[Cursed Crone] The Final Showdown

If only my parents could see me now.

The thought came to Arianwyn so randomly, so innocently, that the weight of the statement didn't hit her until she had taken a few more trotting strides towards the Cursed Crone. It was enough to make her slow for a moment, suddenly distracted from the battlefield by the ideas bouncing around in her own mind, such that she almost tripped over her own hooves in shock. My parents.

Though it would be difficult to admit it, even to herself, Arianwyn did not think of her parents much. Or, at least, she didn't think much about their opinions. Their legacy, the hoofprints they left behind that she, now, was determined to fill—those expectations never fully left her consciousness. They motivated her each and every day. Her fate within the Order was a birthright, her success within the Order an expectation. On the day her parents passed, a fire under her was lit, propelling her through sheer ambition to live up to the lofty expectations they had set for their daughter. That motivation, that inspiration, lived eternally in Arianwyn's mind. However, who her parents actually, truly were? No, she hadn't stopped to wonder if they'd be proud of her in a while.

No, they had to be proud of her. Of course they were! Arianwyn was here, a lone fighter standing up to the forces of corruption. She stood, the only mage on a battlefield, and she did not hesitate a moment to continue to stand. She paced across soil foreign to her, yet was risking her life to stop the suffering of people who she did not know. That made her a hero, she was certain of it.

Besides, she told herself, instinctively tossing a dagger in the air in her own nervous habit, watching the polished silver twist in the air with satisfaction. I am among the youngest mages to ever graduate the schools at Namarast. Her success in academics was one of her proudest achievements. After all, her father had been one of the school's most trusted professors, she had to find success for his legacy. She had to prove that she was just as smart as he was. And now, she was working on living up to her mother, a famed monster hunter in her time. When Arianwyn slew the Cursed Crone, found success in her first hunt, she could be half the hero her mother was.

If they could see her, they would absolutely be proud of her.

Arianwyn picked up her pace, regaining her composure as confidence flowed through her veins once again. The Cursed Crone was still distant from her, still moving in its ominous, shadowy form, but it was slowing, and she was gaining speed. Soon, their paths would collide. Their fates would meet, their lives entangle forever: the end of the Crone's wretched life, and the beginning of Arianwyn's legacy.

Arianwyn sheathed her blade for the moment and sped up to a run.

It was her time now. Time for the world to find out who she was. It was time to make her parents proud.