Secrets of a Fel Heart Book 1

Secrets of a Fel Heart
 * - ''by Vixeena



The Serpent's Tail
Vixeena sat numbly in an oak chair watching the liquid radiance of the flames before her. The glassy, onyx, eyes of the bearskin rug seemed to mock her as she contemplated the last time she had come to Redridge in this very room with her last love..the one who had the end left her for another. Vixeena smoothed the skirts of her gown as she waited for the applicant to the Help Wanted flyer to arrive. She was a woman of striking femininity, all curves and rounded angles her face a contrast of softness and iciness. Vixeena had pale silver hair, high cheekbones, a small pouty mouth, and eyes that were a piercing icy blue that cut through a person. She had come to the rented room in advance and set out an assortment of ham sandwiches on the nearby table.  Vix studied the fire intently trying to numb her mind to any lingering and unwanted memories when she heard a deep, resonant voice greet her...Lady Windfoot. I am here to see about the body guard position..the names Velik.  She had never heard him enter the room despite the heaviness of his chain mail which while an encouraging sign, took her somewhat aback. The guards being stationed out front had allowed her to lapse her normally focused awareness. She stood and cursed herself silently as she favored him with my practiced smile inclining her head slightly. He stood there his heavily lashed, eyes gazing at her looking like mafic gems with swirls of green and amber in their depths.  The earnestness and confidence of his gaze left a distinct impression on her and an immediate liking. Velik had hair the color of ripe ginger which fell to his shoulders..he had moderately heavy brows, high cheekbones, a sensual lower lip and a somewhat broad nose which balanced his beautiful but masculine face.  He stood at attention like a man unused to sitting, unless commanded to be at ease..Vixeena bade him to sit and handed him the plate of sandwiches. She took the plate in his calloused hands and he selected one and bit into it hungrily only after she nodded he should do so. Velik seemed unused to such luxuries and a bit discomforted with the poshness of the surroundings.  So tell me what would this position entail exactly?..he said bluntly as he grabbed another sandwich wolfing it down with quick efficiency, not even dropping a crumb on his beautifully maintained armor.  I need someone to become my body guard and gather intelligence on my enemies. The nature of my enemies is far from typical and they are formidable. Some more common and some..well...mmmm..a trifle..ahhh..otherworldly.  Velik glanced up at in me in mid bite..his eyes locked on Vixeena's alert and no nonsense..Just precisely what do you mean by that?..his deep husky voice dropped even lower. <BR> <BR>The first more common of the foes would be the Breys, Yumeko and Archin.. I witnessed one of their..ahh..more brutal killings. Let us just say that I...mmmm..anticipate that they will be rather displeased with me when they finish serving their meager sentences., Vixeena continued in a calm and icy tone her voice husky and much more serene that she felt. As for the other enemies..for some reason the Legion saw fit to abduct me, torture me and then drain my soul and discard the shard and my husk in the snows of Kharanos. I was a warlock of middling power when this happened as my memories .ahhh..fragmentary.. I am unsure what they wanted with me exactly. I seem to think they wanted something and it involved more than my lack of willingness to submit to them. I understand if this is a bit more..mmmm..extreme than what you anticipated originally. The pay is 10 gold a week, I pay for training and when we are out in the field you get an equal share of the treasure.. Vixeena looked at Velik and favored him with that lazy, seductive, smile she had seen her mother wear for the nobles she entertained. <BR> <BR>Velik rubbed his chin considering her blunt proposal while Vixeena studied his open and down to earth face and secretly hoped he would refuse her. She disliked the thought of this decent young man possibly dying on her account. He spoke after a long pause and snagged another sandwich eating it slower this time but just as efficiently..I was a soldier..it is all I have ever done. Since I returned back from Kalimdor I have searched for a purpose..now I have one..I will take the commission, Lady Windfoot. Vixeena smiled and leaned back in her chair still in disbelief her features carefully schooled to not betray that. <BR> <BR>Very well here is your first weeks pay in advance..you will need to equip yourself and train you can start today if that is fine. He nodded brusquely seemingly pleased at having someone to command him once more. Vix noticed that during the interview it had grown dark outside the window glass glittering like black diamonds. She told him that she needed to rest and that she would procure him a room for the night. <BR> <BR>Velik shook his head in refusal and removed a painting from the wall to cover the window and he secured the room. Your armor please, Lady..he indicated he would put it away and he turned his back and waited for her to change..she did so then handed the pieces to him. He took the folded armor and placed it in a teak wardrobe. Velik walked over to Vixeena and with absolutely no warning hefted her over his shoulders and gently set her on the bed before returning to the foot of the bed his large but gleaming crossbow dr-aped over his lap. <BR> <BR>Vixeena sat for a moment dazed watching his broad soldiers then fell into the most restful sleep she had since she had slept here last....The threads of her life seemed to be closing like a circle and serpent biting its own tail and certain strands of her life replayed but to slightly different effect. <BR><BR>

Accidental Knowledge
During the past month Vixeena had scarcely seen Velik. He had labored and trained tirelessly and was becoming something far more full of feral grace and purpose than the rank and file soldier she had first met. Vix had insisted he spend time in the field growing in strength and pitting his skills against creatures more varied than the Horde he was so used to dealing with during his time in the Alliance forces. She would see him on occasion and we always meet in Redridge in the room with the fur rug. He preferred to sit on the ground, his military utilitarianism deeply ingrained in his manner and considered it a great luxury to sink into the plush guard hairs as they conversed. <BR> <BR>During their meetings he would tell her how he was sent to a military academy from a young age his father being a career soldier as he later became. It seemed they had that in common..sent by by a parent to be schooled in their future profession from a young age. From there she and Velik diverged..he used his sword as his weapon of choice while she preferred using her wiles and diplomacy. Velik was one to take orders while she was one to walk her own path while giving a well mannered appearance of submission. What Vixeena had learned over time was that she could trust this man as difficult as that was with one her her deeply embedded emotional scars. <BR> <BR>Vixeena mused that Velik had a personality that had a clean simplicity to it, he hid little and was honest, exceedingly loyal and direct. She was unused to dealing with someone not cloaked in layers of hidden agendas and found it refreshing to deal with someone so eager to please her and follow her dictates without question. <BR> <BR>Vix felt in was up to her to earn his trust and give him the friendship he had already bestowed upon her without question. More importantly she needed to find a way to prepare them both for a encounter with the agents of the Legion. In her mind it was a matter of time before she was discovered to be alive and she would no doubt attract their attentions for whatever the original reason was. Vixeena still could not recall the events of her abduction in its entirety. <BR> <BR>While Velik was busy at his endeavors Vix had spent much time in the field in the vast wastes of Desolace often testing her arts against the demonic forces that dwelled there hoping to jar some memories to the surface. She had recovered all the skill in wielding nether that she had lost during the initial sundering of her soul. During this time Vixeena often visited Darnassus when she was not in the field hoping to find a place to rest in the downtime where none knew her. It was all silken comfort to stalk the streets with her cowl up..cloaked humans was likely to look all the same to the Kaldorei that dwelled there. <BR> <BR>With the opening of the auction house in Darnassus there were many more humans than there had been before much to the dismay of the more traditional Night elves who seemed rather taken back by the crass materialism of the market. It was fairly easy for Vix to get lost in the rabble and yet be free of the slick, oily taint of Stormwind. She wandered the streets one eve near the auction house when she heard the strains of discussion quite by accident but something that would change the flow of her path significantly. <BR> <BR>Vixeena heard several Kaldorei and was surprised to hear them converse in the common tongue..perhaps they spoke to a nearby human. She sat in the grass and pretended to mend the hem of her gown, which in all truth was in need of some repair and commenced with listening. It was an old habit she had never outgrown from her former life when survival on the streets demanded keeping one's ears open. The Night elves forms was barely discernable in the grey twilight but she could make out the silvery eyes and the cadence of their resonant but formal speech. Vix could make out some discussion about a school..students..fighting the Legion. The name Tharion was mentioned and it seemed clear that he was the head of this school. She could not make much of the conversation but it was enough information to set her mind racing with the possibilities. Vixeena knew it was most unlikely that any Kaldorei would even speak to a human warlock of such things..but it was worth the attempt to her..in order to gain any knowledge she would have to risk being a fool.

Out of the Ashes
Since her first visit to Darnassus Vixeena had managed to contact the elven master of the Netherbane School, Tharion Greyseer. Vix had been pleasantly surprised how welcoming he had been to one of her profession, a wielder of the fel arts, in their brief conversations they had conducted through their communication devices. After several discussions and inquiries it was decided that Vixeena would meet with the master or Shando of the academy in Darnassus near the site of the old Netherbane school. <BR> <BR>Vix wasted no time in booking a passage from Menethil Harbor to Auberdine on the Salty Wench a creaky but still graceful vessel. Once she arrived at the port in Auberdine she was able to charter a vessel to Teldrassil. and make her way on foot through the ethereal landscape to the night elf capital. Upon reaching Darnassus she consulted her map. It appeared that the old school was now the site of the auction house. As she approached it she saw a chaotic spectacle of dignified night elf sentinals watching over a noisy throng of individuals in the marketplace..dwarves cursing and spitting tobacco on the previously pristine grass and human haggling over loudly over various and sundry goods. <BR> <BR>As Vixeena walked up the verdant hill and away from the cacophony of the marketplace she saw a beautifully garbed Kaldorei male and his companion, a female night elf of lovely but reserved countenance. Vixeena approached the pair cautiously not wishing to intrude or be disrepectful as they were obviously in the middle of a conversation. The male elf wore the traditional mask of a demon hunter and carried himself with a preternatural grace and awareness. <BR> <BR>It was evident to her that his senses picking up her approach from quite a distance she had concluded noting his tilted head as she made her way up the hill. Vixeena thought that his must be the Shando. Tharion was a tall, hawklike elf with hair the color of moonlight which was bound with a strip of leather and fell like raw silk to his waist. His face was all harsh planes and angles but it was schooled with a kindness and serenity, a combination which lent him a feral beauty. <BR> <BR>Vix bowed low and introduced herself when he inquired who she was, Greetings Shando..I am Vixeena Windfoot..mmmmm...the warlock that spoke to you earlier. <BR> <BR>The Greyseers voice was more resonant in person as he spoke, Greetings Vixeena, an honor to meet you finally..please tell me why you are drawn to the school and why you wish to oppose the Legion, the Kaldorei hunter spoke wasting no time. <BR> <BR>Vixeena felt unseasoned as she stood before the schools master encased from head to foot in a violet festival robe embroidered in gold which clung tightly too her ample breasts. She inhaled deeply as she recalled her tale to Tharion of how she had been abducted by one of the Legions rank and file.. questioned briefly before the demonic entity has tortured, r-aped, and finally drained her soul into a shard. His striking face remained calm and surprisingly neutral as she spoke as if such horrors were rather commonplace to one of his occupation. <BR> <BR>Vixeena described how the shard containing her soul and her husk had been dumped unceremoniously in the icy wastes of Kharanos and had been retreived and reintegrated by a warlock of great natural talent. Tharion seemed satisfied that Vixeena had sufficient reason to wage war against the Legion...the myriad of reasons that bound all the members of the school were each their own personal ones but they melded the members of the school with one purpose. <BR> <BR>During their discussion Vixeena jotted down the information that the Shando conveyed about the test he would give her to join their ranks. She was to seek out his meditation spot in Ashenvale a place that was chaotic, and had a history with special meaning for him. Once she had recorded all the necessary information Vixeena chatted freely with Tharion and Fethas and took note of the man who was to be a mentor in a sense. From her first contact with him Vix had been impressed yet quite intimidated. <BR> <BR>Tharion had exceedingly gracious manners, a modest wisdom and a sauterne sense of humor yet he had an legendary quality to him as if one of the Kaldorei of epic tales had stepped out of an old legend. Vixeena thought that Tharion was so much unlike the elves she had met in Stormwind who seemed to be slinking, tough talking, seedy lesser relations of the traditional or more venerable Kaldorei that dwelled in Teldrassil. <BR> <BR>After Vixeena left the fragile loveliness of the night elf capital she found herself musing about her new mentor as she stood on the topmost decks of the Salty Wench watching the churning azure sea. She thought to herself that Tharion was a man of exceeding patience and grace yet he wore an aura about him of such betrayal and loneliness that it made Vixeena feel and ineffable sadness. From her first meeting him she felt a secret kinship with him that she kept hidden for fear of causing his heart unease. It was clear to her from their first conversation in Darnassus when he hinted at numerous betrayals by friends and some of his loves, that for all of his considerable strength and force of will, this was a man whose deepest wounds were not of a physical nature. <BR> <BR>Vix herself was a woman with numerous scars of a non-physical nature deeply embedded in her psyche. She had known the betrayal of two lovers in a relatively short period of time. Both of Vixeenas lovers were hauntingly similar..men obsessed by causes and emotionally hobbled by an inner fire that made connecting to others in a romantic sense virtually impossible. Vixeena had always been a cool, aloof woman more concerned with survival and the complex negotiations of rising out of the slums she had been born to. But coming to these lands and having her soul drained had altered her hardness and softened her. <BR> <BR>Vixeena reflected on the path she had willingly chosen. She had allowed herself to fall in love with men so wounded they were incapable of it as if somehow her sheer stubbornness could change that fact. She furrowed her brow as she stepped on the docks of Menethil walking quickly to the griffins to make her way home to the stone encased halls of Ironforge. Thinking of her romantic past and meeting her new mentor, a man of immense will also damaged by betrayals had her worried. Velik her warder was another man schooled to a life of battle..reserved in his emotions as were her previous lovers. Vix winced inwardly as the griffin took wing wondering if she was forever doomed to repeat her past mistakes in an endless spiral... <BR><BR>

Excavations
Vixeena hid her smile of amusement behind her gloved hands as she watched the two sodden female Kaldorei shake the wetness off their limbs. The more commanding of the two was the snow haired Elishstar, a proud, lovely, seductive, demon hunter in the ranks of her school. Elishtar was accompanied by a rather laconic female elf who appeared to be her slave or servant. The two women stood on the banks of Lake Lordamere like two cats displeased at being wet as the servant dried off her mistress who was busy fussing at her long flowing but sopping hair. <BR> <BR>Really Vixeena dear, Elishtar intoned peevishly, Did you really need to take us through that murloc infested lake..just look at us..she snorted indicating their mussed state. <BR> <BR>Vix continued to smirk as she replied in amusement, Somehow I think that the lake is a preferred route to travelling through the plaguelands and being assaulted by a throngs of undead things far more...ahhh..adept than us in battle. <BR> <BR>Vixeena quickly shook out her silvery mane which framed her face in soft, damp waves..she set out quickly anxious to meet the dwarven excavation team she had hired to meet her at Balmora which her research had indicated was the former location of the library of the Order of Tirisfal. It did not take long for them to make their way past the Undercity, careful to skirt far around it and to the undead infested farm. The creatures there were not the Forsaken that she could tell..they seemed rather mindless undead that were easily dispatched by the rogue, the demon hunter and the warlock. The women spotted the ruins with no trouble as the area was littered with chunks of limestone masonry. After a brief rest the group was met by the excavation team consisting of dwarves lugging gnomish excavation equipment. <BR> <BR>Vix had hired them at the Explorers League and it considerably drained her coffers to finance them. They set up their equipment rapidly many of the workers gnawing on haunches of crag boars as they went about their business. Vixeena showed the foreman her map showing the dig spots while Elishtar and her servant bantered back and forth. The afternoon passed to evening a soft peach light illuminating the ceiling beams as the workers finally exposed the library proper. Vix and Elishtar crept in the chamber and began picking through the tomes that littered the floor and cluttered the shelves..many intact but some moldy from the dampness of the soil. They were looking for anything describing their new found enemy..Sraath. After hours of searching Vix found many references to him in a tome she had selected. <BR> <BR>By this time her eyes had a gritty feeling and her stomach growled emptily. The text was encoded and she would have to find someone to decrypt it. Vixeena smiled at the success of their endeavors and informed her colleagues they had found what they had come for. She had noticed that Elishstar had purloined her own treasure from the ruins but she knew better than to ask the night elf about it. <BR> <BR>Vix could tell in short acquaintance with Elishtar that the well mannered elf would not be one to cross. She clearly had her own agenda and it was best not interfere with it. Vixeena found herself liking and respecting the lovely Kaldorei who could be like a kitten either with sharp claws for a perceived foe or a purr for a comrade. She thought it preferable to be in her new found friends good graces... <BR> <BR>When Vix and Elishtar parted ways Vixeena returned to the Forge with her tome. Most of the remaining funds had to be spent on its encryption so she could provide Tharion with the information he sought. After it had been translated she learned that what was legible indicated that Sraath was a doomguard who led the Shadowed Sun. The archmage that wrote the text apparently feared and respected the being who seemed much stronger and more cunning than a typical doom guard. <BR> <BR>The illustration of the creature made her nape hairs bristle..it had great leathery wings and a cruel gaping maw for a mouth. Vix sent the tome to Tharion and waited as another piece of the puzzle of the one that hunted them slid into place. In Kalimdor two others of the school went about their own tasks searching for the rest. Taldarion combed Kaldorei repositories of knowledge as Fethas stalked Daeloth the messenger.

Trial by Fel
Vixeena had spent the better part of the day in a dust enshrouded library with her old friend Calithos Blyde, one of Stormwinds most notorious, eccentric but learned priests. They made an odd pair sitting on the floor of the book repostitory rifling through old tomes..the genteel and sometimes icy warlock and a priest who was known for indiscriminately shooting those who walked paths too far off that of the holy light. They both had the mantle of their individualistic natures that united them. Neither Calithos or Vixeena liked to be shackled by their peers conventions and both walked their lonely but colorful paths unrestrained by the locals. <BR> <BR>Calithos was an exotic looking man with dark skin, heavily lidded, dark intelligent eyes, and full sensual lips. He was often seen riding about in Stormwind riding his speckled horse his gun slung over his shoulder and wearing a ridiculous red hat which he seemed to find dashing. Vix had seen him with his hat off on several occasions and he had acted like a man stripped naked in public very embarrassed and stripped of his plumage. Vixeena mused that Cal looked far more elegant without the hat with his well shaped perfectly smooth skull. With his exotic features and dark brows he was most striking. <BR> <BR>Calithos had a dubious reputation around Stormwind which led the upper echleon to underestimate him. His rather dubious love life was the topic of much gossip as he had gone from being married to the Archmage Syrinne who had seemingly died in childbirth to the chaotic acquisition of a harem of two night elves and a human. <BR> <BR>Cal was man with destructive instincts in matters of the heart and Vixeena felt a bond with him in that matter. She liked his sunny, if mildly insane nature, and he was the one to seek out when one wished to consult someone on the lore of these realms. She found that a case of moonberry juice and wearing a plunging neckline sufficient payment to obtain his cooperation in the matter at hand.. <BR> <BR>Calithos..as you know I know next to nothing about the lore of Kalimdor. Tharion told me the spot was one with..ahhh.. historical significance to him and a surprisingly....mmmm.. chaotic place for a meditation spot. He mentioned a monument..Vixeena spoke her husky voice precisely enunciating all her words and choosing them so carefully that her sentences were often punctuated by purrs and and exhalations as she selected her words. <BR> <BR>Cal looked up at her from a stack of books which were haphazardly bookmarked with torn scraps of cardboard from pretzel boxes which had housed the pretzel sticks he seemed to continuously chew on and puffed as if they were pipeweed sticks. You know Vix ..I know more about the history of the eastern kingdoms to be honest. My best guess is Felfire Hill. Good luck, he grinned sweetly but looked a bit disheveled from his research his eyes unfocused. <BR> <BR>Vixeena took Cals maps, knocked off the silly hat and kissed him on the forehead thanking him as he grumbled about the naked state of his pate. She arranged for the long flight and boat trip to Ashenvale hoping that the inquiry would pay off. Secretly Vix hoped that her diplomatic methods would be as useful as her fel wielding skills in this school. After a tiresome and seemingly endless journey she made her way to Felfire Hill. By the time she got there her armor was encrusted with burrs and her silver hair was touseled her bangs hanging in her eyes. <BR> <BR>Vixeena made her way through the sandstone entrenched canyons her minion, Kalthyck and her settling into an easy rhythm as they fought through waves of weaker cousins of succubi, doomguards and infernals. Reaching the top of the summit Vix s eyes were caught by the pale radiance of Tharions hair and the enormous glaives that hung over his head easily the size of small towers. The glaives shone with a peridot colored light which hi-lighted the serpentine shaped runes etched in the unearthly metal. <BR> <BR>Tharion was in the midst of another discussion with Fethas when Vix approached. He seemed almost jovial and festive as he pet buzzard, Blood playfully dispatched any demons approaching to close to his mediation spot. The Shando gave a brief history lesson describing the felling of the Pit Lord, Mannoroth whose glaives hung above them. <BR> <BR>Tharion looked at Vixeena and Fethas in turn searchingly and asked him why they had chosen the spot. Fethas said the place most likely reminded him of the historic battles of the alliance that had been fought..Vixeena replied that it served as a reminder that even powerful creatures such as Mannoroth had weaknesses and could be slain. Tharion being the complex man he is replied that both were essentially correct..the place reminded him of where of the battles that had been won and made him ponder how the ones of the present could be waged. <BR> <BR>Vix felt sore and sweaty from the battle and the long journey to the demon infested ruins but inwardly she felt a sense of peace washing over her when Tharion told her she would be accepted into their ranks. After a brief trip past the ruins the elven master, Vix and Fethas made their way to an old Kaldorei ruin which served as the training area for the school. It was not long after Vix had taken residence next to Thars quickly constructed campfire when the master tensed, sensing an intruder that neither Vixeena nor Fethas could detect initially. <BR> <BR>It was not long before the pathetic looking Kaldorei showed itself its skin a sickly green and its hair hanging dankly on its dour face. Vix stood from her crouched position and gestured to Kalthyck to oversee the creature...she had seen the wary look of recognition on Tharions face. The Shando and the man conversed in a bitter exchange apparently old enemies. <BR> <BR>The elfs name was Daeloth from the conversation Vix witnessed Vixeena concluded that Tharion had once battled the thing and defeated it when it was more formidable. It had once been a Pit Lord before it had been transformed to the sniveling being that stood before them. Vix snarled at the thing softly as the remnants of fel energy prickled her skin. She did not trust it despite its claims to Tharion it was hunted by its superiors for failing in killing Tharion and his former love. <BR> <BR>Daeloth also told them that The Greyseer was being hunted by a doom guard who commanded some of the Legions forces and may well be seeking others in Tharions school as well. The Shando weathered this new threat with grace and mercifully decided not to kill the pathetic remnants of his old nemesis. <BR> <BR>Tharion bore this challenge stoically as he assigned each of his pupils with a task to prepare for the conflict ahead. Vix would go to the ruins the Order of Tirisfals library and seek out information while Fethas was sent to put Daeloth under careful surveillance. Vixeena shivered in the chill night air as she huddled by the fire knowing her true training had indeed begun.