Rumors and Allies

From the vantage point on the wooded hill above, she could see the activity within Splintertree Post with ease. Celessiel's glowing blue eyes squinted as she tried to make out details of the distant figures moving about below where she watched. While the outskirts of the post were under constant attack from the Kaldorei, within its protected walls the orcs and their allies continued their business uninterrupted. It was this business that brought Celessiel to Ashenvale and to the forests surrounding the post.

As Tylirel and later Sydeirs had indicated, a large number of House Dayfire guards could be seen moving about within the perimeter of the post. Many of them were involved in the movement of equipment and crates to the storage caves within the wooden palisades. This would not have been overly concerning to Celessiel, except for the large object sitting squarely in the center of the post; a plague tank.

Why does House Dayfire have a plague tank, and why have they moved it to Ashenvale?

Celessiel's face creased into a frown as she pondered the question. Certainly House Dayfire had access to a variety of resources that the mistress of the House could tap into, but why a plague tank, and what was in all of the crates being delivered to the area? That Tylirel knew of this was no surprise; the elf was still a spy within the spire after all. What had Sydeirs known of it though? With his many connections and obvious ability to create poisons and plagues, the question became more important to the tiny death knight. Was the Sin'dorei playing both sides in a dangerous game amongst the Houses? Did he even contemplate why House Dayfire should not possess such equipment, or the threat it would pose to the rest of the city?

She closed her eyes, remembering her encounter with the scoundrel in Dalaran. He was not the elf she remembered, that much was certain. He had treated her with disdain in one moment, and as if she were a plaything in the other. Her fists clenched unnoticed in the soil before her as she continued her vigil over the post below her.

I think I preferred it when he couldn't speak. At least then I could image that he was a friend, or that he actually had some sort of emotions behind the wall of silence. With his words comes the cutting truth; he thinks of me just as anyone else who encounters me does. I should have known better than to think he would be my friend.

The elf's words echoed in her mind, that self-serving grin on his face as he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "You're dead Celessiel. Time to face facts."

She angrily shook her head; it didn't matter what Sydeirs thought. It didn't matter if his behavior was unexplainable. He was a contact, a job that she had to do to help her people and Quel'Thalas.She didn't care if he saw her as a living, breathing person with feelings or if he simply considered her a reanimated thing; she'd still fight and bleed for what she believed in, despite his words.

As the boredom of watching the relatively peaceful portion of Splintertree Post set it, her thoughts wandered away from the Sin'dorei and on to a letter she had received from a fellow death knight calling himself Thorn. The senior death knight had been kind, sending her gifts and offering aid if she needed it, but she was suspicious. She was not one of those who had been freed at Light's Hope Chapel. For this Thorn to know of her meant that the upper command of the Knights of the Ebon Blade were watching her, and that would make anyone nervous. She was likely not trusted, and would never rise in the ranks of that order; she wasn't even sure she wanted to really.

Celessiel smirked as she thought about the situation. Mistrusted by the living, mistrusted by my own order; maybe Sydeirs was right. I AM dead. All that is left is the shell of what I was to be reviled by friend and foe alike.

Twigs snapped in the foliage behind Celessiel and her eyes widened in alarm. She rolled over on her back, facing into the forest from her prone position on the hill and saw three orcs staring back at her through the leaves. She groaned; surely Knight Thorn would not have allowed enemies to sneak up on him. The upper ranks of her order had an uncanny knack of knowing where the living were around them at times.

The orcs paused, weapons raised as they appraised her. They inched closer, the lead orc looking her over before speaking gruffly. "You're not a Kaldorei, but you look enough like one to be skewered if you're not careful. Why are you up here, spying on our post?"

Celessiel breathed a sigh of relief; the orcs were from Splintertree's garrison. She answered softly, "I'm not spying on your post. I'm merely scouting to ensure that enemies are not lurking about in the forest."

The orcs scoffed at her, shaking their heads. The leader opened his mouth to speak again when a hissing sound followed by a thud interrupted him. The orc to his right pitched forward, a Kaldorei arrow in his neck. The orc stared wide-eyed at the corpse for a moment before shouting.

"She's with the Kaldorei! Kill her and fall back to the camp!"

Immediately the other remaining orc howled and charged forwards towards Celessiel. The leader of the orcs whirled as two Kaldorei Sentinels whirled from the forest around them, blades slicing through the air. He desperately defended himself as another Kaldorei stepped out, already chanting the words to a spell.

Celessiel took in the charging orc and the menace of the Kaldorei in a glance, her eyes wide with shock. "Oh fuck..."

The orc's sword came down and she rolled, her lithe form dodging the attack. Instantly her combat instincts took over, and a hand shot down to draw her runeblade. It flared with magic as it was unsheathed and the glittering blade came up in time to parry a second wild slash at her head. Her runeblade, etched with runes of death, blood, and frost shattered the orc's sword as the two met. Pieces of metal flew away, pattering into the foliage around them. The orc stared stupidly at the hilt of his ruined weapon as Celessiel darted forward and brought the pommel of her runeblade down on his head, knocking him out cold.

She jumped over the unconscious orc, her eyes taking in the scene before her in an instant. The lone orc was desperately trying to keep the slashing blades of the two sentinels away from him as the third Kaldorei was nearing the completion of her spell. It was likely that the effect would be detrimental to the health of Celessiel's only standing ally, and her combat reflexes took over.

She pointed at the spellcaster and dark magic wrapped around the other's neck, choking the life from her. She gagged, sinking to her knees in the lush forest and Celessiel felt a thrill surge through her as the elf suffered. She shook her head, trying to force the evil feeling down; it was part of the curse of being what she was, she would always feel a need to kill and torture her enemies. That didn't mean she had to accept it however.

The orc fell back, a gash across his arm as one of the Sentinels scored a hit. She tried to follow-up the attack only to find her body wrapped in dark tendrils of purple magic. She was unceremoniously yanked through the air to land before Celessiel. The death knight's runeblade plunged through her belly and the elf gasped as her flesh froze around the wound.

Celessiel closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the other elf die even as her body felt another jolt of thrill from the act. She whispered quietly as she slipped the elf from her blade. "I'm so sorry.."

With only one opponent left to face, the orc commander pushed the last Sentinel back as he regained ground. Celessiel rushed forward, her own dark magic aiding the orc to weaken the Sentinel as she desperately tried to flee. The orc waited until she had gained some distance, running towards the cover of the woods before he threw a hand-axe. The blade glittered in the air as it spun, slamming into the Kaldorei's back and crushing her spine. She fell with a thud into the leafy undergrowth.

The orc whirled, his blade coming up to defend himself from the death knight. He paused in surprise as she saw Celessiel plunge her blade into the soil and hurry towards the fallen orc that had been shot by the Kaldorei. Gently Celessiel knelt beside the dead orc, pulling the arrow from its neck and ignoring the gore that soaked her leg armor. Her blue eyes closed and she reached out, her hand in the air above the orc.

As the commander stared in disbelief, deep purple light seeped through Celessiel's clenched fingers. The temperature in the air around them plunged and the shrieking wails of dead and lost spirits filled the small area of the forest where they stood. Wisps of trailing specters seemed to swirl around Celessiel as she concentrated, her eyes opening and looking distant as if she could see something that no one else could see.

With a sudden motion, she jerked her hand down and slapped it against the fallen orc's chest. The shrieks and wails cut off instantly as her power slammed into the orc, forcing his fled spirit back from the realm of the dead. He coughed up the blood that had been in his windpipe, the wound partially closing and oozing painfully. The wounded orc groaned, and the commander rushed forward to kneel beside Celessiel.

The wounded orc's eyes opened, and the commander looked at Celessiel, clearly wanting to thank her. She didn't even acknowledge him, rising silently and retrieving her runeblade from the now-frozen soil where it resided. Without another word she walked from the area, her footsteps fading into the sounds of the forest around them.

Maybe she would seek out Knight Thorn after all; he likely would be able to guide her to some degree. At the very least he'd understand what she was.

No, what I've been forced to become.

The distinction made very little difference to the Quel'dorei as she thought about how very close she'd come to simply killing all of the orcs to sate her bloodlust. Control was key, and was the only thing left of Celessiel Dawnleaf in the cursed form that she now inhabited. It was the last barrier against the ultimate corruption of her spirit.