"Luckily I waited long enough."
Andruil dragged her feet, meandering languidly on the damp ground, and sometimes through pools of dull nauseating water scattered everywhere. When she was tired and bored of walking, she flopped onto the ground. Leaning against a huge rock and lolling her head back, she stared blankly at the "ground" on the "sky" above her. She still wondered whether it was possible for her to get to that "ground" above, whether she would one day accidentally wandered onto it. Sometimes she wondered whether the ground she was on was actually the inverted one, and she has been walking on the sky all these while.
She shook her head and heaved a sigh as she found her thoughts wandering off again. It was easy to let the mind run away on its own in a place like this. Where there was nothing but rocks and pools of water, where there was this incessant sound of water dripping. Where nobody existed but her. Except for the occasional demons and deepstalkers who accidentally crossed her path and did not live to regret it. And she loved them. Fighting and killing was the only activities that kept her sane.
She still remembered that day when Arlathan tumbled under her feet, when Fen'Harel cast the spell that brought the veil up and trapped everyone behind it. The chaos that swallowed each arla, all the yelling and screaming for help. But those who perished were the fortunate ones. Many who survived were eventually lost in the Beyond. When she woke up from her long slumber and found herself in the Beyond, she was shocked and despaired to see so many losing their minds at first, and then slowly losing their souls, turning into demons.
A gruesome growl broke Andruil's train of thoughts. A Pride Demon stomped over, hurling its claws at her. Andruil leapt backwards, narrowly missing the sharp claws. With a wave of her right hand, she summoned vines that rose from the ground and coiled around the demon's limbs. But her vines would not be strong enough to hold a Pride Demon for long. She pulled back three arrows on her bow and shot at the demon's heart. The arrows pierced through the demon's skin but not deep enough to reach its heart, only enough to make it even more furious. "Fenedhis! If these were my golden arrows you'll be dead by now!" Andruil cursed and drew the dagger from her right boot.
However before she could reach the Pride Demon, a spear flew through the air and pierced through its heart. With an agonizing last growl, the demon fell on its back, motionless after some useless struggle. Andruil gaped at the spear stuck on the demon's chest. She knew that spear. Because it was her spear. The one she crafted using the most exotic flaming ores from the volcano in the far east.
She turned her head towards the direction where the spear flown from and what she saw left her even more speechless, if it was possible. A short and lanky elven woman ran towards Andruil, wrapping her arms around her neck. "Ma raj! I've found you! I've finally found you! And you're alive! I was so worried I'll be too late and you'll be dead by now! Or turned into a demon!"
Andruil allowed the younger elf to blabber and cry on her shoulder while she ruminated whether she was hallucinating. Finally, Ashioin let go of Andruil and took a step back, a flush suffused her cheeks as she bowed. "Ir... ir abelas, ma raj! I was too excited!"
Andruil rested her right hand by her hip and chuckled. She was indeed Ashioin, one of her younger followers with an adorable blabbering habit when she was excited. No demon could imitate that blabbering. "Ashioin, dirtha em. Where have you been and why do you have my spear?"
And so Ashioin sat with Andruil and told her how she was fortunately left outside the veil when Fen'Harel brought it up, how she found Mythal's priests in the Arbor Wilds and pestered them till they revealed how the veil might be opened by some magical power and finally how she found Andruil's fiery spear buried in one of her temple ruins.
"I don't even know whether you'll still be alive after so many thousands of years, but I have to try..." Ashioin wiped the tears off her eyes and exerted a deep exhale. "Thank Arlathan I tried..."
Andruil smiled and brushed the younger elf's damp and tousled hair. "Ma serannas, for trying, da'lan." She has no idea how long was her slumber after the veil was brought up. When she woke up in the Beyond, she tried to count the days, but it was difficult without day and night. "So... thousands of years have passed, huh?"
Ashioin nodded, her heart still pounding lividly, her hands still trembling. She has been wandering aimlessly in the Beyond looking for Andruil, holding on to a thin thread of hope. She tried to draw a map but every rock and pool looked the same. She tried to count the days, but it was difficult without day and night.
Andruil stepped on the Pride Demon's chest and pulled the spear out. She swirled the spear a few rounds over her head, grinning as she felt the familiar grip in her hands. Who would have thought that this spear that she crafted out of vanity would save her life one day. She held her hand out for Ashioin and lifted her back on her feet. "Ashioin, how do we get out now?"
Ashioin grinned. "Just find where the veil is the thinnest and cut through it using the spear, ma raj!"
Andruil chuckled at the quick response. "Luckily I've stayed here long enough to know where the veil is thinnest. And da'lan, stop calling me raj. I'm no longer a leader. Just call me Andruil."
Holding Ashioin's hand, Andruil walked with the younger elf side-by-side on the damp ground, skipping past pools of dull nauseating water at times. Luckily she waited long enough.