To be again

((continued))

Laandra blinked at him dizzily, then raised a hand to feel at the back of her head and grimaced.

"Great, now there comes the third horn", she said, matter of factly."Tell me I'm not dreamin'."

" You are not", Eireannan assured her, his voice betraying a slight trace of amusement now. She shivered.

"That thing...the demon..."

"Gone."

"Good", Laandra muttered, her body suddenly relaxing, like a bow after releasing the arrow. Only then did the enormity of the situation seemed to strike her back and she raised again a hand to drive away the tears that cluttered her vision, then softly touched his hair.

" Damn it" she sobbed, " I thought I'd lost you for good...you were here, yet so far...and to see you like that...it was killing me...killing me every day...What in the name of Sargeras did you expect, Eireannan Saralonde...did all Xavian had to find its way towards here for you to want to come back to me?!"

Anger, he recognized, as Laandra spoke. And frustration. And love.

She always made it so simple, that even he could forget about his own fears. To have and to lose again.

" I was here, Laan"... He sighed, eyes darkening under the memory of torment. But there was finally peace inside...and all those dreams quieted, after so much time...I just wasn't able to live and fight again...and then..if I came back I would hurt you even more...look what happened already..."

"So now you say that?" The violence in her voice made him shake. It was all of the sudden a torrent of words and fury, pouring of him, as Laandra tried to catch her breath, among the imprecations. " When you came for me back there in Darkshire, did you think the same? That night in Alterac? You laid your soul bare in my hands...and now you expect me just to walk away and care not? Damn you, Erian, you're not in your right mind!"

" You're bleeding" he interrupted her, and she saw worry in his face. She looked down to her side and noticed the tear in her shirt and the gush underneath, not really deep, yet promising to soon become uncomfortable...

" Funny how I don't remember this..."

" My work", Eireannan admitted, wickedly. "But you were nearly saying "yes" to that...thing...as you called it...and as far as demon contracts go, that's a binding."

Laandra shook her head, as she became even paler, he could see that, despite the blue shade of her skin. The horror of the moment before returning, once again. Trapped to the demon's will, almost giving into the temptation...

" I wanted you back", she whispered. "Would it have been to much a price to pay?"

" Much more than I deserve, Laan." He touched her cheek, then slowly traced the line of her lips, as they both sat, huddled in the doorstep. " Your life was high enough a price. But not your soul...never...never..." Eireannan shivered, only then bringing into view his left hand, fingers still clasping the dagger. The blood on the blade was starting to dry now, and he could feel the boost of energy waning away, as the demon's magic fed his own insatiable thirst. Laandra's gaze examined first the weapon, then his expression, finally stopping on the corpse that still lay inside the house.

And then, the next thing she became aware of was that she was holding him tight, her face buried in his shirt, listening to his heartbeats and all those feelings were washing again over her like a stormed sea.

" Don't go away", she whispered, fighting back the tears. " Never, never again..."