Daughter of the Mountain
Freljord was not an easy place to live, the food was scarce, the people where rough and ice covered everything in sight. Most people that lived there grew up to be formidable warriors, people that lived only for violence, booze and food. No one had challenged the way the people of the Freljord lived until a young Ashe stepped in after the dead of her mother, het tribe wanted vengeance while she wanted to heal.
They didn't get her idea, they called her a traitor if it wasn't for Anivia she would be dead. It was thanks to the ancient bird that she found the bow of Avarosa. With ice in her veins now, Ashe made her way back home hoping that the ancient relic would manage to convince the people of the tribe.
Oh how wrong she had been.
"There she is!" a barbarian yelled and another arrow was fired her way. Ashe ducked and fired a shot of her own, they had been following her for an entire day. Night had already come and she was moving with nothing but the moonlight guiding her.
Her legs felt tired, she had been climbing this mountain for hours. Everything had gone wrong so fast and she couldn't find a reason why. Another arrow flew past her, this time hitting the spot right next to her feet. Ashe cursed and kept on running, she just needed to lose them and everything would be fine.
She would track down Anivia and ask her for help once more, her people would see, they needed to see if they wanted to survive.
Ashe covered her eyes for a second as a strong blizzard hit the mountain, snow blinded her and she slowed down her steps. Sadly that was all the advantage the people pursuing her needed. An arrow pierced her right shoulder making Ashe scream in pain.
The teen hit the ground hard, her blood dripping down onto the white snow. Ashe reached for her bow but a strong boot crashed down on her hand. She hissed in pain and looked up to see one of the barbarian.
She knew him.
He worked for her mother, he was one of the kindest souls she had ever met, why would he attack her.
"We finally got you, Ashe the traitor will no longer try to fool us with her sorcery and fabricated lies; Avarosa would never chose to bless you!" he screamed as he grabbed her by throat and raised her up.
Ashe struggled to breathe as her feet kicked her assailant.
"Enough of this" he said as his grip tightened and a strange blue hue covered his dark eyes.
"There can be no body" he said to no one in particular as he dragged her and the bow to a giant canyon on the middle of the mountain. Ashe bit down on his hand hoping that he would let her go, but he resisted the pain. It was as if he didn't even feel it.
The barbarian raised her once more, her feet didn't touch the ground and Ashe immediately panicked. With pleading eyes she tried to plead, but his face was set on stone, with no emotion he secured the bow on her belt. He didn't warn her when he dropped her, Ashe screamed as she fell. She closed her eyes and prayed.
Prayed for a quick end.
But the gods did not heed her prayers, she slammed against the side of the canyon hard, rocks and dead trees cutting into her skin. She tried to grab the rocks with her good arm but she was going to fast she only managed to break a few of her fingers. Her descent was stopped by a large trunk that was growing on the side of the canyon she slammed against hard, knocking the wind out of her and shattering a few of her ribs it but as if by miracle she stayed on it.
Ashe spat blood out of her mouth and tried to remain awake, her arms where useless now she realized with horror. She tried to move but the pain wouldn't let her. Her eyes where blurry, her breath was labored and Ashe knew that her time had come.
With teary eyes she pushed herself to a sitting position.
"M… mother…." Ashe whispered into the cool air.
"I'm… not like you… I never was" Ashe stood up shakily and looked around. The tree had stopped her fall, but she still was in the middle of canyon, alone and with no way out other than down.
Ashe shivered as she looked down.
A black abyss stared back at her, with no end on sight, around her nothing but rocks and darkness. Ashe whimpered in pain as she brought her knees closer to her face. The pain was unbearable she could hardly move.
Ashe felt the mountain shook and the canyon was briefly illuminated by a red light coming from bellow her. It looked like a cave and the tired Ashe realized it was the only hope she had of surviving. She stood up on shaky legs and tried to figure out how she was going to jump down to the cave without the use of her arms.
Her left hand was broken and her right arm had an arrow lodged into it, she was bleeding out and fast. She moved her left arm and gritted her teeth. Her hand was broken but the rest of her arm was not, it was the only hope she had.
With great caution she started place her feet on the rocks below the trunk of the tree, with small steps at a time she started to get close to the cave. Ashe gritted her teeth as rock carved itself into her arm, but pain was irrelevant right now, she needed to live.
With great effort she reached the entrance of the cave collapsing once she reached the entrance. The entrance of the cave was warmer than outside and she heard the faint sound of something echoing inside.
A few moments passed before the mountain shook again and the orange glow of fire illuminated the cave once more, this time Ashe saw carvings on the wall and not far ahead of her, stairs.
Civilization.
Filled with hope Ashe stumbled to the stairs and started her descent, her strength was starting to fade and with each step more blood dripped to the ground.
Ashe reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a massive room, covered in artifacts of all kind. The artifacts where ancient and they ranged from weapons to tools but the one thing that they all had in common was the thin layer of dust that covered them.
Ashe shook her head and continued further down the cave, the echo was now a thunderous noise that was all too familiar to her, someone was forging weapons. The sound came from a chamber illuminated by the raging fire that it held, the closer Ashe got to it the hotter the air around her became. When she reached the entrance the heat became too much for her.
She couldn't give another step, her skin felt as if it was going to melt, but she could barely make out the figure of a large person with a giant hammer inside.
Desperate Ashe tried to scream only to be cut off by bloody gurgles coming out of her mouth, Ashe spat on the ground and fell to her knees. She was so close, she would not let this be her end!
"HELP!" she managed to scream at the top of her lungs and the hammering stopped. The air around her became cooler and the figure started to approach her.
Relief soon turned to dread as the humanoid shape became more and more monstrous as it got closer to her. Giant horns and red fur appeared from the smoke of the mountain and a large huff of air cleared the smoke around him.
The creature glared down at the human and growled.
"My work is important girl, how dare you interrupt me?" he said in a booming voice. Ashe could only look up with pleading eyes and hope that the monster would make her death quick.
