Insignificance.

I had only been on the outside, with hundreds of other blood elves. Each one had been prideful of their houses while in Silvermoon. Each one with families that loved and supported them. But now, each one as nameless as the next. Standing in the shadow of the Black Temple could do that to a person.

--

The fel orc's spiked gauntlet slapped the woman, and she fell to her knees.

"Tired? You're TIRED? You will have time to sleep when you're dead! Lord Illidan will not tolerate weakness! Now GET UP AND START KILLING!"

She rose to her feet and started channeling the crystal, her hands still bloodied from having touched her bruised face.

--

I never saw Illidan himself. He never left the temple. The ones who trained us were ones who had simply survived the requisite six month 'testing' period. Those with delusions of grandeur, who dreamed of standing by Illidan's side proudly. But they went to sleep on the same cloth-covered boards and ate the same slop as us.

What separated us from them was that they had tasers.

--

A sickening crack as one of the guards twisted (and broke) the arm of someone next to her. The sorrow and pain and torment emanated from the elf like an uncomfortable heat.

"If I see even a FLICKER of movement toward him, your life is forfeit! Look ahead, stay strong! Eyes always focused, toward the glory of Lord Illidan!"

She wanted to eschew her shadow form and help the person next to her. But she also did not want to die.

The man fell beside her, dead from the shock to his system.

--

No wait, I remember now. Illidan did appear to us. On that first day. It was his image, projected from the interior of the Temple.

His speech was short, but I do remember his final line.

"Today you become a part of something much larger than you can even comprehend."

I've never felt so insignificant.

--

"Look up there, Elly. You can see Azeroth."

The priest made sure there wasn't a taskmaster around before doing so. Her gaze was brief, but she thought she could see the tip of the Eastern Kingdoms. Her home.

"It's beautiful," the other whispered. She was too afraid to say anything back.

((Another small glimpse into Elly's past...))