Memory Lane

They had stopped on a small rise overlooking the village of Stoneplow, or rather, what was left of it after the Mantid invasion. Boulders were scattered over the hillside, making it useless for farming but an excellent place for a weary patrol to take their rest.

The Sin'dorei had marched for some time, heading from the forward bases in the Jade Forest and continuing on into the valley. Sent on the order of Alleriel Sunhaven, they comprised a mixed group of House Dawnsea and House Sunhaven forces, with some new recruits that had recently arrived on the continent. All of them were tired and awed by the strange place that they found themselves.

All but one that is.

“It is SO BORING here!” Lirallel grumped as she sat on one of the boulders. She shifted in place, not needing to rest and impatient with the rest of the small patrol. Several of the other Sin'dorei rolled their eyes at her, one even muttering under their breath. It was her fault they had marched for so long, since she'd managed to get lost not once, but twice during the journey and had to be located by the scouts.

“Well it IS!” the undead elf continued, either not understanding the hostile glares directed at her or not caring. “I just want to actually put my blade to use. Lady Sunfire totally said I could use it, and it's been almost TWO WEEKS since I've seen combat. How am I going to prove how useful I am if we're just sitting here?”

“Would you shut up?” one of the other soldiers muttered. He had a small brooch pinning his travel cloak in place that depicted a sun rising over the waves; the emblem of House Dawnsea. “Nobody cares what Lady Sunfire told you that you could or could not do. She's not even HERE and I doubt our new 'commander' is all that interested in engaging in outright battle with the Alliance beachheads in Krasarang. Get used to this; you'll likely be helping to rebuild burned homes and moving logs and chopping down trees rather than fighting.”

Lirallel stared at the other elf in horror, the effect contradicted by the fact that she herself was horrifying to look upon. Her blue-painted lips quivered as the other elf finished, “C-chopping logs? Oh my heavens, that is going to RUIN my armor! And my nails! My NAILS!”

She held up one of her hands to emphasize the point, pulling off her gauntlet to display her black manicure. Rather than impress the Sin'dorei she was talking to, her dead, marble-white skin merely made him shudder in disgust and look away quickly.

Lirallel didn't seem to notice the reaction, nodding happily as she slipped her spiked gauntlet back on her hand. “You'll see! I will show Lady Sunfire that I'm the best weapon she's got! And Lady Sunhaven too!”

With that, Lirallel took her runeblade out, holding it up to examine its edge. The other Sin'dorei merely rolled their eyes and ignored her; it was more trouble than it was worth trying to correct her, and talking to her for extended periods of time could give one a headache.

Several minutes passed, the Sin'dorei patrol taking the opportunity to rest and consume some of their rations. Their destination was the outskirts of Stoneplow, where they would assist with continuing to clean up the Mantid invasion or help Pandaren families that were trapped by the assault to withdraw. Just as the blood elves were about to resume their march (and Lirallel was about to begin removing her armor piece by piece to clean it), a scream arose from the nearby fields.

Lirallel was instantly on her feet, her unnatural swiftness allowing her to react faster than the rest of the patrol. Perched atop one of the larger boulders, she had a good view of the nearby fields. Many of them were partially burned or destroyed by the advance of Sha corruption. As had happened several times in recent days, the Mantid invasion force had begun to push into the area again, their flying creatures passing over the wall to harass the Pandaren that were trying to gather their belongings that they had been forced to leave behind.

The scene that met Lirallel's eyes was typical; about five Pandaren had been caught by a Mantid raid, the insectoid creatures surrounding their prey and herding them towards a final slaughter. Lirallel could see the Pandaren as they panicked, several of them grouping together as they tried to flee the invaders. One of the smaller Pandaren clutched desperately to the paw of what must have been her mother as she ran through the fields. As the death knight watched, a Mantid landed behind them, shoving the mother hard and causing her to lose her grip on her daughter. The little one, who was a young 'teenager' at best, cried out, reaching desperately for her parent as the two were torn away from each other by a flurry of insect bodies.

“What do you see Knight Ebondawn?” the patrol captain asked. Only silence greeted him, and he looked up to the boulder where Lirallel was standing with a puzzled expression on his face.

Lirallel didn't hear him. She stood, her shoulders wilted and her runeblade's tip resting on the ground. She stared at the scene far below, something deep within her mind rupturing as a memory forcibly made its way to the surface. The scourgelight in her eyes flicked and dulled, a faint hint of green mixing with the abominable color. An image from her former life flashed before her eyes, and a moment later, it swallowed her whole.

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

Her heart pounded in her chest, her breath came in gasps. They were all around them now, in the open garden area near Dawning Lane that made up half of Silvermoon City. Screams arose from the panicked throats, the Scourge pressing their advantage and pouring into the homes and businesses of the Quel'dorei that lived and worked in the city's quarter as the nation of Quel'Thalas fell to the tides of undeath.

Somehow she knew she shouldn't be here. She knew something was wrong. Lirallel felt as if her body was mired in muck, unable to move. She looked and saw a Quel'dorei, her jet black hair flowing behind her as she ran, horror on her face. She skidded to a halt, her hand reaching out to grasp the hand of a young Quel'dorei with bright blonde hair.

“Lira! Lira we have to run! They've broken through! Come on baby, we have to get out of here!”

A shiver went through Lirallel's body as she heard the voice, recognized the face. There was no mistaking what she was seeing; Lirathiel Leafdawn was attempting to rescue her eldest daughter before the Scourge caught them. It was an ill-fated attempt that would result in her death. There was no escape now, no hope for the citizens of Silvermoon.

“Minn'da I'm scared!” the young Lirallel said as her mother began to run, pulling her along. “What about Cathara? What of Ann'da and Eli?”

Her mother merely shook her head, her face a mask of sorrow as she ran, “Come on baby. We need to keep moving. We need to get out of he-”

A ghoul charged out of a nearby garden, its face covered in gore and its talons extended as it rushed the two. Lirallel watched as her younger self screamed in horror, her mother skidding to a halt between her and the creature, breaking her grip on her daughter's hand. Gruesome talons reached out, raking the air and narrowly missing the Quel'dorei.

“Minn'da! MINN'DA!” little Lirallel cried.

“GO LIRA! RUN! RUN BABY RUN!” her mother screamed, using her body to shield her child. The little elven girl turned and fled, her mother delaying the creatures that were coming from the garden to rip them to shreds.

In her mind, Lirallel tried to process the emotions that flowed through her, her long undead form unable to comprehend what she was experiencing. She shivered in place, watching the scene that was a waking nightmare, her thoughts whirling.

I have to stop them. I have to protect her. I need a sword. I HAVE a sword. I can fight now. I can fight Minn'da! Please hold on, I can fight them!

The thought slammed through her shattered consciousness, electrifying her limbs. She began to move.

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

Before the patrol leader could repeat his question, the motionless death knight burst into action. Her blade came up, deadly runes dancing along it's length. She leaped from the boulder, her ghastly form a blur.

“Knight Ebondawn, what are you-” the patrol leader began.

“MINN'DA! I'M COMING MINN'DA! PLEASE DON'T GET HURT! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!” came a horrific cry from Lirallel's dead throat. The sound echoed through the fields, and several of the Mantid turned, their heads tilting as they detected the death knight's presence.

The creatures turned to face the charging white creature, talons extended even as several of them continued to herd the Pandaren to slaughter them. They had fought both Pandaren and some of the newcomers that had landed on the continent. Confident, the warriors prepared to slaughter the lone attacker and continue their assault.

Unfortunately for them, they had never fought the undead before.

Lirallel moved faster than she should have, her limbs a blur as her runeblade came up over her head. One of the Mantid attempted to block the blow, and the deadly magical blade simply descended down and shattered its limb, cleaving it nearly in half. Green gore splattered the ground and the howling death knight as she brought the blade up again, parrying a spear that was thrust at her.

The blade whirled, Lirallel's eyes glazed and unfocused as she beheaded on of the insects attempting to stop her. Beyond the opponents blocking her path, she could see the other Mantid preparing to spear the Pandaren woman before her daughter's eyes.

“MINN'DA! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Lirallel screamed. A spear thrust through her belly, splattering black ichor on the ground. She simply ignored it, driving herself up the shaft so that she could plunge her blade through the carapace of the Mantid that had impaled her. As it fell she reached out, dark magics curling from her fingertips and wrapping around the Mantid warrior that had brought its spear up to slaughter the Pandaren mother.

Instantly the creature was wrapped in dark tendrils of energy and it was jerked from its feet, its spear falling harmlessly to the ground as it was forcibly dragged to Lirallel. Another spear was jammed through her back and she ignored this injury as well, reaching out with her bare hands to snap the neck of the Mantid that had been assaulting the Pandaren.

Another Mantid lurched towards the cowering Pandaren woman, even as her daughter rushed to her side and they gripped each other tightly. An unearthly scream issued from Lirallel's mouth and she yanked her runeblade free from where it had lodged in one of her victims.

“MINN'DA!”

The ground around her froze as she lurched towards the cowering Pandaren. As another spear went up, she hurled her runeblade through the air. Rather than fly like a normal object, it began to hover in the air, parrying a sword that cut at Lirallel's head. Her eyes blazed with scourgelight and she pointed at the Mantid that was threatening the Pandaren. It hurtled through the air, attacking them as if an invisible warrior wielded it. A second later the Mantid fell dead, its ichor joining that of the others who had already fallen.

With the Pandaren safe, Lirallel turned, her face devoid of any compassion. Mantid weapons gouged her armor and a sword hit cut her arm. She ignored all of it, reaching behind her and drawing an ax from her back. It glittered with runes, dark energies surging through it.

“Now you all die...” Lirallel said, her voice like a cold wind.

As a group the remaining Mantid raiders charged her. Rather than prepare for them, Lirallel also charged, her ax held up above her head, deadly cold snow blowing around her. Bodies collided and weapons flashed. Spells exploded and Mantid howled as they were destroyed.

It was over in seconds and Lirallel stood motionless on a pile of insectoid corpses. Her body was covered in gouges, cuts, and what would have been life threatening wounds had she been alive. It meant nothing to her. All that mattered was that she had saved her mother. She wasn't in Pandaria. She wasn't fighting Mantid.

She was in Silvermoon City fighting Scourge.

Behind her the Pandaren gathered, hugging each other close, several of them weeping. They saw beyond the motionless dead elf that other Sin'dorei were hurrying from a nearby rise, their faces lined with worry. As the elves approached, the patrol leader passed Lirallel, reaching out to steady the nerve wracked Pandaren mother.

“Miss, are you alri-” he began.

An icy cold grip pressed down on his shoulder, and he found himself spun around, face to face with Lirallel. The death knight looked through him as if he was not even there.

“Do not touch her. Keep your filthy scourge hands off of my mother!”

The patrol leader swallowed a lump in his throat as he stared back at the dead elf. She was covered in gore, some of it her own black ichor. In areas where her deep purple armor hadn't covered her flesh she had been impaled, and she had holes in her that should be fatal. In one of them, he could see a blood worm writhing, feasting on diseased flesh. The sight nearly made him wretch.

“K-knight Ebondawn, there are no scourge here. Do you understand me? There are no scourge here. You are in Pandaria. You are protecting Pandaren from a Mantid invasion. Do you hear me?”

The death knight tilted her head, her bleached white hair falling around her face as she studied the elf. Her voice was hollow, as if it issued from the ground. “You lie.”

The rest of the patrol gathered around the scene, and the patrol leader held up a hand to steady them and get them to hold; they had already seen what the undead elf was capable of. “No, look around you. SEE what is around you. We are elves, not scourge. There are no spires here, no banners, no gates. SEE the fields Knight Ebondawn. Do you hear me?”

A tense moment passed as Lirallel stared through the elf that was addressing her. Her head turned, the scourgelight in her eyes fading slightly as she looked beyond him. A shudder went through her and her entire posture changed. Her ax dipped down before falling from her limp fingers.

“W-what...what's going on..?” Lirallel said softly. “Why are you all staring at me, and OH MY HEAVENS WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY ARMOR?!”

A collective sigh of relief issued from the patrol. Several of them looked at one another and made 'crazy' gestures while nodding at the death knight. For her part, Lirallel didn't seem to notice, looking down at her ruined armor in disgust. The patrol leader nodded, gesturing to his men to secure the area so they could lead the Pandaren to safety.

As they began to gather up the refugees and prepared to depart, a smaller, younger Pandaren girl pushed through the elves. She ran up to the undead elf and embraced her, ignoring the horrific wounds on the creature. Lirallel's eyes widened in surprise as the little creature nodded at her and then slipped back through the crowd to her mother.

As the group prepared to depart, the patrol leader came up behind Lirallel and patted her on the shoulder, “You did well Knight Ebondawn.”

Lirallel's gaze wandered to the Pandaren as they began to walk, and she shook her head. “No, I didn't do anything. Lirallel Leafdawn did. Her mother did not live that day, but maybe someday, she will rest in peace.”

With that the death knight stalked off, grabbing up her fallen weapons and joining the patrol, leaving her patrol leader confused. He would never understand the dead creature, and maybe that was for the best.