Entry No. 6.
Sudiva – The Return to the Flame
By MedeaDF

Not again. Another one with a fishing rod.
How many fishermen had been here? She couldn’t even guess the number anymore. For a long time she had been pacing almost continuously through the cavern. Countless hours had passed since adventurers had visited and asked for help. And for everyone Sudiva had sacrificed a tear so
Astaroth could not reach his goal. The Shadowlord of Hatred was very confident that humanity
would destroy itself. But no. Everyone worked together, completed their part, even when the road to The Candle of Love was very bumpy. In the end, the Light of Love had overcome the Darkness of Evil.
Sudiva shuddered.
The cave has always been a chilly place, but now it was time. She looked the only fisherman right into the eye. He winced, because never before the giant dragon was so interested in him. “P…
please. Don’t eat me,” the fisherman stammered.
Sudiva eyeballed him, noticing that this amused her, which was not her average mood of the last
few years. She hissed friendly towards him, shook her wings extensively, and jumped into the
water. The power, which restrained her during Astaroth’s time to the cave, was no more.
She was free.
She swam until she saw a lightbeam through the water. She emerged, puffing.
In the east she spotted the White Island, in the west the coast of green Sosaria. Something lured her eyes magically to the forest. With little effort, the huge dragon heaved her body out of the water and flew towards the mainland. How much had she missed that! Wind under her wings! Fresh air in her nostrils! Sudiva snorted satisfied and flew a fast loop.
Soon, underneath her, she saw a sea of flowers, a large stone shrine and an ankh. A crimson banner waved in the gentle breeze, as Sudiva heard a little voice in her head.
Cah… Sacrifice
A face shaped in her mind. A young woman who descended to her cave to ask for help. In
tears and scared to death before that big dragon. “Sudiva, please. Thou shalt not suffer, but
I do not want to die either.” The girl, barely older than a child, had taken all her courage to
come here. Sudiva could only help her. For a long moment the dark eyes of the girl and the
big yellow dragon eyes met before Sudiva cried a tear. “Here, take my tear. But never
forget.” The young woman nodded and disappeared quickly.
In the sunlight she flew towards west. She could still feel the former skirmish between the dark
creatures and the fighters for the light. Incessant waves of monsters and warriors. A rise and fall of darkness and light.
Sudiva flew over forests, mountains, cities. Over an intersection with towers, behind it was the great desert. Mysteriously shiny water surrounding a small island with a few palm trees, the shrine surrounded by grass and pretty yellow flowers. The small voice in the big dragon skull once againspoke.
Mu… Compassion
Once the frightened little ogre, now the vengeful Large Ogre Lord. He trudged, snarling,
towards the smaller figure in the dark tunnel. The fighter in plate armor was sorry for the
creature. “Are you seeking revenge? Or wealth, or maybe luck? I can help.” He took the
sword firmly in his hands and parried the first blow easily. Later, after what felt like an
eternity when they were both covered in blood, and shattered, the fighter was able to thrust
his sword deep into the torso of the Ogre.
The roar of the Ogre and the clanking steel of the sword ceased in Sudivas head. She shook it a
little, dazed. In this part of the forest the traces of the struggle were also still visible. Blackened tree trunks and rotting armour and ammunition of war were witnesses in the nearby desert area.
She flew a slight curve on top of a gushing waterfall just below a small island. The pink flowering
cherry trees bloomed in the approaching sunset like peace. A little further west she saw the next
shrine, set in dark gray stone and guarded by four white marble guards. The voice came back.
Beh… Justice
Thomas was slumped against the wall. It was too late, the Executioner had him in his power.
“Nina, my beloved Nina, you surely have never been unfaithful.” But this vicious human, this
Executioner, smeared the blood cloth and arranged it so that it looked as if he were the
culprit. He sobbed when he heard the heavy boots of the Executioner on the cold stone floor.
The cell door creaked as the key was turned in the lock and the devil entered. Tears made
their way to Thomas’ cheeks. “For you, Nina, I’ll see you soon.” The Executioner stepped
closer, his axe in his hands.
Sudiva twitched slightly as she heard the buzzing of steel in her skull. She focused again on flying.
A few moments later, she landed after another tour of the waterfall, and allowed herself a few sips of fresh water.  Her destination was near.
Shortly thereafter, she took off again and flew to the west into a sunset, where the yellow sunlight
turned to a darker red. The cloudless sky animated the birds of Sosaria to sing their finest evening chants.
As Sudiva flew over the big building she recognised it: Empath Abbey. Carefully, she put on for
landing. As soon as she stood outside the walls the iron doors opened and a dark-haired woman
stepped outside. She seemed to have no fear and smiled pleasantly.
“Good evening, I’ve been expecting you.”
Sudiva smirked her best dragonsmirk and followed the woman onto a teleporter in the vicinity. The woman reached into her robe pocket and put a true-white candle in her hand. Amazed, the
dragonlady stepped onto the other side of the teleporter. The cave lit up it’s cozy and inviting
flickering lava colors.
“Welcome home, Sudiva,” Anne, the Keeper of the Flame, said.
End