Tarik had said that he would only stay for a few days. It was still a surprise to Eclipse when he stood in the lounge, back in his armour and cloak, his sword belt and backpack slung over his shoulder.
Eclipse had just come down the stairs, along with Darren and Vol'Shalai, to have breakfast and discuss how to spend the day. As he saw that Tarik was ready to leave, his jaw dropped. He ran over to the knight, his hooves clattering on the floor, and came to a halt before him.
"You're going already?" Eclipse asked incredulously.
The human nodded. "I bought a ticket to the Broken Isles days ago. It's not clear when another ship will depart."
Eclipse's ears folded down. He sighed. "Can we come along to the ship?" he asked Darren, turning his head to see what he would say.
Darren raised his brows. He looked at Vol'Shalai. The troll muttered something and Darren nodded.
"I'm gonna stay here," said Vol'Shalai, "and start my preparations."
Tarik's mouth twitched. Then he sat down, dropping his bag next to a table. "There's still some time," he said.
That was when Nylene joined them, dressed in dark blue pants and a wide shirt of the same colour, with wide sleeves similar to those of a gown. As she saw Tarik, she frowned.
"Already? We shall miss you."
After breakfast, everyone except for Vol'Shalai went outside. It was still early and the shadows on the plaza fuzzy and long. Tarik seemed to know where he needed to go. He walked briskly, apparently he needed to hurry now that he had waited for them to have breakfast.
Eclipse sat on Darren's shoulders. Darren had no trouble keeping up since he was in light clothing and without a weapon. Nylene strode alongside them with wide steps. As the trio plus pony made their way towards the docks, Eclipse watched the people on the streets setting up stands and going about their business. Two men, a human and a dwarf, unloaded a cart of food in front of a shop. Another cart, two streets down, was loaded with timber. The house behind it lacked a roof. A lanky Draenei woman in a bright shirt and wide-legged pants helped put the ropes of a construction crane into place.
Everything seemed so normal but so strange at the same time. There were no ponies and the colours Eclipse could see here were mostly dull. But the citizens of Stormwind did not seem to mind. Some even wished them a good morning, something that had not happened before. Maybe being up so early was not for moody people.
Now that Eclipse thought about it, Allison was also usually in a good mood in the mornings. Not today, though. She had been there when Tarik had left, taking his hand and giving him something small that Eclipse had not seen. Tarik had done something unusual, too: he had touched her cheek and then hugged her. After that, he had urged Darren and Nylene to depart, suddenly in a hurry.
They passed through a small park with a monument, then there were lots of stairs, followed by a large ramp.
The docks were already busy as Tartarus, with sailors walking about and carrying things, soldiers in the bright armour of the Alliance, mages and priests in robes, hunters with their animal companions and lots of dock workers.
"Which way?" Darren asked.
Tarik pointed at the far end of the docks. A ship was there, easily twice as large as the Maiden's Fancy. Eclipse counted four masts and at least ten sails. An enormous picture of a lion's head decorated the largest sail. There was a steady wind coming from the east, billowing up the unfurling sails and ruffling Eclipse's mane.
Another Goodbye, Eclipse thought as Tarik stopped and turned around, a guilty expression on his face.
"My gryphon is already on board," he said. Shaking hands with Darren and nodding respectfully at Nylene, Tarik turned to Eclipse. "Farewell."
Eclipse looked at him, wondering if he should say something. Then he jumped from Darren's shoulders and leaped up to hug Tarik. He had to flap his wings to get high enough. But Tarik caught him and held him for a moment. Letting go of the colt, he cleared his throat.
"Good luck finding your friend," said Tarik. "I'm sure you'll be successful. And thank you for your help."
"You're welcome," said Eclipse. "It's just good we were there on that ship, huh? And Vol'Shalai, too."
"True. Tell him my thanks. If you want to contact me, I will probably stay in Dalaran first."
Darren nodded. "Suffer well," he said.
"You too, death knight." Tarik's mouth twitched. A bell on the ship rang twice. He raised his brows. "I have to go."
"Bye," said Eclipse sadly. He felt for the side of Darren's leg, suddenly in need for support. Darren noticed and put his hand on Eclipse's head.
"Farewell," said Nylene, her voice cracking.
They watched as Tarik turned and walked towards the ship with heavy steps. He looked over his shoulder for a moment, raising a hand, then he disappeared in the crowd that boarded the vessel.
They were silent for most of the way back, each one in their own thoughts. Eclipse did not hide his tears and neither Darren nor Nylene asked him to. At the monument that looked out over the harbour, Eclipse looked back. The ship had already left port and was sailing westward.
"Why does Vol'Shalai need so long to prepare for the ritual?" Eclipse asked Darren.
Darren had just left their room, holding Eclipse's wooden shield and his own sheathed sword. He passed the shield to Eclipse who fastened it to his belt so it would not slip off his back. Eclipse was beginning to appreciate the usefulness of clothing as he realized how much he could carry without even needing saddlebags. Darren had insisted that Eclipse wait outside the room while he had gone in and taken what they needed. Nylene was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was in her room.
"Vol'Shalai needs to meditate, the shaman way. And grind powders, make a totem," Darren explained. "It's better if we disturb him as little as possible."
"Is it so complicated to call for Levinia," muttered Eclipse, descending the stairs.
"He told me that his preparation for the last ritual on the Echo Isles took three days and nights."
"What?!" Eclipse blurted out. "Does she even have that much time?"
"We don't know. He already agreed to cut it down to two days but that's all he can do," stated Darren. He held the inn door open for Eclipse. "Is your shield secure on your back?" he asked, slinging the sword belt around his shoulder.
"Uh-huh."
"Good. Because we're going to run."
"Run for what?"
"Warming up. Vol'Shalai isn't the only one who needs to prepare."
Eclipse had not expected Darren to have that much stamina. The human jogged all the way across the city, over two bridges and to a large park. There was more grass than Eclipse had seen on Azeroth so far. Old trees provided shade and there were a few flowerbeds. Eclipse could keep up but he noticed that he was a bit more out of breath than he would have been back home. And, to be realistic here, his legs were very much shorter than Darren's. Every step Darren made on the gravel path meant two for Eclipse.
Darren's pale face had gained some colour as they arrived at a bench where Nylene stood in a funny pose. Her leg was on the back of the bench and she tried to reach for it with both hands. She had exchanged her new pretty clothes with her original ones, the bandages and light leather armour, but her warglaives were not there. Instead, two wooden sticks the length of Eclipse's forelegs were lying on the bench.
"Darren. An'dorei," she greeted them without lifting her eyes from her foot.
"Did we get - permission?" Darren asked Nylene and she nodded.
"I talked to the guards. They said it's fine as long as we keep our distance to other people and come up for any property damage."
"Let's keep that - to a minimum, then," said Darren with a smirk. He was still catching his breath.
"Agreed." Nylene took her leg down and put the other one on the back on the bench, repeating her exercise. "Apparently, there are some monks who train here, too, on a regular basis. There must be a shrine nearby."
Eclipse watched her, confused, and closed his mouth.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Darren swung his arms around, then he raised them above his head and he bent forward. Something in his back cracked when he straightened it. "If we want to save Levinia and you want to help, we need to make sure you know what you're doing," he said. "We need to know what each of us can do. And we must to be able to coordinate our moves."
"I'm getting combat training?" Eclipse asked incredulously, his eyes wide. "Now I want the additional day, please."
"As you said, we don't know how much time we have," Darren countered. "But that's alright. You've already proven that you know how to dodge attacks. I wouldn't have let my sons join me in a real fight - but with a Shadow Pony the equation's quite different."
"Oh, wow," said Eclipse. Then he took a deep breath. "Well, if I'm being honest, I think I'm actually ready for that. What do I do?"
"We'll start with something easy." Darren nodded at Nylene who threw one of the sticks over to him. He caught it and twirled it in his left hand like a knife. "You're going to take these sticks from us."
"What, right now?"
"Of course now." Darren crouched down and drew his sword.
"Okay." Eclipse gathered his strength and released his shadows.
Darren watched as the whites of Eclipse's eyes darkened, the irises glowing in a cold blue. Dark smoke rose from his coat and eyes. Eclipse crouched down like a cat, then he jumped at Darren.
He was ready for the colt, though, and stepped aside. Eclipse hit thin air with his hoof and had to land on all fours. Surprised, he gaped at Darren who just smiled back at Eclipse. "Come on," he encouraged him. "I know you can do it."
Scrunching his little face up in concentration, Eclipse ran towards Darren again. This time, however, he changed his direction and threw a bolt of purple lightning at the stick. Darren hissed as his hand was grazed by the searing electricity but he did not let go.
"Ah, sorry!" Eclipse called.
Darren shook his head. "No, it's fine. Keep going." He looked at his hand. Nothing a health potion could not mend.
Eclipse hesitated. "I don't wanna hurt you," he said, his shadows subsiding a little.
"That honours you but that's not the point of this exercise. You've got permission, kid. You've got to think of me as the bad guy here. Try."
"Okay. Okay." Eclipse jumped again, this time turning completely to smoke. As a swift current, he rushed towards Darren and wrenched the stick from his palm.
Darren watched as Eclipse re-materialized a few yards away, the stick in his mouth.
"Good," Darren praised him. "But Nylene still has hers. Can you take it without losing yours?"
Eclipse looked at the stick in his mouth, cross-eyed. Then, he tucked it under his wing, determination on his face.
Darren watched closely as Eclipse charged at Nylene. He had made it easy for him as they were just warming up. He was sure that Nylene would not grant Eclipse such a luxury.
It took Eclipse eight minutes to claim Nylene's stick. The Night Elf was easily as fast as him, almost turning into smoke herself, and did not cut him any slack at all. When he charged at her, she dodged. When he turned into smoke, she spread her wings and blocked his path. When he tried to hit her with her shield, she deflected the attacks with ease, redirecting the force of his movements somewhere else. Eclipse had to confuse her with attacks from three sides at once to succeed.
He stood there, panting and grinning, and proudly held up the stick with his foreleg.
"I did it!" he called happily.
"You dropped something," said Darren. He dashed towards the other stick Eclipse had lost a minute ago and snatched the piece of wood from the grass.
Eclipse hung his head and groaned.
They took a small break, mostly to let Eclipse catch his breath and drink something. Then, it was Eclipse and Darren against Nylene. This time, the task was to keep the sticks safe and prevent Nylene from taking them. Darren put his sword aside and rolled up his sleeves.
Nylene became even faster now. Eclipse realized that she had still been holding back when they had sparred one on one. Now that Darren was on his side, she was not. The green fire behind her bandage seemed to burn brighter as she dashed around them so fast that she was merely a blur. Strange afterimages lingered everywhere she paused, everywhere she changed direction.
Eclipse understood that he needed to rely more heavily on his powers and instincts. He used his void smoke as a perimeter, whipping it around like a black ribbon. His wooden shield was not of much use here, he mainly used it to shift his balance and block a few blows from Nylene. He managed to keep her at bay, more or less, but then she turned around her axis, bent backwards and changed. For a moment, it was as if a veil had been lifted, revealing her demonic self. She seemed taller, her bat wings larger, and her now horned head turned towards him. Her tattooes glowed brightly as if they were resisting the change. A flash of green fire erupted from her chest and Eclipse staggered as the demoness towered over him, engulfed in flames. Freezing up in shock, he dropped his stick.
Nylene picked it up, turning towards Darren. Her appearance was now back to normal but Eclipse could not unsee it in his mind. Was that what a demon hunter turned into when they lost control of the fel fire inside? Now that he got a breather, Eclipse suddenly noticed his legs were shaking like crazy.
Darren seemed unfazed by Nylene's eruption. This time, he held the stick in his right hand. His eyes glowed blue as he cast a spell, raising his left hand. The wind picked up, enveloping him in cold snow.
Nylene smiled darkly. She folded her wings to reduce her air resistance and reached for the stick. Darren turned his arm, elbow up, and leaned away so her hand was directed away from his. She spun around and kicked, landing a hit on his thigh. Darren grunted and cast another spell, freezing Nylene's other foot to the ground.
She bent down and hit the spike of ice with her fist. As it exploded into small shards, she tried to hit Darren's chin with an uppercut. He leaned backwards, let her fist pass and hit the side of her face with his flat hand. Nylene retaliated by grabbing his other hand and wringing the stick from it. Before she could pull her own arm back, however, Darren caught it and shook his head with a tight-lipped smile. Nylene gasped as her hands turned white, encrusted by ice. Darren twisted her arm around her and was suddenly behind her. He locked her own arms around her throat and chest, rendering her upper body immobile. Nylene tried to jump but Darren had once again frozen her feet to the ground. Since he was so close to her back, she could not unfold her wings, either.
Nylene's clawed fingers relaxed and she dropped the stick. She grinned, revealing her pointed teeth.
"You win," she panted. Darren smiled, too, a little out of breath just as she was.
"Woo!" Eclipse shouted, applauding by stomping his hooves.
They both suddenly seemed to realize where they were. Darren let go of Nylene's arms, blinking. She picked the stick up but it was clear that the fight was over. The ice around her feet quickly thawed, leaving a little puddle behind.
Darren rubbed his neck. "Another break," he said curtly, casting a short look back at Nylene as he approached Eclipse. Nylene looked back at him, her mouth slightly open, looking a bit surprised. Darren cleared his throat.
"You alright?" he asked Eclipse.
"Yeah. Are - you two okay?"
Darren nodded. "Sure." For some reason, he looked at Nylene again who walked over to them.
"I hope I didn't spook you with my Chaos Nova, An'dorei," she said, sounding worried. "I just wanted you to know I can do that so you wouldn't be surprised by it later on."
Eclipse shook his head. "It's okay," he assured her. "I trust Darren and I trust you, too."
She smiled warmly and nodded.
The third lesson was the hardest. Eclipse had to make a shield of Light to protect Darren from Nylene and, at the same time, use his shadow powers to destroy the sticks in her hands.
The constant drain on his strength prevented him from making complicated moves but eventually he managed to obliterate one stick with a bolt of lightning. To Eclipse's relief, Nylene was content with that. She shook her hand and the remaining bit of charcoal crumbled, becoming a heap of ash on the grass.
Eclipse relaxed and the transparent golden bubble of light around Darren faded. Even though the joy of wielding the Light still dominated, he felt extremely thirsty and tired.
"Very good," Darren said, pride in his voice.
"But I failed. I didn't destroy the second stick," said Eclipse, slumping down on his rump. "And before, I dropped the stick. And Nylene took it from me. How in Equestria was that good?"
"You managed to use your powers as you saw fit," said Darren with raised brows, "You didn't drop the shield around me even for a second. And you realized when to dodge and when to attack. Plus, when Nylene and I fought, you stayed out of the way."
"Oh, I see..." Eclipse muttered. "So it wasn't about the sticks? At all?"
"No. It was about you using your abilities. About self-control, balance and timing. And to show you how the rules of a fight change when your attention is divided. You can never focus on more than one, maybe two things at once."
"We also let you observe our powers," said Nylene. "But that shall be enough for today." She passed the remaining stick to Eclipse. "There you go, little pony. A well-deserved trophy."
"Thanks." Eclipse smiled. He sighed. "Wow, that was tough."
Darren let Eclipse sit on his shoulders on the way back. This time, they walked slowly. Darren had his sword and Eclipse's shield on his back and Nylene carried Eclipse's reward.
Two blocks into the city, the colt's head bobbed forward, touching Darren's head, and he began to snore.
"You think we overdid it?" Darren asked Nylene.
"No," she said slowly. "But I was surprised how much you enjoyed sparring with me."
"Frankly, so was I. We should do it again sometime," said Darren.
"Very well. But maybe we should bring Vol'Shalai along, you see, in case we lose our temper," Nylene suggested, sounding amused.
Darren raised his brows. "That would probably be a good idea, looking at it rationally," he said.
"And irrationally?" Nylene retorted with a grin.
"I wouldn't want any observers," Darren admitted, his face heating up as he imagined the scenario.
The walked on for a while, passing a canal. Nylene still smiled, seeming utterly pleased with herself, a fact that made Darren smirk, too.
A tower bell struck once. Nylene's grin faded as she noticed that Darren's aura immediately shifted from a vibrant, happy orange to dark purple and blue.
"What is it?" she asked quietly.
"The bell. It's not one of a kind." Darren adjusted his grip on Eclipse's legs. "Its twin..." He trailed off.
"Let me guess. It used to be in Lordaeron."
"Yes."
"I do not wish to impose," said Nylene immediately. "Forget I asked."
"No, it's fine. Last time I heard that bell was... when Arthas returned from Northrend. To murder his father and begin the invasion of the Scourge. The invasion during which I - during which my family was murdered. When Andorhal was burned to the ground. I bet most people here don't even know the bell of the Cathedral of Light sounds exactly like the one in Lordaeron," Darren said matter-of-factly.
"I see." Nylene trailed alongside him for a while, saying nothing. Then, a thought came to her. "Maybe it's good that at least its twin still sings for the Light."
Darren nodded but only lightly so he would not awaken the colt.
So Darren was finally opening up and the first truly personal thing he told her was this. Nylene sighed inwardly. So many ugly things had happened to him. She should have expected that a meaningful conversation with him would turn dark eventually. Yet who was she to blame him?
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you," Darren said. "For a while now."
"Go ahead...?"
"Back in Ratchet... you said something about a fire. What did you mean?"
Nylene froze for a second. She remembered that day well. She had told him of the fire, Darren had been clueless about it, and ten seconds later a man from his own hometown had accused him of burning people. She still saw it before her mind's eye, how Darren had let the man hit him straight in the face even though he could have killed him without breaking a sweat.
"Sylvanas Windrunner incinerated our home, the world tree Teldrassil," Nylene said slowly. "Thousands had to flee to Stormwind, including relatives of mine."
"I'm sorry," Darren said instantly.
"No, it's fine," Nylene echoed him even though her throat tightened. "You didn't know. Nor was it your fault."
"But I know what it's like to watch your home burning down," he said sharply. Eclipse hummed and moved his head. Lowering his voice, Darren added, "It's not something anybody wants to be reminded of."
Nylene sighed. "No, it's not." She looked at the sleeping Eclipse, his aura calm and mellow. "Lucky little pony. To come from a world so peaceful. We must bring them back before anything happens to them."
"Yeah."
Seeing the mood Darren was in, Nylene decided not to ask him about the accusations of the man from Andorhal. It must have been something Darren had done as an undead. And it was not her place to judge him for past deeds, not in the light of all that she had done to fight the Legion. The only way to live on, for both of them, was by going forward.
The rest of the day was uneventful compared to the morning. After lunch, Eclipse took another nap. Nylene borrowed his Hearthstone cards and browsed through them until, to her surprise, Darren suggested to play a game.
"I wasn't aware you knew the rules," she remarked as they each shuffled a deck and stacked it on the table between them.
"I payed attention." Darren split Nylene's deck, she simply tapped his pile to confirm it was well-mixed, and they began.
Nylene had to focus hard to tell the cards apart, a reason why she had let Tarik play with Eclipse more often. She could make out the letters and figures with some difficulty, well enough to know what kind of cards she had. From what she remembered, her deck was based on firing lots of spells at the opponent's hero while Darren's deck, which was Eclipse's main deck, had its focus on summoning allies. She would have to be quick before Darren could fill up the field with minions.
They made their first moves. Nothing much was happening yet; Nylene used an ability card to poke Darren's hero with a measly two damage while Darren focused on preparing portals.
"So what do we do when we find Levinia?" Nylene asked. "What if she's injured?"
Darren hummed. "Wouldn't be surprised. Anyone who can abduct a ghost sounds like a threat we need to take seriously." He summoned a troll druid. The picture on the card glared menacingly at Nylene.
Nylene shot arcane missiles at the druid and the card went to the cemetery. "Agreed. Vol'Shalai needs to be ready to heal her."
"If he can't, I'll try," said Darren. "She's undead so it might work. I can heal ghouls. Same principle."
"Are you sure Eclipse should come along? I have a bad feeling about all of this."
Darren sighed. "No. But he seems to be sure."
"Darren, he is ten years old," said Nylene. "And a pony. An innocent creature. Don't you think he'll get traumatized by seeing his friend hurt or - Moon forbid - destroyed? Do you think he has any idea what it's going to be like to fight his way through Elune-knows-what?" Her next card was - something with fire bolts. She used it to reduce the opposing hero's health by another four points.
"He knows exactly what it's like," said Darren. "We fought together against King Sombra. And Eclipse saw my memories. He felt them." He put down a card. It was Eclipse's favourite one, the archmage that could create portals. "But we should still ask Khadgar if he can provide us with some protective spells. Mainly for Eclipse."
Nylene watched as Darren used his card to summon three minions at once. She was about to lose.
"Well, you're the one responsible for him," Nylene said. "It's just hard for me to imagine the child being so familiar with suffering."
"Really?" Darren sounded surprised. "I'd assume..."
"When they are, they're not as easy-going as Eclipse, believe me. They usually shut themselves off from the rest of the world. Or, and that's not better, they develop abnormal behaviour. I've seen it happen often enough. That's one of the reasons I became a demon hunter."
"He did cry more often the last few days," Darren said slowly. "And his Void powers... well, it's a good thing he meditates."
Nylene nodded, putting her cards down. Darren's minions had overrun her defenses.
"The fact that he's still mostly alright... it might have to do with his disposition as a shadow pony." Darren stacked his cards again and set them aside.
"And he leans on us," Nylene added. "If he was alone he probably would have despaired by now, or gone mad. Especially with the shadows inside of him. You claim that his mind is stable enough. But I can still sense how fragile he is. We need to be careful. He should keep meditating and using the Light so he won't lose his balance. He needs to feel safe in order to be safe."
Darren huffed. "Right. You're right." He leaned back and crossed his arms. "Damn, I wish we knew where she is. So we could make a plan. There's too many unknowns to get a clear picture yet."
"It's no use, Darren. When Vol'Shalai tracks her down, then we'll know more. The only thing we can do is prepare ourselves with practice and rest."
"I know. Usually, I'm a patient man. But this time," he sighed heavily, "waiting is driving me crazy. Another game?"
Nylene smiled. "Don't you wait on my behalf."