Writing Prompts Archive/1/Khojin Dortharl

*Khojin walked beneath the towering trees of the Shroud, entering the lively city of Gridania. She liked it here—the dappled sunlight leaking through the canopy, the gentle bubbling of the stream, the laughter of children at play. It was peaceful and serene, and one could almost forget their troubles in such a place.*

*No wonder the Gridanians were so reluctant to involve themselves in the outside world.*

*Ignoring the beckoning glow of the aetherite plaza, she instead turned to enter the adventurers guild. She'd been issued a leve by the guild, and had come to report that the monster that threatened the peace had been put down.*

*Her eyes sweeped over the crowded tables full of fellow adventures, many elaborately dressed thanks to the strange magic of glamour prisms. Khojin herself only used them to hide the bloodstains that soaked into her armour. Monster slaying was bloody work.*

*Her eyes stopped, pinned in place upon a particular adventurer. A young Miqo'te woman, with crimson hair and golden skin. Where had Khojin seen her before? Her brow creased in puzzlement.*

*The Miqo'te, somehow aware she was being watched, turned. Her eyes widened in shock.*

*No, not shock. Horror. Horror and fear.*

*Khojin remembered where she had seen her before. A flood of memories better left forgotten cascaded onto her.*

*A distant sky. Bloodsoaked sands. The roar of a wounded beast drowned beneath the roar of a bloodthirsty crowd.*

*Her blood surged, anger falling upon her like a protective coat. Her hands twitched, itching toward the motley collection of weapons strapped to her.*

*The Black Rage fell upon her, and blood called for blood.*

*The laugh of a child cut through the haze of emotion, startling Khojin. Visions of a distant land faded, and her eyes settled upon the Miqo'te. She was recoiling, fearful of the berserker in their midst. No one else had noticed.*

*Khojin fled, though not from fear. She couldn't stay, not before those fearful, accusative eyes. Not with her blood roiling within her, demanding violence. Her respite from the Black Rage was short-lived, and as she passed through the gate to Gridania, back into the untamed wilds of the Shroud, she felt it descend once more upon her.*

*All thoughts were drowned out beneath a tide of anger and fear. All but one—away. Away from civilisation, away from peace, away from the innocents she would cut down in her blind rage.*

*A monster leapt from the shadows at her. Instinctively, she grabbed a weapon and cut the beast down.  A muffled boom shook the forest, and she realised she had drawn her gunblade—a recent addition to her armoury. The weapon of her master, long deceased.*

*Khojin howled in pain and rage, and dove deeper into the dark woods, cleaving a trail of destruction through the forest.*

*She didn't see the bear. It swipped at her with a mighty paw, flinging her into a tree.*

*She didn't feel it either.*

*Grinning, she slowly rose. Gripped by the rage, her mind crafted a delusion built from her distant memories. No longer was she in a forest, but a slave on the sands of a Hingan coliseum. The crowd roared her name—The Beast of Azim.*

*Similarly, her mind's eye twisted the bear into a gruesome monster, with dagger sharp fangs and vicious claws.*

*The imaginary crowd roared, and her blood roared back. Careless of the danger, she leapt forwards, hacking with her gunblade, uncaring that it had run out of cartridges.*

*The beasts roar turned to fear and pain, whilst Khojin's turned to sadistic laughter, echoing through the dark canopy.*

*The creature proved no match for the Beast of Azim, and fell quickly, its body broken a bleeding upon the ground.*

*Her foe dead, her blood exultant, Khojin roared a victory cry, but her delusion was not yet over.*

*Slowly, the bear morphed again, into another vision of her past.*

*A gray furred Hrothgar lay on the sands, scarred, bleeding, dying.*

*The gunblade fell from Khojin's grasp. "Master," she whispered, falling to her knees.*

*"Khojin..." the dying Hrothgar said. "Don't forget... To be kind... To yourself..."*

*Her rage fled, and the illusion shattered, leaving Khojin by the corpse of a bear, alone with her grief and despair.*