Ashenvale's perpetual twilight permeated into everything, blending the forest with charcoal shadows and muted pastel trees and plants. Anevsa and Ylvandre stood across from one another. Anevsa's steely gaze was unfazed by the murky forest light, always piercing into Ylvandre. She gave a slight nod. "I suppose that you have prepared yourself."
"As much as I possibly can, Shan'do," Ylvandre said. In truth, she had little idea of how best to prepare for this day. She didn't know what Anevsa would ask of her, how she would go about summoning this thing, or anything else, so she had put herself in tune with her emotions, attempting to remain as aware of them as possible.
"This will be our final lesson, should you succeed," Anevsa said. "After this, I shall release you, and you will no longer be bound to me. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Shan'do."
"Come to me." Ylvandre stepped forward, stopping in front of Anevsa. "What do you think that you will need to do to invoke the Avatar?"
"I don't know, Shan'do."
"A pity." Anevsa eyed Ylvandre, her gaze flitting over her. "I would think that by this point, you would know how to channel your emotions for your own ends."
"I do know, Shan'do."
"Prove it to me, Darksorrow. If you cannot do so to channel the Avatar, then why should you be able to in any other case?"
"You have seen me use the slicing torrent, the dimension blink, the shadow strike... what more proof could you ask for?"
Anevsa shook her head. "All of it is meaningless in this light."
Ylvandre knew better than to ask more questions. Anevsa stepped around her, keeping her eyes on her. "There must be something that fills you with a drive for vengeance, Darksorrow. Let it fill your mind. How about your dead druid?"
Ylvandre's heart stopped for a moment. She tried not to show it, but she clenched her fist regardless. "How do you know about Narilden?"
"It's fairly common knowledge why you left the Sentinels, Darksorrow. You should be aware of the fact that we looked into your background before we offered to train you. How is this surprising to you?"
"I hardly speak about it to anyone these days."
"Hardly an excuse. It has already happened, and there are records. Your tattoos are one of them."
Anevsa was larger than Ylvandre when she was in armor, and she loomed over her. Ylvandre took a step back. "It's in the past. Why should I care for it now?"
"You loved him, didn't you?"
Ylvandre was silent, dumbfounded. She couldn't bring thoughts to her mind to adequately respond to Anevsa. The warden closed the distance again, towering over her. "Ah, yes, you did. You loved him. He died, and you did nothing. How does that make you feel?"
"Stop!" Ylvandre kicked out at Anevsa, but she was gone before her boot could connect, standing some feet back. She fumed, glaring at her teacher. "I won't allow you to control me like this!"
"You already have, Ylvandre." The warden flexed her talons idly. "It's surprising how easy it is to manipulate you. I expected more."
"I can control my emotions, Anevsa."
"Then why does this affect you?"
"You are toying with me. You're picking my most sensitive parts and tugging them, trying to see if I'll break."
Anevsa clapped her hands together. "You're right. Congratulations."
"I'm not going to let you do that."
"Tell me about Fala'thorei, Ylvandre."
Ylvandre clenched her teeth. "What does he have to do with this?"
"Tell me about him and Shivala."
Ylvandre could not bring herself to speak. She stared at Anevsa, her gauntlets locked into fists, unable to concentrate on her thoughts.
"Don't tell me about them, then. But why do you think that I brought that up?"
"...How do you know about that?"
"I have been watching you, remember. Monitoring your progress. She was mentioned once. Do you remember? It was the first time you managed to create an impressive slicing torrent."
Azshara. Sylvandre and Ylvandre had been walking down the road when it had happened. Sylvandre told her about it, and Ylvandre had been unable to control herself. She had yelled and she threw a knife at a tree, and when she did, it split into five. The first time she had managed to make it split beyond two.
"Remember that anger, and let it fill you; then allow it to manifest itself."
Ylvandre clenched her eyes shut, closing off from the outside world. She didn't want to have to deal with Anevsa any more, and her manipulation and her deception. She just wanted her to be gone. She could feel the anger rising within her, and she was afraid.
--
The first step was to prime her.
The second step would be to break her.
--
The cold washed out from around the shadow's feet, draining the color out of the ground it stood on. It was wrapped in darkness, absorbing all light, with two blindingly brilliant eyes of light that contrasted so heavily with its body. It stared down at Ylvandre, unmoving, unspeaking, and she could do nothing but stare back. It reached out a hand for her, and, hesitantly, she accepted it.
The chill ran through her arm like a spike. She screamed.
And then it was real.
--
The Avatar loomed behind Ylvandre, and Anevsa looked up at it with her unfaltering gaze. "Well done, Darksorrow."
Ylvandre couldn't look back. She wouldn't allow herself to. She could feel it behind her, the cold, the acrid, almost metallic stench in her nostrils, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up straight. She looked to Anevsa, and she knew that she could see the fear in her eyes. "How do I control it?"
"It will act based on your emotions, and it will respond to what you command it to do."
Ylvandre looked back at the Avatar, and immediately wished she hadn't, closing her eyes tight. "Leave. Leave now!"
The cold faded away, lingering for a moment on her skin before dissipating entirely. She felt a hand on her shoulder. "That will be enough, Darksorrow."
--
In Astranaar, Ylvandre stood before Anevsa, and bowed to her. "Thank you, Shan'do, for everything that you have done."
"You have done well, Thero'shan. I've seen many students who will never be able to do as well as you have."
Ylvandre's face flushed with warmth, and she smiled. "Thank you."
Anevsa nodded, sighing lightly. "You're welcome... Warden Darksorrow."
Ande'thoras Ethil.