Moon Raiders.

A lady stood in an open space fighting a young man with a sword. She appeared to be on the defensive side while he attacked. Immediately a maid walked to them and bowed. "Greetings Princess Aurelia. Greetings warrior Mason. Apologies for the rude interruption, your father, the king requests for your presence in the palace court." Aurelia immediately dropped her sword on the floor taking a deep breath as though she was waiting for such an opportunity. "It's just too bad that we won't be able to finish today's session isn't it Mason?" "You should celebrate then, after all your wish has been granted Princess. But I must commend your quick learning, there's no doubt you will be good in swordsmanship." He said and she smiled. "I don't think so, but I'll have to be on my way now." She replied and he bowed as she walked out. Entering the palace court, she bowed to the King who sat gracefully on his throne. "Father..." "Princess Aurelia. I'm glad you honoured my call. I'm sure you know what today is?" King Almanta asked and Aurelia paused staring at the two Messengers of Anastasia who stood beside the King with their heads bent to the ground wondering what was so important. "Pardon me Father, but I don't think I do." "You are a Princess Aurelia, it's time you wake up to your responsibilities. Another decade is by the corner, and as tradition demands the Messengers of Anastasia are to visit the soccerer to know the fate of Anastasia. But this time things will be a bit different." King Almanta said and Aurelia paused swallowing hard. "You will be going with them Aurelia." "Going with them? But father..." "There are no buts. You are my daughter and I don't wish for you to be a bait to my enemies in time of war, you should be able to defend yourself." "That's why we have so many warriors father."She replied in a shaky voice. "That is not enough. Your fears are standing against you facing your responsibilities. My decision is final, go and prepare for your journey. First thing tomorrow, you will be leaving with the Messengers." He ordered and she bowed leaving the palace court slowly. The Queen sat in her court with the maids dressing her hair when a voice spoke from the door. "Mother, please let me in." Recognizing her voice, the queen immediately dismissed her maids and Aurelia walked in. "Don't tell me you are here because of the King's decision." "I don't think it's a fair decision to make mother." Aurelia said and Queen Mona turned to her. "Why not? Audrey and Paisley has been doing it for a decade now." "That's because it's their duty. I don't remember getting appointed a messenger by the Soccerer." "Do you know your duty Aurelia? You are a Princess and I've covered up this negligence of yours for far too long." "Do I even have a choice mother?" "No... I never had a choice when I became a queen. It's called sacrifice Aurelia and it's for the people, always remember that." "And what if I don't survive?" "Nothing will happen Aurelia." Queen Mona said and Aurelia swallowed hard. Without saying any other word, she left the Queen's court. *** A dark empty room was shown and Aurelia paced around with bare feet looking scared when a bright light suddenly appeared before her. "Behind the light... behind the light." A voice spoke and Aurelia felt her heart clench in fear. She felt her lips mutter words that wasn't loud enough. Hearing the voice again, she walked slowly to the light. As soon as she got to it, it glared so bright that she had to close her eyes. Panting heavily, Aurelia woke up holding tightly to the bed cover. Her whole body shook in fright as she discovered her palms glaring white. Suddenly, she heard a voice. "It's the dream again isn't it?" She turned only to see Prince Raymond by the door and she immediately hid her hand under her blanket. "It keeps haunting me, yet I don't understand the meaning." "Well... you could ask the Soccerer once you get to the tower. It's Morning already Aurelia, I hope you are prepared." He said and she rolled her eyes. "I wish I could avoid everything." "But you can't. Just know nothing will go wrong okay?" He assured and she smiled forcefully. "C'mon... get ready." He said and walked out. Bringing out her hand, it wasn't glaring anymore and she took a deep breath thinking she saw wrongly. The villagers of Anastasia gathered together with the cabinet members, the Queen, King and Prince. The Messengers of Anastasia, Audrey and Paisley were already sitted on their horse waiting for Aurelia who bowed before the King and Queen. "Bring us good fortunes Aurelia, that's the responsibility of a Princess." King Almanta said and she walked to her horse. Helping her climb on the horse, Mason held her hand that was shaking terribly as it held the reins of the horse. "It's just a journey Aurelia, don't think too much about it. The king only wants you to overcome your fears." Mason assured. "We will be waiting for your return Messengers of Anastasia! Farewell!" King Almanta spoke and they bowed riding out of the palace while everyone watched until they were out of sight. Paisley, Audrey and Aurelia rode slowly on their horses. Snow had covered the ground and it was difficult for the horse to move. "I'm tired, I think we should rest a bit." Aurelia spoke. "There's still a long journey ahead. Resting will be a bad idea." Audrey replied and Aurelia paused realizing the cliff that stood ahead of them. She came down from her horse, walking slowly to it. "Tell me there is another path to take."Audrey and Paisley walked to her. "This is the only way Aurelia, but there's a way out." Paisley said bringing out a rope that had a shuriken at the end of it from her bag. "This is the only route we take, that's why we always come prepared."Audrey added tieing the rope to the top of a stick that was already planted to the ground and she forcefully threw the shuriken part of the rope to the other side of the cliff and it got stuck behind a rock making the rope slope downwards. "There is our passage." Paisley said sharing out scarfs to them. "Don't tell me this is what I'm thinking." "It's exactly what it is. Just watch and follow." Paisley said and hung the scarf over the rope. Holding the both ends of the scarf tightly, she slidded down to the other side of the cliff. "Now it's your turn Aurelia." Hearing this, Aurelia peeked down the cliff with her feet frozen to the ground. "It's a long way down. What if the rope doesn't hold strong." "That's a bad assumption Aurelia, nothing will go wrong. That's why Paisley went first." Audrey said and Aurelia swallowed hard. "You go first." Aurelia said. "There's no way I'm going to fall for that. You can't fool me. Even if you don't want to do all this, do it to prove the King wrong... he thinks you are a weakling, you know." Audrey said and Aurelia feeling a little courage, hung her scarf around the rope. She stared down the cliff again and felt heart clench but just as she was about to retrieve, Audrey pushed her and she screamed getting stuck at the middle of the rope because of her imbalance. "What did you do Audrey?!" Aurelia exclaimed feeling sweat forming up on her forehead. "Don't let go of the scarf Aurelia! Just swing!" "I'm stuck! I told you this wasn't a good idea!" "Just swing Aurelia and everything will be fine!" Paisley added. Aurelia stared down in fear feeling her hands becoming slippery because of the sweat. "I don't think I can hold on any longer." "Swing Aurelia! Do you think this is a joke huh?!" Audrey said. Aurelia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, swinging her body and with that, the force dragged her downwards and Paisley helped her down. Audrey hurriedly also crossed over. "Are you okay?" Audrey asked and Aurelia nodded feeling her voice going mute. "We'll have to walk on foot for the rest of the journey." They walked further guarding Aurelia as she was still in shock. Getting to the middle of the woods, it was already dawn and they were tired. "We should rest here, so we could set up a fire." Paisley said finding the perfect spot. "Aren't there wild animals in here?" Aurelia asked. "Of course they are but the fire will chase them away." Audrey said. Suddenly, they heard a growl behind them and they froze turning back only to see a Jaguar. Bringing out their swords, they realized it wasn't just one of them but four Jaguars and they surrounded them. "Will you say they visited a little bit too early?" Aurelia questioned. "No. We are the guests, so I guess they came to say hi..." Paisley responded as they held until their swords tightly.