The Unnatural Combination of the Holy and the Profane

[Gergel]

"Meet me in the Cathedral tonight. Lilandris." was what the message said.

There she was, back at that place. The last time she had been here, it had been an incredible sight. An enormous golden shining structure made entirely out of ghosts or spirits that only she could see. Each moving in its own trajectory among the others, so not a single spot of the vision of the Cathedral stood still for a moment. Once the artifact she had been carrying was destroyed, the building returned back to its ordinary state. Its boring state.

Thelarwen felt slightly uneasy. The holyness made her physically uncomfortable, like being slightly too close to a fire, except the fire was everywhere and heated her skin uniformly. She ignored the sensation and walked in. Her feet were still injured from the burns she had suffered a few days earlier in Westfall. The only outward sign of her discomfort was a slight limp.

"YOU! You shouldn't..." a young priest was about to accost her at the entrance (no doubt sensing her unholiness), then came to a sudden dead stop once he got a good look at Thelarwen. This happened to be a mere step away from her. The woman was towering above the priest. In her armor she must have been a head taller and quite a bit wider. The young man's frightened stare ran down from her icy eyes that shone from the slit of her helmet, to her massive armour, to the prominent Argent insignia on her suit and tabard.

"Ahhh..." was the only thing he was capable of saying as he moved out of her way. Thelarwen said nothing and walked into the Cathedral proper.

Lilandris was standing before the altar. Probably sensing the death knight the same way the priest had, she turned and smiled. The sword was lying on the altar and Lilandris retrieved it with slight effort.

As she approached her, Thelarwen removed her helm. "Lilandris. Good evening."

The draenei did not respond immediately. Wordlessly she lifted the heavy sword and drew it from its scabbard. Its truesilver blade seemed to glimmer with holy light as the rays of evening's sun touched it. Lilandris held the grip towards Thelarwen.

She reached out carefully. The burning sensation of the Cathedral was amplified considerably near the blade. When the Cathedral's atmosphere felt like standing close to a fire, being near the sword felt as though it were glowing red-hot. The handle, however, wrapped in the layer of Voidwood Thelarwen herself had carved, emitted an aura of nothingness. Like a hole in space. A gauntleted fist grasped the hilt and Thelarwen lifted the sword from Lilandris' hands.

Lilandris said: "'Upon the pedestal were these words: I am the sword, mightier than the hand that wields it'."

She did not recognize the quote.

"It should be quite safe for you to wield as long as you keep your hands on the grip or the guard," the Lightmancer continued. "The blade itself might singe you."

That much was obvious. The holy aura was powerful enough to probably vapourize any lesser undead that came in contact with it. "I do not intend to ... cuddle naked with it," Thelarwen said perfectly seriously. The statement made Lilandris do a double-take, however. "I will be careful not to stumble upon it," the death knight clarified.

Lilandris pondered this for a moment and decided to just continue. "Notice that it sings when you swing it."

Thelarwen made an experimental swing. She was careful not to upset the priests too much. There was a strange almost inaudible humming and whispering sound. Not unpleasant, but not something one would want to hear up close as a holy blade lops off one's head. "I am more interested in the sounds the undead will make as I strike them down with this," she said politely.

Lilandris stated: "Ethereal and fleshbound alike, they will be singed by the sword's cut."

"We will see. A part of me hopes that next week we will meet something... nasty... when we are traveling again."

"I can pretty much guarantee it," the priestess grinned. She pulled her revolver and spun its cylinder around with a swipe of her hand. "It will probably be a lot of fun then."

The death knight nodded and turned towards the exit. "May we leave? The very strong presence of the Light in this place is... slightly uncomfortable."

To the relief of both herself as well as the priesthood, Thelarwen exited the building followed by Lilandris. The two women stopped on the stairs and Thelarwen prepared for departure.

"Thank you for this," she bowed before Lilandris. "If there is anything I can do to repay you, I am at your service." The other just smiled with a sudden mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"You know," the draenei said, and Thelarwen looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "There might be... I know you don't really do the whole social thing... But..."

The human said nothing.

"The other day me and Aroona decided that we will tie the knot..."

"Do you wish for me to procure rope?..." then the meaning caught up with her. "Ah. Apologies. You mean marriage. Congratulations." With her usual cool even tone, she might as well have been reading out of a mathematics textbook.

Undaunted, Lilandris continued: "We haven't set a date or made any proper plans yet... But I want you to be there. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to be a bridesmaid," she grinned wickedly. The idea of Thelarwen in her usual full set of heavy plate armour with a white fluffy and frilly dress on top of it was... well, hilarious.

"I wish for you to be there to witness the occasion. I consider you my friend after all."

Thelarwen said nothing. Which might have been a good thing, as she was not flat-out rejecting the idea.

"I shan't force you if you really don't want to... And I don't expect you to show up for the after party."

Still she received no response. The death knight was just standing there staring at her with her usual unblinking gaze. Lilandris turned and began to walk towards a distant tavern where Aroona would be waiting. She added over her shoulder: "You'd better be there or I will smite when you least expect it," with a mischievous tone.

Thelarwen followed her with her eyes.

"Consider it repayment for the sword!" she shouted before turning a corner.

It had been so much simpler just a few months ago. All she needed to concern herself with was the undead, or the occasional demon horde. The Crusade pointed her like a sword, and she did the cutting.

But now... "Friends."

As if the little white gnome who had kept hugging her silently was not enough.

Making relationships never made anything simpler or easier.

Still. She would need to attend the wedding. As a repayment for the sword, Lilandris had said. Yes. That would be the only reason.