Lord of the Wind
The land was darken by large shadows and the silence was shattered by the humming of the engines of the Airships known as "Valkyries". The Griffin Empire Gryfia has entered the air space of the land of Zebara.
The Zebras was unprepared to what came next. With the thunderous blasts from the Valkyries' cannons the Zebaran cities fell one by one. The many Zebras fought valiantly to protect their land but with no avail as the griffin's technology was far more advance than they can handle. Though one Zebra commander named Zaan Verdediger refuses to give up and used well thought out tactics against their foe and with great sacrifice he and his army won the Zebras their first victory.
Even though Zaan Verdediger was slain in the same battle, His bravery has inspired the Zebras to once again rise up against their feathered invaders and planned one last desperate attempt to free them from the iron claws of the griffins.
Several years have passed.
A lone Valkyrie moves through the sky. at it's hull a symbol of a silhouette of a griffin with a shield decorated by six four sided stars forming a hexagon and a single large one in the middle of it. This was no ordinary Valkyrie, it was the ship owned by the Zephyr the ruling family of Gryfia. At it's command was a blue feathered griffin, he wore a silver chest plate with his family emblem on it. He was none other than the griffin prince himself Azure Zephyr.
"Commander report!!" the prince ordered as he enter the ship's bridge facing a griffin with an officer attire. with everyone stood in attention one stepped forward "Sir, We've tracked the Zebra Rebels near the area. what will be our action?" the griffin officer replied and asked.
"Ready the landing force, I will lead the attack myself" He commanded as he headed out to the launch pad.
A few moments later the Valkyrie flew lower and dropped several tank-like vehicles into the fields below after which it opened it's forward launch platform launching several armored Griffins in the sky. "Azure Zephyr, Heading out!!" Azure shouted as he was catapulted out. As the launch was completed the Valkyrie return to it's normal altitude.
The Zebra Rebels revealed themselves and started to fire a barrage of arrows and large rocks against the advancing griffins. "In coming!!" a griffin soldier yelled before being hit by an arrow and crashed straight to the ground. the rocks hits some of the Griffin Tanks and got crushed or immobilized in the impact.
"Their getting more aggressive each time" the Prince thought. "Captain send a signal to the Mobile Nests to get out of range of those stones. we can't risk anymore of them!!" He shouted and with salute the Griffin captain fire a flare signalling the tanks to get to a safe distance from the onslaught of the heavy rocks.
"The rest of you follow me!!" with his lance in claw the prince dash down followed by his aerial escorts. He flew through the rain of arrows dodging every single one. His first objective was to destroy their catapults, with a swift motion of his lance, He slashed the Zebras in his way causing them to be thrown back and then proceed in tearing a part the first wooden catapult.
In the distance a lone hooded zebra mare stood watching "So you're the famous Lord of the Wind" she said "My friends your sacrifices won't be in vain. I'll make sure to succeed in my mission" with tears in her eyes, She ran and disappears from sight.
The battle was fierce but ended in the Griffin's favor. "Glad that was over......Captain casualties?" the young prince asked. "Sir, we have eleven slain, twenty wounded, four of the Mobile Nests are destroyed and two damaged" he replied before he stood silent and asked.
"Sir, if you don't mind me asking? Why bring the Mobile Nests when you barely even used them earlier? not to mention we could have easily bombed them from the sky?" he cautiously asked "To answer your first question, I thought I could scare them to surrender from the start with the mere presents the Mobile Nests but I was wrong. As for the second, I will not use a Valkyrie for such a dishonorable act." Azure stated.
After a short pause "Captain, tend to the prisoner's wounded" The blue griffin ordered "But......Sir they're..." the captain tried to reason. "No Buts, They're already down and no longer any threat to us. Now get on it." Azure commanded. "Yes sir.........you heard him check the prisoners for any severe injuries and escort them to the medical tent!!" the captain called out as flew away.
After a few hours the Zebra prisoners were transported to the prison hold of the Zephyr Valkyrie "My Lord........My Lord!!" yelled an armored yellow griffin who was flying erratically towards the young prince. "What is it........What's wrong?!" Azure asked worrying. The yellow griffin took his time to catch his breath before handing over a piece of paper to him. The Zephyr prince took it from the tired griffin's claw and read it's contents "No.....It can be......." he whispered as a tear flowed down his face.
"My Father.........has passed away."
Zigus, The first zebra city that fell under the control of the Gryfia Empire now serves as a forward base for the invasion. The entire city is now surrounded by several Valkyries patrolling the sky and Mobile Nests guarding the city walls.
Azure's ship descended and docked to the city's airfield. As he departed to head to see his father, A white and brown female griffin flew towards him "Lord Azure it's been a long time." she said. He turned to her and gave a smile "Lady Gilda Griffinstone." he greeted.
Gilda Griffinstone is the heiress of the noble family of Griffinstone. She governs a griffin city near the Equestrian border. She's also Azure's childhood friend.
"I take it you heard the news?" she asked with a frown. "Yes, I quickly returned here for that reason only" Azure replied trying to keep a smiling face. Gilda can sense that he was doing his best to be strong as she knows how much he loved his father.
In the funeral, Griffins of all kinds attended. Azure walked over to his father's coffin and placed a claw on it "Father..........I guess this is goodbye" he whispered as a tear flowed down his face. The prince lets go of the coffin turned away and give a nod signalling the two griffins hovering above to fly down and carry the coffin to the tomb constructed for their ruler and sealed it.
In the crowd of Griffins attending, one in particular watched with envious eyes before smiling menacingly "Don't fret young prince you'll be reunited with your father soon." he whispered
At the city's citadel the head of the six of the seven noble families of Gryfia have gathered to discuss an important matter.
The Seven Noble Families are the most powerful clans within Gryfia's territories, They were was represented in the Zephyr's Emblem as the seven stars. They are Tailwind, Hailfeather, Talonclaw, Cyclonebeak, Griffinstone, Galestorm, and Zephyr itself.
"So it is clear as the only heir of Lord Zephyr, Azure must take his place as the new emperor." A grey griffin wearing a gem-like armor stated. "True...But is the young prince ready for this responsibility Lord Hailfeather?" a green female griffin in rose colored gown asked. "I for one believe so Lady Tailwind. He has proved himself as a capable leader with his battle record." a third griffin spoke up.
"I will not deny his skills in the battlefield but he is still too young and inexperience." a large black full armored griffin said "Perhaps someone with more capability should take over." he added
"Lord Galestorm, That maybe a fact but all of us here know that as long as Zephyr has a heir none of us has the right to claim the throne." Gilda defended.
"Yes, Forgive me it might have slipped my mind" the black feathered griffin said. Gilda noticed a small grin in his face but she quickly disregarded it as her imagination.
"Then it's settled. We shall conduct Azure's coronation tonight." Lord Hailfeather proclaimed. As everyone prepared for the event, Lord Galestorm sneaked out of the room undetected.
In the corridor outside he is met with a group of griffins wearing cloaks and masks "Do you all know what to do?" he asked. The masked griffins gave a nod of confirmation and flew into the shadows of the hall.
As preparation went underway, Azure headed back to his room to get himself ready for the night of his coronation. He opened the door and to his surprise a Zebra mare with chains in her hooves was laying on his bed seductively.
With a blush he asked "Who in the name of Gryfia are you?!". The zebra slowly sat up "I'm a present for you from your soldiers. They thought you had a rough day." she replied with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"They did what!!!" the prince shouted. The zebra mare was startled a bit from the sudden outburst. "This is unacceptable.....hold on let me get those chains off you" he said as he walked closer.
When he got near he noticed that the chains were never lock on her "What in blazes....You're..." Azure said before the zebra mare pounced on him and both of them fell to the floor "You're not a slave, are you?" the prince commented as he struggled against her.
The mare pull a knife and pointed it on Azure's neck "Come quietly and you wont get hurt." she demanded. Azure merely laughed as he suddenly turn the tables on her. He pushed her to the side and quickly pinned her down "Sorry you were saying?" He said smiling.
The doors of Azure's room suddenly burst open and several cloaked griffins entered the room. The zebra mare was stunned as she is now outnumbered "Good timing. Can you escort this Zebra to......" Before Azure finished one of the cloaked figures attacked him.
Quickly, he grabbed and carried zebra mare in his claws and dodge the in coming attack. "I don't think you're here to assist me, are you?" he asked with a serious expression. Without delay the others started to surround them. "Put me down. I don't intend to get captured so I might as well fight with you for now." The zebra mare demanded. Azure nodded and lets go.
"Ok, I'll take the ones on the left and you take ones on the right." Azure said readying his battle stance. "Whatever you say." the mare replied as she picked up her knife on the floor. Azure smiled as he pulled out his sword from it's sheath.
The cloaked intruders with swords in claw lunged forward to start their attack. Azure was quick on his feet and effortlessly blocked or dodged the incoming griffins and in blink of an eye he slashed his sword killing the first wave attackers that were near to him. The zebra mare was also doing well in her side. She nimbly jump on one griffin to other stabbing them with precise accuracy.
"This mare it's half bad." Azure thought before cutting down another attacker.
After an intense battle, The remaining intruders escaped as they felt they were outmatched by the two. "Hey get back here you traitors!!" Azure shouted as he was about to pursue them he felt something hit his side "A.....dart?" he said as he turned around to see the zebra was holding a blowgun before he slowly lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
"Sorry...but I have a mission to do." the zebra said
