A Village Scorched   

{no pictures} 

Ghostland was always an eerie forest filled with the absence of light, to only be seen by glowing moss and deadly mushrooms... where the ghost of Banshees ran free, in place of unmarked graves. A place where the dead rule and the living have no home… A saddened forest filled with beasts and monsters… 

Were desperate trolls still linger and were a traitorous elf now delights in his victory! A place cursed by a fallen prince step… A pitiful prince with a cursed blade… A blade who even stole his master's soul! A place… where you can hear the sound of disturbed golems and undead abominations! 

The roads are unsafe… while the bodies of our fallen roam cursed villages… and our sanctum of the sun, is unable to give us warmth… even now our once lush forests are home to spying elves of another nationality! So weak we are… that we can't even fight the Murlocs who plague our beaches… 

But the scariest thing of all… aren't the trolls or the lions… not even the damned… but the spiders and the cultist! 

The cultists are cruel in their rituals… they worship a god who cares not for their souls… while they hide in their towers corrupting the land… in turn the spiders lay down their traps inside steps of the road! Be it webs or signals that terrify our runners, while their undead mother overran our crossroads! 

Now my heart worries about our continued existence here in Tranquillien… the dark lady sends her regards, while our own send meager help! 

Our town is dying in distress… for what is left of it…. for food is scarce… and our enemy surrounds us! It was then that I looked up into the hills and saw a light so bright it filled me with warmth! For the first time in a long time… I finally felt warmth… 

→→→→→→→ Excerpt by High Executor Mavren←←←←←←← 

As Layla stared into the web filled with light, her eyes burst into scarlet orange! Unable to contain her fury, the butterflies poured from her body, and materialized from within the fire shield that surrounded her in completeness! But as those butterflies formed in bright red colors that were trimmed in gold, flew out from her and lit her path. 

The butterflies spread and consumed all in their way! The webs, the building, the trees, and the grass! But more importantly, they consumed the dying in the webs... The walls upon walls that embodied the trophies that the spiders kept as a prize! 

But as the fire consumed everything, the spiders did not get angry, nor did they show any emotions… even the ones that stood on fire! They marched uncaring of their lives, for, in turn, they wished for death more than another other! For death was kept from them! And they wanted it back! 

It was only then, that Layla understood… that these creatures were already dead! Zombies of an intelligent ruling species forced to obey the commands of the one who killed them so many years ago! Now left to rot and forgotten… only having one command to fulfill… to kill and consume… was all the princes left in their hearts as an order! 

But Layla didn't care for their plight or their deaths… she just wanted her slave back! With crueler eyes than "THE", she burned hotter than the sun, as an army of bugs reached for her! Their shadow magics getting closer, while their warriors were but ash! But no matter how powerful Layla was, she would run out of mana… 

And as her fire dimed… the mother of the spider seized this chance! With her brood and their scythe claws towering down at Layla, is when an erupting light burst from the cocoon! A wave of holiness washing over the fires and the spiders! However, the fire stayed as the spiders turned to dust in the wind… 

All but the mother spider! For she clawed her way out of the ash of her children! Burnt and falling apart, she still held her ground! As the last order of her master still compelled her heart to fight! With cold blood running down her veins, she screeched as she turned her claws on the light! 

But with burned-out eyes and blistering scars, she could barely move her one arm! And with claws drowned in her own passing blood, she could not hope to hit the light! For when her claws came baring their slow fangs, they were no match for claws dripping in holy light! 

With righteous judgment and claws fueled by lighting, Lanthios struck first! Burning a huge gash down her chest and through her front legs! But even in such a position, the queen of spiders kept moving like a slave compelled! Adorn in precious blue flames, with decayed blood that oozed dry from her eyes, the queen of spiders looked to Lanthios with a soul filled with envy! 

Envy that yearned for the warmth that fueled Lanthios' tiny holy wings! Though she felt nothing but disgust for it on the outside, her inner soul betrayed her! As happy tears ran down what was left of her face. But still… she could not fight the curse that binds her! Content to destroy that light that disgusted her outwardly, but inwardly craved its peace… 

Unfortunately, that feeling of craved peace didn't last, for the curse of the lich king was content not letting her feel it! And so, with peace in the back of her mind, she crawled with every attempt… like a robot! Cold and unfeeling! only leaving a trail of her green liquor behind! Pitiful was the only word that came into Layla's mind as she stared into the creature's pitch-black eyes… But to Lanthios' eyes, he only felt the feeling of nostalgia! 

He didn't feel bad for the spider or its circumstance… in truth, he didn't care… he only cared about the memory he had of killing it time and time again… Back when this was a game… forming parties at the level and dying in attempts to solo it… this moment was surreal to him because the moment this creature dies… he will never see it again… never experience killing it again… 

{Much of my time has been designated to being locked up in Fairbreeze that I have forgotten to take a moment and enjoy these nostalgic moments… 

Was it cruel of me…. to not have any feeling of remorse for this creature itself? Only having a feeling of my past experience with it? From a game perspective? And not from a living perspective… Maybe… just Maybe… but then again… when you spend fifteen years of your life only seeing these creatures as nothing more than numbers on a screen… can anyone blame me? My heart has grown wax cold to some of these… 

Especially now, with what Azrael has done to me… what the blood elves have done to me… the light that dwells in me may be different because of Nauru, or maybe because of the shard of the Sunwell… but… then why am I crying….} thought Lanthios as tears buds escaped his eyes, while a hammer of light formed above him… 

Filled with memories from a happier time, Lanthios's hands began to shake… while the hammer above him warped in and out! A scenario that hadn't gone unnoticed by Layla… though she did not know why Lanthios was acting this way, she cast that concern behind her as she rushed to embrace his back! 

No words escaped her lips, for she didn't have any words, to begin with, she only felt that Lanthios needed this… And she was right… the moment she placed her arm around his back, the shaking had stopped, as did the warping… 

Feeling her warmth, Lanthios didn't turn back to look at Layla nor did he say any words of thanks! He just stood there, surrounded by flames staring at the pink spider slowly crawling to him. But while the drunkenness of light slowly let him go, he felt Layla's mana seeping into his spell! He could see the butterflies fly around his hammer… molding with it… making it burn hotter than any word he could think to describe it… 

Transforming it from its once holy yellow color, into a vibrant assortment of colors, that burned in fire! Was the spell overkill? Yes… at least Lanthios thought so… but he could think of no finer farewell to a memory! And while Anok'suten was but a doorstep away, the pair released the hammer! And like a giant sledgehammer that fell as lighting, it crushed the royal spider in a blaze of fire and light! 

With a gust of wind and a swirl of light, the cool air exploded out, extinguishing the fires! The world returned to its gloomy deserted self…. With gently burned leaves floating to the floors. When all was done, what remained of Anok'suten, was just a statue made of pure ash! And with a gentle breeze, that statue fell like a pillar of salt. 

As the ashes fell, Lanthios stayed staring as the spirit of the royal spider formed into view, in an absolute color of blue and white! The spirit of Anok'suten said in whispers that only Lanthios could hear: 

[thank you… thank you for giving us the peace that was stolen from us! But know this… that devil prince won't sleep forever… he's waking up! May Yogg Saron forever feast on what's left of that man's soul!] Said Anok'suten with much hatred but continued to say: 

[But I digress… I leave you with this warning… Oh, one who walks with the Nauru's light… take care… for I feel the energy of the Sunwell radiating from you! Though it brings peace to the undead, it also draws them to you! And much worse! It's a power that even demons crave to corrupt! And a power the void wishes to destroy!] and with the vanishing of those words of warning, Anok'suten soul disappeared in a void of darkness! 

It happened so fast that Lanthios didn't get a chance to reply! To ask question… only left to ponder on how this Nerubian knew of the Nauru, or how it could feel the light of the Sunwell… 

 Though Layla couldn't hear the Nerubian speak, she could tell that Lanthios was communicating with it somehow based on how he was acting... But since no words reached her ears, she instead focused on the dark portal that formed above it in confusion. As she saw through the light of her butterflies the formation of several shadow hands! 

With a spinal chill feeling, Layla knew this Nerubian wasn't in for a good end! And she thought to herself how unfair… that this spider went through a lifetime of servitude as an undead, then even with true death she was still fated to have a bad end… to be blamed for crimes not her own… 

So, with a heart filled with pity, the least Layla could do was send a butterfly to light the poor spider on its way, as those foreboding hands pulled it into the darkness of the void. With the spider gone, the pair looked at each other but again didn't utter a word, they simply hugged each other and made their way back to the apothecary. 

But through the scope of a glass lens, the night elves were watching everything from their hidden camp! They began to question among themselves what they had just witnessed and to judge if it needed a precise decision. But when word got to those from Shalandis Isle. 

They demanded the forward camp their orders! The order was simple… Kill them or bring it back in chains! And so, the captain of the sentinels planned their ambush, while High Executor Mavren planned his own visitation to the Suncrown Village! 

All while Deatholme steward Dar'khan Drathir yelled: 

[I rise again! When will you short-sighted people ever learn that I and my ambition can never die? HAHA… but what is this... This feeling… it feels familiar… it feels like the Sunwell!] yelled Drathir as his bright red eyes shrank their pupils in a sense of realization!