Tears I Have Shed

I Deam Of Death When Forced To Live Without You

Ophelia waited two days in the caves, she had no food and no water. Everything was so confusing, her mother was dead, she didn't know if her father still lived.

As she trudged out of the cave into the tinted sunlight that filtered through the lightning smoke, the meadow was still smoldering. Crosses stood burned with bodies still hanging limply from hemp ropes just barely hanging on, who those Fey were was anyone's guess, for they had been burned beyond recognition. But what lay just before those horrifying crosses, was what looked like a battlefield. The bodies of the Crystal Guard lay strewn about the meadow, some still had their wings out, broken and bent at odd angles. Ophelia covered her mouth in horror and turned her head to look at the devastation around her. She heard groaning not too far from her and turned her head towards the sound, her father lay on his back, his wings extended on the ground.

"Pa... Papa!" Ophelia rushed over and knelt beside him as he stared up at the sky.

"O... Ophelia..." he croaked and the girl grabbed at his hand.

"You need... to run..." she struggled and she shook her head

"No... Papa... I don't want to..." she breathed and he reached up towards her face, smiling softly

"Ophelia... repeat these words..." he took a deep breath and Ophelia shook her head at him tears starting to fall down her face.

"No... please don't..." she whispered

"Ophelia..." he said softly and she looked down at him.

"I, swear by the sun in the day and the moon in the night, that my flight path will not falter..." he coughed and she repeated the words between her sobs.

"I will protect the Prisma like I would protect my own blood..." he looked up at his daughter as she repeated

"And I swear that I will be the wings of the tribe when they cannot lift themselves. I will lead them into safety." She looked down at him and he cupped her cheek gently.

"Little Bird all grown up... its time to leave the nest now..." he struggled to hold on just a little longer.

"Go... the Paladins are still in the wood, keep yourself out of danger, stay off the roads." He warned and she nodded

"I will Papa..." she sniffed and he smiled

"That's my Little... Valkyrie..." his eyes closed as his body went limp, her whole world was burning around her as she wept over her father's body, taking time to grieve the loss of her father. It was not long until she stood, stepping away from her father's body slowly, her hands shaking as she sobbed. She turned and ran into the forest, deep into the trees frightened of what could come next, almost praying that she could die too, rather than live like this alone.

« ~ • ~ »

Ophelia walked through the Paladin camp with a basket of fresh washing. Being the caretaker of their "Angel Of Salvation" didn't save her from doing various, large amounts of chores for the men in the camp. But it let her live and care for little Aria who, at already five years old, was becoming quite the little prodigy. Ophelia walked into her tent and set the basket down.

"Aria? Where's my Little Bird?" Ophelia hummed as she looked around the tent, she could hear Aria giggling. Ophelia knew all of her favorite hiding spots in the tent she knew exactly where she was.

"Hmmm, I suppose I won't be able to give her the gift I made. And I'll have to keep all these blackberries for myself." She set the little basket of blackberries on a small table next to a doll made of scraps of fabric. Ophelia wasn't supposed to be giving Aria gifts like toys and berries, but it was Ophelia's firm belief that a child deprived of having fun would become a very troubled adult. They lived with the prime examples.