"Two minutes champions, two minutes!" Called the Battle Master.
Two minutes, I have time to check out my teammates then.
As I walk from the small building, that was designed for us to gather our required provisions for the fight, I can't help but feel a little anxious. It's been a while since I participated in this particular battleground, I was weak then, not anymore. I chuckled to myself as I thought about my last performance, I hadn't a clue what I was doing or which end was up.
Combatants were running around like headless chickens, making my job to renew their life energies all the more difficult. It was a disaster, and we had lost.
I stepped out to the small staging area and took a deep breath to steady my nerves as I gaze down to the valley before me.
Arathi Basin... How I hate you.
The object of this game is to capture bases, there being five in total, and holding them for the duration of the fight. Not so easy when you have mindless Horde scum attacking you from every angle, sometimes they get so close you can smell their breath. A shiver ran through me at the thought.
Battlegrounds were set up as a controlled environment in which the Horde and the Alliance could tear each other apart without it actually affecting the real worlds wars. A clever invention, I must say. They allow us to let off steam and practice our techniques, however, sometimes they can be the most frustrating past times on Azeroth.
I heard someone to my left mumbling an incantation, I turned my head to the source. A Dwarf Shaman was muttering to himself and continuously recasting his lightning shield, clearly not trusting it to stay with him.
"You know, you'll wear yourself out before the battle even begins if you keep doing that." I had said it a bit more stern than I intended to, but he was obviously a rookie at this and I wanted to get my point across. I didn't want to find him five minutes into the fight on his hands and knees due to fatigue.
"Leave me alone! I know what I'm doing." He didn't look at me, he just stared ahead, still renewing his shield.
Whatever, don't come crawling to me when you get worn out, looking for a healer.
Infront of me were several other champions of mixed races and classes, some were jumping about and shaking their limbs in preparation, and some were engaged in idle chit chat. To my immediate right was a large wolf, a Worgen. He appeared to have a staff and was wearing a leather tunic with green and gold leaves embroidered to it, Restoration Druid. Good, another healer, I was beginning to worry I was the only one.
"Hey good looking"
My eyes shot to a Human male, clad in heavy armour, a large axe strapped to his back. He was looking me up and down, my face contorted into a look of disgust.
"What do you say we stick together, huh?" His voice was laced with lust, I could see his desire in his eyes.
"Usually I think all you Dreanei are pretty weird lookin', but you..." He rubbed his hands together. "You are mighty damn se..."
He didn't get to finish his sentence, I back handed him so hard, my own hand throbbed with pain.
"My name, is Deetrix, not good looking!" I cast a minor heal on my hand before glaring at him again.
"You can stay the hell away from me." I hissed at him.
He just smiled at me, a wicked glint in his eye, as he rubbed his jaw. I knew he wouldn't stay away, I just knew it. I narrowed my eyes at him and clicked my tongue in annoyance. This game was going to end bad, I could already tell.
"One minute!"
I checked myself over, making sure my armour was strapped tightly together and that my shield was easily accessable. Being a Paladin healer meant I could take a bashing, my armour being of greater strength than the other healer. If the Horde were smart, which I doubt, they would attack me and the Druid first to render us useless. Strong armour was ideal, I just hope the Druid can run fast, leather not being a great defense. But still, we may be alright, if our comrades keep the Horde off us.
I summoned the light and created a holy beacon on myself, not having to worry about myself while tending to others was always a plus. The rest of our group cast their own spells to enhance our performance, a mixture of power washing over all of us, it was a heady sensation.
The Battle Masters voice boomed out over us.
"Ten!"
"Nine!"
"Eight!"
This is it!
I started tensing my leg muscles, ready for the sprint to the first base.
"Five!"
"Four!"
Everyone around me started to yell their own battle cries, I felt a surge of adrenaline and even I let out a cry of my own.
The Battle Master reached one just as the enchantment holding the iron gates shut, lifted.
"For the Alliance!" We cried out in unison as we made a dash to the base just down the hill, the Stables.
After securing the base, two of my allies volunteered to stay and defend it, which usually is quite a challenge. The carnal bloodthirst had gotten the the better of some of the champions in my past experiences, making them forget the objective of this particular game and rushing head first into the opposing Horde team, leaving our bases vulnerable to attack.
I spied a heavely armoured Warrior as I departed the Stables, his armour and weaponary revealing him to be a seasoned fighter. I decided to follow him to the next base, hoping the combination of his skill and my healing magic would create a force of havoc.
The team split into two, some going up the next hill to the Lumber Mill, the rest of us heading towards the center base, the Blacksmith. These were good choices, the Blacksmith will give us the advantage of quick response to the other bases, while the Lumber Mill will give us eyes over the entire basin.
As we crossed the bridge to the Blacksmith, I could see the enemy team also approaching the same base from the other side. Most of them have elected to take the Mines, so there were only a handful to deal with.
The Warrior charged straight into the fray, crying out his rage as he slashed his giant sword at anything in his range. The remaining three of my group readied themselves and followed his example, I hesitated, only for a second, doubting my capability. I saw one of my comrades take a lethal hit, she began to sway. I shocked her with my holy power, it wasn't strong enough to fully replenish her, but it was enough to get her back into the fight. I focused my healing abilities on her for a short period, and when I was satisfied she'd be alright, I checked my other teammates.
One was bleeding, but only a little, he wasn't attracting any attention from the Horde so he will be ok for now. The Warrior was making quick work of his enemy, and as a group, we cleared the Blacksmith and took it for our own.
I heard crackles of lightning from the Lumber Mill, I looked up to the cliff above me and saw a dazzling light display. A battle of magic was taking place, a fierce one by the sounds of it. I quickly scanned my immediate area, looking for the Druid's whereabouts, I couldn't see him. I heard a cry of pain from above me, which stole my attention, and I saw a small green creature fall from the cliff. The sound his body made when impacting the ground was horrifying. I tore my gaze back up to the Lumber Mill, I could see flashes of green mixed with blue. Then someone came perilously close to the edge.
A Night Elf, and a Rogue of that, I could tell by the twin blades and the way he was dancing about his opponent. I could't make out what exactly was going on, but I did see a small burst of fire hit the Rogue, then he lost his footing and fell.
I made a start to run to him as he was falling, but I was too far away, I watched as his body descended to the ground, only to come to an abrupt stop just before impact. I saw a Shadow Priest standing not too far from him, her hands were stretched out before her, dark energy swirling from her finger tips. I watched as the Rogue looked on at her in bemusement, before thanking her and disappearing into the shadows.
Good girl, was all I thought. It made a change to see my comrades using their abilities to help one another out, rather than acting selfishly and driving for glory, which ultimately, they would not get.
I looked back up to the cliff, the light show seeming to have ceased. Relief washed over me as I saw that damned Shaman step towards the edge, accompanied by the Druid healer. The Dwarf looked down to me and gave a salute.
Cocky bastard!
"Go paladin." A deep voice called to me.
I turned to see the Warrior I had followed, gesturing towards the Mines.
"They need you down there, the Blacksmith is safe for now."
I was just about to ask him how he knew what was happening down there, when a Gnome stepped out from the shadows, panting heavily from the obvious sprint to us.
"We survived the first wave, but we didn't have time to replenish before the second hit." His squeeky little voice would have made me laugh under different circumstances.
"It's a massacre down there, we need help!" He sounded desperate.
I ran as fast as I could, to the edge of the pit, where i peered down to see a brutal fight taking place. There was blood everywhere, the Horde had taken the base and they were pushing my comrades out. I watched as my allies were stabbed, cut, and hit with spells. But they still continued to fight, another spike of adrenaline surged through me.
Right!
I will need all of my power for this. I took a step back, sucked in a deep breath, the jumped off the edge and down into the Mines. Just before hitting the ground, and my death, I summoned my most powerful shield to protect me from the impact.
I caught the attention of several of the Horde there, and as they got close to me I closed my eyes and gave in to the light. The power coarsed through me, it was like white hot fire, I could feel it radiating off my body. Bright arcs of holy power burst from my body in pulses, I opened my eyes and there were bodies around me on the ground, not dead, just stunned. It was enough to give me some breathing space to cast my most powerful healing spells.
The burn in my body intensified as I prayed to the light for more holy power, suddenly I felt as though my body was going to combust, but I also felt powerful.
Great white wings materialized from my back, the ground around me seemed to glow an impossibly bright white. I turned my focus on the biggest member of the enemy team and cast. A golden beam, almost like a laser, shot from my hands and hit him right in the center of his chest. The energy exploded upon impact, the light bouncing back off his body and hitting my team mates, reinvigourating them. I cast heal after heal, I could feel my efforts taking effect on myself, due to my beacon I had cast. We were beginning to win this little battle, my allies were able to push the Horde team back far enough to capture the base.
Suddenly I felt dizzy, my head becoming feint. Unsure of what was happening I tried to turn to find the source of my sudden fatigue, only to be met with yellow eyes and the smell of rotten flesh.
"You're mine now little girl." He growled at me, his voice hoarse from his undeath.
He raised his dagger, that was dripping with green poison, and rammed it right into my shoulder, Managing to strike the tender flesh between my plated shoulder pad and my neck. I opened my mouth to let out a cry and I tried to move my hand to heal myself quickly, but i couldn't move. I tried my legs but they also would not obey me.
What poison is this?
I began to panic, I did not know what he had used on his weapon, and therefore was unaware of the effects. My teammates were too far away from me to help, having chased the remainder of the Horde back up and out of the pit. However, someone must have heard me scream, for the next thing I knew, someone had siezed me roughly and thrown me behind them.
I saw two of my comrades jump towards the Forsaken that had wounded me, but all they hit was air, as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Where are you hurt?" Asked a familiar voice.
It was that Human Paladin, a pang of hate ran through me and I was about to get up and hit him again, but a surge of pain from my shoulder halted me. That and the fact that I couldn't move, even I'd tried. That poison must have had some sort of paralyzing agent in it.
"My shoulder." I said through gritted teeth.
He pulled away the armour there, and hissed when he saw the wound.
"That lookes bad." He looked at me for a second, then nodded to himself and stood up.
"I'm going to heal you." He looked so serious all of a sudden, concentration etched on his face.
How can he heal me? He only has the basic healing abilities, not enough to heal my wound thoroughly. I was confused as to what he meant, then it hit me, every Paladin has the ability to cast one very powerful heal. It is only used for the utmost urgent and dire circumstances, as it takes it's toll on the casters own energy supply, weakening them.
I was about to protest but he had shot his hand out, his face contorting in what looked like pain, and a burst of light hit me. It was painful at first, my bones felt like they were breaking and my skin felt as though it was ripping away from my flesh. The pain subsided and a strange warmth came over me, I could feel my ailments fading away, I felt like i could fight the whole damn Horde if i wanted to.
The other Paladin however, fell to his knees and put a hand to the ground to stop himself from totally collapsing to the ground.
I flexed my fingers, testing for movement. When I was satisfied that I could move again, I checked my shoulder, there was nothing there, not even a scar.
Impressive.
I gathered my discarded shoulder pad and strapped it back into place before I stood and approached him.
"You did not need to do that, but thank you, I will not forget it." I said it with the utmost sincerety. I owed him, I knew that.
"Yo.. you can tha.. thank me after this ba.. battle." He was out of breath, weariness taking over. He did manage to look up at me and wink, I knew what he was thinking, and he could forget it!
A plan formed in my mind. I sauntered over to him, swaying my hips suggestively, trying to hide the sly grin that was threatening to appear on my lips.
"I suppose there is something I could do to make it up to you." I said this as seductively as I could.
A lavashious grin swept across his face, his tongue darted out to lick his lower lip. I bent down, making my intention to kiss him clear.
"Close your eyes, champion." My voice was low and husky. He obeyed, his grin getting wider.
I got close enough to feel his breath on my face, my hand was on his cheek. He puckered his lips and I just laughed inwardly at him before casting a stun that shot from my hand and through his body, causing him to fly backwards a couple of feet.
"I am not that easy, boy!" My voice had an edge of anger to it.
"You may have helped me, but I am not some trophy to be presented as an award! Especially to self absorbed, naive pathetic whelps like you!" I was outraged, how dare he!
I made to walk away from him and out of the pit when his voice called out from behind me.
"I'll remember that next time, beautiful."
I went to turn, to go back and make sure he didn't have a 'next time', but a mage grabbed ahold of me and my world disappeared for a second. The next thing I knew, I was standing above the Mine, looking down into it. I turned to the mage that still had ahold of my hand and just glared at him, he let go of my hand and backed away from me.
I peered back down into the pit, that obnoxious Paladin was back on his feet and trying to impress a Warlock that had been left to defend the Mine with him. I felt sorry for her, but I'd rather her than me. In anycase, she looked like she could handle herself, her Succubus was now whipping him, causing him to cower away. I let out a small victory laugh before heading back to the Blacksmith.
As I climbed the small bridge to the Blacksmith, I noticed that a couple of my teammates had progressed to the Farm. I just shrugged my shoulders, not caring what happened there, I needed a little break after the battle at the Mine.
"What's the status of the Mine?" The Warrior came to me and asked.
"It's fine, we have it under control." I thought about that Paladin down there with the Warlock as I said that, doubting my own assurance. The Warrior must have read my mind, he stared at me, uncertainty crossing his face.
"It's fine." I said again, a bit more convincingly this time.
I gazed around me, checking the area for any threats, or for an injured ally. Suddenly a green swirling mist wrapped itself around me, it didn't hurt, it actually tingled a bit. I recognised it as a Druid healing spell, and turned to find a giant wolf smiling at me. Atleast, I think he's smiling... Too many teeth.
"Aren't you supposed to be at the Lumber Mill?" I asked.
"I am but, that Shaman..." His voice was deep and raspy sounding. I swear he growled when he mentiond the Shaman, which made me laugh.
"I understand my friend, but we must put our differences aside if we are to come out of this victorious." As i said this, I notice the Mage that had blinked me out of the Mine appear next to the Druid.
"Wise words, Dreanei. Maybe you should heed your own advice?"
Where'd he come from!
I turned crimson, suddenly feeling very awkward standing here. "Ummm..." I averted my eyes, looking anywhere but at the Mage. Then I noticed a couple of Horde dashing towards the Stables. "Oh look" I pointed to the base. " I am needed elsewhere." My voice was small, my embarrassment evident. And with that, I ran from from the Blacksmith, and the judgemental eyes of the Mage, and headed for the Stables.
By the time I had gotten there, the Pandaren Monk that was defending, had already dispatched of the two enemies... And healed himself!
Well, that was a bit rude of him!
The longer I gazed at him, the more curious I became of his fur. I couldn't help it, before I knew what I was doing, I had reached out and stroked the top of his head.
By the Light that's soft...
He coughed, snapping me out of my reverie. I immediately pulled my hand back, my mind scrambling for a reasonable excuse.
"Uh, yo.. you had something on you." I tried to sound impassive, it must have worked for he just nodded his thanks and turned away from me.
Phew! That could have gotten ugly, I need to get my head back into the game. I started to walk away from the Stables when I felt someone run a hand over my right horn. I turned to see that Pandaren, smirking at me.
"You had something on your horn." He was mocking me.
We both exploded into laughter, I allowed him another feel of my horn after he let me examine the fur on his arm. Once our curiosity of each other was sated, we parted ways, a silly smile playing on my lips.
Just then, there was a puff of smoke, which made me jump in surprise.
"We have a game to win here! There's no time for hanky panky!" It was that Gnome Rogue, I felt a bubble of laughter make its way to my lips, but I held it back. He was right, we did have a game to win.
His voice though...
I arrived back at the Blacksmith, the Warrior there reported that we currently have four of the five bases. I checked him over, noting a few scrapes and scratches, so I mended those for him.
We held the Mines and the Stables uncontested, us at the Blacksmith only had to fend off one small wave, but the Lumber Mill seemed to attract all the action, taking wave after wave of Horde.
The Druid shifted to his feline form, dashing to the Lumber Mill.
It was like fireworks, all I could see from my position below the cliff, were bright lights of several different colours. It looked quite the spectacle, I knew the fight would be hard. I wanted to go and lend my abilities, but between the Druid and the Shaman and whoever else was up there, they had it covered.
A few more minutes had passed when a voice boomed over us, seeming to come from every direction.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, you have all fought bravely, you have honoured your factions."
Ah, the game was over. I could still hear fighting going on in the distance, the clash of metal against metal ringing out across the basin. I didn't care, let them carry on, they will suffer the consequences.
"The winners are... the Alliance!"
Roars of cheering and whistling filled the air, I through up my arms in victory. The Shaman came to the edge of the cliff and was clapping, I peered up to him and gave him a round of applause. I couldn't believe he had actually survived, I shook my head in disbelief. I noticed his hands crackling with blue energy before three lightning orbs burst into existence, swirling around him to create a barrier. Then he bowed with an over-exaggerated flourish, which made me chuckle.
Yeah yeah, well done Dwarf.
The Warrior clapped me on my back, I shook his hand and clapped his shoulder in congratulations.
I took one last sweeping look at the basin before I headed back into that small building, where battle Mages were creating portals to our various homes.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see the Paladin that had saved me, he had a knowing look on his face, which for some reason, made me smile.
"So... My place or yours?" He asked with a little too much confidence.
"Persistent, aren't you?" I was too tired to argue with him, I just wanted something to drink, preferably achohol.
He just stood there, expectant, a stupid grin on his face.
"What happened to getting to know one another?" I raised an eyebrow, the smile still on my lips.
"Oh but my dear, I do want to get to know you, every little bit of you." He said as he looked me up and down. This time I blushed, my earlier misgivings having faded away.
Oh, what the hell!
I gave him a wink and offered him my arm.
He chuckeled before looping our arms together and headed for the portal to Stormwind.
Before I stepped through, all I thought was maybe, just maybe, Arathi Basin Isn't so bad after all.