After spending the day cleaning the gutter out and trying not to retch at the smell of the rat droppings caught up in the mess, Dax felt she had earned a break. Her sister Lance seemed to agree, having delivered her a homemade sandwich with a wink before heading back into the house.

It was a hot day in Vista, but Dax sat in the shadows of the east wall rising directly behind the house she shared with her older sister. Along the streets below, the poverty stricken people of Vista thrived with life. People milled about through the thin alleyways and cluttered streets, and despite knowing that coin was lacking in the poorest section of Vista, barely anyone was without a smile. 

Life here was hard, but not impossible, and not unbearable. Queen Korinia, the ruler of Vista, made sure that her people, both rich and poor, were safe, fed, and happy. Since the death of her tyrant brother, the former king, Queen Korinia had worked hard for the poorest of Vista, organising the construction of much needed buildings and starting a donation fund amongs the rich so those living in these dark streets would have everything they needed to survive.

The Queen, whom had started her rule only two years before, had promised equiality between her people one day. Everyone had been unhappy with her brother's rule and trust had been hard to come by for Queen Korinia when it came to the poor of her city. But she had shown that change could happen, and now coin was beginning to reach the district that needed it the most like a dying limb needed blood for circulation.

Dax's eyes slid upwards to the upper reaches of the city. The gate which seperated the poor from the rich had been opened the moment Queen Korinia had been officially crowned. No longer seperated, the poor and the rich became one unit again. Thery were all people of Vista. The palace itself, standing atop the city, was often empty of officials and the Queen herself as they roamed about the two districts of the city to see which changes could be made for the better. Queen Korinia had never been afraid to get closer to the people and dirty her hands with work.

As a Vistarian herself, Dax had cried tears of relief the day the king died and his sister took the throne, her decleration of prosperity and unity among the people of Vista becomming a symbol of hope for her people. She had kept every promise so far, and Dax worshipped her as much as her older sister.

Speaking of, Lance's head appeared over the edge of the gutter, her calloused hands gripping the metal as she pulled herself up effortlessly onto the roof. Her own sandwich was clutched in her hand as she shuffled over to her little sister.

Dax finished off her own lunch as Lance settled beside her, licking her fingertips clean as Lance torn into her own food. For a moment, neither spoke, simply enjoying the sun and each other's company. Lance noticed Dax staring at the palace and smiled knowingly.

"Mum and dad would be so happy if they were here," Lance said after a few moments passed. She stretched her legs out over the shingles and leaned back. "They always hated the king."

Dax turned to her older sister and smiled. "Well, he was a douchebag. What was there to like about him?"

Lance laughed out loud and flicked her sister on the shoulder. "Now, now, watch that tongue. Mum would have hit you with her cooking spoon if she'd heard that."

"Dad would have liked it," Dax pointed out.

"Probably would have, yeah." Lance grinned. "You're right, though. Major douchebag, that guy."

Dax wrapped her arms around her knees. She was smiling, but weaker now and Lance felt her heart clench. Dax still hurt from their parent's death three years ago. It had been a freak accident on the streets. A cart had lost control and rolled down a inclined alleyway. The sisters had been out with their parents, heading to the bakery if Lance remembered right, but they never made it. Their father, Willhelm, had noticed the cart before any of the others. He had immediately thrown himself in front of them, his instincts driving him. Their mother, Claudia, shoved Dax and Lance away from them roughly, her final act of motherhood. 

Lance had held Dax tightly as they struck the cobbles hard. The cart made an awful sound as it hit their parents, and despite Dax's desperate cries, Lance never let her look at their bodies, not the entire time they lay there on the cold cobbles in shock. Within minutes people surrounded the cart. Men lifted it from the bodies, but everyone knew it was too late for the husband and wife who had given their lives for their daughters.

Dax's voice was rough as she spoke, bringing Lance back to the present. "The queen was there that night, wasn't she?" It wasn't a question. She just needed Lance to confirm what she already knew.

"Yeah, she was." Lance swallowed hard. "She gave orders to her kngihts and staff, then she scooped you up into her arms and took my hand. We ended up back at the palace. She fed us and warmed us up, had her healers check us over, then stayed with us all night."

Dax nodded as she remembered in clarity the kindness Queen Korinia had shown her and her sister. She closed her eyes and tried to recall the details, but it was tough. Had the room they stayed in been mostly red, or blue? What dress did the queen wear? How big had the bed been? She shook her head as she struggled to recreate the picture in her mind, but she felt settled now. It was always easier to remember the nicest part of that night that the horror of her parents' deaths.

Lance settled a heavy hand over her sister's shoulders. "That was the night I made my decision, you know. Seeing the queen in all her glory, knowing that she cared about two little street kids like us... There was no way I was going to let that go unpaid. I would do everything in my power to be knighted by her."

Rolling her eyes, Dax poked her sister in the side. "Pretty sure your major crush on our ruler had something to do with that decision, too."

Lance poked her tongue out, but shrugged. "Maybe a little."

"Gross."

Smiling, Lance rubbed her sister's shoulder. "One day you'll understand that a woman's heart-"

"Spare me!"

"-is a complicated thing," Lance continued. "And it doesn't matter who she loves. Just as long as she loves them well."

Dax's eyes rolled so hard in her head Lance feared they would flop out. "Gods have mercy," the little sister whined.

Laughing, Lance rose to her feet and pulled Dax with her. "Silly Dax," she said. "Don't you know that the Gods have more important things to do?"

That evening...

Lance dipped her mother's treasured wooden spoon into the stew and tasted the small amount gathered on the spoon. Smacking her lips, she measured the taste and nodded to herself. "I can't say its as good as our neighbours stew, but it's getting there," she said aloud.

Sitting at the dinner table, Dax chewed on a buttered role as she waited. Her mind wandered while her sister cooked, the familiar smells and sounds of the kitchen relaxing her. Her mother's face appeared in her mind's eye, but Dax ignored it, instead focusing on more pleasant thoughts. Lance's upcoming Knighthood lessons were just a week away and Dax couldn't be more excited for her. A tiny jolt of fear rippled through her as she lingered on the thought, though, and guilt followed. She was afraid for Lance's safety once her sister became an official knight and headed out in dangerous missions. She also feared for the time lost between them as their lives began to seperate. Dax gripped the edge of the table tightly as the discomfort in her chest grew tighter. She watched her sister, the woman's raven black hair braided down her back swaying as she moved across the kitchen. Dax relied on her desperately and loved her dearly. She couldn't tell Lance, who had been working herself ragged for the part two years to become a knight that she was afraid for the changes it would bring.

'It's too selfish," Dax told herself, biting her lip. 'I don't want her to give up her dream for me.'

The youth ran her hand through her short, black hair as she did when she was stressed. Turning away from her sister's back, Dax stared into the fireplace across from the table and watched the fire dance. Not for the first time, she wondered what she wanted out of life. Living simply to survive needed to be upgraded. Queen Korinia had not only given the poor a new way of life down in these dark streets, but she had also opened up new possibilities for them. Lance could now be knighted, and Dax... well, she could be whatever she wanted to be.

But what did she want to be?

From outside in a darkness of the late evening, a boom resounded through the alleyways and sleepy streets of the poor district. It was low and muffled, but loud enough to rattle the house. Dax's heart leapt into her throat and Lance immediately froze in the kitchen. Their heads turned to the door, waiting for something more to happen in the silence.

Another boom, louder and longer. Outside the house people were alerted with shouts of alarm. Dax rose from her chair and turned to her sister. "What is that? That sound, it's so loud..."

Lance's eyes locked with her sisters as another boom shook the house's foundations. "I don't know," she said, fear colouring her voice. "Maybe its-"

Another boom, and this time the terrible sound of destruction followed. Crashing and crumbling. It sounded to Dax like...

"The wall?" she whispered to her sister. "Was that the wall breaking?"

Then it came. The bloodcurdling noise of a horn being blown. The horn of the beastmen. A call to arms for their people. A signal to kill and pillage.

Dax's blood turned cold as the realisation of what she was hearing hit her like a mace to the chest. Vista's oldest enemy were here and they would kill them-

Lance grasped Dax by the shoulders and turned her sister roughly to face her. "Dax, look at me. You have to listen to me now, alright?"

Outside, screams were beginning to pierce the silence that followed the horn call. Other sounds joined in. Staamping boots, yells and shouts of bloodlust, swords screeching as they were freed from their sheaths.

"DAX!"

Lance's voice shouting in Dax's ear woke her up as her imagination threatened to steal her from reality. Lance had her chin in a tight grip, her free hand holding her own sword. Dax's eyes fell onto the gleaming metal in her sister's hand. A gift from their father. When had she grabbed it? Why did she have it?

Lance's nails dug into Dax's skin. "Dax, concentrate on me, okay? Can you hear me?"

Dax nodded, trying to ignore the heavy bootfalls as they came closer their door. She blocked out the cries outside. Ignored the bell ringing from the higher reaches of the city. Shut out all sound around her but her sister's voice.

"Get upstairs," Lance said, clear and precise. "Don't come down until I call you."

Dax's heart sped up in her chest as she realised what it all meant. The instructions, the sword, the look of determination on Lance's face.

She was going to fight for her. She would sacrifice herself for her little sister.

Dax gripped Lance's arm tight, her body trembling from head to toe. "You can't," she gasped out, shaking her head wildly. "They'll kill you, Lance! They will! You can't leave me!"

Desperation fuelled Dax as she screamed at her sister to reconsider. Lance gritted her teeth and responded, but Dax couldn't hear her over her own pleas for her to stay with her and survive.

She couldn't let her die for her.

Not like...

The door to their house was torn off of its hinges. The door slid across the floor and into the kitchen from the force. Shadows stood in its place. Time seemed to feeze like ice, the shadows peering into the house, Lance pushing Dax toward the stairs. The ring of steel tore through the night, deafening as Lance unsheathed her sword.

Laughter came from the shadows and they stepped slowly into the house. The hanging lightbulb illuminated their massive forms, revealing to Dax the image of the men she would never forgive or forget.

The beastmen had come to Vista.