Chapter 3: Training

As I followed the road to the barracks, I began to see more of this strange Undercity. I saw a group of three Forsaken women, barely clothed, dancing while male Forsaken gathered around to hoot and toss coins.

"Want to join my guild?" A strange green creature, not a Forsaken, stepped before me.

"What…are you?" I ask him.

"An Orc! Now want to join my guild?" I had heard of Orcs before…but why were they in a Forsaken city? No matter.

"I'll pass," I answer. "I have been enlisted into the military, I need to start my training."

"Come on, join! You can get one of these exquisite tabards!" He motions to a piece of cloth that drapes over his chest which bears the emblem of a flaming skull.

"I said I'll pass," I say to him and stomp away.

"If you change your mind come talk to me! My name is…" I do not hear him, and I do not care to. I have work to do.

After several more minutes of walking, I reach the barracks. It is a large structure that is made of roughly-hewn stone. I notice two guards outside, but they give me no trouble as I enter. A sinister, deep voice calls out to me.

"Ah, another new recruit. Stand over there with the others, combat practice is beginning soon." I see the voice comes from a creature, a demon I suppose, with hooves, red skin, great leathery wings, and horns. "You should be able to guess I am Varimathras, that is if you are one of them with half a brain." He laughs, obviously this joke could be quite literal, as some of my undead cohorts probably are missing some organs.

I emit a slight chuckle, it is unwise to anger your superiors, especially when they are ten foot tall demons. I walk over to where I see other Forsaken standing, a gigantic stone room with shields, spears, swords, and maces lining the stone walls. They carry various weapons, but most are equipped in a similar fashion to me with a sword and shield. I stand beside a Forsaken male, roughly my height, but a slightly more muscular build.

"Now, for your practice today, I would like each of you to duel with the warrior next to you." Varimathras declares. "Please try not to kill your adversary, our necromancers have had enough work lately. Also, try to learn from this experience, it will help you react to sudden attacks and learn to think on your feet in combat." Varimathras then takes a seat on a large stone throne in the room. "Begin!"

The Forsaken next to me turns and lunges at me, swinging his sword in a very clean sweep. I manage to block with my shield, but the force of the blow sends some chips of wood flying off the flimsy construct. I swing my blade at him which he deftly parries, then retaliating by slamming his shield into the side of my face. I am stunned for a second, which he takes advantage of to slam me with the flat of his blade into my stomach. I fall to the ground and he raises his blade and swings it, stopping an inch from my face.

"I win." He declares, sheathing his sword and turning away. I try to push myself up, but I am too wounded from the blows, and the wind has been knocked from lungs, that is if they have not decayed. A hand grabs my arm and I am pulled to my feet by a smaller male Forsaken. He is short, and his arms are thin, but he has the strength to lift me.

"Sorry about Trengar," the Forsaken who helped me up says. "He likes to pick on those weaker than him, which is basically everyone. However, Varimathras loves him because he is ruthless and an excellent warrior."

"Thanks for your help," I say, sheathing my sword and strapping my shield to my back like I see he has done. "My given name is Darren, my real name I do not know."

"I understand that feeling, my given name is Kel." He tells me.

"Thanks, Kel." I say, brushing some dust off of me, though I realize it does not much matter since my skin is decaying anyway.

"You are welcome, Darren. Want to continue your practice with me? I do not hit as hard."

I nod. "Yes, as a new recruit I need all the practice I can get." Kel draws his sword, as do I, and our practice begins.

An hour or so passes, and Kel teaches me stances to improve my fighting style. He shows me parrying techniques and special strikes to deal more damage to the enemy. He even teaches me a way to use my shield to catch an enemy's weapon and force it back at them.

Varimathras then rose from his throne and spoke. "Good practice, all of you. Now, I would like to inform you all that tomorrow we will be sending you out in small groups on missions based on the skill levels I observed today. You will have one partner, and be assigned to a task in an allotted amount of time. Each group will have a different task, and successful completion may result in promotions or rewards. Now, begone all of you, and be here at 6 AM sharp!" With that, the Demon turned into a score of small bats and flew out of the barracks.

"I wonder if we will be grouped together?" Kel asks me as we saw our superior leave.

"That would be good," I say. "I know this may be a stupid question, but where do I go now?"

"You stay here in the barracks. This is where we soldiers live. We each are assigned to a bed, though many of us require no sleep. Follow me, I'll show you where the rooms are." Kel tells me as I follow him out of the large stone room. We walk down halls lit by torches hanging from rings on the walls. Here and there I see various paintings of Sylvanas or Varimathras, crude as they are. Skulls, most likely of fallen foes, can also be seen adorning certain wall spaces. We turn left around a corner and Kel bumps into a humanoid with blue skin.

"Hey mon! What's a bastard Forsaken like ye doin' here? Shouldn't ye be shovelin' filth?" The creature says, pushing Kel.

"Shut up," Kel steps back. "I do not want trouble."

"Your putrid kind disgust me, mon. Always bumping into me!" The creature draws out a long dagger and flashes it in Kel's face. He raises it, but something flies and knocks the dagger from his hand.

"This is OUR city, bastard troll! Watch your tongue or I'll cut it out!" I turn to see Trengar, the one who earlier defeated me during sparring. He is holding a throwing axe, and I notice one on the ground next to the knife. The creature, which he identified as a troll, curses as he clutches his bleeding hand and turns to leave.

"Thanks," I say to Trengar, but he snorts and turns away. "Are you injured, Kel?"

"No, I am fine. Not all trolls are like him, but many groups have great fear of we Forsaken as we are neither living nor dead. It turns to racism and many wish to silence us."

"But why are trolls here? And I saw an Orc earlier!"

"The Forsaken are still a fairly weak faction, though we are gaining strength," Kel says. "We have joined a group known as The Horde. It consists of the Orcs of Durotar, the Island Trolls, and the Tauren of Mulgore. It is an alliance of necessity. We help them fight the Alliance, and they defend us and aid us in defeating the Scarlet Crusade. There will no doubt be some of them with us when we attack Scarlet Monastery some day in the future."

"Ah," I am at a loss of what to say, but at least one of my questions has been answered. No more words are exchanged between us as we reach the dorm. Kel points me to a bed, and I lay down on the rough sheets and hear it creak under me. I cannot see much else of the dorm room, as there is not much in it save many beds all lined up and some rats scurrying between the rotting wood. Somehow, I manage to fall asleep.

I dream of the woman again. She looks young, no more than a child, but I know it she. I see a small boy, obviously shy, handing her a flower from his shaking hand. She smiles and kisses him on the cheek.

I am still confused, but I have no time to think of this as Kel shakes me awake.

"We must get to the barracks to find out our mission and groups." Kel tells me. I rise and strap on my shield and grab my sheathed sword. I slept in my armor, but since I have no feeling it does not make me sore.

HES: Well, there's another chapter! SO now Darren has a new friend, and will soon have a mission to fulfill! How will he do? Well, time to answer a review:

Promise of The Ghost Queen: Glad you enjoyed it! The Dark Lady was actually an elf in life, thus the way she looked as she did. More questions will be answered soon.