Prologue: The Matron
~Matron Naranna Kitan’s Point of View. Aboard her Endorian Stealth Cruiser, The Valor~
As I heard the sounds of chains rattling, I knew the prisoner was waking. With light groans, she peaked up from the floor and got a glance of me. I stood, quietly, against the back wall of the cell, hiding my features underneath a black cape and cowl.
“Wh-who are you?” she spoke in confusion.
“Oh child, the most important question is...who are you?” I asked back curiously in riddle.
“I’m a dangerous someone, who doesn’t like to be held against her will,” she replied threateningly.
I chuckled in response, irritating her some more. I couldn’t help myself though, the child’s threats seemed so feeble. “Oh yes, you’re the ‘Elemental Assassin,’” I spoke in fake enthusiasm.
“You’re damn right!” she returned furiously. Ki’ara waved her shackled hands toward a nearby puddle of water that she spotted was leaking from ceiling pipes onto the floor. A thin tentacle formed from the water, the tip freezing into a sharp ice spike.
She quickly motioned her hands toward me, causing the water tentacle to lash out in my direction. As it honed in on me, I swiftly raised my hand in front of it and the tip of the tentacle stopped right before my palm.
Ki’ara gasped in utter shock, never seeing someone halt or even counter any of her elemental attacks before. “How?” she questioned in surprise.
This caused me to laugh again. “My dear, I learned what you have...and much, much, more,” I boasted. With the twist of my wrist, tentacle thawed and unformed, splashing, back to the ground.
I started to slowly approach Ki’ara, bringing my hands up to my hood. As I stood before her, I slid it down and she stared with startled eyes. I could tell she immediately noticed my pointed ears sticking through my silver braided locks. “You’re...“she started.
“Yes, I’m Endorian,” I finished with a giggle, smiling down on her. “My name is Matron Naranna...and I’ve been watching you, Ki’ara, for quite some time.”
“You have?” she inquired.
“Well it’s not often that one hears about an, exceptionally gifted, Endorian becoming a top mercenary.”
“’Exceptionally gifted?’” She repeated. “Didn’t all Endorians have power over the elements?”
“No, not all,” I answered. “A little less than half of the population were born with the gift, but none could do what we do...and you squander your powers, dishonoring the Justiciar lineage with how you’ve used them.”
“I may not understand what you mean by ‘Justiciar lineage’, but I do know I brought dishonor to no one. Some of the biggest targets I’ve taken out, were linked to the War of Worlds and the destruction of Endora...I got revenge for our people.”
“Yes, ‘you’ did,” I chuckled with emphasis. “Revenge is a corruptive force Ki’ara. It’s selfish and only privileges oneself. Justice is the only righteous path, we Justiciar take...it pays tribute to the victims, including the ones we create.”
“You keep saying ‘Justiciar’ as if it has meaning to me.”
I sighed, “Centuries before its demise, Endora lived divided. There were two tribes, those with...and those without the gift. After many years, the two tribes finally were able to set aside their differences and merge into one.
On that day, the gifted tribe vowed to use their power for higher means...to protect those who couldnt protect themselves. We became the Justiciar, administers of justice...and for a moment, I was their leader.”
“Their leader?” She repeated.
“Yes,” I answered. “The gifted tribe had a legend they lived by, since the dawn of Endora. Once a generation, a child, gifted with all elements, was born as inherited leader of the Justiciar. This child was given the title of Matron.”
“Wait, wait, wait...I can control all the elements.”
“Can you?” I chuckled rhetorically. I raised my right hand, pointing my pointer and middle finger together toward the ceiling. I tucked the other fingers into my palm.
As I concentrated, I began drawing forth and harnessing internal energy. I focused the energy into my two finger tips, causing violet static to appear right above them.
The static grew into sparks of electricity, shooting toward the ceiling. “Yes, you are the next Matron,” I confessed, ceasing the electricity and assuming a normal stance. “But, you are far from the Justiciar path.
I take some responsibility for that, believing I should have revealed myself sooner. I know you felt lost, unguided.
Allow me to be your connection to the past. Let me guide you and teach you the ways of our Matron ancestors.”
“Will I be able to shoot lightning from my fingers?”
I sighed with a chuckle, “Yes child, that and more.”
She took a brief moment to think. “I accept your offer, Matron Naranna,” she spoke respectfully with a bowed head, which took me by surprise.
“Well then,” I smiled, stepping closer into a little bit of light coming in from the hallway. “Let’s remove those chains, shall we? And maybe a story after, one of how our world came to end.”
“Your eyes,“she uttered shocked, able to see my features more clearly.
“Blinded, during the Fall of Endora...” I revealed as I reached for the shackle keys hanging on my waistline.
