The pile of parchments was heavy as it fell on the table. A loud, thumping sound disturbed the peace of the chamber of the library, but there was no one else to see, save for the old wizard sleeping under his crooked hat. Motes of dust rose to dance at the golden rays of the morning sun, though none of those sitting near the long, narrow table noticed. Proud as ever, Arcanist James William Lemar offered a confident confident smirk at the white-haired elf sitting at the other side.
"Commander James Ashbrook. Boy, you do aim high, don't you?"
Celysiel first looked at the stack in front of her with wide eyes, clearly quite larger than she had anticipated, then back at the representative of the three Kirin Tor. "You... You got him?"
The smile of young Lemar softened, but remained as he settled on the bench at the other side of the table. He gestured to the papers towering between the two and offered a shrug of his shoulders. "Why don't you see for yourself?"
The two of them had sat hours long during the girl's first visit in Dalaran in order to analyze and compare their research on creatures of the Void, since the two apprentices, named Evander and Percy, had left in order to see to their duties, which is probably what they were doing now as well. That had allowed the more mature individuals engage a serious discussion, from which Celysiel had learnt a lot herself. The innocence of the arcanist was not what he had claimed it to be. Their very first exchange was not without a part of hypocricy from his side, since he had implied that her reasons to look into the Alliance's members was due to a vendetta. But he too was interested in an individual formerly alligned to the Horde, as he had later revealed, though his was the culprit, rather than a lead. The man was one of the risen Forsaken, named Lurthius Marrowgrave, for he too had managed to rouse a Faceless One. His trail had been lost, but the one who could unlock it was an elven woman with which Evander was constantly in touch. Since no aid could be offered by Celysiel, the tale did not interest her much.
Still, she could not ignore, from his tale, that there were some similarities between the worlds where the Sanguine Eye and arcanist Lemar with his companions had been trapped.
"It was a camp, devoid of life." he had told her, pale and afraid as memory returned to haunt him. "We could see the tall tower of Karazhan in the distance, but not reach it, no matter how much we tried. It was as if it were a canvas painted on the background and we were walking in circles, always returning back to the camp."
Lurthius Marrowgrave, unlike Timothy Dowling, had never made himself known to the arcanist and his companions. The young man became aware of his identity later on, through the elf who was on the Forsaken's trail. Unlike the cultist's nightmare also, death had set the three men free, rather than repeating itself. They were locked in that camp to face the whispers in their minds, rather than horrors, trials and competitions such as those of Dowling. The riddle arcanist Lemar had solved alone.
"There was this whisper." he had told her. "This whisper and I kept carving it everywhere, but I could not see what I was writing, though I now remember it as clearly as I could ever. To kill the centre of their world. It was smart, of course, since no one could expect us to ever harm each other, or ourselves. But my companions had descended to madness. They were convinced to bring death to themselves too easily and I followed them too, through bloodshed. It was the only way." She could remember him shivering as he uttered these words.
Upon returning to their world, James' companions had not found their sanity. One of them brought death to another, certain he was saving him from the false land in which they were supposedly trapped still. The one who survived never recovered. James was left with the memories and the desire to see the end of Lurthius Marrowgrave.
He had potentially suspected Celysiel's case to be similar, for he had not asked anything in return, nor would, as he assured her. Though she had surprisingly believed him somewhere deep inside, of his success she doubted, since it always seemed that the universe's desires were opposed to her own regarding learning more about Timothy Dowling. And now, there it was. A pile dedicated to the man who would hopefully solve the mystery.
It was finally more than some objects scattered on the cave floor and scribblings. It was more than the ravings of a madman. It was records. It was hers.
"Where did you... How did you accumulate all this?" she asked. Unable to hold back any longer, the young apprentice reached for one of the papers to bring it in front of her, though her eyes were still on the Kirin Tor arcanist.
"Oh, that was easy." he replied with that confident grin, which remained civil. "I actually work at the Archives, so I have great access to such matters. Now, the Archives contain a great deal of information, so I could be searching for years and not be able to find anything on that Ashbrook unless someone pointed to a certain direction."
"And someone did?" Celysiel asked, managing to catch up on it.
With a wider smile than before, the young Lemar nodded. "Someone did. Master Maharis, my former mentor. He was actually quite excited, since his sense of neutrality is a bit shaken. I have to admit, I had no idea who he was, so I had to pretend enough for him to point me to the right direction. I made a copy of all I found and... Here you are."
"A copy? How-"
"Well, I suppose you won't go around telling on me, since that is not really to the benefit of either of us." James pointed out, though behind his amusement was hiding something genuine, akin to a warning.
Slowly, Celysiel shook her head and looked down at the piece of paper. It was nothing more than an introduction, holding the name of the man she was so willing to find. From the other side of the table, James snapped his fingers, which made her look up at him. He had completely disorganized the pile by opening them on the table like cards, keeping spread fingers on them, as if he was a teacher about to deliver a lesson.
"I think it is where you ask me what I know and I start ranting and ranting." he smiled.
The white-haired elf nodded, gesturing to him. "If that is what it takes... What have you found out?"
With a friendly grin, the Kirin Tor praised. "Excellent. For as we can all imagine, it takes one James to find another."
He took a deep breath, looking down at the papers on which his palms lay, before eventually beginning. "Well, I suppose it is better to take it from the start, but then again, there are parts which need explaining." The arcanist lifted a hand to poke one of the papers, as if that one piece held the answer to everything. His sea-blue eyes found her own as he finally began.
"You are quite fortunate to have come here, because it seems that this Commander Ashbrook is quite popular among the Kirin Tor, since he has tried to enlist some of our most promising aoorentices in his unit, one mamed Lion's Maw-... Oh, you know the unit? Just the name?" he asked the nodding Celysiel. "Well, we will go through some bits, I guess... Just let me finish here.
'Naturally, you can imagine that in a city where Lady Proudmoore is quite loved-... Please, don't make that face. In Dalaran, Lady Proudmoore is loved even to this day, so it only makes sense that one of her hometown and who has been under her service would too... Well, and because several of the masters were not fond of losing apprentices to the guy." James said, smiling deviously. The latter obviously weighed more than the former. "But not Master Maharis, since they share certain... Ideals."
"So I suspect most masters are not favourable of such?" she asked.
A nod followed from the young man, slow, along with a grunt. "Let's just say... It's complicated. No one wants to see apprentices off too war so early, especially when neutrality is compromised, but quite a few, like master Maharis, believe the future lies with the Alliance... So yes, though the official reason is to keep tabs on the man responsible for the ones taken away, there are also probably many sympathizers, like my master."
"And he was under Proudmoore's service?" Celysiel interrupted him, her eyes wide, curious, gleaming. "How, when, where?"
If the arcanist was amused by the manner of her questions, he only showed with a soft smile. Looking down to the papers, he took a moment, before passing three of them at the other side of the slim table, where she sat. "He was with her when she first reached Kalimdor." he explained. "And then the Lion's Maw got him."
It was just as the young man said. The papers before the apprentice offered information regarding Ashbrook's service under Jaina Proudmoore's forces. Celysiel's eyes feasted on all they were offered, details of the person that she was looking for. And as the man before her seemed to imply, that was only the beginning.
"So yeah. His former service, I suspect, is what pushed even Master Maharis to speak highly of Ashbrook, though he states they have never met. I did manage to find the name of one of the mages he took from us, one named George Miller. I can't say I know him, nor will I, because he is dead." Claiming that, he passed a few more papers, pointing at one of them, where the death of his colleague is mentioned. "Killed by a group named the Sanguine Eye, as it seems, there is more details here, which I will spare you. You can read about it. You might have heard of them."
"Yes..." the girl mumbled, managing to remain calm. "Their name is not unknown." It was deemed wise to reveal nothing more, nor stand on the topic of the Sanguine Eye for long. The animosity between them and the Alliance unit was not unknown to her. "You said you would tell me more about that group?"
"Oh, yeah... Might be a good time to talk about them, actually." he mumbled, turning back to the papers. A brief pause was made as he started going through them, every now and them pulling one of them to his grasp, to finally present them to the apprentice. "As... You can see... Here..." he uttered, placing each paper in front of her. "These guys knew what they were doing. They appeared to be nearly undefeated until they met the Sanguine Eye in the field. And then, it seems they made quite an enemy in that group."
Arching an eyebrow, the girl titled her head to the side. "Did they?" she asked. A hand was stretched in order to accept the new paper. Her attentioned was offered to it, hoping to find a familiar name.
James wafted a hand. "A Blood Knight, though they managed to capture him in the end. Names are not mentioned, nor the fate of the prisoners, though I am afraid that these cases don't tend to usually end well. I am sorry for your kin." he said, his tone genuine and slightly bitter.
Condolences were accepted with a gentle bow of Celysiel's head in a convincing manner. "Such is the nature of war." she uttered in return for a man she was meant not to know, though her mind kept travelling back to a certain dagger, one which she had even used during her trial in Suramar. One the tale of which its owner had told her four or five times ever since their first in depth conversation in Argus, but she never had the heart to tell him the tale had been told, thus letting him repeat it every time. And of course, her mind went to the owner of the dagger, wondering how he fared away from her, even though they would soon be reunited.
With a nod of his head, the young Lemar held a moment of silence, perhaps to honour the loss of someone who was still among the living. "Regardless... There is a lot about the Lion Maw, but I'm not sure if it should even interest you anymore. They're no more. They have not been for a while."
It was that which drew the girl's attention. Not for a while? Of course, the unkind hand of her bad fortune had to hold her back. How could she even for a moment believe that she had succeeded in finding Ashbrook? That she would find Dowling? That it would be so easy? "Then... Then you do not know where he is?"
"I never said tha-"
"Then do you?"
"Hey." James stopped her, lifting a hand. "Let's just... Take one step at a time, yes?"
No, she did not want to take one step at a time. What good was there in patience when she could just know whether the location was known or not and simply act accordingly? But just then, it was as if two [Talenthiel|voices], joined in unison, where strictly repeating the same word in her mind. Control. Control. For what was she without the patience that had seen her so far? That could see her even further?
"One step at a time." she agreed with a sigh, briefly closing her eyes as the morning rays offered their warm touch. "Very well. What about Ashbrook's place within the unit named Lion's Maw?"
"That's the spirit." The arcanist rewarded her with a quick wink of encouragement, before turning back to the papers, offering out each when it came to touching the topic. "It was somewhere after the first Cataclysm that he became their Commander, so I can only imagine good deeds and being their pride, as well as showing good skill before that. It's not a title easily earned.
'Now, you surely you remember that Knight they caught? Yeah? Good. Well, at the same period, the elves got their revenge, it seems, since they managed to capture Ashbrook... But he was ultimately released. Which is why you're looking for him here and not back in your kingdom, I suppose, but this is where I should warn you. It gets weird."
Celysiel did not have the time to ask. It was quickly that yet another paper passed before her eyes, gently set there by the arcanist. As if her eyes were trained to find these two words, they quickly fell on them, feeling something shake inside her. As if it was not enough to read them, she heard James speak, but his voice suddenly sounded so far away. "They wanted a guy from him, which is why they released him. Some Timothy Dowling."
Of course they had. Of course he was released. And now, all the facts which she had known led to nearly that moment. Just nearly. They were not there quite yet. "Did he?"
"Well, the guy's reported to be swimming at the bottom of Blackrock Mountain, with all the lava and the heat, so it looks like he did." The arcanist replied cheerfully. How little did he know.
"But of course, as you can imagine, not everything was quite smooth for our dear friend." James finally added, as if he was speaking for the man with whom he shared the same name. "After his unit was no more, he fled to neutral ground. I am not sure if he is still there, but you should che-"
"Where?" Celysiel interrupted him again. Could he tell? Could he even imagine that her heartbeat had been increased ten times over? Neutral ground, that meant she could see him but - no, it was becoming too easy. Could it truly be so easy? Would she find him?
Slowly, the young arcanist passed the last of the papers to the apprentice. One of them presented a map, of a location by the sea. As for his finger, it pointed at two words. The name of the destination.
Celysiel's eyes shined with determination. Finally.
Comments