NIGHT ELVES

Chapter 3: Awakening

Southern Moonglade, Ashenvale

Visions. Visions were engulfing Cambria Shadowmoon's mind. Images flew in front of her eyes, some coming to rest in the center of her sight.

She tussled around in her hammock. Where were these images coming from, and what were they?

A lonely flower whittling away in a field…

A tossed rock creating ripples in an otherwise still pond…

The rumbling of war drums in the distance…

A small hut in a grassy clearing…

And a human building… one with steeples and stained glass windows…

What did it all mean? Cambria awoke in a sweat. Still puzzled over her visions, she descended from her makeshift hammock and proceeded to her group's tent.

Cambria Shadowmoon was no stranger to these woods. Although Furion Stormrage had recently assured her that the woods were safe, she did not believe him this time. There had been increasingly frequent raids on the elves' encampments. Adding to these troubles, the Furbolgs of Ashenvale had split off their previous alliance with the night elves. Cambria was not a fool, either, as she notched her bowstring and kept a sharp lookout in all directions.

As she walked, she looked like a shadow, darting from tree to tree. She adorned herself with jewelry; on her head she wore a silver moon pendant, an emerald necklace hung from her neck, and her crescent moon earrings glistened in the moonlight.

The air was crisp. Not dry like the surface of a tree, but rather moist, like the dewdrops clinging to leaves in the moonlight.

A nightingale called out, its song echoing through the wood. The trees of Ashenvale were massive giants, shading the forest floor from the moon, except for the beams of light that broke out along Cambria's path.

So lay the undisturbed forest in its hours of sleep. It was in harmony with the night, adding to its peaceful tranquility.

As Cambria approached the isolated and well-camouflaged tent, her sharp ears could hear voices inside. There were two distinct voices: one of a female and one of a male.

She opened the tent flap and found that her ears were true to her. To her left stood Tyrande Whisperwind, current high priestess, and leader of the Night Elf Sentinels. To her right sat a strange night elf wrapped in a cloak.

Cambria had never seen this stranger before. However, she quickly concluded that this must've been the owner of the male night elf voice.

The stranger sat alone in a corner, bent double by his cloak, which was tarnished and patched in numerous areas. He appeared to be quite tall, with his long legs stretched before him.

"Welcome, Priestess…" Cambria took a small bow.

"Welcome…" Cambria faltered as she was unsure about how to address the stranger.

"Our visitor here would be Nefirros, Cambria." Tyrande cleared up the stranger's identity. "He is from the north, a protector of the mountains of Felwood."

"I am honored to be in your presence, Priestess," Nefirros responded.

"That is well." Tyrande smiled at the night elf. "However, we came here to discuss important matters, Cambria.

"A revival in our alliance with the Furbolgs is very unlikely at this point. The raids being conducted at our camps have been carried out by the Furbolgs around the area. A fortnight ago, the chieftain of these tribes was seen at one of these raids. And just now… Nefirros was ambushed while traveling here."

Cambria shifted her gaze towards the elf. "Oh! Are you alright?" She instantly moved towards a bag of herbs and began sifting through the contents.

"It is being taken care of," Nefirros replied calmly. He threw off his cloak and showed Cambria tightly strung leaves with herbs protecting a wound on his arm.

"So the Furbolgs are planning attacks…" Cambria said after a pause, "seemingly directed at us night elves…"

"They may be under some sort of influence again," Nefirros suggested, taking a sip of tea. "But they certainly do not seem to be corrupt as they were before the War."

"That is true." Tyrande fixed a cloak onto her shoulders and gathered her belongings. "Although it also should be noted that these attacks are unlikely to stop if we do not find out what is causing them."

"…And if there is no outside influence? Cambria asked as Tyrande walked over to the tent flap.

Tyrande paused for a moment's worth. She then replied, "However much that reason is doubtful, we must still protect ourselves- and the entirety of Ashenvale. The Furbolgs will have to be dealt with if that is the case.

"I fear I may have stayed for too long. I will return to see Furion about these matters. Please do take care of yourselves."

"Priestess, I cannot allow myself to have you traveling the nights alone," Cambria spoke up. "Please, take a few sentinels with you."

"I thank you for your kindness, sister. Elune adore- hopefully you will be hearing from me soon."

"Goodnight, Priestess," Nefirros said.

"May you have a safe trip!" Cambria summoned five archers to accompany the priestess.

After she bade farewell to the priestess, Cambria sat down at a stout wooden table that had been laden with various fruits and books. The answer to this problem won't be found in a book, she told herself.

"Nefirros," Cambria began, "are you saying with us here?"

"For a while, yes. This plague of Furbolgs has not yet reached my homeland, Felwood. I traveled here to investigate the matter and perhaps help you in defending against it."

"Then I am glad that you have chosen to stay with us… our numbers are few this far south, and we are very sparsely populated."

Both night elves sat in silence until Nefirros broke the silence:

"Cambria, are you the leader of your group here?"

"Yes, I am," Cambria replied, perplexed about the randomness of the question.

"I see… and you have not noticed anything unusual lately around these woods?"

"No, I haven't… I had only heard of camp raids, but I did not know that Furbolgs were behind these crimes until I had just came here tonight."

"Whatever the case may be, I am a follower and protector of your tribe henceforth." Nefirros attempted an elaborate bow; only the wound on his arm hindered him.

Cambria gave a small laugh as she went to help the warrior get up onto his feet. However, she noticed that he was more than capable of supporting himself as she saw muscles under his light tunic.

"If you're going to attempt anything like that again, then I'd suggest you get some rest tonight," Cambria recommended. "Tomorrow morning, we head out east to gather up some provisions and water."

"As you wish." Nefirros fastened back on his cloak and exited the tent with Cambria, into the outside brightening twilight.

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It was around noon the next day when Cambria awoke. Although nearly half the day had been spent, many of the elves in the camp had not yet awoken.

Cambria was known to be an early riser. Otherwise, she knew that the elves would not follow after a lazy leader.

A small fire was prepared, and within the following hours, the elves began to waken and shake off their slumber. Soon enough, the small camp's inhabitants were bustling about.

The sun had begun its descent through the sky by the time the night elves set off due west. They were careful in covering their tracks; the fire had been sputtered out by water, the tents destroyed, and debris had been scattered over noticeable footprints.

Nefirros, who walked in the back of the night elf formation, was beginning to lag behind the pack. It was not his injury that delayed him, however; the beauty of Ashenvale forest fascinated the warrior. Anything that the elf lay his eyes on- from the cradling giants of trees, to the sparkling streams, captivated him.

It was difficult to comprehend that just last night, the peace of the forest had been disturbed by a pack of Furbolgs. Nefirros took a quick glance around at his surroundings and armed himself with a bow, at the ready. However, he was still confused as to where Cambria was leading the group.

In order to get his question answered, Nefirros walked at a slightly quicker pace to catch up with Cambria.

Although she was the leader of her group and commanded high respect, Cambria did not adorn herself, as one would expect of an elf of such high status. She wore a light blue tunic, which was covered by a brown traveler's cloak. She, too, carried a bow with a brown quiver hanging over her shoulder. Such drab colors, even with the addition of shimmering jewelry and armor, were not displayed with the intention to flatter oneself.

Yet it was not the attire that made Cambria Shadowmoon captivating. To Nefirros, it was the silken blue hair that lightly shaded her luscious blue eyes. When looked upon, sunlight danced in her eyes while her blue hair offset her eye color.

As Nefirros approached her, he found that because she walked alone, she sang an unknown song softly to herself.

"Cambria, where is it exactly that we are headed to?" Nefirros asked.

"Nefirros!" Cambria exclaimed in shock. "I thought you were bringing up the rear ranks…"

"Yes, I was," Nefirros replied. "Only I could not suppress my curiosity any longer… where is it exactly that we are headed to?"

"Today I plan on stopping at a sanctuary in the woods." She then continued, in a softer tone, "It is not known to many, so I hope that we may avoid trouble along the way, by any means. The night elf-"

But before Cambria could complete her sentence, a cry rang out from an archer behind her. In an instant, she turned around and readied her bow with an arrow.

From bushes near where the archer lay, came forth half a dozen Furbolgs. Only they looked to be… bloodlusted?

In the eyes of each Furbolg shone a kindling fire in their eyes. Their pupils were dilated, along with foam oozing out of their mouths. Instead of being the normal height of a small tree, the Furbolgs were at least a quarter larger than they previously were. They set their prints in the ground clearly as intimidating beasts.

"Defend yourselves!" Cambria shouted out over the confusion.

At once, the elves dropped whatever they were carrying and armed themselves with their weapons of war.

"Nefirros…" Cambria added, "We can take care of these foul creatures. Please do not get involved… you are still injured."

"Injured I many be, but I can still fight!" Nefirros responded fiercely, showing a hatred for the Furbolgs. He let fly an arrow, which pierced the thick hide of a nearby Furbolg.

At least three of the Furbolgs had fallen, their bodies punctured with protruding arrows.

As arrows flew through the air, night elves fell to the crushing power of the blood-frenzied Furbolgs. Swinging their arms violently, they were able to slice through the elves' armor with their slashing claws. Height brought about another advantage, however, as the Furbolgs were able to trample the elves in their tracks.

Cambria had seen enough. This madness had to be stopped, before she would lose any more troops.

Unsheathing a moon glaive that had been bestowed upon her years past, she made her way into the center of the fray. Carefully lining herself up with the three remaining beasts, Cambria shouted, "Let's see if you can catch this!" before flinging her moon glaive in a boomerang-like motion.

The glaive sliced through the air, immediately cutting the three Furbolgs' legs as it flew around in a semi-circle, before it returned to its owner.

Upon contact, the Furbolgs wobbled on their shaky legs, which were cut and bleeding freely from where the glaive had hit them.

Excluding the pain, the Furbolgs soon began to feel weakness from their loss of blood. Adding to this new feeling, the elves continued to relentlessly shower the Furbolgs with a flurry of arrows.

One by one, the great beasts fell, again leaving their marks on the earth, this time as they exited their world. Six corpses lay scattered on the ground, formerly devastating Furbolgs, powered by their bloodlust.

Cambria began to count her group's losses. As she walked around the former battlefield, she shook her head and sighed. She looked up at Nefirros despairingly. "Five archers have fallen. We'll never survive another attack with such a small force now."

Nefirros did not reply immediately. He had underestimated the power of the Furbolgs, but more than that, Cambria was beginning to lose hope in her group already. She's overlooking our power, Nefirros told himself bitterly. My power… the group's loyalty…

"We will make it," he responded at last. "I believe that you are still overlooking our force, no matter what our numbers may be."

"You wouldn't know the woods around these areas," Cambria replied coldly. "How would you know anything about what creatures live here, and which ones like to attack us?"

Nefirros could only look back into the leader's eyes, nearly shaken by her sudden cruelty.

"…I didn't mean it that way," Cambria added after a brief pause, shifting her tone from cold to apologetic. "Forgive me… I'm sorry to have despaired so soon." She lowered her gaze down to the ground.

"I understand," Nefirros replied considerately. "Sometimes our feelings get the better of us."

Cambria merely smiled, and silently agreed with him. She continued to lead the group, until she stopped abruptly in her tracks.

"Wh-what is it?" Nefirros asked uneasily as Cambria stared, mesmerized, at a small path leading off the main trail.

She sustained her silence as she stepped onto the dirt path leading into the woods, with Nefirros following closely behind her.

It was not until she reached the end of the path, which was shaded by trees, that Cambria realized what she was walking into.

Just as she had expected, Cambria found herself intruding upon an abandoned Furbolg camp. It looked like…

'A small hut in a grassy clearing…'

It was then that as Cambria closed her eyes, she experienced the vision of the Furbolg camp once again, as it appeared exactly before her now.

"It can't be…" she muttered to herself. She had nearly tossed the visions out of her mind, dismissing them as merely being a dream.

Nefirros felt a change come over Cambria. He looked over at her, only to find her gaze still transfixed onto the Furbolg camp.

He laid his hand on her shoulder, only to have Cambria spin around and look seemingly out of breath.

"What is it?" Nefirros asked. As he took a quick glance around the camp, his eyes did not find anything out of the ordinary: Several huts, toasted fires, trees, and shrubs…

"It's… it's nothing." Cambria looked up at Nefirros and smiled. Only on the inside, she was worried, pondering the thought of why she was experiencing these sudden visions. More importantly, Was I chosen for these visions?

"Let's continue on," Cambria shouted, regaining her authority over the tightly knit group.

The rest of the day continued on in silence, with Cambria not taking so much as a glance back at her followers. Even reaching Cambria's safe haven at twilight did not seem to affect the leader's mood in a negative or positive manner.

Nefirros sat on a large rock, lodged in a steam while he looked over at Cambria, sitting alone at the campfire. He didn't know what seemed to come over her at the Furbolg camp. Cambria was not caught speaking with anyone else and did not take one glance in his direction.

The warrior spent his night alone, amidst claims from the group members that he had upset their leader. Apparently, the rest of the group was against him, and perhaps Cambria, as well.

But Nefirros was lulled to sleep by the gentle trickling of a nearby steam. His mind, however, was obscured by visions of the slain Furbolgs, the looks of contempt thrown to him by the females of the group, but most of all, his uncertain relationship with Cambria Shadowmoon.