To relieve you of your suffering I will give you this chapter. It is a short one but I had to bridge the distance to the next. Three chapters in one weekend, new personal record, I think. I thank those who have reviewed after my request for more reviews, I do read them all.
Chapter 7: Journey To Mulgore
The ear splitting screech made every centaur falter in their attacks. Nell made use of the situation by blasting the nearest six centaur to a black crisp. The raptor was standing on the parapet and holding in it's mouth what looked like Jack battle harness. Dangling in it's holster was the titanium gun. The clips needed to reload the gun were also present in the harness.
Nell quickly teleported them to the parapet and the raptor put down the harness. The rage left Jack again and opted for a more peaceful solution to their problem. He put the harness on and quickly reloaded the gun.
The first centaur was already climbing the crude stairs up the parapet and was the first to fall. A bullet now inhabited it's brain. The rest of the centaur stopped in awe of the fire power.
Nell noticed a few spell casters preparing spells and quickly send a new wave of fire to deal with it. He was beginning to feel drained, he wasn't used to using so many powerful spells in such quick succession anymore. He doubted if he could teleport them beyond the camp now that there were four of them.
But it seemed it wasn't necessary anymore, the centaur were almost bowing before Jack in the hope of not getting shot. One upstart dared to charge anyway and was dead and twitching only moments later, blood and brain flying through the air.
"Where.. Is.. Kir'zas?" Jack asked loud and clear while he grabbed his axe from one of the dead guards.
The group of gathered centaur pushed the split hoof Kir'zas forward. "Uhm.. Wait.. I can help you get out." He began.
Jack smiled and said: "That was exactly what I was hoping."
Kir'zas lead them to the rest of their equipment and then lead them out of the camp. The centaur were to wait there and Kir'zas had to join them for ten miles on their way and then had back, giving the four a head start of around twenty miles.
"I make sure centaur don't follow ok? I make sure kolkar clan no attack you," Kir'zas practically begged.
"Don't worry, you will be on your way back in a few minutes." Nell told him.
Kir'zas slowed down a bit in relief, only do receive a bite in his back end by the raptor. He jumped on his three and a half hoof and then matched the pace the others were setting.
They were heading to Mulgore again because they knew the cave wouldn't be save anymore. They still hoped to stay near to the orcish army for relative better protection or, as a knew possibility emerged, ask refuge from the Tauren who didn't have the kind of grudge against humans as the orcs had.
The Tauren, as Nell told them, were a peaceful people, with exception of a few tribes, who were dedicated to keeping nature intact and guarded. The Tauren were a highly spiritual people dedicated to their nature goddess: the earth mother. They were a part of the horde and as such were not at their kindest against the races of the alliance, but they did not kill alliance people or soldiers on sight as the other races of the horde tended to do.
Nell hadn't bothered to tell them what Tauren actually looked like but had at least told them that they were very large. This lead them to the conclusion that their chances were at better with the Tauren than with any of the other races that inhabited The Barrens and nearby lands.
It was time to let Kir'zas go, they were not going to kill unnecessarily. "Thank you, thank you, thank, thank you." He told each of them. "I make sure kolkar clan no follow." And he ran away as best as he could before they changed their minds.
When Kir'zas was well beyond hearing range warrick began, "He might lead them to follow us."
"Do really believe that? Those centaur practically melted away in fear of getting shot." Nell said.
"You have a point there."
They moved on just to be sure they would be well ahead of any possible pursuers by the time night fell.
They stopped for the night at a large tree. The landscape changed under influence from different light from the brown ground and grass to an almost green landscape. The grass had become greener, but a lighter shade of green than the emerald fields of grass Warrick remembered from the garden of his parents house. The trees also seemed more alive than during the day, their colours were fresher.
It was a full moon but not a moon like the one circling earth. The moon was blue in colour and responsible for the change of colour in their surroundings.
They had light a small campfire when Nell began another lesson about this world, "It is a cloudless night, it will become cold this night."
Warrick wondered if Nell knew why that meant temperatures would drop at night. He knew that it was because there were no clouds to prevent the warm air from rising to high, but did Nell know?
The raptor was still with them pacing around, once in a while tapping the ground with one big nail. The raptor looked she was thinking hard about something, when she thought the others weren't looking at her she would look at Nell as if expecting something.
Jack stood up and walked over to her and placed a hand on the head. "You don't have to stay. You can leave when ever you want." Jack did not really expect the clever animal to understand. To his surprise the head of the raptor went up and down in a failed attempt to nod. "Well what shall we call you than?" He said, half looking at his comrades and half at the raptor.
Warrick took one look at the chin of the raptor, which sported a spot, and knew what it should be according to him. "How about Spot?" The raptor nearly jumped on Warrick with anger for attempting to call her that. "Right, I suppose that is a no. My mistake."
"How about the same word in a different language?" Nell began.
The raptor swung her head from right to left in an attempt to shake her head.
But unlike the raptor Warrick found it a good idea. "Yeah, Jack maybe in your native language? What was it again you came from?"
"Nah, that would not sound right in Dutch." Jack answered.
"Dutch… that reminds me of a nickname you earned over the years."
"Don't start about it, you weren't even there when it happened. You weren't born when it happened." He waited a moment for more suggestions, but none came. "lets think up a name another time." He got into a sleeping position and faked sleeping, he had gotten used to being two days awake on one night of sleep.
The next day began with the daily show of a orange sun rising from the horizon. When they had eaten a bit they journeyed on. Apart from the occasional tree the landscape did not change as they journeyed south to passage that lead into Mulgore. In the distance they saw a herd of kodo move along the horizon.
Then they suddenly saw the first sign of civilization: a road. It wasn't much, but identifiable as a road. It consisted of flat stones that were pushed into the ground. It looked well used although no traffic was going along it at the moment.
"Not exactly an highway but it will do." Warrick began.
"This is one of the longest fairly straight pieces of road in Kalimdor, it goes from Ashenvale in the north to The Thousand Needles in the south, it spans the entire barrens." Nell explained. "I think we are on or near the part that is called The Southern Gold Road."
Jack looked at the stones. "Doesn't look very gold."
Nell continued like he had heard nothing. "It is often used by the horde to move supplies and forces, we should keep our distance from it."
They moved away from the road and then south again. They stayed close enough to the road to spot any traffic, but far enough to not be spotted easily. So far they had not yet seen the probably slow moving orcish army. An army had to carry armaments and supplies which would limit their speed and how long they could go on without resting.
Nell estimated that it would take them one or two more days to reach the passage to Mulgore and thought they would see the army when they got to the passage.
So they walked long and tedious hours. They saw a small caravan move along the road pulled by kodo. They also saw a group of warriors or adventurers on mounts travel along it, all orcs on giant wolves. Besides that saw a few orcs moving at high speed along the road, probably messengers.
The day ended without any problems and another night passed. Jack decided to sleep and had no real problems with the demon. They still had not come up with a name for the raptor and had actually gotten used to calling her raptor when referring to her in a conversation.
The next day Nell announced they were going to reach Mulgore that day, which meant Warrick got a new boost of enthusiasm. They only reached the passage when the sun was already beginning it's journey back to the horizon. Mulgore was surrounded by a chain of mountains, the only place to pass on foot was where the mountains split creating a passage. The only problem was they could not pass.
A massive beast was blocking the way. In some ways it looked like a kodo, but obviously it was not. Short legs and heavy torso were the same but on it's back it sported blunt arrow shaped appendages, several in a row in pairs. The end of the tail sported four huge spikes And massive a Horn. The whole beast was covered in purple and pink scales.
"Uhm.. I suppose that is a dangerous animal?" Warrick asked Nell.
"Very. It shoots lightning from it's mouth." Nell answered and receiving weird looks from His humanoid companions. "We will either have to force it aside or wait for it to move, but we're not getting through while that beast is there."
"How do you plan to force a thunder shooting spike-tailed pink-scaled beast aside?" Jack asked.
"I guess we will just have to wait a while." Nell answered.
Warrick's enthusiasm got in the way. "We shoot it in the head or something!" He said as a replacement answer.
The beast heard the shouting and turned it's thick skulled scaly head in their direction. It took a few steps closer and the intruders not to it's liking. It took a mighty breath and then exhaled, shooting thunder with it.
As the ear splitting sound erupted the four had already gotten out of the probable path of the lightning. It cut the air between them and vanished again.
The four moved quickly so they could to both get out of the beasts way and pass into Mulgore. They ran around it on two sides so it would have to choose between targets. Unfortunately for Jack and raptor, it choose them. The blast of lightning missed them by an inch, but they still got a jolt of electricity through their bodies.
The four joined again and the beast once again prepared to fire of a bolt. Nell heard the beast breathing in and turned to conjure a magical shield to protect them. The beast fired and hit the shield. The golden coloured shield held as the lightning hit and another wave of thundering noise rolled of the plains and spilled into Mulgore, barely half a mile a head of them. Sparks of golden and blue flew in every direction.
The beast let loose another bolt and again Nell deflected it while slowly walking backwards. As the sparks subsided again the beast charged with it's head bend forward so the horn was in front. Against this kind of attack Nell's shield would not hold for very long. Nell turned and ran after the others. The reptilian however, was much faster and gained on them rapidly.
Jack suddenly steered sideways to the rocks. The rest followed and the beast had trouble stopping it's huge body. As it turned the appendages on it's back glowed. And it shot another burst of light, this hitting a rock which crumbled for a part and for the rest melted away under the sheer heat of the blast.
The beast could not follow them in the rocks, it was to tight quarters. However it let loose with bursts of lightning, melting and demolishing the rocks they were hiding behind. Every time the beast charged himself for another shot they came out and hid behind other rocks.
They had to move a distance in the open to reach the next set of boulders. They got up and, behind one of Nell's shields, moved slowly towards them. The Beast saw it's chance and charged them as fast as it could. It was charging for a blast while it ran. Nell threw up multiple shields to make a layered defence.
As the beast came within one foot of the first it let loose the lightning which dissipated the first one. It charged right through the second shield but as closer as it got to Nell. The more powerful the shields got. Increasingly slow it continued charging. When there where only three shields left it stopped.
Nell hit the beast with a jolt of pure arcane magic and the beast seemed to have lights inside of it making it glow pink and purple through the scales. The lights flickered out and the beast was left in bewilderment. For a few moments it had utterly forgotten where it was and what it was doing. Those moments were al the three humans and raptor needed, The fled the scene as fast as their legs could carry them.
By the time the beast's disorientation had ended they were already three hundred feet away. The beast did not think it worth to pursue them and returned to The Barrens.
They decided that they should rest for the day so they had al their wits and strength the next day when they would truly enter Mulgore. They settle in a small cave which could not really be called a cave, more like the mountain wall had cracked open at that location. It would do for the rest of the day and night.
"What was that?" Warrick asked exhausted from the ordeal.
"That was a thunder lizard. One that was as big as they get these days in The Barrens." Nell said also still panting from the effort. In addition to the physical stress he now had to deal with the drained feeling caused by creating the shields.
"Not really a great idea Warrick, shouting like that." Jack stated. The raptor agreed and began nodding in her own way.
"I was just expressing my opinion."
"Maybe a little bit loud." Nell said, siding with Jack and the raptor on the matter.
"Aaah, let's just go to sleep, shall we. Got a big day tomorrow." Warrick said, putting an end to the subject of the thunder lizard.
"Agreed, It is still a long walk to the Tauren capital." Nell informed them.
"What do Tauren look like? I think I have a pretty good idea but that is just based on ancient mythology from where we come from." Warrick asked curiously.
"You will know when you see them, they are not hard to miss."
Warrick nearly burned up from curiosity that night but eventually they all fell asleep.
After this one the story will take a slightly different path, hope you dont mind. Next chapter will probably be up next weekend.