Beckyann walked softly through the dark, cavernous space deep beneath the ground. Two knights flanked her on either side, each of them with their runeblades drawn and their glowing blue eyes staring into the darkness cautiously. This far within the mines of Krasarang, one never knew what one would encounter in the haunted spaces the Mogu had carved from the rocks.
They had been on a patrol near the Alliance garrison in Krasarang when an order had come through the comm to head into the mines. Sent directly from Central, it had left Beckyann and her men with little choice in the matter. They had been ordered to divert their patrol to assist another group of Ebon Blade that had failed to report in from the mine's interior chambers.
"Keep sharp here," Beckyann murmured, her voice low. The original patrol had been sent to examine what was reportedly a more powerful spirit trap set by the Mogu deep within the mines, and the fact that they had not reported back boded ill for what they would find. At the far end of the cavern, Beckyann could make out the faint shimmering of light coming from a brighter stone. She gestured to her men, the trio moving forward across the uneven and broken rocks of the cavern's natural floor.
As they drew nearer, the glow intensified, and Beckyann immediately recognized the light of one of the Mogu crystals that had been designed to trap wayward spirits within the mines. They could work their slave-miners to death and then capture their spirits for use in magical constructs or even simply to put them back to work in the mines as spirits, enslaved for all eternity to the will of the Mogu. It was a terrible fate, and the crystal she saw now was much larger than the others that had been present higher up in the mines. In fact, it was glowing with such power that she brought her hand up to bring her patrol to a halt, an uneasy feeling passing through her.
Unfortunately, it was far too late.
Even as they paused, magic flared all around them, the spells an ancient trap set by the Mogu throughout the chamber. Runes glowed beneath their feet, and each of the Death Knights looked down in shock as energy began to drain from them. Beckyann stumbled forward a few feet, feeling a weakness flow through her that she was not accustomed to. With horror she realized the room was designed to drain the spirits from larger beasts that might make their way down into the chambers below, and the Mogu likely herded them into this chamber so that their spirits could be stolen and put to other uses.
Her fingers numb as her energy was drained, Beckyann watched as her runeblade tumbled from her hands, powerless to stop it. The others fell to their knees, the weakness making it impossible to stand. She joined them a moment later, sliding to the floor without a sound, the spell so powerful that it became difficult to do anything other than move her eyes to take in the limited view her place on the floor gave her. She could see one of her patrol laying next to her, equally weakened by the magic, trapped helplessly as the energy continued to drain magic from them.
In the distant recesses of the chamber, she heard the sound of stones grinding as the Mogu spirit-slavers emerged from their hidden chambers, eager to dispatch the creatures caught in their trap as they were designed to do. Completely unable to move or defend herself, Beckyann could only rage as she felt them drawing near.
She had been deceived. Central must have known that the previous patrol had run into this trouble. They wouldn't have sent only her small group in to deal with such a dangerous trap unless they intended for her not to make it out. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that a certain Captain Pendagast was responsible for this, and the seething hatred she felt surging through her was made all the worse by her helplessness. Not only that, but there was an unusual underlying surge of fear in her as she realized her spirit would once again be enslaved against her will, her undeath about to enter a new chapter of horrors. The choking fear made her gasp slightly, the only sound she was able to utter.
Out of the corner of her limited field of vision she saw the ghostly Mogu slavers approaching. They grinned, their semi-corporeal forms glowing as they brought deadly pointed spears up, the tips glowing with dark magics. With a smirk one of the slavers drove the spear into one of Beckyann's Knights, the weapon striking the ground beneath him as it was driven deep into his body. Dark black blood gushed out as the weapon's energies discharged into the man's body, and he twitched as he began to die from the wound, the magic of the spirit trap drawing his spirit out through the opening the spear had made. She could see it floating in the air for a moment, a look of utter horror expressed on its face before it was sucked into the crystal.
And so this is how I die. Not really very heroic. I suppose it wasn't the first time either though. Oh well.
The Mogu slavers turned, one of them walking towards her. She watched, unable to move as it brought its spear up. Just before it was about to thrust the weapon down into her body there was a loud crack that echoed through the chamber, making the Mogu slavers pause. They glanced at one another as a second cracking sound boomed out, this one more ominous. A second later, the ceiling above the Mogu slaver cracked open, the rock cascading down atop him and burying him. Although he was a spirit, the Mogu constructs had to have physical form in order to perform their work. The stones crushed the slaver utterly, a pile of stone and expanding cloud of dust marking where he had once stood.
Beckyann blinked once, unable to come to terms with what had just happened. As the dust cleared, something moved atop the pile of rubble, and Beckyann's eyes widened in shock as she saw a figure rising up from the dust.
She was a Draenei, but unlike one Beckyann had ever seen before. Dressed in a motley assortment of chain mail that covered only her upper torso and a chain skirt, the pig-tailed, silver haired creature had a number of strange fetishes, sigils, and feathers tied in her hair and attached to her armor. As she rose from the rubble where she'd fallen, she coughed a few times, brushing dust from herself, her fetishes clacking together as she moved. She peered up at the ceiling, where a neatly Draenei sized hole had been formed by her passage.
The Draenei looked down, blinking once as she took in the cavern, the two trapped Death Knights, the Mogu slavers, and the spirit trap crystal. She shook her head, her pigtails bouncing as her hair moved, "Oooof! Floor is not being good, yes? And room is being filled with ghosts! Vas not expecting this, no!"
The words were greeted with silence, the Death Knights unable to speak and the Mogu unable to comprehend what exactly was going on. The Draenei slid down the fallen stones, her hooves giving her poor purchase in the dim light as she stepped on the chamber's floor. The Mogu looked at one another, shrugging before bringing their spears up and pointing them at the Draenei.
To Beckyann's surprise, the Draenei was either unconcerned by the slaver spirits or not aware of the danger she was in. She merely looked at them and frowned before waving her hands at them like one might at a dog, "Shoo! Be going now, yes!"
Not surprisingly, the Mogu did not heed the rather impolite command, moving towards her as a group, their spears held up. The Draenei pouted at them, reaching down into the rubble to retrieve what appeared to be a troll tribal shield and a mace. She hung the mace from her belt, digging into a pouch to pull out some small trinkets that Beckyann could not clearly see from the floor.
She was out of time. The first of the Mogu swung at her, the spear forcing her to move back, stumbling on the stones. The sudden move made her jerk her arm, and the small trinkets tumbled to the floor, flaring to life as four totems appeared around her. Beckyann's eyes widened again as she finally came to understand the Draenei was a shaman, and an eccentric one at that.
A second Mogu swung at her, his spear casually deflected by a quick movement of her shield. Despite her rather aloof nature, Beckyann could see she was no stranger to combat, and her mace was in her hand again in an instant, its swing forcing the creatures back, "Am saying to shoo! Be going now, yes! Am not vanting to hurt!"
Beckyann winced as one of the slavers began to chant, black magics forming in the air. The spell lashed out, traveling towards the Draenei at high speeds. Beckyann raged, knowing the spell would slay her and mourning her would-be rescuer. She needn't have worried however; the spell began to arc as it flew through the air, drawn down into one of the glowing totems. It struck the strangely glowing stones, the energies sparking around it as the spell was grounded. Another of the slavers charged at the Draenei, his weapon missing her by a narrow margin and striking another of the totems. Beckyann would have winced if she'd been able to as the discharge from the totem made the very ground shake. It was powerful enough to hurl the slaver spirit away, stunning even the undead.
"You are being...vhat is vord...naughty dead!" the Draenei shouted. "Am saying for last time to be going! Vill be hitting if not, yes!"
She reached into her pouch again, drawing one more trinket out and tossing it. To Beckyann, it looked like a small firefly or ember, and it drifted amongst the combatants who continued to charge the shaman. The Draenei retreated to the pile of rubble, using her shield and mace to fend off her attackers. The ember drifted behind the ground, landing finally upon one of the broken wooden support beams that had collapsed with the Draenei's unexpected arrival. It flared to life instantly, flames roaring from the wood as a fire elemental arose above the flames. The slavers in the back who had been about to cast more spells at the shaman were snatched up by the flaming creature, the shrieks of the dead being sent to their rest echoing throughout the enclosed space.
The shaman sighed, shaking her head sadly and waggling a finger at the remaining Mogu, who had begun to back up as they realized that the Draenei was more than she appeared, "Vas telling you, yes? Dead are not hitting! Vill help you rest now, yes. Am being sorry for you."
With that she brought her hands up and a brilliant flare of lightning arced from her fingertips, slashing through the air and striking the Mogu. It arced, jumping from one to another, the energies blinding in their intensity for a moment and burning them away in a flash of light. A thunderous boom echoed through the chamber, dislodging more rocks from the ceiling and raining them down on the Draenei's head. Beckyann saw her manage to get her shield up above her at the last possible moment as a particularly large chunk of stone knocked her over and sent her tumbling to the floor.
"Ooof! Vas not being best plan, yes?" the shaman said as she picked herself up from the floor and began to dust herself off for the second time. She looked at the trapped Death Knights, clicking her tongue in her mouth as she thought about their situation. "Other spirits are being stuck, yes? Vill fix! Am good at fixing!"
Beckyann would have groaned if she were able to talk, not knowing what the Draenei would do. She couldn't actually approach the trapped Death Knights or she'd be captured by the runes on the floor as well. A moment later Beckyann's thoughts were answered as the Draenei brought her hands up, energies beginning to build on her fingertips. Beckyann raged in her mind, wanting to scream at the shaman to stop before it was too late.
Lightning arced from her hands, striking the crystal and rebounding as the wards it had in place on it reflected the spell. The look on the Draenei's face would have been comical as her spell flew back towards her if not for the direness of the situation. As it was, the shaman was forced to throw herself to the floor, the bolt of electricity passing just between her horns and making both of her pigtails stand upright and flare out like the quills on a porcupine. Shouts erupted further up the hallway as the lightning continued on its merry way, bouncing off of walls and deflecting into the chambers beyond where Alliance forces were stationed. Beckyann could distinctly hear people cursing in the distance.
The spells holding Beckyann weakened slightly as the crystal's energy was partially depleted from repelling the lightning. She managed to groan, a few words slipping out, "J-just...r-run..."
"Oh, spirit is being silly now, yes!" the shaman said, picking herself up off the floor and brushing her skirt off for the third time. "Am knowing now vhat is needed, yes! Crystal is being strong, but is being on stone floor. Floor is melting, yes!"
"F-floor...is...melting..?" Beckyann murmured. Her eyes widened as the shaman pointed again, this time an intense heat flaring at her fingertips. The stone beneath the spirit trap began to glow as it turned molten, the shaman's control of the elements impressive despite her lack of planning. The cavern's floor began to sink as it became molten lava, the crystal of the spirit trap sinking into the floor as the foundation fell out beneath it. As it sank into the lava, magic flared around it and its energies failed abruptly, spirits howling out of it and into the air around them. Beckyann could feel the spells holding her in place fail and she quickly rose, snatching up her runeblade and moving away from the lava.
As she retreated, she paused, seeing the shaman standing on the edge of the glowing pit, spirits flowing in the air around her. She smiled, her hands outstretched as if to greet them. One by one they began to fade as the shaman freed them with whispered words. After the last had gone, she turned and smiled at Beckyann, nodding her head, the fetishes in her hair clacking together.
"Be going in peace, spirit! Vill be seeing again, yes," the shaman said.
Beckyann blinked, sheathing her weapon, at a loss for what to say and unused to being rescued. Finally she managed to speak, her voice low, "I thank you for the aid you've given me, Draenei. I will not forget it, even if we don't actually meet again."
The shaman waved happily at Beckyann, several bangles clinking on her wrists, "Am being Mariskka! Just Mariskka! And vill be seeing again, yes. Spirits are saying is so. Being going now, spirit! Are needed still, yes."
Not knowing how to respond, Beckyann merely nodded, offering the strange Draenei a salute before turning and leading her remaining squad member away. She did indeed have things to be doing; she was needed back at Acherus after all.
Someone was going to pay for this.
No comments:
Post a Comment