Ivan
Karnvas City

A week had past, and we had gotten absolutely nowhere in the conflict with the Hunters.

And it was all the idiot "Chairman of Karnvas"'s fault. I was half tempted to compose a haiku about his stupidity as I marched over to the palace, but came up short as I walked up the staircase. The guards, a Severnyy-mir and a Severnyy-buk (Mir are the Polar Bear types and the Buks are the Panda types), hesitated.

"The Chairman is in session with the Lords of Karnvas currently." The Severnyy-Buk said.

I stepped up to them, towering over both. They were both young, still practically cubs.

"My name is Ivan Strongwinter. I do not wish to fight you. But I must be admitted either way. The fate of our world and species depends on it." I said.

I didn't like playing the Strongwinter card. But the name held a lot of power. Enough that they parted without any further argument and let me through.

The Palace had been built back in the Ancient Days, before the Severnyy had known our sun was a star and we were not alone in the universe. These marble stones held the pain, suffering, blood, honor, culture, and history of my people, and I did not intend to let it fall because of a coward who called himself Chairman.

"...must surrender now! We're being massacred out there!" The Phony Chairman was yelling as I burst in. The Lords of Karnvas, representing their specific group of Severnyy, fell silent.

I removed my hammer from my back, swinging it around and resting it's head on the marble tiles. A few gasps of shock and outrage rippled among the Lords. Showing your weapon to the Chairman or King was a sign of disrespect. And to add insult to injury, I made sure the banish firebrand on my right bicep was fully visible. I was done being ashamed of it. It was time to take it as my own personal symbol, not some socially forced brand of shame.

"The Banished may not speak within these walls, Mir! Begone!" The Lord for the Severnyy-derevo, the Severnyy with black fur, screeched shrilly.

"That is true, but I am Banished no longer. I have returned to my Shield Family and was welcomed with open arms. I am once again a child of Karnvas. Now shush, Derevo." I snapped, turning to the Chairman. He was a Severnyy-gora, the least honorable of our people. They were infamous for their deception in war.

"Who dares intrude upon our meeting?" The Chairman growled.

"My name is Ivan Strongwinter of the Strongwinter Clan, slayer of the Southern Scourge. And I am here to challenge the spineless goat that is False Chairman Jones. Or is he a Shieldless coward?" I said. The Chairman's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared.

"I do not need to accept your challenge, Mir. That is the primitive thinking of our ancestors. Now begone before I have you hung for your insolence." The Chairman said dismissively.

I looked around the room.

"The cub has insulted the ancestors. Will you follow any man who disrespects the warriors who brought him his freedom?" I said.

Murmurs. I was winning the Lords over.

"Will you follow the man who lets our oppressors into our homes with welcome arms? Will you follow the man who doesn't even consider himself a child of Karnvas? Face me, Chairman. Or are you a coward? Remember, you can always step aside and just give me the crown." I roared.

The Chairman was trembling with rage at this point. The crown on his head had gone askew.

"I will NOT sit here and listen to this petty barbs! Guards, remove this man at once!" He crowed.

None of the guards stepped forward. The captain even folded his arms and nodded to me.

The Lord of the Severnyy-buk stood.

"It has come to my attention in recent days, Chairman, that you allowed the Hunters to come to Karnvas." She said, ancient voice as soft and as smooth as the silk of her homeland.

The Chairman recoiled as if physically struck.

"Blasphemy! I should have you arrested! I should have you—!" He shrieked.

"Oh, please, Chairman, save us your whining. Let us continue to believe the illusion of your intellect." The Buk Lord sighed, waving her hand. Like magic, he sat.

"Long have the Lords of this court agreed: we must be out with this filthy system and find our new king. It seems," she boomed, looking at me with twinkling eyes, "It would seem the perfect candidate has found us. Long ago the Strongwinter Shield Family ruled us well. Let us see if this one will follow in his ancestors footsteps."

"Enough! I am the Chairman of Karnvas! It is MY say, MY planet, MY kingdom! Away with you!" The Chairman shrieked again.

We ignored him.

"All in favor?" The Buk Lord bellowed.

"AYE!" Was the respond of the court.

The Buk Lord pointed a spindly finger at the Chairman.

"Fetch me the crown so I may crown our king." She said.

The buk guards immediately rushed the Chairman, ripping him from his seat and dragging him, thrashing, to her.

"No! This is an outrage! I will NEVER-!" He was cut off as the guards threw him, face first, into the ground.

I was shocked at how easy the whole ordeal was. I had overestimated the loyalty of the court.

Crown in hand, the Buk Lord stepped up to me.

"In ancient times, the Buk Lord was always the one to crown the king. It is my honor to fulfill that duty today," she said. I knelt. She placed the crown atop my head.

"Rise, Ivan Strongwinter. Hail, King of Karnvas."

. . .

About thirty minutes later I was marched to the throne room, which was teeming with news reporters and, as BigB would put it, an "unholy amount of cameras"

They immediately swarmed when I walked in, screaming so many questions I couldn't keep up. The guards snarled and brandished their spears, keeping them well at bay, even if one stepped on the hem of my new red cloak.

They had given me ceremonial bronze armor with fake abs and a red cloak to go along with the armor, but I had insisted on carrying my own hammer. I also only put one leather wrist cuff on my left arm to keep the firebrand exposed.

I slowly sat in the throne, removing my hammer again and resting its head on the floor.

"I have a message to the people of Karnvas." I rumbled.

The room fell silent, but every camera was trained on me. I sucked in a deep breath, and pressed on.

"Long have we suffered at the hands of the Hunters, while the Chairmen fiddled their thumbs and let the brave stand up to them. But not today! Today we fight back!" I started.

"You know of the Void Bringer, and the lies the Tri Orion Alliance told of him. But he was a good man, and my friend." I had to force that part out, and I could see the shock in the reporters eyes. Too late to back down now.

"He fought the Southern Scourge with me in defense of our homeland, and now I must ask the same of you. We must fight back against Gigacorp and their Hunters! The Void Bringer, Xisuma, has been building a fleet of warships for the Severnyy on his homeworld. We must reopen the gateways and travel there and take the war to the stars as the ancestors dreamed! It means abandoning Karnvas for a time, I know. But if we strike now, and join our brothers and sisters in the stars, we can take down the Andromeda Fleet before they meet up with the Milky Way Fleet!

"I know I have just become your king, and this is a hefty toll to ask. But we are the Severnyy! Warriors till the end! And we WILL tear Gigacorp and their Hunters down, and then we will reclaim our home, this I promise. Fight with me and victory will be ours." I finished.

The entire hall had fallen silent.

Then, one by one, they each began to keel. I felt the resolution, the fire, their hearts now held permeating the air.

I realized I had just given my people something even more powerful than any weapon: hope.

A small smile played on my lips.

For nearly seven hundred years, my people had been beaten down, oppressed, and divided. Now, we were united for the first time since the Great War.

And with unity would be free.