Calcia

Introduction

Calcia is a quiet, peaceful kingdom ruled by Queen Sheila, who’s also the goddess of nature, Lady Fauna. Everything runs well until Luca, a traitor, runs off to other lands to set up his organization.
The question is, who will join him, and what else will happen?
Wait and see!
Now, onto the story, my friends.


Chapter One
Traitor Among Us

I had always felt there was something a little off about Luca. He was always attracted to power and didn’t seem loyal at all. Out of curiosity, I gave him the post as my chief guard to see what would happen, and today would answer all my doubts. I didn’t know what would happen yet. I wandered around, and some kids stopped me to kiss me on both cheeks and give me a hat they had made, which I loved.
I heard my wife scream. “Someone help me! Get off me, you monster!” she yelled.
“Once you are dead, the throne will be mine,” a familiar male voice taunted.
More screams followed by silence as I ran to my wife’s aid. I couldn’t find the attacker, but I could add two and two together. Once I reached my wife, I saw her lying on the ground, and her hair was saturated in blood, which had come from a wound in her arm. I stood there shaking for a second before calling my friend, who was like a brother to me, to ask for his help.
“Finn! Help! Chiara is almost dead!” I yelled.

Within seconds, my gray-eyed fellow werewolf arrived, scanning my wife’s wounds with concern before working his magic to heal her.
“Do you know who did this to her?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nope, nothing concrete, but I have a hunch that it was Luca. As we know, he was there when other people in the cities died.”
Finn nodded.
“Finally, you put two and two together, Alpha. We had our doubts about Luca’s innocence.”
Chris Bennett, Luca’s older brother, arrived. The brown-haired male shook his head, chuckling in disbelief. “I know my brother’s work when I see it.”
“Hey, Chris!” I greeted him. “When did you get here? And what makes you say I don’t believe you? Just curious.”
“We need to bust him,” he replied bluntly.

I agreed, still astonished by how calm he remained about his brother being an asshole. I trusted Chris; he was one of my best guards and a good friend, although he was hard on people at times.
“We should try to catch him red-handed. I know he’s after me,” I stated.
Both guys immediately understood what I meant, and they tried to argue with me on this, but I was persistent. First, I would have to endure Luca’s presence on a trip to Valkur, a city in my kingdom, without him thinking that we suspected him in any way.
Chiara had finally woken up and cleared up any misunderstanding we might have had, and then she kissed me passionately. I laughed. Her hazel eyes enchanted me every time. My heartbeat rose every time we kissed, giggled or touched. I growled playfully, making her crazy.
“Alpha … you’re making me crazy …,” she said softly.
“And this is your way of saying that Alpha drives you mad, my Queen,” I replied, giggling.
“You smell so good; did you bathe in badass perfume? Oh my, yes! I want some for myself, so I can always know how you smell when I travel,” she pouted, her ears and tail twitching in unison with mine.
I might be a goddess of nature and hell, but I was still a werewolf, and my passion was higher than the guard’s tower. Unfortunately, it was time to head to the gate, where Luca would be waiting for me. His duty was to follow me, but I’m grateful he didn’t. He is a creep, after all. I already had the shivers from just thinking about him. It was good that no one liked him. On the way, I was greeted by Nichole, our other head guard. I waved at the strong, purple-haired woman. No time to talk yet. Little did I know what she was planning back then.


Chapter Two
Setting a Plan in Motion

As I had figured, the blonde guard in a blue and silver uniform awaited me with his usual nod and a dagger in his paw. Something in his eyes scared me; they had something insane and unholy about them. Nevertheless, I responded to his rough “My Lady” with a smile, and we started walking. As usual, he talked about what happened and what awaited us in Valkur.
“In Valkur, there have been a couple more deaths and, to no one’s surprise, even more drama. The mayor wanted to show you something else but forgot what that was until late yesterday evening …,” he paused as we were almost there.
I thought about what he’d said and what his brother, Chris, had said the day before … “He’s always been there for mass killings.”
In Valkur, there were even more murders when he was there. ‘This cannot be a coincidence!’ I thought.
We passed through the gates, and the mayor awaited us.
Luca stayed a bit back, staring at me from behind. It creeped me out.
“My Lady, how good of you to get here so quickly,” the mayor said, and I grinned.
“No problem at all. I was told there were even more killings, and all left a fingerprint?” I questioned, hearing Luca scoff behind me.
“That’s right, My Queen. More tragedies struck, and we don’t know much about them.”
“How awful.”
“But maybe you could help?” the old man begged.
I nodded and waited for Luca to disappear wherever he went when he was supposed to accompany me, so today was as usual, with no warning. The mayor noticed.
“Ma’am, so your guard is supposed to disappear into nothing?” he asked. As I read his mind, he was pretty nervous.
Usually, I hated him vanishing, but today, it was perfect. Setting the plan in motion — part one.
“Let me tell you something about the murders. We have a suspect, and it’s Luca. Think about it; he’s always there when it happens, but not when you call him for help. That’s surely quite odd, eh?” I said.
At first, the sweet older man seemed shocked, but then he understood.
Luca finally returned, pulling me out of the gates by the arm.
“Gotta go — now!” he demanded.
“What! Why? I was in mid-conversation!” I snapped back furiously.
The blonde angrily shook his head, taking on a Shadow Knight form; I, the underworld ruler, didn’t know that he was a Shadow Knight!
“No time!” Luca barked, his hand tightly clutching my wrist, tearing a bit at my Shadow Soul.
It was painful, but one look clarified that this was on purpose.
Once in bed that night, I fell asleep quickly but awoke to an intense pain in my chest. I heard voices, so I kept pretending I was sleeping.
“Did she wake up?” a male angrily questioned, half-whispering — Luca.
“No, she didn’t, only a rapid movement,” a female voice responded, a voice I couldn’t identify with all the background noise.
“Good. I’ll finish her. I think she has been suspecting me recently,” Luca scoffed.
I could have screamed in pain, but I used telepathy to call the guard and my childhood friend, Seb, for help.

‘Seb! Seb! Help!’
‘What’s wrong, Fauna?’
‘I’m being stabbed in my bedroom by Luca and a female, and they have no clue I’m awake.’
‘Be there in a minute.’

***

As soon as I stopped the connection, steps came running.
“Fuck, the guards are coming. You’re on your own, babe,” the female whispered, shattering a window by jumping out.
I could hear a sword being pulled from its sheath and Luca whispering urgently, “Get back here! Traitor!”
The guards busted down my door, and immediately I felt a blade against my neck. Whoever it was didn’t know not to mess with an immortal being.
“Put that knife down, Bennet! It was you all along, wasn’t it?” barked a voice I recognized as Seb.
Luca scoffed, his head above mine.
“Huh. It took you dumbasses long enough to get here. That poison will kill her and revive the true ruler of the shadows in her place. There’s no way a woman can hold honor,” he spat.
The guards pulled their swords out all at once, but Luca followed the female’s advice and jumped out the window, using his Shadow Knight’s ability to not die, even though a fall couldn’t kill a Shadow Knight anyway. They tried to run after him but gave up. He had crossed borders, and I was at the top of their list in importance. Seeing that I was almost crying from the pain of the Shadow Torture was a good thing.
The last thing I heard before falling unconscious was, “Her Shadow Soul is damaged. Fucking Luca Bennet! No worries, we’ll fix you up.”
Then it all went black.


Chapter Three
A Bit of Normality

Luca had always stood out among the guards due to his demeanor over others. He’d always do whatever he could to get power, no matter what. His armor also didn’t match our usual black-green clothing. His was silver and blue. His betrayal wasn’t surprising at all.
A few days after I fully healed and Chris became my new main guard, Nichole and I visited another small city in Calcia. The goddess of the wild (untamable things) and the underworld had to check in on her folks occasionally. The strong female guard was already waiting at the gate, and my dear friend and I quickly chatted.
“Oh, dear. Have you heard of the attacks in Warroh, My Lady? I heard the traitor is back!” she gasped, curling her hair with a finger.
“No way! By the way, what’s with your sword, Nichole? It looks so bloody!” I observed.
She shrugged it off, then touched my arm, showing affection.
“I also heard that Bennet has his group! Westins or something? It’s fascinating how he can manipulate things!” she exclaimed, a little too happy for my taste, but there was no way Nichole would betray us.
“Yeah, it is. Westins, you said? I’m assuming they fight like he does?” I asked.
She nodded, shooting an arrow into the bushes ahead, where a bandit stumbled out with two arrows in his shoulder. Quickly he made a run for it, or at least he tried, as one last arrow pierced through the man’s chest. Poor guy, but he shouldn’t have messed with Nichole.
“Anyway. Seen anything suspicious lately, Fauna?” my guard now asked, tightening her bowstring, which had become loose.
“No, except those pumpkins, of all things, keep getting smashed. Odd, huh?” I replied.
She nodded, pushing me behind her as white-dressed people stormed toward us.
“Die! You go the same way as our boss; you deserve punishment!” they screamed.
Nichole pulled her bowstring, and I threw my double-bladed dagger. With quick movements, the attackers, who had only stared at her, now disarmed my guard without harming her.
‘Why wouldn’t they harm her?’ I thought.
I swung my blade, which wounded two of the eight attackers in the stomach and, a few seconds later, in the chest. Although I dodged most of the attacks, two blades did hit me in the leg, and I leaped into a tree before healing myself.
“They sure know how to fight. You trained them well, Luca,” I mumbled to myself.
Meanwhile, the Westins kept yelling, “You poor excuse for a Queen! Our Experior, Lord Shad, will bring back the true ruler of the Shadowlands!” one shouted.
Another shushed him. “You can’t say his name! The Experior will punish us! Shut up!”
“You’re right,” the first speaker replied.
Nichole fought weakly against the white-dressed intruders and was unharmed, except for one scratch.
‘Maybe the enemy was after only me? That couldn’t be possible either, seeing that Seb and Mille, Seb’s twin sister with turquoise hair, had joined in and already had more wounds than Nichole. Could she be?’ No! I couldn’t even finish the thought. ‘Nichole would never betray us! Never!’
Instead of my sword, I switched to my goddess’s bow and arrow, praying to Irene that it would hit them all, then shoot. I didn’t need to worry, as the attackers fled after about ten arrows, begging their “Experior” for forgiveness in advance. I jumped down from the tree to join Nichole and the two others, whom I had to heal in contrast to the purple-haired warrior.
I chose not to mention that detail, though.
“Are you, Fauna?” Millie asked, panting.
I nodded, scanning to see where the enemy could have come from in the first place; if even our best sworders were exhausted, that would be hard!
“Hey, Millie, any clue how they got in here?” I asked, still focused on the landscape, awaiting her reply.
“There was a big-ass hole in the wall, although I have no idea how they broke in. They can fight, although we have a guard shortage right now,” she explained, smiling. She was always in a good mood, which is important for a cursed Knight, as anger could push them to lose control.
…