The land was darken by large shadows and the silence was shattered by the humming of the engines of the Airships known as "Valkyries". The fleet of the Gryfian Empire has entered the air space of Sphinxia, the land of the Sphinxes.
The Sphinxes was unprepared to what came next. With the thunderous blasts from the griffin airships’ cannons, the Sphinx cities fell one by one. The many sphinxes fought valiantly to protect their land but sadly, their efforts were fruitless as the griffin's technological and military might far exceed their own. Though Zaan Verdediger, the pharaoh of the sphinxes refused to give in and led an army of his bravest warriors retake one of their captured cities and with great sacrifice, he successfully did so and marked his people’s first victory.
Regretfully, Zaan Verdediger himself was slain in the same battle but his bravery and love of their homeland inspired and reignited hope for the sphinxes to once again rise up and reclaim their home from their feathered invaders and devised one last desperate attempt to free them from the iron claws of the griffins.
Several years have passed.
A lone Valkyrie hovered above the grassy plains of Sphinxia. at it's hull, a symbol of a silhouette of a griffin with a shield decorated by six four sided stars forming a hexagon and a single large one in the middle of it. This was no ordinary Valkyrie, it was the ship owned by the Zephyr the ruling family of Gryfia. At it's command was a blue feathered griffin wearing a silver chest plate with his family emblem on it. He was none other than the griffin prince himself Azure Zephyr.
"Commander report!!" the prince ordered as he enter the ship's bridge facing a griffin with an officer attire. with everyone stood in attention one stepped forward "Sir, we’ve tracked the Sphinx Rebels within this area. what shall be our action sir?" the griffin officer replied and asked.
"Ready a landing force, I will lead the operation myself." He commanded before heading out towards the ship’s catapult deck.
A few moments later, the Valkyrie flew lower and dropped several tank-like vehicles into the fields below after which it opened its forward launch platform launching several armored Griffins into the sky. "Azure Zephyr, Heading out!!" Azure shouted as he was next to be catapulted out. After the launch was completed the Valkyrie return to it's normal altitude.
The Sphinx Rebels soon revealed themselves and started to fire a barrage of arrows and large boulders against the advancing griffins. "In coming!!" a griffin soldier yelled before being hit by an arrow and crashed straight to the ground. the boulders hit some of the Griffin Tanks and got crushed or immobilized on the impact.
"Those rock catapults will be a problem for our Mobile Nests to get through." the Prince thought. "Captain send a signal to the remaining Mobile Nests to move out of range of those boulders and wait for further instructions." He shouted and with salute the Griffin captain fire a flare signalling the tanks to get to a safe distance from the onslaught of the heavy rocks.
"The rest of you follow me!!" with his lance in claw the prince dash down followed by his aerial escorts. He flew through the rain of arrows dodging every single one. He knew his first objective was to destroy their catapults to allow their tanks safe entry and with a swift swing of his lance, He slashed the sphinxes blocking his way causing them to be thrown back and then proceeded in destroying the first line wooden catapults.
In the distance a lone hooded sphinx stood watching the events. "So, you're the famous Lord of the Wind." the hooded figure said. "My friends your sacrifices won't be in vain. I'll make sure to succeed in my mission" with tears in the Sphinx’s eyes, the hooded figure ran and disappeared from sight.
The battle was fierce but ended in the Griffin's favor. "Glad that was over......Captain casualties?" the young prince asked. "Sir, we have eleven slain, twenty wounded, four of the Mobile Nests are destroyed and two damaged" he replied before he stood silent and asked. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking? Why did we have to subdue these rebels directly? Isn’t must easier if we bombed them from the sky instead?" he cautiously asked "Yes, but using our ships to commit such an act is dishonorable. We must treat our foes with great respect no matter who they are." Azure stated.
Satisfied with the prince’s answer, the griffin captain excused himself to attend to other matters that need to be done before their departure.
After a few hours, the captured sphinx rebels were all escorted to the prison hold of the Zephyr Valkyrie. "My Lord........My Lord!!" called an armored yellow griffin who was flying erratically towards the young prince. "What is it........What's wrong?!" Azure asked worrying noting the griffin’s tone of urgency. The yellow griffin took his time to catch his breath before handing over a piece of paper to him. The Zephyr prince took it from the tired griffin's claw and read it's contents "No.....It can be......." he whispered as a tear flowed down his face.
"My Father.........has passed away."
Upon learning his father’s fate, Azure immediately headed back to Zigus, the first Sphinx city that fell under the control of the Gryfian Empire and the current forward base for the griffin’s invasion force. To attend the burial ceremony.
Azure's ship descended and docked to the city's airfield. As he departed his ship, a white and brown female griffin spotted him and flew towards the young prince. "Lord Azure it's been a long time." she greeted. He turned towards her and gave a smile "Lady Gilda Griffinstone." he greeted back.
Gilda Griffinstone is the heiress of the noble family of Griffinstone. She governs a griffin city near the Equestrian border. She's also Azure's childhood friend.
"I take it you heard the news?" she asked with a frown. "Yes, I quickly returned here for that reason. I just wish I could have been with during his final moments." Azure replied trying suppress his sorrow. However, Gilda can sense his efforts to stay strong as she knows full well how much he deeply loved his father.
In the funeral, griffins of all kinds were present. Azure walked over to his father's coffin and placed a claw on it "Father..........I guess this is goodbye" he whispered as a tear flowed down his face. The prince lets go of the coffin turned away and give a nod to signal the two hovering griffins to seal the coffin and carry it into a waiting Valkyrie to be transported back to the Gyfian mainland.
In the crowd of Griffins attending, one in particular watched with envious eyes before smiling menacingly "Don't fret young prince you'll be reunited with your father soon." he whispered.
At the city's citadel, the head of the six of the seven noble families of Gryfia have gathered to discuss an important matter.
The Seven Noble Families are the most powerful clans within the Gryfian Empire, They were was represented in the Zephyr's Emblem as the seven stars. They are Tailwind, Hailfeather, Talonclaw, Cyclonebeak, Griffinstone, Galestorm, and Zephyr itself.
"So it is clear as the only heir of Lord Zephyr, Azure must take his place as the new emperor." A silver griffin wearing a gem-like armor stated. "True...But is the young prince ready for such a responsibility Lord Hailfeather?" a female green griffin in rose colored gown asked. "I for one believe so Lady Tailwind. He has proved himself as a capable leader with his battle record." a third griffin spoke up.
"I will not deny his skills in the battlefield but he is still too young and inexperience." a large black full armored griffin spoke up. "Perhaps someone with more capabilities should take over." he added
"Lord Galestorm, That maybe a fact but all of us here know that as long as Zephyr has a heir none of us has the right to claim the throne." Gilda defended.
"Yes of course, please forgive me. It must have slipped my mind." the black feathered griffin seemingly apologized. Gilda noticed a small grin in his beak but she quickly disregarded it as her imagination.
"Then it's settled. We shall conduct Azure's coronation tonight." Lord Hailfeather proclaimed. As everyone prepared for the event, Lord Galestorm sneaked out of the room undetected.
In the corridor outside he is met with a group of griffins wearing cloaks and masks. "Do you all know what to do?" he asked. The masked griffins gave a nod of confirmation. “Then go.” With that, the cloaked figures silently disappeared into the shadows leaving the griffin lord to laugh sinisterly.
As preparation went underway, Azure headed back to his room to get himself ready for the night of his coronation. He opened the door and to his surprise a female lavender sphinx with her paws tied up was laying on his bed seductively.
With a blush, he asked. "Who in the name of Gryfia are you?!". The sphinx slowly sat up "I'm a present for you from your soldiers. they wanted to express their congratulation for your coronation." she replied with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"They did what!!!" the prince shouted causing the sphinx to be startled a bit from the sudden outburst. "This is unacceptable.....hold on let me untie those ropes off you" he said as he walked closer to her.
When he finally got near enough, he noticed that the ropes around her paws were already loose. "What in blazes....You're..." Azure said before the sphinx pounced on him and both of them fell to the floor "You're not a slave, are you?" the prince commented as he struggled against her.
The sphinx pullout a concealed knife from her wing and pointed it on Azure's throat. "Come quietly and you won’t get hurt." she demanded. Azure merely laughed as he suddenly turned the tables on her. He pushed her to the side and quickly pinned her down "Sorry you were saying?" he said smiling.
Suddenly, the doors of Azure's room suddenly burst open and several cloaked griffins entered the room. The sphinx was stunned as she did not expect these new arrivals. "Good timing. Can you please escort this sphinx to......" before Azure could finish, one of the cloaked figures began attack him.
Quickly, he grabbed and carried sphinx in his claws and dodge the incoming attack. "I don't think you're here to assist me, are you?" he asked with a serious expression. Without delay the others started to surround them. "Put me down. I don't intend to get captured so I might as well fight with you for now." the sphinx demanded. Azure nodded and lets her go.
"Ok, I'll take the ones on the left and you take ones on the right." Azure said readying his battle stance. "Whatever you say." the sphinx replied as she picked up her knife on the floor. Azure smiled as he pulled out his sword from it's sheath.
The cloaked intruders with swords in claw lunged forward to start their attack. Azure was quick on his feet and effortlessly blocked or dodged the incoming griffins and in blink of an eye he slashed his sword killing the first wave attackers that were near to him. The sphinx was also doing well on her side. As she nimbly jump on one griffin to another stabbing them with precise accuracy.
"She isn’t half bad." Azure thought before cutting down another of his attackers.
After an intense battle, The remaining intruders retreated as they felt they were outmatched by the two. "Hey come back here you traitors!!" Azure shouted as he was about to pursue them he felt something hit his side "A.....dart?" he said as he turned around to see the sphinx was holding some sort of blowgun before he slowly lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
"Sorry...but I have a mission to do." the sphinx said.