Chapter One

A single small green leaf rippled in the breeze as it lofts gently towards the ground of the deep forest, reflecting sunbeams from its shiny surface and passing two squirrels leaping from branch to branch. A gust of wind begins to launch it back upwards again, but a slender hand reaches out and gently clasps the stem between two fingers. The hand belongs to a young woman leaning against a tree, her armor shining nearly as brightly as the leaf as she brings it to her face and smiles. The smile reaches her eyes, bright blue eyes twinkling in the sunlight and looking past the leaf she holds to another figure.

The woman considers her friend, another young woman kneeling quietly in the soft moss and soil, her robes neat and straight despite the breeze. Absently, the woman wonders if her friend uses her mastery of the elements to keep the breeze from touching her, but then giggles at the thought as she sees a lock of her friend's short blonde hair blow gently in the breeze. Her own hair, tied back behind her head in a long silken tail, was trying the same trick.

The two of them were relaxing after an afternoon of recovering artifacts for some dwarves who had to evacuate a cave when a number of Troggs had burst through one of the walls. Ugly things, Troggs, all growl and teeth. Her blade had sated itself on their blood as they dashed themselves against the pair. Now they washed in the small stream nearby and just enjoyed the vibrant life of Elwyn Forest.

Slipping to the ground, she leaned back against the bark of the tree and opened one of her silk packs, grinning momentarily at the craftsmanship and seeing her name sewn into each one in a fine delicate hand, "Tira". She looked over at her friend again and made a mental note to thank her again for the gifts. Reaching inside, she pulled out a small stone, and began sharpening her blade lightly, enjoying the light hiss of the whetstone across the steel.

A few feet away, her friend cracked open one eye and peered at Tira. "You know.. Meditation is easier when I don't have to endure your rasping rock and metal." The cold statement was belied by the grin that quirked her lips up and the light in the eye gazing at Tira. After a moment, she opened her other eye and stretched. Her light gray robes were trimmed with gold, a gift torn from the corpse of a sorcerer who had tried to enslave them both some time back.

Tira grinned. "True, but you never seem to mind my blade being sharp when something big and nasty is charging for your neck." The argument was old, familiar, and came easily to their lips. "What's next Val?"

Val, or Valia, looked up at her. "Want to duel? We could practice some--" her sentence was cut off by a sound to their left. Vague thumping noises were growing louder as something approached, but the trees provided enough cover it was difficult to tell what. "That's no horse," Val said, as the ground shook with each thud. "Whatever it is, it's big. And it's coming right for us."

She took a step forward, reaching for her staff, when the leaves in front of her exploded in a flurry of green. Tira flung herself forward, grabbing Valia and throwing both of them out of the way. The two of them rolled heavily over a number of tree roots, and finally stopped against the base of a large elm tree. Valia looked up at Tira who was on top of her and blinked. "You know.. When I suggested dueling, I didn't mean wrestling. Ow, your armor hurts."

The two of them untangled themselves and stood up quickly, looking at the source of their tumble. It was huge. A giant figure in dull gray armor with black fur and large black horns sat atop an enormous lizard, laughing at them. Scars crisscrossed his arms, face and shoulders. A large twin-bladed axe stained a permanent red rested easily across his lap.

Val looked at Tira. "Think he's housetrained?"

Tira didn't bat an eye. "You can't keep him, missy, so take him back!"

The two of them were trying to come up with some sort of plan when the Tauren grabbed something from the saddle and tossed it at them. Tira reached out and caught it. It was a small bundle of cloth. As she unrolled it, Valia' breath caught. Unrolled, the cloth revealed itself as two torn and bloody tabards, the symbols still readable as a Gryphon in gold on a dark crimson background. Her symbol. Their symbol.

The Horde had captured guild-mates of theirs, and now they were toying with them. Or was it possible they wanted a ransom? Suddenly the Tauren spoke, two words in badly accented common, the first time she had ever heard a Tauren speak.

"You come."

Then it turned and rode off the way it had come, at a speed they couldn't hope to match.

Val turned to Tira and raised an eyebrow. "Well. I guess we know what we're doing this afternoon."

Tira sheathed her blade and slung her pack over her shoulder. "An assault on the Horde with no idea where or how? Sounds like fun."

Val nodded, even though she was chilled through. Now wasn't the time to freeze. Turning, she loosed a blast of ice at the stream, creating a sheet of ice across the surface, and more importantly, sending that cold out of herself, leaving behind only a steely determination.

"We'll start with ratchet, and see if anyone there has seen or heard anything. Then we head for the Crossroads."

Tira grinned. "Race you there." She reached down to her belt and touched the small glowing stone there, and was surrounded by a green glow as her Hearthstone activated. A moment later she disappeared in a flash.

Val looked around one last time. "Yeah. Time to race."

Closing her eyes, she recalled the patterns of magic she had learned, and twisted the energy around herself. In a flash of blue light, she was gone.

Across the clearing, a single small green leaf fluttered down in the breeze, reflecting the sunlight as it slowly came to rest on two torn tabards past which a pair of squirrels chased one another.