P H A N T O M




   In all the years Phantom had spent in Dorngarrow she had never thought that she would, one day, leave it behind. Those who left were often loathed and seen as traitors because why would they leave when Riekahn had so successfully beaten down any and all opposition? War after war had been waged and he and his kin always emerged victorious. So Why leave? To Phantom the answer was simple. The end of Riekahn's reign was coming, or so she was convinced. He had been in power for far too long, had slaughtered far too many 'enemies'. One could only hold onto power for so long before it began to slip away, one delicate strand at a time. When the time came for his downfall she did not want to be in Dorngarrow or anywhere in the vicinity. Call it cowardice if you will, but Phantom preferred to call it self preservation.

   For several months she had traveled, each day leading her farther and farther from her homeland. Each day she felt a weight on her shoulders lighten, the tenseness in which she had grown accustomed to grow fainter and fainter. Part of her felt free, though she knew that she would never be free of Dorngarrow. The bloodshed would always follow her wherever she went, just as it followed everyone in their family. Why else would they all be marked with red? It was to remind them of the countless lives they had ended, of the bodies they had stepped on to reach the pinnacle of their power.

   She was not a heartless being as some may have thought her to be. She did not like to kill, but she did so because she was ordered to. Defying Riekahn's orders was futile and he had proven as much time and again. Treason was not tolerated and while Phantom was not a heartless killer she was also not treasonous.

   At least she hadn't been. Now she wasn't so sure.

   She halted as a forest loomed ahead of her like some great beast that should be feared. That made two of them. One behind her mercilessly slaughtering anything that stood in his way and one ahead of her filled with unknowns. She only had to make the choice of which beast she would rather face. After a moment's hesitation Phantom stepped into the forest, preferring the unknown to Riekahn.

   Phantom had come to realize some time ago that her sire was probably completely mentally unstable. She suspected that was what made him such a brilliant tactician and warlord, she could not take that away from him. But after years of doing his bidding she found that she didn't want to be like him. Not completely. His drive was something to be admired, as was his passion, but that was all. She would not lie and say that she loved her sire because that concept was foreign. He had not raised her as a father might raise his children with love and support. In her eyes he had been little more than a dictator creating offspring to use as pawns in his game of war.

   Several minutes passed before Phantom finally stopped and began to take in her surroundings. There were many different scents crisscrossing the forest in no resolute direction. It seemed that the forest was more than just a forest of unknowns, but a gateway to even greater unknowns. She didn't know if she should be excited or fearful and so she settled on an in-between of passive as she began to move once more.