Birthday Ceremony

January 18th, Third War with the Burning Legion

The evening was perfect in the “city of light.” Outland’s skies were clear and full stars, the weather was calm.

A section of the Terrace of Light, between the sanctum of the sha’tar and Lower City, had been laid out with benches and tables, and decorated with poles that bore streamers and bows made of large purple ribbon. Gifts lay on one table, food on another. The benches were all lined up in rows, the guests seated for the ceremony about to commence.

Vindicators, knights, and a handful of young trainees in the ways of the Light - just children - stood at the most decorated end of the area. Two figures among them were not paladins, however, and they stood side-by-side, a ranger with a rifle at his back, and a sorceress with a mageblade at her side.

“Honored guests!” Vindicator Kaalan began. “This evening, we gather here, in the sight of the Light, to honor a young life who has chosen her path among us.” His clear, luminous blue eyes surveyed the crowd. “For just as we honor the journeys of the dead, we must all the more honor the worth of those who live and grow with us.” His gaze went to a spot at the back of the crowd, between the two rows of seats. “Valéria, come forward,” he ordered.

The sin’dorei child stood silently, holding her shield - a gift from an associate of her mother, named Velerodra - and her small sword. She was dressed in simple ceremonial garb befitting a young apprentice of the holy knights, and her short blonde hair was neatly brushed behind her pointed ears. She did as the vindicator ordered, a nervous smile on her mouth, her wide green eyes never leaving the face of the draenei.

“Today you are eight years old,” said Vindicator Kaalan. “Are you ready, Valéria, to move forward on your path in the Light?”

The little girl nodded, and almost belatedly said aloud, “Yes, I am.”

“Do you promise to uphold the teachings and ways of what is right, to treat friend and enemy with honor, to defend the innocent?” Kaalan’s voice grew warmer and he smiled as he continued, “And to always remember what you fight for, and those you love?”

Valéria nodded again, “I promise.”

Kaalan turned to the hunter and the mage. “Merenylo, Aranya, would you say a few words of your daughter?”

Aranya took the floor first. She beamed with pride at her little girl. “Valéria…” she started, and then her voice faltered for a moment with emotion. “I wasn’t ready for you when I had you. I was… a careless soul,” she confessed before everyone. “To this day, I can still be so careless with myself. But when I held you for the first time, I knew that I had a reason to be more than I was, more than I had ever been or thought I could be.” The arcanist’s smoldering green eyes grew wet, and she swallowed thickly. “Having you in my life changed me. You saved me. You save me every day, and you will save so many more when you are grown. I believe that. I know that…” Her voice went softer. “I’m so proud of you, and I love you so much.”

The woman stepped back, and let the golden-eyed Thalassian next to her have his turn. Merenylo looked sternly at his daughter and spoke to her firmly, “You realize how serious of a promise this is that you are making, yes?”

Ghost, Merenylo’s feline companion, gave a bit of a low purring growl directed at the girl.

The little girl swallowed and then looked up. “Y-yes, father. I do.”

“Good. This is not like promising to not eat another mana bun, and then going back on your word five minutes later.” He gave her a knowing look, and her head disappeared into her shoulders a bit in her signature ‘yea that was a bit silly’ maneuver. He continued, “This is something that shall affect the lives of all around you, including yourself. Lives will be saved or lost based upon whether or not you stay true to your word.”

“I know. I can do it. I’ll be a good little paladin.”

His sharp gaze softened then, and he smiled. “Yes, dear daughter, I believe you will.” The hunter reached out his hand and patted her lovingly on the head, and she smiled wide and hugged him, despite the formality of the occasion. He returned the embrace and whispered into her ear. “Be your best, do your best, honor the Light, and honor yourself, so that you may honor others.”

“I will, father.” she whispered back and kissed him on the cheek.

Merenylo rose and stepped back from his daughter to allow the ceremony to continue.

Kaalan took the floor again. “Draw sword!” He ordered all the paladins and trainees with him, and all did so. “Valéria, face your people.” The little elf girl did so, and was met with the smiling and proud faces of people she knew and grew up with, and people she did not know so well.

Porintharian, in his worgen disguise, nodded to Valéria with a grin. Lady Grand’yne, sitting closest to the cake (for she had brought it), looked back at her with delight, as did Miss Emma. Goretusk had a look of approval on his tusky green face. Her grandfather, Valtheras Ver’Sarn, was smiling and seemed to have grown a tad moist-eyed himself.

“Tell us all, Valéria ‘Dragonheart,’“ said Vindicator Kaalan. “How do you fight?”

Valéria raised her sword and shouted a battlecry that she had made up herself when she was only four years old, half her young lifetime ago. “I fight and stand in the Light!”

The other paladins raised their swords and cheered, the guests applauded, some standing, all smiling.

Cake, food, and presents were all enjoyed. Among the gifts were a book from Miss Emma, a new small sword from Goretusk, a sketchbook and paints set from Lady Astra Ver’Sarn of Suramar, and a stuffed cat with enchanted glowing fur and eyes from both of her parents.

At the end of the night, as Aranya tucked Valéria into bed, the warm blanket from Rariv’sha Muerte pulled up almost over her little blonde head, she asked of her child. “So, was your birthday happy?”