The Binding
After that day on the beach, Xainia's life changed little. She had found the Darkspear tribe from which she came, but the peace she could experience was hollow to her. Every face of a Darkspear that she saw reminded her in some way of her parents. Soon, the horde had engaged humans and then murlocs on the islands that the Darkspear tribe called home. Barely escaping as the island sunk beneath the sea, all of the Darkspears accompanied the horde. Always hiding herself in one of the wagons, Xainia lost herself in her fantasies and visions as the horde moved on to fight against more humans and eventually the demons of the burning legion. Lost as she was, Xainia became able to take care of herself at the base camps.
The once cheerful attitude she held was replaced by a mute and automatic way of living. Four years passed slowly as the city of Orgrimmar was born and the land of Durotar founded. Xainia took up living in Durotar atop the craggy outcroppings that covered the valleys of the region. The only thing that she did, aside from staying barely alive, was watch the sunset. Each setting marked another day closer to the day when she would once again be with her parents.
None who approached her could gain any response, even when Okquina or another troll came to visit, she ignored them. This troll, now twenty, couldn't have seemed older or more tired of living. Sometimes, however, change comes from where it shouldn't. Hope originates from those without hope, and new life from those without life.
"Ya let dem eat us!" A particularly horrid vision of Xainia's mother and father, chewed to the bone in some places, plagued her as she watched the sun go down.
"Ya, dis young one too weak ta stop us." The familiar phantasm of the troll in a wooden mask paced around Xainia as she cried.
"No… No… It happen too fast fa me ta help. I couldn' help." Xainia thought and shook her head.
"Ya coulda jumped down an saved us." The ragged phantasms tormented.
"We died ta stop Hakkar! We knew we wouldn' come back. Why you still alive?" The voices got louder as Xainia's head spun.
The sound of footsteps came from near Xainia's hut. Instinctively, she crawled inside with the visions following her until the sound faded. From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure in a robe walking away from the dwelling. Believing it gone, she crawled back outside and sat down to watch the sunset more.
"See. Ya hide for everating! Ya'd be better off dead." The voices picked back up.
Suddenly, from a distance too close for her to run and hide, she felt a presence and heard light footsteps. Whatever had come evidently tricked her into thinking it had left. Committing herself to ignore it, she continued to watch the sunset. The other being sat down beside Xainia and also looked out at the sunset. Eventually, Xainia slowly glanced over. Eyes wide with terror, she backed up a few feet quickly. The being beside her had white and grey skin, green hair, and exposed elbow bones; it was an undead. Xainia had heard passers by speaking of the undead, the plague, and the horde's strange alliance with them from inside her hovel. It seemed only after that idea entered her head that the horrible cannibalized visions of her parents appeared to her.
"Do not fear me. I mean you no harm." The undead looked over at the very frightened troll. He spoke in orcish, which Xainia came to understand at the base camps during the third war.
Seeing the undead fully intrigued her instead of frightening her. The undead was male and had two horns that seemed to spring forth from his forehead. The rest of his ornately patterned and colored clothes shined with strange enchantments.
"Do you have a name?" He continued to speak to her.
Xainia was still rather frightened of the undead, but this interaction drove the phantasms from her mind so she moved closer. Removing some food and drink from a satchel, the undead offered them to her.
"You look hungry. Eat."
Not having had much aside from scorpids in the past few weeks, Xainia took the food from the undead and began to eat it. Standing for a moment, the undead removed a pink shard from a pouch on his belt and weaved strange runes with his hands. Before Xainia, a strange dog-like beast with red scaly skin, horns, dark black hair, and two strange tendrils above its head appeared. Xainia froze at its appearance, the beast moved closer and nudged Xainia.
"He likes you." The summoner commented. "Won't you pet him?"
Cautiously, Xainia ran her hand over the hairs on the beast's back. In response, it lay down beside her. Having too many questions for this new acquaintance, Xainia was moved to break the silence she had held for so long. Her voice was very shaky at first from disuse.
"W…Wat is it?" She looked at the strange animal beside her.
"It is a Felhunter. This one is named Khuufen." He petted the beast.
The next question came quickly. "Who are ya? Why ya here?" Xainia said in between eating.
"My name is of no consequence. I think the more important question is: Why are you here? I have seen this hut many times in passing and never known why a troll lives out here in the wilderness."
Xainia sat, not wanting to answer him. She hadn't thought why she avoided others. "Ah… ah don' wan ta be a trouble." She finally spoke.
"You mean you don't wish to impose?"
"Ya." Xainia looked back.
"You never said your name by the way." The undead questioned her again.
"Xainia."
"Now, why are you here? Not living out here in the wilderness, but here; in this world." Her inquisitor continued.
Xainia sat for a while, on the verge of crying again. "Why are ya askin me dat?" she sobbed.
"I wish to know. You interest me."
"Well ah don' know." Xainia answered curtly.
"That's not much of an answer. There must be some reason you haven't starved out here. I mean, with the loss of your parents and the great journey you made… you must have endured for some reason."
Xainia looked at the undead incredulously, her horrible memories stirred by his words. "How you know dat!" her eyes filled with tears. "Nobody know dat!"
"You know that." The undead responded quickly.
"I am nobody." Xainia sobbed.
Continuing to play off her words, the undead already had an answer. "I thought you were Xainia."
After sobbing for a while, Xainia looked at him. "So ya know about mah parents… mah visions. Ah'm no good. Ah shoulda died dat night wit mah parents. Even when ah don' tink about dem, tha tears just come." She openly cried in front of the undead.
"And yet, you do nothing to avenge them, young troll. Your parents died protecting you and trying to stop Hakkar. Having seen a mortal life and now this life, I have seen that dwelling on something only wastes time." The undead knew much about Xainia's past, which astounded her more.
"But… ah couldn't do anythin! Ah couldn't!" she grabbed her head and shook it like when she saw her parents die.
"And you still can't? Even though you now have a horde of allies who would rush to your aid to stop Hakkar and his servants, you still see nothing you can do!"
"Ah can't. Ah just need ta wait ta die and ah can be wit mah parents." Xainia was hot in the face with tears.
"That would not save you from your suffering." The undead looked at her. "Death is now only the beginning in this world."
Xainia lied back on the ground hopelessly. "Den tha visions never go away?"
"I knew of your parents, but not your visions. I could only guess that they are from your guilt."
Turning to the side and petting the felhunter again, the young troll sighed. "Ah guess dey are. Ya know mah momma was a priest? She coulda stopped da visions." Upon mentioning her mother again, Xainia teared up once more.
The undead smiled for a moment and stood up. "Then why not?"
"Not wat?" Xainia looked up at the undead.
Sitting there in silence, the undead waited for Xainia to think on what had been said.
Looking uplifted for the first time in a great while, she finally spoke.
"Maybe ah could be a priest. Ah could become strong here an go back ta stop Hakkar. Ah could stop da Vilebranch too. Ah could stop mah visions mahself! Maybe ah could stop waitin an live." Xainia stood up, towering over the undead in height. Suddenly her head hung low again. "But ah don' know how ta start or how ta go."
"I could show you the way." The undead grinned. "A way to become strong without returning to the east."
"Ya could?" Xainia dried her eyes off.
"Yes, I could."
"Wat must ah do?" Xainia came closer to him.
His almost evil smile widening more, the undead continued to speak. "You will be bound to me. I will train you and guide you in this new world that I have explored so widely. You must do this of your own free will; I will not force you into it."
"Ah am Darkspear!" Xainia embraced the will of her people as her father had. "Ah will do anythin to stop Hakkar an avenge mah parents."
The Undead drew a piece of chalk and a stone from the pouch on his belt. "Good. Stand where you are and do not move."
Xainia stood obediently as the undead worked quickly, drawing symbols and runes around her on the ground while whispering in a demonic sounding tongue. The felhunter howled at the ceremony taking place as the undead stood back up and took a place a few feet away.
"Are you prepared, young Xainia?"
"Ah am." The troll stood, finally having some hope in her life.
The undead held the stone in his hand as he weaved purple and blue symbols in the air. The night around them lit up with the energies he channeled around them both. With a sudden blast, the stone in his hand turned a deep shade of blue and energy flew outwards from the area, destroying Xainia's hut. When it cleared, Xainia was covered in twisting deep blue tattoo-like symbols. The symbols quickly faded to her normal skin color, becoming invisible. Her mind was silent for once, the tormenting voices she had heard for years driven from it.
Without speaking, the undead looked at her and she heard his voice echo through her head. "Now, my pet, you will go to the Valley of Trials. The Valley of Trials is south of here and west of the Sen'jin village, occupied by your people. You will train in the ways of a shadow priest. You wished to avenge and protect those weak as you were, so when you are of skill, you will find an undead named Noktwar and you will serve him in battle as one of his guards. Go, now."
"Yes sah, my… Mastah." Xainia called out as she turned and ran for the valley with all haste.
