Author’s Notes

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Nope, don’t own Sailor Moon. You got me.

First off, this fic will be complete Alternate Universe. For those of you new to the fanfic genre, that means the story and plot will have little to nothing to do with the original canon storyline. Only character names and, for the most part, personality quirks remain the same.

Second, this fic is rated M for a reason. As with most of my stories, strong language, violence and sexual situations are fairly likely. However, this fic is also going to be rather dark, especially at the beginning. Dealing with death, torture, slavery and rape. If those topics turn your stomach/don’t interest you, then don’t read this story. Don’t review three chapters down the road complaining about how my characters are acting to said situations either. It’s my story, I make the rules. Any portion of this fic that exceeds the M rating will be removed from the content of what’s posted here, though I’ll leave a note warning the reader that something has been changed. If you are of age and interested in reading the unedited portions, email me at lynnwood84(at)gmail(dot)com to receive it.

The series will eventually showcase all of the couples – Serenity and Endymion, Mina and Malachite, Raye and Jadeite, Lita and Nephrite and Ami and Zoisite. This fic will, however, star with Diana and an original character, Jorowyn. I know he’s gotten a small fan base from my other fic, Silver Alliance. Hopefully he and Diana will peak your interest enough to give them a read, even though they aren’t usually main characters.

The characters of Jorowyn/Jordan Mallone, Lydia, Coeus and the ‘Aerians’ (also known as Phaetonians) belong to Ginsan, found here at ff(dot)net. All are used with his express permission (and consequent glee).

Prologue

The Forests Burn

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Midsummer, Year 1259

Jorowyn awoke that morning to the sounds of terrified screams, and the smell of acrid smoke on the air. The Prince of the Aerie fell from his bed and stumbled out onto the wide wooden terrace that surrounded his bedroom. There his wide eyes were met with a horrific sight.

The forest was burning.

His people, the Aerians, had lived in the ancient, gigantic forests of Nostia for as long as anyone’s memory could fathom. At one with their surroundings, the bird-like people had built their homes in the treetops; a veritable city of ropes, bridges and flats, melding so perfectly with the ecosystem that at times it was hard to discern where nature ended and man-made construction began.

They had a fairly peaceful existence, content to ignore and be ignored by the two largest kingdoms in the land as the two constantly warred with one another. They themselves had their own natural enemies to contend with; the Mauians. Cat changelings, the Mau kingdom had been at odds with the Aerians probably since the two races came into being. The feud had been going on for so long that it was now quite impossible to tell who might have actually been the cause of it—though either side would be quick to denounce the other as the true villains, of course. Both sides fought against the other year after year, neither side ever really gaining dominion over the other, fairly equals. For several years now however, Jorowyn’s father had led a series of highly successful campaigns against the cats, and with stunning results.

And now, because of this, it looked as though the Mauians had gone and broken their delicate balance.

Jorowyn’s superior eyesight could see them clearly, even though they were several miles away. A vast army setting torch to the massive, beautiful trees that made his home. They were not only Mauians, however, but outsiders. Intruders. They wore the ostentatious silvery white armor of the Lunaran Kingdom. One of the two larger kingdoms, extremely powerful magic wielders. And they were burning the forest.

Finally sense and reason managed to pierce the fog of shock and horror that held him stupefied. The twenty year old prince turned and grabbed his weapons—two long, thin swords of deadly accuracy and speed—leapt up onto the wooden railing around his terrace using a supernatural sense of balance, and then spread his huge, resplendent wings with a rustling flourish. Mostly a brilliant silvery white, the edges of his flight feathers were a deep, resplendent green. Scowling in growing rage and fury, Jorowyn launched himself from his terrace then and joined the rest of the first wave heading out to meet their attackers. His father was also among them, King Coeus, an equally tall and powerful male with white and gold-tipped wings.

“They have gone too far this time, Jory,” Coeus snarled as they tucked in their wings and began diving toward the enemy, deep voice trembling. “You will remember this day, remember that it was they who escalated this war. Show no mercy. No remorse. For they have shown us none in return.”

The first strike force of Aerian soldiers were forced to dive steeply or weave erratically out of the way to avoid the massive bursts of magical energies that came hurling their way. For a moment their lines were somewhat scattered, panicked. They were not used to fighting such power. Yet their will was strong, their anger great. In only moments they reformed their lines and continued the aerial charge. The formerly crisp, clear morning was split by the screech of metal on metal, the sounds of dying screams and the cloying smell of blood spilling the ground on both sides.

Jorowyn stayed near his father, both to protect him as well as draw comfort from being near the stronger warrior. Both fought in eerie tandem, having trained together for all of Jorowyn’s life. The Aerian Prince danced out of the way of several deadly ice shards that came hurtling past him. He spun around, then drew back and suddenly threw one of his swords. The movement was so quick and powerful that the wide-eyed magi warrior had little chance to do more than gape, wide-eyed, before the silvery-green blade embedded in his skull to the hilt. The force sent him hurling backward onto the ground in a heap.

Jorowyn barely paused, turning instead to his next foe. His lip curled in a furious snarl as he faced off with the large white, armored tiger. He blamed the Lunarans to a point, but in the Prince’s mind the Mauians were the real villains of this day. They were the ones who had broken the balance, after all. As his father had said; no mercy, no remorse.

The Prince lunged at the powerful cat with an angry roar. The winged male ignored the powerful claws that tore into the muscle of his thigh, shredding it to bloody ribbons. Instead he reared back, twisting impossibly to embed the tip of his sword through the weak spot in the Mau warrior’s armor, between the helm and breastplate. The great tiger froze, shuddered and then collapsed. Slowly shifting back into the form of a man with white and black striped hair, blood spurting from the wound that punctured straight through his throat.

The Aerians were making an accounting of themselves, to be sure, but their numbers were too few, against two seasoned armies combined. They were unsure how to effectively fight against warriors who could sling elemental spells as accurately as a sword or javelin. Yet the King might have led them onward even to their utter destruction, if not for what happened next.

Jorowyn jerked, whirling, as his father suddenly let out an inhuman scream. The Prince lifted his two bloody blades, ready to fend off the attackers, yet for the moment the King stood completely alone. Jorowyn blinked, confused, as his father’s face was ghost white, and tears were pooling in the man’s golden eyes, yet he had no great wounds to show for such a reaction.

“No,” he whispered brokenly, staring sightlessly at nothing. “Please. Not my Lydia.”

Jorowyn went ice cold, his own eyes widening. His father and mother were lifemates. A precious, honored bond between lovers of his people. As such they had a telepathic and empathic link with one another. One would instantly know if the other was in pain. Or dead. Jorowyn turned back toward the city at his father’s exclamation, and felt his stomach heave at the sight. It was completely engulfed in flames, of which were spreading with supernatural strength and swiftness. If the Queen had still been inside the palace, she was now most certainly gone. Nothing could survive that inferno.

“Route them!” they suddenly heard a booming voice over the din. “Every last one of them! Burn them out of the sky!”

Both Coeus and Jorowyn turned to the sound, their hawk-like eyes easily picking out the owner. The King of Lunara himself had turned out to see this battle, it seemed, and barked orders now from his mount some twenty leagues away. Arrogantly assured of his victory. Heartlessly cruel to the lives he was destroying in the process. Coeus trembled, tears still pooling out of his eyes. Very slowly he raised his broad sword, already soaked red with the day’s awful work.

Immediately Jorowyn sensed what he was about. The man in him understood the desperate fury of a widowed lifemate, but the boy in him was terrified to lose his father.

“Papa, no,” he choked out brokenly, but his plea fell on deaf ears.

With a shrill scream, the King of the Aerie launched himself into the air and then soared toward the Lunaran King. Jorowyn could only watch helplessly as his father’s body was pierced with countless arrows and javelins, his grand wings shredded and scorched from too many spells to track as the Lunarans desperately tried to protect their monarch. Yet Coeus’ crazed will was too great. Ignoring the fact that he should have fallen well before now, the Aerian King hurtled through the last line of defenses and then descended on the wide-eyed, startled Lunaran, sword raised.

One powerful swipe of the massive blade took the man’s head from his shoulders. Coeus fell from the air and into a heap directly afterward, and did not stir.

Near-by, a tall female Mauian with long black hair and piercing golden eyes suddenly appeared. Jorowyn didn’t register her faintly horrified, somewhat helpless expression. All he saw was the large medallion around her neck, proclaiming her to be the Queen of that hated race.

“Retreat!” Lady Luna suddenly demanded, tone authoritative. She turned to a still-shocked Lunaran warrior. “General, sound the retreat!” She hesitated, then, “we’ve done enough here, this day,” in a softer, regretful tone.

Jorowyn was heartless to it. He stared at the woman across the clearing, taking in her every feature. Vowing that he would not rest until he visited the same kind of pain and anguish to the feline bitch as what was churning in his own heart and mind right now. He remained motionless, watching as she shifted into a massively powerful ink-black panther before leading her people away. The Lunarans were quick to follow suit, now without any other leadership to guide them.

Jorowyn stared after the retreating armies for a moment longer before he finally forced himself to turn away. Now the ruler of his people through cruel and bloody fate, the young Aerian did what he could to coordinate a somewhat futile effort to try and save their home. The fire was too strong however, too wide-spread. In the end the Aerians rescued what few possessions they could from the blaze, only what they absolutely needed and what they could carry with them. There was no time to see to a proper burial for their dead either. The fires consumed everything, leaving nothing but ash and dust in its wake.

Hours later the remnants of his people huddled near a watering hole on the plains just outside of the still smoldering forest. Covered in blood, soot and dirt, their faces wreathed in shock and grief, they gave each other what small measure of comfort they could. Jorowyn stood slightly off to the side alone, his swords sheathed across his back and his gray-streaked face turned determinedly into the wind, eyes sharp. He had allowed one of the healers to bandage his leg and stop the blood flow, but spared no other comfort for himself.

“My Lord,” one of the braver of his people suddenly quavered as they neared him. “What . . . what will we do now?”

Jorowyn’s fierce expression didn’t waver. “We travel to the lands of Elysia,” he responded powerfully, confident, winning stunned looks from those close enough to hear him. “The Mauians have gained powerful allies, so we will do the same.” His eyes slowly narrowed into deadly slits. “In exchange for sanctuary and protection, we will pledge our swords and our fealty.”

“A blood-oath?” the same Aerian questioned, stunned.

Jorowyn slowly nodded, for a brief moment his expression mirroring all of the rage and the hatred that churned in his gut. “If the Lord King of Elysia can deliver to me the utter destruction of the Mauian race, then I will follow him unquestioningly. To whatever end.”