Autumn Faith

Chapter 1 - She Rides With Hope

It was getting colder and the light was fading but she continued. Her hair being blown as her horse galloped with full speed through the dusty open plain. Her mission was of utmost importance.

"Enough blood has been spilled. The war has gone on long enough. We have the chance to seal victory over the villains and bring peace once more. I must complete my task".

Like many struggles between good and evil, there were heroes and villains. Autumn Faith was one such heroine. Battles had raged. But now came a time where the actions of Autumn could perhaps bring victory.

After a while of riding, she came by an area with hills and some rocky surfaces. It had started to get dark now. But not so dark as to prevent her from identifying the shapes of things in her surroundings. Dangerous bandits often lurked in this region at night. But it was especially dangerous now, because of the war, since there would be people guarding this place to prevent anyone passing through. People working for the enemy.

Yet it was vital for Autumn to get through, so she could complete her task, and finally put an end to the conflict. An end to the suffering. So much pain had been caused by the selfishness of some people who just wanted power.

She had been a nomad since her childhood. She had travelled across many lands and had learned of both the people who worshipped the Goddess of Peace and those who worshipped the God of War. She had come to the understanding that sometimes it was necessary to learn the ways of war for the sake of survival and protection against those who would use war to oppress others. If one truly valued peace, they had to be willing to defend this. This is what Autumn had come to understand of the teachings of the Priests and Priestesses.

Autumn grasped the reins in one hand and held her bow in the other. She kept her eyes keen, in case she spotted any danger. She noticed the presence of some foot archers lurking by rocks and anticipating her to get slightly closer so they could fire at her.

She used the manoeuvrability of being on horseback to her advantage, by turning her horse thus causing the archers to miss the target. And while they tried to put more arrows, Autumn quickly aimed and shot an arrow at the first archer. One by one she struck each one. She did not intend to kill them, just to pacify them, therefore it was no mistake that the arrows only hit the arms of the archers, thus incapacitating them without being fatal.

Autumn's father was from a culture which relied heavily on hunting, in order to survive the seasons. The men would hunt to bring food for the family. Boys would learn from their fathers. Autumn's father never had a son of his own, yet almost as soon as his daughter learned to walk, he put her in the saddle of his horse, and placed a bow in her hand, taking her hunting with him. Although she hadn't trained for a professional army, she had been comfortable on horseback since before she could remember, and her archery was to her a purely natural talent. The combined skills made her an excellent mounted archer.

Having pacified the enemy, she looked around to make sure that no more enemies were lurking. Then she continued riding ahead with full speed.