Embers of Solace (BFA)

The Druidess stood before the council of priestesses, countless field reports in her hand. Her face was scarred and bruised, a wound under her neck covered with a rushed bandage still soaked in her blood. Drawing her eyes to the women gathered it was clear she had not been the only one upon the field of battle. For as cruel as their conversations could sometimes get, as calamitous as it seemed their discourse might be, there was no denying that among the women gathered that protecting the Kaldorei people was among the top of all their priorities.

Leaning forward into the gentle light of the small moonwell pedestal that lit the area one of the priestesses spoke softly “So we are to understand that the horde’s intentions are simply to seize Teldrassil, is that correct?”

“That is correct Priestess” Alnarra responded with a near perfect political tone, having mastered the art of putting on a good face for those in power, “My scouts have reported that are sources among the horde and their suppliers seem to be making a direct attack against Teldrassil, their intention purely appears to be the capture of the world tree. They seem to be of the belief that we will make use of Teldrassil as a means of shipping Azerite to the rest of the Alliance.”

There was a pause as the priestesses mummered amongst themselves, gentle whispers before yet another hooded face seemed to lean forward, “Then it is safe to assume that we do not need to rush the Evacuation of the city? If the horde are to take the city we can minimize casualties by moving troops to assist and prepare for the Alliance counter attack?”

“That is my belief Madam Priestess” Alnarra spoke softly “I believe that we can begin to prepare our counter attack, to strike at the very source of the Horde incursion, that troops and troop transports near Darnassus could be seen as a greater threat and could provoke the Horde into treating the civilian population more harshly when they seize the city”

“Approximately how long until the horde are capable of attacking the city?” A rather concerned priestess asked.

“Within the hour” Alnarra responded with a gentle tone, “My forces along with a number of other Kaldorei intelligence groups have already seen to the evacuation of the High Priestess as well as her staff. It is believed the SI:7 was able to provide her and the Lord of the Forest with a means of escaping the combat zone”.

“Noted Commander Stargrove, please begin seeing to the Troop redeployment to reconcile with the 5th Sentinel fleet north of the Lordranel. You are to be given temporary field command of the Night’s Star for the remainder of this mission. See to it that the wide… tactics employed by section 28 are not wasted against these horde aggressors. You are authorized to use any means necessary to stall their attack for as long as possible”

Alnarra simply nodded, going to pull the hood back over her head, she knew in some ways that what she had just been given was a suicide order, but it was not one she was entirely opposed to. Even if the horde occupied Teldrassil, there was no guarantee of the safety of the citizens still trapped inside. Even now evacuation orders were being given and large numbers of the civilian population were being taken by ship.

The druidess began to walk down to the docks, attempting to find the ship she had been assigned to lead into battle when she heard the first round impact with the bark of the great world tree.

Looking up in horror it was immediately apparent that an attack had begun, and not one intended to end with simply holding Teldrassil. The sound of far off cannon fire, Goblin and Orcish Launchers joined the frey and soon the very night sky turned a blazing red as impact after impact could be heard, shell and explosive alike ripping through the superstructure of the World Tree above, sending splinters falling into the waters below.

There were shouts heard as a sudden panic among the sentinels became clear, the collection of citizens gathered here at Ru’Theran would be an easy target for the weapons, getting them aboard the troop vessels and away was of the most import. Feeling the crushing heat and weight of fragments of the place her people called their home crashing around her she called out for a woman and child she saw huddled nearby, attempting to rush them towards the ships in the waters below.

Alnarra watched with horror as a horde shell managed to land directly upon the top deck of the very vessel she had been assigned to command, ripping through and splintering the ironwood deck, sundering the ship in twain. She cried out in horror seeing sentinels leaping form the vessel’s decks into the water as it was rather quickly swallowed by the greed of the sea. Shaking her head she reassured the two beside her ushering them towards a nearby sentinel.

“Get them to the Star’s Fury! Get as many as we can aboard, I’m headed back into the city!” having to scream over the thunderous sound of explosion and falling debris, flaming wood seeming to dance amongst the sky like a light summer rain, ash falling from the very heavens. The clouds above now a burning mess.

Heading back towards the connecting portal into Darnassus, the sight inside the city was just as grim. The shells from the horde onslaught were already beginning to penetrate the inner most depths of the Night Elven capital, massive stone structure and wooden building alike were starting to collapse or burn. She lost herself for a moment, simply staring in horror at the sight that awaited her there, her eyes catching a large wooden beam crushing and most certainly killing a family of escaping civilians attempting to make their way for the portal.

The shouts and cries of Sentinels that only moments before were preparing to depart the island in an attempt to help spare the civilian population were now in an all out struggle to escort the very same to a point of safety. In that hailstorm deep in the night; however, there was no such point. Every moment another explosion would rip across the land, dirt, wood, and ash being kicked up at every turn. The ground shook as the druidess was thrown to the ground, coughing a bit

“Alnarra to Section 28! What the hell is happening, I thought the Horde wanted to capture Darnassus!” she screamed out over her coms, waiting for a reply she was greeted only with static. Growling softly she took to her feline form attempting to find any sign of civilian or sentinel alike who might need assistance. Seeing a small child she quickly shifted to her elven form, picking the girl up and rushing her to a nearby sentinel. The girl was crying out for her mother, tears streaming down her face leaving Alnarra to turn slowly

There before her eyes she watched as a large marble column cracked from the shifting of the earth beneath, and to the woman the child was calling to it began to tumble. The druidess reached out helplessly, but no amount of time, no amount of training could stop the next few moments. In the blink of an eye she watched the life of another snuffed out, and she could not look away.

Her eyes fixated for a moment upon the horror before her eyes, the screaming of the little girl the cries of the sentinel, a hand going to grab her by the shoulder attempting to pull her back as she continued to hold her arm outstretched for the woman who could have never grabbed it. “Mam we have to go” the sentinel ordered.

Alnarra blinked, turning around slowly as the Sentinel made about her job, carrying the child away to one of the designated evacuation zones, but the druidess stood still, it was as if her lungs had seized up, her mind had ground to a halt. The attack had come on so suddenly, the consequences felt so quickly. As the world around her began to burn to the ground she tried to find it within herself to move, but she could not.

It took a mumbled message over her intercom to spur her into action “Unit 265 has been decimated, we are unable to stop the horde bombardment! I repeat Sentinel strike force 265 has been eliminated”

As time seemed to slow down around her, the woman’s thoughts drifted not to her own safety, not even to the city. Instead she began to simply run, tears streaming down her eyes as her hood fell to her back, shifting forms hands became paws and skin fur, her feline form bounding towards a part of Darnassus more sacred to her then any other, the site of her buried family.

It did not take long to reach the Cities graveyard, but amidst the hailstorm of fire and death, it was as if to cross some horrible divide. And as she stumbled back into her elven form, grabbing at the grave she could only come to the realization of one thing… this part of the city was already engulfed in flame.

The corpses of citizen and sentinel alike lay across the ground, a testament to the blood bath occurring all around her, but she could not focus on the now, simply holding to one of the graves, “I’ll get you… out of here” she said in a panicked manner, starting to use her hands to dig at the soil beneath, “I’m going to move you… somewhere safe!” she shouted pushing away the dirt.

Perhaps in a stroke of luck, or perhaps the nature of fate, a voice disturbed her vaunted ritual, a hand dragging her back and away

“Let me go!” she commanded, tears streaming down her face as a large tree came crashing down upon the very spot she had just been digging, crushing the region and worsening the already growing fire. The site of it caused the woman to shriek as she called out “No! No My babies! You have to let me get my babies!”

The hand pulling her was silent, no doubt one of the countless defenders of the Night elven city, simply attempting to do their job. Flame licked them both as she was forced to abandon her task, left only in tears as she watched a haze of smoke, flame, and ash blanket the vision of where she had just been.

Alnarra in that moment was inconsolable, lost in thought as she began to helplessly look around, scrambling to her own two feet so that she may no longer be dragged by her mysterious savior. The sentinel, figuring she had regained her senses simply pointed in the direction of the next evacuation zone before rejoining the fight to save as many as possible from the savage fires sweeping across the land.

Walking at a defeated pace she was greeted by the sight of countless injured, the smell of burnt flesh and death. Her eyes wondered across a room of huddled frightened masses, a highborne woman near the back of the room using the very last of her strength to maintain a portal back to Darnassus, the priestesses using theirs to create a sort of shield.

With hardly a moment to think she was ushered into the room, being checked over

“She’s fine, move her through” someone shouted before she found herself being ushered towards the portal.

“No… no I’ve… I’m Alnarra Stargrove I’ve got to—”

She was cut off as she found herself roughly shoved through, the portal, a thing she had become so accustomed to over this last year swallowing her up and ripping her away from the city, the people she had sworn to defend

To greet the woman on the other side was a scene of equal chaos, dozens of portals being maintained by equally tired and drained highborne, giving their all to get as many as possible through, huddled masses of burned and injured stepping through. A makeshift ward setup to contain the whole of this disaster.

The next hours seemed but a blur, ushered one way and then the next, checked by medical professional and commoner alike before being assigned to a temporary location, and just as she thought she had found a moment to reclaim herself, to begin to wake up from the chaotic haze there was a buzzing in her ear

“Alnarra Stargrove, please report to the Stormwind Keep,” the voice was of the priestess that had given her the orders to command the Night’s star only… how long was it? How much time had passed?

Brushing herself off she did as instructed, finding herself quickly before the very same council, only now of the five who had greeted her previously only three remained. They smelled of burns and smoke, destruction and haze.

“Alnarra Stargrove,” one spoke softly, “The intelligence you have provided to this council has cost the lives of Kaldorei citizens. Your organization was unable to stop the horde advances upon our lands, unable to predict the full scale of their attack, unable to prevent this atrocity.” She blinked, looking around. Time had become so strange and lost upon her, moments bled into seconds, bled into hours, she truly could not remember how much time it had been since they last spoke.

“By order of this council you are hereby stripped of your rank as commander of Section 28,” the priestess spoke with a coldness

There was a moment when the druidess turned, blinking in confusion as she stared at the women before her

“Your access to classified documentation for the Kaldorei empire is herby revoked, your access to the resources of the Kaldorei agency known as section 28 are herby removed. You are to disavow your knowledge of the organization from this time forth”

Alnarra blinked again, rubbing at her head, feeling at the bloody rag upon it. Had she been unconscious? How long had it been her mind ached, she was unsure of what happened even as she stood before the individuals gathered.

“Do you understand” a priestess leaned forward, burns crawling up the side of her face.

The druidess mouth hung agape as she simply nodded, blinking a few times, she turned slowly feeling as a Kaldorei sentinel removed the communications device from her ear. The truth was she didn’t understand, she didn’t understand any of this. How could she have missed the horde attack, why had they begun an assault on the city? What had happened? How many days had it been since the attack. Holding her head she gave a small wheeze, collapsing to the ground.

She had gone from the commanding officer of a powerful intillegence agency to little more then a refugee of her people in what to her seemed like the blink of an eye. Darnassus had fallen, and she with it.

Huddled among the masses of her people, the woman sat, waiting as so many others were for someone to help heal her wounds, though the gravity of such extended far beyond her physical well being.