Another disclaimer?! - I don't own WoW, Blizzard, any of these NPCs, or even my own toes (the cold owns them now).
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Like all my stories, they are utterly fantastic (note the cringe-worthy sarcasm), but however, if this chapter just really blows, is terribly boring, or if anything is wrong, please tell me. All you need to do is write just a review or send me a PM, whether you flame me while writing it, as long as it gets to the point, I'm good. I'll admit it -- reviews cause my world to experience an unnameable ecstasy when my e-mail alerts me about some new review.
Have a lovely read. :]
The sounds of splintering wood and metal became louder, giving Harlan, Duncan, and Lystra only a few moments to get out of the house.
Harlan cast a look Duncan, which pretty much said, "Well, I know you're kind of in a bad situation, but hey, it's not really my problem."
"H-Harlan!"
"Sorry lad, but I'm not going to risk this," Harlan said with a wink as he jumped through an opening in the back. "Don't worry, you're a smart one."
"Wait, I'm coming with you!"
However, Lystra hobbled over the hay and started heading towards where Duncan was, and said, "Don't even consider leaving me here with these pious twats." She, still bound with uncomfortable ropes, was extremely irritated. If the guards would take her back, her father would never let her go anywhere. He'd get her married and become boring, fat, and stupid, just like her mother.
"Ah, save yourself, boy. You don't need to worry about an ugly little thing!" the old man said, already outside in the sun, beckoning Duncan towards him. The guards were already bashing the front opening.
"Go ahead, leave me, and I'll tell everyone how I was kidnapped by two Defias men. In a few days, your bodies will be mangled atop the gates of King Varian's city," she lied. Her threat did seem believable, though, as she was still tied in ropes and looked like a convincible victim. In reality, however, she had about as much voice in the city as the mice did. It was worth a shot, though.
Duncan glanced at Harlan, then Lystra. Either way, there would be a good chance that he would die, and threw the nymph over his shoulder and jumped through the opening.
Harlan whispered, "Gah, you stupid thing. Why'd you do something like that?" The guards got in almost as soon as Duncan had gotten out with Lystra, searching the building feverishly for several minutes. Knowing that any sudden movements would be cause for suspicion, they stayed where they were until the guards left.
"Ol' Verna Furlbrow finally lost 'er wits. Just looks like another abandoned barn to me," a guard said at last.
"I did hear a sound when we came in, though," another voice added.
"Probably some mice."
"Eh, right. Come on, let's check Sentinel and then go back to the city."
"Aye, then. Let's go."
Finally, at last, the guards had left to go south. When they were a little more than an earshot away, the trio had left and saddled the horses.
It was a silent ride to Morsen's farm. They had taken the back roads to get there to ensure they wouldn't meet the guards. Dead weeds, shriveled animals, and the stark landscape faded away as they galloped onwards. Talking was a limited to a few grunts and nods until Harlan decided to strike a conversation with Lystra.
"Aye, so you probably know why those guards were coming?"
"Hmph."
"Ah, come on, lassy. You can tell us."
"I don't want to talk about it," she said stubbornly. Things were racing in her head. She didn't want to stay with these two nitwits, but she didn't have anywhere to go. The only way she could come back home was if she had Anduin by her side, the beautiful blonde haired man, so gallant, so perfect.
"Harlan, why are we going this way?" Duncan said, trying to shift the conversation to a neutral topic.
"We don't have many options besides, lad."
--
Fiona came back with her horse, but it was still empty around Morsen's farm. She put Gaellam in the stables and wrote on a piece of wood, "FYONE'S HERSE." Unfortunately, her spelling was poor, just like her grammar, so she often misspelled most things, like her own name. However, to the rest of the Defias community, most were illiterate.
Fiona walked out of the stables and decided to look for some people. She noticed a couple carrying bodies to the bonfire where they usually took the deceased after a major attack. Looking around, most of the people hadn't come around yet, so she decided to help with disposing the dead.
A few people were killed at least in the mile-radius from the farm. The people she was able to identify was the badly charred body of the man who belittled her often, three of her friends a few hundred meters away, and about a dozen of unidentifiable people. With them, she was able to dispose their bodies easily.
However, a dwarf hunter lay face down in the sand, his pet still alive. It was a huge white bear, mourning for the loss of his master. When she tried to get near the dwarf, the bear refused her from coming near the body.
In an attempt to lure the bear away, she took some of the food in the bags that were on her horse when she found it. If she didn't have the bear moved before the rest came, the blame would be solely on her and they'd probably kill the bear. Everything that she took out of the bag had no effect on the beast. From Dalaran cheese to blasted boar ribs, it was to no avail. Alas, she found some okra as her last chance to sway the bear to leave.
Fiona was lucky, however, for the bear was somewhat domesticated by the long friendship with the dwarf. If it were still wild, he would've probably attacked Fiona at first sight. The bear's name was actually Gordy, the naming tag on the bottom of it's left paw. Eating from the palm of her hand, Fiona had found herself with a new companion.
--
Duncan, Harlan, and Lystra arrived to Morsen's farm an hour after they departed, but to their surprise, it was empty.
"Looks like they had a pretty bad hit," Duncan said, noting the bloodstained weeds around the property. The group looked around after hearing his comment, seeing some bodies around the yard in various places.
Harlan whistled lowly and started heading towards the stables a few feet away and said, "Let's get these horses up b'fore we figure out what's going on." As they neared it, Lystra looked at a large, black mare and let out an ear deafening shrill.
--
Fiona, as she was petting the hefty bear, heard a scream. She jumped, the bear jumped, they hit each other and Gordy gnashed his teeth.
Running towards the area of the noise, she noted that it came from the stables, the place where a girl was opening the fence to take saddle her horse.
"Just whatyer think yer doing?! That's my horse!" she said loudly, hands at her mouth to amplify the sound. She wasn't sure who the people were, but they looked like three tall men, so she left some distance between herself and them to provide space to run in case they would start chasing her.
"What? This is my horse and why it's here is beyond me," said Lystra in reply, irritated that some rambunctious child would be telling her otherwise. She knew her Gaellam, from the speckle of white behind its ear to the way he neighed
Fiona came up, noting that it was a girl who she was arguing with. She could manage girls, but not three men. Poking a finger at Lystra's stomach, as that was all she could really reach, she said, "Maybe if you found the horse at Saldean's, it'd be yers, but I found it. Now it's mine, so get out."
"Do I really have to explain this?" Lystra said, rolling her eyes. "I came here on private business, then he, this one," pointing at Duncan, "decided he would steal someone so he'd have himself a bride. Now it happened to be that my horse was still tied to a post at Saldean's farm before I was able to say anything about it. I'm taking him back."
A bride? Duncan? Her? Those were the only words sounded in Lystra's ear. The fact of a horse's ownership seemed trivial in comparison to this catastrophic event – Duncan was getting married to someone beside herself. How could she be so stupid? So obvious? So un-ladylike in the presence of the only man she thought she'd have a chance with?
Fiona looked at Lystra and then Duncan, her face flushing from the embarrassment. Her body and instinct unanimously decided, without consent of the mind, to run in the other direction, away from anything, away from them.