Sway

The wind howled at the peak of Neverest.  Lena stood, arms outstretched, leaning into it, barely feeling the biting cold.  The cackles of the Sha from all over Pandaria rang in her ears, barely interrupting the constant whispers of the Old Gods from within her mind spurred from the box.  Snow drifted around her hooves as she stood, her face turned toward the bleak sun peeking through the cloud cover, eyes closed.  She took a deep breath of the thin air and straightened her spine.

Kras...oh, Krastos.  I miss you.

 

Lena!  LENA!  His gruff voice broke through, urgent and frantic.  Where ARE you?  Stay with me!  We're coming for you!  He seemed desperate to maintain the mental link.

 

She shuddered, glancing behind her, the hoofprints from when she hoisted herself onto the peak nearly gone in the shifting snow.  She wasn't done yet.  She let her mind retreat slightly, immediately feeling him in pursuit, carefully trying to pull her back.  She felt herself sway on her perch at the peak of the great mountain, and thought about slipping away.  She was so tired.  Her body moved as if not propelled by her own will.

She wasn't done.  They weren't done.

With what?

Even she wasn't sure anymore.  Waking and sleeping seemed to have no differentiation, her work was rote at this point, digging and writing, sifting through artifacts, scrolls, sorting and theorizing.  She talked to herself, out loud, sometimes shouting against the wind.  The Pandaren had finally given up on her endless quest to find ... whatever it was she was searching for.  She wandered campsites with maps in her hands, pointing at the stars and the position of the sun, occasionally stopping to scribble illegible notes in the margins or right across a mountain range.

She rarely ate, slept erratically, dreamed terrible dreams, and hallucinated the terrible beings that were haunting her.  Her hands were dry and scabbed over, bathing not being a priority, eating being even less so.  Her normally tidy and well-kept clothing and weaponry was covered in dust and grime - she frequently misplaced her tools and would resort to using her dagger and hands to dig.

Lena turned and faced from where she had come, watching the path she trekked in the snow disappear.  Weak on her hooves, she wobbled and swayed, the wind nearly toppling her.  How relieving it would be to just let go... stop trying.  She looked at her hooves again and realized she couldn't decide what to do.

The noise in her mind was just static at this point, growing louder to block out other thoughts, increasingly driving her mad.  She could barely make out words - only sinister accusations, mocking, and laughter.  Until they came together in one reverberating voice as she stood on Mount Neverest.

It is standing right behind you. Do not move. Do not breathe.

She stiffened. glancing at the perilous footing under her.  An invisible force seemed to lazily snake itself around her body.  She froze in fear.  It tightened around her, squeezing.

Krastos. Lena's mental connection scattered back to the surface.

KRASTOS!  IT IS HERE FOR ME!