Starting over, for a fresher wound

Lucy wants to wipe the slate clean, and start fresh with Kamala. And then Fel hounds.

Razor hill- 3:57 P.M., The inside of the tavern...

The day was a scorcher in dusty old Razor hill, with the sun beaming down on the village with an absurd amount of heat. The bright light had cast it's ever reaching tendrils into the opening of the moderate sized tavern in the middle of the village, however despite it's intensity, it did not reach too far in. Near the back of the tavern, awaited two figures, mostly covered by the dark veil of the shadows not disturbed by sunlight. Kamala, as usual, sat there with her distorted hood and mask covering her facial features. The gruesome properties of the cover showing many holes for the upper half of the face, with a maniacal grin etched upon the lower half of it's metal plating. Kamala was never too keen on revealing her face, as it caused her great discomfort to even go out in public without her mask on. Behind her stood a slender yet taller figure, the feminine shape of her body compensating for the demonic figure that her wings and horns cast out. The succubus was barely visible, minus the bright hues of her eyes that stood out much like a cat in the darkness of night. The tavern stood empty, a mostly quiet and serene silence only occasionally disturbed by the distant sounds of birds or the wind outside the rough fabrics of the stone walls. Kamala sat on her wooden seat, drumming her hands against the gritty wooden table which had shown years of wear and abuse, most likely by rowdy drunk customers or the occasional traveler come to rest their boots.

The silence was abruptly broken, as the succubus Nazyla decided to speak up "Mistress, are you sure this is such a good idea?", but Kamala did not respond verbally. Instead the thumping of her troll fingers against the wooden surface slightly increased in pace as Nazyla spoke out once more.

"I realize you were willing to hear her out, but if your debt is settled, would it not be better to just avoid her altogether? I mean you've seen how well she holds a gru-"

Nazyla was promptly cut off as Kamala slammed her fist onto the table and spoke with a disgruntled and annoyed demeanor.

"Well firsst off, I did not invite 'er 'ere! Sshe did! I be 'ere because I received a message from 'er, and if sshe'ss come to finissh wat I sstarted, den we 'af a plan in place to take care of 'er before sshe can sstrike!"

Her trollish accent, coupled with her hissing speech impediment, made her phrase sound less intimidating than she implied. However Nazyla knew better than to push certain buttons, so she held her tongue for the most part. Nazyla sighed as she looked towards the doorway for a moment, making sure there was still nobody approaching before speaking again.

"But Mistress, we've already tried to kill her twice, and those times didn't exactly go so well."

Kamala gave a disgruntled scoff, dismissively waving off the succubus and her comment.

"Dat wass den, diss iss now."

Nazyla looked down at her mistress with a dissapointed look of amusement.

"You always say that."

"Jusst sshut up and make ssure everyting iss in place. Are te Fel 'oundss ready to sstrike?"

Nazyla gave a quick glance over to the corners on each side of the entrance to the room, where small chalk outlines were hidden amongst the shadows. A booby trap ready to spring with but a simple wave of a skilled warlock's hand. The succubus was about to speak, but instead responded with a quick tap on the spiky metal shoulderplates adorning the warlock's shoulder, signifying that the trap was indeed ready and that company would soon join them.

Stepping in from the outside, bathed in the brilliant light of the sun, stood a rather small elven figure. The female, though short in stature and feminine in appearance, was clad in some very reinforced and heavy plating. The cacophonous clanking of her boots with each step across the floor reverberated across the walls of the almost empty tavern. Her armor, giving off a silver shine, served as a makeshift mirror as it reflected and bounced a handful of the sun's rays into separate parts of the room as she strode forward, calmly approaching her meeting spot across the table from the warlock. Strapped to her back was a noticeably large sword, making her stature appear even more tiny by comparison. She spoke not a word on her way to sit down, and once she had taken her seat, which was noted by the groaning of wood at the weight of her heavy plated outfit, she simply unhooked the blade attached to her back and let it fall against the counter beside her with a loud thunk. Whether this was to boast or simply because she just so happened to sit in the right spot, the sword ended up neatly slanted against the counter, making it appear as though someone placed it there with great care.

The two of them stared silently at one another, uttering not a single word for some time. Kamala took note of the vibrant golden hair, tied into a ponytail as she stared down the elf she knew as Lucy. Although for Lucy, it was unclear to her if the troll was looking directly at her or not, given the facial covering with its ghastly outward appearance. For a moment there was no sound, as Nazyla raised an eyebrow looking back and forth between the two of them and wondering if she should say something to lighten the tension. Before she could make a crude joke, Kamala cut the silence with an annoyed and frustrated tone.

"Well?! Wat did ya assk me 'ere for?"

Lucy peered into what she believed was where the troll would have her eyes located, and replied with a somber tone.

"Look. I know we haven't exactly seen eye to eye, and your debt to me was already repaid. But I want to make amends and start over. Despite our previous.... Altercations, I owe you for helping me find my sister."

Kamala did not speak directly to Lucy, turning her head to the side and commenting to her succubus instead.

"Wat doess sshe mean make amends and sstart over? I tought I wass te one 'oo tried to kill 'er."

"Mistress, she simply means she wants to forget your bad history and start fresh! A clean slate!"

"Dat doessn't make any ssensse! Our bussinessss iss done, and sshe gainss noting from ssimply being on good termss wit me. And sshe knowss diss!"

"Oh come now, Mistress! It's not a bad thing to have friends. And besides, she's not a bad lay either."

The succubus gave a flirty little wave at Lucy, coupled with a lewd gesture from her mouth and finger to which Lucy replied by simply rolling her eyes and trying not to grin. Before Kamala could speak again, Lucy interrupted her.

"Look I'm not saying let's get all friendly and send each other letters or what have you. I'm simply trying to put our differences behind us, and let bygones be bygones. So what do you say?"

Kamala's facial features could not be discerned, but her body language showed great disdain when the elf spoke up as she turned to face her again. Kamala scoffed, muttering a rather obscene swear in her native tongue before responding.

"Don't patronize me, elf! I know your kind, and I know te liess ya sspin sso ya can sstab me in te back and 'af your vengeance once I let my guard down! You're foolissh if ya tink ya can trick me like ssome common 'umon or ssimple minded orc."

This response was not at all what Lucy was expecting, and she found herself clenching her fist before taking in a small breath and replying in a forced calm tone.

"Look I'm not trying to be deceitful here. I just want to keep my word to a friend that I would give you another chance."

Kamala scoffed, turning her face up slightly but just enough for Lucy to know she was sneering at her and causing her to grit her teeth as Kamala spoke.

"Oh really? Your friend wantss uss to get along, den? I ssupposse your friend alsso wantss ya to pay off my bountiess and perhapss buy me a fressh batch of flowerss too den? Wat kinda idiot do ya take me for?"

Lucy stood up immediately, slamming both her fists onto the table and glaring at her. As she spoke with a heightened tone of aggravation, Nazyla discreetly unfurled her whip at her side, keeping it at the ready.

"Now look here you stupid island bucket of b***h! If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead! I'm not the moron here who can't even properly say the phrase Seven hundred seventy seven thousand, seven hundred seventy seven, without causing a large white noise disturbance in goblin and gnomish engineering products! Your abnormally short troll a*s couldn't even begin to fathom how many of your stupid teeth I could knock out with a single swing from the back of my hand!"

Kamala had stood up halfway through the angry response, and returned her glare while seething in her own fury, responding in an equally escalated and aggravated tone.

"Now ssee 'ere ya Knife-eared glorified addict! I will not 'af ya and your tiny tinssel covered form sspeak to me in ssuch a manner! Te only reasson I ssettled my debt, wass sso I would not 'afta sstoop to your patetic level of peassantry dat iss being a blood elf! Your kind iss dissgussting and 'a*s dabbled in creating more debtss dan ssettling demss! Ya look like you've been drawing mana from a trassh pile in a brotel, rater da your ridiculouss well of mana! And I can too ssay sseven 'undred toussan- tousss.. seven ssseventy seh... SSHUT UP!"

"You only wear a mask because your tusks are as grotesque as your blackened and diseased ridden troll feet!"

"You're moter wass a ssalamander!"

No sooner than Kamala had finished uttering her last comment, Lucy had already dove towards her with outstretched arms. Bounding across the table with an impressive display of agility, and swiftly grasping the troll by the throat with both hands as she smashed her against the wall. Fortunately for Kamala, her succubus reacted just as swiftly, stepping off to the side with just enough room to maneuver her whip and gain the most efficient amount of momentum to lash out and wrap around the neck of Kamala's attacker. Though it did not do much good, as while Nazyla was using a great deal of her strength to both strangle and pull away at the elf, Lucy had an even larger amount of force at her disposal that one would not expect from someone with her stature. Kamala gasped for air, one hand trying to pry herself free from the iron jaws that clenched her airway closed while pinning her against the wall, and the other helplessly beating on Lucy's face with little to no result. The fury in Lucy's eyes burned brightly, as the blood vessels started to pool and burst in her right eye, showing that she was indeed taking a good deal of physical harm as well but somehow managing to muscle through it and deal out threefold the force in return.

Kamala started to waiver in her beatings, her vision blurred and her voice turning to a low squeak. Before the darkness had completely consumed her, she made a weak and feeble wave of her hand in an odd pattern, before going limp. Lucy would have ended her life then and there, as she felt no need to loosen her grip or even stop, but the sparks of fel magic and fire behind her gave way to two separate gates tearing into the fabric of reality. She had but a moment to glance backwards, counting six hounds rushing out from the void openings forming at the sides of the entrance, the succubus standing between her and the doorway. She reacted on impulse, taking one hand off of the troll and wrapping it around the whip still tightly on her own neck. Her first instinct was to pull, but she knew better than to play into the demon's sly tricks so instead she flicked a small wave outward against Nazyla, catching her offguard. Once she saw her opening she abruptly pulled the succubus over, using an immense amount of her strength and catching the succubus by the scrawny neck. With a blurry show of destructive power, she hurled both the warlock and the demon towards the two waves of approaching hounds, their bodies colliding in the middle of the room as Lucy made a swift sprint towards the only exit. Once she managed to break free into the open and brightly lit world, she continued to run at a rapid pace. She did not look back, and took no chances in slowing down, as she sprinted the whole way back to the city of Orgrimmar.

In the tavern, Nazyla had to pry two of the hounds off of each other as well as herself, having had one of them impaled by her own horn from the impact as she stood up and brushed herself off with a pouty face of disappointment.

"Oh dear. The mistress will certainly not like this... Clean this mess up, little ones. I've got to get the mistress to a more suitable location."

As she motioned for the hounds to devour the injured hound, she leaned down and picked up Kamala, throwing her over her shoulder and stepping with her into the nether.

"They say third time's the charm, Mistress. Let's see if maybe fourth is more your speed."

Kamala and Nazyla faded into the nether, leaving behind five Fel hounds devouring a Fel hound corpse, as well as Lucy's sword which somehow managed to stay in place.

Almost as if someone had placed it there with great care....

Author's Note

Lucy is especially sensitive about her mother, since when she witnessed her die she didn't even have enough left to bury.

Special thanks to Bailey for some small improvements.