Barraccus and Rhokk: Part 1

Starting a collaboration between myself and Crison of Unholy Presence. To read all of the letter Barraccus gets, check it out here.
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Barraccus got his mail out of the mailbox, then went inside the Astranaar inn to read it. Quae had already gotten hers; it looked to him like it was mostly notices from the auction house. Most must have sold, from the pleased expression on her face. He glanced through his own mail and found a few notices of his own, then a letter on the bottom of the stack. Before opening it, he paused and looked at Quae for a bit.

She had hardly left his side for the last 4 days, ever since she had braved the Emerald Dream and convinced him to return to his life. He still found it hard to believe sometimes that she loved him, or that he returned the feeling. He knew it was true though; no other reason could explain the way she helped him through his grief over his lost family, or how she nursed him back to health after his self-induced coma.

Quae noticed him staring at her and quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly. He gave her a reassuring smile, then turned back to his letter. He was startled to see it was from Rhokk. He hadn't heard from the draenei since Rhokk had gone to the Plaguelands weeks earlier. He opened it, read through it, and felt the blood drain from his face.

Barraccus I need your help... The words in the letter were scrambled, barely coherent. ...killed so many... Parts of sentences jumped out at him. ... I knew you were a Death Knight... His hands shook slightly as he re-read it. ...Crison...she saved me...left me to die... I've gone insane... His eyes locked onto two words at the end of the letter...Lich King.

What was going on?

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Quae watched Barraccus as he turned to his last piece of mail, a letter by the look of it. He had changed since his memory had returned; most of the stuttering and shyness had vanished. He was more self-assured now, stronger, and he was proving to have a stubborn streak to match her own. All told, she rather liked the changes.

But right now she wasn't thinking of all that. She kept thinking of her conversations, with him and with Alanon, shortly after he had woken from his coma. She couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Quae, you do know what this means, don't you?"
"Yes I do. A priestess and an undead, even one that's free of the Lich King. It's anathema."
"And does he know what could come of this?"
"Yes, Alanon. He does."

"A death knight and a priestess, what kind of chance do we have?"
"I'm not sure how long we can really be together."
"I have to go back, and try to finish what was started."
"I want to do whatever I can to make the time we do have, the best possible. This I promise, Quae.”

She watched as he opened his letter and started reading, and sighed. Now she remembered a night long ago, in a small clearing in the Moonglade. She had just started her training as a priestess of Elune, and had discovered a natural affinity to the shadowy side of Her magic. Her trainers had been upset and forbidden her to practice it until she was much farther in her training. Severely disappointed, the headstrong young night elf had run away from the Temple of the Moon and found her way to the Moonglade, wanting to be alone. But when a stray moonbeam found her in an otherwise moonless night, she had learned she would never truly be alone, as Elune Herself spoke to her for several hours.

"You will be my priestess, no matter what they say. I will never leave you, daughter."

Lost in her memories, she didn't notice at first when Barraccus stiffened, but she did notice his face go pale. Alarmed, she stood and went over to him. "What is it, Barraccus? What's wrong?" He looked at her, his eyes wide and full of worry. "It's Rhokk. I think he's in trouble."

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To be continued....