Zetera sits with those who would hear her story. She stops a moment to collect her thoughts as if certain memories are affecting her. Eventually she takes a breath and begins to tell her story.
�There was a time that I would have never found myself in battle. I was not a fighter or a soldier in any sense.� Zetera lets out a sigh and tilts her head back a moment she then looks back to others with a solemn expression. �I was a Priestess of Elune, a healer.�
From here she tells her tale from the beginning.
I lost my parents to the Legion when they first attacked my people. My sister and myself barely got to know them before they were gone. We were both raised by our grandparents. I was the younger sister; and I always looked up to my sister like she would one day be a great hero. It was her strength that got me through and kept me going.
My sister was always tough, and eventually she would use that and join the Sentinels. She was a soldier through and through, disciplined, and brave. She would often try and get me to join up with her but I knew that I would just get in the way. I was never like her in that sense. But I knew that I wanted to do something where for once I could watch out for her.
The path I would follow instead would be that of a Priestess. I wanted to learn how to heal and bolster our forces, that way if ever my sister was injured I could be there to help her. And so it was that whenever she would come back from her missions or wherever she went I was always right there. If she didn�t come back I always thought I would be lost. She was the best friend that I ever had.
There is a brief pause while Zetera gathers herself, clearly depressed and distraught thinking of her sister.
Many years passed and most were uneventful, and for that I was grateful. But all good things must come to an end. It began when the Orcs arrived on the shores of Kalimdor, hacking and slashing down our forests but it did not end there. The Humans came next and they brought a far off war with them. Soon, our worst fear was realized: The Legion had finally returned to Azeroth.
Our people rallied to stem their tide but we could not do it alone. All the peoples of Azeroth had to set aside old hatreds and unite, or else all was lost. When the Battle for Mount Hyjal finally came, I was to be in the rear taking care of the wounded and getting them back on the field quickly. My sister on the other hand would be stationed with the other sentinels ready to take on whatever made it as far as the Night Elf encampment. I tried my best during the battle to save as many of the wounded as I could but the Legion and the Scourge were vicious, many were lost and breathed their last in my arms. In the end many sacrificed all, but Archimonde and the Legion were defeated. For now. Those of us that survived fell back till it was safe to look for the missing. My sister was among those that did not return.
I watched body after body be brought in that could be�many were taken by the scourge to be used for their terrible creations. There was only one face I needed to see, but it never came; she was gone, I could feel it. Several injured sentinels approached me and told me of her fate. She was struck down, surrounded by undead with no chance of anyone being able to get to her. None of them had seen what happened to her body after that. I only hope they did not use it for something terrible. I don�t think it set in right away, perhaps I was still in denial.
The world did it: it found how to break me. I was paralyzed for a time, depressed, and unable to do anything. Eventually I would come around but never again be the same. I barely remembered what it meant to be happy. I made a choice to leave my people and never return to them. I was no good to any of them any longer and would just get in the way. Wandering around the world, I would meet Illidan and his Illidari during this time. At first I remembered the stories about him and wanted nothing to do with him, but he knew what pained me�it was as if he could sense it. I told him my story and what happened at Hyjal. He said to me, �What if I could give you the strength to destroy the Legion and avenge your sister?� I was hesitant, but what did I really have to lose, so I accepted his offer.
I had always heard the stories of Illidan. They called him a monster who gave up his soul and became a demon. I was told that he lost himself fighting the Legion and that he was no longer worthy of his people. He used forbidden magic to absorb the power of demons and use it against them. To my people he was nothing more than an abomination that should be locked away and forgotten.
And yet, the more I learned of Illidan the less this narrative made sense. His cause was to save Azeroth from the Legion, even at great personal cost to himself. The truth is that he knew what it meant to sacrifice everything. To give everything up in order to serve a purpose greater than one�s self. The Legion does not hold back against us; we cannot hold back against them. What better way to do this than to use their power against them?
After joining the ranks of the Illidari I followed with them to Outland and helped them to take the Black Temple from its demon inhabitants. We fought and killed many demons, but in the end they were not prepared for us. We continued working with Illidan for a period of time trying to find ways to gain the upper hand on the Legion. But eventually a group of misguided heroes would ruin everything and lead the Wardens right to us. And so we were imprisoned before we could finish our work.
Now, when their need is dire, we are set free. Perhaps now they will understand us. We do not need praise or trust; we only need to be allowed to continue our work. The Legion will be brought to its heel. I will avenge my family, my sister. And no more will others suffer as I have at the hands of the Legion.
Often it is the kindest people that have the potential to become the most dangerous. Maybe it�s because we hold others too close or maybe the kindness is our way of protecting others from what we are truly capable of. I was never a fighter, but the Legion finds a way to bring out the worst in us all and for that they will pay.
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