The outdoor temperatures were a relatively warm -22c when Princess Fortuna woke up, stretching her arms and legs from the perch she slept on at night. The sun shone bright on the fluffy clouds that made up the home of the Riaaki high on the mountaintops, creating a near-blinding scene outside the castle walls.
Fortuna spent some time pruning her feathers, and once she was satisfied with their condition, she slipped on her softest dress and made her way to the castle’s cafeteria. She wasn’t quite hungry yet, but she was excited to see everyone this morning.
Who was everyone? Well, that would be her parents and older brother. The royal family was generally regarded pretty lovingly in the public’s eye, so much better than the human kingdoms on the surface.
Fortuna gasped when her eyes rested on the scene below in the cafeteria. Her heart seemed to beat erratically, and she instinctively ran as fast as she could out of the room.
Daily life in the kingdom of Sylar was fairly simple. The civilians were well guarded by the best of the best knights, all classed in 4 separate tiers.
Your typical nonmagic Templar Knights were the typical heroes who bore no magic ability. This force was the largest forces of the kingdom, but as the king himself put it, the most expendable.
The next level was the second largest force, the Magia Knights. They tended to stick to a singular class or element of magic, as their magic wasn’t necessarily the strongest. However, when all you really need to do is heal people or create large walls of fire, a Magia knight already commanded respect beyond that of a Templar Knight.
The next step up were the Aural knights, with magic capabilities beyond that of the Magia Knights, capable of even manipulating the emotions of people around them, the strongest of the Aural Knights were even capable of calming entire crowds of rioting people with a simple movement of their hand. This category was mostly dominated by elves, by which their graceful hand the kingdom is entrusted to.
The last category was thought to be mythical, only achieved by the most legendary figures. They were thought to be so powerful and proficient in magic that they were capable of changing the fabric of reality itself. History tells of certain individuals capable of this very thing being hunted down and killed because they were far too dangerous. Some of the greatest pieces of art depict these warriors being burned at a stake while the kingdom feasts around the fire.
They are known today as the Spectral Warriors.
Until today, there hadn’t been someone legally classified as such ever.
What made Ryesli even more spectacular was the fact that she was a Riaaki. Born in the clouds, Ryesli’s parents were unable to contain their child’s propensity for magic, so she was sent to Sylar to study magic. That night, the kingdom had been raided by dark beings, darker than the deepest fears of humanity. Ryesli should have died that night, but lived because of the Aural Knight that swooped in and saved her life.
That was how she fought to be enlisted.
The graduation halls were quiet when the head captain recalibrated their latent magic stick and announced with a shaky voice, “Spectral Warrior.”
While she was very terrified of what would happen next, a piece of herself felt proud of her accomplishment. Here she was, one of the strongest knights in all history, now enlisted to protect the kingdom.
“Do you swear, Ryesli of Riaaki Landing, to protect the entirety of Aur Spectra and her lands to the best of your ability?”
“I do!”