Chapters *This one is for my Bronies, my fellow WoW junkies, and anyone else that feels like they need to be acknowledged.
Chapter One
Titus wandered through the lower reaches of Shattrath slowly, his head a mess. The familiar architecture and the familiar faces of the Draenei capital of old did little to improve his distraught state. Worried faces followed him wherever his steps carried him, but he couldn't tell with his brown hair covering his bearded face. They wouldn't understand, they couldn't understand.
He made his way to the World's End Tavern, a fitting name and a fitting place for a paladin like him to bury his sorrow under drink. The Silver Hand had always looked down on it, but never forbid the consumption of alcohol, since the Dwarf's couldn't actually survive without a pint entering their bloodstream every hour.
He sat himself far out of the way, away from the eyes of the huge ogre sitting near one of the bars accompanied by the strange Blood elf, Zephyr. Titus had been in the city long enough to know most of the people's names, and that blood elf always seemed a bit strange. Titus was a man of the Light and didn't really associate himself with any strange individual. In actuality, he didn't talk to many people, aside from his friend, Eleii.
The sorrow washed over Titus again. That was just it, perhaps he didn't have any friends anymore. His mind raced back to that morning in the Mana Tombs. Mental pictures of death, panic, anger lashing out at his friend flashed through his distraught mind. They had lost everyone in there that they had entered the Mana Tombs with. Eleii, who was traumatized from the situation, had frustrated the Paladin.
He had yelled at her, and said horrible things. Things he didn't believe he would have ever said to her. She left the dungeon in flurry of sobs and tears. Titus was forced to follow her or share the same fate as their unfortunate companions. The journey back to his lodging in Shattrath was nothing less than bleak. His mind worried about what had happened to her constantly. It was more frustrating than anything.
He laid his head on the table while the less than stellar comedian fed the crowd rehashed jokes over and over again. Titus wanted to go up there and smack the man with his hammer, but what was violence going to do? He was a paladin and he shouldn't even be thinking these kinds of thoughts. He was a man of example to these others, a guardian and protector of the innocent.
Still, he would be doing everyone a favor by smacking the man silly. He didn't really feel like moving, though. He didn't feel like doing anything. There was little point to anything after the crisis he had caused.
Perhaps he would finally give the Argent Crusade a try, he thought. Tirion had been impressed with the way he carried himself when he been in Hearthglen and he assured Titus that the Crusade would be more than happy to accept him into his ranks.
But that was back in the ruins of Lordaeron, now known as the Western Plaguelands. Tirion was in a great shape, but he was still old, and with age, there was always the increased possibility of senility. He had to do something, however. Anything to make himself feel just a fraction better.
"Sir... Are you going to order anything?"
Titus lifted his head from the table. The serving girl, a blood elf who went by Kylene looked at him, with that same worried face that all the others had given him during his walk of shame to the tavern. But Titus sat up, trying to keep his dignified air. No need to show weakness here.
"I'll have mead, if you don't mind." he said, fighting back the choking in his voice.
She silently dropped one of the mugs she was holding to her chest and left as suddenly as she had appeared. Good, he could go back to stewing in his depression. He lifted the mug and brought the honey tasting liquid to his lips. He only sipped, but he wasn’t use to the zing that any alcohol product brought and he slammed the mug down on his table, fighting back fits of coughing.
Luckily, nobody had seen him, and this time, being more mindful of the biting flavor, he took more controlled sips from his mug, bracing himself every time. He soon found it empty and frowned. He sure didn't feel different; maybe more mead was necessary? More than likely the case, he concluded. With a pounding from his table, Kylene soon was bringing mug after mug to the young paladin, who went from sipping the drink, to gulping it down in seconds.
Titus's head was swimming; everything seemed to be moving too fast for him, but the will to move was back and soon found himself out of his chair and staggering towards the stage, falling only twice, he minded himself, utterly proud of his ability to hold his drink. The comedian was still talking, but only noise poured from his moving lips.
Titus didn't want to pull out his hammer and smash his head in however, that would be too much work. He simply put his hand on the man's face and pushed him until the man fell down the steps to the stage with a yelp. He looked at the people who had been humoring the man on stage before Titus had so honorable saved them from another minute of utter crap coming from the pathetic excuse for a comedian.
Their faces were in a shock, silent. They seemed frightened but Titus knew better. They were simply so surprised at how well Titus had handled the situation. Titus beamed awkwardly to the spectators. They were so happy for him, it was only right that he make their nights worth the trouble of coming to this Tavern, where the mead was so, so sweet after the 5th mug.
He wanted to pour his heart out to these people, his new friends, who had been so kind as to hush and remain polite to the mentally deficient comedian, even after his forceful ejection off the stage. They deserved something special, something about him, about how he was feeling.
He burst into song, the words sounding so controlled and each note hit with perfection. If he had been the one sitting down there, he was sure he would have burst into tears from the beauty that he was being subjected too.
After the song was complete, Titus opened his eyes slowly. He found the audience on their feet, applauding furiously. He swore he could hear “woo's”, but perhaps that was another word. They were also throwing things at him in celebration. What enthusiasm! He smiled softly but remembered what brought him here in the first place. He was about to return to his seat when he caught sight of a certain Draenei standing near the entrance to the tavern.
It was her, Titus thought, and she was... smiling? He wasn't sure. Perhaps she had found his handling of the comedian amazing too? But more than likely the song, she always liked the songs Titus sang. He was about to step off of stage to meet her when he lost his footing, to his shock and dismay (how could he lose his balance when he held his alcohol so well?), and met the ground of the tavern headfirst.
Everything went black.
*************************************
Titus shot up, jerking out of the sheets that laid over him. He sighed in relief, realizing where he was. He was at the inn near the Aldor temple, the holiest of all places in the great city of Shattrath, where only the Aldor and its allies were allowed, looming over their enemies, the Scryers in the lower district of Shattrath.
He also found himself staring at his Draenei friend, Ellei, who was smiling once again. She got up out of her chair that she sat in to watch over the Paladin and leaned on one of the walls in the inn.
"What happened?" Titus stammered. "How did we get here? Why aren’t you mad at me?"
She shook her head, slightly laughing.
"Can't remember anything from last night, can you?" she said with amusement.
Titus thought back. There was the Tavern, ogres, an annoying comedian, and mead.. lots of mead. That was all he remembered from the events last night. He frowned, but Ellei didn't seem to upset about him anymore, and that was good enough for the Paladin.
He jumped out of bed and threw back on his gear from the previous night, a hammer, plate mail and the lot. Eleii was wearing a similar such thing, but with two massive axes behind her back. Titus still couldn't believe such a woman could command that much strength. Regardless, it was good to be back to the way things used to be.
"So what's the plan today?" Titus asked.
Eleii stood up from the wall. She seemed to be exactly the way Titus had remembered her before, long hair dark hair, hooves, glowing eyes and all.
"I was thinking we could just get everything back in order today, you know, just talking." She said quietly.
Titus wasn't truly one for talking, he never had been. Eleii understood that, but he also understood that this was probably for the best. A lot had happened that they both needed to sort out. Titus was willing to give it a try for his one friend.
"Alright. I'll try." He said, smiling softly.
They left the inn after several moments, checking to make sure their possessions were either with them, or in a safe place back within the inn. Better safe than sorry was their motto, and just because of the turmoil that had broken out the previous day, that did not kill long time habits.
They made their way to the elevator leading down to the rest of Shattrath, far below the Aldor's platform. They were silently waiting for the elevator, but Titus was tired of standing there and doing nothing. It was taking a long time to ascend back up to them. Longer than usual. Titus walked away from the elevator and sat down, right on the edge of the Aldor's platform, his legs dangling down.
He looked down to the city far below, where the ragged war veterans were wandering the streets as usual, and the Naruu's army of Draenei and Blood Elves trained far below, awaiting their deployment to the Shadowmoon Valley. He also looked down to the trees, out of the way from the rest of the main buildings. Arakkoa outcasts were making their way out through and around the trees, shunned by their brethren for not waging war against the many races that occupied the Outlands.
Titus sat there silently, continuing his sightseeing as Eleii finally joined him. It was awkward for her to sit the way he did, since her legs were jointed slightly different, but she managed to mimic Titus's position to a degree. He looked over at her, and smiled slightly, happy for the company. Happy to have things the same way they used to be.
They sat there, in contented silence for a short while, forgetting all about the elevator, which had obviously made its trip and back several times now. Titus couldn't remember feeling so relaxed in his life. But when was the talk going to come? They might as well get it over with right now, and then get on with their adventuring, the thing they were both best at.
"Eleii, would you like to have that talk now... actually?" He asked innocently.
Eleii didn't look at him; her eyes were still looking down at the happenings of Shattrath and its people. Titus sat there awkwardly, waiting for an answer to come. She always took her time to answer Titus pouted. Never willing to get things done as quickly as possible, but hey, he couldn't ask for a better friend.
She finally turned to him with a considerate eye."Perhaps it is time we talked" she said.
"Okay good... what first?"
"Well.. I was wonder-oof!!"
With that, Titus was no longer looking at Eleii but at nothing but air. She was gone. He panicked and found her falling off to the ground of Shattrath far below. He was about to stand up and shout for help when an unseen hand pushed him off, sending him falling in a similar manner as Eleii.
He was falling upright however, and caught sight of the owner of the hand in question. It was a masked undead. His eyes were lit up in satisfaction. He had obviously achieved what he had set out to do.
Then he fell back out of sight, to continue on with his unholy life, his existence a blemish upon the Light and all it stood for.
He knew that Eleii was more than likely already dead. At least she wouldn't have died alone, he thought with a strange feeling of happiness overtaking him. At least they died friends. He turned his back to the sky and looked at the ground of Shattrath closing in on him. There was nothing he could do now; he couldn't call out a prayer to the Light to shield him at this point.
He didn't want to close his eyes; he wanted to see death when it came to him. He fought back the urge to flail about in the air, and time seemed to slow down as every inch of distance between him and his bitter end was consumed.
With a bone shattering crack, blackness took itself over Titus once again.
******************************
Titus woke to the bitter taste of grass in his mouth. He rolled onto his back and removed the blades of grass from his dry mouth. He looked for light, but found no direct source as a canopy of trees laid over him. He rolled to his side now and saw that he was in a thicket in some kind of forest.
This wasn't any kind of forest he was familiar with, however. Everything seemed more vibrant and brighter than the Elwynn forest, and certainly more tightly packed than the Terrokar forest near Shattrath. Strange, he thought. He remembered that fall, and the crack. He shouldn't be alive at all, let alone in an unfamiliar forest.
Perhaps he was in some uncharted area in the Outlands? No, everything was too bright and alive to belong to the dying planet once known as Draenor. All he knew was that some unforeseen force must have brought him here. Perhaps the Light had found him worth maintaining? He couldn't even imagine why, but something was at work here.
He stood up, and found the forest even more alive than his first impression. He heard the chirping of birds and strange sounds echoing through and around the tightly packed trees. Life seemed to be all around him, but never actually in sight. He wanted to at least find some kind of road to get a sense of where he was.
He began to cut in between a bit of shrubbery when the thought of Eleii shot into his mind like a hammer to the face. He turned back and looked around the thicket. No sign of her. If he had survived, it was safe to assume that she had come out of that disaster unharmed as well. His heart sank as he found no trace of his Draenei friend, but he returned to his original task of forcing his body in between trees and shrubbery, looking for a road. It was better to at least find someone, maybe they would know where Eleii was, or at least they might have seen her.
He felt like he had been traversing through everything that nature could throw at him for hours. It was rough work, especially considering that he was doing this all in full plate mail. He found it strange that whatever whisked him to this strange place, would take the time and effort to transport not only his plate mail, but his hammer as well.
He suddenly tripped and fell, expecting a root where there wasn't. He fell onto a dirt road, with slight overgrowth beginning to take over the lightly treaded dirt road. He coughed from the dust that built up from his fall and pushed himself back up, patted the dirt off his armor and clothing. That was great, he thought. More falling, that’s all he did these days it seemed.
'Be more optimistic' he told himself. Those that followed the Light always looked at the positives. He had been told so much about the Light that it sometimes made him sick, but it was just something that came with the calling, he assumed.
He eventually came out of the overgrowth and the forest was finally beginning to recede. Titus was eager to get out of this maze of a forest. The Elwynn forest had never been this bad, he thought. He found himself picking up pace as the forest receded farther and farther apart.
He was greeted by lush fields of green, and a view of a village not too far back away. Finally, he could find someone to talk too and get some idea of where he was at. Perhaps they would have more mead? He shook his head. What was he thinking? This was no time to get sidetracked by some stupid beverage that had only caused him distress. The need for food however, was very much real, and he was quite famished. Just another reason to carry himself towards the town.
Titus went from a walk to a stride, covering as much land between him and the town as possible. To his misfortune, (he would've said that someone was out to get him) his foot found the one hole within the rolling hills, and Titus lost his footing for the umpteenth time. This time he couldn't hold back a cuss as he hit the ground. It wasn't a hard fall, but a fall nonetheless, and he was fuming when he began to recover.
"Oh my gosh!"
Titus pulled his head up and was staring into the eyes of what appeared to be green miniature horse, a streak a white running through her otherwise spearmint mane, complete with a horn on her head. She looked as surprised as he felt. What was going on here? Where exactly was he?
Chapter Two
He stared into yellow eyes for what seemed like minutes. He didn't know what to think. Was this for real? Or was this some kind of hallucination? He didn't know what to make of the situation, so he just laid there staring at the small creature, dumbstruck by the notion that it even spoke. It wasn't possible. None of this could be possible.
Then the unicorn in front of him began to beam as her eyes reflected in sudden realization.
"You... you're a human!" She squealed.
Titus eyed her strangely and finally stood up. She began to study his physical features all over. Looking him up and down, fascinated. Titus felt awkward but still had no idea how to react to the situation he found himself in. So he simply stood there, waiting for the unicorn to be through with her examination.
She finally pulled back and couldn't help hopping around in glee."I can't believe it! You do exist! I can't wait to tell everypony and show you to everypony around Ponyville!"
Titus was getting confused; he needed to start getting a grip on things, to see where he was and what he needed to do to get back to Shattrath and Eleii.
"Whoa, slow down there. Would you mind explaining things before going on a rant like that?" Titus asked shakily, bringing a hand up to his head. Too much was happening too fast.
She finally sobered up out of her excitement, ceasing her hopping altogether and focusing on him once more. "Oh... uhm sorry about that."
The awkward moment was over as she began chatting him up at an unbelievable pace considering the events that had just transpired.
"My name is Lyra... Lyra Heartstrings actually... and I was out here looking for fireflies last night! But I guess I might have fallen asleep out here..."
"Uh huh... Quite the name.." Titus said. Strange that her name was two separate inanimate objects put together.
The green unicorn took it as a compliment and only got more excited. "Thanks! Well, my name wasn't really Lyra Heartstrings... it was just Heartstrings before I got my cutie mark. I added Lyra to it after."
Again, Titus was beginning to get confused. So many terms were being used that he was not familiar with. He felt as if he was going to lose all sense if he didn't start dictating the conversation.
"Look, can you tell me where I am? I’m so lost. I don't even know where I am.." Titus couldn't help but feel like he sounded a little too desperate. Not the right way for a Paladin to sound.
Luckily, the unicorn was more than happy to continue with the conversation, even if it regarded a different subject. "Oh, yeah! Of course! Why don't you follow me into Ponyville and I'll tell you everything I know about this place?" She began to make her way towards the village she called Ponyville. She stopped and gestured for the Paladin to follow.
Titus sighed, and trudged on at her side. What had he gotten himself into? This wasn't going to end well. He still had to pry for information, however.
"So how about that little lesson you promised me?" He hinted at.
Lyra's eyes flashed in realization. "Sorry! Let's see... where to start..." her snout scrunched up in concentration.
Titus knew a flood of words was coming and braced himself, and by the Light, it wasn't enough.
"This is Equestria, where Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi all live in peace under the rule of Celestia and Luna. Celestia controls the sun, while Luna obviously takes care of the moon."
Titus eyed her as if she was saying blasphemy. A whole world of these humanoid horse creatures? That couldn't be true. Horses were mounts for humans, and nothing else! What were they doing here, as the dominant and most intelligent creatures of this vibrant land? It didn't seem possible, but here he was... talking to a unicorn right now! The very thought of it hurt his head and he found himself phasing in and out of the flood of information Lyra was feeding him.
"....and that’s how Equestria was founded! In a cave!" She said, swelling with pride.
Titus felt relieved that he hadn't had any more of the history of Equestria trickle into his mind. He had a feeling he would've run off screaming bloody murder and hopped off a cliff, falling to his death once again. Or the first time... he didn't know and didn't want to think about it.
"Well," Lyra finally said. "You'll learn more once we get to Ponyville, I promise." She turned to Titus now. "But how about you tell me about where you came from? I've spent so much time learning about humans and now you're right here walking with me!" She was shaking from excitement.
Titus saw no harm in really telling her about himself. She told him everything he asked her about, even though he tuned most of it out, so he at least owed her a bit about himself.
"Well, I'm Titus, a Knight of the Silver Hand." He explained.
He was ready to go on, but the mention of a 'hand' seemed to get her squealing again. Titus waited patiently as the tiny unicorn tuckered herself out, and then continued on.
"I'm from a land known as Azeroth. There have been many wars throughout its history, some more harsh and brutal then others. I myself, am an adventurer of sorts, finding people with problems that need them fixed for the greater good. It was a rewarding life, if a bit... isolated.” He coughed awkwardly following his brief overture.
He had barely said a few sentences, yet he felt like he told her everything she needed to know. She didn't seem to mind the short explanation, however. She seemed more than happy to just be able to talk to him at all it seemed. No argument from him, he was just waiting to finally arrive in Ponyville. He may have died, or at least had something occur of the ilk, but that didn't mean he wasn't exhausted from the whole ordeal getting here. He could really use a nap after all this.
Chapter Three
When they did arrive, Titus couldn't help but be reminded of Goldshire. The strange sight of seeing multiple ponies go about the town performing daily tasks reminded him of his home back in the Elwynn forest. Everyone stop for just a second to catch a glimpse of Titus. He felt like an Orc standing in the middle of Ironforge, needless to say it was a bit awkward, but he shrugged the thought off. They at least smiled at him and went back to their schedules after they were done studying him.
Lyra seemed to tell everyone, or rather as they called it, "everypony", who accompanied her about the landmark discovery she had just made. Most seemed to nod and act polite, but muttered and stared at her strangely while her back was turned. She did not seem to notice, and kept going around town, showing off the "human she knew had existed all along." Titus did not want to be the subject of attention, however, he never did, but he couldn't find it in his heart to stop the unicorn.
This went on for quite a while until Titus's legs seemed to scream in agony from the constant walking. He felt like he knew everyone in Ponyville now. He found their names strange, using objects or other such things to comprise them so. Even stranger was the uncanny fashion that it fit them perfectly, they all seemed to have some skill that corresponded with their name and the strange marking on their flanks.
Titus couldn't help but feel like he was in some sort of child's tale they told to the children back at the abbey, for everything seemed even more surreal than he ever remembered Azeroth or the Outlands being, and some of those places were ridiculously hard for him to comprehend.
Regardless, he yearned already to be back in Azeroth, to be back to fighting unholy evils, and to reach Northrend. Even far out in the Outlands, there was talk of expeditions returning from the frozen roof of the world, and many told of the need of the Silver Hand. Even the Argent Crusade would need help with cleaning up the mess that had been left by Arthas and his undead scourge.
The Paladin was beginning to grow even more weary, and soon found himself leaning against a building while Lyra was explaining to a friend named Carrot Top what exactly fingers could be used for. Titus went from leaning, to sitting and began to doze off, still finding it queer how one little green unicorn could be so obsessed with a race that apparently did not exist on this world until now.
After what seemed only like a few minutes, he felt something lean up against him and then a hoof was gently prodding at his face.
"Come on.. wake up..." he heard Lyra's voice muttering.
Titus shot up out of irritation. The nerve of that unicorn! He turned to look to give a piece of his mind when he found worried eyes staring at him. The worried eyes went to that of relief and apologetic silence. Titus couldn't help but feel bad that he had gotten so mad in the first place.
"Sorry about falling asleep like that..." Titus said lightly, he may have woken quickly, but he was still shaking away the last remnants of sleep from his eyes.
The unicorn went back to grinning hugely, she always seemed to be grinning, and everyone around town seemed to always be grinning. He didn't mind it, but it was a bit offsetting when he compared it to the drama filled world he had come from. This world was too cheerful to be true.
"It's okay." She sat down next to him, in a manner similar to a cat. Titus had never seen any of the equine back in Azeroth do this, but he reminded himself once again that he wasn't in Azeroth anymore.
"I was going to show you to Twilight, but I think it's getting too late." She giggled "I waited for like hours while you just sat there and slept.”
Now Titus felt really bad about the whole thing. He had slept through most of the day, until the horizon was painted in a glorious orange, and she had stayed with him. He didn't understand why she wouldn't have just left him there to doze off in the sun (which he found a remarkable feat, considering he'd done it in plate mail.) She waited patiently for him to wake and only did wake him when she had been concerned.
"Again, I’m really sorry about that.." he trailed off.
"Think nothing of it!" She stood back up on all fours. "Come on, it's getting late. You can stay with me at my house, it's not too far."
Titus got up after her. "I wouldn't really want to intrude. Do you happen to have an inn here that I could stay at, or something of the like?”
She eyed him strangely. "The silhouette never said anything about this..." he heard her mummer. She raised her voice then. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I wouldn't want you to catch a chill out here, especially with all that metal you're wearing."
Titus followed after her. "It's armor." He said trying to justify his strange look.
"Armor for what?" she asked.
"To protect me if someone decides they don't want to see me around anymore."
She turned towards him, horror covering her face. "Why would anyone do that? You seem so nice!"
Titus sighed inwardly. These "ponies" didn't know what living in a place like Azeroth was like at all, it seemed, where you could be attacked on sight for just your racial ties. That was one thing he didn't miss about Azeroth, but he still had to find a way back, but there was also Eleii. He would see if he could find any knowledge about the Draenei tomorrow when Lyra would most likely be showing him more of the peculiar sections of the town. He doubted he'd have any luck since Lyra seemed to be the only one with knowledge of any kind of race outside of this world's jurisdiction. How did she even know about humans? Perhaps they were an ancient race, with signs and clues left behind in their wake, like the Titans. Or just in a far distant land, like how the Night Elves were before The War of The Ancients.
He didn't think about it any further as they arrived at Lyra's home. It was a little house, quaint and cozy looking. She opened the door with a turn of the knob, supplied from the magic emanating from her horn, which caught Titus off-guard. So they could use magic too? Quite the feat. From the way it came from the horn, it must have been a hereditary thing.
“Impressive. I didn't know your kind could use magic." Titus said after following her in. He had to duck his head under as he entered the house, but no different than what he had to deal with when he was with the Gnomes at times.
She blushed furiously from the compliment. Titus didn't understand why, but he assumed she didn't get complimented often.
The house was as quaint and cozy inside as it looked on the outside. It only had a single living space, a bed in the corner and several comfy looking chairs surrounding the equidistant of it all. She hopped into one of the chairs and sat in it the way a human would. Titus couldn't help but stifle a chuckle from the strange sight.
She just smiled and gestured for Titus to join her. Titus tried to sit in one of the tiny chairs, but found himself sitting on the floor instead, his behind too large for one of the frail chairs to support. He didn't care at this point, he was just glad to be in some place he could rest further without fear of the elements.
He sighed outwardly and caught Lyra staring at him, only to have her eyes dart off in some other direction, furiously. He wondered what about him fascinated her so. While they were sitting here in her house, away from any judgmental eyes, was probably the best time to ask her how she gained any sort of knowledge of his kind's existence.
"So..." He tried to keep his tone nonchalant, but he didn't feel like he was doing so well. "How did you find out about... humans actually?"
Her darting eyes finally stopped, and her hooves ceased their fumbling, obviously glad for the awkward moment to end. Titus couldn't help but feel that she was the only one making it awkward, however.
"Well, I suppose I should tell you. I mean since you're actually human you can't think I’m crazy or anything... like some of the others do." She seemed to be talking to herself, instead of Titus. Her voice lowered to the point that Titus could barely hear as she began her explanation.
"When I was a filly, I had this dream." She caught Titus's strange glance. "Don't look at me like that! I’m serious! It was soon after I got my cutie mark! " She was blushing again, but it seemed this time from frustration.
"I was surrounded by darkness... and then... this silhouette of light came, and he told me all about your kind." She seemed embarrassed and the hooves started to fumble again nervously.
"I know it's a bit weird... but I swear it happened!"
She seemed desperate to get some kind of acceptance from him. Titus did, in fact, believe her. How could he not when he had seen and experienced much more than this pony could ever know? He had been whisked around in the Emerald Dream several times during his travels, and he had learned to believe anyone that spoke with desperate honesty.
"I believe you." Titus finally declared.
Then the load was finally off the green unicorn's conscious. She looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"R-really?" she asked silently.
"Yes, really. Now what exactly did that silhouette tell you about me?"
Nervous fidgeting and fumbling was replaced with a renewed enthusiasm regarding Titus. For several hours, they discussed and joked about all things human. Titus never really had to explain what his people were like or how they acted before. They simply were just another race of the Alliance that everyone knew about and respected (not regarding the Horde, of course) but he found himself pouring out more and more about his people and their culture. He talked about the other races briefly, but she never did hold the same interest in them as she did for humanity. He felt slightly flattered, and he didn't mind the somewhat obnoxious Lyra when they sat and had a nice little conversation such as this one.
He remembered Eleii, and their conversations. They regarded more around where they would travel next, or what they would have to kill for food to eat for the night. He missed those along with his best friend and Azeroth. It was nice to have someone else to talk to, though. He didn't remember ever talking this much in his life, actually.
As moonlight crept through the window of the small house, Lyra finally decided it was time for bed. She didn't seem the happiest about it, however, but Titus assured her that there would be more time to talk in the morning and so forth. So they finally got up from their seated positions.
Lyra, for the sake of hospitality, offered Titus the bed, but after a quick glance at the small thing, Titus insisted that he would prefer the comfort of the ground. He imagined his lower legs dangling aimlessly at the bed's edge. He would be much more comfortable on an even surface. He had slept in much worse conditions after all.
He removed his plate mail, to reveal a red linen shirt. He may have just been removing his armor and such, but the unicorn seemed to be having a nervous breakdown from the scene, and was forced to look away once Titus's leg plates came off. He wondered what the big deal was, but felt he would only make it worse for her if he decided to ask about it.
After Titus was free of the entirety of his armor, Lyra brought a blanket and small pillow from her bed. Titus thanked her and lay down on the hard, wooden floor. He had a busy day tomorrow, but then again, when was his day not busy? He took that bitter thought into a black and empty, yet peaceful, sleep.
Chapter Four
Lyra rolled around in her bed, unable to sleep. She couldn't get the fact out of her head that there was a human sleeping in her house, and right at the side of her bed! The fact made her all the more restless, and soon she was certain she wouldn't find sleep at all tonight. She sighed and looked over the edge to see the human sleeping peacefully on the floor next to her bed.
She looked at him sadly and laid her head back on her pillow. She hadn't told him everything that the strange silhouetted being had said. She felt bad about it, but couldn't muster up the courage to tell Titus while she had been there, having the most exciting discussion of her life with one of the few people that didn't seem to think she was all that weird, which seemed ironic to her, considering he was the human that everypony thought had not existed.
She would keep that little tidbit of knowledge to herself and herself only. Perhaps at a later time, when she got to know this "Titus" on a more personal level, she would reveal the unspoken words that the being had told her, but for now, she was just content to finally know that she hadn't wasted so much time on trivial fantasies.
She took another glance at Titus. He seemed more rugged than what she had thought of the humans, but it didn't bother her. He seemed tougher than anypony she had met in her life, and he hadn't done anything at all yet to confirm her assumptions; she could just tell. Yet asleep he seemed slightly more... vulnerable. She noticed his hands clench and unclench slightly while he breathed softly without a sound.
The sight was out of character for him, but she found it suited him surprisingly well. The closed eyes behind the bearded face flickered ever so slightly. She wondered what it was like being a human, returning back to her previous thought cycles before Titus had arrived. She could ask all the questions in Equestria to Titus, and she would still wonder what it would be like to walk and run on two legs, and be able to grab things with fingers clenched.
Still, the thought of having a human to talk to made her giddy enough to forget her sorrow. Perhaps he could show her how he grabs things and carries them? Or maybe something exciting, like how fast he can run without all that metal weighing him down.
She looked across the room to where Titus had laid his armor. The moonlight drenched the shiny silver surface so softly, and the blue tabard that lay wrinkled upon it. She wondered what it was like to wear something like that. Titus said it was to protect himself from other people hurting him, but certainly there was a more practical use for it also?
She silently lumbered out of bed, careful not to step on her human guest. She made her way to the plate mail lying near the wall. It didn't seem that heavy, the armor appearing to be thinned to almost a sheet thickness. She could probably easily carry this around just like Titus! She wondered what Titus would think when he saw her with his plate mail on. He would probably be impressed that she could hold her own in human armor!
The breastplate began to emanate the familiar green glow that indicated that it was under Lyra's influence, and began to leave the ground. She brought it to her horned head, and gently slid the armor over her head and shoulders, bringing her hooves to the openings that were for human arms.
When she had it on, she released her hold on it, and the weight of what felt like a house came down upon her. She crashed to the ground, struggling desperately to get free of the breastplate. Her air was being cut off and panic began to overtake her. She wanted to cry out but couldn't find any way to force her voice through her throat.
Everything was starting to fade out, and Lyra knew that the worst was yet to come if she suffocated like this. The last vestiges of consciousness were beginning to dwindle away as her fighting and struggling began to die down to lazy twisting and jerking. It was going to end here, she thought, dying while the human she had just barely met slept through the whole thing. What a morbid thing to think of.
She stopped altogether and waited for the end, hoping it would be swift and painless.
Suddenly, two arms picked up the breastplate, and subsequently, her. She felt those same arms separate her from the breastplate that had been crushing her throat, and she coughed and breathed in air desperately, as if there was nothing else in the world. Each breath came with pain, however. She must have hurt herself more than she had thought, but there seemed to be no end to the desperate gasps for breath.
She felt a hand on her neck and a whisper, but only caught several words. It sounded like some kind of prayer, to something called... the Light? She had never heard of any kind of "Light" but there was no time to worry about any of that, she was still struggling to get air into her lungs with each wispy breath.
Warmth shot through her, the epicenter being, to her surprise, the neck. The feeling was great, and she felt strength not only returning to her breaths, but to each limb that had struggled desperately for her life. After just seconds, her breathing slowed down, and was gentle and no longer plagued with constant pain.
She finally found the strength to open her eyes and found her being held in Titus's arms. He sat on her small bed, rubbing her neck softly. His eyes looked caring but agitated. He obviously wasn't happy about the whole situation, but he was too busy using some kind of ability to make her feel better.
She looked down to see his hands glowing softly as they rubbed her trachea softly. He must have been using magic! But he had said he was no magic user previously... She would have to ask him about that eventually, but was afraid to say anything and simply just enjoyed what the crisis had provided her.
She couldn't believe that there were hands on her. Human hands. The thought alone got her stomach all knotted up and she felt better than she had ever felt before, like a weird sort of.. high? What luck the whole accident had brought her! To be in a human's arms and to feel his hands.. She felt the familiar giddiness wash over again as she couldn't hold back a grin.
"What was that all about?" She heard Titus ask.
The moment of enjoyment was over and now came the embarrassing aftermath. Titus put her down in front of him. He did not seem mad, but just concerned and confused. She was glad that she hadn't managed to anger the Paladin, for she had no idea what he was capable of.
She felt her face began to heat up as she tried to explain the unfolding events.
"I... umm...” she stammered.
"Come on, speak up." Titus urged.
"Okay... I just wanted to see what it was like...”
"What what was like?" Titus asked curiously.
"What wearing something that humans wear was like...” she forced out.
She knew that she was on the verge of yet another nervous breakdown. She had kept in check well enough around Titus, but this whole situation was too mortifying. She couldn't imagine Titus ever being understanding regarding her nature ever again. Not after this. She felt like she wanted to cry, but she did her best to fight back the tears.
Then she felt something hit the ground in front of her. It was a glove, like the ones humans wore, fingers and all. She used her magic to pick it up slowly and studied it in glee. Titus came into focus behind the object. He was just sitting there, waiting patiently for her to try on the thing.
She attempted to focus it onto one of her fore-hooves, but to no avail. She tried the other ones, and nothing happened. She felt like a deflated balloon at this point, and dropped the leather glove at her feet. She sat back her hind-legs sadly and closed her eyes in silent defeat, the cruel world she lived in.
She heard Titus step forward, and then she felt something cover her horn. She opened her eyes and saw Titus sit back on her bed. Taking in what he had done. She raised her hoof and felt at her horn, but instead of the familiar texture of her defining gift, she was greeted with very glove she had struggled to get on.
She beamed in satisfaction. She may not have been able to see it, but it was still there, and that was good enough for her, but it was still Titus's and she wasn't sure he wanted to let her keep it. She was reluctant, but removed it from her horn after a minute with a swipe of a hoof, and then using her magic to bring it back up to Titus's grip.
He snatched it and put it back on her horn.
"You keep it." He yawned. "You need it more than me. You'll probably get yourself hurt trying something like this again.”
She pawed at the ground, obviously embarrassed.
"No, I won't..." she said softly.
"Yeah, right." He fell off her bed and back to his pillow on the ground. "May I resume the slumber I was awoken from?”
She quickly hopped back into her bed and laid back. "Yeah, uhmm sorry about that." She played with the glove on her head for several minutes and then looked back over at the Paladin, whose back was turned to her.
"I know you're looking at me." Titus called out from his still figure.
She flew back into her bed, careful not to be caught ogling him again. Before they fell asleep, however, she had to figure out something. Something that had been nagging at her since Titus had saved her from sudden and accidental asphyxiation.
"Hey...Titus...” She whispered.
"Yes?" The paladin returned.
"You told me you didn't use magic, but how else did you heal me, hmm?" She felt like she had asked a question that would finally make her seem more adroit in front of the human, like she was not as dumb as she had seemed back there, trying to adorn armor that was obviously not made for her.
"I’m not a magic user. I simply called upon the Light to heal you. A bruised trachea is nothing to laugh about, especially after doing something like that. We can talk more about it tomorrow if you want."
"Okay..." she said sadly, trying to get comfortable in her sheets.
She had almost died back there, and she hadn't even thanked him for saving her life. What kind of pony was she? A very ungrateful one it seemed. She would find some way to make it up to her savior. She thought about tomorrow and the little things she would need to take care of. She noticed that her thoughts hadn't diverged off to "what it was like to be a human" scenarios, but rather just about her curiosity revolving around Titus.
He was physically fascinating, stronger than she thought possible, even before the whole armor episode. She took a glance when she noticed his breathing was caught in a pattern and looked at him. How many times had she done this already? It didn't matter, she just couldn't stop. He was everything she had thought was possible with humanity and more.
He showed kindness and understanding, and was there in her time of need. All of this in just one day, and what a day it had been. She didn't feel so weird around him like all the ponies that she talked too. He believed her, because he actually was human, and he was better than she could ever have imagined.
Perhaps that’s why she didn't have to think about being a human anymore, because she had one, and he would teach her more and more about being a human every day. The thought was so comforting, and she hoped she would have Titus there to anchor her down forever, even if it didn't seem possible. She pushed that thought aside, however, and enjoyed the thoughts of spending afternoons alone with the human that seemed to come out of nowhere into her life.
She finally fell into deep slumber, where she dreamt of being caressed by large, caring hands.
Chapter Five
Titus slept somewhat well. Of course, it was the waking up that was the worst. He stirred and shook himself out of sleep. He almost forgot where he was until he saw a certain green unicorn handling his armor and placing it neatly by his side. He pushed himself up groggily and rubbed his eyes, yawning.
"Hurry up!" He heard Lyra say. "I got a lot to show you today!" She trotted off to the other side of the small house while Titus grumpily put on his armor, piece by piece.
When the last boot was on, he found his footing on the ground again and walked over to see what Lyra was doing in one of the many cupboards that littered the walls on that side of the house. She seemed intent on finding and getting something put together. Probably breakfast or something of the such, Titus thought.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a rogue sandwich hit Titus blank in the face. He staggered back and grabbed the glowing green meal. It was two pieces of bread, with daisies and other flora amidst the two slices. He looked at it gratingly. He was about to throw it with a force only the Light could imagine when he caught Lyra staring up at him expectantly from the cupboard.
He sighed, looked down at the thing in his hand, and took a cautious bite. The crunch from the stems of flora was what got him. With a hack and a cough he forced the food down, fighting back tears. He never thought he'd tasted anything so bad in his life, but then again, there was that time he ate uncooked boar meat. The memories still caused him distress from time to time.
Lyra seemed to notice his difficulty with the makeshift sandwich. "I know its not "meat" or anything humans like to eat..." She said naively "...but that’s all we've got around here."
Titus didn't want lie to her since he had already been caught, but there was always the urge to be polite... It just wasn't at this particular instance of time.
"That... was awful." He said, irritated.
Lyra pushed by him, and went to the door.
"Okay, fine. What else do humans like to eat besides meat?" She opened the door, rays of light shooting through doorway and drenching her small chairs in yellow sunlight.
Titus followed after her out of the door. Luckily Lyra already racked her mind for the answer from last night's discussion.
"Oh! How about some fruit? Like apples?" She said hopefully.
Now that was something Titus could eat, something nice and crunchy (in a good way, unlike those daisy stems, yuck.)
"Sure. I don't mind apples." Titus said, the bitterness within him finally dissipating.
"Great! Then you're going to love Sweet Apple Acres!" She exclaimed happily.
Now that sounded like a great place, and Titus was not disappointed. The Apple family of ponies were more than happy to let a stranger partake in a few of their apples, being the friendly bunch that they were. They had enough that Titus could probably eat Apples for breakfast, lunch, and supper, and still not make a dent in the monstrous amount that the many trees in the orchard sustained.
Lyra partook in the fruit as well, and soon both she and Titus were walking back to Ponyville, with satisfied full bellies. Titus noticed how out of place he looked amongst the throng of passerby. He still felt a bit out of place, but he was once again reassured that his presence wasn't worth concern as the ponies gave him nods and ignored Lyra almost altogether.
Titus's neck and arms hurt from all the nodding and waving to the travelers along the road. He was on the verge of voicing his plight when they arrived back at the familiar streets of Ponyville. The bright colors of the world and town still were a bit much for him, but he was at least finding it bearable at this point. He soon found a spot to stop at and rested against a tree in an island of grass off the cobbled street.
Lyra joined him on the opposite side of the tree, and they chatted for a short while about the people of Ponyville. Even she couldn't explain why they all seemed to acclimatize to his presence so quickly. She seemed just as surprised as him at all the friendly faces and attitudes towards him.
"You know...” She said laying back on the oak.
"What?" Titus asked.
"I’m kind of jealous. Everypony seems to like you already." she said. "They really just nod at me, and pretend they're listening."
"Don't be." Titus said quickly. "There's a whole coalition of races dedicated to hating my kind back in my world."
Lyra laughed slightly at that. "I suppose you're right..." She switched sides of the oak to sit by Titus. She found him with his eyes closed.
"I can't have you dozing off again." she nudged Titus on the head with a hoof. He stirred slightly.
"I'm not gonna fall asleep again, I was just resting my eyes." He yawned.
Lyra smiled. "Yeah, sure." She soon stood up. "We got other places to go! Come on, lazy!"
Titus grumbled and stood up, once again following after her. They wandered through the streets for several minutes while Lyra searched for their next destination. Titus's belly was still full and he wasn't too glad to be back on his feet just yet, but what else was he going to do today? He couldn't sleep and rest his life away.
They finally arrived at what appeared to be some sort of parlor. Lyra called it 'Sugar Cube Corner'. Titus was about to inform Lyra that his stomach had not settled from their last meal when she shot into the building. Titus shuffled after her, and the aroma of delicious pastries bombarded his senses.
Every last delicacy that was sitting on a display or behind the counter looked delicious, but Titus couldn't even think or look at one without being reminded of his current state. He found Lyra already up by the counter chatting with an older looking mare.
"Two sundaes, Mrs Cake!" she said happily.
Titus caught up to them."I wasn't hungry, you know." He commented wearily.
The blue, older looking mare greeted him warmly. "You must be that human that everyone is talking about!" She beamed a warm smile. "Well, it’s always good to have a new friendly face in town!"
"That's all great, Mrs. Cake, but can Titus and I get those sundaes now?" Lyra asked anxiously.
"Of course, dear. We'll get it right to you. Why don't you go take a seat at one of the tables?" Mrs. Cake said, Titus caught just a hint of disrespect in her voice.
Before Titus could make his way to join Lyra, Mrs. Cake began to speak discreetly to him, just out of earshot of the unicorn.
With that, she made her way into the backroom to prepare the cold treats. Titus just stood there in disbelief. They really did think she was weird! Titus felt bad for minty green pony, fumbling around with one of the sprinkle shakers at the booth, having difficulty due to her hooves. She didn't deserve that kind of disrespect, especially for believing in something, but he couldn't just tell Lyra what he had heard, that would just upset her and that probably wasn't the wisest thing to do at the moment. So he just joined her at her booth, awkwardly fitting himself in opposite seat of Lyra.
"So what do you think of this place?" Lyra asked ardently.
Titus looked around, admiring the place. "It’s not bad. You come here often I assume?"
Lyra's eyes lowered, and she frowned. "Not really; I had no reason to. Most ponies just stare and talk about me." She looked back up to Titus and her smile was back. "But now that you're here, I don't have to worry about that anymore."
"Uh huh.." Titus said roughly. Now he really couldn't tell her what he heard. It could really crush her self-esteem.
The sundaes finally arrived and Lyra indulged in her's quickly while Titus poked and at his sparingly, not wanting to be mean, but not eager to really eat. Titus kept feeling like there was something he needed to do or someone he needed to see, but his mind couldn't wrap around it, too many feelings and other thoughts were muddling his thoughts. His mind kept bringing him back to the Parlor.
Unfortunately, his mind wasn't able to continue its delve, as he caught Lyra staring at him again. When they locked eyes, she broke contact and looked down blushing. He really didn't want to say anything as he wasn't quite sure what had happened to make her react so. He assumed it was because he was still new to her and just a bit too curious. He still did look out of place even if nobody else wanted to say so.
Lyra reverted back to her darting gaze and fumbling hooves. Luckily, the moment was over thanks to the appearance of a pink blur at the table.
A pink pony came flying into the booth beside Titus studying him curiously.
"Wow! He really does look different from other ponies!" She said, her mouth gaping.
Titus pushed the pony back softly and was about to take the time to explain that he wasn't related to anything of the equine family, but Lyra beat him to it.
"He's not a pony, he's a human. " She said coldly.
"But isn't that a kind of Pony?" She asked innocently.
"No, because he's a human."
"Oh, okay...” She quickly hopped out of the booth. Titus had thought that Lyra had hurt her feelings but her energy and smile quickly returned. She presented an outstretched hoof to Titus.
"Sorry about that! I’m Pinkie! I haven't seen anything like you around here before!" She waved her hoof expectantly.
Titus reluctantly gripped her hoof and shook it. "Nice to uh, meet you, Pinkie."
"It’s nice to meet you too! Do you like parties? You probably like parties and that’s what you're going to get!" She looked around and began running around the Parlor.
Titus stood there staring into the blank nothingness where she had been standing, utterly confused and unable to object. It seemed that Lyra was mellow compared to some other ponies around Ponyville. He was about to call out and explain why he didn't want such festivities in his honor when Pinkie said something about streamers and quickly left to the outside streets.
He remained staring for just a second until he heard giggles coming from Lyra.
"You better stop that." She laughed. "You look pretty silly."
Titus shook his head and turned back to Lyra. "I’m not sure what just happened."
"That’s okay." Lyra sighed. "There’s some nuttier people than me out there. You just met Pinkie, and that automatically makes you her friend."
She hopped out of her booth. "We better get going to Twilight's now, we gotta make sure we have time left for your party. I hope you don't mind coming back here later."
Titus frowned. "But I didn't want a-"
"There's no fighting it, you might as well just look forward to it." She trotted out of the Parlor, with Titus following quickly in pursuit.
"By the Light, I can't believe all of this..." Titus said while they navigated the streets once more.
Lyra smirked up at him. "Hey, it could be worst."
"How so?"
"You could be obsessed over a race of people you had never met until yesterday."
He sighed. "I could one-up you, you know."
"Then let’s hear it!" Lyra joked.
"Nope. It’s not even fun to talk about." Titus said painfully.
Lyra seemed to get the indication and stopped talking about it. After a few more streets, (and a few more human jokes, coined by Lyra) they arrived at a giant tree that had been hollowed out to be housed.
Titus thought about how the Night Elves did the same thing. The entire city of Darnassus was a hybrid of elf-made structures and simply hollowed out trees. They had a certain beauty to them, and Titus had only been there on occasion, but he was glad he had gone. This tree was a sore reminder of the world he was missing. He pushed the thoughts back as best as he could and followed Lyra up to the door.
She tapped on the wooden door leading in. Waiting for an answer but got none."Hey! Twilight! It’s Lyra!" She called out.
Titus could hear some shuffling and sighs. Then he heard tiny footsteps, and soon the door was open and Titus was surprised to see the first familiar creature since his sudden arrival.
It was a baby dragon. Its purple scales littered its body when its spine was laced with green. The dragon seemed to be glaring, and able to comprehend everything around it. It surprised Titus, the infant Dragons back in Azeroth were little more than whiny whelps.
"She'll be right there." He said, irritated.
Titus heard muffled shouting coming from within the house. "I’ll be just a second!" The voice lowered in sudden anger. "This better not be another thing on humans, Lyra!"
Lyra grinned excitingly and gestured for Titus to step up to her side."Oh yes it is!" She said happily.
Grumbles and muttering were heard all throughout the library. Titus looked into the hollowed oak to reveal its true nature.
"I don't know why you keep doing this Lyr.." She stopped in front of the Paladin and looked up. Her eyes instantly dilated and shock stretched across her face.
"Y..you’re a..." She stammered.
Titus sighed. He should have been used to this, but the general acceptance of his presence around town had not helped him take a sudden reaction like this any easier.
"Yes. I’m a human." He said, a hand on his face.
"Come in! Both of you!" She gestured violently for Titus and Lyra to follow her in.
Inside she cleared some room in the main part of the library by shoving books out of the way frantically. She seemed to be even more out of it then the last Pony Titus had met, and that was saying something.
She turned back to them, using her horn to control a quill dipped in ink and a piece of parchment to write on."Where do you come from.....?" She asked expectantly.
"Titus. My name is Titus." He answered.
"What a unique name! Does it mean anything? Does it refer to anything about you? Or perhaps its just a name?"
"The latter." Titus simply said.
The quill began marking down notes, but her eyes remained on him. "You never did tell me where you came from?"
"He's from Azeroth, a huge land, Twilight. It’s filled with many races and many creatures. He's part of this group of people called the 'Alliance'."
Twilight eyed her suspiciously until Titus confirmed the fact. The writing on the parchment grew even more frantic as she tried to keep up with flood of information Lyra poured out. It followed this format for quite a bit of time, with Lyra doing the majority of the talking (to Titus's relief) and with him giving nods of confirmation while Twilight frantically wrote on her parchment.
He was about to just get up and leave as he was tired of sitting all day, when Lyra abruptly ended the conversation.
She stood up. "We better get going. Titus has a party he needs to get too."
Twilight frowned. "Oh, okay." She got up and put away her pen and floated the parchment over to her small dragon friend, who was organizing books out of the way, grumbling the whole time.
"Think you could get this to Celestia, Spike?" she asked.
The dragon quickly snatched the parchment in his claws and rolled it up. " Yeah, sure thing, Twilight." He blew a gust of green fire, engulfing the parchment, and it was gone. Quite the strange type of delivery, Titus thought.
With that, Titus and Lyra left the Library and makeshift home. They began to head down familiar streets until they came back to Lyra's small house.
She walked up to her door. "You know where Sugarcube Corner is right?" she asked.
Titus nodded.
"Well you have fun at the party. I'll be waiting here when it’s all over." She sighed.
"Whoa, wait a minute." Titus walked up to her. "Why aren't you coming?"
She frowned, and her eyes reflected the sadness. "It’s your party; not mine. I wouldn't want to make things awkward for you."
She looked up at him. "What?"
"You heard me. You're the only sane person here, it seems. If you don't come along, I'll probably go crazy or something."
She laughed and hopped to Titus's side. "We wouldn't want that, huh?"
Titus grimaced. "No, I'd prefer to stay sane, lest I end up like those poor fools in the Scarlet Crusade..."
Lyra looked at him curiously. "Huh?"
"Nothing. Just Azeroth stuff."
"Fine." Was all she returned.
When they got back to Sugarcube Corner, the place barely looked the same, with streamers and like hanging from any available footing it could find along the building. The most surprising thing he found was the sheer amount of party-goers that seemed to have chosen to attend this celebratory occasion (apparently). He wondered how so many people had found out about this so quick.
Everyone greeted him warmly once he entered the Parlour and was immediately bombarded with a huge “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” He was flattered, but still found his social anxiety crippling in this place. He stayed close to Lyra, since she was the only familiar face at the party, but he still chatted with some of the guests. They all seemed polite and nice, the pink pony responsible for the party seemed to move around crowds with uncanny speed and eventually got everyone laughing and enjoying themselves even more than the initial start of the party.
She eventually came to Titus and Lyra, who were seated in their familiar booth, used only hours previous.
“So what do you guys think of the party? Isn't it just awesome?!” She was shaking with excitement and it was really throwing Titus off.
“Its great. Thank you.” Titus said, leaning on the table in the booth.
“Oh, I'm so glad! I wasn't sure what humans liked, but It’s good to see I got it right!” She hopped off to mingle with some other crowd, to his relief.
The party wasn't that bad, however. Titus was soon enjoying all the treats he had seen in the shop previous. They were as delicious as they had looked and it put even him in a good mood. He and Lyra were soon joking and hooting from their booth, and that got everyone around them laughing even more.
Overall, the decision to go to the party had turned out to be a positive one and when the time came for them all to pack up and leave. He was reluctant to leave his booth where he and Lyra had been conversing.
The whole party had reinforced his belief that Lyra was the only true normal one here. Perhaps she was considered strange by the others due to the fact that she wasn't as flamboyant as the other residents of Ponyville and that made him feel tinge of pity for the little unicorn. She seemed to be more human than pony in personality. If only she could see what it was like back in Azeroth, where there were strange characters, but they were always in the darker reaches of the world. She would've fit right in.
They left the party and soon found themselves back at Lyra's small home. They dived in quickly, trying to get away from the late night chill. Lyra quickly hopped into her bed, seeming to be just as exhausted as Titus was.
As soon as Titus had removed himself from his armor, he couldn't help but feel her eyes upon him again. He quickly caught her, and she blushed and looked away, apologizing furiously.
“What’s the big deal?” He asked, honestly curious.
“Nothing! I swear!” She buried her head under a pillow to hide her red face.
“You can't keep doing this.” He got into his provisional resting area on the ground near Lyra's bedside. “I haven't even taken off any of my clothes.”
She scowled at Titus from behind the pillow. “Don't say that!!” She roared.
Titus just chuckled. He turned his back to her and tried to fall asleep. He knew her eyes were on him, they always would be as long as he was here. It wasn't that bad, though. Worst things could be watching him in his sleep.
Chapter Six
A crack, a scream, muffled... but still a scream.
There was Eleii. In the forest he had fallen in earlier, but something was wrong, she was hurt. She seemed to be wondering in the darkness, shadows criss-crossing over her. She was oblivious to all that unfolded around her. Nothing was going right, nothing at all.
Then, she tripped and fell, but not onto the soft forest floor, into the darkness.
A crack, a scream, muffled... but still a scream.
The scream was not just one of pain or terror, but of calling. The words were hard to make, but it echoed, it echoed violently. “TITUS!!!! HELP!! ME!!”
A crack, a scream, muffled... but still a scream.
Titus awoke screaming, flinging the blanket away from him. He looked around in a cold sweat, and found Lyra looking at him with concerned eyes.
“Is everything okay?” she asked softly.
Titus stood up and quickly grabbed his armor. “I need to head back into the forest.”
Lyra got out of bed and came to him. “What? Why? Did you forget something?”
“Not something, someone.”
After he got everything on, and strapped his hammer down to his back, he made his way to the door, but found Lyra blocking the way.
“You're not going without me.” She said firmly.
Titus tried pushing her out of the way, but found the green aura enveloping his hand and pushing it away from her. Obviously there wasn't a way he could force his way by her. He would have to reason with her.
“I don't want you to get hurt. I don't know what I'll be facing out there.”
“I don't care, I'm coming with you.” She said, with finality.
He'd lost. Women, he thought. Eleii had the same way of ending conversations like that. He could slaughter hordes of demons, single-handily purify the Plaguelands, or defeat a giant beast, but when it came down to a woman, in any shape or form, he always lost.
“Very well.” He slumped in defeat.
She smiled and opened door. Stepping through first, to make sure Titus didn't try anything funny. He kept his slumped posture and followed her out the door.
Due to his slumped figure, Lyra took advantage of it and hopped on his back, wrapping her hooves lightly around his neck.
If it was anyone else, Titus would have thrown them right off his back, but he felt that this might be the only way to really make sure she stayed out of trouble while he doubled back to the forest. So there was no objection from him, even though he swore he felt her nuzzling his neck for a second. It simply gave him goose bumps, and he was forced to deal with it during the long march towards the Everfree Forest.
As they approached the forest line, he felt Lyra's hooves tighten further around his neck, nearly to the point of choking him. She must have been really scared, Titus thought. He wondered why she would put herself through this just to accompany him. There was no time to worry about other people's intentions right now, however. Eleii must have been somewhere inside the forest, in need of his help desperately.
After a quick breath, he pushed through the foliage, for he had no idea where the road into the forest was. He was reverted back to cutting between trees and bushes, but this time he was doing this for two. The thought made him feel more protective than usual to his green friend, for she had no way of really defending herself, especially against whatever shadowed force had somehow taken Eleii.
The forest was a different place at night. The sounds of life were still there, vibrating through and around the trees, but with a lower octave. The place was haunting, almost as haunting as Duskwood, the once thriving forest just south of his home in Elwynn. This world had its similarities to Azeroth it seemed.
Eventually Titus came to a clearing, after what seemed to be hours of wandering through Everfree forest. Light from the moon poured down onto patches of dead grass that seemed to twist and turn. The sight was horrifying for Titus and Lyra but he knew he was getting close, and he'd be damned if some unseen force was going to stop him.
He turned to Lyra on his back. “Hey, stay back here. I'm going to go see what in the Light is going on here.”
“What?! Are you crazy? NO!” she cried back at him.
Titus gave her a stern look and she backed off. She got off his back and stayed outside of the dead grass near the perimeter of the clearing. Titus laughed inwardly. He'd actually won against a woman for once, and all he had to do was use the same technique they used against him: acting with Finality.
He made sure Lyra was back, who was watching him with concern. He took careful steps as he went into the patch of moonlight, where the grass twisted and turned. Every fiber of his being wanted to go back and grab Lyra and get out of this Light forsaken place, but he reminded himself why he was here, for Eleii.
He reached the center, and he looked around. Nothing. He looked over to Lyra, who seemed to be aching from the suspense. She simply wanted to go home, Titus should have made her stay, but her stubbornness had dragged her right along right with Titus.
He gently smiled, wanting to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. She didn't smile back, but gestured wildly for him to return. He looked up to the bare stretch of sky, and saw the moon, its bare white light a gentle beacon in the sky. It was hauntingly beautiful, and Titus didn't want to stop looking until a yell from Lyra brought him back to reality.
“Titus!” She cried.
He turned and looked at her and she was gone. He started to move, but something caught his leg and tripped him. He fell face first and quickly began to push himself up, but he caught sight of his shadow under the moonlight. It wasn't his. He turned to look above him, but there was nothing to see. He turned back in relief, but the shadow was there on the ground, and it had formed a dark and twisted face.
With red glowing eyes, the shadow began to cackle, and Titus shot up to his feet in surprise. The shadow moved across the clearing and even into the dark, but was still distinguishable. The laughing continued as it finally found a resting place on a tree. Titus looked at it in horror as the silhouette it formed was that of a man. But not entirely, for the figure was distorted, its shoulder blades pointed to an edge, and its legs were nowhere to be found.
Titus was about to run and find Lyra, when the figure finally spoke, its voice chilling and raspy.
“There's no hurry. Your little friend is fine... for now.”
“What did you do with her?” he shouted, “and what did you do with Eleii?!”
The shadow quickly closed in on Titus and was soon under him. Titus wanted to stamp it out, but it was a shadow, not a being. It circled around him slowly.
“Oh so there are two of you...? Do tell me about this other one....”
What was this thing playing at? “You know damn well who I'm talking about!”
The shadow recoiled in hurt. “Why do you think I'm lying to you? I have no reason too..... I may have guided you here... but that was for another reason... ”
Titus pulled out his hammer, readying in a fighting stance. “What exactly do you want from me, Shadow?”
The form began to cackle once more, and span around Titus with increased speed. “Why it’s simple... you seem aware of your abilities... a light shines in you... like a beacon... the only light I have ever seen here... at least of this magnitude... ”A light like yours... could be problematic... ” The shadow suddenly crawled up Titus' leg. “Like a candlelight.... you need to be snuffed out... ”
Incredible pain shot through Titus' body as the shadow stretched across his body. He cried out in pain. It was all Titus could do to keep standing. The stabbing pain.. it hurt so bad.. why didn't he just give up? It would be so easy to submit to this creature, to end this madness. He could finally join the Light itself in eternal rest....
Lyra. Eleii. They shot into his mind like an arrow. No, he was not going to die here, he had to save them. It was his duty as a Knight of the Silver Hand, but it was also personal. He cared about them. Both of them, and it wasn't going to end here for him or anytime soon.
Titus' instincts kicked in, everything he had learned as a Paladin, trying at the abbey, at the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind, began to work on habits built into his mind after years of dedicated practice and failure.
He called to the Light, and the Light answered. His body was enveloped in Light as he activated his seal. The shadow stretched across his body recoiled off of him in pain, screaming violently. He wasn't done yet however, his hand rose into the air, calling another favor from the Light. The land began to crack and crumble, as light began to emanate from the ground he had just consecrated.
The shadow further recoiled back onto one of the trees in front of Titus. Titus roared and charged at it with his hammer, smashing right through the shadow and meeting the tree. The tree was lifted from its roots from the sheer force of the blow, falling over with a loud thud.
Titus looked around and found the shadow trying to scurry away. Oh no he didn't. Titus' free hand began to glow as the Light filled his very palms. He shot forth the Light like a dart and pinned the shadow in its place. He kept his hand extended as he used the string of light to close in quickly on the shadow pinned to the ground.
“Now tell me what you did with them!” Titus demanded.
“Your little friend... is near the road.... probably dead... As for the unseen one... perhaps the master knows... ”
Titus furthered his grip on the strand of light, causing the shadowed being to cry out further in pain.
“Where is your damn master then?!” He said behind gritted teeth.
“At the end of this forsaken forest.... Good luck getting through... Beacon.”
Titus clenched his fist until it was almost about to bleed, releasing torrents of Light on the creature. It screamed as it fizzled away. Titus smiled. His deed to the well being of all that was natural was complete for now. But now he needed to find Lyra, and fast.
He dove right into the nearest foliage he could find; ready to find her at any cost.
***************
Lyra felt skeletal hands drag her throughout the forest, and out into the open. She wanted to scream, but found no breath to do so. Too much was happening to fast, she wasn't even worried about herself, she was worried about Titus, she had seen the shadow follow after him into the circle of dead grass, he was strong and every ounce of common sense in her told her that Titus would be fine, but she couldn't stop worrying.
She was then thrown onto a dirt road by the skeletal hands. She landed roughly and looked up at her captor. What she saw was horrifying. A skeletal form stood over her, but the bone structure was not of anypony, it was of a human. A faint eerie red light was seen far in the back of the abomination's eye sockets, it seemed as if it was grinning.
A human skeleton? What was going on here? There were never any humans in Equestria before Titus! How could this have happened? She wanted to get up and run and never stop, but she was glued in place from terror. For the first time in her life, there was something human related that she did not want to have anything at all to do with.
The skeleton closed in on her slowly, its face seeming to grin in an even sicker manner than before. She didn't want to be here anymore, she wanted to be back home... with Titus. She just wanted Titus, he would hold her and protect her from all this. He would save her like he did that night, and he'd hold her and rub her with his hands.
She was brought back to reality as she noticed she was crying. She was acting like a child, a little filly. She wasn't helpless, she had her horn! She'd make Titus proud by defeating this undead creature all by herself! She stood up and took a stance, ready to charge.
What happened next was a haze of tackling and magical possession. She had managed to pin the skeletal being down, and was bonking it on the head with a nearby branch she had found on the roadside. It didn't seem to be doing any damage, but she still felt like she was making progress. It’s not like the thing was fighting back, it was just growling in irritation with the repeated blows to the skull.
“Yeah! Don't like a taste of your own medicine, huh?” she called down to the prone skeleton.
The being simply growled, trying to flail about violently to get her off. She was holding the thing down for dear life when she finally was thrown back into a tree off the road, hitting the ground hard. She scurried back onto her hooves, but tripped.
Crack!!!
She opened her eyes and found she was unscathed, and that the skeletal being had become headless. The arms of the skeletal body searched desperately to find anything above the shoulders, but found nothing. Then, another crack! And the body flew into a tree and burst apart in an explosion of light.
She was shaking violently from the situation but found Titus standing over her. She presented outstretched hooves to him, and he picked her up gingerly. He tried to put her on his back, but she had none of that. She wrapped her hooves around his neck and buried her face into his plated chest, careful not to hit her horn on anything.
“I knew you'd come and save me...” she sobbed. “I knew you would.”
She felt hesitation, but then he held her back. She didn't know whether if it was more for her or for him, but it didn't matter. She was with him now, and she wasn't going to leave his side ever again. She couldn't stop the stream of tears, but she tried to sound as dignified as she could.
“W-where are we?” She said, choking back tears and finally looking over Titus' shoulder.
She felt the Paladin's hand pat her on the back, and her world began to spin as Titus' studied their surroundings.
“Looks like we found the road,” Titus said, trying desperately to look around behind Lyra's mane.
“Good.” She said, “We can get out of here now!”
Titus tried pulling her back away from his body, to her protest. He had tried and tried, but she had already decided that she would not let go for the maelstrom. He sighed.
“Look, I am going in even further. Hopefully out to the other side.” He said sadly.
“What?! Why?!” she asked in confusion.
“My friend might be out there, and I have to at least check.”
There was a pause. “I'd prefer you stay back for this one.”
There was a silent moment between the two after that. She was just enjoying his presence for as long as she could, grateful that this wasn't the end, at least for now. Several minutes passed, and she had finally made up her mind.
“Let's get going,” she finally said.
“What do you mean? You can't come along, something worse could happ-”
She bonked him on the head with her hoof. “I'm going so let's get going and save your friend!”
Titus slumped back over in defeat, and she wrapped around his back, so he could have his arms and eyes free. She promised herself she wouldn't let go for anything this time.
Titus walked over to the skeletal being he had smashed apart. Groaning could still be heard from its remains, and he quickly stomped out any large pieces remaining of the thing.
“Strange,” he said.
“What?” Lyra asked curiously.
“This looks like a human skeleton.” He caught himself. “It did... I mean. But it was like a good two feet shorter than me.”
Her stomach knotted up all over again as intimate thoughts of them together filled her mind. But she still wondered why. Was it the wonder he presented? Or the reliability? Or was it simply the fascination she had with his race? No, it wasn't anything so complicated. She wanted to push the thought to the back of her head for now but the thoughts lingered back into her mind until she couldn't push it back in the recesses anymore.
Chapter Seven
Hours passed by while the two trekked the forest's roads. Eventually the road simply ended and they were forced to maneuver around trees and foliage once more. My favorite, Titus thought to himself bitterly. Something was wrong; however, he wasn't able to make sense of it until Lyra voiced the concern out loud.
“The sun should have been up by now.” She said, her head looking up to the sky, desperate to find any beam of light through the canopy up above. “Celestia should have brought the sun up by now...”
He looked up and found the same thing, darkness. “You're right.” He turned to her, hanging her head over his shoulder. “Your god's control the sun and moon?”
She looked at him for a second in disbelief. “I told you that!” She looked away from him. “I thought you were paying attention when I explained all that...”
Titus nudged her with his shoulder and she tightened her grip on him in response. “Ack! I'm sorry! It was my fault!”
Titus laughed for the first time this dreadful night. “Alright alright you win.” He kept his mouth out of her sight. “Women...” he muttered.
The grip tightened once more. “What was that?”
“Nothing, I swear!”
“Good.” She loosened her grip for the last time and looked around, hoping to find some way out of this place. “How much longer do you think we have to go?”
There was no answer, and Lyra got irritated. She smacked Titus upside the head lightly “Anypony home? Hello.....”
“The trees are starting to resign. You can tell if you look closely.” He pointed around to the evidence. “See how they're becoming farther spaced?”
She did take notice, but she also noticed another thing. Shadows. They were twisting across and around the trees, closing in on them.
“It's time to go, Titus!” She yelled at him. “Run!!”
The Paladin saw what was enfolding around them now also, and broke off into a heavy sprint. He had not run like this since the day in the Mana-Tombs. That only made him run faster, and soon he was diving around and about tree by tree.
“Don't go Beacon... we only wish to return you to the dark... ” they laughed sinisterly.
“What do they mean?!” Lyra cried out to Titus. “What’s this Beacon they're talking about?”
“No time to explain!” He panted “We've got to keep going before they get us!”
She kept her eye on what was enfolding behind her. They were only getting closer, and they're cackling and destruction only increasing. She wasn't afraid, however. She was with Titus, her guardian and protector. She knew she would make it out of here. If she just kept her hold on her love, she would be alright.
For Titus it was a very different mindset. He had to get out of here for two reasons: to find Eleii, and make sure Lyra was okay. He had no real concern for himself, the training and teachings had taken away any form of self-centered beliefs from his very being.
So he ran, and ran, and ran. While Lyra held on for dear life, confident in her companion. Every time a shadow closed in and began to nip at Titus, he hopped and skipped with uncanny speed. Even he couldn't believe what he was doing.
“Close your eyes!” He called to Lyra.
He suddenly pulled around, Lyra's hind-legs flailing outwards from the sure speed of his rotation. He raised his hand into the air and clenched it once, saying a silent prayer to the Light, and asking for the strength to utilize its holy power once more. His prayer was answered once more and beams of light shot out of his hand like an explosion of Gnomish shrapnel.
Lyra looked upon the destruction he had caused. “That was amazing! Are you sure you aren't using magic?”
Titus wiped his face. “I'm sure.”
After he made sure they were clear of any potential threats, Titus walked out through the last row of trees, marking the end of the Everfree forest. What lay before them surprised even Titus.
They stared upon a dead and abandoned land. It was like staring into the complete opposite of the world he had seen so far. Dead hills stretched for far as the eye could see, with no growth or any sign of life amongst the gray, dead dirt that covered the land. The moonlight shined down upon the land, doing little to censor the sense of dread and foreboding the land possessed.
“By the Light...” Titus muttered.
“I've never seen anything like this...” Lyra said softly.
He looked around for any sign of civilization, and caught a strand of buildings far in the distance, with a dark castle looming over the patch of pony-made architecture. He began his march towards the buildings. If Eleii was going to be here, it was going to have to be around there, they couldn't hide her behind dead land, it was impossible.
Each step seemed to suck a little bit of the will out of him, as if the land itself was draining him of his energy, and each step becoming more and more of a challenge. Damn this plate mail, he thought bitterly. For the extra protection it just wasn't worth it, not when it was doing this to him.
He wanted to throw off all his armor and just fall into the dead dirt and sleep. Sleep for a long time, but he knew he couldn't. Not when there was two people counting on him for protection and guidance. No, the Light would not have it, and his mind wouldn't either. The body would suffer for unbelievable lengths before he would give up.
“We're almost there.” Lyra informed him.
He lifted up his head and found that the buildings were just as dead as the land. Upon further approach, they were stripped of all innards that would make a house from the interior. Even the ground within the buildings had been torn up. All that laid within them now was dirt, dust and...... bones, pony bones.
Titus had seen enough of this to be desensitized to the images of death. This was the very stuff he had dealt with on many of his journeys, and did little to waver his resolve.
Lyra had never seen like it before and was soon forced to bury he face into Titus' neck, horrified by the remains, thoughts of her skeletal captor rising up within her mind again, her grip tightening around Titus' neck once again.
Titus took notice and put a hand on her hoof. “Hey, we're going to be fine.” He smiled faintly. “We'll be out of here soon enough.”
She fought back tears and mimicked his smile, believing him fully.
Suddenly, the faint sound of rattling began to surround them. Titus quickly brought Lyra around to his front and withdrew his hammer from behind his back. Lyra dropped to the ground in front of him, leaning on one of his legs for comfort and protection.
From the ground, emerged more of the pygmy skeletal beings, their faces smiling violently, or lacking a jaw. Their surrounded the Paladin slowly, the eerie red light from their eye sockets dominating his sight.
He had to be careful with Lyra at his side, he did not want to accidentally hurt her or blind her with the Holy Light.
“But there's dirt and dead things in there!” She cried.
He looked down to her. “Please. Do this for me.”
She seemed to get the message, and nodded quickly.
Seconds seem to be like minutes as the skeletal beings circled around him. They were trying to intimidate him, he knew it. They lashed out in feigned attempts trying to get him to recoil. Lyra just wanted to scream but knew that she couldn't risk it here, not with Titus depending on her to hold through and be strong. She just waited and waited until it started.
Suddenly, the first skeleton began to charge with Titus' back turned. He heard its scream before anything and quickly turned around and swept the thing of its bony legs and smashed its rib cage apart with a quick downward swing from his hammer.
The others charged in as result. “Go! NOW!” Titus called to Lyra.
She obeyed and ran for the nearest building and hopped in. A flurry of dust and dirt shot up around her, and she was scared she had just given away her position. She looked over the edge of the frame of the building she had dove into and found Titus smashing through what seemed to be an army of the vicious little skeletons.
She fell slipped and fell onto her back. She did not land on anything flat, however. She looked to see the bumpy structure she had fallen upon, and quickly fought back a scream and shot back into her previous position by the frame. There laid the shattered remains of a small pony, its mouth opened agate in silent agony. It seemed to be staring right at her, begging for some kind of help or closure.
Titus was fighting tooth and nail. Smashing through hordes of the skeletal beings and constantly calling upon the Light for assistance, either to smite his enemies or to repair his flesh if a claw connected somewhere he was unarmored. He swung his hammer with flourish, striking down 4 skeletal beings at once. He hoped it would stop soon, the actions he performed were beginning to tax his energy greatly.
But they kept coming, and didn't seem to be stemming at all. They crawled out from the ground constantly, and Titus soon realized what was happening. They weren't coming from any kind of burial that had taken place under the city. Something was sending them up here in troves. There was a master mind to this attack, not just random violence.
He smashed through one more set of assailants and quickly called down a Consecration to surround him. Cracking through the ground and sending up beams of light, burning anyone that dared step on the ground. But that was just the beginning. Titus brought his hammer high above his head, and brought it down onto the exposed ground with a deafening thud.
Tremors shot through the abandoned town as Titus ran for the building he had seen Lyra retreat too. He flew over the frame into the dusty pit for protection. He looked for Lyra, catching sight of her by the frame and quickly snatched her and curled up around the green Unicorn to protect her from what was to come.
The site where Titus had stuck the earth had begun to implode and collapse into the ground. Many skeletons that had just recently emerged looked around to see where their target had gone. But as the ground began to collapse and fall apart around them, they were forced to fall away from the sight or fall to their doom. Many did just that and simply plummeted to their ends below.
The tremors finally ceased and Titus opened his eyes. He struggled to get up, but found a little Unicorn reasserting herself onto his back. He smiled as he felt the familiar warmth of hooves wrapping around his neck. It was good to have her back in check.
He poked his head over the house's frame to get a glimpse at the destruction he had caused. There was a huge gaping hole in the middle of the settlement now, and the ground was still chipping crumbling away. Luckily his attackers seemed to have deserted for the time being.
He pulled himself and Lyra out of the house, looking around for where to search first. The place did not seem significant at all. It was just a dead settlement in the middle of a dead land. He sighed, and looked up at the castle that loomed over them, its darkness foreboding and off putting.
It lay up above on a hill overlooking the town, and it was obviously the main place of a government once when this land had been alive and well. He had seen all of this too often, places just left to fade away in time. It was disheartening, but he was still working on borrowed time, and he needed to find Eleii.
He started to push towards the hill footing the castle.
“Let me guess.” Lyra said bitterly. “We're going to go in there. The big scary castle and we're going to fight hordes of these things?”
Titus loosened up and looked back at her. “More than likely, yes.” He started to head up the incline of the hill, “you can leave whenever you like.”
He was answered with a smack to his head. “You sound like a broken record!” Then in another instant, she was nuzzling his face. “I am not leaving this place without you, and you know that!”
“Hey, I could only hope.” He said with smirk. “I really don't want you to get hurt is all.”
She used her horn to control one of Titus' arms and bring it to her head, rubbing her softly.
“Don't worry about me. I'm sure we can handle anything.” She lipped the last sentence so he wouldn't hear. As long as we're together...
Chapter Eight
There they stood, in front of the giant doors leading into the greeting room of the dreadful castle. Runes were carved on the door in what appeared to be Lunar symbols. Titus couldn't make anything out of it. He had no interest in archeology or back in his own world. He looked to see if Lyra had any idea, and she just shook her head.
“Well I suppose we've seen worse.” Titus said.
“Maybe you, but not me. I was just a simple pony obsessing over humans before you came along...” Lyra said, resting her chin on Titus' shoulder.
“I never thought your world would be this dangerous, actually.” he patted her on the head lightly.
“Yeah, well let's just get this over with...” She said roughly.
He nodded and walked up to the runed doors. He pushed them open slowly, and they were showered in dust. Titus and Lyra coughed violently as they pushed through the cobwebs littering the entrance.
Moonlight poured into the decrepit castle and Titus noticed that the place had clearly not seen any sort of maintenance for quite some time, and he began to worry that Eleii wouldn't be here. The place reminded him of the regal castles back in Azeroth, with a huge greeting chamber for guests, and rooms littering each side of the dusty and cobwebbed walls. A huge staircase led to even bigger runed chamber doors, which more than likely led to the throne room or such.
Lyra studied the ceiling while hanging from his back. The canvas of the ceiling depicted a moon and clouds stretching across a sea of darkness and stars. She noticed a huge bright star near the moon, shining much more vividly than its other celestial companions. It seemed to tell a story, but Lyra couldn't get a hold of what exactly the painting was trying to tell. Still the thing was fascinating and she couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of it while Titus studied the rest of the greeting chamber.
Pictures hung loose or fallen, dust and cobwebs hid in every corner of the pale and gray stone that made up the walls. Doors leading into backrooms were barely distinguishable in the pale moonlight that supplied the only means for sight in the chamber. Titus knew that this place had been dormant, but with their trespassing he could not count on that for much longer.
Titus bent his legs, preparing for the confrontation. Lyra simply whimpered below, and he knew he couldn't have her run away this time, it would be way too dangerous in a place like this. Then again the dead town below hadn't really been a great supplier of true protection either. He looked around and found no way for Lyra to get out.
He sighed and spoke to her softly. “Just stay close... okay?”
She smiled up at him. “Can do!” grateful for not being sent off again.
As they both prepared for the Shadows to finally make their attack, the doors supplying the only light to the chamber slammed closed suddenly and powerfully. The the sound was deafening, but Titus could hear the cackling and hooting around him and Lyra. On impulse, he felt for Lyra and found her still by his leg. He quickly picked her up and guided her fore-hooves around his neck.
Fear dug into his stomach as he realized what he had to do. He was going to be forced to fight his enemy in the dark, he couldn't summon a light source for long and even then he would have to have a hand free. This was going to be tricky, and possibly disastrous if they were going to surround him from all sides. He was nearly hopeless when he heard Lyra begin to talk to him.
“Just a sec...” A light soon shone over Titus' shoulders and over a small radius as Lyra's horn began to glow its familiar green light.
“Impressive!” Titus called back to her.
“No flattery now! I need to concentrate!”
Titus nodded and looked around through his new found pocket of light. Shadows soon crept through into sight, but also Skeletons accompanied them. Titus raised his hammer in traditional fashion and brought it down with extreme force on the first pygmy skeleton that came into reach of his bludgeoning weapon. Then a quick flash of light from his hands dispatched the shadow trailing after it.
Lyra's horn began to hiccup in out of illumination as Titus' movement threw her about upon his back. She was multitasking between keeping hold on her Paladin, and keeping the area visible so he could defend them. It was a tough task but she made it through for the most part.
Titus swung and shot forth his light in a violent barrage, killing and wounding all that he came into his killing zone. He knew that the way out of this one would be even more difficult than the last confrontation, and he couldn't do anything drastic with Lyra hanging at his back. So he dug in and continued to bash, bludgeon, and burn through their assailants.
He soon was dancing around the room, parrying, swinging and side-stepping attacks. It was a dance of death, a bloody dirge in his honor, and he knew he wasn't going to make it through if he didn't do something truly devastating soon. He bashed a skeleton's skull in with the butt-end of his hammer and quickly shot forth a bolt of light through a shadow crawling across the dusty ground. But an unseen shadow was soon crawling up his leg.
Pain shot forth through his body as he tried to kick the thing off his leg. It had little effect however as it seemed to just sit upon his leg, filling it with unbelievable agony. It was as if his flesh was being killed while it still stood upon his leg, under the protection of his plate boots.
Despite the pain and his off balanced position, he managed to clear himself of several more skeletons, and tore through a couple of shadows. But then a second shadow managed to assert itself onto his other leg, and he was soon on the verge of being brought to his knees.
A mad thought crossed his mind as he began to collapse. Lyra. She needed to be safe, she needed to be away, but she wouldn't leave him willfully at this point he knew it. He also knew that she had feelings for him, he had finally pieced together the evidence, and he was flattered. Much more than he should have been, but he couldn't help but find the thought of her loving him sweet. It made him happy, which was a rare occurrence in his life, and he knew he couldn't have her in harm's way much longer.
There was only one option. He quickly stood up to his full height, screaming in agony. He dropped his hammer, where it fell under the veil of the shadows racing up his body. He quickly pried Lyra's hooves off of his neck. It was now or never. He pulled her in front of him and looked her in the eyes.
She was crying, she knew what was coming. “No...” she whimpered desperately.
He looked off into the distance, far out of the light that Lyra had been providing. It was time. He threw her as far as he could, hoping she would be okay after this. He sure hoped he would be, he was falling apart, and the pain only got worse.
“No!!” She screamed as she flew back, along with her Light. As soon as she hit the ground, the Light she had been
But then, a blinding light began to shine from the center of the chamber. Lyra was forced to cover her eyes, but not before she got a glimpse. She couldn't believe what she saw, it was the silhouette from her dream, the one that had started her fascination in humans, but... it was different somehow. Magical hammers spiraled around the silhouette, tearing through the shadows and skeletons that were already burning from the blinding light. It was amazing, and she wished she could have seen more, but the light, it was like a beacon... it was too strong. So she cringed and shielded her eyes from the light, hoping with all her heart that it would end soon and she could see if Titus was okay.
After several minutes, she heard a door cringe open. She cracked an eye and saw Titus pulling open the front doors again, so moonlight could shine once more in the castle. Something was different about him however, he seemed to be glowing ever so faintly, but then it faded away. It must have been one of his powers. Lyra still didn't know if he was telling the truth when he said he did not use magic, but right now wasn't the time to be wary. He was okay, and that was what really mattered.
She started after him. “Titus! You're okay!”
She wanted to cry yet again, but thought better of it. She was strong. From this moment on, no more being weak, no more letting Titus down. She would sooner scold herself than he would her, but it did nothing but further motivate her. It was time to be serious.
He looked over himself and then back at her. “Yeah, I suppose I am.” He laughed a bit. “I didn't think that would work.”
Titus eyed her suspiciously. “Really? Then what was with all the whimpering huh?”
“I don't feel like getting thrown off or jerked around. Maybe when we're done here, eh?” She batted her eyelashes, trying to send the message of the innuendo.
Titus just stared at her blankly. “Okay...”
She gave a look of defeat. The flirting technique had failed. She hung her head in defeat. “Alright... lean over... I'm getting on.”
Titus scratched his head and pulled her up to his back again. Women sure were strange. If she wanted to be romantic she should have something flattering or of the like. That was what he had been told by his mother back in Elwynn. He certainly did not miss those days, hormones and teenage girls were all that had mattered back then. He scolded himself everyday his mind brought it up and this day was no different.
He was so busy reminiscing that he was bonked on the head several times, and gave no response. Lyra was obviously fuming that she was not being noticed and simply hung on behind him, intentionally trying to kick him in the back. Luckily for her, it worked like a charm.
“What are you trying to do?” He asked peacefully.
“Get your attention.” She said, not stopping at all.
“Well you got it. What did you want to tell me?”
She had a mental block. “I forget....”
Titus sighed. “Well, we better get looking in this place.”
They did just that, going wall by wall, opening and looking through abandoned anterooms. They found nothing however and with each vacant room, Titus grew more and more helpless. What if Eleii wasn't here? What if she was gone forever? He couldn't stop looking now, and he was running from door to door in the greeting chamber looking desperately for some sign some clue to let him know that this wasn't all in vain.
Lyra tried to comfort him, but he was just getting more and more frantic by the moment. Then there were no more rooms to look through, except for the one leading into the throne room. It did not spark any kind of hope in him, however. He almost knew that it was going to be empty and that he put himself and Lyra in needless danger for a wild goose-chase.
He slowly ascended the dusty stone steps, feeling more hopeless each step. He came to the huge, runed doors, the lunar symbols seeming to glow ever so faintly. He shook his head, it was time to get this over with. To figure out if everything had been for naught, and then... to find out what would happen next in his life here.
He did not know exactly what would happen after all this. The thought frightened him slightly, and he couldn't help but think about the green unicorn on his back. He knew she would more than likely follow him wherever he traveled. The thought was comforting, but he did not know if he could see her in harm's way anymore. She meant a lot to him, even after this short time he had begun to admire her ability to stick with something until it was done. That was what they were going to do. Get this done. He took a deep breath, and pushed himself to the doors, the final doors.
His hands were just inches away from the doors when a chilling voice echoed across the chamber. “Ahh... It seems that have managed to make your way here...” Titus stood there, hesitant. “Well... go on and open it... you must be dying to speak with me... ”
He pressed his hands against the smooth, dark doors, and pushed with all his might. The doors silently creaked open and slammed against the walls adjacent to the sight of the opening. With a careful step, Titus entered the throne room. This time he had his hammer ready, no more getting caught off guard.
The throne room was extremely simple, yet beautiful in a sort of mystical way. Stained glass depicted legends of ponies and other such tales. They also provided light from the moon outside, making Titus exhale in relief that he would not have to put up with another “match in the dark” encounter.
There was also intricate glass doors on each side of the room, leading to small balconies, looking over the dead, decrepit land. Before this land was deserted, this room must have been even more magnificent than its current state. Still it was a nice little haven in this pale, dark land.
“So the Beacon finally comes to greet me at last... ”
Titus quickly looked towards the source of the voice. Upon the crumbled throne, sat a hooded and robed being, leaning on one of the throne's arms. He was humanoid, but extremely short, and blood red eyes looked out from under the shadow of the hood. It wasn't human, but then again nothing here was besides him.
It shifted its arms and quickly looked over the approaching companions.
“It's good you came. Saved me the trouble of picking through the rest of this land to find you. ”
Titus simply stared at him with fire in his eyes. “Say what you will. I would have my friend back from you, fiend.”
The hooded figure began laughing violently in convulsions. “Is that what lead you here? Not some random claim to duty or upholding your beliefs? ” The being stood up slowly, seeming almost frail. “You have become selfish and blind, Beacon. It seems that your hindrance would not be as critical as once thought. ”
Titus rushed up to the being and stood just inches away from little creature, looking down upon with anguish and hate in his contorting his face. “You will tell me where Eleii is now or suffer the consequences.” He gestured towards the hammer he held in one arm. “I am a man of the Light, and I will not hesitate to smite you down if I have to.”
The being reached a robed arm up to the tabard laid across Titus' chest. “Threats won't work on me, Human. They never have, not since the day she left. ”
“Who are you talking abo-” and Titus and Lyra were flying back into the wall, he turned at the last to hit the wall face first, saving Lyra any pain. He slid down, resting on the wall. Lyra scurried off of his back and turned him around to a sitting position.
“Are you okay?” her face showing severe concern.
“Yes, yes I am.” He wiped blood from his mouth, and quickly pulled himself back up. His hammer laid by the robed being who simply stood by his throne, waiting for Titus to confront him once more.
He quickly rushed at the being again, and bolt of shadow energy was flying towards him. He ducked under it, as it hit the wall he and Lyra were just recuperating near. He was glad he had decided to press the attack now, or he might have been dead. He looked back to see Lyra hiding in a corner, afraid. He couldn't blame her, but he needed her help. In any way, shape, or form.
He pulled himself up, and quickly was forced back down to the ground as more of the shadow bolts shot forth from the being's outstretched claw-like hands. It was mad dash as he hopped and jumped and ducked around the Throne room, trying to gain possession of his weapon once again. He finally got close enough to the robed creature and found himself fist-fighting the frail thing. Its strength was surprisingly overwhelming. Titus was forced into a defensive position while the creature showered him in clawed attacks.
He suddenly took a hit across the face, and he felt blood streaming down his cheek. It hurt more than it should, but even then the adrenaline flowing through him managed to numb his cheek in time for him to counter with a hook, sending the creature reeling away, allow him to grab his hammer. He turned to find the creature no longer there.
Claws wrapped around his neck, and bit into his skin. He cried out and threw off the robed being. It burned and bled, but he was fine. He knew the Light would fix anything minor to serious. He quickly got the being off guard by not falling back and bashed it in the face with the handle of hammer. It quickly vanished and Titus was forced to swivel around, looking desperately for his enemy.
He quickly caught it standing near the doors to the room, firing more of its spells at him. Now he could parry the projectiles, however, and had little trouble closing the gap between them, and he quickly swung his hammer in a full arc waiting for the contact of flesh on hard refined stone and metal. But it never came and he saw that he was alone again, with Lyra still whimpering in the corner.
“Your allies are pathetic, Beacon. How do you expect to defeat a king with no help? ”
“You're no king!” Titus cried out.
“Oh that's where you're wrong, Beacon. Have you not been stepping through my domain? The shadows and undead of my race are my loving subjects. Each and everyone, I'm sure you know firsthand just how faithful they are to their king..... to their Shadow King... ”
This man ruled the undead. He was the one that sent them into the forest after them. Why did everyone keep referring to him as Beacon? He wanted time to sort all this out, he really did. He did not know why this thing wanted him out of the way. What was he to this supposed king? or to this world? He was just a Paladin, nothing more. The Light help him through all this.
He soon was met with another assault from the shadow king, now back near his throne. Titus charged but this time the King had been shooting at his feet and one caught him squarely in the foot, sending him flying over onto his back. The air had been knocked out of him and tried to get up but found no footing. The hooded king was upon him, holding his claw up menacingly.
“It begins with the end of you, Beacon. Then I can drain the rest of this land of its life. ”
Titus' held back his attacker's claws valiantly and they were forced into impasse. He gritted his teeth, and his arms were shaking violently in protest to the descending claws. He had no way out of this, he could not call upon the Light without a free hand. All he could do was used the last of his strength to hold back the Wretch.
His arms screamed in agony, and he was about to lose control of his arms when he saw a glowing green hammer floating well above the shadow king's head. He gave a sly smirk, and the King turned around and looked to see what he was so amused about. But it was to late, the hammer came down on his head, and he screamed in pain. Titus broke his grip and shot forth of blinding light into the King's eyes. He howled in pain, and Titus was able to throw him off.
Lyra took the liberty of continuing the bludgeoning. She smashed the robed face several times until he finally collapsed. She was going to continue when Titus quickly told her to halt her assault.
“I still need him alive.” He told her in a commanding voice. She nodded in understanding, and quickly backed off.
She was so proud of herself, She finally saved Titus! This certainly didn't even the score though, he had like a five to one advantage on her. Still it was a start and she was sure she would get more chances if this kept up. She mused about all the great times she would have together with him, swinging the hammer she still controlled around unconsciously.
Titus was forced to dark under a quick sweep of the hammer. “Be careful there!”
She dropped the hammer on the ground in sudden realization, “Oh, I'm sorry!”
After he was cleared to progress further, he picked the being up by the front of his robe. He was unconscious, and the exposed portion of his face was already caked with blood. He was in no mood to wait, and he began to shake the disappointment of a king violently.
“Wake up damn you!” He yelled at the comatose figure before him. He was on the verge of throwing his limp body back onto the ground, when the defeated king suddenly opened his eyes. He looked around in confusion, and then focused in on his captor.
“Oh, you seem to want something from me is it? ” He coughed.
Titus picked his frail body up, until his feet left the ground, dangling. “Where is Eleii?”
The red eyes showed confusion. “I know no Eleii, Beacon. Now do your damn job and kill me.”
Titus looked offended. “This is for no one but me.”
“And.... for me.... kind of...” Lyra trailed off behind him.
The defeated king pulled his bloody head back in laughter. “You have no idea, do you? ”
“What?!” Titus demanded.
“It was your destiny to kill me. Why do you think you were brought to this world? ” Titus looked away in pain. “Is that it? You think your death an accident? No... No destiny has had its way with you, Beacon. You were its puppet without even being aware of it. How pathetic, my rule ends because some fool of Human went on a self-fulfilling search for a friend that was never here. ”
“NO!” he roared, tearing the being's hood off.
What stared back at him was hauntingly familiar. It wasn't a Human, it was obvious that it never had been. It was something he thought he'd never have to see unless he was on the battlefield against the forces of Horde. It was so familiar it struck home, but it also gave him comfort, knowing that this thing would die soon enough.
Hanging by an inch of his life, was a gray shriveled goblin. What was one of them doing here? It didn't make sense and what had it said? His friend that was never here... could it be true... could Eleii have not made the journey to this strange world also? But there was one statement that chilled him the most was the one involving his death. He couldn't be dead, he was standing right here. There must have been something wrong... something... anything...
During his monologue, the goblin dangling from his grip had already died, the head trauma and hemorrhage had finally got to him. A fitting end for one that would command the undead, Titus thought bitterly. He dropped the corpse stared at the ground for what seemed like hours.
“Why am I here? How did I get here?” He said to himself.
“We can answer that.” A commanding voice from behind him said.
Chapter Nine
Titus whirled around, ready for a fight. Instead, he found himself standing face to face with an Alicorn. Her fur a darkish blue, and her mane defying the laws of physics, sparkling magnificently. She seemed... sad, yet Titus had no idea why.
“What.. would have you from me?” Titus asked.
“We ask of you nothing. You have already done what was needed. You slew the Shadow King.” She looked over to the robed corpse lying lifelessly behind Titus. “Well before you were suppose to. We would like to add.”
Titus was confused. “But... what? Why was I supposed to kill the goblin?” he asked desperately.
She stared at Titus in disbelief. “Perhaps an explanation is in order.” She walked over to the dead goblin. “Where you stand, this was once our domain. The kingdom we ruled before the exile that sent us to the moon.”
“You're a monarch?” he asked.
“Yes, we are Luna, princess of the Night. May we continue?”
Titus looked back to Lyra for clarification. Who only mouthed “You should have listened to me.” He sighed inwardly and continued to listen to the brilliant Alicorn before him.
“The goblins had always been a nuisance, constantly asking for integration into our kingdom. We refused, naturally. These drab creatures would only have burdened us and all of Equestria had we not decreed segregation necessary between the two.”
“Where do I come in all of this?” Titus asked, desperate to find out what really happened to him.
“Ah yes, you. When I was exiled, the kingdom was left without a ruler, and the goblins quickly took advantage of the loose hand our sister had on our kingdom. The goblins quickly drove out any residents that had not already flocked to my sister's domain. That was thousands of years ago. It appears that there was only one true goblin left, this “Shadow King”."
She soon walked out onto one of the balconies, gesturing Titus to follow. Lyra was about to accompany them when the Alicorn gave her a stern look that indicated that they were not to be followed. Lyra was forced to sit back and watch them from abroad in the old Throne Room.
“Look up there.” She commanded.
Titus looked up and saw the star blanketed night sky, mystically beautiful in every way, a realm of endless possibilities, and of unknown worlds, just waiting to be explored. Titus had made the jump to two different worlds now, and the huge open realm of the night sky did not frighten him the way it used to with its vastness. Still he wondered what the Alicorn was trying to get at.
“In between every light, every star... is a sea of lost souls that have perished from natural causes or of another such thing. It is a sad thought to think about where we all go, but a comforting one once you look at it with fatalism. Back before we were exiled to the moon, they spoke of a legend, of one soul that would shine. Shine like one of the stars, like it did not want to die.”
She turned to Titus. “That's what you were, Human, the soul that shined like a star. Like a Beacon. We brought you to this world, knowing that you had a part to play in the abandoned lands of the past. Unfortunately, we did not bring you to the location that we had intended, and so you were lost to our knowledge. Until the letter my sister's faithful student had sent to her. We knew then that we had to get to you. To stop you from taking on this challenge just yet. You had, however, begun the journey unknowingly. We were forced to keep the veil of night up to continue the search for you.”
Titus looked confused. “But why didn't you take care of this situation yourself?”
“It's never that simple. You should know that by now. Goblins weren't originally from Equestria, and in the end only a being that wasn't from this world, like them, would truly end their terror. As you can see, the majority lived on in the death, under the command of this king. But when you slew their undead shadows, they were forever put to rest, and even though you weren't holding the hammer, it still managed to kill the Shadow King due to its other-worldly origin.”
Titus sat down in shock, too much information at one time. He stared up at the sky, into the empty spaces in between the stars. Did he really die, to be reincarnated as this world's only being of the Light? It was too much for him to take, but even though every part of his senses screamed in protest, he had to ask one last thing.
“Is... is there no way for me to go back?”
She looked down to him. “I am afraid not, Beacon.”
Titus looked down. “I see...” He stood back up. “Where do I go from here? What do I do in this world?”
Luna smiled sadly. “Anything you want, Beacon. Perhaps there are untold legends just waiting to be fulfilled by the Beacon.” She looked over to the green pony sitting sadly in the room behind them. “Or perhaps the Beacon could spend time with his new found life companion.”
Titus looked back to see what she meant, and then he panicked. “Life companion? Her? I... I don't know if that could work out. I mean I'm a Human and she's-”
“A unicorn? What does it matter? We are more alike then you may want to tell yourself, Beacon. Surely there was interracial relationships in your world of past?”
There had been. Pairings between humans and elves had not been uncommon at all back in Azeroth. Some were extremely well known, actually. It was never frowned upon to find love in character and the individual themselves, and not just their race. Even Titus had debated on asking Eleii if she would prefer more than a platonic friendship, but he had never gotten to it.
He looked back to Lyra, who was fumbling with her hooves on the ground, waiting for his conversation to end. He looked back up to the sky, and he felt tears form in his eyes for the first time since he had been here. He could never go back, he was lost in this world, the only human to live and die here.
Memories of Elwynn flooded his mind, of home. No more Silver Hand, no more Argent Crusade, no more of anything that made him the person he was. The thought killed him inside, he wanted nothing more than to be alone in the darkness that had just recently tried to take his life.
Luna looked upon him sadly. “We must go. Farewell, Beacon. May your travels always be safe.” She trotted out back into the throne room.
Lyra looked up to her. “Can I...?”
Luna nodded. “Go to him.”
With that, she was gone, and Lyra was at the balcony with Titus. He was slumped onto the ground, his eyes red from the tears of realization.
Lyra put a supporting hoof on his shoulder. “Hey, its over now. We can go back.”
Titus kept his eyes unmoving. “Back to what? A world not made for me? I'm just a human stuck in the land.”
He felt hooves wrap around him, and felt Lyra lean upon him heavily. “You're wrong. You're my human.”
He smiled faintly and turned to her. “Thanks, that means a lot to me.”
And they hugged, but Lyra found that she could no longer control her urges. She wanted more. Titus soon found himself on his back, under a wave of love. He knew then that he wouldn't be sad anymore. Lyra wouldn't have it.
Epilogue
Children screamed and laughed through the streets of Shattrath. The sounds echoing well above to the Aldor's domain, annoying several priests trying to meditate under the guidance of the Light. It required a masterful control of the mind, but even with all their training, their minds were put to the test as they were forced to drown out the sounds or storm out of the Aldor temple in frustration.
Eleii watched them from her seat near the entrance, with anger and hatred. They prayed to a force that would let one of its more devote die from a simple fall. They would put their trust in something so surreal, something would never help them in their time of need, and just let them die.
She had seen Titus die that day. He hit the ground hard, Eleii had too, but she was saved from death by hitting a branch from a nearby tree that the Arakkoa used for nesting. Titus had completely missed it and paid the consequences that day. It wasn't fair for him to die the way he did, falling off of the Aldor platform. It was a death that should never have happened. Where had the Light been that day?
She brought a fist down on her leg with extreme force, but felt nothing. Not since the fall. She looked at her legs, bent in unnatural shapes and distorted beyond repair. She would never walk again, and was forced to stay in Shattrath until her family all the way back in the Exodar in Azeroth came to retrieve her.
One Draenei acolyte came walking by, hoping to get a chance to pray within the temple itself. He was whistling a merry tune and walked with a vigor that Eleii would never know again. It infuriated her to the brink of lashing out. The idiot was about to waste his time praying to a holy entity that would never be there for him in his ultimate time of need. She had to try to stop him before he threw his life away for nothing.
“Hey! You! Get over here!” she cried out to the acolyte.
The acolyte paused and looked around to see if she was calling out to another, but soon noticed he was the only one in her vicinity. He quickly stepped over to her, curious as to what she could want with a lowly old acolyte like him.
“Yes, miss?” He asked.
She looked at him with disgust and disappointment. “You know what's in there?” She gestured towards the interior of the temple.
“An opportunity to attune myself to the Light better?” The Acolyte answered hopefully.
“No. Lies. Lies and deceit.”
The acolyte was taken aback by the statement. “Why would you say that, miss?”
“I see what happens to the faithful.” She looked down, biting her lip. “They die. They die when they need the Light the most. But it never comes, and it never will. You should just go back to where you came from and live a normal life. Don't throw it away to this lie.”
The acolyte frowned sadly. “M'am you can do nothing to change my mind. The Light will guide me through all aspects of life, and you shouldn't be speaking such heretical ways. Now you have a wonderful day, and may the Light guide even the blinded.”
He shoved off, unaffected by the encounter. “Idiot”, Eleii thought. Another life lost to nothing but praying to a faceless deity. She told herself to calm down, but it wasn't as easy as she had thought. So much hate was in her now, that she didn't know if she could ever ease herself to a mild behavior ever again.
It was like this day after day, pilgrims came by hoping to pray within the holy temple for themselves. Eleii told them of the lies the Light told. It did nothing to stop these pilgrims from continuing on into the temple, and Eleii couldn't help but be frustrated by the blindness seen by the many people within the city. Sometimes she was called a heretic by the passerby, for she spewed words against the Light within the city of Light itself.
She knew that eventually the authorities would come and take care of her, but she didn't care either way. It wasn't as if she was going anywhere until her family arrived. Even then she would just speak the same thoughts within the Exodar, where their savior, Velen, a man of the Light himself would likely have her exiled.
She would live the rest of her life with hate, she had decided. There was no good in the world if the divine beings themselves gave little care to who lived or died. The Light had let Titus die without a second thought, and with him, Eleii's one friend. She loathed all around her and even herself, for not being able to do anything to save him.
She cried and sobbed in pain and hate. She wanted things the back they were, before all of this, before the death. Before the Mana-Tombs. It was a selfish thing, but she felt she deserved it after all this time. She soon fell out of her chair, and several temple aides rushed to help her back into it.
“Get away from me!” She thrashed about, trying to break their grips. “Burn in hell! All of you!” They threw her back into her chair. Where she sat, and waited, for minutes, then hours, then days. It would never be the same; all was dead to her in the end. She may not have died with Titus, but she felt like it. Life was a meaningless cesspool of disappointment and its blinded followers, willing to do nothing but trudge on in the hope that they wouldn't be left behind. No clarity, no liberation, just a horrible theocracy that told lie after lie. She was soon crying again.
If only she knew where he was now. What he had done, who he was with. How happy he was. She would've been so proud, so proud and happy.
The End.
