[Jamethera] Demons Within

((Note: Salty language within.))

Jamethera�s primary thought during the battle on the Broken Shore:

I love too many people.

 ——

The Legion. Again. What will you take from me now, assholes?

Rage and despair both choked her. Her mother had died fighting these demons. Why couldn�t they just stay gone?

She’d brought Schneeflocke with her when the call came. The snow leopard was old but canny, and had tasted more than her fair share of demon blood. The Kaldorei hunter hoped that experience would make up for what age had robbed from her friend.

In her heart of hearts, however, she didn�t wonder if she wasn�t just giving Schnee the chance to die fighting.

Schnee purred and bumped her head against Jamethera�s knee. It made the waiting before the fighting began slightly bearable.

 ——

And Lyestra. Lyestra was crippled by a Dreadlord. But by Elune she�s made it all this time and she was retired, she was safe! But of course she won�t stand by now�

The last Jamethera saw of her sister, the older elf was already favoring her right side. Hazard, her husband, stuck to her like a burr, protecting her as best he could.

He was a paladin. Paladins were pretty good at protecting people. Jamethera had to swallow and let the tide of battle carry them away, trusting that Hazard was good enough.

It just got a little harder to breathe.

 ——

You haven�t even seen half the combat I have. Mina�kitten�

She couldn�t even finish the thought.  Instead, Jamethera took advantage of a lull in the battle to grab the front of Mina�s druidic robes and give her a shake. �Stay on the back line, you hear me? If I see you in cat form down there I�ll skin you alive and wear you as a coat.�

�But Thera!�

�I need you keeping us all alive. You got it?� She spun towards Jander, who Mina wasn�t letting out of her sight for a hot minute. �And you! Don�t be an idiot. If you�re an idiot, she�ll be one too, and Elune help you both if��

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Illyana shake blood off her sword and run straight for an Eredar. Jamethera growled.

�Just fucking don�t,� she said, �I love enough stupid fucking reckless goddess damned�� and she ran, bow gripped tightly in her hand, to watch her warrior�s back.

 ——

I thought you dead once, Illy. I can�t take it again. I just can�t.

�Could you fucking not run off like that?� Jamethera bellowed across the battlefield.

�Keep up, Jam!� Illyana Simonov, warrior, smith, and holder of the largest chunk of Jamethera�s heart, laughed. �Too many demons to kill for us to be standing around.�

They fell into well  practiced patterns. Illyana to the front, keeping them safe. Rajisa, her paladin sister, right up there with her. Jamethera in the back, keeping her watchful eye on the field as a whole, preventing them from being flanked.

Or trying to, anyway. There�s so many. There were no more lulls after that last, and it was just as well. If she�d had any more time to think, Jamethera may well have snapped under the stress. It was hard to grasp the large picture of how much the very world was in peril when you were focused on how at risk your little corner of it was. 

And all she could do was draw her bow, again and again, through the point where her shoulders ached, and past it. Was she hurt? Probably. Something wasn�t quite right, anyway, but there wasn�t any time to pay attention to that, either.

Knock an arrow. Let it fly. Pick a target. Knock an arrow. Let it fly.

When the call to fall back came, she didn�t hear it. Although Illyana and Rajisa promptly peeled off to cover the retreat, Jamethera was so wrapped up in covering theirs that she didn�t see the fel fire bolt coming right at her.

 ——

Being carried over a plate clad shoulder was very uncomfortable.

 ——

They turned her out of the infirmary as soon as she was more together than not. Physically, anyway. She’d taken worse injuries when it came down to it, and Rajisa had been right on it once Schnee alerted her.

Jamethera sat outside on the porch of the house she shared with Illyana and stared towards the sunset. Schneeflocke was a warm weight against her back.

I don�t know how I�m going to do this.

She thought of the endless wall of demons.

I don�t know how I can�t, either.