The 'plague' had been going on for days, weeks even. Two villages decimated already. There is indeed something going wrong in the misty forests of Ashenvale, southern holdings of the Kaldorei empire. The Night Elf walks on the path. It is night, and the moon barely sheds her light through the thick canopy of the ancient oaks. The birds sing their nightly songs and the wildlife teems with life, but she creeps through a stench of death and desolation.
Haven't you fought enough already? You are no more a Sentinel. Everyone you loved is no more.
The Kaldorei was often pondering, and she usually did not pick up fights. But she stood for her values. And right now there is something going wrong. Though mists and shadows, she jumps and leaps, running on now uneven terrain. She knows it - she has tracked down the area, and she knows where the great beast who terrorizes the county is. And she is ready to subdue it. Her dark mithril armor, flexible but still sturdy, and her shiny and sharpened longsword prove so. A simple trip back home... Her footsteps make almost no sound as she speeds up. Over there, there's a clearing, and all signs point to it. She bitterly fought for centuries, and even during the battle in which her nation, and her kin, lost so much.
"All we ever know and want is indecision in this fleeting world... Your time has gone and so has your mate. Why carry on the fight?"
A last leap, and she rolls under a great giant root, burrowing under only to emerge in a purple, moonlit clearing. She rises and takes a look about, her sword making no sound as it is being drawn from its sheath. Now stealthing, melding her best with the surroundings, she turns over a single rock, a side reflecting all the strength of godly Elune's light. She walks on towards, securing her surroundings. Nothing is moving. But she notices a sword, snatched inside the rock. A bit like in this fairytale about a young boy retrieving a sword from inside a legendary ground and becoming king. Only this sword has an unholy taint, and runes are glowing on it. One at first, then a second, third, and soon six runes glow blue in the moonlight. The Kaldorei is not one to fear, far too battle-worn to be intimidated by a mere sword. But suddenly, it begins to wiggle free from the rock! She backs off and snarls at it. Violently, it cracks the top of the boulder open and goes swirling in circles, unexpectedly, right in front of her head! She leaps off and falls on her back. She looks in the direction of the sword. The low moon behind her, a masked, slender female silhouette, with blue eyes. She wears a very dark plated armor, embracing her shape, and a black cowl. Her cape, black as the most tainted of bloods, flows in the wind, contrasting unto the moon's bright opalescence.
"Look who gives us a nice little visit...Alanthe." The elvish figure approaches the Kaldorei. She stands up and points her slender curved sword at the dark figure's throat. "A fighter..That's how I like them." she chuckles, drawing the runeblade. She is certainly no Quel'dorei, no alive one to the very least. She walks in slow circles around Alanthe. The Kaldorei does not speak. On her heels, she does not let herself get intimidated. And eventually frowns and states, "So you are the sick person bringing about all this chaos...You unworthy Sin'dorei..."
The dark woman chuckles, reveling in her sinister behavior. She lowers her hood, and cowl, revealing flowing ginger hair. "Oh..but they are...incidental. Circumstantial victims.. no, I was not seeking to kill them, they did drive me out..." She keeps lurking around Alanthe, calmly; the Kaldorei sure gets more tense! "I was searching for -you-, Alanthe. I knew you would come, and I was certain your Sentinel instincts would drive you to me..right as planned."
Alanthe swings her sword once, about the other elf's face. "DO not get closer! What are your motives? Trying to kill me? Enslave me? I am not intimidated! You are but a lowly elf...I have taken much more down."
The Sin'dorei, mow surely a Death Knight, smiles faintly. "But I do not seek to hurt you, my pretty." It does unease Alanthe, who holds her sword motionless, staring in the nastily smiling other face. "Lowly elf? Oh.. But I have just evolved again..You are but our ancestors, and common folk at that.. We are diverging. I just have a message for you. A simple message. A while ago, I would have killed you. But I think that being hostile on sight is not... the best approach. Rather...the second best? I however admit I do not like your kin at all, and would rather see you all perish. I try to be more friendly...like before. The memories are coming back. Am I just not huggable?"
Alanthe backs off. The elf sure has a way to call friendly, killing villagers, despising her kin! "You have been far too bold to venture here! You are not allowed in our lands! You will respond for your crimes!" Before she can charge, however, unholy energies coming right from her body begin to swarm around her in a purple haze. She is like suspended. She can hardly speak, or move, as she is slowly drawn towards this woman and her lifted hand.
"Do not force me to enslave you. I only come to deliver one sentence. Be sure to hear it; it will change your life, and bring me a good sum. Everyone will be glad this exchange was...accomplished? Here is the sentence." She pauses, as Alanthe struggles to get free from the Knight's grasp. "Fear not the barren marrow, mourn not the fallen dreamer. Somewhere he seeks for you..this is everything."
She drops Alanthe on the ground, the Kaldorei rises up swiftly though. She goes to catch the sword that fell, but the Sin'dorei grabs her by the collar, her stern eyes gazing into her prey's face. The Kaldorei, despite all her strength, is beyond all help as she kicks her legs to get free. She is yanked beneath her, falling onto the ground, and soon enough the Sin'dorei sits atop her, holding both wrists. "Do not disappoint the long-dead dreamer, Alanthe. He yearns for your return." Weakly, the Kaldorei strikes back. "You are mad..you killed everyone just for..that? You should be dead..who sends you? " A smile cracks up in the Sin'dorei's face.
"Someone who wants you alive, healthy, and seeking to make up for..the lost time. And you will not do the mistake of striking me. I could out-do you so easily... No one beats Melina, darling." The Kaldorei gives up struggling, breathing hardly as the woman's weight crushes her down. Melina stands up, nudging at the laying Kaldorei's sign with her plated boot. The smile only getting wider, she quietly goes, her cape floating in the pale moonlight, leaving behind a crestfallen Alanthe, glaring at the sky.
Every word she's saying must be a lie...