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The Search
We had been riding for weeks, the days had blurred together long ago, the only sound between us now was that of the hooves of our mounts on the hard dirt. We tried our best to ignore the sky, we'd been here for almost year, and the view of other plans and not a blue sky still unnerved us. Well, except the Captain, he seemed unperturbed by anything, the fact that we hadn't found anything here in this torn world held together by magic and demonic energy didn't seem to phase him at all, he seemed completely relaxed, as if expecting at any moment to turn the bend and find what we were looking for.
The thalassian charger's could cover more ground faster than any other mount in the world with requiring little rest, but the pace they had been kept at for the past year had pushed even them. Finally the Captain called a halt to our progress. We slowed and saw that he had chosen our camp site, he wasn't much, merely a small indention in the rock formation which would create a defensible position if we needed it, although, truth be known we had not seen anything that would challenge a group of Blood Knights on a mission.
I looked at those around me as I swung my leg over and dropped lightly to the ground. There were 12 of us, including the Captain and myself. A small contingent for the Blood Knights, but then, not many wanted to risk themselves on what most considered a floor hardy mission which little chance of success and even less chance for glory. Most of them were Lor'themar's lap dogs anyway. Lor'themar Theron, currently regent and unopposed ruler of Quel'Thalas, he was considered, by most, to be the sole remaining leader of the blood elves, what the people didn't see was how he allowed Silvermoon to remain in shambles, only maintaining and never progressing in its reconstruction, how he horded the magic which could relieve so many sick and infirmed from pain, and how the royal guard were full of his family's friends who walked away every day after a few hours of guard duty with rust spots on their tabards and their blades dull but holding a bag full of gold. It was almost sickening the corruption of it all.
How had they come to this? It had started with Arthas, that monster and traitor prince. His invasion and subsequent destruction of the Sunwell had been bad enough, but to lose Anasterian Sunstrider, that had been the real blow. He had ruled for so long, always the strength and guidance of their people, and Arthas had cut him down with his own hand. Then for Kael'Thas, Anasterian's son, to disappear to the Outlands when his people needed him, to learn of his betrayal, it had been as if they had lost their way entirely. Many did not know who to turn too, and it made things all to easy for Lor'themar to do as he pleased.
The contingent of blood knights made camp for the evening, agreeing to take first watch I sat watching the fire crackle, a sharpening stone in my hand going over my blade, remembering the path that had brought us here. The fire popped as if in response to my mood, we had slept by many fires lately, we tried to avoid civilization and towns, although we had to go to them now and again for supplies, what we were looking for wouldn't be found in a town.
"You want them brought here, sir?" A deep, gravelly voice asked?
"Yes, they've been searching, and most persistent at that, let's bring them in and let them find what they are looking for. You've been watching them I assume?" A deep baritone responded, his voice was lightly accented, as if it would be comfortable amongst many different languages rather than simply common.
"Yes, they have no clue we've been following them, I will lead the party myself and have them brought." Responded the soldier.
"Good, and please do it without bloodshed old friend, I know it's been months since we had a good fight, but we'll have plenty of battles to come and these blood knights are not our enemy. I already have accommodations prepared for them."
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The Blood Knights awoke to their sergeant yelling at them, it was the normal morning routine, and no matter how much they might have disliked it, the yelling gave them a sense of reassurance, something's just never changed. Sergeant's yell, Captains give orders, and regular grunts followed them. The blood knights were packed and ready to go within a few minutes, they were used to the routine, wake up, two ate breakfast, 2 fed their mounts, the Captain and Sergeant checked the map, and the rest packed camp. Within 10 minutes they were fed and mounted.
The Captain pointed in the distance, they would go West today, through the maze of canyons in the Blade's Edge Mountains. We set out on an easy canter, the chargers could maintain this pace for days without tiring, they had been riding for several hours, how the Captain knew which way to turn and go was anyone's guess.
He just seemed to know, the hard dirt left little sign of their passing through the mountains. The pounding of the hooves of their mounts was the rhythm to which they rode. None of them spoke, all of the jokes and stories had been told months ago, all that was left was silence. The walls of the canyons within this mountain were made of a strange rock, it was hard and resilient, it could be fashioned in spears and daggers and arrow heads as hard as most metal back on Azeroth, they would expect to turn and find a wall of razor stone standing in front of them, meeting dead ends was not unusual, but they did not expect to find a large orc on possibly the largest riding wolf they had ever seen.
Before them was an orc, he was large, even for his kind, his skin was a dark green, his eyes a dark brown, almost black and behind him was a large assortment of other warriors. Their races differed, Trolls, Orcs, and Tauren. Their armor was well worn and cared for, their blades were sheathed and they seemed relaxed, but any trained eyes could see that they were ready to fight if things turn nasty. The orc nudged his wolf forward, it was a massive creature with thick black and brown fur. The wolf growled at the chargers who looked at the creature and merely shook their heads as if dismissing it. Then, to everyone's surprise, the orc began to laugh.
The Captain raised his hand and the contingent of blood knights came to a halt in an almost perfect formation for a defense or attack. "Hail orc, what are you and your friends doing blocking our way?" The Captain spoke with an ease of assurance as he looked at the large orc and his band.
The orc looked at the Captain as he finished chuckling to himself before speaking, his voice was deep, as if he had been gurgling with rock every morning, "You're looking for someone, we'll take you to him but you go by our way. It's up to you, you'll surrender your weapons, both you and your mounts will be blind folded, and we will lead you there."
The Captain's eyes narrowed slightly, "And if we don't want to relinquish our weapons? And do not agree to your terms?"
The orc smiled, "Well, then you can either go, or we can take them from you." As he spoke he rested his hand on a massive battle axe by his side and made a slight motion with his head. In the short time they had spoken, moving so silently that not even the elves trained to listen could hear, another force had come up behind the blood knights. They looked like the ones before them, plainly clothed, weapons were well worn with use, and they were quiet. On the mountains edges around us were archers, only a few we could see now, they were letting us see them. These were no bandits, these were trained soldiers, they were organized and disciplined, and they outnumbered the blood knights by 7 to 1.
The silence dragged on over the seconds, then the orc spoke, "I will give you my word of honor that you nor yours will be harmed, your mounts and people cared for, and will you be allowed to leave with your weapons in the same manner we bring you in after your meeting."
The Captain looked at the orc again and nodded, "Give them your weapons, they will bind our eyes and the mounts, tell your chargers that this is happening and to allow them to do so. We have come too far to not take this chance." The orc nodded to his soldiers, several walk forward and take the weapons, once the weapons have been removed, another group comes forward holding blind folds and blinders for their mounts, as the darkness envelopes their eyes, the blood knights merely hope their Captain is making the right decision.