7AN - SO. For those of you who read my other stuff, you'll know that I'm writing this while on Hiatus. More or less still trying to get my thoughts going for other things, but I -do- have ideas of where to take things for the majority of my projects.
Beyond that, I don't exactly have too much to say. Trying to get back into the gist of writing stuff on here between my schedule and whatnot (and it'll PROBABLY get better in the summer, don't worry), so...well. Here we go!
Redeeming Qualities
Harval awoke to the acrid stench of sulfur in the air. It tingled and burned at his nostrils as he fought back a fit of coughing, pain wracking his chest and torso. The paladin looked around briefly, momentarily at his prison, what he could manage- correction, for what he could try. The Paladin himself was far too weak to even move, and maintaining conciousness was already taking it's toll on the human.
Harval Miller was a simple man- he'd grown up as a normal person might and had enlisted in the service of the Paladins when the offer presented itself, feeling that choice and path to be the best for him at the moment. He'd undergone the vigorous training they all had there, learning the importance of seeking harmony and balance within the light- but some lessons were meant to be interpereted in their own way, he had found, instead of being taken literally.
He had finally managed to lend his full services- what he could manage- when the Highlord had united the world's Paladins against the Legion Threat. He took his trusty hammer and shield and had lent himself however he might to protect who he could and bestow the light's blessing- it was his true belief that the light's creed was to protect all life for all held value, in truth- that as long as there was at least a shred of goodness in a person, they could- in fact- be redeemed and deserved the protection of the light.
Soon he'd found himself part of a team's plan to infiltrate a Legion Vessel via a hijacked portal- 'The Varinax', it was named. They were to infiltrate and exterminate the demons within while shutting the ship down before escaping back through the portal they had came, for the sake of keeping the ship from arriving at Azeroth- it all hung in the threads he was burdened with weaving.
But the mission had gone awry. He vaguely remembered storming through the portal to be met with fierce resistance, felguards and felhounds pouring in from every angle. He eventually had found himself alone, not by skill but by luck, the last remaning survivor of the team as the warlocks of the ship closed the portal from where he'd came- sealing him inside.
But then a spell had been directed his way, and the world went black- only for him to wake up here again. Why? Did the demons enjoy the idea of having one of the light's loyal servants imprisoned on the ship, weak and unable to fend for himself? Did they think him usefull for bargaining, or were they saving him for some variant of a sacrifice or a ritual?
Giving a heavy sigh, he let his head fall. He didn't have the strength to think anymore, so tired he was.
He fell back into slumber.
The distant sound of clip-clopping hooves awoke him. He certainly felt better, he knew that much- and the demonic scent and the casted fel-glow of green on the walls and in the steel certainly didn't help at all. He was hungry, dressed in the bare rags that had survived his fight and their vigorous stripping of his armor, the paladin himself locked within a cage on the ground as he got up for the first time.
He watched as an Eredar entered. It was female, hands and hooves cracked and fel-pocked. The demon was dressed in a set of (probably demon) hide clothes that outlined her figure to the letter, letting her display both her fearsome muscles as well as her feminine curves. The Eredar might've been attractive, had she not the seemingly constant scowl planted on her face. She looked up from a small, holograph-like panel at him for a moment with a cruel sneer before returning to her panel, marking a few things off. "Ah, the runt's awake. Splendid."
"Demon. Why am I still alive?" He unsteadily pulled himself to his feet, coughing into a fist. "I am of no use to anyone beyond the world here- little purpose. Why capture me?"
"Because you will make a fine warning to the saviors of Azeroth of just what we shall do. You'll make an example before them- you're to die a horrible, painfull death at the end of our journey," she replied, voice crackling with remnants of spite and fury. "And I've been assigned to watch over you and properly break you as we make our way there."
"How long?" "Looking for hope? There's none to be found," she replied, "so go ahead- pray to your pathetic 'Light'. This...we- we, are legion."
He raised an eyebrow before closing his eyes and sighing. "...go ahead then, demon. Test my resolve. Do what you will to break me, but I will not falter as long as my faith in the light still holds- and it will hold eternal," he replied, eyes snapping open with a hardened glare. "Defiance of chaos, of the death you bring- it is what I will stand for. And you certainly will not hold my limits back- not when I have so much fight left in me."
She laughed and cackled, echoing throughout the halls like nails scraping a chalkboard. "You've spirit, I like that!" She grinned at him, crimson skin pale against the fel light. "We'll see, little human." She turned, walking along the borders of the cage. "I've also been charged with keeping you alive- do as I say and it -might- be painless...but I'm the one making sure you get food, too." She laughed. "I am your savior, and I'll only be so until you rebel."
He spat at her. She only grinned wider, brushing a lock of grey-blue hair from her face. "I like a fight for resolve...they're so satisfying to win," she muttered. Turning around, she walked a distance off before turning around as her hands begin to pulse with a mixture of fel and shadow. "Time to start, then- I'll make this fun..."
All at a moment's notice, a beam shot forth and embedded itself within his forehead, causing him to convulse with pain and torture. His entire body felt as if it was being electrocuted over and over, not allowed to fry but instead forced to take the volts in an endless cycle of carnage and pain, torment and fury. His head itself ached, his brain writhing in similar torment- he felt as if something in his heart was being afflicted too, in some strange way-
It was dialed up to an even greater scale than before, and he let out a scream of pain. His body arced and went rigid, stiff with the amount of furious torture being inflicted on him. Something seemed to press at the back of his mind, after all of this torture- he was being dragged elsewhere, he felt, tempted by some...force, somehow.
It certainly wouldn't hurt to tell them a little, right? It's not like you know anything great or powerful.
They aren't going to find anything if you break down already.
It's not like you're important, in the grand scheme. You're no Highlord, you wield no Ashbringer.
Growling against his torment, he willed his back to straighten- slowly, agonizingly through the torment of the Eredar's magic- he craned his head to stare her dead in the eye.
"...for the...light-" he hissed back and growled as she only laughed. "Such fight. I hope it keeps up until the end."
She increased the spell further, and he went on, screaming.
He awoke groggily- now understanding why the entirety of his body hurt again. He felt paralyzed, like he could scarcely move on his own. The Demonness, he heard approaching from somewhere.
"...it took you four hours, but you're back. But you're nowhere near ready for more fun," she added with a hint of malicious intent in her voice. She opened the cage and walked in, kneeling beside him and grabbing his face forcibly, making him look at her. "I simply thought that I'd reward you for putting up a fight. Most demons would give their heart for a chance to have Y'sali feed them- and much more for...greater, deeds." She licked her lips, causing him to shiver.
"You amuse me, human. Eat." She held something against his mouth suddenly. Weakly, he opened and took a bite- and immediately fought the urge to spit it out and vomit where he was. He coughed, forcing it down- it was the only other option he had besides to starve, and he wasn't going to heal any faster by another way. Y'sali laughed- "Hah! Demon food not quite fit your delicate suitabilities? Get used to it, it's what you're living on for your last few days."
He grunted and coughed, finally clearing his throat. Rasping for breath, he looked up at the Eredar- he had little else to focus on. "...why you...a demon," he barely panted.
She shrugged. "Why am I a demon?" He nodded. "It's of little matter. What matters is that you eat, and that you recover strength- the first bout was to weaken you, but next...I'll personally take a look at your memories." Harval closed his eyes and breathed out with a huff- the closest he could get to a sigh. "...Y'sali..." He chuckled, confusing the Eredar as she tried to force another piece of dry rations into his mouth- something similar to a fel-colored rice bar. "...too good of name...for demon..."
She responded by giving him a swift chop to the throat, causing him to cough and gag. She grabbed his open jaw and fed him the next bite. "Shut up and eat, human."
Harval had spent the night (he presumed) drifting in and out of sleep, fighting off fears and suspicions. He had to keep believing that the light would give him salvation, even if briefly- the light knew the way regardless of which way it chose. This merely was a trial for him to pass- he knew he had to keep going.
For the sake of his mother and father back on Azeroth, he had to keep fighting- for the sake of his teachers back in the Light's Hope Chapel, he had to keep going- and for the sake of those who had died to the legion thus far, he had to honor their memory by taking their strength with him and not falling to the demon's will. He had to- for the sake of his pride, his home and his very well-being.
However, something had caught his eye when she was forcing food down his throat- on occasion, Y'sali would look him over with a grunt of dissatisfaction. He'd hoped that he wasn't reading it wrong- it could be the demonic fury within resisting her will- but he thought he'd seen a shred of pity for those brief moments.
He knew a truth- demons didn't have pity. Not true demons. True demons would kill without hesitation for the sake of making carnage, that was just fact and basic logic- they were creatures of chaos, nothing more, nothing less, designed to torment and conquer the various worlds they would happen upon.
But this eredar- 'Y'sali' had pity. She seemed to have other parts of herself hiding beneath her demonic exterior- she was peculiar to him, because she went against everything he knew about demonkind. He knew only so little about the eredar, yet he felt as if he could find out more.
Quietly, a plan perked to formulation in his mind.
Y'sali entered the pit, her hooves clopping against the metallic floor as she looked up from her pad to look over the human. "Awake yet?" He was hunched in a corner and kneeling, head bowed and hands folded together neatly. She scoffed.
"Offering a few final prayers?" "Among other things," he replied. The eredar shook her head. "The light cannot hear you from in here, Paladin. You are a fool if you think the fel so easily penetrated."
"It is merely a signification of my devotion," he replied before standing. She took a brief moment to linger her eyes on his body- strong, muscular arms accompanied by a broad chest and shoulders, covered in bandages and wounds that were already healing over and scarring. Her tail swished about as her gaze lowered to his torn trousers, the toned thighs resting under his hips, before looking back up at the Paladin. His arms were crossed defiantly while he glared at her. She closed her eyes and breathed gently, composing herself before snapping back to her original attitude. "Alright, you seem to be certainly healthy." "Is that really what you were looking over me for?"
She laughed. "I've no interest in a mortal, much less a scraggly human like yourself." She lifted her hands, shadow magicks flooding between her fingers before she shot a lance of energy forward.
And once more, he bent back in agony, screaming as she forced her way into his mind with a cruel grin and two blazing, emerald eyes. She surged forth the magical blaze, tail wagging about excitedly.
"Let's have a look at who you are."
The first memory she dwelled upon was that of a young child, laughing in tow with his parents. He was merely a baby- yet he evidently held this somewhere in his collective thoughts. She could also tell that something bad lay ahead- allowing, no, forcing him to watch it play out with her.
The parents carried the child out as they continued, walking down a path between grassy meadows and rolling hills before stopping in front of a kingdom's gates, a city, lined with white walls and two entrances from the sides leading into the city.
The two parents traveled about from market to market, gathering what they'd need- bread, among other things, seeming to bear a prominent glow as opposed to the other items.
The sound of a scream interrupted the sweetness of the memory. The two turned to find a woman, crumpled and dead under a man weilding a hammer and clothed in blue. Civilians were fleeing as mages emerged from behind the man, lifting their hands and striking down men, women and children left and right with spells of frost, fire and raw magic. Fires burned on the rooftops as the family ran with the now-crying baby, shrieking in fear and discomfort.
The woman took the child as the man grabbed a rifle from an abandoned stand and took his place. His mother fled.
The memory skipped forward. It was a singular camp- the woman had been weeping recently, judging from her red, puffy eyes as she allowed the baby to suckle on her. She bounced her child gently, lifting a fist to cough into as she took another bite of bread.
She looked down at her child and sighed, brushing his hair aside as she coughed once more. "...Harval..."
The last image of the memory before it jumped forward again was that of his mother coughing into her hand and revealing blood and a few splintered teeth.
The baby was nestled in the crook of an armored man's arm, riding atop a steed clad of armor and innate tabards- those engraved with the image of a silver hand reaching upwards. A hammer hung from the paladin's belt, splattered with fresh blood as he rode onwards from a set of burning ruins.
The child reached up to tug at the man's fingers, cooing quietly. He looked down before patting him silently.
"Harval, you are by birth...Paladin, you will become by Right."
The flashbacks ended and Y'sali fell on her back, grunting. Harval looked on for a moment as the tension keeping him bound faded, feeling a familiar warmth surging through his palms- faint, but there, still burning and pressing. He looked down at his palms which revealed the thin strings of magic twinkling between them, bound threads of silver and golden variants.
They faded as Y'sali approached, huffing. "...hmph. Your light will only do you so many favors."
As she thrusted once more with her twirling bolt of shadow and fel, he lifted his light-wreathed hands to block it.
And the two were off, again.
The smell of smoke filled the air, accompanied by brimstone and rot. A landscape stretched before the two who watched, suspended in animation- screams echoed through the sky as they viewed.
A draenei burst through a crowd of imps, grabbing one with a muscular arm and throwing it like a ball at the others which caused the negative fel energies to implode. Grunting, he turned and continued stomping through the ruins, panting in exhaustion- and it became notable that he held a small girl in his arms, holding her close as he continued striding onwards and forwards.
But they were thrown aside by a sudden explosion of magic to his left, sending him and the girl sprawling off to the right. An inquisitor neared, tilting his head at the draenei for a moment before his sightless gaze settled on the girl.
But the father suddenly stood, growling, grabbing at his cloak and tugging fiercely to grab the demon. He swung it around his head before throwing him off, the floating demon freezing in midair after sailing for a brief moment. He lifted a gnarled hand surging with the familiar green light of fel as the male knelt, breathing heavily.
The girl stepped in front.
"DON'T HURT MY DADDY!" The scream shot through the sky, momentarily piercing the horrified screams and maniacal laughter.
The inquisitor slowly drifted forward to the two, extending a gnarled hand to the girl. "...you are brave, little one. Not many stand up to a demon such as Varis'ix."
"HE'S MY DADDY! MINE! DON'T HURT HIM!" This prompted a rolling, rasping chuckle from the drifting spellcaster.
"...you can save your father, child. Hear my offer," he decreed.
"Join me, small one...pass a test and join me, join the Legion...in turn, we will see your father to safety, so that no more harm will befall him." The male draenei looked for a moment, reaching a hand out to his daughter. "Yal'saia-"
The demon flicked a hand, and the draenei found himself bound by writhing, burning chains, his throat unable to make a squeak of noise. Yai looked at him, panic in her small, innocent and blue eyes.
She turned back to the demon. "You won't hurt him any more?"
"No more," The inquisitor grinned back behind it's hood. He extended a hand, a small orb of fel hovering above his palm.
"Take the orb and hold it until it dissapears."
She reached forward to take the orb. The sensation burned as she gripped it tightly, and she screamed in response- but the demon hushed her gently, almost tenderly, that same cruel smile on his skeletal features. "Shush, and focus...will it to go away, make it...want it hard enough that it becomes reality..."
She saw that the fel dissapeared, after focusing. The two spectators that watched her memories could see the faint outline of the fel being absorbed into her spirit and soul.
The inquisitor smiled. "...good. Now come with me." "...w-why?" She looked back at her father for a moment, he watched her with tears in his solemn, pupilless eyes. Varis looked down at her. "...we're going somewhere."
As they strode off through the ruins, a Felguard approached, brandishing a heavy axe. The draenei sobbed his last as blade met spine, and head met ground.
Y'sali fell onto her backside, grunting. She slowly lifted her fel-pocked hands, trembling. Harval grunted and stood, looking at her.
"...you once embraced the light as a religion but turned your back," he muttered. The eredar looked up at him quietly. "...you were happy. But then the Legion Came."
"...I did it for hi-" "We both saw what happened to your father in the end. The Legion are not righteous- they kill without morals or qualms. They do what they will because they crave destruction and carnage." The paladin lifted a hand to point at her. "But you are not the same. You still hold a sense of- at least- BARE, morals in your heart."
She nodded after a moment, wiping a tear from her eyes that clashed against her crimson flesh. Y'sali stood, approaching the iron bars and gently resting a hand on one as she peered at the human.
"...together. I will aid you in escaping if-" She choked on tears for a moment. "...if you will help me find the Draenei. Find my people."
Harval nodded. "Together."
The next two days were spent much more liberally by Harval. They had devised the majority of a plan that would lead them to a portal station, and since Y'sali was the only one with technological knowledge of their more intricate systems, that left the manual and physical work to Harval. If anyone found either of them together, Y'sali would come up with an excuse that she was taking him for a more 'intricate' torture session- one much more devious, somewhere else aboard the ship.
But on the night before the plans were supposed to come into effect, Harval woke to a rustle of noise and a sense of movement before he felt something curl up to next to him. Opening his eyes tiredly, he looked down to see the Eredar laying beside the human's form.
"...alright then." She looked over at him as she rolled onto her back. "...sorry, it's...I'm just, nervous. I might get to escape again, I know my father's dead, but...my mother. She could still be out there." She sighed. "That, and I got lonely and tired. Might as well try, right?"
He looked up at the open door of the cage for a moment, breathing slow and gentle. "I could push you aside right now and try to escape. What's keeping your faith in the idea that I won't?"
"Because you know you'd be strewn apart by the demons outside without me," she replied, a small grin lining her crimson lips and cheeks. "We're each other's best bet at getting out."
He sighed and looked up at the roof. "...Y'sali. Can I ask something?"
"Go ahead."
"You could escape on your own if you wanted to, too. There's not exactly any sense in waiting for me so that you can try and get out- it's all up entirely to you. I know the labor parts aren't strictly bound to me- I know how fel can alter one's strength, you know."
She breathed quietly for a moment. "...hmn. I..." The demonness gave a heavy sigh. "I'll tell you when we get out of here. For now, let's get some rest. I imagine you don't have a blanket or anything that people throw in, so..." The eredar turned and pressed up against him, closing her eyes. "...just get sleep."
"For a demon, you're rather tender and thoughtful," he mumbled. She tightened her grip on his arm to a crushing force for a brief second in response.
Harval stared up at the ceiling for a moment in his quiet, solitary thought as ideas and realizations found their way to his brain. He smiled and closed his eyes, willing himself off to sleep.
The day had come.
Y'sali nudged him awake, and he blinked wearily as she stood up and stretched- ignoring the impressive view he got of her wide hips and swinging bust, he forced himself back to the realm of reality, away from dreams and slumber. Grabbing the bars as he stood and stretching, she smirked at him.
"What?" "Nothing. You simply didn't put up much of a fight after sleeping with a demon, for a Paladin." He shrugged. "You show heart, and in my book, that means you're not exactly a demon. Not completely. So I'll put up with it."
The exchanged a grin before stepping out of the cage.
Y'sali fitted him with chain bindings that singed at the touch when struggled against and began to lead him up the ramp and out of the room he had been kept in for so long. He growled and pressed on, following her through the ship as he felt impatience tug at the back of his skull.
An inquisitor drifted forward to Y'sali, placing a hand on her shoulder with a skeletal grin. "Good, we're just about there," he replied, voice rasping and rumbling. He turned to inspect the human.
"...do you know why you are here, boy?" "I don't know, I just wish you'd've taken me out for dinner first before showing me your ship."
The inquisitor chuckled. "You joke because you know death nears, don't you? You will serve the Legion- demoralize your foes, and fuel the final soul gem to our great weapon. Kil'Jaeden shall lavish praise upon us, when our work is done- and we shall be truly one of the HEARTS, of the Legion."
The eredar kneeled before him. "Whenever you are ready, Lord Varis'ix." She turned to look at the outside, energy warping and fluxuating-
BOOM.
An explosion of force, noise and chaos rattled the ship's hull as Harval struggled to remain standing. Outside was the familiar scene of the Broken Shore.
"PREPARE THE VARINAX'S UPPER DECK! WE HAVE A DEMONSTRATION TO GIVE!"
Felguards approached, and Y'sali looked back at him briefly. He nodded back to her before the Eredar suddenly turned and undid his bindings, lifting his hands.
"LIGHT, GUIDE ME!"
An explosion of holy force shot off from around him, sending the demons (and Y'sali) tumbling backwards. He turned and walked over to a Felguard's dropped axe, hefting the weapon as a slight memory came to him- the weight wasn't so different from his warhammer after all, it seemed.
One Felguard roared as the light-bubble faded, hefting his blade and swinging it in a mighty arc aimed downwards. He dodged to the side and lifted the axe, burying it in the Felguard's throat and shoulder before removing it, a surge of renewing strength coursing through his veins and muscles. He lifted his axe as it glowed faintly.
He turned and swung his new weapon in a throwing motion, the outline of a glowing hammer continuing where the axe had left off. The Judgement Hammer flew towards a Felhound, crushing it's head against it's body and sending it ragdolling into a crowd of demons. He hefted his blade and gripped it with both hands, stretching before leaping into the fray.
He ducked and slashed at one's hamstring, lifting the axe effortlessly to cleave across the demon's throat as he turned to another, palm filling with a burst of holy magic. He lifted and let it pulse from his palm, sending a twirling bolt of magic directly into another Felguard's chest. An Eredar sorcerer's shadowbolt drifted towards him, and he lifted his blade and swung it to the side, cleaving the magical bolt in two and dispersing it. Turning around, he let out a roar before his eyes locked on a figure.
Y'sali, crumpled on the floor. Righteous fury surged through his bones and echoed in his mind as he doubled his resolve, a brilliant golden aura surrounding the Paladin. He felt new, he felt unstoppable, and he was sure as hell fighting like it, cleaving and dashing between demons effortlessly with his new axe. Eventually, he reached the Eredar and grabbed her, wincing at the stinging sensation of their skin touching- the conflicting infusions of fel and light must be backlashing, he briefly realized.
He tugged her to a window and threw his axe aside, holding her in a hug. This had gone off the rails, way too fast. The demons slowly closed in on him.
"..." Varis'ix slowly floated forward. "...don'-"
He leapt out of the window and down into the shambling ruins of the broken shore below.
The whistling of the wind was almost peaceful as he focused on the demonness in his arms, exhaustion slowly taking it's toll. She slowly opened her glowing green eyes, groaning momentarily before looking around.
Harval smiled wearily. "...I tried."
He heard a faint whistle and a blur of magic as his world went dark.
He awoke to a faint heat at his side. He looked over, coughing and fighting the muscles that screamed of soreness and exhaustion. A campfire glowed lightly, Y'sali tending over it, hunched and sniffling.
"...wha-" Her tail twitched as she turned to look at him, cocking her head.
"Harval-" She stumbled forward in a seamless motion, taking him in an embrace. He was suddenly aware of the little clothing he had had been removed except for the underwear covering his loins, the rest by a woven series of bandages. She sobbed quietly into his shoulder.
"...you fought, and...your light- and then...the air, and..." She squeezed him tightly. "...we're out, I'm free...I'm free again, Harval...no orders, no whippings, just freedom..." She sobbed. "...so long since kindness, then you...and then- then-"
He lifted a hand to the demonness's shoulder, and she quieted. "...how?" It was all he could muster at the moment.
"...we were falling, and I...I dominated a Felbat to carry us off before banishing it."
Harval propped himself up, grunting. She clung to the human quietly, sniffling and sobbing into his shoulder. Breathing for a moment, he took her in his arms.
"...we're out," he whispered- not that he had a choice, the tone was as much as he could will himself to speak at. "We're out, and we're free. I...can help you find your mother, if you want. I can try. You've proven to be...decent enough, thus far." She removed her head and looked at him for a moment, wiping her eyes and nose.
"I...uh. I'd appreciate that. Yeah."
He sat up properly, looking over the roaring embers in the small pit as the Eredar sobbed into his shoulder. He closed his eyes, breathing gently.
He could go home now. But he had a debt to pay to her- a promise to keep.
His train of thought was interrupted as she leaned against him once more. He turned to look down at the Eredar's head, frowning and brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face.
"...I believe you had something to tell me," he mumbled.
"You already know what it is." "Yeah. But you'll never get a response or answer if you don't say it."
Y'sali sighed before looking up at him for a moment. "...I...uh..." She wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "...fuck it," and she went in, taking his cheek and kissing him full-on before letting go. "...there, I...I ah...always did better with actions than with words."
He blinked in surprise, eyes slowly closing as he leaned into the kiss before having it interrupted and leaving a mild taste of sulfur and copper on his tongue. Harval only smiled, leaning his forehead against hers as he cupped her cheek in turn. "...that'll work," he mumbled. "...I love you too."
"Shut up and kiss me, Paladin," she'd rumble, and he'd oblige, hugging her close.
The two lovers embraced in the night in what might yet be to come.
SO. Let me know if you want this continued beyond this, or if you'd rather leave it as-is. I can continue the story and turn it from a One-Shot to a Two-Shot, but otherwise, I've thrown up my story. Hope you enjoyed!
