Touch of the Sha

Alleriel moved fitfully in her sleep, her face slipping into a frown as she tossed and turned in her bedroll. She lay on the open ground of the Krasarang Wilds, the beautiful stars of Pandaria glimmering over her head. The day had been spent making contact with the locals and learning more of their culture. It had been filled with many long treks across the beautiful landscape, and Alleriel had been glad to finally find a place to rest.

As she slipped into a deeper, troubled slumber, the Sha began its attack on her powerfully focused mind. She dreamed, and in her dream, she remembered a time several years past...

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The corridor was long and dark, with only a few magical lanterns to light the way now. Once it had been bathed in illumination, the bright lights showing off the beautiful tapestries lining the walls and the plush furnishings that had been placed in alcoves along the way.

Now though, the estate had fallen on hard times. With the fall of the Sunwell, the Quel'dorei had suffered terribly, both in lives lost and in the loss of the magic that sustained them all. Although Alleriel knew the hallway in which she found herself, it was hard to believe that only a few months before it had been a proud representation of House Dawnflame's power.

Built in an area of Silvermoon City that had more open spaces, the manor house was connected directly with the great wall that had encircled the city. During the Scourge invasion, it had been a near thing that Alleriel's betrothed, Lenius, had been able to lead his servants and people to the ships that House Sunhaven had prepared to flee the hordes of undead. Thanks to the quick thinking of all involved, many lives had been spared that otherwise would have been lost.

By the looks of things now though, the lives that had been saved had only been consigned to a slow death rather than the swift destruction that the Scourge had promised. Over the previous months, the members of House Dawnflame had slowly sunken into the grip of the Thirst that all of them keenly felt after the Sunwell's loss. Although Alleriel had done all she could for Lenius's people, there was little she could do other than try and teach them the new ways of the Sin'dorei in the hopes that they would be able to control themselves.

It had been hard, becoming Sin'dorei and following the new methods the Prince had shown them. It had caused a schism, and many Quel'dorei had left Quel'Thalas forever as a result. Alleriel's own parents had been amongst the exiled, and try as she might she still missed them dearly, especially now given what she saw.

She took a few hesitant steps down the hallway, her finely made dress shifting with the movements of her body. The dress, and its wearer, had seen better days. It marked her as a Magistrix, but the weary expression on her face, the loose threads on the garment, and the locks of her golden hair that had escaped their bindings all pointed towards many long, sleepless nights as the new Scion of House Sunhaven tried to cope with the disaster that had befallen her people.

As she began to move, Alleriel saw that the situation in House Dawnflame's estate was worse than she had remembered during her last visit. The alcoves had not been dusted or cleaned in many days, the magical brooms and other arcane devices that would normally handle such tasks having fallen silent and dead. Alleriel grimly continued on down the hallway, trying to put the implications of the missing items out of her mind.

She exited the corridor to find herself striding across a raised platform with a balcony overlooking a grand entrance hall down below. What would normally have been glowing chandeliers now hung dull and almost light-less, their magic drained and never renewed. Alleriel also tried to ignore this ill omen, picking up her pace and passing the top of the grand staircase that would have lead down to the entry hall below. Ahead of her another corridor opened, winding into the darkness of the estate and leading her towards her destination. Somehow, she already knew what she would find, as if she had been here before.

She came up to elegantly carved double doors, their golden handles glinting dully in the darkness of the corridor. On the floor before the closed barrier were several bits of cloth; discarded clothes and what appeared to be a few valuables wrapped in a discarded window-drape. Clearly some of the servants had begun to abandon the structure, or at the very least order had begun to decay.

Alleriel took a deep breath, her hand extending towards the door handles. Her fingers rested on the latch and she gave a wry smile; the manicure she'd had was long since chipped, and it was likely she would never again have the luxury or time to spend on such frivolities. Not when her own servants and retainers needed her. With a sigh, she twisted the handle and pushed the doors open.

As the doors creaked opened, no longer properly maintained, they exposed a darkened room beyond. In happier times, Lenius's bedchambers would have been brilliant with magical light and the light of the sun coming in through the tall stained glass windows at the far end. Now though, the drapes had been closed tightly over the sparkling glass, blocking out the sun's light. The magical lanterns that had once glowed warmly now sparked dully, giving off almost no illumination. With great hesitation now, Alleriel slowly entered the room.

She knew what she'd find there.

Her eyes, newly fel-green from the absorption of 'alternate' magic sources, adjusted slowly to the dim light, until she could finally make out the bed on the far end of the room. As she knew she would, she saw two figures upon its soft surface, Lenius and one of his servant girls. Her heart skipped a beat.

“Lenius..?” her voice was timid, hollow. All of the joy and energy had been drawn from it. She stepped closer, already knowing what she would find. He lay there, his arms around the girl, his lips locked with hers. Under normal circumstances she would have been hurt, upset, angry even. But these were not ordinary circumstances, for she was not viewing a lover's tryst or the severance of Lenius's vows of betrothal, but something far far worse.

The servant girl was dead.

Not just dead, drained. He had been feeding on the magical energy within her. He'd taken so much of her magic that she had perished during the encounter that had never had a romantic objective in the first place. Her nearly naked, lifeless body hung limply in his grasp as his lips continued to suck up every last trace of magic within her. Her eyes were wide with horror in death, and Alleriel knew that she'd had no chance to resist him. Like her, he'd been a powerful magister and knew what he was doing.

As she stepped closer, the rustle of her skirts alerted him to her presence. He slowly released the unfortunate elf, letting her body lay upon the blankets. He looked up, his eyes glowing dully with magical light. “I need more.”

Alleriel took a step back as his hungry, haunted gaze locked with hers. His body was pale and thin, likely from days of deprivation as he slowly gave in to his thirst. Likely he was not the only who had become Wretched as all of House Dawnflame slowly came to an end. It explained where all of the magical lanterns had gone, where all of the magical brooms and other arcane devices had gone. They'd been consumed by the Sin'dorei as they gave in to their base needs, and now that it was gone, they had nothing left to feed on but each other.

She shook her head, knowing that somewhere in the wreckage of the creature that had once been her betrothed his mind still functioned behind a wall of pure thirst for magic. She spoke softly, her voice sad, “Lenius...why? Why couldn't you focus? Why couldn't you retain control?”

He almost hissed at her, moving slowly away from the dead body on his bed, moving to the edge and setting his feet on the floor. “I need more Alleriel. Always more. There is a void in me that can never be filled. I WILL fill it. I will have more!”

Alleriel's heart broke as she heard the words, despair creeping over her. She shook her head, taking a step back. “You are not the elf that I am sworn to. He has passed from this life now. Though I hurt so much that I can barely stand here and say this, I must go Lenius. This...this can't go on any longer.”

She brought her hand up, the ring on her finger glittering brightly. His eyes locked on it, and it broke her heart even further. The ring, given to her by him when they had been betrothed, glittered not with a diamond, but with the purest of mana gems crafted from their magic together. It was a token of their love and shared dedication to the arts and Quel'Thalas. With shaking hands, she slowly pulled it off her finger, holding it up. His eyes locked on it, and she could tell by the expression on his face that the symbol it represented meant nothing now, it was only the magic it contained that mattered.

She dropped it on the floor and turned, fleeing from the sight. Behind her, she heard him lurch forward, not after her, but after the ring that sat glowing on the carpet behind her.

Her hands came down, grasping her skirts so she could run faster. Despair clawed at her heart and mind as she passed through the crumbling remains of House Dawnflame's estate. Something deep within her made her want to just give in to the feeling, to let it encompass all of her being. There was no point in anything now. Her people had suffered, many of them losing their lives and others becoming what Lenius was now, Wretched.

She dashed down the grand staircase of the estate, heading for the doors that lead out as she knew she was supposed to do. She could not shake the feeling that grew and grew within her, her mind slowly sinking into the pure incarnation of despair that the events, the memory brought with it. Her hands reached out, pressing against the doors that lead out of the estate and throwing them wide.

Sunlight flowed into the room, and Alleriel paused, shielding her eyes. Before her, a figure hovered in the air. It was an elf, her legs crossed and her hands resting on her knees, her eyes closed as she serenely hovered in place. With a shock, Alleriel realized she was looking at herself.

This is not how it is supposed to happen. I run out and leave Lenius behind...I sink into despair for days after. What is...

The figure before her opened its eyes, the other-Alleriel looking at her with a soft smile on her face. “Alleriel. Remember your training. Focus. Discipline. Balance the Chi within yourself.”

Alleriel blinked in surprise, shaking her head and trying to think clearly, despair still trying to overwhelm her. Memories came flooding back, of who she was now, of what she was, of what she'd learned in the years since this memory, this DREAM and the true present.

I am asleep. This is not real. This is just the past, and the past does not dictate the future. Focus. Balance. Breathe in and take calm within yourself. Breathe out and let the darkness go. It does not belong, and when it is gone, only Alleriel will remain.

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The Sha had gotten close, the eerie manifestation of despair almost hovering over the sleeping Sin'dorei as it attempted to invade her mind. But Alleriel Sunhaven was not the broken Magistrix that existed after the fall of the Sunwell. She was not vulnerable in her mind as she would have been before she traveled the world and learned more of herself and who her people were. She was a trained monk now, and her mind was a weapon.

The manifestation reached out to touch Alleriel and she exploded into motion. From an apparent deep sleep her body rocked onto its back. Blue-green eyes sprang open as her legs spun above her, the deadly arc of her feet driving the creature away. She flipped herself up with her hands, landing lightly on her bare feet and falling into a fighting pose, her face a calm mask as she looked at the Sha. It was a smaller one, but still dangerous as the assault on her mind had shown.

The creature lashed out at her, despair falling upon her and sliding off of the edges of her disciplined mind. The spell had no effect on her, for she had purged the despair from her heart many years ago, and forged strength of mind in her training and trials. The memory was now nothing more than a bittersweet note of a time when happiness had fled for a while. The future was so much brighter.

The creature lurched at her, and in a blur of motion she met it halfway, her hands flying out and connecting with the semi-solid edges of its manifested form. She dodged its claws and spells, her reflexes more than capable of protecting her as she systematically began to dismantle the creature with Chi-empowered blows.

In the darkness of the Wilds, a howl briefly flowed out over the land as a piece of despair itself despaired, and then withered away to nothing, destroyed and put to rest physically as it had been in the heart of the monk, leaving Alleriel Sunhaven to her peaceful camp once more.