**THIS MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS! IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE THE BROKEN SHORE QUESTLINE YET! THEN I SUGGEST THAT YOU TURN AWAY TO PREVENT IT FROM GETTING SPOILED!**
The room was thick with pregnant silence. No murmurs from the crowd gathered in front of the altar where Zorah stood, a mechanical limb placed in the center, surrounded by flowers and trinkets.
She took a deep breath, looking up at the crowd with dull cinnamon eyes.
"His name, was Dasacht Llane Leoncroi," she started, her voice heavy "he was a soldier," eyes shifted to the armored guests "a father," her eyes set upon her children "a husband…" She looked down and sighed heavily, her lips starting to quiver, her eyes starting to water. She looked up once more "and the greatest man I have ever met," her voice breaking.
Dasacht walked into the kitchen with a letter clutched in his hand. His face, expressionless as he stopped and looked at Zorah, who was humming a soft tune as she was working away with a mixing bowl,
"Zorah..."
She stopped mixing and looked at her husband with a soft smile on her face,
"I hope you are hungry," she said "I'm making your favorite,"
Dasacht sighed, shaking his head, holding up the letter,
"I've been called to the front," he stated "to fight the Legion's threat,"
The bowl dropped from her arms, shattering into pieces, the mixture spilling everywhere over the tile. Shock was evident in her features,
"B-But you're retired," she said in non-belief "You said after Pandaria that you were done, free to a life with your children, with me," she sighed heavily "Even when you were stationed at my garrison, you stayed out of the fight against the Iron Horde, why now?" she grabbed a towel and knelt down, picking up the pieces of the bowl and cleaning up her mess.
Dasacht tucked the letter away, kneeling down to help Zorah clean up, once the task was done, he took hold of Zorah's hands and stood,
"Because I am one of the best soldiers this Alliance has got," he replied "and I have a score to settle with some Demons,"
Zorah looked away for a moment, closing her eyes, then looked back at him,
"You've always told me that you weren't getting any younger," her voice heavy with worry "what if something happens to you? I or the children couldn't bare it, especially Dasora,"
Dasacht took one hand and held Zorah's cheek, a gentle smile on his face,
"I will be okay," his voice soft "it will take a lot of Demons to take this old man down," he kissed her forehead then pulled her close, holding her against his chest, his hand in her fiery hair, the mechanical hand wrapped around her waist "I love you my Ember, please know that,"
"I know," she whispered "but I fear the worst," she lifted her head and looked at him "and that is why I am going with you,"
"Zorah, no," Dasacht replied.
"I am going Dasacht, you can't stop me,"
"What about the children? what will happen if both of us were lost?"
"We won't be," she said "I will make sure that we both come back safely,"
Zorah had hoped that she had donned her armor one last time, but it seems that this wasn't the case. After assuring that everything was in place, she walked down the stairs, seeing Dasacht in his armor, standing in front of their children. Though they were technically still younglings despite being only half dragon, they took the form of mere teenagers. Dasora's eyes were already red, cheeks rosy from tears.
"Please come home papa," Dasora pleaded.
Dasacht smiled softly, reaching out to ruffle her raven hair "I will try sweetheart," he turned to Thomas and placed his hands on his shoulders "be a good lad for me, take care of your sister and Logan," Thomas then nodded, sniffling a little. Dasacht's face turned grim, he knew that he might not return, but he didn't want to scare his children anymore than they already were.
"Dad..." Logan tried, but broke off. Dasacht pulled his youngest into his arms.
"Have I been a good father?"
"Of course you have!" Logan replied "You have been a great father,"
Dasacht smiled,
"I'm proud of you, do you know that? I'm proud of all of you," with that, he pulled away from his son, lifting his chin to look him in the eye "be good and stay safe, don't venture too far from the house should any Demon Invasions start," he turned to Zorah who was waiting by the stairs with a grim look on her face. She knew that Dasacht wasn't planning on coming back.
"We should go before the ships sail without us,"
Zorah nodded, stepping towards Dasacht, but not without hugging her children tightly, kissing their heads and bidding them goodbye.
Zorahstrasza landed by the lion statue overlooking the docks, waiting until Dasacht was settled before taking her human form. She looked to him and took up his hand,
"Please promise me that you will return with me," she said as they began descending the stairs.
"I can't make any promises on that Zorah," he replied "we don't know what we will be facing, or the outcome, but the Legion must be stopped before they destroy everything we love,"
"I will make sure you return, Dasacht," determination was in her eyes. Dasacht only sighed.
Once they were added to the roster, their armor and weapons inspected, and their provisions stocked, they made their way towards the ship. No words were exchanged between them as they passed the stationed soldiers, saluting and bidding them luck on their journey. They handed their papers off, and boarded the ship, awaiting to set off towards the Broken Shore.
"Are you prepared to fight, Zorah?" Dasacht asked once the ship started sailing "I can guarantee that we will be fighting a long time,"
"Do you plan on returning?"
Dasacht sighed,
"I don't know Zorah, there is no knowing how many of us will return from this,"
Zorah looked to Dasacht, her arms crossed,
"I will drag you out by your ankles if it comes to it, Dasacht, if not, I will stay by your side, I won't abandon you,"
"We will fight together, or die together," Dasacht replied, he took hold of her hand "together, we are stronger than anything we have faced on our own,"
They were under heavy fire when they arrived to the shore. Demons were crawling over every inch of land. Zorahstrasza had taken to the skies as soon as they reached the Isles, raining down dragon fire upon the demons, allowing advancement. Felbats flew at her, their sharp claws outstretched and ready to shred their foe, but were quickly torn down by her claws. One Bat was lucky however, it had managed to slice through her wing and her arm before it fell to it's death, forcing Zorahstrasza to land before she too, fell to her death.
The healers were upon her as soon as she landed and taken her human form, but their mending wouldn't fully heal her. No, she was too injured to ever think of taking air once again. So, she resorted to fighting with her bow, firing arrow after arrow into the Demons, collecting them as they passed by during their advancement. She clung to Dasacht's side, not wanting to let him out of her sight as she killed Demon after Demon. She could feels his fury, he didn't mess around when it came to Demons. They were covered in Demonic blood and dirt by the time they had reached the king, taking that short moment to catch their breath and hydrate. Then they were on the move, rescuing the captured Argent Crusaders and clearing out a patch towards the rise.
"They have Tirion Fordring, we must rescue him at all costs!" Zorah reached for an arrow, unleashing it upon a Demon that was charging towards them.
"We will have to reach the ridge first, we don't even know where he is," Dasacht replied after he cleaved a Demon in two.
Zorah grabbed the arrow she had fired at the demon, sticking it back into her quiver as she followed after Dasacht. he was hellbent on destroying every Demon he set his eye upon. She wouldn't blame him for it either. The Demons have been a threat to their world for a millennia, and Dasacht has had his fair share in dealings with them.
They reached Tirion too late. Gul'dan had him seized with dark magic, dangling him over a pool of Fel lava and he was struggling, a shield of Light around him. They could only watch in horror as Gul'dan summoned a massive Demon and ordered it to kill Tirion. Zorah had wished she was able to transform, she would have saved him, she would have prevented his unneeded death. As the Demon was set upon them, Gul'dan vanishing with a smug remark, Zorah came to realize, that there could be no way Dasacht could make it out of this. She knew that, and he knew that from the start. But she refused to believe it. Still, with how easy that Demon took down Tirion, she began to feel dread creeping into her heart. She had to protect Dasacht at all costs. She couldn't bear losing him.
Dread turned to horror when Zorah saw the countless Demons Gul'dan was summoning, even Demons that had been defeated by the mortals years ago were appearing among the ranks of them. Then they charged. They fought for what seemed an eternity, but then they heard the dreaded sound of a horn, a horn of retreat. She looked towards the ridge that Sylvanas was supposed to be on and only saw her Dark Rangers stepping away from the edge.
"I KNEW IT! I KNEW WE COULDN'T TRUST HER!" Genn Greymane had roared. Zorah continued fighting, her heart was racing. Did the Horde really betray them? Why would they? They've been at peace since Garrosh was taken down at the Siege of Orgrimmar, a fragile peace, but still peace. The retreat was sounded. Zorah fired one last arrow before grabbing hold of Dasacht, pulling him towards the gunship. They had to get out of there, they just had too. She went ahead of him, looking down on occasion to make sure he was behind her, which he was. She had climbed aboard when Greymane started yelling for them to turn hard to port. Then the gunship shook as a colossal Fel Reaver and taken hold of the ship. The force of the monster's grip caused Zorah to fall, she managed to grip the railing to prevent her plummeting to her death. Dasacht, however was still on the ladder, same for the king.
"Dasacht!" she yelled "take my hand!"
Dasacht looked up at her with fear in his eye. The monster keeping them from feeling was close enough to take Zorah down. He reached for her hand with his mechanical arm, taking hold of her wrist and her doing the same.
"VARIAN! VARIAN!" Greymane shouted, shedding his Worgen form "TAKE MY HAND!"
Zorah looked in horror as the king was dangling from the ladder. She looked to Dasacht, fear radiating from her eyes, as she began feeling herself starting to loose grip on the railing.
"I'm not letting go," she said "even if the railing breaks into splinters!" her fingers began to slip and Dasacht looked at her.
"Zorah, let me go! I won't allow our children to become orphans this day, just let me go!"
"No, Dasacht, I will never let you go!" she began to slip even more, even when she had tried to pull them back up onto the ship.
"Please, I beg of you, just let me go!"
Zorah wouldn't listen. Her grip had continued to fail, her faded wounds starting to ache from the stress. her heart was pounding in her ears, and all she could hear were the muffled screams of the other soldiers falling to their deaths. Then the sound of metal against metal. She fixed her eyes on Dasacht and saw him hacking at his mechanical arm.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" she yelled.
Dasacht looked at her,
"Letting go," he continued to hack away at his arm before pausing, looking up at her "I love you Zorahstrasza, my ember, my love, please tell the children, I am sorry," one final strike against the metal and Dasacht was falling. Zorah screamed in horror as she watched him fall, plummeting to his demise, his eye starting to close as he readied himself for the impact that would surely bring death.
"DASACHT!" she screamed. She was about to let go, to go after him. She didn't care if she couldn't transform, couldn't take her dragon form. She had promised, made a vow to bring him home. She wasn't going to let it end this way. She refused. But as she let go, a hand had lashed out and grabbed her.
"Don't be foolish girl!" said the soldier pulling the reluctant Zorah on board.
"LET GO OF ME! I HAVE TO SAVE HIM!" she screamed, kicking and flailing in hopes to break free. Even after she was pulled aboard, the ship flying away as the King had taken down the Fel Reaver she was flailing "I have to save him I must save him!" tears were spilling from her eyes, her hand still gripping Dasacht's severed arm. She looked away, curling up into a ball as she cradled his arm, she didn't dare look up, not even when a bright green flash had filled the sky. Greymane screaming for Varian. Not even when they had eventually made their way back to Stormwind. Even when the remaining soldiers had tried rousing her. She wouldn't budge. But eventually, she did. She was numb as she slowly made her way to a gryphon, mounting the beast and guiding it towards her home, where her children were waiting patiently for the return of their parents. Only, it would only be their mother who would return.
She was welcomed by her children, smiles on their faces as they took her into a hug. They looked around for their father, their smiles slowly fading into confusion, then fear, then absolute dread. Zorah looked them in the eyes and said:
"I'm sorry..."
Dasora screeched in agony, falling to the floor crying. Thomas and Logan holding back their tears, trying to stay strong, but they couldn't and they too, began to wail. Zorah looked down to Dasacht's severed arm, the wires hanging from the severed end. No longer would she feel this hand running fingers through her hair, or along her cheek. No longer will she be held in it's embrace. No longer will she see this hand hard at work over the forge, or teaching the children how to spar or sword fight. No longer will she feel it's warmth.
Dasacht was gone forever, and it was all her fault.
"I love you Zorahstrasza, my ember, my love, please tell the children, I am sorry,"
"I-I... I'm sorry..." her voice was raspy "I... I tried saving him, I-" she fell to her knees, a new flood of tears spilling from her eyes as she wailed.
The room was thick with pregnant silence. No murmurs from the crowd gathered in front of the altar where Zorah stood, a mechanical limb placed in the center, surrounded by flowers and trinkets.
She took a deep breath, looking up at the crowd with dull cinnamon eyes.
"His name, was Dasacht Llane Leoncroi," she started, her voice heavy "he was a soldier," eyes shifted to the armored guests "a father," her eyes set upon her children "a husband…" She looked down and sighed heavily, her lips starting to quiver, her eyes starting to water. She looked up once more "and the greatest man I have ever met," her voice breaking.
-END-