A/N: Welcome to the first story in a series! I'm currently working (very slowly) on a rewrite of this story, as of August 2009. Chapter 1 has been rewritten and appended here as Chapter 8; everything before that is the full, original, un-rewritten story. So if you're new to the story, you can read chapters 1-7 and hear the tale beginning to end. As I continue with the rewrite, I plan to delve more deeply into some of the details and flesh out more things that didn't make it into the original cut. Regardless, if you're a new reader, I hope you'll stick around to read the rest of the series and maybe drop me a review or two. :) If you're an old reader revisiting to see what's different with this, I salute you. I'll be posting notices in my profile (and possibly in upcoming chapters of Bloodscry or Days) when I update a chapter of this.

Warnings/disclaimers: This story contains rape and strong sexual themes, so proceed with caution or turn back if you're underage. I don't own Blizzard, WoW and its terms, or any NPCs I use here or elsewhere in my stories; I can only claim my own characters and the stories themselves.

Blood poured into Hyara's eyes as she raised her bow to take what she knew would be her last, unsteady shot at the thing barreling toward her. Her cat Gink, exhausted and wounded himself by now, snarled and gave chase, swiping at it from behind. The arrow flew true and with a dull thunk landed firmly in the creature's chest, but Hyara's mana and most of her lifeblood were spent. The last thing she saw was the world turning blue as blood flooded her vision. Shit, she thought. Now I've done it. Blackness swallowed her.

In the eerie greenish gloom that passed for night in Felwood, Galmak could barely discern Palla, his wolf, winding her way ghostlike through the trees ahead and to the right of the path. She'd been on the trail of something for about an hour now, but she appeared unconcerned and the orc concluded that she'd probably scented some other hunter's pet and was merely passing the time as they traveled learning its scent story. For himself, he would be glad to leave Felwood as quickly as possible. The corruption of the place was unnerving, but the corruption of the creatures that dwelled there didn't bear thinking of. For an instant Galmak caught himself imagining how it must have been. Had the animals noticed when they first began to feel it? Or had it happened so gradually... He let out a low growl and mentally shook himself. He had to stay alert here.

Palla had wandered farther from the road, and the orc strained his eyes to catch sight of her misty grey shape in the direction he could sense she had taken. He tugged gently on the reins to bring his riding wolf to a stop and reached out through his bond with Palla to discover what had changed in her sense. She was moving cautiously and slowly now, skirting something.

Someone here, came her explanation.

Well, come back then, he responded. If it's an enemy, we want none of it; if it's a friend, we don't have time for socializing. Galmak felt her mental equivalent of a disdainful sniff at his lack of curiosity, but he knew she understood his desire to leave Felwood as quickly as possible. It surprised him, therefore, when Palla did not reemerge from the forest right away.

Now what? he asked impatiently.

I think you should come here.

The orc didn't bother trying to hide his annoyance with her, but nevertheless he dismounted and gave his riding wolf the command to stay, then started off the path into the deeper shadows of the undergrowth. He hadn't gone five yards when he began to notice signs of some sort of fairly recent carnage. He raised his eyebrows and would have let out a low whistle if he hadn't been trying to move silently- this must have been a pretty monstrous battle. All around him was broken brush; he spotted clumps of fur in several places and dark smears on branches and on the ground that must have been blood. Underfoot the sickly, tainted grass had been trampled. Galmak followed his sense of Palla and crept up next to her where she was crouched beneath a bush. She turned her wide, glinting eyes to him, then back to where Galmak could see not much more than what looked like a dark bundle crumpled on the ground in a small area clear of brush. He gave a most unprofessional start as something suddenly moved in an area that he could have sworn had held nothing but empty air a moment before, and the thing he saw resolved itself into the head of a cat. As his eyes made sense of this, he was able to pick out the rest of the cat's body, insubstantial as shadows. He could clearly see the brush behind the cat through the cat's body.

A ghostsaber, Palla's thought came to him. Galmak nodded. He'd seen them a few times before, but never with Horde hunters. His name is Gink, Palla continued, and this time Galmak turned to look at her.

And where's the thing that killed his hunter? he asked, his eyes scanning the undergrowth uneasily, searching for a trail the monster might have made as it crashed away after visiting death on the crumpled body lying in the clearing.

The thing is several yards north behind the bushes, dead. Gink's hunter is not dead.

Dying then, from the look of it. How long ago did this happen?

A few hours, came Palla's answer.

Galmak allowed himself a sigh. Palla knew his weakness; that was why she had called him over here. She knew Galmak didn't like to leave anyone or any creature suffering. She herself didn't like to feel the pain of other hunters or their pets, and her compassion didn't know the bounds of Horde or Alliance.

And you call that weakness? Palla thought wryly at her master.

This time, however, Galmak was half inclined to leave well enough alone. This hunter was surely beyond help if he had been lying here for hours without moving. The orc was no healer and could do little to help if the wounds were serious, as the dark blood pooled on the ground near the head and side seemed to indicate. But still, he couldn't just walk away without even satisfying himself that there was nothing to be done.

Alright, I'll take a look. Will the cat let me approach?

I think so, Palla answered. Hopefully she had been able to reassure Gink sufficiently that her master meant no harm; otherwise he would probably wind up with four sets of claws buried in his chest.

As Galmak moved cautiously forward through the gloom, the cat raised its head and fixed the orc with a stare that clearly said this trust was temporary and only out of desperation. Galmak made soothing noises as he slowly approached until he could kneel down for a closer look in the murky darkness. He put out his hands to turn the hunter's head for a look at the wound, and with a start he realized he was touching a horn. It was a draenei; what's more, it was a female draenei.

Galmak inwardly cursed his bad luck.

Crazed roaring, pain, then blackness... Hyara felt the passage of time in trickles, then in floods, then it would slow again. Her mind seemed to wander aimlessly in the blackness and she couldn't remember why she was there. And then abruptly she became aware of a red glow emanating from somewhere in front of her and her consciousness swam suddenly into focus: her eyes were closed and there was light in front of her. She struggled to move but her head felt heavy. Gink was by her side in an instant at the first sign of her stirrings.

Hyara, don't move, he said through their bond. You're hurt badly and you're not out of danger. Stay still.

Feign death? she thought weakly and confusedly.

At this she sensed mild amusement. No, he knows you're not dead. What I meant was that your injuries are dangerous; don't make it worse by trying to sit.

Hyara was still confused. Who knows I'm not dead?

Gink's sense was uneasy. An orc hunter found us after we killed the beast. He's saved your life by helping with what he can, but I still don't trust him or his motivations. You understand?

She did understand; the memory of what had happened was reemerging and clarifying. Gingerly she turned her head away from the flickering campfire and opened her eyes slowly, fearing what she would see...

But instead of an entire band of Horde staring at her she saw one lone hunter sitting a few feet away, munching absently on a heel of bread as he stared into the black trees beyond the firelight. His pet wolf lay near his feet, grey head resting on her paws, one eye open. It was an altogether domestic and reassuring scene, and Hyara wondered suspiciously if perhaps he'd arranged it that way so as not to alarm her when she opened her eyes. She wasn't fooled for a second into believing that he didn't know the instant she awoke.

The orc turned his head and caught her studying him. She didn't flinch, but locked eyes with him and decided to give him a surprise.

"Thank you for saving me," she said in accented but perfectly understandable orcish.

She got her desired reaction. His mouth fell open and he stuttered, "What the… How- how do you know orcish?"

Hyara gave a small smile. "It's not terribly uncommon for draenei to know orcish. We lived with your people for many years." The orc turned his eyes toward the fire.

What she hadn't told him was that it was actually fairly uncommon for someone her age to know orcish; she was young for a draenei and had lived most of her life on Azeroth, with only vague childhood memories of Draenor. Most of those memories involved her parents being afraid for reasons she hadn't understood. Azeroth had been Hyara's home for... oh, however many years it had been now since the Exodar crashed. Draenei were not very particular about keeping close track of time, but it had been long enough for Hyara to grow up to be an experienced hunter who was ready to venture into dangerous places such as Felwood. Or so she had thought. With a wrench she thought once more of the monstrous creature that Gink had said they successfully killed. Successfully killed literally only an instant before it would have killed her for good and true.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and ended up gasping and crying out as pain lanced through her side. The orc shot to her side and put a calming hand on her shoulder, but Hyara thought he looked rather helpless, as if he were a little exasperated with the situation.

"You've got a bad gash down your side," he explained. "I put some ointment on it... usually works wonders... but it doesn't seem to be doing any good. I'd guess it's fel-poisoned somehow, which isn't surprising considering the thing you tangled with." Despite her private terror at her narrow escape, Hyara was pleased to hear a touch of awe creep into the orc's voice. "Dunno how you managed to survive that at all," he continued gruffly. "That was the biggest, nastiest, most ferocious furbolg I've ever seen. How in the name of all the elements did you have the bad luck to attract his ire?"

Hyara's glowing eyes slid away from him and she bit her lip. "I bit off a little more than I could chew," she said in a small voice. And it had nearly cost her life, and Gink's.

This appeared to render the orc speechless. That kind of overconfidence was a serious miscalculation, but it was a sure thing this little draenei had learned her lesson. She was lucky she was still around to apply it to future situations.

"I'm Galmak, by the way," he said quietly and extended his hand. She smiled again slightly and took it.

"I'm Hyara." She pronounced the "H" breathily, and Galmak couldn't do it when he tried. "Ha-yara," he said, sure he'd done it right, but his ears told him otherwise and he was miffed with himself. Here she knew his whole language and he couldn't even get one name right in hers.

Hyara tried to chuckle at his obvious consternation, but ended up groaning in pain again. Gink lashed his tail from his position on her other side. If a fel poison's gotten into you, we need to get you somewhere it can be cured. You're only going to get worse if we don't, her cat told her bluntly.

I know. A hint of desperation entered her sense at her next thought. But I'm completely dependent on him for help. Look at me- I can't go anywhere on my own like this. If he decides he's done enough and goes off and leaves...

That thought didn't have long to trouble Hyara and Gink. "I think your head should do alright with a little time to heal; it wasn't the furbie that cut you there- must've been a branch or something. But I need to get you somewhere they can cure this poison." Galmak looked at her thoughtfully. "Do you think you can sleep tonight, try to gather your strength, and be ready for some traveling by morning?"

Hyara nodded slowly so as not to set her head swimming. She reached out a hand to stop him as he turned away. "Really. Thank you. I would have died. I owe you a tremendous debt, and I won't forget it, Galmak."

To protest that she owed him nothing, that there was no debt and never could be in his mind except a debt he felt he owed but could never repay... it would have insulted her. She wouldn't have understood, and he had no desire to explain, so Galmak merely nodded and turned away back to the other side of the fire. He lay on his thin spare bedroll, his better one having been given to Hyara, and gazed up at the twisted, blackened trees tainted by a force they hadn't recognized when it came to them and couldn't have run from even if they had. He heard Palla slink off into the undergrowth to prowl a stealthy, watchful circle around the camp, but there would be two on watch that night. Galmak knew he wouldn't be able to close his eyes for a moment.