Mana wyrms.
I hate mana wyrms. Really, in my defense, who doesn't? Saanel was always complaining about them before he left. Their slick, undulating bodies twisting though the air and their giant blue eyes creep me out. I'm so glad I trained to be a hunter, because I don't have to go anywhere near them to kill them. My bow works just fine, thank you.
Taking aim at one of the revolting creatures that have desecrated my land, I load an arrow. I pull the string back and let it fly. Silvery blue blood spews from the wound, staining the grass beneath the mana wyrm from which it spilt. It hisses and flies towards me, chattering its teeth angrily the whole way. Briefly, im reminded of a child throwing a fit for not getting its way.
I quickly let another arrow loose at the mana wyrm, and it dissipates into the air, leaving only a blue glowing congealed ball of magic, that will eventually scatter and fade, to plop softly onto the grass. Running over to examine it, I sigh in disappointment. It didn't leave behind an arcane sliver.
"No good, Kornock" I murmur to the golden dragonhawk that's floating up and down with the rhythm of his wings next to me. He clicks his teeth in exasperation. We've been at this for over an hour and are still short one. I'm collecting them for someone at the Sunspire. He said he'll give me thirty silver coins for them. To me, it's still a lot of money, but I know that thirty silver coins is nothing when trying to buy good armor or supplies. Soon enough, thirty silver coins will be meaningless next to the thirty gold coins I'll be paying for a pair of gloves at the auction house. Traveling is expensive, and I don't yet have the money it would take to leave the Isle and live.
I take out mana wyrm after mana wyrm, my disgust with them not lessening any as I do so. Finally, I manage to get ahold of another arcane sliver. I'm so overwhelmed with my success that I jump in the air and let out a victorious cheer. I draw the eyes of a few nearby mage apprentices who look like they're out hunting lynxes, but I really can't bring myself to care.
"Let's go Kornock!" he looks up at me curiously from the ball of congealed magic he was sniffing at. "To give these to the guy who told me to collect them" I explain, moving my arms in circular motions in front of me jokingly, hoping he'll get the message. He clicks his teeth happily after a moment and follows me back to the Sunspire.
I've had Kornock since he was an egg. At the age of twelve, all hunters get an egg, and we name the dragonhawk before they hatch and they are bonded to us. To hunters, our first pets are always our very best friends, as well as the pack leader among any other pets we acquire. We're still a bit shifty on communication. Apparently we don't connect as well as the other hunters and pets. You would think that after ten years we'd have fixed that problem, but apparently not.
I turn in the slivers, collect my pay, and head off to the other side of the Sunspire where a man hails me and tells me about the wraiths at the Falthrien academy. His hair is black and long, held back in a single low ponytail. He's quite handsome, but compared to Saanel he's the most hideous beast ever to be called a blood elf. His voice is low and smooth, enticing me as he speaks. He's a task giver, someone who gives pointers to young blood elves and directs them to different places and has then collect things or kill things or go through certain trials to prepare them to leave the Isle. Killing wraiths at the Falthrien academy is a common task to acquaint new blood elves to elementals without mass.
"A wraith is a being formed from the feelings that sink into a person's surroundings when they're killed by magic, usually tragic sadness, despair, or misery, although murder is much more sinister, never failing to create a tainted wraith. The Falthrien academy is swarming with them," he points eastward. "Your task is to exterminate upwards of five wraiths, and one or more tainted wraiths." He gives me a bit more information on the academy and what I'll find there, and then goes on to give me incentive. I'll get sixty silver coins and a nice new bow for this. I head off with enthusiasm for my reward. On my way I stop a traveling merchant and sell her my old pair of boots. I got a new pair recently, warmer and sturdier, and the old ones have been taking up space in my bag; even though its enchanted to be bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, it can only hold so much. I only get a few copper coins, but they all add up. I already have the equivalent of three gold coins, and then some. It's a start, at least.
The Falthrien academy is… interesting. I don't know the history of it, but all young blood elves have to go in and kill some wraiths before they're allowed to leave Sunstrider Isle. I'm standing at the entrance now. It's grand, beautiful, and everything expected of the blood elf engineers. Truly, we are a great race. Kornock is fidgety and less graceful than usual. I don't think he likes the idea of wraiths. I, myself, am a bit apprehensive. I haven't killed anything yet that's not… physical.
I take a deep breath, and stride in.
The first wraith is waiting for me, just wandering aimlessly about a foot off the floor. I wasn't prepared for how strangely graceful these things would appear. It's like it's in a kind of mourning, miserable, ethereal trance. I'm enchanted by its beauty. The spell's broken when Kornock fly's in front of my face to my other side. That's another thing we're working on. I can't have him obscuring my vision when we're in potential danger.
I string an arrow, and give Kornock a nod. He swoops upon the wraith viciously. It shrieks, and it's horrid. It has more than one voice, and it sends chills down my back. The misery, the hopelessness, and all the tragic agony is clearly conveyed in that one sound. I almost feel bad when I shoot the arrow, weaving in a bit of magic with a spell called serpent sting, or something like that. I don't care what they're called, as long as they work; the arrow itself does no damage to the wraith, its just to ferry the magic. I shoot three more, and it wails again before congealing into a white ball of magic that drops to the stone floor. Smoke, or magic mists, I'm not quite sure which, waft up from it lazily. I finally become aware of my labored breathing and erratically beating heart. I didn't realize it had spooked me so badly.
"Come on" I say heavily and Kornock follows me deeper into the academy. I go up an open walkway to a higher level. It's lined with floating blood red crystals, suspended by magic. This whole place reeks of magic; it's weighing me down because I haven't built up any resistant to certain forces. Of course, as a blood elf, I am naturally resistant to arcane forces, but I can only hold out for so long. I should do what I came to do and get out of here as quick as I can.
Despite my resolution to hurry, I find myself slowing to admire the craftsmanship. I can't help it, blood elves are also naturally attracted to beauty, thus our most of our culture and architecture and our attentiveness to out appearances. It's also our greatest weakness, though. Saanel always told me that our vanity would one day be our downfall. This place is absolutely amazing. Crimson carpets, gold embroidery and meticulous metal work, the crystals and just the way the entire place ties together makes me want to stay and look at it forever. Sadly, I have a task to complete. I need to find more wraiths and a few tainted wraiths. I press on.
Off the sides of the walkway, I can see the lake the academy rests over. It looks a lot longer down than I know it really is, and I tremble at the thought of my slender body being thrown off, plummeting mercilessly down to hit the water with bone breaking force. It doesn't even take much to break a blood elves bones. We're a lot more delicate than the other races allied with the horde, especially a female like me. I swallow nervously, my mouth suddenly dry. I didn't know I was afraid of heights, but now that I do, I want to get out of here all the quicker.
I finally reach a platform, where three wraiths are wandering listlessly around. Without giving myself time to examine them, I rapidly fire arrows at them. Kornock does his bit, and by the time we're done, the floor is littered with a fine dust. It's soul dust. Kornock flies closer to the ground and sweeps it into a little pile with wind force from his wings. I manage to get most of it into the small brown pouch I carry on my belt. I can sell this as its used commonly in enchantments.
I brush my long light auburn hair back over my shoulder where its spilled over my petite frame and continue to another platform, glancing back once or twice to see if Kornock is still following me. He's not fully grown yet, and dragonhawks are drifty as hatchlings and adolescents. If he sees something shiny he'll wander off and get lost and eaten by something bigger than him and I'll get in a sticky situation and get myself killed. I've heard tales of hunters who've lost their pets, and none of them end pretty.
This platform is empty. I'm about to take another walkway to wherever it goes, but as I turn to take it something moves out of the corner of my eye. I whip around and am faced with a tainted wraith. It's not enchanting like the regular wraiths, instead its dark and sinister, glowing with evil magic. Its wrists are shackled with gleaming, heavy iron manacles. I can practically feel the wrath radiating off of it. This was not formed of a tragic death of sickness or wounds, this was a wraith made of murder. It surveys us for a moment, before deciding it wants to feast on Kornock's soul for lunch.
Kornock makes a valiant effort to fight back, flying above its reach and swooping in to bite at it. I can tell he's trying to give me an opportunity for a hit, and I string back an arrow for the nth time since I've entered the academy. One arrow with a bit of magic weaved in doesn't do it though, and I'm not experienced or powerful enough to use more magic or different, more advanced spells. It turns on me.
Kornock furiously dives in front of it, trying to recapture its attention. That's the first thing pets are trained to do: hold a targets attention so their hunter can kill it. It an effective system, since to wield a bow hunters have to forgo the heavy or bulky armor and shields that warriors and paladins prefer. The only drawback is that pets often feel like they've let their hunter down if they can't occupy a target then tend to be more likely to make mistakes and get depressed.
Despite his efforts, the wraith is focused on me. I only manage to get in one more magic arrow before it hits me, and I go flying. All my fears of falling are suddenly brought back. My stomach lurches, my eyes go wide, and I feel like I'm about to bring back up my breakfast, until I collide with something solid and tumble with it to the ground. I find myself on top of another blood elf. Without time to think with the tainted wraith perusing me, I leap to my feet. I'm quite agile when the occasion calls for it. A few steps running in a random direction, and I snap back around and loose another magic arrow at my opponent, and finally, it's gone. All that's left its shackles and a mysterious white shard that glows with an evil luster. I picked it up. It's…strange. I decide to ask the man who sent me here about it.
I allow myself to relax. I approach the blood elf that saved me, intentionally or not, from flying off the platform and into the lake below. He's just sitting up, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck under his long, feathery dark brown hair that's pulled over one shoulder in a ponytail. His face is delicate, and his eyes are an unusually bright shade of green. He looks winded. I imagine I hit him pretty hard; I do weigh 90 pounds, after all, even though that's abnormally light for a female blood elf. I know I hit him hard enough to send his shield and sword flying, because they're lying some twelve feet to the right from where we landed.
"Sorry about that" I say as I sling my bow over my shoulder and offer him a hand up. He takes it with a smile, only to pull me to the ground as he uses the opposing force to pull himself to his feet. I land flat on my back and get the wind knocked out of me. Kornock chatters angrily and goes to nip at his ears and rip out a few of the golden hoops he's pierced them with. "Lay off 'im, I deserved it" I grunt. I sit up sorely; that really hurt. I stand and brush myself off. Kornock weaves in between my legs a few times and comes to hover gracefully over my shoulder. I get the feeling he's trying to show off. The other blood elf addresses me.
"The name's Kamira, and sorry about that but you did deserve it" Kamira is such a beautiful name. He offered his hand. I look at it warily.
"Forgive me if I'm hesitant to shake your hand. I'm Gathelle and this is Kornock." He laughs good naturedly at my reply, letting his hand fall back to his side. Its nice to meet another blood elf. Most don't have the time or motivation to make friends, and ususally mind their own business.
"Well it's nice to meet you, Gathelle. I've never heard that name before, what are its origins?" he asks as he goes to retrieve his sword and shield.
"I have no idea. Thank you for saving me from going over the edge back there. Are you here to kill wraiths?"
"No problem. Yes, I assume I'm here for the same reason as you. Care to work together?" I agree, and we set off farther into the academy. Soon, I discover that Kamira is a warrior, although it should have been evident by the shield he carried. It's no more than a battered buckler, but its effective for the level of combat we novices engage in. he's amazingly effective, occupying the wraiths while I shoot arrow after arrow at them. Kornock, when not trying to win the wraiths attention by a series of extremely annoying nips bites and growls, flies low to the ground close to my ankles, sulking. He thinks he's been replaced. I chuckle and dig a cutlet of meat, fresh blood still dripping from it, out of a special leak-proof bag tied to my belt and toss it to him. He perks up immediately and swoops to catch it. When I look up from him, Kamira is staring at me strangely. I forgot that most blood elves don't eat meat.
"What" I ask teasingly, "never seen a hunter before?" he pales a bit.
"I've just never seen one feeding their pet." He looks slightly sickened. I was too, at first, and refused to touch the bloody meat that I was supposed to feed my dragonhawk, but eventually Kornock's cries of hunger forced me to get used to it. Every morning for the past ten years I've cut up fresh meat for him; I got over my squeamishness quickly.
We eventually finish what we came to do and spend the next few hours or so playing twenty questions while we try to find a way out of the academy.
"What's your favorite color?" I ask.
"Pale yellow, like the petals of krell flowers. Yours?" I smile.
"Rich, dark crimson, like blood. Rumsey Rum Black Label or Pinot Noir?"
"Ah, that's difficult, although I'm going to have to say I'd take Dwarven White Ale over both." That's a very heavy drink, compared to what we blood elves usually drink. Our liquor is very light, usually something like Elderberry Wine, or Orange Brew, that even our children are allowed to enjoy. Drinks like White Ale are rarely seen this far north in the Eastern Kingdoms.
"Dwarven White Ale? Where'd you get that?" he smirked, as if he knew something I didn't.
"I know where to look. What's your favorite childhood memory?" it takes me a moment to recall it. It's been so long that the memory is a little fuzzy around the edges and the details are a bit blurred, but it's important to me and I refuse to let it go. You'd think that it's so important that it would be burned into the inside of my skull, but that's only in stories. In real life, memories fade, and this one's no exception. I want to portray it right, so I take yet another moment to string a few words that I feel properly represent it together.
"Well, when we were little, Saanel and I were picking flowers, the most gorgeous ones we could find, and we got tired and sat to rest in the shade of a tree. Saanel fell asleep and I wove a crown out of the flowers and put them on his head. When he woke up he was the happiest blood elf in the Isle. I swore I'd never forget it, and still I cling to it in hope I'll maybe get to see him again."
"Who is Saanel?" Kamira asked curiously.
"My adoptive older brother. He left aid the war effort a few years ago and didn't come back for the Christmas holidays last year, so I'm going to go find him and give him a good smack upside the head for scaring me. He's my reason to get stronger; he's my whole world." Kornock nipped my ear. "Okay! Okay! Him and Kornock!" I revised under my dragonhawks mock wrath. I decide it's time to redirect the conversation. "How many siblings do you have?"
"Eight" he answers.
"Eight?! You have eight siblings?"
"Five older sisters and three older brothers." I'm astonished. Blood elf children are rare, and it's even rarer for a blood elf to have a sibling born of the same parents. Usually blood elves have two or three adopted siblings, at most. Saanel and I are a perfect example. Sixteen years ago Saanel's adoptive father-figure adopted me and we were together every day until he left for the war two years ago.
"You're the youngest?" I inquire. He nods.
"Two of my sisters and one of my brothers are mages, one sister and brother are priests and my other two sisters are warlocks. One of my brothers is a paladin trainer in the Undercity." He went on to tell me how he wanted to be different from his siblings and that he chose to be a warrior because he'd never really had a sense of self preservation, so it made him perfect for the role.
He reminds me of Saanel, and how he used to say he was the perfect paladin, how I would be the perfect hunter and we would make the greatest team the whole of Azorath had ever seen. But that was before he left, and before I fell ill. Now, I'm not sure if I'll ever see him again, or if I'll even make it off the Isle. Even if I do make it, he could already be dead.
"-thelle? Gathelle?" I suddenly realize I've stopped walking and Kamira is waving his hand in front of my face in an attempt to snap me back to reality. My ears are sore where Kornock has been nipping at them, and he's tugging insistently on the hem of my cloak.
"Sorry" I apologize.
"What's wrong?" Kamira asks.
"Nothing." I start walking again and try to pass it off, but Kamira is as stubborn as a lynx kitten determined to catch a feral tender sapling.
"That wasn't nothing, Gathelle. You were completely fazed. You couldn't see the look of absolute misery and longing on your face. It was scary." He tries to grab my arm and stop me from walking. Without thinking I whip around and lash out. He backs off hurriedly, holding his shoulder where I struck. In an instant, I regret it. I'm glad he somewhat managed to dodge, because the blow was aimed for his face. He looks slightly betrayed, and I think I've ruined our new friendship, but then he smiles. I'm caught off guard.
"Right," he says. "That's your business, then."
"I'm so sorry!" I squeak, because really, that's all it can be called. It like a weak, shrill, squeak. I hate it when I do that. I rush to his side to examine his shoulder. I push up his sleeve and find an already purpling bruise. That's just great. "I really am sorry, Kamira." I say I little more normally.
"It's all good" he says. "I shouldn't have pried. But really, it was scary to see you like that. It was like your whole world was coming apart." We start back on our way out of the academy again.
"Yeah…" I'm a bit unsettled by that. To show that I really am sorry about what it did, I invite him over for dinner at my house.
"I've got nothing better to do tonight" he says.
By now we were getting close to where we came in. Kornock sweeps joyfully out into the open air, narrowly avoiding being grabbed by an annoyed feral tender. He is overjoyed to be free of the oppressive force of arcane magic. I can feel it too, the air is lighter, and it's easier to breathe. We head off towards the Sunspire. It's starting to get late in the evening, and the sun is casting brilliant shades of red and orange into the sky. I start thinking about the evening meal I'll be sharing with Kamira tonight. Maybe Jyan will still have some fresh baked cranberry bread from this morning. I still have half a chicken from yesterday that I could put on the bread with cinnamon honey. My stomach growls at the thought.
At the Sunspire, Kamira and I collect our rewards. My new bow isn't in much better condition than my old one, but it's lighter, springier and easier to carry. I almost forget to turn in the shard, but at the last second I dig it out of the depths of my bag and hand it over, much to the delight of the task giver. Apparently his wife studies dark arcane magic and has been looking for something like this. We also go visit a vendor, where I exchange the soul dust and my old bow for coin and Kamira sells a small package of herbs he collected before running into me at the academy.
By the time Kamira and I finally finish our business at the Sunspire, its dark, and we trek back to my house exhausted and in silence, only stopping at Jyans bakery where I purchase one of the last loafs of cranberry bread. I fish my key out of my bag and unlock the door. To say my house is clean is an understatement. The place is immaculate, except for a fine layer of dust over most of the surfaces. I'm rarely home, and really the only rooms I use are the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. The spare bedroom that used to be Saanel's, the small living room and the back porch stay untouched.
Kornock immediately flies into the bedroom, where he no doubt curls up on my pillow and falls asleep. I let him go. I'll just shove him off onto another part of the bed and reconquer my pillow when I retire for the night. I give Kamira a quick tour and set about preparing dinner. I make chicken and cinnamon honey sandwiches. It's one of Saanel's favorite things to eat. Kamira seems a little hesitant about eating, but with a little encouragement, he soon finds out just how delicious chicken is.
"Is this your first time eating meat?" I ask. Usually only hunters eat meat, because of their pets. Most other blood elves are sickened by it.
"Yes, it is. Its tastes nothing like I thought it would."
"Just wait until you taste Staghorn meat." His face drains of all color. "Too soon?"
"Yeah" he says shakily. I laugh.
"Maybe we'll put that one on hold then." Eventually I bring out some Orange Brew, and by the time the bottle's empty we should start thinking about going to bed. Instead, we entertain ourselves by tossing blackberries in the air and watching Kornock, who came out of the bedroom a little after I brought out the Orange Brew, dive to catch and eat them. It's late by the time I'm seeing Kamira out the door. We agree to meet up tomorrow to train, since task masters don't give out tasks on Sundays.
I go to clean up after dinner, and then crawl into bed after shedding my clothes. Kornock curls up next to me and chatters a bit before drifting off quickly. I stay up a bit longer, watching him and thinking about Saanel. It's been so long since I've seen him, but I'm working on finding him. I won't give up on the hope he's still alive. Finally, I let sleep crash over me like a black wave and welcome the reprieve from reality it brings.