Chapter One

A Chapter by Storm Lawson

It is difficult to know where a story begins. It could begin with the despair of a Mermaid as her race is slaughtered day after day, equally it could begin with the desperation of Hummingbirds as they fight to preserve their forest homes. Or maybe it starts with the end of the world.
Post-apocalypse doesn’t sound like a haven on the outside, certainly on the inside it wasn’t either. But for some worlds, their most redeeming quality is the ability to survive. Eris Fable was such a planet. It lay seemingly dead for five years before there was any sign that life was still present on the tiny world. Regions began to form, four in total, as whatever fables remained began to build their civilisations. Felines and Centaurs claimed The City, Hummingbirds and Chameleons took to Forest Tops, the Mermaids and Octomaids ruled the Water Kingdom. Dragons were free-roaming, taking to whatever region pleased them, some never settling down. The fourth region, Spawning, was left to the monsters it spat out, aptly named the Darks.
There were four known races of Darks; Undead, Sirens, Demons and Red Spirits. Sirens, though they were not born there, were exclusive to the Water Kingdom, often being mistaken for Mermaids or Mermaids for them.
Once upon a time, one such Siren tempted a Queen. She was a young Queen, only sixteen, and after her happily ever after ended up being a psychopathic genie related apocalypse, she was easily swayed by the lovely lures of a handsome man, a so-called Prince.
But you and I both know that wasn‘t the truth. He bedded her and left, but not before an attempt at her life. If her guard had not been disturbed by the ruckus, Queen Jas would have died that night and it would have remained unknown to her that she had become pregnant. Nevertheless, the life had been saved and three months later she gave birth to a boy, her guard the midwife and a Chameleon from the neighbouring Forest Tops her nurse. Jas held the boy on her chest, sweat running into her tears. She held him close and kissed him. There is no greater love than this, she thought.
The next day her baby was dead.
Jas spent that night sitting on the beach, sobbing quietly, clutching at the sorrow in her chest. Looking down at the tiny coffin beside her, she attempted to push him out to sea but the ache was too deep. Instead, her guard silently nudged him away.
“There is no greater pain than this.” Jas breathed, fixedly watching the coffin drift into the darkness.

Merii slammed her cup down on the table.
“Action needs to be taken!” she growled as the council looked on from their seats. Her voice boomed across the table. Jas leant back, eyes closed. She preferred to listen rather than talk, more than could be said of the council.
“We‘re to take advice from one so bloodthirsty?” someone snarled from the back of the room. Merii straightened but otherwise ignored the jibe.
“The City has suffered enough damage as it is, you’ll have more fable die in vain?” she reasoned with restricted politeness. He sneered.
“They do no more harm to us than we do to them.”
“You’re better off serving as our sewerage system than a council member from the s**t that spews forth from your corrupted mouth!” Merii spat. The smile slid off his face.
“You insolent-”
“Hold your tongue lest I take it from you.” Jas spoke. Her eyes remained closed. “Let Merii tell her case. What action do you believe we should take?”
A moment of silence followed as Merii adjusted herself and began again.
“We take our troops… and we lead them into Spawning.”
The silence shifted and the room stared at her.
“War?” the same council member that had taunted her previously now whispered across the room.
“Our fables have always been the victims of Darks.” Merii spoke the last word with heightened ferocity. “But now they’re changing. They’re more organised, they’re more dangerous, they’re targeting our towns. They’re not the random chaos they used to be. They’re being mobilised. If we do not call for war, they will.”
“But they’re mindless. Their purpose is to murder, they’re just monsters!”
“Then they are being lead by someone. Something.”
The council turned to Jas.
“You cannot listen to this mad woman, she’s spurting nonsense!”
“Is that what you believe? That she is mad?” Jas responded.
“This is ridiculous, the Darks are not being lead by anything. There is no Dark that could ever do such a thing.”
Jas opened her eyes, turning slowly to Merii.
“Are you certain?”
Merii nodded tightly and placed a hand on Jas’ shoulder, squeezing gently. Jas breathed through her nose, eyes closed once more.
“I will not have my fables slaughtered any longer. If I could spare anyone the pain of losing a friend, a mother, a son,” her eyes stung. “Then I will. If we die, we die for a cause.”
No one spoke a word, silence had encased the room and it pressed uncomfortably on Jas’ ears.
“Merii will gather her troops. Seven days from now, we go to war.”

Jas was lying on her bed when she heard three sharp raps on her door. She contemplated ignoring the sound but brushed the thought away quickly.
“Come in.”
The heavy wooden door creaked and Merii stepped in, ducking her head. Jas turned to look at her.
Merii was a member of the Centaurs, half-horse and half-human. Her hooves clunked noisily on the floor as she walked over to the bed, eyebrows furrowed.
“You aren’t looking well.” Merii commented, easing a chuckle out of Jas.
“I’m perfectly fine, don’t bring so much worry on yourself.” she lifted herself up and sat on the side of her bed wearily.
“You are not required to fight.” Merii softly touched her arm.
“So says the law?” Jas scoffed. “What law does not require the Queen should die for her fables? And what friend would I be if I allowed you to die for a cause that I would not die for myself?”
Merii bowed her head, clasping Jas’ hands between her own.
“I don’t mean to insult you. I have been with you for twenty years, I do not wish to-” her voice stuck. “… There would be no greater pain than to watch you die.”
Jas raised a sorrowed smile.
“And you the same, Merii.”
She smiled back at the Queen before heartily slapping on her on the back.
“Let’s not think such morbid thoughts. Tomorrow I gather all the troops. There is only two hundred or so, we ought to send for assistance.”
Jas nodded slowly, reclining back into her bed.
“Forest Tops? Do you believe they will help us?”
“They may not suffer the same damage that we do, but they are compassionate.”
“Perhaps their nature is of a higher priority than war.”
Merii said nothing, choosing to let the Queen churn her thoughts instead. The torches set upon the walls were casting deep shadows across Jas’ face. She was a Tiger, shown by the warm black stripes that ran across her arms and the striking yellow eyes she bore. Merii had always believed she was beautiful and it pained her to see Jas so weary.
“Send for their ambassador, Merii.”
“Yes, my Queen.” she nodded gratefully before leaving the room.
Jas settled her hands over her stomach and lay quietly, listening to the torches flicker and spit softly. It felt like she should be peaceful, but all she could feel was the large knotted ball of sorrow buried somewhere in the depths of her mind, tugging at her. This ball had been with her for years, she had long since given up on trying to remove it. Some days it would bring her down into a gloom so deep she felt she was stuck there. Other days it was as if the ball had disappeared. Jas had learnt there was no control over it, she would ride it out when it came and that was all she could do.
Slowly, her eyes closed as she was swallowed softly into a slumber