#eidyn

Not My Review: Eidyn (Book 1) – The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson

“For strangers, the path to Eidyn’s monastery is treacherous enough by day; by night, it is near impenetrable. It veers away from the main roads and up a craggy little causeway, presiding regally over the city from higher up in the mountains. On a clear day, they say one can stand atop the bell tower and see straight to the Telinor peninsula in the north, and Lake Vyne in the south. It is here that the healers and priests of our kingdom reside.” 

– excerpt from Magecraft

“I thought longingly back to Eidyn, its verdant rises mirroring the ocean like waves in the landscape, and felt sorely out of place. My home was a green, inviting place, where even the cliffs stood in hues of soft gray and white.”

– excerpt from Magecraft

<Flash back.>

Eidyn was in a whole other world, but her body kept cringing. She felt her lungs grow heavier and heavier; but it was due to the heavy winds and the hard snow that brushed over her plate-clad body. 

The Commander decided to split their soldiers into groups of five for protection. One who would lead, the other three would fight along side the leader and then the last would be a mender, to keep anyone from dying. 

Eidyn was the odd man out. There was an odd number of men that day and the shipment for another crew to come in was running late. The boat was having issues running, so it left the original people on the land with a scarce amount of fighters... Per usual. 

The Commander looked down at Eidyn and he nodded his head respectively. "Tya'fel, it seems as if it will be you and I. Are you willing to fight and mend? I have seen you do both at the same time before, and it has caught my eye that you are a good soldier." 

Eidyn saluted her Commander, putting her hand back to her side and resisted a nod which made the Commander half-smile and shake his head. 

"I am not such a hard ass, not as hard as your other Commanders. We will be doing something different, and this will be dangerous. You and I will be venturing out north to find new land for our men to make shelter in. We have no idea how close they are getting, but hearing the yelling means that those... rotten things are getting closer." The Commander grumbled as he began to walk.

Eidyn followed her Commander, fixing the fur wrapped around her shoulders and hugged it closer to her cheeks to keep her face from freezing. A small sniffle was given, but that was a usual thing for almost everyone who stayed in Northrend to defend. The cold was never something anyone could get use to, but it was something everyone woke up expecting to beat their asses in. "Permission to speak, Commander?" 

"Always, Tya'fel."

"Do you have any family back home?" 

The Commander went quiet for a long, long time. It made Eidyn feel as if she asked the wrong question, but the one time she chose to start up a conversation; she knew it wasn't going to get very far. Either way, the silence helped her focus on any noises that would signal any species coming their way or even any Death Knight's that might as well want to purge the living. 

It had to be miles, hours until the Commander spoke. "My wife died giving birth the my beautiful daughter Laiela. Other family members I have not spoken with since the fall of my House. What about you, a lover, children... Regular family?" 

Eidyn rose a brow at the word Lover, and it actually made her head tilt. She shook her head slowly after, catching up with her Commander. She glanced off to the far right, taking in the lonely view. Nothing was there, no trees, no people or enemies. Nothing at all. 

"Not a single person of interest that I could call a Lover. Children? No, but I hope one day I can have them. My mother told me that it was only her and I, but she was hardly ever home. She.. sold herself to get money for the house. The house felt vacant almost always, it was always just me and her coming home late. I suppose I began to work in my early age due to my mother coming home.. Tired and frail. By the time I grew tired at night, she would be out. I am sure that I have half-brothers and sisters but there is no fact of it. I do not think that I have any cousins, uncles, or aunts. My father... I don't know what happened to him. I always think to myself that he was a great man; my mom kept his journal but she never let me near it. Now I have no idea where it is, and my mother never told me. She died recently; overdosed." 

The Commander frowned to himself, nodding. His eyes went back to the front of them and his arm moved out to stop Eidyn from moving. The arm that was extended out then went up behind his back to take the large sword off of his back. His fingers coiled around the hilt; bringing it in front of him, and his second hand joined on holding it still. He brought himself into a stance; watching the sight in front of him. His voice went quiet. "Do you see those frosty tendrils?" 

"Yes." Eidyn moved her hands to grab her shield and sword but her Commander told her to not do that. He said to get back and so she did. 

"Four yetti's. Six frosty tendrils from their noses; their breath. I want you to run Eidyn. Only one of us will make it out alive. Before you go, grab the golden necklace hanging off of the back of my belt and put it around your neck. When you go home, give it to my daughter and tell her that I love her so much." 

Eidyn almost listened but she stopped. She grabbed her golden rimmed, black shield with a pulsing middle that was red. Who knew what this was, but it was something her mother gave her. The only thing she was given. "No man is left behind, Commander." 

The Commander looked behind himself and snarled at her; white teeth baring. "Leave, that is an order soldier!" 

"It seems like you will have to deal with my misbehaviour back at the base, Commander." Eidyn walked closer to him and went into her own stance. 

There were four frosty tendrils that grew close, and so did the visage of a large Yetti. Their frosty blue eyes were rimmed with red from their anger and hunger; their breaths large and rumble-like. 

The Commander nodded at Eidyn in a signal and he charged forward into the Yetti closest to them. The sword in his hand slashed into the Yetti's side, causing it to bleed and roar out in pain which then made the second Yetti come closer to him and swing roughly at the Blood Elven Commander's side- forcing him to be knocked backwards. 

Eidyn ran towards the dropped Commander, raising her shield in a block to keep the first Yetti from hitting him. She growled lowly and a flash of light hit the Commander; rejuvenating his strength and health. She was mad, furious. Her sword went swinging into the stomach of the beast and the beast crouched forward to bring her into a hug to smash her but in a quick, swift and agile movement her body went from the left to the right and her sword followed; creating a jagged line from the large beasts hip to it's arm. 

Blood began to seep into the ground of the snow and the wind brought the coppery smell into the two Elven's noses. It was thick and sickening but they dealt with it like troopers. 

The Commander had the second yetti knocked out on the ground and his large sword went into the chest of the yetti's. He roared loudly, wiping the blood at the sides of his lip off. He turned around and charged into the yetti that was ready to slam it's fist into Eidyn was able to give her a good, solid punch on her mouth which busted it and caused it to begin to bleed.. Though the beast fell forward with the Commander's rough charging blow and the beast let out a cry and finally it's eyes closed. The blood crawled into the snow, hitting the base of the ground and most likely planted itself there. 

The last Yetti... The one which stayed hidden suddenly came to view. The other two definitely made the two Elven's look up but this one made them tilt their head back as far as they could. 

The Commander was right, this one wouldn't be able to go down with just two people. But it would be injured enough to not move, however one of the two elves would have to risk their lives... No, Eidyn was not going to let that happen. 

She took no time to create a large ball of light and blast it forward into the beast. The circular ball of light slammed right into the Yetti's stomach. Though it penetrated only one layer of skin, the fire of the light licked at it's fur and burned a good patch off. 

The Commander dropped his sword and grabbed Eidyn's shield and sword from her hand's. First Eidyn was confused but then the Commander suddenly seemed different. He was more absolute than anything. He charged forward; slamming the shield right into the beast and the red pulsating bump suddenly blew up with acid hitting the beast. The acid hit the beast hard and it wobbled backwards. The Commander looked at the shield then looked back at Eidyn with a brow raised. 

"In my defense I had no idea that, that did that. I only know that my mother gave it to me." 

The Commander smirked at her then rushed forward once again, the left over acid spewed right into the mouth of the beast and in an instant the beast was knocked out cold. It was left to die on the empty, snow-filled field alone. The acid would hit it's organs soon enough to kill it from the inside out, even if it it's blood was leaking rapidly. 

The Commander and The Soldier walked back to their base together, he kept the shield and sword with him for safety reasons. His body was wobbling but he didn't show it; leaving Eidyn oblivious. She saw the blood spewing from his side but he kept telling her that it was left over blood from the Yetti. 

Eidyn stared at her Commander then forced his arm around her shoulder and shoved her hand into the wound; forcing the Commander to cry out, look down at her and growl. He let out cuss words and she ignored it. Her plate, blood covered glove dripped with his copper-filling glowed with a beautiful golden shimmer. The runes on the gloves brought the light from her finger tips out and onto the plate digits; slithers of light slammed into the Commander's body and his form leaned into her. His nose rested on the side of her head, forcing to keep his own eyes open. The multiple wounds and heals were giving his body a huge sore and his muscles ached. 

It got to the point where Eidyn forced herself to carry the Commander bridal style to the base. He kept babbling to her about how this was inappropriate and wrong, but she ignored his words. 

------- <<<TIME PHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE>>>>------

Eidyn got quite a few stares at the group of people who were back at the base and they all giggled and laughed at the Commander. She sighed to herself; walking into the Commander's tent and set him on his cot. 

The Commander groaned at her, poking her side. "Do that to me again and I swear you will have to run one hundred laps." 

"Scary, Commander." She smirked at him, tugging at his plate with a hand over his mouth. "You are getting out of this armor and hopefully you have undergarments on. Believe me, as much as you don't want me to see it; I do not want to see it."

The Commander tried to move to get up but his sore muscles forced him down and his eyes focused on Eidyn's face. "Thank you for being there for me, Soldier." His hand lifted and settled on her arm. "I want you to take that necklace and go back to the city." 

Eidyn moved away from him, grabbing the Commander's large sweater and sweatpants with long socks; putting it on his body. She then took her fur-coat off of her plate armor, putting it over his form as well as the yak-fur of blankets on his body. "Commander, I-" 

"My friend Lady Cyv'arik will take you back home. I want you to find my daughter and find your family. You have potential, and I do not want to see someone as good as you die on the field where no one will care to bury you. Come here, sit down with me." He scooted to the side, patting the empty spot beside him. 

Eidyn was hesitant but finally moved to sit with him- but his hand went to her back and he stopped her. 

"Get out of your armor and wear my other sweater and slacks, alright? You had a tough day." 

Eidyn sighed at him, putting a cloth piece over his eyes. "No looking." 

"How can you not trust your Commander?" 

"Maybe because I don't trust him being able to walk himself back to the base." 

Eidyn was slipping into the Commander's shirt and pants already but she paused at rolling up her pants the moment she felt a pillow hit her back. "No wasting your pillows, Commander!" She called at him, tossing it back at him. She walked closer, taking off his fold and moved in beside him. She rested her back up against the pole that kept the tent from falling and her hands clasped at her stomach. 

The Commander forced himself to sit up a little but found himself resting his head on her arm, and it started to become the time where he didn't care what he was doing. The Commander and Eidyn were close enough as is, as personal friends and even as a Commander and Soldier. His eyes fell closed and his arms moved around her torso in a hug. 

Eidyn laughed at him, unclasping her hands and moving her arm over his shoulders with her other hand' digits brushing his hair away from his face. "If I go back home, promise me you will be back in the city soon enough? No dying, no more getting hurt. I want letters from you, and I want you to keep yourself from even frowning, alright?" 

He smiled drowsily to himself, nuzzling his head into her side and moved his leg over hers. In a sudden pull she had her head on the pillow and his head was on her chest. 

This was weird to her, even as him being her best friend she never had affection like this. For the first time he actually snuggled into her, and she snuggled back into him. 

"Do as I say and do not worry about me. As for you, do not get socially awkward with people. I want you to remember that you were out in Northrend busting yourself as other people stayed in the city. I want you to remember your strength and regain every bit of my honor with my daughter, with you. I trust you. I will come to the city, but not right now." His voice dragged off and Eidyn laughed. 

------

The day came for Eidyn  to go back home with a red-headed fox she recently met named Grypheth, but she went by Lady Cyv'arik. It was a week later, but within that week things have changed. 

Eidyn was ready to say bye to everyone but as she did the news of Troop A's Commander had grown extremely ill and will need bedrest. It flew through the speakers and her heart broke. 

She went to visit him and her hand moved inside of his quickly. "Commander-"

He coughed, forcing a smile at her. "Good bye, Eidyn." He brought the woman close into him, making sure her ear was over his slow-beating heart. The Commander began to heavily breathe when finally his breathing and beating stopped. 

Eidyn let out tears and cried heavily, the shock over-came her and somehow everything in her world turned upside down. Memories of every single second with him flew through her mind and the feeling of him dying against her killed her even more. She could save him, and she was going to do that up until Grypheth walked into the tent and snickered at the crying girl. 

"Look, Sugar. People come and go, and it was his time to die. If you bring him back from the dead, you lose your light for a long, long time. Besides, how do you know that he would want what you want? Maybe he wants peace now. Believe me, he does want peace."

Eidyn was shocked at how horrible Grypheth was, but she was also a witch who made a living off of hurting people.

Eidyn attended The Commander's funeral, and everything from there went down hill. Before she actually went on her mission to find the Commander's daughter, Grypheth chose to use her as a rag-doll in her house and began to torture her and do multitudes of other things. 

From torture to curses to close death and even to almost hanging onto her last breath. Grypheth corrupted Eidyn, from the inside and out. She made Eidyn build a tougher shell around her heart; adding to the one that was created at the base. She made the poor woman's mind slowly go insane. 

Then one day, Grypheth realized what she was doing. Why she was doing this, and it wasn't for herself. She was lonely, she was missing the company of her husband and so she took it out on Eidyn. 

With time, Grypheth helped Eidyn get back into shape and such and she helped Eidyn find a home which she still lives in. Gryph helped Eidyn re-mold her body and even helped her re-mold her mind. 

---

Eidyn snapped out of her trance and looked at herself in the mirror; hands clasped on the wooden top of the table and she frowned. Everything changed so fast, and even with being a brand new person she was still broken inside. 

She remembered everything Grypheth did to her, and still to this day it pains her. She recalls The Commander's death and also everything that happened in Northrend, but she also reminded herself of her past..

It made Eidyn's heart sink knowing that she still hasn't found the Commander's daughter. But either way, she put the necklace that she put in front of her back into her jewlery box and closed it tight. 

Eidyn took a walk to her old house where her and her mother lived; and she opened the dusty old door. She walked right into the home and busted open the locked room that was full of old armor and a chest full of journals and diaries written by her father, as well as her father's father and her father's mother. 

She looked at the old-glass case holding a woman's armor and her eyes lowered, a finger brushing away the imprinted writing of Casi'ena Dawnwright. 

The armor in Eidyn's opinion was actually quite... Revealing... In her opinion. However, that didn't stop her from grabbing the chest and wrapping ropes around the four glass-cases and dragging them with her back to her home. It was time to finish her research about her family.

"Time to be a different woman, Eidyn." She mumbled to herself; swinging her door open and resting everything in the living room.

Dear Journal,

I met this man named Syv Dawnvein and I can't tell what I think of him. But I do know that I want to get to know him. He acts almost... goofly around me, but I feel like I like it. Around him I feel my lips spring up into a smile; but nothing ever physically cracks sadly. 

Last night I found him and I tried to wear something that 'fit in' with the Silvermoon-esque, but instead I got whistled at and he eyed me down and went quiet for a long, long time. I didn't like it, I wasn't very happy that I got those reactions. 

I don't want to be a call girl in the city, for fel sakes I served. I know what respect is; and I didn't throw myself at anyone. It looks like I'm going to fit in with the boring crowd. 

I got my application back from Apex and I was accepted in. So far I have spoken to one person, only for a small introduction; his name is Damon. He made me feel comfortable with the entire estate. 

I have my eyes on joining the Battalion, and although Damon sent me to Dathion Spellshatter who I then next sent a letter to, I have a feeling that Spellshatter will often get my choice of words wrong. 

He already mis-read my letter, I don't want trouble. I suppose it will be like the field, since he -is- the Commander. The Commander is always right, because whining gets you nowhere. 

I feel like I'm doing a pretty alright job with this new city-esque. My only drive is Ace, it'd feel wrong if I didn't try. She tried accepting me, and she did. She ended up hugging me and... I still need to visit her again. 

...Returning to Syv, I asked him if he would like to spar; and he said yes but told me that there could be no funny business. I... looked at him, looked to the ground then looked back up at him and asked him what he meant by funny business.

He went quiet, blinked at me then cleared his throat and changed the subject. I'm still confused on what he meant, and I suppose I will be for a long, long time. 

As for the sparring, it got late and we both decided to rest ourselves up before we do anything of the sort. 

Today I'm planning on seeing Commander Spellshatter to see what I have to do to get into the Battalion. I also plan on seeing Damon for friendly advice, it looks like I made one friend so far. 

Eidyn started her morning off at the crack of dawn, showering, putting on home-wear clothing and eating breakfast. She made lunch and put it in the fridge, keeping it for later. Today was a long and stressful day for her. She promised to see Ace soon, and she didn't know how soon Ace wanted her to see her, or how soon her cousin might move into her place. 

It was good that she lived in a more secluded area in Quel'Thalas. Further from the nobles but closer to the sea. Somewhere along the lining of the water was a pathway to her stone-cottage which she got lucky with. It had a good size of land before the ocean started to tide in and claim a good portion of her home's front lawn. 

Behind her house was a shed which was mainly her at-home gym, extra weaponry storage area and especially her tool place for when she decides to build. There was a small forge behind a back door in the shed where she sculpted her own armor and forged her own weapons which decorated the area. 

Outside of the house, attached to the right side of the house was something quite ugly looking for now. An unfinished piece of the house; with yellow wood waiting to be attached to each other. It silently called for the cement, and she mentally agreed to try and finish today. 

At around nine o'clock in the morning, she began her working which involved humming, grunts, and sighs of irritation. It all was going swell, and before she knew it the sun that was tanning her skin started to fall to the otherside of Azeroth as the blanketed moon made it's way to create a wonderful shine over the water, glazing the surface with the twinkling lights and glistened her cleanly cut grass. 

She took the moon as a hint to stop and rest, and since she did so much work today; tomorrow she would be done anyway. Most people would have made their way inside and ate their food; but she skipped her lunch. Which honestly would have been dinner tonight. Instead, she went into the shed and started to work out. 

It began with two large table flips to three, ten sets of jump rope; to suicides inside for cardio and finally to her favorite part. Lifting. More or so, squating. The Worker made her way beneath the metal bar; shoulders positioning herself and feet readied to keep it's body up and steady as the good near-two hundred pounds was pressed into her body. 

She went down, knees bent and paused; sucking in air. When she went up she let it out and it was routine she did for possibly a good thirty minutes. She didn't know what got into her, but even after that she worked on her arms, doing several push ups. 

Beads of sweat ran down her body and trickled against the floor. Her hair was wet and soggy from the sweat, forehead dotted with the droplets and her gym-wear was drenched in it. When she started to smell her own stench she took that as the last sign to go inside, shower, eat, and make her way into the city for a round trip of walking then if she didn't encounter anyone new or her cousin she would go back home and rest. 

---

Eidyn got out of the shower, rubbing the towel against her skin then stopped in front of her body mirror. She looked at her face, studying it. She studied her lips, forcing them into a smile but she stopped; realizing how crooked and bad it looked. It was broken, she was like an old time watch. Cracked on the glass but the arms still ticked.

This made her wonder how her smile looked with Ace and somewhere in her locked away heart it dropped. It wasn't long before she was putting her undergarments on and working on latching her plate against her body. 

Almost closing the closet, she stopped and stared inside of it. In there hung her Blood Knight tabard, along with the black sash full of badges she always put around her body after locking it away within the plate. She contemplated on putting it on, and finally chose to close the doors to her closet and stepped back.