On the beaches of the Golden Strand, far south of the murloc infestation that troubled the beautiful shores, the two women lay out on the sand. Privacy had been no issue, and they relaxed back on their two blankets comfortably and relaxed, their two hands clasped together over the sand between them.
Celebrin lay back, smiling; her eyes protected by a pair of greenish lenses in her sun goggles. Her usual modesty had faded away, on this, their honeymoon. Beside her in a matching red swimsuit, Andulin laid happily, her pale white skin slowly absorbing the rays. Lifting her head, Andulin tilted her pretty bonnet and looked across at Celebrin, her pale thin lips forming a tight but joyous smile.
A wind came across the sea and the pale magister shivered. She pushed herself up on one elbow and looked out over the water, her face appearing a bit perturbed.
~~
Celebrin raised her large two handed axe and, with a speed that belied the elf’s size, brought it crashing down into the hulking flesh of the shambling zombie before her, cleaving it in two, before impacting the stone street of the bazaar. Grunting, the orange haired elf hefted her axe back out of the ground and rested its weight on her right hand, extending it behind her as she sized up the oncoming scourge. Easily more than another dozen closed in all around her and the heaps of already dispatched abominations.
As she looked out at the hopeless situation in the once beautiful commercial district, she let out a pitiful whimper. Despite the quivering bottom lip she lifted her axe up above her right shoulder and steeled herself when, from over the shambling, crouched masses, she saw a blue and gold hood bobbing up and down. The hood blew back from the head it covered enough to reveal the golden hair beneath and she instantly recognized her partner.
Andulin shoved one of the mindless hulks with an elbow to the head, catching it by surprise before a wave of extreme cold emanated from her position. Frost chilled the air, leaving what would almost appear as steam floating in the air around the knees of the horde. All of them were suddenly aware of the magister and their attentions snapped to her with loud, irritated moans; however, beneath the chill mists they found themselves rooted in place. Those within reach of her found, to their dull witted dismay, that the blue and gold garbed woman was no longer even in their midst.
In an instant of time, Andulin had vanished from their sight. Celebrin didn’t need the notice to know, but the gentle hand on her shoulder from behind, reassured her and stiffened her courage. When the hand removed itself from her it was a mere moment in time before jagged shards of ice rained down on the captive audience of zombies. The larger chunks tore and rended putrefied flesh from their attackers, littering the streets with fragments of the once-living.
Celebrin sprang forward onto one heel and let loose a wide slash with her axe, leaving a deep gash across the chest of several of the forward ranking fiends. Though not enough to fell them on its own, the gash was enough with the shards of ice to finish them as she stepped forward again, keeping her axe moving. When finally, after a few more steps, she brought her axe down onto one of their skulls, she laid the head of her axe on the ground to rest, and gripped the shaft, panting. The last of the ice shards had stopped, and all of them had conveniently avoided touching her.
Struggling to catch her breath after the great exertion she was a second slow to notice the vile thing at her feet. It lunged forward using its hands, as its body was dismembered at the waist, and bit at her with a wide mouth. The teeth of the thing met only the hard plate metal of her boot. “Ahhhhhh!” the holy knight let out a loud cry of frustration and lifted her foot, bringing the thick armoured heal down upon the things head, crushing it with a sickening sound, more like the squashing of a spoiled melon than a person’s skull.
Her chest heaving, she looked back at her partner. Andulin breathed heavily too, not having had a breather after the long run over and the spell casting that followed. The fair elf pulled back her hood, letting her blond hair spill out as she ran up to Celebrin. The knight Celebrin cried out with a strained voice, “Annndyyy! What have we come back to?!”
Andulin pulled her gloves off, tucking them into her belt as she crouched down by Celebrin. She brought her hands to the other woman’s cheeks and with her thumbs brushed away the first droplets of tears that were forming. “I don’t know, Cele. It’s like the wars all over again…” struggling for the words she stared at Celebrin then kissed her on the lips quickly, “Let’s go. There are people that need us, and you especially.” Looking up over her armoured wife, Andulin peered across the bazaar and pointed off through the chaotic scene, “Over there! Where I came from… some people need you to heal them.”
Celebrin, having never taken her eyes from Andulin nodded sternly and stood back up, taking a full and more confident posture. “Stay close behind me from now on, and let me know if anything comes at us from the rear.”
Andulin took her gloves out of her belt and stood up, smiling proudly at Celebrin as she pulled them back on. She nodded, “Let’s hurry, they need you.” She pulled her thick, intricately detailed hood back up over her hair, as a near transparent bubble that emanated a frosty glow enveloped her.
Celebrin hefted her large shimmering blue axe up from the ground onto her plated shoulder and turned, running off towards the cluster of survivors on the steps near the edge of the bazaar, her feet clanking loudly as Andulin followed close.
~~
Smiling widely, Andulin stared down at the thick rug as she swung her bare white legs back and forth, dragging her toes through the thick fabric. Behind her Celebrin sat on the bed, her own bare legs on either side of Andy as she brushed the other woman’s hair. They were fresh from the outside, still in their bathing suits as the oncoming clouds gave a warning of rain.
The wind was picking up, and the magically prepared large tent they were seated in began to flap loudly. The noise made Andulin shiver slightly and brace her hands against the edge of the bed, pushing back against Celebrin. The knight spoke first, “I hope it doesn’t get too cold.”
Andulin looked up at the ceiling of the large circular tent as if expecting to see the sky, “We’ve brought plenty of blankets, so even if it does, we’ll be fine.” She turned her eyes back down as Celebrin lowered the brush.
“So… you’re sure you want me to do it?”
Andulin nodded, “Yes! Just like yours. I always so admired the way you did your hair.” She smiled warmly then turned to Celebrin, looking over her shoulder for a moment.
Celebrin returned the warm smile then leaned in and kissed her cheek, “Okay. But I really like how you normally do it.” The magister felt another slight tingle run up her spine as she gripped the edge of the bed tighter and bit her bottom lip with a tinge of excitement.
Suddenly the sound of heavy strikes on the thick tent fabric filled the space and the tent’s fabric door flew open, a cold chill wind blew in freely over the two barely clad women.
~~
On the steps to the Silvermoon City palace Celebrin stood tall and still. Garbed in a thickly armoured uniform of black, cyan and white, she peered out over the visible city. Her face was stern and more serious than she’d ever worn before; already she looked more like a veteran than the helpless girl out of her league she had always felt like before.
Her large two handed axe rested against the ground as she held it by her side, blood and gore splattered on it still from the last swarm. She had exhausted herself, not from the fighting, but the efforts to heal the dozens of guards around her afterwards. She did all she could to save them, and so very few were saved.
With one last pause, she turned from the sight of the city and the oncoming, disorganized rows of undead fiends advancing up the tall and wide walkway towards her. She shouted “Into the palace! There’s too many!” and jogged over noisily to one of the recovering guards she managed to heal. As she crouched down on one knee to help him up, one of the other guards rose up from the ground and lunged at her.
Celebrin sprang back from the former guard and looked around to see so many of the others she was unable to save from the last attack doing the same. Joining at the head of the new assault of scourge, the surviving guards were immediately cut off from her and as she hefted her axe, it was all she could do to chop and hack at the very foremost and stall their entrance into the palace door.
The weight of her large two-hander had grown tiresome, but with the new onslaught she felt a new energy. The tall but slender elf swung it down onto the body of another former guard and he immediately crumpled into a pile of cleaved flesh. Splattered with blood she hefted her axe back up and cried out “Andy?!” Holding out a hand she sent one of the zombies crying in undead agony from the power of the Light she wielded faithfully. “Andy?!”
She stepped back as the undead mass rose. Celebrin gazed out over the heads of the undead monstrosities to try and see her partner; she had fallen back inside the doorway of the palace and very few other defenders remained beside her. As she tried to call out again, her voice cracked with pain, as if she had tore her throat with the previous effort of calling out for her lost one.
Finally she was back through the gate and the remaining defenders began pushing objects into the way of the zombies. When finally Celebrin felt ready to panic and submit to despair, Andulin appeared out of thin air, slowly fading into sight right beside her.
The magister looked around, taking a moment to see Celebrin even though she was right beside her. Dressed in an identical uniform, minus the heavy plate armouring underneath, especially at the shoulders, she smiled reassuringly at Celebrin, then looked around. “Where are the guards you saved?”
Celebrin shook her head and gestured out the now semi-blocked entrance. Andulin frowned but before she could ask anymore Celebrin spoke, “What news?”
Andulin turned around and stepped backwards, “No help is coming that way.” Her heavily armoured companion nodded and lifted her axe with both hands, “Then you know what to do.”
Andulin stepped back, her hands raised and chin tilted up. Her throat bulged through her high black collar as she swallowed nervously, channeling a hail of jagged icy destruction on the rampaging horde again. Celebrin went forward and began to bash back some of the front rank again.
The ice and the fierce blows of the axe paid an immense wrath onto the mindless creatures, and for a while they thinned the oncoming numbers. However the fallen guards who had joined their ranks were but a mere tip and soon the tide broke through regardless, fanning out into the opening chamber.
Andulin and Celebrin fought fiercely to stem the tide, lances of ice piercing their flesh, flashes of light announcing the destruction of more undead, the sick thud of a heavy axe, but all of it not enough, not even with the aid of the fellow elves still alive and standing.
Andulin turned her head and saw one young girl, pale and sickly with green boils on her hands trying to run back into the palace. “Celebrin! There’s an infected in here!”
Celebrin jerked her head back to Andulin, but the moment’s lack of guard left her vulnerable, “Cele!” Andulin sent flying a powerful ball of flame at the lunging creature and blew it back from her shining knight in a fiery display. As Celebrin re-established her footing and and turned back to the fight, Andulin raced upwards and with a quick spell emitted a wave of searing cold from her body that enveloped and froze the scourge in their path
With them stuck in place, Celebrin, Andulin and the other handful of survivors reopened their attack with a new fury, culling their numbers. The holy Light flayed and exploded the fel tainted flesh, the various assortments of arcane, fire and ice magics ripped, burnt and annihilated.
When they were weary from the effort, they realized victory was hardly any nearer, the mass showed no visible signs of halting or shrinking. From a side entrance a royally dressed magister stepped out and looked shocked, “Another attack on the palace?!”
Andulin and Celebrin looked to the elf, “Another?! This has happened before?!”
The panicked man just nodded and joined in the fight.
It was then, staring into the side door along the hallway Andulin was reminded of the girl who came out of its opposing entrance. She spun around to see the occupants of the large chamber behind her, some dead, some dying, all infected to some degree. “Celebrin!” Her voice rose over the din of moans and unintelligible zombie groans.
The holy knight Celebrin turned back, the last big offensive of the defenders buying them some space if nothing else. In a panic she nearly dropped her axe and ran into the large, luxurious chamber of the palace. From her glowing hands she frantically tried to cure the occupants. Guards, nobility, bureaucrats, she frantically tried to save them all, but the plague had grown so fast acting, so resistant to holy magics.
Andulin had summoned a water elemental beside her and with a hand signal, directed it against the oncoming throngs from the gateway. The elemental used it’s magics to once again slow and hamper them, but the remaining defenders left it alone to fight. “Celebrin, we need to get out of here. Make a fighting retreat to the back portal!”
Celebrin looked around her, still frantically casting holy spells to cure the plague and heal the wounds of those still living. Andulin shook her arm, “Celebrin! You can’t do any more!”
Celebrin tore her eyes from the victims around her and looked to Andulin. Her partner was right, she was sweating from the effort, but her ability to cast spells was exhausted for now. She nodded and lifted her axe again into both hands. She nudged Andulin towards the back walkway leading to the magical gateway out of the palace, “Go! Make sure it’s clear while I make them pay for each inch. When reinforcements finally do arrive they’ll have a lot less to clear out of here!”
All around them the infected became the dead, the dead became the unliving. Andulin grasped Celebrin by the back of her neck and leaned in, kissing her on the lips for just a brief moment, then broke away and nodded. Celebrin took but half a moment in time to gaze after her lover before she turned about and watched as the magister’s elemental creation vanished into a cloud of disintegrated water as the undead destroyed it.
With a loud clank, she shifted in her position and steeled her resolve to take as many of them as she could before falling back through the portal.