Third time's the charm, right? Maybe this time the server won't have problems again and this will stay up
Anyway, enjoy!
Fear and Understanding
People fear what they don't understand. I learned this the hard way when I was much younger. You see, I am something people don't understand, and therefore fear. I am a Mage. I was born with the ability to control a power that most people can't even feel, much less bend to their wills--magic. Which, I suppose, is what got me into my current trouble.
I work at an Inn back in the capital. My job is to protect things that people don't want stolen--jewels, art, and sometimes even people. Once, when I was doing my job, someone died. The relatives of this criminal blamed me, and rightly so. So they plotted and planned and, finally, two of them grabbed me and took me away to kill me.
They put a Mages Collar on me--a device that is a remnant of our previous government, when Mages were hunted down and killed simply for being what we were born to be. This Collar is designed to cut a Mage off from the magic and make her helpless. They are almost universally effective. What my captors didn't understand was the 'almost' part. The Collars don't entirely work on me. I found a way around them years ago. All I need is a little time and the Collar won't make a difference.
So I escaped from them, only to find myself hundreds of miles from anyone who might be willing to help me. They followed me, hunting me like an animal--worse, because hunters prefer a quick, clean kill. These men want to torture me before they kill me. The arrow they put in my shoulder before I got out of range is proof of that.
Now, though, I've gotten a little ahead, despite the pain from the arrow. I've found a cave to hide in. I have the time I need to circumvent the Collar. When they do reach me, they'll find something they do understand--a woman who's been pushed past her breaking point, who's willing to do whatever it takes to survive. This is something I never thought could happen to me and never truly understood before.
When they reach me, they will learn, before they die, that they shouldn't fear what they don't understand. Instead, they should fear what they already know--hatred and pain.
