Chapter Fifty-Three – Lillia
Razorfen Downs: Spiral of Thorns
Just a mere flick of power threw Lillia back. She wasted no time in getting up; ignoring the sudden shaking of the ground beneath her. In that one moment she knew there was no going back.
"LILLIA!" Taelus shouted "WATCH OUT!"
She noticed the land she was on had levitated far above her friends and Tael-ironic that she had rounded on him for doing something similar. The Lich's voice drew her back.
"Surprised, Death Knight?" there was no mocking in his voice, no annoying angle, no riled speech.
Lillia got back on her feet, and looked at the Arch Lich-anger and rage guiding her thoughts.
"You now face an Arch Lich, Lillia-and I do not accept failure" he raised his hands in the air, and his small piece of ground levitated above Lillia's "The Lich King has tried to bring you back in the fold, but no more. This is your last chance; give yourself to him and you will be spared. If you refuse, I will destroy you and your friends"
"Amnenar the Coldbringer" Lillia spat with all her hate "I have been ordered to kill you and nothing you say or do will change that, not even if the Traitor himself comes to save you"
"Yes I know what Darion Mograine told you to do" the entire chamber rattled and shook with his power "Acherus is of no concern to my Master, and your orders carry no weight"
"SILENCE" his voice rang out and Lillia noticed a silence come over the cave that was unnatural. The time for speaking was finally over.
The Lich shot his hands in the air and generated a terrible power; likened unto Acherus' weapon, and fired it at Lillia.
She only just dodged it. Lillia ran up to the Lich, but found herself face first in a wall of ice.
"Damn this Lich is fast" more balls of energy were flung at the Death Knight who could only dodge in response.
Ice spikes tried to hit her from behind; and though she broke them with her runeblade, she was hard pressed to get any closer to Amnenar.
He was baiting her…she realized that too late.
"Don't kill the Lich out of anger- for the Lich and the Scourge would have the final victory"
Amnenar drained all the light out of the room and even out of the sky with the bluish energy she had only seen when Acherus fires; he flung it at Lillia full force.
"Only your anger can destroy me" he laughed "Yet you just resist, and your control is slipping"
He flung ball after ball after ball.
She defended by slicing the energy when they got too close; but he was indeed right. She couldn't attack him up close, even with her runic powers he was just out of reach. All of this was to keep her angry…just as Mavare predicted.
He stopped firing the energy; but the giant ball he summoned the smaller ones from remained above him.
"You cannot keep destroying projectiles forever Lillia Brightsong" he declared, and waved his hands "Not if those are boulders"
The Arch Lich levitated large rocks and flew them up to the blue energy; choosing to envelope each boulder in the stuff before flinging them at the Death Knight.
One after another, after another. All she could do was dodge-and it served only to anger her further.
"Fight me, fucker!" she swore "I grow tired of your childish games"
"You can't seriously mean that?" he waved a hand and a small contingent of Frost Spectres, all with his likeness, appeared and ran to the Death Knight "I will fight you from above, Elf-I hope you understand"
She engaged the specters, but quickly realized they moved to controlled to be mere minions.
"Your starting to get it, Lillia" he said, but his voice was everywhere "The rocks, the ghosts, even the dead you fought here; they all belong to me-you cannot possibly hope to escape unscathed"
Each Spectre was like fighting a spell caster, weak physically perhaps, but so much more powerful in magic. Lillia hacked and slashed; but with every ten she killed, he summoned more, and more, and more, AND MORE!
She yelled angrily; gathering enough latent arcane energy to explode the Spectres closest to her.
"Beautiful, Death Knight" he applauded when she finished the last of them; Lillia herself panted, her shoulders heaved with the effort "But that little Arcane stunt cost more than a small amount of mana, tell me Lillia…can you call your precious Light?"
"You know that's impossible!" she shrieked, leaning on her runeblade for support "You took it away from me, lecher"
He looked somewhat disappointed.
"There is a Death Knight among our ranks…" he said whimsically "And his faith in the Light was so vast-even in undeath he can still harness its power"
Lillia dropped her runeblade in shock-oh how she'd love nothing more than to bask in the tender warmth of the Light again.
"It impressed Kel'Thuzad enough to admit him in as one of the Four Horsemen" Amnenar looked at Lillia and smiled "I've been waiting for that look for a year and a half, Death Knight. It suits you; really brings out your…pale complexion"
Tears formed in her eyes; her anger and frustration could not find adequate release.
"I've seen enough of this, bastard!" Taelus shouted.
Lillia turned to the Mage; his face set with fury, Amyna growling next to him in her true form. Did she fly him up here?
"I'm not finished yet, Taelus-yes the Master gave me orders for you as well" Amnenar looked at him "I don't like being interrupted, which you will soon find to be non-existent in the Scourge" he smiled "Although, I was wondering when you'd stop watching and start helping your little Elf-she continued calling for you until the end you know…such a shame we thought you dead"
He pulled out a shard of sorts.
"Neither of you know what this is-although the Death Knight should feel her old weapon calling to her"
Lillia snapped out of her daze and was drawn to the shard.
"Lilly" Tael called to her.
She limped over to him, and thrust him behind her.
"Guard Amyna-there's no telling what he'll do" she told him.
"What happened to you?" he asked, concerned.
"She used too much arcane energy at once, Taelus; surely you've seen the like before" Amnenar said "I can't touch the Dragon without the Mage-you have no worries there" The Coldbringer threw the shard in the blue ball of energy, which enflamed and grew brighter by the second.
"This is a very powerful arcane spell" the Lich said "It involves an intimate relic of the person I wish to re-create; a lot of mana-of course, and a healthy knowledge of Alchemy"
"Alchemy?" Taelus looked at the blue ball of fire.
"Yes, Mage, Alchemy-if not a twisted, corrupted version" Amnenar replied "Usually the created take the shapes of demons, it is a demonic spell after all; not my best suit, but I wish to make an impression"
The blue ball of energy descended to Lillia and Taelus' playing field; taking a very familiar shape before extinguishing.
Her hair was as blue as the energy was, and her skin a very light contrast of blue; but Lillia could not mistake the likeness.
"Me?!" she said, incredulous and angry "What is the meaning of this?"
The blue elf flung her right arm out, and produced a blade; using the same power Lillia used in the Oasis against Taelus.
"The meeting is quite clear, Death Knight" Amnenar smiled, from atop his podium "Only the destructive power of the Light has any chance at defeating her. She is, of course, linked to me, just like my Spectres-but still as strong and powerful as yourself" his voice echoed from everywhere with his next command "Slay the Death Knight and bring me her body. The Lich King will want proof she is dead; maim the boy and his dragon if they get in the way, but otherwise do not kill them"
The Icy voice was her own.
"As you wish, master" the blue elf said emotionlessly "It will be done"
Lillia threw Tael to the side as the elf came upon her, and they engaged in a swordfight so intense that Lillia had no time to think. She knew all of Lillia's attacks, and read her like an open book. She moved in the same exact way Lillia moved, and even felt like Lillia when they had bodily contact-oof.
Lillia had no time to rub her cheek from that punch before she was almost impaled by what looked to be a very familiar blade.
"My first Runeblade" Lillia caught herself gazing at it like an old friend, and cursing herself for her distractions.
The blue elf smiled viciously at her.
"You understand why master made me, right?" she said snidely as she kicked Lillia in her groin area "Why I look and sound like you?"
The Blue elf seemed to want to anger her as well as Amnenar.
"I don't care" Lillia replied "Whatever it is; you won't live enough to fulfill it"
She managed to cut the elf's left arm off, but it reattached itself almost immediately.
"That won't work" the elf giggled "But that did tickle a little"
Despite the appearance of flesh; this thing was obviously made of something else entirely.
"You don't have it in you, Death Knight" her voice was Lillia's voice "The Light that will kill me. It has left you for good"
Lillia plunged her blade into the elf's chest; and the elf mirrored her attack.
A different kind of pain hit Lillia full force and she gasped.
"Haa-aaahhhgh" she collapsed, and felt the blade stick out of her…it was made of that energy…
"Lillia!" Taelus cried heart wrenchingly "LILLIA!"
"Ta-Tael" she managed, and even though she should still be able to move, the power of the blade had paralyzed her "Tael…"
Lillia
Plaguelands: The Fungal Vale
The land looked familiar. It was her first thought. Lillia snapped up and looked around. This was the place where she fell; her last mission as one of the Argent Dawn. There was something else…she felt warm, like her old self. Closer inspection revealed she wore her golden Brigandine Mail, and her old sword was on her back. It all felt so real; the air was pungent, disgusting and it actually made her gag; the ground was a sickly purple and beginning to be sponge-like; and she was near the plague cauldron-contents and all.
The Scourge was absent, though. In fact, no one was out and about; as if they just up and left all their equipment.
"Oww" she tripped, and stopped caring. Her voice didn't echo, didn't sound otherworldly. She gasped loudly and said a few quick phrases in her native language…no echo.
"Am I…dead?" it was a stupid question, of course she was dead; but even so.
She wasn't supposed to be in the Plaguelands; hell, she wasn't even on the same continent.
Lillia picked herself up and did a double take. Her mother was only a few feet away.
"M-mother?" she asked, tentatively "Mom?"
"I'm here, Lilly" her mother replied.
"Mom" her voice broke, and in seconds she was in those tender loving arms.
"Oh my flower" she rubbed her back gently.
"I'm so sorry, Mom" Lillia cried "I didn't mean-I never meant-"
"I know dear" she took her daughter's arms and sat on the nearest rock.
Lillia, in full armor, climbed in her lap and cried, over and over she cried. As if her daughter was still a child, the woman held her gently, petting her head and speaking soft words in elvish.
"I wish you were still alive" Lillia finally said "It would have been different if you were"
"Every one dies eventually, Lilly" she said softly "Even flowers wilt and fall. But something wonderful is always left behind"
"Not now" Lillia whined "Never, I can never have a child. There will be no one to remember me, no one to mourn me at my grave"
"You have Tael, do you not?" her mother tilted her chin, so that they looked eye to eye "You have friends, do you not?"
"Friends?" she sniffed "They are afraid mom; they fear me more than love me. And Tael's going to be a father"
"I believe they will miss you when you're gone" her mother nodded confidently "Now, do you feel better? My legs will be sore soon, I expect"
Lillia, embarrassed, got off her mother, who proceeded to walk towards the northern Ziggurat.
"Are you coming, Lilly?" she asked her daughter.
"Yes, but…where are we exactly?" Lillia asked as she caught up.
The older elf looked around.
"I think we're currently in the Plaguelands, but I cannot be too sure" she replied "This is, after all, your world. I am already on the otherside-or rather, I'm in your runeblade shard"
"Mom?" Lillia was confused "My first runeblade was destroyed in the Battle of Light's Hope"
"I stuck around" her mother replied "Now come, and we'll talk somewhere better smelling"
Lillia
Ghostlands: Suncrown Village
They walked into the ziggurat and walked out of a house in a decrepit village. Lillia realized this was in the Ghostlands.
"Where are we?" Lillia asked.
"This is our town, Lilly. Remember?" her mother looked surprised.
"No, not where, but…Where am I, really?" this couldn't be reality for her, she knew she was in the Downs.
"You are still near wherever that Lich is" the older elf said "I am in your shard"
"But Mom-"
"Wait until we're home, okay?" she smiled and walked towards their house.
Lillia could only follow. She had never been back to Suncrown since before she was a Death Knight so this had to be as her mother remembered it.
The house was messy, as if someone rummaged through, but most of their belongings were still there. Lillia watched her mother tidy up a bit, and after a little while, she joined her in cleaning. When they had the dining area clean enough to sit, her Mother plopped down on a pillow and kicked away her shoes (she wore cloth items, being a mage and all).
Lillia stripped her armor, and sat down, though she only had a shirt on and some underwear for her private areas. A cup of tea and a cherry pie was offered to her and she took it.
"Perks of being a mage" her mother winked "Though, with this being in your mind, I probably didn't need to conjure anything"
"So this is in my mind?" Lillia asked, and sipped her tea.
"Well, I think it is…I don't know where else it would be" the older elf sipped some tea and sat the cup down on a saucer "Right now you have a sword in your chest and a shell of a copy of you is running amuck in that cave thingy the Lich stays in"
"So then how am I…well, you know" Lillia huffed "Why am I sticking around?"
"That Lich delved into some deep and ancient magic, lost to the ages, of course" her mother replied "He cannot have completely understood its purpose, and unfortunately I know even less than he does. Suffice it to say, if he used anyone other than you, you would be permanently out of the fight"
"You mean use my shard?" Lillia asked, understanding.
"Yes, that is exactly what I mean" her mother smiled "You may not be able to destroy it without the Light, but that shell can no more kill you than your old runeblade could. It's just not possible, but don't ask me why I know, its not a pretty tale"
"Then why am I like this?" Lillia wondered, gesturing to her apparently living self "Why can't I continue to fight?"
"You ever try impaling yourself with your runeblade?" her mother looked sly when she asked that "I mean, I know your not getting any with the work you've been pulling-"
"Mom!" Lillia was exasperated, and embarrassed.
"Sorry, you know I like to joke" she giggled.
"To answer your question, no I've never tried to kill myself" Lillia huffed "And for your information, Tael gave me a lot yesterday, so there"
"Tael?" the older elf looked worried "But you said the boy's going to be a dad soon"
"Yeah, about that" Lillia sighed "It's complicated"
"Do I need to come back from the dead and kick his ass?" she asked meanly.
"No Mom, look, it's not like that" Lillia put down her refreshments and held her hands, placating "Just please answer my question"
Her mother huffed.
"Essentially you've got your own weapon sticking out of your chest" she said "Because your so tied to your weapons, the way you are, you get some sort of…weakness of sorts from them when they hurt you"
"I've never heard of a Death Knight being hurt by their own weapon" Lillia muttered "If my blade siblings ever hear about this, I'll be the laughingstock of Acherus"
"To be fair, its your broken weapon" her mother picked her tea back up and sipped "Better, it's not as hot now"
"Yeah, about that" Lillia said "Why did he use the shards of my old blade, and how did he even get them?"
"You need a persons…intimate item to use as a catalyst in whatever ancient spell that Lich got a hold of" she sipped her tea some more, before continuing "So a tissue, hair sample, blood, etc…and it's more potent if it's something like a heart or liver. Your runeblade actually works better than any of those things; so that's why he only used one shard. He's got them all, by the way, whatever he could find anyway"
"How?" Lillia asked, curious.
"He picked them up where they fell, of course" her mother drank more tea "It helps if you just leave them around where anyone could find them"
"But they must have been dropped…like maybe a hundred feet from Light's Hope Chapel" Lillia was surprised "I don't think Amnenar would just walk in the middle of Crusader territory to pick up a few shards of a useless weapon"
Her mother stared at her, knowingly.
"Oh, no…You don't think we have a traitor among the Crusaders, do you?" Lillia asked, dumbfounded.
"That's exactly what I think" the older elf said "It's Scourge one oh one, 's how Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas even fell"
"I have to get back" Lillia said hurriedly "I have to get a message to the Argent Crusade"
"I wish you could" her mother said "As happy as I am to talk to you again, you're trapped as long as that blade sticks out of your chest"
Lillia slumped, defeated.
They sat that way for what felt like hours, before she had the courage to ask.
"Why were you still in my shard, anyway?" she asked her mother "You all should have escaped the moment my runeblade shattered"
"Fate has a funny way of doing things" the older elf said "I know I'm not a user of the Light…but I believed nonetheless. And it told me to stick around, if you will, said you would need the help it could no longer provide. It's funny"
"What is?" Lillia asked.
"It told me it was a Naaru named M'uru" her mother said "I have no idea what that means"
Lillia was just as doumbfounded.
