#i mean i could try erlain one day

[secret-third-thing]

is there a character you've wanted to write for but haven't yet?

Elain!!! I have very specific ideas about her and have yet to put them into fic b/c the brain worms demand more Eris first.

[eldridgecandell]

Confronting Ghosts

A heavy pounding resounded the small room of Erlain Candell as he jolted from his chair.  Conservative was an understatement of the packed inn, but Fort Daelin wasn’t exactly going to be a quiet place any time soon.  News had arrived earlier in the week of the full scale attack of the Naga and their horrific queen, neither side in the Great War prepared.  This wasn’t how things were supposed to be going with the war with the Horde in full swing.  War had a way of screwing things up.

The heavy pounding came again as the door of his room rattled on the hinges and drove him to his feet.  

“Just a moment,” he called out as weakly as he could muster.  His quick and strong stride carried him to his dresser and the heavy broadsword of nethersteel that rested quietly for it’s master.  Grasping the hilt and moving swiftly back to the door, Lain position himself to one side of the entrance.  Face grim and blue eyes narrowed, bare feet would adjust their stance and prepare to counter this seige.  Another three strikes to the wood.

“Give an old man a moment, here we are now.”  Erlain called out as he reached gently to the door lock and flipped it.  The iron latch would lift and clatter followed by the slow creak before opening wide.  A booted foot would cross the threshold as his scarred hands gripped the scabbarded sword tightly before swinging it at the intruder.

Clashing cries of the same tone would resound as the leather guarded blade was caught by strong hands with a thunk.  Bared teeth and blazing blue eyes would meet and lock before the old man’s pressure would halt and eyes widen. 

“Eld?”

A grunt and shove would throw the surprised knight of his step and send him stumbling back into the edge of the old bed.  The dark cloaked figure stepping in with heavy footfalls before slamming the door behind him.  A swift turn would blow his hood back to show the middle aged man shooting daggers at his father.  Words would start and stop as Erlain bounced out of his shock and used his sheathed weapon to pin his son against the oak door.  Eyes blazing with equal anger sent accusatory hurt straight at Eld.

“What the hell are you doing, boy?  Have you lost your light addled mind?”  Lain snarled at his son as he struggled to hold the witch hunter at bat.

“What am I doing?  What are you doing?”  Eld growled back as he shoved against the sword.  “Or more so what did you do?”

Like two enraged wolves the Candell struggled against one another in the grapple.  Eventually the older would give way as he spoke.  “Damn it Eld, calm the hell down!  I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You damn well do, I sent her here for help!”  Eld shoved back with his strong arms, both warriors and equal thanks to time and experience. 

“What?”

“Tidesinger you sanctimonious bastard!”

Lain blinked as he heard the name and cooled his rage to a hard frown before relenting and releasing the younger Candell.  “What about her?  What’s happened?  Calm yourself boy.”

The son sucked in a shaky breath, Eld relaxing his burning arms before he leaned against the door.  He’d let himself get angry and not in the productive way but the stupid way.  The witch hunter definitely felt foolish, but that’s what happened when danger claimed those closest.

“Emma, she’s been arrested.”

Lain grimaced harder as he adjusted the grip of his sword to be drawn but faithful his son wouldn’t bring it to that.  “What do you mean arrested?”

“I’m not sure if there is another word I can use to show the gravity of what’s happening,” Eld responded coolly.

“Shutup, Eld.  Why would you think I had anything to do with that?”

“Because as I said before you’re a sanctimonious ass.”

“Bastard.”

“What?”

“Bastard.  You called me a bastard,” Lain replied curtly as he scowled at his son.  “And I advice you be careful how you speak of your grandmother.”

“You think this is a joke, Lain?  She’s is in prison.  She’s more than likely heading to the noose and you want to joke about what I called you?”  Eld snarled as he started forward at the elder Candell before the ethereal misted netherblade sat between the pair.

“Easy boy,” Erlain spoke clearly and sternly as he held his son at bay.  “We both have faced a lot of terrible things in our days so far.  We likely will face far more, but by the light I am your father and I’m telling you to call down.”

Eld continue to seethe under the older man’s hard gaze and parental tone.  Lain always knew how to get under his skin and always knew how to poke him out of his usual cool calm.  The father and son bond they shared carried a simmering rage that one of the other always tapped in their meetings.

Eld let out a shaky sigh before Lain nodded with a grunt and lowered his sword.  “Let me see the letter, Eld.”

•

To the Attention of Eldridge Candell, 

 It is at the behest and under the authority of the Proudmoore Admiralty that this missive reaches you by post. The individual known as 'Emma Tidesinger' has been apprehended by the Admiralty military police within the city of Boralus under suspicion of crimes under the provision of the Lord Admiral and the Alliance. She is being held to await trial for crimes against the Admiralty, the Alliance, and their people. 

 It is the understanding of the Admiralty that the individual mentioned above is an associate of yours. As a citizen of the great nation of Kul Tiras, the Admiralty is requesting your presence in Boralus to meet before a tribunal regarding your ties with the alleged. Please see the notary attached for scheduling and location.

•

Lain stroked his mustache softly as he sat in the chair, his sword still free to the warm air of his room as Eld sat opposite him on an old footstool.  The younger Candell kept his gaze on the fire that crackled and bit at the small provided logs.  The water stained proclamation sat between them, rolling at the edges from its long journey from the south.

“This is not good, Eld.”

Eld grimaced and bit his tongue to hold back the frustrated sarcasm his family cultivated when under stress.  Folding his hands before him as he squeezed them right, his reply would be strained by calm.  “I know it’s not good, Lain.  That’s why I’m here.  I had her come asking for your help and a few weeks later I’m summoned to a tribunal regarding treason.”

The witch hunter would look up to his father again with a tightened jaw.  “So you tell me what happened when she got here.”

Lain continued to stroke his mustache before letting out a hard sigh from his crooked nose.  “Ms Tidesinger came to me about investigating the azerite and its effects on those using.”

Eld’s former cold anger was caught off guard by his father’s admittance of the supposed strange life blood of the world.  “You’re using azerite?”

“Why does that surprise you?”

“It just feels out of character for you,” Eld replied with the same curious look to the estranged parental figure.  “You were always such a by the bootstraps and your own hands way of doing things.”

Lain’s frown easily matched Eld’s at the accusatory tone of his son regarding his use of the mineral.  “Are you here to judge me or to find out what happened?”

Eld cleared his throat and went quiet as he waited for the man to continue.  Lain nodded curtly before continuing his story, his words short and to the point.  “For the next few weeks we traveled together.  I did most of the heavy lifting, she kept her nose in her books.  Days were fairly simple as went around helping with a few jobs here and there for the people of Stormsong.  She kept a safe distance and asked questions while I worked.”

“She stayed here and we took meals but for the most part it was a professional relationship for the couple of weeks.”  Eld nodded softly as he listened to Lain and tapped his chin as he tried to find something useful from the basic story.

“So nothing else odd?”

“No.  I used the azerite and did my work, she took notes and records.  Nothing else.”

It was just as Eld had thought things would go for Emma when he sent her here to see Lain.  Unfortunately it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

“What do you think I should do?”  Eld spoke quietly, his former fury cooled as he found himself lost on his next action.

Erlain sat quietly watching his son for a few moments before looking into his low hearth fire, doing his best to mask his surprise at being consulted by his son.  “I think you should go to Boralus and hear what this tribunal has planned.  Perhaps your testimony might aid her defense.  Hopefully others have been called, I’m not privy to Kul Tiran judiciary system.”  

“They’re going to ask questions.  About myself and from before,” Eld replied quietly, caution outweighed his fear regarding his past.

Lain let out another long sigh as a snort, his fingers drumming absently along the pommel of his blade. “And that will be your bridge to cross.”

Eld nodded, his hands pressing to knees as he eased himself up to feet with a grunt.  “Then my road lies back to the south.”

“Son.”

Eld paused, one hand on the latch of the oak door as he stood silent facing the door.

The knight stood up from his chair but did not close the gap with his son, merely holding staring at the back of his only kin.  Eldridge was all he had left.  A family lost to war so long ago but still hurting to the core of who he was. He had to try, time never stops.  “Eld, do you have to leave just yet?  I know this is important but I feel I deserve a little of your time.  We can’t go on living this way.  Can we talk?”

For a moment, the witch hunter held at the oak door hearing his father’s words.  Each struck deep and gripped his heart with pity for a moment, there was a certain finality to the old man’s request.  But each pang reopened other ones.  An argument in a stable, harsh words at a tower, and the final blows at the crossroads.  They froze him inside as he felt his hand close about handle and squeeze tightly as the heat of his anger would simmer under the ice in his veins.

“I thought we made it clear before where our relationship stood, Lain,” Eld spoke coldly as he twisted the handle.  

Erlain’s face fell as his hopes were cast aside, the similar grim frown on his face as he wanted to one more word to his boy but found he couldn’t.  Both of them had said a lot of things, perhaps too much or too little but they had been said.  Nothing could change the past.

The silence sat like a heavy curtain between the Candells before Eld pulled the door open and closed it softly behind him.  

(This is in response to a recent storyline regarding @emma-tidesinger created by @whimsicallyart .  I apologize for how long it took to put together but hopefully it was enjoyable!)

Players @eldridgecandell @erlaincandell @emma-tidesinger