Entry No. 3

Free at last

by WildStar

She could feel his grip on her weaning.  The obsessive need to guard the hoard of gold coins and gems of many colors had been tugging at her less and less as time moved forward.  She had started to wonder further and further away from the treasure testing the strength of the bond that held her to this place, only turning back when the need to return was overwhelming.

Her dreams had started to include long-forgotten memories of life outside of the cavern – of light, of blue skies, of white fluffy clouds, of fresh air and the most intriguing – of flying.  The feel of her wings moving up and down in a rhythmic pattern propelling her large body forward moving over large tracts of lands in a single complete cycle of movement.  Yes, she enjoyed the dreams of flying.

As the bond became weaker, her thoughts turned toward her life after she was released from this dark, watery cavern.  She would miss the small two-legged creatures that would come here and throw a line attached to stick into the water.  Somehow they pulled up small bites of food that they would sometimes leave for her on ground.  She was also thankful for the small two-legged creatures who had started the healing process oh so long ago.

At some point in the future….

She was free!

Finally the bond between her and Astaroth and that cavern had been completely broken.  She had been wondering further and further away and the need to return had diminished then just vanished.

Now she made her way passed the magic casting walking corpses, stomping on and slashing in half those creatures that tried to stop her.  She could sense the air becoming fresher and continued her way south and out to freedom.  The stone entrance was not big enough for her to go through so she used her claws to scratch at the stones and walls and then smashed her way through using her large body.

The sudden exposure to bright light after so many years in darkness blinded her, but there was no way that she was going to head back into the dungeon that had been her prison for so long.  So instead she laid down on the ground in front of the ruined entrance, closed her eyes and absorbed the warmth of the sun into her skin.  From time to time, she would open her eyes and then close them and gradually her eyes acclimated to the light.

The sun had gone down and she decided it was time to return to her home of long ago.  The only problem was that she could not remember which direction she had traveled to come to this place.  The only thing she could recall from her dreams was the smell of rotting vegetation mixed with salty sea air and the intermingling of scents of different kinds of leaves.

As there was not enough room for her to take off from the ground, she climbed up the side of the mountain until she found a place where she could test her wings.  She did this for several minutes until it felt natural and then took off into the air.  She would fly the skies until she found her old home.

Two months later….

It seems like she had been flying forever looking for her home, but she did so enjoy flying after all the time spend in that cavern.  She would rest when she became tired on the tops of mountains.  Her strength and stamina had steadily improved and she enjoyed a healthy diet of sea serpent and dolphin, although she preferred dolphins.  It was by chance that the direction of the wind changed and she caught a whiff of the smell she had been searching for.  She changed her direction and followed it.  It was becoming stronger and stronger.  She was nearing her home!

Eventually she followed the smell to where the strength of it was just as her dream had told her and she landed on the mountain and then proclaimed her presence to all who could hear her.  She, Sudiva, had returned to her portion of the Dragonhame Mountains, far southeast of the entrance of Destard where the walnut and pine trees meet lush jungle.