Moment of Truth
 Dragontales  2007/3/2 8:28
 3440  6
As promised, here's another image I've done. It involved the same character as before. And now she has a name. :
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She was born Seraphine Arianna Florinda, the Princess of Archisere. She had always been a willful child, strong and self-reliant. But if anyone had told the King and Queen, that one day, the daughter they raised to be a prim and proper lady would flee the confines of her royal, pampered life, in exchange for the adventures and dangers of the road, they would have had them laughed right out of the kingdom. However as the years progressed, and the headstrong little girl slowly became a woman, they watched with increasing unease.
At the age of 9, instead of playing with dolls, little Sera preferred to play with her older brother?s toy knights, building fortresses and waging little toy wars on the floor of her room. And by 13 she had given up learning to play the lute, and spent most of her time at the horse stables, learning to ride with a skill that even the best of her father?s knights envied. However it was at the age of 16 that Sera found something that would consume her for the rest of her life. She began to learn the art of the sword.
At first she practiced by herself. Watching the young men in their training classes, she made sure to memorize every move. Then after the sessions were over, she rode to a secluded place in the forest, and tried to duplicate what she had seen. This one-sided routine sufficed for a while, until Sera felt she had advanced as much as she could without a sparring partner. And it was only after much begging and pleading that her worried parents agreed to let her train under the swords master.
?She?ll quit when she realizes how much it hurts.? The king told his wife that night. ?I?ve instructed Kaltas to be as tough on her as on any of his students.?
But they were quite shocked when a month later, Sera had not quit, but had also begun to beat some of the male students in sparring practice.
?She?s got a gift for the thing.? Kaltas told the king. ?Probably one of the better students I?ve trained in a long time. Give her another few months, and she?ll be the best in the class.?
In fact, it took her only two. She had beaten all the boys, and had to practice against Kaltas himself to continue advancing. This did little to endear the boys? bruised egos to the feisty, yet otherwise beautiful, flame-haired girl. She had no female friends of her own either. While many of the courts maidens may have desired to try and advance their own cause by befriending the princess, Sera?s odd ways baffled them and led them to joke at her expense. Sera didn?t care. She was happiest honing her sword skills, and spending time riding her horse in the countryside.
In the next five years Sera grew more distant from life at the castle. It didn?t do anything for her, and she wasn?t suited for it. When she wasn?t fencing with Kaltas, whom she had beaten on several occasions, she spent more and more time in the wild, camping and learning to fend for herself. Her sword and horse were her only companions, the open road, her only courtier. And finally the day came that she decided it was time to leave.
To say her mother was upset would be an understatement. To say her father was angry would be wrong. He was livid. He refused to speak to her, causing Sera to briefly rethink her decision. But the call of the road was too strong for her to ignore. And as the rays of a new day dawned on the castle that had been her home for 21 years, Sera packed what little provisions she needed, strapped on her sword, and walked out the door.
Danov, her brother whose toy knights she played with as a kid, strode out behind her.
?You?ll be crawling back here in a month, begging father to forgive you!? He yelled. ?I promise you?.You?ll wish you never held a sword!? Sera didn?t even turn around. The Princess of Archisere had left.
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The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
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| Dragondack |
Posted: 2007/3/5 21:52 Updated: 2007/3/5 22:06 |
The Great Eternal Dragon   Joined: 2004/2/9 From: Edmonton,Alberta,Canada Posts: 11251 |
 Re: Moment of Truth  Great title!
Superbly perfect picture!
Brilliant BIO story!  |
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| BikerBot |
Posted: 2007/3/4 13:29 Updated: 2007/3/4 13:29 |
Mr. The Mighty Lord *Krackaboom!*   Joined: 2004/1/13 From: The Good Earth Posts: 3277 |
 Re: Moment of Truth What they said. Next time, bigger please.  10 from me. BB |
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| Winterhawk |
Posted: 2007/3/3 19:56 Updated: 2007/3/3 19:56 |
Guardian of the Great White North (Webmaster)   Joined: 2003/8/17 From: Canada Posts: 6812 |
Re: Moment of Truth This is really Awesome!!
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| ubald |
Posted: 2007/3/3 12:24 Updated: 2007/3/3 12:24 |
superhero   Joined: 2006/11/22 From: Canada Posts: 402 |
Re: Moment of Truth Wow! this is some very nice work both writing and art work Fantastic!,.CHEERs.
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| Shadar |
Posted: 2007/3/3 10:54 Updated: 2007/3/3 10:54 |
Gold Member   Joined: 2005/10/2 From: West by Northwest Posts: 42 |
Re: Moment of Truth I really enjoyed the idea of combining a brief vignette along with an outstanding image to illustrate it.
While a picture might indeed be worth a thousand words, a few hundred words and magnify that thousand many times, giving a vision of her riding off to face the adventures of her time.
Needless to say, many of the men she will meet on that rough and tumble road will judge such a young and beautiful woman wrongly. At least until they find themselves staring at the point of her sword. If they still have eyes to stare with.
Thanks for the fantasy...
Shadar
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| bhm1954 |
Posted: 2007/3/3 9:59 Updated: 2007/3/3 9:59 |
Hero to the stars   Joined: 2005/7/18 From: Moses Lake, Washington Posts: 2852 |
Re: Moment of Truth Very nice. I like the picture and the background story is well thought out and practical. Good job.
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! 3D Art !
Fantasy
