Postby Topaz » Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:20 pm
IDYNA THE BRAVE
Idyna was the youngest child and only daughter of a royal family. She and her three brothers all chose different professions; Orne the eldest was an enchanter, Robert was a cleric, Garth was a rogue, and Idyna followed the path of the warrior. Like everyone else, Idyna expected that Orne would inherit the throne, so when one day their father failed to return to his Life Monument, the people began (once the days of mourning were ended) to prepare for his coronation.
On the day of the coronation, a great procession made its way to the temple. The High Cleric stood at the door, holding a large heavy shield on which were engraved the words TRUST IN THE GODS AND YE SHALL PREVAIL. Orne strode confidently at the head of the procession, with his brothers and sister as his honor guard.
The High Cleric raised his hands on high. "O Ben the Mighty, Builder of Worlds, choose for us a new ruler. O Cory, Bringer of Light, illuminate the true ruler of our land," he prayed. He took hold of the heavy shield, lifting it with difficulty. "This shield signifies that the ruler of our land will be our shield and defense, striving always for the good of our land."
He offered the shield to Orne, and Orne staggered under its weight. His three siblings reached to steady him, and suddenly the shield shone with blinding brightness. As one, they let go and stepped back, dropping the shield to the ground. The light vanished.
Robert the cleric heaved the shield upright, trying to see where the light had come from, or gone. Garth ran his hand over its surface, looking for secret opening. And Orne tried again to hold it and could not, so Idyna, with a warrior's strength, took hold of it.
And the shield blazed with light again -- and this time, so did Idyna. And when she put down the shield in astonishment, its light vanished -- but Idyna continued to shine, brighter even than the shield.
Everyone stared. Orne's mouth moved, but no sound came out.
But the High Cleric knew a godly sign when he saw one. "Hail, Queen of the land by the gods' decree!" he said promptly.
"But --" Idyna began.
"Take up the shield," said the High Cleric. Bemused, Idyna picked it up, and it instantly glowed again. "Cory the Lightbringer has illuminated the true ruler of our land, as our ancient prayers have asked. You are the Queen."
"But --"
"NO! I AM THE KING!" shouted Orne, finally finding his voice. "THERE IS SOME TRICK HERE, SOME CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD ME OF MY THRONE! IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MINE --"
"Once the gods have spoken," began the High Cleric, but Orne would not hear him, nor would he listen to what Idyna tried to say to him. With one sudden movement he wrested the glowing shield (which instantly stopped glowing) from Idyna's grasp and vanished in a puff of enchanter's dust.
Among the sudden hubbub, the High Cleric spoke into Idyna's ear. "Your first royal act must be to retrieve the shield," he said. "The gods of Valorn will guide you. Trust in the gods and ye shall prevail."
So Idyna (now no longer glowing) and Robert and Garth left the crowded temple and made their way to a small, dusty, little-used shrine where they could discuss plans and ask the gods for guidance. And as they sat in the shrine, a spider on a thread came down from the skylight, and the light on the spider and on its thread was like the light from the shield.
Now Idyna feared nothing on earth except spiders, and she backed away from the small spinner as she would not have fled a demon. But Robert the cleric put out his hand and let the spider hang from his finger. "It is a sign," he said. "We must seek our brother and the stolen shield where there are spiders. I know a cavern in the Dark Forest which leads to a land where spiders rule." And Idyna shuddered, but heeded her brother's advice.
Into the Dark Forest they went, and the wild beasts fled before them. They went deeper and met demon-spawned bears and wolves, but easily defeated them. Then in a maze of caverns they began to meet the spider-minions.
"Orne has passed this way," said Garth the rogue, pointing at some footprints, "carrying something heavy." He slipped into the shadows and behind a spider, and slew it with his poisoned blade. But alas, a second spider attacked him while he was weak and wounded, and Garth was slain.
Robert the cleric gave light to himself and to Idyna until they shone (though not as brightly as she had shone in the temple), and they moved further into the caverns. Idyna quivered at every movement, and fought the spider-minions with her eyes averted (although they still died on her broadsword). As they went further in, the spiders became larger and fiercer, armored like human fighters. In one encounter Robert was overwhelmed, and despite his clerical ring and weapons he too died.
Only Idyna was left, alone in the shadowy corridor crawling with spiders of all sizes, from thumbnail-sized to the armored Spider Overlords. Her skin shivered, and she thought with longing of the way out. She took a step, and spiders crunched under her feet. She took another step, and another -- deeper into the caverns. Again and again she fought the Spider Overlords with their hairy limbs and multi-faceted eyes, and defeated them again and again until she saw, lying on the floor among the chitinous remains, the great engraved shield. There was no sign of Orne. She lifted up the shield and once again it blazed like Sunrifter, lighting every crevice of the corridor, and every single spider, large or small, fled that light. She strode back to the mouth of the cave and made her way home, where Garth and Robert awaited her at the Life Monument.
But not Orne. No one ever saw Orne again.
It was Robert and Garth who told the story of her battle in the caverns, with the spiders and with her own fears, but it was the High Cleric, when he completed her coronation, that named her the Brave. And evermore, in peace or in war, Idyna carried her great shield with her kingdom's motto and her own: TRUST IN THE GODS AND YE SHALL PREVAIL.
(And even now the spider-minions great and small, remembering Idyna's shield, will sometimes carry shields of their own.)