Thanks again Kazuha-sama for your reviews :) I'm glad you enjoy the story so far! And another chapter begins...
"Stand back," Trianna said softly, releasing Zydien to the ground, "I will resurrect her."
Saenorin looked to Trianna in worry, knowing that such a spell is hard on the mind for elves of Trianna's age. The human's body was more mangled than any resurrection would allow, but time could not be lost. Zydien's soul drifted farther away with each moment that passed, and he knew his niece did not deserve such a short life. Saenorin nodded and joined the other two elves and dwarf a few paces away from the human. All eyes were on the elf as Trianna raised her arms and began to call on the spirits…
"Rise now young one, your time to pass into the Emerald Dream has not come as of yet.."
Her hands began to glow an emerald swirl, wisps from the forest began to pulse and collect around her... "I call upon the spirits of old and of my ancestors to give life to this young girl if she is of fit nature to receive you gift," Her eyes glowed as she peered into the sky, the swirling wind gust through the forest, the leaves dancing around her body, "I beg of you to reach forth and cast her soul back into her body and give her life!"
The gust of wind wrapped around Zydien, the emerald wisps gliding over her body before they hovered over her chest, then thrust sharply into the human's body. A tense moment passed, Trianna buckled to the ground with a heavy grunt, her energy drained from the efforts, and her eyes were dim as they watched Zydien's torn body, but the girl did not stir. Shock pulled at Trianna's face, her hands lay on Zydiens form to touch her skin, but the girl had grown cold.
The dwarf walked forward and kneeled before the human and put his hand on Zydien's chest. Trianna looked at him accusingly, pondering why the dwarf had approached them.
"Her heart," He stated gruffly, "it beats, her skin has grown cold from the loss of blood, and she must be removed from this forest."
The sun had begun to set and the chill had spread over the group, each of them were aware of how close to death Zydien had come. Although the ancestors had given her life it was far from a full existence. Zydien's eyes were still vacant, hazed over as if her mind was elsewhere. Scai had been the first to step forward and offer her assistance to carry the wounded human back to Darnassus. Saenorin and the deathknight held the girl upon a thick leather tarp between them. It was well after dark when the group arrived at the elf city, the darkness held a new kind of fear for those who had witnessed the horrors upon Zydien. However, the most vivid horror was felt by Scai. She knew exactly what the demon was capable of but it simply enjoyed the game too much to finish them. They were painted dolls dancing for their master.
A week passed, Zydien's broken arms were bound by Anadyia, who knew much about bandaging and setting wounds. The human never left the state she was in since she left the forest. She was barely breathing and still had the empty look in her green eyes. Scai never left her side, always willing to help Trianna move her or situate the human comfortably. She had said that it was her duty to stay and protect the girl against any more harm because she had failed to protect the priestess. Trianna was fully aware of the guilt Scai had and let the deathknight stay. She also knew the draenei was still worried about what lurked in the forest and what it could do to the human girl.
Saenorin spoke to as many travelers as he could find to discover who it was that nearly murdered his kin, but none had given him any more than a glance and moved on as if the elf was diseased. Believing that his niece was in good hands, he collected his bags and set off to find the two travelers who were at the thieves camp that spoke of his niece and the vile creature who offered gold for her life.
Many more weeks passed and Zydien began to have fitful dreams. She would toss and turn, but never awaken with more than that strange look in her eyes. Scai always paced by Zydien's bed when she had these nightmares, wondering what exactly the human could be dreaming…
It was dark. Zydien floated in this darkness as if it were water. Dread was all around her, panic was consuming her. She swam forward, but nothing seemed to move past her, there was nothing but murky dark matter. It seemed as if ages had passed, so much time was spent in this empty space. But suddenly there was a figure outlined in light. Before her was a figure of a draenei.
'Could it…be Scai?' she thought to herself, beginning to swim vigorously forward, hope of a rescue was foremost in her mind.
The figure was turned away from Zydien, but it was Scai, it had to be. It was the deathknight who had saved her from so many perils. The one who was sure to save her this time. A light breeze was moving Scai's hair, but she did not seem to notice Zydien.
"Scai!" Zydien called faintly, drowned out by the darkness around her, she swam faster, the figure moving closer and closer.
Scai seemed so still, too still to be the draenei she knew. The figure grew closer though, Zydien felt a surge of dread, who is this person? This can't be Scai. Why did she not turn around?
'Can she not hear me calling her name?' Zydien thought franticly, nearing this ominous figure before her.
Zydien stopped swimming forward in alarm, only to glide closer to the still figure. The wind paused Scai's hair in motion.
A sick crack broke the silence.
Scai's warped face stared at Zydien, her neck had snapped backwards to face the human. Scai's hair hung in the state the wind had left it. The deathknight's lips were twisted in a way that her smile was far too wide. Her eyes were that of some wicked thing, solid black but seemingly wet as if you were to touch them they would shiver and move. Her mouth opened wide, and a shrill and familiar giggle erupted from the mangled face of the draenei. Even wider the mouth opened, the wild laughter continuing. Her lips split farther across her cheeks, her jaw bone snapped out of socked and still it widened further.
Zydien stared in horror, and she still glided closer to the thing that was before her, and she could not stop. The girl screamed, eyes set upon the sickening gore before her as Scai's cheeks completely split and her tongue fell to the side of her head as the gargled laugher continued.
"Why are you so afraid? I thought you'd be so happy to see Scai here with you after being alone in the darkness for so long…" a haunting voice spoke in her dream.
"No! NO!" Zydien yelled, trying to move away from the ghastly thing, blood pouring from the ripped flesh of the monster's jaw.
The image vanished as quickly as it had appeared, only to be replaced by the image of Zydien. A mirror image was before her, but this was that of a shadowed figure.
"Perhaps you would like the company of yourself then?" the familiar voice matched the lips of the darker Zydien before her.
Zydien stared at the shadow version of herself, sure that some wicked and evil thing was going to appear or morph her mirror image into that of a beast.
"But why would I turn myself into a beast?" the shadow asked, "We are beautiful, are we not?"
"What is this place?" Zydien whispered, still keeping her eyes trained on the shadow.
"A place where you shall find your true self," The shadow laughed wholeheartedly, covering her lips with a few fingers.
"True self?" the priestess asked, curious as to who and what this all was.
"Me!" the shadow stated with a snort, as if it were one of the most obvious answers she could ever speak.
"You are simply some incantation," Zydien said timidly, "Some spell."
"Oh, my my...You surprise me, we are one in the same but it seems my intelligence is vaster than yours, tehee!" The shadow giggled, she began to dance with an invisible partner across the darkness below her.
"Let me out of this place, I must return home!" Zydien stated firmly, annoyed by the shadows playful demeanor.
Her tone halted the dance of the shadow, who snapped her face in Zydien's direction, "Home? Where you can be the little whore you are with all the men you meet? Home, where you can be weak and pathetic in every possible confrontation? Such as that despicable priest who used your dim witted sexuality to 'teach' you of self control. I frankly believe you are nothing but a parasite, you bring injustice and trouble wherever it is you go, Zydien." The thing sneered, its violet eyes fierce.
Zydien stared blankly, fraught with memories of each of the things her darker self had mentioned. Each memory plaguing her, as if they were consuming her, she couldn't remove one of them from her thoughts, they crowded her mind. She pulled her knees to her chest and whimpered as the voices of all the moans of past men she had bed and those of disapproving voices of the family, friends, and teachers who knew of her mistakes clouded her mind. They were all yelling in her ears. She began to cry, holding her head tightly, trying to block some of the sounds.
The shadow laughed hard, buckling over in a fit of tears. Zydien writhed in despair on the floor, her eyes clenched shut. The shadow rose, still giggling, and twisted her hand at the human, a grin on her face. The pain inside Zydien's mind vanished. The priestess gasped and cried harder.
"I want it to go away, just go!" Zydien cried between her sobs, "All of it!"
"Let me then," The shadow sighed absently, "I obviously have more power than you."
Zydien looked at the mirror image of herself, curious as to what this creature is. How could it be that something this powerful could be held within her? What was this?
"Worry not," The shadow whispered, holding out her hand for Zydien to take, "with me here, there is no more fear to be had."
Zydien stared at the shadow's hand, and began to raise her own. Slowly she took it, but yelped in surprise when darkness erupted from the shadow form and pulsed around her skin, the shadow before her grinned wickedly. Zydien tried pulling away but the liquid flowed down her arm and up her neck, it surrounded her whole body. Zydien screamed in fear, but it was choked off by the rush of the darkness plunging into her mouth. The girl clawed at her throat franticly, trying to scream-
"-Zydien!" Scai yelled, grabbing onto the priestesses wrists, "Stop this!"
The human twisted against Scai's grasp, trying to claw at her own throat. Screams burst from Zydien's lips, the first sound she had made since the day in the woods. Trianna rushed into the room with a basin of water but quickly dropped it to the ground. The elf was quick to grab the human's broken arm and restrain her best she could against the wooden bed. Scai did the same with her other arm but still the human pulled at her bonds. Scai put her hands around the human's cheeks, trying to calm her but to no avail.
"What is wrong with her?" Scai called over Zydien's screams.
"It must be some spell the demon put upon her!" Trianna answered, laying her torso over Zydien's in an attempt to stop her movements and further damaging her broken body.
"Do something! Don't you elves have some sort of herb for this?" Scai yelled in frustration as Zydien still thrashed against her.
Trianna stood and ran to the basin on the floor and slammed it atop a table near the bed. She quickly pulled many multicolored herbs form the drawers, she began to mash up several of these and then jumped from the small balcony to the berry bush Zydien loved so much in her old home of Darnassus and smeared those into the mixture.
"Hurry!" Scai growled, then leaned down to Zydien's ear, "Calm please, Zydien, you will rip all your wounds open, calm down!"
Trianna snatched the pouch of water from her belt and poured it into the basin, mixing it with her hand and quickly brought it over to the bed.
"Lean her up!" Trianna commanded and held the basin forward for Zydien to drink.
Scai held the priestess and between her screams the liquid reached her lips, slowly her outcries and thrashing stopped. The deathknight sighed and laid the human down against the pillows. She took a light cloth and ran it over Zydien's sweat covered brow.
"What could be causing such terror inside her dreams?" Scai asked, her breath nearly taken from her.
"I don't know," Trianna answered, the darkness under her eyes was evidence of Zydien's frequent nightmares and need for attention, "But I have no doubt that this is demonic magic, something I know nothing of."
"Who would?" Scai asked, wondering if the creature from the woods was truly responsible.
"The High Priestess of Stormwind," Trianna sighed, "She is the only one I know of who could help Zydien now."
Hopefully the priestess could be of some help, but who knows! Well I do, but im not telling :D Please review review review my beloveds!