Something was wrong. Something was severely and completely wrong. The chill, the thick, foggy air, the darkness.. It was eerily familiar. Drakkon struggled, hoping his instincts had drawn the wrong conclusion. He needed to wake up. Immediately, before something awful happened. How had this even happened, at all/ He'd fallen asleep with Faiyte. That always worked. What went wrong? There was a slithering sound beside him, like a serpent dragging it's belly along the woodland floor. Of course, he knew better, by now. He leapt up and off the ground as the living roots snapped, tangling around with each other in the area he'd just been laying. In his sudden motion, the forest around him sprang to life. Tree branches thrashed around him, the roots writhed beneath him, and the fog rolled up and thickened, obscuring his vision. This, however, he'd grown used to. He expected it. His hope was in waking up before Kil'sha showed himself. A dark, resounding cackle pierced the air, however. The nightmare druid knew he was there. Focusing his thoughts on waking himself, Drakkon fled from the laugh, the roots, the branches, and the fog. It followed him, however. Of course it did. Kil'sha had complete control of the situation. His mind strayed to what Tacoon had said. If it was really true, there honestly was nothing he could do to fight it. It was less of Kil'sha being inside Drakkon's head, and more Drakkon being in Kil'sha's. This thought was even more unsettling. With his lapse of attention, a root easily tripped Drakkon, sending him down into the violent, whipping, thorned roots on the ground. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, expecting the forest to grab hold of him, hold him down, tear him apart... But it didn't. In fact, it seemed to calm for a moment. Kil'sha's chuckling had even stopped. Had he woken up? Hopeful, Drakkon opened his eyes. No such luck.
"My, my..." Kil'sha's drawl wasn't echoing or threatening. It seemed amused. "What have we, here?" Drakkon glanced around in wonder and confusion. What was happening? "Aren't you just a precious, delicate, pretty little flower..." What? Suddenly, there was a piercing scream, and Kil'sha's malicious laughter barked through the trees. A scream? It had to be a trap. Something to lure Drakkon in. The curiosity, however, was the mage's downfall. "Calm, calm, dear.." Kil'sha continues as Drakkon cautiously followed the sound. "There's no need to scream. No one will come to your rescue, in here. They can't." Drakkon could see Kil'sha's silhouette, along with a mass of roots. They were gripping something, high above the ground, dangling it before Kil'sha's face. As Drakkon neared, careful to stay hidden behind trees and brush, he could make out the restrained figure of a woman. She was held, upside down, by the roots. Drakkon faltered. It had been a long time since Kil'sha used this tactic. When Drakkon was younger, Kil'sha had a tendency to create illusions of Nyteshayde to torture him. He didn't think Kil'sha would resort to this, again. Drakkon had long since discovered that these situations weren't real. Kil'sha had only been able to fool him with this method once, since then. That was when the illusion was of Jaimee, instead of Nyteshayde. Kil'sha seemed devoted now, though, to making it seem real. He was still focused on the woman, running a claw over her face lightly and attempting to calm her thrashing panic. Drakkon moved a bit closer, curious.
"You know, little girl... You've caused me quite a bit of trouble, this past year." He was speaking in a hauntingly calm tone. Drakkon stopped in his tracks as enough light was shed for him to properly see. The woman being suspended by the roots was Faiyte. Did Kil'sha, though, was taking measures to make it convincing.
"What the hell is this!?" Faiyte shrieked, finding her words. Kil'sha grinned wickedly.
"This is my world, dear." He hissed. "I control what goes on, here." The roots tightened around her, and she gave a cry in pain, struggling against them. "It hurts less if you don't fight it." Kil'sha commented. "How did you get in here?" He asked, cocking his elk-horned head. "Not that I'm complaining. You're a rather pleasant change to the usual scenery. And, I must say, I'll thoroughly enjoy peeling that pretty skin of your away from your bones." Kil'sha managed to maintain his calm voice as he spoke the words, and it clearly terrified Faiyte that he did so. Drakkon faltered. This was an illusion, right? It had to be an illusion. Kil'sha moved, digging his sharp claw into her cheek a bit. The snarl of pain she gave felt all too real. Drakkon realized, with a begrudging reluctance, that he couldn't risk this just being another trick. He leapt from his hiding place, slicing one of the roots that lead up to the ones restraining Faiyte. While his usual abilities, both mage and death knight, were drained while in the nightmare, his bladed claw always remained his only form of defense. As the razor sharp metal of it easily severed the root, the rest of them twisted around in pain, loosening their grip on Faiyte in the process. Luckily, they'd lowered in their thrashing. She didn't hit the ground too hard. Drakkon expected her to vanish. He expected her to have been a vision and thought Kil'sha would laugh and reveal it to have been a trap. However, Kil'sha appeared to be quite shocked as he whipped around to see Drakkon.
"Oh, you are here!" Kil'sha grinned, sending his roots for Drakkon. He quickly dodged and lashed with his claw to the best of his ability. Faiyte was shocked still, looking from the massive nightmare druid, to the roots, to Drakkon. "You'll pay for interrupting my fun, boy!" Kil'sha snarled, charging, claws splayed threateningly. Drakkon held his breath, bracing himself. He leapt onto one of the writhing roots, using it to propel himself into the air, straight at Kil'sha. The druid hadn't been expecting this. The roots followed after Drakkon obediently and, as the mage cleared the druid's horns, the roots tangled in them, dragging Kil'sha down. He let out an outraged roar, and Drakkon quickly ran over the back of Kil'sha's buck-like body. He leapt back to the ground, snatching Faiyte as he continued to run. She caught on quickly, and hurriedly ran with Drakkon in a frenzied panic. As Kil'sha attempted to untangle himself from the mass of roots, Drakkon lead Faiyte far enough away, then stopped, ducking behind a gathering of trees. Faiyte gave an attempt to run farther, but Drakkon held onto her, preventing it. As she struggled, he demanded her attention.
"The forest doesn't have eyes or ears, Faiyte." He said. "But it can sense movement. Vibrations.. If you don't move, we'll be fine, for a while.. How are you here?! Is this real?!" He couldn't hold back the question, and Faiyte took a moment to catch her breath and work past her terror.
"What the hell is going on Drak!? What is this place!?" It was real. But how?
"Alright, this is going to sound..." He faltered. "Apparently, you've been pulled into my nightmare. That druid is Kil'sha. He's been trying to kill me for years. He controls the forest and everything in it. Your only chance to survive is to wake up." He tried. She looked stuck in shock.
"How is any of that even possible?! Am I dreaming?!"
"Kind of." His answer only seemed to confuse her more. "We both are.. But this dream can kill you. If you die, in here, you're dead. Trust me."
"Trust you!? I don't even know if you're real!"
"All of this is real." Drakkon clarified. "How did you get here? What's the last thing you remember, before you woke up, here?"
"Before I woke up... In a dream..." She breathed, glancing around.
"Focus, and answer me." He demanded, gaining her attention.
"I.." She struggled. "It.."
"Quickly, Faiyte." He rushed. "He will find us."
"I just.. I remember waking up, and getting out of bed to get ready.. You were still asleep. And you just.." She paused. "I don't know, you looked like you were in pain, so I was going to wake you up! When I touched you..." She sighed. "Damnit, Drak, I don't get it, but everything just went black, and then I was here!" He nodded, thinking. Kil'sha's shouting after them was getting closer. Faiyte noticed this, too, and panicked. "What do we do?"
"Focus on waking up." He said. "Like I said, you stand no chance, here. You can't beat him, I've tried." Faiyte gave a nod, though she seemed too lost in what was going on to be able to do so. The roots around them rising up to fight certainly didn't help, either, causing her to shriek in surprise and whip around quickly. The roots shot from the fog so fast that it was left behind them in little white trails, surrounded them like a cage, and leaving no room to run.
"I caught you, you little shit!" Kil'sha bellowed, appearing from behind the mass of trees. "You think you can just run forever!? That you can just hide from me? IGNORE ME!?" The druid's voice had turned vicious and threatening, echoing through the forest loudly. The roots descended, attempting to grasp both Drakkon and Faiyte. Drakkon did his best to use his claw to fight them off. It worked, for a short time. Though for ever one root he was able to cut down, three more rose from the fog to replace it. As Kil'sha became impatient, they grew more ruthless. One quickly snapper around Drakkon's ankle, yanking him quickly off the ground and rushing through the air to hang him in front of Kil'sha. Much like the way Faiyte had been, although much less restrained. Drakkon took the opportunity to twist around, swinging his claw right at Kil'sha's face. The druid moved quickly, however, and the claw only managed to nick his horn. Kil'sha growled at the outburst, focusing on Drakkon in a glare.
"Well, that thing has just become a complete nuisance, hasn't it?" He hissed. This said, another root shot up from beneath Drakkon to wrap around the mechanical arm. "How well is that thing attached?" Kil'sha chuckled as the root tightened itself. The one around Drakkon's ankle remained in place, therefore causing the roots to stretch Drakkon, length-wise. "Will it come off, first, or will it tear you apart?" Drakkon struggled against the roots, attempting to twist the claw around to sever the one holding it. Kil'sha's snickering was interrupted by a decent sized rock, that flew through the air and hit the druid in the stomach. It wasn't enough to do any damage, but it certainly grabbed his attention. She couldn't be that foolish, could she? Drakkon moved, looking back towards Faiyte, who was rooting around beneath the thick fog for another rock to throw.
"Faiyte!" Drakkon called. "What the hell are you doing!?" He scolded. Kil'sha laughed, amused by her attempts. "Wake up! Get out of here!"
"And let the giant elk druid literally tear you in half? That sounds like something I would do." Faiyte huffed, getting to her feet, clenching two more rocks. One of which, she threw at Kil'sha. One of the roots easily rose, however, to hit it back, midair.
"How fun!" Kil'sha laughed. "Go ahead, throw another!" He suggested. Drakkon looked back to him momentarily. His focus was completely on Faiyte in amusement. Drakkon moved, struggling to free his claw. Faiyte seemed to notice this, and continued to throw rocks at Kil'sha as a distraction. After a while of attempting to free himself, it was clear that the root was far too entwined around his mechanical arm for him to be able to do so. And, it was around this time, that Kil'sha's initial amusement faded. "Alright. That's about enough." He said, and a root shot up to twist around Faiyte's torso, pulling her up from the ground to bring her in front of Kil'sha, as well. She didn't scream, as it happened. In fact, she seemed to have been expecting it.
"Drak!" She called, gaining his attention before tossing something towards him as she passed. Drakkon quickly moved to catch it. Whatever it was, she obviously thought it important enough to subject herself to the roots. It was a rather flat, slightly pointed rock. Kil'sha noticed this, and made an attempt to snatch it. Drakkon was faster, however, driving it into the root holding his claw as deep as he could. The root reacted immediately, though not in a way that was entirely beneficial. As it was entwined with the metal, when it reeled in pain, it snapped through a few places. Drakkon swore loudly. Not again. Though the resulting shower of sparks was enough for the root to withdraw completely. And, even, the one around his ankle swiftly fled from him. This bright flash also caught Kil'sha's undivided attention, however. He set after Drakkon as the mage hit the ground, lashing with his own claws and setting an onslaught of dangerous hoof kicks that had Drakkon dodging, ducking and rolling out of the way quickly. There was just too much coming at him, at once. His claw remained sparking and, although it was painful, if proved to be effective in fighting off the roots that came after him. In the process of dodging Kil'sha, he was able to hit the root holding Faiyte, causing it to release her. This angered Kil'sha more, and his flurry of attacks became more vicious.
"What now!?" Faiyte asked, scattering away from roots and Kil'sha's attacks. Thinking quickly, Drakkon latched onto her as she passed him, using his claw to send a shock through her. It worked. She gave a sqeak of shock and pain, then she seemed to disappear. She'd woken up.
"Damnit you little pest!" Kil'sha growled, striking out. As he did so, Drakkon managed to grab lock his claw around Kil'sha's wrist. The druid howled in surprise, jumping back. This idea worked, as well. The shock was enough to cause a lapse of control, and Drakkon was released from the nightmare.
As he came back into consciousness, he shot out of bed. He didn't want anything to do with laying down or even thinking about sleeping, at the moment. His arm was still sparking slightly, though it had slowed quite a bit. Faiyte was leaning back against the wall, apparently sharing Drakkon's view of the bed, at the moment. She looked completely terrified, staring at the mattress, which held a few blood spots. Of course, Drakkon was immune to this sight. He was used to waking up with much worse.
"Faiyte?" He tried, after a moment to calm himself. She'd hadn't moved. At him saying her name, however, her wide eyes snapped to him.
"What the hell!?" She demanded, voice a bit high pitched in stress. "So... So that was all REAL!?"
"As real as it gets, yeah." He nodded.
"And I could have really died in there!? What the hell was that place!? Who, exactly, was that!?"
"It's a very long, complicated story." Drakkon muttered. "Let's just assume that was a one time thing.. You being pulled into it, I mean. We don't have to go into detail about all that mess.."
"Drak! I was just in your damn nightmare! Where I could have been killed by some insane enemy you've apparently made!" Faiyte was slightly hysterical, and she still hadn't moved from her place, pressed back against the wall, looking as though she might be stuck there. "I deserve a damn explanation and as much information as you can give me!"
"Faiyte? Dearie, are you still home?" Faiyte's face became even paler, at the sound of her mother's voice. Drakkon, too, froze. Drakkon and Faiyte's arrangement had always been careful enough that they always made sure Elnoir, Cypress, and Evangelin were going to be out of the house. And they'd usually began their way back to the Vanguard before the three of them even returned home. "Faiyte, I know I said it in question form, But I could hear you. I know you're in there." Elnoir was saying, coming up the hallway. Faiyte moved like lightning, then, dashing for the door and leaving the room, closing the door behind her. He could hear them speaking just outside the door, and he quickly tried to come up with a solution as he pulled his armor over his clothes. If his claw wasn't broken, he'd have simply been able to teleport himself into Dalaran. It was when he considered simply going out the window, that the door opened, again.
"Drak. She knows you're here." Faiyte said as she came back into the room, looking defeated. At this, he gave a glance back to the door. "She wants you downstairs. I need to get ready. We will talk about what happened."
"Why?" He asked, after a pause in watching Faiyte cross the room to gather up her things and armor to change.
"Because I deserve to-"
"Why does she want me downstairs?" He clarified. "Can't I just, you know, leave?" He tried. She smirked slightly.
"Are you afraid of my mother, Drak?" He scowled a bit. "Just go down there, talk to her.. She'll probably force you to eat breakfast..." Her tone wasn't convincing.
"Yeah. That's what will happen." He muttered.
"You have to stay here to fix your arm, anyway." She sighed. "Just get this over with. She'll end up coming down to the Vanguard to talk to you if she has to. Just get it over with." The sad part is that it was the truth. Elnoir was stubborn and determined enough that she probably would chase him down. This thought in mind, he reluctantly left the room to head downstairs.
"The robot is here!" Cypress called out from the sitting room, as Drakkon came into view. Well, that was just great. Elnoir looked up, from her place rooting around in the kitchen, giving Drakkon a once over before focusing on Cypress.
"Cy, why don't you go play outside with your sister for a bit, alright?" At this, Cypress gave a huff.
"But-"
"Cypress." Elnoir said sternly. "I need to speak with Drak, a moment. Please." Cypress gave a defeated sigh, then rose from the couch to head outside. As he did so, Elnoir looked back to Drakkon, pointing to the chairs at the kitchen counter. "Sit." He began to argue, but the look in her eyes caused him to stop.
"What exactly has Faiyte told you?" He asked, reluctantly taking a seat.
"What I needed to know." She said, watching him in a rather scrutinizing way.
"And, clearly, you don't approve. That's what the point is going to be, isn't it?" He rose a brow. "So can we just skip over this, and I'll leave?"
"It's not quite that simple." Elnoir said, shaking her head. "This is my daughter we're talking about. She's already been through enough, she certainly doesn't need more complications. And, she seems to think there won't be any.. That she has it entirely under control, but that's what she thought, before." Elnoir paused. "From what she's said, you two aren't.." She trailed "But even if it is as detached as she says it is, your kind have a tendency to ruin everything in your path.."
"My kind?"
"Death knights." She clarified. "My father, my husband, and my daughter have all been part of the Crusade. I've spent my life hearing stories about death knights, and just how evil they can be. Faiyte has dealt with enough evil, through her life."
"And what 'evil' has she gone through?" He asked partly for curiosity. Though, mostly, he asked because he doubted it could compare to the things he, himself, had seen. Elnoir looked ready to answer, but Faiyte came in, interrupting.
"Mother. Don't you dare." Her tone was completely serious and, after saying it, she gave Drakkon a quick, disapproving glance. "As far as all this goes, I am an adult, I can make my own decisions."
"What happened the last time you didn't listen to me?" Elnoir seemed upset, and her words only made Faiyte glare.
"That was different. Now, we're already late. We have to go." She gave a quick motion for Drakkon to follow, then started straight out of the house without another word. Not wanting to get caught in a verbal row with Elnoir, Drakkon quickly tailed after. He waited as Faiyte said a quick goodbye to her children, then the two started through the city. "Seeing as how your arm is.. Well, out of commission, we'll have to go through Stormwind to get into Northrend." Faiyte announced.
"Or, I could stay and fix it." Drakkon tried. Stormwind wasn't the best idea, for him.
"We're already late." Her tone was still cold, and it seemed unwise to argue. Though,he'd rather deal with Faiyte being angry, then having Stormwind chase him down, again, and blow his cover, in the process. He stopped as they neared the portal to Rut'theran Villiage. Faiyte noticed this immediately, and looked back to him in exasperation. "What?"
"I'm going to fix my arm, and go through a portal to Dalaran." He announced, unwavering. Faiyte scowled a bit.
"I will drag you through to Rut'theran, damnit!"
"Try it." He dared, and she huffed.
"What the hell is your issue with Stormwind!? I mean, I don't like the city, either, but it's faster than waiting for you to fix that thing!" She said. "And you still have to explain that insane nightmare to me!"
"Like I said, don't worry about it. It shouldn't happen to you again."
"But it will happen to you?"
"Not if I don't sleep. The problem is resolved."
"No it isn't! Why the hell are you so stubborn!?"
"I could ask you the same thing, you know." He said pointedly. "If you get to keep secrets, then so do I." She was silent for a bit, watching him.
"Why does it matter to you, what I've been through?" She asked. "I have valid reasoning to be interested in this nightmare business.. Considering it nearly killed me.. but you have no reason to pry into my past."
"Actually I do." He said. "Considering that it apparently automatically makes me the bad guy, in your mother's eyes. And, i'm assuming it's the reason you don't want to be left alone, and you forced me to stay with you. All of this, the nightmare, and your mother figuring things out, if you would just let me leave, when-"
"So now we're criticizing the fact that I don't like to be left alone!?" She glared.
"No, it's not that you don't like to be left alone, it's that you're terrified of being left alone."
"You would be, too!" She hissed. "If you had someone you though you could trust, turn into a damn monster and break into your home to kill you! If the only reason you had the strength to fight back and survive, at all, was knowing that there was someone else in the damn house that you had to protect!" She shot. "After something like that, you prefer to have someone around. Anyone, it doesn't matter.. Especially knowing that same bastard that tried to kill you is still alive and well, perfectly capable of breaking out of prison and coming after you, again, whenever the hell he sees fit!" She paused, taking a few breaths to calm herself as a few passers by started to look on in curiosity. "This is neither the right place nor the right time, for this conversation. But, considering this nightmare just happened this morning, instead of four years ago, I think I deserve some insight."
"Fine.. What, exactly, do you want to know?" He asked. He was reluctant to talk about it, knowing there were several details that could give away who he was, but she did have the right to know.
"First of all, how long has this been going on?"
"Decades. Next question." He answered shortly.
"The druid.. Why does he want you dead?" This one was a bit of a struggle.
"I knew him, when he was alive. We didn't get along well." He tried, and Faiyte crossed her arms. It wasn't good enough.
"I thought we agreed a while ago that you wouldn't try to bullshit me."
"I tortured him." Drakkon said outright, and Faiyte's scowl twisted in a bit of shock. "He hurting my mother, he was apprehended, and I tortured him for it. Once he died, the nightmares started. I was thirteen." Faiyte took a moment, then nodded.
"So.. He's dead?" She asked.
"Technically." Drakkon said. "This was all just recently explained to me, in a way that made even the slightest amount of sense."
"By who?"
"A druid I know."
"A living one?" She rose a brow. Drakkon nodded. "I want to talk to him." At this, Drakkon faltered. "Where is he?"
"I don't know." He tried.
"Drak! Don't lie to me!" Faiyte frowned, and Drakkon sighed.
"He mentioned living in Stormwind." He reluctantly answered, and Faiyte gave a look back towards the portal. "Can't you just go, yourself?"
"Will he talk to me, if you don't go?" She asked. Drakkon cursed, starting past her for the portal. It was quiet, for quite a while, as they waited at the docks, each lost in their own thoughts. Drakkon was busy trying to route Stormwind's layout in his mind, attempting to find the best route to take, where he wouldn't be noticed. Either way, it was a great risk to even step foot into the city. Teh again, if the crusade hadn't been told anything about him, perhaps the Stormwind Guard hadn't either.
"These nightmares.." Faiyte suddenly spoke, just as the shit came into view on the horizon. "They're the reason you're so messed up, aren't they?" She was blunt about it, but it's not like Drakkon didn't expect everyone to think he was messed up, anyway.
"Yeah, pretty much." He nodded.