Chapter 1 – Ardous Venture
Disclaimer: This fanfiction may not correspond with the events that happened in Warcraft. Characters' background stories may be altered.
Rylai Crestfall sprinted through the dark woods with her left gloved-hand securing a small auburn pouch, as a dozen bloodthirsty ghouls stalked after her. Her precious staff was gripped firmly by the other, although occasional jumps made to avoid small boulders blanketed the lengthy run. Normally, she would have engaged in battle with the fiends, but her mission was of top priority.
The Sentinel mage was aided briefly by the glistening full moon that enhanced her night vision, before it was devoured by the puffy clouds. The moon fought to restore its former glory, as luminous puffs of gray buried the gloomy night. The eerie scourge trees Rylai ran past had branches twisted like deformed limbs, as if reaching to grab her as whispering gales shook them violently.
Two ferocious ghouls crept out of nowhere and dashed headlong at her. Not wasting a moment, she raised her staff while slowing her pace. The mage waved it at the night air, chanting with her heart and channeled power into her weapon. The white crystal on her stave glowed brightly, as circular hollows of pink magic proceeded to form and shot towards at the assailants. They disintegrated on impact, and left them paralyzed. Rylai took the chance to run past them, while their brethren closed in on her.
"Darn minions," she thought, and then a gentle whisper echoed at the back of her mind.
Rylai paused in her tracks and while feeling the surge of adrenaline she had earlier slowly fade away, she pulled the hood over her head and turned to face her pursuers. Her mantle was finally resting on her back after a long run, but was hitched up by the sudden turn.
Accessing her pool of mana via a quick chant, she concentrated on the path just tens of feet in front. The vapor in the air, mixed with dirt and dust, began to freeze. Immediately, she pointed her staff at it. Almost instantly, the frozen particles enlarged, and conjoined into a tall wall of frost. The essence in the crystal of her staff swirled and gathered at the tip and then disappeared, reforming around the block just conjured. Ice continued to form sideways, at the same time strengthening into a wall of unbreakable ice. Rylai smirked at the loud thuds and yowls emitted from the ice wall, made by furious ghouls attempting futilely to break it.
Her purple cape drifted up again with battering winds animating the intricate red lines on it, as it waved playfully in the air like a magic carpet. The mage continued on her journey back to the Sentinels.
Lina Inverse paced the ragged stairs of the stronghold. Her deep amber hair drifted freely in the scented breeze as she strode. Mangix, the Pandaren Brewmaster was sipping mouthfuls of wine from his large brown mug. The light produced by a flame torch, set to a recess in the brick wall, allowed him to observe an intermittent frown that messed up the beautiful features on the elf's face. A pair of glowing cyan eyes below Mangix's black coolie hat blinked a few as he fidgeted an oaken staff with his free paw. Wiping a drop that trickled off the edge of his mouth with his sleeve, Mangix could contain his words no longer.
"Stop fussing, will you? The wine is not the one making me dizzy you know." He growled, smiling. "I believe Purist will be able to fix it. He always does.. herp. Herp," Apparently he had too much to drink. The elven sorceress came to a halt, and pouted slightly.
"I can't stop these nerves. It was my fault, and if anything bad happens to him, how am I ever going to face Rylai when she returns?" she stated agitatedly, with hints of sadness.
Rylai was her best friend, and a respected warrior she looked up to. Like the mage, Lina's village was decimated by the witches of the Scourge.
A suspicious character came into proximity of an elven village in the midst of the night. A humanoid hand came from under his cloak. At a wave, he commanded an army of golems to attack the unsuspecting village. Or so he thought. Priests and sorceresses came out of hiding as the giant monsters rumbled their village. The golems were slow, but what they lacked in speed, they made up in strength. Several powerful spells cast deflected hopelessly off their hard bodies. A careless mistake on the magi's part was what the rock monsters were waiting for. With a swing of their bulky arms, the defenders were pulverized. Amid the chaos, a seasone sorceress dressed in full-armored regalia, stood rooted among the blazing huts. A gold crown, embedded with a crimson jewel in the middle, was fitted to her forehead. Her hair was pulled back into a curly ponytail. A little elven girl, thoroughly frightened, held tightly onto the skirt of the woman.
"You wouldn't be Lina Inverse if you weren't reckless, now will you." The giant panda announced joyfully, "Besides, we all know the Rogue Knight. He is a protector in the Sentinels. He wants to protect everyone." A wave of sadness crashed on the shores of his joviality as he carefully caressed an uneven scar on his furry face.
"If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here comforting you…"
Lina raised an eyebrow spontaneously, and shot him a weak but warm smile in reply.
"BEGONE," her eyes flashed in bright red as flames lit up her body. The child was fazed, otherwise unharmed. Flames flew into the sky and materialized into a dozen phoenixes, and crashed down on the golems. Pieces of crags chipped off some golems after the first phoenix impacted, bigger pieces on majority of them on the second one. They were forced back a distance. By the last phoenix's hit, the golems were no more. Moderate chunks of rocks littered where they once roamed. Yet, it was not over. More rock monsters took their places, and lumbered towards them. "Stay here for a bit, I'll be right back." She smiled assuredly at the petrified child, gently removing the trembling hands from her crumpled skirt. The little elf nodded weakly, while her eyes drifted with uncertainty. "LAGUNA BLADE!" she bellowed into the smoky night sky. The heavens opened and showered light on the village, a huge broadsword flew out onto the sorceress' receiving hands. With a graceful leap she was in the air, with the majestic blade fitted tightly in her hands. She shot a cheeky grin at the grumpy golems, and down she went with her sword lifted above her head. The sword, powered by the sorceress' inner fire, shone from bottom to its tip. On contact with one of the golem's bulky head, metal sliced into rock like it was jelly.
Purist came out, dragging his bulgy hammer. Strands of his dirty blonde hair were drifting over his face, his drained expression showing signs of exhaustion from the extended hours tending to the Rogue Knight's wounds. Mangix and Lina straightened their backs, and their eyes met his with hope and desperation.
"I have treated the severe burns caused by the Venomancer's poison…" he started, with small pauses between each word. Mangix's and Lina perked up hopefully, but faded when they realized that was not all to Purist's words. The knight then swept the hair off his face.
"…Sven's abilities had been peak in all aspects, but he was too close to the Venomancer when he unleashed his spell. Highly acidic poison had seeped through his armor and is eating at his skin…" Purist broke off when he saw Lina's eyes collected with tears, ready to overflow at any moment.
"No..nono…no!" she burst into tears, screaming and hitting the wall of the stronghold with her clenched fists. Her fists glowed bright vermillion on impact for a few seconds before dying down, and a depression was formed on the wall. Lina dropped to the ground, with her hands covering her face.
The powerful sorceress felt invisible static manifesting into potent electricity over the village as she was floating above it, but she could not locate the source. A powerful bolt emitted at her from the sky. Although she managed to deflect it onto the devastated grounds she once called home, she was forced to land. More bolts came at her, but she deflected them back into the sky with her mighty blade. A stray bolt, was heading for the little elf she unwittingly neglected. The sorceress released a silent scream as she ran towards her little girl hopelessly. Suddenly a bluish projectile flew from the opposite direction and clashed with the electricity as a hooded being sprang into view, hugging the surprised elf out of harm's way. The collision sent a light shock wave in all directions, and the hooded being shielded the little elf under a cloak. The sorceress cried tears of joy, as a large bolt headed straight for her. "WATCH OUT," a hoarse voice bellowed, but it was too late. The bolt struck her with incredible force, burning her armor to a crisp and scorching every inch of her body. She fell onto her knees, as images of the past rushed into her. It was the memories of the times she had just given birth to a special child. The dying sorceress gathered every bit of strength and uttered, "Lina," before dropping lifelessly onto the charred grounds. The being pulled back her hood. It was Rylai. "So your name is Lina, huh" Rylai gently brushed the dirt off the elf's face. "We have to go," stated the Rogue Knight as rays of fiery glows revealed his identify.
Purist walked over to the broken sorceress and anchored a knee on the ground. He carefully pulled Lina's hands off her face, and grabbed them softly. Mangix was envious at the brief chemistry between them.
"All is not lost yet," he said. Lina looked up at him, a tad less depressed than before. Her eyes begged him to tell of the solution to their dire situation. He heaved a sigh and turned his head, shooting Mangix a stern, yet friendly look before facing the sorceress again.
"The solution is in…" the pause allowed Mangix to cut in. "…Dead Woods." Both of them stared up, surprising the old master. "You know." Purist broke the short silence, hinting Mangix to fill Lina in on the details.
Rylai had dodged several generals tactically as she continued on her journey back, and glad she did. However, she stumbled into a forbidden part of the Dead Woods; the Lizard's Tavern. Although the giant lizard race was in alliance with the Scourge, they were not as unfeeling as the Undead, but Rylai chose a wrong time to trespass into their territory. The lizards had just buried the eldest of their species; a tad over two-century-old matriarch. The frustrated giants had found an unfortunate target to vend their frustration on, but Rylai was no slouch. She cast a succession of frost novas, chilling the giant lizards to their bones and threatening to chant out her ultimate spell if she was cornered. The creatures retreated into a quick discussion, and turned to release countless cold glares at her before retreating to their abode. Rylai was lucky, as the lizards would never back out on a fight under normal circumstances.
She took a few moments to collect herself, but that was a naive mistake. A cleaver came at her out of the inky darkness, and she did not have enough time to avoid completely. It contacted with her skin and in a blink of an eye, the weapon returned to its owner, leaving a deep cut on her right arm that bled profusely. Rylai covered the wound with her free arm, and jumped away from direction the unknown assailant. Droplets of fresh blood spilled onto a foliage nearby, and a blood torrent flowed down and stained her white woven pants. Her mantle hitched up from the sudden moment, revealing a small bag attached to the back of her belt. The mage bit her lips lightly, and slightly loosened her grip on her weapon.
"Show yourself!" she yelled while hiding her stave behind her, gathering energy in the crystal.
There was no reply. The ground rumbled as the menace lumbered into sight. Horribly deformed, there were multiple sets of stitches all over the bald abomination's body. A third arm jutted out his back, carrying a small axe. Dragging a dull, yet extremely sharp cleaver, a silver chain hung over his shoulder stretching onto his twined limb, with a lethal rusted hook attached at the end. An exposed, mutated maw grew out from his abdomen area.
Rylai's stomach tossed as she saw the infamous behemoth. She was never confronted Pudge before, but tales of her fallen comrades' had pieced together a horrific image of this malevolence. The abomination's nose twitched oddly, his stained and bulgy eyes stared at the fresh blood on the foliage. Rylai grabbed every second while he was distracted, her tall snowy boots carefully lifted backwardly and distancing herself as much as she could.
Pudge regained his sight on the mage, and lumbered towards her with killer intents. Rylai flustered for a second, but quickly regained her composure. She brought her staff into Pudge's view, and attempted to shoot her magic at him. Pudge strengthened up, and launched his chain at Rylai's attacks. The hollows of magic broke into useless sparkles as the rusty curve of the hook collided into them. Rylai lifted her staff in defense, but the impact from his vehement thrust dislodged her weapon and flung her towards a large tree. She protected her head as she braced herself for the crash.
Rough edges on the trunk scratched countless areas on her cape, and the mage released a short yelp as she dropped to the ground. Beads of blood flowed down her temples as her hacking cough amused the undead beast. Pudge mumbled strings of incoherent words, which Rylai could not comprehend. The rippling pain in Rylai's arms and legs dashed her thoughts of attempting to channel all her mana into a powerful spell as her staff was too far away. Pudge held up his cleaver.
"Was this it?" she thought, as she closed her eyes.
The cleaver swept down.