Art by Martin Griffiths and Gina Hart
Taya is an elf from the kingdom of Rune. She is currently a member of the new Shining Force.
History[]
Although her family is unknown, Taya seems to have grown up on Granseal Island along with human friend Bowie. In this time, she grew close to his grandfather, Maximillian.
Having a practice fight with Bowie one day, Taya easily won the battle by hitting him in the face with her staff. She then healed him with magical powers, stating that he could not learn how to do this since he was not an elf. Soon afterwards, a plane landed in the centre of town, with Taya and Bowie rushing to investigate it. When Zynk, the pilot, emerged, Taya took him to see Max with news on the evil Zeon. Inside, Taya watched as Bowie was gifted Max's sword and eagerly suggested that her friend should become the leader of a new Shining Force. Her glee was interrupted by the arrival of Baron Kadavaar, attempting to reclaim his robot. Taya was able to kick his golem in the head, although this appeared to do little. The golem quickly retaliated by slapping her to the ground. Before Kadavaar could cause any more damage, Maximillian teleported Taya and the others to safety.
On hearing that a group of Zeonites were planning to free their leader, Taya accompanied Zynk to the village of Hassan, aiming to recruit a centaur. They discovered Chester, but the warrior refused to listen, hitting the "tricky elf" with his lance. The situation was cleared up by the ghost of Max and the foursome travelled to Ribble. After dispatching one of the two guards by using her staff as a vault, Taya travelled into the caves, only to be stopped by a guard armed with a gun. Taya warned Bowie to be careful, but was unaware of the weapon's power. Following Bowie's shooting, Taya was able to pull out the bullet with magic, but wasn't powerful enough to heal the wound. She attempted to explain the situation to Max's ghost, who revived his grandson and gifted him extra powers.
After hearing of Kadavaar's plans, Taya was teleported inside the Ancient Tower by Bowie. The elf quickly helped to defeat the Zeonites inside but was alarmed to discover that their nuclear bomb was strong enough to destroy half of Granseal Island. To help matters, Taya assisted the others in pushing the bomb into the abyss, lessening its effect.