The sun rose with its customary oppressive heat over the pristine pale sands of Tanaris, but that alone was not what woke the night elf woman. The shriek of the goblin woman standing three feet away was much greater incentive to rise from sleep. With a soft groan she rolled to her side and climbed to her feet. I will be glad to leave this barren place. The very land here is dead. The wind howled over the empty land and sent shiver of longing down her spine for the feeling of grass beneath her feet. Soon their small expedition would pass down into the long forgotten jungles of Ungoro Crater and the heat would take on a whole new feeling. The goblin woman was still rushing about the small camp shrieking about being off schedule and having to pay her overtime if they didn't make it back to the port in time for the ship that would take her home. Brushing her long white snowfall of hair into a simple tail she began preparing her armor for the hot day ahead.
The day wore on much as the last two weeks in the desert had. They had risen at dawn shook off the chill of the freezing night, packed their things and continued toward the lone pass that would lead down into the jungles of Ungoro. Other then the desert animals that clung to life in that empty place there was little to distract from the oppressive heat and thirst. Though truth be told, she was happy to be traveling on behalf of the Druids, she could have and truth be told should have been a Druid herself. As a Sentinel she rarely had a chance to be this involved with the calling that her family had long ago driven her from. She found herself wondering what it was that the Druid she was guarding had been ordered to find in the jungle they were headed for.
Their goblin guide was a small feisty woman with a shock of bright red hair she swore was natural, but when examined closely, did not match her eyebrows. The night elf woman found herself greatly amused by the feisty goblin at most times, but hated her way of greeting the dawn.
"Another three days and we'll have reached the pass." The goblin observed quickly.
The Druid seemed to pull himself back from wherever he had been. "That is good news indeed. That means despite your fears we are making good time."
The goblin let out a small snort. "Only making good time because I know how to get people out and about in the mornings. You elves take too long at everything and anything!"
The Druid smiled softly. "Time is not an enemy, rush about and things get lost on the way."
"That's just Elvin sideways talk. If you laze about you never make a profit!"
"Spoken like a true Goblin."
"That's what I am silly elf."
The Druid smiled again. "As you say." He said softly.
Again the Druid seemed to get lost in thought. The Elvin woman watched quietly as their small group once again settled into silence. Suddenly the goblin woman perked up.
"What about you elf girl? Why are you the one they sent with that guy?"
The Elvin woman sighed quietly. "I am a Sentinel. My job is to protect the forests of Ashenvale and obey the high priestess and her orders. This journey is important to our people. I was honored to be the one asked."
"You didn't exactly answer my question you know."
"I answered the best I could."
Throwing her hands up the goblin gave up on speech for the time being. Hours passed quietly, followed by the days needed to find the pass.
_
Nellian woke with a start. Her breath coming in gasps, her now useless blood rushing through her veins, her cold heart threatening to race right out of her chest. And in that quiet desperate moment a name forced its way past her unwilling lips. "Vash…" The wellspring of pain that followed dragged her again to the past. Nellian had always longed to be a Druid, it called to her in a way that hurt to ignore, yet that was exactly what her family wished. They said that only men pursued that path, honorable women became Sentinels and protected the high priestess. And in her desire to please her father she had done exactly that. She became a Sentinel he could be proud of, and hated every moment of it, until she met him. Vasherion. He had been her rock, her mate, her best friend and closest confidant. Never before in her life had she defied her family's wishes until him. He meant more than her father being proud, more than being a proper warrior. And she had thought she would burst from how happy she was at his side. Going on long missions was hard, she ached for him.
It all changed during the Third War. Less experienced, Vash was assigned to a small out of the way village, while she was to be sent to the front lines. The day of her deployment Vash took her aside and gave her a gift. The only thing he could afford. A necklace made of silver with a small round disk covered in a design of leaves, vines, and flowers. Looking at her with a fear she had never seen before on his handsome face he had gently drawn a finger down her cheek and said. "Come back to me Nell. No matter what you have to come back." It scared her. Suddenly it felt like she wasn't going to.
_
The blast of magic hit far too close for comfort, and suddenly the air of the battlefield pressed even closer. The screams seemed louder, the clash of metal harsher. Damnit! It's not enough! We're being pressed back to far! Cries rose from behind her. The undead had broken the line at her back flank, killing as they swept through. No! Pain swept through her as a dull blade pierced her. A killing blow in that chaotic place with no one to stop the bleeding. She fell. The pain coming and going with the time of her heart. The world slowly and painfully going black.
_
It was foggy, not the place where she was, but inside her. Herself? Who was she? Did it really matter? The whisper in the back of her mind said no. "You" are meaningless. All that matters is "Him". "Your will is mine." The voice seemed so soothing. It was better to listen, better to let all those things slip away. Easier. So she did. But it didn't last. It began with the Ebon hold. The humans on the other side of her blade screaming for mercy. Mercy, what was that again? It nagged, like a loose tooth when she had been a child. Child? When was that? What was it? The fog tightened. Choking off something she needed. Like there was suddenly no air. And like that she let it go again. It hurt too much to fight. The end of it began simply enough. "Go execute that prisoner. For the glory of the Lich King!" Her soft steps up the stairs of the beaten shack, the weight of her blade, then the Elvin woman had looked up and cried out. "Nellian! My god I would know your face anywhere my little angle! Goddess what have they done to you sweetheart? Don't you know me? I cared for you while your mother worked at the temple! Fight it! This isn't you!" And suddenly it all hurt. She knew the name and face of the woman on her knees before her.
The Death Knight Outside was yelling about the delay. Nell wanted to be sick. For the first time since her death she felt clearheaded. The woman before her said suddenly. "Do it. Before they kill us both. Kill me and save yourself." Nell froze. How? How could she kill someone who loved her? "DO IT!"The woman cried.
Nell did it.
_
She fought the fog after that. It would have been easy enough to give in, slide back into the muted world "He" wanted for her. But she couldn't. Didn't ever want to kill without thought again. Her memories waited on the wings, ready to rush in and reclaim her heart and mind. But it would have meant death for such a thing to happen. So she fought still. More blood, more death on her hands. The last battle had been horrific. Darion himself had took part, and at the height of battle they had been abandoned. "Tools" tossed aside when used up. She hated that "He" had stained her hands with blood for such a meaningless thing, but she thrilled in being herself again. She had stood beside Darion and the other Knights of the Ebon Blade as they had sworn to help destroy their former "Master" And had gone without complaint when Darion himself had sent her to "rejoin" the Alliance.
_
"Nellian."
With a snap she was once again pulled from memory. "Yes?"
"The ship will be arriving soon. The Highlord himself wishes for you to join the troop boarding."
"Where are we going?"
"Darnassus."
Ice flooded her veins. "Why?"
"We are to provide a neutral party present during a peace talk between the Horde and Alliance."
With a sigh Nell set about preparing her things for the journey.