Spruce

Spruce grew up in the Beryle Kingdom of Millennium in the long, winding days before Galaxia brought war to the entire system. As the eldest of Generals Malachite and Aventurine’s children, Spruce was expected from birth to excel in the martial arts, particularly aerial combat, where his parents held command. And excel he did: he was the fastest Imperial in Beryle, outstripping his peers in the cloudless skies by more than double their speed.

But true to his name, Spruce loved the forests of Beryle even more, for the slow ruminations of the trees tempered his spirit in a way that the racing winds never managed. As he grew older, Spruce rose through the ranks at alarming speed; whispers surrounded him wherever he went. The benign spoke of his fighting prowess, of how he would one day be their planet’s Millennium Protector. The more malicious whispers spoke of deceit, bribery, and superstition.

They were lies.

Unbeknownst to him, Spruce had tapped into a magic long forgotten during his long walks, one that gave him strength from the very core of Planet Millenium. So it was that when Millennium came under siege from the vicious Empire Galaxia, Spruce was wracked with sudden pains in his heart, and could not join the battle. While his parents and siblings fought in the first battle for Millennium, Spruce could only watch from his bedroom, limp with agony, as a Galaxian horde of Fae, so numerous that it blotted out the sun, descended upon his planet. He had never felt more useless.

With his heightened sensitivity to the planet’s well-being, however, Spruce soon came to learn how to control his new abilities; his frustration and boredom ensured the learning process was quick, but painful. No doctor or scientist understood the new inner workings of Spruce’s mind, and for a time his family worried that the stress of being eldest child had gotten to the young Imperial. But Spruce persevered, and in the end, he was able to warn the military of oncoming attacks long before Millennium space stations could sense the approach of another wave of Galaxia’s minions. Spruce gave Millennium forces a fighting edge; only time would tell whether it was enough for his family, and his people, to win the war.