Wars Heroes Chapter 1

  Kira stalked in the shadows of the foreboding fortress, sidling beside the walls to avoid being seen by anyone as he slowly moved forward. He had been monitoring this castle for several days, searching for an opening to enter and find his target, however the guards were consistent and vigilant. All except one that is who just so happened to have guard duty every other day.

  Again, the guard, Wodan, a tall, anthro bear with a roundish belly and light brown fur all around. He was wearing a flat hat  and chain mail, greaves, guantlets, and leggings. The flat hat was very haphazardly placed after drowning his troubles in a favorite beverage of many men, mead.

  Kira smirked and slipped past the guard right into the doorway to the kitchen which was left wide open while the cook, a black, anthro dragon named Ro Cin, was out gathering the supplies need to cook the Queen's meals. It was the exact same pattern that had been followed the past two weeks that Kira had been watching over the place.

  Without wasting too much time, Kira dashed forward into the kitchen. A sudden noise at the far side of the kitchen startled him as someone barged into the room, causing all the hung utensils to clang against each other loudly. Kira laid low to the floor, suddenly extremely grateful that he was not born an anthro since using all four legs and being of a small race of dragons anyways made stealth a strong point for him.

  He slowly crawled his way to the lengthy middle island of the kitchen, sliding along the floor as he listened to whoever had entered the room. He was complaining about lazy guards and breezy rooms. Kira had to stifle a laugh at the incredulous coincidence of the situation.

  He poked his head around the corner at the island and froze, going wide eyed with fear. The captain of the guards, easily noted by the plumed feather of the helm and the full set of plate mail that he wore. Even his wings and tail were armored and equipped with sharp blades to the ends of each.

  Kira retracted as quietly as he could around the corner, slowly releasing the breath that he had pent up without even realizing it. There were loud metallic steps rang down the other side of the island as the captain moved towards the open door. Acting on instinct, Kira waited and waited then charged out from his hiding and through the door the guard had came through, cursing as he heard a yell from behind him.

  The castle was huge, but Kira knew his way fairly well already and was working his way to the throne room where the Queen would be. He couldn't fail here, if he could just expose that one...

  Suddenly, he burst into the throne room decorated with an ornate throne lined with jewels and a large, symmetrical room with marble pillars and a red carpet stretching from one reach of the room to the other and upon the throne sat the fat lizard, Kira could not call her a dragon, that sat upon the throne.

  He turned to face her and opened his mouth to deliver his speech to the Queen when a voice from behind him stopped him cold. The captain of the Royal Guard, Noctus, whom Kira had slipped away from earlier was behind him with Wodan who was wiping the sleep from his eyes and Ro Cin, the cook.

  The world spun and colors swirled as Noctus called him out in a voice that bespoke power and authority. "You rat! For the crime of trespassing, you shall be put on trial by our Queen." He turned to her, "What punishment do you see fit to bestow upon this scum, my Lady?"

  She smirked, a grotesque flex of her lips and spoke, sending spittle flying from her fleshy lips. "Death."

  Noctus and his companions stepped toward Kira and suddenly the world stopped spinning. "As our Queen commands we shall engage in the right of battle." Kira felt a strange power taking hold of him, forcing him to take on a battle stance opposite of the three fighters. "As it is, I am the fastest and so I shall have the first strike."

  Understanding finally dawned on Kira as he realized what was happening was Numean's doing. The Dreamlord had changed the very fabric of the world so that whenever a battle occured it would take place as a turn-based game. He cursed his ignorance after being away so long under his breath.

  Noctus dashed forward at him in a direct attack. "I choose to attack!" He yelled, but Kira pulled away from the slash and was prepared to dodge the next when it stopped in mid-blow and Noctus withdrew. "My turn's over. I'll have to wait until I can go again to finish you for our Queen."

  Ro Cin stepped forward with a dark gleam in his eye that showed a hidden desire, maybe one hidden from even him. He was wearing no armor, only normal clothes, aprons and an odd pair of gauntlets obviously made for more offence than they were defence. "My turn. Then, I will-!" Suddenly, he started stuttering and fell to his knees only to push himself immediately back up again with a new sense of grace. "Now, I," Kira noted with interest the odd emphasis on the letter 'I',"will make my attack."

  Suddenly, Wodan stepped forward and Ro Cin took a step back. "Sorry, but now it's my turn. I don't know what kind of power you used, but you wasted your turn with it." He pulled a heavy-looking flintlock pistol from his belt and set the sights on Kira. "Now, die!"

  The shot came and went, flying past Kira harmlessly as Wodan's aim was off and he missed. The bear cursed and backed up to where the others were.

  The strange power fell over Kira, moving forward his feet to force him to battle against the trio, he tried to fight it, but found it was slowly moving him forward. He looked around quickly trying to come up with an alternative to the battle. His feet were locked in place and a wave of options flooded his mind from the powerful magic controlling the world. He saw one that appealed to him and smiled.

  Kira nodded to the three. "Sorry to end this so soon, my friends, but I have to use my ability." He crouched low to the ground and leaped away from them, yelling, "Ability: Resistance!"

  He felt the magic constricting him alleviate as he darted towards the Queen even as the others still struggled to escape the powerful magic around them. Kira jumped again, teeth shining brightly as a jet of crimson flame flared from his maw right at the Queen. Noctus yelled defiantly and the world fell apart in a jarring impact of dark against light.