This was the night Zora had waited for her for all her life. The day she would marry the love of her life, the heir to the hunter division, Prince Sol.
"Your heart as mine, my heart as yours," they chanted, exchanging their vows, smiles on their faces, before the altar of Taraj, while everyone in the hall kept quiet and watched the two greatest clans of Bakstavalu come together in a bond that will forever be unbroken.
This was a remarkable moment in the Hunters' history.
They kissed, and the hall was filled with the noise of celebration.
"I love you, Zora." He said, his hand still cupping her face, as he watched her golden eyes sparkle with happiness. Her black curly hair was pulled behind with only a couple of curly strands over her forehead. She looked beautiful in this dress, a sight anyone would rarely see as she was always in her uniform, adorned with weapons, and ready to kill.
It was the life of a hunter after all, and nothing less was required from one of the best.
It was their life.
"Sol. My Love."
She had loved only one all her life, and now they were finally together. Her handsome, perfect Sol, with short slick back black hair in a nicely tailored blue shirt with a golden one-shoulder cape, and pants. He was the most handsome she had ever seen him.
She pressed her lips against his, afraid that her words wouldn't be enough to convey all she had to say.
"I have a gift for my wife!" Sol signaled to some of his men. "Bring it in."
They left immediately, and while they all waited, their families came to congratulate them. Sol's family was welcoming of Zora and vice versa, after all, they had been family friends for years.
"You have made us proud," Zora's father said, a smile on his ever-stern face as he pulled his daughter in for a hug. Many said she was a replica of him, only that she was a woman. Zora had always considered that as a compliment; in every way, she wanted to be like her father.
"Thank you, Father."
"Can we have a turn?" Her mother said, pulling her father away.
Zora giggled as she pulled her mother into an embrace, and then her two sisters, Imiri and Osha, into an embrace.
They whispered in her ears in a giggling fit, "Tell us everything that happens tonight. We know you are freaky!"
"What? Shut up!" She laughed, looking back to ensure that Sol, who was now leading his brother to her, had not heard them.
A growl suddenly rang through the hall, and Zora's hand quickly moved between the slit of her dress for her dagger, only to stop when she saw what was being wheeled in.
It was her gift.
Wrapped in chains was a monster of dull gray skin with golden strips around him like cracks of embers around a volcano. He had dirty golden coloured hair. His eyes were unfocused, and he reeked of defeat in the folded position that the chains had forced him into.
What an ugly beast.
Filth!
Rage lit in Zora's heart.
They should all be killed! They do not deserve to breathe the same air as even the lowest Baksta.
"It has a star," Sol whispered to her from behind.
She looked back at him sharply. The ones with stars were those that were the most powerful of those vile creatures. They were very rare and even more difficult to catch.
He smiled shyly. "Well, our fathers helped in catching it." He handed her a sword. "You should add his heart to your collection."
Her heart raced as she grabbed the sword. "I have not a single pure thought on how to thank you."
He smirked. "I hoped you wouldn't."
Quickly, she advanced towards her gift, filled with happiness to add its heart to her ever-growing collection. These monsters had appeared in Bakstavalu one day, and they began to attack everyone, wanting to take over. They did conquer them, and that was when the hunters came up. They killed as much as they could and drove the rest of them away. Some still tried to attack, and that was why the monsters kept killing them.
Bakstavalu will never be saved until they are all killed.
These beasts were evil creatures — beneath them! They were not deserving of mercy; they only deserved death.
She swung her sword, her eyes focused on the monster whose gaze was now set on her.
When she was finally in front of him, she drew her sword swiftly across his shoulders and laughed at the sound of agony that slipped past his lips.
"Monsters like you do not deserve to live."
She slashed his back.
"Giving you an easy death will not suffice."
"We want a show!" Someone shouted and they all laughed.
Zora continued with her torture, and the whole hall looked on and commented in amusement and pure entertainment.
When she was done and his blood had completely turned the hefty chains around him red, he mumbled something under his breath.
"You have something to say, filth?" She raised his chin with the hilt end of her sword.
Now on his knees, he looked up at her, tears sparkling in his purple eyes.
Zora's heart tightened with hatred. Only evil creatures like that would have abnormally coloured eyes.
"I will enjoy punishing you for this, Princess." Those words tangled with his accent as he spoke Valu, the language of Bakstavalu. The words sounded like they were fighting his tongue.
That was because they shouldn't be here. They should go back to the place they crawled out from. There was no place for them here. They were monsters; they would kill them if they were not killed, and it was a hunter's job to ensure that would never happen.
Those were the teachings of Taraj, and Taraj was always right.
"Finish him, General!" Her father ordered.
She nodded, a smirk playing on her face.
"Let's see how you'll do that when I have your heart in one of my jars."
She raised her sword to plunge it into his heart, but then something seemed to hold her in place. She froze, finding it hard to rip her gaze from his eyes, finding it hard to breathe, to move.
"Zora?" She could hear Sol call her, but his words sounded like they were coming from a distance. "Kill him, my Love!"
She was trying! By Taraj!
She forced herself to move, but she couldn't. All she could do was watch the sick, bloodied smile on the monster's face.
What was happening?
Suddenly, there was a blast, and suddenly she could move again. She looked behind her to see the roof of the hall crumbling to the floor, stopping Sol from coming to her.
Everyone pulled out their swords; some people were ushered out to safety, like her mother and sisters, while some soldiers rushed in.
The doors were slammed shut as everyone prepared to fight.
From a gap in the ceiling descended a monster - a winged monster.
Zora felt air escape her lungs. They were… real.
His wings were large and looked like those of a bat, his eyes were red with lines in between them like those of a serpent, his silver hair was a sharp contrast to the night, and aligned with the stars above.
A deceptive beast.
They had to kill them all… and they would. There was only one of him, and in this hall were the best hunters.
Winged or not, he was nothing!
The winged monster looked at the one in chains. He folded his arms across him, his gaze now on everyone else.
"There are two of us and hundreds of you." His voice bellowed across the hall. "You are going to need more than that."
They cast their nets up immediately and fired their poison-tipped arrows, but at a snap of his fingers, every torch in the hall died out, and they were left in complete darkness.
No, that was impossible! They couldn't control fire, they couldn't—
In a flash, before Zora could even react, a hand curled around her neck from behind. She shoved her sword back, but it was snatched from her, and she was back in captivity once again.
Something really strange was happening.
"More punishment for you, Princess."
He broke out of his chains? How? Those chains were laced!
This was going wrong!
They were moving too fast! This wasn't part of their training. These monsters were strange.
Her insides became cold with fear. She struggled against him, but the chains that were on him were somehow now around her.
There was another snap, and the torches were lit again. The hall was filled with horror at the change in the situation. General Zora was now the one in chains, with the monsters holding her as hostage.
"Leave her alone, and we will let you leave this place alive!" Her father took a step forward, his arrow drawn.
"Alive?" The monster that had been in chains earlier pulled her against him, his claws at her neck to show them all what they stood to lose. "You make no bargains. We make the bargains!"
"Let her go!" Sol yelled. "Don't hurt her, what do you want?"
"Don't give it to them. Kill them!" Zora yelled, and her captor pressed his claws into her skin, making her bleed and cry in agony.
"Don't hurt her!"
"Speak your terms!" Her father yelled.
The winged one tossed a scroll on the floor. "Well, look at the time. We can't miss dinner, can we?"
"No."
"If you don't agree to our terms. We might make her our dinner."
"Stop us if you can." He laughed, grabbed them, and in one swift move, they were in the air.
Arrows, nets, explosives. Along with this came the voices of her father and her husband.
"Don't hurt my daughter!"
"Stop the explosives!"
"Let her go!"
"You might harm her!"
"I will you and I will kill you!"
Everything was happening too fast. Zora was overwhelmed with dizziness; she couldn't speak, she couldn't fight.
All she knew was that she had been captured.
Like a monster.
Only that this time she was the monsters' captive.
Fuck!