An old partial image story .. does it have a possibility?

           He was indeed dead.  His broken hulk of a body lay in the middle of the ruins that used to be the majestic stronghold of the dragon lords.  They had won.  But the defeat of the stronghold was not something to boast about because it had been defeated with a terrible cost.  The conquerors were nervous.  The stronghold was not as dead as they were told it was. 

            Someone lived there amongst the ruins, honoring the remains of the dead dragon.  It was her, blue gold eyes and hair; she had never recovered from that last terrible attack and the terrifying plunge into the courtyard.  From the shadows she watched the last terrible fight of the bronze and the conquerors.  They had been victorious stopping the fiery bronze dragon yet they still lost. 

            She ran escaping the enemy that held her arms behind her to kneel by the dying dragons head.  “Don’t leave me!”  she cried.

            He lifted his great head, “Child it was treachery from the start!”  he spat dragon fire keeping the enemy out of reach.  “I am not finished, take this!”  He opened his mouth again and a bronze, blue gold stone landed at her feet.  “Guard it! You will know what to do in time.”  The bronze fiery light suddenly went out as she picked up the stone and shoved it in her pocket. 

            They came and dragged her away unresisting; she had died along with the final breath of the dragon.  She never spoke again.

            In time she became like a wraith.  The light blue gold hair became filthy and matted.  The blue dragon mark on her palm which had appeared with her first transformation dulled and disappeared beneath the filth and the dirt.  The stone that was his last gift never was seen again.  It remained hidden in her pocket. 

            She haunted the ruins and snarled at any one who tried to approach her.  Her blue eyes sparked betraying the restless spirit within her.

            A year went by and suddenly the ruins were empty with only the whitening skeleton of the dragon left behind.  A broken blue scale, a ragged bed were the only evidence that someone had been there.  

            They searched the ruins for the wraith but to no avail.  When all of a sudden lights were seen flashing from the inaccessible towers above the ruins.  Blue golden red, yellow flashed across the sky.  

Rysteilla The journey north

Journey North

            As I traveled north, I found myself slowly coming back.  I still was not able to use my paladin armor and my holy avenger but I carried them for they represented a part of my former life.  I wore studded leather and defended myself as need be with a sword that I had found.  I worked for a living, I cleaned barns, weeded gardens, and whatever would feed me for that day.  I was living life as I had not lived in years.

              I remember one family in particular; I was very close to reaching my destination in the north.  They were a simple family living on the edge of the frontier.  Frost giants and dire wolves roamed in the parts on a regular basis but yet the family still stubbornly clings to their piece of land.  I stayed there a few days for there had been a particular bad raid of wolves and they were grateful for the extra sword in battle.  I asked them why if they constantly had to deal with these wolves;  they move closer to civilization and let the guards help.  "Freedom", the head of the family stated.  Freedom?  I was puzzled.  "Yes, here we are boss of ourselves.  We are can support ourselves, we grow our own food, and the wolves only attack in the wintertime so we have the summertime where we can live for us.” 

I later came to understand what the family was trying to tell me that for all those people who lived in comfort behind the walls of the cities there was a better life out here on the edges of the land.  It was real, beautiful, harsh: but the family would never leave their piece of freedom.  They had discovered that the beauty,  of love, friendship they experienced in the summer months was worth the constant raids by the wolves and the other winter creatures that roamed the harsh lands of their home.

About two weeks later I was well into the interior of the waste when I encountered the worst snowstorm of my life.  It was during that time that I rediscovered myself and my purpose.  That day it was eerie, completely silent, even the woolly rhinos that I had encountered and avoided around were in hiding.  They knew that they did not want to be caught in the middle of this storm of storms.  I quickened my step searching for shelter, a small cave, a rocky cliff some where I too could hide.  Eventually I found a small cave which did not have any other occupants though I would have shared a cave with a pack of dire wolves just to get out of the storm.  I pulled out everything I owned and layered it for the temperature was dropping fast.

I curled up in a tiny ball trying to keep warm and try and get some sleep, but the wind outside the cave was blowing and howling so hard.  I stuffed my fingers in my ears and that helped a little and I fell into an uneasy sleep filled with dreams of wolves, snow, lightening bolts, and being crushed by raging rhinos.

I woke up suddenly to an eerie silence and I realized that I could not move, the front of the cave had collapsed and was filled with snow.  Panicked I started to dig my way out of the icy cocoon. Hours later I poked my head out into a blinding snowstorm, the wind lashed and blinded me I tried to duck back in the passage.

As I was thrashing around the wind took on a new sound.  It sounded as if someone was calling for help, or saying my name. No one knew where I was and I shook my head and looked out into the blinding snowstorm.   There was a faint light coming towards me.   I stared at it stuck within the pile of snow that was all around me.  And then something heavy collapsed on top of me shoving me further into the snow.  I struggled and fought with it and in the end I realized that it was human. It was someone else that needed help and shelter from the storm.

Rysteilla

Rysteilla's Journey

         As I sneaked away from the group that I had become friends within such a short time I could not help to think that I was running away, abandoning them to the whims of the winds.  My mentor Servik had revealed to me that he had taken the life of an innocent.  In that instant he had suddenly become human, toppling down from that pillar that I had placed him on in my own thoughts.  I could not deal with this; my own belief structure had tumbled down along with Servik’s.

        Yes Servik you believe that I have shunned you.  Yes in a sense I did but not in the way that you think.  My own beliefs, ideas, hopes, plans and dreams were suddenly replaced by uncertainty and the idea of where do I fit in the society of life.  I was fighting with my own demons, and the only course of action I could conceivably think to do was to run away.  And so I ran.

To this day I do not remember much of my journey, bits and pieces of eating crusts of bread, sleeping under trees, and the smell of the ocean.  I think my dwarven instincts took over at that point and directed my feet to where they needed to go for I was lost in the demon world of my mind.  One of my last clear memories was banging on a door in a cavern, snatches of,"Ryst what the heck?” bustling of feet, warmth, and then blessed darkness...

        A month went by and I still wandered in the demons of my own mind.  My beloved paladin gear lay neatly stacked and clean in the corner, cleaned up by my da, but I never took a glance at it.  It was as if that part of me had never existed, no trusty companions, no adventures, nothing, I had completely blocked that aspect of my life away.  I found myself working in my da's forge pounding, shaping, heating ore...Those days were black indeed for when I was not pounding on the forge, I was in tears my da just let me cry he held me, comforted me, listening to all of my mutters when I did speak.

        My friends stopped by as I was working in the forge and tried to get me to open up but I honestly could not remember anything.  They were astounded for I was not the same person who had left the Dwarvan Stronghold to seek out the world as a Paladin.

       One day after a really horrific day, I had completely lost it thrashed the forge, and again ended up tears my da had let me cry again and then simply stated, "Ryst, you need to go face your problems.”  I looked at him with tears streaming down my face, "NO Da I am not part of that world anymore this is my place now.”  My Da stood there with his arms crossed over the red beard streaked with grey and glared at me, "No it isn't.  You need to figure this out for yourself.  My forge has had enough, as it is I will be repairing the walls from you throwing the hammers repeatedly!”  I stared at him shocked that he was throwing me out.

       I packed my bags still ignoring the stack in the corner when my little brother who was watching asked if I was going to pack the paladin armor and sword.  I think I muttered no and his eyes grew big and round, "You have to Ryst!  All of my friends and I look up to you my big sister is a Paladin!”  As I stood there in shock; I think I started to heal that day and it was my little brother who doted on me, who made me realize that I was being selfish to myself and to those around me.  I kissed my brother with tears in my eyes, "Thank you!” squeezing him tightly.  He squirmed, and pinched me.  "Put me down!!!!"
      I left that day, giving my da and mum a big hug, and “Thank you for putting up with me I will be a different Ryst when you see me again”.  My Da gave me a big wink and a big hug.

I headed north.....