Aria stood in the waters of the well, reveling in the feeling of magic licking at her toes. She couldn't remember the last time she'd meditated at a well, however, she knew it felt different this time. The magic did not flow through her at it's usual, gradual pace. Instead, it felt as if she was experiencing shock, like electricity in her bones.
The energies rose from her pastel legs in to her torso, stopping and coalescing in the hallow of her chest, beneath her ribcage. An ache settled there, like a war of power over her heart. She struggled to breathe deep and even, attempting to concentrate through this blockage in her way to freedom. She felt trapped inside her own body.
Aria sensed another presence approach her, and she turned her head to peer over her bare shoulder. It was the gentle tauren woman she'd met an hour earlier. She'd learned her name was Tayma.
"You're certain you do not wish to send word to your family?" She asked as she approached, her sizeable hooves leaving crescent impressions on the soft ground beneath her. Aria made note of the tiny flowers cropping up in Tayma's wake. She had a special kind of magic in her soul.
"Yes. I think I'll meditate a bit longer, but I feel I need to see them. I'll be leaving in the hour for home." Aria said, turning back to rub fragrant petals over her arms and abdomen. The opalescent petals fell in to the shimmering water of the well, spreading like snow on the surface. Aria thought of Northrend then, and the sight of her troll approaching her bloody body on the snow covered ground. Goosebumps rose over her body suddenly and the ache in her chest suddenly turned in to a blaze, like an inferno she could not hinder.
Her breath left her in a rush of wind and she placed her clenched fist over her heart, as if to lessen the pain. She was vaguely aware of electricity dancing across the surface of the once calm waters.
Unsettled magic. That's what she was feeling.
Aria stumbled out of the well, desperate for a reprieve from her agony. Tayma was there immediately, placing a large towel over her shaking shoulders and clicking her tongue.
"I don't know if it's best that you leave. You are in a very tender state. Let us tend you while you rest and we can discuss travel later."
Aria's head swam violently with turbulent energy, causing her to lose her vision briefly. She wanted nothing more than to be home with her family in Darnassus. She pined for the comforting words of her Mother. She wished to see her Brother, though last she'd seen of him, he was readying to deploy to the Outlands. Warriors were always so ready for battle. And finally, she wished to see her Father. She hoped he was well, but she knew his old wounds gave him great discomfort.
Aria tried to still her shaking limbs, but only seemed to worsen them with her tensing. She finally relented and allowed Tayma to steer her in the direction of the nearest building.
"I will rest a while longer, but I must leave tonight." She mumbled, stifling a yawn. Tayma lead her up a flight of stairs in the Inn and nudged her gently towards a secluded, plush violet bed.
"I will stay with you while you slumber, and see if I cannot help ease your warring energies." Tayma murmured as Aria settled in to the inviting bedding. The tauren woman's hands shimmered green in the dim light as she rubbed them together.
Aria felt a warm hand settle over the crown of her head and a sense of peace washed over her mind. Moments later, the Dream took her, finally allowing her an escape from this chaos.
Thraze sat upon Dur'ock, shimmering stone in three fingered hand. He'd waited until he could no longer, well after the fall of night in Trisifal. He knew what he was about to do would be frowned upon. The Cenarion Circle was a neutral cause, to an extent, but the tracking of a druid under their care would upset some greatly. He thought briefly of the worgen woman he'd encountered, and wondered if she'd made it back alive.
He shook his head of those thoughts as he crushed the stone in his grasp. As soon as he materialized, he took to the shadows. He clicked to Dur'ock, who chuffed a hot breath before taking to the darkening skies of Moonglade. He would hide among the mountains and trees until he was summoned again.
Thraze made his way to the lamp lit town nestled among the gargantuan trees, taking extra precaution to avoid any beings near by. Twice, he nearly tripped over a druid slumbering lazily in their feline form, hidden in the shadows much like he. His steps were silent and quick, leaving nothing of his presence behind on the impressionable ground. There were more buildings in this township than Thraze had expected, and he hadn't the slightest clue as where to begin searching. He approached a low-roofed structure and peered about before reaching up with his lengthy arms and pulling himself weightless on to the structure. He used his vantage point to ascend another, taller building, before settling in to the woodwork and taking in his new view of Moonglade.
The rogue sat for nearly thirty minutes, watching the relaxed bustle of the druid town. He kept a particular eye on a small building placed next to a moon well. He'd seen two exhausted looking tauren men exit the building, absently wiping blood and gore from their massive fingers. They both rolled tension from their shoulders, and seemed to close their eyes as if hiding from what they'd seen. Thraze could guess that some of the survivors had made it back, and they were not in the best condition. Just then, a blood curdling scream ripped through the night. A man by the sounds of the wails. Both tauren looked back to the building, shaking their head in disbelief before running back inside, their fingers already alight again with soothing energy.
Thraze shook his head, also. He'd seen the effects of the gas, and he did not envy those afflicted.
Just as he'd begun to recall the horrors from Lordaeron, a small figured darted through the streets below him. He recognized the worgen druid immediately, though now she was dressed in new, ill-fitting brown robes. Hers had most likely been soiled in her attempts to save her wounded. The rogues eyes followed the womans quick pace to the very building he'd heard the cries. She slipped inside silently, and Thraze watched the lower windows, through which he could see the heads of the tauren men as they worked around their patient.
After a few moments, he realized that she'd never entered that particular room. He then began searching the other visible windows, finally settling on the window on the farthest top corner of the building. A dim green glow reflected off the glass, and he could just make out the line of a womans face as she peered over someones shoulder. Something about the way she looked out the window, with nervousness and distrust in her eye, caused Thraze to chuckle darkly.
She knew he was here, somewhere. And if she was only paranoid now, he knew it must be because of the elf that was surely occupying that same room.
Evanna looked around outside once more before closing the curtain on the window. She sighed, trying to release the pressure behind her eyes. A migraine had been working it's way in to her very soul the past few hours. Everything that could have gone wrong did. She also found another woman under her protection, who literally fell in to their lap during raid preparation. She looked down then, her eyes finding the river of malachite hair falling haphazardly from the edge of the bed.
The young elfs eyes were closed, scrunched together as if fighting back terror. Tayma sat crouched beside her, hand placed affectionately on the crown of her head and over her heart. Evanna could feel the pull of magic from the tauren woman as she worked, desperately trying to untangle the chaotic powers within the pale skinned woman.
Tayma regarded Evanna over her shoulder, the fur of her forehead damp with sweat.
"I am making progress. Just now, I felt her other spirits. They still remain, but they are frightened. Unable to find a way out. She has this fear in her, and it is caging her in." Tayma turned back to her charge, smoothing a crease between Aria's brow as she struggled in her nightmares. Aria's fingers tensed and released, the claws of her hands receding and regrowing endlessly.
"I fear we don't have much time. The troll is surely already here. He seemed intent on reaching her again." Evanna crossed her arms and drew her brows together in frustration.
"I would not worry much on it. There are plenty of capable druids here, and he does not seem too keen on approaching any closer." Tayma continued working, ignoring the gasp from Evanna.
"You've seen him already?" Evanna asked, anxiety creeping back in.
"A sentinel spotted a hooded figure pass between two buildings. They'd been napping on the roof when he passed. He has been sitting atop the tower ever since. Our sentinels have orders if he attempts to enter the Inn." Tayma said everything quickly in hushed tones, aware of the way her deep voice carried in the night.
Evanna crossed her arms, suddenly unsettled with the knowledge of his presence. She thought she'd felt an odd sensation walking through town. She had been watched. She ground her teeth in frustration, a growl settling deep in her belly.
"Calm now. I need your assistance. We may be able to influence her fear, if we do it together. She just needs the strength to see past it. We can help her fight, lend her our strength. Battles of the mind are hardest to overcome alone." Tayma muttered, half her focus still on the war within the elf. Evanna settled in next to Taema, placing one hand palm down on her abdomen and the other on her thigh. The worgen woman closed her eyes in concentration and drifted in to meditation.
Aria was alone. It was midnight under a canopy of colossal trees, but the underbrush with alight with the luminance of wandering wisps. She pulled her sheer robes above her knees, wondering at the incredibly radiant cloth. She felt like a beacon, or a single star in a murky lake. The elegantly draped cloth fell from her shoulders in delicate folds, hanging from her frame like liquid. She fingered the cloth gently, amused when it rolled over her knuckles like moonlit water.
The snap of a branch in the silence drew her attention, and her mood shifted suddenly. Her calm, whimsical thoughts were suddenly anxiety ridden.
Another snap, this time closer.
Aria took a stumbling step backwards, the over encumbering cloth falling around her ankles like satin shackles. She hated the thing suddenly, cursing it's useless beauty. Her eyes searched the dark between the giant tree trunks. A figure stepped between two trees, stopping in plain sight and staring, undaunted, at the frightened woman.
It was a troll. He stood a head taller than Aria, and his amber eyes burned her. She could see nothing else of him, as he was wrapped from head to two-toed foot in thick black leather and hood. A feeling of hands on her body and in her hair ghosted over her skin and she shivered. Aria spent no more time ogling his physique and turned on her heel to run. She fought gravity as her moon lit robes attempted to trip her. She pushed through the brush and trees, in any direction that was away from him. She called for help, catching glimpses of eyes in the trees. They watched her flee, but offered no assistance.
She pushed her way in to a clearing, gasping her appreciation to be free of the roots. She tried to reach the other side, but stopped suddenly when she heard her Mother's soft voice from behind her. Aria turned excitedly, expecting to see a beautiful, tall, slender elf with braided pearl hair.
Instead, a clenched fist extended from the dark of the forest she had just left, a silver and amethyst pendant hanging from it's grasp. Her Mother's voice drifted hauntingly from the jewelry, calling to her softly.
Her Mother's pendant. It had been a gift that was passed to Aria at her coming of age ceremony. It was not long after that she'd moved to the Hinterlands and ceased contact with her beloved family. She had written to them in hard times, but could hardly afford the trip home to see them. The pendant called to her again, causing Aria's heart to ache for it. It was all she had of her home in Darnassus. Anger for the man who held it captive spiked.
He stepped from the shadows then, his leather armor all but gone. She could clearly see his features now, and she admired the striking red of his hair. She could see the crisp lines of his jaw and nose, and the impressive set of tusks that protruded from his upper jaw. He was tall, standing straight and proud with his shoulders pressed back and his chest open. He was a wonderfully exotic specimen, so similar to elves, yet so different. His eyes regarded her expectantly, almost offering the dangling necklace to her with his gaze.
She made to take a step forward, but froze. Her parents warning echoed in her head, to avoid the trolls at all costs. They were savage, wild, relentless. They could not be trusted. She pushed to move forward, but also to retreat. She felt as if the decision paralyzed her. She feared him, she could feel it. But there was a part of her that wanted to trust him, also.
"I will hunt you down." His words echoed in her head. She hadn't seen his lips move, but she knew the voice was his. She had heard those words from him before. She made up her mind then and turned to flee. Anger flashed in his eyes as she turned away from him, and she heard a roar of anger burst from his massive chest as he began to pursue her.
I'm alone! I can't do this alone!
Aria searched her surroundings as she ran, looking for anyone who could help her. She felt the whisper of a presence on her left, and her eyes found those of a saber hidden between the trees. The cat looked frightened and cornered, unwilling to lend her agility.
And on her right, Aria could see the form of a large bear through the trees. She was farther off than saber, and she looked at Aria sullenly. Aria could feel the weakness from the bear, who lost her sense of strength. She was of no help, either.
The owls above Aria just watched, content to remain high above the danger below, as the rogue stalked the night elf. Their wings could not lift her.
The druid felt at a loss. Where she thought to find help, she only found herself and her humanoid form.
Aria began to stumble and fall, unable to keep her quick pace in the luxurious robes. She cursed them again before catching her foot on a root and sailing to the ground. She lay there quietly, waiting for the end.
She could hear the rogue's approach, and she fought the rising panic. She could not run forever.
Just as he came in to view, a rush of energy filled Aria. Two figures stepped from the trees behind the troll. He turned in shock, startled by their sudden appearance. It was a gentle looking crème mottled tauren woman and a worgen in brown leather robes. Their collective energies were soothing and empowering all at once, giving Aria the courage to stand once more.
"Choose." The tauren woman murmured.
Aria looked at her, confused.
"Choose to fight." The druid said again.
The elf tilted her head, shooting the tauren questioning glances. Aria felt as if the tauren were speaking to someone else. Moments later, a bear emerged from the break of trees, coming well in to the clearing. She stood on her hind legs and stood to her full height, assessing the troll before Aria.
The bear appeared to size him up, blowing a dismissive breath from her giant muzzle. She was confident she could maim him.
The troll looked around nervously then, trying to find his escape. Aria knew he felt outnumbered. A sudden sense of strength surged through her and she took a step forward. The troll stepped back.
Another figure emerged from the trees. The sleek fur of a saber catching the moonlight in a sinister fashion. She prowled forward silently on her padded paws, hidden to the view of the rogue. She lunged then, wrestling the troll to the ground with the help of her Ursal counterpart. They held him there as he growled and spit his anger to the sky.
Aria watched the two druid women approach, their eyes drawn to the now savage-looking troll. He looked almost nothing like he had before in his leathers, or even without. Now, he was all pointed teeth and bloody tusks and war painted body. He wore a tattered, animal skin loincloth decorated with small skulls and bone. He looked like the trolls she was used to, and she almost prefered him this way. She knew what to expect from this kind of troll.
The tauren's eyes took in the trolls new form and regarded Aria sideways.
"You've done well. Now you must fight this battle in flesh. Come back with us.." Tayma extended her hand expectantly.
Aria took one more glance at the savage troll before taking the tauren's hand.
Her world fell to black and she finally rested, uninterrupted by her fears.