A Matter of Will
"So this is the Shadow Vault," a slender but muscular human with short brown hair sat on an armored war gryphon and wondered at the cold and sharp metal shape of the building that served as the base of operations for the Order of the Ebon Blade in Northrend. As the man glanced around at the tower and the camp outside it, he noticed how starkly the building stood out against the alternate gleaming white ice and dark grey-blue rock of Icecrown Glacier. Although he was covered in furs so that he could survive in the cold north, the man's armaments clearly showed that he knew how to fight. Turning his eyes to the sky, he searched the clouds impatiently. "The sun has been up for an hour now. Where is she?" Sighing, he dismounted from his gryphon and took her reins leading her to one of the tie-posts outside the vault.
As the man approached the tie post, a Scourge gargoyle's screech split the air followed by yelling from above. Looking up, the man saw that the gargoyle was plummeting towards the ground and struggling with something. Issuing a final screech, it impacted and shattered on the ground, leaving only its opponent and the axe that she had buried in it. The opponent, a dark-skinned female draenei in Death Knight's armor calmly stood up and pulled the axe from the stone pile, holding it ready. Not seeing any more Scourge in direct view, she scanned her surroundings from left to right through the slit in her helmet. Upon seeing the man, she stopped and addressed him in a monotonic voice. "You are Captain Hollis Wicker, servant of my Lord Gar..."
"Stop talking! Just stop talking right there," Hollis interrupted the Death Knight, his face bearing an exasperated expression. "How did you get here? Why'd you fall out of the sky with that gargoyle?" he questioned the Death Knight.
The Death Knight processed each of Hollis' questions in order, pausing between the answers. "The Chief Examiner brought me here. I fell because I am supposed to fight the Scourge. The gargoyle was Scourge, therefore I killed it."
Astonished at the Death Knight's behavior, Hollis tried to paint himself a picture of what had just happened. "Ok, so let me get this straight. You jumped off the back of a mount and killed a gargoyle in mid-air? Are you insane? Didn't the fall hurt? I'm surprised it didn't kill you."
"Question: What is sanity? The dead do not feel pain." The Death Knight continued to answer automatically, inquiring after further information in the only way that she could.
"Sanity is something that you lack," Hollis answered tritely and continued his questions. "Where is Lelyndra? She is supposed to meet me here."
Without breaking her stare or moving anything aside from her lips, the Death Knight produced more answers. "Chief Examiner Lelyndra Moonwhisper is flying out to obtain a proper landing trajectory."
"There you go again! Stop dropping names!" the man exclaimed and then stepped closer to avoid making a scene. "I don't know who pulled you out of the cellar, but you don't appear to have learned anything. Our order is not sanctioned by the Alliance, so we cannot let people know who we are."
"Question: How does one 'drop a name'? Names are not physical objects." The Death Knight responded, keeping the single tone and measured pace that Hollis and many others found grating.
"You seem to have met this Death Knight before." Chief Examiner Lelyndra's voice issued from behind the Captain. Lelyndra had landed her hippogryph and snuck up on Hollis while he concentrated on the Death Knight. She was dressed warmly as well, but her normally violet skin still looked closer to the dark blue shade of her hair from the cold. "In all of my time guarding the forests of Ashenvale, I have never seen anything like her. You won't make any progress. That is why we are here."
"Well you must have not seen Gnomish robots before, she acts like one. I suppose that Night Elves wouldn't know them," Hollis dismissed Lelyndra's lack of knowledge and dusted some frost out of his goatee. A moment later, Hollis dropped his hand and made an incredulous expression. "So, you mean the reason why I've been given a second mission in these wastes with no leave is for her? I was only told to meet here at sunrise, if the sun even 'rises' in this light-forsaken place. Old Hernandez has got some explaining to do," Hollis griped.
Frowning, Lelyndra dismounted from her Hippogryph and took his reins and the reins of Hollis' Gryphon. Leading both mounts over to the posts outside the vault, she tied them up in silence and then returned to Hollis. Stepping close to avoid others hearing, she gave him the bad news. "You missed a lot while you were up here on assignment. High Commander Hernandez is dead."
"No kidding? I guess Commander Diego must be High Commander now; he was clearly the best choice. So how did old Hernandez die?" Hollis spoke just as quietly as he inquired about his deceased senior officer. He had no love for the man, so his question came more from morbid curiosity than concern.
"He went to participate in the Argent Crusade's little tournament and took a lance to the throat." Lelyndra mourned, sparing no details for Hollis. "I could have done something, but I stayed at the hall to study this Death Knight."
"That proves it again; she's more trouble than she's worth. Commander Diego and I put her in the cellar for that reason; she's a thoughtless machine. Whose idea was it to bring her here anyway?" Hollis rattled on, knowing that the Death Knight beside him would not care if he talked about her.
Slightly edgy about the topic, Lelyndra stepped away and spoke normally, hesitant to tell Hollis. "Well, the new High Commander ordered me to bring her here."
Thoroughly confused, Hollis dragged his hand down the side of his face and looked exasperated again. "Why would Diego do something like that to me? Does he think that it's funny? He knows that she's a lost cause."
"Commander Diego is not the High Commander, I am." A deeply accented voice issued from behind Hollis. Approaching as Hollis turned, a draenei wearing the High Commander's insignia addressed him. The High Commander's skin was dark and pallid, the color of the dead. He stood apart from other draenei that Hollis had seen for this, and because his forehead plates were very tall. "My name is Sazan Triscn. We have not met, but I have heard many testaments of your skill from Commander Diego. Also, do not worry about names here. The Ebon Blade does not care about who we are as long as it causes them no harm," the High Commander explained his free use of rank and names. Re-focusing on the draenei Death Knight who silently stood frozen in place, Sazan continued. "Good, you have brought her. Follow me inside, I will show you what I have found." The new High Commander turned and walked back into the Shadow Vault.
Looking to Lelyndra for answers, Hollis waited for the High Commander to be out of earshot. His expression and tone hinted of contained rage. Speaking through his teeth, he questioned Lelyndra. "Why is a corpse in charge of my Lord's armies? It's a mockery! Diego would never let this pass."
Defending her senior officer, Lelyndra attempted to explain the situation. "High Commander Triscn may be a Death Knight, but I assure you this comes at our Lord's appointment. Diego did not stand for it either. He challenged Sazan and well…" Lelyndra looked to make sure she could dodge incase Hollis struck out in anger. "…he lost."
Instead of striking out in anger, Hollis' expression simply turned grim and resigned. "That's just… disappointing - Diego losing to a walking corpse. He'll never live it down. He always said to me: Corpses are supposed to stay dead and we should treat them as such. I agree with him. I can't believe that Lord Garanger would appoint one; he must have lost his marbles."
"I can assure you that our Lord is in command of his mental faculties," Lelyndra continued to watch her distance since she felt it was her duty to explain more. "You have really missed a lot. We have a contingent of Death Knights at the hall now, High Commander Sazan was their commander for three months and then he became High Commander. None of the others can match his skill with swords or his ability to strategize." Lelyndra tried to calm Hollis down by bringing him up to date.
Acting exasperated again, Hollis shook his head and lamented. "I have a headache. So what is the corpse commander's motivation to bring Miss Coat Rack up here?" The man implied the Death Knight standing motionless beside him. "Do corpses even have motivation? This one doesn't."
"I do not know. No one knows much about High Commander Triscn. He is like any other Death Knight, silent and reserved. He came to inspect the examination facilities after he became High Commander and discovered Miss Coat Rack, as you call her. I was almost ready to give up when he came, but he was adamant that I continue my studies on her. It is understandable that he would not want a fellow Death Knight to be a coat rack in the cellar. He must have found something up here," Lelyndra explained.
"If you've had no luck, he won't either. He's a bad commander if he can't trust his Chief Examiner," Hollis declared. "Let's go prove that she can't be helped. You make her move, I don't want to deal with her," the man turned sharply and walked into the Shadow Vault.
Annoyed at Hollis' manner, Lelyndra stepped in front of the Death Knight. She didn't understand why Hollis had a problem with making the Death Knight move, it was easy enough. Preparing herself for a moment, Lelyndra issued an order to the Death Knight in as short of a sentence as she could and without pauses. "You will follow me into the Shadow Vault, and you will not divert to kill anything while following me."
Breaking her pose at the command, the Death Knight lowered her axe and moved to behind Lelyndra, ready to follow her. Entering the Shadow Vault with the Death Knight in tow, the Chief Examiner looked around for the High Commander. The glow and sparks from the active rune forges in the Shadow Vault made it difficult to see. The shadows cast by the vault's contents danced about the walls, giving the large main room a very eerie look. Seeing Hollis first, Lelyndra walked left from the entry. The High Commander was standing with Hollis by a bookshelf and was showing a large brown book with ratted bindings to the man.
"Ah, there you are, Lelyndra. I was just explaining this book to Captain Wicker. I will start over for you," Sazan commented. "Now, this book is a registry of the name of every Death Knight freed from the Lich King in the vicinity of Icecrown and the place where they were freed. It has information saying that this Death Knight was found in Jotunheim, a region held by the Vrykul. We will be traveling there to find what happened to her." The High Commander explained.
"And I was just saying that this makes no sense," Hollis pointed out. "How did you know her name? No one in the Hall knows what it is."
"Oh, well it is right here," Sazan walked to the Death Knight, who was still obediently following Lelyndra. "Remove your helmet and stand still," he commanded. When the Death Knight pulled her helmet off, her long white hair fell out from where it was gathered behind her head and hung limply past her shoulders. A small round clip with glowing symbols on it was attached to one side of her hair. Going right for the clip, Sazan lifted it and turned it over. Two lines of symbols were etched into the back of the clip. "The writing on the back of this clip is in Eredun. It reads: For Adriscimnya. Her name is Adriscimnya."
Looking astonished, Hollis spoke up. "Oh yeah, of course it's there. It's the first place I would have looked," his voice dripped with sarcasm. "I still prefer to call her Miss Coat Rack. It's more descriptive of what she does and it's easier to pronounce than… whatever you just called her."
"Yes, I heard from the Chief Examiner that she was being misused in that manner before she was brought in for study." The High Commander noted Hollis' involvement. "Now, we need to…"
"Seriously though," Hollis interrupted, "regardless of the luck of finding that clip, how did her name even help you track her here?"
"Oh, well Lord Garanger mentioned that she followed him out of Stormwind, so I searched the Stormwind registry for her name. I did not find evidence of her return, but I did find that she deployed from the Stormwind Guard with the Argent Crusade as part of the initial assault on Icecrown and the taking of Crusaders' Pinnacle. She must have died shortly after that. Since she would have died in Icecrown and since this is the Ebon Blade's base of operations in Icecrown, it is logical that more information should be here." High Commander Triscn spoke quickly and precisely, answering all of Hollis' questions as efficiently as possible.
"Well of course, those registry books only fill entire towers in Stormwind. Of course you just happened to come across it. It must've taken quite a lot of time away from your duties as High Commander." Hollis insinuated irresponsibility on Sazan's part.
"I am dead. I do not need to sleep." Sazan defended himself, though he knew it was not necessary to explain his actions to a junior officer. "You are a very doubting person by nature."
"Really, does that bother you?" Captain Wicker looked for an edge to tear at on the High Commander.
"As I said, I am dead. I do not feel bothered." The High Commander answered, immediately seeing that his response displeased Hollis.
Speaking in a more demanding tone, Hollis continued to challenge the High Commander. "What do you feel then?"
"I feel nothing. Now, we must go to Jotunheim. The Ebon Blade contact in that area is Lady Nightswood. She resides in The Bone Witch. I will mark the location of cave of The Bone Witch on your maps. It is a long flight, so I will take Adriscimnya with me. My drake is more suited for two passengers than your hippogryph, Lelyndra." After declaring this, the High Commander quickly ordered Adriscimnya to follow him and began to walk out of the Shadow Vault.
As he went for the door, Lelyndra looked worried and caught up to him. "Jotunheim is a very dangerous place. It seems like a lot of risk to take for information. If all of us go, it will be easier for the Scourge to notice. We do not even know if Lady Nightswood will be able to help."
"I do not feel worried. There is only potential here. I asked both of you to come specifically so we could stand against whatever we face," Sazan replied while untying his netherdrake from its post. Without waiting for more objections he ordered Adriscimnya to stay on the drake, and then he quickly climbed on behind her. "However, we should stagger our arrivals to attract less attention. Rest if you need it and then follow after me. I will see you when we arrive."
"But you don't feel anything. This is not like you, it does not make sense." Lelyndra spoke quietly as Sazan climbed into the air on his drake. Her tattoos seemed to droop downwards as she spoke; she was used to having the High Commander's ear and was discouraged that he did not listen to her this time.
"I don't like this either." Hollis walked out of the vault and stopped beside Lelyndra. "He isn't telling us everything, but I can't get a read on what since he's so blank. Still, there's no way that he could have gathered that information on that Death Knight without help. Who's helping him? What's he after?"
The High Commander's netherdrake was named Kairaku. The drake's midnight blue skin cloaked it against the dark sky as it soared southwest towards Jotunheim. Even if something had seen it, nothing in the sky could have caught it. After Sazan gained his freedom from the Scourge, he returned to the remnants of Draenor and freed Kairaku from the Dragonmaw Orcs. This was not the reason that he went to Draenor. While there, he helped drive off the Blood Elves who followed Kael'thas and the Orcs who sullied Auchindoun, but this was not the reason that he returned either. Sazan went to Draenor to find something that he lost, but he did not find it.
"Do you remember your life?" Sazan asked Adriscimnya after the pair had been in flight for a while.
"I do not understand your question," she responded, speaking loud enough to be heard in the wind.
Thinking, the High Commander re-phrased his inquiry. "What is your oldest memory? Explain what you remember to me."
Adriscimnya remained silent for a moment, recalling what she could as ordered. "I remember awaking in Stormwind to my Lord Garanger's call. I heard his voice and followed his will."
Shaking his head, Sazan asked again. "Is there no more? How did you die? What happened before that?" he persisted in trying to draw the information from her.
"You and others have asked me these questions before. I do not know the answers," the Death Knight answered.
"Then you need to try harder. Please, you must try to remember. It is only a matter of will." Sazan tightened his grip on her for a moment as he said this, trying to enforce his point.
"My memory has no problems. I remember without flaw or gap everything that has occurred since I awoke. I do not know the information that you seek," Adriscimnya repeated.
"Do you want to know?" Sazan asked her, unsure how she would take such an offer.
Adriscimnya's reply came quicker than the High Commander expected, and disappointed him greatly. "The dead do not have wants," she spoke, her tone as flat as ever.
Unable to accept her response, Sazan continued. "I will do this for you at least." He leaned in close to Adriscimnya and spoke into her ear, his intensity rising. "Your name is Adriscimnya. You will respond to this name and realize that a conversation pertains to you when it is mentioned. You were…" The High Commander paused, his expression becoming emotionless again. "You were a remarkable Warrior in life."
"I understand, High Commander." Adriscimnya acknowledged, uncaring of Sazan's tone.
Searching for words, Sazan sat back away from her, paying attention to his drake's reins again. "I am… glad… that you do."
Below the pair, the dwellings of Jotunheim passed by quickly. Since long before the Horde, Alliance, or Scourge came to Northrend, the buildings of Jotunheim stood on the Northwest coast of the continent. Stretching from the Savage Ledge to the halls of Kul'galar Keep, Jotunheim was more of a kingdom than a city or a settlement. Within its bounds, the vrykul inhabitants joined in sacred combat to decide which of them would gain the right to ascend and take the powerful form of a val'kyr, and which of them would be chained in the rotting flesh of a vargul.
Through this, the Ebon Blade pacified the Vrykul and kept them from aiding the Lich King in combat. The Order constantly sent soldiers to Jotunheim to burn Vrykul settlements, defeat them in combat, and whittle down their forces. The main agent of the Ebon Blade in Jotunheim was a possessed vrykul who resided in a small cave near Njorndar Village. Those who helped the Ebon Blade simply knew her as "The Bone Witch", but those who looked deeper saw a banshee, Lady Nightswood, residing within the body. Due to her nature as a disembodied spirit, Lady Nightswood was the Ebon Blade's most knowledgeable ally regarding matters of the soul.
Landing at the edge of the mountains and off the beaten path several hours later, Hollis and Lelyndra led their mounts slightly further into the foothills before tying them to ground stakes. They could not risk the Vrykul discovering the beasts and killing them. Staying out of sight along the mountains, the pair made haste to get into the cave that High Commander Triscn had marked on their maps. As soon as they rounded the edge of the cave, Sazan stepped forward from the darkness at the cave mouth. "Good, you have arrived. We will enter now. Follow us, Adriscimnya."
An eerie purple glow illuminated the walls of The Bone Witch's cave. Various cauldrons bubbled in the enormous space, each with a strange bone fetish hanging above it. In the rear of the cavern, The Bone Witch leaned over one of the cauldrons, her back facing the group. She was adding a mortar full of bone dust and herbs into the cauldron in small amounts, stirring as she did. Without looking up, she addressed them in the deep alto voice that most vrykul women possessed. "What do you want?"
"To leave, this place is awful." Hollis groaned and wrinkled his nose at the smell from the cauldrons.
Ignoring Hollis, Sazan stepped forward and Adriscimnya followed him. "I seek information. Our comrade, the Death Knight Adriscimnya, has no memory from her life. I must know what happened to her and how we can restore her."
"How many of you are in my cave?" the possessed vrykul asked, still not looking up.
"There are four of us," Sazan responded, unsure of the reason for the question.
"You are wrong," the witch corrected them as she tipped the rest of the mortar in to the cauldron. Turning to the group, she gave them the right answer. "There are three of you in this cave. This Death Knight that you call Adriscimnya is not here."
"What sort of game is this? You can see her standing right there. Just give us a straight answer so we can leave." Hollis stepped up, sensing that that their stay was going to drag on if it kept this pace.
"You are very strong willed, Hollis Wicker," the Bone Witch easily read the man's name off of his mind. "This one is not." The vrykul woman approached Adriscimnya and put a hand to the draenei's face. "She doesn't even know who she is. She only knows what you have told her: that she was a remarkable Warrior in life."
"I didn't tell her anything like that. She's utterly useless in any battle and none of us knew her when she was alive," Hollis argued, growing more impatient.
"Hollis! Let her speak. We have come here for information, so we will take the time to listen." Sazan held his hand up for silence, stopping his captain from causing more trouble.
"Yeah, you've come here for information. I'm not interested in the dead," the man put in a last word. Heading near the cave entry, he took out his knives and began to sharpen them, waiting for the High Commander to finish.
"Lady Nightswood…" Lelyndra picked the conversation back up, her purple skin somewhat reddened from embarrassment at Hollis. "…I have been trying to treat Adriscimnya for months with no progress. I understand the ways of the soul as a priestess and of the body as a physician. I have found nothing physically or mentally wrong with her. She can make judgments and decisions, so why do you say she is not here?"
"For all of your arts, surviving beyond death is required to understand what ails this Death Knight. She is incomplete, a contradiction and an impossible thing. She has no will of her own." The Bone Witch looked to Lelyndra after saying this and saw only confusion on her face. Taking her hand away from Adriscimnya, she explained further. "The will is our memory, our very essence. Without a will, we have no reason to live. While the will can continue with only a body or only a soul if it is strong enough, the body and soul cannot continue alone without a will. This is how the Lich King controls. The Lich King's suppresses the wills of individuals in the Scourge and controls us with his own will. When we are freed, our wills regain control. This one's will is absent. Tell me, does she follow orders given to her exactly and do nothing more? This is because she does not have independent thought or the ability to choose."
"That is what she does, but then why is she even walking around?" Lelyndra challenged The Bone Witch's explanation.
Placing both of her hands on Adriscimnya's face, The Bone Witch looked deeper. "She is following your wills and the will of… such a remarkable man," the witch continued reading Adriscimnya. "She follows the will of a man who has traveled so far and who can be so terrible and yet so wonderful; the will of Timothian Garanger." The Bone Witch gasped and took her hands off of Adriscimnya, looking at the others in the cave. "I know of this man, and what he does. This means that you must all be his servants, members of the Order of Rabranth."
"This meeting is over." Hollis interrupted them, walking in from the entrance of the cave. Turning to the High Commander, he reminded his superior of the Order's rules. "She knows us, which means she has to die and we have to leave, now."
"You won't kill me. Even if you destroy this body, I will exist. Perhaps I will take your body next," the Bone Witch focused on Hollis, watching for any hostile moves.
"I won't?" Hollis pulled out his daggers. "Watch me!"
"Captain Wicker! Stay your blades. She is no threat to us, and I am not about to leave this unfinished." Sazan quieted Hollis and then addressed the witch again. "Is there any way to restore her?"
"The will is unique. If it is lost, it cannot be replaced with anything else." The Bone Witch looked at the cave entrance and then turned back to her cauldrons, smirking as she did. "She may not be as far away as you think."
"But where is her will? I need to know." Sazan demanded an answer from The Bone Witch.
"Be careful on your way out. The Vrykul in this area are becoming increasingly hostile." She replied, not turning to face him again.
"I see," Sazan spoke flatly and headed for the cave entrance, looking downcast. Adriscimnya walked behind him as he left; he had never ordered her to stop following.
As Sazan passed Hollis, the man launched at him like a trap snapping shut on its prey. The man's nostrils flared as he turned red with anger that he had held in while Sazan finished talking. "You're disobeying Lord Garanger's standing orders," Hollis kept just in front of the draenei and faced him, yelling up into his face. "Anyone who knows about him or the Order of Rabranth must be silenced. Where does your allegiance lie anyway? Is it to him or to the Ebon Blade?"
"Be quiet, Hollis, we have more pressing matters at hand." Sazan looked out from where they now stood at the mouth of the cave.
Sazan's dismissal only infuriated Hollis more, causing him to launch into more ranting. The man knew that Sazan was a poor High Commander, and now he could prove it. "What could be more pressing than this? You just don't care! Of course, you're dead; you feel nothing and care about nothing. I knew that a corpse couldn't be a fit high commander as soon as I heard that you were appointed. If you can't uphold our tenets, then I'll have to relieve you of duty!"
"Hollis, can you just look out ahead of us for one second?" Lelyndra spoke up over Hollis, causing him to halt his tirade and turn around to look out of the cave.
The path to the Bone Witch's cave branched off of the main path through Njorndar Village across from a pit of enslaved water elementals. At the crossroads above this pit, an imposing looking vrykul woman and two enormous vrykul warriors waited for the group. Although they were few in number, the size of the vrykul men and the magical aura that emanated from the woman inspired caution. "You are entertaining," the female addressed them. "Your presence here proves that The Bone Witch has betrayed us. You will die with her."
"You can depose me later, Hollis. We need to deal with this first," Sazan spoke quietly to Hollis so that the vrykul would not overhear.
"Right. Send the coat rack in, this is simple enough for her." Hollis quieted down, understanding the severity of the situation. "I'll use the distraction to get in behind them."
"Fools! I am Eshilda the Essence Taker! Even if you plot, you have no chance against me! I have already been guaranteed ascension!" The woman gloated, uncaring of Sazan and Hollis' whispering.
"Forever bound in fate," Sazan repeated to himself and drew his swords. "Adriscimnya, prepare to attack!"
As Adriscimnya advanced from behind Sazan and Hollis, Eshilda broke into cruel laughter. "Are you joking? You managed to wake up one of my toys? She is useless. Her will is mine," Eshilda laughed again and produced a small glowing blue sphere from a pouch at her waist. "Watch."
Breathing in, the woman blew across the small sphere. A white light shined from the sphere and momentarily projected onto Adriscimnya. When the light hit her, Adriscimnya's bearing broke and she dropped her axe, letting it hang limply in one hand. The draenei slowly lifted her head and looked around, focusing on the High Commander as soon as she saw him. Suddenly reaching for him with her free arm, she spoke in a voice that sounded frightened. "Sazan!"
"And gone so quickly," Eshilda lowered the sphere, which caused Adriscimnya to freeze in place and regain her blank look. "Attack now!" the vrykul woman took advantage of the moment. Unfortunately for Eshilda, her distraction was not as well planned as Hollis'. Before the vrykul warriors could advance, they both fell dead with daggers in their backs. "Insolent fool! I'll have your essence for that!" Eshilda whipped around to face Hollis, grabbing him and whispering dark words.
"Hollis!" Lelyndra quickly started weaving spells to try and save the man.
"You will not take another!" Sazan drew his arm back, aiming for Eshilda. "You will pay for what you did to Adri!" The High Commander threw his sword forcefully and with deadly accuracy, piercing Eshilda's heart.
As soon as the Vrykul hit the ground, Lelyndra rushed to Hollis and propped him up. "Are you ok? What was she doing?"
Coughing and gasping, Hollis looked up at Lelyndra. "Yes," he paused for breath, "She was taking me. I can't describe it. Let's leave; I've had enough of this."
"She is dead. It's over." Sazan approached the corpse, reaching for his sword with one hand and the bag on the vrykul's waist with the other. As the Death Knight touched his sword, a blue translucent hand reached out of the vrykul's back and grabbed his arm. The High Commander struggled against the arm, but another quickly shot up and grabbed his throat. Kicking his feet, the draenei rose into the air as Eshilda's spirit flew out from her corpse; she had transformed into a val'kyr.
"My ascension is here! Yours is the first essence that I offer to my lord!" Eshilda began to drain Sazan. Using her other hand, the val'kyr drew runic symbols in the air and then looked to Adriscimnya and the others. "And you will not interfere."
Eshilda's spell created a thick barrier of whirling frostfire around most of the crossroads, leaving her and Sazan outside of it. Trying to reach through the forming barrier to free the High Commander, Lelyndra fell back to the ground in intense pain. Hollis simply shook his head and then leaned back against the wooden entrance to the water elemental pen. "Forget it, he's only a corpse. Letting him die is a service to everyone. Diego would make a better High Commander anyway."
After regaining her composure and healing her hand, Lelyndra looked to Hollis with a scolding expression. "He just saved your life and you say that? You should be ashamed."
Keeping a strong front, Hollis stuck to his decision. "He's the one who got us into this. I can call my mount into the center of these flames and we can fly away. Is your life really worth saving a dead man?"
Unfreezing from the pose that she had held since calling for Sazan, Adriscimnya looked to Hollis. "I will save him. I do not feel pain, so I can breach the magic."
"No one ordered you to do that, Coat Rack. You'll stay here. We don't need you back at the Hall," Hollis ordered Adriscimnya.
"But I must save him." The Death Knight persisted.
"You know him, don't you?" Lelyndra looked to Adriscimnya and asked. "When Eshilda took out that sphere, you called out for him. Who is he to you?"
Adriscimnya shook her head, unable to recall. "I do not know, but I am compelled to save him."
"Then you'll be doing it alone." Hollis looked up at Adriscimnya for a moment, sure that she could not succeed without them.
"I will help you, Adriscimnya." Lelyndra stepped away from Hollis and towards the Death Knight. "In all of my work with you, you have not acted on your own. If this is the moment that you do, then you have my full support."
"Don't throw away your life, Lel. The High Commander will be executed for violating our tenets anyway. I've half a mind to do it myself," Hollis declared as he thought back to Sazan's choice to spare The Bone Witch.
At this remark, Lelyndra's face turned angry and she berated Hollis. "You're so petty! It's disgusting! Whether he survives or not, never speak to me again once this is done." The night elf turned away from Hollis. "Ready when you are, Adriscimnya."
The barrier had grown too thick to see across while they talked. Putting her helmet on, Adri raised her axe and summoned her strongest protective spells. Without hesitation, she stepped into the whirling field of frostfire. Initially, the current almost swept her off of her hooves; it was eating through her protection much quicker than she anticipated. Struggling to speed up through the field, she held the broadside of her axe into the current to deflect some of the frostfire. As she continued through the wide field, her axe began to bend in the frostfire and her armor started to crumble and chip. The frost energy gathered about her from her protective spells steamed off quickly and she sensed that the flames were beginning to burn her.
"Yes, come to me, you are mine!" Eshilda floated outside the whirling field and spoke to Sazan; he was struggling less from loss of strength. "Very soon now… gyah!" the vrykul spoke expectantly and then cried out in pain as Adriscimnya sank the remains of her axe into the blue-white ghostly flesh of the val'kyr's leg. "How dare you!" Eshilda cried out, turning her attention to Adriscimnya and losing control of her spells in the process.
As soon as the blue flame dissipated, Lelyndra shielded Adriscimnya and then ran to Sazan. The High Commander had struggled to one knee by this time, trying to gather his strength. "Do not let her touch you!" he managed to call out.
Dodging out of the way to avoid the val'kyr's grasp, Adriscimnya rolled across Eshilda's vrykul body, spilling the pouch of orbs that had hung from her belt. Trying to find her footing among the rolling spheres, the draenei caught one in her hoof and fell to the ground, slamming into the rest of the glass-hard spheres. As Adriscimnya tried to get her bearings and stand up again, the sphere that Eshilda previously held up touched the Death Knight's hand and instantly disappeared. Looking shocked, Adriscimnya fell flat on the other spheres and passed out.
"Hah! So much for her! Now, I think I'll stop toying with you and just kill you. If you think I need to touch you, you're very wrong." The val'kyr lifted her arms, causing Lelyndra and Sazan to float into the air again. Transfixed by her spell, they began to choke. "You cannot match the power of a val'kyr! We are the chosen of the Lich King, his strongest and deadliest servants. Your world will fall before us, and all shall bow to the Lich King's will!"
"You know what? You talk too much!" Hollis' voice issued from behind Eshilda as his daggers pierced the top of her wings. Using the daggers as grips, he hung his full weight off of them and slowly slid down, severing Eshilda's wings. Unable to sustain flight, Eshilda fell painfully to the ground and abruptly dropped her prey. Hollis fell and caught himself gracefully, readying his daggers for further combat.
"Foolish human! I did not earn ascension without proving myself in combat!" The wingless val'kyr drew an ethereal sword and thrust at Hollis. "Face me in combat, tiny man!"
Barely parrying the thrust with his daggers, Hollis held the Val'kyr's sword off with one dagger and stabbed her twice in the side before twisting out of the way. "I'm far from tiny, and are you still talking?
Ceasing her taunts, Eshilda concentrated on gutting Hollis as the combat continued. The two of them were evenly matched. Eshilda managed to get an occasional strike that tore up Hollis' armor while he landed numerous blows on her that quickly healed. While they fought, Sazan and Lelyndra struggled to sit up against injury and energy drain.
"What is happening? Sazan tried to shove over onto his back so that he could look at the fight.
"Hollis joined the fight." Lelyndra managed a smile. "He's a better man than I thought. Here, I can manage this." Lelyndra took a magical bandage from her satchel and held it to Sazan's head. "I can't use the light to heal you, it might to more harm than good. We have to find our strength and help Hollis."
Sadly, Hollis' comrades' recovery was taking far too long and the val'kyr's energy seemed limitless. Fighting Hollis to the ground, Eshilda disarmed him and reached her ghostly hand into his chest. "On the contrary, little man, I think that talking lets you enjoy a victory much more. You must realize that the energy of an essence taker is unending. You cannot defeat me, and I can stop your heart whenever I please. Does it make you feel helpless? I would enjoy that." The Val'kyr taunted and then looked up from Hollis, noticing that Adriscimnya was pushing herself up from the ground. "Don't think you can help him. I can kill him before you get close enough to strike me."
Unconcerned with Eshilda, Adriscimnya climbed to one knee, planting the hoof that had a sphere stuck in it forcefully on the ground. As she did, the sphere shattered and Eshilda gasped in surprise. Glancing over at Sazan, who had managed to turn over, Adriscimnya winked at him and then looked back to Eshilda. "I have one thing to say," the Death Knight placed her hands apart on the ground to support her body. Lowering her head, she began to sing slowly. "Warriors fight for their home and their heart. We will fight, forever bound in fate." Standing up powerfully, Adriscimnya drove her other hoof into the ground in the middle of the pile of spheres, making a shock wave that shattered half of them.
Pulling away from Hollis, Eshilda dropped her sword and scrambled back against the edge of the water elemental pen. She shrank in stature and her wounds started to re-open, leaking energy. Managing to pull himself together after nearly having his heart stopped, Hollis grabbed one of his daggers and started shattering any spheres he saw nearby with the hilt.
"Stop that! Stop it! You are ruining everything!" Eshilda curled back against the pen, cringing in pain and shrinking further.
Adriscimnya walked over to Hollis and pulled him to his feet, taking Eshilda's sword from the ground and offering it to him. "She is yours."
Looking at Adriscimnya, Hollis' heart softened and he understood that she was no longer the will-less machine that he hated. "You suffered most at her hands. You take her."
"Won't you pity me? I serve the Lich King, my will is not my own." Eshilda plead to the pair, her wounds looked ghastly now as her ethereal skin began to darken from energy loss.
"You enjoyed taking my will, and all the others!" Adriscimnya walked up to Eshilda, speaking disdainfully. "You are a faithful servant of the Lich King and I will not forgive you!" The Death Knight drove Eshilda's sword through her helmet. Both the body and sword dissolved instantly, leaving only the pierced helmet behind.
"Adri." Sazan coughed and managed to sit up, calling to her.
"Sazan!" Adriscimnya tore off her helmet and ran to him, skidding to the ground as she knelt beside him. Without pausing to think about it, she pulled him close and kissed him deeply, never wanting to pull away from him.
Stumbling over as he sheathed his daggers, Hollis helped Lelyndra up and stared at the two Death Knights. Looking away from them, he whispered into Lelyndra's ear. "I don't know. I just don't know what to make of this, but it explains a lot."
"So do you still want to depose the High Commander?" Lelyndra whispered back, jabbing at Hollis' behavior from before.
"I think I can let the corpses stick around. Both of them saved my life," Hollis replied to her, his rage diffused. "Do they need to breathe?"
"I do not think so. Let's give them privacy for a bit." The Chief Examiner pulled Hollis with her, heading to retrieve their mounts.
Eventually releasing the High Commander, Adriscimnya stood and helped Sazan up. Hollis and Lelyndra had their mounts now, but made no signs of mounting up and leaving. Approaching them first, Adriscimnya spoke to Lelyndra. "Thank you for bringing my body here, Chief Examiner. I would have been lost to that woman forever without your help." Turning to Hollis next, she thanked him as well. "You won the battle for us, Captain Wicker. Thank you." Adriscimnya hugged Hollis, kissing him on the cheek.
After Adriscimnya pulled away, Hollis put his hand to his cheek in an entranced manner. "You're different. I saw it when we fought Eshilda and I see it now. Please tell me, who are you?"
"I am Adriscimnya Triscn," the draenei told them and then walked back to Sazan's side and put an arm around his back. "In your terms, Sazan was my Husband when we were alive."
Smiling as Hollis stood in shock, Lelyndra was so moved by this announcement that she began to cry. "That is so beautiful." She wiped away her tears before they froze and looked to Sazan. "You strove so hard, and now you have her back."
Having a somewhat opposite reaction, Hollis quickly paced back and forth, scratching his head. "I must be getting old, old and thick headed. How could I not guess that? It still doesn't make sense though."
"What does not make sense to you?" Sazan asked, knowing that his and Adriscimnya's relationship could not be explained in simpler terms.
"You said that you felt nothing because you were dead, and both of you are still dead," Hollis puzzled. "Why would you do all this if you can't feel?"
"You are right, we cannot feel…" Sazan answered and looked to Adri with a caring expression. "…but we remember what feelings are and we remember what it was like to feel. I did all of this because I wanted her back, I wanted us to be together so that we could remember the feelings that we had when we were alive." Sazan explained, hoping that they could grasp how much this meant to him. Raising his Netherwing charm, Sazan called down Kairaku. "Now, my friends, it is time to return to the Hall of the Rabranth. Lord Garanger will want to meet Adriscimnya, and we have quite a story to tell him."