U is for Undine

Once I was a watery spirit, content to flow free down streams and rivers, going with its currents and eddies. Only I was captured by a maiden with a greedy heart, bound within a shell. This shell became part of a suit of armour which does her bidding. I speak with a different voice, calling myself the Captain of the Guard at Caerac Keep. ’Tis true I guard the maiden along with whomever she holds dear, yet it doesn’t end with that. She forces me to do darker deeds. To seize struggling victims in the middle of their sleep and bring them to a dark, hidden place, as dark as the one I’m trapped in. I long to cry out for help. I reach out in dreams, warning certain sensitive souls of the Trouble at Caerac Keep, of my current plight. I can do this much at least. Some have heard. Some have tried to help. At least one has fallen prey to the maiden and the creature I’ve become. If only I could resist with the power animating this armour! As long as I’m bound to this shell, I am trapped here. I can only hope that others will heed the visions I send them, that they won’t be deceived by the maiden’s lovely face as I was. I’m not sure how much longer I can endure. I am a creature meant to be unbound, to flow freely. Being contained in this form of metal and shell is contrary to my nature. I try to endure. I wait for my champions to free me, to stop the maiden in her ambition. I whisper a prayer to the wind and the water that it’s not too late. Dark things are stirring in reaction to the maiden’s greed. I fear she may be far from the worst peril this world will have to deal with.