Day 13
"Darkness...emptiness...despair...distress...my only companions..."
Wind roared with the wrath of a wounded God as the granite gateway of the Detention Block shattered. Ancient air, hot with subterranean strength, flowed from the broken portal, and age-old volcanic dust rose around them like a vengeful, resurrected ghost.
Raising a hand against the heated blast of the Detention Block, the priest glared into the darkness that seemed to absorb their torches with stygian solidity. He glared as the world around them accepted the roaring blackness, a roaring blackness that continued for a long haunting moment rushing, releasing, breathing. Until...silence.
Stillness.
Holding a torch tight in a sweating fist, Father Rurik, of the Anvilrage clan, faintly heard hushed, frightened words behind him and felt his own arms and legs trembling. It had been a while since he had come into the depths of Blackrock. And he still found it very unnerving even after al these years of being the designated priest to speak with the prisoners. He knew a man of his power had nothing to worry about...he never came down here with out at least ten Anvilrage Wardens and a medic backing him...but still...the unease remained.
Rurik saw Kaldorei (Night Elf) letters chiseled hatefully into the dark iron door of a cell.
"This must be the one. We must be careful...she is a sly one."
Only a couple of weeks had passed since the newest prisoner had been brought here. A lithe, slender, purple haired...pink skinned night elf was brought in here only a couple of weeks prior. Only reason that she wasn't dead already was because Theldren and High Justice Grimstone wanted to keep her around for entertainment purposes in the arena.
"They must be growing bored of her...cause I'm never brought in until their execution is near." Rurik chuckled to himself.
Rurik motioned for Warden Tordek to open the cell door. Without so much as a blink, Tordek done as he was told. From his belt he removed a black key, no doubt made of dark iron, and put the key into place. With one twist of the wrist...the lock snapped free with a loud clatter, breaking the silence of the depths. Two wardens quickly took post on either end of the opening as Rurik stepped into the small cell with his torch in hand.
To Rurik's utter dismay...it was empty...or so it seemed. He knew better...even before the two post guards fell over dead with throwing axes impaled in their sternums. Quickly the rest of his escorts ran in weapons drawn, but Rurik halted them.
"Awe, isn't that cute...the stupid little night elf thinks she's a warrior...hidin in the shadows...thinkin she's untouchable. Come now dear Stalara...do you actually think you're luck will hold out against all of us?"
From the darkness, a sensual, yet menacing voice spoke.
"Keep laughing Rurik...while you can?"
"While I can...heh...is that a threat?"
"It's not a threat...IT'S A Promise!! I'm gonna slit you from gullet to gut!! Then we'll just see who's laughin!!"
Rurik could contain his laughter no longer.
"Such stupidity...but that's to be expected from youth like you."
"I'll show you youth...DIE!!!"
Before Stalara even had a chance to break her stealth, Rurik held up his hand and a blast of fire erupted from the ground...charring her skin and fraying her garments as she found herself blasted into the unforgiving wall of her new home. Her sword and dagger both clattered to the ground as she crumpled over.
"...Holy...Fire..." she managed to mutter.
"Ha ha ha. I'm impressed...you seem to have done some studying in your time. Restrain her."
Without a moments hesitation, the Anvilrage wardens had her pinned against the wall.
"Put her in the chair and tie her up. We don't want her to get any ideas as we have our little...interrogation."
"Her weapons Father?" Tordek asked.
"Toss them in the corner with the rest of her belongings. She'll need them later when they summon her to the arena again." Rurik replied.
"Yes Father." Tordek done as he was told as the final knots of Stalara's bondages were tied.
Father Rurik took a seat upon one of the Wardens' backs as they got down on all fours so Father Rurik would be as comfortable as possible for the remainder of his visit.
Rurik stared into the hate filled eyes of Stalara with a grin on his face. He grabbed her chin with his hand and sharply turned her head from side to side. Stalara tried not to wince in pain, but the torture and abuse she had endured for the last 13 days was too much for even a seasoned rogue such as herself to handle. Her once beautiful featured were now bruised…scarred…and worn. Regardless…she kept her reflexes and fighting prowess up. One little mistake would be all it would take for her death to come swiftly as she battled whatever High Justice Grimstone could scrounge up to watch her battle for his enjoyment. Most would have already given up on life…and let the ice cold fingers of death take them away from their mortal shell. Maybe that's what Grimstone wanted her to do…give up and die…but Stalara was not a quitter…nor would she let these…bastards…win. If Death wanted her that bad…he was gonna have to work harder than this. Stalara couldn't help but chuckle slightly at this thought.
Stalara was quickly snapped out of her slight retreat as a sharp pain knocked her out of it. It was the backhand of Rurik's gloved hand. He smiled as her angry eyes darted up to stare into his coal black eyes.
"Awe…I'm so sorry dear Stalara…it seemed as though you were enjoying yourself. I just couldn't bear to sit back and see that."
Stalara spit blood into the face of Father Rurik. His laughter rumbled throughout the dark halls of the Detention Block as he backhanded her again…this time harder. Stalara spit a tooth onto the ground before him.
"Now that wasn't very nice Stalara. I'm just tryin to…hehe…talk to you."
Blood was quickly coating her once youthful face as she spoke with clenched teeth, "Go to H…"
Another backhand as Rurik could contain his bellowing laughter no more.
"Now now…there will be no cursing in the presence of me. The Gods of Shadowforge would not appreciate that very much."
"What…do you want…from me Rurik?"
"Haha, nothin at all."
"Then…why are you…wasting my time?"
Stalara couldn't help but let out a yelp as his hand crashed across her face again.
"Au contraire. This is MY time Stalara. Not yours. Your time ended when you got caught on the Dark Iron Highway. Tell me, what possessed a smart night elf, well, I thought a smart night elf, like you to attempt to infiltrate Shadowforge City…by yourself. I always gave the Kaldorei more credit than that."
"And why should I tell you anything. My race is of no concern to you."
Stalara flinched by instinct, expecting Rurik to strike her again, but to her surprise, it never came.
"It's not of my concern…but you have to admit…heh, it was pretty stupid. Not only did you dare venture into the Blackrock Depths…but you came alone. Did you honestly think your art would protect you here?"
Stalara just kept burning a hole through him with her bloodlust eyes.
"Heh, it takes more than stealth and cheap shots to survive in this Hell, honey!"
Father Rurik motioned to Tordek to hand him the pouch he had been carrying that Stalara hadn't noticed till then. She recognized it almost immediately however. It was one of her Runecloth bags she had been carrying when she had been captured. Rurik opened it and spilled out the contents within it before her bound feet. She stared at the Core of Elements and Elemental Fires that lay in the pile at her feet. Her attention was quickly averted as Rurik once again began to speak.
"This is what you came for…our Core of Elements…our Elemental Fires. Were they really worth all this…all this pain you have endured here? I mean…come on, do you have a mage friend or something that needed our cores to tailor somethin? If so, you must really love her…or somethin."
With that statement, Stalara finally broke her silence.
"Friend…bah…I have no friends. A lowly Rogue like me…nobody trusts me…always afraid I'm gonna slit their throat or steal their coin purses. They probably don't even notice I'm gone…just another cutpurse off the streets."
It pained Stalara to say such harsh words. She knew she had friends…but she didn't want to give the Anvilrage Clan anymore ammunition to use against her to continue to attempt to break her down. She had been here a long time…and she knew that Rurik would make a comment toward the fact no one had come to save her in these last two weeks she had been trapped here in this Hell.
"Hehe, I'd believe it. You've been left here to rot and die with the rest of the scum down here who tried to play hero."
Rurik's stagnant breath was finally getting to her. He had been down here with her too long…talking too much. The smell almost made her wretch, but she managed to keep her composure, but due to the loss of blood…she felt herself getting drowsy…slipping out of consciousness.
"Come on Tordek and the rest of you. We've had our fun for the night."
Rurik finally got up from his place upon the Warden he had been sitting atop while chiseling away at Stalara's spirit. The rest of the Wardens fell into place as Father Rurik began to exit the cell. With what little bit she could muster…Stalara spoke once more through her cracked and blood encrusted lips.
"Hey Rurik."
"What do you want wench?"
Through an eerie sense of calmness that even made Rurik's knees buckle, she said one final thing.
"When I get out of here..hehe…I'm gonna kill you first…"
And then only darkness as visions of better days swam through her head…days with Ayree by her side…her only retreat…and her savior…Ayree…