Spiritual Guidance

The sun shone down on Darnassus, the warmth of summer in the air and the sounds of animals in the forested areas just outside the city mixing with the sounds of people going about their daily business. Malandrae Moonwhisper smiled happily to herself, walking through the outskirts of the city, a toy ball cradled in her arm and wrapped with a ribbon. It was a gift for Corrienda's boy; just a little something that the Highborne thought he'd enjoy. It had been a long time since she'd stopped by to visit and she wanted to surprise her friend with a quick hello.

As she neared the section of the city where Corrienda lived, Malandrae sighed happily, pausing to take in a deep breath of the summer air. What could be better than being alive in this time and place? What was more important than sharing a moment of friendship and enjoying a beautiful summer day? Nothing as far as she was concerned! With a lightness in her stride she resumed her walking, heading towards a ramp that would lead to the upper stories of the building where Corrienda's house was located.

In her happy moment of unconcerned enjoyment of the day, Malandrae never noticed the faint glow that began to emanate from the triple moon necklace she wore around her neck. Despite her wards and skills, she didn't detect the hum of arcane energy that was beginning to build there, a spell specifically designed to escape her notice and beginning to build with fatal, explosive magical energies.

With a smile on her face, Malandrae placed a foot on the walkway leading to Corrienda's door...

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

Faleseth Featherwind stood in the center of Darnassus, her robes gathered about her and a cowl partially concealing her face. All around her the people of the city went about their business, enjoying the day and speaking lightly to one another. Although they were Kaldorei and similar to her, she felt as distant from them as if they were ghosts and she the only thing living. There was a deep underlying gloom that smothered her thoughts and made it difficult to decide what she should do or if she should even bother going on.

Ever since her awakening several weeks ago she had struggled to come to terms with her situation. Her nation, the mighty empire that the Night Elves have carved from the wilderness and that had existed for untold eons was gone. The Queen whom she had adored and who had ultimately punished her so cruelly was no more, and would never again restore either her punishment or her birthright as a Highborne. Faleseth felt as if she were cast out into a raging sea, with nothing familiar around her and nothing to grasp hold of. She was like a puzzle piece with no space to fit, and despite her intellect it was all she could do to just stand in the center of Darnassus, attempting to understand the new world in which she found herself.

The other Kaldorei were not like her. Even the other Highborne were as foreign to her as the creatures she had first encountered that she now understood were called 'orcs'. She had been loyal to the Queen, had lived her life in a time and place when nothing and no one compared to the might of her people. And now... now she stood alone, in a city of strangers whose words she could barely understand, bereft of everything.

She would cry, if there were tears left in her. If there were any bit of her soul that had not endured century after century of agonizing punishment and lonely imprisonment. She had been wrung dry of such emotions, and now had only the gloom and the last flickering bits of her magic and her faith in the Goddess. As she stood silently, her mouth soundlessly spoke the words that echoed through her mind, "Elune...why? Why am I here? Why did you even spare me?"

She didn't expect an answer. The Gods didn't work in such a fashion, and any who said otherwise were either worshiping some vile power or deluded. And yet... in that part of her mind where her Faith resided, in the little spark of Faleseth's spirit that remembered the New Moon, something urged her to turn her head, to look and SEE the signs.

And so the Highborne did turn. She tilted her head and looked across the city of a people who were not her people, and her silver eyes widened in shock. There, along the edge of the city was a glowing moon, shining as bright as it would at night. And yet it couldn't be there, for not a single other person glanced at it or gave any hint that they noticed it. Even as Faleseth watched, it began to slowly darken, its edge growing black as if it were being eclipsed. A sense of urgency began to flow through her, and she took a few steps towards it.

Go. Go now! Before it's too late! 

The words were unspoken, but Faleseth knew that they were true. She could feel it deep within, a sense of purpose that she'd been lacking. The Moon called to her, and as she had done for countless centuries she would heed that call. She began to hurry towards the darkening sign, passing through the city. As she watched the moon starting to eclipse the sense of urgency increased, and Faleseth found herself running, her lean form slipping between the other Kaldorei as she picked up speed. Elves glared at her as she pushed them aside, some shaking a fist at her or muttering complaints.

Ahead a group of Kaldorei had gathered to chat near the local bazaar, but Faleseth could see the Moon was half eclipsed now, and that she was running out of time. She recklessly dove into the crowd, shoving people out of the way, her robes trailing behind her and a string of curses in Darnassian chasing her through the spaces between the dwellings.

She burst around a corner, seeing the glimmer of the fading Moon on a walkway ahead of her, and she ran towards it without hesitation, her high heeled boots pounding on the wood as she hurried up. She reached the top and skidded to a halt, the Moon she had been following fully eclipsing and fading to nothing. But that was not what made her draw in a gasp. It was not what made her reel back as if she'd been slapped.

The elf ahead of her, the elf with the high pigtails on her head. That cyan hair bouncing as she walked. The way her hips swayed, the colors she had chosen to wear. All if it slammed into Faleseth like a punch to the gut, memories of that elf flowing through her, even as pale moonlight seemed to bathe the Highborne, seemed to confirm to Faleseth that this was her purpose for the moment, that this is what the Goddess had intended.

And then she noticed the spell.

How could she not? How would she possibly forget the magic of the one Highborne whom she hated above all others? How many times did Faleseth see Viala Moonwhisper cast such a spell, either in practice or for sport with her slaves? How often did she hear the venomous sound of the voice of Malandrae Moonwhisper's mother flow musically on the air as she casually formed the forces of destruction to do her bidding? How could she forget the one voice that spoke the last words Faleseth would ever hear, damning her to an eternity of horrific imprisonment at Azshara's whim, all because of the filthy lies she told?

For eons Faleseth had slept in stasis, banished from the realm, from her birthright, for a crime that she never committed. All because of the elf who now apparently sought to destroy her daughter for reasons that Faleseth neither understood nor cared about. Although Faleseth cared not a bit for the airheaded Malandrae Moonwhisper, she cared VERY much about making Viala as unhappy as possible. The questions as to why she would want Malandrae dead or how either of those Highborne still existed were irrelevant in the face of Faleseth's hatred and the fact that her Goddess had lead her here to this moment.

Shadows burst into life around Faleseth, the darkness of the New Moon coming to her as if her powers had never waned. A raven landed on her shoulder, the bird silently watching as Faleseth reached out a hand, almost casually plucking the magic from Malandrae's necklace from a distance and depositing it in her own palm. The spell glowed fitfully there, and Faleseth smiled as she understood that Viala had a scrying spell included amongst the other devastating magic; she always did like to see her handiwork.

"And so you will come to learn the pain that I have felt for all these centuries dear Viala," she purred at the spell in her palm. "He loved me before he ever loved you, and he was mine before he was yours. If you think I will ever forget, ever FORGIVE you for what you did, you are mistaken. See now as your works are undone, and know that you will NEVER have what you want ever again for as long as I draw breath. Suffer wretch, suffer and scream in anger you stupid little bitch."

House Moonwhisper had always had extremely gifted sorcerers. The spell that had been used was powerful indeed, and not one that any but a Highborne would have recognized. For all of its power though, House Moonwhisper never had Elune's favor, never had a priestess with the power to guide them.

They had never contended with a witch of the New Moon.

Faleseth grinned, her palm closing as her divine magic snuffed out the spell, the energies disappating harmlessly into the air. She paused for a moment, studying Malandrae Moonwhisper as the other Highborne continued along her way, completely unaware that her life had just been saved.

As if Faleseth had called out, Malandrae paused, her head tilting. She slowly turned, but by then Faleseth was gone, her shadows fading, her power flying away on the wings of a raven that cawed softly above them. Seeing nothing, Malandrae shrugged, turning and continuing on her way to Corrienda's house.

From the shadows of a nearby building, Faleseth watched her go, silver eyes glowing beneath her cowl, her thoughts circling around what Elune had brought her to do, and why. There would be many nights of quiet contemplation after this.