Finding Herself

[Itakae]

Itakae narrowed her eyes, ears twitching nervously as she gazed upon Halaa through the narrow slits of her eyelids. The town had provided her refuge for only a night, but the trolless had felt happy there for the first time in days. Now the Alliance forces had return to take it from them. She grit her teeth, reaching for her mace and shield. She had never been one to fight, not ever, but now she could see it was her time. With a cry, she ran to the aid of her brethren, calling on her elemental guardians for protection.

Fire rained from the sky, explosions knocking her down from time to time, but the Shamaness pressed on, healing her brethren in the fight to protect the city. She squeezed her eyes shut, whispering a prayer to the spirits, the Loa, the elements, anyone who might hear her. Her eyes glowed red with the power of the fire, drawing on the power of her elemental protectors to heal the more able warriors surrounding her. For a brief moment, she did not see the living spirits inside of the invaders, all she saw were monsters. Monsters who desired to kill her, kill her allies, and all of her kind. With images of her deceased mate, and her lost daughter flashing through her mind, she pressed onward, tapping into all of her knowledge of the spirits to save her brothers in arms. She pressed on until her body felt like it was on fire, her joints aching, air around her smelling strongly of burnt flesh.

“Ah ain gonna dah dat eas’ly!” The troll yelled in orcish at the top of her lungs, throwing her head back. As she looked up toward the sky, her eyes widened in horror at what she saw. In a futile attempt to protect herself, the Shamaness raised her shield above her head and crouched to the ground. The earth shook as the bomb landed, knocking healer on to her back. A fearful look spread across her face, fire consuming her body, and when the flames died down, she was gone.

[Itakae]

Four elementals, each harbouring the appearance of a troll, hovered around the body of the fallen elemental speaker, speaking hushed Kalimag amongst one another.

“Dis be yo’ doin’,” The red, male troll spat at the pale female. “Choo ain been teachin ’er raht.”

“Jus’ shu’chyo mouth Salaman,” The ash coloured troll spirit hissed back at him, her hair swirling wildly about her face. She kneeleddown next to the sleeping woman and stroking her tangled hair. “Dis ain nobody’s fault. Chil’ jus’ nee’ at get ‘way fo a wahl.”

The pale blue spirit watched the Fire and the Wind argue for a while, then cocked her head to the side, a soft smile spreading across her lips.

“Ah got da powa at ‘eal ‘er ya know.” Nym, the spirit of the water said softly, dropping down to one knee. “Ah can make dis chil’ be well again. We jus’ gotta fin’ someone who wan’ ‘er at come back at da lan’ a da livin.”

“Heh, don make me laugh, Nym,“ The fire spirit said, crossing his arms over his chest, and glaring at the two female spirits. “Weh ya gonna fin’ someone dat wan’ dis gir’ livin’ ‘gain?”

The earth spirit grunted, grabbing Salaman by the neck, suspending him in the air in front of him. Salaman’s eyes widened in fear, then he quickly clenched his teeth together, his finders digging into the stone arm of the earth spirit.

“Lemme go nah, Gno,” He spat violently, glaring angrily at the earth spirit.

“Don’ tahk lahk dat den,” The soft-spoken elemental whispered, placing the fiery spirit back on his feet. “Dis shaman ain gonna dah.”

Gathering the limp body of the Shamaness in his arms, the earth elemental nodded at his fellow spirits to follow. Though they often argued, the four spirits did now harbour any contempt for one another. The all shared the same task, a task given to them at the birth of the troll girl lying limply in the arms of Gno. Protect this girl, protect her from the world, and make sure she becomes strong.

[Itakae]

“Huh? Wah?” Itakae got to her feet, looking around in confusion. Her body no longer ached, in fact, she realized all of her burns were gone too. She was standing in the middle of Halaa. Alone. She walked tentatively through the streets, peering inside the empty building for any sign of life.

“Hello?” She called out, her voice wavering. “Anyone ‘ere?”

Silence. The troll shifted her weight from foot to foot, pondering her next move. ‘Sylph? Nym? Gno? Salaman? Where are you?’ A cold wave of fear gripped her body. Her elemental protectors who had never once been out of earshot since the day of her birth were no where to be found. Itakae timidly held her hands out in front of her face and inspected them carefully. A blinding fear forced her to freeze, staring at, or rather, straight through her hands. She took a deep breath.

“Ah be dead.”
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The four elementals stood surrounding the lifeless corpse of the trolless, chanting softly in Kalimag as they stared down at her, helpless.

“I thought you said you could heal her,” Salama said, worry mixed in with his usual fiery tone. Nym turned to him, sighing.

“I can heal her body just fine,” Her calming voice filled with uneasiness.

“Then what is the hold up?!” The Fire elemental spat at the Water spirit.

“It’s her spirit,” The Water elemental answered uneasily. “Her spirit is gone.”

The fire elemental roared, bursting into a roaring fire for a few seconds, and then reappearing in the form of a troll. He slammed his fist down into the ground, teeth clenched tightly.

“Wachoo mean da gir’ spirit ain dere?” His eyes flashed, fire leaping in his pupils.

Sylph’s cyclone form coiled violently, spitting out her trollish self. The graceful wind elemental strode over to the fiery troll and stood toe to toe in front of him.

“Donchoo be lahk dat,” She glared, narrowing her silvery orbs at Salaman. “Nym be doin all dat she can.”

The wind spirit and the fire spirit exchanged angry glances, and then turned away from one another. A tenseness hung in the air as the four elemental spirits stood silently.

“Ah have a plan,” Nym spoke, shifting into her female troll form. “Sylph gotta go inta da body a ou’ li’l shaman. She can keep dat body livin’ until we can fin’ miss Itakae.”

“Wah…” Sylph shot an angry look at the water spirit. “Wachoo wan’ me at do dat fo?! Joo be da one dat tau’ ‘er ta heal!”

The other three elementals gazed sombrely at Sylph, who sighed greatly and nodded her head. With a wave of her hand, the wind spirit became no more than air, breathing her life into the limp body of the fallen Shamaness. After a few prayers, chants, and spells, the body of the troll stood up, blinking her eyes, and looking around at the elementals surrounding her.
“I hope you realize, I’m only doing this for her, not you,” Sylph said dryly, speaking from within Itakae’s body.

The other three elementals only nodded.

[Sevilawa]

Sevilawa was awake just before the sun rose, anticipation squirming in her stomach. She rolled over to face the rock wall of her bed niche in the Crossroads inn, but couldn't seem to keep her eyes closed. It had been days since she had heard anything from Itakae, and she was beginning to worry. The last time she had spoken to her mentor had been just after that vicious orc, Grogkor, had caused them both so much strife. She had thought they were both in the clear after that incident, but maybe the orc had decided to come back and seek revenge... She couldn't think of anyone else who would want to harm the peace-loving trolless.

With a sigh, she finally rolled to her feet. Her mind was far too busy to sleep. On tip-toes she crossed the smooth rock floor, careful not to awaken any of the other patrons. The pearly dawn light spilled gently across the Barrens, bringing with it a cool breeze that would probably be the only reprieve of the day from the savanna's oppressive heat. The white-haired troll halted beside the mailbox, hesitating.

Dere will be a letter, she told herself. She be fahn, jus' enjoyin' some tahm wit' dat human ah her's, too busy ta write, dat be all... But she didn't believe it.

Her worst suspcions proved true when she opened the box and found not a single letter addressed to her name. Sighing, she headed back into the inn to retrieve her gear. Something wasn't right, she knew it.