Drahna wrote:

This is from the old forums. Dates for these posts was 9-2-2011 to 10 - 4-2011 under two different threads. Enjoy! - Drahna

Drahna danced in the shadows, moving swiftly across the grass making not one noise as she practically flew toward her prey. This time it was a Worgen, and this time, she would have her pelt. Drahna had picked up so many things in the last weeks that she was getting good at figureing out who it was she would have the easiest time killing, and who was a waste of her time. As she moved in the grass, she couldn't help from smile. This was going to be easy, as opposed to weeks earlier when she couldn't help getting her face knocked in by anyone who she tired to even fight, much less kill.

Drahna was a strange girl to say the least. The moon haired blonde was by far, one of the dumbest women that the Horde employed. Case in point in Isle of Conquest when it came to basic concepts like "Duck stupid" and "Oh for Thrall's sake woman, move your pinky ass!" as glaves fell about around her. But after some time, a few broken bones, a couple reset knees and her nose being placed again by a very sympathetic Holy Paladin who felt sorry for her, she was able to finally figure things out. Stay in the shadows, stay away from mages and mostly, run if it gets overwhelming.

Time as a Grot also taught her a few things. The first was, when living in a hole in a swamp always make an irrigation point. The second was, never sleep where you are going to get a crocolisk trapped in your hole. That one she found out entirely by accident as she was sleeping off the day's cleaning and awoke to a giant scaly monster landing ontop of her. She built a kind of fence after that with wooden stakes around her little pit and an approprate set of drainage levies to lead the water from it. She put a lot of work and effort into the design. She was all to happy to sleep in it, as she had become comfortable with resting in the ground.

This is where she spied and learned things. She would listen to Pikki and Axil who spoke about conquests of Alliance they killed. She listened to others fighting. She took detailed notes and then after some time, she started to incorporate the ideas into her combat style. It started small, straggling gnomes were the first to feel her wrath. She could catch them easily enough in a crouch and slit their throats with her garotte. Then she simply stabbed them to death as they ran away, slowing with every step from her poisons and her speed in slicing at them. Then came bigger targets, Dwarves, Humans, finally she tried the Draenai, Night Elves and Worgen. Every kind of variety she tried, not all she succeded against, but useually she managed to help others kill them if she couldn't herself. Drahna was trying that was to be sure. She had no idea if she would be any good at this, but she wanted to be. She needed to be good at something in the world, not just be in jail and an ex-con.

Her target shifted his weight from his right back paw to the left one, he was going to attack an Orc Hunter nearby. Drahna smiled and using her Shadow Step, she didn't give him the chance. She came right behind him, both daggers at his neck and sliced. He barked in suprise, the fur on his neck buckling to her line. She smiles and anchors the thin wire in one hand and stabbs the beast in the back with the other right into his kidneys. He barks out again and that's when the thud on the back of her head landed with a bang.

The human Paladin landed the blow perfectly on her blonde skull and she jerked in reaction. Falling to the ground, the Worgen Priest and the Human were making ready to slaughter her themselves, when a cry in the distance stopped them."The day is done! The Horde have won, the battle for Twin Peaks is now over" the Herald Cried. She had lived through it, but was unconcious.

Two orcs moved quickly onto the field and the Human and Worgen withrdrew, though reluctantly. Drahna woke up in Orgrimmar an hour later with a huge bump on her head and a shadow ever near to her. "Owwy" she groaned.

"You're lucky you fool" The whisper said in her ear. She shook her head. That stupid shadow always followed her. She used to think it was a guard, but now she wasn't sure. It always cursed her out, berated her and told her she was weak.

"Yeah yeah mom" she grumbled. The shadow was a woman, an old woman in a gown with a covered face by its hood. Drahna started calling it 'Mom' because it seemed to piss it off.

"You would have died and all would have been lost you idoit." The shade barked but the whisper was just a whisper, no one heard it. Drahna hadn't really ever heard it untill the ritual with the Lak'gora had brought its voice clear into her mind.

"Leave me alone" Drahna said and flipped over. As she did her head hurt horrible and images rushed into it. They were instantly clowded and her brain ached visably. Her skull shifted with the headache and she forgot the images just as fast as they appeared.

"Make it stop" She whimpered. The shadow cackled. "This will never end. You will always be tortured and not a million healers could fix this. You are cursed" it then vanishes.

Drahna spent the next three hours holding her head and crying from pain. This was torture, but she was getting used to it. If her head was damaged during a battle the torture was worse. Being alone made everything even more worse. The only good things she remembered were from the spying she did that week in Silvermoon, and that one of the people she met gave her a last name. She now had a real name, and she had submited the paperwork to make it hers. She was Drahna Shadowstar, Grot of the Blacktooth Grin and pit sleeper of Stonard. One day, she would make everyone proud especially the The Blacktooth Grin.

Drahna wrote:

Part 2

The crunch of the snow sounded gently in the midst of the cool air as Drahna moved. Northrend always was cold, but more so now then ever to her. Following a shadow was partially to blame, and the rest was that Dalaran was even now viewable in the distance.

"Hurry" The dark shadow spat as Drahna's attention was again brought back to what they were doing.

"Yes yes" Drahna muttered and trudged further. The steps weren't so far away. The steps to Zul'Drak from the snowy banks of Storm Peaks wasn't exactly where she wanted to be right now, but the shadow was insistent.

"Hurry you insolent child. Move it" The shade stopped and gazed at Drahna. It was becoming more bold every day, more viable to her now too. The shadow, which once was an inaudible mass of black that followed her, had blossomed as it were into a shadowy figure of a woman that looked a whole lot like Drahna. She wore black shadowy robes, her face always covered by a hood and her eyes even darker then the rest of her seemed to pierce light as it would gaze. Drahna barely could tell when the being's mouth opened except that there was a softer purple shade to what had to be the beings lips.

The creature however never would speak unless they were alone and she knew no one was about. It had saved her more then once among the front line trenches of battles. It suggested things to her in soft whispers. It even prevented the demons and warlocks from even trying to take her soul away. The shadow had explained that it was punishment for Drahna's many crimes that she had to be tied to her. Drahna however looked at it like a minor annoying blessing. A creature was tied to her that was smarter then she was, that could see things in a different sense then she could and above all else prevented anyone from taking her soul away.

In return they had an arrangement. When Drahna was done with her work, she would humor the shadow and go on these strange gathering missions that were requested, such as the one they were undertaking now.

"I'm coming dammit. If I knew where we were freaking going, that would make it easier. Can't I just get in my damn flying machine and get us there quicker?" Drahna barked to the transparent wraith. The creature grumbled but after coming to terms with the logic she nodded.

"Fine. Head not to the Necropolis Voltarus, but rather, head to Zeramas. That is our destination" The wraith said. Drahna smirked and checked her map. The wraith's finger marked an item near the front where Dalaran was defiantly visible to Zul'Drak.

"You gotta be kidding me. Why?" She demanded.

"Do you or do you not want to appease the Gar'mak?" The wraith barked.

Drahna sighed but nodded. "Yeah, I do. More then anything." She nodded. If it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't be free. She wanted only to serve him, as best he would need it and she wished above all else that he would find her skill set useful.

"Good. Then get in your blasted metal contraption and head that way you weak minded girl" The wraith's words were clipped and hollow.

Drahna pressed the remote for her flying machine and got in. The Wraith melded with her own true shadow and they were in the air in no time. Surveying the area was strange but after a short flight they were above Zeramas. Drahna moved to the balcony that was the furthest from Dalaran's view and quickly leap into it. She pressed her remote, her machine disappearing and stepped into the stillness and shades stealthing.

The wraith however moved quickly ahead of her. She was running. Drahna finally caught up to find a room that was torn to pieces with shattered candle stands and a bed that had been hewn in two by what had to be some kind of massive blade.

"You can come out. Nothing is here that will track you" The wraith said and moved to what looked like scattered wood and papers on the floor.

"What the hell?" Drahna said looking at the place. It had seen a battle, but it was so odd. It was as if someone moved into this room and had a fight there.

"Just go to the corner over there" The wraith said in a cold voice that seemed more chilled then the air about her.

Drahna shook he head and headed to the corner. There was the outline of a blast of fire that had singed the stone in the shape of a small creature. There also was a blackened patch at the base of the floor that had what remained of a small table on top of it.

"Now, clear the wood away. You want to move the stone" The wraith said. Drahna hesitated.

"I'm not making another move until you explain this" She said and turned to look at the transparent guardian.

"This, my child, will be valuable to the Gar'mak. Not to some spell-less girl like you. Bring to him what is under that stone and he will reward you." The wraith's voice echoed with confidence.

"And what if he hates it? This whole place vibrates evil, but not his kind of evil. This is far darker then any vibe I ever got off of him." Drahna said.

"You small willed insect. He will in fact treasure what you will give him. Mark my words!" the wraith pointed again at the floor. "Have I lead you to any path where I was wrong child? I warned you of the demons did I not? Did they get your soul? No. Are they considering you any sort of a target? No. But if we had done that your way you could be dead now. Listen to me and follow my will. He will want this. Trust me."

Drahna hesitated again. She then stopped and moved the remaining debris away and saw there were two small hooks in the stone that seemed to be unnoticed. She moved her hand near them and a small zap of power hit her. She gasped feeling her horrible allergy to magic overtake her instantly.

"Relax. Breathe. Take a pill if you must. It's a magic that only you can touch" The wraith said. Drahna's allergy flaired up and her skull was pounding again. The skull under her hair shifted and the wraith watched but seemed insistent still. Drahna moved her hand in her pocket of her pants taking a small vial out and spraying the contents into her mouth. She felt better but her hand ached still. She retrieved another bottle and chewed four of the pills in it. The foul taste filled her mouth but she was used to it now. Her skull settled and her nose stopped aching as well as her breathing became easier.

"Now girl, do this" the wraith barked. Drahna nodded and put the two bottles back in her pocket. She took her cloak off and used it with her gloves to touch the small hooks. Within a few moments she pulled the stone up and moved it to the side. Using the tinker on her gloves that created a light and electric charge, she looked inside. Inside was a simple book. It wasn't very big, thin actually. No bigger then a journal. Drahna took her covered hands and reached in. Pulling it free with no resistance she noticed the book was lined with red satin. She opened the pages but didn't understand the writing at all. The wraith however seemed delighted.

"Take that to the Gar'mak. It has no enchantment on it that will hurt you. You will be safe Drahna." The wraith's voice was almost warm for a being made entirely of shadow.

"Yeah... okay. Should I give it to him with the other tributes?" Drahna asked.

The wraith nodded. "Indeed child. Take him everything you have collected. If he isn't impressed, then I will be surprised. Nothing surprises me." The shadow cackles and with that, it vanishes.

Drahna nodded and stuffed the notebook in her pocket with her own personal notes. She turned around and looked at the room. It was so lonely and strange. It also felt unbelievably familiar to her but then, that could just be because she was used to strange situations.

She moved quietly out of the room, wrapping herself in the darkness that only a rogue could wear so well. She flew away from the balcony perch and headed quickly back to the Borean Tundra so that she could get to work on her tribute. If she was going to impress her cousin, the Gar'mak, then she truly needed to make the offering as impressive as it needed to be. She just hoped he would be receptive.

Drahna wrote:

Part 3

Ting ... Ping ping ping ...TING... Snap....

The air was making funny echoes and then silence was all that remained. The snapping and pings happened again and then once more silence. This repeated for several moments with long slow pauses in between. Eydrana smirked as she watched the grounds again, keeping her shadowy form sitting on the rock watching Drahna and Axil fighting once again.

Ting ... Ping ping ping ...TING... Snap....THUD...

Drahna had left her shadows only to be disarmed by Axil. Not only had he taken her daggers from her but he spun her around, grabbed her wrists and slammed her face first into the dirt with his knee at her back.

"Owwwy Ax" Drahna whimpers. Axil laughed and slowly helped her up.

"So this time, I want you to open up using the same stance I showed you. Don't make the same mistake again, do it right once and you won't be planted into the ground. " He smiled with his arrogant grace.

"Yeah okay" Drahna muttered and took her daggers back. She retied her long snow blonde hair in its ponytail and adjusted her goggles. She smiled proudly at Axil and once again merged with the shadows. He did the same and Eydrana though as silent as a wraith could be, sighed a heavy bored sigh.

The elder and former magester held her delicate face in her shadowy hand. They had been at this for days. She was bored and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. Drahna had become devoted to her new mentor and Eyd had no say whatsoever in it. Who did he think he was anyway? Some odd creature who escaped death with some odd magical spell by becoming a Sin'dorei when he was really Forsaken like the rest of Sylvanas's legacy? Then again, Eyd thought to herself, who was she to judge. She had escaped death 3 times now. That, and there was nothing whatsoever wrong with Axil. He had been good to her charge, and taught her many rather reasonable things.

But the pink elekk remained in the room as it were in Eydrana's mind. She thought back over two weeks, it wasn't as if she had anything else to do. Two weeks earlier, Drahna had been told by Axil to stop watching the rutting demons in Silvermoon and just follow his lead. Doing so got the girl in miserable trouble. With no mission Drahna decided to try out Brewfest, and that resulted in her getting drunk and falling on her face in the inn one morning with nothing for Eyd to do to stop her.

That same morning Axil picked Drahna up and threw her into work. Some mission that Malifika had ordered him on now involved Drahna. Something that Eyd didn't give a rats ass about, more recon was not her idea of a good time. But Drahna seemed to enjoy the work and if it kept the girl out of trouble then Eydrana wasn't about to stop her. The shadowy wraith that she was, wasn't in any position to complain, and Axil seemed insistent on teaching the young rogue how to defend herself.

For days the two of them watched the Barrens, then went up and down the supply line for the pending Alliance invasion studying everything. It wasn't until Drahna whispered to herself "I wish I knew someone who knew what the Dwarves were up to" that Eyd finally felt needed.

"You do child" her whisper to her charges ear played. Eyd knew lots of people who knew what Alliance Politics were, and all she had to do was get Drahna to do what she said. The airhead however wasn't always reliable.

"Just go to Dalaran girl, head that way and let me help you ask" Eyd said. So as soon as Axil split off again for their daily regimen of sleeping and watching, Eyd and Drahna headed to Dalaran. Eydrana's gamble paid off. Drahna snuck into Dalaran and found one of the old guards who used to watch her.

"Drahna" he smiled at her and Drahna, who was becoming more in tune with the fact that men did whatever she asked if she wore a low cut shirt, gave the man a dazzling smile.

"Hey Butchy" she said leaning against the wall on her left side. Her eyes lit up like green swamp gas.

"What can I do for you girl?" he drawled at her.

"Well... I was wondering if you could tell me whats going on with life?" She asked and lead the unsuspecting man into a conversation about his family. Then he talked about his job, finally they got into taxes and politics and without knowing that she was taking all of his information from him, she got him to spill the beans on what was going on in Ironforge and the rest of the Alliance that was common knowledge to them.

When she was done, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked away sauntering her hips. Eydrana, who had remained hidden the entire time came out only to walk in view of the guard that had just been bantered with.

"We need to get out of here" Eyd told Drahna quickly. Drahna however, bubble head that she was didn't seem to understand why.

"But there's fruit here duh. I want an apple" she said rolling her eyes. She made it to the Fruit Vendor near the Silver Covenant, and then saw nothing after that. Four darts pierced Drahna at the neck and ten men grabbed her and took her right back to the Violet Hold. Eyd who tried to get free into the shadows to follow, was apprehended by two Shadow Priests.

"Uh uh" One of them said grabbing her. No one had been able to touch her and she glared at them.

"Let me go" She snarled.

"Eydrana, you're under arrest" The familar voice said. Olessa was now in her shadowy form, something she never did. Matron Olessa was by far taking this warden job far to seriously, and as Eyd was dragged into the Hold again with Drahna, she gave up fighting while Drahna was desperately trying to kick free.

Drahna's head shifted violently as they slammed her onto the table. She was put into sleep and Eydrana spent the next five hours being interrogated. They probed Drahna's weak and fragile brain so that they could find out what Eyd had actually been up to. They found out, nothing was wrong. Eyd had been protecting the girl. She had cared for the girl and even in moments they saw that the old wraith was being her old self. She wasn't a possessed raging necromancer anymore, or didn't seem like one. She was as she had been, Eydrana.

"Okay okay..." Olessa said finally and sighed. Everything was fine and that seemed unexpected. Eyd smirked in her shadowy bonds at her captors as they looked at poor and innocent Drahna laying on the table nearby. Then they looked back at her.

"Eyd, with all due respect you have to understand that you in this form is not what we intended. You look like you were, and you're not a mindless mass of shadow" Olessa complained. Eyd nodded respectfully but smiled.

"Sometimes things can be undone and that happens on occasion child. You know that" she purrs. Olessa growls.

"You arrogant bitch. For one I'm older then you, and for two..." The Priestess rage simmered into a boil. She nodded to the guards who brought shimmering metal near the ghost.

"For two Eydrana, regardless of your being innocent this time you are still guilty of manipulating the girl into giving you more access. So now the time has come! You are hereby sentenced to an additional judgement." Olessa pointed at Eydrana and the men clamped the metal to the Wraiths wrists.

At first the metal sagged into her incorporeal form, but then the metal changed color. It began to shift and large shadowy links formed at the base. Link by link chains formed down her arms, and all the way down to her feet. They were then met by a large line of shadow that now was very visible from Drahna's head to Eydrana. The line became unbroken rows of chain, tipple locked together and then as the spell was done being cast, the chain between them appeared as if it were just shadow.

Eyd immediately screamed. All the pain Drahna had in her head echoed into Eyd and for the first time since her soul had been ripped from the girls body, she was in agony. Olessa smiled a cruel smile.

"You are sentenced to further parole, and now, if she gets hurt you get hurt. If she is in joy, you feel her joy. If she is sorrow filled, so are you. And so on and so on Eydrana, do you understand?" Olessa barked.

Eyd swallowed and nodded but the pain in her skull which wasn't even there, throbbed. "Yes... ma'am" she said weakly submitting finally into a reasonable answer. Olessa was clearly pleased and set the priests to mend both the ghost and the girl.

Hours later Drahna was dumped off a Zepplin into Orgrimmar by one of the Sunreavers and left at the inn. Dazed she woke up and made her way to the Barrens, slumping into the recon camp she and Axil had set up. He wasn't there, so the girl covered herself in her cape and snuggled into the tightest ball she could pull herself into.

That night, she rested and Axil found her like that. Eydrana finally made her presence known to him in her most true sense. Though they had spoken before she was more sweet now.

"She will be alright" Eydrana began and told him about the time in Dalaran. "She won't remember it, she will think it was an allergy attack. That's normal for her. The good news is she will be well.. as will I" Eyd said showing the chains.

Axil's concern for Drahna shifted, and he was now concerned for them both. "I don't understand Eydrana, why would they chain you?" he demanded.

"I caused her pain. She shouldn't have been in Dalaran and I should most defiantly stay clear of there. That said, she has learned much of your mission" Eyd nodded softly.

Axil was perplexed "At what cost?" he asked.

Eyd's face remained shadowed and quiet. "At the cost of nothing, she has gained much. I now feel what she feels in a literal sense. If she is in pain, it surrounds me, if she is in joy it engulfs me. If she is in danger, I will help her out of it sooner. It is my desire to see her well now more then ever" she explains.

Seeming less upset with that explanation then what he assumed she met, Axil made an accord with Eydrana. If she would indeed keep Drahna safe then he would teach Drahna how to remain safe. She needed a lot of work, and teaching. They both watched the sleeping girl and were resolved in their commitment.

Now however, Eyd knew that he was watching the girl carefully but you wouldn't know it from the scene. He was obliterating her, and at the moment the blade moved near Drahna's face as the blonde flipped backwards landing on her hands right as the blade past her. As it swung away, her legs moved up and she leap in the air with her fingertips then vanished again into a puff of smoke.

Eyd sighed. That sort of physical excretion had never been something she was interested in. She watched as blades again crossed and Axil had grabbed Drahna by her hands and spun her around. Drahna moved to sit on her butt and get out of his grasp, as he swung again her ponytail was snagged at the ties. The ties pulled free and her long hair fell down into her eyes. He grabbed her wrists again holding his daggers in his nimble hands with her tiny wrists, pulled her arms to cross her chest and put his knee into her back. He tilted her slightly down and she wasn't moving. She let go of her own daggers and he nodded.

"Good.. still needs work" he said and kissed Drahna at the top of her forehead. Eyd smirked as she watched. That, was the big pink elekk in the room. Not that she had changed, or Drahna was more capable of defending herself. That Axil, a former Forsaken turned Sin'dorei had taken Drahna to be his woman while he mentored her. All the time alone spying on the Barrens and the fact that Drahna had a soft but clever instinct for gathering information, that probably had something to do with the attraction.

He was so infatuated with the girl that he had bought Drahna a giant and incredibly expensive black diamond as a gift. Drahna's response was to make him an Elementium lug-nut strong enough to never be crushed under any pressure, and gave that to him as a ring. He could only wear it on his pinky, but the exchange of the rings was significant. Honestly, who really cared who asked which one first for marriage at that point? They were together, and they were going to be that way for some time.

"Thank you honey" Drahna smiled looking up at Axil as he helped her back to her feet and let go of her hands, only to swing her again into him and hug her tight. Eyd turned her gaze not really wanting to know if they were kissing again, the tender moments were the worst for her. She could feel every single moment that Drahna relished now, and it ruined her mind and control of her own personal being.

Every ounce of regret for trying to get even with Bok'theg all those years ago piled up every time Drahna was kissed or held. None of this would be happening if Eyd had just been wiser, that she hadn't had Kellexar give her those tattoos. Maybe if she hadn't gone to Northrend to begin such a folly study as necromancy, and maybe if she hadn't kidnapped Drahna from the beach in Alterac where the river was, she would right now be in the inn in Stonard reading her spell book and happy by herself. By herself, it stung into her. Being alone now was something she didn't care for anymore. She hated being forced to be with the girl, but as time went on she was enjoying the company. Drahna had a different perspective on things, and with Axil there to listen to the mostly odd babbling, Eyd was becoming comfortable. Time, it was a strange thing and one thing was certain, time wasn't going to end this soon.

Eydrana vanished into the shadows of the dark lines that stretched across the Barrens as the sun was setting. She hid in her own private dark shade that only she could hide in to avoid the feelings that she was sure she would have to reckon with as the night came. The sound of the tinks and pings resumed and she closed her own wraith black eyes. Time. It all came down to time.

Drahna wrote:

Part 4

Eydrana's void like eyes were pained but understanding. Her long shadowy fingers stroked into Drahna's snowy blonde hair as the girl continued to sob. Though Eyd was a shadow, a wraith, her form was only corporeal to Drahna and only when she allowed it to be so. Right now the girl was having an emotional implosion, and though it pained Eyd, she needed comforting. Drahna lay with her head in Eyd's lap, her face near the long chains that blended from the restraints on Eyd's wrists to the gown. The soft clattering of the chain was barely heard over the whimpering sobs.

"I don't understand" Drahna bellowed in anguish again. "Why would he pick appearance over me?" she demanded into Eyd's shadowy robes. Eyd sighed. It was already a long day, and about to be a longer night.

For a week, Drahna hadn't seen Axil. He just disappeared on her, and she was worried. During the middle of the week this feeling of terror passed into the girl and she began an unrelenting search for him. She never found him. Eyd never had a bad feeling one way or the other and tried to reassure Drahna that Axil had to be fine. The truth was, they were both right, and both wrong. Axil's powerful orb enchantment had faded, and he was Forsaken again.

Instead of just coming to find Drahna and see what her reaction was, he hid from her. He watched her, but never told her it was him. So when she did finally find him, she hadn't slept for three days and had been crying off and on in a panic. Tired and frustrated, the meeting went oddly. Drahna, who was grateful she found him alive and not in a million pieces, immediately hugged him. She assured him she loved him regardless of how he looked. But Axil, who for whatever reason Eyd didn't understand, ended up telling her that he wouldn't rest until he fixed his appearance.

It took guts to do what Drahna did next. The girl took that giant black diamond ring off her finger, handed it to him and told him that he needed to decide what he wanted. She loved him for who he was, not what he looked like. If he couldn't accept it, then they were done. She told him to give it back when he came to terms and then in another moment of bravery, she vanished and left him.

Eyd had watched from the shadows, she didn't interrupt the confrontation. When Drahna finally got to her favorite tree, the girl broke down in sobs. Eyd, who was no stranger to a weird breakup told the girl to get herself some Tigule and Foror's Ice Cream and a warm cup of tea. So Drah did and had managed to eat a carton of "Gnome Gnome on the Range" which was a special flavor this month. She ate the ice cream and cried. She drank her tea and cried. She had a nap, and she kept crying. She finally woke up and Eydrana held the girl's head in her own lap and stroked her long hair. Now she knew how her chamber maid must have felt all those broken marriages that Eydrana had suffered.

It was at that moment that a horrible realization came to Eydrana and moved up her spine like the coldest ice from Northrend. 12 of her would have been marriages ended in disaster. The fiances' either died, were caught for some horrible crime, just didn't show up and then there was that one Dwarf who slept with her father's prized Sheep for all the world to see the night before nuptials. That one was the worst in her mind still. Every single time, the word 'curse' would come up. Eydrana didn't believe it at first but eventually she did acknowledge the truth. Eydrana was cursed. She couldn't love anyone, and if she did, the curse would find a way to destroy it. She stopped stroking Drahna's hair and her shadowy hand felt to Drahna's side. She sat there in stunned silence. Her curse, it passed to Drahna because Drahna's heart beat with Eydrana's blood, and their souls were linked. Eyd, in essence, damned the poor girl not only to never love but to never have children. Her own manipulation of Drahna when she was a corpse had caused the latter. It's why her hair was blonde white. She had removed everything from the girl that could cause her to feel a spark of humanity because at the time, Eyd was going to take over the body. It was going to be hers, and the last thing that she had wanted at that time was the ability to have children.

A shadowy tear formed in the corner of Eyd's eye and hung like the guilt that was on her shoulders now. She doomed Drahna, and hadn't even cared about it at the time. She did this all for revenge and she ruined a perfectly wonderful person all because of Bok'theg. She could strangle that Warlock for the madness he gave her. It was all that stupid gem. She regretted now more then ever, the day she had decided to collaborate with him to find Gorefrunch's soul in that Fel-Arcane mirror. She never should have done it. It all lead to this, a girl who was so sad her boyfriend left her sobbing in Eyd's dead wraith like gown.

"Drahna" Eyd's voice was hollow, shaken. Drah looked up, her miserable face red from the crying.

"Drahna listen to me" Eyd's resolve slipped into her voice again and she looked at the girl. She helped her sit up straight and locked her void like eyes on Drahna's dark green ones. Drahna nodded, listening.

"You remember, they told you that you couldn't have babies?" Eyd asked. The Violet Hold guards told Drahna a whopper of a lie as to why she would never have children.

"Yeah because when Malygos was storming the prison this door fell on me and crushed my hips?" Drahna asked.

Eydrana winced a moment but nodded. "Exactly. So listen carefully my dear. This pain you have now, you never have to have again. This comes from love lost. You however have a special circumstance. You see, the only reason for love is to repopulate the world with children. You can't have any anyway, so to have a love would be selfish child. You would take a potential fertile man away from helping the world repopulate." Eydrana explained.

Drahna blinked a couple times and looked confused. "But Axil's Forsaken and he can't..."

"Axil doesn't want you Drahna, he made that very clear today. He wants to be pretty, he doesn't want your pretty face with him." Eyd was gentle, but her tone was firm. Drahna's eyes filled with tears again, the pain was so real in her heart.

"Drahna, dearest I know it hurts but you need to let him go. You need to let the thought of warm arms around you at night go. You cannot find love, it isn't your calling" Eydrana said.

Drahna nodded, she understood but wiped more tears away. "But I get lonely" she mumbled in sorrow.

Eyd's face actually grew warmer and kinder, even though it was a shadow. "Drahna, you aren't alone child. I'm here, and I will be with you forever my dearest. It's my duty and my privilege." She said and held Drahna's hands.

"But, they said when I got off parole you would be gone?" Drahna still believed the lie they told her when they released her.

"Well yes, however that could be thousands of years from now, and who knows? I may be able to just ask them to let me stay with you my dearest." Eyd actually smiled. For a cold and deeply strange sorceress, her smile was actually very kind.

"Really? So I won't be alone?" Drahna asked.

"Never, and you are Grin. You have family my child. Your job is to take care of your family, and right now that means doing as the Soulflayer says. Get those supplies she asked you to take care of, and do whatever the Gar'mak demands." Eyd said and tucked Drahna's long hair behind her ear.

It took five seconds but Drahna looked happy again, bubbly and delightful. "OH thank you!" she hugged Eydrana tight. Eyd wasn't used to the hugging but that the girl listened made her happy.

"Remember, no more straying from your duties. Don't take another man from one who must keep the world with more people." Eyd chided. Drahna nodded.

"Yes ma'am. I will be very good about that. From now on, no more dating or guys." She was proud of her resolve. "Just work work work. I can work. I like work. Ohh! Maybe I can start working on scouting missions again!" she was babbling in her happiness and kept talking even though Eydrana knew she was just thinking aloud.

"Good, now clean yourself up and let's get back to work." Eyd said and watched Drahna scramble to get to her feet and get her tree cleaned up, and she kept babbling.

Eyd's eyes dulled with pain a moment, but the truth was that this had to be done. It was for the curse, it kept Drahna from the curse. If Drahna didn't fall in love at all, then she wouldn't suffer. The curse, it was so real and so terrible. Eyd couldn't bare to watch Drahna suffer as she had. That curse changed Eydrana from a caring girl, into a very uncaring and unrelenting magestrix. Its what caused her father to hate her. It's what ruined her life. She didn't want to watch Drahna's life become ruin. No, she wouldn't allow it. Not this time.

Drahna wrote:

Part 5

The snarl was followed by a loud crash and a bang as Eydrana, whose non corporeal form was more capable of moving things when she was enraged, threw a chair across the room and let it crash into a wall. Drahna winced and watched the splinters fly from the explosion.

"Are you out of your BRAINDEAD blonde head?!!?!" Eydrana demanded, the wraith moving to Drahna's face and snarled at her further. Drahna winced again and tried to look away as the shadowy guardian's fury assaulted her senses.

"HOW DARE YOU?! You spoke to an ELDER of the clan like some lost orphan?" Eyd demanded further.

"I'm sorry" Drahna mumbled again as she held onto her fear. Eyd was beyond terrifying her this time.

"I'm SORRY?!" Eyd barked again and her shady hand grabbed Drahna by the face moving it to lock her void like eyes on Drahna's green ones.

"I am sorry. I was... I was trying to get more of an answer as to what I could do to help and ... it came off wrong" Drahna pleaded back with a whimper. The ghost was unamused.

"Do you have ANY idea what you did?!!" Eydrana demanded.

"No" Drahna honestly didn't know what was wrong with asking questions when you had one. She hadn't learned tact yet. It was something Eyd was trying to get her to learn but it wasn't working in most cases. What was an honest question to the soft skulked girl, came off like an disobedient rebel to authority most of the time.

"You made it sound as if YOU should be running the CLAN you DOLT!" Eydrana bellowed in Drahna's face.

"But I .. I didn't mean to. I just wanted to know what I could do more to help" Drahna whimpered again. Eydrana let go of her face, spun around and sauntered to the other side of the room to fume.

Jak'thra had went well, up to the point where Drahna opened her big dumb mouth. Eydrana had been proud of the girl. She survived a duel with Pikki and then lost to Lizzardrat. That wasn't a surprise so much to Eydrana, who proceed to whisper in Drahna's ear about how miserable she had done while others were encouraging the girl.

The final battle with Rode however was Eydrana's proud moment. The girl hung on, managed to get past that hound and nailed Rode with a concussive blow to the head. Drahna, nearly fainted in the process but she hung on tightly and battled through it all to win. Eyd hadn't helped with any of the fights, she simply stayed back giving no council or advice. If Drahna was going to earn it she needed to earn it right. Raider, a title Eydrana had never received herself, was something that Drahna could do so well with. That is however untill the bubble headed blonde decided to open her big mouth and ask Kromgosh, an elder of all people, what more she needed to do to help. It came off arrogant and set Eydrana's blood to boiling. Drahna however, as dumb as she was made an honest mistake. She needed to learn tact. She just did.

"This is because you are back with him, isn't it?" Eydrana's voice was like ice.

"We... we are going to date. We just aren't going to be married. You said that was wrong" Drahna stumbled into her explanation. Eyd could scream from the rage in her heart but refrained. She just let it simmer like lava.

"You need to get RID of him." She snarled.

"But..." Drahna tried to retort but the wave of shadow that hit her was like a wave of angry ocean.

"Listen and listen good" Eyd's voice was as thick as lava with her rage. "He isn't alive and he isn't dead. He isn't Forsaken and he isn't Sin'dorei. He doesn't even know what he wants. You need to GET RID OF HIM" she barked again.

Drahna squared her shoulders off and what had been a submissive face turned into cold steel. "No" she replied flatly.

Eyd's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What was that?" She whispered with a thin malice.

"I said no. I'm with Axil. If you don't like it then go screw yourself" Drahna's voice was calm, almost soothing and about as determined as her eyes.

Eydrana let go of Drahna's face . A plan formed in her mind, faster then Drahna could ever have moved to free a dagger in a fight.

"Fine, then I'll tell the warden you are evading your parole" She was cold and turned again as if to leave the room.

"Wait... what?!" Drahna bellowed after her and ran toward the wraith who was gliding free of the inn room in Booty Bay.

"You heard me" Eyd said.

"No please" Drahna fell to her knees and bowed toward the wraith. Eyd stopped. Her plan worked. Jail. It all came back to jail. Threaten Drahna with her freedom and one could get whatever they wanted from her. "Please no don't I don't want to go to the Hold" she whimpered.

Eyd smiled now and nodded. "Then give him up. No more of this. I don't want to have to report that you are disobeying and thus needing more jail time" she purred. It wasn't that Eyd had a problem with Axil. Far from it actually, Eydrana actually liked Axil very much for what he had done with Drahna and his kindness. She just didn't trust Axil, and what's worse was the curse. She had to keep Drahna from the damn curse. She had to keep her free of his distractions.

Drahna nodded and wiped tears away from her eyes. "I'll... I'll talk to him" she swallowed.

"Good. Now, get back to work. You have an attack to plan. Move it, and prove you are worthy of the Elder's time or so help me, you will be in Solitary again." Eydrana barked. Drahna nodded and headed as fast as she could to get to work on her plans. Eyd felt like a jerk for what she was making the girl do. Giving up love, giving up time and caring all so that she could become greater in the one thing Eydrana cared more about then her self. The Grin. Her life and her unlife was the Grin. She would make damn sure this girl did what she was told. So she felt like a jerk... almost. Almost.

Drahna wrote:

Part 6

"A B C D E" the class was singing their letters out. They were happy and cheerful as all children are. There was one thing wrong with the sound of the song as there was a voice that wasn't quite child like. It was very much a bell of sweetness, but it was Drahna. "J K L M N OHHH PEEEEEEE" she bellows out off key. The other kids giggle at her. She was sitting in one of their desks and had a slate and a piece of chalk in her hands. She was learning how to read and write in Orcish. The Matron in Orgrimmar was so reluctant to let her join the class but finally she succumbed to the offer of gold and that Drahna promised she would bring things for the kids every time there was a reading and writing lesson.

"W EX WHYYY And ZEEEE" she finishes with the class and they all clap their hands. Drahna was happy, they were happy and the lesson started. "Okay class so what is this word?" The teacher wrote on the chalkboard a three letter word and now pointed it out one letter at a time. The kids started sounding it out. Drahna was clueless.

"Ms Shadowstar?" The teacher asked. She looked at Drahna who looked uterly puzzled. "Um... I use that for uh.. a ... um..'Haa' sound." she said meaning her own code. The woman shook her head no.

"What does this look like?" She asks Drahna.

"A crescent moon?" Drahna says reluctantly.

"Okay and what letter does it look like in the Alphabet?" The teacher asks. Drahna moves her eyes to her paper. "A..Bee...OH!!!" she snaps her fingers.

"C. It's a C" she says excited. The kids laugh at her. She was very odd to them.

"Very good. It's a C. What sounds do C make?" The Teacher was pleased.

"Um.. Kah and Sssss" Drahna says remembering this part.

"Very good" the teacher says moving to the next letter. Another kid got it as an A. The last letter a little Orc boy got it as a T.

"So if its C A T what does that spell?" The teacher asked. "Cat!" the whole class said together. Drahna, was reading. Eydrana was exhausted. It made her head hurt to watch this. But the girl needed to learn and this was a last ditch effort from Eydrana's standpoint.

Drahna found out about who Eydrana was after a very rough night. Eyd made her swear not to tell Olessa, as she was sure this would get them both killed. Drahna agreed but made Eyd promise not to threaten her again with her freedom. They came on the agreement and then they really started to talk. Eydrana finally explained it to her, if Drahna was going to get anywhere she had to cut back on being stupid.

First came the hair coloring. Eyd was mournful to get rid of the soft blonde hair on Drahna's head but the bubble headed blonde thing was getting old. The dark brown looked better on her, and made the green in her eyes sparkle. The next thing was to change her voice. Drahna's voice was tiny and baby like. She used the word 'Like' as a verbal comma. Eyd started small. Her own voice was rich and deep, and she was trying very hard to teach Drahna not to talk in a nasal whimper.

It was getting better but now Drahna was trying hard not to talk around people unless she was asked a question. "Silence" Eydrana explained. "Is golden. Don't speak unless spoken to, and people will find you wise" she urged. So Drahna was doing that. Save a few giggles and hyper tones around the kids, she was getting better.

The last step was school. Now Drah could draw her letters. She wasn't writing but she was drawing. It was a start. If she had another week, Eydrana was sure that Drah was going to be far better then she was. The one thing that they did have in agreement finally, they both agreed on it. Both of them were going to stay away from Axil. Drahna needed to grow up, and Eydrana was still convinced about the curse. When she broke it down and explained it to Drahna, Drahna was convinced. The idea of being lost was hard, and what was worse, the circumstances sounded to her like what Eydrana explained.

Eydrana drummed her shadowy fingers on the desk as she finished listening to the drone of the class finishing it. "Next time won't you SING with MEEEEEEE" Drahna's off key voice echos in the little room with the kids. Eyd rubbed her face in her shadowy hands. This was annoying but necessary, or well she was trying to convince herself of that.

"Class Dismissed" The teacher said and the kids rushed out the door. Drahna moved into the shadows and it wasn't untill the chains jerked Eydrana out the door, that she knew the girl was on the move. Eyd sighed again and moved her form. She turned back into liquid shadow and stayed by Drahna alone. This was her quiet time. This was her peace. Drahna was going to be okay, she would learn. She just needed time. For a girl who was once a corpse, Drahna was doing well. Eyd was actually proud of her, untill she saw where they were.

"So a tattoo mon?" The troll said. Eyd was able to move back in the shades. She blinked. Drahna was lieing down and letting the woman tattoo her back. Eyd sighed and then went to look. Drahna had scars all over her body, but there was a particularly nasty one on her back from a giant polearm blade had landed on her one day. It almost cut her in half and she was getting the tattoo to cover over the giant scar that was left. Though Eyd at first was sickened by the idea of Drahna getting a tattoo, covering a scar with something pretty wasn't so bad. Eyd nodded her approval and vanished into the shadows to get away from the process. Drahna was changing, and it was Eydrana who was ensuring that it would work best. If it all went well, maybe just maybe Drahna would be able to survive on her own. Eyd liked that idea, and it would just take time to carry it out.

Drahna wrote:

Part 7 and 2nd place winner in the Maggosh Feast Story Contest!

The crisp Autumn air filled the misty morning early in Borean Tundra, as was hearths of food cooking for breakfast. Bacon and sausage and random cuts of meat were charring on grills, and the smell of eggs cooking in the campfires around the keep sizzled with delightful glee. Breakfast was always an important meal, and Food was everywhere lately. From the courtyard in Undercity of all places, to Mulgore where a meal became magic. Magic was nowhere greater than the Maggosh Feast, and sadly there was one less place at the table, though she was sure someone set her a spot. Maybe Manny stowed her a plate somewhere? Drahna wasn't sure, as she was thinking on the platform to Orgrimmar. She had missed the grand gathering to do one thing only, and that was to better herself thus proving herself worthy of her clan. Gone was the oblivious girl with the head injury, the special case, or whatever other nice way there was to put just how stupid she was. Now she was her own person, for Eydrana, was silenced, and Drahna hoped it was for good.

A few weeks back, when Eyd had managed to tarnish Drahna's social life, Drah came to the conclusion that the wraith needed to rest. It was just becoming too big of a problem having to deal with her own feelings and one of a ghost who was filled with depression and regret. Starting with coloring her blonde hair, and than going to school, Drah began a transformation. The last step was going to Dalaran and begging her Parole officer, Matron Olessa to inprison Eyd deep where Drah didn't have to hear her. Eyd wasn't aware of it at the time, she thought they were going for a normal checkup as they did every month. Drah wasn't sure what they did with Eyd exactly, she was unconscious for that part.

"Drahna" Olessa said as she set the girl to rest during the ritual. "This is going to hurt, but it will also help. In essence you will retain her basic knowledge. Reading and writing won't be an issue now. Your common sense should be much better. I trust you will learn not to open your mouth unless you are certain of what you are uttering?" she asked.

"I'll try not to speak when its going to come out dumb ma'am" Drahna nodded as she felt her eyes grow heavy. It was somewhat difficult to rest over the screams. Eyd was furious. "LET ME GO YOU BASTARDS" she barked out. "I will get you ALL for this!" she screamed as power engulfed her shadowy form. The chains around her gown exploded away from Drahna, severing their connection. Drahna felt an audible pop in her own head as Eydrana shrieked in agony. She however wasn't hurting herself. The shadow priests and priestess's had the wraith in a tight binding. "Please, just whatever you do make sure she's comfortable. I don't want her to suffer" Drahna added. "She's done some very nice things for me, but this body can't have two people running it."

"I assure you she will not suffer. She will be part of you and with you forever child, but suffering won't be her fate. You have proven a worthy jail for her dark soul, and she has proved she is worth some peace. I grant her blissful ignorance to being captive at all, and grant you the gift of silence and your own thoughts." Olessa nodded. Drahna was happy with this idea. Eyd didn't need to suffer, she wasn't ever going to be a real person again, and she needed to just be away from temptations of it. Drahna meanwhile needed to live her own damn life and be away from the cursed mage. She needed to grow on her own, experience things and above all else be herself. So she closed her eyes one more time and when Drahna opened her eyes next it had been a week and a half later.

She was in a warm bed, her wounds from many battles had been healed completely. Everything was sharper from her senses to her reactions to lighting as she looked around the colorful room. She was in essence a whole person now. The best part was, there wasn't a little voice telling her what to do. There wasn't any voice at all. All there remained were her own thoughts, and for once they weren't on primal basic things. She wanted to get to work, and prove herself.

The sad part was she slept through the feast. She regretted it. Manny probably made some fantastic drinks in the very least, and than she was sure there was enough food to choke a bear, or even a Croweclaw. She missed it, the people and warm tales she was sure there had to have been. She had to make it up for Winterveil.

The snow bellowed one last time as the zeppelin departed from Borean Tundra, leaving kisses on Drah's long black eyelashes. The once bubbly blonde in the cute outfits was now encased in an unforgiving cobalt leather, never showing her face. She didn't want to be seen anymore if she could avoid it, not totally. She didn't want anyone getting close anymore, she had her fill of that. The snow white tendrils were now as red as vengeance dripping from a wound. She lifted the edge of her hood up tight around her ears and head and over her tight black mask she kept over her mouth at all times now, nodding curtly to the guard that she was the last passenger.

The season was for giving things and eating. Now she was going to give back to the Grin, and make the Alliance eat their entrails while she shoved them down their throats on the battlefield. "Happy Holidays" she mumbled into the cold hollow air.