I don't own WarCraft or any characters of warcraft, yadda yadda. WarCraft is Blizzard Entertainment's and not mine, blah, blah, blah.



Dirt, soil, and soggy leaves were being kicked about by the thunderous feet which stormed by. A group of nine taurens stomping carelessly on the damp earth, the ground trembling underneath their presence. These were monstrous beasts, enlisted by the Orcish Horde for their brute strength, supreme fighting skills, and the menacing mental intimidation they bestowed upon all their advisories. Each one of these great creatures resembled a mighty, upright bull. Two horns protruding from either side, two devastatingly fierce eyes, and huge golden rings adorning their noses. Standing upright, a tauren would tower over most men, and their massive ramming weapons were formidable. In all, these creatures were the most intimidating and lethal force in the horde. When used in great numbers in close quarter fighting, they were nearly unbeatable. You would not find a tauren in all of the land that would show fear, except to their masters and those who possessed great amounts of magical powers. This group of fearsome taurens was now combing the area for something or someone. A pair of eyes cautiously observed from a group of thick bushes nearby. As the taurens stomped through, a trail of thick dust followed them. One of the three lead taurens stopped, lifting his face to the sky, smelling the air with his monstrous nostrils. All was quiet as the lead tauren inhaled the aroma of the forest air.

"Smells like human juice." The tauren bellowed. "Fan out."

The taurens began to spread throughout the forest clearing they were in, scattering soil and the long golden grass that lay in this treeless area of the forest. They fanned themselves out, scanning trees, grass, and bushes for their quarry. The observer kept quiet, knowing it was the target of this search. He was possibly the last survivor of the battle that had just previously taken place, a battle which had arisen as an ambush, with the sole purpose of killing the one human who had survived. He was in a group with others like him, knights who were escorting an Elvin priestess back to her home deep in this ancient forest. She was one of the few elves that had learned the magics of the priestess, and she was very valuable to her people. The mass of taurens had caught them by surprise, the giant brutes hiding remarkably well in their wait. It was a quick strike, the priestess being struck off her horse immediately. From the bushes dozens of taurens charged the panicked horses and created a sea of chaos. The priestess was slain and the unprepared knights were caught in the onslaught. Horses were crushed as taurens slammed their great weapons into their sides. Riders unhorsed were quickly stomped into the ground by the large tauren hooves. One particular knight was struck directly on his right arm, feeling it shatter as he was slammed off of his horse, falling into the bushes which carpeted much of the ancient forest floor. Slowly he dragged his body through the bushes and leaves on his good arm, as the painful sounds of the remaining knights rang throughout the forest. They were still two days travel from the heart of the forest where the ancient elves dwelled, but these taurens had been extremely brave to wander this forest in search of their intended victim. The knight, sure of this attack being for an assassination attempt on the priestess, continued to crawl away from what remained of the ambush. He would be quick to learn however, of the real reason the taurens were here. He had paused stone still as the thudding of a most powerful and loud creature commanded the attention of every tauren. The injured knight crept behind a particular bush and gazed at the scene in shock. He recognized this new arrival, and he began to think there might be more to this event than the destruction of the Elvin priestess. The large Tauren Chief thudded across the land holding an enormous war hammer which was nearly as tall as him. He surveyed the scene, glimpsing at the dead bodies of man and horse alike, grinning all the while. This tauren was mammoth, even in comparison to the others, and his tail flicked back and forth as an angry scowl formed across his face.

"Where is he?" The tauren chief bellowed out to the others.

The taurens looked around at the carnage, then eyed each other sheepishly. They had obviously been drawn into the battle, lusting for death and the thrill of the fight. They had soon forgotten the purpose of this surprise ambush. After another moment of silence, the chief became irritated.

"Where is the knight carrying the brown banner? Where is the killer of my brother?!" The tauren chief roared through the forest.

One tauren who was brave enough stepped forward.

"I remember him. I had the pleasure of crushing him off of his horse. His body cannot be far."

"Find his body now and bring me the head!" The chief commanded.

So now the sun was drawing nearer to the ground, hours after the ambush had taken place. The taurens still were conducting the search for this one knight. The knight waited patiently as sharp jolts of pain raced through his entire right arm. As much as he wanted to cry out in pain, he would not even as much think of breathing loudly, less the taurens would find him and send him to the same doom as his comrades. The taurens now fanned out, were slowly moving forward in their various positions. One specific tauren was coming uncomfortably close to the hiding knight. He sniffed the air furiously as his great golden ring swung back and forth. His thunderous steps crushed the earth below him and brought him closer and closer to the knight. Weaponless and enduring an incredible amount of pain, the knight felt helpless to defend himself. Ten feet, eight feet, then six, then four, now two. Two feet in front of the knight stood the incredible muscular mass of the tauren. Surely this would be his end. The tauren looked down at the fallen knight, then scrunched his face in a quizzical expression. He stared at the knight for almost a whole minute before moving on, right over the knight and past him. It was a curious moment indeed and the knight struggled to comprehend what had just happened here. Surely the tauren had seen him, for he was staring straight a t him. Yet the tauren had passed him without even touching him. Definitely no tauren would show a human mercy, but for a reason that totally escaped him, the tauren had gone on. As the knight wrestled with these thoughts for a few moments, his ears picked up a noise on the ground behind him. The sound of solid hooves smashing into the ground directly behind broke his concentration. So the tauren had seen him, and now he had come back to finish him off. The knight listened and heard a low snort. A feeling of the creature bending over him came into play, and then he felt it on his back. But what he felt was not the pain of a weapon or hard blow, this was the feel of a gentle nudge. The startled knight managed to slowly roll over and stare up at the culprit. A wide smile spread across his face as he looked directly into the face of his beloved horse.

"That a good boy, Gario." The knight whispered as he patted the horse on the muzzle with his good arm stretched up.

Gario took a step further as his long time rider reached for the reigns of his horse and used it as leverage to pull his aching body up. Now he was standing on two feet, his armor clanging as he managed to start climbing on top of the horse. The knight pulled himself up and woozily sat on top.

"Come on, let's go Gario."

As soon as the command was given the horse stepped forward, only to stop immediately.

"Where do you think you're going?" Came the deep echoing voice of a tauren.

He had stepped directly onto the path the horse was heading on. Gario whinnied, stumbling backward. The dark brown horse with white splotches slowly backed up as the mighty tauren approached. And then there was a horrific cry of pain flying out of the horse as another tauren attacked its flank with a huge swing of its massive ramming weapon. Gario rose onto his back legs as the two taurens began swinging, sending the battered knight back to the forest floor with an earth-shaking crash. The horse, landing on his side, made a second crashing noise just moments afterward. The noise attracted the rest of the taurens in the area, who thundered from their various positions.

"I found him first, so I will cut off his head." One tauren stated in that commonly deep booming voice.

The knight just looked up from his back, helpless. The other taurens grunted and nodded as they encircled him.

"What a way to go." He chuckled as he stared up at the drooling, maniacal taurens.

The taurens sneered as they gazed down at their foe. One tauren was carrying a sword handed it to the tauren who had claimed the knight. The sword was a giant to all other swords. Its blade shimmered in the descending sunlight as it was lifted high above the taurens head. A cool breeze slid by, flinging leaves along. This would be the last feeling for the knight. And then it happened. Just as the sword was flowing downward, ready to crush through metal and flesh and all, there arose a shrill cry from the tauren's lips as he dropped the sword. The knight watched as the tauren stumbled backward, four arrows deep into his chest, blood slithering down his body. Arrows poured into the taurens standing around him at blazing speeds. Whole waves of these deadly projectiles sliced into them, dropping many after just a few feet of running. Each tauren was seemingly absorbing seven, eight, and nine arrows each. The never-ending barrage found their victims with supreme accuracy as not a tauren escaped. After a few minutes of deep, booming cries of pain and the sounds of the buzzing arrows piercing flesh, the attack stopped. The knight scanned all around him, the blood from his most major wound spilling beside him. Tauren bodies lay in massive heaps everywhere around him. Arrows littered the ground as though they had popped up like long blades of feathered grass. He rolled his eyes around, then stared up at the sky. He was cold and light-headed as dusk approached. He craned his neck to look behind him and an incredible movement caught his eyes. At least a hundred beautiful Elvin archers with bows at their sides, coming out of the woods as though they were a giant white wave. All were clothed in white cloaks, some were hooded and others were not. They seemed to split into groups as they approached, branching off into what looked like little search parties. Some checked the fallen taurens for life, others he could not see, and a few came upon the fallen knight. They gathered around him with the faces of both male and female.

"This one is still alive. What should we do with him?" One fair-faced female archer asked.

Their faces were fading before the knight as he started to lose consciousness. Their voices drowning out, slurring together in his mind.

"Maybe we should put him out of his misery." Another one said.

Then he blacked out.



*What force was aiding the knight from being killed by the tauren who seemingly saw him? Will the elves who just saved him finish what the taurens started?*



Chapter 2 coming soon.