Chapter III
A/N Imagine my distress at having most of this chapter done only to have the loaner comp I was on die. -.-
I only recall most of what I was typing and had to do it on my phone. Grrr.
Moving on, I don't own Blizzard's material, if I did, I'd have my blood death knight dps spec back lol.
A special shoutout to my dear friend Raidiance for her continued support and the use of her character.
And as always, thank you dear reader for your support and reviews.
The Calm Before the Storm
Azaraiah had gone to the Warlock trainer first thing that morning to discuss Railynn's training. Alamma was surprised at how young Railynn was to be using Fel magic.
"We'll gladly take her in, provided she has her parent's permission," she said. "We don't have secret organizations here."
Azaraiah laughed. "I spoke with them before coming to see you. They were shocked but acquascent about her training."
"That's good," she replied. "I have also given thought to that situation regarding when Braxx tried Holy magic on her. It is not an uncommon occurance to have pure Holy energy canceled out by pure Fel energy. Since the two are polar opposites, they tend to cancel each other out."
At her mention Fel energy, the book at Azaraiah's waist began to glow faintly, the chains binding it closed rattled slightly. Azaraiah reached down and placed a hand on the book to steady it.
Alamma looked at the book for a moment then to Azaraiah. "When are you going to rid yourself of that thing? I don't mean to pry, but you'd be better off destroying it. I can feel the demonic energy coming from it."
Azaraiah's eyes flashed a hot purple before cooling to their normal green. "Some things are easier said than done, warlock," he said.
Alamma shifted her feet uncomfortably then looked at him. "On a different note, most of us can't help but notice how close young Braxx is getting to Elunaa. Does the boy intend a courtship with her?"
Azaraiah smiled. "I certainly hope he does," he said.
"Does he know the proper way to go about it?" She asked.
Azaraiah looked sad. "Probably not, his classmates resent him for his closeness to my daughter and would not tell him our ways of proper courtship."
Alamma looked to him. "Someone should talk to him about it. Are you?"
"Deffinately not. As much as I want to see the two wed, it is up to the boy's parents to teach him that. Do not worry though, I have a plan." He said, turning from her.
"When do you not have a plan?" She asked as he was leaving.
The following day, Azaraiah visited Braxx's parents under the pretext of checking up on the farm. During the afternoon meal, Azaraiah allowed a small piece of paper to drop from his robe onto the floor under the table. Written upon it was a list of the things a young man needed to do to make a proper courtship with an elvin lady. In the human culture, simply giving a trinket was customary. Not so for the Quel'dorei. For the elves, the male needed to firstly secure his lady's father's permission. He next needed to ask for her hand, to which he hopes to hear a "yes". He then needed to go before the ruling council and ask permission to hold a ceremony. This is normally answered with a unanimous yes. Finally he must sacrifice something sacred to her. Something he values above all else.
Having done all that, a wedding date can be planned.
Azaraiah was heading out when he heard the trio coming down the path, excitedly talking about their day. When they saw Azaraiah, they came running up. Railynn leaped into Azaraiah's arms. She began excitedly telling him about her day.
Azaraiah smiled and said, "slow down little one."
Railynn took a deep breath and started again, this time so that he could understand. Azaraiah was continually amazed at the power of this little girl.
When she had finished telling him about her day, Azaraiah told her Braxx's parents had a snack waiting for her. She flung herself from him, ran to the house, bounced off the closed door, stood then entered.
Azaraiah chuckled. He hugged his daughter in greeting then turned to Braxx.
"Stay a moment Braxx, we have things to discuss you and I."
Elunaa, with a frown, went inside.
"You are growing up fast Braxx, your teachers speak very highly of you," Azaraiah said after the girls left.
Braxx blushed but didn't say anything.
"I couldn't be more proud of you. I knew from the day I met you and your family that you'd be an excellent asset to the Blood Knights."
Braxx smiled at the praise. He had worked hard to please both Azaraiah and his parents, as well as his teachers and Elunaa.
Azaraiah continued, "Now that you're growing up it's time to start thinking about your future and what you want to do with it, and who you want it to be with."
Braxx realized what he was saying and started to speak. Azaraiah raised a finger, silencing him.
"Not yet my son, later tonight your parents should be having a talk with you. Listen to what they have to say. Remember, more lives then your own are affected by your actions in the coming years."
Braxx nodded. He gave Azaraiah a quick hug before Azaraiah turned and vanished in a blink of light.
Must be nice to be a Mage, Braxx thought to himself. He went inside to join the others.
Later that night after he'd walked the girls home, Braxx was reading a book when his parents called to him. They motioned for him to sit down.
"Braxx, your mother and I want to know what your intentions are with Elunaa."
Braxx thought hard about it then answered. "I love her with all my soul and am going to marry her."
His parents smiled at this. "Braxx, these people have different ways from us, did you know that there are certain courtship rules that must be met?"
Clueless, Braxx shook his head.
His parents told him everything that he had to do in order to get it right. They told him not to rush it, to think about the way he should do it. After a while, Braxx got up, feeling good about what he had to do in the near future and decided he should talk with Elunaa before committing to any course of action. He turned his light off then went to sleep.
In the shadows, Azaraiah watched as Braxx doused his lamp. He'd heard the talk Braxx had with his parents and Azaraiah felt that the boy would soon be ready. Azaraiah had spent time these last five years watching Braxx with his daughter. Even when the two believed themselves alone, Braxx behaved toward Elunaa in an exemploray manner. He treated her with kindness and respect at all times. When she was sick, Braxx missed training sessions to tend to her needs the same as she did when he was ill. This often earned her a strong reprimand from Lady Windrunner, but Elunaa hardly cared.
Azaraiah turned and began walking through the woods. He made his way to the city and approached the orphanage there. He stayed in the shadows so as not to be seen. Matron Aoibeahnn walking around the back to drop the day's trash into the recepticle. He cast a silent invisibility spell on himself and approached. He pressed a metal object to her throat and spoke in a rough, gravely voice.
"Were I a malicious spirit, woman, your life would be mine."
Matron Aoibeahnn stood motionless and addressed her would-be attacker. "You'll have to do better than a gold coin if you want my blood," she said.
Azaraiah removed his weapon from her throat and appeared before her, grinning.
"How'd you know it was me?" he asked her.
Aoibeahnn smacked his arm playfully. "Because you're the only one that accosts me in a dark alley. And if you assault me with currency again, my Lord, we're going to have words you and I." She laughed. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this night time stalk?" She asked him.
Azaraiah took her hand and placed something in it.
Aoibeahnn sighed. "Another small fortune given anonymously, Lord Az? Honestly, when are you going to let me tell all of Azeroth that yours is the largest heart in all the world?"
Azaraiah paled slightly. "You can never tell. This secret I intend to keep as long as possible."
Matron Aoibeahnn looked at him. "But this could easily be the Azaraiah Center for the Care of Helpless Children."
Azaraiah's book shook and rattled as his eyes blazed red. Just as quickly, they returned to green, the book falling still.
"No," he replied. "It's better that people not know about this. Already people think very highly of me, if everyone knew about this, they'd think I was showboating."
Aoibeahnn shrugged. "Well either way, you gave these children happy lives."
Azaraiah nodded to her, then turned to leave.
She called softly to him, "What do you get out of helping these poor souls?"
Without looking back, Azaraiah said one word and one word only, just loud enough for her to hear, "atonement." In a wink, he was gone.
A few weeks after Braxx's parents had spoken to him, he and Elunaa were sitting in front of the Warlock trainer's waiting for Railynn to finish lessons. His and Elunaa's lessons were over for the day.
Braxx leaned in to speak privately with her. "So, I wanted to ask you something."
"Ask away," she replied.
"Have you given much thought to our future together?"
"Only every waking minute of the day," she replied, "and in my dreams."
Braxx smiled. "Same here. You are everything I ever wanted in a companion."
Elunaa's heart began to race. "It sounds like you have a plan," she said.
He took hold of her hand. "I haven't spoken to your father yet, I was waiting until we'd had a chance to talk. I wanted to know what you wanted first."
She looked deep within his eyes and squeezed his hand. "All I ever wanted is you," she told him.
Braxx's heart did a flip in his chest, that was what he'd hopped she'd say.
He looked deep in her eyes. "Next year, we'll be sixteen. I will discuss our engagement with your father. At seventeen, we become of age and can be married as soon as you like."
She leaned closer and whispered, "I like that plan." She moved to kiss him when something heavy landed on her lap and began to bounce.
"I'm done with class!" Railynn shouted triumphantly.
Elunaa and Braxx laughed. "Yes, we see," they replied. They hopped down and made their way to the fields beside the Sunspire. Railyn was chattering away as usual, her imp bouncing happily on her shoulder. The little creature grinned impishly at Braxx.
"You guys were gonna kiss," it said.
"Quiet, you." Braxx told it.
"Ew, you guys were going to kiss?" Railynn asked.
"No," they relied.
"Were so," the imp said.
They kept walking, going deeper into the woods.
"I'm hungry," the imp declared.
"You're always hungry," Elunaa told it.
They came upon a group of Springpaws, lazily laying in a field. Springpaw packs were a nuscience. They bred like the cats they are.
"Want to see the new spell we learned?" Railyn asked the others.
"Sure," they replied.
Railynn focused her concentration on the lead Springpaw.
She splayed her fingers out and shot bolts of purple light at him. The energy hit the Springpaw Alpha in the chest then arched back to her. The Springpaw fell over dead, the purple light continuing to flow to Railynn. She cupped her fingers around it until it stopped, dropping a tiny purple gem into the imp's hands.
"Om nom nom, thank you, Mistress," he said. He proceeded to devour the small gem.
Braxx and Elunaa stared at Railynn with equal expressions of disgust and fear. Railynn giggled.
"They taught us how to feed our minion today," she said.
The imp sat happily, chewing on the gem, meanwhile, the Springpaws darted into the woods, berift of their Alpha.
"That's not all we leaned," she said. "We also learned how to do that to ourselves so that if we ever fall in battle, we won't die. We store part of our soul in a special gem called a Soul Stone."
It was unnerving to Braxx to hear a child taking about very dark, powerful magic.
Railynn placed her hands on her chest and called forth the dark energy. After a few seconds, she was holding a small purple sphere.
Braxx stared, open-mouthed, he couldn't believe she'd done that.
"What's that feel like?" He asked her.
"I can show you," she replied, "we can do that on others as we'll."
Braxx started to back away but Railynn had started her spell. Elunaa watched in awe as part of Braxx's soul entered another sphere. Railynn handed it to him.
"There," she said, "now you'll always be protected."
Too stunned for words, they walked Railynn home in silence.
Notes:
Wow, lots to absorb on this one. Azaraiah it seems is becoming my Deus Ex Machina. I assure you, this is not the case. I also realize that these first few chapters are dealing more with him then with Braxx, whom the story is about. I also apologize for this. Some things mentioned here like his mysterious book will be explained in his own story.
Thanks for your reviews and support! XD
