-1-

Monsters

Demons.

Beasts.

We didn’t know what they are or where they came from but they’d interrupted the centuries of peace in the Metropolis of Caelus.

Caelus, had been terra formed 400 years ago but the monsters appeared  a little over 150 years ago. First falling from the sky and then rising from the sea and then out of soil. They gained their strength from destruction and once they were powerful enough they left nothing but darkness behind.

Princess Pia, the Queen’s beloved great-great aunt had thought to let a beast into the Wingate Citadel and see if it was sentient. There were no Sentinels then and even with the entire Royal Legion  at her back the beast had crushed Princess Pia in half.

 Her naive sacrifice wasn’t in vain because The Greatest Minds were able to use her body and the bits of gore from the beast to create weapons that could hurt the beasts; a set of elegant gem encrusted scythes. Princess Pia’s mother and sisters vowed to seek revenge on the beasts and were at the front lines of the next time a beast appeared. And so it went for the better part of the century.

The beasts came. Generations of the Queen and her daughters fought back.

 But then Queen Mairose was injured, lost a leg. She’d been close to a beast and so caught up in the fight no one had been looking out for her. The  Royal Legion was too fearful to get close without scythes of their own.

 That is when the Sentinels were created.

Those of us who  put our bodies  in front of our royals and protected them at all costs. Our bodies were enhanced, Coherence connected us to our royal and we were able to pull at Caelus’ natural energy and the elements to slay the beasts. There was a price for this ability--a shortened life span.

As we walk toward  the Royal convoy, Xael and the Queen get inside and initiate their Coherence. Sattarius and I  suddenly know that  the Royals already know--the monster is in the Gilded Alley, that this one is on four legs and is  made of fire and burning coals. We don’t hear specific words or get instructions, we just know the information.

Sattarius and I ride atop the convoy vehicle, leading the way out of the gates with the Royal Legion  jogging behind. The legionnaires will protect the citizens and put out any damage while we tame the beast. Sattarius and I do not have Coherence with each other  but we can exchange enough looks to put together a game plan. Sattatrius is the Sentinel Alpha and I will follow she and the queen's lead.

I smell the burning streets the moment the convoy stops, the white brick apartment building and  shops underneath are spilling dark smoke and the screams of the citizens running from the damage pull at me. Sattatius tilts her head eastward and I see the beast moving towards us, it must have smelled royal blood nearby. 

Demon.

This beast I would classify as demon.

It is more humanoid than some others, the torso of a man and the lower half of a steed. It was twice the size of even the largest man and instead of flesh it was made of molten fire and ash.

The Princess and Queen exit the convoy and break into a fearless  brisk jog towards the beast, Sattarius and I following behind. The citizens call to us as we charge towards it, some are words of encouragement, others are words of sorrow.

As we get closer to the beast  I  gather the atmosphere and  create an arc  shield around the princess, to protect her from the flying embers and debris.

“It may look smaller than most  but this one is dangerous,” the Queen calls back to us,  spinning her mace as she approaches the beast. “Stay back until I say, Xael.”

“You didn’t bring me to watch, Mother!” My princess shouts over to her.

“You can have the victory,” the Queen says.

The Queen spins the mace once more, building up the force and then throws it; it’s the perfect pitch, it sails across the alley  and hits the demon in the side. The demon turns to her and roars in a way something called a demon only could. Then it bounds towards us bringing forth a spray of smoke and hot ash.

Sattarius and the Queen match it’s pace and charge towards it, Sattarius creating a shield to protect the Queen from the smoke as she raises her scythe. When they are feet from it they bring out their weapons in perfect precision and slice through the legs. The horse’s legs disintegrate into black dust but the creature doesn’t fall, it rears back viciously, sprouts wings and hovers in the air, fire shooting from its mouth.

“Sentinel Omega!,” The Queen shouts to me.

And I know it is alright for me to act.

I take the bow from my back and infuse the arrows with a sharp energy before arching back and aiming at the beast. The arrows fly faster than the beast can detect, it pierces the demon’s wing and the demon falters in the air. With my Queen’s permission I ready another arrow and another and another. It takes 6 to bring the beast back down to the ground.

But it is not safe yet.

The beasts can manipulate energy in the same way Sentinels can and when we hit them with it they send it back to us. We can sense when the beast is about to do this and Sattarius and I stand in front of the sovereigns. I use the katana blade and she uses her shield to block and absorb  the sudden rays of volatile energy the demon throws out at us.

In the midst of this, the Queen quietly steps to the creature's side and slices it through with her gem infused  scythe, it roars and turns on her. The  wounded beast is still large and powerful but the Queen and her death scythe is no match. Her fighting style is elegant and precise, she swings the scythe, carefully removing the demon's limbs while dodging it’s attacks. With each slice, black dust falls from the creature’s wounds.

But the Queen is human. She is tiring; sweat drips from her face and I notice her miss a step as the beast flails to destroy her scythe.

“Mother ?,” Xael calls, tossing her scythe to the ground and detaching the double barrel revolver from her side.

The Queen leaps back from the demon as the diamond bullet from Xael’s revolver pierces the demons' skull. The demon makes one last agonizing sound, rearing back, fight the inevitable and then  disappears into a pile of black dust.

The beasts had an aversion to natural gemstones and diamonds could be fatal. Once a beast was weak enough, a pure diamond bullet of 20 carats or more was the only thing that could truly destroy it.  Diamonds are the most valuable artifacts in the Metropolis for this reason but they cannot be mined here and most of the diamonds in Xael’s revolver had been scavenged from the royal treasury.

There is a moment of silence after the beast’s demise. Ash rains over the alley and the Queen walks steadily toward her daughter.

-2-

“You were to stay back unless called--,” the Queen begins, her tone harsh.

“ You were clearly tiring, I couldn’t do anything all the way back there--,” Xael protests.

“I would have called you when it was time. You could have wasted your bullet, beasts of this size are more cunning and  unpredictable than you are used to--,”

“I know, Mother,” she says. “I may not have the flair of Josephine but I do know how to do this.”

Josephine was the sister closest in age to Xael. Josephine was on bedrest because she with child but when she fought a beast she always made a show of it.  Taunting the beasts, finding new uses for her weapons and exchanging quick witted jokes with her Sentinel, Tyrell, in the midst of battle.

Xael walks to inspect the pile of black ash  that was once the demon.

“Let’s survey the damage of the neighborhood,” the Queen sighs. “Leave those remains alone, the alchemists will come for it.”

“Yes, I know Mother.”

“Perhaps Mr. Oscar Wallace will be with them,” the Queen smiles teasingly.

Xael makes an annoyed face at that remark.

Apprentice Oscar Wallace was once Xael’s schoolmate and had just begun training as an alchemist. He was a star athlete in the citywide triathlons and a favorite of the King. Apprentice Wallace had been trying to  broker a marriage for himself despite the King having no say in the matter and  Xael telling him no multiple times.

The Queen and Sattarius walk back towards where the citizens are gathered  but Xael stays by the pile of ash. As I knew she would, she scoops a bit of it in to her pocket and I must make a face because she smiles.

“Don’t look at me like that. I delivered the killing blow, I think I should atleast get a little trophy,” she says wiping her sooty hand on a handkerchief. “It’s a bit macabre, I guess.” 

“More than a bit, your majesty,” I say because I can’t lie to her.

She smiles at me and my lips quirk.

“Finneas Bramley! Did you just smile ?,” she says with mock shock.

 I have only ever smiled like this in private with her. Her smile is all white teeth and infectious. I’d never another reason to smile.

“Well, that was an  exciting one though, wasn’t it ?,” she grins. “It grew it’s own wings !,”

I nod.

We walk back to the damaged neighborhood and I follow behind her. There are no casualties this time and I am thankful because , I know how that weighs on her.  The Queen and Princess stay at the scene and Sattarius and I stay with them, helping when we can, going back into the smoldering buildings for pets and valuable left inside destroyed buildings

Everything goes like clockwork. Royal advisors arrange for misplaced citizens  to move into the Citadel. Apprentices to The Greatest Minds show up, Xael’s suitor included, to  swipe at every surface of the destruction for something to take back to their libraries and labs.

I watch my  princess politely defer Apprentice Wallace’s repeated attempts to pull her away from the citizens for a private moment. When she is in the city, she always give her adoration and time to her  people. She falls easily in conversation with all of them, assuring them that she and I will always protect them.

 

***

 -3-

When I am back in the basement of the armory I  relive the memories of the battle. While I have trained my entire life for this purpose, Xael and I have only been fighting the beasts for three years and mostly it was the small ones that terrorized campers in the woods.

I am ready for another fight. Perhaps a harder one. A fight  with more than one beast that we battle together or one where we can stop it’s destruction  before damage to the city happens.

I wait eagerly to be summoned.

And I wait

And I wait.

Time means nothing to me. For reasons never explained to me  I’ve always received  meals irregularly. Sometimes I’d get a week’s worth of food other times I’d get it meal by meal. There were no windows and I never knew what time it was unless I was summoned.

I train longer and harder in my room. Sometimes when there was a time between the beasts it meant there would be a glut of them.

I wait.

And I wait.

And I wait.

I begin to wonder if my princess has died.

But they would tell me. I would feel it, the final pull of our Coherence. Or at least I think I would.

I wait

And I want

And I wait

More time passes until the day the  door to my room begins to open.

I am running through a simulated  training exercise with a staff  when it happens. My blood runs cold at the sound of the door  and I take a defensive position.

In all of my years in the Citadel my door has  never opened without the 1-2-1-2 tone playing first. And when I see the figure at the door I freeze, mid-pull on the staff.

The princess.

She’s wearing a fine full tulle skirt, a few shades lighter than her rosy hair and  a taught black jacket with shiny gold buttons. It is not the battle wear  I usually see her dressed in, but what she wears when she attends lectures.

Her pet cat, Orion, is at her feet. The puffy round faced feline saunters into the room and makes a deliberate circle, as if making sure my quarters  up to snuff for the princess to enter. I had never seen the curious white cat in person only in the animations from my youth. She’d had it since she was a child but it could very well still be a kitten for how small it was.

I'd never seen a royal go farther down into the Citadel than the Royal Armory, I didn’t think she was even allowed in the sub-basement. I was not appropriately dressed as I’d discarded my shirt for the training exercise.  I looked altogether too human and my princess had never seen me be anything but her loyal weapon.

“Your majesty.”

 I drop the staff and kneel to her immediately. Orion seems to take this as some sort of cue and leaps in a way only a cat could on to my back and then on to my bed where he stretches out approvingly on the blankets. 

Xael holds a tray in her hand with an extravagant purple floral tea set, the edges of the cups lined in gold, the top of the teapot adorned with a shimmering amethyst.

This was so very odd, I have so many questions and I wonder if I am allowed to ask her.

“Princess--,” 

“Please stand. Where can  I put this ?,” she asks presenting the tea tray, her eyes are troubled but her voice was more chipper than usual.

I get up from my kneel and survey the room. I never had guests.

I lead her to the small table where I take my meals and pulls up the stool the Commander used to sit in when drilling  me.

With shaky hands the princess pours two cups of tea. This wasn’t right; she shouldn’t be serving me.

“Princess--,”

“This tea is vanilla mint. It’s very good. How many sugars do you take, Finneas?,”

“I—um, just the one, but I can do it--,” I say quickly, holding out my hands for the plate of sugar cubes.

“Nonsense,” she says, placing a cube into my tea and stirring. “We monarchs lead the people, we are not above them. You’d be surprised how many people are shocked I can  even make my own tea.”

I take the cup and thank her. She fills another cup with cream and sets it on the floor, Orion quickly pounces on it, pushing his absurdly round face into the cup.

 The tea is sweet and coolness dances on my tongue. When I take a long sip she smiles approvingly but then her smile drops almost as quickly. She sets her cup down and I do the same.

“Josephine is in labor,” she tells me.

“That is…good news ?”

“Yes, of course! Everyone is so excited they don’t know what to do with themselves. It’s absolute madness upstairs. First grandchild and all. It’s why I was able to finally slip away.”

“Why did you need to slip away ?,” I inquire.

She takes another long drink of her tea and gives me a weak smile.

“The Greatest Minds have figured it out,” she says, making a marvelous sweeping gesture.

She is the one who started calling them The Greatest Minds. She did it only in  private and I’d picked up on it.

The Greatest Minds were officially known as The Royal Academy of  Doctors, Alchemists and Scientists. They were select scholars from the University who lived and studied at the Wingate Citadel. They were paid a great sum to do whatever work they deemed necessary to advance society with virtually  no supervision. They were always being lauded as ’the greatest minds of the city’ when they did something right---which was rare.

To their credit, The Greatest Minds had created great things like the Sentinel program but everyone within the Citadel knew only about 20% of them  were doing actual work while the rest were enjoying the spoils of living within the Citadel. Alchemists like Apprentice Oscar Wallace.

“The Greatest Minds figured what out ?,” I ask cautiously.

“The beasts,” she says.  “They were being created by Sir Harold Quianas--,”

“Quianas..The fourth stepcousin to Queen Victoria’s line  ?,” I frown.

She nods

I'd studied the Wingate royal tree as part of my training. The royal throne of Caelus  was once ruled by descendants of Queen Victoria but when a sudden plague wiped the front of the line out, the succession landed on a bastard daughter born of a misdeed with servant.

The bastard daughter became a beloved Queen, freeing the enslaved and indentured  then marrying  a commoner to give the throne a new line. Sir Harold Quainas was a footnote in the history books because if the bastard servant hadn’t been known, Quainas would have inherited the throne.

But this was more than 200 years ago.

“But Harold Quianas...he would be dead now, wouldn't he  ?,”

“One would think,” she says. “An apprentice followed some sort of trail and found him  in the woods practicing some sort of dark alchemy that kept him essentially alive in a rather...unagreeable form.  He  wanted to take down the throne and restore it to his line so he created the beasts to kill the royal family. The experiment got away from him. It was all quite mad. He’s quite mad.  In fact he still thought it was a day from 99 years ago. They’ve detained him and  destroyed his lab…since then there hasn’t been a beast in months. It’s all over…it seems.”

I’d never experienced true happiness before and it coursed through me. The people of the Metropolis were safe again. There would never again  be the fear and destruction that had taken out my family.

“That is great news. What tasks will we be assigned to now ?,” I ask.

“There it is,” she says softly, eyes wandering to  her cup. “The Greatest Minds say you are not suited for a regular duty in the Citadel.  They say…they think that you are just a weapon made for a threat we no long have.”

“That is correct. We Sentinels are weapons created for the beasts.”

“No,” she says sharply. “Not the other Sentinels. They were volunteers, they have all been given pensions for their sacrifices. It’s just you they are worried about. To them you are an experiment.  A boy raised—brainwashed really—from youth to be a weapon to kill monsters.

“They are afraid of what they’ve made in you.The Greatest Minds said you should be  destroyed. Mother and Father agree…Do you understand what I mean when I say this ?”

“I do,” I say.

It meant death.

I was not ready for death but I was trained to submit to my sovereign .

While I do not know what my purpose could be without the beasts to fight I am sure I could have found a position among the Royal Legion. During special ceremonies I was allowed to join the Legion processionals to protect the royal family of any sudden beast attacks.

“I do not choose death but if it’s what the Queen wants I will go peacefully,” I tell Xael.

“Mother is so easily swayed by The Greatest Minds,” Xael says dismissevly. “Father never shuts up about Oscar—who by the way,  I’m sure he had something to do with this. Finneas, I didn't ask them to create you. I wish they hadn't. But I know there  is more in you than a weapon made to kill. I’ve seen it in small moments that others don’t see...So, I have devised a plan to let you escape.”

“Escape the Citadel ?,” I ask. “And go where ?,”

The Metropolis and all of it’s townships were under the Queen’s rule. If I were to escape I wouldn’t have very far to go before I was found.

“Off planet” she clarifies. “My brother-in-law’s sister is terra forming a new farm outpost on Sinopa. I’ll send you  to her with a message and she’ll let you hide out there. You can help with the terraforming. No one will think to look for you there and we will figure out what to do from there.”

“Princess--,”

“Please be familiar, Mr. Bramley.” she sighs.

“Xael, that is madness. I cannot disobey the Queen’s wishes,” I remind her. “If she wishes me terminated I must obey-,”

“What about my wishes ?,” she asks. “I only want to buy us some time. If in a year or so  mother  still wants you destroyed we will do it but let’s give you a fighting chance.”

“I...I do not think I can survive,” I tell her in a moment of weakness.  “This room and this purpose is all I’ve known,”

“You are the best man I  know,” she tells me. “The world is bigger than me, then us. You could be of use in it.”

------

A/N

Have I mentioned I see this story as a little Victorian steampunk-y ? I decided to make it a little Victorian last year and that kind of helped me develop the characters...by which I mean they all got real names.