3. The Reunion

(( The name in italics at the start of each post represents the author of each section. ))

Fenuviel

She had called herself Ayuria. That was it. Ayuria.

She was a pretty Elf woman with long violet tresses. She was slender and lithe, but very strong. Fenuviel was sure she could hold her own in a sword fight, and probably even show most people a thing or two. He wouldn't have tried to get her angry, or challenged her to a fight, certainly. At least, he couldn't imagine why he would have.

But that was a long time ago.

It had been months now since he had first fled from Darnassus with Ayuria. To Ironforge they had gone, and there they had gone their separate ways. Fenuviel left Ayuria behind for Stormwind, and for a long while, that was the last he saw of her. By the time they met again, he had become a very different person.

Ayuria had known him as the quiet, gentle child, who though good with a bow, and wasn't good at much else. He had been a timid, but friendly soul. When she found him again, he wore a black tabard with a white, eight pointed star. He served Ataris the Soulblighter, and walked a path of darkness. But still she had found something left of her old friend inside of him, and had vowed to protect him, even from the Sphere. Fenuviel had just laughed. "You can't," he had told her. "They'll kill you," But Ayuria would not revoke her vow. When he left her that day, it was a long while before they met face to face again. By that time, she had betrayed him and given him up to the authorities for the murder of his brother. Naturally there was no proof, but she knew his story. She knew he had to be the one.

------------------

Fenuviel sat on the cold hard platform of the Stonewrought Dam, gazing at his old companion with a frown of concern.

He pushed his hair behind his ears in annoyance as the gentle breeze that swept up from the water blew the silver strands into his face. The leather of his armor creaked from the movement, the only other sound as he watched Ayuria. It turned out Ayuria wasn't her real name at all. She didn't know what her real name was, or what her past was. She had been found after Hyjal, sitting amongst her sisters. They were dead, slain. But she was laughing, with blood on her hands. This is what they told her.

But she wouldn't let him question her. She turned to him instead and had asked him about his brother, about what he had done, what he had become under the influence of the Sphere. There were only dark things he could tell her, and the more he did, the stranger things had become. Old scars had begun to litter her once perfect skin, and yet she didn't seem to notice until she saw the horrified look upon Fenuviel's face, too baffled to speak.

"No... it can't be... these.. memories!" Ayuria's face contorted into a look of fear and anguish, her eyes looking at her own scarred hands before darting about. She seemed to be seeing things, but there was nothing.
"What? Ayuria! What is it!" Fenuviel cried, frowning. She scrambled to her feet, stumbling, weak. Fenuviel watched her for a moment, though hurriedly raised to his own as he saw her moving to the edge.

"Ayuria!"
"I… No! I can't..!" she shook her head frantically, stammering out pleas and denials, though as Fenuviel drew closer, she stopped for a moment and cast him a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Fenuviel,"
Fenuviel was reaching for her, but it seemed as though time had slowed. He couldn't reach her! And her lips... they were moving. They seemed to be saying... 'Good bye,'
"Ayuria!" he screamed, but she was gone. Fenuviel collapsed at the edge of the dam, looking over where she had jumped. But there was no trace. "Ayuria! NO!"

*    *     *

Fenuviel had climbed down the hills to the bottom of the dam, but he could not find where she had fallen, even though he was afraid to. He had swam through each pool, searched every rock or tree base that she might have caught hold of, or washed up onto, but his search lead to nothing. Finally in despair he had return to Stormwind to find his Master, but he was too lost even to speak.

A sharp slap across his cheek silenced his stammering, and he stared at Shagrath with tear-filled eyes, frowning.

"Pull yourself together, tell me what happened," Shagrath demanded. And so Fenuviel repeated the event as best he could, though his tears brought a frown of displeasure from Shagrath. His master brought him back into the Wetlands, a far more skilled tracker than he, and to Fenuviel's horror, he found her.

*     *     *

And so it was that Ayuria was not who this woman truly was. Not who she was born, not who she was meant to be. He had forgiven her for everything, except her death. For she had died, he was convinced. Though her face cast him a crooked grin, he saw in her eyes someone else completely. Darkfang, she was called. The woman Ayuria had remembered after so long, the vile mercenary who had killed her sisters in arms. These memories Ayuria had found too difficult to live with.

"What do you want?" Ayuria's voice demanded of him. She stood still in her robes, though they were tattered and stained from her fall. Her hair was mussed and wild, her smile smug, conceited, and overall malevolent. However, this time Fenuviel returned the smile.
"I've been sent to teach you a lesson, Darkfang. About respect," he answered calmly. And without waiting for one of her sharp replies, he punched her squarely in the jaw, knocking her over. Fenuviel knew this lesson well, oh yes. He had been in her place once before. And so he beat her. He watched her eyes glare at him full of hate, but he still saw Ayuria. He didn't stop till she bled, till she gave in. He felt almost reluctant to do so, but he told himself that he mustn’t kill her.

Not yet. And yet he couldn't help feeling more furious than before. Was it because he couldn't stop seeing Ayuria in her eyes? He had to kill that side of him. Fenuviel, the young one. Fenuviel Heartsong had to die. And the more blood and pain he drew from her, seeing Ayuria, the more Heartsong withered.

"Damn you... You'll pay for that..." Darkfang hissed as she spit out blood. Fenuviel didn't reply, but left her there in the forest of Elwynn to return to his master and report his progress.

*     *     *

Darkfang had kept her promise to Fenuviel. She had waited for his master to leave on a trip, knowing that Fenuviel was often at his side. And she would never challenge Shagrath. She was no fool, she knew that he could and would kill her. But she was strong once again, no longer afflicted by illness or the weakness of friendship that would keep her from hurting Fenuviel. And she wasn't bound to him anymore. She had no reason to protect him. And so Darkfang had taken Fenuviel to the place he had beaten her. And she questioned him about Ayuria, the woman she had used to be. The more cryptic he became, the more she beat him, but he let her. He knew that it both angered Darkfang, and killed Ayuria, if she still existed, to watch. She left him only one scar though, on his cheek. Just like the one he had given her.

And this was how the stranger recognized him.

Now, after so long, it seemed Ayuria was still alive. Fenuviel hadn't been sure how to respond when he heard this, though he satisfied himself to quell any sadness with the hatred he felt for the one bearing the news. Eldurin, she had called him. Fenuviel wanted to hurt him for all his smugness and threats, but he himself was not strong, and he was injured. He relied on speed, but he had learned that Eldurin was far quicker and stealthier than him. He had no chance, no choice. He would wait.

"You will speak to her," Eldurin said matter-of-factly. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He wouldn't let Fenuviel disagree, and before Fenuviel might even have had a chance, the Elf was gone into the shadows. Fenuviel sighed and rested his head in his hands, shaking it. For a while he sat and thought on this, but all he could see to do was to kill Ayuria, to break her, so that she might never reach the old Heartsong.

"And remember to come alone..." Fenuviel heard Eldurin's voice from the shadows as he began to leave. Fenuviel frowned. He was sure Eldurin was wearing a smug smile. The acolyte quickly left the catacombs of the cathedral, glaring at the priests as they bid him farewell in their quiet gentle manner.

---------------------------------

Fenuviel sat perched on the edge of one of the coffins left abandoned in the catacombs, watching Eldurin and Darkfang with cold eyes. Darkfang feared pain, Eldurin had told Fenuviel. He had broken her arm once before, when Ayuria had surfaced. It was the only way to do it, he had said. But this time, Fenuviel felt no sorrow to watch the woman in pain. He saw only Darkfang.

Eldurin seemed to be a master of poisons and acids. He had arranged an assortment of vials, taking his time so as to prolong Darkfang's torment, as he sat twisting her broken arm roughly with one hand while the other produced the vials from his pack. She took turns throwing her insults and glares at Fenuviel and Eldurin, though Fenuviel only chuckled at her.

"You brought this onto yourself with that mouth of yours. Besides, he's the one hurting you, not me this time," Fenuviel answered her angry eyes with a smile of mock sweetness. Before she could spew any more obscenities, Eldurin seemed to have made his choice. What had he said? 'Essence of Agony', or something of the like. And at that moment, he proceeded to spill the contents of it onto her open wound. She screamed, loud enough that Fenuviel was certain the priests above could hear it, but never did anyone come to investigate. The night went on and on like this, and Fenuviel only sat calmly and watched. And waited.

"For someone watching his best friend get tortured, you're sure damn calm!!" Darkfang growled at him. Again, Fenuviel smiled at her.
"Oh, but you're not my friend, Darkfang. On the contrary, I'm quite enjoying this," he chuckled coldly. Eldurin cast him a wicked grin as he went fishing through his pack for more implements of pain.
"He might learn something," the rogue murmured to Darkfang with a dark chuckle of his own. Fenuviel nodded with a faint smirk.

It was not too long after that Darkfang finally fainted from her torture, unable to cope with the pain or stress any longer. Eldurin finally released her as she did and moved back, looking towards Fenuviel. Fenuviel could not even question him before the woman stood suddenly and moved quickly towards him. Fenuviel took a step back, but he saw fear in her eyes, not anger. In his confusion, he found that she had moved to stand behind him, so that he stood between her and Eldurin. Fenuviel felt her arms snake about his waist, and felt her press against him.

"Don't let him hurt me, Fenuviel!" Ayuria pleaded. Fenuviel sighed quietly and looked up at the ceiling, remaining quiet for a long moment. He felt a distant pain and longing. Ayuria... the woman he would have loved, if he had not walked down this path. If they had both never left Kalimdor, and lived blissfully in their own ignorance. But this is what it had come to.
"I won't let him hurt you anymore," Fenuviel replied finally, closing his eyes for a moment. Her good arm tightened about his middle, and he winced as it caused a sharp pain. He was still injured from his last task. "A-Ah..! Ayuria... I am injured..." he murmured. She released him almost instantly, though without his support, she collapsed to the ground.



Fenuviel knelt beside her and looked at her wounded arm with a sigh. He pushed her sleeve back further and put his mouth to the wound, sucking away the poisoned blood and spitting it out to the side quickly. Ayuria continued to stare at him with sad eyes.
"Fenuviel, you have to find a way..." she pleaded. "You have to find a way to bring me back," Fenuviel nodded quietly to Ayuria as he finally met her gaze. He felt a deep anguish as he looked once again into the eyes of his dearest friend. He couldn't even think what to say to her. How to tell her that he wasn't who she thought he was anymore.

That he couldn't be. That Heartsong had to die.

"And if you can't-..." Ayuria continued, her eyes flickering quickly to the corner Eldurin sat in before looking back to Fenuviel. She leaned slightly closer, finishing in a hushed voice. "...then please kill me,"

"I promise I will, Ayuria," Fenuviel replied quietly, staring at the ground again, as he couldn't bear to meet her gaze. He felt her arm tugging in his grip, and let it drop limply to her side, as she had fallen into unconsciousness once more. When she awoke, Darkfang would return.

"I promise."

*     *     *

Eldurin tossed a vial of bluish liquid at Fenuviel, who quickly caught it in a gloved hand. He set it aside as Eldurin tossed a flask at him afterwards.
"That will clear her mind. And that-" he gestured to the flask as Fenuviel removed the top, sniffing at it. "- will ease the pain. It was the strongest around," the rogue grinned. Fenuviel nodded, smirking slightly. Darkmoon Ale. Fenuviel chuckled quietly.

He leant down and gently maneuvered Ayuria into his lap, propping her up with one arm as he took the first vial, preparing to pour it past her lips. He heard a soft sound of what seemed to be displeasure from the corner of the room, and heard Eldurin rise. "Back off," the rogue demanded. Fenuviel rolled his eyes and closed them, but didn't let go of her. "I said back off," Eldurin demanded again, taking Ayuria out of his arms. Fenuviel took the vial and flask and stood up, glaring at Eldurin.

"What is your problem? You want me to help, and yet you don't. If you don't cooperate with me, you'll never get what you want, whatever that is! I hold the key to bringing Ayuria back, remember that!" Fenuviel growled. Eldurin snorted in his usual stubborn manner, meaning he wasn't planning on cooperating, though he didn't have a chance to reply before Darkfang's good fist hit him squarely across the jaw.

"I suppose I deserved that," Eldurin chuckled. He tossed a vial of one of his poisonous elixirs to Darkfang, who caught it and grinned maliciously towards Fenuviel. "I won't let you kill her," Eldurin murmured, but Fenuviel said nothing as Eldurin spoke and then disappeared from sight. Fenuviel wasn't sure he was gone though. The rogue was never gone. Merely hidden. Darkfang set the vial down on the ground however and looked towards Fenuviel, holding the point of her sword at her own wounded elbow. Darkfang always took her revenge. She repaid each mark she bore, and her face and arms bore many scars. She pushed the tip of the blade into her skin, rending the flesh all the way down to her wrist.

"This will be my biggest mark yet. I don't intend to forget," she grinned. Fenuviel understood that the mark was for Ayuria. She knew that he cared for her still. That he would try to save her. "And now…" the Elf pointed the tip of her blade at Fenuviel's chest, gripping the vial in her wounded hand once more. She lifted it as though she would throw it in his face to blind him, just as Eldurin had threatened to do to her. Fenuviel swatted the tip of her sword away with his own blade, but stood frozen as he saw the vial.

But Darkfang did not lash out at him for pushing her sword away as she usually would have done for even the smallest of offenses. Instead the sword fell from her hand and clattered upon the stone floor, the vial falling as well, though it did not shatter, merely rolled away. Darkfang collapsed, and for a moment, Fenuviel heard Ayuria's voice agian.

"Run, dammit..." she whispered weakly. "Run..."

Fenuviel took one last look at his wounded friend, and with a sigh, he turned, and fled from the catacombs, out of range of her quiet voice.

"I... love you, Fenuviel…"

Shagrath

The usual murmur of talk, broken once in a while by a burst of laughter, or a drunken customer falling off his seat, made the Smoking Blade a cozy place for the citizens to spend their money and time. The tavern in the dwarven district had a laid back atmosphere to it and it was where citizens went to see and to be seen. It had opened a hour or two ago and it was already packed. Shagrath tapped his fingers on the counter impatiently waiting for yet another barkeep he had never seen before pour the drink in his mug annoyingly slowly. "Shagrath...” said a female voice behind him. He took a quick glare over his shoulder and saw Darkfang bow politely at him. Shagrath ignored her and waited until his drink was ready, paid it and turned around.
"You..." Shagrath left the word hang in the air not even trying to cover the disgust in his voice.
"Yes me", Darkfang kept her look politely at the floor and continued, "I need to talk to you, a lot has happened."
Shagrath kept the sigh inside him and took a sip from his drink, "Somewhere private I assume?" he said without waiting for an answer and started to walk towards the exit,
"Come" he added just to take out some of his frustration by bossing her around.

A strange mixture of fog and smoke filled the air in the cut-throat alley as Shagrath made his way to the empty house in there, Darkfang walking shortly after him. Sun never shun into the alley so that all the suspicious businesses run in there wouldn't be so easily revealed. Shagrath gulped down the rest of his Darkmoon Special reserve and threw the empty mug on the street. They entered the house and sat down.
"Start talking then", Shagrath laid back in his chair and pulled out his pipe from a pocket under his tabard.

Shagrath did not trust this Darkfang or Ayuria whatever she really was. She told her doubts about Fenuviel. Shagrath knew how much Darkfang would have loved to cause Fenuviel as much trouble as possible and barely listened to accusations. Shagrath interrupted her and told her not to worry about that.
"Fenuviel is completely loyal to me."
"Let's hope so..." she mumbled. On Shagrath's command Darkfang left the subject and moved on. Barely listening, Shagrath was more focused on his pipe then the elf before him until he heard a name being mentioned.
"Eldurin..."
"Bookshade..." mumbled Shagrath.
"You know him?"
Shagrath kept the small chuckle to himself and replied, "I met with him today"
"And now you're telling this?"
"It doesn't matter"

Darkfang chose not to argue and proceeded in the report and showed Shagrath her hand, wounded to the bone. Shagrath peered at the wound with an expressionless face.
"You think I care?"
"...No, but he might do something to Fenuviel as well."
Shagrath chuckled with a characteristic grin appearing on his face
"He's not that stupid. Fenuviel is under the protection of the Sphere. Attacking him would result this Bookshade and his pathetic circus to be hunted down swiftly and without mercy"
Darkfang grinned and nodded.
"Do... Do you know any good priests?" Asking help was extremely difficult for her but she knew her choices were short.
"Just remember that nothing comes for free" he said and looked her into her eyes as she nodded slowly.
Shagrath sent a word through the nether to one of his apprentices, using the power granted to him by his master and the Dark Sphere.

Few moments later Neferi rushed to the door. Laughing at Darkfang's strange request not to heal the wound completely so that it would leave a scar, Neferi proceeded with casting few words and healing the wound slowly yet not completely according to Darkfangs wish. Shagrath sent Neferi off and peered at Darkfang.
"I owe you" she mumbled.
Shagrath got straight to point and more like stated than asked: ”So you seek to join the Sphere."
Darkfang hesitated for a second, obviously caught slightly off-guard with the question.
"Yes... I have nowhere else to turn..."