Where did my wandering days go?
I’m having a breather after harvesting the last of my crops, watching the last light of the day disappear and with the appearing darkness, my thoughts grow dark. I’m feeling restless and trapped and the restrictions of being a villager lays heavy on me. I miss my days of wandering unhindered, to come and go as it pleased me, to be the master of my own fate.
The village life has robbed me of the pleasure of watching the forest spring into life, after a long cold winter. Denied I have been, roaming under the natures roof of warm green leaves and clear blue skies. And for the first time in ages, I’m kept back from wandering on the forest's golden floor in the autumn months, before the cold winter appears again.
Why? Why are you here, Duncadda? I ask myself. Why not pack your things and leave, wander and be free again?
Somewhere in the darkness, something is whispered in my mind. It's the oaths that bind you.
The darkness whispers the truth, there are indeed oaths that bind me to this place. Not only my oaths sworn to defend the mark, but also an oath to protect friends who have saved my life, more than once. But stronger than oaths, are the friendships that have grown between me, Waelden and his family. A friendship forged through hardship and suffering that made it stronger than the foundation of a mountain. I visited them recently. More on a whim than planned and not something that is typical of me. Why?
You know why. A voice whispered and I silently nod to myself in agreement. To remind myself why I'm rooted to this village, to remind myself that it’s a good fate. There is something coming towards Bancross, something old, something dark and I will not abandon my friends and neighbours, that now are a part of my life. I will not leave them to face what's coming without me standing shoulder to shoulder next to them, sword drawn and shield raised.
In a dimness distance, if I listen very carefully, I can hear the oaths heralding their approach, oaths that bind me.
ooc; This story is related to Summer's End, written by Yllfa.
