"Kalypsa! It's wonderful to see you again."
The Troll looked up from the fruit cart to see who had spoken. "Muame!" she exclaimed, walking over to the Tauren and giving her a tight hug. "'S been a while, moo-girl. Look'a chu! Decked out in mail like ah Warrior! Ah knew you'd be a great Shammy. Whatcha been up to?"
"You know... a little of this, a little of that." The bovine gave her a mischevious grin. "And you?"
Kalypsa laughed. "Ah, da same, girl," she replied, tapping the hilt of one of her daggers. "Ah been sharpenin' more dan my blades, if ya know what ah mean. Goin' out in da world, learning da tings a lady of da shadows needs ta know."
"Really? You should tell me about it sometime. Preferably over ale." The grin grew wider. "What brings you back around here, by the way? If I can ask."
"Doin' a favah for a friend. Ya know how ah am 'bout that."
"Oh, definitely, definitely." The Shaman leaned against a post. "Do you need any help?"
"Infahmation if ya can, girl. See, ah be needin' ta find a place. Mah friend grew up der... wants ah should try an' see if I can track down an old friend ah his through der records. Ya heard ah it, mebbe? 'Twas an orphanage called Light's Comfort."
Muame's smile fled her face, replaced by trepidation. "Oh... oh my. I've heard of it, yes, but you'll likely wish I hadn't."
Kalypsa frowned. She'd never seen that expression on the Tauren's face before. "Whatcha mean, moo-girl? Whatcha heard?"
"Walk with me for a bit and I'll tell you. It's not a welcome topic around here."
"Yah, sure ting." They walked out of the town square, taking shelter from the late-day summer sun behind an armor shop. Kalypsa leaned against the wall. "So what be goin' on wit dis place?" she asked the Shaman. "Ah dunno a ting 'bout it."
Muame sighed quietly. "It used to be a great source of pride to the people here. Light's Comfort Orphanage was one of the few truly neutral places in Azeroth. It took in children of all races orphaned by the Wars, all the attacks since then, and other things such as natural disasters and fires. There was a real community feeling to the place, from what I've heard; it was a symbol of unity and compassion for the Alliance and Horde towns in the area.
"Then one morning just more than ten years ago, a group went by there and found a blackened husk of a building in the middle of a blasted wasteland that had once been a three-acre orchard, with all windows and doors sealed shut from inside by... something. The few people who managed to get inside through various means never came back out again. Some Human Priest examined the area and declared that the fire and scorched grounds were demonically caused - so it was all sealed off. These days nobody even wants to think about it anymore... and asking about it has gotten me thrown out of more than one pub and even threatened. If anyone has ever been successful in getting inside and out again since then, they certainly haven't bragged about it within earshot of me."
Kalypsa ran her fingers through her hair. "Dat's bad news, girl... how joo hear all dis? Joo needin' somethin' from der also?"
"No, no... just typical Tauren curiosity." Muame shrugged, her tail swinging slowly behind her. "I've been out there myself, despite repeated warnings against it. It's... as though all the life was drained from the land- even from the building itself. What remains is something I'm not certain I want to know anything about." She laid one large hand on the Troll's shoulder. "Kalypsa, I'm not skilled enough to be anything but a hindrance to you in a place like that orphanage. I know better than to try to dissuade you from your goal- but if you must go there, do so with extreme caution."
"Dat's how ah do everyting, moo-girl." She patted the other female's hand. "Dun joo worry none. Dis Trollie dun play 'round when it comes ta treadin' da shadows."
--
Some small part of Kalypsa's mind wished that she'd slept the night and come here in the morning. That was the same part that wish she'd followed Nana Mohive's advice and gone into the priesthood. The rest of her mind knew that this is where she was born to be- in the darkness, one with the shadows.
The sliver of visible moon in the sky peeked between the clouds of an approaching storm and cast a faint white light across the blasted grounds of the orphanage. Kalypsa's broad feet moved silently across the blackened soil, which showed no signs of life even a decade after whatever had happened here. Not even a single bird's nest decorated the branches of the dead apple trees that still stood in silent lines.
The building was larger than she might have imagined; she figured it was an estate that some wealthy and well-meaning Human had donated after death. She could imagine the children running around the halls of the place, playing tag between the apple trees. She let out a soft inward sigh as she approached the gate; she only wanted the information she'd come here to get. Solving mysteries was not her line of work.
The front gate was predictably locked, with an almost ridiculously oversized padlock. However, portions of the surrounding fence were bent and separated, and Kalypsa easily slipped through an opening to gain entrance to the orphanage grounds proper. She stopped before the front door and gave the building a quick examination, trying to decide on how best to gain entry.
Something seemed to move in one of the darkened windows, just within her peripheral vision, and she turned her head to look. Nothing. She shook her head and sighed to herself; this was going to be more difficult than it needed to be if her imagination was going to start running away with her. She turned to her left and began walking the perimeter of the building to see if any other avenues of entrance presented themselves.
She made her way around a dried-out fountain, glanced along the west-facing wall and froze. An indistinct shape seemed to rest against the wall, looking almost like a child of some sort. But just as she took a step forward to look more closely, a small cloud flew across the face of the moon, darkening the wall briefly. When the light returned, there was nothing there.
She rubbed the back of her head. Come on, girl! No need ta be lettin' yah mind play tricks! she chided herself. She ducked her head down and sprinted across the yard, moving as quickly as she could while still remaining hidden, keeping herself to whatever shadows she could find along the way. She reached the wall of the building and crept along it, still searching.
She struck paydirt moments later. A storm-cellar entrance, its thick padlock shattered by an obviously determined prowler, lay in a dark corner where two walls met. Kalypsa made her way there, knelt down and gripped the door's edge with both hands, then pulled with all her might.
The hinges gave off a soft squeak as her strength overcame their resistance and the door's great weight, and the way was opened.
"Looks like ahm in," she murmured to herself.
The first sound to greet Kalypsa's ears was dripping water. She waited a moment on the short wooden staircase as she let her eyes adjust to the near-blackness of the cellar; though no Night Elf, her low-light vision was exceptionally sharp, and she could make out her surroundings by outside light shining through the few windows at ground level.
Ahead of her was a rusted metal catwalk that hung roughly two feet over a stone floor flooded with knee-deep, murky water. At some point the foundation had cracked, and either a nearby water source or years of rains had flooded this basement. Along both sides of the catwalk were more steps leading down into various storage rooms, whose doors were all open.
The Troll sighed. She hated getting wet, but the alluring possibility that she might find an intact batch of records and get out of this place in a few minutes drew her to brave the oddly lukewarm water and begin examining the different rooms.
She would only be wildly disappointed. One of the rooms did indeed seem to hold thin wooden boxes full of papers- but a crack in the stone wall had served as a funnel for some storm's rainwater, and the entire stack was nothing but a pile of mold that reeked like the Undercity on a good day. Kalypsa doubted, though, that the dozen or so boxes there were the only paperwork the orphanage kept... and her word was her bond, so she trudged back through the water and continued searching the rooms.
Something brushed against her arm as she walked into a room holding rotted furniture. She looked to her left and found a moldy old piece of parchment paper stuck to the the arm of a walnut chair. Something was scrawled on it in what appeared to be wax crayon; Kalypsa tugged it free of the chair, ripping off a corner, and held it up to a nearby window to read it.
"This is my hiding spot. Don't try to hide here or they might find me."
Written in Trollish in what was obviously a child's handwriting. She tossed the paper aside, not heeding it another thought as she stepped back out of the room and onto the catwalk. She turned towards the final room along the hallway- and whirled as she heard a light metallic "thunk" behind her, crouching, both hands on the hilts of her daggers in case an enterprising intruder had followed her inside.
There was nothing but musty air between her and the cellar door.
Kalypsa let out her held breath in a soft sigh, slowly straightening up. It was a wonder the catwalk hadn't rusted out from beneath her as she walked across it. She turned to check out the last room, gingerly stepping into the water once more to examine the last room.
Inside the storeroom she found children's toys of all types- dolls, jump ropes, wooden push-wagons, and even an inflatable ball that still floated atop the water, endlessly dancing back and forth in the water's slight currents. One doll in particular caught her attention, a Kaldorei ragdoll with long floppy ears and bright white buttons for eyes. At the angle it rested on an old bench, it almost seemed as though the thing was watching her-
SPLASH
Again Kalypsa spun on her heel, both daggers out now, as she did her best to meld into the darkness. A quick look through the door showed her that a piece of plaster from the ceiling had fallen into the water. Again the Troll sighed, sheathing her daggers and turning her back to the doorway.
...wait. Did dat ting move?!
The ragdoll faced the door, as if it had also turned to see what had caused the noise. The Rogue grit her teeth and took in a deep breath. Aight, girl, get joo head on staight, she told herself. Joo get nervahs, joo get stupid. Joo get stupid, joo get dead. 'S jes' a dollie. Les' go.
Even with her self-reassurance, it took an act of will to turn her back on the little Elf doll. She regained the catwalk and looked around. The basement was a wash- literally- so she would have to head up the single wooden staircase and check the main floor.
Rotted wood creaked beneath her broad feet as she climbed the stairs, slowly, creeping upwards. After what seemed to be an eternity, she cleared the staircase and found herself in a service hallway, leading to a closet at one end and what appeared to be some sort of living-room-turned-lobby. A broad, circular skylight bathed the enormous room in faint white moonlight, the intricate pattern of the wood holding the glass in place cutting sharp black shadows across the furniture and walls. Chairs and papers were scattered across the floor, some covered with what looked far too much like blood for her taste. Kalypsa swallowed the growing lump of fear in her throat and looked around.
Her eyes came to rest on a placard on the wall, a staff directory helpfully written in both Common and Orcish. Whoever had run this place must have been one of the most open-minded souls Azeroth had ever seen, but the Troll could only spare a moment's thought on that as she moved close enough to the placard to read it in the poor light.
Now she was in luck. "Records- First Floor, Room 7." At least ahm on da right floor, she thought, gingerly stepping over an overturned chair and heading towards the hallway.
Her luck was not destined to hold. A bright gold number "7" was nailed to the front of a very thick oak door, with a very complex and solid-looking mechanical bolt lock holding it shut. The key mechanism was non-standard, probably custom-made and expensive, and beyond the Rogue's ability to pick open. Kalypsa sighed and raised her hand to bang on the door in frustration, then thought better of it; she was unwilling to accept defeat so easily, and she headed back to the lobby to check the placard for anything helpful.
Another quick glance showed her something promising- "Site Warden, First Floor, Addendum." Who bettah ta have da keys den da Warden? she thought, looking around to see where the Addendum might be.
An irregular shape in the corner caught her eye. Curiosity overtook her, and she crept her way towards it, finding it to be a single wooden cradle sitting alone. She knelt before it, gently laying a hand on the dust-covered edge-
-and shot straight to her feet in the next instant as her ears picked up a faint sound. Wind blowing through a crack in a wall, or a floorboard settling, or... Ah baby cryin'? No, girl, NO, dun let yah mind do dis!
Kalypsa grit her teeth and backed away from the cradle, which rocked gently for a moment from the touch of her hand before settling again. The sound, whatever it was, faded away. The Troll did her best to slow the beating of her heart as she approached a large doorway opposite the main desk.
Apparently the Addendum had been added after the building was converted to an orphanage. Plain wooden walls, different in architecture from the main building, were already starting to rot through. Several desks stood in a semicircle opposite the doorway; one had behind it a large glass cabinet, the pane long ago shattered, and a number of small keys within. Kalypsa stepped over the broken glass, reaching into the case and grabbing the most likely-looking key for the records-room door- then, as a precaution, taking the rest of the keys as well. She clipped them to a small keychain she kept with her for just such occasions, tied that to her belt to keep the keys from jingling, then left the Addendum, looking to her right again to glance at the cradle in the corner. And froze.
A doll- the same Night Elf ragdoll from downstairs- lay inside the cradle, its head propped up, those gleaming white eyes looking directly at her.
Kalypsa backed away from the cradle, her breath caught in her throat, unable to tear her eyes away from it- until she felt something nudge against her side. With a gasp, she spun, one dagger out to swing... but nothing was there, nothing for her to have run into or brushed against.
Then a soft whisper of a laugh tickled her ear, and a barely-audible voice in Common, a child's, seeming to come from all around her: "Tag, you're it!"
Kalypsa swore beneath her breath and ran full-tilt back towards the stairway, slowing only to keep from making too much noise or collapsing the catwalk beneath her weight. She gripped the handrails as she started to cross the catwalk towards the cellar door-
-which had somehow closed without her having heard it.
The Troll's heart was in her throat as she threw caution to the winds and rushed the door, throwing her entire body against the door with a loud crash. The door didn't budge, not even as she set her shoulder to it and pushed with all her strength- by all rights it should have opened as easily as from outside, but now it simply refused.
"It won' open," she murmured, stepping away from the door, her eyes wide. "Dat... ain't a good sign."
Despite her best efforts, the wooden stairs creaked again under Kalypsa's weight as she crept upwards, returning to the main floor. Both of her daggers were out, the black-matte blades almost invisible in the low light, only their finely-honed edges gleaming dully. She gave thought to her options as she took the stairs one at a time. She had risked trying to break one of the downstairs windows with the hilt of a dagger- only to have it bounce off as if striking stone. She had no reason to believe the large picture windows on the first floor would be different. She had enough explosive spheres in her hip pouch to blow open the front door if she could set them all off at once somehow- if they could overcome whatever force it was that had sealed the cellar door. If not, she would merely be announcing her presence and location to anything still inside the orphanage.
That was not something she wanted to do.
She held her breath as she gained the top of the stairs again, looking around, her eyes searching every corner and shadow for anything unusual. She hadn't thought to check her first time through the hallway, but now she saw that every door within view had been forced open, their latches shattered and useless- except for the lock on the records room, which she doubted even a charging Tauren could defeat. At the very least, it might provide a place for her to hole up for a few minutes and catch her breath while she came up with a real plan for escape. She put her back against the wall and sidled along it until she reached the end of the main hall, pushing herself off and sprinting to the heavy Records door, its key already in hand.
It took her all of two seconds to insert and turn the key, and with a soft grinding sound followed by a harsh CLICK, the door was unlocked. She gripped the handle, turned, and pulled, and the door opened; she ducked inside and pulled it closed again, careful not to slam it. She leaned against the door and panted softly, staring at it as if she could see through it, until a fetid odor caught her attention and she turned towards the center of the room.
She barely had time to register the small, huddled corpse on the floor before her vision warped, seeming to both zoom in and pull away from the body, almost a form of tunnel vision taking over her sight. Strange voices washed over her ears and through her mind- some spoken, some not.
"Quickly, get in here! Stay quiet until I come back. I'll try to stall them as long as I can." I'm scared. Who are those men? Where were they taking everyone else? Where are all my friends? I'm hungry. I must have been in here for hours. Why do I keep hearing people yelling and screaming? Why hasn't she come back for me yet? It's so cold... so cold in here, why can't I get warm... I feel like I'm cold on the inside... wait, what's that? I feel- I... no... NO... NOOOOOOOOOO!
Kalypsa's head jerked back as the vision faded. She pressed her back against the door as she stared at the dessicated corpse on the floor before her; it might have once been a Dwarven child, judging by the size and stockiness, but the grey, leathery skin and empty eye sockets said that it had been long dead. The dusty overalls and boots said that the poor child had been a boy.
The Troll rubbed her forehead as she struggled to once more get her racing heartbeat under control. Nana always said ah dun had a special cahnex'n wit' da Spirits, she thought. Ah wonder... Hells, ah dun CARE, ah just wan' OUTTA dis place!
She stepped around the tiny body, murmuring a soft prayer for the poor child as she made her way to the back of the room. She glanced over her shoulder and managed to stifle a gasp; that ragdoll had somehow made its way into the room, sitting on a high bookshelf, in a pose as if it were watching over the poor child on the floor. As Kalypsa watched, it fell to its side, knocking over a thin folder propped up next to it. A single parchment fluttered out of the folder, sailing through the air before coming to rest next to the corpse on the ground.
The Troll took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, gingerly kneeling down and picking up the parchment.
"Jonias,
Please would you reorder the lumber we need to fix that hole in Dormitory C's wall?! The plaster we've put over it doesn't keep out the night's chill, and some of the children are complaining of being cold. We have the budget, let's put it to use.
- M.R.K., 5/7"
Kalypsa clenched her fist. If her luck was in for once on this miserable night, there was a chance this Jonias hadn't gotten around to placing that order- and that meant a weak spot in the wall she might be able to escape through. It was the only ray of hope she had right now, and she wasn't about to waste it. She tossed the note aside, again giving the body on the floor a wide berth and glancing once more at the fallen ragdoll. If ya wasn't up so high, ah'd take ya down 'n tear out yer stuffins, she thought to the thing.
She had to steel herself to open up the door again. Only cool, dust-filled air greeted her as she stepped through, silently closing the door behind her and retreating back to the placard to find where the dormitories were. "Dormitories A, B, C- West Hall" it read. Though no Hunter, she had an excellent sense of direction; she moved as stealthily as she could manage to the main hallway, then took the western branch. Numerous single bedrooms lined the hall, all dark and foreboding, and Kalypsa gave them as wide a berth as she could as she made her way down the dark corridor.
Finally, she made it to Dormitory C. It was a maze of makeshift walls and privacy curtains, partitioning the enormous room- what must have once been some sort of dancing or musical room- into semiprivate sleeping areas. Kalypsa's sharp ears just managed to pick up some sort of odd sound, one she couldn't identify, coming from near the center of the room. She drew her daggers again and made her way cautiously forward.
She turned the corner around one of the temporary walls and nearly gasped. Four shapes, huddled in a small play area at the middle of the room, sat in a circle and pushed something odd-shaped in between them that made dull thumping noises as it rolled. The Troll dimly realized that the floor where they sat glistened as if wet. She held her breath, trying her best to circle around, not knowing what was going on but also not wanting to introduce herself into it.
Then her foot hit a slightly loose floorboard, which gave a faint squeak, freezing her in fear. In that moment, all four figures turned to look at her.
Time seemed to stop for Kalypsa as her mind tried to process what it was she truly saw. The four figures had once, long ago, been children- Orc, Night Elf, Troll and Human. Their withered and ravaged forms and tattered clothing hid anything more specific about them. But all four gazed at her through empty sockets from which glowed a dull, malevolent yellow light. She realized that the object they'd been playing with was the freshly-severed head of an Orc male, much of the flesh stripped from the bone, and what was left frozen in an expression of horror. Still-wet blood covered the floor beneath it.
A new playmate!
The Troll flinched as a faint, high-pitched "voice" floated through her mind. Even as she took a step back, the remains of the Orc child had gotten to its feet, running towards her with one hand outstretched.
Trained reflex took over. Steel flashed, and the Orc's hand flew to the side, powdered blood clouding the air behind it. The corpse reeled for just a moment, long enough for Kalypsa to throw down a flash bomb to blind the creatures- if da damned tings still see dat way! she thought desperately- and run back the way she'd come. She regained the hallway, ran down a short distance and ducked into one of the private bedrooms, praying to find it free of any more of these abominations. Her luck was in, for once; overturned furniture and a large bloodstain were her only companions. She pressed herself into a corner, using the shadows, stilling her breathing and slowing her heartbeat.
Hide and seek! Let's find her!
Where did she go?
Can I have her hand? She broke mine!
If we find her, she can stay here and play with us forever!
She heard their footsteps in the hallway, soft leathery pads of withered feet and distorted clomps of rotted shoes. A pair of yellow eyes crossed the doorway, came back, peered inside... and moved on after a moment. The Rogue didn't have the courage to even sigh in relief, still doing her best to keep her breaths shallow and silent. Suddenly-
The Watcher!
Oh no! If she sees us out of our room, she'll put us back in the flames!
Run!
She saw faint shapes rush back towards the Dormitory. Slowly, carefully, she pried herself out of the corner and went back to the doorway, sticking her head through to look down the hallway. All seemed clear, and she was just about to step back into the hallway, when a shape floated into her view from the hall leading to the lobby.
Above the waist, it looked like a Human woman, dressed in a cloak and a prim-looking white shirt. Below the waist... it was missing. Its pelvis showed just below where the shirt was torn and coated in dried blood. And inside the cloak's cowl, instead of a living face, shone what looked like a glowing slitted pupil within an utter void; the slit of light pulsated like a wicked heartbeat, casting a ruddy yellow-white light on the wall opposite it.
As if it had noticed her gaze, it turned towards her.
Kalypsa spun back around the doorway, cramming herself into the recessed corner next to it, gritting her teeth and holding her daggers flat against her chest. Dun let it see meh, she prayed. Spirits, pleahs dun let it see meh...
The far wall of the bedroom brightened.
So close was the creature to Kalypsa that she could see the fine details of what remained of its clothing, right down to the letters "MRK" stiched into one dingy collar. Bone-numbing cold drifted off of it in almost visible waves, causing the Troll to shrink even further into the corner.
If it spotted her, she would plant one of her daggers in what passed for its "eye" and do her best to run. It was hardly a plan- more like a slightly more palatable form of suicide- but Kalypsa was not about to die without doing something about it.
The creature hovered there at the doorway, murmuring softly, its words oddly warped and running together like two conversations being heard at the same time- and underlaid with what sounded like a woman weeping. Then, slowly, it turned... to its right, bathing the corner opposite Kalypsa in that pulsing yellow light, before drifting out of the doorway and back into the hall.
For the first time in more than half a minute, the Troll breathed.
Carefully she peered around the doorway. The Watcher was just floating through the entrance to Dormitory C; as soon as it disappeared from view, Kalypsa spun through the doorway and plastered her back against the wall, swearing profusely beneath her breath. Her only obvious escape route was now inaccessible... she would have to find another.
Dormitory B seemed the next most likely place to search, provided she could avoid the attention of anything else living-impaired. She sidled her way along the wall until she came back to the main intersection, found a small sign labeled "Dormitory B" with an arrow pointing down a hallway, and followed it. She risked peeks into some of the bedrooms and found only more overturned furniture, the occasional bloodstain, and what appeared to be the skeletonized remains of someone's leg.
Then she felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise, and she looked over her shoulder. The Watcher had just turned the corner of the hallway she was in and was closing on her. Cursing herself for not keeping an eye open for anything patrolling the halls, she quickly crept to the next open doorway and ducked inside, with only a few seconds to spare before the creature's unholy light would have revealed her. She peered around the corner of the doorway, watching the abomination drift by and shivering slightly- partly from the cold the creature gave off, and partly from fear.
She decided that she had better wait for the Watcher to return the way it had come before she moved, so she set her back against the corner near the doorway and looked into the small bedroom she'd found herself in, only to have the scant light in the room reveal another horrible sight to her.
A large cot sat against the far wall, opposite the door, above a wide blood stain that covered almost half the floor. On the cot rested another corpse, barely a husk covered by dried skin, with a thick-bladed broadsword thrust through both it and the cot and into the floor. Kalypsa gritted her teeth as that strange tunnel vision once more dominated her sight, and strange ghostly figures moved before her, re-enacting events that had happened years ago.
"Hold her down, damn you all! We need to finish this sacrifice and seal the building so we stay on the timetable!" One of the crimson-robed Orc males drew a long sword from a scabbard lined with intricate runes and held it above his head as two more held a screaming, struggling teenaged Orc female on the cot. The one holding the sword began chanting in a demonic tongue; bright red lines began to glow on the blade, stretching and melding together to form bizarre shapes. The young female on the cot watched in horror as the glowing lines reached the tip of the blade- and, as if in concert, the male finished his chanting and drove the sword into her chest, through her back and into the floor below. The girl's body jerked and spasmed on the cot for a moment before it became still, blood pouring down the blade and pooling on the floor, seeming to smoke as it spilled from the dead Orc's body. "It's done. You, tell the guards to leave their posts and start gathering the children and staff for sacrifices. You, come with me. We need to prepare the largest room we can find for the summoning. Be quick- we only have a few hours at best before this ward expires!"
Kalypsa shuddered as the shapes and voices faded and her sight returned to normal. She risked a glance out the doorway and saw the Watcher still heading towards the dormitory. It seemed that only a few seconds had actually passed; the vision had somehow warped her perception of time. Dun need dat happenin when ahm sneakin 'round, doh, she thought, still eyeing the long-dead corpse on the cot. But... wha happened in dis place? Who were dose men in da robes? Ah gots da feelin ah be needin ta find dat out 'fore ah can get outta heah.
The Watcher floated by again, continuing its unfathomable patrol, its harsh murmurs and whimpers fading as it passed Kalypsa's hiding spot. As soon as she was certain she could move undetected, she left the bedroom and quickly made her way towards the next dormitory, eyes peeled for any possible threats.
However, this next room was strangely uncluttered, though nearly pitch-black. A single ray of pale moonlight illuminated a wide blood stain on the floor; unlike the others she had seen in the bedrooms lining the halls, this one seemed relatively fresh, though dried. The shape of it showed that something- or someone- had fallen there and then been dragged out the main door. Beyond the stain, Kalypsa could just barely make out a shape at the edge of the pool of moonlight; hoping for something that she might be able to use to escape- or at least defend herself- she moved closer to get a better look at it.
Above her, the clouds began to break apart, widening the pool of light on the floor tinto a thin lane of illumination that crossed almost the entire room. Kalypsa saw that the object on the floor was a doll's head, one of the white-faced porcelain ones that some people liked to collect, its eerily lifelike eyes gazing up at her. Unnerved, the Troll took a step away from it, glancing around.
On either side of her were literal piles of small porcelain dolls set on dusty wooden shelves, some sitting or standing and others seemingly thrown haphazardly on top of each other. Then a soft screeching sound, like a hundred doors with rusty hinges being opened, assaulted the Rogue's ears, and she immediately crouched down to better blend into the shadows.
To her dismay, each and every single doll turned its head in unison to face her, dozens of sightless gleaming eyes staring directly at her position. She slowly backed up, heading back towards the door, when the floor seemed to shudder slightly beneath her feet. She turned towards the door and prepared to make a run for it when the doorway darkened.
Something large and hostile-looking squeezed itself through the door, making Kalypsa bite back a yelp and stopping her in her tracks.
It once had been Human and male, that much she could tell in the light that reflected from the floor onto it. Broad, warped muscles were visible through the tatters of the overalls it still wore, straining to carry the thick blood-stained plank of wood it held in both hands. The pale flesh of its half-bared chest was coated in long-dried blood that had probably come from its beheading. Only its lower jaw and the base of its head remained upon its neck; its tongue lolled obscenely over yellowed teeth. Its feet caused the floor to shudder slightly with each slow, ponderous step it took.
Kalypsa realized that it was headed towards her.
Sweat dripped down her forehead as she slowly backed away from this new monstrosity, cursing vividly beneath her breath as the dolls' heads swiveled to track her, the soft grating noise they made almost drowned out by the thudding of the Troll's heart in her ears. The creature simply changed its heading slightly to match her movements, still coming towards her with all the unstoppable certainty of a Kodo stampede. In desperation Kalypsa slipped a pair of throwing knives free from their bandoleer across her chest and flicked her wrist; they sank into the thing's chest to the hilt- without so much as the slightest flinch. The wounds didn't even bleed.
The situation looked worse with every step the creature took. How it- or the dolls- knew where she was she didn't know; to anything with normal sight she should be invisible... let alone something with no head, let alone eyes. She could try to sprint past it, giving up all illusions of stealth in exchange for speed- but if the creature had fast enough reflexes, there would be no way for her to dodge that massive plank.
Then something caught her attention at the edge of her sight. The doll head on the floor stared at her unblinkingly, the moonlight shining in its eyes. It had somehow spun to watch her just like the dolls on the shelves.
Dat ting be what's watchin meh! she realized. Da light in its eyes... lettin it see meh somehows!
Her eyes flashed from the doll head to the creature still coming towards her, gauging her chances of reaching the head and still being outside of the abomination's swinging range. She let out a gasp when a dark shape fell into the shaft of moonlight and landed square on the head lying on the floor.
Dat damn dollie!
The little Kaldorei ragdoll lay sprawled over the porcelain doll head's face, blocking its eyes completely. Kalypsa risked a glance upwards and saw that the lumbering creature had paused, swaying slightly, the thick plank in its hands waving around as if- As if it cahn't see! she thought, finally understanding. She tiptoed towards the doll, noting that the dolls on the shelves seemed to be looking around as though confused, and carefully picked up both dolls from the floor. She took the porcelain head in her left hand, still holding the ragdoll against it with her right.
"Ah gots somtin for yah to see," she snarled.
With that, she quickly raised her left hand and threw the delicate porcelain head to the floor.
The sound it made as it shattered chilled Kalypsa's blood- like the scream of a banshee cut short. As one, the dolls on the shelves tumbled down onto the floor in a cacaphony of clinking and rustling; the abomination that had been coming towards her dropped to its knees, still holding the plank in its massive hands, simply coming to rest on its haunches and sitting there as if dumbstruck.
The Troll was just self-satisfied enough to risk yanking her knives from its chest. "Ah'll take dose back, tanks," she murmured beneath her breath, returning the blades to her bandoleer.
She had to move fast. The noise had been enough to alert that damned Watcher if it was nearby, and there weren't many places to hide in this dormitory. She dashed into the hallway, saw the Watcher already turning the corner, and picked the same bedroom she had used last time to avoid the creature's gaze. It drifted past once again, its strange murmuring sounding more insistent than before, and Kalypsa quickly snuck out behind it and returned to the hallway junction. She found another empty bedroom- this one with a small closet- and hid herself away inside it, sitting with her knees against her chest, trying to catch her breath and gather her wits. She looked down at her hands and realized she was still holding the little ragdoll in her hand; a tiny shimmer of moonlight gleamed against one of its button eyes, catching her attention. The shimmer seemed to grow and grow as Kalypsa stared...
And then she found herself elsewhere.
One small hand gripped the ragdoll, the other the cold steel bars of the makeshift cage. She could hear soft crying and realized it was coming from her. She looked to her right and saw a broad-shouldered, muscular Human man in dingy overalls, similarly caged, reaching out to her and telling her to calm down. Next to him in yet another cage was an older Human woman, dressed in a prim collared shirt, dress and cloak. The woman's expression was pained, and panic was evident in her eyes. "By the Light, Jonias, they're going to kill us all." "Calm down, Ms. Kruss, we'll get outta this. Emberlie, little Troll, stop crying. It'll be okay. I've got a plan." The two Humans quieted down as the single door opened and four Orcs in blood-red robes entered. One of them held a long staff with bizarre patterns cut into the wood; she watched as he dipped one end into a bucket full of what looked like blood and began drawing an intricate shape on the floor. When he finished, he raised a hand and pointed to the Human male. "Him first." Two of the other Orcs moved to the cage, wicked-looking short swords at the ready. One of them pulled back the pin and opened the latch of the cave- and grunted in surprise and pain as the Human kicked the door open, catching him in the stomach. The Human rolled out of the cage on his shoulder and sprang to his feet, one meaty fist swinging and catching the other Orc across the jaw, staggering him. "Ain't a Warlock that can beat me in a fistfight!" the Human shouted, rushing to the Human female's cage and forcing the latch open. "Run, Ms. Kruss!" he shouted, yanking the cage door open; as the woman scrambled to get herself out, the man turned. "C'mon, Emberlie, you too!" he shouted, running towards her. A mere half-dozen paces from the cage, the Human was caught from the side by a shoulder charge from one of the two still-standing Orcs, who swung his own sword in a tight arc. The blade cut clean through the man's head just above the jaw; blood spurted like a fountain as the body stumbled and fell. Some of the blood sprayed across the outermost line of the circular pattern on the floor. Bright red light spewed forth from the center of the pattern, making everyone in the room stop and look. "GAH!" one of the Orcs shouted. "The binding circle is distorted... redraw it, quickly!" "It's too late!" another called back. "Quickly, get the Troll and draw another circle of binding! If we sacrifice her we'll have enough power to seal the original circle until we can redraw it!" She could feel the air around her grow colder, and felt an ominous presence form in the middle of the room. The Orc who was running towards her cage stopped and turned. "Damn it, the demon is already crossing the Planes! We have to prepare a spell of material binding... if we can hold its physical body to something long enough, we can reform the original circle and enslave it properly!" Now she could see a pair of glowing eyes materialize in the midst of the glowing circle. The air kept getting colder and colder, as if whatever was coming was absorbing all the heat in the room. "It's not working!" one of the Orcs cried out. "Use more mana!" came the reply. "Tie it to the building itself if you have to!" The light intensified, bathing the entire room in the color of freshly-spilled blood. A deep rumbling shook the floor beneath her. "Don't worry, Dewdrop," she heard a soft voice say. "I'll protect you." Both hands clutched the ragdoll as the Orcs frantically waved their hands about, spheres of blackness forming and dissipating between them. "It's working!" one of them shouted. Then a deep, booming voice assaulted her ears. "FOOLS! YOU THINK TO BIND ME!? YOU KNOW NOT MY RAGE! IF I AM TO BE BOUND, THEN SO SHALL YOU ALL BE BOUND TO ME!" One of the Orcs screamed and cluched his head, dropping to his knees. Another followed suit, followed quickly by the other two; she could see those glowing eyes float upwards, seemingly sucked into the ceiling, their malevolent glow spreading through the plaster and paint. "No!" one of the Orcs shouted. "I can feel it tearing at my soul... no! NO!" She felt something twist inside her, as if an invisible hand were toying with her very being. It pulled, harder and harder, and she could feel her soul being drawn away from her body, towards that evil presence that now seemed to surround her, inside every brick and board of the building. "DEWDROP!"
Kalypsa gasped for breath, clutching at herself, needing a moment to reorient herself to where she was. She sat there in stunned realization, panting quietly, still staring down at the ragdoll in her hand.
"Ah unnerstan now," she murmured to it. Her escape, her survival, would not come about from stealth or cunning. The only chance she had now to escape the same fate as these unfortunates would be to correct a grevious wrong committed ten years ago.
She would have to set things right.
--
Da biggest room in da place. Dat gives meh two options... dis Dormitory C, or upstairs. Mitahs well check dis floor first.
Eyes peeled and head on a swivel, and with Dewdrop tied by its yarn ponytail to her belt, Kalypsa traversed the shadows back to the hallway junction, then took the last one she hadn't explored yet. This hall was somewhat shorter and held only a few bedrooms- as well as the entrance to the kitchen, which a thick trail of long-dried blood and a powerful stench kept her well away from. Thankfully, this time her movements went uninterrupted, and she made the doorway of the third dormitory without incident.
Apparently this dormitory had also doubled as a classroom. Folded cots and curtains were stowed away along the walls, and a number of desks were set in neat rows across the floor. Some of them were occupied by the twisted, withered corpses of the unfortunate orphans; their backs were turned to her, pale yellow glowing eyes focused on the gore-splattered chalkboard on the far wall. Next to it what seemed to be the remains of a tall Orc female stood next to it; by her side, hanging from a wicked meat hook that seemed to have just recently been stuck in the ceiling, was the headless and torn corpse of an Orc male- probably the same one whose head had served as a toy in the first dormitory. Kalypsa swallowed hard as she realized he had probably been the one to shatter the padlock on the cellar door, likely mere hours before her own arrival.
The Troll watched in revulsion as the Orc woman poked at the hanging corpse. It seemed as though she was trying to speak- though the gaping wounds in her neck and chest showed that she no longer had either a throat or lungs- and the children watched her intently as though they could hear her. The woman reached into the corpse's chest and tugged at one of its ribs; with a sickening wet snap, it broke free, and the undead horror held it up and pointed to it as if showing an example before shoving the entire thing down her gullet.
That was enough for Kalypsa; this obviously wasn't the place she was looking for. She edged her way back out of the ghoulish classroom and slowly crept back along the hallway, returning to the lobby and hiding herself in a shadow as she planned her next moves. Her timing was spot-on, for once; just as she settled herself against a wall, the Watcher drifted through the hallway she had just vacated. The Rogue watched as it methodically checked each room it came across. Lookin' fer meh, huh?she thought. Dun worreh. Ah ain't stayin much longah.
She eyed the dark, dusty staircase that lead to the next floor. Something tickled at her ears, just barely within her hearing range, competing with the beating of her heart. She paused a moment, then set one foot on the bottom stair.
taptaptaptapthunk
Kalypsa's breath caught in her throat. The sound was faint, echoing, and she wasn't entirely certain she'd actually heard it. After a moment she steeled herself and advanced a few steps.
taptaptap rattlerattle taptapthunk Wha da hells was dat?
taptap rattlerattletap thunk BANGthunk rattlerattle
Above. It was coming from above. The top of the stairway? The roof? She couldn't tell. Nor could she stop now.
thunkrattlerattle BANGthunk THUDrattlerattle
Something on the steps? She'd feel the vibrations. Wouldn't she? What was it? Where? Coming towards her, or she towards it? A deep breath, more steps taken.
rattlethunk THUDBANGWHAM WHAM thunkthunkrattle
A door at the top of the steps. Closed. A tiny spear of light jutting from the keyhole. The door wasn't moving. Was it? What was on the other side? Did the knob just turn?
THUDTHUDWHAMWHAMTHUDBANG BANGBANGTHUD
One dagger drawn. One empty hand raising to the doorknob. One way to find out what was beyond. Grasp, turn. Click.
Creak.
The noise stopped the instant the door opened. Kalypsa pushed the door, let it swing open, and stepped back, waiting for whatever it was to show itself.
Nothing. The door opened to a seemingly empty room awash in moonlight from a gaping hole in the roof. The Troll carefully stepped through the door, put her back to the wall in the deepest pocket of shadow she could find, and looked around.
Thick dust covered the entire floor, but she could make out several things. Blood stains, cages, rusted swords, and broad ruddy-red lines that formed the same summoning circle she'd seen in the vision. There was a strange, almost subliminal noise that permeated the air, a deep bass sound that for all the world sounded like something very large breathing.
Ah ain't a Warlohk, so ah ain't gonna be doin any rituals, she thought. So ah guess I gotsta dehstroy da circle somehow. Quehstion is... where do ah staht?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft rustle of cloth to her right. Something dark and cloaked shifted against the wall, something she had thought only to be a piece of furniture. It took a step forward.
"We smell... life..."
A voice like the whisper of death itself, echoed from the opposite side of the room, as two more figures like it advanced just inside the edge of the moonlight.
"Life is here... join us... join us now..."
The creature on her right bore nothing in its hands. The other two, however, each carried a rusted but still deadly-looking sword. She could see nothing of their faces because of the wide hoods of their cloaks, and their robes looked far more intact than anything else she had seen lurking through the building. They walked slowly, almost as if entranced, somehow leaving no footprints in the thick dust on the floor. Every step they took carried the clank of heavy chains with it even though their forms bore none that Kalypsa could see.
"Flames surround you, flames, nothing but flames, searing your flesh..."
"Torment and pain, eternal and forever, the laughter of demons..."
Tormented whispers melded and flowed together, their sheer wrongness setting the Troll's nerves on edge, as she slid along the wall towards the corner furthest away from them. Three on one was not her preferred odds, especially when the three were likely undead and aware of her presence... but she wasn't about to run away now.
The three robed figures reached the center of the room, stood there for a moment as if looking at each other, and then as one turned to face three different directions- one of them towards her. Then all three began walking forward with careful, measured steps, each matching the others perfectly.
Kalypsa had no intention of letting them get close to her. As soon as the one heading towards her was sufficiently away from its comrades, she drew another throwing knife from her bandoleer, took one step to the side and threw. Even as the knife flew through the air, she was moving towards the corner, ducking behind what seemed to be a tossed-aside table for cover.
The blade struck home in the creature's head with a loud "thunk", stopping it in its tracks and making it reel back for a moment. Its hood flew back from the impact, exposing its head to the Troll's gaze- or, more accurately, its skull. Pale white bone seemed to shine in the moonlight, and a set of wickedly sharp teeth formed a vicious, twisted permanent grin.
The instant the knife had hit the creature, the other two turned as if they had sensed the attack. All three of them gave out some sort of harsh, whispering moan and began moving towards her- including the one she had attacked, who seemed oblivious to the knife protruding from its forehead.
Another knife flew and took the hoodless one in the eye socket. All three of them flinched slightly and paused, searching for her, spreading out just a little and slowly moving forward... forming enough of a wall so that Kalypsa wouldn't be able to escape their notice and still maintain her stealth.
Da hells wit it, she thought, gritting her teeth. If ah gots ta go down... ah goes down LOUD!
She unlaced her "special" pouch and withdrew three small silver spheres from it. A soft click from each one as they were armed, and she held her arm out to her side, waiting until the creatures got just a little closer. The closest one jerked its head towards her, as if noticing something-
BOOMBOOMBOOM
The first was slightly off-target, catching the creature in the shoulder. The second and third were dead-on, though, hitting one in the chest and the last one directly in the face, blinding all three of them with their small but potent explosions. Kalypsa slid both of her daggers free and rushed forward, charging the center one- the closest armed one to her- and bringing both of her daggers down on its right arm, hoping to cut through the bone or at least knock its weapon free.
It was not to be. Even in death the creature was a skilled swordsman, and instead of resisting the impact of her blades, it let its arm move with the blow; the twin daggers sliced heavily into one of its two forearm bones, but did not cut through. Kalypsa saw its arm swing back and away from her, ducked down and leapt at it, landing her shoulder to its chest before it could regain its balance. It staggered and fell back.
Kalypsa spun on her heel and brought the hilt of one of her daggers up, smashing it into the grinning death's-head of the second armed creature. It jerked back slightly, and the Troll spun again, thrusting both daggers into the smoking hole in its robe over its shoulder, then pulling them apart like a wedge to try to shatter bone. There was some cracking, but even with the damage the explosive had caused, she just didn't have the leverage. With a snarl of frustration she jerked her daggers free and kicked the creature in the back, sending it reeling.
Bony fingers closed hard on her shoulder. The Troll reflexively brought her elbow back in a blow that connected with shattered bone; the third creature- already missing the upper left portion of its skull- stumbled as her attack sent a spiderweb of cracks through what remained. Kalypsa turned and brought her blades up to finish the job.
THWACK
The first creature had regained its feet and caught her on the side of the head with the hilt of its sword. Pain shot through her skull as she struggled to keep her feet and regain her balance, instinctively bringing a dagger up to block an attack. Just in time- the rusty sword flashed through the air, just barely deflected from her neck by her off-hand dagger, but the force of the blow knocked the weapon from her hand. It skittered across the floor and slid into the darkness.
Before it could bring its sword around to finish her off, Kalypsa landed a powerful kick to its chest that audibly snapped ribs. She'd trained in fighting the undead- you had to destroy whatever parts of their body were the greatest threat first- but her chances were slim in this situation. Still, desperation drove her on as she turned back to the second creature, watching for its blade.
Then a pair of bone fists hit her hard in the small of her back, driving the air from her lungs and taking her off her feet to land face-first in the dust. A still-booted foot drove down on her forearm, making her drop her remaining dagger and cry out in pain. Before she could recover, she felt the cold tip of a blade press between her shoulder blades, and she waited for the sword to skewer her.
"Hold," came a voice.
She looked up towards the center of the room. A fourth robed figure, this one holding the very same staff she had seen in the vision, walked towards them. Unlike the other three, it gave out no harsh whispers or spectral clanking. It stopped before her prone form, seeming to stare down at her as it tapped the staff against the floor.
"Let this one's soul feed our master."
Almost instantly, the sword was removed from her back and Kalypsa was roughly pulled to her feet. Her struggles proved fruitless as two of the creatures held her in place, and the third one stood behind her. The fourth came to a stop in front of her, holding the staff out horizontally in both hands, and began to chant in a deep, resonating voice; thin red glowing lines spread across its surface.
Then Kalypsa realized that she was casting a shadow on its chest, framed in yellow light. She turned her head to look over her shoulder and let out a soft groan of defeat. The Watcher and the headless mammoth stood just inside the doorway, staring directly at her- or at least she supposed so, as neither had proper eyes for her to judge by. Wunnerful, she thought. Ah get an audience fer mah sacrifice. Or ah get tah be da next meal.
She watched as the Watcher drifted forwards, causing the creature behind her to turn and look at it. Its shattered skull still gave off a faint haze of smoke as it stared at the floating abomination before it, which suddenly raised one clawed hand, preparing to strike. Kalypsa gritted her teeth, but refused to turn away, preferring to see her death coming. The wicked claws sliced through air-
-and into the shattered skull of the robed creature, destroying it completely.
Shock overwhelmed the Troll's mind, but not enough to keep her from acting when the two creatures holding her released their grip and advanced on the Watcher. She quickly stepped back as the creature on her right raised its sword and swung it at the floating corpse that had once been a kind Human woman.
With a loud thunk, the blade buried itself into the thick plank of wood that the large abomination still carried, just inches from the Watcher's head. How da heck is dat ting seein? the Troll wondered, manging to tear herself away from the spectacle for a moment to look around. Her eyes caught a small shape on the floor- the little Night Elf ragdoll, which had likely come loose from her belt when she'd been knocked off her feet. It sat in the pool of moonlight near the middle of the floor, seeming to watch the unfolding battle before it. Dewdrop is seein fer it, she realized.
As Kalypsa regained the shadows, she looked back to where the large headless creature was just now beating one of the robed skeletons into the floorboards as another stabbed it in the back fruitlessly. Behind them, lines of yellow dots streamed through the door; the remains of the children- including the one whose hand she'd removed- lined up along the back wall, all of them looking at her, dozens of glowing yellow orbs seeming to gaze into her very soul.
"Free us... please..."
"Make it let us go!"
"We want to go away, we don't want to be like this anymore..."
Something cold and metallic brushed against Kalypsa's heel. One of her daggers, where it had slid after she had lost her grip on it. She knelt down and took it in her hand, gripping it tightly as she turned to look at the robed creature holding the staff. It stood with its back towards her, gazing at the unfolding battle before it, as the Watcher's sharp claws cut through robe and bone with equal ease and the larger abomination's plank sent another creature flying into a wall.
Then the robed one with the staff raised one skeletal hand and spoke a word that made Kalypsa physically wince. Two bolts of sheer darkness shot from its palm and speared into the Watcher and the behemoth, making them jerk in seeming agony. The plank of wood fell from the behemoth's large hand and hit the floor with a loud thud. Both creatures reached out as if trying to attack the robed creature, but its bolts held them still.
"Can't have dat, now, can weh?" Kalypsa growled beneath her breath as she stole up on the creature. Its attention was on the two rebelling monsters before it, and it showed no signs of alertness to her as she made her way to its back and raised her dagger.
It let out an unholy scream as her blade sank through its neck, severing the spine. Its body jerked back, and its staff fell from its grip; the Troll sent it flying with a kick to the back, then knelt and grabbed the staff from the floor.
Immediately voices flooded her mind, but one was far louder than the others.
Free us, Troll! Free us from our foolishness! The summoning circle still binds the demon to this place and binds our souls and bodies to his will! The center of the circle is the key- disrupt the pattern there and send the demon back to the pits we called it from!
Given a plan, Kalypsa was unstoppable. But even as she turned towards the center of the room, what could only be described as a wall of pure evil slammed against her; beneath her, the lines on the floor glowed red, and the entire room seemed to rumble.
NO, TROLL. YOU SHALL NOT SEND ME BACK TO THE BURNING HELLS. BUT I WILL GLADLY ADD YOUR BODY TO MY PUPPETS HERE, AS I FEAST UPON THE ENERGIES OF YOUR SOUL!
It was like walking against a gale-force wind. But Kalypsa dug her feet in, gritting her teeth and holding the staff out before her, the runes upon it glowing brightly and seeming to act as a buffer against the forces lashing against her body. Step by step she advanced towards the center of the circle, which pulsed with a deep red light like some sort of heart.
NO, TROLL. NO! YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED!
Somehow, Kalypsa managed to laugh, raising the staff in both hands as she finally reached the center of the circle. "Considah dis yer eviction notice!" she shouted, driving the staff as hard as she could into the floor.
The hard wood dug a small groove in the softer, partly rotted floorboards, but that was enough. Blinding red light flooded up from where the staff hit, infusing the piece of wood and causing it to shatter with explosive force, sending the Troll's battered body flying through the air to land in a heap near one of the corners of the room. Kalypsa struggled her way to her feet and looked up, seeing a white light overtake the red, chasing it along the lines of the circle until the entire thing shimmered with pure white radiance. It held that way for a moment, then flared.
NOOOOOOOOOO!
A cacaphony of wails and screams assaulted Kalypsa's ears as the light blinded her, forcing her to crouch down and shield her eyes. A moment later, everything went abruptly silent and the light cut off; she rubbed her eyes to clear them and looked around.
All of the creatures who had been standing or fighting near the door now lay collapsed on the floor as if struck down. No light, sound or movement came from any of them. Wearily, Kalypsa got to her feet and gazed down at the remnants of the staff in the center of the circle. "It's ovah," she half-whispered.
Then one of the pieces of wood seemed to catch fire, smoldering lightly. Then another, and another. Flames leapt between them, spreading to the lines on the floor and traveling along them, moving as though they were something living. Kalypsa gasped as the flames rose higher and higher, spreading across the floor, threatening to surround her.
"Ah guess it ain't, yet..."
Unnaturally intense heat washed over Kalypsa's skin as the flames tracing their way around the summoning circle flared, already licking at the ceiling. She instinctively backed up, not wanting the fire to separate her from the doorway- but then something caught her eye. The Kaldorei ragdoll lay on its side a few feet away from her; she ran to snatch it up, but was cut off at the last moment by the spreading flames, almost catching her arm as she reached for it. She skidded to a stop and turned back towards the door, only to be blocked by another wall of flame as it sprang up. She grit her teeth, stepped back and prepared to leap through the flames.
Then something stomped through the flames and took hold of her shirt before she could react, bodily picking her up. She grabbed onto its withered arm for balance and caught the whiff of dust and ancient decay, and looked down to see the dead Orc teacher literally holding her over the flames and stomping its way through them. The fire licked at its dried flesh and the remnants of its clothing, but it didn't seem to notice as it held her over its head like a sack of turnips.
It took the corpse a moment to clear the flames, and was smoldering by the time it reached the doorway. It roughly dropped her to her feet and pushed her towards the door, pointing at it, then at her in an unspoken command to go. She ran to the doorway, grabbed hold of it, then turned back. "Thank yeh," she called out to the long-dead woman.
The corpse stood there for a moment, then brought one fist up to the hole in its chest where its heart had once been in a salute. Then, like a puppet with its strings cut, it collapsed in a heap, unmoving as the flames completed consuming the summoning circle and began to spread across the floor.
"Tahm tah go, girl," the Troll murmured to herself. She pushed away from the doorway and took the steps three at a time back down to the main floor, almost tripping over the last few steps and landing in a crouch at the base of the staircase. She glanced up and saw that the flames were already burning through the ceiling above her and dripping down the walls like something liquid. The dim blue-white light from the moon quickly gave way to flickering reds and yellows.
By the time Kalypsa had regained her feet and rushed into the lobby, most of the staircase and hallway she had vacated were aflame.
Gots one chanse aht dis! she thought, launching herself into an all-out sprint. Parts of the ceiling above her split open, dropping burning debris on the floor around her; an instant after she vaulted the main desk, a large piece of burning furniture crashed down from the room above and smashed into it. The Troll felt intense heat wash over her back and put even more effort into her steps.
She slipped one hand into her pouch and drew out the last two of her explosive spheres, arming them with a quick press of her thumb. She reared back and hurled them as hard as she could at the thick picture window to the left of the front door; though the demonic binding spell was probably gone by now, she didn't want to contend with the thick wooden door and its heavy locks. Then again, if her throw was off, the window might be thick enough to stop her as well...
The spheres hit opposite corners of the window frame and exploded, sending a spiderweb of cracks through the thick glass. Kalypsa let out a roar as she leapt at it, seeing her silhouette framed by bright firelight in each piece of glass, and slammed her shoulder into it at full speed.
The glass shattered beneath her weight, and she shot through the window as though fired from a Goblin cannon, with a bang that was easily as loud. She tucked herself into a shoulder roll and felt cold dirt beneath her as she hit the ground and rolled to her knees. The glass had cut her in several places, but nowhere deeply, and she quickly regained her feet and ran as fast as she could from the building.
Once she'd gotten far enough away to feel at least relatively safe, she stopped, turned and dropped to her knees, panting in exhaustion. She watched as flames engulfed the entire orphanage, far more intense than could be natural, reaching high into the moonlit sky and sending plumes of thick black smoke drifting upwards.
Then her vision warped once more, sending the burning building into a hazy distance.
Three adults- two Humans and an Orc- stood before a large group of children of a multitude of races and ages, a few infants being held by older children, in front of the intact orphanage and inbetween rows of apple-laden trees. All of them were smiling at her, speaking to her without words. "Thank you kindly, miss Troll, for setting us free."
"By the Light, good Lady, we are forever in your debt."
"Lok'tar, Rogue! Honor to you in this life and the next."
"So long, lady! Thank you!"
"Yeah, thank you so much!"
"Goodbye!"
Everything went white for a moment, then once more faded into the building, which was already starting to collapse in upon itself in a great roar of flame and cracking of wood. As she watched the building implode, she felt a presence to her left and turned.
The wavering, transparent apparition of a young Troll girl stood before her, holding the miraculously unharmed Kaldorei ragdoll in its arms. "Hi there!" the ghost said cheerfully.
Kalypsa stared at her for a moment. "Yah must be Emberlie," she murmured.
The girl nodded. "Yeah! Thanks so much for freeing us all from that place. That mean demon kept us around to play with, to keep us unhappy so he could feed on the bad feelings. I tried helping out the other people who came in, but they never understood what I was doing... and the demon made the bodies it could still control kill them all. When you came in, though, I hoped you might be different from those people." She looked down at the ground for a moment. "I'm sorry for having Dewdrop send you into that room with the children. I didn't think they'd see you."
The Rogue nodded. "'S aight, girl. Mah own fault."
The girl smiled, then looked up for a moment. "I have to go now," she told Kalypsa. "I can't take Dewdrop with me, though." She held out the ragdoll. "Would you take her? She'll look after you for me."
Kalypsa gave her a gentle smile. "Sure ting, girl," she answered, reaching out to take the doll. She held it against her chest. "You take care ah yerself in da next world, ya hear, girlie? Ya ovahdue tah get dere."
"I will!" The apparition waved to her as she faded from sight. "You stay safe too, lady! Goodbye!"
The girl's farewell seemed to echo around her as she vanished. The Rogue watched the spot where she had stood for a moment, then turned back to the burning building, holding Dewdrop in her arms. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she watched the tortured form of the orphanage collapse into flaming rubble, sending bright embers into the sky like souls escaping their torment.
"S'long, girlie," she whispered.
--
"The Shadow Council?" Muame set her drink down on the table with a deep frown.
Kalypsa nodded. "'S how ah see it, girl. Dem Orcs ah saw in da robes had ta be demon worshippahs. Dey dun chose dat poor orphanage tah do dere ritual in... all da poor kids an even da workahs was nothin but tools ta dem ta get more powah."
"By the Earth Mother." The Shaman shook her head and sighed, sending the earrings in her large ears tinkling against each other. "Those poor people... those poor children. You did the Earth Mother proud by releasing them, Kalypsa."
"Tanks, moo-girl. But ah ain't done yet."
"No?" The Tauren looked up at her. "What do you mean?"
"Ahm gonna make da Shadah Council pay, girl. What dey did... ah can't ever fergive dat. An dey'll do it again, someplace else- ahn more innocent people'll suffah fer it. So me, ahn mah knives, and Dewdrop heah... weh gonna do what weh can tah cut 'em down." She reached out with one hand and took Muame's large, three-fingered hand in it. "And ah'll need yer help, moo-girl," she continued. "One Rogue ain't gonna stop dem. One Rogue an one Shaman ain't gonna, neithah, but weh can sure give em a good hurtin."
"That we can." Muame put her other hand over Kalypsa's. "Count me in. You know how I am about helping a friend."
Kalypsa grinned. "Ah sure do."
THE END