A Quick Return and a Hot Bath
I arrived back at the Damp, first rushing to my room before seeking anyone out to speak to them. I stripped from my clothes which seemed imbued with the dark energy floating through the Dread Wastes and moved to fill my tub with near boiling water, sinking into its soothing steam. I had always taken baths this hot, feeling the scald like a cleansing force.
My mind was a jumble, filtering through all I had seen and learned from the SFA mage. His knowledge was melding into my bones, into the tapestry of my life just like Vareth had said it would. It was also causing me no amount of stress as this process was beyond my control. I disliked anything beyond my control, naturally.
As I soaked, I thought of all the chaos in the time since Dalaran exploded. I felt the pain again but this time, it was further away. For so long it had been too close, to raw. What do you do when youâre drowning? At some point you accept it. It seems I finally had while watching myself drowning in an ocean of death. And what came from it?
I had already noticed my mind was processing things a bit faster. I had begun to suspect this was from the mage, his mind reminding me of how Drexâs mind worked. Quick, even quicker than mine, as if grasping magical theory at once and turning it back outwards. But what else, if anything, had I gained?
I laid in the water, mind floating free from constraint for once. First came the whispers, the ones every user of Shadow heard in quiet moments. They could and would drive you insane. I pushed them back into the dark recess of my mind.
Slowly, I began to sense the others around me. I had always been able to feel the power of others. Most of us who carried magic could. It marked us, made us noticeable to those who were sensitive. But it was enhanced now. I could feel the Nameless scurrying and at least a few of the others linked to the Sanguine close to my bedroom. I could feel...more than before.
As for my power, who knew if anything more than this would come from that odd merge? A bit more sensitivity and mind capacity was never a bad thing, especially for someone like me. I pulled the pins out of my hair, dropping them on the carpet before submerging in the water holding my breath for as long as possible until I came up gasping. I felt refreshed, renewed and clean from this most recent escapade.
At times I wondered what the Defiler thought of us. We were all moving to our own tune. At times those tunes merged with each other striking a chord or even a symphony before pulling apart again with a screech. But he did not seem to interfere, which I found rather refreshing for a self-styled god. The Light was forever interfering with its practitioners, Shadow made you insane and Elune demanded obedience. If one was to have a god, it wasnât so bad to have one that knew when to keep its interference to itself.
But enough of this. I stood, letting the water run in rivulets down my body before grabbing up a huge, fluffy towel to wrap myself in. I had lived poor before and I was always pleased that I no longer needed to do so. Blood money was still money, after all. I dried myself, using the towel to squeegee water from my hair then wrapping in warmth to step out of the tub. I picked up my hairpins because I wasnât a heathen and chose some appropriately dark clothing as per my usual visage. Gone were the days I wore pastels like a little girl.
Finally dressed, I set out to find Kelan and then see where Varethuun had went. He had momentarily been fed but I knew it wouldnât last long. Nezzok had promised a body with a soul for him and we needed to determine when that would be most helpful. Then finally I need to find Alistaer who has been quite absent from us and it was a worry. Perhaps I just needed to set my eyes on each of them to reassure myself they were fine.
Running fingers through my damp hair I let it fall in waves down to my hips, pushing the little curls back out of my face as I stepped into the hallway on my mission.
@dinthoqaf @the-warmaster @nezzokthecollector
