It was a quiet, peaceful night at The Pig and Whistle tavern in Stormwind. Nothing seemed on the verge of happening. Nothing, that is until Wolfram decided to go in.
Entering the tavern he scanned the customers at the tables carefully until his eyes rested on the person he came here to find.
'Thought I might find you here, getting drunk off...?'
The elf smiled and showed the contents of her cup to the dwarf, replying: 'Honeymint tea.'
Wolfram looked from the cup of tea to the night elf and back and finally shook his head.
'Night elves,' he muttered.
'Anything I can do for you, friend?'
The dwarven hunter looked a bit uncomfortable at this question but cleared his throat and answered: 'Yes, I've got something on me that I think belongs to you. Or at least, it used to.'
'Oh?' The elf raised one eyebrow inquisitvely.
The dwarf produced a small satin pouch from his pockets and took a small, silver ring from it. Placing it on the table, he said: 'The enchantment on it is still strong. It has your name on it, as well as that of someone I don't know.'
He shrugged and said: 'Thought you might like to have it back.'
The elf stared at the ring and after a while managed to whisper: 'Where did you find this?'
'The Plaguelands. A scout found this. After he triggered the enchantment on it, he decided to give it to his captain, who happens to be a friend of mine. That's how it came into my possession. After asking around for a while, people told me I'd find you here. ... Bad memories?'
The elf, unable to speak, simply nodded and placed her hand on the ring. A single tear flowed from her eye across her cheek.
The dwarf understood that she needed to be alone for a while so he said: 'I'll be at the armory if you have any more questions.'
She either didn't hear him, or if she did gave no notice of it. She was lost in memories. Although she'd never really forgotten, it had been several months since she had actively thought of Niamph.
It was supposed to be a routine scouting mission. They were supposed to check the area and report on how many scourge were roaming around.
There were a lot. Much more then the initial reports indicated. Baffled at the large number of undead creatures roaming around, both Niamph and I decided to carefully examine the perimterd to try and determine what might have caused the explosion in Scourge population. They got too close it seemed. It was just a matter of time before our position was overrun by the foul Scourge minions. Too late to retreat we had no choice but to fight. And somehow managed to survive, while slowly retreating to a small impasse. A place where we could bottleneck the minions of the Lich King and halt their advance. It was at this point that Niamph had asked me to run for help. She could handle the situation until I came back. Hesitating for only a moment, I told her to be careful, and took off to the nearest Argent Dawn camp to get help. It only took me 10 minutes to get there, but they felt like hours. And to make things worse it took me twice as long to get back to the long road where Niamph was holding the Scourge back. Finally arriving on the road, I beheld a dread sight. A scourge hulk closing in on Niamph quickly. Niamph saw him coming, but she'd also seen the reincforcements on their way.
... not enough reinforcements to take down a hulk. Nowhere near. Not even a single paladin among them.
'We have to help her. He'll kill her if we don't.' I said in panic, trying to convince them to come along.
Their captain shook his head and replied: 'It would seem she's fully aware of the situation. Don't be a fool. Don't let her sacrifice be in vain. You shall retreat with us.'
Not believing what I was hearing I stared at the captain and yelled at him: 'MAKE ME.'
I tried to speed off to assist my friend but the captain shrugged and told his men to restrain me.
'What? NO. LET ME GO. LET. ME. GO. He'll kill her. I have to help. NIA. I'm coming. Let go, damn you.'
Too late. The hulk had reached the human priest, who seemed like an ant trying to stop a lion from charging. Upon reaching her a blinding light exploded from where Niamph stood. For a while, I couldn't see anything. I couldn't see, but I could hear. And I heard the faintest whisper, just as the light reached it's brightest point.
'I'm sorry...'
'NOOOO. NIAAA. NOOO.'
'Hurry, knock her out if you must,' ordered the captain, struggling to regain his vision. 'The priest bought us the time we need to make it back safely. The elf comes with us.'
Everything went dark after that. The next thing I remember is waking up in an infirmary bed, with a headache.
The captain stood by my bed and said: 'What your friend did was noble. Few men, or women as the case may be, have the courage to do what she did. I am sorry for forcing you to come here, but I did what I think was right. What she would have wanted.'
'... you know nothing of what Niamph would have wanted. NOTHING. ... Leave me alone.'
This ring was Niamphs. A gift from me. The enchantment on it is set to go off whenever someone tries to read the inscription. It makes the engraved word echo in their heads. It reads:
To Niamph, for proving to me you can find friends in the most unlikely places. Dyscord.
It was a gift from me. To celebrate our 2 year anniversary as friends.
I can't believe it's been a year since that incident. It feels like so much longer.
Westfall, on the riverbanks, 1 day later.
Dyscord stood before her friends grave. It was a small stone. All she could afford. Buried here were the last of Niamph's possessions. Westfall was where she had grown up. Where the elf was sure she'd have wanted to be buried.
Placing her hand on the stone the elf spoke: 'Hey, Nia. It's been a while. I... I'm sorry for not coming by more often. I still think about you, though. All the time. You... were the best friend an elf could ever hope for. How could I not think about you? Anyway, I brought something. Remember this ring? You wore it... that day ...
I should have been there with you, Nia. I should have waited there with you and helped you. If that meant waiting for certain death, I would have wanted it to be by your side. But... I ran for help. Just as you asked.'
Silence for a while. Dyscord struggled with her emotions for a time, but let them get the upper hand. She cried, not out loud, but she still let the tears flow freely.
'I... I miss you, Nia. I miss you so much. I wish you were still here... so I could give this ring back to you. Back where it belongs.'
Taking the ring from her pocket, she kneeled down, made a small hole in the ground and placed the ring in it.
'It's yours to keep now, Nia. It always was, and it always will be.'