Our king was worried about outside influences so he told the Star Lord the outsiders can stay on the other half of our moon Blackius. Anthony Blackius personally had a hand in building the Saijerian Colonies. Fast forward till about eighteen years ago, when you were born Iya. Gerok convinced enough Saijerians to rebel against Sage. No one really knew why at the time he betrayed us. Some say its rumor he had a family with a Saijerian woman and your father, King Jaron, wanted Gerok dead. A lot of crazy stuff happened when you were born Iya, which is why I’m so hard on you and Kal now. You must understand how important of role we have in the universe.” Artemis placed his hand on Iya’s shoulder. His callus hands were rough on Iya’s bare shoulder. Iya looked Artemis in his brown eyes and knew he was truly speaking from the heart.
Down the hallway the three of them could hear the rest of the army coming down to eat their dinner as well. Artemis turned and looked at Iya and Kal and said, “Well here comes the rest of the bunch. Iya tomorrow I will be talking to your father about you accompanying me to Corra. There is a rumor that King Kahn has traded his allegiance elsewhere and that doesn’t sound good to me. We must keep the territories on the Star Counsel in check otherwise we risk another take over from the Barbarians.” Iya looked up at Artemis pleased and happy to be finally given the chance to leave Sage and quench her thirst for battle like she longed for.
“I would want nothing more Artemis than to finally get a taste of real battle.” Iya replied to Artemis but quickly put her head down with doubt that, the king, her father would ever release her earlier than any other commander before her, “Are you sure my father would go for it? You know how he can be. I don’t want to get my hopes up when I have three to five more years to go because he doesn’t believe I’m ready.” Iya’s words were sincere about her father’s doubts but both Artemis and Kal knew she was upset at the thought of anyone doubting her. Iya knew she was going to be great and no one was going to stop her.
“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on taking no for an answer when I speak to him. You’re father means well, you know that. He knows you’re more advance than any commander we’ve had in a very long time. It has everything to do with the fact that you’re his youngest, his baby, although he wouldn’t admit that. Also with your mother gone becoming the newest member of the Star Counsel, replacing one of the queens who passed, your father has taken on both roles as much as possible. Cut him some slack Iya, I got you. Now go and prepare for the trip. I’ll be leaving in the morning. Both of you, Kal you too!” Artemis made his exit out of the dining area hall. He knew it was going to harder than what he made it seem to convince the king to let his daughter go and leave Sage to fight.
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King Jaron had a special place in his heart for Iya. Artemis more than anyone understood why. The former commander, Prince Jaycen passed away before his time and to make matters worse he died from being betrayed by his own. The king was afraid of history repeating itself. That his daughter would go way before her time. At the same time, King Jaron knew in his heart he could not be the reason his planet and its people were held back from further greatness. There was a lot to pick back up again and to regain all that had lost throughout the years as they were hunting down their enemies.
Later that afternoon, Artemis made his way to see his king and best friend. The Kingdom of Sage had a huge palace that housed nearly three hundred people. The royal family were the main residents and their house keeping staff made up the rest of the numbers. One of Artemis’ s favorite spots of the kingdom, like many others, was the Garden of Ospice. Named after one of Sage’s moons, Ospice its light shined the brightest over the garden. It sat directly in the middle of the palace and was a common area for people to come and visit. It was a really long hallway that connected the Military Quarters to the Royal Quarters, which were divided by one the main entrances were stairs leading down to the garden. As Artemis walked by the statues of the past heroes and scholars of Sage he stopped to admire the beauty of how lovely the flowers and plants smelled. He let out a huge sigh because truly he was hoping this conversation with the king went over well.
When he reached the end of the hallway and turned the corner to the king’s main bedroom. He nodded hello to the soldiers standing guard outside the door. When Artemis entered he saw King Jaron surrounded by two of the best hairstylists in the kingdom area. They were twisting the new growth of his long locks that went down his back. King Jaron sat in front a huge gold mirror with huge lights shining on the top. The king liked watching them add length to the braids. When King Jaron saw Artemis approaching he was intrigued and happy to see his best friend. “Artemis my friend, what a surprise I didn’t know you were coming. Come sit down and tell me what do I owe this pleasure?” King Jaron gave Artemis a big smile as his friend sat down in a chair next to him. Artemis was hoping he’ll keep the same enthusiasm after he tells him why he’s here.
“Well my King… my friend. I’m here to tell you that I want to take Iya with me on her final test or initiation to Corra. I have gotten intel that King Kahn is working with the Saijerians and possibly Gerok…” Artemis said his last sentence a little slow because he knew once he dropped Gerok’s name, the big smiles were over. And that’s exactly what happened. The king’s face dropped to a quick irritated face, making him turn his head and look at Artemis with disappointment.
King Jaron let out a big sigh and turned to the hair stylist than said, “Would you excuse me ladies? I need a moment alone with my Conrad here.”
The ladies both respond, “Yes, my king.” They both curtsy as they exit then the room became super quiet. The ladies could feel the tension that was about to erupt. Artemis stood up and walked around the chair. King Jaron sat there still, thinking about what Artemis was going to say.
“My king she is more than ready, I assure you…” Artemis tried to get a full sentence out before King Jaron interrupted.
“She’s only eighteen… She’s not old enough to take on the responsibilities yet Artemis.”
“King Jaron, I assure she is more than ready. Iya won’t know to swim until she gets in the water. You don’t have to worry…”
“I’m not worried Artemis about that,” replied the king, “I’m worried she’s going out there too soon because Sage is desperate to reclaim what we’ve lost. The full stream payments from the Star Counsel. I want that too, but not at the expense of my daughter and another commander.”
“Whether you think she’s ready now or not when she is twenty five she’s going to have to face this journey alone. Delaying fate is only going to make it harder for her.” Artemis pushed off on the chair he was leaning on. He turned around and started making his way out of the king’s bedroom. He wasn’t going to argue with the king, he was just going to have to force certain people’s hands to make his vision into a reality. He worked too hard, he thought to himself, for Iya not to be the one they all envisioned her to be. He had a special plan in mind when he set foot on Corra.
The next day, Artemis got on his warship carrier and took off with a small group of soldiers. He gave the generals instructions on when to follow him to the planet Corra. Iya and Kal patiently waited in the Military Quarters for two full days awaiting word from him that he was ready for everyone else to come. By the end of the second day, Iya was itching to say something about why there hasn’t been any word yet. Just as she was making her way to the quarters to seek answers, Amos, the head general found and approached her. General Amos was a super tall and super build soldier. He stood six foot three but so was muscular his armor had to be specially made. His dark chocolate skin and always shaven head with a custom made war mask, he was hard not to recognize. When it came to General Amos no commander would find a more loyal, gut splitting soldier than him.
When General Amos walked into the room where Iya and Kal had waiting in, they thought this was their time for action. Instead, Amos came with a different message. He wasn’t sure how he was going to deliver the news to the young soldiers but he knew both Iya and Kal needed to be informed. It felt like a do or die situation for the general confronting his commander-to-be. Iya noticed how upset Amos looked and stood up slowly without taking her eyes off of him, “General Amos, you have news about Artemis?” Iya felt in her gut something was wrong. Her first go to thought was her father denied her to go and Artemis couldn’t face her to tell her the truth. That sounded nuts and not like Artemis at all, he was never afraid to tell Iya the truth. It was something else. By the way Amos was trying to gather his words, something happened went wrong. Iya couldn’t wait any longer, “What is it?”
Amos’ voice was deep and strong but you could hear the concern in it, “Something happened to Artemis… he hasn’t been in contact with us in two days…”