The Lion tamer, a story of redemption.

It was a shadow, A shadow of evil. The mass of black fur and giant black claws fell into nothing next to those glowing fel green eyes. How could he have missed those eyes? Staring in those eyes was like staring in the eyes of Sargeras himself. The fel energy almost poured out of those eyes. And yet.. he had not seen them, all those years ago. And now those eyes were focused on him, the look of a predator. And he was the prey. Staring at those eyes almost made him forget about the rest of the beast, but just before the beast made itself ready to pound, he snapped into action and reached for his weapon. Only his weapon wasn't where it was supposed to be. Almost fatally distracted by this alarming news, the beast took its leap and he could barely jump away in time. The beast growled, when the growl slowly turned into a sinister voice.
'You cannot elude me forever. One day your body and soul will be mine and your mind will be lost to insanity. I will be in control the next time we meet..'

Elegost's eyes snapped open and he immediatly rose from his bed. He was drenched in sweat and his heart was pounding in a furious momentum. But the most alarming was his rage. He was angry, at something he did not know. He glanced over his shoulder to his wife Amirah, who was vast asleep on the other side of the bed. Elegost quietly got out of the room, into the hall and went outside in the garden. The smells of Stormwind raced to his nose. The smell of the nearby canals, and the filth they contained, were the most prominent ones. But like always when Elegost was in his rage, he could smell other things too. The smell of a nearby mouse hiding in the tall grass, the smell of a flock of birds perching on the roof of his small mansion and the smell of the few people still outside at this time of night.

Elegost leaned on the short wall that seperated his garden from the Canals. He tried to focus his thoughts on something soothing, the breeze that was blowing through his hair, and slowly he became calm again. The beast from his dreams, the black lion, had gotten very close to corrupting him completely. He knew that he  might lose their next battle and then Elegost's mind would be lost to his rage and he would become little more than a wild animal. This was his curse. The rage that had sometimes fuelled his power had now become the greatest threat he had to face.

The curse of the Lionheart he called it. It seemed so long ago that Elegost had completed the trial every Arathorian had to pass to become a full Arathorian.
The ancient trial of tracking and killing a beast originated from the time of Thoradin. Before setting off, the hunter was given a balm that would help him absorb the essence of his prey upon slaying it.
Elegost had tracked a great stag into the mountains of Alterac. But when was ready to strike, the stag was startled and ran off. Cursing his brashness, Elegost thought he had scared off the stag. But within a few seconds he discovered the true reason the stag had fled. From the shrubbery a giant black lion emerged.
Elegost saw this as a sign that the Ancestors wanted to challenge him, to test him.
Gladly accepting the challenge, Elegost went at the lion with only a self-made spear and his own unbreakable courage.

What Elegost didn't know then was that the lion wasn't natural. It had grown in size and malice thanks to the experiments of a warlock using fel magics. Fel essence flowed through the lion's being, corrupting it. So when Elegost finally slew the beast and absorbed its essence, his own essence was corrupted on that day. The corruption had however lay dormant within him, until recently. Now it threatened to consume his whole essence, and Elegost had no way of stopping it..

A flash. A blinding flash of light lit up Elegost's study. Great shadows were cast over the room before a form appeared into the center of the room, just before the desk Elegost was working behind. The form took the shape of a man and when the shadows retreated, Elegost's brother Aranith stood infront of him.
Aranith was Elegost's younger half-elf, half-brother. Aranith was a handsome man to look at, especially after Elegost pressed him to take more care of himself and his looks. Aranith was a scholar first and foremost, he could lose himself for weeks in his studies and experiments. He had already been a professor at the Stormwind University before he resigned to take more time for his studies. Although Elegost loved his brother, he could sometimes be removed from this world, and his blatant use of magics was sometimes plain annoying. Like now, papers were blown into the air because of Aranith's teleportation spell into this room.

'Aranith, for the love of the Light. Can't you teleport somewhere outside or in another room? Look at the mess you made.' Elegost started with an annoyed moan.
Aranith looked around him, slightly bewildered and seeming oblivious from what Elegost was talking about. Upon closer inspection, Elegost could see that Aranith's crimson mage robes were slightly torn and covered with leaves and twigs from bamboo trees. Aranith suddenly looked at him and started to babble something incomprehensible. When Elegost made a face he took a deep breath and started anew.
'Brother! Yes.. uhm, sorry about the mess. But this is important. We have no time to lose!' Elegost frowned and put down the quill he was writing with and climbed up from his chair, walking over to Aranith at the other side of the desk.
'Alright, start from the beginning. What are you talking about and why is it so darn important?' Elegost asked calmly. Aranith took a few papers from his shoulder bag.
'I've been researching your condition and found something peculiar.' Elegost nodded. Aranith was the only one who knew about Elegost's condition in full detail. He didn't want to alarm Amirah or anyone else. Only Aranith could be of help after several priests had tried cleansing him using the Light. Aranith showed him the first paper, it were orders Elegost had received a while ago. These were the orders that had sent him to the newly re-discovered continent, Pandaria.