Faelyn's leather boots crunched on the dead leaves that were beneath her feet as she heard spiders hissing in the forests that were both sides of the path. Ghostlands sure isn't like home, Faelyn remembered the beautiful city of Darnassus with the tranquil waters and the gentle breeze. The thought of home made the walk slightly more enjoyable, the feeling of dread still stayed within her gut however. There were rumors that Eversong Woods was a beautiful place to visit with the vibrant reds and shining golds, but she had never seen it. Her mind drifted into a daydream where she could see herself walking the paths of Eversong and looking at the shades of gold and red that fluttered in the trees. The chilling breeze reminded her of where she really was, these twisting paths never seem to end.
She glanced around to see many other sentinels marching along beside her, some were younger than her. They had been sent to Ghostlands to set up camp and spy on the blood elves for any attack plans against the Alliance. Each one looked deep in thought with the grim expression on their face, similar to her's. Maybe they were thinking the same, maybe they understood the feeling of dread that they may never go home again. This was a fool's mission, after all. Her face fell with the image of her city being destroyed and her people murdered. Faelyn sighed and looked ahead again, the constant looking down was starting to make her feel dizzy.
The thought of the battle that loomed ahead sparked painful memories in Faelyn's mind. Elain had been called out to battle and heal fallen comrades, but she never returned. Faelyn blinked back the tears that were stinging her silver eyes as she remembered seeing Elaine's mother sob at the thought of her daughter's death. Her father stood there with his hand on the shoulder of his sobbing wife. Faelyn was desperate to see her friend return from battle, where she'd run up to her and hug her as she stepped off of the ship, that's how it was supposed to be! A slight nudge from a fellow sentinel broke her thoughts as she went back to thinking about the mission they were on. Elain is gone now, time to forget.
"Tranquillien is not far ahead, be alert for any guards!" Faelyn could hear the leader of the group shout from up front, her voice sounded stern but with a hint of fear. One by one, the sentinels started to fade into stealth as the faint outlines of buildings could be seen in the foggy distance. Faelyn's eyes darted from tree to tree to make sure that the group wouldn't be caught off guard, she was ready for this. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins at a racing speed, it increased with each step she took closer to the Sin'Dorei town.
As the group approached the small town, guards could be seen standing proudly at the gates. They all wore the red tabards of Silvermoon and held shining gold weapons in their hands. They looked like statues with their proud and confident stances, their green eyes alert and their expressions serious.
All blood elves were proud, of course. Faelyn narrowed her gaze with concentration as comrades started to break stealth and pounce onto the guards to allow the rest of the group to sneak past unseen, they were all screaming in Darnassian as the guards and vendors screamed back in another language. Faelyn was part of the small group that went through the gates to look around for any important documents, however she didn't expect to find Horde wouldn't be as foolish to leave plans lying around, she rolled her eyes with a quiet sigh as she entered a small building. Her hands gripped her daggers that were sheathed at her hips, just in case she needed to defend herself. Every slight shuffle kept her on guard, if anyone found her here, she'd be killed on the spot.
Book after book, she flicked through the old pages to see if anything was hidden inside. She checked through every chest in the small building, nothing but dust and a few books in Orcish. The pages all worn and torn. A frustrated sigh escaped her lips, she knew this was a waste of time. She couldn't even read the language that was scribbled on the pages, in hope that they'd be able to provide even a glimmer of information. She double checked every inch of the room, nothing. The town outside was quiet, a few sentinels were still fighting vendors and guards but the rest were seen retreating out of the gates.
"Fall back, sentinels!" the leader shouted as the everyone made a quick exit back to camp. Everyone was running out of the gates, empty handed. Guards were hot on their heels, still shouting in a strange language that Faelyn couldn't understand. As a rogue, she sprinted as fast as her legs could go. Ducking under the dead branches and jumping over loose pebbles, she had no time to stop and catch her breath.
She reached camp and went to her tent, once inside she threw her bag down with a sigh. She removed her leather armor and threw it over by her bags, inspecting the sores that were left on her skin. It felt as if she had just got hit by a warlock's incinerate spell, each sore burned. She mumbled to herself about the awful day she just experienced, everyone else was disappointed that they failed to find anything too. The camp was quiet as everyone had already retreated to their tents with their own thoughts.
The faint crackling of the fire could be seen outside her tent and the chatter of other sentinels, apparently they all shared her thoughts about the day they just experienced. Faelyn listened quietly for a moment before she threw on a robe that she had in her bag. The silk cloth felt much better against her skin than the heavy leather armor that she had been wearing all day.
With a yawn, she unzipped her tent and glanced around to be greeted with a few waves from her tired comrades as the fire glowed. One sentinel was poking the wood in the fire as the other each had a drink in their hands. Faelyn gave them a smile and a nod as she made her way towards the entrance of the camp. A small lake was just at the bottom of the hill, the soothing water to help the burning sores from her leather armor. Relief.
Faelyn could see the shimmering waters just ahead as she quickly hurried over to the water. She glanced around to see if it was safe to rest there, the bats give a nasty bite and not to mention the thought of being caught by members of the Horde. Letting her guard down, she fell to her knees on the side of the small lake and started to splash the refreshing cold water over her skin. For a quick moment, she felt as if she was back home and washing in the blessed moonwells. By Elune, what she'd do to see those again.
A sudden pain shot through her head and the world around her started to go blurry, until it vanished into complete darkness.
