This story was written for the BetterinTexasFiction 2015 Winter Wonderland Contest. It won third place.
Just a little backstory on one of my D&D characters, Rowan Silverfrond.
Rowan was cold. Uncharacteristically cold, in fact. She shivered uncontrollably, and pulled her arms in close to her body, lifting her hands to her mouth in order to literally breathe life into them. Her shoulders slumped not for the first time as she felt the far off tug upon her senses. The pull of home- of the coast.
Closing her eyes, she could hear the waves crashing around her, and feel the misty spray of the sea on her face on a sunny afternoon many ten days ago. Opening them, she found a stark contrast greeting her. Instead of sun-warmed sand between her toes, she found chilling ice, and she silently thanked Pan for the blessing of bark skin, which deadened the worst of the freezing sensation and prevented any truly damaging repercussions of literally walking on the thin sheet of ice beneath her.
After what felt like an hours-long trek but was really only a short jaunt from her starting point under a familiar oaken tree, Rowan sensed what she was looking for in her new forested home. The lay of the land perfectly lead her to a shallow cave entrance.
Without fear or regard for the dangers that can be found in such dark crevasses, Rowan stepped into the darkened area, making use of her superior elven dark vision to make note of her new surroundings. Pleased with the safety of her newly discovered home, she nodded curtly before making her way further into the darkened niche. At the front of the cave, Rowan set herself to creating a small campfire- large enough to ward off any beasts in the oncoming night, yet small enough to avoid any damage to the unaltered wilderness that surrounded her. Finding prime scraps of kindling nearby was easy, and igniting the bundle was an even simpler matter.
Although every resident of Faerun was well adept and taught at an early age how to create flame by striking flint and steel together, Rowan, as a druid, was special. She could start a fire with not but a single thought. Waving her hand in a familiar pattern, which vaguely reminded her of a tendril of flame, she whispered under her breath, "Fire, I call on your warmth." In an instant, a miniature ball of fire appeared at her fingertips as she'd commanded.
The inanimate puff of flame brought a small smile to the normally stoic half-elf's features, and she immediately set herself to work creating a campfire that would last the cold winter's night ahead. A short time later, she propped herself against the cave wall, satisfied with her work. Her eyes quickly fell heavy in the steadily warming cave, and she let herself fall victim to the exhaustion that was pulling at her.
Her eyes opened to find pitch dark conditions, and she felt immediately disheartened that her fire had gone out during her short rest. Already, she missed the fire's familiarity and warmth at her side. Luckily, her ancestry allowed her to see for a full sixty feet without need for a light source, giving her some semblance of control and comfort. However, before she could even move towards the ashes left over at the mouth of the cave, she sensed… something. Putting all of her wits to work, she found that, not far from where she was standing within the shallow cave, there was actually a hidden door that led further into the seemingly hollowed hill!
Every instinct within the half-elf told her to leave the area undisturbed, but curiosity got the better of her. Despite her knowledge of the dangers of the multiverse, Rowan chose to push forward into the darkened room beyond. It took her eyes a moment to adjust, but, once they did, the druid realized that she'd made a terrible mistake. Her stomach sank to the ground as she looked into the damp cave. Beyond the hidden cave door, Rowan found a monstrosity that she'd only ever heard of sung in the tales of wandering bards.
She breathed a sigh of relief that the being had not spotted yet her, and, in her haste to turn tail and leave, she found that the single heavy breath she'd let out was enough to summon the ire of the elemental being that once rested before her. Immediately, she felt as if she'd pass out from hyperventilation. She'd sized up the beast that roared at her, and guessed that this particular fire elemental was probably only medium sized. She shook her head, struggling to even imagine a larger version of the same living flame that sparkled like a bonfire before her eyes.
She knew that she could take such a creature with relative ease, but, even so, she wished that she spoke the primordial language of the fiend in order to bargain for use of the outer cave for the night. She didn't wish harm on such an elemental creature. She just wanted to coexist with it for the time being. However, luck was not in the druid's favor because, at that moment, it attacked!
Trying to dodge out of the way, Rowan tucked and rolled, but it had already gotten too close, singeing her leather armor in the process, and she thanked her lucky stars that she'd chosen to even wear the offending material. As a druid, she chose to be close to nature in every way possible, even foregoing the comfort of shoes in order to feel the crunch of the rugged terrain beneath her feet.
During the elemental's momentarily slowed state after its attack, Rowan cast a spell on her trusty quarterstaff in order to strengthen it, and, hopefully, cause greater damage to the offending beast. She twirled the staff in her hands, and aimed where its heart would be… if it had one. She honestly doubted the attack would gain much purchase, but, if nothing else, Rowan was lucky, and the staff met a solid wall of flame hard enough to cause damage. She hoped.
The problem was that the fire elemental didn't show any outward signs of damage besides striking at her once again, and, since she was all alone, she didn't have anyone else to help draw the growling ball of animated flame's ire. When it struck again, Rowan was able to block the attack with her quarterstaff, barely warding off the searing flames so close to her face. It was in this moment that she began to feel the full brunt of power that the beast had mustered during the first attack just moments ago. The heat from the elemental only made the charred skin from the earlier attack more sensitive, and she sent a quiet prayer to Pan to give her strength.
With a practiced flick of her wrists, she was able to push the raging ball of fire away briefly, just long enough to give her an opening to strike, and, thankfully, the spell she'd cast on her staff would still be active. Knowing that the benefit of the blessed staff wouldn't last much longer, Rowan acted quickly. With this swing, she was able to maneuver the weapon towards its head. She wasn't able to strike it solidly, but she was happy to do any damage at all given that she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of the fight at this point.
The elemental didn't take kindly to being struck in the head, however, and it let out a deafening roar that struck fear into the half-elf. Again struck dumb, Rowan was unprepared for the counterattack made by the creature. The beast slammed her into the stone wall, and a good chunk of her leather armor took damage, some parts were nearly falling off now. She fought tears and the now-spinning room around her as she felt parts of her fair skin immediately begin to blister. She considered briefly if she should turn tail and run. Perhaps, once she reached the near blizzard conditions outside, the ghoul would not follow.
Then, she felt a peace fall over her that she'd only felt once before. She remembered fondly the memories of her non-friend, the pirate, who accidentally helped maroon her on an island with a plethora of man-eating monsters including dinosaurs and other beings of the like! "Pan." She breathed a sigh of relief, turning to the source of the utter calm around her.
"I grant you these wondrous powers, and you refuse to use them when I test you." The god spoke, his lips not quite moving- blurring together when they did. She knew that the being wasn't even really there. He was in her mind, and she had been the one to conjure the satyr-like countenance before her.
The god reached out and brushed her cheek with his fingers, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake- a loving gesture that the nature god wished he could do for all of his most devout followers. A true blessing. "Use the spell that you avoid so. I forgave you long ago for the mistakes of the past, Rowan Silverfrond. Defeat this foe as you know you can, and return to the coast where you belong. No more hiding in the mountains as a hermit."
Rowan shuddered at the memory of the last time she'd cast the spell he wanted her to use, and, yet, it was so fitting… "Are you sure?" The druid asked, emerald green eyes shuddering in the flickering fire light given off by the elemental's body. She would never receive her answer, however. As quickly as the moment began, it was over, and Rowan knew what she had to do.
With practiced movements and shaking hands, Rowan drew open her water skin, and began to mutter under her breath. "By the mighty powers of Pan and Cymopoleia, I command you!" She shouted her command as she poured the water to the ground, and waved her arms forcefully in the direction of the fire elemental before her. The air shimmered and sparkled with power as the few drops of water grew into an almighty tidal wave, knocking the elemental to the ground, and making its flames fizzle down to nothing.
Glancing back around the emptied cavern, Rowan nodded in satisfaction. It felt anti-climactic, but she knew that there were unknown reasons behind everything. She'd earned back the favor of her god, earning his blessing to return to her home on the Sword Coast. Rowan briefly considered remaining in the cave for the remainder of the dark hours of the night, but, knowing her luck, another pleasant encounter would occur. Instead, she chose to leave a mark on the cave entrance in druidic, announcing to all who understood the significance of the symbol that Pan himself had blessed this cave. Perhaps, the god would bless another being here as well. Perhaps not. It mattered not to Rowan whose self-imposed exile into the wilds had just ended. She would never see the confines of the cave again.
Instead, in little over a month's time. She'd be breathing in the salty, warm air of the coast. Home. When she stepped onto the snow-laden ground this night, she smiled ruefully. "At least, I won't be feeling cold for a while."