------------- Tales of The Raptors – Best Friends

Adrianna Luerensyr was a descendant of the famous Arrianne Bennestervan. Her training and her piety so closely matched her famous ancestor that there was no end of snide name calling at the Academy. But she was her own person, despite her wealthy family and guaranteed future. Her dedication to duty, her focus and bravery had led her to a position in the Raidon Royal Airlancers long before the Crystal War began. But following the war, she had suffered a crisis of faith. The crisis wasn’t in her Goddess or her church so much as it was in her country. Atheae had been led down a rosy path to war by a secret viper in the highest ranks of government, the personal advisor to the Queen, Prince Pentellikon of Thraxis. There were those who discovered his true nature far too late, and others who’d preached about his vile and despicable history long and hard but were ignored by an enamored populace and a foolish Senate. Thus, Atheae was very nearly led to ruin by the one thing it held so dear, the freedom of its own people. In this case, the freedom to make stupid decisions based on misrepresentations of the people in power. She’d resigned her commission and chosen to stay where she could do the most good, in the untamed wilderness of Equideyea.

Elliot, or Elly as everyone called her, was a bit different. A half-elf, her father was the human and had come from the far away kingdom of Carellon. Her mother, a Zeigus elf, had moved her back to Battle Ward after her father died in the Second Orc Wars. She enrolled her in the Raidon Royal Academy. Unfortunately, Elly didn’t mature nearly as fast as some half-elves and failed to maintain the proper attitude to complete classes. But somewhere in her seventieth year, she discovered religion. She’d fallen head over heels in lust with Apollo. In the years that followed, she refocused herself and eventually achieved the rank of Paragon of the Church of Light, the questing warriors of the God of Sunlight and Music.

Then came the Three Wars.

Atheae and the Symballan Empire had been on a collision course for centuries. Many times the two had battled. The return of the ancient High WarPriest of Ares, Pentellikon, had resurrected the hatred of the First Symballan Empire. The machinations of assorted powers guided the continent towards an all out war. In a carefully orchestrated attack, forces of the Dragon Kings, posing as Symballan Airlancers, came to Battle Ward, along the border of the Symballan Empire, insisting on retribution for what they claimed was Atheaen sponsored smuggling of crystal dust and the theft of historical artifacts. They made sure the confrontation with the governor of Battle Ward quickly devolved into a bloody melee. When it was done, the town of Battle Ward was a smoking ruin. Thousands were dead. And Atheae and the Symballan Empire were soon at war.

Captain Elliot Barton was on the north shore of Atheae, patrolling the border with a cavalry unit, when her sergeant first spotted the smoke from the burning city. They rode hard and arrived in time to see the bodies being drug out of the ash by a flight from the Raidon Royal Airlancers. She swore vengeance like the rest of Atheae. It took another two years before things came to a head and she finally learned that it had been dragons from the Black and Brown clans, in service of the Red Princess, that had been responsible. Along the way, as she fought against the Symballans and gained a best friend, a fellow Atheaen army captain named Adrianna, she too lost her faith in her country, but never in Apollo. When Adrianna resigned her commission, Elly joined her.

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