The palace lay in silence as the dark of night blanketed Heart, the songbirds had long gone to bed and now the sounds of the air were of the winds howling up the hillside. The stars twinkled in the sky, but no moonlight accompanied them, for tonight was a new moon, and though the sky was full, it seemed empty without its moon. The gem of the sky, missing.

The residents and guests of the palace were sleeping peacefully, there had been a grand feast that night, leaders from all across Kumandra had attended as a sign of the lasting peace after the druun tragedy. The meal long since ended, the evening long since drawn to a close. Now everyone in the palace was asleep, even the princess of heart herself, Raya, guardian of the dragon gem.

The only one awake in the palace was the soup chef Lynn. Lynn was sat up in her bed, unable to sleep. Something was wrong, she wasn’t sure why but she just had this dreadful sense something was wrong. She tossed and turned, trying to force her eyes closed, but nothing was taking. She just couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

Finally and with a heavy sigh, Lynn kicked her legs up and over the side of her bed, throwing aside her sheets. She pulled on a simple pair of pants and left her room, deciding that she needed to go for a walk. She softly padded down the long hallways of the palace, her bare feet making soft slaps against the marble floors. As her eyes traced the walls, her mind was addled. She wasn’t sure why she couldn’t sleep, by all means, she should’ve been, that day had been exhausting. Preparing a full meal for that many people, she was exhausted, and despite her insomnia, she certainly felt the exhaustion, her walking slow and almost sluggish.

She found herself out in the courtyard, she hadn’t intended to go this way, not consciously anyway. The courtyard looked serene and peaceful in the dead of night, the moonless sky casting no shadows, leaving the garden plots in darkness. She could hear the sounds of a few small insects out among the flowers, singing their nightly chorus. Lynn leaned against a balcony rail, taking a breath to inhale the cool night air.

“Can’t sleep?” A familiar voice asked softly.

“AH!” Lynn yelped, jumping to the side, taking a defensive stance. She looked to the person who had snuck up on her, expecting to see some form of an assailant. Instead, she saw Somwang, standing a full head taller than herself.

“Me neither, been up all night.” Somwang gave a tired but warm smile.

“No. I have this...terrible sense of dread.” Lynn relinquished. Her mind went back to the wonderful day she’d had with Somwang. While everyone in the palace had dined on a fine feast, she and Somwang had run off and enjoyed a simple peasant’s dish, more content to be in each other’s company. Lynn felt herself smile.

Somwang gave a chuckle, “Well I can’t imagine why. Kumandra hasn’t been this at peace since before the draa left.”

“Well, maybe that’s what scares me.” Lynn reasoned.

Somwang rolled her eyes, a gesture that went unseen in the darkness, “You’re being paranoid, dep la.”

Lynn sighed, planting her face in Somwang’s chest, “You’re probably right.” Her nose was enveloped with Somwang’s scent, a sweet-smelling fragrance that seemed to be a mixture of sweat and perfume. Lynn felt so warm this close to Somwang, despite the night chill she felt as if she were swaddled in thick cotton blankets.

Lynn looked up into Somwang’s face, stoic and strong, her lioness features backlit by the starry night sky. Lynn stared into her eyes, almost mirror-like in the darkness, the deep brown irises a stark contrast to the rest of the white in her eyes. Lynn felt something in her own chest, like an engine speeding up. She found herself wanting to stay like this, right here in this courtyard with this beautiful amazon, forever.

*No*, she chided herself, don’t be ridiculous, she doesn’t think of you that way. She was going to look back down when something flashed past, something quick and nimble zipped right behind Somwang’s head. Quickly she pushed Somwang aside, scanning the rooftop.

“Ah, hey! What are you doing dep la?” Somwang asked, rather shocked by Lynn’s sudden move.

“Did you see that?” Lynn asked, her eyes sharp as she scanned the dark night.

“See what? What are you talking about?” Somwang was very confused, and a little upset that their close moment had been shattered.

“Someone’s in the castle. The gem!” Quickly Lynn ran off back into the palace, she turned back as she ran. “Get the guards!”

Somwang just stood stunned as Lynn ran off, “Where are you going?!” But Lynn was out of earshot now, racing through the palace halls for the gates. Before leaving the palace, Lynn skidded into the kitchens, her bare feet slick on the floor, she quickly found the knife block and drew two of her knives. She slipped the knives between her waistband and took off again, bursting outside and quickly taking to the stairs, scaling the hillside towards the sacred dragon temple.

As she ran, she began to wonder why she felt such determination to go help, surely the Princess of Heart had already dealt with the thieves by now, she certainly didn’t need the palace cook. Then again, what if she did? What if there was more than she could handle? Everyone was asleep, no one would be there to back her up if she was overpowered. Lynn picked up her pace.

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She came to the doors of the temple only to find them swung open wide, the thieves were already there. She rushed to the hall of traps, finding to her dismay that every trap was disabled, some even broken. She had to hurry, she weaved through the long hallway, it wasn’t as hard as it normally was since the traps were all disabled, but it was still a tight squeeze in some spots. She was able to make it through though, quickly rushing into the chamber of the dragon gem, just in time to see a band of thieves removing it from its pedestal, and no sign of Raya or Chief Benja.

The thieves heard her enter, and slowly turned to face her. “Look alive boys, we got company.” One of the thieves sneered, his voice thick and heavy.

“Forget her, let’s get the gem and go. Captain doesn’t like to wait.” Said another thief, his voice higher and full with a rasp.

“This won’t take long at all.” Said the first one.

Lynn steeled herself, she hadn’t been prepared to be the only one defending the gem, but now she had no choice. She took the kitchen knives from her waistband, readying herself in the stance Somwang had shown her, the thieves laughed at her, she counted them, five in total. They all drew swords and began to taunt her, “Pretty girl’s got some fight in her. Let’s have at it then.” Lynn scanned the ground in front of her, she was starting to grow an immense distaste for these men, yet still, she didn’t want to kill anyone.

“What’s the matter girlie, scared?” Lynn kicked at the ground, causing a pebble to fly into the air, she swung the flat side of her knife and swatted the small stone, directly into the center of one of the thieves’ forehead. He collapsed.

“I’m not, but you should be.” She feigned confidence, in truth she had not been sure if that trick would actually work.

“You bitch!” One of the other thieves yelled, charging at Lynn with her sword raised. She swung her blade down, but Lynn caught it with her knives. She pushed back and threw the thief’s sword to the side, jerking her knee into the stomach of the assailant. She dropped like a sack of potatoes, gasping for air. Two others charged her down, the blades swishing through the air and whistling towards her, she blocked both with her knives, though with great strain. She had never taken two at once.

The thief to her left had a noticeably gnarled eye with a vicious scar, while the one to her right was missing an arm. Eye scar swung her sword low to Lynn’s stomach, aiming to gut her, while at the same time one-arm jabbed for her head. She ducked low and used both knives to catch the blade of eye-scar, training with Somwang was starting to pay off. She hoisted her arms up, throwing off the balance of eye-scar, then rocked her head back into the nose of one-arm. One-arm reeled back, clutching his nose, blood oozed between his fingers.

Suddenly eye-scar was back on Lynn, her sword barely missing the back of her head, coming into the peripheral of her vision. Lynn whirled around and slashed her across the stomach with her knife. Hopefully, that wasn’t fatal, Lynn thought, knowing it probably was.

As eye-scar fell to the ground, Lynn turned to the final thief. The final thief growled and snarled at Lynn, almost animal-like. Before he could advance on her; however, a figure dropped from the ceiling, both Lynn and the final thief jumped back, startled. The figure was a man, and a very interesting one at that. He stood to his full height, immediately Lynn recognized he was tall, not as tall as Somwang, she dwarfed most other people, but he was certainly taller than Lynn and anyone else in the immediate vicinity. The man wore an odd arrangement of clothing, his torso adorned cloth wraps over his shoulders and wrapped around his waist, the cloth over his shoulders was dyed deep red while the cloth around his waist was dyed black. Around was neck was wrapped a silk scarf dyed in purple. His arms were bare, biceps and triceps oily under the moonlight. His pants were nothing to note, simple and breathable with purple dyed rope belt, but the sword on his hip drew Lynn’s attention, a beautifully crafted laring blade with an exotic wood-crafted hilt. He was barefoot.

“Well then, what seems to be the holdup?” He spoke very lackadaisically, almost sounding drunken, yet at the same time, his voice was smooth as silk. His speaking brought Lynn’s attention to his face. His face was surrounded by a mess of long dirty blonde hair, obviously ill-taken care of, yet somehow perfect in a way, a mixture of wavy curls and dreadlocks. His face was adorned with a thin mustache and a goatee surrounding his mouth. His facial hair was more taken care of than his hair. Atop his head was a fine leather deep brown tricorn hat.

The man turned his head to Lynn, appraising her, then he looked down at the fallen thieves. “This your doing then?” Lynn stood back on her haunches, crouched low to stabilize her center of gravity. “Well then, I must cow-tow, for I am clearly in the presence, of the Princess of Heart.” Lynn was visibly taken aback.

“I...No, I’m not the princess.” She answered, uncertain why she even had to clarify that.

The man, who Lynn decided must’ve been the Captain the thieves had referred to earlier, raised an eyebrow, “Oh. Well then who the hell are you? If you’re not the guardian of the gem, why are you attacking my men?”

Lynn answered with a smile, “Would it embarrass you to know your men were beaten by a cook?”

This response seemed to light up the captain’s expression, “A cook? Of the palace?” Lynn nodded, she liked that response. “Well, that’s very interesting. My dear, I believe we were fated to meet. Mates, we’ll take her with us.”

Lynn took a step back, “What? No one’s going anywhere. The guards will be here any minute, and the Princess herself.”

The captain tilted his head quickly and snapped his fingers. “All the more reason to get moving.” When he snapped, the thieves she had rendered unconscious got back to their feet. Before she could react, she was smacked with the broadside of a sword, and her world went black.

The pirate who had hit Lynn, eye-scar, hoisted her body with the help of the one Lynn had hit in the stomach. Eye-scar clutched her stomach, a light spattering of blood coating her shirt. The captain grabbed the Dragon Gem, and the thieves scaled the walls with ropes, disappearing into the night just as Somwang, the princess, and the guards made it into the chamber. Only to find both the gem, and the cook, were missing.