Debating the Issue

The forest was filled with the sounds of birds and animals as the sun began it's long ascent into the sky, a new day dawning in Ashenvale. The Shrine of Aessina was quiet and peaceful, a fitting place of worship for the Kaldorei who used its ancient stone arches as a focus for their devotion, and throughout each night many would come, luminescent orbs floating around the area to illuminate their acts of faith. During the day, the shrine was much more quiet, with only an occasional visit from the normally nocturnal Kaldorei. This day dawned no differently, and only a single priestess made her way amongst the tumbled stone beneath the arches of the shrine itself.

As she approached the sacred altar where she would make her devotions, a figure stepped from behind the large slab of marble. The priestess froze in shock as she took in the faded red hair, glowing fel green eyes, and magical wards on the face of the Sin'dorei that stared at her from a few feet away.

"W-what do you want?" she stammered, instantly aware that she was alone.

Biara stepped closer to the priestess of Elune, the chill in the air around her a dire warning of the danger she represented. She smiled, the expression clearly a false mask that she wore without thinking. She regarded the other elf with a look of steel in her eyes, stretching the moment of uncomfortable silence into an almost unbearable eternity of time.

"You cannot be here! You s-should leave at once!" the priestess said again.

Biara began to pace, circling the other elf like a predator sizing up its next meal. "Tell me priestess," she said in a silky smooth voice, "What is it that you think she will do for you? Do you think she will protect you? Do you think the Goddess actually cares about you?"

The kaldorei blinked in surprise, astonished that a Sin'dorei would question her faith amongst all things. "I...uh...of course She does. She grants me magic to heal the wounded, she shields me from danger with her divine power. She gives me peace."

Biara stepped closer to the Kaldorei, her body a scant few inches from the other. The priestess could smell the perfume of the Sin'dorei noble, tinged with a crisp cold scent like freshly fallen snow in the winter. She shivered as the Magistrix regarded her coldly. "And what happens when she decides to shield you no longer? What do you do when the Goddess determines that your service to her is complete, and takes from you the gifts she has given? What then?"

The priestess frowned, gaining confidence. "The Goddess would never do such a thing! She protects her servants. She rewards her faithful with peace and serenity. You simply wouldn't understand. I can feel the various conflicting forces of arcane and other magics within you. You are too busy with the noise of your own obsession to understand what Elune has to offer her faithful."

Biara paused, her eyes hinting at mounting rage as she stared the priestess down. Outwardly she appeared calm however as she replied, "What if I told you that I have personally seen your so-called Goddess cast down one of her faithful and lead her to her doom? What if I told you that all of your peace and serenity is just a thin veneer that can be torn off and cast aside at Her whim. You are nothing to her. You are just a patsy, a fool."

The priestess grew outright angry at the Sin'dorei's words. Her faith was being challenged on a personal level by one her people considered a foe! "There are no such fallen amongst our order! The Goddess does not abandon her faithful, only her faithful can turn away from the eyes of Elune! I don't know of whom you speak, but clearly the person in question was not as faithful as you claim or she would not have met such an end!"

For a brief moment, sadness crossed Biara's features and she whispered softly, "Elunearia was the most faithful of you all. Every part of her being was dedicated to Elune."

The priestess's eyes widened at the mention of the name. Biara was perceptive enough to notice.

The priestess knew of Elunearia's fate.

"Let us test your point," Biara said, her voice now a venomous hiss. The air temperature around the two plunged, and frost began to form on the tall grass to either side of the shrine. "Let us see if the Goddess abandons you. You obviously know of Elunearia's fate, so let us see if you are right."

"W-what do you mean...?" the priestess said quietly.

"It's simple," Biara purred. The look in her eyes told the priestess all she needed to know about the Magistrix's intentions. "I will try to hurt you, and you will not make a sound if the Goddess watches over you. We'll begin at once."

The priestess had time to take in a sharp breath before the very air around the two began to freeze.

Her breath would be used for screaming moments later.

********************************

Biara stepped away from the shrine, a sheen of ice covering all of the marble and killing the foliage around the structure as she passed. She could have stopped to ask the priestess some questions, to help her locate Elunearia's remains. She could have used the time to find out who had abducted her lover in the first place.

She hadn't done any of that. For a brief time, she had simply reveled in hurting someone responsible for the way she felt. It had been liberating and yet wrong. It had given her a guilty thrill and made her sad all at once.

It would not be the last time. The Alliance had to suffer for what had happened to her, for what had happened to her people. No matter what it took.