"Fight as the wolf," That was what my mistress always said;
From here onwards, Isobelle was free. She was the last of the clan of ‘Dark’, and even this she changed by renaming herself ‘Isobelle Dars’. Also, from here onwards there is no information of her, but for what she has told me. From enquries around ‘Forest Heart’ I found out that one day, the corpses of Calid and his wife were found mutilated in their house. The young Isobelle and her brother simply dissappeared. Goblins were blamed, and even a raid was brought upon a goblin encampent just outside Forest Heart, though to be honest, any excuse would have done.
"Fight as the wolf, breathe as the wolf, hunt as the wolf. Do not stand there as a statue, be ready to lunge before your prey recovers from the last, be ready to dodge or parry before the hunter thinks to strike. Be the hunter if you are hunted, and if you have lost, know when to run, and do so like the wind. Stay alive for always there is time to avenge."
Isobelle Dars - a teacher, a mentor, yet also a child. Half my time under her instruction was spent hearing her rant of her forefather - Siad Dark, or watching her jump from the floor, blades drawn and poisoned and attacking a dear friend for no more reason than boredom.
Why write this? Because Isobelle was confused, and from this, those who knew her, knew next to nothing. I believe out of all, I knew most of her, and I knew very little. This is more I suppose, a way for me too see what she was like by writing it all down.
She was born as the first child and only daughter to a pair of silk merchants in Forest Heart. Her father, Calid Dark was also a mage. If magic’s had color, white for giving life, and black for giving death, Calid was a wielder of Grey magic.
Isobelle told me little of her life as a child, but as she said to me - "A friend can become a foe in an instant, and to know either, you must become them." Though I believe much of what said meant little, and was more for effect, there is a truth in this anecdote, and so, partly for my own curiosity, I began to find out as much as I could about the arts of the mage and the family of 'Dark'. Some of what I learn allowed me to see exactly what life was like for Isobelle as a child. Please note of course, there was much I could not find out, so at time I have had to guess.
Siad Dark, the most well known and well document of the Dark clan was a great and powerful mage around the time of the 'Breaking'. His morals and liegency were unclear, fighting both for and against the Spyder's and Rowans. During this time he learnt how to, and here I quote from 'Blesto Caweyds History of the Breaking - Volume 3' - "turn another to dust with just a blink from his burning red eyes, and grow to a height larger than the tallest tree then soar over the mountains." Naturally I am speculate of such claims and believe time and rumor aided in glorifying such tales. Nonetheless, this shows a little of what power Siad (or Lord Dark as he became known) possessed.
His death, as much of his life was, is unclear and any information regarding it becomes sketchy and exaggerated. Some possibilities include - 'being ripped limb from limb by the claws of mysrrae hunters', 'being burnt alive by flames that took him in his sleep', 'being attacked by a enemy whom took the form of a bear'.
What is known however, is that a child was born to him and a woman he lay with. A male child with the power of his father. This was the same for all males of the 'Dark', an innate ability to use and wield magic. Though in some it was weak, in other it was stronger, as stone at times, as 'Lord Dark's 'skills itself.
Calids skills came in different ways to his ancestors - more minds tricks and ways to increase his large and ever growing income. A slight movement of his hand or accent on a word could seal a price for his wares. If he felt a deal was being threatened by a rivals lower costs, the said rival would develop a sudden illness, leaving his too poorly to trade. Though different and more subtle that Siad's ways, in both there was a greed and a need to dominate.
Isobelle's birth came, I expect, as a disappointment to her father. Not being a male meant she did not possess any of the 'Dark' legacies. Also to Calid, a child would have been a hindrance, taking up much of his time, and for the first born to be a girl meant they must have another for his profitable business to continue as he grew older.
A few years after her birth came a brother to her, and a male child to her parents. As soon as he could walk Calid began to teach him the ways of bargaining and selling. Also he allowed him unrestricted access to Siad’s works and writings and aided him in his spell casting. From the first, Isobelle grew angered at this – angered her brother would become much like his father, and also that he was allowed access to the writings when she was not. From this moment onwards a dislike of magic came upon her.
For the next decade Isobelle became nothing more than an assistant to her mother, aiding her around the house with mundane tasks such as cleaning and cooking. She was not treated badly – for even the disappointment of her being a girl and first born, meant that in a household with such riches as the ‘Dark’s’, she would never go without a meal. Yet no love was she given, no special attention, she was as a maid.
When she was 14 – and this Isobelle spoke of once, and once only – she was sent to fetch water from the well and saw from the corner of her eye, her brother, still 3 years shy of his teens, muttering and chanting to himself. She grew, as always, angered by this display, yet also quite bewitched with the sight. She watched as her brother rocked back and forth, his fists clenched, his lips moving as he spoke the old words. This went on for a few minutes until he suddenly froze and his eyes flashed open and fixed upon hers.
I did not need to be there to know the fear that was shown there, so graphically did my mistress explain it. He looked as if he were about to speak a word – her name she believed, but before he could he was engulfed in almost pitch flames. Isobelle tried throwing the water over him, but in seconds all that was left were ashes.
This was the absolute turning point of her life. For years she had watched first her father, than her brother practice these skills, and she had started to see the greed that was in Siad and was in Calid rear it’s head in her brother. Though the mundane tasks earlier spoke off she had managed to quell the anger that brewed inside her, but this destruction, this dark rape of the brown haired child she knew as her brother, let free the maelstrom of emotion that was once enclosed.
Isobelle words here, though maybe very much a simplified version of events, are best;
“I killed them. I killed my mother, and I killed my father – and I felt nothing.”
Isobelle began to train her blades after this. Before her families death she never needed protection, but now she was alone. For the next few years she progressed little and it was not until after she turned 20 and found a mine full of demons that she began to become skilled with her weapons. In the end, after 8 years of training in those mines, she suddenly grew tired. Her grip on her blades grew loose and she realized there was nothing she could do to quell the ghosts that racked her daily. So she gave the last essence of herself to the mines and to the demons.