Hello all lovely readers! Lordy, it has been a while, and i'm sorry for that. Life can be a bitch sometimes, and writers block isn't great either. But here it is, the fourteenth chapter.
Disclaimer: The song Forgotten Melody is poorly written and only in pieces for now. But! It is my creation and therefore mine.
Scai's eyes searched her surroundings as she entered the fairgrounds through the decorative archway. Many of the tents had been taken down or were in progress. This made her blood run hot, yet another being she must chase down for revenge. Her sight caught a drunk sitting upon a stool before a bar that still remained open despite the fair's move. Her hooves paced to a stool, where she sat down casually. The tauren barkeep eyed Scai cautiously as she had her alliance companion ask the deathknight in common what it was she would like to drink.
"Pinot Noir, miss," Scai replied and then turned to the droopy eyed dwarf beside her, "Dear sir, what is it there you are drinking?"
"A beast this 'ere logg'r be, lass, I'm bettin' yer not fit to drink o' pint!" He laughed coarsely and hiccupped.
"Is that so, a challenge then, stranger?" Scai grinned, taking a small bag from her waist, "How 'bout…I wager 30 gold I can drink as much as you have sir, and be just fine."
"And what ya want me to be bettin' in return, lass?" the dwarves eyes grew in size, obviously separating the large amount in his head to figure up how many more bottles he could buy, "I ain't got a coin ta speak of."
"I see," Scai acted as if she was deep in thought, tapping her finger to her chin, "If I win, dear sir, I want ….information."
"Information, ey?" the bronze haired dwarf asked, his furry eyebrow rose, "What information I be havin' that's of worth ta ya?"
"How long have you spent your days at the Darkmoon Faire?" Scai asked, curious then.
"I can't 'member how long I been sittin' 'ere," he confessed, scratching his full bearded chin, "Barkeep, what be my tab?"
"143 gold, sir," the human girl glared as she became aware of his empty pockets, and she turned to the draenei, "He has been sleeping by the tent all night for the past week, I can't get him to leave..."
"By the makers!" the gruff man laughed, "…Are ya willin' ta up the wager, little lass?"
"200 gold, sir," Scai replied, sipping her wine, "If I am defeated in this bout, it is all yours."
"Hmm.." the dwarf stared, pondering her sanity, "That'l be a right thin' ta do fer yer fellow warrior, draenei, Deal!"
The dwarf shoved his open hand towards her, his crooked smile confident. Scai shook it, holding back her grin. The barkeep rolled her eyes and a tall, clear glass hit the dark wood countertop. A cork popped and she turned to pour a fizzy blue substance form a long necked purple bottle. Its appearance alone was enough to make Scai curious, and her long fingers wrapped around the glass. Down it went; it tickled instead of burned her throat. She coughed, shoving her fist against her chest to distill the sensation. The dwarf laughed and patted her back. Another glass was poured. And the third was gulped.
"How many..o these did ya drink, dwarf" Scai asked, her lips becoming embarrassingly lazy, "I had three."
"Try seven, deathknight," he muttered as he stifled another laugh, "Do you see them yet?"
"See…?" Scai arched brow rose in question.
"The elekks!" He yelled, twisting in his stool and tossing his arms toward the central area of the camp.
Scai turned and nearly drew her axe when she saw eight very small …and very pink elekks walking about. She held her eyes shut hard for a few seconds and opened them again, but still the little creatures scurried to and fro.
"Well," Scai laughed, "A bit odd, don't ya think?"
"Wait till yer sixth glass," he bellowed, taking a swig.
And another was downed, and another. Scai's world around her became so bizarre. The grass had turned purple and the sky looked greener than the fiery pits of outland.
"What's thi'strange brew?" Scai asked, alarmed.
"It's a makin' of yer own people!" he laughed, "It be a draenic pale ale!"
The deathknight stared hard at the dwarf for a few short moments, and her laughter pierced the air with her sharp chortles. Her last glass was finished, and Scai turned to see all the elekks staring at her. The draenei hiccupped quietly, and her body jerked at the action. The dwaf's rough voice was somewhat distraught as he sighed next to the draenei.
"Haven't ever seen another ta take that brew without stoppin' at the third glass…" he mumbled as he rubbed his bearded chin, "Ta be honest wit ye, I couldn't pass 4 me self…"
"..What?" Scai growled, her hazy world returning toa semi normal status from her rising anger, "Ya made me drink all that rubbish?"
"It was a sketchy deal, lass, I never said before we shook how many ya had to down," He replied, "But the joke is on me!...A deal is a deal, I will give ya the information ya seek."
Scai's narrowed eyes peered at the small man, but soon she relaxed. Her hand dug into the pouch at her side and tiny metal clanged together. A handful of coins hit the counter top, and the dwarf's eyes widened in surprise.
"143 gold…Dwarf, I suggest you pay yer tab and head on to something more productive than tricking strangers for a laugh."
"Right ya' are, draenei," the dwarf replied quietly, and before he could have his hands upon the coins the tauren barkeep had already snatched them up.
She scoffed at the dwarf and took the empty glasses away. Her tail swatted back and forth as she walked to the back of the small tent. He pulled a pipe from his pocket and stuck it to his lips.
"What ya want ta know?" he asked, and he pulled some ground tobacco from a pouch.
"Mortengel."
With that single name the dwarf stiffened. His chubby fingers stuffed a few pinches of tobacco into the head of his pipe as his blood shot eyes rolled toward Scai. He blinked once and then twice.
"Danger-s people ya be afta, lass…" his voice was quiet, his lips barely forming the words around the mouth piece.
"Think of danger as a friend of mine, dear sir," Scai replied and her eyes caught the sight of the tauren barkeep eyeing them thoughtfully as she cleaned a mug in nonchalance.
"That woman has eyes everywhere," he mumbled and stuck a match.
His cheeks pulled in with a few puffs as the tobacco began to sputter and burn. Scai was not moved by his paranoia, but her patience was growing thin.
"We made an agreement," her voice came off as an edgy whisper, "So, I will ask this once."
The dwarf scoffed and shrugged his shoulders, "be as it may with yer circumstances, please, ask."
"Where can I find her?" her nails tapped the counter as she leaned back.
"How would I know t'at?" he sighed in content as the smoke escaped his lungs and filled the air around the pair.
"I believe it is beyond fair to assume that you've been here long enough at this…wonderful faire to get a good idea of the happenings and the whos around here." Scai answered heatedly, but her hand became a fist in her attempts to control her anger.
A dead witness is never a useful one.
"They pack'd up." He stated blatantly, "Last eve."
Scai's thoughts began to rush, anger set in as she realized her target had already left the region and could have went anywhere.
"What time?" the deathknight asked between bared teeth, "When the hell did the demon leave?"
"Well before sunrise this morn," he replied after another puff, "Long gone, I assure ye."
The draenei's eyes grew furious and she looked upon the small man sitting beside her. He was toying with her, laughing. Her temper raged to the point of breaking her strength but her fierce gaze caught the attention of the tauren female behind the counter. She had already exited the tent and ran to report the situation to the ogre before she could mutter a word. The ogre looked displeased and seemed to be the sole guard in the area. However, she had no doubts that many of the workers here had more than a small dagger in their boots to defend themselves. Scai stood and thrust her hand outward to clasp the dwarf's linen shirt. His cry of surprise caused the fierce looking ogre to come walking her way with a fat mallet in his right fist.
"Alright, where the hell did they go," Scai snarled with her teeth bore, "I know you have an idea, you little vermin."
His mustache quivered, nearly jostled the pipe from his lips, "Th-the duo rode south! That's all I know!"
"THAT'S ALL?" the roar cut the air, and further attention was drawn to her situation.
The ogre began to yell, what it was saying she had no idea; her blood ran too hot to see anything besides the being in front of her. The taste of copper slammed her senses and bloodlust entered her mind.
"Aye!" he cried, his pipe fell to the ground with a thud and ashes spilled out onto the packed dirt.
Scai's grasp released and her hooves dashed from the dwarf. The ogre had reached her and she ducked suddenly to maneuver from his grabbing hand. The massive beast towered over her but Scai knew with such size there was the weakness of low agility. Her sidesteps caused the beast to roar and the deathknight laughed as she ran south, away from the lone, pink elekk staring at her behind.
It wasn't long before her breath was quick and her lungs could no longer sustain her sprinting. She slowed to a walk and tossed her eyes to the sky, and she sighed, the early morning was already dreary. Clouds hung in the sky as if they had perished in the night and no one had come to collect their corpses. Scai thought for a moment about all the corpses she had seen, about all the lives that had been snuffed out before her eyes. Most of which she had done so with her own two hands. It had been so sweet then, the essence of battle filled her soul with such power. But now, it felt as if it were a nightmare. Another life entirely where she had been a different creature, and lived only for the sight of blood and the entrails of her enemies spilled upon the battlefield. Time and time again it felt as if she were returning to that beast she had been, when her temper mounted far beyond what she thought she could control. Her skills were always tested in the world she lived in, and many enemies were made without provocation. In this life she had spilled blood, but more often she only desired the fight. She fought to remember the invigorating feeling of defeating her opponent.
Scai inhaled deeply, the earthen scents of the forest filling her body. Her thoughts ventured toward Zydien, and deeper to thoughts of the darker form which resided inside her. So much to be explained and solved. However, this path will be followed. There must be a way. Her hooves continued south until she came upon the cabin she had made her home in Elwynn Forest. But not all was right with the place. Her nose twitched and picked up the scent of old blood. Dried and matted.
Her eyes searched the ground and traces of it were rubbed into the long blades of grass before the shore turned to mud. The trail was lost and her movements were silent as she followed it to the side of the cabin. A familiar melody flowed in the air quietly, so quiet that if she had not recognized it a stranger would have been written off as a bird's song in the distance. Her body paused against the side, and she turned slightly to peer beyond the corner of the structure. The wood was coarse against her clothes as she leaned against it, and her eyes searched. At the end of the small dock in front of the cabin sat a figure, and it seemed familiar. The humming grew louder and the scent of old blood became pungent in the air. At that moment Scai recognized the voice and the figure.
Her body moved forward, but slowly, her instincts set her body in immediate unease. The hooded figure did not move in the slightest as she approached. However, the humming burst into a haunting song. At first the melody was upbeat, but it became dreary and low.
Alone we go, to battle- ho!
Where blood is shed,
we will be led.
Far from content,
our wills are bent.
Bodies fall,
it is our call.
Alone we go…..
Alone we go..
Onward battle-oh.
"..Zydien.." Scai whispered, fearful.
"Deathknight." Her voice was high pitched, and familiar to the draenei.
"Her darker form, I presume." She hissed, and her hand quickly raced to her blade.
"Hardly." Zydien laughed as her body turned as she stood; the motion so smooth it was unsettling.
Scai took in the features of the woman before her with wide eyes. The cape was dark only due to the matted blood covering it. It appeared as if Zydien had dipped it in a barrel full of freshly siphoned fluids from anonymous beings moments before Scai had arrived. The human's hands emerged from within the cloak, covered in crusty dark matter that flaked to the wooden dock at her feet as she moved them. Her nails were black above and under for reasons Scai had no desire to learn. The filthy digits pulled at the human's hood to release her caked hair from the cloth with a restless crackle. Her usually long, flowing locks were patched together in an unnatural way with sticky ooze covering them. Her bangs clung to the girl's forehead from sweat, and below her stressed brow was a pair of feral eyes staring back at the draenei. The whites and emerald of her eyes was nearly swarmed over by violet matter, swirling and shifting before Scai's eyes. The human's lips were upturned in such a smile it was obvious she was more than pleased with herself. Zydien wore the emotion so familiar to the deathknight it was difficult to stare at her countenance.
"Who.."Scai whispered, at first amazed and then angry, "Who did you kill? And when?"
"I do believe that this ..darker form, as you call it, may not be as terrible as we have assumed…" Zydien's voice trailed off without acknowledging Scai's questions.
"Damn it, Zydien, the guards will find you!" she growled, tossing her hands at her in agitation, "Where did you put the body? Surely not lying in the streets of Stormwind!"
Moments passed in silence and the human stood until her lips parted, "He is unrecognizable. There would be many to suspect."
Without another word, Scai lurched forward and landed her hands upon the human's chest. The girl tripped backwards and off the dock into the river water below. The water cried out in a splash as the human fell in, and streams of crimson flowed with the current. The human surfaced with a gasp and tossed a hateful glare at the deathknight.
"You come here, to my cabin, trailing blood behind you," her voice low with aggression, "And you believe they will not suspect you?"
"Not I." Zydien smiled, and she swam to shore.
Scai's anger rose once again as it had at the faire not moments before, "You wish to destroy me then."
"Only to occupy your time." She replied, "…this shadow cannot leave my body."
A sharp sound of linen rubbing against linen entered the air as she unlaced her cloak and let it hit the muddy ground with a wet thud. Her dress was also covered in blood but it was wet instead of dried, smeared upon her skin where it draped.
"I must disagree." The deathknight replied, "Murdering a man in Stormwind is not satisfactory behavior for this shadow form of yours."
"He attempted to rape me." Zydien spoke blandly, as if stating the dreary clouds above them blocked the sun.
Scai stood for a moment in thought, and she debated the truth in the girl's words. The human climbed the uphill muddy terrain of the shore to again walk upon the dock. Her smudged fingers worked mindlessly on untying the simple robe she wore. Soon the deathknight gave in and accepted that this thing inside Zydien had given her strength to ward off a pursuer. One such thing she knew for a fact the priestess would normally never accomplish. The robe fell to the floor and the deathknight's eyes shot immediately to the human's body. Zydien stood bare to the early morning air, and Scai's eyes noticed the small bumps forming on her skin as the girl shivered. The violet depths of the human's eyes met those of the draenei and its depths slowly brightened to the emerald green Scai had fell in love with. The emerald eyes came paired with a blush to reach her pale cheeks and along her neck.
"How did you..extinguish the shadow's hold on you?" she asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I have accepted it as part of me instead of resisting." Her voice was soft, "to an extent, this has given me..more control."
"If that is what it wants you to believe it can easily deceive you," Scai growled as she paced toward the cabin.
The girl followed, attempting to part her lips with a rebuttal but she knew the deathknight would not hear it. An old wardrobe groaned in misery as Scai opened its large, dusty panels to shuffle through it. Moments later as the girl watched, Scai pulled out a pair of leather pants and a blue button up shirt. The deathknight inspected it, and found a few holes in the shirt, but shrugged.
"It'll do for now," Scai sighed, "We must depart before the guards catch wind of your obvious trail."
Zydien cast her eyes to the floor in shame, "I, myself, did not intend to do such a thing…I was simply…not in control."
"Well your shadow obviously has its own agenda and knows very well what it is doing!" Scai whispered angrily, "Go wash before putting these garments on."
"I'm sor-"
"I have no interest in your apologies, go outside." The deathknight hissed and paced over the straw bed to sit.
The human held the clothes in her hands, and she looked down upon them. She wondered what corpse the deathknight had taken them from. Her eyes then rose to the draenei, and her aqua skinned hand was covering her eyes in an expression Zydien could not decipher before the deathknight bowed her head. The human nodded silently and departed to again jump into the river in attempts to cleanse herself of all traces the entrails of Jaxon had left behind.
The plot..unfolds not even slightly, but it is a chapter and is important! I think. Tehee! Love you all for reading and pelase review :)