Diana fell from a run, to a jog, then finally to a walk. She stopped, then leaned over and grasped onto her legs for support, her chest rising and falling with each rapid breath. The sun was just beginning to rise into the sky from the east.
Diana examined her surroundings, they were unsettlingly unfamiliar to her. All of the trees were new and unique and the ground was much softer and cooler then the foothills of Hyjal. The air was also much cooler, and much crisper.
Diana had been running for five days straight, with no sacred waters to heal her, and with no chance of rest or relaxation. Her body could not go any farther. She was not a machine, and no matter how fine-tuned she was, she to needed rest. So Diana found the nearest patch of shade underneath a tree, and promptly collapsed under it.
Diana brought her hands up and rubbed her eyes with the tips of her fingers. She was more tired then she had ever been, and yet, she was more determined then she had ever been. Diana tried to stand back up, but her legs rejected her own weight. Diana let out a angry sigh, disgusted by her own weakness. She had to stay strong for Mirana's sake... She looked up and gazed up at the retreating night.
Diana looked down and she gazed at her necklace. The stone was glittering with the morning light, and she gazed longingly at it. She missed Mirana, she missed everyone... And here she was, all alone, running... To what?
That made Diana think for a moment, what was she running to? Why North? It just seemed... Right to her. Yes. She was destined to go North. To go to the lands of- Oh what's North of Ashenvale again...? Winterspring! Yes! Winterspring... Tyrande must be in Winterspring...
The thought of that name made Diana's blood boil, she hated Tyrande... The woman who took her family, her friends, her life... Diana grasped at the stone tightly, I'll kill her baby sister, don't worry... She whispered.

Diana shook in fear. She was scared, alone, and tired. Diana brought her knees up to her chest, and felt sleep descending upon her, beckoning to her. Welcoming her. So, she slipped into sleep, but she did not sleep peacefully. Her mind was filled with thoughts of vengeance, blood, and violence.
***
Diana's eyes opened slowly, like rusted hinges. It took her a few moments to remember what had happened. Sleep seemed to linger on her, clouding her mind. She was sitting against the back of the tree she had sat under all those hours before. Her legs were up against her chest, and her cloak was draped around her body. She brought her hands up and brushed her blue-black hair away from her eyes as she gazed into the western sky. The sun was setting behind the trees and mountains. Diana sighed as she looked into the darkening forest.
Her mind tried to recall the dreams she had in her sleep. But, they seem displaced, and impossible to recall. Except for two things...
They all involved the Barrow Deeps, as all of her dreams of the past weeks have, but one dream... Had something that stood out...
On a light less dawn, I will cleanse my soul with blood, and call the Spirit of Vengeance...
She sat silently under the eaves of the tree for a long while, pondering the meaning of the dream. She leaned against the rough bark of the tree, and let out a long breath. She threw her bangs behind her long ears and prepared to enter sleep once again. Her head touched the ancient tree...
Then she heard a noise.
It was small, but out of place in the forest. It was the sound of someone, or something walking. At a steady pace, it sounded nearly like a deer. But, it's hooves sounded far too heavy. She also listened to the sound of metal grinding against metal, thick metal, like armor. Their stench hit Diana's noise next. It was a curious smell, like a rotten piece of fruit mixed with animal manure. Diana crunched up her nose at this awful stench. And the smell was becoming stronger and the noise louder. Something was coming.
Whatever it was, Diana did not want to be caught by it.
She looked around quickly for some means of escape, two of the tree's branches were close enough together to allow her to sit on them, and they were high off of the ground so the leaves of the tree would cover her nicely.
Yes, this would do.
She gazed up at the branches, and focused on them and called upon her years of training. All other things were absent from her mind except that branch. She took in every detail, every centimeter of the bark was tracked by her eyes. The branch was the only thing that mattered...
Then, she blinked her eyes once, there was a small poof and flash of blue light, and she found herself sitting upon the tree branch. She looked all around to make sure her teleport was successful, and smiled. She sat, positioned like a vulture, patiently waiting for the coming of these new creatures.
Soon, she saw something coming up the road. It was a massive, four hooved creature, clad in armor, slowly trotting up the road. They were about the same height as a stag, but seemed much more heavily built. On their armor were large drapes of gold and purple.
Diana's gaze moved upwards towards the riders. Their leader was obviously a female, draped in purple and gold cloth and robes hanging loosely over her thin, form fitting armor. She seemed Night Elven in appearance, with elongated ears, hair and eyes blue as the sea. But, her skin was pale, and no where near the lavender shade of a Night Elve's skin. She wore a golden circlet on her head, and there was a medium sized sword hanging from her right side. But, something stood out about this rider. There was an odd aura around her. Diana couldn't think of where she felt this before, until she realized, it was the same feeling that Illidan emitted when Diana was near him.
Magic... These creatures wielded magic!
Diana's knuckles whitened at the thought of magic users. Her mind wandered back to the time thousands of years ago, when the world nearly fell to the Legion. The skies rained fire, and the rivers ran red with the blood of the Elves. Diana had to fight her urge to leap down and slay these vile magic users in one fell motion. Her breath shook out of her body as her willpower stayed her hand.
She watched as the first rider past, she was soon followed by her companions. There were two males, followed close behind by two females. All of them were clad in long purple robes like the leader, and they rode the same armored beasts. They too looked like Night Elves, except their ears were smaller, but still elongated, had pale skin, and blonde or brown hair. Diana was perplexed at these new creatures, did the world change so much while she was under the ground?
As the next wave passed, she observed that a much larger group was galloping up the road. These riders and their beasts were wearing armor so thick it looked as if it could deflect a blow from a Furbolg. In their hands they wielded both lance and war sword, and they looked much more intimidating then their predecessors. And the riders themselves wore armo thatr was a faint gray color, although the riders themselves were not Elven. No, their ears were far too small...
As Diana watched the last warriors gallop past into the blazing sunset, her hawk-like vision watched as their shining, armor clad forms vanished over the horizon. Diana leapt down from her perch, and landed gracefully on her powerful legs. She waited for her cloak to flutter down around her before she set off like a bolt of lighting down the road after the warriors and their strange mounts. Diana wasn't going to let the Magic-users escape her that easily...

---

Several hours later Diana was leaning against a tree and panting heavily. It had been very difficult to follow the invaders, for their mounts moved much more swiftly then Diana could have imagined and all the while she was trying to keep as low a profile as possible.
Diana looked upwards and wiped the droplets of sweat off of her forehead before she continued up a rather steep hill. Her full on run had slowed to a jog by this time, and again her muscles ached and her stomach moaned and groaned. At last, she reached the top of the hill and gasped in amazement at what she saw.
Laid out before was the massive Winterspring Valley. To her it looked like a sea of trees with islands of rock jutting up though the leaves and needles. The opposite mountain sides were crested white with pristine snow. All the while flocks of birds soared out from the canopy, and wolves howled in the distance.
She took a few steps forward to the edge of the cliff, and turned to the left and saw that there was a long, narrow path that followed the edge of the cliff down to the valley floor. In the dim moon light she could see the hoof-prints of the alien creatures going down that pathway, and judging by the spacing of the tracks, they traveled down at a full gallop. Diana frowned, it would take her most of the night to go down that way by foot, and she would be quite visible. But, it seemed to be the only way. Diana sighed and started to walk forward when nature herself made a new path for Diana.
At first, all Diana heard was a slight crack, a mere creak. She froze in her tracks, and she could hear the sounds of pebbles falling onto stone. Her mind seemed to know what was happening, but her body refused to react. The rock beneath Diana's feet suddenly dropped away and she fell with it. She tumbled disoriented, rock, clay, and cliff face blended into a dizzying mix. After several seconds of free-fall, she desperately grasped at the cliff face, trying to find a handhold. Her left hand grasped onto a notch in the rock, and she came to a sudden stop. Her shoulder make a sickening pop, and the burst of pain caused Diana to let go of the wall. She continued her free-fall for a few brief seconds before she crashed though the canopy of needles and leaves and smashed into the forest floor.
She landed squarely on her back, her armor absorbing most of the blow. But her head whipped forward and hit the ground violently before Diana was suddenly overcome by darkness.

---

Diana awoke with a shooting pain in her left and and a tremendous headache. She groaned and tried to push her body up with her arms, but was rewarded with another jolt of a pain so severe that she cried out in anguish. She lay on her back for a while, panting heavily, before she sat up and bowed her head. The pain in her arm was nauseating and she could hardly stay conscious.
Dislocated shoulder, she thought, her mind fuzzy. Her breaths came out in staggered pants, I've got to... Put it back in... Using her right hand, she reached for a nearby branch, and she bit down on to it. Next, she grasped the upper part of her left arm. She clenched her eyes and her teeth then violently pushed upwards driving her shoulder back into it's socket.
If it wasn't for the branch wedged between Diana's teeth, she would have screamed loud enough for everyone in the valley to hear her. Sweat and tears mixed and dripped off of her body. Her breathing became more steady as she slowly moved her left arm around. She unsteadily stood up and walked forward as if she was in a drunken stupor. As the pain in her arm lessened, her vision began to clear, but her head still throbbed violently. Her eyes caught sight of a small glow coming from deeper in the forest. The glow was faintly red and orange and flickered in the eaves of the trees. Fire, yes, it had to be fire. And no Night Elf would ever need a fire at night nor risk fire in these sacred woods.
Diana crept towards the light, body low and back bent. Her black armor and lavender skin blended in perfectly with the woods. As she moved closer, she began to see vague shapes shilouted against the flame. Diana lowered herself even lower and silently drew her swords. She sneaked forward, ducking behind underbrush or tall grass whenever the nearest sentry turned around.
She hid herself behind a tree mere feet away from the camp's sentry. She would periodically lean out from behind the tree to observe the sentry then duck away when he turn around. Judging the average time he turned, Diana crawled on her stomach slowly and silently towards the soldier, with her arms and swords ahead of her. When she was at least a foot from the sentry, she waited for him to make one final turn towards her, then when he turned back, Diana struck. She rose slowly, and grasped the man's face with her left hand and with her right she swiftly slit the mans throat. He gave one gurgled cry and then succumbed. Diana threw his limp corpse over her shoulder and carried him off into the brush and laid his body down so that it was covered by the plants.
Diana moved the edge of the forest so that she was standing on the threshold of the encampment. In front of her she saw a camp comprised of several dozen tents. Most of the tents were bland and nondescript. Except, three of the tents on the opposite side of the circular clearing were a royal purple color and were quite a bit larger then the other tents in the camp.
Diana crept cat like around the perimeter of the clearing, darting between high patches of grass and dense bushes. She tried to keep her composure, but her heart hammered in her chest. She had never actually used her skills in a real life-or-death situation before.
Despite that, she was both scared and excited at the same time. As she reached the rear of the largest of the tents, she could feel her hand shaking as she drew her twin blades once again. She parted the flap on the tent with her the sword in her right hand and gazed inside.
There was a single occupant, and she was the leader of the group that Diana had seen earlier. She was lying on a woven mat lain across the earth with a thick blanket to ward off the cold. She was the spitting image of a Night Elf, radiant blue hair, long pointed ears... Except for her pale, pinkish skin...
Diana took a step inside the tent and she sensed the aura of magic emanating from the girl. As Diana prepared to strike, raising her sword in her right hand, a fleeting thought paused though her head.
It really is a pity to kill one so helpless and beautiful...
Diana paused, her hand stopped midair as she gathered the courage to strike.
Then, suddenly, a horn blared in the distance.
---

In a single instant Diana sprang backwards outside the tent. She turned and fled into the forest as she heard voices rising up from the encampment. Screams and yells blended together to form a single enraged voice. Diana cursed her luck at being discovered as she knelt down and tried to find a way out of this trap.
As Diana crept backwards into the shadows, she saw that the creatures weren't going out into the bush to find her. No, they were all moving into defensive formations, as to fend off an attack.
The forest fell into a deathly silence, not a creature made a noise. The only thing Diana could hear was her heart hammering in her chest. As the seconds stretched into days as something insidious seemed to blanket the forest.
Without warning, a roar came from the forest around Diana. It was a noise Diana had never heard before, and it seemed to cut into her skin like a knife. She caught sight of the monsters that rushed out from the woods into the clearing. They looked to be walking corpses, with massive talons replacing the fingers. They pounced on the defenders, ripping and tearing with their fangs and claws.
The armor-clad ones threw them off, striking viciously with their long swords. Screams of the dying rose up from the camp and Diana kept her body lower, terrified.
Soon, new monstrosities lumbered into the field. Made of various corpses stitched together, Diana could make out the eyes on the face sewn on the left flank of the creature. It rumbled forward, each of it's disproportionate limbs hacking away with cleavers, axes, and oversized knifes.
One of the abominable creatures fell apart, looking as if the magic and stitching that had held it together had been dispelled. Soon, many of the Undead seemed hesitant to join the fray, until something ancient and evil joined their ranks.
It stood as tall as the trees of the forest, it's blood-red skin glowing faintly in the fire and moonlight. It lifted it's saber, coated in green, demonic flames, and urged his warriors to strike. It watched the carnage unfold before him with a twisted grin on his face... A grin that sent Diana back...
---
Back you beast! Diana! Mirana! Run!


---
Cold anger seethed in Diana's veins. Rage overcame her common sense, and she stood slowly, drawing her blades out of their scabbards.
She closed the distance between her and the Doom Guard in the Blink of an eye. Before the monster could react fully, she dove under his legs and slashed at his stubby tail. The Doom Guard whirled around, slashing blindly as he did so. Diana ducked under the slash, and leapt backward, springing off of a tree, and stabbed at the Doom Guard's small, beady eyes.
The Doom Guard reacted with Demonic speed and leaned backwards to avoid the blow. Diana flipped around in midair and landed on her feet clumsily. The Doom Guard took advantage of this, and taking his blade in both hands, rushed towards Diana, slashing left and right with all of his might.
Diana backpedaled as fast as she could, barley missing the slashes. Her foot caught a unearthed root, and Diana fell backwards. Diana looked up and she saw the blade heading straight for her head in an overhead slash. She moved to the left.
Not quickly enough.
Diana screamed, her voice drowned out in the music of the battle. She fell on her left side, grasping her right shoulder, or what was left of it. The Doom Guard plucked Diana off of the ground and held her in a crushing grip. He brought her to his eye level and his face broke into one of sadistic glee. Stupid little Night Elf... You thought you could kill me? He tightened his grip, and Diana let out another scream.
Diana felt as if her body had been ignighted by flame. She tried to scream, but no noise she could hear came out. The fire seemed to coarse in her veins, her hair kindling, her eyes burning. Her body went rigid, the only thing she could do was feel the horrendous pain of the fire burning inside her...
Then, without any warning, the Doom Guard dropped her. Diana landed on her back and she could vaguely make out what had happened to the Doom Guard. It was on it's back, entangled in... Something... Then, a figure walked up to it, and drove it's sword into the Doom Guards skull. The Demon roared one final time and was still.
Diana felt the fires dying inside her. Cold embraced her. Cold, stillness.
Diana let out one breath before succumbing to darkness.