Chapter 1– Rumble in the Barrens
Getting past the Crossroads guards had been the easy part. Orcs fight a lot like a tavern drunkard – sloppy and uncoordinated. Traveling through the Barrens was more of a nuisance than a danger. But it was the fastest way to get from Booty Bay back to Darnassus. Rogar figured as soon as he reached Astraanar he could ride a hippogryph the rest of the way.
That was the plan anyway. But things never go according to plan, do they? Rogar spurred his horse to run faster, hoping he would make it to the Night Elf capitol without any further distractions. And that's when it happened.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of steel and the harsh glow of spell fire. He pulled back on the reigns of his horse and slowed to catch a glimpse of the fight. He saw what appeared to be a mage holding off a group of Horde attackers, but it was pretty clear she wasn't going to be able to do so much longer. Rogar could sense that her mana was running low, and her attackers didn't show any signs of letting up. There were four of them that Rogar could count. He leaned his horse in the direction of the fight. The horse whinnied a small grunt of protest. "I know, girl. I promised you a warm stable and some oats. But that's just gonna have to wait."
The horse responded and charged toward the battle. As they drew closer Rogar took a better look at the situation. The attackers appeared to be warriors - two Orcs and a Troll from what he could see. He also noticed totems on the ground around them, and shifted his attention to a Tauren standing in back of the group. A shaman. Fantastic.
Rogar steered his horse toward the Tauren and came around behind him, hoping to catch him off guard. He was close enough to the fight now to hear the grunts and groans of the warriors and to smell the stench of the Orcs. Leaping from his horse he drew his sword and swung a wide arc at the shaman, catching him unprepared. The blow struck the Tauren flat across the side of the head, stunning him and interrupting the spell he was casting. Rogar mumbled a small prayer of healing and the Mage's life began to replenish.
The warriors took note of this new participant in the fight and broke off to assist their shaman. That was the opening the Mage needed. She incanted her next spell and a burst of fire engulfed the group of warriors in magical flame. Rogar wasn't sure which smelled worse, the Orcs or the burning flesh. Frankly, the combination of the two made him want to vomit.
Rogar mumbled another prayer and a bolt of holy lightning shot through the body of the shaman. Dazed for only a second, the Tauren waved his hoof and Rogar felt a sickness creep through his body. The poison took hold and began to sap the life out of his bones. Rogar tried to run to a better position to flank the Shaman, but a totem nearby was slowing his movement as if he were trying to run through waist deep mud. Rogar collected himself for a second and called out another prayer, this time cleansing the poison from his system.
Out of mana, the Mage shot another ball of fire at the Shaman from her wand, hoping to distract his attention from Rogar. As the Shaman turned to cast another spell at the Mage, Rogar plunged his blade deep into the Tauren's flank. Blood washed over the hilt of his sword, and the weight of the huge beast slumped forward, dead. Rogar pulled his blade from the carcass and smashed the totem that was slowing his movement. He looked around for a patch of plains grass to clean off his sword.
"You didn't have to rescue me." The Mage said with an irritated tone to her voice, "I was in control of that fight the whole time."
"I think the words you're looking for are Thank You" replied Rogar. His frustration was building, partly because of the Mage's attitude, and partly because he couldn't find anything to clean his sword with. He tore off a small, clean section of the Shaman's robe and began wiping the blood from his sword and armor.
"Well, yes. I suppose some Thanks are in order." The Mage conceded. "My name is Lien. And what is yours, paladin?"
"LOOK OUT!" Rogar cried as he pointed behind Lien. But it was too late. An Undead rogue had slipped out of his hidden position and plunged his daggers deep into the small of her back. She slumped over stunned as the rogue drew his blades back again and jabbed more wounds into the Mage. Before Rogar could even recite the words to his healing prayer Lien dropped to the ground, dead.
"Alright you Bastard, you got the jump on her. But now you have get through me!" Rogar took a huge swing at the rogue but before the blade could strike true the rogue vanished. Rogar spun around, guessing that the rogue would attempt to backstab him. Rogar repositioned himself just in time to catch the rogue slipping out of his stealth. He parried the rogue's attack and countered by bashing him across the face with the hilt of his sword.
Dazed, the rogue took a few steps back to regroup. Rogar reached for a potion from his belt pouch to restore some of his mana. The rogue took advantage of the break in the attack and sprang on the paladin. The attacks were fast and furious. Rogar tried his best to parry what he could, but the rogue's blades were a blur of steel and poison. Rogar could feel them piercing through the small spaces between his plate armor, finding the soft, fleshy parts like a thousand deadly bee stings. Already he could feel the poison from the rogue's daggers coursing through his veins, and he began to slump over as his muscles gave out.
As he was about to lose consciousness Rogar thought he heard a loud shot, and the stinging of the rogue's daggers stopped. Rogar looked up at the rogue who was now dazed and staggering. Suddenly a giant, black bear paw came swinging out of nowhere and crushed the side of the rogue's face. Rogar mustered what strength he had left and prayed for a wave of healing. As the prayer was answered he could feel the life pouring back into his body. He mumbled another prayer to rid his body of the rogue's poisons.
As Rogar healed himself the bear continued to tear into the rogue like a child's toy. The rogue was defenseless against the massive strength and size of the bear. More shots were fired, and the rogue's body recoiled from the force of the bullets. In one final motion the bear tore open the rogue's throat, separating his head from his body. The fight was over and the rogue lay dead on the dusty ground.
Fully healed, Rogar walked up to the enormous bear and playfully scratched him behind the ears. "Good Boy, Ivan. That's a good boy!" The bear licked Rogar's face leaving large trails of drool on the Paladin's armor.
"So… at what point were ye gonna get off yer arse and fight that Bastard?" A burly dwarf walked up to Rogar and slapped him on the back. "Just add this to the list o' times I've saved yer miserable hide!"
"Hey Loderr," Rogar sighed. "I'm glad you guys showed up when you did."
"Aye. From the looks of things, I'd say it was just in the nick o' time!"
"That rogue had me for sure. One minute he was right in front of me, the next he vanished into thin air. I tell you Loderr, I'm losing it in my old age."
The Dwarf scoffed at the notion. "Eh, we all get caught unawares from time to time. Bloody rogues are a sneaky lot anyway. I don't trust 'em."
"Yeah. Let's get out of here." Rogar said. "You headed to Darnassus to hook up with Shiner and the others?"
"Aye. But uh… what do ya plan to do about that?" Loderr pointed at the corpse of the Mage lying next to the decapitated body of the Rogue.
"By Uther, I almost forgot!" Rogar knelt over Lien's body and lowered his head in a prayer. Brilliant yellow light swirled around him and finally focused onto the corpse. The light formed into a bright white pillar and shot to the heavens. Left standing in its place was Lien, still wounded, but alive.
"What happened?" Lien asked, disoriented from the resurrection.
"That." Said Loderr, pointing to the corpse of the Rogue.
"Who are you?" she asked
"The name's Loderr. And this here pile o' fur and fury be Ivan." The bear stood back on his hind legs and let out a huge roar that oddly enough sounded halfway friendly.
"And my name's Rogar. Sorry about letting you die like that. I should have known there would be a Rogue hiding around somewhere. How did you get jumped by that many Horde in the first place?"
"I was on my way to Feralas when I saw the warriors patrolling the road. I started to attack and I had the advantage. But then the shaman rode up on his kodo and began healing them all. I tried to blast the whole group, but every time I got them close to death the shaman healed them right back. My mana was getting low, and well, then you showed up. I have no idea where the rogue came from."
"Aye. Sounds like a good thing that we all showed up, eh Rogar?" Loderr shot a sly grin at the Paladin.
"Indeed." Rogar sighed beneath his breath. He knew the Dwarf wasn't going to let him hear the last of this any time soon. "Well, you're welcome to travel to Feralas with Loderr and me. We're meeting up with some of our guild mates in Darnassus first, and then we're headed to Feathermoon Village from there."
"Why are you going to Feralas? You wouldn't happen to be going to…"
"Dire Maul?" Loderr finished her sentence.
"Yeah."
"Well I hope you weren't plannin' to go to Dire Maul all by yer lonesome there, Missy. That place is death on a stick, I tell ye! If you were havin' a bit o' trouble with the lot of these Orcs, the Ogres at the entrance to Dire Maul would be skinnin' yer liver before ye took three steps into the place."
"Well I had planned on looking for some help once I reached Feathermoon." Lien shot a slightly annoyed look at the Dwarf. "I guess it would be good to travel with you. Thank you for the invitation."
"Not a problem." Rogar said. "It's the least we can do considering the situation and all. We should mount up and get moving. We're burning daylight."