Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Blizzard (though it would be nice ^_^;), and I am no making any profit from writing this. I'm writing this because 1) Warcraft III owns me, and 2) for fun, of course. ^_^
Chapter 1
Grom Hellscream roared as he slashed down at the Moonhunter's Tree of Life. The Tree gave out a low moan before falling down towards the ground. He smiled and looked over the elves' camp—or what was left of it. His troops had ravaged the two other camps and pillaged their Trees of Life in order to gather the wood needed to set up a camp.
At least gathering the wood wasn't all manual labor, Grom thought to himself. Peons crowded the Tree of Life, breaking apart the lifeless tree and bringing them back to a nearby War Mill.
"Chieftain!" a grunt ran up to Grom from behind. "We have amassed enough lumber to set up a camp."
Grom nodded. "Very well then, we sh—"
The grunt bellowed, caught off guard as a large gray wolf as it lunged at him, knocking the axe out of his hands. The wolf growled and bit down on the grunts neck, eyes filled with anger.
"Damn wolf!" Grom yelled, swinging his axe down at the wolf. The wolf jumped out of the way, but it was a second too late. A deep slash ran down from its muscular shoulder down to its paws. The wolf growled furiously and stood its ground as it glared at the advancing Grom.
An arrow whizzed by, skimming Grom's arm. He looked up and saw a young girl emerging from the trees. She looked roughly 16 years old, with long black hair adorned in raven's feathers. Her bangs covered her forehead, almost touching her eyebrows. She glared daggers at Grom with her intense chestnut eyes, which stood out against her pale complexion. Her body was covered with the pelt of a young Furbolg; her legs with a deerskin pelt in the form of a skirt that barely touched her knees. Her feet were covered with crude boots, made up of several hardy pelts. She held her bow readily, bowstring pulled back and ready to shoot again.
"You beast!" the girl hissed. "You and your kind are not welcome to these lands! Leave when you have the chance!."
"A human!" Grom jeered. "And a girl at that!"
"Do not associate me with the humans, greenskin," the girl retorted. "They abandoned me long ago…now leave! You will assuredly find death in these forests!"
The injured wolf ran to the girl's side. She glared at Grom for another second, then fled off into the cover of the forest.
* * *
The girl, Silvitas Firestorm, and the wolf ran deeper into the woods. Years of living in the woods had strengthened the girl, both physically and mentally. She could run quickly and do it for miles on end. Her arms were strong, and her hands were callused and tough.
"I…cannot run any farther, Silvitas," the wolf croaked.
Silvitas stopped and looked around. "The greenskins don't seem to be following us. We'll set camp here, then, Torvin."
Torvin feel to the ground, panting. The wound still bled, though it wasn't as much as earlier. The pain didn't bother him much; his body bore many battle scars, and this wasn't as serious as other grievous wounds that he had received in the past.
"Your wound…" Silvitas stepped towards the wolf. "We need to cover it up."
Torvin laughed heartily. "Don't worry about me, sister. This isn't the worst one, you know. I can defend myself. You just go and get help."
Silvitas frowned. "Very well then. I'll go get Aeslanda, brother. Please be careful."
Torvin nodded and Silvitas turned around. She hesitated for a moment; Torvin was a wolf that she considered her big brother. Aeslanda Firestorm, the wolf who had taken care of her all her life, told her that when Orgrim Doomhammer had invaded Lordaeron, many people fled for Kalimdor. When they landed, the wolves of her clan, the Wolves of the Flame, followed the humans, curious as to who they were. They listened to the humans' conversations, gathering information about the world that was unknown to them. The humans had stumbled upon a band of dragons, who slaughtered many of them; the wolves fought them off, but they were a mite late. The only survivor was small baby child—Silvitas, as the wolves named her. Silvitas was raised by Aeslanda; Torvin her playmate, and even protector at times.
Silvitas shook off her thoughts. It would be a better idea to bring the wolves over to Torvin, because Torvin would not be able to make the trip back to the village. She took off into the woods, running as fast as she could.
* * *
"Mother Aeslanda! Mother Aeslanda!"
Aeslanda turned and looked at Silvitas. Aeslanda was an old wolf with a shaggy grayish white coat. She was still a strong wolf, but her strongest time was when she was a middle-aged wolf, who fought with ferocity against the hostile beasts that roamed their lands. Aeslanda, however, changed considerably over the years. The fighting spirit in her diminished after many years, and she began to only fight whenever necessary.
"What is it, Silvitas?" Aeslanda asked. "Is something wrong?"
Silvitas nodded, breathing heavily. "A greenskinned demon—an orc, I think--attacked Torvin, Mother Aeslanda. He needs help!"
"An orc?" Aeslanda said, troubled.
Silvitas jumped onto Aeslanda's back. "Please…hurry!" Aeslanda hurried off into the woods, troubled by the thought of orcs invading their sacred lands.
* * *
"Will he be okay, Mother?" Silvitas watches Aeslanda chant the final incantation to seal Torvin's wound.
Aeslanda nodded. "He will be okay. For now, he only needs rest. Now…tell me about this greenskinned demon that you believe is an orc. One of our sentries stumbled upon two demons speaking of orcs destroying the forest."
"That's them," Silvitas said. "Torvin and I watched their camp for a while; they were cutting down many trees and killing the night elves."
"Killing night elves? It takes quite a formidable foe to kill night elves…"
"Yes. Torvin could not bear the sight of it and he killed one of the orcs. But there was another one there, and he was the one who attacked Torvin."
"I…see."
"But…for all my life, I have never seen any outsiders. What are those two demons that your sentry speaks of?"
Aeslanda sighed. "My mother and those before her were told stories of terrible legions of demons who ravaged the lands many years ago, Silvitas…legions of demons who had an eternal lust for magic, who would devastate world after world…these demons, the Burning Legion, have no shown their faces here on Kalimdor for ages. But I remember my mother telling me that they would surely come because of the people across the sea—the humans—recklessly practice magic, luring the Burning Legion to our world."
"Why have they not fought in Kalimdor?" Silvitas, awed, asked.
"Oh, they have fought here before," Aeslanda said. "But that was millennias ago, when the night elves first made Kalimdor their home. They, too, recklessly practiced magic, bringing the Burning Legion to our world for the first time. The first time they fought the land of Kalimdor was left deeply scarred…the eastern part of Kalimdor fell under the sea as a result of the great war. They successfully fought off the Burning Legion with the help of the ancient dragons. After the war, they swore never to use magic again."
"But the humans did…" Silvitas said.
"Yes. As well as a band of elves who refused to give up their magic."
"Oh…"
"Silvitas…" The old wolf gaze was set upon Silvitas's eyes. "A great war will be fought soon. Blood will be spilled, both of the Legions and of many others. Again this land will be scarred; again many lives will be lost. This time, the war will stretch over lands all over our world. The Wolf Mother Spir-Alan has told me so. I have seen it with my own eyes in my dreams..."
"Then I will fight!" Silvitas said, with grim enthusiasm. "I will fight against those wretched demons, Mother Aeslanda!"
Aeslanda lip curled into a smile. "And I will too."
"You will too? You can't fight, you're—"
Aeslanda chuckled. "I am old, I know. But that does not mean that I don't have the strength and the spirit to fight. It's in me, somewhere, waiting for its chance."
Silvitas looked down. "The invasion will come soon, won't it?"
"I am sure that it will, Silvitas. Be brave, young one. Be brave."
"I-I will be, Mother Aeslanda."
The crow of a rooster rang across the hazy sky. The sun burned away what was left of the fog, and birds stirred from their sleep, singing their songs across the Ashenvale Forest.
Silvitas sat down next to Aeslanda and quietly watched the serene dawn. She wouldn't be afraid in this fight—she would fight until her death if it were to save the forest. She leaned on Aeslanda's shoulder, closing her eyes. "I will fight, Mother Aeslanda…I will fight."
A/N: Yay, I finally got to writing this. This was just an idea that was lurking around my head for some time, but I wanted to get through the game (or at least the part I needed to get through) twice so I would know the storyline of Warcraft III better. Please excuse any mistakes concerning the storyline in here, because I only have Warcraft III to play, and I'm really only living off what's written on Legends of Azeroth & WarcraftIII.net (these guys are my GODS), so many thanks to them. ^_^; Please review if you liked the story; that's really what many authors go off of—positive comments about their story.
BTW, for those of you who have seen Princess Mononoke, doesn't Silvitas bear a lot of resemblance to San? ^_^; Well, I based a lot of things after her, such as the whole wolf thing.