Chapter 4: Insanity
"Your insane Illidan!"
"Isolation can do that to a mind."
- Maiev and Illidan from Warcraft III
It was to Nokami's mind sadly easy to get out of her cell. When the shift changed she had two demons guarding her, and demons were ridiculously easy to manipulate.
Squeezing herself through the bars enough to grab the keys after talking the pair into beating each other unconscious was much harder but she managed it.
The problem really was that she had no idea where in the temple she was!
She went up working on the assumption that all dungeons were in a basement. She hid in the shadows whenever patrols went past her and moved as quietly as a falling leaf. She had no weapons so getting into any conflict was not a good idea.
Soon Nokami started to wonder if she was going the wrong way. She was standing in a well lighted series of corridors when she heard foot steps.
With no where else to really go she slipped out a window and creped along the stone ledge. Looking down showed her that she was high up and had indeed gone the wrong way somewhere along the ling.
She was mortified when she heard some naga hiss at each other and one of them closed the window, locking it with a deafening click.
"Fuck." She hissed. "Thanks a lot Elune. Swear it's like you want me to stay here."
Almost as if answering her comment she spotted a fel orc on a drake slowly heading her direction.
She glared up at the moon. "You have got to be kidding me."
There was no way the damned orc would miss spotting her on the ledge. The altitude he was cruising at he could jump right on her.
Need to get in! Need to get in! Nokami's mind shrieked as she crept quickly across the ledge. The orc was busy looking everywhere and in the dark he wouldn't spot her until he was closer unless she fell or caused to much noise.
Working as fast as possible Nokami crept from window to window, peering thought and trying to open them. Her luck was proving terrible though and she wondered again if Elune hated her for a particular reason.
Glancing behind her she almost cursed the goddess. That orc was almost on top of her.
Desperate Nokami checked the window she was in front of. There was only the flicker of a single candle and it was pitch black beyond.
Looking fearfully behind her Nokami swore quietly as she rattled the window a bit, only to have it fly open and her go tumbling in.
She stayed on the floor, barely breathing until the flapping of the netherdrake's wings was further away.
Reminding herself to breathe again she sat up and quietly closed the window before flopping onto the floor for a moment to calm her nerves.
It was only the slightest pained groan that told her she was not alone.
Even though she heard the pain in it Nokami stood slowly and searched the shadows. She didn't see anything except the bed though with a huge lump in it.
Then she caught it. Just the slightest hint of illness. That decaying scent and the gut feeling of madness.
She snorted, trying to get the offending stench out of her nose. Smells like the Argent Dawn hospital.
The memory snapped into her brain causing Nokami's eyes to widen. She'd commented on the stench to a tauren druid who had been there helping the Dawn.
That stench is from the plague victims. It's something of a symptom we think. Like the madness, brutality, and urge to kill everything as the victims get weaker. Thankfully a good druid can help those in the early stages.
Nokami frowned. She didn't think the Scourge had set foot in Outland, besides she doubted there was anyone in Outland aside from adventurers who had dealt with...
Only the fact that making a noise would probably wake up sleeping beauty kept Nokami from swearing so bad a sailor would've blushed.
She crept towards the bed quietly and peered down. Praying to Elune that her memory was serving her wrong.
Unfortunately, much like most of the night, Elune didn't seem to be favoring her.
She'd tumbled into Illidan's own bedroom...
Ok, curiosity satisfied. Time to get out of hear before he wakes up! She mentally snapped at herself. If he's all sick with the plague at least we know why he's such a delusional lunatic now!
Still Nokami didn't move. The part of her that cried when she found wounded animals making her stay.
He really didn't look so bad sleeping.
Neither does a rabid grizzly!
She forced herself to stand up straight and take two steps back away from Illidan. This wasn't some wolf with a splinter in it's paw or a bat with a broken wing. This was half demon, half night elf sorcerer who had been living at least five years with a nasty disease that required trained druids to combat.
With a stern nod at herself Nokami turned on her heel intending to walk out the door, the temple, and forget any of this weird encounter.
She froze when she came face to face with herself.
Nokami did not like mirrors. She avoided them like superstitious folks avoided black cats and ladders. Now however she could help but stare at her own mangled reflection and curse.
The last time she'd seen her own face she'd been a good number of centuries younger. She'd been running away from a life she'd rather forget and staring at the scars that she refused to heal on principle.
She'd been young and stupid.
I swear by Elune and the earth I'll never abandon anyone if I can help them.
Young, stupid, and naive when she'd sworn that.
She suddenly felt like that story Lucien had told her years ago. How mortals had a demon on the left shoulder and an angel on the right. She'd thought it an amusing tale but now she could see a bit of truth to it.
Your not a trained druid. He doesn't deserve help. We should just get out of here. The little demon was whispering.
You swore you'd never abandon anyone you could help. The little angel was stating.
No one was ever there for you! Why should you be there for others?
You made a promise.
Who's gonna know if you break it?
"I will." Nokami whispered to herself looking at the reflection before shifting her eyes to the man's reflection behind her. "I'm out of my mind." She grumbled as she turned around.
Quietly she lit another candle and cupped a hand under it to catch any dripping wax. It wouldn't do for it to drip onto Illidan and wake him up before she could start anything. This would be hard enough as it was.
He never knew what was dream and what was reality sometimes. He was pretty sure the constant battle with Arthas was a dream. After all he'd killed the bastard...right?
He was so very cold.
Every night he had this dream. He could've recited it from memory in exact detail by now. They always met in a place of ice and snow and he always killed the damned death knight. Every time.
It was the laughing that drove him mad. Every time he'd hear that infernal laughing. He could never tell who it was or where it was from.
He killed the bastard again, as usual, but this time things went differently.
He wasn't in some icy waste now. He was in a forest.
What was he doing in a forest?
Then the pain started. It was a horrible feeling, like something was trying to force it's way out of his chest, or someone was digging into it.
He woke with a roar of pain and knocked whoever it was in front of him away.
Nokami pressed a hand to her back for a moment. Broken glass lay about her from the mirror but she didn't think it had slashed her at all.
"What do you think your doing woman?" Illidan growled and clamped a hand around her throat.
I knew I should have listened to the demon. Nokami thought as she pulled at Illidan's fingers. They weren't going to move though and she knew it.
"Thought you'd sneak in and kill me before our fun tomorrow?"
Ah screw it! Nokami thought to herself. Might as well finish what I started.
Holding onto to Illidan's arm she picked up her legs and wrapped them tightly around his waist. The hybrid let go of her neck like she'd thought and grabbed behind him intending to pull her legs apart and off him. He didn't suspect a thing as she suddenly wrapped her arms around the rest of him and pressed her hands to his back.
That awful pain erupted in Illidan's chest again and he roared. He tried to raise his arms but she held onto him like a starving wolf to it's meal.
For Nokami's part she could feel herself weakening. She hadn't channeled nature magic in years and the sudden doing of it was not agreeing with her. She could taste blood in the back of her throat as she sniffed from it dripping out of her nose.
Just concentrate. Don't think of anything else but what your attempting.
Much as Nokami hated drawing anything from the days with her old master she concentrated harder.
She could feel it. Among the demon's fire and more natural parts of his spirit she could just feel that essence of death and decay. It was so small really, she doubted anyone not tied to nature in some way would've ever found it. It was laced through things but her earlier pulling had uprooted some of it. It just needed more work, if she could live long enough to finish it.
The sudden demon fire igniting across her skin caused her to lose focus for a second. The boiling in her blood made her want to just let go. Every instinct she possessed screamed for her to let go and run away.
She ground her teeth and shoved instinct down. It would not serve her here, and neither would paying attention to pain.
Hands tried to push her away, another set was pulling at her. Guards must have come running from all the noise. She tightened her grip on Illidan just a bit more. Her ear was pressed against his heart. She could actually hear it beating.
She concentrated on the beating and felt the plague struggling against her, the damn stupid stubborn poisonous disease.
Quite unexpectedly she felt it snap and shatter. With no more will the guards pulling at her went flying and she heard someone get violently ill.
She grinned a bit. "I...win...jerk." She whispered before passing out.