Hey there, this chapter is all about our hero meeting with his new comrades, I'm trying to get most of the talking and less interesting points of the story out there first, so there is more time for all the Action, Drama and Romance (and trust me there will be a lot of it ;))

So again let me know if you like it, all reviews good or bad are very welcome, and please enjoy the story as much as I have making it :D

Francis had never used a sword before, the weight of it felt odd in his hands and every time he tried to swing it he'd always lose balance and end up spinning out of control. All the instructors could do was watch in dismay as he fumbled about trying to strike the target dummy.

The training yard was a small fifteen foot by fifteen foot sand patch, there was wooden logs laid horizontally on the floor to mark out the area and three wooden dummies stood in the centre. There was a small wooden sign just in front of the entrance, written upon it were the words "Warriors training field". Francis had chosen that a sword and shield would be the best choice of weapons for him. He'd never liked daggers and wasn't lucky enough to be blessed with the talent of magic, he had always envied the mages, their skills to create and cast powerful and beautiful magic had always seemed to put them in a good place in society. Francis was all right with a bow, but he had dreadful visions of an enemy ending up being too close and without a proper sword to defend with the outcome didn't look favourable, so sword and shield it was.

After the training was finished Francis and six other new recruits were ushered into a tent which had two other tents combined on each side, this made the tent one of the largest in the small base camp that they were situated in. Upon entering Francis could instantly feel a wave of heat hit him, the day was hot and with the sweat he worked up while training the tent felt like it was on fire.

Francis took a seat at the back of the room, not wanting to attract attention to himself he'd

done enough of that today. As the rest of the soldiers in the room settled down a tent flap in the left corner of the room swung open. The room descended into silence as a rather tall man with a cape quickly following him as he strode into the room. Francis noticed several decorations hanging from his shoulderplates and a gold face of a lion imprinted into the centre of his chestplate. The silence was broken by the man standing before them "Everyone thank you for coming, as you can all tell we're in a bit of a bind". His voice was calm, not like the recruiter Francis had spoke to the other day, this man's voice made him sound like an approachable person, someone you would want to follow into battle. " We're surrounded by enemies on all sides and this is making it difficult for our supply caravans to make it to and from our base, soon this will be a war of attrition. So something must be done, the Gnolls are the weakest of our enemies so we'll be striking them first". This wasn't a bad plan Francis contemplated, when in a battle with multiple enemies there are always two options, either go for the weakest one first so you have less enemies to face, but risk being too weak to fight the other two strongest after. Or go for the strongest one first so then the rest will be much easier and risk being finished off after the long and hard battle with the strongest. It was a difficult decision but one that must be made.

"We have intell suggesting that the main body of the Gnoll army will be moving out of their fortified camp to strike a collaborative deal with the Horde, no doubt a deal that will remove us from the area." There was no hint of sarcasm in his voice, this was war Francis knew that removing from the area was just another word for dead.

"Our plan is to intercept the Gnolls before they reach the Horde. We will have the element of surprise for the first part of the attack, but when the Gnolls figure out what's happening they'll put up a good fight. This won't be easy, but rest assured this plan won't be happening for a few days so training schedules are to be doubled. That's all for now, officers remain, everyone else you are dismissed." The room filled with the small Alliance force stood up and started to leave the room, the few who stayed were the officers, each wore a cape and had a gold trim to their silver armour.

Francis slumped into his hard wooden bed, he was grateful that he wasn't on watch tonight. It was still his first week on base so he didn't have watch duties for now, although with the appending attack only days away he'll be lucky to be alive for his first watch duties.

Death.. He'd never thought about death as such a close certainty, living in Stormwind he was in relative safety, guards posted at every intersection and at every five metre intervals along the walls. Sure there had been raids on Stormwind, but none that got further than the Valley of Heroes.

Yet here he was, preparing to fight to the death, he'd only been here for a day, what had he gotten himself into. A large blech broke his train of thought, without Francis realising the room had started the fill up with the other four soldiers he would be spending the night, and hopefully many more nights with. It seemed that as Francis started to acknowledge the presence of the others on the room, they happened to do the same. One by one they turned to look at him, He wasn't much to look at, his hair was ruffled not settling in one direction, he wasn't the most muscular of men and he never thought he had any good looks about him. There was a silence to the room before it was broken by the closest soldier to Francis. "Hey, how ya doin? my names Isaiah" His voice had an unusual accent to it, he wasn't from Stormwind that's for sure, or anywhere near it either. In fact he'd never heard the accent at all, which is strange because hundreds of traders and adventurers came through Stormwind on a daily basis, all from different reaches of Azeroth surely he would of heard it somewhere, yet he couldn't seem to recall it at all. "Umm Francis is it?" The words broke his concentration again, he really needed to stop phasing out in thought. The question had come from a rather small person to the left of the man with the strange accent. It took Francis some time to work out she was actually a Gnome, she stood around three feet of the floor and had auburn coloured hair, her hair was short around her back and the sides but her fringe was flicked the the right and upwards, making the top of her hair look like a wave. For a moment Francis was speechless, he'd only ever seen one Gnome and that was in the recruiter's office the other day. "Umm yeah-yeah that's right, and you guys are?" As he finished he realised that his question seemed quite egotistical, yet the rest of the room seem to have not noticed.

"Well I'm Maisy but everyone just calls me Ministuff" the Gnome waved as she continued. "You already know Isaiah, the one dressed in black behind him is Mik, and finally" She turns sharply and points to the very back of the room, laying there is a male Night Elf turned on his side and facing the rear wall, the way his sides rose and fell in a constant rhythm indicated that he was already asleep. "This guy who so rudely skipped introductions is Krion, he sleeps almost all the time and doesn't speak much, but you should see him with a bow, reeeaaallly something else." Francis hadn't expected all this, he wanted to flop back towards his bunk and sleep forever. His past experiences with social interactions were terrible to say the least and interactions with the army, even more so.

"It's nice to meet you all." Francis forced a smile upon his lips, making friends early would make life much easier, if he lived long enough for it to matter. Francis was about to tell them all he was very tired and wanted to sleep, before he could though Isaiah, who was much louder than Francis would of liked, started with another question. "So! we saw you in training earlier today, your sword skill is….. interesting, ever had training before?" Francis knew it, sooner or later people would pick up on his inability with a sword. "Well no not really." He could feel the redness enveloping his face, he turned slightly and tried to look away. Acting sheepish was the way he usually got out of awkward situations, yet Isaiah didn't seem to know the word awkward and continued. "Well I use a sword and shield also, I can give you a few tips here and there." Francis could of sworn he saw him wink slightly, as unnerving as it was he knew he needed training and fast. Or he'll end up dying before he even arrived at the battlefield. "Although between you and me, I wouldn't count on Mik to help you much, he's too interested in small daggers. HA! may as well use them to cut food not people" Mik gave Isaiah a sharp glare as he turned his back the the three and tried to enter the state of unconsciousness that is sleep. There was a silence before Francis turned to Maisy "What about you Maisy-ugh Ministuff?" A smile crept over her face as he slowly crossed her arms across her impossibly small chest. "I have no need for physical weapons as yourselves, I am a follower of the light, it is my job to keep you all alive." Francis had heard stories of sick and mortally wounded people being visited by these 'Priests'. They say after a few spells and flashes of light the people are healed of all illnesses and wounds.

Yeah it's pretty impressive I know." Maisy said while slowly twirling a jewel embedded wand though her fingers. "Anyway we have double training tomorrow and you'll need you sleep if you're going to be training with Isaiah here". As she said this she jumped up to her bed and pulled the covers over herself. Following suit Isaiah did the same in his bed and suddenly there was silence again.

The oil lamp which was situated to the left of Francis' bed was waving wildly, even though there was no wind it flickered and danced as though some unworldly being was blowing against it. Shadows danced on the walls in time to the flame, each one taking on a role of a dance partner as they skittered along the walls and ceiling. Francis couldn't help but smile at the thought of having someone in his arms while dancing to the music, he wasn't sure what brought this thought upon himself, yet who knows why people think what they do before their nightly slumber. Francis had never had some sort of partner before in his life, with his rotten luck nobody gave him a second look. Yet this doesn't mean he never had dreams of someone he could eventually call his own, someone who would take his hand in hardships, light the candle and dance with him until all pain and worry left with the movement of entwining feet.

The thought of pure bliss removed all fear of the upcoming battle, the fear of death and the hopelessness of his training. he was locked in a world of dance and music, holding tight to the fantasy he had created in his head. Darkness started to shroud his mind as he fell more and more into his nightly slumber and soon enough, his breathing fell into line with the rest of the bodies in the room, he was asleep.

So the training for the big battle is going to start next chapter, also friendships are brewing and bonds are being made. I talked about Northrend in the past chapters and we will be visiting there but like the game you can't do the fun big areas without some exp collecting first. but worry not, unlike the game they will be visiting there very soon.

But until then thanks for reading :D