Shadow and Flame
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of World of Warcraft.
An orange dawn broke over the great oak trees of Elwynn Forest. The rays filtered in through the window of a small house and lightly touched the eyes of the one inside.
Fengsien awoke with a start. Yet again, he had worked for most of the night and had fallen asleep on his desk. It did not make for an impressive sight, the apparently elderly man jolting awake at the first rays of dawn, scattering parchment every which way in his stupor. Fengsien blinked. What had he been working on, anyway? Ah, yes - the difficult task of finding a way to summon more than one demon at any one time. It was the peak of a warlock's arts, and had eluded all but a few. Fengsien stared down at the parchment before him. Writing criss-crossed over the page, diagrams too, more crossed out than legible. Memories tugged at Fengsien's consciousness. It was his dream, the one he had every night. It was a nightmare really, pervading his mind, always lurking behind him like a malevolent shadow. It was the memory of the day, eighteen years ago, when his world had shattered into a thousand darkened pieces.
He had not always trod the path of a warlock. No one had, really, merely finding their way to the dark arts later on in life. No, he had been a mage, of the school of fire, and a prodigy at that. There were even whisperings that one day he might be the new Archmage. It was during his studies that he met Sarah, a beautiful mage of the school of frost. They swiftly fell in love and were married within a year. She bore him one child, a daughter, whom they named Elbereth, meaning 'Star-Queen' in the elven tongue. They were happy, and like all happinesses it seemed like it could last for ever. But for some, the pull of fate is irresistible, no matter the cost.
Fengsien had gone to the city for the day to visit an old friend. They spent the day drinking, laughing and reminiscing about the times they had shared. By the time he left to return home the sun had long set and he had nothing but the light of a few faint stars to guide his unsteady legs home. Even before he had come within a hundred metres of his house he could tell that something was wrong. He could not sense the light of Sarah's soul, as he had every day since they had met. He broke into a stumbling run, half of him wanting to discover the source of his fear, the other half wanting to run, to cower in shadow, to hide from what might be.
Fengsien finally reached the door of his home; wavering fingers pushing it open with only the slightest degree of reluctance. Inside, it seemed as if one of the Great Winds had torn through the rooms. Furniture lay about the room, broken and scattered. Papers and books littered the floor, torn apart with reckless abandon. Most prominent of all, however, was the smell. The smell of blood – Sarah's blood. He turned a corner and his heart almost stopped there and then. His beloved wife was lying motionless on the floor, her eyes glazed, her hair matted with her own blood. Fengsien had known it on some level from the moment he entered the house. The flame of her spirit was gone, departed to the next world. As his grief welled up inside him, it was slowly replaced by a burning anger that ate at his very soul. Someone had done this to his beloved wife, and that person would feel flames a thousand times worse than in the lowest of the seven Hells.
It was only now, after his tears had dried in the heat of his anger, that Fengsien saw him. A tall, thin man wearing little more than rags, standing silently by the wall. He wore the red bandana that marked him as one of the thieving Defias. He still held the knife that had murdered Sarah: it dripped with her blood, the blood that sang of her pain. A heat haze shimmered around Fengsien, created by his anger and hate. This was the man who had murdered his wife. The flesh would be stripped from his bones and his blood boiled into dust. And that would be mercy. Head pounding with fury, he raised his hand and began to chant the spell of all consuming fire:
"Lhachlin…"1
His words choked him as the Defias held up a small bundle that, in his rage, Fengsien had not yet seen. Elbereth. The bastard had Elbereth! Now there was nothing that he could do. Fengsien would rather die than harm his daughter, even if it was to avenge the death of his wife. Hating himself, he sank to his knees as the Defias slipped out of the open door, taking with him the child that represented all Fengsien had left in the world.
It was maybe an hour before Fengsien could gather enough strength to stagger to his feet. He felt that he could die right then, if only it would take the pain away. But he knew that he could not. That would be betraying Sarah's memory. He knew that he must live, if only for her, and that there was one last duty he must do for her. Without even pausing to look upon his beloved's face one last time, he shakily staggered out into the forest and turned to look at his home. He knew that he could never come back here now. His old life was at an end. Concentrating for a minute to order his mind, he gathered all his power to him. Shaping his energy in his mind, he focused on what had been his home and spoke:
"Kirilúvë, laurëlhach!"²
A pillar of flame burst out of the centre of the house, white hot, incinerating all it touched, razing his house, his life, to the ground in a matter of seconds. Fengsien lowered his arms and sighed mournfully. It was finished. His old existence had ended, nothing remained. He turned and walked off down the road to the city, not once looking behind him to the burnt, smoking clearing that remained.
1 Dancing fire, sing…
² Cut everything, golden flame!
