The long missing Bard of old

[Kat Asherstone]

A Long ago in the time Sir Winchester and the founding of the rule of Lord British's guards the men of Law, there was a girl. This girl belonged the the Asherstone family, a farming family that resided just outside the town of Britain near the mountain border. She was raised by a loving mother and a loving father along with her older sister Talia. Eventually this girl would rise to fame, but like all stories, it is the purpose of that rise that is of utmost importance.

It was a crisp summer morning the kind that let the farmers know that winter approaches, but remind the children that summer is not gone. It was on this morning that the Asherstone family was torn asunder.

Through the night Talia worked tirelessly, she had never heard of power like this, but she knew that she was close, and even though she wondered if the deal would stick, she knew it would be worth it, the power alone...and as morning came the realization of her plan was finally finished. The runes had been placed and the circles drawn, the sacrifices were ready, she simply needed the dawning suns light.

"Sis?" It was the younger of the sisters, Kathryn.
Looking down and realizing she was bound Kathryn believed her sister to be joking as sisters often do.
"Sister, cut me down, this game is not one that mother would like" but as she let loose these words she knew it was for naught, to her left was her mother, bound so that only the muffled sound of her heavy breath could be heard. Her father was on her right.

"But sister, don't you want to help your big sis? Don't you want to be of value?" screamed Talia as she looked over a small dagger with a black handle and a blade made of bone.
"Little sisters should do as they are told, it's always for the best" and with that the blade was taken to the throats of her mother and father, and as the blood seeped into the ground, Kathryn began to weep as only a child could do.

"I might be the small one, but I'll never forget this"

"Oh but sister, you already have" cackled Talia as she plunged the knife into Kathryns chest, and as Kathryn felt the world fall away from her she found solace in a voice in the darkness.

"You will have your revenge, but it will cost you..."

"Anything" was all she could say.


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During the years since that day the name of Talia Asherstone was known across the land as a powerful sorceress, who killed her family for the power she used, a murderer, mean spirited, and at the whim of the demon to whom she owes her power. She fought with the legions of Wormwood, she slaughtered the men of law, and the druids of the woods she despised the most, she was hated by many and loved by none, she was the red sorceress.
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The sound of the birds was what Kathryn awoke to, as she had every morning since she was a baby, but today was different, today she was dead, or she should be... but as Kathryn righted herself and looked around she could not see any of the familiar things from her home, instead Kathryn sat among the growing oaks and cedars of a forest, a forest that she did not recognize, but there it was, burned into the ground at her feet. The picture of a Cat that her sister had always drawn for Kathryn when she was sad, and she knew.

Digging where the cats face had been moments ago Kathryn found what she knew was there under the dirt, a small music box, and as she opened the box and the music from long ago came to her ears her eyes fell upon a small scrap of parchment tucked in the box.

"Sister, I have traded our family for power, but I couldn't kill you, you weren't ready yet, instead you will never know the family you would have had, or the things you would do to stop me, I have taken everything from you and made you a stranger in a strange land, but when the time is right I will shed your blood for my master. Lovingly, Talia"
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And so Kathryn gave up the only thing she had left, the name she had been given, but as an eternal reminder of that day, so that the memory might never be taken, she became Kat a bard that would search the lands for her sister, would slay dragons and demons, would fight alongside the men of Law and the druids of the woods, a girl who would play a song to see the people smile, a girl who would eventually settle down and have a family, but what good are memories if they are taken before they are made...