The fear still lingers

Take a look into the life of a not-so-ordninary servant of the light!

Topic/Postby Lilandris » 01 Aug 2009, 05:17

The fear still lingers

So I've had this story lying around on my laptop for a while, and tonight I decided to finish it. Enjoy!

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The fear still lingers

Lil sat down in The Pig & Whistle. All around her people were drinking, arguing and exchanging merry tales and stories of great things and not-so-great things. Lil was not in a merry mood however, all she could was sit there and stare into the half empty mug of ale she had bought herself. She thought back to what she had said to Zho the other night: “It’s been a long time since I last killed a necromancer.” The words repeated themselves in her head over and over. Suddenly she heard her mother’s voice again: “There are so many out in the world that needs your help, they’re not going to get any help while you’re sitting here staring into a mug!” “Leave it alone mother, I’m tired of people wanting me to take care of their troubles for them, it’s weak I tell you, they can’t expect me to always be around to bail them out of trouble.” Lil answered angrily, giving the passing waitress a stare not unlike the one of a snake due to the waitress raising an eyebrow at her. “And you should also know that I’m going crazy from having your voice in my head all the time, Zho may have helped me out in this matter but it’s still a big strain on my sanity.” She peered around the room from the corner under the stairs she was sitting in, to find a night elf man staring at her. “What are you staring at!?” She shouted at him, she bit her lip as the shout only attracted more curious eyes from around the bar. She sighed before emptying her mug of ale and making her way towards the exit. Lil went to the bridge between Old Town and the Dwarven District of Stormwind, she stood in the middle of it staring down into the water, again thinking of the words she had said to Zho. “Dammit, it’s about time I took care of that.” She said to herself. “I am the lightmancer, I swore to hunt down those who would raise the dead for their own unsavory purposes.” She grinned at the thought of a bar in the Mage District that was known to attract spellcasters of a more dark nature. “I wonder if the bartender there has seen anything interesting lately.” She let out a humming laugh.

The bar was more like a hole in the ground, located in the cellar of a larger building. The night grew older by each passing minute. Lil entered the bar and peered around, there was a few people dressed in black or otherwise dark colored robes sitting at different tables around the bar. She walked up to the counter, the barman gave her a surprised look; after all, her type was not common around these parts. “This is the first time I’ve seen that color of robes in here, what can I get you?” The barman asked with a rough voice while eyeing Lil up and down. “Information, seen any necromancers around these parts recently?” Lil asked. The barman laughed. “Necromancers? Sorry miss, the people that come here may be shady but they are not criminals.” The barman said looking at the mug he was cleaning. Lil pulled back her hood, revealing her yellow eyes. “Don’t play games with me.” She said calmly looking the barman in the eyes. “You don’t scare me miss.” The barman said leaning towards Lil. “Then perhaps this will make you more talkative.” Lil said and passed the barman a gold coin. “Hmm, my memory is a little hazy but I may have seen something.” The barman grinned at Lil. She sighed and passed him another coin. “Yeah, there was a man in here yesterday, said he was from Duskwood. His robe had markings on it consistent with the type of person you are looking for.” The barman pocketed the gold pieces and grinned. “That’s what I wanted to hear.” Lil said grinning back at the barman. “Did he say anything else? Like what part of Duskwood he was from?” Lil asked “Nah his type likes to keep to themselves you know? But you can probably ask around in Darkshire if anyone has seen him around those parts.”

Lil did as the barman said; she went to Darkshire to ask around if anyone had seen the man in distinct robes. Rain was pouring down from the heavens, it was always dark in Duskwood but Lil never gave it much thought as she was aware that this was a place full of evil and undeath. She didn’t bother to see if the innkeeper had seen anything, after all; said innkeeper probably saw a lot of faces passing through. Lil decided to rather go straight to those who were tasked to keep their eyes peeled for suspicious folk, the guards, or The Night Watch as they were rather called. The third guard she asked apparently had seen the necromancer Lil was searching for. “Yeah I saw a man wearing robes like that about a week ago, I figured he was just a nut-job obsessed with death or something, but now that I think of it, that IS what necromancers are.” The guard chuckled. Lil smirked and nodded. “Did you see what end of town he left from?” Lil asked. “He left southwards along the road. You should check up with the outpost we have at the junction where the road leads off towards Stranglethorn and see if they saw him. Why do you wanna find that guy anyway?” The guard eyed Lil up and down. “To give this world another shot at redemption” She answered before turning around and making her way southward.

“Nah, we haven’t seen anyone passing through here in a while.” The two guards shook their heads. “I see, but if you see anyone who fits that description, arrest him and bring him into town and I’ll deal with him from there. I’ll search the nearby farmsteads in the meantime.” Lil searched for hours upon hours, checking abandoned farmhouses, barns and looking for caves, anything that could be the necromancer’s hideout. She came to The Rotting Orchard, a place that was known to be infested with worgen. She knew the worgen were watching her from the shadows, but for some reason they kept their distance. Suddenly she heard a noise not unlike the creaking of a door. She hid quickly and peered around, there, in the shadows, Lil saw a man opening a trapdoor hidden under a fake grass mat. It was dark, but he was clearly wearing black robes. “I got you now.” Lil said to herself in a low voice. After the man had gone down the trapdoor and closed it, Lil walked towards it. She fumbled around a little while in search for the handle on the trapdoor. She found it and pulled the trapdoor open, there was a ladder leading down into a narrow hallway. The hallway, to Lil’s surprise, consisted of decent architecture not unlike that of dwarven standards. At the end of the hallway there was a large room, it was furnished enough to indicate that there was more than one person living there. Unlike the hallway, the room itself was more like a cave. There were bones piled up around the room and in the corners. At the end of the room, the man in black robes stood behind a desk with his back to Lil, searching through a bookcase. He was an unusually tall and burly man, Lil pictured herself most necromancers as either old or frail or both. “So… You thought you were going to avoid retribution did you?” Lil said, crossing her arms. The necromancer laughed. “Oh I get it, you’re another one of those self-righteous adventurers who seek to cleanse Duskwood aren’t ya?” The necromancer turned around flashing a toothy grin. “Well let me break it to you missy, Duskwood is beyond healing, there is nothing you can do.” The necromancer laughed again. “Duskwood’s fate is of no interest to me, what does matter however is that you still draw breath.” Lil’s eyes flashed when she finished her sentence. The necromancer’s eyes went completely black as he summoned his minions from the bones and body parts scattered around the room. With a motion of his hand the minions charged at Lil. She closed her eyes and started singing a divine song, the minions stopped in their tracks and disintegrated as she finished the verse, the lesser creatures that they were. “You’ll have to do better than that.” She said calmly. “Very well.” The necromancer replied and started chanting spells. Lil did the same thing and it evolved into a mayhem of shadowbolts and holy fire. Not long after, much of the furniture was on fire and the heat spread through the room. The necromancer summoned up a greater ghoul which grabbed a chair. Lil shielded herself just in time before the chair was used in an attempt to crush her spine. The necromancer stood there, laughing, as he watched Lil’s struggle with the ghoul. “You cannot hope to win!” He shouted at her, the voice echoed through the room. Lil finally managed to let off a spell at the ghoul, holy chains appeared and constricted the ghoul so it couldn’t move at all. Lil kicked the ghoul so it fell onto flaming pieces of wood from broken furniture, not being a good hand-to-hand combatant, her balance betrayed her, and she fell to the ground. The necromancer was getting impatient; he walked with quick steps over to Lil who was stumbling to her hooves. Lil turned her head towards the necromancer only to see a fist coming at her with a tremendous speed and power. Lil stumbled across the floor from the blow to her face. She was bleeding from her nose. The man grunted loudly as he gave Lil a punch to the ribs, Lil could hear a sickening crack as one of her ribs broke, she felt like she was going to vomit. “I’m going to enjoy watching hope fade from your eyes, draenei.” The man grabbed Lil’s throat with both hands, strangling her, letting his hateful gaze meet with Lil’s. She gasped for air, thoughts ran through her head at great speed. Was this the end? Would she finally pay for her own sins? She looked towards the ceiling; there was a wooden chandelier with lit candles on it hanging above them, untouched by the battle that had taken place beneath it. She gazed at the light emanating from the candles, she was about to pass out, with her last bit of strength she lifted her arm towards the chandelier. She made a motion with her wrist, a shock of holy energy shot out from her fingertips. She closed her eyes and prayed: “Light grant me luck.” The chandelier’s chain broke and it fell toward them, it was just as likely to kill Lil as it was to kill the burly man strangling her.

The necromancer was struck by the heavy chandelier and ultimately released Lil from his deadly grip. Lil was only hit in the shoulder by the chandelier luckily enough, though she suffered a broken arm and collarbone as a result. She crawled away from the chandelier, coughing as she gasped for air to find its way back into her lungs. Blood was seeping from a crack in the necromancers head. She rose to her knees and thanked the light for her life. She struggled to stand up, her wounds were grave, her way of serving the light restricted her comprehension of it’s magic to mostly aggressive spells, therefore her healing spells were not as powerful as those of real priests; she was going to need help to fully recover. Every move she made caused her to grimace in pain, the walk back to Darkshire was going to be a long one. She climbed up the ladder with her non-broken arm, her legs were thankfully still able to carry her. The worgen were still watching her as she made her way out of The Rotting Orchard, she was afraid, she knew that if the worgen decided to make their move she would not be able to take them on.

Lil finally made it back to Darkshire, she was safe. However, she succumbed to the pain and passed out in a puddle of water in the middle of the town square. The few people who were out in the rainy weather gathered around Lil’s body, she wasn’t moving, a guard knelt down beside her and checked for a pulse.

Lil found herself surrounded by white smoke, the sound of A’dal’s song filled her ears. She took a deep breath, there was a smell of freshly picked flowers, she looked around but she couldn’t see any flowers, only smoke. Suddenly, the sound of children playing and laughing, a mirror hanging in mid-air, she stared at the image of herself in the mirror, the tattoo in her forehead was gone. “What is this place?” Suddenly she heard her mother’s voice: “Lil…” She turned around and saw a strange silhouette walking towards her. The silhouette gently placed its hands on the sides of Lil’s head and kissed her forehead. The silhouette vanished and Lil could see her mother’s hut like it stood in Terokkar forest. She walked inside, she could see herself and her mother, their lips were moving but she couldn’t hear any voices. Her mother was pointing her gun at the image of Lil, just as it had come to pass that day in the forest. Her mother pulled the trigger, the sound of gunfire was louder than it had been in the forest, Lil covered her ears with her hands and closed her eyes. She opened them again. The sound of children laughing had changed to children crying. Before her stood a young boy dressed in rags, he had scraped his knee. The boy looked up at Lil with tears in his eyes, “I miss my mommy!” the boy stuttered between sobs. Lil knelt down and looked into the boy’s eyes. “Don’t worry, mommy will always be with you.” Lil said to the boy. “Where? I don’t see her, Liar!” The boy shouted back at her before vanishing. Again she heard her mother’s voice: “Lil… It is not yet your time Lil.” “Mother!” Lil’s voice echoed. “Where am I? I’m scared.” “Your task is far from over, Lil.” Lil heard the cry of an eagle, she looked up. She could see an eagle soaring above her. “What’s going on?” the fear in Lil’s voice was almost palpable.

Lil woke up in a bed at the inn in Darkshire. There was a woman sitting next to the bed. She had golden blonde hair tied in a ponytail, and oval glasses that were sitting on the tip of her nose. “Ah, awake are we?” The woman had a somewhat cheerful voice, though it was apparent that she was serious at this moment. She pushed her glasses further up on her nose with her index finger and leaned closer. Lil tried to speak. “Don’t try to talk.” The woman gave Lil a stern look. Lil spotted a jug and a glass on a table, she assumed the jug contained water. Lil raised her arm and pointed in the general direction of the table. The woman smiled at Lil, she got up and fetched the jug and glass from the table. The jug did in fact contain water, Lil had never been this relieved to wake up before, and she had never been this happy for a glass of water either. The woman poured water into the glass, she lifted Lil’s head up slightly and put the glass to Lil’s lips, the water wasn’t cold; it had probably been standing there for at least a day. Swallowing hurt, but Lil didn’t care about the pain; all that mattered was that glass of water. Lil coughed. “Easy now.” The woman put the glass and jug on the floor. “H.. How long was I gone?” Lil asked with a hoarse voice. The woman frowned a little as Lil spoke, she sighed. “Five days. You are lucky to be alive, miss.” The woman gave Lil another stern look. “The others in this town didn’t dare touch you, they have all heard the rumors of the draenei with the creepy yellow eyes, hmph, typical townsfolk.” The woman sighed again. “You’re not from around here?” Lil asked. “Oh, I am. It’s just that I take anything spoken in whispers with a pinch of salt, some people said you were evil, some said you weren’t. I figured I would find out for myself, any life is worth saving if you ask me.” The woman smiled again. “The name is Beatrice by the way. May I ask yours?” “Lilandris, you can call me Lil. And thanks for saving my life.” Lil tried to smile but just ended up grimacing instead. “Oh, the light must have done its part aswell, Lil.” Beatrice said. Lil nodded. “It must have been quite a nightmare you had while you were gone. You couldn’t lie still at all, it was quite difficult to apply bandages to your arm and various cuts. But don’t worry, it’s over now.” Beatrice smiled. “Yet the fear still lingers.” Lil said as she gazed out the window.

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Feedback is appreciated as I want to make a living off my writing some day. It may be a bit comma heavy and there is one cliché in there, so you don't have to point that out... All feedback is appreciated, good or bad.
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Lilandris
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Topic/Postby Lilandris » 09 Aug 2009, 02:40

Alright, decided to continue on the story so here is part 2... it's a little more spaced out now so it should be less heavy to read I reckon. Enjoy!

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Lil decided to stay in Darkshire until she had recovered, not that there was much of a choice she had. The lack of priests or proper doctors ensured that the wounds would take their time to heal. The only contact she had with the outside world was through Beatrice, not that there was much need for this, Lil felt that she needed time alone to rest and not least reflect on the strange dream she had before she woke up. Days passed before she finally decided to get up and get some fresh air.

- “Up and about are we?”
Beatrice smiled as Lil came walking down the stairs.
- “Yeah, I needed some fresh air.”
Lil didn’t smile back; she didn’t feel like it.
- “Of course dear, you’ve been up in that bed for quite a while now. You want some company?”
Lil shrugged, it was easier now that the pain in her shoulder was beginning to fade.
- “Is something bothering you?”
Beatrice asked as she gave Lil a concerned look.
- “Sort of, can we sit outside?”
- “Yes, of course.”

Lil and Beatrice sat down on a bench outside the entrance to the inn, it was cold and it had recently rained.
- “I wonder, does anyone remember the days before Duskwood fell into darkness, or has it perhaps always been like this? It would explain the name at least.”
Lil peered skywards while talking.
- “Oh, Duskwood was only recently corrupted, there are a lot of rumors around it, and I don’t know which one is right, though the one I believe in is that it has something to do with a night elf woman who came through here carrying a scythe of some sort, this scythe was apparently a powerful artifact. It is rumored to be somewhere out in the forest, feeding the corruption. And that is why the sun never shines down here.”
Beatrice cleared her throat after she was done speaking.
Lil nodded. – “I see.”
- “But tell me, what is it that’s bothering you?”
- “I just need an opinion on that nightmare I had.”
Lil turned her head towards Beatrice, there was sadness in Lil’s eyes.
- “Speak your mind dear, I’m here to listen.”
Lil described the dream to Beatrice, she had a look of concern on her face while Lil was talking.
- “One of the things that bothers me about this nightmare is that it is so crystal clear, unlike normal dreams where you barely get a hold of what’s going on.”
Lil sighed to herself.
- “Hmm, maybe it wasn’t a dream at all, a strange out-of-body experience perhaps?”
Lil pondered Beatrice’s suggestion for a moment.
- “No, it must have been a dream, the tattoo in my forehead was missing and I still have it now.”
Lil rubbed her forehead.
- “Aye, that’s true. A vision then? Visions aren’t necessarily bound by time and space, maybe phrases such as past and future are irrelevant in this ones case.”
- “Now that would make more sense. But what was it trying to tell me?”
- “I would think that it’s trying to tell you several things. Maybe it’s trying to tell you to forgive yourself for your deeds, both those of the past and those yet to come. And when it comes to the little boy, maybe it’s telling you not to go against yourself, speak the truth when it has its place.”
- “I am not bound by morals, nor will I ever be.”
- “Perhaps, but are you sure you’re not lying to yourself?”
- “Damned sure.”
- “Don’t take my word for it though, you know yourself far better than I do, you said yourself that you just wanted a second opinion, and now you have one. Nobody said that what I said was correct.”
Beatrice smiled at Lil, Lil smiled back.
- “Come on, let’s get you something to eat dear, you must be starving.”

Lil and Beatrice went back inside to eat. The chef had a strange look in his eye when he placed the two plates on the table, crab cakes.
- “Enjoy!”
The chef grinned at Beatrice as he made his way back towards the kitchen. Lil didn’t waste any time, she dug into the crab cakes.
- “These crab cakes are delicious, but where did he get the crabs from, Westfall?”
Beatrice grinned and leaned a little closer.
- “They’re made out of spider legs.”
Lil choked, she took a big swig from her mug of moonberry juice. The chef stood in the doorway to the kitchen, grinning and snickering to himself, Lil sent him a poisonous look.
- “I shouldn’t have said that should I?”
Beatrice frowned.
- “No, you shouldn’t have.”
Lil lowered her eyebrows at Beatrice before frowning, pushing the plate away.
- “I’m gonna go to bed again.”
- “Alright, sleep well.”

Lil sat in bed a while, writing in her diary. She hadn’t done that in a while. Not that she was planning on doing it regularly again; she would do it to get things off her mind sometimes. Before too long she slammed the book shut and put it on the nightstand. She took a look around the room before blowing out the candle that also stood on the nightstand.

Lil slept for maybe two hours before she woke to abnormal sounds in her room, she sat up and was shocked to see ghosts walking around, she wasn’t scared, ghosts were a normal occurrence in Azeroth, especially after the rise of the scourge and others who dealt in death. What made her uneasy was that these weren’t just souls or ectoplasm floating about, it was clear images of the past, things she had done, things she could have done, it was like her thoughts had escaped from her head and spilled onto the floor. She blinked, and they were gone. Lil tried going back to sleep, but she was too shook up to fall asleep, her mind was not at peace now. She realized it was pointless to stay in bed so she got up and got dressed. She tip-toed down the stairs, careful not to wake anyone up, There was a grandfather’s clock near the entrance, the time was four in the morning. Lil sighed and walked over to the bar, she poured herself a mug of ale and left a few silver coins on the counter before walking over to the corner of the room and pulled up a chair to sit on.
- “So now what, I just sit here, waiting for time to pass me by?”
- “No use going back to sleep, I-…”
Lil stopped as she realized she was talking to herself. I’m not that crazy yet She thought to herself. She released her pipe from its strap in her belt. She studied it for a few seconds before filling it with tobacco and lighting it. Lil sat in her corner the rest of the night, smoking and sipping ale, trying not to think too much.

The innkeeper and his wife came downstairs the next morning. They eyed Lil suspiciously as she sat in her corner, still smoking. Lil looked at them with tired eyes before yawning and stretching her arms.
- “Couldn’t sleep.”
The innkeeper nodded and walked over to the bar, he spotted the silver coins on the counter.
- “I reckon these are for that mug of ale?”
Lil nodded before standing up, she went upstairs to pack her belongings.

Beatrice appeared in the doorway of Lil’s room not long after she had started packing.
- “Leaving?”
Beatrice studied Lil through her oval glasses.
- “Yes, I cannot stay in Duskwood much longer; I fear this place is starting to get to me.”
- “But you haven’t recovered fully yet!”
- “I know, but I don’t think I will ever recover if I stay in this place much longer, I’m heading back to Stormwind.”
- “I see.”
Lil put on her backpack and took her walking staff, the staff was more rather a long, solid stick she had found on her way back to Darkshire. Lil made her way towards the door.
- “Beatrice, you have my thanks for watching over me these last few days, you have been a great help.”
Lil shook hands with Beatrice.
- “Don’t worry about it. If you ever come back to Darkshire, don’t be a stranger.”
- “I won’t.”
Lil went downstairs and walked over to the bar where the innkeeper was standing.
- “Do I owe you anything for my stay here?”
- “Nah, I owed Beatrice a favor so you don’t have to pay me anything.”
The innkeeper smiled at Lil.
- “Alright, thank you.”
Lil made her way northwards out of Darkshire, heading towards Redridge, she was very tired due to lack of sleep, but she had to keep going.
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Lilandris
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