Amandil's heart rate jumped momentarily, her nervousness briefly nipping at her heels again due to the wait. Lilith seemed to be infected by the sensation, smoothing over the initiate's robes that she'd been issued upon her acceptance to study at Nighthaven. While there certainly wouldn't be any sort of ceremony for what Amandil was about to undertake, the dropoff point by which her support circle wouldn't be able to follow was just as nerve racking.
Caledith stood a little closer to them both, her presence at least causing Amandil to relax somewhat. The ancient elf had adopted her into their little clan from the moment she and her cousin had teleported to Moonglade and informed a barrow den guard of what had transpired. Per her parents' wishes, she had lied about a few details, but she felt no guilt knowing that the actions of the bigoted had pushed her to that point. Caledith likely knew that some details had been changed in the story, but she never questioned any of it; however briefly the period had been, she'd functioned as a fine surrogate parental figure for Amandil.
Fewen, the only other person standing next to them in the antechamber of the den, appeared not so much nervous as saddened. Her aunts had already said their goodbyes to the woman who'd been their neighbor for six hundred years, and Fewen had shed a few tears, but she'd insisted on accompanying her friend for as far as protocol would allow. The antechamber was small and cordoned off with a cloth tarp at both doorways, leaving the four of them to say their final farewell in silence. They'd been there a good few minutes, and although there seemed to be a bit of a delay in the preparations, nobody had seized the opportunity to just get the parting of ways over with.
Falling into her role as everybody's grandmother, Caledith stood in front of the trio, not even bothering to clear her throat. "Come on, young ones. Amandil is here; this is her time to reflect. Don't make this harder on her, or yourselves."
Nobody moved at first, ignoring even the serious stare that Caledith sent their way. Dragging her feet, Fewen was the first to take a deep breath and start.
"Mandy...I love you forever," her best friend said while giving her an almost hesitant hug. "So...ah...don't change." The two of them shared a laugh even as Fewen started to cry again, her relative youth in relation to other night elves showing.
"You too...you'd better be waiting for me when I wake up."
"I'll be waiting right here, me and Lilly."
"And don't let any of our other shield sisters fall out of touch. Find them, your aunt Cio, Tirith, Isu...don't leave anybody without support."
Fewen reached up and wiped her cheek. "I won't," she laughed, her voice sounding a bit forced.
When she stepped back, it was Lilith's turn. Clutching Amandil's former staff that was now hers, the brand new druidess stiffened and contained her emotions better. Goddess knew that poor Lilith had arguably been through more than Amandil, her entire life at that village ripped out by the roots. She hesitated a little bit more, and Amandil forced a hug on her.
"Lilly...take care of the cat for me," Amandil joked while tweaking her cousin's half ear. She'd pushed the woman to stop feeling self conscious about it since night elves were known for showing off battle scars at tea houses anyway, and Lilith flinched less than usual when attention was brought to her wound.
"I will," her cousin said, pouting.
"The apartment, the textbooks...please...it's allyours. You're one of us now; this is your family. Don't just lock yourself up on weekends."
"We won't let her," Fewen joked, a bit of the light returning to her teary eyes. "I have a copy of the apartment key."
"And if you feel at all like I'm not supporting you enough...like I'm not-"
"No, no!" Lilith replied, a measure of strength in her voice. "I understand, Mandy. I know you have to do this. And...when I'm skilled enough, I'll follow after you." Melancholy temporarily turned to mischeviousness, the sadder moments having already played out during the going away party at Viniel's house. "And then Fewen has to take care of the cat."
"I don't mind!"
The three younger elves all laughed before falling silent again, the reality of Amandil's choice weighing down on them. Before anybody's mood could dampen any further, Caledith stepped in.
"It's time to let go," the told the two younger elves.
Fewen nodded to her grandmother. She reached to hug Amandil again, but settled for a pat on her shoulder instead, and led Lilith out by the arm. Their footsteps were lost on the thick floor of the hollowed out roots that formed the barrow den's chambers, and any trace of them was gone soon after.
Left alone to see off the skillfully advancing druidess, Caledith was considerably more collected. To be expected, considering how many goodbyes she'd already said across fourteen millennia.
"You're not going to be here when I wake up," Amandil sighed contritely.
Caledith just waved her hand. "None of that, now; I already have enough people treating my like the stereotypical wise woman who waits around to give advice and say goodbye."
"I'm so-"
"Dont apologize, either." The closest expression to playful that she'd ever seen Caledith make spread across the woman's face before she became merely pleasant again, and much more so than usual. "You're doing an honorable thing, and your situation makes the choice easier on you than anybody else. Life goes on...people come in and out of your life. Pray for me when you're shaping the world; that's more than enough."
Working hard to contain emotions that had already boiled over at the going away party, Amandil found the sheer power of will to smile. "I will...believe me, I will. And please, don't let Lilith crawl into her shell."
"Not while I'm alive. And agree me, not while Viniel is alive." Footsteps pattered on the other side of the tarp leading further below, and Caledith stepped back. "It's time. You're coming back. Go on, now."
Giving Amandil one last formal bow, Caledith stepped out the other doorway after Fewen and Lilith, not lingering or dragging the scene out. It was the last time they'd see each other. The realization weighed heavily on Amandil's shoulders, and she wondered how much would change.
"Sister Amandil?"
"Yes, of course, Shan'do," she replied to the voice on the other side of the tarp.
Stepping through, Amandil found herself in the atrium of the den's first level. Aside from a single armored guard, the only people present were herself and Geldor Rainsong, the visiting instructor who'd taught her the basics of curative spells. It was he who she'd contacted about volunteering a piece of her life.
The old crow druid tapped his staff on the ground, the pleasant smile never leaving his face. "Shall we then?" he asked, his casual demeanor even more infectious than her mild level of nervousness.
"Yes...I'm ready."
Hobbling due to a bad knee, Geldor led her down an earthen ramp and into the depths of the nearly silent barrow den. The air pressure was high, and the smell calming, and the wordless walk down to the specific chamber that was their goal was far easier for Amandil than she'd expected. Passing only a single other guard, they reached the second level below, and easily found the room in question.
Inside, Amandil could already see her more experienced colleagues. Although the Cenarion Circle no longer discriminated based on gender, women and men still slept in separate chambers out of consideration for social values. Three other women all slept therein, laying on raised mattresses of vegetation that wrapped around them with vines that partially shielded them from view.
Geldor turned around to face her, a joyous but cautious combination of feelings written into his face. "As your adviser, I'm obligated to run through the details with you one last time. Should you wish to pull out, you still have the option to do so."
"I understand, Shan'do," she replied.
"Very well then. Thero'shan Amandil, you're about to embark upon a noble and much needed effort. To give of one's irreplaceable resource of time, now that we've rejoined the ranks of the mortals, is of the greatest sacrifices.
"As you know, the War Against the Nightmare has ended, but the threat to our world has not. Officially, nobody is going into or out of the Emerald Dream at this time; unofficially, measures must be taken beyond the public's knowledge so that they may live in peace. The Dream be maintained at all costs, and the Rift of Aln must be contained. Shan'do Stormrage has predicted a great evil approaching; we will need all of the volunteers we can muster in order to preemptively stabalize the Dream so that the climate and environment here on Azeroth can weather the coming storm.
"Do you accept to be one of those brave, selfless druids who will answer the call of this stabilization?"
"Yes."
"Do you accept the responsibility of bidding your friends loved ones farewell for a period, giving up a portion of your own life for the sake of granting that gift to others?"
"Yes."
"Do you acknowledge the fact that, since time flows more slowly in the Dream, the minimum allowable tour of duty therein will translate into...thirty three years on Azeroth?"
He paused as if to emphasize the amount of time she'd be losing from her personal life - time she'd spend glued to the same small location in the Emerald Dream, infusing her magic into the anchors of that plane with virtually no breaks at all.
But her mind had already been made up. She'd received the gift of a good life from her parents...it was time for her to pay it forward.
"Yes. I acknowledge that fact, and I accept the task before me."
Nodding in approval, Geldor placed his hand just over her forehead as she bowed slightly. Whispering a short prayer, her adviser blessed her with some sort of relaxation aura beyond the serenity that was already provided by the interior of the den itself.
"May the goddess bless you and keep you, always, and return you to us on this plane safe and sound."
"May she bless you as well, Shan'do," she replied while following him inside of the chamber.
Standing before the only bed of vegetation that was empty, Amandil joined the peers who had preceded her and laid down. Moving in accordance with their quasi sentient nature, the vines wrapped around her, keeping her snugly secured to the leafy bed so she didn't roll out of it during her decades long slumber. The larger leaves grew and expanded to form a sort of blanket, as well as a head covering that only allowed a small sliver of the doorway to be seen.
Geldor stood in that doorway until the very end, her guide into the plane behind the environment that their people had sworn to protect. A single flower bloomed in top of her leafy covers, pulsating as spores floated off and toward the little tent over her head. She breathed them in, feeling their soothing properties at the same time that Geldor wove a spell of projection, assisting her in her entrance into the other plane.
Her head woozy, Amandil smiled, shedding no more tears as she fully embraced her duty. So much had been endured on her behalf by her parents; not for one second did she ever doubt that she'd been blessed to have had them, even in the brief amount of time that they'd lived as a loving family. She wouldn't let them down; she wouldn't waste the time she'd been given.
As her consciousness slipped into another world, she watched the colors of the chamber fade into nothingness. A smile remained plastered on her lips the whole time, not as her goodbye to Azeroth, but as her 'see you later.' Until the world was safe, she'd use every second she had to pass on the gift she'd been given. And when that day of safety came, she'd return - and she knew in her heart that she'd continue to make Vindra and Faraldor proud at that time, too.
A/N: thank you so much for reading what I imagine might have been a painful story for some. It was painful to write, and I spent a few nights crying alone in my room while writing the last few chapters, but that was where my inspiration led. Sometimes, an easy and comfortable Hollywood ending isn't possible if one wishes to remain true to the soul of the story.
That being said, I do consider this a happy ending. Amandil was a person born with a family possessing a checkered past; they did the best they could considering the circumstances, and she'll do the best she can in honor of them.
Currently, she does appear in a few other stories of mine that are set in the future - stories which take place decades ahead of now on the Warcraft universe's timeline. I'd like to follow her life story a little bit more, but for now, I'm emotionally drained. This story is finished, the closure is there, and even if I take a few years before returning to her story, I'm still happy having given this one the ending I felt most honest.
For those who stuck around to the end, thank you so, so much. For those interested in seeing more of her community - the twenty five women of Serenity Grove - you can check my account on Deviant Art, where I have a posting schedule for other stories involving Amandil's former shield sisters (and Gwynn, who sucks and gets hers eventually). I wish you all the best. :)
