My heart was beating the inside of my chest like a drum. Twice I have sprinted around this castle and I was closely approaching my third time. My bare feet struck the stone on top of the castle wall’s walkways and I approached the one point in my morning run where I would need to use the Force. An open ledge pointing towards the inside of the castle that allowed griffins a clear path behind the castle walls. The ledge allowed griffins protecting the walls a supply line should they ever come under siege. It had no ladders, ropes, or elevators because there would be no point to have any of these things when a griffin could fly. For land-bound creatures like me, it was a straight descent to the ground from a five stories high fortification.

I leapt off the wall without a care in the world, and gathered the Force underneath me. I struck the ground and into a tiny little pit I made from my constant jumps throughout the week. My Force shield absorbed the kinetic energy from the drop and I continued my run, barely breaking stride. A griffin in my path was on his patrol and he stepped to the side to let me pass.

“Morning Bayar,” I said as I ran past him.

“Good morning my lord,” He replied.

Since I started my early morning runs, I had made it a routine to greet every patrol in my path. I remembered all their names, and it did nothing but boost my popularity points around the castle.

A beep from the comlink on my belt told me that my hour was up and I sprinted all the way to the castle entrance where Boreus and HK-55 were waiting for me. As soon as I reached them I took some time to catch my breath and wiped the sweat from my brow. Boreus came up to me with a goblet full of water and I thanked him for the precious liquid. I took a few gulps and poured the rest of it on me to allow it to cool off my head and bare chest. The only articles of clothing I had on were below my belt and they included the robe and armored leggings. I didn’t wear my boots, instead, I left them behind in my room so I could enjoy the foreign sensations of grass and dirt between my toes. My Dad would say that would be an excellent way to get parasites, but it didn’t matter to me when I could just burn away any bodily intruders with the Force.

I stood there for a couple minutes letting the morning breeze dry me off and I combed my hair with my fingers to get it back into its original state. I gave Boreus back the goblet and I motioned for us to go into the castle. We were walking down a carpet laden hallway with white glowing stones lighting our way, but I only knew they were white from my memory of them. A cloth blindfold was tied over my eyes and prevented me from seeing anything of the physical world. However, this did not deter me at all as I perceived everything around me clearly with the Force. My Force sight heightened all of my senses and everything in the physical world appeared as translucent objects. Organic beings like Boreus and Bayar emitted distinct auras that allowed me to identify them, while HK appeared as nothing but a moving translucent piece of machinery.

As we were walking down the hallway, Boreus brought me up to speed on what we needed to discuss with the royal treasurer this morning.

“Mr. Vax should be arriving just now and we’ll be able to speak to him before he gets too busy with today’s workload. Our budget for your stronghold needs to be increased in order to allow the library you requested. It shouldn’t be too much trouble, our king has been very generous with his bits so far.”

“I wish I didn’t have to request more money, but I really think a personal library will speed up my education of the world. It’ll certainly help Falca so she doesn’t have to order books from the city as she teaches me about your kingdom.”

The Warden’s Stronghold had no library due to its previous occupants never having a use for one. It was a place for the Wardens to train and rest, if they wanted to learn, they would just go to libraries found in the city’s college.

“Statement: I hope the library comes with primitive scribblings on the details of the wars and battles that have been fought on this world. It’ll help me conceive of new tactics and strategies for all the new meatbags.”

“Your golem has nothing to worry about. Your new library will be filled with strategies and all sorts of militant topics.”

“Resentment: I am not a golem! I am a highly sophisticated battle droid, designed to perfect the art of assassination.”

I could sense that Boreus was giving HK a weird look and he spoke to me in a hushed tone.

“It’s so strange that he can seem so…alive. If I didn’t see all the metal and machinery, I would swear that he was a living being with the way he talks.”

I shrugged my shoulders as I answered Boreus.

“They built him with the best parts imaginable. Everything is top quality, even his personality matrix.”

“Gratitude: Oh master, your words warm my servomotors.”

After a few minutes later we came across the royal treasurer’s office and Boreus told the assistant that we were to meet with Mr. Vax. A few seconds later, the assistant came back and told us that we could meet him. When we entered his office, I smelled the familiar sent of coffee, office paper, and…jasmine? I took off the blindfold so I could talk to Mr. Vax with respectful eye contact and I got a good look at the surprisingly young griffin. He was a tad shorter than Boreus and he had a black panther’s pelt to go with his raven features. Every physical feature of him was pitch black and it made his white pinstriped suit stand out. This was my first meeting with the griffin and he gave me a neutral look. Boreus walked up to his desk and introduced me.

“This is Lord Wrath, future Ward-…”

“I know who he is, what do you want? I’ve got a busy schedule ahead of me,” he rudely interrupted. Boreus composed himself before speaking and told him why we were here. As soon as he told him about the library, he stopped him with a raised talon.

“The budget cannot be modified. Now will you kindly leave, I have better things to do.”

Boreus’s eyes were aflame with anger and he puffed up his chest before speaking again.

“Do you not realize who this is for? This is for the savior of our beloved Princess Falca.”

“I realize that, but I will not strain the royal coffers any further. Now, I’ll say it again, will you kindly leave?”

Boreus stared at the other griffin with a raised eyebrow.

“Strain the coffers? I am Princess Falca’s personal butler, and I know for a fact that the royal coffers should have enough wealth saved up to create another Horaca. Surely a private library isn’t too much to ask for?”

“I take orders from the king, not the alien. If he is not satisfied with all the wealth he’s being gifted with, then he can go begging to the king, not the royal treasury. We have funded everything required to give him a comfortable home, and we will not provide more than what’s mandatory.”

I tried to see if I could persuade him myself.

“Mr. Vax, please try to see that the library will go far in helping-,”

“Enough! Do I have to spell it out for you? If you want the blasted library, go beg to the king for it. Not. To. Me. Now I will say this only one more time. Leave!”

“Statement: That haughty little meatbag could use a lesson in respect master.”

“On that we most certainly agree on. The nerve of that little twat,” Boreus said to HK.

We were walking to the main dining hall for breakfast, hoping that King Grinnail would be there to settle this library situation. I sensed the hate that Vax had for me, it wasn’t common, but there were a few griffins in the castle that hated me. Most griffins in the castle loved me for saving Falca, and they respected me for slaying the Aper Major. Nevertheless, there were some griffins that hated me for all the riches that were heading my way. There was the occasional court advisor that thought that King Grinnail was being too generous to a foreigner like me, and Vax seemed to be one of them. I don’t blame them really, they probably worked their whole lives in service to the king, and the alien is probably getting more than they ever will.

“Don’t worry about it guys, Vax can be resistant to us as much as he wants. What matters is that the King can order him to do what we want, and I’m sure that King Grinnail will agree to the necessity of a library.”

Boreus nodded his head in agreement before sighing.

“I just wish we didn’t have to bother his majesty with something as trivial this.”

We had just reached the dining hall, and opened the doors to only find Falca eating alone. The red gel covering her wing and hind leg were gone and it signified that she was healed. She seemed much more alive now that she didn’t need a nurse to escort her around the castle. She raised her head to smile and greet us.

“Good morning! How is everyone today?”

Boreus moved to stand next to his mistress while I took my seat opposite of Falca on the table. A server came out of a side room with my breakfast as I answered Falca’s question.

“It could be going better. Is your father going to be joining us? We need his help with the library.”

“He’s too busy with preparations for the announcement. Takada’s helping as well and she won’t be joining us either. Why don’t you tell me, maybe I can help?

Jack told me how Vax refused to adjust the budget and how he said he’ll only adjust it if the order came from my father. I wasn’t too surprised by Vax’s anger towards Jack, but I didn’t think he would bother acting up over something so trivial. He probably knew that Jack was going to get permission for the library sooner or later, but he wanted to puff up his feathers and show that the new Warden can’t give him orders. It was a misplaced use of pride, and it cannot be tolerated. Jack is too important.

“Let me take care of it. You just continue with your training for today and I’ll get you the library.”

“Thanks Falca, I really appreciate it. Your family has already given me so much, are you sure I’m not stepping out of line for asking this?” he asked with a worried look.

“You’re fine Jack, a little library isn’t going to cost us anything. I said I was going to make you the happiest alien in the world, remember?

He smiled at my words as he enjoyed the rest of his breakfast and we spent the rest of our time talking about his world. This morning’s topic was on the mythologies of his world and how my species was viewed in some cultures. I still found it bewildering on how creatures from an entirely different universe could have myths on my species. Some of the stories he recalled were actually pretty accurate, and it seemed that humans got it right a few times when they told tales on how griffins loved gold. I was even a little flattered that they considered my species as gallant creatures worthy of being symbols of nobility. As soon as we finished, Jack was off to the grounds to hone his skills while I was off to meet with a stubborn bookkeeper about a library.

This meeting will also serve another purpose as well. The royal treasurer will be a test to see how much influence I had left. With my utter failure against the Aper Major, I now had to get busy in saving as much political power I could. Only the members of House Hialla knew of the events that transpired in the past week, and the minor members all sent me letters wishing me good health along with terminations to any partnerships we once had. Most were delicate in their wording, while others outright told me that I would receive none of their votes in my bid to become queen. Some were even bold enough to call me a disgrace for allowing myself to be defeated by the beast that symbolized our House.

After years of hard work to challenge Takada’s claim to the throne, all that effort was washed away after I read letter after letter. They’re all likely to give their support to Takada, and will try to gain her favor before she takes the throne. It hurt a little to be abandoned so thoroughly, and despite father’s warning, it didn’t prepare me for hopelessness I felt. The only ones in House Hialla who would support me now would be my uncle and the minor nobles from the Summer Island. However, their support would hardly be enough and I’d be lucky to even get half of the votes I lost before father steps down. The only way I’ll be able to shape the politics of my home in the future is to begin establishing a power base that my sister will have to listen to when she takes the throne. As Lady of the Summer Island, I speak for the interests of the inhabitants of the island in the monarch’s court while the Governor, my uncle, runs the island. While already a powerful position, Lady of the Summer Island is not enough to intervene in all the decisions my elder sister was likely to make.

Takada, I’ll admit, is a great leader. She worked hard to earn her position as an admiral in our Navy. She is the only one to have any success against the pirates that plague our waters, and she can easily inspire the masses with her words. Nevertheless, she is single minded and hardly ever opens herself to other ideas on how to run a kingdom. Her goals for the Shattered Isles were simple and few, focus more on building our military and decrease our dependency on Equestria. Takada dislikes how we use Celestia as a shield against House Ridara and wants to abolish the agreement our great grandmother made with her after the Civil War. When the war was over and the territorial lines were drawn, my great grandmother agreed to mothball most of our military fleet in exchange for Equestria’s protection against possible threats. This allowed House Hialla to rebuild what it had lost from the war much faster than House Ridara did, and our kingdom has continued to grow economically stronger since we didn’t have to channel our gold into the defenses of our territory. It’s been nearly two centuries since the war, and Takada thinks it’s time that we better our defenses since House Ridara insists on flexing it’s muscles.

Takada thinks I’m naïve in thinking that Celestia will fully invest herself in defending us if a war was to ever happen again. She’s hardly had any contact with Celestia and her ponies, and it was enough to convince her that Celestia only cares about pony interests. Hardly half of the ponies even know that the griffins had a civil war, but I think Takada underestimates how much influence our kingdom has on Equestria. Barely a decade after the war, Equestria started to build its largest city, Manehattan. Our trading fleet shipped most of the steel and concrete needed to build that city. By the beginning of my father’s reign, Manehattan became a metropolis and it was only made possible by the griffins of our kingdom. Our kingdom was also the most popular trade route between Equestria and the zebra lands beyond the sea. Equestria stood to lose much if we were ever to fall, and I still could not understand why Takada never saw this. If my sister went ahead with her plans, it could halt our booming economic progress.

Which is why I needed to be more than just Lady of the Summer Island, I need more contacts, spies, and more allies if I was to mitigate whatever damage my sister may bring when she becomes queen. Although, I suppose I could support my elder brother Thistle in his claim to the throne, but he had no more interest in it than Hyde did. He's more concerned with his businesses and clients than the ruling of a kingdom. It has to be me to question Takada's decisions, and I’ll start regaining my power by getting the royal treasurer on my side.

I entered Vax’s office after asking his assistant, and he got out of his desk to bow to me as I sat on one of his guest cushions.

“Good morning Mr. Vax, please, take your seat. We have much to discuss, but first, how are you enjoying your work as royal treasurer. I understand you’ve only had the position for six months correct?”

“Indeed your highness, and yes, I’ve enjoyed my work immensely. I am honored that King Grinnail would consider one as young as me and I hope to not disappoint him. So, what brings your highness to my humble office?”

‘Time to see how much influence I have left.’

“I would like to discuss the library our new Warden seeks. He is new to our lands and he’ll need the library in order to better protect the kingdom. I would consider it a personal favor, if you were to skip the bureaucracy with my father, and add more funds based on my approval. My father is likely to approve of the library anyway. Can you do this for me?”

Vax looked at me uneasily as he replied.

“I would love to your highness, but the king must be the one to approve of the funds. I hope you understand.”

‘And there it is, that’s how little influence I have now.’

A week ago, before my loss to the Aper Major, griffins like Vax would be jumping out of their seats to help me because of my chances to claim the throne. But now, there’s not too much to be gained from helping a failed princess. However, I have other ways for getting him to work with me. I sighed at his response before speaking again.

“I understand, and House Hialla thanks you for your dedication to my father. Oh well, I guess the new Warden will have to wait. By the way, I understand that you are friends with my cousin Enyo from the Summer Island. I rarely get to see her when I work, how’s she been doing lately?”

He smiled now that I moved on from the library topic.

“Lady Enyo is doing great your highness, especially since your uncle got her a new dress. She just loves to show off all the diamonds imbedded into it whenever she leaves the house. Secretly, she tells me she wears it just to make beautiful griffins like you jealous.”

We both shared a laugh at my cousin’s antics before I continued the conversation.

“You know, my cousin must have a lot of trust in you.”

“Oh I don’t know about that your highness, I think her reasons for wearing the dress are more common knowledge than you think.”

“But she must, after all, she does allow you into her chambers at midnight does she not?”

Vax’s demeanor changed drastically and he waited a few moments before responding to my question.

“Lady Enyo sometimes asks me to help in your uncle’s tax policies on the Summer Island. I often help her work from dusk till dawn.”

“She must be very glad that you take the time to help her, 'from dusk till dawn'," I said as I got up to lock his office door. Vax was starting to get very nervous and I took notice of a particular scent in his office.

“Ahh, jasmine, such a wonderful scent. Enyo always loved that smell, even when she was a little cub. I think she got it from her mother.”

I started to walk around Vax’s office feigning interest in all the stacks of office folders and file cabinets. Vax didn’t respond to my statement so I continued.

“From what I understand, she helped you obtain your position as royal treasurer after she gave my father a glowing recommendation on your skills with math and experience with accounting, did she not?”

“That she did your highness.”

There was no doubt that Vax was a skilled accountant. He earned his positon as my uncle’s accountant for a few years after he retired from his first tour with the navy when he was 19. When he turned 23, a year younger than I am currently, he became the royal treasurer after Enyo praised his skills. My spies on the Summer Island however, told me that Enyo may have other reasons for giving him her commendation.

“Tell me, did my cousin offer her recommendation before or after you laid with her in her bed?”

“Wh-what?” He asked startled.

“Have you ever given any thought to what my uncle would say if he ever found out that you’ve been bedding his little cub?”

My uncle was notorious for how protective he was of Enyo. The last boy who sought out her affections lost a talon when he touched her affectionately. Doctors managed to reattach the limb but he never sought out Enyo again. Vax looked like he was on the verge of panic when I looked at him and his eyes showed that he was desperately searching for an excuse.

“It’s not my fault!” he pleaded to me.

“Did she take you against your will? I thought a former member of the Navy could defend himself from a pretty little thing like Enyo.”

“Your uncle, when I was under his employ, he told me told me to obey him, his wife, and daughter in every way.”

“Did he tell you to fuck his daughter’s brains out too?”

He got up out of his chair so fast that he caused a small tear in his suit, but he didn’t even notice. He grasped his desk and stared at me with pleading eyes.

“I only meant that did as I was ordered to. She told me she was lonely one night and asked me to come her room. I had no choice but to obey her.”

“Do you expect me to believe that you hated EVERY moment of it?”

His beak was slack and he didn’t come up with a response, so I continued.

“A high place in court, a dream job, my cousin’s legs spreading open for you at night. Oh yes, you poor boy, it must have been terrible,” I said sarcastically.

Vax seemed to find the floor much more interesting and I turned to leave his office as I told him one more thing.

“I wonder what my uncle will think of this when I tell him.”

Vax leaped from his desk and splayed himself over his office floor to beg to me.

“Mercy, mercy your highness plea-,”

“Save it for my Uncle, he loves it when they grovel.”

“I-I’ll do whatever you want your highness, please, I’ll do anything!”

I paused as my talons touched the door handle and I slowly turned back to the desperate griffin.

“Yes, I think you will.”

“Your highness?”

“You heard me.”

I got him back on his paws and dusted off his suit with my talons.

“You are going to do whatever I want. Unless we want to find out what my uncle will do to a griffin that put their dick inside his daughter. After he ripped the talon off the last one, I wonder what else he'll rip off of you.”

“Yes, yes I’ll do what you want," he said frantically.

I pointed him back to his office chair and I retook my place on the guest cushion.

“First off, you’re going to provide the funds necessary to build a library in the Warden’s Stronghold. Second, you’re going to remember these three words every time the Warden asks you something. Share the wealth. Repeat it back to me.”

“Share the wealth,” he repeated.

“Very good, now one last thing. When my sister becomes queen, and let’s be honest, after my failure she’s definitely going to become queen. You are going to report to me first on all the transactions she makes with the royal coffers. Do these three things, and I swear I won’t tell a soul about your relationship with Enyo.”

“Yes your highness,” he said as quickly as he could.

‘I don’t want to control him with just blackmail. Let’s give him something to look forward to.’

“Do you actually like my cousin Mr. Vax, or is she just a tool you used in becoming royal treasurer? Be honest with me.”

He shyly turned his head away and rubbed his shoulder before answering.

“At first, I thought it was just about sex. But then she went and got me this job, and I didn’t even ask her for it. She’s caring and beautiful, and I really like seeing her smile. I would have actually tried to officially court her if I wasn’t afraid of her father.”

“Say no more. Alright Mr. Vax, I have a proposition for you. After you prove your loyalty to me for a year or two. I’ll convince my uncle to go easy on possible suitors to his daughter and recommend you to him myself. We have plenty of low-born members in House Hialla, and I’m sure we’ll be happy to marry in a new one. In the meantime, try to remain discreet when you go visit Enyo on Friday nights and work on your attitude towards foreigners. Do you accept my proposal?”

“Yes! Of course, thank you your highness I won’t disappoint you.” He said shaking his head up and down vigorously.

I got up and unlocked the door to leave.

I walked onto the castle grounds to see a crowd of off-duty guards watching something in front of Jack’s ship. They stepped aside when they saw me coming and I saw what they were all staring at. Jack was practicing blindfolded with his blade again and it was an astonishing display of blade work. His black and red blade of light hissed through the air and struck a metal dummy that somehow absorbed the blows at key points. I sat there amazed by his skill until the droid known as HK-55 stepped up with a dozen floating spheres. The machine pointed his weapon at Jack and fired bolts of light along with the rest of the spheres.

Jack switched stances and moved rapidly to intercept dozens of impossibly fast projectiles. Jack seemed to be fading in and out of existence as he moved with unmatched agility and deflected each projectile up into the sky or into the ground despite his lack of sight. To a griffin, being unable to track the movements of anything was almost unheard of. Griffins and pegesi had eyes and reaction times that were unmatched, this trait was needed in order to properly fly at the speeds we were capable of. If Jack could move in speeds that not even griffins could track, it was a testament to how much he’s worth to this kingdom.

It’s been said that the greatest blade masters to walk Eques were Celestia and Luna. I would bet my wings that Jack would be more than a challenge for them. His magic was also something to admire as well. At night, sometimes I’d see him levitate his gargantuan ship in the air while levitating himself and multiple objects at the same time. Father was right, he is an investment worth the time and gold.

After a minute of deflecting dozens of projectiles, he finished by deflecting a bolt into each sphere and one into HK-55’s mechanical hand. The machine moved rapidly after being disarmed and sprinted at Jack with impressive speeds while carrying a knife concealed in its arm. Jack deactivated his blade and met the machine with nothing but his fists. Jack intercepted strikes from the machine’s fist with an open palm while dodging and weaving from the fist that held the knife. He intercepted kicks from HK with kicks of his own and it almost seemed like they were dancing to a violent rhythm. As the fight dragged on, HK performed a feint with his knife hand before he tossed the knife into the air and grabbed it with his other one. He drove the knife towards Jack’s neck and Jack moved to intercept it with his hand.

At first, I thought he was going to impale his hand with the knife, but he instead caught HK’s wrist. The blade was barely a hair away from his neck, and Jack used his hold on HK’s wrist to turn around and flip the machine over himself. The machine now laid its back on the ground, and after hearing the twisting of metal, the knife was now in Jack’s hands and he poised the knife directly over HK’s neck. Everything was still as Jack’s blindfolded eyes stared into the red glowing eyes of the machine, until HK broke the silence with his voice.

“Congratulatory: Well done master, this concludes close combat simulation number 22.”

Jack smiled and offered his free had to HK to pick him up. HK accepted the hand with his unbroken one and stood up to calmly take back the knife and placed it back in the hidden compartment in his wrist.

“Statement: I’ll perform repairs on the ship while you continue your drills master.”

I don’t know how long I stood there, but it felt like hours. Jack continued to practice his forms and deflected many more bolts. By the time he stopped, he was covered with sweat. His chest heaved up and down as he caught his breath and he drank some water out of a goblet to hydrate. I never realized how exceptional his physique was now that I saw him with some of his armor off. His build was something that would make even a minotaur jealous. My eyes remained transfixed to his muscles as droplets of sweat traveled down his red skin and, for some reason, I couldn’t look away.

I was finally broken out of my trance when he took off the blindfold and I looked around to find all the off duty guards gone and back to work. Jack coughed to get my attention and I looked back at him with a smile and a clap of my talons. He made an overly dramatic bow and I chuckled at his antics. He smiled back to me before he spoke.

“Did you enjoy the show Falca?”

At first, I panicky thought he meant the moment when I stared at his body, but I quickly realized that he meant his display of blade work.

“It was… simply amazing. How do you do all that?”

He placed his hands behind his back as he spoke.

“With the Force, I can enhance my body to allow it to move past its physical limits and perform the feats you just saw. I can predict where projectiles will land before they can even leave their blaster’s, and my mind will instinctively find the proper placement of my lightsaber each time. The Force is also how I can see without my eyes.”

I was starstruck after his explanation and he chuckled when I felt the bottom of my beak drop. I swiftly regained control of my beak and tried to display some measure of composure. Jack looked like he just remembered something and spoke to me again.

“I have something for you on my ship. Come with me and I’ll show you.”

Not seeing any harm in it, I followed him onto the ship and into a room filled with crates and a massive locker. He gently opened the doors of his locker and quickly brought out a large book from inside before closing it. He walked up to me with a smile and offered me the book. When I took it, I found that the cover was written with a strange arcane writing I couldn’t interpret. I opened the book to find words I could understand in its pages and I looked back up to him with a questioning look.

“Boreus told me that you liked books like these.”

‘Oh Ancestors, Boreus didn’t tell him about that, did he?’

“He told me that you like to read about history and I thought you’d like to read this. It’s a translated collected history of the Sith and their Empire.”

I sighed in relief as I realized that my faith in Boreus wasn’t misplaced.

‘For a second I thought he meant something else.’

“Thank you Jack, I do love reading history, but why are you giving me this? Is it a human custom to just give gifts at random?”

“No not really, you just seemed sad about something and I thought you could use something to take your mind off it. I won’t pry, but if you’ve been sad about me taking away your only chance to be queen, I’m truly sorry and I hope this gift helps me preserve our friendship. In the video game I got it from, it was one of the highest level gifts you could receive after completing a boss fight. ”

I stared down at the book and I couldn’t comprehend how he could be this nice.

‘Why is he apologizing to me? I’m the one who brought him into my fight with the Aper Major. Oh Jack you’re too sweet.’

“Jack, don’t ever apologize for saving my life. Thank you so much for the book, I’ll never forget this.”

I was hidden behind a castle wall turret in full armor as King Grinnail, Falca, and Takada addressed the thousands of griffins outside the castle’s walls through a microphone stand. King Grinnail was telling everyone how a mysterious alien saved Falca and defeated the Aper Major that threatened the stability of the Islands. Falca told them about the battle between the beast and me while Takada told them about how I used a ship that widely surpassed every know airship in Eques. It was all grand and embarrassing to hear them embellish me, but I appreciated their words nonetheless. Then King Grinnail told them about how I accepted the position as their Warden, and I could hear their gasps of astonishment at the news.

It was about time for me to present myself and I used Satele Shan’s meditation techniques to calm myself. The king raised his talons towards me and beckoned me to take his place next to the microphone. I slowly walked out and was taken aback by the sheer mass of griffins.

‘Was the whole city out here? No wonder it took a whole week to organize this.’

There were more gasps of astonishment at my appearance and I felt through the Force to gage their reactions to me. I felt curiosity overcome the crowd and detected a few hints of fear here and there, but it was mostly just open curiosity. I was strange and new to them and I tried to remember what I wanted to say to them as I removed my helmet.

“My name is Jack Krieger, and it’s honor to be here. I must admit, its overwhelming to see so many griffins out here to see me. I’m also honored that you would take time out of your schedules just to be out here.

I paused and sensed a bit of warmth from the crowd before continuing.

“Like King Grinnail said, I’ve taken the position as Warden of The Isles. I take this title not because I feel like I deserve it, but because of the gratitude I feel for the griffins of the Shattered Isles. You gave me a home when I was lost and alone. I will serve you all with the best of my abilities and I am determined to not let you down. I look forward to getting to know the inhabitants of this beautiful kingdom.”

I felt like my speech was a little short so I decided to end it with a little fanfare. I took the hilt of my lightsaber into my gauntlet and raised it above my head before pressing the activation button. The black and red energy blade enthralled the crowd and they began to cheer. The emotions I felt from all of them were of pure excitement as they cried out to me.

“Thank you for saving our Falca!”

“Thank you for saving us from the star beast!”

“All hail the new Warden!”

“All hail the Warden!”

“All hail the Warden!”

I was back on the castle grounds with Falca, Takada, and their father. King Grinnail patted me on the back with his wing before speaking.

“You handled yourself very well out there.”

“Thank you my king, I’m actually kinda surprised that I won them over that well.”

“At times like these, people need to know that there are individuals out there who are protecting them from threats they cannot fight. You inspired the griffins out there and that is cause for a celebration. But before anything else happens today, I must tell you something.”

“What is it my king?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He smiled and I dared to hope.

“I have news about your sister. We found her, she is serving a punishment in a little town called Ponyville.

Author's Notes:

Falca played a more significant role in this chapter. The reason for this is to help establish her character because she'll play a significant role in the future.

As always, I hope you enjoyed.