The King And His Goddess Of War

Well, this is going to be cliché, isn't it?    A basic romance that all of you are expecting. A princess with a rebellious spirit and a charming prince who would marry her. Well, I am not that girl. I am no princess that you expect. I'm not even the shy type. Sure, I may be slightly rebellious, but there is no way I would ever be a princess.    That would never happen for me.   Those little girl dreams are in the past and, thankfully, forgotten.   This was a war and I intended to win it for my country.   *10 Years Old*    Greenwood Forest Village   "Mommy! Today's the day! The ceremony, Mommy, the ceremony!" I shouted, bouncing on Mom's bed. At the age of ten, all children go to the ceremony where the elders bless the children for good fortune in their future and a filled table every night. But, what every child was excited about was not what the elders blessed, but what the gods bestowed upon them at this age.    At the age of ten, a god claims you from the villages and they give you an ability that only you possess and only you can handle. No one else could ever master your skill that you’ve been given. A power, per se. "Darling, Arianna, it's not for another seven hours. Let me sleep for at least two more." Mommy grumbled, covering her face back up with a pillow. I hit her with another pillow.   Hey, I was young! Can't blame me for being impatient!   "Honey, your gift can wait for a little while longer and Mommy needs sleep right now." Mommy groaned, falling back asleep.   I dressed in the clothes of my people. A ball gown that was modified for me and then small flats that I would never wear ever again. I was separated from my mother a while ago and taken into the Hall that all the kids had gawked about before. How that art was from our ancestors and how they portrayed a world we left behind. A world full of terror and under the rule of many people in a group.   They had no King or Queen like today, but a President with basic government branches. A Senate and House of Representatives.    I walked through the halls with the other children that I had never seen before, ecstatic to gain the ability that a god would bestow on me. They would claim me as their own and give me a gift that would help society. The elders would bless me with a long healthy life with my gift- whatever that may be -and hope for food on my table every night.   We stepped into a room with chairs placed around a centerpiece, the country flower in an emblem to represent our King. The elders stood in a circle, flowers in their hands. Black roses. Their petals fell slowly around them, dropping one by one.   Everyone sat down in seats around me, leaving me standing all alone. I sat down quickly to avoid drawing attention to myself, but that had already happened. All the elders were staring at me, their eyes analyzing my every move. A twitch in my hand, my eyes leaving theirs, my ankle hooking around the leg of the chair.   A woman stepped forward, staring into my eyes. "You child, I personally bless you with a long healthy life with plenty of food and peace. May you rest to find your claim."   She waved a hand over my face and a new feeling washed over me. The woman stumbled backwards, her eyes wide and her old knees wobbling. The rest of the elders were stunned at the sudden action.   "Arianna Heather, daughter of Ellis Heather, has been claimed by Serria, goddess of war and death," she muttered, let on to several other elders for support. "Ability of bringing pain and extreme strength."   I was shipped away to a dark academy where I knew I wouldn't be able to see my mother ever again. Soldiers patrolled where I stayed, stopping outside the door to check on me or pacing down the hall and back.    I was feared, and I didn't want to be. I wasn't the bringer of pain or an image of one of the strongest people in the world. I was an innocent little thing with large gray eyes and brown hair, trained until her bones broke to become a weapon of mass destruction. A weapon for the King to use against our enemies in the nearing war.    And she accepted her fate.   *18 Years Old*   Royal Soldier Academy   "You're only here because the Prince found potential in you, pain-bringer! So shut up and put on those gloves before you kill everyone inside the Academy!" the general roared, his fists hanging at his sides and his face red. His fist turned to ice, spikey and freezing.   "Sir, I can control who I bring pain to and when I want to use my strength," I explained, tossing the gloves across the room. "And if the Prince truly wanted me here at the Academy, then why are you treating me like scum compared to all the men? Just because I was claimed by Serria doesn't mean I'm the devil."   The General's ice formed around his forearm in anger. "Serria is the Goddess of pain and war, therefore you must share some of her qualities that the stories tell of her. If the elders are afraid of you, I have every reason to hate you as well."   "You could have put me with a personal trainer," I muttered.   "Soldier, you are here for one and one reason only: to be the weapon that ends the war with Africa and then be put as a normal soldier to patrol the poor sectors of the country," General snapped, turning away from me. I flick my wrist and he flinched as the ice fell off his arm and onto the floor, now melting slowly in the blinding sunlight coming through the window. "And now you're on my hate list."   He walked off and I took a dagger and flung it at my bedpost, hitting it directly in the middle. My strength made the dagger stick through the wood of the post up until the grips blocked it from being all the way through.   But tonight, my anger had to vanish. I had to be poised and elegant for the presentation of the guards in the Academy. The soldiers demonstrate skills for the King, Queen, and Prince to see who would be worthy to work in the big leagues. There are several jobs to fill that I would love to have. There are several Captain positions, some minor guards, but then there's Guardian. The old one died recently, but what they do is fantastic in my opinion.    Guardians oversee every single position and are the first ones to respond to danger. Some soldiers see it as a suicide mission, but if you get to go around all the districts, live in the palace, and fight enemies on a regular basis, I would give up my fingers for that.   Of course, only older people get the job as Guardian. As a young soldier, I would start maybe as a minor palace guard and possibly advance to a Captain within the year.    Anger wouldn't get me anywhere in front of the royal family.   I wore my training clothes as instructed. A simple black t-shirt with black leggings. I pulled my hair behind my head in a ponytail and placed my obsidian sword and daggers along my hips, signifying to others that I was a child of Serria. In fact, the only one in a few centuries. Here, it was considered to be a sin to even speak of her because we thought it meant she would cast hell upon us like she did centuries ago.    Serria met with the goddess of peace, Lyra, and as sisters, they naturally fought. And so during the fight Serria threatened to cast the whole world into an everlasting war for centuries. When Lyra tried to reason with her, Serria had already waved her obsidian sword and cast hell. Lyra couldn't overpower her sister since she was one of the weakest in physical strength, but she managed to get their father, Fremus, the god of light, to get Serria to reduce the punishment. After a century, Serria allowed Lyra to make peace for man, blessing some of her children in the process. And there started the gifts to man and the claiming of children. Serria only chooses one child, no others. She knew her bloodline well and made sure of their physical strength and mental strength before blessing them. Lyra was a common mother as she was the one who loved man the most out of all the gods. The powers she gave were the ones of nature or peace.    One of the soldiers here, a child of Lyra, is able to release poisonous gases into the air, but those gases also help plants grow drastically. Some of her children are often confused with Alifi, the Ice Goddess, since she brings gifts of snowflakes, blizzards, or ice like the General.   A crest on my shoulder showed weapons displayed and it was a dark gray. The crest was metal, made of titanium. There have been children who were able to control metals, but none in history have been able to tame titanium. Since I am an untamed woman, they say, my crest was specially made just for me. The blacksmith made it earlier last year, carving every detail into hot metal to signify my strength. The crest was lined with sharp edges, showing how dangerous I could be and how I could inflict pain on others by will.   The rest of the soldiers always glared at me except for Tyson, claimed by Demetrius, the god of trickery and illusion. His power was that he could duplicate himself and teleport anywhere he pleased at any time. Of course, the other versions of himself weren't exactly him. They wouldn't have functioning organs or anything, but they were like puppets that the original Tyson could control.   He leaned against the bench I was sitting on, waiting for my turn to demonstrate my power and skill. "So, you nervous?" he asked, following my gaze towards the soldier who was demonstrating at the moment. A man who could control natural oils from the ground. Most likely a son of Lyra or Char, the god of the underground. Those were both of the gods who loved man most, but neither were that powerful unless they were angered. Fortunately, neither became angry quickly from the stories I was told.    "Nah, not really. Who gives a s**t if the royals believe that you're special or worth something? It's not like they're any more powerful than us, Tyson," I explain, leaning against the back of the bench. "They're just people like us."   "But they are children of Char, Fremus, and Vargrum," he replied with ease. "Vargrum!"   I haven't heard much about Vargrum children. They are mysterious, said to be dangerous and have a short temper, but the ones that I have met are naturally attractive. They control the metals, the people I talked about earlier could not control Titanium. But, it is said that the prince could control all metals. So, he could do anything to the planet that he wanted to since the core is metal.   "So? Just because he has a bad temper doesn't mean he's as dangerous or powerful as some others," I retorted, shaking my head and crossing my arms over my chest. I propped my feet up on the bench in front of me, the rest of the soldiers ahead of me at the doors. They were so impatient for their turn that they didn't care about manners apparently. "Besides, he's a prince. He has no reason to fight battles when there are ones like us to fight for their lives."   "Maybe the younger prince, Ari, but the soon-to-be King fights his own wars. He's led several front line troops into battle with success and is notorious for being mysterious but a great leader," Tyson explains. "But he is also notorious for hating every female who tries to do anything important in society. Like you. I’m sure he hates you plenty already for coming too close to becoming a stronger warrior than even the General or the King himself."   "Well, Mr. Princey just has to deal with it then," I shrugged, lifting myself up. I slip on my combat boots and grab some arrows for my bow that I strung over my back and a blade sharpener for my obsidian blades. "Why would he care that a woman is actually making history?"   "Because his father's beliefs have been passed down, Ari," Tyson shrugged. "Kids learn most of their beliefs from their parents or guardians at a young age."   "f**k 'em I say," I snap. "If a sexist pig wants to get in my way, that just makes me want to work harder in order to backhand him across the face for ever thinking women are less than men."   "Strong words for such a small being," Tyson laughed.    "Hey! I'm 5'5! The rest of you are just super tall!" I shout back, narrowing my eyes at him.   I stepped into the area, my large obsidian sword in hand. Most men would handle this weapon with two hands but thanks to my super strength, only one was needed to wield the weapon perfectly. I tightened my hands on the grips as I saw many normal people from villages all over the country in the audience, some from the Greenwood Forest Village as well.   I scanned the arena, noting how bare the entire setup was. Some spears lay across the ground from previous fights, but I knew I would never use them. The spear wasn't my kind of weapon. Way too weak and bulky to carry around. I could go for maybe a mace or hammer, but no spear was ever going to be placed in my hands if I had a choice. The seat beneath me was an orange color. It was hard and lacked moisture. The walls of the area were made out of hard metals and stones. The arena seats were placed above them, slightly behind the see-through dome around the arena.   Then I spotted them. The people I was mainly performing for. The King with the Fremus crest on his chest along with the country's animal, the lion, placed large on his breast. The Queen with the Char crest on both her shoulders and a lion on her breast as well. Their younger son sat beside the queen, his shoulders having the Alifi crest, but no lion placed anywhere on his clothing. Then there was the older prince that was going to become king. His dark hair and eyes intrigued me, his chiseled jaw as sharp as one of my daggers. He wore a dark shirt, a Vargrum crest on his shoulder and no lion like his brother. But then I noticed he was examining me.   My stance, my face, my eyes. He was examining me and I just wanted to get this demonstration over with so that we can get to the party and then I can go and sleep in my dorm. The King nodded at the guard that controlled certain gates in the arena and the guard unlocked one rather large cage. My heart skipped a beat like it always did in the anticipation of battle and the creature burst from the cage.   Large horns protruded from the top of its head and it had four to six eyes with a skull guarding the soft skin of his face. His torso was muscled like a man but his legs were those of a goat, his hooves large and sharpened. His hands were large as well. Maybe the size of my torso.   Were they trying to kill me? None of the other soldiers got such a strong creature. They all got smaller and more common creatures, but this was a part of Africa's monster armies where the front lines had the largest monsters we've seen in years. They have been getting bigger each decade and each version is harder to kill than the last.   I launched myself forward, slamming my fist straight into the hip of the beast. The bone immediately broke, the creature roaring and growling incoherently. It took out a large stone hammer and swung it down, trying to hit me. I took my sword and sliced upwards, the stone hammer splitting in half and the remains falling to either side of me. I climbed onto the beast's arm and up onto his shoulder before he tried to swat me away. He never touched me because when he got near me with his hands, my sword would poke his skin.   I grasped onto his horns and he shook violently, trying to slam me against the ground or the walls. I took out knives and stuck them into the creature, using the knives as a climbing tool to the top of his head where the horns are leaving a dangerously exposed area. I punched the center of his skull mask, the bond splitting apart and falling off of his face. The eyes watched me carefully as I pulled out my sword and stabbed the monster between the eyes.   Finally, it knocked me backwards, sweeping me off my feet and making me fall eleven feet down to the hard, orange ground. The breath was knocked out of me and now my lip was bleeding slightly and I groaned getting up. I rolled my eyes at the beast who thought he already had me beat with one swipe. I raised my arm and the whole body of the creature shook violently, his guttural cry for help lasting for maybe a second before he collapsed to the ground, dead.    I walked over to the body and took my sword out of the head of the beast and left the arena, sneaking a glance over at the royals. The King had a sense of admiration in his eyes while the Queen looked horrified at the display of my powers. The younger prince had his jaw opened and hung in shock while the older prince was still staring at me, his eyes piercing my soul.   We locked gazed and his dark eyes searched my gray ones.   Dammit.   I froze, each of us just staring at each other with so many emotions. Every emotion passed through his eyes, making it impossible to figure out how he actually felt. His facial features were of no help since it gave as much expression as a rock. I slid my obsidian sword back into the sheath and left, detaching his eyes from mine.   "What the hell was that?" Tyson asked, grabbing onto my shoulders. "You were staring at each other for a good five minutes! And the rest of the royals were gawking at your powers for half that length then kept looking between you two."    "I don't know what happened out there, Tyson. We locked gazes and it stuck for a while," I said, stuttering slightly. Oh s**t, Tyson knows when I'm nervous. "But the display went fine, right? Anyway, bye! I need to get ready for the ball!"   I knew Tyson knew that I hated the ball part afterwards and I was afraid that I would have to stay at the Academy with General for another year, but I was out of that arena and that's all that matters. Now the maids would come to my dorm to get me ready. Well, welcome to my hell.