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Date: 10th of Seliel, Year 698
Goldcoast Docks
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The sea was calm on the cold Odeshian night. One of Goldcoast's town guard stood watch as the shipping yard lay silent, from his post he could not see far out into the waters, a thick fog stopping him from seeing all the way out to the horizon. The night was like any other, except for a special guest to the coastal city. Eden Whiteshorn, the princess of Odesh, had arrived the day before to pick up paperwork for her sister, she had begged to be able to go and look at the ships in the docks, her intentions unknown to the Queen. She sat quietly in the guestroom of one of the lords houses, sat snuggly by the docking stations. She was writing her usual fantastical notes.

The fog glistened off the water as the guard stood watched. Unknown to him and the rest of the town, a fleet was stationed off the coast deep within the fog. If you had looked closely, then you would see small flames dancing in the water. The fog covered everything, and the flames were made to be extremely tiny in the night. If anyone had seen them, they would have known that these were not Odeshian ships, for most of the fishing and merchant ships were docked for the night. Very few fisherman braved the cold night for an extra catch.

The Guardsman lazily rested his crossbow against the wall, the small stool he sat on uncomfortable beneath him as he struggled to stay awake. His eye's squinted to attempt to see further out into the fog, but with no avail. 

One thing caught the eye of the Guardsmen. It was a bright light emerging from the fog. It was small at first, but it grew larger and larger. He did not know what to make of it, for at first he thought he was hallucinating or the light was a rock from heaven hitting the water. Yet the light kept getting larger. The guardsmen's curiosity turned to alarm as the ball of light started coming down towards the town. He heard a flaming sizzle, and a whistling sound, and the ball of light landed in a warehouse near his post. The sound was an immense bang, which cleared the fog for the guard to see. He turned towards the warehouse and saw that the ball of light was a flaming boulder, and it had torn a fiery hole in the warehouse roof, destroying much of the building. Shouts were heard, but not enough to startle the entire town. The guard turned around to sound his alarm for a fire brigade, and he stopped dead. He dropped his crossbow, as hundreds of other flaming boulders shot out of the fog.

Eden jumped as she heard the large fiery explosions close to the small house she was resting in, she quickly moved to the wardrobe and began to change, quickly slipping out of her nightwear and into some pants and shirt. Her short black hair and simple clothes made her look like a boy, a commoner boy at that. She quickly scooped up her satchel of trinkets and stuffed her papers inside, hearing more explosions nearby as she glanced out of her window to the fiery death that rained upon the town. She was smiling. This was so exciting!

The catapults reigned fire on Goldcoast as the fog began to thin. Once it began to thin, the attackers were revealed. Over 200 warships, tiremes and galleys combined, were laying costal siege to the town of Goldcoast. The town militia was hastily called from the sleepy citizens as death and fire destroyed the town. They had no idea about the intentions of the attackers, whether they were invaders, or destroyers. They never had an attack like this before.

Eden was soon out onto the street, watching the chaos unfold as she began to jot down anything that could be of use, the reactions of the people panicking, the speed of the reload time on the catapults. Estimated number of ships. Sadly her enjoyment was cut short when two royal guards quickly grabbed her and began to rush her to the stables. Both had their swords unsheathed and ready to defend the princess. 

The raiders soon decided the time for catapults was over. Rowboats were being deployed by the hundreds, and soon warriors landed on the shore, and rushed into town. The raiders were under orders to search all the homes, take as much supplies as possible, and to take as many captives from the people, including men, women, and children. The raiders began to rip the town apart looking for anything that could be used for repairs, weapons, and new ships.

As the guardsman rushed to the stables, they turned the corner to find the roof had caved in, the horses either dyeing in the fire or running for their lives. "Crap" One of the royal guardsman exclaimed as he quickly racked his brain for an alternative. Soon the roars of the attackers could be heard, they had begun the human assault. 

The men turned as a group of the attackers began to run towards the princess. The guardsman stood their ground "Run princess!" One of them yelled as they began to cross swords. The Royal Guard clearly outnumbered. Eden didn't hesitate and was soon running quickly away from the attackers. 

"Neska garrantzitsua da, lortu bere!" shouted the attackers. The guards stood their ground against the attackers, swords in hand. The attackers were not fond of swords, and used axes and maces instead. One guard was immediately struck down by a mace blow directly to the nose and the head. The other guard managed to slice a nice gash into a raider's neck before getting scalped by another axe.

Eden was soon hurtling herself down an alleyway, only for her momentary freedom to be cut short. A group of men soon appeared at the end of the alley, as she turned to retreat, she noticed the group that had chased her before where on the other side. She had nowhere to run, and so. She had to fight. Quickly ,and without hesitation, Eden scooped a ceramic ball from her bag and lit the small fuse. She quickly rolled the contraption towards the group in front of her as she lit and flung another behind her. The grenades soon exploded as the powder ignited inside them, a bellowing white smoke engulfed the groups of men, obscuring their vision. She pulled back her sleeve and revealed the small contraption within, a crossbow like machine, lined with bolts all the way up her arm. She haphazardly aimed the contraption and fired at the group in front of her. A flurry of small metallic darts shot threw the air and peppered the soldiers in front of her as she began to run straight for them. The men where confused and in disarray, never before fighting such an oddly equipped opponent. The Princess rolled up her other sleeve to reveal the same contraption as before and unleashed another 50 or so metallic darts directly at the men in front. She ran and pushed off of the wall to her side, leaping over the men that where now covering their scarred faces and crouching to dry heave from the toxic chemicals they had inhaled.

Unfortunately, Eden had put on the wrong shoes for this maneuverer, and instead of landing behind the Enemy soldiers. She landed on top of them, where she proceeded to tumble and fall behind them. Knocking herself out on a large piece of broken brick.

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When she awoke, Eden was on a boat, along with some men whom she assumed to be the attackers. She was lying on the deck of the boat as the men around her were doing jobs that would befit a crew of a ship, yet they seemed different. She has never seen these men before, not in the markets, nor around the region. She tried to get up, but she found out that her legs and feet were in chains. She looked around and saw men and women she recognized from the night before in chains as well. "Ah, it seems our sleeping beauty has awoken from her slumber." Eden turned around and saw an older man, with grey hair, and a grey beard at the helm. She immediately assumed it was the captain. 

"Who are you, what is the meaning of this, and why are these people and myself in chains?" replied the scarred girl.

"It seems your people do not know about Taurician might." replied the man, stroking his grey beard.

"Taurician? What is a Taurician?!?" replied Eden in an angrily tone. She had heard legends about these warriors, but dismissed them as fantasy. 

The old man simply gave a laugh. "You are on board one of their ships right now! This is the "Kraken", my ship, one of hundreds of ships in the Taurician Horde. I am commander Hzell Karacid, and I lead these fine lads. I serve the Warchief Temir Karacid, my nephew, and we have instructions to sail north."

"North? What happened to GoldCoast? Why are you attacking Odesh? What is the meaning of this kidnapping?!" Eden was slowly growing more and more confused by the second.

"To fight a common enemy. Odesh was just a simple distraction," replied Hzell, "and it seems you will be accompanying us for the real prize." 

"You are very mistaken, Odesh is not a distraction. Do you know what you have just done! Odesh has been neutral in all wars since before my father was born! and now you will have encompassed the wrath of Odesh, a land with the greatest war machines and one of the largest armies to ever be mobilised." Eden spat at the captains feet "Soon you will know what power this 'distraction' holds." 

"Well as long as we have you, princess, your High Lord wont be doing a dam thing against us."

"Sir, we have searched through the captives' belongings. There are notes here that you may want to read." yelled a soldier across the ship. 

"Very well, bring them to me in my quarters." replied Hzell. "Set sail men! We ride the waves to the Isles of Young Men!"

"You underestimate how expendable I am" The princess responded, looking away as the ship continued its journey. Cursing to herself that they had found her valuable notes.

(A collab by myself and naxhi)