Lynnayla Yelina Firedawn (Short stories)

Lynnayla Yelina Firedawn

Winterspring, a few hundred years back…

Glistening in the nearly set sun, making her silky long white hair glow orange, a little elven child sat in front of a broad shouldered, white bearded warrior. She had her thumb in her mouth, for the moment forgetting that she is just a tad too old to be showing this habit…

The warrior finished the story he told the little girl, smiling at her as she clapped her hands together enthusiastically in a way only little children can.

‘Lynnayla!’ A man walked up to the two, sitting just outside the town on a small hill.

The little girl turned her head while already talking to him

‘Just one more story father! One more story!’ Pleading eyes looked up at man.

‘We’re leaving now, get your things.’ The man turned away again, after a nod to the warrior who entertained his daughter all afternoon. The Saber he walked to was already packed with a months supply and ready to leave to their cottage in the middle of nowhere.

‘But Father…’ The girl stood up, but not going after him. The warrior however interrupted her plea.

‘Kid, go with your father, you should listen to him and respect him, like every child should respect his parents.’ He tried to put on a serious face as she spread her eyes in awe while he strapped on his enormous two-handed sword. He patted her on her head.

‘You’ll make a fine Sentinel some day kid… A fine Sentinel.’ He said, and walked towards the inn.

She nodded, turned around and ran after her father.
She put her small hand in his while they made their way to the road that would lead them home.




Present day

Lynn watched the Sentinel pass by as she sat by the pond at the bank of Darnassus, arms crossed around her knees. Her red swollen eyes followed the proud woman with envy and grief as she thought back to the argument she had with her father a Moon ago. Angrily she wiped her tears away.

‘I have told you several times before Lynn and I will tell you again, my answer remains no.’

‘But father…’

‘Lynnayla Yelina Firedawn, I will hear nothing of it again!’ His voice now resembled a rolling thunder, dangerous and loud.

Lynn looked at him, eyes spread wide open with disbelief and glistening with unshed tears.
Her father turned his back at her, his long white hair, so much like hers, flowing behind him as he walked away.
He didn’t see how the look in his daughter’s eyes changed from despair to fury, rage and then a fierce determination. She quickly wiped her sleeve across her eyes to hide her tears…

‘Just you wait Father,’ she thought, frowning, glaring at her father’s back angrily. ‘I will do what you tell me to, I will go to Teldrassil and become a Priestess, just like you want me to be, but not like –her-, not like that bastard child you call my sister… No, not like her…’

…

The knife slid trough it like trough silk. Lynn was surprised of how little sound it made.
Dazed she looked at the blade in her hand. She was a little amazed about her actions, Father would be angered and disappointed.
Her gaze wondered from the knife to the long white strands of pearl white hair lying at her feet.
Her head felt so light…



Short

The ice cold winds blew around them as her father suddenly stopped in his tracks. Lynnayla looked up at her father, surprised. She wanted nothing more than to seek shelter, in Everlook, from the cold weather. But her father didn’t move an inch. He just stood there… staring ahead, downwards, upon the village that was created by the goblins.

Slowly she followed his gaze, scanned the area for anything that had caught his attention in this peculiar way…
As soon as she found out what he was looking at, her heart skipped a beat. It was her… Her father’s other daughter. The daughter he’d loved and lost to the mother of the child… The daughter that had made her own life so much without the love she deserved…

Her… Fighting against her tears Lynnayla stared at her half-sister… They looked so much alike…



Cold sadness (Lynnayla)

Staring out onto the cold sea enclosing the Borean Tundra, Lynnayla sniffed and wiped her sleeve across her nose. Trying to hold down a painful rasping cough, she pretended the tears in her eyes were from the bad cold she was suffering from… Shivering she huddled deeper into the blanket she had wrapped around her while sitting in the windowsill of the inn at Valiance Keep.

She looked at her sleeve a bit distracted… Her father would have given her a smack on the head if he’d seen her doing that. Frowning she decided she didn’t care. Her father wasn’t here right now. He couldn’t see what she was doing and she wiped her nose again, sniffing. It was his fault she was here anyway. His fault she ended up a priestess, send to Darnassus. His fault she was feeling miserable. His fault for wanting her to be someone she was not… her half sister.

But going to Darnassus hadn’t been all bad. It had made her come in contact with the Order, that gave her a home. It had also become the other reason she was here now feeling sick and depressed. A couple of weeks ago, (or was it months now?) she had travelled here after she heard the news of him going missing. She had finally set herself a goal, a real goal… one that would give her glory, or at least some kind of self esteem. But that wasn’t the only reason she went to search for him. There was also this feeling of something essentially familiarity that she needed back to the Order. He was there when she attended her first meeting and reminded her so much of that past, that day in Everlook that she had cherished always

Glistening in the nearly set sun, making her silky long white hair glow orange, a little elven child sat in front of a broad shouldered, white bearded warrior. She had her thumb in her mouth, for the moment forgetting that she is just a tad too old to be showing this habit…

Blinking to make the flashback leave her sight, she frowned again. Her mother had told her that was a bad habit, so long ago, when she was just a little child.

‘You’ll make your face go ugly Lynn, when you do that, it might get stuck that way!’

That might have worked then, but not anymore. Her mother was no longer alive and Lynnayla didn’t care much for beauty anymore. What did a person gain with beauty that she couldn’t gain with strength and power? That warrior had told her she’d make a fine sentinel some day. And that was what she had dreamed of becoming, while growing up. That same dream was crushed as soon as her father had commanded her to go to Darnassus to train for Priestess. And that same dream came back a little when she saw him at that first meeting. He was all that was in her mind a Kaldorei. A warrior, right in his ways. The ways they were meant to be. Not like the path her sister took… her soft handed, all too perfect sister. No… she meddled with dwarves… humans and gnomes, healing everyone and everything. As long as her warrior would be around, she would feel like she would belong, safe.

He did not speak to her, not much anyway. But she didn’t care. As long as he was there, there to look up to, there to keep her dream alive, she would be fine. She would be able to carry on. She could become someone with strength, and power. She would prove her father wrong, and make him proud of who she was, not who he wanted her to be.

But when Veylar announced he had gone missing. Lynnayla immediately decided she would be the one to find him again. The Order didn’t feel right to her if he wouldn’t be there. She didn’t think she could explain to anyone, why of all people, he meant to her what he did. People would probably proclaim her to be insane…

Would he care?

She had rushed into this self assigned adventure with no knowledge at all, and that fact had turned itself against her. Badly prepared and with no one to help her she had failed miserably. Northrend was unforgiving and relentless, seeming to fight against her every step she made.

After a few weeks of endless searching that didn’t give any results she ended up in a snowstorm on her way to yet another Northrend inn. She had tried to stay on the road the best she could, but also in that she failed. She had taken cover in cave that barely gave any shelter to the elements and sat out the storm in there, shivering and hardly dressed for the weather.

Somehow, after the storm had laid down, she had made her way to the inn she was aiming for. Again she found nothing that would lead her to him, no clues, no people that had seen him, no nothing. Discouraged and getting more ill with every day that passed she had returned to Valiance Keep, where her quest had started. It seemed to her then that it would be a fitting place to start over and try again.

Sighing, Lynnayla gazed out the window again. She had seen a medic after she had returned to Valiance keep, her cough wasn’t getting better. He had actually advised her to go back home!
Is he nuts? She had thought.

She couldn’t go home yet, that would mean she had failed… that would mean she’d be weak…
Lynnayla pulled her sleeve over her hand again, and this time wiped her eyes…

She wasn’t weak!



Strong winds blew their hatred around the sturdy inn of a little coast town in Northrend. Lynnayla turned around in her bed upstairs, a bed too small and too soft for her comfort. The sheets she lay wrapped in were sweaty, yet Lynnayla felt like she’d never be warm again. Her head was pounding like drums inside were banging their sounds at maximum volume. Every time she coughed, it felt like her lungs were being torn apart. She never noticed the little specs of blood on her pillow in the dark…

The innkeeper became worried about this young nightelf when she didn’t come down the morning after she stumbled into his inn. Yet he didn’t take action, not just yet. But after the fourth day of hearing nothing of the girl but painful coughs and pitiful moans he decided that something needed to be done, and he send word to the local healer.
This person came and went, leaving the advice that this woman couldn’t stay here, she was to be taken to her homelands as soon as arrangements could be made. And so the innkeeper send word again, to a nearby post of Kaldorei, requesting aid for the ill woman, upstairs in his inn.

Thus Lynnayla was taken, half unconscious, not noticing her transport back to Kaldorei lands until it was already too late. Against her will they had put her on a boat, cared for by a novice Priestess that could do nothing more than lighten Lynnayla’s pain and discomfort… Coming from the boat that was being tossed around like a child’s toy at night, prayers could be heard from her lips, to bid Elune a safe return for her protégé, prayers she’d still be alive when they would arrive at Elune’s Temple in Darnassus…

Was she weak?

She -had- taken rest. She took rest in that Northrend inn she forgot the name about, she took rest on the boat when that silly little Priestess was watching over her. She even slept a whole day in the Temple of Elune, surrounded by prayers, hymns and all the herbs the Priestesses could find.

Eventually, word of a meeting reached her, a meeting by the Order. She decided it was time to get up and head there. Maybe there was someone in the Order that would know more of the whereabouts of him… Maybe she should’ve thought of that sooner instead of rushing into adventure like the little child she used to be, so long ago.

Maybe she was weak…

With an occasional stumble, she made her way to the guardhouse of Darnassus. Being very careful on the stairs she managed to actually be there before the meeting started and sagged against one of the pillars on the balcony. She wondered if the Priestesses missed her yet, seeing they never actually gave her permission to leave yet… She didn’t care much though, she had places to be, and she could stand on her own two feet… most of the time anyway…

Was she?

Lynnayla frowned after she noticed she had drifted away in a slumber. People were arriving, she’d better go down there. Kneeling down next to the big bowl of water on the standard she lent against it and saw everyone arrive. A lot of new faces, new members of the Order. Lynnayla tried to pay attention, but the coughs and the pains were distracting her. The only thing she did register was the girl Arviel, and what Veylar had to say about her. His seal… she carried a letter to the Order with his seal. Further on in the meeting it became apparent she had actually met him somewhere in Northrend… Lynnayla now could hardly take her eyes of the girl, she could be the one to actually lead her to him…

She didn’t hesitate one moment when the opportunity arose to form a search party with Arviel to go and find him. Despite her pain and numbness of limbs due to the kneeling she jumped up and offered her service first. Lynnayla couldn’t describe how happy she was when it turned out Arviel didn’t want anyone else along but her.

Not many to see her weak then, or stupid.

Her body was betraying her and she was angry at it. She didn’t want to be sick… She didn’t ask for that. Trying to hide as much of her coughs as she could she sat through the rest of the meeting.
Absentminded she leaned on Veylar’s arm to get up, mumbling a word of thanks to him while she carefully walked to Arviel.

A few days later she found herself again in a Northrend inn. With her throat somewhat calmed down by the tea Arviel had brewed for her, she tried to catch some sleep in the uncomfortable and too small bed… In the dim light of Arviel’s candle, who was bend over a dozen Northrend maps, she could see the little specs of crimson on the white pillow. Frowning she turned the pillow around and pretend she didn’t see it. She turned herself around also, tucked her blanket around tighter and squeezed shut her eyes, hoping that would help her fall asleep.

She felt weak…


Several days had passed since they set out on their journey through Northrend. Icecrown was their final goal. Now they stood on the hovering airship. The last part of the flight they would have to take themselves, no more help from there on. Dazzled by the sight of the ever going lightning bolts, Lynnayla stood by the railing, Arviel by her side. They were almost there, almost reached their goal… Her goal.

He would be there… He would -have- to be there!

But the sky before them was anything but safe. Arviel looked worried, Lynnayla noticed. She had been here before, Lynnayla didn’t have a clue of the dangers ahead. So when Arviel handed her a healing potion she frowned a little at it. She had been stuffed with potions at the Temple of Darnassus already, this one was not going to help… But no, it was not for her cough, Arviel said.

‘Take this when you get hurt during the flight, but keep on flying.’

Lynnayla bit her lip but took the potion, getting a little more worried about this flight. The coughs were getting more severe, it was harder now to ignore those little crimson specs that had stuck to her sleeve. Still she had wanted to push on. Ignoring the weakness of her body, Lynnayla only kept her goal in mind, not allowing anything else. She would find him, find him and get him home. Only if she had accomplished that, she would take rest, no sooner. People may think she was crazy, but she did not care. Whatever problems her body was having, she would deal with it later. For her own sanity, she had to do this. Would she fail, there was no telling what she would do when she’d return home.
There would be no more home, not with her father, not with the Order. With him not there, a piece of her would also be missing. And that piece was an essential part of her that she needed to go on, to not go mad and succumb to her grief and frustrations.

She had tried hard to hide these feelings within the Order. It was a part of her she was not proud of. She was stubborn and she would prove them all she was a capable Priestess, not one to heal, but one to fight.

This all raced through her mind as they stood on the balustrade of the airship, preparing themselves mentally for that last flight, to the place Arviel last saw him. And then they took off…

If someone would’ve asked her to describe that flight, she would probably have failed miserably. It was awful. Screams, maybe from herself, or Arviel, but mostly from things to terrible to describe. And then there were the gushing winds and the deafening lightning and thunder. The bird that was her main means of transportation was no more than a little feather to this force of nature. Being tossed around in these winds Lynnayla could do nothing more than clasp on with all her strength and hope she was sending the bird in the right direction, hoping the spec in front of her was actually Arviel on her drake. It was a mighty beast that, but it looked as Arviel had problems herself as well.

And then it was over… Suddenly. Dazed Lynnayla looked up, straightened her back and let out a hacking cough. They had flown behind a range of mountaintops. They seemed to hold back the terrible force of winds and lightning, making their flight easier now.

There he was!

She didn’t see much of him yet, sitting on his drake on the edge of a cliff, he was still a little spec in the distance. Somewhere before her, she noticed that Arviel’s drake didn’t got through the storms and such as her own mount did, it made a bad crash-landing in the snow of the steep mountainside, throwing up an actual wave of snow around it huge body and roaring with anger as it did.
Her bird landed a bit less bumpier next to Arviel and she let herself fall off. Only no more than a hundred feet, he was, mounted, in full body armor.

Now she was only to convince him to come home…


When she jumped up behind him on his drake, she didn’t really got the feeling he was exceptional happy about her coming for him. What had happened before he had offered her his hand and a ride back, she didn’t really know. Her knees had given out on her and she had collapsed, almost immediately after he had left his drake and inquired the two women about their reason for being here.
She could only tell him that she had to… She had to come and try to get him back. She got the feeling he had gotten angry at Arviel for bringing her, sick and weary. Lynnayla did not care. He was coming home, they were on their way to Darnassus.

They arrived and found themselves in the middle of the remnants of the meeting that evening. Several people of the Order were hanging around the practice area, duelling and what not. Lynnayla stayed a little bit behind when everybody noticed Valgor, welcomed him back. She had to smirk a little when Lirrin gave Valgor a slap on his face, to make sure he was really there… And the look on his face when he noticed her belly…

Then people started fussing around her.

‘Are you ok?’
‘Are you feeling alright?’
‘Do you have a fever? How long have you been like this?’

The voices were like annoying buzzing sounds around her. She couldn’t keep her eyes of Valgor, absolutely convinced that if she’d take her gaze away, he’d vanish and all her efforts would’ve been in vain.
Absentminded she pointed at Arviel, who was clasping a wounded arm.

‘I’m fine,’ Lynnayla muttered, ‘Please take care of her, -she’s- the one bleeding.’

She didn’t feel fine at all, but people didn’t need to know that. All that mattered was him, he was back and that great feeling of Home was returning. Her body did not matter, her pounding head and lungs weren’t important. It wasn’t significant that her knees were trembling and her coughs seeming to tear her throat out. It did not matter that this fever was draining her of her last bit of common sense. He was back.

‘Sit down Lynn,’ distracted Lynnayla looked at the source of this command.

The High Priestess was now blocking her view. Annoyed and frowning Lynnayla glanced around her to get him into view again. Already he was plunging deep into what his role within the Order entailed. Already he seemed to have forgotten about her…

It did not matter…

‘Sit, now, please.’ Calisar’s voice now had a tone that was hard to ignore.

Lynnayla looked down at her feet and finally gave in, she sank to the ground and sat down in front of the High Priestess. She examined the sick Priestess and finally gave her the advise, or command even, she should’ve been given a long time ago.

‘Go rest.’

‘Not before I am sure he will stay,’ Lynnayla said, with a pinch of panic in her voice, pointing at Valgor.

Calisar turned around and had a word with the Warrior. Coming back she told Lynnayla that he had assured her he would stay.
Lynnayla nodded, feeling weak, weary to the bone and accepting finally that she was ill and needed rest to get better. -He- might not care much, he might even dislike her for what she had done, but he came home, that was all that mattered.

While she walked away from the gathered group, she took one more glance over her shoulder. Just to make sure he was really there…





Walker of Shadows, Seeker of Light:



The scorching fire bolt missed my head by only a few inches, turning a couple of hairs into ash. With an annoyed gesture, I ran my had through my hair, removing the blackened strands of formerly pearly white hair. The scene was one of chaos. Guns firing bullets, arrows whooshing, claws mangling. Screams. The screams were mostly those of rage, some of pain. And to one of those I was making my way, rushing, not caring much about my surroundings. The huge bolt of fire, nearly hitting me, had stopped me in my tracks even so. I stepped up my pace again to reach the fallen ranger of the Expedition. I could see his lifeblood leaving him through a sword gush in his side. Only a few more steps, then I had reached him.
I ducked to avoid an axe swinging my way, and kept on running, slamming my mace right in the face of one gruesome, but small ghoul. My cloak wrapped itself around me for a moment, then folded back in place. Almost slipping in a puddle of blood, I managed to find myself kneeling next to the injured Ranger.
I took a deep breath to regain some of my energy. I had been doing this all day, running back and forth, dodging fights and flaming magic, healing whenever possible, giving peace to those who were beyond saving… Exhausted, I wiped my sleeve across my forehead and then hovered my hands above the jagged cut in the ranger’s side. He had already lost consciousness and was looking very bleak. I noticed that my hands were trembling and I cursed my weakness silently. I squinted my eyes shut and started mumbling soft prayers, hoping with all my hearth that I had enough energy left in me to save this man.
Slowly, tediously slowly, waves of healing energy were flowing out of my hands. With great relief I saw the edges of the wound closing in on each other. The bleeding stopped shortly after and I pulled away my hands, turning around and motioning for the novices in healing, standing by to carry those who were still alive to the back of the lines, out of line of fire. I watched him being carried away, biting my lip and trying to regain my breath again. The day had been long, so long, and still there was no end in sight. Corner after corner there were fiends, devilish and foul, with only one thought on their minds, kill, destroy…

Still kneeling down besides the bloody tiles the ranger had left behind, a figure at the front lines caught my attention. Her figure was lucid from shadow-energy. Almost unhealthy thin, short for her kind. Her hair was roughly cut and seemed to bounce around her head happily, a strange contrast to the sinister power she was displaying. She was standing almost in front of everyone, shielded by her own energy and throwing around bolts of it as if it was nothing. She either had to be incredibly naïve or incredibly lucky, not getting wounded at the position she was in now.
The girl now glanced over her shoulder and I caught that glance. It made me shiver, not because I was tired but because she had a little crooked smile across her lips. At first I thought she was glancing backwards because she needed to know where everyone was, to make sure she wasn’t straying off alone too much. But then I saw that smile, and the look in her eyes. She wasn’t looking for protection of the crowd, she was making sure she was alone… She even took a step sideward’s. And all the time, her hair kept dancing…


Lynnayla closed her eyes. She lay on the deck of a ship heading to Northrend. The rough wood under her cheek was actually a comfort, it gave her a touch, something she could feel. The last few days she had been feeling numb, too much had happened and she didn’t, or couldn’t deal with it. She took the only way out she could… She fled.

The changes in the Order had actually been too much for her. She had felt comfortable, at home. But all of that had changed now, had made her small world fall apart. In her life, nothing seemed to go the way she wanted to, dreamed of, hoped for… With every incident her mind and hearth seemed to crumble. Now it felt like she had nothing left.

The wood of the ship was comfortably warm, the sun had been shining all morning and a great deal of the advancing afternoon. Lynnayla had laid herself down at the very point of the stern, being out of the way from the crew, hoping to not be a bother to anyone. She didn’t sleep, she just lay there, feeling the wood, hearing the waves crash up against the ship, the wind making her hair dance in front of her face.

When she had stepped aboard the ship, the crew had seemed anxious to let her on. As normal, and as was most comfortable for her, she had been shrouded in shadows. Reluctantly she had to let it go and immediately saw the change in the attitude of the people around her.

She didn’t care much what people thought of her, but spending this much time on a ship with full of people that seemed to dislike her choice of ways, made her fit in the role they wanted her to be. It had been easy for her, embracing this dark side of Elune, feeling her powers run their course through her body. The ways of the Shadow had seemed to be easier to follow than that of the Light had. That and the fact that she had no ambitions towards becoming someone staying at the back of the fight, following a path of Shadow had seemed to be the most logical choice for her. And that had been -her- choice, one of few she had actually been able to make for herself…

A fresh gush of wind, smelling of rain, made her work herself up her knees. Over the railing of the ship she could see the setting sun, who tried desperately to shine her last rays of light trough a darkening and ominous sky.
The wind seemed to become harsher now, bringing with it sleets of ice-cold whipping rain with it. The sail of the ship now started to flap wildly against its ropes and the crewmembers wrestled to keep it in check, while the mast started to moan in protest.

Lynnayla saw how the captain of the ship now feverishly checked his map, trying to find a safe route around the storm. Then he yelled a command to his steer man, in an attempt to escape the storm. It didn’t take long for the storm to burst upon the ship in full force. The sky turned pitch-black, making day turn into night and the winds increased even more. Around the ship white-headed threatening waves rolled towards them and crashed against the stern. Lightning crashed, followed immediately by a roaring thunder and a shroud of rain poured down upon the ship that made it hard to see anything but oneself.
Lynnayla had completely lost the feeling of peace and started to panic. Everywhere around her the crew was running, sliding, making their way around the ship, trying to save what was to save. Spreading her eyes wide open in an effort to look through the rain, she tried to find something she could hold on to, something that would prevent her from being washed off the deck. Horrified Lynnayla watched as a man was engulfed by an enormous wave, crashing onto the deck and dragging everything with it in its path.

For the first time in her short life, Lynnayla uttered a desperate prayer to Elune, wishing for a good ending to this, something that seemed utterly impossible right at this very moment. Lynnayla had no desire to die yet, and so she struggled. She did everything in her power to hold on to anything she could, the railing, ropes, cargo strapped to the creaking deck, all the time being tossed around by the raging waves crashing into and over the ship. She noticed how her nails and fingers began to bleed in her efforts to clamp herself to dear life. She didn’t care, all she wished for was to survive, she wasn’t done with life yet!
And then it happened. The mast gave way to a towering wave smashing against it. Splinters were being shot all around, flinging the men from the lookout into the violent sea. Lynnayla had no time to avoid the colossal log crashing down towards her. She was swept off her feet, towards the rampart waves, smashed hard through the water surface and smashed her skull on a piece of wood that had already broken off from the ship. Lynnayla’s world turned black instantly…

Winterspring, a few hundred years back…

Outside, in the setting sun, a little elvengirl sat on a log, not far from her house. The orange light coming from the last rays of the sun made her long white hair seem like a flame, dancing in the late autumn winds. Her thumb was in her mouth and with eyes wide open she quietly observed a little hare, foraging around for food. She was totally oblivious of the drama going on inside her house. Her father was in there, he had told her to go play outside.
There was also a Priestess in there, one that came all the way from the capital city. She was here because her mommy was sick, her father had told her that. Her mommy needed help, she was very ill.
The little girl didn’t think of that. She thought of the fun she had this day. All day, running around, playing in the snow, building huts, chasing wildlife.
A couple of moments later, her father opened the door, scaring the hare away and made the little girl turn her head around. She blinked at her father, still with the thumb in her mouth. Her father had a strange expression on his face she thought. And why was he crying?



Travelling


Grumbling silently, Lynnayla tried to pull loose her dress from the branch it got caught in. Hastily she cast a glance towards the woman walking up the hill in front of her, before yanking the cloth free from the thorny twig. It came loose with an awful ripping sound. Tightening her eyes shut and biting her lip for a second, Lynnayla tried to disappear in shame for her stupidity, before peeking up again. The woman she had been following had disappeared over the top of the hill, out of sight. Sighing relieved, Lynnayla started to make her way up the hill again, hoping that she wouldn’t loose sight of the woman again, once she was up the hill.
Peering at her feet in case she would trip over something, Lynnayla soon found out that she didn’t had to worry about loosing sight of the woman. When she glanced up after reaching the top, the woman was standing right in front of her, hands at her waist, a smile that was almost a grin on her lips.

‘Hello there, I am Eavya Morninglight… And I thought I would properly introduce myself… so you do not have to follow me so … secretly again.’ Eavya smiled a bright smile at Lynnayla.

‘And who might you be then?’

Lynnayla just stared at her, stunned. Had she been so obvious? She had tried not to get noticed, walking from tree to tree, hiding in shadows, trying not to step on any branches. She had felt relatively successful, since she didn’t feel she had been detected now, for over three days. How long had Eavya known?

‘I could have known the Sisters would not let me go alone… I was suspicious when they granted me my request. I guess they ran straight to you as soon as they had. Now, girl… What is your name?’

Lynnayla just scowled at her, angry at her for noticing her when she didn’t want to be noticed. Then she sighed and mumbled;

‘Lynnayla Yelina Firedawn…’ Lynnayla glared at Eavya.
‘At your service.’ She added scornfully.



In a small clearing a tiny but happily cracking fire had been lit. At one side, sat on a small blanket, Eavya was staring blindly into the fire. After a while she wrapped her arms around her knees and lay her head down on top of them, sighing deeply, closing her eyes.

On the other side of the fire, almost outside the range of light the flames, Lynnayla leaned against a tree trunk. With an annoyed gesture she put a strand of hair that got loose from her braid back behind her ear. She was sitting with her knees bend up, holding a piece of parchment to them. Biting her lip, she frowned while she dipped her quill into the inkbottle on the forest floor beside her. Before she put the tip of the quill to the paper however, she glanced up towards her unwelcome travel companion. Then she too sighed and turned her attention back towards her piece of paper.
She started to write;

To Commandor Vethelot, Eliinör and Lïanna.

I am sorry I have not send word from me sooner. We have not passed a town where I could buy supplies since this morning. I had forgotten to bring anything myself, since my assignment was kind of forced upon me and executed in a rush.

I had planned not to be seen by the woman I was supposed to accompany. It was her idea to travel alone and do some so called ‘soul-searching’. I was sure that my company would not be wished for, and so I tried to remain hidden.

Unfortunately I am apparently not very good and staying hidden and I was soon exposed by my protégé.
This however is probably what the Sisters in the Temple would have wanted. The case is that my charge is also my sister. She is a sister I do not wish to get to know however, since it was to her, all my father’s love went, even though he did not know her. But the Sisters want me to get to know her… I guess they are getting their wish fulfilled after all.

All is relatively well, nothing bad has happened and we are making sure we do not go to places that are marked unsafe(if there are any places like that still left in this world). If you wish you can read this letter to the Order, but if not, just tell them that I wish them well.

Lynnayla Yelina Firedawn.

Travelling

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With a big loud squeaking and flapping noise, a flock of birds appeared from the tree line, disappearing from sight almost immediately. Lynnayla looked up startled, and wondered what had distressed the birds like that. She stopped in her tracks and looked around her searchingly. Nothing was to be seen at the stretch of land they had just crossed. Azshara had been kind to them so far. Nothing had troubled them, or disturbed them. They hadn’t come across many places where trouble could’ve hidden. The first place which could pose a threat was right in front of them now. A large and ancient ruined tower on a hill that was completely covered with huge trees and thick undergrowth. It was hard to see anything within beside the couple of feet that the rays of the sun could reach.

Eavya was somewhere inside the thicket already, a couple of hundred feet in front of her. Lynnayla had refused to walk alongside her half-sister as if they were true travel companions, instead of an involuntary charge. Lynnayla started to regret that decision now, as she searched among the trees for a glimpse of Eavya.
Cursing loudly and with a growing sense of unease, she rushed forward, hoisting up her skirts so she could move her feet more freely. Once she got to the woods, she peered inside, trying to place Eavya and at the same time identify what had startled the birds.

‘Eavya!’ She called disgruntled, getting angry at herself for loosing sight of her.

It took a little while and made Lynnayla frown with dread, but Eavya eventually yelled back;

‘What is it?’ She sounded far away.

Lynnayla sighed relieved, pushed some shrubbery aside and stepped into the dimmed daylight of the forest. At the second step however she noticed she had gotten the hem of her dress snagged in a thorny twig… again. As she crouched down to untangle the cloth, a branch caught hold of her hair. Lynnayla sighed audibly and let her shoulders hang in despair.

‘I am not made for woods.’ She mumbled low, cursing again.

Then a startled scream of pain resounded among the trunks of the trees, cut off abruptly. Lynnayla shot up, only to be pulled back sharply again by her hair, making tears come to her eyes and making her moan because of the sudden jolt of pain.
Angered because of her clumsiness she ripped half her skirt off, yanked her hair free and rushed towards the spot where the cry had come from. Certain it had been Eavya and that she must be in danger, Lynnayla let herself be flood with energy from Elune, shrouding herself in shadows and running as fast as she could. In the meanwhile she started mumbling the required prayers to summon power to her hands.
Quickly Lynnayla assessed the situation when she had rounded a particular big tree and her charge had come into view. Eavya lay on the forest floor, she was struggling to get up, while trying to maintain a summoned glowing shield. Before the Priestess stood an enormous Naga. His tail was moving agitatedly from left to right, making a whipping sound. It was obviously a male specimen, huge and bulging. He had raised a spear and the few rays of the sun made his iridescent blue scales almost blinding. His deafening hissing filled up the scarce space between the trees.
Eavya moaned slightly again, trying to get to her feet. Lynnayla saw how the Naga pulled back his arm to make full use of its strength and to be able to pierce the shield Eavya had erected around her.
Without thinking, Lynnayla threw herself between the Naga and Eavya, erecting her own shield and in the same motion pushing her arms forward and releasing the build-up shadow energy from her hands.
The creature screeched in agony, fell sideways and started trashing and writhing in pain. It only lasted for a short while, then it lay still. A little trail of smoke that came from his body got quickly dispersed by a sudden gush of wind.

Eavya pushed herself up on her knees, blinking, rubbing the big bruise on her head. She smiled shaking as Lynnayla got up too. The smile turned into a relieved smirk as she looked at Lynnayla’s ruined skirts.

‘I told you to wear pants while travelling.’ Eavya eventually said.

Lynnayla frowned, but couldn’t disagree.

‘Thank you,’ Eavya then mumbled softly.

Haha - absolutely excellent! I truly enjoyed reading these stories. I especially liked the suspense in the beginning and then this story in particular: Walker of Shadows, Seeker of Light and also the naga encounter too. The description throughout all the stories was very effective in my opinion. Despite a few grammatical errors and wrong tenses here and there, it was brilliantly written! I suggest not using "..." too much though - haha!

Also in the beginning, I felt that when the warrior said "kid" it sort of took away from the "feel", if that makes sense? Kid is informal and almost "slang", it's very crude for a night elf to say in my opinion, I think "child" would have been a lot better. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the stories and hope there's more to come soon! Again, well done! :)

(I'm really curious to learn about the background of Eavya and Lynnayla's last names, hinthint!)

Last bit on this one, since I gotten back from my break.

And thank you Shaelyssa, hope you keep reading

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It was the day before their planned return when Lynnayla found herself in the barbershop in Stormwind. She had left Eavya meditating in the city’s park, as she wished. Lynnayla did not have the patience to meditate, so she abandoned her duties for a little while and walked around the city.

Eventually she ended up in the barbershop. Her long hair had been a constant annoyance in the past couple of days. It had been pulled on, got entwined in and soaked completely, taking way too long to dry again. And so, when she passed the barbershop, she didn’t hesitate and ordered one of the goblins to cut it all off. In an act of defiance and boldness she even added that she wouldn’t mind her hair to be a completely different colour. And so it happened. Eavya stumbled in the shop while the goblin was in the process of putting a bright azure pigment in Lynnayla’s locks.

‘So this is where you have been hiding!’ Eavya exclaimed as she walked in, smiling brightly.

‘I haven’t been hiding,’ Lynnayla grumbled under her breath, staring right in front of her.

‘You cut all your hair!’ Eavya noticed, and studied Lynnayla’s new appearance. Lynnayla just nodded slightly, afraid of disturbing the goblins work.

‘Not a bad idea actually,’ Eavya said, and motioned another free barber. She took a seat next to Lynnayla and told the goblin to give her the same hairdo.

‘No colour though, I like mine.’ Eavya flashed another smile to Lynnayla.

Lynnayla just scowled. This was not her plan… Another reason for her to cut her hair was to set herself apart from her half-sister. She still hadn’t told Eavya who she really was in relation to her, and she had no wish in doing so. But Lynnayla knew that they looked a lot alike, and cutting her hair would’ve tuned down the resemblance a bit.
Bit by bit however, Eavya’s hair ended up on the floor, much like her own. Nothing she could do about it…

A couple of hours later they set foot on the big ship that would take them back to Auberdine, back to their duties, back to their choices and responsibilities.
Lynnayla sighed a little when their ship set sail towards the setting sun. She hoped that at least this trip had given Eavya what she had been looking for. Lynnayla couldn’t say the same for herself.

Eeep! You let a goblin molest their hair! Haha - it was entertaining to read and welcome back from your break! :)

Homecoming

The blistering cold winds were raging around her. Long strands of white hair whipped around her face, in her eyes. Lynnayla merely slowly raised a hand, wiping the loosened locks out of her vision. She was used to the cold, raised in the cold. Winterspring had been her home for such a long time. Any other land seemed unusually hot to her. This was her home, her safe heaven. Here, she felt more comfortable in her skin than anywhere else on Kalimdor, on Azeroth. The wind just kept on raging.

Not long after the catastrophic events that shook the foundations of society and the world, Lynnayla had took off from where she currently had been staying. Worried to see if her old home in Winterspring had survived. She hadn’t been there for such a long time, yet never forgotten about it. Even with the strange and almost love-less upbringing she received there, it was still home. She still had vague memories of her mother, her warmth, her voice… Her love. The little cottage in the middle of no-where. Where her father had raised her after her mother had died. Where she always would be compared to a half-sister she had never met. Where her father had never seemed to make sense in her eyes, and she never could do anything right in his eyes.

Now he was back. The man that always had been awkward around her, the man that never had accepted her. Who had never let her be who she wanted to be. The man she had been told to respect once, by an unnamed veteran warrior. And so she had. She had respected him and listened to him. Despite anything he did or didn’t do to her, gave to her, withheld her.
And now he was standing in the doorway of home. Just standing there and Lynnayla felt everything lock together. As she gazed at him, she felt a homecoming. All the little bits and pieces of events and memories that had never made sense, now suddenly did. The man before her felt right, he felt like he should have. She knew instantly that he had found himself now and that all would be well. He could accept her now, because he had accepted himself… Because the Kaldorei now accepted him…

After standing just a few moments more in silence, just gazing at him, she abandoned all likeness of serenity and ran to him, her father. As she reached him, she trew her arms around him and felt him embrace her back. Homecoming…

As father and daughter held each other in their arms, the arcane glow around them intensified and Lynnayla recognized finally what she had been noticing the past few years, what she had been attracted to, but too afraid of accepting…

Just a little snippet as to how/why Lynn returned to Darnassus. Already 'old' but thought it should have a place here too

Hopefully more on Eavya soon too!



‘Father! I need to go… I want to go. Please say you allow me! It would only be for a little while and…’

Her father cut her off with an impatient gesture of his hand. They were standing at the border of Stonetalon Mountains and Ashenvale. A harsh wind was whipping around them, making both of their robes fly up in an irritating fashion.

'No! I won't have it!' He said, in a grumbling voice, edging on anger.
Lynnayla had been trying to convince her father for over an hour now of her need to return to Darnassus, and her Order for just a little while. She was getting more and more frustrated about her father’s stubbornness on this issue. It just wasn’t fair! She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at her father defiantly.

‘I’m going anyway… There’s nothing you can do to stop me! I really need a break!’

Her father showed the same stubbornness in his eyes as did his whole body.

‘We are not finished yet, Lynnayla! There is still so much to be learned and achieved. I just cannot let you go right now… It is not the right time.’

Lynnayla threw up her arms in exasperation and raised her voice, hoping to convince her father of his stupidity.

‘Father! We have all the time in the world! I’m not leaving forever… There’s just certain things I need to do!’

Her father then heaved a deep sigh, and it was his time to glare at her. His eyes actually seemed to flare a little as he next spoke;

‘Fine… I will tell you this… If you manage to create a Portal to Darnassus, so you can transport yourself safely there, then I will let you go.’

His eyes now carried a smugness and a hint of arrogance. He knew quite well that she had still much to learn on the area of Portals. Lynnayla looked at him, astonished. This wasn’t fair… They had only been practicing on Portals for a little while and she had never been able to establish a fully working, large scale Portal yet. Her father knew that perfectly well… And yet he had just set this act, this impossible feat, to be her only ticket out of here. It was so unfair!

She looked at him, her eyes flaring and tears already brimming on the edge. Then she shook her head, as to dispel her despair, and straightened herself. She could do this, she resolved, she –would- do this. If this is what it took to take her freedom, then she would manage, somehow.
She saw how her father noticed her determination and actually saw a flicker of fear behind his eyes. He feared that she could actually do it, he feared he would lose this one! Lynnayla couldn’t help but smile slightly, encouraged by this.

Lynnayla took a step back and turned around so her back was facing her father. She took a deep breath and set herself to focus, to concentrate in finding the right energies to achieve the Portal. She held her staff out in both hands, in front of her and started muttering the spells that would aid her in this. She knew the theory, she knew what to do, but it would be hard, if not impossible. She hoped it wasn’t impossible. She wanted to badly to go back to Darnassus, to spend time with her friends, with the Order.
Lynnayla forgot all about her surroundings as she focused hard on conjuring the energies. She felt them swirling up around her, her staff and then towards a focal point in the air before her. The tiniest of light now shone through that point, marking the beginning of the portal, her way out. She urged it on to grow bigger and bigger, draining herself in the process. Her breath now started coming heavily and she felt sweat dripping down across her temples. It was hard…. So hard. Yet she kept trying. She would prove her father wrong! She would make this Portal… and she would make it big enough for her to step through and bring her home.

And then, with one final draining push of energies, it was there… Lynnayla fell to one knee, holding on to her staff and relearned how to breathe again. She took in a deep breath and wiped her brow with her sleeve. Then she stood up and faced her father, smiling defiantly up at him. She did it! She proved that she was further along in her training than he had anticipated. She had earned her time off.
She saw her fathers shoulders fall. But there was something of pride in his eyes as well. He had thought her well, and he was actually proud of her. He nodded and smiled sadly. There was no need for words. Lynnayla then embraced her father.

‘Don’t worry father… I won’t be gone forever. I will come and find you again, and you can teach me more.’

He kissed her brow and let her go then. She turned and readied herself to step through the Portal. It wouldn’t stay for long, she knew and she hadn’t the strength to conjure another one.

‘Lynnayla! Wait!’ A shout came from behind them, together with the sound of thundering paws, rushing towards the two of them.

She saw Mirra then, on a great black saber. He reached them and dismounted. He seemed to be carrying something in his arms, a little bundle of fur.
Mirra had left them two nights before, when he had heard about Lynnayla’s wish to go back to Darnassus. He hadn’t given them a reason, he just left, saying he had some business to take care of. And now he had returned. She looked at him questionably.
He stepped even closer and gently put the little bundle of fur into her arms. Lynnayla looked down upon it surprised. It seemed to be alive!

‘It is a Winterspring cub, Lynnayla. They are rare, and not easily tamed. But I wished for you to have one. So you would remember me, when you leave.’ He smiled a little crooked smile, with sadness in his eyes.

Then, as she was still slightly astonished by his gift, he lifted her chin gently with his hand and softly pressed his lips against hers. Before she even had time to think about this, he had already stepped back. He was now standing beside her father, raising a hand in farewell.
She shook her head and couldn’t help smiling at the two of them.

‘I’m not for you, Mirra. You got to know that.’ She couldn’t help but be amused by his efforts. He shook his head slightly and grinned at her.

'I can wait, My Dawn...' He said softly, repeating his words from some time ago.

She sighed at him, then also raised her hand, waved them goodbye and stepped through the portal. As she turned around in a moonlit Darnassus, she saw them through the Portal. Then, with a slight movement of her hand, holding the little cub in her other arm, she dismissed the energies that had kept the Portal up. It fell apart immediately, leaving her standing alone, free to do whatever she wished. For a while, at least…

Just some more on what happened with Lynn, sometime after she returned 'home'.




Lynnayla stood at the open window of her small room, her arms wrapped around herself. She just came out of bed, wearing very little. She let the early morning breeze wash over her, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the moment. High up here, in Darnassus, the sun did not actually rise every morning, but the sky was lightening nonetheless.

‘A beautiful dawn, for an even lovelier lady.’ A soft spoken voice said behind her.

Lynnayla let her head hang for a moment, a trickle of shame creeping up on her. Slowly she turned around and faced the source of this well spoken voice.

‘Mirra… You know what this is… was. Please don’t make more out of it… Perhaps it is best if you don’t talk at all.’

She couldn’t help but let her gaze wonder over the man lying in her bed. He was lounging on his side, head leaning on his head and elbow, slightly grinning at her. He was a gorgeous sight. It made her remember the day before…

He came to Darnassus, uninvited, unannounced. He was just there, suddenly. And not in his usual splendor of the High borne. No, he was dressed commonly, leather and hides, a large longbow strapped to his back. She stumbled upon him as he entered the city through the portal from Rut’theran. He was taking in the sights as if he had never been there before. Later, she realized he actually never had been to Darnassus before. She stopped herself just in time from running into him.

‘Mirra!’ she had gasped, gaping at him. It took her a moment to recover from the initial shock but eventually she found the wit to close her mouth and ask him what he was doing here.

He smiled his usual crooked smile.

‘Why, my Dawn, I was looking for you of course.’ He answered.

Lynnayla had sighed and frowned and complained. Yet somehow he convinced her to show him the city, the Temple, the Gardens… everything. They ate their supper together on the grasses of Teldrassil, surrounded by the great trees and small wildlife. They talked and talked and discussed everything that interested them. Lynnayla was brought back to the times she had spend with him traveling and she realized late that evening that she was thoroughly enjoying his company.
His conversations and his light flatter and his general light spirit was such a change of the strain she had been under. Everything had been going wrong since she came back to Darnassus.

She never really got to talk with Shaktaekurte, nor with Kaldur and everything felt messed up. She didn’t know what to do when she heard Shaktaekurte had suffered from poisoning that had ended in a coma. She didn’t know whether or not to visit him at Kaldur’s house, afraid of what she had to do, or who to talk to. Nothing got solved by her returning to Darnassus… And her training was going miserable as well, she felt no stronger at all.

All these worries fell away when Mirra showed up and spend the day with her once more. She felt herself smiling more than she had done in weeks. Also, she let Mirra compliment her, flirt with her. It was as if her resolve against him had fallen away with her worries. At the end of that evening, she had taken him to her small room at the Craftsmen Terrace and the one thing led to another… It seemed Mirra finally got what he wanted.

Lynnayla sighed, hugging herself once more and turning her back on him again. She then shook her head, took a deep breath and started to pick up the clothes that were shed so easily last night. She dressed in a hurry, avoiding looking at the bed, at Mirra. She knew he was smiling at her. Before she left her little room, she stood still for a moment, shoulders hunched and gathering the strength to talk once more.

‘I expect you not to be here anymore when I return, Mirra. This has never happened.’

Lynnayla fled from her house...

Something that happened some nights ago!


One more look around the little room. One more angry swipe across her eyes with her sleeve. No matter what, the tears kept coming. She had messed things up properly now… Not the room, the room was as tidy as could be. No more personal belongings except for the tabard, hung on a nail at the wall.

Lynnayla stood in her room, lost, shoulders hung low, tears streaming down her face. A backpack was slung over one shoulder. This night had not been a good one. Once more her heart was broken, once more she was turned down. And like that other time, she could not bear staying. She had to leave.

Apparently she was good in messing things up and turning her heart where it shouldn’t go. She had hurt Shaktaekurte properly, she couldn’t have a normal conversation with him without seeing the hurt in his eyes. She’d imagine he would be glad to have her gone.

And then Kaldur… She’d waited too long. Too long she had been afraid to speak to him, to mess things up even more. But in the end, she realized she should’ve talked to him… she should’ve confessed her feelings sooner.

And now all was too late. She had to leave. She had to leave the little room she almost had called home. She had to leave the Order, which had been a family for her.

Lynnayla took a deep shivering breath, tears glistening on her cheeks. Then… in a sudden rush of anger, she clenched her fist, summoned a frostbolt and flung it at the tabard at the wall. It didn’t do much, beside freezing the cloth solid for a split second after which she saw it disintegrate into a thousand little pieces.

One more angry swipe across her eyes and Lynnayla turned around. She left her room… and then Darnassus.

Had some inspiration while sitting and doing nothing in Stonetalon Mountains.

More to follow


It had been no more than seven days that she had been gone. A small period of time, yet it already felt like centuries. Several times the last few days, Lynn had thought of returning. Once or twice she even re-packed her bag. Again and again she had halted herself, forcing herself to think of other things than the Order… and her friends. Instead, she went and sit on the Moonwell at the outpost in the Stonetalon Mountains. Somehow it helped bring her thoughts in order, helped calm her mind and the turmoil of emotions pestering her body.

She was sitting there now, as she heard footsteps coming up behind her.

‘Lynnayla Yelina Firedawn?’ a harsh voice demanded.

Lynnayla turned around and faced the woman that was addressing her. It was captain Swifttalon, the highest ranked sentinel at the outpost. Lynnayla had received glances from the woman once or twice, but up until now, she hadn’t been spoken to by her.
Lynn decided to be polite, which was easier when she had her feelings under control.

‘Yes, captain, can I be of any assistance?’ She rose to her feet and came down the steps to face the captain, a small curtsey to honor her status.

‘You are an arcanist, right? Can you fight? I need to put together a small squad for a rescue mission.’

Lynnayla blinked at the captain, uncertain on what to say. This was not at all what she had expected. She hadn’t shown what she could do, she just had been sitting around, doing nothing. Why would this woman have her go out and fight? Couldn’t she see that she was useless?

‘Mage, I require an answer fast, if it pleases you.’ The captain urged her, glancing at her cynically.

‘I… I barely… I.’ Lynn couldn’t help but stutter surpised.

The captain gave her one curt nod.

‘Barely will do, let’s go, there isn’t much time.’ She turned around, leaving Lynnayla gaping after her. Lynnayla quickly followed when the woman glanced around to check if she was being followed.

A few short hours later, Lynnayla was standing among five others. She was given a black leather jerkin to wear, with matching breeches. Captain Swifttalon hadn’t deemed it ‘safe’ to wear a robe on the mission. She had also pushed a rusty old one-hand sword in Lynn’s hands, with the comment;
‘You never know when it might be useful.’

Lynn had looked at the weapon doubtfully, weighing the balance in her hand. She’d had some practice with it, in the city of Darnassus, but it wouldn’t have been her weapon of choice.
With her were standing two male Defenders and three long-bow archers. The three women, with their bows strapped to their backs were all looking very fearsome to Lynn, properly equipped to go to battle. The male Defenders also seemed well prepared. Lynn cast a glance over her own attire and equipment once again, frowning. It wouldn’t do her much good, she feared. But then again, she should have her magic to protect her…

Captain Swifttalon had left them a few moments ago, to fetch the healer for the mission. She was now returning, followed hurriedly by the most scrawny little novice of Elune that Lynn had ever seen. The girl looked absolutely terrified. Lynn felt sorry for her immediately, her own worries forgotten. Captain Swifttalon all but shoved her into the line that had formed her small squad. The poor little thing stumbled forward, making Lynn step up to catch the novice from falling flat on her face.

‘There, we should go now, there’s little time to lose. There are no sabers to spare, we have to march.’

The Captain turned around, knowing her squadron would follow. And indeed they did, the two defenders first, then the Archers. Bringing up the line was Lynnayla, clutching the novice under her elbow and guiding her down the slope that was the main way up to the Outpost.

‘What’s your name then, sister?’ She asked while walking, smiling softly, trying to put the girl at ease.

The girl tried and failed to square her shoulders and stand more upright, looking up at Lynnayla. Lynnayla’s heart almost broke when she saw tears shimmering in those eyes.

The novice was barely audible as she whispered her name.

‘Mairall Winterhaze.’

‘It’s an honor to meet you then, Mairall. My name is Lynnayla Firedawn. Try not to be scared, I’m sure we’ll be fine!’

Lynnayla smiled reassuringly at the girl, not sure she believed her own words, yet it encouraged her to see the small smile forming upon Mairall’s lips…

Don't think anyone reads 'm, but putting it up anyway!


‘Lynnayla, will we be there soon?’ Mairall sounded awfully tired and looked the same way.

Lynnayla had her eyes trained on the sentinels and defenders in front of her. They had just fanned out, taking to hiding themselves from view. She quickly shushed the young novice and shoved her behind her.

‘Shh…’ she whispered to the girl. ‘I think we’re here.’

It had taken them two days since they set out, to reach their apparent destination. Two days of marching with little rest. They had only sat down for a small supper a few hours ago.

Now, she saw Captain Swifftalon making gestures at her Archers, then at the Defenders, who responded immediately, moving swiftly. Lynnayla tried catching Swifttalon’s attention, unsure of what to do. She saw their target now. It was a small encampment of Orcs. And in the middle of that encampment, she could see the two kaldorei victims, tied to stake. They didn’t look so well from this distance, Lynn thought… She could only imagine their situation…

The camp seemed populated by a couple of dozen Orc warriors, all well geared, well rested and alert. The rescue party was far outnumbered by them, but Lynnayla realized they would have the element of surprise. Lynnayla started to look around for a good place for her and Mairall to hide when she saw the Captain finally give her a signal. She pointed at a rock formation, close to the camp yet still far enough away to go unnoticed. Lynnayla gave the Captain a nod of understanding and crouched low, dragging Mairall by the hand to the rocks. From there, she saw how the Archers had gained a high spot from the encampment, ready to fire a volley of deadly arrows. The two Defenders had encircled the camp and were coming up behind it now, crouching low, almost invisible on the rocky terrain.

Then the Captain did something that made Lynnayla’s heart skip a beat. She stepped out from her hiding place and marched right up to the encampment. Lynn watched her, wide-eyed, advance closer and closer. She saw how the orcs took notice of her, seemingly as surprised as Lynn was herself. Behind her, Mairall took in a hissing breath when she saw what the Captain was doing.

Swifttalon’s plan got crystal clear when the Orcs cried out their battle shouts and started coming towards the captain in total disarray. Before the first one had even taken three steps, an arrow had pierced his leather armor right through the heart. He went down with a thump, not far from where he had been sitting. Two more took a fall, pierced by arrows, before the main force of the camp came down on the Captain. Swifttalon had raised her glaives and was now fighting for her life. It didn’t take long for the Archers to come rushing down to her aide. Behind the small battle, the Defenders joined in and together they seemed to have smashed the Orcs between them, locked in a fierce struggle.

The unprepared and the untrained of the Orcs went down quickly after that. The more veteran ones of the camp seemed to have taken a stance together and holding their own against the vicious attacks of the Sentinels and Defenders. Several of them even had stepped aside, giving themselves time to regroup and form a more organized attack. Then Lynnayla noticed two Orcs who had eluded the attention of the Kaldorei, locked in battle. They had made their way close to where one of the Defenders had just smashed down an Orc warrior and was getting his bearings again. Lynnayla didn’t doubt one moment before she stepped out of hiding.

‘Kyrion!’ she shouted at the Defender, for that was his name… ‘Kyrion! Behind you!’

Just in time Kyrion raised his blade once more, just in time to block the attack of the first Orc. The second one, however, had turned his gaze to Lynnayla. For a split-second he stood still, eyeing her up and then he charged. Behind her, she heard Mairall give a scream in terror.

‘Crap.’ Lynnayla muttered softly.

Lynn didn’t think but summoned her energies faster than she’d ever done before and shot of a blast of Ice that caught the Orc right in the face. A thin film of frost covered the brute’s face and stopped him in his charge. He stumbled for a moment, straightened and wiped a gloved hand over his face, removing the ice that was there.
Once more he came at Lynn, faster than she could imagine, faster than she could summon another attack. Crying out a raging howl, the Orc raised his enormous blade, ready to split her head in two. Lynn raised her own blade to catch the brutal attack. The force of the blow made her fall backward, yet she kept the blade raised, specks of rust showering her face. She grunted when she hit the ground, trying to keep her strength, trying to keep the Orc at arm’s length. Again Mairall cried out, completely horrified. Lynnayla squinted her eyes shut and tried with all her might to summon up her shield, which could knock the Orc away. To her immense surprise and great relief, her shield appeared faster than she could ever imagine and threw the Orc off her in an explosion of Arcane energy.
Behind her, she heard Mairall gasp. Lynnayla quickly scrambled back to her feet, grabbed Mairall by the hand and ran as fast as she could with the Novice towards the camp, towards the prisoners. As she heard Mairall panting loudly next to her, she could also hear Prayers in between. While running, Lynnayla realized that might be a good idea and uttered a few herself. She hoped fiercely that the other Sentinels would see their predicament and help them get rid of their attacker.
A few moments later their prayers were answered as she heard the swoosh of arrows and the pained grunt of the Orc that was chasing them.

By then, Lynnayla and Mairall had reached the prisoners. They were indeed in a bad shape. Lynn and Mairall slowed their frantic run and Lynn let herself fall down next to the stake, breathing heavily and trusting upon Mairall to take care of the wounded sentinels. Nothing happened, however, and Lynn sat up, staring at Mairall. The novice had frozen on the spot, looking down upon the two injured sentinels at her feet.

‘What are you doing Mairall? Help them!’ Lynnayla cried out to her, still trying to catch her breath.

‘I… I… I can’t!’ Mairall whimpered softly, hiding her face in her hands while shaking her head.

‘What do you mean, you can’t? It’s why you’re here, don’t be stupid, help them!’

Lynnayla got up and wrenched Mairall’s hands away. The small face was already covered with tears, mixed in with dust and dirt from their frantic run.

‘Listen!’ she spoke sternly then, trying to get the novice out of her daze.

‘Listen Mairall, you’re the only one here that can save them, you’re the only one trained and they need you! Elune is with you, she answered your prayers just now, She will do it once more. Have faith!’

Mairall blinked at her through her tears. For a moment Lynn didn’t think she had reached the girl but then she gave the tiniest of nods. Lynnayla let go of her hands and helped her kneel down to the sentinel that looked the worse. A great gash was seen in her side, still softly bleeding, the left side of her head a bruised mess plastered with blood.
Lynnayla saw how the young Priestess took a couple of shaky breaths and then held her hands above the wound in the sentinel’s side. For a couple of breaths, Lynnayla was afraid nothing would happen, but then Mairall’s hands began to glow. Softly at first, but then brighter. Mairall’s voice got stronger in the process, her prayers coming from her lips more surely. Lynn smiled at her relieved as Mairall seemed to succeed in closing the wound.

It wasn’t shortly after that, the rest of their group joined up with them. By then, Mairall had started on the second sentinel. Captain Swifttalon had a badly injured arm, one of the Archers had taken a nasty cut to her ear but otherwise they had seemed to come out of the fight relatively unharmed. Kyrion helped Lynnayla stand, smiling at her. She felt so weary now that everything seemed to be over.

‘Thanks for the warning back there.’ He said to her.

Lynnayla just summoned a tired smile and nodded at him. Captain Swifttalon then gave them a couple of orders, including the making of two litters to carry the wounded sentinels back to the Outpost. Mairall had done such a good job that the sentinels who they had rescued were now fully conscious and free of pain. Before they set out to the outpost once more, Lynnayla walked up to the young novice, smiling brightly at her and then gave her a warm embrace.

‘You did well Sister.’ She said, after letting her go again.

Mairall nodded at her, beaming proudly.

‘I couldn’t have done it without you though.’ She said in her soft voice.
‘I completely froze.’

Lynnayla hugged her again.

‘You did well, that is all that matters. You will make the most amazing Priestess one day, I’m sure of it.’

With those words, she took Mairall by the hand and followed the group who had now started their march back to the outpost.

Two days later, as Lynn crashed down upon the soft bed in the inn, her last waking thought was of Darnassus and her friends.

Maybe she should go back too… Maybe tomorrow… to make things well again.

I'm reading your latest ones! It's interesting reading about an elven arcanist, especially the way Lynn interacts with other people, and the battle scene in the latest one. I'm no expert on the kaldorei, but hey, keep the stories coming. 'tis nice to have you back, by the way.

Thank you very much for reading it Valerias Makes me glad!