Elfeburary 2018 - Writing Day 14
It’s kinda ironic how it’s Valentine’s Day, but the prompt is extremely sad. Though, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to write about Elithe’s history. So ... sorry, not sorry.
Losing Something/Someone Important:
The battle of Quel'thalas is one that the Sin'dorei would remember for the remainder of their long lives. It was the day Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner was turned into a banshee, the Scourge had trampled the elven lands, and Elithe lost everything she had ever known. Silvermoon had been in a state of mass panic. Word had been received from Sylvanas that there was an attack heading inland. Nobody knew what was coming, but they thought they could handle anything that could ever be thrown their way. No one had ever breached Silvermoon.
Before it all began, the eldest of the Roseflame siblings pulled his sisters to the side. The twins took their chance to hug him tightly. Ze'daras wrapped his arms around them both and held them close. They all knew the possibilities. There was a chance that one, if not all of them, would survive the fight. None of them were in the same sections and therefore wouldn't know the outcome until the very end.
"Be strong, My Suns." Ze'daras had whispered to them, "We will all make it out of this alive."
His word stayed with Elithe throughout the battle. She raised her sword against the countless numbers of Scourge and was determined to come out of it alive. She refused to have her siblings be told that she was dead. She fought them all for so long to protect her homeland. However, Elithe realized long before anyone else that they weren't going to come out as victorious. They were going to lose. There were too outnumbered by lifeless being that felt no pain. So, she had done the only thing she could think to do. She searched for her siblings.
She found her sister on the ground, propped against large chunks of rubble from damaged buildings and bleeding out. Her skin was deathly pale and covered with a thin layer of sweat. Her eyes were barely open, leaving nothing but a small sliver of green showing. The only thing letting Elithe know she was alive. The other girl was hardly breathing.
Bite marks littered her body with large areas of flesh having been ripped off. Her right arm was missing from the elbow down, bleeding heavily on to the ground. Elithe tried to grab her sister's remaining arm but were not strong enough to move her. All of her strength had been drained trying to find Faeriah.
"Y-You're gonna be fine, Sister." She rambled as she cut a large strip of cloth from her shirt, "Everything will be fine."
Elithe tied the cloth tightly around her sister's stub. She was the farthest thing from a healer, but she understood some of the basics. She needed to somehow get the bleeding to cease. If she continued at this rate, she’d bleed to death. Hands shaking uncontrollably, Elithe wrapped her sister’s other arm around her neck and tried to lift her up. Faeriah cried out and Elithe apologized profusely. It tore her heart to shreds to hear Faeriah be in so much pain, but they needed to get out of the open ground.
"Ze... daras..." Faeriah whined
Trying to remain calm, Elithe shushes her softly, "Brother is probably doing great. He-"
"No...” She rasped, “Ze... Gone."
The warrior elf almost collapsed when hearing those words. Her body became numb and lost strength in her legs. Tears stung at her eyes, threatening to fall, but she wouldn’t let them. Instead, she ground her teeth together and blinked the tears back. First, they had to find a safe spot.
Their “safe spot” turned out to be a damaged home. The area was still covered with the undead, but it was the best that she could find. She couldn’t take Faeriah too far. They were both too slow to run. Elithe sat her sister in a corner with her back against the wall.
Elithe peeked around the door to survey the area. The monsters continued to kill any elf within sight. Corpses and debris littered the streets. Bile began to rise into Elithe’s throat. She had seen death before, has killed before, but this was different. While she sought to protect, this was to destroy. This was a massacre. Shaking her head, she fought to keep hope for herself and her people.
“We’re okay.” She breathed, “We’re gonna be okay.”
Elithe turned around, trying to fake a smile, but froze in her place. Faeriah was staring blankly at nothing, her eyes glazed over completely. She had slid further on to the ground and her head had tilted into the wall. Rushing to her sister, she gently held Faeriah’s face in her hands, tapping her cheeks lightly. Her breathing became erratic as her sister’s continued to slow.
“No, no, no!” She cried out, “Fae! Fae!”
Her once glowing eyes had dulled and her breathing slowed to a stop. It was quickly becoming clear to Elithe that her pleading was of no use. Faeriah Roseflame was dead. She had passed on to the other side with their older brother. Elithe curled into a ball in an attempt to keep her sobbing as quiet as possible.
It hurt so much. She has never been in so much pain in her hundred years of life. It was as if half of her heart and soul had been ripped out of her body. Her entire body shook like a leaf as her mind tried to process the events that have passed. Her city was lost. The remainder of her family was dead. Elithe was alone.
All because of Arthas.