Horseshoe's Tall Tale

"Forging of a Warrior's Heart"

Chapter Three: Forging of a Warrior‘s Heart.

  Once again, morning came to the small village called Ironwill, perched high up in the untamed wilderness of the Scared Mountains. A blizzard had set in as the raiding party assembled at the gates of the village. There was Ace Talon, leader of the Blue Blade Militia which acted as defenders in the village to keep the peace. Ace had chosen ten of his most skilled fighters to join him in battle against the vicious mire beasts, ferocious animals that had been attacking the village’s hunting and scouting groups. Joining the defenders, several scouts that knew the forest outside of the village well, were chosen to lead the way through the maze of trees. They hoped to find someplace where the beasts may congregate so as to eliminate a big enough amount of them to disrupt their ability to organize.
“Where is that commander and his lieutenant?” Ace questioned one of his soldiers, obviously irritated by the two king’s soldiers being late to the raid gathering. “I knew it. I pegged those two as chicken right when I first saw them.” Just as Ace had said this, Lieutenant Williamson rode up on his horse.
“The day is still young Ace, have patience. I will show you what I’m made of before too long.” Williamson said.
“Very well lieutenant, but where is Commander White?” Ace asked.
“The commander will be joining us a bit later in the day. He is… indisposed at the moment.” Ace let out a loud belly laugh.
“Indisposed eh? Are you sure it wasn’t our ale that is keeping your commander from joining us this morning? Perhaps our brew master should weaken his drink next time so the commander’s stomach might be able to handle it.” Ace said as he continued laughing. Just then, Ursula came running up through the low visibility of the heavy blizzard of snowflakes.
“If it isn’t the kindergarten warrior!” Ace joked when he saw her coming. Ursula once again grew angry at the burly, loud spoken fighter. Her face grew red and she marched up to him.
“Listen you pig-faced, pot-bellied, loud-mouth no good excuse for a soldier. I’ve had just about enough of you laughing at me. Why don’t you let your sword do your talking and fight me so I can make you eat your words!” Ursula stood toe to toe with Ace, who himself wasn’t that much bigger than Ursula at a little over five feet tall. He had a large reddish-orange beard and moustache that covered his mouth most of the time. Ace was shorter than most warriors, but he made up for it in stout, he had large forearms and a husky frame. His small beady eyes squinted tight as he grew angry over Ursula’s brash comment.
“Why you little brat! I’ll teach you to talk to me like that.” Ace said as he drew his hand back in preparation of attack. Just as he did a hand grabbed his wrist and held his arm back.
“Stop!” Lieutenant Williamson shouted. He had hopped off his horse and interrupted before a fight could break out. “You would strike a child?” Williamson’s words snapped at Ace like a crab’s claw. “You should be ashamed of yourself.” Ace turned to the lieutenant.
“She has asked for it, she cannot speak to me in that fashion.” He responded.
“If I were you I would not underestimate that one, I believe her bark to be just a yelp compared to her bite.” Ace looked at him with a puzzled look.
“What are you talking about? She is nothing more than a spoiled brat with a big mouth that needs to be shut.” Ace yanked his arm away from the lieutenant’s grasp. Williamson laughed.
“I’d almost be tempted to let you fight her, just to see the look on your face when she punched in your teeth.” Ace became enraged at this remark, his fist clenched tightly ready to swing at any moment.
“That’s ridiculous! A little pip-squeak like that beating an expert in the Blue Blade fighting technique. You have got to be joking. Maybe you need a lesson as to what I can do.”
“Easy now soldier, save that for those beasts out there.” Williamson said, trying to ease the situation. “I am sure of your fighting prowess, there is no need of a demonstration.” The lieutenant then directed his attention to Ursula “As for you young lady, I don’t believe your father would approve of you trying to be included in this raid. You should honor your father’s wishes and return home now.”
“But, I can help. You have to let me fight for my village if I decide that’s what I need to do.” She pleaded. The lieutenant kneeled down in front of her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“I know you want to fight and protect your home, any true warrior would want that. But, you have to respect your father’s decision and stay here. It may be difficult to accept for you now, but he is only trying to protect you for your own good.” Ursula sighed in disappointment. She knew he was right, but she didn’t want to admit it.
“And besides, with most of the defender’s gone, the village will need protection, and that’s where you will come in. Stay here and help keep Ironwill safe while we are gone.” Williamson continued. Ursula, as disappointed as she was to not be allowed to join the fight, decided to make the best of it. She nodded her head and then turned to go back home. With no further delay, the men prepared themselves and left the safety of the village behind. The heavy blizzard continued to blanket the sky in a frenzy of white snow. The reduced visibility made the raiding parties trek through the woods that much more difficult. Any tracks that had been left by animals would have been wiped away in moments, so for all intents and purposes the party was walking blind into whatever was waiting for them.
Two long days had gone by with no word from the soldiers, and the air in the village was thick with apprehension. It had been decided that after a certain amount of time one of the scouts in the raiding party would return to the village officials to inform them of their progress. But, this had not happened yet and there was worry that something had happened to keep them from returning. Meanwhile, the people in the village tried to go about their daily lives, but their thoughts hardly strayed far away from their loved ones out fighting in the bitter cold. One such villager was a young woman who’s husband was one of the defenders braving the wraith of the mountain’s harsh environment. She ran a small fruit and vegetable stand as a way to make a little extra money on top of her husbands meager pay. This day however she could not keep her mind off her beloved husband, whom she feared might never come back home again. While this thought kept her distracted, she didn’t notice two young boys take off with a few potatoes from right under her nose. The two boys took off, heading down an alley way between two adjacent buildings.
“That dumb lady never even saw us.” One of the boys laughed.
“Yeah, I bet we could keep getting away with this as long as those defenders are gone. How great is that, free meals.” Both of the boys laughed. But their laughter was cut short by a sudden voice.
“I wouldn’t bet on that.” The two boys looked back down the alley and saw a small figure, eclipsed by the light behind her, standing there watching them.
“And who are you to stop us?” One of the boys yelled back. The figure came closer so they could see who it was. Out of the dark walked the three and a half feet tall imposing figure of Ursula. Her eyes locked unto the two boys with a stone cold stare of conviction. When the two boys saw her, both of them burst into laughter.
“You? You think you are going to stop us? Some little baby girl?” They laughed. “What are you going to do, Hit us with your diaper?” Ursula’s face twisted up into a sneering gaze. As the boys kept laughing, they continued to fuel her anger.
“No, I figured I’d just use my fists!” As she said this she ran up towards the two boys. The taller of the two stood up and prepared to knock Ursula out clean. Once she got close, he let go with a quick right hook. But, Ursula was far too quick to be caught by such a predictable attack. She ducked down low under the swing and then struck up into the boy’s stomach. The punch had so much power behind it, the boy had all the air knocked out of him. He fell clean to the ground beside her after just one blow. Ursula looked up at the second boy, and then motioned for him to come after her.
“Come on, you think you can do better than your friend there?” She said. The boy backed away slowly after seeing what she had done to his friend. “What’s the matter, you wouldn’t be afraid of this little girl would you?” Ursula said in a mocking tone. That was enough to make the boy stop retreating. He clinched his fists and charged in after her. This was exactly what she wanted. When he got close enough to her, he swung his fist at her in a long winding uppercut. At the last moment, Ursula dodged the slow clumsy attack, then thrust her knee up and into his soft stomach, bringing him to a sudden and quick stop. The boy dropped to his knees right beside his friend who was still trying to recover his breath. Ursula picked up the potatoes that the boys had taken and began to walk out of the alley. Before she left, she turned back towards the two punks laying bruised on the ground.
“You two are lucky, I could have hurt you far worse than I did, but I only wanted to teach you a lesson. You best behave yourselves from now on though. While the defenders are away, I’ll be watching over the village. And next time, I might not be so lenient.” With that she walked out of the alley and returned the stolen vegetables.
  Later that night, Ursula and her father were having dinner. A very meager serving of boiled cabbage and squash. This was common for the blacksmith and his apprentice, as there was very little money to go around. But both Tiller and his daughter were used to this and were thankful for what they had. Ursula had often wondered why her father was so insistent on having her become a blacksmith like him, it didn’t seem like the profession provided that much of a great lifestyle for them. But she figured that the reason for their predicament had more to do with being up in a desolate place such as Ironwill, where demand for the trade wasn’t sufficient enough to produce enough business. She knew that if they could move to a bigger town or city, more in the way of common trade routes, the business would most certainly provide a much more bountiful feast for their dinners. She also knew that her father wanted her to follow in his footsteps and continue the tradition of Wellington blacksmiths that he was so proud of. For these two reasons, she continued to try and learn her father’s craft. Only, she was not interested in it at all. The concept of ironworking bored her to no end. The only exciting part came from watching wonderful pieces of armor being forged, and mighty weapons created to a shimmering perfection. These are the things she wanted to be making, not boring horseshoe’s and nails.
“After you finish your dinner, I need you to go out and collect some wood for the fireplace. It’s going to be mighty cold tonight and we are almost out.” Tiller said.
“Yes father.” Ursula replied.
“And you come back before sunset, and don’t go far from the village. It’s far too dangerous out there right now for you to go running around.” Ursula nodded back to her father, but she had no fear of anything out there. So it was, after she finished her dinner, Ursula put on her heavy coat and wool cap, and left to gather wood. She carried an axe with her, to chop down any small trees that she came across. The weather was quite docile that night, no snow was falling and the sky was clear. Despite her father’s warnings however, Ursula continued to walk farther away from the village as she searched for good sized pieces of firewood. Most other children would be angry at such a difficult chore, but Ursula liked it. Carrying around the wood she collected was great for generating strength in her muscles. She soon lost track of time, and before she knew it the sun had set. She was about to return when she saw a small tree that would make for great firewood. She rose her axe to it, and fell it in a couple swings. After a few more good whacks, the tree was reduced to several pieces of timber. Satisfied with her work, Ursula turned to walk back towards her village. It was then that she felt something was wrong. She couldn’t figure out what it was, but she knew she had to get back to the village fast. As she got closer, she could see the village through a clearing in the trees. She could make out bright burning lights streaking around, to her they seemed almost like torches. Ursula dropped the firewood she was carrying and began to run back. When she made it to the gates, she saw that they had been beaten down. The instrument used was still laying there, a huge tree made into a battering ram. Laying there beside the torn down gate was the mangled body of the gate defender. When she saw that, she knew what had happened, and she knew what she had to do. As screams came from inside the walls of the village, Ursula clinched the axe in her hand and ran inside. The darkness cloaked the village in front of her, but she could see well enough to find her way. There in front of her she saw a few of the culprits of this invasion. Three large Mire beasts stood with torches in their huge claws. One of them began setting fire to a building as the other two lunged about destroying everything they saw. She saw several villagers retreating back into their houses, but she knew that wouldn’t protect them from the aggressive attack of those monsters. Ursula, without thought for her own safety, charged in towards the group. As she got close she screamed at the top of her lungs in preparation of her attack.
“YYYYYYYAAAAAAA!!!!!” She bellowed, as she leapt in the air and landed her axe square into one of the monster’s backs. The mire beast let out a powerful roar of pain. The axe sunk deep into its flesh, and a sea of maroon flowed out from it’s disgusting matted hair. The beast reached around and grabbed Ursula, flinging her twenty feet in front of him with one quick motion. She hurled forward, hitting the ground and rolling for another ten feet, coming to a rest in a pile of snow. She groggily got up, dizzy and bruised from her fall. She didn’t have time to get her bearings though, just as she looked up she saw her axe circling towards her. With just a second to spare, Ursula rolled out of the way and the axe landed and stuck into the ground where she had just been. The mire beast clawed at it’s back, now open and bleeding after it pulled the axe out. It roared out at a deafening decibel, obviously in tremendous pain. Ursula took no time to let it recover. She got up and grabbed her axe.
“Hey hairball!” She yelled back at him. “You missed me!” With a quick aim, and fire, Ursula let loose with an axe throw of her own. The axe hurled at such a fantastic speed, giving the beast no time to move. Before it knew what had hit it, the axe struck right between it’s eyes. The monster’s howl faded away, and it fell lifelessly forward onto it’s face. By now, the other two mire beasts nearby had come back and had their sights set on the tiny warrior. They swung their torches about, and roared in an attempt to intimidate her.
“Ha ha, you guys are almost too much fun. So slow and predictable.” Ursula laughed. As she walked forward, she winced in pain. It was her left leg, the fall had fractured one of the bones below her knee. The pain surged through her, but strangely it didn’t stop her, instead it made her angrier. She screamed in pain and anger, both of which fused together to make her stronger. One of the mire beasts knelt down to look over the body of it’s dead companion. It almost seemed as though it cared for it and showed a noticeable sadness from it’s passing. The other mire beast bellowed loudly, before charging after Ursula viciously. But Ursula showed no fear. The pain that flowed through her body, focused her attention into a razor sharp point. In this state, the lumbering mire beast almost seemed to slow down to her. She stood her ground and waited till it was close enough. The beast swung it’s arm down in an attempt to crush the girl. But, it had no chance to catch her. Just before it’s arm came down, Ursula jumped and delivered a devastating punch to the monster’s snout. The resulting explosion backwards of the bones in it’s nose, pierced the beast’s brain internally. It’s death came quick and sudden and it collapsed onto the ground. Ursula stood over it’s body, the blood pumped quickly in her veins, making her aware of everything around her in terrifying detail. She looked down to see blood pour from the mire beast’s face, it’s lifeless eyes rolled back into its sockets. The angry grew inside her. These disgusting monsters had come into her home, and attacked her people. They would pay for this, she would make sure of it. The remaining mire beast looked at her, having just watched it kill another of it’s kind with one single blow. In an amazing turn of events, the mire beast whimpered and turned to run away.
“There is no place for you to run to, no means of escape!” Ursula said to the retreating beast. She ran forward and yanked the axe from the first mire beast’s cold body. In a deliberate choice of actions, Ursula flung the axe at the fleeing monster’s leg. The axe flew with such a powerful force that it cut right through the mire beast’s leg, just below it’s kneecap. It hurtled forward in the air and fell to the ground, it’s severed leg landing beside it. The monster wailed in agony. It looked back to see Ursula walking slowly and deliberately towards it. In a fearful panic, it attempted to crawl it’s way to safety, but it was no use. Once Ursula was close enough, the beast let loose with a last ditch effort swing at it’s attacker. To the beast’s amazement and horror, Ursula had stopped it’s swing with the powerful grip of her hand. Ursula squeezed ever so slowly around the monster’s large wrists. The grip she had on it’s arm sent waves of pain down the beast’s arm, and it cried out.
“You would not have shown any mercy to my people, and I in return will show no mercy to you.” She said in a cold voice. Ursula tightened her grip all at once, shattering the monster’s wrist bones. The mire beast howled loudly under the intense pain. When Ursula let go, it yanked it’s arm back and held it up against it’s face. She picked up her axe, which lay beside the beast. Ursula held it high over her head, and with a quick and sudden strike, buried it into the beast’s skull. With that, the mire beast fell silent, and Ursula sighed a breath of relief. The extensive stress put on her body by the power of her rage and pain combined, started to show and Ursula felt significantly weakened. The pain in her leg from her injury throbbed painfully. Her head got cloudy, and her vision started to blur. She might have passed out right there, but one thought brought her back.
“Father…” She muttered. She had no idea if her father was alright. All at once, Ursula found the power in her to restore herself, and she recovered from her weakened state. She immediately began to make her way back to her father’s shack. Even though she had stopped those three mire beasts, Ursula knew there were more in the village. Fires began to rage in houses all around her, set by the invading monsters, the village was burning down and there wasn‘t much she could do to stop it. Ursula raced through the black billowing smoke and the bodies of fallen villagers, until she arrived at the small blacksmithing shack. To her horror, she saw her father trying desperately to defend himself against a mire beast easily twice his size. Tiller was wielding a broadsword and shield, which it was obvious from his fighting that he was not skilled in using. Ursula felt her feet grow incredibly heavy, an immobilizing panic struck her at the sight of her father fighting for his life.
“Father!!” Ursula managed to yell out in her shock. Tiller turned to see his daughter standing nearby, covered in the blood of the fallen beasts she had just struck down.
“Ursula! Get out of here now! Run!” Unfortunately, this momentary pause to order his daughter to run to safety, caused Tiller to drop his guard for a moment. The mire beast took the opportunity to strike in this moment of weakness, and it reared back for a crushing blow. Ursula saw this and tried to warn her father of the attack.
“Look out!” She yelled. Tiller saw the attack and tried to get his shield up, but it was too late. The mire beast’s attack struck him across his chest and sent him hurtling to the ground, his sword was flung away and landed in the snow between Ursula and the beast. This sight sent Ursula’s heart into her stomach, it all seemed to happen in slow motion to her and she was helpless to stop it.
“NOOOOOOO!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.  Ursula broke free from the temporary panic that had kept her grounded and she rocketed forward in a head on charge with the huge monster. She grabbed the sword out of the ground in mid-stride, and launched herself in the air. With a powerful bellowing from her tiny lungs, Ursula flew forward. She thrust her sword out in front of her and struck the mire beast dead center in it’s chest. The sword pierced right through the hulking monster’s heart and out it’s back. Blood spat out it’s mighty jaws and it’s eyes widened in shock of what had just happened.
“You Bastard! You…, You…” Ursula stammered in her intense hurt and anger birthed from seeing her father struck down. She twisted the sword in the monster’s chest and pushed it in deeper. The mire beast’s mighty howl surged through the air. It clawed at Ursula’s back in a vain attempt to retaliate, but Ursula did not feel the pain from the clawing. Her mind was focused like a laser beam on making the monster pay for what it had done. “Do you feel the pain in your heart, huh? You monster, I want you to suffer, I want you to feel this!” She twisted the sword all the way around and shoved it forward. The pain eventually brought the mire beast to it’s knees, with Ursula still holding onto the sword buried in it’s chest. It’s howl reduced to a spurting gurgle of blood flowing from it’s mouth. “Now Die!” Ursula yelled, as she yanked the sword violently out of the incapacitated animal. The mire beast’s eyes rolled back and it collapsed backwards, dead. Ursula flung the sword to the side and stumbled her way towards her father, who was still laying where he had fallen.
“Father, it’s alright. I’m here. I killed that monster, you’re going to be alright.” She looked at him. He was bleeding profusely from a jagged wound that reached from one side of his chest to the other. “Ill get doctor Feller, Ill bring him back here. He will help you.” Just as she got up, her father reached up and grabbed her hand. She turned back to see him looking at her.
“No, Ursula. Stay here, I need to tell you something.” Tiller spoke in a weak voice.
“You can tell me after I get you help, you need the doctor right now.” Ursula replied.
“No you have to hear this now, nothing the doctor can do will save me, and I might not make it till you get back.”
“Don’t talk like that! Don’t give up!” Ursula shouted, her voice began to tremble and crack.
“Listen to me, Ursula. It’s important that you hear what I have to say.” He insisted. Ursula refused, and pulled away from his grip.
“No, your not going to die, I won’t let you die.” She said as she started to get up.
“Dammit, Ursula. I am your father!” Tiller managed to shout even under the pain he was suffering. “I am telling you to stay here, now stay here!” Ursula stopped. She was so desperately trying to hold on to her brave exterior, trying to keep herself from showing her weakness. But inside, her insides were tearing up. Accepting that her father was going to die, was accepting that she was powerless to stop it, and that’s the part she didn’t want to face.  She sat back down by her father, but she did not look at him.
“Yes father.” She muttered. As much as she tried to hold it back, tears began to flow down her cheeks.
“Ursula, look at me.” He reached up and took hold of her chin, bringing her face upwards so her eyes were looking into his.
“That’s my girl, it’s okay.” He told her. Ursula’s eyes showed the emotions raging inside her, and the struggle she fought to keep those emotions from surfacing.
“Do you remember when I taught you about the Wellington blacksmithing tradition?” He asked her. Ursula nodded her head. “Well I told you, as far back as I could remember, every generation of our family has been blacksmiths. It’s been passed down from father to son for years and years. And I wanted you to become the first female blacksmith in our family history.”
“I know, father.” Ursula replied. Tiller struggled to get his next breath, his eyes began to blur and he clutched at Ursula’s hand. She responded by squeezing it back.
“Well..” he began again. “There is something I haven’t told you. Something I tried to keep from you, for your own good. But, now I think maybe I made a mistake. Ursula, I saw how you attacked that mire beast a moment ago. You showed such speed and strength, for someone as young as you that is quite remarkable. But, I’m not surprised. I knew for a while that you were more than just an ordinary girl.” Tiller was losing his strength quickly. It was now taking extensive effort on his part to keep himself focused and not slip away into unconsciousness.
“There is another tradition in our family, Ursula, and that is great fighters. For hundreds and hundreds of years, Wellington men have been fighting bravely in wars. They were always such superb warriors, seemingly having incredible fighting instincts even as young children. There was just something in their blood I guess, that drove them to be fighters. But the last great Wellington warrior died over two hundred years ago. It was your great, great, great, great grandfather, Andreas Wellington. That sword and shield were his, passed down from generation to generation.” Ursula looked over at the sword she had thrown to the side. Part of the blade was buried in the snow, but the name Andreas  Wellington could be made out along the rim of the hilt.
“I did them no justice however, I am no warrior. There hasn’t been a Wellington born with such warrior instincts since Andreas. I think that’s because there hasn’t been a need for them” Tiller gazed up at his daughter with a look of unbridled pride. “That is until you came along. I noticed it very early on, you have always been quite strong willed and determined. But, I didn’t want you to be a warrior, I tried everything to keep that suppressed. I didn’t want my precious baby girl to go off and get hurt in some war. Most every Wellington warrior in our family has died prematurely. I wanted you to live a nice, long happy life. Not one filled with the horrors of war and battle. Not one that ended before you could live it to the fullest. But now, as I lay here dying, I think to myself that there must be some greater force behind this. I fear that the reason you have been given these warrior blood instincts, is because the period of peace we have enjoyed for so long now is coming to an end. Someone or something has decided that the time of Wellington warriors is once again needed, and you are destined by fate to be what you are meant to be.” Tiller’s eyes filled with tears as he talked. Blood began to spurt from his mouth and he coughed to try and clear his throat. Ursula wrapped her arms around her father and hugged him tighter than she had ever done before.
“Father. Please don’t leave me!” She cried to him. “You can’t die like this, not now. I love you.” Tiller placed his hand on the back of Ursula’s head, his fingers ran through her disheveled, messy green hair. Tiller couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his brave daughter cry in front of him, not even as a baby did she weep. But now, on this darkest of days, she would weep enough tears for a lifetime.
“I love you too Ursula. I’m sorry for trying to force you to live my idea of what your life should be. All I wanted to do was keep you safe. The life of a warrior is not as glamorous as stories tell it to be, its full of terrible hardships and grueling pains. But I know now that you wouldn’t have been happy living a life as just a boring blacksmith, for the warrior spirit born inside you that would be just as bad as death. And me trying to force you to live that life would have been wrong. I guess what I’m trying to say is Ursula, you live your life as you need to live it. All I care about is that you do what makes you happy. And if being a warrior is what makes you happy, I hope that you will be the greatest warrior in history. But, whatever happens, always remember this, I am proud of you. I always have been.” With that, Tiller closed his eyes and gave up his struggle to stay awake. His body went limp and after a few moments he was gone. Ursula, still hugging her father’s body, felt his energy leave it and she knew he had passed away. She just stayed there, crying uncontrollably. The pain inside her soon went from incredible unrelenting sadness, to an increasing surge of anger. It began building deep in her heart and then started surging all over her body. She had no control over it, it was all consuming, all encompassing rage. She lifted herself off of her father’s body and slowly rose to her feet. All at once the rage inside her erupted in a ear piercing shout. She clinched her fists so tightly that she drew blood from her hands being cut by her fingernails. This rage was raw and unfocused, it was everywhere and everything at once. It was if somewhere inside her a switch had been turned on, and the flow of force blew down walls that had been holding back the very core of her being. Ursula screamed and screamed, such a horrible blood curling howl that animals in the nearby forest area took notice and ran. When the eruption did finally die down, and her screaming waned. She stood there, her body flowing with power born of pure rage. And her rage suddenly had a focus, it burned down straight unto the mire beasts that had killed her father. Her mind had only one thought, kill them. Kill them all completely and thoroughly. She knelt down and pulled her father’s sword from the ground. It was shiny, having been cleansed of blood by the snow. She looked at her reflection in it. She saw her face, smudged with blood from her the beasts she had killed, and from her father as he had lied dying. She had always known she was meant to be a warrior, and now her father’s dying words had proven it. She felt it inside her, the blood of warrior’s gone by. Her father was wrong about one thing, all those Wellington fighters in their family history, they didn’t die prematurely. In fact, they never died at all. They lived on through the generations, and were always born again through the hearts of the next line of warriors. And now, after two hundred years of slumber, they had awoken once again stronger then ever. She smelt the air around her, she could smell them, all of them. She knew where they were in the village. It was almost as if she could see them. Ursula clinched the sword in her hand and began the slaughter. She made her way to each of them, no matter where they were in the village, they could not hide. They skulked in corners, crept in shadows. They hid in sheds and inside attics. The mire beasts no doubt could sense her anger with their animal instincts. They could sense her power, they were afraid. The pitiful, heartless monsters. They were used to attacking those weaker than them, they loved killing and brutalizing their prey. But now they were the prey. One after another, they fell to her blade. She showed no mercy, her rage was unrelenting. She cared not if they cried for their lives, they were not worth her pity now. She was not heartless, she just knew that justice had to come to them. It had to come in a form that spared nothing, and was final and unwavering. Soon there was but one mire beast raider left in the village. Ursula had chased it out from hiding and pursued it to the gate. With deliberate intentions, she injured the cowering beast, but allowed it to flee. It’s blood covered the snow as it ran. It was her plan, the beast would run home, and she would follow it there. She would go to where they live and do to them what they had done to her. It was then when the final monster had been erased from the village, that Ursula’s surging rage waned. She fell to her knees in exhaustion. All the power fueled by her rage, had drained and weakened her body. She looked back at her village, Ironwill. Houses lay crumbled by fire, and bodies of her fellow villagers were strewn around in a sickening sight of destruction. They had taken all she had from her. Once again, as she knelt there in the snow, her mind fell back unto her father’s passing, and she wept. Remaining villagers worked to put out fires and to find their loved ones. The village elder, Marshall Hallows, who unfortunately was one of the many victims on this tragic day, lay dead in his lead officer, Leonard Andrews’ arms. Leonard, who was out trying to save villagers from the mire beasts attacks, was unable to get to his mentor in time. And now the founder of Ironwill was gone. All seemed dire, the village was in ruins, it’s people were shaken and it’s leader was dead. Once more, the raiding party sent to destroy these mire beasts had not returned and they too may have fallen victim to these brutal monsters. But all was not lost, little did the people of Ironwill know, that their hero was just getting started. The sky was dark and cloudy now, but the sun would come out again and Ursula would make those responsible pay.

End of Chapter Three…