Chapter 3 – A Dream Come True

Rael grieved for years over his lost wife. They had loved so greatly and she had been killed so quickly. Worse than all of that was he felt he had lost his daughter as well. It had been four years since Laitha had been murdered and Donnia never seemed to come back to him.

He felt responsible for everything. He was not at home when that man had forced his way inside. He was not there to defend the two people he loved more than his own life. He felt he had let them both down.

He had stopped training Donnia in how to use a sword. He did not want her to be a guard anymore. He never wanted to have his daughter be forced to use a weapon again.

Donnia grieved for years over her lost mother. She had loved her so greatly and watched her be killed so quickly. Worse than all of that was she felt she had lost her father as well. It had been four years since Laitha had been murdered and Rael never seemed to come back to her.

She felt responsible for everything. She was upstairs practicing when she should have been downstairs doing her chores. She was too slow in getting to her mother's side. She could not protect her mother with the attack procedures her father had taught her. She felt she had let them both down.

She never stopped practicing the moves her father had once taught her. He had stopped showing her more, but she just tried to perfect the old ones. More than ever did she want to be a guard.

Donnia was twelve years old and was planting in her mother's garden, waiting for her father to return home from Neverwinter. She had taken over her mother's jobs around the house, but was not old enough to have a real job and be paid. Some day, she told herself, she would have a job and her family would be okay again.

"Donnia, love, I'm home," Rael called from the doorway.

She turned to him and slowly walked to give him an empty hug. Rael's heart broke every time she looked up at him with those haunted eyes. She used to run into his arms when he would return home, full of laughter and joy. Now, she stared up at him with eyes that were much too old for her.

"What should we have for dinner tonight?" Rael asked her hoping she would say something, anything. He remembered when they would joke about the meal, the three of them never agreeing on what they would want to eat. Each naming something they would want that was undesirable to the others, so in turn they would name something that was truly disgusting, each building upon the image of sickening ideas until all three had lost their appetites and were reduced to mere giggles and groans of stomach-turning delight.

Instead of remembering the game they would play, Donnia went into the kitchen to start preparing the meal.

"That sword is indeed a good one, but I feel that you will be better off if you purchase this one," Donnia spoke to the man in front of her. He was one of the many adventurers she had met in her few months working with a blacksmith in Neverwinter. She handed him the bastard sword so that he might compare the two.

"Donnia, you know your weapons and your customers. Grot'yah is indeed a lucky businessman to have you working with him," Pavel told her. "In fact, I heard some of the other blacksmiths trying to come up with a way to get you to work for them."

Donnia smiled at him, "I won't be leaving Grot'yah anytime soon. I really love working here. He was so patient with me in the beginning, teaching me about the different swords and how to market to people."

"He did a fine job at it, and I would not be surprised if someday I walk into your own store to purchase a weapon." With that, he paid her and walked out with his newest sword.

At 20, Donnia had finally found a job that would allow her to work around the weapons she so adored and could make money so that things would not be so hard at home. Rael still worked as a guard, but he was getting old and the city had cut his hours. Any money Donnia could provide was much needed.

At the end of the day Donnia helped to close up the shop for the night. As she walked home she saw several people she knew gathered around a posting. Curious to know what they were all reading, she joined them.

The Wailing Death had just made its appearance in Beggar's Nest. Several people had already died, and countless more were infected. The guard was stretched thin in trying to control riots in the other parts of the city as well as keep the plague from spreading.

Many of her friends were gathered about the notice. Donnia peered over their shoulders, which was not hard to do at her height, and read the summons.

"Due to the outbreak of the Wailing Death, the city is calling for any who would answer this call. The Academy will train you in the ways of the city guard, for its current numbers are dwindling. All are welcome; none will be turned away..."

It continued on for several more lines, but Donnia did not need to read the rest. This was her chance; she was going to be a city guard at last. She was about to rush home to tell her father when she remembered that he was still stationed in the city center.

She knew the city like her own home. Though she rarely traveled into the separate parts, she was most always found in the city center. She found her father patrolling the gate near the Docks. "Father! I have wonderful news!"

Rael turned at the sound of his daughter's voice. "Well out with it then; don't leave an old man hanging in suspense." The smile on his daughter's face was something he had yearned to see in a long time.

"Lord Nasher has issued a call to any who want to be trained as a guard. I'm finally going to follow through on my dream."

Inside, Rael's heart tripped and broke. He knew how much his daughter still wanted to be a guard, but he also knew that things were not like they used to be. The Wailing Death had changed everything. However, he would cut off his arm before he would dampen her joy. "I'm so proud of you. Where will you be going?"

"The training is to take place at the Academy in Beggar's Nest. There is an underground passage so no one will be exposed to the plague. I'm going to run home and get what I'll need. I love you, Father."

"And I love you, Donnia."