Of War and Wings
Chapter Two
Fading
A month had seemed to pass within the blink of an eye for the refugees of the three worlds that were among the most recent of the Burning Legion's victims. Within the safety of the walls of Shattrath and the blessings of Khadgar and A'dal, they were given refuge and permitted the chances to begin rebuilding their lives. Few denied the offer, and those who did merely left the city respectfully, whatever their reasons.
The ones most dedicated and studious had, within the month's time, become fairly fluent in the two primary languages of the factions of the Alliance and the Horde. Although they flaunted no mastery as those born into the cultures that used them did, volunteers who had come to help tutor and understand their people now had aid in doing so some who had become more fluent in the language began to assist in the lessons of Common and Orcish.
"I'm telling you, I just don't get it." Toru muttered as in the tongue of their home world, holding a book scrawled with writings of the Common language in his hand, frowning in a spiteful manner at it. He looked down over the wall he was sitting on, gazing down at the activity in the lower city. Some beggars were getting into a fight over something or another, and it seemed there was division amongst the crown on those whose faint cheers reached up to his ears from the distance, and those who hurried to separate the parties.
"What's not to get?" Chloe muttered, flipping through one entitled 'Charge of the Dragonflights' in Common. She seemed taken by the story as she took a bite of bread, chewing at it for a moment and continuing to read before swallowing and looking to her older brother. "You got the words down, what don't you understand?"
"I dunno, I can't seem to get the hang of the sentences. It's like they talk backwards compared to us or something." He groaned, lying back onto the wall and looking up at the sky with a frown. "I always sucked at ancient languages in school back home, too..."
"So I'm guessing what this means is that mom and dad gave me the brains and you all the muscles." She said with a grin, quickly ducking the book as it was pitched at her.
"Shuddup."
"There you two are." The voice of Adira stated, touching down onto the wall after leaping up upon it. Crouching down beside Chloe, she leaned forward on her knees, eying each of them out the corners of her eyes. "Azalea's been looking for the both of you. Apparently you were supposed to help us study..." the black-haired warrior said, gently jabbing a finger into Chloe's shoulder before looking to Toru. "And you needed to."
"Don't remind me." The young man muttered in a sour tone, crossing his arms behind his head.
"You know that Juno's going to have it out with you if you're caught slacking again, Toru, and Tetra won't be happy." Adira said, earning a sigh from the young man as he propped himself up on his arms.
Yeah, well I'm not exactly happy that I'm twenty and being re-introduced to school life. He thought to himself. Man, I know a lot of crap kept me from finishing, but I could function and hold a job back home at least.
"Toru's a wuss." Chloe said suddenly, earning a glare as Chloe popped the last of her bread into her mouth, smirking as she chewed and flipped another page.
"Beg your pardon, powerless?" he said, calling her simply for what she was. It was unusual back on their worlds to have someone with a very weak aura, usually caused by some kind of sickness or a soul that was too frail to work them, but Chloe was unique. She was not sick, and she was most definitely not frail, but beyond any logical reasoning even she could come up with, she simply didn't have an aura. If anything, save her technological advancements and clothes, she could have blended right in with the humans of this world.
"You heard me, big brother." She said with her mouth full, swallowing and then grinning smugly to him. "At this rate even little Elias is gonna whip you, and you're just afraid of being embarrassed."
"Screw you, I am not!" he snapped.
"Prove it." She said fluidly, leaving him paused for a moment before he grumbled, hopping up to his feet and walking around to the other side of her. Picking up the book he threw at her, he dusted it off and stared at the cover. He could make out the words; they were common in the language and stood out enough for him to take note easily. They were something to do with a tree of the world and some dream that had something to do with emeralds. Huffing, he turned and leapt off the wall, walking at a casual pace back towards the central building of the terrace of light, where all of their lessons had been taking place. That sister of mine, I swear, sometimes she just lives to get under my skin.
"You probably could have done that without making him angry, you know." Adira stated, sitting right next to Chloe and smiling down at her. The younger lady simply grinned up to the older in response.
"Now what fun would there be in that?" she asked rather frankly, earning a slight giggle out of Adira. Pulling out a bookmark she'd made of just a few scraps of parchment lying around, she set it within the pages of the tome in her hands and closed it. As she laid the book down in her lap, she shut her eyes and leaned to the side, her weight gently falling against Adira's own as her head found a place against her shoulder.
"Have you been alright?" Adira asked, feeling a soft nod as she looked down below, noting the aftermath of some fight, and two groups gradually separating from each other as other people simply sifted through the wake of whatever havoc it must have brought.
"Mm, yeah..." Chloe said softly, inhaling deeply as she gripped the top cover of the book.
"I'm sorry you had to lose Anderon, Chloe..." Adira said solemnly. She noted that the other hand of the younger girl was out of sight, only to be found as the sensation of her gloved one brushing lightly against her own hit her, before she felt her grip and squeeze it softly. Adira turned her hand over, interlacing her fingers with the young mechanic's own and returning the gentle squeeze, shutting her eyes. "How have your brothers and sister been doing?"
"They've been alright..." she responded, her tone a little more quiet. "Jake's actually picked up the Common language faster than me. He's working on Orcish right now, in spite of that stupid Horde and Alliance stuff they've got going on. I've been helping out some of the goblins and gnomes around for some cash to pay for food, and he's taken the reins in the family since he's the oldest and been learning how to blacksmith..."
"You both really picked up after your father, hm?" she responded, looking down and blinking. In spite of Chloe's calm voice, she took note of the makings of tears in her eyes. Sighing, she turned to face the girl in full, still holding Chloe's one hand as the other pulled her into an embrace. Leaning down, she placed a kiss upon her forehead, speaking softly to her. "It's going to be alright..."
"... Yeah, I know..." Chloe responded softly, fully leaning into the embrace and burying her face into Adira's shoulder, hugging back with her one arm still clutching the book. They simply remained like that, holding one another for a moment or two before Chloe withdrew, sighing and drying her eyes upon the cuff of one of her gloves. "I, I'm alright now... We should probably get going back to the others before they get irritated."
Adira nodded, smiling softly as she stood, helping the other girl rise to her feet before wrapping an arm around her waist and leaping down with her off the wall. She released her as they settled on the solid ground again, and began walking with her close behind. It pained her to see the young lady she cared so deeply for hurting like she did, but if there was one thing she'd learned about Chloe in the four years they'd known one another, she had enough strong will to share. She would be alright, given due time.
"I thought that would never end." Toru muttered as he exited the terrace, clutching onto the same book as before as he dipped a hand into his pocket.
"Well at least they were able to help you understand things better, right?" Tetra said as she walked alongside him, smiling in a manner that seemed to warm his mood. She'd packed away her old clothes and was now dressed in a fine set of robes that bared her midriff, colored in an array of blues, violets and pinks with patterns that strongly resembled the designs seen on the clothes of the draenei walking around. Her boots and a hairclip in the shape of a Morning Glory flower were the only pieces of her original clothes she kept on. A slight grin pulled over her lips as she shut her eyes, holding her own book close to her chest. "Although as stubborn as you are, I feel bad for the tutors."
"Hey, hey, harsh." He said, although unable to restrain a smile as she turned suddenly, lifted up on her toes and planted a kiss on his lips.
"But true." She said, her tone playful as she turned around again and sighed quite contently. Things were starting to settle down for their people. The month had passed quickly for them all, and there was no doubt as to why. So much was left to be put in order. Accounting for those who did and did not make it, consoling and offering support to their families, introducing everyone to a new world, language, cultures, it was almost overwhelming. Fortunately, their hosts had been kind and generous. Sheer dumb luck had been their saving grace for the world they'd landed in, they very well could have been placed in, God forbid, the Burning Legion's home world. Instead, they wound up at the forefront of the effort against them.
Khadgar, A'dal and the factions around here have helped us all so much, I don't know if we'll ever be able to repay their kindness... A smile crept across her lips as she stopped suddenly, turning her head over her shoulder and gazing at the pillar of light piercing high into the cloudy sky over Shattrath, generated by the one naaru within the chambers they'd just left. The Light, huh...? It seems like something wondrous.
"Hey, Tetra, comin'?" Toru called out, hooking his thumb into one of his jean pockets.
"Ah, yeah, sorry about that." She said, gazing at the light just a few seconds longer before turning and walking back up alongside him. "So, we're starting to get the Common language down, what do you think we should do after that?"
"I dunno." He shrugged, beginning to descend a ramp into the lower city alongside her. "They said something about that other world, Azeroth, so I guess I want to check that out. But I haven't been very far outside of the city walls here either, so I want to see what this place is like, too."
Tetra nodded, offering a friendly smile to the battle masters of the Alliance, although they seemed pre-occupied debating strategy between each other. "I've heard a lot about the region neighboring the city to the southwest. Nagrand's supposed to be a very beautiful place, and I'd love to see it."
"Well, I'll just have to take you there sometime, won't I?" Toru said with a smile of his own, casting a warm gaze to the shorter girl.
Tetra, quite pleased with this, slipped one arm around his own and held onto it, leaning against him. "I'd love that." She continued like this as they walked for a moment, before a ruckus broke out in the air around them. Her head rose off of her love's shoulder and turned quickly, her eyes narrowing at the sight. An angel and cubi were starting a fight, and were doing a good job of attracting a crowd. "Those idiots..." she muttered. "They're probably still fighting over the same old thing..."
"Let 'em kill each other, two less morons for us to deal with down the road." Toru said with a shrug, only to earn a hard look from Tetra.
"Toru!" she snapped in the manner would when berating a child. It was something she'd been working on with him for some time. Toru made no claims to being a hero, although he had saved her life on two or three separate occasions, and he had no interest in being one either, especially not to the cubi or angels.
He simply sighed, handing his book to her and starting towards the fight. "I got it, I got it, I'll keep them from splattering their brains all over the grass."
If I didn't love her so much I'd keep walking. He thought to himself as he approached the two fighters. The Shattered Sun Offensive, although active in the lower city, didn't cover everything. It made sense; there were hundreds more down here than there were on the terrace of light, or in the Aldor or Scryers tiers. The Horde and Alliance separated their own people from each other because they either cared, or it was some peace treaty between two of the leaders of each faction that, in his opinion, wasn't doing a whole lot of good at the moment with how often he'd seen the fights break out. The angels and cubi, however, had been killing each other for hundreds of years, far longer than the twenty-some-odd that the Alliance and Horde had been at each other's throats. No, they'd let each other fight to the death for the most part, and claim glory for their own race for the victor.
"Hey, you two ass holes, break it up already." Toru said sharply. Naturally, there was no response. They were too involved in themselves to care about his presence. Of course, this was excuse enough for him to act. Kneeling down, he scooped a couple of fair-sized rocks off the ground, chunks of the shattered ground around them. Tossing them idly up and down in his hands for a moment, he suddenly reared back and threw them, slamming them dead into the sides of the two offenders' heads and knocking them right to the ground. "I said cut it out!" he hollered, watching as they clutched the points of impact in obvious pain.
"What business is it of yours?!" the cubi snapped first, sitting upright and still clutching what was now an open wound with blood trailing down his forehead.
"Back off, this has nothing to do with you!" the angel followed up.
And through a mutual dislike of the middleman, they find a common ground. Wonderful. He rolled his eyes at the thought, approaching the two before glaring down at them. "I don't boast the best people skills of anyone here, but our worlds have probably either been reduced to ash, or if they haven't, may as well be. Ya think maybe this is about the time you should stop focusing on the wings and more on the guys with the green fire coming out of their eyes?"
"The legion aren't in this city, but the damned cubi are!" the angel snapped, rising to his feet and glaring down at his opponent. "I don't know about you, but I think our more immediate threat is right here under our noses!"
"Sentiment's the same here, Lumerrian!" snapped the cubi, rising to his own feet before tackling the angel and rekindling the fighting.
Toru simply stood there, not at all amused and, quite frankly, getting very annoyed. He began to massage his sinuses in one hand, sighing for a moment as he considered his options while the two brawled at his side. It was about the time that he caught the sensation of a familiar power he actually became irate, watching as a beam of light shot past his face. "That cinches it." He muttered, holding his right arm out to his side as his own aura flared, violet, white and black in color. It gathered in his hand, lengthening and stretching until a solid silhouette was formed. In that next instant, he vanished, appearing standing in the same way over them before slamming the object in his hand down right between their faces, scarcely missing the tips of their noses. It was his sword, almost as tall as he was, the same one he'd used against the doomguard that had driven him through the portal into this world, and the one he hadn't called on since.
"Let me summarize this situation for you." He stated, now having their undivided attention as he glared at both of them. "Your fist fight was one thing. Now that you're shooting and endangering the lives of people like myself who quite frankly couldn't care less if you ripped each other's heads off, you've crossed a line. I'm going to say this once, and I'm going to be very. Frank. If you don't stop these moronics in the next five seconds, I'll kill you both and then-"
He paused there, blinking a moment as he looked to his sword. Something was wrong with it. It began to flicker oddly, growing transparent and solidifying in intervals for a moment before, in a flash, it simply disappeared from his grip. His eyes widened in disbelief. He'd never had something like this happen before so suddenly. His weapon was taxing to call upon as it was his strongest ability, but he always had at least a good five minutes with it, never before just one. He didn't find himself with time to dwell upon it, as the two he'd just threatened rose up before him, glaring darkly at him.
"What was that you were saying just now...?" the cubi hissed in his face.
"Oh, screw you." Toru said, reaching up and grasping them both by the hair at the base of their skulls. Pulling his arms back, he swung forward, slamming their heads together with a thud that echoed through the air before dropping them to the ground, completely unconscious. Dusting his hands off, he looked around, noting that many seemed confused by what had just happened. No surprised, not a word of what had all been said was in any language they would know, although gestures seemed to do a fair job of conveying some of it. "Sorry, idiots." He said in Common, thumbing to two lying in heaps on the ground. That seemed enough to earn dismissive shrugs or sarcastic remarks here and there, and it was enough of a note for him to return to Tetra on, who now bore an expression of obvious concern.
"Toru, what happened there?" she asked, clutching both of their books tightly to her chest.
"Twilight just vanished, that's what." He said, the name the one he'd given to his sword, not something uncommon to do for the type of weapon it was. Gazing to one of his empty hands, he thought in silence for a moment before looking back to Tetra. "Come on, we're going back to the terrace. Azalea should still be there, and with luck, Khepri is too. We need some answers."
"And you're saying it just vanished like that?" she asked, watching Toru nod in confirmation to her question. She sighed, running a hand through her short black hair, amber colored eyes skimming the floor before her behind her glasses in thought. Casual was the one word to describe her normally, as even the clothes she worked in consisted of a simple black and violet blouse with red poppy flower-patterns sewn into the collar, a pair of shredded jean shorts, black flip-flop sandals and an open, white lab coat. Her clothes had been ranked among the most unusual by the people who frequented Shattrath.
"It was like nothing I'd ever seen happen before, Ms. Rohn." Tetra stated, only to earn a hard look from the woman in name as she pointed to her.
"Tetra, I've told you a hundred times, you can call me Khepri. You're the only person who's ever insisted on using my last name." She sighed, frowning a little bit to herself. Besides, it gets kind of annoying, being reminded I'm only a 'miss' all the time...
Tetra only gave an awkward smile at the words. "S, sorry, mis-, er, Khepri... But the head cleric back in our city was pretty-"
"Don't give me that crap, Tetra. I'm no big city spell weaver like the snob you grew up with, I'm a girl from a backwoods town who just happens to be the best at what she does is all."
"Alongside being whiny, griping, egotistical and being generally short-tempered and scary..." Toru muttered, suddenly finding the woman up in his face with a grin that, quite frankly, scared him to death.
"Keep talking, Toru, and I'll see to it you never pull Twilight out again, clear?"
"Crystal." He responded stiffly.
"Good. Now that we're clear on that, show me your back."
Toru sighed, turning around and crouching down. Grasping the base of his shirt, he pulled it up, exposing his mid-back to the woman. Next, reaching into his shirt, he withdrew his pendant and pulled it off over his head, setting it down on the floor just before him. As he released the last bit of its leather thread, a symbol appeared on his back, a spell circle of sorts. Faded runes surrounded the border, with broken and scattered lines above them showing the placement of a former outer circle. Within the primary were two symbols; a cross, the primary symbol used in spell weaving of Lumerrian nature, and a five-pointed star, the Umbrian spell symbol. They were connected where the lower tip of the cross joined with the recessed point on the bottom of the star between two of its own tips. Toru normally kept this hidden, one of two reasons he wore the pendant he did at all times, as it acted to shield the spell from the eyes or detection of others.
"I never get used to your real aura, you know that?" Khepri stated as she knelt down, lightly running her fingertips over his back. "With that pendant's cloaking spell and those packed away, you read just like a Viardan."
"I prefer it that way, it makes me stand out a lot less." He muttered.
There was little else than silence from their group as Khepri worked, studying the spell with complete focus. A few passer-bys stopped momentarily, and they had certainly earned plenty of strange looks from the crowd, but they were ultimately left to their own business. That would come to an end though, as Khepri stood up with a sigh. "The spell's working just fine... So spread 'em."
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me..." Toru groaned, standing up and lowering his shirt as he donned his pendant once again. "I've gone a month without having to make a spectacle of myself with those damned things, do I really need to advertise this to an entire freakin' new world?"
"Fine, don't, keep letting Twilight flicker out like that for all I care and go get yourself killed. No skin off my nose." Khepri said this all in a disturbingly casual manner, her arms crossed and her eyes shut. A low grumble of irritation from Toru was the signal that she'd gotten what she wanted, a grin pulling over her lips as she looked to the young man. "I thought you'd see it my way."
"Cram it." He growled, plunging his hands into his jean pockets and shutting his eyes. It seemed nothing was happening initially, simply silence among their group. It was at that point a pair of bulges appeared at his lower back, growing rapidly to the point they distended his shirt before two slits in the back of it opened up. Lumps of flesh stretched peaked out just slightly before it seemed to pull back, revealing two different extensions reaching out and gaining shape gradually, a soft glow marking their emergence points from his flesh. The others had by now stepped back, and not without good reason as the two growths suddenly lashed out, expanding wide off his sides as they took their final shape. On his left side, a black, leathery wing, a cubi wing, and on the right, a white, feathered one, an angel wing.
"I hate bringing these things out, they make me an eyesore..." he muttered, noting several stares around the area fixed on him, many of them belonging to people who'd come from their world.
"Blame your parents then, they're the ones who decided they just had to have kids." Khepri stated, walking up to his expanded wings and running her hands gently over them, walking slowly from the tip of one to the other over the course of several minutes, which left the others to dissolve into idle chatter, save Toru who only stood still in irritation. Khepri finally sighed as she reached the end of his angelic wing, crossing her arms. "Alright, you can put them away now."
"Took long enough..." Toru muttered, his wings stretching out in full as they seemed to fluidly absorb into the slits in his shirt, losing shape and becoming resembling more of a type of energy rather than any solid matter. "So, what's the word?"
"I honestly can't say." Khepri responded, frustrated by the fact that an answer like this eluded her. "Your wings are fine so you shouldn't have a problem channeling light and darkness. That Chaos aura that holds Twilight together, though, has always been kind of a mystery... Hell, not even 'kind of', just outright. Are you sure it's got nothing to do with that? I mean, it's a merger of light and darkness auras, and if the notes your mother left of her pregnancy with you were any indication, even with you the merger of those two auras is an extremely delicate process..."
"I know what you're saying, Khepri, but it's nothing that's got to do with me." Toru insisted, turning to face the cleric with a stern expression. "I'll admit, that sword of mine and my abilities have been probably pretty off since I started using them three years ago, but I'm at least familiar enough to know this isn't just something like me running out of energy to sustain it or anything. It's like I just completely lost it..."
She could only narrow her eyes at that information, reaching up and cupping her chin as her index finger stroked just below her bottom lip. She'd never heard of anyone simply 'losing it' before where auras were concerned. There's got to be more to this than just that. Even newborn infants have auras and very, very minor abilities with them in their fits. There's no reason for it to simply vanish.
"Khepri, if it helps..." the voice of Azalea chimed in, drawing the attention her attention to the young mother holding the hand of she and Juno's son. "I think I might know what Toru's talking about. Something sort of similar happened about a week ago..."
"Do tell..." Khepri muttered, clearly interested by this as she fully faced the blonde. This girl was talented with her own aura, and even more so with the spells she had personally taught her during time as her student. If anyone's input would be of great help here, it would be Azalea's.
"Well, Juno and I were playing with Elias in the lower city... I was giving him rides just off the ground on a few of the larger, loose pieces of rubble around like I used to back in Asile. A few minutes in, something strange happened. I just felt like I lost touch with my aura, and the rocks dropped." She paused there, seeming to take a deep breath as she recalled the event, looking with a soft smile up to Juno. "Juno managed to keep Elias from getting hurt, and I've been able to use my abilities since, but even so..."
"This is a problem..." Khepri muttered, immediately turning her gaze over the whole of the group. "Alright, listen. I want you guys to practice with your auras for the next couple days here and there, just do whatever, but nothing that could put yourself or others in danger with them. If any of you come up with anything that sounds similar to this, tell me as soon as you can, and in as much detail as possible. As for you, Azalea," she said, turning back to her former student, "I want you to do that and keep up with your spells. I'll be doing the same. I want to know for sure whether whatever's going on is going to affect out spell weaving too. We'll gather all the results in three days and see what comes of it, so until then, keep trying your abilities out where you see opportunities."
On this note, the group dispersed, leaving Khepri standing by herself, mulling over what Toru and Azalea respectively had told her. She ran several different possibilities through her mind, considering options and weighing factors of the information, from the minutest to the greatest details. Before she knew it, she was walking, and within a moment or two she stood at the center of the terrace. Turning her eyes up, she gazed curiously at A'dal, almost as if seeking an answer from him.
You wouldn't know though, would you? She thought to herself. She turned her back to the naaru, sitting down on the steps of its platform and shutting her eyes. Everything I think of comes back to this one point, but I can't verify it without more data. Still, if it does come down to that, then we won't be much different than any of the other humans from Azeroth.
Cygnus watched in silence as Skye and Dirge clashed in a training match outside of the outpost they had taken residence in over the past month. The two constantly struck, Skye lashing out using the natural waters in the area as a wide array of weapons and puppets, as Dirge simply charged, hacked and slashed his way through whatever opposition the young man threw at him. The fight, as always, ended with a decisive victory for Dirge, as he watched the manic killer drive his claw through the largest of Skye's constructs, an ice golem he'd been using for defense, and pinned him down against the muddy earth.
"You lose again, water boy." Dirge taunted as he leaned over the young man, his words earning a scowl.
"Bite me, dog breath." He snapped back.
"That's enough from both of you." Cygnus responded tiredly as he approached the two, grasping Dirge by the shoulder and hauling him off the youngest of their group. "Skye has improved through these matches, Dirge, he's learning to read you, not that there's much to it anyways."
"Yeah, knowing what I do means all of shit if he can't do anything about it though." Dirge responded smugly, watching Skye rise to his feet and beat his clothes clean with his hands.
"Wait long enough and I'll break you down to the spare crap that Desirei found floating around in that stupid chasm back on Viarde..." Skye muttered, earning a sharp glare from Dirge, at least before Cygnus' hand was thrust between them, signaling an end to their antics.
"That's enough, I said." He stated again, this time much more sternly. "The point of these exercises have been to study the reactions our auras have presented us with as of late. Skye, your aura fell out twice during the match, and Dirge's own five times. That's more than last week when it fell out once for you and three times for Dirge on average."
"Big deal." Dirge muttered, turning and walking back towards Stonard.
"You half-wit, don't you realize what he's saying?" Skye remarked, this earning another hard look from Dirge over his shoulder.
"What the hell do I care?! As long as I can kill Toru, quite frankly I wouldn't give a damn if we were staring down the apocalypse!"
"Wonderful sentiment considering we did about a month ago, but I'm afraid you miss the point entirely." Cygnus said with a sigh. A roar bellowed through the air, commanding his attention skywards as he looked up, beholding a black, red and white creature soaring over the treetops and veering to the south, towards the Blasted Lands, and seeming to clutch something within its claws. "It seems Desirei's returned with her prey. Let's go, you two."
Within fifteen minute's walk, the trio found themselves at the edge of the forest, and in sight of Desirei, although dressed differently than she was when she had left. In place of her black dress from before were black and golden robes with flared cuffs and slits in the sides, baring her hips partially to view. The golden on her abdomen and at the wrist cuffs formed into vague, skull-like figures with eyes of amethyst, and almost to even the surprise of Cygnus, she was wearing ankle-length black slippers. This was a woman who had walked through fire and hot coals barefooted before, crediting that largely to her draconic heritage's endurance. Behind her, three bodies were dragged through the dirt by ropes cinched around their waists; a human male dressed in shattered plate, a gnome male, crushed within its leather dress, and a female draenei, stripped down to her underclothes.
"Found something you liked off of that one, I see." Cygnus remarked, causing Desirei to smile wickedly.
"It is a bit loose, but I like the way it hangs off of me." The dragoness returned. "Besides, it allows room for my toys." She said, holding her free hand out as one of her short swords erupted from beneath the sleeve, retracting just as quickly.
"Very nice." Dirge stated with a sneer. "I'm supposing those chumps are the bounty you went after."
"That would be right." Desirei said, snapping the ropes forward and tossing their bodies between she and the three men. "Wanted for raiding Kargath in the Badlands to the north, five hundred gold per head. Found them in Stranglethorn Vale getting ready to attack Grom'gol Base Camp."
"Good." Cygnus stated, reaching down and grabbing the human male, throwing his corpse over his shoulder. "We should be able to pay off the rest of our stay here with that and have more than enough extra to spare."
"I don't get why the hell you insist on paying these people back." Dirge muttered, earning a frown from Desirei. "We're more powerful than them, we can make them give us whatever we want."
"We're guests in this world, you idiot." Cygnus said, nodding to Skye as he picked up the body of the gnome. "This is no different than it was on Viarde. Our campaign was to eliminate Lumerre and Umbris and allow Viarde to live in peace without the constant risk of being dragged into their selfish war. I'm not at all pleased with this 'Horde' and 'Alliance' nonsense, but I've heard they are unifying against greater evils such as the Burning Legion here, and a man known as the Lich King in Northrend. In light of the fact they can actually cooperate with each other unlike the cubi and angels, I will treat them with basic respects, and I expect the same of you. Now, let's retrieve our bounty and pay off the last of our debts."
"Still think this is retarded..." Dirge growled, jamming his hands into his pockets as he followed after them.
"Halt you four!" an authoritative voice called from behind, turning their heads to a group of outriders, bearing the tabard of Nethergarde Keep from the Blasted Lands. "What are you doing in these parts?!" he asked, his tone itself demanding answers.
Fantastic... Cygnus thought as he eyed the others, speaking softly in their own language. "Let me handle this." He stated as he stepped forward, beginning to address the men in Common. "We're simple mercenaries doing our jobs, nothing of great concern."
"When you carry the corpses of a gnome, human and night elf, bound as they are, I believe it becomes of a great deal of concern."
"Aye, however these three lashed out at us and were determined to kill us. We didn't have time to ascertain a reason, so we defended ourselves. Probably madness or delirium, so we sought to bury them in the swamp where we could dig graves more easily than in the barren lands you ride from."
"That does not explain why they are bound as they are, or further more, why you carry the female naked." He said, gesturing to the night elf.
"As I stated, I believe they were mad. They attacked us with no warning, perhaps the influence of a demon that slipped through the Dark Portal, although I can say nothing for certain. It was my decision that they be brought here after they were slain, I couldn't in good conscience leave our fellows' bodies to be picked at by the buzzards, regardless of their actions. What would the Alliance be if we could not show such simple respect for the dead, after all?"
This seemed to leave the head rider at a loss for words for a moment. The silence pervaded the area for a short time before he finally nodded in understanding. "Understood. It is noble that you would keep an eye out for your fellows as this. I will pray that the Light guides their souls to rest in peace."
"As do I even now, sir. Thank you for your words."
The rider nodded, turning his horse about and giving the order for the rest to head out. He stayed behind just a moment longer, looking over his shoulder. "I would urge caution on your party. There have been sightings of one of the black dragonflight in this region. You'd do best to steer clear if you see it anywhere."
"I'll be certain to keep my eyes out. Thank you for the warning." He watched quietly as the outrider rode his steed off, waiting until he was out of earshot before he turned and started back towards Stonard.
"Well aren't you slick..." Dirge muttered.
"Shut up before I really do kill someone." He said flatly.
Ceremi sighed as she sat in her quarters in the outpost, running a hand through her hair in frustration. The group that had her currently locked in their thrall had secured an entire building to themselves, as was appropriate for the kind of lot they were. It was one thing to be stuck as their translator, that task was difficult enough. Teaching them though was something she had no experience in. She had one day expected to have apprentices in the arts of the arcane, but never something as simple as culture and language. How troublesome… she thought to herself.
Another matter was the collar still around her neck, although ice had been long since replaced with metal, thorium in fact. Desirei had humored her at the very least by bejeweling it with rubies that matched her robes, so she at the very least didn't look like she was someone's slave, although the dragoness worded it as 'being under her employ'. She sighed, reaching up and idly tugging at the offending accessory. "At least they don't treat me like they treated the orcs after the Second War..."
"We could arrange that if you'd like."
Ceremi's eyes widened and her posture straightened rather suddenly, turning to the doorway and noting Desirei's presence. Behind her was the rest of the group, and in each of their hands a small bag jingling with coins, gold no doubt. She must've just gotten back from that hunt she went on... "That's the last of your debts, I assume?"
"What's left over from them, actually." The dragoness returned, settling down on her bed across from Ceremi's with a sigh. "Never any shortage of a ruckus when I go out flying."
"The black dragonflight of Azeroth has done little more than induce terror to all they come across since the War of the Ancients, you shouldn't be surprised." Ceremi frowned at the smirk that Desirei gave her for that statement.
"I never said that I didn't enjoy it, I simply said they make a ruckus..." Her head turned to Cygnus as he took a seat, crossing one leg over the other as she leaned back on her arms. "Now you said you had something to speak to us about...?"
"I did." Cygnus said, waiting until Dirge and Skye had taken their seats before he continued. Of course, before he could, Ceremi rose from her own seat.
"Then I suppose I'll leave you to your-"
"Stay." Cygnus commanded sharply, earning a surprised look from the woman. "This involves you, so your presence here would be appreciated."
The blood elf was a little surprised by this. Other discussions they had, she'd been dismissed to do whatever she pleased in the time during. She couldn't fathom what they'd begin to want with her. Still, she wouldn't turn down the invitation, for any of several reasons, and took her place on her bed once more.
"As you're aware, over the last month there've been oddities surrounding our auras, since the first day we arrived here." Cygnus said, his tone calm and collected, but serious and leaving no room for jest. "Power fluctuations, strange behavior, misfires, and in some cases the loss of the ability to call on them at all for several moments. I've been studying all of us, through training matches and mediocre tasks performed with them, and I believe I've found out exactly what it is that's causing this."
"Well then tell us already, damn it!" Dirge demanded, earning a glare from Cygnus that quickly silenced him.
"To be frank, I believe we're losing the ability to access our auras all together." He noted the obvious alarm in the three, but didn't stop to wait for their reactions. "The incidents have only been growing more regular, and happening faster and for longer periods of time. I don't know when it may happen, if it does, but I think it's only a matter of time before we lose our abilities all together."
"You can't be serious!" Desirei snapped, sitting upright. "How will I manage if I have to go around in that clumsy, lumbering lizard form of mine? I'd rather die!"
"Don't be so dramatic." He said, chiding her like a child. "I'm not finished yet, anyways." He sighed, rising from his seat and muttering a few words. Out of nowhere, a white flame burst forth from his palm, with laces of red and black light swirling up around it. "I've been paying attention to other things, too. It seems that, for the most part, our spells remain intact. I assume it has to do with the arcane energies that course through this planet. Your spells, and your human shape, should be retained... However, this world does not have any kind of elemental aura. Similar concepts, but they are different sources of power ultimately. I think that's what's causing this. Without auras to sustain our abilities, in time, they'll be completely choked off and eliminated. Beyond physical things such as wings, or your true form, Desirei, there will be little difference between us and the beings of this world."
"Well that must thrill you at least." Skye remarked, his head resting in his hands. "Without Light or Darkness auras to push the change during conception, we're looking at the last generation of angels and cubi, and whatever the hell you call yourself, Toru and Chloe."
"Amians." He said. Ceremi couldn't help but notice a smile form on his face as he rose from his seat, walking to the only window in the dingy little room and gazing out it. "But you're right, Skye, it does please me. This nonsense will largely die out within the generation, and after that, whatever remains with the conflict should simply slip away. If there's any good to be taken from the destruction of our worlds, that would be it."
"I hate to interrupt the reminiscing..." Ceremi said dryly, earning the attention of the others in the room. "But I've yet to see exactly what any of this has to do with me."
"It has everything to do with you, Ms. Sunward." Cygnus responded, his smile faded back to a more reserved expression, eying her over his shoulder. "You're going to train that boy there in the arts of your class. You're going to teach him to become a mage."
A certain silence seemed to pervade the room for a moment, looks being exchanged all through out the room after this rather sudden an unexpected revelation. Ceremi and Skye exchanged looks, both of bewilderment and disbelief, before they shot up from their seats.
"WHAT?!" they both exclaimed, the silence thunderously breaking. Dirge had just fallen from his seat, cackling like a madman at the predicament. Desirei was simply stuck staring at the newly proclaimed student-teacher pair.
"Are... are you sure this is a good idea?" Desirei asked, turning her gaze over her shoulder to Cygnus. "I'm the most experienced here with spells, maybe I should be the one?"
"It's your experience with spells thus far that decided why I did not pick you, Desirei." He said. "If, say, our auras were to leave us this very instant, Dirge and I are physically capable of defending ourselves. Dirge is animalistic and brutal enough, and I have practiced several forms of self-defense. You are a powerful spellweaver, and that would make you the strongest of us until we found new ways to supplement strength." He turned, looking to Skye. "Skye, on the other hand, relies largely upon his aura, primarily in fact. He's a knowledgeable hunter, but he wouldn't stand a chance against any of the warriors from this base camp without his ability to manipulate water in all its forms. This is for his own good."
"But why me, why not train him as a warrior then, give him that 'physical prowess' you boast of?!" Ceremi snapped. She didn't really like Skye. Whenever he spoke, he mostly gave her smug, smart aleck remarks that did nothing but upset her. She saw him as a brat and little more.
"Because I recall the day of our meeting, you were flinging some rather impressive ice spells." Cygnus stated, grinning in a manner that drew a discomforted flinch from the mage. "Skye has a water aura from our world. I think being taught to wield ice spells would be appropriate for him."
Mother was right, I should have followed the path of the fire mage... she thought bitterly, sitting down in defeat. "Fine, I concede. I'll start teaching him tomorrow."
"Great, spending all my time with Ms. Glows-In-The-Dark..." he muttered, the name he'd given her regarding her green glowing eyes.
"Skye, treat her with respect." Cygnus chided, as if talking to a child. "She's your teacher, and if I hear you're giving her too much trouble, I'll deal with you, understand?"
The young man only sighed, sinking back into his seat. "Yeah..."
"Good. As for the rest of us, we should study up more on the classes of warriors local to this world and see what best suits us. It shouldn't be too long until-" he blinked, seeming to have caught notice of something outside the window, something that concerned Ceremi as she rose to her feet yet again.
"What is it?" she asked, approaching the window, only to now catch bits of the sound herself. There were screams, explosions, battle cries and the distant clattering of metal against metal. There was no mistaking what she was hearing. It was battle, and if she could judge correctly, a sizeable one. Not wasting any time, she turned and started to the door. "We have to get out there." She stopped, feeling a hand clutch her shoulder. She turned, expecting to see Cygnus behind her, but was instead greeted with a rather serious look from Desirei.
"Don't just run out there. If it is a battle, you could wind up dead in an instant."
"Then what do you propose that I do?" she said, her irritation showing through in her voice.
"You're a mage, you should know about patience. Settle down, and let's see what we're up against." Desirei passed her after that, calmly approaching the door to their temporary home and easing it open. Ceremi, not wishing to be outdone on the world she was born on by a foreigner from who knew where, approached after her and peeked through with her.
It was a raid on the town, members of the Alliance races charging Stonard and locking themselves into battle with guard and civilian alike. It seemed to be a charge mostly led by human and dwarf, with traces of each of the other races laced into the crowds. They were merciless, and spared few, if any, lives.
"And these are the bastards who claim we're monsters..." Ceremi growled, clutching her fists tightly at her sides.
"Stay here for a minute." Desirei said, lightly pushing the blood elf out of the doorway and passing fully through it, shutting the door behind her.
Ceremi had no idea what the woman had planned, going out there alone. She did look the part of a human, so negotiation didn't seem out of the picture. Even so, Desirei had demonstrated thoroughly that she was cruel when she wanted to be. Dirge was the only one worse than her in the group, but by a much greater margin. "Are you sure this is wise?" she asked the others, not even looking back to them as she watched Desirei approach.
"Let Desirei do what she will." Cygnus said, approaching from behind. "If trouble escalates beyond her own handlings, we'll go out there next."
"Is there something that I can help you with?" Desirei asked loudly in Common, a part of the reason she went out. She and Cygnus were the only two of the group who had learned the tongue to any intelligible extent. It certainly worked, halting several of those on their rampage, although most merely continued on their way without so much as a second thought.
One of the party approached with a rather lecherous grin upon his lips, a dwarf dressed in black leathers, mounted on the back of a brown ram. He swung his legs over the side and dismounted, closing the gap between them on foot to a mere couple of feet. "Indeed there may be, lass." He said, the accent thick enough that she might compare this little thing to be vocally what the trolls were for the Horde. "What's a loveleh thing such's yerself doin' in a filth pit like this, eh? Captured passin' through th' woods?"
"I live here, thank you." She said, her tone flat and not at all by his words.
"Among these filtheh monsters? Ye must've had it hard, bein' forced to-"
"I choose to live here, and I believe you're trespassing."
These words seemed to take the dwarf by complete surprise, rendering him silent, much to her own personal delight. Noisy little pest. To think there's supposed to be a city full of these things...
"Modin, what's the hold up here?" a human on horseback asked, garbed in black, brown and red robes that looked positively wicked by nature. The voice even seemed slightly warped by a veil of darkness beneath that gave way to only glowing blue eyes, but it was predominantly male regardless.
"See fer yerself, Alex! We've a human lass here livin' among th' vermin in this Light-forsaken pit!"
The man seemed to take interest, trotting his mount forward just enough to come within arm's reach and lay a hand on her forehead, something that drew a visible scowl from her. It lasted only for a few seconds as he withdrew his hand.
"She is under no enchantment, perhaps she simply struck her head on something..."
"You, 'Alex'." Desirei said, her tone almost spiteful in nature now. "You wouldn't happen to be what's considered a warlock, would you?"
A soft chuckle came from the man's lips as he dismounted, standing tall and proud. "Allow me to demonstrate for you." Looking around for but a few seconds, his eyes fell upon a guard, locked in combat against a draenei warrior nearby. Holding his hand out towards the orc, he muttered but a few words, and watched as he burst into flames, screaming in agony and falling to the ground in an attempt to roll and put out the fire. It was only greeted with a swift death afterwards as the warrior brought down her greatsword and removed the guard's head.
Alex's attention then turned to the stable master of the inn nearby, pointing his hand out again, he muttered a longer incantation, drawing dark energies within the palm of his hand. It released a few seconds later into a bolt that impacted square into the other orc's chest, and killed him instantly.
His final demonstration was upon a paladin, fighting two of his allies at once with a clear, albeit minor, advantage, something that seemed to cause him to sniff in disapproval. "This is one of my favorites." He said, the very tone of his voice seeming wicked as he drew a black and violet staff off his back, shaped at the head akin to a rather large spear, and glowing softly with a violet light. He began to incant again, much faster this time as a bolt of green energy fired from his arm and into the paladin. The blood elf cringed horribly from the pain, his actions tremendously slowed, as he even seemed to age under its effects, allowing his opponents to descend and conquer by taking advantage of his sudden feebleness.
As the spell drew to a close, Alex sighed, seeming quite refreshed as he looked back to Desirei, just the air about him now radiating confidence and pride. "If that does not answer your question, then to put it simply, yes, I am a warlock."
"Blasted showoff." Modin grumbled, grasping the reins of his ram and leading it away.
"My, that was quite a show." Desirei said, her tone and expression having changed to ones of great interest, almost admiration. "You must have had an incredible teacher to come into the possession of such marvelous spells."
"Well, I'd like to think I've surpassed my old tutor." He said, not doing anything to hide his cockiness.
"Mm, well I've always had some interest in the dark arts myself..." she said, her tone seeming to become more sultry and seductive. She reached forward, lightly lying a hand against his chest and tracing her fingers gingerly in circles over the cloth, a material itself that seemed to even radiate darkness to the touch. "Perhaps you could inform me who your tutor was, so that maybe one day, I could become as magnificent a warlock as yourself?"
Alex seemed flustered by her contact with him, a little stunned at how forthcoming she was before he cleared his throat, recomposing himself and speaking again with the same confidence as before. "Well, if you really insist, milady, I suppose that I can indulge your curiosity. My tutor was Demisette Cloyde. You can find her beneath the Slaughtered Lamb tavern in Stormwind. Simply tell her that I sent you, that should suffice to grant you acceptance in their ranks."
"Oh, thank you, sir." Desirei said softly, stepping forward and lightly pressing herself against him, the hand on his chest moving towards his left side, as her free hand lightly gripped his shoulder. "Please, allow me to do something to show you my thanks."
Alex chuckled softly, reaching up with his gloved hand and lightly cupping her cheek. "If you insist, I'd be happy to-" he stopped there, rather suddenly and without warning, as if frozen statue still. His head lowered down slowly, looking to where the hand had been against his chest, and now seeing a blade embedded deep within, piercing his heart. "Y... you..."
"My thanks was that you won't die as painfully as the rest of your comrades." She said to him in a whisper, giving a sharp twist to the blade in his chest. Blood spewed from his mouth, splattering a little onto her face before she shoved him off her short sword, watching as his corpse hit the ground, pouring blood into the muddy earth. "Oh, and I'll be taking this lovely little artifact." She said, kneeling down and grasping his staff from his grip. "Seems like it served a worthless worm such as yourself well enough." She took the time to undo a belt clasp over his shoulder, pulling it off and shaking the mud off of it before donning it herself. It was loose, but the holster for the staff was well worth it.
"So that was what you came out here for." Cygnus said as he approached, some disapproval of her methods clear in his features.
"Sorry if you didn't like it, but I've at least found the class to supplement my aura when it fades." She said with a grin, her second short sword erupting from beneath the sleeve on her other arm. "Now, what do you say we rid the town of these vermin?"
Cygnus smirked, already clutching onto his dual-bladed sword. "Those who would persecute the innocent will receive no mercy."
"Spare us the self-righteous crap." Dirge said, his claw ready. "Just butcher 'em all!"
"An idiot's an idiot, and to an idiot a fight is a fight, even if it's not with Toru." Skye muttered, shouldering a massive hammer constructed of ice, sporting an array of lengthy, twisted spikes emerging from the head.
"Enough chatter." Ceremi said, cold mist pouring from her hands as they glowed with blue light, before thrusting both hands together and firing a bolt at the nearest invader, turning a hard look to the rest of the group. "I have no interest in seeing the Horde suffer this injustice while you simply talk! Fight!"
"Well said, Ceremi." Desirei responded with a chuckle, her eyes beginning to glow as she reared back on her legs and lunged into a sprint, the others dispersing to all sides behind her. "Well said!"
That's all I've got written up so far. The next chapters should be coming in the near future though, along with updates on my other stories and hopefully an end to Distant Shadows. It's great to be back, everyone.