Whispers in the Dark Pt. 2

June 27th, in the 28th year after the Dark Portal was opened

New Avalon

Eastern Plaguelands

The voices were whispering. Always whispering.

The last thing she could clearly remember was standing on the streets of Stormwind a letter clutched in her hands and then… the oblivion of the mists overtook her and she knew nothing else. She knew the mists could not be real. She knew the towers she could just barely make out through the fog could not truly be Capital City for it had long since been lost to the Scourge.

The only thing she truly knew were the whispers in the dark.

“Awake! You are a weapon forged by the hand of the Lich King himself. Weapons do not slumber. Weapons do not dither. Weapons do not stay locked with indecision! You have a special destiny: to slay the hand of he who forged you. Kill him and those he has taken from you can rest.”

“You are not just a weapon. Awake and discover you are still human. Awake and put the past behind you. Honor those you have lost by beginning anew.”

The whispers pulled her from the mists but in opposite directions. She could not decide.

“Remember your husband. Remember your children. Remember Alanus! HE has taken them all from you.”

“Remember the red haired young woman with freckles on her nose you once were. Remember the light in your husband’s eyes and the laughter of your children. Remember Alanus’ smile.”

 “A weapon. An instrument of vengeance.”

“Human. An instrument of healing and hope.”

“Avenge them.”

“Honor them.”

Images assaulted her mind of those long stolen away from her. She screamed then and the whispers faded as they always did. Only when sorrow overwhelmed her and she screamed did they ever leave. It was almost a relief to be rid of them despite the emotional turmoil.

Thus it had been for so long that those memories of a time before had begun to fade into the distance.

Then unexpectedly something new happened.

Faylian felt something… a hand on her face? Yes, that was it… something from outside the dream had reached her. She was aware of something.

Her scream ended abruptly at the warmth on her cheek and the whispers returned.

“They can help you. Welcome them.”

“They will shatter your resolve. They must not be allowed inside.”

A presence hovered at the edge of the dream then and an image of a Kaldorei woman with antlers accompanied it. Faylian sent out a wall of pure rage and sorrow at the intruder and the presence vanished with a gasp.

Then it returned and another presence accompanied it… this one a blazing light… and behind that light a human dressed in the armor and tabard of the Scarlet Crusade?

Again Faylian sent forth a wall of her emotions but this time it was not enough. Together they were too strong. She withdrew further into the mists. Let them follow if they dared.

“That won’t stop them. Can’t you sense their love? Together they are stronger than you are.”

*screeches angrily*

The Kaldorei and the human entered the dream then and were confronted by a young woman. She had shoulder length red hair, green eyes, with just a touch of freckles on her cheeks. She wore a formal dress but she was holding her skirts up just enough to enable her to skip along the path as if she enjoyed life too much to allow such dress to constrain her.

Faylian viewed her former self with shame and disgust. Had she truly been that innocent and naïve once?

“They need to understand you if they are to help.”

“It matters not at all. When they see what you become they will look at you with horror.”

The pair introduced themselves to her younger self as Myrandriel Windmoon-Brightvalor and Andreyn Brightvalor. She introduced herself as Lady Faylian Lanstryde and asked the pair if they were here to watch Prince Menethil’s victory procession as he made his triumphant return from Northrend.

Then the mists shifted…

…and the pair were on a balcony overlooking the procession, Prince Menethil at it’s head as they marched to the King’s Palace. Across from them watching on another balcony was Lord and Lady Lanstryde, their two young children eagerly trying to get glimpses of the excitement.

Shifting once again the mists revealed…

…what was apparently once the bedroom of Lord and Lady Lanstryde. Now it was a scene of ghastly horror. The furniture was in shambles; blood was splattered across the walls and floor, and the dismembered body parts of Lord Lanstryde and the two children where everywhere. Under close inspection one would note the victims remains would appear to have been chewed on. From the handprints that could be seen in the drying blood it was not hard to deduce this had happened while the victims were still alive.