Lash's pants were coated with a layer of dirt and sweat. Even as they'd flown over Mulgore, he and the orcess had been able to see the tiny black dots of the Alliance raid sweeping over the plains below. It had been little comfort that their path had taken them around Bloodhoof Village rather than through it. Lash considered that they were probably hoping to go unnoticed until they were up the elevators.

It had seemed odd that they would go after Thunderbluff at all, in Lash's mind. Aside from the fact that it was well established that the tauren were easily the most peaceful race of the Horde, it seemed to be one of the best fortified cities that Lash could think of. Granted, he didn't know too much about the Alliance cities—it seemed like Darnasus would be equally painful to raid. All in all, it just seemed like it would be counterproductive. They would surely be cut down as they tried to enter the city.

He had truly been puzzled until, when they were mere hours away from Thunderbluff, he'd looked back to see that the Alliance raid had turned around. The briefest glimmer of hope that they had realized their folly faded when he saw that rather than retreating, they were headed back toward Bloodhoof Village. They'd wound around so that when they did hit the village, no one would be able to run to Thunderbluff to warn them.

While Lash had been—albeit briefly—relieved, Kiaga had not. However, any knowledge she might have had on the matter was lost to the wind, and Lash wondered absentmindedly if he'd be able to convince Mitchell to make her a communication stone. Would she even want one?

It seemed a bit silly to want to give someone he barely knew a stone, but then…there was just something about her.

Her windrider landed about a minute before his and instantly she was running to the guard. When the whoosh of wind and flap of wings subsided, Lash heard the guard reassuring her as he unbound Duskeh from the back of his mount.

"We appreciate you coming to warn us, but we can see almost all of Mulgore from up here. We saw them coming and already sent reinforcements to Bloodhoof."

"What about the elevators?" Kiaga insisted. "Are they still guarded?"

"No," the brave's voice was thick with sarcasm. "We sent all the guards away and didn't bother to keep enough people to guard our only weakness." He gave them both a gentle smile. "Again, we appreciate your warning, but we have things under control."

"Well," Kiaga started, though she saw that the tauren didn't look like he wanted to continue the conversation and faltered.

"Were you hit by the undead earlier?" Lash inserted himself into the conversation.

"They didn't hit us nearly as hard as some of the other settlements, but yes."

Lash nodded. "Would you mind if we helped out around here?" When Kiaga looked dismayed, he shrugged. "We likely wouldn't get to Bloodhoof in time to fight, so we might as well help here." He tried to convey a meaningful look to her, but she merely looked puzzled. However, she did nod and follow his lead, down into the city. As they went, she matched his stride.

"Did that seem like the right amount of Alliance to you? When they attacked the village?"

Lash shrugged. "Perhaps they lost their numbers in the Barrens?"

"Nice as that would be, these dogs aren't that weak." She shook her head. "There is a whole chunk of them missing. I'm sure of it."

Pondering this, Lash frowned. "Well, still. We'd see them coming from up here, wouldn't we?"

"Alchemists have potions that can fix that, don't they?"

"Maybe…" Lash perked up and lightly thwacked her arm. She seemed slightly jarred by the familiarity, but followed none the less when he slipped behind one of the few wooden buildings, so that he'd be out of sight of any prying eyes. He pulled out his guild stone and sent off a message. It was the first one that had gone to everyone in the guild since the spy scare and it was as though everyone had simply been waiting for someone else to take that first leap of faith.

At first, the air was still, with just his own message—the alchemy question—hovering in the air. Kiaga eyed it and frowned. "Are you asking the spirits?"

"Not quite."

Even as he spoke, the air bloomed to life with green text.

Cinder – Nature's grace! Is that Lash? Lashy Lash! I miss you! I'm back!

Mitchell – No one cares. Shut up.

Whisper – Invisibility potion.

Genji – Invisibility potion.

Haa'aji – Be a rogue.

Roberts – What he said.

Wrachette – You're morons. And watcha need to be invisible for?

Howl - …So is it delivered?

The last message was personal and glimmered a soft purple. He ignored it, thankful that an argument between Sprocket, Haa'aji, and Cloudless sent the message scrolling up quickly. He hoped Kiaga hadn't seen it.

Lash – Don't most invisibility potions wear off fairly quickly, though? Are there any that can last for days?

Haa'aji – Be a rogue.

Sethyl – It is amazing how much more coherent you are when you write.

Haa'aji – Racist.

Liila – There are ways to augment the potion to elongate the effect, but if you want to disappear for days, it would be better to get a spell from a mage.

Haa'aji – I am always coherent. It's not my fault your flimsy elf ears can't translate properly.

Gore – Haa'aji.

Gregor – Haa'aji, no.

Sham – I will have Mitchell turn off your stone.

Haa'aji – Tyranny!

As the conversation again broke down into squabbling, a purple wall of text appeared in front of him. At first he was afraid it was Howl again, but instead, it was Genji. The arcane mage had actually scrawled out an entire spell for becoming invisible, along with directions on where to alter it to adjust the time and number of people affected. Lash felt breath on his shoulder and glanced to his side to see Kiaga was leaning up on her toes, peering over his shoulder to get a better view.

"This is amazing."

Lash grinned a little. "I might be able to get you one."

"Everyone in the Horde should have one," she murmured, the light from the words reflecting hungrily in her eyes.

Lash shifted a little. "Yes, well. Back to the Alliance." She blinked from her reverie and stepped back to give him space. "How many do you think are missing?"

"First, I…I know a good amount of common," she began, pacing in front of him slowly. "There were over fifty Alliance in Rachet, and they were talking about meeting at least twice as many coming from Theramore." She pointed in the general direction of the village. "I don't think there were even eighty of them there. That means that half are unaccounted for."

"Assuming they did come the same way and aren't headed for Orgrimmar or another settlement, that means half of the raid is coming here."

Kiaga nodded. "If they're staying far enough away to avoid being detected, then they probably won't reach us until tonight at earliest, assuming they've kept a brisk pace."

"Well, with the tauren expecting us to help with repairs, why don't we find a way to help near the elevators? Then we can call the alarm quickly if there really is an attack."

Lash felt a little like Gore as he ran through his plan. Kiaga eyed him a moment and then shrugged. "Fine. I will guard the back entrance, if you'll take the front."

Offering her his hand, the shook once, firmly.

Over the next few days, Lash threw himself into fixing vendors' stalls and houses that had been damaged by the Scourge's attack. The tauren had already taken care of most of it, and so at the end of the third day, there was nothing left to do.

Lash considered going to see how Kiaga was doing—he'd felt obligated to remain at his post, though he had convinced Whisper to go check on her a few times—but he didn't want her to be disappointed or think that he didn't take her concerns seriously. He couldn't place why her opinions were so important to him, but somehow, they were. He'd just taken to patrolling the area with Duskeh when he saw a few of the braves near the elevator. They were helping the injured coming back from Bloodhoof Village.

Lash wandered over and stood near the end of the platform. When one of the tauren looked at him inquisitively, he motioned to them. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"If you could run ahead to the Spirit Rise and tell them to have thirty beds set up, that would be great."

"Thirty even?"

"That should be an extra or two, in case we miscounted or they decide it's safe to move someone else and send them up in the next day."

Lash tensed. "Was the fighting that bad?"

The brave gave him a grim nod. "We were able to protect the weak, but there were too many casualties. Thirteen too many."

"They died well," Lash murmured, thumping his chest in a salute.

However, as he hurried off, the wind carried two voices to him that made him feel sick.

"There is no dying well."

"Hush, he was being respectful. You know how orcs are."

~"~

Cloudless closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, though he instantly regretted it. The rot of this place was in the air, and it coated his lungs, making him stumble forward and cough. As he tried to rid himself of that horrid taint, Genji threw a firebolt into the air, scowling.

It just barely missed a flaming hoof as a spectral horse ran through the air in circles over them. Liila and Wrachette stood beside Cloudless, though only Wrachette was still watching the taunting display overhead. Angrily, she crossed her arms and shouted, "Haa'aji, come down here, ya jerk!"

"Neva!" The rogue cackled gleefully as he finally turned the headless horseman's mount the other way, only to settle into a circle going the other direction. "Ah neva gonna give up mah Cloppeteh!"

Genji ran his hand down his face, stopping his fingers just below his eyes so that he could stare up at Haa'aji, fickle. "Ya gotta be fuckin' kiddin' meh, mon. Ah taught we been hea ta get Liila a new mount."

With a weathered sigh, Liila's shoulders slumped. "We were."

~"~

Roberts tore the shirt he'd liberated from the Gilnean clothing line and tried to use it to tie his leg back on at the knee. However, without a way to reattach the ligaments, he didn't see how he was going to be able to walk, much less move around in stealth. The ball of cloth around his knee was enough to keep the actual appendage in place, but there would be no bending it.

A howl sounded in the distance. Several others returned the noise.

While he didn't speak dog, he had a feeling that they were looking for him. Unless some new fool had found his way beyond the gate.

However, none of the creatures sounded too close, and he could say with certainty that the former inhabitants of the house he was hiding in wouldn't be running to alert anyone—guards or worgen.

The information he'd gathered would have to be enough for now. The worgen curse was decimating Gilneas. He doubted it would be long before the citizens were either all cursed, or all dead.

When he'd first come through, seeking to see if the plague had ever breached the giant walls closing off the area, he'd seen no reason to fear the worgen. They were little more than animals, like the creatures Arugal had ruled over. His priority hadn't been those mangy creatures.

Now, it was.

The Banshee Queen had wanted to know if they might be capable of organizing, of becoming more than just the occasional countryside terror.

Roberts had hoped that this mission would be a quick one. That he would lead the creatures around in a few circles, prove that they were nothing more than animals, and then head back to help with guild preparations for once.

Unfortunately, they'd been the ones to lead him around. They'd been able to plan a proper ambush, and now they were hunting him for sport, he suspected. If they'd been serious, he'd likely be dead by now.

Rubbing his hands against his face—a habit from living, as the action did nothing to get blood flowing in his dead flesh—he sighed and considered whether he'd be able to get out of there without assistance. He considered it, considered those damnable creatures and their acute sense of smell, and tested his leg. It wobbled unsteadily beneath him, and he let himself fall back into the chair he was resting in.

With a ragged, sigh, he hoped that the worgen couldn't sense magic, and pulled out his guild stone.

~"~

Lash had just finished helping roll out bed mats and was heading back toward the front elevator when Duskeh abruptly tensed and hunched low to the ground. Lash's bow was in his hands in a breath, an arrow notched. The cat's ears were pricked, and Lash strained his own to hear as well. Duskeh abruptly spun around and lashed out, its claws tearing into flesh.

A gnome let out a wail as he was dragged out of stealth. Sending an arrow into the little creature, Lash pivoted and dashed along the outer pathway on the central rise. He was nearly to the main merchants' commons, could see the flicker of the evening flames, when something caught him on the side of the head. Narrowly catching himself on the sloping earth before he could be knocked off the great plateau, he took in a deep breath and bellowed as loudly as he could. "The Alliance are here!"