A day has passed since that meeting within the stadium. As Balthar thought back on it, he still was not sure what to think of it. His father fought during the Second War, and told him about the horrors and monstrosities the orcs were responsible for. He was raised to believe that they were savage beasts that need to be cut down on sight. As a child, Balthar hated thinking about this. Even now, he despised violence and would prefer peace over war. Even when his father and Gregory told him that the orcs did not know the meaning of peace, he held onto a small, dying hope.
With yesterday, that hope was brought to life once more. Oliktalv was the first orc Balthar ever met in person, and he was nothing like the orcs he heard in stories. Instead of a savage monster, he instead saw a noble warrior who was sincere and civilized. Balthar was afraid of him at first, and when he was on the ground, unable to get up, he thought that would be his final day. Yet, he survived because the Horde did not want to kill them. As far as he could tell, they were completely unarmed and he did not believe Kelvin's claim of an assassin for
Still, their mere presence was enough to spring Gregory and Kelvin into action to fight. As much as he was against this, he could understand why they would be so willing to attack an unarmed orc. Gregory fought alongside his father and Kelvin started his career as a tactician during the Second War. Had Naur not been there to calm them down, what would of been a peaceful meeting would turn into a bloodbath. Balthar desperately wanted to speak his mind, but he already knew that Gregory would silence him.
He opened his eyes, deciding not to think as he got out of his bunk in the barracks at Honor Hold. Today, they would be meeting with Commander Trollbane and convince him to make their next target the Legion Front. He heard stories of the Sons of Lothar and their sacrifice only for it to be revealed they were alive for over a decade. Although not knowing much else about them, Kelvin told everyone not to mention the union with the Horde. The tactician believed that the Commander would disapprove of the plan solely based on working with the Horde. So, they were to convince him only to make Gregory attack the Legion Front.
When they got back yesterday, Naur requested Gregory to let Balthar speak his mind about the plan as he came up with part of it to distract the demons, but he was denied. Usually, Gregory would not want his student to speak during important meetings and only watch. He tried his best to follow those instructions, but sometimes, he could not help himself, his suggestion at the stadium being a prime example.
Balthar turned toward his armor, the pieces of it scattered around his bunk. He sighed, knowing that he will need to put it on for the meeting. Truth be told, he found it to be too big and heavy to his liking. Still, Gregory insisted he wears it everyday. Maybe his mentor thought he would grow into it, but Balthar did not think it would happen. Slowly, he put on his armor, piece at a time. It was a slow process since it became more difficult with more armor on to limit his movement. After all of it was on, he looked at his sword on the ground, and decided against taking it with him. He would not need a weapon for the meeting today and walked away.
Leaving the barracks, Balthar saw Gregory and Kelvin speaking to each other outside. As usual, Gregory was in his armor, freshly polished and Kelvin's jacket was now buttoned. He could not hear what they were talking about since they were whispering. Still, Balthar did not focus on them, instead looking for Naur. Out of the three, Naur was honest about working with the Horde against the Burning Legion. Gregory made it clear that he has no love for the plan on the journey back while Kelvin only supports it for tactical reasons. As Balthar walked to them, the two commanders turned their heads to him, hearing him walking due to the large armor.
"Good morning," Gregory greeted as he observed his student, frowning. "Your sword is missing. Where is it?"
"Well, do I need a weapon for this meeting?" Balthar asked, looking down.
"Of course you do!" Gregory criticized harshly. "A warrior is nothing without his sword! If we were to be attacked right now, you would be killed without a second thought!"
"Sorry," Balthar said, gulping.
"Sorry won't save you from being killed in battle," Gregory continued. "When we're at war, that sword is your life, boy! Remember that."
"Gregory, calm down," Kelvin suggested, motioning to his belt, which did not have his swords or gun. "No one is going to attack us, so there's no need for a weapon. Instead, we should turn our attention to Naur, if he was here."
"Could he still be asleep?" Balthar asked.
"Was anyone speaking to you?" Gregory said to Balthar, ignoring his question.
"It is highly unlikely that Naur is asleep," Kelvin replied, "It could be that something is keeping him occupied. Shall we search the barracks?"
:I've never seen him in the barracks before," Gregory told the gnome.
"So, we have no clue where he is then," Kelvin stated. "We will need to find him then."
"I will not waste time going on a wild goose chase when we have business to attend to," Gregory declared, turning to Balthar. "Go. Find Naur, and tell him to drop whatever he's doing so he can come here."
"Me?" Balthar asked in surprise.
"Who else could I be talking to?" Gregory pointed out. "Kelvin and I will need to stay here just in case we must meet Commander Trollbane without Naur. Now, leave us!"
Balthar slowly nodded, and walked off, roaming around Honor Hold. He stuck to the cobble road, thinking about where Naur could of gone. He ruled out the barracks, trusting Gregory's word that he was not there. He also ruled out the tavern, not thinking of Naur to be an early drinker. Surely, he would not have left if something big was happening.
As Balthar approached the gates to leave Honor Hold when a soldier ran up to him. He looked at the man, and stared in horror as he realized his armor was covered in blood. However, he pushed the thoughts of terror aside when he realized that the man was not visibly injured. Yet, he did not believe the blood to be from a fallen enemy. The soldier's face showed both urgency and fear. Clearly, whatever was going on, he needed help.
"Come with me," the man demanded. "It's an emergency."
"Wait a moment," Balthar whispered. "What are you talking about, sir?"
"Fel orcs ambushed one of our patrols," he explained. "They've been driven off, but we have too many wounded for our few healers. We need as many volunteers as we can get to help."
"But I'm not sure how I can help," Balthar said, looking down. "I don't know how any first aid, sir."
"You'll learn," the man said, grabbing him by the wrist.
Before Balthar could speak, the soldier started to pull, dragging him away from Honor Hold. They were heading to a group of tents pitched at the bottom of the hill the hold was built on. Seeing soldiers setting up more tents, he assumed this is where all the wounded are, so it must of been bad if they could not bring them up the hill. Balthar did want to help them, but he was not sure how he could help. Gregory never taught him any basic first aid, saying that a true soldier learns to deal with the pain. Not that it did not matter, seeing how his mentor never took him to see anyone wounded. The man released his grip on Balthar as they make it to the makeshift camp, turning to him.
"Find an injured soldier and lend a hand," he said, turning away as he walked away. "There are no priests in this section of the camp, so just use common sense for treating them."
"Common sense?" Balthar whispered to himself.
He was now alone, and he did not know what to do. Gregory told him to find Naur but that would have to wait for now. Even though Balthar knew nothing about first aid, he had to stay here. He had to try to help. He was not sure how he was going to help, but this was more important than searching for Naur.
Slowly, Balthar peeked his head into the nearest tent. Inside, he saw a dwarf sitting down on a mat. He still wore his silver armor, but there was an arrow through his right leg. Past the dwarf's beard, Balthar saw him grimacing in pain. Then, he noticed that he was gripping the arrow, trying to pull it out. Balthar quickly rushed to the dwarf, kneeling down to pull his hand off the arrow.
"What are ye doin', lad?" The dwarf demanded angrily as his hand was grabbed. "I need te get this arrow out o' my leg."
"If you just pull it out, it could hurt you even more, sir," Balthar said, thinking of how to help. "Without a healer, your leg may be damaged permanently if we pull it out."
"Well lad, ye better do somethin'," the dwarf said.
"I think I have an idea," Balthar told him. "I'm going to need something sharp though."
"Ye better not be cuttin' my leg off," the dwarf threaten.
"Not the leg, but the arrow," Balthar corrected.
Slowly, the dwarf unholstered his hatchet, handing it to Balthar. He took it, and slowly started to cut off the half of the arrow that went through his leg, unable to chop it off with one slash because of the angle it was at. He knew that by pulling the arrow out as a whole could cause more damage because of the arrowhead. There was a small thud as half of the shaft fell onto the dirt ground. With that out of the way, Balthar grabbed onto the other half, and pulled it out. It was much easier now that the arrowhead was gone and it came out with ease.
Yet, as he noticed the dwarf grimacing in pain, he knew he made a mistake. Blood was now pouring out where the arrow once was. There was no need to worry about bleeding because of of the arrow shaft being stuck in the leg, but that was not the case earlier. Balthar dropped the bloody arrow shaft and placed both his hands on the entry and exit wound, putting pressure on it to prevent further bleeding. He forgot to bring something to close the wound, and in hindsight, he regretted that now.
"Keep holding the wound, friend," a voice from behind called out. "I can take matters from here."
He turned his head to his side, seeing Naur kneeling aside him. His armor was stained with blood, and Balthar realized that this was where he was all along. Slowly, Naur grabbed hold of the dwarf's hand, closing his eyes in concentration. As Balthar held down the wound, he focused on the hands, seeing a golden light appear on the draenei's hand. No one told him that that Naur knew how to call upon the Light. Just staring at the Light made him calm and more at peace. It was only after the draenei let go of the dwarf's hand and ended the magic did Balthar snap out of the trance he was in. He raised his right hand slightly, seeing that the injury was now healed. He let go of the dwarf's leg, standing up next to Naur.
"Your leg will be sore, but you'll be able to walk again by tomorrow," Naur told the dwarf. "Rest now, my friend."
"Well, I suppose I need te thank ye somehow," the dwarf replied. "Suppose we survive this, I'll buy ye a round of drinks."
"I'll be sure to remember that, friend," Naur said, chuckling as he opened the tent flap. "Come along, Balthar. There may be others who are in need of healing."
As the draenei left, Balthar stood still for a moment, in deep thought. With ease, Naur was able to heal that dwarf after that mistake. Perhaps that was a more noble goal to pursuit than fighting with a sword. He slowly walked out of the tent, looking around the camp. This section of the camp was now more active, with robed healers entering the tents now. Naur observed his surroundings, looking for an available tent as a soldier walked up to him. Balthar realized that it was the same soldier who dragged him out here to begin with.
"Sir," the soldier greeted, saluting. "The healers are patching up the last of the wounded. Thank you for lending a hand."
"At ease," Naur said, smiling. "I must leave now. I trust that everything is under control now."
"Of course, sir. You may want to wash your armor before you leave back to Honor Hold," the soldier suggested, before leaving.
"Yes, I suppose we do need to clean up," Naur agreed as he walked over to a bucket of water next to a closed tent. "It was good of you to help out here today. I did not expect for Gregory to allow you to come here."
"He wouldn't have, sir," Balthar started.
"Stop right there," Naur commanded, grabbing a wet rag from the bucket. "Please, call me Naur. There is no need for any formality, my friend."
"Very well, sir, I mean, Naur," Balthar said quickly, looking down in embarrassment.
"Relax," Naur suggested, offering the rag to him. "Clean your armor, and then continue your story. I wish to hear more of it."
Focusing on his armor, he did realize that there was blood on his armor. He must of not noticed it when helping out the dwarf. Slowly, he looked up at Naur, and accepted the rag, wiping his hands with it. He started to scrub his armor clean of blood as the draenei grabbed another rag, cleaning himself off of blood. Afterwards, they tossed the rags back into the water bucket.
"Well, Gregory told me to get you," Balthar continued. "They want to meet with Commander Trollbane, and wanted you to support the plan to attack the Legion Front."
"Well, you see now why I was late," Naur replied. "Now, allow me to ask, but do you think we did the right thing today?"
"Of course," Balthar answered without hesitation.
"And why is that?" Naur asked.
"Well," Balthar started, pausing to put some thought behind his answer. "It's just that a meeting can wait for another time. Had we not done anything today, that dwarf might not be able to walk again."
"And someone could have lost their life as well," Naur added.
"Exactly," Balthar agreed. "What we did here today was the right thing to do."
"Good," Naur said, turning towards the hill Honor Hold was on. "Come and walk with me, friend. While we did the right thing today, Gregory would disagree with us. We shouldn't keep him waiting any longer."
Without wasting a second, Naur started to walk up the hill. Balthar followed behind, trying to keep up. His armor limited his speed, so the draenei was starting to get farther away from him. Still, he took this time to think to himself about what he did today. Looking back on it, he felt good for helping out with the injured. He may not know how to heal, but he felt much better about helping out that dwarf than his months of training with a blade. Balthar knew that even with Gregory training him, he was never going to be a warrior. He would be killed on his first battle.
Yet, being a healer may be his true calling, and not just simple first aid. Balthar and his family did share a strong bond with the Light. Surely his father would approve of his son becoming a priest even if it meant giving up the blade. As Balthar came to that conclusion, he realized he had reached the gates again. Naur was waiting for him, smiling at him. He remembered how the draenei was able to heal the dwarf with the Light, and wondered if he was willing to train him to do so as well. He turned back around, walking again with Balthar following behind.
"So, how goes your training with Gregory?" Naur asked.
"Truth be told, not well," Balthar admitted. "You've seen me handle a blade, and this armor is so heavy."
"Yes, I have seen it," Naur agreed. "I do not wish to be rude, but I believe you may do best to forget about becoming a warrior. I am sure there are other things you can do."
"Well, I did have one idea on what to do," Balthar replied.
"And what is this idea of yours, my friend?" Naur asked, turning to face him.
As Balthar opened his mouth to speak, he saw someone running towards the group. He held back a sigh, realizing that it was Gregory. He wanted to tell Naur about what he wanted to do now, but he did not want to do it in front of his mentor out of fear for punishment. He knew he needed to tell him, but not before the draenei agreed to it. He would need to find another time to go with his plan.
"Balthar!" Gregory shouted, walking up to his student. "What took you so long to get Naur?"
"It was just-" Balthar tried to speak before feeling a hand placed gently on his shoulder.
"Balthar was just lending a hand with the injured, Gregory," Naur told him.
"I told him to bring you to me," Gregory said angrily. "We had to speak to Commander Trollbane without you because of my cursed student! I was so furious that I dare not speak a word during the meeting! We should be glad that Kelvin was there to tell him the facts and statistics of the plan! That's the only reason he made the Legion Front our next target!"
"He was helping because I was not going to stop healing until I knew the situation was under control, my friend," Naur said calmly. "Even if you ordered me to leave personally, I wouldn't leave."
The two started to stare at each other intensely, the tension growing. On one side, Gregory remain stubborn, wanting to punish Balthar for forgetting about his duty. On the other side, Naur was going to defend his friend at his own expense. The staredown was interrupted as Kelvin ran up to the group. His jacket was now unbuttoned and he was out of breath. Gregory must of left him behind, searching for Naur right after the meeting.
"Sir," Kelvin wheezed. "We still need to handle the logistical matters of the plan. We must brief the soldiers, inform the Horde of our plan, and build the explosives to bring down the structures surrounding the portal."
"Get to it," Gregory ordered without hesitation, frustrated. "Balthar, fetch your sword. We'll be sparring today."
"You want me to do all of it?" Kelvin asked carefully.
"I said get to it," Gregory repeated, staring down at the gnome.
Kelvin gulped, knowing better than to talk to Gregory while he was angered. He walked away from the group, heading to the barracks. Balthar realized that Gregory would punish him through training, and there was no way to talk him down. Still, just by looking at Naur, he could tell that the draenei was not done yet.
"Gregory, you must help Kelvin," Naur suggested. "Even though he is our tactician, he is just one gnome. Take a break from training Balthar so we'll be successful in battle."
"You think I am doing a bad job at training the lad?" Gregory asked, anger building in his voice.
"That isn't what this is about," Naur said, trying to change the subject.
"It became the subject when you brought up my training," Gregory corrected as he walked closer to Naur, who easily towered over the man. "My training is not the problem. The problem is Balthar. He's not fighter material. The only reason I am training him is because his father saved my life back in the Second War. Matthew told me to train him and that's what I am doing! That is the only reason I bother myself with the lad!"
"Naur, please go help Kelvin," Balthar said rather loudly. "I'll be fine."
Both Gregory and Naur turned to Balthar, surprised by his small outburst. In truth, Balthar was surprised with himself as well. He was not one for getting involved in an argument like that, but he had to do something. Kelvin was a brilliant tactician, but he could always use some help to ensure success. Gregory would be too stubborn to change his mind, but Naur should be willing to help. Balthar wanted this battle to end in victory. If that meant he would endure Gregory's harsh training, then so be it.
Slowly, Naur smiled at Balthar, gripping his shoulder. Again, he felt the same peaceful feeling from back at the tent. As the vindicator walked away, Balthar thought to himself, wondering if the peaceful feeling was just a blessing or from Naur's presence. Gregory was still in thought, staring at his student. He looked at his mentor for a moment, then walked towards the barracks.
"Balthar!" Gregory called out.
"Yes, sir?" Balthar called back, turning around.
"How many times do I have to tell you to speak when spoken to?" Gregory asked harshly. "You'll run laps after our spar in armor."
"Yes, sir," Balthar whispered quietly, defeated.
He walked away, disappointed at himself. Balthar wanted to stand up for himself for once in his life. He wanted to tell Gregory he was through with his training. He had no desire to fight wars on the front lines, but he still wanted to help. Rather than take a life, he wanted to save a life instead. Yet, Balthar knew he had no say in this. His father was a hero in the Second War. How could he possibly oppose the plans of a man who has done so much for the Alliance? Balthar needed to forget about his newfound dream to help others. It would only be a dream.
Yet, deep down, Balthar knew that it may still be possible. If the Alliance and Horde were working together for one battle in secret, then anything was possible. That was the one thing he had to look forward in the future. Then, he could think about his future to find out if he wants to fight or to heal.
A/N: Well, it's been awhile, but I finally got around to another update.
I figured it was time to change things up, and decided to move away from the Horde for a chapter to show the perspective of what someone from the Alliance thinks of this plan. Some of you may be wondering why I didn't put the meeting in with Danath Trollbane in, or why haven't there been any use of canon characters yet. Well, the main reason being is that I'm still trying to figure out the best way to accurately portray them. I do plan on writing with canon characters soon. I have already order copies of Beyond the Dark Portal, Blood of the Highborne, and World of Warcraft: Illidan. Those three books, along with what I've been learning from WoWpedia, should be enough for me to write an accurate representation.
Also, I am pleased to announce that there will be only one more long wait like this for another chapter. I only have two to three weeks of school left, and then I'm on Summer Break. I already made a to-do list on what I need to do over the summer, and the first thing on that list is "Finish Broken World." So, expect a bunch of updates over the summer to make up for the lost time during these last two months.
Finally, on a lighter note, I'd like to say how much of a pain it is to write with a dwarf. Even though my Wyrmrest Accord main is a dwarf hunter, I can never get the accents right. Keep on reading and post a review if you want.
Until next time.