Elland Gautier
Elland sat on the ledge, the winds ripping across him and his fur rustling in the wind. His eyes, ice blue, looked down the mountain he perched on. His leather armor was still warm, recently donned again. Elland looked down at his claws. Blood stained them now. Green ichor from the Forsaken, and bright red blood from his own body. He could not reach the fire. Burning inside his chest. Painful. It kept him warm, though. His eyes stared into the distance, confusion on his face. He felt the pain in his chest, the fire burning. Raging. He no longer felt the scarring of his wounds. He felt numb, but the fire never stopped. Always burned. Hatred, a feeling the Druid could not recall from his life before. The hatred bred fear. Elland reeked of anger and fear at what the anger meant.
Mister Bradford sighed softly, sitting on his bed at home. So many lessons had gone by. Sarah thought he could be a great boon to the farmlands, but he had no desire to help the farmers. They destroyed his forest. They did not care for nature, they just wanted to profit from their efforts. They worked hard, but they lacked the reverence for tilling the earth. He did not want to help them. He spent time in his garden. Vibrant colors surrounded him and he smiled, the vines twisting wildly through this patch in his garden. His parents wanted him to apprentice out, they wanted him to learn a trade if he was not going to work on the farmlands. Mister Bradford sighed. He wondered what they would think when he told them he was going to leave. To never come home again.
Elland looked to the north, to where he knew Mother-Insein lived. He howled in anguish. He needed her. He needed to know why she was not home. Why she was not there for him. This new pain, this anger, this fear. He wanted to curl up with Mother-Insein, to have her help. Regret struck him a harsh blow as he thought of his mate. He failed her. Should he let her find a new mate? Release her? Was it even possible to release a mate? The anger burned. He ruined everything. It was all ashes in the fire in his chest. He was ruining the life of his mate. Zyami was amazing. His most cherished aspect in life. Burned to ash because he failed her. If he could not protect her, she should find someone that could. The tears that traveled down the fur of his face burned with the heat he felt inside. Banishing the cold on the mountain. He loved his mate. He wanted her to be safe, but he knew he couldn't keep her safe. Too busy. He had too many to protect. Zyami was the most important. Family with Mother-Insein. He kept returning to his failure. When she was hurt, he wanted to kill all the dragons. He knew they were defeated, the bad ones. But all dragons needed to die. They could all hurt her. The fire blazed then, and he raged. He screamed throughout Dragonblight. Simple words, a simple emotion, but Elland had never felt it before. It was not something he knew how to control. It consumed him.
Mister Bradford was gathering nature's energies to him again, as he tried to do every day. Today was a good day. He would tell his parents of his plans today. They wanted him to craft, they spoke of the passion of smithing one day and he smiled. He was going to craft something. A home. It just was not here in this dead city. Nature did not flourish here, it was trampled. He walked along the street, smiling. A few people greeted him, and he arrived at home. His parents were excited. He had a visitor. He smiled, guided to the visitor by his parents. He walked in on a young girl, close to his age. He recalled the name of the girl, and greeted Karen with a smile. She turned, and he felt his heart beat rapidly. Her raven hair spun through the air, almost in slow motion and Mister Bradford suddenly felt very nervous. They sat and talked for awhile, laughing about some of the lessons in the schoolhouse. She spoke of how she was going to be apprenticed to a weaver soon, learning the loom. He smiled, joking on how he might just pack up and leave the city. Shock crossed her face, and she looked at him, telling him that he had to pursue some kind of craft, or he would never be able to provide for himself. His nerves were not soothed.
Elland leapt off the perch, angry with himself. Failure. He wanted the fire to stop burning. The wind soothed the heat of the flames. They soothed his skin, they numbed him even more. He plummeted. Trees beginning to pass him. Thr ground rose to meet him rapidly. No more fire, he thought. No more anger. No more failure. He spotted the bears from the night before as he fell. His mind distracted. The female bear was tending to the male bear. He had failed, but she remained. He shook his head. It was not the same. He was hurt, not her. Zyami had been hurt because of Elland. His fur gave way to feather, his muzzle distending into a sharp beak and he took flight. The sky gave him happiness. It used to. Where was it now, he asked himself.
Mister Bradford was packed, and had to tell his parents that he was leaving, but he couldn't do it. He had watched, earlier, as Karen left. Her raven hair swaying behind her as she promised to visit so they could discuss their apprenticeships. His parents beamed at him, thinking he had decided to visit the smith and ask. He had not. He did not want to smith, to forge of metal what he could build within nature. Nature could protect everyone. It could keep everyone safe, and fed, and warm, and healthy. He wanted to stay. To see Karen more often, and he unpacked his things. He could stay in the city a little while longer. Maybe he could convince her that he was not crazy.
Elland cried out, a loud caw as he swept through the forest. It was all a blur. He saw everything in the correct color, no longer red, but the fire remained. Burning inside him. How long could he last? It would consume him. Maybe that was best. His mate would be free to mate another. To be happy and safe. He left behind his perch on the mountain. A patch of blood, a trail of tears. Could he ever return?
