The Stormborn

The storm was raging. Old hay roofs became soaking wet as the downpour of biblical proportions descended upon the small city, turning its streets and surrounding fields into an almost impassible quagmire. The wind roared on its way down the mountain slopes, gathering strength for an assault on old city walls, but the stone stood strong and unfaltering, almost effortlessly withstanding powerful gusts. Outside was pitch black but several groups of city guards still patrolled the walls, seemingly untouched by heavy weather and strong winds. Occasional lighting was their only source of illumination, but nevertheless, they tried to keep a sharp lookout on surrounding area. Times were dangerous, and not even a storm like this should be an excuse for slacking.

Lately, there was a lot of strange rumours circling around. Majority of them was started by travelling merchants who often visited Mirstone at this time of year, and most of them were total gibberish. Probably. But gibberish or not, by now, the whole town knew stories about strange creatures appearing out of nowhere, stories about terrifying shrieks coming from deep woods and stories about desecrated bodies being found in the fields across the kingdom. Even the stories about cloaked men walking around cities during storms and disappearing with a flash of lighting were well known by now. City guards, of course, disregarded such stories as nonsense and urged the merchants not to raise unnecessary panic between citizens. Yet more than one of them tonight glanced across the fields, uncomfortably squirming while doing so.

Under the old oak tree, barely a mile from the city walls, two strangers observed the storm. “The baby will be born tonight, there is no doubt about it anymore” said the cloaked figure.

“And you are sure it will be born here, in this town they call Mirstone?” a woman’s voice came from under the hood.

“Pretty much...but I do not know why” first voice now sounded worried ” Nor do I know why or even how is stormblood gathering in the human realm, but it is obvious that blessing will occur somewhere here”

“But, Alidar, that’s unheard of. I can not sense the flow of stormblood like you, no one can, but still...stormblood here? In human realm? It’s...it’s...It’s INSANE to even think about it. Besides, this storm is powerful, no doubt, but if stories of old are true then it should be much, mu...”

Woman's monologue was cut off by a blinding flash of light. The night was pierced, darkness shattered and the Earth itself shook in terror as the sky finally decided to unleash its true power.

Alidar’s face was now fully visible, even under the hood, as every vein on his old, wrinkled face now pulsated with pale blue light.

“ Stormblood is gathering, the blessing will soon occur. We must hurry or They will find the child first.”

A small cottage, hidden from the world by thick forest, stood alone in the midst of rampaging storm. The interior of the cottage was simple. Small table and two chairs were fashioned out of a roughly processed wood. Remains of a frugal meal were still on the table, a dinner half finished. On the old, narrow bed, next to a small fireplace, a woman in her early twenties was lying. A woodcutter’s wife was in labour and her forehead glistened with sweat. White cloth underneath her was stained with blood and she was now fighting for both her and her baby’s life. Her husband, a broad-shouldered man, was kneeling next to her, holding her hand in a tight grip and encouraging her as she was delivering their firstborn into the world.

Through some strange game of light and shadow, her belly seemed like glowing and the woodcutter’s gaze would often stray from his wife’s pale face to check the unusual occurrence. Outside, the storm was transcending in something else.The wind was howling through the trees, ripping them out of their roots and tossing them around like they possessed no weight whatsoever. Number of lighting bolts first doubled, then tripled and now quadrupled. It was a cacophony of destruction all around them, but the wooden cottage seemed unfazed. Like the storm itself decided to spare it from its wrath.

In the next instant, several things happened. The woman screamed from the top of her lungs, delivering the baby with her dying breath. At the same moment, the door exploded and a tall humanoid creature entered the room. Strangely shaped dagger glowed in its hand and the woodcutter somehow, through some parental instinct, knew creature came for the baby. He grabbed his axe spinning around to face the enemy but all he met was a dagger in his guts. His foe moved with astonishing speed. Pair of dark blue eyes now turned towards the small baby girl, who despite all odds, didn’t cry at all. Her skin was soaked in her mother’s blood, her umbilical cord still uncut, but the baby was unnaturally calm, it almost seemed like she was carefully observing the situation, with that shimmering eyes of hers. The creature slowly approached the bed, rapidly uttering words in a strange, hissing language. In response to his chanting, dagger started glowing with even brighter, more ominous light. His hand raised in order to deliver the killing blow on the baby but he was not the only one with killing intents. Woodcutter's axe bit deep into his shoulder and neck from behind, cutting flesh and bones with equal ease. The creature staggered as dark red blood started gushing out of the gaping wound. Seconds later, woodcutter fell on the ground as last of his strength left his body. His life was seeping out of the hole in his stomach. The creature, despite the ridiculous wound, once again returned it’s attention to the newborn baby.

A gigantic pillar of blazing white light struck in the middle of the forest. The night grew silent. The wind stopped in its tracks and the rain ceased to fall. Clouds dispersed in mere moments allowing the moon to gaze upon destruction the storm brought. The old city of Mirstone laid in ruins. Most of the wooden houses were now reduced to splinters, even the stone city walls were heavily damaged by flying debris, carried by that unnatural wind.

Alidar’s face now shone brightly, light radiating from his veins. He cursed under his voice turning his attention to the forest.
“ I never expected someone could be living there. Come, time is of utmost importance.” and without waiting for his companion he rushed toward the forest.

It was not hard to locate the place where the explosion of white energy happened as the light still emanated from the surrounding ground. The small cottage was shattered to smithereens. Three bodies and a baby greeted Alidar and his female companion as they approached the place where the warm home once stood. Without giving the second glance to bodies Alidar rushed to the girl. Her small body leaked blueish light from every pore. She is bathed in stormblood, Alidar thought to himself. With a sigh of relief, he now allowed himself a look around the scene, immediately noticing axe stuck in a humanoid body. To think that a mere human could manage to strike such a blow on one of the Altered was most impressive. He knew the wound wouldn’t be fatal for the creature, yet it was probably bad enough to buy just enough time for the blessing to occur. Alidar paid his respect to fallen father, trying not to imagine what would happen if that strike did not connect. Blessed By The Stormblood would probably be dead by now and with her all of his people hopes.

“Miriel, look at the baby’s hair” Alidar called pointing at the small head with his old fingers. Hair was completely black, except one lock of purest white colour.

“Only one lock is white? Shouldn’t it be completely white by now? Are our stories wrong? Is she really blessed?” Miriel couldn’t hide a freckle of panic in her voice.

“Yes, she is, look at her body, stormblood is literally pouring from her. There is no doubt, yet I would lie if I said this hair colour doesn’t bother me. Maybe it has to do something with her human heritage. Anyway, it’s time to move. Rift will soon close.”

Shrieking noises echoed all around them and two of them froze in place. “Damnation” said Alidar” I should have known Altered will bring back up. His minions are still around.” Miriel reached under her cloak and pulled out an elegant, curvy blade but Alydar stopped her. “ We can not fight them, there is too many of them. Take the baby and run for the rift. I will buy you as much time as I can.” One look in his blue eyes was enough for Miriel to see he is dead serious. She knew he was strong before, his reputation was almost legendary, but he was old now. Old even for Storm-elf’s standards. It’s has been centuries, maybe even millennia since the last time he fought a real battle. Nevertheless, she knew he was right. Without a sound, she took a baby from his arms and gave him a strong hug. “ Show them the power of Alidar Stormforged.” With that, she turned and ran like a wind.

Alidar stood alone, his sword resting on his side. Dozens of shadows now lurked around him, moving in slow circles, but he showed no sign of fear. The longer they circle around him the better. Miriel will have more time to reach the rift.

Flash of the blue light on his far right was the signal he was waiting for. The child was safe. The air around him now started shimmering and vibrating. Blue bolts of lighting surged across the blade of his sword and he raised his eyes to face the shadows.

“Now, let's see if I still remember how to use this old thing...”

IMage sources:
https://pixabay.com/en/storm-weather-rain-tornado-3263218/
https://pixabay.com/en/flash-thunderstorm-super-cell-2568381/
http://forums.trovegame.com/showthread.php?12518-Glowing-weapons
http://dreamcatcherreality.com/blue-rays/
https://pixabay.com/en/sword-antique-weapon-medieval-918542/