Reyna looked a tad bit flustered as she looked up at Avery. “I guess I should thank you guys for doing this...I never expected any of this.”
“You’re the eldest now Reyna, as younger males of the Militia family it’s our duty to protect any female of our blood. That includes you.” Joel said seriously
“But none of you really know me that well, how can you all agree to do something like this so freely and blindly.” Reyna asked confused
“We know what you can do as a princess.” Damen started
“You will be a better queen for Militia when you get older than Luma ever would have. I know that it’ll be difficult for you at first-but you have all of us who are more than willing to give you a hand when you need it. We are family after all, Reyna.” Bane said with a grin
Reyna was more than bamboozled by the words the boys were speaking but she then gave up questioning them and hugged all four of them as a thank you. That night Reyna felt rather secure knowing that her cousin’s and friend were around her. But she hadn’t slept that much, it was due to the fact that she was paranoid. Which she was rightfully so as she heard someone pick locking the locked door.
The closest one to her was Avery, she went to wake him only to not even see him in his bed. Confusion came to her as she had no idea when he had left the bed only to look to the door to see that he was keeping the door from unlocking.
“Princess, go to sleep, stop forcing yourself to stay awake. I will keep you safe, you have my life oath on that.” Avery spoke softly as his purple eyes glowed in the darkness of the night
She blushed, which he couldn’t see before she tried to sleep. After shutting her eyes, sleep took over her only for her to wake up in the morning. Reyna looked around her, she saw that all of the boys but Avery were awake. Avery’s bed was moved so he was sleeping beside her and his arm was around her-holding her gently. She smiled a little as she realized that Avery was a man of his word to her.
Not wanting to deal with the sexist men that were outside of the barracks she was in she moved closer to Avery and snuggled with him, ending up falling asleep again due to the feeling of being safe in her soul mate's arms so contently. Outside of the barracks Joel, Bane and Damen gave Ivan the day off as they were going to beat sense into the men who were training with Reyna. The one who did most of the talking was Joel since he was the eldest and the one who had the most strength out of the three of them.
“Listen here you pieces of garbage, I don’t care how old you are whether you’re ten, Eleven in your teens or an adult. The woman here, red hair-green eyes. She will be your future queen! She will be who you’ll be fighting to protect! I’ve seen the judging eyes of every man here, I’ve seen how all of you blame her for what has happened with Zane.” Joel said before Bane placed a hand on his shoulder.
Joel backed up a few steps before Bane spoke up. “What happened to Zane was his own fault. He was warned and given plenty of time to keep his dignity and his position. But he antagonized a sixteen year old Demoness princess who had been training for years with the dragons that work for the Militia family before going to train with the wraiths who we are allied with. Grasp that Commander Zane, a Twenty nine year old male, antagonized a demoness princess who is a mere child. How does that make any sense to any of you to side with him? You all saw that he interacted with her first, you all saw how she tried her best to keep from confronting him physically with him, but that never worked since she was tossed around like a rag doll to that man.”
Damen then spoke up standing beside Bane. “Reyna was then attacked that night by three men here, you all know what happened to them.” Damen eyed all of the men who were rather quiet. “Let’s not have a payroll of dead bodies just because you all are sexist towards your future queen. Let me tell you this much, all of the records you all have to get close to succeeding is my Aunt- The late Queen Audrea’s scores. She was the best of the best when it came to battle, she was the one that shaped up our military in our time of need. Granted her daughter Stella will soon follow in her footsteps, but if you cannot handle Princess Reyna we fear for what will happen if Stella were to join your ranks.”
Joel sighed as he walked back up beside Bane. “We want the best experience possible for our cousin, she believes her life to be forfeited due to the path that was given to her. We don’t wish that for her, so I’d like not as a request but as an order-for all of you to be kinder to your future queen. If she can’t trust the military that will soon protect her then who can she trust?”
One of the males then spoke up. “So she’s the eldest of you yeah?”
“That’s correct. She’s sixteen while Joel, Damen and I are only fourteen. Leah and Stella are both ten and have only two years before they have to do this as well. Joel, Damen and I were supposed to do this last year but we didn’t feel like we should...now we understand why we had to. From here on we will be around the Princess until she finishes all of her training.” Bane stated
“And what of the wraith? He’s been following her like lost cattle.”
“That would be her mate, they are marked together. They are bonded so where she goes-he goes naturally. Plus the bond between wraiths and the next leader of demons starts at a young age. Naturally the eldest of the wraiths must take on the role as king or queen depending on their gender.” Joel stated
All of them began to talk which Damen silenced. “Since we noticed the lock being picked plus the many traps laid out for the princess, All of you will do laps until we say you’re done. This is what happens when you * with royalty.” Damen spoke sternly
All of them groaned out until an acid dragon used its breath and chased them into the track ground. Joel raised an eyebrow at the dragon. “You’re...not nala.”
“You know my younger sister demon male?”
“I do, she goes wherever Reyna goes.”
“You know of the princess as well...where can I find them?”
“Nala is currently shoving her face in the dining hall while the princess sleeps with her mate.” Joel stated. “And you are?”
“Shadow Livinton-Nala’s elder brother...well one of a few anyways.”
“Well Shadow I can show you to Nala. Follow me.”
He nodded his head and walked by the demon male saying nothing more. He soon took his human form making him almost as tall as Joel. He had short black hair as his bangs went over his right eye, as his green eyes looked emotionless. Joel shook his head as he looked at the dragon before they went into the dining hall to see Nala just finishing up eating. She stopped when she saw Shadow. “BIG BRO!”
She got up and tackled her elder brother into a tight hug. Shadow hugged Nala back and grinned at his younger sister. “Hey Nal, you been doin’ alright here?”
She nodded her head. “Yeah I’ve been doin’ alright. I can’t say the same about Rey though.”
Shadow raised an eyebrow at his little sister “What do you mean by that?”
Joel then spoke up. “Princess Reyna has had a lot of troubles as of late, the military trainees here are being really *in’ dumb about having Reyna be around cause of her gender. It’s taken me and two others that are her cousins to try to talk sense into those that you saw earlier.” Joel explained
“That would be a bit of a problem, They’ll shape up in due time. She isn’t going to be queen for nothing.” Shadow said seriously
“That’s true, was there a reason you came here for bro?” Nala asked curiously
“Yes..actually. I need you to come home, Toro is freaking out and I can’t get the boy to stop. Mom and dad left shortly after you did and haven’t come back yet.”
Nala sighed out. “damn...Alright.”
“Don’t worry we’ll tell Rey where you are.” Joel said with a grin
“Thanks Joel.”
Nala and Shadow then left out, Joel sighed out as he looked to his cousins. "Let's go keep a watch on them, we can't have them slack off for Rey's sake."
"Yeah, at least we can do our job with her around. It was getting pretty boring just with Luma being active in the military. This is a lot better." Damen said with a sigh
"Luma was a crazy woman are you kidding me? I'm glad Rey cut her down. It's about time that crazy woman got what was coming to her." Bane said seriously
"Agreed." Joel said as they were walking towards the track field.
When they got there most of them were walking, which *ed Joel off. Bane and Damen moved away from Joel as he turned to his demonic form as he made a circle of fire around the track field on both sides of the field as he began to literally place a fire under those who were walking. As others saw what Joel was doing they began to run-while Damen and Bane were watching amused laughing. It wasn't long before Reyna and Avery walked up to Damen and Bane.
"What the hell is going on here?" Avery asked confused
"Punishment, You two have more things to do. Go and see General Ivan to continue your lessons." Damen said looking at the duo.
The duo looked to one another before they left out, when they found Ivan he was doing some stretches. He stopped when he saw the two of them. "Good you two are up, Ready to get worked to death?"
"You can try General." Reyna said with a small smile
"You have four trials today, all of them are straight ahead of you. It's best to go one at a time, the entrance is quite a narrow one. I will see the two of you at the end of it. Good luck."
He then flew off, Reyna looked at Avery who smiled at her. "You can go first princess. I'd rather you be in front of me instead of behind me."
She nodded her head and rushed inside with her wings out, Reyna was more than excited to go through the trial knowing that her own aunt went through the same thing. It gave her the motivation she needed not to give up. The first trial she went through was one that she knew as a skirmish when she trained with the Dragon king. It was a shadow of herself, she knew how to deal with it as the shadow had dark charcoal skin and had angelic wings. The Shadow always represented what she hated about herself, knowing that it was the dark angelic side of her she knew how to get past the first trial without harming the shadow.
"You're nothing without me you pathetic girl!"
Reyna took a deep breath before she went up the shadow and placed her hands out to the shadow. "You aren't the real me, I know what I am. So what if my blood is half Angelic, that doesn't mean that you are me. I am who I decide to be nothing more. Be gone!"
The shadow screeched out and turned into mud before she walked on and she found herself in front of a large hill, She bent her knees and began to fly up, which part way up she found herself being pelted by falling rocks which she dodged by rolling out of the way with her wings as cover from the rocks falling. When she got to the top she landed on her feet before she took a moment to breathe. "I can do this...I know I can." She muttered to herself
She then walked on only to be face to face with her father. "F-Father?"
"Hello Daughter, you've done well. You've conquered your inner shadows and showed that you have the speed to move quicker than any angel could. Now, you will be tested on your magical strength. Seeing that you have the physical and mental strength to push forward is good and all, but you are my daughter, and as such you must learn to control the magic you have within you. Especially since you have tainted blood within you.”
Reyna nodded her head. “I’m well aware of that father. What must I do?”
“You are tasked with giving me all you have, if you can push me past the line that is behind me you win, but if I happen to push you off towards the edge you must start from the beginning. Do you understand me child?”
Reyna firmly nodded her head. “I understand father.”
The two of them got into position as Zavier told her to go. Reyna instantly casted the strongest spell she knew, which was a spell that she had perfected from the fire dragons. Zavier had no idea what spell she was casting but had casted a spell that his own father had taught him which was the signature spell for the Militia family. As Avery came up towards where the duo were he watched them cast the spells at one another. The spell that Reyna had casted had a dark blue fire glow to it while the spell that Zavier had casted was a white lightning spell, Reyna’s feet were secured on the ground a few feet away from one another as she managed to push her father more than a feet past the marked line on the ground.
Zavier ended up falling onto the ground onto his back, he had to shake off the shock of being pushed down by his own daughter. Reyna looked at him concerned “Father...are you okay?”
He groaned as he got up before he dusted himself off. “Holy hell that was a strong spell, just what did you cast daughter?”
She gave him a weak smile. “It’s called Fire rapture, it's a spell that I learnt from the fire dragons.”
Zavier looked at her stunned. “The fire dragons taught you that? I’m rather impressed that you were taught by other dragons. Were they the only ones?”
Reyna shook her head. “No, they weren’t. I learnt from the others save from the Ice dragons.”
Zavier looked at her with a sincere smile. “You really are going to be a different type of demon Reyna. I can just tell when you get older you’re going to be a force to be reckoned with. I look forward to seeing how you do against the woman who birthed you. You’ve passed the test, daughter.”
"I look forward to that too, father." She said happily before she rushed up to him and hugged him tightly.
He hugged her back and patted the top of her head. "You have one more trial to go through, don't let your guard down."
"I won't Father."
Reyna rushed forward happily as she found herself face to face with a male she hadn't seen before. "W-Who are you?"
"My name is Richard Luma, I'm your great uncle. But you can call me Uncle Richard if it's easier for you." The male said with a grin
"Oh...okay. So what am I supposed to do now?"
"Well your father tested your magic strength, yes?" Richard asked
She nodded her head. "He did."
"Then I would like to test you on a different skill, one that not many are able to do. You have mixed blood like my wife and I-I know that we both had troubles going through it. But you, I'm not so sure, you were pretty quick to learn a lot at your age. So you might have a better time with it."
"What Test might that be Uncle Richard?"
Richard opened a portal with a green scroll before he looked at her. "It's a trial of worth, if you can pass this then you'll have power that your ignorant mother does not. Instead of having the underhand you will have the upper hand. She may be older and have skill but you will have passion and power she would not be able to possess being an ignorant Angel."
She nodded her head. "I'll go through with it, if it means that I can place that sick woman to rest I will do what must be done."
"Very well, you will be timed in the portal so please keep that in mind."
She gave him one last nod of her head before she flew into the portal. When she did she stopped as she found herself in a grassy forest, she placed herself on the ground as she looked around. "What the heck?"
She soon saw two glowing objects that were pink and blue going towards her only for them to stop in front of her. "Welcome to the tribal forest, we are your guides. Follow us and try to keep up!"
She nodded her head quietly as she did well to keep up with them until she came to a stop as she saw a small black rabbit stuck in a trap. She didn't like seeing animals hurt so she helped the animal out of the trap before destroying the trap. She then quickly went to find the two glowing objects only to see two small children who had the same hair and eye color as the glowing orbs she saw before.
"You released our pet, thank you. The rest of the trial is that way. We cannot go any further but we will be able to talk to you as much as we can if you get stuck." One of them said calmly as it pointed to their left
"Okay. Thank you."
"Of Course Princess Reyna." They said in unison before they disappeared in glitter.
Reyna went the way the two strange people told her to go, she found herself going through vines and helping small creatures that were stuck in traps. She was then face to face with a group of males with swords.
"You've been messing with our traps! We don't like people like you!" One of them stated
"Really now? What will you do about that?"
They charged at her only for her to clash their heads together to knock them out before she flew off, as she did she found herself in front of a large piece of stone with vines around it. In front of it was a male with green hair and eyes.
"So...you've made it thus far Princess. Richard and Zavier have both had high expectations for you but I didn't. You have angelic blood in you. That blood is poisonous."
"I know, I don't see myself as an angelic woman. I accept my demonic side more than the side I got from the female that birthed me."
The male chuckled. "I am seeing that, any angel would have killed those in the traps, and any foe in front of them...You didn't. You have the compassion I've only ever seen in demons. You are rather interesting to say the least. Now your final task...see that sword. Only those pure of heart and will can slip it out. I can't, but I do protect it. If you can, you will be the only one in eon's to be able to hold the sword that once belonged to a goddess of this world."
Reyna looked at the male confused. "Goddess? I didn't even know there were such things around here."
"Of course you didn't, they are rarely ever mentioned nowadays." The male said before he got up and climbed up the rock placing his hand on the hilt of the sword. "This sword belonged to the very first goddess that came to this land. Her name was Ryse, she was the goddess of creation. Her sword can only ever be picked up by those worthy. Other than her offspring that have all but abandoned their bloodline, no one has been able to wield the sword."
Reyna climbed up the rock before she placed her hands on the hilt after he had gotten his hand off of it. "So...all I'll have to do is just pull it out?"
He nodded his head. "Mhm, go for it."
She took a deep breath before she steadied herself with her wings out before she tried to pull the sword out, as she did it gradually started to move until it was completely out of the stone. The stone then shattered as the male's green eyes widened in shock. "Holy...my-my..Seems like you have the same blood in you as she once did. You have my blessings to use the sword of the goddess Ryse. Please do take good care of it."
"I will...What is your name by the way?"
The male chuckled "I'm Prince Shawn Habani, of the tree folk."
"It was a pleasure meeting you Prince Shawn. I hope on better terms we will be able to meet again."
"I agree, allow me to help take you back to where you once were."
Shawn took her to the exit where there was a portal waiting for her. "Good luck with the angel's young princess. You'll need it."
She nodded her head with a small smile. "Thank you. I will try my best."
Reyna went through the portal only for her to meet face to face with Richard who was talking with Avery. Avery was surprised to see Reyna with a new sword. "What's that Rey?"
Richard looked at her in utter shock. "By the goddess's above, you were able to get it?"
"Mhm, I met up with Prince Shawn who told me about the sword. What am I to do with this Uncle?"
"Keep it, anyone who sees that sword will know that you are worthy to live in the eyes of the goddess of creation." Richard stated
Reyna nodded her head before she looked at Avery. "I passed my last trial." She said happily
"Well that's good. I'll see you near the General."
She smiled at him before she rushed off ahead of him. Little by little she was slowly gaining her confidence back, she didn't feel as useless as she once felt before. When she got to the exit she saw not only the General but the entire unit that was working for her family along with her three younger male cousins. Ivan was surprised to see her with a sword he had only heard of in rumors.
"By the stars above...You got it."
She nodded her head. "I do, Goddess Ryse believes I am worthy to live to wield it." She said happily
"That is good, you will become a great queen one day with that sword as your weapon. Hand me your old sword princess."
She did and he placed it on the ground. "If by chance that shatters you will come here to get your old sword."
"Of course sir. What's next."
"There is nothing left, you've passed the hardest of all the challenges demons go through."
She looked shocked. "I...I've passed everything? That can't be possible."
"It is, and you've proven yourself in more than one way. You are more than fit to be queen." Ivan said seriously
"I don't have the maturity for that just yet. I wish to have the knowledge that I must have of my people and kingdom before I even try to do something like rule as my father and uncles have."
Zavier came up to his daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Wise words daughter, now that you are physically fit you must now train your mind which will take years to do. Are you ready for that?"
She looked up to her father with a smile. "Yes, I am."
"Good, let's take you home and have you get into more welcoming attire for a princess."
Zavier went back to the castle with his daughter and had her be sized for her own clothes to wear when she wasn't on the battlefield. Reyna's outfit consisted of a blouse and a skirt. When she finished dressing herself properly she was presented to her father who was talking with Avery in the throne room. When Avery saw her, his eyes widened in shock and awe, he couldn't believe the woman he once saw was wearing something feminine for once. Zavier smiled at his daughter as he got up from his seat.
"You look beautiful daughter. I am happy to see you in clothes better fitting for a princess."
Reyna felt awkward wearing the outfit, she didn't like the breeze that came from her wearing the skirt she had been wearing. It just over all didn't feel right to her. Zavier then went up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Now that you are dressed properly you are going to be studying from this day forth daughter. I wish for you to take breaks and eat with the rest of us and sleep when your eyes get tired. Do not try to push yourself more than you need to."
"I will father."
Zavier then looked at Avery. "Can I entrust her safety to you, Prince Avery?"
"Of course you can sir."