Call of Earth...

" My dear, dear girl" Vaalatu said, her face radiating with joy as Laandra approached her. The elder woman was bent over a basket of herbs, carefully sorting them. She wiped away her hands on her skirts, then reached out and gave Laandra an almost suffocating hug.

"You've grown up" she said afterwards, pushing Laandra away so as to be able to study her. "New haircut, fancy robes and that look on your face..." Vaalatu sighed.
No longer that innocent girl I used to know...And a good mage I suppose".

Laandra flexed her fingers before answering. She did not want to sound sad but it did. Her voice betrayed it, she knew it well. That she had not come there to pay her respects only, but to hide from the torment of her soul, like a scared child in a stormy night.

All the way to there from the Wetlands she had hoped it would be enough to step on the shores of Azuremyst to regain her inner equilibrium. To forget it all. Her sweet forbidden passion.

But it wasn't. Laandra looked around and though the place felt utterly familiar, she did not feel the calmness she had expected. Nothing was right. Hell, she had messed it up completely. Her life, her duty as one of the Hand of Argus, her faith, all...

"Laandra?"

Vaalatu reached out again to gently touch her arm, worried by her pained expression.

" Are you sick, girl?"

Yes she was. Her soul was sick, corrupted to the core with madness. Something far beyond the healing powers of Vaalatu's potions. With a sound of despair, Laandra threw herself on her knees, hiding her face in the palms. Tears would have been a blessing, but she could not cry. Nor could she share her burden with anyone. It was hers to bear and only now did she understand what it meant to long for peace and yet be allowed none.

" Laandra, you scare the hell out of me" Vaalatu said, kneeling beside hers. It was midday and passers threw inquisitive glances towards them, yet none stopped by to stare at the scene. Survivors of the Exodar, most of them could still remember what it ment to break down.

"No", Laandra managed to whisper, brushing away the protective hand Vaalatu had placed on her head. " Just tired and worried lately, that's all"...

"And you expect me to believe that?"

Their eyes locked and Laandra gave her that defiant gaze Vaalatu remembered well.
All was so screwed up she could as well break old ties and make loved ones suffer, Laandra desperately thought. Luckily, in that same moment, a voice from behind made them both jump. It was one of the young Vindicators that had probably just finished the training required to join the ranks of the Hand. An attractive man, Laandra noticed, absent mindedly. As if she cared.

The man seemed uncomfortable with interrupting what was obviously a private conversation.

" You are Laandra Seth'aran?" he asked, politely, while maintain a respectful distance.

Laandra felt grateful that the other name under which she had started to be known, after her recent losses of temper, had not yet arrived to the Exodar. The Ashbringer. To be nicknamed after such a mythical blade was an honor of sorts, but she doubted Vaalatu would have appreciated this aspect. In her own eyes, it betrayed nothing more than a dangerous inclination towards dabbling with fire magic.

"Yes" she said, trying to compose himself, as she stood up and gave Vaalatu a faint apologetic smile.

" I have been sent to inform you that Our Prophet Velen, Light bless him, wishes to see you immediately."

Laandra was not able to suppress a slight grimace. She forced herself into calmness, but her hesitation did not, could not, obviously, escape unnoticed by Vaalatu. The elder Draenei gave Laandra a small push forward, setting her into motion.

"Well, news travel fast" she said, raising an eyebrow."You'll pass by to see me later, child...Light be you..."

"And then we'll talk" she added, and even if the words were soft and caring Laandra's heart suddenly ached, as if faced with a threat.