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| Details |
| Author: | Saaron |
| Summary: | Nesselos and Therald search inside Sirie's home in Booty Bay for her. They eventually find her, and she confesses to a crime or two. |
| Rating: | M for Mature 17+ |
Arc: The Sandysappearance
Nesselos lands at the gryphon platform, up on the highest terrace of Booty Bay. Gyll, the dwarven flightmaster, seems mildly annoyed when Ness doesn’t immediately head down, but instead loiters on the small platform by the arrival point, looking over the rickety seaside city with an expression of uncharacteristic serious thought on his face.
Therald is already in Booty Bay, and notices the Draenei getting down from the gryphon almost immediately. He waves at him from a lower platform. “I’m here!” he says, loud enough for his friend to hear. The warrior doesn’t look happy.
Nesselos smiles briefly and waves when he sees Therald, and then seems to remember he’s being serious today. To Gyll’s relief, he leaves the small gryphon platform and makes his way down to Therald. It takes a little longer than one might expect, because those stairways in Booty Bay are just really not straightforward like a dimensional starship. Eventually, he walks up to Therald.
“Hello, friend,” Nesselos says, still with the same somber expression. “I have an address, but are you ready for this? If she’s actually there… she bit Sandy.”
Therald nods, welcoming the draenei to his side. “Hi, Nesselos.” He looks further into the city. “From what I’ve gathered she hasn’t been much in Booty Bay, but… that’s worth a try.”
"She was here, at least that day, though I did not meet her. Even if she isn't, maybe there will be something to learn," Ness sighs. "If this is another joke of hers… she does not have a good sense of humor these days."
“Yeah,” Therald gets ready to follow Ness, a hand on the handle of his sword. “Her jokes were always… somewhat questionable. Didn’t usually involve violence, though.”
"Death may have changed her," Ness says sadly. He hesitates, uncertain if he should say the next part. He decides to anyway. "If she was involved in the disappearance of Carden… he's been gone for a year or so."
“…” Therald stays silent for a little while. He nods. “I don’t have much hope for that man, after a whole year.”
Ness shakes his head sadly. “It’s a short span of time in the long run, but perhaps a very long span of time to be kidnapped by a Forsaken warlock. I feel so sorry for his sister.”
They make their way down staircases and across planks until they’re at the address the Ratchet warlocks gave to Nesselos. The draenei pauses by the door before knocking, looking to Therald for the go-ahead.
Nothing happens. Not a noise is heard inside. Therald lets go of his weapon. He looks around, taking notes of the nearest bruisers. "Cover me," he says to the Draenei. Therald takes out lockpicking tools from his belt, and begins working on the door's lock.
Nesselos gestures and whispers a few words, and a glowing totem appears behind him. “I will keep you safe, my friend, whatever is inside.”
Therald almost instantly puts the tools back into his belt. "It's not locked. I think whatever is inside… has to be someone." Therald puts a hand on his sword's handle again, looking at Ness to know if he's ready to enter.
Ness makes another gesture, and dirt swirls around Therald briefly before settling. “I’m ready.”
Therald nods, looking at the dirt around him. He opens the creaking door. The whole house is covered in darkness, taking his first few steps inside. As he enters, a Fel sigil carved above the door lights up the room in a purple color, and Therald falls victim to the “Corruption” spell, pain spreading throughout his body. He grunts. “Show yourself!” he barks at the dining room, empty of any presence.
Nesselos immediately douses Therald in healing water, then he passes a cleanse over him to no effect. Ness says quietly, "Hold on, I'll heal through it." He prepares more healing waters as he watches for an enemy to appear.
Therald pulls the sword from its sheath and draws his shield to his side. He advances into the house, countering as many of the defensive sigils carved into the walls as he can. Still, he takes a few curses, his weapons feeling progressively heavier, as the curses take away his strength. He can barely raise his weapon as he shouts. “G— Shout lightning at me. Now!”
Nesselos looks worried, but he channels lightning into Therald’s sword. Then he murmurs to the spirits and starts to peel off the curses one by one.
Therald's arm drops, the sword out of the lightning way as Ness casts his spell, the strength leaving his body almost completely, but the warrior finds it in himself to raise it again, catching the lightning. He immediately turns around and stabs his weapon into the ground leaving a shockwave of electricity spreading through Sirie's home. The dirty dining table is flipped over, and cracks form into the house's wooden structure, breaking a huge number of the sigils. Therald falls to one knee, panting.
With the table now flipped, few scratches appear from under it. Sirie has drawn a little series of pictures.
Aligned, we can see what appears to be a rotted undead woman, with an arm on the ground, followed by a plus sign, followed by a human. The line keeps going, with a drawing of an 'equal' sign, which leads to a still rotten undead woman, but less so. Her arm is back in her shoulder.
The second line appears to be the exactly the same, except for two things. Instead of a human, a Draenei has been scratched there, and instead of a slightly less rotten undead woman as the math's conclusion, it's a question mark.
Therald waits for Nesselos to free him from the curses, grunting as he fights against their effects. He doesn't seem to notice the drawing.
Nesselos finishes removing the last curse and then plops down beside Therald, a little winded from all the casting. With one last gesture a tiny healing totem pops up at Therald's side, supplying a steady stream of healing, just in case.
Then he catches sight of the drawn pictures, and his eyes narrow in thought.
"Therald, did you see this?" He asks. "Forsaken plus human equals… Does this mean… did she eat someone? Carden?! And the next line, it might mean she's after a draenei next! I will have to warn people!'
Therald stays one knee on the ground, catching up his breath and gathering his strength back as the curses are lifted. When he finally feels strong enough, he gets up and approaches the table. “It has to be Carden. It has to….” He frowns at the drawing. “Warn the people you want to warn, I’ll find someone in this city to open a portal to the Exodar and I’ll start looking around there.” He turns to Nesselos. “If she really is after a Draenei for… whatever she has in mind, it’s not safe for you to be looking for her.”
"It's not safe for either of us to be looking for her, if she eats people now. That bite was just the beginning." Nesselos looks a bit sick at the thought. "Her own son. And we've met other Forsaken that seem way more reasonable, like at the internment camp."
“I’ve… heard of Forsaken eating people before. And she’s mixing undeath with Fel corruption, it really can’t be good.” Therald shakes his head. “But she can’t be Sandy’s abductor anymore, right? She can’t be… eating him. I need to find her. Fast. I’m going to the Exodar, if she’s looking for Draenei, she has to be there.”
“How would a Forsaken get into the Exodar?” Nesselos looks at Therald. “I do not think we are friendly with them. Maybe you’d find her somewhere she could go without being obvious… like here, or Shattrath? There are many of my people in Shattrath.”
“I don’t know,” Therald says, sheathing his sword. “I don’t think she’s in the Exodar, but perhaps in the surrounding areas.” He looks at Ness, a serious look on his face. “There are Draenei villages, right? Including some kind of infirmary where they take care of those wounded during the crash, I heard. Easier to move unnoticed and to find a Draenei to… eat there, rather than in a city full of people.”
"Therald… you cannot protect all draenei," Nesselos looks at him with sympathy. "It's been two years since the crash, so most of those still recovering would have moved into long-term care. There are villages on Azuremyst, yes, but there are also many villages on Outland and also draenei scattered over Azeroth. Is there any hint where she might be looking for a draenei?" Nesselos rises and looks around the room for any more clues.
"I…" Therald pauses to think, looking particularly hurt at the thought that he couldn't protect all Draenei, somehow. "I know! Keep looking here, I'll be right back." He jogs to the door, then turns around. "I don't think anyone's here. I think… The door was unlocked because she wants people to fall in her curse trap."
“Another ‘joke’,” Nesselos says grimly, with a nod. He circles the room, looking for any more clues, as Therald heads out.
Taking a deeper look into the house, it's clear that Sirie is not holding anyone hostage there. Whether it's in the living room, or in the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom that can be access through there, although entering them might prove challenging, as sigils are still carved on the wall of these rooms too.
Nesselos decides not to test the efficacy of her curse wards for now, but instead steps just short of the entrance to each room. He looks carefully through each doorway for any additional scratched drawings or other clues.
It's clear that, among the actual spells, Sirie just likes carving little drawings everywhere. It's like leaving little notes here and there for her. If she was still eating food, it wouldn't be surprising to just find a grocery list written into a kitchen cabinet. Instead, they're more notes about demonology and curses, and about people she dislikes. Freshly carved into the bedside table, Ness could see from afar the name 'Zat Slyblade', with a 'y' that's been carved over to look like a heart.
Therald comes back, running, a few good minutes later. "I've got a lead!"
Ness jumps and turns to Therald. “Really? Great! I might have, too… have you ever heard of anyone called Zat Slyblade?”
Therald blinks. "Well, just talked to him actually." He puts the pouch he uses to keep his coins back into his belt. It's now extremely empty. "A cartographer, who sells maps to both horde and alliance members indistinctly. Told me he sold a map to a Forsaken woman, recently…" He narrows his eyes. "Why'd you tell me about him?"
“She’s carved his name with a heart,” Ness says, gesturing back toward the room. “A map of where? That might be our lead for where she plans to abduct one of my people!”
Therald's expression is grave. "You were right, she's not going to Azuremyst Isle. She bought a map of Bloodmyst instead. Probably liked the name better."
Nesselos’s cheeks pale to a lighter blue. “That would be further from the Exodar. We have to warn them! And… what was your lead?”
"Well… that. I'm going to go there, find her. If she's carved his name somewhere, she has to be the Forsaken woman who bought that map." Therald nods at Nesselos. "Do you know that isle? Any idea where she could have gone, there?"
“I haven’t spent much time there since shortly after the crash,” Nesselos says, considering. “There’s… Blood Watch, that’s the main outpost. There’s not a big population of undead she could hide in - unless things have really changed in the past two years - so she’d stick out if anyone saw her. Some of the wildlife there was poisoned from the crash, so it can be a dangerous place.”
"Perfect. If she's there now, someone definitely saw her. And hopefully, some of the poisoned wildlife got to her first…" he pauses. "Although I would like to handle that problem myself, still." Therald moves towards the front door. “I'll find someone to open a portal here." He takes a deep breath. "Probably…. It's safer if you go to Stormwind and warn the others."
Nesselos hesitates. “You’ll want someone who can speak draenei, my friend. And I wouldn’t be able to bear it if I sent you to my new hometown and something happened… I can always send a letter to Stormwind, to Cobalt Company.”
"Fair," Therald says, nodding. "Go to the in and write your letter, I'll find a mage for us in the meantime."
“I’ll do that…” Nesselos looks around the cursed home. “Shall we meet at the Salty Sailor? I would rather not spend any more time here than I need to.”
Therald nods, heading towards the door and waiting for Ness outside. "I'll be there soon. Then, we'll find her fast."
Nesselos steps out and closes the door with a relieved look. He glances at Therald and says, “We should lock it somehow, to keep others safe. Shouldn’t we?”
"… Yeah, probably." Therald scratches the back of his head." I… Only know how to open locks though. Do you got something with earth… Elemental… Magic?"
Ness stares down at the ground and focuses intently. He gestures upward and dirt wells up, soldifying to secure the base of the door. He turns to Therald and says, "That should hold it. She'll have a hard time getting in, too, but somehow I'm not concerned."
"Me neither." Therald growls. .
Soon after, Therald steps out of a portal and into the Exodar, for the very first time in his life. He takes a second to look around at the shining crystals surrounding him, breathe in the peaceful air of the spaceship, and bathe in the luminous capital. It almost makes him forget he’s furious. Almost.
Nesselos steps out of the portal behind him, and his face lights up in a smile of pure joy, all the sadness forgotten for at least one moment. As his gaze drops to his friend Therald, he tempers his expression, and says, “Would you like to speak to O’ros before we go to Bloodmyst? It might… help.” With finding Sirie? With Therald’s fury? Maybe both.
“O’ros?” Therald frowns. “Oh! That’s, the… Naaru, right?” He shakes his head. “I don’t want to meet a being like this… in the state that I’m in.”
Nesselos rests a hand on his shoulder. “O’ros would not judge you for anger and grief. The naaru are… Light. It might help to feel the naaru’s presence, in the state that you’re in. But… I will not insist. We can go straight to Bloodmyst. Do you know how to ride an elekk?”
“Ah well, I didn’t mean in the state I’m in right now I meant… You know, only alive because of the Fel,” Therald sighs. “I don’t want a being of the Light to see someone like me.” He shakes his head. “Let’s just go… an… elekk, you said? Those are the big… tusked animals, right?”
Ness nods. “We will get you a very gentle one, since you are unfamiliar. And… maybe the naaru could help with that, as well? Wash away what lingers from the fel and leave only the Light? However it is that you are alive now, you do not need the fel any longer, surely.” Ness starts to walk towards the ramp to the exit.
“I know, I just…” he sighs again, looking down at the ground. “Let’s just forget it. We’ve got more pressing matters. Let’s go get these… elekks.” Therald seems unsure about going on an elekk. These things are very tall, and he is smol.
Ness leads Therald up the ramp, from which he the two of them have an impressive view of the shining central space of the Exodar. Ness glances a little regretfully in the direction of O’ros, but then they turn away and head out to the stables. It doesn’t take long for both men to rent elekks, Therald’s being a younger creature that the stablehand insists has the sweetest temperament.
Therald gently pats the Elekk on the neck. He has to stand on his toes. The Elekk doesn't react much, but it seems to be a good thing. "Okay… here we go." The human tries to get on the saddle. He's struggling a lot to get there, as everything is so… high up on these animals. And with his plate armor, Therald isn't very agile.
Nesselos is starting to swing up onto his own elekk when he notices Therald’s difficulty. He pauses and walks over to his smol friend, trying to see if he can get hold of his foot to give him a subtle, unembarrassing boost. Ness is not really a subtle person.
No matter how great Ness’s boost may have been, it was extremely embarrassing for Therald. Now that he’s on the elekk’s back, he clears his throat, and whispers “thank you”. He looks around the odd island, different from anything he’s ever seen. “So, where’s that Bloodmyst Isle?”
Nesselos quickly swings up onto his own elekk’s back and gathers up the reins. “It’s a bit of a ride. We can follow the road most of the way, and then there’s a bridge up to the other island. Let’s go?”
Therald nods, following Ness up north. He follows silently, his hands tensing around the elekk’s reins.
On either side of the road, Ness and Therald can see healthy trees and also the fragments of crystals still embedded in the soil from the crash. Still, the area seems to be recovering, and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of sickness in the squirrels and birds they catch sight of. Eventually, they circle around what seems to be a massive furbolg encampment.
Nesselos glances in that direction and says, “Interesting creatures, furbolgs. They are very easily corrupted, but when unharmed are quite friendly. Our people made a great effort to learn their language, as one of the first native species we encountered here.”
“It’s… good, they didn’t get corrupted, then.” Therald nods. “I assume it makes for a better welcome to a new world.” He looks around, noticing the murloc huts. “Hmm. You all met those too, then. Not as welcoming at all.”
“No, not very welcoming,” Nesselos agrees. “Still, they do seem to have some community organization. If we could communicate…” He trails off as they ride on up toward the bridge to Bloodmyst Isle.
“Well, some talk, they’re just… not friendly either.” He sighs, then looks at the bridge. “Is that the isle?” The human narrows his eyes, his hand above his eyes to protect them from the sun’s light. “Is that man… waving at us?” As they get closer, Kessel makes big signs with his arms to get their attention.
“That’s Bloodmyst, and… hm,” Nesselos shields his own eyes in an imitation of Therald. “Yes!” He raises both of his own arms to wave in response, and then directs his elekk towards Kessel.
“Greetings!” he says, approaching the two of them. “I hate having to welcome you to this isle in such a manner, but I would be wary of going to Bloodmyst Isle as of right now.” He shakes his head. “A vindicator of the Hand of Argus has gone missing on her patrol. Bloodmyst Isle is a dangerous, but according to unnerving details, it seems to be even more so now.”
“What kind of unnerving details?” Therald asks, frowning.
Kessel stares at the two of them, wondering if he can even share such details. He eventually nods. “Traces of undeath have been found by another vindicator where she was supposed to be.”
Therald’s eyes widen and he stares at Nesselos.
"Traces of undeath…" Nesselos's eyes are as wide as Therald's. "What does that mean exactly? What did they find?"
Kessel shrugs. “I’m no priest, but as I understand it… lingering energies, revealing the presence of an undead creature in the area.”
Nesselos lets out a relieved breath. It's possible he may have imagined far more gruesome traces. He nods at Kessel. "We're on the trail of a Forsaken criminal that we have reason to believe came here. Your words confirm our fears, but we must find her. Consider us warned and prepared."
“Well, then, Dioniss aca! I wish you luck in your search.” Kessel shakes his head. “I hope we find Jaellae safe and sound… If I may be of any help, let me know.”
Therald looks around. “Any idea where she might have gone?”
“Not one, no. Although I assume a Forsaken would be pretty easy to spot for anyone on this isle, so… perhaps one of the less populated areas, away from even the nagas or blood elves here?”
Ness nods. “Somewhere isolated. Can you point us to where Jaellae was last seen?”
“Her patrol took her from Blood Watch to around Axxarien,” Kessel answers, assuming Ness knows the island (maybe they’ve even met before, here?).
Therald turns to Ness, not having a clue of where these places this man is speaking of are.
"I'll get us there," Ness says to Therald. "It's been a while, but I helped out a lot back when things were getting settled. We can travel her route, look for clues. I only hope we're in time."
“Me too,” Therald says, pulling on the reins of his elekk to move back on the road, ready to leave. He didn’t get off the back of his mount because that meant going back up and he wasn’t going to do that. He nods at Kessel. “Thank you.” He turns to Ness. “I’m glad you’re with me.”
“I’m glad, too,” Nesselos says, nudging his elekk to head across the bridge. “It may take the both of us to stop her, and she is attacking my people. But also… I am glad you do not have to face her alone. We can follow the road to Blood Watch, and then continue west toward Axxarien.”
The countryside seems to have most of the same plants this far north, but there’s a reddish mist and a distinct crimson tinge to the trees and grass, not to mention the red crystals that protrude from the soil more frequently here. As they continue on, Ness says quietly, “It was not always called Bloodmyst. My people did this, with the radiation from the crash. It was not intentional, and we’re trying to fix it, but… you see how it is.”
Therald looks at the landscape, a bit nervously. For one who enjoys nature as much as him, there’s a stifling feeling that comes with being in such an environment, one he knows very well from working in the Plaguelands. “Healing land… that takes time, I know. We’ve got our fair share of diseased regions, in the Eastern Kingdom…”
Nesselos nods. “I have seen much of that. It is not exactly the same, but… it will take time. It is not dangerous or catching, as long as we don’t stay here too long. And I would not eat anything here. I hope we will find her before that becomes a problem.”
They continue along the road until they come to another bridge, and Ness gestures across towards a small camp coming into view. “That’s Blood Watch, the main outpost here. They’re the ones working on the healing.”
“Where she had to be last seen, then,” Therald says. “They’re handling the healing and… the blood elf problem, he said? Hopefully we won’t have to fight them, as well as Sirie.”
“Oh, I hope not,” Nesselos nods. “I think that was largely resolved when Sunstrider was defeated. There may be a few who insist on still following old orders, but most of the blood elves should be on our… well, okay, on the Horde’s side. But they have no reason to trouble us here. Should we ask questions here, or just follow her route?”
“Good.” Therald looks around. He sighs. “I know logically we should ask, but… the longer we take to actually look for her, the more she is in danger.”
“Then let’s just ride through,” Ness nods. 7“If they knew where she was, exactly, they would have saved her by now. But I think we should ride slowly, once we leave the outpost. We will need to find signs of her presence.”
Therald nods, slowing down his elekk by using an almost excessive amount of strength, miscalcuting how strongly he needs to pull to be noticed by the elekk. His mount embarrassingly comes to a halt… before picking up speed again when Therald squeeze it with his legs. The elekk grunts at the nonsensical commands it’s currently receiving. He catches up to Ness.
Ness very politely does not comment on Therald's non-traditional elekk-riding, but paces his own to match. "So… any signs if violence or the undead…" Ness peers around carefully as they ride.
Therald rides further into the area. Once they reach a crossroad further into the road, he stops and begins looking around from the back of his elekk. “Hm,” he says after inspecting the area for a while, narrowing his eyes. He difficultly jumps off his mount’s back, and stares at the nearby grass. “Do you have… giant slugs on this island?”
"Uh… not last time I was here," Therald says, dismounting from his own elekk and moving to where Therald is looking. "Like the worms in the Plaguelands?"
“Yeah, like that,” Therald crouches. “Then that looks like someone dragged something - or someone - through there.” He points at the path clearly laid down by continuous flattened grass.
Nesselos follows the path with his eyes and nods, his expression growing more concerned. “Let’s follow it immediately.” Without waiting to see if Therald agrees, he heads down the path.
Therald nods, immediately following behind Nesselos. He whispers to him. “Careful not to make too much noise. It’s best if we can keep the element of surprise.” The path leads directly to The Warp Piston, which slowly appears in the distance.
Nesselos obediently turns into a ghost wolf, because clearly that’s what Therald meant. He pads closer on quiet wolfy paws.
Therald stops and blinks at the ghost wolf, then shakes his head. He keeps going, slowly approaching the Warp Piston. And then, he sees it. The undead woman, standing inside, a draenei lying in a ritual circle, looking old, for one of her species, and unmoving on the ground. On the contrary, the Forsaken seems quite well, for an undead creature. If not for her clawed fingers, and her empty eye-sockets, that woman would look almost human. Almost. Her bones don’t show throughout her limbs, her skin is only slightly greenish, and her long, blond hair is surprisingly healthy looking. She takes a deep breath. Therald instantly recognizes her. His wife, Sirie, and he jumps from his hiding spot, sword in hand, ready to stab it into her. She avoids the hit in extremis, her eyes widening. “Wha—”. He tries to go for a second hit, gritting his teeth.
Nesselos shifts back into draenei form and drops a few totems. One to heal, in case Jaellae is alive, one to grab Sirie’s feet should she try to run, one to speed up Therald’s attacks. Then, taking a deep breath, he says, “Sirie Netelle, you have been caught! Please, remember the people you used to love.”
Sirie stares at Ness for a second, raising an eyebrow, trying to remember if she knows him from somewhere. She very casually takes a hit from Therald’s sword in the arm as she does, but only sighs and rolls her eyes when she notices. She then turns to him and goes “Oooooh!” before chuckling. “Hi Therry!”
“Where is he?!” he answers, going for another hit, missing, blinded by rage.
“Who?”
“You know who!” he answers, hitting her in the leg as she’s slowed down by the totem.
After the impact, Sirie takes a step back, and with both hands, throws two curses at him. One to weaken his strength, and the other to make him speak in demonic. She turns to Ness very casually. “Hey, your friend is being unreasonable there. Is he here to interrogate me or murder me? He can’t do both!”
Therald shouts at her in demonic, not realizing that neither people present can understand him anymore.
Nesselos gestures, removing one of the curses, and then turns to Sirie. “What have you done with Sandy? Your own son?”
Therald gets all his strength back, but keeps talking in demonic, still unaware of it. He throws herself at her, trying to stab her, and he does, planting the sword in her stomach. Sirie stands there, her hands on her hips, and laughs, as if remembering a funny joke. “Oh yeah, Sandy! Well, I bit him. But that was like a year ago, why’s his dad trying to kill me now?” She turns to Therald once more, his sword still in her stomach. “D’you realize I just repaired this body? That’s super rude.”
Nesselos hastily removes the other curse, and then his face falls as the meaning of her words sinks in. “You didn’t kidnap Sandy? Then it was some other warlock…”
Therald finally goes back to speaking common. “Don’t trust a word she’s saying, Nesselos. She’s lying I know it!” He tries to get the sword out of Sirie’s body.
Sirie sighs, still currently being stabbed. “Okay that interrogation is dead in the water, if you keep acting like this. If you have any further question, I’ll answer them if he—” she points at Therald “stands outside of this building.”
Nesselos winces and looks at Therald, then down at the draenei he can only partially see on the floor. "Only if you let me heal her first."
Therald shakes his head at Nesselos, finally dislodging the sword from its target, to which Sirie answers in a low voice. “Thank you, Therry!” She looks at the lifeless draenei on the floor. “Umm, well, see, I’ve got a problem with that, because I do really enjoy the feeding part of that ritual. That spell always gets my tummy to rumble!” She rubs circles on her stomach, around the stab wound. “What do I get from that deal, if I let you heal her?”
“Your life,” Therald says, his weapon still in hand.
“A little too late for that one, Therry.”
"Your unlife, then," Nesselos says quietly. "If that draenei can't walk out of here, neither will you."
Sirie giggles. “I’d like to see you two try.” She grins at them. “But not today. I spent a lot of energy doing that ritual and I don’t want you to ruin my less-rotting body any more.” She crouches down very closely to the lifeless draenei, smiling brightly at Ness, showing sharp teeth. “Fine, you can try to bring her back!”
Nesselos walks forward, and his expression darkens further when he sees the draenei is dead. He turns to Therald, and says, "Can you guard her? I will need all my focus."
Sirie smiles at him, her face still very close to the body. “Oh, no, don’t worry, I’m just going to take a lot at how you do that!” She puts her elbows on her knees and rests her head in her hands.
“You’re not,” Therald says, putting his sword between the body and Sirie.
Sirie sighs, rolling her eyes. “Okay, fine.” She gets up and stands a little further, still looking at Ness. “By the way, what do you think about my hair, Therry? I know it was red, but then I died and it turned green, and now it’s blonde because I asked goblins to make it so. Pretty, right? I always knew I should have been a blonde. Remember how I always used to say th—”
“Shut up,” he frowns at her.
“Jeez, calm down! Don’t worry, Nessy, he wasn’t mean like that twenty years ago! He was all lovey-dovey, so adorable! But what can I say? People change,” she takes a good look at Therald. “Although physically you barely changed at all. Same hairstyle, same beard, same stature. Only a couple of wrinkles!”
The muscles in Therald’s hand holding his sword visibly twitch.
"I suppose you have not changed, either," Nesselos says, sorrow in his voice, "And you had the soul of a murderer twenty years ago, as well. You son wanted to love you."
Sirie turns to Therald with a smile. “Well, looks like you portrayed yourself as the hero in our story. Always kind of saw yourself that way, hm?”
Then Ness is focused on the body. He pulls a fragment of cloth from his bag and ties it over his eyes as he sits by the dead Vindicator, reaching out to take her lifeless hand. He starts humming softly, every once in a while saying a few words in draenei, and tilts his head as if listening for something.
Then, all of a sudden, the vindicator takes a deep, gasping breath, like someone surfacing from a deep pool, and the shriveled flesh blooms again into life and health. Ness rips off the blindfold and looks at the living draenei in relief.
"Oh, thank O'ros, it worked," he breathes, sitting back wearily.
Jaellae’s breathing is steady, but she is still unconscious for now.
“Hm, not surprising, I kind of took all of her life force. Just let her take her well-deserved nap,” Sirie chuckles. “Now, Therry, shoo. I’ve got to help with my missing son. Adults are going to be doing the talking!”
"Therald's missing son," Nesselos says wearily, remaining seated by Jaellae. "Therald has never hurt him for a joke. But if that's the condition under which you'll talk…" Nesselos looks at Therald for his judgment.
“Well, Therry has always been dead serious about everything, so…” Sirie chuckles at her own pun.
Meanwhile, Therald looks very intensely at Ness, before taking his bow from his own back. “Fine,” he says, looking at Sirie. “But Iknow that I’ll be watching. If you try anything…” He grabs an arrow from his quiver. The warrior comes close to snarling at her while he takes a few steps back, outside the Warp Piston, somewhere where he can still see them, and more specifically, her.
Ness watches Therald go, sadly, and then says, “I don’t understand how you can see the harm you have done to him and just want to hurt him more. Didn’t you love him once?” He shakes his head, and continues, “Sandy was taken by some warlock. We thought it might have something to do with the disappearance of Carden Blackwood.”
“Because he’s hurt me too, but that part of the story he certainly leaves out,” Sirie looks surprisingly serious as she answers Ness. “I even think I used to love him more than he loved me.” She pauses at the name. “Hmm. Carden Blackwood? That rings a bell,” she puts a finger on her chin and narrows her ‘eyes’. “Blond human? Of average height? Rather handsome? Young, like in his early twenties? Kind of a pretentious prick?” She describes him perfectly.
"I'm not sure about the last one, but that sounds right," Nesselos nods. "His sister is devastated. Do you have any idea what happened to him?"
“Killed him,” she says, very casually, drawing a stick figure of Carden on the ground.
Nesselos face falls even further. He considers for a moment, and then pulls a crystal out of his bag and sets it on the ground, pressing some kind of indentation in the base as he does so. "Can you tell me how? Or why? I think it would help her find closure."
Sirie perks up and looks curiously at the crystal. “What’s that,” she asks, completely ignoring his questions, getting her face as close to it as she can before he tries to stop her.
He does not try to stop her. "We use them for communication, and recording things."
“Recording? You want to have the guy’s sister hear me?” Sirie chuckles.
"Maybe I…" Ness hesitates. "No, probably not. But to have, in case I get upset and forget the details."
“Yeah, because I’m not sure any of what I’m about to say is going to give her closure,” she says, getting even closer to the crystal. She begins whispering, now, doing ASMR in Azeroth before it was even invented. “I killed him by taking all of the life force out of his miserable body, to heal my own, rotting self. And then I ate him. For fun. That part’s just for fun, and because that ritual makes me so, so hungry. But that’s not all!”
Nesselos indeed looks incredibly upset, so at least he predicted that correctly. He stays frozen in place, watching Sirie in horror.
“I chose him, specifically, because Sandy told me the way he was treated by Carden saddened him. Because he said he didn’t like getting bullied,” she bends her neck up unnaturally to look at Ness, still whispering in the crystal. “And there’s a draenei right now saying I don’t love him enough,” she adds, a sarcastic tone to her voice.
“I don’t think that’s love,” Nesselos says, in a low voice. “And Sandy is the sort of person who wouldn’t want someone to come to harm, even if they were unkind to them. I knew him only a little, and I could tell that much. That’s why we thought it might be the same person who took him. But… if it wasn’t you, do you think one of your enemies might know you have a living son?”
“Well, you’ll decide what loving your child is with yours! And, no, I don’t think anyone knows he’s my son. I’m a pretty private person, you know!” Sirie smiles. She moves away from the crystal, talking in her normal tone, now. “Anyway, how often has he complained about Carden ever since he got missing, hm? Hm? He’ll soon realize that’s how you deal with problems like that.” Sirie perks up, finally remembering something. She gets closer to the crystal once more and begins whispering again. “There’s another reason why I targeted your brother, specifically. Wanna know why?”
Nesselos sighs again, and gestures to her to continue.
“Because my son makes it a little bit difficult to take him seriously. So, by making his enemies disappear, I’m giving him a reputation more fitting for a warlock. Has anyone bullied him since? Don’t think so,” she chuckles again, clearly taking life very lightly.
“Are you sure?” Nesselos says, peering at her. “You did hear me say he’s been kidnapped and is currently being held by a warlock, right? I guess that’s a little different from traditional bullying, but… I don’t know why someone would want to do that to him, if it isn’t one of your enemies.”
“I don’t know, who’s to say this isn’t the sister’s fault?” Sirie shrugs. “She hired a warlock or something, thinking Sandy did it. That’d show she’s afraid, that’d show she thinks he’s a serious threat! And that’s just what Sandy needs!” She goes back to writing on the sand. “I have no idea why you think I have so many enemies. I’m just darling!”
“But you think what your son needs is lots of enemies willing to hire warlocks to go after him,” Nesselos just stares at her. “Rather than everyone liking him. Uh, that may be why I’m assuming you have a lot of enemies. That and the murders. But okay, if that’s what you have to say, I’ll get back to helping Therald save Sandy.” He picks up his crystal, pressing that same indentation in the base and tucking it away. Then he kneels down next to Jaellae, and begins to lift her unconscious form.
“Well, I’d love to help find him! But whenever someone close to the investigation sees me, they threaten to kill me, so…” She nods at Nesselos. “When was the last time someone in power was ‘liked by everyone’? He needs to be feared, if he wants to get somewhere. I did him a favor. I don’t know for the people here, but that’s how it works for humans.” Sirie looks up at him, sitting on the ground with her legs crossed.
Nesselos cradles the vindicator in his arms as he looks down at Sirie. “I believe that’s what you see, but I don’t think it’s true. Not for my people, and not for humans. Prophet Velen is loved, not feared, and I don’t think it’s any different for King Varian. There are different kinds of power.”
“And look where that got them,” she extends a hand towards the forest, presenting it, magician-assistant style. “Anyway, I did what you wanted, right?” Sirie pulls a hearthstone from her pocket. She speaks fast, starting one more sentence before she even finishes the last. “Really great meeting you, Nessy! I’m going to miss our little chats. Have fun talking to my husband and only hearing one side of our story. Take good care of my drop-dead gorgeous lunch for me!”
Nesselos calls out, “Therald! She’s leaving!”
Therald immediately shoots an arrow at the undead woman as she looks away from him. “Ugh, stabbing me in the back… again.” Sirie grabs the arrow and takes it out of her back, before snapping her bony fingers. A voidwalker suddenly comes out of a nearby bush and grapples Therald, ensnaring him with its burning-cold arms. He groans in pain, and begins trying to break free. “Did you know there were voidwalkers inhabiting this area?!” Sirie pulls an overexaggerated shocked face, the hands holding the hearthstone and the arrow stuck to her face. “I happened to enslave one before you got here!” She smiles at Ness. “So, Nessy, are you going to try something against me too, or are at least two people going to die here, now?” She doesn’t verbally specify who, but she does point her in Therald’s direction. The man still struggles with the cold, empty sensation left by the voidwalker’s body.
“Just leave, Sirie,” Ness says, stepping back with Jaellae in his arms. “I thought he might have something to say to you. I guess it’s all been said.”
"That's what I thought!" Sirie says, a bright smile on her face as she begins casting her hearthstone's teleportation spell. "One day you'll learn talking has never been my husband's forte, Nessy." As she turns around to send a little kiss with her hand to Therald, Sirie disappears, back to whatever hellish place she considers home.
The voidwalker, now free of Sirie's control, lets go of Therald and begins attracting more instinctively, aggressively. Therald takes this opportunity to move away, grabbing an arrow and shooting it at the demon, which disappears after the attack. "Why'd you let her go?!" he shouts in Ness's direction.
“Protecting is more important than killing, Therald,” Ness says, looking down at the unconscious draenei vindicator. “Today, we need to protect. And anyway, I recorded her confession. I’m not sure who to give it to. The human authorities? It’s about Carden Blackwood, who was human…”
"Not in case! She's just going to kill more!" Therald shakes his head and scoffs. "What are the human authorities going to do, Nesselos? Arrest someone on enemy territory?" He throws his bow to the ground and runs a hand through his hair. "It was our opportunity to stop her now!"
“But… the vindicator,” Nesselos insists. “She was helpless. Sirie could have easily killed her again, while we fought, and there’s no guarantee I could reach her soul again. I… I am glad it worked, but… I’ve never done that before, Therald. I had to protect the victim that was here.”
"It's fine. You're right, we saved her," Therald says, throwing his hands in the air. "Hopefully you'll be there too for all of her following victims." He sighs. "I should get going. She says she's not involved with what happened to Sandy, so I need to find who is to rescue him fast."
“And if you think humans can do nothing, I will make sure all the authorities are told of her, so she can’t slip in anywhere secretly,” Nesselos insists. “I should speak also with neutral towns. Dalaran, Booty Bay… we will stop her, Therald. Just not at the expense of this woman, or you, or Sandy. I admit I am glad she did not kill her own son.”
Therald shakes is head, thinking that this is just not enough, but seems to just give up on that problem at that moment. When Ness makes his last comment, the warrior laughs sadly. "The bar's that low, uh?"
Nesselos looks pained for a moment, and then nods. “That was one reason we came here, wasn’t it? She had attacked him before. But that also means it is some other warlock holding Sandy, and you’re right. It has already been so long - we need to rescue him fast.” Nesselos reaches into his bag and holds up the crystal. “I’ll travel around and make sure everyone is warned of Sirie, if you can report back to Lady Spellbond at the others?”
“Yeah, I’ll warn them. I’ll go look for him as soon as I’m done with that.” Therald clenches his jaw. He takes a hearthstone out of his bag. “I’ll find him. I know I will.” He doesn’t seem to be really listening to what Ness is saying right now, he looks a little lost.
Ness steps over to Therald, before he activates his hearthstone, shifting the vindicator to one arm to put a hand briefly on his friend’s shoulder. “You saved someone’s life today. Don’t forget that.”
“Yeah…” Therald shakes his head. “Could have saved many more, and avenged just as many.”
"Or you could have died," Ness says, his voice sharpening. Then he sighs and drops his hand, stepping away. "Go home. I will see her and the elekks safely to the Exodar."
Therald looks up to watch Ness. His jaw relaxes for a second and his eyes begin to well-up, but his muscles tense again just as fast. He wipes his face with his sleeves, then activates his hearthstone, and disappears back into Ironforge.