------------- The Black Witch

"But who was she, father?"

The girl's insatiable curiosity was bound to get her in trouble some day, he could see that now. He hung his head and concentrated on the years past, on battles he had not been in.

"Her name was Cassandra, Cassandra Mourngrym, though she had many aliases. She came to prominence first in the kidnapping of a noble daughter, far away to the west in the lands that were, at that time, part of Carellon. She served a dark and hateful man, an Anti-Paladine, a villain cut from the cloth. His name was Vhoulkhan Thurgrym, but he was called the OverDog."

The girl giggled and squirmed in her chair. He turned to let a bit more sunlight in and to make sure she knew he was watching her.

"That's a funny name."

He smiled back at her. "Perhaps, but he was not a funny man. He was a murderer and a monster in human guise. He hated everyone and everything, and was equally hated for it. So much so that his own son devised a plot to kill him. Cassandra was his accomplice."

"Was his son a hero? Did he fight monsters and demons to get to the villain?" Her eyes lit up. Another adventure story was on the way.

"No, daughter. His son was Ymikar Thourgrym, the one called Blackwolf. He tricked adventurers to kill his father in battle and stole his sword, the blade called Reaver."

The girl's grin faded. This wasn't an adventure story after all. It was another sermon. Father was bad about that on days the sun was bright and she would rather have been outside playing dragonslayer with the other children.

"But this is about Cassandra. She escaped with Blackwolf and wasn't heard from for years. None really knew where she came from. Some said she was half-troll, but crude people say things like that when they find out you are from Maeceyea. Some said she was half-demon, for her powers were far superior to other mortals. But the truth is, before she showed up in the OverDog's service, no one knew much about her."

"But now we know what she did after he was defeated. She went north and charmed the chieftains of the Tarkanian hordes. She forged the first and only alliance between them and added to that the Flind general, Thoulbrek Bloodjaws, and the mighty Hobgoblin warlord, Brock Uttman. With Blackwolf's assassins, she eliminated all who stood in her way. Then she became the first Witch Queen since Mantari. She became known as the Black Witch, not because her skin was dark. In truth, it was no darker than your's, daughter. She earned that name for she was completely without mercy, completely without compassion or caring. And she almost brought about Ragnarok."

Again the girl saw hope for a better story, "But she was defeated by the Silver Gryphon, right? Mother was there, wasn't she? And Uncle Juriel? They fought a mighty battle against demon Gods and werewolves and witch covens and the whole of the wolf hordes, right?"

He could see he'd lost this round, "Yes, dear."

The girl sat there beaming, visions of heroic battles filling her mind, when a moral lesson had been what Gryphon had wanted there.

------------- Credits

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