Samara Ryan Blackwood's Story

Temple of the Old Gods, Outskirts of Corona

The temple itself was a beautiful monument to the gods and goddesses of old. It was a place of learning for the scholared and of trainig for those of the balde. Its arcsrecture combined soft gental curves with sharp and distinct planes, creating and ordered an peaceful environment for its acolyts. It's stone walls cast a neutral backdrop to the lush forest that made its home. Within the walls, great statues dedicated to the old gods lined the halls, and encircle the main courtyard, from which the resounding clang of sharpened steel was a common tone.

"Again!" Instructor Barak shouted at the acolyts. They stepped back into position raising their swords to eachother, and awaited the Trainers order. They were Battle Mages and Sorceress, children who showed exceptional skill at the art of magic, and untouched profession in swordsmenship. The Instructor stopped near a young girl, a noble women of house Blackwood "Strike!"

The children moved into one another like two rivers meeting together. They danced, spun, parried and countered one another. After a few movements, the children had came to a draw. All but two, the Blackwood child, and a young man by the name of Dragonmiir. The two moved with such fluidity it was almost as if they danced, but neither gave an inch to the other. Until the young boy did the unexpected, he gave an opening, allowing the Blackwood girl to land a thrust, clipping his shoulder.

"Very good Samara" Barak said clapping, but found himself slowly stopping as the whispering from the other students caught his attention. He stepped to his left, and saw that though Samara landed a blow, Dragonmiirs' rested just before her gut "I stand corrected" he smiled "Dragonmiir wins"

"INSTRUCTORS!" A voice yelled

"Children, stand at ease, I will be right back" Barak said taking off at a slow walk with another instructor to the Masters House.

The children were quick to start congratulating Dragonmiir, but the humble son of a blacksmith was quick to shed the glory to the Blackwood girl "It is Samara who deserves praise" he said walking up to her "She is the only one of you two land a blow against me" he looked at the gash on his arm

"It is not even deep" Samara said with a blush

"Still a heavy blow" Dragonmiir said clasping her arm

"Children" Instructor Barak said walking up "I am afraid training will have to be canceled for the day" the sound of carriages rolling and horses walking into the courtyard was evidence that the children's guards had come to return them home. "Your guards will return you home"

Samara sheathed her sword and turned to find one of the guards standing before her with her horse, the other four guards rode behind "My lady" the man bowed

"Sir Brian" Samara nodded

"When you are ready, we will retrieve your sister and return to the estate" he said helping Samara up

"Let me guess" she said gripping the reigns as Sir Brian stepped into his saddle "She is out hunting?"

"I believe so my Lady" he smiled

"Let us be off then" she turned to click her horse into a gallope

"Better luck next time Samara" Draonmiir said mounting his steed

"You will need it" Samara winked, and with that rode off with the family guard to retrieve her sister.

Silence befell the the nearby forest not far west of the Castle of Corona. Two entities waited, fully aware of each other's presence, yet not showing any sign that they were. One body was large and muscular. Completely covered in brown fur, with claws large, and slanted to a sharp point. The second body was tall, yet obviously weak and inferior compared to the other. Hiding among the trees that surrounded the clear opening where the larger body feasted. Raspberries? What an odd meal for the creature who most would think to be the hunter of the other body, who was searching for it's prey. Stalking the trail that led to the berry bush. A single vulture circled the area. Knowing the signs of it's next meal. There would soon be death in the forest very soon.

Suddenly there was a rustle of leaves and branches in a tree nearby the larger body. It perked its ears in alarm, but continued feasting, as if the noise didn't concern it. The weaker body cursed itself, having ruined it's stealthy assault. Even so, it stared at the larger body, grasping the crossbow it had strung to it's back, and readying a bolt to be fired. Calm breathes, the weaker body waited for it's opportunity, as it measured the wind currents that flowed through the entire forest by touch. Finally, the larger body, having noticed the intense hostile energy directed towards it, lifted it's head. It's sensory organs were on high alert. For some reason, the larger body felt cornered. As if it couldn't escape what it was about to face. It felt fear, and the weaker body could tell. Within an instant, the larger body turned it's head toward the trees behind it, and a bolt surged forward, and embedded itself in the larger bodies' skull. The larger body fell to the ground a few seconds later.

Content with her kill, Carabell jumped down from the tree she had been crouching on. She observed the corpse, noting how limp the bear's body seemed to be. Before she could survey the face, the vulture from earlier swooped down, not giving Carabell any mind. It landed next to the bear's corpse, ready to begin eating. Carabell took note that there was a small mountain around 50 miles north of the castle, but was curious as to why a vulture would travel here all the way from there. Quickly, Carabell approached the vulture, and swiftly drew a throwing knife aimed, directly for it's left foot. She didn't want to kill it, as she didn't really consider the vulture as her prey. But she couldn't rightly let it consume the remains of the life that she took either. The vulture quickly took off, before the throwing knife reached it. The knife instead, embedded itself into the left side of bear's stomach. Carabell fell back in surprise, as the bear immediately sprung up, and roared at the sudden jolt of pain that was just inflicted on it. The bear turned it's gaze towards Carabell, with a mixture of hatred, confusion, and of the strongest feeling. Fear. It truly seemed like a cornered animal. The bear lunged forward, raising its claws in the air to strike down on her. Carabell quickly drew her broadsword, ready to defend herself from it's attack. As the large paw fell down, Carabell positioned her sword diagonally, so that she could counter it's attack with her own. Instead the bear fell down, it's eyes now glazed over, and empty. This was definatly one of the closer calls Carabell has had when hunting. Carabell examined the bolt she had implanted in the bear's skull. "Huh. Guess it didn't go deep enough to take it out immediately. If anything, it's death was delayed." Carabell stated. She didn't seem in the least bit sympathetic towards the bear, but she actually felt bad that it didn't die instantly, and instead had to suffer.

Carabell then took out the small spade she carried in her pouch, and began digging around and underneath the bear. "Pleasure never comes without consequence." Carabell said aloud. Carabell always buries her kills in respect for them. This one in particular. She feels its the least she can do, since they died for her little hobby. "This marks the 8th bear I've hunted. Biggest one so far too." She said to herself gleefully. "Although... I should probably work on feeling the wind currents some more. If the bolt went only a centimeter left, it would have killed this poor creature instantly. Don't you think, Bael?" She asked while continuing to dig. One might think she was talking to herself the entire time. But then again, they probably don't know about the shadow guardian that follows her. The shadow blob came out from the shadow of the tree she had been hiding in, and crept towards her slowly. Now a fourth of the way done digging, Carabell swept some sweat from her forehead. "Hey Bael. Why didn't you try attacking the bear when it attacked me? Could you tell that it was already dead?" She asked, as if expecting Bael to answer.

Carabell continued talking with Bael about every detail of her little bout with the bear. Bael merely sat there, watching her. Showing no sign that it was paying attention to her words, or even conscious. She finally finished, patting down the dirt covering where the bear now laid, buried. "Don't worry. That vultures gonna have to starve tonight." She smiled, picking up a fairly large rock, and carving the shape of a bear paw print in the middle of it. She then placed the rock on a mound of semi-wet, packed dirt at the head of the bear's grave, then began dusting herself off. "Its getting kind of late. We should be heading back now, Bael. Before father finds out." She began taking off towards the edge of the forest, stopping only when she reached the horse that she tied to a tree earlier. Bael followed suit, swiftly melding back into the shadows. "Hey Gustav. Did I make you wait long?" Carabell asked, rubbing the horses' face affectionately. "Before she could mount the horse, she noticed something riding towards the forest in the distance. "Maker be damned... My sister is coming to get me. Father will definitely find out if she finds me here. I'll have to circle around and cut through the forest to evade her." Carabell kicked into action.

She went on with her plan, soon making it to the stables, where she left Gustav, giving him a carrot she had stolen. She then rushed to the secret underground family passage into the castle. Coming out through trapdoor underneath the rug in the kitchen pantry, she peeked first to make sure no one was around. Getting out, Carabell, snuck her way all the way to the armory, where she was going to store her crossbow. "Phew. It looks like I got home before Samara. Shes probably still searching the forest for me with Sir Brian." Carabell snickered at the thought, beginning to unlock the armory.

Samara slowed her horse as the party approached Guatav, her sisters favored steed. As they slowed down she began scanning the tree line for her sister. She turned to the four guardsmen "Find her please"

The four men dismounted their steeds and stepped into the forest. Their chain mail shakes slightly as they walked, and the noise dissipated the further they stepped. Sir Brian was the only one to remain with Samara. He soon dismounted his horse, unhitched Gustav and brought the horse around.

"She is not here" Samara said

"Your sure my lady" Sir Brian asked. The face he received changed his response "Of course my lady" he turned to the woods "Men! Lets go"

The soldiers returned, mounting their steeds "Let us be off then" Samara said kicking her steed into a gallop once again.


Blackwood Manor

As they passed through the main gates, Samara veered the colum to the left directly to the stables. She was young, but already accustomed to the role of a leader. She was able to command the respect of most of the house guard, and many obeyed her commands as if they were her fathers. She stoppe her horse in front of a stable boy, as soon as his hands gripped the reigns she dismounted and walke towards the castle.

She removed the robes of the acolyt and passed them to a maid for cleaning and return to we room. The garments she wore underneath were stunning for a girl of her youth, though her body had matured to fill it out. She wore steel boots that came up to her shins, and padded leather that ran under them and up to midway on her thigh. A padded steel mail skirt covered her hips, and a longer leather trail came over it. Her mid section was bare, and a steel chest piece covered just that, her chest. Steel pauldrons and gauntlets covered her arms, and thin leather, fingerless gloves ran up under the gauntlets.

Te clink of chain mail caught her attention, she looked at the stairs to see her shield maiden Eva coming to greet her.

"Samara" Eva said with a cheerful smile, she had pulled her dark blonde hair into a poney tail. Her apparel was much the same as Samaras. Save that she had leather and steel plated greaves as opposed to a skirt. She also wore no gloves or pauldurons.

"Sister" Samara gave her close friend a hug. Since birth, Eva had always been beside Samara and her sister. As Carabell drifted farther from Samara, Eva became closer "Have you seen Carabell?"

"Last I heared she was in the main hall" Eva replied

"Let us find her please,I need to speak to her" she gestured for Eva to follow

"Of course" Eva replies and the two ascended the stairs.

Carabell unlocked the armory and stepped inside, a smile spreading across her face. She never got tired of par-oozing and browsing the many weapons and amours that decorated the dark, dim room. She took her time walking, as she gazed over the battle axe display to her right. 3 tables and 7 wall hangers filled magnificent bludgeons, sharpened to perfection by the Dragonmiir boy Carabell's sister seemed to be friendly with. Carabell didn't know much about Dragonmiir other than his name, and the fact that he's a blacksmith's son. Or that he knows Samara. Carabell ran her fingers over the glass casing that housed the finer swords collected by the Blacksmith family. One in particular caught her eye.

A cutlass stolen from a pirate captain who had targeted the Blacksmith mansion for reasons unknown, back before her father had even been born. It still shown brilliantly and new, as if just crafted. Along the edgings of the scabbard, shined a beautiful mother of pearl. Of course all of the crew had been executed, for attempting to steal from the royal family. Carabell's great grandfather was the head of the family at the time. She remembered him being gentle, and kind the one time she saw him. Lying on his death bed, and marking her grandfather as the new head of the family. She was only 4, so the memory was fuzzy to her, but she couldn't imagine him being cruel enough to kill an entire group of people for something as petty as thievery. Then again, thievery didn't mean as much to her as it did most people.

Finally She made it to the end of the armory hall, where the stands that held each member of the household's handpicked armor and weaponry lied. Her father's in the middle. A few spaces to the right, lied the empty stand where Carabell's should be. Lying behind it, was one of her usual black dresses, that she had placed there. Having of course locked the armory back behind her, Carabell began undressing, and redressing into her new set of clothes. She then carefully placed her armor back on the stand, and placed the crossbow on the arm posts next to it. With a huff, she turned around, and went to leave the armory.

Not looking behind her before locking the door, Carabell turned around only to be met with the dissatisfied eyes of her twin sister, and the stern look of their bodyguard, Eva. 'Maker be damned.' Carabell first thought, as soon as she saw them. A bead of sweat trickled down her face as she waited silence for what felt like hours. Finally, Carabell decided to break the ice, for some reason taking a nervous breathe before speaking. "Its good to see that you are back dear sister. How was today's visit to the temple? Did you receive any injuries this time?" She asked, hoping to keep a light topic. Bael watched from the shadows in the corner of the hall, apparently intrigued by the atmosphere between the sisters.

Blackwood Armory

The surprise look on Carabells' face was one not uncommon to Samara or Eva. To many times had the duo caught Carabell doing something she should not. Samara looked her over quickly, the dress she currently wore had no dirt at all. This ment she had arrived early enough to change over from her adventures in the forest.

"Must have been a long walk in that outfit, especially without a steed" Samara said "Who by the way must have jus been fine with being tied to that tree with no more but the grass below his feet to eat" Samara stopped herself, she was begining to sound more and more like a condescending elder than a sister. Samara embraced Carabell in a hug, her chest plate pressing against her sisters chest. Samara pulled away "I am just glad your safe. I know you can handle your own, but it's still my job to look after you"

She and Eva made their way around Carabell and opened the armory door. Eva stepped inside first, Samara turned to her sister one last time "The temple was invigorating as ever. You should come with next time" and with that she shut the door.

"You seem stressed my lady" Eva said helping Samara remove her armor and place it upon the stand, as well as her own.

"I feel as though I am turning into a bureaucratic noble women" She said unbuckling her chest piece and pauldurons.

"My lady, you are a noble women" Eva said jokingly, she pulled her metal greaves and boots off.

"You know that is not at al what I want to be" Samara said removing her chain mail top and placing her armor on the stand, she turned around with little more than a strip of cloth over her bare chest "I just feel as though I am pushing her away"

"Carabell loves you" Eva said pulling on her leather hide boots "She is just slightly envious of the praise you gain"

"I do not do it on purpose" Khalan said pulling her normal attire on, a functional dress of leather armor.

"She will see it in time" Eva said buckling her leather padded jacket "Give her some time"

Samara walked over to the weapons racks to her section of steel made for her by Dragonmiir.

"You love him don't you" Eva said placing her shield on her armor stand

"He is a very unique and stunning individual" she pulled down her dress sword, a slim broad sword engrave with runes filled with sapphires "And a unmatched swordsman and skilled blacksmith"

"So you do love him" Eva jested grabbing her scimitar and sliding it onto her back, she walked over to her spear

Samara sheathed her sword and placed it on her hip "Yes" she grabbed her wrist blades and placed them under her sleeves. A knock came to the door "Lady Samara?"

"Yes" she said locking them in place

"Your father requests your presence in the main hall" the servant said

Samara looked at Eva, who simply gave her a shrug "We are coming" Samara said as the two walked toward the door.