Tag: chapter 1

“She wasn’t made a monster by us. She was a monster before she met us.”

Possibly NSFW.

It was a gory, flesh and blood spattered sight. The corpse she had found on her way to her end destination had simply exploded.  Arterial blood and pulpy flesh matter  had sprayed over the ground. But even seeing where something had forced the flesh outwards and snapping the bones within was not a deterrent.
It wasn’t the elf she was looking for and Windsong had let out a soft exhale of relief. His hair was the color or burning embers, cut in a fashionable style beneath the dried gore. Quickly Windsong had searched the corpse, coming up with nothing. Quickly she slipped into the bushes on the side of the road, gesturing quickly as magic wrapped around her. It felt like cold water against her skin as it wrapped around her, concealing her from sight.

There were spells that could be used to make a body explode, she had seen several that had been used in such a way to achieve that end. But that particular method rang strongly of necromancy. A deliberate and premeditated act. Necromancy was a foul and twisted magic. Windsong was a master of Divination and had once been a practitioner of the fel-based arts.

But what she had practiced then was for her own survival and that  contributed to helping her people. But what she had seen was simply murder by magic most foul. She was a dedicated mage for Quel’thalas. She wasn’t going to let fear affect her nor would she turn tail and head back to Silvermoon.

Windsong focused on the crystal in her hand, peering through it. The world through it was grey and seemed to wobble, tilting this way and that. Safely hidden, wrapped in her magic, she looked through the crystal searching.

Though their territory had been reclaimed and the borders guarded, several ghost towns and haunt spots were easy to find. In some places the forests had grown, crawling over once thriving cities and swallowing the corpses that littered the street. It had taken careful weeks of planning and countless hours squinting and muttering spells to find what she needed.

“I’ll have a new body for you.” She had promised Alexander casually as if finding a body was as easy as going to the market and shopping for it. It was a doozy of a thing to shop for and with most people unwilling to part with their body it left very few options on the table.

Outright murder was out of the question so it fell down to careful searching for the right soon to be dead man. Not just any dead man- it had  to be a crime deserving of execution and they had to be unknown.

Technically still murder.

But one that served two purposes- bettering Silvermoon by removing an unsightly pimple from her visage and finding Alexander a body that wasn’t missing an already stolen kidney. Maybe New Alex- as she had taken to calling the man, had gotten involved in something dark for the intent of helping the greater good. The darker schools of magic were often sought after by those who desired the tantalizing promise of power or wealth. Those magic users often sought out places to seclude themselves as they practiced. As if it made a difference.

The village had long been left to the forest and would likely remain a grave. A tribute to those that had died at the hands of the scourge. The breeze that blew through the village was crisp and made her draw closer to the shadows. The buildings that remained standing in the once bustling trade village were stubbornly remaining up, refusing to yield to time. Grass grew taller than she did with vines growing up the blue homes. Moving close to what had once been the inn she spotted something that gleamed. Quietly she picked it up. It was a rusting stiletto, the blade still wickedly sharp. It was thin enough that it was hidden when she tucked it into her jacket.

Finding a corner she lifted her crystal and peered through it. The world grew grey and wobbly once more. Using this spell without the crystal gave a migraine that lasted for days. But looking through the crystal was far easier.

Illusions were easily seen in the crystal. The rest of the world was bland and grey but when she spotted magic it lit up, glowing brightly in a dull world. A sense of not-quite-empty pulled at her as she searched. “Found you~” She cooed softly as a trail of blue lit the way towards the ruined Farstrider building.

Sliding the crystal away she crept closer to the building. It felt profane to step onto these streets, like she was disturbing not only the dead but rubbing in that she was alive and they were not. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a see-through form come into existence. Something was aware she was here, even if she was unseen.

She moved faster as she heard the creaking of trees and dead leaves tumbling over the ground. The smell of fresh rot came to her nose and it grew stronger. The ruined door had been used several times recently. The dirt and vines on the stone had been cleared away and the door’s hinges showed signs repair over the years. She peered through her crystal as she grabbed the door handle.  Traces so recent they were still vivid colors. Wild colors that all pointed towards the same dark magic that was on the corpse. There was little to be found outside and as Windsong turned she could see a slow walking High Elf down the street. Her form was faded like a ghost,face torn  to tattered shreds and missing a large chunk of her chest her hands clenching onto a small bundle of cloth. The cloth- she refused to think of what it really was- was stained in rust-red and the spirit seemed to look left and right, not just seeking but searching.

Windsong wasn’t a kind person but before she pulled the handle and slipped into the building she repeated a silent prayer for the ghosts. It wasn’t a fate she would have wished on anyone to die in confusion and hysteria. But right now she was hunting.