Sareesa, Age 13
After breakfast, Sareesa went outside. It was dark and the ground was still wet with dew. A part of Sareesa wanted to go back in and go to sleep, but it was no option today. It was the day she became a woman of her tribe. Sareesa went towards the center of the village. Everything was already prepared for the morning performance, all that remained was to prepare herself.
"Reesa, ovah here." her father called from inside the elder's house. She ran over quickly, adrenaline running through her system as everything became more real to her.
"Good, good, ya remembered what I told ya. Now 'den, hold still while we do yah hair and face." he said. There were several other Trolls there all of them helping prepare everything. Most years two or three people were accepted into the tribe, this year only Sareesa would be coming of age though. Her father worked gently with the face paint, gently applying a base layer of white to the human's already pale face while several women from the village worked at combing, braiding, and arranging her hair.
Sareesa sat still, though her heart thundered in her chest. A part of her desperately wanted to get up, to move, to do anything but that hardest of all tasks, to sit and wait. Breathing deep, she closed her eyes as her father's hands applied the paint gently over them. After the layer of white was applied three strips of dark red were painted, one down the center, the others over her eyes again. As her father finished the trolls behind her finished twisting her hair up into a compact, but stylish, knot.
Sareesa tried to picture herself, she must have looked so different from Larsa, the hero she was meant to look like, but the paint and the hair, it must have been at least a little similar... she hoped.
"'Dere we go, yah be all done now, yah just got ta get dressed, and wait until we be ready. I want ya to know, we be proud of ya, we all do, we wouldn't be makin' ya part of 'da tribe if we not be." he said patting her on the shoulder as he left, leaving Sareesa with the other women to get dressed.
Sareesa stripped out of her clothes and put on the rest of the costume. As the other women began to leave, Sareesa truly felt like she had all the courage of her predecessor. She sat on the floor with her back to the wall, mind racing, trying to make sure she remembered everything that was supposed to. She suddenly became aware of how silent it had become, all the ambient noise had faded away. She didn't have long to dwell on it though as she heard a scream from outside.
Rushing outside, she immediately saw the cause of all the silence, and now all the noise as many of the people ran away. A Giant Crystal Spider had obviously wandered far outside it's home in the Crystal Forest and was now running through the main street of the village. She stared at it's eight crystalline eyes, and it looked back, stopping momentarily. It was decided... Sareesa would either defend the village here, or die trying; there was no way to escape after a monster like that set it's eyes on you anyhow.
The Spider took a couple of steps forward then retreated as Sareesa unflinchingly turned to face it. The spider seemed to shift nervously, ultimately though it slowly advanced again. Fear raced through Sareesa's mind, then she felt white-hot energy in her hand, glancing down she saw her hand was. . . glowing, fiercely. She extender her hand towards the Giant Crystal Spider and focused on forcing the monster to stop. Suddenly a wave of force knocked the spider away and Sareesa onto the ground. She got up again, coughing, blood forming at the corners of her mouth. Whatever she had done it packed quite a kick. She looked towards the spider, it seemed dazed, but angry at the defiant girl. this time it moved much quicker towards it's prey. Sareesa raised her still glowing hand again and focused again on stopping the spider. The same wave of force knocked the spider away and Sareesa to the ground again. She coughed and knelt on the ground looking up. The spider seemed undamaged, she was already feeling like she had been beat up though.
"I... I need ta do bettah 'dan 'dis." she muttered to herself trying to think of something as got on her feet again.
The spider circled around from the other side, Sareesa turning to face it the entire time, trying to think of something other way to stop this creature. Ultimately, it pounced towards her, and her mind became filled with fear, no other thoughts but fear. A bolt of white-hot lightning shot of Sareesa's hand hitting the spider in the underbelly and holding it aloft there for three seconds while Sareesa watched in horror, both at the spider and at herself. Her clothing and hair started to smolder, and she could feel her own skin growing hot. After those three long seconds of stasis, the spider exploded from the underbelly, tough crystals being sprayed all around. Sareesa knelt on the ground, she felt completely expended of all energy, beat-up, and terrified of her own power. She looked around, she was lucky none of the crystal's had hit her. She flipped over onto her back and looked at the azure sky.
After a few moments some of the Trolls approached, in awe of what they had just seen. A small, unarmed, thirteen year old girl just took down an abomination that usually was hunted down by groups of five warriors. Sareesa wanted to stay awake, to explain she had no idea what had happened, but she couldn't, she was too tired and passed out laying there.
A few seconds after she passed out a large cheer rose throughout the entire village, a hero had been born on that day.
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Topic: Zealots and Demons, The Fall of a God, Turn 122: A Standoff (Read 136627 times)