Of Claws and Totems

Chapter 12

Demons

Blackheart, Kalara, and Miakoda were exhausted. So too was the rest of the camp. From Deathwing's attack to the long hours spent searching for survivors they were all worn to the bone. But with Relarus captured, there was no time to rest. Blackheart's body groaned in protest as he stood and strapped on his equipment, then helped Kalara to her feet. Miakoda joined the two as they walked towards the captain and the sailor-turned-scout who was finishing with her report of the satyr's camp.

The scout, Sinara, was resting on a log while another sailor patched her wounds up and Captain Solia received the last of her report. She was partially covered in blood, some of it her own, and some of it the demon's. The more rogue like satyrs had left many cuts on her with their wicked daggers, and there was a patch of her shirt missing and the skin underneath severely burnt where a fireball had struck her.

In a weak voice, Sinara said, "We found some ruins to the north and were about to return to camp when we found a trail of blood, as well a scrap of Relaru's shirt. We decided that something must have attacked and captured him. We tracked the blood trail further into the ruins, and saw Relarus tied up, laying unconcious. We were observing the place when we were surprised by the satyr. They ambushed us, and Misan said that she would hold them off while I got help. She... she sacrificed herself so that I could get away." The night elf hung her head, and Blackheart could smell the shame at leaving her comrade wafting off of her.

"Well, now we know where they are at," the captain said. "We just have to figure out how to get them."

Blackheart led Kalara and Miakoda up to the small group of night elves, saying, "We will go for them, Captain. Sinara, do you know how many there are?"

The night elf shook her head no. "We were attacked by at least five, there are probably more." With a look at the sky she added, "It will be dark soon… satyr rogues will be much harder to spot in the night."

"The night," Blackheart said, "is my home. They won't know what hit them."

With little to nothing in the way of supplies, there wasn't much preparation to be had before the three embarked on their rescue mission. They had learned from Sinara that the ruins were a mile north of where the rest of the crew was setting up camp. Only the faintest sliver of the moon was visibly in the starry sky. Kalara and Miakoda were carefully following Blackheart, his eyesight seemingly unimpeded by the darkness while they concentrated merely on not stumbling while walking. Turning to check his followers, Blackheart noticed Kalara's eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. The night wasn't pitch black, so her eyes wouldn't cause too much of a problem, but if it were it would be like a beacon to a creature of the night. No wonder there were no draenei rogues, he thought. They couldn't even hide in complete darkness.

After a half hour walk they reached the edge of the ruins and Blackheart could smell blood. As he investigated the area, he found two trails of blood: one leading into the ruins and one leading out. The one leading in must have been Relarus' blood; the one leading out was Sinara's. He also smelled the foul smell of demon's blood. Kneeling down, he motioned to his companions to join him. He whispered, "Over here," quietly.

Kalara and Miakoda walked over to him while the draenei whispered back, "What did you fi..." she cut herself off with a hiss. Blackheart had found a dead satyr and was crouching over it now. "I hate demons." Kalara said tersely.

"There are going to more of them about, so I'm sure you will get your chance to do something about that hatred. Sinara must have killed this once on the way out." Blackheart said. He turned the body over and with a sharp 'crack!' he extracted the glaive buried in its torso. After cleaning the weapon, he handed it to Miakoda. "I'm not sure if you're good with these, but the other night elf might be able to use it... if she's alive." The tauren nodded, closed the weapon, and put it into her pack.

"So what's the plan?" Miakoda asked. She had taken her bow out and was testing its pull.

Blackheart took a quick survey of the ruins. Ancient architecture lay toppled and debris was strewn everywhere. Where once had stood beautiful domes and gazebos magically carved from stone now lay piles of rubble overgrown with vines. The slight moonlight gave everything an eerie glow, as if all the buildings were ghosts and you could pass through them if you touched them. He didn't see any sign of satyr, nor could he smell them. Twenty paces away he spotted a raised dais with stairs going around the edges to the top that was fifteen paces off the ground. It would be an easily defensible place if things went bad.

"Follow me… quietly," he whispered as he led them to the top of the dais. Once at the top he was granted an improved view of the area, and with it he spotted what he had been searching for: light. A few hundred paces away were a cluster of ancient stone structures with light emanating from the other side of them. That was where they must be, or at least it would be a good place to start looking. But before they walked into the middle of a group of satyr, Blackheart decided to scout the place out first.

The worgen silently removed his sword and shield, whispering to the other two, "I'm going to scout the area out. You two stay here until I return." Once his equipment had been secured, he left, hearing Kalara's barely audible warning to be careful. He snuck through the ruins quietly, falling deeper into his predatory instincts. It was time to hunt.

Kalara had watched as Blackheart snuck towards the satyr encampment. She had wanted to watch over him the entire way, but mere paces away from the dais he had completely disappeared from her sight. She was still straining her eyes to find him when Miakoda laid a hand on her shoulder. "Be at ease Kalara," the tauren said. "He will be fine."

Kalara looked to the tauren then, feeling reassured. She knew that Blackheart would be ok. She knew that if anyone could sneak up on a bunch of demons, it would be him. She also knew that she had only ever worried about her sister as much as she worried about him. She could do nothing right now except wait.

Blackheart stayed low to the ground as he crept through the dark debris field. The lack of light and his own abilities made him near impossible to spot. He was starting to get the thrill that he had missed for the last several days. Stalking an unknowing prey always gave him a rush. As much as he hated to admit it, going in for the kill when his target didn't know what was coming gave him one of the biggest thrills he knew of.

When only half of the ruins remained between him and the light ahead, the foul stench of a demon drifted to him. It was like that of some kind of carrion; it was a sickly sweet rotten smell. Whatever he smelled wasn't very far away. He slowly eased his head above the pile of rubble he was behind and surveyed the area, looking for the creature he had sniffed out. He saw nothing. He thought it could be possible that one of them had used magic to conceal their presence… or it was hiding and waiting for someone like him to stumble into its trap.

He lowered himself back down, closed his eyes, and focused completely on the smell. He locked onto the stench, envisioning its intricacies and dissected it piece by piece. The foul stench slid down his nose and throat, almost choking him while he tried to discern where it came from. A few moments later and he zeroed in on the stench's origin. It was coming from a pile of rubble that was roughly twenty paces away. The satyr was hidden behind it.

Moving from shadow to shadow, Blackheart crawled through the darkness, his stomach barely above the ground. He didn't make a sound as he approached the foul smell emanating from behind the pile of rubble in front of him. Just as he reached the debris a pleasing sound reached his ears: snoring.

Creeping around the pile he found the satyr. It was resting its back against the rock pile, asleep. A spear was laying across its lap which it loosely gripped while its chest rose and fell to the slow cadence of snoring. Blackheart stood and approached the creature, but froze in place when its hoof twitched. The satyr turned its head to the other side and resumed snoring. Blackheart crept slowly up to the creature and reached for the large, curved horns protruding from its head. In one swift motion followed by a loud crack, Blackheart grabbed the horns, placed a foot on one shoulder to hold the satyr in place, and jerked its head to the side snapping its neck. No more snoring could be heard.

Blackheart left the satyr as he was; there was nowhere and no real need to hide the body. He dropped back close to the ground and used the shadows to cover his movement the rest of the way to the encampment. The foul stench of the demons ahead wafted to him. When he reached the edge of the camp, he peered around one of the stone structures, careful to stay out of sight. Before him he saw the satyr's camp. There were more than five or six… a lot more. He counted at least twenty of them. At the back of the camp he spotted what he sought: two bound captives, Misan and Relarus, laying in the dirt. This was going to be harder than he had hoped, but he was coming to expect these kinds of challenges.

Kalara almost yelled out when Blackheart appeared back at the dais. She had been watching for his approach so intently that when he went beneath her notice and was standing beside her it startled her. She whispered harshly, "How many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me like that! I'm starting to think that you actually enjoy it. One of these days," she started shaking her fist, now arcing with electricity, at the worgen, "you're going to scare me and I'm going to light you up like a bonfire."

Blackheart reached and closed his hand around her electrified fist, ignoring the short arcing pains and her surprised look before she let go of the nature magic, and whispered, "I'm sorry. I thought you would have seen me." He sat down, indicating for Miakoda and Kalara to do the same, then he relayed the layout of the camp to them.

"There are how many of them?" Kalara asked.

"I counted twenty, at least. There could be more." The worgen responded.

"Light Blackheart! Since I met you, every single fight we've been in has been on the scale of four or five to one. Couldn't you find a fair fight for once?"

"That wouldn't be very fun now would it?" The worgen said with a smirk.

"Well…" Kalara trailed off as a small orb of flame engulfed her hand. "I guess not."

Miakoda looked back and forth between the two and shook her head. "Great. Captured by crazy cultists, saved by crazy alliance," the tauren said.

Blackheart had made a rough sketch of the encampment with his claws on the dais. "The best I can see is that we swing around to the rear of the camp. There were only a few guards there, and we should be able to neutralize them without causing a stir. Then we get in, grab Misan and Relarus, and get out… unless anyone has a better idea?" The two others shook their heads no. "If we get into trouble, come back to the dais. It will be the most easily defensible position. Let's go."

Once the plan was agreed upon and they equipped themselves for the task at hand, it took the group a half hour to make the short distance to the rear of the satyr's camp. They were being extra cautious not to draw attention… and it was hard to hide a tauren. From their position they could just make out two guards watching in their direction, and directly behind them lay the two prisoners. The other satyrs were much further inside the camp and they didn't seem to be paying any mind to the guards.

Blackheart flexed his claws, set his equipment silently on the ground, and nodded to Miakoda. She readied an arrow in her bow while he slipped into the shadows and headed for the two satyrs. A few seconds later, Miakoda drew the arrow back and held it in preparation for Blackheart's strike. She took a careful bead on the satyr to the right and held her breath.

Blackheart used the debris and shadows to his advantage and snuck around to the left guard. They weren't too alert this night… too bad for them. In a flash the worgen was behind the guard, pulling his head back with one hand and using his claws to sever its throat. The other guard noticed immediately and opened his mouth to cry out. The only sounds that came from him were a gurgle and the sound of him hitting the ground with a large arrow protruding from his throat.

Blackheart crouched stock still for a few seconds to make sure they were still undetected. So far so good. He motioned Miakoda and Kalara over to him. Miakoda handed him his sword and shield as he continued to scan the area.

"I'm going to get Misan, you get Relarus." Blackheart whispered to Miakoda. "I don't see any guards… go now."

The three silently crept towards the unconscious prisoners. Blackheart's heart started racing when they entered the light from the torches all around, but they were moving as low to the ground and out of sight as possible. The satyrs were still all facing the other direction. They all seemed to be eagerly watching a spit roasting two large bucks over a fire. There was also a large stone house that had a satyr entering it. The trio reached the prisoners and picked them up to carry them out. As soon as Miakoda touched Relarus though, the entire area exploded in light as if it was full daytime, and a tremendously bright and loud signal flare lifted off from where they were.

The entire camp went silent for a few seconds as the satyr registered what had set off their proximity trap over the prisoners. They saw an armored worgen, a tauren, and a draenei, all standing with an odd expression on their face. The silence didn't last for long as a demonic call took up from the camp to kill the intruders.

Blackheart handed Misan to Kalara, who was able to shoulder the small night elf with little trouble and drew his sword and shield. "Run!" he yelled, and as Kalara tried to refuse and stay by him he pushed her after the already retreating Miakoda. "Just go! Run and don't look back. Now!" With another push, Kalara was staggering after Miakoda. As tears filled her eyes at having to leave Blackheart once more she heard the sickening sound of a sword cutting through flesh and bone.

Blackheart cut down satyr after satyr while backpedaling towards the dais. The worgen had watched in dismay as the demons had started emptying out of the house adding five, then ten, then fifteen more to the already large group who were coming after them. If he didn't move soon they would surround him. Turning a spear aside with his shield he roared in rage as he cut the attacking satyr in half, its torso falling away from still standing legs. He rushed forward past the dead creature, slamming his large shield into two more and knocking them to the ground.

The next two were on top of him almost instantly, and he was having a hard time deflecting all of their attacks… and soon more and more started to slip through. His chain mail deflected many of the wounds from glancing blows, but the more direct attacks broke the chain mail and pierced through to his skin. He tried to embrace the pain to access his rage but… there was nothing. He was too exhausted to harness any of the anger he knew to be there. After one particularly nasty stab on his thigh, he feinted stumbling and ran one of the satyr through as it went in for the kill. He used his foot to launch the dying demon off of his sword into its companion. Using the breath of time that it gave him, he quickly reversed direction and sprinted for the dais. He could only hope that Miakoda and Kalara had gotten there.

He hadn't gotten very far when his senses told him of danger and he spun just in time to deflect another spear that was aimed at his spine. That wasn't the satyr's only weapon though; it produced a set of two swords and put Blackheart on the defensive with a routine of attacks. To his side Blackheart noticed a bright flash as a fireball came hurtling for him. He barely deflected it successfully, but the satyr in front of him rushed him then. He was able to stop one of the swords with his, but the satyr pushed through with the attack, pinning Blackhearts sword arm down to his shield. The worgen looked up into the satyr's face, a wicked grin on its lips as it raised its free hand, and sword, to strike down on Blackheart… and then the satyr was gone. It was lying on its back with a huge arrow stuck in its chest. Blackheart saw more arrows stream over his head to take down three more of the pursuing satyrs. He started to run again when he saw the satyr hellcaster launch another fireball at him. This fireball was much more powerful and staggered him when it struck his shield, and he grimaced in pain as his shield was rapidly heated and it burnt his skin.

Fireball after fireball hammered into his shield; it was now glowing from the heat. Blackheart was looking for a way out when he heard a demonic cry of anguish from the hellcaster. Looking over his red hot shield he saw that the demon was… melting, its body covered in lava. Another huge burst of lava flew over his head and into the closest satyrs, scattering most but killing some. Kalara had joined the fight now, and had given him the chance he sought. He turned and sprinted full out to the raised dais.

Once at the top, he noticed that Misan and Relarus lay, still unconscious, in the middle while Miakoda and Kalara pumped out more ranged attacks. He heard Miakoda curse; she was out of arrows and there were still many times their number in satyr left. She pulled out the glaive they had retrieved earlier and took down one final satry with a well placed throw, the demon clutching at the ranged weapon buried in its chest. Kalara's attacks were coming much slower now as well. She was already exhausted from the day's previous events, but she was now taxing her limits.

"Get to the middle!" Blackheart called as Kalara started to sway after her last lava burst flew out. "I'll hold them off at the stairs."

The narrow stairs that wound around the dais would serve as a great choke point for holding the small structure. Blackheart set his shield down in front of him a few stairs from the top and dug in, waiting on the rush to come. He didn't have to wait for long.

He heard the hooves of the demons clattering up the steps, and in a few short moments the first satyr came around the corner. The ugly creature let out a cry of surprise as Blackheart's sword cut it down and it fell off of the structure. The second and third satyrs met similar fates… but they were coming too fast and Blackhearts exhaustion was catching up to him. He still could not access the rage that was usually burning inside of him. Being dead had just drained him too much.

One satyr slipped up to his shield and rammed it with his shoulder, fending off Blackheart's attacks with its own weapon. Then another, then a third slammed into his shield, forcing him back. He was putting all of his weight into holding them on the stairs, but soon he was being forced to retreat. When he reached the top of the dais he was leaning nearly to the ground pushing on the shield and it wasn't a matter of his strength any longer. Sparks and dust came from the claws on his feet as he was forcefully slid back along the top of the dais. The pressure stopped suddenly and he stumbled forward… only to get thrown backwards as a large bolt of pure shadow struck his shield. Instead of heating up like a fireball would, it seemed as though the residue was draining the life out of him... there was a satyr warlock to contend with now as well. With him back in the center of the platform near Miakoda and Kalara, the satyrs were free to flood the platform.

Before he could regroup, they were surrounded by snarling satyr. He looked everywhere and circled those in the middle trying to fend off the demons that got too close. This seemed to be it… he could never defend every direction at once, and not against so many of them. Despair washed over him when he heard a voice from behind him shout, "This is NOT going to happen again today!"

Blackheart felt the hairs all over his body start to stand on end. He thought it was because of the satyr that had surrounded them until he looked to Kalara. Her eyes always glowed, but now they were different. It was as if electricity was arcing out from them. "Get down!" she yelled with such command that Blackheart and Miakoda both dropped to the ground atop Relarus and Misan. Blackheart looked up to see Kalara floating up into the air. His skin was tingling and he smelt an acrid smell. He saw a satyr stalk up behind Kalara and raise his blade. As he yelled out, he was blinded by a flash of lightning that shot from the sky and struck Kalara, then arced out into the surrounding demons. An explosion rattled his entire body and left his ears ringing and his hair standing on end as the lighting and thunder washed over him. When he could see again, he saw Kalara lying on the dais and the satyrs were… gone. There were none to be seen. The only sign that they had been there was the foul stench of their blood in the air as well as some charred spots on the top of the dais.

Blackheart dropped his equipment and rushed to pick up Kalara. Her breathing and heartbeat were steady, but she was entirely unconscious. That last blast of elemental energy had completely drained her. Miakoda stood up and hoisted one of the rescued prisoners under each arm. "You certainly know how to show your girl a good time. Let's get back to camp." Blackheart gently picked up Kalara and carried her down the steps followed by Miakoda.

On the way back to camp, Kalara regained consciousness for a short while. She looked up to Blackheart and asked, "Did I do it? Are you safe?"

Blackheart nodded, responding, "You did it Kalara, you saved all of us."

She reached up and stroked the side of his face. He leaned into her touch as she whispered, "I'm glad," and she slipped back into unconsciousness. Blackheart held her a little closer on the way back to the camp.

Blackheart and Miakoda were soon hailed by some of the sailors that Captain Solia had set up as lookouts. They rushed to Miakoda and relieved the tauren of her burden, two night elves carrying Relarus while two more carried Misan. Blackheart turned down the assistance to carry Kalara; he would carry her himself. When he finally reached the camp he went to an unfurled bed roll that had been salvaged and laid her down on it, pulling the covers over her. He then went to get treated for his wounds.

By some stroke of luck, neither Relarus nor Misan required healing magic to survive; conventional medicine was enough to do the trick. Once the local sailor-turned-medic had finished checking on the two captives, she came to take a look at Blackheart. He removed his chain mail to let the night elf minister him. The many glancing blows hadn't pierced the skin, but they had left bruises invisible under his fur. They definitely did not feel invisible. The wound on his leg though, after running, fighting, and carrying Kalara had been made significantly worse. He gritted his teeth as the night elf pulled broken links of chain out of his wound and cleaned it with alcohol they had recovered from the ship. She then stitched it up, saying, "Done," once she finished. It wasn't the best stitching job he had ever seen, but it was far better than nothing. When Kalara felt better he might get her to heal it properly. Blackheart then cleaned the demon's blood off of his equipment and claws while Miakoda gave a report to the captain.

"So you think you got them all?" The captain asked.

"Well... Kalara didn't leave any standing and I didn't see any following us when we made our trip back. I imagine Blackheart would have smelled them out if they had." The tauren said.

Blackheart joined them as they finished talking. He was walking with a slight limp, trying to flex out the wounds in his leg and get back some mobility. He added his input to what Miakoda had said. "I don't believe there to be any more left of the camp. Kalara did a fair job wiping them out. How are Relarus and Misan doing?"

"They're still unconscious," Captain Solia said, "but their wounds aren't too severe. I believe, thanks to you, that both of them will recover just fine. But for now we have to keep watch on the area so that any remaining satyr don't catch us by surprise. I've sent out the few we could spare to constantly patrol and scout, but they're sailors, not trained lookouts."

Taking a quick gulp of water to refresh himself, Blackheart said, "I'll keep watch until daylight. That should make sure there are none that followed us." He turned and started to walked towards the forest then.

"You're in no condition to be out scouting for us," Captain Solia said, ordering him to stop. "You've been searching for all of us, then you fought off a slew of demons to save Misan and Relarus, not to mention the fact that you literally died today. You are going to stay here and my sailors will do the job." She accentuated her statement by pointing to the ground in front of her.

Blackheart looked over his shoulder and smirked at her. "Just keep a watch over Kalara while I'm gone." And with that he coiled his legs under him, grimaced at the pain in his thigh, and leapt into the branches of the nearest tree. Miakoda tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her smile at the sputtering night elf. Captain Solia was not used to someone directly disobeying a command of hers.

Moving from tree to tree and keeping the perimeter of their camp in check the entire night, Blackheart knew that the captain had been right. He was exhausted to the point that it was dulling his senses. However, even in his current state he could watch better than the sailors that were patrolling. He would often pass right over their heads without them noticing a thing. Luckily he never saw, nor smelled, any demons the entire night. They must have actually killed all of them. When daylight started creeping on, he dropped down a few feet in front of two patrolling sailors, startling them. He realized then that Kalara had been right, he actually enjoyed scaring people a little bit... it must have been something from his human days, jumping out and saying boo or something of the sort. Memories of his mother scolding him for scaring her came to him. He was finally starting to remember some of who he was, but it was all still very hazy.

He stood up then to feel the sunrise as it washed over the forest. This particular sunrise had a fairly significant meaning to him. As it breathed life into the forest around, so too did it breathe new life into him. He had died yesterday. He had been completely dead, in the spirit realm, and ready to stay there for eternity. He had even met his dead father there. Then a most peculiar thing happened: Kalara came into the realm of the dead just to bring him back to life. She not only exhausted and rose above herself using a technique she shouldn't even have known, but she had risked her soul to save him. Anyone can risk their life for someone... but to risk their soul? That took something that went well and above friendship. He knew that he would do the same for her... and he knew what that meant he felt for her.

Standing in the forest as the sun rose on this new day, Blackheart suddenly found himself, for the first time since he could remember, with a clear goal for his life in his mind. He made his way back to camp, past the still skittish guards, and curled up next to Kalara without bothering to give a report. He needed some rest now; he could barely keep his eyes open. But before sleep took him, one thought rolled over in his mind. Somehow, someway, he would gain his humanity back. And when that day came, if Kalara was still with him... he would show her just what he felt right now.