Hey.

Just, FYI before we start, I wrote this chapter before starting this story. I just went back through it now and edited tiny bits so it fitted.

tmd126: Um, yeah. I chose to relate Liam's psychoticness to him losing Kathryn rather than drinking. I just found it fitted better. Though keep in mind, he still has been drinking, if that's what you mean. Grief does that to some people. And with the capturing bit, I just went off the WoWWiki, where it reckoned that a handful of weeks passed. I wanted to be different from that, so I changed it up to about nine or ten months and rolled with that. Erm, is "interesting" a good thing?

david davidson: I know that thinking of stuff to say in reviews can be a bit difficult, but thank you all the same. They still make me feel good.

REMEMBER: I wrote this chapter BEFORE.

Cheers!

~Ice.

6 – Losses

Lorna

Lorna paced across the wooden floor of the kitchen and pulled the whistling kettle off the stove. She tipped some of the water into her mug and walked back to her armchair, blowing on it to cool it. Sniffing at it, she wrinkled her nose. Tea had never been a favourite of hers, but currently it served rather well as a comfort drink.

Remaining silent, she sipped it and stared at the wall. As usual, the wood panelling was almost completely bare, save a mirror to her far left. She never had the heart to decorate it. A few mastiff puppies tackled each other rowdily at her feet. She looked down at them. Usually the sight would make her smile, and join in with their playing. But she hadn't smiled for months now, and this time was no different. She felt she wasn't capable of such a feat anymore.

Lorna set down her tea and wrung her hands in her lap, looking at the wall once more. Her eyes were drawn to the mirror. Letting out a small sigh as she rose, she crossed the room to look in it. Her black hair was limp and unkempt, and was hanging loose halfway down her torso. Her eyes were dull, and devoid of the life and laughter that they were usually filled with. Her lips were split and chapped.

A rustling from outside made her whirl around on her heels and grab her blunderbuss from the kitchen table next to her.

Footsteps sounded up the front garden path. She brought the gun up near her face and placed her finger on the trigger. She hadn't used this for so long. Her hands trembled.

Someone knocked on the front door. 'Are you in there, Miss Crowley?'

Lorna relaxed, her blunderbuss falling limply to her side with relief. 'Ah, yes. Just a moment, Krennan.'

She placed the blunderbuss back on the table, and crossed the room to open the door. Krennan Aranas stood in the doorway, wrapped up in his blue cloak.

'Come in,' she said, her voice cracking slightly from lack of use. Krennan nodded, and crossed the threshold.

'How have you been of late, Miss Crowley?'

'The same as usual.'

Since Darius' death, Lorna had lived the life of a hermit. She never permitted anyone to see her, save Krennan, and Liam on the odd occasion. The alchemist had long since earned her trust, and made a point of frequently checking on her once every couple of days. Even though she had grown used to expecting him, his arrival always managed to startle her and several times she had almost shot him, despite not using a gun for so long.

Krennan nodded, and seated himself down in the other armchair. Lorna went to do the same, pausing only to scratch a mastiff behind the ears. She almost picked up her tea again, but the very sight of it made her stomach turn slightly, so she left it.

'There have been more worgen attacks,' Krennan said. Lorna nodded, her mouth tightening. 'However they are not as severe as they were in Gilneas.'

Lorna closed her eyes, pain evident in her chest. She very thought of the worgen made her so bloody furious, and made the pain of losing her father so much worse.

Lorna met up with Liam and Genn in Duskhaven. She had been making her way through the evacuated survivors, desperately trying to find her father.

'Liam!' she cried. He turned, and his expression became pained when he saw her.

'Lorna,' he said slowly. He looked at his father, as though not sure how to say something.

'Darius -,' Genn started, but Liam interrupted him.

'Your father, he stayed to fend off the worgen at the cathedral. Kathryn and Tobias were with him. They -,' his voice shook, filled with pain. 'They – I don't think they made it.'

Lorna's stomach dropped like a stone. Kathryn. Tobias. Darius.

She started shaking, attempting to keep back the tears. No. No. She pulled out her gun and pointed it at Genn.

'This was just your idea of revenge after the Northgate Rebellion, isn't it?' she cried. 'Leaving him to die? Damn you! Damn you!'

'Lorna, no!' Liam held her back, and wrapped both of his arms securely around her, taking the blunderbuss.

'Let me go die too!' she yelled. 'Let me –' She couldn't hold it back any longer. All of the fight went out of her, and the tears started flowing freely down her face as she continued shouting profanities at the king. Liam rubbed her back, shushing her and attempting to calm her down. She turned and sobbed into his chest.

Lorna didn't pay attention to much that followed. She went back to her home in the Crowley Orchard, and had stayed there in an attempt to continue her life, breeding mastiffs and mountain horses. She had seen Liam, but not the king, or even Gwen Armstead since.

She looked up at Krennan. 'Did you catch any of the worgen?' she asked.

Krennan looked at her. 'Yes. We have one.'

Lorna gestured for him to elaborate.

'The Prince is having me make a potion to help treat them. He believes that it may be someone . . . important. The King also has the same ideas.'

'Who is it?'

Krennan frowned slightly, looking slightly to her left. 'I'd best not say. Not until we are certain. Then I'll be sure to tell you.'

Lorna bit her lip, and an eyebrow travelled up her head as a thought occurred to her. 'And Lord Godfrey isn't attempting to have something done about the beast?'

'Believe me, he has tried,' Krennan said gravely. 'He is insisting to put a bullet through its head. But the king is so determined that we attempt to treat it, he will not allow him to do so.'

Lorna nodded, focusing on a spot on the floor. 'Do you think there will be any problems with the potion treating it?'

Krennan's brow furrowed and he didn't answer for a while, deep in thought. 'This worgen has been roaming the wild for a few months now. The antidote that I am making has only been known to treat recent infections. I am not sure if it will work.'

A dog barked outside, and both of them jumped in surprise. Krennan stood up, as though getting a sudden reality-check.

'I need to go,' he said. 'I have a job that I need to finish.'

Lorna nodded.

'I'll be back in a few days,' he said.

And with that, he gave her a brief wave, and left. Lorna's head dropped to her chest, and she let out a small sigh. She was tired. Incredibly tired. She stood up and went into her bedroom to grab her quilt. She came back to her armchair and wrapped it around herself, closing her eyes.

A little girl about four years old was attempting to lift up a blunderbuss that was just about as big as her. She had both of her small arms wrapped around the barrel end, and was leaning backwards, trying to get the front half of the gun into the air. A laughing man with long reddish-brown hair grabbed the other end of the gun, and placed the whole thing into the girl's arms. She giggled, and tried to turn it around so she was holding it the right way. The man laughed again and picked it up, coming around behind the girl. He squatted so that his face was next to hers, and helped her hold the gun correctly. He kept his own hands on the weapon, holding it up. Then, giggling as her father whispered instructions in her ear, the girl brought her chubby right hand to the trigger, looking at a far off target near a grove of trees. With a determined expression, she tried to pull the trigger. Her face fell when she realised that she wasn't strong enough to pull it all the way in. Her eyes started to fill with tears.

With a small smile, her father whispered another instruction, tapping the trigger and each of her hands. The girl started to grin again, and brought up both of her hands to tug on it.

The gun went off with an almighty bang, and the girl screamed at the noise, jumping backwards. The bullet ploughed through the middle of a tree a long way left of the target, just missing a bird.

The girl's eyes widened, and she started squealing and laughing, jumping up and down and hugging her father. He laughed, and hugged her back, rubbing the top of her head energetically with his knuckles. The girl squealed again, and ran inside of the house behind her, her father chasing her.

The girl was older now, about thirteen, and riding a chestnut coloured mountain horse down a slope. The horse nickered and halted every few steps. A ground-shaking roar echoed behind her. The girl's eyes widened, and she hastened the horse down the slope. Loud thumps came from the top of the mountain, causing the trees to shake violently. The horse skidded down to the bottom of the mountain, and the girl rode it at a full-speed canter down to the orchard house.

When she got there, she leapt off the horse and ran inside, grabbing her blunderbuss from the kitchen table.

'Father!' she called, her eyes fixed on the mountain through the window. There was no reply.

'Father!' she yelled again, her voice becoming slightly hysterical. When there was no response once more, the girl threw open the front door and ran into the orchard, looking around desperately.

'What's wrong?' The girl's father came running out of the forest, a heavy gun strapped to his back. Letting out a relieved cry, the girl ran forward and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. 'The Ettin. I thought it was coming down from the mountains.'

He frowned, and looked up at the mountains himself. 'I can't see him. I don't think we should worry until we actually see him.' He plucked a rose from a nearby bush and put it in his daughter's hair, giving her a reassuring rub on her back. 'It'll be alright.'

The girl nodded, evidently calming down. 'Okay.'

The girl had grown again, to about eighteen. She was a woman now. She stood with her father outside of a tremendous stone wall. A mass of people were gathered behind them, with a great number of weapons and artillery. The woman turned to her father.

'Why won't you let me fight?' she hissed. He frowned.

'I don't want you to get caught up in all of this,' he replied, looking at her with a stern gaze.

'But I can fire a weapon! I know what I am doing!' the woman yelled. 'This is our land and our people being separated by this wall! I have as much right to go into this battle as you do!'

'I don't want you to get hurt!' he snapped back. 'You're all that I have!'

'And you're all that I have!' she yelled.

'No,' her father said. 'You are not coming. Go back to the orchard.'

'But –'

'Now!' he said, his voice cracking like a whip. The woman glared, and walked into the crowd, pushing her way through. Once she was out of her father's sight, she ducked into a cluster of bushes.

The advancement started. The sound of yelling, clanging and explosions was overpowering. The woman ran out of the bushes and into the crowd, her blunderbuss in her hands. Whenever she saw someone from the opposing army, she fired at them.

This went on for several hours, until the point where the rebels were losing. Those that had survived so far were being rounded up and arrested. The woman spotted her father through the crowd just as he took a blade to the eye. He roared in pain, and brought both hands up to the damage.

'Father!' She ran to him. He looked up.

'What are you doing here?' he groaned.

'Shut up,' the woman said. She kneeled next to him and tried to find a way to stem the blood flow. She ripped a strip off her dress and balled it up, holding it to his eye.

'Darius Crowley,' a voice said, sounding surprised. The woman's father looked up to see a man dressed in battle armour sitting on a horse, looking pained.

'Genn,' Darius spat out.

The woman stood up. 'Get away!' she yelled.

'Lorna, no,' Darius said. He stood up himself, and glared at the king with his only working eye.

'Why would you do this –' the king started.

'Don't give me that bullshit, Graymane!' Darius yelled. 'You know exactly why!'

Genn closed his eyes and bowed his head. The noise from the battle was still incredibly loud. Two soldiers came seemingly out of nowhere and grabbed Darius by the arms, hauling him to his feet. Lorna screamed and clung onto her father, shouting profanities at the soldiers. Another soldier grabbed her from behind and pulled her from him, kicking and screaming. The men took Darius away, and Lorna attempted to break free from the soldier. After a long time, he finally let her go, and she ran, scooping up her blunderbuss and desperately looking for any sign of her father. There was none. Lorna spent all night searching, before concluding that he had been arrested, and returning to the orchard in subdued silence.

Review!

Last edited:16/1/16