Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

"Wake up, young king." A gentle voice said to Inian. A massive white buck looked down at Inian as a baby, and both Inian's and the monster's c.h.e.s.t were stained red.

"You may not understand me now young one, but you are born for greatness. Everything the beasts of the land have is yours, and every being that is in or under the sky will serve you." The white buck tilted his head. "All you have to do is accept it."

Inian's eyes shot open, and he sat up quickly. He banged his head against Janae's who was sitting over him. "Ow!" She mumbled, rubbing her forehead.

After her annoyance stopped, she looked over at Inian, "how are you doing?"

Inian wasn't sure how to respond or what to do. He had lost his family, and his home city destroyed. It was under the control of the Empire now, and rebuilding would take ages.

"I don't know how I am Janae..." Inian mumbled. Janae went outside and brought back a couple of bowls of soup. "The villagers won't let us just take their rations, but for a couple of silver coins, I could get some soup bowls."

Inian thanked her and grabbed the bowl. He stared at the sloshing broth, feeling empty inside. Janae began eating with haste but stopped when she saw that Inian wasn't eating.

She thought for a moment and put her soup bowl down, "I won't eat if you aren't going to eat." She said promptly.

Inian looked shocked, "No! Please eat, I was lost in thought for a moment. I don't know what to do with my life anymore."

Janae gave Inian a look that said 'you better eat' and she picked up her soup bowl. Between bites, she said, "well...you could come back with me to the Trostan Kingdom. I still need to warn my comrades about the impending threat and exactly how much danger the Empire poses. You seem like quite the resourceful type. So maybe you'd like to join me in defending my nation?"

Inian had taken a few sips of his soup but paused when he heard that. 'Why wouldn't I join?' He thought to himself, 'I have nothing here to lose. Plus, this lets me fight against the Empire.'

"Sure," he responded, "let's do it."

Janae smiled, "great! We need to figure out a way to get there quickly. Our mecha is out of power at the base of the mountain, so that will be of no help to us."

Inian thought for a moment, "if we have no power for the machines...why not ride the monsters?"

Janae paled at that, "No way Inian! There's a reason that riding monsters has become less and less popular. Besides, there are almost no people who capture and train monsters for transportation anymore with the growth of technology."

Inian smiled, "there's one that lived in this city, he trained large birds for flying transportation. It'd be quite lucky if he had any birds left though, seeing how the Empire probably killed all monsters for their cores. But, there's no harm in checking though."

Janae shook her head. She had despised anything to do with monsters, especially riding them. It absolutely terrified her.

Inian and Janae finished their soup and walked to the broken city center. Janae followed Inian as they walked towards a corner of the city with a single landing platform. Next to it was a little shack, and next to that was a large animal shelter.

Inian walked up to the door and knocked a few times. "Hey, Pete!" He yelled, "are you there?" He kept knocking until an angry face appeared at the door. "Quit knocking! You'll wake the birds up!" Pete yelled. He looked at the pair that showed up, and his face softened seeing Inian. "Oh, Inian... I'm glad you are okay. I'm sorry about your family there; they were nice folks." Inian nodded his appreciation and said, "Thank you, Pete. We came here to see if you have any birds left to fly? We need to get to the Trostan Kingdom to warn them about the Empire's rapid expansion."

Pete shook his head, "I've only got one good bird left, and I'm keeping it for myself in case of an emergency. The other bird is far too rowdy and aggressive for any inexperienced flyers to ride."

Inian begged him, "can we at least try?"

Pete sighed, "fine, but whatever happens, is on you! Don't say I didn't warn you." He went back inside and grabbed his keys for the animal shelter. Inian and Janae followed quietly, hoping that their luck so far would hold up. Pete opened the door, and inside were two majestic creatures. They were jet black and covered in long feathers. They had horns jutting out the sides of their head. A long thin tail with a massive fan of feathers to help control their flight stuck out behind them.

One bird looked up at them calmly went they entered, but the other bird saw Pete open the door and started banging around in the cage. Inian felt his heart racing because they needed this to work. He stepped forward towards the bird banging around the cage. The bird continued banging around until it saw Inian. It paused, looking at him, seemingly observing his characteristics.

It then did an unbelievable thing, it calmed down, slowly bowing its head.

Pete's mouth dropped open, "I can't believe it...I have been trying to tame this one bird for ages, and never before had it done something like this. I guess it was meant to be, eh?"

Inian looked at the bird prostrating itself, "yeah...I guess." He replied, all while being confused by the bird's sudden change in actions.

Janae's eyebrows raised as high as they could go, and her body was shaking uncontrollably. Pete began saddling the bird and prepping it for travel. Inian went up to him and tried to hand him a bag of gold coins, but Pete refused. "Naw, I can't accept those. I've never been able to use this bird anyway except for you two. So keep it, and send my regards to the Empire, would ya?"

Inian thanked him and went outside to where Pete has taken the bird. Janae hadn't moved yet, however, and wouldn't budge.

Inian went up to her and took her hand, shaking her out of her fear. "It'll be okay," he said and led her to the bird. The bird remained calm and lowered itself for Inian and Janae to hop on. Pete gave some instructions, "now you can fly this bird for 40 hours straight, but then you need to give it 8 hours rest. Food is in the pack on the side. Good luck to both of you."

Inian nodded and pulled at the reigns on the bird; it flapped its wings and launched into the air. The wind whipped past their ears, but the ride felt gentle as well. The bird was making sure it would be a smooth flight.

Janae was clutching Inian's shirt as tightly as she could. Inian looked back and smiled to let her know everything would be okay. 'I'm coming to fight you...Kotus Empire!'