Chapter 4 - The Resistance
Two hundred or so survivors living in a few dozen tents, led by both Captain Faella Shadewhisper and Allendril, a Highborne sorcerer. These were the only other Night Elves that Shalendris had encountered since her escape from Zin-Azshari, a little over a week ago. Many of them were from villages surrounding the great city, and most of them had witnessed the destruction caused by the demonic Burning Legion. Few were those who could say they had not lost anyone to the invading fiends, and many were those with injuries that required aid.
The captain was a stern woman, rarely seen without her decorative armor and helmet, hand never too far from her longsword. Shalendris didn't have much of an opinion on the woman, given how she spent most of the time planning future excursions with her soldiers and Allendril.
Contrasting sharply with Captain Shadewhisper, Allendril was a colorful man. The bald Night Elf's curly pink mustache seemed to match quite well with the lavender-and-white robes he wore most days. Not a speck of dirt could be seen on those robes, various enchantments undoubtedly woven into the very fabric of the garment.
Enchantments such as those were commonplace among the Highborne, but Allendril was no novice in the arcane arts, and he had managed to carve protective runes into the trees that surrounded the small encampment. These runes allowed them protection from the gaze of the Burning Legion, though it did not stop wandering demons from sometimes wandering into the encampment to be swiftly dispatched by Captain Shadewhisper's fighters.
Given her knowledge of healing salves and herbs, Shalendris had been assigned to a tent with a priestess of Elune. Talena was but a few years older than Shalendris, her dark green hair tied in a short ponytail that reached the nape of her neck. Her face sported elegant features and a slightly aquiline nose. The priestess seemed to constantly be brushing the bangs from her eyes as she pored over various religious texts, preferring the company of books to that of other elves.
The pair of them worked well together, Shalendris's salves and Talena's divine magic helping to ease pain and repair damaged bodies. Many scouts had been sent out to nearby villages to try and find more survivors. While they had been successful at first, each new expedition brought with it increasing disaster. From a dwindling number of rescued Kaldorei to an ever-increasing number of wounded or deceased soldiers, things were becoming dire.
But this did not discourage Shalendris and Talena, their optimism assuaging the fears held by many in the camp. As the days passed, friendship grew between the two healers, and they often found themselves chatting for many hours before falling asleep. Talena had been raised in a tiny village a stone's throw away from Suramar, Shalendris learned, and had been sent there as a child to learn the ways of Elune. Once her training was complete, she had opted to return to her village to aid the people there.
Now, the two of them lay in their separate beds, staring up at the tent's roof, listening to the gentle pitter-patter of falling rain.
"Blessed by Elune, yet you never chose to become a priestess. Why?"
Talena's voice broke the silence first, and Shalendris turned her head towards her friend slowly.
"The crescent moon that shines on your head. She watches over you, does she not? Should you not join the Sisterhood?" continued the priestess. Indeed, many Night Elves received Elune's blessing when they came of age, but few of them retained visible traces of these blessings. Those who did eventually ended up serving the Sisterhood of Elune or working in the temples dedicated to the Mother Moon.
"I never really... It never appealed to me all that much. All those rituals... It just seemed too complicated," replied Shalendris. "And I don't know what it means, really. I love Elune, as most of us do, I am certain... But I would not think to dedicate my life to her."
Talena frowned for a moment, a contemplative look on her delicate features. "I have given my life to serving the goddess, yet I can never truly seem to grasp what it is she intends for any of us. This calamity befalling our people, where is Elune now? The Sisterhood of Elune's powers remain... Yet..." The woman sighed; eyes still fixated upon the tent's roof. "Yet it seems like with each passing day, hope is a little harder to come by."
Shalendris understood the feeling. She, too, was finding her optimism waning with every wounded soldier coming back to camp, with every demon found closer and closer to them. The Legion's grip was tightening all around them and soon, they would need to evacuate. But where? They were already quite near the southern limits of the Kaldorei Empire's territory and to the South was the Zandalari Empire. She doubted that the trolls living there would welcome night elves with open arms...
Things were bad enough that Faella Shadewhisper had ordered the training of any able-bodied civilians in the camp. That included Shalendris, who had been training with the bow for a few days now and had even been given her own set of armor. She wasn't making much progress, truth be told. She wasn't as good as Othros had led her to believe.
"I know, Talena. I know it can be hard. Let's take things one day at a time..." The purple-haired elf clearly struggled to cheer up her friend, and she saw a single tear roll down her cheek.
Talena brought a hand up to wipe the tear from her own face. "My family, they all died, Shalendris. Why would Elune not save them? What did we do wrong?" asked the priestess. "Was all that time spent praying for nothing? All that sacrifice? Did it mean nothing?"
"I... I don't know." Shalendris had a hard time thinking of an appropriate response. The Goddess, of course, still allowed her priestesses to wield magic in her name. She still allowed them to use that power to battle the Burning Legion. "Get some rest, my friend... Tomorrow is a new day and we have much work to do."
That was true, and a somber reminder of the most recent patrol that had come back from an expedition to a small, nameless village only a few miles east. Of the five scouts sent out to observe the village, only two had returned and one of them had not woken up since the ordeal. The other detailed all the horrible demons they had encountered, of all the horrors they had witnessed in the forests. Most troubling of all, however, was that they still had not found any other groups of survivors and that a large host of Demons was rapidly closing in on them.
Despite the stress of the situation, sleep found Shalendris that night, unlike her friend in the tent's other bed.
Thunder shook the ground and flashes of lightning pulled Shalendris from her slumber. It was then that she realized that Talena had crawled into bed with her, the green haired Kaldorei's head resting on her chest. The woman's head sunk into Shalendris's hefty bust, bringing a warm smile to the purple-haired Night Elf's lips.
Shalendris brought a hand to her friend's head to gently comb her fingers through her hair, a soothing gesture to the one who still had not woken up from the intense thunderstorm.
While she was the youngest of the two, Shalendris often felt like an older sister to Talena, her fondness ever-increasing in these difficult times. As a token of that fondness, she then lowered her head somewhat to plant a gentle kiss on the top of her friend's head.
"Mnnneee... Moobry Joosss..." suddenly mumbled Talena, catching Shalendris somewhat off guard, causing her to freeze for a moment.
Moonberry juice? Was she talking in her sleep?
With her eyes closed, Talena then reached up with one hand to tug at Shalendris's night clothes, pulling the silken garment down to reveal one of the woman's fat tits, pink nipple hardening in the cool air. Shalendris's thoughts raced. She didn't want to embarrass the poor girl, yet she felt like letting her continue would somehow be taking advantage of her... On the other hand, she hadn't felt another's touch in so long. It was like the first rains seeping into parched soil after the drought.
It felt like ages ago that she had last felt any physical closeness with another living, breathing being. And now, Talena's lips pressed themselves to Shalendris's chest, gently dragging along that soft surface while her hand slowly made its way to cup the purple-haired woman's other breast through her clothing, letting her fingers dig into that abundant flesh. A whisper of contentment slipped through Shalendris's full lips as she looked down at the still-sleeping Kaldorei playing with her chest.
Shalendris had never shared her bed with another woman before, though she had found herself staring a bit more than she should have at some of the other women who shared the public baths with her, gaze traveling over their soft skin covered in a myriad of scented oils and perfumes. Her thoughts would drift for a moment before she was once again brought back to the present as Talena's lips found her diamond-hard nipple, lips attaching gently around the finger-thick nub.
