Tanthelara paused, her head tilted as if to hear something in the distance.
“Somebody help! Please!” a voice cried out faintly
The priestess took a few steps in the direction from which it seemed to originate before it cried out again.
“Anyone! Please!” it pleaded.
She craned her neck as she listened. It was a human, likely female.
Tanthelara scowled and took a step back. It was no secret how she carried no love for humanity, after the sum total of suffering they had put her people through. That alone was enough cause in her mind to let whatever misfortune befall these treacherous cretins. After all, what business did they have in Horde territory to begin with unless their goal was yet more suffering for her people -or her colleagues?
“Please help us! Anyone!” the voice cried out again in a sob.
The sin’dorei contemplated responding by shouting rude and obscene expletives in Thalassian at the human but ultimately decided against it. Better for her to not risk the damage to her voice, after all. Content with letting the humans suffer, she continued on her path through the forest. However, a nagging feeling that would not relent soon settled upon her.
Why would they seek help in Horde territory, if they truly did not need it?
The voice crashed in her head like thunder. The Light. And while it never spoke as oft as the Void, it refused to be ignored.
“It’s probably a trap” she said, aloud, as if speaking to the Light itself.
…they think you a fool… the Void chimed in.
What have they to gain by ambushing a lone traveler? the Light responded, A handful of silver coins?
Tanthelara paused and turned back towards the sound. “They have no business here. They knew the risks and yet they took them.”
…yes… and now they shall pay. The cries of their suffering shall be music to our ears…
The sound of their death will only further your damnation!
The priestess collapsed to her knees with a piercing headache as the two forces vied for her attention, straining her mind to its limit.
YOU HAVE A DUTY AS A PRIEST TO UPHOLD- TO PRESERVE LIFE! the Light commanded, its presence welling up like a thunderstorm on the edge of her consciousness.
…YOU OWE IT TO YOUR PEOPLE TO CRUSH THEIR PATHETIC MINDS… the Void echoed, its presence relentlessly pummeling her inner voice like the ocean’s waves.
Tanthelara pounded her fist on the ground in pain, screaming to block out the competing voices before agreeing to investigate the humans and the situation they found themselves in. Having been brought to heel and compelled to investigate, Light and Void both relented, allowing the natural sounds of the forest to once again reach her.
She arrived at the beginning of dusk to find a woman kneeling next to a man who was gasping for breath. Sensing your presence, the woman looked up and met the priestess’s gaze with one of simultaneous fear, loathing, and desperation.
“Please…” the woman pleaded as a defeated tone took over her voice, “…make it quick. For both of us.”
Tanthelara conjured a small sphere of light to illuminate the scene. Though not as intimately versed in the arcane arts as mages, she knew a few simple utility spells. It wouldn’t last long, but wasn’t taxing, either. The ball of light, roughly the size of an apple, hovered over the three, casting them all in a warm light.
The man’s skin was pallid. Truly there was an emergency happening, and the humans must have been beyond desperate to call out for help in these lands. She placed her hand around his neck to check for a pulse. The moment her hand touched his skin, the Void writhed in glee, prompting the priestess to pause momentarily to bolster her mental defenses. Once she had the Void’s presence subdued, she turned her attention to the man. His pulse was barely there, like his soul was in the process of departing for the afterlife.
“Poison.” Tanthelara said softly under her breath. “He’s been poisoned. It’s beyond my magic to cure. However, there are some plants that grow nearby that may be of some help.”
Taking out a small piece of parchment and a piece of charcoal, she drew some rough sketches of the plants in question. One would negate the poison in the body and keep it from doing any more damage. A second would allow the body to purge the poison from it, and a third would treat the symptoms that have taken hold. The elf pointed the woman to a tree line in the distance where she had come from as a good place to start. Once the woman had covered a considerable distance, Tanthelara turned her attention to the dying man who was now conscious and staring at her through barely open eyes.
“…thank you, elf… For not making her watch you kill me.” the man said between gasps for air, his strength all but gone.
The sin’dorei sneered at him. “Silence,” she quipped, “your kind doesn’t deserve it, but I’m here to help. I can’t cure the poison but I can make sure it doesn’t kill you.”
She began tracing some patterns on the man’s chest and started an incantation in Shath’yar before pausing and looking the man in his eyes. “This is going to hurt. A lot. And to be honest, I’m going to enjoy it, after what your kind did to my people. I suggest you find something to bite down on, because if you interrupt my spell it’ll crush your mind.”
The man pulled the leather strap from his traveler’s pack and placed it in his mouth, his teeth clamping down on it. Satisfied with the man’s preparation, she continued the incantation. The speech of the Black Empire rolled off her tongue with supernatural precision and eloquence, and turning the orb dark and illuminating the man with a dark un-light. Moments later, tendrils of darkness began snaking over the man’s torso, searching for his veins into which they could enter. Finding several, they flooded into his body, causing him to writhe in agony as the priestess held his wrists pinned to the ground. His teeth bit into the leather, muffling his screams, but even silenced as though they were, the sheer amount of pain resonated on his voice and carried through the treated hide.
She knew she would have to act quickly now. The shadows would only mend the dying human enough to keep him away from death’s door, and fed on suffering. Unless something else was made to suffer in his stead, the pain would not relent and would likely kill him. Tanthelara scanned her surroundings for something - anything - she could use as this “sacrifice”.
A wild boar caught her eye. It was a hearty beast, one who’s suffering the shadows would feed well on. After taking a moment to get to her feet and pinning the man’s wrists with them, she readied herself and prepared what few offensive spells she knew.
The first called forth a pillar of fire from the heavens which seared and scorched the boar with holy flame. As the beast shrieked and squealed, the man’s desperate writhing started to ease. She then followed up with a smite spell, manifesting a force of energy that pummeled the animal, bludgeoning it and breaking its body. Looking down at the man, she saw his color start to return as the boar suffered more and more agony in his stead. With the animal in a daze from her assault, she focused a burst of dark energy on it, crushing its mind with the powers of the void and sending reeling in unspeakable pain. Eventually, the animal succumbed to its suffering and collapsed in a heap of darkness and embers.
Beneath her, the man tugged his arms underneath her feet. The priestess stepped aside and allowed the man use of his hands. He pulled the leather strap from his mouth and sat up in disbelief at the miraculous feeling of vitality now coursing through him.
“You’re still poisoned, you should know.” Tanthelara said to him coldly. “It’ll work itself out of your system, but now at least now it shouldn’t kill you. If your companion finds the plants I sent her out to seek, it should shorten the duration even further.”
The man looked down, a defeated look overtaking his gaze. Moments later, he doubled over in pain and retched.
“Told you you’re still sick. How do you feel?” she asked, trying not to allow herself to show any true signs of concern.
“…like I was just poisoned.” the man replied, wiping his mouth.
“Then you have time. Whatever toxin is in your body isn’t fresh anymore and the clock on your life has been reset. Stay out of harm’s way and you should live.”
The priestess started walking away from the man before he stopped her. “I’ll let everyone in Stormwind know what you did to help me!”
“I suggest you leave these woods. I will not help you a second time.” she said, motioning to a small band of windriders approaching from the south.
He simply nodded and gathered his traveler’s pack. Shortly after, his companion returned with the plants in tow. The priestess gave them curt instructions with how to prepare them to treat the toxin still coursing in the man’s body, that the leaves should be boiled in fresh water twice before being chewed while the stems and roots were to be simply pounded into a poultice and applied to a fresh incision -no more than a finger’s width deep- in the abdomen.
As Tanthelara took her leave, she could feel the Light’s presence in her mind praise her for setting aside her personal vendettas and fulfilling her duty as a healer. Maybe she wasn’t too far gone quite yet, despite the Void’s dogged persistence.
((thanks for reading! This went MUCH longer than anticipated, especially for what basically amounts to be a headcanon explanation of disc priest mechanics -shadow mend, atonement, and schism. hope you enjoyed!))
((edit: polished the prose a little bit. Editing on the fly as its being written sometimes makes things sound janky and I don’t realize it until later. Still, hope you enjoyed!))