Purpose

...

Iedreth remembered all of her dream.

It had begun with a bright light gently caressing her eyelids, coaxing her to open her eyes, peering about at the transluscent beings that walked about, ignorant of her presense among them. She had lifted her eyes in wonder to see a deep, blue sky, awed by he beautiful white puffs that adorned it. She felt a shimmering warmth deep in her veins, deep within her, and she closed her eyes, basking in the glorious feeling. She shifted slightly, and felt her hands tighten around something foreign, and her gaze dropped. She held two ethereal blades, the craftmanship impeccable, the design unfamiliar and yet, so beautiful. In wonder, she lifted the blade close to her eyes, admiring the sheen of light that seemed solid, the clean and sharp edges that made up the blade's facets.

Through her examination, her mind seemed focused on her surroundings just as much as her inspection of the blade. She felt an eerie unease settle in her stomach, and the area around her seemed to settle into a hushed whisper, all the ephemeral figures that had been walking around before, vanished, she felt suddenly alone, and all was quiet.

Iedreth felt a small ounce of dread as her eyes scanned around, observing her surroundings cautiously. Suddenly, a magical aura seemed to materialize, and she spun on her heel, her blades already at the throat of the newcomer. She peered into the face of the mysterious being and gasped, nearly lowering her guard.

It was a woman, a sylvari, like herself. Her pale lichen colored vines swirled in delicate waves from the crown of her head, flowing down gently to her right collarbone, the left side of her cranium free of vines, exposing her pale green scalp to the elements. Her eye's were obscured by a criss-cross mask adorned with a summer bloom, and her vestments were made of strong petals and foliage of pale beige and green, seeping with magic, and flowing about her body as if she were a garden of exotic flowers. Her pale green skin, nearly white in the bright light, was caressed with splotches of deep marine blue, like an ocean beneath her skin, only further emphasized by the timid glow of her veins, a river of calm blue. Cool, light, and pleasant to look at.

She had not flinched when the blade had made its way to her throat, instead merely smiling mysteriously, before disappearing altogether in a burst of irridescent violet butterflies. Surprised, Iedreth lowered her guard, nearly dropping her blades. She heard a voice, like dancing windchimes, chuckle lightly.

"So reflexive, is your blade." The woman commented, appearing again before Iedreth's view, though slightly out of range. "You are naturally talented with the blade." Iedreth straightened out, her curious eyes upon the woman, examining her curiously. The woman smiled, her beautiful face marred by white petal-like scars, that did not detract from her smooth features.

"I am Eileria." The mesmer introduced herself, deducing the confusion from the young sapling. "A night bloom, a child of the pale tree." She paused, her smile lilting. Iedreth sheathed her weapons.

"Eileria." Iedreth tried, using her voice. She had a rich, warm tone, slightly deeper, although somehow less commanding then the mesmer before her. "I am Iedreth." She replied simply, having nothing left to follow. The sylvari smiled.

"I know, Iedreth." She claimed gently. "The pale tree asked me to seek you out. In my dream. But, you have not been born yet. Much has changed since I've seen you in my dream." The sylvari woman turned, her hand held out to point forward. Iedreth peered out to see treatcherous vines, curling with menace and thorns, curling around the pale tree's tendrils, the magic trying to worm it's way into the roots. Iedreth felt the dread settle further, and tensed, hands on the hilts of her blades. When Eileria turned back to her, the expression on her face caused Iedreth to pause. It was pain, agony.

"The dream is in danger, sapling." Eileria spoke, her strong voice nearly wavering. "Your dream is your own, I merely came here to guide you, at the request of our mother." She paused, seeming to hesitate on what else she had wanted to say. But she steeled her shoulders, and spoke with strength. "But I'll admit... I have an alternative reason for wanting to speak with you..." She glared at the tendrils as if they had personally offended her, and Iedreth tensed, believing that, they just might have.

"Why... I am so..." Iedreth searched for the words. "Young." Eileria smiled, placing a transparent hand on the young saplings shoulder.

"We are all called to different things, my sister." She said, her face kind. "But, as my mentor joined me in my dream, so too have I joined you here. For... We share a common destiny."

Suddenly Iedreth was alone. The tendrils seemed to slither upon the ground towards her, and as they drew closer, she could hear a whisper, a lilting, though dark and deep voice, speaking to her.

My child. It whispered. My dear, dear child. Why are you afraid of me?

Iedreth watched in disbelief as the vines stopped hardly feet from her, twisting and climbing to create a vined figure, shaped like a male human, comprised of ever moving, ever changing and pusling thick vines, thorns sharp as daggers. Her eyes locked upon the pupiless eyes that drew her in, staring her down in a red gaze. She couldn't seem to tear her gaze away, though she felt the stirrings of panic deep within her. What was it? Terror? She wasn't sure, but she knew, something deep inside, that she was in danger. Something was going to hurt her.

My child, I would never hurt you. Iedreth's slow steps backward stopped, and her heart hammered in her chest. This voice, so soothing and calm, was meant to lure her in, she could feel it. But it wasn't her mother. It wasn't the pale tree. An image, glowing golden skin and a glorious white glow, invaded her eyes, a soft, warm smile, and a voice like a tinkling river, a laugh like a babbling brook. A hand on her cheek softer than the petal of a rose. This was her mother. The pale tree. Not this being of darkness that tried to seduce her with its soothing speech.

"I am not your child... whoever you are." Iedreth spoke with confidence. The red eyes of the vined being narrowed.

Oh, but you are. It continued to whisper, dark tendrils of darkness winding their way around her mind, her limbs, her lips... All my children will come to me. It is your destiny, why you were born. The vined being ghosted right before her, its red eyes boring into her own widened orbs, its hand caressing the side of her cheek, the texture rough, and the temperature cold, unwelcome. Iedreth whimpered.

Be strong, sapling. A strong voice, Eileria's voice, broke through the deadly haze that clouded her mind, just long enough for her to shake off the dark being, and disappear in a burst of purple butterflies, running quickly towards a twined vine bridge, her blades drawn and eyes trained forward.

Her eyes catalogued very specific images as she approached the bridge, despite her desperation to escape the darkness she felt creeping upon her. A glint of strange, mirror like gems, twisting and turning, and an almost reptilian eye, staring curiously at her as she bolted away. A burst of color, a vibrant cerulean paired with ice blue eyes, staring as she ran past.

The bridge was so close, she felt her heart hammering, knowing whatever the creature following her was, it wouldn't stop here. It would follow her across. But she also knew, somehow, that, even when it did, she wouldn't be alone. She could fight here, uninhibited, free from it's mental shadow. She had to cross that bridge, and she had to do it before it was too late.

Running will not save you, child. The patronization in the voice was staggering. It had resorted to colder methods now, realizing it's soothing words bore no breaking on her solid resolve. I will always be there, in the deepest recesses of your mind, as your true creator. Your, father, if you will. You belong to me.

"Get out of my head!" Iedreth screamed aloud, her hands over her ears. Her legs screamed at her as she pushed them harder, faster, forcing her magic to blink across the length of the bridge, before continuing into a sprint into the circular grove, the remnants of a collasal, dark, vined dragon, wasting away right in the center.

"He was slain, in my dream." Eileria commented, her ethereal appearance once again present, walking towards the muddled mess of plantlike foliage in the shape of a dragon. "Caithe and I, we fought its nightmare, its corruption, in hopes that it would no longer poison the dream. That dreamers would be safe, contained from the horrors of the nightmare. Her hands clenched on a withered branch, nearly snapping it in half, before her hand relaxed. "Alas, little did we know that the nightmare was larger than just a small group of our own trying to poison the dream. No... much larger, it was." She glanced upon the opening to the grove, the dark vines slithering into the doorway, blocking it from entry or exit. Eileria frowned.

"It seems no matter how much we fight, there is always something that takes the place of evil after a victory." Eileria seemed weary, and for a moment, Iedreth thought she saw the mesmer's features darken. However, when she blinked, she realized, she wasn't darkening, she was becoming opaque. Eileria seemed to come to the same conclusion, drawing a sharpened blade, irredescent and flowing like the wing of a butterfly, and a shield to match, and stancing herself beside the sapling. "We will take on this threat to the dream together, sapling." She smiled at the sylvari, her scars gleaming a bright white. "Show him that he does not own you."

Iedreth nodded, her feet planted firmly in the fresh dirt, her arms tensed as she watched the physical manifestation of the vines again take on a humanoid appearance, its red eyes glowing brightly at her rebellion.

My children. Came its whisper. Why do you fight your father? I only want my children to be at my side. Iedreth seethed, but Eileria smiled, her freckled visage sparkling like the sun.

"You don't fool us, Mordremoth." She spoke clearly. "My only parent is the pale tree. And I shall see to it you are destroyed." She glanced at Iedreth, her smile grim. "And we will free the Sylvari from your slavery." The vined creature snarled at her tenacity, and struck at her, its movements so fast, Iedreth nearly missed it. However, it would seem Eileria was not impatient, nor inexperienced, and her image faded into a phantasm of purple light, two more of her images appearing perpendicular to one another, a third, stealthed figure, behind the creature, shielding her body cautiously. The creature snarled again, sending sharp, thorned vines to wrap around the phantasms, their images disappearing in a flash of light. Eileria blocked an incoming vine, cutting it with her blade, a satisfying sound, and blinked across the grove, more illusions charging at the vines with renewed vigor.

Not to be outdone, Iedreth let out a battle cry, her dual blades swinging and slicing at the living vines, shattering the defenses of the creature, causing it to roar in rage. Eileria jumped in front of the sapling, shield taking the brunt of the vine's snap, making Iedreth jump at the sound. Had it hit her...

She focused again, her blades swishing as she summoned her own illusion, it's power weak, but the more targets, the less likely the darkness would have to actually hit the pair of mesmers. Her blades were effective, slicing apart the thin vines, frustrating the red-eyed creature, and suddenly, a beastial cry was let forth, and the mass of the creature tripled, thorns encasing it's hide, a deep, thick, armor like encasing.

A vine, slick and dark, shot forward, aimed straight for Iedreth. She lifted her blade to parry, but the vine swatted the blade from her hand as if she were holding a stick, and her hand stung with the effort to hold on, feeling a slight crack as the blade slid away and beneath the feet of the mass. Shocked, Iedreth looked up to see the vine rearing back, preparing itself to strike, before again rocketing towards her at an incredible pace. She hardly had time to blink.

"Iedreth!" Iedreth opened her eyes, widening them at the sight before her. Eileria had jumped in front of her again, her shield lay at her feet, which were several inches off the ground, her sword had been flung away, lain unattended at the edge of the grove. Eileria's hands were grasping at the coiled vines around her waist, trying to push herself out of the monster's grip. A light blue trail of liquid, not unlike a river, flowed from the mesmer's arm where a thorn had jammed itself into her skin. Iedreth felt something click in her, in that moment, and she knew that this was a reminder. She could not falter. Lives would be at stake. The creature was distracted by it's prey. She had to stop it before it hurt her.

Your resistance is hardly admirable, Eileria. The creature whispered to the mesmer intimately. I've already shown you the future that awaits you. Why fight it? I will just kill more of them. You cannot save them all. Eileria paushed in her struggle, and smiled, angelic, lighting up her face. The vines paused, the red eyes narrowing in confusion.

"I do not need to." She replied simply, voice unwavering. The creature sneered and tightened its grip on her abdomen, forcing out a deep, pained gasp.

You are wasting your true potential as this, "commander". The voice echoed, it's soothing tones trying to penetrate her mind. Wasteful with all that you could become...

Eileria could see herself, armored to the teeth and radiant, slaying humans, charr, asura, and norn, convincing her fellow Sylvari to join their father's side... She could see the gifts that would be showered upon her, the honor.

The betrayel.

"I am not yours. Mordremoth." She leered, blue sap peeling from her lips. "And I never will be. NOW IEDRETH!" The dragon's avatar sneered, turning to leer at the young mesmer, who had her blades crossed at the back of the neck of the avatar.

"No more of your corruption, creature." Iedreth announced, slicing off the head of the creature, and pushing her blade through its skull.

The vines wrapped around Eileria dropped, allowing the mesmer to lithely tumble to her feet, grasping her sword and shield, placing them back into their stowed positions.

"It's my time to leave you now, Sapling." Iedreth subconsiously shook her head, grasping at the petal soft armor of her fellow mesmer. Eileria smiled, patting Iedreth's cheek gently.

"Do not worry sapling, you shall see me again soon." Her smile was radiant, and Iedreth could not help but beam back, her mind feeling clear and free. Eileria smiled, her body slowly fading out of view until nothing remained, and the young sapling turned to the entrance of the bridge, walking toward it slowly, when she felt something, not pain, more... discomfort, settle in the pit of her stomach. She looked down to see if she had been struck, but nothing protruded from her body, and her wounds were superficial. The discomfort grew into a lull, and suddenly, she felt so tired, so weary, that she fell to her knees, her hands grasping at the soft earth as she breathed shallowly, trying not to lose conciousness. Her vision blurred, and the light faded, an all encumbering darkness consuming her body and mind.

When her eyes opened again, it was to the basking sun, high in the very center of the sky.

...

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. Probably somewhere terrible Idk.

Anywho, introducing my first GW fic, yay! Main characters in this chapter are Iedreth, (prounounced Ee-Ah-Dreh-th) a sylvari mesmer, and Eileria (Pronounced Aye-Leer-eea) also a sylvari mesmer. Eileria fought the elder dragon Zhaitan (And probably died a couple times... or more... shh.) and slayed him with the help of Destiny's Edge and the pact, and has many more adventure's pending for her. Iedreth is a rather new sapling, born after the fall of Zhaitan, but just in time for Mordremoth to make his grand appearance. Enjoy!