Twin Rebirth
Part Four
"Brother~~!" A voice yelled, echoing off the nearby cliffs. The cold ocean pounded and beat mercilessly against the cliffs, booming their own echoes.
Wings stretched, arched, and beat at the air furiously. A large navy form clad in silver and gold armor hurtled through the skies. In spite of appearing extraordinarily heavy, the fully armored figure flew as if unburdened by gravity.
He'd flown a long way, all the way from the Exodar. In spite of the long journey, the form still careened through the skies as fast as the moment he began his flight.
He prayed he wouldn't be too late... to the Elemental Spirits and the Light alike, he prayed he would not be too late.
The Battle Begins
Rose slinked through the shadows of the town that was no longer abandoned. The majority of Scourge that resided there stood like statues, unmoving. Only the occasional glint of the dead orbs in their eyesockets gave any clue that they were still "alive." Many more Scourge patrolled the streets, as if they guarded something of great value...
The Druid concluded it was Tunaak they guarded, but for what purpose, she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. The Undead were never known for pity when dishing out their cruel and deathly intent. This realization struck far too many nerves in Rose, and she would save her brother at all costs...
The ax in her maw gleamed with eagerness to bite through the Scourge, proving difficult to keep hidden. She favored walls, keeping the keen edge of the ax between her and whatever object she could find. If such should fail, Rose could only drag it below her to keep the gleam from attracting unwanted attention.
This also proved painfully difficult. The ax dug its own path in the snow, showing an easy trail for any to follow. Even with her tail swishing the snow back to where it was, there was still a peculiar trail left.
Sniffing the air, Tunaak's scent finally came to her nostrils. Though it took her an entire day and half the night to make up the lost distance, she recognized Tunaak's scent through the nearly overpowering rotted, rank and rancid smell of the Scourge.
Still with the shadows concealing her and the ax, Rose sniffed at a hole in a more intact building. A pained grunt and soft shuffling sounded quietly through as Rose quirked her ears. It was Tunaak, Rose was sure.
A cry sounded through the town, causing Rose's ears to ring briefly as she jerked her gaze to her surroundings. Tunaak yelled in response, "No!" His shout went unheeded as the same cry rang through the air seemingly louder. The draenei didn't seem to bother holding back sobs.
As he cried, he failed to notice the pawing at the window. Rose pawed at the ice and snow that blocked a portion of the window. The bars had long since rotted, rusted, or corroded away. This left the window wide open, albeit half covered in ice and snow.
It was a tight squeeze for Rose, and just as much for the ax. Tunaak failed to notice her entrance, for she kept the shadows around her throughout her infiltration. However, when the ax clanked loudly on the floor, Tunaak jerked his gaze around. As his eyes darted, Rose nearly dropped the ax in a gasp.
Tunaak clutched his abdomen, where the corrupting poison now covered at least half of his skin. The poison seemed to crawl, eagerly devouring what skin it reached. Rage filled Rose's eyes. But something else soon dominated her eyes, and she blinked away tears.
Eyeing the dripping water that came from what looked like an invisible source, Tunaak stammered, "Wh-who...!" His question was cut short as Rose dropped the shadows. The ax clanked against the floor as she stepped up to the draenei in one swift and languid movement.
Her muzzle rubbed against Tunaak's cheeks as she purred softly. "Rosie..." Tunaak sighed softly. "Rosie, you shouldn't be here..." He spoke quietly, in fear that he would be heard, and Rose to be taken and tortured just as Anna had been.
"Tunaak," Rose responded. Her feline maw wrapped awkwardly around the Common words. "I came looking for you..."
"You shouldn't have come," Tunaak insisted, wrapping one arm around her feline form, wincing as her fur contacted part of the corrupted skin. "I don't want you to suffer what they're doing to me."
Rose snorted in response, licking away the tears on his cheeks. Tunaak grunted as she moved. Seeing his pained expression with the contact, Rose withdrew from him.
"Tunaak..." she spoke quietly, "I will not leave you. I couldn't help your brother, but please...! Let me atone for what I couldn't do..." She sat down, her tail flicking to rest on top of Tunaak's. She locked eyes with his, her stubborn and stern gaze speaking loud and clear to the Paladin.
When she was determined, so very little would be able to stand in her way and leave in one piece. Though never prone to simply maiming her way through, she would rather bound past what stood in her way. "Who did this to you? I will tear them apart!"
"A-... Darkfallen. Blood Prince Amuun," Tunaak replied softly.
The door slammed open and Rose instinctively bared her fangs as she pounced into the shadows away from Tunaak. Amuun glared at Tunaak, a split second too late to have seen the large navy nightsaber disappear into the shadows. His chilling eyes flickered to the ax in the cell. A spark of astonishment flared through his eyes a brief moment before the cold, hard eyes returned to Tunaak.
"Why... is there an ax in your cell, mongrel!" Amuun demanded. His eyes flared as he looked up the stairs to the ground level. He yelled in a guttural tongue and a dozen ghouls poured into the room. Unknown to Amuun, Rose's eyes gleamed eagerly to rend and maim the ghouls, but more-so anticipated rending this Darkfallen to shreds.
Rose tensed as Amuun unlocked the cell. She held her breath, resisting with all her might from pouncing Amuun. It would be suicide with so many other ghouls that would pounce on top of her. Even if she could make a killing blow, her victory would be very short lived. There was little doubt that the ghouls would also turn on Tunaak, ending both their lives there.
The ghouls filed in. Nine of them crowded Tunaak as the remaining three circled the ax. They cocked and tilted their heads, staring at it. When Amuun snarled for one to pick it up, one ghouls reached. However, the ax was the weapon of a Paladin, and blessed with the Holy Light...
The ghoul that reached for it jerked away with a wild moan. Light danced over it briefly before vanishing and leaving the ghoul barely scathed.
Rose took this opportunity to pounce! With a mighty roar, each great navy paw took down the other two around the ax. Their heads rolled on the floor as the bodies dropped in shambles. Amuun roared, summoning up a dark spell. In one leap, Rose landed over Tunaak's hooves.
The spell struck five ghouls, four of them evaporating before their eyes as half of the remaining dropped to the stone floor. The one remaining ghoul next to Tunaak lunged for Rose while the other dove from the other side of the large feline.
A mighty paw tore through Tunaak's remaining ghoul as the draenei's hand flickered brilliantly with the Light to finish the other. Tunaak's spell couldn't quite go through, as if the Light refused to answer his summons.
The ghoul bit into Rose's shoulder. As she roared, Amuun disappeared up the stairs. Standing on her hind legs, Rose melted. Her form expanded into a bear as a massive paw raked around her shoulder. The ghoul was torn free and promptly stomped on by Rose's bear form.
With a savage roar in triumph, Rose turned her large form to Tunaak. The draenei stared at his hand as if he had never seen it before. The Light failed him...? No, that can't be right, the Light does not just fail... What was going on...?
"Tunaak," Rose growled. "We must hurry."
Tunaak winced as the corruption reminded him that he was still poisoned. He looked up at Rose and nodded. Wrapping an arm around her large neck, he pulled himself up before looking to his ax.
With Rose next to him, Tunaak kneeled and reached for the hilt. The blessed ax held perfectly in his hands as he rose to his hooves. But something was a little off. The ax felt heavier, less wieldy than before.
A nudge from Rose urged him to hurry. Amuun was going to send reinforcements, both were certain he would. Tunaak nodded to Rose.
He would go into battle without his armor, but at least he had his ax back...