Chapter 21

We were let out for an hour recess afterwards, and I went to the roof.

Cold air ripped at me, and I pulled my cloak-Anduin's cloak-tighter about me, cursing the dampening field.

I found myself a cubby in the roof, large enough for one to curl up in, and did just that.

Old grief and hatred moved sluggishly through me, overshadowed by fatigue.

I want to go home and move on, not dwell.

I heard the flickering of fire, and turned my head to see Anduin there, holding a plate of dumplings in one hand and a torch in the other.

"It's to cold for you to go off alone," Anduin said as he settled next to me, only some of him fitting in the cubby.

He balanced the torch between his knees, handing me the plate of dumplings and wrapping an arm around me.

The fatigue didn't leave me, but I realized that grey was fading from my hands as warmth started to seep into me, and I leaned into him, basking in it.

"I'm sorry," Anduin said after a few minutes, and I turned my head to look up at him, and I realized that his eyes were shining and damp.

"For what?" I asked, though I had a feeling I knew.

"You told me the story of your sister back in Krasarang, but to actually see it…" Anduin stopped, and I realized that this wasn't guilt.

This was anger.

"Why are you angry? This was years ago," I sat up somewhat, looking at him curiously.

"I just…" he took another deep breath, and this time his voice shook as he spoke, "To know that he hurt you, it…" another deep breath, "I want to hurt him for it."

A well of warm and fuzzy emotions sprung into being as he said that, and I wrapped an arm around him in a hug, pressing a kiss to his shoulder, "Princeling, it is not your burden to bear."

Anduin shuddered, and I could see the complexity of the emotion in his face, "I…he's my father. He's supposed to have honor, and yet he…" he stopped, and I sighed, remembering the emotional turmoil well.

The gong rang, and I sighed, taking the torch from Anduin as he stood, and he took it back as he pulled me to my feet, and my hair spilled down into my face, knocked from the hood.

We stood there for a moment, and my ears were curled into my hair, and I looked up into Anduin's eyes, feeling the world drain away as he ran a hand along my spine, sending small shocks through me.

"I love your hair down," he whispered, and his fingers ran along the navy cloak, with the golden Theron crest, "and in blue."
My cheeks were hot as I watched his fascination, and my breath caught as his fingers slipped under my cloak. I felt his hands knead along my ribs and my abs, pressing at the soft, dark fabric of my shirt, and his eyes darkened as he got a grip on my hip. I let my gaze drop to his lips, and slowly moved closer-

The gong rang again, and we jerked away from each other, faces hot. On the temple roof, of all places!

We put out the torch and quickly made our way down, and slipped back inside.

I was needed on the witness stand again, and I moved quickly, face hot as I slid into the chair and gulped down cool water.

"Hello, Your Ladyship. It is refreshing to see you well, even in such circumstances," Baine Bloodhoof greeted me, and I gave the towering bull a small smile.

"Now, you have fought Garrosh on two occasions, including the Siege," Baine said, and I nodded, having an idea of where this was going, "Would you care to describe the first occasion?"
I nodded, and sighed, "It was the beginning of the Northrend campaigns, I was ambassador for my people, and Garrosh…" I bit my lip, breathing for a moment, "He was the leader of the campaign. I was hostile, and very paranoid-Northrend has no shortage of dead, as you know," I said, and watched the uncomfortable shift in the stands.

"Well, one day there was a war room debate-."

"The memories will take it from here, thank you," Baine gave the signal, and the memory sprung into being.

The war room of the Warsong Hold, of the Borean Tundra. Leaders and generals stood around the large table, covered with a map and dotted with symbols. I stood to one side, dressed entirely in black with my hair in elegant braids atop my head, black and purple paints covering the majority of my skin-the ritual paints of a Mistspeaker.

I ached upon seeing those paints-one wore them when trying to augment their connection to the dead.

"We need the Tanuka forces to fight for the Horde!" Garrosh shoved a Horde marker into place over the Tanuka village in the Dragon Blight, his voice grating, "Their forces would bolster our own and-"
"And what?" My voice was harsh, and my accent thick, "Would they cushion our casualties? Would their blood mean nothing?" My eyes were a dark green, and my teeth were in golden grills that ended in points.

"They would fight with honor! They would fight for the Horde!" Garrosh challenged.

"What Horde? They have no ties to us! Their blood is not our blood to control," I snapped, "They are busy fighting for their lands against the nerubians, protecting their dead-!"

"An excellent point," Garrosh interrupted, and I looked taken aback and skeptical.

"They mourn their dead…didn't you say that the Mist could liberate the souls trapped at the roof of the world?"

My face darkened, morphing into a feral expression that I was wearing now, "The dead are not used as a bargaining chip!"

The memory paused, and I took in the frankly unnerving image of me that flickered in the air. Blonde braids and dark feathers with darker armor, my skin almost completely black and purple spare for around my eyes. My lips pulled back from my fanged teeth and my eyes and nostrils flared like an animal's.

"What happened after this point, your Ladyship?" Baine asked, and I realized with a crunch that my nails had dug into the wood in front of me, leaving sizable divots.

I removed my hands and took a deep breath, ripping my gaze away from the memory.

"Garrosh argued that I should offer to lay the dead to rest, maybe assist in the fight against the nerubians, bring in supplies, and in return convince them to join the Horde and fight under our banner." I said not calmly, and Tyrande spoke.

"Fa'shua, the defender is getting the witness riled on a biased viewpoint."

"Agreed. Defender, use the memory." Lord Zhu said, and the signal was giving for the image to resume.

"I'm not saying to use them as Leverage-I'm saying to go to the Tanuka and aid them however you can-including laying their dead to rest-then convince them to join the Horde afterwards. They'll accept without a second thought," Garrosh said, and the Mist seeped into the room.

The others shifted and some even called out, but Garrosh speared me with a look, "Dismiss this."

"Why?" I challenged, snarling in Orcish, "Do the dead make you uncomfortable?"

"You're being childish!"

"Answer me!" I snarled, raising my hands, and the Mist thickened quickly, until only I could see. The whispers were very loud, but I urged them to hush and listen.

"We have no time to dwell on the dead!"

"Not even the ones you killed?" I challenged, and immediately silhouettes began to take form.

"Dismiss them, Jadearra!" Garrosh yelled, even as others fell to their knees screaming.

But I was ignoring him, I was watching the shapes-she should be here.

"Where is she?!" I screamed, "Bring forward Garrosh Hellscream's victims!"

The mist thickened, but she didn't appear.

"I didn't kill her!" Garrosh yelled, and in a flash the mist between us cleared, so that we could see each other perfectly.

"Liar!"

I leapt onto the table, and before he could stop me I tackled him, holding a blade to his neck as I pinned him to the ground, snarling.

"I didn't chop off her head, Jadearra! I saved yours!" Garrosh shouted in my face, and I screamed back.

"You killed her! You-."

I realized he was right, and while I would hate him for everything he had ever done and would ever do, I backed off.

The mist left, and the soldiers came to their senses, disoriented, as I stared at Garrosh in shocked horror.

Then I fled.

The memory faded, and I turned to Baine, my face wet and my features contorted, "Ask your questions. Defend the monster."

The day was over. I wanted to go home.

I was angry.

I stormed out of the temple, hoping that my attitude would garner me some personal space.

No such luck.

"Jadearra-."

"What?" I turned with a snarl, and it was Teir there, who looked somewhat strained but mostly concerned.

"Don't snarl at me I'm-."

"Since when could you boss me around?" I peered through to her soul-a strong, red haired thing, that I noticed not long ago, "You're mist."

She stilled, every muscle stiffening and going taut, and she stared at me, "Take it back."

"Or what? You'll raise some ghouls?" I challenged, and I knew, somewhere inside myself, that I was just angry.

But I wanted blood.

Teir did not disappoint. Witch a lunge, we were fighting, and my muscles sung as they slipped into old patterns-magic had deprived me of what I loved.

The bond went haywire as we spun and clawed and ducked and kicked. Rage from both ends was spilling over, magnifying our actions and making me see red.

I heard people around me trying to split us up, but my eyes were on the kill.

Go for the throat.

I lunged, and took her to the ground. I knocked the breath out of her and shattered ribs with my knee cap, and I had her pinned.

She looked up at me, blue eyes wide even as she snarled, "You wanna kill me? Do it."

Some part of my mind screamed for me to do it, for me to rip her throat out and end it, but it didn't feel….

Clarity hit me like a kodo, and I fell backwards, holding my head as it began to pound.

I noted the glass of water sitting beside me, and how it wasn't quite clear-a clarity potion, I assumed, taking a drink.

"I've been poisoned." I whispered in hushed Thalassian, and I looked up to see Teir's expression mirroring mine.

"The bond, someone poisoned you and-" Teir realized with a wheeze that someone just tried to kill both of us.

The chaos stopped around us, and I looked around to see all Thalassian speakers were in horror.

"Someone tried to-" I don't know who reacted first, Anduin, Kenlora, Sylvanas, or Father.

Kenlora and Anduin dropped down, looking at us thoroughly, using every healing spell they knew for poison, while I curled inward in shock.

Someone just tried to kill me.

"There, I used everything. You should be okay." Anduin said, helping me to my feet, and Lord Zhu approached.

"Your highnesses," He bowed low, taking off his hat for the first time in our acquaintance, "I promised you that you would be safe from harm while attending this trial. It seems that I was mistaken. I am genuinely sorry for this, and if you no longer want to attend to the trial, the Celestials would understand."

I was taken aback-he was right. Someone tried to kill us at a peaceful-

"We have an intruder." I whispered, then spoke, "Take down the dampening field."

Lord Zhu looked shocked, "Jadearra-."

"Someone's broke into the temple and we were a distraction. Send guards to Garrosh's cell and take the field down. Now!"

With my voice, I felt the field shatter like shards of spectral glass, and my magic exploded into activity again, and I cursed loudly.

"Duck!"

Orcs broke through the glass ceiling of the outer rooms, coming down around us, and all hell broke loose.

"Shindu Fallah na! Go to Garrosh!" I screamed, and I saw Teir and others go.

Then I let loose.

With a roar, I let magic stream out of my hands, and our allies were wise to get the fuck off the floor, because it caught Orcs in its grasp and began to eat them alive. I felt their souls slipping into the mist, the whispers seeping in, and I growled, grinding my teeth hard enough to break them.

I lost my grip as Drakes hit the building. I dropped my victims, leaving mostly melted bodies in my wake, and saw the chaos break outside. We were winning.

I turned to go get Garrosh.

Sit still Teir.

She only had a moment of warning, and then a tugging in my belly button brought me to her, and I landed right beside her.

Her ears twitched, but other than that she gave no indication of surprise, "Kairoz the traitor freed him. They're gone."

I cursed, running into the cell and seeing unconscious guards, and an empty cell with arcane enchantments.

"No." my anger arced into fury, and my magic sparked around me. "No."

"Jadearra, we didn't know-."

"I should've killed him when I had the chance!"

"God dammit. She's losing it! Get the dampening field back up now!" Teir yelled, and I heard running.

I fell to my knees, my chest heaving with my rage, "He escaped. He hasn't paid. He should be dead!"

Teir was flickering in front of me, and I felt the vault in her head shuddering violently, and knew her control was slipping.

Thud.

All my magic slammed back into me and went dormant all at once, and I fell back a little, startled, and I realized that the dampening field was back in place.

I took a deep breath, then looked at Teir, who looked vastly unnerved, "This new power of yours is a horrifying weapon."

I nodded absently, looking at myself. What was wrong with me?

That's when I felt it. Creeping fingers, edging along, slowly moving around my mind-talons.

I opened my mouth to cry out, but they seized up and I was out.

"Finally. You're very stubborn."

I moved to lunge at the smirking Wrathion, but I seemed to be in chains.

"Let go of me, Kim'jael!" I snarled at him, and his smirk fell for only a second with distaste, but then it returned with a vengeance.

"Little elf, I merely want to talk to you." Wrathion said, and I growled, yanking at the chains.

"Then why am I in chains?" I yelled, and he gestured to the space below me.

I looked down, and realized with a snapping of my teeth that I was kneeling on the hatch into Teir's mind. I was weighing down the door.

"I'm giving you a warning, foolish little-" He paused, taking a deep breath, before he stretched his taloned fingers out one by one, "I know where Garrosh was taken"

I paused, looking at him, waiting, "Well?"

"You think my warning is free?" Wrathion chuckled, and I yanked at the chains, snapping my teeth at him.

I heard the crunch of armor and gore, and looked down-

I screamed.

I was covered in gore, and wearing the armor of the Siege.

"This is how you see yourself within your own mind. The form you're trapped in here." Wrathion said matter of factly.

"I…I will owe you a favour, if you share your knowledge." I relented, slumping.

He grinned, "Just so! Your prisoner of war was taken by a member of the Infinite Dragonflight to his native world in a different time."

"Draenor?" I jerked up, looking at him in shock, "What time period? Wha-."

The world around me dissolved into smoke, and I was falling.

I jerked upward, breath soaring into me, and I looked down to see myself in dark armor and no chains.

Anduin was holding me, and I was surrounded by people, but my brain was in full alert.

"I need Chromie!"