Into the Abyss

Freedom, the sweet air of freedom, no formal dinners, prestigious meetings or overbearing father to impose on my brand new freedom. Granted the air reeked of the dead animals around me, the cougars rotting in the scorching heat of the Thousand needles, their stripped hides carefully tucked into a special sack I had enchanted to keep in the smell. Crazy Tauren and their desire for trophies when hunting, although my own race weren't much better, we typically enjoyed the fruits of much more delicate natures. With a sharp whistle, my green Hawkstrider materialized in front of me, his feathers glowing in the random splotches of sunlight that made their way through the massive pillars and stacks that made up the deep valley. With a soft stroke of appreciation to his beak, I hopped on his back, the cloth saddle shifting beneath my weight as we took off towards the Tauren camp. It stood, like most Tauren atrocities, on the top of one of the large stacks, overlooking a majority of the valley and almost impossible to get to.

Thankfully one such as myself knew the elevator's location, and with a quick hop on, I was flying upwards to their dreaded place of rest. Thankfully I had a few objectives to turn in, one of which had left me soaked to the bone in scalding water, however whatever had to be done to get the experience I needed. The plant, dry now, was in a different oilcloth bag, its wet leaves had burned slightly to the touch, though only to my skin, not to the clothing I wore. For the hundredth time in the last week I prayed that someday they would make leather light enough for my class to wear without killing themselves, the cloth armor was a great enhancement to my skill, however a horrid protection against any enemies. Which is why I suppose I was able to create a shield around my person, however a little extra help is always appreciated I suppose. The elevator halted with a bit of a bounce, and with a shake of my head and a flick of the reins, my giant bird strode forward and onto the wooden platform. I myself never had a fear of heights, for that I was grateful, for some of my brethren couldn't even come to this portion of the world, with what little safeguards there were to stop from falling the thousand foot plunge to the bottom. The air up here was decidedly clearer than the smoldering humid heat below, the warm breeze caressing my face and playing with my red hair as I turned in the hides, leaves, fangs and eyes, each giving me a hefty sum in silver as a reward for my efforts.

As I turned to leave with my next set of objectives, something that even I could enjoy doing, a light glint caught my eye, just out of my vision but still enough for me to see it. It seemed to be the outline of a man, with a dagger drawn, however as quick as the vision came, it disappeared, leaving my eyebrows furrowed in a frustrated state. Shaking my head, I mounted up and headed down to the bottom of the valley again, the hawkstrider between my legs shifting anxiously, ready to run as I looked upon the centaur village. Killing, yes killing, was something I excelled at, I rarely failed and had to run, and I always got the prize I was seeking. However this time, well I was on quite the mission, it seemed that some new leader had been promoted just recently, and was indeed quite the powerful sorcerer. However the Tauren wanted to be seen as a peaceful people, even though their hatred of the race before me proved that image wrong. However if it earned me a pretty penny and I got to practice what I was best at, I never really argued, and took joy in jobs like these.

Going about this was going to be the difficult part, I really didn't want to leave a trail of bodies, especially one these stupid beasts could follow, I had to sneak through, and pick and choose my targets wisely, at least until I came upon the cave in the rock face in the back of the camp. Just as I was about to set off towards the entrance of the camp, I saw it again, the flicker and the outline of a man, and this time I saw the long elegant eyebrows and ears that were the telltale sign of my people. Clearing my features, I schooled my face into a calm mask as I dismounted, patting the beak of my precious bird before setting him off, my staff secured on my back as I began to make my way silently into the camp. Now that I was paying closer attention, I could hear the nearly silent footfalls of the person following me, and every once in a while his shadow would appear, but then disappear as if it were never there.

A bloody rogue, I had a rogue tail, and with a sigh of frustration I could only wonder why my father would send a rogue to keep an eye on me, no matter. I couldn't stand having a tail, something I developed while growing up in Silvermoon city being the only daughter of Lord Theron, and I was quite good at giving my tails the slip. With the smallest of grins, I picked up the pace, sneaking around a cluster of guards who were playing stones to a lone warlock towards the back of the camp, his gaze ever watchful, unlike his comrades. With a grin, I began to chant, and let my mind go as I merely reacted to the mana deep within me, guiding it instead of controlling it, shaping it instead of forcing it, until it produced a frostbolt that was hurling at the warlock. It was short work, frostbolt here, fire explosion there to finish the job, and soon I had the dead centaur at my feet. The slight shifting of the clay behind me gave me all the warning I needed, and with a burst of mana a frost nova erupted around me, freezing anything within a ten yard range.

As soon as I turned around I saw his feet stuck, his hand on his hip as he gazed at me with a look of slight shock and admiration, his daggers sheathed and his long black hair pulled into a high ponytail. Giving him the once over, I realized he wouldn't be one of my father's guards, in fact he and my father would probably hate each other, however he still had been following me, something that irritated the utmost shit out of me. Giving him another glance, his features seemed familiar, as if I'd seen him elsewhere, and with a short start I realized that a few months back I had seen him in Undercity before porting home, and then in Silvermoon each time I had been practicing on my balcony. This man had been following me for months, I just wasn't able to put the pieces together until now.

"Who are you and what do you want, I don't take kindly to being followed" I said in Thalassian, my hands itching to just freeze his ass to the ground and let the centaurs have him, my voice carrying an unusual amount of venom in it. I had surprised myself at my own vehemence towards the man, surely I could be more diplomatic than that, I was the daughter of Lord Theron! However for some reason out here in the wilds of the world, I had learned to be rough and demanding, as a honeyed tongue got no where. I was terrified the man before me, however my face and body surprisingly did not show it.

"I can see that little magelet, consider it an offer of my services" he said with a faux sense of sweetness, his hand brushing his long hair over one shoulder as he gazed at me with both hands raised in a surrendering motion.

"As you can see, Rogue, I do not need your services, I can manage just fine on my own" I hissed out, my hand gesturing to the corpse at my feet, the stench almost unbearable in the afternoon heat of the desert. That was one of the few things about death that I absolutely despised, the stench. You had two options really, either breath it in through your nose and smell it, or breath through your mouth and taste it. Opting for the first, I refused to taste the horrid stench of the centaur.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that" he said, and faster than I could blink a throwing knife hissed by my ear and thudded into another centaur behind me, the creature falling without a sound. Whipping back to him, I snarled in silent fury, if this...this...upstart hadn't bothered me I would have seen the centaur coming. "So what is your name? If I might ask" he added cheekily, his feet free to move about. Muttering darkly beneath my breath, my hands began to glow a white color, unlike the usual blue of my frost attack. My temper was something I was still getting used to having have in check, the more emotional I got the less effective my attacks were, though sometimes anger fueled the fires so to speak, however the gamble wasn't worth it. However this time I couldn't bring myself to care too much, my fury had already gotten the best of me. With a strangled cry as I finished, I threw my hands out and watched the light envelop him, shrinking him down and turning him into.....a sheep!

"My name is Seleine Theron, remember it well for the next time we meet, I will be at the level to kill you" I hissed out, stalking towards the cave in the back. I couldn't care less whether he was killed by a centaur though by judging his armor and his skill, I would say he was a master Rogue, and I, well I was just at the Journeyman stage. Giving such idle threats were always a bad thing in the Horde, because most of the time they took you seriously, but I meant this one. However next time, next time I would be ready.