Chapter XII
A/N: I'm happy I finally managed to get this fic moving the way I wanted. Now on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Warcraft and I do not profit from this story. My only joy is the fuzzy giddiness of receiving a review ^_^
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Siana estimated she had been out for no more than a few minutes as she woke up to being thrown on a cold, stone floor. She groaned and strained herself to sit up, looking around to find she was in a cell of some sort.
"Be a good little human, why dont'cha."
Those voices were familiar. Siana turned to see the two orcs that had caught her closing the door of the cell and locking it. The panic hauled the girl to her feet and she stumbled in the direction of the barred door with wide eyes. Just as the orcs were leaving she reached it and started pulling on the iron bars like a caged animal. When it sunk into her mind that she couldn't possibly open them, she stopped, breathing harshly. Her legs gave out and she ended up on the cold ground again.
Her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the place and she could see that there were faint lights and sounds coming from left and right of her cell, but she couldn't make out anything. As far as she could see, her cell was in the middle of a long row of cells in the tunnel she remembered being dragged along.
The girl hugged her knees and tried to calm herself, repeating in her mind that there had to be a way out.
The talisman!
A streak of hope flickered through Siana as she checked to find that the trinket was still around her neck. Her trembling fingers latched onto the string and pulled, tearing it so she could see it better in the faint light.
Siana knew that even with the talisman, help wouldn't arrive in at least two days, but this was all she had going for her and her comrades. She listened closely, making sure no one was coming before turning the talisman in her hand and starting to chant.
She could just read the words of the spell and tried to say the first one, but her throat was so parched that all that came out was a strained little sound reminiscent of a croak. She swallowed a couple of times.
"Bar bash fallah," - the talisman started to glow - "Kal'Shala numen ibnu laelien--"
"What are you doing in there?!"
Siana literally jumped at the sound of the fel orc's voice and the talisman flew a few meters in front of her, landing next to the bars. Why hadn't she heard him coming?
The girl's eyes widened as she rushed to grab the trinket, but it was too late – a large hand made its way through the bars and took it before she could reach it.
The human stopped in front of the bars and shoved her arms through them in an attempt to return it, but was met with a hit from a whip. She immediately withdrew, hissing in pain.
"What's this?", the orc mumbled to himself as he examined the trinket in his hand. "No matter."
With that, he dropped it on the ground and raised his foot.
"No!!"
Her shout died down as the orc's boot came down on Sanaha's talisman, crushing it into pieces. The orc's foul laughter faded as he walked away.
"NO!!"
Siana didn't care who heard her now as she screamed and stumbled against the wall, her back sliding along it.
She couldn't believe it. Her last chance for escape – crushed. Reality reached her and she realized she had no hope now. She would stay in this place until the orcs tired of her and killed her or made her a sacrifice to one of their demonic deities.
Anyone in her place would curl up and cry, but something in Siana snapped then, much like the animalistic instincts that overcame her when she was trapped in the iron grip of an enemy, unable to move.
The girl latched onto the metal bars and tried to pass through them, in vain. Then she began kicking them, pulling at them. When they didn't budge a millimeter, she got on her knees and started scratching the ground, trying to dig hole under them. The whole time she wasn't fully comprehending her own action; the only thing she felt was the rapid thumping of her heart and the instinct that said "get away!" Every heartbeat seemed to be repeating "Get out! Way out!"
Out...out...out...
…
...There really is no way out...
A chill ran down her spine, so strong that it made her sit down. Siana suddenly felt so terribly alone that it made a whole somewhere inside. Her friends were taken Elune knew where, if they were even alive, while no one else knew that they were in trouble.
The girl huddled into one corner and hugged her knees again. She didn't move, just stared into the dimness in front of her.
Then, after what seemed only a few minutes to the girl but was actually a few hours, a shadow crossed the flickering lights in the tunnel. Siana was too cramped to be able to move and just watched as the large silhouette appeared in front of the cell. She tried to breathe as quietly as possible.
Burning green eyes. Dark reddish skin. Why was she not surprised?
The fel orc seemed to rummage for something. Then what he had been searching for shone in the darkness – a key. The orc unlocked her door and left something on the ground inside, then locked up again and disappeared. If her muscles hadn't been so cramped, the girl would have attacked him.
Siana waited a few minutes, then slowly, painfully uncurled herself from her spot in one corner and crawled to what the orc had left – a piece of half-roasted meat and a cup of water. Normally, she would have grimaced at the thought of consuming anything brought by an orc, but at the sight of the meat she was reminded that she hadn't eaten all day. That, and she was dehydrated. In the next minute the contents of the cup and meat had disappeared.
Siana wiped her mouth with the back of her mouth, feeling better. Even though it was stale and with rather questionable qualities, the water was cold and cleared her head considerably.
Alright. So I'm a prisoner. Let's see... can't break the bars, can't dig an escape tunnel, can't tell anyone where I am...
She felt a pang of pain at the thought of her friends and comrades, but continued trying to come up with a way to escape. When the orc had come, he'd unlocked the door. With a key. She had to get that key, which was basically her only way out. The orcs had said that she should not be killed under any circumstance, so that meant they had to bring her food and water to make sure she didn't starve or die from lack of water.
Siana smiled to herself – it was just a matter of time until someone came to bring her food, and that someone would certainly have a key.
All I have to do is somehow incapacitate him when he comes in, I don't even need the key, he'll have already opened the door.
However, disposing of a fel orc in a state as bad as hers with no weapons was another thing. She hummed and then began groping around on the ground in the darkness in search of any object she could use as a distraction. She planned to distract whoever they sent to bring her food so he turned around and then she would slug him the way Ilcoron had taught her.
She got excited. Soon, she would be getting out of here and would finally look for her teammates. She didn't give much thought to the fact that she didn't really know where she was and how to reach the exit, but she figured she could manage if she concealed herself well in the darkness which wasn't going to be hard. Her wounds weren't open, but were just bruises, which, although more painful, couldn't hinder her.
Her fingers finally touched something – just a pebble, but it would be enough to distract the guard. She clutched it and huddled back into her corner and waited. Time always seemed to pass unbearably slow when she didn't have anything to do. She was tired and her body sore, but she wouldn't dare fall asleep; she could miss the guard in case he came by soon.
As she waited, the girl listened to the distant sounds which reminded her of the roars and growls of huge beasts she had occasionally seen around Teldrassil.
Her eyes were drooping when she finally heard the distinct sound of steps coming closer and closer. She quickly squinted her eyes and pretended she was asleep.
In a minute came a fel orc, but Siana noticed he was different from the one who had come the first time. He was shorter and didn't carry a whip, but a flask and piece of bread. He glanced at her for a moment while he searched for his keys and growled something intelligible.
When he opened the door, the girl's muscles tensed and she swallowed. The orc stopped and looked at her, as if he knew she wasn't sleeping. She closed her eyes and prayed that he didn't come over to check, for she knew she could never mimic the breathing right when she was as tense as she was.
The guard stared for a few moments, then finally bent down to fill the cup a little ways inside the cell.
His death came quickly. He heard a noise from somewhere behind him and quickly turned to see. The only thing he saw was blackness as Siana's elbow drove into a point at the back of his neck. The red-skinned orc slumped to the ground unconscious, unaware of the girl's nimble fingers as she searched him for a weapon. She found the knife strapped to his belt and pulled it out, then quickly slit his throat.
His burning blood spurted and made a puddle on the ground. Some reached Siana, scorching her hand and she hissed, then dipped her hand in the cup with water. It soothed her a little and she rinsed the knife with it before tucking it away in her shirt. She made sure the guard was dead before taking his keys and his dark robe in order to conceal herself in the shadows better. She grimaced as she put it on.
Why does their blood burn?, she wondered as she stepped over the fel orc's body and out of the cell. She locked it, then put the hood of the cloak over her head and looked round.
The tunnel seemed endless, looking the same everywhere – braziers on the wall at one side and countless cells on the other. Hers seemed to be in the middle. Siana had no idea from which side she'd been brought here, so she just took the right side, hoping she had guessed right. She started walking slowly, with her back pressed to the wall. She looked in each cell as she passed them by, but they were all empty. In a few she saw humanoid skeletons, a sign that the place had been used as a prison for at least a decade or two.
The young warrior didn't like how the sounds seemed to increase in volume and became clearer. She was now certain the orcs were keeping at least a couple of dragons in the mine.
The tunnel's end then came into view and Siana quickened her pace, still being cautious and looking forward and over her shoulder nervously. When she came near the end, she heard multiple voices and froze in her tracks, mingling with the shadows as best as she could. The orcs were shouting and at first she couldn't make out anything, but then realized there were three of them and they were fighting over something.
"... that delay! Why should I follow him when he's hardly payin' me?! It's bad enough he's not coming for another week when he shoulda already been 'ere!"
"I'm watching your back, ain't I? If I weren't, the boss will've already thrown you to the hounds!"
"If you two don't stop this and report to Haldarr when he comes, I'll make sure you...."
The voices faded as the orcs walked away and Siana allowed herself to peek.
The tunnel she had just walked out of crossed with another, down which the orcs had apparently went after she heard them. Siana looked to both ends but couldn't see anyone, so she took the other tunnel and went in the direction from which the orcs had come.
So, not only is that Haldarr not here now, he also isn't coming in the next week. That leaves these fel orcs practically with no leader, so that's probably why we never saw them outside the mine. They must be hiding in here and not in Grim Ulang camp because their operation is on hold until that Haldarr comes back. But what about that fel energy? Well, whatever they're planning, I have to get out and summon help so they can be stopped from completing their goal.
The girl had no idea where exactly she was, or if she was walking in the right direction, but she had a strange feeling she knew where the exit had to be. She moved more confidently, but still looked back every few minutes.
Then suddenly, she reached a dead end. She frowned. She certainly hadn't seen it, why was it there? All that was in front of her was a solid wall with a huge crack in it. But as Siana stood and looked at it, contemplating what to do next, another set of orcish voices reached her ears.
"They've found Kajind dead and locked in that human's cell!"
"She's escaped?! How?! And how has she killed him?"
"I don't know, alright! But we better find that leech! She can't be far, but if we don't catch her..."
The orc didn't finish, but it was more than clear to Siana that they would do anything in their power to find her. And now, she had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. She turned slowly and saw them far behind her. She knew they couldn't see her in the darkness, but it was just a matter of time before they came closer and spotted her. She pressed her palms to the wall and tried not to panic.
Her eyes followed the crack in it from top to bottom. She noticed at the bottom it was just wide enough for her to squeeze in. Siana didn't know what could be on the other side but she had no other way out. Maybe if she hid in the crack the orcs wouldn't notice her. She bent and feverishly tried to pass through.
"Ngh..." she grunted when she got her head and shoulders in. Behind the crack was a whole other tunnel, looking the same as the other ones. Siana didn't care, as long as she could get away from the orcs. Just as she was getting her hips through, she heard them again and they sounded much, much closer.
"Hey, what's that over there?"
"It's the human! Get her!"
She heard them run and panicked. She slithered like a snake through the crack but just as she was about to get her ankles through, she felt a strong hand close around one of them.
The girl's eyes widened. She was caught! Her instinct kicked in and she started pulling and grunting like an animal, doing everything she could to break the orc's iron grip on her leg. But he wouldn't let up.
"Grab her leg or she'll get away!" she heard them shout then felt fingers searching, touching her other foot. The girl realized she had seconds to break free and quickly brought out the knife. She bent in two and pushed the knife through the hole, blindly cutting at the fingers gripping her. She heard growls and knew she had cut the orc, then felt his burning blood on her skin but he didn't let her go. At the same time she felt another hand at her other ankle. She felt her knife being pulled away and quickly retracted her hand so they wouldn't break it.
Just as she uncurled from her impossible position, she felt herself being pulled with enormous strength through the hole.
It was over, but her mind refused to register it. The two orcs felt as if they had pulled out a wild animal when they came face to face with Siana. She screamed, not caring that other orcs would come, and jumped at them, her hands punching, clawing, her knees seeking to ram their stomachs but the orcs guarded themselves well.
"I really wanna kill this one! She's getting on my nerves!" growled one of them as he caught a grip of her leg. But as mindless as she seemed, Siana hadn't forgotten technique. She span like a top in his hands and in a second he fell to the ground heavily, shouting curses.
"Vermin!" she hissed, but then felt immense pain in her back and knew the other orc had hit her. She toppled over and was too slow to get up. The next thing she knew, one orc had caught both her legs and the other – her arms and they were hosting her up. She wiggled like a snake, left without the use of her limbs.
"I don't know how to deal with her without killing her, so we're taking her. The sooner it's over with, the better" said one, the other nodded. The pulled the hood of her cloak over her eyes and took her out of the tunnel.
"YOU WRETCHES!!" Siana screamed as they carried her like a piece of meat. She now understood the night elves' hatred for the orcs. It was now boiling in her heart, scorching, just like the demonic blood she fell on her legs from the fingers of the orc holding them. Her clothes were ripped in many places and her skin was exposed to the burning blood she'd drawn out of her captors.
"Let me go!!" her screams upped in pitch, echoing through the halls she couldn't see she was being carried through.
"Shut up or I'll slit your throat!" growled one of them.
The other didn't bother to tell him he couldn't do that. He knew the other was just threatening the girl to make her shut up. Unfortunately for them, she knew it too.
"Like you'll dare!" she continued wriggling. "Let me go right now, you bastards!"
The one holding her legs finally lost patience and wrenched her from the grip of the other. He threw her onto the ground, the cloak still over her eyes. Before she could gather her wits, she felt his rough hands on her throat as he picked her up from the ground. She felt her back get slammed into a wall, then felt cold metal being pressed to her neck. She immediately stilled.
"Listen, you filthy nit! The only reason you're still alive is 'cause there'll be use of you! But if you want to die so much, I dare ya to keep struggling," he growled into her ear and his foul scent filled her nostrils.
When she didn't move and said nothing, the orc dropped her and she doubled over on the ground, choking. She didn't try to escape when they picked her up again.
It finally sunk into Siana's mind that there was no escaping them.
Is this it? They all lied to me! Tenin lied to me! Why did he promise he would always protect me when here I am, about to die in this hellhole!
She sensed they were climbing up, but couldn't bring herself to care. All she felt was the angry throbbing of her bruises as she tried to breathe, her lungs refusing to co-operate.
After some time, the orcs stopped.
"What the hell? Why're you two bringin' her 'ere?" a voice asked.
"She escaped her cell and killed one of ours," answered one of the orcs holding the girl.
Siana stiffened when she heard what could only be the swish of a whip and tried not to cry out when she was hit.
"Is that so?" she heard him mock. "I'd love to punish her as she deserves, but we're still not ready here. We can't commence. If she's too hard for you mongrels to deal with, then move her to the upper level. She'll be taken better care of there."
"Understood."
The girl felt more stairs being climbed and knew she was being carried to the "upper level".
Soon enough it was clear what it was. The hood was lifted from her eyes and Siana was put in a cell. However, it was different. The cells were more like cages dug into the floor and guards walked over them. She could see more cells up around the enormous cavern. For a moment she thought she saw someone inside before she fell asleep from exhaustion.
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A/N: I've been EXTREMELY busy lately, so I'm sorry if some of you have been annoyed/angered/reduced-to-chocolate-when-they-are-supposed-to-be-on-a-diet by my slow updating. But anyway, things should be finally quieting down for me in about a week, so hopefully this won't be happening any time soon.
Stay cool, don't get caught in the swine flu and R&R! ^_^