Scourge - 6 (Patreon)

"Gilneas. I will return with you to Gilneas." Calia said as she was presented with her options. She had hardly touched her food, largely pushing it around her plate despite the effort that had gone into making it. Mostly mine. "While I appreciate the offer, Thane Kindfeather, Aerie Peak is hardly a suitable home for my daughter."

"Me brother has a human lass nae much older than her." Caedan grumbled between bites. "She'd nae have any problems."

"Gi'neas?" Lianne Menethil said, looking up at her mother expectantly. "Is Papa there? If he not there don' wanna go!"

Calia let out a long breath. "Papa isn't here, Lia."

Scrunching her face up unhappily, Lianne turned back to her meal. It didn't take her long to brighten again; she was enjoying it immensely, it might even be the most flavourful meal she'd had in her life.

Calia's house, or rather her deceased husband's home, was... humble. Little larger than the single-roomed house I had lived in after Mama left me with Celestine, it scarcely had three rooms, and only that because I was counting the storage cupboard. Yet, despite how cramped it was to have all of us inside, it was clear that for our hosts it felt empty.

He hadn't been supposed to die yet. I was sure of that. But how could something I had done change his fate? The butterfly effect had reached out and claimed him, and I had no idea how.

It was hard to mourn someone I had never met, didn't know the name of, and only knew through the grief of a wife and child. Especially hard when there were so many others who I had watched be condemned to death so recently. I was numb to it in a way I didn't like.

"I'm not sure you should." I said to Calia, shaking my head lightly. "Gilneas isn't part of the Alliance while Aerie Peak is. Your safety would be more assured there."

The princess' fork clinked against her plate. "Tess is the same age as my Lianne, is she not? They would make for good playmates."

"That is a terrible idea." Lorna said, leaning back in her chair until it creaked and she froze awkwardly. "The king is not... well disposed to outsiders. I dread to think what his response would be."

I bit my lip. I wanted to say that Darius had explicitly ordered me to not bring the princess to Gilneas, but revealing my future knowledge to her and her daughter didn't seem sensible at this time. Calia could be an immense asset for the future, a fickle princess who vanished into the aether, a complete non-entity, or... something else entirely. I simply didn't know enough about her to say.

"Gilneas is closer," Vivi pointed out, "and Lianne is a child."

"Am not! Am big girl! For Mama like Papa said!"

Vivi winced before continuing. "How long of a flight would it be to Aerie Peak?" She pointed her fork at Caedan. "Can you keep her healthy the whole way, carry the supplies you need for the trip?"

"The supplies, aye. The wee lassie's health..." He frowned. "Mebbe a problem. Kul Tiras be worse, Strom no better than either, Ironforge tae bleedin' far, an' Stormwind half the world away."

And Dalaran was coming up soon on the chopping block, though none of us said it.

Looking at the little girl, the four-year-old child, there was no doubt in my mind that Vivi was right. Even bundled up tight and given my scarf – I did not want to give her Mama's scarf – she would be at risk of a bad chill, and at that age a bad chill could easily be fatal without a healer on hand. We couldn't separate Calia from her daughter, we couldn't send them off and risk Lianne's life, which left...

"This is not going to go well." I said glumly. "You're going to have to stay in hiding, somewhere out of the way until things die down. Which could be years. And," I met Lorna's eyes and tried to convey my meaning to her, "Darius isn't going to be happy with this. At all."

"We came out here to rescue a princess, we're going to rescue a princess." Vivi said with a roll of her eyes. "Two princesses."

"And what of the townsfolk?" Calia asked, which added something to my estimate of her. "Will they be safe here?"

I looked away. How long would it be until Southshore was attacked? I honestly had no idea. Weeks, months, it could even be years. Tarren Mill was... three years from now? Which was in the region, if way farther away than I'd thought it would be. Hillsbrad never fell, by some miracle... or it was repopulated after it was attacked over the next five years.

The vagaries of my knowledge could be infuriating.

"Nowhere be truly safe. Safer here than up north, fer sure, but if they can crossin' the sea'd be a good plan." Caedan answered. "Some o' the islands be decently close."

If we had more time I could help them make boats. Grow the trees, shape the wood, but we needed to get home. Southshore... Southshore would have to survive on its own. They weren't my people.

My knife scratched angrily across my plate.

They weren't my people, they weren't my responsibility.

But that didn't mean I didn't care.

-oOoOo-

Sitting on one of Southshore's piers I looked out over the tranquil Baradin Bay, the stars and White Lady reflecting off of the waters. I hadn't had much chance to do this the last time I had visited Keel Harbor and seeing the ocean horizon at night had been something I'd missed when I moved inland.

It was a good place to think as I processed what I'd learned of why Calia's husband had died. After the discussion on what we were going to do with her, we turned to what had happened in Southshore.

She hadn't come after her father's death a few weeks ago. No, she'd been sent down here months ago at the behest of the Kirin Tor to keep her safe from Arthas and the undead. Move safely out of harm's way... and straight into the path of Thrall because they hadn't known. It happened before Modera and Jaina found me, before I explained everything.

Though some might consider it my fault... I didn't. I hadn't wanted to give out incomplete information, and... Thrall was supposed to be better. But, somehow, the orc who professed his desire for peace had killed the future King-Consort of Lordaeron when he tried to defend the cellar in which his wife and daughter hid.

All because he thought the orcs were after Princess Calia and not just food. All for the meagre foodstuffs he had stored away for the winter. It was a tragedy all around and benefitted no one; they hadn't even taken the supplies in the end.

There was a soft crunch of footsteps in the evening snows as Vivi came up and sat beside me, dangling her legs towards the ebbing tide.

"Hey," I said quietly, feeling unsure of what to do, "I thought... thank you for coming out."

I wanted to lean against her, rest my head on her shoulder. Take comfort in her arms and not have to think about what happened here, what would happen here after we went home and left Southshore to its fate. I couldn't, wasn't, going to let it eat at me and change my mind as to what we were going to do, but until we left it was hard to put it all aside.

Vivi huffed, running her hand through her hair. It was a mess and she hadn't been taking care of it properly. "Did they really try to keep you in Dalaran?"

"Yes, or..." I trailed off, kicking my legs off the peer. I was glad of the distraction, despite the topic she had chosen. "Almost. They voted, the council that is. When the king died they voted on whether they should keep me there. Two for, two against, and Prince Kael'thas came to talk to me. He asked for advice and, at the end, told me. I left straight away."

Except for my detour to Jaina... "I... I stopped to speak with Jaina first, then flew home. I was working on turning into a raven the entire time I was there."

All of a sudden she dropped her head onto my shoulder. "And I can't sodding fly." She hissed disgustedly. "Lorna has been going on and on at me to talk to you since you left. To not..." She jerked up again, the momentary contact ending. "I'm still mad at you. You left me behind and it hurt, we're supposed to be a team, partners, working together... like we have here. We're saving a princess. We fought monsters. You need me."

"I do." I agreed, a weight lifting off my shoulders unrelated to what had me brooding, but a weight that made my eyes wet to lose nonetheless. "I need my friends, my family, my girlfriend. I need all of you because this isn't easy. I counted over three hundred people infected by the Plague before I lost track, just people I brought through the wall. All of them isolated and going to die, their bodies burned, and..."

A camp, filled with the dead and dying who held no hope–

My throat choked up and I sobbed.

"And– and it's not going to stop. Th–this is just the start." I wrapped my arms around myself as I felt myself start to shake. "The–the cult, they didn't– weren't supposed to come to– they came to Gilneas for me."

There wasn't supposed to be any plague in Gilneas, the wall was supposed to be closed, the undead were supposed to be Lordaeron's problem right up until they reached the wall.

"One of the a-archmages died in the capital. He wasn't- what if he was important, and him dying made it worse?"

I was blathering, falling apart as all my worries and thoughts started spilling forth. "Her husband sh–shouldn't be dead. A–Arthas will b–be killing the elves... and... I had... I knew... what if– I should've asked–"

Overly friendly Syllia. I should've asked Kael'thas about her. But I shouldn't, she wasn't special, I just knew her face. Her face that could haunt my nightmares where other elves couldn't. I wished that I'd been selfish and asked him to keep her alive so I wouldn't have to see her face amongst those I knew had died, so that I could feel good about myself, but the very thought was wrong."

"We, we're going to leave Southshore. They– how are they g–going to live? Will they? Could we?"

"Maybe, m-maybe all I've done is make things worse and– "

To my surprise, warm arms wrapped around me from behind. "You haven't made it worse." Lorna said, sitting and pulling me into her lap where she started running a hand through my hair gently. "Light, we would have been ignorant until it was too late without you. Father wouldn't be bringing people through the wall, the expedition wouldn't be ready. The enemy isn't just letting us win, but that's not a surprise; we have to fight."

Despite her comforting words, my thoughts ran wild. We shouldn't have to fight. What if the cult sabotaged the wall? What if they broke it?

Had I doomed Gilneas with my arrogance?

It was stupid. I was catastrophising. I knew it. I turned and buried myself into her arms, sheltering against her as I focused on my breathing, on the warmth of her embrace. My friend who cared about me. It should be Vivi, it should be my girlfriend, but she… she was still angry with me.

How long could I keep this up? How long could I watch people die?

"You aren't alone. We'll fight it with you. Myself, Father, Liam, Magroth, Bishop Terner, all of your fellow witches." Lorna let out an aggrieved huff. "And Vivi, as soon as she stops being ridiculous and talks to you."

"I was! And then you–" Vivi protested.

"Gwen was crying her eyes out and you sat there stiff as a plank. She's my friend too and I'm not going to leave her to cry alone." Lorna interrupted her. "Why couldn't you do what you did when she collapsed? She needed you and you went to her, but here you are just watching."

Lifting my head and blinking away tears I saw Vivi shifting uncomfortably. She'd... she had, hadn't she.

"'m sorry," I mumbled through my tight throat. "Didn' want to... I just... had to go. Had to."

Slowly, Vivi took a long breath, then let it out again. She ran a hand through her hair again, wincing as she caught up on a knot. "I wanted to... I– damnit. Gwen, would you help me with my hair? Please."

Was she– did she really mean– I hiccoughed out a wet but joyous laugh. "Would love to!"

"Great, wonderful." Lorna said sarcastically. "You can help me get the snot and tears out of mine too. We can make a girl's night of it with the princess. Light's sake, Gwen, you an ugly crier."

Somehow that just made me laugh harder.

-oOoOo-

My hands against the bark of the now decidedly unnatural tree, I kept its shape steady as I expanded it. Bit by bit I smoothed out the bark of the inner bowl as I went, leaving a finish that wouldn't grate against our skin. Lorna was already pouring buckets of water into the makeshift bathtub, the same as the last time, and her heat stone sat on a raised platform in the centre.

The only real difference from that trip home last winter was... well, Vivi. And Calia, Lianne, and Tricks I supposed, but mostly Vivi. The bigger tub was necessary and, maybe, important.

It was even a trip back to Crowford after travelling on gryphons in winter, and we expected to make it home tomorrow. The coincidences were kind of absurd.

"And you know you can't be peeking, right?" Vivi said, pulling my attention away from my work. She had her hands on her hips, accentuating her narrow waistline as she dictated the rules to Caedan. "We'll know. I promise you, we'll know."

I added a little extra to the barrier of leaves I was making between the tub and the camp. It wasn't like I thought Caedan would peek, but it was the principle of the thing.

"Yeah, yeah. Yer all tae tall fer me anyway." Caedan said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Nae got no bonnie lass o' me own, sad tae say, but I nae be interested in tall folk."

Lorna laughed as she dumped out a bucket. "So that means you wouldn't mind Gwen, right?"

"Hey!" I protested. "I'm not that short!"

"Mebbe! Mebbe." He laughed loudly. "Bit thin, though. Like lasses a wee bit matronly an' the wee lass be all maiden-like."

Letting out a loud huff, Vivi shook her head. "Well, so long as you don't." She said threateningly, then made her way over. I couldn't help but notice she was blushing a little.

Well, so was I. Neither Calia nor Lorna seemed embarrassed in the slightest by the idea of a communal bath, not that I was surprised by Lorna on that front. I already knew her lack of shame quite intimately.

"Ah! Hot!" Little Lianne cried as she clambered over the side and splashed into the water. With her clothes still on. "Hot, mama! It hot!"

"Yes, it is." Calia sighed, smiling with fond exasperation as she lifted her daughter out of the water and started helping her out of her now soaking-wet clothes. She clearly cared for her deeply despite how short a time they had been together. "But it's nice and hot with how cold it is, isn't it?"

"Cold, mama!" Lianne shivered now that she was in the open air. For some reason she found that funny and started giggling. "Hot'n'cold!"

I smiled at her antics, the childish silliness being just... silly and cute. I really did like children, though her earlier protests about staying home alone until her papa came back, the tantrums, hadn't been so pleasant.

Calia's decision to lie to her daughter and tell her they were going to find Sir Rotham, her husband, didn't sit right with me. But Lianne wasn't my daughter, my child, and it saved us a great deal of trouble when it came to the little girl's attitude. If she hadn't done it I would likely have had to keep her asleep with magic to stop her doing something dangerous mid-flight.

The lie she had chosen wasn't innocent, but it wasn't malicious either. Just manipulative, and going to have consequences for her in the long run.

Soon enough, it was time for all of us to slip into the steaming water and relax. I really needed to start packing towels... or make swimsuits. They wouldn't take up much space in our bags, and while I don't think Vivi would be much of a bikini girl, a crop top would show off her firm tummy wonderfully.

Maybe we could even go to the beach and mess around one day when things calmed down. Have a real holiday where we just got to play and have fun; I used to love building sand castles and making dams on the little streams as a child.

Though, I had to say, there was something enticing about the idea of introducing them to beach volleyball. I got the feeling Vivi would appreciate playing that with Lorna too.

-oOoOo-

After a rather interesting bathing session with the girls, including Tricks who'd enjoyed splashing about in the warm water and making the little princess smile, I found myself taking a stroll under the stars. Part of it was that I needed to find a nice and secluded spot to take care of myself after all of Lorna's antics, and Vivi just being... Vivi, and so bloody amazingly gorgeous my head still felt full of steam half an hour after we finished with the bath.

Getting to take care of her hair again, display physical affection towards her, and just be close... the only thing that compared was her reaction when I kissed her neck. She still loved me, we were just having problems. Problems that weren't going to last forever. Knowing that had put a serious spring in my step.

The sight of a large raven landing before me, its black eyes glimmering in the dark of night, however, gave me pause.

Before I could even frown at the bird, it twisted and shifted in a flurry of feathers. A raven-headed staff with a single tassel slammed into a very fortunately placed rock, echoing across the small hill we had camped on.

"Greetings, young raven. We must talk." Medivh said, raising his bowed head but keeping his face firmly in shadow. "This land lies under a darkness that threatens to encompass the entire world, you must go west, across the sea, to the ancient land of Kalimdor. Only there can you combat the shadow and save this world from the flame."

I crossed my arms under my chest, my expression blank as I stared at The Prophet. "You must seek out the brothers of Storm's Rage, find the Whispers of the Wind, gather the Daughter of the Sea and the Son of a Frozen Wolf. Then, at the base of the Tree of Worlds, on the slopes of the Mother's Mountain, will they fight and vanquish the foe of ten thousand years once more."

There was a deep silence as he raised his head, his eyes meeting mine as they peeked out from under the brim. Medivh wasn't a villain, but it was hard to say he was a hero.

His warnings had been dire; dire in scope, and dire in application. He made an effort, he tried more than once, and he didn't give up. In the end, he gathered the forces of the Alliance and Horde willing to listen and took them to fight at Mount Hyjal.

But, he vanished thereafter. The Last Guardian, brought back by his mother, left the world behind. His work unfinished, his intended act of atonement incomplete.

I didn't blame him for what Sargeras did in his body. He was not in control, he was not to blame for being born, it was not his fault his mother was arrogant and had allowed Sargeras to possess her. Yet, his departure from Azeroth still left a sour taste in my mouth.

The silence was broken as Medivh reared his head back, laughing deeply and uproariously. "Yes, the brothers of Storm's Rage! The Whispers of the Wind! Ah, a fine way to describe them." His chuckle was infectious and I found myself grinning. I hadn't ever really indulged in the mysterious aspect of being a prophet, but it was kind of fun. "I ask of you, young prophet, will you go west? Will you join the battle to decide the fate of the world?"

My smile remained, but it turned a little sad. "No." I shook my head. "I trust Jaina, I... I trust Thrall. Malfurion, Tyrande, Cairne, I trust the heroes of the world who will bring about the salvation of our word. I will stay behind, I will fight, and I will try to see that there is more that remains than there would otherwise be." Closing my eyes, my head fell. "As I've been trying to do all along."

"You have changed the winds of fate, the sands of time stir with your passing." He said softly. Sands of time stir with my passing? Did he mean the bronze? "If you, who has seen worlds untold, say that your place is here, I shall not deny you." Robes shuffled against the ground and my head snapped up.

He was moving to leave.

I stepped forward after him. "Wait!" I didn't even know why I was asking, what I intended to say, but this was too abrupt. Too simple a meeting. "Wait, Medivh. Wait, son of... son of Aegwynn."

He paused in his departure and I scrambled to think. Even if he would consent to teaching me, if he was willing to take on an apprentice, it wasn't as if there was time to learn. His magic wasn't like mine, my path was set years ago and I wouldn't change it. I had blessings, I had magic, I had power – not immense, not world-shaking, but I had power.

No, that wasn't it. Part of me wondered about Atiesh, how he held it when it was sealed in Dalaran. But that was a joke of a question, a curiosity, a waste of time. A childish whim.

This needed to have more meaning than that.

"Medivh, Guardian of Tirisfal, Master of Karazhan..." I said, biting my lip nervously. "In the world I saw, you left. You said the roots would heal and the world with them in time, but you left. There are those that deserve to see you before you go."

Two of those most deserving were dead now, but two still remained.

"Your mother gave her all to bring you back, to see you once again." I said, standing more confidently. "My own relationship with mine has been... fraught, but do not discount her love. Her belief in you. And, then, there is your apprentice." I gestured to the staff he held, Atiesh that may not be Atiesh. "He deserves to hear from you that you forgive him for what he did, he deserves to bear your staff as the inheritor of your legacy."

He ducked his head in silence, his hood falling over him and concealing his face entirely. "Yes, I suppose you are right. I have much I owe young Trust. I have debts I owe to many." He turned his back, the feathers of his cloak iridescent under the stars. "I shall consider what is possible, when all is said and done. For now, I shall divert the attention of the burning shadow from you as best I can. Farewell and good luck, young prophet."

"Farewell, Guardian." I said, offering a bow. "And thank you."

"I am undeserving of such things." He said as his last words, his form melting away into that of an oversized raven once more.

I watched him go until he flew out of sight and wondered: what would the ramifications of this meeting be? Would he remain upon Azeroth, would he travel to Outland, would he seek to undo some of the horrors Sargeras had unleashed upon the world using his body?

Only time could tell, and I wished him well.

"You deserve them for the flying lessons, if nothing else." I whispered into the wind before turning and returning to camp.