I slowly opened my heavy eyelids that were lethargic and unwilling over my glowing green eyes, awakening gradually to Sheri's gentle voice calling out my name.
"Dylandy? Dylandy, are you feeling well? Dylandy..."
An unintentional groan escaped my lips as I felt her hand rest gently on my thigh. Though her touch was so soft as it had always been, the fever that suddenly racked my body the previous evening wouldn't allow even the faintest disturbance on my skin to go without painful response.
"Anar'alah belore! You're awake at last. Oh Dylandy, you're even worse than yesterday. Please just relax, I'll return shortly."
As I became fully aware of my surroundings watching Sheri turn and begin heading downstairs to the lower part of the Falconwing Square Inn, I noticed my skin was ashen and felt dry. At least I could tell I had clearly bathed recently, as my deep brown hair held a sheen that it never did when I was out on rangings; but against the skin of my hands, it simply looked unnatural.
It's been at least a week since I've come into contact with arcane power, I realized to myself slowly. The lack of magic consumption and the stress of... recent events... certainly was what permitted this ailment to take over my body in such a way.
Sheri returned almost as swiftly as she had taken her leave, the good barkeep of the Inn an old friend of my family's, and a rather maternal figure to me.
"Here you are, Dylandy. It's a couple of mana crystals I recently received from the sanctums. Please take what you need."
Guiltily, I tapped a small amount from the crystal she placed in my hand. With our sanctums malfunctioning lately, the gradually more frequent attacks by the Wretched that lurked about, and the increase in training for many of my brethren preparing for the pilgrimage, these crystals were harder and harder to come by. Even through my remorse, I couldn't stop myself from continuing to drain the crystal completely. Warmth enveloped my body, color began to heighten in my cheeks, and I could feel sweat beads slowly rolling down my temples. The relief was... amazing.
"Thank you, Minn'da. I feel very improved already."
"Well, that's certainly a good thing, but you are still very weak. I'll go have Quarelestra see if we can make up some food for you, and then I'll go gather some fresh bloodthistle to make tea."
Addicts, I thought to myself. What have my people become? Am I really so weak from not having any magic? Why can't I be stronger... I have to be stronger...
"...ish? Dylandy?"
"I'm sorry, what were you asking?"
"I asked if you would like a meal prepared of meat or fish, Kim'fal. Are you still unwell?"
"No, I'm fine. I'd enjoy a good portion of meat, if I may."
Sheri smiled her warm, familar smile at me before rising and departing again to begin setting things in motion. I was still rather young, and was certainly treated as such, especially by her. I would be 73 soon, still just a boy of the Dawnglen family, though I had witnessed envoys of the Orcs and Tauren peoples drop their jaws in disbelief and ignorance when our age was explained. I was one of the younger journeyman in the Farstriders of Silvermoon - only my sister, Lallena Dawnglen, was younger than me.
Ah, my Lallena, how I loved her dearly. Her hair remained a pure gold as she grew, and her body was strong and solid as she loved to train even more than myself. We grew up mostly away from the other Quel'dorei after our parents had passed, and our bond was stronger than all the magic of our kingdom. Ever the tomboy, she always outperformed me sparring as children, but still ran crying to me when she first saw death in the eyes of a young lynx outside of the town one day.
"Andy, Andy!" she called to me, tears streaming down her perfectly symmetrical, innocent face.
"What's wrong, Lena? Are you hurt?" I rarely saw my Lallena crying, and I immediately took her into my arms, concern wrought across my face in this memory I could see clearly.
"Andy... a baby lynx! It wandered toward the city... and... and!..."
"Calm down, my dear Lena. Tell me what ails you so!" I stroked her back in small circles as she buried her face in my chest.
"Oh, Andy... One of the city guardians... he killed the lynx! I watched him do it!" She stared up at me with her intense violet eyes, a rather rare set for our people, and unheard of in my family that possessed all blue eyes as far as we could trace. Anger and sadness existed in their most raw forms there in those eyes. I almost smiled, as all interaction with her made me feel a love that was unlike any other that one could possibly have.
"Lena, the guardians of our Silvermoon wouldn't simply kill the lynx for the sake of killing. Does that truly make any sense to you? Nothing dies without purpose, sweet Dor'da. Even our parents' deaths were for the sake of the safety of our kingdom."
"No! It was only a baby! They couldn't have killed him for any reason other than... than..." she drifted away slowly in thought.
"Come, Lena, we shall observe the situation like good rangers should, and see what we can see with unclouded eyes."
She nodded in agreement carefully, as though not wanting to commit to being open to changing her mind about the situation. Her stubbornness was so endearing, as is everything about her still. She took my significantly larger hand; though we were less than a decade apart in age, I had recently experienced the token belore bal'a dash, a period where young elves of our kingdom usually grow to their maximum height and structure that is maintained through the rest of adulthood.
In the end, after evaluating what had transpired that morning, the young lynx's mother had moved herself and her cubs very close to the city. A guardian patrolling the pathways outside of the gates had encountered the cub. It is known that lynxes do occasionally attack the young and weak traveling into Silvermoon when desperate for food, and so, when the cub approached, the guardian only acted on his best judgement at the time. Lallena seemed to understand, but was still angry for many suns to follow.
"Here you are, Dylandy. The tea is almost finished as well." Sheri placed a tray down on the small, ornate stand next to the bed, and pulled away the flowing curtains from the bedside. The tray was full of baked dragonhawk eggs, a large lynx steak, spiced bread, and even a piece of imported snapvine watermelon. I suddenly realized I was ravenous.
Sheri brought up the tea after another minute or so and poured a cup for me. I sipped from it eagerly, burning myself a bit in the process.
"Dylandy... are you well enough to discuss Lallena?"
I stopped drinking and set down my cup. I looked down to my bare chest, my thoughts coming back to me in full force with what had happened only a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure that I could keep my food down, and I could feel my brow furrowing involuntarily as I pondered whether or not I really was capable of this discussion.