pingas plight
-Most cunning scientific fuck-up in all of Mobius
yeah, just a mutually beneficial rivalry. entirely coincidental that she stutters and blushes around her......
A Child of Noble Birth (Warcraft High Elf SI/OC)
- Thread starter Midas_Man
- Start date
- Location
- USA
all I can say is: who? It sounds almost draconic in nature, bearing some commonalities with blue dragon names, and it would fit with the attention that the Dragon Consort gave her during the exam. But I honestly don't recognize it.
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Firebrook is going to be sad. TIME TO RUB HIS FACE IN IT!
Visit him with our new mentor. He's going to have to figure out how to get the most out of this haha.
Firebrook is a Fire mage right?
If not, then what is he actually good at/known for?
Visit him with our new mentor. He's going to have to figure out how to get the most out of this haha.
Firebrook is a Fire mage right?
If not, then what is he actually good at/known for?
- Location
- Australia
Oh no, Sylvia is one of those protagonists. Poor Elsia and Venara... and whatever other poor maidens get dragged in by her density.
If that isn't a dragon I will bake an entire chocolate cake and not immediately eat it. It's probably a Blue but could be a Red from Krasus' input, but the name also makes me think of Sinestra. A cursory google search didn't bring up similar names, so I'm guessing it's an OC or they have a really different name compared to their real one. There are seemingly a good number of Blues bumbling about in Quel'thalas.
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Spectrum
Tell me a secret~
- Location
- Behind you~
Those poor girls have their work cut out for them.
Silveraith
Argent Phantasm
- Location
- Terra Atlantus
Entertaining chapter; the mentor's name had me search google to see if it was a dragon as I thought it would be...
Thank you for sharing Midas.
... and I was right. Found this story on Scribble Hub. It's NSFW but it gave me a brief overview of the next couple chapters; but I think I'll prefer the PG-13 version more. Not going to link anything because of a fear of the Mods.
Thank you for sharing Midas.
- Location
- Malaysia
So… rivalry with benefits? *Wags elfbrows*
pingas plight
-Most cunning scientific fuck-up in all of Mobius
in dbz abridged popo voice I like you.
Honestly I would love to see a scene later on in the story where it's casual conversation saying something like, 'oh yes I remember. when I was younger this one old god used to come into my mind and try and steal my secrets, make me hallucinate in the day, generally try to drive me insane, but they were way to predictable though, still really annoying though.' or some surge like trying to explain to a demon why the attempt to impose their Will on her mind didn't work, and her response is something along the lines of 'wait you're actually that's what you're doing I couldn't tell I had so much experience with Old gods trying to impose their Will on my mind when I was 12 that I didn't even notice'
Or some such variation of the above you know try to put a whole positive spin on the fact that you have a old god mind fuck you every night. Maybe that's the reason why her mana pool is so large.
Or some such variation of the above you know try to put a whole positive spin on the fact that you have a old god mind fuck you every night. Maybe that's the reason why her mana pool is so large.
- Pronouns
- He
if siristra is a dragon, is this in canon lore? I thought that dragons, with the exception of the greens, had very little contact with the mortal races until the start of wow.
Midas_Man
One of the Brightest Stars
[Elf tsundere noises intensify]
.....no comment.
Oh you have no idea....
"Elsia what's wrong? Your face is all red. Do you have a fever?"
or
"Uh Coldwater, I don't think you should give me this. Giving someone chocolates on Valentines Day might me missunderstood for somthing else-"
[Frustrated Coldwater throws box of chocolates at Syllia's head. Is later heard screaming about that 'Dense idiot!' for the rest of the day.]
Yeah. Turned out people were skipping the NSFW bits to actually read the plot rather than the 'plot'. So I made this version. I actually find it easier to write for this version. May take a break from the other one to focus on this version of my story.
And yet, most comments I get on QQ are about the story and plot moving forward rather than those bits.
I just imagine adult Syllia yawning as a demon tries to overpower her mind and just keeps getting 'noped' right out repeatedly.
Okay I can answer one of those questions without spoilers. The most common dragon type that interact with mortals are the Reds; who see themselves as the protectors of life. Followed by the Greens, who work with the Night Elf Druids, and the Blue and Bronze do their own things.
Forgive us. We don't usually mix our fandoms with more intimate pursuits. The divide allows us the illusion that we aren't actually some sort of sorry degenerates.
Being exposed to such makes us all hot and bothered.
- Location
- Australia
Blacks also love working with humans! Neltharion went into human politics after all. Such an inspiration for taking an interest in the younger races like that.
Silveraith
Argent Phantasm
- Location
- Terra Atlantus
Blacks mimic humans because they're not inheritantly magical and it's harder for them to detect a dragon, whereas elves of all types are familiar with magic.
Beyogi
and a fairy
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yeah you shouldn't be surprised. This is basically one of the top warcraft universe fanfics. After reading this I tried to find more good ones and largely failed. Despite millions of people playing WoW the fanfic scene is really small. Or at least they're not writing in the usual avenues.
- Location
- Australia
Yeah finding good warcraft fics is hard. Most are just real short one shots or about characters you aren't really interested in... but good, long, fics are super rare. I can think of two.. series, that are good off the top of head, but can't quite remember the names though. One was a Anduin x Sylvanas one and the other related to the Black Dragonflight, even if I didn't really like the end of it.
As for the naughty bits in the other version... they were okay as written in a vacuum, I guess. But with the story it just felt gratutiously porny, and had me wondering what it added exactly. It's like trying to watch an instructional video on how to repair the S-bend under the sink but the plumber is too busy with owner - dammit man, just tell me how to fix my sink. So yeah, the plot here is much more interesting than the Plot.
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pingas plight
-Most cunning scientific fuck-up in all of Mobius
Mephisto: becoming increasingly infuriated at a texan shouting "Nope." in his face
I can see that happening in a regular dream but eldritch abominations probably wouldn't allow you to have ones where you can simply deny them if you felt like it.
Chapter 9 - Mentor Meeting - OLD
Midas_Man
One of the Brightest Stars
Next Chapter Ready to go!
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Everflight's address wasn't that far from the city limits. A half hour walk at most. And it was seemingly a popular area, given that the road was an actual road and not some dirt path.
But this whole situation just rubbed me the wrong way.
First was the fact that someone picked me by name within the hour of being told people could choose children to mentor. Technically speaking, that didn't surprise me all that much. I was expecting Firebrook to snap me up at the first opportunity. But for some woman I never heard of or met to pick me out so quickly? Oh yes. That set off all sorts of red flags in my head.
Add in the fact of how she muscled her way into, basically, reserving me. A seal from the royal family is not just something you can ask for. Even with my 'real world' twenty-first century knowledge of nobility and the like, I can tell that this is beyond unusual. If it was a favor she called in, why waste a favor with the royal family on me? If it wasn't a favor, and the King himself was watching me…
Was I snapped up by name out of nowhere, or was I unknowingly being watched for some reason?
Some reason like someone noticing an Old God's energy….
I really don't know which is worse.
After a good half hour of walking, I reached the address. It wasn't a house, but an estate.
It sat amongst a vast track of cleared land, tended to by a vast array of enchanted gardening tools that floated about. Each going about their tasks without pause. Several buildings made up the large estate. At the center of it was the manor itself; standing five stories tall, with a large balcony on the highest floor. Red and gold stained windows. Clean marble walls with a red tiled roof. Neatly ordered flower beds. Chairs and benches for lounging rested amidst a massive garden in the front.
A large fountain, a stone dragon with ruby eyes shooting water from its mouth, laid before the front doors. I could just make out a large grassy field in the back with some sheds.
Yet, a few things I saw didn't add up. A series of tiny cracks in this, otherwise, picturesque location.
The grounds around the property seemed a bit too unkempt for an estate of this size. In particular, the footpath to the front door seemed to be overgrown with weeds and other greenery. Some bushes looked a little too disorderly for where they were along the path. Half the flower beds had flower petal colors that did not match any theme or reason. While that in and of itself could be the theme, it doesn't add up when the other half is a clear color scheme of red and yellow.
And then there is the property itself. Overall, it was beautiful. But again, some things did not add up; though far less than the grounds around it. Whereas some windows shined brightly in the sun, others were matted in a fine layer of dust. As if they hadn't been cleaned in years. A few windowsills had bits of paint chipped off them from exposure to the elements. Yet the front door shined as if it had been recently painted.
For a house this size, you'd think that the owners would take more care of it.
Strangest of all was how mana seemed to flow around the house.
Unlike most places, where ambient mana would flow around the building's structure, this place looked like the eye of a hurricane. All ambient mana was shunted out of the area surrounding the property.
In particular, there seemed to be a swell of mana by one of the lawn chairs out front. But no matter how much I looked at it, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Something was not right.
Not right at all.
Taking a breath, I crossed the threshold to the main grounds.
Immediately, I was beset by a sense of vertigo. The world around me seemed to tilt back and forth. My body involuntarily shivered. Every hair on my body stood up. Numbness gripped my entire being for the briefest of moments. I barely even noticed my foot coming down.
Then it was over.
I righted myself before I completely lost balance.
My head swiveled in every direction, looking for anything that might have caused whatever the hell that was!
But there was nothing. Not even some faint dividing line in the ground separating the property from the nature around it.
Not wanting to stick around in one spot. I double timed it over to the front door, doing my best to avoid the uneven tiles along the path.
Reaching the door, breathing heavily, I took a moment to compose myself. Clean up my hair. Straighten out my robes. First impressions were important after all.
When I felt I had made myself presentable, I knocked on the door. Eagerly awaiting my first glimpse of my mentor.
No response.
Huffing, I knocked again.
No response.
Frowning, I knocked harder.
Yet again, no response.
I sighed to myself.
Great. Just great.
Frustrated, I uncrumpled the note I got in the envelope with all the other stuff to see if I had misread the address. Not an unwarranted belief given the 'out of sorts' look this place had.
No, it was right.
'Come here immediately' she wrote. 'Time is of the essence'. Couldn't even bother to be here at the time-
"Actually, you are the one who is late."
I gave a startled squeak as I heard a voice behind me.
Turning to the source, I found that one of the reclining chairs in the garden was occupied by an elven woman smiling at me, an open book sat on her lap. Her red hair ran down to her mid back. Everything about her looked like it was sculpted to perfection, from her blemishless pale skin, to her soft facial features, to her perfect figure. All wrapped up in an immaculate muted red dress.
My response to this beautiful goddess? And what was the first impression given to my possible future mentor?
"Ughh."
Eloquent. I know.
She took my stuttering in stride, "technically, you did arrive on time. But that might as well be late. Arriving on time doesn't imply that you are punctual, it tends to send a message that you don't care about the meeting in question. That you're only going to put forth the minimum effort required."
I know I should be listening to her right now. But I know that seat she's in was empty when I got here. Was she-
"But I do apologize for that little bit of deception earlier," she explained. She stood up and strode towards me. "I'm actually pleasantly surprised. You did see me, but you put too much stock in what your eyes saw rather than what you saw."
I'm genuinely unsure of how to act in this situation.
Everflight came to a stop right in front of me. "I was curious to see how alert you are to mana signatures in your immediate area." She gave a sheepish smile, "perhaps it was a bit cruel to pull such a stunt on our first meeting. Though I can't promise not to do something underhanded like that again."
I didn't respond, though I could feel heat rising to my cheeks.
Her hand clapped my shoulder. "Still, you've done better than most." She congratulated me. "Clearly a good sign for the beginning of a wonderful mentorship!"
Her sizable chest was nearly pushing into my face.
Hands cupped my cheeks, she looked me in the eyes. Then a pinch.
"And you're just so cute!"
"I...um," I stutter my words. I attempted to ask something that didn't make me sound like a flush school girl. "So in your letter, it said that you came from Dalaran-"
"Yes I do hail from Dalaran, thank you for asking," she replied before I finished, releasing my cheek from her grasp. "Going back a bit, always assume you have room for improvement. The moment you believe you have no room to improve is the moment your skills will plateau." Siristra cautioned me.
I mean, she's right but-
"But enough of this boring stuff." She pulled me along as she moved towards the front door, "lets get inside and have ourselves a bit of a talk. Just to get to know one another better."
"But-"
"I hope you don't mind the smell of drying paint," she cut off my protest. "I had to start renovating the grounds without the help of the girls. You know, to get some one-on-one time with my cute new apprentice."
The door opened on its own, and I was ushered past the threshold.
The area just beyond the door looked less like a home and more of an establishment. A large counter and desk laid out before a massive stairwell with two other doorways leading in opposing directions. Velvet red drapes and cloth hung from the doorways and windows. True to her word, the whole place smelled of paint. Tarps and sheets laid sprawled across the floor and covered furniture like chairs and lamps.
It looks like a reception area for a hotel or lounge of some kind.
"Wait girls?" I finally registered what she said.
"Oh don't worry about them! You're my only apprentice right now. Some used to be. Some of them are still under my wings so to say, but for a different reason". She happily explained. "They'll be here in a few days to help with the last bits of renovations. For today you have my undivided attention!"
She pushed me past the desks and up the stairs. I heard the door close of its own accord as we walked.
All the while enchanted paint brushes and buckets of a dizzying number of sizes hovered about. The brushes dip into various colored buckets and smear fresh paint onto clearly worn walls and the ceiling. I actually flinched as a glob of wet, gold, paint splashed down in front of me.
"Like I said, watch the paint!"
We moved from staircase to staircase, ascending to the top floor of the building.
I had to ask. "What is this place?"
"Some place I got on the cheap." She explained as if that was all that needed to be said. I watched as a drop of paint bound for her was defected by some kind of barrier. It splashed on contact with it. Her dress was unmarred by paint.
"This is cheap?" I gestured around, particularly to a crystal chandelier being hoisted into place by arcane energies and cleaned by enchanted cloth.
Siristra gave a smug smile, "it only cost about ten thousand gold. So yes, on the cheap!"
"And when I got here it was in ruins." She continued, "the windows were all smashed. The grass overgrown. Weeds everywhere. The pools held water contaminated by green ichor. The greenhouse was covered in dead plants. And that is only the outside. Inside everything that could be wrong was!"
As we ascended, I caught glimpses of what laid in the hallways of each floor we passed.
Portraits of dragons. Lots and lots of dragons. Mostly red colored. They weren't shown as monsters, but rather in a noble light. If the scenes of them descending from clouds or them watering fields of flowers was anything to go by. Even one with them holding a little lamb in it's clawed hands.
"The wood had rotted away. The floors had holes in them. Wallpaper had long peeled off. What little furniture there was here was old and hideous from exposure to the elements. Oh, and let's not forget all the wild animals that made their home here! Rats. Bats. Spiders. An entire pack of wolves on the first floor! And that is just this building. I'll spare you the details of what I found in the residential building or the greenhouse."
When we reached the end of the last stairwell, we were greeted by a large set of doors. The stench of paint vanished entirely as we entered the far room.
"If I had bought this property when it looked like it does right now, then I'd probably pay something along the lines of one hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand gold. So I think that it was pretty cheap for the price I paid."
We entered the room, and I was taken aback by its size. It was large! Maybe as large as my entire home in terms of floor space. A set of comfortable sofas and reclining chairs off to the side, a fireplace, and a massive bed that dominated the far end of the room. There was a doorway, covered in silk that hung from the empty door frame, that went off into another room.
However, two other things caught my eye.
The first was an entire wall of tinted red glass. Walking over to it, I looked out to see that it was a window to a lower level; probably the ground floor. I saw a collection of tables, chairs, and other furniture below. Large square sheets of tarp laid across them; polka dotted by various shades of red and gold paint that seemingly dripped from the ceiling.
The other thing that really got my attention was a massive mural at the far end of the room, hung just above the bed. A mosaic of different colored stones and precious gems. All slotted together like a collage to make an image. It depicted a great red dragon breathing fire on a field of flowers. Below the dragon were women. They were, in a word, tastefully depicted dancing along the flames and rows of flowers.
"Ah but enough about boring stuff," Siritra broke me out of my thoughts, motioning over to the sofas. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll be out in a minute."
She proceeded through the silken doorway.
Minutes passed as I snuggled into my overly cushy seat. Trying to process what the hell kind of place I walked into.
She's a powerful mage. There is no denying that. All the enchanted items at work. All the magic that seemed to bellow around her every step. That took a lot of training and skill to pull off.
But again that makes me wonder who she is and why she….
"Sorry for the delay."
My head turned to see her walk back into the room. Still barefoot, she returned; a bottle of wine and two empty glasses in hand.
"So, how about we get to know one another!"
----
When Siristra said she wanted to talk, I thought it was going to be more about magic related stuff, academics, hell, even just a get to know you type of talk.
"-so you know what I found? Guess? The very same bitch! 'It's just a one time thing' he told me. I'll admit, I was annoyed. Not that he was sleeping with her, but that he had the gall to lie to my face about it..."
I assumed that the stuff would be about what life was like in Dalaran compared to Silvermoon. Or asking how my home life was.
"- told him not to, but the father came in anyway! So what does this man do when he sees his girl having some harmless fun with a boy she likes? He goes off about marriage and purity and 'think about her image'! Ugh. People like him are just damn sticks in the mud. It wasn't like she was going to run off with the boy under the cover of night. Okay sure, they got married by the end of the year, but she didn't run off like that old bear trap was fearing!"
For the past hour and a half, if the clock was correct, she's more so just talked to me about everything in her life. And I mean everything...
"-and I'll be honest, I didn't get why the girls were fawning over Malcom. I mean sure, he looked like a strapping young man. Not the bulging with muscles kind, but the athletic lean sort of fellow. He also had a better than average head on his shoulders. Basically, the dependable sort. But his trade was less than ideal. I mean sure! Some people are fine with stable hands. Personally, I prefer my partners with a little more social mobility and grace. I'm not thumbing my nose up at anyone who isn't a prince or countess. But if you want to be serious and start a family, these are the things you need to keep in mind. Why, I remember when-"
This was very much outside of my wheelhouse.
"- so I was stuck in that damn keep for six weeks. Six! And I can assure you no knight in shining armor was coming to save me! After all that bluster from earlier, there was no way I was getting any help from them! So what did I do? Simple; I played to my strengths. Build up some trust with them. A kind word here. An understanding quote there. A tactically precise tear at a sad backstory. Then, when their guard is down and they think you have a sympathetic opinion of them, you steal a horse from their stables and ride. Ride right into the sunset!"
This was the uber powerful mage I had wondered about hours ago? The mage who not only singled me out by name, but had enough clout to get the royals to intervene on her behalf? The image in my head was that of some ancient sage with eons of experience under their belt. Some scholarly type. Maybe even the seductress I saw when I arrived. Not...
"-and then they left! No letter. No note. Nothing. My babies left without saying a word! They just got up and left the nest! I was billowing fire, literally!"
..this.
"Why me?" I groaned to myself as she went on about her kids.
I only noticed something was off when silence filled the room, as opposed to her semi coherent ramblings.
"I assumed that question would be at the top of the list." Siristra hummed, finally stopping her long trade about how her 'babies' flew out of the nest. She sat up, no longer reclined. "Truth be told, I came here at the behest of my Mistress."
"Who is," I led her on, even more curious now.
"A very powerful woman," Everflight remained elusive.
"Who is," I repeated myself.
She smiled, "if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a question first."
I mean, fair is fair I guess. She did basically spill her whole fucking life's story to me over the course of an hour. Might as well tell her some stuff about me.
"Sure."
"Tell me," she leaned forward, "do you or have you ever had any strange dreams?"
"Strange?" I parroted. Wait, was she talking about-
"Oh you know; strange." She gestured about. "Weird. Abnormal. Scary. Nightmarish…." Her eyes took a predatory glint at the last example.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. My gaze went to my hands. My fingers nervously wriggling into a clenched fist. That phrasing. Could only be one thing she's asking about.
Siristra hummed at my reaction. "About what I expected. So, I ask again; are you suffering from strange dreams?" Her tone had grown dreadfully serious.
I sat quietly for a moment. The thing I felt earlier, could it have been some kind of barrier or alarm system? A system that would obviously alert someone if something malign had entered the area.
Like someone who is under the watchful eye of an Old God...
"You already know…" I muttered. Why bother saying otherwise. She knows. Why else be so specific with her question.
"I want to hear you say it." she stated simply.
"....yes…" I kept my gaze downwards.
"And these nightmares, what happens in them? Can you remember anything? Or do you just know something happened when you wake?" She dropped any pretense of being unaware of my predicament.
"...yes."
"What are you saying 'yes' to?"
"Everything," I looked her in the eyes.
"Can you describe them for me?"
"Why do you care," I snapped at her.
Instead of answering, she simply stood up to take a seat next to me. Her arms quickly wrapped me in a soft, motherly even.
"I care because you need help." she told me softly. Like a mother trying to soothe a frightened child, she pulled me deeper into an embrace. "You are strong. Stronger than most if I'm right about what I think is wrong."
"And what do you think is wrong?"
She paused to choose her words. "I think you have garnered the attention of beings whose natures are dark and vile beyond imagining. I think you have been withstanding their siren call for a length of time where most people, some many centuries your senior, would have broken. And, I think you are very much aware of both these facts."
I didn't say anything; just snuggling further into her embrace.
"Knowing them, they told you as much." She continued. "They probably preen and praise how resilient you are. How pure you were. All the while, showing how others fared before you, and what became of them after they submitted. Mocking your fortitude and the futility of it all."
We sat there for a few minutes. Me soaking in what I was just told. Siristra, calmly holding me.
"...how'd you figure it out" I finally spoke.
"There are signs. Things to look for. People who have their attention have a certain aura about them." She explained. "Vile magics that cling to them like tar. It's subtle, but not beyond detection. If one knows what to look for."
"And how did you know to look for it in the first place?"
I felt her hand run through my hair.
"Truthfully, I never would have assumed you to have their attention in the first place." She admitted. "You are too sane and well composed to stand out. No mindless ramblings or twitchiness so common in their prey."
"But how did you know to look at me, specifically, for Old God influence?" I dropped the term to just put all our cards on the metaphorical table.
"Remember I mentioned my Mistress?" I nodded. "Well, she told me to seek you out. She said that her beloved had seen you and felt the Corruptor's presence around you. That he told her you needed help soon, lest you fall into madness."
Every hair on my body went up at the mere thought of becoming one of N'zoth's puppets.
"So that's the only reason?"
Siristra moved a stand of hair out of my face. "Initially, yes. I planned to aid you, then watch you for a time to make sure you were well."
"What is 'a time'?"
"A decade at least." she quickly responded.
"What about my mentorship?"
She gave me a sad smile, "someone else would have seen to it after we concluded our business."
Kind of took the wind out of my sails. I mean it makes sense. Make sure the ticking time bomb is defused at any cost. I...
"But after having seen who you are, and getting to know who you are, I would be happy to instruct you." She cut my train of thought off.
Really?
"You've only known me for two hours at most. And in that time, this conversation is the most you've heard me talk. What could have- How could you have changed your mind so quickly?"
Then, she did something I never would have expected. She booped me on the nose with her finger!
"I know because I am a very good judge of character," she explained. "The short time we've been with each other told me all I need to know about who you are. And what I've seen shows great promise. And even if you managed to trick me, that would mean you, at the tender age of twelve, are intelligent enough, and wield such a fine tuned control over your micro expressions and body language, that you managed to outsmart a woman many millennia your age. At that point, as long as I could prove you weren't malicious, I'd teach you regardless!"
My deadpan stare was all the response I gave her.
"Regardless of anything we say or do right now, we do have work to do," she got up and walked over to a cupboard by the bed.
"You mean with stopping N'zoth from corrupting me," I asked her.
"Just because you lasted this long, doesn't mean you will hold out indefinitely." she explained with her head down searching for something. "Soon enough, you will fall. Could even be as soon as tomorrow. I doubt that, but anything is possible. So we need to work as quickly as possible."
"So you're going to make it so that oversized squid can't get into my head ever again!" I almost jumped for joy.
"Nope!" she replied in a far too cheery voice for my liking.
"But, you just said..."
"I said I was going to help you, and I will," she quickly explained. "But what you're going through isn't some illness that can be cured with a simple potion. Or a malevolent spirit that can be cast out by a simple spell. Or even a malignant curse. You are dealing with an Old God. Very few things can protect against the attention of those things for very long. Fewer still are readily available in any meaningful way."
I saw her walk back with two vials in her hand. They were filled with a soft glowing green liquid.
"So, we're going to improvise."
I eyed the potions. "But didn't you just say potions didn't work."
"Oh they don't work the way you're thinking." she held them out for me. "These aren't going to protect you from the Corruptor, these are going to keep you out of his grasp long enough for us to get the real work done. Careful with them, they are the only two potions of their kind in all of Quel'Thalas."
Taking both vials in hand, I eyed the green liquid curiously. "And how is that?"
"I need to explain what something is and what is going to happen before I explain what these do." Siristra took a deep breath. "When most people go to sleep, their mind enters a plane called the Emerald Dream. Few are ever aware of themselves entering the dream. Fewer still manifest in the realm proper. And only a miniscule number of those who manifest are lucid during the experience. Are you following so far?"
I nodded, "I think so."
"Good. So, everyone enters the Emerald Dream. Many will manifest properly a few dozen times in their life. Magic users, mages and the like, will manifest more often; a few hundred times their whole life for example. It's more complicated than that, but that is all you really need to know about how the Dream works at this time." She explained as best she could.
" So," Siristra continued. "When people manifest in the dream, almost nothing ever happens to them. Worst thing that normally happens, a person wakes up from a vivid dream they may remember with a bit more clarity than most. Or a bad experience will be remembered as a particularly frightening nightmare. However there are worse possibilities. The most common is that their mind will wander the dream and never return to their body. They become unresponsive in the waking world and often die soon after."
"But…" I think I remember what comes next from one of the World of Warcraft expansions.
"But," she continued. "Overtime, an opening has emerged in the Dream. Through this opening, the Old God's can influence the minds of people as they sleep. If they wish it, they can manifest people into the dream and keep a connection with them as they return to the waking world. That is what is happening to you."
"Is that how it always works?"
She shook her head. "No, but this method accelerates corruption. Merely being in the presence of certain artifacts and objects they have empowered causes similar effects. But through the Dream their reach is far greater."
"So, how do you stop something like that?"
She smirked, "you enter the Dream, lucid, and build up your defenses. And, if it is possible, sever the connection. "
I eyed the vials again. "So these let us do that?"
"No, that keeps one out of the Emerald Dream entirely. The magical properties force your mind to remain in your body for the duration of your sleep. In short, something akin to a dreamless sleep."
Okay, now I am confused.
Siristra must have picked up my confusion, because she continued her explanation.
"I do not know how to teach someone to build up their defenses, let alone deal with something like this," she admitted. "I can protect myself, but that's about it. To help you, I called on the help of an old friend who is far more knowledgeable with this sort of thing than I ever will be."
I sat there for a moment, my eyes focused on the vials. Processing what I was just told.
"How long will I have to wait," I asked.
"Two days." She told me. "By then, my friend assures me she'll be ready to assist us."
"But that's a school day," I muttered out without thinking. Honestly, that was the least of my worries. Hell, I'd drop out of Dath'Remar entirely and live on the street if it meant I could keep myself sane for the coming years!
"Oh, don't you worry about that. I'll send the Academy something or other to excuse you. 'Important mentor-apprentice things need to be done' or something like that." She waived off my concerns.
I kind of tuned her out by now, my attention solely on the vials and my soon to be reckoning with N'zoth.
When I left shortly after, I felt like there was something I forgot to ask her…
Eh, I wouldn't have forgotten it if it was important.
----
As evening came, I followed Siristra's instructions to the letter.
Right before bed, I downed one of the potions. I was only half way to my bed before I felt an intense sense of drowsiness overtake me. Just before I completely blacked out, I landed on the covers, too tired to even snuggle underneath.
A pleasant, if dreamless, night followed.
If only more nights were like it.
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I always find it very fun writing Siristra's character. Its a tasteful blend of being too old to give a damn about the little things, and witty enough to bullshit her way out of a problem. All while being smart enough to back it up. Very fun indeed.
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Everflight's address wasn't that far from the city limits. A half hour walk at most. And it was seemingly a popular area, given that the road was an actual road and not some dirt path.
But this whole situation just rubbed me the wrong way.
First was the fact that someone picked me by name within the hour of being told people could choose children to mentor. Technically speaking, that didn't surprise me all that much. I was expecting Firebrook to snap me up at the first opportunity. But for some woman I never heard of or met to pick me out so quickly? Oh yes. That set off all sorts of red flags in my head.
Add in the fact of how she muscled her way into, basically, reserving me. A seal from the royal family is not just something you can ask for. Even with my 'real world' twenty-first century knowledge of nobility and the like, I can tell that this is beyond unusual. If it was a favor she called in, why waste a favor with the royal family on me? If it wasn't a favor, and the King himself was watching me…
Was I snapped up by name out of nowhere, or was I unknowingly being watched for some reason?
Some reason like someone noticing an Old God's energy….
I really don't know which is worse.
After a good half hour of walking, I reached the address. It wasn't a house, but an estate.
It sat amongst a vast track of cleared land, tended to by a vast array of enchanted gardening tools that floated about. Each going about their tasks without pause. Several buildings made up the large estate. At the center of it was the manor itself; standing five stories tall, with a large balcony on the highest floor. Red and gold stained windows. Clean marble walls with a red tiled roof. Neatly ordered flower beds. Chairs and benches for lounging rested amidst a massive garden in the front.
A large fountain, a stone dragon with ruby eyes shooting water from its mouth, laid before the front doors. I could just make out a large grassy field in the back with some sheds.
Yet, a few things I saw didn't add up. A series of tiny cracks in this, otherwise, picturesque location.
The grounds around the property seemed a bit too unkempt for an estate of this size. In particular, the footpath to the front door seemed to be overgrown with weeds and other greenery. Some bushes looked a little too disorderly for where they were along the path. Half the flower beds had flower petal colors that did not match any theme or reason. While that in and of itself could be the theme, it doesn't add up when the other half is a clear color scheme of red and yellow.
And then there is the property itself. Overall, it was beautiful. But again, some things did not add up; though far less than the grounds around it. Whereas some windows shined brightly in the sun, others were matted in a fine layer of dust. As if they hadn't been cleaned in years. A few windowsills had bits of paint chipped off them from exposure to the elements. Yet the front door shined as if it had been recently painted.
For a house this size, you'd think that the owners would take more care of it.
Strangest of all was how mana seemed to flow around the house.
Unlike most places, where ambient mana would flow around the building's structure, this place looked like the eye of a hurricane. All ambient mana was shunted out of the area surrounding the property.
In particular, there seemed to be a swell of mana by one of the lawn chairs out front. But no matter how much I looked at it, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Something was not right.
Not right at all.
Taking a breath, I crossed the threshold to the main grounds.
Immediately, I was beset by a sense of vertigo. The world around me seemed to tilt back and forth. My body involuntarily shivered. Every hair on my body stood up. Numbness gripped my entire being for the briefest of moments. I barely even noticed my foot coming down.
Then it was over.
I righted myself before I completely lost balance.
My head swiveled in every direction, looking for anything that might have caused whatever the hell that was!
But there was nothing. Not even some faint dividing line in the ground separating the property from the nature around it.
Not wanting to stick around in one spot. I double timed it over to the front door, doing my best to avoid the uneven tiles along the path.
Reaching the door, breathing heavily, I took a moment to compose myself. Clean up my hair. Straighten out my robes. First impressions were important after all.
When I felt I had made myself presentable, I knocked on the door. Eagerly awaiting my first glimpse of my mentor.
No response.
Huffing, I knocked again.
No response.
Frowning, I knocked harder.
Yet again, no response.
I sighed to myself.
Great. Just great.
Frustrated, I uncrumpled the note I got in the envelope with all the other stuff to see if I had misread the address. Not an unwarranted belief given the 'out of sorts' look this place had.
No, it was right.
'Come here immediately' she wrote. 'Time is of the essence'. Couldn't even bother to be here at the time-
"Actually, you are the one who is late."
I gave a startled squeak as I heard a voice behind me.
Turning to the source, I found that one of the reclining chairs in the garden was occupied by an elven woman smiling at me, an open book sat on her lap. Her red hair ran down to her mid back. Everything about her looked like it was sculpted to perfection, from her blemishless pale skin, to her soft facial features, to her perfect figure. All wrapped up in an immaculate muted red dress.
My response to this beautiful goddess? And what was the first impression given to my possible future mentor?
"Ughh."
Eloquent. I know.
She took my stuttering in stride, "technically, you did arrive on time. But that might as well be late. Arriving on time doesn't imply that you are punctual, it tends to send a message that you don't care about the meeting in question. That you're only going to put forth the minimum effort required."
I know I should be listening to her right now. But I know that seat she's in was empty when I got here. Was she-
"But I do apologize for that little bit of deception earlier," she explained. She stood up and strode towards me. "I'm actually pleasantly surprised. You did see me, but you put too much stock in what your eyes saw rather than what you saw."
I'm genuinely unsure of how to act in this situation.
Everflight came to a stop right in front of me. "I was curious to see how alert you are to mana signatures in your immediate area." She gave a sheepish smile, "perhaps it was a bit cruel to pull such a stunt on our first meeting. Though I can't promise not to do something underhanded like that again."
I didn't respond, though I could feel heat rising to my cheeks.
Her hand clapped my shoulder. "Still, you've done better than most." She congratulated me. "Clearly a good sign for the beginning of a wonderful mentorship!"
Her sizable chest was nearly pushing into my face.
Hands cupped my cheeks, she looked me in the eyes. Then a pinch.
"And you're just so cute!"
"I...um," I stutter my words. I attempted to ask something that didn't make me sound like a flush school girl. "So in your letter, it said that you came from Dalaran-"
"Yes I do hail from Dalaran, thank you for asking," she replied before I finished, releasing my cheek from her grasp. "Going back a bit, always assume you have room for improvement. The moment you believe you have no room to improve is the moment your skills will plateau." Siristra cautioned me.
I mean, she's right but-
"But enough of this boring stuff." She pulled me along as she moved towards the front door, "lets get inside and have ourselves a bit of a talk. Just to get to know one another better."
"But-"
"I hope you don't mind the smell of drying paint," she cut off my protest. "I had to start renovating the grounds without the help of the girls. You know, to get some one-on-one time with my cute new apprentice."
The door opened on its own, and I was ushered past the threshold.
The area just beyond the door looked less like a home and more of an establishment. A large counter and desk laid out before a massive stairwell with two other doorways leading in opposing directions. Velvet red drapes and cloth hung from the doorways and windows. True to her word, the whole place smelled of paint. Tarps and sheets laid sprawled across the floor and covered furniture like chairs and lamps.
It looks like a reception area for a hotel or lounge of some kind.
"Wait girls?" I finally registered what she said.
"Oh don't worry about them! You're my only apprentice right now. Some used to be. Some of them are still under my wings so to say, but for a different reason". She happily explained. "They'll be here in a few days to help with the last bits of renovations. For today you have my undivided attention!"
She pushed me past the desks and up the stairs. I heard the door close of its own accord as we walked.
All the while enchanted paint brushes and buckets of a dizzying number of sizes hovered about. The brushes dip into various colored buckets and smear fresh paint onto clearly worn walls and the ceiling. I actually flinched as a glob of wet, gold, paint splashed down in front of me.
"Like I said, watch the paint!"
We moved from staircase to staircase, ascending to the top floor of the building.
I had to ask. "What is this place?"
"Some place I got on the cheap." She explained as if that was all that needed to be said. I watched as a drop of paint bound for her was defected by some kind of barrier. It splashed on contact with it. Her dress was unmarred by paint.
"This is cheap?" I gestured around, particularly to a crystal chandelier being hoisted into place by arcane energies and cleaned by enchanted cloth.
Siristra gave a smug smile, "it only cost about ten thousand gold. So yes, on the cheap!"
"And when I got here it was in ruins." She continued, "the windows were all smashed. The grass overgrown. Weeds everywhere. The pools held water contaminated by green ichor. The greenhouse was covered in dead plants. And that is only the outside. Inside everything that could be wrong was!"
As we ascended, I caught glimpses of what laid in the hallways of each floor we passed.
Portraits of dragons. Lots and lots of dragons. Mostly red colored. They weren't shown as monsters, but rather in a noble light. If the scenes of them descending from clouds or them watering fields of flowers was anything to go by. Even one with them holding a little lamb in it's clawed hands.
"The wood had rotted away. The floors had holes in them. Wallpaper had long peeled off. What little furniture there was here was old and hideous from exposure to the elements. Oh, and let's not forget all the wild animals that made their home here! Rats. Bats. Spiders. An entire pack of wolves on the first floor! And that is just this building. I'll spare you the details of what I found in the residential building or the greenhouse."
When we reached the end of the last stairwell, we were greeted by a large set of doors. The stench of paint vanished entirely as we entered the far room.
"If I had bought this property when it looked like it does right now, then I'd probably pay something along the lines of one hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand gold. So I think that it was pretty cheap for the price I paid."
We entered the room, and I was taken aback by its size. It was large! Maybe as large as my entire home in terms of floor space. A set of comfortable sofas and reclining chairs off to the side, a fireplace, and a massive bed that dominated the far end of the room. There was a doorway, covered in silk that hung from the empty door frame, that went off into another room.
However, two other things caught my eye.
The first was an entire wall of tinted red glass. Walking over to it, I looked out to see that it was a window to a lower level; probably the ground floor. I saw a collection of tables, chairs, and other furniture below. Large square sheets of tarp laid across them; polka dotted by various shades of red and gold paint that seemingly dripped from the ceiling.
The other thing that really got my attention was a massive mural at the far end of the room, hung just above the bed. A mosaic of different colored stones and precious gems. All slotted together like a collage to make an image. It depicted a great red dragon breathing fire on a field of flowers. Below the dragon were women. They were, in a word, tastefully depicted dancing along the flames and rows of flowers.
"Ah but enough about boring stuff," Siritra broke me out of my thoughts, motioning over to the sofas. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll be out in a minute."
She proceeded through the silken doorway.
Minutes passed as I snuggled into my overly cushy seat. Trying to process what the hell kind of place I walked into.
She's a powerful mage. There is no denying that. All the enchanted items at work. All the magic that seemed to bellow around her every step. That took a lot of training and skill to pull off.
But again that makes me wonder who she is and why she….
"Sorry for the delay."
My head turned to see her walk back into the room. Still barefoot, she returned; a bottle of wine and two empty glasses in hand.
"So, how about we get to know one another!"
----
When Siristra said she wanted to talk, I thought it was going to be more about magic related stuff, academics, hell, even just a get to know you type of talk.
"-so you know what I found? Guess? The very same bitch! 'It's just a one time thing' he told me. I'll admit, I was annoyed. Not that he was sleeping with her, but that he had the gall to lie to my face about it..."
I assumed that the stuff would be about what life was like in Dalaran compared to Silvermoon. Or asking how my home life was.
"- told him not to, but the father came in anyway! So what does this man do when he sees his girl having some harmless fun with a boy she likes? He goes off about marriage and purity and 'think about her image'! Ugh. People like him are just damn sticks in the mud. It wasn't like she was going to run off with the boy under the cover of night. Okay sure, they got married by the end of the year, but she didn't run off like that old bear trap was fearing!"
For the past hour and a half, if the clock was correct, she's more so just talked to me about everything in her life. And I mean everything...
"-and I'll be honest, I didn't get why the girls were fawning over Malcom. I mean sure, he looked like a strapping young man. Not the bulging with muscles kind, but the athletic lean sort of fellow. He also had a better than average head on his shoulders. Basically, the dependable sort. But his trade was less than ideal. I mean sure! Some people are fine with stable hands. Personally, I prefer my partners with a little more social mobility and grace. I'm not thumbing my nose up at anyone who isn't a prince or countess. But if you want to be serious and start a family, these are the things you need to keep in mind. Why, I remember when-"
This was very much outside of my wheelhouse.
"- so I was stuck in that damn keep for six weeks. Six! And I can assure you no knight in shining armor was coming to save me! After all that bluster from earlier, there was no way I was getting any help from them! So what did I do? Simple; I played to my strengths. Build up some trust with them. A kind word here. An understanding quote there. A tactically precise tear at a sad backstory. Then, when their guard is down and they think you have a sympathetic opinion of them, you steal a horse from their stables and ride. Ride right into the sunset!"
This was the uber powerful mage I had wondered about hours ago? The mage who not only singled me out by name, but had enough clout to get the royals to intervene on her behalf? The image in my head was that of some ancient sage with eons of experience under their belt. Some scholarly type. Maybe even the seductress I saw when I arrived. Not...
"-and then they left! No letter. No note. Nothing. My babies left without saying a word! They just got up and left the nest! I was billowing fire, literally!"
..this.
"Why me?" I groaned to myself as she went on about her kids.
I only noticed something was off when silence filled the room, as opposed to her semi coherent ramblings.
"I assumed that question would be at the top of the list." Siristra hummed, finally stopping her long trade about how her 'babies' flew out of the nest. She sat up, no longer reclined. "Truth be told, I came here at the behest of my Mistress."
"Who is," I led her on, even more curious now.
"A very powerful woman," Everflight remained elusive.
"Who is," I repeated myself.
She smiled, "if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a question first."
I mean, fair is fair I guess. She did basically spill her whole fucking life's story to me over the course of an hour. Might as well tell her some stuff about me.
"Sure."
"Tell me," she leaned forward, "do you or have you ever had any strange dreams?"
"Strange?" I parroted. Wait, was she talking about-
"Oh you know; strange." She gestured about. "Weird. Abnormal. Scary. Nightmarish…." Her eyes took a predatory glint at the last example.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. My gaze went to my hands. My fingers nervously wriggling into a clenched fist. That phrasing. Could only be one thing she's asking about.
Siristra hummed at my reaction. "About what I expected. So, I ask again; are you suffering from strange dreams?" Her tone had grown dreadfully serious.
I sat quietly for a moment. The thing I felt earlier, could it have been some kind of barrier or alarm system? A system that would obviously alert someone if something malign had entered the area.
Like someone who is under the watchful eye of an Old God...
"You already know…" I muttered. Why bother saying otherwise. She knows. Why else be so specific with her question.
"I want to hear you say it." she stated simply.
"....yes…" I kept my gaze downwards.
"And these nightmares, what happens in them? Can you remember anything? Or do you just know something happened when you wake?" She dropped any pretense of being unaware of my predicament.
"...yes."
"What are you saying 'yes' to?"
"Everything," I looked her in the eyes.
"Can you describe them for me?"
"Why do you care," I snapped at her.
Instead of answering, she simply stood up to take a seat next to me. Her arms quickly wrapped me in a soft, motherly even.
"I care because you need help." she told me softly. Like a mother trying to soothe a frightened child, she pulled me deeper into an embrace. "You are strong. Stronger than most if I'm right about what I think is wrong."
"And what do you think is wrong?"
She paused to choose her words. "I think you have garnered the attention of beings whose natures are dark and vile beyond imagining. I think you have been withstanding their siren call for a length of time where most people, some many centuries your senior, would have broken. And, I think you are very much aware of both these facts."
I didn't say anything; just snuggling further into her embrace.
"Knowing them, they told you as much." She continued. "They probably preen and praise how resilient you are. How pure you were. All the while, showing how others fared before you, and what became of them after they submitted. Mocking your fortitude and the futility of it all."
We sat there for a few minutes. Me soaking in what I was just told. Siristra, calmly holding me.
"...how'd you figure it out" I finally spoke.
"There are signs. Things to look for. People who have their attention have a certain aura about them." She explained. "Vile magics that cling to them like tar. It's subtle, but not beyond detection. If one knows what to look for."
"And how did you know to look for it in the first place?"
I felt her hand run through my hair.
"Truthfully, I never would have assumed you to have their attention in the first place." She admitted. "You are too sane and well composed to stand out. No mindless ramblings or twitchiness so common in their prey."
"But how did you know to look at me, specifically, for Old God influence?" I dropped the term to just put all our cards on the metaphorical table.
"Remember I mentioned my Mistress?" I nodded. "Well, she told me to seek you out. She said that her beloved had seen you and felt the Corruptor's presence around you. That he told her you needed help soon, lest you fall into madness."
Every hair on my body went up at the mere thought of becoming one of N'zoth's puppets.
"So that's the only reason?"
Siristra moved a stand of hair out of my face. "Initially, yes. I planned to aid you, then watch you for a time to make sure you were well."
"What is 'a time'?"
"A decade at least." she quickly responded.
"What about my mentorship?"
She gave me a sad smile, "someone else would have seen to it after we concluded our business."
Kind of took the wind out of my sails. I mean it makes sense. Make sure the ticking time bomb is defused at any cost. I...
"But after having seen who you are, and getting to know who you are, I would be happy to instruct you." She cut my train of thought off.
Really?
"You've only known me for two hours at most. And in that time, this conversation is the most you've heard me talk. What could have- How could you have changed your mind so quickly?"
Then, she did something I never would have expected. She booped me on the nose with her finger!
"I know because I am a very good judge of character," she explained. "The short time we've been with each other told me all I need to know about who you are. And what I've seen shows great promise. And even if you managed to trick me, that would mean you, at the tender age of twelve, are intelligent enough, and wield such a fine tuned control over your micro expressions and body language, that you managed to outsmart a woman many millennia your age. At that point, as long as I could prove you weren't malicious, I'd teach you regardless!"
My deadpan stare was all the response I gave her.
"Regardless of anything we say or do right now, we do have work to do," she got up and walked over to a cupboard by the bed.
"You mean with stopping N'zoth from corrupting me," I asked her.
"Just because you lasted this long, doesn't mean you will hold out indefinitely." she explained with her head down searching for something. "Soon enough, you will fall. Could even be as soon as tomorrow. I doubt that, but anything is possible. So we need to work as quickly as possible."
"So you're going to make it so that oversized squid can't get into my head ever again!" I almost jumped for joy.
"Nope!" she replied in a far too cheery voice for my liking.
"But, you just said..."
"I said I was going to help you, and I will," she quickly explained. "But what you're going through isn't some illness that can be cured with a simple potion. Or a malevolent spirit that can be cast out by a simple spell. Or even a malignant curse. You are dealing with an Old God. Very few things can protect against the attention of those things for very long. Fewer still are readily available in any meaningful way."
I saw her walk back with two vials in her hand. They were filled with a soft glowing green liquid.
"So, we're going to improvise."
I eyed the potions. "But didn't you just say potions didn't work."
"Oh they don't work the way you're thinking." she held them out for me. "These aren't going to protect you from the Corruptor, these are going to keep you out of his grasp long enough for us to get the real work done. Careful with them, they are the only two potions of their kind in all of Quel'Thalas."
Taking both vials in hand, I eyed the green liquid curiously. "And how is that?"
"I need to explain what something is and what is going to happen before I explain what these do." Siristra took a deep breath. "When most people go to sleep, their mind enters a plane called the Emerald Dream. Few are ever aware of themselves entering the dream. Fewer still manifest in the realm proper. And only a miniscule number of those who manifest are lucid during the experience. Are you following so far?"
I nodded, "I think so."
"Good. So, everyone enters the Emerald Dream. Many will manifest properly a few dozen times in their life. Magic users, mages and the like, will manifest more often; a few hundred times their whole life for example. It's more complicated than that, but that is all you really need to know about how the Dream works at this time." She explained as best she could.
" So," Siristra continued. "When people manifest in the dream, almost nothing ever happens to them. Worst thing that normally happens, a person wakes up from a vivid dream they may remember with a bit more clarity than most. Or a bad experience will be remembered as a particularly frightening nightmare. However there are worse possibilities. The most common is that their mind will wander the dream and never return to their body. They become unresponsive in the waking world and often die soon after."
"But…" I think I remember what comes next from one of the World of Warcraft expansions.
"But," she continued. "Overtime, an opening has emerged in the Dream. Through this opening, the Old God's can influence the minds of people as they sleep. If they wish it, they can manifest people into the dream and keep a connection with them as they return to the waking world. That is what is happening to you."
"Is that how it always works?"
She shook her head. "No, but this method accelerates corruption. Merely being in the presence of certain artifacts and objects they have empowered causes similar effects. But through the Dream their reach is far greater."
"So, how do you stop something like that?"
She smirked, "you enter the Dream, lucid, and build up your defenses. And, if it is possible, sever the connection. "
I eyed the vials again. "So these let us do that?"
"No, that keeps one out of the Emerald Dream entirely. The magical properties force your mind to remain in your body for the duration of your sleep. In short, something akin to a dreamless sleep."
Okay, now I am confused.
Siristra must have picked up my confusion, because she continued her explanation.
"I do not know how to teach someone to build up their defenses, let alone deal with something like this," she admitted. "I can protect myself, but that's about it. To help you, I called on the help of an old friend who is far more knowledgeable with this sort of thing than I ever will be."
I sat there for a moment, my eyes focused on the vials. Processing what I was just told.
"How long will I have to wait," I asked.
"Two days." She told me. "By then, my friend assures me she'll be ready to assist us."
"But that's a school day," I muttered out without thinking. Honestly, that was the least of my worries. Hell, I'd drop out of Dath'Remar entirely and live on the street if it meant I could keep myself sane for the coming years!
"Oh, don't you worry about that. I'll send the Academy something or other to excuse you. 'Important mentor-apprentice things need to be done' or something like that." She waived off my concerns.
I kind of tuned her out by now, my attention solely on the vials and my soon to be reckoning with N'zoth.
When I left shortly after, I felt like there was something I forgot to ask her…
Eh, I wouldn't have forgotten it if it was important.
----
As evening came, I followed Siristra's instructions to the letter.
Right before bed, I downed one of the potions. I was only half way to my bed before I felt an intense sense of drowsiness overtake me. Just before I completely blacked out, I landed on the covers, too tired to even snuggle underneath.
A pleasant, if dreamless, night followed.
If only more nights were like it.
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I always find it very fun writing Siristra's character. Its a tasteful blend of being too old to give a damn about the little things, and witty enough to bullshit her way out of a problem. All while being smart enough to back it up. Very fun indeed.
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