The streets of Old Town provided a good hunting ground to if you were looking for quick, simple kills. That area of the city had become the place that the seedy underbelly of society worked their trades. The lithe Kaldorei woman paced the uneven cobblestone slowly. Spying a rat scurrying along the wall, she lurched forward and snapped its neck. She didn’t notice the demon hunter blink at the odd behavior. Two more rodents came into view and she did the same to them, splitting their small bodies open.
Leaning against the steps, Forosuul Silverthorn watched with some confusion. “Helping keep our city beautiful?” His rasping voice surprised the woman, her pink hair whirling around as she jerked her head to look at him.
Offering him a cruel grin, “If it makes you happy to think that, sure. Why not?”
Forosuul eyed her curiously. “You don’t know who I am,” he responded, somewhat shocked.
“No,” Iasea confessed. “No, I do not. But I can hazard a guess.”
He gestured for her to do so, “By all means.”
“Judging from your coloring, you are Silverthorn.”
With an arched eyebrow he answered, “Correct.”
“Given the fact that I have only heard of one demon hunter bearing those colors, you may very well be Forosuul. The Patriarch.” The final word was spoken with the barest hint of venom and for a moment, her voice took on an odd quality that was gone as quickly as it had arrived.
He bowed before here. “Indeed.”
“And since you come on the heels of the conversation with my sis…Alsabe, I imagine you want to speak?”
“Three for three.”
“Or am I already condemned,” she asked suspiciously.
“That remains to be seen.” He gestured at the ground in front of her. “What’s with the rats?”
Iasea sighed heavily. “It’s that or lose myself to the eternal hunger.”
The man’s eyes widened. “Death knight?” She nodded at him. “Strange that Alsabe didn’t mention that.”
“She isn’t aware of it. Not exactly something I wish people to know.”
Forosuul frowned. “Seems like something difficult to hide,” he countered.
Shrugging, she explained, “It’s fairly simple to keep her from touching me. And so long as she doesn’t see me in the wrong state, she won’t find out.” Forosuul watched her, his expression thoughtful. “Does that trouble you?”
“Not as such, but something doesn’t add up.”
“Hmm?”
“She said you were the youngest,” he told her.
Iasea sighed, for a moment, she seemed genuinely saddened. “She doesn’t know. I was away for most of her life.”
He scratched his chin. “You served in the wars?”
Iasea nodded, “I wanted nothing to do with Kasuura’s politics.” She pushed her vibrant pink hair away from her face. Forosuul arched an eyebrow. “So I became a Sentinel. Went off to fight. It seemed better than the social climbing,” she offered.
Forosuul scratched his chin. “When were you raised?”
“Some time ago. During the Third War?” She seemed to mull that over for a bit. “Or was it after…I don’t remember any more.” Forosuul chuckled lightly. “It’s not exactly my favorite memory.”
“Hmm…” came his reply. “So, why the change of heart?”
Iasea looked down at the stones beneath her feet. “I lost everything when Teldrassil burned. Seeing our people…dying all around me…I realized the foolishness of what I was trying to do.” She held up her hands in what she hoped would appear to be a gesture of surrender. One that would have him believe she was sincere. “Alsabe, your family, you are not to blame for my entire family being dead.”
Forosuul smirked slightly. “Are you very sure of that?”
She nodded. “It was Kasuura’s doing. Her grasping at anything she could to get back into Mire’s good graces.” Forosuul looked at Iasea sidelong. Seeing this, she asked him simply, “What?”
“This is a lot to accept,” he told her.
Iasea inclined her head, conceding the point. “I am sorry for the attack on the little one,” she offered quietly. Forosuul jaw clenched tightly. “She had nothing to do with any of this.”
“A little late to be reaching that conclusion,” he rasped.
“Not if my original intention was to do it to many more family members.”
Forosuul narrowed his eyes. “Do you actually think you could have succeeded?”
“Kill all of you? No,” she lied. “But I wanted her to feel the way I did. Watch the people who mattered disappear one by one.”
“Well, you didn’t even manage one,” he smirked. “If you had, nothing in this world could save you. Do you understand?”
“No. The men I hired were not…” she lowered her head. “I know.”
“Oh, speaking of them…” he shifted, the threatening tone easing. “Why give them up?”
“If I give you my weapons, I cannot use them against you,” she replied.
“One might argue they were pretty shitty weapons,” he laughed.
“Perhaps. Some of the fault lies with me. I did not know that the girl had training,” she stated sullenly. Forosuul chuckled. “As such, they were not prepared for a fight.”
“They got one.”
“I heard.” She grunted, her expression seeming almost impressed, though she was guarded enough not to let much of that show. “She broke Thivo’s collarbone.”
“He won’t have to worry about it much longer,” he grinned at her. Iasea sighed, but nodded. “Did you think I would grant them mercy?”
Iasea shook her head. “If they were honest about what they do, I doubt very much anyone would.”
“Did they tell you what they did to her?”
“They told me they beat her and tossed her off the cliff as was discussed. But she didn’t land in the water,” she responded, with only the slightest hint of regret.
Forosuul’s face went hard. “They kicked her until her ribs broke, one of them smashed her cheek,” he growled. “They shattered one of her arms as well.” Iasea winced. “And her leg. If we had found her any later, she’d have died.”
Iasea hung her head, her ears drooping for maximum effect. “If they had done as instructed, she would have,” she told him softly.
Forosuul jaw clenched. “What were the instructions,” he demanded.
“Knock her around until she was unconscious. Tie the note where it would be found and toss her in the water.” She swallowed. “The hope was she would die from the fall or drown. The small inlet there would have kept her visible for a few days until she was located.” This is it. This is where he will kill me, now that I’ve admitted it.
Forosuul clenched his fists, his knuckles losing what little color they had. “You should stop talking about it now.”
Iasea nodded, “I am sorry.”
“So what now for you?”
“I have no idea,” she shrugged. “If I can find some way to earn enough to replace my armor and weapons, I will go fight.”
Forosuul looked at Iasea sidelong. “Fight where,” he asked her warily.
“Wherever the Horde are,” she answered. Forosuul arched a long eyebrow. “What happened to my House was the result of Kasuura’s scheming. But now I have nothing and our people have no place to gather strength. The Horde need to pay for that.”
“If I find you near any member of my House,” he whispered menacingly. “Or if they tell me you have so much as nodded in their direction, that is it for you, do you understand?”
“I do.”
“Your fate is not yet decided, Iasea,” he hissed.
“No need for the threats. I will not be bothering your people any longer.”
“Judgement for your actions is delayed.” The felfire behind his mask flared. “When this business with the horde is done…then I will decide what happens to you.”
“As you say.” Iasea tipped her head to one side. “Tell me, why did you feel the need to take Alsabe in? She did your family no favors before losing her own.”
Forosuul narrowed his eyes. Discussion of his adopted daughter was a very sensitive topic and for someone who had threatened the House, a dangerous one. “She was a victim and she was of our bloodline.”
Iasea nodded at first before blinking. “What?”
“How many people have you ever seen that looked like me?”
“Not many, but enough,” she answered.
The demon hunter smirked. “Every single one was Silverthorn, although most don’t know it.” He leaned back, watching her reaction.
Both of her eyebrows shot up. “Is that so? Interesting.”
Forosuul nodded. “Alsabe was sent by Kasuura to spy on us, and she was very, very bad at it.” Iasea barked out a laugh. “She harmed us not at all, and ultimately became one of us.”
“I am not surprised she was a bad spy. It is not the skill she was most talented at.”
Forosuul narrowed his eyes. “Tread carefully,” he warned.
“What she was best at was getting people to pay attention to her,” she grinned.
A deep growl rumbled from the man before her. “I may stand here without armor or weapons, but it would require no effort whatsoever for me to take your life.”
Her ice blue eyes flared in her face. “She could purr a name, anyone’s really and they would take notice. I am not talking about the other things,” she quickly added. “I am speaking simply of her ability to draw anyone she wanted to, into conversation. If a distraction was needed, she could provide it.”
His entire body had gone rigid. “You would be wise to stop talking about her. Now.”
Sensing she had reached his limit on patience, “I do not know what more I can say to prove my sincerity.”
Forosuul narrowed his eyes and studied her carefully. Iasea met that gaze, unfaltering. “There is something you are hiding,” he stated.
“What ever would that be,” she asked, doing everything in her power to sound genuinely confused.
“You tell me.”
With a shrug, “There is nothing left for me to tell.”
“I doubt that very much,” he said flatly. Iasea chuckled mirthlessly, shaking her head. “You stand there acting contrite over your actions, but you carry yourself with far too much confidence for one who is supposedly so shaken.”
“I am sorry for what I have done,” she offered with her hands held out in a gesture of surrender. “I have given you everything I am capable of. You know my little secret, kept so carefully from Alsabe.”
“In my experience, people with secrets rarely keep only one.”
“The only thing left is what you see,” she stated sullenly.
“I see more than most,” he grinned at her. “You are not quite so alone as you would have me believe. Someone is helping you, but who that is, I cannot say. Not yet.”
“Am I not?”
“You will be watched,” he warned her. “Just understand that.”
“I thought as much. I would do the same, in your position,” she looked thoughtful. “May I ask something of you?”
Forosuul arched an eyebrow. “Go ahead,” he waved to offer her permission, mostly out of curiosity.
“Look after Alsabe,” came the unexpected request. “There is still so much good in her. Do not let her become soured by our people’s politics like Kasuura.”
Forosuul narrowed his eyes. He straightened, his tattoos flaring. “I look after my daughter very well. Her show of mercy is the sole reason you are alive.”
She nodded and responded quietly. “Good. Someone should.”
‘Now you answer a question for me.”
“All right.”
“If someone should look after her, why didn’t you?”
“She was not my daughter,” she sighed. “I had no say in the matter. By the time I returned, I was not the person I used to be.”
“A weak excuse,” he sneered. “But I suppose fitting, from one of your House.”
Iasea shrugged. “It is all I have to offer.” Forosuul grunted. “If you knew Kasuura, you would know why.”
A slow evil grin spread over his face. “In the end, I knew Kasuura very well.”
Iasea peered at Forosuul, her cold blue eyes flashing for the briefest of moments. Forosuul let out a low chuckle. “There was no protection for Alsabe, so long as she was under Kasuura’s control.” She offered the information even as he took two steps closer, his form hovering over her. “The best thing for her was to leave,” she added barely above a whisper.
“She is very well protected now,” he growled. “Do not test that statement.”
“I have no intention to.”
“We shall see. I think our business is concluded, Iasea Moonwhisper,” he paused, mostly for effect. “For now.” Iasea bowed low to him. “When the Horde has been shattered, you will see me again.”
“If I survive.”
“If you do not, then our argument will be put to rest,” he chuckled. Though not so deep within him, he was still wishing he could simply kill her right there.
Iasea nodded. “Will I be seeing you on the battlefield?”
“It is possible.”
“Should I watch for an attack from friendly fire?” It seemed a fair question to her mind.
“I told you that judgement was delayed,” he answered, not a little annoyed. “I keep my promises” Iasea nodded, conceding his point. “Until we meet again, Iasea.”
“Farewell, Forosuul Silverthorn.”
“Enjoy your rat killing,” he mocked.
Iasea grinned at him until he turned and began to walk away. Fast as a cat, another rodent was in her hands. She ripped its head from its body as she glared at his retreating back. “Not as much as I would much, much larger vermin,” she growled under her breath. “Not as much as all of you.”