The unforeseen

by Anne Shard (alias Odeena Skywalker)

Chapter fifteen: An unexpected occurrence

For several tense moments, there was no movement from either Maiev or the demons. Then, slowly, the warden withdrew a long, poisoned dagger from its sheath, and aimed at the demon directly in front of her. It caught the movement and growled, making her shiver despite herself. A moment later it leapt at her, claws outstretched and ready to tear. Maiev jumped aside and threw her dagger, but had to dodge out of the way a moment later as the third demon shot several fireballs at her. She dove behind a tree and reappeared on the other side, releasing a flurry of knives towards her attackers. However, they seemed to cause them little harm, if any at all.

Meanwhile, the third demon quietly made its way towards Illidan. The former hunter 'saw' its approach, and tightened the grip on his blade, the action causing fresh pangs of pain to course through his entire body. He knew the action was futile, yet he steeled himself, waiting. As the demon came closer, he aimed and threw the blade directly at it, with a movement which caused him to let out a sharp cry of agony despite himself. But the creature vanished in the same instant, and the blade impaled itself harmlessly into a tree trunk. Moments later, the demon reappeared, now standing a few paces away from the fallen hero. A second later, Maiev, who had been hit by a large fireball, let out a sharp cry, stumbled and fell to her knees, dropping her dagger at the same time.

The demons neared slowly, now certain of their victory. Then, several things happened at once. The demon which had approached Illidan was suddenly thrown in the air by a violent cyclone, which had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, while a massive leaped from the depths of the forrest and tackled another of the attackers with a deafening roar.

By this time, Maiev had partially recovered from the blow. Shakily, she rose to her feet and threw another flurry of knives at the remaining demon, this time achieving her goal. The creature howled in pain, blinded by the warden's skillful hit, and charged forward mindlessly, only to be met by the cold steel of her circular dagger. A few more hits, and it fell to the ground finally, with one last shriek of agony. Somewhat relieved, Maiev turned her attention on the other demon, the one that had been tackled by the bear. But she needed not worry; already, the creature was nothing more than a broken and torn body, lying in a pool of its own tainted blood.

The mysterious cyclone had lost its intensity meanwhile, and now it died altogether. But, to Maiev's surprise, the demon inside it had vanished. However, her attention was at once caught by the bear; with another roar, it transformed, reverting to the more familiar shape of an old Druid of the Claw. Immediately after, another druid - this time, a thin Druid of the Claw - appeared from the forest, and gave a relieved smile at the sight of the warden and her compaions.

"Well now", he said in a strange, whispered voice, "it would appear that we have found you just in time."

Maiev nodded her head weakly, and walked slowly at Illidan's side. The demon hunter was lying on the ground motionless, and for a second Maiev feared that, despite his strength and skills, he had been defeated at last. A strange mixture of hope and fear overcame her, and she sank to her knees next to him, and, not knowing very well why, took his hand.

"Illidan..."

She felt his hand grasp hers weakly, and a faint smile played across his features for several moments. It was not his usual smile; it was netierh bitter nor sarcastic, but an open and even warm smile. However, it vanished just as soon as it had appeared, replaced by a grimace of pain.

Maiev's gaze turned towards the Druid of the Claw. "Help him", she said softly.

Wordlessly, the druid stretched out his hands. A moment later, a bright light enveloped Illidan's body, and he felt his wounds beginning to close and his strength slowly returning. Although the Night Elves loathed magic of any kind, even they used simple charms sometimes - such as this regeneration spell. Soon, he felt restored, and he stood up warily, leaning on Maiev's arm for support.

"We should leave this place", he said, tensing as several faint growls reached them from the distance. "More demons are coming."

"If you will", answered the Druid of the Talon, "Shan'do Stormrage's camp is this way."

"There is a faster way of getting there." With his words, Illidan spread his arms, and shortly a portal was shimmering and swirling before him. "We must make haste", he said, gesturing towards the two druids who were eyeing it warily.

Reluctantly, they stepped through. Maiev hesitated for a second.

"Illidan..."

"Yes?"

She looked away. "I..." Several seconds passed, and then she shook her head. "Nothing. It's nothing at all."

With that, she stepped through the portal, leaving Illidan more than intrigued.

Author's Note: First of all, I know that several points in this chapter could be objected against, so I'll answer to these objections in advance :) One - yes, I know the chapter is short... like I said before, I just can't pull myself together enough to write a longer chapter. Sorry. Two - I know the spell is actually 'rejuvenation' and not 'regeneration', but 'rejuvenation' sounded pretty lame in the context - I mean, Illidan most definitely didn't get younger or anything, but got his wounds healed. And three - about the vanishing demon, let's just say that he could teleport or something :). And now for the review responses:

Destro1990: Thanks! I hope you're through with that reading by now, and you can spare a moment to read my new chapter as well... :)

Magnificent Mage:
1. Yes, I know that... but like I said, this concept just isn't fit for this kind of story. See the explanation I gave in my previous chapter notes to see why :)
2. Actually, in my view there are all sorts of demons, so let's pretend there can be a kind with no legs and a sort of snake-ish lower half instead. Hey, this is a fanfic, right? So that's possible... :)
3. I didn't quite understand what you meant with the last phrase...

darth: I it said already in my previous Notes - this story is soley about Night Elves, so there will be no orcs or humans.

Alucard604: Yup, this story is just about the Night Elves (and let's not forget the Naga and Blood Elves... but they play a rather minor part in the plot, so I don't think that the fic would benefit from a view from their perspective too much). Let me know when you've posted your story! :)

Vaulander: Thanks! The thing is, I'm quite getting used to this! In my view, nearly each chapter is slightly better than the best... but they're still quite short :-/

TheDemonHuntress: Thank you! I think the terms 'love-hate relationsip' would be the best description for what I'm trying to develop here... although the balance of this relationship seems to be leaning more on the 'love' side lately :)

HuntressWarden: Well, it's good to see you're back! Thanks for reviewing! Eh... Italy was cool (pizza... yummy...), but when they served me some raw lobster / mayonnese salad thingy, I fled for dear life... :)