Day 29
"Sport and repose lock me from day and night! To desperation turn my trust and hope! An anchor's cheer in prison be my scope! Each opposite that blanks the face of joy...meet what I would have well, and it was destroyed! Both here and hence pursue me lasting strife."
And her time remained imprisoned. The same four granite walls that had served as her seemingly permanent home were forever never changing. The same routine...visited twice a day with what looked unfit to be called food. And if they were feeling relatively quite chipped...a trip to the arena once or twice a week...however much entertainement they so desired. And she remained...locked in this neverending hell...quickly losing hope...and finding her spirit broken. She lucked out twice and managed to really impress Grimstone enough that he allowed her to see the light of day. Two days she was free...and most would jump for joy becase of that...but not her...not Stalara. It was more of a torture to her than anything else. Sure she got the chance to see people again...and actually take care of some loose ends while she was free. However, lurking in the shadows..she knew the Anvilrage clan watched her every move...and heard her every word...making sure she didn't pull anything. Stalara was fine with that though, she didn't care...the trture came when she lay her eyes upon the most beautiful sight she only could imagine.
Her eyes, her lips, her cheeks, her shapes, and her features...all drawn by loves own hand...Ayree...beauty, that transitory flower in Stalara's eyes. Was it her golden locks on ground? Her eyes of great sapphires? Teeth of hidden pearls or maybe the beautiful human's pale skin of silver sheen? Stalara truly could not figure out what it was that really drew her to this wonderful woman she had known for what seemed like forever. The woman that Stalara knew she owed the very air she breathed to, and the woman she would sacrfice her own life to save. Stalara always believed that Ayree's beauty could outshine the sun. To Stalara...Ayree was all perfection, all that the blooming earth could create...and the gaudy heavens could drop down and take back.
Stalara just leaned back against the odsidian wall of her cell...tears beginning to form in her eyes and streaming down her face. The torture was the fact that she knew that her reunion with Ayree would be shortlived...time would grow short and she would be returned to her damnation here in Blackrock Depths...where she would never get to see the light of day or her guardian angel of guidance ever again. She would either rot down here...or if she was lucky...she would suffer a quick and painless death in the arena. One slip up and it would be over. If Elune didn't frown upon it so, Stalara would have taken her own dagger to her throat to end the suffering once and for all. Instead...she found only solace in the cell with her tears.
"Tis deep sorrow, Ayree. My spirit grows dull and fein I would beguile this tedious day with sadness. Alas, my fear is strong...I'm gonna lose you Ayree...but even if I do die in here...my spirit will forever be with you." Her voice was beginning to crack.
Stalara remained in the corner of her cell embraced by the darkness as she continued to cry. She was giving up on life...and she knew it. Then a sight reality hit her as she drover her head into the wall.
"Get a hold of yourself girl." She said to herself. "Stalara isn't a sniveling little kid wanting her mommy. The Kaldorei are a proud race...don't allow self-pity to get you down. I'm a survivor...just like Ayree always said. What am I allowing myself to become!?"
Stalara didn't realize she had just spoke that last bit out loud until a raspy voice spoke to her through the wall.
"Hey...what's it take to get a little peace and quiet in here. Prisoners and wardens all yellin and shit?"
"My apolgies kind sir...I was unaware of the volume of my voice...or the fact that I wasn't alone in here."
The tears still streamed down her face, but she had seemed to have regained her composure a bit.
"Bah, it's quite alright milady. Trust me, I know how a place like this can seem to destroy a person's sanity. How long hve you been here anyway?"
"I...I...can't recall...to me...days and nights have all become one. I think...almost a month maybe."
"Wow...and I thought two days were bad. No wonder you're beginning to seriously crack."
"Two days?"
"Ha ha...sorry, must have been brought in while you were performing in their Ring of Law a couple of nights ago. My name is Sir Dietrich Cain of the lost kingdom of Stromgarde. And you are?"
"My name is Stalara Moonglaive of Shadowglen."
"Ah, a night elf. Well Lady Moonglaive, it is a pleasure to meet you."
"Please, just call me Stalara, Sir Dietrich."
"Hah, very well, if we are gonna be formal, you may just call me Dietrich. Not that titles mean anything down here anyway."
"Indeed. Well, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Sir Die...I mean...Dietrich."
"Heh, the pleasure is mine Stalara. At least you are no longer alone down here. I'll do whatever I can to help your sanity...I may not be Ayree, but I'll do my best to help you cope."
Stalara seemed surprised. "You heard all that?"
With a slight chuckle, "Heh, you weren't exactly quiet about it. I think even Marshal Windsor heard that. She must be one hell of a lady to make someone break down like you did over her. I always took the Kaldorei as a proud race, no offense."
With a slight smile, "None taken. Yeah...Ayree is somethin."
"That much I have gathered."
"She has I know not what of, greatness in her looks and of high fate that awes me. Within the oysters shell uncouth the purest pearl may, just like within Death's cold hand hides the purest gem in my life."
"Wow...you speak with such rythm as a poet when you speak of this young lady. Almost makes me jealous. You feel something for that woman that most people have thought long abandoned the War ravaged landscapes of Azeroth and Kalimdor. I'm glad to see that there still are those who still hold dearly onto that emotion. What you have for her is far better than any treasure you'll obtain in Molten Core or Zul Gurub. You need to hang on to that with every bit of essence you call life and cherish it. For in all truth, that treasure is what will actually help you survive this seemingly endless hell. Does she too have these feelings for you...or is she even aware of how you feel about her?"
"I...I...honestly couldn't tell you."
"Have you ever told her?"
"Well, not in so many words. She's my beloved mentor."
"Heh...my mentor was destroyed by Deathwing..."
"I'm sorry..."
"No no milady, no worries. He died protecting his beliefs. Something all us Paladins look forward to doing. That is the death we all hope to have. Anyway, enough about all that. What got you locked up in here in the first place?"
"Wow...where to begin? Well, it all began about a month ago when..."
To Be Continued...
