Other short stories on Eavya Morninglight

Dream

I was rolling around in bed, getting entangled in the sheets, sweating, making little noises of distress and I didn’t notice a thing. It was a good thing he wasn’t spending the night at home, or he would’ve had a sleepless night.

The dream I was having was so lifelike it was no wonder I didn’t notice that it was actually a dream. Somehow it seemed like a part of my past had come alive. A part I had forgotten for so long… Or that I would’ve liked to have forgotten…

It was dusk, night was falling and lanterns were being lit. It was one of those evenings where you could do nothing but feel romantic. And that’s what we did that night, Ayran and me. Bonded for life, not long ago, we could still stare into each other’s eyes for long moments at a time. Just enjoying each other’s company, no talk, no distractions, nothing else. That night we were sitting on the steps of the Moonwell, close to the inn of Auberdine. His arm around my waist, hand on my stomach, eyes gazing into mine.

It was amazing how real the dream was… The feeling of that night so perfectly portrayed. If only that feeling could last… If only the dream wouldn’t turn into a nightmare…

But it did, of course it did. The dream took the turn of events like it did that same night, so long ago. I remember his little crooked smile exactly. His lips parting to say something. And then the shock, the surprised look in his eyes… the dagger tip protruding from his chest... I felt the astonishment as I looked up, staring behind Ayran. Mikeaye was standing there, with a crazed look in his glowing eyes. Ayran moved quickly, pushed me away and yelled:

‘Run!’

I only stumbled backwards a few steps, shock setting in my body, shaking my head and staring at Mikeaye. Even in the dream, even after so long, I still didn’t understand why Mikeaye would do such a thing… He was Ayran’s best friend!
Mikeaye looked back at me, grinning, blood on his hand, still holding the hilt of that dagger. But the look in his eyes was one that I had never before seen in him… He looked crazy, insane, utterly mad… Slowly he pulled out the dagger from Ayran’s back, and heart…

For a split second the dream shifted to another place and time and it wasn’t Ayran lying there, blood staining his beautiful night blue hair. It was another man, green haired, a sword rammed into his chest. My heart clenched of rage, anger, dreadful fear, just like it did then.

The image didn’t last though, and shifted almost unnoticeable back to Ayran. Ayran… the glow in his eyes fading, whispering;

‘Eavie…. Run…’

He was dying before my eyes… but I did as he told me to then, I ran. Ran up the stairs of the inn of Auberdine, up to the ramp that would lead me to the dockyard. I ran as fast as I could in my condition. The wooden floor of the dock resounded every single step my feet made, as did it for Mikeaye, who had abandoned Ayran and followed in my wake.

As I ran onto the crossing of the docks, and continued running, I heard sounds of struggle, sentinels yelling orders. A muffled sound and a thump suggested that Mikeay was brought down by the sentinels, struggling, but down. And then he screamed, the sound of that voice still haunts me in my memories;

‘If I can’t have you, Eavya Morninglight, neither can he! Neither can he, Eavya!’

The dream changed a bit, it became misty as I sagged down on my knees at the end of the peer. I crossed my arms across my stomach and stared out onto the sea, hot tears of intense sadness streaming over my face. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that it had never been misty that night. It had always been clear, Elune’s face shining brightly onto Kalimdor. I had tried to stand up then, tried and failed as muscles began to contract in my lower abdomen. The sentinels had come, sadness and worry in their eyes as they gently carried me back into the inn and laid me on a bed where help was called. I tried to resist them then, knowing that Ayran surely would die if there wouldn’t come help immediately. But I was weak, powerless and unable to resist. That night Ayran had to die, because the sentinels made their choice… they helped me.

But in the dream, I was still sitting on my knees on the end of that peer, arms crossed around my stomach, rocking back and forth, letting the intense grief flow over me. Tears didn’t stop streaming as the mist crept in closer and became more and more dense. Slowly the outlines of the peer became lost to my sight. And before I became completely engulfed within the mist I took one more last look down upon my body… swollen with life… with Ayran’s child…
My child.



Mother?

‘Mommy, where are we going?’
The child who’s hand I was holding in mine looked up at me, her glowing eyes expectant.
I looked at her and sighed, trying not to let that ever-present hurt fill up my eyes.

‘As I have told you before love, we are going to your grandparents. You are going to stay with them for a while, remember?’

She squinted her eyes a as she remembered, her lips trembling a bit. She picked up her pace, trying to match the speed of my somewhat longer strides. She was right to dread this day. It had always been uncanny how she could sense these things. Then again, I’d never been good at hiding my emotions… Not back then at least.

Myrila was standing just outside the door of their little sturdy house, right outside of Astranaar. Covered in vines and spring flowers it looked just like part of its surroundings. The bright lilac linen dress Myrila was wearing, was almost the only thing making it noticeable for its visitors.

The little girl holding my hand squeezed my fingers a bit at the sight of her grandmother and ran off to giver her a hug. With a happy giggle from the child, Myrila swung her around three times before setting her down gently.

‘Hello there, tiny,’ she said in her usually soft and hoarse voice, kissing the girl on her cheek. She then lifted her gaze to me and I looked down quickly. I knew the look in her eyes already and I did not wish to face it.
I had brought my child here often, leaving her in the care of her grandparents while I set out to seek solitude. Every time I returned, mostly after a couple of hours, I could see the blame in Myrila’s eyes, the accusation. You are not a good mother, they were telling me.

I believed her to be right…

From the very first time I laid eyes on my daughter, the delicate features, the shape of her mouth, the tiny, soft and gleaming night blue curls. Every single detail of her was a constant reminder to me, a constant slap in the face. Ayran… Everything about her was screaming Ayran to me. Whenever I looked at her, I felt a sharp pain in my heart. Again and again I flashed back in time to that awful night I lost my love…
As I had watched her grow up the resemblance never lessened. Every day that went by, she started to look more and more like her father. Not only her features, but her personality, her traits…

I had tried to be a mother for her. I held her in my arms when she cried, I took care of her scrapes and cuts if she fell. I let her into my bed and under my blankets whenever she had a nightmare or a storm was raging. However, I knew I was not feeling the affection, the love a mother should have for I child. I knew that for sure, the look in Myrila’s eyes was a frequent reminder of that fact.
It hurt. It hurt me to see her grandmother think of me like that. It hurt almost as much as the loss of Ayran… Almost.

Irindar had come out now as well. Giving his granddaughter the hug she demanded of him. His eyes also reminded me of Ayran. I could stand his gaze as much as I could Myrila’s.
I sat down on a fallen tree while the three of them took up a game with branches I never really got to understand. I switched my attention to my skirts, arranging them around me while I tried to keep my eyes dry, tried as I did for many hours of every day. Their laughter resounded through the forest as they threw the twigs in the air.
How I wish I could make myself be part of their joy. I wished so much to be able to ban the feeling of this crumbled heart out of my body, but as the years flew by I started to give up. There were days I totally surrendered to my grief, spending hours en hours alone in the forests, only coming back when the sun had long set and I had to carry my sleeping child back home. Lately these days had become more frequent.

The day before I had made my decision. A letter arrived in the early morning, my daughter brought it to me while I was still entangled in the sheets of my bed.

‘Mommy!’ she cried out, enthusiastic as always, running towards me in her nightgown, her curls bouncing around her face. I did not deserve the love she send my way…

‘Mommy, you got a letter! Look, it says…’ she paused a bit and frowned, trying hard to read the letters on the paper and digging her brain to remember the way to spell them. It almost made me smile a little, Ayran used to frown like that…

‘E.a.v.y.a, Eavya! That’s you Mommy!’ She licked her lip and started on the second word. I already knew what was coming, but let her show me what she had learned the last couple of visits at her grandparents.

‘M.o.r.n.i.n.g.l.i.g.h.t. Morninglight. See Mommy, it’s for you.’ She beamed, handing me the letter. Opening the seal, I avoided her eager gaze. It was a letter from my sister, Ryasha. It didn’t contain much, just a question and a request.

Eavya! Where have you been? What has become of you? We haven’t seen you in years! You should seek us out soon, we will be staying in Everlook for a couple of days, please come by!

Love
Ryasha

I looked at my daughter again, playing with her grandparents. They were so much better for her than I had ever be. She deserved so much more than I was able to give her…
Slowly, trying not to draw their attention I stood up again, turning around and walking out of the clearing and into the woods. I closed my eyes for a bit when I heard a loud giggle, knowing it was my daughter, knowing I was leaving her behind. I quickly drew my sleeve across my eyes, took a deep breath and kept on walking…

I tried to ignore the tug at my heart… I did not plan on coming back again.




A letter

In the middle of the night an elderly elven woman entered Darnassus and rushed to an empty house. Without looking if anyone was home she deposited the letter on the doorstep and left again, unnoticed by most…

The letter reads:

Dear Eavya Morninglight,

We will be short, as always. We wish not to be a bother to you.

However, recent events have made me write this letter to you now and we hope you will take the appropriate actions, as we cannot.

A few days ago Liadri has disappeared. She has been gone a few nights in a row before, but never like this, never without any notice beforehand.

We of course wish for her to be returned, or at least have knowledge of her safety. We cannot and will not pursue her ourselves this time.

We feel the time has come now for you to take responsibility for your daughter…

Please let us know as soon as you heard anything about her.

May Elune guide your path,

Myrila and Irindar Nightgrace

‘You need to go home now Eavya.’

I opened my eyes slowly, a little bit annoyed that my meditation had come to such an abrupt end. I squinted my eyes as I opened them, as the early morning sun was illuminating the Temple with grand force, burning my eyes.
The priestess that disturbed me lay her hand on my wrist, helping me stand. I tried not to notice the difference between her well-fed fingers and my own emaciated wrist.

They knew I hadn’t been eating again… My last meal had been over two days ago, when I reluctantly ate the hot porridge they had handed me.
I figured this oddity in my behavior was a coping mechanism. Or that was at least what I had heard them whisper. Only this time there had been nothing significant to set it off. No major emotional happenings… nothing bad happened… Only the haunting bad memories... The nightmares… Pretty much summaries of all the awful things that had happened in my life.

I sighed as I got up. I felt so tired. Maybe the Priestess was right… Maybe a good rest in my own bed would help a bit. Silently I left the Temple.
Darnassus was quiet this morning. Of course it was very early, the first morning birds had only just started singing their songs. Little droplets of dew covered mostly everything in a fine blanket of glitter. I couldn’t help but smile a little.

When I got up to the house Jondalar and I shared, I noticed that I was not the only one home this morning. Again I sighed… not sure if I wanted him to be there. As of late we had not been seeing much of each other nor had we talked a lot. I was getting increasingly concerned to where we were heading.

He was sitting on the bed, his head in his hands. When he heard me, he looked up and I could see that he was sad for some reason. His gaze found mine and I could see hurt in his eyes. Then he got up and the look turned into an angry one. As he walked over to me he snatched something from the dresser. He held the item up to my face, it was a piece of parchment.

‘What is this?’ he asked me in a heated voice, demanding a quick answer. He pushed the piece of paper in my hands. I was wordless and blinked at him, then turned my gaze to the letter in my hands. I read it swiftly and then sucked in a gush of breath…
Several answers came to mind as emotions ran through my body. Shock, amazement, grief… Anger. I bit my lip, almost breaking skin. A part of me wanted to apologize, to explain… to make up. But before I could get a hold of myself I blurted out something I knew I would regret.

‘This is none of your business!’ I had raised my voice. I stuffed the letter into my pocket.

He was astounded at my obvious anger. I don’t think he ever saw me like this before. Then he snapped out of it.

‘None of my business?’ he threw at me heatedly… he blinked a few times.
‘How can you say this is none of my business? You have a child Eavya! You’d think you would share that with someone you love and care about!’ The last few words came out as a shout.

‘It’s something of my past… None of your business. Something I have tried to put behind me and wish not to be reminded off. You don’t need to know everything of me!’ I was vastly getting dragged into this pointless argument. I was so angry at him for interfering, for meddling with things that I had tried to stuff away so deeply… and so annoyed that he had been home while I couldn’t deal with him... I heard myself saying that awful sentence;

‘It’s not like we’re life partners or anything!’

I quickly slapped my hand against my mouth… hoping that those words hadn’t gotten out, tears already burning in my eyes. But it was already too late, the damage had already been done. I saw his look sadden and then he barged passed me, almost tipping me over by doing so.
My anger flared up again, for no particular reason and I reached for the nearest possession of Jondalars, a vial with a sloshing green liquid. With all the force my weak body could muster I threw it downstairs, hoping to hit that feline form that was quickly leaving the vicinity of our home. It shattered loudly, hissing fluids splattering, missing its target by far.
‘Fine! Leave! See if I care!’ I shouted after him.

Moments later I started crying and collapsed on the bed…