The Burning

The Burning

Stormwind. The Human capital city. Nestled between the farms of Westfall, the Elwynn Forest, and Redridge's hills, it was the gem of the kingdom. The streets were filled with heroes and citizens alike, along with well-trained guards fighting back the criminals of the city. It could easily send you to the Dwarves of Ironforge by the Gnomish tram, or to the World Tree Teldrassil, where the moon-worshipping Kal'dorei made their home. No matter what they say, this was truly the heart of the Grand Alliance.

But now, a dark day has come over the land. A Doom Cult has sprung up, proclaiming that the world will end by fire. People, men in particular, have gone missing. Elementals are invading the lands, with earthquakes eternally bombarding them. The people's will is fading, and fear filled their minds. Desperate, they begged their king and the guards for something. Anything. So the leaders of Darnassus, Ironforge, Exodar, Stormwind, and the exiles of Gnomeragon came together within King Varian Wrynn's chambers.

But that is not why I came. I came for a different matter. The Order of Falsebound usually congregates within the walls, even though their halls were at the Howling Fjords. They're a persistent bunch. They have to be, with so many enemies, especially since most of the time those enemies aren't afraid of hurting their loved ones. They're also stubborn as hell. It can be good or bad, depending on what you want them to do. The sad part is that they can be easily manipulated if you know them well enough.

In a way, that's why I came. I was so damned close to knowing what happened to my daughter, Ishuna. She had mysteriously died about a year ago from the time this was written. For that long, I have pondered. I have acted. I have lied, suffered, and fought for the answers I longed for. But now... Now I am closer than I've ever been. I can almost taste it, sweet release from the pain that clutches my heart.

Arkyda, a rogue that I had housed while she was getting back on her feet after Raynne's possession, was missing. It was different this time; she had a fiancée waiting for her now. My sister in law, Shadow, had sent her to find Raynne's new hideout. She lost contact with her, and eventually her fiancée was going to go after her, against Shadow's warnings.

I knew exactly where he was going to go. Before Shadow had married, she was one of our enemies. She supposedly spawned from Moonrustle's insane conscious, declaring war upon her creator after escaping. Raynne was her companion, or partner. Whichever you preferred to call it. Gorlam, my brother though not by blood, had somehow managed to seduce her heart and tamed her for now. I suspect that it's only a matter of time before she's up to her games again, unfeeling to those who are hurt in the process.

Hadare, the fiancée, would go to the Shadow's Keep. It was where the fortress' namesake spent her time before Gorlam. Now it served as a home of broken memories and bodies. There were rumors that ghosts, in particular banshees, haunted the grounds. I think that Raynne did something with them, though.

I found Hadare in the harbor, on the ledge that overlooks the docks. He was in Northrend-quality leather armor, obviously ready to go and raid the keep. He was staring out into the horizon, somehow managing to look a bit forlorn.

Hadare turned to face me, and we exchanged a brief conversation. He agreed to come, and together we used a runestone fresh from Shadow's personal box of miscellaneous items. When we arrived at the keep, it was already raining heavily. We slunked into the faded woods around it, making our way into the forsaken halls.

Time had not been good to the Shadow's Keep. Mold was growing on the already decaying walls. Light shied away from within, even when Hadare threw a rock at one of the outer walls. It crumbled against it, providing a small but useable entrance. It was faintly disturbing, but the place was dying. Not even the animals within the woods dared to venture within. We shouldn't either, but there were questions that needed answers and lives to be saved.

The keep seemed to have been a warzone. There were old bodies on the floor, where the maggots were just beginning to feast on. They were slightly spread out, enough to walk with relative ease. I couldn't see Hadare's face, but chances are he had been a part of the carnage. There were a few doubts, though. The dead spared none; Alliance, Horde, man, woman, young, old, cultists nor civilian left the forgotten castle alive.

Hadare and I carefully stepped through them, making our way through the building. It was dark, and we could hear the rain pounding outside. Even during the day, one would often have to keep a torch on their person for the darker places of the keep. It was getting louder, the courtyard must be just ahead. With renewed vigor, I pushed the door with rusted hinges to the side and looked it over.

I lost that vigor as quickly as it came, along with the contents of my stomach.

The ground was quite literally covered with rotting corpses. The carrion had seen these dead, due to the lack of eyeballs in some. Some others had have their belly ripped open, with their entrails spilling out infront of them. The wounds that probably killed them were brutal; most of their faces, arms, and chests were melted to the bone. The survivors of the attack had tried to crawl away, only to be clawed to shreds by the vultures or eaten alive by wild beasts. None were present now, thank the Goddess for small favors.

Hadare stopped, not appearing to be as shocked as I am. He asked if I was alright, in which I said yes to after wiping my mouth off with the side of a gauntlet. Also not one of the wisest things I've ever done.

He shrugged, and as fast as we could we escaped the graveyard.

Somehow, by the will of the Gods, I persuaded him to go into the basements to look for clues on Arkyda's disappearance. I knew we wouldn't find anything, though. Atleast, nothing he would be interested in.  I was sure that the final key to the puzzle was hidden away, at the last place anyone would suspect. Within that pit, the answers for so long I have searched for lay forgotten. It wasn't much longer that I have to wait. My heart beated rapidly now, anxiety filling it to the brim.

As we made our way down the forsaken corridors, the oddest sound met our ears: an ever so soft moan. Hadare's hand went up like clockwork, motioning for us to stop and be silent. After a few moments we heard it again, a pained one. Immediately we started searching inside the deserted rooms. Most were locked, but the hinges were so rusted that it was very easy to just break them.

Suddenly, Hadare breaks down a door to the room at the end of the hall. He rushed inside, with me close behind.

On the floor, a blood elven woman laid with a flaming green imp beside her. She had bright red hair, strikingly close to fire. Her skin was a healthy color, though a bit pale. The muscles on her arms were obviously strong by the looks of it. Bloody red strokes covered her skin, appearing to be from a knife. They looked too deliberate and planned to have been from a bad fight. She moaned softly again, too delirious to notice the two night elves staring down at her. Her imp, however, did notice and freaked out. He charged a fireball and throws it at Hadare, whom easily manages to duck.

She looked familiar. Atleast, it seemed like she should be familiar. Hadare and I discussed what to do with her. He thought we should see if she knew anything about Arkyda. Puzzled, I rationed with him. There was no way she could talk with him if she wasn't hurt in the first place because of the language barrier, much less unconscious and had been tortured. He shrugged, and said to leave her.  I gawked at him, then slung her over my shoulder. The imp screeched at me in Orcish, but I ignored it. It wouldn't attack as long as I had her.

Together we continued to make our way to the basement. When we finally found it, Hadare sighed. He went in first. I set the girl down beside the doorway, where her imp was probably cursing us to hell.

My heart beated rapidly as I made my way down the stairs. It smelled of mold and of death, but within that room I was so sure that all of my questions would be answered.

It was dark down there, black as night. Luckily Hadare knew a trick, and a moment later he breathed out a straight pyre of fire. Oddly it struck something in the middle of the room, illuminating it well. It was about the size of a gnome, hanging from a rope attached to the roof. I shrugged, not particularly caring.

I surveyed the room around us. It was filled with dusty old documents, and it looked like someone was there recently. I stepped forward, going through the papers.

Blood pounded through my ears, deafening the world around me. In the back of my head, I could hear Ishuna's screams from my nightmares. They were always very intense. I never saw anything, only listened. It was like it was happening right in front of me, but the will to open my eyes evaded my grasp every time. I could feel her icy fingers clinging to my arms, begging for her mother to save her from death's clutches. I never raised a finger in her name.

Tonight, they would come to an end. Tonight, the truth would set me free. I just needed to find the right file before Hadare began to get suspicious, or pull me away from it. I wasn't sure I could of left, even if I wanted to.

"We need to go!" Hadare said suddenly. Right at that moment, I found a document labeled 'Ishuna.' Joy and fear filled me, but nevertheless I turned and began to walk to Hadare.

I had barely noticed the the fire surrounding us, or roof creaking above us. Whatever was holding it up crumbled, and it toppled onto of me.

I screamed. Every bone in my body felt like it was being burned and crushed. The air inside of my lungs turned to smoke, and the armor once used to protect my skin now branded it. It felt like the weight of the whole keep was on me, and there was nothing I could do to stop it until, finally, the Goddess Elune smiled upon me and everything faded away.



Strange how fate works, isn't it? I came here to find my daughter's murderer, and I ended up becoming the very thing I hated. I wonder what Hadare told everyone. That we were separated? Or that the blood elf killed me? Maybe he would tell them the truth, or nothing at all. I imagined what would happen when my former companions discovered my fate... But then I realized that I don't care what happens.

I feel NOTHING for them. Already their faces, their meaning, were beginning to fade from my head. Brothers, sisters, lovers, everyone. They were all LIARS! Liars who left me to die! Liars whom I would enjoyed killing, liars I would laugh at as they begged for mercy, for forgiveness...

Forgiveness? How can there be forgiveness? There cannot be, as so long as Raynne forbade it.

She was the one who saved me from that hell. She came, and at my dying breathe, she gave me a choice: Die. Or pledge my loyalty to her, and she will help me kill Ishuna's murderer.

It wasn't hard. I agreed, and now I am alive. Though nothing will take away the burns that now mark my flesh, I will fight on.

Now here I stand, waiting for them to come to their doom. It was whispered that Razeil would make an appearance as well today. I smiled gleefully, even as impatience wracked my mind.

I remember who I am now.

I am the one whose always left behind. I am the fallen knight standing at the edge of the crowd. I am a soldier of the Grand Alliance, Huntress, broken, betrayer, all of this and more.

I am Brinarr.