Atalee snapped back to reality, staring blankly into the mirror in front of her. In its reflection, she saw a young woman, twenty-two years old, a brunette with glowing skin and bright brown eyes. More importantly, however, she saw a look of apprehension plastered on that young woman’s face. She shut her eyes for a moment and then looked down at herself, bringing her hand up to her neck, and reaching for an ovular locket attached to a thin chain necklace. Holding it in one hand, she reached over with the other and opened it, staring at the contents within. She wondered to herself whether she had made the right decision, whether abandoning her friends and family and leaving the monastery was really the right thing to do. [i]“What if I was mistaken? What if I did not see the Goddess Vexa in my dream? What will I do? Where will I go? Could I really just return home and pretend like everything was normal? What would I say? Could I beg for forgiveness and plead with them to let me return? How would they react, and could I be sure that…”[/i]

“No…” The young woman reassured herself.

“The Goddess Vexa came to me.” She looked back up to herself in the mirror. “She came to me in a dream and shared with me her vision.”

The sister turned her attention to the window above the bed across the room. She saw sunlight pour through and penetrate the otherwise dark room with its intensity. She heard the sounds of the outside world, everything from the incomprehensible babble of soldiers to bartering between merchants and their customers to birds chirping to horses neighing… even something that sounded like muffled screams in the distance, unlikely as that might have been. In addition to all those sounds, she smelled fruits, vegetables, meats, leathers, wools, and a variety of other things that were for sale at the shops and stands outside. The outside world beckoned her, and although she had gotten up hours ago, she spent her time in the cozy little inn mulling over her current situation, hesitant to set for outside and continue her thus aimless journey across Zenith.

“No more dawdling about.” She finally decided.

Atalee left her position in front of the small wooden vanity and walked over to her bed where she had gathered her belongings. First, she reached for a pair of iron gauntlets, smelted from ore collected from caves within the mountain that her monastery was built into. She slipped one over her bare hand and then the other. Next, she grabbed for a leather belt, made from the skin of cows that the sisters kept at the monastery for food and milk. She wrapped the belt around her waist, tightening it and then locking it in the front. With her belt firmly situated, Atalee began attaching several small packs for various knickknacks and miscellaneous things that she had collected thus far. Then, she motioned for a sheath that lay diagonally across the bed and stored her trusty sword, Guardian’s Oath. The sheath came with a metal attachment that allowed it to lock onto her belt. Atalee spent a few moments doing putting it in place, securing the sheath so that neither it nor her sword would get loose. Once all that was finished, she grabbed for her small brown sag of goods, including some spare clothes and rations, though the latter was getting dangerously low…

Taking one final look around the room, Atalee made sure that she wasn’t forgetting anything before she departed. Sure that she had everything, she headed for the door and entered a corridor that led to stairs which would take her to the lobby beneath. Beyond that, she would walk past the innkeeper, a kindly old man, and out the door. She did all this, somewhat distracted by her thoughts, specifically that pestering doubt that crept up on her from time to time. Again, she wondered to herself, [i]“What if I am wrong? What if it really was just a dream, and the Goddess Vexa did not speak to me? Worse yet, what if it was demons? What if those foul creatures masqueraded as the Mother Goddess and purposefully tried to separate me from my friends and family? What if they are stalking me, just waiting until I am at my most vulnerable…?”[/i]

“Nonsense…” Atalee stated aloud, confirming her resolve.

Atalee never considered herself to be an anxious individual. However, she had been on the road for months, and she was running low on food, water, and money. She had no idea what she was supposed to be doing or where she was supposed to go, and she figured that if she didn’t figure out soon, she wouldn’t have anything left when she finally did. The young woman spent her time doing random tasks for people, putting her unique skills to work, usually for a warm meal or even a place to rest her head. Other times, especially when she was on the road, she hunted for her own food and found her own water, storing some away for future use. Despite all that, her sack became lighter and lighter by the day, and likewise, every time she opened her money bag, it was to withdraw rather than to deposit.

Nevertheless, she stepped out into the busy city street…

…and almost collided with somebody sprinting past. It appeared as if a small crowd of people were running away from something. Atalee had no idea what it was or what it could possibly be. However, it piqued her interest, partly out of curiosity but also because she worried that somebody might have been in danger. In regards to the former, Atalee always thought of herself as having a natural curiosity, wanting to know the who, what, where, when, and why. She spent a significant amount of her childhood asking questions, probing her mother and aunts with various questions about the world. Then, with the latter, Atalee always felt that she had an obligation to protect the innocent and that the Goddess Vexa bestowed upon her a great power that should be used to defend the weak and the weary. If she saw somebody in need, she always felt that she needed to help, and likewise, if she saw somebody in danger, she thought that her powers obligated her to help them, regardless of who they were or what they might have done to put themselves in that situation.

The sister began making her way in the direction of the commotion, brushing past fleeing people and sidestepping onlookers who decided to stay and see what all the fuss was about. The closer she got to what she presumed to be the origin of all of this, the louder and more frantic people became. Again, she wondered what was going on and why these people were so scared. However, it did not bother her. She kept a clear mind, more than ready to face down whatever was causing this commotion, or at the very least, lend a helping hand if anybody was hurt or otherwise injured in some way.

“You there! Put the woman down!” Atalee heard somebody shout in the near distance.

She figured she was getting close and began walking faster until she came to a clearing. Most of the people had long since run off, and those who remained were hiding behind crates, barrels, and other obstructions. Then, Atalee saw a large man standing over a corpse and holding the sharp end of a sword up to a dark-haired woman’s throat. Several feet away, she also saw a second man, this one much younger but nevertheless a fierce-looking warrior.

At this point, Atalee felt it appropriate to say something. She figured that the second man was the one who called out for the first to release the woman and that he probably did so upon his arrival. That gesture suggested that she was likewise obligated to make some kind of demand or threat so that the large man would be more inclined to release the young woman…

However, nothing came to mind.

Still, she went on regardless.

“I…” she formulated the words in her head and spoke with her unusually thick accent. “I... do not know what to say here, but please release this woman so that this situation may be resolved peacefully.”