((This story is a bridge taking Lady Gelana from the Exodar to Dalaran where she will be for a while.))
A cold wind stirs the loose snow off a nearby ledge sending it floating down to the valley below. I stop and watch it fall, knowing one false move will send me after it. The cold has penetrated my gear making my fingers numb and I no longer trust myself not to make a mistake.
Careful now, each step must be tested before it can take my weight.
Three steps further I step…and the world slips out from under me. Time slows down as the snow flurries up around my sliding body, then the valley is below me and I'm in freefall.
I don’t feel the impact as I reach ground zero.
My eyes open to a blurry world and I cannot feel my body, I try to get up but cannot move. I feel no fear, just calm acceptance of my situation.
Opening my eyes I realise I must have drifted out, the shadows have lengthened and I wonder how long I have been lying on my back in the snow. I am drowsy, not fully aware of myself or the cold as I think of the Cathedral in Stormwind.
The ground trembles beneath me, forcing me back to awareness as the powerful animals go thundering past down the valley. One runs close enough to kick up a spray of snow over my legs, hiding them from view.
I never thought I would die this way, broken in the snows of Northrend.
I close my eyes and give up trying to fight the sleep knowing I won’t be opening them again.
A thought pushes its way through the fog in my brain, Gerrond standing in the sunlight in Goldshire. He is looking after someone’s baby, the tiny life cradled in the Warriors powerful arms as we speak.
“My friend….”
Fog gusts up from my lips as I whisper, there is still warmth in me somewhere.
Humans are worthless and nothing but trouble, Ivery did a good job of proving that to me. I close my eyes trying to push the memory of my friend away. Yet it won’t leave me and the memory brings another with it as I see Alas on their wedding day, beautiful and radiant as she hides her nervousness.
The white ribbon I hold as I bind their hands, standing before the Light they become Husband and Wife. The truth cuts through the fog and my tears freeze before they can reach the snow beneath my head.
Gerrond is more than a friend, this human has become like a brother to me.
I am shocked at the thought but more so at myself. I am sure I am dying now, my mind taken by the cold until I am left with confusion. I have to move, I won’t be found dead on my back in the snow like this, helpless and without dignity in my final moments.
It takes effort to will myself to move, yet soon I am on my belly and my arms are folded before me. I am numb, nothing I do brings sensation and I have no way of knowing where my limbs are, or if they are moving at all. Slowly I pull myself forward using my forearms, watching each movement to ensure I am actually moving. A rhythm sets in and I become lost in each clumsy motion of my arms until I slip unconscious once more, face down in the snow.
Pain, my entire body burns with fire, my swollen face throbs with it. How can I be burning when I was in the snow, and my head is pounding with pain, I hear a voice whimpering close to me. I pull back into the darkness, not willing to stay in the pain but too weak to help myself.
A green face looks down at me as I open my eyes, with a start I realise it’s a goblin, he’s grinning at me making me nervous. A glance around reveals a building, then I realise I'm in a bed in an Inn. The goblin jumps off the bed and wanders off leaving me trying to sit up, but I am too weak and I lay back to rest. When he comes back he brings me food, and a tally with a list of things I have to pay for.
I am being charged for them finding me in the snow, and everything they have done to keep me alive since. As soon as I am able to stand I get out of there before I lose all my gold, and I pay for a flight to Dalaran where I seek help from the medics.
Dalaran will be my new home until I have my full strength back once more.
Lady Gelana the Knight.
