The Long Trek to Darkness

7/17/2019 The Long Trek to Darkness

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The Long Trek to DarknessBy Michael R

THEdawn light fltered through the bars at the top o the prison. Vortheinknew it was to make him uncomortable the Twilight!s "ammer was notknown or its kindness. They wished to e#tract inormation rom him about a"ighborne artiact and so ar had been unsuccessul$ their repeatedattempts at torture had pro%ed useless or the time at least. "e sat inchains his ga&e down cast to a%oid the glare his dark blue hair hung aroundhis head flthy and his thoughts drited to his amilyLaryndu, my mate Ifonly I had listened the thought came unbidden as he ga%e a small chucklewhich turned into a coughI wouldnt be in this mess.

'n the shadows a man began to mo%e stirred by the small cough. Vortheincould see his eyes beneath the hea%y hood and shadows that shrouded hima distinct tint o el green burned in his eyes. Vorthein caught his ga&e a low

snarl orming in his throat as he reali&ed what this man was.

()arlock* +eems your %aunted power was useless., "e says taunting theother man.

(-ow now "ighborne '!m not your enemy at the moment. Direct your ireelsewhere., The hooded man said$ Vorthein thought he could hear the smirkin the other!s %oice (-ow do you ha%e a name beore you begin to berateme in rustration,

Vorthein chews on his lip hesitating (Vorthein )illowbree&e, he says fnallysighing (and whose /accomplished! presence would ' be in,

The fgure stood silent or a long moment his burning eyes upon Vortheinseeming to see through him (Tyielis Bloodfre, he says in a raspy tired %oice."e looks up dropping his hood$ re%ealing long pointed ears and a linedtired ace his eatures mark his heritage plain as day$ a sin!dorei.

("orde*, he says an edge to his %oice as he reali&es the man is more than ael user but an outright enemy.

(-ot 0uite, Tyielis says cutting o1 Vorthein!s ne#t words ('t would be moreaccurate to say my allegiance is more* mercurial than that. 2ltimately tomysel really, "e says a tired grin splitting his %isage. ()hich is why my

ne#t o1er surprises e%en mysel*,

The kaldorei mage glares at Tyielis (' won!t accept any o your poisonedo1ers sin!dorei keep it and your words to yoursel., "e says his mouthtwisting into a snarl bearing his angs.

(Don!t be brash young kaldorei or do you wish to see your amily again3our riends )ill you let e%erything be or naught so that these insanecultists can ruin e%erything or nothing4, The warlock says his %oice growing


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in bass rumble with e%ery punctuated word. Tyielis! ga&e burns into Vortheinthe el fre growing in his eyes as he speaks.

The kaldorei looks down into the dark Laryndu? How I wish I could speak withyou, love. 'mages 5ash in his mind!s eye$a kaldorei woman stands beforehim, with child, they are making a cradle by hand. hey sit close to one

another, for going magic to make hriaas crib. He can sees her look at him,smiling brightly, her pale blue skin radiant in the starlight. !lune alwayssmiled upon Laryndu.

"e sees her again$ he!s telling her that he must go away or duty. 'nto the6irelands.

"#y love, it is something I must do. If the wilights Hammer succeeds thereshall be no world left for little hiraa.$he stares at him, tears rolling down her face, as she nods, "If you must go,do it. %ust come back to me shes saying as she walks to him, and pullinghim down onto the bed, &'o as your love commands she says, in a weak

voice, her tears falling upon his chest.

Vorthein sighs looking into the darkness his snarl disappeared replaced by atired rown. "e looks o1 into the corner o the room$ !ven (rfeoran "ethinks and an image appears to him He sits at a table with a white haired,ancient kaldorei. hey have various books scattered around the simple table,(rfeorans cold blue eyes scan a book rapidly as they chat late into themorning, and tales of dark things and theories keep them awake. )rightened,intrigued.

The last scene melts away replaced by the same kaldorei but this time he isin a cage.

$now falls heavily around him, they are in the cold north, as he screams atthem, "How have you betrayed me, "brother?* His heart hurts, seeing hisfriend as such, but there is nothing he can do, the research took its toll, andthe +nights of the !bon lade are the only ones that can help their own. Heturns his back, (rfeoran screaming unintelligible gibberish at him, as hegrasps Laryndu close to him, and they walk away from their friend.

Vorthein looks up at the blood el meeting his eyes (3es ' want to see themagain. ' know ' will '!%e been in worse situations*, he says a tired butgenuine grin graces his ace

He looks around, ten or more $entinels surround -orhi, hriaa, and him. heirback is to the sea. nd the $entinels have glaives and bows pointed at them.

"/ell, no daring escape this time he mumbles to himself, as an ornatelyarmored $entinel step towards them away from the ring of archers.

&Highborne* $urrender and release $entinel hriaa*0 she screams in'arnassian


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He glances at hriaa, his then1mate, and smiles at her reassuringly. -orhilooks over at him, "Lad, thi girl better be worth "t the dwarf says gru2y,grinning at him.

He grins back, nodding, "Indeed he says simply, "Im sure well make it out ofthis, we did make it out alive from that demon

"ye, w did. -orhi says, hefting his a3e and resting it on his shoulder.

"If you dont release her, we shall place three arrows in each of your skulls*the $entinel 4aptain screams. -orhi and 5orthein grin at each other, as thememory fades

(*but tell me what you will o1er warlock., Vorthein says fnally.

The sin!dorei grins wickedly (7s you are possibly aware the Twilight!s"ammer is draining our strength rom us. ' doubt you could muster enoughpower or a simple spell., "e says knowingly.

Vorthein nods at the statement (' fgured out ater ' woke up frst and couldnot cast a simple cantrip., "e says 5e#ing a hand looking at it the pains oaddiction and powerlessness gnaws at his insides.

('t is much the same or me. -othing to do but sit and languish* unless wework together. ' do not ha%e my soulshards but there is something ' can doon one condition., The blood el says his %oice low and somber (' need youto deli%er a message to my co%en. There is pertinent inormation they mustknow.,

The kaldorei mage chuckles at the statement shaking his head (3ou can do

that yoursel blood el. 7ter we make it out o here ' am done with riendlycon%ersations with warlocks., Vorthein says looking at Tyielis the blood elsimply shakes his head.

(' won!t be going with you. 8nly one o us has the chance to get out*, Tyielissays a tired grin on his ace.

The night el tilts his head (3ou mean to tell me you are going to sacrifceyoursel to sa%e me 9ardon me i ' don!t belie%e you what!s the :real;catch, Vorthein says sco


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)ith a widening grin Tyielis begins to laugh deeply (3ou!%e del%ed into elmagic 'nteresting what was it or young one,

('; it was or my mate* my pre%ious one ' wanted to learn how to bring herback and it took me to dark places., "e says (' learned nothing o %alue*-othing one should know.,

()ell well you might ha%e made this easier. 7s you are probably aware onecan uses souls or power. 7 0uick burst o power* my own is saturated withel energy a tantali&ing treat* one which ' can teach you how to use. +hallthe lessons begin young kaldorei,

('!m listening warlock* teach me 0uickly we won!t ha%e much time.,Vorthein says reluctant but willing to learn. "e sits down and looks at thegrinning blood el intently.;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

The cowled fgure leans o%er the makeshit altar a human is tied to the altar

bare and naked$ weak and sni%eling tears rolled down his cheeks as the once

powerul warlock wimpered and begged or his lie. 7eri%ir did not care.

he lamb knows nothing... !nd it6s ceaseless dream of life7 consume him...

came the whispering %oice in his mind as sot as an intimate lo%er as roaring

as the chilling wind through -orthrend %alleys. ?almly 7eir%ir grabbed the

man@s chin acing him towards his ace so the man could see the bleeding

runes the luminescent purple marks and the dark and oreboding %iolet

eyes.

A' send your soul to the true masters$ the demons will not claim it. 6eel lucky

little man...A he says his %oice growing into a growl as his bones crack and

his orm shits. "is hands replaced by wicked and constantly bleeding claws

his ace repalced by a lupine maw the cowl alls o1 his head a low cackle

escpaing the worgen@s maw$ putrid green spittle spalshes onto the man.

A +6ykar k6th6rygg y6gri mrr6ungha vii6ulth6wua...8 spilled orth the maddened

speech rom 7eir%ir@s lips his claws clenching around the man@s neck digging

into his throat. "e held his other claw up and plunged it into the wimpering

man@s chest clutching his heart he rips with a crack o breaking ribs and a

splash o red 5uids. Liting the still beating pri&e to his maw he hungrily

de%ours it beore the dying human@s eyes.

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

It was a starry night, acrid, foul smelling smoke drifted in the air7 screams offear and pain coud be heard as the town burned. $atyrs ran among the

people, killing, pillaging and taking many alive. he $entinels were scattered,and the satyrs took full advantage of the chaos7 the dwellings and buildingsburned with a dark and brilliant emerald 9ame.


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blue1haired, young kaldorei boy stood behind his mother. $he was apriestess of the :oddess, her moonsilver armor glimmered in the 9ickeringlights, her dark blue hair waved lightly in the wind. $he stood her ground, abow on her back and ornate a3e in hand7 her demeanor was grim anddetermined, she watched an approaching satyrs, he wore dark, runed, and

armored robes, his eyes were dark pinpoints of fel green, and the stench ofdark magic was palatable even while so far away.

$entinel charged the imposing satyr from the side, looking to blindside him7the satyrs ga;e 9icks to the side, he catches the $entinel in mid1swing, hisclaws alight with dark power, causing the $entinels arm to start burning withthe horrible

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The Long Trek to Darkness