Six P.M. Wednesday evening was like it had been every week since the Legion invasion happened months ago. Swing by the mage district for ice cream, then to Lion’s Rest to watch the fishies, and at the Cathedral by seven for therapy. Not for Seleri or Laelan, but for Nalia.
The little elven girl was forced to deal with emotions most weathered soldiers struggled with their entire lives and not all, maybe not even most, ever won that battle. Of course, Seleri knew it was a battle that could never truly be won. She prayed Nalia was too young to remember what had happened, that she would be fine in the future, but for now her once carefree little girl had changed.
There were the nightmares, obviously, but those were usually calmed with a blessing of Light, or Elune, and a lullaby. It was the more subtle differences that really broke Seleri’s heart. They had always kept Nalia on a loose leash, letting her play alone outside or stay up a little late if she wanted. After the invasion, Nalia preferred to stay inside, close to Seleri or Laelan, and wouldn’t play in the woods around their house without one of them.
Seeing her little girl change in an instant did more than fill her with sadness. It reignited something inside Seleri, a righteous conviction she hadn’t truly felt since Deathwing had fallen. She obviously fought to defend all living things on Azeroth, and beyond, but this time her family had been harmed. She hadn’t felt a need to fight this strong since Southshore, when her parents had suffered a fate worse than just death.
She knew Nalia needed her home, now more than ever, but the urge to fight grew stronger every day.
It will be fine. She will be fine. Nalia is alive.
Seleri told herself that again and again as she raced toward Westfall on a gryphon. She was in such a rush that she hadn’t even finished equipping her armor, so she held onto the beast’s back with one hand and finished strapping on the plate as she flew.
Why did I let her go on that field trip? Why did it have to be when Laelan was away?
She had already contacted her wife, but Laelan was still an hour away. The rogue was forced to take a gryphon home, any available mages already had their hands full.
She finished adjusting a spaulder, the final piece of armor, just as she touched down in Westfall. A horse was already waiting for her. She zoomed past the occasional felguard. The demons hadn’t seemed to spread out, yet, they were all focused on Sentinel Hill.
She reached her destination - a small farm in the north east - and her heart sunk. A tall, demonic spire stood where a field of crops had once been. The modest house was in ruins, bricks and wood smoldered with fel fire. No bodies though, she hoped that was good. Her attention turned to the collapsed barn. Above the crackling flames, she could just barely hear the sound of crying children.
She’s alive! Oh thank the Light!
Seleri flung herself off the horse and sprinted faster than she ever had before. With the Light’s help, she lifted a huge wooden beam that blocked her path and made her way into the barn to find….corpses. The farmers’, her child’s teacher, some of Nalia’s classmates.
This can’t be happening. I’m not going to bury my child.
She began to panic. Her eyes widened and were already tearing up, her breathing heightened until she was hyperventilating, and she nearly collapsed to her knees. Then something pulled her focus back. She could hear children crying out again. She gripped stone and wood, pushed it all aside no matter how heavy. She stepped over corpses, human and animal, until she was at the back of the barn.
It was silent for a long moment and then there was crying again. It came from an overturned cabinet, which she carefully flipped over and tore the doors off of. Inside, there were two, sobbing human children and a still kaldorei.
Nalia,
The little girl wasn’t moving but Seleri could still feel life in her. She scooped all three children into her arms and held them close so they didn’t have to see the horror around them as they made their way back to the horse. They were all quiet as they crossed the plains. Nalia was supposed to visit a farm, see animals, instead she’d had her innocent life ripped away. How much had her daughter seen? Were her dead classmates going to be one of her earliest memories? Seleri prayed Nalia had hidden in the cabinet before the worst had happened.
Once they arrived in Stormwind, she dropped the other two children off at the Cathedral and took Nalia into a back room to begin healing her. Any wounds the kaldorei girl had were minor - a scrape on her forehead, a couple of jammed fingers from the cabinet overturning - and were easily treated by the Light. Seleri hugged her tight and even tighter when she finally woke up and began crying. Laelan arrived not long after. There were few words. What could be said? They just held each other as a family.
Now that her own daughter was safe, all she could think about were the ones that hadn’t made it. Some of Nalia’s closest friends were among the dead. She would need to inform their parents soon, it wasn’t right to leave them wondering. Once Laelan arrived in Stormwind, she would set out on that grim task. For the moment though, she had to attend to the living.
