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Description
Still My Beating Heart

All Melanie saw when she stared into the blade of her sword was the cool reflection of someone who truly was not her. Her mouth turned dry and the urge to cry out for help would catch in her throat. With all the strength she could muster she wrenched her gaze away and shut the glimmering sword back into its sheath, letting the warm touch of aged leather calm her senses. Her mind traveled back many years ago when her father would take her out on his walks and hearing his voice within her mind was like a soothing balm.

“Never look too long into that face,” her father often told her on those foggy mornings near the lake. “It only shows you the bleakness that exists within your heart, whether you deny its existence or not.” He would look towards the horizon as if remembering some horrific memory and trying to shut it out as quickly as possible, sometimes blinking away tears.

“But what is it?” Melanie would ask, paying close attention to her father’s emotional struggle.

“The banshee or what she can become if you let her take over your mind. True, at first you will only see your own reflection, but if you allow her enough time she will mold that reflection and corrupt it. It is merely a trick she uses to let you fall in her spell and possess you.”

“But aren’t we possessed by her when we take up the blade anyways?”

Melanie’s father would then always take his place on the old stump from the oak tree that burned during a freak storm one spring. He had never truly explained what had happened that day, yet that was a story for another time. “Yes, but it is through our training that we only gain her strength in order to battle the forces of evil that may harm our friends and loved ones. If you do not allow yourself the proper time to focus and you fall to the pressures of stress, then she will consume you body and soul. There would be very few who could stop you then.”

She had shivered at the time and her father would pat her affectionately on the arm. “Don’t worry Melanie you’ll have your partner. They are the ones who protect us as we protect them in turn.”

“When will I meet my partner?”

“When you are older, neither of you have the strength to take on the supernatural forces that plague our world. Not that all of them are evil mind you, you’ll know which ones are and which ones are not with study. But your partner will be your backbone and you will be his that is how the balance works.” He’d smile at her comfortingly.

“So it is a he!” she had exclaimed excitedly, thinking it was like being told that she would have her own personal knight in shining armor.
“Ah, I’ve let the cat out of the bag I fear,” he had chuckled and shook his head. “Yes, your partner is a boy around your age. He is a mage. You will be his swordsman, well I mean, swordswoman.”

Melanie pictured herself in a gleaming outfit of armor, her fair hair blowing majestically in the wind. She certainly could get used to the idea of being the knight if that was the case. She had thought that even Arthur’s knights led much more exciting lives than Guinevere.

Her father had caught her faraway look and stood motioning her to follow him along the familiar path through the woods next to the lake. “You shouldn’t think this is a game though, Melanie. I hope I can be with you for many years, but if the chance comes that you gain the sword before your time, I hate to think of the dangers that will haunt you.” A deep frown marked his face and she always thought he looked so much older when this occurred.

“There are many people out there who use dark magic to try and change this world for the worst. While our family has inherited a dark relic of the past, we use it in order to shape the future for good. I know you are unaware of the spirits that live amongst us now, but in five years time you will be able to even pick out even the slightest hints of something as simple as a colony of faeries living within an area.” Her father had cleverly side-stepped a ring of toadstools at this point and she had as well, knowing whatever strange things her father did, it was best she copied such manners however eccentric they seemed.

“Will I have to hurt people?” Melanie had stopped walking and looked away from her father and studied the growth of the trees in the area. They stood so close that had she not been with her father she was sure that a wrong turn would leave her lost forever in this ancient wood.

Her father had come to kneel in front of her and give her his most serious of looks. “Unfortunately sometimes we must hurt those who will not stop the mistreatment of the innocent people that surround them. I will be honest with you Melanie and tell you that your father’s hands are quite stained with blood.” He had held his hands up to her carefully, though she did not see any red smears within the deep cracks of his palms.

“It may not always feel like it is the right thing to do, but there are those who are truly ruthless and must be brought to justice by our order. It is the curse that surrounds our family. As a Kavanagh we have chosen to take up the task of lessening the forces of evil.”

“I don’t remember choosing to do that,” she had said as she crossed her arms.

Her father had given her a sympathetic smile. “I know, but it is our duty.”

“What if I don’t want to? I don’t want to have to make my kids fight too.”
“Then you have let those who follow the path of darkness gain the upper hand already. You will learn to accept it in time, I promise. I know this is not as easy a path as your friends must go along, but you have been chosen for greater things Melanie.”

Melanie had found her father’s words simple at the time. He couldn’t possibly understand how she felt. He was a man after all, so of course he would think it easy for her to take up the mantle of protection as he had, but knowing she would have to fight that she could die as well, it seemed too much to think about at the time. She was only fourteen after all, what could she ever learn about sword fighting and the supernatural that could save the world?

Still, when she meditated in the same woods where she and her father took their walks, she would stare into the blade and look into the grey, hopeless eyes that met her. Even though the years had passed her by, now reaching twenty-one, stubbornness continued to linger within her. She could not even allow herself to become closer to her partner, fearing that if she were to bear children she would have to lay this burden upon them. She could only hope for the strength she had been given would be enough to shatter the darkness of this world so that no one of Kavanagh blood would have to pick up such a heavy and blood stained sword ever again.

Description
Still My Beating Heart

All Melanie saw when she stared into the blade of her sword was the cool reflection of someone who truly was not her. Her mouth turned dry and the urge to cry out for help would catch in her throat. With all the strength she could muster she wrenched her gaze away and shut the glimmering sword back into its sheath, letting the warm touch of aged leather calm her senses. Her mind traveled back many years ago when her father would take her out on his walks and hearing his voice within her mind was like a soothing balm.

“Never look too long into that face,” her father often told her on those foggy mornings near the lake. “It only shows you the bleakness that exists within your heart, whether you deny its existence or not.” He would look towards the horizon as if remembering some horrific memory and trying to shut it out as quickly as possible, sometimes blinking away tears.

“But what is it?” Melanie would ask, paying close attention to her father’s emotional struggle.

“The banshee or what she can become if you let her take over your mind. True, at first you will only see your own reflection, but if you allow her enough time she will mold that reflection and corrupt it. It is merely a trick she uses to let you fall in her spell and possess you.”

“But aren’t we possessed by her when we take up the blade anyways?”

Melanie’s father would then always take his place on the old stump from the oak tree that burned during a freak storm one spring. He had never truly explained what had happened that day, yet that was a story for another time. “Yes, but it is through our training that we only gain her strength in order to battle the forces of evil that may harm our friends and loved ones. If you do not allow yourself the proper time to focus and you fall to the pressures of stress, then she will consume you body and soul. There would be very few who could stop you then.”

She had shivered at the time and her father would pat her affectionately on the arm. “Don’t worry Melanie you’ll have your partner. They are the ones who protect us as we protect them in turn.”

“When will I meet my partner?”

“When you are older, neither of you have the strength to take on the supernatural forces that plague our world. Not that all of them are evil mind you, you’ll know which ones are and which ones are not with study. But your partner will be your backbone and you will be his that is how the balance works.” He’d smile at her comfortingly.

“So it is a he!” she had exclaimed excitedly, thinking it was like being told that she would have her own personal knight in shining armor.
“Ah, I’ve let the cat out of the bag I fear,” he had chuckled and shook his head. “Yes, your partner is a boy around your age. He is a mage. You will be his swordsman, well I mean, swordswoman.”

Melanie pictured herself in a gleaming outfit of armor, her fair hair blowing majestically in the wind. She certainly could get used to the idea of being the knight if that was the case. She had thought that even Arthur’s knights led much more exciting lives than Guinevere.

Her father had caught her faraway look and stood motioning her to follow him along the familiar path through the woods next to the lake. “You shouldn’t think this is a game though, Melanie. I hope I can be with you for many years, but if the chance comes that you gain the sword before your time, I hate to think of the dangers that will haunt you.” A deep frown marked his face and she always thought he looked so much older when this occurred.

“There are many people out there who use dark magic to try and change this world for the worst. While our family has inherited a dark relic of the past, we use it in order to shape the future for good. I know you are unaware of the spirits that live amongst us now, but in five years time you will be able to even pick out even the slightest hints of something as simple as a colony of faeries living within an area.” Her father had cleverly side-stepped a ring of toadstools at this point and she had as well, knowing whatever strange things her father did, it was best she copied such manners however eccentric they seemed.

“Will I have to hurt people?” Melanie had stopped walking and looked away from her father and studied the growth of the trees in the area. They stood so close that had she not been with her father she was sure that a wrong turn would leave her lost forever in this ancient wood.

Her father had come to kneel in front of her and give her his most serious of looks. “Unfortunately sometimes we must hurt those who will not stop the mistreatment of the innocent people that surround them. I will be honest with you Melanie and tell you that your father’s hands are quite stained with blood.” He had held his hands up to her carefully, though she did not see any red smears within the deep cracks of his palms.

“It may not always feel like it is the right thing to do, but there are those who are truly ruthless and must be brought to justice by our order. It is the curse that surrounds our family. As a Kavanagh we have chosen to take up the task of lessening the forces of evil.”

“I don’t remember choosing to do that,” she had said as she crossed her arms.

Her father had given her a sympathetic smile. “I know, but it is our duty.”

“What if I don’t want to? I don’t want to have to make my kids fight too.”
“Then you have let those who follow the path of darkness gain the upper hand already. You will learn to accept it in time, I promise. I know this is not as easy a path as your friends must go along, but you have been chosen for greater things Melanie.”

Melanie had found her father’s words simple at the time. He couldn’t possibly understand how she felt. He was a man after all, so of course he would think it easy for her to take up the mantle of protection as he had, but knowing she would have to fight that she could die as well, it seemed too much to think about at the time. She was only fourteen after all, what could she ever learn about sword fighting and the supernatural that could save the world?

Still, when she meditated in the same woods where she and her father took their walks, she would stare into the blade and look into the grey, hopeless eyes that met her. Even though the years had passed her by, now reaching twenty-one, stubbornness continued to linger within her. She could not even allow herself to become closer to her partner, fearing that if she were to bear children she would have to lay this burden upon them. She could only hope for the strength she had been given would be enough to shatter the darkness of this world so that no one of Kavanagh blood would have to pick up such a heavy and blood stained sword ever again.