Home (a pre-legion tale)

Those born to a planet could never begin to understand the excitement Izarre felt. At the age of 47 she was expected to act like a proper teenage girl but today there would be no "acting her age". No. Today for the first time in her short life she would be allowed to step off the Gendar into a WORLD. There were no words in the Draenic language to express the excitement and the curiosity that flooded through her. Genedar had been a wonderful home. She really had no complaints but she knew every single corner or it. She knew, in one way or another every one, and their routines. THIS! This was a living, changing, open world. This was a proper home.

She would never forget the first moment she stepped out into the Light, her mother in one hand and her younger sister in the other. She would never forget the deep aquamarine of the sky and its three moons, the burning gold of the turf, the sound of the stream which ran near by the feeling of wind in her hair. She would never forget the envy she felt at the sight of animals running free over the plains. But most of all, she would never forget that worlds sun and the way it's Light flooded the world, and bathed her in a warmth she had never known. 

The Vindicators were busy securing the perimeter of the future settlement, the Ragnari out and about exploring the surroundings and everyone else was setting up a first settlement. Tents were being pitched, trees felled and supplies moved off the Genedar. Everyone had a role to play. Everyone, except for the children. Today, the children could play. Today they could run. Today they could know the joy of belonging to a world. 

Velus was a kind world. Maybe the kindest the Draenei ever set foot on. In the years to come, they never found another sentient species. The weather was mostly pleasant and the large predators easy to handle. It was a world they could call their own and it was beautiful. It was a world Izarre would always have a special place in her heart for. After all, many important events in the life of a girl occurred on Velus. It was on Velus that she was admitted into Vindicator training. It was on Velus that she had her first boyfriend, and more importantly, her first kiss. It was the world where she first felt true happiness. 

Happiness. Forever fleeting. The fate of Velus was sealed the day Genedar landed. It was little over five years before the skies burned green. Izarre had never experienced a Legion invasion but the fear was easily understood. Her family had been amongst those who founded the third settlement, furthest from the Genedar, along the coast of what could be a very large lake, or sea, or an ocean. The day the sky turned green she left her life behind for the first time. Her home, her things. The only things the Draenei took were their armors and weapons as they fled back towards the Genedar. She might not have known it, but the grownups did. There was only so long the Genedar could wait for those from the settlements. So they ran. She ran as fast as she could in her trainee plate, her youngest sister in one hand, and a blade in the other. The earth shook each time a massive elemental hit the surface, often times, knocking them off their hooves. Soon, when the Genedar was within sight, the demons fell upon them and their retreat became a battle. Izarre had never fought an actual battle and much less against a foe like this. She was scared. For the first time, the concept of death entered her mind. Courage came from the small hand in hers. She felt its tight grip and knew why she had to fight.

She didn't know how many she killed during their slow retreat. It might have been dozens, or might have been none. By the time they neared the Genedar only the Ragnari and Vindicator vanguard remained outside. What followed was a choreograph she didn't understand at the moment. Who stayed, who fled. All she knew was that she had to follow her mother. She ran on and watched her father and eldest brother join the ranks of the Vanguard while others broke off to join the retreating partner. She saw her father turn, look her in the eyes and smile. He gave her a small wink and returned to the battle.

She would never forget the moment she stepped back into the gloom of the Genedar, her blade in one hand and the mangled lifeless body of her younger sister in the other. She understood it then, as the gates closed. The engines needed time. It was the reason they hadn't been left behind, and the reason her father and brother had to be. Even as they dragged her away to the infirmary to see to her wounds she clung to her sisters body. It wasn't until her mother managed to pry the body from her that she cried. She cried for the first time. She stood weeping in the infirmary, watching the world she called home grow more distant as they lifted off. She watched the green flames slowly engulfing the surface of the planet. The once golden surface slowly being replaced with smouldering black. As the flames grew and spread she heard the once familiar sound of the dimensional engines powering up and then in the blink of an eye Velus was no more. She knew all she had loved was gone. All the creatures she found to be beautiful lost forever. All of her favorite spots, destroyed. Her father, brother and sister, gone. 

The days that followed were of pain. Funerals for those who's bodies were onboard. A service for those who would never see a proper grave. The Draenei huddles together in their grief. Grief for the dead. Grief for their lost world. But beyond everything grief in knowing their own kin were greatly responsible. It was the curse of their kind. They were cursed with knowing a pain greater than any other race would ever know. A pain she would live through many times. 

She stood by the crystal altar, still holding her sisters hand. It was time, but she wouldn't let go. After nearly a day, she finally let go of the small lifeless hand. She lowered herself and kissed the small brow. She unfastened the silver star her sister wore around her neck and she stepped back. The altar came to life and the blast of pure Light slowly consumed the small body as she watched. She would wear that star upon her brow until her death.

Millennia later she stood in her full plate once again before the gates of Shattrath. Today it was she who would stay behind. She adjusted her armor and kissed a woman goodbye. The gates would soon break and the orcs would flood the city. She looked back at the fleeing Draenei and smiled to herself. It was then that she saw her, a small girl of no more than twenty crying and clinging to an older man. Izarre moved through the crowd towards her. She kneeled in front of her and slowly undid the band holding the star to her brow. Without a word she tied it to the girls brow, ran her plated hand over her cheek and stood to return to her position. She turned, smiled at the girl, and gave her a little wink.