MAIEV SHADOWSONG,
GROVE'S DEN MURDERS
CHAPTER ONE
For the past several weeks, Warden Maiev Shadowsong had been on the hunt for what she had been led to believe were some petty thieves that had been targeting patrons of a tavern called, Grove's Den. The tavern was positioned near the merging point of five pathways leading to and from villages and towns near and far.
At first, Maiev thought it a task beneath her but she had taken it on in an attempt to keep her mind distracted from thinking of things that were bringing her much grief and heartache. Several weeks had passed since she had received word that Illidan Stormrage, would not be coming back to Azeroth. At first she had been shocked and then the realisation that she was never going to see him again set in along with the great shame, embarrassment and guilt at the way her traitorous heart betrayed her whenever someone mentioned his name. She should hate him and, she did. But there was something else too.
For more than ten thousand years he had been a major part of her life to the extent where it felt like a part of him had been burnt onto her very soul. When he was near she felt whole but after she had killed him on Outland and now, now he was just gone and a part of her was missing.
The first few weeks as she and her fellow wardens worked to restore order to the Vault of the Wardens, had kept her focused and busy but once that was finished she had collapsed in a world of pain that had often left her feeling like she was going to suffocate. Her sisters, at least the few that remained, tried their best to help but how could she tell them what the problem was.
There were many people who thought her cold, aloof and filled with anger but they did not know her. She was a soldier, a warrior, the hand of justice and, the keeper of the wicked; they were not occupations that allowed many smiles or moments of joy. They were occupations that had hardened and toughened her over the many thousands of years that she had been alive. She had fought demonic abominations by the thousands and lost many of the people she held most dear, her fellow watchers and wardens, because of them.
No, people did not understand her dedication to duty, her determination to do what was right. Her drive to be the best she could be and to never let her people down. She was the protector of the innocent and defender of those who couldn't defend themselves. It had always been that way with her. Not even her family understood fully her reasons for leaving home to follow her dreams of becoming a priestess, travelling to Hajiri, where the High Priestess Kalo'thera, considered a demigoddess by many in the Sisterhood of Elune, ascended to the stars.
To prevent herself from falling into a hole of self-pity, Maiev set herself to any task she could find from the most mundane to the most important, anything to prevent her from thinking of, Illidan. And, so it was that she found herself crossing from the Isle of the Watchers again to head towards the large hallowed out tree that had become her sanctum away from the Vault of the Wardens.
Wearing her warden's armor and knife edged cloak, Maiev stepped from the small wooden sailing boat that had brought her to the mainland of Azsuna, stopped and looked around. Her keen eyes searched from sky to the ground and everywhere in between, looking deep into the woods for any sign of movement. For some reason these last few days she had felt the uncomfortable feeling of being watched though so far she had failed to find anything out of place and it was grating on her nerves.
"I will see you in seven days time," she called to the wardens that had accompanied her.
"Yes Mistress," they replied as one, then they pushed the boat back out to sea, leaving her alone. That wasn't a problem for Maiev, she preferred to be on her own and she was more than capable of looking after herself.
Maiev carried with her a small bag containing some food and a few items of clothing and of course her trusty glaive and knives. So far she hadn't been able to draw out the thieves wearing her warden's uniform so she had decided on a different tack, one that would leave her more exposed to danger but one she hoped would work.
After several hours of walking through the Mystical Forest, Maiev came to a halt beside a small stream beneath a thick canopy of massive trees that towered way above her and looked around. She sniffed the musky air and studied the ground, the small shrubs and undergrowth looking for any signs that something or someone had been there recently. When she was happy that everything was as it should be, Maiev headed towards one of the trees with a massive trunk. Pushing back a large thick shrub revealed a hole in the side of the huge tree just big enough for her to squeeze inside. Once inside she was able to stand to her full height of seven and a half foot.
Inside the trunk there was enough room for Maiev to use as a place to sleep in relative safety, and it was also somewhere to store her belongings, scant though they were. She had stayed here before and had even had a fire going inside the tree without endangering herself or the tree.
After a brief rest and dressed in black top and long black pants and boots, her long silver white hair tied behind her head, Maiev left her sanctum and headed into the forest, her destination Grove's Den Tavern. Emerging from the forest Maiev looked up at the sky and noted the position of the sun. It was already well into the afternoon as she strode along the wide path that split the forest in two. There weren't that many people who knew what she looked like without her armor and she was hoping that would work in her favour in drawing the thieves out into the open.
About half way into her journey, Maiev sensed that she was being watched again but as usual there wasn't anyone or anything to be seen. She had been stalked before and had always discovered the culprit before they could cause her any harm and she was more than a little annoyed that her stalker had so far managed to eluded her. Whoever or whatever stalked her was clearly good, either that or she was being paranoid.
Maiev smiled a little at the thought of her being paranoid. No, she knew she wasn't paranoid. If she felt that she was being followed than she had enough confidence in herself to believe that it was so. She pressed on fighting down the feelings of vulnerability being without her armor caused her to feel. She was so used to wearing her armor that she felt almost naked without it.
A loud noise somewhere away in the thick forest that lined the pathway caused Maiev to jump and her hand immediately fell to one of several knives she had hidden on her person. She might be without her armor but she never went anywhere without a weapon. After a brief pause to assure herself that whatever had made the noise was well away from her position, Maiev continued her journey at a much faster pace anxious to reach her destination as quickly as possible. She wanted to speak with the owner of the tavern before darkness fell and her search for the culprits began in earnest.