All was still. The travelers needed rest before their journey to the Temple of the Jade Serpent, and they had settled down at the nearest inn for the night.
Release me, priestess.
“I cannot…I mustn’t…” murmured Rose Gregaine as she fumbled in her sleep for the stone container. The whispers of the Teacher gnawed at her mind and tormented her slumber.
Let me out, woman. There is much I still need to do.
“Never…you can never leave…” Rose turned over to her side and buried the urn in her blanket, hoping to muffle the voice of the Teacher.
Your efforts are FUTILE. You cannot POSSIBLY hope to silence me.
“Leave me…alone…” The woman groaned in agony, her limbs outstretched on her bed and her hands clamped tightly to her ears. “Stop…this voice…”
YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME, PRIESTESS. NEITHER CAN YOU ESCAPE THE BEAST WITHIN YOU!
Rose abruptly sat up, her eyes wide and her body shaking with fear. She could not expose herself, not now! The Teacher took pleasure in her struggle and let out a sickening laugh.
Long have you forced yourself into hiding, foolish woman, the Teacher taunted Rose, but the time is near…you will not last much longer.
“No! It cannot be!” she gasped for air, clawing at the voices around her. “It is not yet time!”
The Teacher laughed again, his cackle resonating through Rose’s mind and amplifying the other voices dancing around her. The woman covered her ears but could not escape the torment; the voices now came from within, and she was powerless to silence them.
Save me!
I’m trapped!
Help!
What has happened to me?
I am lost!
“STOP! STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE!” Rose cried out. “I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!”
I WILL STOP THEM ONLY IF YOU RELEASE ME, WOMAN.
“NO! I CANNOT RELEASE YOU!”
YES, YOU WILL! RELEASE ME, OR YOU WILL HEAR THEIR CRIES FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS.
A wave of nausea flooded Rose as she stood up from her bed. The Teacher was right - she did not have much time left in this unstable condition. The woman picked up the obsidian urn and held it tight, focusing on her task despite the dozens of voices clawing at her mind, their desperate pleas echoing throughout her body.
Set us free!
We’ve done nothing wrong!
All we wanted to do was learn!
Please, help us!
Rose fumbled in the dark as she felt her way across her room and out the entrance. She found the vrykul asleep in his room and shook the warrior with all her strength.
“What—huh—who—what is going on?” He woke up, startled.
“Halvor! Listen! I don’t have much time!”
“What is happening?”
Rose answered with urgency. “The Teacher. He fills me with voices. They are after me. They won’t stop. Whatever you do, do not release him!”
“Time? For what? Friend, what is wrong?” Halvor looked puzzled. Rose placed the obsidian urn into Halvor’s massive hands and clasped them together.
“I have no time,” Rose replied frantically. A second wave of nausea struck her as she nearly fell to her knees. “I can’t explain—I must go—before—I break—”
IT IS TOO LATE FOR YOU, YOUNG WOLF! NOTHING CAN SAVE YOU NOW!
What are you doing?
No! Come back!
Where are you going?
You haven’t saved us!
Rose mustered all her remaining strength and ran out of the vrykul’s room. She raced down the stairs and out of the inn as far as her legs could carry her. She finally stopped at the top of a hill, the grass and flowers illuminated by the mocking glow of the moonlight.
A third, stronger wave of nausea ran over Rose as she fell onto the grass. There was no stopping it now. Her limbs ached as she tried to prevent the transformation, but to no avail. She watched in horror as her hands and feet increased in size and formed long, sharp claws. Her back and chest throbbed as patches of fur grew where human skin had once covered her body. Her hair, a dark grey, grew longer as her nose grew into a muzzle and fangs emerged from her mouth. Her ears, once beautifully curved, sharpened and stood at the ends of her head, twitching at the multitude of sounds in the nighttime plains. With a cry of anguish, Rose turned her head to the moon and let out a howl. She had finally fallen to the Curse of the Worgen.
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