Saeri visits

[moonshadows]

The wards jangled, not just in the minds of the Lord and Lady of Eldarath, but a physical sound that startled students and teachers alike and sent them scurrying for the dormitories. Illidan turned to his Champion, a grim look on his face. “Dreadlord,” he said shortly, and she nodded; after all, it was she who set up the ward. They faded from the world and re-appeared on the roof, the only area not covered by intense shields.

You’re sure about this? He asked silently.

Dreadlords don’t strike each other unannounced.

Sure enough, a figure stepped out to join them on the roof. Twelve feet tall, wings, horns, hooves – but no armor. A topknot of black hair broke the otherwise-unrelieved barren expanse of scalp, and the figure was dressed in heavily-embroidered robes. Most surprising to the former Lord of Outland was the fact that his Champion had relaxed out of her battle-readiness.

“It’s okay,” she said calmly. “It’s my Aunt Saeri.”

He wasn’t so convinced. “Why did you not hear her approach?”

Tessa shrugged one shoulder. “She’s the chosen mate of my father’s brother. We’re not related by blood.”

“Then how did she find you?” he asked, frowning fiercely.

“I followed my star,” Saeri said, speaking up for the first time. “We thought the news might go over better coming from me.”

“Out of all my relatives, she liked me best,” Tessa said casually to her star before turning to the female dreadlord. “What news?”

“Your grandmother is dying.”

Tessa grinned. “About time the old hag kicked it. And you’re here because…”

Saeri grimaced. “Your cousin Arkaxx is holding your father’s position, but the court ruled that he couldn’t keep it past your grandmother’s death without winning it from you or your father.”

“And since he’s just a big bully, he’d rather pick on his weak little half-breed cousin than tangle with his uncle.” She crossed her arms and scowls. “So you’re here to try to get me to come back to Nathrezene so I can be defeated in a challenge for my father’s position and exiled properly like a good little freak.” At her aunt’s nod, she grinned. It was very pointy. “Too bad for Arkaxx that’s not happening.”

“You’re not going to go,” Saeri said grimly, unsurprised. “”Tessa, you know they’ll come in force and drag you back if you don’t.”

“Oh, I’m going.” The younger dreadlord grinned wider. “But the other two…no.”

The older demon looked concerned, “He may be a bully with no style or creativity, but he’s very strong. Are you sure you can take him?”

“Raw power is no substitute for true strength,” Illidan said with gentle amusement. “Tessa, aren’t you going to introduce me to your aunt?”

“Of course.” She smiled up at him as he slid one arm around her. “Aunt Saeri, this is my star: Illidan Stormrage, the Lord of Outland, Tichondrius’s heir, and the Doom of the First Azeroth Assault.” Her expression, serene and blissful, was decidedly at odds with her aunt’s horrified awe.

“It’s an honor! I’ve heard so much about- forgive me, but…” Saeri stumbled to a halt and took a deep breath while Illidan waited in tolerant amusement. “You must be aware that you could have your pick of the best and brightest Nathrezene has to offer. They’d throw themselves at you in droves, hoping to be accepted for consideration.”

The arm around Tessa’s shoulders tightened slightly. “I already have the best your race has to offer.” Now it was his turn to smile pointily. “Tessa, my love, show her the original models.”

A gesture, and a discordant jumble hung in the air between Tessa and her aunt. “That’s what his mind looked like when I first met him.” While the older demon blanched at the broken arches and shattered structures, a second, more hideously complex and incomprehensibly assembled model appeared beside it. “After a few days, I was able to check it out fully, all the way down to the Terminal Boundary.” A third model, this one a horrifying landscape of jagged edges and tangled shards, shoves the other two out of the way. “That was his Terminal Boundary.”

“She repaired ten thousand years of damage,” Illidan said, voice soft but resolute. “And she did it so subtly that even after I knew what her presence in my mind felt like, knowing that she was doing something to heal my shattered psyche, I still couldn’t detect her at work.”

Saeri looked back and forth between the models hanging in the air and the man in front of her, alternating between stark horror and sheer awe. “Tessa, this is…how long did it take you to fix that? It’s just amazing. You could – did you document this?”

“Of course,” the younger demon said smugly as the models vanished.

“Well, that will prove your superiority over just about everyone in subtlety, but in combat…that was never your strong point.”

“Things change,” Tessa said crisply as Illidan said, “Appearances can be deceiving.”

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I really love all your wow fics, but the Illidan and Tessa arc is my favorite so far! Just wanted to let you know :)

Also, my main (a belf rogue) is named Saeri. Made me do a double take when I saw the title xD