The Silver Saga, Book 1.

Silver was thick in battle training with her sister when her father came to fetch her for the ceremony. Her sister, Dimitar, crouched in front of her with gritted teeth. She was determined to win, dangerously so, and Silver often had to over-dodge her attacks.
But Dimitar was clumsy, very clumsy. In her tunnel vision, she made unintentional mistakes, mistakes that Silver was easily able to exploit. As Dimitar charged forward, Silver hooked a foot under her leg and sent Dimitar flying onto her stomach. As she scrambled to get up, Silver directed her spear right at her neck.
“Checkmate.” Silver said curtly, and Dimitar growled, pushing her spear away and rising to her feet. She grumbled as she walked away, sending a glare in Silver’s direction.
Slow claps sounded out behind her. Her father and her third sister, Copper, stood against the wall. “Very good work, Silver.” He said. Her sister never participated in training, no matter how hard their father tried to get her to. She was always too timid to fight. “But your training session must come to a close, I’m afraid. As I’m sure you’re aware, we have plans today.”
Right. The crowning ceremony.
Silver and her sisters were to wear exceptionally fancy uniforms for the ceremony. Each of their dresses matched their eyes. Silver’s eyes were blue, Copper’s eyes were green, and Dimitar’s were purple. Each of their dresses were colored to match. Silver had failed to put hers on yet. In fact, she was planning on stalling until the last minute, because as beautiful as the dress was, she felt a hitch in her throat whenever she thought of wearing it.
Wearing it, no less, in front of practically the whole kingdom she was expected to rule one day.
That’s what the whole ceremony was about, of course.
It was the biggest day of their lives. The three princesses would officially be crowned with their royal duties. Each sister would have specific responsibilities, and from this day forward, they’d be taking on some of their parents and grandparents' own duties.
This was especially prudent as the kingdom prepared for war. Whispers of attacks had drifted through the winds, and rumors spread that the Titans in the thick rainforest in the east were preparing to strike. Now that the princesses were approaching their fifteenth birthdays, it was the perfect time to prepare them for leading.
The plaza was packed full of citizens waiting for the ceremony, eyes locked on the podium in the center. Silver stood pensively behind the curtain, far beyond the plaza’s reach, watching with wide eyes. She didn’t say a word as the sound of her father’s footsteps echoed through the room.
“You’re not ready for the ceremony yet?” He questioned her, and she felt a soft hand drop on her shoulder. “I understand if you’re nervous, but-”
“I’m not nervous.” She lied. He stayed silent.
“The ceremony starts soon. I’d suggest getting ready with your sisters.” Her father said, and as he walked off, Silver let out a sigh. She was still in her training uniform, and nothing displeased her more than wearing that stuffy fancy dress they’d prepared for her.
She was about to resign to her fate as a sound thrust her back to the gap in the curtain.
Chaos emerged in the crowd, the sounds of startled screams sounding from every corner of the plaza. People ran in every direction, desperate for escape, to return to their homes- And at the center of it all was a man Silver didn’t recognize. He was petite, with sun-warmed skin. His hair dropped in thick curls over his shoulders, and he held a golden weapon in his hand.
A shudder drawing down her back, she realized who the man in the center was. It was Farron Whispers, a man who’s name had been drawing through the winds in recent months. Tales of his exploits became the topic of campfire-lit scary stories, the nightmares of children, the warnings of stressed soldiers. The details of these exploits were never the same. Some said that he’d stolen something powerful. Others said he’d slayed a great beast. And the most terrifying of them all- The idea that Farron had committed genocide, just to get what he wanted. Those whispers of a fated attack on their kingdom were not simply from the Titans, but from Farron himself.
Silver assessed the situation as best she could. She noticed several birds, large birds, circling in the sky. A vulture, a hawk, and what seemed to be an owl. They dove down and snapped at anyone trying to leave the plaza.
Several small fights had broken out between citizens, guards, and supposed followers of Farron. The followers were clearing a path for Farron, who was attempting to reach the stage. As Silver noticed this, she stepped back in horror. Farron was trying to reach her.
She sprinted back through the room, running through the hallways of the castle. Her first priority was finding her father and her sisters. She listened closely for any sounds, anything indicating they were near, but she found nothing. But she kept running anyways.
Her first spot to check was their quarters. They were on a higher level, several halls over, but if she ran as fast as she was going now, she could make quick time.
She reached their quarters in no time. Emerging from her room she found Copper, and without thinking about it, she grabbed her wrist. “Where’s Dimitar?” She demanded.
Copper only stuttered in response. “She left ages ago- Where have you been?”
“It doesn’t matter, we have to find her. We’re under attack.”
“What?” Copper worriedly stammered in response, frantically asking for answers. Silver didn’t let it distract her and kept running, this time downstairs.
She only stopped when she felt someone, or something, following her. She swung around, letting a knife fly from her hand. A puff of black smoke was the only thing she hit.
The black smoke pooled on the ground, and it rose up to form the silhouette of a man. Standing there now was a man, one she could only assume was a Celestial, a being holding the powers of space. He watched her closely with all his attention, and as she turned to keep running, Copper’s wrist still in hand, she realized in horror that she was surrounded. On her other side stood the man himself, Farron Whispers, a devilish grin spread on his face.
“Thank you, dear, for leading me straight to your sister! You needn’t worry about your precious Dimitar, I’ll assure you, she’s in good hands.” The words sent shudders reeling down her back, and she gritted her teeth to prevent herself from snapping back. “You’ll find yourself in good hands as well- Or should I say claws.” He said, infuriatingly vague. And with a flick of his wrist, Silver and Copper were dragged away, enveloped by the same smoke of the Celestial behind them. He carried them through the halls at a terrifying speed, hauling them with ease. He blew through the curtains, releasing them from his smoke into the arms, or as Farron said, claws, of two birds. The birds caught them in seconds, and now that she was closer, she could more easily see that these birds weren’t birds at all, they were Mutants. Mutants, the beings with the power to turn into animals. These monstrous birds held them like they weighed nothing at all, flying high above the crowd. She caught her first sighting of Dimitar since the training this morning. She was struggling in the arms of the owl she saw, and she wasn’t having much luck escaping him. She spotted two more of Farron’s followers dragging her mother into the plaza, and another pair had her father. They pulled both of her parents onto the stage, in front of the frightened crowd. Farron forced her mother to her knees with his powers, pulling the stone from the marble stairs up to envelop her lower body, trapping her.
His father was followed closely by that Celestial that had trapped them.
The black smoke enveloped his wrists and ankles, setting him in position like a posable doll. The smoke pulled back on his arm, raising his fist over his head, his fingers still forcibly clasped around that blade. Her mother kneeled helplessly before him, completely unable to defend herself. Her eyes filled with tears, her body frozen, paralyzed.
And as the birds carried her away, high above the crowd, a sickening scream echoed through the plaza as her father struck a sword through her mother’s heart.

~~~

Holding her sister was a scruffy vulture, his feathers missing in some places. He was bigger than most vultures, probably the biggest she’d ever seen.
The other bird, the one holding her, seemed to be a hawk. An unnaturally large one, that is. Unlike his scrappy companion, he seemed to take care of himself.
Copper couldn’t seem to stop herself from worriedly rambling. She struggled in the vulture’s grip, begging to be let go.
“Where are you taking us? Who are you? What just happened- Don’t you know who we are? We’re the princesses, I command you to let us go!”
The vulture squawked in response, and Silver could have sworn she saw him roll his eyes. “Can’t you shut your blabbermouth?” The vulture screeched, and Silver watched in terror as the terrible bird struck her sister over the head, knocking her out instantly. He had a firm grip on her sister, his claws digging into her delicate skin. She hung limp in his outstretched talons, nothing but a ragdoll swaying in the wind.
Silver didn’t dare say a word.
“Why does the boss want us takin’ these twerps to these places, anyways?” The vulture drawled out, seemingly very unhappy with the chore he was assigned.
“It’s not our job to question our lord’s orders.” The hawk shot back, clearly the more focused of the two.
“Yeah, but haven’t you at least thought about it?” The vulture pressed. “I mean, isn’t it kinda strange he wants us sending them there?”
“The small one won’t last a day where she’s going.” The hawk said curtly. “And the gray one.. She’ll have someone waiting for her when she arrives.”
“If he wants em’ dead so bad, why doesn’t he just kill them himself?”
“He doesn’t want them dead. He wants them weak.”
“You two sure are made for each other, aren’t cha..”
Silver broke one of her arms free from the hawk’s grasp, unclasping her hidden dagger from her boot and slashing at the hawk’s underbelly.
He dropped her with a shriek, sending her flying to the ground, hurdling towards the forest below her at a frightening speed.
“Just leave her!” The hawk screeched as the vulture dove down to catch her. She looked up in horror as she noticed that neither bird made any other attempt to swoop down to catch her, and she resigned to her fate as she fell to the grassy ground.
She only had one moment more of consciousness before the wind was knocked out of her completely and she fell into the blackness of sleep.
When Silver awoke, she was still in the grass. Thankfully her fall wasn’t too high up, and the ground was padded enough to soften the blow.. She didn’t seem to have any broken bones. But she was already feeling sore, so obviously the fall had bruised her at least.
She stood up, gazing at the forest around her. The rainforest.