First serious story I've written (as in actually shown to other people), so I hope you enjoy reading it.
Be warned the first first few chapters may be a bit dry .
I do not own Warcraft or any of its variations... Unfortunately.
Timely Discovery
"A goodbye is never painful,
unless your never going to say hello again"
~Unknown
Dragonblight was no place for the faint hearted; battle hardened warriors from throughout the ages had lost their minds to its chilling snow and deafening winds, their lives forfeit due to the foolishness of their actions. For who in their right mind would willingly tread such a despairing land? Life was hard in the place where the dragons came to die. Usually, nothing would have stirred its macabre beauty, except for maybe the blowing of a sudden North wind, the movement of a living creature; or the movement of a – not so living creature. In the South, near the Scarlet enclave now known as "New Hearthglen", a human paused by the remnants of a once living sorceress. Her clothes singed by the trap she set off. Her hands; frozen from the spell that never left her fingers. Her deep, brown eyes, glazed with a fury she had known in life. Her face, once perhaps lovely, was now contorted with a hateful expression. The walnut hair she once reverently kept in a bun was now disheveled and strewn across her icy face. The man who had killed her looked on without emotion. But another Scarlet witch to add to the list. He called to him, a grizzly sight. A bear, nearly the size of a stag, came barreling through the undergrowth. Disease radiated off him like a plague. The human, accustomed to his pets' habitual looks and smells, grinned as he watched the bear walk up to him. Shaking his rotting pelt from side to side, the bear looked down to its master expectantly. The man, who had found the sorceress had been carrying her lunch as well as a bit of extra coin, tossed the snack to his eager friend.
"We have a long path ahead of us, Tibirius, if we are to make it to Wintergarde Keep by tonight." The human stated to his munching companion. "So hurry and eat your meal, so we can be away from this accursed place."
The bear, satisfied with his full belly, turned to bolt after his master, who had begun to walk away, toward the keep that was the main base of operations of the 7th Legion. The 7th Legion, Alliance veterans from the wars of old, had grouped together in their main base, Wintergarde, to fight the never ending threat of the undead and the appalling necropolis, Naxxramas. Drawing his cape up above his head so as to cover his face, the hunter continued his trek tirelessly across the frozen wastelands. A few minutes into the walk however, something unusual happened. Tibirius started growling. His claws, scraping at the ice beneath his paws. Head, swinging to and fro, as saliva began dripping from his toothy maw. The man, turned to face his agitated companion, curiosity shining bright in his eyes.
"Tibirius. Friend, what has gotten into you? You have been jumpy ever since we left the dragon's Temple. Is something the matter?" The human turned and started to walk toward his pet, trying to calm him from his frenzy. The man paused, eyes locked with those of his bear. He knew something wasn't right, he knew by the way Tibirius salivated in his presence. The way the bear now looked at him; no longer in control of himself. His mind, quickly drifting to the conversation he had with the red dragon, Demestrasz.
"You will not hold sway over him for much longer. The disease; it will run its course eventually. Plagued animals never last long. We have seen it many times before; he won't remember you, and he won't listen to you. He will kill you. You must put him out of his misery, he will be grateful to be at peace at last." The dragon had warned him. He did not listen, or rather; he did, but did not want to admit his friend had grown weak and sicker with each passing day. "Milo, you must leave him in the woods, to die, to be freed. Promise, that you will not take him with you. I am sorry, but the Tibirius you knew no longer lives, except in our memories." But Milo did not listen, he did not promise. He left the Temple and, with Tibirius, went to finish the quest given to him to thin the ranks of the Scarlet Onslaught.
"Dammit! Tibirius, don't do this, I can get you some help. I can heal you! I'm your friend, Milo; I don't want to hurt you." The human tried hard to persuade the deranged pet that growled at him. Milo growled and took a step toward Tibirius, an act that would have sent the animal into a submissive pose were he not crazed. "I'm sorry to do this dear friend. You have been a faithful and loyal pet for the few years I've known you. But – It's time to say good bye." The human pulled out his bow and loaded it with one blood red arrow, decorated with feathers as black as ink. A single tear formed at the corner of Milo's glazed eyes. He pulled back, readying his shot. Tibirius grunted and looked his master in the eyes, all love he once had for the man was gone, all that remained was death. A thundering roar escaped from both the bear and the humans' mouth. And with that, the arrow flew, straight and true. Upon the deafening winds and through the chilling snow, and stuck the bear as he made a leap towards his once best friend. With a crunch, he landed in the snow; breathing his final breaths and looking around wildly, Tibirius knew it had ended. In his final moments, Tibirius saw a man dressed in mail walk away, leaving but a trail of frozen tears in his wake.
Milo walked, for hours and hours, forgetting his goal until he came across the stone keep. Removing his hood, he walked down the path leading to the inn. As he entered the somewhat small building, he immediately smelled the scent of a heavenly ham roasting on an open fire, but it made him feel sick. He tried to eat an apple, but he could not. So, he went to the innkeeper; a cheerful night elf woman named Illusia Lune, to ask for a room. Once he paid the lovely woman, he headed up to the room designated to be his. Once inside; he closed the door, removed his bags and set them aside. Tentatively, he removed his armor and set it on a wooden chair. Tibirius, how could I have let this happen to you dear friend? How, could I ignore the signs? Let you suffer? I'm a monster, I hurt my best friend. The only friend I let come with me to this blasted place. I didn't deserve you, I couldn't even help you. I didn't even try… As he trudged heavily toward the bed, his mind did not leave the past. Even as he pulled the delicate covers over his face, he could feel nothing but pain. And when his eyes finally shut, he had the most tormented sleep of his life.
The morning was cool, but nonetheless bright and pleasant. Milo shifted on the bed, trying to get a few more minutes of uninterrupted sleep, for he hadn't slept well at all that night. As he blinked away the sleep and allowed the dawn light to fill his tired eyes, he sighed. He could not stop thinking of Tibirius; the way he had looked at him, right before the blazing red arrow shot through his long black fur. As he sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning, the door flew open and Illusia came dancing in.
"Dear, dear, you look terrible!" She exclaimed. "I know something that'll cheer you right up; a nice cup of cider and perhaps some cookies on the side."
"That won't be necessary, I plan on leaving immediately, and I have some business to attend to elsewhere. Thank you for your generosity though, miss Illusia." Milo said, somewhat anxious to be leaving the keep that was nearly always under attack by lumbering abominations and crafty ghouls.
"Ah, ah." She said while clicking her tongue. "You shouldn't go anywhere until you have something nice in your stomach. At the very least let me prepare something for your travels."
"Thank you; that would be much appreciated" Milo said with feigned enthusiasm, the death of his friend still weighing on him heavily. As the innkeeper smiled and spun away, Milo got up from bed and dressed himself in his shiny mail suit, which had defrosted from the warm night at the inn. As he exited the inn, waving to Illusia and thanking her once more, he gave himself a shake and focused his mind on more productive matters.
He stood there, staring into the eyes of the wolf he had just tamed. Its eyes playfully dancing as it stared into its new master shining gray eyes. Milo, just stared; trying hard to feel the same connection he did with Tibirius. But he could not, not yet at least. Maybe in time the wolf would become a friend to him. He watched as it playfully threw itself into a pile of snow, disappearing almost entirely due to its milky pelt. The only thing that gave it away was the big golden eyes that poked out of the snow pile. Milo smiled, the first time since Tibirius had died some days ago. As he and his wolf walked into the sparse forest he noticed a faint glimmer somewhere to his right. Normally he would have continued on his path, but at that moment Kuma dashed off from his side toward the shine. "Kuma! What has gotten into you, come here!" She did not listen, but began to dig. "Kuma… What is it?"
Below the snow, lied a woman. An unconscious blood elf, lying semi buried in the snow. Milo knew he shouldn't help her. She was a member of the horde, an enemy, but with his mind drifting toward Tibirius and how he couldn't save him, he knew it didn't matter. With Kuma at his side helping him, he desperately dug the freezing woman out from beneath her snowy prison. A final tug brought the woman to the surface. "Kuma, keep her warm while I find shelter and some firewood."
By the time Milo found a cave, started a fire and came back for the unconscious blood elf and Kuma, he started having reservations. How do I know she won't try to kill me as soon as she is well? Why am I even helping her? He watched as the woman slowly regained color in her cheeks, life also seemed to become more apparent as she sneezed quietly. He noticed how perfect she looked; she was really thin but also rather tall, especially for a blood elf. However, he doubted she was as delicate as she appeared. Her skin was the color of ivory and her hair was a silky honey color pulled together into a messy bun on top of her head. He squinted as he noticed her stir, bow at the ready, he held it to her face. And her eyes flew open.
Mmhmm, so I'll leave it at that. Let me know what you think anf whether I should keep going or not. Yes, I know, very dry, but it gets better in the next few chapters. Sorry.
Regards ~ EvaStar*
