AN. This is my first try at something like this, hopefully it's not to slowly paced. With that said enjoy, leave a like and review or hate comments :D
The sounds of steel on steel and steel on flesh were resounding in the surrounding. Screams of death and anger, and commanders barking orders filled the gaps.
Having just cast another fireball I tried to pull deeper into my connection to my mana, feeling that I had reached the bottom of my reserves I collapsed in exhaustion. Anger and desperation filled my mind as I looked for a way out of this hellhole. I noticed that the mountain pass we took to arrive in this valley was filled with the shambling corpses of the dead and their damnable cultists. This is it, this is where I and everyone else I know will die. I took in the surroundings of my final resting place. The clearing we were in was flanked on all sides by pine trees obscuring much of my field of view. A river was to my north and the pass we used to get her to my south. The Arctic winds of Northrend blew into the openings of my robes the draft traveled throughout my clothing causing every corner of my body to shiver as the cold bit deeply into my flesh and numbed the feeling in my body.
The fatigue I once felt was forgotten as I slowed my breathing into a rhythm, but the one thing that didn't dissipate was my anger and hate as I watched my brothers and sisters dying around me.
Friends, cousins, and countrymen. They were all good men and women. No, they are good men and women, none of them deserve a fate like this.
Yet for us to be cornered in a valley and die like this, to these monsters in the middle of nowhere was a tragedy. One which made my blood boil momentarily helping me to forget about the bone-chilling cold.
I was happy and relieved to see my close friend Folen coming towards me to help me up onto my feet.
As he drew closer, however, the blood in my veins began to freeze as I saw that the once vibrant colors in his face were gone. The cheerful smile he had and the big heart he always wore on his sleeve were replaced instead by a small stream of blood that had flowed down his face and froze in place.
In the background, I could hear the voice of a girl speaking some foreign tongue.
As he came close I could see that what stood before me was the cold pale face of death. It, no he raised his sword ready to swing down and claim my life.
I bit down on my lip as I held back the tears threatening to come to the surface. Resolving myself, I looked up for the last time with a look of defiance refusing to give in to fear and cowardice. Even if I am to die, even if my corpse is defiled and mutated, even if I am forced to become an abomination and slaughter my friends and family. I refuse to give in.
The putrid and fetid form was now towering over me. Yet even still I refuse to beg for mercy.
"Damn you Arthus, Damn you Kael'thas," I growled, the sword that hung over me by its rotting executioner was swung downwards, and all I could see was a white light and the voice of that girl even louder than before, and then... Nothing...
25 years prior.
I sat on my porch overlooking the Eversong woods, as my legs swayed back and forth. I happily read the book on magic theory that father recieved from mom for my tenth birthday. I sighed in frustration at having only myself and the small collection of books mom occasionally provides me with. I haven't seen her a day since I was born and every time I ask dad about her he gets really tense and agitated. The only thing I know about her is that she's a magistrix for the court.
It's times like these that I wish had more friends I could hang around and fill the void with, but out here in the frontier of high-elven society there are only two other kids remotely near my age and they are so drastically different from me that we have nothing in common. Jen'sel is always going on and on about farstriders all the time. Celina used to be bearable until she started listening to all the human merchants talking about the end times being near and if we don't convert to the light then our souls will be lost in all oblivion. Pfft right...
Besides the occasional fear of trolls living in the countryside, it's a very tranquil and peaceful place to live especially with the security provided by Sylvanas-Windrunner and her rangers. Life was bearable enough that such doomsayers hardly warranted a second thought. I guess Jen'sel's opinions on his heroes weren't all that unwarranted. "Jerk..." I muttered, hearing the crunching of gravel as boots met the ground and my ears perked up from the sound and my eyes darted to the location of the sound. I immediately set my book down as I saw my father walking up the gravel path. I rushed out towards him and saw that his face was downcast and his eyes seemed to be in a glossy haze as he walked up the path, seemingly unable to notice my presence.
"Father! you've returned, you must tell me everything about your mission!" I gleefully shouted, jumping into his arms and catching him in an embrace hoping to raise his spirits if even a little. I looked at him from head to toe and saw that he didn't bear any scratches or marks on his uniform. He wasn't even covered in the usual dirt, dust, and grime he sported home from his usual outings in the wilderness. He did, however, look to be conflicted and in deep thought.
He looked up at me his face lighting up with happiness as he gave me a forced smile.
"Hey, Syndra darling." My ears perked up as my body straightened up, Father doesn't usually address me like this unless it's something important.
"Yes, papa, what is it?" I asked, a little nervous about what he had on his mind.
"I recently got a letter from the capital, from an acquaintance of mine." I looked at him curiosity filling my mind. Dad never usually talked about friends from the capitol so I could only wait in anticipation and excitement. "What did they say?" My nerves getting the better of me hoping she mentioned me in the slightest. "Yes, well they asked if we would be able to host them out here, and I was wanting to get your input on having a potential housemate." He absent-mindedly stated almost spitting the words out. I looked at him confusion on my face.
"But isn't that a good thing? If A friend wants to come and see you, this could be fun since you don't really get to hang out with many people while taking care of me." He sighed, all the frustration in his voice leaving as he looked into my glowing blue eyes.
"You're probably right." He said, with a mischievous grin on his face as he suddenly threw me up into the air and caught me by the back holding me at eye level. He began walking back up the gravel path and passed by my book grabbing it as he walked by.
"Hey Syndra, how would you feel about moving back to the capitol and attending a college of magic when you're older?" He questioned, my ears perking up in excitement. as he set the book down on my chest.
I body began shaking in excitement and anticipation at the idea of seeing the capital for the first time, "I would love to papa!" I almost yelled, causing him to lean away from me, from the sheer volume of my voice. 'oops, I guess I was louder than I thought.' I remarked as I saw him giving me that forced smile as he seemed to gaze at me lost in thought. I began to fidget in his arms as my excitement turned to nervousness. He could tell something was on my mind as he set me down and looked down at me. "What's up, sweetie?"
"Do, do you think mom would actually want to see me if I moved to the capital and became a wizard, just like her?" I asked twirling my hair around my fingers in nervousness, and my eyes fell down to the ground. I could see his body visibly tensed at the statement, he grabbed me by the shoulders and give me a light shake causing me to look up at him. His eyes were a lot softer than normal whenever the subject of mom was brought up.
"I can't answer that, our relationship with your mother is complicated, to say the least, but she would be a fool if she didn't at least see the light of my life." He said, taking me into a tight hug, beginning to squeeze the life out of me. I began to struggle and gasp for air as I started pounding on his back to get him to let go.
"Can't breath papa!" I choked out.
His face brightened up as he let out a laugh of amusement. "I'm sorry sweetie!" He said with mirth in his voice. I looked at him with joy as I began to think of all the possibilities and adventures we would have in the capital. "When we move to the capital we can live near the outskirts and look for secret troll dungeons full of treasures and captured virgins" I proudly proclaimed, he looked at me with a hint of disappointment.
"Sweetie I won't be going with you to the capital."
"What, but why not?" I asked a frown forming on my face. "Our relationship with your mother is really, really complicated, and because of that I have obligations that won't allow me to go with you." He stated returning my frown with a face full of emotion. forcing myself to hold back my tears.
"But what about the troll treasure and captive virgins?" I asked, he looked at me with confusion and as though I had sprouted a second head. "Where did you hear that word from?" He questioned confusion and agitation lacing his voice, I looked at him curiously.
"What captive virgins?" He looked at me a second longer before releasing me from his embrace tapping his foot as he looked at me expectantly.
"I heard it from Jen'sel's older brother when he was talking about some human novel he bought from a merchant..." I said, not sure why he was annoyed. Whether it was a sigh of frustration or relief I didn't know but, soon after he began to shuffle through his pack. "For starters refrain from using that term, but I know it's a little late, but I got you something for your tenth birthday while I was out in town. I know you love books and even though it's not related to magic, it's something you might find useful!" He cheerfully stated. drew back a couple of feet and saw him grab an old dusty-looking tome with a giant green leaf on it.
Wylron Runesinger's herbalism of the world. I looked at the book with a little bit of disappointment wanting something with spell casting or even spell theory.
"Father you didn't have to get me this, I could have just kept pestering Magister Kaenas over in Tranquillien when we traveled to town next," I muttered, only just realizing how ungrateful I sounded.
"I'm sorry," I said starting to bow my head slightly in shame. Papa ruffled my head vigorously messing up my black hair and ruining the five minutes I spent brushing it this morning. "I know I'm never home often enough, and I know it can be hard and lonely always being alone but I wanted to do something special for your birthday." He replied, causing me to look up at him with a pout on my face. "Thank you, papa!" I continued to pout as he didn't let up the assault on my hair until I pushed his hand off and began straightening my hair. He chuckled at my frustration before going inside with me following close behind.
AN. edit, so like I wasn't happy with the direction my story was going when I reread the whole thing, so I decided to basically scrap a crap ton of the plot and look at a different direction. Rather than having Syndra start out as an "Adult" a couple months before the scourge invasion I decided to make her a child during the events of the 2nd war, to allow for time to learn magic and actually try to build a character we can like rather than throwing her into the throes of sorrow before we even give a crap about the character in the first place
The story starts during the 4th year just after stormwind fell to the orcish horde, but before they make their march onto the northern kingdoms which forces the alliance to be formed.