Nori's POV

Deep laughter fills the Silverpine forest, its deep voice causes the ground to tremble and shake, nearly throwing me off my feet. The tree sway violently, bending before the howling voice like a hurricane.

I feel a lapse of fear forming in my stomach as the a whirlwind surrounds me. I instinctively pull my arms over my face to protect myself. Yet I still felt my boots, struggling to find a grip in the dirt.

"Scared of a little breeze elf?" A voice dripping with a combination of condescension and amusement roars from above.

A demon floats in the center of the whirlwind, his wings flapping casually as if not buffeted by the winds. Its skull like head cracks into the grin. He begins to gently float back down. "Greetings child."

I bite my fear back, staring at the demon. This wasn't some sort of boogeyman from my childhood. This was just a demon. One that might have killed my parents.

That last statement was all that I needed for my courage to rally. Focusing all my anger and all my despair on my chest. In my mind I begin to shape it into a weapon. Yes. I smile, feeling the fire radiating from my chest.

Pulling my arms to my breast, I feel the heat there and spread it out. Sickly green fire explodes everywhere, dispersing the wind into nothingness. I reach to my back and pull out my blades.

The surprised expression on the demon's face meant everything to her. Squatting on the ground, I take a deep breath and launch myself in the air. Whirling out with both blades, aiming at his chest.

Whatever surprise the demon had quickly vanishes as I come towards him. His oversized claws lock together as a barrier between the two of us. In the last second they lash out and parry my blades.

I plant my foot in his chest and leap back, landing back on the ground gracefully like a deer.

Snarling in rage, I ignite the felfire on two of my index and middle. As he steps closer, I sweep my hand forward, the fire spreading into a full fledged inferno that burns through the demon.

His counter was almost lazy. As the fire approaches, he casually waves his hand and the flames around him dissipate. He didn't even slow his stride.

"You will need to do much more than that child, but thankfully for you child that I am not here to fight." The demon chides as his hoofed feet touch the ground gracefully. "I actually come here with a warning."

"A warning?" I demand, keeping my blades leveled at his chest. But privately I was relieved. This demon was far more powerful than any undead I encountered before, and I was actually beginning to question if I could beat him. "What do you have to say."

The demon's lips tug upwards. "A great shadow is coming little one. It will consume this land and everything in it. So I advise that you leave while you still have a chance."

"Leave?" I force out a laugh. "I didn't watch my hometown burn just to leave." Even without a mirror, I felt my blue eyes change. Its color was burned away and replaced with a demonic green hue.

For a second I saw a trace of fear in the demon's face. But it was only for a moment and his cruel smile returns. "You may have a few new parlor tricks girl, but you would be a fool to believe that it would be enough to stop the fallen prince."

"And what do you care if a simple elf like me wants to pick a fight with that oh so scary prince?" I smiles coyly, absently cleaning dirt out from my fingernails.

"Are you blind girl? The shadow will cover this continent."

"Then even better, I will fight in the shade." I stare him in the eye. Those dark, soulless orbs. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Why are you warning me?"

The demon reels back from false hurt. "Would you not believe that I am simply warning you out of the goodness of my heart?"

I smirk at him, then laugh. I twirl one of my pigtails around and point my sword at his chest. "I'll believe that as soon as I believe there is an actual heart there that is filled with red human blood, instead of some withered piece of shit that pumps that black sludge in your body."

He makes a big show of sighing in defeat. Finally he raises his hands. "Very well. The real reason I want you gone is because you are in my way. We share a common enemy. Then Undead and it's fallen prince."

My next jibe suddenly fell dead right from my lips. "W-what? What do you mean?" I scream, thrusting my blade forward. The demon's claws come up, catching my sword in between them.

"Indeed. My master would benefit greatly if Arthas were to be defeated."

I withdraw my blade from his chest. A small smile of victory forms at his lips, yet a second later I plow my foot into his chest. The wind rushes out of him with an audible whoosh. "Don't play games with me demon." I warn. "I know that it was also one of your kind that lead him to claim that cursed sword."

"Aye, that is technically true." The demon admits begrudgingly. "But my comrade was betrayed by that foolish prince and murdered."

"And weren't you demons also responsible for the creation of this plague that raised the undead in the first place?" I persist accusingly, stepping forward.

He stomps his foot so hard then earth cracked beneath the hoof. "Bahhh. Enough of this talk elf. My hand in this whole affair matters not. In the end I give you a choice." The demon extends a clawed hand towards me in a gesture for a handshake. "You and I may cooperate to crushing this human pest, and you may choose to go after me later. Or you may continue to stand in my way and I will be forced to take action against you."

I look at the claw being offered at me, then at the snake like eyes of the demon.

Then the whole ground breaks underneath and I'm consumed by the darkness.

I woke up with a start. The nearest elves surrounding me jump back in surprise and have their makeshift weapons at the ready. We didn't have enough weapons to arm every elf who followed me, so more than a quarter of them were armed with shovels, pitchforks, clubs and other tools more suited for farming.

So far every elf who volunteered to stay are now standing before me. Except for Vol who was in the very rear. Being an artillery officer he was ordered to stay behind and ensure the safe transport of the cannons.

"What's wrong Nori?" An elf girl asks, frowning with concern. Her grip tightened against the dagger she carried.

I notice the small runes already being carved at the base of the blade. She was one of the elves who volunteered to serve as a demon hunter acolyte under me and Vol.

"I'm fine. Just a bad dream." I put on a false smile and wave her off.

That seems to be enough for them all. She simply asks to make sure I'm fine before joining the others.

"What's the hold up over there?" A sergeant pushes his way past the crowd. He searches the crowd of elves until his eyes lock onto me. "Ranger, the Captain is akong why has your column stopped moving?"

"Just a short delay sergeant. We're ready to move now." I assure him.

The man looks over me to the mass of elves and huffs. "Just get moving. We'll be entering the city within the hour."

With that he turns at his heel and returns to his unit. I let out a loud growl of irritation towards the guards arrogance. Me and Vol were in command of the entire elven contingent while he led five other soldiers.

"Lets just get moving." I snarl.

Arius's POV

"Form up everyone. One column, two men side by side." I shout to the contingent of two hundred men who followed me. I repeat then orders several times to ensure that it was understood clearly by all. Majority of my force was made up of the ragged militia troops who while competent fighters, had little experience in the way of fighting in certain formations or long marches. Then rest were either a some of the soldiers who accompanied me from Dalaran or a handful of Grebo's mercenaries.

Slowly their large mass would wind down to a long line. Soldiers carrying muskets stood at every interval, nervously keeping their weapons trained at the dark forest. Everyone one else was armed either with axes, spears or swords.

I glance down at my longsword, a replacement for my warhammer that was lost in the storm. Although it was well made and perfectly balanced, it still didn't feel right to be bearing this instead of my old warhammer. But for now, it would have to do.

"How far are we from the prison?" I turn to the elf who clutched his dagger nervously.

"Not far, maybe fifteen minutes away." He replies, sheathing the blade and pointing straight ahead. "Just keep following the road. They're using an old Kirin Tor observatory for it."

I nod and turn my attention forward. So far all I can see beyond is the narrow stretch of forest. From the grove I spotted several shapes looking down at us before vanishing once more into the forest.

I bite my lip and look back at the soldiers. "Tighten that formation and make sure you are watching you're watching the backs of those ahead and behind you. The last thing you want is to get separated in these woods."

Or get caught in an ambush. I close my eyes and murmur a silent prayer to the Light that we get through this forest before anything happens. Aside from the unexpected audience, these woods unnerved me.

As my lines turn a corner from the base of a mountain, a loud crack all the way in the back of the lines causes everyone to stop and look around with their weapons in hand. There was no mistaking what that noise was. A musket.

I hold up my hands and hold my men back, listening for anything else. There were no sounds of combat, no screaming from my soldiers or anyone else, and no other muskets firing.

After ten more heartbeats I shake my head and point my sword forward. "Come on everyone, it was probably some panicked soldier." I say, biting back my annoyance. "Someone get word back to the rearguard to resume movement."

A messenger detaches himself from his group and sprints to the rearguard. I watch as he vanishes. "My lord." A soft voice says nervously. It was the high elf. "I think it would be best if we moved now. The longer we wait the more those trolls could do to my people."

"I understand, but we need to move cautiously. This is an easy spot for an ambush and I do not wish to be caught off guard."

He nods and pulls his cloak over his slender frame. "I suppose you're right. This place gives me the creeps."

"It's not just you." I mutter quietly, hopefully shutting him up."Odd, that the messenger hasn't returned yet."

Now more muskets started to sound. Not single attacks but entire ragged volleys. "What the hell was that?"

"Out of my way, out of my way!" Someone shouts, pushing his way past the crowds. As I emerge I see it was the messenger who I sent out to the rearguard. He stops a few feet away from me and stops to catch his breath. "The rearguard is under attack!"

Now the realization hit. I raise my sword and begin to sprint back to the rear. I point to a group of soldiers. "You there, to me!"

Without waiting to make sure if they were following, I cut through the forest. Low lying branches and leaves slap against my face while uprooted branches nearly trip me several times.

I swing my sword through vines that stood in my way as I move to the rapidly loudening sound of combat. The rearguard wasn't any farther than a few dozen meters, yet it seemed like entire miles.

A whooshing sound causes me to drop to the ground as a tomahawk flies past my ear and strikes a tree. A troll cackles out in glee as he leaps out with an axe on either side.

I roll to the side as the axes descend on the ground. It brushes off the dirt where I was laying seconds ago. I parry his next attack with my sword and shove him back. Throwing myself to a standing position, I lunge at him. The troll steps back to block my attack.

I ram shoulder forward, slamming the slender creature against the tree with a sickening crack.

The troll drops like a stone, but from the gaps between the trees more trolls emerge armed with shields and hide shields. Two of them advance on me, jabbing their spears forward threateningly.

Fortunately the men who followed me arrive on either side of me and engage the trolls. "Go to the rearguard sir, we'll hold these bastards off." A woman shouts, throwing herself forward and parrying an attack with her sword.

I nod in gratitude as the warriors advance upon the trolls. Four men rush behind me to the battered rearguard.

It couldn't have lasted more than a few minutes, yet the aftermath of the ambush was horrendous. Ambush. It was more of a slaughter than an ambush. Of the thirty men assigned to watch the hack of the group, only about a dozen of them remained.

They stood hunched backed and terrified, their weapons clenched tightly in their hands and their faces covered in the blood of their comrades. Around them were the sacks of meat that could sparsely pass off as corpses. Chests hacked open by axes, arteries and bones cut by swords and entrails spilling out of ghastly holes from their body.

If there were any trolls left the they were long gone.

"They came at us by surprise sir. Over two dozen trolls came down at us and slaughtered us all." A man gasps, nearly tumbling down to the ground. He pauses for a moment. "What do we do now sir?"

All eyes turn on me, sixteen pairs on desperate, hollow faces. It like they would be lucky to last another ten minutes in these conditions, much less the rest of the mission. The trolls would hound us for the remainder of the journey, whether we move forward or retreat to camp. It was only a matter of marching towards safety or to the heart of the island.

"Straighten those lines, we keep on moving." I shout and turn forward. None of the men move, they simply stare at me in disbelief. I look over my shoulder and shake my head. "Do you know why these trolls are hitting us from the forest? Because they are scared. They knew they cannot win in an open battle."

It was a complete lie, against an undisciplined army like this, the trolls were more than a match for them in an open battle.

Hell even against battle hardened troops they could hold their own.

The men at least looked more heartened.

"My commander once said that the reason it took us so long to defeat Zul'jin's army in Second War was because he always kept his warriors hidden from large battles." Not a total lie. Zul'jin did never risk fighting a pitched battle, but that was due to wanting to suffer to heavy losses until he marched to major cities. And even then he dragged tens of thousands to the grave with him.

This brought a ripple of laughter among the soldiers who were now cheering. "Then let's go." I shout, turning at my heel and marching back to the front.

The next fifteen minutes was a nightmare incarnate. The trolls no longer attacked in small warbands, but instead as an entire host.

Dozens if not hundreds of troll warriors came out of the forest, screaming in their primeval roar that was burned forever in my mind. Small pockets of soldiers were cut off from the group and most died without even having a chance to use their weapons.

In the narrow passes it was impossible for my soldiers to organize themselves in proper formation or even unleash their full numbers.

At that point, most soldiers simply gave up fighting and started to break away and made a run for the forest's edge. "No don't run!" I shout as two more soldiers quickly broke away from the fight. I try to chase after them but a curved sword out of nowhere forces me back to the fight.

I shove the troll back and slice his sword arm open. All around me was a small ring of about ten men stood their ground. It was one of the few pockets of resistance still holding their own against the onslaught.

"Another wave incoming sir!" Rendal shouts, firing a crossbow bolt into the darkness. The fire surrounding it lit up the surrounding area to reveal a horde of green bodies waving their axes around came charging out of the darkness.

The bolt struck a troll dead center of his forehead and tumbled down with a soft thud. He reloads his crossbow and begins to back away. "We can't hold back another attack like this. We must retreat sir." He shouts to me.

"Are you mad?" I slash my sword over the head of one of my men and loop off a screeching troll's head. Her head topples off her shoulder with a shocked look still on her face. "We can't possibly retreat now. Even if we wanted to the attack is too intense for a proper retreat."

"Not necessarily sir." Rendal pulls out a blue fletched arrow with a strange light blue coating at the tip. "This might buy us some time as long as you give the order."

I utter a string of curses. The troll collide with the makeshift shield wall my men established like a wave striking against the sand. Several men were thrown back and did not rise again. Yet my group was actually faring far better than others.

Human soldiers stood in small circles surrounded by a sea of green and reds, slowly being broken apart and cut down. Finally relenting, I retrieve a horn from a trumpeter and blow a quick note. "Fall back on my mark."

Looking to the trapper, I give him a terse nod.

He readies the crossbow bolt and signals two other trappers forward. "Ready. Aim. Fire!"

The sound from then firing mechanisms briefly dim out the battle. As each bolt makes contact, they freeze whatever they struck as well as those who stood nearby around it. For a moment they soldiers were in shock. Human and troll alike stopped their fighting".

Run!" Arius shouts.

Quickly the men recovered from their shock and started running like hell. Those who were not swift enough were dragged back by the trolls. I cut a spear shaft in two and give the troll a swift kick before joining them.

They had all ran to a massive clearing just before the forest's edge where the survivors were gathered together. Many were wounded, holding arms with blood spilling or limping as hamstrings in their legs were severed. Yet they still fared better than most of the men they left behind.

Light it looks like barely half of our number remained.

"Is everyone here?" I ask Rendal who was counting his remaining crossbow bolts.

He curses as he found only eight of them and places them back into his quiver. "Nearly sir. Just a few more men who left to search for any other survivors and wounded left behind."

"Will that take long?"

Rendal shrugs calmly as he checks his crossbow for any damage. Before nodding in satisfaction and slinging it over his back. "Not sure, but it probably would take some time."

I spat on the ground, but the High Elf prisoner who miraculously made it out unharmed. "Well I doubt we can wait. Besides, we are in a perfect time to attack."

"How? Our detachment is half dead and our remaining units are in tatters. We are in no position to attack the trolls." Rendal protests, pointing at a group of men, one was laying on his back, moaning in pain as a healer tries to offer him an elixir while another of his companions covers the gaping hole to where his eye once was. "Do you think these men are ready to fight the trolls?"

"I think that much of their troops were in that forest ambushing us." The Elf retorts and jabs his dagger into the forest. "And that they are still waiting in the forest, it would take them several minutes to return which leaves their camp less protected."

Rendal turns to me imploringly. "It's not your call elf." He jerks his head towards me. "It is his. What do say sir?"

I way in the options. "Attacking the trolls off guard, but with an army in poor condition. Or wait for a better force and give them a chance to consolidate. The choice should be obvious, but there were still the people to consider.

"They shall have ten minutes to recuperate, but afterwards all able bodied soldiers are to join me in the front. Gather then spellcasters as well."

The trapper stares at me in disbelief, unable to really protest he merely nods stiffly and starts to organize the troops.

In ten minutes only seventy of those able to walk and with the right amount of limbs stand around me. Priests and magi look up at me with their staffs raised while warriors unsheathe their weapons at you.

The only ones who weren't there were the trappers. They had started setting up traps around then passes and near the forest.

I remove my sword and close my eyes, offering a short prayer to the Light. Opening my eyes seconds later I sweep my sword around the area.

The former observatory was no surrounded by hundreds of trolls either dancing around, muttering prayers to their unholy gods or simply standing around to watch what was about to happen. Guards line the perimeter with their spears and axes, but even they seem too focused on the front.

The two massive doors in the front of the observatory slide open. A female troll steps out, her tribal robes were loose and flowing. She carried a staff with several shrunken heads tied around it by their hair and a cobra head. On her face was a wooden voodoo mask.

"Greetings brothas and sistas!" Her voice booms throughout the building and all the trolls stop whatever they're doing to regard her. "I have spoken with de gods."

She pauses and reaches into her satchel. Their was a collective exhale from the soldiers surrounding me and even I felt my heart stop as she pulled out a human heart. It was still beating. It made a few more futile pumps before going still.

Grinning broadly, she drops it to the ground and raises her staff. Cheers erupted from the crowds, screaming and stomping their feet until the ground literally shook. The priestess closed her eyes and drank in their admiration. "Der be more humans and elves ta kill and sacrifice."

That was enough to get the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. The other prisoners.

Turning around I make several quick gestures. "Fan out all of you. Split into squads of five and position yourselves around the perimeter. Take one spellcaster in each group. Once you are all in position signal me then have every mage or priest cast a blinding spell on my signal."

The men salute to me and quickly disappear into the forest. Me and four other soldiers remain in our position and squat down. A few minutes later five brief flashes of light appear in the forest from the staffs of magic users. Then two more appear. After that three.

Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen.

That was the last one.

Drawing my sword, I approach a troll guard who was cackling madly along with the crowd. He was too busy slamming his spear into the dirt to notice me. A moment later I clamp his mouth shut and slide my sword into his throat.

Gently, I lay his body to the ground and signal my troops forward. "Attack my soldiers! The time has come to exact your vengeance!"

Raising my sword over my head, I let its blade catch the sunlight and will my power for the Light around it. At once an brilliant flash of light spreads out, turning from a simple reflection to a miniature explosion.

Those who turned to face me scream in shock which turns into agony before dropping to their knees and covering their eyes. But I know my spell only covered a small area. Only those trolls nearest to me were affected while those further in the crowds surged forward.

That's when the other magic wielders went to work, casting similar spells that left the trolls blinded. Even the priestess was shielding her eyes and struggling to cast a shield spell over herself.

I don't give my enemies a chance to recover. I give the nearest troll a swift kick in his chest and drive my sword into him as he tries to rise. Another tries to pull her sword free, but I drive my blade into her chest.

My men around me join in and start killing their way into the center. Many trolls who were still blinded were easily cut down before they even realized what was happening.

I manage to kill two more trolls before a cackling voice forces me to look and see a troll coming at me with a spear. I sidestep his attack, but then footman behind me was not fast enough and the polearm rams through his breastplate, causing blood to trickle out of his mouth.

Growling in outrage, I slice his spear and start hacking repeatedly into his body. The rest of the troops were meet with equal success, carving deeply in then troll ranks. Many trolls scream and begin to run away into the rear of the forest, only to scream as they either found themselves burned alive or frozen in place by traps left there.

A young troll child, a young boy who doesn't even have his tusks fully grown snarls and charges at me, pounding at my leg. He was screaming incoherently, tears streaming down from his eyes, I don't even blink as I knock the troll out with a swift punch in the face.

I grab a soldier who was hacking off a trolls arm. "Spread the word. Tell the men to take hostages. Kill who you can and let the rest retreat so they may tell the other tribes here of what happened. And do not kill the children."

The troll priestess blasts humans with her dark magics, trying to rally her people, yet it was futile. Troll were now retreating in droves. Fortunately for them, there weren't enough of my men to fully encircle them and there was plenty of space for them to run.

I lock eyes with the priestess as she launches a dark wave towards a pair of soldiers and a mage who charged her. They fall to the ground, roaring in agony as their flesh rotted off. I felt the grin forming on her lips as she identified me as the leader.

Then she turns to me and grins and she shoots a bolt of lightning towards me. I squat down and raise a shield of light, yet this time I wasn't fast enough and then bolt easily shatters through the thin shield and throws me back against the ground.

She advances closer, smashing her staff to anyone, troll or human who tries and stand in her way. A ball of dark energy forms and pulsates over her hand as she looms over me.

A grin spreads to her lips as she throws it down at me. I raise my sword and slash it across the radius of the ball. The light surrounding my blade brightens as it connects with the shadows. Somehow it actually stops the ball of shadows in midair.

My sword swallows up the darkness, consuming it causing the light to intensify.

I grin at her. "Thank you for the power boost." I lunge forward and bring my sword down at her. She raises her staff over her head and blocks my attack with its shaft. The wood cracks and tiny splinters fly to my face, yet the stave holds.

Pulling my sword back, I stab it forward at her chest. She blocks it again with her staff, and again as I slash at her side. On the fourth time however, it doesn't hold and breaks under my sword. The blade now passes through unimpeded into her robes. The blade cuts through the fabric and into her flesh.

I press it in deeper, driving the blade home as her blood begins to gush through the hole, soaking her robes and leaving her gasping for air, yet when she opens her mouth, a torrent of blood comes rushing out.

Her body quivers and then stiffens as her body slides down to the ground.

The remaining trolls were now retreating especially after seeing their leader die they redoubled their efforts to get away. His men were in hot pursuit, cutting down all the warriors, but keeping then unarmed women and children as well as those who surrendered alive.

But there were less than a hundred of them, and hundreds of trolls. It would take hours to completely secure the area as well as returning to the camp. In the meantime I would finish the objective we came here for.

I move carefully towards the observatory, careful as not to step on the bodies and make my way inside. In the battle nobody had attempted to shut the door, or was even able to and it was left wide open.

Pushing the purple curtains that were torn and left dangling there. I make my way in and freeze as I saw the prisoners. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds who were all tied together by rusted chains and ropes.

There was no separation between men, women or children. All were left laid on the cold stone floor that was covered in pools of blood, urine or water. Not even the children were spared from beatings as they all bored an injury of sorts.

There were elves, humans and even a few dwarves and gnomes who were left staring at him, hopelessness written all over their eyes. On the sides, thrown unceremoniously by the trolls were several bodies who Arius could only assume were those newly sacrificed.

I kept my sword ready as I approached them. Yet when the people saw me, they took one look at my sword and they whimpered and backed away. I glance down. Not only was my sword, but my entire arm was coated in blood and stained red.

I realized these people needed a paladin, not a warrior. I strap my sword to its back and make an effort to clean up my armor and arms off blood and try to sound reassuring when I speak. "Please. I'm here to help."

"Are you here to get us out of here?" A small voice croaks quietly. A young elf shuffles forward a total of five steps before the chains she wore on her arms forced her back. She was a year or two younger than Nori, with similar blonde hair and unlike most here, didn't seem to have lost all the life in her eyes.

"Of course I am." I smile and kneel down to her and offer an arm to help her up. "Whats you're name?"

A small smile that could have lit up this whole room forms on her lips. "Thari Brightsun."