Now we are getting some answers. Including why Jada did not take Tara with her when she dumped Riccard. He is quite the controlling bastich. I take it he is from the Willow bloodline, not Jada?

And now we know that 19 is the magic age. How good to see that Jada at least left some insurance with Aleksander. But now that Tara is 19 (in the present) that makes a big

Those were simply failed experiments who I managed to deposit souls into, but didn’t survive the ordeal. I have stored them until I find time to extract the souls back out again. That would be a terrible waste, otherwise.
This is so creepy on so many levels. Not in the least because here we see what it is store for Tara! Let us just hope that her Willow blood is all that dear old dad believes it to be.

All around, a very neat episode, with both dashes of the past to fill in the gaps in our understanding, as well as a continuance with the storyline in the present.



nits:
Her struggling to escapes was inevitable futile.
I understand what you meant here, but I think you may have had some words from a leftover edit in the end here?

She could slowly feel the blood drain from her face in fright
Your period at the end ran out on Tara. I do not blame it in the least, under the circumstances!

You are going to {be} a great thing
Did you perhaps was a be where I inserted it above?

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Dec 16 2011, 02:10 AM

What a beautiful job you do here of setting the scene for the very end of this episode. Wow! I’m fascinated and frightened by what is ahead for Tara. In fact you quite had me mesmerized throughout.

’But she didn’t need a picture when the sound was perfect.
“Father?”
Magnificently worded!

’Riccard readied himself for his spell; his hand glowed a brilliant blue. He didn’t even have any words of comfort for his daughter. He didn’t even hear her beg for her life.’
A very powerful ending that fully delivers on showing Tara’s fear.

Yikes. I'm hoping Aleksander shows up soon, but I'm not sure what he can to at this point. Edge of my seat.

Nits:

’She walked over to the dresser a pulled out a blanket before going back to Tara and placing it on her gently.'
I’m sure you want ‘and’ instead of ‘a’.

’Riccard moved slightly and blocked the doorway; blocking her exit. ‘
I would recommend not repeating variations of block in such close proximity. Perhaps simply: ‘Riccard moved slightly into the doorway, blocking her exit.’

’uninterested in celebrating his daughters sixth birthday.’
I recommend the possessive instead of plural form here: daughter’s.

“It is a well known fact that the Willow women have the skill to absorb souls and turn tem into magicka. ‘
‘Them’, of course.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Dec 16 2011, 03:45 AM

Holy! Really well written!
My heart is actually pounding in my chest, I know what's going to happen, but I can just imagine how Tara must feel right now, helpless, while her own father is far gone into madness.
At the same time I feel Riccard feeling really excited, years of planning, research, and experimentation finally coming to a end, and he will see the fruits of his labor.

Also, I want to punch Riccard so bad!

Blimey...He really is a lovely chap...I know several chaps who would have liked a word with him... ...

Really excellenly done...*Applauds*...I love your style of writing, and the imagination is - if a little dark - Brilliant...

The section with the mother and baby is brilliant, then she gets older and more brilliance and then the damed scary bit at the end...

I'm looking forward to seeing where it all goes and how the extra soul does stuff...And indeed how she gets away from the odious little chap... ...

“We cannot have you getting too attached to her.”]
What the…?

“Who are you? What happened to the man I married?”
I was thinking something vaguely similar.

The note, I wonder what it is?

This is inadequate, but her father is SICK.

I too am wondering what happened to Aleksander. That was a long time to hold onto a note. And how could Jana just leave her daughter with him? What sort of power did he hold over her?

Great story so far!

Holy Cow, this is like watching a horror movie! Awesome Write!!

Very exciting. I'm still on the edge of my seat!


“I thought I told you not to hold her?” He said. “We cannot have you getting too attached to her.”

This is so sad. At this point I'm just as mad at Jana for leaving Tara with Riccard! I like how you're letting the details come out slowly, it makes me curious for more.

Hey McB you bring your chaps and I'll call up some of my "Friends in low places" and we'll introduce them to our friend Riccard here, maybe they'll think of something more appropriate to use that table for, as well as the area under the floor boards!!!

Awesome write my dear, just awesome. And dark yes, but knowing that Tara survives makes it a little less horrific.

Where is Alexsander? and what about the note? Edge of my seat here!!!

nits:

Typically I don't do this as the "nits" I notice are noted before hand so there is no need for me to offer my two cents. Anyway, just trying to help, as the story is quite remarkable.

“Is that why mother left? Because she disproved of what you were doing?” Tara asked.
I think what you want here is "disapproval" instead of disproved. Disproved means she proved something false, disapproval means she did not approve of what he was doing.

Keep up the great work, I am thoroughly enjoying the story!!!

SubRosa: Thank you so much for reading As to you're assumption that Riccard is the Willow, I wanted to leave it ambiguous as to which parent is the origional Willow; despite the fact that I know which it is! Lol. Thank you for the compliments and the nits

Acadian: Thank you so much for the comliments! I'm glad you enjoyed my wording of the picture/sound quote I'm so thrilled that you are enjoying the story

Fawkes: Wow, thank you! Your comment about that segemnt was a huge compliment! I'm so glad i can help the readers feel for Tara

McBadgere: Thank you so much for the compliments! I'm glad you're enjoying the dark tone to the Prologue

King Coin: I'm so thrilled that Riccard's behaviour leave you pondering about him. And no, calling him sick was totally NOT inadequate; I'm sure many feel the same

mALX: Haha, thank you! I'm happy my writing passes off some kind of emotion to my readers

Grits: I'm so glad you are enoying the story! Even though i wrote the words, i too felt for Jada when she was scolding for loving her child.

Athynae: Thank you! Yes, Tara's story does begin quite dark, and hopefully once Willow is intorduced it'll bring more cheer to our dear Bretons otherwise unlucky life Thank you for the nits









3E 432 ~ Farrun, High Rock

The pain was unbearable; like a spark spell attacking every inch on humanity she had inside of her. Tara couldn’t even scream; the pain forced the scream into a silent whelp. A single tear strolled faintly down her cheek.

The spell lasted at least ten minutes as Tara has watched the clock in the basement as she suffered her torment. Each minute slowly dragging and painfully as she had felt.

After a what felt like an hour, she could feel something emerging slowly from within her as the spell appeared to be drawing to a close due to the glow of Riccard’s hand beginning to soften from a harsh light to a tiny shimmer. It felt like something was crawling from inside her chest, slowly reaching upwards, eventually into her brain. Her head began to violently tingle, before eventually settling down. It felt heavy.

Riccard’s spell began to ease, and then eventually cease. He stared at her in shock, a smile on his face.

“I’ve done it…” He mumbled to himself.

Tara stared at her father. He was motionless, as was she. She felt strange, yet in extreme pain. It felt like something was rummaging through her brain very softly, but making enough noise to be easily detected. She didn’t know what to do; she was exhausted.

“This is it Tara. We’ve done it. My life’s work, accomplished. Now all that’s left to do is…”

“RICCARD!?”

Riccard moved his head towards the basement door. Aleksander stood sturdily with a sword drawn, his eyes wide in horror at what he was witnessing. In Aleksander’s eyes all he could see was Tara tied to a table with Riccard groping her chest. He may have read the situation wrong; but it was enough.

“Riccard, you get away from her. NOW.” He demanded. Riccard didn’t move. Instead he stared at Tara with intense glee.

“Aleksander, I’ve done it! I’ve been waiting nineteen years but I’ve done it! Her body is mine!”

Aleksander glared at him, gripping his sword tighter; anger fuelling the adrenaline he had gained. He thought Riccard was his friend; a good man. There was no way he had prepared himself for this.

“You sick monster!”

Almost instantaneously Aleksander sped toward Riccard and plunged his sword into his abdomen. He held Riccard in that position whilst Riccard spoke his last words.

“You don’t know what you’ve done! I… wasn’t finished…”

Riccard looked at Tara before falling off Aleksander’s sword with an almighty thud. Neither Tara or Aleksander felt any pity. H-he... he had it coming…I’m sorry it had to come to this father…

Aleksander stared and Riccard, then spat on his corpse. Tara felt an ounce of pity for her father at that point. To Aleksander, Riccard was molesting his daughter; but Tara knew the truth. Whether she would tell the truth was a different story.

All she knew now was that it was over.



Aleksander held Tara by the waist, supporting her as he led her to his and Mildred’s house.

“I don’t understand why he would do such a thing. He was such a well respected man,” Aleksander pondered. Tara remained silent. Aleksander looked at her. “I don’t want you going back to that house. You’re coming to stay with Mildred and me.”

Tara looked at him and smiled.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t worry, Tara. You need SOMEWHERE to live.”

“N-no I mean, thank you, for helping me,” She said. “I thought I was going to…”

“You thought you were going to, what?” Aleksander asked. She was going to reveal that she thought she was going to die, but Tara remembered that she wasn’t going to tell the truth, so she remained silent.

They continued to walk as Tara began to notice many residents of Farrun staring at her. She looked at the floor and refused to acknowledge them; despite the fact that she could still feel their eyes boring into her.

“Anyway,” Aleksander started, looking at Tara. “You have your mother to thank, not me.”

Tara’s eyes shot a look at Aleksander with a small smile etched onto her lips. My mother?

“She wrote me a note on your sixth birthday ordering me to keep an eye on you on your nineteenth birthday. I just wish I hadn’t lost sight of you at the party. Maybe I could have stopped this sooner and spared the bloodshed…”

Mother DID know this was going to happen! Why did she let father keep me if she knew what he was planning?

Tara looked into Aleksander’s eyes and smiled; holding him closer as he supported her.

“Thank you, Aleksander…”

3E 433 ~ Farrun, High Rock

“Tara? Can you hear me?”

Tara woke up, startled at the sudden voice she heard in her ear. She looked around the room. No sign of anyone. She put her head back down on the pillow.

“Tara! Don’t ignore me, rude-o.”

Tara shot up again, her eyes darting across the room.

“H-hello?”

“Hello! No, wait, you know I’m here. Doofus.”

Tara jumped out of bed and spun, looking behind her for the speaker.

“Who… who are you?”

“Me? I could tell you my name… but it’s stupidly long. Call me what ever you want.”

“Who?”

“ME!”

“Who’s ‘me’!?”

“OH! Sorry. I’ve kinda been in a dormant state since daddy dearest did his wacky mumbo jumbo spirit trap thing. That was cool… although maybe not for you”

Tara panicked. She was too freaked out, even for words, so she did the only thing that made sense to her. She screamed and ran to her bedroom door to seek Aleksander and Mildred’s aide; but halted as she caught her reflection in her bedroom window.

She saw something in her image, a girl stood closely behind her. Her body was nude and partly misty. It looked as if half of her body was growing from Tara’s back as the Red-headed girl looked over Tara’s shoulder. Tara smiled. Even though it was strange and completely, undoubtedly and unexplainably petrifying, it was quite beautiful.

Tara relaxed as she gazed into the eyes of the Redhead.

“Where did you come from?”

“Well before I died I used to be a Spellsword from Bravil, then I took an arrow to the knee… and the eye. I think it was the eye shot that did it.”

Tara giggled. Even though she was completely in shock about the current situation, it felt somewhat comfortable; almost like the Redhead was a part of her. Part of her soul.

“That sounds pretty painful.”

“Ah, I’m over it. I’m sure I’ll get my own back one day.”

Tara continued to look at hers and the Redhead’s reflection. An awkward silence ensued; but only for a mere moment.

“So I guess I’m going to be sticking around then, huh?”

“Why do you assume that?”

“Well Mister Wacko created a spell which would leave a spirit trapped inside your body, right?”

“Right, but with the soul eventually being put into an enchantment. Who knows how long you’ll be with me.”

Tara then suddenly remembered something. Aleksander and saved her BEFORE Riccard completed the spell. For all she knew, the Redhead could be trapped inside her forever. She didn’t know how the spell worked, so that was all she could assume.

“Well if we’re going to be soul mates I’m going to have a cool nickname or something.”

"Well, you're very outspoken considering you've only just come round." Tara joked.

"I may have only just come out, but I HAVE been watching you, you know!" She revealed. "But that's beside's the major issue here. Are you gonna give me a super cool name or what?"

“…Like what?” Tara replied, surprisingly calm

“Um… I don’t know… how about Phoenix?”

“Really?” Tara questioned. “You don’t really look like a Phoenix to me.”

“Oh… Mental slap in the face right there. I could easily pass for a Phoenix.”

“Really?”

The Redhead looked disappointed. The name clearly had meant a lot to her for some reason.

“You need a name which I feel comfortable saying all the time. You ARE a part of me, remember…”

Suddenly, with that thought in mind, Tara had the perfect name for her new friend.

“How about Willow?”

“Willow? Your surname?”

“Yeah sure, that way you will always be associated with me. We will always come as a package deal. So?”

She thought for a while, pondering the thought of having such a tree-like name. It was very tough and it certainly wasn’t very intimidating; but nether the less, she loved it.

“Alright,” Willow smiled. “Willow it is.”

Tara nodded, and then smiled with her. Despite everything, she was happy. She grabbed a seat and sat looking into the mirror.

“So, Willow, why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself?”

Tara knew, somehow, that this was going to be the start of something wonderful.

This post has been edited by Tábrasa: Jan 12 2012, 03:21 AM

What a horrible experience! Then saved by Aleksander.

Then,

Then. . .

Then. . .

WILLOW! Even though I sort of knew what was going to happen, this was soooo cool! I love how you introduced her and everything about her so far! I’m fully with you, Tara, this is going to be so much fun! I love it!

Nits:

Okay, the biggest nit here is what we call headhopping. This story is clearly intended to be from Tara’s perspective, so you need to limit it to telling us only things that Tara knows or feels. Like this:
’After what felt like an hour, she could feel something emerging slowly from within her’

In the following two passages, you are clearly inside Aleksander’s head, not Tara’s:
’In Aleksander’s eyes all he could see was Tara tied to a table with Riccard groping her chest.’
’Aleksander glared at him, gripping his sword tighter; anger fuelling the adrenaline he had gained. He thought Riccard was his friend; a good man. There was no way he had prepared himself for this.’

And finally here, you are inside the heads of Tara and Aleksander at the same time:
’Neither Tara or Aleksander felt any pity. ‘

It takes some creativity to get around these things. For example in the last example, Alek could have said he felt no pity and Tara could have thought to herself that she felt the same way. Or Tara could have shared her thoughts with us that she felt no pity and judging by the hard look in Alek’s eyes imagined that he felt the same. When in Tara’s head, you always have to ask yourself, how would she know this?

Okay, a couple tiny mundane nits:

’The spell lasted at least ten minutes as Tara has watched the clock in the basement as she suffered her torment.’
Tense hopping here. The fix is as simple as going to 'had'.

’Aleksander stared and Riccard, then spat on his corpse.’
I'm sure you wanted 'at' here.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Dec 23 2011, 02:59 AM

*Applauds*... ...



I have to say, I chickened out of it the other day...So I applaud and bow to you for it... ...

Well, he got what was coming to him didn't he?...

The only nit I can say about that...From a fan of fights is that unless the spell took a hell of a lot from Riccard or Aleksander is also a spellsword, it seemed a teensy too easy...Not a complaint and I suspect that is just me being a git... ...Just an observation...

An most excellent write!!...Loving it...

And the world really doesn't have enough naked redheaded mist-women... ...

Stop now Robert...You'll go too far...Again...

Awww...

Nice one... ...

Oh, this is interesting. I'm not sure where it is going, but it's still the prologue so I'll just wait and see. So with that said, on to some more specific comments.

I'm honestly surprised that Riccard was a 'respected man' and a 'good friend'. I probably just missed the part where it is explained, but my image of him was that of a recluse at least. You know, the guy who spends all day in the basement doing his experiments, doesn't look after his own image (and hygiëne) and is generally obviously nutters. I guess he was better at the double-life than I expected.

As for the ease with which Aleksander killed him, well I find that convincing enough, apart from how quick Aleksander's mind switched from 'friend and nice guy' to 'monster, kill it kill it'. The way I see it, Riccard was in full blown muhahaha evil psycho monologue-mode. He probably didn't even notice the sword till it was making holes in his intestines.

Nice chapter, 'poor' Riccard. Compromising positon and his first words didn't help at all.

Still curious about Jada. Even if, from what I gathered, she knew Tara was safe until she turned 19 I'm curious why she left her with him even for that long.

Some nits. You have some odd tense usage at some points.
She screamed and ran to her bedroom door to seek Aleksander and Mildred’s aide; but halted as she caught her reflection in her bedroom window.
You have her action in the past tense, but interrupt it before it happens. Maybe instead use:
She was about to scream and run to her bedroom door to seek Aleksander and Mildred’s aide; but halted as she caught her reflection in her bedroom window.

Also you have Willow 'named' before she offically gets her name, not a nit per-say, but it takes things from the naming a few lines later.

Yay for Aleksander! Too bad he had not spitted Riccard like a pig a decade earlier.

I loved the description of the nude, misty red-headed girl growing out of Tara's back in the mirror.

then I took an arrow to the knee
Is this a Skyrim fic now? Seriously, it is nice to see someone poking fun at the silliness in these games. Sometimes it is just impossible to resist.

So now we get to meet the second half of our dynamic duo. I am wondering how far you are going to take the bond between the two women? Will Willow be just a voice in Tara's head, or more? For example, she said she had been a spellsword. Might Willow then be able to cast spells from her piggy-backed position in Tara's body?

If only Aleksander had arrived but a little sooner.
Though I am surprised he remembered the note from thirteen years prior.

Willow’s got a lot of personality. I’m interested in what they are going to chat about now. Not everybody has their personal ghost to chat with. Well I suppose some of the Dunmer might...

I have to agree, even knowing Willow would soon pop up - very cool the way you carried it off !! Great Write !!

mALX: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you're reading

King Coin: Haha i'm happy that you have lots of things to wonder about Yes, Willow i a very different character to Tara; that's part of her charm i suppose!

SubRosa: Haha yes, it is a shame, but Jada gave his specific instructions to follow; Instructions we may discover at some point. I'm pleased you like the description of Willow. I've always had the image so clear in my head of her

liliandra nadiar: Haha do not worry, all your queries will be explains; just not all right away Thank you for the suggestion with the nit I'll go about editing it soon.

jack cloudy: Nope, you didn't miss anything, but i'm pleased you had your own image of what Riccard was like; hopefully future chapters will help by giving you answers you seek

McBadgere: No, you are not being a git! haha, you are allowed your opinion. My only answer to that is that Riccard was so caught up in his success that he failed to noticed Alek's sword; but that is just one of many theories haha

Acadian: I am so thirilled by your reaction! I know, this IS going to be fun Thank you for the nits. I will edit them when i do an appropriate re-write with less head chopping. haha

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NOTE: Might I just apologize for the lack of an update recently, but from this point on the journal will be updated every Thursday. Thank you for your support









Willow
Unknown Era ~ Bravil

I stood at the Statue of the Lucky Lady of Bravil. I hadn’t been to my hometown in over three years, nor was I planning to stay there long. The university had sent me on a mission to discover the identity of a rogue mage that was rumoured to be hiding out, or rather blending in, at the Bravil mages guild.

I took to tradition, kissing the statue for luck; I felt stupid, but I didn’t want to offend anyone. I stared at the statue a little while longer expecting to feel a burst of luck or whatever, but nothing; not even a spark.

I sighed and headed toward the guild. I grabbed the paper holding my mission brief from my knapsack, reading it thoroughly to avoid any misdirection. As usual, everything was on par.

Walking to the guild I noticed something. Behind the chapel I saw something. A human something.

A child.

The child was huddled behind a tree; probably under the impression that they were hidden. The child looked distraught, the most awfully wailing sound screeching from their mouth. It was wearing scraggy looking clothes and a overly large cap; quite clearly your average runaway.

I stopped and stared a while. I wanted to approach and see whether or not this child needed my help. I couldn’t be entirely sure. It may have just been a bust up with the parents and the child needed to blow off some steam.

Yet it could have been something serious.

Against my better judgement I decided to see if the child was okay. I approached carefully, not wanting to alarm them. The child could have been feral.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked. I didn’t get a reply, so I stepped closer. Eventually I was directly in front of the child. I knelt in front of the child.

“Look whatever you’re afraid of it’s okay. Tell me what’s wrong.” I smiled. “I don’t bite very hard.”

The child slowly looked up at me. It was evident that they were only young; probably around the sixes or sevens. Once the child met their eyes with mine they leapt at me with an almighty embrace, an embrace that startled me to the point of my bottom colliding with the ground.

“What’s your name?” I asked the child.

“...a....er” I heard the child mumble, although I thought I could make out the name.

“Palmer?” I asked. After a few short seconds the child nodded. With Palmer being a boy’s name, I managed to work out that the child was of the male variety. I stood up.

“Right then Palmer,” I reached out my hand. “Feel like solving a mystery with me? We can talk on the way?”

Palmer was hesitant at first, but he eventually took my hand. Once we were joined I leaded on to the mages guild, interacting in conversation with Palmer on the way.

“So, are you going to tell me what you were doing?” I asked.

Palmer was silent for a moment, but he eventually told me.

“I ran away.”

“Well yes, I can see that, but what are you doing in Bravil? Do you have family here?”

Palmer shook his head. I’ll admit it, I was a little concerned. I was even intrigued by the fact that he clung to me, a total stranger, with such trust that anyone who saw us would think he was my child. But despite that I knew that once we got to the guild I would have to leave him there. I knew that someone there would be able to help him.

Hopefully.

Tara
3E 433 ~ Farrun, High Rock

“I-is that it? You don’t have any more?” Tara asked Willow, disappointed at the sudden halt of her story.

“Sorry, but I’ve been dead a long time. Things tend to be forgotten post-mortem.”

Suddenly Tara heard her name being called by Mildred from downstairs. She looked at her door, then back at the mirror, only to see that Willow's reflection had vanished. She shrugged it off with a mild disappointment and headed downstairs.

Tara hopped into the kitchen where Mildred was sealing a letter. Once she saw Tara she handed the letter to her.

“I need to you take this over to Karliah at the guild.” She instructed with a smile.

Tara smiled back and took the letter, kissing Mildred on the cheek before heading out the door.

Tara walked through the city of Farrun, noticing her house on the way. She stopped for a moment to look at it.

A lot of bad memories had taken place there. She found out what kind of a man her father was and that scarred her for life.

She shook off the emotion she felt and headed toward the guild; but before she even had a chance to approach the guild, Karliah walked out of the main entrance door; almost colliding with Tara.

“OH TARA! I’m sorry!” Karliah apologized.

“It’s fine, don’t worry.” Tara assured her as they both laughed it off. Karliah began to walk away but Tara managed to stop her in time.

“Actually Karliah I came to see you.”

Karliah raised her eyebrows as Tara handed her the note. She carefully opened it and read the contents.

“Oh,” Karliah started. She looked at Tara and smiled sympathetically. “It is only the menu draft for your father’s memorial on Friday.”

Karliah looked distressed. If only she knew...

“I still can’t believe that a year ago your father was taken from us by those assassins.” Karliah mourned.

Tara nodded in false agreement. After Aleksander had done what he did he went back to the house in the dead of night and removed the bodies, how he did it was a miracle, and the following morning alerted the guard about witnessing a ‘shadowy looking man’ entering Riccard’s house during the night, and ever since then Farrun had believed that he was murdered by assassins. A good cover which resulted in a guilty conscience.

“Your father was a wonderful guild head. It’s no wonder he got rather anxious and reclusive near his final days. He probably knew that someone was after him. If only he had said something...”

Tara felt bad about the fact that everyone had this perfect image of her father. It’s true that he was well respected and well liked; but he had his dark side.

Maybe it wasn’t even a dark side? Maybe he was just misunderstood...

Whatever theories Tara may have come up with in her mind at the end of the day her father was a killer. She couldn’t and wouldn’t forget that.

Tara said her goodbyes to Karliah and headed back home to Mildred and Aleksander, but again caught a glimpse of her childhood home on her travels. She stopped and stared intensely and the scene of her horror. She wondered and pondered about what was really going through her father's mind that day, and she knew that the house had the answers she needed. There were alot of things that her father said that she didn’t understand, things that she wanted to understand.

The next thing she knew she was stood in the hallway of her family home.

She didn’t even have time to think as she found herself heading to the basement. She opened the basement door and scurried down the steps. Nothing had changed. All of her father's apparatus was still intact. His book’s, his ingredients; her torture table.

She slowly approached the lab. She could feel something burning within her. Anger? Hate? Sadness? She wasn’t sure. All the emotions she felt that day came flooding back hard and fast, forcing itself into her weakening calm demeanour. Before she knew what to think she screamed, casting an incredible shock spell that knocked the majority of her father’s things onto the wooden floor.

With her remaining strength she sprinted to the things still standing and threw them at the walls. When there was nothing left to throw and no more words to scream she collapsed in tears, breaking down; the break down her body had craved since the incident.

Then she noticed something. She looked down to see an envelope hidden in the floorboards by his desk, or rather where his desk used to be. She squeezed her fingers through the floorboards and slowly pulled out the envelope. It had her name on it and it was written in her father's writing. A part of her wanted to open it; yet another part of her wanted to burn it.

But she listened to her head and opened the letter. It was marked as the day of her birth. The date Riccard must have written the letter.

Dearest Tara.

If you have found this letter, the chances are I have passed on as I would never let you in the basement had I been alive.

I understand that you have a lot of questions that I simply cannot answer. All I need to say is that I’m sorry. Whereas, and this may sound selfish of me, I do not regret the experiment I will no doubt perform, I do regret that you were specifically born for this fate.

I’m sorry for the pain I will eventually put you through and I’m sorry for you having this perception of me as an evil man.

But I have a dream, and I wasn’t ready to give up on that dream.

Despite everything I put you through I DO love you, I just wouldn’t allow myself to show it for reasons you couldn’t possibly understand.

I knew you were strong enough to survive this and I am so glad that you have.

I’m proud of you.

I’m sorry.

The letter baffled her to new heights. She didn’t know what to think. She was confused at his reason for the letter. He regretted hurting her but he didn’t regret performing the experiment. She was confused, angry and on the verge of another breakdown.

But she understood. Strangely she understood completely how her father felt. She thought long and hard but she knew that what her father had written was the truth. She knew. Despite what he’d done and how he’d treated her he was still her father.

As she thought, she felt something, something in the air. It was comforting and warm. She’d never felt like this before. She never felt safe and secure. And as the feeling began to intensify and make her mood grow more content, she uttered the words she never thought she would utter in a million years.

“I forgive you, father...”

This post has been edited by Tábrasa: Jan 13 2012, 01:02 PM

Nice segment Tabrasa. I really liked the peek at Willow.



Funny this should come up just now, but aren't they all at some point in their life, just a thought.

Tara's experience in the basement was intense, deeply emotional and also realistic, excellent job.

Keep it up, great so far.

What a neat glimpse of ancient history from Willow’s past! I wonder what became of Palmer? And I see Willow was/is a mage.

I loved how you presented the coverup of Tara’s father’s death.

Her scene in the basement, including reading the note, was very poignant and you described her confusion and anger very well. Whether or not her father deserves forgiveness or not, I’m glad to see that Tara found a touch of peace regarding her memories of him.

Nits:
’She shook of the emotion she felt and headed toward the guild; ‘
Here, you want ‘off’.

’Before she knew what to thing she screamed, ‘
‘Think’?

’With her remaining strength he sprinted to the things still standing and threw them at the walls. ‘
I think it is Tara doing the sprinting so you want ‘she’.

Anyone who thinks that has obviously been at the grocery store when I came in with my brood of banshees, lol.

Tabrasa - I'll have to come back to read this another day, battling a migraine right now at the end of a day from H.

This post has been edited by mALX: Jan 12 2012, 03:32 AM