3. Celestria's Promise

Celestria's Promise

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    Character Name: Celestria
    Player Login: Lady Deyanna

    “Misha!” Her father’s voice rang out loud and clear through the dense forest trees. “Uh oh”, the little girl looked up at the woman who had in the past several weeks become her friend. “You must go and remember, no one else can know where I am.” The woman’s voice was calm and reassuring and Misha somehow felt that everything would be ok when she was with the woman. “Mishandra!” She heard her father call out again, this time using her full name which almost always meant she was in a great deal of trouble. The child looked at the woman one last time and whispered, “I’ll be back tomorrow and I won’t tell” before darting off towards her father’s voice as quick as her little legs would take her.

    Running through the forest as fast as she could, Misha held on tightly to a small pouch that hung around her neck. It was usually used to gather herbs and no one would think differently but Misha knew that the pouch held a beautiful, sparkly stone, a gift from the woman in the forest. Rounding a large tree, she bounded head first into her father’s legs with a thud that sent her stumbling backwards to end in a seated position on the forest floor. She looked up with surprise at first, her eyes slowly changing to hold a deer in the head light look as she read her father’s displeasure in his gaze. Without a word, the strong, well built merchant picked her up and set her down on her feet, taking hold of her hand and nearly dragging her behind him. They traveled some distance, almost to the edge of the forest before he spoke, “Misha, how many times have I told you NOT to go into the forest alone?” He never stopped walking and didn’t turn to look at her while chastising her yet again for the same offense. Misha had tried many ideas to gain approval for her being in the forest. Some of them were quite creative or at least as creative as possible for a 7 year old mind. She was certain that this time her father would approve as she responded to his question, holding up the small pouch that hung from her neck, thankful that she had buried the stone beneath some herbs in the pouch earlier, “but Daddy, I was helping to gather herbs for…” her well thought out explanation and argument were swiftly interrupted with the stern tone of her father’s voice, “I’ll have no argument from you young lady and if you ever travel into the forest alone again, I’ll see to it that one of the store guards is posted right outside of your bedroom door.” Tears of sadness and frustration welled in the child’s eyes as she and her father walked the rest of the way home in silence.

    Alone in the quiet of her bedroom that evening, Misha carefully took the stone from the pouch and held it up between her finger and thumb to examine it again. Its soft blue hew and dancing sparkles intrigued the child greatly. “I won’t tell, I promise”, she whispered as she placed the stone back into the safety of the pouch. Drifting off to sleep, her mind wandered through more ideas of how she could possibly get to the forest the next day.

    “Misha?” her mother’s soft voice called at midday from within the house. “Yes Mommy?” she responded as she finished placing the last piece of firewood into the pile. “Are you finished with your chores Misha?” Misha bounced quickly towards the door until she reached her mother, “Oh yes Mommy, I just finished,” she stated with a tone and posture that showed her pride in being done early today. Her mother’s smile indicated that Misha had the right to be pleased with herself.

    “Very good, Misha. Would you like something to eat?” The young girl stood considering for a moment without responding, then with a finger to her lip as though thinking, she replied confidently, “No Mommy, I wanted to go see that new girl. You know, the one with the red hair that got here a few days ago?” Her mother nodded, “Oh yes, the new family. Alright Misha but be home in time for dinner.” Misha nearly squealed her excitement as her mother spoke her permission, “Oh I will Mommy, I promise!” Skipping off with her deep brown curls bouncing about her, the little girl headed towards the caravan camp. When she knew she was out of her mother’s sight, she changed directions quickly and ran like the wind towards the forest edge.

    Misha was no stranger to the forest. She had wandered its wooded halls on many occasions. In fact, that’s how she happened across the woman she’d been spending so much time with. With a child’s mind, she never questioned where the woman came from or what she was doing in the forest. The little girl merely knew that the woman was fun and played games with her and gave her gifts. This particular day when Misha arrived at the customary meeting place in the forest, she found that the woman was not there. She climbed up on a large boulder and waited patiently trying to decide on what game she wanted to play today. Quite some time passed and Misha began to wonder if the woman had become upset with her. She thought about all of their talks and how she had answered all of the woman’s questions about her home and family as best she could. She couldn’t find one single reason why the woman would be angry with her. Lying back on the large boulder, she pulled the glowing stone from its pouch and held it up to the sunlight watching it sparkle. “I wonder if she got lost,” she said in a quiet voice as she turned the stone between her thumb and forefinger. She quickly dismissed that explanation knowing the woman was very good with directions in the forest. After waiting awhile longer, Misha stood up and leaped down from the boulder. She gave the stone one last look and stuffed it back into the pouch. Beginning her walk home, her shoulders were slumped in disappointment and confusion. “I guess I’ll come back tomorrow,” she said as she turned and looked back at the meeting place. Weeks turned into years and there was never any sign of the woman again. Misha had often wondered if she had imagined the woman, but her thoughts were quickly thwarted by the remaining stone she had been given.

    Years passed by and Misha had learned well the vocation of her father as a merchant. She also learned that his ‘business’ was a sort of cover up to the fact that he came from much more prominent family than he wished known. As she grew, her father allowed her more freedom pertaining to the operation of the store. Wise beyond her years and lovely in both demeanor and appearance, her natural charms lent great assistance in working with some of her father’s more difficult customers. Much had changed for her including that her father now allowed her to wander the forest with her promise that she would not stray far. Of course he had taught her some defensive skills, in his words, “Just incase they were ever needed”, but Misha surmised his doing so was more for his own comfort than her being in danger. Her love for her home and her family were only closely matched by her love for the serenity of the forest.

    In her early teens now, Misha would often sit in the quiet of her room at night and stare at the glowing stone in wonderment. She had never noted as a child that it only glowed when touched. Although she could never quite determine why, she always kept the stone close to her, generally in her pack or pocket.

    On her 16th birthday, her mother told her she couldn’t be in the house for awhile as she was preparing something special. With a soft smile and nod of understanding, the raven haired, silvery blue eyed beauty picked up her cloak, secured her dark curls and went for a walk to her favorite place in the forest. As she walked in the surrounding beauty, she considered the things that were changing in her life. Not only was she 16 now, but she also held much of the store’s responsibility in her hands. Misha knew that soon her father would be choosing a husband for her as was customary in her family. Reaching into the pocket of her skirt, she retrieved the stone and held it up to the sunlight one final time. “It’s time to let childish things go now, Misha. Your life from here out will be very different,” she spoke aloud to herself. At that moment, she had no idea how appropriate her words were. As she laid the stone on the forest floor, her intent to bury it, she heard a rustling amidst the trees nearby. Turning with a hint of caution in her movements, Misha found herself standing face to face with a woman she recognized from her childhood. Somewhat startled and with wide-eyed wonder, Misha addressed the woman, “you startled me…” she trailed off as she struggled to gain her wits again. Before the woman could speak, she exclaimed, “I’ve not seen you in many years. Where have you been?!” The woman’s smile seemed less reassuring to Misha now than she recalled. She noted with interest that the woman had not changed at all since their last meeting many years before. “I have been where I could watch your progress Misha and now I return for you,” the woman stated, smiling yet somehow void of emotion. Misha’s expression was one of bewilderment if not complete confusion hearing the woman’s words. “Returned for me?” she asked in a manner that spoke undeniably of a need for clarification from the woman. The woman’s eyes, holding a calculating expression, traveled over Misha’s form slowly. She gave a simple nod as though reaffirming something in her own mind. Her calculating glance did not go unnoticed by Misha and she wondered to herself if it had also been there when she was a child. “Yes Misha, it’s time for you to come with me now,” the woman stated as though it was a commonly known fact. Misha took a step backwards and straightened her stance. Holding her head up high, attempting not to show the fear that was beginning to take a hold of her, she cleared her throat and asked, “Go with you where?” The response was simple and as the previous answers, was generic, “To my home, Misha.” The young maiden stood silent for a long while. She tried to recall the conversations she had with the woman as a child and if she had ever said anything about going with her before. The woman’s voice suddenly brought her back from her recollections, “No Mishandra, I never mentioned it before because it wasn’t time.” Misha’s facial features gave way to the shock she felt hearing the woman’s words. “How could she know my thoughts?” she silently questioned herself. The woman gave a soft laugh and held out her hand to Misha, “Come child, we’ve much to do.” Fear grasped every part of the maiden’s being. Her thoughts ran rampant as she tried to reason through her situation.

    “But…I…,” she stumbled in her speech. She couldn’t form her racing thoughts into words no matter how she tried. Her eyes wide with fright, she stepped backwards away from the woman only to find her body stiffened as the woman raised her voice, “Do not trifle with me. Come!” Misha frantically glanced about the forest for an escape route. She knew the forest well but then so did the woman, or could she have forgotten with it being so long since her last visit? She didn’t know but she knew she couldn’t just stand in place and be taken. Turning swiftly around, Misha began to run towards the stream where she knew of a small cave that led to a different part of the forest. The woman called out with a thundering voice that echoed through the forest, “Fool! You had only to come with me but now you shall die!” Her words barely had time to send chills through Misha’s body and soul before the young lady was struck with a force of red lightening never before seen in the forest. She lay near death on a bed of leaves and pine needles, cradled amidst a rock and a large pine tree on the forest floor. The sun’s rays coming through the canopy of trees above her appeared to Misha to be billowy and hazy figures moving towards her. Hardly conscious, she was unaware of the woman approaching her side. The woman’s voice echoed softly in her mind and for the first time she could recall, held a shrill, resounding evil, “I had such plans for you. The stone you kept was the means by which I called to you and kept abreast of where you were at all times. You would have been the perfect specimen, the perfect ally, but now, now you will lie here and die as punishment for your disobedience.” Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, Misha drifted from consciousness into a silent place beyond life. Fleeting seconds passed, memories raced through her mind of the events and people in her life, both people she dearly loved and those she was not terribly fond of. Pictures ran through her mind and she found herself feeling as though she was floating freely in the air. The memories and pictures slowly faded to be replaced by an indescribable sense of darkness. Shadows began to shade everything within her sight. Just before all around her went black, a large cloaked figure appeared before her. The figure held a scythe that glowed a devilish red and its cloak flowed as though made of a material as light as feathers. Misha could sense the total emanating from the figure as he grew closer to her. A demonic voice radiated from the being as it spoke, “You would have served me well in life but either way, you are mine now.” Misha felt her entire being turn an icy cold as the voice indicated what the woman’s plans had been for her. She struggled to see in the darkness, her desperate attempts only leaving her filled with dread as she could find no escape from the being. The hideous laugh penetrated her very core as the figure moved towards her. Misha screamed out in horror but could not even hear her own cries. Her eyes closed tightly. A flash of light brightened her surroundings suddenly and Misha mustered the courage to slowly open her eyes. It was the most beautiful white light Misha had ever seen. It was gloriously bright and held a vibrancy that beckoned to her very soul. Weak with terror, she slowly looked around for the awful being that wished to claim her. Still lost and shuddering from the waves of its evil, her eyes grew wide to see not only the one, but two figures standing face to face before her. She watched and listened silently as the two figures seemed to clash in a flurry of light against darkness. Confused and terrified, she cowered away from them as their thundering voices roared. The words they spoke made no sense to Misha and she felt as if she had stepped into the worst nightmare imaginable. With one swift burst of light, one so bright that it blinded her for a moment, the darkness began to dissipate around her. It gave one final roar, refusing to acknowledge its defeat, the wicked creature’s words echoing in Misha’s mind, “You have not won! She will yet be mine!” She swallowed hard; glancing about in a fright induced panic, attempting to figure out what had happened. As her sight began to return, she found the bright figure standing before her with an aura about him that lit up every corner of this realm. An inescapable longing welled inside of her, drawing her ever closer to the lighted figure. Nearly close enough to reach it, she was halted by the most penetrating and peaceful voice she had ever heard, a voice that seemed to ring through every part of her surroundings, “No… not yet. I, too, have been waiting for you child. It is not time for your life to be finished. You are chosen and I have much work for you to do first.” Misha listened to the voice that sang its words to her with such meaning and purpose that they overrode her fear and even her longing for the light. As the voice continued to speak, she felt herself float back to her body as though taken there by some magnetic force, “Your life has been given back to you child, hence your life is required in service. Because intervention has been made on your behalf, you will now serve. You will be changed from this day forth and you will hold powers and abilities granted you that will be strange to you. Seek out the guidance of those who have chosen to follow. Be advised that the other will not leave you be. He will watch and wait for the opportunity to seize you for his own but as long as you are true in your service, he will be unable to grasp you. Also, no longer will you be known as Mishandra, for in the near future it will not serve the purpose. You will know when to implement the change and when it is time, you will be known as Celestria. Now child, go in the name of Torm and serve well.” Her mind was at peace listening to the beautiful voice even though her body was racked with pain. Her only response was spoken in the clearest voice she could muster, “I will. I promise.”


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