Invasion

The breeze filtered through the trees, shaking branches and their spindly twigs clicked against one another like the sound of a strange xylophone. Isa stood off to one side, her eyes cast demurely to the ground. Her armor and tabard replaced with the foreign vestments of the Scarlet Crusade. Blonde hair had been pulled back severely into a ponytail, as she attempted to mimic the others of the order.

The idea Vitrius had so wisely planted in her mind had merit, but she couldn't bring herself to let anyone else take the risk. She had put them all at risk too much. And with the way things had been shaping up over the past few weeks, Isa had become no stranger to risking her life. But if there was a chance to find Kaveric, Isa would take it. Her life, for the moment, seemed to revolve around this singular missive.

The infiltration had not been as hard as she had anticipated. Those members of the crusade had been so consumed with their devotion to the destruction of the scourge that the tabard and uniform had been almost enough. There were few questions to her as she stood beside the crusaders to destroy the demons plaguing the Western Plaguelands.

It had been difficult, returning to these lands. At times, there were echoes of her past. These places and sites had held such meaning to the girl. She steeled herself against them, allowing herself to partake in the madness of the crusade. There was a part of her that understood their obsession. A part of her felt as if she belonged among the others here. But that was not the point of this trip. She steeled herself against the inevitable decent into self-pity and focused on her task.

For days she walked the streets of Tyr's Hand, slowly familiarizing herself with the faces of the crusaders. House by house, building by building, she searched. Sitting in the tavern at the end of each day, she would quietly inquire about her brother. No-one knew the name. No-one had ever heard of the paladin known as Kaveric d'Sylvere. No-one could match her description as one of their own.

With a heavy heart and a sense of resignation, Isa began to face the reality that she may not be as lucky as Lycentia. The prospect was bleak that he was alive.

Night had fallen and Isa quietly walked up the stairs to the room in the inn. Her story of coming from the monastery had never been questioned, and she was grateful for that. She had just begun to undress when she felt the change.

It was odd at first, like a prickling at the back of her neck. It moved quickly into the pit of her stomach. Something was coming down. She felt it, rather than heard it, like the weight of gravity pressing down on her shoulders. A wave of vertigo took her and she put a slender hand to the wall to steady herself. The prickling increased to a throbbing and a low hum seemed to reverberate down her spine. It was heavy, smothering, like the moon itself was descending into Azeroth.

A startled noise outside allowed her to realize that the feeling was not unique to Isa. She quickly got dressed again, fighting the overwhelming feeling of dizziness and descended the stairs. She joined a group outside the inn and joined them as they stared at the sky.

For a moment, the briefest of moments, she thought perhaps the moon truly was descending, or the sky was falling. The clouds blurred her vision of the sky, but there was the strangest light behind them. A sickly greenish hue filtered through the clouds. It intensified quickly and the overwhelming feeling of pressure made Isa's head pound. There was noise now, a low, almost imperceptible hum. She watched, dumbfounded as the lights dropped lower.

Slowly, the clouds parted, and the necropolis emerged from the cloud-cover. Green light edged the bottom of the ship, and the carvings along the bottom vaguely reminded Isa of a writhing mass of bodies. The collective gasp from the crowd around her seemed to be a mixture of hatred and horror.

"They have returned!" a cry resounded from behind her. The crowd scattered and Isa stood, frozen in fear. She had to get back to the city. She needed to warn the guild. The members of the crusade bustled into motion around her. A female paladin came up to her and handed her a sword. The woman looked at Isa critically.

"To battle," she said forcefully.

Isa paused, uncertainly. "I need to get back to the monastery. They should be warned."

The paladin's hand tightened on her mace and she looked to the girl intently. "You would run from this fight?" the woman hissed, leaning in. Her gaze was intent, her eyes edged with a madness that Isa rarely had seen in a human.

"I fear we have misjudged you," the paladin growled as she drew her weapon. "The taint of the scourge is upon you!"

Isa reacted quickly, bringing the sword to the paladin's throat, anger radiating from the girl in an icy wave. "How dare you question me?" Isa snarled back. An icy shield of defense came around her. "Your inability to see my devotion to this cause makes me see that the taint of the scourge has touched your heart. I should strike you down where you stand!"

The paladin laughed mirthfully, "That's more like it. Stand with us and fight. Your precious monastery will fortify itself without you."

Isa maintained her defensive posture but withdrew the blade. The woman smiled fiercely to her and made a motion for her to join the ranks.

With a heavy heart, and a feeling of impending dread she fell in line with the others.

The invasion site spawned mere yards from the entrance to the small town. The scarlets banded together, their eyes filled with a shared determination. Isa hung back as the mob advanced, uncertain. She kept one hand tight on the hilt of the blade she had been given, and pulled the crimson hood down over her eyes.

Isa tried to hide her initial terror at seeing these creatures again. The gathered scourge took many forms; zombies, skeletal warriors and strange disembodied ethereals. The creatures swarmed around a pulsating violet crystal, which seemed to have some connection to the horrifying structure hovering above.

It wasn't quite clear to the girl who attacked whom, but in an instant the battle was raging. The Crusaders attacked with reckless abandon and Isa was caught in the midst of it. She stood back, casting furiously. She didn't think on the fact that she stood fighting on the same side as her enemy; rather for a moment she shared their hatred, she allowed herself to slip into a darker place. The scourge had to be defeated at all costs. That ideal… that end goal wasn't all that unreasonable.

She fell almost into a trance, her spells now coming with an effortless grace. Angry tears welled in her eyes as the shadows of the past caught up. This was her homeland, these plagued lands. Again, the advance of these creatures threatened lives.

This time, she wasn't too young. This time, she wasn't too weak.

The battle raged throughout the night. It seemed the necropolis had an endless supply of tortured spirits who were sent down. As dawn broke over the plague lands, Isa continued to fight. The demons of her nightmares and the shadows of her past were attacked with spell and sword.

In the graying light of early dawn, she fought with the same reckless abandon as the scarlets. From a distance, it seemed she truly was one of them.

The scourge advanced in ever-increasing numbers. She had stopped thinking about the past and focused only on the task at hand. Spell after spell she cast, quietly focusing her powers and channeling them into the destruction of the creatures that continued to appear. The necropolis shot out eerie purple shadow bolts which caused the crystal shard to glow with a strange light.

Whispers and muttered comments from the forgotten others beside her caused Isa to shift her attention to a newcomer to the fray. He thundered into the battle, a flash of holy light and crimson armor. She recognized Vitrius immediately, but attempted to not show any sort of recognition. It was a critical moment, one she had both expected and feared. She knew it would only be a matter of time until someone would come find her and drag her out of the complicated situation into which she had so deftly entwined herself.

The scourge leapt hungrily at Vitrius, and Isa cast a spell to offer cover. Shards of ice and snow swirled and pelted the ground, slowing the creatures' advance and thwarting their attacking abilities. Once satisfied he could safely make his way into the ranks, she focused again on the unmitigated slaughter of the demons.

Blue gaze averted, she silently prayed that his arrival would be welcomed and not questioned. The group of crusaders was distracted by this attack, but the depth of their madness was only intensified in these situations.

She continued to fight, but there was a hesitation in her spells as her attention was now split between the advancing demons and the arrival of Vitrius.

With an uncharacteristic snarl, the girl focused her energy on mowing down the massive group that Vitrius and the others had gathered. The eerie light from the crystal was blurred as a vicious blizzard rained down on the enemies. The zombies, impaled with icy shards slowed, shrieked and slumped to the ground.

Isa's gaze stayed fixated on Vitrius; both angry and thankful at his appearance. Her eyes mostly hidden by the crimson hood, her focus on the paladin went unnoticed.

The scourge was pushed back, and with a piercing wail the shard at the center of the group flashed a brilliant green and shattered. The explosion knocked everyone back; undead and crusade alike. Isa fell to the ground, eyes searching for Vitrius.

Her search was interrupted as she saw what had replaced the crystal. Four warlocks appeared, chanting a spell. One by one they fell to the ground, transforming. The demons were massive. She could only describe them as shadows, disembodied beasts of smoke and liquid darkness. Smoldering amber eyes looked out at the battlefield in unveiled hatred. The four shades circled where the shard had been and focused their energy with a renewed fervor, re-summoning a new shard.

Isa put a hand to her forehead and moaned. Others came to from the ground around the girl, their voices mimicking Isa's exhausted dread. She watched the shades warily for a moment before searching the ground for Vitrius.

Finding him among the thinning group of scarlets, Isa tried to catch his gaze. Blue eyes questioned him silently.

His emerald green eyes caught hers, and then jerked to his right, towards where he'd hidden before joining the battle. His intent was clear; he wanted her to get out. Then he grinned and with a roar, leapt at the nearest shade. The Scarlets, though weakened, followed; abandoning any form of coordination in rage at this new Scourge threat.

The shades whirled, enraged at the interference. Weapons of steel and iron passed through them like so much smoke, but their ethereal presence was given the lie by the bone-jarring blows they landed on the Crusaders.

He was a Paladin; the undead were the enemies he was made to face. He could fight his way out of the Scarlets and Scourge easily, what with the confusion of battle. He just hoped that Isa would get out while all of them were distracted.

He hoped that she would take the hint.

Isa's face turned downwards into an uncharacteristic scowl. She wanted to fight. She wanted to stand there until each of the demonic creatures was mowed down. She wanted to crush the bones of the undead into the ground. She wanted to board the ship and tear them apart with her bare hands. She wanted the scourge to know the pain they had caused this land. She wanted to breathe smoke. The air around her was so cold that the ground beneath the girl was covered with a crystalline layer of frost and ice; the dead blades of grass shimmering in the early light of dawn.

But Vitrius wanted her to leave. Somehow even after all that had happened, all the progress she had made, people still wanted to save Isa, protect her. The part of her that had spent so many weeks with the scarlets whispered in the back of her mind. Hatred seduced her for a moment and she raised her hands as if to stay in the battle. Demons of the past whispered softly to her, clouding her judgment.

How could he possibly understand...? No one can possibly understand.... All alone, still alone, always alone...

She was alone on the bluff with the demons in her own mind; the scarlets distracted by the shades and Vitrius deftly maneuvering his way at the head of the charge. She paused, watching as he dove into the fray with the valiant actions of the most gallant of knights. Uncertain, Isa lowered her hands. With the dawning realization that he was risking his life for her safety, the hatred and anger abated. She wasn't alone. Not anymore. She had a new family, and they cared for her. Maybe she did need a bit of saving once in a while, even if the enemy was her own mind... She watched Vitrius fight with a gleam of gratitude in her eyes, and the shadows cleared from her mind.

The smallest of smiles touched her eyes and she swallowed hard, backing away from the battle. She silently called on the powers of the arcane and slipped out of phase, invisible to the scarlets and Vitrius alike.

Not daring to leave the battlefield, she stayed back by the tree line, edging towards Light's Hope chapel and safety. She watched the battle from a safe distance to ensure her would-be rescuer managed to get out of the fray he had created.

A stentorian roar sounded, filled with rage. However, a roar was all that the Shade being had left in it, and it dissipated like so much smoke.

That was two down, with two to go, but many of the Scarlets had been killed. He glanced around, quickly, to check Isa's position, but she was gone. Good. That would make his plan go that much more smoothly.

Grinning with euphoria, he sprang at the nearest of the two, getting as close to it as possible while still keeping it from touching him. Scarlets crowded around him and the Shade, eager to land blows. Hoping that the shock of battle would keep some of the pain from him, he smiled grimly and plunged his left hand into the creature.

Ice.

Fire.

Pain. It was extraordinary, that he could take this much pain and still be standing. But, after an instantaneous self-evaluation, it seemed the pain was wholly mental.

He plunged his arm further in, and channeled a Consecration down his arm and through the beast. Like a crystal interrupting a beam of light, the thing's body warped and strengthened it, and a lattice of sickly golden-green lines covered the ground, layering itself under the Shades and the Scarlets alike.

And they all felt it.

The Shade through which he'd channeled the spell had it easy; it didn't even have time to roar before it dissipated rapidly, like blowing into smoke. But for the rest, it was so much worse.

Even he was surprised at the strength and viciousness the Scourge creature had added to his spell. The lines of green seemed to expand upwards. Scarlets shrieked, as agony upon agony poured through their bodies. Muscles locked rigid, in too much pain to even scream, they rotted from the inside out, falling to the ground. There was only dust inside their armor now.

For good measure, he channeled all the power he had left out his right arm, destroying the last Shade in an explosion of golden Light and dark smoke. Their summoning interrupted, and the last of the defending Crusaders killed, he sagged, the adrenaline wearing off and leaving him extraordinarily exhausted.

His eyes cast around, searching for Isa.

Isa stayed out of phase, her stomach plummeting as she watched the attack. She stared, her emotions conflicted as one by one the demons and Scarlets fell. Vitrius channeled power through the shade as if harnessing the power of the scourge itself. It unnerved her, and she shivered involuntarily.

He approached the empty space that Isa occupied and she shimmered out of the shadows, returning to the physical plane of existence. She stood a small distance away from the paladin and she looked at him for a moment. Her eyes were a frozen mixture of anger and confusion. Pale features turned upward to the exhausted paladin but she did not approach. She wrapped her arms defensively around her frame watching him warily.

She regarded the desolation before the pair. Those she had fought with now were no more than empty husks. Though misguided, though overzealous and mostly insane... Isa didn't entirely disagree with the Scarlets. Her escape had almost been complete; their victory would have been achieved without the needless death.

Looking back to the paladin Isa shook her head slowly, "Why?"

She continued to shake her head as shock turned to horror, "I... I just don't understand. Killing the scourge, I can understand. But I..." Isa trailed off, recalling how the paladin had unleashed the powers of the shade. The mage stepped back, her hand ready on the hilt of her sword.

He had reached into the soul of the shade; he was able to control that evil power. Isa continued to shake her head as her eyes went wide. It was a moment of clarity in a moment of horror.

"What were you thinking?" she asked intensely, her voice edged with fear.

He grimaced, flexing his left arm a bit to work out the twinges. "Something any competent fighter learns is that to truly destroy an enemy, sometimes you have to use its own power against it."

He gazed out at the battlefield, at the broken husks of Crusaders. "I do not mourn their deaths, Isa. Scarlets deserve to die," he growled, clenching his teeth as he curled one armored hand into a fist. "Although... even I was a little shocked at the effect it had."

His piercing emerald eyes moved to the mage now, and they seemed to look into her very soul. "I agree with their ends, but not their means." Emotions warred across his face, allowing her a glimpse through the mask of confidence he normally wore.

"I did what I thought necessary, Isa, to destroy both the Scourge and the Scarlets." His voice lowered to a whisper as he continued, his face dark, "Both sides deserve what they have received today."

Isa's blue eyes held unveiled fury. "How dare you?" she hissed. "How DARE you stand there and say that you disagree with the means of the crusaders when you unleash the fury of the scourge upon them? Who are you to judge? They only kill those whom they feel have the taint of the scourge. And mark my words..." she said with a furious glare, "I now have my doubts."

Her hand was steady upon her blade though she did not make a move to draw it. "A competent fighter knows how to use their allies. How can you say they deserved to die? They are fueled by their fanaticism. Apparently so are you."

Isa gestured to her tabard and to his armor. "You and I were able to infiltrate their ranks with merely costumes and role play. How can you be so sure there were not others who had done the same?" Her eyes narrowed, the cold fury washing over her in waves.

"You are a paladin, Vitrius...." she said with a hint of desperation to her voice.”How can you condone such merciless slaughter?"

She choked back her next comment, as it would have been in poor taste.

Comparing anyone to Arthas was in poor taste.

With a look of sadness mixed with frustration, the girl turned on her heel and started off towards Light's Hope.

He glared out at the battlefield, viewing the carnage that he had caused. Unconsciously, he clenched and unclenched his left arm, lost in a whirlwind of memories.

Scarlets were, to him, the highest form of evil. Like dragons to Aynsleigh, or Scourge to Vardann, they existed only because he hadn't destroyed them all yet.

The enemy of his enemy, though, was most definitely not his friend, he mused to himself. He hated the Scourge as much as anybody else. Hadn't he just prevented their entry into this part of the Plaguelands?

But he was damned if he would leave any Scarlets alive, if he could help it. He wouldn't go out of his way to kill them, but if the opportunity were there.... he'd be damned if he wouldn't take it.

They'd taken everything from him. He turned on the spot and stomped off, in the same direction Isa had gone.

Isa tugged the tabard of the scarlet crusade off and crumbled it into a ball. Pushing with her mind, the cloth incinerated in a flash of flame. She blinked, surprised at her unconscious reaction. Her fear of fire had abated through the warm and gentle counseling of Kaudri and the scare tactics of the strange mage known as Fitzlin. Isa, though still petite and more frail than ever had a new look of grim resolve. In the final battles of the internal war against herself, the girl had emerged victorious. Though even now she still had no idea what that meant for the future.

She paused in the tree line, tugging the crimson hood from her hair and releasing her ponytail. Blonde hair crested and cascaded over her shoulders as she removed the pieces that had identified her as one of the crusade. She looked over to Vitrius initially with wariness, but upon seeing the grief that twisted his features the fear and uncertainty left her heart.

Though she did not fully understand the ghosts that haunted the paladin, she understood that look all too well. She sighed heavily as she pulled her own tabard from her bag, tying it on in the seclusion of the copse of trees.

Raking a hand through her hair, she approached Vitrius. She looked up at him without a trace of the previous anger.

"I'm sorry, Vitrius," she said clearly, her voice sincere. "It’s none of my business. I obviously stayed too long to become so attached to them."

She could apologize for her actions, but yet... no matter what the reasons Vitrius had, Isa remained slightly unsettled.

Vitrius gazed at Isa, his mask of composure back up. But the gratitude in his eyes was obvious.

"You deserve to know more, Isa," he said quietly. "But I'm not ready to tell you. I will tell you, though, that this is why I try to stay away from Scarlets. Not out of fear of them, but from fear of myself. From fear of the monster I might become.

"Do you know what it is like to fear a part of yourself? To fear things within you?"

Isa paused at the sound of his voice. She turned to him slowly. She watched him for a moment, devoid of anger. Her eyes now held a light of understanding, and the smallest of smiles lit upon her face.

"Every day, Vit..." she said softly, "Every day. It’s taken me a long, long time to face those fears. It’s taken me even longer to work my way out of the dark shadows of my mind."

She paused, looking out towards Light's Hope. "And I'm still afraid. Even with how many demons I've exorcised from my heart."

She turned back to him, the small smile still playing on her features. "You don't need to tell me, Vitrius. Nor do I deserve an explanation. Just... know this. When you lean in to the shared strength of the guild, it can make the burden a little lighter."

She reflected on the many months (had it been a year? Time had such a way of flying off without notice) she smiled. Without the others; she felt she surely would have been lost to her own despair and inner fears. Now determined to check on the safety of the others she hurried down the hill towards the flight master and Ironforge.