Unthought alliances

The woman came out of the tavern in Southsore after midnight, her steps unsure. She carefully made her way to the road, as she staggered a bit, trying to get accustomed to the darkness.

There was suddenly a rush of movement from behind her and she swirled back, sword at the ready, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"You" she growled. " You...here...after all...you've done...!"

Laandra had to jump back to avoid a direct blow. Daria charged after her, unsheathing her dagger too, but her movements were somehow clumsy from all the drinking and Laandra found it easy to just dodge her attempts at shedding blood.

"I didn't" she yelled, so as to cover the almost unarticulated sounds the other woman let out." I had nothing to do with it. I had been spied and followed, yes...but I didn't know of it...and if I had, why would I have come back tonight here?"

" I don't believe it".

"But you can still give me five minutes to say what I have to. Kill me after, if you want."

It seemed reasonable, but Daria was not prepared to listen, not yet, so she pressed forward, forcing Laandra to dash to one side, slipping on the wet grass.

"Please", Laandra pleaded. " I don't want to fight you."

" What do ya want then?" Daria let out another frustrated cry, as she stumbled again. She was definitely too drunk to fight, but she didn't care. "Why did ya come?"

" I ...". Laandra fought with the words, too bitter to be said. "That night...They took me back, to my people. Tell them I had succumbed to corruption...That I had sided with the enemy..." She choked, willed away the tears that threatened to burst. Daria lowered her weapons and waited, as reason started to work its way through her cluttered mind. "They had a priest try to erase my memories. Invented a story about my perfect life, with a child and a husband...Kept me away from reality... Yet there were the dreams. The nightmares...And one day, it just burst free. My memories, everything...everything...So I came back.."

"Ei'an", Daria whispered, then her voice broke too. She seemed ready to cry as well, as she sheathed her blades and wiped her eyes with the sleeve.

" Why don't we find a nice place to sit an' talk?" she asked after a pause, pulling out from under her cloak a round looking bottle. "I've got supplies."

They ended up under a tree, not far from the road winding into Silverpine Forest. The night was cool and the sky cluttered with stars, as they both lay on the grass, in silence. The moon was slowly rising upon the horizon, bathing the surroundings into an eerie light.

"Wanna drink?" Daria asked, after a while.

"No". Laaandra shrugged. "I'm not used to...such things."

To her surprise, the human girl let out a small laughter.

"Neither am I. But I warms me up...and draws away the memories...and the pain..."

"You still think I'm responsible for what happened?"

It was Daria's turn to shrug.

" Times are so..that everyone can be enemy...But...I believe ya. I don't know why. Ya just don't have the feel of a traitor ya know...And I saw ya look at Ei'an...It was somethin'...Ya can't just fake that..."

"He's alive", Laandra said, briskly, nearly interrupting the other. There was again silence for a few moments, but Daria did not ask how she had obtained that information.

It hadn't been easy. Yet, she had made many connections in Stormwind during the last years, some of them in the Catheral and the Order of Light...and even if they now openly proclaimed their disagreement with the acts and methods of the Scarlet Crusaders, a fervent communication with Scarlet Monsatery and Tyr's Hand took place in secret.

" I feared so", Daria whispered, instinctively hugging her knees with her arms. " I wish...they gave him peace...he didn't..." She sobbed. " I knew they'll bring him back, to torture him. I tried...we tried..to get him out. Twice. The first time we barely made it to the gates. The second was even worse. We broke through the cemetery and got caught between cross fire. Barely managed to escape alive." Another sob, shaking her fragile shoulders. "But he has made me promise I'll keep up the fight against the Scourge. Sacrifice no one for him...And I can't break my word...can I?"

" He ain't a bad man...let aside the demons...and all the shadow thing..But he cares. HE always cared. That why he ended there, 'cause he cared too much..and couldn't just forget 'bout the fight, live his life, somewhere safe..."

"I know", Laandra said quietly. "I knew it from the first time I saw him...even when I went down under his curse...I still knew it...that nothing bad will happen to me...Light knows he deserves forgiveness. And that's why I came here. We have to get him out of there, no matter what..."

" We tried!" Daria burst again, as if Laandra's words were an accusation. " I tried...'

"Then try once more with me". Pulling out from her rather sizable bag a roll of scrolls,Laandra carefully placed them on the grass. " The Monastery plans." She held out another piece of parchment, covered in writing and sealed, as far as it could be seen in the faint glowing of the moon. " And my 'letter' to the High Inquisitor that should at least open the doors to us."

" Your're aware that if we fail...and chances for that are high, we'll pay dearly... We'll never come out of that damn place alive..."

" I figured it out", Laandra nodded. " But it's worth trying, though."

" What do ya care? " Daria softly said, crossing her fingers under her chin, evidently impressed.

Laandra eyed her carefully, acknowledging the fact that the young woman was not nearly a quarter as witless as she pretended to be. Simple yes. But her perceptions would have shamed a well trained diplomat, from what he could say.

" I care for the Light. My people spent thousand and thousand of years fleeing from the Burning Legion. Running has made us tired. Here we stand.That's why the Hand of Argus was created by Velen in the first place...because here, on this world, we are to remain and fight, no matter the costs and the outcome...We own this to ourselves...But there are many ways to fight for the Light" , Laandra finished, her tone now diminished to the sound of a whisper. " To fight for the Light is to do the right thing, even if you know others may think it's wrong..."

She pulled out from her belt a dagger and held it high, in front of her eyes, studying the weathered, yet still glowing blade.

"Kessel, the Elekk lord on Bloodmyst said to me, when I had just arrived there, a young girl, barely at the beginning of her training, that a Hand of Argus soldier is, above all, honorable. But sometimes, honorable man can not perform honorably, do to circumstances beyond their control. I guess this is one of these situations". She sighed. "This is to remind me that I am one of the Blades of Argus, no matter what. And this", Laandra added, as she traced the dagger against her palm, leaving behind a bleeding, even if shallow cut, "is to remind me that there is pain in all the choices we make..." Blood trickled down her palm, a small stream, as she put aside the dagger. " Eireannan matters for me more than being righteous...It is to do the right thing."

Daria let out a surprised exclamation, then gave up the bottle and started rumbling through her own pockets, extracting victoriously a crumpled piece of runecloth bandage. She leaned to the side, to take hold of the other one's hand and started bandaging it vigurously.

" Now, now, that was stupid", she muttered under her breath. " Don't waste that pain for nothin' 'cause if we get trapped in the Monastery it'll be cheap coin..."

Laandra's voice trembled slightly when she finally managed to utter again something intelligible.

" ...So you will help me?"

"Not you", Daria shook her head, then clumsily used both hands to restore some degree of order into her un-brushed hair. "Ei'an."