Read Online The Well of Eternity by Richard A. Knaak - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Richard A. Knaak
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water sack.
“You have done what few others could do,” the stag god murmured. “And in doing so, you almost lost yourself forever. What happened to you, Malfurion? You went even beyond my sight…”
“I…I sensed…something terrible…”
“The cause of your nightmares?”
The night elf shook his head. “No…I don’t know…I…I found myself drawn to Zin-Azshari…” He tried to explain what he had witnessed, but the words seem so insufficient.
Cenarius looked even more disturbed than he, which worried Malfurion. “This does not bode well…no. You are certain it was the palace? It had to be Azshara and her Highborne?”
“I don’t know if one or both…but I can’t help feeling that the queen must be a part of it. Azshara is too strong-willed. Even Xavius can’t control her…I think.” The queen’s counselor was an enigmatic figure, as distrusted as Azshara was loved.
“You must think about what you say, young Malfurion. You are suggesting that the ruler of the night elves, she whose name is heard in song each day, is involved in some spellwork that could be a threat not only to your kind, but the rest of the world. Do you understand what that means?”
The image of Zin-Azshari intermingled with the scene of devastation…and Malfurion found both compatible with each other. They might not be directly linked, but they shared something in common. What that was, though, he did not know yet.
“I understand one thing,” he muttered, recalling the perfect, beautiful face of his queen and the cheers that accompanied even her briefest appearances. “I understand that I must find out the truth wherever that truth leads…even if in the end it costs me my very life…”
The shadowed form touched with his talon the small, golden sphere in his other scaled palm, bringing it to life. Within it, there materialized another, almost identical shadow. The light from the sphere did nothing to push back the darkness surrounding the figure, just as on the other end the sphere used by the second form also failed. The magic cast to preserve each one’s identity was old and very strong.
“The Well is still in the midst of terrible throes,” commented the one who had initiated contact.
“So it has been for some time,” replied the second, tail flicking behind him. “The night elves play with powers they do not appreciate.”
“Has there been an opinion formed on your end?”
The darkened head within the sphere shook once.
“Nothing significant so far…but what can they possibly do save perhaps destroy themselves? It would not be the first time one of the ephemeral races did so and surely not the last.”
The first nodded. “So it seems to us…and the others.”
“All the others?” hissed the second, for the first time some true curiosity in his tone. “Even those of the Earth Warder’s flight?”
“No…they keep their own counsel…as usual of late. They are little more than Neltharion’s reflection.”
“Unimportant, then. Like you, we shall continue to monitor the night elves’ folly, but it is doubtful that it will amount to much more than the extinction of their kind. Should it prove to be more, we shall act if we are ordered to act by our lord, Malygos.”
“The pact remains unbroken,” responded the first. “We, too, shall act only if commanded by her majesty, the glorious Alexstrasza.”
“This conversation is over, then.” With that, the sphere went black. The second form had severed the link.
The other rose, dismissing the sphere. With a hiss, he shook his head at the ignorance of the lesser races. They constantly meddled in things beyond their capabilities and so often paid fatally for it. Their mistakes were their own to suffer, so long as the world as a whole did not suffer with them. If that happened, then the dragons would have to act.
“Foolish, foolish night elvesss…”
But in a place between worlds, in the midst of chaos incarnate, eyes of fire
“You have done what few others could do,” the stag god murmured. “And in doing so, you almost lost yourself forever. What happened to you, Malfurion? You went even beyond my sight…”
“I…I sensed…something terrible…”
“The cause of your nightmares?”
The night elf shook his head. “No…I don’t know…I…I found myself drawn to Zin-Azshari…” He tried to explain what he had witnessed, but the words seem so insufficient.
Cenarius looked even more disturbed than he, which worried Malfurion. “This does not bode well…no. You are certain it was the palace? It had to be Azshara and her Highborne?”
“I don’t know if one or both…but I can’t help feeling that the queen must be a part of it. Azshara is too strong-willed. Even Xavius can’t control her…I think.” The queen’s counselor was an enigmatic figure, as distrusted as Azshara was loved.
“You must think about what you say, young Malfurion. You are suggesting that the ruler of the night elves, she whose name is heard in song each day, is involved in some spellwork that could be a threat not only to your kind, but the rest of the world. Do you understand what that means?”
The image of Zin-Azshari intermingled with the scene of devastation…and Malfurion found both compatible with each other. They might not be directly linked, but they shared something in common. What that was, though, he did not know yet.
“I understand one thing,” he muttered, recalling the perfect, beautiful face of his queen and the cheers that accompanied even her briefest appearances. “I understand that I must find out the truth wherever that truth leads…even if in the end it costs me my very life…”
The shadowed form touched with his talon the small, golden sphere in his other scaled palm, bringing it to life. Within it, there materialized another, almost identical shadow. The light from the sphere did nothing to push back the darkness surrounding the figure, just as on the other end the sphere used by the second form also failed. The magic cast to preserve each one’s identity was old and very strong.
“The Well is still in the midst of terrible throes,” commented the one who had initiated contact.
“So it has been for some time,” replied the second, tail flicking behind him. “The night elves play with powers they do not appreciate.”
“Has there been an opinion formed on your end?”
The darkened head within the sphere shook once.
“Nothing significant so far…but what can they possibly do save perhaps destroy themselves? It would not be the first time one of the ephemeral races did so and surely not the last.”
The first nodded. “So it seems to us…and the others.”
“All the others?” hissed the second, for the first time some true curiosity in his tone. “Even those of the Earth Warder’s flight?”
“No…they keep their own counsel…as usual of late. They are little more than Neltharion’s reflection.”
“Unimportant, then. Like you, we shall continue to monitor the night elves’ folly, but it is doubtful that it will amount to much more than the extinction of their kind. Should it prove to be more, we shall act if we are ordered to act by our lord, Malygos.”
“The pact remains unbroken,” responded the first. “We, too, shall act only if commanded by her majesty, the glorious Alexstrasza.”
“This conversation is over, then.” With that, the sphere went black. The second form had severed the link.
The other rose, dismissing the sphere. With a hiss, he shook his head at the ignorance of the lesser races. They constantly meddled in things beyond their capabilities and so often paid fatally for it. Their mistakes were their own to suffer, so long as the world as a whole did not suffer with them. If that happened, then the dragons would have to act.
“Foolish, foolish night elvesss…”
But in a place between worlds, in the midst of chaos incarnate, eyes of fire
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