A Struggle

"I think he's long gone from the city, Mags...I looked all over...twice."

She nodded understandingly and approached him as he dismounted, "Well, thanks so much for trying so hard...I know you have better things to do..."

"Better things? Than helping my friend? Doubtful..." He winked at her.

She smiled at him and put her arms around him in an embrace, "So when will I see you again?"

He wrapped his arms around her to embrace her and rested his cheek on top of her head, "Never can tell, we just keep running into each other...but you can be sure I will be looking forward to it." He let go of the embrace and took one of her hands in his hands and pressed it to his lips. "Be well, Mags."

She smiled at him and blushed as his lips touched her skin once more, "Light be with you, Bal." He smirked at this and let her hand go and mounted once more and flew straight up above her out of sight.

Lance stirred groggily, his voice weak as he inquired, "Hoosh there?" His speech was still a little slurred, the effects of his fortune still lingering. He still couldn't see, his vision coming and going as he tried to focus. "Kylene?" He looked around for the barmaid. She had cut him off when he'd completely run out of gold. He tried to summon her, desiring more alcohol, even now in his stupor. He was conscious, and this was not how he wanted to be. His gaze went out to the entrance of the tavern. He...saw someone. She had black hair and fair skin.

He grunted as he tried to focus his sight. Was it really her? But...he saw another figure. It had blond hair and was much taller than her. As his eyes adjusted, he saw Mags...with a blood elf. A blood elf rogue. Bal. He knew it had to be Bal. He watched as he took her into an embrace...no, it was she who was embracing him. Then he took her hand, and kissed it.

He felt himself retching, felt every particle in his stomach trying to erupt from him. He groaned to himself, forcing a smile to suppress the reflex. It made him feel sick. But, as he stared at her, he failed to see the woman who came up behind him. She was garbed in the Doomcaller's Attire. He felt her dark power lift him from his seat and felt her invisible fist grasp his heart. She was draining his life, taking his strength. "I finally found you, Paladin. I finally caught up to you. You will pay for what you did to me, for what you have done...to Morbent Fel and my masters before and after him.

"You abandoned me when you could have saved me, you could have taken me with you. But no...you left me to die, to die in that wretched, corrupt, Alliance, capital city. Now, I will take from you what you have stolen from me, from my mentors, and from the others like me who hunt those like you, like the crusade, like the dawn, and like the old order."

Lance looked around to see that neither the bartender or barmaid were coming to his aid. He now regretted how forcefully he'd gone after Kylene. He felt Aria's power grow, feeling his body dying as she drained his life force. But there was one person, that he did not see in the tavern, who so graciously came to his aid.

The energy of Lunadell's spell knocked Aria over and vexed her concentration, leaving Lance's body to fall to the floor, weakened and drained. She shape-shifted, taking on her Moonkin form and began to cast Starfire, over and over again before she summoned her Treants.

Lunadell was extremely unhappy with what she saw, and when she saw this evil warlock attempting destroy Lancesalot, nature's fury was being unleashed. She cast the spell over and over, the Treants pummeling the warlock until she stopped moving. The Treants vanquished themselves and Lunadell went to Lance's side. She imbued him with her renewing spell, hoping to give his body enough strength to be able to stand. She offered a hand to him and helped him up. "What in the world did you do to that silly warlock girl for her to burst into the city of the Naaru and try to kill you?"

Lance smiled weakly, grunting, and warmly embraced Luna. Perhaps it was the affects of his intoxication that spurred this over affectionate gesture, but he pulled away after just a moment, grinning at her. "It is wonderful to see you too, Lunadell. Thank you..."

She shook her head and winked at him, "What kind of friend would I be if I let you die by the power of a shadow-powered warlock?" She wrinkled her forehead at him and hit him on the head. "Now what are you trying to do with all that alcohol? You need to stop drinking, Lanceypoo. Sober up and get out of here before she wakes up."

He rolled his eyes groaning. "Ah! Will you please stop calling me that. My name is Laaance. Not Lanceypoo."

She winked at him and messed up his hair before she left the tavern and went on her way, leaving Lance in the middle of the tavern, alone, save for Aria's body sprawled on the floor. Was she still alive? He bit his lip. He had seen Sanfi and Cricious use their soul keeping powers to give him the ability to resurrect himself...

He felt uncompelled to stay there and find out if she had made use of such a power. He would not be able to defeat her. Not now...and likely not EVER. He stumbled out of the tavern, still yards from Magdalia, before he summoned Vergere and let her carry him back to the Aldor Rise...

Bal, also known as Balthurian, landed his Windrider on the Scryer rise and quickly dismounted. He walked to the closest source of water and dunked his hands in and splashed the water on his face and scrubbed with all his might using his hands. His eyes were squinted shut as he did and he gagged slightly as he dried his face off. He shook his head and then stood straight back up. He checked his reflection in the water and grinned as he straightened a few stray hairs. He turned around to come face to face with a female blood elf with red hair that gleamed in the sunlight. He grinned at her for a moment and then frowned, "Ugh, this morning was a rough one."

She grinned at him slyly, "Aww, did that silly human gross you out again?"

He cringed, "If I ever have to kiss her, I am going to lose it!"

She shook her head, "You shouldn't have to, Bal, not if your plan goes accordingly."

He nodded, "I know, Eth, but this long drawn out process is..." he started walking away and turned back toward her, "it would be so much easier just to slice her throat!"

She walked up beside him and patted his shoulder as they began walking around the rise passed the vendors and out to the grassy edge that over looked the city. "It will all be worth it, in the end...just remember what she did to you."

He clinched his fists as he sat down in the grass, his face tightened as he looked down at the city, "That...how could she? My beautiful Melistan...gone...in an instant and it's all her fault." He sighed and rested his fists against the ground flexing his arms as he spoke, "We were so happy together, my Melistan and I...I just don't see...how she made that stop so quickly."

Ethriall watched him with concern and sat behind him massaging his shoulders, trying to get him to relax, "Come on, you can't let that emotion take you over, you have to be cold, you have to be heartless to do what you're doing. I assure you, she will get what is coming to her. You will rip her heart out and tear it into pieces before you put back in her chest to let it consume her to her death."

His frown turned to an evil grin, "Oh yes, she will die." He relaxed his shoulders but not his fists to allow her massage to work. He spoke quietly but loud enough for her to hear, "All we were doing were...I only left her for a second...or so I thought. When I came back, she was lying in her own blood, her body severed in several places...even the priests couldn't heal her...couldn't bring her back. I just remember looking around after finding her body seeing a girl dressed in leather riding off on her black stallion." His head fell forward as Ethriall worked on his neck muscles just listening attentively. "After months of searching, I finally tracked her down and watched her for so long from the shadows. Even after all that time, I would never have guessed that she would ever be so vulnerable as to open herself up to me and my...friendship." He chuckled to himself, "What a naive fool."

Ethriall laughed behind him continuing to massage him and letting him lean back on her as she did so. "I just think you are a genius for what you have planned...getting her trust and possibly even her affection is just a bonus and makes her more vulnerable to your attack."

He grinned to himself eying the city and they both laughed together.

Magdalia lied with Lance the whole night, about every hour or so she would awake to sit up and look around and him look over and make sure he was still breathing and reactive. She checked his bandages regularly too. She felt so guilty all night. She knew what she had done was wrong, but as she gazed towards the door, she missed Bal. She knew she would have to tell him that they could not be "affectionate" any more. It saddened her because she was intoxicated by his touch. She trembled at the memory of Lance accusing her, or telling her he saw her with him. She did not want to ever feel his anger, his disappointment, or see him in pain ever again.

As he slept, she softly caressed his cheek as her hair cascaded over her shoulder onto his shoulder. She smiled at him, remembering how much she loved him. She was so thankful that he was not killed. She was thankful to Lunadell. She looked down at him confused as that thought passed over her. He was saved by a night elf...and he was happy about it? True, she is one of the Virtue family but...it was just odd for him.

She did not sleep much because of her concern for him but the exhaustion over took her and she practically collapsed when it came close to daybreak. She rested her head on his chest curled up next to him with her arms around him. She swore to herself she would never leave him again...unless he left first...

Lance slept soundly throughout the night, hardly stirring or making any noise. His breathing never stopped and his heart never faltered. Having Magdalia there...her very presence...seemed to soothe him just a little more. He still felt scared, alone, and betrayed. His fear of losing Mags coupled with his fear of Aria finding him...or finding them both...was less than conducive to his health. Her power had wounded him, ripping through his tabard and armor into his flesh. The wound had no blood. It was just a dark, black spot on his chest where her power had found him.

When he awoke, he found Mags lying on top of him and immediately felt warm and safe. He knew that she would have got between him and Aria were she to have shown up in the night...but he still felt so...betrayed. He felt as though his trust had been violated by these secrets she kept from him. Granted, he had tried to keep something from her, but he'd only wanted to hide his humiliation from her...because he thought she'd be traumatized by the thought of almost losing him.

But he'd been wrong about that...She had not reacted to the news how he had expected, and with the discovery of this...this blood elf running around with her, kissing her, holding her...it hurt. He felt a physical pain in his chest when the many possibilities, the potential, the prospect of how little he probably knew stirred in his mind.

He slowly moved out from underneath her, stumbling at first before he found his balance again. Good, he could walk. She had not taken that away from him. Slowly, he made his way back out onto the rise, forgetting his armor, not even realizing how unarmed and vulnerable he was. He summoned Vergere and decided to find this blood elf...this...creature...who jeopardized everything he had worked for in the past weeks. He would destroy this Rogue, this Bal, just as the blood elves before had always tried to destroy him...

Magdalia awoke to find Lance gone. She rubbed her eyes, shocked that she had slept so soundly for so long. It had been quite a while since she had gotten a complete rest. She sat up trying to get fully awake before heading out, she had a small snack, stretched and walked out onto the rise. She looked around for any sign of Lance but could not find one. She shrugged and smiled, happy that he was out and about and apparently feeling better and called Thunderbrew for a ride. She rode him down to the tavern and smugly approached Kylene.

"Good morning, Mags, your usual?" She smiled so fakely. Mags smirked and with all her force punched Kylene in the face. Kylene turned and fell at the force of the punch, causing her to send the drinks she had in her hand flying and splashing all over herself. She grabbed her face to protect from perhaps another hit. It didn't come. Mags just stood there proudly over her.

"Yea...my usual, but hold the spying and gossiping to my husband this time." She cocked her head to the side with a grin and climbed over Kylene to go sit at an open table in the back. Kylene looked up at her with a glare and watched her sit beyond sight of the bar. She composed herself, touching her cheek lightly to test how swollen it was. She stood up and walked to the bar to refill the order that had just been ruined.

As Kylene was speaking to the bartender and complaining about how much her face hurt she saw Bal walk in out of the corner of her eye and turned to face him trying to show off her now growing bruise. Bal reached out and grabbed her chin for a better look, a look of shock and horror on his face. Kylene whispered what happened to him and he nodded at her and they exchanged glances at each other and then towards where Mags was sitting. He nodded once more and tapped on the bar and walked towards Mags.

Mags looked up as she saw Bal enter the back room. She smiled at him and watched him sit down across from her. He looked at her and smiled in return. "You are looking mighty pleased with yourself this morning."

Mags nodded at him leaning back in the chair and grinning proudly. "Yup, last night went better than I had hoped and..." she began rubbing her fist with other hand "I feel I made up for some of the bad parts already."

He looked at her with curiosity, "Want to tell me what happened?" He leaned on the table trying to get closer to her. She leaned her crossed arms on the table and spoke softly to him.

"Lance saw us hug outside the tavern...he was here...almost dead drunk and just after that he got attacked by a...very evil force."

"You don't say? That's interesting...what was this evil force?"

Mags went to open her mouth as Kylene approached holding a mug in each hand. Kylene looked at the mugs and then at the two of them and instead of putting the mugs straight in front her, she switched the mugs, putting one in front of Mags and the other in front of Bal. She held out her hand and Bal paid for both. Kylene winked at him, pocketed the money and turned back to the rest of the tavern. Mags put both her hands on the mug and looked down into the liquid. "An old friend of his that apparently has gained a lot of power attacked him...almost killed him, and would have were it not for a friend from our guild..."

Bal nodded picking up his mug and inhaling the aroma before drinking it slowly. Mags put her mug to her lips and began gulping it.

"So, he saw us...hug...how did that interrogation go?"

She shrugged as she finished her drink and leaned back after putting the mug down, "Surprisingly well, he was so drained from the attack and the amount of alcohol he consumed I don't know if..." She blinked hard losing her train of thought, putting a hand to her head. "I don't know if...he really knew..." her eyes were drooping and the room was spinning, she was having trouble focusing. She sighed and let her head fall onto the table, collapsing her arms underneath her.

Bal grinned at this and looked around before getting up and going around to where she was and picking her up in his arms, cradling her. Her head fell back as she lied there unconscious in his arms. He slowly walked with her in his arms looking around constantly as he walked through the bar and checked around outside before exiting the tavern. He nodded and winked at Kylene before leaving. He put Mags on his Windrider and she groaned a little as she was draped over the saddle. He mounted right behind her limp body and ordered his mount into the sky. They flew to the far south corner of the lower city and landed. He pulled her off of the saddle and laid her down in the grass.

"Oh you foolish human...you will pay for what you have done..." He grinned looking at her so helplessly lying there and then his face looked disgusted as he kneeled before her and began removing her clothes. He removed his armor as well, leaving only his pants on and left her in nothing but her tabard. He lied down next to her, only looking at her face, so limp, so asleep. "You see...Kylene will tell your husband where to find you...and he will find us...and you will lose everything precious to you and you will only have me to cling to, and once I have all your trust...I will kill you." He turned her on her side and wrapped his arms around her as he moved one of her legs to wrap around him. He took his cloak off and draped it over them and gazed at her with an evil grin. Her groans were the only signs of life she gave. He tried to make himself as comfortable as possible while holding her as close to him as possible. He gagged to himself and looked around before he rested his head and closed his eyes to rest. He would wait for Mags to wake up or for Lance to wake them both up.

As Lance finally touched down on the Scryer tier, unarmed, most of his armor left at the side of the bed, his avian companion simply would not leave him. But after a moment, she took flight and headed towards the out skirts of the city...where Lance would likely be banished the moment his presence was discovered.

He was impeded by an Arcane Guardian, but he didn't care. He starting fighting the giant, mechanical sentinel, but after only a moment...his form was banished, and then exiled. Moments later, Lance found himself dropped out of space and time next to the sign at the cross roads just outside of the city of the Naaru.

A walking peacekeeper saw him, and just shook his head. "Those loyal to the Aldor and those loyal to the Scryers, are not allowed to travel to the sanctuaries of those they are at war with, Paladin. Surely, you know this, so why did you still recklessly travel to the tier of the Scryer in search of mischief?"

Lance sighed as Vergere slowly touched down and trotted over to him, lowering her head at him to bade him to mount her. He frowned at the peacekeeper, shaking his head as he simply said. "I do not know. I feel that I should discuss this with someone more experienced with the matters that I feel I am dealing with."

The peacekeeper chuckled at this, and bowed as he resumed his guard on the road to the sacred city. Lance got on Vergere and took to the sky. "I know who I need to speak to..."

He called upon the light to imbue him with the power of the crusader, giving his mount the speed and haste to facilitate their journey.

He touched down in near the wardens guarding the outskirts of the expedition outpost. He trotted over to the one night elf he respected above all others. Lauranna Thar'well, the one person who knew more about potions mastery than any other being he knew of...wrinkled her forehead at him. "Lancesalot...to what do I-" But she stopped, frowning at him.

Lance slowly dismounted and stood there. He wore his Virtue tabard, his greaves, his necklace - which he hardly ever seemed to take off - his cloak, his black shirt, and his rings. He had left his helm, his mantle, his armguards, gloves, battle harness...even his truncheon and shield. He became quite self-conscious about what he was...or rather was not dressed in.