I do not own World of Warcraft or anything belonging to Blizzard Entertainment.

Emala hummed quietly to herself as she strode through the dusty desert streets of Orgrimmar. Her red raptor Pierceclaw strode quietly at her side, his spiked tail swinging from side to side behind him. To anyone who didn't know better, it would almost look as though Emala was simply enjoying a stroll, if not for the small skeleton she carried cupped in her hands, as though it was alive and injured instead of long deceased.

She was a little taller than average and had long pitch black hair streaming out from under her helm, made to resemble the top of a dragon skull, complete with horns. Her fur was also black but a tone lighter. Her eyes were green and quick, a testament to her tactical ability.

Emala's intentions with the skeleton she held were rather unusual. For one, she had tenderly snapped the skull of the small animal skeleton of the spine and strung it through a leather string, hanging it around her neck. She then crumbled the rest of the brittle bones to fine dust. Then the tauren hunter continued on as if nothing had happened.

Emala stopped at the towering gates of the city, her tooth pierced ears listening for the heralding sounds of wings. She was greeted with the steady and powerful flaps of drake wings as a shadow cast itself over her.

Almost like a gently spiraling leaf, a netherwing drake landed before her, his teal blue skin bathed in the tinted yellow light of dawn. He folded his transparent wings against his sides, his black claws and light blue paws scuffing briefly at the dirt. His horns and eyes glowed with the same light neon blue as the stripes that crossed over his back just behind his wing joints. He grinned wolfishly and swung his long tail, a sharklike fin tipping it. "Well, I got a good breakfast," he said while his jaws gaped in an expansive yawn. He shook his sharklike head afterward as if shaking of water. "Are you ready?"

Emala instantly picked up on his teasing tone. Her tenuous temper flared in response, although not very badly, considering the drake and her had been faithful companions on their travels for the last ten years. "Oh, you're asking if I'm ready? You are the one whose usually never ready." Pierceclaw ambled about her general area, snapping at the snakes and lizards that scuttled across the parched earth of Durotar. He faded in and out of sight, toying with his ability to turn invisible. The red raptor sniffed at the wind and glanced back toward the city as a pale brown hawk with black tipped wings came soaring from it, circling slowly down in their direction. The bird smoothly morphed into the form of Emala's sister, Imyra. She stood from her crouch, calmly dusting of her leather armor. She had the same fur and hair as her sister, with the exception of her copper colored eyes and the two white stripes across the bridge of her nose. She was a inch or so shorter than her sibling too.

The feral druid regarded the scene before her with a slightly amused smile. "Bantering already? Usually you wait for Zalleen to start doing that."

Emala snorted with hardly disguised laughter. "You know that Zalleen's the whole reason we need to leave here at the crack of dawn. You found him, remember? Why he decided to go gallivanting alone in Ashenvale is beyond me, but what really makes me question his intellect is that he got close to Astranaar and got captured."

Imyra cocked an eyebrow. "You aren't worried about him?"

"He might have landed himself in there by accident, but Zalleen's pretty good at twisting things to his advantage," Emala replied with a shrug. It was true that the troll mage did have a unnatural knack for doing so, no matter how impossible it seemed. A particularly disturbing example had involved a wolf pen, a quarter pound of raw meat meant to be the group's dinner that night (never ended up happening) and a explosion from the potions Zalleen was carrying at the time. In short, it had been a total disaster, one that the owner of the wolf pen had been ready to charge Zalleen for down to his last coin. Somehow he had convinced the angered orc to accept a payment in the form of some of the last of his alchemy creations that had gone undamaged, then sauntered off with all his money still intact. He'd never really let on exactly what he had done, but it wasn't the weirdest situation he had wriggled out of.

Still, Emala wasn't the leader of their little band for nothing. She wasn't willing to bet on Zalleen's luck, especially since the Alliance had him and the last thing she expected them to do was keep him alive for more than a day or two. Her tactical mind had been analyzing the situation since Zalleen had vanished, going over every detail-how many enemies there would be, the most inconspicuous way they could free Zalleen, the methods her and her friends could use. As much as he could annoy her to hell and back, he was a dexterous frost mage and a valuable asset. On top of that, she and him were friends, despite their incessant banter.

Emala was certain Astranaar was where he was being held, namely because it was the largest and most fortified Alliance post in Ashenvale, and she highly doubted they would take him anywhere else, at least for now.

There was only one more question Emala felt the need to ask. "Where's Atlanta?"

Imyra paused for a moment. "She went ahead with Bonesunder."

"Did she and that undead griffin go to free Zalleen alone?" Emala growled the words out with discontent.

"Atlanta told me she just went to get an idea of what Atranaar looked like ahead of time."

That had better be what she's done," Emala said snappily. She had already thought Atlanta was dead before, back in Northrend, only to meet the former warrior as a Death Knight of the Ebon Blade later on. Atlanta never really talked anymore and tended to remain calm and detached, but she was still a extremely talented fighter and would offer silent reassurance when needed. Emala had no desire to lose her childhood friend again, this time forever.

After a few more minutes of thought, it was clear to Emala that she would need to actually go to Astranaar to form the rest of her plan, both to meet up with Atlanta and for tactical reasons. There was only so much you could glean from envisioning.

…

Zalleen sat cross legged in the cage he had been locked in, tracing patterns in the grime on the bottom and casting glances around him from under his matted red hair. He watched as the night elves hustled past, some briefly glaring at him before continuing on their way.

It somewhat annoyed him, really. He felt that he deserved to have actual guards around the cage. Zalleen didn't like not being seen as a threat, and that was exactly what was eating at him like a persevering parasite right now.

On top of all that, it was raining, and the cage wasn't inside. Zalleen was drenched and his robes were sodden. He was very sure that the cage was charmed against any form of magic, since he had already tried using spells of all types to get himself out. He didn't quite mind that the cage was outside. The clear air helped him think, although he could have gone without numb feet.

Currently what was grating on Zalleen's nerves was the sentry they had finally sent to keep an eye on him. Said sentry was a bored looking archer, leaning against the wall of a building and effectively sheltered from the rain. He was looking at Zalleen, but as if he had been told to watch a rock all day, and the frost mage didn't like that. He was no rock.

So, from a combination of boredom and missing out on his usual morning banter with Emala, Zalleen decided to stir things up with a word war. Or at least torment his closest captor by not leaving them alone.

"Ya know, mon," he began, leaning back against the cage bars with his hands behind his head. He subconsciously wrung rainwater out of his thick ponytail. "I have a friend who loves bows. She'd probably like to see that one. The craftsmanship looks good even to my limited knowledge on bows, ya see."

He summoned some bread when he started to feel some gnawing hunger. He had discovered in the beginning of his hour long captivity that the cage didn't stop him from summoning food. He broke off a bit of the bread and offered it to the night elven sentry. "Would ya like a snack?"

The elf's face remained expressionless. It occurred to the troll mage that he suspected poison. "No," he responded in a dry monotone.

Zalleen shrugged uncaringly. He popped all of the bread into his mouth and ate it himself. By now he was really starting to regret that he had to aid in a attempt to take Atranaar from the elves. He had originally been in Ashenvale (close to home territory, of course) to look for ingredients for his alchemy potions. Instead he had been wrangled into joining a hapless attack squad under the command of, 'you are denizen of the Horde, and must obey a officer of Hellscream.' And hence he was here.

He was hoping Emala's wrath would be lessened upon his rescue when he told her that. The tauren hunter hated the new Warchief vigorously, and always scoffed his use of the Horde's resources and time, saying that fighting the Alliance instead of focusing on the threat of Deathwing and his minions was stupid. She'd made it clear she still saw Thrall as the true Warchief. Skydive, Imyra and Zalleen himself didn't necessarily hate Garrosh, but they certainly had no good opinion of him.

Back to his current entertainment.

"Ya know, mon, I have nothing to do, an ya have nothing to do, so ya might as well talk to me. I mean, ya are clearly bored out of your mind, I can tell, mon. Ah yes, boredom. That's something I almost never witness, not with my dysfunctional group of friends. It's kind of treasured. On the other hand-"

Zalleen paused, bracing his elbow on his knee and resting his chin on his clenched fist. The troll mage smirked when he saw that the night elf sentry was subtly grinding his teeth. Soon he would actually have the word war he desired.

"Aw, come on, you must have something to say. Everyone has something to say."

Finally the night elf lost his patience. "Please just be quiet," he said wearily. "It's bad enough I need to guard you. Please just stop trying to talk to me. Better yet, stop talking."

Zallen smiled impishly. "I only listen to one person, mon. And it's a certain tauren hunter, not you."

"You'll do what I damn say to."

"Ah, how bout I answer with 'hell no.' "

The night elf glared at him. The arguing began in full.

…

Imyra crouched in the brush in the form of a black and horned cat. She watched Astranaar with uncanny interest, refusing to be distracted by anything else around her. She was still as rock, immobile but alert.

Emala's plan was that she would sneak in, find Zalleen, free him, then have Zalleen use the blink spell to get out. Imyra's method of departure had been left up to her.

It was hastily devised, but that was mainly because the group couldn't afford to waste any time. Not of them believed Zalleen would remain safe if he was in Astranaar for much longer.

Despite that, it was a plan that could well work, although it was very possible they would have to improvise. Imyra was the first phase.

She saw her chance-a sizable gap in the patrolling night elves, only five feet wide but enough. She crept silently across the shallow water, causing only minor disturbance, then slipped into the layers of plants that lined the buildings. She continued this pattern until Imyra heard something she knew very well, Zalleen's provocative tone when he was bored.

She peered around the corner of the building. What Imyra beheld was a sight she had never though she would see.

Zalleen was doing what he did best, drawing forth the temper of others to amuse himself. The only guard, a grumpy looking night elf archer, was gripping his bow like he wanted to crack Zalleen over the head with it.

Imyra allowed a faint smile on her feline lips. She was betting that the guard was wishing they'd never captured Zalleen.

Either way, it was time to execute the plan.

Imyra, still cloaked in camouflage, padded slowly up behind the archer. Then she raised a heavy black paw and clubbed the elf heavily over the head, instantly rendering him unconscious.

As the sentry's unconscious body fell, Zalleen grinned knowingly, standing and crossing his arms. "Well I take ya are my rescue, Imyra?"

The tauren druid rolled her eyes. She shifted back into her normal form and inserted a thin metal rod into the lock. "We can talk later. Emala said to use blink to get yourself out of here."

After another moment of tinkering, the lock broke and the door unhinged. Imyra turned into a bird and soared upward. Zalleen spoke a spell and vanished in a small flare of white light. He reappeared on the roof of a building, then used the spell again before he was spotted by a gryphon rider who was soaring his way. He popped into sight again by the ring of water that surrounded Astranaar and was about to repeat his previous actions when a patrol of Sentinels rounded a corner.

They instantly shot a rain of arrows at the frost mage. Zalleen muttered a creative curse, then held out his hands and released a burst of frost bolts. Many froze arrows and caused them to fall short from the extra weight of the ice, but a few made it through. Zalleen ducked, avoiding two projectiles that would have pegged him in both the eye and forehead. "HEY, MON! I need my eyes!"

Zalleen summoned his water elemental. It launched water bolts at the sentinels, somewhat scattering their ranks. He followed up the elemental's attack by freezing the ground beneath the enemy's feet into a smooth sheet of ice, then produced a barrage of arcane missiles. The group of night elves retreated, but Zalleen could hear the feet of reinforcements pounding in his direction.

"Damn." he grumbled. "No way I can fight all of them." Where was Imyra when he needed her? Sure, he had needed her earlier, but well...now he needed Imyra again, as much at loathe he was to admit it.

Help did arrive for him, although it wasn't just Imyra this time. A skeletal gryphon, dagger claws spread wide, plunged from above, and Atlanta jumped off, swinging her frost imbued runeblade in a wide arch, cutting down several sentinels while the undead gryphon she had named Bonesunder savaged several others.

Atlanta turned her emotionless gaze on Zalleen. Her glowing blue eyes proposed a silent question.

"Yeah, mon. I'll be sure to explain. But for the record, this wasn't my fault," he said, defensively raising his hands. The Death Knight held his gaze for a few more moments, then grabbed the back of Zalleen's robes and mounted the gryphon as he scratched at the ground with his curved black claws. She hauled the troll mage onto the beast's back behind her and let out a low whistle. Bonesunder lurched into flight, darting off through the trees while Astranaar remained in disarray behind them.

…

Emala had plenty of choice words waiting when they regrouped at the Crossroads in the Barrens.

"What the fuck did you think you were doing, getting yourself stuck in that damned Alliance outpost? Hell, they could have killed you outright!"

Zalleen rolled his eyes. "Not my fault, mon! I just wanted herbs. Stupid commander told me to attack Atranaar with a bunch of lame-o grunts. Woulda refused, but he would've told Garrosh." He scratched the top of his head through his matted red hair. "I don't know what woulda happened, but I don't think it would be good for my health."

Emala was still glowering, but she some of her temper had dissipated. "You really should have just avoided Ashenvale in the first place." She sighed. "Now we really need to hurry if we want to make it to Uldum."

"Why are we going there again?" Zalleen asked absentmindedly, idly inspecting his staff. Lastraza smacked him lightly on the back of the head with her tail club. "Were you ever taught to pay attention?" she asked this the way a parent would, which was what led to her often being called the 'mom,' of the group, despite the fact that she was a red drake.

Zalleen sighed in exasperation. "I can't be expected to remember everything dat goes down."

This time it was Emala's turn to hit him, although she elbowed him roughly instead of smacking him. "There's trouble in Uldum, that's why, and trouble means tasks that wandering fighters like us can do, and be paid for. Besides, Uldum is a all new place for us to explore."

"Everywhere's all twisted up after the Shattering," Imyra couldn't help but add. "Uldum isn't our only option."

"Yeah, but that's were the mysteries of the Titans are supposed to be coming to light," Skydive interjected, sticking his head over Emala's shoulder. "That sounds like it's very worth seeing."

"It's a bunch of dusty old ruins, mon."

"We could learn things, too," Lastraza chided Zalleen, a gleam in her yellow eyes while the troll crossed his arms and raised a eyebrow. "And to be brutally honest, you're the kind of person who really needs new knowledge."

"I hope that's not a suggestion that I'm an idiot, mon," Zalleen said, trying to look affronted. He still let a tiny grin weave onto his lips, then laughed lightly. "Okay, ya. I'll admit I can be a right idiot." He thrust his staff high into the air and shouted, "Secrets o the Titans, here we come mon!"

With that, he hopped onto Lastraza's back and sat there expectantly. "Know how to fly to Uldum, Lastraza?"

"I know the way," Emala said with a savage looking grin, placing her helm on her head. It resembled a dragon skull, complete with horns and teeth. "I actually bothered to find the route."

"Good job, Em," Skydive said jovially. He spread his transparent wings and with a few swift and sure flaps, the netherwing was soaring off into the light of the still rising sun. Lastraza followed with Zalleen on her back, while Bonesunder followed behind with Atlanta firm in his saddle. Imryra tailed them all in her bird form, and the group began their southward journey.

…

The realm of the wind elementals was silent and dark, save for some of the glowing orbs in the soaring marble pinnacles casting ghostly light across the many intricately decorated platforms. The only sound was the wind as it danced around the structures, shrieking and howling like a living beasts in the midst of torture.

A dark outline stalked into the light of a orb. The faint white glow partially revealed his pine green scales, but left the side of him that wasn't facing the light source dark and shadowed. Blue stripes that throbbed and flickered like living lightning glowed on his legs, sides, tail, neck and his wing membrane. Claws and spikes the color of dark brown tree bark adorned his paws and lined sparsely on his back, starting from the middle of his spine and running down to the tip of his tail. He had two loops of red ribbons lined with gold and patterned with gold circles loosely encircling his neck, held together on either side by two metal medallions. The top of his head was covered by a metal helm.

The drake paused and stood stock still, almost as if he was a statue. All that gave him away was the barely visible rise and fall of his flank and the flickering stripes that he bore.

A voice came form behind him. "Al'Akir would not like that you are leaving, Stormwing."

Stormwing didn't look back, but answered anyway, in a firm and level voice that showed he had made up his mind. "I have chosen to help guard this realm, Ernar. Al'Akir did not command me to do so. I am not a elemental." He paused. "And neither are you."

Ernar dipped his head in silent dissatisfaction as he was reminded once again that despite serving Al'Akir, the storm drakes had simply adapted to life in the Skywall. Ernar lacked the garnishments that Stormwing had, and was far younger. As a result, he was seeped in resentment, although he still hid it and but up the guise that he was Stormwing's friend. Ernar thoroughly worshiped Al'Akir, which was why it stung him so much when Stormwing remained him that the Elemental Lord was not their creator.

Stormwing paced to the edge of the marble platform and spread his wings in preparation for flight. "The mortal world intrigues me," he said with a kind of awed marvel. "The Titan's creations are abound below us in this place. I enjoy viewing it form the clouds." Deep inside, though, Stormwing wished he could get closer. But he didn't know how the mortals would react, and that effectively set a bulwark for him.

Ernar remained silent. When Stormwing looked back, the younger drake was no longer there.

He shrugged his thick shoulders and jumped. Extending his minor control of the wind, his smoothly dove downward in the direction of Uldum.

What Stormwing didn't know was that Ernar was not going to be his friend for much longer.

…

The journey south across Kalimdor went fairly swiftly. During the course of the six weeks of steady travel, Emala made a point of gathering hides form the beasts they killed for dinner, both for profit and to replace the old furs they had used to sleep for the past year. To Zalleen's delight, he was able to collect a varied array of alchemy ingredients.

Regardless, the group was still weary and tired by the time they made it to the entry point to Uldum, the massive Gate of Unending Cycles.

The sight was even more awe inspiring from the air as Lastraza and Skydive glided through the skies above them. Bonesunder cawed, and the undead gryphon's cry echoed through the vast space between the two smooth sandstone brick walls of the pass, while the group gazed down at the enormous humanoid statues, all of them holding some variation of staff, that had been carved into hallows in the walls.

Imyra landed briefly on Lastraza's back and morphed back to her normal form. "Wow," she breathed, a look of awe imprinted upon her features. Then she turned back into a bird and took flight again much to Lastraza's relief, soaring down between the sides of the pass and leisurely gliding through, occasionally drawing closer to the walls and the arching back toward the center again.

"Doesn't look to much like the Titan stuff in Northrend," Emala noted with a high level of interest. "Certainly impressive, though."

"I think there's some Titan influence," Lastraza added in, her gaze thoughtfully roving over the Gate of Unending Cycles. "But you're right, there's a lot of differences."

"Enough for me, mon," Zalleen said with a wild grin of elation. "I wanna know who made dat stuff."

"There's probably natives," Atlanta's coarse voice was a surprise. The integrity of the group glanced back at the Death Knight, who was staring down into the pass. "Natives like the dwarves," she continued quietly. Then she fell silent again.

"Yeah," Emala was now cupping her hand above her eyes, squinting through the sun's glare. She had removed her helm about two days ago when they had entered Tanaris from the heat, as all of them had. The sun's glare hadn't gotten any kinder when they had neared Uldum. If anything, it had gotten more intense. "The dwarves did come from creations of the Titans. That's a good point. When I was searching for a map, I heard people talking about a sentient race down here."

Atlanta showed no further signs of speaking, and the silence was maintained until the Gate of Unending Cycles was far behind them. For the time being everyone was content with simply watching the landscape pass underneath them. At first they mostly saw sand, like Tanaris. At one point they passed between two massive structures, both resembling exotic temples.

It was a few hours after that when the group beheld a enormously welcoming change from the desert landscape-the lush green of plants.

Pierceclaw, the only one of them who had been enjoying the heat and dozing peacefully behind Emala on Skydive's back, suddenly awoke. He growled excitedly and scrambled forward, climbing on Emala's back despite her protests and sniffing at the air.

Skydive's eyes lit up at the same instant. "I smell water!"

he put on a burst of speed, Lastraza right on his tail. At the mention of water, the companions all started to feel their excitement mounting and suddenly became very aware of their dry mouths.

They soon arrived amongst a twenty foot stretch of lush palm trees, grass, and large ferns, bordering a clear river on both sides. Skydive continued directly toward the water. Realizing what he was going to do, Emala grabbed Pierceclaw around the middle and jumped off the netherwing's back, landing in a firm crouch in the shrubbery.

Skydive landed in the river with a massive splash, showering Emala and Pierceclaw with drops of water just as Lastraza landed with Zalleen. The troll mage whooped loudly when he saw the in flight cannonball. Bonesunder landed and pecked at the ground, while Atlnata slid of his saddle, holding the gryphon's reins and showing no reaction to the display before her. Imyra was standing with her mouth open, staring at the river.

Skydive surfaced after a few minutes of submerging himself, sighing with ecstasy as his hide got relief from the scorching sun. Happily churning the water with his finlike tail, the azure netherwing drake began to gulp down water in a frenzy.

Atlanta led Bonesunder up to the river and bent to cup up some water. Even though she didn't need to drink, the action would still bring relief from the heat. Emala was ahead of her. She had already poured water on her head and face after drinking her fill, and was now refilling water pouches. Lastraza was calmly lapping up the liquid slowly and deliberately, making more of a effort to savor it than Skydive had. Zalleen had his face in the river itself. He came up for air, gasping and wearing a crazy grin. "Whoa, mon. I grew up surrounded by water but I've never missed it this much."

"You were surrounded by seawater," Imyra said with a raised eyebrow, wiping her mouth after quenching her thirst. "You wouldn't be able to drink that if you tried."

Zalleen shrugged. "I could still cool off whenever I wanted."

"Good point," Imyra admitted. She rested her hands in the water and sighed in sweet relief, her shoulders slumping. "Where do we go from here?"

Emala set aside the water flasks and looked at the sky, judging the time of day from the position of the blaring sun, which was dipping toward the horizon by now. "We can probably keep going for another few hours," she decided, standing and unfolding a map while Skydive trudged out of the river next to her. "If we follow the river, we'll reach a settlement called Ramkahen."

"Plus dis riverbank's a much betta place ta camp, mon," Zalleen said lazily. "Damn desert doesn't seem invitin in comparison."

"I have to agree there," Lastraza murmured, stretching like a cat.

"Alright, then," Emala said with finality. "Let's get going."

…

The group traveled for another few hours before night fell. They made camp by the river again, then fell asleep, wondering where the next day would lead them.

Ok, that's the first chapter of my first multichapter WoW fic. Please review and tell me what you think. Even if you are not a member of the site, my account is open to a review from you. I appreciate any writing tips but reject any cruel reviews.

R&R

~dharak