The Last Lahnmaiden

(( Just a short peice of a Leov's back story, hope you like it! ))

The Last Lahnmaiden.

It was a warm summers day that evening, as the three siblings played upstairs in the room, away from the warm suns rays and their mother cooked downstairs waiting for their fathers return, all around them the happy cries and exclaims of the families welcoming home their long gone loved ones could be heard, and still, this little family waited and waited for there own family member to arrive back home safe and sound into his household again, and for some reason or other, it was not until much later in the day that the head of the Lahnmaiden household finally returned, he placed his boots by the door, and was not long after met by three children wrapping themselves around him in glee to finally have their father home again.

Later that day, whilst the family caught up and played around together in the front room, board games and reading mostly, and as the dinner simmered away in the oven and pans, a sudden scream could be heard from outside the small town, the alarms of Andorhal were soon raised, echoing around the still, silent late evening, the family of paladins, ran forwards out onto the small path, and seeing monsters that could not be described ran back into the house, rushing to put on their armour and placing the youngest of the children, safely in her room, the four family members left, leaving the small child in the house, secured by spells and other such precautions, the child sat herself in a corner, singing, and covered her ears in an attempt to drown out the horrible noises of the monsters that were causing so much pain and agony to those outside trying to defend the small city, she could hear screams and cries and orders being yelled, and she knew, that even at such a young age, should she ever live through this, she would never get rid of such sounds, and so, in vain, the small child sat and sang louder in her little safe spot as the war raged outside.

Although feeling like an eternity to the small child who had successfully taken herself into her own little world of peace, it had been a mere couple of hours since the battle for her homeland had begun, she could stop herself no more, and decided to just peak out of the window, and as she did, she suddenly wished she had not, she scanned the area, and everywhere, there were upturned carts, caravans, and smashed houses, furniture thrown out by who knew what, and so many monsters roaming around, attacking any villager who had been outside, dead and injured body’s of villagers lay, mixed in with each other, with nobody to help, eventually, forcing herself to come away, and still in shock, she sat herself down in her hiding hole and exclaimed at how stupid she had been, and how it would be different, if she had only been big enough to help, and with that, a loud crash came through the house, and multiple footsteps on the stairs not long after followed, orders were being yelled, and she heard her fathers voice.

The small girl smiled, but it all soon changed as the sound of those horrible monsters could be heard, following the family, back to their house, and as the crash of the door against the furniture blocking it came deafeningly through the house, the four paladins came crashing through the small girls bedroom door, weapons raised and all clad in gold and silver armour, the family stood their ground together, all protecting the little one as she covered her eyes, the yells went up, and she began to call on the light as loud as she could, as she had been taught to do by her parents, but had never quite managed, thus far.

The four paladins, were soon making plans, and although she could not hear them, she saw their lips move and their hand gestures, and with this she began to call louder on the light, her father bending down and kissing the top of her head, and whispering her encouraging words, her mother just smiling and nodding in agreement as her brother and sister took her hands and began to call for the light with her.

The door to the bedroom swung open, and the few moments of peace that had been granted were once again filled with rage, hate, orders being yelled and the horrible noise that came from the monsters, as her brother and sister broke away from the small child, she screamed out for them to come back at the top of her voice, a monster flew towards her aiming for the girls throat as it did a sword swung up and hit it across the chest, the young girl stunned into silence, she backed away into a corner and watched her family fight, all the while, still saying her prayer to the light.

She sat and watched, she could do nothing more, her family fought to keep her safe, and all she could hear was her father yelling orders to his two eldest and his wife, she frowned, angry with herself that the light was not helping her to help them, she began to cry as she continued to call on the light, a lot of time had passed, she knew that, even if it did feel like it was all in slow motion for her, she looked up briefly, her father was backing up towards her, surrounded by the monsters his hand glowed and a shield went around the small girl, as sparks flew from around him, heading in all directions at the monsters, they jumped on him and he fell, the whole family screamed out as they tore into him, her mother screaming orders and telling her children to fall further into the room, the small girl stood and watched the golden glow of the shield pulse around her, she could no longer move, but she felt safe knowing they could not get to her either, she glanced over her siblings, as tears rolled down their faces, she found herself calling louder, wishing that she could help, her father laid motionless not to far from her, the family quickly regained their bearings and fought all the harder.

The monsters continued to come in large groups, a new uglier sound came from outside not far away, it was not at all like the sounds of the monsters her family were fighting and it spoke in a tongue she did not understand, her mother nodded to her children, and they continued to fight harder, her sister pulling their father to one side to give them room to manoeuvre, she smiled down at the small girl who wiped her face and nodded, finally returning to calling on the light, she bit down on her lip as the bubble began to dissipate from around her, her mother turning to face her briefly as she yelled for the two eldest to join their sister, she threw her hand into the air and told them to stay together, that the light would prevail even though those you love fall, no matter what they do, they must always believe, the children nodded, almost knowing what was about to happen they gathered hands as a large shield was formed around them, shielding them from harm, they huddled together and began to say the prayer, her brother smiled down at both girls and placed their hands together, leaning forward he kissed their foreheads and told them he'd always be there for them, he stepped away from the shield and took up arms again fighting alongside their mother, the girls screamed for him to come back, but he wouldn’t listen, the small girl nodded and shook her head as her mother spoke to her, she couldn’t really hear, but she knew it would be important, the monsters gathered around the mother as she spoke, jumping onto her back and sides she fell to the floor, a new shield was thrown up around the small girl as she watched her older sister join in the fight again.

The eldest girl ran back to her, kissed her forehead, hugged her and told her she loved her more then any other sister in the whole of Azeroth, the girls giggled, although through tears and fear, to have it broken by the sounds of orders being yelled from behind them, the small girl grabbed her sisters hand and shook her head, she pulled away, turning her hand glowed and the light causing the glow fled towards their brother, he looked back with a slight look of confusion and sudden energy to continue on, she smiled as she returned to his side, the small child left in a shield, she nodded her head and with more determination then ever before called out for the light to aid them and keep them safe she closed her eyes, hoping that it would help and covered her ears to suppress the noise.

Time passed, and as she sat in her shield and continued to say her prayer, the noise from the monsters grew stronger and louder, and the uglier noise grew closer, she shook her head defiantly and continued as a loud scream went up, she knew it could only be bad but opened her eyes to see a monster tear for her brothers neck, he looked back at her as a new shield went up around the small girl, she found herself screaming out in angst as he fell to the floor with a loud thud, she tried to stand, to run to him, to aid her sister, she grew angry as the warm tears flowed down her face, she watched her sister move backwards wearily towards her, the small girl cried loudly, begging her to not leave, for her not to leave the small girl alone, the eldest girl looked back and shook her head, she motioned for the smaller child to say it with her, she complied and returned to calling on the light all the while, carefully watching her sister fight.

There came no noise from outside, and it was only then that the small girl noticed only the sound of the monsters filled the night air now, it was dark, and the monsters were clearly taking control successfully of the small village, she stared at her sister in amazement as she spoke words that although muffled by the noise of the monsters were clearly helping her stand in defiance against them to keep her baby sister safe, time passed, and the night drew in, the uglier voice, that seemed to command them called and barked commands, the girl frowned as it sent shivers down her spine, she saw her sister move towards a bed and grab a blanket and a doll as she sent up a spell that seemed to daze the monsters briefly, the small girls shield fell and she wrapped her in the blanket tightly, kissing her forehead she ordered directly that no matter what the small girl continued to call on the light, she nodded and took the doll from her sister, wrapping her arms around it tightly.

Her sister continued to fight as the small girl did as she was told, the monsters surrounded them both, and with a sudden flash a shield surrounded the smallest girl, the eldest falling to the floor as the monsters jumped towards them both, the ones aiming for the youngest thrown back, her sister laid motionless on the floor and the monsters continued to attack her, the small girl continued to say her prayer spell, as tears began to roll down her face again, her energy waning she began to feel warm and tired, she shook her head defiantly and screamed as the monsters turned towards her and began hitting the shield, after a while they would fall, but the sound of them thumping on it continued,a bright flash came and lightened the room in the dead dark night from outside, it bathed the room in a bright golden light from the outside she jumped slightly and tiredly continued to call for the light, her eyes growing heavy, she fell sideways slightly, hitting what seemed to be a barrier she passed out into a restless state.

The small girl jumped awake, the shield still surrounding her as a bright purple light filled the room, followed by noise of people talking hurriedly coming from the other side, with anguished cries as two people stepped through and began channelling spells at the monsters, she cried out in fear as they stepped towards her and picked her up, wrapping the blanket around her they stepped over her family’s body’s carefully and took her through the portal to stormwind, all the while she screamed and cried out for her parents as the female human tried to comfort and console her, the noise growing louder as they turned up on the other side, she handed her a small cup of sweet juice, which the small girl sipped, as she stared at the portal coming out of her house, her family being brought through on small frames of wood and cloth, lifeless and covered mostly, it looked as though they were in a deep sleep, they attempted to turn her away as they asked her questions she heard someone say they couldn’t leave or enter the house, as there appeared to be a large barrier keeping the house contained, they turned to her, raised an eyebrow and asked her if she knew anything about it.

She shook her head, looking up at them as tears ran down her face, she stood up defiantly, saluted, smiled weakly as she cleared her throat before speaking.

“The body’s you pull are those of my family, My fathers name is William Lahnmaiden, My Mother's name is Amelia Rose Lahnmaiden, My Brothers name Tobias William Lahnmaiden, My Sister's name is Kiera Rose Lahnmaiden now, their birth certificates and important documents can be found in the top draw in my parents bedroom”

The female mage smiled down at her, a look of intrigue on her face and nodded politely.

“They will be taken to the crypt, and we will retrieve as much as we can for you, they took this from your mother, would you like it?”

The small girl stared up as the mage held out a necklace in silver, with a locket dangling on the end, a single red rose stamped into it, the tears came again and she nodded, taking the pendant from the mage she placed it over her head, the mage nodded and held out her hand, she took the woman’s hand and smiled slightly as the tears streamed down her face, the mage spoke again.

“You've been through a lot, we can see that, you gave us your family’s names, but tell me, what is yours?”

The small girl looked up at her and nodded clearing her throat and wiping her face again she clearly said.

“My name Ma'am is Leov Amelia Lahnmaiden, I am 8 years old, my birthday is December 16th”

“Well Leov, you are certainly a strong little paladin” The mage smiled down, seeing the confusion on Leov's face she continued “That shield around the house is what kept you safe all night, or was that your family?”

Leov shook her head, looking all the more confused, “my family shielded me Ma'am, they did not put a shield on the house that I know off, I said a prayer to the light all night that my father taught me”

she smiled softly as she looked up at her watching important things from the house being thrown through the portal to the tower where they stood, the mage squeezed her hand reassuringly and began to lead her to a much bigger green portal surrounded by a structure with purple runes around it, she looked over it, feeling slightly nervous and scared as they stepped through the mage led her to a beautiful house, where she handed Leov some bread and meat.

“The shield came from you Leov, your father must of taught you well, but I've never really seen anything like it” the mage smiled at her “You, I think have found your way, it will clearly be with the light, but right now I feel we must get you settled somewhere safe, unfortunately that may take a while, and the orphanage is full, so perhaps you will stay with the magi's for a while, is that ok with you?”

Leov was making the sandwich, she just took the bread and put the meat on it, and folded it together, she looked up as she sipped from some juice placed on the table as the mage spoke, she nodded.

“And once my village is safe, I shall go home, with my aunts and uncles, they will look after me...” Leov smiled slightly, although the pain of what she was going through was clear in her eyes she bit her lip as she did so.

The mage turned away as she spoke, a tear rolling down her face “Leov, there are not many survivors, and none come with your surname, i'm sorry, but I'm not sure that’s an option, you were the last to be found...”

The small girl placed her sandwich down, gulping down the food, she nodded as she stared of into space, biting down on her lip, she tried her best not to let the tears flow, but it was not enough to stop them silently sliding down her face.

“I will do my best to keep my family’s honour and name going, I will grow and make them all proud” Leov spoke softly, her voice croaking slightly through the tears, the mage turned to her and smiled, nodding.

“I am most sure you will Leov, of that I have no doubt...”
The mage rubbed her back softly, sitting down beside her she refilled Leov's glass as they sat and spoke about all sorts of things, mostly to keep the small, strong willed girl occupied until she fell asleep in the arm chair of the magi's front room.

((Poor little one, you almost made me cry Leov, hope to see more of your story unfolding for us.))