Rewrite of an exceedingly cringe story that I put here ages ago. No, I am not giving up on the Illidari. I needed some time to myself. (And, to be perfectly honest, I'm still trying to figure out what's going to happen next over there. I wrote myself into one hell of a corner.)
-Statyck
/*\
The stars glittered above Dalaran. It was midnight and the city slept peacefully. Sparse lights lit up the windows of the pale spires. Guards kept a silent watch over the streets, one or two people occasionally passing by. Aside from the bustle in the taverns it was quiet, deceptively tranquil.
It was almost like Lilliya could pretend that the Burning Legion wasn't invading her world, threatening the very ground her feet tread upon. She stood in the near empty streets of the floating city and stared up at the inky black of the sky, the shining light of the moon.
The moon. Elune. Though she wasn't a night elf Lilliya had prayed to her before, just once, on the off chance that the goddess might be willing to listen to someone who was not one of her chosen.
To this day she wasn't sure if the goddess had blessed her, or if she had just gotten absurdly lucky.
The mage gripped her staff in her hands and turned towards Krasus's landing, away from the safety of Windrunner's Sanctuary. She wasn't sure what awaited her out there. She'd seen warlocks with their pet imps, their voidwalkers, sometimes even succubi. But that had all been within the safety of the city. A demon in a controlled environment was one thing. The Legion was quite another. The creatures she'd seen in Silvermoon were not all that lurked in the lands below. She saw horrifying creatures made of rock and felfire, she had no idea how she could possibly kill such a thing. She saw pitlords and felbats and vaguely humanoid shapes marred by fel-infused scars and too many teeth in their mouths. The things that swarmed the land below looked like they could crush her with only their pinky finger, and she thought maybe their looks weren't so deceiving after all.
She ascended the stairs and gulped nervously. She spoke with the flight master, explaining that her order wished to send her to Aszuna first. As she waited for him to fetch her a suitable wyvern the blood elf looked around nervously, her gold eyes searching for her companions.
They promised they'd be here to send her off, that they'd say goodbye to her before she had to go. She hoped it wasn't the only goodbye.
It wasn't exactly normal for blood elves and night elves to be friends, but Talyn and Thaellas were exceptions. Exceptions she was exceedingly grateful for. The pair stood just behind her, having followed her silently and ready for their own adventures. Thaellas would be deployed in Highmountain, and Lilliya found herself envious of Talyn.
Instead of fighting demons ten times his size down in Faronaar, he got to enjoy the forests of Val'sharah. As far as she knew, he was out to be investigating good news. She'd have liked to deal with some good news.
She shoved down her resentment as far as she could. As much as the prospect of fighting demons terrified her, it was better than the alternative. Fighting to save the world she lived in was a noble cause, far nobler than hiding behind the walls of Silvermoon, looking for a man to marry who would take care of her for the rest of her millennia-long life. It was good and right, as honorable as it got. Everything that the Horde she now belonged to represented.
But she was still afraid. She knew she could die, and even worse, she knew that raising the dead had been deemed temporarily legal by both factions. If the Knights of Ebon's blade got ahold of her body, there wasn't much she could do about it. Death wasn't even the worst thing that could happen to her anymore, and she didn't quite know what to think of that.
Talyn stepped up next to her, his violet hair falling into his face. He tried to offer her an encouraging smile, the over-long fangs in his mouth an ever-present reminder of his animalistic nature. The druid brushed her shoulder with his fingers.
"This will be fine." He said. "Even if we're a few hundred miles away, you can still call for us if you need us and we'll be there, right?" He turned back, staring at Thaellas expectantly. The other man nodded, though he still looked as serious as ever. Come to think of it, had she ever seen Thaellas smile? She had to have. Nobody was that stoic, not even Thaellas. Someone who loved animals as much as he did, he had to have some shred of inner happiness. But then, this was a rather grim situation.
"I know, I know," Lilliya responded, just a little too quickly. The flight master began tapping his foot and glancing over impatiently. She had to go, but there was one thing she had to do first.
"You know Talyn," she said, turning to the druid. She embraced him, getting up on her tip toes. For a brief moment she let her lips touch his, and before he had time to respond she pulled away. "I know you wanted this to be a touchy-feely moment and all, but there is one thing I want to say. If I die down there, I want it on the record that it wouldn't have happened if your cousin hadn't kidnapped me."
With that Lilliya mounted the wyvern and flew off, enjoying her moment of satisfaction as both men stared up at her, surprise and mortification written all over their faces.
It would be a lovely thing to think of in her anticipated final moments.
Four Months Ago…
Lilliya did not appreciate the rudeness of her awakening.
She hadn't gotten a proper night's sleep in what felt like years. All week waking up in the middle of the night, because the moon was full, and the night elf had cursed her. At least she thought he'd cursed her. It had been a complex situation.
But at least the scenery was nice. Eversong woods took on an almost ethereal quality when the moon was full. Instead of the orange glow of daytime, silver light bathed the landscape. The eternally autumnal colors of her home turned blue, and the deeply green grass became an ocean of shimmering gray.
It was a spectacle she always enjoyed, the full moon over her home. Lilliya appreciated the night sky, the dots of light reflecting onto Azeroth from above. The druid's curse didn't much feel like a curse until it came time for Lilliya's early morning lessons.
She just had to go and get friendly with her prisoner. Her first prisoner to boot.
She hadn't gotten to sleep until the crack of dawn. She could hear the roosters crow as her head hit the pillow and it felt like only minutes later that her brother came storming into her room. Despite the acute lack of doors on her house she swore she heard one slam and Kaelyn wasted no time yelling at her to awaken.
"Lilliya, get up!" He commanded.
She pulled the covers over her head. After a moment or two of listening to her brother swear at her she could feel his hand grab at her feet.
Since when did he think it was okay for him to actually touch her?
She jolted up and threw fire from her fingertips, not enough to hurt him but plenty to warn him. She hadn't seen him in eight years and this was how he chose to behave? Lilliya understood that her brother had been through a lot, the scar across his face told her that much, but there were lines. As much as she understood his suffering that did not excuse his deficient etiquette. He was an aristocrat in his own home, not in a military base where manners were lacking at best.
Besides, Kaelyn made Lilliya nervous. He was not the man she knew before he'd been drafted. No longer was he the sweet and kind older brother who had left to fight a war in a far-away land. No longer was he a boy who wished only to help the world and its people. No longer was he the boy who'd shrieked with more excitement than she when she threw her first fireball and no longer was he the hopeful and cheery person she'd known so long ago.
Instead she had a grizzled war veteran standing before her. Someone who was no-nonsense and threatening. A trait that did not befit her brother in the slightest. His hope had died and his spirit along with it. She knew that war did things to people, she'd experienced it herself, but it was like Kaelyn had vanished and someone else took his place just to show up on the doorstep after their father died. Given the war he'd gone to fight, it was all too much a real possibility.
"What the hell are you doing Kaelyn?" Lilliya asked. "I thought I told you that you weren't welcome in my room."
"This is my house, I will venture where I please." The man said. "I need you to get up. You and I are going somewhere today."
"At six in the morning?" She said, a dubious expression on her face.
"I wanted to give you time to bathe and have breakfast." He turned to leave, but hesitated. His tone grew quiet. "I made tea as well. Dragonleaf. It's in the enchanted teapot. It will still be hot when you're done, so take your time."
Lilliya watched as her brother left her, stepping down the ramp into the main room. She was baffled.
It wasn't like Kaelyn to show any form of kindness, not anymore. In fact, ever since his return she wondered if he hated her and her mother. It was like a switch had turned on. She'd wondered more than once if he'd done something wrong.
In eight years, he hadn't written even one letter. By the third year of no contact the family had assumed him dead. Just another number in a military body count, too marred to recognize. To see him show up for the funeral, covered in scars and a scowl in place of a smile, it was like he'd resented their father for dying. His behavior told her it had been a massive inconvenience. It was like he hadn't wanted to be there at all.
But Lilliya digressed. As the elf lightly threw the covers back over her pillow and declared her bed made, she headed for the dresser. She felt nearly zombified after having only slept for an hour, and she hoped that the bath would help to wake her up some. She chose her dress for the day and ventured across the ramp into her private washroom.
She did as Kaelyn suggested, taking her time in the bath. She wasn't sure what he was up to, but ever since he'd returned he refused to be seen in public with her. She wasn't sure if his willingness – his insistence – on taking her somewhere was a good sign or a terrible omen. Then it clicked.
Had her mother told him what she'd done?
/*\
Thaellas watched the house carefully, the domed white building beginning to blend in with its surroundings. Though he'd only been there for a few hours, he felt like he'd been sitting in the grass for years.
He could swear that he'd seen the same lynx cross the meadow at least three times. The clouds steered clear of Quel'Thalas, allowing the sun to rain down unholy heat upon the forest. The only remotely interesting thing to happen during his vigil was a pair of dragonkin chasing each other around the small clearing by the house. Whether it was merely play or something a little more, he didn't know, but he could see why the blood elves favored the dragonhawks. They were energetic, overall friendly.
Perhaps he should track one to a nest. His sister would love them, especially the little silver ones. He was well versed in the art of caring for eggs, even when he was on the go.
Suddenly a sound caught the night elf's attention. A voice. A man. Swearing profusely if he understood the words correctly. A woman's voice lashed back and all was silent. Just a few moments later he could see the woman cross from a floating dome into another, her dark hair falling to her waist, and he could hear the water flow as she ran the magic bath.
How did the blood elves have enough magic to maintain plumbing portals? It seemed not only absurd but inefficient. But then, the night elves had all but given up on the arcana. He couldn't help but think that a floating bathroom would be rather convenient. It would be private, anyway.
He was getting distracted.
As Thaellas mused on the pros and cons of magic plumbing he caught sight of the girl again. She returned to her room, and that was that. She was dressed, ready for the day.
If his plan went accordingly, Thaellas would have his opportunity in just a matter of hours, before even dark hit. It had been just his luck that he'd been able to spot the courier, able to briefly steal the letter from the mailbox and catch his chance.
It wasn't often that this particular blood elf left her abode, but today was special. Her brother was going to take her out to meet a friend of his. A friend that, judging by the tone of the letter, she might not like so much.
Given his not-a-kidnapper nature, Thaellas liked to think that in a way he might be saving her. He didn't know much about this Vyir Morningstar, but the gossip in Booty Bay would have Thaellas believe the man to be an impish cad. Or something along those lines. He was popular with tavern girls and a vicious enemy on the battlefield, but there wasn't much else to be heard about this aristocrat unless he was willing to offer a generous "memory jogger" to his informants. Damn goblins, the greedy bastards.
Either way, it sounded as though the succubus liaisons – and the resulting, ah, ailments, from those liaisons – were the least of his sins. After today it would hardly matter. This Lilliya Silverspell was going on an adventure, whether she liked it or not.
Thaellas whistled, doing his best to mimic the birds in the trees. The hunter got his bow ready and crouched behind the tree, his pet cat approaching curiously. All he had to do was wait.
/*\
Lilliya carefully slinked around the few corners of her house, approaching the bottom carefully. It sounded like Kaelyn was having a heated argument with her mother. Though she wasn't usually one to eavesdrop, Lilliya found that it benefitted her greatly to spy on Kaelyn. Though he was family, she didn't think it would be wise to trust him.
"What the hell is this?" her mother snapped. It sounded like she'd slapped something onto the table. Paper?
"It's a letter. Addressed to me." Kaelyn said. She could hear his footsteps as he walked around the room. Was he taking the letter back?
"You have no business doing this." Her mother said.
"Well it's no like you'd have done it. Sometimes difficult decisions must be made."
"This wasn't your decision to make."
"Either way, mother," Kaelyn said, "it's too late for you to do anything about it. Lilliya, I know you're there. Come have something to eat."
Lilliya jumped, startled. Grimacing she revealed herself from her hiding place and reluctantly made her way to the kitchen. Her brother glared at her as she sought a teacup from the cupboard and when she sat down her mother made sure to take the only spot beside her. The room was as silent as could be, the only noises coming from outside as Lilliya fixed and sipped at her tea.
Kaelyn had been honest. The tea was still hot. Her eyes flickered up to him and she set the cup down.
"What's going on Kaelyn?" she asked.
"You'll see when we leave."
Lilliya only sighed and resumed her task. Though she looked to her mother for help, the woman remained uncharacteristically silent. It seemed that ever since her brother came back, all anyone did was fight. Though she knew war herself, the thrill of battle and the fear of not coming back, this was somehow even more stressful than anything she'd ever experienced in her life. Even after her brief…intimacy with the enemy, this was still somehow worse.
Here they were, all survivors, all family, all mistrustful of one another.
Lilliya studied her mother, worried. Sleeplessness had left dark circles beneath the other woman's eyes, unable to be covered by a full face of makeup.
Lilliya didn't like that. There were few things in this world that could drive her mother into this anxious a state. The fact that Kaelyn had been the cause both infuriated and hurt her. She took her mother's hand under the table.
What had they done to him to deserve this?
/*\
It wasn't until she and Kaelyn departed that Lilliya had the courage to ask.
"Why are you being such a jackass?" she asked. Her brother froze.
"Excuse me?" He asked, his tone carrying a warning. She gulped.
If her brother got violent she might not be able to take him. All the same, if he got violent then she'd have cause to get him thrown out of the house. Though he was unpleasant to his mother and sister, he seemed to enjoy the inheritance their father had left behind. He'd liked looking through the financial ledgers, had even tried to claim their father's office as his own before their mother had stopped him.
"You heard me." Lilliya said. "Why are you being like this? We haven't done anything to you."
"Do you have any idea what happened after your little mistake Lilliya?" He responded. "You betrayed the Horde. As your brother I took some serious penalties for it."
She pulled on the reins, the hawkstrider squawking at the abrupt stop.
"Is that what they told you?" She said. Kaelyn glanced over his shoulder. Even the scar along his cheek held an aura of disbelief.
"Is it untrue?" He said, his face impassive. He looked like a stranger, and Lilliya had to hold back tears.
"I stood up for honor. The thing that the Horde values above nearly all else. If that labels me a traitor, then so be it. I will not murder children. For anyone." She spat. And with that she dug her heel into her mounts side, perhaps a little harder than was necessarily needed and the bird took off. She only slowed when she'd gotten ahead of her brother, and it wasn't by much. Lilliya wasn't quite sure where she was going, but Kaelyn was following closely behind. She could hear him calling after her, but she didn't care.
/*\
Thaellas watched as the girl sped away, only slowing when she couldn't see her brother any longer. He knew exactly what he was going to do.
He imagined that the girl wouldn't be all that impressed with her brother's proposition, especially after that little outburst. She would be deeply angered once she realized what was going on. At least, that's what he hoped would happen. The witness reports portrayed her as an easily angered woman.
After she eliminated her own allies, Thaellas would strike. She would be out of mana and alone, and so it would be the perfect time to douse the little cloth in a sleeping potion and cart her away. It would be simple, and chances were that the other elves would be so busy trying to repair the damage done that they wouldn't notice she'd gone missing.
If he was right, if this woman was who he thought she was, everything would be just fine. He could bring her back into safe territory. His cousin might be lifted from his depression. He signaled to the others, the warlock and the paladin hiding behind their own respective trees and boulders.
He really, really hoped that this would go according to plan.
/*\
Talyn remembered the last time he'd seen her with perfect clarity.
She had been the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Perhaps that was a little dramatic, but it had certainly felt that way at the time. It hadn't been the first time he'd seen a woman naked, but it had been the first time he'd been with a blood elf. The incident had been made all the more wondrous when he found that he'd been the first man she'd ever lain with. He remembered acutely how her skin felt beneath his hands. He remembered touching her flesh, trailing his fingers along her rib bones before grasping her hips. He remembered the way her legs wrapped around his waist. He remembered her tiny cry of pain, and he remembered how difficult it had been to remain gentle with her. It felt so good and he'd wanted so badly. He'd only felt guilty that this couldn't have been inside, in a bed, that it couldn't be the fantasy she'd told him about.
Yet the freezing air of Northrend had made her warmth just that much sweeter. The fact that they'd been stranded together in a blizzard made it impossible to worry that someone would find them. He had no fear for what would happen to her once she went back to Silvermoon, he planned on stealing her away, taking her back to Nighthaven before her family tried to marry her off to someone else. Though it wasn't necessarily taboo to sleep with other elves outside of marriage, this woman wasn't that way. She wouldn't be able to explain herself if the topic were to come up. Even back then he'd known she was an awful liar.
When he looked at her sleeping face that night, laying on his shoulder and her bared body snuggled close and her hair fanning over the makeshift pillow and the stone of the cave, he never imagined that such a dire situation could be so perfect. As he stared at her, the fire lighting up her face, all he could think about was that he wanted to see that all the time. He wanted to fall asleep to that vision for the rest of the ages of his life. All he could think was that she was his.
Mine, mine, mine.
He didn't quite know what he'd felt for her at that point, but he knew it was intense. It was a deep-seated feeling, something powerful and primal and that would never leave him as long as he lived. His father had always told him that he'd been a romantic, but it hadn't been until that very moment that he realized how true it was.
Even though they were being hunted, pursued, he wished that moment could have lasted forever. When the knocking on the door sounded, waking him from his dream, Talyn sighed.
"What is it?" A voice beside him murmured, still half asleep and buried beneath the covers.
"Nothing Elizabeth." He whispered back. "Just an interrupted good dream."
"A dream about me, I hope." She said, opening her eyes with a mischievous smile. The human woman trailed her fingers along his arm. He grinned and kissed her fingers.
"But of course, I'd never dream of anyone else." Talyn answered. He then lifted the covers and left the bed. He put on his pants, briefly noting the deep blue scar along his stomach. He'd had it for so long, and it still bothered him to look at it.
Deeming himself presentable enough, he opened the door. A disgruntled human man offered the night elf an envelope and shot him a dirty look as Talyn closed the door. The night elf was unbothered. He'd long since learned not to take it personally. He read through the note, and his heart stopped.
Could it be true?
He put on his shirt, retrieved his armor and his cape, and lifted his pack onto his shoulders. He moved to the night table sitting next to the bed and dropped his fee. One hundred gold, all for the tavern girl he saw so often. It would be an awfully long time before he got to return. Depending on the implications of the letter, it was also possible that he'd never see her again.
/*\
At first, Thaellas's plan had seemed to work flawlessly.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"
The curtains in the entryway caught fire.
"WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR KAELYN? A COMMON WHORE?! I KNOW EXACTLY WHO THIS IS!"
It didn't take long for the trees adjacent to the house to erupt in flames.
"WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE DIED IN THE WAR?!"
Oh, now that was cold. Even though Thaellas was sure the scarred elf thought nothing of his sister's remarks, it stung even him. His very soul would die dishonored if his own sister ever said something like that to him. He watched as the girl raced out of the house, teleporting forward and glancing fearfully behind her, as though she were being pursued by demons rather than her own brother.
As a mage froze the house and the forest, dousing the flame, she backed away. She almost looked afraid. She called forth fire to her hands and widened her stance just so. When Thaellas caught sight of her brother, he realized why. The man had drawn his sword and was charging it with holy power.
He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting from the girl, but it most certainly wasn't for her to strike first.
She caught her brother on fire, his tabard burning on his body. She conjured a circle of flame, trapping him. She created burning hailstorm, blocked only by a shield of light that Kaelyn had barely managed to call in time.
Once the shield wore of he marched towards the girl, a murderous expression on his face, when suddenly he'd been frozen to the ground. With her brother sufficiently distracted, Lilliya ran off into the woods. The one direction where Thaellas had nobody stationed.
That wasn't good.
/*\
As Lilliya ran she staved down tears. She almost felt bad about what she'd said to Kaelyn. Almost. For the first time since he'd returned he'd shown something other than indifference at her words. He'd looked wounded by what she'd said, but she did her best to force herself not to care.
She would not let him do this to her. She wasn't going to marry someone with a reputation as bad as Vyir Morningstar's. She didn't care how big his house was or how rich his family was. She would not be stripped of her dignity like that, and if the rumors were true he'd have her dead soon enough. If not from disease, then boredom.
As far as she was concerned, at this very moment her brother was an Alliance lackey hot on her tail vying for the opportunity to imprison and eventually execute her. If Morningstar was a friend of Kaelyn's, then her brother was too far gone. Given his behavior at home she should have figured that out much sooner.
Vyir had looked innocent enough, but she could practically smell the fel taint to him. She could see the purple bruises poking out beneath his sleeves, his collar. A symptom of demonitis, a disease contracted most notoriously from succubi. He held a cordial enough smile on his face, but it flipped her stomach in a way that could only be described as unpleasant.
All the while her brother stood in a corner smirking to himself. What was this? What was he playing at? Surely it was some kind of joke?
But it hadn't been. Kaelyn had introduced her to him formally, and he went to discuss with Vyir's father what the costs of the wedding would be, how it would all come together. Why would Kaelyn do this? Especially after the ultimatum she gave him on the way here?
That was all she could think about as she bolted through the woods, listening as Kaelyn called her name. It wasn't late, the sun was nowhere near setting and she wasn't entirely sure where she was. She just knew she had to keep running. Kaelyn surely wouldn't let her little outburst go unpunished. The way he'd looked at her, the way he'd drawn his sword, he'd made it abundantly clear that he did not forgive easily.
It wasn't until she spied the grayed grass and diseased trees that she realized she'd gone too far. There were bats and enormous spiders wandering the landscape. The Ghostlands. But she could still hear Kaelyn calling for her, his voice booming with anger.
As much as she had confidence in her magical abilities, she really didn't want to face her brother again, not now. So she whistled for her mount, got on, and continued down the road. Her brother didn't care for the Ghostlands, most elves didn't, so she hoped he'd just turn back. It was unlikely.
Just when she thought his voice had faded, that perhaps she'd finally escaped, her bird abruptly stopped and shrieked in terror. She whirled, horrified at the notion that one of the feral cats had gotten her precious Xayla. What she saw was not a cat.
Instead she saw a night elf, a man holding on to Xayla's tail feathers, and he wasted no time wrestling her to the ground and placing a cloth over her face, something that smelled cloying and sweet.
Despite the adrenaline rushing through her veins she could feel herself fading, fast. She tried to call for help but found her vocal chords unresponsive. She tried to claw at the night elf's eyes but found that she couldn't move her arms. Though her vision had gone hazy and her hearing dull she could have sworn she heard her brother calling out her name.
/*\
Thaellas was regretting his decision. He had the girl, yes, but the price tag was looking a little expensive. She was asleep in his arms, but she'd still had a very angry elf in hot pursuit.
It hadn't gone as planned. She'd run away in the wrong direction and instead of staying behind to mitigate the damage the brother had gone after her. Morningstar had accompanied him, and the two paladins drew massive swords from their backs.
They tried to strike, and they would have succeeded had it not been for Holly's magic.
Just as a streak of light came for him, a large infernal smashed to the ground. It took the hit and charged the two men, allowing the night elf his escape.
He mounted his nightsaber and it was his turn to run. He had the prize and so now it was the rest of the party's turn to defend him. For a moment it worked. Maybe, just maybe, he'd managed to salvage the plan. It was then he heard screaming. Holly had been wounded. The gnome was running away, dripping blood. She was being pursued by a succubus.
As their mage lifted her up and teleported away, Thaellas suddenly had a moment of clarity and understanding. Perhaps the gossip about Vyir Morningstar was mistaken. Perhaps it wasn't that he was sleeping with demons, but rather that he was summoning them.
The paladin had tossed away his sword and his eyes glowed with a darker power. He had a small army of imps surrounding him and his succubus had retreated, taking hold of his arm and trying to look alluring.
He might have continued his pause to dwell on it further if not for the fact that Vyir had ordered his miniature demon army to pursue him.
/*\
Heyyy so I know this isn't Illidari, but I hope you guys were still willing to give it a chance! If you liked it, maybe leave a review? It would make me really quite happy!
-Statyck