The morning sun rose on the horizon and bathed the small field with soft light. A small girl, the field’s sole occupant at this early hour, sat in her silent vigil as the morning’s warmth brought a broad smile to her face. Not far away, on the porch of their cabin, watched her father. He smiled at the pure awe in his daughter’s form, seeing life reflected in her young eyes was one of the few joys left to him in this lonely place. All those who had once claimed to be friends had vanished shortly after the girl's birth. Too many elves cared for racial purity to take time with a half-elven child. It constantly amazed him how people could blame an innocent child for no other crime than who her parents were. It sometimes made him wonder if keeping her was the correct decision after all. Then he once more saw the sun kissing her face, every inch of her reminding him of her mother, and he knew there was no sacrifice he wouldn't make to keep her safe. Time passed slowly, as it had a tendency of doing these days, but Eridian did not rush his daughter. She never missed watching the sunrise, dragging her poor father out to watch every detail of it. Each time, Disa looked on with the rapt attention of someone seeing something new. He only wished he still had the ability to see things firsthand in the same way she did, but meanwhile, he had to be satisfied living them through her.
Disa, a name he never truly approved of but keeping it constantly reminded him of all the peculiarities he had loved about her mother. He let out a small chuckle as he remembered his reaction when he was told his auburn-haired beauty of a daughter would forever be known as Aphrodesia. He would not change the name but he could only justify that by referring to her by the shorter form. Lord knows what the elves would think if they knew her full name. Their scandal-hunting would certainly be made a lot easier. His thoughts returned to the present as his daughter turned back to him, her face split in a wide grin.
‘Did you see that, Daddy?’ she asked him as she had every day since she learned to speak.
‘Aye, I did at that, Disa.’ He laughed softly at her expression. Ah... the innocence and wonder of a six-year-old child...if only one could keep it with them forever.
---
Breakfast was another simple ritual for the family of two...father and daughter simply talking over a home-cooked meal. Long had he taught Disa, ‘Our moments are precious, even to those of us whose lives are measured by millennia. Best to spend those moments in as good company as you can.’ The food they spoke over would never be good enough to be served in the worst inn in the world but the face across the table was more than enough to make it seem like a gourmet meal for both of them.
‘Guess what, daddy? Lois and I found a cave to explore. Maybe we’ll find some monsters to fight there... or some bad thieves... or a demon!’ Disa smiled at the idea. Another piece of her food disappeared into her mouth but her explanation didn’t miss a beat. ‘We’re going down there, like in the songs, daddy.... We’ll find some bad guys and smash ‘em. Maybe we’ll get a song written about us too.’ Her smile grew at the notion of bards around the world singing her name for all eternity.
‘Sounds dangerous, aren’t you scared?’ He knew well of their so-called cave. A small hole in the ground dug centuries before. All it was, in reality, was a failed attempt to dig a well that the town council never got around to finishing. Many people had tried to get it filled in for years but they weren’t making any progress in that direction yet.
‘I’m not scared. I’m going to be a brave warrior and fight dragons and ghouls and...’ She paused, trying to think of some other denizen of the dark that she would vanquish with a mere wave of her sword.
‘Deep elves?’ Her father suggested, trying to be helpful. Disa’s eyes went wide and he couldn’t help but smile.
‘Yeah! Deep elves too... hunt them down in their lairs and make them pay for all their dirty deeds.’ In her excitement, Disa picked up her small knife and waved it in front of her like a sword amid a heavy battle. In her mind, she saw all of the bad guys running from her strength.
‘Okay, but you’re not going to get any hunting done on an empty stomach so you better finish your breakfast first.’ He suppressed a smile as she turned crimson.
‘Right, daddy.’ With a dutiful expression and thoughts of all the sacrifices necessary in her chosen life, the small girl returned to her food.
---
A few hours later three children gathered around the abandoned well. Disa’s two friends, Loisantali and Kirsantalas both stared into the hole’s shadowed depths. Disa, herself, looked into the darkness with a scowl. She did not like not being able to see where she was about to go. Disa did not want to look scared in front of her friends so she quickly swallowed the feeling. She glanced at her two friends, their mother was probably back with Disa’s dad. It seemed to the children that they got together only when she felt like seeing Eridian these days.
‘Did everyone get what we agreed on?’ Disa asked, looking over her fellow adventurers.
‘I got the rope from my uncle, just like I said.’ Kis held out the bundle of rope proudly. His sister saw the display and merely rolled her eyes skyward.
‘I got a torch from the maids . . . I told them I needed to get something down the basement last night and they made sure I had one to see by.’ Lois smiles at her friends, basking in her ingenuity. She was the obvious brains of the group and had no qualms about showing that fact off. She looked at Disa, who had been volunteered to go down the hole by a vote, though perhaps dare would be a better word. ‘Did you get what you promised?’
Disa nodded solemnly. ‘Of course, though I don’t like taking things from daddy without him knowing. He might get mad if he finds out.’
‘He won’t find out, we’ll put it back before he can . . . besides, every adventurer needs a weapon, right? Now let’s see it.’ Lois goaded Disa with a bright smile. The young girl hesitated a moment, then finally withdrew a tightly wrapped package from the folds of her clothing. Reverently, almost ceremoniously, she unwrapped a shiny dagger with several smoky emeralds inlaid in the hilt. As they glimmered in the morning sunlight they almost matched Disa’s eyes perfectly, both seeming to have a light shining out from deep inside.
‘All right, I got it like I promised . . . I go first, right?’ She pointed the dagger at both her friends in turn. Both of them were too in awe of the weapon, the greatest any of them had ever seen, to refuse her. Quickly she tied the rope around a nearby tree and returned to the hole, casting the rope into its depths. ‘Now, if I tug on this twice, you pull me up quick, got that?’ Both her friends nodded and she tucked the dagger into her belt with a look of satisfaction. With a deep breath, Disa jumped into the hole before she could talk herself out of it. Carefully she lowered herself on the rope . . . she had been practicing ever since Lois had suggested exploring the dark hole. The walls brushed against her roughly inside the small enclosure but she managed to squirm through. Finally, the passage grew and seemed to give her more room to maneuver. Seemed, that is, since she couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of her face. She would have to make sure Kis threw the torch down so that she could see when she hit bottom. Cautiously, she reached out a hand to see how far the wall was from her. It was a stretch but she could just barely reach and feel the smooth surface of the cavern’s walls. Without even so much as a thought as to why the walls were suddenly smooth, she continued her descent.
After what seemed like hours, her arms burning every time she lowered herself further, she began to wonder how far down she was. Happy now that Kis thought far enough ahead to get a rope as opposed to her own suggestion of jumping. Her mind was still thinking this when she placed her hand lower on the rope only to find it no longer there. In a moment of panic she released the rope with her other hand as well and found herself falling . . . she let off a scream that echoed off the walls at her. It seemed like a thousand foolish girls yelling at her stupidity now. Almost as soon as the fall began, though, it ended. Disa felt the ground hit her hard and knocked the wind from her lungs. Her last thoughts before she blacked out were to wonder what she did to make the ground so angry.
---
Hours later the young girl awoke into a world of pain. Her entire body hurt, especially her right leg. As she reached down to rub the aching away she found it covered in some sort of sticky liquid. She didn’t have any time to wonder what it might have been, though, because that slight touch sent a jolt of fire through her entire form. She cried out blindly, her eyes tearing from the shock. The cavern she was in echoed her voice back over and over until it seemed to come at her from every direction. She clapped her hands to her ears and curled into a ball crying. Disa knew she was alone. The sudden realization that she was no hero in a fable but simply a girl facing the penalty for her own mistake hit her hard. All her fantasies flew from her mind as she wept, only to be replaced by fear.
A sound made her stop though, she heard a voice . . . a woman’s voice. She forced herself to stop crying and concentrated hard, trying to hear it again. Maybe someone had already come looking for her. A real hero, no doubt, she thought sourly, but the pain in her leg reminded her she had no choice if the option of rescue was given. Carefully she crept along the ground, trying not to put any weight on her bad leg. It was smooth ground so the going was fairly easy but the throbbing in her leg was enough to make every inch seem an achievement. The voices grew louder to her ears and she realized that there was more than one woman she was hearing. The women were speaking among themselves in some form of elven that she didn’t quite understand. Ahead of her, she saw a faint light coming around a corner, she blinked her eyes several times as if to prove to herself it was really there.
The young girl pulled herself to a small hole she found in the wall; it overlooked a room where the voices were coming from. With the last ounce of her strength, she pulled herself through the small opening. Only after did she realize she should check how far down the floor was. She landed with a cry of pain facing the women she had heard from above. There were four of them she could see now, each with a very pale complexion and pure white hair, like they hadn’t seen the sun in years. They turned in unison to her cry. Looking past them once they did she saw a small girl tied to what she only could guess was an altar. Her mind screamed at her as she realized there were not the would-be heroes to take her to the safety of her father’s arms... they were what she came down the well to find... deep elves, elves from all different races that had withdrawn underground to study dark magics.
‘A second young one to sacrifice?’ Said the oldest of the four women, moving across the room towards her. In her hand was a smooth, curved blade that she gripped so tightly her knuckles were turning white. Disa’s mind flew wildly in her head... what was she going to do now? Her mind wanted her to scream but she couldn’t, the sound caught in her throat and refused to leave her. Almost without thinking of it, her hand sought the dagger hidden in her belt. She drew the small knife and wielded it before her, putting all her hopes of survival in it.
‘Watch out, that one has some life in her yet.’ One of the women laughed. Disa couldn’t tell which, her mind was intent only on the one in front of her. She groped for the wall behind her, slowly trying to gain her feet. Gritting her teeth firmly against the pain, as she knew how this story was going to end. With the foolish little girl taught a lesson by getting herself killed. Well, her mind rationalized, at least I’ll be in a story at last... even if it is only one they’ll use to scare other children.
‘Both of you stop.’ The voice cut through Disa’s mind like a knife, through the pain and the panic right to her soul. ‘We won’t kill this one... she is too much like us.’ A fifth woman slowly emerged from the shadows, her pure white teeth showing in a wide smile, contrasting horribly with the almost black skin surrounding it.
‘What do you mean, Keyorah?’ Asked the woman with the knife, still obviously hungry for the kill.
‘No... we won’t kill her at all. We’ll make her one of us.’
And finally, Disa found her voice enough to scream once more.
---
The next morning Disa awoke to more screaming and not her own. Her eyes snapped open and she saw a boy not much older than she was standing over her with a knife poised to strike. Instinct took over as she rolled to the side, landing on her still-injured arm with a grunt of pain. She looked up to see the boy laughing at her.
‘Not bad, but next time I won’t give you any warning.’ With that said he walked off, tossing the knife from one hand to the other and back again. That night Disa couldn’t sleep for fear of the boy’s return. She put pillows under her sheets and lay down underneath the bed just in case he showed up. True to his word he was there first thing in the morning. She watched from her hiding place as he casually walked up and plunged the knife into her bedroll. If she had been there... she closed her eyes to block out the thought.
‘Not bad, but hiding doesn’t always work.’
Disa opened her eyes and was face to face with the boy’s grin. He winked at her before standing up and leaving the room once more. Thus was the routine every morning from then on. The boy, Blak by name she found out, would wake her up by trying to kill her. Each time she survived he would say the same thing. ‘Not bad, but...’ He would then leave her to fight her way through the rest of the day before getting what little sleep she could and starting the process all over again. Compared to the daily battle for her basic needs the boy’s attacks were the only thing she could count on every day. She even after a time, looked upon him as a sort of friendly face among a city of strangers.
The young girl learned many tricks as quickly as she could, each designed to keep Blak off balance. She constantly slept lighter and was always in a different place. She began attacking back, trying to get the knife away from him. To this end, she even once attempted to ambush him before he had the chance to attack. The days blurred for Disa and soon there was no thought in her mind save those she needed to survive. Even memories of her father and the field they played in faded from her. All she knew was every day she remained breathing was a victory.
Eventually, she stole a knife from the kitchen to use against Blak and even the odds. Every attack from then on became less an attempt at her murder and more a duel. It was four years after her initial capture that Disa finally succeeded in defending the only home she could remember against the intruder. Blak looked up sheepishly from the ground where he lay and smirked.
‘Not bad.’ They both burst out laughing. As she helped him to his feet they heard the sound of someone clapping. Keyorah walked into the room with them, still applauding.
‘My you have come a long way, daughter. Now it is time to put away these childish games for something more real. I’ve taken the liberty of enrolling you both at the Warrior’s Collegium. You’ll start in the morning.’ The two children let out shouts of joy and ran to hug their benefactor. The aged elf looked down at her prodigies with no small amount of pride.
She had woven a delicate fabric of spells over both of them so that their loyalty to her would never be in any doubt. She compounded this by teaching them a total hatred and distrust of the one thing that could possibly set them free... magic. Yes, her experiment was working out quite well indeed.
---
The Warrior’s Collegium was enough to leave both children speechless. In their home, they were used to seeing men and women dressed in simple loose-fitting robes but here there were people dressed in full battle armor. The constant sounds of metal plates hitting together, swords banging against armored legs and even those of distant sparring sounded like music to the pair of eager students.
They were put in rooms on opposite sides of the temporary barracks but it didn’t take them long to find each other again. Neither one knew what to expect from the next day. Everything was so new to them both and they spent most of the night talking about what might happen. They finally calmed down enough they thought they might get some sleep and Disa crawled back to her room. Disa woke up a few hours later by kicking the sheets from her bed and grabbing the knife under her pillow. She stared around the room for several long minutes before she realized why Blak wasn’t there attacking her. Forcibly she curbed her fighting instinct and got dressed.
Sex and not age separated the classes at the Collegium. The first day with no preparation Disa found herself facing off against another woman twenty years her senior. There didn’t seem to be any instructor around to object to such a matching so she decided to do her best. As she climbed back to her feet after the most thorough beating of her life Disa was instructed as to just what she had done wrong. At last, she understood how things worked here. The better fighters simply taught the less experienced ones until they knew enough to teach others as well. Disa’s aching body begged her to gain that level of experience as quickly as she could.
She was moved into her permanent quarters with the women that night as Blak was moved in with the men. The only answer she received as to why was... ‘Young male bodies tend to distract female fighters. We intend to keep it the other way around as long as you are here.’
Disa smiled in sudden understanding. ‘Like how a fake knee to the crotch can cause a guy to drop his knife? That kind of distraction?’ The other women simply smiled at her naiveté and went back to their work. Disa didn’t give herself much time to think about what they really meant though as her body was crying out for rest. She barely made it to her bed before collapsing in exhaustion. It was going to be a long couple of years before she left here.
She had no idea how true that thought was. As the next ten years crawled by she learned and mastered every weapon they put before her. She was not the finest fighter ever to train under the collegium’s tutelage but she made up for that in her diversity. Meanwhile, in the male half of the school, Blak learned his lessons just as quickly. Each rumor of skill they heard was a challenge from the other. A way of saying ‘I can do something you can’t’ that would spur the other into even more intense training. As her twelfth and thirteenth year at the collegium came and went, though, Disa couldn’t help wondering how much more there was to learn.
‘You have learned how to fight but not yet why to fight. Your normal soldier fights for duty... a paladin, for his god. A mercenary fights for another type of god altogether in the gold he is paid...but what do you fight for?’ Keyorah asked her this every time she complained and Disa found she had no answers. She still wanted bards to sing of her adventures but it just didn’t seem enough of a reason.
‘I want to make the surface dwellers learn the kind of ordered life we have here.’ Disa finally said. Keyorah’s grin widened. This was the chance she had waited all these years to take. Careful never to show the darker side of their world to the girl she painted those above as the villains. Now with just the right push, she could gain herself a willing slave forever.
‘But there are those who would not see their lives changed. Those who think they should be allowed to live their lives the way they would wish to. People who hope that their crimes will forever go unnoticed by the rest of the world.’
Disa thought about this for several minutes before answering. ‘Then that shall be my reason to fight. Those who need punishment, I will punish. Until they learn the peace we have down here then I will attempt to guide them as a parent would a child.’
Keyorah’s smile threatened to split her face in two. ‘Perfect.’
---
Aphrodesia climbed the stairs towards the dawning sun with a determined look on her face. She put her hand up to block her eyes from the harsh rays of the sun but took a slow deep breath of fresh air. Somehow it seemed right... as if she remembered being here before. She smiled brightly as she remembered why she was here... after so many years she finally graduated into the ranks of the warriors. Her mistress had allowed her to go to the surface at long last so she could complete her training. The determined look once again beat down the smile as she started walking towards the small dirt path ahead of her.
It was only a short walk to the cottage, now only barely being held together it was so old. To think, twenty years ago it looked brand new. She shook her head absently as she crossed the field. An old man sat on the porch, rocking gently in the warm sun. He looked over at her and smiled broadly.
‘I don’t believe my eyes. Can it be...? Disa?’
She stopped in her tracks. How did he know her name? Absently her hand strayed to the hilt of her sword. Normally she preferred two weapons with her but she had seen no need to bring them today. Still, the feel of the blade reassured her somewhat.
‘You are the one they call Eridian?’ She did her best to make her voice sound cold, emotion was her enemy now. Can’t let him see how off-balance he made her with knowing her name.
The man in front of her only nodded. ‘That’s me, yes... Disa, what’s wrong with you? You don’t recognize me?’
‘I know well enough who you are... and I’ve been sent to kill you.’
‘B-but why?’
‘Several years ago you sired a child, a young girl. You murdered her in cold blood and I’ve been sent here to repay her debt to you in kind.’ He started to say something, probably to plead his innocence, bribe his way out of the charge, or maybe even both. She had been prepared for anything and steeled herself against it. She already knew in her heart he was guilty and that was all that mattered to her at the moment. Her sword sprang from her sheath in a silver blur that almost made it seem alive as its edge struck out and cleaved his head from his shoulders. The man’s eyes, still filled with shock, his last words dying on his lips as the body slumped to the ground. She heard a crash from inside the cottage and looked up. Someone inside had seen her and now ran at her in a vain attempt to aid the old man. She scoffed at the effort and began to turn away.
She paused... something in her told her she knew this man. Kis... yes, that was his name. He crouched near the old man as he looked up at her. ‘How could you?’ He asked, his eyes filled with rage. She refused to answer him and began to turn away, taking a step off the low porch of the cottage. She had avenged the girl, she was done here.
Kis’ scream from behind her made her spin around, her blade still free of its sheath slashed out at the charging man. A single lightning-fast strike killed him before he realized it. He took three steps before his body told him he was dead and finally fell to the ground. She felt a twinge of remorse as she looked down at him. After all, he was probably only trying to defend the ancient man. Still, she wasn’t to be in the habit of granting mercy. That would only lead to weakness and eventually, her own death.
---
‘Are you sure she won’t remember anything?’
Keyorah merely nodded. The spells on Aphrodesia would never let her remember who she really was. This day was a testament to that. As long as she lived, she would be their willing puppet. Twenty grueling years of training had finally brought forth their fruit. The thought forced her to smile in satisfaction. Disa stood in the center of the crowd, being praised as a hero for avenging the young girl’s death that was so unnecessary. Never once did she suspect she had killed her father hours earlier. A wave of her hand silenced the crowd and Keyorah walked forward. Aphrodesia saw her approach and lowered onto one knee to show the older woman the respect she deserved.
‘You have done us a great service today, young one. In the future, I hope you will continue to see your bright blade striking down those who most deserve it. To this end, we have brought you a gift.’
Disa’s head lifted with a questioning look on her face. ‘My reward is that justice was done, Mother.’ Her face was still pink from the hot bath she received to welcome her home. Keyorah nodded with a smile to her daughter, motioning her to disrobe. Disa stood immediately and did so, long having overcome any hint of modesty when near her many sisters. One of them brought over a bottle filled with dark liquid and offered it to her.
‘This is the scales of a great red dragon ground and enchanted by your fellow sisters. Wear it as your armor and magic shall never again touch you.’ Disa smiled in surprise. Long had she heard of this type of ‘liquid armor’ but never thought she would see it in her lifetime. Now it was being offered to her as a gift. Quickly her sisters applied the cool liquid to her skin, making it tingle like a fire within her. Mere seconds later they backed away, Disa now appearing to be dressed in all skin-tight, black leathers.
‘My gift to you will always be with you.’ Keyorah began. ‘May it protect you as I have in the world you must now go to. Forevermore with those with dark hearth tremble at the name Aphrodesia.’ She smiled down at her personal killing machine. The first step in her plan to take what she always thought was hers. ‘We have one last gift to you. To send you off the bards have composed a ballad of your journey. We will add to it as your exploits continue throughout your life, but for the beginning, it is appropriate for this day as well.’
Disa smiled as several men walked out and began reciting what was to be her life’s legacy. After all these years she had done what she set out to do. She was a hero. Small flashes of faces she didn’t recognize tore in front of her eyes... A brother and sister standing near a well... A young man having breakfast with her... She saw once more the two men she had slain and frowned inwardly. What was wrong with her? She had avenged a little girl... she was a hero...
The next morning she left, on foot as always, both her swords strapped to her back. She was a hero as she had wished and wanted more than anything to remain one. As her feet met the path once more, the gravel crunching under her light boots she thought to herself. ‘First, I must find out what a hero truly is.’ With that thought in mind, she walked diligently towards whatever lay ahead of her, confident that the bards in the future would continue to sing her praises.
The Beginning
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