Chapter Four

Duskhaven was quiet as the four Worgen entered the town, Godfrey looking around with rather interest, seeing as he had never been this far into this territory; it intrigued him greatly.
"If we were not under these conditions, the town would be no doubt bustling right now, our people would be celebrating the Equinox right now…" Bayne whispered.
Godfrey looked to him, raising an eyebrow. "Equinox? What do you celebrate it for?" he asked with interest. Bayne slipped through one of the alleys, heading for the center of town. "Summer to us is a very wonderful season, there is much festivity, much enjoyment, and even though we have fur, we don't find the cold too enjoyable." He explained. "The Equinox signifies the beginning of summer to us, a time where we put aside most hardships to better enjoy family, friends and other hobbies." he grinned, "There, of course, is much storytelling, drinking, and other such things..."
Godfrey laughed lightly, "Sounds like a very good time…" he whispered and Bayne nodded in agreement.

They cut up another alley, and Godfrey looked around at the houses. Their architecture was very different from those of New Lordaeron, they had higher arches, darker wood, and small symbols and designs etched and cut into the wood. He admired it; it showed immense craftsmanship and also emitted a sense of wealth to him. Although his Gilnaes was more spread out, and not confined in villages and towns like his Kingdom, it was still a beautiful place. He supposed his Kingdom had the beauty of setting, while Gilnaes simply had craftsmanship and culture that he had never seen before… the festivity almost reminded him of the Dwarves, he almost chuckled at the thought.

They reached the center of town, where the main hall sat, a large building with several banners strung around the arches over the entrance. They slipped up the steps, but Bayne paused and pointed to the west, to the ocean and shores. Godfrey turned his head, and instantly noticed what he was pointing at; Along the shores were the faint, but still distinct, outlines of several ships, no doubt Horde ships.
"Dawn breaks in half-an-hour, we shall await till dawn so we can change into our normal forms, and then we shall approach those beasts." Bayne said with obvious distaste at the last part of his sentence.
Godfrey nodded and they opened the twin doors into the town hall and slipped inside the hall, the smell of pine invigorating Godfrey's senses. "I think we should be able to change back now actually…" Jules whispered, closing the thick doors behind them.
Bayne nodded, "I think so too." He admitted.

As Bayne said this, Godfrey retreated a bit into his mind, noticing that he could shrug off the feeling he had right now, like he knew he could take a piece of clothing off, but all this time, he hadn't really wanted to… these feelings were truly odd.
He pushed the emotion back, back towards where he felt familiarity emitting from, a veil of it fluttered near the back of his mind. He pushed the feeling one last time, and it disappeared behind the veil… and instantly, he felt as if a burden had been taken away from him. He watched as his fur slowly receded into thin hair, his jaw retreating back in, his teeth returning to normal, and his gold eyes dissipating to his distinct blue.
Tavin shook his head, he remembered so much now, thankfully his name, but he couldn't exactly remember his other name, like it was another mask he wasn't familiar with. He glanced up, spotting the others, of which he was familiar with…but then again, he wasn't.

"It's interesting, isn't it?" one of them whispered, "the memories and emotions associated with them, I felt like my life was controlled by cycles when I first was cursed… but I suppose I soon came to accept it, or overcome it." he said.
Tavin nodded, "My true name is Brom, then Holt and Lydd." He explained, and Tavin replied with his name.
Brom nodded, "King Tavin… fitting." He said with approval. He turned to several wardrobes behind him, clicking two of them open, revealing an array of fine clothing inside. "We learned soon to have spare clothing nearby… in case of…" he began, but carried off, grinning slightly. "Losing control?" Tavin offered, and Brom laughed lightly, "I suppose that's a simple way to put it, but yes." He walked to the wardrobe, reaching in, pulling out a set of fine black pants, a white embroidered shirt, and some knee high boots. "We Gilnaens' do pride ourselves in dressing finely, it's not that were arrogant, we just enjoy dressing this way." he explained, grinning slightly. He handed the clothing to Tavin, of whom quickly put them on. "I suppose if ones going to be a diplomat, he should look the part, no?" Tavin said, causing the others to chuckle, "Very good point." Brom said, finishing buttoning his shirt.
He turned back to the wardrobe, closing the second one, and reaching up to a shelf at the top of the wardrobe, pulling out a large black box, setting it down on the desk beside them, and opening it up.

Inside was a fine array of jewelry; Cufflinks, necklaces, rings and others.
Brom reached in, pulling out two distinct gold cufflinks at the top of the box, handing them to Tavin, "You should find those fitting." he mentioned, and Tavin looked down at the two cufflinks, surprised to find the symbol of Lordaeron monogrammed on them. He nodded in agreement, "We haven't had anyone to wear those yet, a nobleman left them here years ago…" Brom explained, reaching in, and pulling out a necklace with a ring on it, also bearing the symbol of Lordaeron.
He handed them to Tavin, of which Tavin accepted gratefully, "I normally don't even dress myself like this back at the Kingdom." he said humorously... Tavin normally wore simple clothing, such as those for riding horseback, that or more often he was wearing his armor when outside the keep, and even somtimes within the castle.

The three slipped inside the main room of the town hall, and Tavin moved to follow, but stopped as he caught a reflection of himself in a mirror on the wall. He stopped, standing in front of the mirror.. astonished at the man that looked back at him.

He moved closer; The darker hair, deeper jaw, they were all... admirable, in a sense. But the changed look in his eye, he felt ashamed at it, to everyone around him, he probably seemed a maverick king with a rugged look, but he almost laughed. To himself, he looked like an animal.

He sighed and brushed past the mirror, entering the main hall.

Brom sat at a table, a tome open in front of him. The other two were in front of bookcases, browsing through them. Tavin sat across from Brom, curling one of his hands into a fist and resting his head upon it, closing his eyes for a moment.

"If you were in New Lordaeron now... what would you be doing?" Brom asked suddenly, making Tavin open his eyes. He glanced up at Brom... For a moment ago, he liked the man, but he still felt a bit of... bitterness? Maybe, at the man. After all, he wouldn't be in this predicament if the fool hadn't bitten him, he should have slain him the first time they tangled.. but he supposed his own weakness was to blame for that. And again, he supposed it was for a healthy cause, to save Gilnaes from a full scale war with the Horde, or at least the Orc's. And undoubtedly Garrosh's damnable attitude would drive him to move towards New Lordaeron. Tavin scoffed, ambitious bastard of an Orc.

"Spending time with my wife.." Tavin said, as Aydeline was the first thing that slipped to his mind.. he so missed her.

Brom fell rather silent, a look of regret crossing his face and he nodded, looking back down at his tome.

They sat in silence for awhile, when finally Holt spoke:

"The sun's peaking over the horizon, should we move now?" he asked and Brom instantly nodded, slamming his tome shut and standing up. "Let us depart, the beachhead where the Orc's are is just down the cliff near Wahl... well be there in no time."

They departed from the town hall, marching across the streets of Duskhaven, moving towards the west, taking a small trail down the cliff that bordered the edge of the village, finally reaching the bottom and drifting across the farmlands that dotted the rather picturesque land. Tavin could see the still edges of the warships on the horizon, their looming black shapes devoid of any color due to the morning mist that still lingered. As they grew closer, Tavin could heard shouting, whether orders or talking, he knew not, but he kept silent as they drew closer and closer.

The grassland turned to soft dirt, and finally sand under Tavin's boots as they reached the beachhead, greeted with the sight of several vivid red pavilions with a new variation of the Horde symbol emblazoned on them; a silver with a bar across the bottom.. perhaps a new limb of the Horde? A military expedition group? It would prove right, considering Garrosh's previous position..

No sooner had he thought of Garrosh, did the Orc's frame appear from the midst of one of the pavilions, and only then, did Tavin notice the many eyes that followed them across camp. The Orc grunted in either distaste or disapproval, probably both, and stepped forward a few more steps, meeting them halfway as they approached him.

The Orc ignored Halt, Lloyd and Brom, and only focused on Tavin.

"King Tavin, a surprised no doubt, what brings you this far south?" he asked, faking interest.

Tavin knew this and skipped the pleasantries. "I was going to ask you the same, Garrosh, your obviously not just on a scenic tour considering the warships and heavily armed soldiers." Tavin said, glancing at a few sentries who stepped up behind Garrosh, their face's hidden beneath their metal masks. "Your obviously here for war... which violates your treaty with me." he said, turning a critical eye back to Garrosh.

The Orc grinned rather amused, "These are not your lands, King." he used the title sparingly and with disgust. "You have no rights to them, I can land here if I please!" he shouted at Tavin, of whom was getting very angry, very fast.

"The treaty entitles my lands as anything that's west of the Hinterlands and Highlands, and anything south of the Ghostlands... to me, it seems where we stand falls under that, Orc." he added the last part with a bit of anger. "And to add to my statement, the people of this land have sought allegiance with me, some of their inhabitants swearing fealty to me... Landing here invokes my hand Garrosh, I suggest you pack your ship up and return to your canyon's." Tavin said, his voice still trying to remain calm.

This, only angered the Orc further.

"And you invoke my anger human!" Garrosh roared, throwing a heavy fist at Tavin, clipping Tavin across the jaw and making him stumble a few paces back. Tavin spit the blood out of his mouth, but watched in horror as Brom, Halt and Lloyd roared in anger, each ripping back and transforming into Worgen.

Brom swung at Garrosh, rending him across the breast, but only a grazing wound. The seasoned veteran of an Orc seemed unphased and his small party around him wrenched their axes and blades from their backs and sides, charing the Worgen. Tavin had no time to react as his three allies were cut down, only taking one or two Orc's with them.

Tavin fell to his knee's, now sprayed with the blood of his allies... once again.. he was too weak to prevail.

Blackness suddenly entered his vision as something hard struck the back of his head.