Made a bunch of edits, so reposting most of this story. Enjoy. :)
Varian
I woke up with the worst hangover of my life, though for the life of me, I couldn't remember drinking enough the previous evening to feel this sick. My alcohol tolerance was high enough these days that I very rarely woke up with a hangover. I certainly was not drunk enough to pass out on the floor. With great strength of will, I forced open my eyes, though what I saw made me completely forget about how terrible I felt.
I forced myself to a seated position, regardless of the sharp pain radiating from my back. A quick evaluation of my surroundings resulted in only large gray rocks and dusty gray soil as far as my eyes could see. There were two glowing red suns in the sky, though calling them suns seemed wrong. The suns were not supposed to be red and there should only be one of them. Not to mention, the sky was not supposed to be dark purple. It was eerily quiet.
Where the hell was I and what the hell happened?
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the last thing I could remember, though my throbbing head protested the action. The memory came slowly: there had been demons, hundreds of them, and an orc. Gul'dan. I had jumped down onto the machine of war which held our airship in place, driving my sword deep into its head. When I hit the ground, I was surrounded by demons.
A loud, yet still distant growl forced me to reopen my eyes and abandon my thoughts. A short distance away, a felguard and two felhunters were slowly heading in my direction.
I quickly, or as quickly as my aching body would allow, concealed myself behind a series of large boulders, praying the demons hadn't spotted me. As far as I could tell, I was unarmed. Wherever I was, my sword Shalamayne had not been brought here with me. I was very strong and knew a great deal of hand to hand techniques, but I doubted the ability to crush a man's skull with my bare hands would do much when up against three demons. Grappling with demons was generally a bad idea.
I could hear the demons moving slowly closer, their movements seeming very loud in the quiet. If they'd seen me already, they'd be charging in my direction, rather than approaching at a meandering walk. I did the best I could to conceal myself. With any luck, they'd walk right on by without discovering me. I was hoping I still had some luck on my side, though the current situation didn't make me feel particularly confident.
I held my breath as they walked by me, only feet from my hiding spot. I could see the thick red hide of the felhunter as it passed, grunting slightly with each step. The seconds ticked by as the three demons got further and further away. I didn't dare move, or even breath, until they were well out of sight, and with any luck, well out of hearing or scent range. I honestly didn't know if demons could even smell and didn't really feel like learning the hard way.
With a relieved sigh, I slowly peaked around the boulder to check if the coast was clear and came almost face to face with a felhunter.
I wheeled back, so I had a good ten feet distance between me and the demon, only to see a second felhunter and a felguard. It was another set, just like the one who had just passed. The first set was safely gone, but this new set had definitely discovered me. This set's approach had been masked by the first, but I was still upset with myself for not having heard them coming.
"Dammit!"
I took up a fighting stance, knowing I had very little chance of defeating three demons barehanded. Gul'dan probably banished me here, wherever here is, to torment me. Hopefully, dying within minutes of my arrival would ruin his fun. It was really the best outcome I could hope for.
One felhunter charged me, but before it could get within striking range, the creature was hit with a fireball, which connected at a spot just between its body and head. The demon went down, seeming to pale and wither into a pile of dust with death.
I looked to the origin of the fireball and saw a hooded figure standing on the ridge off to my left side. The remaining two demons turned to attack the more dangerous threat, forgetting me for the moment. They were more than halfway to their target when the target seemed to disappear, reappearing right next to me.
Standing next to me, with the hood of her clocked pulled down, was a young woman, almost a youth. She wore tattered robes, an equally tattered cloak and had a polearm across her back. Her long red hair was braided and slung over one shoulder. She glared at me with huge green eyes that almost seemed to glow.
"You know how to use a polearm?" She asked, not waiting for a reply before removing the weapon from her back, thrusting it into my hands. She then blinked out of sight again, returning to her original place on the ridge. I knew enough about magic users to know she had to be a mage. Blinking was mage magic.
The woman flung another set of fireballs at the demons, who were still trying to catch up to exactly where their prey actually stood. Her sudden movements had confused them, but only for a few moments.
With their attention away from me, I readied the polearm and charged. I managed to strike the felhunter in the exact same spot as the first fireball, hoping it was a weak spot. The creature howled in pain, then paled and withered, just like the first demon.
The felguard seems to be torn, looking between two deadly targets. The woman threw several fireballs at the demon, hitting it square on the chest each time. As the demon turned to her, I rushed up behind it, skewering the thing with the blade of the polearm. I dropped the weapon, taking a few steps back to avoid a small amount of blood which splashed in my direction. I had no desire to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with a severe burn, with no access to treatment. I was in enough pain from my back and I knew from experience that burns caused by demon blood hurt like hell.
The demon looked between us one last time before dropping to its knees, then onto its side. It paled, withered, then turned to dust, the polearm falling to the ground.
The woman walked towards me at a normal pace, stopping to retrieve the polearm. She examined me for a few moments, then held out the weapon. The blood on the blade had disintegrated along with the demon it belonged to, making it safe to touch. "You obviously know how to use one of these. You might as well keep it. I was never very good with actual weapons."
"You're trusting me an awful lot, for having just met me." I took the weapon, thankful to at least be armed.
The woman shrugged. "You're not a demon and you happen to be the first living person I've seen in years. If it turns out you're some type of serial murderer, I'm not really out too much if you kill me. I think I'll risk it." She stopped and looked around, then returned her gaze to me. Her eyes were indeed glowing slightly green. "We need to get moving. You kill one or two of those damned things and more usually show up fairly fast. Best to get to safety before we indulge in any more small talk."
Without waiting for my reply, she turned and began walking quickly towards a series of smaller mountains, which turned out to be just large piles of boulders, once we got close enough for me to see them properly. She pressed herself between several of the boulders, taking a barely visible path between them until she came to what looked like a solid stone wall. The fit was a little tight for me, but I managed to keep up. She raised her hand and made a few precise gestures, causing an opening to appear on the wall. She motioned for me to enter.
"Watch your head going in. You're taller than the opening, but the inside is bigger than it looks from the outside."
I ducked my head and squeezed myself through the opening. I had to take about eight steps hunched over, but then I entered a dimly lit cave. The woman followed behind me, being small enough to fit through the opening without having to contort her body. Once we were both inside, she turned and waved her hands again and the opening disappeared, leaving us in a surprisingly spacious cavern.
The ceiling was a good fifteen feet from the floor, making the cavern feel more open. The walls were lined with magic torches, which the woman walked around lighting one by one. The air in the space was surprisingly fresh, even though the remnants of a small fire still burned in an indent in the side of the cave, almost like a fireplace, without a chimney. There were no openings to the outside, as far as I could tell.
"How is this place not filled with smoke?"
"The rock this cave is made of is extremely permeable. The smoke is just absorbed by the ceiling. The good air comes in and the bad goes out without any kind of openings. That's my best guess, anyway. I'm not sure how it works, but I'm thankful. As long as I keep the fire small, the little bit of smoke that permeates through the rock isn't noticeable to any of the local inhabitants. It can get a little cold in here at night sometimes, but it's better than being out in the open."
I looked at her skeptically. "Are you sure?"
She pointed to one of the side walls, which had what looked like hash marks running from top to bottom, like she was keeping track of how many times something had occurred. "I've lived here for a very long time. Trust me, the cavern is safe. Well, as safe as anything is in this dimension."
"Dimension? Where exactly are we?" I asked, continuing to take in my surroundings.
The woman shrugged, taking a seat on a chair carved out of stone. "I have no idea. Some demon dimension no sane person would ever want to visit."
I placed the polearm in my hand against the far wall, looking around the cavern. There were various cooking items next to the fire, though they looked hardly used, along with a small bed made of what looked like old clothes tied together. Several shelves lined the walls, housing many smaller trinkets, daggers, knives, a few coins and many other random items. The place looked like someone had been living here for years.
I took a seat on the ground, near the wall a few feet from where the women sat. "How'd you get here?"
She shrugged again. "One minute I was working on portal generation with my master in Dalaran, the next, I was here. Fortunately, my arrival wasn't noticed right away, so I was able to get my bearings before I was attacked by the demons. It took me almost a week to find this place." She sighed. "I didn't sleep much during that week, as you might imagine. You're lucky I saw the portal that deposited you. Normally, I don't notice a new portal intime to actually help the poor soul being dropped off. You're the first person, besides myself, to actually survive their first demon attack, as far as I know."
I stretched my back, which had begun to ache even more. "I thank you for the assistance. What's your name?"
"Vala."
"It's nice to meet you, Vala. I'm Varian."
"Likewise. If you don't mind me asking, how'd you end up here? Piss off the wrong warlock?"
"I think I'm dead." I said quietly, more to myself than Vala.
"Well, I'm fairly certain I'm not dead and you seem very spry for a dead guy, if you don't mind me saying so."
"I was commanding a small force against the burning legion. We were overwhelmed and had to retreat. I was stabbed twice through the back, but I saved my men. I can still feel the demon's swords going through my back."
Vala walked over, kneeling next to me. "Let me see your back."
It wasn't a question. I wasn't used to being ordered around, but I turned and lifted my shirt up to expose my back. I had no reason to argue.
I could hear her take a sharp intake of breath. "You definitely have two moderately sized sword wounds back here. They look to be only a few days old, maybe a week. I can see why you thought you were dead. They're not bleeding or anything, but they look very painful. I can try to heal them a little, though I only know basic healing techniques. Hold still."
I couldn't see what she was doing, but after a few moments, the pain in my back decreased from a throb to a minor ache. I'd lived with worse. Once she was done, she gently lowered my shirt so my back was covered.
"That's the best I can do for the time being. I used too much of my power fighting the demons, I think. I can try again later."
"I don't know what you did, but my back feels much better. Thank you."
Vala smiled at me, moving from her kneeling position to a more comfortable sitting position.
"So, you're a mage?" I asked, turning so I could face her. The girl looked tired now. Tired and sad.
"Kinda. I have some connection to the Light, obviously, since healing is not part of normal mage abilities, but most of my natural power is arcane based. Fire seems to come the most naturally to me, but I haven't studied long enough to pick a specialty. I was only an apprentice when I ended up here. I've practiced the few things I was taught, since my arrival. I know enough to survive. I can protect myself, though I try to keep out of sight of the demons. Fighting them is usually a last resort option. I can summon food and water and I can heal minimally. Everything I have here I scavenged from the people I wasn't able to save. I figured they were dead, so they wouldn't mind me taking their things. Not a pleasant thought, but it's kept me alive."
"How long have you been here?"
"About five years, I think. I tried to keep track, but after a while, I kinda lost count." She pointed to the hash marks on the wall again. "I always thought my master or some of the other mages would eventually find me, but I stopped hoping for rescue a long time ago."
"And you've been alone all this time?" I was shocked to hear she'd been living this way for so long. Five years was a long time to be alone, particularly alone in a place like this.
Vala nodded. "A hell of a way for a girl to spend her formative teenage years, huh?"
I looked at her critically. Though she had an aged way about her from living a hard life for many years, she still looked incredibly young. She couldn't be much older than Anduin, who was almost eighteen. "How old are you?"
"About twenty, I think."
My eyes widened. "So you were fifteen when you were lost here?"
Again, she nodded. "That's the one thing I know for sure. I'm only guessing about what makes up a full day in this dimension. It's hard to tell."
"I've fought enemies of all kinds, both powerful and cunning, but what you've done here is…" I motioned to everything around us. "...I am beyond impressed."
Vala smiled at me. "I was going for a staying alive strategy, but I'll take the compliment. It just feels nice to be talking with someone other than myself. Survival and mental stability don't necessarily go hand in hand."
She stood, walking over to another nook at the side of the cave, closest to the fire. She pulled out a conjured pitcher, like one I'd seen Jania produce many times, along with a similar looking platter. "I conjured a meal before I looked out and saw your portal." The platter had bread, cheese and what looked like basic dried meat. She placed everything on a stone table. "It's not very exotic, but it is edible. Please, help yourself. You can go ahead and drink out the pitcher. I don't exactly have any glasses."
I smiled at her, as I took a long pull from the pitcher. "I guess spreading germs is the least of our worries."
"Indeed. I only conjure a new platter and pitcher when one wears out. Making food and water is easy. Making the containers for the food and water takes more energy and I try not to overextend myself. When I first arrived here, I could only make water and bread, but I've gotten better, as you can see. It might not be the most nutritionally sound, but it keeps me alive. I'll need to expend more energy to summon enough for two, but I don't mind. You seem to be good with a weapon, so you can help with defense, if it becomes necessary and I overdue it, magically speaking. It's nice not to be alone anymore."
After eating for a few minutes and feeling a bit less like I was hungover, I joined Vala by the fire, taking a seat across from her. "Have you ever been discovered here?"
She shook her head. "No. I came close a couple of times, but I can keep this cave magically secure." She pointed to the smooth wall of the cave where we had entered. "A hidden door, magically sealed, though I think I can make it respond to you, so it'll open and close without me." She pointed around the cave walls, where small runes were placed several feet apart. "Protection runes to help with sound and smell. They're all basic spells taught to beginners. I'm thankful I paid attention in my introductory classes, though I'm not sure how effective it would all be if the demons actually attacked."
"Have you ever tried to open a portal home?"
"Many times, but I hadn't actually learned how yet. In fact, I have no idea how I even managed the one which brought me here. I've never been able to even come close to opening a portal, even just a local one. It doesn't really make sense. If I'm strong enough to make a portal to a demon dimension, I should be strong enough to make a portal home."
Vala sounded frustrated. I really couldn't blame her, if she'd been trapped here for as long as she claimed.
"Unfortunately, I can't help with it. I'm not a magic user of any kind."
Vala smiled at me. "That's alright. I'm guessing by how you sacrificed your life for your men that you're a soldier. A fairly high ranked one at that. Did King Wrynn send you to fight the demons? You have the same name as his son."
My mouth dropped open. I had figured she might have not mentioned recognizing me when we met, just to keep things from getting too formal.
"I'm Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind." I replied.
"That's not possible. Llane Wrynn was king when I was sucked into this dimension and his son Varian couldn't have been more than ten." She stood, taking a few steps away from me, suddenly unsure.
I stood also, putting my hands up in a non threatening way, since I knew I was intimidating, even when I wasn't trying to be. "I assure you, I am Varian Wrynn. My father was assassinated when I was still a youth."
Vala stood quietly, taking deep calming breaths. "And how old are you now?" She asked quietly.
I sighed. "I just turned forty."
The mage walked over to the table, sitting down in the chair. "So, I've been stuck here for thirty years? How is that even possible? My count might be off by a month or two, but not years. Do I look like someone who's close to fifty?"
I turned to her, but didn't approach. "No. To me you look to be in your late teens. Twenty at most."
I took a step or two closer and could see tears form in Vala's eyes. She looked solidly at the table, doing her best to just breathe as she ran her fingertips over the stone surface. I stayed silent as she processed what she just learned. Honestly, I didn't really know what to say to her, anyway. What do you say to comfort a young woman who just discovered what she thought was five years of hell had actually been thirty.
After a few minutes, she cleared her throat and looked up at me, wiping away unshed tears. "Time must pass more slowly here, I guess. You're sure you're Varian Wrynn?"
I smiled at her, stepping closer. I leaned up against the wall nearest the table. "I am."
"Light, Stormwind must be in chaos. If you thought you were dead, most likely they think you're dead too."
"My son will have taken the throne by now, so the city shouldn't be too chaotic."
"Son? You have a son?" Vala asked.
My heart broke as I thought of Anduin. "Anduin. He's seventeen, almost eighteen. I hate forcing him to take the throne so soon, but he will. He's not much like me, but he'll be a good king. It's comforting to know Stormwind and the Alliance are still in good hands."
"Surely he's not alone. What about the queen?"
My heart broke again at the thought of Tiffin. I took a seat on the floor with my back still against the wall. The motion hurt, but I welcomed the slight pain. It hurt less than what I felt when I thought of my late wife.
"She was killed when Anduin was still very young. It's just been us for most of his life. I hate to leave him alone."
"I'm so sorry." Vala said.
"It's alright. You saved my life, and as far as I'm concerned, if I'm still alive, I might still see my son again."
We sat silently for several minutes, then Vala sighed, smiling at me.
"Well, today has been the most interesting day I've had in a very long time." She stood over me, bowing slightly. "Welcome to Hell, Varian Wrynn. I hope you enjoy your stay."
I laughed. "I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow."
To Be Continued...
