Gallyndra - Chapter One: Nightmares

Gallyndra opened her eyes while a silent scream came over her lips. Sweat covered her elegant face and she gasped for air.
It took her a few minutes to calm herself, the images of her dream still vivid in her mind, so clear that it made the woman tremble.
"Just a nightmare, it was just a nightmare" she keeps repeating in a soft voice, to tone in her voice having an edge of panic to it.
Slowly she pushes her up and gets out of her bed, a dim moonight shining trough the window as she walks towards it and looks down at the empty streets of the city.
Stepping onto the balcony in her nightgown, the soft nightbreeze causing her to shiver while the faint lights of the nightsky reflect in her wide open emerald eyes.
There is no sign of her confidence and calm, her usual arrogance has been replaced by something she hasn't experienced for so long, pain and sorrow. It had been so long ago since she last suffered from her nightmares, over the years she had built up her strenght and managed to keep them away.
With a silent sigh she closed her eyes, the gentle breeze playing with her long red hair while she let her mind wander, back to the memories she had locked away. So many fragments of her past started to invade her mind, blurred visions of what once was. Untill the images start to become more clear and play inside her head as if she stepped inside a portal and travelled back in time.

Basking in the sunlight, the young woman lies in the grass with a serene smile on her face, her head turned to the side, staring at his features with adoration in her eyes. With a gentle touch of his fingers he brushes away a stray hair that lingers on her cheek, grinning back at her with the same expression of love and care. The two of them so captivated by eachother that they don't notice the figure standing in the shadows of one of the nearby trees.
"I have to return to the kitchens my love before they start looking for me" he speaks with a whispering voice while still stroking her warm and soft skin.
Gallyndra sighs but nods, her hand now placed on top of his. "Return to me after the sun has set, at the fountain"
After kissing her tenderly on her lips he gets back to his feet and rushes of in a hurry. When he runs out of her view the young woman, not yet an adult rolls back onto her back and closes her eyes, savouring the moments they just shared. Suddenly a shadow casts over her and when she opens her eyes she yelps in suprprise, staring right into the eyes of her brother, the brother who should have left their home to stay away for several weeks. But there he stood, towering above her with narrowed eyes and his anger and disappointment clearly visible in their depths.
"Tarlon ... what are you doing here" due to her surprise she forgot to breathe and now exhaled slowly, calming herself while she tries to get up instead of lying at his feet.
Tarlon moved quickly when he noticed her motion, grabbing her arms and pinning her down on the grass, his face inches away from hers, speaking in a low and menacing tone.
"After everything our parents did for you, taking you in when you had nobody left, raising you as one of US !!! You dare and pair with such a lowlife, somebody without the noble blood, a mere servant !!!!" he spat the words at her, his voice full of venom.
"You are hurting me, brother please let go"
Chuckling lowly he grins at her, her words causing him to keep an even firmer hold of her wrists.
"You are not in the position to demand me, I have taken enough of your uncontrolled behaviour now, MY parents will get informed about this, and I hope they will finally kick you out. You are not worthy enough to be called a Duskblade"
The tears where running down the young females face, silently sobbing because of his words, for she loved her parents, even if they where not really hers.
She even loved Tarlon, who tried to make her life as miserable as possible without being caught by their parents.
"Don't ... I beg you Tarlon, don't tell them"
He stared right into her eyes for a moment, then his gaze travelled down over her lithe frame, her body had matured and he was clearly seeing that now, lusting over its curves freely he snickered menacingly before he lifted his head to look at her again, her expression dumbfolded, shocked.
"I will keep silent, but on one condition - sister - , you'll do whatever I ask from you, starting from today"
A wicked grin spread over his face, when he raises his hand to cup hers, keeping her wrists locked in only one hand. Gallyndra shivered, a cold feeling running down her spine, but she nodded, too scared of losing her family.

Opening her eyes again, Gallyndra places a hand against her wet cheek, silent tears running down her face as she fights back the memories. She did not lock them away for no reason, it weakened her and she hated that feeling. She would not let it ruin her, would not allow her past to stand in her way, she was too strong for that. Fought to hard to stand where she stood now, as a highly respected Blood Knight, and on top of that a Bloodwarder of the Sunfury Elite. No she would not waste all the efforts she made. With a determined nod she turns away from the empty streets, walking back into her room, her gaze lingering on the bed, and flashes of her nightmare returning to her. Shutting her eyes again, she groans, the images taking over her mind once again. No sunlight in this one .... only darkness, and fire .....


The screaming pierced into her ears, the sounds of battle all around her when she rushes inside the house, horrorstruck and in panic she yells and screams the names of her parents, even her brother .... where were they .....
Her hair hung wildly around her face, her skin pale and drained from all colour when she saw all the dead bodies on the floor, servants ... everyone. But her parents .... where?
Her legs kept running, stumbling over the bodies, covering herself from the flames, her voice barely heard over all the sounds that surrounded them. The scourge ... were destroying the city, their defenses where falling, and she was scared, terrified.
Without looking where she was heading she fell down to the floor, something made her trip. Hurrying back to her feet she looks down at the body that caused her to fall down, her breathing stopping for a brief moment while the blood in her veins froze.
"No ... No ...NOOOOOOO Tryon ... TRYON NOOOO" at her feet was her lover, the man she loved with her whole heart, but could not be with .... their love "forbidden"
With a howl of pain she dropped to her feet, grabbing him by his shoulders, screaming and crying, he remained lifeless, his blood staining her burned and torn gown. "TRYON please .... don't leave me ... I love you .... Oh" With a last devastating howl she burries her head against his pierced and bloody chest, mourning the loss of her first and true love.

A low sob made Gallyndra return to the present, letting herself fall down onto the bed and cry freely, all the pain of that day came back to her, she had not only lost Tryon during the fall of Silvermoon, also her parents had been slayed .... their bodies where found later on the streets.
Untill today, she still did not know where her brother was, she had not seen him since that day nor did she ever went looking for him. For the proud Sin'Dorei he also died that day.


- a Little addition to the story, a picture I came across that completely fits the appearance of Gallyndra, this is not made by me -