He stood on the Path of Glory silently, watching the Fel Orcs as they shambled along, tending to whatever it is that they did on a daily basis. He snorted and narrowed his eyes. Behind him, two Sin'dorei sat upon their mounts, the female upon a Hawkstrider and the male upon his Charger.

"What is it we are supposed to be doing again?", the female asked.

"Going after the one in charge. Lieutenant something or another.", he snorted again.

The Sin'Dorei male sighed and dismounted. The female dismounted with him.

"Well, I guess we had better get to it then.", the male said as he adjusted his armor and pulling on his platemail hood.

They were friends the three of them. The two Sin'Dorei, husband and wife. He was a Blood Knight, nearly a Champion of his Order. She was a Priest, highly revered for her healing abilities. He was a Tauren Warrior, skilled with any manner of sword. They started down the Path. He charged Fel Orc after Fel Orc, catching each opponent off guard as he did, moving with a grace and speed many didn't associated with his race. His swords bathed in the sickly green, tainted blood of his opponents as he cut them down, many before they even knew he was upon them. He glanced over his shoulder at his friends to make sure they were alright, to see that the Sin'Dorei male was moving in time to him, as he did most times. They often fought side by side, once in a while playfully keeping count of who killed what, each trying to outdo the other. The female kept their wounds healed so they could continue in this way, all of them laughing after the battle and comparing numbers. It was the way things had been since he could remember. The way he expected things to always be.

In no time, they had advanced to the very gates of Hellfire Citadel, the bodies of countless Fel Orcs lined the Path of Glory and were strewn around the front of the Citadel. They came together and looked at the large foreboding structure for a moment. They looked at each other silently and nodded. But he was hesitant. Something didn't feel right, he snorted and stopped a moment. The Sin'Dorei couple stopped and looked to him.

"Something wrong?", the female asked, her small, delicate hand touching his large muscular arm.

He looked down at her. She was so tiny compared to him. She looked to him like an Angel, shrouded in robes of white silk, a platinum, jewel encircled tiara graced her brow, matching white gloves on her hands and a large glowing, white staff in her hand. He blinked and smiled, pushing the feeling away.

"No. Let's just get this over with.", he smiled down at her.

She smiled back and nodded. They entered the gates of the Citadel and once more started their ballet of destruction. Like clockwork, the Fel Orcs fell one after the other. He had just taken down one of the Citadel Champions when he heard a bellow behind him. He turned to see the Orc they had come for rushing from a doorway they had not seen off to the side and shrouded in shadow. He would have turned and charged then but behind him, three Champions came from another doorway and engaged him in battle. He brought his swords up just in time to deflect a mace meant to pummel his head. He brought up his other sword and the first Champion's head came free from his shoulders and flew off to the side, the body crumpling in a useless heap. He heard the battle raging behind him and knew that his friends had engaged the Lieutenant and his men but he knew they wouldn't be able to hold them for long. He brought his foot down in a powerful stomp, thunder racing across the ground from his foot to strike the Fel Orc Champions and stun them. That was all he needed. He raised his sword and split the second Champion in two. The third Champion raised his mace and brought it crashing down into his arm. He grunted in pain as he felt the blow resonate through his arm and into his side. His sword dropped from his hand to the ground and he shot his head forward into the Orc's face. There was a satisfying crunch and the Fel Orc, crumbled to the ground in a heap, his nose shattered as he was knocked unconscious.

He grit his teeth against the pain that now shot through his arm and picked up his sword. He turned to see the battle that was waging behind him. As he turned, he saw a Fel Orc Warlock seem to appear just out of sight of his friends. She chanted quickly and fired a bolt of black Arcane Magic at the Sin'Dorei female. She was struck lancingly and was knocked the length of the entryway, she landed hard on her back, her head striking the ground with a loud thwack. And there she lay, unmoving. He roared in fury and charged the Warlock, cutting her down before she knew what was happening. He heard a cry of pain and turned to see the mace of the Fel Orc Lieutenant crash into the chest of the male Sin'Dorei, knocking him to the ground. He was then quickly surrounded by the Lieutenant's men and they all began to lay into him. He growled and rushed forward once more, he rammed into the Orc directly in front of him and took his head from his shoulders with one sweep of his sword. He turned, his second sword already in motion as the Fel Orc raised his Mace to attack. His sword sliced into the Orc and split him with such force, his top half flew across the entryway while his bottom half stood for a few seconds more. He turned to face the Lieutenant, only to be taken off of his feet as the larger Fel Orc tackled him to the ground. He gasped in surprise and grunted once more in pain as he landing awkwardly on his already injured arm. The Orc sat up, pinning him to the ground and started to shower him with punches. He could feel the power and strength the larger Orc possessed with each punch that struck him. His chest and face ached from the punishment and he could taste the thick unmistakeable tinge of blood in his mouth. He quickly thrashed his body, sending the large Orc flying over him to land on the ground hard. Slowly, he stood, blood running from his torn lip. He turned to face the Orc, his eyes narrowed. The Orc pulled himself from the ground and faced him, a grin on his lips.

"You not win. You die just like friends.", the Fel Orc Lieutenant laughed.

He grit his teeth as rage raced through him once more. He charged forward in a blind rage, his sword coming up to strike the Orc but was deflected by the Orc's own sword. He narrowed his eyes and once more brought his foot down in a powerful stomp, the hard dirt of the entryway cracked this time as the thunder raced along the ground and struck the Orc hard. He raised his head as the Orc staggered from the painful bolt and a animalistic roar issued from him, calling his strength forward in a rush. He reached down, ignoring the shattering pain in his arm now, and grabbed his second sword from the ground. He crossed the swords over his chest and what appeared to be ghostly dopplegangers of the two swords started to appear around him, circling him protectively. He rushed the Orc as he stood still dazed. He assaulted him with blows that were twenty times more powerful then his previous attacks, the Fel Orc Lieutenant struggled to block as best he could but he was driven back. The Orc brought his sword up to block a strike but, with the sound of breaking metal, his sword was snapped in half by the Tauren's rage filled advance. He only had time to blink dumbly at the half of sword still in his hand before he knew no more, the Tauren's sword buried so deeply into his skull that the hilt was between his eyes.

He turned and rushed to his friends still laying on the hard, cracked ground, his own body screamed in agony as he knelt beside the female. Her eyes were closed and she looked as if she were sleeping peacefully. He pulled off his gauntlets and gently slid his hand under her head. He stopped as his hand was suddenly engulfed in warm moisture. He pulled his hand out slowly and looked at it. Blood blackened his palm and dripped from his fingers.

"...no...", was all he could manage, his voice a struggled whisper as his heart sank.

Again, he slid his hand under her head, gently, slowly, and lifted her as much as he dared. There under her head was a fist sized stone, jagged and pointed, covered in blood. He reached in with his other hand and pulled the stone out, looking at it in horror. Gently, he laid her back to the ground and turned to her husband. He could hear him coughing under his hood. He stood and moved to him quickly. He could hear him struggle for breath as he moved closer and knelt beside him, gently removing his platemail hood. The male's face was pale as death, blood trickled steadily from the corners of his mouth, tears of pain leaked from his half lidded eyes, his blonde hair was stained from the blood that had soaked into it. He coughed hard and the Tauren could hear the sound of his shattered ribs grating together. The male opened her eyes and looked at him.

"You're going to be okay.", was all the Tauren could manage.

This was bad. This was worse then bad, this was horrible. He stood and went outside the gate, the Fel Orc reinforcements hadn't come yet so it was still clear. He whistled sharply. After a moment, the telltale footfalls of his Kodo mount could be heard as the beast raced to him, he turned and looked to his friends, tears already stinging his eyes.

"You're going to be okay."

He sat in his room in the Infirmary at the Checkpoint. His arm was in a cast that annoyed him, two breaks they said. His chest was tightly wrapped, bruised ribs they said. And he had a bandage across his snout, scraped nose they said. He was agitated. They hadn't told him anything about his friends. He had sat in his room and gone over the battle in his mind a million times. When did things go from swimmingly well to horribly wrong? He had gotten sloppy, he told himself. He had let his guard down for a moment and now his friends were hurt because of it. He stood up and walked to the door of his room, opening it. The Sin'Dorei medic outside the door looked up at him.

"You should be resting.", she said, her eyes regarding his battered form.

He simply snorted and came out into the hallway. She didn't stop him but watched him as he went. He wanted to know how his friends were doing, they hadn't told him anything and, judging by the gradual graying at his window, it was nearing dawn. He made his way down the corridor towards the room, where they had rushed his friends. All was silent and an ominous dread hung in the air. He kept telling himself that they were sleeping, that's why it was so quiet. He reached his hand up to knock on the door but stopped. That feeling of dread pulled at him, pulled at his heart. He took a step back from the door, telling himself he was being silly, they were resting, they would be happy to see him, even as the sorrow started to weigh on him. Then the door opened and the Sin'Dorei surgeon that was working on his friends stepped out. He was covered in blood. He looked at the Tauren and the look in his eyes was one of pity and... dread. He stepped back once more as the surgeon moved towards him. Even before the words passed over his lips, the Tauren knew they were coming.

"I'm so sorry. We did all that we could but... we couldn't save them.", the surgeon said softly.

The words cut like the sharpest assassin's dagger, unyielding, unforgiving. The Tauren bowed his head and, for the first time, wept.

He sat at the two gravemarkers. He had been there since the burial the day previous. Now he was fussing with his itchy cast as he talked to the markers.

"...won't be getting this blasted cast off for a few weeks they said. But the thing itches to high Fel.", he grumbled to the markers as he crammed a thin branch into the end of the cast, using it to scratch the place on his arm that itched him so badly.

He sighed softly and pulled the branch from his cast, looking at the two markers. Once more tears burned his eyes.

"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault, if I ... if I had been quicker. If I had killed those Champions faster...", he shook his head.

"I know your daughter is still in Silvermoon, looking for your son and awaiting your return.", he looked towards the blood red sky as he spoke.

"I'll go to her and watch over her. I'll keep her safe until blood ceases to course through my veins and perhaps even after that. I promise to you both, I will treat her as my own and no harm will come to her. I failed you. But I won't fail again.", he swore.

He sat there for a little longer, then reluctantly stood. He sighed deeply.

"Farewell and Goddess speed, my friends.", he whispered, tears falling to the ground where he stood.

"I will not fail again", he said, his words heavy in the thick air as he turned and slowly made his way to his waiting mount.

Silvermoon was a long way from Hellfire Peninsula. He turned his Kodo towards Shattrath City, took one last look at the two gravemarkers that stood out starkly against the crimson sky. He sighed and with a kick of his heels began his journey to her side.