(untitled, for now)

[Sarania]

Sarania cursed herself as she walked slowly through Darnassus, feeling the trees as she passed them. She was sharply aware of the fact that Onikriss was still in the city, and even more aware of the fact that Zarodehn was somewhere behind her. “Why,” she thought to herself as she struggled along the roads, “why would you give up your sight again? What could this Paladin truly have done to make you trust him so? Silly girl.” Right as soon as her thought was complete, she paused, suddenly realizing that she could feel the presence of the Sentinels guarding the terrace. She slowly turned in place, hoping for something familiar, and a faint energy emanating from her left caused her to stop. It was Zarodehn. She chose to act as though she was unaware for the time being. She needed to know more about Onikriss, and all else was pushed aside until she did. Almost as if on cue, a sense of warmth and trust took her over, and she knew that everything would be revealed to her in time.
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People were starting to regard her as insane, that much she knew. She was losing touch with the family she had found in the Indelibles, and was slightly pained by the fact that she didn’t mind much. They would understand later, and all would be forgiven. She sat day and night in that chair in the corner, anxiously turning the pages of books that appeared blank to everyone else. She hadn’t bothered to explain her blindness to anyone but Rakzuel, and it occurred to her that most of them probably were not even aware that anything had changed, other than that her books no longer had ink on the pages. Despite his hatred for the Paladin Onikriss, Rakzuel agreed to help Sarania by transcribing all of her books into new ones, using runes of fel energy that he knew she could sense. While she preferred Light energy, Sarania was in no place to be picky, as she was reduced to nothing without her beloved books. She could tell that she, too, was changing, and not just her companions. Sarania had become so absorbed in her journey since she encountered Oniton. She often forgot to eat and sleep, and the bitter chill of Northrend coming across the Harbor seemed to beckon her to abandon even more. She looked up from her book, sensing the dockhands watching her, and stared across the sea at nothing. She wasn’t ready. It wasn’t time to go yet. Somehow, though, she couldn’t keep still. Oniton knew nothing of what needed to be done, and Sarania was tired of waiting.

As she packed her few possessions into her bag, Sarania struggled to convince herself that this was the right thing to do. O’nis urged her to be patient, yet she could not. “Nekrizz will not be patient. No matter how fast I move, he will be one step ahead of us, and we cannot afford that.” Sarania knew that she should calm herself, and trust the Naaru to guide her, but something more urgent had taken over her. “I need to keep him close, O’nis. I don’t believe that he is beyond helping. All hope for him may not be lost. Besides,” Sarania winced as the weight of the backpack pulled her downward slightly, “it shouldn’t take me long to find him. Most everything in Northrend is dead.”

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Sarania sat in the familiar corner of the Pig and Whistle tavern, sipping her tea and thinking. While she had lost her sight, she imagined the blood stains and blade marks were still in the table at which she sat. She closed her eyes. One thing that she had yet to grow accustomed to was that small change. It made no difference to her whether her eyes were open or closed. The signatures and auras that she could see permeated her eyelids, and the same soft light that existed wherever there was life was apparent to her. She opened her eyes once more, and locked her gaze on the man seated across from her. “I know not what the Scarlet Crusade wants from Dalaran, but I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again; the young mage is dead, and the Magi of the Kirin Tor are no longer my allies.”
"Enlighten me. Who are your allies now? Sylaurn and his group of mercenaries? The Naaru? The 'Lightflayer'?” The man snickered sarcastically.
"You will pay for those remarks.”
“You will go to Dalaran, and you will do as I say. You were weak then, that’s what got you into this mess. You can’t even see me! You’re just as weak now. I doubt if you have any means to achieve this end, heathen. Obey, or I will expose you.”
“I am what I am now because you were weak. You will do nothing.”
The man stood angrily to leave, and the voidwalker, who had remained unnoticed until now, reached forward from behind the chair and pushed on the man’s shoulders, holding him in place. “Demons! Both of you!” The man struggled against his captor, and a grin spread wickedly across Sarania’s face. “I will follow you to Northrend! I will slay you all! Demons!” Sarania stood and walked around the table, placing her hand gently on the man’s forehead.
“Yes. You will follow me to Northrend. You will come to find these demons you so desperately seek. You speak ill of my allies, thinking they are demonic in nature as well…” Sarania paused. “Were I you, father, I would tread lightly. Should you encounter my allies, they will not show you the mercy I have. Pray that you find only demons.” Sarania mumbled an incantation, and the man struggled against the demon with all he had, suddenly screaming in terror. A brief look of guilt crossed Sarania’s face as she listened to him, hearing, for a brief moment, her father instead of a Scarlet Commander. Sensing that his screams had caught the bartender’s attention, Sarania turned her attention to the voidwalker, “By the Light, Hukmon! Let the poor man go!” Sarania smiled sweetly as she heard chairs being knocked over, and left the tavern at once.

[Sarania]

((Another chapter. :3 ))

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Sarania smiled as she heard the familiar sound of the waterfall, remembering the better days, the warmer days, back in Elwynn Forest. She wasn’t in Elwynn, though, and she wouldn’t be for a long time. Fort Wildervar was the nicest place she’d come to be in Northrend so far, and was a far cry better from where she’d been only a few short days ago. The Eredar standing beside her was speaking, and though she know not what he was saying, his voice did not seem quite as distant as she imagined it would. It sounded warm, somehow...comforting. She heard him pause and turned her attention back to him. “Hrm? Oh...yes...fascinating.” She took a deep breath and turned to face him. “Onikriss. I want to apologize.”

“He’s smirking. He’s mocking you. Don’t apologize to him, Sarania. Don’t trust him."

“…for the way I treated you. I know that you don’t care, and that my words probably affected you little, but it puts my mind at ease.” Sarania turned to face the waterfall again, struggling to hear what both O’nis and Onikriss spoke.

“There is nothing to apologize for, everything you did was either intentional or out of your contr-”

“Do not trust him. He cares nothing for you. He does not seek the friendship that you seek.[/u]”

Sarania nodded at Onikriss, smiling. “The difference between this,” he paused, and Sarania smirked, not knowing what he was speaking of. “And this,” he stomped on the snow, leading Sarania to believe he had motioned to the waterfall, “is minimal. In the grand scheme of things, they are the same. It is a matter of perception. Much like the light and the darkness..”

“Sarania, I implore you to stop listening. Turn and leave now. Do not believe what he is trying to tell you. He is lying.”

Sarania turned her attention to the Eredar and shuddered, noticing the dark magic engulfing one of his hands, but took solace in the fact that there was Light in the other. As she continued to watch him, the gold tinge in her eyes became more apparent. “…created from the very same fabric of the cosmos. They are the same, in essence. This is something that the Naaru know well, as their very existence..”

“Do not listen to him. Do not look at him. He will betray you, Sarania. He will teach you nothing about light nor darkness. Balance? Yes, we maintain the balance. He does not wish to. The Naaru are nothing at all similar to what he speaks of. Turn away. You are strong, Sarania, it is why you were chosen. Leave him now, and do not listen.”

“..changing what that balance means.” Sarania watched in awe as he combined the Light and Darkness into something she could not explain. It was beautiful, and powerful. It was subtle, but demanding. She wanted it. She reached her hand out to touch it, and recoiled, her blank, bluish eyes becoming clouded by a deep but soft shade of violet. She stopped to regard not only the light and the darkness, but the Paladin himself. Something about his energy drew her in. She tried to remember what he looked like, the one night she'd been able to see him, as he spoke to her.“It can be yours, if you want it. Have you not always desired to walk the path of the Light? But you were bound by…”

“That is not light, Sarania. It is not what you seek. There is no truth in that. Do not take it. No matter what he tells you, do not take it. You will-”

O’nis was cut off suddenly as Sarania allowed her fingers to sink into the magic. It felt the way she imagined it would. The energy it gave off filled her completely. She forgot the Naaru, the Eredar…she forgot the cold, the hunger. It was a tangible and deadly thing, the way it coiled around her fingers and began to creep up her arm. It was so close to her…it knew her…it wanted her. She pulled back, frightened.

“Do not do that again! You’re being foolish!” As Sarania turned away from Onikriss, she could sense that she was not meant to have what he was offering, but…she had to. It was something that she felt was distinctly part of him, and she needed to have it.

“Go inside! Away from him! He will manipulate you, Sarania. He will. I assure you he cannot be trusted. Would you truly betray us all? You cannot give in now, Sarania. Not after how far we’ve come...”

“I was near death!” Sarania thought, knowing that O’nis could hear her. “And he came for me. You did nothing. I was dying for you, O’nis. Searching to try and save you, to save him. Betray YOU? Where were you? Where was Oniton? Where was anyone?! I was alone…just as I was then…”

“Do not speak such things, you know you were nev- Don’t!”

Sarania reached out to touch the Twilight, feeling as though she would drop dead where she stood without it. Something was holding her back, though. What it was, she could not be sure. Perhaps it was O’nis. Perhaps it was the last remaining shred of sanity she’d been able to hold onto. Yet she struggled against it, toward Nekrizz…toward the Twilight.

“Sarania, you will not find the knowledge you seek. You will fall prey to him as all others who stood against him have. You will be more alone than you can fathom."

“He will be here.”

“He will NOT!”

Sarania closed her eyes and tried to remember being alone. All of the memories of what she’d managed to go through, how far she had come. The orcs, and all they had taken from her; the Shadow that had possessed her closest friend to betray her; the love she had known only temporarily, before the Shadow pulled her from her teacher. She remembered the darkness when she was first blinded; the pact with Dimensius, and the satisfying groans he made as he fell before her; she remembered her mother, and the attack that had rendered her useless to any romantic interests. She remembered the Light, and how she had estranged herself from her allies by seeking to learn its ways. She remembered her father. Sarania opened her eyes, revealing them to be completely engulfed in the deep purple that had flickered across them moments before, all present light disappearing. She thought to herself before finally reaching forward, though she knew not why, “You have failed, O’nis. You have failed.” She lurched forward slightly, a macabre grin appearing on her face where the friendly smile once was as the Twilight coiled around her fingers and up her arm once again. The energy filled her like no Light had ever managed to do. Her body stiffened as the magic coursed through her. It seemed to push and pull at her very core, giving and taking and shifting all that she was. She was euphoric. This was what she wanted. She had no questions, no desires. She did not feel alone, for loneliness was no longer relevant, and as such it did not occur to her.

“This is where your journey begins, my dear.”