Withdrawn from the world, deep within the impenetrable walls of failing Zandalari empire, Tanthelara curled herself into a ball and wept - for it was all she could do. The battle, if it could even be called that, replayed itself vividly in her mind as she struggled in vain to console herself.
The alarm drums echoing throughout the capital…
The deafening roar of the portal ripped open by them…
The smell of blood in the streets…
The scent of burning flesh and the accompanying shrieks of agony…
The crying of children bearing witness to the horror of war…
She hated herself for being this vulnerable, this weak.
…this depraved…
a shadowy whisper spoke to her from the darkened corners of the stone chamber unaffected by the light of the massive hanging brazier.
The Void.
She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the sinister voices from her mind. The Void’s influence was the last thing she needed now, and though she was not surprised with it acting on opportunity -as it always had- its arrival during this state of mind she found herself in made her stomach churn with despair.
…I know you’re there… it continued.
“Just leave me alone!” she shouted, her voice pleading.
…you are never alone…
She could feel the Void’s dark tendrils tug at her mind, toying with it as a cat would toy with a mouse before going in for the kill. Her will broken, all she could do was huddle tighter and pray that the Light would spare her from this torment.
The Void simply laughed.
…yes, cry out for the Light… let it ‘spare’ you as it ‘spared’ your brethren…
…as it ‘spared’ your beloved. …there are no secrets you can hide from me…
“Tan!” another, faint-yet-familiar, voice cried out in the distance.
The priestess locked in on it, focusing her mind around its weak call. It repeated itself, louder this time. And again, growing louder still and driving the darkness into remission.
…you will never be rid of us… the Void threatened as it retreated.
“Tan! There you are! Are you alright?”
It was the unmistakable velvety tone of a tauren. Not just belonging to any tauren though, but to Dihe Earthbend- a companion and friend of the past two years that she had met at the onset of the Fourth War. She knelt down besides Tanthelara, trying to match her own gaze with that of the priestess.
“What happened to you? We saw you there and just suddenly you vanished!” a vulpera chimed in from behind the Dihe’s large frame.
“Birch, is that you?” Tanthelara meekly asked.
The vulpera smiled at the endearing nickname before coming in to give the broken elf a hug. “Yes, Tan, it’s me. I’m here.”
“How did you two find me here?” the priestess continued.
“We figured that” Dihe began, only to be cut off by Birch.
“We figured you’d go somewhere safe!” the vulpera exclaimed, chittering with excitement, “its safe and dark and quiet here, and we figured that’s the place where you’d want to go!”
Tanthelara felt a faint smile creep across her face.
“So what happened? We saw you there fighting the Alliance with the rest of us and suddenly it felt like you were gone in a flash of light!” Birch continued.
The tauren shifted into a sitting position, her hooves stretched out before her. “We saw you call down a bolt of fire out of the sky and then you left. Why? It’s not like you haven’t attacked members of the Alliance before.”
Tan closed her eyes and grimaced. “It’s not that. It was who I attacked.”
“The void elf?” Dihe asked.
The priestess nodded. "Yes. I knew him from Silvermoon. We weren’t close, by any means, but we knew of each other and generally exchanged a few words whenever I headed home to visit. I… I never would have thought he would have chosen to follow Umbric’s lead. Seeing his pain, hearing his agonizing screams as the Light scorched his body. It… " she sighed, “it was too much for me. It felt like I was striking down one of my own. One of you guys. His attunement to the Void caused it to permeate his form, amplifying the Light’s destructive power. I never wanted to kill him, just to cause enough pain to maintain the shields I had on you two, and hopefully drive him off.”
“Well, he is gone now, so I guess it worked?” squeaked Birch, attempting to make light of the situation. She was met with a scowl from Dihe.
Tanthelara shook her head. “As tough as it was, I should’ve been able to bear through it. No, what made it worse was when that little Zandalari kid screamed. Poor thing must have seen the entire ordeal go down. I know trolls have a fairly brutal culture, but… there’s just something extra chilling about watching someone get burned alive. More so at such a young age and even worse when that fire just comes from out of nowhere.”
The priestess could hear the echoes of the Void’s laughter in the back of her mind as she recounted the moments up to her retreat.
“I’m becoming a monster…” she quietly said, straining to hold back tears in her eyes.
Dihe and Birch said nothing, and instead simply hugged her as the three of them sat in the cool, dark chamber tucked away in the foundations of Dazar’Alor.
((this story is a shout-out to two friends of mine (names have been changed) who have, on more than one occasion, listened to me vent/rant/air out grievances and have always been willing to lend an ear when life -either in Azeroth or on Earth- gets out of hand. you two rock!))