Agnisotra: Origin Tails

Year 573 on the New Kaledonian calendar. It is 10 minutes past midnight and there is chaos in the palace. The princes and royal guards are frantically turning the palace inside out. The monarch of Igrini kingdom, King Ignatius Nvirath Gosileth is holding his hands in his hair in panic. He sees some strands of hair fall and looks at his hands. More of his golden curly locks seem to be detaching from his scalp. He orders a servant to bring him a mirror. He looks in the mirror.

“Good I still have my beautiful golden locks, wait that is not important, where is my daughter? I thought you made sure that it was impossible for her to escape again?!” A royal guard rushed into the king's study room.

”Your Highness! Princess Shania is nowhere to be found in the palace!” King Ignatius Nvirath Gosileth clutches his head again.

“Aagh! How is this possible? Is queen Shera still sleeping?”

“Yes, your Highness!”

“Cast some sleeping magic on her, if she notices that Shania escaped again, I will be in big trouble! I hate sleeping in this study room! I can’t have her punish me more!”

“But sir, you’re the king surely…”

“Not another word! There are things kings can and cannot do and opposing queen Shera is one thing no king can do!”

“Surely, you jest, only you can’t oppose…”

“Not another word!”

“Yes, your majesty…”

“I’m glad you understand, now how did she escape this time?!”

“Ehh, we don’t know, your majesty but Nesho thinks it might be related to why she has been such an exceptional student in light and dark magic lately. He thinks she might have picked up some magic skills suited for escaping…”

“And who taught her that!”

“The court professors, your majesty…”

“Why?!”

“Because you ordered them to, your majesty! In case she got kidnapped!”

“... So, you are saying this is MY fault?”

“I would never say such a thing your majesty!” King Ignatius Nvirath Gosileth put his hands back in his head and again he saw some strands of his hair fall out. He urged the servant to show him the mirror again.

“My hair is still fine, listen here. Mobilize all the top members of the royal guards to find her and bring her back!”

“Uhm, they are unavailable your majesty…”

“WHY?!”

“You sent them on leave for holidays two days ago your majesty.”

“... So, you are saying this is MY fault?”

“The silent six are available, your majesty.”

“You want me to send assassins to locate my daughter?!”

“Well, Nesho told me that princess Shania’s escape is comparable to beginning spies and assassins so it is unlikely that we of the royal guards will be useful finding her.”

“.... Fine, send them, but make it clear! They are not to harm her and anyone that even comes near her is to be sent to Event Horizon and eventually get executed!”

“Yes, your majesty!” The royal guard runs off. King Ignatius Nvirath Gosileth leans with one hand on his desk and puts the other over his forehead.

“Please, recover her before Shera wakes up, I don’t want to get my ass kicked again…”

A hooded figure enters the bar. The smell of alcohol and sweaty men assaulted the nose of the hooded figure. There are only a few customers in the bar and they don't seem to pay much attention to the new arrival. The hooded figure shows an item to the bartender and the bartender sends the hooded figure through a door behind the bar. This is not a place where normal customers can enter. The hooded figure walks through a corridor, climbs some stairs, and enters a livable area where the owner of the bar resides. The hooded figure removes the hood and reveals her long wavy blond hair and blue eyes.

“Ooh, Shania, it has been a while, did you escape from the palace again?” A short man with a round belly stood up and greeted princess Shania.

“Yes, it is way easier with these new dark and light magic I learned!” The bar owner petted his goatee

“I see, so what brings you here at this time of the day? Surely you didn't come here to just say hello.”

“Well, you see, I decided to escape from the capital and go for an adventure!”

“O, this is a problem, you do realize you’re the king’s only daughter, right? If you disappear it will inconvenience the king and lately, he seems a bit… on edge…”

“Please Jared! I know how much you hate this kingdom! And I hate the palace! It is so cramped and full of stupid rules! I want to be free!” Jared pets his goatee even more.

“I see, but if you escaped with light and dark magic the royal guards would probably be unable to find you…” Jared paces around. “I decided! Get ready to leave in half an hour, I will arrange some supplies, Your escape could possibly get traced back to me so I will go with you!”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it! This old man could use some excitement! And if I can inconvenience the kingdom that is responsible for my wife’s death then I’ll gladly help you give that king a bigger headache!” Jared went into another room and sent a Teleroad message to one of his associates. He then went to another room and got ready to leave. “Put that hood back on, our ride is here! I, unfortunately, can’t go with you on adventures but I can help you escape, I can bring you to Ainahs town 50 km from here, and after that go find some allies in either the adventurer guilds or hire some mercenaries, I assume you have gold on you right?”

“Yes, I swiped 300 gold from daddy’s secret stash!”

“Perfect! I will make sure to erase our trails as we go and I will continue to do so after I dropped you off in Ainahs, are you sure you want to do this?”

“You know the answer to that Jared! Let’s go!” Shania put her hood back on, and Jared also turned into a hooded figure. They left the bar via a backdoor, got into a carriage, and disappeared into the night. An hour after this event 6 individuals cloaked in shadows left the palace in search of the runaway princess.