"World of Warcraft: The Wrath of Tarren Mill"

Chapter Nine – The Blurring of Ways

The storm clouds above the skirmish at the Hillsbrad Fields finally lit up. Thunder cracked through the air, but it was unable to completely drown out the clashing of weapons below.

"Now!" Tohjm bellowed into the air. "Now! Do it now!"

The draenei shaman nodded in understanding before chanting long, drawn out words into the sky.

The Fields fell silent rather quickly.

--

Any warriors that weren't on the front lines stopped to stare at the storm clouds. Some of them began stealthily moving back to the rear of the formation.

Muu'peh began striking any soldiers that had gone motionless across their helms with the hilt of his dagger. "Keep yar wits about ya! An' don't any of ya even think about running."

As if to disobey, one of taurens threw down his axe and began sprinting away from the battle.

"No!" the troll shouted. "You dam fool!"

A flash of light swept across the Fields, followed by an ear-bruising explosion that tore through the sky. When the quiet returned, the Horde army turned to find that the fleeing tauren had become nothing more than a scorched skeleton—burned into a running pose like a statue.

"Spread out!" Muu'peh roared. "Tis a shaman! Spread out, ya scum!"

The army did their best to put some distance between each other, but the lightning struck again, and again, and again. Now it was coming every other second, burning away flesh and bone from any unfortunate soldier standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Between the lethal storm and the ever-approaching soldiers of the Alliance, any hope for victory died along with most of the Horde warriors.

The retreat began and it was no longer one at a time. Half of the army broke off—orc, tauren, troll, forsaken, and elf scattered into the Hillsbrad Fields.

"Cowards!" Muu'peh screamed at the retreating soldiers. "We will fall because of ya! Cowards!" In defiance, the troll swept up his dagger and charged headlong into the Alliance army. When he found he was the last Horde on the lines, tears of rage poured out of his eyes.

"For the Horde!" he roared as arrows flew and struck him everywhere on his body. Still he ran, getting closer to the inner ranks than anyone else had. With blood pouring out of him, and swords grazing his flesh in every direction, he leapt into the air—miraculously dodging several axes and scimitars and planted his dagger in the neck of a human rogue.

With the kill still fresh on his hands, Muu'peh threw his arms into the air, smiling and laughing fiendishly, before a sea of swords ripped him apart.

--

"NO!" the night elf cried, holding the dying rogue in his arms. "Arin, stay with me, brother. Please don't leave me!"

Aric and Arin, the twins, the master rogues of Tyranny's Bane were being separated before the guilds eyes. Aric pulled the man close and did his best to keep pressure on the wound on his brother's neck.

"You can't leave me alone here, Arin. Please don't leave me alone here," Aric begged. "We still have so much to do in Azeroth. Your job's not done here."

Arin smiled weakly, and used the last of his strength to clap his hand down on his brother's shoulder. A tear rolled down his cheek, and the life finally faded from his eyes.

"No, no, no, no, please," the elf's voice trailed off. His head suddenly whipped up to his guildmates. "We have to bring him back. Someone bring him back!"

Tohjm solemnly shook his head. "The mana to do that was gone in the opening attack. We'll have to get him to Menethil Harbor and find a paladin who can redeem him."

"There's not going to be a pally in the Wetlands!"

The warrior shrugged. "It's the only chance he's got. Take him back to the ship, get him cleaned up, and await our return."

As the rogue carefully carried his friend away, Tohjm's gaze suddenly went fierce. The warrior stormed to the front line and, with arms alone, knocked five men onto their backs. They looked back, bewildered.

"You had plenty of time to kill that troll," Tohjm bellowed. "Plenty of time! Explain yourselves!"

One of the men struggled with an answer before stuttering, "I—I thought we were just going to play with him, sir. So…I held back."

"Your thinking just got one of our finest killed! And let me tell you, for that lapse in judgment, I'd gladly trade your soul for his."

"But, sir—"

The warrior shut him up with a gaze. "When we return to Southshore, you're out of the guild. Such vanity won't be tolerated in my ranks."

The man on the ground looked affright, as if he was naked now. Tohjm left him there to contemplate his future without the guild and returned to the center of the group.

"There's still work to be done, my friends," he said. "Many of the beasts are still running from us. I think it's only necessary that we give them good reason to keep fleeing."

--

Davion took the lead, slowly making his way into the clearing at the edge of the forest. An arrow was nocked on his bow, ready to find the heart of any Alliance or Horde who threatened them. He looked up and found that the storm clouds were dissipating, revealing the clear blue sky behind it, and allowing rays of sunlight to illuminate the gore upon the deserted battlefield.

"No…" Davion breathed. He quickly put away his weapon and strayed out across the Hillsbrad Fields with Kimuriel and Rasmon following close behind.

The field was littered with smoldering craters—some empty, some filled with the remains of various kinds. All of them belonging to the Horde.

"We were too late," Kimuriel said. "This can't be…"

"Looks like we'll get to have our war after all!" Rasmon shouted, clapping the tauren on his back. "It was inevitable, I suppose. Shame our side had to be the first to go for it to happen, though. Regrettable in its own right, but I can live with it…as much as a forsaken can."

"Can you shut that skull of yours for one second to let me think!" the druid snapped. "There has to be a way to stop this."

"There might be…" Davion said as he investigated the remains on the field. "It looks as if most of the Horde army retreated back into the forest." His finger trailed the imprints out into the treeline. "We might still have a chance."

"Our side retreated?!" Rasmon stood in disbelief. "Let them die then! A more shameful display I've never seen. At least that troll managed to go out with a little dignity." His foot stuck out and poked at Muu'peh's lifeless and shredded corpse.

Kimuriel ignored the undead. "Then it's possible we can catch up with the group and show them Rasmon isn't dead. Then they'll see that they—"

"Fought for nothing?" Davion interrupted. "After all of this," he motioned to the carnage around them, "I'm not so sure Rasmon being alive is going to change many minds…No offense." The forsaken shrugged. "The Horde suffered a great loss today. I'm not sure it'll be easy for them to forget that."

"Well, we have to do something," said Kimuriel. "We can't sit and do nothing. If there's even a shadow of a path before us, we have to walk it."

"Very poetic," Rasmon groaned. "Look, it appears there's nothing left to be done. If we can't stop the Horde from dying and the Alliance from winning, then I say we either join our brethren in their last march or we head back to Tarren Mill and wait for our armies to arrive. Pick out a good spot and watch the world burn again."

The tauren wouldn't hear any of it. His paws were clenched and she shook his head as if to deny the unshakeable fate that marched upon them. "There has to be something we can do."

"There is…" A voice rose up from behind the group.

Davion was already turned around with his bow readied to fire.

"Oh, put that away," the blood elf said. "I could snatch that arrow out of the air and plant it in your skull before you nocked another."

"I'd be willing to put that to the test," Davion threatened.

Kimuriel motioned for the ranger to lower his weapon. "It's alright, Davion. This is a friend."

Davion hesitated, but he finally submitted. Though, his eyes never left the black-cloaked elf.

"Davion Nalick, this is Trezner Shadowlit," Kimuriel said, and then turned to the elf. "Trezner, Davion Nalick. He's the ranger that's been helping us."

Trezner's arms relaxed at his sides. "I know the past few days haven't been kind to you, Kimuriel, but there's hardly any sense in trusting a human…Even a half-human."

The ranger was genuinely surprised at the elf's keen perception.

"I wouldn't trust him either, Shadowlit," Rasmon huffed. "Damn human killed me earlier."

The elf turned to Davion. "You killed Rasmon?" he asked sternly, to which the ranger nodded. "Oh, welcome to the group, then." Trezner marched over and happily shook Davion's hand. "Killing this bugger might as well be initiation. Everyone gets around to doing it eventually. "

The Forsaken clicked his teeth. "Haha, whatever. Let's just move this along, if you don't mind. What are you doing here, elf?"

Trezner's expression suddenly faded into sadness. "I've come to finish this, Rasmon. I have a plan to stop this war, but it's going to take all four of us. All of you must be willing to commit to it, because there will be no going back. We'll never be able to set foot in the Hillsbrad Foothills ever again after this day. But if we manage to pull this off, then no more innocents will die, and even we might be able to walk away with our lives."

The tauren scratched his head, confused. "What's this all about, Trezner?"

The rogue continued. "My time in the devil's shadow has come back to haunt me. All of this that you see before you stems from my actions. But I'm not going to let it continue any further."

He knew that Kimuriel and Rasmon would go along with his plan, but this ranger was a variable. He approached the human and made sure their eyes locked. "We're going to need your skills for this, but you'll be forced to leave as well. You're not one of the Horde, but you might as well be if you march with us. I need you to say it."

Davion shrugged. "Say what?"

The elf was unflinching. "That you're one of us."

The ranger knew what the rogue was saying. He was being offered a pact, and if it was accepted, then the paths of he, the druid, the warlock, and the rogue would become one for quite some time. There would be no going back. Little did the elf know, there wasn't much for him to go back to.

"Say it, ranger," Trezner beckoned once more.

Davion finally nodded and held out his hand to seal the pact. The two of them shook on it. "I'm one of you," the ranger said.