Shelly's Revenge - A World of Warcraft Story

Chapter 4

Shelly gasped in pain and surprise as she slowly turned about. The podling's grass huts were houses of fine white stucco and wood. And before them.. Oh by the Light! They were draenei! All of them! The poor woman beside her house, broom still clutched in her hands. The children next to the cooking fire - she gasped as she beheld their bloodied and headless corpses. And the body at her feet, here was no podling! It was the village elder, face down in the dirt, bloodied.. Dead. At her hands. All at her hands. She cried out as she whirled about to face the robed Draenei woman and the dead spirit of her husband.

"What have you done? What have you done!" she shouted at him.

"Oh don't be so cross Shelly. He did it all out of love for you!" the draenei woman said as she stepped forward. "His words in your ear, laced with my spells. Making you see what you wanted to see. Making you the perfect tool. For me - for the Sargerei!"

Shelly turned to her husband's spirit "Why.. Why would you do this! Those children..by the gods.." she cried.

"For us Shelly! For you!" Shelly's husband plead. "Don't you see? I did it for you. Soulbinder Zamaya has promised me! She'll release me now, free to be with you in spirit always!"

"Oh I have every intention of keeping my promise." Zamaya spoke. "You will be together as I promised. But I have no intention of releasing you. Instead, your spirits will serve me together for eter--" her voice cut off in an unexpected grunt as Shelly's form slammed into her, launched in a split second, bearing the two of them to the ground in a diving rolling tumble.

Soulbinder Zamaya's plan had been perfect, save for one flaw. She had indeed bound the spirit of Shelly's husband to her side, and forced it to do her bidding. She had successfully used it to plant the visions and images of a podling village, and fed to Shelly's own rage and thirst for revenge, to entice her to see exactly what she wanted her to see. And Shelly had done exactly as she had hoped, wiping out the better part of a draenei village, and more importantly, slaying the Exarch that had given her so much trouble these past months. But what she had not counted for was just how deadly Shelly could actually be. And how quickly she could assess a situation.

Shelly rolled off of the woman and sprang to her feet. The Sargerei woman scrambled backwards, making it back to her feet, trying to put distance between her and Shelly.

"You idiot! You cannot injure me! Do you not see! I am the key! I hold your husband's spirit as my own! Without me, you will never be with him!"

She continued to walk backwards, and began the words of a spell, her hands moving in intricate gestures. Shelly had no intention of letting her finish that spell. She sprinted and leapt high, her right foot coming around in a arcing kick that connected solidly with the side of Zamaya's head, breaking spell and crunching bone at the same time. Zamaya landed on her back as Shelly landed on her feet.

"Stop this!" she shouted as she scrambled backwards in the dirt. "Do you not see? Only I can give you what you want - peace! Peace to be with your husband, and revenge against those that killed him!"

Shelly heard none of it. She stood with her back to the woman, her eyes cast down. Before her, her dagger lay in the dirt where she'd dropped it. She paused only a beat, then scooped it up and whirled, pouncing on the woman, straddling her the dagger held high.

"No please!" Zamaya's tone now desperate, pleading. "I will release him! I promise you! His soul bound to you forever! Please.. don't kill me!"

"Don't do it love!" the ghost of her husband shimmered into view beside her. "I'm afraid! I don't know what will happen! Don't kill her - I will be lost forever!"

Shelly glanced sideways at Jarrod. Jarrod.. Light's mercy. A lifetime of memories flickering through her mind. How had it gone so wrong? She turned back towards the woman she straddled.

"No. You are wrong." she whispered. My husband will find peace. But not at your hands!"

She plunged the dagger deep into the woman's chest. Zamaya cried out in pain and shock, and as she died, her spells exploded in Shelly's mind. Shelly screamed at the burst of pain in her skull, rolling off the woman's form, writhing in the dust. Her vision swam as the Sargerei's months of influence unwound out of her mind. She lay in the dirt, her vision fading, images flickinger across her view - armed men, her husband's spirit fading, the bloodied body of the Sargerie lifted up. Then darkness took her.