5. A Day of Changes pt. 2

(( The names in italics at the start of each post denotes the author. ))

Ayuria

She heard the faint sound of footsteps. As it grew stronger, there was only one thing she could think of: This would be it. Her moment of revenge. After what seemed to be an eternity he finally came down the last flight of stairs. She quickly suppressed her breathing and blended in with the shadows. As he looked around she drew her sword and hit the back of his head with the hilt of her sword. A quick death would be too lenient. This one has to suffer, she though, a sadistic smile adorning her masked face.

He fell to the ground, but the blow hadn't been strong enough to knock him out. She had hoped this. She placed her boot on his back and pulled back his hair. This time, he wouldn't escape.

He cursed Eldurin as she took the vial of poison from her belt. Her plan had worked. She had forged a letter telling him to meet Eldurin at the usual place. She would use his tricks. This would be the perfect crime.

He cried out in agony as she slowly poured the poison into his eyes, taking care not to spill a single drop. She felt a plethora of things. Hate. Joy. Satisfaction. And something... else. She halted for a moment, her hands shaking. But Ayuria would not stop her now, she thought, shrugging it off and continuing with what would be her moment of glory.

As she emptied the vial into his eyes, she too became empty. She had done this countless times before: she had maimed, tortured and killed, all for the sake of revenge, of hatred. This was different. It was for the sake of peace. Her peace. She had to destroy her past... She had to destroy Ayuria.

She planned this carefully. Blinding him would only be the beginning. She could not afford to kill him, but robbing him of his senses seemed close enough to death to her. "Well then, now for the ears..." she thought. As she reached for her blade something seemed to stop her. She couldn't tell what drove her to this, but she simply smashed his head with her foot and ran off.

She felt nothing but seething hatred for Ayuria as she made her way to the Smoking Blade.

Fenuviel

Fenuviel had come across an argument in front of the Blade, it seemed. He sat carefully in the saddle of his frostsaber, clinging tightly to the edge of it. When the feline took to running, he had to often resort to taking hold of the fur of its shoulders, as he couldn't keep his balance holding onto the reins or the saddle itself. At least the animal seemed to understand some of his commands, for it was really his only hope to get about quickly.

He heard many voices he recognized. Trezo, Gwealyn, Gahalla, Edaktitus, Shagrath, Nefiri, Dimo, Zaraj... But he couldn't tell exactly what it was he had wandered into. He heard Shagrath and Nefiri moving away after a moment.
"Follow master," Fenuviel whispered in his native tongue to the saber. It turned, and obeyed, stopping when it came to the hunter's lodge in the Dwarven district of Stormwind. Fenuviel carefully dismounted, holding up his weight by gripping onto the saddle until his feet had a solid foothold on the ground beneath. He patted his saber's shoulder before carefully making his way in, feeling along the wall till he reached the stairs. These were more tricky. The Elf kept a tight grip upon the railing as he slowly pulled himself up one stair at a time, pausing as he felt a presence at the top of the stairs.

"Such a charming smile, isn't it..?" came Shagrath's voice, telling him who it was that stood before him. But he could hear that his master was not facing him. Neferi chuckled, but it came from his side. So who was Shagrath mentioning? Dimo... Fenuviel couldn't tell what was happening, except that Dimo seemed to be in pain. What he didn't see was Shagrath taking his knife to the other Elf's face and drawing too cuts into his flesh to make a 'frowny face' from the corners of his lips. Dimo had been fool enough to ask aloud about a meeting the Sphere would soon hold, in front of many civilians and Shinies alike. This didn't hold too well with Shagrath, naturally. But Fenuviel remained silent, trying hard from the sounds and the words of his comrades what they were doing. Eventually he heard Shagrath shift to face him, and lifted his head.

"How are your eyes, Fenuviel?" Shagrath asked. Fenuviel paused only for a moment. Did his master care, really? It was a thought for a moment that filled him with hope again.
"They do not pain me anymore, but I cannot see," he replied. Neferi healed Dimo's wounds, though only enough so that scars would remain. Once this was done, Shagrath walked past him out of the lodge. Fenuviel turned himself carefully to face down the stairway once more, and slowly began to guide himself down and out. He could sense Neferi and Shagrath nearby when he managed to shuffle out of the lodge, and so stopped once again. Neferi was asking what they would do then. Shagrath shrugged.
"I have nothing planned. We can continue your training if you like, I am not in a rush,"
"Nor am I," Neferi answered.
Fenuviel couldn't help frowning. He couldn't help it. Neferi's presence filled him with rage, more so to be in her presence together with Shagrath's at the same time. Jealousy, it was. He was jealous of Shagrath's attention to her.

That he treated her more kindly than he treated him, or at least it seemed to the troubled Elf that it was so.

Shagrath, at best, had only given him indifference. Fenuviel remembered of course that Shagrath had once told him he did care for him, but Fenuviel was beginning to realize what this meant. Not as a friend, but more as a... mark of his own skills. As a general, who wants his army in the best condition. There was no caring on a personal condition, but merely for himself.
"And Fenuviel, do a favor, would you?" Shagrath said, as Fenuviel had been making his way carefully to the curb, using the edge of it as a guide, following it to where his saber was waiting. He stopped though when his master spoke, turning his head in the direction of the voice.
"What do you wish, Master?"
"Get your eyes healed, would you?" Shagrath replied. Fenuviel was caught almost off guard, but nodded. Inwardly, anger flared within him again. Did his master really think he was so much of an idiot that he hadn't already been trying to find a way?
"Yes... master.." he replied slowly, so as to control the tone of his voice not to reveal his rage. He waited for his master to speak again, hearing him take in a breath.
"You're a rather pathetic sight, not to mention useless as you are," Shagrath continued. Fenuviel remained silent for a moment. Any past hopes that Shagrath was concerned for him faded. His anger grew dull with a distant hatred, and Fenuviel hung his head slightly. He tried to reply, but simply drew his lips together. He didn't answer, but simply continued on his 'pathetic' way towards his saber. Fenuviel grabbed hold of the saddle when he found it, and pulled himself as gracefully as was possible up into it. He leant forward, fingers gripping the beast's fur as he whispered in Darnassian.
"Out,"
He heard the giant feline purr quietly at the thought of going to the forest, and felt his muscles ripple beneath him as it took off towards the gates of Stormwind. Fenuviel kept a firm grip, holding on as tightly as possible with his knees as wind rushed past him, simply hoping he wouldn't slip, and that the animal understood what he wanted.
Once in Elwynn, Fenuviel dismounted, to found his saber had brought him to the lake. How... coincidental. Wasn't it the other day Shagrath had suggested he throw himself into one? He had already watched one of his best friends die by throwing herself off the Stonewrought Bridge into one. He wondered if at the bottom he would find peace finally?

Fenuviel sat by the edge of the lake quietly, listening to the sound of the water, and thinking of so many things his master had told him in the past, and finally understanding. He understood as well, what he really wanted. And saw that it was something he could never have.
In the silence, Fenuviel was left empty, knowing not where to turn anymore.

Shagrath

"Is this how he repays all we've given him?", asked a silent hiss inside Shagrath's mind. Shagrath couldn't keep the disgusted face at bay while he glared at Fenuviel making his way slowly out of hunter's lodge in the Dwarven district of Stormwind.
"Months work, we taught him everything he needed to know, we sacrificed so much of our time... " Shagrath closed his fists slowly as his anger grew.
"All this we gave to him... Only for him to throw it all away in his carelessness...", the voice grew ever louder, provoking Shagrath.
"He says he didn't see the one attacked him... Meaning he was caught completely off guard... Or that he's lying... To cover a story even more humiliating...", the voice had a malicious tone to it.
"He may never regain his eyesight... What are we going to do with him then? Blind he has no uses to us...".
"Fenuviel, do a favor, would you?" Shagrath said.
"He'd probably kill himself if you asked him to... Would save us the trouble...", the voice barked.
"Get your eyes healed, would you?", Shagrath added. Fenuviel answered something, his lips were moving, but Shagrath couldn't hear him. A louder voice took place in his head. The voice was like a thunder in his head now, mocking him with strong amusement in it:
"You care for him... That's why you still cling on the hope of his recovering... You probably plan to keep him even if he doesn't recover... Taking care of him, escorting him around Stormwind and describing how beautiful flowers and sunsets are..."
"You're a rather pathetic sight, not to mention useless as you are," Shagrath continued. An approving silence followed and Shagrath and Neferi looked as Fenuviel made his way to his saber.
"You do remember that you still need to solve the mess he has made... Find out all the facts and commission a revenge on the attack against a member of the Sphere...",the voice hissed, lowered back into a whisper again...