A Paladin's Worst Nightmare.

[Llucia]

Dead grass crackled under Llucia’s feet as she walked along the shores of Darrowmere Lake, her big saber stepping alongside her as she gazed out across the water at nothing in particular. Her mind was lost in thought, and not about the reason she had come to these plagued lands in the first place.

“I think it is time to go back to that big library out in Dire Maul, don’t you think Ashe?”

Llucia thought she saw the saber roll his eyes, but dismissed it. She continued walking when she abruptly looked down on a heap of blood red plate armor. The druid gazed at it for a moment, unsure of what to do, or even what it was. The armor stirred slightly and rolled over, revealing a pretty, innocent human girl’s face framed with golden hair. Llucia could now see blood and bruises marring that face and she rushed to the girl’s side, quickly healing her. For her efforts, Llucia received the flat of the girl’s blade across her face. She stood up quickly, anger flashing across her eyes as she kicked the girl’s thigh as hard as she could. The girl yelped in pain as she sat up, glaring up at the druid.

“What was that for you stupid elf?” the girl said defiantly.

“Stupid elf? You thanked me for healing you with that sword of yours slammed across my face. I just thought I would say ‘you’re welcome’ in the only language you seem to understand.”

The girl glanced down at her sword. It was almost as long as the human herself, and just as red as her armor. She returned her glare to Llucia.

“I was dieing rather peacefully. No one asked you to help me,” the girl said and hauled herself up with her sword, though she leaned heavily on it even standing.

Llucia shook her head, unsure of what to say. Ashe moved up beside her and sat down, yawning loudly at the two. The girl looked over at the cat, never once showing a bit of fear, only a stubborn, annoying defiance.

“Well, I am sorry to have disturbed your peaceful dieing. It won’t happen again.”

Llucia patted Ashe made him stand. As she hopped into his saddle and turned away, the girl called out, “Wait!”

Llucia frowned and prepared herself for another insult. She turned in her saddle only to see the girl had managed to quickly run up to Ashe’s side.

“Look, you saved my life and I suppose I owe you something in return.”

Surprise flashed across the druid’s face. “Owe me something? What would a warrior, especially one like you, care about something like that.”

The girl sighed. “I’m not a warrior, I’m a paladin. And a damn fine one Miss Elfy. As a paladin I have a sense of honor to uphold. So hurry up and get yourself in trouble and let me save you so we can be done with this.”

Llucia grinned down at the girl. “A paladin? Well, honor you shall have Miss Paladin. I’m sure if you follow me around long enough, I’ll fall into some kind of danger.”

The girl opened her mouth and clamped it shut, realizing what she had gotten into. She sighed and whistled for her horse. A large warhorse, clad in golden armor came running up to the paladin. She hopped easily into the saddle and glared over at Llucia.

“Well, where to elf?”

Llucia smiled. “Dire Maul.”

The girl suddenly grinned and clapped her hands together. “All right, ogres! I do so love fighting those. And what better way to get a silly little elf like yourself in trouble than with a group of ogres. Seems you elves do have some smarts about you.”

The druid giggled and spurred Ashe on to Chillwind Camp, the paladin humming as she followed after her.

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The trip to Dire Maul was rather uneventful, and silent aside from the paladin’s humming. She had a rather pleasant voice, when she was not cursing or yelling. That of course was quick to come when she saw what it was Llucia had in mind.

“What in the bloody twisting nether is all this bloody shit?! Where are my ogres, elf? These are books, not ogres. I certainly can recognize the difference.”

Llucia quietly flipped through a few pages of a rather large book before looking up at the girl.

“Excuse me, this is a library. You should be a little quieter. And I never said anything about ogres.”

The paladin slapped her hand to her forehead. “I don’t believe this. How are you ever going to get in trouble if all you do is hunt for books?”

Llucia giggled. “Well, I’m not the one who is normally in trouble. You want that you should go find a rogue called Barke.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Well that wouldn’t get me out of your debt would it?” She looked up at the tall bookshelves and flipped through a book lying on a table before slamming it shut. “Just what am I supposed to do?”

Llucia shrugged and sat down by a wall with her book. “Read a book if you want. You don’t have to stay here. However I will be here for a long time, so go off and kill things if that’s what you need to do. We can always meet in Moonglade later and try again for this ‘getting me into trouble’ thing.”

The paladin clenched her fists and glared down at the druid. “Fine, then that is exactly what I will do.” And with that she began stalking out of the library.

“What is your name, paladin? So I can reach you in case I’m in trouble,” Llucia called out sweetly.

The paladin looked back just as the table she pushed fell. “Lewena. And what name graces a sweet elf like yourself?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

The druid hid a giggle in her book. “You can call me Llucia. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other a lot.”

Lewena overturned another table on her way out, causing the elven librarians to yell and chase after her. Llucia giggled again and went back to her book.

[Llucia]

Llucia rested against the stone pillar of a large, open stone structure, surrounded by pink bubbles of magic rising from the ground. She smiled absently as she twisted the silver ring around her finger, thinking of the one who gave her it. Her thoughts were interrupted however at the sound of a horse’s whinny. The druid grinned as she glanced back. The paladin in the blood red armor she had met a couple days earlier stood with her arms crossed, glaring up at Llucia.

“I see no trouble, what exactly did you ask me out here for?”

Llucia motioned her up the ramp into the structure and sat down against the pillar. Lewena slowly made her way up the ramp, slicing her sword out at the pink bubbles disgustedly and took a seat across from the druid.

“You don’t like Moonglade, Lewena?”

The paladin set her sword on the stone floor next to her and glared over at Llucia. “I don’t really care for pretty scenery, unlike flighty little druids.”

Llucia giggled and leaned forward slightly on her elbows. “Well, what does interest you then? Honor is certainly characteristic of a paladin, yet you don’t seem to carry yourself like one. Your armor is very… intimidating.”

Lewena grinned. “Oh I am very much like many paladins. I uphold the teachings of the Light, I help those in need, and honor is the most important thing to me. The reason for this armor, well. I play a different role than most paladins. I’m more of an assassin, though if I told you for whom, I’d have to kill you.” Lewena glanced down at her sword, then quickly back up at Llucia with a wicked grin. “So go ahead, ask me who.”

The druid laughed. “I see. So you enjoy fighting. Much like a mercenary I once knew. Perhaps if he ever comes back I should introduce you to him. For a human, he was very handsome.” Llucia blushes slightly and giggled.

The paladin rolled her eyes. “I’m not searching for a lover, elf. I—“ Lewena stopped abruptly and stared past Llucia.

The druid frowned slightly at Lewena and followed her gaze behind her. An undead creature stood staring at the two, snarling at them as they turned their gaze on him. Lewena immediately sprang up and raced over to him. She uttered some words that Llucia could not make out, however the undead creature spoke back to her in the same language. It suddenly unsheathed its sword and thrust it at Lewena.

“Are you just going to stand there and watch or help out, elf?” the paladin called back as she parries the thrust and counters. Llucia watched on, hesitantly taking a step forward. The fear she always felt before a battle was there, freezing her movements. Finally she called on her druid magic, sending waves of light down on the undead, causing it to writhe in pain. Lewena continued her onslaught, fluidly slashing her large sword, cracking exposed bones and finally collapsing it in a pile of dusty bones. Llucia caught a look of pure ecstasy on the paladin’s face, and to Llucia’s surprise, Lewena seemed to be looking for something else to kill. The druid cautiously took a step back behind one of the pillars, watching Lewena. The heat of battle finally left her eyes and she looked up at Llucia, slowly making her way back up into the structure.

“He’s dead, Llucia, what are you still afraid of?”

Llucia shook her head, realizing she was staring at the paladin. She straightened her face, putting her normal smile on and leaned back against the pillar, as nonchalantly as she could.

“Nothing, Lewena. I was just… thinking how much your fighting style reminded me of that mercenary.”

Lewena grunted and took her seat against the pillar again, setting her sword beside her.

“I can see why that mercenary isn’t around anymore, unless I’ve missed my mark. You’re afraid to fight, aren’t you?”

Llucia flinched slightly and slid down the pillar, meeting the paladin’s gaze.

“I guess… I am a little.”

Lewena suddenly laughed. “I think I remember you now. You were part of the Swordwaltzers, weren’t you? I can see why you’re not now of course. From what I’ve seen and heard, they are great defenders, with a brilliant tactician behind them. How you got in, I don’t know. You’re no defender, you’re one to Be defended. I would have liked to have been there when they kicked you out.”

Llucia swallowed and lowered her gaze. “They are great defenders, but I wasn’t kicked out. I left, because I realized exactly what you said. I didn’t want to risk disgracing Kurohane’s name, or the name of her Swordwaltzers.”

“You left?! Wait don’t tell me. You walked away without saying a word, right?” Lewena asked, on the verge of another bout of laughter.

Llucia cringed and lowered her head. How does she know so much?

“I didn’t know what to say,” Llucia said, fumbling for an excuse. “They were such nice people, and I really like Kurohane. I just didn’t know how to admit it to her. And now I don’t even know how to act toward her.”

The paladin rubbed her temples. “Of all the people to save me from death. I wonder if death would have been better.”

The druid dropped her hands in her lap, and suddenly glared up at Lewena. “Look, I may not enjoy fighting like you, and I may even be a little afraid of it, but I would never let someone under my watch die, nor would I let them fight on alone if I knew it was too much for them.”

Lewena looked over at Llucia, seeming to measure her. The druid sat under her stare for a long time, not breaking her glare.

“So you can fight. And here I was thinking that maybe you made a mistake accepting druid training. However, you seem to have quite a bit of rage built up in you. Why don’t you ever let that out? It would probably do wonders for your… fighting ability.”

Llucia flinched, events of her past running through her mind. She shook her head to clear them. “That’s personal. I have very good reasons—“.

“Woah, woah, stop,” Lewena interrupts. “Look, I speak a lot of languages, but my High Elvish is very rusty. Speak in Darnassian if you must, just keep the High Elvish to a minimum.”

The druid stared at her, a flash of horror flashing across her face for a split second. Was I really speaking in High Elvish? She shook her head quickly and went on, speaking in Common once more. “I said I have very good reasons not to let it out, even if it has crippled my fighting abilities. It’s a personal matter.”

Lewena studied Llucia for a moment longer. “No matter. My specialty is interrogation after all. I’ll get it out of you sooner or later. Now, what exactly did you ask me out here for again?”

The druid stared at the stone floor for a moment. “Mm, oh right. I just wanted to speak with you for a while. I suppose you can leave now.”

Lewena nodded and glanced up at the sun. “Good, I have an appointment to make and I shouldn’t be late. Remember, you—“

“An appointment with whom? Is it something you need to do alone?” Llucia interrupted.

The paladin glanced at her, anger flashing across her face for a moment at the interruption. Obviously she was not used to that. “With a client. And I guess the agreement wasn’t with me alone. Why do you ask?” she asked cautiously.

Llucia smiled. “Well, would it be all right if I joined you? I’m rather interested in your… business.”

Lewena stared at the druid. “Are you serious? There will most likely be fighting involved. Usually is,” she said with a grin.

The druid swallowed. “Of course I’m serious. And if there’s fighting, well. That’s fine. I’ll do what I can to help.”

Lewena laughed and started down the ramp out of the structure. “You can help by staying out of my way. All right fine, you can come. Maybe I can even get that rage out of you.”

Llucia huffed out a sigh as she followed the paladin, listening to her grating laugh as they called their mounts and made their way out to the Blasted Lands.