Chapter 3 of 3
The pair closed their eyes but it only made Aureyn's stomach sink more. Wind swept up into their clothes and the blood elf's hair. Rennyn's body started to feel light like he cast levitate but it was more of an empty feeling.
Vibrant pastel colors danced around the priest from what he could see behind his lids. Warm sensations began to bat playfully at his skin. It was a nice feeling, it reminded him of Vol'jin's light playful touch. Soothing yet aggressive, especially if he wanted something.
Then stinging and pelting started to force the pair to wince. Aureyn shouted something but it was drowned out in the bilious sounds of energies crashing into each other.
A more ferocious wind started to brush past the pair as the terrifying sounds and dancing lights faded.
"Can we open our eyes now? Please?!" Rennyn opened his eyes immediately to find himself suspended high above Azeroth.
The islands he sought were directly below but there was a large amount of space behind him and ground. The blood elf was further down in the atmosphere than the priest was.
Rennyn tried to pull Aureyn back with a rope made of light. It connected to him, but the priest wasn't ready for the weight it instantly bore.
It slipped from his hands and faded into the air. Instincts forced him to try to cast levitate on the paladin but the distance between them was already too great.
Levitate found its way to the priest instead. Rennyn's eyes grew wide as his stomach clenched into a tighter knot than it already was.
The troll bowed his head in prayer immediately and started begging the Light.
The ground felt like it was forever away but the longer it took him to get to there the more hope he convinced himself there might be.
Thoughts of Aureyn's demise crept into his head as he thought about how culpable for it he was. As the troll neared the ground he could see the paladin laying on flat ground. Rennyn landed and allowed his levitate to fade.
Too worried to notice that no crater formed under the paladin. He rushed to the blood elf's side but before he could rest a hand on the paladin, a harsh laugh erupted. The priest stood up immediately and walked away sighing. Aureyn got up clumsily, his gut paining him from his hilarious joke.
"Let's jus' be movin'." The priest was already exhausted from grief, now worry made him even more weary.
The blood elf patted the trolls shoulder, "The Light protects me Renny! You don't have to worry so much."
Rennyn's face twitched with irritation, "Ja'da!" He turned around and got as close to Aureyn's face as his tusks would allow, "What if it be my prayers de Light be answerin'?! What if de Light only protects ya faithless draks 'cause o' me? What if Vol'jin died 'cause de Light was too busy protectin' murka like ya!?"
The priest turned away again and threw his arms up into the air in frustration. Then he brought them down and folded them.
Immediately there was tapping on his shoulder. The troll turned around in a hurried fashion letting an angry 'what' escape him.
As his eyes wandered the direction Aureyn was pointing, his anger faded. Terror took over both of their faces as a mass of demons was heading towards them.
The priest started to form bubbles and shields around them while Aureyn readied his flashy two handed sword. A blue swirly portal appeared in the distance, behind loads of demons.
The first wave of demons kept the pair pretty busy; Aureyn slashing with his sword mostly in one hand and casting with the other, Rennyn dodging cleaves and retaliating with a forceful amount of holy magic. The paladin was trying to get a message to a very distracted troll.
Rennyn felt the blood elf's hand on his shoulder pulling him hard backwards. The shouting was incomprehensible, Thalassian spoken quickly is just gibberish. A hideous axe crashed down where the troll has just been yanked from.
"Just find the tusk! We can't do this forever!" Rennyn ducked under a swinging axe and started to run towards anything familiar. Unfortunately, nothing stood out. He replayed Vol'jin's death in his head but the surrounding area was only darkness.
Aureyn was close behind keeping a mob of demons at bay. A whirlwind of light erupted from Aureyn and every surrounding demon fell to the ground.
The blood elf stopped, a little stunned by what just happened but more confused by the lack of follow-up demons. He looked around for another few seconds, spotting a few intermittent patrols here and there.
"Renny… do you think they gave up?" The troll was sitting on his heels, checking the dirt around his feet as he nodded, "What dey be t'inkin' in de first place? De two o' us ain't gettin' very far in Sargeras' tomb." Aureyn started to argue with the troll who was no longer listening.
Another wave of demons was approaching. Another portal opened, closer this time. "Is Tanzado just opening portals in random places hoping for the best?!"
Rennyn recognized the golden tan ring wrapped around sandy colored white. He seized it with a gentle grip and reveled in the hope it restored.
Aureyn ran up to the crouching troll, who he was convinced no longer cared about the dangers of where they were.
"Good, now we can leave." Rennyn shook his head, "Nah, ritual first."
The blood elf was already stressed from fighting off demons, staying meant more stress, "No. No! There's another wave of demons! Let's get out of here and we'll do whatever you want back in Org!"
The priest unsheathed the sacrificial dagger he carried on his hip and began chanting. Aureyn grabbed his arm and shook him, the troll stopped and looked at the paladin calmly.
"Ya gonna be performin' last rites?" The blood elf's brow crinkled and he couldn't even find the empathy to speak.
"It be quicker if ya would instead of standin' dere cursin'." Aureyn's shear panic boiled over, "Not while I cover for you! For Light's sake Renny, let's leave!"
Rennyn stared at him for another while out of the corner of his eye. The blood elf sighed and readied his weapon again.
Rennyn rolled up his sleeves as he continued his chant. He dragged the blade across his own skin creating a gushing wound. He dragged it across his other arm and sheathed the dagger again.
As he raised his arms above his head to finish his prayer, all ambient sound ceased. The sounds of blades and Aureyn's huffed version of last rites stopped. The wind died down. His eyes opened slowly.
"Welcome ta de veil!" The priests eyes darted to the death loa. "B-Bwonsamdi?" The death god nodded. "It be an honor but I—," Bwonsamdi raised a hand to silence Rennyn.
"Ya be needed by someone else." Rennyn paused for a moment, "Vol'jin? I.. I know, I be tryin' ta help but ya be interuptin' by bringin' me 'ere." Bwonsamdi shook his head.
"Nah, de farewell ya prepared won't be workin' 'til ya cure what he be now." Rennyn's brow crinkled, "What?"
A large shadow formed instantly behind the loa and moved through him unfazed to latch onto Rennyn. The priest struggled and formed a ball of light in his fist but was enveloped in a blob of moving shadow.
A few words came from the death loa and the shadow blob containing the priest dissipated as quick as it formed. Rennyn stared at the loa with a crinkled brow waiting for him to explain what in the hell just happened. The death loa smiled and dropped his voice to a whisper.
"Jazahn… Ya filled 'im wit' doubt an' regret. Dis half realm not be stable an' he lost himself waitin' for ya. He be needin' ya help ta let go."
Bwonsamdi spoke a few ancient Zandali words and waved a hand idly. The realm quivered and shook.
Shadows moved in all directions, sounding like a thousand tears in fabric being ripped. Shadows screamed and cried as they moved passed.
The realm stopped moving abruptly and revealed a cluster of shadows slightly darker than the surrounding ones laced with a green light.
The priest focused his eyes on the mass, it seemed to be moving but was so still. Rennyn looked at the death loa again, terrified. Bwonsamdi smiled and nudged him forwards.
The priest took a few hesitant steps towards the cluster of shadows, watching it carefully. The clump started to move rather erratically and the troll thought he saw the edge of a blade somewhere in the mess.
It appeared to almost split a few times but remained one blob folding in on itself. A grunt here and there hinted that a fight might be happening. Half of the cluster faded into the ground and the green laced shadow formed in a small ball.
"Vol'jin?" Rennyn stopped a few meters away. The shadow cluster lunged towards him, expanding into the vague shape of a troll.
The priest collapsed onto his back with the shadow straddling him. The form was hard to discern shapes in but those brilliant yellow eyes shone brightly through the haze.
The Warchief retracted his glaive from the priests neck, "Rennyn?" Shock echoed in his voice. Some color and full shape returned to Vol'jin as he backed off the priest.
"Ya can't be 'ere." The shadow hunter sounded anxious as he stood up.
The priest got to his feet as well, "I be 'ere for ya." The shadows that made up Vol'jin's hair swayed back and forth, "It be a waste. I find my way outta 'ere. I just 'avta keep fightin'."
"Please… forgive me but ya won' get outta 'ere. Unless it be wit' Bwonsamdi." Vol'jin turned with a wicked grin, "Not'ing can hold me."
The shadow hunter raised his glaive and jabbed it just passed Rennyn's ear into a shadow blob. The priest froze and a poorly shaped hand threw him to the ground.
The Warchief's shape had mostly gone save for a few distinct ones like his weapon. A few more jabs at the blob and it collapsed into the ground.
A few more shadow blobs began to emerge from the ground surrounding the fel laced Warchief's blob and a glowing priest.
Vol'jin chanted a few words and made a quick waving gesture as he lunged at one of the blobs. Green laced tentacles popped out of the ground and stabbed through the other blobs while Vol'jin wrestled with his own.
Rennyn cast a smite spell on the remaining blob with Vol'jin still attached. As the smite hit the shadow hunter as well as the blob, his full shape returned to him.
The realm shuttered and groaned, reflecting whatever emotion Vol'jin wanted. The priest grabbed his shadowy green-laced shoulder and spun him, immediately seizing his other shoulder.
"Ya 'avta let go! Ya covered up enough scars. Ya mended enough bones. Ya gave more dan most. Ya don' 'avta fight anymore!"
More color returned to his spirit as he explored the priests eyes and the glowing light behind them. Rennyn had a thousand other things he wanted to talk to his Warchief about but saving his soul from drifting was the most important.
Vol'jin had clung to this realm in hopes of manipulating it enough to affect the real world but the only reason for that was to ensure the safety of his family.
Vol'jin thought the words over but giving up wasn't in his nature. He tore away from the priest and faced his back towards him. The green piping his form bore grew larger.
"If ya be 'ere for me, den fight wit' me. Ya could be my guidin' light." Rennyn was already shaking his head, "No. Vol'jin, ya 'avta let go now. Ya hold 'ere won' be lettin' ya cross ova."
The realm shook again, but the shadow hunter remained still. Vol'jin turned his head towards the priest, "I don't wanna cross ova. I not be done 'ere." Darker shadows overtook lighter ones and the haze grew heavier.
"Why?! Be done wit' it! Let go! Cross ova! Dere's not'ing else ya must do!" Rennyn's role in being stern was unfamiliar. Being persuasive and strong, those were Vol'jin's normal roles. The space stood eerily still and silent.
"It not be de mountain dat causes me ta stumble but de pebbles in my path. I not be crossin' de mountain unless I pick de pebbles from my feet."
Rennyn looked at Vol'jin in confusion, the shadows breathing shallow with the shadow hunter.
"Bwonsamdi said dat doubt an' worry made ya like dis. Accept my help ta ease ya mind."
Vol'jin's color began to return, "De tribe always come first. Dat meant de Horde as well. But you… De chance ta be tellin' ya how ya make me feel neva came."
Rennyn smiled and rested a hand on his Warchief's shoulder. The priest whispered as he leaned in close, "It didn't avta, I always knew."
Their eyes locked as Vol'jin turned instinctively. Rennyn threw himself into the shadow hunters chest. While Vol'jin was slower to accept the embrace eventually he squeezed the priest tightly.
"All I be wantin'—needin'… be for ya ta stay a lil longa but ya spirit needs to go wit' Bwonsamdi. I be starvin' for ya love but…"
The green on Vol'jin's form faded entirely as he felt the depths of anguish in the priest through his body. Sympathy was starting to overpower his guarded thoughts.
"Ya be willin' to let go for de health of my spirit…" Rennyn pulled away and nodded, avoiding eye contact with the spirit that had now almost returned to full color.
"Endure. True. Fierce…" The priest lifted his head slowly, the slight difference in their heights made more obvious now by how small he felt.
They had shared their separate experiences from First Home no matter how blurry or silly the memories seemed. Three words stuck with Vol'jin even if the rest of it felt like a dream, three words he based the rest of his life around.
Rennyn knew the words would bring the Warchief's mind back to a reasonable place.
"Ya endured everyt'ing an' had freedom ya whole life. Ya honesty aided in ya strength and ya built de strongest weapon dere be. Now… ya cowardice be forcin' ya ta latch onta dis realm 'cause ya be too scared ta let friends be wit'outchya. Ferocity be havin' de courage ta admit ya 'av no more control and ta aide udda's in siezin' dat control."
Vol'jin's eyes remained locked with the priests but he could see the shadow hunter working through the words in his head.
Pride turned to happiness then faded into fear. Fear lingered in the Warchief's eyes a little longer and then finally gave way to acceptance.
"Ya take care of Darkspear for me? Ya keep de spirits close ta ya heart? Ya watch Windrunner grow and learn?" Vol'jin's color fully returned to him and the realm became light lavender.
All the shadows ceased moving and the background scenery turned into Vol'jin's hut in Durotar after the Darkspear joined the Horde.
The priest hadn't even noticed the view change, too deep in a cloud of dazzling yellow eyes. He nodded, "It be all Darkspear responsibility ta take care of each udda. If ya be joinin' de udda spirits, den I be keepin' dem close ta my heart."
They continued to explore the depths of each other's eyes, knowing this would be the last time they could do so. Now Vol'jin had most of his reluctance to letting go dispelled by the reminder of how Darkspear endure together, his core felt lighter.
The shadow hunter waited and watched for an answer to the third question. The guarantee of his ideals in the family he chose, hanging on the priests answer.
"I won' serve Windrunner, but I won' abandon de Horde either. Ferocity also be acceptin' some uncertainty wit' movin' forward." Vol'jin nodded reluctantly.
Rennyn sighed and let a smile strain his lips on his tusks, "A piece of ya spirit be stuck in mine. I won' eva be gettin' ya laugh or ya heartbeat outta my head." The shadow hunter reflected the bittersweet smile, "Darkspear neva die."
Rennyn jolted back into his own reality listening to Aureyn huff and puff about demons. The priest never forgot where he left off in his ritual, and carried on his chanting.
A pale blue portal appeared a few meters off the ground. Aureyn jumped desperately, attempting to grasp it.
Rennyn waved his hands around a little more as he finished chanting his prayer. Then he held the tusk in an open palm towards the wind.
The half of a tusk blew away as dust leaving the bronze ring that was once wrapped around it in Rennyn's hand. It felt warm yet cold somehow.
As he explored the worn markings of time on it, he felt a pull beneath his skin. An urge to keep the ring as a reminder to keep fighting but to let go when the time is right.
"Can we please get out of here now?" Rennyn nodded at the blood elf as he slid the bronze ring into the hole in his ear.
Aureyn pointed towards the portal, "How does that deranged troll expect us to take that?" The priest sighed as he moved underneath the portal.
"Stand on me shoulders." Rennyn offered a hand to help the paladin up. The blood elf stood on the trolls shoulders and once he got a hand in the portal, it practically sucked him through.
Rennyn stood there and watched the portal close, whispering prayers to himself waiting for the next one to appear as demons approached his position.
A blue swirl opened on the ground underneath the priest and he fell back to the Cleft of Shadows.