Here we go, kids...
Velonara grabbed Aelwynn's bow and shifted it onto her back, one of the Highmountain Tauren that had come with the group gingerly pulled the blade from her back and picked up Aelwynn's lifeless corpse, carrying it through the portal and standing back away from the fight. Erixtol was a massive demon, exceptionally powerful and it took almost too long to send him back to the Twisting Nether. When he was killed, Lasan landed with their eagles, his eyes meeting Velonara's. "Let's take her back to Thunder Totem. We can house her body in the inn until it's safe to move beyond the city."
Velonara nodded numbly, leading the procession of shell-shocked fighters to their mounts.
The explosion was spectacular, almost like a shower of fireworks. Pieces of the invasion vessels rained down in small chunks, but that wasn't what caught Sylvanas' gaze.
"They made it off." She said, relief coloring her tone.
Vereesa sighed gratefully, nodding. "Good."
Velonara stumbled off the eagle as it landed. "We need to get her inside. Now." She said. The Tauren holding her, a young Highmountain druid named Nahaul nodded, leading the way into the tunnel system. Once they were inside Velonara led the way to the elevator, her unbeating heart in her throat. "We'll take her to the inn." Nahaul said softly, climbing onto the elevator as the rest of their group rushed behind him. Lenara made eye contact with Velonara, both rangers still in shock. The younger ranger shook her head, her gaze falling on Aelwynn's still form as dusty tears formed in her eyes.
"Lenara, go with them, I need to go find the Dark Lady." Velonara said, quickly rounding the corner and heading over toward the flight path. She looked to her left, finding the Banshee Queen and hurried to her, grabbing her arm. "Lady Sylvanas, what are you doing here?" She asked shakily.
Sylvanas frowned. "I followed your group. I saw the explosion. You did well." She said quietly, nodding. "Where is Aelwynn?" She asked.
Velonara looked to the inn, her undead heart shattering. "They-they took her into the inn. Milady..." She hesitated as her Queen headed toward the inn. "She's gone..." She said softly, genuine sorrow and pain in her tone.
Sylvanas froze, her eyes wide. "What?" She said, her voice hollow.
Velonara stared at her feet for a moment, one set of crimson orbs meeting another. "We were trying to clear enough demons out to plant the explosives. She took a strike to the face from a succubus' whip. It dropped her to her knees. I tried to get her attention, and when I knew she was too distracted by the pain I took the shot. There was an Eredar behind her. I was too slow." Her ranger said, shame and shock bleeding into her tone. "It killed her instantly." She said.
Sylvanas took off toward the inn, her sister and fellow Dark Ranger hot on her heels. As the stepped in the door of the Inn, Sylvanas pulled her hood down, searching the room. Lenara knelt next to Aelwynn's head, her Hunter's hand clutched between the Dark Ranger's. Lenara had been one of the younger rangers, and had trained with Aelwynn and her 'pack' as the rangers fondly called them. When Sylvanas had told the women that she planned to propose to the Blood Elf, Velonara and Lenara decided they were going to be the ones who kept tabs on Aelwynn while she was on the Broken Shore.
She looked up, standing quickly and ducking her head. "My Lady...I'm so sorry." She looked up, bright red eyes misty. "We got separated. I should have stayed at her side."
Sylvanas' chest ached, and she stepped forward, her hand coming up to rest on Lenara's shoulder. She passed the Ranger and the Druid, sinking to her knees and staring at her lover. She reached out and turned Aelwynn's face, a keening Wail sticking in her throat as she saw her lover's glassy eye, the other side of her face ravaged by a deep black wound that still dripped blood.
Velonara and Lenara took each other's hands, their eyes never leaving their leader, both gazes watching as a soul-wracking shudder went through her frame.
Sylvanas went cold, like she'd been submerged in the wastes of Northrend once again. Black vapors seemed to seep from every inch of her, snuffing out the dim lights in the room, and she heard both rangers cry out to everyone in the vicinity, but her only thought was of the long stretch of eternity she was now facing, alone. She was helpless again...lost...her mind scattered into millions of pieces. All she knew was the hollow feeling, the bone-deep loss devouring her rapidly. 'She's gone...she's-' A Wail ripped through the air, the true Wail of a banshee. The Wail of the Banshee Queen.
Tarin had rushed to Highmountain the moment she got the summons from one of Sylvanas' Dark Rangers. Her heart was frozen in her chest, anguish and fury dueling inside her for control. She hated Sylvanas with a passion, always had. Proudrunner knew Aelwynn had been killed by a demon, Clea had mentioned that in the letter the Rogue received, but it didn't stop her from throwing all of the blame on the Dark Lady.
Sylvanas had done nothing but make her cousin's life a living hell.
She landed just as Sylvanas' agonized Wail tore through Highmountain.
Carlisle and Sif looked around at the amount of fallen animals and demons that surrounded Thunder Totem, both horrified by the sheer number of slain wildlife.
Sif held up a hand and crouched, looking over a large Elderhorn that had fallen. "Carlisle...these creatures weren't killed with weapons...or spells. It looks like they just dropped dead."
Carlisle shook his head in confusion, looking at the dead beast when he registered footsteps coming near them. "It was a Wail..." He heard and looked up to meet Montaygne's sorrowful gaze. "I came as soon as I realized what Sylvanas was feeling."
Both elves looked at him in confusion. "A wail? Feeling?" Sif asked hesitantly.
The undead's shoulder's dropped and he shook his head, a rattling sigh reverberating through his decayed chest. "Come up to the inn." He said, waving them to follow.
Loki and two other mages worked quickly to form the portal to Undercity, the Mage blinking back tears and swallowing a harsh sob as his hands shook. He needed to get the portal open successfully and mentally shook himself. He stepped back as the portal formed and turned to Sylvanas. "It's ready." He rasped, nodding to her and looking to the covered pallet between his guildmates. He followed as they carted Aelwynn's body through the portal, taking his wife's hand and touching the rippling semi-surface.
Sylvanas used her necrotic magic to keep Aelwynn's body preserved, and waved Sif and Esme in to help clean her up. "My lady, are we going to have a ceremony for her..." Sif struggled with a descriptor for raising her into undeath.
Sylvanas frowned slightly. "I'm not sure. If you want to be present for it, your group is welcome, although there isn't much you can do." She dropped her eyes to the ground. "I'm going to do the best I can to keep the worst of the pain from her, but coming into undeath is never easy...and it's far from painless."
Tarin stepped in the door. "Then don't raise her."
Sylvanas' gaze snapped to the Rogue.
Esme and Sif both turned, frowns on their faces. Esme spoke up. "Tarin, it was Aelwynn's choice. She wanted to be raised. Can't you respect that?"
The Rogue glared at the Priest. "Think about what you're saying. Aelwynn is dead. What happened to your ideals of the 'sanctity of life' and all that?" She turned to Sif. "And you...you're a Paladin...how can you be supportive of this? She's going to desecrate Aelwynn's soul...how do we know that there's even going to be anything left of the girl we knew?"
Sif glared at her sister-in-law. "How can you be so callous? You never liked the fact that she fell in love with Sylvanas. If it had been different, and Sylvanas raised her without her permission, I would be angry. But she wanted this. Sylvanas came to us asking for permission...Tarin, you've spent so much of your life trying to protect her, but you don't need to. She's been an adult for years now, why can't you accept the fact that you're not her mother. Her parents died."
Tarin shook her head. "We're all she has...had left. How can you say you're okay with her bringing Aelwynn back from the dead...she's gone. Maybe it's better this way. We don't know what she's going to bring back. I'd rather remember Aelwynn when she was healthy than end up watching Sylvanas raise a mindless slave."
Sylvanas could see the Rogue's point. For once she truly hated herself for being so selfish. In the same moment, Sylvanas knew she couldn't live out the rest of her existence without the Hunter by her side. She struggled with her decision, raising Aelwynn came with a maelstrom of conflicting feelings. She loved her too much to curse her, yet she wanted to honor the Blood Elf's wishes. Sylvanas didn't know how she would be able to go on with her Hunter, her bond mate, her consort gone.
Sif and Esme stood near the back of the room, their husbands and the rest of the Soldiers of Misfortune held posts around the Banshee Queen and their fallen friend. Esme had done her best to clean Aelwynn's wounds, taking great care with the large open gash on her face. Her hands had trembled and tears had streamed down her cheeks as she tried her best to take care of the wounds. Holy magic couldn't touch it because there was no life in the body before her.
Whatever warmth had been in the room was drawn out as Sylvanas placed her hand on her dead lover's chest, the hollow intonation of her voice echoing off the walls surrounding them as she began the necromantic chant.
Sif shuddered as the Light within her flexed its power in her core. She and Esme locked gazes, both willing the other to ignore the prodding feeling the power was giving them. She took Loki's hand, squeezing tightly and taking a deep breath as Sylvanas' voice rattled around them. 'Light help us. Please. Our family has fallen too soon. We need her...she needs her.'
Sylvanas shook as her necromantic powers wove through her like tar through cracked ground. She could feel the Light in the room pulling against her and squeezed her eyes shut, huffing an unneeded breath as she kept pushing her powers forward. Her eyes snapped open and she watched the black mists coalesce around Aelwynn's form and she pressed on, forcing the final lines through clenched teeth.
Phantom pains stabbed through Sylvanas' chest as she felt her connection to her lover form, the pain flaring as she relived the moment Aelwynn died. She could almost feel the heat of the blade as it sunk through her chest, the trickle of blood on her face from the whip. 'Please, my love. Please come back to me...I'll do anything.' She pleaded desperately.
They could see the color leech out of Aelwynn's body completely, her hair and skin paling rapidly. The gash on her face mended almost completely, leaving a dark black scar down the stretch of the wound. Her corpse jerked obscenely, her jaw dropping open at an odd angle as her back arched and a scream tore through the air.
Nikola stepped forward as he saw Sylvanas' legs falter and he gently grasped her arm, steadying her. He understood her condition to a certain extent, pulling life into a rotting corpse and extending a connection to it was taxing, and the first few times he'd done it had been completely draining. But where he was simply raising a mindless ghoul to control with the sole purpose of aiding him in battle, The Banshee Queen had to use every bit of energy she could muster in order to bring Aelwynn through the connection.
Sylvanas turned to Nikola and nodded her thanks, leaning on the stone table they had placed Aelwynn's body on. She sat on the edge, dropping her chin to her chest and closing her eyes, opening her senses to Aelwynn's mind. 'Let me in, Dalah'surfal...let me in. Please, my love...'
Aelwynn's gauntlet-covered hand twitched and a disturbing groan was pulled from her as her eyes rolled open, her strange burgundy gaze blank.
Sylvanas opened her eyes, her gaze landing on her lover's face. She could sense Aelwynn reaching out to her and leaned forward, pulling her own gauntlet off and cupping the Hunter's cheek.
Aelwynn was lost.
Her surroundings were pitch black, and the air reeked of sulfur, from behind her she could hear demonic hooves slamming against the ground beneath her.
"Aelwynn?" She heard and she looked around, her eyes wide.
"Ry?" She asked shakily. "Ry, where are you?!"
She saw a smoky form gather before her, and she met the pale green gaze of her older brother. "Hey mite." She heard his voice and she started to cry, she'd always hated that nickname until now. He nodded and his eyes smiled, but his mouth didn't move.
Confused, she stared her older brother down through her tears. "Ry? What's happening? I remember being on that invasion ship with Velonara and the others..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened. "I died..." She said, her voice hollow.
He nodded solemnly. "You did, mite. There's a reason why you're here, and you know it. She's bringing you back, kid. You just have to help her."
Aelwynn frowned. "I don't know how..." She bit her bottom lip.
Ryatherion's eyes smiled again and he shook his head. "You have to let go, mite." He said.
The smoke drifted closer to her and she looked up at him.
"Close your eyes, Aelwynn. Close them tight and take a deep breath. Just like the first time you met her. You remember what happened?"
She jerked as the memory came to her unbidden, how her hand had closed around her father's dagger, the sounds of the undead members of her family breaking down the door. How the gore had splattered on her as she moved purely on adrenaline and terror.
"No, no mite. Don't remember us like that. Ever. Remember the first time your eyes met. You might not believe it, mite, but the moment you two looked at each other, your fates were decided." He explained.
"Close your eyes. Remember the first time you looked into her eyes. That fear, let it go. You trust her, mite. You love her. Remember that."
She felt herself settle down, and opened her eyes as he turned. "Wait!" She said, holding her hands out.
"It's okay, mite. We're all here. We're all watching you. I can't even begin to tell you how proud we all are. You've done so much good, but you still have more to do."
"Will I see you again?" She asked hesitantly.
"I'll be here to get both of you when it's time to go. You're gonna go together, you know? It won't be for a long, long time, but you won't go by yourself, and neither will she."
She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and looked up at him with a nod. "Okay..."
A startled yell left her lips as a rough grip closed around her throat and yanked her backwards.
Sylvanas paced endlessly, her gaze never leaving the form on the stone slab.
Two hours had passed since she performed the ritual, two hours where the lifeless eyes of her consort had opened, yet it was as if there was no soul behind them.
Sylvanas was endlessly frustrated, a harsh stab of worry filtering through her as she felt the bond between herself and Aelwynn ebb for a moment. Something was wrong. She knew it.
She walked to the slab, her gaze scanning the Hunter for any sign of movement, biting off a sob as she once again registered only stillness.
She could feel Aelwynn with her, in her mind. The unique feeling of home, warmth, unbearably painful love, yet there was nothing from Aelwynn's physical form.
Anxiety began to build in her chest, a tight knot that settled at the base of her throat and would have caused her to hyperventilate had she still needed to draw breath.
"Then don't raise her."
That's what the Rogue had said. Don't raise her. Leave her be. Let her be at peace.
Sylvanas yearned for peace for years after she'd been brought back. The only semblance of peace had come when she'd finally let her walls crumble and allowed Aelwynn into her unbeating heart. They had struggled, fought, argued, lost one another but had inevitably been drawn back together, a mated pair of birds on the wind.
She had few regrets in her un-life. She had forged her own path and had much to show for her resilience and determination. The Wrathgate had been regrettable, trusting Putress and Varimathras was a mistake she would likely pay for through the rest of her eternity. Trusting her sister was a painful lesson, one that had led to a crippling loss because she had allowed her pain and fury to overwhelm her. Now, it seemed raising Aelwynn would be another. She had tried to keep her lover, her Consort, tied to her by any means, and for all her efforts she was left with an incomplete bond. A piece of her beloved's soul resided in her, she could sense that. But the body before her was as inanimate as the slab it lay on, another painful reminder that for all Sylvanas' bravado, all of her pride and ego, she could still fail.
She failed Aelwynn. Failed to protect her, failed to save her, and now she failed to bring her back. Failed to let go, to allow the one being in the world, the universe, that she truly loved beyond all things to know the taste of true death. To rest.
Hopeless resignation and unbearable heartbreak caused her to collapse to her knees next to the stone table. Harsh sobs wracked the body of the Dark Lady as she clutched at the stiff hand of the woman who had been hers, apologies and cries for forgiveness fell from her lips as dusty tears fell from her cheeks, leaving black streaks below her eyes. Hollowness settled into her soul, and Sylvanas Windrunner let go.
She couldn't breathe. Her hearing picked up the shuffling of feet, of gear rattling down the corridor, and several voices speaking outside the door. She felt a hand brush her hair off her forehead, the fingertips warm and soothing. She blinked and glanced around the chambers. She was home, in Undercity. She tried to take a breath, frowning when the move caused a shaft of pain to lance through her ruined chest. She grunted as she was pulled up from the slab and into the tightest hug she'd been given in years, the scent of her lover settling over her.
Sylvanas stroked the back of her head. "Thank the gods..." She breathed, her voice trembling. "I was afraid you were never coming back to me, surfal. I thought I failed..." She said quietly.
"How-" She was startled by the sound of her own voice, and she realized that Sylvanas had actually honored her wishes. "How long?" She asked.
Sylvanas pulled back, her hands cupping Aelwynn's cheeks and taking in her lover's face. "We got back from the Broken Shore two days ago. You've been in some sort of trance for the last three hours or so." She said.
Aelwynn nodded slowly, grimacing. Necromantic energy may have been coursing through her body now in place of actual life, but she could almost swear her reanimated joints creaked and groaned as she moved. She swung her legs over the side of the stone slab, cautiously bracing herself against Sylvanas' thigh as she stood.
Sylvanas studied her features quietly, taking in the burgundy of her left eye and the faded reddish-black of her right, the black markings that now lined the outer corners of her eyes and ran down the right side of her face, the white almost-pale blue tint to her hair, and the pale grey to her skin. She watched her lover move around the room clumsily, the use of her newly reanimated joints difficult due to stiffness. Sylvanas was up and steadying her before she realized she had nearly fallen, and she huffed an unneeded breath.
"Great...agility was my strongest characteristic in life...now I have as much coordination as a newborn Dusthoof..." She muttered.
Sylvanas chuckled softly. "It will take a bit to get used to, but once your muscles loosen up you'll be back to chasing Loki around as if nothing happened." She said.
Aelwynn looked down at the hands on her arms in confusion. "I didn't expect your hands to be warm."
Sylvanas watched her quietly, and for the first time felt settled in their relationship. She'd never found herself lacking before, but now she and Aelwynn were the same. Something she felt strangely glad about.
Well...this happened. She's back! This was a rough chapter to write, there were so many paths that wanted to go in a billion directions. All these ideas rattled around in my head like buckshot. Let me know what you think guys! As always, thanks for reading.