So here's chapter three. :) I put up the last chapter of my Titanic story today. It was pretty bittersweet. It was the first full length fanfic I've ever finished. :P

Thanks to the reviewers, and I forgot to let you guys know in the first chapters that I have a Tumblr for my fics. If you want to know how I pictured all of the characters, go to my profile for the link. :D

Sorry Tristan doesn't make an appearance yet. I needed to reintroduce Aderyn, now that she's an adult. :P

IMPORTANT: THE LANGUAGE USED FOR THE "WOAD LANGUAGE" IS ACTUALLY WELSH. I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT ACTUALLY WAS, AND I'D READ A FEW FICS THAT USED WELSH, SO I DID TOO. IT'S PROBABLY ALL WRONG BECAUSE I USED GOOGLE TRANSLATOR. THE TRANSLATION FOR WHAT IS SAID IS AT THE BOTTOM.

Enjoy. ;)

"Do I trust my heart or just my mind? Why is truth so hard to find in this world? Yeah, in this world. 'Cause I am due for a miracle. I'm waiting for a sign. I'll stare straight into the sun, and I won't close my eyes 'til I understand or go blind."-Thrice

There was a stamping sound, and suddenly a stream of mud flew up and sprayed all over my front, joining the rest of the dirt already caked there. I yelped, leaning back on my knees, and then brandished my small dagger at the culprit.

"If you do that one more time Egryn, I will not hesitate to cut off that pretty white mane of yours!" I said furiously.

The large, black stallion whinnied innocently and nudged my shoulder with his snout. I tried to maintain my glare, but he snorted impatiently. I rolled my eyes with a small smile and brandished the carrot I'd been hiding in the front of my dress.

"Here, you fat beast," I sighed, holding it out. He snapped it up, and trotted away proudly. I huffed, and returned to tending to my herb garden.

Years had passed. With the time that went by, relief from the weight on my heart came. It became easier and easier for me to remember my family fondly instead of painfully. Although the scars from that day remained on my heart, I was able to grow from my pain instead of wallowing in it, because of Drenna. She made me channel my rage and bitterness into the work I had to do around the house and the battlefield training she gave me.

I was not an angry person, like I probably would have been. Drenna would not allow me to recluse myself like a crotchety old soldier who'd spent too many years in battle. She became like a mother to me, and I was given protection from Woad attack because of her. She was held in high esteem by nearly every tribe in Briton, for both her fighting and leading skills and her relation to the "dark magician", Merlin. No one dared to defy her judgment.

I stood, wiping the sweat from my face. As per usual, it was cold, but I'd been outside working all day. I looked to Egryn who, for some strange reason, was prancing around a tree like a show pony instead of the battle horse he was meant to be. I spoiled him too much.

"Egryn!" I snapped, eyes trailing through the forest. He paused, and peered around the tree trunk at me. "Come here, you fool! You are embarrassing me!"

He came over, and snorted in my hair. I made a disgusted noise, and scowled at him. "You know, I should have returned you and asked for a solid mare! No woman could be as vile as you!" He whinnied in reply, and I could have sworn it sounded like laughter. I walked around the side of the cottage with my hand on his neck to lead him. He followed obediently, being forever faithful even though he messed with me like a younger brother.

There was rarely downtime allowed when you had to run a home by yourself. I spent my days hunting, cleaning, cooking, tending to the garden, tending to Egryn, fixing things around the house, in battle training, killing bears or wolves or foxes who got too near, making clothes, and retrieving water or bathing from the small stream that was only a little ways away. Sometimes, I had to do all of those in one single day. There weren't enough hours of daylight for me to get things done, really. I managed well enough for a lone woman who had this life forced on her.

Drenna helped me in the beginning, of course. She taught me nearly everything I know. I would have died within the year of the attack if she had refused to take me under her wing. She'd even gifted me with some unnecessary things, like the ability to speak her language and some tattoos that marked me as untouchable by any tribe that might not know who I am. I owed her so much, but she would not allow any repayment besides the occasional meal or herb from my garden. I wished I could do more.

She also gifted me with Egryn, on the fourth anniversary of my parents' deaths. He was only a pretty little colt then, barely able to walk on his wobbly legs. He'd been born to a mare in her tribe who had died right after birthing him. I raised him own my own, which was why he treated me more like a mother instead of a master. Honestly, he annoyed me to no end, but I loved the moron.

At the back of my house was a single stable that Drenna had helped me build the spring of Egryn's birth. It was sturdy, even though it looked rather haphazard. I hadn't been as good with nail and hammer then as I am now.

I opened the latch, and held the door open as Egryn walked in. I leaned over the side of the structure and checked that he had enough feed and water. I latched the door, and sighed sadly when I noticed that he had promptly lain down and was rolling around like an idiot in the hay.

"At least the hay's clean," I said. "You're getting a bath tomorrow, sir."

I walked back to the front, leaving my mental horse to his own devices. I hummed a lullaby my mother used to sing to my sister as I went, skipping a bit on every third step. I picked up some firewood at the side of the house, and then proceeded to the small spot I always used for fires, tossing it in the middle. My arm locked up, and I grunted slightly from the twinge of pain.

Fourteen years ago, when the leader of the barbarian tribe who killed my family kicked me in the shoulder, he created lasting damage on my arm. He'd kicked it out of place, but in a very odd manner. Drenna had pushed it back, but it had been a long amount of time since it was originally hurt and, unfortunately, it hadn't prevented the damage. The broken wrist had been on the same arm, and had started to repair itself before she could set it. I could still move it, but it looked strangely placed on my arm, like it was still broken. All in all, my left arm was rather gimpy, but I still was able to use it, thank the gods.

I jerked it roughly, and heard a popping sound. I shuddered a little, and then quickly lit the fire. I returned to the sanctity of my house to grab the two rabbits I'd killed earlier. They were strung up near the back of the main room. The only things there anymore were a couple of chairs my father made, a desk, an empty bookshelf, a nest of furs and blankets that served as a bed, and my two dead rabbits. There were three places where doors had been hastily boarded up. I had done it nine years ago, when my grief was so consuming that I could barely function. They used to be the bedrooms, but I couldn't bear to look at them anymore. I stayed in the main room, pretending that the others didn't exist.

I grabbed my rabbits, and brought them back outside where I started to skin them. When Drenna had started to show me how to hunt, I used to cry over every animal I killed and wouldn't skin them. I had to toughen up though, and I knew that I had to eat. I still frowned at the rabbit as I stuck it on a spit and put it over the fire. Although I had changed a lot since the days of my youth, I still could not stomach useless killing. I could fight, yes, but that did not make me a fighter.

The cry of a hawk sounded loudly through the enclosure of my land, and I stood, looking at the sky for a sign of a bird. When I didn't see one, I returned the call hopefully with the hooting of an owl. I heard underbrush cracking under feet, and then I saw a very familiar form walking towards me.

"Drenna!" I exclaimed happily. She smiled wearily as she came forward, grabbing either side of my neck and kissing both of my cheeks.

"Helo, fy annwyl un," she said in her native language.

"Nid fi oedd yn disgwyl i chi heddiw," I admitted, replying in the same tongue while gesturing for her to sit near the fire. She looked tired, and was really showing her age. She wasn't young, as she used to be, but still fought with the strength of five men. Her hair had gradual streaks of gray running through it now, and her forehead and eyes were wrinkled. She still wore the tribal clothes of her people: the brown leather strips that covered the bare minimum of skin. I noticed she had her bow with her, which never meant anything good.

She poked the rabbit to see if it was done, and then dropped it with annoyance when she realized it had just started cooking. "There was an attack yesterday," she finally, admitted, reverting to my first language.

I tensed. "What happened?"

"I was with a small scouting group," she explained, leaning back heavily against a small section of fallen tree trunk that I'd cut up to use as benches around the fire. "We were near the hollow." I swallowed at the mention of that specific tree. There was only one place we spoke of when we mentioned "the hollow". It was my family's graveyard, where the bodies of my parents and siblings rested. I hadn't been there since we'd buried them.

"Why were you over there?" I asked.

"Fresh wolf tracks," she explained. "We were going to cut them off before they could get to our camp or you. We heard horses, and one of my men thought it was you." She snorted derisively. "Foolish boy. It was obviously more than one, but he seemed to think you'd managed to get Egryn to grow extra legs." She sniffed with aggravation, and started to turn the rabbit.

"It was Roman soldiers," she finally said.

She looked up at my sharp intake of breath. "What are Romans doing here?" I asked angrily. The Romans were not welcome, and took every piece of land they could steal from British hands. The sight of any Roman drove me into incandescent rage, and, fortunately, they rarely came near this stretch of forest.

"I did not stop to ask," she said amusedly. "We took them all out except for one. He was young, and we do not kill youth." I nodded approvingly. "He was injured pretty badly though."

I shook my head. "Well, he deserves the injuries," I decided. "Romans need to learn to keep their damned noses where they belong. They are like petulant children, getting into everything that is not their business." I spit on the ground, and converted to Woad without even realizing it. "Ni yw'r unig bobl gyda hawliad wir hyd y tir hwn! Dylent gael y uffern allan. Bastards."

"Gwyliwch eich ceg, Aderyn," Drenna said, continuing to turn the rabbit on the spit. It was her usual reaction when I cursed. She really had become the mother I'd lost over the years.

I stabbed the ground with my knife, upturning it in my annoyance. If I was able to spill blood without a second thought, I would kill Romans. They come here with their almighty god and think they can take the land and convert the people. Well, I'd be damned if I converted to any god who deemed what happened to my family as an acceptable fight. To me, there was no god, and if there was, I turned my back on him long ago.

A plate was thrust under my nose, and I took it. Drenna was already devouring her rabbit using only her hands and teeth. I wrinkled my nose, and she laughed at my expression.

"One thing I will never allow myself to inherit from you is your table manners," I said decidedly, wiping off the dagger I'd stabbed the ground with and using it to cut the rabbit into smaller pieces.

"Oh, Aderyn, you are too squeamish," she said teasingly.

"There is a difference between squeamish and civilized," I responded. She laughed again, but did not reply.

After we finished our meal, we sat in comfortable silence as darkness surrounded our small fire. I would have to go to sleep soon so I could wake up early the next day and bathe before I started my daily routine.

"My niece will be leaving tomorrow at dawn," Drenna finally sighed, looking up at the myriad of stars above us.

"Her name is Guinevere, right?" I asked, only just remembering Drenna mentioning her coming to visit three weeks ago.

She nodded with a fond smile on her lips. "My brother's daughter. She's a good girl." I felt a pang of jealousy at the proud look on Drenna's face. I knew that I was very close with the woman. She had raised me for the better half of my life, and taught me things I would never have learned if things had been different. She'd taught me what womanhood meant, and told me that I should never allow myself to be stuck under a man's thumb. But I couldn't deny that I resented Guinevere, a woman I'd never met, just because she had an actual blood relation to my mentor.

"Of course, I could never be as close with her as I am with you," Drenna said smoothly. I flushed, and covered it by pretending to stoke the fire. "She has her own mother to be close to." I wondered if she'd detected my train of thought, and was only saying it because of that.

A hand painted blue encased mine, and my eyes met hers. She was smiling softly. "Ti yw'r unig un yr wyf yn edrych fel merch, Aderyn. Ni all unrhyw un gymryd lle i chi."

I returned her smile. "Diolch i chi, Drenna."

She let go of my hand, and stood. "Unfortunately, I must go. I have to discuss what the Roman attack may mean with my men," she said. I stood, and she kissed both of my cheeks again. "Ffarwel, fy mhlentyn."

"Cysgu yn dda," I replied. She vanished into the darkness like a ghost, and I put out the fire, taking one flaming branch with me for light.

When I entered the cottage, I bolted the four locks behind me, and tested them to make sure they were secure. Drenna had them all put on so that I couldn't be surprised by an attack. I knew she would be furious if she knew that I used to leave them unlocked when I was younger. I welcomed an attack in those days, hoping that someone might just end my life while I slept. But when I started to realize that my life was worth more than that, I always made sure to lock them.

I used the fire from the torch to light an oil lamp I'd taken from an encampment of soldiers when I was nineteen. After that, I tossed the torch into a barrel of water near the door that was only used for that purpose. I took off the sword and sheath buckled at my hip, and dropped them next to my bed on the floor. I unlaced my breeches and slipped my tunic off, tossing them into a haphazard pile of clothes that needed washing. I pulled on the thin white dress that I used as a nightgown, and slipped under the soft furs, blowing out the flame in the lamp once I was comfortable.

It was the worst part of my day: sleep. Through a cloud of tired haze, I tried to think of the meditation techniques Drenna had taught me to ward off the nightmares, but I was suddenly too exhausted to think straight…

Suddenly I was running through a dark forest, following my brother as he raced ahead of me. I kept screaming his name, but he ignored me or couldn't hear me. I could feel tears on my cheeks, and they angered me for some reason. Someone pushed me, and I fell. They grabbed me by my collar to lift me high in the air so that I was eye to eye with them, and I looked at the giant man who looked like a lion with his head shaved.

"You can never escape me," he whispered in my ear as I just gawked at him in horror. "I will always be in your heart, your soul, ripping you to shreds…"

I screamed and screamed, but no one was able to hear me. Then four figures approached, and I thought I was saved. They were walking too slow though, and I suddenly felt dread. I struggled in the man's grip, wanting to just run away from them all. The moonlight lit their faces, and I screamed. My family was all there, their eyes staring at me unseeingly. My father had an arrow protruding from his chest, and Melita had one sticking out of her throat. My mother had a slash wound across her throat that blood was cascading from in waves down her front. My brother held his severed head under his arm, and I screamed even louder, crying uncontrollably.

The man holding me dangled me above them tauntingly, and Ursus jammed his head onto the bloody stump of his neck as they all started to reach for me. I held my feet up, swaying precariously as I tried to keep away from their grabbing hands.

"Join us, Aderyn," they drawled.

"No!" I wailed.

The big man dropped me, and I waited to feel their freezing hands on my skin. Instead I landed on something soft. A weight dropped on top of me, heaving all the breath out of my lungs. It was a faceless man with long, tangled brown hair. He ripped the black dress I was wearing to ribbons. I tried to push him away, but he laughed and it echoed in my head.

"Stop struggling, my pretty, and you might like it," he purred evilly. I screeched like a banshee, but he smothered it with his mouth, forcing mine open with his own. I scratched at his face, but my nails could find no purchase in his skin. He opened my legs with his knee, and I screamed, anticipating what was next…

I sat up in my little mound of blankets, panting, with sweat pouring down my back, face, and neck. My eyes took in every inch of the room rapidly, expecting to see a man there, ready to violate me further. When I was positive there was no one, I slumped back onto my bed, and stared at the ceiling.

I fought it, as I usually did, but there was no defeating what came next. I bit into one of the blankets as I started to cry uncontrollably into my pillow.

Helo, fy annwyl un: Hello, my dear one

Nid fi oedd yn disgwyl i chi heddiw: I did not expect you today

Ni yw'r unig bobl gyda wir i hawlio'r tir hwn! Dylent gael y uffern allan: We are the only people with true to claim this land! They should get the hell out .

Gwyliwch eich ceg, Aderyn: Watch your mouth, Aderyn

Ti yw'r unig un yr wyf yn edrych fel merch. Ni all unrhyw un gymryd lle i chi: You are the only one I see as a daughter, Aderyn. No one can replace you.

Diolch i chi, Drenna: Thank you, Drenna.

Ffarwel, fy mhlentyn: Farewell, my child.

Cysgu yn dda: Sleep well

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Hope you all had a good weekend, and have a good week! :D