Approaching Darkness
The cathedral in Stormwind City was a familiar sanctuary for Novalein. Between the warm whispers of prayers lingering in the air, to the soft glow of candlelight dancing from the vaulted ceilings and passing pillars, down to the gentle hues coming through the beautifully painted stained glass windows, the elven woman felt a strong sense of comfort within these walls at times when she needed it most. Tonight happened to be one of those times.
Novalein’s long cinnamon colored hair hung loosely around her shoulders, her eyes closed in quiet reverence as she knelt before the altar. Her heart was especially heavy with the many burdens that began to unearth themselves all around the world. Recollections of troubling visions - echoes, they were calling them, from a past that was painful to live once; let alone a second or a third time. Even the priestess’s own dreams were becoming more vivid than ever before and in a time where her dreams should be more hopeful and happier, it was a troubling notion indeed. She was now on edge and something had to give.
As she prayed for her comrades within the Vanguard, she did her best to focus on a lighter feeling that she could channel from it. The names. The faces. The experiences she has endured by their side so far. A feeling of deep kinship pulled that heaviness from her heart upward and out into more productive thoughts of the future and how she could do so much more to help keep her beloved companions a little safer. There had even been a little smile forming at the corners of her lips as she continued to pray - thoughts turned to Galvros and she could have practically floated away right then and there until…
“WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!”
It was as if the very warmth that had been at the heart of this sanctuary was suddenly sucked out through every nook and cranny by these words, only to be replaced with a feeling of dread that made one's skin crawl and their heart drop into the deepest pits of their stomach. The prayers stopped all at once and voices grew a little louder; concerned. Footsteps were shuffling and tomes snapped shut.
“Get to the lower levels,” a priest ordered another as a stream of commoners suddenly came flooding in through the doors. Men, women, children - all being led to the stairwell that descended into the sublevels of the cathedral. “If you are capable, you must venture out and see how you can help!”
Gathering up her skirts, Novalein moved to her feet, her heart racing at the thought as to just who was attacking the city. Another war after everything that had already happened? Pushing her way through the crowd, she went into the opposite direction of the masses and out onto the streets - a bubble of light forming around her instinctively.
“What is going on? Who is attacking us?” She asked of a guard who likely had not heard her over the commotion, his sword drawn as he followed a larger group of city guards down the side street. No sooner than the guard disappeared did a woman holding a crying baby in her arms rush around a corner, wailing in tearful desperation, “Please! You have to help my husband!”
Blinking in confusion, Novalein noticed the woman and child were covered in broken webbing like that from a spider’s web. Wait. She had seen this before somewhere. Shaking her head, the priestess turned to watch them, inhaling shakily as the blood seemed to rush from her face. This couldn’t have been one of the echoes. No. This was much more tangible.
As she watched the woman and child disappear into the cathedral, a terrible feeling came to light and she suddenly shouted, “No! Get everyone to the higher levels!”
No sooner than the words left her lips did the earth at her feet begin to shift, trembling violently as something stirred beneath. Losing her balance, Novalein fell back, nearly knocking the wind right out of her sails as the cobblestone rumbled and heaved - something was moving right for the cathedral and it was BIG!
“No….” she breathed out in horror, pushing herself back to her feet as she used her staff to lean all of her weight into for support. Knowing there wasn’t much to herself compared to the monstrosity that lurched towards the cathedral, Novalein pressed ahead. All she knew was that she needed to direct its attention from the civilians within.
Murmuring a power prayer, Novalein thrust out her hand as a large bulb of holy light formed and blasted into the shifting earth nearing the steps leading up to the cathedral; catching the attention of others who had heeded the call for assistance. Suddenly, the movement shifted and it seemed to churn, doubling back at a speed Novalein was not quite prepared for. As the earth burst open right before her, a spider-like monstrosity emerged from the depths, towering over her.
Standing face to face with the massive nerubian, its mandibles snapping menacingly, Novalein was suddenly frozen in unexpected fear that brought her back to horrifying memories of her past. Drawing in a breath, her eyes widened in terror realizing that she could no longer move her feet.
“NOVA!”
Amnaris raced across the square, her deadly blades brandishing in each hand as she desperately fought to close the distance between herself and her sister; broken webbing hanging from one of her shoulders from a smaller nerubian that sought to block her path and then killed by a human archer. Vanishing in a puff of smoke, the elven assassin was upon the beast lurching over Novalein and in the blink of an eye, she reemerged on its back - a blade sinking deep into its skull just before it tried to strike a fatal blow to the stonelike priestess.
As the creature sank back into the pit it had emerged from, Amnaris’s dagger still in its head, the assassin cussed under her breath, “Shit. That’s going to cost me another blade.” Approaching her sister, Amnaris cut away the webbing that planted her sister in place and then grasped her by the arms with a gentle, but firm shake “Nova? Nova! Snap out of it!”
“I was trying to… I was tryi….” Novalein stammered out, eyes drawn towards the cathedral as screams seemed to erupt from within. “Amnaris, we have to get them out of the sublevels.”