Holy Guardian Dev 1 -Beginnings-

Wandered into the cave with a simple pick. Though it was heavy upon her shoulders, she had to do the work if she wanted to be able to eat. There was also no other way of gaining the coin to afford new capture cubes. Begging was out of the question since she’d seen someone nearly killed for doing so, she didn’t want to push her own luck in that regard.

She'd entered the cave she'd carried an oversized torch. It gave a soft glow into the dark recesses of the cavern. The little waif took comfort in its light, it was a way to keep the darkness at bay. Though she wondered through the old tunnels steadily she'd always glance at the edges of the light. The shadows playing tricks on her eyes. Each crevice held a nightmare, each stalagmite a Nethradin. She knew these caves were supposed to be safe, yet, still she feared what lived in the dark.

The soft patter of her worn shoes flopped upon the earthen floors, creating soft echoes in the tunnel. The air smelt like burning oak, thankfully as the torch offered a relief from the stagnant stench most caves held. It’d also offered a relief from something she’d not expected, the crushing could. Ulyssa held the torch close for a moment, eye gazing into the fires. It was such an enchanting sight. The crimson sparkles of the fiery torch.

As she gazed into the light a flash of memory struck her. The world was shrouded in smoke, screaming pierced her ears. In the fire she saw people running, people dying. She was suddenly in her old room, there was smoke. The smell of ash, the house was burning, she looked out the window and saw a monster. This sight caused her to panic, running under her bed, ignoring the fire and simply going to the safest place she could think of.

Hearing the noises of footsteps and screaming it was her father she thought. He was trying to find her to get away. She wanted to crawl out from the bed and go to him, but she was so scared.  The sound of the door pounding was followed by heavy footsteps and a pair of leather boots becoming visible. Her breath caught as her ran around the room, her voice caught within her throat as she tried to scream for him, whimpers only escaping.  The sight of the boots stopping in front of her, a knee dropped as the panicked man looked under to find her. Was the last thing she saw before she’d find herself back in the cave, hurling the torch away in a panic.
It struck against the cave wall, bouncing down into a small pile of rubble, it’d roll down the rocks to finally disappear over the lip of a small crevice. Within moments the entire tunnel was purged into darkness and shadows. Being plunged back into a world of shadow Ulyssa ducked down onto her knees, simply sticking her head in-between them.

In the darkness alone, the young orphan’s eyes clouded with tears, they knew it was pointless, there was no reason to cry. It wouldn’t change anything, it wouldn’t help them. Yet, that’s all they could do. To move was just too much, they couldn’t bring themselves to do it. Their body started to shiver fiercely the cold within the tunnel finally setting in without the torch too keep it at bay.
As her tears shed a feeling of warmth began to overcome the cold. The youthful waif didn’t notice this at first, intent in her own misery. Though after the chill of the cold was gone she couldn’t help but feel as if someone was nearby or maybe it was a fire. As she looked around in the dark the shadows slowly slide away.

With a smile she’d look around, it wasn’t scary anymore. The feeling of being watched over persisted. As she looked up towards the sky she’d whisper a simple prayer, one that’d never be uttered back in Dawn.
“Thank you Kraus, for letting my mommy and daddy look after me still.”