Warcraft Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodstained Shadows - Chronicles of a Lost Soul ❯ Scarlet Dawn - Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8:

 

 

I wake up early the next morning due to the pain from my sore neck. As I slept I must have searched for a pillow, but only found the book and rested my head on that instead.

I don't feel hungry this morning so I just skip breakfast. I'm so excited because of my first lesson held by the Grand Inquisitor Isillien... and of the things that might happen afterwards. I look to the envelope for a short moment.

Yet I decide to read on in the book about the Holy Light I borrowed from the library. I will have to give it back tomorrow afternoon, somebody else seems to be needing it. It also is a sort of preparation for later.

Time passes by fast, the bell signalizes the beginning of the afternoon and therefore tells me to head to class. I rush to the cathedral and towards the room where class is held, only to find most of my fellow students already there. I saw most of them only once during the time since I've arrived here. I ask one of them with long blond hair, where I could find a free seat and if still more will come. He points out a bench directly in the front and one almost directly next to the entrance.

Although I hate sitting directly in front of everybody I choose the seat nearest to the teacher. My eyes are not so good either, therefore I hardly have a choice about that.

I sit down and wait. As usual nobody is talking much. I guess it's not common to have friends among the members of the Crusade. Another two students enter the room and sit down just directly at the door.

I suppose those were the last two.

Two pairs of footsteps appear some moments later at the end of the hallway. One of them is seemingly heavier, probably a rather tall grown man.

Everybody is looking to the entrance now awaiting the entrance of the Grand Inquisitor Isillien. A man enters, rather short, but apparently heavy. Yes, I remember him from Mardenholde Keep in Hearthglen. He is wearing a crimson robe and the tabard of the Scarlet Crusade on top of that. The robe has fine golden linings, I wonder if they partially use real gold in the creation of such clothing. He himself has a weathered face. As he walks past me to the front of the class I see his green eyes gazing into the void. His hair already starts to turn greyish and his head is balding. He takes his first look at the class as he turns around.

“Good afternoon, students. Some of you may know me, some don`t. My name is Isillien, Grand Inquisitor of the Scarlet Crusade.”, he finishes his introduction. “I was asked by the High Inquisitor Fairbanks to hold your lessons during the time of his absence. I am honoured to be given this task.” I think he overdoes it a bit. “Yet, sadly, I already have to turn you down on your first lesson with me as your teacher.”

WHAT?! What is he saying? I was so exited about this I couldn't sit still for two minutes and now he turns us down?

“Regrettably the High General Abbendis, a close friend of mine and one of the founders of the Scarlet Crusade, has passed on. He died during one of the largest assaults of the Scourge on Hearthglen at the beginning of this week.” One of the largest assaults of the Scourge? Oh my, I hope that not too much was destroyed. I am almost a bit glad about being now here and that Corren and Keira where elsewhere too.

“Therefore I have to attend a meeting on the promotion of the young madam Abbendis to High General, as well as making plans on strengthening the defence of Hearthglen in the western plaguelands.” He looks directly at me smiling.

“Nonetheless, I will be teaching you from tomorrow on. And for your lesson today I found a substitute teacher for you.” he points to the door.

“You all know young Sally Whitemane, Inquisitor of the Crusade.”

I turn around fast, Whitemane standing in the door. She is wearing almost the same outfit as last time when I saw her. Although I would imagine that this outfit is even tighter than the last one. Does she want to seduce us with her looks or is she just so fond of herself? Nevertheless she does look great.

She walks past the students to the front. “Thank you, Grand Inquisitor.” her voice is calm as always and her facial expression does not even change for one second. “You wanted to start off directly with the spells you have invented, Grand Inquisitor Isillien?” She looks at him. “Yes, that was what I had intended to do, Sally.” he talks to her as if she is his daughter. “Fine then. I will start immediately.”

“Thank you, Sally. I already have to leave. Farewell apprentices of the Scarlet Crusade. May the Holy Light guide you on your way!”, on finishing this sentence he leaves the room in a hurry.

Whitemane on the other hand is now staring directly at me for a moment. It almost seems as if she is smiling, but in the next moment she already looks back at the rest of the class with her usual emotionless expression. Somehow this women scares me.

“So, I will begin.” she takes a few steps backwards as she starts to speak. “As you have probably heard some moments ago, today I will introduce you to the two spells that the Grand Inquisitor Isillien invented personally.”, she thinks for a moment. “The first thing I want to do is demonstrate them to you. Unfortunately, we do not have any training puppets in this part of the monastery, and furthermore one could not see the full effect of the casts on them.”, her eyes wander through the room as if she is looking for someone or something.

“Luckily we all know how to dispel magic and how to heal each other. And how fortunate - we all know what we want and why we are here, the strength of the magic is increased by certain factors, for example, feelings like doubt, hatred or fear.” her words make me feel uncomfortable.

“Now I need a volunteer. No one? Alright then, would you please assist me on this, Marc Fipps?”

No way! Everything in my head is ringing, she didn't even wait one second before taking me.

“Now come on, don't be shy...”, now she is trying to provoke me with words. I look to the ground responding nothing.

“Alright then I have to take you by force.” You can clearly hear that she is not talking seriously. She takes a step over to me. She is simply taking my hand and trying to pull me to my feet. She comes close to me with her body, probably on purpose. Her breasts are almost touching my face. I bet everybody in the room would want to be in my place just right now...

I stand up with a sigh, carefully not to bump into Whitemane.

She whispers into my ear. “Boy, are you prude, or are you just THAT shy?” She gives me an alluring look, then she turns around again facing the class. I blush.

“Marc, please stand over there. It would be a good idea to lean against the wall, too.” I do as she says and walk to the back of the room, even though I hesitate.

“The two spells I am going to show you now are the only, I repeat, THE ONLY two damage spells using light, or as we call it, holy magic. Do not confuse this with the fighting style of some paladins, they do not use such magic, they still do their damage with their weapon. These spells are also different to other magic in one certain part.”

Everybody is listening tensely.

“No matter what you feel when you are hit by one of these spells, they don't do any damage to your physical body. Therefore no one, not a single creature can resist their damage in any way. For example, a fire elemental consists of fire, therefore its body cannot be harmed by using fire magic, in the worst case this would only strengthen it.”

Whitemane now turns around to face me.

“These spells were initially created as a weapon against the Scourge. Usually healing an undead would restore parts of his body, yet due to the plague inside the undead, these parts would be destroyed immediately, which would lead to the collapse of the body. Yet this being an effective way to dispose of the ghouls and minor warriors of the Lich King, it is basically useless against stronger enemies like a lich or a deathknight. But due to the different approach of these two spells, that I am going to show you in a few minutes, we are able to damage even these entities.”

Some of the other students are taking down notes as Whitemane speaks. I don't know, this is all some nice background information, but when we have to learn the spell itself, this won't help too much.

“The spell itself does the same as a healing spell does, it aims directly for the spirit of the target. A healing spell would try to restore it, due to this, the self healing process will be increased to an unnatural amount. Nature magic on the other hand basically does the opposite, it targets the physical form of a being and restores the body into the shape it was.”, she takes a deep breath.

“Like I told you, the damage done by the spell is effected by feelings, just as a healing is also. Some feelings let the spirit flutter, the feelings with the greatest effect in a negative way are doubt, restlessness, rage, fear, hatred, some people even add disbelief and insanity to the lot. Based on this, these spells become a lot more efficient against the undead soldiers of the Lich King, as they all are consumed by rage, hatred and restlessness. Some of them who died struggling even still inherit doubt amongst the other feelings. Furthermore, the target does not have to be undead so that the spell can do damage. You can attack wild animals, or defend yourself against them as they are driven to attack either by rage or fear.”

I try to take my thoughts off of all this, to not be overwhelmed by any of these feelings.

Whitemane takes a piece of paper from the table into her hands.

“The first spell I want to show you is called `Smite'. Basically you infuse a large amount of holy magic into the spirit of your target by force! A healing spell is laid onto the spirit so it can be swallowed bit by bit, just the amount needed. However, with this spell the infusion is forced. Due to this, portions of the spirit can be ripped away, figuratively speaking.” She rips an edge off from the sheet of paper in her hands to stress her point.

“No matter what you feel, Marc, you are not taking physical damage! Keep that in mind.”

Whitemane looks at me with cold eyes.

Only a split second later I am pushed back heavily against the wall. The impact is hard. I fall to my knees. I utter in pain for a moment. It feels as if several ribs are broken. I reach to my chest, but it does not hurt when I touch it. Not a single drop of blood was shed. I shout once again. The pain is incredible. I can't stand it! I look up to Whitemane in agony.

She is standing there, her back to the class. I don't see her face, it lies in shadows. I only see the red linings around her eyes. Everything is blurry, but I think she is smiling at me.

What a gruesome gesture.

She waves with her hand once and the pain I feel slowly goes away.

“Sit there for a moment, Marc. You will feel no more pain in a moment or two.” I nod and sit down onto the floor still holding my chest. The other students all look quite shocked by the effect of the spell cast.

“This spell is called 'Smite' because of the heavy impact it has upon the soul. Most people are pushed back by the impact the magic has upon entering your spirit. A large amount of victims even fly backwards for about two or three metres. The stronger and denser your spirit is, the lesser the impact and the pain. The Champion of Scarlet Crusade, Herod, for example would surely have still felt pain, but the impact would have been reduced to a minimum.”

My anguish is easing. She looks pleased by the outcome. I was so helpless against the spell.

“The second spell invented by the Grand Inquisitor is called `Holy Fire'. This one is still more similar to a healing spell. The magic you use is also laid onto the outside of the spirit, yet it will cover it up completely, if I speak figuratively again. The aim of this spell is to make the spirit of the target unstable. The layer of holy magic on the outside of the spirit can be triggered. If this happens, it will let the `outside of the spirit' be restlessly moving like flames. This effect will take on until the magic is dispelled or the effect wears off. Depending on the caster this `Holy Fire' can last between only a few seconds and up to several hours. The feeling a target has basically comes close to..., well, being on fire. Above that, with the spirit so shattered, the target will not be able to cast spells on his own easily. You have to counter the effect of the `Holy Fire' immediately or you will not be able to remove it!”

She turns back to me.

“Now, for my little demonstration. Just stay there - sitting, Marc.”

She waves with her hand once. Something is feeling strange about this. I feel cold. Unnaturally cold.

Whitemane waves for a second time. Nothing happens?

Then it suddenly kicks in. I scream out loud. All the students in the room look stricken by horror. Two of them even fall backwards off their seats.

“It burns! Put it out! Put it out!” I almost cry from the pain. Why me? Why always me?

I scream.

I can't think a single clear thought anymore, my mind has been broken by the spell already. I try to put the fire out with my hands, not noticing anymore that there is no real fire. I roll on my back in pain.

“I guess that is enough...”, Whitemane raises her hand and the burning stops. I still lie there in pain. Again she casts a healing over time spell on me. Her voice is as cold as ice.

“So my students. These are the two spells the Grand Inquisitor Isillien invented. How you will be able to use them, what you have to do and in which way you have to concentrate you will be taught by Isillien himself tomorrow. I will end this lesson a bit earlier so I can patch up our volunteer.” She looks at me over her shoulder. The pain slowly passes away. I feel weak and helpless, even more than before. This is only making me feel worse.

“May the Light guide you, the class is officially dismissed.”

The students jump to their feet and hurry to leave the room, I've never heard so much talking among them before.

I still lie on the floor, feeling the pain ebbing away.

Whitemane comes closer and crouches down next to me, it's a wonder her outfit covers anything.

“You should strengthen your soul, boy. I hardly put any efforts into my spells. I could have killed you easily.”

Somehow now I can think of reasons why one should keep her away from students. She is seductive, her heart is as cold as ice, her teaching is unorthodox and she is... dangerous!

“Awww, now don't look at me like that, Marc. I was just fooling around with you.”, this was the first time when I heard her speaking in a different tone, but still she is ice cold.

“Can you stand up?”

I think for a moment, “I will try...”

“Fine, then get up to your feet and follow me to my chambers behind the cathedral.”

She gets up full of swing, literately letting everything of her bounce up and down. I look a bit bewildered at her, not thinking this is the appropriate time for this. She just winks at me as she sees the impression on my face.

“Oh come on, loosen up a bit, idiot.” it sounds strange to hear her normally so emotionless voice trying to tell me things like this.

I finally get to my feet and follow her slowly out of the room. “The entrance is behind the altar.” she points out, as we walk along. “I have my chambers to the left of the corridor, the Mograines live on the right side.”

I didn't expect there to be such a large corridor behind the cathedral. Whitemane leads me directly to her chambers. “Come in, come in, I won't bite you.” Actually I can imagine her biting me, I think she is capable of a lot of things...

“Sit down somewhere over there, Marc. I`ll just get rid of some things.” She takes her hat off she is always wearing in class and puts it onto the shelf standing in the corner. The room is huge. I suppose this is her living room, I don't see a bed, although there is a rather large and round table in one corner with chairs around it for about ten people. On the opposite side of the room there is a big shelf and a closet next a giant mirror. In the middle of the room there is a elegant red carpet with loads of pillows lying on it. The room has three doors plus the one we have entered it. Whitemane turns to the closet and takes her tabard, the gloves and her high heeled boots off, leaving her dressed in that tight scarlet leather body of hers.

“So you do want so hear what I offer you?“

I don't answer. She already knows what I would want to say. She walks to the middle of the room and literally falls onto the pile of pillows. The way she looks at me feels unpleasant. She smiles at me.

“Now, go ahead, ask me anything you want to know. I can tell you maybe not everything, but most of it. This is your one and only chance, as long as the old man is away.”

She clearly is referring to Fairbanks.

I take a moment to think about a question. I start with the obvious.

“W...why me?”

Whitemane tilts her head back. “Okay, I had imagined that you'd come up with something more precise, but if this is the question you have, I shall answer. But...”, she raises her hand, “this may take a while.”

I nod. It is hard to look into her eyes, although she has this amazing body, it is as if you are looking into endless shadows when seeing directly into them. The red linings around them emphasize this even more.

“I can imagine that you are sick of people telling you how great your parents were and I can also imagine that you expect me to tell you that the reason for all this should be your father. Am I right?”

I nod silently. She makes a short gesture with her left hand. For the first time I notice a whole lot of scars on her hand and arm. I wonder where those might come from for a moment, but I'm am easily distracted by Whitemane going on talking.

“Too easy... Well, it is not because of your father,... solely.” I raise an eyebrow being curious to hear more. “You inherit..., no, no further, you are something pure.”

“What?”, I interrupt her.

“Just listen, you will understand soon enough. At least I hope so.”, she makes a short pause. “I guess the old man told you about the affliction of light and shadow. Usually a person can use only one type of magic to its full extent in this world, yet we are also always drawn to the direct opposite, except for those who rely on mother nature or the pure arcane. Those who use nature magic are constantly drawn to all other aspects of magic except for arcane, which does not mean the person can use the magic. And arcane mages, they are the only who can use this type of magic, are drawn to no other aspects, nevertheless they seek for more and more arcane power, a vicious circle if you understand.” She sits up on her pillows.

“This is where you come in. You are not drawn to some sort of magic, and yet you don't know what kind of magic you can use at all. You still can choose what you will become. That is a gift very few people have. Your father left you the illusion, that you have to become a paladin or at least someone who is able to control the `power of the light'. Your mother on the other hand gave you the far more important feature, that you are not drawn to something predetermined.”

“You... you know my mother?” I ask astonished.

“Most people know your mother, they just don't know that you are her son. Your father was a local hero around here, so all these idiots are talking about is him, your mother on the other hand is known on both continents.”

“So may her death be just a... rumour?”

“Silly boy, still holding on to your hopes and dreams, she died during the destruction of Dalaran by Archimonde. The Kirin Tor are still mourning about her death.” She leans back.

“So why does nobody know about her connection to me?”

“For your own sake, idiot. She wanted to protect you, but please, chose a different topic. I will not answer any more questions about your mother.”, she waves with her hand once. I flinch because her gesture is the same as during the `lesson` today.

“So you are saying that I still can choose what I want to become, and all this Holy Light business is just something I made up because of my father?”, the expression on my face must seem pretty confused.

“Basically that is right. From the effects of my spells today I can state that you have never used a spell using light magic successfully till now, am I right?”

I think of all my tries during the time when I was in Hearthglen without a single one being successful.

I nod.

“The old man wants you to become a fine cleric, you see, the potential you have for magic is nearly endless. You will be able to master the kind of magic you choose fully, no matter what. Someone like this in the ranks of the Scarlet Crusade would be priceless.”, Whitemane clinches her fist.

“You..., you must be joking? You can't be talking about me...”, I look to the ground.

“Stop being so doubtful in yourself. You never were taught in any sort of magic and someone like you needs a teacher, at least for a start. That is just simply normal. Now stop making a fool of yourself.”, her tone is angry and a bit annoyed. “Do you have any further question?”

“Well..., well yes, I have one.” “Go ahead...”, she pushes me.

“Why is the High Inquisitor so... afraid of you?”

“Hm? Ah, you mean with teaching the students? Well, I don't usually teach the way I did today, if that calms you down a bit, except if I want to know some things for certain. He mainly fears that I might influence them. I'm here to keep the balance, you know?”, her voice is darkening.

“Balance?”, I ask.

“Every light needs a shadow. This is the way this world works. I was once a bit like you, although I found my connection to the light rather early. But it turned out that I was far more efficient with the usage of shadow spells and the light was just the magic I was drawn to instinctively.” she takes a deep breath. “Fairbanks wants you to be a cleric, but if you want to use holy magic your soul must be calm and persistent and ,sorry Marc, but that just is not what your soul is. Yet I see your potential and offer you something stronger than the light, something more forgiving if you feel restless or angry.”

I don't know what to say, this is all so..., so overwhelming.

“I want to show you something, later when it is dark outside. This should be in about three hours from now. I will get you from your quarters personally. Now, do you what to see what I want to show you?” she winks at me.

“I... I guess so.”, I try not to look at her.

“Do you, or do you not?...”, her tone is pressing.

“Ye-yes, I do.”

“Fine then, Isillien will join us there, I hope that is no problem for you.”, she says that already knowing the answer. “Alright then, you should rest a bit, any last question?”

“Actually...”, I stutter a bit.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Actually... why does captain Theran hate me that much...?”

“I have no idea, that are your personal affairs.”, her tone is harsh. “Do you want to rest here or in your quarters?”, I can't believe she really asks me that.

“I... I will go to my quarters. Tha-thank you.”, her presence makes me uncomfortable.

“Oh boy, so uptight... then out you go, you got three hours to rest.”, she does not stand up from the pillows, “And be sure to close the door behind you.”

I leave the room and do as she says. That women gives me the creeps, in one moment she is as cold as ice and in the next she tries to seduce you with her body.

I reach my quarters fast, after all they are not too far away from the cathedral. I definitely need to change my robe, I almost ripped something off when I was trying to stop the pain from this Holy Fire spell of Whitemane. I take one out of the drawer and put in onto my bed at first.

I take a moment and lie down on my bed trying to recall the things that had happened today. A whole lot of things I have to cope with somehow.

Can this all really be the truth? I just don't want to believe Whitemane. What if she is right? The pressure of being like my father would be relieved, yet a new pressure would arise.

Is there no easy way?