A blog dedicated to fictional short stories and role-playing across a spectrum of video-games and fantasy worlds.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Of Mercy and Revenge

((Caution: This may have some parts that are difficult to read. Viewer discretion advised.))

The sounds of combat had faded, absorbed by the surrounding tress and thick underbrush of Ashenvale's seemingly endless forest. The last ring of steel on steel was followed by the last death cry, and the clearing in which the Sin'dorei stood fell silent. Biara smiled, looking at her retainers and nodding her approval. The ambush had gone as planned, with the small Kaldorei patrol outnumbered, surrounded and crushed by her forces. She snapped her fingers, and an aid walked forward, bowing before her.

"Did they take any prisoners?" the Magistrix said, her voice a deadly calm.

"Yes, my Lady. I'll have several brought forward. We have captured nine it seems," the aid replied. Biara nodded and the elf hurried off into the surrounding trees, returning a few moments later with four guards and two Kaldorei in tow. The Kaldorei struggled as the House Dayfire guards dragged them into the clearing where the Magistrix waited.

"These two fought tenaciously side by side throughout the ambush, my Lady," the aid said, bowing again. Biara nodded, dismissing the elf with a wave of one carefully manicured hand. She walked towards the two elves, who had ceased their struggling after the guards cuffed them on the back of the heads a few times.

Biara uttered a spell and then spoke, her words coming out in perfect Darnassian. "How nice to have guests," she began mockingly. "I'm sure by now you two understand the nature of your predicament. I would advise you to provide me with the information I desire, lest there be more bloodshed today."

The two Kaldorei, a male and female, looked at each other once and then stared at Biara with hatred. "We'll never tell you anything about our people felblood. Why don't you go back to your OWN forests and terrorize someone there!"

Biara rolled her eyes and casually flicked one of her hands. The guards behind the male elf punched him in the back and then stomach several times while the Magistrix examined her nails. "That was a warning of course. I WILL find what I am looking for, I care little for your lives at this point. I want to know where the Council of Elune has taken a specific prisoner. If you tell me, you and your people will not be harmed further. If you refuse, there will be...consequences..."

The male elf looked surprised, but it was the female that shouted at Biara, "I would NEVER betray my order, and neither would he tell you a thing about the business of those who worship the goddess. Their doings are NOT your concern or right to know!"

Biara's gaze fell on the female, who shivered when she looked at the nothing lurking behind those fel green orbs. The Magistrix walked over to her, circling her like a cat might circle a cornered mouse. "Although I already suspected you were a priestess of Elune based on the magic i sense within you, thank you for confirming that fact. You WILL tell me what I wish to know. I will discover where they took my beloved Eluneairia, regardless of the costs involved. Do you understand me?"

The Kaldorei glared at her defiantly, her eyes locking with those of the Magistrix. After a time she looked away, realizing that there was nothing in the other's gaze to contest against. The blood elf had no fire of anger, no emotion in her gaze, just a cold unending chill of nothingness. There was no way to rile her it seemed. The Kaldorei's lips pressed tightly together.

"So you will not tell me hmmm," Biara purred softly. She walked over to where the male was trapped between two of her guards, smiling at him as her eyes roamed over his form. One of her hands slide across his chest as she turned to look at the female priestess again. "He's a delightful specimen isn't he? Beautiful to look at."

The priestess trembled in the grip of her guards, straining against them again. "Leave him alone!"

Biara smirked, realizing she had a way to torment the priestess. She reached up and tore the male's shirt open, her long sharpened nails sliding across his flesh. "But I haven't even DONE anything yet. And he's so delicious, wouldn't you say?" One of her nails drew a slight drop of blood as it pressed in; the male Kaldorei did not even wince or look at Biara, his eyes staying on the priestess.

"You will not convince me to tell you anything. Just let him be. We are not going to betray the goddess!"

Biara frowned as she stared at the priestess, her eyes conveying nothing. "Such a waste then. A terrible waste." Her hand slid up his chest, coming to rest above his heart. Magic flared and the elf gasped as Biara's freezing cold crept into his flesh, freezing his heart and the tissue around it solid in an instant. The elf's mouth worked a few times and his eyes rolled up into his head. He slumped over, dead.

"N-no!" the priestess shrieked.

Biara simply turned away from the now lifeless corpse, her gaze focused on the priestess. "I gave you the opportunity to save him. He is lucky in a way, he didn't suffer. Not like you. Not like you..."

The priestess thrashed violently as the Magistrix walked towards her. Biara stopped only a few inches away, close enough for the priestess to smell her perfume, to sense the terrible cold in the Sin'dorei.

"One last time," Biara said, her voice deadly calm. "Where is Elunearia Moonblade?"

The priestess scowled, her face set in a determined mask of fury. Biara's expression didn't change as she reached up, grasping the priestess' hands. She spoke a single word of magic and cold flowed into the Kaldorei, freezing her flesh. Her hands went numb, and then turned black as they were frozen beyond repair. The priestess screamed at the unbearable pain.

Biara made a 'tsking' sound as the priestess thrashed around and shrieked. "This will all end if you just tell me what I want to know."

"The Goddess will protect me!" the priestess stammered.

For the first time, Biara smiled, the expression more disturbing somehow than her lack of emotion. "The Goddess does not reward anyone for their sacrifice. I know this better than anyone." She pointed, and the priestess screamed again as her feet and legs were given the same treatment as her hands. She slumped between the guards, half frozen to death.

Biara leaned in close, her face pressed near the other elf's. "Let's see if she rewards you for protecting her secrets. Let's see if you are honored, and placed at her side, shall we?"

She leaned forward, pressing her lips to the Kaldorei's, her magic freezing the air in the other's lungs. The elf twitched once and then stiffened as her body froze solid. The guards holding her dropped the suddenly heavy weight to the ground, and the Kaldorei shattered into a thousand shards of broken, glittering ice.

Biara straightened up, looking at her two guards, her expression again an emotionless mask. "None of them will talk I suspect. That is a shame, we could have hurried this process along. "

She turned and walked into the center of the clearing, lost in thought. Finally she looked back at the guards who had been awaiting her orders. "Execute the rest of the prisoners. We'll see if their spirits are more cooperative when I summon them from beyond the grave. Somehow I suspect the threat of eternal torment will carry more weight than simple physical discomfort."

The two guards shot each other frightened glances and then bowed, hurrying off to do Biara's bidding. Moments later shrieks and the sound of metal striking flesh could be heard from the forest.

To Biara, it was like a song of vengeance, the melody sweet and satisfying.

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