To Prove Herself Ch.1-3

Chapter 1: The Missive

The unmistakable sound of sparring combat erupted from the Barracks while High General Nick Aranko made his way to its gates, letting the gate-keepers notice his presence. Without a word, the gates raised, allowing him to enter. His armor clanked against the dirt floor, kicking up dust and debris with each pristine metal boot.
He turned the corner and came face to face with Brunt, a massive, hulking bull man, in the midst of landing a square-fisted punch to the cheek of none other than the Warrior Princess of Draq'Nara herself, causing her head to turn in the direction of the punch, and sending her stumbling. Her dual-colored eyes glowed with barely contained excitement while she wiped a stain of blood from her chin, before she was upon him, letting out a battlecry. Her berserker rage kicked him, and despite Brunt managing to block most of her vicious blows, eventually he tired out, slowed down, and a strong punch to the stomach buckled him over. Ayah stepped back a few paces while he recovered, before running into him at a half-crouch, jumping into the air, and brought her elbow down upon his head, sending a plume of dust into the air, obscuring the scene for Nick, who idly batted the dust from him with an almost offended expression on his human features. When the dust settled, Brunt was on the ground, rubbing his head laughing, while Ayah extended a hand to him.
"By Draxis' beard, woman. Ye fite like a bloo'y devil, ye do!" He said with his charming Olvanian accent. Ayah chuckled as he took her hand, letting her pull him to his feet. To someone not accustomed to Ayah, it would look almost comical to watch a 6 feet tall, muscular, yet still quite lean girl of barely adult age, hauling a fully grown, 9 feet tall, muscle-bound bull man to his feet with no more effort than it took one of his equal size to do so. To most all natives of Draq'Nara, it was a well known fact that Ayah's Therion blood left her, albeit smaller than her pure-blooded half-kin, equally as physically powerful. A genetic boon from her late father, Dasa.

Nick cleared his throat, making his presence known for the first time since his arrival. Both combatants walked to him, Ayah walking with the bouncy gait of a young girl with nothing but happy thoughts in her head, while Brunt walked as though his pride had been beaten into the dusty floor along with his massive body. "General." He said, making a crisp salute, looking down at the far shorter Human soldier. "Lieutenant. I require a word with our esteemed crown Princess. You're dismissed from duty for the day." Visibly excited, Brunt gave a nod and a firm "Yes sir!" before lowering his salute, offering a fist bump to Ayah which she answered happily, and walked off, grabbing his shirt as he went.
Nick looked after him before turning to Ayah with a not-so-pleased look on his face. "What in the name of your esteemed mother were you thinking, Ayah?" He said with scorn in his voice. "I've told you not to fight anyone unless you've had the weakening potion! If you hold back even a bit too little you'll kill someone."
Ayah folded her ears down. Nick had a way with noticing her form and posture when she had and had not drank her potion. "Shouldn't I be able to fight at my full strength to get used to it?" She said with an equally scornful tone, although with a bit of caution behind each word. It wasn't easy, even for her, to stand tall before the High General, as any scorn traveling up from him, always went straight to her mother, and she was, by far, the most terrifying to stand before when she was rightfully and truthfully furious. Nick sighed, rubbed his eyes in obvious strain of his duties, before handing Ayah the papyrus in his hand. It was small, no bigger than a pen, and was rolled around a gold pin with a grip on either side large enough for a finger or two. She took it from him. "We can discuss that later. For now, this requires your attention. Your mother gave me specific instructions not to let anyone read the scroll, myself included, and bring it straight to you." Ayah looked at the rolled up sandy-brown paper, before looking to Nick. "Why didn't she ju-", but before she could finish, Nick cut her off and finished her sentence for her. "-just give it to you herself? You know your mother as well as I do, your majesty...She works in mysterious ways, just like her own parents." He winked, a small smile on his lips, before turning and walking away, a hand on the bevel of his sword.

Ayah walked to the bench nearby, wooden platforms against the walls to provide sparring partners to leave behind their belongings before entering the free-for-all arena, to avoid them getting damaged. She unwrapped the small golden thread holding the scroll closed, and opened it tentatively, as though expecting it to explode. When no explosion happened, but instead a blanket of written words spread out before her eyes, as well as a hand-written letter from her mother within. She read the letter from her mother first:

"My darling daughter,

I received this missive from Zeeva and Faarah, the Exalted Ones of the Nagas. There has been a situation near their borders and she asks for assistance, as all soldiers they've sent there have failed to return. The missive I've included will explain everything, but I included this message to tell you: Nick has been unsure of your progress as a warrior, not in body, but in mind. He says you're too easily distracted, and doesn't believe your discipline to be adequate to take on actual, important tasks without supervision. I believe this to be a good task for you to handle on your own, and I personally believe that you are ready. You leave at first light in the Morning, one cycle after Hiva's eye opens. Make me proud, my Star, and come home safe. May your father's spirit walk with you.

Your mother<Written in elegant flowing signature handwriting>"


Ayah set the small piece of paper aside, and turned her attention to the missive her mother had spoken about:

To the venerable Queen of Draq'Nara, Vaxi Neferet,

It is with great urgency that I write you this missive, and have sent my fastest scouts to your shores with this request. It appears that a group of beasts of incredible power and blood thirst has made an underwater cave near the shores of my empire their home. They have ransacked shore-lying towns and left the entire male population missing, without a trace. Every soldier my sister and I have sent to the cave they've been found to live in, according to survivor accounts, have failed to return, and naturally, I fear the worst. We could easily find a solution to this problem, but the caves are considered cursed, and very few of our people dare set foot in there. We humbly request your aid in vanquishing these foes for the safety and security of my empire's shore-dwelling citizens, that our friendship may prosper further. Please have your chosen warrior(s) arrive at my gates with this missive in hand, that I may know they are here in the name of your revered name to offer assistance.
May the graces of Hss'varass keep you safe eternally.

Exalted Sisters of Aldrazzah,
Faarah & Zeeva"

'Great, I'm going to go and risk my life for a bunch of snakes with arms.' She spat to herself, as she was utterly alone in the barracks this late. But her excitement was hard to hide. Thus far, she had been forced to go on escort missions in heavily patrolled territories where no danger would ever make her presence necessary, to keep her out of harms way, or keep others from getting harmed in her way, by the General's personal opinion. Now she had a chance to prove herself to her mentor. She rolled the paper up, gathered her gear, and headed for her chambers adjacent to her mother's. She had less than six cycles left before Hiva's eye opened.


Chapter 2: The Arrival

4 days later, with Hiva's eye drowsy on the horizon, Ayah found herself disembarking the Draq'Naran frigate that had carried her to the docks of the Nagas. Due to the constant threat of racist Nagas finding 'stick-bones' present in their holy city a direct insult, Ayah trekked through the streets under armed guard until she entered the Palace of the Gods(In Ayah's mind they were just pretenders, but she was under strict demand to show respect). Within, sat only Zeeva upon her throne, Faarah's being empty.
"Welcome, Draq'Narans. I am honored that such a large force has be-"
"With all due respect, blessed one." Ayah said, interjecting the serpentine ruler with what was considered a thoroughly insulting, backhanded remark, that drew a gasp from the Naga entourage in the room. "But these shoulders were here to see me safely through the streets of your beautiful city. They will be leaving with the ship once I give them my word that I'll be well on my own. The only assistance being sent to your aid, is me. Which I assure you, is all the assistance you will need."
The fans on the Living Goddess' neck extended in obvious irritation. "If the Queen of Draq'Nara thinks a single juvenile princess can handle what my soldiers from families containing countless generations of warriors, could not? Then I may have made a grave error in sending her that missive." She said, with a threatening hiss, almost as venomous as that in her glands. "Asssss well assss our alliancccccce."
Ayah sighed, shrugged her shoulders in an informal display of carelessness, turned her back to the serpent empress without bowing or courtseying first, and said: "In that case, I will simply return home."
After giving a low, muttering hiss under her breath for a few seconds, before Ayah reached the door, she raised her hand and spoke, firmly "Wait." Before she rose to her full height. "I will accept the help Draq'Nara has sent. My Steward, Skreev, will see to giving you all the information you need for the quest, as well as the agreement upon a reward."
This time, Ayah turned to Zeeva, and bowed deeply. "It will be done, O'holy one."

Moments later, Ayah stood in a room alone with Skreev, the steward of the palace. "And this is very important, your highness. You must enter the caves naked, and do not t-" Ayah's mind, which had been blank from boredom, suddenly snapped to attention, breaking Skreev's thoroughly rehearsed list of facts and do's and don'ts. "Wait, wait...Did you say naked?"
"Yes yes, your highness, absolutely! For a...four-limbed individual such as yourself to enter the Holy Caves of Hss'varass herself while fully dressed is...Nothing short of sacrilegious! You'd no doubt incur the wrath of the Goddess' guardians, and force your soul to an eternity of torment within the cavern's depths! Mhmm, yes! Hsstttssssttsss..You must enter the caves with nothing on your frame but your weapons of choice! It is of the utmost importance and will no-doubt turn your quest from completely impossible, to slightly probable, yessssstttsstttssss!"

Ayah sulked. Naked? She was gonna enter a submerged cave, dark as night, without a strip of clothing? No armor? Before working herself up, she remembered that she was here to prove herself. This was not just a simple mission, it was a test, to prove her primary nay-sayer wrong in her lack of preparation for being a full-fledged soldier.
"No clothes you say? Very well. I will enter naked, then. Whatever your Goddess requires." She said, straightening up in her stance as she leaned over the table opposite from Skreev's reptilian, green eyes, attempting to show determination and confidence.

"Good, good! We will head out immediately. I will sssssstttsstttsssshow you where the cave entrance isss! You swim inside, find the beasssttssstttsttsss within, and decimate them all!"


Chapter 3: The Caves

Merely hours later, Ayah stood in near complete darkness, Skreev holding a torch aloft to help them both see in the pitch black of night. They were on the beach, the inky-black waves of the sea sloshing against the shore in a rhythm that could lul someone to sleep with relative ease. "Thisssss is where the entrance is! Swim out about 140 paces to the jagged rocks jutting up from the water, and swim sstttststttstttststraight down into the cave below it! It will take some effort holding your breath that long, but I'm sure you'll manage!" Ayah nodded, and stepped her hooves into the water's edge, before turning to Skreev with a 'matter of fact' gaze to him. "Thank you Skreev."
"Oh you're quite welcome, my lady!" Ayah still stared at him, and he stared right back, his dual-lidded eyelids blinking in a 90-degree pattern a few times. They stood like this for a couple dozen seconds before Ayah finally exclaimed. "If your aim is to see me undress, you're sorely mistaken, as I'd pluck your eyes out before you had a chance to burn the last sight you'd ever lay eyes upon again, into your mind."
Skreev flinched at being caught red-handed. "Yes, of course your Majesty, how vulgar of me, yes. I will leave you be! Return to the palacctctctttcccttce when....or if...you ssssurvive!"

And with that, he began his trek up the beach, back towards the caravan that had carried them out here, leaving Ayah in near total blackness. Sighing at the embarrassing situation she was in, she steeled herself, and anxiously, agonizingly slowly, began to remove her leather harness, leather loincloth, and halter straps that held her swords on her back. She also removed her eyepatch, exposing the ghostly white eye. The moment she opened it, she could see in the dark, while her natural mortal eye saw nothing but inky blackness, her ghostly white eye saw clear as day, including the glows of the lifeforce that showed Skreev was still standing at the edge of the beach, trying to hold his torch high enough to catch a mere glimpse of the Draq'Naran beauty. She hissed in annoyance, very akin to a Naga, before taking her swords in hand and waded into the water.
She swam the 140 paces, until she touched the jagged rock that stuck out of the water like a lonely tooth in a massive roiling maw, before diving down, using the clarity of her ghostly eye to see into the murky black expanse below her. Nothing but a few late-night fish milling about trying to catch a midnight snack was seen below, and she made it to the cavern about 50 feet down with relative ease. Arriving within the cave, she saw nothing but endless, semi-flooded cave halls before her, stretching on into darkness not even her enchanted Therion eye could penetrate. She took a look around, scoffing out loud at how superstitious those snake people above are. "So this is the holy Cave of Hss'varass, huh? Well...It sure looks like any other cave I've explored so far." She spoke to no one in particular while she took her swords in hand and delved into the cave, not seeing the glowing eyes regarding her from every crevice and small hole in the cave walls, off to either side and behind her. "I can't believe I came down here actually expecting a fight. There's nothing down here but water and rock and slimy algae. Gloomy and humid. Pft. This is ridiculous." She told herself, turning her back to the empty looking cave and heading back towards the small lake that was the mouth of the cave she was in. However, as she bent down to prepare to wade in, she felt something cold and slimy begin to aggressively fondle her ass cheeks, almost painfully so. "What the-!?" She spun her head around and beheld, to her confusion and surprise, that two sets of hands had seemingly appeared from thin air, and begun to aggressively grapple and knead her ass flesh with reckless abandon. Thinking to herself that, had these creatures wanted to kill her, they wouldn't fondled her ass 'after' turning her into a corpse. As such, she held her swords and instead angrily yelled, hoping against hope that it would scare them off so she didn't have to wrestle them off of her. She was about to yell when she saw several more hands materialize from apparent nothingness, before she bellowed into the cave. "HEY! Back off you filthy beasts! Don't grab my butt like that or you'll pay dearly!" Only after she spoke those words did she realize how obscene they sounded, but miraculously, it worked. The hands suddenly demateralized all around her, and she heard rapid shuffling and small hisses coming from the darkness. Only then did she realize what she'd missed. Her ghost eye managed to pick up the faint glow of life force from several dozens of reptilian looking creatures within, before they became so perfectly camouflaged that even her nether-sight could not spot them. Magical camouflage, underwater cave dwelling. Those Naga had inadvertently sent her into a dwelling of a pack of male Ghordvars, a species of reptile that live in complete darkness and only come out to find and abduct other anthropomorphic species to either impregnate the females or abduct and transform the males. These were what was left of the male denizens of those coastal villages where all the males had mysteriously disappeared, and why the females had disappeared as well. But..."Wait a minute..." She said out loud. If the males go out to find females of other species to reproduce...they should be here, scared and violated, but alive, even protected. They should've killed any trespasser who threatened their offspring, so if they took all of these people, why were they so desperate to take Ayah? "By Hiva's Mercy..." Ayah spoke, as realization dawned on her. While she was swimming back to shore, she spotted Skreev standing on the shore with his torch, awaiting her return.
When she returned, she neither noticed, nor would have cared had she noticed, the hungry stares her soaked, naked body was getting from Skreev while he aided her getting dressed.
"Ssssso your highness. Did you decimate those beasts? Were there survivors? Ssssshould we send for a rescue party?" Ayah, finally redressed and in the middle of adjusting her eye patch over her ghostly eye, looked directly at Skreev with dire urgency in her gaze. "No, Skreev. I have important news to bring to Zeeva. It is of utmost urgency that you take me to her immediately." She said, as she shuffled through the thick sand to get to the caravan. "B-But Princess Ayah, please! You must tell me if-"
"It was a pack of unmated male Ghordvars, Skreev. Harmless since they've stupidly made their hovel 50 feet underwater, 140 paces from shore, on an uninhabited shore. It wasn't them who attacked those villages and abducted its people."
Skreev froze where he stood for a moment, contemplating what she'd said, before he continued on, stammering, after her. "G-Ghordvars? B-b-b-b-b-but if not them, then who or what did this!?" Skreev said, panicked, as he followed behind his charge.
"I don't know, Skreev, but I intend to find out. Whatever it is, something very sinister is going on in your land and no one alive or present has any clue what is going on. I need to speak to your mistress, immediately." Skreev collected himself, gave the most serious, not-sexually-starved look Ayah had seen him make since her meeting him, and gave a firm nod. "I will make ssssure the driver maintains double time, your highness. Driver! To the palace! On the double!" He yelled, while he followed Ayah into the caravan.
"Yesss sir!" The driver exclaimed, before snapping the reigns attached to the four horses in front, and set off towards the palace.
Meanwhile, Ayah spent the hopefully short trip back to the Naga capital writing a missive to her mother, explaining the situation. She wrote the final few sentences after pausing for a moment:

"I am going to have to stay here longer than planned. I do not intend to return until this quest is completed, so I can prove to all of our people, including General Aranko, that I'm prepared for this. If you do not hear from me within a fortnight, send reinforcements. I love you mother. Your daughter, Ayah."


To be continued...