Heidi Nidintail

## Wanderlust

The young elf Heidi was sick and tired of Winterbreak. Her father had told her stories of Kyonin, Brevoy,m the River Kingdoms, Druma, Taldor and every other place he visited along his way here. While he never talked about mother or the reasons he had chosen to settle down, his tales of the world had filled Heidi with wonder. She couldn't just sit in this isolated fishing village till she grew gills from the moisture. She needed to explore the world, she had to. Her father refused her though, she could not leave the village until her 101st birthday. Only then would she have the knowledge and wisdom to brave the world's unique dangers and pleasures. Until such a time came though, she would have to wait.

Her days were mind numbingly boring until a special little boy was born to the local baker woman. Silver haired and a twinkle in his eye, a baby aasimar had been born. Now there was something fun and exciting. She'd never seen an aasimar before, maybe he would be a fun playmate in a few years time. She had hurried along to see the new baby, but upon hearing how much everyone expected him to be a brilliant little boy and a model citizen she promptly left. Another boring do-gooder was all he'd ever be it seemed.

The years flew on and it was as the little boy turned twelve that Heidi began to believe she had misjudged him. He was a proper brat, a right spiteful child that took the opinions and hopes of everyone in the town and kicked them in the mud. All he wanted to do was play, prank the elderly, ring the church bells, and avoid his chores. He was perfect!

The two of them quickly became the best of friends after she came to realize he was a bad influence after all. They would pour glue at the bottom of his father's boat so his sandals would get stuck, then put a pig's bladder filled with air on her father's seat so he'd let out an outrageous sound as he sat down. It was the best time of her life and yet it ended far too soon.

## Crisis of Faith

Xander left Winterbreak. Her best friend had abandoned her after promising he wouldn't leave town until she could. He had given excuses like not being able to stand the looks of disappointment and shame his neighbors gave him, or the way his father looked at him with sadness. She was pretty sure he was just imagining that last part, but even so he had left. She waited days, then weeks for him to come back home but he never did. Years passed on, and he never did. Her best friend had abandoned her and she was stupid for ever having trusted him. He had pranked everyone else in town, how could she not have seen that he was saving the biggest prank for her?

Her father tried to convince her that Xander was simply being a young troubled kid, but she knew better and she hated her father for sticking up for him. No one could call themselves her friend that would do something like that. This hatred bloomed over the years and when the Flame Spurned arrived in the winter of 4805, she allowed it radiate. She was taken from her home and bathed in boiling oil, forced to recite the goodness of the twin goddesses for offering her a second chance, and shown that her true enemy was the one who had whispered heresy into her ears all those years. "He's really a good kid" "The gods blessed us with having him in your life". Her father was a heretic who believed in the false gods that had sent Xander over the twin goddesses. Even still, he was her father and she fought hard against the indoctrination of the Flame spurned. In the end she stabbed him through the heart while at supper, laying him to rest in his bed and crying over his body for hours.

She was assigned to watch over Xander's mother, Ms. Laura Blackwater, until he returned. She was anxious to pay forward her hatred to the one responsible for her pain, but strangely she never felt any hostility towards his mother. A kind and gentle woman, she repeatedly told Heidi she was sorry for what had happened to her and asked what she could do to help. A prisoner asking to help their warden, Heidi thought it absurd. That kernel of thought, that kindness given to her, that is what allowed her to overcome her training. When Xander did show himself after slaying Diascira and the other Flame Spurned, Heidi fought him and his party with all her might even managing to kill the one known as the Butcher of Brevoy. She fell to the ground unconscious at the end of the fight, and awoke again to find herself alive and mostly well. He had chosen to spare her life despite all she had done, and Heidi knew she had been a fool for ever doubting her best friend.