A familiar face in an unlikely place

The last thing I needed for my ranseur was a crate of blood-forged ingots, and this required a trip back across the sea to Shadowfang Keep in Silverpine.  Not a big deal since I would have to head back in that direction anyway once this was all over and done with. 

Silverpine is creepy, but Shadowfang Keep is creepier.  The minute I stepped in I had a filthy, drooling, black wolf lunge at me, seemingly intent on having my face for dinner.  I saw another wolf run in from around the corner, no doubt lured by sound of the struggle, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a worgen approach in all his loinclothed glory. 

The feeling of dread I was experiencing at that moment brought me back to my predicament upon entering Blackfathom Deeps.  I think it was right at that moment where I was ready to accept the fact that I would soon be separated from my juggular when a ball of flame smacked the wolf in the shoulder, knocking it off of me with a whimper. 

I heard some muttering in a foul language and turned to see a demon imp hopping towards me, hurling flames at the wolves and the worgen.  I got to my feet as quickly as I could and buried my sword in the neck of the worgen – this just as I saw the wolves writhing in pain on the floor, as if overcome by something, before the imp turned them to ash.

As the room quieted, I shouldered my sword and leaned against the wall to catch my breath.  I kept an eye on the imp, fully expecting me to aim his fire at me next.  The look he was giving me told me that he would like nothing better, I think the approach of a hooded woman from the shadows was the only thing that stayed his hand.  The imp was clearly not the one in control here.

The woman, she didn’t even look at me, just walked right past me and said, “And what are you supposed to be, some kind of hero?”

Near-death experiences don’t exactly put me in the best moods.  Some people might get a thrill out of the excitement, but I’m rather content to remain alive and in one piece.  That’s not to say I’m afraid of a little tussle – I just don’t like to walk into any situation that I don’t know I’ll walk out of.  Needless to say, the whole thing with the wolves left me a bit shaken. 

She might not have realized that, though – or maybe she did, what do I know? - because without thinking I just blurted out, “As a matter of fact, yes.”

I swear I saw her lips form the briefest, faintest smile just then - but I could be wrong.

So anyway, this woman just walks past me into the next room, which just happened to fill up with more wolves who undoubtedly heard our approach.  With a wave of her hand, though, an enormous voidwalker took the place of the imp at her side and began beating the wolves to a bloody pulp.  The woman, meanwhile, was weaving her own hexes and tossing what looked like bolts of shadow at the beasts.  In truth I don’t know what she was doing, but it looked painful.  For the wolves, that is.

I followed her as she made her way through the castle, leaving a trail of dead dog behind her.  I got a few swings with my sword in when I could, but for the most part she was putting the beasts down faster than I could reach them.  So while she did all the work, I made awkward smalltalk in some bizarre attempt at contributing something.  She apparently found me amusing, though, as she let her guard down enough to laugh a few times. 

After a time she began to join the conversation that had up until that point been rather one-sided.  I learned that she was there “treasure-hunting,” and she agreed to lead me to the stables where I could find my ingots.  She really knew her way around, I guess she was a frequent guest of the worgen.

With her as a guide I found the ingots in no time at all, and at that point we both agreed that we’d had enough of the place.  We left the castle without incident and began to walk north along the road towards the Undercity. 

At one point we paused, the woman pulled back her hood and shook out her black hair.  She looked up and met my eyes for the first time, and I thought I was going to pass out.  It was the Silverguard girl from the other night!  Only… she didn’t seem to recognize me, at all.  Which pretty much figured. 

For whatever reason I didn’t say anything about that night in Eversong, she didn’t remember, so I figured she probably didn’t want to remember.  Besides, what difference did it really make?  Then she told me she had a meeting to attend with her guild.

For some reason I’ll never be able to explain, I just blurted out (I do this a lot, I’m beginning to realize – blurting things out, that is), “So do I have to join this Silverguard if I’m to be able to see you again?” 

At this point I expected her to raise an eyebrow or shake her head at my ridiculousness. Then she surprised me and actually invited me along, saying something about it being nice to have someone like me there.  I wasn’t quite sure if “someone like me” was a good thing or not. 

I don’t know what it was about her, but I didn’t want to say goodbye to the girl.  But then I surprised myself and actually turned down her offer.  We parted ways, but she said she wouldn’t mind seeing me again sometime and thanked me for making her laugh (something I’m not sure I was doing intentionally). 

Ysabelle was her name, she told me. 

So - me?  In the Silverguard?  I don’t know, I got a funny vibe being in the Keep the other night - I don’t know that I’m up for that kind of life, following orders and whatnot, being told when to eat, sleep, and when to bend my knee to some guy I don’t know. 

Then again, maybe I’ll think about it.  People have done crazier things for a girl, I’m sure.