Roan kicked down the door with the female collapsed in his arms, and called for help inside the house. Akken was the first to arrive, but his mother trailed behind him with her cane. Amuuru took one look at the warlock and gasped.
"Roan, you're covered in blood! What in Azeroth's name happened?"
"I don't know," the rogue responded. "But she's losing blood fast."
"She?" Akken spoke up, as he lead Roan to a hammock in a small room off of the kitchen. "You already know it's female?"
"I didn't do anything to impose her honor," the rogue defended himself.
"Enough!" Amuuru shouted, as the female was lowered into the hammock. "Both of you, out!" The shaman barked as she shoved the boys out of the room and slammed the door behind them.
"What in hell happened, Roan?" Akken demanded.
"Just help me bring in the water," the rogue snapped.
"Hey," Akken put a large hand on the blood elf's shoulder. "I didn't mean anything insulting. I just want to know what happened that you bring someone in from near death."
"I don't know," Roan answered, looking at the floor below him. Blood covered his chest and legs, and there was a bloody hand print on his chin from where the warlock reached out and touched it on their ride over. Blood soaked the ends of his onyx hair, even when it was pulled back into a foxtail.
"I mean, did you come across an intruder and take her out at the well?"
"No, of course not! I'd never do that to a comrade." The blood elf said in irritation. "I just came across her body on my way back. It was peculiar, she was just laying out in the road with her felhound at her body."
"That does sound strange. If she was in a battle, her felhound would have died before she." Akken pointed out, scratching his chin.
"She was bleeding so bad, when I picked her up, blood seeped out of her wound and splashed to the ground." The blood elf looked at his stained hands, and tried to rub them on his pants. But, he just ended up spreading more wet blood on his hands. Roan made a face in disgust, and he reached for a towel.
"Whoa, there," the tauren stopped him. "She'll have a fit. You'd best go wash outside and get some fresh clothes."
"You're right," the blood elf sighed. "I just can't believe someone would leave her if they were in my position."
"Yes," the warrior nodded, as he went to the kitchen and handed Roan a bar of soap. "Compassion is something to be proud of."
"Thanks, brother." Roan forced a smile as he swiftly walked outside, grabbing some waterskins as he passed his mount, to where a tub rested behind the house. He felt ashamed using the water to bathe himself, for he gathered it for drinking, not bathing. The rogue stripped himself of his leather, draping it over the rocks to dry. He'd have to come out tomorrow to try and get the blood smell out, before it started to rot the leather. He stepped into the iron tub, and held the waterskin over his head. He opened the stopper, and the cold water poured over his skin. He seized the bar of soap and ran it over the bloodiest sections of his taut body. He looked to the window, where the warlock was being tended to Amuuru. He saw candlelight flicker, and a large shadow moving, as Amuuru moved from her spell book to her patient. Roan quickly rinsed off the soap and wrapped his lower half in a towel.
Inside the room, Amuuru had removed the warlock's robes. She gasped, as she removed the helm. It revealed a beautiful woman, of ivory skin, and deep auburn hair. Unfortunately, this female was not a blood elf, but a human of the Alliance!
"Oh honey, what are you doing out here?" The shaman mumbled as she observed her wound. A deep gash in her middle revealed that a dagger had quickly stabbed her. The human female was facing her attacker when she was stabbed. The blood was trying to clot, but it was clear that poisons were used to stop her body from repairing itself. The shaman put on her spectacles, and reached into her medicine kit and removed a needle and thread.
"Please forgive me, this is going to hurt," she apologized to her unconscious patient. Amuuru stuck her needle deep in the tissue, and pulled the tread through. The shaman looked up to see her patient's face, which was twisted in a pained expression. Sweat dripped down her face, and she mumbled something about scrolls. Amuuru's heart froze, and her ears suddenly snapped to the human. Scrolls? What kind of scrolls? The shaman stuck her needle in the other side of the gash, and pulled the thread through. No, impossible. No one knows they still exist. They thought they burned them with Kay's village. The shaman tied the ends together tightly to form a stitch. Then she snipped the ends off with her scissors. Then, Amuuru repeated the process, fifteen times.
After stitching up the human, Amuuru pulled up a chair and started cleansing the warlock of the poisons. Clearly a rogue had tried to kill this girl, perhaps it was Roan? But that didn't make sense, considering he brought her to the house to be healed. Did he know she was a human? It was time to get some answers after the shaman spent some time healing the girl.
After an hour of healing, the tauren felt lightheaded. She rose from her chair, slowly, to keep from falling over. She walked to the door, and it creaked open. She felt strange, as the bright lights in front of her turned to black. Then she felt her tauren son's arms around her.
"Mom? Mom!" She heard Akken's voice. She opened her eyes to see that her son was cradling her, and she was laying on the floor of her kitchen.
"Oh dear, what happened?" The old shaman asked, weakly.
"You collapsed. Are you okay?" Her son asked, anxiously.
"I'm just tired, dear. Could you help me to bed?"
"Of course," Akken lifted his mother to her feet and slung one arm over his shoulder. Roan joined in and slung Amuuru's other arm over his shoulders.
"We've got you, Mama Amuuru," Roan said with a smile. They helped the old shaman into her bed, and Akken pulled the covers over her. The blood elf looked out of the room, towards where the female's room was.
"Don't, Roan," the shaman croaked from her bed. "I've put a powerful healing spell on her. If she is disturbed in the least, she could die."
"I wasn't," the rogue started to lie. Amuuru shot him a dark look.
"Both of you stay out of there until morning. Do you both understand me?" She demanded. Akken looked at Roan, who just stared back at the warrior in suspicion. "I mean it you two. Or do I have to sit guard all night?" The shaman started to get out of bed, when her son kept her at her bed.
"I'll make sure he doesn't enter." Akken assured her. The shaman nodded, thankfully.
"By the light, your faith in me is excruciating." Roan scoffed.
"When it comes to females," Akken grumbled, "you've always proved us as such." The shaman laughed lightly.
"Oh, you boys. It's like if Kay were home," she said, softly as she drifted off to sleep. The warrior stood up, and the blood elf followed him out of the room.
"You heard her, Roan. Stay. Out." Akken growled. The blood elf nodded, much to the warrior's surprise. Roan looked to the door where the warlock lay resting. He didn't want to work Amuuru up, especially after how she took him in after his long journeys through Northrend. She understood when his father ran him out of Silvermoon. If the shaman wished him to stay away from the female's door for tonight, he would obey. At least for tonight. A dark smile crept on his face as he retreated the room meant for Akken, and Akken retreated to the room meant for Kay. The rogue quickly blew out his candle and tried to force himself to sleep. However, he was taunted by the thought of a female alone in the room next to his.
The next morning, Roan awoke to sounds in the kitchen. His blood elf's ears never lied, and he quickly sprung from the hammock. He made haste to the kitchen, where he saw Akken covering his face with his palm.
"What did I miss?" Roan demanded.
"Oh, dear, you're up. Are you hungry?" Amuuru asked, cheerfully. The warrior quickly tried to change his expression from angst to cheer. Unfortunate for him, Akken was never one who learned to lie well.
"What did I miss?" Roan repeated, clear annoyance in his voice. The shaman shuffled her feet, nervously.
"That female you brought home is a human, Roan." Akken grumbled. The rogue felt ice shoot through his veins in shock. He quickly grabbed the chair in front of him and collapsed in it. He put a hand to his temple and was silent for a minute.
"So are we to kill her?" Roan finally asked. The two tauren seemed uneasy with his questioned. A little too uneasy. "What's wrong?"
"Roan, I think that you should leave," Akken interrupted. The words coming from the tauren he considered a brother stung the rogue.
"What th-"
"This involves things that you do not want to get into, dear. Akken is trying to protect you." Amuuru spoke up.
"What the hell is going on?" Roan demanded, his voice icy and harsh with anger.
That's when the sound of creaking interrupted them, and the door to the female's room fell to the ground, and the human female stood crouched down on the door beneath her. She had broken free.
"Where are the scrolls, shaman?" She roared in Common, as her felhound was at her side. A glimpse of the human revealed a beautiful ponytail of auburn hair cascading down her back, and emerald green eyes, fiercely glaring at Amuuru. The felhound roared, as it charged the old shaman. Akken threw himself between his mother and the felhound, as he quickly tried to subdue the demon. Roan watched as the warlock began to cast a despicable curse on the shaman. Rage grew in the rogue's chest, as he charged the warlock, silencing her from casting anything. He dug his fingers into her wound as she cried out in anguish. He saw the look of sheer hate in her eyes before he knocked her out unconscious. He heard the sounds of the felhound dying, and he looked up to see Akken giving the finishing blow to the demon. The rogue climbed off of the human girl beneath him, and he stood over her body.
"Is this what you were protecting me from?" The rogue demanded, as he drew a dagger. He was about to plunge it into her chest when Amuuru stopped him. "She almost killed you! Why stop?" Roan demanded.
"It's more complicated than that, Roan," the warrior said, as he pulled out a flask of caraway burnwine and guzzled it down.
"Roan, we need her for information," Amuuru tried to explain.
"Do you really want to know what is going on, brother?" Akken demanded. The rogue crossed his arms in defiance.
"Yes. I would."
"You would have to swear yourself to secrecy." Akken grumbled. The rogue sneered.
"Who would I tell?" The tauren roared and slammed his fists on the table in rage.
"Your lack of seriousness is answer enough."
"I swear to secrecy." The rogue tried again, and the tauren calmed down. The warrior removed a knife from the kitchen and sliced his palm.
"Your allegiance would be with my mother and me over the Horde." The tauren outstretched his bloody palm.
"Wait, the Alliance?" Roan asked.
"No," Amuuru spoke up, as she went to the body of the warlock on the ground. "We are neutral, my dear. If you want to know our secrets, we must know you are ready to swear your allegiance with us." Roan thought for a split second, before removing his own dagger and slicing his own palm. He grasped Akken's palm in his own as they exchanged blood.
"Do not double cross us," Akken warned. The rogue nodded, wouldn't dream of it.
"Now, where to start," Amuuru scratched her head.
Sabina's eyes fluttered open, as she observed three figures standing over her. She quickly shot awake, and tried to jump up. But, she wasn't used to a hammock, so she ended up spilling over and falling on her face in front of the enemy. Damn, she cursed, as she quickly tried to get to her feet. However, everything felt hazy. She reached for her dagger, before she collapsed. She felt someone catching her. She breathed in, and a pleasant smell filled her nose. Soap?
"We've drugged you heavily," Amuuru boomed in Common. Her powerful voice was intimidating, however Sabina was not giving up.
"The scrolls," Sabina croaked.
"What scrolls?" Amuuru demanded. The warlock laughed, as she was set down in a chair, and her hands were being bound behind her. Sabina looked up to see a blood elf with long dark hair, tying her wrists together. The jerk who dug into my gash. She glared at him. "Hey," Amuuru snapped at her. "What are you talking about, human? What scrolls?"
"You play coy with me, shaman." The warlock hissed. "I know just by the desperate way you are asking me. You're the tauren with the bilingual scrolls." Amuuru grew flustered.
"How do you know of the scrolls?" Akken demanded in Common. Since his brother left, Akken began to make copies of the scrolls. He spoke common very well now.
"That is not of your concern." The warlock spewed.
"I think it is, dearest, considering you are the one who is captured." Amuuru pointed out.
"You think I'd give up the secrets of the Alliance to you?"
"Trust me, girl, you will give up the secrets," Akken snarled, as he pulled out his axe and pointed it at her.
"I don't fear what you might do to me," Sabina stuck her chin out and glared at him. "I won't talk."
Roan watched his friends and the human argue back and forth in another language, and it was clear they weren't getting anywhere with Akken's frustrated tones and the human's snarls. He backed away and leaned up against the wall, watching the warlock's moves. She struggled with the binds on her wrists, but the ropes held tight. He watched her ferocity begin to diminish with the interrogation, as if she was losing energy. Her auburn bangs fell over one eye as she looked at her feet for a minute, then when Akken spoke her head snapped back to face the tauren, eyes wild with anger and hatred.
Her face was dainty, with her high cheekbones and small nose and chin. Her skin was of the purest cream, but upon further investigation led to small freckles sprinkled over her nose and cheeks. Every so often, she her gaze would dart from the taurens to him, where he would catch her glistening almond-shaped, deep emerald eyes. She was clearly a beauty, but she would be much prettier if she wasn't currently out to kill his friends. Just a few moments ago, his friends confessed their neutral feelings of the war between the Horde and Alliance, and how they possessed scrolls that translated Orcish and Common. Almost a year ago, when the powerful paladin, Kayalos disappeared, he had married a night elf priestess and had been in hiding since then.
Amuuru explained that Kay's parents were murdered by the Alliance, who had found out Kay's parents believed in uniting the Horde and Alliance. She had found Kay when he was a little boy, after the Alliance had tried to kill him. He had met a night elf along his journey for vengeance, and fell in love with her. Instead of ignoring his feelings, he ran off with her, just like his parents did when they were banished from Silvermoon. Roan found the story almost unbelievable, especially the part about falling in love with the enemy. It sounded too fairy-tale like, and unrealistic. However, Amuuru explained that the priestess tapped into Kay's feelings, and really healed him from his past demons. Roan scoffed at first, but the old shaman's glare put him in his place.
"Roan," Amuuru said in a guttural voice. He snapped out of his daydream, and stood up strait. "Let's leave her alone for awhile. Perhaps the solitude will open her up a bit."
"Use the shackles," Akken said, "I've had enough of this human," he stormed out of the room. Roan looked down at the human, who's eyebrows were deeply furrowed and her fists tightly clenched.
"She really hit a weak spot in Akken," Amuuru explained briefly, while she picked up the heavy iron shackles, and handed them to the rogue. Roan took them from her, and he turned to the human, who snarled at him in her native tongue.
"It's usless, human," Amuuru scolded in Common. "He only speaks Orcish." Roan didn't untie the ropes, but instead slapped the tight iron shackles over the rough ropes. The warlock let out a piercing shriek that echoed and chilled Roan to his bones. The blood elf removed the pillowcase from the pillow on the bed, and used it to cover her mouth. He tied it tight, smirking and gave a wink to the warlock. Amuuru guided the rogue outside, and Roan slammed the door behind him. They both collapsed in the kitchen chairs. The shaman slumped over, leaning on her elbows and covering her face with her hands. He heard gentle sounds of her weeping.
"Don't worry, we'll get it out of her," Roan tried, as he put a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, Roan," Amuuru wiped tears from her face. "I just want peace as an old woman." Roan nodded and withdrew his hand. He thought of something that would take her mind off of the captive warlock, and the spiteful tongue she possessed.
"Where do you keep the scrolls, Amuuru?" He smiled at her. "Maybe you'd like to teach me Common?" The shaman half-smiled.
"I have a few of them hidden around the house. The originals, however, are hidden far away." She patted his hand. "I could let you use a few of the copies." The shaman stood up, and went to the hearth. She pulled a loose stone up, and removed a small box from the hole. She replaced the stone, and carried the box to the kitchen table. She pushed the small, wooden box toward him. Roan carefully picked up the box, and tried to open it. But it wouldn't budge.
"Oh, having trouble there?" Amuuru chuckled.
"What is this? A joke?" Roan shot her a half-smile, but was clearly annoyed.
"It's an enchantment the priestess performed on it the last time she was here." Amuuru took the box from him and held it close to her face. She whispered, "Ande'thoras-ethil." The box glowed with light, and then the tauren removed the top of the box. She handed the box back to Roan, and flashed him a grin.
"What was that?" He asked, taking the box from her and removing a few scrolls.
"Darnassian. Orlaith said those words to me once."
"Orlaith?"
"The priestess."
"Oh." Roan opened one of the scrolls and skimmed through it. "What do the words mean?"
"It's a blessing and a farewell." The shaman's face grew concerned. "I know that this might be a lot for you to take in," she started, but Roan held his hand up.
"Dearest Lady, I already pledged my allegiance to you. I hope you are not having second thoughts." He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yes, but, what about the Horde? It would mean turning your back on them someday." Amuuru pointed out. The blood elf tensed up.
"Just drop it." He snapped. "It doesn't matter." The rogue took a handful of scrolls, and stomped off to the back door. He shoved it open and it slammed behind him.
"He's very impatient." Akken said, who had been standing at the entrance outside the house the whole time.
"I believe our faith was not misplaced," Amuuru said. "Did he ever say anything about his family?"
"No." Akken replied.
"Shame. Perhaps that's why he declared his alliance with us." Amuuru went to her teakettle and put it on the fire.
Roan sat in the backyard, with Amuuru's garden in full bloom. He sat leaning against the side of the house, by the room that held the warlock in, just so he could listen for her trying to start trouble. He read the beginning scrolls over and over, and it started to make sense. Suddenly, his language and her language seemed like different adaptations of each other. Like the languages were created from each other. Perhaps no one spent the time, instead of fighting, but actually getting to know the other person. Roan shook his dark head, and set the scroll he was reading down next to him. He ran his hand over the grass, and breathed in the fresh air of Red Cloud Mesa.
His family used to journey to the country for a holiday. It was calming and very pretty, Eversong Woods. His older sister and he used to climb the trees searching for fruit to bring home to his mother. His father would be angry with him for letting his sister participate in boyish activities. If she bested him during their playtime, Roan was punished. Sometimes he would be on a bread and water ration for a month if he didn't perform the correct rotation in his paladin spells. Luckily his sister, Lumina, would sneak him milk and cheese when their father was at work for Lor'themar Theron. Once, she was discovered disobeying their father, and she forever bared a scar on her left cheek. Roan begged her to never do it again, when she came to her brother, her enchanting face covered in blood. Their mother was victim of their father's cruelness at times, too. She stayed out of his way, even when it came to the children, so she could escape his wicked treatment. Roan leaned on Lumina for much of the hardship of their childhood, and he helped her in any way he could being younger than she.
Roan sighed and rubbed at his eye. It had been a long time since he remembered such things. He buried those thoughts long ago, back when he decided to become a rogue instead of a paladin. He saw the sorrow in Lumina's eyes when their father drove him from Silvermoon, knowing that it would probably be the last time she would see her brother in a long time. One day, he was going to get his sister from his father's grasp, and he wanted her to see the gentle nature of his tauren friends. His father was the reason why he sided with these tauren. For his father's dedication went to the greater good of the Horde and the Blood Elves. His father also took pleasure in killing, as it sent a chill down the rogue's spine at how quickly he would kill a servant who made a mistake, or how his crooked smile would appear on his face when he slaughtered Alliance. When his father would return from battle, he would always come home a little sweeter and nicer, but his kindness was always short lived. He shrugged off his dark thoughts and opened a scroll. Allowing such demons to enter Amuuru's peaceful home was bad luck.
The daylight turned into the late afternoon light, as shadows grew long. His elven ears twitched as he heard the back screen door open. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Amuuru hobble with her cane and she had a waterskin with her. She walked to him and handed it to him.
"How easy would you rate the learning curve?" Amuuru asked. Roan gave her a grin.
"It's easier than expected." He answered.
"Kay made a few amendments a while ago after reading them."
"Interesting," Roan replied, as he drank the water greedily.
"If you're getting hungry we should start dinner. You've been out here for hours." Amuuru pointed out. "Roan," her voice grew with concern. "I hope I didn't say anything that bothered you too much."
"Lady Amuuru," the blood elf smiled, "It's nothing you could have known." He stood up and embraced her. "Just know that I would follow your family over mine any day." He grew rigid as he hoped that he could bring his sister to her home someday.
"Well, that's a nice promise," Amuuru sensed something dark that he was hiding from them. She released him from the embrace, and started to walk inside. "Please join us," the shaman smiled at him. Roan gathered the scrolls and followed her inside.