Chapter 2: The Eyes the Gods Poured the Stars Into

Shyrn shor mar eil eisyrn tas

Tandros thadaer eirdae

Saer shor shes eil tylal thar

Jhori shaer sai byrol

Eil shar air jhaes shael sor air kyli?

Shar tal paer byr pal?

Sor olia jhyli

Shyri shasol sys

Shor eilar mi si parn

Bows will snap and arrows crack

Magic fades away

Trees will burn and mountains fall

Life bleeds to nothing

And what is left when this is gone?

What can death not daunt?

Tis only love

Whose warming touch

Will always see the dawn

Anonymous Elvish Poem

I had been inside the Sentinel headquarters once before. Years ago when I was newly dead, Shendelzare attempted to get me to join the Sentinel. She took me around the base and gently tried to persuade me as to the righteousness of her cause. I had known Shendelzare when we were both alive. As a young archer I was a member of a secret expedition to Ashenvale that attempted to establish formal relations between the High Elves and Night Elves. Among the greeting party was the young warden Shendelzare. Coming into her presence was a sight that has never been equaled in all my travels. Before me I beheld beauty unsurpassable. The light of a thousand stars dimmed before her radiance, the depth of her eyes dwarfed the oceans. But old hatreds die hard, and within days a fight broke out. Shendelzare sheltered me from a radical faction that assassinated the rest of the High Elf delegation. Beyond that she managed to sneak me out of Ashenvale and find passage for me back to Quel'Thalas. My gratitude was inexpressible, my pain at leaving, incomprehensible.

I had always hoped that one day we could bridge the gap between our two races, but we were both dead before that day came. Within weeks of my death Shendelzare sought me out to ask me to join the fledging Sentinel alliance. In some aspects it was everything I had ever dreamed of in life. High Elves and Night Elves fighting side by side, and Shendelzare in the middle of it all. But things were different now, and we both knew it. It could never be like it used to. Although it hurt me beyond words to refuse a request by her, I reiterated by desire to stay neutral. I told her I had had enough of war and needed to find a new path. I left the Sentinel base and never looked back.

Back then the defensive towers, which were large sentient trees, had been made aware of my identity so I could pass safely. But years later I was not sure if they would remember me, or perhaps if I had already been marked an enemy. In any case I was not just going to march into the Sentinel base and hope for the best. My plan was to wait outside and hope I could catch Shendelzare coming out of the base alone.

The walk to the Sentinel headquarters was by no means short, so it gave me plenty of time to think about my situation. But two things kept jumping to the forefront of my mind. The first was Shendelzare. My mind kept playing the memories of her over and over. But I did not regret my decision to not join the Sentinel, especially not now that I had friends in the Scourge. After all what fun would death be without going golem smashing with Rotund'jere? No, I had made the right choice. I was determined to stay out of this war. Perhaps after it was over…. maybe then… no, no sense is thinking about that now.

The second was the feeling I experienced during the fight with the troll. It was really inexplicable. My mind, body, and bow all being one was pure ecstasy, and I wanted to feel it again. I stopped to try and experiment on a lone grey wolf. I closed my eyes and chanted

Jhaer tia shydia shaelysti si shyrn

Jhaer tia tol shaelysti si mol

My body came into tune and I fired a barrage of arrows at the wolf. But there was no ecstasy, no rapture. It appeared I was missing something in the equation. Perhaps the wolf was just too easy; I might need a harder target. But I didn't have any time to think about that either.

After spending the better part of two days running silently through the woods, I was outside the main Sentinel base. If I remembered correctly there were three entrances, with the middle one being the most used, so I hid myself in the woods right outside this entrance and waited. Over the next few hours I saw many Sentinel heroes entering or leaving the base. I recognized some, like Lina Iverese and Rylai Crestfall. But most were unfamiliar to me, a large centaur, several orcs, and some sort of panda. Hours passed and still no Shendelzare. I was being to worry that something might have happened to her. What if she had been killed recently?

I was mulling over these thoughts when I saw a newcomer exit of the base. She had a bow in her hand and dark cloak over her head. Underneath her hood you could she her blue skin and red eyes. It was Traxex! I could scarcely believe it. I had no idea she was with the Sentinel. I looked again and there was no denying it; it was indeed the skilled ranger from the Underdark. I had met her during an archery contest back in Quel'Thalas. The last round was the down to the two of us. We tied for five straight rounds until they officially called the match a draw. We remained friends and often saw action together.

This was not Shendelzare, but I was pretty confidant that she would listen to me, so I decided the take the risk and contact her. I didn't just want to jump out though; I needed something with a little more finesse. I fitted an arrow to my bow and waited. Within a few seconds a leaf fluttered down from a tree slowly floating to the ground in front of Traxex. I pulled my string back and took careful aim, upon release the arrow shot forward and struck the leaf, skewering it right through the middle. She was bound to notice that.

Traxex stopped and looked towards the cluster of trees I was hidden in. Then slowly she started walking over, fitting one of her own arrows to her bow. When she reached the tree line, I softly whispered

"Traxex, over here"

"Eilyli is that you?" She asked, addressing me by my Elvish name.

"Yes, but I no longer go by that name, Clinkz is good enough for now"

"I know why you're here Eliy….Clinkz. When Aiushtha came back telling a story about a skeleton firing arrows so fast that bow and bone became one, I knew it had to be you."

"Then you'll believe me when I tell you that everything was a mistake."

"Let's not talk here, come follow me, I know of a grove when we can talk safely."

She turned and started moving soundlessly through the brush. I followed her trying to determine what her reaction would be to my story. I could only hope that she would believe me and in turn be able to convince the Sentinel that I was not their enemy. After walking a short distance, Traxex stopped in a small clearing.

"Alright Clinkz" she croaked in her deep raspy voice "Tell me what happened"

"Well it was all an accident really. I saw this troll attacking some Scourge soldiers, and well I felt a little bit of loyalty to them being dead and all, so I asked the troll if he could stop attacking. But he started attacking me instead, so I thought I'd scare him."

"That was some scare" Traxex retorted

"Well it's just that since I had never used Strafe in so long I found myself kind of … lost in the sensation, and before I knew it he was dead."

Traxex sighed, "For what it's worth I believe you"

"You do? So then can you try and talk to the…."

"No" interrupted Traxex, "I'm sorry Clinkz but we can't afford to have a loose cannon running amuck"

"What you do mean 'We can't…." I started to reply but stopped when I heard the rustling of leaves from all sides. Out of the woods stepped 5 more sentinel heroes, completely surrounding me: Aiushtha, the dryad I had seen before, a mean looking Tauren, a half-Night Elf with a strange helmet, a Dwarf with a long rifle, and what looked like an Orc Shadow Hunter. I had been betrayed.

"Traxex!" I nearly shouted, "What's the meaning of this"

"I know you too well. After hearing Aiushtha's story I presumed you'd probably try to come and talk things out. I figured if Shendelzare wasn't here, you'd have to come to me."

"Where's Shendelzare!" I demanded, filling with anger "What did you do to her!"

"Oh don't worry about her, we sent her on an assignment before she could get wind of any of this. By the time she gets back, this will be all over"

"I can't believe you Traxex"

"You should be thanking me Clinkz" explained Traxex as she gestured to the other Sentinel, "They wanted to kill you on sight. I was the one who convinced them that imprisoning you would be enough."

"Imprisonment…."

"Well not forever, just until the war is over. Then you'll be set free, provided you swear to never bear arms against the Sentinel again."

I had had about enough of this. I sat there for a second, my mind racing with options, then Traxex spoke again.

"I'm trying to help you Clinkz, you must understand that we can't just let you go free."

I could sense the other Sentinel becoming restless, they were shifting their feet, gripping their weapons. I decided it time to leave. I prepared myself for the 3rd and final technique of the Archers of Quel'Thalas, wind walk. This skill required incredible mental and physical disciple, the archer had to blend his body into nature itself. With the correct execution, the caster became invisible to the eye and gained a considerable amount of speed. Preparing myself I quickly breathed

Tol eil shydia eisi oli

Eis eil baresi eisi oli

Shaelysti eir shol!

I felt myself blend into the air as I looked for shocked reactions on the faces of the Sentinel. But there were none, in fact Traxex was laughing.

Just then I heard something whistling in the air towards me, I tried to jump out of the way but was too late. A hammer struck me hard in the back, knocking me to ground senseless. It was that half-Night Elf with the odd helmet, he had thrown the hammer at the first sign of my trying to use wind walk. After giving me a few seconds to recover Traxex shook her head and spoke again

"Clinkz, Clinkz, don't you think we know about the master technique of the Quel'Thalan?" She reached inside her cloak and brought forth a green gem.

"A Gem of True Sight from Dalaran" I identified it, "I thought those were all destroyed"

"Oh most of them were" Traxex answered "But we have this one just for situations like this. As you can see you cannot escape, give up easily and you won't be harmed"

A few of the Sentinel started taking steps towards me, and I tried to focus on my circumstance. Perhaps spending a few years in a Night Elf prison wouldn't be that bad… No, no, this all just a misunderstanding, I mean them no harm, why couldn't they see that!

I was struggling with my options when I felt a sensation build inside my body. It was completely unfamiliar to me. It felt as if some force was trying to attach itself to my very soul. Then instantly I found myself in the trees right outside the grove. Wildly confused, I turned around to see Shendelzare standing in my place in the middle of the circle of Sentinel heroes. Her eyes met mine and she mouthed one word… Run!

A thousand thoughts and emotions exploded into my mind. I couldn't believe she was doing it again, risking everything to rescue me. I wasn't going to allow it this time! I had to help her! But some of the other Sentinel had already spotted me, including that strange Night Elf, and he was reaching for another hammer. I knew that we could never defeat them all in battle, and moreover Shendelzare could not even hope to evade them….but I could. Looking back at her, I saw her eyes were still fixated on me, the eyes that the gods must have molded from the night sky itself. She saw my split-second hesitation and mouthed again, "Run, please run."

With my heart torn into pieces I breathlessly whispered

Tol eil shydia eisi oli

Eis eil baresi eisi oli

Shaelysti eir shol!

Becoming one with the shadows I shot off into the dark, out of range of the Gem of True Sight, leaving Shendelzare there in the grove. I ran all night. I didn't know where I was going, I didn't care. All I could see were Shendelzare's eyes staring back into mine.