CHAPTER ONE
It was early spring, and the period of mourning for Queen Moon was over. The Zolnixi tribe was heartbroken, for Moon had been a kind, fair, capable leader. But none more so than the elder princess, Dusk. She was four, a year away from adulthood, and already she was betrothed to a Zolnixi from a noble family and being called upon to take the crown.

"You'll be fine!" murmered Orion, running his tailtip along her spine. Dusk flinched away.
"You aren't the one hosting Mother's murderers!" she hissed.

"Princess Dusk!" called a Griffi who stepped out of the room in front of Dusk and Orion. "I am Arin, please come with me. Queen Raydin will see you now."

Dusk bristled with indignation. "Raydin will see me now?" she said acidly. "Last I checked, Raydin as a guest in my palace, and I may be a princess to her rank of Queen, but I equal her rank in my home and I will soon be queen, and I can and will demand respect!" with that she swept past Arin and into the room where Raydin waited.

Raydin, with her orange and yellow markings and jetblack eyes was impressive and imposing, but Dusk was not either impressed or scared. Instead, an uncontrollable rage swelled inside of her as she gazed upon the Griffi who had brought about her mothers' death.

Technically, Dusk was supposed to speak first to honor Raydin as Queen, but no way was she going to give her that satisfaction. Finally Raydin seemed to accept this.

"Greetings, Princess Dusk." Raydin sneered, putting as much contempt into the word as she could.
"Come to yell at me for supposedly killing your Mommy like your Daddy did?"

Dusk raised an eyebrow. She refused to get mad, and her years with her mothers' council had helped her perfect the art of hiding her emotions. "Supposedly killing Moon? Actually, I am fairly certian you did." she replied neutrally. Dusk scanned Raydin's face for anything that might suggest otherwise.

Raydin's feathers bristled. Her eyes flashed. She lashed her tail. "We did not kill Moon."

"Prove it."

"I can."

"Then do so."

Raydin nodded sharply then gestured at Arin. "Bring the dagger!" she commanded, and Arin drew a long, jagged barbed dagger from the folds of her armor. Raydin grasped it by the hilt and presented it to Dusk. "This it not a Griffi weapon, nor Zolinxi, nor any tribe I know."

"It could be a Ny'vene weapon!" peeped the other guard, Rak.

Even Raydin laughed at that. "Don't be silly. Ny'venes are fake."

Dusk was not convinced by the dagger. "How do I know you are not lying?"

Outrage sparked in Raydin's eyes. "I do not lie.! Let us go." she snarled and, throwing the dagger doen at Dusk's paws, stormed out of the hall.

As they left, the last griffi, who had been hiding in the shadows, caught Dusk's foreleg. "Beware the betryer, the liar, the spy!" the Griffi gasped before she too left.


CHAPTER TWO
Dusk paced aimlessly, her mind whirling. If Raydin was telling the truth... She sighed. There was no use dwelling on it, only acting on it. And the strange Griffi's warning?

"Dusk? You OK?" asked a voice from behind her. Dusk shook her head.

"Go away. I I need time to think."

"That isn't very nice! And to your own sister..." The other Zolnixi sounded highly affronted. Surprized, Dusk spun around.

"Dawn! I thought you were Orion!" Dusk exclaimed. The tiny pink and gold Zolnixi princess studied her older sister.

"You don't actually love him, do you?" Dawn asked. Dusk let out a sharp laugh.

"Nothing gets by you, does it! Oh, Dawn, I wish it was that simple love or not love I care for him, it's true, but as anything more that meer friends I know not."

Dawn accepted her sister's response with a dip of her head. "I totally wasn't eavsdropping on your conversation with that Griffi Queen, but is what she said true? They didn't do it?"

Dusk was thoughtful. "I believe her," she said at last, "but if the Griffis didn't do it who did?"

Dawn took a step back as the implications of what Dusk had said sunk in. "You can't!" she cried.

Dusk nodded, a hard, cold glint in her eyes. "I must. Hear me now, Nocturna," she called, invoking the goddess of the night sky, "I promise to track down my mother's killers and avenge Queen Moon!"


CHAPTER THREE
"I'm not sure your plan will work, Astryl." Davvr said bluntly. The Ny'vene Queen spun around, nearly knocking Davvr off his feet with her crystal studded tail.

"Queen Astryl to you, fool!" she snarled. Smoke rose off her scales and wreathed her in a silvery crown. "And I can see how someone as shallow minded as you could think that!" Astryl turned her attention back to her enchanted mirror, through which they were watching, and listening, to Dawn and Dusk.

"No," she mused, "this could work out perfectly."

Davvr raised one scaly eyebrow. "If I may be so impertinent, Queen Astryl," he said smoothly, "how could this work out perfectly?"

Astryl flicked him with her wingtip. "Because if that silly little princess leaves, her betrothed will take charge in her stead, and he does not know those annoying furballs are not responsible!" the queen crowed. "You, Davvr, will make it look as though the Griffis captured Dusk!" Astryl paused for breath. "He will declare war on the Griffis for her sake, and they will destroy each other. They can draw all the other tribes in as well, then we go in and save them all. And I will be the queen of Sylestia!" (Mwh ha ha ha!!! Sorry I had to add that)


CHAPTER FOUR
It was cold. Mind numbingly, bone chillingly cold. Dusk missed her home already. Oh, not that she hated the cold. She was a night sky Zolnixi, decended from Nocturna herself. And nights in Sylestia could be cold. No, the cold didn't bother Dusk. It was the wailing, stinging, bitter wind she was so anxious to get out of.

Dusk had left her home behind nearly a week ago and was traveling onward. Her first stop was to go to Esior's Haven and see if any humans there would recognize the dagger, but she had encountered a late snowstorm and was waiting it out in a high tree hollow in Umbra Forest.

"Stupid snowstorm!" she growled, throwing her wings over her head. Finally she she angrily peeled a strip of bark from the wall and jammed it into the treehole opening. The howling winds died down to a low groan and the snow flurries stopped whisking in. As Dusk turned to grab moss and bark to seal the remaining gaps off, a voice sboke and Dusk slammed her wings into the low ceiling.

"Wish you'd done that ages ago. I would have, of course, but you were in the way." drawled a voice from the corner.

"Show yourself!" Dusk snarled, hackles raised. The only light came from the rune-rings encircling her body, which pulsed a fearful blue white.

"Yes, your majesty. Duskfall, isn't it?" asked a slim Nyrtekie, stepping foreward.

Dusk nodded carefully, cursing her forgetfullness. Only royal Zolninies had the rings like she did. Fairy rings, maybe, but rune-rings? Never. "I prefer to be called Lady or Princess Dusk, if you don't mind what is your name?"

The Nyrtekie's eyes flashed dangerously, and for the first time, Dusk understood why people were so afraid of these haunting preadators of the night. "Names have power, Dusk, and I would prefer to keep mine unknown. However, until such time as I feel you are trustworthy... You may call me Fate. It is a nickname I earned a long time ago, one I rather like."

The Zolnixi princess studied Fate intently. She couldn't tell what color she was in the dim light. Everything looked grey. What she could see was skelatal bone armor and a skull like helm. "How did you get your armor?" she asked carefully.

Fate gave an ugly laugh. "I killed, obiously. In this world we live in now, we can't afford not to!"

Dusk flicked her long tail. "In this world we live in now? What do you mean?" Without really realizing it, Dusk had backed up into the corner in a vain attempt to escape Fate's gleaming eyes.

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Has anyone bothered to read this? Who is your favorite character?

i really like dusk, she is so pretty, but where is the picture of fate? i've only read up to chapter 4 and then there isn't another chapter yet, but either way this story is awesome so far!