Iliae inhaled sharply as she lifted her legs from her bed and gently rested her bandaged feet on the cold stone. It had been an hour since Melathanore had left, precious time that she had spent partially in a stupor, and partially planning. Staring down at her toes, she braced herself for the intense pain that was caused by the thin barrier of freshly healed skin protecting the muscle in her feet.
Standing, she struggled to remain upright as pain burned and her mind screamed for her to sit back down. The feeling worsened as she stumbled her way to her armor, undressed, and began to secure each piece with care. Only the reminder of Mel’s goodbye seemed to motivate her movements, her jaw gritting tightly as the agonizing seconds began to amount to minutes.
“If you want something, you have to go through with it- even if you’re sure it’ll mean disaster.”
She laughed dryly, thinking of the words she had said to Elly only a few days before. Of course, that was on matters of love, of building a life. Now, it was literal- palpable. She wanted Mel to not die, and Carkel was sure to try to make certain he would. Reaching the estate’s armory, Iliae began to scan the weapon racks before carefully securing a repeater crossbow and her longbow to her back.
“Don’t forget the holy water.” A deep voice chimed from the darkened corners of the room before a vial was tossed toward Iliae. Turning slightly, she caught it, her eyes lifting instantly to the guest. The priestess who stepped forward wore a cunning grin, her steps light- almost like a dancer’s or…
Iliae shook her head at the impossibility. “What are you doing here?” She growled out in response, “Shouldn’t you be kissing your master’s feet about now?”
Analyne chuckled at this, greatly amused by the questions. “’Master’? I have no master, and even if I were to serve another, that sniveling excuse for a deviant would hardly be worthy of commanding my talents.” Folding her arms, she cocked her head to the side. “Plus, I have matters to attend to other than aiding him in his foolish attempts at vengeance.”
Iliae took a slow step back, her hand falling to the table that held the various daggers and short blades she owned. Patting around for a moment, her eyes fell as she failed to find the familiar hilt of her dagger.
“Looking for this?” The priest lifted the saronite blade, turning the blade so that the subtle runes and the topaz within the dangling skull caught the light. “I thought I would borrow it, the craftsmanship is excellent…Not surprising, Daeyn always had a way with metals.” Her words came with such casualness that weight of what she had said only came to Iliae after a moment.
Snatching up a spare blade, Iliae held it out in front of her, her eyes narrowing at the woman. “Identify yourself!” She hissed, her voice holding a noticeable quiver as her suspicions went into overdrive. Her posture and hostility gave the clear hint that she knew she was in no shape to handle a fight should the woman turn out to be the enemy she feared.
Analyne snickered, moving slowly over to Iliae and stopping just short of the reach of her blade. Glancing at it, she gently pushed it aside with two fingers. “Oh calm yourself, woman. Do you think if I was here to cause you harm I would do so like this?” She gestured to her lack of armor or weaponry before flipping the dagger in her hand and holding it out to Iliae hilt first. “No, I’m here to talk, Duskryder.”
Iliae took the dagger back, hesitantly equipping it to her belt before lowering her first blade. “Analyne Embershine, wasn’t it?” She asks slowly, her eyes scrutinizing the smirk on the woman’s lips.
“You know who I am.” It wasn’t an assurance to the question, but rather a command to drop the game.
“Jaericho.” Iliae stated flatly, her muscles once again tensing as the name left her lips.
Jaericho lifted her arms- the priestess’ arms- into the air before doing a graceful twirl. “How do you like the new look? She’s a bit scrawny, but this one can pack a surprising punch.” Swinging back her hair a bit, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply before the Light began to swirl around her fingers. Opening her eyes again, she let it loose toward Iliae’s feet.
Jumping back, she cringed slightly as she expected an offensive spell to strike- instead, she found her pain was beginning to alleviate. After a moment, her eyebrows lifted. She looked up at Jaericho, wondering if she had she fallen into one of Calthos’ ‘alternate universes.'
“Better?” Jaericho asked as Illy began to relax.
“What?” Her confusion worsened as Jaericho moved around a bit, stopping as she found a barrel to sit on.
“How are your feet?” Jaericho asked, in an exaggeratedly slow manner.
Iliae blinked a few times before lowering her blade again, leaning against one of the few shelves that didn’t have anything sharp on it. “Better.” Her voice was coated with utter shock. After another long moment, she tacked on a muttered "Thanks."
Lifting a knee up to her chest, Jaericho watched Iliae with great amusement. “You're welcome. Now, as I was saying, I want to talk to you.” She smiled in a manner that almost made her host’s face bear a remarkable resemblance to her own. “About Aereyn.”
Iliae finally relaxed at this, “Oh, thank the Light.” She muttered, grateful that Jaericho actually did want something. Crossing her arms, she waited. “Well, get on with it then.”
Jaericho clapped her hands together and grinned. “Good! Well, since you’ve tossed him out to the curb and married my cousin, I want him back. Congratulations by the way, I’m glad that you’ve finally managed to find someone dead enough for you. First you went out looking for a dead man, then your boyfriend went and killed himself-” She stopped for a moment, tapping her chin, “No, I just told you that he did…Anyhow! Now you’ve married Daeyn and you’ve been making eyes at a pile of animated bones.
“But your life aside, I need you to convince him to come back with me to Northrend.” She stared at Iliae intently, awaiting a response.
The staring war continued for a long minute before Iliae managed to finally get out a few words; “Why would I do that?” The idea was incredulous, even more so when she began to wonder if the former rogue had managed to completely lose all of her senses.
“Because if you do this for me, in exchange I’ll only torture you enough to get that Carkel guy to not send my soul back to the Nether.” She stated flatly, watching the ranger with an even gaze.
Iliae took a slow breath before uncrossing her arms. “I think I’ll pass.” At her words, Jaericho scowled and flew up off the barrel, lunging at Iliae’s throat. Iliae immediately moved her hand down towards the weapons and snatched up a short sword.
Jaericho wrapped her hand around Iliae’s throat, her fingers curving up to hold the woman’s face inches from hers. Meeting her eyes, she hissed out a low guttural growl. “Drop it!” To her surpise, Iliae instantly did just that.
“Yes, Priestess.” She whispered, the glow of her eyes fading slightly as her hand opened and the weapon fell uselessly to the ground.
Clearly not expecting this, Jaericho froze for a moment before releasing her. “Duskryder?” Looking at the sword, she looked back up and prodded Iliae in the shoulder. She didn’t move, in fact she hadn’t even so much as blinked. Looking back into Iliae’s eyes, she took a slow step back. “This is ridiculous, say something.”
“Something.” Iliae stated before falling silent again.
As the reaction registered in her brain, Jaericho began to grin devilishly before moving back closer to Illy. “Well how about that…This scrawny thing actually can produce something useful.” She muses to herself before folding her arms and staring at Iliae like an all you can eat buffet. “Alright then, Duskryder, I want you to retrieve that trinket of Carkel Malarius’ and bring it back to me...the ankh.”
“Yes, priestess.” Iliae responded once more.
Jaericho grinned widely, “Then, you will contact Daeyn and inform him that you’ll be taking a trip and you will not be returning anytime soon.” Pausing, she waited for the second response. “Once you complete these tasks, I want you to end your life.”
Iliae’s response did not come immediately, and for a moment, Jaericho had thought she was going to snap out of her trance. Finally, “Yes, priestess.”
Relaxing, Jaericho stepped away from her with a devilish smirk, “Now go.”
