Chapter two, Remembering Friends
Vo'don would have wanted to walk a lot quicker than he did, but Thomas weighed him down and the other two humans were not in the best condition either. He could not stride forwards too fast. No telling when the group of dead hunters would be noticed. It might take until nightfall, but they might very well be discovered by their tribesmen at any time since they had been on a path.
He should have taken the time to try to hide the bodies together with Dosha and Rohdjinn. He should have taken the time to make sure Roh was alright, seeing as the youngster had just gone berserk for the first time. But staying back there had simply been too dangerous. Best just get away as quick as possible. Still, Vo'don made sure to look around and check on Rohdjinn every now and then to make sure he didn't seem dizzy. Lucky that it had only been a brief charge. Going berserk had its uses, but one had to think about how draining it was to body and mind to lose all sense and attack madly.
When Vo'don glanced over his shoulder again, Rohdjinn raised a hand to his forehead. The move and the grin said that he understood what was on his teacher's mind, and that he felt fine.
The grin may also have something to do with the fact that Dosha stayed close to Rohdjinn at all times.
Thomas groaned, stirring in Vo'don's grip. The troll slowed not to stumble on something, and looked down at the fluttering eyelids. They slipped upwards just a little bit. Thomas frowned, squinted, tried to raise his arm and learned once again that it hurt to much to do that. This time, he only groaned again at the pain.
The sound reminded Vo'don that humans healed much slower than trolls. It gave him some pause, and he kept walking while trying to decide whether or not to stop and have a look at Thomas' arm.
At least Thomas held wisely still, and he did not speak either. But ears as sharp as Vo'don's could not miss out on the strained breath.
Maybe he didn't know enough about humans to take a risk, when it got down to it. They seemed impossible to get rid of sometimes, but you never knew. Besides, after going through so much trouble to save Thomas, it would be really annoying if he dropped dead now.
Looking around, Vo'don caught his students' eyes.
"It ain't da smartest, but I think we better stop for a minute," the teacher said.
They didn't question him, only nodded. Good kids, although it's not always a good thing to blindly follow orders. But they should all be hurrying onwards again soon enough, hopefully.
Vo'don headed for a tree surrounded by plants with huge leaves, and set Thomas down so that he leaned against the trunk. When Vo'don looked up at the other two humans, they stared at him uncertainly.
"Help, quick?" Vo'don said in Common, waving at Thomas.
They exchanged glances, then the one with dark hair started digging through one of the blood-stained bags he had slung over his shoulder. The other man sat down on the other side of Thomas and fumbled with the messy sleeve. Though he grit his teeth, Thomas didn't utter a word of complaint.
Once he had managed to tear away the entire sleeve to lay the wound bare, the blond one raised his hands and closed his eyes. As he muttered in a low voice, a healing glow covered his fingers.
Thomas' head rolled backwards with a relieved sigh. Just as quickly however, he straightened up and looked at Vo'don.
"Why here?" Thomas said, stumbling over the Orcish words.
His hoarse voice had some troubles with the growling language, but the effort remained impressive. Vo'don had never even heard about a human who tried to learn – as far as he knew they all expected everyone else to speak the Alliance's language instead. He gave Thomas a grin.
"Yeah, dat's some strange luck, mon," Vo'don said. He waved a finger at the world around them. "Maybe because we're in a jungle again."
He could tell from the frown that Thomas had some trouble understanding, but after a moment the man nodded with a tired smile.
"Us, grateful," he said. "All, three of you. Thanks."
The healer stared at both of them, and his magic flickered. In the background, the other human fumbled through the bags more or less blindly. Thomas noticed it too, and his head lolled towards his companions.
They spoke quickly, apart from Thomas whose voice broke into mutters and croaks. He told them about the Un'goro crater, or explained it again quickly, as far as Vo'don could tell.
It seemed to pacify the humans somewhat, but they still looked quite skeptical.
"Edward and Martin," Thomas said, turning back to Vo'don and pointing at the blond man and the one with the bags in turn. He didn't see their looks when they got introduced to a trio of trolls.
Vo'don chose to ignore those looks, although when he turned to point at and tell his students' names, he caught sight of Rohdjinn's glare. Dosha seemed to take it more in stride, but the teacher couldn't blame the young man for being annoyed. On the other hand, he could not really blame the humans for being suspicious either, but they did owe the trolls some gratitude.
"Arm. Your arm. I never see happen before," Thomas said, clearing his throat and smiling widely when Vo'don turned back to him.
It broke the troll's train of thought and he had to grin. The grim situation stumbled on Thomas' near childlike joy at the regrown arm.
No need to mention what an unpleasant, annoying experience it was to have a limb grow back. With the itching, the aching bones and the absolute weakness of the developing muscles, the process made it almost impossible to get anything useful done.
But none of that was important.
"Where did ya learn Orcish, mon?" Vo'don said. When a small frown creased Thomas' forehead as he struggled to understand, the troll repeated himself slower and clearer.
"I ask, they think…" Thomas trailed off and raised his good hand to do a circling motion by his head.
Vo'don chortled. He could see it perfectly, the kind of looks Thomas might get when asking somewhat friendly members of the Horde for language lessons.
"I say weird?" Thomas said, trying a weak, sheepish smile.
"Nah." Vo'don shook his head, trying his own brand of Common in return. "Not all good. But fine."
Thomas frowned, thought it over and finally gave up trying to come up with the right words in Orcish.
"I hear you've been practicing too," he said, in his own tongue.
"Understood back dere. Little. You know."
"Yeah, I remember."
Smiling, Vo'don shifted slightly.
"I got dis," he said.
He brushed his fingertips over the string tied around his upper left arm. Among the feathers and beast teeth for strength and spirit blessings, dangled a single silver ring. Thomas smiled, but it faded quickly and he winced.
"I lost your totem."
"Know, Rohdjinn found. So we find you." Vo'don patted Thomas' good shoulder. "Make new."
Martin finally found what he was looking for and interrupted the reminiscence by shoving a roll of bandage at Edward. He, in turn, let the magic fade and grabbed the roll. A hissing discussion followed, Edward waving at the wound. Thomas looked taken aback.
They spoke quickly in their agitated state, trying to avoid looking at the trolls. But Vo'don understood enough Common to put the meaning together. He shook his head.
"No poison," he said.
Both of Thomas' friends peered suspiciously at him.
"How do you know that?" Edward asked.
"Dey wuz going ta eat ya."
Edward and Martin both jumped as if bitten, and Thomas winced. But they must have known deep down, by the way all three of them settled back down in uncomfortable silence. Lips pressed together so tightly they turned white, Edward began wrapping up the half closed wound.
Apparently, he was one of those paladins. Thomas grit his teeth when the bandage tightened, reaching towards it instinctively. But his spell flared up and died in the same instant. Edward stopped him with a grumble about not using magic after fainting twice. Sound advice.
Once the bandage was sufficiently stuck, Edward turned to cast a couple of healing spells on himself and Martin. They seemed fairly well off, but he probably wanted to be sure. However, he looked around sharply when Thomas started to get up, supported by Vo'don.
If Edward had meant to say something, he thought better of it after one look at the troll and turned back.
Thomas leaned against the tree, but he seemed well enough to walk on his own now.
"Where Collins?" Vo'don asked, unwilling to step off the memory lane.
Either way, they had to wait a little for Edward and Martin before they could continue getting further away from the possibility of avenging Skullsplitters. Thomas' smile said that he agreed on liking the memories.
"Last I heard he was in Ironforge," he said. "He's doing fine. What of Shana?"
"Ah." Vo'don shook his head and shrugged. Since Un'goro, he had not heard a word from her apart from a late, short letter telling him that she had gotten safely home and hoped that he had done so as well. She never returned his just as brief reply. But he could wager a guess. "Outland, probably."
Thomas nodded, although a flash of worry passed in his eyes. Many people never came back through the Portal. Although they had not been good friends, Vo'don too felt a little uneasy – the four of them had gone through something unusual and precious in Un'goro, after all. Though until he heard different, Vo'don chose to assume she was still alive.
"Can you walk?" Edward asked Thomas, turning around.
The other paladin nodded.
"I'm fine, thanks for the healing," he said.
"Let's go, den. Quick," Vo'don said.
He started off without waiting for a reply, but made sure to keep a pace the humans could follow without trouble.
It did not take long before it turned out that Thomas was not, actually, fine. Although the walk started off alright, after a while he began stumbling on almost everything, grasping low branches for balance and breathing heavily. When it got too bad they all stopped again to let him have a drink from his water flask, and in a moment of compassion Dosha scurried up a tree and returned with a bunch of Stranglethorn grapes. She even smiled a little bit when Thomas thanked her for the plum-like fruit in Orcish. The six of them shared the grapes, though Edward and Martin hesitated only for a moment and Thomas got the biggest share of it. After he assured that he felt much better after eating and drinking, they pressed on again.
Thomas did do much better now, although he still stumbled occasionally.
The sun was still high on the sky. It should not be a problem reaching the main road long before nightfall, unless something happened along the way.
Vo'don held back a grunt as the thought slipped by. At least he had not spoken it aloud – bad luck right there.
Trying not to allow himself any similar musings he scanned the surroundings as he walked, keeping an eye out for the slightest suspicious movement. He could tell that both his students followed his example, and that was reassuring.
That feeling only lasted until the next time Vo'don drew breath, and he made a low, disgusted sound as a faint stench assaulted his senses.
Something was dead not too far away, and had been dead for quite some time by the smell of it. Grunting, Vo'don pressed a hand to his nose.
But that was odd… the jungle was full of things that would feel the smell and eat anything that held still for long enough, long before it got a chance to rot.
Unless…
His eyes narrowed.
"Wait," Vo'don growled in Common, holding out his arm. He heard some thumps and mutters as some of his companions stumbled at the quick stop.
"What is it?" Thomas asked in a low voice, grabbing hold of a low hanging branch for balance.
But he clamped his mouth shut when Vo'don hushed.
Dosha and Rohdjinn sniffed the air too now, having caught on to the faint stench. Teeth bared, Vo'don turned briefly at the humans.
"Moving dead," he hissed, not knowing the exact word for undead in Common.
Edward automatically reached for his sword that was no longer there, and Martin stepped closer to the hunching Thomas.
"How many?" Martin asked.
"No know," Vo'don replied with a shake of his head.
"It's from over dere, I think," Rohdjinn said, waving ahead to their left.
That would be in the direction Vo'don had wanted to go, and he knew to trust the youngster's sense of smell – besides, it was a conclusion he had been nearing himself. His eyes narrowed to slits. Was somebody blocking the way to the main road? Many voodoo masters with undead servants plagued the jungle, after all. On the other hand he might just be paranoid. News of the dead Skullsplitters, and troops to catch the culprits, should not have been able to travel so fast. If there were undead in the area, it was probably only a case of very bad luck.
It could of course just maybe be one or more Forsaken, but Vo'don did not feel that that would be much better than voodoo slaves. He didn't like them, and he didn't want to have to argue about leaving the three humans alive. If the source of the stench were zombies, then at least one would be able to fight them. Fighting Forsaken would be more complicated.
In either case, it was not good.
"Alright," Vo'don said, "go take a look, Roh."
The young troll nodded and disappeared into the bushes. Vo'don turned and waved at the others. All five of them moved back the way they had come for a few steps, crouching down in the thick vegetation.
Seconds snailed by, but nobody spoke. Vo'don exchanged glances with Dosha, and she made a move towards her weapons to which he nodded. As for the humans, Thomas was in no condition to fight but his friends might be able to be of some use if it came to that. While Vo'don did not like the idea of sharing one of his weapons with the two of them, he kept his extra dagger in mind. Sometimes one had to make odd decisions to survive, he knew that very well.
And after all, last time he chose to trust a human it had worked out well.
He breathed deeply through his nose and frowned. Was it just his imagination or did the stench grow stronger?
Somewhere behind him, Martin snorted in disgust. That finalized that yes, whatever caused the smell was getting closer. Had to be, if the humans could sense it now.
And it got worse. Vo'don reached down and put his hand on his dagger, preparing to reach for his second one to hand it over to either Martin or Edward.
"'ey, guys," Rohdjinn's voice called out, not too loudly. "It's okay."
He stepped into view ahead, looking around for them. Twigs broke behind him, and a huge, green shape moved through the bushes. It was an orc, not old but closer to his middle age than his twenties. Where his leather armor did not hide it, one could see that he had several scars and probably even more that were not visible. He held a shield in hand, but had not reached for the massive war hammer at his side.
What struck Vo'don the most, however, was that he knew this orc. He blinked, standing up and leaving the hiding place behind.
"Oi, Dor'ash!"
"How many familiar faces can you run into in the jungle?" the orc said, grinning from ear to ear which revealed more teeth than even Vo'don himself had.
The troll grinned right back, surprised and relived at the same time. Dor'ash leaned the shield against his leg, and his and Vo'don's hands met in greeting.
Then a thin figure, the source of the stench, stepped out behind Dor'ash's massive back. Vo'don's nostrils flared, but he kept his peace about it even at the sight of a female Forsaken, with an amused smile on her lips and a mage's staff strapped to her back. Her eyes and nose were hidden behind a pair of bolted leather straps crossed over her face. Vo'don had never trusted the undead, and was surprised to see Dor'ash in the company of one. But the orc was a shaman, he had to know what he was doing.
"What are ya doin' here, mon?" Vo'don asked, turning his eyes back to Dor'ash.
"A friend of mine in Grom'gol asked me to collect some blood snake skins for him," the orc said, then pointed with his thumb at Rohdjinn. "And he said he was here with his teacher, but I didn't know it was you."
"Didn't know you knew Roh."
"We met back in Ratchet a few months ago," Rohdjinn offered.
At those words, the Forsaken dipped her mouth down into her bony hand with a hoarse cackle of laughter. Vo'don glanced suspiciously at her, but Rohdjinn and Dor'ash both grinned.
"Let's just say your student helped me, Sarah here and a couple of others with some annoying matters," Dor'ash said. "I'll tell you all about it when we're not in enemy territory." His amusement died. "Glad we ran into you, otherwise we may have stepped into that hornet's nest you've stirred up ahead."
Vo'don had to rub his neck with some embarrassment.
"Yah. Sorry 'bout that, but if dere's one decent human in da world, he shouldn't be eaten by Skullsplitters."
"Which one of them would that be?" Dor'ash said, looking past Vo'don with interest.
Vo'don looked around and found Dosha and the humans standing there, all of them – but the men more than Dosha – watching Sarah with understandable suspicion.
"Oh my," Sarah said in Common, holding her fingers against her lips in mock-worry. "Am I making the dinner nervous?"
"'ey, no!" Vo'don sharply said in the same language, but the air had already stiffened noticeably.
Dor'ash rolled his eyes and then glared at Sarah.
"Don't go giving them the wrong idea," he said. He too spoke Common, catching on to Vo'don's feelings.
She just snorted at him, which was impressive since she apparently did not have any nose left. Shaking his head, Dor'ash looked up at the humans and addressed them directly for the first time.
"I am Dor'ash Coldbane, shaman of the Frostwolf clan. I advice you to ignore my pet zombie Sarah."
He waved at Sarah, taking no heed of her shrieking "I'm not a zombie!"
"I won't allow her to do you any harm," he went on, and nodded at Vo'don, "since you are companions of my friend here."
A moment of hesitation passed. Then Thomas carefully allowed his shoulders to sink, although his friends still seemed to be on guard.
"You're being pretty silly, you know," Sarah said, folding her arms across the remains of her chest. "Only a few years ago, I was just like you. And there's only one of me, a poor little girl against you, three grown men."
The trio of humans exchanged glances. To little surprise Thomas started to say something, probably with the knowledge that he was the resident diplomatic link. But he trailed off, glancing uneasily between Vo'don and Dor'ash.
Trolls and orcs he had learnt to carefully trust, but Forsaken were apparently a little too much still. Wisely so.
"What's the problem? The smell?" Sarah asked, smiling sweetly while pointing with both hands at her face and the fleshless parts of her arms, "the eyes? The skin? The bones?"
She and Dor'ash were just about the only ones who didn't at least wrinkle their nose in disgust. The undead were unpleasant enough to look at without their nasty features being underlined.
Dor'ash grabbed Sarah around the waist, turned, and set her down behind him.
"You," he said at the end of the motions, turning back, "are going to stand here and shut up now."
"Oh, bah!"
"Now then," Dor'ash told Vo'don in Orcish, "should we think about getting out of here?"
While talking, the orc absentmindedly rubbed his palms against his pants.
"Yah," Vo'don agreed, but glanced around and pointed at Thomas. "Dat's da human who helped me. His arm was hurt, will you heal him?"
Dor'ash looked at his old friend with a bit of surprise, but no malice. Scratching his chin, he shrugged.
"I suppose I could," he said, looking past Vo'don's shoulder. "If they will let me."
Vo'don turned, seeing Thomas glancing between his two human friends in exasperation. Both of them held out an arm each between him and the members of the Horde, though at least Martin had an uncertain look in his eyes.
"I really think we can trust him if Vo'don says so," Thomas said.
"No one who allies with the undead is a friend of mine," Edward growled. His courage had to be greater than his wit considering the situation.
Martin, at least, lowered his arm a little bit after throwing a glance over Dor'ash and the three trolls – obviously taking note of Vo'don's scowl. He did not back off completely, however.
"A sound look on things, I think," Dor'ash said with a nod. He looked at Vo'don again, and shifted language. "The right arm?"
"Dat's right," Vo'don said, mouth twisting into a smirk.
"Very well."
Dor'ash raised his hand, waving it about as his voice sunk to a murmur. Before anyone could react, a soft glow rose around his fingers, and the same light enveloped the bandage on Thomas' arm.
Edward scowled, but Martin actually seemed to relax a little. Thomas just looked at the healing light, shoulders sinking further. He only blinked when the glow flowed upwards and around his head before disappearing. As Dor'ash let his arm fall to his side, the healing spell faded completely.
"Your head got a little rattled back there. It should be alright now," Dor'ash said. "The arm is healing well, but you should keep it dressed for a day to be on the safe side."
"Thank you," Thomas said, choosing to speak Orcish again – which Vo'don had actually hoped he would.
Dosha let out a chortle in the background, and Vo'don grinned with amusement at Dor'ash's fleshy brows shooting upwards in surprise. Just the reaction the raptor charmer had anticipated. One did not see a baffled shaman too often.
"Well I'll be!" Sarah said in Common, poking her head out from behind the orc, "it can speak."
Thomas opened his mouth, thought better of it, and didn't answer her.
Nodding, Vo'don caught Dor'ash's eye.
"Let's get outta here," the troll said.
Though with a remainder of surprise in his gaze, Dor'ash nodded. When Vo'don waved at the others and started walking, everyone followed – though he heard that the humans muttered among themselves. He chose to ignore it – the road should not be much farther ahead, and with two more capable fighters there were less to worry about. Although he still did not appreciate the stench rising from Sarah, nor her presence at all.
After a little while the curiosity got the better of him and he looked around at Dor'ash. To hell with tact – trolls cared little for those things by default, anyway.
"Why are ya walking around with a Forsaken, mon?"
By the chuckle, it sounded as if Dor'ash had anticipated the question. He started to speak, but Sarah cut him off.
"It's not that we're traveling together, per se…" she said, inclining her head towards the orc in a disturbingly coquette way. "I'm just following him around because I plan on killing him in his sleep and having him for breakfast."
She smiled, and Dor'ash didn't so much as raise an eyebrow at the death threat. Despite himself Vo'don chuckled once he felt sure of it being a joke, even more so when he heard Thomas make a strange sound behind them. By the sound of it the paladin had figured out the spoken words.
"What are they saying?" Martin asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.
Thomas started to try his hand at a translation, when Sarah looked around and repeated herself in Common.
The looks on the humans' faces were too much, and all three of the trolls laughed.
"I'm not worried," Dor'ash said, grinning at Vo'don. "She keeps saying that, but she's had several chances and not acted on them."
"That's because you always make sure I get a good square meal for dinner," Sarah said, returning to Orcish. She looked at the trolls, but pointed a sharp, fleshless fingertip at the big, green face high above her own. "He's too smart for me."
"Oh yes," Dor'ash started. "Like that time in Deadwind pass when-"
"Shh!" She slapped at his arm, scratching the gauntlet. "You promised never to tell anybody about that!"
"I don't remember promising anything," he said, amused.
"Of course you don't, between being unconscious you were delirious."
She skipped forwards, ducking his sweeping backhand. A smart move, as the force very well might have taken her head off.
"I think this started out with me being about to insult you," Dor'ash growled.
"If I have to deal with helping humans, you better deal with being insulted, sweetheart." She spun around, blew him a kiss and then returned to walking.
If Dor'ash's annoyed look had not given away for a smirk, Vo'don would have been even more curious about why the orc had chosen such a traveling companion. As it were, it sort of started to make more sense. Vo'don did remember that the shaman always had had a certain kind of humor, and by the sound of it Sarah had much of the same brand.
Still not completely comfortable with her around, but it could have been worse. There might have been more than one Forsaken, and no Dor'ash to even it out.
Vo'don turned his mind to what lay ahead. Even now he was not sure what to do once they actually reached the main road. Thomas and the others were not really fit to make it anywhere on their own – the main road might be safer to travel than the jungle, but far from completely lacking danger. Only heavily guarded caravans or large groups of warriors could feel utterly safe in these kinds of areas. If the three humans were left on their own there, they might as well never have been saved at all.
An annoying problem – it would take a long time following them towards Darkshire or Booty Bay, but he might have to spare that time. He and his students. But Grom'gol needed to be warned about the Skullsplitters, too. It would have to be handled with care or there would be repercussions, and Vo'don felt that it was something he had to handle himself. If there would be trouble with the enemy trolls, it was his fault.
He didn't even want to get started on all the problems that might pile up if they were spotted traveling the main road – spotted by either Alliance or Horde. Trolls and humans were not exactly known to be on friendly terms. Even worse for the moment in the Alliance's eyes, with a Forsaken and an orc making sure that the humans were fewer in number. Not to mention that the men and all of the trolls' clothes were marked with drying blood.
Whatever they did, they had to be very careful.
Silently, Vo'don glanced at Rohdjinn and Dosha. They walked along at the rear of the group, keeping an eye on the surroundings.
Yes, both of them good kids. They had gone through all this without speaking a word of complaint, although Roh had looked less than enthusiastic at being used as bait earlier. They deserved recognition.
Vo'don knew that he would have to think of some way to repay them for all their trouble, but it had to wait. Same with the humans – he would just have to discuss the rest of the trip with his students and Dor'ash once they reached the road. The orc was sure to offer some help. Although knowing better than to relax in this area, Vo'don allowed himself to feel more at ease. Maybe it would work out better than it could have.
He was unaware, as they all were, of the silvery eyes watching them from a tree at a safe distance. Hidden in the leaves a body shifted without a sound, and the shadows played across softly purple skin.