Showdown on the Brown Mesa
A distant hyena's growl echoed through the vast desert valley of the Thousand Needles. The moon was hovering high over the numerous mesas covering much of the area, casting its pale light over land. The night had fallen a few hours ago and the world was largely peaceful. However, the night wasn't entirely calm: a lone figure climbing one of the mesas created a ripple in the pool of tranquility.
"Just a few more meters left", hissed Sirexx, climbing the western side of the Brown Mesa, home of the tauren Spirithoof clan. The mountain lied in the central Thousand Needles, towering over most of the other nearby mesas. Sirexx's caste, the Unseen, didn't really have hard time climbing walls due to their powerful limbs and somewhat small weight. However, possible sentries had to be avoided at all costs, at least for now. Sirexx looked over mesa rim and noticed no taurens nearby. In the distance, however other forms began appearing over the mesa edges that caught his eye.
"As expected, Ke'nir and Danoxx are also on time, nice, this mission goes like we planned. Now, to finding the shaman's tent…."
Sirexx faded into the shadows formed on the edges of the tauren camp, noticing a few guards here and there. Also, some of the tents were larger and more decorated than the others, supposedly reserved for the higher-ranking members of the tribe.
"Our target must lie within one of them… but bypassing the guards is not going to be pretty. Ra'jol should also be in the top by now, hopefully none of the others blunder this."
The camp was quite large and there weren't that many places to hide. If the qiraji wanted to have the initiative, they would have to act quickly. Meanwhile, Sirexx had sneaked close to the first tent.
"Danoxx seems ready to begin the action. Well, here goes… good luck everyone."
With that, Sirexx began creeping towards a guard. The qiraji closed the distance quickly and used his chela to break the tauren's neck with ease and silence. Sirexx took the corpse to the edge and threw it down to the surrounding desert.
"These taurens are slower than novice gladiators! Pathetic, no wonder they have to resort to shamanism instead of raw force. Well, now begins the hard part."
Usually, shamans could have felt their comrade's death through the elements but the qiraji, because of their Creator-given powers, could manipulate elements to some degree, in this occasion to quell the effects of the assassination. Sirexx cut a hole to the large tent to see whether it was the hiding place of the Spirithoof clan's secret arts in shamanism. He was disappointed: the tent was some kind of general store and the goods seemed to be quite second rate too.
"Well, not here. The deeper to the camp we go the more taurens we'll face. Are we really going to need help?"
Sirexx was determined to use that help only in serious problems due to its unpredictability and possible spreading of the word of the qirajis' allies. He really hoped this wouldn't require the silithid.
High shaman Orith Windtotem was awake reflecting his tribe's recent developments. He had recently begun training a new generation of shamans, threats from centaur tribes were dealt with and relations with other tauren tribes had improved. The Spirithoof had even made some allies. Orith was quite proud to be living such a time, let alone heading it. Orith decided to observe his village before sleep. He stopped at a cliff, admiring the nightly desert and mountains.
"It is times like these that make me realize my luck of finding a friend in villagers and guiding them forward. Sometimes I wonder the wisdom of being a leader but times like these know this is what I have to be."
Returning to his tent, he noticed that the village streets were empty. There were supposed to be about a dozen guards but now there weren't. It was at that moment that he felt pressure around his neck and a sibilant and low voice asking: "I'll make this quick, High Shaman." Quickly the attacker turned Orith over and tried to break his neck. The tauren stared at the attacker in shock. He was looking at an insect-like creature with massive jaws and antenna. Orith managed to repel the chela by creating a line of stones around his neck.
Shamans can do that!? I shouldn't have expected less from this tauren. He certainly seems quite powerful. This isn't going to be easy.
"A good move, I must say. It could have been over already but… It can't be helped. ", Sirexx asked.
Orith was speechless. "Wha. why.. who, what you even are… what have you done?"
"I'm sorry but I can't tell much. Let's just say that we are after something. What do you say if you just give it and we'll take our leave?"
"What is it?" Orith didn't even consider the offer but wished to know what could possibly interest a giant bug.
"We know that you are a shaman clan and that you have done new unique research and possibly even new spells. Those are what we're after."
"This.. creature.. killed all my guards and now it expexts us to hand them the only heirlooms why we're still a free and respected tribe?. This negotiation is over."
CRASH!
A huge lightning bolt would have went right though Sirexx if he hadn't expected such an outburst. Sirexx tried to approach Orith but the tauren's magic was too powerful. Each time he approached the tauren, severe lightning struck ever closer to him.
"He sure knows how to keep me at bay. Hopefully someone has the time to back me up."
Sirexx backed off a little and took a bright blue crystal from his pocket. He held it below his chin and felt it resonate with his companions' counterparts. Soon they responded. However, the fighting wasn't unnoticed by the villagers. An increasing amount of tauren took up the arms and joined the battle. To counter this, Danoxx and Ra'jol stayed farther away trying to buy Sirexx and Ke'nir the time they needed to beat the High shaman.
"Couldn't finish him by yourself, Sirexx?"
"Well, he is the leader after all, I'd say it wasn't all that embarrassing to call for help."
Ke'nir merely nodded. The tauren was clearly an adept shaman so how should he be handled? Melee combat was out of question as was any direct ranged battle.
"Hmm, this became troublesome. Let's hope wasps can get some work done."
Ke'nir used again his crystal but this time he shook it. Sirexx simply noted at the act.
"It did come to this. I admit that beating the shaman by ourselves would be too hard but an all-out silithid attack will create too much attention among tauren tribes. But we've got no choice, I guess."
"I should be able to keep them at bay but I don't believe I can win. What next?"
When Orith saw Ke'nir use the crystal, he felt that the endgame was quickly approaching. Not soon after, he could hear a strong buzz behind him. The tauren turned to see the source of the noise.
"Giant wasps?! These bastards can command other insects? I'm most likely done for but saving the village is my first duty. Now, let's see if the Nightwind clan is a worthy ally."
"This is the last time any of your cursed race cross with my clan!"
And Orith unleashed a great fire to the night sky.
Danoxx and Ra'jol could feel the heat from the immense fire pillar. They had their ideas about the reason but they could come to the conclusion that it complicated the mission.
"That firewall can't be good." notified Ra'jol.
"Very good thinking, Ra'jol. We probably should rush to finish the mission before the shaman does something crazy, even if it opens our rear to these bulls."
"Ke'nir, let's keep this guy busy. The wasps will take care of the rest."
The two qiraji suddenly charged Orith with new fury. Orith knew that he couldn't survive with the wasps behind him. He was buying time for the Nighttotem clan's arrival and hoping that they could at least save his village and slay the murderous insects. First Sirexx charged and dodged Orith's attacks. He was just about to give the killing blow when he felt a cold embrace in his abdomen.
"Damn, how could I not dodge that frost shock?! Ke'nir, finish this!"
Ke'nir managed to hit Orith in the chest, downing the tauren. Orith launched a lightning bolt, hitting Ke'nir in the shoulder. However, he too felt something, a massive sting in his back. He looked around and saw a wasp flying away from him.
"This is it, the poison is already spreading. However, I'm not done yet."
Orith tried to rise to his feet but he was already far too weak to succeed. At least one of them was injured and close to him. Sirexx would be the one to pay for this night. He got ready to impale the qiraji with his staff but never succeeded.
"I'm sorry but this is the end for you."
Danoxx dodged Orith's attack. The shaman tried to cast a lightning bolt but he was already far too weak for that. All that was was left for Orith were few seconds of desperation and a sound of his neck breaking. Orith was gone.
"Sirexx, Ke'nir, what's your condition?" asked Danoxx.
"I'll survive but my fights are done for now, Ke'nir's situation is worse but he should recover, given a little time".
"Sirexx, find our target, and we shall keep those out of your way", pointing at the approaching crowd. Hurry!"
Sirexx simply nodded and limped towards the shaman's tent. It was quite large and clearly showed its resident's occupation: political documents, shamanic scrolls and various items related to them. Orith had been quite realistic about his spare time: hence there was only a table and bed as his furniture.
"How am I supposed to find anything here in time?!" Sirexx hissed amid frustration and pain. His injury wasn't life-threatening but it made his search anguished. Sirexx began to browse the shaman scrolls but while rare, they weren't unique to the Spirithoof. The fact that the mission and the lives of his comrades hung in the balance made Sirexx extremely nervous.
"Only trash! Of course that moron had to hide them somewhere!"
Sirexx began to tear the room apart, looking some clues where the spells would be. After a minute, he found some documents concerning spells he hadn't known of before.
"These must be them! Now, let's get out of here!"
Sirexx had been too concentrated at searching that he hadn't heard that the fighting had intensified. The Nightwind clan was arriving soon.
"Sirexx, you better have the scrolls or we're done for!" Danoxx demanded.
"I do, Danoxx."
Danoxx turned to the others and shouted "We have the scrolls, now MOVE!"
Ke'nir needed help with walking and he slowed the qirajis' escape. However, if by any means possible, a qiraji should always strive for the survival of all squad members. The plan had been to steal the scrolls quietly and return the way they came. Now however, Danoxx realized that only a quick escape could work.
"Let's get to the elevator, the silithid will protect the mechanism! Hopefully their reinforcements linger for just a while longer!"
The elevator wasn't far away but neither were the Nightwind: they started appearing from the distance below. The qiraji started their descent to the ground and the silithid did as Danoxx told they would. The quartet had managed to evacuate the mesa. But the Nighttotems were still a threat. However, that threat could be handled with ease.
"I'll look forward what these guys are going to do now: time to introduce a colossus! With any luck we should be able to vanish during the chaos."
Now, a giant form began to appear under the Nightwind group. It was a silithid colossus, massive, powerful and fast beetle-resembling horror: a perfect killing machine. Merely its appearance broke the taurens' spirit and the group splintered. In the middle of the chaos, the lift reached the ground.
"Wasn't that pretty heroic?"
"Don't be too hard on them, I wouldn't want to fight our friend either", Sirexx replied to Ra'jol's sarcastic remark.
"Continue your chat only when we reach the Grimtotem camp, now please shut up", ordered Danoxx.
With the Nightwind group in total chaos, the qiraji used the time join the many dark forms of the night.
