Mel could barely hold her head up as she landed on the grassy mountain top. It had been a long day; full of stress and danger. Now that night was settling into the valley the familiar feeling of loneliness starting to take hold.
How long had it been? She thought back, ah yes. Three years, eleven months, and thirty days. One more day and the anniversary of her dump into lands unknown would be here.
She laid in the grass on her back and stared up at the "sky". The silence surrounded her, she laid there letting it lay over her like a blanket. She was not sure how long it was until she heard the buzz of the walkie on her hip and a familiar voice start to speak.
"Mel...?" She laid still not wanting to talk at the moment. "Mel... Look I need to know you can hear me... When you sneak off alone I worry...I know you feel lonely... I know you... but you are not alone... the ten...the nine of us need to be there for each other. We are family... you are my sister... please talk to me." Mel sighed as she pulled the walkie off of her belt. She pushed down the transmit button.
"Geez Dom, did you really have to get so semimetal? And I think you meant I am like your sister, Goober."
After she let go of the button she heard him laugh. "Mel, you know blood don't mean shit here. You are my sister through and through. Now, where the fuck are you?" Mel sighed and sat up, it looked like she couldn't stay here tonight. There would be no peace on the walkie, unless she headed home to camp. "Mel?" Dom's voice rattled over the walkie again. She pressed the button down one last time. "On my way home."
"See you soon then." The relief in his voice was evident.
Mel took one last look at the stars as she pulled out a small silver whistle with a small emerald leaf engraved on the side. She gave the whistle a small sharp blast. Within a minute a lovely emerald hippogryph landed next to her and graciously allowed her to climb on.
"Alright breeze, lets head home." Mel patted the hippogryph on the neck and then the bird took off, flying her toward a small town in the north where her "family" was waiting.
It was about twenty minutes' flight from her mountain top location to the small town. She smiled as soon as she saw the lights. Yes, she did feel the need for peace sometimes, a way to remember all those who were lost to her. But she did love these people, they were her family indeed.
She landed about fifty feet from the front gate, pulled a treat out of her bag and gave it to Breeze. Once had finished the treat and received a nice neck scratch, she stretched out her wings and took off.
Mel began walking toward the gate and as she reached it a tall man with dark hair and a full beard met her there. Mel gave him a look and said, "see... safe and sound."
The man's face split into a huge grin. "Oh you know you love me."
Mel rolled her eyes at him. "Dom, I do love you, however, I am not above beating you up."
Dom put up his hands in surrender. "No need for that. Let me buy you a drink. I received a summons today that we need to discuss." Mel's eyes showed the panic that had just erupted inside her. Dom easily slipped his hand on her back and guided her toward a small pub.
As they stepped into the front door Dom motioned to the barmaid to bring a round and continued to guide Mel to the private lounge on the second floor. He pulled out a chair at the sturdy wood table allowing her to sit in it. Then sat down in the chair next to her.
Once the barmaid had brought their drinks Dom took out a scroll. There was an electric blue seal with two intertwined G's on it.
Mel took a deep breath and looked at Dom's face and then back at the scroll. She took it but faltered before she opened it.
"Is it bad?" She asked, her voice was almost not auditable.
Dom looked down, his eyes very serious. "I don't know; it is quite mysterious. I have only ever seen two others like it and we received those many years ago."
Mel's stomach churned. Then with a quick movement she unrolled the scroll.
Blood of the Night,
We request that your leaders' presence at a gathering in the capital city on December 31st at you.
-GG
Mel felt like she was going to be sick. "Dom this is just like the letters we received three years ago when they brought those two other groups in."
Dom nodded and looked sad.
"They are going to trap more people here... What are we going to do?"
Dom met her eyes, "we are going to go to this meeting. Then... then... we will help as many new ones as we can."
Mel nodded. She knew there was no other choice.
Mel woke up early the next morning, judging by how dark the sky was; it was no later than four in the morning. Slowly, she began to sit up and stretch; lighting the candle beside her bed. She was starting to get up to walk toward the wash basin which sat across the room when the air in front of her rippled and a hooded figure appeared.
Rules... no one ever listens to rules... not in my room... no one in my room...
Mel gave the hooded figure a good kick to the stomach.
"Ow..." a familiar voice yelped, he pulled down the black hood. "Geez Tara, no reason to be mean I was only coming to give you a message."
"Noc, no one is allowed in my room. You should be waiting outside." Her eyes burned like flames.
"Ah, see I would... but seeing as I have been told I am no longer welcome, and having to sneak in... this was the only choice." His mischievous grin flashed across his face.
"You were exiled for a good reason... you have contacts I wish to remain in the dark from." Mel was starting to feel uneasy, the only reason she ever saw Noc was for him.
"Sorry, doll-face, no way to completely keep him in the dark, he sends me because of our history. He wants you to feel as comfortable as possible." Noc said this very calmly while picking his nails with one of his daggers.
Mel took a deep breath and thought: of all days to send me a message I literally have no time.
"Alright Noc, what is the message? I don't have a lot of time. I need to be leaving for the capital soon."
Noc nodded. "Yes, he requests that you meet him in the catacombs. He said to come alone, after the announcement... He says you will find his sword hidden in the crevasse before the stairs. This is to show you he means you no harm."
"I don't wish to see him." She replied stubbornly.
"I know, he knows, but he says after the announcement you will."
"I will consider it. No promises."
"As always. Goodbye Tara."
"Goodbye Noc." She said. Then Noc blended into the wall and with a sidestep vanished completely.
Mel was left there with a sour feeling in her stomach.
By the time the sun rose Mel and Dom were halfway to the capital. The wind blew in their faces as they soared with the clouds. An hour before the meeting Mel could see the blue roof tops of the Trade District of Stormwind City, and a giant castle to the right of it.
As they landed on the flight deck at the stables Mel's stomach felt like lead. Normally she would have stabled Breeze here. But today that made her feel queasy. She gave Breeze a pet on the neck and signaled for her to fly off again.
Dom gave her a quizzical look and said, "Are you getting prepared for a quick get away?"
"I am not sure what to expect, giving myself a safety seems right."
Dom's eyes narrowed, he nodded and had his armored gryphon fly off as well. Then Dom looked at her waiting for a plan.
"We have an hour until the announcement... go pick up some supplies for the village and meet me at the castle gate ten minutes to eight." Then without waiting for a response Mel ran down the street.
She made her way to the cathedral and ducked inside. She headed directly to the staircase that lead to the catacombs. She checked the crevasse, it was empty, then she clambered down the stairs. She took out a throwing dagger, then found a place to hide it in the chamber to the right. It was a safety, in case he attacked her, if she even came at all. She was not good with the dagger but it was better than nothing. Then she quickly ran up the stairs and headed toward the castle. She would be early to meet Dom but this way he wouldn't see the direction she came from.
The grounds leading up to the castle's gate were so crowded it was difficult to move. Mel found a shady corner and leaned against the wall as she scanned the crowd. The time went quickly as she watched friends hug and catch up.
Many of the people here she knew, it was hard not to know just about everything about everyone after years together. Now a new round of faces would join them. Some would stay in the large cities and cook or craft goods. Others would choose to adapt to their surroundings; they would become fighters and healers.
About five minutes before the event was about to start Dom came wondering in, he had a distinct sway to his step.
"Let me guess, you had enough timtime to stop into the pub?" Mel said crossing her arms across her chest.
Dom put on his charming grin and held his arms out as though to ward off an attack. "Come on now, we rarely get to these parts. I had to say hi to a few of the locals."
Mel rolled her eyes. "Of course you did." Then she allowed her face to show a grin. She really didn't have an issue with him drinking, he was five times the fighter than most of everyone else in-game.
At the time of the event a small knight stepped out onto the terrace and blew a small yellow horn to get everyone's attention. The crowd immediately became silent, it seemed as though every person became silent, it seemed as rhough every person began holding their breath.
A tall man then stepped forward. "Good afternoon ladies and gentleman. We have a big announcement, in one month we will begin to bring most of society into the game. Seeing as this will be millions of people we have many servers. There will be a list you can place your name on so that your friends and family can find you. We are not requiring anyone to take new guild members. I am sure new guilds will spring up and as members of Whisperwind with the most seniority you will still be ranking officers in this world that we are building. You have one week to place your name on the list. Thank you for your time and patience."
With that the tall man disappeared. The next moments were pure chaos.
Mel turned to look at Dom, his face was a mixture of panic and anger. He didn't even seem to be able to see her.
"Dom?" She tapped him on the shoulder.
No Response.
"Dom! Snap out of it!" She yelled and with that smacked him across the face. He looked at her then his brows lowered in a glare.
"Dom. Fly back to base, tell them what is going on. Call a guild meeting. Call them all in." Dom nodded and blew his whistle. his gryphon came hurdling down from the sky.
"Where are you going?" He asked when she turned to leave him.
"I have a meeting. Gathering everyone will take at least a day. I( will be there in time." She tried to keep her face urgant and confident.
"Who are you meeting, Mel?" His eyes showed concern.
It's Mend, he knew this was going to happen. Don't worry I am prepared to meet him. I will only be behind you by a couple hours."
He hesitated, then looking defeated his swung his leg over his mount and said, "see you soon."
With that he flew off.
After watching him fade into the clouds she started toward the cathedral district and began to run. It took her a while to push through crowds of people gathering to discuss the news. Once she reached the cathedral she made herself walk to the crevasse only to discover his weapons were already there. She placed her besides him and headed for the catacombs.
It seemed to take forever for her to descend the stairs and reach the small chamber. Once she was at the threshold she had to resist the urge to bolt.
He was already there and waiting for her. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and a long beard. His face was hard to read, but his eyes told his every emotion. She avoided his gaze as she did not want to deal with what she saw there.
"Hello, Tara."
"You know I don't go by that anymore..." She said coldly.
"You will always be Tara to me." He said. She could hear the small smile in his voice.
"You wanted to talk?" She said. "I assume it was not about this."
"Right. Well you have heard the announcement. and I want an alliance with your guild. I think that we need to do something to help these people. Open up our guilds, put our names on the list... Get as many of our friends and family in our ranks as possible. Then we can use what we have learned over the last few years to help them. You remember how it was at first don't you?" He seemed to run out of words and was now looking at her hoping that she could understand him. In truth she could, those first few years had been awful.
"I will think about it," she said softly.
"Please let me know what you decide either way. I know you don't want to see me, but hopefully we can put our differences aside for the good of what is now going to be everyone's world." He said. His eyes did not leave her face, she could feel them digging into her, and when she could not handle his scrutiny anymore she met his eyes and nodded.
"I need to speak with my people. When we have made a desicion I will let you know." She said and then turned on heal to leave. The last thing she heard was his whispered, "thank you."
Once she was on the steps of the cathedral she used her whistle to call Breeze down. Quickly she leaped onto her back and in her ear whispered, "let's go home."
After they were safely in the air, Mel laid down on Breeze's neck and closed her eyes in uneasy sleep.
She was tying a trash bag in a small apartment and headed out the front door toward the dumpster. She was thinging of all the things that needed to be accomplished that weekend. She tossed the bag in the bin but before she could turn around and head back to her apartment she felt a cloth over her face. Her vision went blurry and then the world went black.
When she finally came to she was in a dark space laying on her side. She figured that it must have been a trunk as there was a movement that made her almost roll around. Her hands were bound and a cloth gag was across her mouth. The space was so small she couldn't stretch out. So she layed there was her eyes closed waiting for the motion to stop.
She must have fallen asleep because when her eyes opened again she was strapped down to a padded table. There was an IV in her arm and what looked to be pen marks all over her arms. Unfortunately, a woman noticed that she had woken and came over with an injection of some kind. Within seconds she was out again.
That had been the last look of the real world she had ever gotten.