A/N: Another lemon incoming; beware.


The sun was last in a long line of things that broke Galmak's sleep over the course of that hellish night. He raised his head from his wolf's neck to find the forest fully awake in the early morning around him. Hyara was awake on her horse next to him and she gave him a wan little smile as he sat up.

"Morning, love," she greeted him softly and he patted her hand.

"Sleep any better than I did?" he asked with a yawn.

"I don't think anybody did." She pointed discreetly to Olkhor behind them; the ferocious glare was no longer absent from his expression. Galmak surprised himself by managing a laugh. If Olkhor was grumpy again, the world had righted itself at least a little bit.

Ahead of them, Var'kan suddenly threw his head back and let out a tremendous bellow that bounced through the trees. Somewhere ahead the sound echoed off rock and died. Gheris jerked out of a doze at the sound and cursed luridly in Draenei.

Galmak peered through the trees and thought he could make out a clearing up ahead. They had reached a stretch of land that had flattened out somewhat and now they were beginning a slight descent into what appeared to be a small, bowl-like valley nestled in the mountains. The pines began to thin, then dropped away altogether, and their destination lay before them in the shadow of a cliff face that formed a wall on the far side of the valley. It was a small village, but not as small as Galmak had expected. There were several large buildings of weathered pine which looked to have seen decades of use, and numerous smaller buildings, clearly houses, clustered nearby across the valley. They were all functional rather than ornamental in any way, simple and boxy in their design with roofs steeply peaked to shed the heavy mountain snow in winter. Everything seemed to be built in a style that suggested human planning rather than orc, and Galmak supposed it must be because of the abundance of wood here – orcs were accustomed to using other materials for most of their structures and so these people must have adopted the human style as more suitable here.

In front of many of the buildings, orcs stood watching the party's approach. From a distance they might have looked at home in Orgrimmar, but Galmak could feel not one living being among them. They, like Var'kan and his riders, appeared to have fully retained their orcish appearances except for the unnerving pallor and glowing yellow-orange eyes. The party rode into the center of the little village and Var'kan motioned for a halt. Hyara shivered involuntarily and told herself it was from the morning chill, not from the many dozens of lambent undead eyes fixed on her. The wolfriders dismounted and several came forward to untie the ropes binding the group to their mounts. Hyara watched with a sick feeling as their mounts were led away. The group was well and truly trapped without them.

"My brothers and sisters," Var'kan addressed the other undead with a wide smile. "We've returned with the shaman who speaks in dreams. He brings a kinsman as well, and also his mate and her brother." His eyes glittered as he turned to rest a hand on Galmak's shoulder. The young orc didn't flinch but stood straight and gazed back at the small crowd appraisingly.

"We must welcome Galmak Bloodscry and Olkhor of the Thunderlord clan. They desire to learn from us and meet others who were once of their clan. I have every confidence their time here will be fruitful." A few in the crowd seemed to take that as a dismissal and moved purposefully away to resume whatever business they'd been about before the group arrived. Others held their places and studied the group with unreadable gazes that seemed to linger a little longer on the draenei.

"And now," Var'kan said, turning to the little group. "I am sure you must be hungry. I'll show you to your sleeping arrangements and see that you have food."

"Still know what food is, do you?" Olkhor said, directing a somewhat subdued scowl at the undead.

"Oh, yes," Var'kan said pleasantly. "Most of us do not eat, although a few of us still indulge for the pleasure of it on occasion. But we have not forgotten the needs of the living. We've had some time to prepare for your arrival. Ah, forgive me though; it will not be permitted for you to go armed in our village." The undead gestured and the group's weapons were swiftly confiscated, almost before they knew what was happening. A growl rumbled in Galmak's throat, but there wasn't much he could do under the circumstances.

The undead orc led them across the village's central open ground to a small hut somewhat apart from the rest of the village and set only a few dozen paces from the cliff wall. It was made of grey weathered pine like the rest of the village's buildings, but Galmak noticed that there were no windows on the two sides visible from their approach. It also had no door; instead the entrance was hung with a thick curtain of faded red cloth.

"I hope this will be adequate," Var'kan said with an apologetic smile. "It was a storehouse until quite recently. We have no dedicated guest quarters here as we so rarely get visitors." He laughed and held the curtain aside. Galmak's senses had already told him there was no nasty surprise waiting inside, but nevertheless he stepped into the hut warily. Just as he'd thought, there were no windows, rendering the inside almost black as a cave but for the light from the doorway. Var'kan flourished a hand and a crackling yellow light sprang up above his palm, illuminating the tiny space. It would be a close fit indeed for all four of them, Galmak thought ruefully.

"I assume you'll allow us to bring our bedrolls and packs in here?" the young orc asked.

"Of course," Var'kan replied. "Your things will be brought presently. In the meantime, please make yourselves comfortable." The undead left and let the curtain fall behind him.

"I hope that was a joke," Gheris growled in the sudden darkness. A gold ball blazed up and hovered above his hand. "Nice of them, not giving us a permanent light source in here."

Galmak grunted in agreement. It would pretty effectively drive them to spend most of their time outdoors where they could presumably be watched at all times.

"Maybe they'll give us a lamp if we ask for it," Hyara said doubtfully. "It wouldn't be very polite not to, and Var'kan seems concerned with maintaining that façade, at least."

"For now he does," Olkhor said. "Hate to see what'll happen when he decides it isn't useful anymore."

"Olkhor, do you recognize him? Or anyone else we've seen?" Galmak asked.

The old orc scowled fiercely at the floor and ran a hand through his grey hair. "I do," he said after a moment. Galmak caught his breath and waited for him to continue. "Var'kan was older than I was. I didn't know him personally, just knew him by reputation in the clan. Bit of a prominent figure, see. He was a shaman, then a warlock once Ner'zhul got his talons in everyone."

"And now he's decided to take a turn at necromancer," Gheris said grimly.

"I remember him being powerful, even back then. Looks like he's been pretty damn successful at everything he's tried," Olkhor growled. "Didn't know how right I was when I said they were all dead," he added in a mutter. He let out a gravelly sigh then, and shrugged. "Rest of 'em, I don't know. Might recognize names if I hear any. The faces are… different."

There was a sudden shout outside and the curtain rustled aside to reveal an undead with wild brown hair and black metal-studded leather armor.

"Your things," he said shortly and dumped an armload of packs inside the door. Another armload of bedrolls followed and then he straightened to stare between Galmak and Olkhor with narrowed eyes. "You are expected for a meal at Var'kan's home. I've been instructed to escort you there immediately."

"And my mate and her brother?" Galmak asked suspiciously.

The undead wrinkled his nose very slightly and nodded. "They are to come as well. They are to be extended every courtesy the orcs are," he said with the barest touch of spite.

They all trooped out the door after the undead and out into the sunlight. The morning was wearing on toward noon by now and Hyara was relieved to feel that the air had warmed considerably. Var'kan's house, like every other building in the little village, wasn't far, and soon the undead gave a shout followed by a knock on the door of a small but solidly built house near the west end of the village. Var'kan opened the door and ushered them inside with a smooth smile.

The front room was more spacious than the outside of the house suggested, and was well-appointed in a strange clash of orcish and human styles. Most of the furniture was simple and had obviously been made by orcish craftsmen, but the floor had been covered with thick rugs that would have looked at home in the palace in Stormwind. A few adorned the walls too, and the windows were draped in a thin red silk. Odd and unsettling as the surroundings might be though, the group's attention was immediately drawn to the small feast ranged on a table opposite the hearth. None of them had eaten since the day before and Hyara heard her stomach grumble embarrassingly at the sight of all that food.

"Please, don't mind me; tuck in." Var'kan gestured toward the table. "I would offer to taste it first myself so you know it's not poisoned," he chuckled, sending a look toward Gheris. "But alas, that would be pointless." The vindicator sniffed suspiciously, but his stomach wouldn't let him worry for long. The undead took a seat at the table but didn't touch the food, and instead watched them closely as they ate.

"Perhaps you would care to take the opportunity to ask some questions," he suggested genially.

"Well," Galmak said around a mouthful. "For a start, what are you doing up here?"

"Hmm, a very broad question, young brother." Var'kan leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his muscular chest. "We began up here more years ago, I suspect, than you have been alive. We were clever enough and quick enough to avoid the humans and their internment camps." A hint of cold steel entered his voice at the last and his eyes seemed to glow more intensely for a moment. "Most of us left some years later, at our peril as the humans were still searching for orcs, and joined with the Cult of the Damned. We were welcomed to that group in a rather limited manner, but it was a step up from fearing for our lives in hiding. We learned from them, we gleaned all the knowledge we needed to serve our own ends, and then we left to begin our new… unlives." He laughed in a soft rumble that prickled the skin on the back of Hyara's neck.

Galmak cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. "You left. The Scourge, Kel'Thuzad, the Lich King; they let you leave."

"We left." Var'kan grinned and his narrowed eyes glittered at the young orc across the table. "And if perhaps you meant what are we now doing up here… well, we are doing many things. We have been quite busy in recent years and I hope that some of our activities will hold great interest for you. You may in time learn more about them."

"Mind telling us why exactly you wanted to turn yourselves into this?" Olkhor asked, his lips curling back in a slight snarl.

"Ah. Well, on one level it was at first our desire to serve the Scourge. But the lure of the thing itself was tremendous."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Gheris asked.

Var'kan looked at him in surprise; whether it was feigned or real was hard to tell. "Why, immortality, of course."

Galmak snorted. "That's quite a price to pay for some extra years."

"Forgive me, young brother, but you really have no idea what sort of price we paid." Var'kan shook his head regretfully. "So smug and so sure in your youth. 'Some extra years,' you say? You have been alive two or three decades. Tell me, young brother, how long do draenei live? How many years will your mate be without you? Will she find comfort when you are gone?" His smile held an avid, malicious quality. Galmak found that he'd frozen and was staring at the undead.

"Draenei live only as long as the Light allows," Hyara said quietly, gazing steadily at Var'kan. "Galmak could find himself alone in the world tomorrow, if the Light wills it." Light knows, he's come close enough times.

"That would be tragic indeed," Var'kan said, and now there was not a hint of a smile on his face.

Beneath the table, Galmak's hand found Hyara's and squeezed so hard it made her grit her teeth. She returned the squeeze and didn't let go.

"But I have a question for you now, young brother," Var'kan said, watching Galmak narrowly. "Why did you mistake me for an ancestor the first time we conversed in the dream?"

"Who else speaks in dreams?" Galmak said evasively.

"Who else indeed," Var'kan replied.

Across the room, the door opened smoothly and a woman entered with a large pack which she lowered to the floor. As she straightened, her glowing amber eyes traveled coolly across the group at the table. She was tall and wore deep blue robes sparsely embroidered in gold thread. Long dark hair, luxuriously thick with no trace of grey, hung loose down her back. Her skin too held that uncanny pallor beneath deep green. Her face was not old, but there were fine lines around her eyes and mouth. Hyara stared at her with a slight frown. Something odd about this woman nagged at her, but she couldn't place it.

"Ah, you've returned." Var'kan stood, beaming, and crossed the room to lay a hand on the woman's shoulder. "My friends, this is my mate, Teyagah. She is also of your clan, young brother. And my dear, these are –" But he stopped suddenly, looking mildly disconcerted for the first time they'd seen.

Galmak had risen and was staring open-mouthed at the woman. Hyara looked up at her husband in confusion and then stood too, examining Teyagah more closely. Suddenly something clicked into place and her breath caught in her throat.

Hyara whispered, "Love, she looks like –"

"My mother's mother was called Teyagah," Galmak said.

Var'kan's brows knit and he turned to look at his mate.

"And was your mother called Serlah, of the Thunderlord clan?" Teyagah asked. Galmak nodded, looking dumbstruck. "Then it seems you have found your grandmother," she said. One side of her mouth pulled upward around a small tusk as if she were trying to smile.

Galmak stood for a moment with a face that would have looked impassive as stone to most people, but Hyara knew him far too well not to see the hundred conflicted emotions that swirled in him. Finally he strode forward and bowed low.

"I am Galmak Bloodscry, son of Lurigk and Serlah of the Thunderlord clan. I came here seeking my blood and the honor that was lost. It is an unexpected honor to meet you, Grandmother," he said quietly.

Her eyes narrowed and she gazed at him in silence for a moment. "Tell me, grandson. Does my daughter still live?" she asked.

Galmak hesitated for a heartbeat. "She does, Grandmother, and my father as well."

"And did she never tell you of me?

"She told me much. She… told me how you died." Galmak was trying not to look at Var'kan, who seemed to be observing with keen interest. Var'kan was not his grandfather; he knew that for certain. How had his grandmother come to be here?

"How gratifying that she remembered that," Teyagah said. "I died trying to keep her and her lout of a mate from the camps."

"And then I and some of the others found her shortly thereafter," Var'kan smiled in satisfaction. "We were fortunate. I always knew she was powerful and I knew we would all benefit greatly by accepting her into our ranks. It was a shame we could not get your daughter too, my dear. She is also quite gifted, as I recall."

"But then I would have no grandson." Teyagah said in a flat voice.

"Ah, too true, too true," Var'kan laughed.

"And what are these?" Teyagah gestured toward the rest of the party.

"This is Olkhor, also of the Thunderlord clan," Var'kan answered, gesturing toward the old orc. Teyagah cocked her head and examined him briefly, and then her eyes slid to rest on Hyara and Gheris.

"And these two are your grandson's mate and her brother," Var'kan continued. He watched his mate closely with what Hyara thought looked like a slightly cruel smile.

Teyagah stood silently and her eyes bored first into Hyara's and then into Galmak's. Gheris she ignored altogether, barely deigning to look at him. Her knuckles paled where she gripped the back of a chair.

"This is your mate," she said at last, in a voice quiet and deadly. "Were you ever told, whelp, how your grandfather died? Did your stubborn cow of a mother never tell you that he died honorably, a true warrior, in battle against those?" she spat. "But not before he had painted his body blue with their blood and screamed in victory over the corpses of their children. And now you mate with one of them. You rut with one of them and no doubt you hope she will give you an abomination of a child, when instead you should do as your grandfather did, as I have done, and slice her open where she stands."

Galmak stood frozen for a moment with his eyes locked on his grandmother before he realized he was shaking with fury. The one rational corner that remained in his mind watched detachedly as the room seemed to turn red and the rest of him spiraled toward utter loss of control. Then that rational part of him roused itself in sudden alarm and mounted a last-ditch effort to keep him sane. He felt a hand squeezing his shoulder and it helped minimally to pull him back.

"Let it go," Olkhor's gruff voice whispered in his ear. Galmak took a few deep breaths and felt control slowly returning, although calm still seemed worlds away. He didn't trust himself to speak for several minutes.

The room had gone deathly silent. Only Olkhor had moved; Hyara, Gheris, and Var'kan seemed rooted in place. Galmak's vision was clearing and he saw that his grandmother was watching him with a small, satisfied smile.

"It seems you're very like your mother in other ways besides those brown eyes, whelp," she said.

"I take that as the highest honor," Galmak said in a hoarse rumble. "Thank you for the meal, Var'kan. My mate and I will be leaving now." He took extra care to make sure his grip was gentle as he steered Hyara toward the door.

"A pleasure," Var'kan said with a gleeful, snarling smile.

Hyara stumbled slightly as they stepped outside and Galmak caught her gently. Her legs were shaking and her hooves didn't seem to want to step properly. She took a deep breath of the cool air and shuddered. She felt Gheris's presence behind her as they walked back toward the tiny hut, but she had no desire to face him. If she'd only known what this trip would bring for him she never would have let her brother come. And Galmak had been shamed by his own grandmother whom he hadn't known still existed until moments before. Hyara stared dully at the dirt passing beneath her hooves. Galmak's grandparents had taken keen delight in slaughtering her people. They'd considered it an honor to murder children and drive her race to the brink of extinction. She couldn't reconcile that with the man she loved; her brain absolutely refused to process the thought that he was here to live his life because his forebears had been wildly successful at bringing death to her people.

She stumbled into the hut and somehow through a haze of tears she managed to lay out her bedroll where she collapsed in exhaustion after a hellish night and half-day.

Galmak examined her sleeping form for a moment in the faint light from the doorway. "I'm so sorry," he whispered and then let the curtain fall.


It was dark outside when Hyara awoke; she could see no light filtering in from around the edges of the curtain. The hut was surprisingly warm and she could hear Gheris and Olkhor breathing in sleep nearby. The other side of her little bedroll was empty. Quietly she rose and slipped outside the curtain. She tripped over a dark bulk and almost fell, but she reached out a hand and steadied herself on Galmak's shoulder.

"Hello, love." His voice rumbled softly in the darkness and she sunk down to sit beside him on the ground in front of the hut. She smiled slightly to see that Palla and Gink were both flopped at his other side. The Blue Child was high in the sky, a sharp, pale crescent above the dark pines. She could hear voices and all the sounds of wakefulness in the little village. The night air was chill and Hyara shivered. Galmak put an arm around her, pulling her close to his warmth, and she didn't resist. They sat in silence for several minutes and then slowly she allowed her head to droop to rest on his shoulder. Her tail twitched now and then, but other than that she was still.

"Whether you want to hear it or not, I love you," Galmak said at last.

Hyara leaned forward and rested her chin on her knees. "I always want to hear that," she said softly. "Now more than ever. I want to know it's still worth it to you, even at times like this, even though…" She swallowed. "Even though I may never be able to give you a child. Even though it seems like sometimes people can't do anything but tell us we shouldn't be together."

"Hyara. It's worth it to me. In fact, I don't give a fuck what anyone else says. Did you think…" He frowned and shook his head. "Did you think I get upset when people say things like that because part of me regrets being with you? Gods. I get upset because of the filth they're saying about you and… and because it reminds me how damned lucky I am that I somehow did something to deserve you."

"Deserve me?" she laughed tearfully. "I'm the one who… Galmak, I- I worry because what Var'kan said is true." She turned her face away and stared off into the village where lights shone in many of the windows. He remained silent and she continued sadly. "I'm your one chance. Why did you choose to waste it on me?"

Galmak sat silent and motionless for a minute. Then he reached a hand inside his shirt and drew out the little leather pouch he always kept there against his chest. It contained a few of the things most precious to him, things he'd collected over the years. Hyara had seen a few of the things and he'd told her the meaning of some. He pushed his fingers inside the pouch, slid out a little folded square of parchment, and handed it to her silently.

It was stained and the folds were well worn. She opened it carefully and saw that it was a note written in a firm, heavy hand with spiky black letters gashing across the paper.

If you want to save your draenei…

Hyara read it twice in disbelief before handing it back. Galmak took it and folded it carefully before tucking it back inside the pouch.

"I read that note and my life started again. I was more dead than these people here before that. I'm 'wasting' my chance on you because I can't conceive of any better possible chance if I lived ten more minutes or eternity. You're the only person I want, Hyara, and the rest of it doesn't matter. I thought I'd made that clear years ago, love."

"You did. I… I needed to hear it again." She smiled sheepishly through her tears. He gently turned her face up to him and kissed her tenderly. "I'm proud of you," she whispered. "I'm proud of who you are and how you've chosen to live your life."

He smiled and kissed her again. "My mate is proud of me. That's the best thing I could ever hope for. If it's just the two of us together for the rest of my life, I'll die a happy man. If someday the gods or the Light or fate sees fit to give us a child…" He trailed off and she sighed, burying her face against him and inhaling his familiar scent.

"If we never do, it won't be for lack of trying," Hyara whispered. He kissed her hard then and ran his hands down her back and around her sides. She let out a soft sigh that seemed to make his blood flame in sudden desire and he pulled back to drink her in with his eyes: her smooth horns glinting in the moonlight; her wide, beautiful eyes and soft blue lips that always smiled at him even in the worst of times. He needed her right now. Galmak growled and pushed her back on the ground, lowering himself down over her.

Hyara smiled up at him in the soft moonlight and rubbed a hoof slowly down the side of his leg before pulling him down to put his ear close to her mouth. "Not right here, love," she breathed, and then nipped his earlobe.

He grunted and promptly scooped her up to carry her around to the back of the tiny hut where its shadow stretched out to the nearby cliff face. Her eyes glowed softly in the darkness, never wavering from his face as he tugged off her light leather-and-cloth pants with eager fingers. Galmak growled low with pleasure, taking her in with eyes that could see her even in the shadows. He cupped a huge hand possessively over her womanhood, relishing her scent and the feel of her wet arousal beneath his fingers. 

Hyara wriggled slightly beneath his hand, making his fingers brush over her, and she moaned with desire. He slid a thick finger gently inside her and watched with primal pride and lust as her eyes fluttered closed and her lips parted in a soft gasp. Her tail waved and brushed slowly across the ground in an indication of the warm pleasure she felt rising. She reached out to fumble at the front of his pants and Galmak felt any desire to maintain control leave him. He wanted her now and he wanted to take her hard.

Hyara's hunter senses brought to her the subtle shift in his scent and it drove her instantly into lust. She helped him as he tore frantically at his pants and then pulled him down to crush her into the ground with his weight.

"Yes," she whispered in response to his unvoiced desire, and he growled low and dangerous like an animal. He drew slightly away from her briefly and then with a sudden thrust that crushed the breath out of her he drove hard inside her. Hyara squealed, not caring to silence herself, and then panted breathlessly with each hard thrust. She felt her body tensing and rising toward climax, utterly lost in the feel of the man she loved. Galmak drove deep once more and then suddenly he wrapped his long arms around her and picked her up. She hooked her hooves together loosely around his waist and he pressed her back against the wall of the hut.

"I'd like to howl loud enough to bring the mountain down," Galmak whispered with a wicked grin, pausing to let his eyes rove over her beloved face.

In response she squirmed invitingly on him and squeezed him in her thighs. He growled harshly and threw all control to the winds, flattening her against the wall and pounding hard and fast into her. Her horns knocked softly against the wood and she clutched at him in ecstasy, scraping her nails across his back. Galmak let out another growl that turned into a snarl as his body finally exploded in pleasure deep within her. Hyara felt him come and it pushed her over the edge. Her tail stiffened and then shuddered along with the rest of her body as her own release overtook her in a great surge that left her limp in his arms.

"Oh, gods," she sighed in satisfaction. Galmak smiled at her with pride and love as he pulled her away from the wall and lowered her back to the ground. Hyara wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and planted soft kisses across his face.

Several minutes later they pulled the curtain carefully aside and stepped silently back into the hut to snatch a few more hours' sleep before dawn. All was quiet as they lay down, but then there was a muffled sigh in the darkness.

"Finally done, eh," Olkhor snorted. "Think he's about smothered himself by now."

Galmak peered across the little room and could just make out Gheris's bulky form huddled with a rolled blanket pressed firmly over his head. Galmak might have laughed if it had been anyone else, but he knew Hyara would be far from amused that her brother had heard them. She had sat back up and was pressing her hands over her face in mortification.

"Shit," she hissed slowly and rested her forehead on her knees. Galmak tried not to, but he ended up grinning. Olkhor laughed.

"Must've been quite something, with all that moaning and knocking and howling and screaming," the old orc said. "Probably heard you in Hammerfall. Guess there's no need to get away from here now; they'll be sending out a search party to find the animals causing all the racket."

"Oh, shut up," came Gheris's muffled voice.

This time both the orcs laughed, driving Hyara to dive under a blanket and roll over with her back to the rest of the room. Galmak joined her, grinning in the darkness, and kissed her forehead.

"He'll get over it, love," he whispered.

"You don't understand. Ugh. We were so careful in the Barrens… We never should have…"

"We never should have, huh?"

She heard the laughter in his voice and couldn't suppress a snort. "Well, alright, I'm very glad we did, but…"

"Don't do that ever again," Gheris said from across the room. "What happened to at least pretending to go a discreet distance away, eh?"

Galmak grunted in surprise. "Well, we were on the other side of a wall…"

"Yes, and using it, I gather."

"I'm sorry, Gheris," Hyara said in a small voice.

"No need to be sorry," he said wryly. "Just spare me next time, will you?"

"Alright," Hyara said meekly and this time they all shared a laugh.