#faithbreakers

Avie Silverbrooke met her doom at the hands of a creature far fouler than any she had faced before. The cold metal claws of eredar gauntlets around her neck, squeezing too tight and lifting her from her feet as if she were but a fly to be swatted from his path. She gasped and cried and struggled against Kel’domis’ fel-iron grip, she fought against every ounce of putrid, foul magic he pumped into her veins. She screamed as her vision grew brighter and brighter, as her blood turned to fire and her faith began to fail her. She writhed helplessly to break free, hearing calls of her name from the allies she stood to defend.

Lady Truefeather, serdari of the Dawnspire and mother to but a months old daughter. Ethalarian Dawnstalker, a man who no longer hid behind secrets but had protected her own no matter how much he suspected. Iiloridan Sunshard, a best friend who’s pain she felt echo across the room with every failing breath she took. These were the names of but a few she stood to protect - if she could not live then she would gladly give her life to save them.

Her body could withstand no more. The very last thing she saw as he burnt her sight from her eyes, staining them white with blindness, was the gleeful, taunting smirk of a Faithbreaker come to haunt her final moment. Avie Silverbrooke was dying and, in the grasp of a fel iron gauntlet, there was nothing she could do.

She felt Iiloridan’s terror, heard his choked-off howl as he suffered her pain with her. In her mind she begged him to sever their bond so that he might live where she would fall. So that he might return to his children, so that he might tell Kalyanar that yes, he did believe she had fallen in love with him. But underneath the searing horror they felt for each other, she felt his unending love for her. She understood that she was family to him, that he would move the earth and wade through the nether if it meant she would wake when all this was over.

The marble floor of the hall of the Phoenix Heart was cold as she clattered to it, released unceremoniously from her chokehold like a forgotten toy. Her breath rattled in her chest, her world gone dark from stolen sight, her voice robbed by the fel fire that seared through her body. In her mind, she felt Iiloridan fall and she tried to call his name but no sound would come. Across the distance between them she felt one last, desperate pulse; a feeling of love so strong it called her soul back from where it was lost.

Avie Silverbrooke would live, but like all who entered the hall of the Phoenix Heart, she would forever be changed.

@edaigoa @azriah @trained-trainwreck @captainswingbeard for mentions.

The scrolls of parchment that find the both of them come inked with neat, practical lettering. There is a measure of haste, to the script. A spell lies on them at first, such that when looked at the words are incomprehensible, but when it is the two of them specifically that behold them, they clarify. Warlocks...

To the Knights Halvenstad and Brightblade

I have investigated what remained of the demons’ portals and the reverberations in the planar veil. It is unfortunate, however, that in this I can bring you no solace.

The attack on the cathedral was no doubt launched from a Legion world into ours from the Twisting Nether -- that much is plain, and presumed. Unfortunately, divining the exact location of it, as well as its name, is an endeavor that takes more time and resources than I am privy to. I have but an inkling and no more, and this will not change until we know more of what we are dealing with.

What’s most troubling, however, are the signs that the Man’ari and his fellows are on the move through the Nether. I do not know where, but this proves problematic in matters of warding against intrusion, as in Hallow spells. Speaking as one versed in the nuances of demonslaying when interplanar travel is concerned, it seems that this defensive at a disadvantage.

For now, that is all I have to offer. You will know when I have aught more.

Regards, Thinariel of the Sunguard