“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” - Moliere.
All my life, people thought I was a strange child. I would play like a male, with male toys such as sticks for swords. Everyone in my village rejects me for my “odd” behavior. I never thought it was odd at all. I just thought it was normal. When I started to grow older, my Father would scold me.
“You are to clean with your Mother, and to learn how to be a successful wife!”
I do not want to be a defenseless damsel in distress and maid to everything a man says. I will not lower myself to that. It may be tradition, but it is not my fate. I want the action of the fight. To swing a glistering silver sword gives me a rush nothing else ever has. I can feel that being a warrior is my destiny.

The flames rose high while screams pierced the air. Severely aching hours of the night went by before I was able to get back into my town, Marlow.  I was able to hear the terrible cries for help miles away. Everywhere you look is now destroyed. Our lives work, our children's homes, our village--gone. The market square, the blacksmith, the church, all gone! Every inch of our town is now ashes.
“Who would do this? Who!” whaled the poor wrinkly lady as she lifted the last of her bakery. Terror filled tears shredded her eyes while she glimpsed over the town as a whole. The towns ivory gates still surrounded this fire pit. Embers still flying over everything:  burnt up crops, burnt up buildings, and even burnt up friends and family members. The castle and tower in the midst of town are gone, destroyed, along with the royal family and our army. Our leaders, protectors, are now among the fallen.
This is hell.
Families that were torn apart by conflicts now cried together. My family, separated me from them for my different views of life, now beg me to stay with them in this time of mourning. My Father, Archibald, clasping his callused hands on my wrist begging on his knees.  Every other encounter my father and I have had, it ended up with him scolding me that I am a female, that I am to run the house and provide children but I will not. Now there is no more anger. I can only see the panic in his face.
“Listen up!” my brother Harvey shouted over everyone's panic talk. “What happened tonight is devastating, but we cannot let this be the end of us. We all know who did this. It’s plain to see for God sakes! We can either run away from the monster or we can show him what it really means to be a Marlow. Just look at what he has done. The gardens, friends and family members gone all because of him!” His voice started to shake as he was trying to hold back tears. My brother is a very brave and strong soul, but his love for this village is too great to not show his feelings. “He must pay for all the years of torment and for everything he has done!”
“Harv’s right, but who’s in er right mind would go n’ show? I know none ah us have the ability to fight.” The blacksmith questions everything, including my brothers speech.
“I do.” I held my head high, unafraid of this opportunity. This is my one and only chance to finally prove to everyone that I am capable of being a warrior. Everyone has told me that I would never be strong enough except for my beloved Mother, Genevieve. She always secretly encouraged me for she had the same passion when she was my age. She understands what I am going through. “I’ve put in the efforts and I’ve trained in the forest for all of my life. I, Constance, can do it God damn it! Unless one of you gentlemen would rather do it instead,” with skepticism in my voice, all the men eyes widened and their heads viciously shook no. My Father sat there in silence. He knew I was the only option left.
I gathered up all the materials that I had left in Marlow and said my farewells to some people. My family gathered me into a big hug, all three of them wishing me luck especially my dear Mother.
“Listen to me my sweet baby, no matter what happens, always remember about us. I am so proud of you Freebird. I love you.” Tears fell down her pale cheeks and I wiped them away. She liked to call me freebird for it symbolized I could do anything I put my heart to. It really means alot to me.
“I love you too, Mother.” I gave her one last big embrace before picking up my armor and putting it on, along with sliding my sword into its sheath on my belt. I nodded to my father and brother as an indication of love. They nodded back while my brother wished me luck. I turned my back and walked out the gates of our torn village and began my adventure to defeat the beast. Everything was still, silence, except for a lone black bird flying in the sky.
Damien Lossworll. He is the one behind all this madness. We evicted him from our village because of his odd behavior. He was fascinated with destruction and killing. He only killed wild animals and some cattle but we were afraid his curiosity would lead to killing people. We could not, would not risk the safety of our people. People came to Marlow in search of safety and security. They definitely won’t be coming anymore. Damien now lives out in the depths of the forest isolated from the world. He must have gone mad with no one to talk to but the dust that collects in his home.
“I couldn’t even imagine a world so cruel. People were rude to me and my wishes, but to be completely expelled from your family.” Talking to myself keeps my mind calm. Especially now that I’m adventuring out into unknown territory of the beautiful forest. Tall willow trees draping down casting a shadow over all things. Hearing the chirps of birds and other strange animals that live amongst the wild. Occasionally hearing the crackling of sticks on the ground, causing me to be alert. You never know what lurks in the distance.
As the sun starts to set, I stop to set up camp. I don’t know my way around this part of the forest so, I’m not going to risk getting lost during the night. I gather up sticks and twigs to build a fire to stay warm. The night sky was clear to where I can see all the stars. The moon creating enough light to see past the trees. I should be able to get a decent night sleep. I keep hearing something rustling in the grass near by. It’s probably a deer or a wild horse. I just have to listen closely and if it gets any closer, be prepared.
A soft low growl crept its way into my ears along with a set of glowing eyes in my vision. I sprang up onto my feet drawing out my sword. A pack of black and silver wolves circle my small camp site. There is three of them. One directly in front of me, obviously the leader for he was the biggest ranging about as tall as my waist, then two on my right, who weren’t as big or as strong. All of them are growling and foaming at the mouth. It looks like they haven’t eaten in days. They don’t look strong at all but I definitely cannot outrun them. Okay Constance think! One solid diagonal swing will give me distance from them.
I swing my sword over my left shoulder and around my head, gaining force and swinging out at their levels. The first wolf, and the littlest one, was sliced with my blade right in jaw. It whimpered and ran into the darkness with its tail in between it's legs. With my sword still swinging toward the others, they jumped back after witnessing what happened to their friend. I could see rage in the leader wolfs eyes while there was fear in the other. The smaller one ran off to help its injured friend while the big wolf that was left never broke eye contact with me. We danced in a circle with my sword held out strong in front of me, pointing at the beast, while the wolf crept close to the ground, waiting to lunge. After what felt like an eternity, the wolf sprung up with its mouth wide open, ready to bite. I lunged yelling with my sword thrusting forward, impaling the beast right in the throat. The wolf fell limp to the ground without a sound.
“What a poor yet beautiful creature. It’s a shame it had to end this way.” I wiped off the blood from my sword on the fur of the dead wolf, placing it back in its proper place. I picked up the back legs of the wolf, dragging it out and far away from my little campsite. I placed flowers on its wounds and said a prayer for the beautiful wolf.
After the small funeral, I return to my fire and rest my head on a small rock. As my mind starts to wonder, I start to count the stars in the sky to help me sleep. My eyes finally close and I can hear a faint howl out in the distance of the forest.
The sun has awoken along with I and the morning birds. I stomp out the already dimmed fire and continued searching through the forest for the crazed Damien. I see smoke off in the distance. Could that be his house? I ran as fast as my long legs could carry me, making the distance shorter and shorter. I broke through the bushes to see a horrid sight. A tall black stoned castle held together by blood and bone. Beheaded animals scattered all over the courtyard, their heads one staffs in the towers. The door to this place is two times my height, wide open as if it was inviting me into the disgusting chamber of death. I cautiously make my way inside trying to be as quiet as I possibly can. There’s only one hallway leading to a flimsy set of stairs. There are no doors, no windows, no nothing.
The stairs creaked as i stepped on them, making me flinch every time. After making it to the top of the stairs, there was a small opening to the roof where I can see a tall figure facing away from me. I stepped forward out into the opening drawing out my sword once again.
“I’ve been expecting you,” the figure spoke, slowing turning around only to tilt its head. “That’s odd, I expected a male. Fools for sending a silly girl to fight me!” He laughed while dragging his sword across the ground, walking side to side to try and tease me.
“What, a girl is no match for a sick headed bastard like you? By what I have witnessed you are nothing but a coward. Setting fire to my village in the midst of night. It shows you are scared and weak. I have come here to get revenge for all the ones you have done wrong!” Throwing my sword up in front of me, squaring up to fight this bastard.
“I have done wrong? What about the wrong they have done to me! Your people kicked me out of the only place I knew! My home. My mother abandoned me for some pirate. All I had left was that wretched town, only to find out that I wasn’t welcomed there,” tears started to fall from his black eyes. Could these actually be real emotions? Could someone as sick and twisted has he was truly show them? No, this is only to fool me.
“Don’t try to give me your pity. You’ve gone mad. You’ve gone too far this time. Prepare to meet your end!” I ran forward towards him, swinging my sword over my head and back down at him. He blocks my blow. Our swords clashing one after another. The metals scraping against each other causing sparks to fly every where. I through a swing, he’d block. If he swung, I would block. Our fighting styles are almost identical. We both use your steps to push more force into our swings. Our swings and step work became a rythme. I stepped backwards landing on a rock, causing my foot to twist and fell on my back. My sword scattered away but before I could reach it, Damien straddled me, his sweaty hands clamps around my neck, sucking away all my breathing ability. His face, smiling a sickening smile, stared down on me as I struggled. This is it Constance. Your best wasn’t good enough. You let everyone down.
As my vision started to blur, I looked up into the sky. What I saw was a lone bird flying through the air, ever so peacefully, ever so free. It is a free bird. I am that freebird! I reached my hand over to my sword, grabbing the blade and blunting him in the temple with the handle, slicing up my hand. I gasped for air once he fell off releasing my throat. With a swift swing, I gashed him right in the stomach, ending his sick and deranged life. As he falls to to ground, clutching his stomach, a wide smile of pure joy forms on his face. With the last of breath he had, he whispered, “Thank you.”
What a poor soul. He was so lost in this world. I place a single flower on his wound like I did with the wolf and said a final prayer. I made my way out of the castle, igniting the damned place on fire, and started walking back to my home town. It may be destroyed, but at least we will now have peace.
Walking into my deserted village, I witnessed families cleaning up the mess and searching for anything that was saved during the fire. All of their eyes locked with mine, and I nodded. They all began to cry and run over to me. My family picked me up and hurled me every where in a show of proudness. 
  “On this blessed day, a new savior has been shown for Marlow. I am sorry, deary, that I have doubted you for so long. I’m sure we all are. I know now that I can trust you with any except of my life, for the little time I have left,” sobbed the old baker as her weak hand grabbed mine. “I’m sure we can all learn from the bravery you have shown.”
“Thank you,” I smiled and squeezed her hand. My father had an emotionless expression on his face, almost seemed disappointed. My mother on the other had was jumping with joy.
“I knew you could do it, my little Freebird.” She pulled my head down so she could kiss my forehead for I am a lot taller than she is. My brother shaking his head with a smile on his lips. He secretly helped me when we were younger until our father found out.
“Looks like my training has finally paid off, hasn’t it?” he nudged my shoulder, trying to show his brotherly love.
“Oh please, we both know I’ve always been the better fighter.”
  “Constance, may I have a word with you?” My father said as he started to walk away from the crowd. I followed him to where our house once stood. “I’m sorry, dear, I just wanted what’s best for you.” He stated as tears fell from his old eyes. I could do nothing but stand there with pure lack of empathy.
“It’s alright Father.” I said with nothing in my voice, and I walked away. He may be father but that does not mean who could treat me the way he did when I was growing up. I have proven myself to everyone. I do not have to sit there and take any more criticism. This is my life and I now know how I want to live it. Even if that means excluding some destructive people from my life. What some people have said has scarred my soul for eternity. I will no longer live by their side. I need to move along. I need to be free. I am to be Freebird.