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Citaat:

When darkness falls, and despair is all around, it is hope that sets her free.

As Melian walks the streets and roads of the world only those who take a second look will notice that she is not what she seems to be. Dressed in a well used cloak that covers most of her other clothing she walks trough the dust, leading a rather shabby looking horse. If a sudden wind blows the hood of her cloak from her head, by passers get a look at her lean tired looking face. Its a face that looks both young and old, it is thin, thinner then considered pretty, and her bright red hair has been chopped off roughly at yaw length. It is her eyes however that draw attention. Her eyes are big, seemingly to big for such a thin face, and a bright clear purple blue. If one takes a closer look he will see that her pupils are not a perfect circle... They remind of the eyes of a snake. The odd purplish eyes look like they have seen to many horrors for one person to see in a lifetime.

24 years before a cruel man found himself bored as he walked past a village... As he saw some women do laundry with children playing by there sides he started laughing. The 2 children that where playing besides the road ran home as they heard the madness in the mans voice. He changed his direction towards the village, and threw his cloak back as he walked by the first few houses.

Still laughing he moved his hand over his throat and threw something away... A few seconds later the first few houses burst into flames. His smile went wider and he moved his hands slowly towards the people that ran from their burning houses, screaming for help, some burning already. Each time he flicked his hand one of the villagers exploded. More and more houses went up in flames, villagers still screaming inside some, mothers just running out ,with children in their arms, of others.

For someone watching a pattern would have started to appear at that point. For the young women would not die as quickly as the children and men, they would run towards the man, and stop before him, tearing of their cloths. The pretty young women would then follow him on his death walk trough the village, faces blank, bodies bare. The women that apparently didn't meat his level of excellence would collapse before him, to die on the spot and pushed aside like fallen leaves.

After a minor 30 minutes all the houses in the village where burning, but the biggest one, and all the villagers that had been home for the day where dead. Only the 8 prettiest women, non older then 17, where still alive.

I will not describe to you what the man did to the 8 girls after he forced them into the one house still standing... suffice to say that he enjoyed himself with them for several hours. When he was done only 3 of the girls where still alive, if you can call it such. After the man had redressed he pulled up the pretties of the 3 by her hair and whispers softly in her ear: "I hope you liked is as much as i did little vixen. I have one last present for you now... When i walk out, and close the door, i will close your future as well. You will burn, screaming as you did when you where mine. When you are dead, and come face to face with death himself, you tell him that you are a present. A present from the mightiest warlock ever to exist. A present from Jagang Vlaghs" Having said that he drops the crying girl to the ground, walks out of the door and sets the last house in the village of Hastings on fire, leaving the 3 girls to burn alive.

Unknown to Jagang however one of the hunters of the village had come home early, and the young man, Simon, rushed to the burning house as he heart the women scream inside. Though he got pretty badly burned himself, he managed to rescue 2 of the girls still inside, Melians mother, Rowiena, being one of them. After the rest of the hunters had come home, and some of the women that had been in the forest, looking for mushrooms, Rowiena and the other girl where cared for as well as could under the circumstances and both lived trough the night. As days became weeks, and weeks became month, the 2nd girl started to recover.
Her burns started to heal, and she could eat normal food again. Rowiena however was to badly burned, she could not move, and each time a part of her burns had healed, another of her many burns would get infected.

After 7 month Rowiena was still unable to get up from her sickbed, but by now it had became clear that her burns where not the only mark the warlock had left on her body. Rowiena was pregnant. Being sure she would never survive the birth of her child she had one of the surviving villagers write down all that had happened the day her unborn child had been conceived. She made the villagers promise that the child would hear the complete story at a age of 5, and that the name of its mothers killer would not be denied to the child. Reluctantly, the villagers agreed, and wrote down Rowiena’s story just in case…

Rowiena did survive the birth of her child, and lived on, clinging to live, but never again able to get out of bed. She eventually died exactly 5 years after the passage of the warlock trough the village. Melian was then but 4 years of age. Her mother being buried would be her first memory. Reading the letter her mother had dictated on her fifth birthday would be her second.

As Melian grew up she started showing odd abilities. When she had a tantrum at the age of 6 she destroyed a table after throwing some weird energy at it as she raged. The shock of what she had just done was the end of the tantrum. A few month later, as she was groping around in the dark trying to find a extra blanked she gained the ability to see in the dark if she waved her hands around a little. These powers scared her, scared her more then she would ever admit to anyone. For she had read her mothers letter, and she had asked around as the exactly what that “warlock” her mother had mentioned was. She recognized her powers as the same as those the man who raped her mother had controlled so many years ago.

At first Melian tried to get the powers out of her. She would lie down in a mountain stream for hours until she was so cold she could no longer get up. It gave her a terrible fever, but the powers where still there. She tried burning it from her body, by holding glowing embers against her skin. It gave her scars all over her body, but the powers stayed. Then she tried to blast the powers from her body. She blew up all the trees around the farmers field, giving them extra cleared ground, but all it did was make her stronger.

Torn up by the anger and self-hatred raging in her mind she finally decided that if she couldn’t get rid of the powers, she would use them for vengeance. She started training, all day and all night. She would try to blow up rocks bigger then her own body, blow up trees that had been standing there for ages and ages, the names of generations of lovers carved in their trunks… As the trees crashed down, and the pieces of rock flew around, she became good at avoiding them. She became strong and lean, agile and sure footed.

As her powers become stronger and stronger and she separated herself more and more from the other villagers, they started avoiding her. Her eyes and powers reminded them of the day the warlock killed so many of their friends and family. And her growing obsession with vengeance frightened them. So by the age of 14 she left the Hastings, and started her search for vengeance, not even having had her first blood.

She travelled trough Tioris for several years, earning her money by working on the land, or selling the game she’d killed with her powers. As she went she tried to find out more about the man that had killed her mother, and given her her chaotic powers. As she passed trough the northwest part of the country she encountered several other warlocks, most working for the devils, and thus evil. She fought them when she could, making use of the shadows, and attacking by surprise. Most of the time she managed to stay at a save distance, and so she only got badly hurt a couple of times. She honed her fighting skills and started to keep some of her enemies alive after the fight for questioning. That way she learned that the warlock that had sired her, Jagang Vlaghs, was working for the devils. They told her what the man looked like, that he now wore a golden circlet on his black hair. That he dressed all in gold and red. That the leather of his cloths absorbed the blood of his victims, leaving not even a stain. They told her that she has his eyes, a bright purple blue, with pupils that tighten into slits in bright light. They showed her his mark, the death mark, cracked and burning. And to spite her, they told her how proud he still was of his first massacre, the one that brought his unmatched power to the attention of the devils. His burning of Hastings.

At this point her hatred of the warlock, and evil warlocks in general, only increased, and so she didn’t hesitate to kill the few that survived their fight with her. She took whatever useful or expensive possessions they might have with them, so she might use them or sell them.

She starts to travel east, trough the country of Fiolin. As she stays in a inn not far from the border, she meets a young man, dressed in modest dark clothing, with light blond hair and soft grey eyes. He introduces himself as Richard Andar. They get to talking over dinner and are soon so caught up in their conversation that they don’t even notice it when the tavern owner finally goes to bed far after midnight. When Melian wakes up next morning, and gets ready to head out again in search of Jagang, the young men is waiting for her at the stables, and he offers to come along.

For several month the two young humans travel trough Fiolin together, searching for clues as to where Jagang might be. As they travel they fall in love, and become closer and closer. Melian tells Richard her whole story, and Richard tells her about his. He was born in Fiolin, but orphaned at a young age, he was raised in a ninja school. He completed his training there, but got expelled from the order as his failed his most important exam. He started travelling and as it turned out he made a much better singer then ninja. Willing to help Melian however he can, he helps her train and teaches her everything he knows about the ninja style of fighting. It turns out that Melian has a natural affinity with this type of fighting, and her years of dodging exploding trees and boulders, and fighting warlocks has prepared her well for this new way of fighting. She learns quickly and notices that her new knowledge of fighting also helps her in avoiding getting hit.

After travelling together for 2 month, Melian and Richard make the perfect couple. They know each others weaknesses and strength. They are making a nice amount of money performing together with Melian doing acrobatic acts to Richards music. And so together they travel on.

When Melian and Richard have been together for about a year, Melian starts getting sick in the morning. After 3 weeks of misery, she finally figures it out. She’s pregnant. Both Melian and Richard are now walking around with their heads in the clouds, and they have never been happier. Dreaming of their live together, they travel on, no longer hunting Jagang, but looking for a place to settle, a place of peace. It’s the irony of live, that just when Melian had managed to forget the horrors contrived by Jagang, they almost literally walk into him.

They where slowly riding trough a forest, enjoying the fine weather, and talking about what would be the safest place for Melian to give birth. Melian was now 6 month pregnant, and she started so show a pretty round belly. Her entire body was glowing with health, and she was starting to lose the desperate and skinny look she’d had about her for many many years now. Not paying much attention to the world around them they suddenly heard a horse coming their way fast, at gallop. As they looked up, they saw a dark haired man racing their way, a golden circlet on his head, his red and golden cloak trailing behind him. As they started to move aside to let the man pass Melian had a back flash. She remembered the stories of several of the warlocks she’d killed. About how Jagang Vlaghs now dressed only in red and gold. How he had a golden circlet on his brow…

And as Jagang rides by, she screams his name on the top of her voice. Her voice cuts trough the peaceful silence of the forest as she yells at him. She blurs out the name of her mother, and screams at him that what he had thought his glory would now be his ending. Jagang turns his horse around and in slow-motion she can see him move his hands. As she fights to gain control of herself she realises it’s not her he is looking at... A few seconds later, a bold of energy flies from Jagangs ringed hands. Melian desperately tries to reach Richard but as she manages to turn her horse towards him, the ball of energy strikes. Richard shocks in his saddle and as his horse rears up un fright a second ball of energy hits Melians horse in the chest. As Melian flies from the saddle she sees Richards body hit the ground. She crawls towards him, ignoring the pain in her head caused by hitting the ground head first. As she reaches Richard she can hear Jagang riding away laughing, and right that second a last ball of energy hits the ground just before the rearing horse. It spooks, and kicks out with his hind legs, hitting Melian in the stomach, before it runs off.

Melian desperately shakes Richard, seeing how the light in his eyes begins to fade. She feels Richards hand moving and grabs it, disregarding the pain shooting trough her abdomen and head. As she bends over to kiss him softly on the lips she can feel him struggle. After one last tantalizing intake of air, Richard releases his final breath, forming the word “love” as he passes over to the netherworld.

Completely in shock Melian stares at the silent figure of the man she had come to love and trust. After 30 min she starts shaking at first, then crying and screaming, tearing at her cloths and hitting Richards still body as if angry with him for leaving her all alone. Its not until a few hours later that she notices the pool of blood between her legs, and the lifeless body of her stillborn child. The sight of the 2 persons the she ever truly trusted with her love lying dead on the forest road is to much for her, and she faints.

Its near dark when Melian next wakes up, brought back to the land of the living by the gentle nudging of a horse and the sound of a wagon coming closer. To weak to get off the road she grabs the reins of the horse to pull herself up into a sitting position. As the wagon comes near the couple riding in it can see the horse standing on the road, and soon notice the women sitting under it and the lifeless body of a man. They stop, and carefully carry Melian to a clearing where they lay her down on a bedroll, under a thick blanked, near a roaring fire. It doesn’t take long before the heat calms Melian enough for her to fall asleep. As she sleeps the couple lay Richards body to rest in a shallow grave, and place some rocks on top to mark its location.

The next day Melian wakes up to a sunny day and the smell of broth cooking softly over a open fire. She sits up and looks around to ask Richard where he found the ingredients for broth, before realising he wont ever cook for her again. The idea of never seeing his smile again, never hearing his voice sing to her, is to much and she breaks down and cries. She hardly notices it when a women comes sit besides her and just hold her tight and rocks her softly.

As it turnes out the couple on the wagon were two musicians of about 60 years of age, who where just travelling to the forest on their way to a new town in which to perform. They had several daughters of around Melians age, and as such Sionel instantly starts mothering over Melian. The couple takes care of Melian for several days and when Melian is able to walk again they take her with them in the wagon to the next village. Arriving there, Melian gives them a few gold pieces as a thanks for their help, and she moves into the village tavern.

She has been staying in the tavern for 3 weeks when a funny old guy walks in at dinner time. He walks up to her table, and introduces himself as The Peddler, seller of truth. As the man sees Melians dubious expression he sets herself down opposite of her in the booth. He tells her that he normally sells his pieces of truth, but for her, he has some for free.

He tells her of a great mountain, its peak covered in clouds never penetrated by men. He speaks of this mountain, The Grey Peak, and how no person has ever been able to climb it. But, he tells her, for her the clouds will part. Climb the mounting, and at the top you might fight something that will change the dissatisfaction you have been feeling. If your willing to work for it, it might solve your problems. Climb the mountain…

As Melian listens to the man telling her about the mountain, she gets a painful piece of dust in her eye. When rubbing at it doesn’t help, she blinks, and her eyes start tearing up, but the piece of dust is now gone. When she looks up again, so is the man.

During her meal she thinks over the words of the old man, and ponders as to what she might find on the mountain. After a while she decides it doesn’t matter much what she finds. For it can hardly be worse then her live now. And maybe, just maybe she will find love again, or finally find a way for her much desired vengeance. Or, maybe… maybe she will find a way to be with Richard again, to see his smile, to hear his voice, and most importantly, to hear him say that his death and that of their unborn child was not her vault.

She lingers in the tavern for 2 more weeks, slowly gaining strength again. In the mean time, she sells the fine horse that was once Richards. To replace it she find an old stallion, at a deserted farm, that might once have been impressive, but is now skinny from lack of food. With its mane and tail all matted up, and its feet cracked from a lack of care. She gets a saddle for the horse, and brings him to the smith to get his feet taken care of. Then she brings him to the stable and gives him a good brushing off. The soft nickering of the horse and the heat of its body bring her at the brink of tears as memories of brushing her now dead horse with Richard singing by the fire flood her mind. At the memory of Richard brushing her soft red hair, and telling her how pretty she looks, she cant stop herself and starts sobbing. Crying she reaches down to her belt and takes her knife. She takes her hair in her other hand, and aggressively starts cutting of the silky red strings… when she has cut off almost all of her hair she drops the knife, and leans against the horses warm neck, crying, crying and crying some more. When she is tired from crying and the horse doesn’t have a fleck of dust left in his long ragged coat she goes back inside, for a last night of good sleep.

The next morning she takes her horse, and heads off to where the old man had said the mountain would be, were her redemption would be waiting…