Of Paladins and Horses
Thalevia - March 7, 2006
Thalevia sat on her demon mount under the hot sun of Tanaris
gazing out over the calm blue waters of the ocean. Days were long
and tiresome and there were times she wished she could just crawl
back into her tomb and sleep. But then she would come to her
senses, sleeping was a waste and there was much still for her to
learn.
The mount under her shifted, impatient. She wanted to stretch her
body and run. Thalevia reached forward and stroked the beasts
shoulder, the fur under her hand sleek and smooth. Her mount
still needed a name; it was the only demon she had summoned so
far that had come to her unencumbered with a silly title. She
smiled behind her purple mask and used her knees to turn the
horse around and then gave the demon its head. She took off like
a shot from a hunter’s gun and Thalevia laughed with joy as the
wind whipped past them. The sand churned beneath the demon’s
hooves and left a cloud behind them as if from a passing
whirlwind.
She pulled up only as she spotted something in the distance; holy
magic’s and the sun glinting off plate armor. Smirking she turned
the demon in that direction and rode quietly, the sand muffling
the hoof beats. She dismounted and the demon steed returned to
the nether. She watched the young paladin, a female, as she
summoned her felhunter.
With a silent command, the demon hound charged in and took the
young paladin unaware. Thalevia chanted and curses and spells
fired one after another as the hound sucked the magic from the
paladin. In a short time the female was dead, her blood staining
the sand beneath her scorched and broken body. Thalevia gazed
down at her, it would be only a short time before the spirit
healer raised her but for now Thalevia savoured her minor
victory.
She called forth her mount again and took off across the sand,
leaving the broken paladin behind to revive and heal. She
returned to the coast as the sun set. The light it threw gave the
sand her mount stirred up a reddish glow. As she rested on the
beach, watching the turtles in the surf, she came back to her
original problem, her mount needed a name.
[Lupen]
Lupen heard the tale through the Grapevine, or somesuch. He
smirked and simply said to the half-drunken louts in the Tavern.
"My mount has a name, but you fools can't possibly comprehend
it's pronunciation... Demonic mounts deserve Demonic names..."
Lupen let out a cackle as he sipped his ale and compiled a short
note to Thalevia.
"Perhaps dear, perhaps you shall learn some of the Demonic tounge
from me... Then your mount will be given a proper name."
[Thalevia]
"Warlock!" A goblin cried as she walked by, her imp following
close behind muttering demonic threats at her. She turned her
gaze to the little green goblin now at her side, panting
slightly.
"Delivery." He said and held out his hand, palm up waiting for
payment, a piece of parchment was clutched in the other. Thalevia
plucked the parchment out of the goblins hand and then turned
away from the goblin.
"Time is money friend. Where's my gold?" The goblin said,
grabbing at the skirts of her robes. Her only answer was a
wordless command to her imp who shot the goblin with a firebolt.
The goblin went screaming away and Thalevia smirked to herself as
she opened the folded note.
She tucked it into her bag after reading it and summoned her yet
unnamed mount. Demonic would be useful to learn and her steed
deserved a name befitting it's status.
Arriving at the nearest mailbox she penned a neat and short note
expressing her interest in learning the demonic tongue. She
heated a tiny bit of wax in her hand and stamped it with her seal
after letting it drip onto the paper. Then she slipped it into
the box.