Faded Hearts- Part 2

In the deepest part of the night in the stillness of Thunderbluff, Elunearia Moonblade dreamed.

A crow. A black, foreboding bird, a harbinger of death some say. It fluttered its dark feathers as it glided through the gloomy, overcast sky. It circled, flying ever lower as her eyes tracked it, watching as others joined it. Its beak, stained with what it had been eating opened, and it gave a *caw* that split the stillness of the moment. Other black forms joined it, a symphony of loss, the music of the dead and the abandoned battlefield. The murder of crows descended slowly towards the ground, her eyes never leaving them.

They settled on the paving stones of Silvermoon, the red of the decorative tiles now stained darker with the blood of those who had fallen defending it. Bodies stretched far into the distance, strewn about like so many discarded dolls left by petulant children. Everywhere she turned, the dead lay in piles, their eyes wide, staring in horror. Pools of glowing green goo coated the streets around them, the bubbling mixture hissing as it dissipated; it was the most dangerous of plague weapons, slaying its victims in agony.

She could not take her eyes from the scene, from the reality of what she was seeing. Silvermoon was destroyed. The only home she had known since her sister had made outcasts of the family. The few friends she had made, their allies, their way of life was gone in the blink of an eye, and all she could do was stare at the remains. Her eyes tracked a particularly large crow as it circled the dead, *cawing* out over its domain. It settled on a body resting against a fountain, its back against another still form as if the two had died together, trying to protect each other.

She looked closer as the fat crow pecked at the open, staring eye of the deceased and realized with horror that it was Kyliska, bloated now with her pregnancy; a child that would never be born. Beside her, her sister lay, the two having died hand in hand, trying to ward off the deadly weapons that had been employed against their city.

A choked sob escaped her, and she reached out, her hand extended before her, the skeletal, rotted fingers grasping at two friends she would never see again, never talk to or touch again. She looked at her arm, at her rotted flesh in horror. She looked down to see the rest of her in a similar state, her clothing rotted, her flesh diseased. She was Forsaken.

She whirled, and the rest of the Forsaken stood behind her, silently, obediently. They awaited a command from their general. From the undead elf that had lead them into Quel'Thalas in the Dark Lady's name to reclaim her former home for her new people, the Forsaken. She had done this, she had ordered the plague to be unleashed.

As in all dreams, Elunearia could not control her voice as her mouth opened and the words came spilling out.

"Bring the Valkyr forward. It is time they joined her realm."

Elunearia jerked away, gasping and panting in horror at the dream. The visions had come all night, tormenting her and keeping her wakeful. From images of her friends dead at her hands to other night terrors, the malevolent feeling she was getting was growing steadily by the hour. Something was terribly wrong, out in the world. She could feel its location in her mind, like a pool of darkness that needed desperately to have a light shined upon it to illuminate what hid within.

She could sense it somehow, far off in Desolace, in a valley where the dead walked freely upon the surface of the world. The darkness from there seeped outward, even to Thunderbluff. Elunearia knew it in her heart.

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On a distant mountain peak, Seluna stood perfectly still in the night. As the dream ended, her eyes opened, their color a pale blue glow. A smile flitted across her face, so filled with malice that had anyone been there to see it they likely would have attacked her on the spot just to put an end to her. She slowly released her magic, letting the shadows that connected her to Elunearia's dreams slip away slowly, leaving a tantalizing trail back to where she was.

The ground around her was parched and dry, still a ruined wasteland despite the water that flowed in Descolace now. Broken bones of beasts and dragons littered the dusty hills around her, but she paid little heed to the desolation and ruin that surrounded her; she had lost the capacity to care for beauty or its lack thereof long ago.

The priestess took a casual step forward, stopping by a patch of dry sand with bones partially exposed from the ever-present wind that had turned the canyon into this bleak wasteland. She grinned, her delicate hands coming up to form magical arcs in the air. Deep violet light surrounded her as her magic came forth, the necromantic power flaring in the air and then seeping into the ground.

The bones stirred restlessly in the sand before her, pushing their way up to form a rotted humanoid skeleton. The thing reached down, drawing a rusty old sword from the ground where it had lain. It stood silently before Seluna, patiently awaiting her orders. She smiled, her eyes roaming over the landscape for more telltale signs of ancient fallen champions.

Elunearia would be drawn to the spot soon, and soon she would find herself overwhelmed. And then....then she would make the perfect pawn in Seluna's plans against House Dayfire. The priestess gave a harsh laugh, the sound lost in the wind as it howled mournfully over the resting place of hundreds of ancient dead.

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Elunearia frowned as she drew the pack's drawstring closed. It would be heavy for long term travel, but she was not sure how long she'd have to be gone from Thunderbluff, and she wanted to make sure she had everything she might need.

It had taken her much of the day to make the necessary preparations, and soon she would be ready to depart and seek out the source of magical corruption she had been feeling. She looked at the pack again and sighed; it would be a difficult journey, with a potential battle at the end.

As she set the pack aside in her tent, she thought about telling the others of her intentions. They would worry needlessly thought, or ask to come with her and somehow she knew that exposing the others to whatever magic afflicted her would only bring harm. She could handle this problem, and by doing so show that she had a purpose outside of her former life with Biara. She would show that she could help the world, and honest people like the Tauren that had allowed her to stay within their city.

She smiled grimly. It would be time to depart soon. A short rest first would keep her refreshed for the long journey ahead.