#catisawells

   “Yes, yes, please come join me. Order whatever you like.” His voice was deep and inviting as he looked to Dairon, “I apologize if I caused you concern earlier. Your guards haven’t been so inclined to grant me an audience and when I saw you all here I thought I couldn’t waste such an opportunity!” A belly laugh escaped the old man as the girls quietly shifted their way over to join him, “But enough about that, I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

   “How do you know I’m The Oracle?” Catisa blurted out before her partner could give her snide remark, who opted to simply scowl and fold her arms as she stared him down. “What does that even mean, anyway? And why me?!” Her voice shook as she demanded answers and only paused when the older gentleman held up a hand as though to interject.

   “Well, Miss Wells I presume,” Waren started as he leaned forward with one arm braced against the table to hold himself up. “I do not know why any of us were chosen, but I do know that you are the anchor, the connection to this realm from the other side. Those nightmares that plague you are visions of a future yet to come and it is my goal to prevent it. I too was visited by a shadowy figure who told me I had an important role to play. To gather you up with the other servants and prevent this prophecy from taking root. To which I might add we should waste no time in beginning our search for.”

   “Are you kidding?!” Dairon spat, “You expect us to just give you some kind of free pass because you claim to be some kind of Prophet?” The leather wrapped around the woman’s knuckles tightened audibly. Catisa’s brow knit with worry and reached out with one hand to attempt to help calm her partner.

   Waren sighed as he was about to plead his case yet again to the young monk, but found himself cut off by the mage herself who turned to look her partner in the eyes as she spoke, “I believe him.” She started, “This cloaked figure keeps appearing in each and every dream no matter how the dream may differ from the last. Every time he appears he tells me to ‘Awaken’ and that it’s time. It has to be related, there’s no way this could just be a coincidence.”

   The old man caught himself in awe of the presence that was emitted from the petite mage in that moment and had to wonder what potential truly lay beneath that well kept shell. Some deep power that resonated of something darker, just on the edges of her mind and out of reach. Dairon huffed and offered Catisa a pleading look before she finally nodded her resignation, “Alright. I trust you.”

   “Thank you,” The aspiring sorceress grinned and turned around to address Waren once more, “So where do we start?”

  He was taken aback by the sudden change in the course of the conversation, but it appeared that at last he had found the one. The true Oracle. “Well,” A smile found its way to his aged features as he settled back into his chair once more. “There’s the trouble. Outside of locating you, I’ve had little luck finding the others. The Seeker would probably know where to find them, but that trail fell cold long ago. I have heard a rumor of a Kaldorei that calls herself The Hand gone rogue in Darkshore, however. That’s where I was going to go next after I found you, but now I am beginning to think this might be a job better suited for younger… more versatile hands.” As he spoke he gestured toward the pair of women knowingly.

   “Wha- I don’t know, is that all we have to go on?” Catisa asked with an arched brow after exchanging glances with Dairon.

  “I heard the tale from one of those Kaldorei Sentinels. I expect you’ll gather more information by asking the locals, but I urge caution… The Hand is the most fierce of the Servants and the most loyal. Their role is that of the Enforcer.”

    Everyone had been rushing around for hours, with no warning at all. It had started out just like any other normal day before the clouds rolled in and the screams of terror began. Since then Catisa had not ceased to direct the flow of staff members and guards wherever they lacked it. Constant running around and shouting took its toll, half a day passed and evening descended, though it looked no different than the daytime at this point. Fires illuminated the horizon, places where the scourge had broken through their ranks.

    “Miss Wells?” One of the chambermaids paused her bustling about to peer at the aspiring sorceress inquisitively, “Are you alright?”

    The truth was she had felt light-headed all day and hadn’t eaten a thing, but in the state of things she hardly felt like she could eat. “I’m fine, thank you! Please, keep…” Her breath escaped her and the world began to spin as her legs gave out. The chambermaid let out a gasp and caught her just before she hit the ground, though the mage was out cold. After the woman dragged her off to the side of the courtyard Catisa stirred once more. She drew a deep breath and jumped to her feet.

    “Miss Wells, I really must insist you take it easy!” The older woman cautioned.

    After she pulled her robes over her head the aspiring sorceress brought a steaming cup of coffee to her lips, delivered each morning first thing by Aveem. Sometimes it was on time. This morning happened to be one of them and she was thankful for that. Catisa stretched and wandered over to the balcony to push open the doors and look out upon the courtyard. It had been a long night, up late catching up on paperwork so that she could actually take a rare night off for a change and surprise Dairon.

    Just as she brought the cup to her lips once more some movement below caught her eye. The familiar figure of her partner, Dairon, was just below stretched out with her rear end in the air in one of her monk exercises. Catisa took a long drink of the warm and soothing liquid as she leaned over the side to admire the toned muscles on the woman’s body. How they tensed up just the right way to accent her curves and she caught herself smirking. She thought about saying something, but part of her just wanted to enjoy the sight for a little bit longer. After all, no one else would be up for a while.

   Amidst their slumber Catisa’s brow furrowed and once more she was within her dreams, though unlike before she was aware of it. Visions of that same darkness and frost accompanied now by ghouls swarmed about her in quickly fading images until the very ground beneath her feet began to tremble. Deafening cracks like air rushing to fill a vacuum filled her ears and her head started to feel as though it were splitting open. The very sky above opened up to consume everything in a black abyss. She wanted to scream, to cry out, but it hurt so much she could hardly move.

    The aspiring sorceress’s eyes fluttered open as tears rolled down her cheeks and pulled free from Dairon to stumble across the room. She clutched her head with one hand while searching through the cupboards with another until she located some kind of pain relief for her head. After she had managed to swallow the medicine she kept stowed away in case the night terrors became too much and her sobbing gave her a splitting headache as it often did, she breathed a sigh of relief.

    “Cat…?” She heard from the other side of the chamber as Dairon stirred from her movement, the monk always seemed to be aware of her surroundings even in her sleep. Though she was bleary eyed and tired, she could still sense something off about her partner. “Is everything alright?”

    “Of course!” The mage quickly wiped away any trace of her tears before she turned and rejoined her partner on their luxurious bed with a smile, despite the sounds of fighting still ongoing outside. “Just a headache, that’s all. Nothing some more rest won’t fix.”

    Instinct told her to use the explosive power of the fire magic she could manipulate, but that would violate the rules and the sanctity of the training so she buried that urge deep down. Instead she continued to drive her palm as hard as she could in just the way that her partner had shown her again and again. Sweat dripped down her brow and her arm felt like rubber, but still she kept on, each strike slower than the last. Until at last Catisa couldn’t even lift her arm, the strain visible on her features as she tried despite her body giving out on her.

    “I think it’s time for a break.” Dairon spoke from behind the pad and set it aside, “Honestly I thought you would have called it quits long before that, it looks like you’re starting to tap into some of that potential!” Her praise was returned with a faint smile from the aspiring sorceress who fought to catch her breath and collapsed to her knees. “Here, drink some water and keep hydrated.” She added as she saw how exhausted Catisa truly was and handed her a chilled glass brought out by Aveem on a tray. The little familiar was perfectly content just to watch the two women spar in their sportswear, if it meant all he had to do was conjure some water every now and then he was happy to do so!

    Catisa gladly accepted and gasped for air once more after a few healthy gulps. “I just don’t think my body is cut out for this!” She exclaimed with an exasperated sigh, “You make it look so easy, but that pad is more of a nemesis than you are!”

    Dairon laughed and moved to sidle up next to Cat, only pausing to ensure that Aveem could see her doing so and stuck out her tongue at the familiar. “I’ve had years of training. You’ve only been trying for a week! And you’re already ahead of where I was a week in. I couldn’t even hit the training pad for at least a month!”

    A sly smirk spread across Catisa’s lips as she regarded her partner, “I knew you were moving it back! It was almost imperceptible, but you moved it back ever so slightly every time I took a swing to make it seem like my blows weren’t as strong as they were.” The mage looked as though she would have punched her in the shoulder if she could move that much, but her muscles cried out in agony from the intense training sessions she was forcing her through all week.

    “You got me!” Dairon admitted with a boisterous laugh, “Admittedly I went a lot easier than they did with me, but you figured it out so fast! It honestly caught me off guard the first time you made contact. Your form was nearly perfect and you adapted very quickly to being able to extend yourself further as needed. Most take years before such a thing comes to them naturally, but unfortunately what you don’t lack in technique is lessened by the lack of power behind your hits.”

    “I know,” Catisa sighed, “I just-”