Dec 25, 2022
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The Battle of Obliteration
It seemed so distant...
Her former self, the assassin, and envoy of the Infinite Dragonflight.
Recent events had changed what she felt her purpose had become. A place where she could explore a relationship with someone else. To not feel that her life ultimately controlled and that her actions were of her own choosing. Every skill set she had acquired was regarded as a utility for survival now rather than a weapon for war. But now...
The druid hastily went about placing a seed into the shattered breastplate of the hunter. Following the crushing impact of a fel-tainted golem’s fist -- her ribs were broken and the very life she had was about to be for forfeit. Though with some blessings from Elune herself, it seemed there was a future still.
One that was almost lost entirely due to the circumstances involved with the attempted kidnapping on Lady Klarra Lorris. Though - the ‘why’ about these events had never reached fruition until -now.-
A former colleague of Commander Damian Jharol, known as ‘Lilim Swiftsilver,’ happened to shed some light on the situation. Though... Gaia could only find herself seething in the place she stood just outside the Keep of Stormwind. Her gaze narrowing at the other Kal’dorei.
Applicable as it may be - to rely on the convenience of a spell that impeded Lilim from divulging the truth sooner... didn’t seem to appease Gaia in the slightest. The very fact that this person happened to be in a position much like herself only angered her further. But the words spoken were not going to constitute for the injuries or near-death experience she faced.
Nor was it going to make their troubles go away. The only thing it would do for Gaia was fuel her lethal intentions. It was to the point that taking the advice of strangers and getting hurt wasn’t worth the effort any longer. This job required a new direction, one that Gaia intended to spearhead and ultimately obliterate.
The crossbow she held was not a weapon of her liking, but given her injuries - she couldn’t rely on using her bow just yet. With the conversation coming to a close, she watched Damian pause at the rift’s opening. His head nodding towards it to encourage her to follow along. But she simply stood there - mindset of the Vindictive Arrow coming to surface instead.
She could not be the compatible fiance Damian needed, but rather the assassin she once was. Lilim didn’t appear to neglect her gestures and hurried away before Gaia could act. But there was far more satisfaction in the chase after all.
“Let’s go home.” Her comm chirped at her in Damian’s voice.
“I’ll see you there in a bit.” The reply was to offer reassurance for her choice. But in the end she knew it wouldn’t be something he’d like. Especially since they had reached the understanding of how important it was to have each other’s back.
“...alright. I love you.” His words caused her to pause where she stood. A hand reached to rest on the device as she considered her words carefully. Her head lifted towards the night sky before she poured the rest of the warmth from her heart into words.
“I love you more than you will ever know.”
Damian’s voice didn’t take long to pipe up once more.
“Gaia.........what are you planning?”
But at this point his words fell on deaf ears. The comm was gently tugged from her ear as she turned it off and deposited it within an envelope. The letter had been addressed to Lady Lorris. A short message - one that stated to tell Damian of her love for him. Prior to this notion, Damian had spoke about getting Klarra a comm device. This just happened to be a sick coincidence that she would be receiving Gaia’s.
There was no time for guilt in the actions she took. There had been a lot to do. And she was tired of being jerked around by the hands of fate. She had cut them once before, but she was going to be more thorough this time.
The last clue that they had received was to go to Stranglethorn Vale. So that’s where she would go once she got her supplies in check. Poison and other such tools that made her job more efficient were pulled from their places. Though, she wasn’t alone in the threshold of her room back in Silvermoon. The shadows seemed to fester momentarily as laughter bubbled from behind her.
The masked rogue stepped forward as his arms folded before him. “I told you before Gaia... Your fate will always be intertwined with the destiny of chaos. There is no other agenda. I mean, look at Thanatos.”
Turning about, she faced Erazeran as he tilted his head to the side. His mask concealed most of his smile, but there was a part of his mouth that was just visible for her to see. They had called him the Laughing Shadow, but it felt more accurate today than it had before.
“Shut up.”
The crossbow she had was lifted with the arrowhead resting against his chest. It was loaded and only needed a trigger to be released. He didn’t say anything for a moment, nor did his expression falter.
“If you want to kill these people, I would be happy to help you. But you know what that means if you agree.”
The conviction in her actions were generally precise, but when she let the crossbow lower - it was clear he won her over. Anything was better than seeing herself or friends get hurt. The very sentiment she had was not working against her, but she desired so much more in rectifying this situation. But that meant forsaking everything she had just worked to accomplish. And she knew how good she could be at this. But her only reconciliation was freedom with this outcome. Yet with Damian, she had believed in a future.
And she knew she couldn’t have both. The sacrifice was for their protection. That validated her actions to the point she could break their hearts. But somewhere in her subconscious, she pleaded for their forgiveness and understanding.
“Let’s get to work then, Vindictive Arrow. You’re out of practice... and that injury of yours won’t do. Let’s visit the temporal rift for a little fix, hmm?”
Mentions:
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20 track album
RELEASE DAY! I have a full-length rock album coming soon, but to wet your appetite, here is my brand new brand first INSTRUMENTAL EP, titled Lump In My Throat!
Recorded with the Trouble's Afoot rock band (Dave Fox & Christopher Roberts) during quarantine, this is no small effort. My goal was to not use any MIDI (there's a tiny bit on two of the tracks) but create REAL MUSIC (!!) with real instruments at my disposal. Track 5 was made from everything on my desk at the time!
Dave's bass lines are beautiful, having no vocals on top really allowed him to shine, and Chris's drums are as great as ever, bouncing from genre to genre effortlessly but still managing to feel like the same personality too!
It will be on Spotify, iTunes, Youtube, etc, etc, but on Bandcamp you get 15 BONUS TRACKS! Four earlier versions of the Lump songs, plus what I call "Early Lumps" (tm), 11 more instrumentals from years past! And this week I have it all as $3 but plan to put it at $5 later!
Track 1 is a crazy accordion instrumental! Track 2 is a country-ish melodic swing. 3 is kind of a loop of chords I've been obsessed with for years. 4 is a Smiths-y somber rocker, and 5 is the sad CODA. Sadness! Enjoy!
20 TRACKS FOR $3! GRAB IT NOW! 5 BRAND NEW FULL BAND RECORDINGS, PLUS 11 OF MY PERSONAL FAVORITE INSTRUMENTALS OVER THE YEARS! Very little MIDI! Very lot of work! GRAB IT NOW!
5 track album
My new single, Woke Up Dark, including three newly recorded demos, plus the original demo for Woke Up Dark that has long been a favorite recording of mine, probably the first "perfect" thing I ever made. Now only $1! (so you can save your money for the full length album with 11 more new songs!)
An instrumental EP, recorded during the initial months of quarantine in 2020. Most of these were older instrumental ideas that languished in my head for years and that I always wanted to make high quality recordings of. The EP features almost no MIDI or synths, but real instrumentation, including autoharp, ukulele, accordion, banjolin, mandolin, bassoon, and of course Trouble's Afoot's Dave and Chris on bass and drums.creditsreleased October 24, 2021 Everything by Jordan Cooper, except: Drums: Christopher Roberts Bass on 1, 2 and 4: Dave Fox Additional vocals on 1: Dave Fox, Daniel Matz Bassoon on 2: Eric Heidbreder Recorded and Mixed at Ceiling Fan Studios Mastered by Joe Egan at Missile Silo Studios in Hopatcong, NJ Album art by Coopsnuk Designs
“The fact that what we are doin’ is illegal makes it better! Somebody once told me the secret spice is CRIME!”