A Daily Price to Pay

Biara leapt from her mount and dove into cover behind the barricade of wooden spikes, sliding next to the farstriders who were hugging the barricade. She winced as a flamestrike came down on the edge of the barrier, setting the ground on fire and sending several of the farstriders flying through the air from the force of the explosion.

The attack had been going on for only minutes now, but already the ground around the outskirts of Fairbreeze Village was being consumed by flickering flames and several of the valiant farstriders had been wounded. Their bodies lay in the fields just out of reach of the wooden palisades, just beyond help from the few healers that the town boasted. The victims were farstriders who were there to fight the remnants of the Scourge. People fighting what should have been a common enemy to everyone.

Another rumbling blast shook the wooden barrier as magic was called down on the defenders again. In the distance, Biara heard the sounds of a human laughing. Risking a look over the top of the defenses, she saw a human paladin striding across the field, his warhammer coming down sharply against the shield of a Sin'dorei guard that was trying to flee. The elf cried out as the heavy weapon struck him, knocking him senseless to the ground. The man laughed, shaking the hammer and letting drops of the elf's blood sail through the air as he sought out another victim.

The sight was more than she could stand.

Biara stood up and jumped smoothly over the barrier before her, magic flaring around her as her power gathered to her. The wards on her face glowed fiercely as her rage built, summoning more and more power. The farstriders at the barrier behind her shouted her name, pleading with her to return to safety, but she couldn't. She couldn't let them do this. She couldn't let more of her people suffer when all they were trying to do was protect their homes and families from the most vile of threats.

Flames rose around her as another flamestrike struck the ground at her feet. Her wards flickered into existence and the heat and fire curled away from her as she slowly walked towards her foes. Her face was set in grim determination, and her flowing robes rustled in the heat from the deadly blaze around her. She walked lithely, beautiful and deadly.

Despairing.

Why? Hundreds of years of life, snuffed out for the amusement of these drunken barbarians. Beautiful songs, lives of love, all ended for nothing. NOTHING!

The thought brought tears to her eyes, even as she raised her hand and pointed at a human female that was chanting the words to another spell. The woman became entombed in ice, her scream cut off mid-way as the ice froze the very air within her. Biara flicked her hand at the woman, and she shattered into a thousand pieces of gore. A shout rose up from behind a burning cart, and a second human in robes came out, his face a mask of rage and hate. He stared in horror at what had happened to the woman, clutching at a ring on his hand. Her mate, her husband.

You could have lived your lives together. You could have loved one another and stayed far from this place. You have thrown away a gift that some will never have. Join her in death.

Biara uttered three words and the flow of time around her changed. She became faster than the humans could ever be. Ice flowed through her veins, horribly painful but also empowering her own spells. Even as she finished speaking, an elemental made of pure water coalesced into being and began to hurl deadly bolts of magic at the man.

It took seconds for Biara's spells to pierce his defenses, and then it was over as razor sharp shards of ice pierced his chest and threw him into the nearby cart. He slumped down, his lifeblood pumping into the soil of her homeland, staining it red.

My beloved Eversong.

Her thought was unfinished as a magical hammer made of pure light slammed into her protective wards. They held for a fraction of a second, barely slowing the deadly weapon before it slammed into her side and threw her to the ground. She lay on the ground and watched the blue sky and the boughs of the trees above her spin in a crazy pattern before her vision cleared. She heard a growl as the human paladin stalked towards her, no longer laughing. No longer having the sport he came here for.

With her waning strength the Magistrix pointed, and a ring of magical runes appeared on the ground around the man. Before he could move, they activated, and a deadly circle of freezing ice surrounded him, preventing him from escaping. He opened his mouth to utter a word, likely a holy word of power, but his prayer was cut short as the farstriders from Fairbreeze feathered him with arrows, killing him before he hit the ground. Biara's attack had bought them time to regroup and organize, saving the town.

Biara let her hand drop back to the ground, her head also falling to stare back up at the sky. The pain was intense, and she likely had several broken bones. The slightest movement made her vision spin, the sky and tree boughs blurring in a swirl of color before they came back into focus. She shifted again and the pain rose up like a wave, blackness taking her vision.

She had time for one last thought before the blessed relief of unconsciousness took her.

Such is the price I pay for my people. A price I would gladly pay daily, that the Sin'dorei could have peace.