WoW Story: Bloodlust

Caleb's hooves pound the cobblestone pathway as he and his rider thunder through the small town of tranquillen in a blur of motion. Pink foam oozes from the horse's mouth, dripping on the ever disappearing path below them. An undead squeal of pain from his throat only strengthens her bloodlusted grip on his reins, pulling and digging deep into his flesh. Caleb's eyes roll with pain as he is pressed on by his unrelenting rider, the burning desire to please her causing him to push beyond his limits. Luna's lich fire eyes blaze with anger and the need to kill. The heaving beast below her cannot run fast enough! She digs her heels hard into his sides. Run Caleb! Run!

Once clear of the town, Luna unsheathes her burning blades. She forces her steed off the pathways into the thick, rich forests of the Ghostlands. Luna does not slow him down. Not even when the terrain becomes dangerously uneven, shadows hiding patches of potentially crippling gaps in the forest floor. She is too far consumed in her own lust for blood to even notice they had run past the Sanctum of the Sun. It mattered not. Her eyes, narrow. Focused. The gaze of a killer.

The first victim of her blades causes Luna to cry out in ecstasy. She can't remember what it was, some form of animal? Whatever the kill, the warm blood that splashed onto her only managed to fuel her rage, that unending darkness that consumed her. Her eyes seek out the next living creature, twisting Caleb towards a set of ruins. In her frenzied, heightened and alerted state Luna makes out the figures easily. Trolls. Perfect.

They saw her coming. Who wouldn't. The screeching stallion below pounded through the forest, cracking branches, foliage and even small animals that were not quick enough to escape their fate. Luna laughed as they rushed to prepare themselves. Her rune blades would slice through the wood of their pathetic defence like paper.

And they didn't fail her.

Blood sprayed into the heavens as arteries were severed to her left and right. Women, children even, could not run fast enough. The more she killed, the stronger she grew as if remembering with ever slaughter the ease of it all. The lust, the energy, the –power- of her kills riveted through her like water breaking a dam.

Alarms blasted through the troll village although Luna could not hear them. All she could hear were the heartbeats. The rush of blood and life running through her victims as they scrambled. Falling over one another in attempts to flee. Luna roared violently in her sadistic language, screaming calls of victory and power. Her rune blades burst into blue fire, frost and ice dripping from their edges. Cries of terror could be heard, only just above the thumping of her target's beating heart. Lub...dub. Lub...dub.

Blood showered over the death knight and her loyal steed as her rune blades tasted the flesh of the living. The numbing brutality of every kill soothed Luna's anger into sweet, sweet lust. Bloodlust. It consumed her. Carried her. And she loved every second of it. This way why she was created! This is what she was born for. She could no longer lie to herself. She was a monster. Feared. Hated. The bringer of death and pain! She smiled. She liked the thought of that.

She pushed onwards through the village and over a large bank. Blind with bloodlust Luna hadn't noticed the drop off the other side. Caleb slid down the steep edge with eyes wide, white and rolling with terror. It was a fall that would have broken any living horse's leg. But not his. He thundered onward, obeying every twisted command his rider demanded of him. Panting. Straining.

Finally Luna emerged from the forest, only then slowing the beast to a walk for the first time since they had left the gates of Silvermoon. Warm blood drips from Luna's armour, her face and hair covered in a shiny crimson. The whites of her teeth showing through the veil of red as her lips curve upwards in a grin. They walk onwards, together... Luna's heart pounding with bloodlust. Ecstasy. Desperately trying to shut out and ignore the slowly creeping feeling of guilt as her steed limps forwards underneath her.

Once in Thalassian pass, the banner of the scourge catches her attention. Flashbacks of her homeland and upbringing paralyze her for the briefest of moments as the wind moves the forgotten banner back and forth. Caleb nuzzles her leg reassuringly although his eyes are hazy, weakened and pained. She dismounts, the wet plate of her boots landing harshly on the ground below. Caleb moves to the side, shaking. He collapses to the ground, his chest heaving as his nostrils grow wide and then deflate with every breath.

Luna looks up at the banner. Her eyes glowing with longing, the blades in her hands dancing with runic power. She doesn't even notice the sound of another horse until its rider speaks. The voice is low, scourge-like.

"Luna."

She spins around, blades still dripping with blood. Her gaze falls upon the woman, softening slightly.

Ariietta.