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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:35:35 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:35:35 GMT -5
((Sunset was a story I stopped halfway through. It was one with lots of emotion behind it, and one I really enjoyed writing. A lot of people did I work with on this. It was a lot of fun to RP with everyone. Anyway, I stopped it many months back, and since I plan on continuing... well, i thought i'd post to it here so I could possibly link it or somethin'. Anyway. Enjoy.))
Sunset, Chapters I-III
SUNSET
Ch. 1
Trilink Ehranus wandered the streets in a daze. The nights of brutal fighting were lost. Though they had been dangerous and difficult, they had also been caused by something the blonde ex-Knight now lacked. Purpose. Conviction. Now the nights were spent either in solitude or in taverns where the man would drink until he no longer cared how much money he spent on the gaunt-faced poverty-stricken Stormwind City whores. It had gotten to him though. The fight had left him. There was nothing left to fight for, really. No matter how many times he went in to battle, nothing changed. For every enemy slain, ten more showed themselves. The Horde was only an enemy because of circumstance and the manipulation by forces too powerful to ever combat alone. The true enemies were being fought, but with little in the way of result. Trilink could nod aid this fight anymore. He didn't care enough. He felt totally alone, whether he was or not, and it made him bitter. Recent nights had seen the bitterness, the emptiness, the loneliness, the confusion turn to blind rage. Trilink would snap out at the innocent, or even friends, and turn them away from him. There were a few yet that Trilink still would call his friend, but they were distant enough to not make a difference. Trilink sometimes found himself blaming them, although he knew there was no logic in it. He would spend lonely nights cursing everyone and everything. It was a strange path indeed that took him to such places and thoughts. The more he thought about it though, the more he blamed one person. Constanse Al'Varay. He had loved her with a passionate, complete love, and she had returned it. They had become engaged. They shared intimacy and everything else. Yet, there came a time when she just stopped seeing him. Stopped caring. He'd confronted her about it more than once, always ending with the promise that she'd change. She'd see him more often. It never happened. And how he hated her. His love was being eclipsed in the worst way. -She- was the cause of it. The hollow, empty feeling. He'd given her all that he was, and she returned it with apathy. She didn't care about him. She was just like the others.
Trilink was reaching his breaking point. He couldn't fight anymore. Couldn't do anything. The remains of his life were nothing but alternating apathetic lethargy, drunken indulgence, and a horrible seething rage that he had no idea how to quench or satisfy. Tonight, though... he would go to her. She would know how he felt. She would feel it. He would share his pain with her...
Constanse Al'Varay spent another lonely night in Westfall. It hadn't been that long since she'd been met by Valian Nierendel. Valian was Trilink's mother, and for one night, his lover. She had made a promise to Valian once to truly change her ways and see Trilink, but she never had. Valian may have killed her, but instead, the Forsaken Elf had left her in peace, telling her only to see him again. That night, Valian had blamed Constanse for what had been happening to Trilink, but she had also blamed herself. The priestess sighed to herself, heavily. "What am I doing?" She asked herself aloud. She had come to Westfall for training, but she had found herself doing nothing instead. Sleeping, or nothing. She almost had got up the courage to face Trilink again, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't, and she didn't really know why.
"I'm beginning to hate myself. Why can't I leave this place? Why can't I do anything useful? It's just like Valian said..." Her thoughts were travelling to dark places as well. But she finally made a decision. "Trilink... I will see Trilink tonight. It's time. He deserves that..." It had been hard for her. But she knew she had to. She would apologize to him. Explain herself. Maybe then she could have some peace.
With a bit of renewed strength, she sat up from her bed and started for the door. It was then that the door burst open, slamming against the wall with a loud thud. In it burst Trilink Ehranus, the object of her affection, and the man she had not seen in so long. He narrowed the distance between them in two long, easy strides. "T-Trilink! IT's so good to see-"
Trilink interrupted her with his gauntleted hand slapping her across the face. "Shut up, Constanse." He looked at her. The light in Trilink's eyes that told of his Elven blood was now gone, replaced only with a glazed over glare that spoke of pain and hatred. She looked up at him, raising a delicate hand to the red welt on her face. Tears stung her eyes as she looked at a fiancee of hers that she no longer knew... Trilink looked back down at her. His rage and pain was nowhere near subsiding. Rather, it was still rising. He was no longer in control. He was nowhere near strong enough to stop the things that were about to happen. "Trilink? I know i've been gone- i've been weak, stupid, I-" This time a closed fist interrupted her, connecting with her jaw hard and sending her reeling, taking a few steps back. "Shut up!" The enraged warrior then took a step over to her, picked her up, and threw her hard against the wall. She then slumped on the floor, badly bruised. "Constanse! You can't imagine the pain you've put me through!" Constanse again looked up at him, tears running down her face. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was, how much she really did love him, even now, but nothing could get past the horrible lump in her throat. She just looked at the ground, unable to face this man.
"There was the joy, Constanse, of knowing that I had found the One for me. The destined love of fairy tales and poetry. You were the only woman I could truly ever love again, Constanse. We were meant for each other. I loved you with everything I had." He picked her up in his left hand by the throat, and held her struggling form off the ground a few feet. "Then you turned away from me. You left me. How could you?!" Trilink's expression showed clearly that he was no longer a sane man. His face twisted in a grimace of anguish and anger. Any reply Constanse could have given was now squelched my the metal hand around her throat. "I have been in darkness since you left." He threw her to the ground hard. The only sound she made was a sharp cry of pain. Then she was thrown on her back, and the large man came atop her.
He hit her in the face, hard, with metal knuckles. He hit her hard enough for the sound to fill the room. "Liar!" The fist came down a second time. Constanse looked up at Trilink. She was beyond caring what happened now. If her Trilink wanted to kill her for what she did, so be it. If it was all truly over, her will to live was gone. "I loved you so much!" The fist connected a third time. Blood came from her nose and lips, covering her face in sticky crimson. "What went wrong?! Why aren't we together?!" He raised his fist for another blow, but she interrupted. "Trilink. I'm sorry..." He glared at her, pulled back his fist again, and was interrupted once more. "I never stopped loving you, Tril..."
It was too much. Sanity came back to the Warrior for a moment. He stood up, leaving her trembling on the ground. Trilink delivered one last savage kick to her stomach. "You're a liar! You never knew what love is! Love isn't abandoning somebody! You didn't even abandon for a reason! You just left... never a letter... nothing...!" Constanse looked up for awhile. He kicked her again, this time in the face. As her lips moved in her reply, blood sprayed and trickled from her split lip. "I'm so sorry I did this to you..." It was in that moment that Trilink found enough wit to realize that she was not the problem. He was. As much as she'd done, as much as their love had failed, only Trilink was to blame for the rage, the sadness, the emptiness. It had been there before her, and would remain after. Trilink didn't say another word, he just left the inn, and went out into the night. He ran. He kept running. It was all he could do...
Chapter II
He could run no more. It had seemed like days, his legs pumping, never slowing. He did not tire. It had only been several hours, but time had been intangible enough to have no meaning to Trilink. He was finally tired, his legs giving out. He sank against the trunk of a tree and just shut his eyes. It didn't matter where he was. Not now.. He just folded his arms across his knees and let sleep taking him...
His dreams were as disturbed as anyone's could have been. His sister, Sareyna. His stepmother, Cerice. His father and mother. Everything he had lost. All his sins. They plagued him all throughout the night. By the time he had awakened, he was even worse off than the night before. The rage, though, was gone, and was left with overwhelming grief and guilt. When Trilink opened his eyes and took in his surroundings at last, he thought it so very fitting. He was in Lordaeron country now, within sight of the Capital. This was the place of his birth. He wandered about for a time, mind racing.
'What will I do?' He could not go back to what he was. He never could. He had lost everything. Given up. His conviction and his way of being were very much gone. He had hurt Constanse. He had hurt others, recently, too. He could not live with who he was. What he was becoming. His life had become only misery, sadness. He remembered he wanted to go sailing... to get away from it all... but that would not help. Not now. He would have to break a certain promise to one of his few remaining friends...
Trilink walked among the ruins of Lordaeron's capital city. It was unfamiliar to him after all these years, but it hardly mattered. It was such a fitting place for what was about to happen. He reached into his pack and withdrew a potion in a long, thin vile. He pulled the cork out. He emptied the contents down his throat without another thought.
A few moments passed... nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, a searing pain exploded in his nervous system! Every nerve, every vein, everything that could feel was now screaming out in agony! Trilink fell on his hands and knees and gave a cry of agony more terrible than any he'd ever given. Sweat dripped from his brow as he shook and convulsed. He fell from his hands onto his side and began to roll and writhe as Death came for him.
It was a slow death. Such was the nature of Hemloch, and the fight a Warrior could put up against poisons. Trilink lasted three quarters of an hour before the pain ended. His last thoughts were of the people he was leaving behind. The people he still could love. But his last words were not of apology or regret.
"And so sets the sun..." He said this as the light in his world went out forever, and his eyes saw no more.
Ch. III
Oblivion. Darkness. Nothing to see. No light. No sound. Emptiness. No feeling. Then, something. A thought. "Is this death?" Suddenly some form of sensation returned. Feeling? No. Something else. There was a sense of surrounding, but still dark and silent. He could feel something. Above?
Awareness. Things returning. Thought. Feeling. Consciousness. There were things... above.... life. He could begin to hear, feel, sense- heartbeats. The coursing of blood through the veins of other beings. It was confusing.
And it was enraging. The void was filled with something. Rage. Anger. Hatred. Sadness. Sorrow. They filled the void completely.
Awareness. This was not hell. He was somewhere. But where?
Pain. The black world exploded. What was this? He felt the pain spread and he shook for a time, then all was silent. Feeling returned, though something was different. He twitched. Twitched! He clenched and unclenched his fist. It was strange, though- something did not feel right. Everything was still. Silent. Cold...
He felt around in the darkness and came to the understanding that he was trapped. In something small. A box? A cell? It was wood. Hard. He would suffocate in here! As he tried to gasp, he realized he was taking in no air, but then realized something else: It did not bother him. He did not really need air. What was this? It was confusing. The consciousness in the Oblivion. He was nameless yet. Without memory. Only the knowledge that he was not supposed to be. This aberration only furthered the rage of the nameless being. It began to move its body, slamming fist against the top of the place. He pounded until wood splintered. Dug until his nails tore off and scabs formed. Yet all he felt was anger and sorrow. There was pain, but it was no longer something that bothered the being.
He writhed and slithered around the splintered wood. He was still enclosed. Dirt entered every orifice. He swam, clawed, pushed, fought. Up. Always up. He would go up. He had been buried! He didn't really comprehend anything. What that meant. But he was angry. Very angry....
He finally broke ground. The dirty creature pulled itself onto the ground and took a moment to look 'round. This place was familiar. Stars burned bright in the sky, causing more of the sensation he knew as pain in his two eyes. He stared at them until it ceased, and slowly, the confusion began to part.
He was alive, once. Now he was not. He was a man. Trilink Ehranus was his name. He was Undead. Raised?
Finally, another being emerged from the shadows. Another Undead? "Sssoo. You have awakened." Trilink just stared at the creature, not caring one way or the other where or who he was. All he knew and felt was anger. Sorrow. "You are Forsssaken now. Welcome to the kingdom of the Banshee Queen."
Trilink looked at the other dead being, and just smiled. It was a strange thing, for he was far from happy. He was overcome with violent hatred and sorrow. But he was given pleasure at the thought of what he now wanted to do.
Constanse. He remembered that name alone. He would kill her. But not at first. He knew of her family. He would kill them, too. And his fiancee would die from the inside out....
Trilink Ehranus returned to Azeroth, but he was not whole. He had returned without a soul, and he would return to others the things he took from the grave into the darkness with him. Pain and grief...
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:36:26 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:36:26 GMT -5
Chapter IV ((Written by Constanse and I both this time. Enjoy it! Who did what is clear enough. )) Trilink Ehranus had only been Undead for a short time but he was already getting used to it. The night before this one he had gone to 'train'- feeling a bit weakened by his Undeath. It led him to Warsong Gulch where he fight the Silverwing not because he cared little for words like 'Horde' or 'Alliance' but because the killing gave him immeasurable pleasure of the worst kind. He felt refreshed when the night was over, for he had dragged the corpses of two Sentinels back to the place he was staying in Undercity and thoroughly enjoyed himself. It was the first time he'd cannibalized a sentient, but he already was enjoying the taste, the rush. He silently thanked whatever deity, that night, that might be listening, for his lack of a soul. Conscience, guilt, sadness, pain- all gone and replaced by naught but the anger, the hate, and the pleasures that came with sating them. This day, however, was about his mission. His vengeance. The thing that could return those unhappy feelings. Sorrow. More rage. His mission was to hurt Constanse Al'Varay. To destroy her as he destroyed himself. He hated her so much that he wanted her dead. But he didn't want to just -kill- her... it was not enough. It lacked something. Poignance? Art? It mattered little. It would just be done. He would start with her oldest sister, who was named 'Lon'. He knew nothing about her, except where she lived, thanks to prying eyes and the greed of the living. The usual untidyness and dissaray of the manor did nothing to settle her nerves. Lon sat in the top most bedroom, the one with the window facing the sea, and stared out... she trembled quietly in the coming dark, her heart thundering... She had a feeling, the calls she had made to her goddess, Elune, would finally be answered. A release from the mess her life had become...a solution to her being so ungratefuly handed a task she couldn't complete. Keep the manor safe... watch the family, all the treasures... Lon's mind wasn't right. Even she knew it. It hadn't been, not since... not since Nathaniel. Sighing, she drained the last of the drink she held in her hand and tossed the glass to the floor, the sound of it shattering music to her ears. "Whoever you are..." She whispered. "Come soon... I can't wait long..." Trilink Ehranus was now a being of somewhat supernatural qualities. The manor in which this 'Lon' dwelt was very near to Darkshore, in Auberdine, and it had been a long journey. Yet Trilink did not tire, not once, not even a little. He was spurred on by his unquenchable rage. Spurred on by hatred of the purest and most potent form. He would kill Lon, to get at Constanse. He would hurt Constanse through everything, anything she cared about. Lon was first to go. He didn't know what to expect, but fear never came to him. Only anticipation of the kill. Plans of what he would do to her. Soon, skulking through the shadows as stealthy as anything, Trilink came within sight of the front door. Four guards stood outside, Night Elves- decently armed, but obviously weary from their long, uneventful watches. Trilink drew his sharp, black sword from his sheath, and slipped his forearm through the leather straps on his shield... Lon hummed something to herself as she watched out the window, the waves beginning to move a little harder into shore. She sighed gently and stood, a smile touching her lips. "Thank you." She whispered, turning to face the door. She wore her best silver robes... her hair was done up with a pin in the shape of a lotus, something her mother had left behind. These were her burial clothes. Trilink emerged from the shadows with a mighty leap, putting himself in the exact middle of the four night elves. The two nearest to him died quickly, quick thrusts from the gleaming black sword putting numerous gashes in numerous places before they could react. The Night Elf on his right reacted then, reaching for the scimitar sheathed at his side. Trilink kicked out, hitting him in the gut with the flat of his foot, knocking him back against the door hard, knocking the wind out of him, and the door open, the Elf tangled up with it and going down hard. As he kicked, the Elf on his left drew his blade as well. This one had time to attack, bringing his blade down vertically. Trilink raised his shield and blocked the hit, then span round and swung his own blade diagonally- from up right to down left, severing the Elf's head. The one on the ground took a sharp intake of breath to let out a cry of alarm, but Trilink slipped a hand over his mouth and leered down at him. "Shhhhhhh. There will be screaming enough this night- but not from you." The black blade ran against the Kaldorei's throat, and the Guard knew no more. Trilink stormed through the manor, completely confident, completely focused. "Looon!" He knew where she was. He could smell her. Feel her. The anxious heartbeat. The blood coursing through her veins. "I smell fear!" He ran towards the staircase to the tower that hid the elf. One more guard stood there, and attacked Trilink, but the determined Forsaken just ducked under the clumsy swing, and stabbed upwards with his blade, piercing the Elf's heart through its ribcage. Then, he began to ascend... Her heartbeat slowed, echoed his footsteps as he came for her. She could smell the death now... soon she would see the face of her liberator. She planned to greet him with a smile and a thank you, her eyes on the door, a smile creeping onto her lips... Trilink reached the door, knowing the Elf was on the other side. He expected traps or tricks, but didn't really care for them. He knew the Elf didn't expect him- couldn't... but he knew how cowardly and paranoid people with this much wealth were. Trilink paused at the door, wondering if he should kick it down or not. Instead, though, he just calmly pushed it open and took one step inside. She smiled, the thankyou becoming trapped in her throat as she stared at him. Her eyes widened slightly, and she swallowed, fear beginning to grip her. "It's... you." She managed to say, a tortured look crossing her face. "It wasn't enough that... mine had to come for me... now hers, too. Now hers, too... I can't beleive it's you..." Trilink was taken aback when he saw the smile, but the sudden fear, the sudden disbelief caused an evil smile to cross his face. This was good. "It's me... I can't believe it's me" he repeated in a mocking tone. Then he threw back his head and laughed hard. "I am going to make this last." She backed away slowly, feeling her legs and backside hit the bookcase behind her, beside the window. She groped sideways and began to edge towards the window, her heart racing. "Make it... last..." she repeated, stupidly. Trilink laughed again, her fear becoming his ecstacy. He crossed the room in a few easy strides, until he was a sword's length away from her, and no more. And there was a very sharp sword in his hand. He pressed the tip against her gut, warningly, and looked into her eyes. "Beg me to make it quick." "I wanted it to be." She gasped. "You were to be my liberator! Not my torturer..." her eyes looked haunted. "Did Constanse send you? Did she tell you to do this? Is it her that's behind this? Tell me!" Trilink laughed all the harder. "You're really not very smart are you?" He rewarded her stupidity by slamming the hilt of his sword into her left eye, as hard as he could, the jeweled pommel enough to cause serious damage. "Stupid bitch." Lon screamed, pain exploding through her head. Her blood leaked through her fingers as she clutched her hand to her eye, dark, thick blood. She stumbled blindly, groping out for something to hold onto, pain tearing through her. Screaming again, she took a book and threw it. "No! This wasn't supposed to be how it was supposed to end!" She howled. Trilink easily deflected the book with his shield. "...Maybe she did send me in a way, Lon." He chuckled. "This isn't about you at all." Trilink was getting into it at last. He slammed his shield into her chest just enough to knock the wind out of her, then followed up with with a hard thrust, spearing through her hand and pinning it to the wall. "Beg." Lon couldn't scream... her air was gone. She gripped weakly at the sword, trying to pull it from her hand. Blood washed down her face, staining her robes, and her eye.. what was left of it, was already swollen shut. She looked at the Forsaken and hissed. "Please..." She begged. "Please don't do this... this wasn't how it was to end! This isn't right!" Trilink released his grip on his sword, and dropped his shield. In the same motion, he grabbed a dagger from his belt with his left hand and speared her right to the wall, securing her in position, her arms thrown wide as if in a crucifiction. "No. No, it's not, is it?" Trilink ran the back of his hand against the Half-Human, Half Night Elven woman's cheek. "I don't like the way you beg though..." It was just like Nathaniel... that look on his face. It was the way Nathaniel had looked at her before he... "Please, no..." She whimpered, struggling slightly. Pain rocked through her as she tried to move her arms, so she cried out in pain and stayed still, her chest heaving. "Please... no..." Trilink just watched her for a moment. He watched her heaving chest. He smelled her blood. Her fear was his ecstacy. Her pain his religion. As his eyes travelled up and down the Elf, he knew how he wanted to finish it. He took a step forward until his face was but an inch from hers. He could feel her panicked breath. Trilink did not breathe. "You are lucky, Lon. I have decided not to rape you to death." She almost wept, squeezing her eye closed. "Oh, thank you... thank you!" She cried, still trying not to move. "There is... at least some mercy in your heart left... inside that shell. The shell of that monster!" Trilink laughed madly. "Mercy? No, you're just such a pathetic sight that i can't get it up no matter how many horrid things i picture. But no, i'm hungry in a more literal sense than that." He licked his lips and laughed again. She stared at him, horrified, then began to struggle again, pain racing through her. She screamed, tried to ignore it... She just wanted to get away from him. "Don't be afraid. This actually shouldn't last long." Trilink paused. "When you see Constanse in the Nether, remember that she is the cause of this. She'll join you soon enough." Then, Trilink was done with his game. He just leaned in, grabbed her by the shoulders, opened his maw wide and clamped his fangs down hard on her juggular vein. Blood sprang forth, pumping hard and fast, spraying into his mouth and onto his face as he eagerly sucked it in and swallowed it. Then, he bit down harder, and pulled back, tearing the vein from her neck and draining her of her lifeblood. The first kill had been made. The pain was ugly... But the death it brought beautiful. The passing dream of life was over... Lon was free... The means of her death were nothing as she had imagined... her killer had been unexpected. Outside, the waves roared against the shore and the wind howled hoarsly. Somewhere in Elwynn forest, another elf lifted her head to the wind, her glowing eyes widening. "Lon..." She breathed. Quickly turning, she lifted her skirts slightly and began to run, run through the trees, back towards her house in Goldshire. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her... didn't stop until she reached the door. She allowed herself to look around, quickly, before opening the door and slipping inside. Something inside her... a little piece of her... died that night. Died with the death of her only daughter. Trilink couldn't stop smiling back in Undercity as he sent away his mail to Constanse Al'Varay. The letter read thus: "A gift to you, Constanse. With love, Lon." The letter had been tied to a box. Inside were two severed hands, a scalp, and one eye, belonging all to Constanse's eldest sister. The package would take some time to arrive in Stormwind, and Trilink travelled South, keeping to the shadows. He would watch her. He would see the expression on her face. This was his reward. Constanse had hardly moved... a wretched, broken heap in the Inn in Westfall. One of the women there had been trying to keep her healthy... tried to get her to eat, but something in Constanse seemed broken or lost. She didn't speak.. she didn't move. She didn't eat or drink, she just lay there, staring at the wall or out the window. Filthy, exhausted... lost. "Miss... um... I brought you some clean robes. I thought you might like to change." The woman's voice was familiar. For once, Constanse opened her eyes and looked over, not moving anymore otherwise. "Thank you." Her voice was so hoarse from disuse... she barely recognized it. "Maybe... yes..." She sat up slowly, a blank look on her face. "A... a package came for you, they said. It's waiting at the tower." The woman looked almost nervous. "Gosh miss... your face looks terrible. Did you get in a fight?" Constanse didn't speak, her brows knit. A package? What could it be? Trilink smiled widely as he poised in the shadows, watching the Inn, the tower. He could see it all. He would be able to see the look on her face. He had gone to great lenghts to ensure he would not be spotted, too- a fact that could be attested to by a High Elven Archmage he had viciously tortured into giving him an enchantment on his cloak to shroud him... Constanse managed to make it to the tower... She stumbled several times but flatly refused help from the woman aiding her. She made her way to some of the guards, who looked... uncertain, uncomfortable... "My package?" She croaked, looking at them. "Y-yes. Um... you sure you want to open it?" From the smell... she wasn't sure at all. Her heart thundered and she slowly reached out, hesitating. "Um, you're going to open it here?": One of the guards asked, shifting. constanse looked at him, and he flushed. "Yes." She said bluntly, opening the lid. She stared... after a few seconds, after reading the note, she hurried outside, doubling over in the grass and retching. Trilink gave his first genuine smile in ages as he watched his fiancee puking in the grass. "Aww. She didn't even read the note. Hehehe." He wondered if she recognized the body parts. He just kept watching, the pleasure immense as he hurt Constanse Al'Varay. "The letter... the letter..." he willed her in thought to open it. That would be his favourite part, he was sure! Once her empty stomach stopped trying to empty itself, Constanse tore the letter open, sobbing hoarsly. She read the note, her eyes widening, then she struggled to her feet, moving down the ramp towards the gryphon master. "Miss Al'varay, where are you going?!" The woman shouted, hurrying after her. Constanse turned and looked at her, pressing a hand to her mouth with a groan. "To Goldshire! I need to see my father!" She shouted back. "Uh... no need." The gryphon master said to her as she tried to hand him silver. "Take it, Gods damn you! I have no need for it." Constanse snarled, pushing it at him and walking to the Gryphon. It tried to bit her, obviously reacting to her emotions, but let her get on it's back, taking off in the direction it was told to. Constanse trembled, half in rage, half in disbelief... what was going on? Trilink frowned slightly. He hadn't anticipated that being her first move. He would have to be there as well, lest something... unexpected happen. He would keep watching. So, sword drawn, he stalked up to the gryphon master. The master was powerful and well trained, but thanks to the Elven enchantment, he never saw Trilink. All he saw was the tip of the black blade right before it entered his skull and pierced his brain. Any bystanders mattered little. Trilink hopped up onto a gryphon that was actually familiar to him, and spoke softly to it in the High Elven tongue, and against all reason, the gryphon heeded the Forsaken as it had never heeded any command before... Constanse felt the hair on the back of her neck raise as her gryphon flew as fast as it could to Stormwind. She landed and hurriedly stepped off the Gryphon platform, ignoring the man who tried to greet her and moving towards the opening where the Gryphon's flew in. She threw a sheild around herself and jumped, hearing a scream of protest from above. Down she plunged, into the cold water, the sheild keeping her from being harmed. Surfacing, gasping for air, she pulled herself up onto the shore nearby, shuddering. She moved up the bank clumsily, hurrying down the path towards Goldshire with water dripping from her. People stared... some backed away. She realized she must have looked completely mad... Trilink would not even land in Stormwind. He would have been slain on the spot. So right above Elwynn Forest he leapt off the speeding gryphon, and crashed hard intot he ground, rolling with the momentum. He heard several bones crack and shift, but he paid it no heed. He only calmly set them, drank a healing potion, and set out into the Forest to watch the house of Seamus, the father of Constanse. Constanse didn't run, she half stumbled, half walked. It was turning dark, the clouds rolling in. A storm... how fitting. She paused to catch her breath, no food, no water making her weak. She continued on, stumbling and frantic, reaching the outskirts of the town and ignoring all who tried to stop her to ask if she was okay. She moved quickly towards his house, her father's house, her eyes full of tears. "Please be there." She gasped, banging on the door. " Father! Father!!" Seamus opened the door hurriedly, taking one look at Constanse and cursing. "Damn it all... Al'varay! Al'varay!!" The spoken of heaved herself weakly from a chair, her eyes widening as they fell on Contanse. "Ye look like someone's beaten yer face in, girl! Who did this to ye?" Seamus shook Constanse, startling when she thrust a note at him, a sob escaping her. "Something... something t-terrible is h-happening." Constanse gasped. "F-first... Trilink... he... " She shook her head. "Then t-this package arrived f-for me... at the tower. A-and it was... " She made a soft gagging noise. Seamus read the letter and looked slowly over at Al'varay, who snatched the letter away. She read it, her glowing eyes half closed. "So... it's true." Seamus said softly. "She really is...dead. But why?" Al'varay sat back down, and Constanse continued to stand, sobbing in the doorway, shivering with cold. Outside, it began to thunder. Trilink frowned as he watched. This was not good. Would they connect the dots? Surely not! It was too terrible even for an angry Trilink to do, right? Surely they wouldn't dare suspect him! Not that he really cared what they thought of, but it would ruin his plan! He wanted ALL of them to die, all of Constanse's family... but... if they figured it out now... he would just have to kill them all together. He raised the rifle to his shoulder, looking through the scope. In the crosshairs was the father, Seamus. If he had to end it here, he would NOT lose. "This has the stench of undeath all over it. The wind carries the reek of it." Al'varay's lilting voice was husky sounding from her own crying, and Seamus looked over at her. "I don't know... why it has happened. Perhaps... Nathaniel..." "Nathaniel?" "A lover Lon once had. He was Forsaken... I thought that Lon had gotten rid of him, however." Constanse sobbed quietly, Seamus moving to wrap a blanket about her shoulders. "Ye think it might be him?" "Who else would it be? Who else would hate the name Al'varay so much, he would kill one of the last of the bloodline... and send the pieces in a package to the youngest half sister of the deceased? Who else would be so sick?" Al'varay's tone was hurt. Trilink smiled. Maybe the games could continue after all. He aimed his rifle in a different place now. He would aim for Al'Varay to perpetuate their misconceptions. Seamus or Constanse would make it seem like it was not this Nathaniel. He would make it look like a failed attempt. Surely that would lead them astray. Trilink pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through the left shoulder of Al'Varay, creating a thin mist of blood. Trilink then hesitated, waiting for the reaction. Constanse screamed, dropping to the floor with her hands over her ears, her sobbing growing frantic. Al'varay simply gasped, clutching at her shoulder and falling from her chair, but Seamus... Seamus reached for his own gun, whirling in the direction of the window and letting out a growl. "Whos' there?! Who's there?!" He howled. "Show yerself, ye fool, ye coward! I'll blow a fuckin' hole in yer head!" He kicked the door open and stormed out into the pouring rain. Trilink was long gone, having fled off into the shadows. "Farewell, family Al'Varay." Pausing and looking over his shoulder as he ran, he took a slender dagger from his belt and dragged it across his left forearm, leaving one single red mark. "One down, Nine to go. How many sisters of yours can you watch die?" For the rest of that evening, Trilink had no companion but his ceaseless laughter..
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:37:04 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:37:04 GMT -5
Chapter V -
(Co-written with Constanse again)
Some time had passed, since the murder of Lon Al'Varay. Trilink knew Constanse was in pain since their last meeting, but he had managed to convince her family that he had not been the one who'd slain Lon, but it'd been one 'Nathaniel'.
Hopefully, further killing would not reveal the killer as Trilink, but it would likely refute the theory of Nathaniel's involvement.
At any rate, it was time to make Constanse hurt again. The thought was pleasant to Trilink. He had found his second name. 'Eru'. He had this name, and the address she'd been staying at in Theramore Isle. It would be tricky, but he could do it.
And he would watch Constanse mourn yet again. Trilink had snuck into the Dustwallow Marsh and reached the perimeter of Theramore Isle. He would have to tread softly, for this place was well defended.
Eru'shuneev paced her tiny laboratory, muttering to herself, pushing her glasses up her nose with one finger. She sighed and poured through a heavy book of potions she held, frowning slightly> "I'll never get it done." She sighed, thumping the book closed and tucking her hair behind her ear.
She set the book on the table and hurried into the next room to see how the mixture she had created already was faring. "So much to do... so little time. Eru, you fool, why did you sleep in this morning?"
Trilink knew her house was on the edge of town, right near the wall. So why risk going through a gate or over a bridge? Trilink smiled as he produced the grappling hook and rope from his pack. The shock of the Theramore Guard at their failure would truly be amusing.
Trilink was in high spirits, for he would take his time and enjoy this one. Not like the last girl...
Eru was her name. A Human. Another sister of Constanse's. Soon to be the second of many victims.
Eru pulled her robes tighter around herself and shivered lightly. A cool breeze had swept through the house, sliding under her skirts and sending a chill through her. "Hmm..." Blinking, she turned and looked at the window. "Silly me... must have left it open." She closed the window and rubbed a bugbite on her arm, looking out intot he darkness. "Jumping at shadows, are you?" She asked herself.
Trilink was over the wall with ease. When he spotted the house that was Eru's, he smiled. Naturally, he had waited until nightfall, and soon he leapt under cover of darkness onto the roof, with a soft thud. He would give her fear before she even saw him. He learned this trick from another...
Eru startled, letting out a squeak and sighing shortly at herself. "What is your problem?" She muttered. She was so used to being on her own, she often talked to herself. "Jumping at shadows... ever so pathetic. Just get your work done, Eru! Not much time..." She pulled her robes tighter and hurried into the next room, her tiny kitchen, to get a drink.
Trilink grinned as he silently drew his sword from his scabbard. He started to walk back and forth on the roof, dragging his blade across the tiles, making for some quiet but eery scratching sounds, added to by the deliberate chinking of his mail boots.
Eru'shuneev raised her eyes slowly to look at the roof, her heart thundering. She reached under her robes, pulling the dagger she carried from it's sheath hidden beneath her robes, strapped to her leg. She raised it a little, clutching her hand to her chest and edging away from the room, pressing up against the wall.
"This is boring..." Trilink backflipped off the wall and landed facing the door, which he immediately sprang through, sword still in hand. He entered the room and looked around quickly, taking in the shelves of alchemy equipment and projects in the moment he entered. When that was done with, he turned the burning yellow orbs that were his eyes upon this one.
"Hello, there."
"Bandit!" She waved her dagger at him, obviously unpracticed with it. "Get away! Get away! There's nothing here for you!" She edged towards the door, knocking several vials on the floor as she slid against the shelf.
"Oh no?" Trilink smiled politely. He hadn't heard much about her, but he still could run with the obvious. "I hear you're a skilled chemist. I've heard of you as far away as Undercity. I've actually come to you for help." He gave her a warm and plaintiff smile as he sheathed his blade. "Sorry for the appearance- it was hard to get in here."
She lowered her blade, her heart thundering slightly. "By the gods... you speak Common!" She cried. "Amazing..." She looked down and startled, cursing and trying to pick up her now broken vials
Trilink helped her pick up the vials, quietly. "Aye. Now let me tell you why I've come to you. You see, I have a condition. I'm Undead!" He widened his eyes and gestured empathically as if this should very well be a surprise to her.
She blinked at him, wide eyed, then nodded rather slowly. "Y-yes... yes, I can see that." She closed her eyes, shook her head, tried to see him as something OTHER thana specimen. "Um... I... Uh, sorry it's such a mess." She pulled her robes closed more tightly. This girl was obviously oblivious to what had happened... The chill in the air, however... had not faded.
Trilink looked at Eru and gave her a pathetic expression. "My friends run away from me. My countrymen attack me. My liege calls for my death." He looked at the ground. "I'm a Monster. You have to -cure- me!"
"C-cure you?" She squeaked this, blinking and managing to cut herself on a peice of glass. "OUCH!" Standing, she stuck her finger in her mouth and cursed. "But... I'm not THAT good a chemist! I don't know basis of ANY potion that might be able to turn back the death of the flesh and make it live again! I wish... I wish I could help you!" She jammed her finger in her mouth again, flushign.
Trilink nodded, and the evil smile returned to his face. He quickly shut the door and started towards Eru. "That's okay, Eru. You can comfort me, instead."
As he moved towards her, he took a flask from a shelf that he knew to be ammonia, took off his cape, and drenched the cloth covering in the stuff.
Eru blinked at him, tilting her head to the side. "Comfort..." Her eyes widened, and she began to back up. "Oh no no... no no no!" She shook her head, laughing in a shrill tone. "No no, sir... You dont' even know, er... well, you know my name, but I dont' know yours! This would be... most innappropriate for me to... to comfort you! What are you doing with that?" She gestured wildly at the cape, pushing her glasses up her nose again.
Trilink just laughed, a horrible sound. "Eru. I think you should get your dagger." He wrapped the cloak around his hand and looked at her. "See, I am going to knock you out, Eru. Then I am going to torture and rape you all night. Maybe longer." He smiled politely as he filled her in on his plan. "So. Eru. Your dagger."
"... you..." She stared at him in shock, then crouched down, picking up her dagger and holding out towards him. "No... Why? Why me? because I can't... cure you?" She began to back up again, her heart thundering, hands trembling.
"Actually, I don't much care for the thought of a cure." Trilink stood in place. "Do you know you have a whole lot of sisters?" Trilink looked her up and down, trying to judge how well she could use this dagger and deciding he wasn't really in much danger.
Trilink would have liked this eccentric and shy girl before his Undeath, and he knew this. As it was, he liked the thought of torturing and raping her, but he also liked another thought that was beginning to form in his dark mind.
"D-don't... knock me out." She gasped suddenly, shaking her head several times. "Don't knock me out! I don't want to die... like that. Incoherent. If you want, I'll promise not to scream. Just don't... make me not see how it is going to end." She clutched at her chest, her breath heaving, her eyes filled with tears.
Trilink shook his head, slightly taken aback. "If I knock you out, you will awaken again. Fair enough?" He wondered why he wouldn't just do it and fill her with mortal fear. Something was in his mind that he didn't know if he liked or not... shrugging, he continued. "Your sisters... how well do you know them?"
"I... didn't know I had anymore... than just my baby sister." She stammered, wondering what her sisters had to do with it. "C-constanse." She suddenly paused, staring at him, her eyes widening again. "I... I know you." She whispered. "I've seen you before, but... but where?" She tapped her head with a lightly clenched fist, gritting her teeth. "Where?"
Trilink just grinned. He didn't know the girl would know the man he was. "Forget it. This isn't important. Just know that Constanse is the reason I came after you. Because you are her sister. But... well... now that I'm here. I have something else on my mind."
"Oh!" She held her dagger out, frantic to make a distraction. "Right! The Vale! A troll! Oh... I'm so sorry!" She flushed. "I didn't mean to walk in on you! I'm just glad I got away before... before you noticed me..." She continued to pant, her hand still clutched to her chest.
Trilink quirked a brow. "Don't worry about it. Listen now. I have a proposition for you. A way out of what I came here to do to you. Considering what I have planned, trust that you should be listening very carefully."
She nodded frantically, moving closer to him, her eyes still wide.
"How does immortality sound, Eru?"
"I-immortality? H-how? Oh..." She smiled softly. "That would mean... time wouldn't mean anything! I could... i could keep going with my potions, not have to worry about deadlines... about... about anything!" Her eyes glittered. "I could spend time perfecting the imperfect, making the best, the strongest philosopher's stone!" Her excitement seemed to be growing.
Trilink laughed, and was happier than he'd been all day. This woman truly WAS insane! Maybe more so than he! Did she comprehend what he was offering? But... Trilink was no longer bent on malice, strangely enough. His mind was on other things.
"Truly? You're not afraid of it?"
"Oh no.. no no no. Not at all. Not afraid of immortality. I'm afraid.. afraid of the end! If I were to be, immortal! I wouldnt' have to fear the end! The end would never come! I could... I could do so much!" She gasped for air, clutching at her chest still.
"Then it shall come to pass. It will be scary at first, Eru, but you'll get used to it. I... wouldn't mind your company. You will like the Apothecarium! I promise! More time and space to work than here... and... they will fund your work. And maybe even give you assistants!" Trilink was irrationally excited now, at the thought of sharing his Undeath, even if he did not have a soul... "I should not have underestimated a sister of Constanse, huh?"
"You would share that with me?" She felt as if all her dark, secret thoughts were being so easily rooted out of her by him... his eyes. "I... have always wanted to see... and to meet him, he was once so great in life." Her eyes glittered. "Do you think... I could meet him? Meet... Meet Faranell?"
Trilink just gazed at this odd woman. "You go willingly with me into that underworld and I will give you everything." She sucked a breath in and moved closer to him.
"Yes... yes... Willingly, I will go. Share your secrets with me." She whispered, captivated by him.
Trilink just nodded and took a step closer, then deftly brushed the hair away from her neck. "This is the part that will be unpleasant for you. I hope it does not hurt you much..."
"The pain will be something so small to pay... for a lifetime of research and perfection." She whispered, not moving. Her heart pounded harder still. "I wish I could repay you... for sharing this gift with me. Isn't there something more I can do?"
"You will repay me, Eru, with yourself. Your talents- if i call on them. Your aid. And your company. And.. well... I am going to take your ear... for Constanse."
Trilink smiled as he realized how insane the whole night had been. The dialogue, the reaction the alchemist had given to his suggestion, the way he did not want to hurt her, the way he actually thought company would be a pleasant thing. He didn't really question it however. Undeath was brand new to him and he didn't yet understand what he was, anyway.
"It... would be... such a small price to pay." She nodded. "Anything. I would give anything..." She stood in front of him, slowly loosing her grip on the front of her robes, lowering her arms slowly to her sides and relaxing. "I am yours... if you would only grant me your gift..." The thought of a life of undeath before her... it was almost intoxicating.
Trilink nodded, and without another moment of waiting, he took her 'round the waist and pulled her close to him. In the same moment he leaned in, tilted his head, and bit her, burying his veins into her juggular vein and sucking out her lifeblood, drinking it in the whole time, the act throwing him into ecstacy.
She gasped and clutched at him, her eyes rolling up. She felt dizzy quickly as he fed from her, a choked noise escaping her. She willed the end to come quickly... She could see light... Her heart thundered, swallowing all other sound.
Moments later, there lie on the ground a corpse, minus a left ear. Blood stained the ground, the woman, and the Forsaken who now considered her so carefully.
Trilink carefully scooped up the woman and threw her over his shoulder. "I still keep my promises... I'll take you to the Apothecarium...."
Trilink turned Eru over to the Apothecarium as soon as he reached Undercity, telling them how important she would be to him, and how they must raise her perfectly. He added politely and respectfully to bring her back without a soul, like him, if they could. He left her in their care, though, promising the inanimate corpse that he would return to her soon. He had business...
And so went the second kill. Trilink wrapped the ear in a small kerchief and slipped it into the envelope along with the second letter to Constanse Al'Varay.
"Seasons Greetings! Your dear sister, Eru."
It was on its way South. And once again, Trilink followed it...
Constanse didn't leave the house for a few days... She was terrified to. She sat inside, by Al'varay's bed, stroking the woman's hair and occasionally tending to the wound in her shoulder.
Seamus had gone out hunting... he didn't seem to sleep anymore, obsessed with finding the one who had injured his wife, traumitized his youngest girl and murdered his oldest one... he swore he would find him, and make him pay. One way... or another.
"Father, come back." constanse whispered softly. "Come home... come home, we need you here..." Al'varay slept in feverish sleep, her cheeks flushed. Constanse sighed and closed her eyes.
There was a knock at the door and Constanse stood slowly, walking to it with a thundering heart. "Who's there?" She called, and a muffled voice answered. "Telegram for you, Miss Constanse... Came from Theramore!"
Theramore...It had to be harmless.
Constanse slowly opened the door and looked out, taking the letter in her hands.
Trilink Ehranus sat up in a tree, ornate spyglass in hand. He was beyond pleased. He would get to see this time as well! He could see Constanse through the window, and set his gaze upon her face... her expression...
She felt the letter was a little heavy... Almost as if there was something in it. Tentatively, she split open the seal on the back and opened it, the sudden stench of blood making her recoil. She didn't even bother with the item in the letter... she just took the note out.
"Eru." She murmured, scowling. "Another... of my sisters?" She shook her head and dropped the letter as well, moving awayfrom the door and sitting on the bed again. The delivery man didn't move for a second, blinking in surprise. He finally moved backwards, away from the door, turning to go.
Constanse sat on the bed and stared blankly at the wall, shaking her head.
Trilink sat still in his perch on the tree. Was the pain making her numb? Did she just not realize what had happened? He didnt' care, but he just kept watching. Trilink was patient.
He could wait for the feeling to return before he hurt her again.
Al'varay's hand closed over her arm suddenly, making her startle and look down.
"What news?" the elf gasped, her eyes barely open. Constanse managed a weak smile, turning away again.
"Much... of the same." She whispered. "Much of the same."
Trilink then smiled. He realized that he really should take another soon. Treat it like a siege. Give her no chance to recover. Not a moment's peace. He activated his hearthstone, and was gone...
Trilink returned home. He made but one stop before resting that evening. The Apothecarium... to see his creation. To see Eru.
He was informed by the Apothecarium that she would be raised tomorrow.
That she would be without soul, and that she would be perfectly preserved, unlike so many of the Forsaken.
Trilink smiled at this news... and he slept for the first time since Undeath.
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:37:32 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:37:32 GMT -5
Chapter VI
Bethany crouched down to haul another of the heavy wooden traps to the shore, blowing a brilliant scarlet curl from her eyes. She set the trap down with the others already on the shore, the spoils that had come from within them writhing in a thick mesh sack nearby, still in the water. The hunt had been good today... there would be enough money from this haul to buy some drink to celebrate. She chuckled lightly and paused, looking out to the sea. It was... oddly calm. Even though the sun was bright, a soft wind was blowing, making it's way through the trees and singing a mournful tune. She listened for a moment, then went back to hauling in the traps.
Stranglethorn Vale. Booty Bay. Bethany. He'd found his third target, another of Constanse Al'Varay's many sisters.
The trip so far had been easy enough. A trip through Horde territory in which he could get by easily enough- since he had already slain nearly 200 for the Warsong and had been named Scout. The rest would be in neutral territory, perhaps much easier than the previous kills which were deep in Alliance territory. Trilink had an unpleasant trip though. He went through the Barrens, where the scorching sun made an Undead feel as if he had stayed a moment longer he would've ceased moving and lie as motionless carrion in the barren landscape.
Now, though, he was on the boat from Ratchet to Booty Bay. His target was a woman who fished for a living. Easy enough, he thought.
Trilink stayed below deck on the boat ride, wearing light mail and a black cloak with a hood drawn up. From a distance one could not really tell whether he was living or Dead- or even what species he was. He was purposefully non-descript; an advantage in any neutral town
Bethany made her way back to the town with her catch, leaving the traps behind to pick up when she was done selling the fish she had caught. She watched the boat come in as she waited for the fishermen to finish their chat, her sense of unease growing a little stronger.
The spoils of her catch were indeed great... it was enough for a room in the inn AND a plentiful supply of good drink to keep her company. The scarlet haired girl made her way to the Inn with a smile on her face, a fat money pouch in her hands.
When the call came from above that land was in sight at last, Trilink emerged from below deck. He stood in silence for the whole trip, saying nothing to the others on the boat- an Orc, a Troll, and even a Human. No one really seemed interested in any trouble. When the ship docked, Trilink immediately stepped off and began looking this way and that, taking in the whole scene at once. The piers were empty save the goblins and a few pirates. He did not see any women fishers. He would have to look for her. Shrugging, he moved towards the Salty Sailor. he had so loved that place once, anyway...
"Hey Bethany, don't you think that's enough?" The barkeep asked jokingly as the woman gathered up her two bottles of Junglevine and a small flask of his strongest, most aged rum. She grinned and waggled her fingers at him as she went towards the bridge to where the rooms were.
"I fund your place well, you should be thankful!" She cried, and the men in the bar laughed. As Bethany turned the corner, the cork was already out of one of the bottles,and she raised it to her lips with a blissful sigh. "You'll sleep well tonight." She muttered after taking a long drink, shuddering. She trotted up the stairs and into her room, closing the door behind her. She moved into the middle of it, humming to herself and tossing the unopened bottle and the flask onto the bed, reaching with one hand to loose the ties on her shirt while continuing to drink the junglevine she clutched in the other hand. The stuff was too strong, she figured...but right now, it was just what she needed.
Trilink entered the Salty Sailor tavern with nothing else on his mind but prey. But when he entered, he suddenly realized how lightly he would have to tread. The patrons of the bar were mostly humans and Night Elves. He leaned forward as he walked, hiding his features under his hood. One man, however, stood up and blocked Trilink's path. "Oy. What are you? Horde or Alliance?"
Trilink figured this would be his best chance to create an opening to get at Bethany. Grinning, he dropped his hand to the sword at his side, drew it out, and stabbed the man right in his gut, pushing it out all the way through his back.
"Neither. I am Trilink." He looked round the tavern and saw the other men stir, as well as Goblin Bruisers reach for their weapons. Trilink took a defensive stance immediately, whipping out his shield. There was a brief pause, until one of the Bruisers shouted for everyone to clear out, knowing that a fight was at hand.
Trilink shut the door as the last of the Patrons left, leaving him in a room with only the Goblins, four of them Bruisers.
Trilink pulled his hood back and looked to the barkeep. "Now, no need for this. I'll compensate for the corpse. How much?"
The goblin barkeep grinned widely and called off the Bruisers. "This'll cost you twenty gold for us to forgive, Undead."
Trilink handed him forty. "And one more thing- no one comes upstairs. No matter what you hear- nothing is happening up there, understood?" The goblin gave a horrible little giggle and nodded. "Now... which room belongs to one 'Bethany'?"
When he was told, he walked up the stairs with a cocky smirk and feeling amused. Goblins were so much fun to deal with.
Hearing a slight commotion downstairs, Bethany turned towards the door, frowning. She shrugged... Sometimes the tenants got a little rowdy, especially later in the day. She slipped her wet shirt off and put a new, clean one on, a swashbucklers shirt in white silk, seeing as the red one had clashed with her hair. She didn't bother to tie it right away, moving over to her bed, turning and simply flopping back onto it. She moved the bottle and flask lying there out of the way and sprawled on her covers, sighing.
Trilink grinned when he reached the door. This would be fun. He opened it- with a key no less. Goblins could be very accomodating for the right price, and stepped through, shutting it quickly behind him with a slam. "Hi."
Bethany spluttered and sat up, scrambling to her feet. She clutched her shirt closed with one hand, scowling.
"I locked the door. What are you, a gods damned rogue?" She snarled, scowling.
Trilink just laughed and tossed her the key, saying nothing. He would let the moment last- savor it....
She looked at the key, then rolled her eyes, throwing it back at him. "Goblins." She muttered, reaching down and tying her shirt, setting her bottle aside. "What do you want?"
Trilink smiled pleasantly. "Well. I figure I'll rape you for a few hours, first. Follow up with some torture. Oh yes... then I'll kill you." He dropped his hand to the hilt of his sheathed sword. "How does that sound?"
Bethany felt her blood begin to rush, swaying slightly. "I... I beg your pardon?" She squeaked, wondering if maybe she had been drinking her junglevine a little too fast. Or maybe the sun had gotten to her... and the little wretch before her was pulling out a sword!
Trilink laughed again. "Fight back, please. Your sisters Lon, and sweet Eru... they really didn't." Trilink was revealing a bit of who he was, and hoped her reaction would be worth it.
Bethany sat hard on her bed, her eyes wide. "You're killing my sisters?" She gasped, staring at him. "Why? Why are you killing my sisters?! What do you want?!" She stood quickly again, though she stumbled, pulling a small skinning knife from her belt. She knew it would do little good... His sword was bigger. She inched backwards, towards where her machete was lying on the bedside table.
Trilink shrugged. "It's not about you. Or them. It's her. Constanse." Trilink finally drew his sword completely and pointed it at her. "I'm going to kill you just to watch her grieve. Now, go for your weapon." He nodded to the machete and laughed.
Bethany grabbed it, twirling it slightly as she brought it out at arm's length, pointing it at him. She started to slide to the left slightly, trying to circle him.
Trilink saw through her tactic and instead leapt in fast and hard, with inhuman agility, twisting over her blade and landing beside her, on her right.
Bethany started to turn, startled, knowing that this wasn't a fight she was going to win.. But she had been trained to fend for herself! She wasn't going to just lie down and take it!
Trilink just raised his sword defensively, waiting for her attack. There was no need to try and end this quickly. He was enjoying it. "You're afraid, Bethany. I can smell it."
"Wouldn't you be if some crazed man broke into YOUR room and told you he was going to rape you?" She hissed, bringing the machete up and lunging at him.
Trilink stepped forward and to the left, causing her lunge to slip past him. He ran forward with the momentum, and swung his right arm out wide, catching her in a clothesline, but not taking the obvious opening to really harm her.
Bethany stumbled backwards with an indignant yelp, glaring at him and putting a hand to her throat. She growled and stepped back, her eyes narrowed.
Trilink took a step back as well and resumed a defensive posture. "Don't you wish I'd just end it?"
"If you don't, and I know I can't beat you... obviously, you're stronger and more trained than I was. I guess you must have been quite the warrior in life, sir." She spat the last word like a curse, her trembling hand gripping the machete white knuckled.
"You won't win like that. Anyone can get a lucky strike, you know. Never think you can't win. Else you won't." Trilink smiled and sheathed his sword. "You're already dead, aren't you? You can't hurt me." Trilink stood with his arms at his side, clearly tense and ready, but clearly open.
Bethany stared at him, frowning. "Like a scorpion... you can sting even whenyou're dead and even disarmed, I don't trust you." She hissed, but it was so tempting... to just try. "Why do you want to watch my baby sister greive? What are you? Jealous lover? Bitter fool? Or did she do something to warrent this?"
Trilink just gave a very tiny smile. "Ask her yourself. You will see her and seven of your sisters in the Nether soon."
She lunged forward towards him with a growl. "You would so eagerly commit the genocide of the Al'varay name?!" She howled. "You're more of a monster than most of you... filthy, disgusting freaks of nature!"
Trilink smiled and just stood still, letting her attack. He didn't move as the machete pierced flesh. He didn't even flinch...
With an enraged shreik, she leaned all her weight into the Machete, watching it push into and through flesh, teeth bared like an animal.
Trilink let it slide all the way in, then clasped his hands over her wrists. "You know. That was just -mean-." Then he twisted both of her arms, and pushed back hard, snapping both of her wrists with agonizing sound to it. Then he leaned forward and headbutter her hard, his skull smashing into and breaking her nose.
After his assault, with little more than a startled squeak and a muffled yelp of pain, Bethany's eyes rolled back and she struggled to keep on her feet, dropping slowly to her knees, her head lolling.
Trilink pulled the machete out of him finally. Blood stained the blade, but he just tossed it aside. Pain was little to him now. Then he stepped forward and grabbed Bethanay, lifting her up, and turned back towards the bed. "Remember when I promised to rape you?"
She groaned lightly, trying to struggle away. She was in pain already, but she knew... she could fight past it. "I hope you... die in a fire... you asshole." She gasped. "You... sick... demented monster."
Trilink just laughed again and slammed her onto the bed. "I'm sick. Demented. Mm, yes. Talk dirty to me." He snickered as he tied her arms to the bedposts with leather belts, tight enough to keep her bound, as well as hurt like hell.
Bethany writhed, groaning again in pain. She kept her mouth shut... no need to encourage him...
Trilink needed no encouragement. He had wanted to do this with Eru, but she had given him plenty reason not to. And now that he had her- he had no reason to offer any other that way out... and so he began his art.
Trilink raped Bethany long into the night. It lasted hours upon hours. She remained defiant and struggled through most of it. It only made Trilink enjoy it more. His ecstacy from taking her against her will overshadowed anything consentual. He fed off her fear and her pain as much as he did the physical pleasure. He raped her over and over again, pausing only to beat her up or torture her a little- stick her with a dagger, burn her flesh, whatever he could figure out. He continued this until he knew she could take no more, then finally stopped.
"It's over now. I'll let you die."
Though she struggled, she stared blindly.. Pain, horrible, blinding pain, tore through her, tore her apart from the inside out. She didn't remember when she stopped screaming... Probably when her throat was too sore to continue it anylonger. She didn't close her eyes, she didnt' look at him, she simply stared at... nothing.
Broken... Completely broken.
"I'll let you die." He said to her, softly, and she welcomed it. She even nodded a little. She just wanted it to end. "Why?" She managed to ask. "Why..."
"Why? Because you're her sister. Nothing further." He drew his sword slowly... "Remember that it is her fault. Remember, in the Nether..."
"Her fault..." Bethany closed her eyes, tears running down her cheeks. "It's her fault..."
Trilink nodded as he leaned over her. "Yes, that's right. Her fault..." He would let that be the last thing she heard as he pierced her heart with his blade. The last thing she heard as she entered the darkness...
Her body jerked once, then fell still, her last breath escaping her as a soft, mournful croon. Her own sister... her baby sister... this was all her fault...
Trilink smiled as Bethany died. He smiled at the thought of the angry souls that would greet Constanse Al'Varay with hatred and rage when he finally sent her to the Twisting Nether. He wouldn't send a package this time either- he lifted up Bethany's corpse and slung it over his shoulder. This would be fun...
Hours passed. Trilink had taken his prize by foot from Stranglethorn, through Duskwood, and back into Elwynn, to the house of Seamus where he knew Constanse would be staying. He dropped Bethany at the door, then knocked on it, very hard, and very sharp knocks. Then he turned about and ran for his life, not stopping until he was far enough away to be out of sight- and still he could watch with his Ornate Spyglass.
Constanse looked at her father, who locked eyes with her before moving slowly to the door. He hesitated before putting his hand on the doorknob, and he closed his eyes, taking in a slow breath, opening the door slowly. He wasn't sure he WANTED to see what was waiting there... Not after what had been happening.
"There is no rest for us..." Al'varay said softly, staring out the window, a fever burning in her and making her forehead bead with sweat. Constanse didnt' speak, simply stroking Al'varay's hand.
"Stay where ye are." Seamus said in a choked voice. "Draw the curtains... stay inside. Do NOT come outside. Ye hear me?"
Constanse stared at him, frowning, but she slowly nodded. Al'varay stared at him too, coughing weakly.
"Take care o' yer mother. I'll be back." Seamus stepped outside, closing the door behind him and leaving the two women alone in the coming dark.
Trilink saw Seamus through his Spyglass. This simply wouldn't do! Constanse had to hurt! Had to grieve! Snarling, he ran through the wilds, towards the house, with the speed of a demon and the agility of a vampire...
Seamus stared down at the body of the scarlet haired girl with tears in his eyes. "Bethany..."
Trilink grinned as he watched the scene. He threw his hood up so he couldn't be recognized, and leapt over Seamus' head, landing on the rooftop, and whirled about to look down at him, sword in one hand and crossbow in the other, pointed at him.
Seamus let out a shout of alarm from outside, and Constanse was up in an instant, moving towards the door despite Al'varay's shout of protest. Constanse flung the door open. "Father! What..." She stopped, her eyes falling on the body. She put a hand over her mouth and stepped slowly backwards. "Oh my..."
Trilink smiled. It was perfect. He fired his crossbow into the forehead of Bethany's corpse, just for his own fun, gave a horrible and inhuman laugh, then leapt away, disappearing into the trees and running with a speed that ensured he would not be caught by any human.
Constanse had gotten to see the corpse- no need for further interaction with them.
Constanse watched the retreating figure, scowling deeply and moving towards one of the horses tethered near the Inn nearby. "Constanse, don't be daft, girl! Ye'll not catch him. But I swear... every deader I see, no matter who they may be..." Seamus clenched his fists. "I'll kill 'em."
Trilink kept running, realizing he could use his hearthstone to escape at any time, but he enjoyed the idea of being chased. If he could get Seamus particularly alone in the woods... he could triple her pain right then.
"Get back inside!" Seamus' temper had flared, and Constanse knew better than to disobey again. She stepped away from him and moved back into the house, glancing one more time in the direction that the figure had run.
"Father..." She whimpered. "He'll come back."
"And he'll die if he does!" Seamus howled, moving to her quickly, towering over her, his rage rolling off him like heat. "I'll kill him fer all of this!" His voice cracked, tears still flowing freely down his cheeks. "I'l kill him myself!"
"You can't do it alone... look at what he's already done!" Constanse shouted. "Keep yer voice down an' don't talk back to me, young lady! Now..." Seamus sucked in a sharp breath. "Tend ta yer mother... and leave Bethany to me. I'l... I'll figure somethin' out! Sit yer ass on the bed and DON'T MOVE." He turned, leaving again and slamming the door behind him.
Constanse sat where she stood, weeping pathetically, not noticing... The horrified look on Al'varay's face as the elf stared out the window, a lingering scent clinging in her nostrils.
His scent...
She didn't dare utter a word, lest she was wrong, but there was no mistaking the scent of a highborn, even a fallen one...
Trilink knew he was being pursued. Could sense and smell it. Grinning, he leapt up into a tree and climbed to the very top. He could see Seamus leaving the house from where he was. He slid another bolt into his crossbow and readied it for firing. "Damned fool wants to die, eh? I can accomodate him..."
Seamus stared out at the woods, then turned and looked back into the house, shaking his head. He stooped and lifted Bethany's cold, ravaged body in his arms, Moving towards where he kept the forge in the back, behind his house. He set his daughter's body on the ground slowly and leaned down, leaning his forehead against hers briefly, whispering goodbye to her. "I'm.. I'm so sorry. We can' leave ya here, though. Just... lying that way." He stood again and slipped on his long, heat resistant gloves, taking the cover off the Forge and letting out a choked sob. "It's what ye would have wanted." He gasped, clearing the molds for his smithing from the Forge and leaning down, once again lifting Bethany's body. "And... I'll throw ya to the west wind in the sea, love..." He slowly walked forward and lowered her body into the blazing hot fire that burned within the forge. "Ye'll be with yer mother... there..."
Trilink watched the ordeal with pleasure. "No, death isn't what you need right now. What you need is more guilt." Trilink smiled at what he was about to do and began to leap from treetop to treetop until he was once again at their house. Seamus was in the back. Trilink dropped down in the front and stood in front of the door. The curtains had been drawn, but he could smell enough to tell where those inside were- and he could smell their fear and feel and sense their heartbeats. Perception is altered and heightened in Undeath. Trilink aimed his crossbow and smiled. It was still not yet time for anyone in that house to die, but even another wound could leave Seamus in so much guilt. Laughing, he fired his crossbow, the bolt shattering the window and screaming throuhg the air, until it found its mark- the prone form of Lady Al'Varay. It crushed the bone in her hand as it sailed through, and the momentum being barely decreased, it also lodged itself deep in her thigh. Trilink then snicked and activated his hearthstone. Seamus could deal with this. And if Al'Varay died... it was not really a big loss to Trilink.
Al'varay let out a soft cry of pain, jerking, and Consanse once again screamed and covered her head with her hands, sobbing harder. "Al'vray!" she screamed, standing with difficulty and moving to the woman's side, staring at the crossbow bolt and shaking her head. "We're not safe here! We have to leave!"
Al'varay stared up at Constanse with pity in her eyes, her face... hinting that she somehow knew something that Constanse did not. "There is nowhere safe, now..." The elf murmured softly, closing her eyes and slipping into unconsciousness.
Constanse just blindly summoned her healing powers, wrenching the bolt free and trying to stem the flow of blood uselessly, unable to keep from sobbing.
Trilink laughed back in the Undercity. This time had gone well, too. He had been lucky so far. He smiled and tossed an ear up into the air, then caught it. It was Bethany's. he would give it as a gift to Eru when she awoke, for he had taken hers...
But first he had a letter to send. Seamus had to be hurt, for two reasons. It would amuse Trilink, and it would lead Seamus and Constanse astray in their guessing who did what. Trilink sent this letter to Seamus:
"To Seamus: How are the things with your family, old boy? Word is that things aren't going so well. I am sure you're asking yourself many questions. Why us? Who would do such a thing? Ask yourself this instead: how many enemies have you made, Seamus? How many have you crossed?
Now ask yourself this: When people are killing your daughters to get at you, what is the one way to save them? -An Old Friend"
Trilink laughed hard as the letter was sent, then walked towards the Apothecarium. He now had other business to tend to.
he wasn't sure how much time had passed... it passed slowly, yet in a heartbeat. He had gone to sea. H e had scattered her ashes, just as he had promised. When he returned, he tried his best to calm his daughter, his wife... Al'varay was barely speaking, Constanse was constantly weeping...
It was altogether too blissful to escape that house of despair simply to walk to the Inn to get his mail. The letter, however, that he found, only raised more questions. And his first instinct was to hide it. Don't let them see. Give himself up so that they wouldn't be hurt anymore. But what had he done? Which of his enemies would have done this? Were his enemies really this...d angerous?
"Show it to Al'varay." he told himself. "And to Constanse. Let them know it's... to keep them safe."
He slowly turned and began to walk home...
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:38:03 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:38:03 GMT -5
Ch. VII
It had been some weeks since Trilink's last kill. He really had no idea what had become of the Al'Varay family since then; what had happened to Lady Al'Varay's health after being shot, whether Seamus had done as his letter instructed, or the mental/emotional state of Constanse, his true prey. Trilink had been resting, with three kills, and seven yet to go. Erushuneev, Lon, and Bethany had died, leaving a large enough group of others. Eru'Shuneev had become Undead, and a sort of pet of Trilink's, which he was very fond of. The last weeks had seen a decline in passion for Tril, without much to do. The last days though, had been full once again of combat and training, and he was ready to once again begin his mission. After all, seven to go was still too many. It turned out Trilink was in luck this time. His next mark would be two sisters- twins, in fact, who followed after their seafaring father and had become pirates. He would be able to get them both at once! The twins names were Zhyeni and Erin, both with raven hair and brown eyes- they were the most exotic looking of the group of sisters, perhaps, and were known for their skills as pirates and as fighters. Trilink Ehranus looked forward to the challenge, for he'd not had one in such a long time. And the thought of killing two birds with one stone! How delicious! He'd make up for lost time, this way. The sisters' ship, the 'Moonfaerie' was due in Booty Bay for shore leave and replenishing of supplies this very night. So it was that Trilink, the soulless Knight in service of nothing, found himself in Stranglethorn Vale with the silver moon, totally full and round, high above him, and the glittering stars on the clear night lighting up the entire jungle. Trilink wore two swords on his belt today: A Falchion for his right hand, and a shortsword for his left. He was growing used to and comfortable with dual-wielding. As he walked along the docks, he began to realize something. He wasn't terribly thrilled or excited about making the kill. Nor was he nervous or anxious. He felt very little, and this almost disturbed him. The last kill, Bethany, was all about passion.... it didn't matter though... the mission was all there was left. He hoped he'd feel something once the combat began. The sisters should have a decent crew to kill. Trilink still loved killing- he knew that much! Trilink boarded the boat without a word, drawing the stairs of the nearest sailors. The one nearest to him reached for his blunderbuss and started to shout some hail, but Trilink cut him short by promptly burying his Shortsword to its hilt in his chest.
This action sent the other sailors into alarm. Shouts and gunfire rang out as the deck of the ship erupted into tumultuous combat. A ring formed around Trilink, of eight battle-hardened Pirates, some wielding sabers, some guns. Trilink swept horizontally with his Falchion, causing two pirates on his left to jump back, while one on his right thrust in with a sabre- which Trilink pivoted and parried with his left hand's shortsword, then followed through with a thrust with his Falchion, which was parried. A third pirate, adjacent the second, fired a blunderbuss, which Trilink narrowly avoided, causing it to fly over his shoulder and over the water in the distance.
The battle lasted for many minutes, with Trilink's two swords moving in blurring and blinding motions, parrying, weaving, thrusting, slashing- the Pirates couldn't keep up. Soon one fell, then another, then a third- more came as reinforcements but all they managed to do was die. Trilink was beginning to feel the passion, the bloodlust, the sheer ecstacy of battle and the killing. When a dozen and six lie at his feet dead and broken, he called out the names of the co-captains of the vessel.
"Zhyeni Al'Varay! Erin Al'Varay! Come and meet thy fate, if you've the nerve for it!" Sure enough, the two appeared. Zhyeni was grim as she saw her crew scattered about the deck in pieces. Erin was more emotional. "You bastard! What've ye done! Light help us, you'll PAY for this!" Erin drew her rapier first, and Zhyeni followed. The two sisters moved in different diagonal directions, working as a unit and eventually they had Trilink trapped between them, one in front of him and one behind him. Then the real battle began...
Trilink parried the first thrust, which came from Zhyeni, in front of him, with his shortsword, swinging his hand left in a semi-circle and throwing her weapon wide of her body, giving him room. He had no time to follow up though, for Erin slashed vertically from behind him, causing him to pivot so one girl was on his left and one on his right, instead of in front of and behind him. He parried her attack as well, bringing his Falchion high and deflecting the blade. Zhyeni spun 'round and brought her blade into a horizontal slash, which Trilink dodged under and countered with a thrust from his shortsword, which she easily sidestepped- at the same time, Trilink side-stepped an attack from Erin, a thrust, and countered with a quick diagonal slash from his Falchion, which Erin was able to leap back to avoid.
The dodging, slashing, thrusting, parrying, kicking- the desperate fight went on much as the first blows had for quite some time. Trilink enjoyed it though, and was always able to avoid getting hit- but he could not really give damage either since the sisters worked so well together. Trilink toyed with them awhile longer, letting them tire. When they began to slow, his attack began, and he knew he would find victory. Since it was such a dangerous situation though, Trilink decided he would just kill them instead of toying with them-- Trilink often had a fondness for rape or torture lately... though... since he had brought Eru'Shuneev from beyond the grave, he had less appetite for it. He was content with one pet, perhaps.
Trilink leapt backwards to avoid two simultaneous attacks from the sisters, causing them to almost stumble into each other. Before they could recover, he leapt in and began to slash horizontally, crossing his blades over each other, then slashing them in an 'X' pattern, giving light flesh wounds to both Erin and Zhyeni. They recoiled and fought defensively side by side as Trilink came in, each arm slashing and thrusting individually, setting the girls back on their heels. His onslaught continued and he forced the two back towards the far edge of the boat. Zhyeni broke from her sister to the right, trying to get to Trilink's flank. As she thrusted on Trilink's left, he easily stepped forward between the two sisters, parried an incoming slash from Erin, and brought his shortsword down, severing Zhyeni's thrusting hand- giving him time to bring that same shortsword around, causing Erin to parry it. But as she parried the shortsword, the heavy Falchion came down, the pommel smashing into her forehead and knocking her unconscious. He then spun and faced Zhyeni.
"You have a choice, Zhyeni Al'Varay. I -will- kill one of you two. Live or die?" Zhyeni looked at her beloved sister as she clutched her arm, which was spewing blood fast enough to make her face already very white. "...Take me. Spare my sister..." Trilink then smiled at Zhyeni, a wicked evil leer as he severed Erin's head with his Falchion. Zhyeni's scream of horror was loud and sincere. Trilink's laughter was equally sincere as he stepped in and thrust his shortsword into Zhyeni's heart. The two sisters lie dead on the deck. Trilink laughed- completely satisfied with the outcome, happy to finish the battle and get out of it okay. He didn't feel like torturing anyone today. Smiling, he cut off Zhyeni's head as well, and stuffed the both of the heads into his backpack. He would have use for them... Trilink knew that the battle and commotion would attract attention, so he quickly left the scene, using his hearthstone to return to the Undercity, where he could recuperate and plan how to send the heads to Constanse...
Another pair of eyes had watched the entire battle, from a rooftop in the towne of Booty Bay. She had long been searching for Trilink, since he had been missing long ago. It was Valian Nierendel, Trilink's Elven mother, and a Forsaken. She had only just discovered what Trilink had become, and now, having tracked and found him, she had discovered what he was doing.
It both horrified her and broke her heart. He had come back.... -evil-. And he was killing innocents to get at Constanse. Valian almost sobbed as she pulled out her hearthstone. She would have to stop him. It was just too horrible. But he was her only son...
When she appeared in the Inn in the Undercity, Trilink was already gone. But she caught his scent and followed after him, prepared for a confrontation and even battle. He was soulless- maybe not even Trilink anymore... and as such, she would stop the abomination. Give Trilink peace by destroying the evil incarnation of him. She drew her two-handed blade and began to chant, until the white flame enveloped the blade. She would be ready... she would kill her only son, her only love...
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:39:55 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:39:55 GMT -5
VIII
Valian had tracked Trilink as the latter had made his way out of Undercity. Now they were in the ruins. She followed closely behind him in the shadows, sword drawn, and hood up, her black cloak hiding her as she snuck along. She had to stop Trilink... had to stop his rampage. Stop his evil. There was a lump in her throat though, and she felt strange- as if her emotions were about to take control of her and she would just wither and feint...
Trilink walked quite slowly through the ruins of Lordaeron. He hadn't decided where he was going yet, but it didn't really matter. There was much he could do. Many he could kill. Yet, now, Trilink had this strange feeling. As if he were being watched. He hadn't felt like that in some time. He quickened his pace....
Trilink was speeding up. Valian had to match him. She had to stop sneaking in the shadows to keep up...
He was sure now. He was being followed. He wheeled about and drew both his swords, as the seasoned warrior had become rather ready to be attacked- he had many enemies. All he saw was a figure crouched in the darkness, and a glowing two-handed blade. He had his suspicion who it belonged to. "Valian. Could that be you?" Valian Nierendel stepped from the shadows, sword in both hands, right over left. "Trilink, my son. What have you become? How did this happen?" Trilink just laughed. "I have become strong. I am free of a Soul. As for what happened..." He shrugged... "The man that I was took his own life." Valian felt the lump rising in her throat... "What... why? What caused this?" "Don't you know? The one who I know hunt to harm. I know you've been watching... you always do..." "You must stop this madness, Trilink." "Madness? It's justice. Vengeance." "It's wrong..." "Right and wrong are notions for the living, mother." "No. We have to believe that we were brought back for a reason. That we are something more than tools of evil..." "I don't have a Soul, Valian." "Then you are not Trilink, and I will free his body from the abomination that is you." She slid one foot in front of the other and held her sword straight in front of her, defensively... "You would fight your own son? Your own lover?!" Trilink laughed mockingly as he held his own blades at the ready. "What we had, Trilink. Neither of us could stop it.... it was wrong, but it felt right." "Spare me. I was a replacement for my father in your eyes. You're sick. As was the man I was. Now... you die as he did!" Trilink started the attack, bringing his Falchion down vertically and following up with a quick half-spin that brought his shortsword around horizontally. Valian angled her two-hander to parry both at once, then stepped back and held her blade out at a different angle, pointing towards Trilink. "It wasn't wrong. It wasn't between mother and son, Tril. It was between Trilink and Valian. And I have no regrets." Trilink laughed. "But you knew it was wrong, as I did. That is why we enjoyed it so, mother! " Trilink renewed his attack, bringing his falchion into a thrust, which Valian side-stepped, then brought his shortsword down vertically as he kicked with his right foot. Valian parried the shortsword and rolled to the right, avoiding the kick, and countered with a thrust of her flaming blade towards Tril's face. Trilink brought both blades to the right side of her weapon, and pushed it wide, then swung back with them, bringing both in a diagonal slice. Valian had to lean back far enough to nearly fall over to avoid them, but she did, then swung her blade back in a vertical arc. Trilink parried by crossing his weapons and holding them high. Valian kneed Trilink in the gut, while the former landed a blow with his fist, not able to bring his blade about in a full attack. They both stepped back, met each other's fierce gazes, and continued. Trilink smirked at Valian. "So. I don't have a Soul. What's your excuse for the evil you've done?" Valian's white-hot eyes burned with emotion. "You had a soul, Trilink. And there was no evil done..." "I wonder why you feel so guilty then?" He laughed again as the two circled, their weapons dancing about, neither making real progress in the battle, but neither fighting all out yet. "Don't worry, mother. I don't hold it against you. But I will free you here, from your insanity. It's been nice talking to you, but I have to finish this now..." Trilink brought his Falchion down hard, and Valian reacted by angling her blade to parry. Trilink then sent his shortsword into a quick flurry of thrusts and half-slashes. Valian dodged the first several, but one left a cut on her cheek, leaving a line of blood on her face. Trilink then sent both blades into a whirlwind, crossing and weaving about each other as he stayed on the offensive. Valian could dodge and parry, but only every other blow. Soon she was covered in blood from her wounds, and was very much on the defensive. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm sorry for what you've become. Sorry that I could not save you, could not be a better mother to you. You're a great fighter, but I'm still the teacher here. I've been holding back, because i thought... " [/i[ She shook her head and the thought away as she begun her counterattack. She brought her greatsword down vertically, parried by Tril's Falchin, side-stepped the counter-attack from the shortsword, then brought her blade down in a sweeping low horizontal arc, spinning and creating momentum, bringing it back in a high horizontal arc. Trilink dodged both maneuvers but was now off-balance and on his heels. She thrusted, causing Tril to lean to avoid it, then brought the hilt up in a lightning-fast move, smashing it into Trilink's jaw. "Graaah! You die! You've betrayed me, and I will show no forgiveness!" "Betrayed -you-? You are the betrayer here. You have betrayed everything and everyone that ever mattered to you. Your people, your family, your friends, the Alliance..." "It's not enough, mother." Valian continued her attack, but now Trilink was matching it with easy parries and dodges, not even bothering to counter now. He had her attacks figured out, and he was once again the better fighter. "I'm sorry that things came to this, for your sake. But it is clear this is a fight to the death." "You are a strong warrior, Trilink. Forgive me for not being able to free you." Valian was not the type to dilute herself. She'd figured out by now that Trilink was the better fighter, and that she was about to lose. But that did not stop her from fighting her hardest.
Their battle continued for nearly an hour, the weapons and fighters moving in a horrible violent dance, their aged blood spilling on the ground- both fighters taking heavy hits from each other. Finally, the battle was ending. Valian's last attack was a vertical one, but it was slow and clumsy, as she was tired and wounded. Trilink just parried with his falchion, and stabbed hard with his shortsword, piercing his mother's gut. Her gripped loosened on her weapon, and she gurgled in pain. She looked to Trilink, then opened her mouth, struggling to say one last thing to her beloved son, or the creature that he had become. Trilink had heard enough. He didn't care what she had to say. He just brought his Falchion down diagonally, severing her head and ending the Undeath of Valian Nierendel, the Elf who had been both his mother and once his lover. He picked up her body and her head, and carried them down to the Apothecarium, where he gave instructions to reattach the head and preserve the body until they could figure out what to do with it...
Trilink returned to the Inn, feeling strange. While he didn't feel any guilt or remorse for the fight, he did feel strange. He wasn't sure he could identify what the emotion was. Emotion... he would have to ask somebody what was happening to him, exactly.
For now, Trilink sat quietly in a coffin, trying to figure out what had just happened, nursing his wounds- and hoping that his soul never returned, lest he have to feel the guilt of what had just transpired.
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:40:40 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:40:40 GMT -5
Chapter IX (by Trilink and Constanse both)
It had been several weeks since the letter had been received, and Seamus had done as he had wanted to, showing it to the women in his life... He wanted to stay close, wanted to keep them safe... He wanted to stay and make sure that Al'varay survived. The woman had taken many wounds in the past weeks, and her healing was slow. Also, she had stopped speaking after th eletter had arrived. She now simply lay, staring out the window with a haunted look in her eyes. Constanse stayed by her side, nursing her to health, making sure she ate and her wounds stayed clean. Seamus, regretfully, had taken to drink again, but only late in the night, when the girls were sleeping. He would sit in a room alone... drinking his worries away, contemplating leaving. If he left, where would he go? Back to sea? He needed to see Macaw, his first mate, try and get some advice on the situation. But he was too terrified to leave the house. Terrified that if he stepped outside, there would be something waiting to kill him as it had been killing his daughters, attempting to kill his beloved wife. He stood at the door now, looking outwards, able to feel the presence of Constanse and Al'varay behind him. Al'varay stared silently out the window, her breath shallow, her wounds still deep, unhealing. Constanse sat quietly by her side, holding her hand, her blue eyes dark rimmed and her normally pale skin a deathly white.
Sighing gently, Seamus turned and looked at them. "Nothin's happened." He murmurs. "I'm just afraid... ye'll be hurt if I leave." He lowered his eyes and turned back to the door. "But I'm also afraid that ye'll be hurt If I stay." Constanse gazed at him, letting out a shakey sigh and stroking Al'varay's hand. Al'varay, as usual, said nothing, though she did turn her eyes from the window, staring at Seamus sadly.
"Promise me that when I leave, ye'll stay here. No matter what?" "Is it even safe here?" Constanse asked, a pained look on her face. "Is it even safe, anywhere?" "Then if ye'll feel safer else where..." Seamus sighed, then looked over again. "I'll take ye into Stormwind. I'll take ye to the Keep. Explain the situation to a friend o' mine there, an' ye'll be safe. I know ye'll be safe there, if nowhere else." Constanse looked slightly wary of this, but she nodded slowly, looking down at Al'varay, who's dull eyes gazed at her with that same haunted light. "What about her?" Constanse asked. "Can we move her safely?" "I'll rig somethin' up so that we can carry her." Seamus replied. "Ye wait here, inside... don't come out until I"m done, alright?" Constanse nodded and Seamus exited the small house, going to the back where he kept all his supplies.
Elsewhere, in the Undercity, Trilink, the Warrior without Soul or Allegiances walked confidently, eyes hidden behind thick goggles. He had just built himself a new rifle and put a scope on it. It would serve him well. He slid the leather strap over his shoulder and wore it on his back, while his two favourite blades hung at his sides on his belt. One was a twisted sabre- sort of shaped like a scimitar, only curvier- and his beloved shortsword. Other contraptions and weapons were on him, but they were less noticable and quite a lot trickier. It had been a few days. Trilink was making ready to go to battle again- should the next target even put up a decent struggle. Trilink wanted to take Erushuneev along- because she was so enthusiastic about everything, and because he had told her he would. And because he was starting to enjoy her company. Trilink knew where to find her, too. He descended into the Apothecarium, eager to meet his creation, his pet...
"I told you NOT TO BOTHER ME WHILE I"M WORKING!!!" The shriek was followed by the sound of gutteral pleading and screams of pain, then... the screams cut off abruptly. Eru'shuneev stalked out of he workshop, the front of her robes covered in a light reddish liquid. "My ENTIRE batch of healing potions RUINED by that incompetant walking waste of human flesh!!!" She howled. "Now a whole day's work must be started over again! For the last time, wretches, do not enter my workshop without knocking, and don't you dare damn well knock when you KNOW I am working!" She panted for breath, her glowing yellow eyes burning with fury.
Trilink chuckled to himself at the clamor below. When he reached the Apothecarium, he just strode to where Eru'Shuneev was and entered her place of work. Without knocking. With an amused smirk, he spoke. 'Am I intruding?'
She let out a squeal and ran to him with the intent to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug, but she paused, looking down at herself, then looking him over. She arched a brow in appreciation. "No, love, not at all. Not intruding at all." She said with a smile. "It's good to see you."
Trilink took a more serious countenance after a brief pause. "It is good to see you Eru'Shuneev. It has been too long, as always." It had been two, maybe three days, and Trilink knew the impulsive Alchemist would likely have been growing impatient. Maybe even irritable? He smirked at the fluids on her, wondering just what she had killed, but not really feeling anything about it. "Tell me. Would you like to hunt by my side tonight?"
"We're going a long way. And there may well be danger for you- and both of us. I suggest you come as prepared as possible. As for the 'where', Eru, all the way to Auberdine, Darkshore. It's in Kalimdor. After that, we're going to Elwynn Forest. Another sister of Constanse will die tonight."
With an evil smirk, Trilink pulled two heads out of his packs. They were twins, and he held them by the dark hair. Strands of flesh hung from the bottoms of the heads, where they'd been severed. A little bit of blood dripped from them, and they gave a stink that would make humans wretch. It did not bother a Forsaken, however. "Zhyeni and Erin. The last two victims. I will present them with our next kill to the family... and watch her suffer."
Eru'shuneev stared at him for a long moment, a slight giggle rising from her throat. She slowly nodded. "I am up for any journey alongside you... and being able to watch the look on her face when you present her with this gift... Ah, Trilink, it will be glorious."
Trilink gave Eru'Shuneev a sidelong glance. "You'd truly enjoy watching her pain? Is this loyalty, a grudge, or just plain evil?" He was really curious. Trilink would have nothing less than absolute loyalty from her and trust in her, or he may as well just destroy her.
"It is loyalty to you, Trilink. After all... you've given me everything I could ever ask for. You've given me eternity." She smiles. "Anything that brings you joy, I will revel in along side you, simply because... I want to know how to keep you happy. No matter what, your happiness is more imporatant than anything else in this world."
Satisfied, the evil being that inhabited the body of a Knight, just nodded. He was Trilink, as much as the Knight had been, but there was no soul there. Still, the Warrior was beginning to question the nature of his Undeath, especially since he'd begun to feel things like affection for Eru, and comradery with Orcs and other soldiers he'd killed with in the Warsong Gulch. Was he really evil? Yes, he had no doubt of this. But he was realizing that his evil was, instead of being cruel and hostile towards everything more of a situational thing- those who had earned his hate or vengeance- or creatures that annoyed him- earned his hate, and thus, his evil, but, those who sided with him? Or those who he had nothing against? He could still be good to them, more or less. It was confusing for Trilink to not really know who he was, but he was finding out, slowly. And his mission was growing ever closer to success. After that was done... who knows...? Thoughts like this ran quickly through his head as he looked at his companion. Standing more at ease than only moments ago, he just smiled. "Good. Then we shall go together. Get your things and meet me in the Throne room in an hour."
Eru stared at him, wondered what he was thinking, her glowing yellow eyes blinking and her lips parted slightly. She wondered if she pleased him... She wondered if she was everything he had imagined when he had killed her and made the decision to raise her again. She reached her fingers up and brushed them against the ear he had retrieved for her, nodding and smiling. "An hour." She said. "Of course. Anything I should bring in particular?"
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:40:57 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:40:57 GMT -5
Trilink nodded. "Weapons. A hooded cloak. We may need to be concealed at some point. And any... interesting potions you've created. And beware that once the hunt begins, you will see naught but darkness from me."
She nodded, though she frowned slightly. "Perhaps I should shroud myself in darkness as well? Or perhaps not... so that if I see..." She reached out and moved to touch his cheek, her fingers barely touching him. "I see you getting lost in that darkness, I may draw you back. I feel inclined to say that I have no desire to lose you, Trilink Ehranus."
Trilink laughed and shot her a look of reprimand. "Lose me? That side is my true nature. You and you alone have earned my affections. Fear not, for no matter how dark I shall go, I shall not be lost. Trilink serves no master but himself. I do not serve darkness or evil for the sake of them, but for myself. I am self-aware enough to know what I'm getting into." He paused, then shrugged. "I understand your sentiment though."
She flushed slightly and jerked her hand away, turning and beginning to furiously swipe some of the pale red liquid from her front. "Y-yes. Of course. How silly of me." She hurried back into her workshop. "I will get ready. See you in an hour."
Trilink sighed. He would have to remember how sensitive his companion was, else he'd make her hate him someday. "I'm sorry, Eru. I'll see you soon." He then went to the Rogue's Quarter to make creations to aid him in battle. Bombs, dynamite, dummies, ammunition, et cetera.
The looks on the faces of the guards as they approached the keep were nervous and uncertain, but Seamus managed a smile and a salute. One of the guards regarded Al'varay with a mixture of pity and disgust, as the elf was still clad in robes that had dried blood on them.
"We're here seeking shelter." Seamus said softly. "There's been a rash of murders in the family. This was the last safe place I could think of. I have to go away, I need ye ta keep them safe." He spoke with the female guard, who took off her helm, her long pale hair limp from sweat, pulled back in a ponytail. "Ah, Seamus... I'm so sorry." She said, her brow knit in concern. "Is there anything we can do to..." Seamus held up his hand. "Just watch them. Keep them safe. See Al'varay is well." He smiled and squeezed the lady guard's sholder gently, and she offered him a soft smile in return, nodding. "Of course." She whispered. "Bring them inside. Seamus, will you be alright?" Seamus was quiet for a moment, then he nodded. "Yes, I will be." He said at last, smiling in reassurance to himself. "I know I will be." He didn't want to say it... but he wasn't worried at all bout himself. He was more worried about his family.
Constanse retreated to the courtyard after they moved Al'varay into an empty wing, where some nurses looked after her. She stood in the courtyard and looked around quietly, remembering a night when she and Trilink had sat here... They had been speaking of their love for one another, and she remembered... laughing, telling him that she thought they sounded like a bad romance novel. He had laughed and smiled in return. They had been happy there, together. Happy... She brushed her fingers across the healing bruises on her cheeks and sighed softly, tears shimmering in her eyes. Yes, they had been happy once, hadn't they?
When Seamus left the keep, he bought a mount from the stable master outside the Gilded Rose, using it to hurry away from the city, down the road into Goldshire. Once there, he packed some of his things, a small gun for protection, his sword, some of his heavier armor... He mounted up again and spurred the horse forward, down the road towards Westfall. His goal was to reach the docks, where he knew Macaw would be waiting near the boat. His daughter and his wife were safe now... he was sure of it...
Trilink stood quietly in the Throne Room, having arrived right as an hour had passed. He waited now on Eru'Shuneev, going over things in his mind. The information he'd gathered regarding this next sister- another half Night-Elf- and wondered how he'd get all the way to Auberdine. Sneaking through Menethil didn't seem feasible, but a trip all the way from Orgrimmar seemed arduous as well. He'd just have to figure it out as he went... or just resign himself to the fact that it may take a very long time.
There was the sound of soft footsteps, and a figure in a black cowled cloak entered the throne room cautiously, looking around from under the hood that shrouded the face.
Trilink smiled at his cloaked companion, then winked as he drew his own red hood over his face, but his eyes shine was hidden by his goggles. Looking into his hood, one would see nothing, just shadow. "Hey, Eru. Right on time."
"would you settle for anything less?" She murmured, looking at him. As she moved towards him, her hands raising to adjust the clasp on the cloak, it could be seen that underneath, she wore a red swashbuckler's shirt and a pair of light silk pants in a color similar to the shirt. She swept a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear, tilting her head to the side. She sheathed the dagger she held in her belt and adjusted the pouch she had, checking to make sure she had all her alchemy supplies with her that she needed for the journey.
Trilink gave a shrug. "Maybe. But I'd have to punish you for it." He winked and stood up straight, gazing at her seriously again. "We have a long way to go. Do you have any suggestions as for a route to take? I'd think zeppelin to Orgrimmar, because getting to Menethil is very hard- Dwarves and all in the way" He shrugged. "Do you mind a long hike, Eru'Shuneev?"
"I don't. Besides, we have all the time in the world." She smiled slightly. "Then, of course. you ARE on a mission, and you might not want it to take too long. I'm thinking... maybe the best way to go is through the Barrens, the Ashenvale. It would lead us right to Darkshore, would it not?"
"Aye, but we must take care to avoid confontation with the Kaldorei. Unless of course, we find them alone or vulnerable." He chuckled and started for the outer ruins. "Come, Eru. Let us get started." He made for the Zeppelin tower.
She hurried after him, walking just behind him, her hand under the cloak, on her dagger hilt, as if she expected trouble. Her glowing eyes gazed about from beneath her hood.
Moments passed, and the pair were on the Zeppelin. Trilink lead her by the hand to the very front of the ship, where the view was the best. Soon the zeppelin was underway, its massive propeller making less sound than it seemed it should've. "Ever ridden this before? How d'ye like it?"
She was staring around, wide eyed, excitement crossing her face. "How is this thing run? Steam? Coal? Fire? Magic?" She felt like asking a million and one questions, her hands trembling at the thought of being so carelessly perched atop something that could potentially be so dangerous.
"Possibly all of the above. Goblins are strange creatures, and I tend to just be thankful that it flies- I don't much question it. Though I could see to it that the Goblins could answer any questions you have- and even give you a tour of the places the other passengers aren't allowed to see." He patted his gold coin purse with a fond smile at Eru. "I know how to convince goblins to do anything."
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:41:20 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:41:20 GMT -5
And so the trip went by without incident. When the Zeppelin arrived outside Orgrimmar, Trilink saw to it that the goblins explained everything about the Zeppelin to his more intellectual comrade. It only cost him a few coins, and he was happy to please Eru. When it was over with, they headed into the great Orc town. Trilink was stoic and defensive of Eru, while the latter was extremely excitable and enthusiastic at the marvelous town and the myriads of creatures. Trilink was stricter here, though, knowing the consequences of an offhand rude comment to a seasoned Orcish veteran. So they reached the Skytower only a handful of minutes after arriving in the capital of the Horde, and off on Wyverns the next, heading to the Barrens, where they would proceed on foot through the Ashenvale.
The trip through Ashenvale was much less exciting than the wyvern or the zeppelin. It was hurried and silent as Trilink wished to avoid enemies- be they Alliance or beast. Whenever a particularly powerful looking beast got too close, Trilink would drop a dummy, grab Eru, and run like hell. There was no need to risk injury against animals with so much left to accomplish this night. Eventually they did reach Darkshore, where the trip went similar to the one through Ashenvale. It was a few hours until they reached a place from which Aubderdine was visible. Inside that town dwelt the sixth victim, the next sister. She was some sort of merchant or tradeswoman. Trilink wondered how to proceed from here. Trilink unstrapped his gun from his shoulder and looked through the scope, trying to see whatever he could.
Eru clung to his cloak silently, staring down at the town herself, her hands still shaking. The trip had been a long one, but she was hopeful that it would soon pay off. She stared up at Trilink, trying to see any sort of reflection of any emotion in his face, but it was hidden within his cloak. She sucked a breath in and crouched down, staring down at the town.
He scanned the town, not seeing anything interesting. Night Elves - Sentinels, Civilians. A few other travellers. Nothing to indicate a half-elf. Trilink wasn't even sure he'd recognize her if he saw her. He didn't know how he'd take her, either. It was a tough situation. Night Elves were much harder to sneak past than humans, with their acute senses. "I don't see anything, Eru. Just a bunch of Night Elves. Any ideas...?"
She frowned, trying to remember... what she knew of her sister here. She looked towards the docks, tugging on Trilink's sleeve and pointing. "Over there, check over there." She murmured.
Trilink looked through his scopes to the docks. He relayed to his partner what he saw. "A few fishermen... a boat in port. A few males. And a couple travellers. I see three females total, not counting sentinels. All of them with purple hair. Ugh... and the docks are so exposed..."
Eru sighed gently. "I dont' remember what she looks like." She leaned her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand, frowning. "She will be taller than most... not particularly pretty, nor particularly built. A scrawny little thing. " She frowned more, closing her eyes and trying to remember.
Trilink handed her his Ornate Spyglass. "Have a look, see if you recognize her. I have a plan, once you do."
She nodded and took the ornate spyglass, holding it up and peering through it. She waited for her eyes to focus and looked around, watching the boat come in and grinning after catching sight of the woman standing at the front of it. "On the boat." She handed the spyglass back.
Trilink nodded. "We can't just stroll through and board. So here's the plan. You, Eru, are going to make a berth around town to the coast, and approach from the water- kidnap her as she leaves the boat. Meet me at this spot." The spot was well hidden- they were in an outcropping of rocks and trees- more or less completely hidden. "I will create a diversion large enough to keep all their attention." He looked over at Eru and grinned beneath his hood. "Ask me how."
She stared at him, flushing slightly. "How?" She wondered if she sounded as breathless as she felt, standing there, staring up at him, grinning. She felt something... insane and overwhelming inside her as she stared at him.
Trilink grinned as he stared through the scope of his rifle. "I'll show you." He picked the two Sentinels closest to them- the one on the left was soon in his crosshairs. He fired, and felt overwhelming pleasure as he saw the blood and brain matter fly out the back of her head and spray the wooden pillar behind her. Before the second sentinel could react, Trilink had reloaded and fired the second shot, this one entering through her chin and severing her brain stem, leaving more gory mess. Then Trilink slid the gun over his shoulder and leapt onto the road, no longer in the outcropping. "Go, Eru." He drew to large, round explosive bombs from his packs and ran laughing like a madman into the chaos that was now Auberdine, as alarms were roung and Elven voices shouted. He wasted no time. He was throwing bombs every which way and ducking into the shadows, leaping back out, firing his rifle, throwing more explosives, drawing his twin blades and fighting and killing those who wandered too close to the Warrior who was able to stay unspotted for the most part in the town gone wild. The roof of the inn caught fire. It was going better than Trilink could have possibly hoped for.
Eru darted through the trees and skirted around the town, moving faster than she ever would have been able to in life. She was not restrained by the frail flesh of the living any longer... her figure was a blur as she moved, and in no time, she had reached the water. Ducking into it, hating the way it felt against her cold, dead flesh, she shuddered and began to swim quietly towards the docks, hearing the explosions and the shouts of the elves and humans of the town.
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:41:40 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:41:40 GMT -5
When she reached the dock, she lurked in the water, staring up through it. There was no need to hold her breath... she could stay under the water far, far longer than any human could hope to. She spotted her prey, getting off the boat and looking around in a panic, and a grin split her lips. She slowly surfaced, taking hold of the dock pillar and pulling herself up effortlessly. She scaled up, peeking over the edge of the dock and silently willing her sister to step closer.
When the half elf began to step backwards, Eru slowly raised a hand and took ahold of her ankle, jerking it from beneath her. The girl fell with a soft cry that was drowned out by another explosion, and without any hesitation, Eru dragged the girl down, off the dock, into the murky water. She wrapped herself around the elf girl, smothering her cries and forcing a vial of blue liquid down the girl's throat while holding her beneath the water. THe elf girl stared at her in horror, spluttering and finding that she could suddenly breath beneath the water. Eru made a small gesture for the girl to be quiet, pulling out her dagger and dragging the girl by her arm towards the outcropping Trilink had indicated. The elf girl had no choice but to obey, and from the look on her pretty little face... She already knew what her fate was to be. She already knew it was too late...
Trilink was really no match for the Sentinels in a straight fight, and he knew it. When they started to rally and organize, Trilink turned and ran as fast as he could, dropping explosives and mines behind him to hinder their abilities to catch him. Soon he had lost them, and was hidden in the outcropping, rifle in hand, ready to pick off any who wandered to close. He kept looking through his scope and hoping to pick up Eru and their quarry.
With a small splash, Eru lept from the water, dragging the gasping, spluttering half elf girl behind her. She threw the girl forward onto the ground and let out a noise of displease, hugging her arms to herself. "I hate water." She hissed, shuddering. "But... I did as you instructed, Trilink."
Trilink looked at his dripping wet companion when she reached him. "Well done. Well done indeed. I am pleased." Then, without hesitation, he slammed his metal-shod foot into the Elf's chest and leaned very close, a look of malice on his face. He brought his blade to her throat and glared at her. "You have no idea what horrors await you, Elf-bitch."
"You're the one slaughtering my family." The elf girl suddenly said, finding her voice at last. "They warned me of you! They warned me to get to safety! I thought... I thought it would be safe here." She narrowed her eyes, then spit in Trilink's face. "You'll never get away with this! Ever!"
"Won't I? And what is going to stop me, Elf? If the entire town of Auberdine couldn't, who then will?" He sheathed his blade, but kept his foot upon her. "You should be more concerned with yourself, though, I think." Trilink looked over to Eru and spoke to her in Gutterspeak- so that the Elf could not understand. "What would you like to do with her? Anything you could use her for? Anything that would give you pleasure to do to her?"
Eru had used her fire magic to dry out her clothing to the best of her ability, feeling irritated that her clothing were now ruined other than the heavy cloak she wore. "I want her to burn." She hissed. "She spit on you, the ungrateful bitch." She stared at Trilink, her glowing eyes burning with hatred.
"Ungrateful? She has nothing to be grateful for, I'm afraid." He spoke to the Elf now. "I think you're about to be set on fire." Then he laughed and reached out with his bare hand, and grabbed her stomach, tearing a handful of flesh right off, causing the Elf to scream in pure agony. He tore her clothes off quickly and set to work eviscerating her, careful not to do anything that would kill her too quickly. "You will get your chance to burn her soon. For now, we feast." He laughed and began to pull out her entrails. Trilink, the Elf, and the ground, were now beginning to become completely covered with blood. "I don't even know this one's name." He shrugged and looked at the Elf who was screaming and writhing, tears streaming down from her eyes, and her eyes rolling back in her head as she threatened to pass out from the intense pain. "What's your name?" Then he made sure she saw as he slipped a large bit of her entrails into his mouth and suck and chew and devour them in front of her- while they were still attached to her. Her screams were loud enough to possibly attract attention- so with his other hand he clasped her throat and choked tightly, squelching the sounds.
Eru felt herself growing faint for another reason, staring at Trilink's actions, her cheeks flushed and her eyes burning with the light of desire. "Her name..." She said, her voice thick. "Is Isthill." Her heart was thundering as she stared at Trilink, covered in blood and gore, something inside her threatening to snap. She crouched and took Trilink's hand in her own, licking the back of it, her eyes never leaving his face.
He continued to feast on the entrails of Isthill Al'Varay, pausing only to lean over and kiss his pet, Eru, giving her a mouthful of their victim's blood, which ran from their mouths and down their chins as they revelled in the ecstacy of bloodlust- and the more basic sort of the same. He turned back to torture and maim Isthill, tearing her apart with hands and teeth with Eru at his side...
Lifting her hand slowly to wipe some of the blood from her chin, she looked at Trilink. "Please..." She whispered. "Let me burn her now... Please, Trilink..."
Trilink just nodded as he pulled back from the Elf which was as near to dead as one could be while still conscious. He stepped back. "Do it. But leave me something recognizable to send to Constanse."
"Do you want her head?" She whispered breathlessly, her chest heaving as she panted. She didn't need the air, really... but she was so caught up in the lust that was tearing through her, she couldn't help it. It was like blinking... just a leftover reaction of once being human.
"Aye. A third head would be fitting."
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:42:07 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:42:07 GMT -5
Very well." She plunged her hand into the open wound of the elf girl's gut, making her almost lifeless body jerk in pain again, a moan escaping her throat... it seemed to be the only sound the girl could make. Then Eru leaned her head back, shivering as an aura of heat erupted around her. She began to release her grip on the fire within her, fire magic rolling down her arms and flickering over her body. The fire poured into the elf girl's body as she began to scream again, the tortured screams of one very, very close to death... the same screams that had echoed from the unfortunate Abomination that had dared toe nter the workshop earlier when Eru was working. As the fire ate away at the elf's body from the inside out, Eru put her shaking hand over the girl's face, freezing it in a block of ice, solid... The fire wouldn't melt it as it burned the body away. It would remain whole, a perfect trophy. Her energy seemed to be rising rather than wearing away with the fire that rolled forth from her, and Eru let out a breathless laugh that slowly rose into a deranged cackle, her yellow eyes open wide as she leaned her head back, staring straight up at the sky. She continued to laugh, not even realizing that all that was left of the elf's body other than the head was ashes. When she finally caught herself and looked down, she collapsed onto the ground on her back and lay there, writhing, her breath catching as she continued to giggle. "Such... exquisite... pain!" She bleated, hugging her arms to herself. Her entire being was vibrating with the insane energy she was pouring forth, and she felt as though she may fall to pieces at any second. "Oh Trilink... It's so... so wonderful..."
Trilink grinned at Eru, but could not find the words. So he shoved her into the grass, climbed on top of her... and the two shared the roughest, most violent, passionate sex that they had ever had- sex which lasted until the sun came up again and the two were released from the emotion, lust, and energy that they had built up during the entire process.
The pair took time to rest for awhile, which was necessary and enjoyable. After a few hours, Trilink and Eru returned to the Undercity via hearthstone, now in the posession of three heads. Elwynn Forest was their next destination, for Trilink expected the family of Constanse to be there with her. And he would show them the heads...
The journey continued. By the time they reached Elwynn Forest- a journey that had been dangerous and long- it was growing late in the day again. Trilink took Eru to the small house that had belonged to Seamus, and had housed Constanse and Al'Varay for a time. He expected them all to be there, but through his Ornate Spyglass, he saw that the house was vacant. He went closer to investigate and saw that they were all gone, and many items had been taken with them. It seemed they had abandoned the place. "They're not here, Eru. It appears they are fleeing from me." He stroked his chin. "I wonder where they've gone. And if Seamus even lives..." Trilink told Eru'Shuneev about the letter he wrote to Seamus, smirking evilly at his own cleverness. "I wonder though, where they have gone. Surely they are in a place they deem to be safe. Yet, this girl was foolish enough to think so of Auberdine." He shrugged. "I suppose we shall just have to investigate the matter." Trilink threw his head back and sniffed the air for any scent of the group, but it was too late. Frowning, Trilink turned to Eru. "We must figure out where to begin looking. Surely there is a way to find out." He ran a list of many informants and places to look through his head but didn't really come to a conclusion. He hadn't really expected them to leave, even though it was, in hindsight, such an obvious move.
Eru frowned slightly. After what they had shared, she had so wanted to revel in the pleasure of seeing the tortured look on Constanse's face upon seeing the three heads they had collected. "Perhaps they went into Stormwind?" She murmured, frowning more still. "It would be a natural decision for them to do so, would it not be?"
"It would. If they are in the Keep itself, we will have much difficulty in reaching them." Trilink took Eru by the hand and walked in the direction of Stormwind. "I guess we won't be able to see her agony in person, but we can make sure they get the message..."
Trilink took Eru'Shuneev to the very edge of the Forest, where it met the keep, and stopped. He took the heads out from the bags, crouching in the shade of a tree. He then grabbed three branches and smiled at Eru. "You'll see." He whittled them with a knife until they were pointed on both sides. He then went back onto the road, and placed the three stakes in the ground, in a neat row across the road. He then speared a head onto each one- facing the keep. On the center head, which happened to be Erin's, he placed a note on parchment, on the stake just below the head. It read: "To Seamus and Constanse Al'Varay, care of Stormwind Keep." Then he laughed madly and shook his head. "Oh to see her reaction. If there were only a way."
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:42:30 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:42:30 GMT -5
Eru'Shuneev watched him, tilting her head to the side again, and sighing herself. She wished, too, that there was a way to see the look on the youngest Al'varay whelp's face... She wished with all her might.
Miss Constanse! Miss Constanse!!" The voice sounded frantic, and Constanse turned from the spot she was crouched in in the garden in the Courtyard, blinking. "What is it?" She asked, catching the arms of the frantic nurse that flew towards her.
"There was... oh gods, don't go out of the city!" The nurse looked ill, and Constanse felt her heart leap into her throat. There must have been... more. More death, more horrible signs left behind. More horrid, horrid things.
"Alright." She whispered. "Come now, calm down, we're safe here." "What is it that hunts you? What sick thing does this?" The nurse asked, eyes brimming with tears. COnstanse opened her mouth to answer, but there was a cry for help from the wing where they kept Al'varay.
"She's bleeding!" The other nurse cried. "Get some cloths, and some water! Quickly!" The first nurse ran off with a soft curse, and Constanse stood in the doorway, staring with wide eyes. Al'varay wasn't bleeding from her wounds...
Tears streamed down the elf woman's face and Constanse saw her lips moving soundlessly, stepping closer. She crouched down and took Al'varay's hand again, staring at her. "What's happening?" She whispered. "Please speak to me..."
"Tell... Tell Seamus, I'm sorry." Al'varay whispered, looking at Constanse with more sadness in her expression than she had ever seen one person carry before. "I Don't think I'll live to tell him myself."
"Don't say things like that!" COnstanse shouted, narrowing her eyes. "You're going to live! You're going to be fine!!"
The first nurse returned with a basin of water and some warm cloths, helping the second nurse to remove the soiled robes that Al'varay wore. Constanse turned her gaze downwards, then let out a choked noise, turning away with a hand over her mouth. She stood and walked away, hand clutched to her stomach.
"Lady Al'varay... I"m so sorry." The first nurse said after a few moments, and Al'varay murmured to her a soft reassurance, that damned smile returning to her face. Constanse kept her back to the elf woman for a long time, her hands shaking, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Tell me..." She finally choked out. "Did Father know?"
"Do you think, at a time like this, I could tell him?" Al'varay replied, closing her eyes. "That is why I asked you... to say sorry for me." "You think it's something I want to say to my father?!" Spinning around, COnstanse turned to face her in rage. "Do you think I want to be the one to have to tell him, sorry Father, but I wasn't the last! I wasn't the youngest! There was another! There was another but it never had a chance to be born?! Do you think I want to tell him that?!?!"
Her body trembled in rage and she let out a sob. "Damn you woman, you should have told him! You should have!!! He should have known, then he never would have left! He would have stayed here! For all I know, he could be the one that is dead!!"
"Lady Constanse, please..." The second nurse frowned, but Al'varay held up her hand, facing Constanse calmly.
"THe heads they found mounted on posts outside... were all of women." The elf said, her voice level. "Seamus is still alive. I can still feel him inside. And I know you can, too. You just need to calm down."
The nurses cleaned up the blood, one of them advising Al'varay to lay still and let the bleeding stop, giving her some medicine. The elf and the human girl never took their eyes off each other, Al'varay gazing at Constanse with pity and Constanse staring at Al'varay in rage. They didn't speak another word... and as the sun set, Constanse retreated back to the garden silently, leaving Al'varay alone with the nurses again.
Now there was even more to think about. There were only four left.
Four...
Then whatever it was that was killing them, would come for her.
Trilink stayed with Eru in her workshop in the Apothecarium for the rest of the night and the following morning, not really caring either for inns or sleep. When Eru was preoccupied, Trilink spoke quietly to himself. "Six down, four to go." He looked over his shoulder at the working Eru... "I only hope she understands that she can't be with me when I kill Constanse." He smiled to himself. "That's a day I look forward to." There was a pause. "Eru, m'dear? I'm leaving for awhile. I am going to look into finding our next targets."
The hunt would soon begin again...
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:42:50 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:42:50 GMT -5
Ch. X
Chapter X
Not many creatures would find the Undercity to be a peaceful place, much less the fabled Apothecarium. Yet in one back room, doom-shaped and silent, save the occasional dripping of the off-green sewer liquid, was where Trilink Ehranus was currently and quietly contemplating things. The nature of his existence since Undeath was strange and confusing for him. He did not have a soul, and was therefore prone to acts of remorseless, violent evil. Yet, sometimes he found himself unable to be anything but civil and even friendly to certain others. Trilink was beginning to realize that he had two different natures, sometimes co-existing simultaneously, sometimes emerging situationally. On one hand there was his 'evil' side. The pleasure he took in his hunting of Constanse, the one he loved most, and her family, and the way he killed, tortured, and sometimes defiled other beings- normally Alliance races and especially Night Elven women, for the sheer ecstacy he felt from it. No guilt or morality now tempered his lust for vengeance. Nothing could stop him from taking the last pleasures open to one in such an existence. Yet, on the other hand, there was the other side of him. One more recently emerged. It brought him great distress and confusion, if only because if what it could mean. It was the side that showed itself when he was with Eru'Shuneev, treating her with affection and even compassion. The one time he struck her for disobedience, he found himself apologizing. Sincerely! It was the side of him that made him treat Vannah, another Forsaken, in a duplicitious manner, seeking both to use her and at the same time truly wanting affection from her; and feeling it for her. It was the side that allowed him to trust Blyythe and befriend her. Trilink first really explored this contradictory nature through conversation. He mentioned it briefly to Blyythe, whom he received sympathy and input from. It was the night before this one, in which the issue was explored in as much depth as it had been up to that point. There was a meeting of a guild- Stone Ravens. Blyythe, one of the few creatures Trilink would call a friend, had invited him despite what she knew about him. It was a more or less enjoyable experience. Blyythe and an Orc Warlock named Zeeroth told stories, Trilink got to argue with a stubborn Troll Warrior named Jambwe (Trilink tended to antagonize quite a bit), and a few other minor things happened. After a time, only three remained in the Undercity where the meeting took place. Trilink and two other Forsaken. Both were Warlocks. ONe was Ulgar, and the other Valgus, the latter of which Trilink had met several times before and actually begun to like. Valgus was one of few who knew of his quests against Constanse Al'Varay and her family. Ulgar had retreated into a strange, mumbling, sleep-like state, whilst Valgus and Trilink conversed:
"Valgus." Trilink started the conversation through hailing Valgus, who just nodded in acknowledgement. "What does it mean if I have a soul, yet sometimes the evil is tempered by affection and even... compassion?" He paused, then continued. "I find I cannot do ill to people like Vannah or Eru'Shuneev or Blyythe, there." As he spoke Blyythe's name he nodded in the direction she had wandered out not terribly long ago. "It is confusing." Valgus replied, "It may be a soul, or a reflex of the mind." The latter made enough sense, to Trilink, he thought. It was true that sometimes he would breathe or blink or eat when it was truly no longer necessary. Sometimes he'd sleep when there was no need. Habits did carry over. Many things seemed to. Trilink continued to speak about his situation, wanting to put it, in its entirety, before somebody. The lost often seek advice. "The killing of the Al'Varay sisters continues with as much pleasure and horror as ever- I do not think I have a soul, but I do feel things that are not 'negative', besides pleasure of the violent and physical nature. He frowned thoughtfully when he finished his sentence. "You were in life, a Knight? A protector, and a killer?" Valgus likely knew the answer, or he would not have asked that particular question. It was true- Trilink had been a Knight. Even, a Knight was what Trilink had been. It was his identity, and he took it very seriously then. He fought with all he had, protected those who needed it, and aided everyone as best he could for a time. And aye- he had slain many in the name of the Alliance. Enemies of all kinds. "A Knight, yes. My kills numbered in the tens of thousands." He was not exaggerating. "But still you protected the weak and needy?" "Aye." Valgus just nodded at Trilink, who elaborated on the situation even further. "It seems that those who treat me well, I am able to reciprocate it. Like Blyythe. She approached me with kindness and compassion and I was disarmed to ever bring anything but the same upon her. Same with Eru'Shuneev. She gives me naught but her absolute loyalty. Yet, that makes me wonder how I can continue hurting Constanse and her family." "If it is not a matter of soul, it is one of the mind," Valgus said again, echoing his earlier words. Trilink continued his tangent, not wanting to lose his train of thought, as he felt a conclusion nearing. "Perhaps it is that it was pain inflicted by her to cause the man that I was to end himself. Truly my nature is one i do not understand!" Here Trilink slipped his goggles back on, having took them off early in the meeting. Valgus spoke once more. "And thus, perhaps, you see her as you saw your enemies in life?" "That may well be it." Trilink had made a very important discovery right there. Why he seperated certain enemies from friends and how. It was all carried over from who he was before, wasn't it? He wasn't sure, yet, though.
So the conversation with Valgus ended, and the Warlock wandered away, after the other present Warlock, Ulgar, had awakened again- becoming alert once more. Trilink found similarly stimulating conversation with Ulgar as with Valgus, although of a much less personal nature to Trilink. They discussed further the nature of Undeath. Things like how to define life, the ability of the Undead to experience emotion, the nature of a Soul, and the physical attributes of the Undead. Trilink came to to the place he was now in with more on his mind than before. His conversations had been stimulating and thought-provoking, but Trilink was still left unsure of who or what he was anymore. He had things to do that may lead to more contemplation, and perhaps, eventually, further conclusion. If luck was on his side, even, in time, 'resolution.' Blyythe, before she'd left that night, had asked Trilink to go soon with her to see Ethna, whom Trilink knew some about. In fact, he'd sought her out shortly after Undeath... he had had some feeling that she would be able to help him in some way. But did he really desire "help"? What was it he wanted? He was truly unsure. Yet, through it all, the desire to complete his vengeful tasks never waned, and Trilink never felt remorse or guilt for his actions. Rather, when faced with the akward duality of his nature, he found that he took more pleasure and felt more satisfaction in his Sport, although last time, Eru'Shuneev had been with him. She brought a level of enjoyment to any situation. He would have to truly debate whether or not to take her with him next time, though- for he wanted to know how the kills would feel on his own, now. So, one thing was clear: his hunt would continue, whether or not Eru would accompany him was the only remaining question on that subject. The other unclosed issue was of the other Forsaken he'd recently met, Vannah. He had felt some inexplicable emotions for her, which he couldn't explain. He'd even kissed her one night, and spent once an entire evening (without any bit of immoral interaction- as much as Tril would have wanted it if it had been the right time to seek it) with the woman. His motives in these actions were a little hard for him to guess. On one hand, there was the obvious physical desires to fulfill for Tril, while on the other hand, he felt genuine affection and sometimes even sympathy for her. The main focus of Vannah seemed to be a baby- a child which she'd lost while she was still alive. The baby's name had been Angela, and Vannah thought of little but her. So it was that Trilink Ehranus had pledged to investigate the matter and seek out news of what befell the baby. He was nearly positive that nothing remained of it based on the circumstances, but perhaps he could still find a way to fulfill that need of Vannah's, fill that space inside her that was so empty, and perhaps even make her happy- for which he had a plan. It was a very -dark- plan, but the ends, to Trilink, would justify the means. ...Not that he cared either way abut 'justification'. His thoughts soon left Vannah and went back to his own predicament; he was lost and confused still. Yet he decided that all he could do was continue moving forward, and perhaps things would sort themselves out. He would slay a seventh sister- Constanse had ten total. He would spend more time with Eru'Shuneev, whom he loved the most. He would carry out his dark plans concerning Vannah and her child. And he would meet with Blyythe and the Elf-turned Troll Ethna, as Blyythe had suggested. Things would sort themselves out...
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:43:16 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:43:16 GMT -5
XI
The days still stumbled by, some wasted, some not. Trilink Ehranus was again in meditation, on another conversation, again about his own nature, similar to the ones he'd held with Ulgar and Valgus. This one was with Ethna though, who he'd been seekin' to speak with for some time now.
Trilink had done little in the last days. He'd not gone after another sister of Constanse Al'Varay, although he had found out much information about his next mark- a dancer in one of the taverns in far off Gadgetzan, Tanaris. Rumors held that she was a consort as well, but 'twas not solid. He'd killed a couple innocent people to get that information- tortured 'em, too, but that was less important and more fun. He'd killed a few creatures for money, and a few for fun. The last couple days had been boring. Sometimes he thought he'd just taken to battle because he wanted to prove to himself that he was just evil. Or at least test the theory. He found that it really waxed and waned- he'd enjoy a kill immensely one moment, and the next it would prove to feel utterly empty, and this would cause him to be angrier than before, and take it out on other creatures- sometimes monsters or beasts, sometimes the Alliance. It didn't matter.
He was glad when he had run into Ethna in the Undercity, although he hadn't expected to find her -there- of all places. He stood there nervously for awhile, looking at her up and down. He really didn't recognize her at first, as their meetings had been infrequent at best. He'd seen her at a few Trollish ceremonies- weddings and divorces, if he remembered correctly. Trilink always liked to show up to those events, for Hel'Caite's sake. Trilink had met that troll long ago, indirectly, through a link she'd shared with Constanse. Hel'Caite was one of the creatures he knew he could never grow to hate. Her and a handful of others.
A moment passed before Trilink adjusted his goggles and addressed her, giving her a quiet greeting in the High Elven tongue- Thelassian. He knew that if the Troll understood, it would indeed be Ethna as he suspected it was. She was silent for a moment- distracted. Trilink thought for a moment that he'd mistaken her identity- or that Ethna was ignoring her. He couldn't be sure. Then, however, the Troll startled and looked up at him, gazing hard at him, searching him up and down. Trilink just stood there waiting for further reaction. "Do I know joo sir?" Such was Ethna's reply. "Well... sort of," said Trilink, after giving pause to consider the question carefully. "I am Trilink Ehranus," said he, as he bowed low. Ethna looked quite startled, but recovered from it quickly. Then she spoke to Trilink in their shared tongue, again, Thelassian. "I had heard. I cannot say it is..'good'... to see you again this way." "You'd heard, eh?" "Yes, Blyythe mentioned it." "I sent you a letter right after it happened. I sought your wisdom." "The letter did not make much sense to me. I thought..." Ethna laughed at her thought. "I thought you must have been drinking." Trilink frowned. "What did you think?!" Trilink was a bit touchy about his drinking; which he had in fact given up a long time ago, ever since he'd hurt someone a long time ago because of it. Then he went on to correct her. "No. I was just a bit muddled at the time." Ethna's next question was rather blunt, and to the point. Which Trilink would usually respect, but... "How did this happen?" Trilink didn't want to answer. Didn't really want people to know. "...Does that much matter?" Ethna just blinked. "It does to me." The Undead Warrior just asked the obvious. "Why?" "The only other Highborne I saw taken by the scourge.. the only I knew well.. was my twin brother." Trilink averted his eyes at these words as he went over them in his head. He remembered how much he valued Ethna as another High Elf- he had been cut off from that part of his life for many years, and it was good to know another- also he was only Half-Elf, and the status Ethna held as a sort of an outcast, being a Troll and an Elf as she was- was something Trilink could truly relate to. "I know the feeling." ... and he did, but he did not elaborate on that thought. Rather he spoke another. "Can we find a less public place to speak of such things, Ethna?" He did not feel like being heard in the middle of Undercity... and he didn't like a place like that for such meetings or conversation. "Yes, though I do not know this city well. You have a suggestion?" "Not as such- the Apothecarium is the only out of the way place, and I would not take you there," said Trilink after much consideration. Ethna grinned. "No, I do not think they like me much." Trilink assumed much about that. Was it because she was Troll, Elf, Priest, or just Ethna? "The Ruins above would be adequate." "The ruins will serve," she agreed. The pair wandered through Undercity for awhile. They rode the elevator to the ruins of the capital city. They reached the throne room, where both Ethna and Trilink expressed a bit of contempt towards the Lunar festival proceedings; though both of them had quite different reasons. Trilink had told Ethna though, that what happened in Undercity or Lordaeron was none of her concern- with which she agreed and seemed glad for. A Troll of Ethna's tribe exchanged words with Ethna, and Trilink and he were introduced. Trilink could not recall his name afterwards, however... he was not really paying attention.
Eventually, Trilink and Ethna sat down on the stone ground and began anew their conversation. Ethna spoke first. "What race are you? Human, Quel'dorei, Forsaken?" She had known he was a Half-Elf. "...I am Trilink." He didn't want to either accept or deny any of the above. He held no allegiance to them, nor any reason to be a part of them. He was just Trilink Ehranus, whatever that may entail. He was uncomfortable with anything but that. He had said earlier that to go beyond 'Trilink' in naming what he was, would be just labelling- and entering a grey area that was too much effort for the lack of reward. "How did you come to be of .. this form?" Ethna asked the question again, which Trilink had earlier dodged. Perhaps she really wanted to know. Eventually he may have to answer her. " I died. Then I was reborn." He stated this, dodging again, but also answering a bit. He was still a bit unclear on the details, anyway. "You were Scourge in between?" Trilink looked at Ethna, studying her face for awhile, in thought. He then took of his goggles, which he was fond of. "I was not." "That is unusual," said Ethna, as she raised a hand to her tusk; a thoughtful gesture. "Those who go from Scourge to Forsaken usually died four years ago." Trilink was only making an assumption here. "It is not so unusual- especially since I died in Lordaeron, away from Scourge influence." " I did not know the Apothecaries had the power to raise the dead directly." "I do not know exactly what happened," said Trilink with a shrug. He really didn't. He knew very little about his own Undeath. "Do you serve Sylvanas?" "I serve no one." "We all serve someone." "Don't be pretentious. I serve no one." "Then what are your goals? Your dreams?" Trilink threw his head back and gave a strange laugh. There was something in his voice- he didn't really sound as if he was amused. "As if I'd have dreams anymore. As if they even mattered in life. As for goals, Ethna? Do you think it is always easy to think clearly? I want to kill one lady I knew, out of vengeance. Beyond that, I know not. I am growing ever more unsure of my own nature." "I do not know. What you have undergone... this transformation... twists, changes."
"I have lost my soul. When I awoke, it was gone." " I know some... driven insane. Others lust for power," Ethna spoke of Forsaken in general. Then she replied to Trilink's ramblings. "What is a soul?" "The way I see it, Ethna, 'tis one's morality. Conscience. Guilt. Remorse." "And you have none of that?" " It gives me a great capacity to do both things evil and impulsive. And no, I do not seem to. Though that does not necessarily mean I am evil or cruel to all- and that is the contradiction that worries and confuses me. So hear me out, some. For the last month I have been seeking the family of one Constanse Al'Varay, who was, in life, my fiancee. Ethna listened, raising a finger to the dimple in her lips. Trilink continued speaking, seeming rather into it. He didn't feel as if he should leave anything out, as he really hoped the Elf once a Troll priestess could be of aid to him. Also, he trusted her, for some reason unknown. "She does not know that I died, or how, much less that I was reborn. But I owe her much pain. Much." He said this with a frown. "So I've been killing her. Slowly. And from the inside out. Killing her family and watching her pain. And loving it. ... It doesn't stop with her, the evil. I've slain many Alliance just for the pleasure that comes with a kill. Or done many jobs for the Apothecarium that border on evil as well, just for a reward- and again, for pleasure. " Ethna gave a slight frown, but not as much as one may think she would have. "That was all there was to it, at first. That is, to my existence. I thought i was a Revenant- a thing of evil and evil alone, bent on naught but vengeance. But the longer it's gone on, the more it changes. I cannot seem to feel any sort of hostility or do any harm to certain people. Blyythe, for one. She is my 'friend' even amid all this wrongdoing and soulessness. And there is my Eru'Shuneev, whom I care greatly for. My nature seems quite contradictory! Murderous and violent sometimes, and yet- I can even feel things like affection for people now. Take you for example, Ethna," as he named her, she gave a slight, almost inperceptible nod. "You're tied to my past- and I would have thought that would cause me to seek some sort of violence against you. Yet, for some reason- I cannot. rather, I sought to come to you for help." "Help?" Trilink frowned and sighed. "I do not know what, specifically. But I don't know just what I am. Or how to find that out." Ethna gave a smile at a private thought. Tril quirked a brow. "I know you spoke to Blyythe about me, too. Though I don't know the details." He shrugged. Ethna didn't reply on that subject, but on another- luckily, for Trilink would've likely digressed too long. She was to share her wisdom now, as Trilink had intended. "You were cut off from your people. You awoke, in an unfamiliar body. Surrounded by the former enemy... Knowing only hatred for those who harmed you before, did you injustice.. You seek them out, cause them pain, bring them justice... and at the same time find new love and tenderness in your former enemies. Do you think this story unfamiliar to me?" Trilink nodded. "Why do you think i sought -you- out?" Ethna inclined her head. "For that reason, but others too." "So how can I help?" " I do not know." "Then I will tell you of myself." Trilink looked Ethna in the eye and nodded, intently. He was glad she'd be open about things and share her story with him.... "I hated this body," said Ethna, holding her arms wide. "Thick fingers, muscles, lack of grace. My only real goal...beyond revenge... was to become Quel'dorei again. To seek the homeland and rejoin with my people. It plagued me for many moons... living in between. After a time.. after certain events.. offers... I realized I could not "have it all back" It was Sylvanas, you know?" "Sylvanas?" "It was She that made me the offer... Sylvanas said she could restore my Elven form, and that together we would fight to free Quel'Thalas." Trilink nodded in acknowledgement as he listened. " If only I would serve Her. Forever," said Ethna with a wryful chuckle. " I considered the offer a very long time, you know. But in the end I turned away, closed the book on my past, and accepted my new role. That's what it did for me. I do not know, if a similar... point of crisis will happen for you Trilink." Trilink told her that he could identify, but only to a point. Then he shrugged at the idea of a point of crisis similar to her own. "We shall see. I do not know. I don't want to be what I was before though, and in that we differ much. The emotional and mental weaknesses of the living are not something I'd need. 'Sides- I'm immortal now. I do not wish to have my soul back, either. The guilt of things I'd done would then catch up wit' me, y'know? And then perhaps, I would not be able to deal with what is- what I am now. As is, I'm okay with it. " Ethna grinned. "I don't know what crisis could emerge, as I believe in nothing and hold no allegiances. Least. Not consciously. " "Not now. Not yet." Tril shrugged. "But you are wrong already." "Explain, then." "You have already told me of allegiences you hold: Blyythe, Hel, Ethna, others." Trilink sighed. "Without a Soul, how much weight could they even hold?" Ethna peered intently at Trilink. "There may be more of you left than you think." "What do you mean?" True evil knows no allegiences, no friendships. Only power. Like Arthas." "To be without a Soul and to be truly evil are not the same. To be without a Soul is, only, the ability to do what is truly in your nature- what you truly wish- without being halted by what is acceptable, or what will bring guilt or consequence. This can be for good -or- ill." Then the two discussed Valian- whom Ethna had met before, and Trilink told her of the outcome of that meeting. It was a somber moment, but it passed.
They parted with blessings and Trilink had expressed his wish to meet again after meditating on her words- which was what he now did. Trilink decided he would not move on Constanse's sisters again until he figured out a little more. Until he spoke again to both Blyythe and Ethna. Perhaps Valgus, too. And Vannah. He had other things to do before he could continue his mission. His quest.
He thought of the people he'd run into lately. Vannah. Lardanna. Eru'Shuneev. Blyythe, Ethna. Things were getting eventful. He hoped it didn't spiral out of control as things so often did. He wondered how Lardanna would react- the two had met in Silverpine, having been old acquaintances. Lardanna had been scared away by Trilink, whom she did not know to be Undead. It was an odd moment for Tril. Maybe Lardanna would have to die too, just to put away the past. He had a thing against his old friends from the Alliance, likely due to the manner in which his life ended and the reasons behind said end.
Trilink just shook his head with a sigh. Things were becoming so complicated...
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Sunset
Jun 6, 2006 14:43:42 GMT -5
Post by trilink on Jun 6, 2006 14:43:42 GMT -5
Anyway. That's as far as I'd gotten.
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