Disclaimer: I do not own WoW. The series of Warcraft are owned and created by Blizzard. Sadly that means that Merrilynn, does too, though I claim full credit on entering the character into the World of Warcraft world.

Chapter 1

It was a peaceful time in Eastvale. The sun was shining, the birds were twittering and the hunters had finally succeeded at keeping the wolf, bear and murlock population to a minimum. The people who lived here were very happy indeed. Little did they know that this all was going to change.

Living in this village was a great night elf hunter by the name of Treon Weaderin, which was rare, since the night elves hardly leave their houses in the trees. But there were oddballs occasionally who left the protection of the trees and left for the human cities. They were scarcely found in dwarvish cities, for the underground structures were too industrial for their liking. Treon had just moved there with his wife Manja, who had been a mage in her time of glory. She was human, but in these times it was quite common to see couples of mixed races, and it was tolerated, though looked upon strangely.

They had a little girl who went by the name of Merrilynn. In most aspects she looked human, if you overlooked the fact that her eyes were purple and she could see pretty well in the darkness with them. She was also slightly larger than her mother, and her ears, though human sized were pointier and a whole lot more sensitive. Since she had been old enough to fully understand the meaning of magic, her mother had taught her the ways of the mage.

She would've followed in her fathers footsteps first, but she did not care much for the hunter way of life. She loved the fact that animals became her friends, that trait being helped by the elven blood that ran through her veins, or that she could sense certain types of beings if she focused hard on it, but the life her father had led before he met Manja was a lonely one. Not many people liked hunters because there were simply too many of them these days and that their pets were very protective of their masters. What her father didn't know was that she wasn't suited as a mage either. Every time she dared to cast a bolt of fire or ice, her hands burned, and some of the scars were still visible. But her parents seemed oblivious to the fact that their daughter was in pain.

Even the little girl herself learned how to bite away the pain after a few years. She did not wish to disappoint her parents any more, after all. So she grew up learning everything to magic that there is to learn and grew into a fine young woman. Her hands had gotten so scarred by now that she wore black linen gloves wherever she went. But that did not stop the boys from Eastvale, however few, to gaze at her whenever she passed by. They did not care much for the fact that she was not pure human. She was beautiful, and that was all that mattered.

She was 17 when it happened.

Merrilynn was waiting in the kitchen for her parents to come home with a surprise. Needless to say that even though she was nearly an adult, she was still curious and exited about what it was going to be. Her heart was set on a horse, but she also realised that her parents, even though great heroes of old, did not possess enough money to buy one. The day was just like any other day really, since nothing much seemed to change here.

But when her parents stormed into the room pale and filled with fear she had to change her idea.

"Merri, quick, run away from here, head for Stormwind." Her mother said hastily, shoving a pack in the young girl's arms and dropping random provisions in it.

"But, mom, I don't understand, what's going on? What is happening?"

She wanted to look out of the window when she heard a high-pitched scream coming from about a mile away, but couldn't because her father talked to her again, voice strained with fear.

"There's no time, you need to go now. Take your mothers old horse, head for Stormwind as fast as you can, don't take the road…just run through the hills."

"But dad, the hills are filled with bandits and murlocs…"

"At this time the hills are safer, you must leave now, Merrilynn."

At this point she knew that her parents were serious. They only used that tone and her full name when it was important.

"But why? What's going on?"

Her mother and father grasped her by the hands and looked at her, seeming both grieved, proud, fearing and loving at the same time.

"Merrilynn, my dear, dear Merri, we love you with all our hearts, and we wish for nothing more than to be able to see you grow, but Elune seems to have something different for us in store. At this moment we need you to be safe. Whatever will happen here, we will not let you be a part of it. Go now, make for Stormwind, and don't look back."

Confused and, not knowing why, afraid, she made her way quickly towards the stables. All she saw around her was chaos. She found her mothers old horse already saddled and bridled and it seemed like it was just as anxious as the rest of them.

"There, there Wingrust. It's ok, we need to leave now." She whispered to the white steed whilst patting its nose.

After that she mounted and left, not daring to linger in there any longer. Even though she still didn't have a clue of what was going on, her gut told her that she shouldn't stay here.

The horse galloped as quick as it could, and pretty soon the sound of screaming was left far behind her.

But Wingrust wasn't fast enough.