He was there again, the fields. A place he dreamt of, thought of, and longed for; a place of enlightenment, harmony; a place without war; or disputes, or corruption. A true paradise, if there ever was one.
He smelled the aroma of the rose petals, felt the texture of the sunflower dancing with the petals and autumn leaves.
He saw the stone huts of the farmers laboring in their fields, but they didn't show a hint of strife or ache as they did so. They didn't show filth or mud on their features carved from stone. They looked as cleansed as the moment they would of left their mother's womb.
A sudden flash would envelop the countryside, and he would return to reality.
"Master Trollbane. We are here." Guy had shaken Valingar's shoulder to take him out of the daydream, and when he realized Valingar had returned from the world that was, he pointed to a seemingly empty mine. There was no sign of recent activity of any sort, no camp fires passed away by the autumn winds, no traces of humanoid footprints, no pickaxes discarded, not even a chest for carrying materials.
The mine wasn't even boarded up, if the former miners did decide to retreat in a hurry. There seemed to be no indication of any type of labor at all in these mines. But that didn't stop Valorcall – he refused to believe that there were no laborers within the mines. He was a zealot, Valingar decided then and there.
Valorcall released his blade from his sheath, allowing the sun's ray to release a sort of beauty onto his fellow cavalrymen. "Come brothers! There are beasts to slay, and let our Fathers guide us!"
"Brother!" shouted his brother, motioning his horse to move closer to Valorcall. "There are no signs of Horde here, as much as we all would love to bring our weapons through their vile forms."
"I fear for Valorcall, Master Trollbane" conspired Guy in a whisper to Valingar's ear. Valingar only nodded grimly, for he came to that conclusion long ago only a few nights prior, when he heard Valorcall mutter things in his sleep. "I have heard stories of what war can do a man's psyche, and I fear there may be another story to add to the mythology."
"They are here, brothers. Into the mines!" Valingar, Valdric and Guy raised their weapons – Valdric and Guy their swords, Valingar his precious war hammer – and commanded their steeds to follow.
But the steeds would not, for beasts have an ability to foresee things man cannot. It goes back to the Ancient War, when the beasts fled the areas of Kalimdor where the Burning Legion first entered, even though the Night Elves could not detect the Legion's presence.
The steeds bucked their riders off them, and ran into the hills, leaving their riders on the ground.
But the steeds' warning did not deter Valorcall. He rose up, his face showing clearly that of determination, a fact that showed clearly not neither man nor beast would deter his path that he had set in front of him, grabbed his sword from the ground, placed it over his broad shoulder, and walked towards the mine. The others did just as must, following their Lord of the Horse.
They would find the beginning of the mine to show more signs of labor than it's outside: the rock walls were slowly being burned away by the erosion of water dripping from the rocky-roof, splinters of wooden supports existed on the walls and ground, and what appeared to be numerical numbers of sorts were etched into the cavern walls.
"Perhaps you were right brother!" Valdric with a chuckle as he glided his left fingers along the cavern wall, enjoying the feel the markings brought to his finger tips. "There does seem to be some sign of past residence here. Brothers! Keep your weapons close at hand."
No sooner had Valdric said hand had they heard what appeared to be a rock being thrown echo off the cavern walls. "Did you hear that?" Guy questioned, to make sure that it wasn't only him that heard it, as he looked around the cavern for any clues of the sound. The others kept silent, but they nodded silently in reply.
Valingar quickly crouched down, to try to make his armor make as little noise as possible, and the others quickly did the same. They took a right at a Y intersection, with the dripping water from the roof being their only form of communication of any sort.
They would take several more lefts, another right, and careful treading down a fragile set of spiraling wooden stairs before they would see another hint of any sort of laboring within the mines: pickaxes and stone hammers laid lazily about against a nearly beaten stone wall.
The Arathians merely looked at each other, Valorcall raised his right eyebrow, motioning that he was asking a question referring to the laid about tools, and Valingar merely pointed down the stone hall, suggesting they move forward. Valorcall refused at first, wanting to scan the room for any other possible clues, but when he saw there was none he led his fellow warriors down the hall towards whatever they could meet next.
But as they did so, Valingar could of have sworn he felt something cold slip past his back as his warhammer accidentally hit the wall. He shrugged it off, blaming it on the cold winds of the mine, and continued onward.
It would be another hour of trudging through the cold mine before they saw another clue of possible laborers within the mine: an old suit of armor, laid about in a lazy manner, the helmet on it's side, as well as the chest piece, and the iron shoulder pads on they're backs and in a diagonal fashion. Guy only sighed in shame.
"How could anyone even think of leaving such a good pair of armor like that? It's absolutely despicable!" he complained in a whisper, and Valorcall told him to shut up, and Guy did. They took a left turn at the next intersection they met several minutes later, but found out that it was caved in. So, they retraced their latest steps (which wasn't a lot, concerning it took them only a minute to go down the passage) and took the right passage, which eventually led them towards a flight of stairs going up towards a wooden door formed in the cavern wall. It had a few markings on it, in the form of ancient numerals.
It was something all Arathian children were taught at an early age, being the first number system for all of mankind after all, and they four Cavalrymen were able to read it quite easily.
13.
"What in the Light's name is the reason for them putting that there?" asked Valdric in a light whisper.
"The question isn't why, Valdric, but who" Valingar corrected quickly. Valdric only gave him an angry glare, which Valorcall quickly shot back.
"Let's keep going. Come on!" That didn't help the feeling in Guy's gut, however. As well as being very traditional, he was also superstitious on a grand scale. And everyone knows (or will know) that thirteen is the unlucky number, for reasons unknown.
Valorcall was the first one up the stairs and the first one to go through the door. The passageway went into a curve to the left, and there was an abundant source of light coming from that direction. Curious, Valorcall and the others went down into that direction, although Guy intentionally positioned himself in the back of the group.
What the found was a large disappointment: merely a torch, although decorated heavily and formed of the finest wood, glowed with its blue fire. Valorcall, and Valingar spat in disappointment, and Guy kept a constant state of alertness.
"Unbelievable" Valorcall swore when he saw there were no other passageways leading further into the mine. "Three hours of searching for naught!"
"Look on the good side, brother!" Valdric remarked as he put his arm on his brother's shoulder. "There should me more than enough ore to sustain Stromgarde for a year, and more I'm sure if the laborers discover more to this mine."
"But I was so certain there were residents here!" Valorcall whined as he took a stare at his brother.
"Let us move quickly then, Lord of the Horse." Guy commanded in an anxious voice as he stepped towards his commander. "The sooner we return to Galen, the sooner Stromgarde will have her metal."
Valorcall nodded, persuaded by Guy. "I agree, Guy. Let us head home. As much as I wanted to bash in an orc's skull, I am getting tired of the air in here. I would love a good bed right about now." The others cracked a hearty chuckle at that, and their Commander led them out of the mine.
When the orange sun of the Arathi Highlands shined upon their brows covered in mine dirt and soil, Guy took off his heavy helmet, smiling and laughing, realizing how much he had missed the sun's rays. The others took off their helmet as well, equally happy to feel the sun's rays, and gave a hearty grin. Valingar even more so, when he discovered their steeds were waiting for them by the hill from which they had retreated from several hours ago.
"Come Sir Trollbane, brother and Sir Guy! Let us inform Galen of the good news, and give a great greeting to a warm bed!" The others clapped at that statement, and they ran for their steeds, jumped on, and rode off towards the main road.